Living with a Stranger

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Speaker 7 This is a wonderful, bubbly, confident, independent woman. And she's missing.

Speaker 8 Jamie Lady disappeared. Doesn't make any sense.
She's a college graduate from the University of Michigan, respected within her community.

Speaker 8 People of her background and stature don't just come up missing for 10 weeks and nobody hears from them.

Speaker 9 How can one of my best friends have been missing for 10 weeks? How did it come to this that she could be gone so long and nobody reported it?

Speaker 10 I couldn't believe that it had been that long, that nobody had noticed. It was absolute craziness.

Speaker 11 Phoenix in the metropolitan area is the sixth largest city in the country. It's a big valley and it's surrounded by desert on all four sides.

Speaker 8 I believe Jamie Lady came to Arizona to establish her own identity.

Speaker 11 Jamie was a very private person. She kept to herself.
She wasn't close with her family.

Speaker 9 She just kind of had a don't ask me about my parents kind of thing.

Speaker 11 So the only person that saw her on a daily basis was her live-in boyfriend, Brian Stewart.

Speaker 12 Jamie and I dated for nearly three years. She's always refused to talk about her past or her family.
Every time that Jamie saw her parents, she was terrified.

Speaker 11 It was a very different case than just about everything else that we work.

Speaker 11 There was no blood.

Speaker 11 There was no body.

Speaker 11 There was no evidence of a crime scene. There's no smoking gun in this case, but there is a lot of burning matchsticks.

Speaker 9 Jamie's lost.

Speaker 9 We don't know where she is, and it's really sad.

Speaker 10 She was a good person, and she didn't deserve this.

Speaker 8 I believe Jamie was murdered because there's no clear explanation as to where she is now, what happened to her, and why.

Speaker 12 Jamie Leidy is alive. She took $100,000 of daddy's money and she left the state of Arizona.

Speaker 11 He's a very convincing liar.

Speaker 12 Bring it on. I know she's alive.

Speaker 13 I'm Erin Moriarty. Tonight on 48 Hours,

Speaker 13 The Stranger Beside Me.

Speaker 13 When Jamie Laody disappeared in March of 2010, none of her closest friends noticed for weeks. The truth is, Jamie had been fading from their lives for nearly two years.

Speaker 10 After your friend stops making an effort, you kind of stop too. But I never thought Jamie would have been the one to stop making an effort.

Speaker 13 It was completely out of character for the sweet California girl they all met as freshmen at the University of Michigan.

Speaker 7 She was a good friend.

Speaker 7 We were a support network for each other.

Speaker 13 Gwyneth Newman, Sheila Doobes, and Jennifer Langoot say they quickly formed a lasting bond with Jamie.

Speaker 7 Kind of like we had this rock. We had this family of friends that we were so connected with.
And I remember leaving Michigan.

Speaker 7 It was just so reassuring that you were just a phone call away from feeling like you belong somewhere again.

Speaker 13 They call themselves the 516 Girls, referring to the address of a house they shared in Ann Arbor their senior year, and where they were passionate supporters of Michigan's Big Ten football team.

Speaker 10 We were obsessed with UM football.

Speaker 13 No one was a greater booster than Jamie.

Speaker 7 I think just

Speaker 7 I always picture her in my mind on football Saturdays, you know, charging out to the stadium.

Speaker 13 Sheila says that she and Jamie had a special connection. We were both from immigrant families and both were under heavy pressure to succeed.

Speaker 10 I think our fathers were kind of the same. They put a lot of pressure on us to do really well in school, but I think she just wanted to make it on her own.

Speaker 13 Vonnie and Jimmy Laody came to the U.S. from Thailand in search of a better life.
They admit they pushed Jamie to go to medical school.

Speaker 13 You think that because you were pushing her to go back to school, she might have pulled away a bit?

Speaker 15 She's a big girl.

Speaker 13 After graduation, Jamie landed in Phoenix, Arizona. The big valley was booming, the perfect place to blend in and make her own way.
She eventually found a high-paying job selling medical supplies.

Speaker 13 And while it consumed her time, she managed to maintain her now long-distance friendships.

Speaker 12 We emailed each other a lot.

Speaker 10 Even though we all ended up in different locations, I think we still looked to each other for support.

Speaker 10 The weddings were the big thing that kind of kept us together.

Speaker 13 But far away in Arizona, Jamie was lonely. So she joined a local University of Michigan alum club, where she found friends who shared her deep love of Michigan football.

Speaker 13 Marlena Buffa was the group's president.

Speaker 15 She was enthusiastic, but still she was reserved and quiet.

Speaker 13 But when she caught the eye of a handsome young fellow Michigan fan, Jamie found romance.

Speaker 6 She was hot.

Speaker 12 I mean,

Speaker 12 how else do you put it?

Speaker 13 Brian Stewart says the attraction was immediate.

Speaker 12 She had a really good smile and really got enthusiastic about the football games and would jump up and cheer and would sing with the fight song.

Speaker 13 They started dating in the fall of 2007. About a year later, Brian moved into the home that Jamie owned in the trendy Phoenix suburb of Chandler.

Speaker 13 She was the breadwinner, making well over $100,000 a year. Brian, a personal trainer, made much less.
Did she pay most of the bills?

Speaker 12 Most of the big ones, yeah.

Speaker 12 But it's not like I was dependent upon her.

Speaker 13 Did you love Jamie?

Speaker 12 I still love Jamie.

Speaker 12 You know, I just want Jamie to be happy. It's hard because I don't know if Jamie knows what it takes to make her happy.

Speaker 13 In August 2009, Jamie suffered a crushing setback. When the economy took a big downturn, she lost the thing she valued most, her high-powered job.

Speaker 10 Her career had been going so well for so long, and I think this was a pretty major blow to her.

Speaker 13 She searched for months in Arizona, Florida, New Jersey, but Jamie couldn't find another job.

Speaker 13 When the real estate crash hit Chandler and her property value plunged, Brian says she became despondent and even more withdrawn.

Speaker 12 You know, it was like, When it rains, it pours. For Jamie, it was pouring.

Speaker 13 Brian says all of it took a toll on their relationship. So he rented an apartment in Scottsdale and planned to break things off.

Speaker 13 And on the night of March 17th, he said, he was going to tell Jamie he was moving out. Instead, he says, she surprised him.

Speaker 12 She came in, asked me to take a week off from work. And she's like, we're going to go to Denver.
We're going to get a house. You know, I've got a job offer up there.

Speaker 12 It's time to go. I want to go.
I want to get out of this state. Basically, I told her, no, I'm not leaving Arizona.
I'm not going to marry you.

Speaker 13 Brian admits Jamie was upset and that they argued. Still, he says that when they went to bed, things had settled down.
At the crack of dawn the next morning, Brian left for work.

Speaker 12 She was laying in bed, and I gave her a kiss, told her I loved her, and

Speaker 12 Got in the truck and drove to work.

Speaker 13 But later that morning, Brian emailed Marlena Buffa and told her a different story.

Speaker 15 And said, Jamie dumped me, she moved to Colorado.

Speaker 13 Did that surprise you at all? No.

Speaker 15 I thought good for her.

Speaker 13 Did he seem upset?

Speaker 15 A little bit. He was more angry that she left him alone.

Speaker 13 At any point, did it even cross your mind that something could have happened to Jamie? No.

Speaker 15 I knew she had means. If she wants to pick up and leave, good for her.

Speaker 13 That day, and for weeks to come, no one realized that Jamie had disappeared. When is the last time you saw Jamie?

Speaker 12 Physically saw her. 3:15 a.m.,

Speaker 12 March 18th, 2010.

Speaker 13 There she is.

Speaker 13 Jamie Liady had always been fiercely private, but by the summer of 2009, she was practically reclusive, cutting herself off from nearly everyone except her live-in boyfriend, Brian Stewart.

Speaker 12 We never had anybody over for dinner.

Speaker 12 We never had any parties.

Speaker 12 Nobody came over to watch television or to just hang out. Why not? So

Speaker 12 one of the great mysteries, I don't know.

Speaker 13 Even Jamie's parents say she was more distant than ever.

Speaker 14 My husband said, well, you know, she's a busy girl. Don't bother her.

Speaker 13 That's why it took nearly three months for anyone to notice that Jamie was missing.

Speaker 15 I think people were just respecting her privacy in her space. And that was unfortunate.

Speaker 13 Then on May 28th, Marlena got a call from Brian.

Speaker 15 He said, you know, I'm starting to get worried about Jamie.

Speaker 13 Marlena was also worried. So she and another member of the Michigan Alum Club called a private investigator, Burke Files.
Files did a background check on Brian and found nothing suspicious.

Speaker 13 Although one thing did stand out. About 10 years earlier, at two different addresses in Michigan, Brian had lived with a man named Rick Wayne Valentini.

Speaker 16 It could be a roommate. It could be a close friend.
It could be a relative.

Speaker 13 And then Burke Files went on to trace Jamie's credit to see where she was now living and working. He came up empty.

Speaker 16 And nothing. There was no activity at all.

Speaker 12 Nothing.

Speaker 13 Jamie had disappeared into thin air.

Speaker 13 So Files sounded the alarm. Marlena urged Brian to call Jamie's parents, who then called the police.

Speaker 8 I immediately thought something was wrong. People of her background and stature don't just come up missing for 10 weeks and nobody hears from them.

Speaker 13 That afternoon, Chandler Police got a warrant to search Jamie's home and started calling Brian, but he seemed to be ignoring them.

Speaker 11 To me, that was alarming. It just showed a lack of concern.

Speaker 13 Later that same night, when detectives were searching for Jamie's missing Ford escape, they found it in Scottsdale with Brian behind the wheel.

Speaker 11 The detective said, well, I'm here in regards to your girlfriend. And the first thing he did was say, my ex-girlfriend.

Speaker 13 The detective felt that Brian was being evasive and seemed nervous. When Brian asked to use the bathroom in his own apartment, the answer was no.

Speaker 11 We didn't want to risk losing any evidence if there was some in there. As luck would have it, he had a warrant for his arrest for driving on a suspended license for a traffic offense.

Speaker 13 So the detective used that warrant to take Brian into custody.

Speaker 13 Brian? Yes. Hey, I'm Nate Moffat.
How are you, man?

Speaker 11 It's B-R-Y-A-N, right? Yes.

Speaker 8 Last name is? Just your

Speaker 13 Detective Moffat interrogated Brian.

Speaker 17 How long have you and Jamie been dating?

Speaker 18 Give or take, three years. Okay.

Speaker 8 When did you guys move in together?

Speaker 18 Honestly, I don't know.

Speaker 6 Okay.

Speaker 17 Were you cheating on Jamie at all before?

Speaker 13 No.

Speaker 13 While Detective Spielman searched Jamie's home for clues.

Speaker 13 Walk me through what happened around March.

Speaker 9 It was simple, really.

Speaker 18 She hated everything about the state.

Speaker 19 She wanted out.

Speaker 17 Now, she'd been up there there for interviews. I suspected that she would get the Denver offer.

Speaker 8 So, you know, he's saying she went to Colorado, yet all of her suitcases are there and her passports there, all these things that she would need to travel her there at the house.

Speaker 13 But Jamie's wallet and driver's license were missing.

Speaker 11 I was concerned, but the possibility did exist that, you know, she just left and she doesn't want to be found.

Speaker 13 But at Chandler PD, Moffat smelled a rat and started pressing Brian.

Speaker 19 Did you hurt Jamie?

Speaker 19 Okay. Did you have anything to do with her disappearance?

Speaker 11 You have nothing to hide.

Speaker 13 But things just didn't add up for Moffat. There were just too many inconsistencies.

Speaker 13 Brian gave a birth date to the arresting officer, which didn't match the date on his Arizona ID.

Speaker 11 I have no freaking clue who's sitting in front of me, and it's extremely uneasy for me as I'm investigating a case of this magnitude.

Speaker 13 Moffat had no idea how right he was until the next day when Brian was in a jail cell and detectives were searching his apartment.

Speaker 11 While we were searching his new residence, we located a manila envelope with a Michigan driver's license in the name of Rick Wayne Valentini. And that picture was Brian Stewart.

Speaker 13 You're not really Brian Stewart at all, are you?

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Speaker 13 On the night of May 29th, 2010, as he interrogated Brian Stewart about his missing girlfriend, Jamie Laody,

Speaker 13 Detective Moffat knew that Brian wasn't telling the truth.

Speaker 16 I mean, you're talking to a woman who's been gone for two months now.

Speaker 19 And I have a person in front of me that has different Social Security numbers, a couple of different dates of birth.

Speaker 13 You're not really Brian Stewart at all, are you?

Speaker 12 To me, I am.

Speaker 13 But not legally, are you?

Speaker 12 Well, legally, I'm not anything.

Speaker 13 Actually, legally, Brian is Rick Wayne Valentini. Remember the roommate that private investigator Burke Files noticed in Brian Stewart's credit history?

Speaker 13 Well, there was no roommate, just this guy, Rick Valentini, who was preparing to change his identity.

Speaker 16 In our modern world with the databases, you just can't turn on a new name, a new taxpayer ID number, a social security number. You have to age it.
You have to season it.

Speaker 13 In October 2001, when the name Brian Stewart had enough of a credit history, Rick Valentini disappeared from Michigan. Days later, a man named Brian became a resident of Phoenix.

Speaker 12 Driving from Michigan to Arizona, that's all I did. Brian Stewart, Brian Stewart, Brian Stewart, Brian Stewart.

Speaker 12 I was always saying, listening for Brian Stewart, Brian Stewart, because it's a new name.

Speaker 13 A new name and a new man, according to Rick.

Speaker 13 The kind of man he always wanted to be. And he insists that whether legal or not, he is now Brian Stewart and would only agree to an interview if we would use that name.

Speaker 12 And if you don't want to accept that, I don't want you around. I don't want you in my life.

Speaker 13 Why not change your name legally? Why go to the trouble of forging a birth certificate?

Speaker 12 Well, it was my understanding that to change your name legally would take years.

Speaker 13 Brian claims he wasn't running from the law, just leaving behind what he describes as a tragic childhood.

Speaker 12 Everybody takes their name for granted.

Speaker 12 Your name is the very core essence of who you are, of what you are.

Speaker 12 And you find out that it's all a lie. And then you find out that your own father doesn't even know you exist because your own mother didn't bother to tell him.

Speaker 13 His mother was 18 when he was born. His real father reportedly walked away.

Speaker 22 He just wasn't loved. Just didn't have love.
That's why he loved us, us, because we loved him.

Speaker 13 His aunt, Donna, says she believes he was physically and emotionally abused.

Speaker 22 I think the other children were too, but not like him. He always knew there was something different about him and he didn't know what.

Speaker 13 Do you think that he created this

Speaker 13 different name, different persona, because he just didn't want to be who he was? Exactly. Exactly.

Speaker 13 But when detectives started looking into Rick Valentini's background, this is what else they found. Three ex-wives and two daughters.

Speaker 13 Hello?

Speaker 6 Hi, is this Cynthia? This is. Hi, Cynthia.
Detective Dave Selvich from Chandler Police Department.

Speaker 13 One of his exes told Chandler Police she thinks Rick is just a deadbeat dad on the run.

Speaker 6 He owed, from what I understand, quite a bit of bad child support from Wendy, his first wife.

Speaker 13 His oldest daughter, Amy, was a baby when he left.

Speaker 24 He never called, never talked to me, never contacted me.

Speaker 13 When your mom finally told you about your dad, what did she say about him? What kind of guy he was?

Speaker 24 A really bad guy, a liar. She told me that he always lied all the time.
He lied about lots of things.

Speaker 13 In Phoenix, his whole life was a lie.

Speaker 13 He told everyone, including Jamie, that his parents were killed by a drunk driver. He pretended to be eight years younger than he is and boasted a hero's military record that was complete fiction.

Speaker 13 When you talked to Detective Moffat when he sat you down, he asked you about your military record.

Speaker 13 And you said you'd been to Iraq and Afghanistan. You hadn't, had you?

Speaker 13 Now you lied.

Speaker 12 I was.

Speaker 13 You lied. Yeah.

Speaker 13 Rick Valentini, Valentini, aka Brian Stewart, was an enlisted man, but he was dishonorably discharged after going AWOL and stabbing two military officers in the hand and leg.

Speaker 13 He served two years in a military prison. He never mentioned that to anyone either.

Speaker 13 You tell a lot of stories, though, don't you?

Speaker 12 I have a lot of stories to tell.

Speaker 13 But you tell a lot of lies.

Speaker 12 Um,

Speaker 12 Lies mixed in with the truth.

Speaker 13 Like the lie that ultimately made Jamie Laody trust Brian with her life.

Speaker 13 You never actually went to the University of Michigan, did you? No.

Speaker 6 Mm-mm.

Speaker 13 But you let people think you did.

Speaker 12 Sure.

Speaker 13 Why?

Speaker 12 It was just a tie-in.

Speaker 12 to my home state, and it was just part of the pride that I had. I've been a Michigan fan since I was a little boy.

Speaker 15 He was right in there. And boy, he was a Michigan man.

Speaker 13 And it wasn't just that fanaticism that conned the alumni group in Phoenix for four years.

Speaker 13 Brian also had a fake diploma.

Speaker 15 He's fooled all of us. We're talking hundreds of people here and 20 or so board members, many of them attorneys and judges.

Speaker 13 News of Jamie's boyfriend's double life went viral

Speaker 13 and made her disappearance even more alarming.

Speaker 7 This doesn't happen to your friends. No.

Speaker 7 This does not happen to people you went to college with that you call your sister. This doesn't happen to your family.
You don't have friends who meet people who have double identities.

Speaker 13 Did you begin to think that maybe Jamie was dead?

Speaker 25 Yes.

Speaker 13 And did you think he might have killed her?

Speaker 13 Did you kill Jamie?

Speaker 12 No. I've never killed anybody in my life.
Not ever.

Speaker 13 Did you two fight that night? Were you angry with her?

Speaker 12 No.

Speaker 12 She told me that she was going to be leaving the next day.

Speaker 13 And where was she going?

Speaker 12 It was my impression Denver.

Speaker 13 But detectives who had already discovered several suitcases in Jamie's home couldn't find any evidence of Jamie ever leaving for or arriving in Denver.

Speaker 13 Brian says that's because Jamie didn't want to be found.

Speaker 12 I taught Jamie

Speaker 12 how to create a whole new life for herself. That included a new identification, a whole new persona, a whole new way of looking at things.

Speaker 13 Are you saying that you helped Jamie

Speaker 13 change her identity?

Speaker 12 Yeah, I showed her how to do it. The only thing that she ever lived for was to be free of her family.
She wanted to be on her own.

Speaker 25 He's too smart. Why would he have stayed there for 10 weeks? If he killed her, why wouldn't he have just left?

Speaker 15 He'd done it before, why wouldn't he do it again?

Speaker 13 Isn't it possible that Jamie's doing the same thing that

Speaker 13 Brian did, just vanished the same way, and no one's been able to track her down?

Speaker 11 Are you asking me today if I believe that's possible? Absolutely not. I wholeheartedly believe

Speaker 11 Brian Stewart, Rick Valentini, whoever you want to call him, murdered Jamie Leidy on the night of March 17th.

Speaker 13 But a year and a half after Jamie disappeared, there is still no body, no blood, no sign of a struggle, no physical evidence of a murder.

Speaker 8 We just didn't have what you would consider a traditional crime scene. So we went with more of a virtual crime scene.

Speaker 13 They started investigating the digital record of Jamie's life. And this little white envelope contained several pieces of the puzzle.

Speaker 13 Prosecutor Juan Martinez says it was enough to convince him that Brian Stewart should be charged with murder. This is a really telling piece of evidence.

Speaker 8 Oh my gosh.

Speaker 13 And this many pieces.

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Speaker 13 In June 2010, Brian Stewart was charged with fraud for forging a new birth certificate and changing his name illegally.

Speaker 12 If you think using the name Brian Stewart is fraudulent, hey, we're going to fight it out in court.

Speaker 13 But while detectives suspected he was responsible for the disappearance and death of his girlfriend, Jamie Laody,

Speaker 13 they couldn't charge him with her murder. What do the two of you think happened that night?

Speaker 8 I think they had a fight.

Speaker 13 But wouldn't there be some sign of that in her home?

Speaker 11 Not necessarily.

Speaker 11 I mean, strangulation or suffocation or anything like that, there's going to be virtually no blood.

Speaker 13 With no physical evidence, they would have to build a strong circumstantial case to prove that Jamie was dead. and Brian was the one who killed her.

Speaker 11 We literally dissected all of Jamie's financial affairs, all of her accounts, all of the transactions, his email, her email.

Speaker 13 What they saw was a very responsible woman.

Speaker 8 I mean, she was a person that stayed up on her emails, she returned phone calls, she paid all of her bills on time until March 17th. Then she didn't do any of those things.

Speaker 13 For the next three months, detectives realized that the only person who appeared to be using Jamie's credit cards was Brian Stewart.

Speaker 11 The only transactions transactions on one of Jamie's accounts were internet purchases and dating websites.

Speaker 13 He used her cards to meet other women? That's right.

Speaker 18 Basically, he said the same thing. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan, never been married, didn't know if he wanted kids or not.

Speaker 13 That's nervy, isn't it?

Speaker 12 Yeah, it's pretty nervy.

Speaker 13 And pretty insensitive, too, isn't it?

Speaker 13 Yeah.

Speaker 12 You know, a little, because, well, let me explain.

Speaker 13 You used her credit cards to go on dating sites to meet other women.

Speaker 12 Well, you know what?

Speaker 12 Look, Jamie, Jamie was leaving.

Speaker 13 But nothing alarmed Prosecutor Martinez more than what detectives found when they searched Brian's apartment in Scottsdale.

Speaker 8 Her wallet was lying on his desk. There was a number of her credit cards there on the desk.
And then on the back filing cabinet was her personal telephone that he said she had with her.

Speaker 13 So was this small white envelope. And when police got a warrant to open it, they found pieces of cut-up ID and credit cards.

Speaker 13 When they put them together, they had Jamie Laody's driver's license, her Michigan University alum card, and several credit cards. Why did you cut up her driver's license? I didn't cut them up.

Speaker 13 Brian claims it was Jamie who cut up the cards after she changed her identity and ran away. But when Chandler Police tested the envelope to see who sealed it, the DNA belonged to Brian.

Speaker 13 Even when you had that envelope, it still took a year before you brought murder charges against him.

Speaker 18 We were tying up all the loose ends. When you don't have a body, you have to be very careful because you only get one chance.

Speaker 13 That chance came when an inmate at the jail where Brian was being held agreed to testify that Brian had confessed to killing Jamie.

Speaker 18 He went to this particular individual and said, do you think that they can charge me if they can't find the body?

Speaker 13 On March 24th, 2011, a grand jury indicted Brian on charges of second-degree murder of his girlfriend, Jamie Laody.

Speaker 13 He was also charged with fraud for using Jamie's credit cards without her permission. Who is technically legally on trial here?

Speaker 18 An individual individual by the name of Rick Valentini, also known as Brian Stewart.

Speaker 13 But isn't this a little odd? Because even through the trial, you're calling him Brian Stewart.

Speaker 18 That's the name that he preferred. I'll use whatever name he wants to convict him.

Speaker 13 In October of 2011, Rick Wayne Valentini, aka Brian Stewart, went on trial.

Speaker 10 State's first witness?

Speaker 13 The first witness to testify for the state was Andrea Ardsma.

Speaker 18 What does your husband do for London?

Speaker 31 He is a professional baseball player.

Speaker 13 Back in 2010, she and her husband David, then ace pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, were in Scottsdale during the offseason.

Speaker 13 Andrea worked out at Gold's gym five days a week, and her personal trainer was Brian.

Speaker 18 And did he tell you another night he had a girlfriend?

Speaker 31 Yes, he had a girlfriend.

Speaker 18 And did he tell you her name? Jamie.

Speaker 13 Andrea testified that for for months before Jamie disappeared, Brian had complained about his souring relationship and what he really thought of his girlfriend.

Speaker 31 Whiny, naggy, bitch, sugar mama,

Speaker 31 nothing positive at all.

Speaker 31 I don't know if he just thought I was a good listener or if he really did think that I was stupid and that he could tell me all these things and nothing would come of it.

Speaker 13 In one of the trial's most disturbing moments, Andrea stood up and reenacted Brian sharing his nickname for Jamie.

Speaker 6 Jamie the gut, Jamie the gut.

Speaker 31 And I'm like, man, like if you hate her so much, just break up with her.

Speaker 13 The jury also heard from Jamie's parents.

Speaker 18 Have you received any emails from her?

Speaker 14 No.

Speaker 18 Has she shown up at your house?

Speaker 14 No.

Speaker 18 And have you been hiding her just so that

Speaker 18 Stewart won't find her?

Speaker 6 No.

Speaker 13 But some of the most significant testimony revealed that Jamie had found a new job. And not in Denver, but right here in Phoenix.

Speaker 8 She's very excited about her new job, and we're looking forward to working together on March 18th.

Speaker 13 David Beauchamp, a lawyer and friend, testified that he helped Jamie negotiate the contract for that job. What's more, he saw Jamie two days before she disappeared and testified that he saw bruises.

Speaker 17 She was exhibiting many, many of the characteristics of a battered woman.

Speaker 29 And

Speaker 6 she

Speaker 17 absolutely broke down.

Speaker 13 On day seven of the state's case,

Speaker 13 the jailhouse snitch took the stand.

Speaker 6 The whole truth and nothing but the truth I hope you got.

Speaker 16 Thank you.

Speaker 13 At his request, the judge ordered us not to reveal his identity. He also got a deal for testifying.
A two-year sentence for fraud was reduced to one.

Speaker 20 He was very agitated talking about how the police know that I killed her, that he needed to get it off his chest.

Speaker 13 By the time the state rested, Prosecutor Martinez and Detective Nate Moffat were sure they would get a conviction on the fraudulent schemes charge.

Speaker 13 But had they convinced the jury that Brian had committed murder?

Speaker 31 I think a lot of people would have a hard time convicting with nobody.

Speaker 22 We really had to be careful and listen to both sides.

Speaker 13 Knowing his life was on the line, Brian was about to do something that would shock the entire courtroom. Were you expecting the defendant to take the stand?

Speaker 6 I wasn't.

Speaker 15 Absolutely not.

Speaker 13 But I was glad that he did.

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Speaker 13 Pieces of a driver's license and credit cards. A closet filled with shoes and purses.

Speaker 13 The evidence at trial is a daily reminder of what Jamie Laody's parents have lost.

Speaker 14 So hard every time they mention her name. It's hurt me so much.

Speaker 14 Now Now I'm thinking that

Speaker 14 I'm not going to see her anymore then.

Speaker 13 And as the defense begins, Jamie's mother has one wish.

Speaker 15 The whole time I've been praying that I hope he take this stand.

Speaker 22 Why?

Speaker 14 Because then they can see through him.

Speaker 13 Her prayer is granted, despite his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, and very much against his lawyer and most any lawyer's advice. Stand up, raise your right hand.

Speaker 13 Brian Stewart boldly and defiantly takes the stand.

Speaker 12 I am the only human being who knows what happened.

Speaker 12 I'm the only human being who knows why things happened,

Speaker 12 when they happened.

Speaker 17 What was your relationship like?

Speaker 12 It was, I would say, 95%

Speaker 12 great.

Speaker 17 Did you argue?

Speaker 13 No, not really. He appears confident and relaxed, but after all, it is his lawyer asking the questions.

Speaker 17 Did you kill Jamie to use her credit cards?

Speaker 12 Absolutely not.

Speaker 17 Did you have

Speaker 17 general permission to use her credit cards?

Speaker 12 Yes.

Speaker 13 Brian insists he didn't need to steal from Jamie.

Speaker 17 Why do you feel that you had permission to use the cards?

Speaker 12 Even from our first date, it was literally an instruction to use them.

Speaker 13 And then he drops a bombshell, claiming that long after Jamie disappeared, she was still in Phoenix and would visit the house they shared and his new condo when Brian wasn't around.

Speaker 12 Because I would get back to my condo and things would be moved around or things would be left behind. Okay.

Speaker 17 Now, how did she get into

Speaker 17 your apartment?

Speaker 12 She had a key.

Speaker 13 But that's not all. He also claims he continued to communicate with Jamie long after that morning in March 2010 when she vanished.

Speaker 17 How did she communicate with you?

Speaker 12 Email and telephone.

Speaker 13 Okay. You have told people that if you had a computer, you could find her.
I've got a computer here. You want to try?

Speaker 6 Got my iPad here?

Speaker 13 How would you find her?

Speaker 12 I would have to look on mine.

Speaker 13 I mean, if I got this whole thing set up, could you? I mean, if you're not going to be able to do that.

Speaker 12 No, because I need to get into my computer because there's a special email

Speaker 12 site that we were working through.

Speaker 13 You must know, Brian, that that sounds a little crazy that you would have given this information to your attorneys and they wouldn't go looking for the one person who could save you from going to prison for life.

Speaker 12 You know,

Speaker 12 I told them that, and I never heard anything.

Speaker 17 Did you murder Jamie Leady?

Speaker 13 No.

Speaker 12 Jamie Leody is alive.

Speaker 13 She would just let you go on trial for murder, go to prison for the rest of your life.

Speaker 12 I don't know. I don't think that, I don't think either one of us ever expected it to get this far.

Speaker 17 Would you be at all surprised if I told you that she was about to walk through that door?

Speaker 12 No.

Speaker 13 I believe that she was. But prosecutor Juan Martinez wasn't buying any of it.

Speaker 18 You didn't actually talk to her in that condo, did you? No. You have not seen her at any time, and she hasn't walked in now, right? Right.
And she won't walk in because you killed her, right?

Speaker 12 Wrong.

Speaker 18 I don't know anything I was thinking.

Speaker 13 One day before Thanksgiving 2011, more than a year and a half after Jamie Laody disappeared, the prosecution and defense rested

Speaker 13 after presenting two very different stories.

Speaker 13 It was now up to the jury to decide, and foreman Leon Leed was worried.

Speaker 32 As we were moving to deliberation, I wondered how difficult of a decision this is going to be for the 12 of us, knowing that there's no body.

Speaker 13 But just four hours later, the jury returned with a verdict. Did any of you look at him when you walked in?

Speaker 15 No, I did not.

Speaker 32 No.

Speaker 13 Thank you. Please be seated.

Speaker 13 Brian Stewart was reassured by deputy sheriffs guarding him.

Speaker 6 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 12 They're like, yeah, you're good. Anytime a jury comes back that quick.

Speaker 12 And I was like, okay, well, wow, all right, that's pretty good.

Speaker 28 We, the jury, duly impaneled and sworn in the above entitled Action upon our oaths, as to count one, second-degree murder, do find the defendant guilty.

Speaker 13 Fraudulent. Guilty.

Speaker 13 Jamie's parents were overcome.

Speaker 28 Are these your true verdicts?

Speaker 14 So say you want to? Guilty, that's all I heard, and I just

Speaker 14 lost it. I was so happy.

Speaker 13 And then there was more.

Speaker 28 As to count two, fraudulent schemes and artifices do find the defendant guilty. Signed for person.

Speaker 13 Brian Stewart

Speaker 13 couldn't believe his ears.

Speaker 12 I just sat there.

Speaker 12 Like, to me, my life was over with.

Speaker 12 I just couldn't understand.

Speaker 12 Well,

Speaker 12 you know?

Speaker 12 I mean, if I would have killed her, I would have admitted to it.

Speaker 13 Do you think Brian Stewart slash Rick Valentini is a dangerous man?

Speaker 6 Yes. Yes.
Yes.

Speaker 13 Absolutely. No question in your mind.
None.

Speaker 32 None at all. The first 10 minutes of his testimony, any doubt I had

Speaker 32 that he was solely responsible for the murder of Jamie

Speaker 32 had been sealed at that moment in time.

Speaker 13 You've told so many stories, it's hard to believe you.

Speaker 12 Let's look at the Army, okay?

Speaker 13 No, let's look at what happened to Jamie.

Speaker 13 That's what really matters.

Speaker 12 Jamie took $100,000 and she left the state of Arizona. I've said it for 18 months, I say it now, and I'm going to say it for the next 18 years.

Speaker 13 But investigators say there was no money, and his story is just another lie.

Speaker 13 And for her friends and family.

Speaker 7 I just feel so bad that we weren't there.

Speaker 13 The one remaining question may never be answered.

Speaker 13 Is it hard because you don't really know where she is? You've never been able to bury her?

Speaker 26 That's right.

Speaker 9 That's right.

Speaker 14 I still have

Speaker 14 what they call the receiving blankets of Jamie from the hospital.

Speaker 14 And I carried it with me all the time

Speaker 14 and I intend to use that blanket to carry her home

Speaker 14 if we find her

Speaker 11 in 2011.

Speaker 23 Rick Valentini, aka Brian Stewart, was sentenced to 54 years for murder and other charges. In 2018, Jamie Laody's remains were found in a construction yard in Chandler, Arizona.

Speaker 21 This is the story of the one.

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