this 82-year-old was looking for someone to help her maintain her property. you had landscape work. so the flier on her doorstep seemed worth looking into. they soon did some work. did some landscaping. trimmed the bushes. cleaned up, and you wrote him a check for $120. >> you're watching the actual video from the day the men worked for kay. here they are blowing and raking leaves off her driveway. what none of them knew was that someone else was watching, too, sergeant chris laveck and his

team of undercover detectives. >> it's just a cat and mouse game is really the best way to describe it. >> police had been surveilling the men for weeks, and our cameras were with them on the way. >> gary stevenson, wearing a dark long-sleeved t-shirt. >> why would police follow two landsca landscapers? because the cops knew something else about these two. they were thieves. this is surveillance video of the men with another accomplice at a marshal's clothing store. >> surveillance video. they're ripping you have tags and putting stuff in the car.

>> they cut off security tags and hide merchandise in bags. >> what kind of stuff are they steal sng. >> on that occasion just clothing. he cut open a box of men's cologne and had taken some boxes. >> here they are another day at lowes. they pick up some window screens and simply walk out without paying for them. so when they were spotted blowing leaves in the neighborhood, cops suspected they were up to no good. and that's when the suspects approached kay. she paid them to do some yard work. but then they made their move. he got done yard working. he told me to open up the garage door. the landscapers told her they checked her water heater. the water heater is perfectly fine. >> it looks like he's going back up to the house. >> so she agrees to pay them $1,000 to replace it.

they load it into their truck and haul it away. >> and they're away going eastbound. but if the water heater wasn't broken, what were they up to? it seems these thieves got greedy because the water heater was still under warpty and heading to this plumbing store. >> they said they had a warranty heater replacement that they got. >> by presenting this sticker to the management of store. they could get a new one for free. the plan, pocket kay's thousand dollars for a nonexistent repair, replace her water heater, and keep the extra one for themselves. but cops have seen enough. and they move in. you know you are under arrest now, right? for burglary, grand larceny and larceny. >> as police sort out what happened to cay, they arrest stevenson and whipple. stealing from the retail stores.

>> we've been following you guys for a while. we've been watching you every morning. we've seen you on your shoplifting sprees. >> it was somebody that looked like me that wasn't me. >> do you have any twins? >> do i have any twins? not that i know of. a few weeks later, he agreed to speak with us, too. >> when did this term from a landscaping business to a criminal enterprise? >> about two and a half years ago. steven said they scammed people they believed was the most vulnerable, the elderly. >> go to the old folk's neighborhood. kick somebody's water system over. completely break it to where water is gushing everywhere. come back 10, 20 minutes and say, look, your water system is broke. t got to get fixed. if you don't get it fixed, your

water bill will go skyrocketing. they would hire us to fix it. >> there were other scams, too. >> go to somebody's home and say we're washing roofs today. it's really hot. you told these people that you had a whole plan to protect the roofs. >> exactly. >> but there were no repairs once they got on the roof. just a hosing, literally. >> just spraying water. >> and what did that do for the roof? >> nothing. just clean it. >> how many do you figure you guys scammed? >> we scammed probably about a good 100, 150 people. >> all elderly? >> all elderly. >> you're okay with that. >> i was strongly against it. >> that's because he says none of it was his idea. he blames this man, joe ridell, a career criminal who stevenson says forced him into a life of

crime by beating him. >> i got to tell you, gary, if i'm living with a guy who's beating me, making me pull off scams, i'm out of there. >> i was scared for my life because he's already told me after i got back with him that if i ever ran away, and if he ever caught me, he would break both my legs where i could never walk again. that's when i started looking. i was like, well, i can't do nothing, so i might as well just do it. if i don't do it there's going to be consequences. >> did you feel trapped? >> i felt trapped. i really felt trapped. i was scared for my life. >> why didn't you just go to the police and say hey, look, i'm in this bad situation. this guy is making me commit crimes. he's threatening my life. >> plus he threatened my family as well. i knew if i went to the cops the first place he would go is to my grandma's house. >> so who is joe ridell, who

allegedly controlled the scammers? chris hansen with "dateline nbc". how you doing? ridell is a three time convicted felon. we met him at the clarke county detention center where he was being held on another case. gary stevenson told us you were the man behind the scene, where you would send these guys out, target the elderly people, ripping them off. >> never. >> did you ever send gary or a guy named dave to punch holes in people's water lines? >> never. >> to destroy the sprinkler systems so you could get paid for repairing them? >> never. >> ridell says now that stevenson has been caught he's just making up a story to cover his tracks. >> you know you are under arrest, right? >> so why would gary stevenson say all this? >> because the guy is a crazy nut. >> he's a crazy nut? >> yeah. he got himself in a bunch of trouble. so he lies about everybody else.

that's what. >> but ridell says he never beat or threatened stevenson, in fact, he says he helped him. >> took care of him. lived there. >> we also asked him about allegations that he's a white supremacist, and that's when he decided to end the interview. >> what does that have to do with anything? i'm done. are you charging me with something? >> i'm not charging you, i'm a correspondent for a television news show. >> oh, okay. >> hey, one other question before you go. anything else you want people to know about this case? >> it's bull [ bleep ]. i mean, come on. the dude went to jail for [ bleep ] stealing to make money for himself. he got caught. he started making lies up about people. >> david whipple also claims that his partner is making things up. >> did you ever go out and break somebody's sprinkler system so you could get hired to fix it? >> no, never once have i done anything like that? >> have you ever gone and dug up

somebody's water pipe? and poked a hole in it so you could come back the next day and charge them to fix it? >> no. >> did you ever tamper with anybody's hot water heater? >> no. >> no. >> no. >> why would gary stevenson say all this stuff if it wasn't true? he says you guys would go up on people's roofs and pretend like you were treating them for the summer months, and yet all you were doing was spraying a hose up there. >> i have no idea what he's talking about. >> that you had opened the valve on the hot water heat tore make it look like it was leaking. >> no idea what he's talking about. i've never done anything like that. gary stevenson is a story teller. >> it seems that whipple was also telling stories. he later pleaded guilty. as for gary who also pleaded guilty -- what do you say to all those elderly people who you helped rip off? >> i say, i'm sorry for doing

it. i was doing -- i was made to do it against my own will. >> coming up -- away from the lights, dark and deadly nights in las vegas. you saw the sexual assault? >> yes. >> and what was she doing at the time? >> crying, i guess. >> when "vegas undercover" continues. ooh...she's got the look. what's her secret? the gloves? dawn? i don't believe it. [ male announcer ] it's a dishwashing sensation... dawn hand renewal with olay beauty. it contains revitalizing proteins to help smooth skin on hands -- improving their look and feel in just five uses. [ sponge ] soft, smooth... fabulous! you're quite the trendsetter. [ male announcer ] dawn does more... [ sponge ] so it's not a chore. nature valley trail mix bars are made with real ingredients you can see. like whole roasted nuts, chewy granola, and real fruit. nature valley trail mix bars.

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hands up! hands up! >> as you've seen the vegas police are on the case cracking down on thieves, scammers and career criminals in sip city. but they're also on top of the worst sin of all, murder. >> how many you guys wept out to where the body is? >> for years we've been there as detectives unravel murder mysteries in las vegas. now we're back with the homicide

unit. >> and he thinks there is a woman on the other side of the building. >> lieutenant lou roberts is in charge of homicide. >> it's dark work and there is never good news. >> what is the hardest part of this job? >> the families. i try to give them updates on the cases. not just the cases that occurred yesterday or the day before or the cases we may have tomorrow. they're cases that are 10 years old, 20 years old, 30 years old, 5 years old. you are constant by absorbing the family's pain. you know, and trying to make them understand and trying to comfort them and will it them know we are trying to work their cases. that is a never ending process. >> a never ending process because there roughly 115 murders a year in las vegas. like this one the case of the romeros, a married couple shot

in their home during a robbery. >> the male was shot, the wife was shot in the face. >> julio romero was shot. and his wife was shot in the face but survived. a process server came knocking that day looking for someone who used to level at the address. >> she said that the suspect came back that night and let inside but the husband who subsequently shot the husband and dragged her into the closet where he shot her in the face. >> and left her for dead? >> and left her for dead. >> detectives identify the process server, gregory hover. >> the detectives tail him and move in for the arrest. >> let's see your hands! let's see your hands! now! and they learn there is much more to this case.

hover may have had an accomplice. >> metro police tell the gentleman to come back out here. >> his name is ricky freeman and police pick him up. police tell detectives he knows all about the romero shooting and he volunteers more horrifying information about another gruesome murder. >> metro police say two high profile murders are connected. >> he knows about the murder of this woman who was kidnapped randomly after fennishing a shift as a waitress. >> she was stabbed, sexually assaulted and lit on fire. >> but it was unsolved until ricky freeman told police what he knew. >> chris hansen. how you doing? >> i sat down with ricky fremontman at the local jail who is speaking out for the first time. how did you meet growingry

hover? >> i met him through a friend a year ago. he was barbecuing. >> freeman was 17 when he met hover the 37-year-old process server. ? he worked for a legal company delivering subpoena papers. he said i could drive for him. >> then came the night that everything changed. the men were driving around when hover spotted a woman going to her car. >> he said he was picking up a friend and everything turned bad. >> but the woman wasn't a friend. >> he's accused of kidnapping her at gunpoint. >> hover ordered him to drive the car to a place in the desert where he raped and torture the woman before setting the body on fire. >> did you witness this? >> yes. >> you saw the sexual assault? >> yes. >> what she going?

>> crying i guess. >> what was going through your mind? >> how am i going to get away? how am i going to run? what am i going to do when he tries to kill me? >> why not just drive to the police station? >> i don't know where any police stations are. i didn't see any police at the time? >> did you have a cell phone? >> no. >> why not go to a gas station or convenience store? >> as soon as i would have stepped out of the car he would have shot me. >> instead of going to police, freeman continued to hang out with hover. and two weeks later freeman drove hover to the romero's home the night they were shot. >> he went into the house saying he had to serve them papers and he came back out and said he shot them. i almost threw up. i thought i was about to die right then and this. >> but here's the thing.

had you gone to police after the first killing, romero would likely be alive today. >> yeah, but i had no chance to get to the police. ied a no chance to call police. he was always right there. >> [ speaking foreign languag ] language ]. >> weeks later still healing and grieves, roberta romero came to court and pointed out regularry hover as the man who pulled the trigger. >> [ speaking foreign language ]. >> hover and freeman were charged with multiple counts of murder, rape and kidnapping both men could face the death penalty and both have pleaded not guilty. >> what do you say to the victims' families? >> i'm sorry for what -- for not being able to stop him. i wish i could have. >> you can find more information about vegas undercover on our

website at