All language subtitles for Blood.&.Money.S01E04.A.College.Kingpins.Greed.1080p.PCOK.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

In the criminal
justice system,

detectives and prosecutors
face daunting challenges

when money
is the motive for murder.

[dramatic sting]

A suspicious disappearance
captures media attention.

There are still
two missing people,

and we have not heard
anything from them.

Detectives uncover ties

to a multimillion-dollar
criminal network.

It seemed like
he took glee in taking

the life of these people.

Prosecutors are thwarted
by an arrogant,

well-resourced adversary.

He was flamboyant.

He spent money like it was
going out of style.

But they craft
their own sting

to take down the kingpin.

I'm hearing it, and I can't
believe what I'm hearing.

These men and women dedicate
their lives to law and order.

I worked homicide
for 17 years.

But this case--
once in a lifetime.

These are
their true stories.

[dramatic sting]

[subway rattling]

[train whistles]

[dramatic music]

We were out
in Woodside, Queens,

for the purposes of doing
a pretty low-level

confidential informant
street buy

from a known drug dealer.

The guy who was doing
the video in the van

called on the radio and said,
"Hey, grab the informant.

Something's going on
on this block."

In a bizarre coincidence,

agents then intercepted
a kidnapping.

Later, while interviewing
the victim,

they learned he was entangled
in a vast web

of violent financial schemes.

The victim in the case
was very afraid.

It wasn't long before
we realized that, you know,

we had kind of stumbled
our way

to a much bigger
and complex case.

In order to gain protection,
the victim confessed

involvement in a fatal conspiracy

in Southern California.

He said,
"You guys need to find

"this guy, Peter Kovach.

I think he might be dead."

OK. Wait a minute.

Let's go back a little bit.

[dramatic sting]

[phone ringing]

Peter Kovach
and his coworker Ted Gould

had first been reported
as missing

when police got a 911 call

from their place
of employment,

Galleria Telecom
in Torrance, California.

The business was
left unlocked,

just simply open
and unattended.

I arrived,
contacted the two individuals

who were at the location.

Paul Poduska seemed
very concerned.

He was there to visit
his friend, Ted Gould.

I was supposed to meet
my best friend Ted at 8:00.

He told me that he had
got a new job

working at
the Galleria Telecom

beeper and cell phone
sales company.

Got off work and drove
directly to the store.

The lights were on
in the shop.

I looked around.
There was nobody there.

The next person that showed up
told me that he was

one of the owners
of the company.

I happened to drive by
at about 11:00 p.m. at night,

and I saw all the doors
and the lights were on.

And when I drove in,
I noticed Ted's friend

was still waiting for him.

It was then
when I called the police,

because it was pretty unusual,

since both their cars
were here.

He indicated that
two employees were missing.

They were Peter Kovach
and Ted Gould.

The business,
it was undisturbed,

and none of the phones
were missing.

No indications of any
violent crime, robbery.

RJ Panah indicated
that when he went inside,

he noticed
that the camera was turned

and projected upward
to the ceiling,

which was unusual.

Security camera
for the business

was nonfunctioning,
according to RJ Panah.

And so you start
analyzing all that,

and you become very suspicious.

♪ ♪

RJ Panah was interviewed
while at the scene.

Ted, I just hired
about four weeks ago.

Known Peter for about a year.

You know, I love him
like a brother.

Peter Kovach was
like a half-owner

of the business.

Ted Gould was just an employee
for the location.

Peter was from the East Coast
and had quite a bit of cash.

RJ Panah and Peter
hit it off as friends.

As time went on,
Peter provided cash

and became part owner.

He was a guy in his 20s,
very friendly, very charming.

But other than that,
this guy doesn't have

much background information.

Investigators learned
that Peter had come

from a modest upbringing

by loving parents
in New Jersey,

gone to college in Miami,
and had almost

no record of prior employment.

Peter was making
a lot of money.

I mean, he's pulling
a lot of cash,

and it didn't come
from the business.

I was suspicious of what
Peter might have been up to.

Paul Poduska had been

the first person
onto the scene

and was still there
when police arrived.

He was able to give them
background on his friend Ted,

the other missing man.

Ted was funny.

He just had a great sense
of humor, genuinely.

Just the--the smile
in all of these pictures.

He was one of my best friends
from college.

We met at Cal State Northridge
University marching band.

Ted grew up
in Southern California.

After college, he was living
in Redondo Beach, California.

He was 29 years old.

Ted was excited
about his new job.

He wanted to move forward
with newer technology.

It was definitely
out of character for him

to not be there.

I felt that something
was extremely wrong.

As the hunt for Ted Gould
and Peter Kovach

went into high gear,

news broke
across Southern California.

This case was fascinating,
all the twists and turns.

It's as if the two men
had literally vanished

into the night.

The following morning,
I was contacted

by Detective James Cook.

I've known him
for quite a while.

Me and Jeff worked together
in the patrol division.

We actually lived together
for a while

when we were
younger police officers.

Detective Cook related
that individuals were arrested

near the Galleria Telecom

a couple weeks before
these people were missing.

It could have been coincidence,
but I don't think so.

[dramatic sting]

On October 10, 1994,
at approximately 9:00

in the evening
in the city of Torrance,

some patrol officers observed
a gray and blue Buick

exiting between
some businesses--

I think it was
Galleria cell phone business.

When the occupants observed
the police car,

they immediately fled the area.

Alerted
by the suspicious Buick

attempting to flee
the quiet commercial district,

officers pulled
the vehicle over.

When the cops stop
this suspicious vehicle,

they find three men inside.

The driver, Ruben Hernandez,

could not produce
a driver's license.

The front passenger,
Kenneth Friedman,

had surgical gloves in both
his front pants pockets.

The rear passenger,
Juan Galindo,

his address was from New York.

When police are questioning
these three men,

what they discover is duct tape
and two loaded handguns.

They were placed
under arrest

for probable cause robbery

and the gun violations
that were in the vehicle.

We had the area canvassed

to see if any crimes were
committed that night.

Nothing.

I thought that they had
prevented a robbery

from occurring that night.

So I left that afternoon

thinking that these guys
are from New York,

they have no money,

they're still gonna be
in custody.

To my surprise, when I came in
the next morning,

I found out
that they had bonded out.

And I was curious
why somebody would post bail

for these three people
from New York.

The three men
were able to walk

because they had a fast-talking
attorney from New York.

We had some taped
phone calls from the jail.

The night
that they got arrested,

Kenneth Friedman was talking
to his attorney,

Gary Friedman, about bail.

Very incriminating
type of conversations.

But there was nothing
I could do

because there was no robbery
committed that night.

When I learned what happened
at the cell phone business,

we immediately put
two and two together and said,

"I think our suspects are

Kenneth Friedman
and Gary Friedman."

I ran a record check
with New York

and found out that
Kenneth Friedman had done time

for a robbery conviction
in 1985.

Then we found out
that Gary Friedman,

the attorney representing
Kenneth Friedman,

was Kenneth Friedman's brother.

Two brothers, you know.

One was a defense attorney,

and the other one
was a criminal.

Gary Friedman was
a criminal defense attorney

who lived a lavish lifestyle--

big homes, boats.

But his work as an attorney
was dwindling.

So he needed to find
another source of income.

Based on information
developed from phone calls

and background investigations,

I was able to determine
that the IRS was

in the middle
of an investigation

that was going to file charges
against Gary Friedman

for money laundering
with some other activities.

The detectives began
to formulate a theory

on the Friedmans
and their crew.

This was the street they came
out onto from the business.

We're west
of the Galleria Telecom.

During the traffic stop
on that vehicle,

the items found appeared to be,
or could have been,

a toolkit for a kidnapping.

You can't be that dumb
to come back,

commit the kidnapping
of the two

from the same business
that you were arrested for

two weeks prior.

You guys are really stupid.

[chuckles]
And arrogant too.

Investigators wondered if
the desperate need for money

led the Friedmans
to kidnapping,

extortion, or worse.

We both decided
that these were

our possible suspects
in this disappearance.

We didn't know
how they related

to Peter Kovach and Ted Gould.

I was able to review
Ted and Peter Kovach,

if they were connected
in any way,

and found no connection
other than just

the simple employment
at the Galleria Telecom.

There are still
two missing people,

and we have not heard
anything from them

or from anyone that knows them.

[dramatic sting]

♪ ♪

I get the phone call--

two bodies have been found.

We immediately drove
down to San Diego,

to the location where
the bodies have been recovered.

I mean, it was not
a pretty sight.

There's this guy
a lot of people were

attracted to,
including Peter Kovach.

He wanted to be Tony Montana,
the drug lord.

And when you're making
millions of dollars,

Torrance investigators
rush to San Diego

after receiving notice
that two bodies were

discovered in an alleyway.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

The identification
had been made,

and they were Peter Kovach
and Ted Gould.

The bodies were dumped
and left there

for a couple days
before they were found.

They were
badly decomposed, bloated.

Cause of death
for Peter Kovach

and Ted Gould
was strangulation.

Just an unfortunate situation.

[somber music]

Detective Lancaster
called me and let me know.

I remember feeling
shocked and horrified

and sorrow.

It was definitely
a tragic situation,

and I don't--
I don't like to revisit.

I need to take a break.

Peter Kovach's mother
and sister

came by the station,

and they were very upset.

It was a really tough time.

There was a warrant out
for Kenneth Friedman,

Juan Galindo,
and Ruben Hernandez.

We had no information
as to where they were.

Investigators
continued pursuit.

But the lead suspect,
Kenny, was off the grid,

and his brother and attorney
Gary was uncooperative.

Although Peter could have been
a financial target,

there was no clear connection.

Months passed.

But then an ATF operation on
the other side of the country

and a second kidnapping
expanded the case

to an interstate conspiracy.

It was probably about 10:00
in the morning.

I get a phone call,
long distance, from the ATF

that he was investigating
a kidnapping

and had some information
that might relate

to a Torrance homicide.

It was a large break.

Within a day or two, we were
in New York, meeting with ATF.

[dramatic sting]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

I was a special agent
with the Bureau of Alcohol,

Tobacco, and Firearms,
primarily responsible

for organized crime cases,
narcotics trafficking,

enforcing federal
firearms laws.

In 1995,

a small-time drug case
that we were trying to do

became a much bigger case.

We were there, actually,
to look at that guy,

the guy
with the little white hat.

- Yeah.
- We were gonna make a drug buy

from him with an informant.

We had a van

set up on the block
to do a videotape.

And right about now, I think,
the guy inside the van

with the camera is telling us
on the radio,

like, "Hey,
something's going on.

There's a weird--like, this guy
doesn't belong here."

- Oh--
- There's Gary Friedman.

There's Gary Friedman.

Gary's brother is
Kenneth Friedman,

and he was a suspect
in the disappearance

of Peter Kovach and Ted Gould.

Ultimately, these guys
walked away to Gary's car,

and they take
an individual out.

Gary Friedman's car leaves.

They seized the individual
who was in Gary's car,

walked him back, and is
putting him in the back seat.

And for a brief moment,
just as he's

putting him in the back seat,

you can see a gun
in his left hand.

We then filmed what turned out
to be the kidnapping

of Bruce Wolofsky,
who ultimately would become

a confidential
informant for us.

NYPD rolled in
one of their units

and stopped the car
from leaving the area.

What a lucky coincidence.
I mean, it was just luck.

Detectives noted that
Gary Friedman and his crew,

suspected for the deadly
kidnapping in Torrance,

had attempted to kidnap
another victim in New York.

We were going to conduct
an interview

with Bruce Wolofsky,
the kidnapping victim.

He was kidnapped that day
by Gary Friedman

because he had
borrowed $10,000

and was not paying him back
the money.

Previously, he had tried
to get himself out of debt.

Bruce, being in
the car business,

had access to credit bureau
checks on people

to try to ascertain
their whereabouts.

Gary had asked him to run

some credit bureau checks
on Peter Kovach.

Bruce did provide
his place of employment, also.

Galleria Telecom.

He said,
"You guys need to find

"this guy, Peter Kovach.

I think he might be dead."

That was the connection
that they had.

We were trying
to piece together

what would have caused anybody
to send people

out to California to kidnap
and ultimately murder

Peter Kovach and Ted Gould.

As investigators pressed
Bruce for the connection

between Gary Friedman
and Peter Kovach,

Bruce revealed the involvement
of a new player--

Gary Friedman's partner
in a number of nightclubs

in New York and Miami.

Gary Friedman starts opening
these clubs

with a guy back east
named Howard Bloomgarden.

I'd never heard
of Howard Bloomgarden.

But Howard became
a major person of interest

in this case.

Bruce was able to relate
that Howard Bloomgarden was

a businessman in Florida,

was simply 24 or 25 years old
at that time.

Owned the Coco Bongo Lounge
and had owned

some previous locations
in the state of New York.

And maybe his business wasn't
exactly on the up and up.

Howard Bloomgarden
was sent down

to Florida for an education.

He showed up down there
in a red Corvette convertible.

He was flamboyant.

He spent money like it was
going out of style.

He went
to the University of Miami.

Hold on a second.

Peter actually went to college
down in Miami.

Howard was given
everything he needed.

And he just didn't
subscribe to that.

He wanted to be Tony Montana,
the drug lord.

If Howard could make
the same amount of money

legitimately,

he would still choose
to make it illegitimately

'cause it was more exciting.

In fact, Bruce told us
that Howard Bloomgarden

and Peter Kovach had
a long criminal history

dealing drugs together.

I call it a break.
[laughs]

The confidential informant provided

a lot
of background information

and then
some specific information

about criminal activity that

Pete and Howard Bloomgarden
had participated in.

[dramatic music]

Howard Bloomgarden
and Peter Kovach met

when they were both in college
down in Miami.

Howard Bloomgarden,
Peter Kovach,

and some other individuals
became organized,

and they started doing

hundreds of pounds
of marijuana.

The Mexican connection
would get the drugs

to somewhere in California,

and then back east to Florida,

to New York.

Howard was quite successful.

And when you're making
millions of dollars,

you need to find a way
to hide it.

Gary Friedman
was actually investing

in Howard Bloomgarden's
empire.

His nightclubs and strip clubs
were the front

for the money laundering operation.

Kenneth Friedman was
kind of the strong-arm muscle

for his brother,
who was Gary Friedman.

Kenneth Friedman had
a long criminal history.

He was a lot older than these
college guys Peter's age.

And, you know,
he had a reputation

of being a bad guy,
somebody to be avoided.

Howard Bloomgarden's
drug trafficking was netting

millions in cash
and moving tons of marijuana,

pushing Bloomgarden
to relocate Peter Kovach

to California to oversee it,

until one operation
spelled disaster.

This crew of guys that were
working with Howard

bought an RV,
made spaces in it

for 800 pounds of marijuana

to be transported
from California.

When they are in Illinois,
though, they get stopped.

And the Illinois State Police
find the drugs,

and, you know,
they seize the whole thing.

The Mexican connection,
he didn't get paid.

The street value of that was

up to several
hundred thousand dollars.

That's what led to the rift
between Peter and Howard.

You know,
we come to learn later,

Howard believed
that Pete had something to do

with setting him up.

At some point after
he came out to California,

Peter was trying to go straight
and trying to get

out of that type of work.

Peter was actually really
trying to redeem himself.

He knew that he was
in too far,

and he really started
a new life.

But Howie blamed Peter

for the loss
of millions of dollars.

Bloomgarden had become
increasingly paranoid

about Peter Kovach,

believing that he'd engineered
the police sting

to take over his operation.

The Friedmans were enlisted
to make Peter pay his debt,

no matter what
the consequences,

with Ted Gould caught
in the crossfire.

For Ted Gould,
it could have been,

"You can't leave a witness.

"You know, you got a guy here,
he knows what we've done,

where we've done it."

Wrong place, wrong time.

[dramatic sting]

In March of 1995,
we decided we would coordinate

the arrests of those guys
for the kidnapping-based

crimes that occurred
in New York.

We were slowly scooping
or contacting everyone.

And they were all surrendering

or being arrested at that time.

We were starting to focus
on Howard Bloomgarden.

But we didn't want
to arrest him

and then just have him
get cut loose,

'cause we knew he'd come
with expensive attorneys

who would get him out
if the case wasn't good,

or maybe even if
the case was good.

So the two agencies
are working together

to build a case,
but their goals

are actually quite different.

The state is looking for
charges for a double homicide,

and the feds are looking
for charges

of extortion, racketeering,
and trafficking.

I was trying to build
a homicide case

involving Ruben Hernandez,
Juan Galindo,

Kenneth Friedman,
also Gary Friedman,

and Howie Bloomgarden.

I felt that they were
all involved

in the California homicide.

♪ ♪

I was slowly developing
an idea as to their technique

of getting cash
out to the West Coast.

It was just
a simple, easy code.

They would use Western Union.

They would take names.

They would switch them around
a little bit,

but it was all
familiar to them

because they were friends.

A gentleman named Gus Malave
down in San Diego,

he was receiving cash
from them.

And Western Union would
forward me

all of that paperwork.

The Torrance Police
Department made arrangements

to bring Gus Malave in

and have him take a polygraph.

He was deceptive,

but he did tell us
a lot of things.

Gus Malave was
receiving cash

from them from the East Coast,
from Gary Friedman,

for car purchases,
for gun purchases.

Gus started describing
what happened

the night
of the disappearance.

Kenneth, Juan, and Ruben
take Peter and Ted,

drive up to the motel,

which is right up
Hawthorne Boulevard.

This is where the three guys
from New York stayed.

Right there, room 116.

[dramatic music]

According to Gus Malave,

they take the two guys,

Peter and Ted,
into the motel room.

Kenneth is just a wild card,
and he ended up

strangling both those guys.

The Friedman brothers want Gus
to take care of the car,

take care of the bodies.

And so he's--
for a certain amount of cash,

takes the car,
drives it back to San Diego,

and dumped them
behind some businesses.

With the statement
from Malave in hand,

investigators could take their case

that implicated the Friedmans

to Los Angeles
district attorneys.

And if Malave
cooperated further,

charges would fly
against Howard Bloomgarden.

As a DA, you know,
I'll read everything.

But I also--I'd rather
talk to the people

that did the investigation.

Geoff Lewin was
very, very exceptional.

I had long conversations
with Bob Schmitt,

long conversations
with Jeff Lancaster.

In this case, we know
Howard's pulling the strings.

First, I have to prove
his connections.

How are we gonna prove

that Howard was
on the East Coast,

ordering Kenny Friedman to kill
these guys on the West Coast?

We've never seen
this picture before.

Among incompetent, uh--
incompetent crooks--

This is Gus Malave,
who was instrumental to helping

the kidnapping
and murder happen, but--

Flipped on his--

I believe
on his first interrogation.

According to Gus Malave,

Howard Bloomgarden
had gotten on the phone

and said, "Kill them."

At this point, Howard will
face his own charges.

♪ ♪

When Howard Bloomgarden
first approached

the United States
Attorney's Office

through his attorneys,

he, you know, seemingly wanted
to cooperate.

And he came in and gave us
a lot of information.

Howard had a lot of money.

That meant a lot of people
were attracted to Howard,

including Peter Kovach.

Peter did not grow up
with a lot of money.

Peter grew up in New Jersey
with a very close family,

but Howard was just
this bigger-than-life guy

who had, you know, everything.

And that helped
with getting other people

to, you know, party with him.

And a lot of those guys
ended up being

his coconspirators
in the drug trade.

Howard admitted
that at the height

of this organization's
moneymaking,

they were probably making

several million dollars
a month.

When the marijuana
got confiscated

from the motor home,
Howard was on the line for it.

He was losing money

at a faster rate
than he was making it.

He confessed
he'd had people kidnapped.

But Howard has said
that he told these people,

"Hey, get Peter Kovach
on the phone with me,"

never said to kill,
and then Kenny Friedman,

this horrible guy,
took it on his own

to kill Peter Kovach
and Ted Gould.

It was clear to us
that he was

holding back
and certainly minimizing

his own involvement.

Federal prosecutors
in New York

brought interstate charges
for racketeering,

kidnapping, and extortion
against Howard and his crew.

Now LADA had to wait
in line for the feds

to finish their prosecution
before we could

prosecute Howard

for the murders
of Peter and Ted.

[dramatic sting]

So the first time
they asked me to come testify,

it was for a federal case.

It's been a long time
since I have been in that seat.

It was obviously
a traumatic experience.

I learned that they had taken

my friend and Pete
to a hotel room

somewhere close by

and had tortured
and killed both of them.

[somber music]

My friend Ted Gould
was strangled

with a telephone cord.

♪ ♪

Having Ted be
an innocent bystander in the--

the whole situation is--

just makes it more terrible.

♪ ♪

Howard had enlisted
Gerald Shargel,

who is a really big-time

defense attorney
out of New York.

So I was very surprised
when they came in

and offered to plead out.

Bloomgarden would plead
to six counts,

which included responsibility
for Ted and Peter's deaths

while in the commission
of other federal crimes

of racketeering and extortion.

Howard Bloomgarden admitted
in open court,

standing right next
to his lawyer,

that he approved of

and financed

the murders of Peter Kovach
and Ted Gould.

The attorney's gotten
this great deal,

got 34 years in New York.

Kenny ultimately was tried
and convicted in New York,

got life upon life in New York
along with his brother, Gary.

Juan Galindo,

Ruben Hernandez,
and Gus Malave

pled guilty, and they received

lesser sentences than all
of the others involved.

So Howard Bloomgarden pled
in '96 in New York.

He was finally brought
out to California in 2005.

LA prosecutors feel
that Howie got off easy,

so now they can't wait to build
their own case against him.

Howard Bloomgarden
had a lot of money.

He had John Gotti's
ex-attorney, Gerald Shargel,

with a whole team
of attorneys.

But we have him on the record
saying he financed

and he approved of the murders.

"Judge, we want to use
that statement."

Uh, judge said no.

[dramatic music]

Essentially,
the judge in LA ruled

that no attorney
in their right mind

would allow him to plead
in New York,

say the things he said,

when there was a current
pending death penalty

in California.

I strongly disagreed with that.

I thought they--
he had incredible attorneys

in New York.

It was rumored he spent
probably $400,000

on his defense in New York,

which was a fortune
in '94, '95.

It was devastating
to the case.

Howard Bloomgarden's
legal team

successfully excluded
his confession,

taken during the federal trial
in New York City,

from prosecutorial evidence

in his pending murder trial
in Los Angeles.

That was very scary
in a case like this,

where the puppet master
putting it all together

could walk on the case.

I have a confession
that is golden,

but because of Howard's
big money,

we had our backs
up against the wall.

And John Kovach
tells this story also.

He's like, "Howard Bloomgarden
sat at our table.

He sat at our table,
and he ate with us."

Yeah.

And to know that he was
involved in killing Peter,

he--he just couldn't
deal with that.

I couldn't get through this.

I think my kids were

9 and 12 or so
when this happened.

[somber music]

Peter Kovach's mom, Mary Anne,

had written a letter.

I remember reading her letter.

"My son is in his grave.

"All I have is this picture
of the tombstone.

"I remember my son on
his graduation day.

"I told him I loved him
more than God.

"I watched him sleep,
and I was so proud

"that I gave birth
to such a huge boy.

I was amazed even then."

♪ ♪

It's hard to read now. Um...

I can't read the rest of it.

Hard--very hard to read.
Can't--I can't read it.

♪ ♪

There are certain cases
that stand out

for different reasons.

In this case, I am helping
families, helping people

that have gone through
horrible things,

and helping them to get
some peace and justice.

While Los Angeles
prosecutors strategized

how to overcome the exclusion
of Howard's testimony,

they also prepared
for the state murder trials

of Kenneth and Gary Friedman.

The two Friedman brothers
came out to California

and pled guilty.

Gary Friedman, he was
a defense attorney,

but he was as dirty
as they get.

Where Gary was
kind of the brains,

Kenny was
definitely the muscle.

And Kenny had a long history
of violent conduct.

Kenny had no problem

beating people up,
extorting people.

Kenny Friedman is crazy.

He is violent.

He is one of the scariest guys
you've ever seen.

Kenny Friedman
was sentenced to death,

and Gary Friedman
was sentenced to life

without the possibility
of parole.

When I found out I was happy,
because I think it's justice.

Kenny the Animal.

Kenny, also known as
the Animal, he's the killer.

It seemed like he took glee
in taking the life of--

of these people.

Killed himself ultimately.

- Ended up killing himself.
- On death row.

- Yeah.
- Hung himself.

Years passed
as Gary Friedman weathered

his brother's suicide
behind bars

and Howard's
prestigious lawyers

mounted attacks
to delay his trial.

His confession
in federal court was

at the heart of the battle.

Ruling had
already been made.

I was not allowed
to use that confession.

I have probably never
briefed or argued

a single issue harder.

I spent over a year
trying to get the court

to reconsider that ruling.

That did not prove
to be successful.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

So I have a room
full of federal boxes

for Howard Bloomgarden.

I start going through
these 46 boxes.

And one of the things I find
is letters of mitigation

to the federal judge
saying, you know,

"Please spare Howard,

give him a better deal,
and here is why."

And I started reading
through these letters,

and they're letters
from his mom, his dad,

his sisters, from 1996.

They're a gold mine.

I found five different
relatives all over the place.

I want to send out
five teams of investigators

to have a simultaneous
door knock,

where we get these people
before they can communicate

with each other, to say,
"Hey, Mrs. Bloomgarden,

"you wrote back in 1996,

"'Howard feels horrible
about what he did.'

What did you mean by that?"

And see if hopefully
someone says,

"Oh, Howard felt horrible.

He ordered the murders
of these two guys."

[dramatic sting]

♪ ♪

So on January 13, 2014,

a task force coordinates
all of these interviews

happening across the country
at the exact same time.

I remember driving up
the 110 freeway

at, like, 5:30 in the morning,
heading to work,

waiting to hear
from the different people

in the different areas.

And one by one,
they're all falling.

Chicago, I think
someone had dementia.

Someone wouldn't
open the door.

These people, you know,
didn't want to talk.

And everything's
kind of falling apart.

And I hear from all of them,
and I get to work.

And, you know,
nothing worked out.

Afterwards, we're debriefing
with the investigators.

And one of the investigators,
Shawn Robinson,

tells me,
"Hey, this is interesting.

"When I'm talking to
Susan Bloomgarden, the sister,

"there's this guy George,
her boyfriend,

"that won't stop talking
in the background.

"He won't shut up.
He keeps wanting to talk.

"And so finally,
I talked to him.

You want to hear the tape?"

I'm like, yeah.

And at this point,
I'm defeated.

I'm figuring this is all
not gonna work.

I remember being at Ralph's
by my house,

a grocery store,
buying something.

And I had a--I remember a very
cheap pair of headphones,

and I have
the George Kuney tape on.

And I'm hearing it,

and I can't believe
what I'm hearing.

I was sort of in shock,
because all of a sudden,

After collecting a recording
that incriminated

Howard Bloomgarden for murder,

Los Angeles prosecutors were
ready to take him to trial.

[dramatic sting]

[dramatic music]

Defendant is not here

because his life
cast him here.

He had everything as a child.

Nobody stands in the way
of what the defendant wants.

He wants his money,
and he doesn't care

what he has to do.

If he can get Peter Kovach
alone, that's great.

If someone else has to go,
can't help it.

Collateral damage.

Even a completely
innocent person--

Ted Gould, in this case.

The star witness in
the trial is Ruben Hernandez.

He walks into the courtroom
surrounded by U.S. Marshals,

and he gives the most details
of this crime.

According to Ruben,
the night of the murders,

you had Ted Gould
and Peter Kovach

working at the cell phone
store in Torrance.

As Ted is waiting
for Paul Poduska to get there,

the lights from a car
come off Hawthorne Boulevard

into the parking lot, and they
shine right into the store.

Three guys rushed in.
They've got guns.

One guy tilts the camera down,

and they pull Ted and Peter

into a 1974 two-door LTD

in the parking lot.

And they drove about two miles
through Hawthorne

to the Travelers Inn.

Kenny Friedman starts beating
Peter up pretty badly,

demanding Howard's money.

According
to Ruben's testimony,

there's a final phone call
between Kenny and Howard.

And in the end,
according to Ruben,

it's Howard that says,
"Kill them."

Ruben Hernandez
gets on Peter's back,

and Kenny Friedman pulls out
the corded telephone cord

and begins to strangle
Peter Kovach.

And if you are familiar
with strangulation,

it's a very long
and difficult process.

Ted Gould, who had nothing
to do with any of this,

is actually sitting
on the floor

with a pillow case
covering his head,

listening to his friend
being killed and tortured.

Once Peter is dead,
Kenny looks over to Ted Gould.

And Kenny says,
"Bring him over."

So when I called
George Kuney to the stand,

the joke always was,
"Boy, it's gonna be

a hostile Thanksgiving
at the Bloomgarden house."

Because George basically
laid out Howard

unknowingly at the time.

When George Kuney testifies,

he denies he ever made
these comments.

That's when Geoff Lewin
pushes a button

and Kuney's voice
fills the courtroom.

The jury could hear it
coming straight

from the horse's mouth.

Kuney's testimony is crucial
because it corroborates

what Ruben Hernandez said about
Howard ordering the killings.

This was a plan.

This was not something
the defendant was thrown into.

This is something
the defendant organized.

After several weeks,
the jury returns a verdict

in a matter of hours.

Howard Bloomgarden is found
guilty on all counts in murder

in the course of kidnapping.

In our law, we have
a separate proceeding

where the jury gets
to actually hear victim impact.

[somber music]

The impact statement
testimony was--

was really hard.

I pretty much broke down
in tears on the stand

about how much
I missed my friend.

There wasn't a dry eye
in the room,

including the prosecutor.

It was just quiet
for a long time.

It's difficult to think of
somebody that was so vibrant,

so happy-go-lucky,
being murdered.

He deserves to be
remembered fondly.

I would like to think
that Ted would still be

bopping around, listening
to his favorite music,

just being Ted.

The 1993 drug bust had cost
Howard Bloomgarden millions

and driven him to end
the lives of Peter and Ted.

22 years later,

the California courts
finally sentenced him

to life without parole.

Howard, you know,
he's still alive.

And although he's incarcerated,
he's enjoying life

that Peter and Ted are not.

And the appeals are
exhausted at this point.

But there are always
other challenges,

habeas corpus,
other things you can do.

Howard continues
to spend his money

to try and escape responsibility

for what he did.

And Howard will continue
to do that

until he's either released
or he dies

or the money runs out.