what I need right now from you is for you to tell me the truth about everything no I did not like him and no I did not do anything to him you just saw 37-year-old Priscilla donh an evil girlfriend who thinks she can get away with murder but little does she know her own friend would record her confession resulting in the biggest reality check of her life why do you think we're here talk on you was me yeah because I didn't like him and he ended up Dad yes I don't like you none of us like you you're a piece of on November 11th 2015 shortly after 8:00 a.m. penis County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call 911 is this a police fire or medical emergency yeah looks like somebody's dead outside he's laying in the yard there blood in the back of his head and he's not moving okay the body belonged to 24-year-old Chris rodenberger who was shot at Point Blank Range in the prime of his life and his own front yard Chris who worked as a dishwasher had found a new purpose in his life when he learned that his on again off again high school sweetheart Stephanie Dal rmle was pregnant he was eager to become the father figure that he had never had growing up tragically he was never given that chance soon after police arrived on the scene they realized they had a big problem there were no tire tracks at the scene no fibers no weapon and no fingerprints the shooter had vanished Without a Trace leaving law enforcement with no suspects that is until Stephanie's mother pulled police aside at the crime scene she told officers that Stephanie's manager at McDonald's Priscilla donh had developed an unhealthy obsession with her daughter though the two had a brief fling Stephanie had expressed she wasn't interested any longer and it seemed that Dawn still remained concerningly overprotective armed with that information detectives brought Dawn in for questioning the footage that you are about to see was provided to our team by the penis County Sheriff's Office via foyo request despite conveniently coming pre-dessert [Music] at first and then she said something happened to Chris mhm and then she said you guys want to tell her and then she said he was dead and then she said something about that one to lose the baby how would she loves the baby cu I guess it's a highrisk pregnancy she told me she wasn't supposed to be able to get pregn yes she's been worried about that was that the first time you heard about Chris dying yeah you didn't see anything on the news I haven't even watched the news right what's her relationship like with Chris who's hers yeah be honest with us please honestly from what I understand they're on again off again kind of [Music] relationship is it violence ever um as far as I know they're not together she just told me that she slept with them and got pregnant but I mean in the past has there ever been balance between the two of them yes when was that it was right before she moved out we both closed at night and then I went home she went home we were supposed to hang out but she called me she was crying and she was begging me to come get her so by the time I got to her place she was actually walking down the street and I picked her up what place was this over there where she used to live with um in seminal with CHR yes what did she tell you when she was crying you picked her up said she'd already left the house she was walking um I picked her up she said that he had hit her um I was driving away and then she said that she had tried to call me a few minutes before that that he had got her phone and threw it she had went and found it um we got maybe two minutes down the road I can't remember if he called her or she called him but he made contact letting her know that he was throwing all her stuff out she said she had to go back because all she had was her clothes so I told told her it was a bad idea but I took her back and I sat outside when she went in to get her stuff and he had the door open he was just throwing the stuff out and she went outside and she was trying to get her stuff and I could hear them and he was screaming at her and then all of a sudden he slammed the door and I could hear him hear him yelling at her saying you're my property I own you you're not going anywhere that's what he said to her yes she's like it's over I can hear her screaming back she said it's over and I'm leaving he's like no you're not so I called her I was like what's going on she's she calmly said everything was okay she was just getting her stuff I was like I know better she's like I'll be right out I said okay I get off the phone I hear them screaming more I called her back she said everything's okay she's about to come out I was like I can hear everything that you guys are saying out here I know what he's saying he's not letting you out she's like I'd be out in a few minutes next thing I know I seen him run out the front door he ran out the door and went that way in front of her car and then I seen her start to run this way so I got to get out my truck to walk around to the back of it I thought she tripped but um she said he T her by the time I got around the back of my truck where I could see what's going on walking over to them he was above her like he was about to hit her he looked up and he seen me and he I think he even said my name and I walked on over and she was looking at me and she held up her hand and I helped her up and he looked like he wanted to come around me to get to her she was trying to get back to her car I was like just get in the truck and she's like my car I was like just get in the truck so she gets in the truck she's like just please lock my car so I lock the car I got my truck and we went to IHOP we sat there I tried to talk to her come her down obviously I guess he was using one of his roommates phone or something she said he didn't have a phone but they were texting I don't know what they were saying but they were texting um she went to her parents house and then I think two days later she said her brothers went with her to pick up her stuff Dawn is doing her best to paint Chris in a negative light for law enforcement here we may never really know what happened on that night in August though it's worth noting that neither Stephanie nor any of Chris's four roommates have corroborated the story of a violent fight what we do know is that Chris and Stephanie have begun budding heads over the general stress of adulthood both of them worked relatively low paying entry jobs and they struggled to make in's meet yet when Stephanie learned she was pregnant she was fully set on committing to building a future with Chris and Chris was overjoyed to be Stephanie's partner and the father of her child what's your relationship with her we're friends okay have you ever been romantic yes how long that last for not a long why did that end because asking her and Chris how they go back and forth and she's even told me that they've been together six years and I knew that that was a relationship that was just going to keep going back and forth and you accepted that yeah did you love her did I love her do you love her I care about her I want her to be happy do you want to be with her no not like that not like that no like what I mean like we even we talked and I told her I'm like you're not ready I was like honestly I see you guys in the back together take Chris out of the picture just you and her would you have wanted to stay with her I honestly I honestly I can't answer that because I don't even think I'm ready for a relationship I mean I care about her I told her I'll be there for her I mean she was there for me when I needed her so yeah I'll be there for her but when did you need her NE the one of us ready for a relationship when was she there for you well I lost my mom cancer a few years ago so that's really hard for me and this year right before her birthday dat I got a phone call from back home and it was my uncle letting me know that her trust fund um the stop that she had with Publix since it had been sitting there so long I hadn't been touch that they were going to cash it in so they needed me to drive back home to sign the paperwork and everything so my brother and I could get the money it happened to be the weekend that my mom passed away or her birthday so it was really hard on me and it's it's not really the same when I go back home without my mom being there I mean it's it's home but it doesn't feel like home it was really hard on me and she she volunteered to come with me did your relationship with her start before she moved out of the house with Chris and moved in with her parents you were hanging out a lot um talk about the intimate part of your relationship yeah we slept together on her birthday yes she us to live with chis yes but she told me that they were already separated whatever is that what calls them the fight that day you went over there and picked him up picked her up no no how do you know what she tell you calls that fight honestly it was over marijuana do you smoke marijuana no Stephanie smoke marijuana yes okay a lot of the questions we're asking we don't know the answer to so don't feel bad for answering them all right what caused him to fight over marijuana that day I don't know she said that it was hers she had bought it but he said it was his is what she told me how often does she smoke or did she smoke I don't know how often she smokes I mean it sounded like when she lived there they smoked a lot and then when they had that fight that night she told me that she's never seen him like that before that she thought he was all something else you know if she smokes that marijuana wax dab dab or whatever it's called I don't even know what that means I do know what that means but I'm here to explain crimes that are appropriate for YouTube like apparently murder when Chris's body was discovered there was a bag of this substance in his pocket initially this led law enforcement to believe that his death may have been from a deal gone bad however throughout their investigation detectives found no evidence linking Chris to any other forms of illegal activity when was the last time you physically saw Stephanie she came up to my the last time I seen her was I think the last night she worked there I went there to take a cake me and Sean were supposed to go there to give it to her along with her card Sean didn't show up I ended up getting stuck in the store cuz I forgot my keys and I had to sit in there until I was time time for them to leave that was that was the last time I saw who shot se's another manager you ever met Chris talked with Chris hung out with Chris no they're closest I came to Chris was that night when I went over to help her off the ground how did he know your name because he used to sit outside the job and wait for her at Treasure Island Treasure Island yeah him and his friends used to sit outside and wait for her to get off what time did when did you guys start working together there at Treasure Island M she was already there when I got there when did you say that was April April okay what did you think about the way Chris treated her well at first she didn't talk about it Sean was the first one to told me that I mean you could tell she wasn't happy and Sean told me that she opened up to him and said that Chris cheated on her and then finally she talked to me and said he cheated on her and I asked the same question everybody eled you know why are you with him he like because I love him I'm like okay well I like when you've had enough then you'll leave him did you hate him do I hate him no I don't like him or I didn't like him for the way that for what I seen that night you got to understand I came from um growing up my Mom married a man who was like an abusive step dad so it was just any man that's going to hit a woman no I don't like do I hate him no I don't know him I just don't like him I don't like what I saw but then again she said he was on something so is he like that or was he like that I don't know cuz I don't know him I didn't know him what about Sean Sean hate him Sean hate him no Sean doesn't Sean didn't like him either did you ever text when you and Stephanie were together do you ever send um Chris any text messages Facebook messages any communication directly between you and him at all yes when was that time frame I think I still have it in my private message in Facebook yes what'd you tell them I tell them that none of us liked him did you threaten him at all no no can I see those messages to what spurred the messages why did you send them because I I like Florida State I'm from Florida State I put something on her page and then he went on there and uh liked it and I asked him you know not to click on any of my stuff or like any of my stuff did you respond to yeah he started saying some nasty stuff about Stephanie on there and it was on her page and all of her people could see it my people can see it so he started getting nasty so I deleted it and we just private messaged besides Facebook did you communicate with him any other ways just saw one time that was pretty much it and what I meant by that was I would having trespass so you couldn't come back the ti on the property you did have him chesed no that's what I'm talking about here he that thought we're going to have problems meaning I'm going to have him trespass off the property so so he doesn't even come back on the property cuz that's what they used to do they used to sit there on the property him and sometimes two or three other guys which there for her to get off is sit in her car or it would depend if she had the tables or something like that we don't have any tables these the only messages you two ever sent each other that was it that's the only time I've seen him was when he would wait for her uh I'm not saying you're lying but I mean if there's more than this trespassing we don't care we just got to know I mean cuz I'm don't go on Stephanie's Facebook and like any of her comments or anything that I put up I don't like you none I don't like you none of us like you you're a piece of [ __ ] forever put your hands on her so keep your mouth shut before you and I have problems got it you piece of [ __ ] his response yourself don't talk to me your response shut the up you little I don't want to do with you you little keep your opinion your comments to yourself and we'll be all right if not then we got problems you piece of [ __ ] somebody that's worked the street for a long time and been around a little bit it doesn't sound like I'm having somebody trespassing the McDonald's on Treasure Island would you say that's fair we're both intelligent people right what do you mean we're both smart people right okay me and you teec we're all smart right right okay meaning you sounded a little more upset than everything a little more upset pissed off you're going to have trespass what kind of problems were you talking about that's what I'm that's the only thing I'm talking about like we're going to have problems like you pissed me off so I'm going to trespass you that's the only time I ever seen him was when he sat there on the property even when me and Sean went and picked up Stephanie I never really seen him so when you hang out with Stephanie was Sean always around majority of the time it was I mean she wasn't even always there when we picked her up she was at her parents house sometimes I just don't get that you and I are going to have problems and saying you're going to trespass them from and that's not really a problem from some dirt Merchant that's up his girlfriend and smoking weed all the time getting tresp best for McDonald's is that a huge problem I'm just asking I I don't understand what you're we got to explain things right right we have a boss we have a state attorney's office we have prosecutors we have doctors at the M's office we got a lot of things we have to explain okay and if I go tell my boss yeah she said those those messages on Facebook were about trespassing from Treasure Island he's probably going to tell me I'm an idiot and I'll be I'll be back I'll be back driving a green and white you're right yeah I said that in Anger okay but that's that's all I can do is trespass him I mean well us say things in Anger right yeah usually when you're angry or when you're drunk is when your true feelings come out sometimes right yeah yeah so would would you have hurt him if you saw him hurt her again would you have done something to him no I didn't even hurt him that night I wasn't even aggressive with him that night I just helped her up got her in the track and I left Don may have been happy to give her phone over to investigators and to retell the events of the night Stephanie left Chris but she's not going to be happy when she learns what investigators found on her and Stephanie's phones the messages between da and Stephanie revealed what appears to be a one-sided Obsession in just a few months there were thousands of text messages from dawn to Stephany several of those text messages read things like my feelings for you are pretty overwhelming sometimes there are times where I really can't get you off my mind on Stephanie's phone one text thread gave detectives the most concern it was a a text from an anonymous number sent just days before Chris's murder the text threatens Stephanie calling her a fat ass and demanding that she leave Chris detectives had an inkling from the get-go who the owner of the anonymous number was in the meantime however that owner has more secrets to try and hide do you own any Firearms no I have a pellet gun P gun yeah no other guns when was the last time you fired a fire a firearm mhm even as a teenager it's been several years yeah no no time past couple weeks or anything no all right um when was the last time you went to the house over there sorry the house on the house where she lived oh by the ccle okay sty to her house where she was saying on Chris I think I took her back there like a day or two after their fight to do to pick up her car she L her car there you're saying that's around September maybe a little bit earlier around what do you think when you found out she was pregnant happy for her but at the same time worried for her worried because she says it's high pregnancy high risk happy because she said that she wasn't supposed to have kids I told her I was happy for I mean were you worried about who she was uh having kids with to be honest with you I don't think either one of them right well he beat her right I'm was trying to I only know her him hitting her one time is that one night well it made you made you mad right you called him a piece of [ __ ] so you guys are going to have problems what made me mad was the stuff that he put on the page PRI of that they got taken off of her page what did he put on there where he was B mouthing her and he badmouth me and what' he say he's calling her crazy [Music] psycho what' he say about you you know calling me names like you know di that's you know what pissed me off that wasn't the only thing that pissed her off when police later went through Don's messages to Stephanie they discovered her reaction to learning that Stephanie was pregnant with Chris's baby soon after finding out she was pregnant Stephanie decided that she wanted to give her relationship with Chris another go to say that Dawn was happy for her isn't true whatsoever upon learning that Stephanie was pregnant and therefore couldn't go on a vacation with Don as Don had planned Don replied that hurts a lot how much did you dislike him I can hly say that I didn't lay from what I saw in that night the rest of it was heay her saying how they went back and forth for six years that's here say what really happened there's two sides did he cheat on her the whole time I don't know I just know what I seen that one night what did she say about him cheating on her did I guess they started dating in high school I guess that's the first time that happened was he still doing it when I mean from what I understand he's done it the whole time I guess when they broke up she said that their mutual friends finally told her he was still doing it did she said ever say anything about him being depressed no about him being no think she would talk to you about that if he was we didn't really talk about Chris I knew she loved them I knew she cared about him I knew that no matter what happened she would eventually go back it was one of those relationships so we didn't really we never really talk about Chris I mean to me it would just be I told her I was like I think you can do better she said her parents told her the same thing but until someone's ready to actually leave they're not going to that's true it's a fair statement so did run me through your day yesterday let me ask you a question about your phone real quick um obviously we've been talking to a lot of people today and stuff like that and you have the instant messages on there would you have any problem with me downloading that okay okay I'm going to go get that started so we can get it as soon as we can all I'll be right back you need to does it need to be like unlocked or anything like that down huh that's it you been on a trip or anything no I mean I drove around but not on trip so you were lying about that what the trip yeah Stephanie said she thought you were on a trip I mean I went see out of town she showed us a message where we talked about unpacking or something yeah well I packed up cuz I was going to go to salahe but that's the day that it was raining all day so I didn't want to drive all day in the rain so you didn't go anywhere if you were lying about it just say I I didn't tell tell her the truth for whatever reason well yeah I didn't tell her the truth about that yeah why not now Now's the Time okay I'm going to tell you the same thing I've talked to since 8:00 yesterday morning more people than I can count at this point and and here's the important you're you're doing a lot of pausing before you answer your questions you're I get it you want to be I think you're trying to be as truthful as you can be I think you're formulating your answers at the same time to put yourself in the best light here's the thing like I told you before a lot of what I'm asking you already know all right and the most important thing right now is to be truthful if you're worried about your relationship with her I'm not going to run and tell her what you're telling me okay if you're worried about drugs or something else I don't care what I need right now from you is for you to tell me the truth about everything all right cuz it doesn't look good when people lie okay lying to her is one thing lying to me or detective sire or somebody else is another all right so let's do each other the the pay each other the respect to tell each other the truth yeah I did Li to her I didn't go out of town I mean I was going to go out of town but no I didn't go out of town why' you lie to her about that to be completely honest with you I don't know maybe you do know every time we lie we know why we're lying we don't do it subconsciously listen we're we don't know you from anybody right okay so obviously what we're investigating is important so we need to know the whole truth okay so don't don't feel that you have to um hide something or you're embarrassed of something or anything else like that okay best thing right now just lay it on the table and just let us know okay basically I was texting her to see if she wanted to hang out and I just said I got back into town told her I was unpacking that way it would seem like it'll take me a while before I'm ready to hang out no other reason no you weren't trying to make her think you were gone for some reason no have you ever tried to track her movements anyway via find my friends app or doing surveillance or anything like that not calling you a stalker I'm just saying curiosity maybe you're worried about what Chris is going to do or anything like that as innocent as it may have been do anything like that ever happen no no that's not why you told her you were out of town okay is there anything you haven't told us right now that's the truth now we're getting the whole truth thing out the table I'm telling you the truth okay that's the got truth if Don was trying to create an alibi for Chris's Murder By telling Stephanie she was out of town it was a pretty bad attempt because what she tells police about what she did the night of the murder doesn't exactly paint her in an innocent light so you left you left again after you watch the movies right yes okay where did you go just drove all around all around the areas that I know but I do that a lot if you look in my Facebook you will see where I put on my Facebook now when I need to think I just drive around what are the areas you know sometimes I go to Sunset Beach it's on Treasure Island um drive around same sheet you drive around seminal last night I drove up to where the strip club was what strip club there's only one strip club I know s Park B because my crew person LTI wanted to go there and check it out I actually took him there tonight what about last night one the one right there on Star I don't know the name of it but I've seen the seen the sign for starky it's on your left hand side it's on the South Side treasure chest or something yes that's it so he said he wanted to go there so I went to see where it was last night I was driving all around I went there Park Street Park Boulevard where I used to live off of Park Boulevard or Park Street so you were near where Chris Liv last night right he's yeah yeah yeah what time was it I maybe one did you go in the strip CL no did you pull in the parking lot no like I've heard about the strip FL I heard it was dress code and all this so but I didn't know exactly where it was did you drive down flame vine where Chris's house is at last night no did you walk down flame Vine no what time did you get home I have no idea I mean I don't you understand the importance of that question right no it's important give me your best guesser when you get home maybe three could it have been after three I don't think so I think it was around three what do you think that cuz I got home took my dogs out again and I came inside and the clock said I think it said like 3:30 you're what clock inside your house long clock or something yeah you your phone with you last night did you post on Facebook last night did you check in anywhere that was on Facebook did you check in anywhere last night check in no I never check in B so you was anybody with you last night no you're by yourself I usually am by myself you drove around by yourself for how long I usually drive around by myself sometimes an hour two hours it depends I would go to Sunset Beach and I set specifically last night how long did you drive around for maybe an hour hour and a half what are you doing when you're driving around just losing the music and think but I mean like I said I do it a lot are you lonely am I lonely I've always pretty much just kept to myself so the driving around I've always done that that's how I've always I don't know but are you lonely process Lonely no I got a house full of people I got friends I know that care about me I do have a couple of cousins that live here here am I lonely you wish holidays yes holidays are lonely I am is there part of you that wishes how old are you now 37 yes part of you wishes at 37 you were married by now that was going I've already been married I've been there don't want to do that again don't want to do that again all right I understand that do you miss Stephanie do I miss her yeah we all miss her I'm I'm asking about you I'm not sure are you a little heartbroken over what happened a little bit yes keep you up at night no is that what you were driving around last night no I'm driving around because I don't know what I want to do I don't know if I want to stay here if I want to move back so you see driving around it's kind of like you thinking when you went back to your neighborhood did you go inside your house no you just cuz I was going to go home and I decided to go to BP instead okay like I said I mean if you check my phone you look at my Facebook you see where I put on there I put on Facebook d driving around I'm thinking m i mean to me driving around listening to my music for me it's the best way for me to think more than once Don has pointed out that detectives can check her phone and Facebook for confirmation of her late night drives often times suspects will do this to try and look like they're being cooperative with the investigation in reality Don isn't concerned about her cell phone's data whatsoever because throughout the planning of the murder she used a burner cell phone for all of her crime related activities well almost all of them what initially tipped detectives off were deleted searches Don made of her primary phone including how to buy a gun without a background check cheap guns and over 10 hours of browsing for guns on online marketplaces then there was the evidence on Don's burner phone that included the threatening text that Stephanie received calling her names and telling her to back off did you see Chris at all last night no you didn't have any reason to confront him about anything last night no I haven't even talked to Chris the only thing that I've ever said to Chris in person that they was when I tell him when she was trying I was trying to help her up do you know anybody that would want to hurt him I don't even know the people that he Ang out with all I know is what she's told me let me ask you something D what why do you think we're here talking with you with me yeah because I didn't like him and he ended up dead yes mean that's a logical jump right yes we want to find out who did this to him okay so is that why you think you know we ask if you would come down here and talk with us and all that yeah I mean I think you're going to talk to anybody that knew them or had anything to do with them everybody if we can yes so but I mean I also know no I did not like him no I did not do anything to him and you're telling it's the truth that's the god truth do you know who did no like I said I don't even know his friends the only person I knew connected to him is Stephanie and all I know is they all used to go hang out with some guy named Josh with Stephanie do this I wouldn't think so why not because I know how much she loved him like I said l people killed the people they left stepping have a gun I don't think so that's s that now you said you don't have one right I have a p gun where's that I don't have a gun that's not home is it like a pistol or is it like a long rifle it's like a little handgun thing we were going to go camping like three years ago I was going to take it I've never owned a gun so do you think Stephanie would hurt him I think she loves him too much you didn't go to that house at all last night no I'm going to tell you be hon cuz I don't know you you don't know me I find your drive around last night a little odd okay he causes me some concern all right you driving around um you happen to drive right in the same area of where something happened to Chris that's how I felt tonight when Stephanie called me cuz when she called me I was with my friend latique and his cousin at that strip club when she called me what do you mean that's how you felt like concerned weird like I'm right there and then she's calling me telling me that this something happened to Chris why that make you feel we because I'm right here okay is just felt weird explain that to me I don't I don't understand your feelings or what was going through your head I mean I mean tell me about that this this is the kind of stuff like like you would see on TV you never think that something like this will ever happen to you something like that kind of weird you know just being involved in something like this or pretty much like I'm the kind of person where like I keep to myself mhm I mean like I said I always have even with friends I'm I'm very well help me understand when she called you and you felt weird I mean tell me what's going through your head well first of all when I finally understand what she's trying to say I mean I felt bad like I don't like the guy but I feel bad because that's somebody son that's that's somebody's family you know I've lost family I've lost my mom I've lost close relatives and I know what that feels like I mean the holidays are coming up and those are really hard for me because I don't have my mom mhm and I can't imagine what that would be like for another family I have to go through so you were feeling bad for his family I feel bad for anybody that go that is yes what about Stephanie of course I feel bad for her I don't know how much she cares about him what else were you thinking like I said this this isn't something you expect to ever happen to you you always hear it happen to somebody else but it's never happens to someone that you know or you've heard of okay so were you surprised were you shocked I I didn't even know her like I felt bad for her but I didn't know what to say to her she said she would call me later I mean she she's like I know you didn't like him or don't like him you know did you do this and I was like no she asked you that yes why you think she would ask that I don't know if she was still in shock or I don't know may be because you don't like them there's a lot of people I don't like but see when we talk about him something to someone everybody lik him from what we hear besides you that's not what I was told what were you told I was told that none of her friends like him I only don't like him because of what I saw and obviously something happened on Facebook was looking at those messages those are pretty uh a pretty pointed messages right yes I was angry how long was the Facebook messages after the incident in the yard maybe like two months later you're still that angry about no I was angry because of the things that he's saying on there but then I was just saying that I real man would hit a woman yeah that I mean that makes me mad so you already angry at him but then he had other Facebook messages which caused more anger or caused your messages that's what you're saying cause me to reply on anger yes you're a piece of [ __ ] forever putting your hands on her so keep your mouth shut before you and I have problems so you're not saying you're pissed off about what he said on Facebook you're calling him a piece of [ __ ] for putting his hands on her two months later so now it's this was September this is about 2 months after that are you still pissed off it's okay if you are I saw somebody put hands on somebody I care about I'd be pissed off still I will always be pissed off whenever I seen a man hit a woman do I think they would change no but like I said even my brother has hit women do I like it no but um let's switch roles a little bit right now right you be the detective for a minute okay all right I got a dead guy right I've got you Brocks from his house literally blocks from his house the night this happened and you're telling me I was just driving around which is somewhat logical hear me do you believe that do you take that on face value it's like you said I don't know you you don't know me I'd probably I don't know check up on you look to see you mean talk to your friends and stuff see what kind of person you are in fact that's exactly what what law enforcement went on to do shortly after this interrogation after thoroughly reviewing Don's phones detectives found messages between her and one of her friends just 2 days before the murder these messages indicated that Don was picking up something from her friend after only a few minutes of questioning this friend in February of 2017 he caved telling police that he sold Don a gun for $200 conveniently detectives were able to see that Don had pulled $200 out of an ATM on the day those texts were sent corroborating their story but they decided to take things a step further they put a wire on Don's friend and had him question her about the gun asking what happened to it because he was concerned about his own fingerprints being on it in response Don calmly told him it's gone and indicated that he didn't have to worry about it ever being found okay so she still planned on yeah sheing out with her just later she called me before I was done hanging out yeah I was hanging out with them when she called me going to hang out with them you're going to hang out with her later if she wanted to hang out yes okay all right so I kind of walked in on the end of the thing about something about you lying to her about being out of town was that that being out of town I mean when was that yesterday was before after you texted her about hanging out it was the same time same time yes okay so how did how did that go I'm sorry I missed that porun I told her I was at a time when I wasn't why honestly I put in the text I just gotten back everything we should be talking about right now should be honest okay you have to preface it with honestly just please tell me I told her that I was UN cracking stuff and I had to do laundry asked her if we can hang out CU I didn't want her to think it was like right away that we could do it later basically not trying to quit pressure on her to hang out okay but you wanted to hang out yeah listen we're all grown adults okay I'm D near 50 years old okay I've had a lot of relationships in my life okay some of them have not gone so well all right and whether I was mad at that person not mad or anything else like that a part of me so love that person okay and it's human nature to want that person to want you or or or whatever it may be okay sexually emotionally whatever that might be okay so I've played these little games that you're talking about and you just don't want to just come out and say it okay I've been there where I want to go find out who the girl is hanging out with you know is is she hanging out with some other dude is she doing this is she doing that or something like that okay this is a human emotion so if that's what's going on please just say it okay nothing to be ashamed you keep saying love was it love okay we weren't even talking that long okay well we don't know I I I want to know we wer talking that long I mean I even told my boss at work that we were talking that was it we were only talking okay but we weren't even talking that long maybe you can't say you're only talking I mean you just you told us before you guys were inent right she told us you guys had so I mean I say talking because that's what we're talking that's what we C it was talking because neither one of us is ready for relationship so was it yeah I mean we were not messing around long long enough to to even think about the L word okay but you cared for her I think she's a I think she's a good girl I think she has a big heart I think she means well you said before you cared for yeah I do care I mean most generally most people you have somebody care for them to some extent right right okay so that's what I'm saying I'm I'm I'm not trying to put words in your mouth and say that you loved her something like that but she has some feelings for her which is the whole reason why you lied to her for some reason because you know for whatever reason when you talk to exes or or or friends or whatever you don't want to put yourself out there and be the needy person right you don't want to say hey I I really please come hang out with me I really want to hang out with you you don't want to be that person you want to try to play cool and [ __ ] okay see if they want you see if you get what I'm saying is that what's going on here I just generally miss my friend honestly I miss my friend she is a good person she has a big heart okay so why be deceptive about being out of town I just don't that isn't it's not adding up in my head to me it was a way to like I don't know like how do I put it you understand it like say you her right and I'm talking to you I'm saying oh I just got back I need to unpack and all this making that like is it's not really a big deal no pressure cuz I don't want her to think that there's any pressure mhm I just I miss my friend but you want to hang out yeah I would like to hang out but I miss my friend okay and that's that's what it comes down to you okay did you ever make a remark to her her in the past about um knowing that she's not home or something like that implying that you know you're watching her house or you're watching her or something oh there's while back um we txting while back being what after she moved back in where her parents okay yeah we were texting back and forth and then she then text for a few minutes and then she text back said something I was like you're not even home I was playing with her joking I was at home H home okay how long ago was this two three months ago right after she moved in her parents house okay now see that again causes me concern because I think about myself and my text conversations and phone conversations and stuff and if I was just playing around with somebody about something like that I probably wouldn't even remember that freaking conversation but I brought it up to you in a certain way and you SN to right to it so was the intent behind it oh because like I've done little things for her like um roses and a teddy bear and even a dog what do you mean a dog like a dog like a sorry a horse like a stuffed animal okay I I don't understand what what does that mean I mean like I put it on her car what I'm asking is did You imply to her that you were stalking her or you were watching somewhere no okay I've never watched her okay well but that was my question and then you snap to some comment two three no I mean that's the only thing that I I've done but that was at work what was that at work the teddy bear and the the roosing oh okay you're you're putting that on I'm not really putting that on on the same level of stalking I'm saying have you ever you were asked before have you ever followed her have you ever gone to check her out to see if she's with Chris or somebody else or anything like that no when you guys were together or not together we've never been together okay talking no I've never followed her never watched her no okay so that comment that you're telling me about you made it but it was because she used to make comments to me all the time like um we'd be playing around at work or something and I'd be checking out her ass and she'd be like you stalk her I'm like oh how did you know and when you you used to make the jokes about how um I'd be texting her at night or I'll be talking to her at work and and she'll say something i' be like oh could you leave the curtain open so I could see more we'd make jokes and I get that people make jokes like that too but I'm saying this comment that you made was I thought it yeah that was a part of the joke I mean the jokes that we made we'll knock that stuff out and we'll try to get you out of here okay I appreciate you coming down and talking us all right and and keep in mind even though we're asking po questions question and all that kind of stuff what we're trying to do is figure out what's going on okay understand right we haven't asked you anything we haven't asked 12 other people over there okay it's nothing personal all right right back despite the detectives assurance that they were merely following protocol Don was arrested on March 7th 2015 for the first-degree murder of Christopher rotenberger in December of 2018 she was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison fortunately Stephanie was able to carry her and Christopher's daughter to term she was named in honor of her father and it appears that his legacy remains at the center of his daughter's life