the sandy police department categorically denied the accusation. but as those loft friends heard more of chris wright s side of the story from bianca, they became convinced, he was innocent. there were so many parts of the puzzle that were not adding up. unless, they reasoned, unless someone they knew very well wanted chris to take the fall. a dark suspicion wafted through the corridors of that old chocolate factory. perhaps the police, they said, arrested the wrong neighbor. he had the perfect patsy in christopher. the neighbor started comparing notes and realized someone in their circle was not who he seemed. coming up we were astounded. i remember saying to him, what? when suspicion continues. got directions to the nightclub here. and if you get lost, just hit me on the old horn.
he faked his death in order to avoid insurance audit. that was not a crime of passion. that was a crime of calculation. or so the loft friends believed, and if that was true, what might he have done here in salt lake? they re suspicion only grew when the friends found out novak left town without mentioning it was he who fingered chris in that surveillance photo. did he ever tell you, i identified christopher as the guy who bought the cell phone? no. of course that prepaid cell phone was the very clue that led police to chris, a phone which chris bought, said bianca. after novak assured him. novak had said that this guy routinely used these throwaway phones. what s more, said bianca, chris could not have left the voicemail because by the time of the murder, he d given the phone away. he gave it to novak. and novak gave it to dolezar. yes. yes. as far as we know. novak.
reporter: he planned to be their great friend, sociable, gregarious, larger than life. then said neighbors once chris was arrest head seemed nervous. and now he was gone. and so they wondered, was david novak running from something? the loft friends began re-examining all the stories david told them over the years, particularly about his criminal past. we started comparing notes and stories and wow, david told me a different version of that. reporter: they d been lying, to put it rather bluntly. not the truth. reporter: the brief stint for mail fraud, turned out there was more to that store pep novak confessed to a con that played out like a cinematic thriller. he ran an insurance scam. then as it caught up with him, he attempted to escape by faking his own death. ditched his airplane in puget sound. he faked his death in order to avoid insurance audit. that was not a crime of passion.
that was a crime of calculation. reporter: or so the loft friends believed. and if that was true, what might he have done here in salt lake? their suspicion only grew when the friends found out novak left town without mentioning it was he who fingered chris in that surveillance photo. did he ever tell you that i identified christopher? no, no. reporter: that prepaid cell phone was the very clue that led police to chris. a phone which chris bought, said bianca, after novak assured him novak said that this guy routinely used these throw-away phones. reporter: what s more, chris could not have left that voice mail because, by the time of the murder, she says, he d given the phone away. he gave it to novak. reporter: and novak gave it to dolezsar. yes, yes.
i was standing there. she can be an absent-minded dingbat. reporter: but remember the day police searched the loft? they took apart my toaster. reporter: she was focused like a laser that day, said bianca, watching intently, she said, as an officer looked in the empty 9 millimeter gun case. i was sitting beside her. reporter: no test fired shell casing, she said. i don t mean to sound cynical, but i know it wasn t there. reporter: only possible conclusion, said bianca, it was her accusation, the sandy police must have planted the shell casing in order to link chris missing gun to the crime scene. you think it would be hard for people to accept the idea that this detective would do something as unethical as plant evidence. it was not there. i know that. reporter: the sandy police department categorically denied the accusation. but as those loft friends heard more of chris wright s side of