E132 | Would You Keep $20K by Mistake? | Dating, Vegas Plans & Celebrity Takes
87m 13s
The case of Scott Sessions, a 53-year-old trumpet player in Greeley, Colorado, begins with his unexplained absence from a sold-out concert on February 10, 2020. Known for his reliability and vibrant personality, Scott’s friends grew worried when he missed the gig and failed to check on his ailing mother. A snow plow driver later discovered his body in a remote canyon, wrapped in plastic, duct-taped, burned, and nearly decapitated—a scene that shocked investigators. Police found his car abandoned at a King’s Supermarket parking lot with keys inside and a blood-stained floor mat, though DNA testing was inconclusive. Surveillance footage showed an unidentified person leaving the car after Scott’s death. Cell phone records placed Scott’s last ping three miles from his home. Detectives interviewed friends and family, focusing on Scott’s past relationships, including an ex-girlfriend with a restraining order who had a 30-minute phone call with him the day before his disappearance. Despite these leads, the case remained unsolved for two decades until new technology allowed investigators to reopen it, as detailed in the ABC Audio series “Blood and Water.”
In the suburbs of DC, a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. "Now, when we went to emergency, we just walked in the door and there's blood in the four-year." For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020. Blood and Water. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. Step into the 2020 True Crime Vault where each story is unforgettable. "I have a dead body." When you did see the body, what was your impression of what had happened? Disgott sessions. There was rage involved in it. Absolute horror that somebody could be treated that way. The body had been wrapped in plastic sheeting. It was a man and his head had been covered and duct taped as well and his body had been burned. And they're like, "What?" We found your son. He is deceased. It was like somebody punched me in the gut. At this point, police are scrambling for clues. Anything that might lead them to Scott's sessions killer. We're about girlfriends. You can't help but you're a record there. He became very jealous. He didn't get really angry. When they finally got hit in the fall for it, they got to start remaking. That he was not a big change. You meet somebody that you think might be a great person to start dating and then all of a sudden your life is gone. But before it's all over, there will be a second body. It's hard to hide blood when it's everywhere. We had a sold out two-night concert at Candelite Dinner Playhouse. It was February 10th. 2020 was a Monday night. Scott's sessions were in my Elvis tribute band. It was a trumpet player. I had been promising Scott for months that I would make it to one of his gigs. We bought our tickets a minute they went on sale. And I was going to get to see Scott play for the first time in forever. It was pretty exciting. As he got closer and closer to start time, Scott wasn't there. It was weird because Scott had failed to show up for the gig. Something Scott doesn't do. He was always ridiculously early to the gig and always ready to go, dressed, looking good. When the curtain opened and he wasn't there, we thought, well, maybe he'll show up in a little bit. If I remember correctly, it was starting to snow. It was snowing, it was cold. Scott didn't show up. In the back of my mind, I had a bad feeling. We were all trying to figure out what had happened. Our story begins here in Greeley, Colorado. It's about an hour north of Denver and its community built on cattle, oil, and agriculture. But one that has a thriving blue scene. Really Colorado. We're about 115,000 people, primarily agriculture. We have been known for our beef in this area forever. People are friendly and it has a small town feel. We're located in this pristine little valley where we have the best of both worlds. 53-year-old Scott Sessions grew up here in Greeley. He was part of the local music scene. He played his trumpet at some of the local bars here. But some say that his personality played louder than his horn. He started playing probably age or nine. There's a picture of a trumpet holding it across his chest. That trumpet's bigger than his. His high school teacher said, "Hey, you ought to play in the jazz group." And I think at that time, he really started to get interested in playing the trumpet. When he put that trumpet to his lips was, "Who?" I've known Scott since high school. We've been friends for the last 40 years. He always wanted everybody to be happy and to get along. He was a very caring person. He cared about people, cared about helping others out. Scott was very much a people person. He was just a good guy. Music made him larger than life. He was always on. There was no off-swish with Scott Sessions. He was very loud and explosive personality. And that's what made him great on stage. He played the trumpet in a Denver-based band called "The Movers and Shakers." His song is called "Hi, Rodney Allen." It's incredible when you watch video of Scott performing. When he was up on stage, he had the facial expressions. He had body movement. Like when he was really hitting those high notes, you could kind of crunch down and you got the look on their face. He really got into the music. Scott and I met in January of 2018 at a gig of his. He was nice and thin and in shape. He had this strong arms and his hair was very cute. Scott's former girlfriend agreed to do an interview, but she asked that we not use her name. Scott's a really good at love and he's good at expressing love. He's really good with his words. And he would sing me songs. He'd just all those romantic things. When Scott played up on stage, you know when I grabbed his butt or tried to kiss him. I always called him "Fan Girls." Our band, "The Movers and Shakers," it just exploded out of the gates. They were competing in competitions and winning them. And they were really beginning to go somewhere. When my band started to do bigger concerts, we added a horn section. And Scottie was my trumpet player for many years. Best trumpet player, Mr. Scott Session. [Applause] He loved live performances. Scott loved being up on stage. He loved being part of a group of musicians. Scott could lose his left leg and he would still show up to a gig. [Music] Scott was always known to be reliable. So it stunned his friends and bandmates when he didn't show up for his sold out concert. [Music] It was Tuesday morning. I get a call from George Gray and I said, "Hey, Scott didn't make it to the gig last night." And he said, "Well, that's strange. It turns out that's not the only thing he missed." They had made plans to go see his mom. His mom wasn't doing well with her health. He never came out and I didn't give it any thought. Those guys stayed up late or something. When he thought maybe he just slept in. I said, "I'm going to go over to his house and see if he's okay." And George said, "I'm really worried about it. I don't know if something might have happened." His father met me there. Sorry, checked in garage and Scott's car was not there. The snow hadn't been shoveled. The cat hadn't been fed. Scott was very particular about taking care of his cat. It was the one thing that could get him to leave a party as if his cat needed attention. Something was clearly wrong. [Music] There'd been a snow storm. Maybe he went off the road somewhere where he was going for a drive in the mountains. I went to the police department and filed a missing persons report. And that was about new needs. As that day went on, we were all putting stuff on Facebook and texting his number. "Hey man, we're getting worried about you. What's going on? We're concerned." I got a phone call from the police department. They said, "Would you be willing to come in? The detective would like to visit with you." I'm on the Pingri Park Road and I have a dead body here. [Music] I'm in Pudir Canyon in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. It was just down there that a snow plow driver sees something smoldering burning up on the hillside. I'm on the Pingri Park Road at the Monument Goalch exit and I have a dead body here. Okay, we'll get help on the way. Are you able to provide any details? Well, there was a tree on fire and I went up to put it out and he's laying next to it. Okay, and you believe he's gone any help? He's definitely passed away. [Music] He thought somebody had been out there camping and had left a. a campfire. And so he was going to go throw some snow on it and make sure that he put out whatever fire was there. When he got close to the plume of smoke, that's when he realized this was a body. It was a man and his head had been covered and duct taped as well. He was found next to a smoldering log and his body had been burned. Driving out here, this is as remote as it gets. The nearest store, much less house, is miles and miles away. Everywhere around us is just trees, forest and snow. Detective Justin Atwood took me to the very spot where that snow cloud driver made the deadly discovery. So he literally walked up this pretty steep embankment here from down below. Exactly. Climbers up here to this smoldering log. And then get surprised when he realizes that there's a body. It shocked him. It scared him. It had been intentionally burned. It had been wrapped in plastic and that plastic had been bound in duct tape. I got a phone call from the police department. They said the detective would like to visit with you. I should have known something was not right on the Sunday morning when he didn't come to the gold seaside. We wanted to make sure that we made contact with Stan as soon as possible. So it was about 4.35 o'clock when they had the detective said we found your son. He has deceased. Standing immediately broke the news of Scott's death to his ailing wife. She said, who would want to kill my Scotty? It's a very difficult thing to tell somebody that their loved ones deceased. Emotionally, it's difficult. And really, the music community is one of the last of a gift to trumpet player. Sessions was found dead on February 10th by a snow cloud driver in Bellevue. Mr. Sessions was ultimately identified with a fingerprint reader during the course of the autopsy. If you've been to a local bar that plays rock or soul recently, there's a good chance. You've heard Scott Sessions on trumpet. Sessions' body was found alongside a road in Bellevue. He was a person. You know, he had a soul. He had a smile. He had a laugh. He was real. I mean, it's hard to describe. And now, you know, he's just a body. George Caldon said that they had found a body and a remote area of the mountains outside of Fort Collins. And my wife and I looked at each other and thought, no way. No, that's not Scott. It's a champion. He was found deceased, almost decapitated, and that his body was lit on fire. When you did see the body, what was your impression of what had happened? Disgott Sessions. It was very deliberate. Absolute horror that somebody could be treated that way and then disposed of that way. No one deserves that. You don't get a lot of murders in Laramor County. No. And here you have a body that's almost decapitated. Yes. This is the probably the worst I've ever seen. It was like somebody had punched me in the gut. There was a lot of regret that I hadn't made it to a gig sooner. A lot of regret that the world had just lost a very amazing man. We didn't know at that time who would have killed him. Something had to go terribly wrong. Okay, so where are we? We're out in front of Scott Sessions' residence in Greeley, Colorado. This is where he lived prior to his death. We came here to serve a search warrant. What kinds of things were you looking for? Well, the first thing we were looking for was the scene of the disturbance. It was a, your standard bachelor pad, single guy living in there. It was fairly clean. It had some clutter to it and stuff like that. We were looking for blood, was his vehicle parked in the garage. We tried to find a cell phone. One of the major things that we were looking for was his trumpet. The instrument that he played in the van because he never went anywhere without that trumpet. One theory was that Scott has been robbed and killed for his trumpet. We were told that it was a very expensive trumpet. We started looking on databases, pawn shops, to try and find if there was a trumpet that was identical to Scott's that would have been sold. We actually found his trumpet in his house. It was in a closet. It ended up turning out to be a dead end. Investigators press on desperate for clues that could point to a motive or the killer. They were kind of at a loss. They didn't have a suspect. It was important that investigators find out everything they could about their victim, Scott Sessions. I was the last person he talked to before he died. I'm back home and I have a date tonight. There are these waters. So obviously they began questioning his friends and his family, including Scott's father Stan. Well obviously this is a difficult time for you and your family. We want to be as respectful as possible but we also need to get to the bottom of what's going on. He was an emotional guy and if he fell in love with a woman, he went clear to the core. There was no open back and this was a bad amount of fraud. But about girlfriends. He had an elevator at record there. He had a difficult relationship with a girlfriend that lived in Greeley. There was documented contacts with law enforcement and there was a restraining order that was in the system. Scott had several tumultuous past relationships and detectives wondered if one of them might have a motive to murder the popular musician. One day after Scott's body is found, his car appears out of nowhere. Who is this person driving a dead man's car? 2020 is partnering with Vibes Open Ear Wireless Headphones. That's VYBZ. If you listen to a lot of True Crime, you probably like to listen with a good pair of headphones. But it can be tricky to find a pair that provides great sound quality that's not too overwhelming. Because when you're out with a podcast during a late night dog walk or pre-dawne run, you don't necessarily want noise cancellation that blocks out the sounds around you. That's why you'll want to get yourself a pair of Vibes, your perfect companion in audio. They're designed for maximum comfort with ultra lightweight earbuds that sit just outside the ear canal. And they offer crystal clear audio. 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I don't know why I can't find a fella. Don't miss, it was an accident on May 15th. Streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers, Terms Apply. Whenever you have a case that's big like this, you start working it, you start living it, everything that you do was nothing but the case. This was my first assigned homicide. There was a huge team that came together to work in this case. So we kind of prepared to not get any sleep for the next four or five days. In situations like this, there's a lot of stuff that you need to start doing. We started reaching out to his friends. Does he have any new associates? Anybody that nobody knows about? Does he have a secret girlfriend that nobody knows about, type thing? There was a lot of things that we needed to do. While interviews with some key witnesses are happening, another set of investigators are busy analyzing data from local cell phone towers. What they're trying to do is pinpoint exactly where Scott Sessions may have spent the final moments of his life. The cell phone provider was constantly retrieving data from your phone. It's sending data to the cell phone provider as to the location of that phone. Those records will also tell you last made phone calls, last received phone calls, or last known telephone numbers.
you sent a message to, that tower is going to capture specific data. Scott's cell phone last pinked three miles away from his house in Greeley, Colorado. That was the last location where Scott's cell phone had been prior to his death. At this point police are scrambling for clues. Anything that might lead them to Scott's Sessions killer, they have cops canvassing neighborhoods and they find Scott's car here right across from that King's supers. It looked like somebody else had driven Scott's car, intentionally left it in the parking lot of the supermarkets with the keys in it. One thing that was unusual was one of the floor mats from Scott's vehicle was found underneath the vehicle when the vehicle was originally located and that floor mat was also processed for potential blood evidence. It tested positive on a screening test for blood, however we were unable to get a DNA profile on that stain. It was pretty evident test that this was a vehicle dump. Police pulled surveillance video from the King's super supermarket and surrounding businesses including an urgent care. They were able to see the car pull into the parking lot and they were able to see somebody get out of the driver's side, walk around the car and then ultimately walk away from the car on foot and leave the car in the parking lot and that happened after they had already found Scott's body. That was the first video that we had of our potential suspect. We needed to talk to every single one of his friends and find out who he's been hanging out with. Investigators talked to two of Scott's ex-girlfriends. Obviously we're here because your dear friend Scott has passed away. Yeah. I like to go out and listen to live music and he's a trumpet player and I met him through that, dated for two years and then I broke up with him. And so during that relationship you had indicated that there were some troubles and stuff like that? We get really angry. So I decided for my own safety I filed a restraining order. And that was for three months. He's really straightened out. He's the happiest I've ever seen him. That's why this is such a shock. A friend of his called me and she said, did you know Scott was missing and I said no. And then her next sentence, while he was murdered and they were like what? We were on and off. It was pretty tumultuous. And so we were seeing each other for little less than two years. And you would go do things with him. He'd hold you and he'd put his arm around you. I felt so safe and loved when I was with him. So this is the last message I ever received from Scott. Hey, how's it going? I'd love to tell you all about that because it was really fun. It was really cool. We did really well. Anyways, give me a tolerance, a program, a great date. I'll see you soon. Bye. Little did she know that investigators were already eyeing her as a person of interest. They were collecting pieces of chewing gum and a hair sample from the ex-girlfriend's trash. And there were a series of text messages and a 30 minute phone call between Scott and his ex just one day before he went missing. So I'm very sorry that we're here. And this is going to be a very sensitive topic to discuss. We started to identify that there was a recent relationship. There was a restraining order that was in the system and that they had an argument where the police were called. And we knew that per house was in the central part of Greeley. We dated consistently until he got arrested until 2015, 2018 because the restraining order put on him. When we had a big fight here at the house, we started yelling at each other and he ended up throwing coffee at me. I told him to get the F out of my house or I was going to call the police and he left. It was pretty agitated when he left but I didn't think much of it. I started cleaning up and then the cops showed up at the door so he had called the police. He reported himself. He thought she would call and then I'm going to get picked up. Well, he called me that. He picked up anyway. He wrote a nice letter to the judge. To me it really wasn't that big of a deal. I said please help Scott resolve this situation. So he solved it and we moved on with it. You're talking to him and they're asking questions. He'd tell they'd start to get distracted. We were in the middle of that interview and we get a knock on the door. We got to go right now. It was on Valentine's Day and we were out at the Well County Sheriff's Office. Investigators are speaking with Scott Sessions' ex-girlfriend. This is going to be a very sensitive topic to discuss. You know they'd ask me if I had information on Scott and then I could tell they'd start to get distracted and then all of a sudden they just cut the interview short. They're like okay, thank you so much. We get a knock on the door and it says you got to go. After hours of questioning Scott's ex's police get a new lead, one that would clear his ex-girlfriends of involvement. They served a search warrant on the 14th of February on Scott's apartment. During that investigation they actually found passwords. I raised down to 35th Avenue in Greeley because we had broken into Scott's Facebook Messenger and found out that at the same time that Scott was talking to his dad on the phone Scott was having a Facebook Messenger conversation with whom we identified as Heather Frank. Just a couple of weeks before his murder, Scott Sessions met a local Greeley woman named Heather Frank. Heather and Scott had exchanged multiple communications via Facebook Messenger. They were talking about her attending some of Scott's concerts and in particular she had seen him perform and she liked him. It was obvious that they had met in the past. Well we discovered to be the beginning of the story so to speak. January 24th there was some Facebook communication between Scott and Heather. This seemed to be starting or developing between the two and it seemed to be romantic in nature. The pair first connected over a shared love of music. I met Heather at the club and that's when Scott met her as well. The pair she was very taken with Scott. She was a beautiful woman. I remember the look on her face when she was watching Scott. You know, he was like, "Uh, puppy dog, guys." Now we are trying to understand Heather Frank's life. What is her lifestyle? Where does she work? There's a lot of stuff that we had to figure out at that point. When I met Heather's friends, they described her as a fun loving free spirit. Tell me how you knew Heather. They seen her every two months for a haircut in the style. And we took her hair from blonde to red and it was like four hour appointments so it's just you and her usually. It's interesting in your line of work you become kind of a therapist, right? Oh yeah, that's what my business card says. Hair therapist. You put the hair color on and the truth serum comes out. She's very colorful and she always had the best clothes. She's very friendly, very boisterous. A happy girl, just super fun. Heather was a mom to three boys. Her eldest son, Alex, said the two were inseparable. She was pretty much like my best friend and we did everything together. My mom and my dad got divorced in 2010 and after they separated it was kind of rough. But us three boys always put a smile on her face. She would be there for me when I had heart-toms. She would just drag me out to go do fun things and get back and the swing of things. She was always blasting music. She loved it. Every time I come over we always do dance parties, like little dance-offs. She loved nature. She loved going camping. She worked as a server over at Doug's day diner. People loved her. I met Heather at Doug's. We work together every single day for those three years. She didn't waste any time. I'd been there for a week when she invited me to go out to a concert with her and have a really fun night. And from that point on it kind of just grew. Every Thursday, girls night, we always look forward to that. That was our night. We'd start out with a little girl.
We go the same place or the same thing and just rank, eat, hang out and have fun. And if we got off work early enough, we'd just go walking around downtown Greeley, little shops, little hole in the wall bars, just fun times. She did tell me that she had met somebody and he plays in a band and she really enjoyed going to listen to his music because it was jazz. She just said, "Met somebody and I've been meeting him at this bar." It definitely just kind of seemed like an innocent little "I met somebody and I'm going to hang out with them now." I didn't ask too many questions yet. I remember meeting Heather. He brought her down to one of our gigs in Denver. He'd only met her a few weeks prior to when we'd gotten on this trip to go down to Memphis. He says, "Oh, there's this new girl that I'm talking to." So in the days leading up to his disappearance and murder, what were they exchanging? What were they saying in those messages? They were very friendly with each other. They were making plans to hang out with each other. There was a point though on the 8th of February where the tone of those messages changed. You could actually see the different tone. It was more of a, "Hey, let's connect, let's meet. Come over to my house." I was a little bit more direct in demanding. At this point in the investigation police are putting the pieces together and they realized that the date Scott told his father about him, February 8th, was actually with Heather Frank. We were seeing that leading up to the last time that Scott had a conversation with his dad Stan. About 530 in the evening, almost 6 o'clock in the evening of February 8th, was that he said, "Hey, dad, I found the door that I'm going to and I'll talk to you later. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you, talk to you later." That was the last conversation that we know Scott to ever have. By that time they had pulled the phone records for Scott's sessions and they had started to put those pieces of the puzzle together and realized that Scott's sessions' phone had traveled to the area of Heather's apartment. It started pinging in the area of Heather's apartment and they also knew that his phone had stayed there overnight. But at that time, the fact that his phone eventually dies in her apartment or gets shut off one of the other and they never found his phone was very telling for detectives. Police have zeroed in on Heather Frank as the last person to see Scott's sessions alive. So we had to be very cautious about what our next steps were. We can't just go storming in there and say, "Hey Heather, what are you doing?" And what happened to Scott? I remember very vividly pulling into this cold assack. There was a vehicle that was there that had some damage to the front of it and it looked like it had driven in a snow storm. It had very, very bright red dirt on the side of it. I thought it was discovered that the security camera footage. You can see the car is driving westbound up the canyon headed towards Pinguri Park. Where's this car going? And couldn't lead to the killer? Road to the NBA Finals is happening now on ESPN and ABC. It's make a great now. Best Don't Best Now. Watch him sit with his chest now. The greatest is up for grabs. And the world is watching. On the home of the NBA Finals. The NBA playoffs presented by Google continue on ESPN and ABC. Feddto Dr000 Dr klub
do There are obeyed We received kezinen Rations Edge of the Sri ja The Sri ja Investigators seem to be on the right path with Heather Frank and now they need to know more Detectives they can't say for sure that Scott Sessions died at Heather's apartment But they can start watching behaviors We started writing a cell phone data record warrants for Heather Frank at the same time We're doing this back on check and finding out that she had a very difficult relationship with a subject Kevin Eastman Usually whenever she got a new boyfriend the first thing she would do is introduce us three to the person she was seen in The beginning Kevin. He was always very nice and always interested in our lives like how was your day? How'd work go? You know just trying to become closer with us Kevin is a oil field worker he had worked here in Greeley Kevin was previously married and had a daughter he'd been dating Heather for more than five years Kevin probably proposed that I know of three or four times She didn't want to be tied to that forever, but it is hard as she tried to get away from him It just got harder and harder every time it seemed like There were a number of police reports where she had been the victim of domestic violence at the hands of Kevin Eastman She didn't want to continue talking to him, but They'd still see each other from time to time But it wasn't till the end of the year of 2019 when she told us that she had finally told him that she's done Despite telling friends and family otherwise Kevin appeared back in Heather's life in February 2020 My mom called and asked if me and my husband and my two brothers would all like to go out and eat And I heard someone whispering in the background Me and my husband we didn't make it and either did my brother Christian My brother Blake and his girlfriend they ended up going After Blake came home he told me that Kevin was back He was there at dinner with him This was after they posted on the news that there was a body found up in the Pinkley Park So while Heather's family learned that Kevin resurfaced Police learned to own that mysterious car that had been parked in front of Heather's apartment We identified that the vehicle that I had seen that had the mud on the side of it belonged to Kevin Eastman, it registered to him So all this stuff was starting to come together that We're going down the right path that we need Detectives decided they are going to now start to surveil them We wrote search warrants asking a judge to grant us permission to look at Kevin Eastman's cell phone as well And when we got those records back we started putting those records together and trying to look at the last known locations Investigators realize that Scott, Heather and Kevin's phones are all in the same place at the same time on February 8 The night that Scott disappeared All three cell phones were on the same location at the same time and then Scott's cell phone Disappears. It's not registering anymore At this point Kevin Eastman and Heather Frank are both suspects in the disappearance and death of Scott sessions We got a tracker on Heather Frank's vehicle as well as Kevin Eastman's vehicle We decided instead of having a law enforcement officer parked on their street 24 hours a day Watching their front door watching when they leave we can put a pole camera on there and we can remotely watch So you actually had a camera that you have the utility companies put up on that pole yes almost to the top It was attached facing towards Heather's apartment that building right there They were hoping to figure out when they were coming and going and being able to follow them and do other things We had a tracker on the vehicle so we were able to see they drove to leveling to best buy To Victoria's Secret Not a lot of information that they're involved in something Police didn't notice anything suspicious while they're surveilling Heather and Kevin But more data from their phones starts to come in And police get a big break in the case On the morning of the 9th About 7 o'clock in the morning we could see that Kevin Eastman's cell phone and Heather Frank's cell phone left her apartment at the same time and traveled the same path The cell phones stop pinging at Ted's place, which is a gas station off of Highway 14 and Highway 287 in Lermar County About the same time where you would go into the mountains and lose connectivity to your cell phone Based off of the last known direction of travel of Heather Frank and Kevin Eastman's cell phone We knew that this vehicle had to pass by the Michel Walker The Michel Walker amphitheater had cameras outside And we knew that we could get vehicle traveling eastbound and westbound on Highway 14 Going up to Pingri Park The way the surveillance camera is positioned it shows Kevin's Subaru Passing the restaurant going westbound up the canyon. I think it was 8.37 in the morning This footage
shows Kevin's car driving toward the area the body was found just three hours after Scott's cell phone dies at Heather Frank's house. Same damage that I saw on his vehicle, parked outside of Heather Frank's apartment, was on the camera at the Michel Walker. Then we see what would appear to be his Subaru traveling the opposite direction. I think it was 11, 30 or so later that morning. So there's about a three-hour time frame where it looked like Kevin's vehicle was up in the canyon in the area generally of Pingri Park. That was our third major break to this case. That vehicle passing by the Michel Walker, the cell phone records leading up to Pingri Park and then going back to her apartment. We started right in warrants for people's arrests for the murder of Scott's actions. On February 15th, about 5.30 in the evening, we saw Heather Frank leaving her apartment with Kevin Eastman walking directly behind her. This is the moment that turned the case upside down. One of these people never be seen again. It took everything I had to not scream. Why? I'm sure that you've seen stuff in the news about somebody disappearing from green. Our friend Scott was killed in one of the most brutal killings ever. They found him but now someone else in the area is missing. Her children don't know where she's at. Her boss doesn't know where she's at. But it had to be some sort of love triangle gone wrong. All they have is this one man to guide them in a six hour police interview, unlike anything you've ever seen. All right, this is almost three hours in and he's alone in the room. Don't place your father. Let me help his man get to the bottom of his case. Please. Do you think at this point that Kevin Eastman is dangerous? I was like whoa what really happened to Scott Sessions? Do you think this is all theater? Somewhere among the 110,000 Greeley Colorado residents a killer rooms free. Cops are on the hunt for Scott Sessions murderer and they focus their attention on a waitress and a former oil rig worker and that focus is thanks to large part to a camera pointed right in their direction. It's the day after Valentine's Day about 5.30 pm and Heather Frank and Kevin Eastman come out of her apartment. They loaded to his silver Subaru. Heather is carrying a jacket in her hands. She looks almost unsteady on her feet as she's walking out and they're not having a conversation and she gets into the passenger side of the vehicle. One of them is never coming back and this is a key moment in the case because it's being captured by a surveillance camera set up on a light pole across the street. We have a pole camera. We have trackers on the vehicles so we decided that night that we're going to go home now. Our team is going to power down for a night. Get a good night's sleep and then we were going to come back to work the next morning at 6 o'clock in the morning and start this case back up again. The plan is to arrest Frank and Eastman the following morning. But while the investigators are trying to get some rest, Kevin Eastman is not. He's driving far and wide into a rural area and overnight he'll be making multiple stops. The first stop is to the home of a man named Troy Bunnell. Troy Bunnell runs his own trucking company essentially and Troy is always needing help and assistance with that and that's actually how Troy and Kevin are connected. They used to work together in the past. So I came to the office and Donnie Robbins called me and he says some strange stuff happened overnight while we were sleeping and we had a tracker that was going off on Kevin Eastman's vehicle all throughout the punny grasslands. That concerned me enough that he is destroying evidence. I want to get out here and see what he's doing. Donnie Robbins is a no nonsense lawman who has spent a lifetime working major crimes. He's running this investigation. Oh yeah for sure. Uh, suspecting and being armed at least with a knife obviously because of the way that Scott said sessions was murdered. In the early morning hours, the GPS tracker tells Robbins that Eastman's vehicle has been down by a river crossing. Not about place to get rid of evidence. So Robbins heads in that direction but then he sees smoke and the veteran investigators experience tells him where there's smoke, there's fire. And then you're thinking, oh, you say, oh that's when I decided I probably needed to drive by there to see exactly what was going on with that smoke. Upon his arrival at Troye Benels, he sees who he positively identifies as Kevin Eastman wearing a baseball cap and tending this fire. It's a very rural area of some people burn their trash. What was uncomfortable is he couldn't see Heather Frank. He could see Kevin Eastman. The other thing about Donnie Robbins at that point though is he has no backup. He's out there by himself. He's not in a marked car. He's looking at a guy who's got a warrant from murder. At that point in time, we don't even have a search warrant for that property. So while the suspect is occupied at the burn pit, Robbins makes a quick detour to survey that river crossing. But when he returns to the Benel property, Eastman is driving away. And the two cars actually pass each other. Lieutenant Robbins actually sees Kevin Eastman driving north on Kennerhood 45. I turned around and began to follow him and ended up going to a small town called Cursey. And at that point is when Sergeant Robbins decided that he needed to make contact. It's early here at Philip 66. And until now, Sergeant Robbins has been keeping a safe distance as he follows Eastman. But earlier that morning, he had seen him burn something in that fire pit. And he's right there at the first gas pump filling a gas canister. And Robbins decides he cannot allow him to burn anything else. He pulls him behind him at the gas station. Kevin is standing outside of his vehicle and he's pumping fuel into a portable gas can. Obviously, I'll read a burn pit over there that's he's been burning something in. Scott Sessions body was burned. So I had, I can say, concerns that he was going to take that gas can and probably use it as an accelerant of the story evidence of some kind. From the moment Eastman pulled in, security cameras captured it all. So you're arresting me, pull out your pistol. Pull out my pistol. How far away are you from him? 10 yards maybe. What do you say? He didn't say anything. What do you say? Sheriff's Office, your under arrest. Get on the ground. Mr. Eastman. I'm pointing my weapon at him. He's he turned rounds and looks at me and he gets on the ground. I'll go up in my handcuffs. I did search him and own his person that he had a wallet, a substantial amount of money. And I fixed blade knife and a cargo pocket of his pants. We later found out that there were shell casings to a 22 caliber rifle or handgun in his pocket. Did you ask him? Where's Heather? Where's your alleged accomplice? After I advised him of Miranda, I asked him where she was at and he didn't. He wouldn't respond. We executed the search warrant on the Bonnell property and then with first contact we had with Troy Bonnell. We cleared the entire property which was a garage, the house and we didn't find Heather Frank's which I was concerned with at that point. Just because investigators can't find Heather Frank on the property doesn't mean she's not there. And if Kent Eastman knows where she is, he's not saying. Worst of her? What? Worst of her? She's probably in court. She's not working. The Laramor County Sheriff's Office, they're serving a search warrant at Troy Bonnell's. They're getting a search warrant ready for Heather Frank's department. And they're also interviewing Kevin Eastman. So there's lots of things happening simultaneously with a bunch of questions that still need to be answered in a hurry. A Graley man has been arrested in the murder of a Northern Colorado [BLANK_AUDIO]
- The physician complicating matters more. Heather Frank is not with Eastman at the time that he's picked up. - Her children don't know where she's at. And in fact, in the investigation, they find out that not even Troy Bennell has seen Heather Frank. - So this is your office? - Yes, we're at the Limer County Sheriff's office. And this is the interview room where we had a conversation with Kevin Eastman for six and a half hours. - For six and a half hours, yeah. - Your name? - Kevin Eastman. - Nice to meet you. - Is he relatively calm at that point? - He's very calm. He's very polite. He's very cooperative. - My eyes can no screw it up. So I had a crush. So my memories, not all of this, which should be. - During this interview, Eastman has this story about getting ahead and jury at work to cause all this memory loss. So much so, he just cannot remember being Redis Wright's only about one hour earlier. - How many times during that interview do you think he said, "I don't remember, or I can't remember"? - Oh, I don't know. 30, 40, 50 times. - I know you don't believe that I can't remember. I'm sorry, I can't remember. I said, "Can't remember." (beep) - But Eastman's mind is not totally blank. He is able to recall certain dates and times and conversations. Just as long as they have nothing to do with either Heather Frank or Scott Sessions. - Sunday, the ninth that's snowed. I'm gonna be snowing a lot, okay. - That's kind of different from the guy who was warning you, "I have a head injury and can't remember anything." - He's telling us that he can't remember things that happened two or three days ago, but he's telling me stuff that happened six weeks ago. He's starting to lose credibility with me at this point in the interview. - And I'm sure that you've seen stuff in the news about somebody disappearing from Greeley. (laughing) - Musician. - Is it a musician? - Yeah. - He was a musician. - Yeah. - Did his eyes drop when you mentioned Scott Sessions the first time? - This is a person that is hiding. He really does not want to be present in this conversation because he's very uncomfortable. He does not want to face me. He's hiding his face. He's hiding his emotions. He's hiding whatever his reactions are gonna be. - Some of the more interesting moments in this cat and mouse game come when the investigators briefly leave the room, but those cameras are still rolling. - All right, this is almost three hours in, and he's alone in the room. - Don't please, sir, father. Please. - I've put him at was on his sixth. - Do you think this is all theater? It could be where he's actually feeling the stress of it. ♪ On me, please, please, ♪ ♪ The sweet, the sound ♪ ♪ Then, you shut up, then, you shut up ♪ - He's taking a lot of deep breaths because I think he's starting to feel some of the pressure where this conversation is going. We're trying to get him locked into a timeline of events prior to Scott going missing. Up until this point, we have not really been in your face presenting facts that, hey, look, you need to tell us this stuff. We are getting very close to us transitioning from an interview into an interrogation. So you can see that I'm leaning in to apply that emotional pressure. I wanted to see what his emotional reaction would be to ask him to say Scott's name. - You're seeing a man, this musician guy. - What you say his name? You can say his name. Scott, you're having a hard time seeing his name. He cannot utter the name Scott Sessions. - Yeah, he continued to say, well, I didn't know the guy. - Yeah, well, I never did it to you. - He didn't want to say his name. - Easton appears to have this emotional breakdown when investigators attempt to read him a transcript of the messages between Heather and Scott. - Oh, please. - No, it's not a detail. It's not detail. - I don't know. I don't want any of the characters. Are you thinking that this is someone who was a clever criminal? - I think he's experienced. He knew exactly what he was doing. He had a plan. - But we need to be completely honest with each other, okay? - I can't, I can't completely honest with you. - Originally, he said that he wasn't there, that he didn't know anything about Scott Sessions. And then he says, I was in the scene, and I started to try he. - Can you trust him? Where was a big mess up? I said if you guys just can't start and get a building to find it for sure. - Many hours into this back and forth. - Kick your head up, and breathe, okay? - The one word that changes everything, blood. - It had to be something serious for that to know what the (beep) was. So there was a lot of blood there. Where was the blood out? It's (beep) Where? It's (beep) where? - What Kevin Eastman is saying inside the interrogation room is shocking enough, but outside the room, another bombshell. - According to the investigators, there was personal items, half burnt in the pit, something that was, feathers. - There was only one Richard Simmons. - It's Sweaty Time. - Megastar, adored by millions, then one day he disappeared for a decade. - Where in the world is Richard Simmons? - Now, his closest family and friends speak out for the first time to die in Soyer. - We had to be in a lot of pain. - And what does Richard's live in housekeeper, the last person to see him alive, now say happened behind closed doors? - This is the first time I've talked to nobody. - The mystery of Richard Simmons, a dying Soyer special, premieres tonight on ABC and stream on Disney Plus in Hulu. - Hi, I'm Pedro Pascán, and I can't wait for you to see my new movie, The Mandalorian in Grogo, hitting theaters on May 22nd. See you there. - What are you waiting for? - I like this game. - This summer, Star Wars is back. - We have to stop the empire. - On the big screen. - Are you scared? You should be. - Like never before. - Hang on. - Good shot, baby. - The Mandalorian in Grogo, rated PG-13, maybe inappropriate for children under 13 in theaters and IMAX May 22nd. Get tickets now. (dramatic music) - As Kevin Eastman continues to bend, but not break in his interrogation. - I don't know, man, this is just crazy. - Investigators are still hunting for Heather Frank. They don't know where she is, but they do know where she is not, and that's her apartment. So they get a warrant to search her property. - Our job is solving puzzles using physical evidence. - In the living room of the residence, there were some shopping bags near the sofa, which contained some paper towels, some cleaning products, and the box for a cell phone. I did observe a black commercial style rug in the entryway, and that did appear odd and out of place. Underneath that black commercial rug, I did see a large reddish brown stain that was consistent with the appearance of a blood stain. - It did look like the blood stains were trying to be hidden from view of someone entering the apartment. That blood, as well as other blood stains located around that area of her living room were tested, and those blood stains came back to stop sessions. - It's hard to hide blood when it's everywhere. - Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. And at some point during this back and forth with Kevin, the interview changes drastically. - Yes, it does. You can see in some of these clips that Ryan had a cell phone out and he was getting text messages from other investigators as to, hey, we found out this information. - So the first time you heard that Heather is dead is from hearing Ryan talk about it to Kevin. - That is correct. - We found Heather, and Heather is in the same condition as Skies. - I'm starting to see. - The information came in that Heather Frank was found to see Stintroy Ponyls property, and it was like a baseball bat to my gut. I was like, whoa. And I was expecting something, but I wasn't expecting that. - And that makes the actions or the inaction of investigators so much controversial when it comes to that video of Heather Frank leaving her apartment. At the time, its surfaces investigators are still piecing things together trying to determine what is going on. So they do not move in for an arrest. - How'd you feel when you saw it? - To this day, I'm still conflicted. You're watching somebody drive away to their death. Could we have changed it or done anything differently? I don't think so.
This is a very unfortunate sad story, and I feel horrible for her kids the fact that this happened to Heather. The unfortunate thing is that decisions that she made played into the situation and how it unfolded, and she did not deserve to die. It's a very powerful image that you're seeing right now. It was just so shocking because I was like, "What?" and I was just so confused. At first she's wanted on murder and then she ends up dead. Heather Frank had been shocked to death. In autopsy, it would later conclude she was killed at close range with her body pressed up against a hard surface. I got a phone call from my boss telling me that they needed help at the scene. At that point they had found a body on that property. She had been wrapped up in plastic, she had belling around her body. Her body was found and it was near the fire pit. And he had placed her underneath a piece of wood that looked like a big door. With the body being wrapped up, it made it even more suspicious. And the fact that it was wrapped in plastic made it pretty comparable to the first murder that was involved in this case. And that was that of Scott Sessions. Happy New Year, Emma! I assisted in the delivery of the notice for Heather's boys. They were all living together and we all went with the coroner's office to deliver that crushing news. It was the morning of February 16th. The detectives came to the house and they told us that they had found my mom. I answered the phone and I said, "Alex, are you okay?" He said, "Yeah, I'm okay, but mom's not." And I just started bawling. I said, "Please tell me she's still alive." And he said, "I wish I could or something like that." He said, "This is so bad." Now there are also some questions for the man who owns this property where Heather Frank's body was found and where Kevin Eastman was seen just hours earlier. So, Troy Banell is brought in for questioning. They found a body out on your property. They believe it's a female. So obviously you know what we're thinking. It's Heather. She's a [bleep] Christ! Yeah. Yeah. I got nothing to do with this. Okay. Banell says he was sleeping. At the time Eastman was at the burn pit. He had no idea what he was doing on his property. But investigators cannot take Banell at his word, especially after they learned about a missing gun from his garage. A 22 caliber. Well, they're saying that she was shot by a small caliber pistol. And that's what I had. He's admitting that there's a gun on the tool chest and we're searching the property. We served a search warrant in his house and we're not finding this gun. Where is this gun? But now also acknowledges Heather didn't care for him. She didn't like me for whatever reason. I guess because I kind of have some words with Kevin. Back in his interrogation room, Kevin Eastman is implying that Troy knows more than he's letting on. No more games, Kevin. Tell us what happened. So, okay, tell us. He can tell us. The Troy's gonna start talking. That's okay. He has to talk to him. He pranks more than I do. Who's in the burn pit? Well, it's my knowledge. Nobody's in the burn pit. But according to investigators, there are clues in the burn pit. Clues that point to Kevin Eastman. There was some personal items that they found half burnt in the pit that appeared to be something that was Heather's possibly. You know, they had asked me, you know, days later when they were doing their investigation and if I had disposed of, you know, lipstick and makeup and I think there was a hairbrush and something else. But of course, I don't throw that stuff away. I'm pretty much solo, you know, at the ranch. We need the truth. The truth needs to be told. About respect for Heather. Respect for her voice. And we can talk to you guys outside. After a marathon interrogation, Kevin Eastman is finally arrested. Kevin, come here. This is your arrest. Okay. I'll call for my first. But, he's got a plan. He's going to point the finger at Troy Benel. Well, I'm angered with Kevin because I feel like, you know, I was taken advantage of. If I could have words with him again, I'd like to ask you why. Why wouldn't you do this to me? And Heather Frank's voice will finally be heard when this dramatic video surfaces. Who did this to you, Kevin Eastman? I'm here at the Weld County Courthouse, where after two and a half years, Kevin Eastman finally goes on trial. Eastman is charged in the murders of Heather Frank in Scott Session, Session's a well-known trumpet player here in Northern Colorado. To be sitting in that courtroom and watch that man be brought in to sit at a table with his attorneys, was the first time that I had seen Kevin Eastman in the flesh in front of me as a human being. It took everything I had to sit there and not want to scream at him. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. At its very core, this case is about domestic violence. The defendant, Kevin Eastman, he didn't want to lose Heather Frank. Kevin Eastman was the only one that had a motive to kill Scott Sessions. These hands, these hands brought, danger, destruction, and death. These hands killed Scott Sessions and Heather Frank. These hands are the hands of the murder, these are the hands of the defendant, Kevin Eastman. What really happened to Scott Sessions and Heather Frank, that's what everyone is hoping to hear from the prosecution. On February 8th, Scott Sessions never saw it coming. Literally ambushed from behind by a man with an anger, fueled by jealousy, and a large, sharp knife. And do you solemnly swear or affirm on the penalties of law? To prove the ex-case that Kevin Eastman ambushed Scott Sessions in a fit of jealous fury, prosecution calls more than 40 witnesses. It's obvious that it's a very large, sharp knife that went from the front to the back that nearly decapitated Scott Sessions. People whose exhibit 126? The prosecution also presented DNA evidence they argued linked Kevin Eastman to the murder of Scott Sessions. The biggest thing that we have was a pair of pants that was found amongst Kevin Eastman's clothing, actually had blood on them. The DNA profile that was developed from the cutting of the jeans indicated a make sure of two contributors that say make sure of Mr. Eastman and Mr. Sessions. A speck of blood. If anything, that's consistent with helping after the fact. Those jeans become important because that connects Kevin Eastman to Scott Sessions murder. At the heart of the prosecution's case was the abuse they say Heather Frank suffered at the hands of Kevin Eastman. Thanks, one share of a seat, man. The only thing that we really knew of Heather is what came out through her son. Can you tell the jury about the first time you knew the defendant had physically harmed your mother? It was in February of 2014. When I seen her, she had a slash in her throat, like a knife, like a cut in her throat. Her, I believe it was her right side of her face was really mean, not like really bad. It was black and blue. Her wrist had been broken. So testimony came out that Kevin was not a nice man. His pattern of behavior included breaking the arm of Heather's son, slitting Heather in the throat at one other time, throwing her into walls. They were at a bar. They came home and he started fighting with her. And she told him to leave and that he got pissed. And he grabbed her arm and basically broke her arm, grabbed a doll kitchen knife and slithered through an embitter right side of her face up. That alleged throat-slashing incident was never reported to police, but in 2015, Eastman pled guilty to misdemeanor assault against Heather for a separate altercation. Please have your raise your right hand and do you solemnly swear or affirm under pressure? her head hairdresser.
to find that she'd come in to get her hair fixed and there'd be a big chunks of hair missing out of her scalp. - Do you recall an appointment with Heather in that September of 2019 timeframe? - Yes I do. - She had a bald spot about the diameter of a golf ball on the top of her head. She came in for that appointment. I was parting out her hair and she was missing a golf ball size amount of hair on the top of her head. - Look a piece of her scalp. What does that mean? - So the hair was completely gone. There was no hair there. And I told her I was like, Heather, what is going on in this section? Are you having some problems with that? - Yes. - She's like, no, that's from Kevin. And she said he grabbed a hold of her and yanked her as hard as he could by the top of her head. - What's your future in the lights on? - Ten months before her death, police responded to another domestic violence incident between Heather and Kevin speaking to her at a Denver hospital. We shared this video with the family's permission. I just got to sign this call. Once I'm gonna happen. - This argument in the hotel room pushes to the left side of my ribs and I get on there and say, it was gonna hurt worse. So I thought, who did this to you? Kevin Eastwood. (dramatic music) - You look at this video and you see her line in that hospital bed. She's barely able to talk. - How many times did it punch you? Three times. - And warrant was issued for assault in the third degree, but Kevin was not arrested until after the murders. - Can't just like, (beep) get away. Maybe I'll be honest. (crying) The first, I mean, step this. - During trial, the defense acknowledged that the relationship between Heather and Kevin was tumultuous, but they did not directly respond to the claims that Kevin was abusive. (dramatic music) - This case was about domestic violence and we wanted to make sure that the jury understood that power and control ultimately was what killed Heather, Frank, and Scott Session. - I think the Kevin Eastman murdered Scott Sessions. Kevin attacked, you know, Scott Sessions and murdered him. I couldn't even imagine what my mom was going through at that time. I don't think that she could have left. And I think Kevin started to believe that Heather was going to go to the police or Heather was going to go tell somebody to somebody and Kevin was going to get caught. And he had to eliminate the last witness. (dramatic music) - Every piece of credible evidence in this case was to one reasonable conclusion. Kevin Eastman killed two people between February 8th and February 16th. You saw new physical evidence that proved at all let alone beyond the reasonable doubt that Mr. Eastman murdered Mr. Sessions. - In jailhouse phone calls with his sister to hear Eastman tell it, the evidence against him is slim. - I don't think they really got anything for Heather's. - I'm gonna be a very unpopular witness because I am very anti-hether. - As the trial enters its second week, attorneys for Kevin Eastman lay out a much different version of events than prosecutors. They alleged it was Heather Frank who killed Scott Sessions and then Troy Bonnell who killed Heather Frank. Kevin Eastman they claim he was simply left to clean up the mess. - Mr. Eastman made an easy target for an accusation built on assumptions but he did not kill Mr. Sessions. Miss Frank killed Mr. Sessions and Mr. Eastman helped in the aftermath. - Eastman's lawyers claimed the motive for the attack on Sessions would be revenge. - The defense team would like you to believe that Scott raped Heather. Heather was so mad about the rape that Scott wouldn't leave her alone that she lured him to her apartment so that she could kill him. And Kevin may or may not have helped her dispose of the body. - Miss Frank planned for Mr. Sessions to come to her residence at evening. Miss Frank initiated Mr. Sessions to hurry up and come over. - Who was it that wrapped Mr. Sessions had inducted before his body was burned? - And then DNA on that property with his rights. - Although there's no evidence a rape occurred. - Professor, where are you? - This defense strategy comes from an unlikely source, the investigators who interviewed Eastman. - She's saying that this guy raped her. If he actually did or just as she said it. - I think that's good. I mean, that's like splitting hairs. I mean, how does it make you feel? - She says that this guy raped her. - That was an investigative interviewing technique to get him to continue to talk. And so they threw that out as a potential theory of what might have happened. And he took it in-ring with it and adopted it and turned that into his version of events. - I feel like she had no way out and that she had to help Kevin clean up that mess. I don't think that she lured him. That was rough. And I feel like with the lawyers, you know, on Kevin's side, they tried to put it all on her, which really hurt me. - You pleased right here? - Shelly Brinklow was character witness for her brother, Kevin. - Is your brother, Nigel? - No, he's not. - At some point did the relationship between Mr. Eastman and Miss Frank essentially deteriorated? - Yes, it did. - I was so mad at her testimony because she was again blaming Heather. She blamed Heather for everything that happened. - You didn't like it, first set. - I did like Heather in the beginning. Yes, I did like Heather. - In January 2020, you were not a fan. - Oh, probably not, no. - So Heather killed Scott, Troy Bennell killed Heather. That was their theory. - Mr. Bennell panicked. He took matters into his own hands and he killed Miss Frank. - Is that your nature, that pan? - I felt like the whole world was watching. I had TV cameras panning in on me and I could hear shutters of the cameras going and the courtroom was full. - Bennell testified for the prosecution and they seemed convinced he wasn't involved in any way. But to try to make their alternative suspect, they're plausible to the jury, the defense would throw everything they had at Troy Bennell. - The day that Troy Bennell testified, I mean, he was cross-examined at length about everything and he took a beating. - You told Detective Schell, quote, "that you did not even know (beep) people referring to Mr. Bennell and Miss Frank. You said, and I quote, I don't even know these (beep) people. - Correct. - That means I don't even know what (beep) you don't even know who this guy is. - You know, stop right there, hold stops. I've never, once ever, ever said that I did not know Kevin Eastman. I mean, they asked me if I knew Heather. I mean, I'd see her. - Troy Bennell does tell us that him and Heather had a very difficult relationship that they did not like each other. That Heather was very vocal about not liking Bennell. - Your DNA was found in a pack of cigarettes on her deceased body. Explain how that could be. How your DNA could be on Miss Frank's DNA. - I had no other explanation. (beep) - It was odd that his DNA would be there, but touch DNA can be on items for lots of different reasons. If that cigarette pack had been in his house and he picked it up and moved it, that would mean that Heather was in fact there at his house. - So certainly that caused problems and it raised suspicion and turned him into an alternate suspect for the defense. There was viable for that. - He gave them an argument at trial that had he been honest about everything. I don't think would have carried much weight. - What we knew at that point was that the night before Troy was with another woman and that the other woman had confirmed his location and what he was doing. - He had an alibi. - Yeah, he had an alibi. - The defense was ridiculous. I could not believe that that was their only defense. Was what about Troy? Well, what about Troy? Did Troy drop everything he was doing on his ramps to go, you know what Kevin, I'll go ahead and take care of that murder for you. I got you, buddy. No. So it's just ridiculous to even think about that. - Two years have passed since both deaths and the government will still not be able to show you any murder weapon. They will not be able to tell you where Miss Frank was killed. - I would be lying to you if I told you that every time I got a case that I sat there and said, "Ah, I got this one in the bag." Get 12 people to agree on what pizza to order. Good luck. - Until now, the only man who truly knows what happened
has remained silent to it. Well, Kevin Eastman finally tell all. Mr. Eastman is anything he would like to say. July 20th, 452 PM. Please rise. After 10 days of testimony and less than 10 hours of deliberation, the jury has reached a verdict. We the jury find that if I had a Kevin Dean Eastman guilty of murder of the first degree. I think when you hear a guilty verdict in a homicide, my initial thought is gratitude that the injustice of the death itself was compounded by the system not working. As the court has heard repeatedly, Scott Sessions was a gifted musician. At the sentencing, the district attorney played a video of Scott playing taps. It was so timely. It was like he was playing taps for himself. Kevin got two consecutive life terms, as well as an additional 27 years on some of the other charges. Kevin Eastman was offered the chance to speak at his sentencing, but he declined. Streetsman does not wish to make a scene at this time of the evening. There was a relief knowing that he's not going to get out. In my head, I danced a jig. But the thing about guilty verdicts is this. Nobody wins in a homicide. Their families are devastated. People still feel unsafe. I will not let him or anyone else determine my happiness for the rest of my life. So Mr. Eastman, I have no quarrel with you. I basically turned to him and said, you know, I forgive you. I wish I was able to forgive him the way Scott Sessions dad has forgiven him. I'm not there. I can't. As for Troy Brinnell, the Colorado rancher, who says he was unjustly dragged into Kevin Eastman's murder trial, for him, closure has been a heart to come by. I've never been charged with anything. I've pretty much been alienated from everywhere. I'm still the one here trying to make sense of all this. I lost a quarter of a million dollar a year of profession. I've been forced to seek employment. I'm planting corn, who to thought. It's not as easy as everybody thinks. I miss talking to her. I miss her laugh. She was a great woman. She was a beautiful mother. And she loved all of us and loved all of her friends. She just ended up being a part of something that she didn't ask for. She was a victim. Can you come show me what this is? It looks like it's a very small memorial. You got a little bit emotional with your first sight. Yeah. When you get so involved in the last moments of somebody's life, you become connected to them. Scott's family hopes his spirit will live on through his trumpet. What we want to do is find a good home for this. Some of the plays trumpet that's not as fortunate. Maybe a young child? A young child or somebody that we could give that to? Scott's best is on the trumpet. [MUSIC PLAYING] I brought him in. He's just too steep. He's not too big. We should point out tonight that Kevin Eastman maintains his innocence and his appealing, his murder convictions. He declined to speak with us. That is our program for tonight. Thanks so much for watching. I'm David Bure. And from all of us here at 2020 and ABC News, goodnight. And you can find all new broadcast episodes of 2020 Friday nights at 9 on ABC. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] No. Oh no. Welcome to Get Real. I got something to say. A weekly talk show for the reality TV obsessed. Oh my god. It's going to be deliciously desperate. Why would he spruce forget how? She is a soft spot for trouble, man. Boom, plucky. This is your show. Find Get Real wherever you get your podcasts. Love Runs Deeper than we know. And stream new episodes Thursdays on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Scott Sessions, a beloved trumpet player in Greeley, Colorado, failed to show up for a sold-out concert on February 10, 202
His body was discovered by a snow plow driver in a remote canyon, wrapped in plastic, duct-taped, burned, and nearly decapitated—indicating extreme violence.
Investigators found his car abandoned in a supermarket parking lot with keys inside and a blood-stained floor mat, but no usable DNA.
Cell phone data showed Scott’s last ping three miles from his home, and surveillance video captured an unidentified person leaving his car after his death.
Police focused on Scott’s tumultuous past relationships, including an ex-girlfriend with a restraining order, who had a 30-minute call with him the day before his disappearance.
Summary:
The case of Scott Sessions, a 53-year-old trumpet player in Greeley, Colorado, begins with his unexplained absence from a sold-out concert on February 10, 2020. Known for his reliability and vibrant personality, Scott’s friends grew worried when he missed the gig and failed to check on his ailing mother. A snow plow driver later discovered his body in a remote canyon, wrapped in plastic, duct-taped, burned, and nearly decapitated—a scene that shocked investigators.
Police found his car abandoned at a King’s Supermarket parking lot with keys inside and a blood-stained floor mat, though DNA testing was inconclusive. Surveillance footage showed an unidentified person leaving the car after Scott’s death. Cell phone records placed Scott’s last ping three miles from his home.
Detectives interviewed friends and family, focusing on Scott’s past relationships, including an ex-girlfriend with a restraining order who had a 30-minute phone call with him the day before his disappearance.
FAQs
Scott Sessions was a 53-year-old trumpet player from Greeley, Colorado, known for his lively personality and performances with the band 'The Movers and Shakers.' He was described as reliable, caring, and passionate about music.
Scott Sessions was found brutally murdered with his body almost decapitated, wrapped in plastic sheeting, duct-taped, and burned near a smoldering log in a remote area of the Colorado Rockies.
His body was discovered on February 10, 2020, by a snow plow driver in Pudir Canyon, near the Monument Gulch exit on Pingree Park Road.
Scott was known for being extremely reliable and always early to gigs, so his failure to show up for a sold-out concert on February 10, 2020, alarmed his friends and bandmates.
Investigators found his house clean but with some clutter, his car missing, his cat unfed, and his snow unshoveled. They also discovered his trumpet inside a closet, which ruled out robbery as a motive.
Police analyzed cell phone data, found Scott's car abandoned in a supermarket parking lot with keys inside, and reviewed surveillance video showing someone leaving the car. They also investigated his ex-girlfriends, one of whom had a restraining order against him.
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