- 2 days ago
Neighbors find an elderly veteran injured claiming he was kidnapped and beaten. As the 91-year-old’s health rapidly declines, pressure mounts for detectives to obtain a confession from the perpetrators and get justice for the decorated war hero.
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00:00this is daddy um yes ma'am i need uh to report my neighbor uh has been beat up
00:20he's got some pretty significant um versions of his face okay your neighbor was beaten up at some
00:29point yes ma'am what is your name my name is what's your neighbor's name um there's a young man that
00:40you just stay right there are you still there tabitha tabitha
01:03every suspect accused of a crime has the right to remain silent many agree to be interrogated
01:09anyway but they can stop the interview at any moment making it a race against time
01:17justice hangs in the balance
01:31a 911 call came in from miss tabitha smith who reported that her 91 year old neighbor mr edward
01:38vaughn had been assaulted they dispatched a deputy to the scene the deputy made contact with tabitha
01:47smith who was also in the presence of edward vaughn edward vaughn had lacerations to his face bruising
01:54swelling he had blood coming out of his ears mr vaughn at that time was very lucid and of a clear
02:03mind and was able to easily recall what happened mr vaughn told the primary responding deputy that he
02:11actually made contact with two men earlier and that these individuals were interested in buying a
02:18vehicle that mr vaughn had for sale he said these individuals took mr vaughn and basically abducted him
02:26held him against his wheel and put a blanket or some type of a carpet over him and drove him out
02:33in the county where they physically assaulted him he said they did zip tie his hands together and
02:39assaulted him punched him hit him in the head two or three times and ultimately they had brought him back
02:45to the hospital at this point mr vaughn being 91 years old needed intense medical attention ultimately
02:56he was loaded up in the ambulance to go to the hospital the first time i met edward vaughn was with
03:06mission machine a non-profit and i was just a volunteer driver at that time mission machine's
03:14mission is to help homeless with a temporary place to stay and he was just needing a place until he could
03:20get into an apartment the happiest memory i've got of mr vaughn is when he got his apartment here he was
03:28just very happy about where he was at and very proud of what he had mr vaughn didn't have a whole lot
03:34of money he didn't have much for himself but he had a very charitable soul to him he would have helped
03:43just about anybody i believe mr vaughn was a world war ii vet he had got a bronze star he was very proud
03:51of the fact that he had served his country he served me he fought for me my freedom for all of us
03:58everything that he had done in his life through war through the the many years after he had always
04:06been a survivor he knew what he needed to do and he knew how to survive
04:19miss smith said that she noticed when she left that morning at about 6 30 that mr vaughn's car was
04:36gone when miss smith came back about eight the car was back and mr vaughn was inside the car
04:42that's when she saw mr edward vaughn in the presence of mr jake miller i knew jake because i had seen him
04:51around the apartment complex before he had a friend that stayed in the apartment complex but never seen
04:58him around mr vaughn ever he was so out of place jake seemed agitated he was very aggressive mad almost
05:08i guess you could say i don't it just felt wrong
05:16i approached mr vaughn the left side of his face was so swollen it was horrifying i asked him what the
05:26heck happened to his face and he whispers to me to call 9-1-1 and that's when i took him inside his
05:33apartment i didn't lock the door behind us i grabbed the phone and i dialed 9-1-1
05:40at some point prior to the arrival of law enforcement jake miller left
05:55one of those neighbors said that she was actually awake between 4 30 and 6 a.m
05:59and heard who she knew to be tommy trosper at mr vaughn's residence we were also able to verify
06:07through another neighbor that tommy trosper was at mr vaughn's house on the morning of the 9-1-1 call
06:15jake and tommy were very well known to us mainly in property crimes some assaults
06:22key thing here is that tommy trosper and jake miller were thick as thieves so to speak they were
06:27friends they were always around each other so the fact that tommy and jake were identified being
06:33together it really streamlined the investigation because now law enforcement had suspects
06:41once it was identified that tommy trosper and jake miller
06:45were actually the suspects that we were looking for it was extremely important to find them
06:51we initially notified surrounding law enforcement agencies we issued a bolo for tommy trosper and
06:58jake miller we exhausted no resources in that attempt to locate them
07:04they did tell us that mr vaughn's health was deteriorating and that if we wanted to speak to
07:23him that we needed to speak with him fairly quickly the purpose of speaking with edward vaughn was to
07:28obtain what law enforcement calls a dying declaration to obtain an official identification of the suspect
07:35was extremely crucial in this investigation based on mr vaughn's injuries it was very difficult for him
07:42to speak so we actually sent detective manis photos of tommy trosper and jake miller to confirm the
07:49identity of the suspects i remember walking into the icu unit and when i looked at edward vaughn i was
07:56absolutely speechless i've been doing this job for 30 years i have seen evil in just about every way you
08:04can imagine i've seen crimes that would keep you awake at night when i seen what this man looked like
08:12and in the extent of his injuries it absolutely stunned me to the point where i had to gather my
08:19composure and i recall that his eyes looked at me he had the most sincere eyes he had the most comforting
08:37i told him what i was there for i said i want you to be able to identify these people i said do you know
08:41them said if you know who these people are can you blink your eyes for me and he blinked his eyes i said
08:49mr vaughn i said are these the people that hurt you and he just blinked his eyes i said if you're a hundred
08:55percent i want you to blink twice for me and i no sooner said that than he blinked twice and that was a solid
09:05identification i remember his eyes i'll never forget them
09:19the police department pursued the vehicle
09:37after a short pursuit actually able to take the driver into custody
09:43tommy trosper was then arrested for being in possession of a stolen vehicle
09:48and was then taken to the white county sheriff's department where he was processed and booked on
09:53those charges our detectives went and pulled him from there before he was even dressed out
09:58on his charges
10:08it was going to be tough to get a true confession out of tommy he was no stranger to this type of
10:22criminal procedure but we had to try to get him to talk want some coffee kind of relax you a little bit
10:28i actually seen the face of edward vaughn and i was looking at the person who made edward vaughn
10:35look like he looked who beat that man to that condition a suspect's confession is exactly what i want
10:44a 91 year old man is fighting for his life after police say he was kidnapped from his judsonia
10:56home monday morning we were all very much shocked we never thought that something like that could
11:04happen in our neighborhood much less to a man as kind as mr vaughn
11:13we knew from past encounters that tommy trosper had with law enforcement that we needed to cut
11:30straight to the chase building a rapport with tommy trosper it was useless okay
11:37something about edward vaughn
11:41you was here tom we've got witnesses we've got things that don't get down
11:44around just don't have bro right why this is about a week and a half or so
11:49and i was gonna buy a truck that he's got for real like and uh i asked him about it and
11:58and he and i looked at the truck you know he said you bought it for
12:02see i think he said 600 or something and uh the old man said well i'll give it to you for
12:08yeah for what i what i paid for i said all right i can't do that you know i said well look man this
12:17is all i got and i it was like 200 and some loose bills okay and then a week ago we took him we
12:25we uh went to chinese food uh on the way back and he reached out and said i don't
12:31better anybody's ever better anymore and i was like whoa what you know and i kind of freaked out
12:39yeah and i kind of freaked out and i was like whoa man don't ever ever talk to me like that again
12:46and then after that it seemed like every day he would come on man just let me see you show it to
12:53me and nobody believed me so i i've been there one day just held my phone and recorded why he's
13:00talking to me and i played the video back and i said man i was like i can show this to somebody
13:06and if i don't get in trouble for i don't know in the state of arkansas one adult propositioning
13:12another adult for sex is not illegal whatsoever um knowing tommy trosper that immediately
13:20brought my interest because he's starting to pad his involvement he's starting to make it a little
13:25bit easier for the world to understand why he did what he did i'm just gonna grab bill man like hey uh
13:32like if you let me give you what i got i won't turn this into the police so you were gonna bribe him
13:38i don't think that video bothered tommy in any way at all other than the fact to give him the
13:53motive that he need to later blackmail everyone okay you told me things got out of hand yesterday so
14:00what happened yesterday me and jay they picked him up picked him up at his house right yeah okay
14:07where did you take him to chris chris's house chris who's chris torres yeah so you and jay went to
14:15chris's house red roof shores yeah i knew that chris torres and tommy trosperin were probably acquaintances
14:22to say the least chris torres did have a building next to his house out there that they did work on
14:29cars maybe tommy thought he could take that car out there and chris could look at it and see if it
14:35was worth buying where'd the old man get hit at where'd he get hit at uh at his house or river shorts
14:42in the shorts yeah but it was who hit him jay jack hit him you didn't hit him
14:52i wouldn't hit that old ass man man jay jay started smacking him up like you're gonna do this and that
14:59and that and that and this and i was like man no don't you know what do you i i pushed jake you
15:05know what i'm saying jay don't know dude don't don't hit him he's over and then i was like whatever
15:10dude i'm not in it and i i just walked off so you walk off did jay tie his hands and zip ties jay did
15:19when did his hands get tied uh about before he took him home i don't know why so so jay
15:26toddys hands and river shorts that's what you're telling me and then hit him and then took him home
15:32i mean i mean it's um i mean yeah i mean yeah i really kind of not really though
15:43and like i mean and i mean yeah tommy it is incoherent he's stuttering truthful person just
15:51simply needs to recount an event where a liar needs to create it one question yes why didn't
16:00you call the police after it all happened if you had nothing to do with it why didn't you call the
16:05police i mean
16:12i don't know you just got there saying you had nothing to do with it so why didn't you call the
16:16police i'm scared i'm a drug addict man i can't help i need to kill man that's got nothing to do with
16:23you picking up your phone calling 9-1-1 anonymously and saying here's what i just think give me one good
16:29reason why you didn't do it and i'll believe you one reason you just got there saying multiple times
16:35right you aren't going to be involved in hitting him because he's an old man because you have you
16:40have a conscious about that you're not going to hurt an old man but yet you see an old man get beaten
16:45you see an old man get tied up you see an old man get hurt and you did nothing about it nor did you call
16:51the police am i getting all of that about bundled up right yeah you claimed you were going to tell the
16:56police about it but that's not really i was trying that's not really what you were going to do
17:01because you also admitted your words your words were you were going to use it to bribe him to lower
17:07the price of the drug but that was your words that's what you said i mean yeah that's what you said
17:14you had this video this was your idea you took it and you know you did so with with a purpose
17:20it just showed that tommy was the mastermind behind this whole thing
17:26my next step i wanted to 100 percent identify him as the actual ringleader behind this
17:32sometime turning up the heat will let you know exactly where you are in the interview
17:37i'm gonna tell you what i think this is just my mind working i think it's all your idea why don't
17:42we see if we can make this truck payment go down just a little bit i think you were the ringleader you
17:47were the mastermind you said that you videoed him with the intention to bribe him you you just
17:54you let me call now you never walked off it's been your plan to the beginning was your plan to
18:01get him lower the price on that truck and when he wouldn't lower the price on that truck it went
18:05too far is that it then you're gonna tie him up scared the out of him getting lower price on that truck
18:11yeah work no was the man afraid the man was not afraid getting hit him
18:20i mean i'm saying i hate fear i mean i i mean i'm scared right now
18:23I'm sharing that fear.
18:25I mean, I'm scared that everybody has help you.
18:28I don't do shit thing.
18:42I started meeting him to get him to lower the process.
18:44No, no.
18:45What do you think he told us?
18:49The old man is fine.
18:51He's not fine.
18:52He's an ICU at St. Vincent's Little Rock.
18:54Hey, now, mate.
18:55That's how serious this is, boy.
18:58You know what I can see?
18:59Maybe the video didn't work.
19:01Maybe like, ah, the video didn't work.
19:03So I know.
19:04We'll amp it up a little bit.
19:06So I'll tie him up.
19:07Put something over his head.
19:08Make him think we're going to hurt him.
19:11Maybe I'll give him a lower price on that truck.
19:13Right?
19:14No, Jake, no.
19:15Jake just smacked him.
19:16Like, out of nowhere.
19:17You standing right here?
19:18He got tied up.
19:19Yes or no?
19:20I was in the yard somewhere.
19:21I was somewhere in the yard.
19:22He was right there with him.
19:23Talking to him.
19:24You're having a conversation with him.
19:25I know.
19:26I was somewhere in the yard.
19:27You're having a conversation with him.
19:28I understand that.
19:29I know.
19:30Don't you holler me, bruv.
19:31Don't you holler me.
19:32You keep cutting me off.
19:33No, because you won't tell me the .
19:34You started asking me where the .
19:36Exactly.
19:37Where were you?
19:38When he.
19:39Where were you at?
19:40Put Dan in the red.
19:41Where were you at?
19:42You know what I'm saying?
19:43They're sitting.
19:44Don't mess in the car.
19:45I popped up right there.
19:47So after hours of speaking with Tommy Trosper, he still was lying.
19:51He would talk to us enough to verify his involvement.
19:55However, he wouldn't give us the details of his involvement.
19:59If he said nothing else, we present him to the jury as a liar.
20:03And that is amazing, amazing advantages for the prosecution.
20:08How many lives did you tell me?
20:09I'm not allowed to.
20:10Seriously?
20:11I mean, and, I mean, I can't.
20:20I mean, I'm not.
20:21I know, I know, I know.
20:24You know what?
20:26What you know?
20:28I don't know, man.
20:35I know.
20:36The most important things that we were able to get from an interview with Tommy
20:40was Tommy's admission that him and Jake Miller, at one point in time,
20:45were in the presence of Edward Vaughn.
20:49Had taken Edward Vaughn to some place out in the county,
20:52which is identified as Chris Torres' house.
20:54that him and Jake Miller were present when Edward Vaughn was bound against his will.
20:59That they were present when Edward Vaughn was assaulted.
21:02So, basically, it was a confession, but just in piecemeal.
21:07So, you know?
21:08I'm not.
21:09I'm not.
21:10I'm not.
21:11I'm not.
21:12I'm not.
21:13I'm not.
21:14Huh? No?
21:21Right now you're under arrest for kidnapping battery 2 and your bonds have been set at $250,000.
21:27So I need you to go ahead and stand up, we'll walk you in the back and get off the paper box.
21:32I'm... well, I'm sticking against the squeal.
21:41Come on, look.
21:43We had Tommy in jail and now the next step is absolutely find Jake.
22:04Chris Torres told law enforcement that on April the 9th of 2017 that Tommy Trosper, whom he knew, and Jake Miller, whom he knew, came to his residence in Judsonia with Edward Vaughn.
22:31Tommy Trosper showed Chris Torres a video that he had.
22:34At one point, Tommy asked Chris did he want to help in quote-unquote roughing Edward Vaughn up.
22:40And Chris Torres told him no.
22:43According to Chris, that was when he saw Edward Vaughn actually bound with zip ties.
22:49Chris said he becomes upset and he's ordered him, like, you got to get out of here, get off my place. I'm not involved with this. And they leave.
22:58Another thing that Chris was willing to tell us was that Jake's hiding out in an abandoned trailer, just a few trailers down from where he was living.
23:07So we left immediately from Chris Torres' house and drove down the road looking for the address.
23:16We surrounded that house and ultimately found Jake Miller and took him into custody.
23:23Based off the evidence alone, we suspected that Jake Miller was just along for the ride of the co-conspirator.
23:40We believed that this was all Tommy's doings, that Tommy was the main puppet master behind this.
23:48Tommy Trosper was the one that wanted the vehicle. Tommy Trosper was the one that knew Chris Torres and that's where they took Edward Vaughn.
23:56Tommy Trosper was the one that recorded the secret video.
24:00We had Tommy's story. We had Tommy blaming Jake for a lot of stuff.
24:05So now we're going to try to see how truthful Jake might be and how different a story he was going to tell from what Tommy told him.
24:14We're going to initial by each one of your yeses and I say you're going to talk to me, it's just saying I read them to you, you understood them, it's not right here.
24:21Talked to you about...
24:24Edward Vaughn.
24:25What do you know about it bruh?
24:44We didn't do it.
24:45You didn't do it?
24:46No.
24:47I got witness statements, I got Tommy Trosper locked up saying he did.
24:50Brother I'm angry man.
24:52Sometimes, it's his best to be honest.
24:56He already knows why he's there, and he's automatically
24:59going to a denial.
25:00That strategy is just to make him feel like he's standing alone,
25:04like everybody else has blamed you.
25:06We know exactly what happened, so we're
25:09past you telling the lies and trying to protect your friends
25:12because they blamed it all on you.
25:15You're going to have to remember a little bit.
25:22Boy, tell us what happened, tell us the whole truth.
25:31Boy, you're scared of.
25:34You're just worried about the consequences.
25:38You're worried about your freedom, you're worried.
25:43Yes, and look, I tried so hard to do good.
25:51Doing good.
25:52Well, we're in a pretty bad spot if we can get through it,
25:56Jackie.
25:56But the best way to get through is to be honest about it.
25:59That's the best cards you can play right now.
26:01That's just me being honest with you.
26:05We're going to start over and tell us what happened, buddy.
26:08I started off when we first went over.
26:24I didn't know what we were doing.
26:26Tommy told me to go with it.
26:29He went and knocked on the door.
26:32The old man came out.
26:34And he showed him the video.
26:38And then that's when Tommy hit him.
26:41Oh, God.
26:43He was, like, stunned.
26:46We went to Christmas and Chris told us to get the men out of there.
26:55Well, I know you have good times.
26:58No.
26:59Tommy told me to blindfold him.
27:06I said, man, I'm sorry.
27:08But I was told to do this.
27:13Okay.
27:14So, Tommy told you, did Tommy's hands, you blindfolded him.
27:17Then what?
27:20Tommy dropped me and the old man off.
27:23He was trying to find somewhere to put him.
27:27Okay.
27:28Did Tommy talk about killing him?
27:31He said he should.
27:33He should kill him.
27:35Okay.
27:36Then what?
27:37He rode and at the end of it, it was like, it was moaning, Tommy.
27:47Tommy dropped me and the old man off.
27:50And that's when I cut off the zip ties and was going back to the old guy's place.
27:55So, y'all go back.
27:56You take him back home.
27:57You cut the zip ties off of him.
27:59Then y'all take him home.
28:02And then Tommy left and the older guy, I guess he went into someone's house.
28:14I guess they asked about his face.
28:17And he told him.
28:20How'd you leave?
28:21My cousin came and got me.
28:23Getting Jake to actually admit these little key pieces was absolutely critical in this investigation.
28:32Primarily because Jake began to confirm exactly what Edward Vaughn said earlier.
28:37Tommy hit him.
28:39They said, be aggressive.
28:42I didn't want everybody to rough him up, didn't he?
28:45How many times did he get here?
28:46Just, I slapped him once.
28:48You slapped him once.
28:49I mean, I know that really, really looks bad on me, but I can't lie.
28:59I mean, I just wasn't thankful.
29:01Like, Chris, are you kidding me?
29:03Nothing I see.
29:06So what are you sorry for exactly?
29:12I'm sorry for even being there.
29:14Well, friends and drugs.
29:17Not thinking.
29:19I felt like he opened up and told us more of the truth.
29:24I think Jake Miller was scared.
29:26I think he was worried about the outcomes and the situation he had found himself in, where
29:31Tommy, I don't think, cared about any of that.
29:36It's the two individuals pieced stories together that we was able to find a basic consistency that supported the allegation by Edward Vaughn.
29:54But it was hopeful that Mr. Vaughn would pull through and be strong enough to testify in court against the two and actually be able to be the victim that stands up there and points at them and says, these are the men that attacked me and did this to me.
30:17We received a call from the hospital.
30:20Mr. Vaughn was at that he had actually passed away from his injuries.
30:27And that changed everything for us.
30:31It's always the cases like this that involve children or the elderly that can't defend themselves that you take most to heart as an investigator.
30:41You know, so, you know.
30:50He was a very sweet man.
30:52It broke my heart that something of this tragic could happen to a person so kind.
30:59The charges were amended from kidnapping and battery to actual capital murder and kidnapping.
31:17Without having any type of forensic evidence, and now we have a victim that's not going to be there to testify in court, it was all on us.
31:24We were going to have to tell Mr. Vaughn's story and seek justice for him.
31:29I felt it was extremely important to interview Tommy Trosper again to see if he had any remorse for what they did and seeing if Tommy Trosper would admit it and if he would admit it, if he would tell the truth.
31:43All right, well, we're going to update you on it. What's your highest level of education?
31:52So now we was wanting to see how far he would be willing to go speaking with us when we tell him that his charges are upgraded to the most heinous charge of a criminal act you can be charged with in this state.
32:04What we want to let you know is that we've received a phone call today from St. Vincent's Infirmary indicating that Mr. Vaughn has died.
32:14Your charges will be upgraded to capital murder. Is there anything that you would like to say on your behalf?
32:22What is he going to do? Is he going to actually admit this? Is he going to tell the truth to save himself? Or is he going to continue on with his lies and deflection?
32:32I can imagine hearing that kind of news, especially if I knew that this man's death was because of something I did.
32:47I can imagine hearing that kind of news, especially if I knew that this man's death was because of something I did.
33:00But this gives you the opportunity to actually go into a little bit of detail and perhaps other people that will be watching this video can hear how sorry you are for what you did.
33:19Are you sorry?
33:23Terrible.
33:25Terrible.
33:26Terrible.
33:27Terrible.
33:28Terrible.
33:29Terrible.
33:30Terrible.
33:31Terrible.
33:32Terrible.
33:33Terrible.
33:34Terrible.
33:35Terrible.
33:36Terrible.
33:37Terrible.
33:38Terrible.
33:39Terrible.
33:40Terrible.
33:41Terrible.
33:42Terrible.
33:43Terrible.
33:44Terrible.
33:45Terrible.
33:46Terrible.
33:47Terrible.
33:48Terrible.
33:49Terrible.
33:50Terrible.
33:51Terrible.
33:52Terrible.
33:53I don't think they are or they aren't.
33:57Does it surprise you that Jake's not telling the same story you're telling?
34:01Why would Jake not tell the same story you're telling?
34:04Jake's saying you both hit him.
34:06That he shares the same engulfment as you did.
34:09Y'all both hit him.
34:10That's what Jake said.
34:12You're saying you didn't.
34:15And here's the problem I have with this.
34:17You were wanting to buy the vehicle.
34:19You made the video.
34:20Yet you had nothing to do with assaulting him or finding him or nothing like that.
34:25What was Jake's purpose for doing this?
34:30I don't know what was going through Jake's head.
34:33Could it be because you're not telling the truth because you're afraid?
34:36Let's call a spade a spade.
34:38I did not foresee Tommy Trosper being any more sympathetic to the plight of Edward Bond
34:44than what he was the first time around.
34:46Even with being leveled with the accusation of a capital murder upgrade.
34:49But what I was wanting to see.
34:51Well, yeah, it does look pretty bad.
34:54You were driving.
34:56What do you mean?
34:57You were driving.
34:58The man's laying in the back seat.
35:00You didn't hit him with this.
35:01You didn't hit him up in the end and slap him.
35:05I don't recall him at all.
35:07I mean, seriously telling the truth.
35:09Do you realize the gravity of the situation that you're in?
35:13I understand.
35:13I didn't.
35:14Okay.
35:15Because it don't make sense.
35:17That's why you're sitting here and saying that you didn't do it.
35:21Twelve jurors are going to have a difficulty in believing that because I just laid out the factors that they would have a problem with.
35:29I understand.
35:29No, you don't understand because you know what you did and why you will not admit to the truth is something that you're going to have to deal with on your own.
35:39I kind of sort of figured we could get it out now because here's what you need to understand.
35:43Mr. Bond was in a critical care unit in St. Vincent's for several days.
35:47He is now at the state crime lab with a medical autopsy being conducted.
35:51They're going to know exactly what happened.
35:56And when you stand before the court, ready?
35:59I didn't do it.
36:00That don't fare well.
36:02But what will fare well is that you tell the truth about what you did and explain your involvement.
36:07That's the only time we're going to get you to be able to do that.
36:08I found time to.
36:11He was talking to me.
36:12He is a 91-year-old man that was beat up, zip-tied, and held against his will.
36:18And you're now saying that the only person that did all of this was a scrawny little kid named Jake Miller?
36:25Are you seriously wanting us to believe that?
36:28That you had no involvement whatsoever, but yet you concealed your crime.
36:35You had it.
36:37Mr. Bond didn't die immediately.
36:42Do you not understand that he was able to tell us who did what?
36:48And what happened?
36:50Do you understand that?
36:51Are you sure there's nothing more you need to say?
36:56I'm putting this out here for your benefit.
37:00He didn't die immediately.
37:03He told us what happened.
37:06The reason why we didn't bring it to you when you were arrested is because we was wanting to see what you said.
37:13He is now dead.
37:14That changes the entire ballpark.
37:18Understand.
37:19He didn't die immediately.
37:23Once again, is there anything else you want to say from what you previously said of your involvement?
37:31Knowing that we spoke with him.
37:36I mean, now's the time.
37:38Mr. Bond said that in that vehicle, you knocked the whore out of him.
37:59Period.
37:59You hit him.
38:01You hit him.
38:02Putting it out.
38:03That's what Mr. Bond says.
38:05Are you telling me that he is lying?
38:10You hit him in the face.
38:13He didn't die that day.
38:15He died just yesterday.
38:17We know what happened.
38:20We're giving you this opportunity to explain yourself.
38:24Even with presented with the possibility of being charged with murder, he maintained his specific denial.
38:43I'm trying to, I'm trying to die.
38:45I'm trying to tell you my story, man.
38:47Now, here's what you need to do, because Jake Miller just did it.
38:50It's your fault.
38:51I'll just give you one last time to answer that question, and then I won't bother you anymore.
38:54I promise you I didn't need him.
38:59At this point in time, we cannot give you any other opportunity to explain yourself.
39:05Edward Vaughn is dead because of what Tommy Trosper and Jake Miller did to him.
39:10That's inequivocal.
39:12That is unprecedented truth.
39:14The only person whose story is different is you.
39:19The only person whose story is different is you.
39:22And are you sure that's what you want to go to court with, being the only person who looks like a liar?
39:32Is that what you want to do?
39:33I don't know what the hell happened, really.
39:36I have already established he is a liar.
39:39So now the strategy was I wanted to show the jury exactly the type of person you're going to be seen.
39:45Okay.
39:47One more question, and then I'll just go on and leave this alone.
39:50It's not a question, it's a statement.
39:52It's a statement I want to hear from you.
39:55I want you to reach deep down in your soul.
39:58If I'm Mr. Vaughn and I'm sitting right here, or I'm Mr. Vaughn's family and I'm sitting right here,
40:04what would you say to them?
40:10Let them hear your soul.
40:11So what would you say to them?
40:22Lost the words?
40:27Okay.
40:28All right, Tommy.
40:29Well, we thank you for speaking with us.
40:31Your charges have been officially upgraded to kidnapping and capital murder.
40:35There is no bond set for you at this point.
40:39Even though we weren't able to get a full confession from Tommy Trosper,
40:44he put himself there, he put himself as a participant,
40:47and he gave us the motive, which I believe was the only motive.
40:52I felt we were extremely successful in the interview
40:56because Tommy Trosper did confirm the basics,
40:58but he also confirmed that he had absolutely no sympathy
41:02or any remorse for what he did.
41:09Out of all the cases I've worked, I've never went to a victim's funeral.
41:28I just felt honored to be at that funeral.
41:31It's a very unique thing about the Veterans Cemetery in Arkansas
41:34because whenever you go onto those grounds, it demands silence.
41:38It demands reverence.
41:40And I couldn't think of a better place for Edward Vaughn to rest.
41:44Tommy Trosper pled guilty to murdering the first degree in kidnapping,
41:57and was sentenced to 40 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
42:03Later, Jake Miller pled guilty to murdering the first degree in kidnapping,
42:10and was sentenced to 40 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
42:13Later, Jake Miller pled guilty to murdering the first degree in kidnapping,
42:18and was sentenced to 20 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
42:22I'm happy with the investigation.
42:25I'm satisfied that we were able to get that conviction that we needed for this case,
42:30and do what we could to get justice for Edward Vaughn.
42:35Mr. Vaughn was pretty amazing,
42:37and it's great to be able to call a World War II veteran a friend.
42:43I would like him to be remembered as a kind, gentle man.
42:49Thank you for serving our country.
42:52I'm very grateful to have gotten to be a part of Mr. Vaughn's life.
42:58Edward Vaughn should be remembered as the person who he was.
43:01A hero.
43:03A true hero.
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