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00:00the world's creepiest birthday present let's just say it wasn't picked from the bestseller list by
00:15accident a somewhat suspicious class reunion he tells her that his name is Kevin and that
00:23they went to high school together and a hitman who's a little too by the book
00:29every detail is extremely planned he's following that hitman manual like a recipe book
00:37in Virginia Beach Virginia Lois Blois and Christopher Schmidt are poised to change each other's lives
00:52it's the year 2000 a new millennium perfect for starting over for finding something new and
01:03exciting Lois is 25 years old she's newly divorced from the father of her three-year-old son Jonathan
01:12in his late 20s Christopher has never been married but when he and Lois meet their romance is a
01:22whirlwind the kind where you blink and you're suddenly exchanging wedding vows and that's exactly what
01:30happened by 2001 the first year of their marriage is full of changes for the Schmitz
01:40in the summer of 2002 Christopher gets a job as a computer salesman in Deltona Florida near Orlando
01:48the couple decide to trade their life in Virginia Beach for the Sunshine State when you have a young
01:55child being near family can be a huge help in Virginia Lois and Christopher have her parents and
02:04her brother Morgan to lean on so moving to Florida is a bit like cutting off a lifeline but it's also an
02:13exciting new start to their life together amidst their move comes even more exciting news right away
02:22they find out Lois is pregnant and by March of next year she gives birth to a healthy baby girl
02:28and just like that the Schmitz are a family of four
02:36but it isn't the happily ever after they had hoped for
02:47Lois and Christopher struggle to adjust to being a married couple with two
02:52children a lot of people find that going from one child to two children is a huge difference one is
02:59manageable while two sometimes feels completely out of control any tensions or underlying issues that
03:08you have in the relationship can become huge stressors Lois and Christopher got together so
03:14quickly that they didn't really get a chance to know each other the way that you should know someone
03:19that you're gonna marry and have kids with it's the whole love is blind thing you don't always notice
03:27the more negative attributes of the person that you're in love with at least not at first then you
03:34turn around and wonder who is this person I'm supposed to spend my life with and why are they such a jerk
03:43within a few short months after the arrival of their new bundle of joy the blinders have fallen off
03:52Lois realizes that Christopher isn't just stressed he's got some seriously scary anger issues it's not
04:02just yelling and swearing at her and in front of their little boy it's also physical in June 2003 Lois
04:11files a petition for an injunction against Christopher in the Volusia County Court in Florida the courts
04:19often first issue a temporary restraining order and then in cases of ongoing domestic violence the abused
04:27spouse can apply for a permanent injunction to be put into place that type of injunction can only be
04:34put in place against a family member in the same household and is used to prevent any further injury to
04:40the applicant in the petition Lois gives examples of Christopher spitting in her face and pushing her
04:47against walls she's also terrified of the fact that he has so many guns in the house three handguns a rifle
04:54and two BB guns their house has more guns than it does people on top of that Christopher has a permit
05:03to carry a concealed weapon all of which makes Lois concerned not only for her safety but for the safety
05:09of her children in her petition Lois states that she doesn't trust her husband and doesn't want to be
05:18alone with him the fact that Lois is isolated in Florida away from her family is a common theme in
05:26domestic abuse situations Lois has only been in Florida for a year and has no family or friends
05:33to turn to in case anything should happen in July before any abuse allegations are proven Lois drops the
05:44competition and makes a crucial decision she packs up her two young children and moves back to Virginia
05:50Beach and into her parents house where her younger brother Morgan also lives being back surrounded by
05:58loved ones is exactly what Lois needs to get back on her feet again and seven-year-old Jonathan is thrilled
06:06to be reunited with the rest of his family home can be more than just an address for Lois and Jonathan
06:13that Virginia Beach house with the grandparents and Uncle Morgan is the lifeline over the next several
06:22months Lois and Jonathan settle into a new routine Lois finds work at an insurance agency and Jonathan
06:31becomes a tiger scout Jonathan is a happy well-adjusted little boy like a lot of kids he loves to help
06:40his mother out his favorite chore is vacuuming although he's not very good at it on family movie nights Lois's
06:49pick is gone with the wind Jonathan is a huge fan of Toy Story Jonathan bonds with his extended family and thrives in the
06:58stable environment of his grandparents house in the fall Lois enrolls Jonathan in school and takes him to
07:05church every Sunday life is back to normal but while one of Lois's children is now settled the other is at
07:18the center of a fiery custody battle Christopher files for divorce a month after Lois leaves Florida with
07:25the kids and though the divorce part of their divorce is settled in less than six months the custody part
07:33is a whole other matter on June 19th 2004 Christopher drives to Virginia Beach to pick up his one-year-old
07:43daughter for an extended two-month visit both Lois and Christopher are fighting hard for the custody of
07:51their little girl but the fact that they live in different states is a complication Lois manages to
07:59have the jurisdiction for the custody matter assigned to Virginia Beach which is a huge disadvantage for
08:05Christopher now he's stuck traveling from Florida to Virginia to see his daughter and all the costs
08:12associated with that on top of the child support he's not happy about it at the exchange Christopher surprises
08:22Lois with a gift it's just a week before Lois's 29th birthday and the last thing she's expecting is a gift from her ex
08:32the gift is a copy of Anne Rule's best-selling book every breath you take the true story of a woman's murder orchestrated by her ex-husband
09:00let's just say it wasn't picked from the bestseller list by accident after enduring an abusive marriage and
09:08finally breaking free the last thing Lois wants to do is think about a woman who was murdered by her ex
09:16whether Christopher intends the book to be a threat or just a sick joke it's ill-advised and it's a disturbing thing to do
09:24Lois confides in a friend that she's worried something might happen to her if Christopher
09:31was hoping to throw her off her balance or make her paranoid mission accomplished
09:38on June 28th Lois gets another surprise for her birthday Lois's big day is June 27th her family takes
09:46Jonathan out so she can relax and sleep in the next morning Lois answers a knock at the door to find an
09:54old high school friend of hers named Kevin on her doorstep there's only one problem Lois doesn't recognize
10:03him at all
10:11Christopher and Lois Schmidt try to make their marriage work
10:16but Lois's dislike of Christopher's alleged aggression gets in the way
10:23Lois moves her two kids out of her husband's home in Florida
10:27and back in with her parents and brother Morgan in Virginia
10:34when Christopher comes to pick up their one-year-old daughter for an extended visit
10:38he gives Lois the world's worst birthday present a book about a wife killed by her ex
10:46whether Christopher intends the book to be a threat or just a sick joke it's ill-advised and it's a
10:53disturbing thing to do they say trust your gut when Lois tells a friend she's worried something might happen to her
11:02that's not just anxiety talking
11:07just before 7 a.m on June 28 2004 the day after Lois's 29th birthday
11:15there's a knock at the front door of the family home
11:18Lois opens the door to a man who looks about her age dressed all in black
11:26which isn't a typical outfit for a morning visit
11:33he tells her that his name is Kevin and that they went to high school together
11:41for Lois something is wrong about the whole thing
11:44she doesn't recognize him at all so she shuts the door in his face
11:50when a stranger shows up claiming to be an old classmate and something feels off
11:56that's the kind of thing you run by your brother
12:01Lois wakes up a still sleeping Morgan to tell him all about the strange encounter
12:07it's early in the morning so early that Jonathan hasn't even gone to school yet
12:12he's just playing in the living room so Morgan is going to listen but he's not going to get up
12:19there doesn't seem to be any reason for concern
12:23but less than half an hour later the power goes out in the house
12:29Lois goes to the garage to check the fuse box
12:35when she opens the door she's shocked to find the so-called Kevin lying in wait with a pistol
12:41when the family dog senses danger and rushes past Lois into the garage barking it turns the tables
12:48the dog's sacrifice buys Lois a few precious moments to run back into the house
12:55regaining his composure the gunman pursues Lois
13:00in the hallway the gunman shoots Lois in the chest center mass as if he's had training he then fires a shot
13:08into the door frame when he stops to reload his weapon Morgan emerges from the bedroom
13:17it's a case of wrong place worst possible time
13:22Morgan is wounded in the shoulder the gunman then pursues him back into his bedroom where he fires an
13:28additional two shots Morgan is cornered there's nowhere for him to run the gunman then reemerges
13:38into the hallway where he shoots Lois a second time this shot is fatal he then turns his attention to
13:47seven-year-old Jonathan who's in the living room he silences him with a fatal shot as well
13:54it's horrific and it's all over in the blink of an eye after murdering the occupants of the house
14:02the gunman retrieves a gas can from the garage this isn't just a shooting the killer has a cleanup plan
14:10he douses the house with gasoline then plays amateur chemists with brake fluid and a chlorine tablet
14:18setting a time-delayed fire to allow himself to escape on his way out the door the killer grabs a souvenir
14:27he spots a little porcelain figurine and pockets it before he leaves the house
14:33sometimes killers take a memento a souvenir of their crime it can be a disturbing way for them to relive the experience
14:41in this instance it's not clear why he takes it it's a devastating tragedy but there's one bright spot
14:51despite being shot three times Morgan manages to make his way out of the house and gets a neighbor
14:58to call 9-1-1 paramedics fire and the police arrive just before 8 a.m they find Morgan still alive on the
15:06front lawn in the house they find Lois and Jonathan's bodies and they manage to extinguish the fire before
15:14it spreads media quickly descend on the chaotic scene where neighbors are terrified
15:23police say there were three victims all shot inside the house neighbors say it was the homeowner's son who
15:28survived and collapsed in the front yard and his sister and her son who were shot to death inside
15:34all i'm concerned about now is his gunman's on the loose and somebody needs to find him police said
15:39they were looking for additional suspects but wouldn't say who was behind the attack later they
15:44said they didn't have a line on any one person forensic detectives meantime were having a tougher time
15:49gathering clues the killer apparently set fire inside the house possibly to cover his tracks
15:55from an investigative perspective it doesn't seem like your average home invasion the methodical nature
16:07of the attack and the precision of the shots makes it seem like there's something more police will need
16:14to pursue the possibility that it might be a professional job only an hour later police in Deltona
16:23Florida are at Christopher Schmidt's door the police inform Christopher about the death of his ex-wife
16:31and his stepson he's disturbingly cavalier about the news but their visit has an investigative motive as
16:42well police learn from neighbors in Virginia about the animosity between Lois and her ex-husband so he needs
16:49to be excluded as the possible shooter the fact that they confirm that he was in Florida with his
16:55daughter at the time of the shooting accomplishes that goal later a detective from Virginia Beach
17:02also questions Schmidt when they asked him if he was involved with the murders his smart aleck
17:10responses i couldn't afford it not exactly the words of a grieving ex-husband
17:21over the next few days the police appeal to the public for any information that might aid in the
17:27investigation the FBI released a poster seeking information about a six foot one inch male possibly
17:35white or hispanic wearing black clothing they are also looking for the driver of a pickup truck
17:42seen in the area on the morning of the murders it's not a lot to go on but in these cases sometimes
17:49that's how it works all you need is one solid lead and you never know when you're going to get that
17:55a week after the murders the police take a closer look at christopher schmidt
18:03that calling card of a creepy present that christopher gave to lois just before her murder
18:10is either a huge coincidence or disturbingly prophetic and homicide investigators don't really
18:18believe in coincidence the authorities execute a search warrant at schmidt's home in florida
18:25police seized christopher's computer for forensic examination what they find is a red flag
18:33what they find is surprising disturbing and confusing all at once
18:39investigators discovered that schmidt has been using an email account under an entirely different name
18:46a stranger at the door of a virginia beach home leads to tragedy when lois schmidt her young son jonathan
19:04and a beloved family pet are viciously murdered when lois's ex-husband christopher has
19:13a surprisingly cavalier reaction to the news it raises eyebrows and police sees his computer for a closer look
19:24as detectives begin to dig into christopher's digital life there's almost nothing there that's not suspicious
19:38leading up to the murders christopher had been doing internet research on makaroff handguns the same weapon used
19:45to kill lois and jonathan he had also been doing searches on converting a makaroff to a 380 auto and swapping out the barrel
19:57a barrel swap like that is done to confuse the forensic examination of a weapon
20:03this isn't casual research it's somebody trying to learn how to cover their ballistic tracks
20:08when someone's googling how to modify a makaroff pistol and swap barrels they're not doing research for
20:17a gun collecting hobby they're trying to make sure that those bullets can't be traced
20:25detectives also uncover multiple searches about the statute of limitations on murder in virginia
20:33homicide investigators don't believe in coincidences
20:36strangely christopher has also logged into an email account multiple times under the name richard stoner
20:46specifically there was a login at 11 30 on the night of the murder and then again at 3 30 the next morning
20:59using an alias isn't illegal but it is kind of suspicious there's no reason
21:06to use an alias unless you have something to hide
21:13but when investigators look into the name richard stoner they discover he's actually a real person
21:22richard stoner is a u.s army ranger living in cottondale florida and he's married to christopher schmidt's
21:29cousin under questioning stoner denies any involvement in the virginia beach murders
21:41there's really nothing to link richard stoner to the shooting but the fact that christopher has been
21:47logging in to stoner's email address multiple times is definitely suspicious police believe the two men have
21:54been ghost emailing which means they've been communicating with each other without actually
21:59sending any emails one of them would log into the account and leave a draft in the draft folder
22:06then the other one would log into the account read the draft and compose a reply for the first one to find
22:12it's old school trade craft leaving no electronic trail but despite their suspicions of richard stoner
22:21and christopher schmidt investigators have nothing actionable to move on sometimes you hit a brick wall
22:29you can't manufacture evidence what you know is different than what you can prove
22:33the appeal for witnesses hasn't panned out and the fire inside the house destroyed much of the physical
22:42evidence of the crime scene so police only have some suspicious activity but that's not enough
22:54after several years without any progress the case is turned over to the cold case division
23:01of the virginia beach police department investigators keep picking at threads hoping one of them finally
23:08unravels the whole ugly sweater eventually the focus turns to the murder weapon a nine millimeter makaroff
23:17pistol a makaroff is an old soviet era pistol they're still common in eastern europe but not so much in the
23:26united states when one is used in homicide it can mean that someone went out of their way to get it
23:34the detective discovers that richard stoner's mother-in-law purchased a nine millimeter makaroff online
23:40for 150 bucks just six weeks before the murders two days after she filled out the paperwork stoner bought
23:49accessories for the same type of gun including a suppressor and a different barrel homicide investigators
23:57don't believe in coincidences did i say that already armed with the new evidence investigators take
24:06another crack at richard stoner in 2012 richard stoner is now living in north carolina
24:14and he's no longer a u.s army ranger during questioning he admits that he had his mother-in-law
24:21by the pistol form he has a felony conviction as a juvenile so he can't purchase any firearms himself
24:32but that gun was bought years ago and he has no idea where it is now
24:36richard stoner also has an alibi for the day of lois and jonathan's murders one of his wife's relatives
24:45claims he was in florida at the time
24:50but a search of stoner's home and truck tells a different story
24:57during the search police find multiple firearms and parts that are consistent with a bulgarian makaroff
25:04pistol they also find the frame of the gun that stoner's mother-in-law purchased for him back in
25:112004. so much for not knowing where that gun is police are unable to identify the frame they've
25:18recovered as the murder weapon because the barrel is missing making forensic testing impossible but he
25:25lied about the location of the weapon and as a convicted felon he's not allowed to possess any firearm
25:34stoner is incarcerated for two months for illegal possession of a firearm
25:42it's not the complete triumph police have been hoping for but it's something
25:48over the following years cold case investigators continue to keep the case alive
25:54you're at a dead end uh you can't manufacture evidence
25:57but if you're on the right track and you simply can't prove it yet somebody out there has that
26:05one piece of the puzzle that you're missing and sometimes all you can do is wait until that piece
26:11comes in eventually investigators catch a lucky break a man who was a cellmate of stoner's during his 2012
26:19stint in prison comes forward as an informant he claims that richard stoner confessed to him that he
26:27had been hired to kill a woman in virginia beach and had also shot her son and another man
26:37jailhouse confessions are always controversial but they can provide crucial leads in cold cases
26:44the confined environments and psychological stress of incarceration can sometimes lead individuals to
26:52reveal information that they've long kept hidden the informant provides specific details of the crime
26:59such as the fact that stoner wore all black turns out stoner couldn't resist a little jailhouse bragging
27:06he tells a cellmate that when the cops searched his house in 2012 they missed a box full of evidence
27:15including the gloves he wore and a porcelain figurine he swiped from the crime scene
27:21it really was a souvenir
27:25by 2018 investigators finally have enough to bring stoner in
27:31at this point richard stoner is divorced and living in logan's port indiana
27:37detective murphy of the cold case division meets with stoner on june 21st
27:43detective murphy knows they finally have their shooter but what she wants is the person who hired him
27:51the detective offers stoner a deal the prosecutor has agreed not to seek the death penalty against him
27:58in exchange for his cooperation in the investigation
28:00but before he even looks at the offer on the table stoner walks out of the interview
28:0814 years after the cold-blooded murder of 29 year old lois schmidt and her seven-year-old son
28:20jonathan the cold case division in virginia beach finally has enough to make an arrest
28:27they've been investigating richard stoner a former u.s army ranger for years and they suspect
28:35stoner was working as a hitman for lois's estranged husband christopher the detective
28:41offers stoner a deal the prosecutor has agreed not to seek the death penalty against him
28:47in exchange for his cooperation in the investigation
28:52detective murphy presents stoner with an offer but he doesn't even look at it he just walks right
28:59out the door but sometimes a little time to think can change everything and a couple of days later
29:12stoner is back at the police station detective murphy once again presents stoner with the proffer letter
29:21a proffer letter is an agreement between a prosecutor and a potential suspect or witness
29:27it allows a suspect to come forward with information about a crime while also limiting the prosecutor's
29:34ability to use that information against them it can be a useful tool for prosecutors when they're
29:41dealing with multiple defendants and they want to gather evidence from one of them that can be
29:46potentially used against the others the prosecutor is offering not to seek the death penalty against
29:53richard stoner for the murders if stoner agrees to cooperate and testify against the man who hired him
30:03detective murphy gets the prosecutor on the phone because stoner isn't willing to agree right away
30:09he has his own list of demands so they negotiate
30:22once he's sufficiently reassured stoner agrees to take the deal
30:30stoner says i think i'm down i'll tell you whatever you want to know and then he opens the floodgates
30:39the hitman is officially placed under arrest 14 years after the murders of lois schmidt and jonathan
30:46vetrano in his confession richard stoner describes his own actions and christopher schmidt's as well
30:56stoner claims that the first time he met christopher schmidt was at a family christmas party in 2003.
31:02christopher was his wife's cousin and the two hit it off according to stoner christopher
31:09christopher started visiting him regularly at his florida panhandle home where target practice was their game of
31:16choice christopher was going through a contentious divorce with lois and needed to blow off steam
31:22stoner describes how after congratulating his buddy on a particularly good round schmidt responded that he
31:33wished it was lois being shot when stoner claimed to have friends who could take care of that schmidt was
31:42interested stoner admits to the detective that he really didn't know anybody who could take care of it
31:49it was just something he said but when christopher jumped on the idea so did he
31:57according to stoner after his offer to take care of christopher's ex the visits became more frequent
32:05in may 2004 christopher handed stoner one thousand dollars in sequential one hundred dollar bills to get
32:12the ball rolling stoner claims that christopher also highlighted passages from a book with useful tips
32:21hitman a technical manual was an ill-advised book written in the 1980s by a true crime writer
32:29it was published under the guise of a how-to manual for aspiring hitmen you can imagine how well that went
32:36and guess what when people died for real the publisher lost a lot of money to lawsuits
32:45the tips included wearing the wrong size shoes to throw off footprint analysis
32:51and changing the barrel of the gun to interfere with ballistic testing
32:56stoner used some of the down payment money to get his mother-in-law to buy the type of gun that was
33:01recommended for the job a nine millimeter macro off pistol on june 27 2004 it's go time stoner is fully
33:11prepped for the job he wraps his cell phone in aluminum to prevent tracking
33:19the would-be hit man prepares to leave his home in cottondale florida to drive the 12 hours to virginia
33:25beach he has an old school paper map so he doesn't have to use gps every detail is extremely planned
33:36he's following that hitman manual like a recipe book early in the morning on june 28th stoner parks
33:43in front of lois's house he sits and watches for more than half an hour trying to make sure she's home
33:50alone according to stoner christopher had told him that nobody else was going to be in the house that
33:56day morgan would be out and jonathan would be with his father the surveillance phase ends when stoner
34:03makes his approach after lois slams a door in his face stoner parks the car down the street and walks
34:10back to the house in the garage he cuts the power and waits the family dog throws a wrench into his
34:19carefully crafted plan stoner is there to kill lois schmidt when he finds a full house he is forced
34:29to improvise stoner claims that he only killed jonathan because he thought the boy would be too
34:35traumatized after witnessing his own mother's murder it's a shockingly tragic loss of life
34:43after leaving the scene of the crime stoner continues to follow the manual's instructions faithfully
34:52he stops off at a church parking lot to dispose of the evidence in a dumpster including the guns magazine
35:02according to stoner's statement he then follows that old school map all the way to christopher's
35:07house in deltona florida when stoner finally arrives in deltona it's already the next day at that point
35:17christopher is freaking out the police have already been there he wants to know what happened stoner claims
35:25that the two of them dispose of the gun barrel in a nearby body of water then stoner takes a nap
35:31while christopher attempts to use software to scrub his computer hard drive clean clearly the software
35:38is not successful considering all the suspicious dirt the police find in christopher's computer
35:44after they seize it the following week
35:52the full statement that richard stoner gives to the police is detailed and damning
35:57he's even euxant to take your 있는 gun for the police is a strange one of us who lids
36:03and wilson chamweiler alerted at the police sitterized in control of the policefend to punish for
36:04the police officer to mitigate the police bye
36:07frontline his之後 is the police officer that the police officer tries to annihilating and
36:14they overc grieving ofbreid and president i çalış enough of them and i was justため
36:21about in law youth and the police my work my model my partner she was doing tonight
36:2414 years after the murders of Lois Schmidt and Jonathan Vetrano.
36:28Stoner testified that Schmidt asked him to kill his wife,
36:31saying the Schmitz were in the middle of a divorce
36:33and fighting over custody of their one-year-old daughter.
36:36Stoner, an Army veteran, also testified that he shot Lois' brother,
36:40killed a dog, and set the Virginia Beach house on fire.
36:44After Stoner's testimony, the judge determines
36:47there is enough evidence to take the case to a grand jury.
36:51The next month, the grand jury indicts Christopher Schmidt for murder.
36:59After completing a plea agreement in December 2019,
37:04Richard Stoner is set to testify against Schmidt at his upcoming trial.
37:09But a change in the Virginia law throws the entire case into chaos
37:14and Stoner's testimony into doubt.
37:21Lois Schmidt and her son, Jonathan Vetrano,
37:25are gunned down in their home
37:28in a case with all the hallmarks of a professional job.
37:32After an epic confession 14 years in the making,
37:37hitman Richard Stoner executes a plea deal in December 2019.
37:43Prosecutors agree not to seek the death penalty against Stoner,
37:47and in exchange, Stoner agrees to testify against Lois' estranged husband,
37:53Christopher Schmidt, the man he claims hired him for the job.
37:58After Richard Stoner's testimony at Christopher's preliminary hearing,
38:03the judge rules that the murder case against Christopher will go to trial.
38:08That trial is set for March 2020.
38:11The wheels of justice grind slowly,
38:15and sometimes they just get completely stuck.
38:19Between legal motions and endless reports,
38:23everything gets pushed back.
38:25Christopher's day in court is postponed until September 27, 2021.
38:31Nearly 16 years after the murders,
38:34it finally looks like pieces are falling into place.
38:38But justice isn't just blind.
38:42Sometimes it's got a twisted sense of humor.
38:45In March 2021,
38:47Virginia's governor signs historic legislation
38:50to abolish the death penalty.
38:53The change in the law goes into effect in July,
38:57less than three months before the trial is set to start.
39:01Richard Stoner's plea deal was put in place specifically
39:04so that he could avoid the death penalty.
39:07But with the threat of capital punishment off the table,
39:12Stoner's lawyers argue that the plea agreement should be null and void,
39:16and the judge agrees.
39:18The unprecedented development rips the prosecutor's case wide open.
39:24Now the prosecutors face a very different Richard Stoner,
39:28so different from the one years earlier who spilled his guts.
39:33Now he's not talking.
39:35The local media tries to make sense of the complicated case.
39:41With a plea off the table,
39:42prosecutors will likely seek a jury trial for Richard Stoner.
39:46A judge may decide on Friday if prosecutors can use Stoner's testimony from 2018
39:51in Christopher Schmidt's upcoming trial.
39:53Richard Stoner originally pleaded guilty in part to avoid getting the death penalty.
39:58Now that there's no death penalty in Virginia,
40:00a judge ruled the plea agreement contract is invalid,
40:03and he allowed Stoner to withdraw his plea.
40:06It's the first case like this in Virginia Beach,
40:09and Stoner's attorney Matt Morris says it could lead to similar cases across the Commonwealth.
40:13At Stoner's hearing today, prosecutors said they were in a lose-lose situation,
40:17as they can't seek the death penalty and can't force Stoner to give testimony at Schmidt's upcoming trial.
40:24Stoner warns that if he's called to testify, he'll refuse,
40:29leaving prosecutors with few options.
40:32Stoner's confession can't be used in court against Christopher,
40:36as that would be considered hearsay.
40:38His testimony from the preliminary hearing would do the trick,
40:42but there are limits on how and when such testimony can be used.
40:48Prosecutors ask the judge to agree to admit Stoner's previous testimony
40:52if he gets on the stand and takes the fifth.
40:56Ultimately, the judge rules that he can't make that determination in advance.
41:03Prosecutors would have to call Stoner to the stand during the trial
41:07and see what happens in the moment.
41:09The prosecution decides that they just can't take that chance.
41:14Without Stoner's testimony, they don't have enough to ensure a conviction.
41:18If they start the trial and have to call it off partway through,
41:22then double jeopardy will apply,
41:25and they won't be able to try again in the future when they have more evidence.
41:29On September 21st, 2021, less than a week before the trial is set to begin,
41:35the charges against Christopher Schmidt for the murder of his ex-wife Lois
41:39are withdrawn, and he's released from jail.
41:43Christopher spent three years behind bars for a crime that he was never even tried for,
41:48let alone found guilty of.
41:51It's a complicated end to a complicated case.
41:55Prosecutors continue to pursue their case against the hitman, Richard Stoner.
42:00Ultimately, Stoner once again pleads guilty in February 2023.
42:07The 12 counts include aggravated murder,
42:11two counts of first-degree murder,
42:14aggravated malicious wounding,
42:19burglary,
42:20conspiracy,
42:24arson,
42:26using a firearm in the commission of a felony,
42:29and the torture of a dog
42:31causing death.
42:33At his sentencing hearing,
42:35he's given the maximum possible punishment,
42:38four life sentences plus 63 years.
42:42The case of Lois Schmidt and Jonathan Vetrano
42:46serves as a reminder of how the pursuit of justice can be a long and winding road.
42:53Your job is to gather the evidence and put together the best case that you can.
42:58Once you close that cell door,
43:00it's in the court's hands.
43:02From phones wrapped in tinfoil
43:04and time-delayed fires
43:07to ghost emails
43:09and guns with missing barrels.
43:12The murder for hire of Lois Schmidt and Jonathan Vetrano
43:16proves you can't plan your way out of a conviction.
43:20For aspiring hitmen,
43:22don't follow the manual.
43:25Better yet,
43:26aspire to something else instead.
43:28The murder for hire of Lois Schmidt and Jonathan Vetrano
43:58is the moral.
43:58The murder for hire of Lois Schmidt
43:59and Jonathan Vetrano
44:00is able to gather even more
44:01without thearp красив Wenn disposal
44:02and know the person in the hospital.
44:03The murder for hire of Twenty-Ran
44:05is found that 24-person
44:07is a rapist that can find stronger
44:09all believed in a murder,
44:10in the twist of a fiction.
44:15With respect to Character Space
44:16and Male Corps,
44:18there are fourез.
44:19The murder for hire of Lois Schmidt
44:24is beloved.
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