WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.839 Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is 2 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:05.639 not intended for all audiences. 3 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:08.480 Listener discretion is advised. 4 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:15.240 And I loved and I could see my mom laying 5 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:15.800 on the floor. 6 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:19.519 I pushed the door open and I went to check 7 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:20.920 her to see. 8 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:23.519 No, she was dead. 9 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:26.160 And I turned and I saw my father. 10 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:27.679 There was blood everywhere. 11 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:33.079 This is season thirteen, episode three hundred and fifty five 12 00:00:33.159 --> 00:00:36.119 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the 13 00:00:36.240 --> 00:01:17.560 worst monsters are real. Riverview, Florida, is a quiet suburb 14 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:23.359 outside of Tampa that's built around routine workdays, church services, 15 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:26.599 and family businesses that have been passed down for decades. 16 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:32.760 But in November of twenty fifteen, that routine was broken. 17 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:37.480 Inside an interview room at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, 18 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:42.159 homicide detectives spoke with a middle aged woman named Michelle Best. 19 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:43.439 Oh, Derek, can I. 20 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:46.879 Get up a regular time every morning? We were sitting 21 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:48.959 there having coffee. We're just a few minutes away from 22 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:51.959 getting up to go start getting ready for work, and 23 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:54.239 I got I had just picked up myself one to 24 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:57.319 look at the time. It was ringing in and when 25 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:59.239 I answered it, he was crying and said you need 26 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:02.640 to get over to moments now, and I saw what happened. 27 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.560 He says, you need to go here now, and we 28 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:07.640 live right across the street. So put some extra clothes 29 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:09.520 on and I walked over. 30 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:13.360 Michelle told detectives that on the morning of November twelfth, 31 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:17.080 she received a frantic phone call from her oldest brother, Robert. 32 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:20.719 He told her to hurry to her parents' house, a 33 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:23.520 house that sat just across the street from her own. 34 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:27.360 Their parents were sixty nine year old Shirley Best and 35 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:29.439 seventy year old Virgil Best. 36 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:31.919 They've been married forty forty five years. 37 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:38.080 Other than normal marital differences, any marital issues, nope. Did 38 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:40.719 they grow up here in the Tampa Bay area. 39 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:46.159 My father grew up very poor in Vanity County, Okay, 40 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:49.319 I get the parish area, and then my mom grew 41 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:53.000 up hearing and Gibson to Actually, her father was a 42 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:56.639 fish farmer for thirty some one years, so she's been 43 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:57.280 in fish. 44 00:02:57.080 --> 00:02:59.080 Farming her whole life. 45 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:03.319 Shirley and Virgil owned and operated Quality Finn's Fish Farm, 46 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:06.439 a family business that ran across the five acres of 47 00:03:06.520 --> 00:03:07.879 land between their home. 48 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:12.000 They have fish ponds out here and they raise and 49 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:13.199 sail Paige. 50 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:15.560 So this that I'm looking at in front of me, 51 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:18.199 those are all That's all his propagation, all of that. 52 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:22.199 It runs deep way back there into the with and length. Okay. 53 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:25.120 Virgil handled most of the day to day labor on 54 00:03:25.159 --> 00:03:27.840 the fish farm, and he also employed his twenty one 55 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:29.800 year old grandson to keep it running. 56 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:33.840 Him and Annie, my grandma. I call him Papa and Annie. 57 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:37.439 They own the fish farm and Papa is normally out 58 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:40.800 there working on it, and Annie is counting up fish 59 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:43.280 and helping him with it. But Papa doesn't most of 60 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:45.520 the work, so I work with him. 61 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:50.120 Surely. And Virgil were also devout Christians who were heavily 62 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:54.280 involved in their local church. They attended services every Wednesday 63 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:57.080 and Sunday, and Shirley saying in the church choir. 64 00:03:57.639 --> 00:03:59.960 They're big in the church. They go to Gibson Baptist. 65 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:02.360 She's in the choir. 66 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:04.960 They're always involved in the church. They have been for 67 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:06.439 the last few year, a couple of years. 68 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:09.080 Okay, did you see them coming and going last night 69 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:09.520 to church? 70 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:15.000 Because we were in the house alongside their faith. Shirley 71 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:18.120 and Virgil were also firm supporters of the Second Amendment. 72 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:22.480 They were comfortable with firearms, and guns were common in 73 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:22.920 their home. 74 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:24.439 Tell me about their guns. 75 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:30.600 Papa always has guns near him. He has a gun 76 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:33.360 on his nightstand, and I'm pretty sure he has a 77 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:37.720 gun not on his hip, but in the couch. 78 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:39.920 Where does she keep her gun? 79 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:41.160 She? 80 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:46.199 I think she just bought a gun on a brand 81 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:49.120 new one and she keeps it in her purse. Where 82 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:51.800 does she keep it? In the house the Senate as 83 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:54.120 you walk in, as soon as you walk into your 84 00:04:54.199 --> 00:04:58.040 left there's like bibles sitting there and it's right next 85 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:00.600 to the Bible. Those are people that to close sit 86 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:04.439 with guns in their laps. Why what happened? Something happened 87 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:07.720 in the past. No, they're just really country. They are 88 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:11.680 very old time believe in the Second Amendment people. 89 00:05:12.519 --> 00:05:15.240 Well, they had deep ties to their church and strong 90 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:19.600 beliefs about guns. Nothing mattered more to Virgil and Shirley 91 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:24.720 than their three children, Robert Todd and Michelle. Todd and 92 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:28.000 Michelle lived close by, so close that all of their 93 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:29.800 properties were connected. 94 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:34.759 My sister, myself, and my parents' backyard come together, okay, 95 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:38.839 go around the corner is my sister and then me. Okay, 96 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:41.160 So a lot of our backyards okay. 97 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:44.839 Yeah, So when when you leave the house do you 98 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:47.360 have do you see their house every morning? 99 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:48.560 Every morning, every morning? 100 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:51.560 So I want you to think about this morning. Was 101 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:53.680 there anything on this morning? 102 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:54.160 Yes? 103 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:57.319 Why I left my house like I always do, same time. 104 00:05:58.279 --> 00:06:00.839 I always look at their house, just always look at 105 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:06.480 the house. I noticed the living room light on. 106 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:08.879 The living room light was on. 107 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:12.319 I thought I was on because they always they always 108 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:15.839 turned the lights off when they go to bed, and 109 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.920 this was on. And my first thought was, okay, well 110 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:21.480 maybe they just couldn't sleep me. Both got up early 111 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:23.399 for some reason. You know, I didn't learn too much 112 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:26.040 of it at that time. I still didn't until I 113 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:28.079 you know, my sister called me this morning. 114 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:28.560 Okay. 115 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.319 Virgil and Shirley were also close to their children's spouses, 116 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:35.160 especially Michelle's husband Derek. 117 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:38.879 And any issues going on, oh God, no, love that man. 118 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:41.240 I would do anything for him and vice versa. We 119 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:43.399 just we just worked on my. 120 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:46.120 Jeep about three weeks ago and he helped me. 121 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:51.519 We we do jeep events together. We we have no problems. 122 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:52.279 Okay. 123 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:56.680 And what about their relationship as a husband and wife, 124 00:06:56.680 --> 00:06:57.199 any issues? 125 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:03.680 And you know they loved she loved if she adored him. 126 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:06.720 The only one of Shirley and Virgil's children who didn't 127 00:07:06.759 --> 00:07:10.000 live right next to them was their oldest son, forty 128 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:14.560 nine year old Robert Best. Even so, he did live nearby, 129 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:16.680 just about ten minutes away. 130 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:21.079 My parents are very private. There's not too many people 131 00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:26.519 that go over there. They're very security conscious. They're constitutionalists. 132 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:26.759 You know. 133 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:33.199 Seems their prevers any marital issues between them, I don't believe. 134 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:33.319 So. 135 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:35.360 They seemed very happy to me. 136 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:39.560 As Shirley and Virgil looked ahead to life in their seventies, 137 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:42.759 they started talking with their children about selling the fish 138 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:44.920 farm and finally retiring. 139 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:48.279 Their finances were fine. I mean, the farm has been slow. 140 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:51.160 They've been talking the next couple of years of retiring, 141 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:53.000 selling the farm. 142 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:54.800 Both of your parents kind of very busy. 143 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:56.519 They were for they worked very hard. 144 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:02.079 Yeah, they worked very hard their whole life, very. 145 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:06.959 Hard workers their entire life. They bested their button. Nothing 146 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:07.639 but good people. 147 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:10.199 Do they have any enemies that you're aware of? 148 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:15.560 No, my parents were very involved in church. Everyone loved them. 149 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:20.399 According to their children, grandchildren, in laws, and friends. Virgil 150 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:24.600 and Shirley were kind, well liked people with no known enemies. 151 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:26.399 Don't we hear that a lot. 152 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:29.319 To your knowledge, anybody had issues. 153 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:31.439 What, No, sir, not to my knowledge at all. 154 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:33.559 I mean the neighbors. 155 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:35.600 No sweetest dan people in the world. 156 00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:37.559 Okay, sweetest people in the world. 157 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:39.799 They do anything for anybody. 158 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:41.519 I could see her all day long and go on 159 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:47.879 about hungry they are and was loved by everybody, absolutely everybody, 160 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:52.159 especially family, friends and neighbors church goers. 161 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:56.879 On the morning of November twelfth, twenty fifteen, Michelle Best 162 00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:59.960 was called to her parents house by her older brother Robert. 163 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:04.360 Not long after that call, deputies arrived at the property, 164 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:07.960 and Michelle and her husband were left to deliver devastating 165 00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:10.879 news to Virgil and Shirley's grandson. 166 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:13.559 Then I see Mom and Derek start walking over here, 167 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.519 and you know, they can barely speak. I mean, they're fibergasted, 168 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:21.440 and they say, I say, what's going on And Derek says, nothing, buddy, 169 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:24.000 just you're not going to school today. And then right 170 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.960 after he says that, and Mom says Pop and Annie 171 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:29.480 had been shot, and I say, oh my god. And 172 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:32.279 then Mom said I got to get back over there. 173 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:35.320 So we all just got up and went over there. 174 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:40.279 That morning, the bodies of Virgil and Shirley were reportedly 175 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:44.759 discovered by their oldest son, Robert, who was quickly questioned 176 00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:46.240 by a detective at the scene. 177 00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:47.960 What I'd like you to do is just kind of 178 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:51.159 tell me, walk me through this morning and what we 179 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:52.080 got going on here. 180 00:09:52.840 --> 00:09:54.919 My parents had asked us yesterday if we could stop 181 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:56.639 by this morning on our way into court. I have 182 00:09:56.679 --> 00:09:58.559 a court hearing today and they wanted to pray with 183 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:00.200 us life. 184 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:03.960 And I came over. I got here, I saw that 185 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:05.679 they were up the light, toron and everything. 186 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:08.840 I went around back because we always used the back door, 187 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:12.679 and when I went to knock on the door, I 188 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:14.559 noticed that it was just open a little bit, and 189 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:17.080 I could see through the curtains a little bit, and 190 00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:18.480 I saw my mom laying on the floor. 191 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:21.559 I opened the door and went to check on her, 192 00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:22.600 and I saw there was blood. 193 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:25.039 I wanted to take their polls, but there was so 194 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:25.840 much blood, and. 195 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:29.000 I Katusha was dead, and I turned around. 196 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:30.600 I saw my father lay on the floor too. 197 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:32.279 I left. 198 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:33.279 How I called you, guys. 199 00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:36.879 Robert explained that after finding his parents dead on their 200 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:41.200 living room floor, he quickly went outside, spoke briefly with 201 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:45.559 his wife, called his sister, and then dialed nine. 202 00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:49.879 One one one. What did your emerciency? We've had a 203 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:53.559 break at my parents' house and both my parents were dead. 204 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:55.440 Do you know how they hood? 205 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:56.559 She was leading to the house? 206 00:10:57.559 --> 00:10:59.799 Uh, the name of the house? 207 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:01.720 How she wish men kind of to get in? 208 00:11:02.200 --> 00:11:03.200 No, I don't know. 209 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:03.960 I just came over. 210 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:05.960 We were supposed to have called through with my parents. 211 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.360 When I came over and the back door is open. 212 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:12.120 Do you want to joy to call the events or no? 213 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:14.919 I checked them? 214 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:20.759 O where are they in the house? 215 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:24.240 The living room. 216 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:27.360 During the nine to one one call and his interview 217 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:32.120 with detectives, Robert described the scene as bloody. It was 218 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:35.840 Virgil and Shirley Best had been gunned down in their 219 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:40.960 living room, and detectives quickly determined they were dealing with 220 00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:45.720 a double homicide. When the work on this case started, 221 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:49.120 the detectives did what they always do. They looked at 222 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:53.480 the people closest to the victims. In this case, they 223 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:57.200 didn't have to look very far. The question wasn't whether 224 00:11:57.240 --> 00:12:00.759 the killer was close to Virgil and surely Best, It 225 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:06.759 was which one of their children had committed this horrific crime. 226 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.799 By the morning of November twelfth, twenty fifteen, two members 227 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:34.279 of the Best family were dead, and homicide detectives were 228 00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:37.240 left trying to understand how a quiet home in Riverview, 229 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:41.919 Florida became a violent and bloody crime scene. The victims 230 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:45.120 had reportedly been shot and found inside their living room 231 00:12:45.159 --> 00:12:47.440 by their oldest son, Robert. 232 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:50.639 Seventy year old Virgil Best and sixty nine year old 233 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:53.919 Shirley were found at six fifteen am in their home 234 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:57.279 by a family member who called nine one one. Crime 235 00:12:57.320 --> 00:13:00.559 scene tax arrived in droves to the five acre that 236 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:04.399 contains a fish farm out back the Best's own quality fins, 237 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:08.320 a tropical fish business. Deputies will only use the police 238 00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:12.080 speak of upper body trauma to say how they died. 239 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:13.960 We're going to keep it very general right now, because 240 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:15.679 we're still very early in the investigation. 241 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:18.360 Deputies are trying to figure out who last saw the 242 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:22.600 couple alive and when. For all the questions, they say, 243 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:26.120 they don't believe the general public is in danger, generally 244 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:28.639 assigned they have at least a theory of what happened. 245 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:33.000 After arriving at the scene, detectives quickly determined that Virgil 246 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:36.879 and Shirley Best had been shot to death. Virgil had 247 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:39.879 been shot once in the head. Shirley had been shot 248 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:44.120 twice in the head and neck. There was absolutely no 249 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:48.559 doubt this was a double homicide. Naturally, the first person 250 00:13:48.679 --> 00:13:51.879 investigators wanted to speak with was the man who said 251 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:56.039 he discovered the bodies, forty nine year old Robert Best 252 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:57.679 tell you how kind I. 253 00:13:57.679 --> 00:13:58.440 Got here this morning. 254 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:05.279 I have a court case in Polk County, and my 255 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:08.600 parents had asked if we could stop over on our 256 00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:12.600 way this morning, and they wanted to pray with us, 257 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:17.240 and I agree, so I told them i'd be there 258 00:14:17.399 --> 00:14:18.679 between six six thirty. 259 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:22.000 And I got over there. 260 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:23.879 This morning and I saw that they were over or 261 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:25.720 I thought that they were because I was the light tron. 262 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:28.399 And when I knocked, I noticed. 263 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:32.519 The door was who was partially you know, cracked open, 264 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:36.399 and I looked and I could see my mom laying. 265 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:36.679 On the floor. 266 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:40.720 During this interview, Robert described finding the bodies and even 267 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:44.159 touching them to confirm that both of his parents were dead. 268 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:48.240 I pushed the door open and I went to check 269 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:53.320 her to see no, she was dead. 270 00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:57.000 There was blood everywhere, and I turned and I saw 271 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:01.519 my father and I checked him. I just I walked 272 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:03.519 back out and told my wife I to come in 273 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:05.159 and hand me the phone. 274 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:08.519 And uh we. 275 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:10.399 Waited to the police officer. Together. 276 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:12.399 I called my sister and told her to call my 277 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:13.559 brother get over there. 278 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:17.799 Detectives also interviewed the rest of the immediate family, including 279 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:20.200 the couple's middle child, Todd Best. 280 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:22.519 This is nuts, This is crazy. 281 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:24.000 What happened here? 282 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:30.720 This to happen to my parents. Something's not right here, 283 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:34.840 something's not right at all. Natural cause that you can 284 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:39.720 understand heart attack, but this, I just know they did 285 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:41.080 some of that fucker the goodness. 286 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:45.559 Detectives also spoke with Virgil and Shirley's grandson, whose account 287 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:48.440 helped narrow the timeline of the murders. 288 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:52.360 We were just talking about. Annie sent a message to 289 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:55.840 her hairdresser. I guess her hairdresser had some surgery. I 290 00:15:55.879 --> 00:15:58.960 don't know, but said I'm glad you're doing okay at 291 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:02.200 seven forty five last night, so she was on Facebook. 292 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:03.120 How you know that? 293 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:07.600 The hair addresser said that, yes, at seven pm. 294 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:08.440 Yes. 295 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:12.440 Sureley's last note in contact was a Facebook message she 296 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:15.720 sent around eight pm, and her son Robert called nine 297 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:18.600 to one one just before six am the following morning. 298 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:22.559 That gave detectives a window of roughly ten hours in 299 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:27.279 which the murders could have occurred. From there, investigators started 300 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:31.360 narrowing that window even further. The living room light had 301 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:35.159 been left on, something family members said Virgil and Shirley 302 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:37.039 never did before going to bed. 303 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:41.919 They wouldn't answer the door, especially turn on a light 304 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:46.399 to answer a door. They they happened before they got 305 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:49.080 in bed. Yes, they have the light on. They're probably 306 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:50.720 washing TV in the room and they always get the 307 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:51.879 light on when they wash the TV. 308 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:56.320 Detectives believe the murders most likely occurred between eight pm 309 00:16:56.440 --> 00:17:00.399 and midnight. With that window in mind, they started asking 310 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:04.240 a simple question, where was everyone during that time? 311 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:08.200 And then yesterday I didn't go over there there on 312 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:10.200 the farm. I didn't see mom about her shoes in 313 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.839 the house, putting up decorations. 314 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:13.519 About what time was up. 315 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:16.880 It was still daylight, so it was probably about four 316 00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:17.720 four thirty. 317 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:21.359 Todd Best told detectives he had last seen his father 318 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:24.480 earlier that day and stayed home for the rest of 319 00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:28.119 the night until leaving for work the following morning. He 320 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:31.880 had no alibi, and no one could confirm that he 321 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:35.200 hadn't left his house during the window when the murders occurred. 322 00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:40.440 Virgil and Shirley's daughter, Michelle, told investigators pretty much the 323 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:40.960 same thing. 324 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:43.079 Okay, did you go anywhere on last night? 325 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:47.039 No, we had dinner at home, dert grilled out and 326 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:49.920 we ate there in dinner and gout, showers, got cleaned 327 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:51.920 up and said on the couch and we were in 328 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:52.559 the whole evening. 329 00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:56.519 Okay, did you see your mom and dad yesterday? Now 330 00:17:56.599 --> 00:17:59.119 you talked to him. No, As it goes till from 331 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:00.880 last night, what time did you go to bed? What 332 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:01.359 do you say? 333 00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:05.279 We probably retired to the bedroom a little early because 334 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:05.960 we were tired. 335 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.279 I guess it was probably around eight thirty forty five. 336 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:13.519 Michelle explain that she, her husband, and their son went 337 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:17.680 to bed fairly early that night. Her husband confirmed the 338 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:18.359 same account. 339 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:23.200 She came home, my grilled chicken. We made chicken offredo 340 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:25.279 and that was it. Spent the evening on the couch 341 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:28.079 because you were home hole eavning, Yes, your homeleating. 342 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:31.960 Everyone in Michelle's household said they were home for the night, 343 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:35.599 but realistically any one of them could have slipped out 344 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:40.000 without the others noticing. Just like with Todd Best, there 345 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:45.319 were no air tight alibis for anyone, and this uncertainty 346 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:48.640 naturally drew some attention to the grandson. 347 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:52.079 You're pretty close to them, and I work with them. 348 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:54.079 The farm's my main source of income. 349 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.440 Hey, do you have a key to get in? 350 00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:59.519 Give me personally know, but Mom and Derek keep a 351 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:01.240 key near the Michael wave in our house. 352 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:06.319 While everyone in the family remained a potential suspect, one 353 00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:10.119 person stood out more than the rest, the oldest sibling, 354 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:11.920 Robert Best. 355 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:15.319 He found them on the floor and of whole blood. 356 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:20.279 And I asked him, I said, was the door was 357 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:23.599 a door, you know, busted open? And he said no, 358 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:25.400 it was just kind of cracked open, just a little 359 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:26.079 bit of the back door. 360 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:27.960 He said, I don't know what happened. 361 00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:28.759 I don't know. 362 00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:29.799 And then I guess. 363 00:19:29.799 --> 00:19:31.400 He told the debut that he had went in just 364 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.839 to check them. 365 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:34.200 Did he say it was by himself? 366 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:38.440 No, his wife was with him, because you walk in, 367 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:39.240 I guess. 368 00:19:39.319 --> 00:19:40.160 Oh, no, I don't. 369 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:42.559 I don't think so. He didn't say anything about Marisol. 370 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:46.400 From the start. Some family members felt there was something 371 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:50.839 off about Robert, particularly the way he described finding the 372 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:55.559 bodies and touching them, But it wasn't just that he 373 00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:58.759 was the one who discovered them. Robert also had a 374 00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:01.599 law criminal history. 375 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:04.519 Ever since I was a teenager, he's always been in trouble. 376 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:10.640 He spent about eleven or twelve years for conning conn artists. 377 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:12.519 Basically years ago. 378 00:20:12.680 --> 00:20:15.279 He was into you know, he was He stole a 379 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:18.720 lot of stuff. He even arrested for stilling from a 380 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:21.759 baseball card shop. I remember then he got into like 381 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:23.000 credit card fraud. 382 00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:27.039 Robert had spent much of his adult life committing fraud 383 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:30.319 and conning people out of money. By the time of 384 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:34.680 his parents' death, he had been convicted of thirty eight felonies. 385 00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:40.680 My brother, he's involved in a lot of things, and 386 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.200 he's a white collar crime guy. He you know, he's 387 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:47.599 been in prison. He walked into a Cadillac Dade and 388 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:51.480 I was telling the detective about that. He portrayed that 389 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:51.920 he was. 390 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:55.279 His dad was a doctor. 391 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:59.279 And he's got money, and he had a friend to 392 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:04.039 him portraying my dad as being that doctor. And he 393 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:06.400 ended up writing a check for thirty five grand driving 394 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:07.559 out with a brand new Cadillac. 395 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:11.920 Robert had spent years in prison for his various schemes, 396 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:17.039 but his biggest con didn't happen on the outside. It 397 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:20.039 happened while he was already behind bars. 398 00:21:20.359 --> 00:21:23.799 His big thing was while he was in jail for something, 399 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:28.640 he had apparently conned a blind woman that lived out 400 00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:31.720 of state to send him, you know, all this money 401 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:34.559