October 18, 2024 • 41 mins
Jose Ibarra is indicted on nine felony counts and one misdemeanor. The misdemeanor charge is for interfering with a call for emergency help. The felony charges include malice murder, three felony murder charges, kidnapping, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, tampering with evidence and peeping tom. Unlike many states, Georgia doesn't have degrees of murder. Malice murder requires intent, while felony murder has a lower burden of proof and does not require intent to kill. Ibarra has pleaded not guilty to the charges
The defense for Jose Ibarra aims to challenge the evidence prosecutors plan to use at trial and have filed motions attempting to incriminate evidence that was seized through a search warrant at Ibarra's home. The defense is also challenging DNA and fingerprint evidence that the prosecution says will prove Jose Ibarra murdered Laken Riley.
Hearing the motions in the Clarke County Courthouse, Judge Patrick Haggard, will have to make his rulings before the case goes to trial in mid-November. The judge has set another hearing for November first where the defense is challenging critical fingerprint identification, DNA, and social media evidence. Defense Attorney Dustin Kirby tells the judge he needs more time to study the DNA data he recently received.
Joining Nancy Grace today:
- Andrew Stoltmann - Chicago Attorney and adjunct law professor for Northwestern University, co-author, "Waging War on Wall Street: My Battles Suing Banks and Brokerage Firms;' X: @Stoltmann1971
- Dr. Chloe Carmichael – Clinical Psychologist, Women’s Health Magazine Advisory Board;’ Author: ‘Nervous Energy: Harness The Power of Your Anxiety;’ X: @DrChloe
- Chris McDonough – Director at the Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective; Host of YouTube channel: “The Interview Room”
- Sheryl McCollum – Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder & Host of New Podcast: “Zone 7;” X: @149Zone
- Joe Scott Morgan – Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, “Blood Beneath My Feet,” and Host: “Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan;” Twitter/X: @JoScottForensic
- Jason Dennis – Anchor: WTVM News leader 9 and WXTX; Facebook: Jason Dennis WTVM/Instagram: @jdennistv/X: @JasonDennisWTVM
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
A beautiful young nursing student, Lake and Riley, just twenty
two years old, beaten so viciously, her skull is actually disfigured. Tonight,
the suspect makes demands. Yes, the suspect makes demands. I'm
(00:31):
Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being
with us. A young nursing student goes for her routine
morning jog around campus but never returns. It's so hard
to imagine that this beautiful young nursing student, dedicating her
life to helping others and the prime of her life,
(00:53):
just twenty two years old, goes out for a jog
and then ends up beaten so viciously, her skull is disfigured.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
What more do we know? Listen, she was.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Found right next to a lake, next to the intermural fields.
And my son is a sophomore at the University of Georgia.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
He actually parks there at the intermural fields.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
And so around this lake is a pretty it's a
pretty normal place for students, for people in the community
of Athens, Georgia, to run around. And this was on
a Thursday morning, you right in the middle of the week,
nice weather, there at Lake Herrick and as the you know,
Uga police chief was talking about and he says, he
(01:37):
called this a crime of opportunity. So she went there running,
we assume by herself.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
You're hearing our friend anchor, investigative reporter Jason Dennis, WTVM.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
And w X t X.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Why is it that there is an epidemic of young
female joggers ending up dead?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
What about Molly Timmyts? Do you remember that name? I do,
I'll never forget it.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Listen, College student Mally Tibbets goes out for a jog
in Brooklyn, Iowa. Police say on a country road, Christian
Rivera sees Molly Tibbets out for her run, gets out
of his car and runs alongside Molly.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Okay, what about Eliza Fletcher in Memphis?
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Remember that name?
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Just a for four am? Eliza Fletcher is off on
her regular early morning jog. The married mother of two
kindergarten teacher is an avid runner with times good enough
to qualify for the Boston Marathon. When Fletcher doesn't return
home from her run, panic sets in. Her husband calls police.
Surveillance video shows around four thirty am, while she jogs,
she's approached by someone who forces her into a dark
(02:41):
colored suv and drives off.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Joining me from the field.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Cheryl McCollum, founder of the Cold Case Research Institute, forensic
expert and star of Zone seven. Cheryl McCollum does it
never and Lake and Riley minding her own business, trying
to become a nurse like the nurse that saves my twins'
lives in Nick, You she can't even take a job
(03:09):
on a campus where you think everything is safe. Her
skull is bashed in and tonight the suspect, the chief suspect,
is making his own demands. But can we get back
to the epidemic of attacks on female joggers, Nancy.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
It seems to be part of the plan to attack
these folks while they're jogging at the end of a jog,
meaning they're tired, they're fatigued. They're not going to be
able to put up a fight like they would if
they had not already been exercising. If you look at
where lake Len Riley ended up, that's at the top
(03:51):
of a just major heel, so she was quite possibly
extremely fatigued, even though we know he did fight that well, Cheryl.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I disagree completely.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
You say this is part of a plan, which means
a thought out plan. I think they're no better than
a predator, an animal. Toseph Scott Morgan joining me, Professor Forensics,
Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon,
star of a hit series Body Bags. That Joe Scott
(04:25):
Morgan goes on and on and on and on. He's
a death investigator. Okay, he's handled over ten thousand death investigations,
just like Cheryl McCollum on the street every day is
a forensic expert.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
These are not just talking heads.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
They know what they're talking about, like the rest of
our panel. Joe Scott, I don't think this is part
of a plan. He's going to think, oh, okay, I'll
let her run twenty five minutes, then I'll try to
rape and beater skull in. This is no better than
a hyena on the Serengetti waiting for the gazelle to
go to the watery hole.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
He attacks, no thought to it, just like an animal.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
Joe Scott, I think that going to this kind of
animalistic perspective, I think that the reality is is that
it's almost at a promo level where they're seeking they're hungry,
and in his case, he could only be satisfied by attacking.
And so that's going to be the planning that goes in.
And it's an you know, the chief had mentioned that
(05:26):
this is a crime of opportunity, and so he would
have been familiar with this area where he could track
this poor young lady and watch for that Opportunity's familiar
with the landscape, the topography that Mac just mentioned relative
to the grade out there moving about and where can
you be secluded. So there has to be a few
(05:47):
points to these elements that are involved so that he
can successfully get away with this, and he almost did.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Nancy Animals, complete animals, and you know, back to you,
Cheryl McCollum, a long time colleague and the director of
the Cold Case Research Institute. You know where I was
this entire weekend this past weekend. I was out looking
at colleges and universities for my children, John, David and
(06:14):
Lucy Lynch and every place that Lucy liked. She's just
a tiny little bitty thing.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
All I could think about.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
I looked down each alleyway and each walkway, and they'd
be beautiful with live oaks and blah, blah blah. Oh,
I could think about it's Lincoln Riley and my girl.
I mean, what do we have to do to stop
people like this guy.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
One of the main things that stuck out for me
when I walked this scene and you sent me to
Athens was Lakeland did everything right, and so did her roommate.
It was broad daylight, there were people all around. She
parked at a known place with the band practices. Was
not alone there. Even when I was there days after
(07:03):
this murder, there were people jogging and hiking and in
kayaks in the pond and late. This was not a
place that was secluded and way off the beaten path
where she took a great risk. There was only a
small portion of this entire place where you were, you know,
had woods all around you, and where he could drag
(07:24):
her off of the pathway there into the woods and as.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
The crow flies.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
If you are where her body was found, it is
a straight shot to his apartment. And I'm going to
tell you again he picked this spot. He knew somebody,
some unsuspected victim, was going to come.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
By my place.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
You're giving him so much credits, total bs.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
He didn't pick anything.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
He probably waited until she was near some trees, put
no more thought into it than that hyena out on
the serengetti, and then tried to rape her and beat.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Her skull in to you.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
You know Andrew Stoltman joining US, high profile Chicago lawyer.
He's an adjunct law professor at Northwestern. That's not shabby.
You know how hard it is to get into Northwestern University.
Co author of the book Waging War on Wall Street. Okay,
I respect that, but you go on and get after
(08:24):
those white collar criminals. Can we talk about a human
hyena right now? I'm sure you have experience in criminal
law as well.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I've read your resume very carefully.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
How is it the prime suspect after what we know
happened to lacn Can you imagine the roommate.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Calling her parents.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Have you talked to Lacln and that feeling the mom
and dad must have gotten where they're like no. And
now he jumps up in court and is making demands
about having evidence thrown out. Do you ever just just
want to shoot your foot when you're sitting in court
listening to this. If I could get my hands around
(09:09):
his neck, I'd end up on the Nancy Grace Show.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Okay, Andrew Stoltman, why does.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
He think he can make demands like throwing out evidence?
Speaker 7 (09:18):
Well, I think he's seen it done successfully in other cases.
I mean, think about it, Nancy, how will to defend
and get around the fact that his DNA was found
underneath the victim's nails?
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Right, that's cataclysmic to the case.
Speaker 7 (09:33):
So he has to try to get this information out
because if he doesn't, he's going to spend a very
long time the rest of his life in prison. And
by the way, I still can't figure out why the
prosecutors aren't pursuing the death penalty in this case because
of any reprobate. If any degenerate deserves it, it's this guy.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
You know, I want to talk about the way that
her body was found, but let me go along chronologically.
So the roommate realizes Lacon didn't come back from jogging.
She starts making calls, where's Lacon, Where's Lincoln. Laca's not
answering her cell phone.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Now listen to this.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
There was a.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Jacket, and what was the significance of the jacket? Why
were you why did you believe it was related?
Speaker 8 (10:29):
To them because I've never sold a jacket myself, but
I was told by other law enforcement officials that there
was blood and I believe hair on the jacket.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
What's of hair Licn's hair, Laken's hair on a jacket.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
So immediately, Cheryl McCollum, all the investigators start retracing her
steps trying to figure out where she was.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Then they look in a dumpster.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Thank Heaven, and yes, that's sop to look at dumpsters.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
I looked in plenty of them.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
And it stinks.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It's horrible conditions.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Yeah, and again there you have to get in it
and dig through everything. But they were rewarded when they
find a jacket with hair on it that turns out
to be Lakin's jacket.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That dumpster yielded evidence.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
Cheryl McCollum, it was brilliant Nancy. From the moment she's
reported missing at twelve oh seven, they find her by
twelve thirty eight. That's telling you how seriously law enforcement
took this. When they got to that dumpster and got
in it and found the jacket with the blood and
the hair, that's going to connect that person from that
(11:42):
jacket to Lakeland. Then they also have her cell phone
you mentioned earlier, she attempted to call nine one one.
That's going to be real time stamped too. So now
you're starting to build this case, your spart you know,
you're starting to connect these dots that are going to
be extremely important for trial.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Right now is a very high profile investigative reporter and
anchor a WTVM and WXTX on this case from the beginning.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
And I say case as opposed to story. This is
no story.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
As Lacan's parents if this is some story, this is
real and they are having to deal with this every
day of their lives.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
And now the.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Suspect is making demands. He's got a nerve. Jason Dennis,
I want you to tell me about the area. Thank
you for being with us again. Jason, I really appreciate it.
You've been there, You're familiar with it. You know exactly
what happened. Tell me about the area where Laken was jogging.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Well, these are Nancy intramural fields that are commonly used.
I mean, there's forty thousand students at the University of Georgia,
including my son, and this is an area that's commonly
used intramural fields. People park there, people walk from there
to class, walk from class to there and often work
out and and you know, it's beautiful weather in Athens,
(13:05):
Georgia often, you know, for for a lot of the year,
and so it's it's commonly used and it's not a
place where you would go and feel unsafe. But unfortunately
something like this puts, you know, a new kind of
fear in these you know, eighteen to twenty one year olds.
You know she you know, she was twenty two years old,
(13:26):
her body found at lunchtime right there in Athens, right
along the trail, and it's heartbreaking and you know, her
family and friends filling the Core room just a few
days ago, just tears strolling down their face. From what
I understand as Jose Obara was requesting, you know, to
throw out some of this evidence, you know, DNA evidence,
(13:49):
social media evidence, fingerprint identification, wanting this to be thrown out.
And what you know he mentioned earlier a slam dunk case.
And so it's it's heartbreaking to know that, you know,
this happened nine months ago and we're still dealing with
you know that he is still free in terms of
he hasn't been convicted yet. So that's I think what
(14:12):
is one of the most heartbreaking things I think.
Speaker 9 (14:15):
Searching for a suspect in the death of Lake and Riley,
officers patrolling the Argo apartment community see a Hispanic man
matching the description of the man seen in a surveillance
video putting a jacket and latex gloves with blood inside
a trash man on the apartment complex property. Twenty six
year Police veit Sergeant Timothy Johnson says the man is
even wearing an identical hat. Confronting the man, police learning
(14:37):
he is Diego Ebarra, the brother of Jose Ebarra. Asked
for identification, he tells officers that he doesn't have an ID,
but has a University of Georgia Food Services employee name
tag which reads Diego.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
A beautiful twenty two year old comes face to face
with a predator. She dials nine to one one, but
it's too late.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Diego Ebara leads officers to his apartment, where he hands
over his ID, a United States Permanent Resident card often
called a Green card. The poor quality, as well as
two separate birth dates listed on the card. It's quickly
verified by Homeland Security to be a fake. Diego Ebara,
his brother Jose Ebarra, and two other men in the
apartment are detained and held outside while police wait for
(15:22):
a search waran for the apartment. The apartment is about
five hundred yards from where Lakenriley was found.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Five hundred yards from where this beautiful nursing student was
found with her skull crushed and her clothes in disarray
from an obvious sex attack.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
It doesn't take long for police to realize that.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
These two related are members of a notorious gang out
of Venezuela, trend de Arragua. Who is trend Arragua well
number one. If you have seen headlines in the knees
recently about gangs taking over apartment complexes terrorizing the residents
(16:04):
in Colorado as them. They originated in a prison facility
in Venezuela. They specialize in drug trafficking, human smuggling, murder,
all sorts of extortion.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
They moved from Venezuela.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
To Chile and beyond, and now they're here in the US,
in Colorado, in New York, in Texas, and in Georgia,
where Laken lived with her roommate. So this is where
the legal challenge arises right here. So how is it
(16:48):
straight back out to an investigative reporter joining US Jason Dennis.
What originally led police to this guy and to this.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Apartment, A Bara allegedly, you know, was was lying in wait,
like you mentioned earlier, and you know, allegedly sexually assaulted
and killed Lake and Riley. But what led them to
the apartment is they found that evidence in the dumpster
and they you know, we were getting tips from people
(17:20):
about illegal immigrants living there. His brother, the suspect in
this murder case working at the cafeteria the donning An
area of the University of Georgia unknowingly uh, being any
illegal immigrant?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Are you telling me that a member of the notorious
Venezuelan gang Trenda Aragua is serving lunch and the UGA cafeteria.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
And the the problem here as well, this was you
know obviously ten months ago, is that you know, they
he was not vetted and and and and so they
found out later that he had a fake green card,
as I mentioned in that pre pro And so it's
something that you know, that's the problem is that you're
(18:07):
not checking people ahead of time and vetting them to
see and because of those mistakes are made. Lake and Riley,
two year old.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Version student, This is what I understand.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
He is around all these young coz that can be
as young as sixteen or seventeen when they go there.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
But Chris McDonough.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Joining me, director of the Cold Case Foundation, former homicide detective,
and star.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
The Interview Room on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Do you know what I have to go through to
even try to use a check at the grocery store.
I to show ID, I have to show credit cards.
You don't forget the check? Never mind, I'll just use
a credit card. But this guy is serving food in
the cafeteria where every single co ed is coming through
freshmen and sophomore years.
Speaker 10 (18:59):
Really, yeah, it's almost unbelievable, isn't it, Nassia. I mean
the fact that this guy's part of a transnational organization,
a criminal organization creating you know, drug pipelines into the
United States.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
And by the way, at.
Speaker 10 (19:13):
Some point they're gonna they're gonna clash with the Mexican
cartels if this thing doesn't get some you know, control
over it. And so here you have this guy, you know,
I'm part of this organization, like you said, you know,
scoop and potatoes, you know, mash potatoes for the kids
that are coming through the line. You know this is
(19:33):
more than just he slipped, you know, through the cracks.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Me think about it. Think about it, Chris McData. Let
me ask doctor Chloe. This, doctor Chloe Carmichael joining us.
Can't you imagine the looks they give those young girls
going through that cafeteria line, and they are nothing but predators,
(19:57):
human hyenas.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Yes, exactly, Nancy.
Speaker 11 (20:01):
Of course they would look at the co eds, the
joggers as these you know, kind of pretty privileged, rich kids,
easy pickings, easy prey for these animals. And I think
it's really sick that they were actually allowed in there
in the country, frankly in the first place, much less
allowed anywhere near these young people that were just trying
(20:22):
to get an education.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I'm trying to make the connection about how they find
Lincoln's body and then suddenly they're at this guy's apartment.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Listen the email.
Speaker 12 (20:33):
Subviig had a black in color baseball cap with a
white Adida symple moment exactly as that of the suspect
in the picture.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
At the Dompsters.
Speaker 9 (20:44):
While waiting for a search warrant to arrive, officers have
jose Ebarra and his roommates detained outside the apartment. UGA
Police Corporal Raphael Sion describes jose Ebarra as very quiet
and very nervous. Sion also notices wounds on jose Ebarra,
such as redness on his knuckles, a scratch on his
wrist and arms, as well as redness on his forehead.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
So Cheryl McCollum joining me, Cold Case Research Institute Founder
forensics expert Cheryl, So, somebody was doing a great job.
They look at a dumpster, they find a jacket, it's
got hair on it. But then they look at the
video around the dumpster and they see matching outfits and
(21:29):
they match it up to these two.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
Absolutely and Nancy again from where her body is.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
If you walk.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
Straight, you go right to that dumpster. They did that immediately.
Then as they start, you know, walking around the neighborhood,
people start pointing and then one witness was like, yeah,
I think I saw him over there. They also then
law enforcement continues across the street to the gas station.
They looked at every single trash bend they could find
(21:58):
in that entire area, and they piece this thing together
so quickly. And let me tell you there's a photograph
you can see. The command center is parked in front
of his apartment door. They played this thing beautifully and
so professionally and so quickly.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Let's take a listen from Uga Police Sergeant Josh Epps
about what led him to that apartment, because.
Speaker 8 (22:24):
I believe there's fair pabability. There's evidence of the murder
inside there. He was seen leaving there. I'm aware of
the evidence that was found in the dumpster, and it's
not all the articles of clothing that that initial was
wearing that day.
Speaker 13 (22:37):
We have a suspect in custody for Lakeland's murder. We
are obtaining arrest warrants for Jose Antonio Abera, twenty six
years of age. He lives here in Athens, but it's
not a US citizen. He has been charged with the
(22:59):
following malice, murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping,
hindering a non to one one call, and conciering the death.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Of another, even in line of the horrific attacks on
lacn He is in court making demands what more evidence
is there against him?
Speaker 9 (23:34):
Lesson, after hose Ebarro's arrest for the murder of lake
and Riley, his thumb print is compared to a Layton
print found on Lake and Riley's cell phone. It is
the opinion of Athens Clark Police crime scene technician Tim
Stewart that jose Ebarra is the source for the print
found on the phone. The defense team for hose Ibarro
plans to challenge this particular piece of fingerprint evidence the
(23:55):
ties I borrow to the cell phone of Lake and Riley.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
So how is it destray out?
Speaker 2 (24:00):
To the veteran defense attorney Andrew Stoltman, how is it
that when your fingerprint turns up on the victim's cell phone?
How do you try to get that suppressed? One of
the defendant's many demands.
Speaker 7 (24:14):
Well, I think you have to argue that the process
of gathering that fingerprint and the related evidence was flawed.
Either the police technician was sloppy, they didn't follow standard
operating protocol. Because if that comes in, it's game, set
and match, right, Because anni juror is going to sit
here and say, wait a minute, how the heck did
(24:35):
the defendant's thumb print get on the victim's cell phone?
So that's just kind of another bullet in the chamber
that kind of goes to the tapestry of guilt, as
I like to call it. So they have to challenge
everything with respect to the collection process to try to
keep that out because if it comes in game set match,
he's going to be convicted.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Shedding a little light on the defendants demands in court.
Speaker 9 (24:58):
Listen, Jose Ebarra aims to challenge the evidence prosecutors plan
to use a trial and if filed motions attempting to
incriminate evidence that was seized through a search warrant at
Ebarra's home. The defense is also challenging DNA and fingerprint evidence.
The defense team for Jose Ebarra is claiming that after
Ebarro was detained, a UGA detective got a search warrant
(25:20):
for his apartment, which Ibarra's lawyers say was void on
his face and issued without probable cause, while also being
overly broad for what officers could look for and seize
as evidence.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
We see this.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
All the time when a search warrant is obtained and
they did obtain a search warrant before seizing items from
the apartment. If they don't get a search warrant, cops
don't get a search warrant. The claim is they didn't
have a search warrant, this is no good. If they
do get a search warrant, A typical challenge is the
search warrant is overbroad?
Speaker 1 (25:53):
What does that mean.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Let's say that I finally get fed up and I
strangled Jackie right in the studio.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
A search warrant is executed on the studio.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
The search warrant could say any and all evidence that
Nancy Grace ever did anything wrong in her life, that's overbroad.
But when the search warrant specifically refers to the murder
of a victim, as it did, how can that possibly
be construed as overbroad?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
And let's get.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Real, Andrew Staltman, is very rare that a search warrant
is quashed and the evidence on the return is suppressed
because of overbroad You got to do a little bit
better than that.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
It is most certainly a hail Mary.
Speaker 7 (26:42):
And I think they're doing everything to try to keep
that evidence out of the case because it is devastating
to the case and to the defense of the scumbag defendant.
And so yes, I think we're kind of going through
the defense lawyer handbook, the playbook, throwing up every hail
mayor they can. I don't expect it to be successful.
(27:03):
That evidence is coming in. He's going to be convicted.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
The defense also argues there's no PC no probable cause to.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Search the home. Bs listen ose.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
Bara's defense argues there's no probable cause to search the
apartment and the warrant is overbroad in that it is
seeking anything with DNA. Items seized include cell phones, which
experts from the FBI analyzed. Prosecutors argue the cell phones
were seized in good faith and the facts and circumstances
discovered by police make it a reasonable search.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Just Scott Morgan joining me, Professor forensicks, don't you love
cell phones? Can we just enjoy the moment of remembering
Alex and murdog on the stand being confronted with all
the cell phone outa that places him at the scene
of the double murder of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
He's like rot Row. The cell phone evidence was damning.
So in this.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Case police go in pursuant to warrant Andrew Stoutman pursuant
to a search warrant signed by a judge and they
seese cell phones and a.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Lot of other evidence.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
So what could be on the Defenan's cell phone or
the relative cell phone.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
What do they want?
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's got to be something, because the defense is trying
so hard to get suppressed. If it didn't have any
any probitive evidence on it, they wouldn't care. They say,
bring it in, but no, they are fighting tooth and
nail to keep that cell phone data out.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
What is it?
Speaker 6 (28:38):
Yeah, they are, And I think that you're going to
discover perhaps that there are some really incriminating messages. Remember
he's here with his brother and he understands. He has
this kind of come to Jesus moment where he realizes
how deep he's into this thing, starts communicating with people,
and you see that throughout his actions. But Nancy, there's
another piece to this relative to cell phone. The cell
(29:01):
phone revealing something. Do you remember when this case first happened,
how it was stated that Laken had an awareness that
this was going to happen, and that she had initiated
a nine to one one call. It had been put
forth that the phone was taken from her, And I'm
talking about the physical phone itself. If his thumbprint is
(29:24):
on there, that's a damning bit of information. These two
had never known each other, he wasn't known to use
her phone, So how do you explain that away? Defense
has to do that? And I'll give you one more
if you like that one. You begin to think about
this damning level of information. What did they say about
him when they hooked him up on charges he had injuries?
(29:45):
Did he not? We're talking about DNA relative to what
may have been beneath her fingernails. Now we don't know
how far out this exclusion or how much the defense
is wanting to throw that data out and how that
was collected. But both of those elements, and we're not
even getting into the electronics stuff. We're just talking about
physical evidence here that in and of itself is very damning.
(30:09):
So I can see why the defense would want to
do this. They're going to be drowning relative to the
scale of.
Speaker 14 (30:16):
This, Naty can I jump in this, Yeral McCollum, I
was just going I was just about to ask you
your thoughts on what could be on that cell phone
between the two of them, and what if he says
I'm in trouble, I just killed a girl, or you
don't know what's on there yet, is.
Speaker 5 (30:34):
What I do believe you're going to see those two
phones in the exact same place for the exact same
amount of time, and that's going to be from twelve
seven to twelve thirty eight ish, and that's going to
be the most damning those phones move together for a
period of time.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Crime stories with great ose.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
Ebarra is also charged with peeping through the window of
an apartment in UGA's University Village building s and spying
on an individual on the same day as Riley's murder.
The person involved in that case is not Lake and
Riley now the defense.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Another demand in court is that the peeping Tom accusation
be severed. In other words, they don't want the Lacan
murder jury to hear anything about the peeping tom. Where
this guy Ebarra is peeping Tom. It's alleged he is
(31:40):
peeping Tom on another young woman just before Laken's murder.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I bet he does want that thrown out to doctor
Chloe Carmichael.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
All it takes is a renowned clinical psychologist like herself
to explain the connection between peeping tom's and rapists, because
it's a well known phenomena amongst prosecutors. Not all voyeurs
peeping tom's are rapists, but I guarantee you, doctor Kloyd Chloe,
(32:12):
that all rapists are voyeurs.
Speaker 11 (32:15):
Yes, to a certain degree, Nancy exactly. So there's actually
also something called algolagnia, which is the anticipation that a
sadist feels at the joy of their sick anticipation before
they do an act of sadism. And there's also sometimes
a certain amount of sucking and just simply sick logistical
planning that a rapist needs to do before he can
(32:38):
actually make his move. So the idea that this person
you would be stalking her is not a surprise to me.
And moreover, the brutality with which he murdered her, I mean,
her skull completely crushed. This is somebody who obviously takes
some kind of, you know, literal overkill pleasure in what
(32:59):
he's doing. Wasn't, you know, physically disabling her just to
accomplish a goal. He went above and beyond, and it
suggests that he has kind of an animalistic drive there. Obviously,
I would venture to say that this is not his
first time doing something like this based on the brutality
of this attack, and it's no surprise to me at
(33:21):
all that the same thing he was caught with a
peeping tom earlier in the day. It's also not a
surprise to me that he would in the courtroom start
making demands. I mean, first he you know, kind of
rapes our borders. He comes in here illegally and then
proceeds to literally rape our citizens. It's not a surprise
(33:41):
to me then that he thinks he can turn the
courtroom into his own playground as well. My guess is
that he's laughing at our judicial system.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Cheryl McCollum was like in sex assault that.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
Absolutely, and Nancy, I want to just tigging back on
what the doctor was just saying. Here's a couple of
crimes here that, if you look historically, are just called
the wrong thing. One is joy riding. We don't call
that stealing a car date rate, we should just call rape.
And peeping tom is nothing more than stalking with a
sexual motive. A peeping tom is a sexual predator, period two.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Jason Dennis joining us WTVM and wxt X. Jason tell
me about the alleged and I say alleged because none
of this.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Has been proven in a court of law.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
In fact, he's still presumed innocent until it has been
proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jason tell me about the
alleged peeping tom incident and the connected incident of him
allegedly trying to force another young co ed's door open
before Lakerim was found dead.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Yeah, these are, unfortunately, you know, seen as crimes of
opportunity because you have so many students, young co eds
on this campus in Athens, Georgia, and he is lying
in wait and watching uh, these young women younger than
him and kind of picking his prey. And he is
(35:09):
accused of or allegedly pulling up Lake and Riley's close
to sexually saw her, then hit her on the head,
asphyxiating her, according to prosecutors pleading. And he's not been
charged with sexual assault. The peeping toms a separate incident
as well, but he's pled not guilty to these ten
counts of malice, murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, other crimes. I mean,
(35:31):
it's just a laundry list right now that is piling
up on a Bara and his defense team, and so
it it's something that that that it's going to be
very very difficult for them to unprove, to prove that
he is innocent. But they're they're grasping at straws right now.
And I think that the fact that you've got these
other separate cases peeping tom and other kind of this,
(35:53):
this track record that Bara has for these sexual related crimes,
I think that is part of what the prosecution will
use to as part of the foundation of their case.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Who murdered Laken Riley? And why we do know this?
We know the man charged Ibarra, a member of a
vicious Venezuelan gang that is infiltrating the US, was spotted
wearing plastic gloves. Why are you wearing plastic gloves in
the middle of the day. I hate to give the
(36:26):
defense any ideas, but I'm guessing that somehow they're going
to connect this to being a food server in the
UGA cafeteria. Also, I wonder why he's not charged with
any particular sex attack. Since her clothes had been let
me say, disheveled, he obviously attempted a sex attack. You know,
(36:48):
let me analyze very quickly some of these charges. Andrew Stoultman,
it's genius in the charging. I think that they did
not charge with an attempted sex attack because they may
fail improving that and you don't want to throw in
a bad.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
Charge with other good charges.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
One bad apple can spoil the whole thing, right, like
Michael Jackson said, So why throw in a weak charge
that could infect the other charges. Listen to this, Andrew Stoltman.
It's a defense attorney's worst nightmare. They've got in charge
with malice murder, which is intentional killing. And of course
(37:28):
malice or intent to kill does not require any particular
amount of time, such as a long process like poisoning
someone over weeks and months. It could be the time
it takes you to pick up a rock and bash
her skull. That's enough time to form intent under the law.
But just in case the jury doesn't buy it, Stoltman,
(37:51):
he's also charged with felony murder, the underlying felonies being
AG battery and AG assault kidnapping. Now what that means
is it doesn't matter if you intended to kill. If
very simply, if a death occurs during the commission of
a felony, that's felony murder. You don't need intent to kill,
(38:14):
and felony murder carries the same penalty in this jurisdiction
as does malice murder.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Genius charging, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 7 (38:23):
I mean this obviously is in the first rodeo for
these prosecutors, and I think they want to make sure
and they lead with the tip of the spear, lead
with charges that they can absolutely positively prove. And all
of these are going to carry a lifetime prison sentence,
so you know these are good prosecutors. They're going to
hammer this guy. I think it's going to be a game,
(38:44):
set and.
Speaker 10 (38:44):
Match for him.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
One weak link in the jury could be disastrous. One
person that finds an issue with the fingerprint with the DNA.
I'm not sure how they're challenging the DNA. I think
it's because of the search warrant. But that said, all
it takes is one weak link. I mean, I want
(39:06):
you to hear this. Cheryl, during the attack on Lacoln,
the perp allegedly prevents her from calling nine one one,
just like in Molly Tibbett's murder, then uses an object
which we believe to be a rock, to beat her
in the head so badly her skull is crushed disfigured.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Then he's accused it. I don't know why.
Speaker 2 (39:33):
This isn't in the indictment of not only asphyxiating her,
but trying to pull her clothes off to sex assault her.
Then he drags her body from the intramural fields to
a secluded area to conceal it. I mean, think about it.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
It's again. It's like a wolf out in the wild, Cheryl.
Speaker 5 (39:54):
He targeted her as soon as he saw her. This
was absolutely a crime of opportunity. What you were say
seeing is a sexually motivated predator, a motivated sexual assault.
Whether he completed what he intended or not. Maybe he
got disrupted because somebody else was coming down the path.
Maybe he heard people talking and laughing.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (40:17):
But what we do know is he at a level
of murder, took a life of someone he simply saw
in a moment.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
As we go to air, there are challenges to the
state's evidence. The defendant wants the pipping Tom severed. Why
he doesn't want the jury to know he's a PERV.
They are challenging the search warrant. That search warrant yielded
very valuable probative evidence, evidence that proves something. If that
(40:54):
search warrant attack prevails, much of the evidence will be suppressed.
We are also seeing, as in the Brian Coburger case,
a demand for a change of venue the defense saying
the defendant cannot get a fair trial in Athensy, Georgia.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye friend,
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
A beautiful young nursing student, Lake and Riley, just twenty
two years old, beaten so viciously, her skull is actually disfigured. Tonight,
the suspect makes demands. Yes, the suspect makes demands. I'm
(00:31):
Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being
with us. A young nursing student goes for her routine
morning jog around campus but never returns. It's so hard
to imagine that this beautiful young nursing student, dedicating her
life to helping others and the prime of her life,
(00:53):
just twenty two years old, goes out for a jog
and then ends up beaten so viciously, her skull is disfigured.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
What more do we know? Listen, she was.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Found right next to a lake, next to the intermural fields.
And my son is a sophomore at the University of Georgia.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
He actually parks there at the intermural fields.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
And so around this lake is a pretty it's a
pretty normal place for students, for people in the community
of Athens, Georgia, to run around. And this was on
a Thursday morning, you right in the middle of the week,
nice weather, there at Lake Herrick and as the you know,
Uga police chief was talking about and he says, he
(01:37):
called this a crime of opportunity. So she went there running,
we assume by herself.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
You're hearing our friend anchor, investigative reporter Jason Dennis, WTVM.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
And w X t X.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Why is it that there is an epidemic of young
female joggers ending up dead?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
What about Molly Timmyts? Do you remember that name? I do,
I'll never forget it.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Listen, College student Mally Tibbets goes out for a jog
in Brooklyn, Iowa. Police say on a country road, Christian
Rivera sees Molly Tibbets out for her run, gets out
of his car and runs alongside Molly.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Okay, what about Eliza Fletcher in Memphis?
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Remember that name?
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Just a for four am? Eliza Fletcher is off on
her regular early morning jog. The married mother of two
kindergarten teacher is an avid runner with times good enough
to qualify for the Boston Marathon. When Fletcher doesn't return
home from her run, panic sets in. Her husband calls police.
Surveillance video shows around four thirty am, while she jogs,
she's approached by someone who forces her into a dark
(02:41):
colored suv and drives off.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Joining me from the field.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Cheryl McCollum, founder of the Cold Case Research Institute, forensic
expert and star of Zone seven. Cheryl McCollum does it
never and Lake and Riley minding her own business, trying
to become a nurse like the nurse that saves my twins'
lives in Nick, You she can't even take a job
(03:09):
on a campus where you think everything is safe. Her
skull is bashed in and tonight the suspect, the chief suspect,
is making his own demands. But can we get back
to the epidemic of attacks on female joggers, Nancy.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
It seems to be part of the plan to attack
these folks while they're jogging at the end of a jog,
meaning they're tired, they're fatigued. They're not going to be
able to put up a fight like they would if
they had not already been exercising. If you look at
where lake Len Riley ended up, that's at the top
(03:51):
of a just major heel, so she was quite possibly
extremely fatigued, even though we know he did fight that well, Cheryl.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I disagree completely.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
You say this is part of a plan, which means
a thought out plan. I think they're no better than
a predator, an animal. Toseph Scott Morgan joining me, Professor Forensics,
Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon,
star of a hit series Body Bags. That Joe Scott
(04:25):
Morgan goes on and on and on and on. He's
a death investigator. Okay, he's handled over ten thousand death investigations,
just like Cheryl McCollum on the street every day is
a forensic expert.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
These are not just talking heads.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
They know what they're talking about, like the rest of
our panel. Joe Scott, I don't think this is part
of a plan. He's going to think, oh, okay, I'll
let her run twenty five minutes, then I'll try to
rape and beater skull in. This is no better than
a hyena on the Serengetti waiting for the gazelle to
go to the watery hole.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
He attacks, no thought to it, just like an animal.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
Joe Scott, I think that going to this kind of
animalistic perspective, I think that the reality is is that
it's almost at a promo level where they're seeking they're hungry,
and in his case, he could only be satisfied by attacking.
And so that's going to be the planning that goes in.
And it's an you know, the chief had mentioned that
(05:26):
this is a crime of opportunity, and so he would
have been familiar with this area where he could track
this poor young lady and watch for that Opportunity's familiar
with the landscape, the topography that Mac just mentioned relative
to the grade out there moving about and where can
you be secluded. So there has to be a few
(05:47):
points to these elements that are involved so that he
can successfully get away with this, and he almost did.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Nancy Animals, complete animals, and you know, back to you,
Cheryl McCollum, a long time colleague and the director of
the Cold Case Research Institute. You know where I was
this entire weekend this past weekend. I was out looking
at colleges and universities for my children, John, David and
(06:14):
Lucy Lynch and every place that Lucy liked. She's just
a tiny little bitty thing.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
All I could think about.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
I looked down each alleyway and each walkway, and they'd
be beautiful with live oaks and blah, blah blah. Oh,
I could think about it's Lincoln Riley and my girl.
I mean, what do we have to do to stop
people like this guy.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
One of the main things that stuck out for me
when I walked this scene and you sent me to
Athens was Lakeland did everything right, and so did her roommate.
It was broad daylight, there were people all around. She
parked at a known place with the band practices. Was
not alone there. Even when I was there days after
(07:03):
this murder, there were people jogging and hiking and in
kayaks in the pond and late. This was not a
place that was secluded and way off the beaten path
where she took a great risk. There was only a
small portion of this entire place where you were, you know,
had woods all around you, and where he could drag
(07:24):
her off of the pathway there into the woods and as.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
The crow flies.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
If you are where her body was found, it is
a straight shot to his apartment. And I'm going to
tell you again he picked this spot. He knew somebody,
some unsuspected victim, was going to come.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
By my place.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
You're giving him so much credits, total bs.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
He didn't pick anything.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
He probably waited until she was near some trees, put
no more thought into it than that hyena out on
the serengetti, and then tried to rape her and beat.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Her skull in to you.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
You know Andrew Stoltman joining US, high profile Chicago lawyer.
He's an adjunct law professor at Northwestern. That's not shabby.
You know how hard it is to get into Northwestern University.
Co author of the book Waging War on Wall Street. Okay,
I respect that, but you go on and get after
(08:24):
those white collar criminals. Can we talk about a human
hyena right now? I'm sure you have experience in criminal
law as well.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I've read your resume very carefully.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
How is it the prime suspect after what we know
happened to lacn Can you imagine the roommate.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Calling her parents.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Have you talked to Lacln and that feeling the mom
and dad must have gotten where they're like no. And
now he jumps up in court and is making demands
about having evidence thrown out. Do you ever just just
want to shoot your foot when you're sitting in court
listening to this. If I could get my hands around
(09:09):
his neck, I'd end up on the Nancy Grace Show.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Okay, Andrew Stoltman, why does.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
He think he can make demands like throwing out evidence?
Speaker 7 (09:18):
Well, I think he's seen it done successfully in other cases.
I mean, think about it, Nancy, how will to defend
and get around the fact that his DNA was found
underneath the victim's nails?
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Right, that's cataclysmic to the case.
Speaker 7 (09:33):
So he has to try to get this information out
because if he doesn't, he's going to spend a very
long time the rest of his life in prison. And
by the way, I still can't figure out why the
prosecutors aren't pursuing the death penalty in this case because
of any reprobate. If any degenerate deserves it, it's this guy.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
You know, I want to talk about the way that
her body was found, but let me go along chronologically.
So the roommate realizes Lacon didn't come back from jogging.
She starts making calls, where's Lacon, Where's Lincoln. Laca's not
answering her cell phone.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Now listen to this.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
There was a.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Jacket, and what was the significance of the jacket? Why
were you why did you believe it was related?
Speaker 8 (10:29):
To them because I've never sold a jacket myself, but
I was told by other law enforcement officials that there
was blood and I believe hair on the jacket.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
What's of hair Licn's hair, Laken's hair on a jacket.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
So immediately, Cheryl McCollum, all the investigators start retracing her
steps trying to figure out where she was.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Then they look in a dumpster.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Thank Heaven, and yes, that's sop to look at dumpsters.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
I looked in plenty of them.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
And it stinks.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It's horrible conditions.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Yeah, and again there you have to get in it
and dig through everything. But they were rewarded when they
find a jacket with hair on it that turns out
to be Lakin's jacket.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That dumpster yielded evidence.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
Cheryl McCollum, it was brilliant Nancy. From the moment she's
reported missing at twelve oh seven, they find her by
twelve thirty eight. That's telling you how seriously law enforcement
took this. When they got to that dumpster and got
in it and found the jacket with the blood and
the hair, that's going to connect that person from that
(11:42):
jacket to Lakeland. Then they also have her cell phone
you mentioned earlier, she attempted to call nine one one.
That's going to be real time stamped too. So now
you're starting to build this case, your spart you know,
you're starting to connect these dots that are going to
be extremely important for trial.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Right now is a very high profile investigative reporter and
anchor a WTVM and WXTX on this case from the beginning.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
And I say case as opposed to story. This is
no story.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
As Lacan's parents if this is some story, this is
real and they are having to deal with this every
day of their lives.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
And now the.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Suspect is making demands. He's got a nerve. Jason Dennis,
I want you to tell me about the area. Thank
you for being with us again. Jason, I really appreciate it.
You've been there, You're familiar with it. You know exactly
what happened. Tell me about the area where Laken was jogging.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Well, these are Nancy intramural fields that are commonly used.
I mean, there's forty thousand students at the University of Georgia,
including my son, and this is an area that's commonly
used intramural fields. People park there, people walk from there
to class, walk from class to there and often work
out and and you know, it's beautiful weather in Athens,
(13:05):
Georgia often, you know, for for a lot of the year,
and so it's it's commonly used and it's not a
place where you would go and feel unsafe. But unfortunately
something like this puts, you know, a new kind of
fear in these you know, eighteen to twenty one year olds.
You know she you know, she was twenty two years old,
(13:26):
her body found at lunchtime right there in Athens, right
along the trail, and it's heartbreaking and you know, her
family and friends filling the Core room just a few
days ago, just tears strolling down their face. From what
I understand as Jose Obara was requesting, you know, to
throw out some of this evidence, you know, DNA evidence,
(13:49):
social media evidence, fingerprint identification, wanting this to be thrown out.
And what you know he mentioned earlier a slam dunk case.
And so it's it's heartbreaking to know that, you know,
this happened nine months ago and we're still dealing with
you know that he is still free in terms of
he hasn't been convicted yet. So that's I think what
(14:12):
is one of the most heartbreaking things I think.
Speaker 9 (14:15):
Searching for a suspect in the death of Lake and Riley,
officers patrolling the Argo apartment community see a Hispanic man
matching the description of the man seen in a surveillance
video putting a jacket and latex gloves with blood inside
a trash man on the apartment complex property. Twenty six
year Police veit Sergeant Timothy Johnson says the man is
even wearing an identical hat. Confronting the man, police learning
(14:37):
he is Diego Ebarra, the brother of Jose Ebarra. Asked
for identification, he tells officers that he doesn't have an ID,
but has a University of Georgia Food Services employee name
tag which reads Diego.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
A beautiful twenty two year old comes face to face
with a predator. She dials nine to one one, but
it's too late.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Diego Ebara leads officers to his apartment, where he hands
over his ID, a United States Permanent Resident card often
called a Green card. The poor quality, as well as
two separate birth dates listed on the card. It's quickly
verified by Homeland Security to be a fake. Diego Ebara,
his brother Jose Ebarra, and two other men in the
apartment are detained and held outside while police wait for
(15:22):
a search waran for the apartment. The apartment is about
five hundred yards from where Lakenriley was found.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Five hundred yards from where this beautiful nursing student was
found with her skull crushed and her clothes in disarray
from an obvious sex attack.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
It doesn't take long for police to realize that.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
These two related are members of a notorious gang out
of Venezuela, trend de Arragua. Who is trend Arragua well
number one. If you have seen headlines in the knees
recently about gangs taking over apartment complexes terrorizing the residents
(16:04):
in Colorado as them. They originated in a prison facility
in Venezuela. They specialize in drug trafficking, human smuggling, murder,
all sorts of extortion.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
They moved from Venezuela.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
To Chile and beyond, and now they're here in the US,
in Colorado, in New York, in Texas, and in Georgia,
where Laken lived with her roommate. So this is where
the legal challenge arises right here. So how is it
(16:48):
straight back out to an investigative reporter joining US Jason Dennis.
What originally led police to this guy and to this.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Apartment, A Bara allegedly, you know, was was lying in wait,
like you mentioned earlier, and you know, allegedly sexually assaulted
and killed Lake and Riley. But what led them to
the apartment is they found that evidence in the dumpster
and they you know, we were getting tips from people
(17:20):
about illegal immigrants living there. His brother, the suspect in
this murder case working at the cafeteria the donning An
area of the University of Georgia unknowingly uh, being any
illegal immigrant?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Are you telling me that a member of the notorious
Venezuelan gang Trenda Aragua is serving lunch and the UGA cafeteria.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
And the the problem here as well, this was you
know obviously ten months ago, is that you know, they
he was not vetted and and and and so they
found out later that he had a fake green card,
as I mentioned in that pre pro And so it's
something that you know, that's the problem is that you're
(18:07):
not checking people ahead of time and vetting them to
see and because of those mistakes are made. Lake and Riley,
two year old.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Version student, This is what I understand.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
He is around all these young coz that can be
as young as sixteen or seventeen when they go there.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
But Chris McDonough.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Joining me, director of the Cold Case Foundation, former homicide detective,
and star.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
The Interview Room on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Do you know what I have to go through to
even try to use a check at the grocery store.
I to show ID, I have to show credit cards.
You don't forget the check? Never mind, I'll just use
a credit card. But this guy is serving food in
the cafeteria where every single co ed is coming through
freshmen and sophomore years.
Speaker 10 (18:59):
Really, yeah, it's almost unbelievable, isn't it, Nassia. I mean
the fact that this guy's part of a transnational organization,
a criminal organization creating you know, drug pipelines into the
United States.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
And by the way, at.
Speaker 10 (19:13):
Some point they're gonna they're gonna clash with the Mexican
cartels if this thing doesn't get some you know, control
over it. And so here you have this guy, you know,
I'm part of this organization, like you said, you know,
scoop and potatoes, you know, mash potatoes for the kids
that are coming through the line. You know this is
(19:33):
more than just he slipped, you know, through the cracks.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Me think about it. Think about it, Chris McData. Let
me ask doctor Chloe. This, doctor Chloe Carmichael joining us.
Can't you imagine the looks they give those young girls
going through that cafeteria line, and they are nothing but predators,
(19:57):
human hyenas.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Yes, exactly, Nancy.
Speaker 11 (20:01):
Of course they would look at the co eds, the
joggers as these you know, kind of pretty privileged, rich kids,
easy pickings, easy prey for these animals. And I think
it's really sick that they were actually allowed in there
in the country, frankly in the first place, much less
allowed anywhere near these young people that were just trying
(20:22):
to get an education.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I'm trying to make the connection about how they find
Lincoln's body and then suddenly they're at this guy's apartment.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Listen the email.
Speaker 12 (20:33):
Subviig had a black in color baseball cap with a
white Adida symple moment exactly as that of the suspect
in the picture.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
At the Dompsters.
Speaker 9 (20:44):
While waiting for a search warrant to arrive, officers have
jose Ebarra and his roommates detained outside the apartment. UGA
Police Corporal Raphael Sion describes jose Ebarra as very quiet
and very nervous. Sion also notices wounds on jose Ebarra,
such as redness on his knuckles, a scratch on his
wrist and arms, as well as redness on his forehead.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
So Cheryl McCollum joining me, Cold Case Research Institute Founder
forensics expert Cheryl, So, somebody was doing a great job.
They look at a dumpster, they find a jacket, it's
got hair on it. But then they look at the
video around the dumpster and they see matching outfits and
(21:29):
they match it up to these two.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
Absolutely and Nancy again from where her body is.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
If you walk.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
Straight, you go right to that dumpster. They did that immediately.
Then as they start, you know, walking around the neighborhood,
people start pointing and then one witness was like, yeah,
I think I saw him over there. They also then
law enforcement continues across the street to the gas station.
They looked at every single trash bend they could find
(21:58):
in that entire area, and they piece this thing together
so quickly. And let me tell you there's a photograph
you can see. The command center is parked in front
of his apartment door. They played this thing beautifully and
so professionally and so quickly.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Let's take a listen from Uga Police Sergeant Josh Epps
about what led him to that apartment, because.
Speaker 8 (22:24):
I believe there's fair pabability. There's evidence of the murder
inside there. He was seen leaving there. I'm aware of
the evidence that was found in the dumpster, and it's
not all the articles of clothing that that initial was
wearing that day.
Speaker 13 (22:37):
We have a suspect in custody for Lakeland's murder. We
are obtaining arrest warrants for Jose Antonio Abera, twenty six
years of age. He lives here in Athens, but it's
not a US citizen. He has been charged with the
(22:59):
following malice, murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping,
hindering a non to one one call, and conciering the death.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Of another, even in line of the horrific attacks on
lacn He is in court making demands what more evidence
is there against him?
Speaker 9 (23:34):
Lesson, after hose Ebarro's arrest for the murder of lake
and Riley, his thumb print is compared to a Layton
print found on Lake and Riley's cell phone. It is
the opinion of Athens Clark Police crime scene technician Tim
Stewart that jose Ebarra is the source for the print
found on the phone. The defense team for hose Ibarro
plans to challenge this particular piece of fingerprint evidence the
(23:55):
ties I borrow to the cell phone of Lake and Riley.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
So how is it destray out?
Speaker 2 (24:00):
To the veteran defense attorney Andrew Stoltman, how is it
that when your fingerprint turns up on the victim's cell phone?
How do you try to get that suppressed? One of
the defendant's many demands.
Speaker 7 (24:14):
Well, I think you have to argue that the process
of gathering that fingerprint and the related evidence was flawed.
Either the police technician was sloppy, they didn't follow standard
operating protocol. Because if that comes in, it's game, set
and match, right, Because anni juror is going to sit
here and say, wait a minute, how the heck did
(24:35):
the defendant's thumb print get on the victim's cell phone?
So that's just kind of another bullet in the chamber
that kind of goes to the tapestry of guilt, as
I like to call it. So they have to challenge
everything with respect to the collection process to try to
keep that out because if it comes in game set match,
he's going to be convicted.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Shedding a little light on the defendants demands in court.
Speaker 9 (24:58):
Listen, Jose Ebarra aims to challenge the evidence prosecutors plan
to use a trial and if filed motions attempting to
incriminate evidence that was seized through a search warrant at
Ebarra's home. The defense is also challenging DNA and fingerprint evidence.
The defense team for Jose Ebarra is claiming that after
Ebarro was detained, a UGA detective got a search warrant
(25:20):
for his apartment, which Ibarra's lawyers say was void on
his face and issued without probable cause, while also being
overly broad for what officers could look for and seize
as evidence.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
We see this.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
All the time when a search warrant is obtained and
they did obtain a search warrant before seizing items from
the apartment. If they don't get a search warrant, cops
don't get a search warrant. The claim is they didn't
have a search warrant, this is no good. If they
do get a search warrant, A typical challenge is the
search warrant is overbroad?
Speaker 1 (25:53):
What does that mean.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Let's say that I finally get fed up and I
strangled Jackie right in the studio.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
A search warrant is executed on the studio.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
The search warrant could say any and all evidence that
Nancy Grace ever did anything wrong in her life, that's overbroad.
But when the search warrant specifically refers to the murder
of a victim, as it did, how can that possibly
be construed as overbroad?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
And let's get.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Real, Andrew Staltman, is very rare that a search warrant
is quashed and the evidence on the return is suppressed
because of overbroad You got to do a little bit
better than that.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
It is most certainly a hail Mary.
Speaker 7 (26:42):
And I think they're doing everything to try to keep
that evidence out of the case because it is devastating
to the case and to the defense of the scumbag defendant.
And so yes, I think we're kind of going through
the defense lawyer handbook, the playbook, throwing up every hail
mayor they can. I don't expect it to be successful.
(27:03):
That evidence is coming in. He's going to be convicted.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
The defense also argues there's no PC no probable cause to.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Search the home. Bs listen ose.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
Bara's defense argues there's no probable cause to search the
apartment and the warrant is overbroad in that it is
seeking anything with DNA. Items seized include cell phones, which
experts from the FBI analyzed. Prosecutors argue the cell phones
were seized in good faith and the facts and circumstances
discovered by police make it a reasonable search.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Just Scott Morgan joining me, Professor forensicks, don't you love
cell phones? Can we just enjoy the moment of remembering
Alex and murdog on the stand being confronted with all
the cell phone outa that places him at the scene
of the double murder of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
He's like rot Row. The cell phone evidence was damning.
So in this.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Case police go in pursuant to warrant Andrew Stoutman pursuant
to a search warrant signed by a judge and they
seese cell phones and a.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Lot of other evidence.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
So what could be on the Defenan's cell phone or
the relative cell phone.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
What do they want?
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's got to be something, because the defense is trying
so hard to get suppressed. If it didn't have any
any probitive evidence on it, they wouldn't care. They say,
bring it in, but no, they are fighting tooth and
nail to keep that cell phone data out.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
What is it?
Speaker 6 (28:38):
Yeah, they are, And I think that you're going to
discover perhaps that there are some really incriminating messages. Remember
he's here with his brother and he understands. He has
this kind of come to Jesus moment where he realizes
how deep he's into this thing, starts communicating with people,
and you see that throughout his actions. But Nancy, there's
another piece to this relative to cell phone. The cell
(29:01):
phone revealing something. Do you remember when this case first happened,
how it was stated that Laken had an awareness that
this was going to happen, and that she had initiated
a nine to one one call. It had been put
forth that the phone was taken from her, And I'm
talking about the physical phone itself. If his thumbprint is
(29:24):
on there, that's a damning bit of information. These two
had never known each other, he wasn't known to use
her phone, So how do you explain that away? Defense
has to do that? And I'll give you one more
if you like that one. You begin to think about
this damning level of information. What did they say about
him when they hooked him up on charges he had injuries?
(29:45):
Did he not? We're talking about DNA relative to what
may have been beneath her fingernails. Now we don't know
how far out this exclusion or how much the defense
is wanting to throw that data out and how that
was collected. But both of those elements, and we're not
even getting into the electronics stuff. We're just talking about
physical evidence here that in and of itself is very damning.
(30:09):
So I can see why the defense would want to
do this. They're going to be drowning relative to the
scale of.
Speaker 14 (30:16):
This, Naty can I jump in this, Yeral McCollum, I
was just going I was just about to ask you
your thoughts on what could be on that cell phone
between the two of them, and what if he says
I'm in trouble, I just killed a girl, or you
don't know what's on there yet, is.
Speaker 5 (30:34):
What I do believe you're going to see those two
phones in the exact same place for the exact same
amount of time, and that's going to be from twelve
seven to twelve thirty eight ish, and that's going to
be the most damning those phones move together for a
period of time.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
Crime stories with great ose.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
Ebarra is also charged with peeping through the window of
an apartment in UGA's University Village building s and spying
on an individual on the same day as Riley's murder.
The person involved in that case is not Lake and
Riley now the defense.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Another demand in court is that the peeping Tom accusation
be severed. In other words, they don't want the Lacan
murder jury to hear anything about the peeping tom. Where
this guy Ebarra is peeping Tom. It's alleged he is
(31:40):
peeping Tom on another young woman just before Laken's murder.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I bet he does want that thrown out to doctor
Chloe Carmichael.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
All it takes is a renowned clinical psychologist like herself
to explain the connection between peeping tom's and rapists, because
it's a well known phenomena amongst prosecutors. Not all voyeurs
peeping tom's are rapists, but I guarantee you, doctor Kloyd Chloe,
(32:12):
that all rapists are voyeurs.
Speaker 11 (32:15):
Yes, to a certain degree, Nancy exactly. So there's actually
also something called algolagnia, which is the anticipation that a
sadist feels at the joy of their sick anticipation before
they do an act of sadism. And there's also sometimes
a certain amount of sucking and just simply sick logistical
planning that a rapist needs to do before he can
(32:38):
actually make his move. So the idea that this person
you would be stalking her is not a surprise to me.
And moreover, the brutality with which he murdered her, I mean,
her skull completely crushed. This is somebody who obviously takes
some kind of, you know, literal overkill pleasure in what
(32:59):
he's doing. Wasn't, you know, physically disabling her just to
accomplish a goal. He went above and beyond, and it
suggests that he has kind of an animalistic drive there. Obviously,
I would venture to say that this is not his
first time doing something like this based on the brutality
of this attack, and it's no surprise to me at
(33:21):
all that the same thing he was caught with a
peeping tom earlier in the day. It's also not a
surprise to me that he would in the courtroom start
making demands. I mean, first he you know, kind of
rapes our borders. He comes in here illegally and then
proceeds to literally rape our citizens. It's not a surprise
(33:41):
to me then that he thinks he can turn the
courtroom into his own playground as well. My guess is
that he's laughing at our judicial system.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Cheryl McCollum was like in sex assault that.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
Absolutely, and Nancy, I want to just tigging back on
what the doctor was just saying. Here's a couple of
crimes here that, if you look historically, are just called
the wrong thing. One is joy riding. We don't call
that stealing a car date rate, we should just call rape.
And peeping tom is nothing more than stalking with a
sexual motive. A peeping tom is a sexual predator, period two.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Jason Dennis joining us WTVM and wxt X. Jason tell
me about the alleged and I say alleged because none
of this.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Has been proven in a court of law.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
In fact, he's still presumed innocent until it has been
proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jason tell me about the
alleged peeping tom incident and the connected incident of him
allegedly trying to force another young co ed's door open
before Lakerim was found dead.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Yeah, these are, unfortunately, you know, seen as crimes of
opportunity because you have so many students, young co eds
on this campus in Athens, Georgia, and he is lying
in wait and watching uh, these young women younger than
him and kind of picking his prey. And he is
(35:09):
accused of or allegedly pulling up Lake and Riley's close
to sexually saw her, then hit her on the head,
asphyxiating her, according to prosecutors pleading. And he's not been
charged with sexual assault. The peeping toms a separate incident
as well, but he's pled not guilty to these ten
counts of malice, murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, other crimes. I mean,
(35:31):
it's just a laundry list right now that is piling
up on a Bara and his defense team, and so
it it's something that that that it's going to be
very very difficult for them to unprove, to prove that
he is innocent. But they're they're grasping at straws right now.
And I think that the fact that you've got these
other separate cases peeping tom and other kind of this,
(35:53):
this track record that Bara has for these sexual related crimes,
I think that is part of what the prosecution will
use to as part of the foundation of their case.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Who murdered Laken Riley? And why we do know this?
We know the man charged Ibarra, a member of a
vicious Venezuelan gang that is infiltrating the US, was spotted
wearing plastic gloves. Why are you wearing plastic gloves in
the middle of the day. I hate to give the
(36:26):
defense any ideas, but I'm guessing that somehow they're going
to connect this to being a food server in the
UGA cafeteria. Also, I wonder why he's not charged with
any particular sex attack. Since her clothes had been let
me say, disheveled, he obviously attempted a sex attack. You know,
(36:48):
let me analyze very quickly some of these charges. Andrew Stoultman,
it's genius in the charging. I think that they did
not charge with an attempted sex attack because they may
fail improving that and you don't want to throw in
a bad.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
Charge with other good charges.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
One bad apple can spoil the whole thing, right, like
Michael Jackson said, So why throw in a weak charge
that could infect the other charges. Listen to this, Andrew Stoltman.
It's a defense attorney's worst nightmare. They've got in charge
with malice murder, which is intentional killing. And of course
(37:28):
malice or intent to kill does not require any particular
amount of time, such as a long process like poisoning
someone over weeks and months. It could be the time
it takes you to pick up a rock and bash
her skull. That's enough time to form intent under the law.
But just in case the jury doesn't buy it, Stoltman,
(37:51):
he's also charged with felony murder, the underlying felonies being
AG battery and AG assault kidnapping. Now what that means
is it doesn't matter if you intended to kill. If
very simply, if a death occurs during the commission of
a felony, that's felony murder. You don't need intent to kill,
(38:14):
and felony murder carries the same penalty in this jurisdiction
as does malice murder.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Genius charging, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 7 (38:23):
I mean this obviously is in the first rodeo for
these prosecutors, and I think they want to make sure
and they lead with the tip of the spear, lead
with charges that they can absolutely positively prove. And all
of these are going to carry a lifetime prison sentence,
so you know these are good prosecutors. They're going to
hammer this guy. I think it's going to be a game,
(38:44):
set and.
Speaker 10 (38:44):
Match for him.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
One weak link in the jury could be disastrous. One
person that finds an issue with the fingerprint with the DNA.
I'm not sure how they're challenging the DNA. I think
it's because of the search warrant. But that said, all
it takes is one weak link. I mean, I want
(39:06):
you to hear this. Cheryl, during the attack on Lacoln,
the perp allegedly prevents her from calling nine one one,
just like in Molly Tibbett's murder, then uses an object
which we believe to be a rock, to beat her
in the head so badly her skull is crushed disfigured.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Then he's accused it. I don't know why.
Speaker 2 (39:33):
This isn't in the indictment of not only asphyxiating her,
but trying to pull her clothes off to sex assault her.
Then he drags her body from the intramural fields to
a secluded area to conceal it. I mean, think about it.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
It's again. It's like a wolf out in the wild, Cheryl.
Speaker 5 (39:54):
He targeted her as soon as he saw her. This
was absolutely a crime of opportunity. What you were say
seeing is a sexually motivated predator, a motivated sexual assault.
Whether he completed what he intended or not. Maybe he
got disrupted because somebody else was coming down the path.
Maybe he heard people talking and laughing.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (40:17):
But what we do know is he at a level
of murder, took a life of someone he simply saw
in a moment.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
As we go to air, there are challenges to the
state's evidence. The defendant wants the pipping Tom severed. Why
he doesn't want the jury to know he's a PERV.
They are challenging the search warrant. That search warrant yielded
very valuable probative evidence, evidence that proves something. If that
(40:54):
search warrant attack prevails, much of the evidence will be suppressed.
We are also seeing, as in the Brian Coburger case,
a demand for a change of venue the defense saying
the defendant cannot get a fair trial in Athensy, Georgia.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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