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00:00three women had been murdered in just over 60 days time period but it looked like actually
00:12it looked like a female and it looked like she was laying there shaking gunshot wound to the face
00:18shot in the head shot in the head we did have a serial killer serial murders kill because they
00:24like to kill and it's something they do and it's just innate in them this person that we're looking
00:29for his clean-cut person so they're preying on women that are from a lower rung of society some
00:37people may consider disposable so they focused on the prostitution community and any john they could
00:43stop they were swabbing him for dna we had a good dna profile we just didn't know who he was there
00:49had been big stories about serial killers being found and located with the use of genetic genealogy
00:54investigators here decided no reason we can't we can do it too one of their undercover units was able
01:02to pick up a discarded bear can and a cigarette and the next day we had a conclusive match 14 years
01:09later but i was pretty sure we had our guy this is an individual who plotted and plotted and he prayed
01:17on these three women and you will come back with the verdict for death thank you
01:259-1-1 where's your emergency um i was at uh the corner of williamson and mason and there's somebody
01:45laying there in the woods to the south right where you pull in at
01:51i wasn't sure but it looked like actually it looked like a female and it looked like she was
01:58laying there i didn't touch anything i turned around got the hell out of the dodge
02:03okay okay okay sure thanks let us know we'll get some out there to check it out
02:08when police got there they discovered the body of awana patten
02:17my aunt didn't have any enemies there was no one after her
02:21it just it just did not make sense at the time
02:24awana patten was recovered in a or on a walking path in a wooded area
02:30my name is andrew urbanic i'm an assistant state attorney in the homicide investigations unit
02:39she was found nude gunshot wound to the face
02:43the forensic evidence was a recovered 40 caliber american eagle ammunition
02:50uh and also the sexual assault kit was conducted on miss patten as well
02:54dna was recovered from her from her vaginal swabs
02:59it was the third such body to be found in three months in deserted areas of daytona beach
03:05there was certainly a sense of fear in this community at that time because you had
03:11one homicide per month for three months
03:14the first victim had been found the day after christmas
03:17laquetta gunther who had a history of prostitution arrests
03:21she was known as as an energetic happy person
03:25uh just engaged in a high-risk lifestyle
03:30she was found in a small alleyway an alleyway that was so small that a grown man really couldn't walk down it
03:37she had been murdered in a similar fashion shot in the head she is found uh stripped and alone and dead
03:45they found in a piece of clothing the bullet or a bullet that was used to shoot her
03:52they did a sexual assault kit where they collect dna samples from various parts of a victim's body
03:58and then in mid-january the body of julie green was found in a construction area
04:06julie green came from a good family as well but she had uh come across some tough times
04:12um she was engaging in prostitution and drug use
04:16she was found nude she was found face down she had been murdered in a similar fashion shot in the head
04:24area who was targeting people with prostitution in their background or prostitutes
04:35my name is jason lewis chief of homicide state attorney's office 7 judicial circuit
04:41so they're all shot in the head area and all of them just left out there in the open to be found by somebody
04:45All of them just left out there in the open to be found by somebody.
04:49Florida Department of Investigation released that they are officially calling the Daytona murders linked and the work of a serial killer.
04:56This person that we're looking for is a clean-cut person.
04:59This person that we're looking for is somebody that's probably got a good job.
05:04He was somebody that you'll never suspect.
05:06But to, you know, open up the local newspaper and to see that, you know, Daytona Beach was actively pursuing a serial killer kind of just hits a little bit too close to home.
05:24My name is Lieutenant David Denardi with the Daytona Beach Police Department.
05:29Each of the victims was found naked.
05:31They were face down, and the only thing that they were wearing was socks.
05:40With two of the victims, Iwana Patton and Laquetta Gunther, there was a DNA match for the killer.
05:47The person who the DNA belonged to had never been arrested.
05:51We had a good DNA profile.
05:54We just didn't know who he was.
05:55And for two of the victims, Julie Green and Iwana Patton, the bullets had come from the same gun.
06:01The gun that we knew that we were looking for was a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber, and the model was VE.
06:10The investigators at the time, they went around to local gun shops in Daytona Beach and started compiling a list of people who had purchased that weapon.
06:21And a crime analyst provided a profile of the killer.
06:25The key points of the profile was that we were looking for a white male, somewhere between mid to late 20s to early 40s, was thought to be in a relationship with a female, but then also had anger or a temper.
06:44Daytona Beach is known for its spring break gatherings.
06:49And an annual race week.
06:51But when that's not happening, Ick is still a quiet, sleepy beach town at times.
07:00With a lesser known area of homelessness and prostitution.
07:05Ministers have been walking the streets warning about a person stalking women.
07:09They're preying on women that are from a lower rung of society, but because of their lifestyle or because of a drug problem, some people may consider disposable.
07:21So they focused on the prostitution community, tried to make arrests and stops in the prostitution community, particularly the johns, people, men that were engaging in prostitution.
07:31They sent hundreds of DNA samples over the next couple of years to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for comparison for a while, it was a rumor that it was a law enforcement officer for a while, it was a rumor that it was this doctor who was looked into.
07:51A tire track at one of the murder scenes led to the murder scenes led to the owner of a nearby junkyard.
08:02They have a serial killer in the family, is in prison.
08:05We got his DNA compared to the, you know, to the known sample that we had, and it was not a match.
08:11So, you know, he's got definitely some skeletons in his closet, but he was not the person we were looking for.
08:19Ultimately, the task force was disbanded sometime in probably 2008 without the case, you know, being solved.
08:29This case was cold.
08:31It was very frustrating. I thought that they would never find her murderer.
08:35Iwana Patton's niece wondered if the women's suspected backgrounds made the case less urgent.
08:43I did think the word prostitute definitely denigrated and blackened the case for sure.
08:48And Iwana's family knew her to be a nursing home caregiver, not a prostitute.
08:53My aunt was not a sex worker.
08:55She had her own apartment.
08:57She worked several jobs.
08:58She took care of people.
09:00And she was a great woman.
09:01She was at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and she linked up with the wrong person.
09:08We just kind of moved on with our lives and the fact of understanding that we wouldn't have foreclosure as a family.
09:18But 10 years later, the killer struck again.
09:22Another victim turned up, but not in Daytona Beach.
09:24A victim turned up in the West Palm Beach area.
09:30A woman was found nude, face down, murdered, strangled to death.
09:37DNA went sent to the laboratory.
09:39Detectives were told, we have a match.
09:41Serial murders kill because they like to kill, and it's something they do.
10:00Jeffrey Dahmer confessed to 17 murders.
10:04Ted Bundy confessed to 30.
10:07John Wayne Gacy convicted of 33 murders.
10:11And it's just innate in them.
10:14Who knows why someone all of a sudden flips the switch on again.
10:17But ultimately, our serial killer, he did.
10:20The victim in West Palm Beach was Rachel Bay, who had worked as a prostitute.
10:26Her body was found once again naked.
10:29She was face down.
10:30She was actually strangled in that case, so it was a little bit different.
10:34But what was the same was the male DNA found on the victims.
10:38And that was like a goldmine to be able to figure that out and start piecing things together.
10:45It breathed life back into our case.
10:47It gave us hope that even after, you know, 10 or 11 years, we'd be able to, you know, make an arrest.
10:52But even though there was a DNA match, the identity of the killer remained a mystery.
11:00It was still unknown, you know, and there was still nobody in the DNA database, even though it had been expanded, you know, a lot since 2006 to take in every felony arrest.
11:09But nothing had hit at that point.
11:14Police brought in Rachel Bay's boyfriend, Jose Gonzalez.
11:19Okay.
11:20So you want to help because this is a person that you cared about?
11:22Yes.
11:22And who are we talking about?
11:24Rachel.
11:25Okay.
11:25I call her Ray Ray.
11:26You know her by Ray Ray.
11:28She works the street, right?
11:29Yeah.
11:29Okay.
11:30So each time she left, was she seeing clients?
11:35Yeah.
11:35She said she was going to meet someone.
11:37Okay.
11:39She said she had a date.
11:41Okay.
11:41The second verse is, I'll be back, I'll have a date.
11:44Okay.
11:45So do you have any opinion on the race of the person that called?
11:50He was black.
11:50That didn't fit the profile of a white male that detectives had been relying on.
11:56He said whether she knows the person, it's for one of her regular clients.
12:01All right.
12:01So let me ask you this.
12:04Were you, you've had a relationship with her before.
12:07I'd like to ask if you would consent to giving us mouth samples for DNA comparison.
12:14Okay.
12:15His DNA was not a match.
12:19It was in 2017.
12:21We contracted with a private lab called Parabon.
12:24And we sent them our DNA.
12:32And they couldn't give us a name of who we were looking for.
12:34But they did tell us for the first time that we were looking for a black male.
12:38And detectives now realize the profile had led them down the wrong road for years.
12:44And I think that created a belief within the investigators' minds that we're looking for a middle-aged white male.
12:51We're not looking for a younger person.
12:53We're not looking for anybody from a different ethnicity.
12:56We're focusing on white males.
12:59There had been big stories about serial killers being found and located with the use of genetic genealogy.
13:04The 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.
13:14The answer was, and always was going to be, in the DNA.
13:20Investigators here in Daytona and down in Palm Beach County decided, no reason we can't.
13:27We can do it too.
13:28So genetic genealogy is only used to identify violent criminals or unidentified human remains.
13:39CeCe Moore is one of the pioneers in the new world of genetic genealogy.
13:44This case, it was the first time I worked on a serial case or a known serial offender case.
13:50It's a very powerful tool, but it relies on public participation and support.
13:57What's involved is essentially building a family tree, using DNA submitted to various commercial ancestry sites.
14:05It took more than a year until they found a possible family connection.
14:09Law enforcement goes out and asks family members of that top match if they are willing to provide their DNA to help solve this case.
14:18And one of those people who agreed to help turned out to be the half-sibling of the suspect.
14:27So then it was in Detective Denardi's lap.
14:30We found out that she had three half-brothers, all of them living in Florida.
14:37Palm Beach County took the lead.
14:39They recovered DNA from the first two, half-brothers first.
14:44Both of those were ruled out.
14:46They then focused on the third half-brother, following him to a bus stop in West Palm Beach.
14:52One of their undercover units was able to pick up a discarded bear can and a cigarette that he had been drinking and smoking while waiting for the bus.
15:01They were able to collect those items, sent them to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
15:08And the next day, we had a conclusive match.
15:14Fourteen years later, but I was pretty sure we had our guy.
15:17His name was Robert Hayes.
15:20They brought him to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
15:30I remember seeing him that day, you know, in the interview room.
15:34Just by your body language and by the thing that you've said to me thus far,
15:38I'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.
15:44Am I correct thus far?
15:45But detectives knew the DNA match would only go so far.
15:49He may have been a customer of the prostitutes, but it did not necessarily prove he killed them.
15:55They needed a confession.
15:57Okay, we're just going to come out and let you know exactly what's going on and why you're here.
16:17Do you understand?
16:18Yes, sir.
16:19Detectives from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office had the first crack at Robert Hayes.
16:23Let me ask you a question, Mr. Hayes.
16:26This female here, okay, her name is Rachel Bay.
16:33Are you familiar with this female?
16:34No, sir.
16:36Rachel Bay, have you ever seen her, met her before in your life?
16:38No, sir.
16:39You've never had any communication, encounter, or any type of interaction with her in your life?
16:45Not to my knowledge, not to my knowledge.
16:47When you say not to your knowledge, you know that's a somewhat ambiguous statement.
16:52What exactly do you mean when you say not to my knowledge?
16:54I don't know her, sir.
16:55You don't know her?
16:56No, sir.
16:57So, 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.
17:05No, sir, I don't know her, sir.
17:07Have you ever had sex with her?
17:09I don't know her, so I can't tell you if I had sex with her.
17:12I don't know her.
17:13I don't know who this woman is.
17:14Rachel Bay was killed on March 7th, 2016.
17:20She was killed on March 7th of 2016.
17:23How about a hookup?
17:24You said you've been with your fiancé for a few years?
17:28Yes, sir.
17:29Do you ever stray a little bit?
17:31Maybe, you know, look to see if you can get some variety in your romantic life?
17:36It has?
17:37Yes.
17:37How many partners, how many encounters would you say you've had with females that you've met via MacPage or some other social media site?
17:46Probably at least 50.
17:48At least 50?
17:49Yes, sir.
17:49And what about when you were in Daytona?
17:51No, sir.
17:53I don't remember a lot of them, sir.
17:55I'll be honest with you.
17:56Okay.
17:57When you say you don't remember a lot of them, what does that mean?
18:00That means I went in, I did what I did, and I left.
18:04Would you typically use condoms with them?
18:06Yes.
18:07Did you have a preference for black women or white women or you didn't care or what?
18:11Well, whatever caught my eye at the time.
18:14Any kind of violence or anything?
18:16No, sir.
18:16Or a girl said you didn't pay me enough money or anything else like that?
18:19You said to be honest, I'll be honest.
18:21Yes, sir.
18:21Yes.
18:21Normally when I was calling back beige, I was either extremely drunk or on something.
18:29Detectives discover that Hayes attended college in Daytona Beach at the time of the three murders there.
18:36He participated in cheerleading at the university and ended up graduating with Thune Cookman with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.
18:43And 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.
18:50They asked him, you know, do you have the gun?
18:53Mr. Hayes told them, no, I do not have the gun.
18:56I gifted it to my mother this year.
19:00And that kind of ended the investigation of Mr. Hayes.
19:06Hayes did not fit the profile of a middle-aged white male.
19:10And I think that Mr. Hayes got lost in the volume of the case.
19:14In the ten years between the crimes, Hayes had led a quiet life and was the father of two children.
19:24Have you looked at this picture real good, Mr. Hayes?
19:27Sir, I don't know this woman.
19:28You don't know this woman?
19:29No, sir.
19:29She advertised via back page.
19:31You know, and to be quite frank with you, sir, we have irrefutable scientific evidence that establishes that you know her.
19:42Not only did you know her, you had sex with her, Mr. Hayes.
19:49I said, sir, I don't know this woman.
19:51All right.
19:51We have your profile, Robert Tyrone Hayes.
19:55You said you've never met Rachel Baker?
19:58You said you've never had an encounter with Rachel Baker?
20:00I don't know this woman, sir.
20:02We have your DNA, semen, inside of her vagina.
20:07That's impossible.
20:08I don't know this woman.
20:11I saw someone who was scared and someone who, you know, had got away with something for so long.
20:17And it was slowly dawning on him that he didn't get away with it.
20:22I don't have anything to do with this.
20:24You don't?
20:24No, sir.
20:25I don't have anything to do with this.
20:27Whatsoever?
20:27No, sir.
20:28I don't have, I don't hurt people, man.
20:31I go to work and I come home.
20:33You said something just now that captivated me.
20:36Remember you said, I didn't do nothing to anybody?
20:39You just said that, right?
20:41You did.
20:41Why did you say that?
20:44I would not say that.
20:45No, no, I'm asking you.
20:46What led you to say, I didn't do nothing to anybody?
20:50Because that's an unequivocal statement.
20:52I didn't know why I'm here and you're bringing me about this woman.
20:55And I didn't.
20:57He ended the interview as the detective kept pressing on Rachel Bay.
21:04I don't want to speak to the lawyer, man.
21:07This is good s***.
21:08I don't want to talk to y'all no more.
21:09I don't know what s*** it is y'all trying to pull on me, man.
21:12But I don't, I want to go home to my family, bro.
21:14I don't, I, I, I need to talk to somebody, man.
21:17I don't want to do this no more.
21:19I need to talk to somebody.
21:20Okay, and I'll be right with you, okay?
21:21You need anything, Mr. Hayes?
21:22You knock on the door.
21:23I just want to go home with my family, bro.
21:27I don't.
21:29Well, you, well, you're not going home to your family, sir.
21:31You're under arrest.
21:32You're not going home to your family.
21:36You're under arrest.
21:38And I think you pretty much figured that out.
21:42And then detectives let Hayes talk to his fiancée
21:45to see what he would say to her.
21:49I don't know what's going on.
21:51You know what I mean?
21:52Mr. Hayes, you want to f*** it coming back?
21:55That's what's going on, brother.
21:57We didn't know f*** it coming back.
21:59Today is the last f*** that these people say I'll see you.
22:03That's f***, bro.
22:04That's f***.
22:05I didn't do none of this, bro.
22:06I don't f*** it coming back.
22:08I didn't do none of this.
22:11Well, who the f*** saying you did?
22:13I don't know.
22:14I didn't do none of this, man.
22:15Oh, my God.
22:16I don't even understand what they have.
22:18I don't even understand.
22:19I don't understand.
22:21You don't understand.
22:23This s*** can put you away from f***ing life.
22:26I didn't do this, Shawnee.
22:28I didn't do this, okay?
22:29I did not do this.
22:31Well, they say you did, Robert.
22:33You're not coming back.
22:35F*** it says murder.
22:37What the f*** did you do?
22:39I didn't do nothing.
22:40I'm trying to tell you that I didn't do nothing.
22:43They say you are not the bandit.
22:44I'm thinking you are, man.
22:45So you can f*** explain.
22:47I didn't do none of this, Shawnee.
22:48Robert, you better be telling me to f***.
22:51Robert.
22:52Shawnee, I'm telling you I didn't do nothing this, man.
22:55You, are you, are you, what the f*** are you doing your past?
23:00Today we called this press conference because we'd like to announce that we have obtained
23:05three indictments in the case that's been commonly referred to as the Daytona serial killer
23:11case involving Robert Hayes as the defendant.
23:14I can tell you that we will be seeking the death penalty.
23:18It's something inside of him pulling him to commit that crime again, and maybe he can
23:23fight off the urge for 10 years, but not forever.
23:26We expect opening statements in the Daytona Beach serial killer trial of Robert Hayes.
23:46Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in this case.
23:49If you had just seen him being in court, you would be like, oh, this guy's not a murderer.
23:53He's just a regular Joe Schmo.
23:55But murderers, and especially serial killers, they're able to hide who they really are and
24:00make it through all this time without being caught.
24:02Friends and family of the victim were in the courtroom throughout.
24:05It was hard, but it was justice.
24:09And I made sure that I made eye contact to let him know, we know you did it, and we're not
24:13happy about it.
24:13Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, the jury.
24:17Good morning.
24:18And this evidence will show, will prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that back in 2005, 2006,
24:26the defendant in this case, Robert Hayes, killed not one, not two, but three women here in
24:33Halusia County, specifically in the city of Daytona Beach.
24:35Whether it was about sexual proclivity, or whether it was about dominance for being
24:41sexual, or it was just about killing them, he started to enjoy it.
24:45Nothing significant happens for nine years.
24:52And then in 2016, there's a fourth murder, a fourth victim.
24:59Hayes wasn't on trial here for the murder of the fourth victim, Rachel Bay, because that
25:04happened in another jurisdiction, West Palm Beach.
25:07But prosecutors were able to use the facts of her case.
25:11We could use it to prove identity, motive, common scheme or plan, intent.
25:18And the big thing was an absence of accident or mistake.
25:21The similarities between Palm Beach County and our three victims was overwhelming.
25:28Law enforcement sees this pattern.
25:31They see these striking similarities.
25:32They see that not only are the crime scenes similar, how the victims are alive is similar,
25:36how they die is similar, their lifestyle is similar, but also, all the crimes are connected.
25:43Good morning, my ladies and gentlemen.
25:47You're going to hear evidence that's going to open your mind that there's other possible situations
25:59that they could have caused the death of each of these neighbors.
26:06The defense challenged the importance of the DNA by bringing up the women's backgrounds.
26:12Attack the fact that they were prostitutes.
26:15Just because he had sex with them, with prostitutes, doesn't mean he was the one who killed them.
26:19Your attention is going to be very important to the details.
26:26It sounds like when you talk about DNA being located at the difference of time scenes.
26:34How does it correlate with the actual charge that Mr. Hayes caused the death of Ms. Cutter?
26:49What caused the death of Ms. Cutter?
26:53What caused the death of Ms. Cutter?
26:55The prosecution began with the nuts and bolts of the forensic evidence
27:01that Robert Hayes bought a Smith & Wesson pistol of the kind used to kill the women.
27:07And did he actually pick up the firearm?
27:09He put it on layaway on 17 of November 05
27:15and retrieved the firearm, paid the balance due on December 2 of 05.
27:23And that the DNA collected from Robert Hayes at the bus stop, the beer and the cigarette butt,
27:30matched that from three of the crime seats.
27:32The observed foreign DNA profile is greater than 700 billion times more likely to occur
27:40if the sample originated from Robert Tyrone Hayes than from an unrelated individual.
27:46And then prosecutors called Hayes' mother to testify by Zoom
28:01about his claim to police.
28:03He had given the murder weapon to her before the killings.
28:07And ma'am, at any time when Mr. Hayes was in your college,
28:11did he ever give you a firearm as a gift?
28:14No.
28:14Did he ever in his entire life give you a firearm as a gift?
28:19No.
28:20Of course.
28:20No parent wants to testify against their child.
28:23But she was a stand-up individual who just came up there, told the truth.
28:27Just one more question, Hayes.
28:30You understand that this is your son's trial, right?
28:34Yes.
28:35Thank you, ma'am.
28:35I have no further questions.
28:37His own mother was calling him a liar.
28:40My name is Jose Gonzalez.
28:55Did you know Rachel Bay, sir?
28:59Yes, I did.
28:59Did you know Ms. Bay at all to participate in prostitution?
29:07Yes, she was.
29:10When we say sex workers or prostitute, maybe their life just may not be that important.
29:16Or maybe that, you know, they deserved it.
29:20But for prosecutors, it helped to explain the biggest problem with their case.
29:25The only weakness that we had a concern about was in Julie Green's case.
29:29It is, there was DNA found of somebody who was not Mr. Hayes in her vaginal area.
29:37So, obviously, that's a concern because that could point to another suspect.
29:42A point Hayes' defense lawyer made repeatedly as he cross-examined the state's experts.
29:47The bottom line question is you, maybe just given the answer, you did find a male contributor.
29:56However, that male contributor, Mr. Hayes, was excluded as that male contributor.
30:01Is that correct?
30:02That's correct.
30:03Mr. Hayes was excluded to the mixture.
30:05Yes, ma'am.
30:06Thank you very much.
30:06I have no other questions.
30:07And we knew the best counter-argument we had was, well, she's a prostitute.
30:13I mean, she had sex with somebody else.
30:15And to steer the jury back towards the ballistic evidence.
30:19So we could say, even though his DNA wasn't there, the same gun that killed Julie Green killed Awana Patton.
30:32Could you please state your entire name and spell your last name for the court reporter?
30:36Uh, yes, good morning to the jury.
30:39My name is James Keithan Evans.
30:42Spelling of my last name is E-V-A-N-S.
30:46And Mr. Evans, where are you employed, sir?
30:49I'm employed with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
30:52And did you end up participating in an interview with Mr. Hayes on September 15th of 2019?
30:56Yes.
30:57The prosecution played the entire interrogation of Hayes conducted by Detective Evans about Rachel Bay.
31:04This female here, her name is Rachel Bay.
31:11Are you familiar with this female?
31:13No, sir.
31:14Have you ever had sex with her?
31:16I don't know her.
31:17Okay.
31:18I don't know her, so I can't tell you if I had sex with her.
31:21I don't know her.
31:23I don't know who this woman is.
31:24That can be a fantastic piece of evidence.
31:27He's lying.
31:28He is lying to law enforcement.
31:30And the reason he's lying is because he's guilty.
31:33Because he did it.
31:34Mr. Hayes, it sounds to me like the case is coming to a conclusion.
31:45And this is the time that you will have the opportunity to, you have to make a decision
31:50whether or not you'd like to testify or you don't want to testify.
31:55You know, if I was a betting man, I thought he was going to testify.
31:58Did you have an opportunity to talk with your lawyers about whether or not you'd like to testify
32:03or not testify?
32:05Um, I haven't discussed with the other day.
32:08We decided that I will not testify.
32:11Okay.
32:12Oh, you say we?
32:13I haven't testified.
32:15All right, very well.
32:16So is it your intent now, Mr. Hayes, to rest?
32:19It is, Your Honor.
32:26I quit a gun third on December 26th, Julie Green on January 14th, and then I won a patent
32:31on February 20th.
32:33Three months, three, three dead women.
32:37These women were easy targets for Mr. Hayes.
32:41They were all in close proximity to where Mr. Hayes lived.
32:45Can't hide your genetic fingerprint, ladies and gentlemen.
32:48And then in March of 2016, he left his genetic fingerprint again.
32:53He left it on Rachel Bay.
32:54And he denies knowing.
32:59Over and over, he denies knowing with Ms. Beck.
33:02So I ask you to consider that as well.
33:03And again, it's the why, but why is he lying?
33:07Why is he lying to the police?
33:09And again, common sense is one reason and one reason alone.
33:12Because he knows exactly why his DNA is there.
33:16He knows exactly why he's not giving out his phone number, the right number.
33:22He's a criminal justice major.
33:25He understands how the criminal justice system works.
33:28Ladies and gentlemen, the evidence in this case is clear.
33:31It's supported by science.
33:33It's supported by fact.
33:35And because the evidence is supported by fact and supported by science, I would ask that
33:40you return the verdict that that evidence supports.
33:43And that's finding Mr. Hayes guilty as charged in the indictment of murdering Julie Green in
33:49January, more patented February, and Ms. Gunther, December.
33:56As we all understand, this is a case of three separate and distinct homicides that occurred
34:08back in 2005 and 2006.
34:11Hayes' lawyer reminded the jury that Hayes' DNA was not found on Julie Green.
34:16I submit to you that the state has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that it was Mr.
34:23Hayes, who created or caused an act that killed or took the life of Ms. Green.
34:32And he argued the fact that Hayes' DNA was found on the other victims does not prove he killed
34:38them.
34:39We have no definitive time as to when the sexual encounter took place.
34:45So we have virtually no connection between the actual homicide and the DNA.
34:59To reach these conclusions, you would have to speculate.
35:03And speculation is not part of the burden that the state has.
35:11We have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all of those facts.
35:17So I'm telling you that the facts in this case speak for themselves.
35:24I'm asking you to reach the conclusion that the state has not proven beyond a reasonable
35:29doubt counts one, count two, and count three.
35:36We knew when we walked out of the courtroom after closing, if the jury has an issue, it's
35:42going to be Julie Green.
35:44If they take their time or anything comes back not as charged, it's going to have to do with
35:49the Julie Green crime.
35:51The case of accused serial killer Robert Hayes is now in the hands of the jury.
36:06If convicted in this case, Hayes faces the death penalty.
36:09I have been informed that there is a verdict.
36:12They were out for like nine hours, which was a complete shock.
36:16Madam clerk, will you publish the verdict?
36:18The defendant, please face the jury and hearken to the verdict.
36:22Verdict, count one.
36:23We, the jury, find the defendant, Robert Tyrone Hayes, as follows.
36:26Count one, first degree premeditated murder of Gwede Gunther.
36:30She was the first victim.
36:33Guilty of first degree murder.
36:37Count two, first degree premeditated murder of Julie Green.
36:41She was the only victim where Hayes' DNA was not found.
36:45Guilty of first degree premeditated murder.
36:51Perfect, count three.
36:54First degree premeditated murder of Iwano Patten.
36:57She had just finished a double shift as a nursing home caregiver.
37:06Guilty of first degree premeditated murder.
37:08Emotionless, no, no response that I saw, um, from watching him in the courtroom.
37:16I think he knew he did it, um, and had already accepted the fact that it was probably not going to go his way.
37:24This is the phase where you were asked to consider whether or not the death penalty is an appropriate sentence for Mr. Hayes.
37:34This was one of those cases that was the worst of the worst and warranted seeking the death penalty.
37:41You're going to hear evidence that Robert, um, was abused as a child, uh, sexually.
37:51You're going to hear that Robert Hayes is not all bad.
37:54And it also entails presenting family members.
37:57Starting with the daughter of Lakota Gunther.
38:01My mother was only 45 when she was taken from us.
38:04The what-ifs and what-could-a-bens either keep me up at night or haunt my dreams.
38:11My mom mattered.
38:14Julie Green's sister was next.
38:16Yes, Julie did have a high-risk lifestyle.
38:20But no matter what lifestyle she lived, she did not deserve to be her.
38:29Iwana Patten's niece spoke for their family.
38:32It was hard, but it was, it was justice.
38:36This is who my aunt was, and this is what she did to our family.
38:39My aunt was the most selfless, loyal, caring, and compassionate woman you could ever meet.
38:46She treated everyone like family.
38:48She was taken from us far too soon.
38:53It was some portion of closure for me to, to see that through for her.
38:59Because she was not able to when he took her life on that night.
39:02For the defense, Robert Hayes' sister took the stand.
39:07So, you and Robert and the family were raised in some rough neighborhoods, weren't you?
39:12Um, yes, but it's been, um, decades of sexual abuse in our family.
39:25There was a lot of, um, alcoholism in my family.
39:30There's a lot of violence and, uh, aggression in our family.
39:38Hayes became upset after his lawyer showed photos of his two children.
39:42Well, Mr. Hayes, if you wish to be excused from the proceedings, I'll allow you to do that.
39:46Um, 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.
39:54No, sir, don't bring, there's not going to be violent reactions.
39:58It's, uh, very upsetting.
40:00I was, I made it very clear that I'm not willing to do that.
40:02Sure.
40:03Okay.
40:03The defense closed its case with Dr. Joseph Wu, a psychiatrist who has testified for defendants in scores of death penalty cases.
40:26He claimed Hayes had undetected autism.
40:29This particular pattern of homicides is, uh, very characteristic of autistic spectrum homicides.
40:38Any cross-examination?
40:40So, um, when you spoke to Mr. Hayes and asked him about the murders, what did he tell you?
40:46Uh, I didn't speak to Mr. Hayes.
40:47Wait, you didn't speak to Mr. Hayes?
40:49No.
40:50So you came up with all these opinions without ever talking to Mr. Hayes?
40:54That's correct.
40:54This is an individual who plotted and plotted, and he preyed on these three women and then killed them, ladies and gentlemen.
41:08And I ask you when you go back there, ladies and gentlemen, it is going to be a tough decision.
41:13It's going to require courage.
41:15There will be no question in your mind.
41:17And you will come back with a verdict for death.
41:24Folks, life in prison without parole is forever.
41:33His freedom will be taken from him.
41:36Every minute of every day will be controlled and decided by others.
41:40It's a tough life.
41:42Look, all life is important.
41:44All life is valuable, including the three lives that were taken in these homicides.
41:50Mr. Hayes is not all bad.
41:52There's a good side to him, a good side that, I hope I persuaded you, makes him one that should go to prison for life without parole ever, rather than being executed.
42:05All 12 jurors had to vote for death.
42:08It was a yes or no question.
42:10The jury came back 11 to 1, that there was one holdout.
42:22He got life in prison.
42:24Hayes still faces trial for the murder of Rachel Bay in Palm Beach County, where they are also seeking the death penalty.
42:30I believe an eye for an eye for an eye, I'll say that.
42:35I'll say that.
42:37He's a psychopath.
42:38They don't have emotions.
42:39They don't have sympathy.
42:40There's no remorse.
42:41There's no remorse there.
42:43And I am grateful and thankful that he will never kill again.
42:47There's no remorse there.
42:59There's no remorse certain for the murder of Rachel Bay in Palm Beach County.
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