WEBVTT 1 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:49.880 Virginia Beach has always been a city caught between worlds. 2 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:53.679 Since the English colonists first landed at Cape Henry in 3 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:57.399 April of sixteen oh seven, this stretch of Atlantic coastline 4 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:02.719 has been a witness to history, rivals, departures, wars, and reinvention. 5 00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:06.840 By the late nineteenth century, the city was marketed as 6 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:11.480 a seaside escape. A single hotel linked by railroad to Norfolk, 7 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:15.319 transformed the quiet stretch of shoreline into a bustling resort. 8 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:20.560 But Virginia Beach was never just about tourism. Over the decades, 9 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:24.519 it grew into a sprawling community, a place where vacationers 10 00:01:24.599 --> 00:01:28.840 mingled with longtime residents, and where military families arrived in 11 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:33.079 steady waves carried by the shifting tides of deployment orders. 12 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:36.599 By nineteen ninety one, Virginia Beach was home to one 13 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:40.079 of the largest naval air stations on the East Coast. 14 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:45.079 Military housing dotted the city like small, self contained villages, 15 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:49.439 each with its own heartbeat. Rows of near identical homes, 16 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:52.760 front yards with bicycles left on the grass, and the 17 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:57.599 constant hum of aircraft overhead defined these neighborhoods. They were 18 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:01.040 places where children formed fast friendship, and parents leaned on 19 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:04.519 each other when deployments pulled one spoue far from home. 20 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:09.240 One such community was Wandsworth Homes, perched near the quaint 21 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:13.719 waters of Birdneck Lake. The lake itself was unremarkable on 22 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:16.800 a map, but for the families who lived nearby, it 23 00:02:16.840 --> 00:02:20.639 was a familiar backdrop. Kids fished for bass on hot 24 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:24.919 summer afternoons, skipping stones across the still waters, while the 25 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:31.439 smell of barbecues drifted from backyards. Birdneck Lake felt safe, ordinary, 26 00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:34.879 a place where children could roam without their parents worrying 27 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:40.479 too much. But safety is sometimes only an illusion. On 28 00:02:40.520 --> 00:02:44.280 a humid March evening in nineteen ninety one, that illusion 29 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:48.800 shattered to young boys from Wandsworth Homes didn't make it 30 00:02:48.879 --> 00:03:07.240 home for dinner. Nine year old Daniel Geyer was born 31 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:11.439 in Anniston to Gary and Valerie Geyer. He was part 32 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:14.439 of a large and lively family with three daughters and 33 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:18.479 another son. The Gyers had moved to Virginia Beach three 34 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.919 years earlier, when Gary's posting with the Navy brought them 35 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:26.080 to Burneck Lake. Like many military families, they knew the 36 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:31.000 rhythm of constant change new cities new schools, new friends. 37 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:35.439 It was a lifestyle that required resilience, especially from children, 38 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:38.639 but it also came with a ready made support network. 39 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:44.120 In military housing, neighbors often become standing family. A nine 40 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:48.319 year old Daniel thrived in that environment. Neighbors recalled him 41 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:52.000 as a bride outgoing boy, always quick to smile. He 42 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:55.960 was constantly in motion, peddling his bicycle through the complex, 43 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:59.280 stopping to chat, or joining in a pickup game with friends. 44 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:03.840 His presence was one of those constants you barely noticed 45 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:09.199 until it wasn't there. One friend, Kenneth Lester, remembered Don 46 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:11.759 was a real good little kid. He was always happy. 47 00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:14.759 You could tell he had a real nice family. He 48 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:16.519 was always happy, and he always had a smile on 49 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:19.920 his face. He was just a real good kid. Wherever 50 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.639 Daniel went, another boy was usually close behind. Seven year 51 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:28.480 old Ashley Christopher Weaver, known to everybody as Scott, lived 52 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:31.600 just a few doors down. His nickname had come from 53 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:35.040 his birthplace, Scotland, though Virginia Beage was the only home 54 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:38.759 he really remembered. Like Daniel, Scott was part of a 55 00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:42.560 Navy family. He was the eldest of five children born 56 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:46.399 to Robert and Tomorrow. Weaver. His mother Tomorrow was serving 57 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:49.439 as an electrician's mate aboard a navy's ship in the 58 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:52.680 Persian Gulf at the time. His father was holding downe 59 00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:55.199 the Ford at home with the children, but he too 60 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:58.920 was in the military. Scott missed his mother deeply when 61 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:02.480 she was deployed, but he wrote to her faithfully, filling 62 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:06.800 his letters with updates from home. Reverend D. R. Statton, 63 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:10.199 who knew the family, described him simply. He loved people, 64 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:14.720 he loved to explore. Seldom was he still together. Daniel 65 00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:18.040 and Scott made the most of their freedom. The military 66 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:21.319 housing complex was their playground, and bird Neck Lake was 67 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:25.480 the backdrop for their adventures. They fished, rode bikes, and 68 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:29.160 explored the wooded areas of the neighborhood. For boys their age, 69 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:31.600 it was the kind of childhood that felt both bondless 70 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:35.360 and secure. But one evening in nineteen ninety one would 71 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:38.319 prove that even in place is built on structure and community, 72 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:53.839 tragedy can arrive quietly without warning. It was the fourth 73 00:05:53.879 --> 00:05:57.120 of March nineteen ninety one for nine year old Daniel 74 00:05:57.160 --> 00:06:00.120 Geyer and seven year old Scott Weaver the dead. They 75 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:04.040 began like any other Monday, they spent the morning at school, 76 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:07.600 and once release, did what they loved most, racing through 77 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:12.680 the neighborhood on their bicycles side by side. By late afternoon, 78 00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:15.639 around four thirty p m. The boys were seen pedaling 79 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:20.079 up and down the familiar straits of Wandsworth homes. Their 80 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:23.319 parents gave them the same rule every evening, be home 81 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:26.319 when the sun goes down. But as daylight began to 82 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:29.399 fade and the sky shifted from pale orange to gray, 83 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:35.639 Daniel and Scott still hadn't returned home. At first, Daniel's mother, Valerie, 84 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:40.279 wasn't alarmed. Children in Birdneck Lake often lingered a little 85 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:43.879 too long at play, But once darkness settled in and 86 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:46.839 there was still no sign of her son on A's 87 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:51.959 crept in, Valerie stepped outside, calling her son's name into 88 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:56.639 the dim streets. Somewhere near by, another voice echoed into 89 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:01.120 the night. It was Scott's grandmother searching for him as well. 90 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:05.439 Valery hurried over, explaining that Daniel hadn't come home either. 91 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:10.680 The grandmother's response was heavy with worry. I hope to 92 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:13.560 God they didn't go where they went last week over 93 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:18.240 to the lake. Birdneck Lake wasn't far. The children had 94 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:20.759 been warned not to play there. It was too deep, 95 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:25.720 too unpredictable, a place of hidden dangers. But warnings don't 96 00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:30.439 always stick in young adventurous minds. Valery and her husband 97 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:33.560 Gary grabbed their flashlights and headed over to the lake. 98 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:37.399 They swept their beams across the water's edge, calling out 99 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:41.600 the boys' names. The beams caught on nothing but trees 100 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:47.279 and murky water. The silence that followed was crushing. By 101 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:50.560 seven thirty PM, with the boys still missing, police were called. 102 00:07:51.639 --> 00:07:55.040 The search began almost immediately, and words spread through Virginia 103 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:59.000 Beach with urgency. Neighbors poured from their homes, and soon 104 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:04.240 more than sixty p people, including police officers, firefighters, Navy personnel, 105 00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:08.480 and volunteers were coming through the neighborhood. They searched house 106 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:12.160 to house, straight to straight, and pressed further outward towards 107 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:16.399 the dark woods and the waters of Birdneck Lake. The lake, 108 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:19.680 which was really just a flooded borrow pit, sat just 109 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:24.439 south of the Navy amphibious space, encircled by thick woods 110 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:27.839 and dotted with smaller bodies of water. It was treacherous, 111 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:32.639 tern still, the searchers pressed forward as they neared the 112 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:35.919 water line, something called the bam of a flashlight just 113 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:40.759 beneath the surface. It was a small bicycle, its wheale 114 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:44.799 bent at a strange angle. It was carefully pulled from 115 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:49.039 the lake. It belonged to Scott, hoped that the boys 116 00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:53.279 had simply wandered off began to shrink. Searchers turned their 117 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.480 focus deeper into the woods and around the swampy edges 118 00:08:56.519 --> 00:09:00.720 of the lake. Divers entered the water despite the hazards. 119 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:07.200 Submerged trees, debris, and jagged construction material made every step uncertain, 120 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:13.039 and in those depths anything could remain hidden. Around thirty 121 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:18.360 to forty yards away, another discovery surfaced, Daniel's bicycle, half 122 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:23.200 submerged in swamp water, its frame caked in mud. By 123 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:26.639 eleven PM, the dangers of night diving forced police to 124 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:30.679 suspend the water search. The darkness was far too consuming 125 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:33.960 and the risk was too great. But on land the 126 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:38.600 hunt continued. Volunteers with flashlights swept through the woods in lines, 127 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:42.960 calling out the boys' names into the night air. At 128 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:46.919 three forty five am, searchers briefly stopped to regroup before 129 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:51.720 pressing on again. Karen Lincoln, a dispatcher for Virginia Beach Police, 130 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:56.120 Fire and Rescue recalled how the k strew people farm wide. 131 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:58.799 They've had people volunteering from all over the state with 132 00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:02.759 tracking dogs to out in help. Through the night, the 133 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:13.679 search pressed forward, every passing r weighed with dread. The 134 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:16.879 next morning the search resumed. By now the effort had 135 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:20.759 swelled to nearly two hundred people. Volunteers came from all 136 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:24.600 across Virginia Beage and beyond, Shaken by the disappearance of 137 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:27.679 two young boys in a community where children were supposed 138 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:32.480 to fail. Safe searchers spread out across the woodland surrounding 139 00:10:32.519 --> 00:10:37.399 Birdneck Lake, about one hundred yards ace of General Booth Boulevard. 140 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.679 A group moved slowly through thick undergrowth. On one side 141 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:46.000 was a residential street, on the other a public camp ground. 142 00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:50.000 One searcher, James McKinsey, was watching the ground as he 143 00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:54.320 picked his way over branches and fallen leaves. Then something 144 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:58.320 in the distance caught his eye, a shape, too small, 145 00:10:58.519 --> 00:11:03.039 too out of place among the angled brush. He stepped closer, 146 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:08.919 heart pounding as he neared, he froze. A tiny hand 147 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.919 was sticking out from beneath a pile of leaves and branches. 148 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:18.159 Blonde hair glinted faintly beneath the debris. James staggered back 149 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:22.320 in horror before calling the police over. The area was 150 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:26.480 quickly sailed off. Officers saw what James had seen, a 151 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:31.399 crude pile of tree limbs, branches, and forest DeBras. Many 152 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.600 of the branches bore fresh cup marks, as though they 153 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:37.759 had been deliberately sawn down with a knife to create 154 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:42.840 this makeshift cover. One by one, the atoms were carefully 155 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:48.200 removed beneath them, Lying side by side with the bodies 156 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:53.639 of Daniel Gear and Scott Weaver. Both boys were fully clothed, 157 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:59.360 but their clothes were saturated in blood. Their throats had 158 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:04.679 been slacked. The search was finally over as the boys 159 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:08.159 remains were prepared for transport to the medical Examiner's office. 160 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:12.960 The unimaginable task of notifying their families fell to Navy personnel. 161 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:17.200 None of the parents had slept through the night they'd 162 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:20.480 waited by the phone. Joined the searches clung to the 163 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:25.399 hope that the boys were hiding somewhere safe. Gary and 164 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:30.200 Valerie Gear were standing outside when the officers approached. The 165 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:33.639 moment Valerie realized what they were there to say her 166 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:38.600 body crumpled. She sobbed, No, it can't be. They've got 167 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:42.879 to be okay. A short distance away, Robert Weaver was 168 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:47.039 told of his son's death. Scott's mother, Tomorrow, was serving 169 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:51.919 aboard the USS Yellowstone in the Persian Gulf. Word was 170 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:55.960 sent to her immediately. She was flown back home at once, 171 00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:59.759 a military mother summoned back to face the most devastating 172 00:12:59.799 --> 00:13:04.480 news imaginable. Over the medical Examiner's office, the fathers were 173 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:07.399 asked to do what no parent should ever be asked 174 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:13.159 to do. They had to identify their son's bodies. Afterwards, 175 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:16.519 Gary slammed his fists against the canopy of a pickup 176 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:21.840 truck and shouted, get that, son of a bitch. Autopsies 177 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:25.960 then revealed the brutality of the attack. Both boys had 178 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:30.120 bled to death. Seven year old Scott suffered three stab 179 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:36.000 wounds delivered in rapid succession. The injuries would have incapacitated 180 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:40.480 him quickly, but the killer didn't stop. Scott's throat was 181 00:13:40.519 --> 00:13:46.399 slashed over and over until he was nearly decapitated. Nan 182 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:48.679 year old Daniel had been struck with such force that 183 00:13:48.759 --> 00:13:53.440 his neck was broken before his throat was slashed. He 184 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:58.320 too had been slashed multiple times. The autopsies also brought 185 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:02.759 an unexpected revelation. Despite initial fears that the boys might 186 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:06.000 have been killed by a sexual predator, there was no 187 00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:10.960 sign of sexual assault. This wasn't a crime of sexual gratification. 188 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:17.840 It was something else, something fueled by raw violence and rage. 189 00:14:18.039 --> 00:14:21.360 And now in Virginia Beach, the search for two missing 190 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:37.320 boys transformed into a hunt for their killer. The woodland 191 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:39.960 where Daniel and Scott had been found was sealed off, 192 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:43.440 crime scene tape fluttering in the wind as detectives and 193 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:48.480 forensics teams combed the ground inch by inch. News of 194 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:53.039 the murders spread like wildfire through Virginia Beach. Parents who 195 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:55.759 had tuck their children into bed the night before now 196 00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:00.000 faced an unbearable truth. A child killer was in their mids. 197 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.840 It's the sense of safety that military housing and close 198 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:08.919 knit neighborhoods once offered had vanished overnight. Be At Stea, 199 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:11.879 who lived nearby, captured the raw fear that gripped parents 200 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:16.000 everywhere when she said, this is every mother's worst nightmare. 201 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:20.000 For children in the community, the shock was just as profound. 202 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:23.559 The woods where the boys' bodies were found wasn't just 203 00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:28.960 any patch of land. It was their playground. Generations of 204 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:32.480 kids had built forts there, hammered to gather, treehouse, and 205 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:36.519 carved skateboard ramps into the clearings. It was a place 206 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:41.440 where imagination ran free, but that innocence was now gone. 207 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:45.320 One boy told reporters were scared. We used to play 208 00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:49.919 in those woods all the time, but not anymore. Adults too, 209 00:15:49.960 --> 00:15:53.840 had long been uneasy about the area. Some had warned 210 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:57.200 that the woods were no longer safe for children, pointing 211 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:01.960 to signs of trouble that had cropped up regularly discarded 212 00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:06.360 beer bottles scattered across the floor, evidence of late night parties, 213 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:10.720 and what neighbors described as rough looking kids emerging from 214 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:14.799 the tree line. Others claimed they had seen youths carrying 215 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:19.039 crow bars and tire irons. There's all kinds of stuff 216 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:23.080 that goes on in those woods, recalled James McKinsey, the 217 00:16:23.159 --> 00:16:27.399 searcher who had made the grim discovery. He then added, 218 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:30.279 the children play in there, but you can tell from 219 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:33.080 what's in there that there's other things that go on too. 220 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:36.399 A local mother who didn't want to be named, put 221 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.879 it more bluntly. There's beer cans and wine bottles all 222 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.600 over that woods. You can look around and see where 223 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:46.080 they have had parties in there, and police knew that 224 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:50.879 these weren't just harmless gatherings. The summer before, children reported 225 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:53.480 being chased through the trees by a man who was 226 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:57.120 holding a knife. Around the same time, a grocery store 227 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:59.919 clerk was robbed, dragged into the woods, and then raped. 228 00:17:01.080 --> 00:17:05.039 Lieutenant Denis Free of the Virginia Beach Police admitted grimly, 229 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:08.680 I'll guarantee you there'll be people living there during the summer. 230 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:12.480 For detectives, the picture was complex. The woods were a 231 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:16.599 place of play but also of menace, a shadowy space 232 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:20.799 where predators could hide in play in sight. Detectives were 233 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:24.680 cautious in their early statements. They couldn't yet say whether 234 00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:27.119 Daniel and Scott had been killed by somebody they knew 235 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:30.680 or by a stranger, but they were certain of one thing. 236 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:33.920 The boys had been murdered where their bodies were found. 237 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:38.559 Moving two children such a distance through thick brush would 238 00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:43.440 have been nearly impossible without leaving clear signs behind. A 239 00:17:43.480 --> 00:17:46.319 special tip line was set up, and within days hundreds 240 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:50.000 of calls flooded in, but each lead ended in frustration. 241 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:55.079 Nothing yet pointed clearly to the killer. Detectives began retracing 242 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:59.680 the boy's final steps, piecing together a timeline. Rose Campbell, 243 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:03.119 who worked at the seven eleven near Wandsworth Homes, recalled 244 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:07.160 seeing Daniel around five point thirty that evening. He'd come 245 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:10.160 in to buy candy and play video games, but he 246 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:13.680 wasn't with Scott. He was with another boy, she said, 247 00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:19.359 but she was certain it wasn't his best friend. Another neighbor, Bennett, 248 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:22.400 said she too had spotted the boys around the same time, 249 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:27.400 between five pm and five thirty pm. She saw them 250 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:31.359 near the edge of the woods, but they weren't alone 251 00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:43.880 with them with a teenage boy. At the local schools, 252 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:46.720 the tragedy of Scott and Daniel was all anybody could 253 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:50.880 talk about, But at First Colonial High School, one student 254 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:54.440 seemed to know more than he should. Sixteen year old 255 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:59.240 Sean Novak lived in Wandsworth Homes with his parents. Neighbors 256 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:02.839 knew him well. He often mowed their lawns for extra cash, 257 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:07.319 including the waivers. His family was deeply religious and regulars 258 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:10.880 at church. On the surface, Jean looked like any other 259 00:19:10.920 --> 00:19:14.759 teenager in the neighborhood, but in the days after the murders. 260 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:18.400 He began boasting to classmates that he had discovered the 261 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:24.279 boy's bodies. That claim was false, James mackenzie had found them, 262 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:28.279 but Novak consisted he was the one. He said he 263 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:32.400 had seen their throats slashed, even touched their bloodied bodies. 264 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.240 These were details that hadn't been released to the public. 265 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:40.240 For those who knew him, this wasn't entirely out of character. 266 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:45.440 Joan Novac had always seemed strange, prone to shocking others 267 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:50.640 with bizarre behavior. One classmate explained, sometimes it was like 268 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:53.119 he was trying to stick out, like he wanted to 269 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:58.279 do anything that looked weird, and weird he was. John 270 00:19:58.359 --> 00:20:02.240 had a habit of flaunting macab trophies. He carried a 271 00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:05.799 sack of animal boons, wore dead bird's head strung around 272 00:20:05.799 --> 00:20:08.720 his neck, and once waved around the severed leg of 273 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:13.680 a cat to discuss his classmates. When they stopped reacting, 274 00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:18.920 he escalated. He bragged about killing a dog next. It 275 00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:22.799 was always something bigger, just to freak you. One friend recalled. 276 00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:28.640 Neighbors had noticed his oddities as well. Melita Canover remembered 277 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:33.000 simply he was kind of strange. He carried weird things. 278 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:38.960 Sean also talked to himself, or rather to objects. He 279 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:42.200 could be seen muttering to tennis balls, golf balls, and 280 00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:46.599 even blades of grass. At school, Kerrie Duprey remembered him 281 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:50.400 stopping her on the stairway, warning solemnly that she had 282 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:55.119 nearly stepped on a cander. The word kender came from 283 00:20:55.119 --> 00:21:02.359 his obsession with the fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons. Let's 284 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:05.039 talk about hair supplements for a second. There's so many 285 00:21:05.079 --> 00:21:08.400 products out there claiming that they'll transform your hair, and honestly, 286 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:11.720 it's overwhelming trying to figure out which ones actually work. 287 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:14.319 That's why when I started looking into Neutrofil, I did 288 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:17.759 my research, and what stood out was that its physician formulated, 289 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:22.200 clinically tested, and dermatologists actually recommend it. 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He 316 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:53.920 created a role for the younger children who followed him, 317 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:58.200 calling them his Kendors, named after a mischiefous, fearless race 318 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:03.680 of creatures from the game. Local teenager John Cleepoor explained, 319 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:07.759 Sean had like this little group of Candors, and the 320 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:10.720 little kids would be in it. They'd run around just 321 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:14.200 goofing off. Daniel was in that group. It was pretty 322 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:17.119 much normal everyday life, but he gave a name to 323 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:21.799 it and made it more interesting. Despite his eccentracies, not 324 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:26.240 everybody viewed Sean in a negative light. Some neighbors said 325 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:30.000 that he was harmless, even kind. He was known to 326 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:33.680 babysit younger children and often spoke about wanting kids of 327 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:37.839 his own one day. Others described him as shy, a 328 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:41.319 quiet loner, more focused on passing grades than causing trouble 329 00:23:42.599 --> 00:23:46.039 his classmates Thereing the Hindman put it simply, he was 330 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:48.519 basically a loner at school. He was always trying to 331 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:52.880 keep his grades up and make sure he passes. To 332 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:56.559 some Sean Novak was just an awkward teenager with strange 333 00:23:56.599 --> 00:24:08.240 habits to others, he was unsettling. Sean Novak didn't just 334 00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:11.880 make up stories for his classmates. He also told his 335 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:15.519 friend Donald Williamson's mother that he had seen Scott and 336 00:24:15.640 --> 00:24:19.440 Daniel around five pm on the day they disappeared, that 337 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:23.240 he was the last person to see them alive. Alarmed, 338 00:24:23.240 --> 00:24:28.799 she immediately called police. That afternoon, a detective found Novak's mother, Jenny, 339 00:24:28.839 --> 00:24:32.400 at work. He explained that he was canvassing the neighborhood 340 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:35.079 for clues and asked if he could speak with her son. 341 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:39.359 Jenny wanted to be present, and she rushed home from work, 342 00:24:39.880 --> 00:24:42.240 but by the time she arrived, the detective had already 343 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:47.200 been and spoken briefly with Sean. Later that evening, detective 344 00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:50.480 Sean Hoffman arrived at the Novak home and asked Jenny 345 00:24:50.519 --> 00:24:54.519 if he could question Sean privately. He reassured her that 346 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:59.480 Sean wasn't a suspect, just a possible witness. Jenny agreed, 347 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:01.200 and soon she and her some were on their way 348 00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:05.720 to the police station. For two hours, detectives questioned Sean. 349 00:25:06.920 --> 00:25:10.000 He denied knowing anything about the murders, but stuck to 350 00:25:10.039 --> 00:25:12.200 his claim that he had been present when the bodies 351 00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:17.480 were discovered. Investigators knew that this was false. James had 352 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:19.200 made it clear that he and his wife were the 353 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:23.440 only ones there. Suspicion sharpened even further when a witness 354 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:26.319 confirmed that the teenager last seeing with Scott and Daniel 355 00:25:27.079 --> 00:25:31.519 was none other than Sean Novak. The next day, detectives 356 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:36.160 asked Sean to return. This time, detective Hoffman asked Janny 357 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:40.200 to step outside the interrogation room. Left alone with Sean, 358 00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:45.960 he shifted tactics. He told the teenager falsely that investigators 359 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:48.559 had found his fingerprints on one of the victim's clothing 360 00:25:49.160 --> 00:25:50.960 and that a police officer had seen him in the 361 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:55.480 woods before the bodies were discovered. Then he pressed harder, 362 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:58.920 suggesting that maybe Sean had stumbled upon the boys first, 363 00:25:59.400 --> 00:26:03.319 maybe even try to cover them with branches. Sean admitted 364 00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:08.359 he had. Hoffman pushed further, maybe something had happened in 365 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:14.440 the woods, maybe by accident. Sean hesitated and then nodded. 366 00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:20.920 Did you kill them? Hoffman asked. Sean nodded again. Yes. 367 00:26:33.319 --> 00:26:36.400 After Sean Novak admitted to the murderers, detectives read him 368 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:41.960 his miranda rights. What followed was strange, unsettling, and chilling. 369 00:26:43.079 --> 00:26:47.680 Novak began talking about Kender, the mischievous creatures from dungeons 370 00:26:47.720 --> 00:26:52.279 and dragons, but his description was distorted. He said that 371 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:54.960 they were four inch tall green beings that killed others 372 00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.519 by planting parasitic worms in their paths. He laughed as 373 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:03.359 he spoke about them. Woments later, he broke into sobs 374 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:08.279 and began describing what happened that day. It had started 375 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:11.839 like any other. Novak went to school, then hurried home, 376 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:16.160 grabbed his buck knife, bought cigarettes at seven eleven, and 377 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:18.960 headed into the woods, where he often spent hours throwing 378 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:22.759 his knife at trees. On his way, he bumped into 379 00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:27.079 Scott and Daniel. He already knew Daniel, his younger brother's 380 00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:32.160 best friend. Scott, however, he'd never met The boys asked 381 00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:34.359 him to show them a new ford in the woods, 382 00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:38.119 and he agreed. As they walked, Daniel kept asking to 383 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:42.559 see his knife. Near the fort, they began playfully wrestling, 384 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:46.000 and Sean said he grew concerned somebody might get hurt 385 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:48.799 with the blade. He said, he took it from his 386 00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:52.839 belt and set it up against a tree mooment Slater. 387 00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:57.640 Daniel picked it up I freaked out. Sean told detectives 388 00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:02.240 he didn't elaborate on what triggered his panic or exactly 389 00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:06.200 how the events unfolded. He only admitted that he killed 390 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:09.559 both boys, then cut branches and piled them over the 391 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:14.400 bodies to conceal them. When police searched the Novak home afterward, 392 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:17.519 they found in his bedroom a knife, a book on 393 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:22.039 serial killers, and newspaper clippings about violent crimes in the area. 394 00:28:23.160 --> 00:28:26.480 The day that Sean Novak was formally charged with capital murder, 395 00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:31.000 the courtroom and the community felt the sense of shock, horror, 396 00:28:31.079 --> 00:28:35.920 and for some relief. Almost immediately, prosecutors requested that he 397 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.319 be tried as an adult, a decision that would profoundly 398 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:44.480 shape the trajectory of the case. Prosecutor Robert Humphrey addressed 399 00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:47.720 the medias, starting, it may well be that we will 400 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:50.799 seek the death penalty. It may well be that we won't, 401 00:28:51.359 --> 00:28:53.599