- 2 years ago
Investigates the 1990 murder of Dianne Hood; nobody can understand why someone would murder the well-liked mother
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00:00In 1990, Diane Hood, a 32-year-old Colorado mother of three, is murdered outside a local
00:19community center in what appears to be a robbery that took a deadly turn.
00:25This person pushed Diane and started to grab at her purse.
00:31This individual then drew a gun.
00:38Friends and family are shocked by the senseless killing.
00:41I remember crying by myself.
00:44Why would someone do this?
00:46This is outrageous that someone would gun down my mom.
00:51As police investigate, they uncover two strained marriages, an extramarital affair, and one
00:58man trying to control two women.
01:01He became critical of her, and that really took a toll on their relationship.
01:06This story captivated our readers at People Magazine and rocked the entire state of Colorado.
01:20Colorado Springs is a buzzing metropolis on the northern outskirts of Prison Valley.
01:47Growing up here, I had very happy memories.
01:50I was nine years old.
01:52I remember riding my bike, going on swings, always hanging out with friends, having a
02:01pretty steady, stable childhood with my parents.
02:07I had a mom and a dad who loved me.
02:10I had the world spinning as I think it should be spinning.
02:16My mom was caring and compassionate.
02:21She was a stay-at-home mom, so I got to spend a lot of time with her.
02:27She taught me a lot.
02:29The Hoods were a pretty tight-knit family.
02:32They did a lot together.
02:35They got along very well as a family.
02:38Diane was very bubbly, friendly, welcoming.
02:43She was a good mom.
02:46She was just one of those loyal, true friends.
02:50She was one that you could always count on.
02:53My dad, larger-than-life, big personality, contagious.
03:00When he would speak, people would listen.
03:03He had a way about himself, a way with words.
03:07I felt very close with my dad.
03:11I felt like he could do no wrong.
03:22Diane became a born-again Christian and joined Village 7 Presbyterian Church.
03:30It was a place that she also encouraged Brian to go with her.
03:37We met the Hoods at our church.
03:40They were very vibrant, charismatic.
03:43We were drawn to them.
03:46They were fun to be around.
03:50My parents came about religion in different ways.
03:55I think my mom was more about her actions and what that looked like.
04:02My dad was big on his words and what he was saying.
04:09Brian was very vocal about where his walk was with Jesus.
04:15He was charismatic.
04:18Brian was a very confident man.
04:20And what Brian believed, he verbalized.
04:27Diane was a little quieter about it.
04:30Money wasn't issued to the Hoods at that point.
04:33I think that they had had some debt prior,
04:36and so they were trying to dig their way out of that debt.
04:50In 1936, Diane was married to a man who was a Christian.
04:57In 1989, Diane gave birth to the couple's third child.
05:03It was shortly after that that she started having problems with aching joints.
05:11It was very hard for her to lift him out of the crib,
05:16and they began to wonder what was going on.
05:19At first, they wondered if it was some type of arthritis,
05:23and they started doing all the testing to figure out what it actually was.
05:30Diane found out she had lupus.
05:47It sapped her energy and her strength,
05:50and her strength created joint pain and inflammation.
05:55I just remember we were all in constant thoughts and prayers for her.
06:01It was a difficult road and journey for her.
06:21Her joints and everything were hurting her pretty substantially.
06:26Brian stepped into a more active role in the family.
06:31He would come home, he'd bathe the kids, get the kids in bed,
06:34and I felt like he seemed to take on a lot more responsibilities in the home.
06:41The medicine that she was on, that began to impact her and her body.
06:48She got very bloated, she gained weight, it was hard to lose the weight.
06:53It was a real hit to her system.
07:02I first met Diane Hood at a lupus support group meeting.
07:08She was very quiet, meek and mild.
07:13She was very quiet, meek and mild, had pretty blonde hair, and smiled a lot.
07:22She told us her lupus was debilitating.
07:27She couldn't do the things that she used to do,
07:31like activities with her small children.
07:34And that bothered her more than anything.
07:44Brian and Diane's marriage changed.
07:47I think at first, I think they were just dealing with the diagnosis,
07:51but I think as time went on, Brian got tired of the limitations
07:56that the lupus put on Diane and on their family,
07:59and I think that that was really hard on him.
08:04Brian struggled to accept the fact that Diane,
08:08who was a former cheerleader, was becoming overweight and bloated.
08:13He became critical of her, and that really took a toll on their relationship.
08:33Physical fitness was very important to Brian.
08:36I think he had just a body image to maintain.
08:41He took really good care of his hair, his body.
08:45Brian was a handsome man.
08:51One day after working out, Brian Hood met 28-year-old Jennifer Reale.
08:59They just sort of struck up an immediate connection, if you will,
09:02on a very friendly level, and he was easy to talk to.
09:08Jennifer was married, and she had two kids, but she was very introverted.
09:18She didn't really have any really close girlfriends that she hung out with,
09:24and she struggled with depression.
09:28Jennifer was alone much of the time in Colorado,
09:32as her husband, Max, would be away weeks at a time
09:36because of his place in the military.
09:39And so Jennifer was left by herself with their two children.
09:48As Jennifer and Brian continued to have conversations at the gym,
09:53Brian began to talk about his wife Diane's illness,
09:58how that was impacting their marriage
10:01and her ability to take care of their children.
10:04And Jennifer started disclosing the problems
10:08that she was struggling with in her marriage.
10:12She described her marriage to Max as sort of disconnected,
10:19that he was irritable and easily angered.
10:26And so there was this exchange between Jennifer and Brian.
10:31He would share, she would share.
10:49What Jennifer discovered upon meeting Diane
10:53was that she was attractive and warm and appeared very genuine.
10:59She said that Diane was very understanding about Jennifer's marriage
11:05and the problems they were having.
11:09Faith was also this common ground that they shared.
11:14Ultimately, Jennifer started going to the church
11:17that Brian Hood and his family belonged to.
11:21She loved it there.
11:24She felt at home.
11:26She was happy.
11:36Jennifer said to Max,
11:38I am unhappy in my marriage.
11:40And so Jennifer at one point suggested counseling
11:43and Max was not open to that.
11:45He said, if you want to go, that's fine.
11:47And then he had to go away.
11:50He was in the service and was going overseas.
11:54Jennifer was feeling that her marriage was failing.
11:59She was in this sea of darkness.
12:08Diane found out she had lupus.
12:16Brian got tired of the limitations.
12:25She described her marriage as disconnected.
12:31She was in this sea of darkness.
12:46In September 1990, Max came back from weeks away.
12:54Jennifer said, this is not working.
12:56Maybe we should separate for a while.
12:59She needed some space to try to figure out how do we move forward.
13:05And so Max left.
13:16Brian Hood went to Sun Valley, Idaho for a business trip.
13:21And he invited Diane to come along with him
13:24and try to work through their problems.
13:28When she came home and said that their time in Sun Valley was great,
13:32I was really encouraged because up until that point,
13:35there had just been very small glimpses of anything good going on.
13:40Brian had said it was like old times.
13:43That it was the way it used to be.
13:56There was good news for Diane because her lupus was in remission.
14:01She was in remission.
14:03She was in remission.
14:05There was good news for Diane because her lupus was in remission.
14:11She was actually getting better rather than deteriorating.
14:15But still she would continue to go to her lupus support group meetings.
14:22I remember she just seemed at peace with how the marriage was,
14:25how the kids were doing.
14:27It just seemed like she had just come to a level point in her life.
14:36We all arrived to the lupus support group meeting around 7.
14:44We ended the meeting at regular time.
14:47Diane left with her friend Karen.
14:50They were walking to their car when somebody came running up behind them.
14:56This person pushed Diane and started to grab at her purse.
15:01This individual then drew a gun.
15:09Diane was laying on the ground completely helpless.
15:13This person then walked up to Diane
15:17and stood over her taking deliberate aim.
15:31Karen came running back in screaming that Diane had been shot.
15:39I'm a nurse so I flew down the steps.
15:44I couldn't feel her pulse so I started CPR.
15:49I didn't know whether she could hear me or anything.
15:53Looking in her eyes I said,
15:56This is Sarah. I'm going to do a little chest compression on you
15:59to see if we can get you going here.
16:04When the blood started coming through my fingers,
16:07I realized that she had been shot in the chest.
16:14The paramedics showed up to take her to a hospital,
16:18but I knew she was already gone.
16:27I got a call saying that Diane had been shot.
16:31I just remember it taking my breath away
16:34and not knowing what to even do with that.
16:37But I needed to get to Memorial Hospital.
16:43When I got to the hospital, Brian was in shock,
16:47just unbelief with what was going on.
16:50He had been shot.
16:53I was asleep.
16:55My dad came into my room.
16:59He was crying and said, Your mom's been killed.
17:05My immediate thought was,
17:07No, there's no way that this has happened.
17:13I was in shock.
17:16I was in shock.
17:19There's no way that this has happened.
17:23I realized it was true.
17:26I was 9 years old at the time.
17:28It was completely overwhelming.
17:31I was fraught with pain and fear.
17:34I remember crying by myself.
17:37Why would someone do this?
17:39This is outrageous that someone would gun down my mom.
17:50The blood started coming through my fingers.
17:54I knew she was already gone.
18:00Brian was in shock.
18:03He was almost angry.
18:08Why would someone gun down my own mother?
18:20The victim was already at the hospital
18:22by the time we had arrived on scene.
18:28Officers had interviewed the witnesses
18:30to try to find out what had happened.
18:34One particular witness, Karen,
18:36described this individual that came running up
18:38as a man wearing a fatigued jacket,
18:40camouflaged pants, and a ski mask.
18:44It's at this point where an officer found
18:47a military fatigued jacket laying out on the concrete.
18:51He examined the trash cans in the immediate area,
18:54also recovered a pair of fatigued army pants,
18:57black wool glove liners, and a black ski mask.
19:01All these items matched the description
19:04as being worn by the suspect.
19:06With the fact that he was wearing a ski mask,
19:09it was clear that he was wearing a military jacket.
19:13With the recovery of these items,
19:15it could possibly give us at least a better idea
19:17of the build of the individual.
19:20It looked like this could very well
19:22have been a robbery gone wrong,
19:24but this is a very quiet neighborhood.
19:26It doesn't have a lot of foot traffic,
19:28so it seemed unusual to think
19:30that this was somebody targeting individuals for a robbery.
19:35We did recover Diane's purse.
19:38It ended up being dropped.
19:41That was significant to us because here's a robber
19:44who's going to commit a robbery,
19:46but then he leaves the spoils at the scene.
19:49Why would a robber do that?
19:55When we finally wrapped up the investigation
19:58for the first day after we had done
20:00everything we could at that point,
20:02the best evidence we had was the clothing,
20:05but this is early 90s, and DNA is not what it is today.
20:10At that point in the investigation,
20:11we had no real leads.
20:26I was woken up and remembered
20:29that my mom had been shot and killed.
20:35It was just completely overwhelming.
20:39I was scared.
20:43Brian was very frazzled when we went over to the home
20:46a couple of times to check on him.
20:49He was upset, paced.
20:52Brian didn't sleep the whole time.
20:54I believe the pastor was there as well.
21:04A real first lead came after the autopsy
21:07was performed on Diane Hood.
21:10Based on the bullet recovered from the victim,
21:12our forensic expert was able to determine
21:16that it probably came from a Colt single-action army revolver.
21:23This is not your normal robbery-type weapon.
21:26This is probably a classic firearm.
21:28It's a slow weapon,
21:30so it's not the ideal weapon to use in a crime.
21:34The fact that this may be a unique weapon
21:37does help us in the investigation
21:39because it's not something that everybody has,
21:41so it could help us identify a suspect.
21:59We had a call from an individual
22:02who stated that he had observed an employee of his
22:05hanging out with Brian Hood
22:07in such a way that he thought there may be a relationship there.
22:14Behind me is the parking lot
22:16where one witnessed the flower shop owner,
22:19who used to own this flower shop here,
22:21saw an interaction between Brian Hood and an employee of his.
22:25The interaction was described as kissing.
22:30We find out that this individual is named Jennifer Reale.
22:34And that interaction brought Jennifer Reale into our focus.
22:41We now have possibly an extramarital affair issue going on,
22:47which has been known as a motive for murder in the past.
22:52Jennifer Reale is married to a military person.
22:56Well, we had military clothing on scene.
22:58Is there a correlation here?
23:07We learned in talking with Max that he and Jennifer
23:11were having some marital issues.
23:16Max indicated that the clothing was consistent
23:19with things that he had in his house,
23:21but he cannot positively identify them as being his.
23:26But he does admit that he has some firearms,
23:29and he actually has a Colt single-action army revolver.
23:35Max agreed to turn the weapon over to us.
23:47Our forensic expert performed a test fire of the weapon
23:50so that he could compare the bullet recovered from our victim
23:53to the test fire.
24:05So we take Jennifer into the interview room.
24:11Our first impression is she's just an average housewife,
24:16mother of two, working a part-time job.
24:19She was very nervous. You could see it in her.
24:24She does admit that she'd known Brian Hood.
24:27She described it as a plutonic relationship
24:30where they discussed a lot of Christianity
24:32and their Christian beliefs,
24:34but she did not have any kind of relationship with him
24:37as in a physical relationship or extramarital relationship.
24:46Jennifer was told she's free to go.
24:48We didn't have enough probable cause to arrest her.
24:51Jennifer insisted on waiting for Max,
24:54and as she sat in the waiting room,
24:57the ballistics test came back.
25:01Max's gun was a match.
25:05Now we have something. We have a suspect.
25:08Maybe Max is involved in this murder.
25:11We now have an extramarital affair.
25:19The ballistics test came back.
25:22Max's gun was a match.
25:28We have a suspect.
25:30Maybe Max is involved in this murder.
25:33We have a suspect.
25:35Maybe Max is involved in this murder.
25:45We knew that Max's reality has access to military clothing
25:49and owns a weapon similar to the type used in this case.
26:02What we also learned in talking with Max is
26:05Jennifer had wanted to keep the revolver that Max has.
26:11She wanted the gun at the house for protection
26:13after she asked Max to leave,
26:15so that gun was in her possession
26:17during the time of this shooting.
26:22We meet her in the lobby. We escort her up.
26:25We advise her of her rights.
26:27She waives those rights and grants us an interview.
26:31We start hitting Jennifer with the clothing.
26:33We got forensic evidence in there.
26:35We know that you had the gun,
26:37and she continued to deny it for quite a while.
26:45With all the evidence we keep hitting her with,
26:47Jennifer finally relents.
26:51She confessed that she did, in fact, shoot Diane Hood.
27:00But that she did this at the request of Brian Hood.
27:07This was a whole new revelation for us.
27:19It was front-page news in Colorado.
27:25Jennifer Reale has admitted shooting Diane
27:27outside this community center in Colorado Springs.
27:31I didn't know who this was. I didn't get that.
27:33I didn't understand it.
27:38I was in shock.
27:40I just never believed anybody could kill Diane Hood
27:43after meeting her,
27:45because anybody that knew Diane loved Diane.
27:48She was just that type of person.
27:58He stated that his relationship with Jennifer
28:01is strictly Plutonic.
28:03They talk about Christianity.
28:05They're Christian beliefs.
28:07They worked out a little bit.
28:09He knew that Jennifer and Max were having difficulties,
28:12and he was supporting her in trying to deal with those difficulties.
28:16He said, you know, I'm not going to let you do this.
28:19I'm not going to let you do this.
28:21I'm not going to let you do this.
28:23I'm not going to let you do this.
28:25And he was supporting her in trying to deal with those difficulties.
28:30During the course of the interview, he's not really evasive with us.
28:33We had no physical evidence against him.
28:35There was nothing there. He's just adamant.
28:37He is not involved.
28:39The D.A. reviewed the case
28:41and made a decision to release Brian Hood.
28:55But that just really didn't add up.
28:57That wasn't her.
28:59That didn't fit her persona.
29:01That doesn't mean she didn't do it,
29:03but she just didn't fit the part.
29:09We conducted a further and more in-depth interview with Jennifer.
29:14She said that in all her conversations with Brian Hood,
29:18Brian repeatedly said Diane was very miserable,
29:23that she basically wanted to die,
29:25but that, you know, she couldn't commit suicide because of religion.
29:29So Jennifer would be helping Diane
29:32because she'd be better off going to live with God.
29:37She said Brian told her,
29:39you can repent and be forgiven for an affair
29:43the same way you could be for murder.
29:53I found out that my father was arrested when I was a little kid,
29:57so I was nine, maybe ten years old.
29:59It was confusing. I didn't understand it.
30:03We just headed straight down to the jail
30:05to talk to him to see what was going on
30:08because we were just so shocked that he was in there.
30:11He was basically saying he was innocent.
30:14I was just so shocked that he was in there.
30:17I was just so shocked that he was in there.
30:19He was basically saying he was innocent.
30:22His demeanor was, I'm falsely accused.
30:26And, of course, being his friend, we believed that.
30:34The media storm was traumatic.
30:39Shot down in cold blood.
30:41Brian Hood is accused of masterminding the death of his wife.
30:44All of a sudden, my family's on the front page news in Colorado.
30:50I mean, it was a significant story nationwide.
30:56I remember just bawling, crying by myself.
30:58I mean, it was just completely overwhelming.
31:04The murder trial of a Colorado Springs man
31:06is finally underway in Fort Morgan.
31:10During the course of that trial, Jennifer Riali testified.
31:14Jennifer Riali and Brian Hood again face-to-face.
31:17Only this time, Riali, the key prosecution witness
31:20in the murder case against Hood.
31:23Riali says Hood claimed to be a devout family man,
31:26but it was he who suggested they have an affair.
31:30Came over towards the door and said,
31:33She had a need. It was deep, and it was intense.
31:37According to Jennifer, no man in her life
31:39had ever made her feel that way,
31:41either sexually or intellectually or emotionally.
31:45No man had ever touched a nerve the way that Riali did.
31:51Riali was a man of integrity.
31:53He was a man of integrity.
31:55He was a man of integrity.
31:57He was a man of integrity.
31:59No man had ever touched a nerve the way that Brian Hood did.
32:04I was in love with Brian,
32:06and he expressed how much he was in love with me.
32:08Brian promised her this magical life.
32:11It was this huge fantasy he was building.
32:16He had driven by a house, called her and said,
32:18Hey, this is the perfect house for us.
32:20He told Jennifer that if he were to divorce Diane,
32:25he could never again marry another person
32:27and how that was viewed in the eyes of God,
32:29that that was like the worst possible sin.
32:31But murder is a forgivable sin.
32:36He could justify killing her but not divorcing her.
32:39He had a real funny look in his eye,
32:41and he started talking about the different ways
32:43he had thought about getting rid of Diane,
32:46and they were pretty extensive, and he was excited about it.
32:53Brian groomed Jennifer.
32:56He touched on her need for purpose.
32:58You're the soldier, he called her.
33:01You're the one who God created to carry out this mission.
33:07Brian told her that if it wasn't God's will, it wouldn't happen.
33:11God would intervene.
33:13She said she was, in essence,
33:16brainwashed by Brian Hood into killing Diane.
33:21But the question was, how would the jury see it?
33:27The murder trial of a Colorado Springs man is finally underway.
33:31I was in love with Brian,
33:33and he expressed how much he was in love with me.
33:42It was this huge fantasy he was building.
33:45She said she was brainwashed by Brian Hood into killing Diane.
33:50But the question was, how would the jury see it?
33:54Brian never admitted to being involved in this crime.
33:58He maintained his innocence all the way through the trial.
34:02While my dad was on trial,
34:04we thought this was going to be a short-term thing
34:06because we all thought, hey, my dad's innocent.
34:10Other witnesses came forward,
34:12including one of Brian's friends and a former mistress.
34:17They contradicted Brian's claims
34:20and said that he wanted Diane dead,
34:23and even asked for her to be released.
34:26They said, well, I don't know.
34:28I don't know.
34:29I don't know.
34:30I don't know.
34:31I don't know.
34:32I don't know.
34:33I don't know.
34:34I don't know.
34:35I don't know.
34:36I don't know.
34:37I don't know.
34:38And even asked them to do it.
34:41Brian had talked to these two individuals
34:44about getting a trigger,
34:45in other words, somebody to pull the trigger on a gun.
34:50Jennifer Reale also explained
34:52that Brian had a $100,000 life insurance policy on Diane
34:56and that that could be their little nest egg
34:58to start their life together after she was gone.
35:03Brian told Jennifer that there had to be a robbery,
35:06but he couldn't do it.
35:08And Diane couldn't commit suicide
35:10because they wouldn't get the money
35:12from the insurance policy.
35:14Brian actually called Jennifer
35:16the night of the support meeting to say,
35:18hey, she's going to be at this place.
35:20This would be a good opportunity.
35:22I'll be at home.
35:23I'll be on the telephone with somebody.
35:25I'll have my alibi.
35:26We'll be all set.
35:37The family was all in a state of shock
35:40when he got convicted.
35:43We had the TV on, and we heard that,
35:46and we felt duped.
35:49He deserved a first-degree murder charge
35:52because he is the key to this whole case.
35:55He is the motive.
35:57He is the reason why Diane is killed.
36:00He just didn't pull the trigger.
36:02Not only did I lose my mom and my dad,
36:06I lost my friends.
36:08I lost my home.
36:09I lost my school.
36:10I lost, really, everything I knew.
36:19She looked at me, and I shot, and she fell.
36:23There's supposed to be another shot.
36:25She's got to be dead.
36:27So I walked over to her.
36:29She's got to be dead.
36:31So I walked over to her, and she was lying there,
36:34and I was standing at her feet,
36:36and I shot again.
36:44What I always think about is the second shot.
36:50Walking up on someone who's laying on the ground
36:53writhing in pain from one gunshot
36:55and delivering a second gunshot.
37:00It's not anything but calculated and cruel.
37:03There's so many points along that timeline
37:07she could have stopped,
37:09and that was Jennifer's responsibility
37:11and her responsibility alone.
37:22Jennifer definitely accepted responsibility
37:25for what she did
37:27and spent every single day of her life
37:31trying to dig deep
37:34to figure out,
37:35how was I capable of doing this?
37:41Meanwhile, Brian was learning nothing
37:43from his time in prison.
37:45He was caught in 1995
37:48with contraband marijuana,
37:50and a conviction on that added 15 months to his sentence.
37:55I've heard from other people
37:57that have been in the prison system
37:59that he's been pretty tough and pretty wild in there.
38:14She was out a very short time
38:16before her diagnosis with pancreatic cancer.
38:24Jennifer's guilt completely overwhelmed her.
38:27I really believe that guilt ate away
38:32at her internally
38:35and manifested itself in a disease
38:37that ultimately killed her,
38:39which I also think she thought
38:42was the appropriate payment for what she had done.
38:47What Jennifer Reale took from this world
38:50was a loving mom to those three kids.
38:54She got what's due to her.
38:58When I heard the news that she died,
39:00I felt a little shocked.
39:02Jennifer Reale was a mother.
39:04She had two daughters, I believe.
39:06Those daughters probably went through
39:08a similar feeling and experience
39:11that me and my siblings went through.
39:14I extend forgiveness towards her
39:17for the pain that she has caused me
39:19and my family.
39:28This has been the hardest thing.
39:30I knew Brian would be released eventually from prison,
39:34but he never really wanted to admit
39:37that he had any fault in this.
39:41It's still somewhat unbelievable
39:43why Brian didn't divorce Diane.
39:50I don't understand why my father
39:53made the decisions he made.
39:56His role in the murder of my mother,
39:59that will be something that I don't think
40:01I can ever understand.
40:08Losing both my parents has been devastating.
40:13Especially with my mom.
40:15My wife never got to meet her.
40:19When my kids were born,
40:21not having her there with us,
40:23that's grief, that's sadness.
40:26I miss her dearly.
40:28It's the most significant loss in my life.
40:34Losing my dad has been a different type of loss
40:40because he's still with us.
40:42He's still present.
40:45Forgiveness has been a difficult process for me,
40:48but it's been a rewarding process.
40:56Brian Hood is currently on parole
40:58for his role in Diane's murder.
41:01This has been People Magazine Presents
41:03Crimes of the 90s.
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