Original subtitles

Narrator:

Narrator: In 1996,

a California homeowner

made a horrifying discovery

in his backyard.

It was a human skull.

Narrator: And a dark, deadly tragedy started to unfold.

I'd start finding little bones, small bones.

You have to wonder, who would do something like that to a child?

Chris Minsal: That's what shook people,

'cause a lot of things can happen in back yards,

and you just don't know.

Narrator: A year's long search

to find a missing loved one

was brought back to life.

I never believed that they didn't want to be found.

Narrator: It was a bizarre mystery

that sent detectives down an unexpected road.

Joe Martinez: We identified veterinarians within a 10-mile radius,

and we started knocking on their doors.

Kelli Wilson: But we knew there was a monster out there.

I didn't want this to happen to anybody else.

Narrator:

Narrator: In the high-desert town

of Littlerock, California,

summer days are hot and lazy

and typically nothing blows through town.

Chris Minsal: When I was a kid, we had about three stoplights,

and I think we have about six stoplights now, maybe seven.

Very, very quiet.

Every once in a while you'll get a really loud rooster.

( laughs )

Lot of people raise their own chickens, horses, pigs.

It's very comfortable and very nice living.

You'd be lucky if you'd see a sheriff twice a week,

three times a week.

It is a rough little gem,

that's far from being polished,

and we prefer to keep it that way.

Narrator: In August of 1996,

when Detective Joe Martinez

got word about an unusual discovery,

his adrenaline kicked in.

Martinez: I receive a call from my lieutenant.

It was my day off.

However, he needed someone to go take a look,

so he asked me if I would go take a look,

and I said, "Yeah, I'll go take a look."

So I finally get there.

And I spoke to the homeowner.

They had been living there

for about five, six months,

and they decided that it was time to clean up the back yard

where there was a bunch of tree limbs.

And while cleaning up that area,

that resident felt the ground very spongy.

He decided to remove several inches of dirt,

and he came upon the corrugated tin

and then the plywood.

And when he lifted both of them up,

there was a hole.

The hole was kind of a rectangular hole,

maybe a three-by-four size,

and about six feet deep.

Narrator: When the homeowner peered inside,

he saw a neatly wrapped bundle.

Was it trash? Or someone's treasure?

His curiosity fully piqued,

the homeowner didn't waste a minute more

getting to the bundle.

Martinez: So he jumps in. He lifts it up.

He started unwrapping it.

Narrator: And what fell to the ground was ghastly.

It was a human skull.

Once the unraveling of the blanket was made,

you could actually see the rest of the human remains.

Narrator: This seasoned detective was rarely shaken,

and instantly knew he needed to call in help.

Martinez: It was very disturbing.

When we first come across human remains like that

and they're not advertising who they are.

So, it's up to us to identify who that victim is.

I'm not trained in that.

So I had to get a forensic specialist to the scene

to tell us what we had.

Narrator: Doctor Debra Gray was one of the best in her field.

And was called in to try and help solve this baffling mystery.

A forensic archaeologist is a person who's been trained

in archaeological techniques of recovery in a crime scene.

Narrator: When Doctor Gray arrives on any scene,

she knows someone has become the target

of a disturbing crime.

Gray: They're all victims.

Somebody has hurt them, we don't know why.

We don't know any of the whole story.

Our job is to concentrate on recovering whatever we can

to tell that decedent's story.

Narrator: Doctor Gray set upon the grisly task

of examining the human remains.

She hoped the bones would give her a glimpse

into the final hours of the victim's life.

Gray: The bones themselves were by and large devoid of flesh.

There was no soft tissue adhering.

Maybe a little bit of mummified tissue.

So we knew it had been at least a year

since the decedent had passed away.

Narrator: A closer look at the skull revealed more disturbing clues

that shed light on a horrible death.

Normally a human skull is kind of round

and ovaloid and complete in its shape.

In this case, there were holes in its skull.

Our first indication when we looked at it,

was that it was blunt force trauma.

Narrator: Though the coroner would determine

the exact cause of death, Doctor Gray was all but certain

the victim suffered a horrific end.

But who was it?

And how did they end up buried in this backyard?

Gray: It's very cruel.

You have to divorce yourself from it,

because you can't do the job if you're sitting there crying.

We wanna find the answer. We wanna know what happened.

Narrator: Questions about the unusual hole lingered in the air

until Detective Martinez discovered some unsettling new information.

Martinez: There was a drain pipe that lead away from the hole.

Okay, I have a drain pipe that leads away from the hole.

So then I thought that it used to be the septic tank.

Gray: So here we have an individual

who's buried in a septic tank.

It's like you're disposing of somebody

in a most inhumane way.

It's very cruel.

But why would somebody do that?

Narrator: Word of human bones being pulled out

of an old septic tank in one of their neighborhood backyards

spread lightning fast through the tiny community of Littlerock.

And fear soon followed.

When I heard that there was a body in a septic tank--

it made people uneasy.

It kinda made you question what was happening,

because a lot of things can happen in backyards

and you just don't know.

Everyone has their own big enough property

that you're not looking at your neighbor.

You see 'em from the front door

but you never see anything from the backdoor.

That's what shook people.

'Cause it was in a backyard

and no one ever had any clue.

Narrator: The grim scene continued to unfold

and Doctor Gray handled the evidence cautiously.

Gray: You don't want to mess

with remains out at the scene too much

'cause there may be evidence in that bundle

that's going to explain who did it and how.

The idea about a buried body

is the grave is your informant.

And if you kill your informant

before you get all the information out of 'em,

you've just blown it.

The bones, we left them alone.

The identity and the gender and the age

and the stature would be confirmed.

Once we got those remains back to the Department of the Coroner,

they could be laid out and gone through.

Narrator: The doctor proceeded with a keen sense of focus

as she got intimately familiar with the grisly gravesite.

Just because you have the body out of the hole

doesn't mean there's not something else in it.

We have to get in the hole and examine it.

Narrator: Doctor Gray discovered new disturbing evidence

from the backyard grave.

One of the things we found in the bottom of the hole

was a plastic bag with a wire ligature around it.

And we found dentures.

I find this other artifact.

We don't know what it is.

A device with leather straps, metal.

Martinez: Was hoping that it was a murder weapon,

which then would be a significant piece of my investigation.

Narrator: Gray continued digging.

And suddenly made her most horrifying discovery yet.

I'm in the hole and I start finding little bones.

Small bones.

That's when we found-- wait, there's not one body,

there's two bodies.

I start finding small ribs.

We're afraid that maybe it's a child buried.

Narrator:

Narrator: In 1996, a disturbing reality

Narrator: In 1996, a disturbing reality blew through the desert town

of Littlerock, California.

Investigators had unearthed the human remains

of an unknown victim in the backyard of a home.

But there was another horrifying discovery.

Gray: I start finding little bones.

Small ribs.

We're afraid that maybe it's a child buried.

Burying a child carries a lot more emotional weight

than burying an adult.

I don't know why, but it does.

When I found out that there were small bones, rib bones,

I as a father then felt that information was kinda personal.

Narrator: The crime was unsettling.

And investigators had more questions than answers.

Was it possible they just uncovered the remains

of a parent and child?

And if so, who could be behind such a gruesome crime?

Gray: We are the last voice for that decedent.

So we have to protect that decedent's rights.

We have to protect that decedent's identity.

And more importantly, we have to protect that decedent's story.

Narrator: The bones were sent to the coroner,

where they hoped a thorough examination

would help identify the victim

and unravel this deadly tale.

Gray: The coroner's office determined

that the remains were those of a female

over the age of 35,

probably five-foot-five or taller.

Martinez: The person would be a Caucasian female.

There were still some hair that was found in the bundle.

Brownish, reddish color hair.

And so, we had some parameters.

Narrator: The medical examiner also determined

the female victim had likely been dead

for about three years.

And before being buried in the septic tank,

she met an unseemly demise.

This victim was struck at last two times

on the side of the head, very hard,

causing two fractures to the skull.

I don't know if it was a baseball bat

or a hammer, but some sort of heavy object.

Buried bodies are always upsetting,

because there's always some sort of personal relationship

between the decedent and the perpetrator.

Narrator: Their Jane Doe die a most violent death

at the hands of someone she knew?

While the second set of bones were being examined,

Detective Martinez set out to identify the victim.

I still didn't have information

about the first victim.

Narrator: Three years earlier,

and 2,000 miles away in Oklahoma,

Kimberlee Rampey and her sister, Kelli,

were looking for their mother, 51-year-old Barbara Weston.

I contacted the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and said,

"Listen, this may be nothing,

but my mom, she was headed back to Oklahoma

and I hadn't heard from her.

Narrator: As Kimberlee was explaining that her mom was moving

from her home in California to Oklahoma,

she started wondering if her call was unwarranted.

Rampey: My mom had friends along the way back to Oklahoma,

and so I could see her stopping

and visiting people along the way.

So, I thought, "She'll be back within the next week or two."

But in a couple of weeks she wasn't.

Narrator: Perhaps Barbara had taken

an extended road trip.

So we just had to wait.

And we were hoping that we could wait it out

and then she'd eventually show up.

But, you know, we waited a long time.

We waited a very long time.

Narrator: Not knowing what else to do,

Kimberlee called the sheriff's office every month

for the next year,

until the day a deputy delivered a harsh truth.

He said to me, "You may just need to accept

that your mom has started a new life,

and she doesn't want to be found.

That was the last time I called.

( voice breaks ) And I never called him again.

Narrator: Barbara's daughters knew their mom has a wanderlust spirit,

but they couldn't believe she would leave them for good.

My mother had remarried after being married to my father.

And they got jobs at Lockheed in California.

So, they took the four of us siblings

and we moved to California away from Oklahoma,

which had been our home our whole lives.

The four of us siblings lived there with her

and my stepdad for four years.

After she and my stepdad divorced,

my dad had made arrangements for us to stay in Oklahoma.

She stayed in California.

She just had a wanderlust

to be going and moving all the time.

Narrator: Barbara was ready for new beginnings in Oklahoma.

So for her to suddenly disappear didn't make sense.

I never believed

that she didn't want to be found.

In my heart I never would've believed that.

Narrator: If the bones belonged to Barbara Weston,

then who might the small set of bones belong to?

With no young children, investigators wondered

how Barbara might be connected to this case.

Gray: When we're starting to go through those bones

and laying them out,

we're afraid that maybe it's a child.

Narrator: As Doctor Gray examined the bones more closely,

the investigation took a bizarre turn.

We've realized this isn't a child.

It's a dog.

Okay, we have a dead person.

And a dead dog.

And that dog probably belonged to that person.

At this point, I believe whoever did this

it was to get rid of the dog,

because that dog can provide connection

with the victim that was in the hole.

Narrator: But who was the victim?

While they died from blunt force trauma,

Doctor Gray discovered the dog suffered its own tragic death.

Someone had placed a plastic bag over that dog's head

and twisted a wire ligature around its neck until it died,

which speaks volumes of the perpetrator.

Narrator: An artifact found with the bones

might speak louder still.

One of the most interesting things that came out

during that excavation,

it was a device with leather straps,

metal, and little wheels on the back.

It would not be unusual

for a suspect to dispose of a weapon

that's used, uh, same area where the body is disposed of.

We had determined that the gadget

that was down in the hole

was not the murder weapon.

It was a device that was intended to assist a dog

that had problems with her rear legs.

That was a big clue for me.

I felt that people would recognize the dog

before they recognized the person.

Narrator:

Narrator: In the rural town

Narrator: In the rural town of Littlerock, California,

investigators learned a woman and a dog have been savagely killed.

The mystery of who the victims were

and how they ended up in a backyard septic tank

was still unraveling.

The "L.A. Times" picked up the story

because of how the body was found.

There was a woman buried with her dog.

It did shake people up.

And how did someone get away with that?

Narrator: 51-year-old Barbara Weston

went missing about three years ago.

And while confirming she was the victim

would take more time,

investigators hoped the bones of the dog

may provide a promising clue.

L.A. County Coroner called in a forensic vet

to come in and examine the dog.

We had his vertebra, we had his ribs.

The vertebra were malaligned.

The forensic veterinarian did identify as a dachshund mix.

And did identify the fact

that the dog was probably paralyzed.

Narrator: With his biggest lead yet,

Detective Martinez didn't miss a beat

knocking on the doors of concerned, curious neighbors.

Minsal: I remember seeing this dog

in its special little wheel cart,

and so did tons of other people.

I had a connection with the pooch, the little dog.

So, when I found out it was the dog with the wheels,

that's when it sunk for me, 'cause I'm an animal person.

Martinez: One of them said that the dog's name was Willie.

They couldn't really pinpoint who the owner of the dog was,

but this was evidence that could solve this case.

I knew that if I could find a veterinarian

that treated a dog named Willie,

they would have a record as to who the owners were.

So, we identified veterinarians

within a 10-mile radius of that neighborhood.

And we started knocking on their doors.

Narrator: Was Detective Martinez setting out on a fruitless search?

Or would this time-consuming process lead him to his victim?

None of the veterinarians can remember treating a handicapped dog.

Narrator: Detective Martinez prayed his persistence would pay off.

And finally it did.

One day we went to High Desert Animal Hospital

and spoke with the veterinarian there.

I'll never forget in August of 1996,

Officer Martinez came in and he said,

"Do you recall having a patient

that was a dog that was handicapped?"

I said, "Yes."

We had nursed him through an extensive period of time

for his issue, which was a collapsed disc.

And he seemed to be doing quite well.

Narrator: The end of Willie's life came as a shock.

Never had an officer come to ask me

about a potential homicide.

I was surprised and alarmed and concerned.

Now I had to get the record of who owned the dog.

Naiditch: I was able to go and pull the file.

And listed in the file was the owner,

Barbara Weston.

Narrator: It had been three long years

since Barbara's daughters had seen their mom

or her beloved dog Willie.

Rampey: Willie was my mom's pride and joy.

Willie was just a cute little black dachshund

that she had a kind of a constant companion.

Wilson: There were some issues with his back legs and his spine.

And so somehow my mother was able to get him a wheelchair

for his tail end.

So, you couldn't help but giggle anytime you saw Willie.

My mom would've done anything for Willie.

She couldn't stand the thought of not having Willie with her.

They went everywhere together.

Narrator: The question remained.

Did they die tragically together?

We had to identify Barbara.

Investigators believed they had the one piece of evidence

needed to unravel this terrifying mystery.

We had dentures.

Narrator: Would the dentures prove Barbara was the victim

of this unspeakable crime?

Days later, Detective Martinez got the confirmation

he'd been anxiously awaiting.

I was able to retrieve the X-rays from the dental office

and provide that with the-- to the coroner's office,

and then they were able to make a match

and positively identify Barbara Weston.

Rampey: August 19th, it was 1996,

and my sister called.

And said, "What are you doing?"

Wilson: I said, "Kimberlee, I need you to stay home,

'cause we're on our way." And she goes, "What's wrong?"

And I said, "Well,

I just need you to stay at home because we're on our way."

And she said, "It's Mom, isn't it?"

And I said, "Yeah.

We're on our way. Don't leave the house."

Rampey: And I said, "Is she dead?"

And Kelli said,

"Kim, I don't wanna talk about this on the phone."

And I said, "Kelli, is she dead?"

And she said, "Yes.

We'll be there in a few minutes."

Wilson: You just never dream that it's gonna end up like it did.

You just don't ever dream that your mom's gonna be murdered.

I just remember thinking, "Who does that?"

Who kills not only a human but who kills a dog?

What kind of monster does that?

Narrator:

Narrator: It had been an agonizing

Narrator: It had been an agonizing three years

for the family of 51-year-old Barbara Weston

since her disappearance.

Learning she'd been murdered and buried with her dog,

and wondering who would want to kill their mom,

was a different kind of agony altogether.

Wilson: She'd been gone for years and you'd just never dream

that it's gonna end up like it did.

Rampey: A child never wants to lose a parent.

Just like a parent never wants to lose a child.

But it wasn't that she didn't want to be found.

She wanted to be found.

She just couldn't give the clues.

She couldn't help anybody find her.

Narrator: It was impossible to make sense of their shocking new reality.

So Barbara's daughters chose to focus on the good.

Wilson: I always thought she was very beautiful.

She always had kind of an auburn color of hair,

which is probably why I wish I could

have red hair all the time because I loved her red hair.

Rampey: Mom was a singer. She was a very good singer.

There was always music at the house.

She was always laughing and joking.

And very energetic.

We tagged along everywhere she went.

I think my mom tried very hard to be a good mom at times.

I think she came up short sometimes.

I do know that she loved us.

I don't know that she always...

knew how to show it.

Narrator: But the family saw a dramatic change in Barbara

when she proudly became a grandmother.

I can remember us having really deep conversations

about how much regret she felt

from the kind of mother that she had been.

And I can remember her saying,

"This is my chance to make it up to you.

I wanna be a great grandmother."

Narrator: Barbara's daughters had no idea

who would want to inflict such pain on their mother,

much less murder her.

Hoping to learn more about this atrocity,

Detective Martinez returned to the scene

where they found Barbara and her dog buried.

Martinez: I didn't suspect the current homeowners

because they hadn't been involved with that property

but maybe six months at the most.

And the remains were obviously older than six months.

Narrator: If Martinez could determine how Barbara lived,

it may help him figure out how she died.

Rampey: My mom didn't always make the best choices in men.

The four of us siblings lived with her

and my stepdad for four years.

But there were lots of things that were happening

that should not be happening in a home with four children.

There were many, many fights.

We were the house on the street

where the police were called very often.

Narrator: Was it possible Barbara's ex-husband killed her?

I never would've believed that. Never.

Narrator: When investigators learned

he and Barbara parted ways more than 10 years ago,

they didn't believe so either.

Because of the violent nature of the crime,

detectives suspected Barbara's killer

may have been someone she knew well.

Perhaps intimately well.

And soon they learned there was another man in Barbara's life.

Steve Swaim came into our life when I was in college.

I was the college kid and should be the one partying.

I noticed really how much the two of them drank together.

And, in fact, they met in a bar.

He was just this guy named Steve that my mom was dating.

And I had no idea how long it would last or if it would last.

Narrator: It did last, and Barbara's daughters got a glimpse

into the dysfunctional relationship.

There were times where their disagreements

crossed a lot of lines, a lot of boundaries.

Narrator: Before long, the girls learned the love affair took a turn

down a destructive road.

I would definitely say my mom and Steve

brought out the worst in each other.

He seemed domineering.

Steve kinda had that presence of gonna do things his way.

Wilson: My mom could be a really tough broad.

My mom's not gonna back down.

Martinez: They had got into an argument

and she finally told him to move.

"Get out. Get out of my house."

Narrator: Was it possible

this passionate relationship turned to murder?

Wilson: I can remember thinking

"I hope she doesn't stay with this guy long,"

but I never suspected

that he would do anything to hurt her. Never.

Narrator: It was a history Martinez couldn't ignore.

He did some digging, curious if he could connect Steve

to the property where Barbara's body was found.

Martinez: I asked the current owner as to who sold the property.

I was told that the previous owners were the Melina family.

Narrator: Martinez tracked down the Melinas,

hoping they could shed some light on this baffling mystery.

Martinez: They had absolutely no knowledge

of what was taking place at their previous home.

But I learned her son from a previous marriage

was none other than Steven Swaim.

Narrator: The Melinas admitted Steve lived in a trailer

on the property around the time of the murder.

Martinez: She provided me with the name of Barbara Weston

as the girlfriend.

And that she would stay with him off and on.

They told me that the last time they saw Barbara was a day or two

before their son told them that she left back to Oklahoma.

Narrator: Was Steve Swaim the last person to see Barbara alive?

By this time, I'm feeling

that Steve Swaim is my primary suspect.

We needed to talk to him.

Narrator: Steve Swaim may have been

the detective's number one suspect,

but was he Barbara's killer?

Wilson: We knew there was a monster out there.

I didn't want this to happen to anybody else.

Narrator:

Narrator: Three years after

Narrator: Three years after the brutal beating death

and burial of Barbara Weston and her dog,

investigators suspected her ex-boyfriend

may be the man behind her murder.

Wilson: Some matches were made in heaven.

Some matches were made in hell.

And, looking back,

that match was made in hell.

Why would any woman stay with a man who--

like I said, a match made in hell.

I don't know. Maybe she saw something in him

that she felt like was good.

And maybe she saw something in him

that she felt like maybe she could fix

or maybe she felt like they were a good match.

I don't know.

Even though I was creeped out by Steve,

I never suspected he would do this.

Narrator: Steve no longer had an address in town.

After a little legwork,

Detective Martinez learned he was living up the road

under his dad's roof.

Martinez: I did a check on his father's name.

And I found an address for him in Lake Los Angeles.

Another small town in the Antelope Valley.

Narrator: Martinez hightailed it up the road.

Hoping to surprise his suspect.

Martinez: We went there, knocked on his door.

The father did answer the door.

I inquired about his son, Steven Swaim.

He says, "Yeah, he lives here,

but he's not currently here."

Then he said, "He's out in the mountains

and I don't expect him back."

Narrator: Did Steve catch wind

that investigators were coming for him?

Martinez hadn't a clue if or when Steve would return,

but had deputies keep a close eye on the house.

Martinez: I get notified that Steve Swaim came home.

He was tall. He was over six feet tall.

Scruffy looking guy.

Confronted him in front of his house.

Narrator: Martinez was prepared for a suspect

in fight-or-flight mode.

He got neither.

Martinez: He was pretty humble at the time.

He went willingly.

Narrator: Steve was hauled into the station.

He had no idea he'd been marked as a murder suspect.

Martinez: Anytime I approach an interview,

the plan begins to formulate

once I start speaking with the individual.

Narrator: Sensing Steve might be willing to talk,

Detective Martinez started the interview slowly,

but would Steve open up?

Martinez: I start talking to Steve

and I'm not hitting on the murder itself.

I'm asking him about, "Who you dated, who you married."

He starts naming off ex-girlfriends, an ex-wife.

He does come upon the name Barbara Weston.

But he kinda skims over that.

Narrator: The stakes were high.

Convinced he was face-to-face with Barbara's killer,

but with no physical evidence,

Detective Martinez knew a confession was critical.

His plan was to outsmart his suspect.

Martinez: Do we have to be the tough guy or can we be the buddy?

In this case, we were the ones that understand

what he's gone through.

The conflicts that he had,

and that pretty much softens him up.

I backtracked and said,

"Tell me about Barbara Weston."

He told us that she was a fine woman;

however, she drank and she was tough.

And she was even tougher when she was drunk.

He loved her,

but their relationship was very inconsistent.

It was turmoil.

Steve Swaim described this relationship

like oil and water trying to mix.

They just couldn't.

There was always conflict.

And he told me "We got into an argument,

and then we got home from work."

He found all her stuff was gone.

That she was gone,

and he assumed that she left back to Oklahoma,

because that's where Barbara Weston was from, Oklahoma.

Narrator: Certain Steve was lying,

Martinez seized the moment.

I told him, "No, she didn't."

Gave me that little startled look.

I said, "We found Barbara."

He must've pushed his chair back a couple of feet.

And then he said,

"I don't think I can talk about it."

He said, "Man.

I was just getting over her.

I was just starting to sleep better.

Now you guys bring all this back to me."

Told him that once this is all out,

he would be a lot more comfortable

because there's nothing else to hide.

And so he'll sleep a lot better.

Narrator: Martinez sensed Steve was becoming unglued.

Martinez: He hadn't told anyone.

And this was the best opportunity for him

to let everything out.

With the relationship

that Steve Swaim and Barbara Weston were having,

it was inevitable that one was gonna wind up dead.

What he described to me was a very violent scene.

Narrator:

Narrator: Two weeks after unearthing

Narrator: Two weeks after unearthing the remains

of Barbara Weston and her dog,

Detective Joe Martinez believed Steve Swaim was on the verge

of confessing to her murder.

Martinez: When he found out

that Barbara's remains had been exposed

in his parents' backyard,

he had a very stiff reaction to it.

And then he said,

"I don't think I can talk about it."

I assured him he can talk about it.

Narrator: After bearing the burden of his secret for so long,

Steve Swaim finally started spilling the details

of that deadly night three years earlier.

One evening, Barbara started complaining.

So he went off to the store to get her some beer.

When he gets back

and Barbara sees the type of beer that he bought,

she flies off the handle.

"Why'd you come back with such cheap beer?"

Narrator: Steve admitted an argument exploded

into a flurry of violence.

Barbara hit him, and that really upset him.

He grabbed the knife sharpener and hit Barbara in the head.

( dog barking )

And she fell on the dog,

and the dog was crying.

He was just overcome with rage,

and he grabbed the pipe wrench

and he started hitting her in the head.

( dog barking )

And once that he saw that she was dead,

and the dog was still yapping,

he said that he hit the dog

to take it out of its misery.

( dog barking )

( barking stops )

Then he placed a plastic bag over that dog's head

and twisted a wire ligature around its neck until it died.

He wrapped both of them up in a blanket

and the only thing he can think of was a hole

being used as a septic tank.

So, he dropped them inside the septic tank.

Gray: It was so upsetting.

You're disposing of somebody in a most inhumane way,

and then you kill her pet dog,

and you dump him in the sewer, too.

It's very cruel.

Narrator: Three years after burying his darkest secret

in the backyard of his parents' home,

Steve Swaim was arrested.

He pled not guilty

and eventually stood trial

for the murder of Barbara Weston.

Wilson: I just remember sitting

outside those courtroom doors every day thinking,

"Who does that?

Who takes somebody?

Who kills their dog?"

Martinez: The jury came back with second-degree murder,

and Steve was sentenced to 16 years to life.

I never wanted him to get out of prison.

And the attorney felt strongly

that he never will.

Wilson: I was happy with anything

that would take him off the streets

and keep him put away.

I didn't want this to happen to anybody else.

Martinez: It's unusual for people to get buried in the backyard.

But some way, somehow,

that victim is going to be discovered.

To go from nothing,

to making an arrest,

and have a final conclusions of a conviction,

and sending off the perpetrator to prison,

that is satisfying.

Narrator: The senseless murder and appalling burial

of Barbara Weston and her dog

has forever changed the town of Littlerock, California.

And yet it keeps on.

We've recovered really well from it,

and a lot of positive things came out of it.

Today a lot of people communicate with each other.

A lot of people look out after each other.

Narrator: As for Barbara's daughters,

they look after their mom's memory.

Rampey: It was almost poetic

that Willie was there with her.

And it was Willie that helped people know who they were.

Without Willie, who knows

if they would've been able to identify her?

Narrator: They know her grace and beauty would've continued to blossom

with each passing year.

Wilson: I can say this

with a very full heart, that I know she loved us.

We lived in some strange circumstances sometimes,

and had some strange things go on.

But you know what? We're all good people

and successful people.

And I think my mom did a fabulous job

with what she had.

Rampey: My mom is a perfect example

that people can make a lot of bad decisions,

but people can change.

And I would've loved to have seen

the grandmother that she was gonna be.