March 21, 2024 • 40 mins
Thursday, November 28th, 2002, on a foggy Thanksgiving evening in Tacoma, Washington.
Families all around gathered to celebrate and enjoy time with loved ones.
Joe and Evangeline Britt prepared their home to host that evenings meal and festivities.
What started as a typical Thanksgiving celebration for the Britt's, ended in horror and tragedy.
A devastating story that remind us how quickly life can change, even for the innocent.
Grind up some cherry pie and hang out with us while we talk about the tragic murder of Jeremey Britt-Bayinthavong and Kimberly Riley.
We apologize for the terrible audio. We hope your laughter at our producer makes up for it. Audio gets better around the 30 minute mark.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Happy 420, I'm Kai and you are listening to Stone Cold Murder.
(00:08):
Vista PSA, if you have any information to help solve a crime, go to www.crimestoppers.com
to report any information anonymously.
Thanks for tuning in for season 2, episode 7, the murder of Jeremy Britt Bavenvong and
Kimberly Riley.
This podcast contains material that may not be suitable for all audiences.
(00:31):
Listener discretion is advised.
Hello everyone, we are back with Stone Cold Murder and we have Chris on the pod today.
How are you doing today?
Not too bad.
Good.
Chris and I have worked together for, I don't know, what, like how long have you worked?
Six years.
Yeah, like six years.
Yeah.
(00:52):
We've worked together for about six years now, so we've been smoking holes and getting
high together for a very long time.
We've smoked in many circles together.
It's nice to have a smoke session with you on the pod.
Thanks for being on.
(01:12):
Chris actually did.
Thank you.
It's awesome to have you.
Chris does a lot of art, you want to tell us a little bit about your art stuff that
you do and your show that you're going to have?
Well, I'm a mystic who studies through the symbols and things that I come across and
(01:33):
I want to see the things that I'm studying.
So I'm going to create art that's based on trying to actually depict properly ancient
symbols as best I can.
Yeah, and they're beautiful.
They're all handmade and he's made me a couple of birth charts actually, one for myself
(01:56):
and one for my husband and one for actually my best friend and her wife.
And they're all personalized, they're based off of your birth chart obviously and certain
things that you pick for each chart so each one is very different even though you have
triplets that you've made charts for.
Right, my triplets are the birth charts and each one has a completely different color scheme
(02:21):
because they pick different colors for the elements and have a different image that they
use, the image itself.
So their charts look completely different even though everything is in the exact same
place astrologically through the placements of the sun and the rest of it.
Yeah, I think that's so cool.
Each one of them are just completely customized and beautiful and gorgeous.
(02:45):
I actually got mine for Nicole and Britt for their wedding and I was like, they were so
shocked by getting something like that that was for one so personalized and for two something
that was like a combination of their love without being too cheesy, you know what I mean?
Yeah, and it's gorgeous.
So definitely want to check out his stuff and you can check it out at...
(03:11):
My name, Christopher Langmeier on Facebook, you can also look up Langmeier Astrology
and I have pictures of all my charts that I've done for people over the years there.
Can I post one on my Starfield merch?
I will be having a show at the...
(03:32):
What was it?
Mystic Fests.
Oh yeah, those have been on the back.
If you're at the end of March or April, I don't know the exact dates currently.
Yeah, I'm worried.
Partly because I'm still in the back, partly because I haven't actually been to the exact dates yet.
I feel that.
(03:54):
Yeah, and he also does tarot. He does really good tarot reading.
Oh yeah, that's something I'm talking about when I was 13.
It's actually tricky talking about stuff that we won't talk about.
I love it. You get me every time you do my reading, you go like...
That's the adult aspect that I actually practice.
And that I primarily study astrology as the next biggest focus for the week.
(04:21):
Yeah. Your tarot readings are too accurate for me.
I go, I'm going to do this to get it done so that I know I'm not crazy
and I'm not actually thinking these thoughts.
Because you're saying this, that, and the other, I'm like, fine.
I knew it!
This needs a bit of confirmation.
(04:43):
Yeah, so after this episode posts, I'll make sure I link your stuff
and put a picture on my chart so everybody can at least see what you're working with
and what we're talking about because they are all gorgeous and they are beautiful
and good to be seen.
(05:04):
Look at them, everyone.
Alright, now that we've introduced Chris and Nikon properly, so we are going to get into the episode.
I will have a few smoke breaks throughout the episode and feel free to interact with me
at any point if you have anything to say. Otherwise, we're going to do it.
(05:27):
Alright, so our story starts out on Thursday, November 28, 2002.
It's a very foggy day, kind of like today.
I knew you guys came into some thought of getting here, so sorry about that.
It's a very foggy day in Tacoma, Washington.
This was Thanksgiving and people all around the USA were gathered around to celebrate the time with loved ones,
(05:54):
as we all love to do.
Police were called to Joe and Evangeline's home just after 10pm that evening
in response to shots fired inside the family's home, which is a terrible way to spend Thanksgiving.
What started as a typical Thanksgiving celebration for the Brits ended in horror and tragedy.
(06:17):
A total of eight shots were fired into the home, leaving two people injured and two people dead in the attack.
And police immediately got to work on finding the perpetrator.
So on the morning of November 28, just like many others, Joe and Evangeline Ritt were preparing their home for the holiday.
Joe and Evangeline lived in a quiet little cul-de-sac in South Tacoma, Washington.
(06:43):
They had invited friends and family over to enjoy food and each other's company that evening.
And they anticipated that there'd be over 24 people at that dinner, which is a lot of people to have in their home.
But that's what the holidays are for, I guess.
Jeremy Britt, faith in God, was Joe and Evangeline's grandson, and he lived with his parents, who would of course be a part of that guest list.
(07:09):
And the Brits also invited a family friend named James Riley and his sister Kimberly Riley to join them that evening.
James was an electrician that had become close to the Britt family through a mutual love of working on cars.
And because of their love for James and his sister, he had become part of the family, and him and his sister ended up having an open invitation to the Thanksgiving dinner that evening.
(07:33):
Both Kimberly and James were originally from Hawaii, and they both grew up in a small town called Volcano.
Kimberly graduated high school in 2001, the year before, after spending her freshman year at the University of Hawaii.
Kim decided she wanted to experience something different, and she chose to move to the mainland, USA, for a change of scenery and to finish her education.
(07:59):
She decided she wanted to attend the University of Washington and made plans to move there.
Once she was in Washington state, Kim's life changed, and she was a little timid at first and a little anxious in a bigger city, but she soon found herself enjoying the city and what it had to offer her.
She settled into a new place and a new pace of life and told her family that she had decided to pursue a career in accounting.
(08:27):
Kim joined the University of Washington's Hawaii Club to remain close to her roots and to also spend a lot of time with her older brother James, who had moved there before her.
So that's kind of how she ended up in that situation and also being a part of that Thanksgiving dinner that evening.
So she was freshly there in Washington not too long before this unfortunate incident happened.
(08:53):
The day was spent watching football, drinking, eating, lots of delicious yummy food, and catching up while the kids played outside.
After everybody enjoyed the Thanksgiving dinner, the adults had some fun and some drinks afterwards and talked while the younger kids and other guests, including Kim, went downstairs to watch movies and play games.
(09:15):
They had a pool table down there, they had a TV, so all the kids were like, we're going to go hang out together while the adults just drink and do the dishes and do their adult stuff.
So some of them started to game a pool while others sat on the couch that was located directly underneath this lower level window that was in the house.
And they started the movie Men in Black 2. Do you guys remember that movie? What a time.
(09:42):
So bellies full, everybody settled in to enjoy the rest of the evening and the time together.
It seemed like a nice chill typical end to the Thanksgiving day.
But just about 10 p.m. that evening, an older Ford pickup truck with a light colored canopy pulled up just outside the Brits house.
Everyone they had invited was accounted for and the Brits family did not expect any other guests that evening.
(10:08):
And also because it was foggy, no one noticed this truck pulled up outside their home.
At 10 on 5, bullets rained inside the house through that lower level window. That's where everybody was watching the movie.
The shooter fired eight shots in total, hitting four victims.
Jeff Spencer, 22.
(10:29):
Harmony Spencer, 20.
Kimberly Riley, 19. And Jeremy Britt were all hit during the shooting.
The victims sat right below the window before the shooting.
And that's where Jeremy had been snuggled up with Harmony on the couch because he wasn't feeling good after all the food.
(10:50):
So he snuggled up there watching the movie.
Harmony was shot three times and she would end up surviving her wound.
But she was shot in the arm, the back, and the abdomen, which is a lot of shots.
Amazing that she survived.
But Harmony would later say before it could even register to her what happened, it was over.
(11:13):
And she had like no time to react to anything.
Jeff was also shot. He was shot in the leg with a non-fatal injury.
But the bullet severed one of his nerves and actually would affect the way he walked through the rest of his life.
Jeff was Kim's boyfriend.
And he ended up immediately grabbing her and held her after the shooting.
(11:35):
Jeff said, I can still just remember her face and looking at her face and holding her.
He told her in the air, I love you.
And I just felt like she was alone and she needed help.
But I didn't know what to do.
Kim died in Jeff's arms before the paramedics could arrive.
And Kimberly was taken to the Medigan Army Medical Center with two gunshots to her chest.
(12:02):
And there she was pronounced dead.
Jeremy, who was the Brits' grandson, was rushed to a nearby hospital, Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, where he died a few hours later.
And I don't think they specified him in injuries because he was only four years old.
Yeah, it's perfect. And that is where I'm taking a smoke break.
(12:26):
And we're back from our smoke break.
So, we just talked about Kimberly getting shot and going to the hospital and also Jeremy being shot and taken to the hospital.
And both of them, unfortunately, being pronounced dead at the hospital.
(12:51):
Police arrived at the Brits' home and immediately got to work, searching the crime scene for any evidence and also talking to victims and neighbors who were potentially witnesses to the horrifying shooting.
Unfortunately, very little evidence could be found at the crime scene.
The killer had approached the home on Thanksgiving, knowing full well that it was a full house and likely...
(13:15):
Everybody's focused on their families and it's happening outside.
Yes, exactly. Exactly what I was going to say.
And, yeah, people are distracted. They're celebrating the holiday. Nobody's going to notice them.
It was noted that the fog and the compensation would have made it almost impossible for the shooter to have been able to see even inside the home.
(13:37):
And at the time of the shooting, the curtains had been partially shut. So it blocked the view of the window too.
So that means that most likely they couldn't even see who they were shooting inside.
Yeah, sounds very random.
Yeah, like a blind just wanted to shoot someone.
Right, outside of maybe an area that that family was in.
(13:59):
Right.
Or someone that they knew were going to be dead.
Exactly.
Which is sad. I must return a line.
So based on the trajectory of the bullets, it's believed that the shooter was firing wildly and not targeting any one person or any particular location.
And that they likely just saw figures moving around inside and decided to try and hit as many of those as possible.
(14:26):
Right, shooting the woman was a little bit more than that.
So police were able to recover any kind of further evidence like fingerprints, hair fibers or DNA at the scene.
They had enough drug with them.
They didn't really touch anything. And they didn't go inside the house. So it's not likely that they dropped anything.
(14:51):
They didn't bleed anywhere. You know what I mean?
And it was also November. It was foggy. It was cold, leaving the ground outside the crime scene cold and solid, allowing for the shooter to leave no footprints or impressions of the dirt.
So that was out too.
There were bullets and shells recovered from the scene and those were sent off for analysis.
(15:16):
But police were not really able to gather too much from that.
And what they were able to gather was a little bit of information from witness sightings.
Two witness sightings described seeing an individual fleeing to a vehicle and leaving the area of the crime scene around the time of the shooting.
(15:39):
The vehicle was described as a 1970s to 1980s model Ford pickup truck with a light colored canopy.
A third witness spotted a person fleeing the crime scene. He was like running around the street corner of the cul-de-sac in which they live.
And it was down the street, which was L Street.
(16:01):
The person was described as having dark hair and was wearing a fluffy puffy jacket or a winter coat.
Another neighbor that lived down the street also saw a truck speeding down their same street in that same time frame of the shooting.
And they described the vehicle as being dark colored late 70s or early 80s era Ford pickup truck.
(16:28):
So very similar, if not the same, as the other witnesses.
Right, but also very similar to that truck.
Exactly, it's very like, okay great, so you've got a full ten years between which make it is and also dark color could be dark red.
One of the major producers of trucks in the world.
(16:51):
Right, yay, like that's like great. Out of all the evidence we could get at one.
And they did say it was Ford, so that's not hoped too much, but it helps a little I guess.
Right, nothing useful like a license plate.
Right, never the license plate, you know.
(17:12):
They thought it was suspicious that the vehicle drove down the block without its headlights on.
So that was their first key witness statement.
They were like, hey, we've noticed them before the shooting actually, and they were driving down the street without the lights on.
Thought it was kind of weird.
And they were heading westbound towards I-5.
(17:33):
And it was just neighbors.
So it was like neighbors in the cul-de-sac and then a couple neighbors as they went down the street who all saw the truck.
But the witness said it wasn't until the truck began to turn around the corner that headlights popped back on.
So they were definitely trying to be sneaky.
(17:56):
The police theorized that the truck may not belong to the shooter, but might have been borrowed from someone else that the shooter knows.
Because no one has come forward with any information to collaborate with the theory.
It's just a theory.
So nobody was like, yeah, I let my friend borrow this car and it came back with bullets in it and whatever, you know.
(18:20):
It would be maybe nice, but that never happened.
The police believed that Leonard Spencer saw the shooter and Leonard is the father of Harmony and Jeff Spencer, who were both shot but not killed in the shooting.
They thought that he would have stepped out around the corner of the house and walked right by them at the time of the shooting because he was outside.
(18:44):
I guess dumping trash or something.
But Leonard said that he had been upstairs with other adults and rushed outside instead of being outside, but that he had rushed outside to see where the noise was coming from.
And that it was dead silent by the time he got out there.
There were no tire tracks and nobody was running away.
(19:06):
So the police suspect he was lying about what he told them?
I don't know which is interesting because it doesn't seem like anybody was like, yeah, he was outside or whatever.
They just think he was outside, which I think is weird.
I don't know. When I was writing this, I was like, why did he think that?
But they think his story doesn't line up with what he's saying.
(19:33):
So something about the facts that they collected. Yeah. Yeah. Not telling the whole truth.
But they don't really share what that fact is.
I just thought it was interesting.
And that's where we're going to take any better smoke.
You guys want a dab, a pen, a bowl?
(19:54):
Alright.
It turned out that this wasn't the first time the Britt family had an attack on their home.
Your theory is correct.
So there might be some few who know about it.
In fact, a very similar incident happened at their home a few years before the tragic shooting of the incident.
(20:20):
At about 820 p.m. on March 3rd, 2000, Joe and Evangeline Britt were at home watching TV together.
When the gunman opened fire, shooting more than 23 rounds into the house.
Oh, did it?
Yeah. Which is a ton.
Just like the Thanksgiving shooting, the shooter and the reason for the attack would remain completely unknown.
(20:46):
The fact that the home of Joe and Evangeline had been targeted in a violent shooting before obviously couldn't be ignored.
And many people believe that the two incidents were related.
Where was this again?
This was at their house.
No, but where were in the country?
Oh, this is in Washington. Tacoma.
(21:07):
In Tacoma?
Yeah.
Tacoma is such an urbanized area, I wouldn't expect this kind of hillbilly feud level to keep everybody out of it.
But totally be...
That's what it seems like.
It's like we're not going to talk to the cash, but we're going to keep it in family and deal with it.
(21:30):
Yeah, because they never come up with a reason.
An attack deal in the car kind of thing.
Yeah, usually they'll be like, okay, well there's this guy that doesn't want us to cut down the tree that goes between our two fence lines.
You know, something stupid like that that gets people up in arms, but like, nothing.
We don't get nothing from that.
(21:51):
And maybe again it's the police wanting to keep things close to the chest because it's unsolved.
They don't want the public to know, but it seems odd at the very least.
Theories for the targeting of the Britt family have included wanting to scare them out of the house, arguments with the neighbors,
(22:13):
though none have ever been reported, and some sort of allegated involvement with criminals in the area.
Like, it's all just people just pulling theories from a hat, you know, just like we are. Nobody really knows.
The police have already looked into the lives and backgrounds of those who were attending the Thanksgiving dinner that evening,
(22:35):
and none of the partygoers had any ties or connections to local gangs or any kind of illicit criminal activity.
No prior criminal convictions and no known reason for anyone to have been targeted for such reckless shooting.
You know what I mean?
Oh, and a second time.
And a second time.
(22:57):
Were the two, Britt and others, were they the only ones that were involved in both shootings?
Just the owners of the home were the only two that were involved in both shootings. The Joe and Evangeline Britt, the homeowners.
I would think they are the targets.
That's what I would think too, but they seem like just no innocent couple who have nothing to do with anything,
(23:24):
unless it's just like they bought this house and someone didn't want them in the house because...
And there was no information from the first encounter with the police in the shooting that was way worse than this one?
No.
It's like what? How? It's mind-blowing how some of these things happen. So reckless.
(23:48):
For that level of insularity from the authorities about something so vicious and visceral, you think that it has to be a very personal sort of thing.
Absolutely.
And from HS, from 23 being before you, that kind of points almost obviously to the people who are in the others' house.
(24:14):
Yeah.
And this is just collateral damage from whatever it did that caused somebody to want to shoot them three times before.
Which is still unknown and I think that's the scariest part.
Right.
Or unless they're just not sharing the information.
But if 23 shots didn't land on us and 8 shots into your family during Thanksgiving could be an escalation of the point.
(24:43):
Absolutely. It's kind of a Punisher style.
Yeah.
Which sucks. Yeah.
That's cruel.
Yeah. Another theory is that the shooters hit the wrong home due to the calculated nature of the attack.
They thought that the shooter was likely outside for several minutes before opening fire and had potentially a getaway vehicle prepared.
(25:07):
It was theorized by some law enforcement that the attack could have been professional in its execution but may have been intended for someone else in the area.
I don't know why I think that.
That seems less likely with the previous.
With it being twice. Right.
And the previous one being worse as far as like the number of bullets fired.
(25:29):
Right.
It's hard to think they'd get the wrong place twice in a row.
Twice.
Unless they're really stupid.
Which I guess could be but.
You can never underestimate the stupidity of the human populace. Why?
You're right. You're so right on that.
(25:53):
But highly unlikely, you would think, right?
I would place it in the highly unlikely category.
Me too. Absolutely.
Because the gators thought because of the wild nature of the shooting, it had been intended to definitely kill or harm anyone specific, but had been meant to scare the occupants of the household.
(26:15):
Yeah, that's why it sounds like a personal escalation.
Yeah.
You were in the lesson the first time for much.
Whatever it is.
Randomly trying to get the both of you, then we're shooting you now randomly.
On the whole day.
While we know your family's all around you.
Hit you where it hurts the most.
I'm surprised the police don't have any theories as to why two related incidents like that would be happening to the same people.
(26:42):
Right.
You would really think.
That's going to be super private.
Which says super personal.
Super. Yeah.
You're not going to let anybody involved in it because we can't let them be.
Which means something shady is going on.
Because we don't want the authorities in if something shady is going on.
Or yeah.
And if it's personal.
(27:03):
Completely don't trust the police.
If it's personal feud with other people where something bad could be happening, yeah, we don't want things to go wrong.
We just take care of it.
Yeah.
It would take a lot for me to get the police involved in most things, but like my house being shot at would likely be one of them.
Yeah, you just leave the lights on the line.
You say fuck that shit and just get the people involved.
I don't know if it's the police, but maybe it all has a different role.
(27:27):
It could be possible that the Ron Cohn had been targeted on the dark foggy Thanksgiving night is another thing.
But also like we said, it happened twice.
The other time it was in Margo.
How dark and foggy was it?
The night 23 bullets came in the night.
Right.
It was a march at like 8 p.m.
(27:48):
So it's like, I don't know if it was foggy or anything.
Jim Mathis told the Tribune in 2002 that it's tied to the house or somebody in it.
I like what we said.
This is a totally dead end street and they came here with a mission and obviously accomplished it.
Detective Brian Bold of the Tacoma Police Department would later recount to Washington's most wanted on a segment that aired back in 2013.
(28:16):
What's most troubling about this is that they didn't care who was shot as long as they sent the message.
The person that may have been the ultimate goal was in the house, but that isn't the person that they shot.
They shot four innocent people who have no criminal background, no trouble in their life and were just seated at the wrong place at the wrong time.
(28:39):
The shooting deaths of Kimberly Riley and Jeremy Bay in Long remain unsolved to this day,
with both of their families continuing to remember the precious lives that were lost that Thanksgiving evening.
Is one of them the one that you said was from, that had never been there before?
Who's the one that had never been there?
(29:01):
That's Kimberly. Yeah, she was from Hawaii.
Was she shot alive?
She was. She was shot and killed.
That's probably what got forces beyond the local.
Like involved, yeah.
And then the other person that was shot and killed was the homeowner's grandson, which was Jeremy, and he was four.
(29:23):
So I don't think they intended either of those people, but because of the two, I think the age of Jeremy for long and then Kimberly being outside the family,
I think they got attention, but also not enough.
They're very thankful it was Thanksgiving, and potentially if it had happened before, they may have known that that window opened up on the level that the family would be not the children.
(29:52):
The family would be not the primary targets, what they're trying to just send a message to.
So yeah, that's really what I think would be going on. They had something going on with somebody that they didn't want their authorities to know anything about.
Yeah, underestimated whoever it was.
And a message get sent.
(30:13):
Unfortunately, not the right targets either, you know.
Well, to the right targets, but to the detriment of innocence.
And sadly if the four year old died was the, you know, people that have been shot at before his child.
(30:37):
Yeah.
I just realized why we haven't been recording out of that goddamn mic all the time.
(30:58):
It's been recording from my laptop mic, because this fucking cord isn't plugged in.
I was wondering why this shit wasn't turned up, dude.
As soon as Todd made his pass through, and it didn't fucking like move anything I was like, oh.
(31:25):
No, this probably sounds like shit.
I'm sorry.
It's funny.
(31:49):
Sorry for the audio.
Not in advance, we're almost done now.
All right, guys, we are back after plugging in the mic. So you may notice a change in my voice.
(32:13):
Does it sound better? I hope so.
So the shooting deaths of Kimberly Riley and Jeremy Britt Vandermonde remain unsolved to this day,
with both of their families continuing to remember the two precious lives that were lost that Thanksgiving evening.
Joe and Evangeline Britt would move out of the home shortly after the shooting,
(32:36):
not only finding it unsafe to continue living there, but also unable to do so knowing what happened to their grandson Jeremy within the walls of their once happy home.
In the years after the shooting, the whole family found themselves unable to truly celebrate Thanksgiving
and continue to struggle with their loss of Jeremy.
Mike and Carol Riley, Kim's parents, who continue to live in Hawaii,
(32:59):
begin to feel a cold reminder of her death every Halloween,
aware that they are counting down the days to the anniversary of their only daughter
and the day she was killed and taken away from them by the savage unknown killer.
It has now been 21 years since Kim was murdered.
At a press conference held in the days after the shooting, the families of both victims vowed to find answers in the case
(33:27):
and appealed to the public for help for them to do so.
Joe Britt, Jeremy's grandfather, told the media,
I promised Jeremy we'd find who did this. Him and Kimberley did not die in vain.
There's got to be somebody out there who knows something. You've got to have a conscience.
In the following weeks, Mike Riley would tell reporters with the news tribune that he favored the death penalty for the guilty parties,
(33:55):
which at the time was still allowed in Washington state.
The only justice would be to let me do it. It was a cowardly act by a cowardly person firing through shaded windows.
In 2017, Tacoma police would appeal for information saying that they know people have information on the killer's identity and motive,
but that they won't come forward with whatever reason it is.
(34:18):
So they do know someone has some information, but I guess they just can't get it out of them.
Anybody with information can contact Crimestoppers or call anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS or 1-800-222-8477.
Crimestoppers continues to offer a reward of $1,000 for information leading to a conviction in the case.
(34:44):
But before we go and get into our final thoughts, tell you a little bit of both Kimberley and Jeremy.
Kimberley Carol Riley, known as Kim, had grown up in Hawaii, the daughter of Mike and Carol Riley.
Kimberley had one sibling, an older brother named James, and she graduated from Waukea High School in 2001.
(35:05):
Kim was known as an animal lover who had volunteered at HIO Veterinarian Clinic throughout high school.
Kim at one point convinced her parents to rescue a pair of animals from the local humane society and had dreams of entering the veterinary field.
Kim attended the University of Hawaii for her freshman year,
(35:26):
but after her first year she realized that she wanted to move out of her own hometown experience and experience a little bit more than just the island life.
So she moved to Washington where she attended the University of Washington near Seattle.
Kim quickly settled into her coursework and told her family that instead of a veterinarian career,
she had finally settled upon a career path and planned on pursuing a career in accounting,
(35:52):
and told her parents that she one day dreamed of owning and operating her own business.
She had joined a club as soon as she moved to the area, which was a Hawaiian club,
and most of her free time was spent at the club and also hanging out with her older brother James, who worked and lived in Seattle.
Kim was very much a young woman in the process of finding herself,
(36:14):
but almost everyone that knew her remembers her as a kind and patient soul.
She never had a mean thing to say about anybody. She was sweet and quiet and just a very gentle person.
Jeremy Britt Bay and Long was born November 7, 1997. He was known as a quiet child that smiled a lot.
(36:36):
He spent a lot of time over at his grandparents' home in Tacoma and was often seen by neighbors riding his bike in the front yard.
Jennifer Yee was a neighbor of Jeremy's grandparents, who occasionally babysat Jeremy and would later tell the news-tribune.
He was just a little kid at the start of his life. He had beautiful eyes and a beautiful soul.
(36:59):
Jeremy celebrated his fifth birthday on November 7, 2002, just 21 days before his tragic murder.
Being just five years old at the time of his murder, Jeremy was robbed of the chance of living his life or his dreams.
He was just starting to become a little person of his own.
Final thoughts on the case?
(37:22):
Ultimately, I still think it was something personal with that family.
And that a message was delivered.
Yeah.
I mean, unless there's something that says that there was other shootings at that house before or after they lived there that made that a commonality,
(37:45):
it sounds really like they were targeted a couple of times for something.
Yeah.
And that the Thanksgiving thing was an escalation.
Yeah.
Sad.
Yeah.
And it probably wouldn't have even garnered attention if it hadn't been for a couple of innocents that happened to be there that weren't part of the actual family.
(38:07):
Yeah. I couldn't imagine.
I am disturbed.
And it would look very much like, you know, obviously there's multiple people in this case.
Like they had a driver, a getaway driver, had someone, at least one person that shot into the home.
(38:30):
So it's like there's two, there's multiple guilty parties in this case.
So potential is there for someone to crack or at least include someone else in the knowing of things.
So the fact that no one is talking says maybe there's some sort of organized crime involved because that usually prevents parties even peripherally associated from going to the authorities.
(38:54):
Right.
And it also has massive gunshot things like that as warnings.
That is true.
Yeah.
Well, if anybody does have any information, please reach out to the numbers we call.
We mentioned earlier, which was 1-800-222-8477.
(39:15):
That's Crime Stoppers.
And they are continuing to offer a reward for anybody who's leading to a conviction in the case.
And before we go, let's let Chris plug in his socials one more time for these beautiful birth charts that you can get.
It's chris langmeyer at langmeyerastrology.com.
(39:38):
All right.
And I will post my birth chart so you guys can see my lovely birth chart because it's the best one.
Just kidding.
There's a lot of really good ones.
But until next time, stay high, stay safe, and thank you for listening.
If you like the show, please consider giving us a five star rating wherever you are listening or follow us on Instagram at Stone Cold Murder.
(40:04):
Thank you.
Happy 420, I'm Kai and you are listening to Stone Cold Murder.
(00:08):
Vista PSA, if you have any information to help solve a crime, go to www.crimestoppers.com
to report any information anonymously.
Thanks for tuning in for season 2, episode 7, the murder of Jeremy Britt Bavenvong and
Kimberly Riley.
This podcast contains material that may not be suitable for all audiences.
(00:31):
Listener discretion is advised.
Hello everyone, we are back with Stone Cold Murder and we have Chris on the pod today.
How are you doing today?
Not too bad.
Good.
Chris and I have worked together for, I don't know, what, like how long have you worked?
Six years.
Yeah, like six years.
Yeah.
(00:52):
We've worked together for about six years now, so we've been smoking holes and getting
high together for a very long time.
We've smoked in many circles together.
It's nice to have a smoke session with you on the pod.
Thanks for being on.
(01:12):
Chris actually did.
Thank you.
It's awesome to have you.
Chris does a lot of art, you want to tell us a little bit about your art stuff that
you do and your show that you're going to have?
Well, I'm a mystic who studies through the symbols and things that I come across and
(01:33):
I want to see the things that I'm studying.
So I'm going to create art that's based on trying to actually depict properly ancient
symbols as best I can.
Yeah, and they're beautiful.
They're all handmade and he's made me a couple of birth charts actually, one for myself
(01:56):
and one for my husband and one for actually my best friend and her wife.
And they're all personalized, they're based off of your birth chart obviously and certain
things that you pick for each chart so each one is very different even though you have
triplets that you've made charts for.
Right, my triplets are the birth charts and each one has a completely different color scheme
(02:21):
because they pick different colors for the elements and have a different image that they
use, the image itself.
So their charts look completely different even though everything is in the exact same
place astrologically through the placements of the sun and the rest of it.
Yeah, I think that's so cool.
Each one of them are just completely customized and beautiful and gorgeous.
(02:45):
I actually got mine for Nicole and Britt for their wedding and I was like, they were so
shocked by getting something like that that was for one so personalized and for two something
that was like a combination of their love without being too cheesy, you know what I mean?
Yeah, and it's gorgeous.
So definitely want to check out his stuff and you can check it out at...
(03:11):
My name, Christopher Langmeier on Facebook, you can also look up Langmeier Astrology
and I have pictures of all my charts that I've done for people over the years there.
Can I post one on my Starfield merch?
I will be having a show at the...
(03:32):
What was it?
Mystic Fests.
Oh yeah, those have been on the back.
If you're at the end of March or April, I don't know the exact dates currently.
Yeah, I'm worried.
Partly because I'm still in the back, partly because I haven't actually been to the exact dates yet.
I feel that.
(03:54):
Yeah, and he also does tarot. He does really good tarot reading.
Oh yeah, that's something I'm talking about when I was 13.
It's actually tricky talking about stuff that we won't talk about.
I love it. You get me every time you do my reading, you go like...
That's the adult aspect that I actually practice.
And that I primarily study astrology as the next biggest focus for the week.
(04:21):
Yeah. Your tarot readings are too accurate for me.
I go, I'm going to do this to get it done so that I know I'm not crazy
and I'm not actually thinking these thoughts.
Because you're saying this, that, and the other, I'm like, fine.
I knew it!
This needs a bit of confirmation.
(04:43):
Yeah, so after this episode posts, I'll make sure I link your stuff
and put a picture on my chart so everybody can at least see what you're working with
and what we're talking about because they are all gorgeous and they are beautiful
and good to be seen.
(05:04):
Look at them, everyone.
Alright, now that we've introduced Chris and Nikon properly, so we are going to get into the episode.
I will have a few smoke breaks throughout the episode and feel free to interact with me
at any point if you have anything to say. Otherwise, we're going to do it.
(05:27):
Alright, so our story starts out on Thursday, November 28, 2002.
It's a very foggy day, kind of like today.
I knew you guys came into some thought of getting here, so sorry about that.
It's a very foggy day in Tacoma, Washington.
This was Thanksgiving and people all around the USA were gathered around to celebrate the time with loved ones,
(05:54):
as we all love to do.
Police were called to Joe and Evangeline's home just after 10pm that evening
in response to shots fired inside the family's home, which is a terrible way to spend Thanksgiving.
What started as a typical Thanksgiving celebration for the Brits ended in horror and tragedy.
(06:17):
A total of eight shots were fired into the home, leaving two people injured and two people dead in the attack.
And police immediately got to work on finding the perpetrator.
So on the morning of November 28, just like many others, Joe and Evangeline Ritt were preparing their home for the holiday.
Joe and Evangeline lived in a quiet little cul-de-sac in South Tacoma, Washington.
(06:43):
They had invited friends and family over to enjoy food and each other's company that evening.
And they anticipated that there'd be over 24 people at that dinner, which is a lot of people to have in their home.
But that's what the holidays are for, I guess.
Jeremy Britt, faith in God, was Joe and Evangeline's grandson, and he lived with his parents, who would of course be a part of that guest list.
(07:09):
And the Brits also invited a family friend named James Riley and his sister Kimberly Riley to join them that evening.
James was an electrician that had become close to the Britt family through a mutual love of working on cars.
And because of their love for James and his sister, he had become part of the family, and him and his sister ended up having an open invitation to the Thanksgiving dinner that evening.
(07:33):
Both Kimberly and James were originally from Hawaii, and they both grew up in a small town called Volcano.
Kimberly graduated high school in 2001, the year before, after spending her freshman year at the University of Hawaii.
Kim decided she wanted to experience something different, and she chose to move to the mainland, USA, for a change of scenery and to finish her education.
(07:59):
She decided she wanted to attend the University of Washington and made plans to move there.
Once she was in Washington state, Kim's life changed, and she was a little timid at first and a little anxious in a bigger city, but she soon found herself enjoying the city and what it had to offer her.
She settled into a new place and a new pace of life and told her family that she had decided to pursue a career in accounting.
(08:27):
Kim joined the University of Washington's Hawaii Club to remain close to her roots and to also spend a lot of time with her older brother James, who had moved there before her.
So that's kind of how she ended up in that situation and also being a part of that Thanksgiving dinner that evening.
So she was freshly there in Washington not too long before this unfortunate incident happened.
(08:53):
The day was spent watching football, drinking, eating, lots of delicious yummy food, and catching up while the kids played outside.
After everybody enjoyed the Thanksgiving dinner, the adults had some fun and some drinks afterwards and talked while the younger kids and other guests, including Kim, went downstairs to watch movies and play games.
(09:15):
They had a pool table down there, they had a TV, so all the kids were like, we're going to go hang out together while the adults just drink and do the dishes and do their adult stuff.
So some of them started to game a pool while others sat on the couch that was located directly underneath this lower level window that was in the house.
And they started the movie Men in Black 2. Do you guys remember that movie? What a time.
(09:42):
So bellies full, everybody settled in to enjoy the rest of the evening and the time together.
It seemed like a nice chill typical end to the Thanksgiving day.
But just about 10 p.m. that evening, an older Ford pickup truck with a light colored canopy pulled up just outside the Brits house.
Everyone they had invited was accounted for and the Brits family did not expect any other guests that evening.
(10:08):
And also because it was foggy, no one noticed this truck pulled up outside their home.
At 10 on 5, bullets rained inside the house through that lower level window. That's where everybody was watching the movie.
The shooter fired eight shots in total, hitting four victims.
Jeff Spencer, 22.
(10:29):
Harmony Spencer, 20.
Kimberly Riley, 19. And Jeremy Britt were all hit during the shooting.
The victims sat right below the window before the shooting.
And that's where Jeremy had been snuggled up with Harmony on the couch because he wasn't feeling good after all the food.
(10:50):
So he snuggled up there watching the movie.
Harmony was shot three times and she would end up surviving her wound.
But she was shot in the arm, the back, and the abdomen, which is a lot of shots.
Amazing that she survived.
But Harmony would later say before it could even register to her what happened, it was over.
(11:13):
And she had like no time to react to anything.
Jeff was also shot. He was shot in the leg with a non-fatal injury.
But the bullet severed one of his nerves and actually would affect the way he walked through the rest of his life.
Jeff was Kim's boyfriend.
And he ended up immediately grabbing her and held her after the shooting.
(11:35):
Jeff said, I can still just remember her face and looking at her face and holding her.
He told her in the air, I love you.
And I just felt like she was alone and she needed help.
But I didn't know what to do.
Kim died in Jeff's arms before the paramedics could arrive.
And Kimberly was taken to the Medigan Army Medical Center with two gunshots to her chest.
(12:02):
And there she was pronounced dead.
Jeremy, who was the Brits' grandson, was rushed to a nearby hospital, Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, where he died a few hours later.
And I don't think they specified him in injuries because he was only four years old.
Yeah, it's perfect. And that is where I'm taking a smoke break.
(12:26):
And we're back from our smoke break.
So, we just talked about Kimberly getting shot and going to the hospital and also Jeremy being shot and taken to the hospital.
And both of them, unfortunately, being pronounced dead at the hospital.
(12:51):
Police arrived at the Brits' home and immediately got to work, searching the crime scene for any evidence and also talking to victims and neighbors who were potentially witnesses to the horrifying shooting.
Unfortunately, very little evidence could be found at the crime scene.
The killer had approached the home on Thanksgiving, knowing full well that it was a full house and likely...
(13:15):
Everybody's focused on their families and it's happening outside.
Yes, exactly. Exactly what I was going to say.
And, yeah, people are distracted. They're celebrating the holiday. Nobody's going to notice them.
It was noted that the fog and the compensation would have made it almost impossible for the shooter to have been able to see even inside the home.
(13:37):
And at the time of the shooting, the curtains had been partially shut. So it blocked the view of the window too.
So that means that most likely they couldn't even see who they were shooting inside.
Yeah, sounds very random.
Yeah, like a blind just wanted to shoot someone.
Right, outside of maybe an area that that family was in.
(13:59):
Right.
Or someone that they knew were going to be dead.
Exactly.
Which is sad. I must return a line.
So based on the trajectory of the bullets, it's believed that the shooter was firing wildly and not targeting any one person or any particular location.
And that they likely just saw figures moving around inside and decided to try and hit as many of those as possible.
(14:26):
Right, shooting the woman was a little bit more than that.
So police were able to recover any kind of further evidence like fingerprints, hair fibers or DNA at the scene.
They had enough drug with them.
They didn't really touch anything. And they didn't go inside the house. So it's not likely that they dropped anything.
(14:51):
They didn't bleed anywhere. You know what I mean?
And it was also November. It was foggy. It was cold, leaving the ground outside the crime scene cold and solid, allowing for the shooter to leave no footprints or impressions of the dirt.
So that was out too.
There were bullets and shells recovered from the scene and those were sent off for analysis.
(15:16):
But police were not really able to gather too much from that.
And what they were able to gather was a little bit of information from witness sightings.
Two witness sightings described seeing an individual fleeing to a vehicle and leaving the area of the crime scene around the time of the shooting.
(15:39):
The vehicle was described as a 1970s to 1980s model Ford pickup truck with a light colored canopy.
A third witness spotted a person fleeing the crime scene. He was like running around the street corner of the cul-de-sac in which they live.
And it was down the street, which was L Street.
(16:01):
The person was described as having dark hair and was wearing a fluffy puffy jacket or a winter coat.
Another neighbor that lived down the street also saw a truck speeding down their same street in that same time frame of the shooting.
And they described the vehicle as being dark colored late 70s or early 80s era Ford pickup truck.
(16:28):
So very similar, if not the same, as the other witnesses.
Right, but also very similar to that truck.
Exactly, it's very like, okay great, so you've got a full ten years between which make it is and also dark color could be dark red.
One of the major producers of trucks in the world.
(16:51):
Right, yay, like that's like great. Out of all the evidence we could get at one.
And they did say it was Ford, so that's not hoped too much, but it helps a little I guess.
Right, nothing useful like a license plate.
Right, never the license plate, you know.
(17:12):
They thought it was suspicious that the vehicle drove down the block without its headlights on.
So that was their first key witness statement.
They were like, hey, we've noticed them before the shooting actually, and they were driving down the street without the lights on.
Thought it was kind of weird.
And they were heading westbound towards I-5.
(17:33):
And it was just neighbors.
So it was like neighbors in the cul-de-sac and then a couple neighbors as they went down the street who all saw the truck.
But the witness said it wasn't until the truck began to turn around the corner that headlights popped back on.
So they were definitely trying to be sneaky.
(17:56):
The police theorized that the truck may not belong to the shooter, but might have been borrowed from someone else that the shooter knows.
Because no one has come forward with any information to collaborate with the theory.
It's just a theory.
So nobody was like, yeah, I let my friend borrow this car and it came back with bullets in it and whatever, you know.
(18:20):
It would be maybe nice, but that never happened.
The police believed that Leonard Spencer saw the shooter and Leonard is the father of Harmony and Jeff Spencer, who were both shot but not killed in the shooting.
They thought that he would have stepped out around the corner of the house and walked right by them at the time of the shooting because he was outside.
(18:44):
I guess dumping trash or something.
But Leonard said that he had been upstairs with other adults and rushed outside instead of being outside, but that he had rushed outside to see where the noise was coming from.
And that it was dead silent by the time he got out there.
There were no tire tracks and nobody was running away.
(19:06):
So the police suspect he was lying about what he told them?
I don't know which is interesting because it doesn't seem like anybody was like, yeah, he was outside or whatever.
They just think he was outside, which I think is weird.
I don't know. When I was writing this, I was like, why did he think that?
But they think his story doesn't line up with what he's saying.
(19:33):
So something about the facts that they collected. Yeah. Yeah. Not telling the whole truth.
But they don't really share what that fact is.
I just thought it was interesting.
And that's where we're going to take any better smoke.
You guys want a dab, a pen, a bowl?
(19:54):
Alright.
It turned out that this wasn't the first time the Britt family had an attack on their home.
Your theory is correct.
So there might be some few who know about it.
In fact, a very similar incident happened at their home a few years before the tragic shooting of the incident.
(20:20):
At about 820 p.m. on March 3rd, 2000, Joe and Evangeline Britt were at home watching TV together.
When the gunman opened fire, shooting more than 23 rounds into the house.
Oh, did it?
Yeah. Which is a ton.
Just like the Thanksgiving shooting, the shooter and the reason for the attack would remain completely unknown.
(20:46):
The fact that the home of Joe and Evangeline had been targeted in a violent shooting before obviously couldn't be ignored.
And many people believe that the two incidents were related.
Where was this again?
This was at their house.
No, but where were in the country?
Oh, this is in Washington. Tacoma.
(21:07):
In Tacoma?
Yeah.
Tacoma is such an urbanized area, I wouldn't expect this kind of hillbilly feud level to keep everybody out of it.
But totally be...
That's what it seems like.
It's like we're not going to talk to the cash, but we're going to keep it in family and deal with it.
(21:30):
Yeah, because they never come up with a reason.
An attack deal in the car kind of thing.
Yeah, usually they'll be like, okay, well there's this guy that doesn't want us to cut down the tree that goes between our two fence lines.
You know, something stupid like that that gets people up in arms, but like, nothing.
We don't get nothing from that.
(21:51):
And maybe again it's the police wanting to keep things close to the chest because it's unsolved.
They don't want the public to know, but it seems odd at the very least.
Theories for the targeting of the Britt family have included wanting to scare them out of the house, arguments with the neighbors,
(22:13):
though none have ever been reported, and some sort of allegated involvement with criminals in the area.
Like, it's all just people just pulling theories from a hat, you know, just like we are. Nobody really knows.
The police have already looked into the lives and backgrounds of those who were attending the Thanksgiving dinner that evening,
(22:35):
and none of the partygoers had any ties or connections to local gangs or any kind of illicit criminal activity.
No prior criminal convictions and no known reason for anyone to have been targeted for such reckless shooting.
You know what I mean?
Oh, and a second time.
And a second time.
(22:57):
Were the two, Britt and others, were they the only ones that were involved in both shootings?
Just the owners of the home were the only two that were involved in both shootings. The Joe and Evangeline Britt, the homeowners.
I would think they are the targets.
That's what I would think too, but they seem like just no innocent couple who have nothing to do with anything,
(23:24):
unless it's just like they bought this house and someone didn't want them in the house because...
And there was no information from the first encounter with the police in the shooting that was way worse than this one?
No.
It's like what? How? It's mind-blowing how some of these things happen. So reckless.
(23:48):
For that level of insularity from the authorities about something so vicious and visceral, you think that it has to be a very personal sort of thing.
Absolutely.
And from HS, from 23 being before you, that kind of points almost obviously to the people who are in the others' house.
(24:14):
Yeah.
And this is just collateral damage from whatever it did that caused somebody to want to shoot them three times before.
Which is still unknown and I think that's the scariest part.
Right.
Or unless they're just not sharing the information.
But if 23 shots didn't land on us and 8 shots into your family during Thanksgiving could be an escalation of the point.
(24:43):
Absolutely. It's kind of a Punisher style.
Yeah.
Which sucks. Yeah.
That's cruel.
Yeah. Another theory is that the shooters hit the wrong home due to the calculated nature of the attack.
They thought that the shooter was likely outside for several minutes before opening fire and had potentially a getaway vehicle prepared.
(25:07):
It was theorized by some law enforcement that the attack could have been professional in its execution but may have been intended for someone else in the area.
I don't know why I think that.
That seems less likely with the previous.
With it being twice. Right.
And the previous one being worse as far as like the number of bullets fired.
(25:29):
Right.
It's hard to think they'd get the wrong place twice in a row.
Twice.
Unless they're really stupid.
Which I guess could be but.
You can never underestimate the stupidity of the human populace. Why?
You're right. You're so right on that.
(25:53):
But highly unlikely, you would think, right?
I would place it in the highly unlikely category.
Me too. Absolutely.
Because the gators thought because of the wild nature of the shooting, it had been intended to definitely kill or harm anyone specific, but had been meant to scare the occupants of the household.
(26:15):
Yeah, that's why it sounds like a personal escalation.
Yeah.
You were in the lesson the first time for much.
Whatever it is.
Randomly trying to get the both of you, then we're shooting you now randomly.
On the whole day.
While we know your family's all around you.
Hit you where it hurts the most.
I'm surprised the police don't have any theories as to why two related incidents like that would be happening to the same people.
(26:42):
Right.
You would really think.
That's going to be super private.
Which says super personal.
Super. Yeah.
You're not going to let anybody involved in it because we can't let them be.
Which means something shady is going on.
Because we don't want the authorities in if something shady is going on.
Or yeah.
And if it's personal.
(27:03):
Completely don't trust the police.
If it's personal feud with other people where something bad could be happening, yeah, we don't want things to go wrong.
We just take care of it.
Yeah.
It would take a lot for me to get the police involved in most things, but like my house being shot at would likely be one of them.
Yeah, you just leave the lights on the line.
You say fuck that shit and just get the people involved.
I don't know if it's the police, but maybe it all has a different role.
(27:27):
It could be possible that the Ron Cohn had been targeted on the dark foggy Thanksgiving night is another thing.
But also like we said, it happened twice.
The other time it was in Margo.
How dark and foggy was it?
The night 23 bullets came in the night.
Right.
It was a march at like 8 p.m.
(27:48):
So it's like, I don't know if it was foggy or anything.
Jim Mathis told the Tribune in 2002 that it's tied to the house or somebody in it.
I like what we said.
This is a totally dead end street and they came here with a mission and obviously accomplished it.
Detective Brian Bold of the Tacoma Police Department would later recount to Washington's most wanted on a segment that aired back in 2013.
(28:16):
What's most troubling about this is that they didn't care who was shot as long as they sent the message.
The person that may have been the ultimate goal was in the house, but that isn't the person that they shot.
They shot four innocent people who have no criminal background, no trouble in their life and were just seated at the wrong place at the wrong time.
(28:39):
The shooting deaths of Kimberly Riley and Jeremy Bay in Long remain unsolved to this day,
with both of their families continuing to remember the precious lives that were lost that Thanksgiving evening.
Is one of them the one that you said was from, that had never been there before?
Who's the one that had never been there?
(29:01):
That's Kimberly. Yeah, she was from Hawaii.
Was she shot alive?
She was. She was shot and killed.
That's probably what got forces beyond the local.
Like involved, yeah.
And then the other person that was shot and killed was the homeowner's grandson, which was Jeremy, and he was four.
(29:23):
So I don't think they intended either of those people, but because of the two, I think the age of Jeremy for long and then Kimberly being outside the family,
I think they got attention, but also not enough.
They're very thankful it was Thanksgiving, and potentially if it had happened before, they may have known that that window opened up on the level that the family would be not the children.
(29:52):
The family would be not the primary targets, what they're trying to just send a message to.
So yeah, that's really what I think would be going on. They had something going on with somebody that they didn't want their authorities to know anything about.
Yeah, underestimated whoever it was.
And a message get sent.
(30:13):
Unfortunately, not the right targets either, you know.
Well, to the right targets, but to the detriment of innocence.
And sadly if the four year old died was the, you know, people that have been shot at before his child.
(30:37):
Yeah.
I just realized why we haven't been recording out of that goddamn mic all the time.
(30:58):
It's been recording from my laptop mic, because this fucking cord isn't plugged in.
I was wondering why this shit wasn't turned up, dude.
As soon as Todd made his pass through, and it didn't fucking like move anything I was like, oh.
(31:25):
No, this probably sounds like shit.
I'm sorry.
It's funny.
(31:49):
Sorry for the audio.
Not in advance, we're almost done now.
All right, guys, we are back after plugging in the mic. So you may notice a change in my voice.
(32:13):
Does it sound better? I hope so.
So the shooting deaths of Kimberly Riley and Jeremy Britt Vandermonde remain unsolved to this day,
with both of their families continuing to remember the two precious lives that were lost that Thanksgiving evening.
Joe and Evangeline Britt would move out of the home shortly after the shooting,
(32:36):
not only finding it unsafe to continue living there, but also unable to do so knowing what happened to their grandson Jeremy within the walls of their once happy home.
In the years after the shooting, the whole family found themselves unable to truly celebrate Thanksgiving
and continue to struggle with their loss of Jeremy.
Mike and Carol Riley, Kim's parents, who continue to live in Hawaii,
(32:59):
begin to feel a cold reminder of her death every Halloween,
aware that they are counting down the days to the anniversary of their only daughter
and the day she was killed and taken away from them by the savage unknown killer.
It has now been 21 years since Kim was murdered.
At a press conference held in the days after the shooting, the families of both victims vowed to find answers in the case
(33:27):
and appealed to the public for help for them to do so.
Joe Britt, Jeremy's grandfather, told the media,
I promised Jeremy we'd find who did this. Him and Kimberley did not die in vain.
There's got to be somebody out there who knows something. You've got to have a conscience.
In the following weeks, Mike Riley would tell reporters with the news tribune that he favored the death penalty for the guilty parties,
(33:55):
which at the time was still allowed in Washington state.
The only justice would be to let me do it. It was a cowardly act by a cowardly person firing through shaded windows.
In 2017, Tacoma police would appeal for information saying that they know people have information on the killer's identity and motive,
but that they won't come forward with whatever reason it is.
(34:18):
So they do know someone has some information, but I guess they just can't get it out of them.
Anybody with information can contact Crimestoppers or call anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS or 1-800-222-8477.
Crimestoppers continues to offer a reward of $1,000 for information leading to a conviction in the case.
(34:44):
But before we go and get into our final thoughts, tell you a little bit of both Kimberley and Jeremy.
Kimberley Carol Riley, known as Kim, had grown up in Hawaii, the daughter of Mike and Carol Riley.
Kimberley had one sibling, an older brother named James, and she graduated from Waukea High School in 2001.
(35:05):
Kim was known as an animal lover who had volunteered at HIO Veterinarian Clinic throughout high school.
Kim at one point convinced her parents to rescue a pair of animals from the local humane society and had dreams of entering the veterinary field.
Kim attended the University of Hawaii for her freshman year,
(35:26):
but after her first year she realized that she wanted to move out of her own hometown experience and experience a little bit more than just the island life.
So she moved to Washington where she attended the University of Washington near Seattle.
Kim quickly settled into her coursework and told her family that instead of a veterinarian career,
she had finally settled upon a career path and planned on pursuing a career in accounting,
(35:52):
and told her parents that she one day dreamed of owning and operating her own business.
She had joined a club as soon as she moved to the area, which was a Hawaiian club,
and most of her free time was spent at the club and also hanging out with her older brother James, who worked and lived in Seattle.
Kim was very much a young woman in the process of finding herself,
(36:14):
but almost everyone that knew her remembers her as a kind and patient soul.
She never had a mean thing to say about anybody. She was sweet and quiet and just a very gentle person.
Jeremy Britt Bay and Long was born November 7, 1997. He was known as a quiet child that smiled a lot.
(36:36):
He spent a lot of time over at his grandparents' home in Tacoma and was often seen by neighbors riding his bike in the front yard.
Jennifer Yee was a neighbor of Jeremy's grandparents, who occasionally babysat Jeremy and would later tell the news-tribune.
He was just a little kid at the start of his life. He had beautiful eyes and a beautiful soul.
(36:59):
Jeremy celebrated his fifth birthday on November 7, 2002, just 21 days before his tragic murder.
Being just five years old at the time of his murder, Jeremy was robbed of the chance of living his life or his dreams.
He was just starting to become a little person of his own.
Final thoughts on the case?
(37:22):
Ultimately, I still think it was something personal with that family.
And that a message was delivered.
Yeah.
I mean, unless there's something that says that there was other shootings at that house before or after they lived there that made that a commonality,
(37:45):
it sounds really like they were targeted a couple of times for something.
Yeah.
And that the Thanksgiving thing was an escalation.
Yeah.
Sad.
Yeah.
And it probably wouldn't have even garnered attention if it hadn't been for a couple of innocents that happened to be there that weren't part of the actual family.
(38:07):
Yeah. I couldn't imagine.
I am disturbed.
And it would look very much like, you know, obviously there's multiple people in this case.
Like they had a driver, a getaway driver, had someone, at least one person that shot into the home.
(38:30):
So it's like there's two, there's multiple guilty parties in this case.
So potential is there for someone to crack or at least include someone else in the knowing of things.
So the fact that no one is talking says maybe there's some sort of organized crime involved because that usually prevents parties even peripherally associated from going to the authorities.
(38:54):
Right.
And it also has massive gunshot things like that as warnings.
That is true.
Yeah.
Well, if anybody does have any information, please reach out to the numbers we call.
We mentioned earlier, which was 1-800-222-8477.
(39:15):
That's Crime Stoppers.
And they are continuing to offer a reward for anybody who's leading to a conviction in the case.
And before we go, let's let Chris plug in his socials one more time for these beautiful birth charts that you can get.
It's chris langmeyer at langmeyerastrology.com.
(39:38):
All right.
And I will post my birth chart so you guys can see my lovely birth chart because it's the best one.
Just kidding.
There's a lot of really good ones.
But until next time, stay high, stay safe, and thank you for listening.
If you like the show, please consider giving us a five star rating wherever you are listening or follow us on Instagram at Stone Cold Murder.
(40:04):
Thank you.
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