time. like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. that's our program tonight. don't go any where. "20/20" starts right now. it's paradise on the california coast. sand and surf. hot sun. hot bodies. but now, a dead body? >> 911. >> >> a dead body? >> julie, the girl with personality plus, killed in the apartment of this man's son. >> what happened? what did you do? >> but sam, a bona fide catch with movie star looks, is nowhere to be found. >> there's no way it was not sam. >> is he taunting police?

something else. tonight, "20/20" taking you inside the murder case. a twisted trail of clues. >> it's beyond diabolical. >> and a manhunt that turned into a boy hunt. >> nobody knows who this guy is. >> i opened the door. get on the ground, i'm freaking >> but what about sam's neighbors? are the song birds about to start singing on each other? are they sticking to the script, or going off of it? way off? tonight, you will hear the truth. mystery in apartment 410.

you've heard the phrase all the wo world is a stage. tonight, it's more like a crime scene, as we uncover secret after secret. >> but that's just the start of tonight's murder mystery. because another dead body would be discovered, and a wannabe performance of his life. here's jim avila. >> reporter: she is the picture of today's american girl. an immigrant's daughter. dancer, college student, and free spirit, julie kibuishi. born in southern california, thriving in the golden sunshine, respecting her japanese heritage but thoroughly embracing what it means to be 23 along the beaches and freeways of the o.c., sun-soaked orange county, california. >> i would say julie is definitely an all-american japanese girl. she liked to sometimes bow, just

that's the word you hear over and over to describe julie. a quality no one ever expected could be her undoing. >> costa mesa 911. >> there's a body in my son's apartment. >> is it female or male? >> female. >> reporter: it couldn't be julie -- could it? the innocent, lively, creative young woman with a big circle of friends, most of them known well by her parents. and her friends and the people she hung out with, never any danger. >> no. a mother to worry about. >> my kids, they didn't go anywhere that they should not go. >> reporter: but mom had never met the new man in julie's life, 26-year-old sam herr, older and much more experienced in the world. julie meets him at community college. he's a handsome combat vet, even a hero, with bradley cooper looks who served in afghanistan and is now home in orange county

larger than life, gregarious, and by all accounts easy to like. >> i will be taping this for my mommy back home. >> big strong guy, happy-go-lucky, you know, just a big galoof. >> reporter: larry gonzales grew up close to sam in the military, calls him his brother and was in the trenches of afghanistan with him at camp keating, a remote outpost under constant fire. >> it can range anywhere from half an hour to hours. >> reporter: and all those months on the front lines had an effect on sam herr. like too many of our returning soldiers he showed signs of ptsd. reuben salas is a marine combat veteran and one of sam's best friends. >> he'll have those nightmares. >> reporter: that's got to be pretty scary, huh? >> for him, it was very traumatic.

worlds now living the life in southern california. julie, the passionate dancer with enough talent to be accepted at the prestigious orange county school of the arts, where cindy peca-dolan taught her for five years. >> she was very compassionate and warm, and talented as well, very fun to watch on stage. >> reporter: take a look at julie in performance. athletic, flexible, dynamic. julie wasn't just artistic, she was smart. sam was struggling. they met in anthropology class, so she volunteers to tutor him. sam's parents steve and raquel herr say julie and sam were good for each other. >> she looked up to him. and she was very good at tutoring him in anthropology. and he got an "a" in that class. >> reporter: and they were friends, right? >> i said, "sam, is there anything going on with you and julie?" and he says, "absolutely not, dad. she's like my kid sister."

night in the o.c., kid sister is in big trouble in sam herr's apartment. >> there's a what? >> a body, a dead body. >> a dead body? are you sure, sir? >> man, i'm sure. she's cold. >> reporter: julie's lifeless body is sprawled across the bed. that's sam's dad steve, making the breathless 911 call. >> sam was supposed to come to our house for the weekend. from sam. and throughout the day, i was calling his phone. but his phone would just -- it was off. and sam never turned his phone off. and i said, "honey, i'm going to drive on down to sam's. make sure everything is okay." and i had the key to his apartment. i walked in. and everything was neat, everything was clean. i looked around. i called, "sam." nobody. >> is it your son's apartment? >> yes, yes. she's in the bedroom. it looks like there was some sexual activity. she's dead.

but i could see -- unfortunately, i hate to say -- the clothes were ripped off. >> does your son know who it is? >> no, he's not here. jesus, honey. >> reporter: you walk into his apartment -- >> correct. >> reporter: and there's a dead woman there. >> correct. >> reporter: what's going through your mind? >> initial thought is, sam, what happened? what did you do? >> reporter: but sam, who outwitted and survived the taliban in afghanistan, was not around to answer. he was suddenly, unexpectedly off the grid. >> the motive for the murder is still not known. >> samuel herr hasn't been seen. >> police have issued an all points bulletin for sam herr, a combat veteran suffering from flashback nightmares. >> ptsd is very -- very much in the back of our minds. >> reporter: so you knew he knew how to use a weapon? >> correct. that's why the armed and dangerous comes in where he's missing. and there's a possibility that he has weapons with him. >> reporter: so everything that you heard about him pointed to sam as being the guy.

>> reporter: back at the crime scene, her cell phone, constantly beeping with text messages. her taylor swift ringtone alerting the cops to its presence. her mother june is searching for the good daughter who never is out of touch. >> i don't know even know how many times i text her. and, "are you still asleep or are you --" you know, "are you okay?" and no respond. and then i started to thk, back, what the killer writes on her back that points to a love triangle. was julie caught between two lovers? >> obviously there's a dead woman in my son's apartment and he's missing. i get it. you know, the -- all the -- suspicions are going to be on him. >> reporter: stay with us. i note the obvious differences in the human family. some of us are serious, some thrive on comedy.

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>> reporter: first we're going to start off with a shocking story. its out in california. >> reporter: julie kibuishi is murdered. a gunshot to the head. found in her friend's bachelor pad apartment. there's no sign of struggle here. no sign of sam. by his bed an unused knife.

how-to and the other on the wonders of sex. out back, a barbecue on the patio. everything neat and in its place, and on the counter, a wedding invitation for sam's downstairs neighbors, his good friends, actors dan wozniak and rachel buffet. >> now, costa mesa police have released a photo and vehicle description hoping to locate a 26-year-old man suspected of killing -- >> reporter: costa mesa, in the heart of orange county a city of 100,000, it averages just two murders a year. but on this may night with a half moon rising. lieutenant ed everett and detective jose morales walk into what looks like a slam dunk of a murder case. >> i was thinking a potential love triangle. right as you walk in to that doorway, you can see julie's body positioned on the bed. >> reporter: and what was the condition of her body? >> she had one gunshot wound, top center of the head. she was wearing a tiara.

when julie is murdered, she's wearing a crown. her last night began as one of the happiest of her life. she had a dinner date with her big brother taka to help plan his wedding. her mother june practically remembers her bouncing out the door. >> his fiancee asked her to become a bridesmaid. she gave her the tiara. >> reporter: and that was pretty special for her too, right? >> yes. she didn't want to take it off. >> reporter: it was getting late close to midnight on that special night, but sam is desperately texting her. messages that were still on her phone when police found it in >> the text messages were very important. >> reporter: sam texts he is out helping his downstairs neighbor dan wozniak. the actor buddy, short on funds, getting married and freaking out over how he'll pay for his wedding. "helping dan. then headed to folks for weekend." but less than two hours later, sam seems suddenly in distress. texting julie, "can you come over tonight at midnight alone. very upset. need to talk."

to talk. i need someone i trust." julie responds, "i'm here for you like family." and those were not the only messages on the night she was murdered. police discover another more vile text. this one handwritten by the killer on julie's body. and as cleaned up as you can, what was the message? >> it was "f y theory? >> we looked at the phone and thought, "okay, maybe he's drinking, using drugs, and there was an incident and he just snapped and, you know, sexually assaulted her and, you know, wound up killing her and then fled. >> reporter: now they just have to find sam. >> police say the 26-year-old has disappeared. neighbors say his bicycle sits outside his apartment but his vehicle is gone. >> his passport was missing. his car was missing. >> reporter: orange county senior deputy assistant district

first call, and says there is little mystery here. >> i'm looking at everything going, come on, guys, this is obvious. you know, you're going to find sam, he's going to be our killer. >> reporter: the final clue for police and murphy -- a big red flag. sam herr, the war hero's background check. >> he's been in big trouble before. he was arrested for murder, he was tried for murder. a murder charge points to sam. >> it points with a neon sign. >> reporter: turns out sam had been accused as a very young man of luring a friend to a parking lot where he was killed by some teens. the charges didn't stick, he was acquitted. but if you are a cop investigating a murder -- >> we thought, "okay, if -- if he has this -- he's predisposed and -- and maybe he did it again." >> reporter: two days after julie's body is found, the big break. when the banks open monday, sam herr is leaving a digital trail, and his father steve who is convinced his son could not

not looking for a killer, just looking for his son. the herrs believe sam may be a victim himself. this is your investigative box. >> this is pretty much the investigative box. >> reporter: steve shares a bank account with sam, where his son saved $62,000 in combat pay. he's first to notice, his son may have disappeared, but his debit card is not too far away. >> i went on the computer, and i saw there was activity. somebody was using it. in long beach. >> reporter: that's just 20 miles away, and when he gets to the bank, hanging around fruitlessly at the atm for hours. steve sees a bank alert. his son's card is being repeatedly used at another long beach location, ecco's pizza. >> so i went there, went to the pizza place. checked around looking for sam's car. sat there for an hour. >> reporter: no luck. but the cops now have the same

edge on steve, because they have access to those little cameras above the atm machines. >> the bank sent us these videos. it was a day or two later. and then we were surprised, and who is this kid? >> it's not sam. his parents don't know who it is. nobody knows who this guy is. >> reporter: a pizza loving, baseball cap wearing stranger is draining sam's bank account. an accomplice? a kidnapper? a killer?

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"20/20" continues, with mystery in apartment 410. is suddenly white hot. the suspect in julie's murder, sam herr, may be in police sights. sam's debit card is showing up in long beach, four atm withdrawals and two pizza deliveries, but at the end of the trail, a mystery man or more accurately, a mystery boy. >> we were surprised, like, "oh, okay, who's this kid?" >> reporter: great question and to answer it. you have heard of follow the money, how about 'follow the

the cops are hungry to crack the case. and they know from the bank records their suspect is just hungry. >> a pizza's been delivered to a certain address in the city of long beach. >> reporter: a police copter overhead, undercover cops watching the pizza house. police think, finally, they may have found sam herr's hideout. >> i hear this helicopter circling. i'm like, "what's going on?" >> reporter: recognize him? you've already seen this kid. his name? wesley freilich. those pictures taken at the atm. the 16-year-old skateboarder, now at the center of a full-on s.w.a.t. team, helicopter hovering raid looking for a murderer. at his mom's house where he and a few friends are, you guessed it, half into a large pepperoni pie. >> i open the door and that's when they say, "don't move. sir, come here immediately. get on the ground." >> wesley was trying to be a tough guy in front of his

involved in this case, he had a change of demeanor, started crying. >> i'm [ bleep ] myself. everything's going on crazy. i'm freaking out. i'm being questioned about this whole withdrawing money from the atm. >> reporter: police quickly figure wes is not the murderer. but where's sam? >> the police go inside. my mom's door to her bedroom is shut and locked, and the police are assuming that he's in there. >> so we forced entry into that room to search it. >> reporter: sam is t but his missing atm card is. time for young wesley to answer a few questions. >> i immediately told them everything. i said, "this is what happened." >> reporter: turns out, the atm runs for sam's cash were not wes' idea. he had a trusted friend. an older guy his mom, lorrie, met in community theatre. >> oh, he's a cool. he's a cool kind of cat that i would like to groove with. >> reporter: that cool cat is none other than dan wozniak. remember him?

they hang out together at the apartment jacuzzi, and now dan is about to be married. he's currently starring in a local production of the musical "nine." ? >> reporter: wes tells the authorities, dan gave him sam's atm card and pin number and fed him a story about using that card to collect money sam herr owed him. a scheme only a 16-year-old with a hankering for free pizza might believe. he had an actual folder of paperwork, saying that this was all legal, it's all good to go and all they need to do is withdraw the money and make sure i wore a hat and glasses. >> reporter: so wes and dan drive from mom's house around the corner and down the block to the chase atm. where's he parked? >> he's parked over there in that parking lot. >> reporter: so he can see what you're doing? >> yes. the cameras aren't seeing him,

>> reporter: he rolls over to the atm on his skateboard. but at the machine, young wes has a little trouble. >> i skate across and come here and i put the card in and gave me the pin. >> reporter: back at the car, wes says dan is jumpy. >> the first reaction actually was why'd i take so long and i told him first time using an atm, so i don't exactly know what i'm doing. >> reporter: he knew enough to withdraw $400 and over the next he turned over to dan wozniak, who had rapidly become a suspect in the disappearance of sam herr, and a person of interest who may know how julie kibuishi died. so at that point it's time to bring dan in? >> yes, it is. >> i had detective morales call daniel using a ruse of, "hey, we need ya to come down." and dan said he wasn't available. he was at his bachelor party. >> reporter: the herrs and

he blows off the cops. >> these families, they're experiencing the worst grief that a family could experience. at that moment daniel wozniak's on his way to his bachelor party. >> reporter: he won't come to them, so they go to him. >> dan wozniak was there with a couple of his friends and immediately when he saw me, you could see the blood drain from his face. he turned pale and immediately looked down. >> he says, "i'm going to tell you everything. i'm sick of covering for sam. i'm sick of covering for him. i'm going to tell you everything." >> reporter: are sam and dan in cahoots? where is sam? one thing we know, there will be no celebration on this night for dan wozniak. he's under arrest and headed to the interrogation room and so are we. >> how was your life in danger? >> he threatened it! >> then all of a sudden, the pieces start coming together and it is beyond diabolical. >> you just told us you saw two bullet wounds. >> no. no. no. no.

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"20/20" continues with mystery in apartment 410. ? >> reporter: a murder case with a shakespearean twist. the affable baritone who sang musicals by day is in handcuffs tonight. the o.c. community theatre crowd here you are acting together, huh? >> yeah, this is -- >> reporter: wesley's mom lorrie freilich often performed with dan wozniak. >> he was just such a fun guy. he was fun. he was a good actor. >> reporter: the man who in between acts was planning his wedding and apparently draining his buddy sam's bank account to do it. did he have money problems? >> always had money problems. you know, constantly going from one job to another. >> hi, my name is

the role of john davison. >> reporter: money is a constant dilemma for dan. he's about to marry rachel buffet. ? >> reporter: here she is as his co-star in that musical "nine." dan had no full time job and now he is in full blown crisis. needing to finance his wedding and honeymoon. just as police are picking him up from his bachelor party and taking him to this interrogation room. >> daniel was sitting here in this chair. >> reporter: it is to be a long he came to possess and then manipulate a naive teenager to use sam herr's atm card. and while we're at it, where is sam? >> i don't know. i don't know. i don't know. >> reporter: lieutenant everett has a prime seat in front of the monitors in the detective room. >> my role to watch the interview and see if there's something that they may not be picking up on. >> reporter: what he sees is a

nathan lane. dramatic. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: sometimes even over the top. >> i don't know! i'm sorry. i don't know what else you want me to say. >> reporter: but first a little staged mea culpa. he admits he talked young wes into being the stooge at the atm. he asked if it was illegal. i said, "no, no, no, don't worry." that was a lie. >> reporter: the interrogators aren't doing much interrogating at this point, they are just sitting back and watching the as the actor, working without a script, desperately looks for an ending. he tells the cops on the night of julie's murder, his play went well. and afterwards he and his fiance rachel celebrated. >> i took a shower, we had sex. >> reporter: but the morning after julie is killed, the plot thickens. according to dan's story to police, there is a knock at his door.

i'm like, "hey, man what's going on? is everything good?" he's like, "not good. i did something bad." i'm like, "what did you do?" he's like, "there's a dead body in my apartment. i shot somebody. it was a fit of rage." >> reporter: that's dan's first story. he knows about julie's murder, helped sam escape, but had no hands-on role. the cops are not buying it. >> tell us the truth. you're not that good of an actor. this is your chance to clear the air. the screws, as cops were called in the old black and white movies, are done just listening. now they are tightening. >> we need to get a swab from you just to eliminate you. >> eliminate me? >> i mean, it's in your best interest. >> yes, most definitely, sir. >> so basically just open your mouth for me. >> reporter: thinking fast, dan invents an excuse that would cover his dna being at the murder scene. >> now, i was in sam's apartment friday afternoon.

without a script moves to act two, a second version of that night. but he loses his cool and makes a critical mistake. the cops hear it. see if you do. >> yes, i saw the [ bleep ] body. is that what you want to hear? >> no. we want to hear the truth. >> that is the truth. >> okay. how'd your dna get on her? >> 'cause i was right over the body. >> dna doesn't just fall off. >> i don't know. i didn't touch her. i didn't do anything. >> what did you see? >> saw two gun shots in her head. >> reporter: why did the two bullet holes bother you so much, that he knew that there were two bullet holes? >> because when we were in the apartment, we all looked, and it was only one visible to -- to our eyes. and then when he had mentioned he saw two gunshot wounds, i said, "well, he was there when she was shot." >> reporter: he must have seen or done the actual two shots. >> he was there when she was killed. >> reporter: cue the gotcha music. dan wozniak has a lot of explaining to do now. >> you just told us you saw two bullet wounds.

>> standing over her -- >> no, no, no, no. okay. >> whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, stop. >> it's exactly what you said, dan. >> you can't even keep your lies straight. >> his story kept changing. i think he thought that his acting ability was going to carry him through this -- this performance, so to speak. and it wasn't doing it. >> reporter: detectives send wozniak back to his cell. with the gravity of the situation sinking in, he asks to call his fiance rachel. >> hi, baby. >> reporter: it's a call that will finally bring down the curtain on dan's one-man show. >> i need to make a phone call to the detective now. >> why? >> reporter: why? because rachel has found out that dan's brother tim is carrying evidence. >> he had the murder weapon. and at some point, tim says, "hey, i got to -- i got to get rid of this. daniel's been arrested." >> reporter: rachel tells dan she is going to the cops. >> i need to call him and let

tell them right away. >> then i'm doomed. >> do you know that tim had some evidence? >> yeah. oh, god. oh, god. oh, god. okay. >> well, this is ridiculous and i have to go tell the detective the truth. >> no, baby, baby, um, tim, tim did speak up? >> only to me so far and it was in passing. i said i'm going to the police station right now, danny's been arrested and he starts freaking out. >> no, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't. thatan >> no, babe, i'm going to do it. >> listen to me, listen to me, no. >> what? >> trust me, please. >> you realize they're recording this phone conversation anyways? you're being an absolute ass to try and lie again. >> and that's when he decides to let the jailer know, "hey, i need to speak to the detectives." >> reporter: up next, the final act. >> do you want to talk to us, yes or no? >> yes.

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