Correct. Rt he was a liar. He was manipulative. We have a list of names of whether or not they will have sex. Could investigators get their man before he struck again. I turned around and he was re sitting in the dark and he said, im going to kill you. Its been years since she vanished but few people in Grand Junction, colorado have forgotten paige bergfeld. How could they . The story of this Young Mothers disappearance has long since woven itself into local lore. D h shes a great mother, a great friend. Reporter its a mystery weve been following since it began. And now, as thunderheads darken the high desert sky, finally a trial. What he told me is that he knew how to get rid of a body so that nobody could find it. He said, im going to kill. You, and then he just slapped me repeatedly. Reporter finally rumors and gossip would be dispelled or made fact. And the secrets known not only by the guilty but also the shamed would finally be revealed. Why so many secrets, whispers, rumors . Because in this town, where Everybody Knows everybody elses business, there were enough potential suspects to fill a minivan. Did you have anything to do with the disappearance of Paige Birgfeld . No. O. I was put under psychiatric u care for the first 48 hours and then sent to jail. I did not kill paige. I mean, thats the bottom line. Reporter it was late june 2007 when news of Paige Birgfelds disappearance first spread like the morning sun. Over the mountains, in denver, four hours away, Frank Birgfeld was driving to his office. The phone rang. Voice on the phone says, this is somebody with the mesa county Sheriffs Office. And he said, are you paiges dad . And i said, yep. And he said, did you know shes missing . Reporter Barbara Campbell got the call from her husband, hans, who told her paige is missing. I was, what do you mean shes missing . Reporter andrea land got the news in an email. It said paige is missing in the subject line. I knew something horrible had to have happened because it didnt make any sense that she would be missing. Reporter no way for even a best friend to prepare for such a thing. Stunningly beautiful. One of those women that was almost a little bit intimidating at first if you were you know, youre a more average mom. Reporter andrea land and the other Young Mothers of Grand Junction could have been forgiven for feeling a little envy. She had the look, the money, the big house on the hill, and three attractive kids. But no, it wasnt like that at all. The way she talked, the way she acted, the way she treated you, everything about her was just so wonderful. Reporter Barbara Campbell, andrea, and paige were members of Grand Junctions moms club international. Un a kind of social and support group for young, stayathome mothers. Whoo theres paige, everybody reporter once a year theyd throw a spring fling, a sort of puton prom for moms. Fancy clothes, red carpet entry, even a pretend reporter throwing fashion questions. S, tell us who youre wearing. Reporter paige was always the star, of course and this ay year the party was held at her place, which made it a very special event. Most of us did not live in a home that large. She was just so downtoearth and humble about it that once you got over the artwork on the walls and how, you know, beautiful a home it was, you almost forgot that you were in this really very highend home. So the winner is, drumroll please, Paige Birgfeld she was so comfortable hosting people that made it it made anybody there feel comfortable. Sometimes you meet someone and you just instantly have a good feeling about them. Ly youre going to be friends with them. Its just going to be an instant match. F w thats what i had with paige. Reporter and then that call. The sheriffs deputy told the birgfelds that after meeting a friend on the afternoon of thursday, june 28th, 2007, paige simply didnt come home. As they drove from denver to Grand Junction, paiges parentsm tried to understand what was happening. As we started out, i i en dont know that i was very tense or i thought of the worst. I guess, gee, i wonder where she is. I hope shes but as the drive went on, it became more and more anxious, more and more tight, more and more ou and i would be calling the kids on the home phone just saying, were gonna be there, you know, and trying to sound reassuring. Reporter the kids had just a nanny with them because paige had parted ways with her husband, rob dixon, whod since moved out of state. , still as a single mom with three little kids, paige had her life well in control. Due in no small part to her obsessive Organizational Skills she ran several Small Businesses and kept track of every soccer practice and dentist appointment in an oldfashioned handwritten dayplanner. I mean, every page was full and crossed referenced and and she was always with it. And shed come over to visit, it came in the door right there in front of her. She was always checking it, and phoning. Reporter overbooked, divorced, three kids. First question, was there a rc chance Paige Birgfeld simply walked out on her life . We talked about, boy, sometimes i just wanna run away. And she said, you know, i never feel that way. I never wanna run away. Even if i did run want to run away just to get away from here, i would wanna take my kids with me. There was no way she would leave without her children. They were her life. If she needed to hide, she wouldve found a way to do it with them. Reporter so what then . What happened to paige . Her friends, her parents didnt know what to do or where to look. Maybe a clue could be found tucked away in her day planner. Except it too was missing. Coming up hi, mom. I was just wondering when youre going to come back. Police piece together the hours leading up to paiges disappearance. Whats your emergency . Im at the corner of 23 and logos and there is a car on fire in the parking lot of the building right here. And one encounter grabs their attention. We found out that she had been visiting her exhusband. Obviously he was a person of interest. When dateline continues. Els wow, thats dialed in. I can still keep my eyes on the road. My truck doesnt have that. It offers an Optional Technology package with up to 15 different camera views. Thats quality picture. It even offers one enhanced view that makes your trailer appear invisible to help you see whats behind you. 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Nothing works faster for powerful cold relief. Oh, what a relief it is so fast reporter it was a thursday, june 28th, when Paige Birgfeld, of Grand Junction, colorado, quite suddenly went off the radar which was at least a place to start. So mesa county sheriffs investigators henry soffel and wayne weyler set out to trace her steps that day. We found out that she had been at eagle visiting her exhusband and they had been reconciling at that point. Reporter but he, having been the last person known to have seen her, i suppose would be a person of interest in your yes, obviously he was a person of interest. Reporter this person of interest, rob beigler, was paiges first exhusband. They married right out of high school. Young, immature, and soon divorced. But funny how this works. Ten years had sanded off their sharpedged disputes, and they saw anew why they fell in love. It seemed like as if no time had passed at all. Reporter this is ron beigler, talking to a dateline producer soon after paiges disappearance. At what point did you start to rekindle your relationship . About six months ago. We tried to take it slow, but there was there was no denying that that it was just as it was before. Reporter problem was biegler lived in denver, a fourhour drive east. So the two lovers would often meet at some midway point. On the day of paiges disappearance they chose eagle, colorado. We were going to have a picnic and hang out together, all day. We went to subway and brought it back to where we were sitting outside down by the river. It was very familiar. And, you know, i brought some pictures, you know . And we just sat there and relaxed and enjoyed the day and the weather. I mean, it was a special wonderful day. Reporter and then, around 7 00 p. M. They kissed and said goodbye and drove back to their respective sides of the state. Two hours later, at 8 57 p. M. , paige called biegler. To see if i made it back into denver. And then we had a brief conversation. Reporter paige told biegler she wasnt home yet. She was stuck behind a bad Traffic Accident in Grand Junction. And indeed, investigators confirmed there was a fatal Traffic Accident right here at this intersection. Somebody saw paiges car here, too, that very evening. Thing is, this is five miles past her house. Why was she here . An hour later, 9 56 p. M. , paiges 8yearold daughter, jess, left this anxious voice mail message on her mothers cell phone. Hi, mom, its me, i was just wondering when you would get home. Love you, bye. Reporter no response. Her daughter waited, worried, and called again. Hi, mom, i was just wondering when you were gonna get home. Bye. Reporter they slept then. Best they could. All three children. And awoke the next day, friday, june 29th to a whole new kind of anxiety. She still wasnt home. Hi, mom, you said you would be back last night and youre not even back today. Bye. Reporter something in the pit of the stomach. Paiges old and new love, ron beigler, seemed to feel it, too. Hi, where are you . Call me if you get a chance. Im getting worried about you. Reporter and hour by hour, they piled up. Phone messages. Like a normal day. Hi, paige, laura just wanted me to give you a call and let you know hi, this is sears repair service for the fan, calling to let you know hi, paige, its kevin from performance pool. Curious if your pool cleared up. Please give me a call. Thank you. Reporter not a single call was returned. And that night, again, the children, with their nanny, waited in vain for their mother. The following day, saturday, june 30th, ron beigler called the house and spoke to paiges 8year old daughter, jess. She didnt sound particularly that distraught. I dont think she had an idea what was going on. Of course she didnt. Reporter beiglers next call was to 911. Dispatch, this is clint. Yes. I needed to talk about a missing person emergency. Okay, and who is missing . Her name is paige dixon. How old is paige . Shes 33. Okay. She hasnt been home all all night thursday night, all day yesterday, and today. Something is definitely, definitely wrong. She either got abducted or in an accident. Reporter and thats when word of paiges disappearance began to spread across colorado. Investigators didnt have a clue what happened to paige. But they wondered if beigler did. Have police questioned you . Yes, they have. And have they released you as a, you know, a potential suspect or i dont know what they what theyve done on that. I know that i that was never a concern or worry of mine having it get pinned on me, you know . Reporter you have an alibi for that night . Just im confident that the police know that i had nothing to do with it. Reporter do you feel like you have any thoughts as to what may have happened or whats happening . I think it was a major premeditated abduction or a completely random incident. I think that its more likely that its a premeditated abduction. Reporter but sometimes those not asking questions find answers. It was the third day. Sunday, july 1st, 2007. 9 58 p. M. A woman driving home from work, slammed on her brakes, called 911. 911, this is dusty, wheres your emergency . Hi. Im at the corner of 23 and logos. And there is a car on fire in the parking lot at the building right here. There is a car on fire . Yeah. Do you see flames or smoke . Yeah. Theres theres a lot of flames. Coming up paiges car. What will it reveal . It was really more intense was on the drivers side. And then Something Else belonging to paige. It was an awful feeling of dread thinking how did this get here . What does it mean . Either paiges abductor was trying to throw them off track or she was in the trunk of a car or something and dumped these items out to leave a trail. When dateline continues. Ins [ sirens ] reporter sunday night, the 1st of july, the Grand Junction Fire Department was called to an industrial parking lot. A little red car was on fire. Frank birgfeld heard about the fire the morning after roared over there and could do nothing except watch from a distance as investigators crawled over his daughters car. And that morning, frank gave the first of what would be many, many interviews. We were hopeful when we found the car things would fall into place, and maybe they will. Reporter this interview, though, was one frank just couldnt get through. You know it occurred to me that i hadnt cried in a long time. Ive learned how to do that. Thats it. Reporter firefighter Robert Thomason helped with the arson investigation. You can see that the glass itself was all burned out and you can see where its still kind of intact over here. It was really obvious to see that more intense was on the drivers side. Reporter meaning thats where the fire started. Thats where the arsonist wanted to be sure to erase evidence. Under the car, damaged skid plates and strands of wild grass caught in the suspension, meaning somebody had driven off road very recently. And after . Dumped and torched the car in an Industrial Area just a quarter mile from where paige made her last phone call. It was way beyond her house, right . Correct. It didnt fit for the car to be there. Reporter news of the car fire was a turning point. No longer did the public suspect this was a case of an overwhelmed, runaway mom. The response was an outpouring of volunteers, a Spontaneous Community project to find paige. Just seeing the dad on tv and everything like that, i have some children of my own and i know what id be feeling like if one of my children was gone and i just wanted to try to help if i could. Reporter paiges dad was there every day greeting a small army of volunteers. Thanks for helping us. You know its just really tough, you know, for people to give of themselves to that degree. I just one of our moms was gone. And her kids needed her, and we needed our friend. And our kids needed to know that if someones mom is missing, that people are gonna work hard to find her. Reporter paiges brother and his wife came from seattle to help. The thing is i know that somebody out there knows where she is, and you know were looking for clues to find that person, but theres somebody maybe whos watching this who knows where she is. Reporter but this seemed odd. Not helping to find paige was her exhusband and current boyfriend ron beigler. Do you feel like you wish you could go there and help search for her . A part of me does, definitely. Whats keeping you away from there . I dont know if i can handle being being right in the situation. Reporter then, knowing we were preparing a report about the case, beigler made a strange request. Try to keep me out as much as possible. Like just a few words here and there, but i dont want to i dont want to be on talking about things. Reporter but hundreds of people, many whod never once met paige, searched on horseback, on atvs, on foot. They peered under bushes, they walked miles of desert brush in hundreddegree heat, and nothing. Truth be told. Paige could have been anywhere. But then, four days after paiges disappearance, a driver stopped along a lonely stretch of highway 50. And as he stepped out of his truck, a piece of litter caught his eye, a blank check trapped in the roadside weeds. The name on it . Paige dixon, paiges married name. So then the flock of searchers descended on that road. Making my way back west along the median, i saw a checkbook. It was an awful feeling of dread, thinking, how did this get here . Why is it here . What does it mean . Reporter then more, paiges wallet, charm bracelet, this shoe, various cards, bank registers, and dozens of checks from both paiges personal and professional accounts, nearly a hundred items spread along 13 miles of road, which left investigators with two very different theories. Either paiges abductor was trying to throw them off track or she was in the trunk of a car or something of the sort and dumped these items out to leave a trail. Reporter and while volunteers gathered the sad detritus of paiges life, a new wrinkle. Paiges most recent exhusband, rob dixon, came back to town to look after the kids and help out with the search. And his reappearance stopped volunteers in their tracks. Because of the stories paige told while they were married, many thought him the most obvious suspect. She was afraid of him. Coming up 911. Wheres your emergency . My husband was supposed to watch my children. And i came home and found him murdered. What else paige told loved ones about rob dixon. She was afraid hed kill her. When dateline continues. Hes saturdays happen. Pain happens. Aleve it. Aleve is proven stronger and longer on pain than tylenol. When pain happens, aleve it. All day strong. It takes a village to raise to build a bridge. To throw a baseball. To throw yourself into the unknown. To lose fear, to create hope. We believe that it takes a village of over 200thousand dedicated, passionate, driven medical and nonmedical professionals to deliver on our belief in total health for all. We are kaiser permanente. Thrive. Im zaidara brown with the hours top stories. On saturday the House Intelligence Committee released two new transcripts from their closed door impeachment depositions. White house adviser tim morrison and special adviser to Vice President mike pence jennifer williams. These transcripts were released ahead of their public testimony on tuesday. Venice braced for more flooding on saturday as the high tide peaked at three feet. This comes after a week of devastating flooding, the worst the city has seen in half a century. Now back to dateline. A wave of whispers spread at the speed of suspicion among the searchers looking for the missing single mother, Paige Birgfeld. The ex was in town. The most recent ex, that is, rob dixon. The one paige had all the trouble with. Of course the relationship didnt start out that way. Never does. At first we only saw what we refer to as the good rob side. And thats certainly what paige only saw. And we he was part of our family and we loved him as much as an inlaw would be. He was a good guy to have. Reporter dixon had been a hardworking paramedic until his dad made a onetime fortune in the Tech Industry and passed that windfall on to his kids. And not long after getting his millions dixon met and married paige. And they had three kids and moved into a fine big house. He had admitted to having over 10 million. And i think when you admit to that, you have maybe twice that much. Reporter and paiges parents watched him change. The whole town saw that, actually. In his garage i saw three range rovers, a jaguar, two porsches, and then later he had a lemon yellow ferrari. If youve been to Grand Junction and you want to fit in, a lemon yellow ferrari is not exactly what you do. Did he make any effort to meet you or the other guys . The moms club would get together, they would have occasions when all the families would get together, but he would never come to any of them. I never once saw him attend. I was so baffled how someone as upbeat and eternally happy as paige could have this grump around. Reporter but in hopes of promoting either good will, or himself, dixon joined the Grand Junction Fire District board. And then donated a brand new fire truck. His generosity made news and locals wondering if theyd misjudged him. But soon it turned to dust. Dixon got himself in charge of Fire District investments, put public money in what he said was a sure thing. It wasnt. The money vanished. Blew as i recall about 750,000 in bad investments for the Fire District. Reporter Peter Hautzinger was at that time the mesa county d. A. I made the decision to take that case to the grand jury and ultimately the grand jury decided felonys stupid but not worthy of criminal charges. Reporter then one day a repo man showed up for that shiny new fire truck dixon had donated. It turned out the fire truck was leased and they came and took it away from the Fire Department. Reporter thats when frank and paige and the whole town found out dixons money was gone, too. He gave it to someone who pyramid schemed it. Reporter the missing money, the repoed truck, the grand jury investigation, it all kept dixon on the front pages of the local paper for months. A series of public humiliations ending with an exclamation point when he was embarrassingly picked newsmaker of the year. It was clear rob, he was a big deal because he had a lot of money. And then to lose it and be disgraced in a relatively Small Community theyre writing about him in the local paper. And i said, he has taken a gigantic fall and he will change dramatically for the worse. And i think that was very predictable and i think for rob thats what happened. At the end it was almost always bad rob that we were dealing with. She told friends and we saw an email, she was afraid hed kill her. He said he would kill her several times. Reporter in 2004 paige, in the midst of this downward spiral, called 911. 911. Where is your emergency . My husband and i were in a fight. He was supposed to watch my children while i went to work. And he said that i would come home and find them all murdered. Reporter police were dispatched but there was no arrest. According to paiges parents the fighting only got worse. It was, you know, very ugly, the psychological, Emotional Abuse that she endured all the time. And when i was there visiting, i saw an awful lot of it. Reporter after a second incident dixon was arrested on suspicion of thirddegree assault. We had a misdemeanor Domestic Violence case against him with paige as the victim. Reporter dixon pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of harassment and got a deferred sentence. The entire case, though, was later thrown out. Anyway, paige filed for divorce and dixon for bankruptcy and moved away to philadelphia to work as an emt again. And paige did what she could to keep the kids in the only home theyd ever known, that big place with the mortgage to match, close to six grand a month. She would just sit and ponder how can a single mom with three kids make enough money to stay in the house that her husband used to support . Reporter she had no lack of ideas or ambition. She sold cooking products for a Company Called the pampered chef and slings for carrying babies. She taught dancing classes for little kids, anything to turn a buck. Keeping track of it all in that big day planner of hers, the one that was almost an hour to hour record of her life. And even though he was now far away, she also kept an eye out for dixon. Flat out she was afraid of him. She was afraid of him coming back to town. She was always nervous he was gonna be coming back into town. Reporter and sure enough, two years later, in june 2007, the week before she vanished, paige got a call from dixon. Said he missed the kids. Said he was moving back to colorado. She said that she knew that rob was coming back and that he was going to do something. And i was floored. I thought do something . What does do something mean . And she just said she knew something bad was gonna happen. But murder did not enter my mind. Kidnapping did not enter my mind. That must have been very strange to hear that. It it was a staggering conversation. I mean, we were just two moms with small children faced with an unknown situation, and a couple days later she was missing. Coming up inside the wreckage of paiges burnedout car, her day planner. It still had the pages intact. Inside the planner, a shock for everyone in the case. It was stunning. Quite obviously, its dangerous. When dateline continues. At. No. You know what i do . I snack on blue diamond almonds. Oh, come on sriracha . Woo dont fight your cravings. Eat em. All the flavors you crave in a superfood. Blue diamond almonds. Crave victoriously. Geico would like to take a moment to say thank you to our military Service Members at home and abroad for all their hard work and sacrifice. We all sleep easier knowing youre out there keeping us safe. And on a personal note. Sfx jet engines. I just needed to get that off my chest. Thank you. Geico proudly supporting the military for over 75 years. Whats the time . Device a dime is ten cents. Severe cold or flu . Take control with theraflu. Powerful, soothing relief to defeat your worst cold and flu symptoms fast. Device sneezes theraflu. The power is in your hands. Steven could only imaginem 24hr to trenjoying a spicy taco. Burn, now, his world explodes with flavor. Nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for allday allnight protection. Can you imagine 24hours without heartburn . Reporter it was a dismal clue, the trail of bits and pieces of Paige Birgfelds life found scattered by the highway, but still no paige, alive or dead. And now detectives had two exhusbands to investigate. Ron beigler, the last person known to have seen her alive, and rob dixon, the man she told friends she lived in fear of. Most people that she knew, friends, believed that rob dixon had something to do with this. So he pops right up to the top of your list . Absolutely. He and rob beigler, both. Reporter as for hard evidence, there was very little. Except for the investigators little secret, the one bit of evidence theyd been hiding from everyone, even the birgfelds, something that by pure luck survived that car fire. Paiges day planner. The melted dash had fallen down onto the Floor Covering up the day planner and so it was protected from the heat as well as from the fire because it had an upper layer on it. What sort of condition was it in . It was in i mean, it was smoke damaged and it had heat damage, but it still had the pages intact. Reporter the day planner, as you can see, still very readable, was full of appointments and plans and contact numbers. Most mundane, routine. But, and this was strange. Three key pages, june 26th through the 29th, the dates surrounding paiges disappearance, had been ripped out. And there was Something Else, one particular Business Card that just didnt belong for a Company Called ladies en confidante. An enterprise that oddly shared the same phone number with the business called models, inc. , whose cards were found scattered along highway 50 among paiges personal effects, which appeared to support a strange story told by exhusband ron beigler. That paige had clients she would see. It was, you know, lonely older married men buying companionship from a really intelligent woman that they wanted to spend time with. Reporter as hard as paige tried, what with the dancing classes, the baby slings, the cooking products, she simply couldnt keep up with the bills. And so paige, investigators learned, had taken on one more job. She started moonlighting as an escort. Finding out that paige was running a rather highclass, highquality sort of prostitution business was kind of stunning. I had no idea that that took place in my jurisdiction. Living in a very nice house and nice part of town and and known to a number of people that i knew. I mean, she was a soccer mom. One of my best friends daughter i believe played on the same soccer team as paiges sure. Kids. Reporter so how did paige manage to keep her Escort Service a secret from everybody but clients for so long . Well, she went by the name carrie, selling her services through a Front Company she ran called models, inc. A name that implied, intentionally, that several women worked with her, when in fact it was just her. Some friends suspected, most didnt. It was very hard for me to believe that she would want to have sex with men for money. Reporter but she did. According to this investigative report, paige would charge up to 1,000 a session. You can imagine how these revelations hit paiges mom and dad. They just couldnt believe it. If i had known about it, i definitely wouldve tried to use whatever persuasion i had to turn her away from it. I mean, if nothing else, quite obviously its dangerous. Reporter so, it was a shock, obviously, but they said they could understand her motives, after all, rob dixons money had run out. She was doing what she had to do to keep life as normal as possible for the children. Reporter the news spread, of course. Pretty soon most people in town knew. There were people who wrote to the paper and said horrible things like, why are we spending all this time looking for a dead hooker . Reporter dirt. Spread, said andrea, by those who didnt even know paige. We knew her heart. We knew who she was every day with us and with her kids. And if anything, it only put us into hypervigilant defend her mode and made us all want to get out there and talk about what a good person she was as much as possible. Reporter a much bigger problem, though, was that paiges secret life made an already complicated missing person case far more difficult. We started looking at the phone that she was using for models, inc. And you start identifying people who had the most recent contact with her. And you came across multiple people. Hello, youve reached models, inc, colorados premier gentlemens service. Reporter now every client who contacted paige on june 28th and there were many, was a potential suspect. Heres just a sampling of her phone messages that day. Yes, this is buddy. I was wondering if you had any girls available this afternoon. Yeah, please give me a call back. Im gonna go get me a motel room now. This is jim. Just calling to see if carrie was available tonight. Hi, this is glen, im just wondering if anybodys Still Available. Im at the country inn, and i was just callin to see if anybodys Still Available for the night. Yeah, hello, models, inc. This is jim, i tried calling you last night. Give me a call, thanks. My name is dave. I was calling about the ad in the newspaper. I wanna speak to one of your female escorts. What your rates are and your hours and stuff like that. Yeah, this is john at motel 6, room 237. Reporter so they put together a list, called it possible suspects. The two exhusbands now joined by six of paiges clients. Nothing to do but check out all of them beginning with the last client paige called, this guy, george coralluzzo, who, the day paige disappeared, called her 19 times. Were thinking, thats our guy. I couldnt get rid of him. And hes still haunting me. Coming up what this woman saw. It hit me. And what she told investigators. He totally did this. When dateline continues. Es at walgreens, we love smart savers. Like yardsale savers. Teetime savers. And especially med d savers. Select a Medicare Part d plan with walgreens as your preferred pharmacy and get copays for as low as zero dollars and 100 rewards points on prescriptions. Isnt saving great . Save smartly on med d. Walgreens. Trusted since 1901. Pets. [ gasps ] they see everything we do. Whoo [ screaming ] and they never say a thing. [ sighs ] well, i feel better. Thats why progressive covers them in your auto policy at no extra charge. [ crying ] he only needed a spare. Keeping you and your secret keepers safe. Skip to the good part with healkaseltzer plus. Re. Now with 25 more concentrated power. Nothing works faster for powerful cold relief. Oh, what a relief it is so fast reporter Grand Junction is a modern town in every way, but lift your eyes from the humdrum, watch a setting sun fire the Great Monument cliffs all around. And for a moment youre in the old west. A mystique that clings to the place, as do the drifters attracted to such things. Young men who split their time between odd jobs and the county jail. Like, for example, george coralluzzo. Here from new jersey and eager to hustle a buck or a woman or whatever. George corraluzzo was a george corraluzzo was a con man, a sick person. Reporter Meagan Williams knew coralluzo because he and her then husband had partnered in a house painting business. Knowing coralluzzo as she did, she was not surprised by a visit she got on july 1st, 2007. Sheriffs came to our house. And they said, is george corraluzzo here . I actually thought they were there to talk about this kidnapping case. Reporter to meagan this kidnapping case meant one six months earlier in which coralluzzo allegedly took this woman against her will on a long scary ride across state lines. I spilled to them everything i knew up to that point. Reporter thinking you were talking about a different crime altogether . Correct. Reporter deputies didnt let on, but of course they were really looking into the disappearance of Paige Birgfeld, three days earlier. Where was coralluzzo that day . Well, very interesting, said meagan. Hed failed to show up for work. And later that night he offered a truly bizarre reason why. That his family had been in an accident. And we said, what kind of accident . Oh, well, my brother and my sisterinlaw and my niece and nephew were beheaded on the turnpike in new jersey. He had to go to new jersey. He had to solidify funeral arrangements. He was sobbing and hands were flying and he was just like, i dont know what im going to do. And just very upset. And we believed him. Reporter as she told the detectives, coralluzzo took the first available flight back to new jersey. And that was that. The detectives thanked her and left. Didnt mention a thing about Paige Birgfeld. And then the very next day meagan was watching the news on tv and saw the story about the burned out car. Her car was found ablaze in this parking lot, off 23 road. And then i saw the paiges face come across the news. And i looked at my exhusband tim and i said, thats what happened. I said, he murdered that woman. It just it hit me. Reporter then of course she had to know, was that wild story about a decapitating accident in new jersey just coralluzzos excuse to run from what he had done, to get out of town . I scoured the internet and made phone calls. Reporter scoured the internet looking for evidence of a big Traffic Accident. Didnt find uhhuh. Nothing there. Reporter so who did you phone . I called their local gazette newspaper, talked to a reporter. Nothing happened. I called the coroner. Nothing. So newspaper, coroner, hospitals. Nothing. Reporter but meagan was able to locate coralluzzo and passed that tip on to lead investigator beverly jarrell, who would end up playing a key role. Youll hear more about her later. Jarrell caught up with coralluzzo in new jersey. Grilled him for five hours. But coralluzzo denied everything. More important, he was in new jersey when paiges car was set ablaze, so jarrell let him go. Reporter if he didnt burn the car, doesnt that let him out . No. Reporter why not . Because his actions lead me to believe that he did something so disgusting and vile that he had to leave Grand Junction and lie about his family dying. Something happened. Reporter and there was Something Else, said meagan. He told multiple people that he did something so terrible that he could never take it to the grave and that he would never be forgiven. What was that besides murdering somebody . George was a sketchy person and he totally did this. Reporter the coralluzzo she knew, she said, was cunning enough to have one of his pals help him, somebody like this guy, his best friend, jose tavera. Detectives suspected that too. So they found tavera, brought him in for questioning, and what do you know, hed recently injured his arm. I had a bandage on it and the cop asked me hes all, what what is that, you know . The detective goes, what happened there . I said, well, i burned myself at work. Hes like, well, are you good enough of a friend to burn a car down for george, you know. It was a traumatic time in Grand Junction, colorado. What with the fruitless search for the mother of three loved by so many who turned out to have secrets. And the day planner and voicemails and phone records that seemed to point eight different ways at once. Two exhusbands and six clients. I dont think ive ever seen a more difficult case in my entire career. One by one the detectives cleared their suspects. Or tried to. Exhusband number one and current boyfriend ron beigler. We were able to determine that mr. Beigler had been in the denver area through cell phone records. Second husband rob dixon, the one man she said she feared. We were able to corroborate with his employer that he was in the philadelphia area at the time. And rob dixons cell phone connected to a tower in pennsylvania the night paige disappeared. And three days later, when he left this message on paiges phone. Paige, if you get this, please, please call somebody. I love you. Please, please, please let us know youre okay. Reporter still, there were caveats to dixon and beiglers alibis. That doesnt eliminate them as far as having some involvement and maybe paying somebody. Reporter then there was the list of clients, coralluzzo at the top of it given he didnt have a solid alibi and skipped town right after her disappearance. Coralluzzo was the one that was most concerning. Reporter not to mention corralluzzos friend jose tavera, the one with the big burn on his arm. I said well, i said, i burned myself at work. Reporter who swore he did not help corralluzzo by setting fire to paiges car. I said, i dont care if mother theresa comes and asks me to burn a car, id tell her to go to hell, you know. Reporter so they let him go too, for the moment. The other clients . Hautzinger knew one of them very well, a prominent Real Estate Investor named steven heald. He was almost as well known in town as rob dixon and, like dixon, for the wrong reasons. The first major case i handled when i came to this jurisdiction was his multimillion dollar fraud case. I mean, i had prosecuted him and sent him to prison back in the early 90s for that. So when he came up again as a suspect in the birgfeld matter it was interesting. Reporter when detectives questioned him, heald admitted he embezzled money from his company to pay for dates with paige. But then, he claimed, paige turned the tables on him. He made allegations that she was essentially blackmailing him asking for extra money. Reporter what a motive. Except healds wife supplied an coming up a startling discovery about one of paiges clients. I thought, oh, my god. Triggers a police search. He had the phone number, cross eyes, and whether or not they would have sex. Strange maybe, but did it mean anything . When dateline continues. Nythi . When dateline continues. Dont offer the same amount of cameras as the silverado. Literally in the rearview. Where they should be. 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Oh, what a relief it is so fast Paige Birgfeld had disappeared, leaving behind three children and a secret life as an escort. One of paiges clients, steven heald, told police she was blackmailing him. Seemed like a promising lead. Except healds wife supplied an alibi. They were home that night reading, watching tv. So heald seemed to be in the clear. Which made it all the more shocking when after being questioned by detectives heald attempted suicide. That, d. A. Hautzinger assumed, was not guilt but shame. People dont really want to have it out in public that, oh, yeah, i was patronizing a call girl. Reporter they checked out a drifter named John Livingston who, the night paige vanished, called her again and again from a motel 6. Desperate, apparently, for her attention. Yeah, this is john at motel 6, room 237. Reporter except there was no evidence paige ever went to see him. But then there was this client, Lester Ralph Jones. Thats him standing in the shadow of his front door. Investigators got a tip about jones from this friend of paiges named carol linderholm. Paige had scheduled an appointment with jones the night before she disappeared. But for some reason didnt want to go, asked linderholm to meet jones instead. He was expecting her. And then i think and then you showed up at his door. Right. Im sure he had some expectations, right . I mean, he called an Escort Service. He well, he let it be known almost immediately that he wanted sex. Reporter linderholm said that didnt happen. Instead they talked for an hour or so and then she left. Couple of days later, she said, she called paige. Its carol, where the heck are you . Reporter got no response. At first i thought she was just busy and she couldnt call back. Then when i heard on the news that the kids actually went to the Police Department about it, thats when i knew something terrible had happened to her. Paige, this is carol. Oh, i hope youre all right. I hope this isnt rob. Oh, my god. Reporter linderholm mentioned paiges second exhusband, rob dixon, because she knew paige was afraid of him. Then the next day linderholm heard about paiges car and the fire. I wanted to go over and look at it and i arrived just in time for it was put on a platform on a trailer and it was being hauled away. When it passed me i just it just left me with this horrible feeling. Reporter as she drove away something across the road caught her eye. It was a sign for bob scott rvs. Lester jones had told me that he worked for bob scott rv. And when i drove around, i saw a car in the parking lot that was the same one that was in the driveway when i walked up to lester jones house. And i thought, oh, my god. Reporter right away carol went to the Sheriffs Office, told them all she knew about Lester Ralph Jones. How much credence did you give that story, or did you . We gave it a lot of credence. Reporter in fact, a week after paige disappeared, they brought jones in for questioning mr. Jones, i appreciate you coming down, okay . Sure. Reporter jones was once chief of a rural Fire Department, which is where his story gets strange. I know rob. Okay. Reporter rob dixon. Paiges exhusband. Go down that road. What do you know . I used to be with the Fire Department up in hotchkiss. Okay, all right. I met him there. Okay. That was a long time ago. Reporter and had also met dixons then wife, paige. cause she, at one time, had come up there. And she had come to where . The Fire Department, you mean . Yeah. Okay. Reporter and was taken aback, jones claimed, when a couple of years later he went to the models, inc massage parlor, and was greeted by rob dixons exwife. Do you know if she recognized you . I wouldnt do you think she would . I wouldnt think. Okay, so it kind of made you feel uncomfortable . Yeah. But things went okay. Yeah. And how often have you done business with them . I think twice, i think. Reporter while jones answered questions downtown, investigators scoured his house and bob scott rvs where he worked. What did you find when you searched bob scotts rv location . A list of names of escorts that we knew in the Grand Junction area where he had their names, phone numbers, bra size and whether or not they would have sex. Some viagras, and also some condoms. Reporter along with wigs, a black bra and in a locked cabinet this old scale from pampered chef, one of paiges many businesses. Creepy. Certainly suspicious but not necessarily incriminating. Besides, jones had no reason to kill paige, no motive. Which led investigators to a new theory. I still have difficulty believing that you killed her unless youre working for rob dixon. Investigators get Lester Ralph Jones on the phone for a very strange call. If you asked me where i would bury a body. It came out of nowhere. Because nobody asked him where he would bury the body . Nobody. When dateline continues. Od. When dateline continues reporter detectives investigating the disappearance of Paige Birgfeld had a big hunch. There just had to be some connection between Lester Ralph Jones and paiges second husband, rob dixon. When was your last contact with rob . Reporter they already knew dixon had been looking for dirt about paige, something he could use in family court as a way of getting custody of their kids. So, as the cops saw it, rob dixon had the motive while Lester Ralph Jones had the means. So, maybe murder for hire . But, big but, they couldnt find evidence of any contact between jones and dixon before paige vanished. No phone calls. No wire transfers. Nothing suspicious. Nothing at all, really. Jones himself, on the other hand, well, there were just too many holes in his story. For starters, no alibi the night paige went missing. Even worse, jones admitted that when paiges car was set on fire, he was at bob scott rvs practically across the street. Youre there. By your own admission youre there when the fires i understand that. Tell me that. Explain that. I cant explain it to you. Reporter and guess what they found at joness work site . A discarded package that once contained a prepaid tracfone, the disposable kind that doesnt reveal the identity of the user. Except on the package was the phones serial number. And from that, we were able to determine that the phone was bought at walmart on north avenue. Reporter so they got the Security Camera video and, well, well, well, the buyer looked a lot like Lester Ralph Jones. Why was that important . Because someone using that particular tracfone called paige at models, inc. Five times the night she disappeared. If there was one thing that rose above all else, it was the video of him buying the tracfone that was used to call her that evening. Reporter except jones denied that was him in the video. I have you on video buying a tracfone at walmart. I didnt buy no tracfone at walmart. How do you explain the video . Oh, i dont know. Id i there is no video. Reporter jones, as you can see, was unflappable, talked for five hours, and then they had to let him go. A couple of days later, a detective called jones to say his two cars which had been impounded were now free to pick up. And joness wife answered the phone. Hello . Yes, may i speak with ralph, please . Hold on, please. Hello. Mr. Jones . Yes, sir. This is art smith with the Sheriffs Office just calling to let you know that we have both your cars ready. Both of them, obviously, are down here at the Sheriffs Office right now. So are you with elaine right now . No. Im sorry . I dont think so. Mr. Jones, im not following you. You asked me where i would bury a body. Im sorry . You asked me where i should bury a body. Which came out of nowhere, which surprised us. Because nobody had asked him where he buried the body . Nobody had asked him about where he buried the body. We were calling him about his vehicle. And the day before, we never talked about burying the body. Reporter very, very strange. And most certainly interesting when they found out why jones seemed so out of it, hed just taken an overdose of sleeping pills after leaving for his wife what appeared to be a suicide note. My dearest love, he wrote. Ive prayed all night and this morning. Ive asked for his forgiveness i want you to know how much i love you. Youre the best thing that has happened to me. Please forgive me and then he added this, tell the cops to get. I never did it, but i cant be railroaded. Jones recovered quickly but his actions that day remained a mystery because he wasnt talking anymore to investigators. The evidence was definitely pointing toward lester jones. But we still had to keep an eye open on mr. Livingston, mr. Heald, mr. Coralluzzo. And remember that these are the ones we know about. Is there somebody else out there we dont even know about yet . Reporter didnt help when lab results from paiges car came back negative. The fire burned it clean of evidence. So the Sheriffs Office turned to a volunteer Search Dog Team for help. And sure enough, the dogs appeared to hit on jones scent in paiges charred car. And along highway 50 where all those items were found. And then they sniffed their way down this gravel road that dead ends at the gunnison river. When given paiges scent, the dogs followed exactly the same path along highway 50 down the gravel road into the gunnison river. So was paiges body in here somewhere . They called in divers. Basically, we go across the river about 100 feet. They let us out five feet. We come back across the river, 100 feet. And basically just searching by feel, i just got out of there and its pitch black on the bottom. Reporter but there just wasnt a body down there. Swept away by the river perhaps . Anyway, the laborintesive search of the countryside, which had been going on for two long months, now seemed rather pointless. So at summers end the command post closed. I guess thats the only thing at this point to do because there isnt any more volunteers that are coming up. And people do have to return to their own lives. Reporter but that was not an option for paiges family. Her parents rented an apartment in town and carried on the search alone. This is my life now. I really wish i could get into a different line of work. Reporter even offered a 15,000 reward, no questions asked. Its about 100 days, and if shes out there, we need to find her. And, uh, if this will help stimulate that, so be it. Reporter but, no useful tips. Not a one. Even though frank stayed on in Grand Junction for a whole fruitless year. At some point, you have to say, do i want to stay here doing this, or is it time to go back to denver . What was it like on the way back to denver, as you realized you were leaving for good . I would say kind of a heaviness to it, that somewhere shes back there and im leaving her. Reporter but while no one knew where paige was, there was one woman who had an idea as to what may have happened to her. This is lisa nance, who was rather briefly married, once upon a time, to Lester Ralph Jones. Lisa will always remember him. Coming up the exwifes tale. He looked at me and said, im going to kill you. When dateline continues. Saturdays happen. Pain happens. Aleve it. Aleve is proven stronger and longer on pain than tylenol. When pain happens, aleve it. All day strong. Theres a company thats talked than me jd power. People 448,134 to be exact. They answered 410 questions in 8 categories about vehicle quality. And when they were done, chevy earned more j. D. Power quality awards across cars, trucks and suvs than any other brand over the last four years. So on behalf of chevrolet, i want to say thank you, real people. Youre welcome. Were gonna need a bigger room. In the human brain, billions of nefor people with parkinsons, some neurons change their tune, causing uncontrollable tremors. Now, abbott technology can target those exact neurons. Restoring control and harmony, once thought to belost forever. The most personal technology is technology with the power to change your life. My kids really liked him. Reporter no doubt about it, thought lisa nance, Lester Ralph Jones was a catch. Tall, strong, a firefighter, for heavens sake. And he was a really nice person. Really nice, huh . What do you mean by really nice . Nice how . He just seemed really nice and genuine and sweet. Reporter well, you know how people are, caught up in the blinding glare of new love. And then in a month or two or six, disturbing things begin to occur. Unimagined traits emerge. And sometimes a nightmarish story like the one lisa nance told us about Lester Ralph Jones. I caught him, you know, watching me and stuff, you know . What do you mean . Like, watching me where i was going and stuff like that. Reporter he tapped her phone, she said. He hid secret recording devices. Like, if id talked to any of my friends or anything like that and i didnt tell him, you know, he would already know that i had talked to whoever. Reporter it just wasnt working for lisa. She ended it. Better sooner than later, she thought. And she moved on. But of course, it wasnt over. And one morning, as she was driving her new boyfriend to work, a car drew up beside her car. It was him, jones. He got up beside me and hit my car, which knocked me over into a ditch, and then he pulled up and backed up really hard and rammed my car, and it caused the airbags and stuff to go off. Reporter the new boyfriend took off running. But jones had a gun. He shot at him twice. One bullet hole went through his cap. And i think the other one grazed his head. And you were gonna be next . Uhhuh. I thought. I thought that. You must have been shaking like a leaf. It was scary. I asked him to put the gun down, you know, cause he had it pointed right at me. And finally he put it in the backseat, the back floorboard. And then, you know, i talked to him and tried to calm him down, you know . What was he saying to you . That i didnt love him anymore. And i didnt want him anymore. Stuff like that. And i was trying to convince him otherwise. Reporter eventually he left, she called the police, he was arrested. But in no time made bail. And then lisa was at home a few weeks later. I came out of my room. And i went to the kitchen. And i turned around. And he was just sitting on the couch. I mean, just sitting in the dark. My stomach just, you know, just sank. I mean, i didnt i asked him, what on earth are you doing here, you know. And he didnt say anything. And thats when i really got scared, because he just didnt look like himself. And he wouldnt say anything. Reporter he had something on his mind . I think so. It seemed like it anyways. I didnt know what it was. But he just didnt and i wanted to get out of the house, you know, as quick as we could. I just wanted to get out in public, around other people. Reporter she said what came into her head, lets go out to dinner, and he agreed, got behind the wheel, started driving but then she realized he wasnt going to dinner. He was headed out of town toward the mountains. I was like, where are we going . And he wouldnt say anything. He just kept rubbin the back of my head, saying, its gonna be okay. Rubbing the back of your head . Uhhuh. What sort of tone did he have in his voice when he said that . He wasnt being loud. He wasnt yelling or anything like that. He was just really, really quiet. Its a little creepy. Uhhuh. And i looked at him and i said, were not gonna eat, are we . And he looked at me. And he said, no. And i said, what are we gonna do . And he was like, im going to kill you and then he just started slapping me over and over. The moment had come for you . Uhhuh. Thats what i thought. cause all i could think about was my kids, you know, not seeing em. But i was, like, tryin to talk to him, you know . And trying to get him to talk to me, listen to me, you know . Hes like, you dont love me anymore. You dont want me. And i was like, no, thats not true, you know. And hes like, well, then prove it. I said, how . You know, and he wanted me to make love to him in the car. And so i tried, you know . But there wasnt no room. So i asked him if we could just go get a room and talk, you know . And so finally he agreed to that. So what happened when you got to the got to town . We went to that motel. And he pulled in there. And he looked at me. Hes like, youll be waiting here when i come back. And i said, yes. So he goes in. As soon as he went in that second door and he was out of sight, i took off. I started driving back toward town. And i was goin really fast, hoping that i i should think so. Hoping that someone would pull me over. And they did. And finally i told him what was happening. And then they took me back to the police station. Reporter some officers went to the motel to arrest jones but they said they couldnt find him. He wasnt there. Reporter where was he . Lisa, still shaken, still terrified, went home, and he called. And the first thing he said was where are you and i just hung up and i called 911. And they took me to a safe house. And did they catch him . No. They didnt know where to look. Reporter a few days later, somebody broke into lisas mothers house in oklahoma. She called me later that day and said when she was leaving work that she noticed this car was following her and she said it was ralph. She called the Sheriffs Department and shes like, hes here, hes following me, and they arrested him. My mom said she asked him what was he doing. And he said looking for your daughter. Reporter Lester Ralph Jones was convicted of assault and kidnapping and served three years. But now he was out and remarried and the by the fall of 2007 a pile of circumstantial evidence connected him to Paige Birgfelds disappearance. Why didnt you just go arrest him . Our job is to gather the facts and then present it to the District Attorneys Office and they make that determination. You wanna add cause he had to fight that battle constantly for years. Oh, i think you hit it hit it right on. Reporter meaning they were ready to pick up jones, but d. A. Hautzinger was not. Why didnt you decide to pull the pin on Lester Ralph Jones . I didnt have a body. And that was the defining absolutely, that was really i mean, there are lots of no body cases that go to trial. Not a lot of no body cases where the victim has a double life and has been lying to her family and friends. Because of her double life the possibility that a defense attorney could throw out there that she ran off with some rich client and is living on a beach in brazil or something reporter and as the years passed, paiges story went from the front of the paper to being filed away on microfiche. Where was she . Coming up they were about to find out. And it would transform the case. Now we need to make a critical decision. And then, a brand new theory of what happened to paige. I think that triggers something and something went wrong. When dateline continues. Ons oh, come on sriracha . Woo dont fight your cravings. Eat em. All the flavors you crave in a superfood. Blue diamond almonds. Crave victoriously. Geico would like to take a moment to say thank you to our military Service Members at home and abroad for all their hard work and sacrifice. We all sleep easier knowing youre out there keeping us safe. And on a personal note. Sfx jet engines. I just needed to get that off my chest. Thank you. Geico proudly supporting the military for over 75 years. Whats the time . Device a dime is ten cents. Severe cold or flu . Take control with theraflu. Powerful, soothing relief to defeat your worst cold and flu symptoms fast. Device sneezes theraflu. The power is in your hands. Steven could only imaginem 24hr to trenjoying a spicy taco. Burn, now, his world explodes with flavor. Nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for allday allnight protection. Can you imagine 24hours without heartburn . Im dara brown with the hours top stories. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards is projected to have won a narrow reelection victory despite the best efforts of President Trump to boost his republican challenger in a state trump won by 20 points. President trump made an unscheduled trip to Walter Reed Medical Center saturday. The president later tweeted that he was undergoing medical tests as phase one of his annual physical, with the rest to be completed next year. Now back to dateline. Reporter Grand Junction, colorado has been a boom and bust sort of place over the years, but the great majestic cliffs are eternal. The monuments, they call it the beautiful places that draw hikers, bikers and rafters for years. Like the couple trekking through the wells gulf on march 6th, 2012. Pretty soon, paiges dad got another one of those phone calls, this time from a local reporter. He said, did you know they found paiges remains this morning . And he asked if anybody had called me. And i said youre the first one. Reporter it took time, though, to be certain it was her. A couple weeks or so it was verified it was, in fact, paiges remains. Reporter she was just a few miles south of where all those documents were found along the roadside. So it had to be paige, said the police, that left the trail. A call for help or arrow pointing where to find her. All that while restrained. They found remnants of duct tape still wrapped around her jaw. We really think the searchers were here. To miss it, you know, its like, darn, how did that happen . Reporter probably, said the detectives, her killer buried her five years earlier, way back in 2007 when she first disappeared. Eventually, what was left of her was unearthed by a heavy spring runoff. And so, said d. A. Hautzinger here we go, this is what we have been waiting for. Now we need to really put pedal to the metal and make a decision. Reporter now, finally with a body, they decided to fashion a murder case against one of the eight possible suspects, the two exhusbands, rob dixon and ron beigler, had solid alibis. Both being hundreds of miles away when paige was kidnapped and kill. So that left the six clients. Of course, Lester Ralph Jones was at the top of the list. But george coralluzzo, remember him . Coralluzzo was the alternate suspect that gave me as the d. A. Heartburn and concerns. Thats because his alibi was so hard to pin down. Witnesses say he was partying at jose taveras apartment. But what time exactly . That depended on who you spoke to. What everybody did agree was this, coralluzzo was out of control. He was intoxicated, like slurring his words, not being able to focus. He wouldnt have been able to murder her and get rid of the body. He wasnt capable of it. Reporter of course, he might have been lying to protect his friend. Detectives wanted to talk to coralluzzo himself but they couldnt find him. They asked for help. Theyre like, well, do you know where george is . I said george is dead. Drowned the year before while swimming in a river in new jersey. Still, to satisfy the d. A. , investigators had to make a case that coralluzzo was either guilty or innocent, but because dead men dont talk, they had to go through seven years of reports, interviews and statements. And it was two years after paiges body was discovered, while wading through that mountain of material, an investigator stumbled on an overlooked piece of evidence that would change the case. It was Security Camera video of coralluzzos friend. Including tavara at a market the night paige disappeared. Coralluzzo wasnt in the video but the time stamp backed up the story, minute by minute that he had been telling the cops, suddenly lifting his credibility and, in turn, helping to establish coralluzzos whereabouts the night paige disappeared. That video helped to corroborate what the witness was saying. This was piecing together a time line of where he was, where we could prove he was during the relevant window of opportunity right. That evening or next day when paige went missing. By interviewing lots of people who had been with coralluzzo or had talked to him, we were able to painstakingly essentially alibi him. Reporter they felt they had enough to take the case to a jury. In november 2014, 7 1 2 years after paige vanished, Police Arrested Lester Ralph Jones for her murder. But did they know the whole story now . Oh, no, they certainly did not. They didnt know where or even how paige was killed. It would have been nice to have that additional piece of evidence or additional puzzle piece to put into the jigsaw. Reporter it would help you tell the story, too. Exactly. Reporter and telling the story is an important thing for a prosecutor to do. Its really the entire thing. I dont have to prove motive, for example, but i usually try to anyway because the jury wants to know, why did this person do this. Reporter so tell us a story. What happened in your view . I think lester jones was obsessed with paige and she had not enjoyed her time with him and was putting him off. And i think that triggered something and thats why he got the tracfone and something went wrong. My guess is that he physically subdued her and drove her down to where her body was found but she was conscious and had the ability to throw things out the window or trunk or whatever it was leaving the trail going down to delta and she was ultimately killed not far from where her body was found. Reporter but the defense had its own compelling story to tell, or rather stories, a separate tale for each of those alternate suspects. Waste of time . Well, maybe not. Remember, it takes just one juror with reasonable doubt to throw a whole case into well, youll see. Coming up at trial the defense goes hard at the original lead detective in the case. Did you actually receive an official reprimand for the poor quality of work you did in this case . Reporter maybe the case against jones never stood a chance. Dp if youre doing shoddy work at the beginning your investigation becomes sick. Its almost impossible to make it well again. It well again. Teetime savers. And especially med d savers. 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Reporter in a town with zero degrees of separation, Paige Birgfelds disappearance and murder impacted many here. If they didnt know paige personally, then they were in on the search or were a potential witness or knew somebody who was or, in the worst case, knew one of the possible suspects. So when the trial finally got underway, the towns attention was very much focused on this courtroom. Were on the record, 1432, mr. Jones reporter but the trouble began before a single witness could be called. Ron beigler was angry, wound up. The new District Attorney Dan Rubinstein was set to call paiges first husband. He was a key witness, but was afraid he might actually attack jones in the courtroom because beigler had actually threatened to kill him. And indicated that he wanted mr. Jones to be found not guilty so that he could kill him and feed him his genitals, although he used a different word than that. Reporter proceedings ground to a sudden halt. Beigler was hauled before the judge. If you have any outbursts or you do anything in an attempt to harm anybody in the courtroom, that will result in serious consequences. I think it was overexaggerated. Taken out of context. All right. Sarcasm may be taken out of context. Reporter chastened, but still insisting it was all a misunderstanding, beigler took the stand and testified about his last day with paige. We talked about me moving into her house in Grand Junction. We talked about her quitting that business. Which business . The Adult Entertainment business. Did you give her reasons why you wanted her to quit . Mmhmm. What were the reasons you said . Because she could get killed, for one. Reporter the jury heard about it all. The day planner, items along the roadside, the bits of paper left along the highway, the search dogs who scented on jones, the tracfone jones bought then lied about. And the apparent suicide note hed left for his wife, and the jury heard that strange call jones had with a deputy when jones said you asked me where i would bury a body. Reporter lisa nance told the jury the harrowing tale of the night jones took her into the mountains. And he looked at me. He said, im going to kill you. Reporter and there was this. Hi, mom. Its me. I was just wondering when you would get home. Reporter the prosecution played the fearful phone messages paiges then 8yearold daughter jess left on her mothers cell phone. Love you, bye. Reporter and here was jess today, a senior in high school, but still able to give a childs perspective of a very loving mother. She was pretty much a typical soccer mom. She she we did everything with her. We all slept in the same bed with her and we always went shopping together. And she took us to all of our soccer games, and to school, and she provided us with everything that we needed, whatever that may have been. Reporter a procession of witnesses that lasted for weeks. And the defense teams response . That this was all so much show to distract from a shoddy investigation that focused on jones from the start, despite the lack of any physical evidence. Do you solemnly swear reporter and they drove that theory home by boldly calling former lead investigator, beverly jarrell. Remember her . She was in charge of the investigation and all those detectives from the beginning, yet was never called to testify for the prosecution, perhaps for good reason. Would you agree, investigator jarrell, that you made some mistakes in this investigation . Um, yes. Okay. Has it come to your attention that you did, in fact, forget to book in a few recordings into evidence for this . Yes. Reporter jarrell admitted reports had gone unwritten and evidence was actually lost like jose taveras first police interview. And did you actually receive an official reprimand for the poor quality of work you did in this case . I dont remember that. You dont remember getting a major disciplinary action because you kept evidence from this case in your office . In writing . No. Reporter jarrell said her memorys been fuzzy since a 2010 horseriding accident, something that happened three years after the slipups on the birgfeld case. And then came the alternate suspects, the guy who called paige from that motel 6. And in that storage unit you had numerous guns, right . I did have, yes. Reporter this former client, who allegedly discussed killing paige. Did you tell ms. Waylan that you had killed ms. Birgfeld by putting ms. Birgfeld through a woodchipper . [ laughs ] no, maam. Somebody had said something about, did you do this to paige . Did you murder paige . And i said, just out of context, had i had i they wouldnt find her because i would have used a woodchipper. And it was totally out of context. Reporter the client who admitted embezzling his companys money to pay paige. Did you kill ms. Birgfeld . No. Are you responsible for her disappearance . Absolutely not. Reporter and then the defense went after jose tavera, who admitted he was so tight with coralluzzo he would have done just about anything for his friend. Including burning a car to help him if he needed that done. I wouldnt do that. You wouldnt do that . No. Thats the one thing you wouldnt do . Yeah. Reporter Meagan Williams told the jury she was sure the killer was really corralluzzo. He was a pathological liar, and anything that came out of his mouth was a lie. And any story that he made up, was made up. Reporter so many suspects, said the defense, and they put on a retired detective to accuse the police of tunnel vision. Because if youre doing shoddy work in the beginning, and youre not paying attention to all the details and all the information and vetting all of the leads, your investigation becomes sick, its almost impossible to make it well again. Reporter as for forensic evidence, said the defense, forget about it. They called an expert to say there is no way a dog can follow a monthold scent. My opinion is that its not possible. Reporter if true that meant there was no proof jones had ever been in paiges car or along the highway where her belongings were found. By the end of the sixweek trial, the jury had heard from more than a hundred witnesses, testifying about a nineyear investigation involving multiple suspects. So it wasnt surprising during deliberations the jury came back with one question after the other. The prosecutor dan rubenstein. I started to get worried and the question popped into my mind, is it possible to ever convince 12 people beyond a reasonable doubt unanimously as to an answer on this case . And i started to worry about that. Please rise for our jury. Reporter by day three, the judge called the jury into his courtroom to ask is there a likelihood of progress towards a unanimous verdict . Reporter after getting this far, was the prosecutions case coming undone . Coming up jurors speak out saying the case went wrong from the start with the original lead detective. She just boggled me when she was like, i dont remember, i dont know. And youre a lead investigator some. When dateline continues. By day three of deliberations, the jury sent word to the judge. They were deadlocked. Is there a likelihood of progress toward a unanimous verdict . No. No . All right. Thank you. Reporter the judge ordered them back to deliberate further. But now of course there was concern. They wont make another effort considering their opinions further. If they are unable to make a verdict well redeclare a mistrial and set a new trial. Reporter less than two hours later, another message from the jury. States as follows, the jury remains in the same position, period. We are not unanimous in our decision, period. We do not feel any further discussion will change our current state, period. Reporter and that was it. The judge had no option but declare a mistrial. Minutes later, paiges dad, frank, tried to keep it positive. Listen, if we hadnt had a trial, it would have been a problem. This was a massive effort. It was well done. I am grateful they gave us a shot at it. Reporter but like many times in the past, frank cracked just a bit, and the pain slipped through. At the end, they showed a nice picture of paige. In my heart, i believed he was guilty. Reporter a handful of jurors spoke to us afterward to explain how the trial played out for them. This man, william sullivan, voted guilty. Because of the evidence, you know, nobody has that bad of luck in one week. This man was disturbed by the lead investigators testimony. She boggled me on the stand, i dont remember, i dont know. Whatever. And youre a lead investigator . They should have replaced her immediately. Reporter still, he voted guilty. But there were others, three all told, who couldnt overcome their doubts. One of them was bobby sant santsanta santa bria, who spoke for the three dissenters. Not enough evidence for them to get past a reasonable doubt. Reporter the prosecutor said, in a way, he understood. The biggest weakness of the case, in my opinion was, there were no eyewitnesses that placed him with miss birgfeld that night. Reporter he conceded defense did an admirable job protecting jones. The point they were trying to make is a good one, which was it could be anyone. It could be somebody we never thought of. Reporter so the seasons slipped by and now with the leaves gone and snow falling, a retile. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Reporter with time and money tight, all knew this would be rubensteins last shot at jones. Another mistrial would be just as good as an acquittal. Do you solemnly swear reporter and so it all played out as before. You have a track record of being dishonest . Yes. Reporter the same witnesses. Did you kill ms. Birgfeld . No, maam. Reporter the same testimony. I have never been able to run a dog on a trail that is a month old. Reporter the same alternate suspects. In your opinion did the Sheriffs Office conduct on objective investigation . No. Reporter the same Closing Argument from the defense. This man is innocent and he stays that way unless these people can convince you otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt. Reporter but what was different this time was rubensteins Closing Argument taking the alternate suspect seriously, he went after each theory, one by one, with attitude. And to think that somebody who is so drunk that three different people have to cart them around who is probably also on cocaine is capable of doing this, carefully doing it and then going back and cleaning it up carefully with a car fire that is specifically targeted to get the evidence, to tear pages out of a day planner. Does this sound like george at all . No. Reporter but would that make a difference to this new jury . Few thought so. So, while deliberations went on from one day to the next, paiges parents braced themselves. I think theres a reasonable chance it could be another mistrial. If it is a mistrial, i suspect jones will walk out a free man. Reporter and just as in the first trial, the jury deliberated for three days before sending a note to the judge. Please be seated. Reporter but this time there was a verdict. We the jury find the defendant Lester Ralph Jones guilty of count one, murder in the first degree. When the verdict came in, i think we were supposed to feel elated like the home team kicked a field goal with two seconds left and we just won. And to be honest, i didnt feel that. There were no winners in this case. None of this brings paige back to us. Reporter what about you . This is about paige. This is about paige, who has been gone and will not be able to come back to her friends, her brother, her parents, her kids. Reporter who now live far away in pennsylvania, as they have since paige first vanished. The birgfelds tried to get custody, but the court ruled in favor of the father. Rob dixon. Its been the book of job for you two. Just trying to get back to our normal lives. And we wont. We never will be what we were ten years ago. Its changed i think each of us, but we are working at trying to get back to normal. Reporter or Something Like it. A big word that always hangs over the room is closure. And im not sure what that means. Paige birgfeld was kidnapped. Reporter there were difficult moments for the birfelds during the murder trial. Like the first time they heard the frightened voice mail messages of their grandchildren. Hi, mom. You said you would be back last night and you are not back today. Bye. And i would tell you that was the hard part. That was the hardest for me. There is almost a recognition that you are in trouble, please dont be in trouble. Please come home to us. Reporter and then there was the day planner when the sweet, mundane details of paiges life and those of her children were made real once more. The family nights, soccer games, the dance recitals and birthday parties and library visits, they were all there. The precious, chaotic rhythms of a family that once was. Proof that there was a time when all was as it should be. Proof, also, that time is gone, forever. And im natalie morales. And this is dateline. Case took us. One of the most extraordinary cases in lapd history. We are not in kansas any more, toto. As she walked away she gave me a big smile and ive relived that smile for years. Reporter and all that time the killer was hiding in plain sight. No indication she was ever spoken to . No. Then a new detective too
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