Original subtitles

My mom lives through this like it happened yesterday.

It has destroyed her

in a way that I don't even know if we'll recover from it.

I observed a shoe on the ground.

That is where we found a deceased body.

I was completely shocked.

That's somebody hangin' out of that car!

We had no idea the suspect could

be setting US up for an ambush.

I had that concern there was gonna be more people dead,

that he would kill more.

We have a killer out on the loose.

Within seconds,

detective Daniel toner,

with the pasco county sheriff's department,

races to the scene...

...a bank on the far end of town.

When I traveled to the bank that Friday,

typically, I'm goin' to the bank

and I'm just goin' through my head,

"what should I be lookin' for, based on my prior experiences?"

Even though every case is different,

just to kinda get the brain workin'

and start thinkin' about what I need to do when I get there.

Immediately, when I arrived at the bank,

I'm just goin' through ideas

for a bank robbery-type investigation.

I always try and run through my head, "alright.

What am I going to right now?

What kinda case is it?"

Anytime we have an armed robbery suspect,

you gotta assume that they're capable of using the firearm.

And I'm concerned with, "what areas did he walk?"

He walked on the tile?

Mark the tile off 'cause I want the latent investigators

to come in and try and process the floor

as well as the counter that he was at.

First thing, I wanna make sure all that area is secured

and any witnesses or employees are not in that area,

so we don't contaminate it any further.

After that, then I made contact initially

with the actual victim teller.

The victim teller told me she was at her workstation

at the counter.

Suspect had walked into the bank...

...and, as he approached her...

...he pulled a firearm out from his waistband,

held it in his right hand,

and he was pointing it at her.

He's demanding money.

He's callin' her a repeatedly

and just refusing to accept the amount of money she could give.

She then had to access more money

to appease him, to get him out of the bank.

While I'm inside the bank, doin' my investigation,

which includes interviews, getting video surveillance,

the patrol deputies are outside.

They're doing their own, related investigation.

We had information the suspect fled out the front door,

ran east towards a gas station nearby.

We don't know what his motives are.

We have to found out where he's at

and then, any businesses, schools, anything in the area,

is potentially also at risk.

Patrol deputies went to the gas station,

went in, made contact with the employees,

making sure no one was in there, matching the description,

and they keep expanding that area

of where he was last seen heading to,

see if he's still in the area and/or if we can see any --

find any witnesses or video surveillance of him.

Deputies question potential witness outside the gas station,

hoping to determine where the suspect fled next.

As officers continue to speak with more people,

word comes over the radio that the dogs tracked

the suspect's scent to a nearby school,

potentially placing the students there at risk.

They don't have the image yet.

They just have what the deputy gives over the radio,

as to white male, black male, Asian male, female,

ages, height, weight, builds, and clothing descriptions.

So, in this case, they were in the area

of where he was last seen heading to,

so, patrol deputies had pulled up

and there was a subject outside

that fit the general description of the bank robbery suspect.

Sheriff's deputies have detained a man in connection

with an armed bank robbery in pasco county, Florida...

...and he's concerned for the welfare of his students.

Police move inside the school, -hey!

Not sure where the suspect might be hiding.

Yes.

Yes, ma'am.

They go through their internal procedures

of locking it down to prevent anyone

coming and going from the schools.

We do this for the safety of the kids, safety of the staff.

We want to make sure that the public is safe.

Okay. -Okay.

But after a careful search of the school,

the suspect is nowhere to be found.

So, investigators return to the bank surveillance footage

and confirm they're the latest victim

of a dangerous bank robber on the loose across the region.

In all, eight robberies,

with what appears to be the same weapon,

carried out in disguise.

He's using different types of disguises, different wigs.

He's wearin' different hats, different shirts.

You can see the mustache. He has different glasses on,

sometimes prescription, like reader-style glasses;

sometimes sunglasses.

Investigators are confident

this is the same man,

but they fear that his behavior's escalating.

The guy was aggressive.

He possessed what appeared to be a firearm.

Pasco county deputies worry

this serial bank robber could wind up killing someone.

He also reminds them of a fugitive

they're already tracking.

It's possible that he could be associated

with a serious incident

that happened over a year ago, that happened in pasco county.

On may 22, 2014,

I received a phone call from patrol,

reference to a possible missing person.

The deputies are told the missing man

is 69-year-old Billy shuler,

a retired preacher and avid coin collector.

The investigators had conducted a phone ping

to possibly locate where the missing person was

and, in doing so, they were able to identify

a warehouse location in holiday, Florida.

So myself and detective mcinnes went to the warehouse location.

Once there, deputies quickly find Billy's truck...

...but Billy himself is nowhere to be found.

His wife had contacted the law enforcement.

She told the patrol that,

when he had left the home to meet with a man

and a business deal was supposed to transpire,

his wife said that he did carry

a large sum of cash all the time...

...gold, silver,

special coins.

This was his business and he worked

out of that truck for his business when he did it.

I got a phone call from mom and dad's pastor...

...sayin' that dad had been missin'.

I tried callin' him

and it went straight to voicemail,

which very seldom happened when you called dad.

He always answered his cellphone.

I was thinkin' maybe somethin' came up

'cause he told mom that he would be back later that day

and they would go shopping

and...

...he never made it back.

At the scene,

detective mcinnes

begins examining the truck.

My first observation of the truck was

that it was just a normal pickup truck

parked in a parking spot inside of the industrial park.

Nothin' seemed out of the ordinary

for this truck to have been parked there.

That is, until he discovers something unsettling.

During my initial walk around the vehicle,

I observed a projectile on the running board

on the driver's side of the vehicle.

At this point, I was concerned for Billy's well-being

and this is starting to lead me to believe

that foul play is involved.

And the location where the truck is parked

is now a crime scene.

Unfortunately, this projectile doesn't match the weapon used

in any of the bank robberies.

Deputies are doin' a canvass of the industrial park.

None of the businesses or individuals

inside of the industrial park noticed that the vehicle

had been there for any length of time.

It was at this point in time that I was notified

by one of the detectives that one

of the warehouse locations had a video

and, in that video, it actually shot

down the angle for where the vehicle was.

Looking at the video, you see what appears to be

a tow truck backing in

to the exact location where Mr. Shulers truck is

and, at that point, dropped the car off

and they leave, leavin' the car there.

So now, we have some kind of an idea of possibility

that we know the vehicle got here by a tow truck,

but it didn't make sense.

We don't know where Mr. Shuler is.

We don't know what the circumstances are.

And the quality of the video is poor,

meaning it will be difficult to get any information

about the tow truck or who was driving it.

So, as an investigator, I have a missing elderly man.

We have a pickup truck towed to the industrial park

and we don't know why

there's a projectile

on the running board of the truck.

To me, it was very important

to find Billy shuler as soon as possible.

Investigators tow the truck

to the sheriff's department forensic garage for processing.

Upon looking through Billy shulers truck,

specifically the back area,

there was hundreds of coins,

various precious metals,

jewelry,

obviously high-dollar-amount items

that were meticulously itemized in envelopes.

We knew that Billy shuler

did deal in coins and precious metals.

We didn't know why nothing was taken from the truck.

But it's what crime scene techs discover in the pickup's cab

that has them fearing the worst.

There was apparent blood throughout the vehicle,

specifically the majority of it on the passenger side

and the passenger side floorboard.

So, based on the initial investigation,

knowing his wife reported him missing

after him not returning home after 24 hours,

which is unheard of,

and then finding his vehicle with a large amount of blood,

I realized this is a homicide investigation.

We were transitioning, now,

to trying to find who did this to him.

One of the very significant pieces of evidence was,

in the center console area, there was a coin envelope

and the coin envelope had a bloody fingerprint on it.

It will take some time

to analyze the fingerprint.

In the meantime, investigators turn

to the GPS found inside Billy's truck

to identify where he traveled last.

So, the GPS was taken back to our cybercrimes unit.

They were able to give US

specific date, time,

routes, turns.

Everywhere that Billy shulers truck traveled,

that GPS device was able to track.

Once I knew of the locations where the truck had stopped,

based on the GPS, I drove the majority of the route

and I could see a house with signs that say,

"smile, you're on camera.

Surveillance in use,"

and I'd see the multiple cameras on the house.

So, after I saw the initial house that had all the cameras,

I found three other houses as well that had cameras

that were facing the roadway where the GPS had driven past.

I'm praying, "please, have cameras that do record."

Detective toner gathers all the surveillance videos

and reviews the footage.

In no time, he spots Billy's truck on several cameras.

I could see it coming down US 19,

turning onto mile stretch road,

and then ultimately pulling into the industrial park area.

And, from there, it winded through the neighborhood

in holiday down there,

which is within a mile or two

of where this truck

was eventually located.

Unfortunately, because of the lack of high-definition quality,

I could not determine who was driving the truck.

But then, he spots something on one of the videos

that stops him cold.

Began watching this surveillance,

was completely shocked.

That's somebody hangin' out of that car!

69-year-old Billy shuler has been missing

for over 48 hours,

leaving his family devastated.

Mom and dad were married for over 50 years.

I wanna say happily.

Dad...

Dad always smiled when he talked about mom

and they were pretty much inseparable.

He was a good dad.

He was a strict dad.

I think that we were held to a little bit higher standard

because we were preacher's kids.

Dad started collecting coins when he was 11.

He would trade Jacks for coins.

He would trade marbles for coins.

Whatever he could do to get coins is what he did.

Now, desperate to find Billy,

detective toner is reviewing home surveillance footage

along the truck's GPS route

and stumbles across a disturbing image.

I began watching the surveillance

from that residence at the intersection.

I can observe Billy's truck approaching

towards the intersection

and then I see the truck

make a left-hand turn through the intersection,

where the passenger side is facing the cameras,

and, at that point, I see the front passenger door swing open

and I can see a person, that appeared completely lifeless,

almost fall completely out of the truck

as it continued through the intersection.

Unfortunately, because of the camera

and the lack of high-definition quality

that we were able to get,

it's obviously extremely frustrating

'cause I can't see who it is.

I can't even get a basic description

or clothes or anything.

So, based on the GPS information that we had

and knowing that it was accurate,

because of the footage that we had found,

we're assuming that all the blood loss

found inside the truck was from Billy

and, unfortunately, he's probably deceased.

But investigators still haven't located Billy,

so they continue to canvass along the truck's GPS route.

I discovered that the pickup truck had stopped

at a liquor store for a short amount of time.

I responded with another detective over to this area.

When I arrived, I observed tire prints

going back into towards a wooded area

where there was tall grass.

Ten minutes into the search,

detectives make a gruesome discovery.

At this point, I observed

a shoe on the ground,

which was a match to the other shoe

that was inside of the pickup truck.

Me and the other detective were able to walk into this grass

and that is where we found

a deceased body.

Detectives are confident

the remains are that of Billy shuler.

Now, it was imperative

to find out who killed Mr. Shuler

because we have a killer out on the loose.

Investigators continue to process the crime scene,

hoping to understand more

about what led to Billy's murder.

The tire tracks at the location of where the body was found

suggest the suspect had taken advantage of Mr. Shuler,

potentially taking his vehicle, killing him.

The amount of blood located inside of the vehicle

and the projectile found on the outside of the vehicle,

the video of the body coming out of the pickup truck,

suggested to me that Mr. Shuler

was shot inside of this pickup truck

and the killer took control of the vehicle

and drove off with Mr. Shuler inside of it.

Now, detectives do the one thing

every law enforcement officer hates the most:

Inform a family their loved one isn't coming home.

It was Memorial Day weekend.

They said that they found a body,

that it actually was dad.

They said that

it'd been there for three days.

We were just numb to it.

We already knew that dad was not comin' home.

While the family grieves,

detectives turn to the autopsy for answers.

The following morning, after the body was discovered,

I responded to the medical examiner's office

to witness the autopsy.

The doctor determined that

the cause of death was

a single gunshot wound to the head.

Unfortunately, the medical examiner's office

was unable to determine the size of the bullet that was used.

At this time, I am wondering who would've killed this man,

who had no reason to be killed.

He was a family man.

He was a religious person,

did not seem to have many enemies.

Based on the evidence,

it was unclear the motive behind this homicide.

Nothing was taken out of the truck, so,

this is completely seeming like a senseless killing.

With the case now officially a homicide,

detectives turn their attention to Billy's phone records.

It was very important to receive Mr. Shulers phone records

to see who he had been in contact with

in reference to this coin deal.

They discover a number of Billy's last calls

were to the number for a man whose name

detectives don't recognize:

Tony maresca.

So, I wanted to make contact with Tony maresca

because he could've been the last person

to see Billy shuler alive.

So, I knocked on the door of Tony's house.

Nobody answered.

At this point, a white explorer pulled up,

with a white female inside.

Detective mcinnes approaches the woman.

As an investigator,

it seems strange that Mr. Maresca was missing

and could be a major part of this investigation.

At this point in time, we need to find Tony.

We asked permission, if we could come into the house.

Once we walked inside, it --

it was a forensic horror.

Detectives searching for Billy shulers killer

are now at the home of Tony maresca,

the last person

Billy possibly spoke with on the phone

before he disappeared.

But it appears Tony isn't there,

so investigators ask Tony's girlfriend

if they can search his house to be sure.

I was concerned that he could be a violent subject

and could be setting US up for an ambush type of situation.

Detectives approach the house with caution.

The house was really a basic house,

nothing big,

but our first concern is "is he in there and is he hiding?"

Once we walked inside...

...it was a forensic horror.

The house was filthy.

It was cluttered.

There were boxes everywhere, furniture everywhere.

There was a small pathway throughout the house.

We tried to get as much information

as we could from the girlfriend.

We did the cursory search in and out the residence

and we did not find Tony there,

or anything that would indicate where he was.

With Tony maresca now missing, as well,

the investigation into Billy shulers homicide

has taken a new turn,

but detectives can't be sure

Tony is even connected to Billy's murder.

Then, a call comes in from the forensics lab.

I was contacted by the forensic unit

and advised that the bloody fingerprint

that was on the coin envelope located in Billy shulers truck

had been positively identified

as Tony maresca's fingerprint.

Forensics was able to match the bloody fingerprint

to Tony maresca's previous arrest records.

At this point, I believe we have our killer,

but we are not getting any closer at finding his location.

Tony maresca did not make contact with any of his family,

associates, or friends at this point,

and it appeared that he had disappeared

off the face of the earth.

It's frustrating.

This is not the outcome that you want to have

while investigating a homicide.

And Billy shulers family starts to wonder

if Tony maresca will ever be brought to justice.

We were flying back up to Ohio and,

the detective said, "don't worry.

We'll have him in custody before your plane lands,"

which, unfortunately, didn't happen.

It wasn't good.

I don't like

seein' people that I love hurt...

...and, unfortunately for my mom,

I think she was in shock,

waitin' on --

waitin' on dad to come home.

But detectives are about to put the whole thing together.

When that spat of banks are hit,

detectives take a harder look at their suspect.

So, when I was looking at the images from the different banks,

I joked with another detective and my sergeant at the time

saying, "can you imagine if this is maresca

doing these bank robberies? We don't know where he's at.

We know he's probably outta money."

Although detectives agree the suspect looks like Tony,

they can't be sure it's really him.

Banks usually have pretty good surveillance footage,

and, usually, you can at least see their walk,

their mannerisms, and any kinda clothing,

so we asked for the public's assistance.

We released it to them through media releases.

That's when they receive a call.

I received a phone call

from a extended family member of Tony's,

who I had been dealing with

during the homicide investigation.

I was actually surprised

with what she had ultimately told me.

Investigators working the Billy shuler homicide

are now trying to link their suspect,

Tony maresca,

to a string of bank robberies across the tampa area.

I had received a phone call

from a extended family member of Tony's

who I had been dealing with

during the homicide investigation.

She had ultimately told me that a lot of the family members

have viewed the bank robbery surveillance images

and videos online and on the news

and they believe Tony's the suspect in the bank robbery.

With Tony maresca's identity now confirmed,

the u.S. Marshals are enlisted to assist.

Most of the people that I spoke to about Tony,

they didn't like him.

They were just basically associates of him.

They were helping him only because of certain request

of mutual friends and contacts.

So, I began surveillance on multiple individuals,

one of them primary, and, after several days,

it led me to a location

which I strongly believe Tony was staying.

It's a local motel not far from where Tony actually lives.

Dobson: We approached the front door.

At that point, we did what we call a knock and announce

and informed him that, you know,

the u.S. Marshals service was outside his door.

The door quietly opened.

He exited the room with his hands in the up position,

showing me that he had nothing.

I immediately took custody of him.

Once Anthony maresca was arrested

by the u.S. Marshals service inside the hotel room,

a search warrant was obtained

by the pinellas county sheriff's office

and then, searching the room, found a silver handgun,

looked consistent with the firearm

he used throughout the bank robberies.

There was other items --

clothing...

Glasses...

Hats --

items that all appear to be consistent

with what the robber wore

during each of the different bank robberies.

Now, investigators have the evidence to charge Tony

with the bank robberies and the murder of Billy shuler.

That bloody fingerprint ended up being confirmed

to be Billy shulers DNA, his blood,

with Anthony maresca's fingerprint.

Still, detective toner wants a confession from Tony,

but he refuses to talk.

Then, an inmate comes forward, claiming Tony confessed to him.

Tony was desperate, didn't have a large income,

had addiction with lotto tickets,

had addiction with pills,

house was in foreclosure,

and he knew that Billy shuler was somebody that always had

large amounts of money on him and would travel alone.

And then, when we found Billy

and his truck, we didn't find any cash.

We found all the precious metals, items in the backseat,

so, one of the theories was that,

after he was killed, the money was taken from him,

which is the easiest thing to take.

Faced with overwhelming evidence,

Tony maresca pleads guilty

and is sentenced to 40 years in prison

for the second-degree murder of Billy shuler.

Tony is also sentenced

to 40 years in federal prison

for the armed bank robberies,

with both sentences running consecutively.

First time I walked into the courthouse...

...my stomach was in knots.

He looks at me.

It was ironic because I seen the life go out of him.

He turned as white as a sheet

and would not stop starin' at me,

he said, because I look so much like my dad.

The bailiff had to come back and move him

because he wouldn't stop starin' at me,

and I'll never forget that face.

In a way that I don't even know if we'll recover from it.

My mom lives through this like it happened yesterday

and it's destroyed her,

to this day.

He was supposed to come home

and then take mom to get a candle --

to get a candle

and...

He never made it back.