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2:08

When. You're here In this I will either be

2:10

traveling home from crime com or will have just gotten

2:12

back. We. All love Crime Com, but

2:14

it takes a giant chunk of time out

2:16

of our daily lives to travel to and

2:18

from and attend the three plus day event.

2:21

Both I and my partner Mike Morford, who

2:23

does all the editing and sound for the

2:25

So we're both out of pocket for more

2:28

than five days altogether. Dna

2:30

Id is an independent. So meaning we don't

2:32

have a production team to handle things while we

2:34

are out of pocket. For. That reason

2:36

it isn't a brand new episode of Dna. I

2:38

do this week. Instead of playing

2:40

and episode from very early in season

2:42

two one of my favorite cases. Try.

2:45

And Madonna France. I'll

2:47

be back next week with a new Dell episode,

2:49

and then in two weeks with a brand new

2:51

full next episode of Dna. Id. Episode

2:55

Thirty Two: Troy and Madonna

2:57

friends. It was twenty

2:59

twelve. I know much more recent than

3:01

the vast majority of the crimes I've covered to

3:03

date. At. To twelve I am.

3:05

On the morning of February fourth. And

3:07

nine one one call came into the Rockingham

3:09

County North. Carolina Sheriff's. The.

3:12

Cell phone call or a woman

3:14

was hysterical, screaming and unintelligible. I'm

3:17

going to play an excerpt. You might wanna turn

3:19

your volume down a little bit because the audio

3:21

could be during. An

3:24

hour on. Your

3:32

house or start your prayer. Out

3:36

all. My.

3:40

Address. Seven

3:44

I want. Yes,

3:50

I am. I

3:53

out. Better

3:55

skills. right?

4:08

Now. My

4:11

daughter died. A

4:20

guy. The

4:23

color was whitley friends age nineteen.

4:26

Somehow, this dispatcher managed to discern what what

4:28

is it was saying. Someone broke in and.

4:30

Saw her parents. She herself was suddenly

4:33

arms. He said. You. Can

4:35

tell from the audio that Whitley is terrified out of

4:37

her mind. She can be heard begging her father to

4:39

talk to her to tell her what to. Do to

4:41

help him. About six minutes into

4:43

the call, following the queues of the

4:45

dispatcher. Whitley perform Cpr on. Her

4:48

dad who lay on the floor. He's.

4:50

Not breathing anymore, she says breathlessly. his eyes are

4:52

closed. he doesn't have a pulse. I'm

4:54

giving him Cpr. The.

4:56

Operator asked her to check on her

4:58

mother. Whitley cried my mom, she's not.

5:00

Making any noises. she's laying at the door and I

5:03

I don't want to go over there. When

5:05

she finally was able to steal her nerves

5:07

to scuttle over to her mother, she gasped

5:09

to the dispenser. I didn't know she

5:11

was sought in the head. She's bleeding from her ears.

5:15

Are they almost hear? see? as to dispatcher

5:17

I'm really scared. Every

5:19

deputy. In. The county is racing to you. The

5:21

dispatcher tells him. It.

5:23

Took the first first responder sixteen minutes

5:26

to get to Witless House, located at

5:28

Seven Ninety One Fine Would Road in

5:30

a rural area about nine miles west

5:32

of Read. So. He.

5:35

Happened to be somewhat close by. Others were

5:37

not able to arrive at a friend's home

5:39

for another nine minutes. Whitley. Stayed

5:41

on the call the entire time as a

5:44

dispatcher kept her talking until help arrived. When.

5:47

Deputy Callie arrived to to twenty eight Am.

5:49

He could hear Whitley shrieking as she spoke

5:51

to the Nine One one Operator. On

5:54

the recording, Whitley can be heard crying and blurting

5:56

out to the deputy what happened. To.

5:58

Deputy spoke to the disk. After saying go

6:01

ahead and isolate. That audio we're gonna

6:03

need that. The. Deputy could

6:05

tell the audio of the nine One

6:07

One call containing Whitley statements were going

6:09

to be important evidence later. Because.

6:11

What he and other first responders observed.

6:14

As soon as they walked into the house was

6:16

that a fatal double shooting had gone down. To.

6:19

People had been murdered and investigators were going

6:21

to have to piece together what happened. Eventually.

6:24

The as the I was said the audio to

6:26

enhance it as much as possible. Less.

6:29

Get into it. You should know that in

6:31

researching the facts of this case, I relied

6:33

heavily on the thorough. Coverage in The

6:35

Greens News and Record by Danielle

6:37

Battalion for detailed stories on the

6:40

crimes and the devastation caused in

6:42

the community or poignant, informative, and

6:44

thoughtfully written. The. Friends

6:46

family lived in a nice home in

6:48

the Bethany community west of Read Sell

6:50

and Rockingham County, North Carolina. Their

6:53

houses on the eastern. Corner of Pine Wood

6:55

and Brown Roads. It's

6:57

a rural area filled with farmland, but

6:59

the homes are a little more upscale.

7:01

We aren't talking about rustic, weather beaten

7:04

barnes and rickety silos as much as

7:06

middle class country homes far apart across

7:08

verdant plots and grove of trees. Ironically,

7:11

a road near the French home

7:13

is named Troublesome Road, but the

7:16

neighborhood had never seen anything like

7:18

this before. When.

7:20

The Nine One One caller. Reported a shooting.

7:22

All oncall deputies were summoned. They

7:24

came from the North Carolina Highway

7:27

Patrol, Rockingham County Sheriff's Office, Guilford

7:29

County Sheriff's Office, and. Rockingham County

7:31

M S. As I mentioned

7:34

North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Richard Call He

7:36

was first on the scene after he heard

7:38

the call about the shooting come across the

7:40

police scanner. He was off duty

7:42

by was awake and near enough to the French

7:45

home that he was first to arise. He

7:48

approached the side door leading to the house from

7:50

the driveway. Whitley. Answered the

7:52

door After he identified himself, she was

7:54

still clutching her phone with the dispatcher

7:56

on speaker. Blood. Was visible

7:58

on the upper front left. Leave of her white

8:01

shirt. Collie noticed the blood and that

8:03

Whitley appeared to have an injury herself

8:05

that was of indeterminate origin. Collies.

8:09

Standing at the side door ass whitley about what happened

8:11

and if anyone was still in the house. As.

8:13

Whitley gassed out the story colleague could see

8:15

a pink pajama clad woman lying face up

8:18

on the floor in the foyer, jammed up

8:20

against the front door. Her face was bloody

8:22

and blood was dripping. From her ears. And

8:25

he could see the legs of a man lying on his back

8:27

on the. Floor between the living room in the

8:29

kitchen next to the center island. Collie.

8:32

Approach the prone man and took over Cpr

8:34

but it was quickly apparent that there was.

8:36

No Saving him. This. Was when

8:38

he told the dispatcher still on witness

8:40

speakerphone that two people were deceased. Add

8:44

to Forty am Rockingham County him as

8:46

took whitley by ambulance to any ten

8:48

hospital in downtown read: Cel. Deputies.

8:51

Photographed her injuries there. She.

8:53

Turned out to need to stitches to close

8:55

a superficial caught on her upper left arm.

8:57

She had a small. Abrasion on her

8:59

chest. She had not been shot and

9:01

she had no other injuries. She. Was

9:04

released before the end of the day on

9:06

Saturday. The. Dead were

9:08

identified as Troy and Madonna France

9:10

witless parents. I'm

9:13

going to take a break from the story here to give. A

9:15

little background on the fringes. Madonna and

9:17

Try Whose Real First. Name was Douglas,

9:19

his middle name was trying. We're both

9:21

from this area. They. Had met as

9:24

young teens at Rockingham County Hi where are

9:26

they were to great support. Madonna.

9:28

Was friends with choice. Younger sister Lisa. Troy.

9:31

Was an athlete playing baseball and basketball

9:33

and working long hours. On his father's

9:35

farm Madonna was tiny, a five foot

9:38

one and Dynamo, a cheerleader and softball

9:40

player who was super involved. A school.

9:43

Her. Maiden name was mostly and she had family all

9:45

over this part of the state. Her

9:47

grandparents had been large landowners and had

9:49

generously doled out parcels to their descendants.

9:53

One. Story and Madonna. Had. The saddest Their

9:55

family. And Ninety Ninety seven. Her parents gave

9:57

them a parcel of two point five acres.

10:00

Right across the street from their own. Home and

10:02

Bethany. They built a house and

10:04

moved and in Nineteen Ninety Eight. They. Would

10:06

die there are fourteen years later. Try.

10:09

Was dating someone else in high school but

10:11

the relationship was on the rocks and he

10:13

asla donna the girls friend to intervene. Pretty.

10:16

Soon the other girl was forgotten

10:18

story and Madonna became inseparable. His.

10:20

Junior year and her freshman year. Even.

10:23

On she graduated and served in the Navy. They

10:25

say together. The. Donna graduated and

10:27

started classes at You and See Greensboro,

10:29

but their wedding interrupted her plans to

10:31

be a teacher. In Nineteen Eighty

10:33

Five, they were married at the church right down

10:36

Brown Road from where they ended up living and

10:38

they joined the congregation. They were

10:40

god fearing folk who attended church every Sunday

10:42

and were beloved by the church community. I

10:45

will say that their religious and personal

10:47

views are considered somewhat dated. For.

10:49

Years they attended a fundamentalist church which

10:52

embraced a literal interpretation of the. Bible.

10:54

Including It's tenets that women should be submissive

10:56

to me. As

10:59

a time of their deaths, Troy was forty

11:01

eight after serving in the Navy for ten

11:03

years, during which decade he and Madonna had

11:05

lived in Norfolk, Virginia. He had

11:07

been employed by Duke Energy for twenty two

11:09

years. Forty five year old

11:11

the Donna worked at Shapiro I Care Clinic

11:13

and read so they had been married twenty

11:15

six years. Whitley.

11:17

Was born in Nineteen Ninety Two and her

11:19

baby brother Hunter five. Years later, differences

11:21

were devoted parents committed to their kids

11:24

and their family attending all the sporting

11:26

events and concerts. At parents usually

11:28

go to and doing everything together.

11:31

Troy build model Nascar cars and love

11:33

the tar heels. Madonna love to shop

11:35

and decorate and sorts. They were the

11:38

classic all American family. They had no

11:40

secrets and no drama. Their. Funeral

11:42

was attended by hundreds, none of whom

11:44

could imagine cool would have wanted to

11:46

kill them. They. Were buried

11:48

on February. Eight at the same place where

11:51

they had been married Sharon Baptist Church. As

11:54

for their kids, Whitley had graduated high

11:56

school and enrolled at Easy You while

11:58

at Rockingham. Hi. Very active playing

12:01

basketball, volleyball and soccer. She had

12:03

lots of friends and was popular.

12:05

She. Also had a boyfriend whom we will

12:07

discuss later. Hunter. With his little

12:09

brother was your average fourteen year old boy.

12:12

He was sporty and a Boy Scout. On.

12:16

The night of the shootings Donna, Nancy

12:18

Mosley, Madonna's parents were asleep in their

12:20

home. Their. Houses right across the

12:22

street from the Francis. Before.

12:25

Three am done with. Awakened by blaring sirens

12:27

and lights that came to a stop at the

12:29

intersection just outside the. At.

12:32

First dawn assumed it was a car accident.

12:34

They were fairly common at this intersection. Of

12:36

too dark rural roadways. But

12:39

when he looked out the window, the sheer

12:41

number of emergency vehicles and no evidence of

12:43

any crashed vehicles made him question us. He.

12:46

Threw run some clothes and want to his daughter and son

12:48

in law's house to see what was going on. Cops.

12:51

Stopped him at the perimeter and told him just that

12:53

his granddaughter have been taken to the hospital. He.

12:56

Headed up to any pen. Choice.

12:59

Brother Crag France was awakened by a call

13:01

from their sister Lisa friends more She told

13:03

him there was a break in and try

13:05

had been saw. When. Craig

13:07

arrived at for his house. A deputy told him

13:09

bluntly that the homeowners were dead. He.

13:11

Headed up to Any Pen Hospital where he

13:14

met up with Lisa and her husband and

13:16

on Mosley and and French for set. Troy

13:18

Clegg only says mom. They. Were

13:20

all completely bewildered by the abrupt tragedy that

13:22

had be fallen. Their family. In

13:24

fact, it was incomprehensible. After

13:27

some discussion, Creggan, Lisa, and their significant others

13:29

got in the car. And drove

13:31

two hours plus to Goldsboro. Hunter

13:34

witless fourteen. Year. Old brother and Le

13:36

Donne and choice son was there on a

13:38

swimming trip for Rockingham County Hi where he

13:40

was a freshman. On. Almost

13:43

any other night he would have been home in

13:45

bed. One, the tragedy struck. Try.

13:48

In his mother, Anne had been planning to drive

13:50

to Goldsboro the next morning to watch Hunters meet.

13:53

Instead. Hunter was pulled out of

13:55

his me by his coach and told by his

13:57

aunt and uncle the his parents had been killed.

14:00

As for the community, this kind of crime

14:03

was completely foreign. When. I heard

14:05

the call. It was unusual. Sheriff Sam Page

14:07

noted, we don't have a lot of home

14:09

invasions. I'm very concerned until someone is brought

14:11

to justice. Neighbors. Were

14:14

freaking out. They started locking doors and dusting

14:16

off their guns thinking they might be next.

14:18

If it happened to the French's it could

14:20

happen to anyone. The.

14:23

French home was very visible. located at

14:25

a four way intersection of well traveled

14:27

roads and not nestled among. Trees A

14:29

strange vehicle parked nearby would

14:31

stand out. As. Would and middle of

14:34

the night pedestrian. The Sheriff's

14:36

office stepped up their patrols of the

14:38

area and issued an official request for

14:40

information asking anyone who saw a vehicle

14:42

or person near the French home around

14:44

two am on the night of the

14:46

murders to contact the Rockingham County Sheriff

14:48

Census. Crimestoppers establish an anonymous

14:51

tip line and a reward for

14:53

information. Whitley. With

14:55

question that the hospital and again the day

14:57

after her parents funeral. Here is what

14:59

Whitley totally happened on the night her parents.

15:03

Whitley. Had just arrived home from college at

15:05

Easy You for a weekend visit. It.

15:07

Was the first time she'd been home since Christmas

15:09

break. On Friday February third, when

15:12

she arrived at home see chatted with her

15:14

parents. Than. While her dad made

15:16

dinner she popped across the street to. They had

15:18

her Grandma Nancy. Her dad

15:20

called her and said dinner her favorite Japanese

15:22

this was ready. She. Went back

15:24

home they eight and caught up and then

15:27

went to a girls and boys basketball doubleheader

15:29

at Rockingham County High School Whitley his alma

15:31

mater and the school Hunter attended. After

15:35

the game, they returned home and Whitley went

15:37

upstairs to bed around ten thirty, She got

15:39

ready for bed and use her laptop to

15:41

watch Netflix. College. Kids are

15:43

always so excited! For the comforts of home and had

15:45

been living in crowded dorms. Or Somebody compartment

15:47

and Whitley fell asleep and her

15:49

childhood bed. Around one

15:51

thirty a M C woke use the bathroom

15:54

and turned off her laptop which was still

15:56

glowing. She. Went back to

15:58

sleep and then she woke abruptly. Some had

16:00

climbed onto her bed. There. Was pitch black

16:02

in her room so she could not see the. Person. but

16:04

whoever it was. He was straddling her.

16:07

This. Is literally my worst nightmare and I

16:09

can't imagine how absolutely terrified Whitley must have

16:12

been. My first and same would be to

16:14

scream and that's what Whitley did loudly. A.

16:17

Scream that pierce the night until the intruders

16:19

hand slap down of her mouth quiet her.

16:22

But Whitley screams had weight and her parents

16:24

whose master bedroom was on the ground floor

16:26

of the house they started running toward the

16:28

stairs leading to her room located right at

16:31

the top of the surface. Hearing.

16:34

The footsteps and yells of the people downstairs

16:36

the suspects and jumped off Whitley and ran

16:38

toward the top of the stairs. Whitley ran

16:40

after him trying to get to the safety

16:42

represented by her parents. But. They weren't

16:44

going to be able to help her. The. Intruder

16:46

stood at the top of the stairs and pulled out a

16:48

gun. Whitley. Was not sure

16:50

whether the gun had been his hand before or not,

16:52

but she watched as he pointed it at her mother.

16:56

I'm. Not clear on how many lights are on

16:58

in the house. at this point it was truly

17:00

the middle of the night and everyone in the

17:03

house had been asleep. I would guess that the

17:05

lighting was extremely damn and visibility was limited and

17:07

all of this happened at a matter of seconds.

17:10

But Whitley could. See that Madonna stood at the

17:12

bottom of the steps, one leg on the

17:14

lower sap, facing upward toward the suspect starting

17:16

to climb the stairs. The suspect

17:18

took aim and fired multiple sets as he

17:20

ran down the stairs. Madonna had

17:22

only a split second to react, throwing her

17:24

hands up in front of her as a

17:27

gun fired the shots hitler down and the

17:29

rest than the hand than the shoulder, than

17:31

the chests and head. She fell

17:33

back and hit the ground of the fire

17:35

hard, her head coming to rest against the

17:37

front door. Eyes open and stir. Meanwhile.

17:40

Troy french clad only in his boxers

17:42

had been behind his life. As they

17:44

ran toward the foyer and staircase, he

17:46

watched and wide eyed horror as a

17:48

pseudo ran down the stairs, firing away

17:50

and madonna cel back. Whitley. Was

17:52

frozen on the stairs. Before. Troy

17:54

could react. A bullet hit him in the chest. He

17:57

turned and ran toward the kids and but he went

17:59

downstairs. The sought to his soon. I'm. The.

18:02

Suffered gave chase and sought for in the back

18:04

where he lay. Then he stopped

18:06

and turned back toward Whitley. A. Silent

18:08

moment past and then he darted back

18:10

toward her. past her and to the

18:12

front door. Was

18:15

locked and Madonna's one hundred and eighty pound body

18:17

lay up against it. He shoved her out of

18:19

the way, turn the lights and ran into the

18:21

night. What?

18:24

A story. Of course the first

18:26

thing that Whitley was asked was whether she recognized

18:28

the person who had said her parents know She

18:30

said the person had a hood up. it was

18:32

dark. She never got. A good look at him, she

18:34

had no idea who the person was or what the

18:36

had been doing. the French his house. The.

18:39

Description she provided was so vague as

18:41

to be almost useless. Serve.

18:43

Page release a description of the suspect wanted

18:46

in the French murders. Based on what these

18:48

recall. It was a

18:50

person of unknown gender or race, between five

18:52

foot eight and five foot nine and weighing

18:54

between one hundred and sixty and one hundred

18:56

and seventy. Pounds the person hadn't

18:58

average build and more. A light

19:01

gray hooded sweatshirt with green strings

19:03

and green pants. Let's

19:06

go back to the crime scene investigation

19:08

for obvious reasons. The county crime scene

19:10

unit cordoned off the front property and

19:12

house and investigators started pouring over them

19:15

in excruciating. Detail. They

19:17

had to try to determine from the physical evidence

19:19

what the real circumstances of the. Shootings were

19:21

rather than just relying on Whitley

19:23

Story. Is not the The

19:25

didn't believe her but they had to

19:28

do their due diligence and independently verify

19:30

her tail which was a little outlandish

19:32

of a stealthy hooded intruder who got

19:34

into a lox house undetected planned under

19:36

her bed, murdered her parents, and disappeared

19:38

into the night like a phantom. The.

19:41

Whole scenario, to be honest, was somewhat

19:44

dalzell, but they noted that Whitley story

19:46

told in interviews with investigators was consistent

19:48

with the story she had told on

19:51

the nine. One one call and one

19:53

deputy collie arrived. Is it

19:55

was made up. She was good and not sitting

19:57

up in her relation of the details. Rockingham

20:01

County Sheriff's Detective Jason Joyce obtained

20:03

a search. Warrant covering the entire home

20:05

within four hours of the Nine One One

20:07

call. They. Executed it at six

20:10

nineteen am. They.

20:12

Collected uphill, some keys and

20:14

for neckties among other things.

20:17

I. Could not get any one in the Rockingham

20:19

County Sheriff's Office to talk to me about this

20:21

case. Both. Detectives who worked. At

20:23

have since retired. So. Some

20:25

aspects of the story will have to remain

20:28

speculative. One. Of the questions I

20:30

had was why did police collect that for neckties.

20:33

And the only reason that makes any sense? As if

20:35

they had reason to believe the suspect had touched them.

20:38

Perhaps. They appear to be disturbed. And

20:40

investigators there as the perp could have been planning

20:42

to use them as litres. I'm just not sure.

20:45

Any. Way Try and Madonna were left

20:47

line where they sell for twelve

20:49

hours. Investigators. Wanted to be sure to capture

20:52

the seen as close to as is as

20:54

possible. North. Carolina

20:56

State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent

20:58

Kelly Comings and Rockingham County C

21:00

S I Detective Bobby Richardson Process

21:03

to seen. They. Could

21:05

see that Try and Madonna had definitely been

21:07

shot. They were bullet holes visible in both

21:09

their bodies. And the door

21:11

of the closet at the base of

21:13

the staircase right next Celadon as body

21:15

also bought some bullet holes. remember the

21:17

Donna was shot through the hand and

21:19

wrist and those bullets pass through. The.

21:22

Initial searches of the home were

21:25

intended to try to locate the

21:27

gun, among other things. A second

21:29

more and executed at two O

21:31

Five Pm specifically address toward weapons

21:33

resulted in the seizure of eight

21:36

spent cartridge casings, one lead bullet

21:38

projectile, and for projectiles of an

21:40

unspecified material a parcel projectile casing,

21:42

two shotguns, two rifles, and some

21:45

ammo. But. It

21:47

was the gun they did not find that

21:49

caused the most concern. Because.

21:52

Inside the home, investigators located an

21:54

empty gun box and purchasing papers

21:56

for a high Point nine millimeter

21:58

semi automatic hand. The.

22:00

Gun itself was nowhere to be found. Again,

22:03

Because the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office would not

22:05

answer my questions, I have no idea where

22:08

in the house the gun box was found.

22:10

I assume it was in a cabinet or

22:12

closet in a master bedroom, but that's a

22:14

total bull. But. Anyway,

22:16

inquiries of members of the French

22:18

family provided some very perplexing information

22:20

about the Spoon. Troy

22:22

had told Nancy and on the dawn of

22:25

parents who lived across the street that the

22:27

gun had gone missing several. Weeks earlier,

22:29

it. Was thought to have disappeared sometime

22:31

in December of Twenty Eleven. But he couldn't

22:33

really be sure. He hadn't

22:36

reported it though. That. Was probably

22:38

because he had found out that Hunter and

22:40

nobody had played with the done without permission.

22:42

After that was when he hit it. Yet.

22:45

It's still vanished. Although his

22:47

family urged him to report it's theft, he

22:49

didn't and my theory is that he suspected

22:51

the use had taken it and he didn't

22:53

wanna get his son or his son's friend

22:55

in trouble. Spoiler.

22:58

Alert Hunter and his buddy had not still

23:00

the gun. His. Disappearance was

23:02

completely inexplicable. Is

23:08

no the best way for you is a

23:10

rate based on you with honesty not have

23:13

a based on heavy. You Peace. And

23:16

makes the car behind them. About

23:19

the. Same

23:22

the Jaguars and all state at and

23:24

only pay me. Based on you. Know

23:28

a little in every states or to the terms and conditions.

23:30

Reading that doesn't seem very and in cincy to read could

23:32

increase it. I was driving all six Iron Casualty Insurance Company

23:35

and affiliates. Don't fuck Illinois. Pursuant.

23:40

To a third sorts run on the

23:42

fifteenth. Investigators collected some items that made

23:44

it appear that they were looking close

23:46

to home for answers in the double

23:49

homicide. They seized Lid on as purse

23:51

and for his wallet a thumb drive,

23:53

a digital camera and I pod and

23:55

cell phone and Whitley laptop. They.

23:58

Also collect a single prince from Whitley. There

24:00

and both disease parents for comparison

24:02

purposes. While. The

24:04

first searches were still going on Sarah

24:06

Page address. The throngs of media the have

24:08

materialized outside the home. The

24:10

rumor double homicide was big news in these

24:13

parts, and reporters were eager for details. Pays

24:16

acknowledged that differences Were dead murdered in

24:18

a home invasion by an intruder who

24:20

had not been apprehended. It was a

24:22

very tragic situation we have here today.

24:24

page said. Page was

24:26

personal friends with the French's. And he

24:28

felt invested in their case. He read

24:31

the loose description of the suspects and

24:33

told reporters that the armed suspect. Had.

24:35

Left the House on Fox. Autopsies

24:38

on for and Madonna were conducted at

24:40

any Pen Hospital morgue. The bullet till

24:42

Adonis had went into her right cheek

24:44

and severed her spinal cord causing hemorrhages

24:46

at the base of her brain and

24:48

skull. The. Bullet did not accept

24:50

that was removed from inside her skull

24:52

at autopsy. Siblings. So

24:55

that this gunshot wound to her head was

24:57

at quite close range. The

24:59

sauce to her shoulder, wrists, chess,

25:01

and hand were all accident gunshot

25:03

wounds, As for tried

25:05

the. Bullet to his chest traveled right

25:07

and downward at a forty five degree

25:10

angle, cutting through his left long part,

25:12

diaphragm and lever before burrowing into his

25:14

abdomen. The second bullet pierced the

25:17

middle of his lower back and also travelled

25:19

right and downward. before exiting through his

25:21

right hip. Neither.

25:23

Wound exhibited sibling meaning that the shots

25:25

were not at close range. Both.

25:28

Autopsies found that most of the gun shots

25:31

were fired from a position above both Try

25:33

and Madonna, so it appeared that Whitley was

25:35

telling the truth about the vantage point of

25:37

the suit or when doing the shooting. The.

25:40

Shooter was on the stairs and shooting

25:42

downward at his target Madonna. The shooting

25:44

of Troy in the back was also

25:46

consistent with what Whitley had said. that

25:48

Troy was running away from the shooter.

25:53

Now. Let's talk about the blood drops. One.

25:56

Drop of blood was found on the say rail

25:58

and close to the foyer near where. The suit

26:00

or would have been standing when he sought Madonna. For.

26:03

more drop or. Found on the stairs

26:05

and self investigators weren't certain who the

26:07

blood belong to Remember: Whitley had a

26:10

cut and had descended the staircase. Neither.

26:13

Ladonna Nord for I had made it onto

26:15

the stairs. But. Someone else had

26:17

use the stairs. According to Whitley, the

26:19

shooter, no one knew why she would

26:21

have been bleeding but the dropped for

26:23

each swabs and collected for testing. In.

26:27

The first minutes after the Nine One One

26:29

call as the all hands on Deck alert

26:31

went out to multiple law enforcement agencies, a

26:34

deputy spotted a man driving a Silver Extended

26:36

Cab Dodge pickup truck turning on the Sandy

26:38

Cross. Road. From Iron Works Road.

26:41

Not far from the fences have. It

26:44

was thought that the driver could have seen something. Or even

26:46

been the suit or him. He's. Less.

26:48

Than five minutes later, a second deputy

26:50

spotted. The truck turning on the web or street and.

26:52

Pulled over the vehicle. The. Driver

26:54

told him he was en route to his

26:56

house and read still from Logistics Control and

26:58

Greens Borough where he worked the mantle. Deputy

27:01

see had driven past the French as neighborhood

27:03

but he had seen no other cars on

27:05

the road. He. Was allowed to

27:07

leave there being no reason to detain him. Investigators.

27:11

Sees security camera footage from them. A

27:13

columns gas station who's convenience store was

27:15

a regular stop for local. It.

27:17

Was located about ten minutes from the French

27:20

home. They were interested in the footage between

27:22

ten and midnight on the night of the

27:24

murder. Why? We don't know

27:26

other than perhaps they hoped that the

27:28

surveillance cameras might have caught someone stopping

27:30

for gas or supplies on their way

27:32

to. The French House. At.

27:36

A friend's house deputies took the foyer closet door

27:39

off it's hinges and cut a bullet out of

27:41

the bottom of the door where it was embedded

27:43

on the would. Now. They could

27:45

tell the type of weapon used and they

27:47

got a stroke of luck when they discussed

27:50

the miss and gun with Hunter. He

27:52

said he did not take it after his dad found out

27:54

that he and a friend had messed around with it. But.

27:57

Before the gun disappeared, his dad had

27:59

used. The suit a path and. In the yard. Following.

28:02

Hunter to the location on the property

28:04

where the possum was shot. Investigators found

28:07

to shell casing. Still on the ground.

28:09

They. Collected them and submitted them to

28:12

the State Bureau of Investigation for firearm

28:14

comparison testing. Sure,

28:17

Up Ballistics confirms that the gun that has

28:19

injected the to sell casings found in the

28:21

yard. Which. According to Hunter was.

28:23

His. Dad's missing nine millimeter handgun was

28:25

the same gun that had fired the

28:28

shots at and into the senses resulting

28:30

in the eight casings. Found that the

28:32

murder scene. Six months

28:34

after the murders, the Sheriff's office released

28:37

this information to the public, but. It

28:39

just made no sense. The.

28:41

French's were killed with. Choice own

28:43

gun which. Had been a my eyes

28:45

and sometime the previous December. And

28:48

it made investigators wonder whether the shooter with

28:50

someone the French as new. Because.

28:52

It appear that whoever use a gun to kill

28:54

them had access to the house. Investigators

28:58

were baffled by whitley story that one

29:00

the house was locked on the night

29:02

of the murders and to the shooter

29:04

had appeared to know that the front

29:06

door was locked as he flipped the

29:08

last to unlock a before attempting to

29:10

open it. And they learn

29:13

from Whitley that the family kept a hide

29:15

away t outside of many homeowners do they

29:17

guess that it would be gone? But.

29:20

Know their the key was hidden beneath the back

29:22

deck right where Whitley said it usually was. The.

29:25

Key was selected and tested for forensic

29:27

evidence. It. Turned out to have

29:29

touched dna on it from an unknown male

29:31

unrelated to the French's No match was found

29:33

in code Us to the Dna on

29:36

the key. Rumors.

29:38

Spread that the key had been picked up by some

29:40

sheriff's deputy. Who was process in a scene

29:42

without gloves on? If that were true, it

29:44

would have been a huge mistake, one that

29:47

possibly compromises evidence. Speaking.

29:49

Of mistakes. There was a clear mistake

29:51

that was made by the Rockingham County

29:53

authorities. The shooting had taken place in

29:55

the wee hours of Saturday. Morning Investigators

29:58

conducted the searches. Disgust,

30:00

took photos, documented what they needed, and

30:02

then release the homes of the family

30:05

at ten o'clock on Saturday evening. The.

30:07

Mosley relatives and for France pitched in to

30:10

remove every trace of the crime so that

30:12

Whitley and Hunter would not have to see

30:14

anything when they returned home. They

30:16

scrub the blood off the walls and floors, wiped

30:18

up all the fingerprint dust, And. Burned

30:20

the would closet door that bore

30:23

the marks memorializing the bullet trajectory.

30:26

And. Crime Scene Tax Returns days later to

30:28

take another look at the door. There was

30:30

nothing left. The.

30:34

Day after the French, his funeral investigators

30:36

started in. That's interviews of the family and

30:38

friends at the slain couple. They

30:40

collect a Dna sample, some family and from

30:42

people who are regular visitors. To the fence

30:44

his. Whitley.

30:47

Worked with investigators answering their questions on February

30:49

ninth as best he could, and even returning

30:51

to the home with them to reenact the

30:53

murder on the tenth. The.

30:55

Long sleeved shirt she was wearing that night was

30:57

submitted for testing. Investigators kept

30:59

an eye on the injuries he sustained

31:01

that night and documented They're Healing and

31:04

Photograph. She. Eventually would be

31:06

interviewed at least five times over the

31:08

next couple of years. A

31:11

week after the murders with the community

31:13

on edge on the Sheriff's office inundated

31:16

with calls i'm Concerned citizens The Rcs

31:18

so issued. A news release it read

31:20

It has come to our attention here

31:22

at the Sheriff's office that many rumors

31:24

have surface regarding the French homicides. In

31:26

the past few days. At this point

31:28

in time to have been no arrests made in

31:30

connection with the friends homicides. Though. Our

31:32

investigative team continues to work tirelessly

31:35

toward that end. As. Further

31:37

information develops pertaining to this case. It

31:39

will be released without delay. The.

31:42

Release on On to Say quoting. Share page.

31:45

My investigative team needs time to examine

31:47

all elements of this case. This is

31:49

too important to risk any mistakes. By

31:52

rushing. I would ask citizens and

31:54

the media to be patient with us as

31:56

we continue to investigate this tragedy and see

31:58

the person or persons. The.

32:02

Public frustration was understandable because on March

32:04

fourteenth, Rcs Oh officials acknowledged that they

32:06

did not have a person of interest

32:08

in the case. The. Sheriff's Office

32:10

stated that they were working in conjunction

32:13

with the North Carolina State Bureau of

32:15

Investigation or as be I the As

32:17

the Ice, the Rockingham County District Attorney's

32:19

Office, and the Greens Borough Police Department

32:21

to solve the crime. Community

32:23

members thought that with all that firepower, they should

32:26

be able to make an arrest very quickly. But.

32:28

It was to be. Five.

32:31

Months after the shootings on June seventeenth,

32:33

Whitley posted on her Facebook page. Happy

32:36

Father's Day To the best Dad You have been

32:38

Missed a day and every day. Certainly.

32:41

After the Donna and Choi were killed, their

32:43

families started a Facebook page in their memory

32:45

card blue Hope. It. Encourage everyone

32:47

to wear Carolina Blue ribbons the

32:49

French's were big tar heels fans

32:51

or attire blue ribbon to a

32:53

tree until justice was served. Blue.

32:56

Ribbons adorns, trees, polls, doors, and signposts

32:59

in the area for the next. Few

33:01

years. Now I know

33:03

what some of you are thinking. I now

33:05

because I thought it to witless. Parents were

33:07

dead and see survivor minimal injury and was

33:09

able to call for help. And

33:12

see related a kind. Of dubious tell about

33:14

what had happened. All. Of

33:16

us cynical to com folks have heard of

33:18

too many cases in which angry, rebellious, covetous.

33:20

Teenagers murder their parents and try to

33:23

cover it up and. Insidious rumors started

33:25

sneaking through the Rocket Him community, in

33:27

part because of the number of searches

33:29

of the home and the intensive questioning

33:31

Whitley was being subjected to. But

33:34

mostly because there were whispers about Witless

33:36

boyfriend and that Madonna and Try had

33:38

not approved of the romance. Let's take

33:40

a look at Witless relationship with John

33:42

Alvarez's. Will. It began

33:45

dating John Alvarez at least two years of

33:47

for her parents were killed. Reportedly they posted

33:49

about their Willis Said status for the first

33:51

time way back and twenty ten. They had

33:53

met at Rockingham High School where John was

33:56

a year ahead of Whitley. And

33:58

zones best friend Cj Bad. or lived

34:00

across the street from the Frenchs, so John spent

34:02

a lot of time in Whitley's neck of the

34:04

woods. John himself grew up

34:06

one of the four sons of Jose Sr.

34:09

and Elaine Alvarez, who ran

34:11

a landscaping company and raised their family

34:13

in Stokesdale, nine miles from the French's

34:15

house. There are

34:17

reports that Ladonna and Troy didn't approve of

34:20

Whitley dating John, or at least they

34:22

felt that the couple moved too fast. Also,

34:25

John was of a different religion than the

34:27

Frenchs, and Whitley's parents were not thrilled

34:29

about this. And

34:31

Whitley and John began to look like they were in

34:33

it for the long haul. Ladonna and

34:35

Troy had hoped that Whitley would matriculate at

34:37

the University of North Carolina when she graduated,

34:40

but when John graduated first

34:42

and moved to Greensville to study geology

34:44

at East Carolina University, Whitley

34:46

announced that when she graduated the following year,

34:49

she would head to ECU as well. Her

34:52

parents were not happy. They reportedly

34:54

felt frustrated that Whitley was altering her life course

34:56

for this boyfriend and they did not want her

34:58

ending up with him. Reportedly,

35:00

there were arguments about Whitley's decision

35:02

and about the relationship overall. After

35:06

Whitley graduated, she was waitlisted at

35:08

ECU until the spring of 2012 semester.

35:10

She started taking classes at Rockingham Community

35:12

College to build up credits for ECU.

35:15

When it came time for the move to Greensville in

35:17

January of 2012, Ladonna and

35:20

Troy resigned themselves to Whitley's decision and helped

35:22

her move into her new apartment and paid

35:24

her tuition. John Alvarez had

35:26

already been at ECU for 18 months and was

35:29

living in some off-campus housing with some

35:32

buddies. But privately, Ladonna

35:34

told family members that she and Troy

35:36

were considering cutting Whitley off and

35:38

making her pay for her own college and apartment

35:40

because they did not approve of her choices. Because

35:43

not only had Whitley insisted on following her

35:46

boyfriend to college, she was starting

35:48

to talk about marrying him. of

36:00

that visit, they were killed. You

36:02

can imagine what ran through the minds of

36:04

investigators when they discovered that Whitley and her

36:06

parents were seemingly at an impasse and

36:09

Whitley was facing the possibility of being cut

36:11

off financially. Perhaps,

36:13

they theorized, she had come home for that weekend

36:15

to hash it out with her parents once and

36:17

for all. Nancy, LaDonna's mom,

36:19

who was close to Whitley and saw her the

36:22

evening of the shooting, told investigators

36:24

that Whitley had told her she planned to

36:26

settle things with her parents that very night.

36:29

Investigators thought perhaps things had not

36:31

gone Whitley's way, and perhaps

36:33

Whitley, or someone she was in cahoots with,

36:35

took matters in their own hands to get

36:37

rid of Troy and LaDonna and

36:39

the obstacles they presented to Whitley's independence

36:41

once and for all. This

36:44

was why investigators initially put Whitley directly

36:46

in their crosshairs. She had

36:48

motive, means, and opportunity. After

36:50

all, they only had her word for it that there

36:52

was an intruder that night. No doors

36:54

or windows were found unlocked. Whitley

36:57

could barely give them a coherent description of

36:59

her attacker. She had sustained virtually

37:01

no injuries. Hunter was conveniently

37:03

not at home that night, and

37:05

she had a beef with her parents and

37:07

a trust fund. But

37:10

Whitley told investigators that stories about her being

37:12

at loggerheads with her parents were

37:14

exaggerated. She said that six

37:16

months before they died, they had started to come

37:18

around to her plans to follow John to ECU.

37:21

LaDonna helped outfit Whitley's new apartment and

37:23

she and Troy bought teas and sweatsharts

37:26

at the ECU bookstore. But

37:29

more than Whitley's word for it, there was

37:31

some evidence that backed Whitley's original story

37:33

up. Remember the five

37:35

blood drops that crime scene texts had collected

37:37

from the stairs in the French home? Well,

37:39

this was 2012. In

37:41

the old days before DNA, the police probably

37:44

would have been very suspicious that Whitley herself

37:46

had dripped this blood from the cut on

37:48

her arm as she stood on

37:50

the stairs shooting her parents. But

37:52

after the shooting, they got a blood sample from

37:54

Whitley and tested it against the blood on the

37:57

stairs. The drops all belonged

37:59

to the same person. not Whitley.

38:01

The blood came from someone unknown to

38:04

investigators. Whitley was telling the truth

38:06

about the shooter being someone else. Sheriff

38:11

Page held his second of three press conferences

38:13

in this case in October 2012 and

38:15

announced, quote, based on evidence

38:18

collected at the French's home and

38:20

analysis by the North Carolina State Crime

38:22

Lab, it has been determined that a

38:24

male homicide suspect left his DNA samples

38:26

at the crime scene. The

38:29

killer was a man. Six months

38:31

of swirling rumors about Whitley's involvement had done

38:33

their damage, though. She stopped

38:35

speaking to the media entirely, stopped posting

38:38

on social media, stopped watching the news.

38:41

The innuendos about her were just too pointed

38:43

and painful. So

38:46

Whitley was not the shooter, but there

38:48

was a concerning discrepancy between the story

38:50

Whitley told investigators and what they found

38:52

once they got a search warrant for

38:54

her phone and social media accounts. Her

38:58

cell phone had been used at 1.25 a.m.

39:00

on the night of the shooting, its

39:02

signal bouncing off a cell tower seven miles

39:04

from the house. Digital forensic

39:06

analysts noted that she had also posted

39:08

on social media at that time. Remember,

39:11

she had said she watched Netflix on her

39:13

computer. She never mentioned anything about being

39:15

on her phone. After the

39:18

1.25 p.m. usage, her phone was

39:20

powered off. So

39:22

if the shooter wasn't Whitley, then who? Well,

39:25

as far as anyone knew, there was one man

39:28

who could have had access to the home both

39:30

to steal Troy's gun and to get into the

39:32

locked house on the night of the murders, perhaps

39:34

with inside help. Of course,

39:36

I'm talking about Whitley's boyfriend John. Investigators

39:39

learned that not only did Whitley's parents

39:42

not approve of the relationship, John's parents

39:44

didn't either. Reportedly, they did not care

39:46

for Whitley. The blood

39:48

drops in the home were male. Perhaps

39:50

John and Whitley had worked together to eliminate

39:53

her parents. She let him in

39:55

and he did the shooting. Whitley

39:58

let it be known that she supported John and

40:00

that she believed him not to be involved. She

40:03

was quoted as saying, I hate it for John

40:05

because I know he didn't do it. And people

40:07

are saying really bad stuff about him. He's a

40:09

good person. Investigators asked

40:11

for a DNA sample from down

40:13

Alvarez early on. He was

40:16

one of several men who were asked to give samples

40:18

for comparison to the blood drop DNA from

40:20

which a complete male profile had been produced.

40:23

In fact, any person whom investigators learned

40:26

had ever been inside the French home

40:28

was asked to give a voluntary DNA

40:30

sample. None of them were a match,

40:32

including John Alvarez. He was not

40:35

the shooter. As

40:38

I mentioned, Sheriff Page held a second press conference

40:40

on October 30th, 2012 to update

40:43

the public on the investigation. And

40:45

there was lots to address. This

40:47

was the venue in which the sheriff acknowledged

40:49

that the French's had been shot with Troy's

40:52

own missing gun. He also acknowledged

40:54

that the gun had never been located. Sheriff

40:57

Page made an interesting statement about the sheriff's department

40:59

theory in the case. He said, quote,

41:01

we feel the attack was directed toward Whitley

41:03

and her mother and father. We do not

41:06

feel it was a random act. What

41:09

he meant was they did not believe this

41:11

was an arbitrary home invasion. At

41:14

this point, the sheriff confirmed that the shooter was

41:16

a man. They knew this for sure, he said,

41:18

because they had recovered his DNA. This

41:20

was from the blood drops, but he didn't address the source

41:22

at the time. Page said that

41:25

there were no matches to this DNA profile

41:27

in CODIS, nor was there a match

41:29

to the DNA on the house key. But

41:31

the DNA from the drops had been

41:34

used to eliminate potential suspects, including several

41:36

family members. Among the

41:38

people who had been eliminated, Page said, were Whitley,

41:41

Hunter and John Alvarez. He

41:43

said, quote, this DNA evidence has helped

41:45

to rule out those initially questioned in

41:48

the case. Sheriff

41:51

Page stated that he believed that the suspect lived

41:53

in the area and might not come across as

41:55

the type of person who would kill two people.

41:58

But he said it was just a matter of time. of time until

42:00

the shooter was caught. We have

42:02

DNA. You can run, but you can't hide

42:05

from your DNA, he said. DNA is unique

42:07

to you. It's just a matter of time.

42:11

The officials reiterated their plea for tips, saying

42:13

the shooter probably sustained an injury at the

42:16

time of the shooting that might have been

42:18

visible and probably showed the stolen gun to

42:20

someone, but nothing panned out.

42:24

By January of 2013, the case was

42:26

officially cold. Sheriff Page penned

42:28

a letter to lame duck Governor Bev

42:30

Perdue. He wrote in

42:32

the January 2nd, 2013 correspondence, quote, at

42:36

this time, all available information that has

42:38

been received by investigators has been followed

42:40

up on and all leads have been

42:42

exhausted. All evidence that has

42:44

been collected in this case has been

42:46

sent to the NC SBI crime lab

42:48

and processed by them. No

42:51

suspect has been identified by any of the

42:53

leads or evidence that has been processed. The

42:57

letter asked for a $5,000 reward, which

42:59

was granted by Perdue's successor, Governor

43:02

Pat McCrory, to be given to

43:04

an informant whose tips led to arrest and conviction

43:06

of the killer. It was

43:08

advertised for the first time on January 22nd, 2013, and

43:12

it generated some tips, but they

43:14

all led nowhere. On

43:17

the first anniversary of the murders on February 4th,

43:21

2013, Rockingham County Sheriff's officials held

43:23

another press conference, and this

43:25

one proved very confusing because they retracted some

43:28

of the statements made in the October 30th,

43:30

2012 presser. If

43:33

you recall, at that time, Sheriff Page said

43:35

that Whitley and John, as well as Hunter,

43:37

had been eliminated as suspects. Now,

43:40

in February 2013, Captain

43:42

Billy Parker said that was not the case.

43:46

Asked about DNA, Parker said, quote, at

43:48

this time, I can say no one had

43:50

been eliminated as suspects in this case. We're

43:52

continuing to look at everyone. He

43:56

clarified that while neither Whitley's nor

43:58

John's DNA matched that the crime scene,

44:00

no one had been ruled out as having

44:02

involvement. He confirmed that there were

44:05

no hits in CODIS. Sheriff

44:07

Page came up to the mic and said that

44:09

when he made his statements in October, he meant

44:11

only that the DNA was not Whitley's or

44:13

John's, not that they had been crossed

44:15

off the suspect list altogether. It

44:17

sounds to me as though Sheriff Page

44:19

was comfortable eliminating John and Whitley from

44:22

the suspect list, but others were not

44:24

so sure. Let's

44:26

talk about what happened with the French kids after

44:28

Troy and LaDonna were killed. The

44:30

family home was foreclosed on by the

44:32

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. The

44:34

house was sold to a private buyer in 2013. According

44:38

to Danielle Bataglia's reporting, LaDonna

44:41

and Troy French's will stipulated that Troy's

44:43

sister Lisa Moore and her husband Todd

44:45

Moore would get custody of Hunter, who

44:47

was still a minor. Hunter

44:49

tried out living with a few different family

44:52

members and finally settled in with Troy's aunt

44:54

and uncle Faye and Carl Stone. He

44:57

left Rockingham High and transferred to a private

44:59

school in Greensboro. As for

45:01

Whitley, she never wanted to spend another night in

45:03

the home where her parents had died. She

45:06

moved in with her dad's mom and French

45:08

Faucette and then eventually returned to ECU. Both

45:11

kids would inherit their trust funds when they attained

45:13

the age of 25. In

45:17

May of 2015, Whitley and John tied

45:19

the knot. The couple had

45:21

weathered the tragedy that befell her family and

45:23

continued to ignore their relatives who disapproved of

45:25

the union. The wedding

45:27

was at Summerfield Farms and photos show

45:29

Whitley and John beaming in the gorgeous

45:31

outdoor setting. Hunter escorted his

45:34

older sister down the aisle. A minister

45:36

from the conservative Reedsville Bible Chapel

45:39

officiated. It was a

45:41

formal affair with Whitley in a traditional

45:43

wedding gown, her bridesmaids in navy strapless

45:45

dresses, and John and his groomsmen in

45:47

light gray suits. Photos show

45:49

everyone looking happy and having fun.

45:52

But casting a poll on the whole event

45:54

were the two empty seats Whitley had reserved

45:56

in the front row with photos of Troy

45:58

and LaDonna on them. They

46:00

would so have cherished seeing their only daughter

46:03

walk down that aisle. Some

46:06

people whispered that it wasn't appropriate for Whitley

46:08

to have such an elaborate wedding with her

46:10

parents' murders remaining unsolved, but she

46:12

could not wait forever. For the

46:14

investigation, which had now cycled through several

46:17

lead detectives and outlived the career of

46:19

one district attorney, showed no signs of

46:21

progress. Binders of

46:23

materials accumulated and thousands of man-hours

46:25

were expended. And a

46:28

lot of DNA samples were collected and compared

46:30

to the suspect sample. This

46:33

from the Parabon case summary for the French

46:35

case, quote, We swabbed a lot

46:37

of people, says Captain Tammy Howell of the

46:39

RCSO. Early on, if

46:41

there was a remote chance someone could have been connected

46:43

to the crime, we asked for a swab. In

46:47

fact, in the first 12 months following the crime,

46:49

over 50 subjects consented to provide

46:51

a DNA sample. None of

46:53

the samples matched the perpetrator. By

46:56

the time the crime was solved, 65 DNA

46:58

samples had been collected and tested. The

47:01

Rockingham County authorities said that they collected samples

47:03

from everyone they could think of who had

47:06

access to the French home or property. This

47:09

included some members of the Alvarez family, such

47:11

as John and his mother Elaine. The

47:14

crime lab ran each of those against the

47:16

suspect sample to no avail. None

47:18

matched. On

47:21

the third anniversary of the murders, February 4, 2015,

47:24

there was no progress to report, but Whitley

47:26

went ahead and got married. Behind

47:28

the scenes, the French family was frustrated and fed

47:30

up with the seeming lack of progress. They

47:33

began to work to raise money for

47:35

a more substantial reward, hoping that would

47:37

jar loose some helpful tips. As

47:40

they did so, the sheriff insisted that behind

47:42

the scenes they continued to work the case.

47:44

He said, quote, We are actively seeking out

47:46

and investigating new leads in this case, and

47:48

we will not give up until it is

47:50

solved and arrests have been made. Well,

47:53

he meant business. By August 2015, there was news.

47:58

As we know, there was no match. and codis or

48:00

among family members or anyone else tested to

48:03

the DNA extracted from the blood drops, which

48:05

everyone believed came from the killer. No

48:08

one knew how he would have cut himself,

48:10

but possibly somehow he nicked himself with whatever

48:12

blade he had used to cut Whitley's arm.

48:15

The next step was to conduct partial

48:17

DNA matching. North

48:20

Carolina is not a familial DNA state.

48:23

As you'll recall from my episode on

48:25

Evelyn Darrickott, which is season one, episode

48:27

18, familial DNA searching

48:29

is the process by which searches

48:31

of the state's criminal DNA database

48:33

look for close relatives of an

48:35

unknown suspect based on similarities in

48:37

their DNA. If a hit

48:40

is obtained, the investigators know that their unknown

48:42

suspect is related to the name in the

48:44

criminal database. This can lead to

48:46

the name of the killer once the known criminal's

48:48

family tree is fleshed out. Partial

48:51

DNA matching is largely the same thing, but

48:54

is a more general term, at least the

48:56

way it was utilized in this case. We

48:59

know that the North Carolina state crime lab

49:01

had already compared the suspect's DNA to 65 people

49:04

looking for a direct match and found none.

49:07

But then in 2014, the RCSO sent the

49:09

profile of the unknown

49:12

suspect to the University of North

49:14

Texas for Human Identification Lab to

49:16

conduct a comparison to a specific

49:19

DNA profile to see whether there

49:21

was a familial relationship. And

49:23

this DNA profile they sent was

49:25

that of John Alvarez. Now,

49:28

this is the step that would eventually solve

49:30

the case, but I cannot tell

49:32

you why the decision was made to

49:34

compare the suspect's profile to John's. They

49:37

already knew that the suspect was not

49:39

John. Why did they believe it might

49:41

be someone in his family? I

49:43

can't tell you the answer because no one will

49:45

tell me. This is all totally under wraps, but

49:48

I have a theory or two. John

49:51

was one of the few non-family males

49:53

who were known to be in the French house

49:55

on a regular basis. Remember,

49:57

they believed that the killer had access to the

49:59

house. and the gun. It's

50:02

possible that investigators remained suspicious of John

50:04

and believed that he might have recruited

50:06

a family member to help carry out

50:09

the crime. They might have

50:11

even believed he stole the gun and furnished the

50:13

killer with it. This is

50:15

all total speculation, but there was

50:17

enough conviction among the authorities that

50:19

John's sample would reveal something that

50:22

the testing was conducted at an

50:24

out-of-state lab in contravention of

50:26

the spirit of the familial DNA rules

50:28

in North Carolina, quoting

50:30

here directly from the probable cause

50:32

affidavit. On October 31st,

50:35

2014, a forensic DNA

50:38

lab report was received from

50:40

the University of North Texas

50:42

concluding that based on the

50:44

allele frequency data from U.S.

50:46

Caucasian, African American, and Southwestern

50:48

Hispanic populations, the observed

50:50

genetic results are at least 4,600 times more

50:53

likely under the scenario that the DNA

50:58

profile represented originated from an

51:00

individual who is a parent

51:02

or offspring of John Alvarez

51:04

as opposed to this DNA profile originating

51:07

from an unrelated individual. Sheesh,

51:10

that's all a little tough to understand,

51:12

but what it means is that the

51:14

unknown suspect who dripped blood at the

51:17

French crime scene was someone closely related

51:19

to John Alvarez as shown by a

51:21

partial match in their DNA. So

51:24

whatever investigative theory had led to the

51:26

partial match testing had been correct. Someone

51:29

John was related to was the killer.

51:32

A YSTR test was next. This

51:35

test compares the short tandem repeats in

51:37

the male chromosome of both samples to

51:39

determine whether the two samples are related

51:41

along the paternal line and if so,

51:43

how closely. The University

51:46

of North Texas lab compared John

51:48

Alvarez's DNA sample to that of

51:50

the killer using YSTR analysis and

51:53

the results showed that the

51:55

comparison did not support a

51:57

parent-child relationship nor did it

51:59

support a full sibling relationship. In

52:02

other words, per Parabon's case summary,

52:05

the YSTR test determined that

52:07

the perpetrator did not share a

52:09

YSTR lineage with John Alvarez. This

52:12

ruled out anyone who shared paternal lineage with

52:14

John. Yet, the test

52:16

showed that the unknown suspect's DNA

52:19

profile originated from a

52:21

second-order relative of John Alvarez.

52:24

This is someone like a grandparent,

52:26

uncle, cousin, or half-sibling. They

52:28

now knew that this second-order relative had

52:30

to be related to John through his

52:32

mother. Now,

52:34

you'll note that this was all happening in 2015. Golden

52:38

State and the acknowledged use of

52:40

forensic genealogy in criminal investigations was

52:42

still years off. But

52:44

even this early, Parabon was

52:46

using its phenotyping technology to

52:49

determine ancestry and physical traits

52:51

corresponding to DNA samples. In

52:54

February of 2015, Captain

52:56

Tammy Howell of the RCSO contracted

52:58

with Parabon, paying the rest in

53:00

Virginia company $3,500 for a snapshot analysis of

53:05

the DNA of the French suspect. It

53:09

was hoped, I believe, that Parabon's ability

53:11

to determine the suspect's race and specific

53:14

admixture would assist investigators in honing in

53:16

on who he was. And

53:19

Parabon's report caused quite a stir behind the

53:21

scenes. This from the Parabon

53:23

case summary, quote, the subject's

53:25

DNA indicated he had fair or

53:27

very fair skin, brown or hazel

53:29

eyes, dark hair, and little evidence

53:31

of freckling. Face

53:34

morphology analysis suggested the subject had

53:36

a wide facial structure and non-protruding

53:38

nose and chin. Importantly,

53:41

Snapchat analysis indicated the subject

53:43

had admixed ancestry, a

53:45

roughly 50-50 combination of European

53:48

and Latino ancestry, consistent

53:50

with that observed in individuals with

53:52

one European and one Latino parent.

53:56

Specifically, the suspect had roots in

53:58

Colombia, South America, China, Mexico, and

54:01

Western European countries, including Spain.

54:05

But it was the phenotype image that was produced

54:07

by Parabon that caused detectives to sit up in

54:09

their seats. The detectives noticed

54:11

that the image looked an awful lot

54:13

like someone in John's family. Based

54:16

on the YSGR analysis conducted by the

54:18

University of North Texas, Parabon knew that

54:20

the suspect was related along the maternal

54:23

line to John Alvarez. The

54:25

suspect was not related to Jose Alvarez

54:27

Sr. John's dad. So

54:30

the suspect must be an uncle, grandfather,

54:32

or nephew of Elaine, John's mom, or

54:34

a son of hers that was not fathered by Jose

54:37

Sr. Our

54:39

CSO Detective Marcus Marshall had a

54:41

theory. He said, quote, The snapshot

54:44

ancestry analysis and phenotype predictions suggested

54:46

we should not eliminate this person

54:48

as a suspect, despite the YSGR

54:51

results. The likeness of

54:53

the snapshot composite with his driver's

54:55

license photograph is quite striking. It

54:58

was time to obtain more samples. On

55:01

May 11, 2015, Detective Marshall

55:03

and Detective Ed Smaldone went to the

55:05

Alvarez family home on Fritter Road in

55:07

Stokesdale and asked for and

55:09

received buckle swabs from both Jose

55:12

Alvarez Sr. and John's older brother,

55:14

Jose Alvarez Jr. They

55:16

already knew, remember, that Jose Sr. was not

55:18

the perpetrator because the killer was

55:20

related to John but not related to John

55:22

along his father's side of the family. The

55:26

DNA swab from Jose Sr. confirmed that

55:28

he was John's dad. He

55:30

was not a match to the suspect and he was

55:32

eliminated. But the other

55:34

person who gave a DNA sample that day

55:36

was not eliminated. In fact, he was a

55:38

match. His DNA showed that

55:40

he was not related to John along the paternal

55:42

line as he was not related to Jose Sr.

55:45

at all. But he was

55:47

related to John. He was a half-sibling. And

55:50

Jose Sr. was not his father, which

55:52

was unfortunate because he was his

55:55

namesake. Jose Silvano Alvarez Jr. On

55:59

June 19th, 2015, the On July 9, 2015, the North

56:01

Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab

56:03

issued a report that summed up the

56:05

shocking results. All five

56:08

of the blood drops found on the staircase

56:10

in the French home belonged to Jose Alvarez,

56:12

Jr. The DNA of the crime

56:14

scene was 1 in 2.05

56:16

thousand trillion times more likely

56:18

to be DNA of Jose

56:20

Alvarez, Jr. than someone else

56:22

when compared to the Caucasian

56:24

population. The

56:26

numbers were equally definitive when it came to

56:29

the African American and Hispanic populations. They

56:31

were 1 in 74.9 thousand trillion and 1

56:33

in 209 thousand trillion respectively. It

56:38

was him. Whitley's brother-in-law had killed

56:40

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57:54

F-R-E-E. with

58:00

a warrant out for his arrest, Jose

58:02

Alvarez Jr. turned himself in to the

58:04

Rockingham County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff

58:07

Page held a press conference announcing the news.

58:09

He said, quote, three years

58:11

ago, I made a promise to the families of

58:13

Troy and LaDonna French that the Rockingham County

58:15

Sheriff's Office would not stop until an arrest

58:17

was made in connection with the murder of their loved one. Today,

58:20

we made good on that

58:22

promise. Sheriff Page would

58:24

not answer questions as to whether Alvarez had acted

58:26

alone. And district attorney Craig Blitzer

58:29

would not address investigators' theory of

58:31

the crime or speak to motive. We

58:34

have not developed a motive at this time. He said,

58:36

I don't need a motive to prosecute Mr. Alvarez. Of

58:39

course, this was true, but everybody

58:41

wanted to know why. Before

58:45

the press conference on the afternoon of August 25, deputies

58:47

were dispatched all over eastern North Carolina

58:50

to inform the far-flung members of the

58:52

French and Mosley families that they had

58:54

made an arrest. After

58:56

three and a half years, it was a shock. But

58:59

worse, the killer was a family member. Whitley

59:01

and John received a knock on their door in

59:03

Greenville. It's hard to imagine how quickly their relation must

59:07

have turned to dismay at hearing who the

59:09

killer was. John learned in one fell swoop that

59:11

his older brother was only his half-brother and he was

59:13

a murderer. Whitley

59:15

learned that her husband's brother had taken the lives

59:18

of her parents. Alvarez

59:20

was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. At

59:23

his bail hearing on August 26, the

59:25

Alvarez family was in attendance. And

59:27

so were many members of the French and Mosley families.

59:31

Because now, with Whitley and John married, the

59:33

families intersected. Whitley and

59:36

John chose not to attend. When

59:39

Alvarez was let in in shackles and a prison jumpsuit, there

59:42

were tears for most of those present,

59:44

particularly Jose Sr., the family patriarch. As

59:47

he cried, members of the victim's families consoled him. The suspect did

59:49

not make eye contact with anyone,

59:53

keeping them firmly affixed on the ground beneath

59:55

his feet. Rockingham

59:57

County District Judge Tony Grogan stated

59:59

simply... you are charged with

1:00:01

first-degree murder in the deaths of Troy and

1:00:04

LaDonna French. These charges come with a maximum

1:00:06

sentence of death or life in prison. Judge

1:00:09

Grogan granted prosecutors request to hold Alvarez

1:00:12

without bail. He was remanded to the

1:00:14

Rockingham County Jail. Not

1:00:17

everyone at the hearing was so forgiving toward

1:00:19

the suspect. Craig French began

1:00:21

to shake uncontrollably as he watched the

1:00:23

man accused of killing his older brother Troy.

1:00:25

He said, quote, I tried to stop

1:00:27

shaking, but I couldn't because I wanted to go after

1:00:30

him. It was the hardest thing in this whole world

1:00:32

other than losing my brother. But

1:00:34

Jose Alvarez, Sr. approached the French

1:00:37

family and profusely and tearfully apologized

1:00:39

for his son's actions. There

1:00:41

were hugs all around and everyone tried to

1:00:43

make sense of the turn of events that

1:00:46

once again connected the two families, this time

1:00:48

via a double homicide. Alvarez

1:00:51

was indicted on September 8th. Prosecutors

1:00:53

stated that they were considering seeking the

1:00:55

death penalty. This seems like

1:00:57

it was smoke and mirrors a little bit

1:01:00

since no executions have been carried out in

1:01:02

North Carolina since 2006. Then legislators there put

1:01:05

a moratorium on executions after

1:01:08

several lawsuits in the state challenged the

1:01:10

processes relating to and manner of carrying

1:01:12

out the death penalty. Nonetheless,

1:01:14

capital punishment is still legal in

1:01:16

the state for murders with aggravating

1:01:19

circumstances and can be used

1:01:21

as a bargaining chip to encourage criminal defendants

1:01:23

to enter into plea agreements and

1:01:25

render confessions. We

1:01:28

don't know an awful lot about our Jose

1:01:30

Alvarez, Jr. He was born on February 23,

1:01:33

1987. He grew up living

1:01:35

in Rockingham County and graduated from Rockingham

1:01:37

High, the same school Whitley and John

1:01:39

later attended. The guidance counselor

1:01:42

who happened to be Whitley's grandma, Ann, didn't

1:01:44

remember him. Not many people seem to notice

1:01:46

him at all. He flew

1:01:48

under the radar, quiet and unremarkable.

1:01:51

According to the news and record, he had

1:01:53

no criminal record or history of violence. He

1:01:57

lived at home for 28 years residing with his

1:01:59

parents and working. in their landscaping business,

1:02:01

but he moved to Greensboro one week

1:02:03

after his DNA swab was taken. While

1:02:06

living there he participated in his brother's

1:02:08

wedding, serving as a groomsman all while

1:02:10

harboring the dark secret that he was

1:02:12

the reason why the bride's parents were

1:02:15

present only in photographs. I

1:02:17

have to wonder whether he had a sense of

1:02:19

doom hanging over him throughout that joyful and momentous

1:02:21

day. He is visible in

1:02:23

wedding photos smiling and laughing. He

1:02:25

would be arrested a few short weeks later.

1:02:28

When he was, he denied ever having

1:02:30

set foot in the French home. Alvarez

1:02:34

had an excellent attorney, Winston Salem

1:02:37

based assistant capital defender Vincent Rabel.

1:02:40

Rabel was a consummate professional who worked

1:02:42

side by side with district attorney Craig

1:02:44

Blitzer to handle this case with dignity

1:02:47

and decorum. Blitzer and

1:02:49

Rabel agreed to postpone any decisions about

1:02:51

the death penalty until both sides could

1:02:53

complete all their due diligence. Eventually

1:02:56

with Alvarez's acquiescence, they

1:02:58

decided on a plea deal that would spare him the

1:03:00

death penalty. I reviewed the

1:03:03

plea agreement which was a strangely impersonal

1:03:05

check the box type form. Alvarez's

1:03:07

name is typed in under the

1:03:09

pre-printed state versus header. Typed

1:03:12

X's mark the boxes where Alvarez acknowledged

1:03:14

that he understood the charges against him,

1:03:17

had received the advice of counsel and was

1:03:19

in fact guilty. He

1:03:21

recognized that the maximum penalty typed in

1:03:23

under total maximum punishment was

1:03:25

death. The plea

1:03:27

arrangement language was short and sweet. Quote,

1:03:30

the defendant shall be sentenced to life without

1:03:32

parole upon his pleas of guilty to each

1:03:34

kind. In return, the state agrees

1:03:36

not to pursue a capital sentence in each

1:03:38

case. The state agrees not to

1:03:40

pursue or charge any other offenses arising

1:03:43

from the defendant's activities at the

1:03:45

residence of Douglas Troy French and

1:03:47

LaDonna Moseley French. The

1:03:50

form was signed by all parties

1:03:53

Alvarez, his attorney Vincent Rabel, prosecutor

1:03:55

Craig Blitzer and Judge Wilson on

1:03:57

July 8, 2016. At

1:04:00

a July 7th hearing on the plea

1:04:02

agreement and sentencing, Rabel asked the Rockingham

1:04:04

County Superior Court to accept the plea

1:04:06

agreement. He addressed the court discussing

1:04:08

his client and why he deserved to be spared

1:04:11

the death penalty. He acknowledged

1:04:13

that there was overwhelming DNA evidence from

1:04:15

the blood drops connecting his client to

1:04:17

the murders. It could not

1:04:19

be denied that the blood drops were left by

1:04:21

the shooter, he acknowledged. And, he

1:04:23

said his client had acknowledged his guilt. He

1:04:26

told the court he had hired an expert to

1:04:28

undertake a psychological evaluation of

1:04:30

Alvarez. Dr. Coleman spent

1:04:32

hundreds of hours with Alvarez. This

1:04:35

evaluation was partially intended to

1:04:37

determine whether Alvarez could plead

1:04:39

insanity. Rabel said that

1:04:42

he had considered self-defense, mental disability,

1:04:44

and insanity as defenses to the

1:04:46

capital murder charges. But,

1:04:48

in the end, Alvarez wasn't crazy

1:04:50

or suffering from any kind of incapacity,

1:04:53

and the evidence against him was

1:04:55

incontrovertible. Rabel

1:04:57

did his best to try to make Alvarez out to be

1:04:59

a little bit of a victim. He

1:05:01

was pushing to get the two life sentences

1:05:03

called for by the plea agreement to

1:05:05

be served concurrently rather than consecutively.

1:05:09

He said mitigating circumstances called for

1:05:11

the judge to exercise his discretion

1:05:13

in favor of concurrency. Rabel

1:05:15

said his client was born with the cord

1:05:17

around his neck and he had severed at

1:05:20

least one concussion playing baseball and had even

1:05:22

lost the time once. He

1:05:24

came from a religious and supportive family but

1:05:26

could not focus on his college classes at

1:05:29

NC State and drafted out. Dr.

1:05:32

Coleman observed that Alvarez was increasingly

1:05:34

isolated, a loner with few friends,

1:05:36

and an increasingly dominant fantasy life.

1:05:39

She diagnosed him with severe anxiety

1:05:42

disorder. She said that

1:05:44

he functioned at a teenage level, not someone pushing

1:05:46

his 30s. He

1:05:48

was emotionally and financially dependent on his

1:05:50

parents. At the end,

1:05:52

Rabel emphasized that Alvarez had no criminal

1:05:54

record. District

1:05:57

Attorney Craig Blitzer was not going to give an inch.

1:06:00

Alvarez, he said, did not deserve any

1:06:02

leniency. He didn't own up to

1:06:04

the crime. He got caught after great time and

1:06:06

expense was expended on the case. Even

1:06:08

after he was brought into the station, he denied it all.

1:06:11

When he took a polygraph, he still denied it. And

1:06:14

even after they arrested him, he didn't

1:06:16

accept responsibility. He hid all

1:06:18

the evidence by discarding it, and he

1:06:21

premeditated the murders when he put the knife

1:06:23

away and grabbed the gun. Blitzer

1:06:25

asked the court to hand down consecutive sentences

1:06:28

in case subsequent changes in the

1:06:30

law abbreviated Alvarez's sentence for some

1:06:32

reason, opening him up for parole.

1:06:36

Some of the French and Mosley family members were permitted

1:06:38

to address the court at this time. Jordan

1:06:41

Hayes, LaDonna French's nephew who was very

1:06:43

close with Hunter, had some harsh words

1:06:45

for Alvarez. He said that

1:06:48

the family had been destroyed by what happened. Speaking

1:06:51

directly to the prisoner, he said, quote, I'm

1:06:53

glad they're not giving you the death penalty. I'm glad you're

1:06:55

going to rot in jail. I hope you rot in hell.

1:06:59

Jordan Hayes's mother, Kathy is LaDonna French's

1:07:01

sister. Her family lived right

1:07:03

next to the friend's house and the two sisters

1:07:06

were extremely close. She said

1:07:08

to Alvarez, quote, you have destroyed our

1:07:10

family. I live right by their home

1:07:12

and I drive by there and their grave sites every

1:07:14

day. She talked about

1:07:16

how Whitley had missed observing so many milestones with

1:07:18

her parents, taken away from her

1:07:20

and Hunter by Alvarez. Kathy

1:07:23

also said that it was because of him that

1:07:25

the community blamed Whitley and John. You

1:07:27

have made your own family suffer. She said, I

1:07:30

love your parents and brother, but you have broken

1:07:32

their hearts. Craig

1:07:35

French, so angered by the murder of his

1:07:37

brother, said he had thought constantly about ways

1:07:39

of killing Alvarez. But

1:07:41

now he says he was able to forgive. This

1:07:44

feeling was echoed by an French Troy's mom. We

1:07:47

are thankful that the French family is free

1:07:49

from anger, hatred and all that could hold

1:07:52

us bound in this horrible state. She said

1:07:54

in court, know that you are forgiven. Alvarez

1:07:57

was permitted to make a statement in court. I

1:08:00

do regret what happened," he said. If I could

1:08:02

take it back, I would. If I could change

1:08:04

something, I would. All I

1:08:07

could say is, I'm sorry. That's

1:08:09

all. Judge Ed Wilson was inclined to

1:08:11

accept the plea agreement, saying that it allowed the

1:08:13

family to avoid a trial and possible appeals, and

1:08:16

perhaps to begin putting it all behind them. He

1:08:19

sentenced Alvarez to two consecutive life terms

1:08:21

in prison without an opportunity for parole.

1:08:24

"'You will die in prison,' Judge Wilson

1:08:26

told him. This

1:08:28

is now serving out his sentence at Central

1:08:30

Prison in Raleigh." Full

1:08:34

disclosure by Jose Alvarez, Jr. of what exactly went

1:08:36

down on the night of the shooting was one

1:08:38

of the requirements of the plea agreement. Everybody

1:08:41

wanted to know how the heck did all this happen?

1:08:44

Why was Alvarez in the French home that night? How

1:08:46

did he get Troy's gun? Why did he

1:08:49

kill LaDonna and Troy? And why

1:08:51

didn't Whitley recognize him when he climbed onto her bed?

1:08:55

Remember, Whitley's description of the suspect was about

1:08:57

5'8". Alvarez

1:08:59

is about 5'3". She

1:09:02

said he was 160 to 170 pounds. He

1:09:04

is diminutive and thin, 140 on a good day. This

1:09:08

is a good illustration about exactly how

1:09:10

unreliable eyewitness accounts can be. Whitley

1:09:13

knew him, and in the dark, chaotic,

1:09:15

and fleeting incident, she failed to recognize

1:09:18

him. And he took on

1:09:20

much larger proportions in her mind than in reality. A

1:09:22

man like her can do that to a person. But

1:09:25

there was another reason she failed to recognize

1:09:27

her boyfriend's brother. He was wearing a

1:09:29

mask. She never saw his face,

1:09:31

but she didn't know why she never saw his

1:09:33

face. So she never told the police that

1:09:35

the intruder was wearing a mask. So

1:09:38

what was Alvarez's connection to the French family, and

1:09:41

why was he in their home creeping around in

1:09:43

the middle of the night wearing a mask? Of

1:09:45

course, his brother was dating Whitley, but Alvarez

1:09:48

was four years older than John. And

1:09:50

his being his brother would not necessarily mean that

1:09:52

he was known to or familiar with

1:09:55

the Frenchs. However, Reidsville is

1:09:57

a small community of just 15,000. where

1:10:00

many of the families know each other,

1:10:02

whether from church, school, or community involvement.

1:10:06

And investigators found that Alvarez had been

1:10:08

hired by Nancy, Troy's mom, to care

1:10:10

for her rose bushes. This

1:10:12

was at the house across the street from the

1:10:14

French's. She told the news and

1:10:16

record, quote, he was as nice as he

1:10:19

could be and quiet. Nancy and

1:10:21

her husband, Don, had become friends with Alvarez's

1:10:23

mom, Elaine, after the murders. She stopped by

1:10:25

to express her condolences and they hit it

1:10:27

off. Of course, this was

1:10:29

years before any of them knew that her son

1:10:32

was Troy and LaDonna's killer. The

1:10:34

Alvarez's two younger sons also played baseball

1:10:36

and often chatted with members of the

1:10:38

Mosley and French families in attendance

1:10:41

to watch Hunter in the bleachers. After

1:10:43

the news came out that her son murdered

1:10:45

Anne French-Fosette's son, Elaine said, my heart goes

1:10:48

out to them and

1:10:50

commented on how hard this must be for the

1:10:52

family. But that wasn't all. This

1:10:54

was not a case where Alvarez, for some reason, targeted

1:10:56

the French home that night, perhaps to rob

1:10:59

the family he probably perceived as affluent. The

1:11:02

truth was much, much weirder. It

1:11:05

turned out that Alvarez was obsessed with the French's

1:11:07

and their home. We don't

1:11:09

know exactly when he first entered the house. It

1:11:12

started when Whitley was at the Alvarez's home where he lived and

1:11:15

she inadvertently left her driver's license

1:11:17

behind. Alvarez noted her

1:11:19

address and he found a

1:11:21

spare key the French's had hidden outside the house

1:11:24

because as a professional landscaper, he

1:11:26

knew exactly where people typically hid their keys.

1:11:29

Note to self, don't hide the key under the mat

1:11:31

or a flower pot. Alvarez

1:11:34

stole the key and copied it, replacing the

1:11:36

original so no one would know. And

1:11:39

while the family was sleeping on many, many

1:11:41

occasions over the six-month period leading up to

1:11:43

the slayings, he would let himself into their home and

1:11:47

silently revel in the comforts the house had to

1:11:49

offer. Sometimes he entered

1:11:51

when he knew no one was home and sometimes he

1:11:53

let himself in when he knew the residents were

1:11:55

home. He crept

1:11:57

in and actually watched the family sleep.

1:12:00

He would dare himself to spend five minutes,

1:12:02

ten minutes longer in the house. And

1:12:05

this is really odd. He smelled things. This

1:12:07

is from the statements in court. He

1:12:11

was fixated on smells, defense attorney

1:12:13

Vincent Rabel said, quote, the

1:12:15

French house was a model home. Everything was

1:12:17

new and freshly painted. And

1:12:20

this is the weirdest of all. Alvarez really

1:12:22

enjoyed the smell of the French's clothes

1:12:25

dryer. I'm going to have to find out

1:12:27

what kind of model they have. In

1:12:30

one of Alvarez's clandestine excursions into the

1:12:32

house, he stole Troy's gun. He

1:12:34

had it with him on the night of the shooting for self protection,

1:12:36

he said. Of course, this

1:12:38

illustrates that Alvarez was fully aware that what

1:12:40

he was doing was wrong, illegal

1:12:43

and potentially could cause a confrontation.

1:12:46

And it did. We

1:12:48

learned from the courtroom statements that Alvarez didn't

1:12:50

plan the murders. He didn't dislike or have

1:12:52

any animosity toward the Finches. In

1:12:55

fact, as we now know, he seemed fixated

1:12:57

on them instead. And on

1:12:59

the night of the murders, just as in

1:13:01

many nights previously, he entered the home knowing

1:13:03

the French's were home. We

1:13:05

know that Whitley was awake around 1 30 a.m. Remember

1:13:08

she was on her phone at that time. Alvarez

1:13:11

entered her room just after two.

1:13:14

And when he did, he stepped on a floorboard

1:13:16

that creaked Whitley probably just

1:13:18

lightly asleep at that point turned to see

1:13:20

what the noise was. And in the dim

1:13:22

light, she could see only the hooded figure

1:13:24

frozen in place near her bed. And

1:13:27

she did what any of us would do. She screamed. She

1:13:29

pulled the sheet over her head and screamed and

1:13:32

screamed. Her shrieks pierced the

1:13:34

silent peaceful night and woke up her parents

1:13:36

downstairs. Panicked Alvarez jumped on

1:13:38

top of Whitley to shut her up and hit

1:13:40

her arm with a knife he was holding cutting

1:13:42

her. When he heard Troy

1:13:44

and the Donna start to run, he jumped off

1:13:46

Whitley and ran to the stairs to escape. But

1:13:49

Madonna was already at the base of the

1:13:51

staircase between him and the door. Alvarez

1:13:54

fumbled to stow the knife cutting himself in

1:13:56

the process and grabbed the gun. He

1:13:59

fired mowing. down the parents simply reacting to being

1:14:01

caught red-handed and desperate to get out of the

1:14:03

house. Blitzer said in court

1:14:05

that, quote, the motive in the murders was

1:14:07

just escape from that house. It was not

1:14:10

about an attraction to Whitley. After

1:14:13

shoving LaDonna's body aside and unlocking the front

1:14:15

door, Alvarez ran to his car parked on

1:14:17

a dirt road that was somewhat hidden from

1:14:19

view and drove off. He

1:14:22

wasn't dumb. He immediately ditched the knife, gun, and

1:14:24

bloody clothing he was wearing that night in a

1:14:26

dumpster near his home. They were never

1:14:28

recovered. This was

1:14:31

why there was no sign of a break-in at the

1:14:33

French home and the killer had known that the front

1:14:35

door was locked. He had a

1:14:37

key and was all too familiar with

1:14:39

the nocturnal locking-up habits of the unsuspecting

1:14:41

family. District

1:14:44

Attorney Blitzer held a press conference after the

1:14:46

sentencing. He emphasized the complexity of

1:14:48

this case with 324 pieces of evidence, 65 buckle

1:14:51

swabs, and

1:14:54

four DNA labs. The total

1:14:56

cost of $5,000, most of which went

1:14:58

to Parabon, was footed with funds

1:15:01

seized from criminal enterprises. Blitzer

1:15:03

said that the shell casings found at the

1:15:06

scene being matched to the guns stolen from

1:15:08

the house months earlier focused their

1:15:10

investigation close to home, but

1:15:12

the elimination of everyone who had known

1:15:15

access to the house stymied the investigators.

1:15:18

Without the snapshot component, the case might

1:15:20

have gone unsolved. Blitzer

1:15:24

shed some more light on the homicides. The

1:15:26

strange convicted young man and the motivations that

1:15:28

drove him to seek out the French home.

1:15:31

When Alvarez saw the address on Whitley's license in the

1:15:33

summer of 2011, he went to the

1:15:36

house out of curiosity. He

1:15:38

quickly found the hidden key and sneaked into the

1:15:40

residence. Inside, Alvarez became

1:15:42

enamored by the newness, the organization, and

1:15:44

the cleanliness of the home. He

1:15:47

told investigators, quote, he was entranced by

1:15:49

the nice things that Troy, LaDonna, Whitley,

1:15:51

and Hunter had. Over

1:15:54

the next seven months, he has sneaked into the house

1:15:56

on numerous occasions. Sometimes he had been

1:15:58

drinking. He was infatuated. with

1:16:00

the residents and their possessions. Blitzer

1:16:03

described the double homicide as a simple

1:16:05

crime of opportunity. Alvarez had

1:16:07

no special feelings about Whitley. In fact,

1:16:10

he had often entered the home when she was away

1:16:12

at college. Alvarez's motive that night

1:16:14

was simply to escape from the house. Blitzer

1:16:17

stated that the BAU had posited from the

1:16:19

intruder's transition from knife to gun that

1:16:22

he was cornered and desperate to escape. Whitley

1:16:25

was left alive simply because she was not

1:16:27

standing between the killer and the exit. The

1:16:30

front door. As we

1:16:32

know, the key found under the deck was used by Alvarez

1:16:34

to make a copy, but

1:16:36

he replaced it and never used it again. The

1:16:39

unknown male DNA profile on the key, which

1:16:41

did not match the profile from the blood

1:16:43

drops, did not come from mishandling

1:16:45

by the RCSO, Blitzer said. Rather,

1:16:48

the touched DNA is believed to have

1:16:50

come from whatever hardware store clerk copied

1:16:53

the key. As

1:16:55

for why Alvarez locked the door behind him

1:16:57

while he clandestinely walked around the house, he

1:17:00

told investigators he always locked the deadbolt on

1:17:02

the way in, in case the family

1:17:04

woke up and checked the door. Now,

1:17:08

there may be those of you who

1:17:10

wonder, or perhaps even suspect, that Alvarez

1:17:12

was the fall guy, that maybe Whitley

1:17:14

and his brother participated behind the scenes

1:17:17

and that they used him to eliminate the

1:17:19

French's, the perceived obstacles to their happiness. It

1:17:22

seems convenient that Whitley couldn't identify the

1:17:25

shooter, that Hunter wasn't home, and she

1:17:27

wasn't really injured. I

1:17:29

can't assuage your doubts, and I do

1:17:31

believe that a lingering suspicion of John

1:17:34

Alvarez is what led investigators to order

1:17:36

the partial DNA match testing. But

1:17:39

I can tell you that at the sentencing, both

1:17:41

District Attorney Craig Blitzer and Alvarez's

1:17:43

own defense attorney Vincent Rabel told

1:17:45

the court that Alvarez acted alone.

1:17:49

Rabel is a very well-known and effective

1:17:51

defense lawyer. If his

1:17:53

client could lessen his own culpability by

1:17:55

placing the blame on some co-conspirators, Rabel

1:17:58

would absolutely go for it. Why

1:18:00

would Alvarez keep silent and take the fall for

1:18:02

Whitley and John? The answer is,

1:18:04

he wouldn't. At

1:18:07

the press conference, Blitzer took care to

1:18:09

state affirmatively that the French case is

1:18:11

closed. There is no evidence

1:18:14

of any additional suspects, and authorities

1:18:16

announced a complete and total exoneration

1:18:18

of Whitley. Blitzer

1:18:20

reprimanded the media and the public for pointing

1:18:22

the finger at Whitley. He said

1:18:24

that in her time of need, she was

1:18:26

abandoned by the community and eventually driven out

1:18:29

of state. She and John had

1:18:31

moved to Texas after they graduated from ECU. Blitzer

1:18:34

angrily cited a reporter who circumvented restrictions

1:18:36

on communications with Alvarez and sent him

1:18:39

a secret letter in prison, saying that

1:18:41

she did not believe him to be

1:18:43

guilty and offering to tell his side

1:18:45

of the story. On

1:18:47

the contrary, Blitzer said, Alvarez voluntarily

1:18:50

gave a DNA sample, confessed

1:18:52

his deeds as part of the plea agreement,

1:18:55

and took sole responsibility for his crimes.

1:18:58

Sheriff Page, a vehement supporter of Whitley's and

1:19:00

John's innocence from the beginning, stated

1:19:03

bluntly that there is zero basis to

1:19:05

believe that anyone but Alvarez was involved.

1:19:09

After just four years, the French case

1:19:11

was closed thanks to partial DNA matching

1:19:14

and DNA phenotyping. And

1:19:16

if you're one of the bad guys, they're coming for you.

1:19:22

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