01x03 - Final Level

[bunniefuu]

For more than 20 years

there are people that
Vladimir Pokhilko

k*lled his family,
then k*lled himself.

But I have never been
comfortable with calling this

a, a m*rder-suicide.

Everything I've learned since

tells me there's so much
more to this case.

And so I needed to come back
to the Bay Area

because this is where
it happened.

I wanted to see the house

to remember
if that's how I saw it.

Did I see what I thought
I saw back then?

It's like a puzzle...

...and the puzzle pieces
are not fitting.

- Tetris.
- Tetris.

Very addictive.

Over the years,

after the murders,

Tetris became more
than the video game.

I think the biggest peak

was clearly that Game Boy
Tetris cartridge combination

back in the late '80s.

The second big peak

happened when everyone started
to get smartphones.

What game works better
on a phone than Tetris?

When we got Tetris on the
cellphones, it was so fun.

You're having a cup of coffee
at the coffee shop

waiting for someone
and you're playing Tetris.

More than 500 million
copies of Tetris

have been downloaded
on mobile devices,

and that has made Tetris,
you know,

inescapable
in the smartphone era

when a lot of other
game franchises from, like,

the early days were not able
to make that transition.

Tetris clearly gives players
that dopamine rush

which keeps them
coming back for more.

Were the most addictive
video game of all time?

Pick, as an example,

some song by Justin Bieber,

it's really popular
for a year, right?

And then you compare it
to songs by Beethoven,

songs by Beethoven
is popular just forever.

And that's how Tetris is,
it's popularity is eternal.

To this day,

one of the most popular
video games that there is.

To give you an idea
of how popular this became,

the original version of Tetris

is part of the permanent
collection

at the Museum of Modern Art.

And over the years,

the inventor Alexey Pajitnov

has really come
to understand that his brand

is tied into the Tetris brand,

and Alexey basically acts

as a spokesperson for Tetris.

But after the murders,

people involved in the game

are very reluctant to talk about

his friend and business partner,
Vladimir.

He was definitely white washed
out of that history of Tetris

and the culture behind it.

This is the house, right there.

This is where the crime occurred

in 1998.

I haven't been here
in several years.

I, I feel it, I can sense it,

I can smell it.

There was a child in there.

That's, that's what brings it
to me right now.

That's what makes me feel

like my skin is crawling
a little bit.

So I'm thinking

right now,
since it's been a while,

I'm thinking, "I wanna go

knock on the door
and see if anyone's home

and ask them
if they'll talk to me."

This house is not the house
that we were originally in

for crime back in 1998,
but it's very close to it.

So what I'm gonna
show you is my impression

of what was going on
in this house

when we walked through, so.

There as a long central hallway,

there were some rooms off of it.

The first room we came
to is where we found Elena.

The victim was on the bed,

lying on her side,
sort of facing the wall,

you could see some damage,

some blunt force damage
to her head, towards the back,

and then you could see
some stab marks,

in, on her back.

And there was a hammer
on the floor.

So when we came out
of this room,

we went down the hall

to the bathroom.

And we found evidence
of, clean-up.

And we later discovered that

the weapons had
all been wiped down.

Now this bedroom here,

this was Vladimir's office,

there was a desk,
and on the desk

we found what we would
consider a suicide note.

Note he had written
or somebody told him to write.

"I am being eaten alive."

And in this room, Vladimir
was laying on the ground.

And on that bed
was the victim, Peter.

You could see blunt force
trauma on his head,

his body was partially
covered in the corner,

and there was hammer
on the floor.

Vladimir was prone on the floor.

His feet were facing the door

and his head
was facing that way.

Let me get down and give you an
idea of what that look like.

The knife was still in his hand,

he was lying like this,

and this is how we saw him.

I was

really hesitant in

believing that this was just
a man who cut his throat,

I'll tell you why.

There was blood spatter

on this window.

From about two, maybe two,

two and a half feet down.

If Vladimir had cut
his throat standing here,

he would've taken the knife,
perhaps this way,

the coroner said
he did it this way.

We might have had some cast off

on the glass right here.

If he had cut his throat
and he was down on his knees,

we'd had some cast off here.

Here and here.

How does one get blood

from the knees
or standing tall down here?

And it was at a 90 degree angle,

meaning, the blood
came straight back.

It didn't come down
from the top,

and it didn't come
from the bottom,

which would leave us with
a different blood pattern.

If Vladimir had not taken
his own life,

and if someone had him
down on the floor,

and they were holding him down,

and they lifted his head back,

and they cut his throat

really quickly,

it's possible that the blood
would land where I saw it.

So let's be honest,

maybe I'm not remembering
things clearly,

maybe I need to go down to
the PD, the police department,

and look at those evidential
photos on the case.

I wanna make sure

that what I saw 24 years ago
is what I'm remembering today.

I haven't made an appointment,

so I'm gonna try to go in
and talk with the evidence person,

and see if she can pull
some photos.

You are not gonna believe this.

So when I went upstairs,
I met with the evidence clerk,

who, who is in charge
of all evidence release.

I actually hired her.

She said to me, "Sandra,
I have some bad news for you.

The evidence was
disposed off, destroyed."

It's gone.

The date on this paper work
says, March 31st, 1999,

and the box is marked
for destroyed.

The crime occurred
in September of 1998,

the 22nd to be clear,

and it was destroyed
in March of 1999?

September, October, November,
December, January, February, March,

that's six months after
the crime, that's unheard of.

This is unbelievable.

Even though this
was a m*rder-suicide,

the supposedly or allegedly
known suspect is, is dead,

it's still two homicides.

We never throw away homicide
evidence, we keep it for years.

It is shocking to me

who approved the destruction
of this evidence.

The evidence clerk

said, "I walked upstairs
to investigations,

and I spoke to the supervisor
and the investigating officer,

Scott Wong and Mike Denson,

and they just said,
'Go ahead and destroy it.'"

I don't know why, and I find
that to be quite strange.

I don't really know what to do
with this information.

I wanna talk to them,

but this is gonna be
a difficult discussion.

We can't go back and look for

minute traces of fingerprints
or we can't compare

because all the evidence
is gone.

But we still have the case file.

Because this case
rested so heavily

on the autopsy report from
the two medical examiners,

I wanted to reach out to them,

I wanted them
to explain their finding,

because a m*rder-suicide
didn't make sense to me.

We couldn't make
contact with one,

and the other one wouldn't
agree to talk on camera.

So we reached out to another

medical examiner,
who is very well known,

Doctor Mike Arnall.

Doctor Arnall has done over
5000 autopsies in his career.

So, Doctor Arnall, I'm, I appreciate
that you took the time to meet with me.

So I sent you
the autopsy report,

and I'm really curious,

very curious to get
your opinion in it,

because I have some suspicions.

Let me just cut to the chase.

What I saw
in the autopsy reports

are entirely consistent
with triple homicide.

I may have made
the determination of suicide

in a 1000 or more cases,

and based on my 40 years
of experience,

this case stinks.

Let's talk about that wound

on his neck,

Vladimir got a injury
to a jugular vein,

does not cut the carotid artery,

that is important because
the carotid artery

is a high pressure vessel

jugular veins are
low pressure vessels.

A injury to a jugular vein

is going to bleed slowly.

The person who has
their jugular veins cut

may live for a prolonged
period of time.

They'll die in a few minutes,

but he certainly had the time

to call and order a pizza
and check his email.

So it's possible that Vladimir
could've released that knife,

maybe grab his throat,
if he were conscious.

There's no reasonable
explanation

for why he would have continued
to hold the knife in his hand

while an eternity passed
till he died.

So I hear the term in here,
what was the term?

- Cadaveric spasm.
- Cadaveric spasm.

Vladimir didn't die
rapidly enough

to satisfy the criteria
for a cadaveric spasm event.

People with cadaveric spasm

die quickly, so they
stop breathing,

the blood that carries the oxygen
stops circulating the body,

and they can't relax.

I personally have never seen
a case of cadaveric spasm.

I don't know anyone who has
seen a case of cadaveric spasm.

Vladimir didn't die
in the fashion that

cadaveric spasm
is said to occur.

So for multiple reasons,

I think the diagnosis
was attractive

to the pathologist,

but I don't think the pathologist
thought it through real well.

Next point is the
hesitation marks

on the neck.

There are two smaller
incise wounds

on the neck in addition
to the larger wound

which got the jugular veins.

Those hesitation marks

are commonly seen

in individuals
who commit suicide.

As to whether this has to be

a suicide because
of hesitation marks.

I will tell you that I'm going
to be testifying in a case

where there are numerous
hesitation marks on the neck,

and yet, it's clearly
a homicide.

Is it possible that whomever
committed this m*rder

used that knife twice

as a warning to get information

or, like, "We're gonna
cut your throat

if you don't give us
what we want."?

Why don't we just cut
to the formal term, t*rture.

Can a t*rture mark look
like a hesitation mark,

pathologist may see that
and think automatically that

this is, this is
a hesitation mark,

where I'm thinking
it's a t*rture mark?

The two would be
indistinguishable.

Okay.

If you look at the autopsies

on your alleged
assailant, Vladimir.

One of the autopsies mentions

an aberration on the head,
which is U-shaped,

which has a width
below one inch.

I cannot exclude the possibility

that he was struck
with a hammer.

And since two
of the other individuals

at the scene were indeed
struck by the hammer

you're gonna have to consider
significant possibility,

he was also struck by a hammer

with the glancing blow that didn't
cause a depressed skull fracture,

but may well have
rendered him unconscious.

The fact that this
individual dies slowly,

and he hasn't made no attempts
to make additional injuries

or made an attempt
to resolve the one that had

suggests the was either being
held down or unconscious.

I don't know how you
exclude the possibility

that Vladimir was struck
on the head,

went down to the floor,

had his throat
incised by a knife,

and he died.

And then someone could easily
have placed a knife

in his hand.

I'll honest with you,

um, my heart's beating
really fast right now.

Do you think that this man

m*rder*d his wife and child,
and then k*lled himself?

I think there are an awful lot
of problems with that assertion.

Problems which I can't
figure out and answer.

My, my point is this,

if you have a case
with so many loose ends,

and you don't understand
why the ends are loose,

and then the feds show up,

at that point it's, "time out."

The elephant in the living room

is the presence
of federal authorities.

What the hell
are they doing there?

Until I know
what it's doing here,

this case is going nowhere, I'm not
gonna sign the death certificate.

Are you kidding?

The only cases in which
I have interacted with the FBI

were in cases where the FBI
clearly had jurisdiction

because of the property
upon which

the event occurred.

It could be federal property,

it could be property belonging
to a Native American tribe.

To the best
of my knowledge, I've,

I have never heard

of the FBI being involved in

any suicides.

I'm excited about
what you're saying

because you're not a detective,

so you get to see
things after the fact,

so what you just said has blown
this way out of the water for me.

You understand this doesn't
make any sense, right?

Of course this doesn't make any
sense, that's why you're here,

that's why we sought you out.

Everything's wrong with it,

nothing's right with it.

So I just finished talking
with Doctor Mike Arnall,

and I'm so excited that somebody

who understands
the science of death

actually understands
what I felt,

and how I said, "This guy
couldn't have k*lled himself."

But there are no fingerprints
other than the family members,

which means that whomever
did this had experience.

Two former gas executives
and members of their families

died in two separate
countries within 24 hours.

Right now we're in the
middle of the Ukraine w*r,

and the last year,

at least seven Russian oligarchs

who would not go along with
Putin's plan have been m*rder*d.

Inside Russia, outside Russia,

and in a style that
is extremely similar

to this m*rder
in Silicon Valley.

Police found his wife and daughter
dead with axe and knife wounds.

Several have been k*lled...

...and their families
k*lled as well,

the young children, the spouses.

What does that tell you?

Tells you that somebody,
some pool of people

have knowledge and skill

about how to k*ll people,

to pass it off as a suicide.

Moscow police
are investigating the deaths

of Avayev and his family
as a m*rder-suicide.

The fact that
at least a couple of these

m*rder-suicides of the oligarchs

look almost exactly
like Vladimir's.

I don't like coincidences
like that.

I think that this whole case

just reeks of Russian mafia.

Twenty-four years ago, I wasn't the
only person who has some questions.

And some of the information
that I've found since

is shocking.

So I'm gonna call everybody
that I worked with

and get them all back together,

because there's some information

in this case that
they don't know,

interviews that
they're not privy to.

I want to see they're reactions

and if they're in line
with how I feel.

Something bigger happened.

And I have to ask Mike and Scott

why was the evidence destroyed.

That seems weird to me.

I need to know the answer.
I need to know.

So, you guys know
why we're here,

and this is a case that

I think we've talked
about over the years.

But I have a question.

When the producers
called each of you,

and you guys all came in,
why did you come on board?

'Cause I didn't agree with
the findings by the coroner.

We saw the spinal
chord in the neck.

How could, how can an individual

apply that severe
of a wound to themselves?

Back then I was the,
the rookie of us all.

Um, but at the time,

there was evidential
questions that I had,

the two different hammers.

What's the point of that?

And then was there
a cleanup before the suicide?

The paperwork that was
burned out in the barbecue.

If you're gonna commit suicide,

who cares what you leave behind?

So, you're
the investigating officer,

what do you remember how you felt
when you first went in there?

They used two different
hammers, they...

I felt like it was overkill.

Did we ever for any second

think that this was
a home invasion,

did we ever think anything
like that initially?

Initially, of course,
the first thought is,

"You've got a dead son,
a dead wife,

and a dead husband,"

it looked like somebody came
in and k*lled all of 'em.

We always think about was
there a possible home invasion

and we look for signs of that.

But we didn't find that.

I think it was good that
we had these conversations

or, or, you know, concerns
or disagreements, you know?

But, what it was

was a m*rder-suicide.

The note that I read
that put chills in my spine

also explained to me

what was going on
inside this guy's head.

You know? The good, evil aspect,

and the end result, so,
basically, you know,

we closed the case based on
the evidence we had at hand.

The case was closed.

So now, the years go by,

and I find out two days
after this case started

that the U.S. Department
of Justice was involved,

that a subpoena was sent in by
the United States District Court.

So, we have Palo Alto,

and then we have
San Francisco FBI,

and now we have the United States
District Court Northern District.

How did we go from local police

all the way
over to United States

criminal investigations?

So, it makes me
think this little bedroom,

a guy who kills his wife and son

and then kills himself
is not so little.

That it's bigger than that.

Did anybody know before we
were interviewed about this,

did anybody know about

that paperwork?

- I don't remember it at all.
- Okay.

I have no recollection
of that subpoena at all,

but when I look
back at how we did our,

you know, investigations,

it, you know,
it can be explained.

My thought process
and rationality is that

Mike opened the door
to use them as a resource,

when they called...

...the FBI, actually had
an agent that spoke Russian

and could help
translate his documents.

They also provided the
handwriting analysis of the note,

but in order for them
to even do,

like, check with their
counterintelligence

to see if Vladimir had
any kind of connections,

all that kind of stuff, they'd
have to do this paperwork.

Okay.

They did the paperwork,
obviously, 'cause we have it.

So, I'm not disputing that,

and then they found zilch.

Because otherwise,
if they would have told us,

"Hey, there's a connection,
we helped you guys out,

this is something you
need to be concerned about,"

we would have followed up on it.

- And that's my assumption.
- That's your assumption?

- Yeah, because...
- Okay.

...I mean, I'm confident in
the work that Mike and I did.

I don't have any doubt that the
work that you did was great work.

Right, and so, if we
did not get notified

that there's something
going on, then

I'm not gonna dispute that

because I don't know
what the FBI has.

So, on that note,
I found that person

that was the subject
of the subpoena.

I found that individual's
information, contact information,

so, I reached out to them.

This person was
associated with Vladimir,

he would be
a business association

and maybe, a friend.

This person's not comfortable
talking on camera.

I'm not gonna use this
particular person's name.

But this particular person

was interviewed by the FBI.

I wanna play the audio,

it was over the telephone,
I wanna play the audio for you.

What do you think?

Everything has
to make sense to me,

and this one has
never made sense to me.

I think with all the information

that was from that conversation,

it just got cloudier.

I just find it odd

that the FBI show up day two
with all this information.

Let's just say we took word
that there was a file

that the FBI showed
them about this case.

Let's say the homicide
occurred on Monday,

on Tuesday they have
all this information

plus a grand jury subpoena

through the United States
District Court

also from their Organized
Crime and Racketeering Section.

Is there a possibility
that the FBI

was looking at this situation

and this homicide, suicide
or whatever occurred,

and they were already involved?

Is that a possibility?

I mean, I find it surprising.

If it is strictly related
to our investigation,

then it's so quick.

Well, and that they were
able to put together

a federal grand jury in order
to come with that subpoena,

- I mean...
- Thank you.

...my thought process in regards
to putting a grand jury together,

you know, you gotta
present evidence...-

...you know,
of an ongoing investigation,

you know, things like that,

- it's not something that happens in a day.
- Overnight. Yeah.

Well, I mean, obviously, it did,

you know, but they
were able to do it

based on stuff that
they had gathered

or had with them

before we had even
started collecting evidence.

- That's what I'm trying to get us to.
- Okay, so, no,

yeah, so, it's evidence that the
FBI probably did have a file...

- Okay.
- ...or some kind of investigation...

- Yes.
- ...but an investigation...

- Prior to our case? Okay.
- Yeah, prior to this going on.

Based on that right there,
I don't doubt that.

But would I like
to know the answers

to some of the questions that,
you know, you brought up,

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Would it change my mind?

Don't know because I don't have
the answers to those questions.

As I'm sitting down and I'm
talking to my colleagues,

I've realized that it's time
to ask Mike and Scott

about why the evidence
was destroyed.

I'm very uncomfortable sharing
this with my colleagues.

I'm not looking forward
to talking about it,

but it adds another layer
of suspiciousness to this case

that I feel we don't have
a complete answer to.

Now, I wanna talk
about the evidence.

Can we have a break?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

Be right back.

So, I was really curious,

am I remembering the evidence?

'Cause I haven't looked
at the evidence on this case

since back then,

- Have you looked at it?
- No.

- Have you gone back and looked at it?
- No.

- No. Have you looked at it?
- No.

No. So, I wanted to see it,
and I went to the PD.

I've been gone for 12 years,

but the new property
manager, I hired her,

and I let her know that
I wanna look at this stuff

'cause I wanna see the photos,
I wanna look at the bodies

because I could have been wrong.

Because I'm not perfect, right?

And she goes, "Well, I've got
some bad news for you,

I can't show you this
stuff 'cause it's gone."

I go, "What do you
mean, 'it's gone'?"

- She goes...
- So, the evidence is gone?

- The evidence was destroyed.
- What?

- Are you sure about that?
- How...

I'm 100% sure about it.

Not only was
the evidence destroyed,

I wanna see how y'all
feel about this.

The evidence was destroyed

six months
after the case was closed.

That year or

- 1999.
- 1999?

Photos, blood, clothing, rugs,

everything that we didn't
return to the family's attorney,

the probate attorney,
was disposed of.

So, our experience is that we
would never get rid of that.

Even though we know
who we think we know

who the suspect is, right?

There's not a third
party involved.

The case is closed,
it's still a m*rder-suicide,

would we get rid
of the evidence?

- No.
- No.

And when I was on late duty,

one of the things they had me do

was open up our two cold cases

and we still had evidence
from those cold cases

from the '70s.

Homicide cases,
they're never destroyed.

How did it say it was
destroyed and by who?

Is there any of that paperwork?

Okay.

So, I'm, this is difficult
to talk about this.

How would you feel
if I told you two

that I had a conversation

with the former, evidence tech,

and that she

told me she contact you guys.

She said she went
up and talked to both of you

and said, "Hey,
we can't keep this stuff,

we've got a lot of stuff,

if this case is closed,
can we get rid of it?"

Do you have a memory
of that occurring

about this evidence?

None whatsoever.

Not at all.

But would you have?

I can't imagine that you
would have agreed to that.

- So...
- I don't think I would.

So, you looked shocked...

- Yeah, I'm surprised.
- ...you looked shocked.

Yeah, I'll tell you I'm shocked.

We're blown away by it, okay.

I don't doubt the
credibility of what they said

in regards to the conversation,

but I would tell you
this based on my,

experience and recollection
of everything that happened,

if Mike had made
that call back then,

then I was agree...
I agree with it.

I mean, I don't question
Mike's decision,

and I know Mike wouldn't have made
that decision without me, so...

- No.
- Okay, so here's...

But this is,
it is, it is bizarre.

It's bizarre.

So, you understand I'm not,

I'm not accusing
anybody of anything.

Can I say something?

If these two individuals

if they knew about
the FBI investigation,

they would not have allowed
that evidence to be destroyed.

That's where I'm going.

The FBI, they didn't
tell us about the file,

they didn't tell us
about the subpoena,

I don't think you knew
how deep they were.

I know we didn't,
and I really do believe

that they were
already investigating,

they already had
eyeballs on here,

and something went wrong,
and this family ended up dead.

This was a much deeper case
that we didn't know about.

It just happened
in our jurisdiction.

If the FBI had been
forward-thinking

along with our organization,

they didn't have
to tell me about it,

but they could have told Mike,
they could have told Scott.

"Hey, this is an ongoing
investigation.

You are not allowed to tell anybody
on your team that it's ongoing.

Do not get rid of the evidence."

Why didn't they talk to us?

Did they have something
else going on?

Very evident now that they did.

I don't doubt now,
looking at this

and your analysis and everything

that the FBI had a file,
some kind of file on him.

'Kay. Curtis, what do you think?

It's like the game Tetris.
Just, like...

- Yeah.
- These blocks are coming down, right?

- Yeah.
- The blocks are questions.

When they fit perfect
down at the bottom,

- we got the answer to that question.
- Okay.

There's a lot of blocks
that not fitting

at the bottom row right now.

Now, let me just throw
one more thing.

So, I found some more
shocking information.

I found in the case file
a friend of Yelena's.

I spoke to that person,

and it makes your jaw drop.

So, there's other stuff
that has come out.

So, I found in the case file

a close friend of Yelena's

living here in Palo Alto.

She knew Yelena very well.

So, I've looked up their
contact information

and I gave them a call

and we started talking.

This person, shortly
after the homicide,

was contacted
by someone in Russia

that was related to Yelena.

Shortly after this
crime occurred,

this family member in Russia
went to run some errands,

and when they returned
to their apartment

there was someone
in their apartment.

Someone was
looking for information.

This is right after the death
of the family,

and that right there tells me

there's more to the story
than what we're getting.

That person in Russia,

they were so concerned
about what that was about

that they left the country,
they did not go back,

and they came to America.

- Shortly after we got our homicide?
- Yes.

They came to America
because they were concerned

if this was Russian
mob or mafia,

they didn't wanna
get involved in it.

And early on,

there was a lot
of the Russian community

that were telling us,

"Look into the mob situation

look into this."

I mean, when someone
leaves the country

because they're
afraid for their life?

What that tells me is
this particular person's

concern and fear
was real. It was real.

And we have to pay
attention to that.

Okay, did anything
change for you today?

Coming in here
and hearing all this stuff.

Anything change for you?

I mean, the only thing
that changed for me

is, is that, it's
evident to me now

that the FBI had
some kind of, um,

outside investigation into,

you know, the, the suspect.

Based on the subpoenas
that showed up.

Um, but it didn't change
my closing of the case

as a m*rder-suicide.

When you guys
expressed your concerns

about, "how could
someone do that?"

You know, I go back
to one of my homicide classes,

and you guys may
have even seen it,

where they had one victim

that they showed
us a picture of that

this guy was laid out,
if I'm not mistaken,

on a bed like this,
and he had, like,

six or seven, eight knives
shoved down his throat.

And you look at that,
and you go,

"Whoa, look at this,
this is crazy."

You know, and the people
doing the training said,

"This is a suicide."

And you go, "Wow,
how could someone do that?"

Right?

So, this

to me, was not a surprise.

- Okay.
- It was doable.

Jean?

I think it just, fed me more

fuel for my fire that

there was something
odd about this case.

I still believe that it was,

not a m*rder-suicide.

I believe that it was
a triple homicide.

Okay. Curtis, what do you think?

Hearing all this,
I have my suspicions.

Why two hammers?

Why did he k*ll
the family and himself?

There are still some holes?

Yes.

Mike?

Even if it was a m*rder-suicide,

I think there's a lot, um,
a lot of unanswered questions

in the case.

But the FBI part of it,
I have no doubt,

um, that they could have
had an investigation going on.

Um, would they have
told me? Probably not.

Unless I needed to know.

And so, we don't know what
the FBI's still got going

- that could connect back to this.
- Okay.

It was great to see my friends.

Some of them
I haven't seen in years.

I knew something was off then,

and after reopening this case

and looking at all the new
evidence that we've gotten,

I now know I was right.

There are people that
we've interviewed

that are afraid to talk about
this case 24 years later

because of Russian
organized crime.

They're afraid that
the hand from Russia

reaches all the way to America.

This is the thing about Russia,

I don't care if you're
in the United States,

Russia still is a factor, right?

There are so many layers,

and there's so many
dark alleyways

that most Americans would
find absolutely astounding

and totally unbelievable.

And we've seen the oddest things
happen coming out of Russia

that you would think, "There's no
way that happened in real life."

What if they do?

Since the collapse
of the Soviet Union,

more than 150 journalists
have been m*rder*d.

Businessmen in the largest
industries in Russia

have been m*rder*d.

Government officials
have been assassinated,

they're families have
been assassinated.

Sergey Protosenya, his wife
and daughter found dead.

This is at their home in Spain.

When people say, "it
looks like Putin's fingerprints

all over these
oligarch murders,"

that doesn't mean that
Putin said to somebody,

"Go k*ll these oligarchs."

The people in his circle, the
people with these kinds of skills,

they already know

"if an opposition arises,
we gotta get rid of him."

It's exactly the telltale
marks of Vladimir's m*rder.

Why would somebody
who can't handle the stress

and even wants
to spare his family

the misery of being
broke k*ll himself,

and do it in this way

that has precedence
in Russian mafia circles?

Vladimir sat in offices
all day. He was a coder.

These are not
the methods of a coder.

All murders are tragic.

Some are just heartbreaking,

and this one was
very, very difficult.

You know, I still wince
when I think about

you know, what must have happened
in that house that night.

I don't know the truth,

and I'm glad that
you're going after it.

I sure didn't anticipate

anything like that
in that family.

It's very, very difficult
to understand and to believe.

And, um

it makes me very, very sad.

Even though
it relates to Tetris,

nobody wins in this case.

Nobody wins.
Even if you get the answers,

no matter what the answers are,

it's tragedy all the way around.

So, what do I believe?

I believe this was
a Russian hit.

Vladimir was k*lled
over some money

that was borrowed
with the mafia,

and this case was staged
by the Russian mafia

to make it look like
Vladimir k*lled his son

and k*lled his wife.

In this case,
there was a little boy

who was k*lled in such
a heinous manner,

bludgeoned and stabbed to death.

And I wish I could talk to Peter

because I wanna tell Peter,

"Your father, your papa,
he didn't k*ll you and your mom."

And if I could find
the persons who did this,

we would take them away

and we would put them in
custody and send 'em to prison.

But here's the problem,
our evidence was destroyed.

So, do I think we're gonna
put somebody in jail for it?

I really don't think so.

You know what my hope would be?

That we would be able
to put that information out

so that everybody knows.

For more than 20 years,

I've told this story
to so many friends

and so many acquaintances,

I wanna be able to say,

"This man did not
k*ll his family."

That Vladimir Pokhilko
was an innocent man

who was blamed for this.

And this man and his family

didn't die for nothing.