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tv   2020  ABC  March 4, 2016 10:01pm-11:00pm EST

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but now, a dead body? >> 911. >> there's a body in my son's apartment. >> julie, killed in the apartment of this man's son. but sam, a bona fide catch withh movie star looks, is nowhere to be found. >> there's no way it was not sam. >s he taunting police with bizarrelues? the victim wearing tiara. and something else. >> there was a message on the back of her sweater. >> tonight, "20/20," takakg you inside the twisted trail of clues. a wedding invitation, a pizza delivery. >> it's beyond diabolical. >> and a manhunt that turned into a boyhunt.
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>> everything i` going crazy, i'm freaking out. >> but what about sam's neighbors? arethe song birds about to start singing on each other? >> don't, down, down. >> are they sticking to the script, or going off it? way off? >> yes, i saw the body. is that what you want to hear? >> tonight, you'll hear the truth in apartment 410. >> good evening, i'm david muir. >> and i'm elizabeth vargas. imagine you're living in an apartment complex. >> a family struggling g th the loss of their beautiful young daughter. that's just the start of the mystery. and tonight, all eyes on what
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life or death, for the villain? 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 b, just for kindness. >> reporter: kindness. that's the word you hear over and over to describe julie. a quality no one ever expected could be her uoing. >> 911. >> there's a body in my son's apartment. >> is it female orale? >> female. >> reporter: it couldn't be julie -- could it? the innocent, lively, creative young woman n th a big circle of friends, most of them known well by her parents.
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people she hung out with, never any danger. >> no. >> repororr: nothing really for a mother to worry about. >> my kids, they didn't go anywhere that they should not go. >> reporter: b b mom had never met the new man in julie's life, 26-year-old sam herr, older and much moreexperienced in the world. julie meets him at community college. he's a handsome combat vet, even a hero, with bradley cooper looks whwhserved in afghanistan and is now home in orae county pursuing his college degree and a little fun along the way. 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, um, you know, just a aig galoof. >> reporter: larry gonzales grew close to sam in the miliry, calls him brother and was in the trenches of afghanistan with him
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outpost under constant fire. >> it can range anywhere from half an hour to hours. >eporter: 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 cbat 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. >> reporter: two outgoing 20-somethings from different 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 artswhere cindy peca-dolan taught her for five years. >> she was very compassionate and warm, and talented as well, very fun to watch onstage. >> reporter: it is the same school where "glee" star
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craft. everybody wants a thrill >> reporter: take a look at julie in performance. athletic, flexible, dynamic. >> reporter: julie wasn't just artistic, she was smart. sam was struggling. they met in anththpology 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." >> what's going on, sir? >> reporter: but on this spring night in the o.c., kid sister is in bigrouble in sam herr's apartment. >> there's a what? >> a body, a dead body. >> a dead body? are you sure, sir? >> man, im sure.
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>> 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. saturday came, we hadn't heard from sam. and throughout t 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 n 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 s ad. there's blood from her head. >> i knew she was dead. bui could see -- unfortunately, i hate to say -- the clothes werereipped 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 happened?
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>> reporter: but sam, who outwitted and survived the taliban ininfghanistan, 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. >> reporter: police have issued an all points bulletin for sam herr, a combat veteran suffering from flashback nightmares. 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 inhere he's missing. and there's a possibility that he has weapons with hqm. you heard about him pointed to sam as being the guy. >> there's absolutely no way that it was not sam. >> reporter: back at the crime scene, her cell phone is constantly beeping with text messages. her taylor swift ringtone presence. her mother june is searching for the good daughter who never is out of touch.
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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 think, "what's going on?" >> reporter: when we come 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. it's time to dance freely thanks to new pampers cruisers the first and only diaper that helps distribute`wetness... ...evenly into three extra absorb channels. so it doesn't sag and stays dryer so wiggle it and jiggle it in new pampers cruisers. wishing you love, sleep and play. pampers hi i'm kristie. and i'm jess.
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"one week? that definitely works!" rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots, rapid tone repair. neutrogena . "see what's possible." [anthony] last year, i didn't go to h&r block. but thisear, i can go to block and pay half, what i paid my other guy. so follow us, we're going to h&r block. [richard] switch to block and pay half. pet moments are beautiful, unless you have allergies. then your eyes mayayee it differently. only flonase is approved to relieve both your itchy, watery eyes and congestion. no other nasal allergy spray can say that. complete allergy relief or incompletete let your eyes decide.
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tt2watv# 1t" bt@qm14 tt2watv# 1t" "a@q]=p tt2watv# 1t" bm@qv6\ tt4watv# 1t"" tq g;4 tt4watv# 1t"" entq 7?t tt4watv# 1t"" gzt& .8, tt4watv# 1t"" hnt& >6@ tt4watv# 1t"" iztq t_8 tt4watv# 1t"" jntq f/x tt4watv# 1t"" lzt& ^b$ "20/20" ntinues, with mystery in apartment 410. >> reporter: first we're going to start off with a shocking story. it's out of california. >> reporter: julie kibuishi is murdered. a gunshot to the head found in her friend sam herr's bachelor pad apartment. there's no sign of struggle here. no sign of sam. by his bed an unused knife, a couple of books, a combat 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 e unter, a wedding invitation for sam's downstairs neighbors, his good friends -- actors dan wozniak and rachel buffet.
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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 just over 100,000. it averages just two murders a year. but ononhis 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 b. >> reporter: and what was the condition of her body? >> she had one gunshot wound -- top center of the head. she wawawearing a tiara. >> reporter: a tiara. when julie is murdered, shu is wearing a crown. it was one of the happiest nights of her life.
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daughter as she practically bounding out the door. >> his fiancee asked her to become a bridesmaid. she gave her the tiara. >> reporter: and that was pretet special for her too, right? >> yes. she didn't want to take it off. >> reportfr: it was getting late on that special night. she hadn't intended on seeing sam. but he was texting her text messages that were still on her phone when police found it near her body in sam's apartment. >> 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 frfaking 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. then, "jesus, i really just want 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
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vile text. this one handwritten by e killer on julie's body. >> there was a message written on the back of her sweater. >> and as cleaned up as you can, whwh was the message? >> it was "f" you, all yours. >> reporter: the working police theory -- >> we looked at the phone and thought, "okay, maybe he's drinking, using drugs, and there snapped and, you know, sexually assaulted her and -- and, you 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 district attorney matt murphy is supervising the caca from the 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 m, he's going to be our killer. >> reporter: the final clue for police and murphy.
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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 >> reporter: a murder charge points to sam. >> squarely, absolutely. it points, with a, 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 gang members. the charges didn't stick, he was acquitted, but if you are a cop investigating a murder -- >> w wthought, "okay, if he has this -- he's predisposed 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 be the murderer is conducting his own parallel investigation. >> at 11:59, 12:05. >> reporter: 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
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>> 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 t rd is not too far away. >> went on the computer, and i saw there was activity. so i assumed either sam or somebody was using it. in long beach. >>eporter: 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 information, and they have the edge on steve, b bause they have access to those little cameras above the atm machines. >> the bank sent us these videos -- it was a aay or two
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tt2watu# sd bt@q#pl tt2watu# sd "a@q3\( tt2watu# sd bm@q8w$ tt4watu# sd " dztq gxp tt4watu# sd " entq 7\0 tt4watu# sd " gzt& .[h tt4watu# sd " hnt& >u$ tt4watu# sd " iztq t> reporter: the digital trail is suddenly white hot. ththsuspect in julie's murder, sam herr, may be in police sights. sam's debit card is showing up in long beach. four atm withdrawalsland 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.
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follow the pepperoni? the cops are hungry to crack the and they know from the bank hungry. >> a pizza's been delivered to a certain address in the city of long beach. overhead, undercover cops watching the pizza house. police think finally, they may >> 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, the baseball-capped teen in those pictures taken at ththatm. 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 o on 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 friends. as we explained the gravity of
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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 atat >> reporter: police quickly figure wes is not thmurderer. 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 not there, 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 theater. >> 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? he's sam's broke, downstairs neighbor. they hang out together at the
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is about to be married. he's currently starring in a local production of the musical "nine." >> see what i mean? >> 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. >> yeah. he had an actual folder of paperwork, saying that this was all legal, 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, but the cameras are seeing me.
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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 few days, similar amounts that he turned over to dan wozniak, who has rapidldlbecome a suspect in the disappearance of sam herr, and a person of interest who may know how julie kibuishi died. 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 you to come down. and dan said hwasn't available. he was at his bachelor party. >> reporter: the herrs and d kibuishis are waiting for answers.
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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 arrrrt 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.
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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 theater crowd just loved him. here you are acting together? >> yeah, this is -- lorrie freilich often performed with dan wozniak. >>e 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.
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oblems? >> always had money problems. you know, constantly going from one job to another. >> hi, my name is daniel wozniak, i'll be playing the role of -- >> reporter: money is a cotant dilemma for dan. he's about to marry rachel buffet. here she is as his co-star in that musical "nine." dan had no full time j 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 taki him to this interrogation room. >> and daniel was sitting here in this chair. >> reporter: it is to be a long night of qaestioning about how 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. >> reporter: lieutenant everett has a prime seat in front of the
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>> yeah. my role was to watch the interview and see if there's something that they may not be picking up on. >> reporter: what he sees is a performance worthy of nathan lane. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: dramati sometimes even over the top. >> i don't know! i'm sorry. i d/n'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 andnd watching the performance 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.
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after julie is killed, the plot thickens. according to dan's story t t police, there is a knock at his door. >> opened the door. it was sam. 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 w 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. >> reporter: zing. the screws as cops were called in the old black and white movies arereone just listening. now they are tightening. >> we need to get a swab from you just to eliminate you. >> eliminate me? >> it's in your best interest. so basically just open your mouth for me.
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invents an excuse that would cover his dna being at the murder scene. >> now, i was in sam's apartment friday afternoon. >> okay. >> reporter: but then this actor two. but he loses his cool and makes a critical mistake. the cops hear it. see if you do. >> yes, i saw the goddamn body. >> no. we want to hear the truth. >> that is the truth. >> okay. how'd your dna get on her? >> because i was right over the body. >na doesn't just fall off. >> i don't know. >> okay. >> i didn't toucu her. i didn't do anything. >> what'd 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
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she was shot." >> reporter: he must have seen or done with the actual two shots. >> right. 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. you were -- >> no. >> 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. >> hello? >> 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 theetective now. >> why? >> reporter: why? because rachel has found out that dan's brother tim has incriminating evidence. >> he had the murder weapon.
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"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 him know before they catch me on this recording device because e looks like i'm not trying to tell them right away. >> then i'm doomed. >> did you know thatim had some evidence? >> yeah. oh, god. oh, god. okay. >> well, this is ridicous and i have to go tell the detective the truth. >> no, baby, baby, tim did speak up? 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. that can't be found. >> no, babe, i'm going to do it. >> listen to me, listen to me, no. >> what? >> trust me, please. >> you realize they'y' recording this phone conversation anyways? you're being an absolute ass to try and lie again. >> and that's when he decides to
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detectives." >> reporter: up next, the final act. >> do you want to talk to us, yes or no? >> yes. >> okay. >> reporter: t chilling truth about sam herr. the war hero, from the voice of e man who knows where he is. >> it was bordererne fun.
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beach with new information on this grisly case. >> reporter: dan may not make the nuptials. has a previous, but sudden -- and more pressing -- engagement with police. he's performing the final act. after 14 hours athe police station, he is about to admit that he killed not just one innocent, but two, in a macabre plot worthy of pulp fiction. >> you said you wanted to o lk to me. what's going on? >> i'm crazy and i did it. >> youid what? >> i killed julie and i killed sam. >> okay. all right. >> i killed them both. >> reporter: dan wozniak labels himself a pathological liar, in a downward spiral for two years, who couldn't bear to admit to his beautiful fiancee he had no job, no money, was about to be evicted, and could not afford to marry her. but sam, his neighbor, had saved
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and had an account that looked like "problem solved" fodan. >> $62,000 is unlimited wealth in the world of daniel wozniak. he's the perfect target. >> reporter: his war hero friend, sam, who out of f ndness volunteered to help him with his wedding, was actually the first to die. dan wozniak had the cold heart of a debt collector. >> so in daniel wozniak's world, there was no problem in his mind murdering two people so he can go on a honeymoon. >> reporter: thehecene of the crime? a place dan knows well, the liberty theater. backstage, beyond the lights, up in the dark, dank rafters, he lures sam to an unexpected, violent death. >> i went upstairs a then said we'll need to move something from the attic. >> and? >> and when he bent down, i grabbed the gun and i shot him. >> how many times? >> once and he was still alive. >> where did you shoot him at? >> the back of the head as he was kneeling down. >> uh-huh.
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>> the second time he was down. he was still talking, saying i need help. >> what did he say to you? >> i need help. something hit me. it felt like an electric shock. >> uh-huh. and then what did you do? >> i reloaded and fired again. >> reporter: and it's not over, by far. wozniak tells the interrogators -- >> if you go up the ladder from the theater, his heaeaand hands have been decapitated. >> reporter: lieutenant everett, watching his monitors in the detective room, is about to fall over. >> and i had turned to somebody and said, did i just hear what i think i heard? >> okay. are the body parar there? >> no. >> where are they? >> the nature center in el dorado park. >> what was going on in your mind? >> i was actually smiling and laughingng >> he's laughing and smiling as he cuts off the head of this fine young man who bravely served his country so that he can go on a honeymoooo you know, it's beyond horrific. itit evil. absolutely it's evil. >> reporter: but deste all the terrible things these grizzled detectives have heard, there is something that bothers them m en
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the senseless murder of an innocenthnear-stranger, julie kibuishi. >> julie is basically being killed to cover this thing up. and it jus i mean, it's horrific. >> reporter: and here's what you didn't know until now. after killing him, dan wozniak takes sam's phone and sends julie those urgent texts to lure her to her death. >> julie was wearing, like, a crown tiara. she had just come from her brother's. i said, well, i have a key. let's go in. >> and? >> and then said, oh, by the way, did you see this in sam's bed? and when she was leaned over i put two bullets in the back of her head. >> why did you feel you had to kill julie? what was the rationale behind that? >> seriously, to cover up sam. >> how would that cover up sam? >> to make it look like he was on the run and he did it. >> his plan is to make sam herr look like not only just a killer, but a rapist and a crook. his plan is to destroy his memory and destroy his reputation. >> the search continues here in
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park. >> we had search teams broken up into different quadrants. some went out this way, some went bacs here, some went in this part of the park. >> i transported them inside the backpack. i got plastic bags from mimi's cafe, put them in the backpack. walk in here with a backpa full of body parts? >> he came in with just plastic trash bags and then kind of dug shallow holes and covered them with leaves and the bris that you see around. >> reporter: and what did dan do after killing two people? this is thatatight's wrap party for the cast and crew of "nine." center stage, a smiling wozniak. by the way, sam would have been 27 on the day he was found in the park. clearly, there was no party for the herrs on that terrible day. >> okay. it's his birthday. and i remember waking up and thinking, i'm hoping, i'm
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who can write a scriri on that? >> reporter: sam's body was so unrecognizable it had to be identified by love. a tattoo on his chest, in honor of his parents. and it just said, mom and dad, in there. so it signified that i love you. >> right on his chest? >> right. big, very big, in -- this size. >> reporter: after the the backpack filled with evidence. sam's bloody clothes, his passport and wallet, and the gun that killed him. even with all lhat, he pleaded not guilty. wozniak's trial, which ended just weeks ago, was quick and to the point. for the prosecution, a few witness, a summation, and, of course, dan's confession. >> it was all about the money. that was it. >> reporter: at the five-day trial, the defense had no opening argument. they called no witnesses. and in the closing, did not come close to u ung the word
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not guilty verdict. the jury wasted little time. >> we the jury find the defendant, niel patrick wozniak, guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree. >> this trial was not about whether or not he was guilty. he was guilty. >> reporter: guilty of two counts of first degree murder, but no one is leaving the courtroom. because, next, this same jury must decide the bigger question. does dan wozniak deserve to die for his crimes? and on that question, the jury reveals it has some doubts and you didn't want to be deadlocked. >> no. >> it was just an agonizing decision. >> i'm sitting in my car and i'm
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>> reporter: stay with us. to the couple wondnding what a good deal looks like... no. riously? we'll give it a 6 for composition. scary. wow, what about just putting a fair, no haggle price on the window? not zany enough? sometimes the best deals
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it's not a quick fix. it's my decision to make beauty last. roc retinol started visibly reducing my fine lines and wrinkles in one week. and the longer i use it the better it works. retinol correxion from roc. methods, not miracles. hi i'm kristie. and i'm jess. and we are the bug chicks. we're a nano-business. windows 10 really helps us get the word out about how awesome bugs are. kids learn to be brave and curious and all kids speak the language of bug. "hey cortana, find my katydid video." oh! this is so good. if you're trying to teach a kid about a proboscis. just sketch it on the screen. i don't have a touch screen on my mac, i'jealous of that. you put a big bug in a kids hands and change their world view.
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"20/20" continues, with mystery in apartment 410. >> reporter: it was a lightning-like guilty verdict. five-day trial, two-hour deliberations. and now the jury is called back to decide if the now 31-year-old actor and conman daniel wozniak should live or die. jury foreperson jenny wong. >> this entire proceedings was going to be, what's gog to happen? what's the penalty? >> reporter: prosecutor matt murphy challenges the jury to honor sam herr and julie kibuishi and punisisthe man who not only killed them, but desecrated them. >> danny wozniak treated him like trash. he treated julie like trash. so the question that i ask you to answer, in your verdicts, are they? >> reporter: daniel wozniak's defense is that he is not the worst of the worst, that he is
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deserves to live, to reform. >> he has it in him, and he's going to make a difference. is that a mitigating factor to you that warrants life? i hope so. >> reporter: back in the jury room, the vote for death is split. >> it's very different, when you are the one sitting there almost literally pulling the trigger to decide it. >> reporter: the initial vote, 10-2, death. but when the jury's thoughts turn to the surviving families, the doubt melts away. >> steve herr. the rage, the anger that he had on that stand during the penalty phase, that was just overwhelming. when they showed the photograph of the funeral for sam. >> reporter: his life was real to you. >> absolutely, mrs. kibuishi. you know, when she's talking about her daughter being a dancer and i'm thinking about my daughters. the next thing i remember i'm sitting in my car and i'm sobbing over that testimony. >> reporter: if there is a time for a death penalty. >> this was it. >> it was not onlylyeyond reasonable doubt, it was beyond
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>> reporter: the final vote came quickly, in just over an hour. one of the shortest death penalty deliberations on record. the family says justice was served, 12-0. >> we the jury determine that the penalty to be imposed upon defendant daniel patrick wozniak to be death. >> i just have voted to put a man to death. and this is a really sobering moment and one i'm going to live with the rest of my life. and down in my gut, i said, n i live with this? and i said yes. >> reporter: and afterwards, there is)more relief than joy. >> it was so, so, so, so long overdue. but i can start heheing. it's time. >> we feel like one closure to ouo nightmare chapter. >> reporter: to this day june kibuishi says her daughter's death makes her question the fundamentals of
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her soul now doubting that kindness always triumphs over evil. >> i tell all my kids, be nice person. kind to other people. anif they need help you should help. but that just took my daughter's life. and that just killed me. you know, just -- >> reporter: for sam herr, he escaped death in one of the most dangerous places in the world. to be killed in one of the safest. leaving parents he called his best friends, and who today can find peace in only one spot. you still go to the grave? >> every week. we go there, we bring chairs. i bring the newspaper. and then often i'll take a 10 or 15-minute nap. very peaceful. makes me feel good. the on time we talk is when i say, "bye, see you next week.
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yeah. the father's love. even though the jury has recommended the death penalty, the judge still has to affirm it. that is scheduled for nt friday. and next week on "20/20," breaking point, heroin in america. take a look. >> in seven days, see it yourself.@ the war playing out in suburban america. parents everywhere sounding the alarm. young lives vanishing. prescription pain pills, and then heroin. david muir, the youngest
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breaking point, heroin in america. >> one week from tonight, right here, how you can save a life. >> so important to watch. >> i'm david muir. >> and i'm elizabeth vargas. from all of us, good night, and have a great weekend. >> a safety alert, the srch is on for a man that tried to grab a young girl when she was walking home from school. similar son shocker, police announce testing a knife. unholy act, trying to smash his way into ahurch. >> anchor: a dog found abandoned in the street, smiling tonight, now that he has his forever home. >> anchor: we now know who bout that $300 million winning ticket, at a florida keys.
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>> anchor: happypyriday.

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