- 4 months ago
When an elderly man is found shot to death in his backyard, the investigation leads to a young woman he welcomed into his home.
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00:00We have an unsecured back door.
00:12I told my friend to hear you can go ahead and secure the residence.
00:15Sheriff's office!
00:17Normal decent human beings don't want to lie.
00:19They want to get it off their chest.
00:21I'll go back and hold those doors up.
00:24Sheriff's office!
00:25I don't want to be in jail for something I didn't do.
00:29It's horrible.
00:31Sheriff's office!
00:33You knew Chucky got shot.
00:35I did.
00:41I know you heard it.
00:43I am in jail.
00:59Sheriff's office.
01:00Deputy Cannon and I were responding to a welfare check.
01:05Charles Hogue lived alone.
01:07There was no indication of anybody actually seeing him.
01:10Sheriff's Office!
01:12I started to knock on the door.
01:14Sheriff's Office!
01:17And that's when I noticed an elderly man
01:19laying face down in the backyard.
01:21We stand by, but he appears to be deceived.
01:26543, we have an unsecured back door.
01:29I told the operator to go ahead and secure the residence
01:31to see if there's anybody doing any other possible business.
01:40Sheriff's Office!
01:43Sheriff's Office!
01:46Clear.
01:47There's not appear to be anybody else inside the residence.
01:50It's already started in the rain.
01:51I'm already attempting to come by.
01:53I'm looking for additional material now.
01:56Sheriff's Office!
02:02As I came up to the body,
02:04he had a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.
02:07And both of his arms were folded underneath him,
02:11but coming out to one side,
02:13which meant his body didn't have a chance to catch himself
02:16when he fell.
02:17Like he'd been struck from behind.
02:20We rolled him.
02:22We wanted to rule out the possibility of suicide.
02:25We weren't able to locate any firearm.
02:29But we did locate a shell casing.
02:31And we knew at that time we had a homicide.
02:35We didn't see any signs of forced entry.
02:38The home wasn't ransacked.
02:40But Mr. Hoag's wallet, his keys and cell phone were missing.
02:44In the kitchen was a partially eaten hamburger, french fries.
02:49That certainly suggested that maybe somebody had arrived unexpectedly at the home.
02:54Once we got into his bedroom, we noticed some 9mm pistol ammunition in a drawer.
03:00And it did match the shell casing that we found in the backyard.
03:05In the guest bathroom, I located a Bulldog brand pistol holster.
03:10But we never located any kind of, any kind of pistol.
03:14So that brought up a red flag.
03:16Where was this pistol?
03:17We had no known suspect, no murder weapon, not a clue which direction to go.
03:23We've got ourselves a whodunit case.
03:26Mr. Hoag's vehicle was found behind a vacated building.
03:41And the area that it was in was very grown over.
03:44It was parked up against bushes so that it looked like somebody was trying to block it from public view.
03:50We get a search warrant and collect any kind of evidence that could help lead us to the suspects.
03:56The only thing of note that did come from that search was the driver's seat was all the way in the forward position.
04:03We knew that Charles Hoag was tall.
04:06The last person driving that vehicle was much shorter than Mr. Hoag was.
04:11The truck was now our number one piece of evidence because it was the only thing that linked the suspects to Mr. Hoag's home.
04:27We located a small local church who just so happened to have security cameras.
04:31And we noticed in that midday timeframe, Mr. Hoag's truck traveling at a high rate of speed.
04:37It's possible it was the killer that was driving.
04:39But we were unable to see the driver.
04:42It was very frustrating.
04:44We wanted to get justice for Mr. Hoag.
04:48When I found out that Chucky had been shot and that he wasn't with us anymore, I went into complete shutdown mode.
04:57I was devastated.
04:59Detective Viviano asked if he had any known enemies.
05:02He didn't.
05:03He was, he was friends with everybody.
05:06Charles Chucky Hoag was a salt of the earth type of fellow.
05:09He was raised in Santa Ana, Texas, and he went off and joined the Navy.
05:14He's a Vietnam vet.
05:16He retired after many, many years of truck driving and he married the love of his life, which ended up being my mom.
05:23He loved her inside and out.
05:27After mom passed, he was very lonely.
05:30He loved being around my family.
05:32He loved just being included in everything.
05:34We just started cold calling numbers to try to find anybody who had contact with him in the days leading up to his murder.
05:53And then I called a number.
05:56A female answered the phone.
05:57She identified herself as Tara Wilhite.
06:01She began telling us that in the weeks prior, she was kicked out of her home and was a bit destitute.
06:09And she was walking along a rural highway and Mr. Hoag came upon her in his vehicle and had asked her if she had needed a ride anywhere.
06:18Mr. Hoag told her that he'd be willing to let her stay at his home.
06:24I had to inform her Mr. Hoag was found murdered at his home.
06:28She became audibly upset.
06:31We asked her if we could meet with her in person.
06:33We felt that she may be able to offer information about things that we saw in the home, particularly the firearm that we were searching for.
06:48I know everything's been a little bit crazy, but we appreciate you coming in.
06:58So, starting from the day, you know, that you first met Mr. Hoag, you said it was Sunday, March the 15th?
07:06Yes, March the 15th.
07:07I was headed, I guess, towards town, and he stopped and asked if I needed a ride.
07:14He had given me his name and asked if I had somewhere to go, and I told him no.
07:21And he offered to let me stay at his home.
07:26How long did you stay total?
07:28Through the 21st.
07:29I guess you didn't have a place to stay at the time, just due to other family-related things?
07:34That's right.
07:35Okay.
07:36Tara had roughly stayed with Mr. Hoag in the timeframe of the days leading up to his death.
07:42She had been kicked out of her home, and some of that conflict arose from a relationship breakdown with her fiancé, Chris Brown.
07:50And prior to this, you never knew?
07:51Prior to this, I had not known who he was.
07:54Okay.
07:55And, of course, he was an older man, his wife passed away.
07:58I think he was just kind of lonely.
07:59He enjoyed having your company.
08:01Yeah, I think so.
08:03But, you know, Chucky seemed like the type that he needed somebody to talk to.
08:10Seemed like he was lonely.
08:12Lonely old man.
08:13That's the way she put it.
08:14Just wanted some attention.
08:16We thought maybe a person might be able to take advantage of Mr. Hoag
08:22and exploit his loneliness after his wife died.
08:26Did you see at any time in his vehicle on his personal pistol?
08:30The only time I saw the pistol was in the house.
08:33When was the first time you saw the pistol?
08:36It was in the holster on the dresser right beside the TV.
08:41In his bedroom?
08:42In his bedroom.
08:43I just asked him, could he put it up?
08:45Because I have a lot of buddies commit suicide.
08:48So pistols are not something.
08:52Just not real comfortable with it?
08:54Not comfortable.
08:55Yeah.
08:56I didn't see where he put it and he didn't tell me.
08:58Okay.
08:59And that confirmed that he had a handgun in the house that had been stolen from his residence.
09:04So we were confident that it was used to kill Mr. Hogan.
09:08When we talked on the phone the other day, you mentioned that your fiancé, Chris Brown.
09:13He's not longer my fiancé.
09:15Former.
09:16That he came out.
09:18We picked him up on the team.
09:21And what was the circumstances of y'all picking him up?
09:25We were trying to work things out.
09:31It wasn't something I wanted to do.
09:34Because Christopher is very jealous and controlling.
09:42I had asked Chucky if we could go get Chris.
09:46And Chucky said that was fine.
09:48And we ended up him just spinning the knot.
09:52How was Chris's demeanor and temper?
09:54His temper is very bad.
09:57Did he get upset with you at all for staying with Chucky?
10:00Chris got upset with me over everything.
10:06Yeah.
10:07Did he get out with you or anybody else?
10:10And you don't have to go into detail.
10:11With me, yeah.
10:12Okay.
10:14This is a tough question.
10:15Do you think Chris could have had anything to do with what happened to Chucky?
10:24Chucky was the last person I had.
10:34He was my last parent.
10:35So I felt like I lost a lot when I lost him.
10:39He loved with everything he had.
10:41Anytime you hugged him, it was a lingering hug.
10:44And he wanted you to know that he loved you and that he was always there for you.
10:50No.
10:51No.
10:52No.
10:53No.
10:54No.
10:55No.
10:57No.
10:58Chucky was found on that Saturday on the 28th.
11:13Do you remember anything odd or strange about Chris's behavior on that weekend or anything?
11:21Honestly, I don't know.
11:22I really need to know.
11:23Did Chris say anything specific about Chucky directing any anger towards you staying with Chucky?
11:30He was angry because I was dating with somebody I didn't know.
11:36Have you ever seen Chris with a gun?
11:39No.
11:40I haven't seen him with a gun.
11:43How tall is Chris?
11:45A little bit taller than me.
11:47I want to say like 5'6".
11:49About 5'6".
11:50Right.
11:50Anybody that you can think of, even your gut, telling you, I'm suspicious of this person.
11:58I'm worried this person may have had something to do with this.
12:01His girlfriend called that morning.
12:03And I know that was something we talked about the other day, that Chucky had met this female online.
12:09Yes.
12:09Right?
12:09She supposedly lives in Pennsylvania.
12:11Pennsylvania was coming the week of the 25th and, I mean, it just all seemed fishy to me.
12:20Okay.
12:20And she was a Vietnamese?
12:23Vietnamese.
12:23Her accent was very big.
12:25Okay.
12:26I remember him stating that he had sent her $300 to make sure she had the gas to make it to him.
12:34Did he normally talk to her through Facebook or on the cell phone?
12:38He did have her cell phone number.
12:42But as far as I know, Chucky did most of his socializing with her through Facebook.
12:47Through Facebook.
12:50Back to that Monday.
12:51Do you remember Chucky making any phone calls, receiving any phone calls?
12:55Someone called on the 18th.
12:57If I remember correctly, the guy came out on the 19th and he bought some wheat from Chucky.
13:03Okay.
13:05How did you know that Chucky had sold him his pot?
13:09Because Chucky had mentioned it to me when he was cooking dinner that evening.
13:15And that's when he had mentioned that he sold pot and sold cocaine and meth.
13:21And if I knew anybody that needed anything, to send them to him.
13:27She was making Mr. Hogan out to be some sort of a drug dealer in Romance, Arkansas.
13:33And it just did not fit with what we knew about Mr. Hogan.
13:36And it definitely started to shift our viewpoint on the information that she was giving us.
13:43We didn't know if some of the things she was saying was fully true.
13:47There were quite a few people snooping on his property.
13:52If you were having the guns, we don't care.
13:54He mentioned that he was sorry his girlfriend was coming.
13:57Anything else?
13:59Not that I can think of right offhand.
14:01So I've got feeling his girlfriend, but I wouldn't put anything past Chris.
14:07And that's to be completely and solely honest with you guys.
14:12In Mr. Hogan's autopsy, we weren't able to find any evidence to suggest that Mr. Hogan was trafficking any narcotics.
14:26His drug screen was completely clear.
14:29It started to put some things that Tara had stated in a new light.
14:33We had subpoenaed Mr. Hogan's phone records and social media records as well.
14:39We found no records to indicate he was speaking with anyone on Facebook Messenger in Pennsylvania.
14:45At that point, it's very fathomable that everything she's told us today is not true.
14:51Detective Ellis and I were starting to build our suspicions.
14:54Why would you lie to us or why would you lie to us when all we're trying to do is get your help to solve a murder?
14:59We sit there.
15:24She had told so many different stories.
15:41It seemed like she was trying to point anywhere other than her as far as what could have happened to Mr. Hogan.
15:47We were going to have to start putting the pressure on her.
15:50There's a couple things I want to go through just to make sure we can kind of get on the same page as everything.
15:57I will tell you whatever you want to know. I have nothing to have.
16:00I know I've asked you too about Chucky's drug use.
16:06Would it surprise you to know that in his autopsy on his toxicology, he had absolutely zero trace of any narcotic whatsoever in his system?
16:13Well, that would surprise me because I smoked with Chucky Sunday.
16:18Oh, he had zero. Absolutely nothing.
16:21And now that just makes me look like a fool.
16:35We didn't have the autopsy results from the first autopsy, so I couldn't ask you that question.
16:39She's kind of pulled her hat down over her face a little bit. We're losing that eye contact that we had with her in the first interview.
17:00Now, she doesn't even want to look at us.
17:04You could tell she was kind of starting to feel like they're home to me now.
17:09Let's go on to Chucky's girlfriend.
17:11There's absolutely no record of him talking to anybody in Pennsylvania on his phone records.
17:16Then why did Chucky tell me that?
17:18He absolutely had no FaceTime conversations.
17:20He absolutely had no Messenger conversations.
17:22Well, he was on the phone, and he told me it was his girlfriend, and she was Vietnamese.
17:30My point is, as we come into this conversation, I want you to know that we've done our homework at this point.
17:36I'm aware of that.
17:38Can I tell you my theory?
17:40Can I share that with you?
17:41Okay.
17:42Chucky had some nice things in that house.
17:43So I think somebody who saw all these things, stole his gun, and maybe even had a rough plan to rob him, and in the process of doing that, Chucky gets killed.
18:00I don't know what to tell you.
18:02One of my theories is someone Mr. Hogan knew and trusted to be in his house, come up behind him and shot him in his backyard.
18:08The perpetrators in these cases are oftentimes addicts, and the only thing they're thinking about is how to get the next fix.
18:15So the nice man down the road that's helped us, they actually see somebody that they can victimize to get what they need.
18:21What can you tell me about maybe Chris taking that gun?
18:27I don't know anything.
18:29I know you said there was a time when you came into his bedroom and he had it on the dresser.
18:34I mean, he had another one, that stainless steel or whatever, but that was in the closet.
18:42Terry, I've got a big concern.
18:44Yeah.
18:45The first time we talked, you said that pistol, the original pistol in the holster, was the only pistol you saw.
18:52I did know about it.
18:53You held that information from us for some reason.
18:56No, I swear to God, I did not hold it back for any reason.
19:00My thought is, you know, you knew one of those two pistols killed you.
19:06She mentioned a second handgun, which, why did you leave that out the first time we talked?
19:12Her stories just keep growing.
19:14It became obvious that she had forgotten things she had told us in the first interview.
19:20There's a reason these things change, is because they're not true.
19:24There's something else.
19:26After Chuckie was killed, his truck was stolen.
19:29Okay?
19:30When his truck was recovered, the driver's seat was moved all the way up.
19:36So, whoever drove that truck last was shorter.
19:41Um, y'all been thinking it's me and you don't have to say it.
19:47But I did not kill Chuckie.
19:50But I think you know who did.
19:51Or I think you know more than what you're telling us.
19:53No, I don't know who did.
19:55And Chris is shorter, too.
19:56I'm not pointing fingers at nobody because I don't know.
20:00When it came to Chris, she wouldn't say, no, he didn't do it.
20:04She just blanked.
20:05I think there's also the possibility that if she names Chris, that may require her to explain more of her actions, too.
20:13That pistol holster was not in that bathroom.
20:17You can be here, I'm not kidding.
20:18I'm asking.
20:19Chris can be pushy without being pushy.
20:21Well, I can tell you this one.
20:23Whoever killed Chuckie is somebody Chuckie knew.
20:27Somebody who knew about the guns in his house.
20:29Okay.
20:30Somebody who was short enough to drive his truck based on the seat where it was.
20:34Well.
20:35If you're saying it's not you, then you need to get over there.
20:36I don't know anything, honest to God.
20:40All right.
20:41Well, I think we're going to leave it alone for today.
20:44We were feeling more and more confident that we were on the right track.
20:48But we didn't want to push it too far.
20:50We still wanted to leave that door open for a third interview.
20:55And from there, we went to go find Chris Brown.
20:59This personality came across as more meek, not as strong as Tara's.
21:25And I think we felt like that may be more to our advantage in the interview room.
21:33Have you been to Chuckie's house before?
21:35No.
21:36You haven't?
21:37Not before when Sarah was there and I stayed the night.
21:41Okay.
21:41And did she invite you to come and stay to Mr. Hogue's house?
21:45She talked to Mr. Hogue about it and he said,
21:49That's fine.
21:50I know y'all are looking through relationship problems.
21:53Did you ever, at any point, ever see any handguns or pistols in the house?
21:58No, I'm sorry.
21:59Okay.
22:00How about any holsters, like pistol holsters or anything like that?
22:04Okay.
22:04You can see he's got his arms crossed in front of him.
22:07He's trying to create a barrier between him and us,
22:12like a signal for him to feel more protected.
22:14He was very nervous, very timid, just seemed scared right off the bat.
22:19He was exhibiting every sign of somebody that was guilty.
22:23Well, I mean, you guys coming in here and talking to us is very important.
22:28It helps us just kind of figure out who was having contact with Mr. Hogue.
22:33I'm just going to lay it out on the table and ask you if you had anything to do with Mr. Hogue's.
22:37No, sir.
22:38I do not.
22:39But we know that whoever did this made some mistakes.
22:43I don't know if you know this, but Mr. Hogue's truck was stolen as a part of the homicide.
22:49They managed to get themselves caught on camera.
22:53We really did have video of Mr. Hogue's truck.
22:58The quality of that video didn't render what we're describing here, but that is the bluff.
23:05We had to play this interrogation a little riskier.
23:08There was just a general lack of any trace or physical evidence.
23:12It just didn't exist.
23:14How tall are you, Chris?
23:155'7".
23:16You want to take a wild guess as far as how tall the person was that was driving Mr. Hogue's truck?
23:225'7".
23:23He was between 5'6 and 5'7".
23:25I mean, hell, we even had the FBI come out and process that truck.
23:29So, we can keep going through this, and I can paint a picture.
23:34And I'm a pretty good painter, Chris.
23:36Yes, sir.
23:37I might be willing to consider that you guys were in a tough spot.
23:42You knew that Mr. Hogue had some nice things.
23:46Maybe the plan was just a simple theft, and things got out of hand.
23:51And this whole thing was an accident, okay?
23:56We've got fingerprints.
23:58We've got video.
23:59We've got DNA.
24:01All I need is one drop.
24:03One cell.
24:05One eyelash.
24:07That's all I need.
24:09So, is there anything at this point you'd like to talk to us about before we move forward?
24:21I don't think either of us were that surprised.
24:51Of his statements that Tara put him up to it.
24:55Chris didn't seem to have that personality that he wore the pants in their relationship.
25:02Tara, she's a better liar than Chris was.
25:05He just broke.
25:07How did y'all get to the property?
25:09We walked.
25:10When you walked up to Mr. Hogue's house, what happened then?
25:13We talked to Mr. Hogue, see how he was doing.
25:16Okay.
25:18And then what happened?
25:19I walked back in, used the bathroom, and to grab a few things.
25:28What did you grab?
25:29It was a .45 pistol.
25:31And then I was trying to grab his phone or anything that he needed.
25:41Maybe something you could sell or trade or something like that.
25:44Okay.
25:45What happened after you grabbed those things?
25:47I told her it's time to go.
25:49And we stepped out, and he was out back.
25:55I started taking off, and he said, hey, can you come here?
25:59He went and called the cops on us.
26:04Because he saw what you had in your hand?
26:06Yes.
26:07And it was an accident at the same time.
26:12I was holding a gun, and my finger was on the trigger, and I didn't mean to shoot.
26:21He was shot in the back of the head.
26:23Did he turn to run, or did he just turn his back on you?
26:26He turned his back on me.
26:28How many times did you shoot?
26:29How close were you standing to Chuckie when this happened?
26:41I vowed for me to you.
26:44How did y'all get in the truck?
26:46I had the keys off of him.
26:47Okay.
26:48I got in first.
26:50She got in right after me, and we took off.
26:55It was total elation, relief.
26:57I finally felt like Mr. Hogue was going to get some justice.
27:00We had him confessing to actually pulling the trigger, but we still have no physical evidence
27:05at this point.
27:06The next important part was the murder weapon.
27:11What did y'all do then?
27:13I understand.
27:16Whenever y'all left the Chuckie's truck here behind Midway, what happened from there?
27:22We walked home.
27:23Where was the gun?
27:25On the server.
27:26And hurt her.
27:27And when y'all got to the house, what happened?
27:30I grabbed the car, the car, the car, and the car.
27:33And I took it down to the curb.
27:35Okay.
27:36So what all went in the curb?
27:38With the phone and his wallet.
27:44You hear her.
27:45I do have a question.
27:51Am I getting mobbed up today?
27:54Well, we're going to talk about all that.
28:05I'm going to take a ring, bud.
28:07Okay.
28:07I'm going to just put this in your office.
28:08Yeah.
28:09He did take us out to the creek there behind the residence.
28:16We get to this body of water, and Chris Brown points to the water.
28:21We found Mr. Hogue's wallet and the keys to his vehicle and a 9mm handgun.
28:27It was a Taurus PT-111 9mm pistol that matched Mr. Hogue's Bulldog brand holster.
28:34We were able to determine that handgun belonged to Mr. Hogue, so we knew we had the murder weapon.
28:40On update tonight, out of White County, Christopher Brown, a romance, was arrested today on capital
28:46murder and tampering with physical evidence charges.
28:49Authorities believe he killed Charles Hogue at his home.
28:53At that point, we knew we had to turn our focus on to Tara.
28:57She was running out of leg room to explain herself.
29:10We wanted her to feel comfortable in an area where she was living now, and we were kind
29:18of doing it on her terms, which is not always the case you want, but we wanted to keep her
29:22feeling comfortable.
29:24So, I told you we weren't trying to get caught up on everything, especially since we talked
29:28to you the other day.
29:29And this is Detective Warren.
29:31Detective Chris did agree to come up to the office and talk to us.
29:35I can tell you this much, hopefully this will make you feel safer, and Chris is in custody
29:41for Mr. Hogue's homicide.
29:44I can breathe a little better.
29:47We got to cover some loose ends, and one of those loose ends, Chris named you as an individual
29:52that was there with him at the house when it happened.
29:57And he's claiming some things against you that I'm worried puts you more than just a witness
30:07to this thing, but an active participant.
30:11I understand.
30:12But this is what's very, very important.
30:15We have footage of Chucky's truck leaving his house after the murder.
30:23What's going on?
30:24I was there, but I didn't know what happened.
30:27When you say you were there, what does that mean?
30:30You were there at the house.
30:31Chris had me at the house.
30:46And next thing I know, he's got the gun in my back and making me get in the truck.
30:53I promise I didn't do anything.
31:04We'd take her back to White County.
31:07We knew that that interview would be tough with her because we were going to have to
31:12start putting the pressure on.
31:14Tara, we appreciate your cooperation so far in doing anything today, okay?
31:22We just want to kind of talk to everything again.
31:25You did tell me that you were there.
31:27I was there with Chris.
31:29I was walking over to Chucky's to go and get the keys and pick up the dog.
31:35And Chris came up and startled me.
31:39And he put the gun to my side.
31:42And he said, keep walking.
31:45And we get to Chucky's, and Chucky's outside on the porch.
31:51And he looks at Chris, and he goes, something's wrong.
31:56And Chucky told me, go in the house and lock the doors and call the cops.
32:01And so I ran in the house, and I couldn't get there fast enough.
32:06And Chris came in and said, get in the truck.
32:10And he got in and took off down the road.
32:14And he told me if I opened my mouth, he was going to kill me, that he wasn't scared to shoot me.
32:19And I still didn't know what had happened at this point.
32:24I said, Chris, what did you do?
32:27And he told me he shot Chucky.
32:31And I asked him why, and he didn't have a reason.
32:37But I didn't know that he shot Chucky until we left the driveway.
32:41Wait, where were you actually at when he shot?
32:44I was in the kitchen.
32:45You were in the kitchen, and you would have heard the gunshot.
32:47No, I didn't.
32:48I had my headphones in.
32:50I had my music in my ears the whole time.
32:53You're telling me you didn't hear a gunshot in a trailer with paper-thin walls?
32:58What she was saying just didn't make any sense.
33:01She said she had put her headphones in and turned the music up.
33:04You're not going to do that unless you're trying to drown out a specific noise.
33:08We were pretty convinced at that point that she did hear or see Mr. Hoag's shot.
33:13I knew she was lying.
33:15And she was very good at gaslighting.
33:17Why didn't you just tell me this story on Wednesday?
33:22Because I was still scared for my life.
33:26But I've got some major concerns because your story's changed quite a few times.
33:30Do you want the truth, Josh?
33:32Yeah, I want the truth.
33:33My original plan was to get Chucky to give me a ride.
33:42What Chris had planned, I don't know.
33:45We got there, and Chucky told us to come in.
33:49Me and Chucky were standing in the kitchen talking, and Chris comes out of the bathroom.
33:54He said, Chucky, will you show me the truck?
33:56And you weren't supposed to be doing anything while Chucky was in the backyard?
34:11No.
34:12No.
34:13You don't want to come out of this looking cold-blooded and heartless?
34:17No, because I didn't shoot Chucky.
34:20Okay.
34:20But you went over there to rob him.
34:22No, I went over there to get a ride into town and to borrow some money.
34:29Or take his money?
34:30No, I went to borrow it.
34:33I'm going to be honest with you.
34:34I don't think you're giving a full story steal.
34:36Tara, I think y'all went over there to try to steal some stuff, and it went wrong.
34:40Tara, that's why Chris had Chucky take him to the backyard and show him that stuff.
34:46Because while he was outside distracting Chucky, you were supposed to take Chucky's wallet and steal the other stuff, okay?
34:55I didn't have any clue that that was what was supposed to take place.
35:00But it's okay, that's why you put your headphones in, because you knew what was going to happen, and you didn't want to hear it.
35:08No.
35:09I think you watched him walk out behind Chucky with that gun, and you knew that he was going to shoot you.
35:15I had my headphones in.
35:19Why you had your headphones in, Tara?
35:21No, I had my headphones in the whole time.
35:25That's a lie.
35:25You told us earlier you put your headphones in when he walked out back, and now you're changing your story again.
35:31We can't believe anything you say.
35:32All I know is he told Chucky to come out back, and I stood there in the kitchen with my headphones in.
35:39Okay.
35:40Detective Warren and Detective Viviano weren't quite getting Tara to the point where they needed her, so it was time for something different.
35:50And I was what they would call the bad cop.
35:52Tara needed to realize that she was looking at some serious charges if she didn't finally tell the truth.
35:58And that's where I stepped in.
36:00Okay, so let me introduce myself.
36:02Heather Meadows.
36:03I am his boss.
36:05I am the one that decides if you walk out of here in handcuffs and get charged with capital murder.
36:09Me.
36:10Normal decent human beings don't want to lie.
36:13They want to get it off their chest.
36:14They want to be able to have a clear conscience.
36:18I do, but I don't want to be in trouble for something I didn't do.
36:23But you know what you did do that you don't want to admit because you know what makes you feel like s***?
36:27Is that you knew Chucky got shot.
36:30I did.
36:30Look at me.
36:31I heard you.
36:34I heard it.
36:35I know you heard it.
36:44I heard it and I put my headphones in afterwards and I couldn't think of anything else.
37:09Because I heard the freaking gun every time I turned around.
37:14Every time I went to go to sleep I heard it.
37:18Do you know what that is?
37:19That's the brain's way of dealing with trauma.
37:21Because you knew what happened was wrong and it made you feel like crap that you were there and you couldn't get away.
37:27I didn't even know it was going to happen.
37:31I believe you.
37:32I believe that you went over there for a reason.
37:34Most likely just for money, maybe borrow money.
37:37But when it happened, I was in the kitchen and by the table and I hear a ring and I hear a pop and a ring.
37:50And I knew what had happened after that and I put my headphones in and I ran to the truck.
37:59Take a minute.
37:59She starts bawling.
38:07I mean it finally hit her and it starts coming out.
38:09Her shoulders drop.
38:10You can see the relief on her and it was like everything was just like whoosh.
38:16Sometimes it just takes that next step to push them right off that ledge.
38:21Now I believe you.
38:26But listen to me.
38:28There's two people involved here.
38:30One of them went there knowing what they were going to do and the other one didn't and is either a witness
38:34or just as guilty as a person that went there because they're lying and they knew.
38:39So if you didn't know, now's the time to walk us through beginning to the end.
38:43And we get to Chucky's house and Chucky just gotten out of the car.
38:55And I remember Chris just looking at Chucky with this evil look.
39:03And we go back and we sit in the rocking chairs in Chucky's room.
39:10And I follow him into the kitchen and Chris comes about two or three minutes behind us.
39:20The only thing that was in Chucky's room on that dresser was his pistol.
39:27I knew that something was going to happen.
39:29And I told Chris, I said, no, don't do it.
39:33And Chris goes, Chucky, will you take me out back and show me the truck?
39:39And the next thing I hear is, pow.
39:43And I put my headphones in and turned up my music and went to the truck.
39:48And Chris goes, if you tell anybody, I will kill you just like I did Chucky.
39:54It was important that Tara admit that she saw him get shot or heard him get shot.
40:02That was the final piece of evidence that was going to crack that case and give us what we need for our conviction.
40:07The next day, Chris takes the gun and goes out by the creek.
40:17Chris took everything out there.
40:20Do you know what would have changed all this?
40:22If the second you got a weird inkling, you didn't say, we need to go.
40:28Did you tell Mr. Ho something was wrong and you were worried?
40:31I said, Chucky, don't go back there.
40:35And he didn't say that's weird?
40:36I don't think he hurt me because Chucky wears hearing aids.
40:41I've done this for 20 years.
40:45There are people that come in and eventually tell the truth and say, look, I'm just a good person.
40:49I made a poor choice not to come in right away.
40:53I'm sure you can see how you holding off as long as you did.
40:56And that was being destroyed.
40:58That kind of makes you look like you're an accomplice.
41:01I understand.
41:02She describes how Chris had asked Mr. Hogue to step outside with him, which we believe, you know, is all part of the planning phase.
41:11And I still do believe she knew what was about to happen.
41:14And that gave us the probable cause that we could arrest her as a co-conspirator to the homicide.
41:19I don't think we will ever know the whole truth about what happened, but she gave us enough of the truth.
41:26I truly believe if Chris had not admitted his guilt, she would have never, ever admitted to being at the residence.
41:35We are following breaking news.
41:37A second person has been criminally charged in connection to a homicide out of romance.
41:4232-year-old Tara Willite of North Little Rock was arrested and charged with capital murder.
41:4732-year-old Tara Willite and Chris Brown are fairly unassuming individuals.
42:17I don't think anybody would suspect them of being cold-hearted murderers.
42:22And that's what makes them that much more dangerous.
42:25And I don't think that they should ever be released.
42:34Mr. Hogue was a very kind man.
42:37It's just so sad that this person that he extends this olive branch to and is trying to help then turns around and is a part of his death.
42:45I think that says a lot about what a wonderful man that he was.
42:49What I miss most about Chucky is just him being somebody to check in.
42:54Chucky was my dad.
42:57I just miss being able to talk to him and him being around my kids and my kids having that in their lives.
43:03Let's see you next time.
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