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00:00three women had been murdered in just over 60 days time period but it looked like actually it
00:17looked like a female and it looked like she was laying there shaking gunshot wound to the face
00:23shot in the head shot in the head we did have a serial killer serial murderers kill because they
00:29like to kill and it's something they do and it's just innate in them this person that we're looking
00:34for is clean-cut person so they're preying on women that are from a lower rung of society some people
00:42may consider disposable so they focused on the prostitution community and any john they could
00:48stop they were swabbing him for dna we had a good dna profile we just didn't know who he was there
00:54had been big stories about serial killers being found and located with the use of genetic genealogy
00:59investigators here decided no reason we can't we can do it too one of their undercover units
01:06was able to pick up a discarded bear can and a cigarette and the next day we had a conclusive
01:12match 14 years later but i was pretty sure we had our guy this is an individual who plotted
01:18and plotted and he prayed on these three women and you will come back with the verdict for death
01:27thank you
01:28thank you
01:299-1-1 where's your emergency um i was at uh the corner of williamson and mason and there's somebody
01:50laying there in the woods to the south right where you pull in at
01:56i wasn't sure but it looked like actually it looked like a female and it looked like she was
02:03laying there shaking i didn't touch anything i turned around got the hell out of the dodge
02:08over there and起emed him she got she hadahan here when police got there they discovered the
02:21body of awana paten my aunt didn't have any enemies there was no one after her it just it
02:27It just did not make sense at the time.
02:30Awana Patton was recovered in a, or on a walking path in a wooded area.
02:39My name is Andrew Urbannik.
02:40I'm an assistant state attorney in the Homicide Investigations Unit.
02:45She was found nude, gunshot wound to the face.
02:50The forensic evidence was a recovered .40 caliber American Eagle ammunition, and also
02:57the sexual assault kit was conducted on Miss Patton as well.
03:00DNA was recovered from her, from her vaginal swabs.
03:04It was the third such body to be found in three months in deserted areas of Daytona Beach.
03:11There was certainly a sense of fear in this community at that time, because you had one
03:16homicide per month for three months.
03:19The first victim had been found the day after Christmas, Laquetta Gunther, who had a history
03:24of prostitution arrests.
03:27She was known as an energetic, happy person, just engaged in a high-risk lifestyle.
03:35She was found in a small alleyway, an alleyway that was so small that a grown man really couldn't
03:41walk down it.
03:42She had been murdered in a similar fashion, shot in the head.
03:46She was found stripped and alone and dead.
03:51They found in a piece of her clothing the bullet, or a bullet that was used to shoot her.
03:59They did a sexual assault kit where they collect DNA samples from various parts of a victim's
04:04body.
04:05And then in mid-January, the body of Julie Green was found in a construction area.
04:11Julie Green came from a good family as well, but she had come across some tough times.
04:18She was engaging in prostitution and drug use.
04:21She was found nude.
04:23She was found face down.
04:25She had been murdered in a similar fashion, shot in the head.
04:29Obviously, at this point, we had a serial murderer on the loose in Daytona who was targeting people
04:36with prostitution in their background or prostitutes.
04:42My name is Jason Lewis, Chief of Homicide, State Attorney's Office, 7th Judicial Circuit.
04:48So they're all shot in the head area, and all of them just left out there in the open
04:51to be found by somebody.
04:53Florida Department of Investigation released that they are officially calling the Daytona
04:58murders linked and the work of a serial killer.
05:02This person that we're looking for is a clean-cut person.
05:04This person that we're looking for is somebody, this guy probably got a good job.
05:09He was somebody that you'll never suspect.
05:12But to, you know, open up the local newspaper and to see that, you know, Daytona Beach was
05:18actively pursuing a serial killer kind of just hits a little bit too close to home.
05:30My name is Lieutenant David Dinardi with the Daytona Beach Police Department.
05:34Each of the victims was found naked.
05:38They were face down, and the only thing that they were wearing was socks.
05:45With two of the victims, Iwana Patton and Laquetta Gunther, there was a DNA match for the killer.
05:52The person who the DNA belonged to, had never been arrested.
05:56We had a good DNA profile, we just didn't know who he was.
06:01And for two of the victims, Julie Green and Iwana Patton, the bullets had come from the
06:06same gun.
06:07The gun that we knew that we were looking for was a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber, and the
06:12model was VE.
06:15The investigators at the time, they went around to local gun shops in Daytona Beach and started
06:22compiling a list of people who had purchased that weapon.
06:25And a crime analyst provided a profile of the killer.
06:30The key points of the profile was that we were looking for a white male, somewhere between
06:37mid to late 20s to early 40s, was thought to be in a relationship with a female, but then
06:44it also had anger or temper.
06:46Daytona Beach is known for its spring break gatherings, and an annual race week.
06:59But when that's not happening, Igg is still a quiet, sleepy beach town at times.
07:05With a lesser known area of homelessness and prostitution.
07:09Ministers have been walking the streets warning about a person stalking women.
07:14They're preying on women that are from a lower rung of society, but because of their lifestyle
07:22or because of a drug problem, some people may consider disposable.
07:27So they focused on the prostitution community, tried to make arrests and stops in the prostitution
07:32community, particularly the Johns, people, men that were engaging in prostitution.
07:37And any John they could stop, they were swabbing him for DNA.
07:41They sent hundreds of DNA samples over the next couple of years to the Florida Department
07:46of Law Enforcement for comparison.
07:48For a while, it was a rumor that it was a law enforcement officer.
07:52For a while, it was a rumor that it was this doctor who was looked into.
07:57But none of those leads ended up getting to anything solid.
08:00A tire track at one of the murder scenes led to the owner of a nearby junkyard.
08:07They have a serial killer in the family, is in prison.
08:10We got his DNA compared to the, you know, to the known sample that we had, and it was not
08:16a match.
08:17So, you know, he's got definitely some skeletons in his closet, but he was not the person we
08:22were looking for.
08:24Ultimately, the task force was disbanded sometime in probably 2008 without the case, you know,
08:32being solved.
08:34This case was cold.
08:36It was very frustrating.
08:38I thought that they would never find her murderer.
08:41Iwana Patton's niece wondered if the women's suspected backgrounds made the case less urgent.
08:48I did think the word prostitute definitely denigrated and blackened the case for sure.
08:53And Iwana's family knew her to be a nursing home caregiver, not a prostitute.
08:58My aunt was not a sex worker.
09:00She had her own apartment.
09:02She worked several jobs.
09:03She took care of people, and she was a great woman.
09:07She was at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and she linked up with the wrong person.
09:13We just kind of moved on with our lives and the fact of understanding that we wouldn't have
09:17full closure as a family.
09:19But 10 years later, the killer struck again.
09:27Another victim turned up, but not in Daytona Beach.
09:30A victim turned up in the West Palm Beach area.
09:35A woman was found nude, face down, murdered, strangled to death.
09:42DNA went sent to the laboratory.
09:44Detectives were told, we have a match.
09:48Serial murders kill because they like to kill, and it's something they do.
10:05Jeffrey Dahmer confessed to 17 murders.
10:09Ted Bundy confessed to 30, John Wayne Gacy convicted of 33 murders.
10:17And it's just innate in them.
10:19Who knows why someone all of a sudden flips the switch on again.
10:23But ultimately, our serial killer, he did.
10:25The victim in West Palm Beach was Rachel Bay, who had worked as a prostitute.
10:31Her body was found once again naked, she was face down.
10:35She was actually strangled in that case, so it was a little bit different.
10:39But what was the same was the male DNA found on the victims.
10:44And that was like a gold mine to be able to figure that out and start piecing things together.
10:48It breathed life back into our case.
10:52It gave us hope that even after, you know, 10 or 11 years, we'd be able to, you know, make an arrest.
10:59But even though there was a DNA match, the identity of the killer remained a mystery.
11:05It was still unknown, you know, and there was still nobody in the DNA database, even though
11:08it had been expanded, you know, a lot since 2006 to take in every felony arrest.
11:15But nothing had hit at that point.
11:19Police brought in Rachel Bay's boyfriend, Jose Gonzalez.
11:23Okay.
11:24So you want to help because this is a person that you cared about?
11:27Yes.
11:28And who are we talking about?
11:29Uh, Rachel.
11:30Okay.
11:31I call her Ray Ray.
11:32You know her by Ray Ray.
11:33She works the street, right?
11:34Yeah.
11:35Okay.
11:36So each time she left, was she seeing, uh, clients?
11:39Yeah.
11:40Well, she said she was going to meet someone.
11:42Okay.
11:43Um, she said she had a date.
11:45Okay.
11:46Exactly where it says, I'll be back, I'll have a date.
11:48I'll have a date.
11:49Okay.
11:50So do you have any opinion on the race of the person that called?
11:54He was black.
11:55That didn't fit the profile of a white male that detectives had been relying on.
12:00Yeah.
12:01He said it was, uh, she knows the person.
12:03It's for one of her regular clients.
12:05All right.
12:06So, um, let me ask you this.
12:09Were you, you've had relationship with her before.
12:12I'd like to ask if you would, um, consent to giving us, uh, mouth samples for DNA comparison?
12:17Sure.
12:18Okay.
12:19His DNA was not a match.
12:22It was in 2017.
12:24We contracted with a, a private lab called Parabon.
12:29And we sent them, uh, our DNA.
12:33And they couldn't give us a name of who we were looking for.
12:39But they did tell us for the first time that we were looking for a black male.
12:42And detectives now realize the profile had led them down the wrong road for years.
12:48And I think that created a, a belief within the investigators' minds that we're looking for a middle-aged white male.
12:55We're not looking for a younger person.
12:57We're not looking for anybody, uh, from a different ethnicity.
13:01We're focusing on white males.
13:03There had been big stories about serial killers being found and located with the use of genetic genealogy.
13:09The best known was the so-called Golden State serial killer, who had gone undetected for more than 50 years until genetic genealogy tracked him down.
13:20The answer was, and always was going to be, in the DNA.
13:26Investigators here in Daytona and down in Palm Beach County decided, no reason we can't. We can do it too.
13:34So genetic genealogy is only used for, to identify violent criminals or unidentified human remains.
13:43C.C. Moore is one of the pioneers in the new world of genetic genealogy.
13:48This case, it was the first time I worked on a serial case or a known serial offender case.
13:54It's a very powerful tool, but it relies on public participation and support.
14:01What's involved is essentially building a family tree, using DNA submitted to various commercial ancestry sites.
14:09It took more than a year till they found a possible family connection.
14:13Law enforcement goes out and asks family members of that top match if they are willing to provide their DNA to help solve this case.
14:22And one of those people who agreed to help turned out to be the half-sibling of the suspect.
14:30So then it was in Detective Dinardi's lap.
14:35We found out that she had three, three half-brothers, all of them living in Florida.
14:41Palm Beach County took the lead. They recovered DNA from the first two, um, half-brothers first. Both of those were ruled out.
14:51They then focused on the third half-brother, following him to a bus stop in West Palm Beach.
14:57One of their undercover units, uh, was able to pick up a discarded bear can and a cigarette that he had been drinking and smoking while waiting for the bus.
15:06Uh, they were able to collect those items, sent them to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
15:12And the next day, we had a conclusive match.
15:1514 years later, but I was pretty sure we had our guy.
15:21His name was Robert Hayes.
15:28Mr. Hayes?
15:29Yes, sir?
15:30James Evans.
15:31You know what, sir? Why am I here, sir? I don't...
15:33They brought him to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
15:35I remember seeing him that day, you know, in the interview room.
15:38Just by your body language and by the thing that you've said to me thus far,
15:42I'm sure you're concerned about what's going on and you may have a lot of questions about why you're here and what's going on.
15:48Am I correct thus far?
15:49That's right.
15:50But detectives knew the DNA match would only go so far.
15:53He may have been a customer of the prostitutes, but it did not necessarily prove he killed them.
16:00They needed a confession.
16:12Okay, we're just going to come out and let you know exactly what's going on and why you're here. Do you understand?
16:22Yes, sir.
16:23Detectives from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office had the first crack at Robert Hayes.
16:29Let me ask you a question, Mr. Hayes.
16:31Yes, sir.
16:32This female here, okay, her name is Rachel Bay.
16:38Are you familiar with this female?
16:39No, sir.
16:40Rachel Bay, have you ever seen her, met her before in your life?
16:43No, sir.
16:44You've never had any communication, encounter, or any type of interaction with her in your life?
16:50Not to my knowledge, not to my knowledge.
16:52When you say not to your knowledge, you know that's a somewhat ambiguous statement.
16:56What exactly do you mean when you say not to my knowledge?
16:58I don't know her, sir.
17:00You don't know her?
17:01No, sir.
17:02So, you don't know her, so I'm assuming you saying you don't know her, that means you've never had any type of romantic relationship with her at all?
17:10No, sir, I don't know her, sir.
17:11Have you ever had sex with her?
17:14I don't know her, so I can't tell you if I had sex with her. I don't know her. I don't know who this woman is.
17:19Rachel Bay was killed on March 7th of 2016.
17:25She was killed on March 7th of 2016.
17:27How about a hookup?
17:28You said you've been with your fiancee for a few years?
17:32Yes, sir.
17:33Do you ever stray a little bit and maybe, you know, look to see if you can get some variety in your romantic life?
17:39It's happened in the past.
17:40It has?
17:41Yes.
17:42How many partners, how many encounters would you say you've had with females that you've met via Backpage or some other social media site?
17:50Probably at least 50.
17:52At least 50?
17:53Yes, sir.
17:54And what about when you were in Daytona?
17:55No, sir.
17:57I don't remember a lot of them, sir. I'll be honest with you.
18:00Okay.
18:01When you say you don't remember a lot of them, what does that mean?
18:04That means I went in, I did what I did and I left.
18:08Would you typically use condoms with them?
18:10Yes.
18:11Did you have a preference for black women or white women or you didn't care or what?
18:16Well, whatever caught my eye at the time.
18:18Any kind of violence or anything or a girl said you didn't pay me enough money or anything else like that?
18:24You said to be honest, I'll be honest.
18:25Yes, sir.
18:26Yes.
18:27Normally when I was calling Backpage I was either extremely drunk or on something.
18:33Detectives discover that Hayes attended college in Daytona Beach at the time of the three murders there.
18:40He participated in cheerleading at the university and ended up graduating through Cookman with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.
18:47And he was actually questioned at the time as one of the people who bought a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber pistol at Buck's gun rack.
18:55They asked him, you know, do you have the gun?
18:58Mr. Hayes told them, no, I do not have the gun.
19:01I gifted it to my mother this year.
19:05And that kind of ended the investigation of Mr. Hayes.
19:10Hayes did not fit the profile of a middle-aged white male.
19:14And I think Mr. Hayes got lost in the volume of the case.
19:20In the ten years between the crimes, Hayes had led a quiet life and was the father of two children.
19:27Have you looked at this picture real good, Mr. Hayes?
19:32Sir, I don't know this woman.
19:33You don't know this woman?
19:34No, sir.
19:35She advertised via Backpage, you know.
19:38And to be quite frank with you, sir, we have irrefutable scientific evidence that establishes that you know her.
19:47Not only did you know her, you had sex with her, Mr. Hayes.
19:53I said, sir, I don't know this woman, sir.
19:55All right.
19:56We have your profile, Robert Tyrone Hayes.
20:00You said you've never met Rachel Baker?
20:02You said you've never had an encounter with Rachel Baker?
20:05I don't know this woman, sir.
20:06We have your DNA, semen, inside of her vagina.
20:10That's impossible.
20:13I don't know this woman.
20:15I saw someone who was scared and someone who, you know, had got away with something for so long.
20:21And it was slowly dawning on him that he didn't get away with it.
20:26I don't have anything to do with this.
20:28All right.
20:29You don't?
20:30No, sir.
20:31I don't have anything to do with this.
20:32Whatsoever?
20:33No, sir.
20:34I don't hurt people, man.
20:35I go to work and I come home.
20:37You said something just now that captivated me.
20:40Remember you said I didn't do nothing to anybody?
20:43You just said that, right?
20:45You did.
20:46Why did you say that?
20:48I would not say that.
20:50No, I'm asking you.
20:51What led you to say I didn't do nothing to anybody?
20:54Because that's an unequivocal statement.
20:56I don't even know why I'm here and you're bringing me about this woman.
21:00I didn't.
21:01He ended the interview as the detective kept pressing on Rachel Bay.
21:07I'd like to speak to the lawyer, man.
21:08This is some good .
21:09I don't want to talk to y'all no more.
21:10I don't know what it is y'all trying to pull on me, man.
21:11But I don't.
21:12I want to go home to my family, bro.
21:13I don't.
21:14I need to talk to somebody, man.
21:15I don't want to do this no more.
21:16I need to talk to somebody.
21:17Okay, and I'll be right with you, okay?
21:18You need anything, Mr. Hayes?
21:19You knock on the door.
21:20I just want to go home with my family, bro.
21:21I don't.
21:22Well, you're not going home to your family, sir.
21:23You're under arrest.
21:24You're not going home to your family.
21:25You're under arrest.
21:26You're not going home to your family.
21:27You're under arrest.
21:28And I think you've pretty much figured that out.
21:31And then detectives let Hayes talk to his fiancee to see what he would say to her.
21:39I don't know what's going on.
21:40You're not going home to your family.
21:41You're under arrest.
21:42And I think you've pretty much figured that out.
21:46And then detectives let Hayes talk to his fiancee to see what he would say to her.
21:52I don't know what's going on.
21:55You know what I mean?
21:56Mr. Hayes, you ain't f***ing coming back.
21:59That's what's going on, brother.
22:01We didn't have f***ing coming back.
22:04Today is the last f***ing thing these people say I ever see you.
22:07That's bulls***ing, bro.
22:09That's bulls***ing.
22:10I didn't do none of this, bro.
22:13I didn't do none of this.
22:15What the f*** saying you did?
22:17I don't know.
22:18I didn't do none of this, man.
22:20Oh, my God.
22:21I don't even understand what they are.
22:23You probably don't understand.
22:25You don't understand.
22:28This s*** can't put you away from your life.
22:31I didn't do this, Shawnee.
22:32I didn't do this.
22:33Okay?
22:34I did not do this.
22:36They said you did, Robert.
22:37You not coming back.
22:39F***ing says murder.
22:41What the f***ing did you do?
22:43I didn't do nothing.
22:45I'm trying to tell you that I didn't do nothing.
22:47They said you are not the bandit.
22:49I'm thinking you are, man.
22:50So you gotta f***ing explain.
22:51I didn't do none of this, Shawnee.
22:53Robert, you better be telling me to f***ing.
22:56Robert.
22:57Shawnee, I'm telling you I didn't do nothing this, man.
22:59Dude, are you?
23:00Are you?
23:01What the f*** you doing your past?
23:03Today we called this press conference because we'd like to announce that we have obtained
23:10three indictments in the case that's been commonly referred to as the Daytona serial killer case involving Robert Hayes as the defendant.
23:19I can tell you that we will be seeking the death penalty.
23:23It's something inside of him pulling him to commit that crime again and maybe he can fight off the urge for ten years but not forever.
23:30We expect opening statements in the Daytona Beach serial killer trial of Robert Hayes.
23:50Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in this case.
23:53If you had just seen him in court, you would be like, oh, this guy's not a murderer.
23:57He's just a regular Joe Schmo.
23:59But murderers and especially serial killers, they're able to hide who they really are and make it through all this time without being caught.
24:06Friends and family of the victim were in the courtroom throughout.
24:10It was hard, but it was justice.
24:13And I made sure that I made eye contact to let him know we know you did it and we're not happy about it.
24:19Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, the jury.
24:23And this evidence will show, will prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that back in 2005, 2006, the defendant in this case, Robert Hayes,
24:33killed not one, not two, but three women here in Calusia County, specifically in the city of Daytona Beach.
24:42Whether it was about sexual proclivity or whether it was about dominance for being sexual or just about killing them, he started to enjoy it.
24:50Nothing significant happens for nine years.
24:57And then in 2016, there's a fourth murder, a fourth victim.
25:03Hayes wasn't on trial here for the murder of the fourth victim, Rachel Bay, because that happened in another jurisdiction, West Palm Beach.
25:11But prosecutors were able to use the facts of her case.
25:15We could use it to prove identity, motive, common scheme or plan, intent.
25:22And the big thing was an absence of accident or mistake.
25:25The similarities between Palm Beach County and our three victims was overwhelming.
25:33Law enforcement sees this pattern.
25:35They see these striking similarities.
25:37They see that not only are the crime scenes similar, how the victims are likely similar, how they die is similar, their lifestyle is similar, but also all the crimes are connected.
25:50The defense challenged the importance of the DNA by bringing up the women's backgrounds.
26:16attack the fact that they were prostitutes.
26:19Just because he had sex with them, with prostitutes, doesn't mean he was the one who killed them.
26:25Your attention is going to be very important to the details.
26:31It sounds like when you talk about DNA being located at the difference in time scenes.
26:39How did it get there?
26:40How did it get there?
26:41When did it get there?
26:45And how does it correlate with the actual charge that Mr. Hayes caused the death of Miss Cump?
26:54It caused the death of Miss Cump?
26:56It caused the death of Miss Cump?
26:58It caused the death of Miss Cump?
27:01The prosecution began with the nuts and bolts of the forensic evidence,
27:06that Robert Hayes bought a Smith & Wesson pistol of the kind used to kill the women.
27:11And did he actually pick up the firearm?
27:13He put it on layaway on 17 November 2005,
27:19and retrieved the firearm, paid the balance due on December 2nd 2005.
27:28And that the DNA collected from Robert Hayes at the bus stop, the beer and the cigarette butt,
27:34matched that from three of the crime seats.
27:37The observed foreign DNA profile is greater than 700 billion times more likely to occur
27:44if the sample originated from Robert Tyrone Hayes than from an unrelated individual.
27:51Would you call the next witness for the record?
27:59Florence Hayes.
28:01And then prosecutors called Hayes' mother to testify by Zoom.
28:05About his claim to police, he had given the murder weapon to her before the killings.
28:11And ma'am, at any time when Mr. Hayes was in college, did he ever give you a firearm as a gift?
28:19No.
28:20Did he ever in his entire life give you a firearm as a gift?
28:23No.
28:24Of course, no parent wants to testify against their child,
28:28but she was a stand-up individual who just came up there, told the truth.
28:32Just one more question, Hayes.
28:35Um, you understand that this is your son's trial, right?
28:38Yes.
28:39Thank you, ma'am. I have no further questions.
28:41His own mother was calling him a liar.
28:56My name is Jose Gonzalez.
29:00Did you know Rachel Bay, sir?
29:03Yes, I did.
29:05Did you know Ms. Bay at all to, uh, participate in, um, uh, prostitution?
29:12Yes, she was.
29:14When we say sex workers or prostitute, maybe their life just may not be that important,
29:21or maybe that, you know, they, they deserved it.
29:25But for prosecutors, it helped to explain the biggest problem with their case.
29:30The only weakness that we had a concern about was in Julie Green's case.
29:34Um, is there was DNA found of somebody who was not Mr. Hayes in, in her, uh, vaginal area.
29:42So obviously that's a concern because that could point to another suspect.
29:46A point Hayes' defense lawyer made repeatedly as he cross-examined the state's experts.
29:52The bottom line question is you, maybe you're just giving the answer.
29:56You did find a male contributor.
30:00However, that male contributor, uh, Mr. Hayes was excluded as that male contributor.
30:06Is that correct?
30:07That's correct. Mr. Hayes was excluded to the mixture.
30:10Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much. I have no other questions.
30:13And we knew the best counterargument we had was, well, she's a prostitute.
30:17It means she had sex with somebody else.
30:19And to, to steer the jury back towards the ballistic evidence.
30:23So we could say even though his DNA wasn't there, the same gun that killed Julie Green killed Awana Patten.
30:37Could you please state your entire name and spell your last name for the court reporter?
30:41Uh, yes, good morning to the jury. My name is James Keithan Evans. Spelling of my last name is E-V-A-N-S.
30:51And Mr. Evans, where are you employed, sir?
30:53I'm employed with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
30:56And did you end up participating in an interview of Mr. Hayes on September 15th of 2019?
31:01Yes.
31:03The prosecution played the entire interrogation of Hayes conducted by Detective Evans about Rachel Bay.
31:09This female here, okay? Her name is Rachel Bay.
31:16Are you familiar with this female?
31:17No, sir.
31:19Have you ever had sex with her?
31:21I don't know her.
31:22Okay.
31:24I don't know her, so I can't tell you if I had sex with her. I don't know her.
31:27I don't know who this woman is.
31:29That can be a fantastic piece of evidence.
31:31He's lying. He is lying to law enforcement.
31:34And the reason he's lying is because he's guilty.
31:38Because he did it.
31:45Mr. Hayes, it sounds to me like the case is coming to a conclusion.
31:49And this is the time that you will have the opportunity to, you have to make a decision whether or not you'd like to testify or you don't want to testify.
31:57You know, if I was a betting man, I thought he was going to testify.
32:02Did you have an opportunity to talk with your lawyers about whether or not you'd like to testify or not testify?
32:08Um, I haven't discussed the other day. We decided that I will not testify.
32:15Okay.
32:16Oh, you say we?
32:17I have to.
32:19Alright, very well. So is it your intent now, Mr. Hsieh, to rest?
32:23It is, Your Honor.
32:24It is, Your Honor.
32:31Acquainted Gunther on December 26th, Julie Green on January 14th, and then I won a patent on February 20th.
32:37Three months, three, three dead women.
32:42These women were easy targets for Mr. Hayes.
32:46They were all in close proximity to where Mr. Hayes lived.
32:50Can't hide your genetic fingerprint, ladies and gentlemen.
32:53And then in March of 2016, he left his genetic fingerprint again.
32:58He left it on Rachel Bay.
33:01And he denies knowing.
33:04Over and over, he denies knowing with Ms. Bay.
33:07So I ask you to consider that as well.
33:08And again, it's the lie, but why is he lying?
33:12Why is he lying to the police?
33:14And again, common sense says one reason and one reason alone.
33:17Because he knows exactly why his DNA is there.
33:21He knows exactly why he's not giving out his phone number, the right number.
33:28He's a criminal justice major.
33:30He understands how the criminal justice system works.
33:32Ladies and gentlemen, the evidence in this case is clear.
33:36It's supported by science.
33:38It's supported by fact.
33:40And because the evidence is supported by fact and it's supported by science, I would ask that you return the verdict that that evidence supports.
33:47And that's finding Mr. Hayes guilty as charged in the indictment of murdering Julie Green in January, one patented February, and Ms. Gunther in December.
34:02As we all understand, this is a case of three separate and distinct homicides that occurred back in 2005 and 2006.
34:16Hayes' lawyer reminded the jury that Hayes' DNA was not found on Julie Green.
34:21I submit to you that the state has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that it was Mr. Hayes who created or caused an act that killed or took the life of Ms. Green.
34:36And he argued the fact that Hayes' DNA was found on the other victims does not prove he killed them.
34:43We have no definitive time as to when the sexual encounter took place.
34:49So we have virtually no connection between the actual homicide and the DNA.
35:04To reach these conclusions, you would have to speculate.
35:08And speculation is not part of the burden that the state has.
35:15They have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all of those facts.
35:21So I'm telling you that the facts in this case speak for themselves.
35:28I'm asking you to reach the conclusion that the state has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt counts one, count two, and count three.
35:40We knew when we walked out of the courtroom after closing, if the jury has an issue, it's going to be Julie Green.
35:49If they take their time or anything comes back not as charged, it's going to have to do with the Julie Green crime.
35:55The case of accused serial killer Robert Hayes is now in the hands of the jury.
36:11If convicted in this case, Hayes faces the death penalty.
36:13I have been informed that there is a verdict.
36:17They were out for like nine hours, which was a complete shock.
36:21Madam Clerk, will you publish the verdict? The defendant please rise, face the jury, and hearken to the verdict.
36:26Verdict, count one. We, the jury, find the defendant, Robert Tyrone Hayes, as follows. Count one, first-degree premeditated murder of Rita Gunther.
36:34She was the first victim. Guilty of first-degree murder. Count two, first-degree premeditated murder of Julie Green.
36:46She was the only victim where Hayes' DNA was not found. Guilty of first-degree premeditated murder.
36:56Perfect, count three. First-degree premeditated murder of Iwana Patton.
37:01She had just finished a double shift as a nursing home caregiver.
37:11Guilty of first-degree premeditated murder.
37:14Emotionless. No, no response that I saw from watching him in the courtroom.
37:21I think he knew he did it, and had already accepted the fact that it was probably not going to go his way.
37:28This is the phase where you were asked to consider whether or not the death penalty is an appropriate sentence for Mr. Hayes.
37:38This was one of those cases that was the worst of the worst and warranted seeking the death penalty.
37:46You're going to hear evidence that Robert was abused as a child sexually.
37:54You're going to hear that Robert Hayes is not all bad.
37:59And it also entails presenting family members.
38:02Starting with the daughter of Lakata Gunther.
38:05My mother was only 45 when she was taken from us.
38:08The what-ifs and what could have been either keep me up at night or haunt my dreams.
38:15My mom mattered.
38:18Julie Green's sister was next.
38:21Yes, Julie did have a high-risk lifestyle.
38:25But no matter what lifestyle she lived, she did not deserve to be heard.
38:34Iwana Patton's niece spoke for their family.
38:37It was hard, but it was justice.
38:41This is who my aunt was, and this is what she did to our family.
38:44My aunt was the most selfless, loyal, caring, and compassionate woman you could ever meet.
38:51She treated everyone like family.
38:53She was taken from us far too soon.
38:56It was some portion of closure for me to see that through for her, because she was not able to when he took her life on that night.
39:07For the defense, Robert Hayes' sister took the stand.
39:11So, you and Robert and the family were raised in some rough neighborhoods, weren't you?
39:16Um, yes, but it's been, um, decades of sexual abuse in our family.
39:30There was a lot of, um, alcoholism in my family.
39:36There's a lot of violence and, um, aggression in our family.
39:41Hayes became upset after his lawyer showed photos of his two children.
39:47Well, Mr. Hayes, if you wish to be excused from the proceedings, I'll allow you to do that.
39:51Um, but I, I noticed that you became very upset, and I don't want to, I don't have any sort of violent reactions in the courtroom.
39:58No, so, no, for me, they're not going to be violent reactions.
40:03It's, uh, very upsetting.
40:04I've been very clear that I'm not willing to my children.
40:08Okay.
40:09Um, if you were showing any of this, there would be any violence, nothing like that.
40:15I'm just very upset at that.
40:17Well, I saw you clenching fists, and that caused me some concern.
40:20I apologize.
40:21Okay, all right.
40:23The defense closed its case with Dr. Joseph Wu, a psychiatrist who has testified for defense.
40:27in scores of death penalty cases.
40:30He claimed Hayes had undetected autism.
40:34This particular pattern of homicides is, uh, very characteristic of autistic spectrum homicides.
40:42Any cross-examination?
40:44So, um, when you spoke to Mr. Hayes and asked him about the murders, what did he tell you?
40:50Uh, I didn't speak to Mr. Hayes.
40:51Wait, you didn't speak to Mr. Hayes?
40:53No.
40:54So, you came up with all these opinions without ever talking to Mr. Hayes?
40:58That's correct.
40:59This is an individual who plotted, and plotted, and he preyed on these three women, and then killed them, ladies and gentlemen.
41:12And I ask you, when you go back there, ladies and gentlemen, it is going to be a tough decision.
41:18It's going to require courage.
41:20There will be no question in your mind, and you will come back with a verdict for death.
41:30Folks, life in prison, without parole, is forever.
41:38His freedom will be taken from him.
41:40Every minute of every day will be controlled and decided by others.
41:44It's a tough life.
41:45Look, all life is important.
41:47All life is valuable, including the three lives that were taken in these homicides.
41:55Mr. Hayes is not all bad.
41:56There's a good side to him.
41:57A good side that, I hope I persuaded you, makes him one that should go to prison for life without parole ever, rather than be executed.
42:09All 12 jurors had to vote for death.
42:12It was a yes or no question.
42:15The jury came back 11 to 1, that there was one holdout. He got life in prison.
42:28Hayes still faces trial for the murder of Rachel Bay in Palm Beach County, where they are also seeking the death penalty.
42:35I believe an eye for an eye. I'll say that. I'll say that.
42:41He's a psychopath. They don't have emotions. They don't have sympathy.
42:44There's no remorse. There's no remorse there.
42:47And I am grateful and thankful that he will never kill again.
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