January 5, 2026 • 41 mins
Newlywed disappears while on Mediterranean honeymoon cruise - True Crime Documentary
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
You can't look at the water at the sea without
remembering what happened to George. It's got too many bad
memories for me now. Oh I miss him, miss him
every day. I miss his voice. I miss his phone
cause he called me all the time. I just miss
him as a son.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Pretty much.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Every night I go to bed, I see his face.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
No parents should have to lose their son that way.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
And this is Captain Michael May I give you attention.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
Please have you personally have gone overboard last night.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that my
son was murdered on that cruise ship. There's so much evidence,
it's overwhelming.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
It's just been a complete and awful nightmare for my family,
and we still do not have justice for George.
Speaker 6 (01:22):
The first suspect is the surviving spouse.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
She said she couldn't remember anything.
Speaker 6 (01:27):
Eyebrows started to go up about what exactly did Jennifer know.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
But the FBI soon turned its attention from George Smith's
widow to a group of young men, the last people
to see George alive.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
There were sounds of a fight, a struggle inside my
brother's room.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
I heard some males arguing on the balcony.
Speaker 6 (02:00):
What we're trying to do is sort through the facts
and figure out what happened that night, because unfortunately it's
become pretty much a cold case. While on the cruise,
did you meet George Smith? Fourth? There was a series
of questions that I asked in each of the depositions
of each of the boys. Do you know what happened
to George Smith? Well? You present when George Smith went overboard?
(02:20):
Did you kill George Smith?
Speaker 7 (02:22):
Some crazy went down that night? And how one day
did they find out a truth?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
A forty eight hours investigation has uncovered failed polygraphs, questionable alibis,
and a provocative video made by some of the men
just hours after George Smith disappear.
Speaker 6 (02:43):
On the videotape, you've got them joking about George's death,
very callous and at one point incriminating.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
I just can't comprehend that someone could snatch my brother
from a cruise ship, throw them on an overhang, dies
alone in the water, and then nothing's done about it.
Speaker 6 (03:03):
The evidence is huge.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Why hasn't someone been arrested?
Speaker 8 (03:36):
Sometimes you still think, Ah, he might be still out
there because we don't have a body. We don't have
a body it.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Doesn't get any easier.
Speaker 8 (03:46):
And you know what, if we had our answers for George,
I know what happened. Maybe we don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
For ten years, Maureen and George Smith have been tormented.
They don't know what happened to their twenty six year
old son aboard that cruise ship.
Speaker 8 (04:05):
We have to just keep pushing the buttons and we
won't let it go. It's our son.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
It wasn't supposed to be this way. George Smith fourth
had seemed destined to have it all.
Speaker 8 (04:18):
Fine young man, handsome, hard working, He was just an
all round great kid.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
He was the funniest guy you know. I would say,
have a couple of beers with him, and he'd make
me laugh for the whole night. And besides he was
so good looking. The girls just fell all over him.
Speaker 9 (04:35):
It was a lot of fun. He was just a
great guy.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
George was about to take over his father's liquor store
in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
George made the story he was much more of a
lively guy than I and loved to talk, and he
had that gusto in him and he really wanted to
take the storm and build it.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Stop by today, this is George working alongside his father
in a local commercial.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
He always called me the old man because I wasn't
into modern tools and techniques like he was. So I
was the old man. I was the dinosaur they had
to deal with.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Georgie's future seemed even brighter when he met Jennifer Hegel,
an aspiring school teacher.
Speaker 8 (05:16):
I was overwhelmed with her because she had this dynamic personality.
She was very fun loving like him, very attractive, and
he was very happy with her.
Speaker 6 (05:27):
With this rank.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
After a three year courtship, they went. George and Jennifer
were married in a ceremony overlooking the sea.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
It was a really lavish affair in Newport, Rhode Island.
It was a storybook wedding.
Speaker 9 (05:42):
It was absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Georgie's older sister Brie, remembers the day very well and
how excited they were to go on their honeymoon.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
They were so excited to be starting their life together
and they couldn't wait to start their cruise.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
I can remember shaking his hand in the street and
saying goodbye to him.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
No one could ever imagine that just less than two
weeks later, George would be missing.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
In late June two thousand and five, Royal Caribbean's Brilliance
of the Seas set sail from Barcelona. The footage you
see is from a sister ship. Fellow honeymooners Paul and
Galina Kvitnitzki, were on board with the Smiths.
Speaker 5 (06:27):
We sat down next to one another and since the
first day we became acquainted.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
The couples hit it off immediately.
Speaker 9 (06:35):
They were really great.
Speaker 7 (06:36):
I mean they were just very normal, down to earth,
happy people.
Speaker 6 (06:39):
I would say we spend a lot of time together.
They loved the sites of them.
Speaker 8 (06:42):
They were taking a lot of pictures like were they
were like always with the camera and.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Back on the ship, they socialized into the early morning hours.
Speaker 6 (06:50):
I think he enjoyed himself a lot, you know, having
a drink or two.
Speaker 9 (06:54):
He didn't have a good tolerance for alcohol. Like you
could see he would have like.
Speaker 8 (06:58):
Four beers and you know, you could see that he
was pretty much drunk.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Around midnight on July fifth, the two couples headed for
the casino. It would be the last night of George's life. Jennifer,
who's seen here on casino security cameras, spent much of
her time at the blackjack table, and George, who was
also captured on tape, headed for his usual spot at
(07:26):
the craps table.
Speaker 7 (07:28):
He was just having fun at the table, and you
could see that right away.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
George was soon joined at the table by another shipboard acquaintance,
California college student Josh Askin forty eight hours. Spoke to
Josh in two thousand and six.
Speaker 9 (07:45):
Hung out with them for a little bit, nothing too
in debt.
Speaker 10 (07:49):
Jennifer played a little blackjack, played a little crafts with George.
There were a lot of other people around as well
who we'd been on the cruise so far, and a.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Group of Russian America and students were also making the
rounds that night, cousins Zachary and Greg Rosenberg and their
friend Rusty Kaufman. Josh had met them on the cruise
as well.
Speaker 10 (08:12):
Everyone who was over eighteen pretty much congregated in the casino.
Speaker 9 (08:17):
Everyone was in high spirits.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And George and Jennifer were high rolling. At one point, George,
who's seen here at the casino with Josh, went back
to his own cabin to get extra cash for Jennifer.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
I think George looked prosperous. Additionally, had a really nice
watch which was a brightening watch was worth a bit
of money, and.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Breece Smith wonders if someone on the ship was getting
the wrong idea about her brother.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
People may have made assumptions that George was a millionaire
even though he wasn't.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
And one thing that was clear to Paul that night
was that by the time the casino closed, both Jennifer
and George were already drunk. And I just remember telling
him it's time to quarter mont, it's time to quartamaty.
Paul wishes his new friend had listened. Two hours later,
(09:09):
George Smith would be gone as the sun rose over Kusadasi, Turkey.
(09:32):
On July fifth, two thousand and five, sixteen year old
Emily Rausch stepped onto her balcony to snap some photos.
Speaker 11 (09:40):
It was around seven thirty in the morning, and I
noticed something on the overhang of the life votes.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Instead of a spectacular sunrise, Emily's camera captured this a
huge bloodstain on the lifeboat canopy. This is Emily's account
from back then.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
I just assumed that someone had died there.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Security quickly determined the occupants of room ninety sixty two
were unaccounted for and snapped these pictures of the room,
and then they began paging the Smiths.
Speaker 10 (10:15):
I had a stateroom attendant outside my room, and I said,
you know, you should probably go into that guy's room
and wake him up, because he's not going to hear
that page because he was probably still sleeping.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
In another cabin. Paul and Galina were startled by a
visit from ship personnel.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
And that's when the guy came in and he said,
have you seen George?
Speaker 6 (10:35):
And I'm like, what do you mean? I have seen George?
Speaker 7 (10:37):
And we said, what's going on?
Speaker 9 (10:39):
And he kind of told us he's missing. We're like missing.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
By now, they had been summoned to guest relations. Jennifer
was also there. She'd been located at the ship's spa
getting a scheduled massage. The crew soon delivered the crushing
news that her new husband, George was present zoomed overboard.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
She just kept saying that she doesn't remember what happened.
Speaker 6 (11:06):
I can't remember, I can't understand, I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Jennifer said she had almost no memory after leaving the casino,
and that when she had awakened in the cabin, George
wasn't there. She had just assumed George stayed with Paul
and Galina.
Speaker 9 (11:21):
She shocked and panic and she doesn't understand what's going on.
Speaker 7 (11:25):
She just kept saying that I want to call my dad.
Speaker 9 (11:26):
I want to call my dad.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Half a world away in Connecticut, the Smiths were trying
to absorb the shock from the call from Jennifer's dad.
Speaker 9 (11:36):
It is disbelief, you know. We just couldn't believe it.
Speaker 6 (11:39):
He's got to be on the boat.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
But the Smiths had not yet been told about that
blood stain or the investigation now underway. On the Brilliance
of the seas. Turkish police had boarded the ship Royal Caribbean,
documented the forensic investigation, and in the ship's lobby they
rounded up jobs USh Askin and the group of Russian
(12:02):
Americans Rusty Kaufman and Zach and Greg Rosenberg. They had
all partied with George the night before.
Speaker 10 (12:10):
I just didn't know what was going on. I knew
I did nothing wrong, and that's all that mattered to me.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
This video, secretly recorded by Josh's father, shows the police interview.
Rusty Kaufman, on the right, appears to be shocked when
he hears about the blood.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
The video only captures snippets of what has emerged over
the years as a very complex story, a story and
a timeline that would be dissected and debated for years.
Speaker 9 (12:46):
Did we drop the log? Never saw again?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Never saw again. The young men's account begins at two
thirty am after the casino closed. It was on an
elevator to the disco, where Josh says he noticed some
odd behavior from casino manager Lloyd Bota.
Speaker 10 (13:09):
There was maybe a time when Lloyd, the casino manager,
put his arm around Jennifer, and we thought a little
awkward moment.
Speaker 9 (13:16):
It was just a little awkward for a second.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
At the disco, the party was in full swing and
the guys smuggled in a bottle of a potent liquor
called absinthe.
Speaker 11 (13:28):
They were hevy shots of absent. They were having shots.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Albert Diane represents Rusty Kaufman. We spoke to him in
two thousand and six, and Diane says there was tension
between George and Jennifer at the disco.
Speaker 11 (13:43):
Rusty does not hear what is being said, but he
does observe Jennifer kick George in his groin.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Jennifer stormed out of the disco, and according to Zach,
Rusty and Josh the casino manager followed after her. Josh
fatically make this point. When questioned by Turkish police later.
Speaker 9 (14:04):
She has no idea what happened.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
She was with another man, the casino manager.
Speaker 9 (14:09):
Boy, you need to get him in here a shit.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
The men claim they didn't know where Lloyd and Jennifer went,
but by three point thirty am the disco was closing
and George was in bad shape.
Speaker 10 (14:23):
Georgie's kind of slumped over in a chair, asked nobuddy
that we help me take him home real quick.
Speaker 11 (14:28):
When they are walking to the cabinet, they are literally
carrying George.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
At three point fifty two am, the guys entered the
smith's cabin. The ship's key entry log records the time,
but Jennifer is not there.
Speaker 11 (14:44):
Like Georgia, Will suddenly expresses a wish to go search
for his wife, and at this time the boys are
having a loud discussion debate about whether they should go
and assist George.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
The group heads out again, and after a brief search
of the ship's solarium, they returned George to his cabin
at four oh one am.
Speaker 9 (15:10):
I went to the restaurant.
Speaker 10 (15:11):
When we went in, I probably saw him for late
a minute thirty seconds.
Speaker 11 (15:16):
They actually lay George on his bed, take off his shoes,
and he displays a tremendous gratitude towards these young men.
In fact, he hogs and kisses one or two of
these young.
Speaker 9 (15:25):
Men because I was the under the world.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
But I just remember not at one point.
Speaker 7 (15:29):
Or no time had he ever seen angry or anything
at all.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
But shortly after four am, passenger Cleete Hymen, a vacationing
deputy police chief. Here's a disturbance next door.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
My wife and I were awakened by yelling coming from
the Smith cabin. This yelling sounded what I would like
him to a drinking game.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
A few minutes later.
Speaker 5 (15:50):
Suddenly though there was an argument out on the Smith balcony.
This argument appeared to be between three maybe four male individuals.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
But Rusty's lawyer insists that the men never went out
on the balcony.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
After about two minutes of the argument, we heard one
lone male voice repeatedly say good night, good night, like
they were ushering someone out of the room. I looked
out and saw three individuals walking away from the room.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Three males walking away. Then where was the fourth man?
Diane insists all four men left together.
Speaker 11 (16:31):
Rusty is a pretty wide type of young man. I
believe that the witness just failed to observe the fourth one.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
What Cleete Hymen hears next would become the subject of
endless speculation. Was George alone in.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
The room at this point. We heard just a lone
male voice in the room. We heard what sounded like
the cupboard doors being closed loudly, and also sounded like
furniture being moved.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Greg and Pat Lawyer in the cabin on the other
side of the smiths here something similar. There was what
I call trashing on the room sounds.
Speaker 12 (17:10):
I thought somebody was throwing furniture around, either either mad
or having a good.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
Time, So we dismissed it that at that point, after
about two minutes of total silence, however, there was a large,
what I would call a horrific thud.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
That thud is believed to be the sound of George
Smith hitting the metal canopy at around four thirty am.
About that same time, Jennifers found passed out in a hallway.
As for the men, they say they were all back
in their cabin ordering a lion's share of room service.
Speaker 9 (17:44):
Room service.
Speaker 11 (17:45):
Ordered the room service they were definitely in their own cabin,
in Zach's and Rusty's cabin ordering food at that time.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
But as it would turn out, the young men's alibi
would be called into question.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Doesn't hold up at all.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
As the details surrounding George Smith's disappearance emerged, so had
speculation about his bride, Jennifer.
Speaker 9 (18:19):
Was George murdered?
Speaker 6 (18:21):
Was Jennifer somehow involved?
Speaker 2 (18:22):
The widow went on oprah to defend.
Speaker 13 (18:25):
Herself, not only to loser memory, but then to have
nobody believe you. I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Happened, And Jennifer wasn't the only one in the spotlight. Okay,
what about the Ruskies in this story? The Russians one
of these three guys hanging around a honeymoon couple.
Speaker 11 (18:39):
I mean, obviously, did he fall overboard?
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Was he pushed overboard? They found this big bloodstain. It's
a CSI story that keeps unfolding by the day.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
The FBI would begin an investigation that would span nine
and a half years. At the time, the ship's captain
described it as a likely accident, theorizing that an intoxication
did George sat on the railing and simply fell off.
The Smiths never bought the accident theory.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
The blood is compelling evidence. There was blood in the room.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Photographs taken by Royal Caribbean inside the smith cabin revealed
two small lines of blood on the bed sheets. The
Smiths say it was George's blood and another sign pointing
to foul play.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
In addition to the blood, there were sounds of a fight,
a struggle inside my brother's room.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
The Smiths hope that getting access to Royal Caribbean's investigative
case files would provide some answers, so that shows their role,
and they brought on attorney Mike Jones to help them.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
And he got the blood spot. What it's not about
is an accident, and what's not about is a suicide.
It's about a murder.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Jones immediately got to work, setting his sights on the
ship documents and the four men last scene with George.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
I took josh Askin's deposition. First, do you know if
George Smith was murdered?
Speaker 9 (20:09):
Invoke my Fifth Amendment?
Speaker 6 (20:11):
Right? Do you know who killed George Smith?
Speaker 9 (20:13):
Invoke my fifth Amendment right?
Speaker 6 (20:14):
That's a yes or no answer.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Josh Askin took the fifth.
Speaker 9 (20:18):
And invoked my fifth Amendment right on everything my fifth
mement right, My fifth Amendment right, my fifth Amendment right.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
In legin of two thousand and five, did you go
on a royal crevy and cruise with your family?
Speaker 9 (20:27):
I voked my fifth Amment right.
Speaker 13 (20:29):
I had him take the fifth as to his date
of birth, his name.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Attorney Keith Greer represents Josh Askin and so.
Speaker 13 (20:37):
I totally the only way we're going to do this,
Josh is if every single question you're asked, you plead
the fifth.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Greer says that Josh has always been cooperative, speaking freely
to everyone, but there came a point when he had
to shut him down because the Feds were getting aggressive.
Speaker 13 (20:55):
And they have told us that if Josh ever says
anything that is different than what he said before in
the grand jury anything, they will fly him back to
Connecticut on perjury charges. I couldn't have that happen.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Attorney Albert Diane says Rusty Kaufman got the same treatment
and has stopped cooperating with the FBI.
Speaker 11 (21:17):
And the more he wanted to speak with them, the
more he wanted to tell him what happened, the more
they accused him of foul play.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
I do during his deposition Rusty Kaufman didn't plead the fifth,
but his memory on a lot of things seemed a
bit rusty.
Speaker 6 (21:33):
When you say we put him to bed, who put
him in the bed?
Speaker 5 (21:36):
I don't have a recollection of that right now.
Speaker 6 (21:40):
Josh said that he was he actually used the bathroom
at that point. Do you remember that. I don't have
a recollection with that. Okay, point exactly. My name is
Michael Jones.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Zachary Rosenberg also invoked his right against self incrimination.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
Was there any commotion in the room, I'd like to
invoke my fifth Amendment right?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
The only one who appeared fourth was Greg Rosenberg. In
twenty ten, Mike Jones found him in a Florida prison.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
Why are you here in prison?
Speaker 9 (22:08):
Trafficking?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Greg was serving three years for trafficking in oxy codo,
He says, to support his expensive tasts.
Speaker 9 (22:17):
It was some fanatic of clothes and jewelry watches. That's
why I met him. Man. Murders a different deal. Murders
a different deal.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Man.
Speaker 9 (22:24):
I don't having it in my heart to kill nobody.
Speaker 6 (22:27):
Man, did you have anything to do with George's death?
Speaker 14 (22:29):
Hell?
Speaker 7 (22:29):
Never did, never would, never thought about it.
Speaker 11 (22:31):
No.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Greg brought up that room service party.
Speaker 7 (22:35):
All right, we Tuna fifth sandwiches. I know that we
had like tuna fifth sandwiches, and I think Teenzburger's. I
know we had something that that fast food type. We
were infatuated with the fact that we could order whatever
we want.
Speaker 6 (22:48):
They ordered so much food and they couldn't have killed
George because they were in the room eating the room service.
I mean, it's a nice story, but it doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
In twenty ten, Mike Jones finally got his hands on
those Royal Caribbean internal documents.
Speaker 6 (23:03):
The room service party is pretty much blown by the
information we got from Rokerine. I mean, that's a big fact.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
The ship's records show that although several short calls were
made from Zach and Rusty's cabin to room service after
four thirteen am, there is no record of any order
of any kind.
Speaker 6 (23:26):
The handwritten records show that the room service was never delivered.
Speaker 13 (23:29):
Was it a human air They didn't write it down.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Keith Greer insists the room service party did take place,
but it was never really an alibi to begin with,
since the food would have been delivered after George went missing.
Speaker 13 (23:44):
The food service itself doesn't prove that they were in
a certain place at the time George went over, because
George goes over about four to twenty in the morning,
So at that point in time, really the only alibi
they have is each other.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
The ship's records raised some questions about where the men
say they were that night. They also cast doubt on
where they implied Jennifer was. Remember the casino manager the
guys said she left with at the disco, She was
with another man, the casino manager, Boyd, And that didn't happen.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
That just didn't happen.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Other witnesses say Lloyd did not leave with Jennifer, and
key records show that he entered his girlfriend's cabin at
three twenty five am while the Smiths were still in
the disco.
Speaker 6 (24:35):
And he had gone to his girlfriend's room, and she
was able to corroborate that. So I think Lloyd became
the victim of this attempt by the Russians and by
Josh asking to deflect attention from themselves.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
As for Jennifer, several witnesses saw her leave the disco
alone and unsteady at three point thirty am.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
There are some witnesses from the cruise ship Cruisier Las
that actually escorted her anto the elevator and tried to
help her get off the elevator on her floor before
she ended up going the wrong way on Deck nine.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
An hour later, Jennifer was found passed out in that
hallway around the time George went overboard. Lloyd Bota and
Jennifer both passed FBI polygraphs.
Speaker 6 (25:22):
People that the Russians and Josh were pointing fingers at
both came through. They very cleanly on their polygraphs.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
The four men are still on the FBI's radar, and
the discovery of a homemade videotape only raises more suspicion.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
It's ridiculously provocative. Unfortunately, obviously, after eight years, this has
become pretty much a cold case.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
For the last few years, Mike Jones has been trying
to reignite case. He believes has gone coal in the
Connecticut FBI office.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
And if you talk to the FBI, they'll say it's
active and open. But I don't really believe that.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
And Jones also doesn't believe the account of the four
young men. Last scene with George Smith.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
When you left George in his bed, all you guys left.
No one stayed. Nobody stayed beyond.
Speaker 9 (26:22):
We all left.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
There's a lot of evidence to suggest that that it
was not as simple as the Russian men. And as
juss have said, you look at the behavior of these
young men, they're not good boys or good Samaritans.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Royal Caribbean documents showed complaints were made against some of
the men for smoking, sneaking liquor, and verbally abusing ship employees.
Speaker 6 (26:45):
They were dropping f bombs on the room service people.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
And two days after George Smith went overboard, an eighteen
year old passenger came forward with a major allegation of
sexual assault.
Speaker 6 (26:58):
She stated that she was in one of the Russians
rooms and that there was group sex with her with
some of the Russians.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
In the woman's statement, she says she was completely intoxicated
and in between blackouts, remembers having non consensual sex with
Greg Rosenberg, Rusty Kaufman, and Jeffrey Rosenberg Zach Rosenberg's younger brother.
Speaker 6 (27:24):
And they actually videotaped the group sex. And the fact
that they videotaped themselves doing this, I mean, who does that.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Rusty's lawyer says the sex was consensual, that.
Speaker 11 (27:36):
Whole escapade was non a criminal in nature. The tape
itself revealed.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
That Josh's lawyer, Keith Greer, says Josh did not have
sex with the young woman, but he was there.
Speaker 13 (27:47):
Josh walks into the room and there's one of the
Russian boys having sex on the bed with the girl
and another one of the boys filming it, and Josh
was concerned. It became clear to him very quickly that
the boys weren't taking advantage of her, the girl was
taken advantage of the boys.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Before he left CBS News to rejoin the New York
City Police Department, John Miller investigated the case for forty
eight hours.
Speaker 12 (28:16):
People who have seen that videotape have told me that
the person holding the camera is doing kind of a
narration and asking her questions, and she's responding to them.
Speaker 6 (28:27):
But as this continues, she's crying.
Speaker 13 (28:29):
I haven't heard anything about any crying from anyone.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Royal Caribbean had had enough and rounded up all of
the young men and their families for a tense meeting
with the ship's lawyers. Josh Askin's father was again recording
the FBI has asked us to detain your sons.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
We're going to have to ask you to put your
have your sons go to their cabins and they're going
to have to remain there.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
The group and angrily denied the allegations. The four men
and their families were then removed from the ship in Naples,
where Italian police looked into the rape allegation and washed
(29:19):
their hands of it, saying they had no jurisdiction. No
one has ever been charged in the sexual incident, and
lawyers for the men believe the tape saved them.
Speaker 11 (29:31):
But for that tape, they could have been charged for
something that they did not commit.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
But that tape may come back to haunt them. The
tape in the FBI's possession contained something else, a lunch
meeting filmed by the Russian Americans just hours after George
went overboard. Josh Askin was not present.
Speaker 6 (29:52):
They passed a video camera around, filming themselves commenting about
George's death in a very callous way, and laughing and
joking very callously about him being wealthy, and certainly the
way they were talking, they either knew or they had
a pretty good sense of what had happened.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
A source close to the investigation has told CBS News
that on the tape, one of the men Rusty Kaufman
refers to George going parachute writing off his balcony. It
is not an admission, but it is at the very
least provocative. And there's more.
Speaker 6 (30:27):
The really sort of incriminating statement is one of them
stands up at the end of the tape and sort
of hunches his shoulders and flashes gang signs and says,
told you I was gangsta. And that's in the context
of the discussion about George's death, almost as if he's
bragging about having done something to George.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Jones says that young man was Greg Rosenberg.
Speaker 4 (30:49):
I just don't understand how the FBI could have had
this tape in their possession, and still we sit here,
get the guys in there, question them.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Lawyers for ze Back, Rosenberg and Rusty Kaufman declined to
comment on the video. In the spring of twenty thirteen,
John Miller tried to see if Rusty himself could provide
any more answers.
Speaker 12 (31:13):
There's a statement made on videotape where you say George
went parachute riding off his balcony.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
I had whose contact my lawyer and he's can arrange
a contact seat.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Greg Rosenberg's lawyer says Greg didn't know George was dead
at that point and that his client was just making
a stupid comment.
Speaker 6 (31:37):
I don't think they're kidding around it.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
It's just not something you would just come out and
say you're kidding around, because if you didn't do it,
why would you be saying it.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
But if George was murdered, the question has always been why.
Mike Jones believes there is finally enough evidence to piece
it all together.
Speaker 6 (31:54):
The first thing you look at is motive. Okay, George
and Jennifer dressed well, George had a very expensive brightlying work.
They sort of flashed the money in the casino.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
What's more, witnesses heard George and Jennifer saying they had
thousands of dollars in their cabin.
Speaker 6 (32:10):
And this got around because there were other passengers not
within the circle of the Russians and Josh who heard
the rumors about the money in the cabin. We don't
believe it was true, but perception is everything.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Jones believes that perception fueled a robbery attempt, one that
was hatched when they put George to bed and Josh
had gone into the bathroom.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
The theory would be that they were arguing about whether
or not one of them or two of them should
stay behind and see if they could find the money
and take the watch, because George was in no position
to argue or to put up a fight.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
That arguing Mike believes is what Clete Hymen heard on
the balcony. Jones also believes his theory fits with what
Hymen saw. Just three men.
Speaker 6 (32:53):
Leaving and one of them stays behind, starts to rifle
through the drawers and the cabinets.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
He has a possible explanation for the blood stain.
Speaker 6 (33:03):
The blood is on the sheets. The blood is in
two sort of a centimeter long splashes and almost looks
like if you were taking off a watch and you
pinched your skin. It would be compatible with the blood
splatter that was on the bed. While they're doing that,
George wakes up says what are you doing? Fight ensues,
which is consistent with the noises that people on both
(33:24):
sides of the cabin heard, and George goes overboard. Other
people hear the loud thud.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Josh Askin's lawyer, Keith Greer, argues that is all nothing
more than speculation.
Speaker 13 (33:36):
Even Cleete Hyman he even said that he did not
hear the sounds that you would expect if there was
a fight. You know, you dirty so and so, the smacking,
the kicking and stumbling and yelling, the two guys going
at each other in a fistfight.
Speaker 6 (33:50):
I just don't think it makes sense.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Greer thinks that there's a simpler explanation for all that
took place aboard the brilliance of the seas, the sex
assault claim and George going overboard.
Speaker 13 (34:03):
I don't know why everybody's missing the theme here because
there's one common element, and it's too much alcohol. And
we can go and you know, blame it on murder
and blame it on aggressive sexual behavior here, you know what,
it's just everybody drinking too much and stupid stuff happening.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
That fits, But does it fit with what josh Askin
was heard saying on an elevator. Mike Jones is a
persistent man, and he believes his persistence will one day
pay off.
Speaker 6 (34:42):
It's just a question of pulling together enough evidence to
get an indictment and a conviction.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Jones and the Smiths maintain the key to solving the
case lies in California.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
Our theory is that josh Askin knows what happened, but
we don't believe that Josh was involved in the actual,
you know, tossing of George overboard.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
To support his theory, Jones is pointing to an intriguing
clue uncovered by Royal Caribbean. A ship employee overheard Josh
Askin speaking to a friend on an elevator.
Speaker 6 (35:16):
He said, I know more than they think.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
I know.
Speaker 6 (35:18):
Those almost got me arrested in Turkey.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Keith Greer argues the comments were taken out of context
and Josh has nothing to hide.
Speaker 12 (35:28):
Do you think that Josh Askin has told you everything
he knows?
Speaker 6 (35:34):
Absolutely no doubt.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
But Greer admits the FBI told Josh he failed a polygraph.
Greer questions the test and the result.
Speaker 13 (35:44):
I think it's another rubber host ploy, you know where,
just to freak kick Josh out and upset him more.
I think it was just the psychological war that they
were waging on him and his family, or they didn't
take the time to do it right.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
One or the other. Sources tell CBS News Rusty Kaufman
also was tested, and he too failed. Greg Rosenberg was
administered a private polygraph test.
Speaker 9 (36:10):
I took a polygraph.
Speaker 7 (36:12):
He did take Yeah, It was inconclusive because I'm adhd,
because you could tell I'd like to move a lot.
It was inconclusive in the lies that I need to tell.
Speaker 14 (36:20):
Generally, it's much easier to tell the actual lie on
your own.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
Forty eight hours, decided to bring in Phil Houston, a
former CIA case officer who for more than two decades
specialized in detecting deception. We asked him to take a
closer look at those depositions.
Speaker 12 (36:39):
Is there anybody of the group that particularly jumps out?
Speaker 14 (36:43):
And that's Greg stands out above and beyond everyone. There
was just a ton of deceptive behaviors.
Speaker 7 (36:50):
You can't toudge a book by its color name.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
In Houston's opinion, it's not what Greg Rosenberg says that
seems deceptive. It is often what he doesn't say.
Speaker 14 (37:00):
What we should hear and see his focus on is
I didn't do it.
Speaker 6 (37:05):
It wasn't me, You got the wrong guy.
Speaker 14 (37:07):
Instead, we don't where we hear his focus So many
times are reasons why he wouldn't do this.
Speaker 7 (37:14):
But in no way, shape or for him would I
would do anything like that to an individuals no reason
that's me.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
And it appears some questions are more difficult for Greg
than others.
Speaker 6 (37:25):
Did they find anything in either room that was connected
to George's disappearance?
Speaker 14 (37:32):
He hesitates, He's clearly thinking the question has thrown him
for a loop. It's almost what could they have found
that would have connected someone to the disappearance?
Speaker 3 (37:45):
No?
Speaker 6 (37:45):
Okay?
Speaker 14 (37:47):
And then it's like, as he thinks through it, he realizes,
I've got to answer the question.
Speaker 12 (37:51):
So he goes, well, no, no, So he's thinking about
something that is not going to come out in his answer.
Speaker 14 (37:58):
That's correct, that's correct.
Speaker 6 (38:00):
Something he's not sharing.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
But Greg doesn't hold back on the one thing the
Smiths would agree with. He says George's death was no accident.
Speaker 7 (38:09):
George Allen Smith did not disappear or kill himself or
hurt himself or slip and fall of bow at six foot.
Speaker 9 (38:16):
Four hour, it's all he is. And just dive off.
I know that didn't happen.
Speaker 7 (38:21):
Some crazy went down that night, and I hope one
day did they find out the truth.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
In the years following George's death, Jennifer has remarried and
tried to move on, but for the Smiths, it's not
so easy. In twenty fourteen, they announced they are offering
a reward one hundred thousand dollars for information that leads
directly to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
We're hoping with this one hundred thousand dollars reward, this
might just be the thing that we need to get
the arrest to get the convictions.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Until the day this case is solved, Smith's thou not
to let George's memory die on that ship.
Speaker 9 (39:10):
That's right there, you go, Georgie.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
We'll get justice.
Speaker 9 (39:15):
We'll get justice somehow.
Speaker 8 (39:19):
Somehow, we'll get justice for George. Somebody will talk and
shame on them.
Speaker 6 (39:26):
That don't.
Speaker 8 (39:28):
Shame on the people that have put us through this hell.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
On January ninth, twenty fifteen, the Smith family suffered yet
another blow. The FBI announced they were officially closing the
case on George Smith.
Speaker 4 (39:53):
The FBI has determined that there is not sufficient evidence
to continue the investigation.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
When we were called in for the meeting that finally
closed the case down, it was just devastating to my family.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
How do you collect ninety seven thousand pages of an
investigation to determine after almost ten years, that an accident
may have occurred.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Still, the family stands by that one hundred thousand dollars reward,
and they still believe it was murder.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
The money that was going to be left to George,
we thought that since he wasn't going to be here
to get that money, somebody.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Else could use it to.
Speaker 9 (40:43):
Help our family.
Speaker 4 (40:45):
We're hoping to generate more leads with the reward, and
we're hoping the FBI will reopen the investigation, but.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
The toll is great.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
I never expected to be sixty seven and still sitting
here trying to get answers for my son.
Speaker 9 (41:05):
It's sad.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
We should be on with.
Speaker 9 (41:07):
Our life, but we're not.
Speaker 4 (41:10):
They could say there's no conclusive evidence. They could shut
down the investigation, but they're not going to shut down me.
And I'm going to continue until there is answers and
justice for George
You can't look at the water at the sea without
remembering what happened to George. It's got too many bad
memories for me now. Oh I miss him, miss him
every day. I miss his voice. I miss his phone
cause he called me all the time. I just miss
him as a son.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Pretty much.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Every night I go to bed, I see his face.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
No parents should have to lose their son that way.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
And this is Captain Michael May I give you attention.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
Please have you personally have gone overboard last night.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that my
son was murdered on that cruise ship. There's so much evidence,
it's overwhelming.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
It's just been a complete and awful nightmare for my family,
and we still do not have justice for George.
Speaker 6 (01:22):
The first suspect is the surviving spouse.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
She said she couldn't remember anything.
Speaker 6 (01:27):
Eyebrows started to go up about what exactly did Jennifer know.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
But the FBI soon turned its attention from George Smith's
widow to a group of young men, the last people
to see George alive.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
There were sounds of a fight, a struggle inside my
brother's room.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
I heard some males arguing on the balcony.
Speaker 6 (02:00):
What we're trying to do is sort through the facts
and figure out what happened that night, because unfortunately it's
become pretty much a cold case. While on the cruise,
did you meet George Smith? Fourth? There was a series
of questions that I asked in each of the depositions
of each of the boys. Do you know what happened
to George Smith? Well? You present when George Smith went overboard?
(02:20):
Did you kill George Smith?
Speaker 7 (02:22):
Some crazy went down that night? And how one day
did they find out a truth?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
A forty eight hours investigation has uncovered failed polygraphs, questionable alibis,
and a provocative video made by some of the men
just hours after George Smith disappear.
Speaker 6 (02:43):
On the videotape, you've got them joking about George's death,
very callous and at one point incriminating.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
I just can't comprehend that someone could snatch my brother
from a cruise ship, throw them on an overhang, dies
alone in the water, and then nothing's done about it.
Speaker 6 (03:03):
The evidence is huge.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Why hasn't someone been arrested?
Speaker 8 (03:36):
Sometimes you still think, Ah, he might be still out
there because we don't have a body. We don't have
a body it.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Doesn't get any easier.
Speaker 8 (03:46):
And you know what, if we had our answers for George,
I know what happened. Maybe we don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
For ten years, Maureen and George Smith have been tormented.
They don't know what happened to their twenty six year
old son aboard that cruise ship.
Speaker 8 (04:05):
We have to just keep pushing the buttons and we
won't let it go. It's our son.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
It wasn't supposed to be this way. George Smith fourth
had seemed destined to have it all.
Speaker 8 (04:18):
Fine young man, handsome, hard working, He was just an
all round great kid.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
He was the funniest guy you know. I would say,
have a couple of beers with him, and he'd make
me laugh for the whole night. And besides he was
so good looking. The girls just fell all over him.
Speaker 9 (04:35):
It was a lot of fun. He was just a
great guy.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
George was about to take over his father's liquor store
in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
George made the story he was much more of a
lively guy than I and loved to talk, and he
had that gusto in him and he really wanted to
take the storm and build it.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Stop by today, this is George working alongside his father
in a local commercial.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
He always called me the old man because I wasn't
into modern tools and techniques like he was. So I
was the old man. I was the dinosaur they had
to deal with.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Georgie's future seemed even brighter when he met Jennifer Hegel,
an aspiring school teacher.
Speaker 8 (05:16):
I was overwhelmed with her because she had this dynamic personality.
She was very fun loving like him, very attractive, and
he was very happy with her.
Speaker 6 (05:27):
With this rank.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
After a three year courtship, they went. George and Jennifer
were married in a ceremony overlooking the sea.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
It was a really lavish affair in Newport, Rhode Island.
It was a storybook wedding.
Speaker 9 (05:42):
It was absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Georgie's older sister Brie, remembers the day very well and
how excited they were to go on their honeymoon.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
They were so excited to be starting their life together
and they couldn't wait to start their cruise.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
I can remember shaking his hand in the street and
saying goodbye to him.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
No one could ever imagine that just less than two
weeks later, George would be missing.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
In late June two thousand and five, Royal Caribbean's Brilliance
of the Seas set sail from Barcelona. The footage you
see is from a sister ship. Fellow honeymooners Paul and
Galina Kvitnitzki, were on board with the Smiths.
Speaker 5 (06:27):
We sat down next to one another and since the
first day we became acquainted.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
The couples hit it off immediately.
Speaker 9 (06:35):
They were really great.
Speaker 7 (06:36):
I mean they were just very normal, down to earth,
happy people.
Speaker 6 (06:39):
I would say we spend a lot of time together.
They loved the sites of them.
Speaker 8 (06:42):
They were taking a lot of pictures like were they
were like always with the camera and.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Back on the ship, they socialized into the early morning hours.
Speaker 6 (06:50):
I think he enjoyed himself a lot, you know, having
a drink or two.
Speaker 9 (06:54):
He didn't have a good tolerance for alcohol. Like you
could see he would have like.
Speaker 8 (06:58):
Four beers and you know, you could see that he
was pretty much drunk.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Around midnight on July fifth, the two couples headed for
the casino. It would be the last night of George's life. Jennifer,
who's seen here on casino security cameras, spent much of
her time at the blackjack table, and George, who was
also captured on tape, headed for his usual spot at
(07:26):
the craps table.
Speaker 7 (07:28):
He was just having fun at the table, and you
could see that right away.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
George was soon joined at the table by another shipboard acquaintance,
California college student Josh Askin forty eight hours. Spoke to
Josh in two thousand and six.
Speaker 9 (07:45):
Hung out with them for a little bit, nothing too
in debt.
Speaker 10 (07:49):
Jennifer played a little blackjack, played a little crafts with George.
There were a lot of other people around as well
who we'd been on the cruise so far, and a.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Group of Russian America and students were also making the
rounds that night, cousins Zachary and Greg Rosenberg and their
friend Rusty Kaufman. Josh had met them on the cruise
as well.
Speaker 10 (08:12):
Everyone who was over eighteen pretty much congregated in the casino.
Speaker 9 (08:17):
Everyone was in high spirits.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And George and Jennifer were high rolling. At one point, George,
who's seen here at the casino with Josh, went back
to his own cabin to get extra cash for Jennifer.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
I think George looked prosperous. Additionally, had a really nice
watch which was a brightening watch was worth a bit
of money, and.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Breece Smith wonders if someone on the ship was getting
the wrong idea about her brother.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
People may have made assumptions that George was a millionaire
even though he wasn't.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
And one thing that was clear to Paul that night
was that by the time the casino closed, both Jennifer
and George were already drunk. And I just remember telling
him it's time to quarter mont, it's time to quartamaty.
Paul wishes his new friend had listened. Two hours later,
(09:09):
George Smith would be gone as the sun rose over Kusadasi, Turkey.
(09:32):
On July fifth, two thousand and five, sixteen year old
Emily Rausch stepped onto her balcony to snap some photos.
Speaker 11 (09:40):
It was around seven thirty in the morning, and I
noticed something on the overhang of the life votes.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Instead of a spectacular sunrise, Emily's camera captured this a
huge bloodstain on the lifeboat canopy. This is Emily's account
from back then.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
I just assumed that someone had died there.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Security quickly determined the occupants of room ninety sixty two
were unaccounted for and snapped these pictures of the room,
and then they began paging the Smiths.
Speaker 10 (10:15):
I had a stateroom attendant outside my room, and I said,
you know, you should probably go into that guy's room
and wake him up, because he's not going to hear
that page because he was probably still sleeping.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
In another cabin. Paul and Galina were startled by a
visit from ship personnel.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
And that's when the guy came in and he said,
have you seen George?
Speaker 6 (10:35):
And I'm like, what do you mean? I have seen George?
Speaker 7 (10:37):
And we said, what's going on?
Speaker 9 (10:39):
And he kind of told us he's missing. We're like missing.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
By now, they had been summoned to guest relations. Jennifer
was also there. She'd been located at the ship's spa
getting a scheduled massage. The crew soon delivered the crushing
news that her new husband, George was present zoomed overboard.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
She just kept saying that she doesn't remember what happened.
Speaker 6 (11:06):
I can't remember, I can't understand, I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Jennifer said she had almost no memory after leaving the casino,
and that when she had awakened in the cabin, George
wasn't there. She had just assumed George stayed with Paul
and Galina.
Speaker 9 (11:21):
She shocked and panic and she doesn't understand what's going on.
Speaker 7 (11:25):
She just kept saying that I want to call my dad.
Speaker 9 (11:26):
I want to call my dad.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Half a world away in Connecticut, the Smiths were trying
to absorb the shock from the call from Jennifer's dad.
Speaker 9 (11:36):
It is disbelief, you know. We just couldn't believe it.
Speaker 6 (11:39):
He's got to be on the boat.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
But the Smiths had not yet been told about that
blood stain or the investigation now underway. On the Brilliance
of the seas. Turkish police had boarded the ship Royal Caribbean,
documented the forensic investigation, and in the ship's lobby they
rounded up jobs USh Askin and the group of Russian
(12:02):
Americans Rusty Kaufman and Zach and Greg Rosenberg. They had
all partied with George the night before.
Speaker 10 (12:10):
I just didn't know what was going on. I knew
I did nothing wrong, and that's all that mattered to me.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
This video, secretly recorded by Josh's father, shows the police interview.
Rusty Kaufman, on the right, appears to be shocked when
he hears about the blood.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
The video only captures snippets of what has emerged over
the years as a very complex story, a story and
a timeline that would be dissected and debated for years.
Speaker 9 (12:46):
Did we drop the log? Never saw again?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Never saw again. The young men's account begins at two
thirty am after the casino closed. It was on an
elevator to the disco, where Josh says he noticed some
odd behavior from casino manager Lloyd Bota.
Speaker 10 (13:09):
There was maybe a time when Lloyd, the casino manager,
put his arm around Jennifer, and we thought a little
awkward moment.
Speaker 9 (13:16):
It was just a little awkward for a second.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
At the disco, the party was in full swing and
the guys smuggled in a bottle of a potent liquor
called absinthe.
Speaker 11 (13:28):
They were hevy shots of absent. They were having shots.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Albert Diane represents Rusty Kaufman. We spoke to him in
two thousand and six, and Diane says there was tension
between George and Jennifer at the disco.
Speaker 11 (13:43):
Rusty does not hear what is being said, but he
does observe Jennifer kick George in his groin.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Jennifer stormed out of the disco, and according to Zach,
Rusty and Josh the casino manager followed after her. Josh
fatically make this point. When questioned by Turkish police later.
Speaker 9 (14:04):
She has no idea what happened.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
She was with another man, the casino manager.
Speaker 9 (14:09):
Boy, you need to get him in here a shit.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
The men claim they didn't know where Lloyd and Jennifer went,
but by three point thirty am the disco was closing
and George was in bad shape.
Speaker 10 (14:23):
Georgie's kind of slumped over in a chair, asked nobuddy
that we help me take him home real quick.
Speaker 11 (14:28):
When they are walking to the cabinet, they are literally
carrying George.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
At three point fifty two am, the guys entered the
smith's cabin. The ship's key entry log records the time,
but Jennifer is not there.
Speaker 11 (14:44):
Like Georgia, Will suddenly expresses a wish to go search
for his wife, and at this time the boys are
having a loud discussion debate about whether they should go
and assist George.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
The group heads out again, and after a brief search
of the ship's solarium, they returned George to his cabin
at four oh one am.
Speaker 9 (15:10):
I went to the restaurant.
Speaker 10 (15:11):
When we went in, I probably saw him for late
a minute thirty seconds.
Speaker 11 (15:16):
They actually lay George on his bed, take off his shoes,
and he displays a tremendous gratitude towards these young men.
In fact, he hogs and kisses one or two of
these young.
Speaker 9 (15:25):
Men because I was the under the world.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
But I just remember not at one point.
Speaker 7 (15:29):
Or no time had he ever seen angry or anything
at all.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
But shortly after four am, passenger Cleete Hymen, a vacationing
deputy police chief. Here's a disturbance next door.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
My wife and I were awakened by yelling coming from
the Smith cabin. This yelling sounded what I would like
him to a drinking game.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
A few minutes later.
Speaker 5 (15:50):
Suddenly though there was an argument out on the Smith balcony.
This argument appeared to be between three maybe four male individuals.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
But Rusty's lawyer insists that the men never went out
on the balcony.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
After about two minutes of the argument, we heard one
lone male voice repeatedly say good night, good night, like
they were ushering someone out of the room. I looked
out and saw three individuals walking away from the room.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Three males walking away. Then where was the fourth man?
Diane insists all four men left together.
Speaker 11 (16:31):
Rusty is a pretty wide type of young man. I
believe that the witness just failed to observe the fourth one.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
What Cleete Hymen hears next would become the subject of
endless speculation. Was George alone in.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
The room at this point. We heard just a lone
male voice in the room. We heard what sounded like
the cupboard doors being closed loudly, and also sounded like
furniture being moved.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Greg and Pat Lawyer in the cabin on the other
side of the smiths here something similar. There was what
I call trashing on the room sounds.
Speaker 12 (17:10):
I thought somebody was throwing furniture around, either either mad
or having a good.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
Time, So we dismissed it that at that point, after
about two minutes of total silence, however, there was a large,
what I would call a horrific thud.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
That thud is believed to be the sound of George
Smith hitting the metal canopy at around four thirty am.
About that same time, Jennifers found passed out in a hallway.
As for the men, they say they were all back
in their cabin ordering a lion's share of room service.
Speaker 9 (17:44):
Room service.
Speaker 11 (17:45):
Ordered the room service they were definitely in their own cabin,
in Zach's and Rusty's cabin ordering food at that time.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
But as it would turn out, the young men's alibi
would be called into question.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Doesn't hold up at all.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
As the details surrounding George Smith's disappearance emerged, so had
speculation about his bride, Jennifer.
Speaker 9 (18:19):
Was George murdered?
Speaker 6 (18:21):
Was Jennifer somehow involved?
Speaker 2 (18:22):
The widow went on oprah to defend.
Speaker 13 (18:25):
Herself, not only to loser memory, but then to have
nobody believe you. I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Happened, And Jennifer wasn't the only one in the spotlight. Okay,
what about the Ruskies in this story? The Russians one
of these three guys hanging around a honeymoon couple.
Speaker 11 (18:39):
I mean, obviously, did he fall overboard?
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Was he pushed overboard? They found this big bloodstain. It's
a CSI story that keeps unfolding by the day.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
The FBI would begin an investigation that would span nine
and a half years. At the time, the ship's captain
described it as a likely accident, theorizing that an intoxication
did George sat on the railing and simply fell off.
The Smiths never bought the accident theory.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
The blood is compelling evidence. There was blood in the room.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Photographs taken by Royal Caribbean inside the smith cabin revealed
two small lines of blood on the bed sheets. The
Smiths say it was George's blood and another sign pointing
to foul play.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
In addition to the blood, there were sounds of a fight,
a struggle inside my brother's room.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
The Smiths hope that getting access to Royal Caribbean's investigative
case files would provide some answers, so that shows their role,
and they brought on attorney Mike Jones to help them.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
And he got the blood spot. What it's not about
is an accident, and what's not about is a suicide.
It's about a murder.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Jones immediately got to work, setting his sights on the
ship documents and the four men last scene with George.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
I took josh Askin's deposition. First, do you know if
George Smith was murdered?
Speaker 9 (20:09):
Invoke my Fifth Amendment?
Speaker 6 (20:11):
Right? Do you know who killed George Smith?
Speaker 9 (20:13):
Invoke my fifth Amendment right?
Speaker 6 (20:14):
That's a yes or no answer.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Josh Askin took the fifth.
Speaker 9 (20:18):
And invoked my fifth Amendment right on everything my fifth
mement right, My fifth Amendment right, my fifth Amendment right.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
In legin of two thousand and five, did you go
on a royal crevy and cruise with your family?
Speaker 9 (20:27):
I voked my fifth Amment right.
Speaker 13 (20:29):
I had him take the fifth as to his date
of birth, his name.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Attorney Keith Greer represents Josh Askin and so.
Speaker 13 (20:37):
I totally the only way we're going to do this,
Josh is if every single question you're asked, you plead
the fifth.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Greer says that Josh has always been cooperative, speaking freely
to everyone, but there came a point when he had
to shut him down because the Feds were getting aggressive.
Speaker 13 (20:55):
And they have told us that if Josh ever says
anything that is different than what he said before in
the grand jury anything, they will fly him back to
Connecticut on perjury charges. I couldn't have that happen.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Attorney Albert Diane says Rusty Kaufman got the same treatment
and has stopped cooperating with the FBI.
Speaker 11 (21:17):
And the more he wanted to speak with them, the
more he wanted to tell him what happened, the more
they accused him of foul play.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
I do during his deposition Rusty Kaufman didn't plead the fifth,
but his memory on a lot of things seemed a
bit rusty.
Speaker 6 (21:33):
When you say we put him to bed, who put
him in the bed?
Speaker 5 (21:36):
I don't have a recollection of that right now.
Speaker 6 (21:40):
Josh said that he was he actually used the bathroom
at that point. Do you remember that. I don't have
a recollection with that. Okay, point exactly. My name is
Michael Jones.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Zachary Rosenberg also invoked his right against self incrimination.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
Was there any commotion in the room, I'd like to
invoke my fifth Amendment right?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
The only one who appeared fourth was Greg Rosenberg. In
twenty ten, Mike Jones found him in a Florida prison.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
Why are you here in prison?
Speaker 9 (22:08):
Trafficking?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Greg was serving three years for trafficking in oxy codo,
He says, to support his expensive tasts.
Speaker 9 (22:17):
It was some fanatic of clothes and jewelry watches. That's
why I met him. Man. Murders a different deal. Murders
a different deal.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Man.
Speaker 9 (22:24):
I don't having it in my heart to kill nobody.
Speaker 6 (22:27):
Man, did you have anything to do with George's death?
Speaker 14 (22:29):
Hell?
Speaker 7 (22:29):
Never did, never would, never thought about it.
Speaker 11 (22:31):
No.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Greg brought up that room service party.
Speaker 7 (22:35):
All right, we Tuna fifth sandwiches. I know that we
had like tuna fifth sandwiches, and I think Teenzburger's. I
know we had something that that fast food type. We
were infatuated with the fact that we could order whatever
we want.
Speaker 6 (22:48):
They ordered so much food and they couldn't have killed
George because they were in the room eating the room service.
I mean, it's a nice story, but it doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
In twenty ten, Mike Jones finally got his hands on
those Royal Caribbean internal documents.
Speaker 6 (23:03):
The room service party is pretty much blown by the
information we got from Rokerine. I mean, that's a big fact.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
The ship's records show that although several short calls were
made from Zach and Rusty's cabin to room service after
four thirteen am, there is no record of any order
of any kind.
Speaker 6 (23:26):
The handwritten records show that the room service was never delivered.
Speaker 13 (23:29):
Was it a human air They didn't write it down.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Keith Greer insists the room service party did take place,
but it was never really an alibi to begin with,
since the food would have been delivered after George went missing.
Speaker 13 (23:44):
The food service itself doesn't prove that they were in
a certain place at the time George went over, because
George goes over about four to twenty in the morning,
So at that point in time, really the only alibi
they have is each other.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
The ship's records raised some questions about where the men
say they were that night. They also cast doubt on
where they implied Jennifer was. Remember the casino manager the
guys said she left with at the disco, She was
with another man, the casino manager, Boyd, And that didn't happen.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
That just didn't happen.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Other witnesses say Lloyd did not leave with Jennifer, and
key records show that he entered his girlfriend's cabin at
three twenty five am while the Smiths were still in
the disco.
Speaker 6 (24:35):
And he had gone to his girlfriend's room, and she
was able to corroborate that. So I think Lloyd became
the victim of this attempt by the Russians and by
Josh asking to deflect attention from themselves.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
As for Jennifer, several witnesses saw her leave the disco
alone and unsteady at three point thirty am.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
There are some witnesses from the cruise ship Cruisier Las
that actually escorted her anto the elevator and tried to
help her get off the elevator on her floor before
she ended up going the wrong way on Deck nine.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
An hour later, Jennifer was found passed out in that
hallway around the time George went overboard. Lloyd Bota and
Jennifer both passed FBI polygraphs.
Speaker 6 (25:22):
People that the Russians and Josh were pointing fingers at
both came through. They very cleanly on their polygraphs.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
The four men are still on the FBI's radar, and
the discovery of a homemade videotape only raises more suspicion.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
It's ridiculously provocative. Unfortunately, obviously, after eight years, this has
become pretty much a cold case.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
For the last few years, Mike Jones has been trying
to reignite case. He believes has gone coal in the
Connecticut FBI office.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
And if you talk to the FBI, they'll say it's
active and open. But I don't really believe that.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
And Jones also doesn't believe the account of the four
young men. Last scene with George Smith.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
When you left George in his bed, all you guys left.
No one stayed. Nobody stayed beyond.
Speaker 9 (26:22):
We all left.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
There's a lot of evidence to suggest that that it
was not as simple as the Russian men. And as
juss have said, you look at the behavior of these
young men, they're not good boys or good Samaritans.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Royal Caribbean documents showed complaints were made against some of
the men for smoking, sneaking liquor, and verbally abusing ship employees.
Speaker 6 (26:45):
They were dropping f bombs on the room service people.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
And two days after George Smith went overboard, an eighteen
year old passenger came forward with a major allegation of
sexual assault.
Speaker 6 (26:58):
She stated that she was in one of the Russians
rooms and that there was group sex with her with
some of the Russians.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
In the woman's statement, she says she was completely intoxicated
and in between blackouts, remembers having non consensual sex with
Greg Rosenberg, Rusty Kaufman, and Jeffrey Rosenberg Zach Rosenberg's younger brother.
Speaker 6 (27:24):
And they actually videotaped the group sex. And the fact
that they videotaped themselves doing this, I mean, who does that.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Rusty's lawyer says the sex was consensual, that.
Speaker 11 (27:36):
Whole escapade was non a criminal in nature. The tape
itself revealed.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
That Josh's lawyer, Keith Greer, says Josh did not have
sex with the young woman, but he was there.
Speaker 13 (27:47):
Josh walks into the room and there's one of the
Russian boys having sex on the bed with the girl
and another one of the boys filming it, and Josh
was concerned. It became clear to him very quickly that
the boys weren't taking advantage of her, the girl was
taken advantage of the boys.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Before he left CBS News to rejoin the New York
City Police Department, John Miller investigated the case for forty
eight hours.
Speaker 12 (28:16):
People who have seen that videotape have told me that
the person holding the camera is doing kind of a
narration and asking her questions, and she's responding to them.
Speaker 6 (28:27):
But as this continues, she's crying.
Speaker 13 (28:29):
I haven't heard anything about any crying from anyone.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Royal Caribbean had had enough and rounded up all of
the young men and their families for a tense meeting
with the ship's lawyers. Josh Askin's father was again recording
the FBI has asked us to detain your sons.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
We're going to have to ask you to put your
have your sons go to their cabins and they're going
to have to remain there.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
The group and angrily denied the allegations. The four men
and their families were then removed from the ship in Naples,
where Italian police looked into the rape allegation and washed
(29:19):
their hands of it, saying they had no jurisdiction. No
one has ever been charged in the sexual incident, and
lawyers for the men believe the tape saved them.
Speaker 11 (29:31):
But for that tape, they could have been charged for
something that they did not commit.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
But that tape may come back to haunt them. The
tape in the FBI's possession contained something else, a lunch
meeting filmed by the Russian Americans just hours after George
went overboard. Josh Askin was not present.
Speaker 6 (29:52):
They passed a video camera around, filming themselves commenting about
George's death in a very callous way, and laughing and
joking very callously about him being wealthy, and certainly the
way they were talking, they either knew or they had
a pretty good sense of what had happened.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
A source close to the investigation has told CBS News
that on the tape, one of the men Rusty Kaufman
refers to George going parachute writing off his balcony. It
is not an admission, but it is at the very
least provocative. And there's more.
Speaker 6 (30:27):
The really sort of incriminating statement is one of them
stands up at the end of the tape and sort
of hunches his shoulders and flashes gang signs and says,
told you I was gangsta. And that's in the context
of the discussion about George's death, almost as if he's
bragging about having done something to George.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Jones says that young man was Greg Rosenberg.
Speaker 4 (30:49):
I just don't understand how the FBI could have had
this tape in their possession, and still we sit here,
get the guys in there, question them.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Lawyers for ze Back, Rosenberg and Rusty Kaufman declined to
comment on the video. In the spring of twenty thirteen,
John Miller tried to see if Rusty himself could provide
any more answers.
Speaker 12 (31:13):
There's a statement made on videotape where you say George
went parachute riding off his balcony.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
I had whose contact my lawyer and he's can arrange
a contact seat.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Greg Rosenberg's lawyer says Greg didn't know George was dead
at that point and that his client was just making
a stupid comment.
Speaker 6 (31:37):
I don't think they're kidding around it.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
It's just not something you would just come out and
say you're kidding around, because if you didn't do it,
why would you be saying it.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
But if George was murdered, the question has always been why.
Mike Jones believes there is finally enough evidence to piece
it all together.
Speaker 6 (31:54):
The first thing you look at is motive. Okay, George
and Jennifer dressed well, George had a very expensive brightlying work.
They sort of flashed the money in the casino.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
What's more, witnesses heard George and Jennifer saying they had
thousands of dollars in their cabin.
Speaker 6 (32:10):
And this got around because there were other passengers not
within the circle of the Russians and Josh who heard
the rumors about the money in the cabin. We don't
believe it was true, but perception is everything.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Jones believes that perception fueled a robbery attempt, one that
was hatched when they put George to bed and Josh
had gone into the bathroom.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
The theory would be that they were arguing about whether
or not one of them or two of them should
stay behind and see if they could find the money
and take the watch, because George was in no position
to argue or to put up a fight.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
That arguing Mike believes is what Clete Hymen heard on
the balcony. Jones also believes his theory fits with what
Hymen saw. Just three men.
Speaker 6 (32:53):
Leaving and one of them stays behind, starts to rifle
through the drawers and the cabinets.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
He has a possible explanation for the blood stain.
Speaker 6 (33:03):
The blood is on the sheets. The blood is in
two sort of a centimeter long splashes and almost looks
like if you were taking off a watch and you
pinched your skin. It would be compatible with the blood
splatter that was on the bed. While they're doing that,
George wakes up says what are you doing? Fight ensues,
which is consistent with the noises that people on both
(33:24):
sides of the cabin heard, and George goes overboard. Other
people hear the loud thud.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Josh Askin's lawyer, Keith Greer, argues that is all nothing
more than speculation.
Speaker 13 (33:36):
Even Cleete Hyman he even said that he did not
hear the sounds that you would expect if there was
a fight. You know, you dirty so and so, the smacking,
the kicking and stumbling and yelling, the two guys going
at each other in a fistfight.
Speaker 6 (33:50):
I just don't think it makes sense.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Greer thinks that there's a simpler explanation for all that
took place aboard the brilliance of the seas, the sex
assault claim and George going overboard.
Speaker 13 (34:03):
I don't know why everybody's missing the theme here because
there's one common element, and it's too much alcohol. And
we can go and you know, blame it on murder
and blame it on aggressive sexual behavior here, you know what,
it's just everybody drinking too much and stupid stuff happening.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
That fits, But does it fit with what josh Askin
was heard saying on an elevator. Mike Jones is a
persistent man, and he believes his persistence will one day
pay off.
Speaker 6 (34:42):
It's just a question of pulling together enough evidence to
get an indictment and a conviction.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Jones and the Smiths maintain the key to solving the
case lies in California.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
Our theory is that josh Askin knows what happened, but
we don't believe that Josh was involved in the actual,
you know, tossing of George overboard.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
To support his theory, Jones is pointing to an intriguing
clue uncovered by Royal Caribbean. A ship employee overheard Josh
Askin speaking to a friend on an elevator.
Speaker 6 (35:16):
He said, I know more than they think.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
I know.
Speaker 6 (35:18):
Those almost got me arrested in Turkey.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Keith Greer argues the comments were taken out of context
and Josh has nothing to hide.
Speaker 12 (35:28):
Do you think that Josh Askin has told you everything
he knows?
Speaker 6 (35:34):
Absolutely no doubt.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
But Greer admits the FBI told Josh he failed a polygraph.
Greer questions the test and the result.
Speaker 13 (35:44):
I think it's another rubber host ploy, you know where,
just to freak kick Josh out and upset him more.
I think it was just the psychological war that they
were waging on him and his family, or they didn't
take the time to do it right.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
One or the other. Sources tell CBS News Rusty Kaufman
also was tested, and he too failed. Greg Rosenberg was
administered a private polygraph test.
Speaker 9 (36:10):
I took a polygraph.
Speaker 7 (36:12):
He did take Yeah, It was inconclusive because I'm adhd,
because you could tell I'd like to move a lot.
It was inconclusive in the lies that I need to tell.
Speaker 14 (36:20):
Generally, it's much easier to tell the actual lie on
your own.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
Forty eight hours, decided to bring in Phil Houston, a
former CIA case officer who for more than two decades
specialized in detecting deception. We asked him to take a
closer look at those depositions.
Speaker 12 (36:39):
Is there anybody of the group that particularly jumps out?
Speaker 14 (36:43):
And that's Greg stands out above and beyond everyone. There
was just a ton of deceptive behaviors.
Speaker 7 (36:50):
You can't toudge a book by its color name.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
In Houston's opinion, it's not what Greg Rosenberg says that
seems deceptive. It is often what he doesn't say.
Speaker 14 (37:00):
What we should hear and see his focus on is
I didn't do it.
Speaker 6 (37:05):
It wasn't me, You got the wrong guy.
Speaker 14 (37:07):
Instead, we don't where we hear his focus So many
times are reasons why he wouldn't do this.
Speaker 7 (37:14):
But in no way, shape or for him would I
would do anything like that to an individuals no reason
that's me.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
And it appears some questions are more difficult for Greg
than others.
Speaker 6 (37:25):
Did they find anything in either room that was connected
to George's disappearance?
Speaker 14 (37:32):
He hesitates, He's clearly thinking the question has thrown him
for a loop. It's almost what could they have found
that would have connected someone to the disappearance?
Speaker 3 (37:45):
No?
Speaker 6 (37:45):
Okay?
Speaker 14 (37:47):
And then it's like, as he thinks through it, he realizes,
I've got to answer the question.
Speaker 12 (37:51):
So he goes, well, no, no, So he's thinking about
something that is not going to come out in his answer.
Speaker 14 (37:58):
That's correct, that's correct.
Speaker 6 (38:00):
Something he's not sharing.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
But Greg doesn't hold back on the one thing the
Smiths would agree with. He says George's death was no accident.
Speaker 7 (38:09):
George Allen Smith did not disappear or kill himself or
hurt himself or slip and fall of bow at six foot.
Speaker 9 (38:16):
Four hour, it's all he is. And just dive off.
I know that didn't happen.
Speaker 7 (38:21):
Some crazy went down that night, and I hope one
day did they find out the truth.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
In the years following George's death, Jennifer has remarried and
tried to move on, but for the Smiths, it's not
so easy. In twenty fourteen, they announced they are offering
a reward one hundred thousand dollars for information that leads
directly to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
We're hoping with this one hundred thousand dollars reward, this
might just be the thing that we need to get
the arrest to get the convictions.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Until the day this case is solved, Smith's thou not
to let George's memory die on that ship.
Speaker 9 (39:10):
That's right there, you go, Georgie.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
We'll get justice.
Speaker 9 (39:15):
We'll get justice somehow.
Speaker 8 (39:19):
Somehow, we'll get justice for George. Somebody will talk and
shame on them.
Speaker 6 (39:26):
That don't.
Speaker 8 (39:28):
Shame on the people that have put us through this hell.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
On January ninth, twenty fifteen, the Smith family suffered yet
another blow. The FBI announced they were officially closing the
case on George Smith.
Speaker 4 (39:53):
The FBI has determined that there is not sufficient evidence
to continue the investigation.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
When we were called in for the meeting that finally
closed the case down, it was just devastating to my family.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
How do you collect ninety seven thousand pages of an
investigation to determine after almost ten years, that an accident
may have occurred.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Still, the family stands by that one hundred thousand dollars reward,
and they still believe it was murder.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
The money that was going to be left to George,
we thought that since he wasn't going to be here
to get that money, somebody.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Else could use it to.
Speaker 9 (40:43):
Help our family.
Speaker 4 (40:45):
We're hoping to generate more leads with the reward, and
we're hoping the FBI will reopen the investigation, but.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
The toll is great.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
I never expected to be sixty seven and still sitting
here trying to get answers for my son.
Speaker 9 (41:05):
It's sad.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
We should be on with.
Speaker 9 (41:07):
Our life, but we're not.
Speaker 4 (41:10):
They could say there's no conclusive evidence. They could shut
down the investigation, but they're not going to shut down me.
And I'm going to continue until there is answers and
justice for George
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