06x08 - Hell on Wheels

[bunniefuu]

Captions paid for by discovery communications

Narrator: a mysterious disappearance...

He wasn't answering his phone. Where is he?

Narrator: ...leaves friends and family fearing the worst.

Man: I don't know how or why, but I knew it was bad.

Narrator: with a lack of crime scene...

Man: it did not appear that a struggle had taken place.

Narrator: and no obvious leads.

And we can look for a needle in a haystack,

We've just got to have a start.

Narrator: only a trail of surveillance footage

Can lead detectives to the truth.

Time kind of stood still for us.

Hold up. Who's that?

It was a real kind of gotcha moment.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: sixty six year old larry weaver

Is on the vacation of a lifetime...

Riding his harley through the mountains

With one of his closest friends, paul clark.

Man: I had met larry on friday morning

In townsend, tennessee,

And we took off with, like, five other guys,

And we rode a route down there called

The devil's triangle, outside the smoky mountains.

Back in a minute. Just got to make a call.

Narrator: as much as he loves being on the road,

There's no place like home next to his wife of 26 years, gina.

I lost my first husband when I was only 38.

Thought my life was over; my heart was broken.

I was devastated.

Hey, honey, how you doing?

Two years later, I met larry and...

My broken heart learned to beat again.

He breathed new life into me.

And we were good for each other and with each other.

It was a mutual...

Feeling of...

"Wow, I'm glad I found you."

♪♪

Narrator: after a week together,

The friends go their separate ways,

With larry going home to gina.

But with nightfall imminent,

Larry has to cut his 800 mile journey home short.

Gina: larry called to tell me from sikeston

That he had stopped to stay at the days inn.

I was glad that he stopped then

Because it was still five hours at least to get home,

And it was dark, and he knew

I preferred he not be riding in the dark.

You take care of yourself, you hear?

I love ya, hon.

Gina: the next day, didn't hear from him through the day,

And he wasn't answering his phone.

I decided it was time to start making some calls.

♪♪

Yep, this is dover. Go ahead.

I received a call to check the well-being at a hotel --

Days inn, in sikeston, missouri.

There was a lady in kansas that was looking for her husband

Who had rented a hotel room two nights before.

And I made contact with the clerk at the front desk.

I'm looking for a larry weaver.

Mid-60s?

The manager confirmed that mr. Weaver

Was registered at the hotel.

He gave me a key card

And directed me towards the room.

Narrator: the manager remembers larry requesting a room

That overlooked his motorcycle.

Dover: went out in the parking lot

And did not observe any motorcycle in --

Near or in the parking lot.

♪♪

Miss weaver advised that mr. Weaver would not go

Anywhere without the motorcycle.

Mr. Weaver?

I knocked on the door, announcing my presence.

There was no answer.

And that's when I decided to use the key card and open the door.

♪♪

Once inside,

The beds appeared that they were not slept on.

It did not appear that a struggle had taken place.

Everything was in order. There was no blood.

One side of the room was a helmet sitting on a table,

Leather boots.

And also a leather vest that was draped over a chair.

♪♪

I saw a cell phone, a wallet, clothing

Out in the open --

I thought that was very odd.

I noticed a harley davidson key.

So, we have a key and no motorcycle.

That's not very good.

♪♪

Narrator: officer dover asks the front desk

If anyone had seen anything out of the ordinary

The previous evening...

But it was business as usual.

I didn't know if, at that point,

If the motorcycle was stolen

And somebody'd kidnapped him with it.

Just like mr. Weaver vanished into thin air.

Narrator: officer dover calls it in --

Larry weaver is officially a missing person.

Detective john nelson arrives at the days inn

To take over the investigation.

Man: we checked the local hospitals

For any motorcycle accident,

Or if somebody had a mental issue

Or somebody had a heart attack, something of that nature.

Okay, everyone, listen up.

We've got a missing person to find.

Making the usual calls...

Narrator: but there's no report

Of anyone matching larry's description

At any of the nearby hospitals.

Statements from the motel staff.

All right? Okay, let's go.

Narrator: after recovering larry's cell phone,

Detective nelson calls one of the last numbers dialed.

My cell phone rings, and it's a weird number,

I didn't recognize it,

But I went ahead and answered it.

And on the other end of the phone was a gentleman.

He said, "paul, my name is detective john nelson

Of the sikeston department of public safety."

...he's been missing for three days.

Clark: "do you know that larry's missing?"

And I said, no, I didn't.

No.

He was very concerned --

They were close friends, rode a lot together.

He said this is just not right. This was not like larry.

I promised detective nelson

That larry was not riding that motorcycle without his boots on,

Without his helmet on.

Narrator: with his belongings in the room,

It's increasingly apparent the harley's stolen

And larry could be in danger.

Detective nelson needs to act fast.

Nelson: one of the first things we do on the detective side

Is we'll ask for surveillance.

We were really hoping to find something to relieve

Our fears that larry was maybe,

At that point, had been picked up and gone with a friend

And then we could start looking in that direction.

Narrator: but there's a problem.

Nelson: it's an older motel.

They don't have any cameras.

We were behind the eight ball from the beginning

Because we did not have footage at the motel.

Narrator: detective nelson widens his search for clues.

Nelson: we walked the path around the entire building.

We're still looking for clues

That something might have happened.

In the event that larry had a medical issue,

Got to a fight some I knocked him in the head,

Maybe he got drunk, passed out.

Narrator: there's still no sign of larry.

But detective nelson does notice something.

Do me a favor -- head over there and see

If they have any cameras.

And immediately behind,

Near the dumpster, there was a sonic restaurant,

And so we had one of the detectives go over there.

We thought they might have footage that would tell us

Where he went.

Narrator: detectives are in luck.

One of the cameras did sh**t exactly where we needed to be.

That gave us our first glimmer of hope

That we may find out what happened.

♪♪

Narrator: sixty six year old larry weaver and his motorcycle

Have vanished in the middle of missouri.

More than 36 hours after he checked in at the days inn,

Detectives in sikeston have found a security camera

They hope will solve the mystery.

We're looking for a struggle.

We were looking for signs of somebody

Who was having a fight in the parking lot.

We were hoping that particular camera was going to do it.

Narrator: they cue the footage from 8:00 p.m.,

The time larry checked in, and press play.

The camera covers the street and entrance

To the motel parking lot.

Larry's bike and room are off the upper left of the screen,

Not visible.

Nelson: we sat and watched and watched,

Looking at boring footage of nothing happening.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: then, just before 3:00 a.m.,

They spot something.

Hold up. Who's that?

Stop. Go back.

Everybody at the same time

Let out a bit of a yell

When we actually saw a truck come into the frame.

Narrator: at 2:44 a.m.,

A truck pulling a trailer enters the parking lot.

It pulls into the parking lot

Where we know the motorcycle was parked.

♪♪

Narrator: the truck and trailer disappear

Out of shot toward the motel.

They keep watching.

No other vehicles drive in or out of the lot.

Dees: about 14 minutes after we could see the vehicle

Pull into the back parking lot,

We noticed the vehicle come back a 2:58,

And it was going much faster than it had when it entered.

Nelson: when we saw the truck with the trailer,

We might have something.

We started trying to slow the footage down

So we can look real close.

We were looking at the video,

Hoping that we can see something on the bed of the trailer.

♪♪

Narrator: it looks as if the trailer is carrying something,

But it's too dark to make out.

That was our first sign that we knew

What possibly happened to the motorcycle.

That's when we got excited about having something to do

And where to go.

But it also instilled some fear with this and more urgency,

Because we couldn't see larry weaver.

Narrator: detectives need to identify the vehicle.

♪♪

So they watch the footage again.

Dees: when the vehicle was leaving

At the high rate of speed,

It was actually harder to see

Than when it entered.

So you back up, you go forward

Many, many times,

Trying to get the best possible frame

To get you the best description.

Narrator: it's not clear enough to i.d. The license plate,

But detectives do notice something...

Dees: after we looked at it hundreds of times,

We could tell that it was a darker colored suv

And we believed it was most likely a chevrolet avalanche.

♪♪

In reviewing that video at sonic,

It was a crucial piece of evidence

And became very, very helpful.

But the big question hadn't been answered,

Is, where was larry at?

Narrator: they have to find the driver of the avalanche --

Fast.

For us, that was a real good starting point.

We're excited because we knew we had something to look for

And we can look for a needle in a haystack,

We've just got to have a start.

Narrator: back in kansas,

Gina waits by the phone, fearing the worst.

Gina: that is a dark, heavy emotion

To try to contain yourself

When you realize your husband

Has possibly been harmed by someone else.

And I remember being concerned,

Like, would we -- would we find him?

Where is he?

♪♪

Narrator: every minute that passes diminishes their chances

Of finding the vehicle -- and larry.

This was more than a day and a half,

Thirty hours later.

And in 30 hours, that vehicle could have been

All the way across the united states.

Narrator: with little else to go on,

Investigators conduct a thorough search of larry's hotel room

And belongings.

There's no signs of a struggle,

But they do find a potential lead.

A receipt was located in the room that he had stayed in.

That receipt indicated he had been

A break time convenience store,

Which is located almost directly beside the days inn.

Narrator: the receipt shows he was there

The evening of his disappearance.

Was larry alone or was he followed back to the motel?

Detective nelson pays a visit to the gas station

In the hope it has surveillance footage.

He's in luck.

One of the cameras looked directly at the pumps.

We got the particular time his card was used

At the break tom gas station,

So we pulled footage and we started looking prior

To the time that the gas was purchased.

The receipt indicated he was there at 5:45 p.m..

Narrator: detectives cue the footage

To the time of the transaction.

♪♪

♪♪

A man riding a black harley pulls in.

♪♪

Dees: he pulled up to pump number three,

Put fuel into his motorcycle.

Narrator: it's larry.

Nelson: we saw mr. Weaver pull up very casual,

Gets off the motorcycle,

Walks around, leaves his helmet on,

And fuels up.

Narrator: detectives analyzed the footage,

Looking for anyone watching nearby.

Nelson: he was the only one there,

A real good, clear shot of him.

He's not excited about anything,

Doesn't look -- doesn't appear to be troubled by anything.

Just a guy getting off a motorcycle,

Getting fueled up.

He was by himself, and nothing odd at that location

Was apparent to us on the video

Nelson: when he got back on his motorcycle,

Just took a nice, slow ride out.

♪♪

Narrator: detectives are desperate to know

If someone's tailing larry.

It's all just passing traffic,

Nobody's followin' him.

When larry weaver left break time,

He travels north.

We know he's gonna go by a couple of locations

That possibly have cameras.

One of the most obvious ones is southern bank.

It has an atm.

We know atms take footage.

Narrator: they go to the bank and ask to see the footage.

Cue it up to 17:55, let's see what we get.

Narrator: detectives queue up the atm camera to the time

Larry leaves the gas station.

Nelson: the atm camera at southern bank,

It's motion activated.

Narrator: if the camera was recording as larry approached

The atm, or drove past,

It could show if he was followed.

Nelson: we'll try to see if the atm

Was used by him or someone else.

Maybe we can catch a glimmer of him somewhere.

Narrator: it's a long shot...

But suddenly the camera is activated.

Dees: about 6:30 p.m.,

A subject on a motorcycle

Did pull up to that atm.

Narrator: could the man on the motorcycle be larry?

And is he being followed?

♪♪

Narrator: four days since larry weaver vanished,

Detectives hope that some newly discovered atm footage

Will unlock the mystery of his disappearance.

Dees: short time after

Mr. Weaver had been at break time,

A subject on a motorcycle did pull up to that atm.

Nelson: we studied it real closely,

Went a couple of frames, slowed it down some.

And when we looked at it,

We realized very quickly it wasn't larry.

Narrator: larry was seen in a white shirt

In the break time footage,

But the man at the atm is wearing green.

-It was a little disappointing. -No.

Narrator: no one else is spotted.

The southern bank footage is a dead end.

Thanks for your time.

♪♪

Narrator: a major case squad

Starts to canvass the routes nearby

For surveillance cameras.

It's becoming increasingly apparent the driver

Of the avalanche will know what happened to larry,

But they need to know where it went.

Sonic footage gave us an indication

That the vehicle might've been going southbound on highway 61,

Highway 60 intersects with highway 61 south of sonic.

Directly west of days inn, across highway 61,

Is our local walmart.

Walmart has cameras in many, many locations,

And several of those show their parking lot

And show the highway

Between the day's inn and their business.

Narrator: police bring in footage from a camera

At walmart that overlooks the area.

These cameras are located at the front doors looking out,

You can clearly see highway 61.

Narrator: investigators begin analyzing the footage

From 2:58 a.m., The time the truck left the days inn.

♪♪

Dees: we can see the avalanche come into view on highway 61

And then make a immediate right turn going west on highway 60,

Pulling a trailer.

Narrator: the avalanche is traveling at speed.

Dees: it's such a distance, reading a plate

To anything truly identifiable was not possible.

Narrator: they still can't identify the truck,

But the footage does confirm its route.

Nelson: we saw it get on the ramp

To go on to highway 60 westbound.

So that gave us a really good start of,

Now we're making some headway.

Narrator: detectives focus their search for the truck

To the west of sikeston.

♪♪

[ Telephone ringing ]

Larry weaver has been missing for four days.

-Detective? -It's a mystery at this point.

It was just a whole lot of emotions rolled into one.

I don't know how or why, but I knew it was bad.

Narrator: back in kansas,

Larry's wife gina is having an even harder time.

Gina: at first, you cling to hope that

You will still hear from your loved one,

And that they will be fine.

And you cling to that as long as you can.

And then again, I know my husband,

And I knew, not hearing from him in any way,

I really had to start convincing myself

That he probably was no longer alive.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: in missouri,

Investigators continue their search

For surveillance video.

Nelson: we had every detective that we had on the department,

Everybody in the local departments,

In the towns that we were looking at,

Going to places on our behalf to look for footage.

Narrator: investigators watch hours of footage

West of sikeston.

There's no further sign of the truck or larry...

Where the hell's larry? Until they reach

The town of matthew's, nine and a half miles away.

The footage is from a camera

Covering the main road through town.

Nelson: little after 3:00 in the morning,

You see some headlights come into the picture

From the southern part of the roadway.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

And as it comes straight to the camera,

It is the best clear shot on video

Of the avalanche.

♪♪

And it's pulling a trailer.

We can see a dark colored motorcycle

Laying over on its side.

♪♪

That was a phenomenal moment

Because now we have got the video of the truck

And the trailer and the motorcycle,

And it just solidifies everything that we thought.

Narrator: detectives are now convinced the truck

Is carrying the stolen harley davidson.

Desperate to i.d. The driver,

They released details of the truck and bike to the press.

Nelson: we gave that footage to the local media

And asked them to go ahead and distributed it

In hopes that somebody would identify the vehicle.

♪♪

Narrator: it's been four days since larry disappeared

And there's still no sign of him.

When you get out of the city limits of sikeston,

There's farm fields everywhere.

If mr. Weaver was laying down in the field,

He could've been passed out and just laying in there.

Narrator: detectives decide to change tack

And look to the skies in an attempt to find him.

One of the useful tools that we have is a helicopter

That's owned by the missouri state highway patrol.

While doing the helicopter search off of

Highway southwest of sikeston, about seven miles,

An object was seen that caught our attention

Laying in the middle of some cotton rows.

Narrator: on a closer pass,

It looks like a body.

Nelson: I was listening on the radio

And heard trooper hamlet say that they had a body.

♪♪

Narrator: it doesn't take long to identify the victim.

It's 66 year old larry weaver.

He was tied up around his neck,

His hands and his ankles from behind.

He had some trauma to his head.

It put the investigation into high speed.

We didn't want anybody to get away with as violent a death

As this was.

Narrator: this is now a m*rder investigation.

But detectives still don't have a single suspect.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: following a five day search,

Larry weaver has been found,

Beaten, bound, and m*rder*d in a cotton field.

Detective john nelson now has a difficult call to make.

I called miss weaver, said, I'm sorry to have to

Tell you this, but I've got some bad news.

We have found larry and he's deceased.

♪♪

Gina: it's too painful to try to, uh...

Imagine that something like that

Could happen to your loved one.

There truly is no way to prepare yourself

For such bad news.

You do a lot of self-talk,

Trying to prepare.

But when you find out your suspicions were correct,

You don't want it to be true.

Narrator: with a m*rder on their hands,

It's imperative detectives bring larry's k*ller to justice.

♪♪

Almost a week after larry disappeared, they get a lead.

The witness came forward after seeing the press release.

He had spoken to an individual on the night

Mr. Weaver was at the days inn.

He received a call.

And the person on the call asked him

If he was interested in buying a harley davidson motorcycle.

Narrator: the witness gives detective nelson a name.

Narrator: the witness had arranged to meet coleman

Early that morning.

The witness said that there were two men and a female.

He quickly realized that larenzle was not the one

Calling the shots in this situation.

Narrator: there seemed to be three people involved --

Larenzle coleman, another man, and a woman.

He was actually dealing with another male subject

That he was not familiar with.

Nelson: he had indicated a specific motorcycle ---



And that was exactly the motorcycle we were looking for.

Narrator: the witness also confirms that

Two men and the woman were driving

A dark blue chevy avalanche,

Identical to the one seen on the cctv.

♪♪

It's a huge break.

We sent detectives to try to find larenzle

So we could get him in and talk to him

And just see what he did or didn't know

About the motorcycle.

Narrator: there's no answer at his registered address.

But detectives do make a critical discovery..

Across the street was dark blue chevrolet avalanche.

Narrator: they run the car registration --

And the plot thickens.

When law enforcement did a records check,

They realized that the dark blue chevrolet avalanche

Is owned by elsie coleman.

Elsie coleman is larenzle coleman's sister.

Narrator: could elsie be the woman

That accompanied larenzle and the other man

During the motorcycle sale?

Records also show that she's married to a ronnie robinson.

Could he be the mystery second man that met the witness?

Man: and the witness had actually told us

It was larenzle and two other people.

We all basically realized that the other two suspects

Were elsie and ronnie.

Narrator: all three have criminal records.

Larenzle coleman was arrested in charleston, missouri,

It's about 15 miles from sikeston.

Elsie and ronnie were were stopped by a highway patrolman

And they were taken into custody as well.

♪♪

Narrator: larenzle claims

He has no knowledge of larry or his bike.

He initially denied anything.

Mentioned that, by the way,

We've got your sister's vehicle on video

Pulling a trailer with a motorcycle in it.

At that stage, larenzle,

I think the wheels started turning.

Narrator: larenzle finally cracks,

And admits they stole larry's harley

And tried to sell it.

Larenzle tells us that,

After leaving howardville,

They then went to casey's in portageville, missouri,

To get change

So they could go to the car wash.

Narrator: but he strongly denies k*lling larry --

And won't tell detectives who did.

♪♪

Narrator: detective nelson now turns his attention

To ronnie robinson,

But ronnie isn't playing ball.

We get him in an interview room and talk to him.

Automatically he says he didn't do it.

The next thing out of his mouth is, "I wasn't there."

Narrator: he denies having anything to do with larry

Or the motorbike, and claims he never went to casey's.

He's a criminal, he's not going to give you anything.

You've got to -- you've got to make the case.

Narrator: detective dees brings in elsie to shed some light.

Elsie asked for a lawyer right off the bat

And never gave a statement.

Narrator: detectives only have larenzle's claim

That the trio stole larry's bike and went to casey's store --

An account ronnie denies.

If casey's has cameras,

They could be key to separating fact from fiction.

♪♪

When we spoke to the manager at casey's in portageville,

We were hoping for external footage and internal footage

Because it might give us the vehicle

With a trailer at that time,

Might give us the motorcycle in the back of the trailer,

It might give us a picture of the occupants,

But we found there were only internal cameras.

Narrator: the camera overlooks the store's entrance.

Detectives hope the footage will reveal

Who's telling the truth...

And who's got something to hide.

♪♪

Narrator: missouri police

Investigating the m*rder of larry weaver

Have three suspects in custody, giving two differing accounts.

Detective nelson needs to find out

Which one of them is the k*ller.

Footage from a local gas station

Could reveal who's telling the truth and who's lying.

They cue up the footage and press play.

♪♪

♪♪

At 5:04 a.m.,

Detectives have their answer.

Nelson: when we saw ronnie walk in,

Time kind of stood still for us.

It was a real kind of "gotcha" moment.

We see him walk into the store with a dark shirt,

A pair of shorts, flip flops, and a hat.

He doesn't appear panicked, doesn't appear rushed,

Stands at the counter when he purchases the insect spray,

Actually takes the time to spray himself

While he's standing at the counter,

And then he gets some change.

Narrator: this is the smoking g*n

Detectives have been waiting for.

Ronnie is lying.

Ronnie, you're... You're in the store.

You're in the video, you know, you're in the area.

To us, that's like blood in the water.

We've got him.

We're going to keep that momentum up

Until we started putting nails in the coffin.

Narrator: ronnie refuses to talk,

So detectives, press elsie and larenzle.

Finally, elsie cracks,

She explains her husband, ronnie,

Wanted her to lie for him by blaming it all on larenzle.

Ronnie was telling elsie

To basically memorize his version events

So that when they go to trial, their stories would match up.

She said ronnie robinson truly was the mastermind

Behind this entire thing,

And he was the one that hurt

And k*lled larry weaver.

She didn't want her brother, you know, to take the rap

For what her husband had done.

Nelson: she started telling the story of what really happened.

♪♪

Narrator: larenzle also decides to fully open up to detectives.

His account matches elsie's.

Using the two testimonies,

Detectives now believe this is what happened:

On the night of june 26, 2016,

The three criminals set out to find a bike to steal.

Larenzle said that as they were driving past the hotel,

They see larry weaver's harley

Sitting in the parking lot unattended,

And decide that that's the one they were going to steal.

Narrator: but they hadn't counted on larry weaver

Sitting just inside.

Lawson: they waited until 2:30 in the morning,

Drove into the parking lot,

Started to load the motorcycle onto the trailer.

Larry weaver ran out of his room,

Jumped on the back of the trailer

As they were leaving, and ronnie robinson

Pulled out of the hotel and pulled onto highway 60.

Narrator: this video captures the truck leaving --

With larry clinging on,

Determined to get his harley back.

Mr. Weaver was able to get off of the trailer

And then get into the back of the truck.

♪♪

Narrator: ronnie robinson eventually pulls over

And confronts larry.

Mr. Weaver was out of the bed of the pickup truck

And ronnie was beating him with his fists and his elbows.

At the time that mr. Weaver was knocked to the ground

And was holding on to him by his waist

And telling him, "no, don't do this,"

And ronnie continued to beat him.

Ronnie drug him out into the field, beat him some more,

Came back, got some rope, tied him up,

And ronnie came back and drove off.

He pulls into casey's at portageville,

Goes inside and gets change

So he could clean the pickup truck

To get rid of any evidence.

♪♪

Narrator: on july 6, 2016,

All three are charged for their part

In the m*rder of larry weaver.

Larenzle coleman pled guilty to tampering in the first degree,

Received a sentence of 13 years to serve.

And elsie coleman pled guilty to tampering in the first degree

Or received a sentence of 10 years to serve.

Narrator: ronnie robinson refuses to plead guilty,

But in july 2018,

He is sentenced to life in prison for m*rder.

Lawson: ronnie robison will be eligible for parole

In 2062,

When he will be 96 years old.

Narrator: larry's friends and family

Still grieve for him,

But they're learning to cope with their loss.

Clark: I think about larry constantly.

Gina actually let me have a portion of larry's remains.

I have them on my motorcycle.

So I take larry with me everywhere I go.

After a time,

You begin to think of what you are grateful for,

That I met larry,

How it enriched my life,

The memories we made.

I miss him.

And will love him

And appreciate what he brought into my life always.

♪♪