- 14 hours ago
A Plan to Kill - Season 2 - Episode 04: Payment Plan
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TVTranscript
00:06Neighbors on Singer Island and family members reported that this couple was missing.
00:13They had been missing for over a week and I started getting very worried about them.
00:20Where have they gone? They didn't tell anybody. Their absence made no sense.
00:24When the wife is missing and the husband's missing, you don't know if one of them killed the other.
00:31One of the brothers opened the freezer and he let out a primal scream.
00:36Much to his horror, he saw a frozen body.
00:41What kind of person could do something like that?
00:44All along, the suspect was planning to commit murder.
00:48Talking to witnesses, two people went out fishing. Boat came back. Just one person gets off the boat.
00:55We knew that we had the murderer completely circled and surrounded.
01:02It wasn't a heat of the moment. It wasn't a passion killing.
01:06He had premeditated and planned this whole thing out.
01:27The Singer Island of 1998 was very quaint. The homes were built close together. Most of them are on the
01:34water.
01:36It was always a safe community and it was very rare that there was any crime on Singer Island.
01:52My boss called me and said, hey Greg, I want you to work this case. There's something that's not quite
01:57right.
01:58I got to the house. There was a lot of police activity.
02:01And there were civilians going in and out of the house, but there was no crime scene tape.
02:06We learned that the Riviera Beach Police Department was there to do a welfare check because family members told the
02:12police that this couple was missing.
02:15Jeanette Pirro and Chris Benedetto, they should be here.
02:18We haven't seen them for five days.
02:20They were all genuinely concerned and wanted the police to check in with them.
02:28So the police go in the house.
02:31Nothing is out of place.
02:32There's no sign of a burglary struggle or anything.
02:36But they do notice things that should be with a couple if they're on a trip.
02:41Like Chris's medication was still there.
02:43Chris's wallet's there. Chris's cell phone's there.
02:46Interviewing the neighbors.
02:47The police just knew it was completely out of character for Chris and Jeanette to just disappear when nobody would
02:52know where they were.
02:54Then the neighbors told law enforcement detailed accounts and the reason why they were concerned about Chris and Jeanette.
03:04No one's heard a word from either one of them.
03:07It was very unnerving and there was an overwhelmed feeling of what could have happened.
03:18Five days before this, on Wednesday, November 11th, Chris and Jeanette had plans to meet up with their neighbors and
03:26have dinner.
03:28But Chris and Jeanette never showed up.
03:32Then, over the next couple days, neighbors start to notice mail's not been taken out of the mailbox.
03:39Also, Chris's forerunner's not at the house.
03:41It should be there because for Chris and Jeanette to just get up and leave and not have called somebody
03:46to say,
03:46hey, we're going out of town for a couple days, that's just not them.
03:51I called Chris and Jeanette's home.
03:54There was no answer.
03:57It wasn't normal.
03:59And I started getting very, very worried about them.
04:04Their absence made no sense to any of the neighbors.
04:07Something is amiss.
04:09Where is Chris Benadeau?
04:11Where is Jeanette Pirro?
04:16It's been four days and the neighbors start reaching out to relatives to see if they have any information.
04:23They have a number for Jeanette Pirro's sister, Regina Koblen, married to Michael Koblen or Big Mike.
04:31The neighbors called up to Brick, New Jersey, Sunday evening, informed Regina that Chris and Jeanette had not been seen
04:42for four days.
04:44But Regina Koblen had no idea where they were.
04:51Next, the neighbors called the Benedetto family.
04:54Chris Benedetto's brothers, Paul and George Benedetto, who were police officers in the state of New York,
05:00began to mobilize and make plans to try to come down to Florida a few days later
05:06to initiate a search for Chris Benedetto and Jeanette Pirro.
05:13The next day, Monday morning, is when the family called law enforcement
05:18and they went out and did the welfare check
05:20and the bolo is issued for Chris Benedetto's vehicle, the Toyota 4Runner.
05:26Chris's brothers can't get out of work for another day.
05:32So Mike Koblen is married to Jeanette's sister, travels down to Florida the next day.
05:38Mike would come down and fish with Chris all the time.
05:41They were friends.
05:43He has keys, so he ends up staying at Chris and Jeanette's house after he gets here.
05:49Big Mike, an avid fisherman, knew the area, and spent a lot of time that day
05:54visiting local Singer Island marinas and asking questions about whether or not anyone had seen Chris and Jeanette.
06:01And in talking to someone at the Sailfish Marina,
06:05Mike Koblen learned that Chris and Jeanette had gone to the Bahamas with another couple on their boat.
06:12He shares that information with the neighbors and then Chris's brothers in New York.
06:18When I heard that Chris and Jeanette went to the Bahamas with some friends during hurricane season
06:24and they left without telling anybody, I felt that couldn't be true.
06:30Chris and Jeanette wouldn't do that.
06:31So I knew that story was bogus.
06:36Chris and Jeanette always made meticulous plans, but this time they didn't tell anybody.
06:42So the neighbors and Chris's brothers had real doubts
06:46and thought Big Mike was given bad information with regard to a fishing trip to the Bahamas.
06:54Chris's brothers, they just know something's not right.
06:58They're not sure what, so they do what good police do.
07:03The next day, Chris's brothers, Paul and George Benedetto,
07:08flew down to Florida to Canvass, Singer Island with Michael Koblen.
07:14They get missing posters printed up.
07:17They are going around to businesses.
07:19They are talking to people.
07:21Being in law enforcement, they were confident that they can find Chris and Jeanette.
07:27That night, Paul and George slept in the Benedetto house,
07:31but there wasn't enough room at the house.
07:34So Michael Koblen stayed on his friend's fishing yacht at a marina.
07:44The Benedetto brothers hadn't had any luck.
07:48So the next day, they formally filed a missing persons report.
07:52The Riviera Beach police then put on the local news that this couple was missing.
07:58Chris's brothers and the brother-in-law were all working together,
08:01trying to get anyone that knew anything about this case to come forward.
08:08As time went on and Chris and Jeanette were still missing,
08:11I was worried for them because they were friends of mine.
08:14And nobody knows what happened.
08:20At this point, Chris and Jeanette had been missing for 11 days.
08:24No one has seen or heard from them.
08:26And the police don't have any investigative leads.
08:30But then a break in the case occurred.
08:34A valet at the embassy suites in Singer Island contacted law enforcement
08:38that there was a vehicle that might be related to the missing persons report
08:42that was in the news.
08:44A deputy responded to the scene.
08:47And in fact, it was Chris Benedetto's truck.
08:52It was seized and taken to a different location.
08:56So that obviously raised some questions.
08:59Who drove it there?
09:01Is this the last place someone may have seen Chris and Jeanette?
09:04Or how long has it been there?
09:06If something happened to Chris and Jeanette,
09:08if it happened in the car,
09:09there should be some sort of evidence in the car.
09:12But the car was like the house.
09:14There was nothing discovered from it.
09:18At that time, the Benedetto brothers concluded
09:21that their efforts to find their brother and Jeanette Pirro
09:24were unsuccessful.
09:26They decided to tidy up and secure the house
09:30and go back to New York the next day
09:32and let law enforcement in South Florida take over.
09:40So the next morning, while turning the electricity off,
09:46the Benedetto brothers discovered there was a bait freezer
09:49wedged underneath a workbench in the garage
09:52to avoid the smell of rotting and thawing bait fish.
09:58They planned to empty out the fish that were in there.
10:03So one of the Benedetto brothers opened it
10:07and he let out a primal scream
10:12of shock and horror.
10:16Instead of seeing frozen fish,
10:19he saw, much to his horror, a frozen body.
10:25The police were wondering,
10:27had the husband killed his wife?
10:28Was it a stranger?
10:30Who could have done this?
10:32The 4.03 carat princess-cut diamond ring,
10:37she wore it all the time.
10:39What happened to the ring?
10:41It was not recovered in the house.
10:43It was not recovered at autopsy.
10:45So now we have evidence he was in the house
10:49the day that she was killed.
10:51He took that ring either against her will
10:54or off a dead body.
11:05The Benedetto brothers decide to unpack
11:08the bait freezer in the garage.
11:12Paul Benedetto opened the freezer.
11:16Expecting to see frozen bait fish,
11:18instead, he was horrified to see
11:22a frozen human corpse,
11:26which he believed was his sister-in-law,
11:29Jeanette Pirro.
11:35Up until that freezer was open,
11:38this was being viewed as a missing persons case
11:40because there had been no indication
11:42a crime had occurred.
11:44Once the body is discovered,
11:47now you have a homicide investigation.
11:53All of a sudden, the police come out,
11:55the crime scene tape goes up.
11:57Then you have newspaper reporters
11:58and you have television reporters
12:00to cover the case.
12:01Now forensics technicians go into process the house
12:05because the entire house becomes a crime scene.
12:09Investigators went over in the house
12:10with a fine-tooth comb looking for evidence.
12:14I arrive at the scene and the freezer is open.
12:18I just can't imagine what it took
12:21to put her in there and literally shove her body
12:25in that position is just so degrading.
12:33The body, it was frozen into the freezer.
12:36There was no way that she could be physically removed
12:39from the freezer without losing evidence.
12:43The police had come out with a van
12:46and they actually took the entire bait freezer
12:48out of the garage.
12:52The medical examiner performs the autopsy.
12:55The body was identified as Jeanette Piero.
12:59The significance in those findings with Jeanette
13:03was the ligature marks around the neck.
13:07You could clearly see the striations
13:10of a braided rope around her neck.
13:15The medical examiner determined
13:18that Jeanette Piero's cause of death
13:19was manual strangulation.
13:24To me, it wasn't a random crime.
13:26It was a personal crime.
13:27You know, the person's behind you
13:29and ripping down on this rope.
13:32And we have noticed that
13:34there's no scraping on the nails.
13:37So it was somebody she knew,
13:39somebody that she was comfortable with
13:41because they were able to get up close and personal,
13:44get control of her that fast
13:45before she could defend herself.
13:52I was watching the news
13:54and I learned that they found Jeanette Piero's body
13:58in a bathed freezer in the garage.
14:00I was shocked.
14:03I was upset.
14:06And then my wife was crying.
14:08Her and Jeanette were close.
14:11We were devastated.
14:12What kind of person
14:14could do something like that?
14:17Many crime scenes
14:18are replete with fingerprints,
14:22DNA, blood.
14:24But this particular crime scene
14:27was very, very difficult
14:29because there was no physical evidence.
14:32It was pristine.
14:35On top of that,
14:36there was no sign of Chris in the house.
14:40Chris had been missing for 11 days
14:43and there's no indication
14:45where he is or what he's doing.
14:47In any type of domestic situation,
14:52if one of the spouses ends up dead,
14:54a surviving spouse
14:56is always an initial suspect.
14:59With regard to Chris,
15:01this case was no different.
15:03You need to sit down
15:04and take additional statements
15:06about Chris and Jeanette
15:07from the brothers,
15:09friends,
15:09and the neighbors.
15:14Through that interview,
15:15we learned that Chris and Jeanette
15:17met on a blind date
15:19in New York.
15:19And as it's been explained,
15:21love at first sight.
15:24Chris was deeply in love
15:27with Jeanette
15:28and he bought
15:29an outlandish
15:30four-carat
15:31princess-cut diamond ring
15:33for her.
15:35And she wore it all the time.
15:40Jeanette Pirro
15:41was a very remarkable woman.
15:44She was kind.
15:45She was thoughtful.
15:47She was very compassionate.
15:49And she had an eye for beauty.
15:53Jeanette was a statuesque,
15:55graceful,
15:57elegant,
15:58interior designer,
16:00life of the party.
16:02Chris Benedetto
16:04was a gregarious,
16:06former construction worker
16:08who came from a huge family
16:11up in New York City.
16:12Five brothers,
16:14two sisters,
16:15all of them
16:16very, very close.
16:18Chris suffered
16:20a significant accident.
16:22He had fallen from scaffolding
16:25and it broke his back.
16:27He had to have surgery
16:28on his back.
16:29Three or four rods
16:30ended up being placed
16:31to keep it together.
16:32A settlement that came out
16:34of the accident
16:34was over a million dollars.
16:38That led to
16:39Chris and Jeanette
16:40coming to Singer Island
16:42and purchasing the house
16:43and a boat,
16:44changing their lifestyle
16:45because of the injury.
16:48Chris, when he retired down here,
16:50he fished most days.
16:51He had a 23-foot open fisherman boat
16:54center console.
16:56Chris and Jeanette lived
16:58on a street called Dolphin
17:00that wasn't on the water,
17:02so they kept their boat
17:04at our house,
17:05at my dock.
17:07They were a wonderful couple.
17:11Every day they went fishing,
17:13they would leave fish
17:15in the cooler for me.
17:16And Chris and Jeanette
17:18would sit with us
17:19and have a beer together.
17:22They loved to socialize.
17:24They were just very happy,
17:26energetic people.
17:32Everything you're hearing
17:33from the family
17:34and from the neighbors
17:35about their relationship,
17:36nothing makes sense
17:37that Chris did this
17:38because everybody knew
17:39they were in love
17:40with one another.
17:41But then again,
17:43given the fact that
17:44Chris is missing,
17:46strangulation is an up-close
17:47and personal crime.
17:49As an investigator,
17:50to do my job correctly,
17:52I've got to look at Chris
17:54and say,
17:56what if?
18:05Once Jeanette Pirro's body
18:07was discovered,
18:09there was then some questions
18:11in the minds of detectives.
18:13Where is Chris Benedetto?
18:15Could Chris have done this?
18:19We very quickly
18:21developed a complete financial picture
18:23on Christopher Benedetto.
18:25He didn't have any
18:26really outstanding debts
18:28that were owed
18:29to other parties.
18:30No large withdrawals
18:32from ATMs,
18:33no activity on the credit cards,
18:35no activities
18:35on any of the bank accounts.
18:38That's very unusual
18:39in this day and age.
18:41His financial existence
18:43seemed to have stopped
18:44on Wednesday,
18:46November 11, 1998.
18:50Chris is missing,
18:51and he's not accessed
18:53any of the money
18:54available to him
18:55to support himself.
18:57So that obviously
18:58raised concern
19:00because, one,
19:01he's going to need
19:02the money to live.
19:03Two, he's going to need
19:03money for his medications,
19:04and no activity's
19:06taking place
19:07to indicate
19:07any of that's going on.
19:10So, to us,
19:12looking at it,
19:13Chris wasn't responsible
19:15for Jeanette's murder.
19:17And at this point,
19:18you have to presume
19:19that Chris is a victim himself.
19:30Chris and Jeanette
19:31were my friends,
19:32and I just couldn't
19:34put the pieces together.
19:35What could have happened?
19:37But after the news,
19:38it dawned on me
19:39that I had some information
19:41to divulge to the police
19:43about this situation.
19:45Thinking back
19:46to November 11,
19:48I could have been
19:49the last person
19:49that heard Chris's voice
19:50the day he went missing.
19:58On November 11,
20:00around 8 a.m.,
20:01I heard a vehicle pull up
20:03and park
20:04where Chris usually parked.
20:07And then I heard Chris
20:11say,
20:12grab the rods.
20:14Then I heard the boat
20:16warming up out there
20:17at the dock,
20:18and then the boat left.
20:22Around 11 a.m.,
20:24I'm in the backyard,
20:25and Chris's boat came back.
20:28It docked.
20:30And then I noticed
20:31Chris wasn't on the boat,
20:32and there was someone else
20:34on the boat,
20:35a heavyset man,
20:36over 6 foot,
20:37probably over 200 pounds,
20:39that I've never seen before.
20:43Thinking back to that day,
20:45that was very peculiar.
20:46So I called
20:47the Riviera Beach
20:48Police Department.
20:50The man averted his eyes
20:52whenever Ben looked over,
20:54and he got off the boat
20:56and briskly walked
20:57to Chris's truck,
21:00got in the vehicle,
21:01and drove away.
21:03Ben Demonstranti
21:04described him
21:05as a swarthy,
21:08stocky,
21:09big-bellied person,
21:11way over 6 foot.
21:12That description
21:13could be any of
21:14the Benedetto brothers
21:15or the brother-in-law,
21:17Michael Koblen.
21:18And strangulation
21:19is very personal,
21:20so law enforcement
21:22wanted to eliminate
21:23any of them
21:24as a potential suspect.
21:28The detectives asked me
21:29if they could bring
21:30someone back
21:31and I could ID them
21:33if that was the person
21:34I saw that day.
21:35And I said,
21:36absolutely.
21:38Detectives then
21:39processed the boat
21:40at my dock.
21:42They were doing
21:43forensic work,
21:44and then I noticed
21:46in the front hatch
21:47and the bow,
21:47there was no anchor line,
21:49and there was no anchor.
21:51And I mentioned
21:52to the police officers,
21:53Chris would never
21:54not have an anchor
21:56on this boat.
22:00After we'd searched
22:01the boat,
22:01there was nothing indicative
22:03that a crime
22:04took place on the boat.
22:05Everything was clean.
22:06Yes, you got rope missing,
22:08you got an anchor missing,
22:09but nothing else,
22:10so very frustrating.
22:12The Riviera Beach
22:13Police Department
22:14then conduct
22:15what we informally
22:17call a show-up
22:17because the Ben Odetto brothers
22:20and Koblen
22:21were big guys,
22:22so they wanted
22:24to see
22:25if Ben Demonstrani
22:26saw one of them
22:28on the boat.
22:29A couple hours later,
22:31a police car pulled up.
22:32I was standing out front,
22:34and three people
22:35got out of the back seat,
22:36two I've never seen
22:38before in my life.
22:39The third
22:40was the heavyset gentleman
22:42I saw on the boat
22:43that day.
22:47He looked at me,
22:49and he gave me
22:50the bone-chilling,
22:51most frightening look
22:52I've ever seen
22:53in my life.
22:57It just set
22:59shivers up my spine.
23:10Three people
23:10got out of the back seat
23:12of the detective's vehicle.
23:13The first two gentlemen,
23:15I didn't know
23:15who they were
23:16at that time.
23:17The third
23:18was the man
23:19that I saw
23:19come in on the boat
23:21that day
23:22without Chris.
23:24I'm 100%
23:25sure of it.
23:27Demonstrani
23:28immediately said,
23:29that's the guy.
23:31It was
23:32Jeanette Pirro's
23:33brother-in-law,
23:34Michael Koblen.
23:40Mike Koblen
23:41has been identified
23:42as the last person
23:43seen on the boat
23:43on November 11th,
23:45and Chris
23:46didn't get off it.
23:47Chris's brothers
23:48introduced themselves
23:49to me,
23:50and I said,
23:52that person
23:53that I ID'd,
23:55he either knows
23:56what happened
23:57to Chris,
23:58or he did something
23:59to Chris.
24:01The Benedetto brothers
24:03could not fathom
24:04that Michael Koblen
24:05could have been
24:06the murderer
24:07because their families
24:09were so intertwined
24:10and close.
24:12Mike is married
24:13to Jeanette's sister.
24:15Mike would come down
24:16and fish
24:16with Chris all the time.
24:18Now you're like,
24:19okay,
24:19why?
24:23Michael Koblen
24:23was interviewed
24:24by the Riviera Beach
24:25Police Department,
24:26but Koblen immediately
24:28said he wanted
24:29a lawyer,
24:30flew back to New Jersey,
24:32and never submitted
24:33to another interview.
24:34And now investigators
24:36think that
24:37he is a suspect
24:38in the murder
24:39of Jeanette Pirro.
24:43At this point,
24:44we need an assist
24:45on the federal side,
24:46the resources
24:47of the FBI,
24:48because of the interstate,
24:50nature of the investigation,
24:52and we start
24:53to subpoena
24:54all financial records
24:55related to Mike Koblen
24:56to see what
24:57it might develop to us.
25:04Once we got
25:05Koblen's financial records,
25:07we discovered
25:08that Chris
25:10had lent
25:10over $150,000
25:12to Michael Koblen
25:15for his trucking business
25:16in New Jersey.
25:20Next,
25:21we sat down
25:22with the Benedetto family
25:23from New York
25:24to see if they had
25:25any knowledge
25:25about the extent
25:26of the loan.
25:28The Benedetto family
25:29reported information
25:30that Chris had invested
25:32in Michael's business,
25:33but Koblen's trucking business
25:36was not doing well,
25:38and he had filed a case
25:39in bankruptcy court
25:41and only paid back
25:43about $50,000,
25:44but there was still
25:45around $100,000
25:46that Chris Benedetto
25:48was still owed.
25:53Did it come to a head?
25:54Did Chris say,
25:56you haven't paid me
25:57any of my money back?
25:57I need the money.
25:59Koblen,
25:59the last person
26:00that was seen
26:01on the boat with Chris,
26:02hasn't repaid it alone.
26:04I think at this point,
26:06it's like,
26:08Mike Koblen's our guy.
26:10Koblen became
26:11our prime suspect,
26:12but we still had
26:13to find enough evidence
26:15to make an arrest,
26:16proof beyond
26:17under reasonable doubt.
26:18So the FBI subpoenas
26:20conditional financial records,
26:22travel records,
26:23credit card records,
26:24and phone records
26:25related to Mike Koblen.
26:28The FBI has
26:29a particular expertise
26:31in interstate cases,
26:34but the process
26:35moves very slowly.
26:38You have to issue
26:39one subpoena,
26:40wait for the response,
26:42analyze the records,
26:44decide what additional leads
26:46are going to be developed,
26:48and issue another subpoena.
26:50It's like building
26:51a house out of bricks,
26:53one brick at a time.
26:58We finally do get
27:00the American Express account
27:01that we subpoenaed
27:02for Mike Koblen.
27:03The American Express records
27:06revealed that
27:07Michael Koblen
27:08had opened
27:09multiple subaccounts
27:11for his trucking business
27:12to the name of
27:13Michael Koblen,
27:14Regina Koblen,
27:15his wife,
27:16but there was also
27:17a Mike Carey,
27:19K-E-R-R-Y.
27:24Now, interestingly enough,
27:26there was only one charge
27:28on the American Express account
27:30of Mike Carey,
27:32and that was
27:34a plane ticket
27:35from Newark, New Jersey,
27:37to West Palm Beach, Florida,
27:39the day before
27:41Chris and Jeanette
27:42disappeared
27:42with a return flight
27:44on the 12th.
27:50Now we've got to figure out
27:52who that person is.
27:53Is he a potential suspect,
27:55potential witness,
27:56or is he not involved
27:57in the case?
27:58We do an exhaustive search
28:00of Mike Carey's
28:01in the continental
28:02United States,
28:03and none of Mike Carey's
28:05we spoke to New Koblen
28:08or had ever lived
28:08in New Jersey
28:09or had ever worked
28:09for the trucking company.
28:11We've also done subpoenas
28:13for phone calls
28:14going into Koblen's
28:17residence in New Jersey.
28:18So we come across
28:19telephone calls
28:21to the Koblen residents
28:22from Singer Island
28:24on November 11th,
28:27the day Chris and Jeanette
28:28disappeared.
28:31Those telephone records
28:32from Koblen's home
28:34showed a phone number
28:36associated with
28:36the Rutledge Inn.
28:38An old-fashioned motel
28:40across the street
28:41from Chris Benedetto's
28:43subdivision on Singer Island
28:44and just a few blocks
28:46from where Chris's truck
28:47was found in the
28:48Embassy Suites parking lot.
28:51So the investigators
28:53went to the Rutledge Inn
28:54and asked,
28:55do you have guest
28:55registration records?
28:57They sent them
28:57to an old dusty room
28:58where they had boxes
29:00and boxes of records
29:01lasting decades.
29:03We sat down
29:04and went through
29:05box by box,
29:06registration by registration.
29:09Three hours later,
29:11we discovered
29:11a registration card
29:13in the name of Mike Carey
29:16that was at the hotel
29:18on November 10th
29:19and it checked out
29:21on November 12th.
29:24that puts Mike Carey
29:26on Singer Island.
29:27The last day,
29:29Chris and Jeanette
29:30were seen alive.
29:31Now, when you check
29:33into a hotel,
29:34old school,
29:35you'd have to sign
29:36a guest registration card
29:37and to ride
29:38where you lived.
29:40And where did he list
29:42his home?
29:43The same location
29:44in Brick, New Jersey,
29:46where Michael Koblen lived.
29:48Does that mean
29:50that Mike Carey
29:51was Michael Koblen?
30:00Now we've got
30:01Mike Carey
30:02using Mike Koblen's
30:03home address
30:03on a registration card
30:05for the Rutledge Inn.
30:07It doesn't make sense
30:09to us.
30:11Now we had to prove
30:13that Mike Carey
30:15was Michael Koblen.
30:19This is where
30:21old-fashioned gum-chew
30:23detective work
30:24comes into play.
30:27Arrangements are made
30:29through the FBI
30:29in New York
30:31to bring Michael Koblen
30:33in to have him
30:34complete handwriting exemplars.
30:36Handwriting exemplars
30:37are pages and pages
30:40of your own handwriting
30:41written down
30:42at the direction
30:43of an agent.
30:44So an agent would say,
30:46write a series of names.
30:48John Smith,
30:50Billy Bob.
30:51In the middle
30:52of the list of names,
30:53the FBI agent
30:54inserted Mike Carey.
30:59Agents then provided
31:00that card
31:02to the FBI
31:03National Laboratory
31:05in Quantico, Virginia.
31:07They analyzed
31:09the handwriting
31:10and determined
31:11that the person
31:12who wrote
31:13Mike Carey
31:14on the Rutledge Inn
31:16registration card
31:18on the afternoon
31:18of November 10,
31:201998
31:21was, in fact,
31:24Michael Koblen.
31:28So, we circumstantially
31:30had him present
31:31on Singer Island
31:32during the time
31:33of the murder.
31:39Also, the Rutledge Inn
31:41noted that
31:42the first call
31:44for Mike Carey
31:45to reserve a room
31:46was made in October,
31:49a month before the murders.
31:51So, he'd been lying
31:53about everything.
31:55All along,
31:57it was Michael Koblen
31:57who was planning
31:58to travel to Florida
31:59under that alias
32:00to murder Chris
32:02and Jeanette.
32:04I believe Mike Koblen
32:06couldn't repay the loan,
32:07so he decided
32:08he had to kill
32:09Chris and Jeanette.
32:11You see the stuff
32:12in the credit cards.
32:13You see the phone calls,
32:14the travel under the alias.
32:17It wasn't
32:18a passion killing.
32:20It wasn't a heat
32:21of the moment killing.
32:22This was planned.
32:32In early October,
32:33Michael Koblen buys
32:34a plane ticket
32:35and makes a hotel reservation
32:37under an alias
32:38Mike Carey.
32:40On November 10th,
32:41Koblen flies down
32:42to West Palm Beach
32:43from Newark, New Jersey
32:44and checks into
32:45the Rutledge Inn
32:46under his alias.
32:48On November 11th,
32:49Koblen went fishing
32:50with Chris.
32:52Once on the water,
32:53I believe Koblen
32:54somehow incapacitates Chris,
32:57wraps the anchor line
32:59around Chris's body
33:00and dumps it overboard
33:02into the Gulf Stream.
33:06Then Koblen returns
33:07to Singer Island
33:08to the dock
33:09at my house.
33:10Koblen then drove
33:12Chris's Toyota 4Runner
33:14away from Demonstrani's house
33:15back to Chris
33:16and Jeanette's home.
33:19Koblen enters the home,
33:21strangles Jeanette
33:22with rope from the boat
33:23and puts her nude body
33:24in the bait freezer.
33:27Then Koblen drove away
33:28in the Toyota 4Runner
33:30and leaves it
33:31at the Embassy Suites
33:32and walks to the Rutledge Inn.
33:35The next morning,
33:37Koblen checks out
33:38of the Rutledge Inn,
33:39takes a cab to the airport
33:40and flies back to New Jersey
33:42and flies back to New Jersey
33:42all under his alias.
33:48But this case was difficult.
33:51There was no physical evidence
33:53for Jeanette's murder,
33:56no crime scene
33:58for Chris's murder,
34:00and we had no body.
34:02So how do we prove to a jury
34:04that Koblen had committed the murders?
34:08We've got to start retracing everything again,
34:12review the work we developed
34:13and see if you miss anything.
34:19During the crime scene,
34:21search of Chris and Jeanette's house,
34:22we found a video
34:24that Chris and Jeanette
34:25made for insurance reasons.
34:28Two pen fifties
34:30and approximately
34:31seven spin reels.
34:34They documented jewelry,
34:37Chris's fishing equipment,
34:39anything that they would
34:41potentially make an insurance claim for.
34:43This is our BMW,
34:46my bicycle.
34:49Jeanette was wearing
34:50her engagement ring
34:51the last she was seen by anybody.
34:53But Jeanette's ring
34:55was not recovered
34:55in the house.
34:57It was not recovered
34:57in the autopsy.
34:59It was the only item
35:01we could definitely say
35:02was missing from inside
35:03Chris and Jeanette's house.
35:05The original appraisal
35:07for Jeanette's
35:09four-carat princess-cut
35:10diamond ring
35:11was for $58,000.
35:14After what we had learned
35:16from Koblen's finances,
35:17we believe the ring
35:19was stolen by Koblen.
35:21And the linchpin,
35:23in this case,
35:24was what happened
35:25to the ring.
35:30We know that
35:31on November 17th,
35:32when Chris and Jeanette
35:33were missing,
35:34Koblen stayed
35:35on the fishing yacht
35:36named Absolutely.
35:39So we decided
35:40to secure subpoenas
35:41for phone calls
35:42from the Absolutely,
35:43hoping to develop
35:44an investigative lead.
35:47The night Koblen stayed
35:49on the Absolutely.
35:50The phone records
35:51showed that Michael Koblen
35:53was telephoning
35:54De Angelis Jewelers
35:56in New York City.
35:58So we subpoenaed
36:00the owner of De Angelis Jewelers,
36:02Larry Hoffman.
36:05The story that he told
36:07was that he received
36:08a phone call
36:09from Michael Koblen
36:10and he wanted to know
36:12if Larry Hoffman
36:14could sell some jewelry
36:16for him.
36:17Several days later,
36:19up in New York City,
36:20Larry Hoffman said
36:21that Koblen brought
36:23a four-carat ring
36:24to him
36:25and that he paid
36:27Koblen approximately
36:28$25,000
36:29and that he,
36:31Hoffman,
36:31reduced it into
36:32a number of smaller diamonds
36:34and then sold it
36:35in the course
36:35of his regular business.
36:37Once we got that story,
36:39we decided that
36:40we needed to
36:40bait the trap
36:42and pull in
36:43the big fish,
36:44Mike Koblen.
36:47So the investigative team
36:49convinced Hoffman
36:51that he would contact
36:52Michael Koblen
36:53and tell him
36:54that he, Hoffman,
36:56had received
36:56a subpoena
36:57to come testify
36:58in front of
36:59a Florida grand jury
37:00and see how
37:02Michael Koblen
37:03would react.
37:06Hoffman made
37:07the phone call.
37:08The FBI then
37:09had Larry Hoffman
37:11wired
37:11and sure enough,
37:13a few days later,
37:14Hoffman received
37:15a visitor
37:16in the form
37:17of Michael Koblen.
37:19What did they ask
37:21about the pieces?
37:24If I pretend
37:25you never,
37:25you never saw them
37:26again.
37:27Okay.
37:28Because all I would
37:29do was definitely
37:30shot me under the bus.
37:32Like I said.
37:33Exactly.
37:34When we heard
37:36those final words
37:37out of Koblen's mouth,
37:38we knew that for him
37:40it was game over.
37:42Michael Koblen
37:43was admitting
37:44he sold
37:46Jeanette's ring.
37:47and he took
37:48that ring
37:49either against
37:50Jeanette's will
37:51or off a dead body.
38:09The day we heard
38:12that recording
38:13from Hoffman's
38:14jewelry store,
38:15we knew
38:16that we had
38:17Michael Koblen
38:19completely circled
38:21and surrounded.
38:24Jeanette was wearing
38:26her engagement ring
38:27the last she was seen
38:28by anybody.
38:29So now we have
38:31evidence
38:31Mike Koblen
38:32had been in the house
38:33the day
38:34Jeanette was killed.
38:39So at that point,
38:41our investigation
38:41was over
38:42and now
38:43it was time
38:43to bring
38:44Michael Koblen
38:45to justice.
38:50Finally,
38:51in June of 2003
38:54in Brooklyn,
38:55New Jersey,
38:56we affect
38:57the rest
38:57of Michael Koblen
38:58for killing
38:59Chris and Jeanette.
39:06As you read
39:06the police report,
39:07you realize
39:08that Mike Koblen
39:10had premeditated
39:11and planned
39:12this whole thing
39:13out.
39:13The fact that
39:14money had been
39:14loaned to Mike Koblen
39:16by Chris Benedetto
39:17and Jeanette Pirro,
39:18the fact that
39:19he had used
39:20an alias,
39:21he seemed to be
39:22someone who was
39:23desperate
39:24to survive
39:25and he felt
39:27like the only way
39:27that he could
39:28accomplish his goal
39:29was by killing
39:30his relatives.
39:32Our theory
39:33is that
39:34after he had
39:35killed Chris Benedetto,
39:37Michael Koblen
39:38knew there was
39:39only one person
39:39that knew
39:40he was in Florida.
39:41And that was
39:42Jeanette Pirro.
39:43And he had to
39:44eliminate her
39:45as a witness.
39:46So,
39:46because it was
39:47a federal case,
39:48the West Palm Beach
39:49grand jury
39:50charged Michael Koblen
39:51with two counts
39:52of murder,
39:54one count
39:55of murdering
39:56a federal witness
39:57and one count
39:59of interstate
40:00stalking
40:01a federal witness.
40:06The trial begins.
40:08The entire Benedetto
40:10family attended
40:11and they sat
40:12right behind
40:12the prosecution
40:13table.
40:15We felt
40:16a huge burden
40:18on us
40:19to not lose.
40:21It was palpable
40:23pressure.
40:30The prosecution
40:31paint the picture
40:32for the jury
40:33of the scheme
40:34that Mike Koblen
40:34came up with.
40:36Despite Koblen's
40:37effort
40:37to meticulously
40:39plan
40:39everything ahead
40:40of time,
40:41the one thing
40:42he didn't plan
40:43on
40:43was Ben
40:44Demonstrani
40:45being at home
40:46in his backyard
40:46when he brought
40:47the boat back.
40:50Plan destroyed.
40:53The federal
40:54prosecutor
40:55they asked me
40:56to identify
40:57any person
40:58in the courtroom
40:59that I saw
41:00come back
41:01that day
41:02on Chris
41:03Benedetto's
41:04boat.
41:05I took a deep
41:07breath
41:07and I looked
41:08right at
41:09Mr. Koblen.
41:10Prosecutors
41:11asked him
41:12how sure
41:13are you
41:13and Demonstrani
41:15immediately responded
41:17I'd bet
41:18my life on it.
41:24The jury
41:25has reached
41:25a verdict.
41:27Guilty.
41:32Chris and Jeanette
41:33got the justice
41:33they deserve.
41:35We proved
41:36the magnitude
41:37and the enormity
41:39of his plan
41:40and Koblen
41:41was sentenced
41:42to two consecutive
41:43life in prison terms.
41:57A little time
41:58after the trial
41:59I paid
41:59for the memorial
42:00bench
42:01in honor
42:02of Chris
42:02and Jeanette
42:04and I put
42:05their names
42:05on it.
42:06It's right there
42:07on the ocean
42:08a beautiful place.
42:09Every time
42:10I walk by
42:11their bench
42:11I tell Chris
42:12and Jeanette
42:13that I miss them.
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