Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20171209

It was bad. He said, if anything ever happens to me, she did it. How many times did people say to you, shes got something to do with that murder . More than once. Reporter were detectives closing in on a killer . Are you guys looking at me or something . Reporter or a lie . What are we missin . What am i not figuring out . Thats all youre thinking about. Reporter a doublemurder that wasnt what it appeared to be. Liar. Conniver. Killer. Reporter im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with the favorite son. If life is a journey, then life with the connells was a White Knuckle ride theyre crazy. [ laughter ] reporter rowdy, reckless combative. The family connell almost always fought harder with one other than with anyone else. Yeah, somebodys always upset with somebody. Reporter and then, eventually, it gets settled . Yeah. Reporter well not always, but well get to that. The connells are brought to you by wilmington, delaware. A hardworking city where generations of families fought for the good life. The connell family built a Beautiful House on five acres. Where the boys found lots of ways to get in trouble. Joe was crazy. I mean theres pictures of him jumping cliffs, drivin through rivers. Reporter mom and dad split up when the kids were almost grown. John was the oldest. Kelly was the baby. And right in the middle was joey. Gifted, funny, and john says, a piece of work. He was the life of the party um, always kind of a loud ob obnoxious types of a person. Reporter he was a loud, obnoxious guy, in a good way . Yeah. Oh, yeah, in a good way. He was really fun to be around. Reporter this is mickie, their mother. We came to understand an open secret in the connell clan that in moms eyes, joey could do no wrong. Reporter ive been told that of all your kids, joe was your favorite. Who said that . Reporter all your other kids. They do that. Reporter true . Well, no. I i dont wanna say that. Dont get me started. So what . Reporter he was your favorite. Okay, okay. Reporter because . He had a special personality that was always happy, always inquisitive, always teasing me. He was always teasing me. Reporter joey connell was doing well as the coowner of a Small Business called c and s auto. And then life went from good to great when he found olga, a russian woman from siberia. He met her online, and his mom had no problem with that. In fact she loves talking how she met olga. The door opens and i see joeys face and he goes, mom, ive got somebody that for you to meet. Well, poor little olga. She was so shy. She she kind of looked around the door. And joey kept saying, come on in, come on in. Shes going, okay. And she came in. She started talking to us and it was really nice. You could tell she was such a sweet person. Reporter mickie couldnt have been happier when her joey decided to marry olga. The only thing missing was a diamond ring. And that became the doorway to the connell family feud. Reporter tell me about that ring. Oh, i did something. And um im not sorry i did it. Okay, when reporter okay. Let me let me see if i got the details of this correct. Okay. Reporter okay . Yeah. Reporter your former husband gave you a ring yeah. Reporter at one point yes. Reporter which you then passed on to kelly, thinking maybe shed wear it when she got married. Yes. Reporter again, thats kelly joeys little sister. And then when joeys gonna marry olga, you want that ring back . Yeah. Reporter but instead of asking kelly for the ring back, you just go over to her house and take it. I asked her if i could wear the ring. I said, kelly, can i wear that ring . Im going to mexico with jerry reporter jerry is mickies new husband. She said, okay. Reporter actually, the ring wouldnt be going on any vacation. Mickie gave it to joey. He took out the diamonds and had them made into his brides shiny new Engagement Ring. Mickie knew kelly wasnt gonna like that. I said, shes gonna have a fit when she finds out. Joey said, well, mom, ill go get some zir zircon . Zircons . How do you say it . Reporter zirconia. Yeah. Put in and maybe she wont know. I said i said, okay. So we did that. Reporter thats right they swapped out the diamonds for cubic zirconia. I returned the ring. Reporter the phony ring. Yeah, and joey got the diamonds. So reporter uh, wait a minute. How can you do that to your daughter . Because i know she didnt need it. Reporter you can probably guess what happened next. Kelly figured it out. And when she did she was not happy. Not at all. Reporter she felt kinda betrayed i think. Well, joey needed it. Reporter hes more important. Well, at that particular time he needed the ring. And i was sorry i had given it to kelly, because if i still had it there wouldnt have been a problem. Reporter problem is putting it mildly. See, olga had no idea the diamonds in her stunning Engagement Ring had belonged to kelly. Until kelly sent her a nasty text right in the middle of olgas private wedding with joey in the virgin islands. And saying, i know where your nice, new ring came from . Yeah basically, it started getting really nasty. Reporter johns wife stephanie remembers it well. It just upset joe so much because it upset olga. And hes he was so protective of her. She, like, crossed the line when she did that. Reporter joey then sent kelly a blistering text of his own and the nasty back and forth continued and pretty soon the wedding day was ruined. As soon as he got home from his honeymoon, he was callin you telling you all about it, he was so upset. He was screaming at the top of his lungs to everybody. Reporter you guys try to mediate this at all . When joe was upset, you really couldnt calm him down. He was upset he was gonna be upset for a while. Reporter and that was not the end of it. Not even close. The feud went nuclear a few weeks later when someone broke into joey and olgas apartment and stole a lot of olgas jewelry. Not the Engagement Ring, but precious stuff that included some heirlooms from olgas late mother. Joey just knew who was responsible. He made that quite clear to officer Kelly Richards when she responded to the burglary call. Joe was angry. To him the burglary was personal. Reporter joe said it was his sister kelly she was behind it. Of that he was certain. And olga was beside herself. She was very emotional at the time and very upset. I had gotten a chance to sit with her for a few minutes, and attempting my best to make a bad situation a little bit better. Reporter there seemed to be no getting over this. Because now olga had been wounded in the war between the connells. His reaction to the burglary i think more than anything was that he was angry that she was so hurt, you know . Reporter detectives questioned kelly and her boyfriend and launched an investigation. In my line of work, i see family disagreements sometimes turn into something much worse. Mmhmm. Reporter either of you ever worry that this was gonna go so far that it couldnt be brought back to normal . Not at that point, no. Reporter thats the backdrop for what came next. It was late on a september night when the calls started coming into the New Castle County Police Department. My neighbor is laying on the ground. Shes, uh, hurt. She has blood all over her body. Reporter a young woman had been shot multiple times right outside her home. Even the witnesses could tell she wasnt likely to survive. A violent attack. Who was the shooter and who was the target . When we return it looked like an execution to me. How many shots fired . In excess of 20. Reporter and not far away hidden under some bushes, another horrifying discovery. 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Shes just laying there now . Yeah, shes laying on the ground. Reporter corporal Kelly Richards the same officer whod responded to joey and olga connells burglary was among the first on the scene. On the night of the shooting, when the call came in, i was working in the area. I was very close by and i was able to respond out very quickly. Reporter paramedics were already there. T012 and the first thing that i noted is that they were working on a females body that was laying right here on the ground. I ran down and i noticed that she was still alive at the time that i had arrived. Reporter Corporal Richards made some basic and important observations. Gunshot wound to the cheek. She was bleeding very heavily from the back of her head. She was dressed very nice. She had jewelry on. And i noticed that i knew i knew who this person was. Reporter richards realized shed come full circle. Shed spoken with this woman, even tried to comfort her a few weeks earlier right here at the paladin club condos. The woman bleeding out in front of her was olga connell. Richards stopped to relay the id to Police Headquarters and when i came back down, one of my fellow officers that was on the scene with me let me know, hey, richards, we have a second body. Reporter there were tall, heavy bushes along the front of the Building Back then. And underneath them a mans body shot in the back of the head. He was face down on the ground. Um he had his head resting like this in his um in his arm. And his right hand was laid out in front of him, holding his cell phone. Reporter she leaned over and took a closer look. I recognized and noted him to be Joseph Connell olgas husband. Reporter joey connell was already dead. By then olga was in an ambulance. She died on the way to the hospital. The distraught couple who had spoken with Corporal Richards just weeks before who blamed a sister for stealing some precious heirlooms, had been murdered together in a hail of bullets right in front of their home. Prosecutor Colleen Norris arrived at the scene a few hours later. It looked like an execution to me. Reporter olgas ring was still on her hand. Her keys were sticking out of the lock on the front door. Just seemed like it was a very purposeful killing. How many shots fired . In excess of 20, i think. Close to 25 shots. From two two different types of ammunition. Reporter lead detective Jamie Leonard said witnesses had seen little but heard plenty. They heard two different types of gunfire. And then another caller who had indicated that he had heard two male voices outside, and a scuffle. Reporter by morning, detective leonard had a clearer picture of how the killings unfolded. It was two gunmen he said who were lying in wait for joe and olga as they returned from a night out. So they park their car for the night up the sidewalk here, come walkin down, begin to walk up to their front door. Olga makes it to the front door. Reporter the detective believed olgas killer was hiding in the bushes to the right of the door. Thats when the attack happens . Absolutely. Exactly at that point in time. She gets her keys into the front door. The second shooter he believes was waiting in a car. So when he gets out of the car its simultaneous to when this other guy is is engaging olga. Reporter joes attacker was armed with 9 mm rounds. The spent shell casings told the story. Joe runs to that corner. By the time joe gets to that corner, hes taken probably three nonfatal gunshot wounds all to his lower torso. He gets behind that tree, gets tripped up on this guidewire. He gets bludgeoned. And then that person shoots joe four times in the back of the head. Reporter a team of assassins. What are you thinking at this point . Well, at this point the only thing i really had to base any theory that i may have is is this strife within their family tempers flare and and people make decisions or i mean, whether they be thought out or whether they be snap decisions, that result in things like what happened to joe and olga. Reporter as detectives would later learn the murders of joe and olga connell were anything but a snap decision. Coming up chilling words from joey before he died. He said, if anything ever happens to me, kelly did it. Reporter and kelly is feeling a chill of her own. Are you guys looking at me or something . Reporter when dateline continues. Now make sure theres bows lets go whoo preseeeeeents reload but we didnt get you anything. woman whoa, whoa, whoa. You do realize everyone wins . Presents for them, kohls cash for you announcer kohls. Give joy. Get joy. Lookin at the new mcpick 2 for 5. Going for savory, juicy, and crispy. Its goooddddd choose two Fan Favorites on the mcpick 2 for 5 dollars menu. [crowd cheering] the guy who switched to sprint. They Just Announced that their unlimited plan now comes with hulu. I get unlimited access to the shows everyone is talking about. Thats tv that works for me. vo unlimited now with hulu. For people with hearing loss, 4 lines for 25 per month and the 5th line free. Visit sprintrelay. Com 4 days of strikes, oakland mayor libby schaaf told City Employees that a mediator will be brought in to help find a solution. We have more details on our homepage. Plus donations, desperately needed in Southern California after these massive fires have destroyed hundreds of homes. We ve posted links on our homepage where you can donate reporter it was sunday morning. The murders of joey and olga connell were only a few hours old, and the rest of the he and another friend had just driven by to pick up joey for a trip to the mountains, and found themselves entering a crime scene. There was yellow tape and police cars and ambulances. They told a Police Officer they were looking for joe connell. And, he said, well, i cant talk to you now, but youre gonna have to follow me down to the station and answer some questions. Reporter jay had known joey and his family since they were kids. And, at that point, we definitely knew it wasnt good. Reporter jay says he had a growing sense of dread as he answered questions about joe and olga. They finally let us know that he and olga had died, and it was a total shock. Reporter jay called a friend, who reached out to the family. Police were already talking with mickie, who remembers very little of that conversation. How do you say it when youre like a zombie . Um, i was like, i heard it, i believed it. I was like in a state of mind that i cant quite describe. Whatd police ask you . I dont remember. Well, im guessing one of the first things police asked you was who had it in for your son and daughterinlaw . I dont remember what they asked me. I really dont. Reporter police recorded that death notification with mickie and her husband jerry. And as youll hear, just six minutes after they broke the news, police did indeed ask. Is there anybody that might want to hurt him, maam . I dont know. Does he complain about having problems with anyone . Jerry, you tell them about the robbery. Oh, no. Uh, somebody broke into their house. No, no, no, no. Broke into their house . How long ago was that . About a month a month and a half. Did they report it to the police . Yes. Reporter and it was right about then that kelly, a suspect in that burglary, walked up the driveway with her brother john and his family. And then we saw kelly come, and she was behind them. And when she got halfway up the driveway, she just fell down on the ground crying and crying and i had to pick her up. Reporter on that same police tape, kelly sounds hysterical. And now hes dead. We were fighting, and he wasnt talking to me. Reporter most of the family went down to the police station, where the ring, the feud, and the burglary came up in separate discussions with detectives. Prosecutor Colleen Norris was involved in the investigation from the start. There had been a lot of discussion and interviews that kelly was a suspect in that burglary, and that perhaps the murder had something to do with that burglary. And so that was you get pointed at Kelly Connell, basically, that night. Absolutely. Right away, yeah. Reporter in fact, it was joey connell himself who was pointing the finger at kelly. Their brother john remembers joeys chilling words. He said, if anything ever happens to me, kelly did it. If anything ever happens, make sure you go to kelly first. Reporter so they did. Detective Justin Breslin of the New Castle County Police Department conducted the first of several interviews with Kelly Connell. Tell me about your brother. Um recently, i mean, recently, him and i were not talking. He hated me. Reporter kelly had pulled herself together by the time she sat down with detective breslin, and talked about the family feud. How bad was the bad blood in that family . It was bad. Reporter and she confirmed, it all started with that ring. Which, by the way, did not come out of a gumball machine. It cost her dad about 20,000. It was huge. Uh, it was full of diamonds. Id say it had thirty diamonds on it. It was just something to be kept in the family. Thirty diamonds, like, it wasnt like, a solitary it wasnt, like oh no. It was, um let me remember. I can draw you a picture of it. [ laughter ] reporter as she drew that picture, a couple of things became clear. Kelly had plenty to be angry about, and she had no trouble recalling the details and design of the ring. That kind of screwing over one Family Member to give something to somebody else, i mean, that can be a motive for all kinds of things. Yes. It gave us much more to work with after hearing kellys account of it. Reporter in kellys account, she was the victim. My brother was very, very, very irate to me. What did he say . From that moment on, you can read his texts. From that moment on, my brother was pure evil to me. I mean, you got youve got money at play here. Youve got jealousy at play here. Youve got betrayal. Right because what it ultimately does is this feud between the two of them gets so inflamed that now theyre Getting Court orders. Accusing me of sending numerous, numerous, numerous threatening texts to his wife. Theyre getting restraining orders, protection from abuse orders that olgas seeking against kelly because of text message conversations that are heated. Reporter kelly talked about that, how ridiculous she thought it was that joe and olga had taken her to court. She pointed out that a judge had denied her brothers request for an order of protection. Family court . Yes. They made themselves look like complete and utter idiots. You should get a transcript. Reporter kelly suggested her brother lied about things, like the ring. I dont think he wanted his wife to truly know what kind of life he was running. She didnt know about anything. She didnt know about the ring. Reporter in the room with the cops, kelly appeared angry, bewildered. Can you guys tell me what happened . We cant really get into details yet. Reporter and full of raw emotions which careened from resentment to grief to fear. Im just scared. I miss my brother. Reporter and there, at the New Castle County Police Department, with the walls maybe closing in a little, came a shot of reality. Being suspected of the burglary had suddenly become the least of kellys problems. Are you guys looking at me, or something . No. No, no. Were just trying to get information. Im scared. Were just trying to get as much information as we can. Cause i didnt do that robbery, and i dont want to be connected to my brothers no. Im not saying that you did, all right . Were like i said, were just trying to get as much information as we can. Its scary. Ok. Reporter every look, every nuance was being recorded. Police would later study this tape and wonder, is this grief . God. Reporter or guilt . Coming up, from adoring sister. I was the little pain in the butt little sister that followed joey everywhere. Reporter to possible suspect. She knew right away that our suspicions were that she was somehow involved in it. With crest prohealth. Crest prohealth protects all. These areas dentists. Check most. Immediately i felt a. Difference it did an. Extremely good job of cleaning 4 out of 5 dentists confirm. These crest prohealth. Products help maintain. A professional clean. Go pro with crest prohealth my daughter inspired me. To make a change. Crest prohealth really brought my mouth to the next level. Crest healthy beautiful smiles for life. with imagination, yeah, yeah, yeah with imagination sc johnson. 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It was one of the first things that crossed my mind that you were gonna be a suspect . That i was gonna be a suspect. That i was bein kept separate from people. Reporter kellys answer to the big question isnt much better now than it was then. What kind of alibi did you have for the time of the murder . I cant remember right now. I believe i was just home that night. Reporter her alibi wasnt the greatest. Kelly was recovering from major surgery at the time of the killings, but she wasnt incapacitated. And anyway someone else could have done it for her. Police wanted to interview you more than just once, right . Yes. How many times . Um, in the first three days i was called in about four times. Reporter and you went in each time . Yep. Reporter no attorney . No. Reporter and answered their questions . Yes. Reporter whatd they want to know . They wanted me to tell them more. They just felt like i wasnt telling them everything. So, i would go in there and just wrack my brain and just tell em anything i could think of. And i would leave and get a call the next day, kelly, we need you back in. Id go in and theyre like, youre not tellin us somethin. Well, that was my question. Was there anything you werent telling them . No, that no not that i could think of. Reporter the late joey connell had made his feelings about his sister kelly quite clear. He was saying he was scared of me, that i was gonna come hurt him and his wife. Theres no question there was significant animosity there between you and your brother. Uhhuh. And its not a big leap to think he hated you, he made you hate him right. Reporter according to kelly the really sad thing was this she grew up adoring joey. I was the little paininthebutt little sister that followed joey everywhere. Um i always wanted to do everything him and his friends and my other brother, whatever they were doin, id want to join in. You wanted to follow him around. Did he want you to follow him around . Not all the time, not when i was younger. As we got older we had all the same friends and we did a lot of stuff together as we got older, grew grew closer. What was he like growin up . He was a prankster. He was outgoing. He was always fixing stuff, riding dirtbikes, fishing, boating. It was just he was an outdoors guy. He had some serious mechanical aptitude from the time he was, like, a little kid, right . I remember him takin apart his bikes as a little boy, just to have somethin to put back together. When he ended up workin on cars for a living, that didnt really shock you. We expected it. Reporter kelly said she was proud of joe when he bought into c and s that nice auto repair shop. It was a perfect fit for him. You would walk in and feel like you were in a highend auto shop. It was very new and clean. Big office, huge, huge shop. And everything was new and clean in it. Olga out front. Quite a s she was olga dressed beautifully, in her elegant clothes. So you would be greeted by this beautiful blonde, russian woman in a clean office. No she wouldnt let anybody touch the walls with their dirty mechanic fingers. Reporter the way shes talking about joe and olga makes it hard to imagine kelly wanted them dead. Even so the suspicions lingered even among those close to her that kelly could have been involved. That was definitely in the back of everybodys mind. I think my mom, especially, kept saying something about that. She thought, what, kelly had somehow gotten joe killed . I would say so. Or been responsible for it . Yes, yeah. Reporter but as police examined the faultlines in the bedrock of this family they had to wonder if there was maybe more to joe and olgas lives than even their own family knew. Coming up seemed like joe and olga were spendin an awful lot of money. Reporter did that money and their deaths have anything to do with olgas past . 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I think, routinely, they went to the russian market in philly and and got their Grocery Shopping done. And, you know, they got all of olgas favorite things. Reporter police got a slightly different take on joe when they paid a call on his Business Partner, chris rivers, just hours after the murders. The first words out of his mouth cast joe connell in a different light. I asked him, do you own a business with uh, joe connell . His response was, what what did he do now . What did he do now . Right. Reporter chris joined police at the station and talked at length about joe and olga. At first, police did not tell him theyd been killed. I just want to talk to you a little about your partner. Your history with him, and, uh, what kind of stuff hes got himself tangled up in recently. Ultimately, when were all said and done promise me you wont repeat it to him. Yes. Cause i told the other i give you my word. Okay. Reporter they covered a lot of ground, work, family, the business, and some lessthanflattering things about joe connell that well get to later. Chris told them had tried to meet up with joey and olga at olgas Birthday Dinner the night before. Hed been texting them all evening but that in the end, he wasnt allowed in. At 11 00, i went down there. It was around i guess it was around 10 30. But i didnt have my i. D. On me, so i had to drive all the way home. Reporter after hed answered most of their questions, police broke the news. Joe and olga connell had just been murdered. Oh, my god. Reporter he took some time to pull himself together, and then spoke some more. About his Business Partner. And his Business Partners wife. What did chris have to say about olga . He spoke about how they met, that that was a more or less an internet type dating thing. Reporter thats how detectives learned olga had been married once before. She had met that guy on the internet too. His name was kemel. His family was from turkey. What do you know about that marriage . That kemels family wasnt 100 behind his decision to marry olga. There was some tension with the inlaws, i guess. Oh yeah. She didnt like them. And they didnt like her. No. They didnt like her. She wasnt from their country. Uh, it didnt really follow along with the customs that they had. Olga did follow one family custom, the one where the wife gets the trinkets. Kemel gave her some family jewelry, which olga hung onto even after she had let go of kemel. Again, with the jewelry. Yes. Reporter and since some of those jewels were likely taken in that burglary, police had to wonder if olgas first marriage was somehow connected to this. Did her ex want the jewelry back . No. Did his family want the jewelry back . I think his family did. But but in talking with olgas friends, he would never push for that. Reporter at the same time, they were getting tips that olga may have been the target of a different kind of threat. She was russian, and had a lot of russian friends. It was at that point in time that he made mention of the russian mafia may be involved in this. That was one of the rumors that we heard on the street. Rumors, yeah. It was the russian mob. Everybody insisted it was that. Reporter people talked about joe and olgas spending. How she drove an expensive babyblue mercedes sl550. Their deepsea fishing trip off key west. The shopping sprees and expensive restaurants with olgas russian friends. Even john and stephanie wondered about all of it. It seemed like joe and olga were spending an awful lot of money, more than what we could afford i mean. You thought maybe they were living a little a higher on the hog than circumstances would explain . Yeah. So that sort of fit with maybe something illegal. Yeah. Or something that they werent telling you about . Uhhuh. Yeah. Reporter those suspicions were not shared by everyone. No, not the russian mafia. No way. To anyone who suggested olga might be connected to something criminal, impossible, said mickie. Olga was an angel. I loved her. She was so different. That girl was so kind. And she was um thoughtful. She was beautiful on the inside and outside. She just wanted everybody to feel good about themselves and she really loved joe. And they just loved to be together. You could tell . Oh, yeah. They thats why she worked there as the receptionist at c and s because they didnt want to be apart at all. Thats kinda sweet. Yeah, it is. And and whatd you think of olga . She was great. Perfect fit for joe. He went from wild to tame instantly. And im like, wow, hes really doing good. Reporter hes not kidding about the wild part. Long before he became a devoted husband and business owner, joey played on the dark side. And maybe thats what cost him and olga, their lives. Coming up how many years . He got seven. Joey has a new address and a new look. He came out huge, like the hulk. People would stare. 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I have a story about him at about three and a half years old, where he tried to take my husbands um lawnmower apart. Hes sitting on the ground outside, take trying to take off the parts. And then trying to put em back together again. Reporter and as they looked into joeys murder, investigators heard other kinds of stories. Because joey had his demons too. Long before he met olga, joey was a hard drinker with a hot temper. And in the fall of 2003, those two traits combined to get the best of him. He was 29. He met some girl and just fell in love with her. And one night they went to the tailgates bar. Joey got drunk, really drunk. And then, some guys started hitting on his girlfriend. The next thing ya know theres a fight. Yeah, and thats what happened. And it and it ends up out in the parking lot . Yep. Reporter joey always insisted the rest of it was a blank. He got hit over the head with a beer bottle and he doesnt remember after that. But um he went out to his car and grabbed the shotgun out of the trunk. Which was unloaded. Yeah, it was unloaded. It happened to be hunting season. Reporter more accurately, it happened to be stupid season. With the unloaded shotgun in his hands, joey started walking back toward the bar. Thats when the cops showed up. He didnt even make it back to the bar yet. And they told em to drop the gun and he started yelling back at the cops. Real obnoxious, real loud voice. I know how he gets. Hes lucky he lived through that day. Reporter joey was arrested and hit with gun charges and resisting arrest. And when it went to court he he said hes not guilty. He thought he didnt do this. And he wanted to go to trial and the lawyer said, do not do this, youre not gonna win. He said, no, im going to trial. Reporter again, not the smartest call. How many years . He got seven. And his girlfriend told em that if he got anything over three she was leavin him. Yeah, she was dumping him. Its good when they have a number. They offered him two years, he denied it. He should have taken it. Yeah, he said, im not going to jail. Yes, you are. Yeah. He went. Reporter and just like that, joey connell had a criminal record, and a room for the next seven years at the crossbar hotel. And so off he goes yeah. To prison. You worried about him . I was there um all the time. Dont go there. You hit me with some of these things. I went all the time. Every to visit him. All the time. Yep. Everybodys worried about him. Hes just a little skinny, 130 pound kid. Reporter but something happened to joey in prison. The things that made joey so likeable on the outside, seemed to pay off on the inside. His attitude, where he comes to a party and livens everybody up, i think he did that same thing in prison, he would make everybody laugh and forget where theyre at. He made a lot of friends in there. Tons. Reporter it didnt hurt that one of his cellmates was a member of a notorious east coast biker club called the pagans. That pagan ensured joeys safety and status in prison becoming both friend and protector. He met a lot of pagans that were really good friends of his. Reporter in the end, joey connell paid his debt to society and was released in seven years. His family and friends say he walked out of prison a changed man. Far more mature and cautious than the knucklehead who went in. He was very responsible when he came out. He did everything by the book. Yes, definitely. He wasnt going to take any chances. Reporter and they also mentioned another change. When joey walked out of the slammer, he was a lot bigger than when he went in. He came out huge, like the hulk. Im not exaggeratin. His shirt he would literally be popping out of a white tshirt just talkin to you. It was it was weird. Reporter after he began working full days at c and s, joey didnt have as much time to work out. Somehow he maintained that buffed physique. And one of his mechanics, the observant billy carozzo knew exactly how he was doing it. He would go in the bathroom. And hed have all his tools laid out. And i knew what he was doin. Hed be in there for 30 minutes, you know. Hed have his bandaids, his alcohol. You know what i mean. Reporter joey connell was using steroids. He was also selling them. Did you have any idea that your brother was using performanceenhancing drugs . Yes. Did he tell you that . Or you just figured it out . I just figured it out. Reporter and when she talked with police, kelly did suggest joeys illegal steroid connection had become dangerous. I would have to guess this robbery and this murder are connected by some kind of drug people. Reporter his partner chris backed that up. Finally, i i wasnt there one day, and the other guy the other guy that works with me comes up and goes, joes selling drugs our of the back of the shop. And i was like, what . So i searched the shop, found em, and said to him, get em out, i dont want it here. Im not losing the frickin place over this. Mmhmm. What was he selling . Steroids. Reporter olga for whatever reason, did not complain. Maybe she didnt think of steroids as bad drugs. But billy carozzo didnt think steroids were doing joey any good. Youd call it roid rage, if you will. But his moods would be up and down, you know. Hed get mad over really dumb stuff, really little stuff. Reporter there was the time joey got into a loud dispute with a customer. Not a big thing maybe. But it made investigators wonder. Among the roid rages, the steroid sales, the pagans and the prison stint, had joey crossed someone truly dangerous . One of the things youre left to wonder is, was he somehow involved in whatever got him killed, was he in the middle right. Of something illegal . Right. Was he hangin out with the wrong people . And, i guess you really have no idea. No. No. We were scared. There was a million things runnin through our minds. Reporter that was Something Police understood. But as they focused on new leads, the road led them back to c s auto. Reporter coming up. Maybe prison isnt the best place to make new friends. Any indication that joe connell was a member or doing business with them . Reporter when dateline continues. Grocery bags. Getting a bad haircut. Overcrowded trains. Turnstiles that dont turn. And spilling coffee on themselves. But for everyone else, theres directv. For 1 rated Customer Satisfaction over cable, switch to directv. And for a limited time get a 100 reward card. Call 1800directv in this home we make breakfast. Sometimes messes but always masterpieces. Together. What matters most is made at home. If youre anything like me, your todo list is crazy. Which is why the Online Finance application at carmax. Com is so convenient. Get some of that finance stuff done from wherever you are, like at the doctor, karate or. Back at the doctor. Ha ha ha, yay kids reporter returning to our story they were totally, totally in love with each other. A newlywed couple, joey and olga connell, have been murdered execution style. How many shots fired . In excess of 20. Reporter some suspected that a feud with his sister had erupted into war. He said, if anything ever happens to me, kelly did it. In the first three days, i was called in about four times. Reporter or, perhaps joeys wild past caught up with him. Theres a fair amount of crime thats been associated with that gang over the years . Yes. Reporter now the trail seems to be leading back to joeys business, a little shop with a lot of secrets. He showed us right where they were. Reporter hidden drugs. Mysterious money. We never truly realized how much money he had invested in there. What else was that shop hiding . That was really when everything started to click. Reporter here again is Josh Mankiewicz. It was a warm, sunny day in early october when about 200 people gathered to celebrate the life of 39yearold joey connell, gunned down with his wife olga. Kelly, still on the outs, and still under a police microscope, was feeling like a pariah. It just stood out in my mind that my mother never said hi to me at the funeral or looked at me, and just acted like i wasnt there. That you know, thats something ill never forget. I went with my dad. I stood by my dads side and left with my dad. She might have felt like that. But not in my mind. Her and my mom were still in a big argument. Yeah, they werent getting along. Mickie was still in shock. Reporter you didnt say anything . You didnt speak . No. Not gonna talk to anybody when im crying. Reporter no. But, i mean, you didnt, like give a eulogy or say anything about him or oh, it was really nice because one of kellys friends fathers sung oh danny boy. cause were all irish, you know. That was nice. And then different people, different friends of joeys got up and talked. They spoke about him. Reporter that was nice . Yeah, that was good. Reporter the whole c and s crew was there, including joeys partner chris rivers. I mean, chris was cryin, obviously, and emotional. Everyone was emotional. His whole family was devastated. It was very sad. Reporter chris rivers seemed eager to help police solve the crime, insisting joes steroids played a role in his killing he even showed police where joe stashed his drugs at c s. He took one of our supervisors from the drug unit, and walked him right in there, and pointed em out in the ceiling. Reporter if chris thought joes steroids were somehow connected to the murders the prosecutor wasnt so sure. Reporter steroid use, steroid sales, illegal. Correct. Reporter but this isnt cocaine. Right reporter and generally people dont get killed over drug deals in which the drug is a performance enhancing drug. That would be correct. Yes. Reporter one more thread of the investigation seemed to be thinning out the whole russian mob angle. Yes, olga had russian friends and yes, they went to fancy restaurants. But that seemed to be it. Reporter and that, on the face of it, doesnt sound like evidence of anything. Except that you like borscht. Right, there was nothing about her life that seemed out of the ordinary. She had no enemies. There was no discord. Reporter the investigation kept veering back to joe, and tips were coming about his past and that connection with the pagans, those bikers hed met in prison. Reporter this is the pagans in the whole sort of atlantic corridor area . Yes. Reporter and theres a fair amount of crime thats been associated with that gang over the years . Yes. Reporter except the pagan connection was turning into a dead end as well. Reporter any indication that joe connell was either a member or doing business with them or their enemy . No. He liked motorcycles. He liked to ride motorcycles, but he was not a pagan. Reporter the pagans themselves decided to end any doubt. A leader of the group actually asked to speak with detectives. The general gist of of their conversation was that they had no dealings with him um with regards to any type of drugs, and reporter joe connells not a pagan, and hes not in business with em . Right, and that they were just as taken aback by his killing as as his own family was. Reporter police believed it. There was another tip that police found credible and pursued aggressively. It was about a guy who worked with joey and chris at c and s. Reporter tell me about harry cook. He was a runner, parts runner. He uh he ran the Christmas Tree stand. They used to sell Christmas Trees in the in the wintertime. He was a good dude. He hed just hed pop in every now and then, just like everyone else, you know. It was basically chris buddy. Reporter harry cook turned out to be more than a buddy. He was keenly interested in c and s auto. We got turned onto harry by some tips that had been called in saying that harry cook was a silent partner of c and s automotive. Invested a lot of money in in the business. Reporter both joe and chris know about that . No. Joe did not have any idea that harry was investing money in the business. Reporter police learned harry was interested in becoming a full partner. Except joe was already chris partner. And he showed no sign of wanting to leave. Which led police to a theory. Logically, you would think, that if if joes not willing to leave the business or take a buyout or this harry, whos invested over 100,000, is he angry now because joe wont just up and leave and and take his buyout . Reporter so maybe thats what this is about, joe wont get out. And everybody else wanted him out . Right. Reporter one more thing that put harry cook on the list. At the time, harry lived stones throw from paladin club. Theres one road that separates where joe and olga lived and where harry lived. Reporter it was time to talk with harry cook. Reporter coming up questions about a silent partner. Did harry cook have an alibi for the time that joe and olga were murdered . And maybe another partner should have stayed silent. Did you do anything that night . Did you go out anywhere . No. I was at work and then i went straight home. I cant get rid of that interview in my head. E give you bare feet, backsweat, and gordos. Everything. I love you, but sometimes you stink. Soft surfaces trap odors. Febreze fabric refresher cleans them away for good. Because the things you love the most can stink. And plug in febreze to keep your whole room fresh for up to 45 days. Breathe happy with febreze. Could bounce back like it used to . Neutrogena® hydro boost water gel. Instantly quenches skin to keep it supple and hydrated day after day. 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He was in pittsburgh with some friends of his with the intent of going to a steelers game on sunday the 22nd, the evening of the 22nd. Provable . Oh, yeah. So whoever pulled the trigger, it wasnt harry cook. Wasnt harry. Reporter so, back to the drawing board. Police continued to get calls about kelly that she must know something. Rumors mostly. How many times did people outside the investigation say to you, you need to look at Kelly Connell . She had something to do with that breakin. And shes got somethin to do with the murder. I know that the investigators did receive that information from multiple sources more than once . More than once. Reporter kelly continued to deny any involvement in the burglary or the murder and was convinced her own mother was stoking suspicion. So she called mickie. Im like, what is your problem with me . Im like, you joes dead. Are you trying to lose another kid . Whats goin on here . Shes like, im just so mad you. Im so furious you made my son die angry. Thats what she said to me. Shes like, and ill never get over that. Did you tell police that you thought kelly might be involved . No. No. No. You didnt say to police that you thought kelly knew more than she was telling . No. You never believed that . Of course not. No. She could stay angry at him forever. She can stay angry at me forever. But not killing somebody. That is not in her or any of us. No. Reporter by now, police had reached the same conclusion. You know, weve now looked at kelly. And weve tried to figure out is did this family dispute rise to the level of killing her brother and her sisterinlaw . Weve looked at the pagans and the russian mob. And weve looked at her olgas exhusband. And now weve spent some time with harry. And again, were gettin the same feeling that we did from all these others, is that that were not were not on the right track. Nothing nothins panning out. Nothing. Reporter while police regrouped mechanic billy carozzo and others left behind at c and s auto were doing their best to soldier on without joe and olga. After joe and olga died, it it affected the business a lot. Things werent as organized, we went in there it was just, like, piles of paper, and it was just a mess. And the invoices were all over. The computers werent on. The the place was kinda fallin apart with it was. Without joe and olga . Yeah. Reporter chris seemed to be working around the clock to keep up with the extra work. When i would drive by sometimes at night uh say, 9 00, 10 00 at night, the lights would still be on, he would be workin and uhhuh. The shop was open all the time. Reporter when someone dies, its natural to want to rewrite your own history with them. Maybe thats what motived chris rivers to give this interview to the news website delaware online talking mostly about joe. Was he married when you met him or was he single . He was dating olga when i met him. And how was she . She was good. I mean she was, always smiling, always happy. Always looking at clothes and taking pictures. Reporter he made it clear from the start what a good guy joe was. Theres nothing that he would do to make anybody angry, ever. Reporter interesting, given that chris was often angry at joe. How was your relationship up until the day he died . Figures, you see someone every day, 12 hours a day, more than you see your wife. So we were pretty much best friends. Reporter to those who knew chris and joe, that didnt ring true. Did you see him on television in the first couple of days, talkin yes. About this . Yes. I cant get rid of that interview in my head. Reporter he talked about the night before the murders, how he had to work, so he couldnt get to olgas dinner party. So what happened why didnt you meet them on saturday . I was working. Oh, so you just couldnt go . Mmhmm. We had plans to go but i never made it. And did you talk to him just call them to say hey man i just cant get there or what . Yeah, i was talking to him. I talked to him all day long. Did you do anything that night . Did you go out anywhere . No. I was at work and then i went straight home. Reporter at one point someone off camera weighed in. Whatd you guys do that night . Went to bed. No, you didnt go straight home. Reporter i went to, yeah i went to mcdonalds, and i brought food home to her. Reporter that voice belonged to chriss new attorney. And where were you the night before . At home. At work. To the shop. To home. Reporter Police Watched this interview closely and at least one thing caught their attention. Chris said he headed straight home after work. But remember, he told police, early on, that he went to the restaurant where the connells were celebrating. I went down there. It was around i guess it was around 10 30. But i didnt have my i. D. On me, so i had to drive all the way home. Reporter why was he changing his story . Police couldnt ask him because once he lawyered up chris rivers stopped talking. Coming up chris would complain about joe taking money out of the account. Reporter a smart detective knows to follow the money. Wherever it leads. What are we missing . Reporter when dateline continues. From the first moment you met it was love at first touch and all you wanted to do was surround them in comfort and protection thats why only pampers swaddlers is the 1 choice of hospitals to wrap your baby in blanketlike softness and premium protection mom oh hi baby so all they feel is love wishing you love, sleep and play. Pampers and take an extra 25 off weekend at kohls. Give joy with the pj masks headquarters a star wars playset or a kidfriendly digital camera and for a limited time only yes2you members earn Double Points give joy get joy this weekend at kohls. 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Overturns on southbound highway 101 in San Francisco. It happened about 8 tonight near the cesar chavez exit. Four of the victims seriously injured. Some taken to San Francisco general hospital. All but one southbound lane is closed. The back up goes on for miles. A live report fromthe scene on nbc bay area news at eleven. Reporter if police were taking a closer look at chris rivers, many of his and hows hows chris rivers doing during that year . Hes still upset, still cryin. Reporter c and s had always been more than a car repair shop. It was also kind of place for friends to meet and catch up. Mechanic billy carozzo says people were always coming by. It was a good hangout spot, you know. It was people didnt mind comin in. It was a good atmosphere. Reporter billy liked his boss chris rivers. Lots of people did. Yeah, if i was working on something and, you know and chris was there and he saw me struggling, he would stop what he was doing and j come jump in and and show me better ways to do things, you know, tricks. Tricks of the trade kinda thing. Reporter he came from a nice family. Went to good schools. And seemed to be building a viable business. Chriss family and joes, had put tens of thousands of dollars into it. Why was business so good for them, do you think . I think the location, the prime location. I think the location had a lot to do with it. I think a lot of people knew chris rivers from his father and his parents and stuff. Reporter when detective Jamie Leonard met that nice young business owner, he got an odd vibe. It all came down to what chris said when police first asked if he worked with joe. Remember he said what did he do now . It was always a comment that jumped out jumped out at me. It was one that just stuck in there. And i never forgot it. Reporter and as police spoke with more people, they learned chris rivers had frequently badmouthed joey connell. Long before the murders. Chris would complain about joe taking money outta the account for uh like, lavish things, like, luxurious things. Ive always heard it from chris side that, you know, joes doin this. Joes doin that. Much of what everyone knew about joe connell was told to them through the prism of christopher rivers. You know, it was his version of joe. Which was what . Not very flattering. That he didnt work hard enough. That he was taking money from the shop. Thered be a couple times where chris couldnt pay me cause he had claimed that joe took money out of the account and there wasnt enough money there to pay me. Reporter prosecutor Colleen Norris and her team learned that c and s auto, which was taking in close to a Million Dollars in business a year, was for some reason losing money. Did you and your investigator sort of go through the books at c and s to determine whether or not joe was takin money out of the business that he wasnt entitled to . Absolutely. The investigator spent a lot of time looking at that exact evidence. And it, in fact, was not true. It wasnt. Joe wasnt embezzling or over absolutely take not. Or over drafting money from there. Absolutely not. In fact, it was the opposite. He was taking less than his half. Reporter there were times when even joe and olga didnt get paid. They told me that chris was not paying them their salary. That he didnt have the money to pay em their salary. And olga got really mad. That was right before they were killed . Yeah. She was just upset over it. She would say, mickie, i didnt get any pay. Id go, why not . He he says he has no money. Thats how she talked. She was so sweet. Reporter someone was draining the accounts at c and s. And the more police learned about chris rivers, the more it looked like him. Something seemed seriously wrong with chris. Kelly spotted it a few months after the murders. I gave him a Christmas Present for his baby. So, that would have been about three months after the murders. And how was he . He was a mess. He was he looked awful. It looked like he had been up for days. He looked intoxicated. Reporter kelly had picked up on something that had become apparent to a lot of people including police. Chris had a big drug problem. He had taken a hard dive into opioids and that was just part of it. What drugs was he taking . He was taking prescription drugs, percocet, oxycodone. Things like that. Addicted . He was taking cocaine, powder cocaine. Reporter after looking at the books, police came to the conclusion that chris rivers was the one who was milking the company dry. All to pay for his drug habit. You have any idea he had a drug problem . Did i ever . Joe say anything . Anybody else say anything . Olga and joey told me that they thought he was on drugs. Reporter detective leonard wasnt convinced joe knew the full scope of chris rivers drug problems. I would say that he wasnt aware that he was buying the amount that he was buying and using the amount that he was using. Reporter so now as they looked back on the months before the murders, police saw a troubling scenario an unhappy Business Partner with an extensive, expensive drug problem and a company deeply in debt. So we go back to some information we had had earlier. And that was chris had given us his phone. Um and he allowed us to download the contents of his phone. And we decided were gonna need to regroup and start from scratch with this phone and see what what could be in there . What are we missing . Reporter coming up a peek behind closed doors the night of the murder. What you see is him text messaging on the phone the entire night. And closing in on a suspected killer. Liar. Conniver. I kept looking for ways to manage my symptoms. I thought i was doing okay. 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Tender turkey with stuffing, creamy mashed potatoes, and made from scratch gravy. Spoiler alert, things are about to get good. click, laughter on tv because me time calls for Marie Callenders. They worked on it day and night. They worked overtime. They worked at night. They worked on weekends, yeah. Reporter and as they worked, investigators became increasingly curious about chris rivers and his version of events. Like the way he kept steering them toward joes steroid use. You seem pretty convinced that this is was all about . Yeah, im pretty sure thats probably what its about. Why would you say that . What else would it be about . Reporter and there was Something Else chris seemed quite eager to prove he was home the night of the murders. It wasnt that police doubted that. To the contrary. Chris was definitely at home. It was just that his story seemed a little too wellprepared. He told us he has cameras inside his house. Reporter you dont ask that . He volunteers it . He volunteers that he has cameras outside and inside his house, and that if you check them hell be there. Reporter that strike you as a little weird . It did. Reporter those cameras didnt just show chris at home they showed what he was doing at home. Okay. Whats on these cameras that he so helpfully volunteers . Well, you could see him comin home. You see him go up the stairs to where, presumably his childs mother is, to the bedrooms of the house. Comes back down. And then what you see is him constantly pacing throughout the night, and text messaging on the phone the entire night. And when police looked at chris rivers phone data they saw many calls from the night of the murder had been deleted. And not sort of, a mass deletion. But a purposeful individual manual deletion of data from the phone. Reporter forensic phone examiners discovered the deleted calls were made to a man named josh bey. And who was that . He was a regular customer at c and s. Josh bey would come in and get his car worked on, and hed kinda just hang out and you know, id work on his car for him. Reporter police learned josh bey and joe connell didnt get along in fact, theyd gotten into an argument once, over a bill. Not a big deal at the time. But why would chris rivers call josh bey and then delete his calls . Reporter you bring josh bey in . Uhhuh. And he lies. And he lies numerous times. Reporter whats he lying about . First, he says he doesnt really have a relationship with chris rivers. Reporter and then you show him all these calls and texts between him and chris. Right. Reporter and then suddenly josh bey remembers chris rivers is his mechanic. He says that chris was supposed to work on his car so he was trying to get hold of him. And then he ultimately said at one point time that that he was pocket dialing chris. Reporter again and again and again. Right. And when i pointed out to him that these are these are incoming calls, how are you cant pocket dial an incoming call. Theres incoming and outgoing text messages. Reporter pocket texting, too. Right. Reporter police pushed harder and the story started making just a little more sense. Josh bey admitted he was selling drugs to chris rivers. So josh bey is chris rivers dealer, or one of them. Yes. Reporter well, maybe thats why hes lying about what contact he has with chris. Police already knew that josh bey was much more than just a petty drug dealer. Josh has an extensive criminal history. He has a multitude of felonies, dating back to his younger days. Reporter so now police had a guy who was angry with his Business Partner and a felon with the means to carry out a murder. Its a very reasonable question did josh bey gun down joe and olga connell . And the answer was no. Reporter josh bey has an alibi for the time of the murder. He does. Reporter so he wasnt there. Correct. He was inside a store on camera working. Reporter there he is right there, working his night shift at Kohls Department store. Which makes you think, what, this is a dead end . No, because once we had josh beys phone records we saw that he was communicating frequently during that same time period with an individual by the name of Dominique Benson. Reporter police knew all about Dominique Benson. He was a guy with a criminal record and police files contained tips that benson associated with a man named Aaron Thompson. Benson and thompson. To police, that could be the team of killers. One of them was talking with josh bey on the night of the murders. And josh bey was talking with chris rivers. Reporter so, you have this chain of telephones calling each other, but that doesnt in and of itself tell you about a criminal conspiracy and thats not enough to indict somebody for murder. Not at all. Reporter did you think there was a chance that nobody would ever be arrested for your brothers murder . It was a worry, but i was so confident in our detectives. Reporter police held josh bey on a parole violation and kept the pressure on. And then one day as they were taking bey to a hearing prosecutors got a gift. Im walking over to the courthouse for the hearing and i see two individuals in front of me. And they look familiar. Ive never seen Dominique Benson or Aaron Thompson in person, at this point reporter but youve seen, what, mugshots. Ive seen a picture, drivers license photo of them. Suddenly, theyre in front of the courthouse. And i was shocked, and thought, oh, my gosh. Thats them. Colleen called me from inside and said, theres two guys sittin out front that kinda look like dom and aaron. Can you take a look at em when you come in . So justin and i we come down, turn and start walkin toward the front door of the courthouse. And there, sittin on the front bench is dom and aaron. Reporter and with that, the two suspects entered the courthouse and walked right up to josh beys hearing. Detective breslin was there. And when they get into the courtroom, they sit on the opposite sides of the courtroom. Reporter like they dont know each other . Right. Reporter so whats goin on here . Well, i think our thought was that they were there to make sure that joshua bey knew that hed better not say anything. Reporter for police and prosecutors this was the ultimate kodak moment. So you borrow a phone from somebody . Right. Reporter and you what, snap some pictures right no, i stood up and videoed it. Reporter and they saw you . Yes. Dominque wasnt very happy about it. Reporter everybody involved in this just overplays their hand every chance they get. Right, it was surprising to us. And we were also, heartened that what we suspected seemed a little more likely now. Reporter i mean, if thats true, these guys have just told you, youre on the right track. Correct. Thats exactly right. Reporter what began as an investigators educated hunch had become a working theory. And it went like this that christopher rivers, because of mounting debt and unhappiness with his partnership with joe connell, hired his drug dealer, joshua bey, to kill joe and olga. Reporter and that josh hired dominique and aaron to do the killing. Police decided it was time to tell the family what they thought. Right after christmas, my family was sat down and detectives and prosecutors told my family, this is what happened. This is who did it. Reporter mickie says she had her suspicions from the moment she saw chris rivers interview. You could watch on television how chris rivers lied and said, joey was my best friend. And he had tears in his eyes and all that stuff on that video. What a mess that was. A liar. Conniver. They told us everything. And they said, we dont have enough to arrest him yet. Reporter chris . Chris. Reporter and they might never have enough to arrest chris rivers because the only person who could put it all together was josh bey. And he wasnt talking. Reporter coming up never stiff a killer. The lesson here is, if youre gonna hire a hitman, pay them. Yeah. Reporter when dateline continues. Whats inside the box. Its whats inside the person who opens it. Give ancestrydna, the only dna test that can trace your origins to over 150 ethnic regions and open up a world of possibilities. Save 30 for the holidays at ancestrydna. Com the guy who switched to sprint. They Just Announced that their unlimited plan now comes with hulu. I get unlimited access to the shows everyone is talking about. Thats tv that works for me. vo unlimited now with hulu. For people with hearing loss, 4 lines for 25 per month and the 5th line free. Visit sprintrelay. 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The delaware news journal had revealed that chris rivers was, essentially, broke. A local reporter ran an article about the massive amounts of judgments and debt that c and s automotive had, as a business, and how much debt chris had as an individual. It may be that the alleged conspirators finally did the math. Theyre theyre never gonna get the money that that they were promised and that that the chris never even had any intentions of paying out. 10 months after that kodakmoment hearing where Aaron Thompson and Dominique Benson showed up, josh bey looked at his options, cut a deal and unzipped his lips. So, i guess the lesson here is, if youre gonna hire a hitman, pay them. Or the next thing you know, theyll be states evidence. That was probably one of the pieces of information that was sort of unbelievable in all this, that you would hire, contract to hire killers, and then not pay them. Lets start with how you met chris and then well work through from there. Does that work . Okay. Josh bey said that around the time joe and olga were getting married, chris rivers was already planning their murders. So hes, like, man id pay anything, like, id pay anything to get them out of the way, get them gone. So i threw the number out there at probably, about, i said man, 60,000 . And he said, i can do 60,000 so, josh laid out what we had long suspected was that he made contact with Dominique Benson and Aaron Thompson to have joe and olga killed out in front of their house. And bey said chris rivers was fully committed to his bloody objective. Did chris ever call you and say i changed my mind, i dont want to do this. No . No. I take it from the conversations weve had that it was just the opposite. Hurry up . Yeah. Real persistent. Real persistent. Reporter in september 2014, chris rivers was charged with conspiracy and two counts of murder. He went on trial in april of 2016. For chris rivers trial i was there mostly everyday. What was that like . He walked in like it wasnt a murder trial, like he was innocent. He walked in, and he didnt seem to be affected by anything. When youd go to the trial, did you look at chris rivers . Yes. You try to catch his eye . No, i just kept looking at him. He was so disgusting. Reporter the Prosecution Team came armed with phone records, witness accounts and the magic bullet josh beys testimony. Did it bother you at all that the state made a deal with josh bey . Not at all. Youre okay with him essentially walking away from the murder charge . Exactly, because without him, we wouldnt have a case. Prosecutor Collen Norris told the jury josh beys testimony was bolstered by those phone records. Detectives laid it out in detail. What were looking at is is more or less a flow chart of communication. When we took these 10,000 pages of phone records and whittled em down to the communication amongst the people that we know are involved in this. Chris, josh, dominique, aaron, and this burner phone. Investigators say that burner phone belonged to Aaron Thompson. So chris would always call josh, who would then always call dom, and dom would have contact with aaron, whether on his real phone or on this burner phone. And on that last night when chris rivers was texting joe, saying he was on his way to the restaurant. Investigators believed that was part of the plan. You know, that kind of sealed the deal for me was a text message where chris asks joe how much longer they were staying. And joes response is, were leaving in about an hour. And chris then calls josh who calls dom who calls aaron. You think thats chris ordering the hit . I think thats him confirming when theyre gonna be heading home so that they can get the people in place that they need to get in place. And then the prosecutor revealed why a drugaddled chris rivers thought murder for hire was a viable plan. Christopher rivers had a big benefit that he would get if something had happened to joe connell. It was a Life Insurance policy, close to a Million Dollars, that joe and chris had together taken out for the business. So there in black and white, was the motive of legend. Money. Why kill joes wife as well . Why kill olga . He told josh bey that olga had to be killed too because joe may have a will. Meaning, a living breathing olga might have complicated the insurance payout. The prosecutor told jurors chris rivers had every detail planned. Like the way he planted false leads long before the killings. He told, and showed, numerous people the steroids, told his father, told him that he was worried that that was gonna cause dangerous people to come to the shop. I mean, he he knew he was gonna use that months before the murders. So, this is just one long setup. Correct. It proved to be an even longer setup than youd possibly imagine. Because chris rivers knew all about the connell family. He knew what made them happy and what made them angry. 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The states star witness was a sketchy con man whod become a rat to save his own skin. Joshua bey is a person who has a lot of baggage. And certainly hes going to be challenged on his credibility. Were you at all worried that when prosecutors cut a deal with josh bey they were maybe setting themselves up to rely too heavily on someone who was involved, and was gettin a deal, and therefore wasnt trustworthy . Yeah, we were a little worried. I know how things go, i know the game. Reporter even so bey delivered as promised. And then some. He revealed just how calculating chris rivers could be. Remember that burglary that stoked the connell family feud . I think around this time too that i end up doing the burglary doing the burglary and everything. Reporter thats right hes the guy who stole olgas heirloom jewelry. We had no idea until he told us. You think chris rivers told josh bey to commit that burglary as a way of, essentially, framing Kelly Connell for the murder that was to come . Yes. Reporter so after all the accusations all the misplaced rage it turns out innocent Kelly Connell did have a connection to the burglary. She just didnt know it. You and joe already were at odds, so chris took advantage of the fight and kept it going. He made it and said and said that made it worse. And send the police after you instead of maybe after him. Right. Reporter chris rivers trial lasted 19 days. The connells were there for all of it. Did you think they had him . Because, you know, no eyewitness, no dna, no fingerprints, no murder weapon yes. I did. I definitely did. They were wonderful people. Reporter not everyone was that sure. Especially when the case went to the jury. Jury was out for a little while. Uhhuh. Yeah. A couple days. Theres gotta be a point where youre sorta thinkin to yourself, you know, maybe this is all for nothing. Uhhuh. Yeah. We were tryin to prepare ourselves just in case he was found not guilty. Reporter and then the verdict came back for the connells, justice wasnt quick but it was true. Whats it like to hear that word guilty . It was it was just like in it was a final feeling of relief. It was satisfaction in knowing that this killer would never be out of jail again in his life. I mean, he hes done. Hes done. I just remember crying when they said guilty. That was the first time in trial i cried, i just when they said guilty. I held myself together till that point. Reporter Aaron Thompson was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to two life terms. Dominique benson was acquitted on murder charges but convicted of criminal conspiracy and sentenced to five years in prison. Police believe there was one more man involved who hasnt been identified or charged. Following his testimony against rivers, benson and thompson josh bey was sentenced to five years on a conspiracy charge. Kelly spoke about joe and olga at chris rivers sentencing hearing. She read part of her statement to us. His last moments are unimaginable to me. Watching helplessly, his wife shot multiple times in front of him, as she fell to the ground. This is the worst thing that anybody could ever have done to him. You read that to chris rivers. I did. He look at you while you were reading it . No. He say anything at that hearing . He did. He said, real brief, he said, i hope i can be an example to people using drugs heavily like i did. And i would like to apologize to the connell family. And he turned to us and he goes, sorry. And that was it. Sorry. Thats all he said. Well, i guess that kinda squares it then. Yeah. And that was the end. They took him away. Reporter chris rivers received two life sentences. If your brother hadnt been killed, the two of you would have eventually made up we would have. I think. Yeah. Definitely. Olga raitina connell ended up completing the journey that took her from siberia to suburbia and back again. She was joeys bride for only 107 days. Her family wanted her buried back in russia, and the connells agreed. Even though they still think joey and olga would have wanted to be together. Joey connell was cremated. But he didnt go anywhere. Whered you scatter his ashes . I didnt. Theyre on my table in the living room. You cant let go of him yet . Reporter joe connell left behind a family that still seems fractured. To outsiders like us anyway. I have one more thing to ask you. Okay. Are you and your daughter gonna patch this up someday . Because you should. Well, were okay. Theres nothing to be patched up. Well just hold our feelings as as they are right now. We go on with life. Okay. Dont steal anything else. Well, i never did before. But i did it. Yep. Yeah. Im not sorry for it. I didnt mean it to hurt anybody. I just did it out of wanting to do something good for joe. You wouldve done anything for joe. Yeah. Your family gonna be okay . Yeah. Anybody learned any lessons from this about maybe not bein so angry at everybody else all the time . I hope so. Yeah. Reporter kelly says shes already learned that the hard way. One of the most painful lessons ive ever learned. Which is . Um make up. Make up. Dont go to bed mad. Tell people you love em. I learned learned the hard way you dont get a you cant expect the next day. Reporter thats all for this edition of dateline. Well see you again next friday at 9 00, 8 00 central and of course, ill see you each weeknight for nbc nightly news. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, goodnight. Breaking news in San Francisco. 29 people hurt after a bus crashes on highway 101. Traffic backed up for miles, and news in San Francisco. 29 people hurt after a bus crashes on highway 101. Traffic backed up for miles and victims rushed to the hospital. Were live at the scene. Im terry mcsweeney, raj and jessica have the night off. We start with the breaking news. A terrifying crash on highway 101, a bus headed to a party on the peninsula crashes overturning onto its side