The Puppet Master

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Speaker 5 911, do you have an emergency? Yes, we do. We have a shooting in a coral, north federal Yamada.
We have people with injuries. Oh, my God.
She's...

Speaker 5 We're on the way. They're on the way.
they're on the way.

Speaker 5 I don't think she's breathing.

Speaker 6 Even though the shooting happened nine years ago, it seems like it happened yesterday.

Speaker 7 He said, do you want to make some good money?

Speaker 5 Around $20,000, make it look like a robbery.

Speaker 8 I thought we could get away with it.

Speaker 6 On that day, the weather was beautiful and warm.

Speaker 9 Heather and John Grossman were having a normal day.

Speaker 6 We were driving a black Lincoln Continental. My husband John was driving and I was in the passenger front seat and John and I were on our way to lunch.

Speaker 7 Slim's driving.

Speaker 9 He's telling Runyon what to do.

Speaker 9 And Runyon's sitting in the back seat with a rifle.

Speaker 6 I remember going down Federal Highway and

Speaker 9 they were about to stop at one place and then they decided on another place they made a U-turn.

Speaker 6 So John and I turned around.

Speaker 5 We followed them.

Speaker 7 Come up to a red light.

Speaker 6 I remember coming up to a stoplight.

Speaker 7 They're in one lane. We're in the lane right next to them on the left.

Speaker 6 I reached down to get something out of my briefcase.

Speaker 9 Roger Runyon took out a long rifle.

Speaker 5 Slim's like, do it, do it, do it, do it.

Speaker 6 And I came up and

Speaker 7 I stuck the weapon out the window and

Speaker 6 I shot into the back window and I felt the bullet penetrate.

Speaker 6 She disappears. I remember my body shaking.

Speaker 11 Then Slim pulled up next to the car.

Speaker 9 Fired another shot and winged John Grossman in the cheek.

Speaker 9 Where is she shot? She shot,

Speaker 5 I think, in the head or face.

Speaker 5 And she's face down in the

Speaker 5 shades all slumped over.

Speaker 9 My name is Alan Johnson. I'm Chief Assistant State Attorney at the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office.
Roger Runyon was the shooter.

Speaker 7 I attempted to kill people for money.

Speaker 9 Roger Runyon was one of the puppets.

Speaker 5 I'll go to hell.

Speaker 6 Roger Runyon is the man that shot me.

Speaker 7 I ruined her life. I ruined her kids' life.

Speaker 6 I don't hold hatred towards him.

Speaker 9 Roger Runyon is not on trial. We want the mastermind.

Speaker 6 The man that paid him to shoot me.

Speaker 9 The mastermind of the crime.

Speaker 6 He finally got me. He put me in my wheelchair.

Speaker 9 The puppet master is responsible for the actions of the puppets.

Speaker 8 The puppet master, tonight's 48 hours mystery.

Speaker 12 Yamato and Federal Southeast Corner referenced to shooting two victims.

Speaker 13 First, we heard a real loud bang. About 10 seconds after that, we heard another loud bang.

Speaker 12 I've got one person shot in a black Lincoln,

Speaker 12 also a white male sitting on the floor of the vehicle holding a space.

Speaker 10 The first report on that October day in 1997 was that a woman had been killed in a drive-by shooting.

Speaker 5 My wife's husband, my drives in there, she's dead.

Speaker 6 I remember tears rolling down the sides of my cheek.

Speaker 6 I'm feeling so scared.

Speaker 10 The bullet that struck then 31-year-old Heather Grossman ripped a fist-size hole in her neck, severing her spinal cord.

Speaker 5 That her husband's outside of the car,

Speaker 8 crippled and helpless in that chair.

Speaker 10 Ron Samuels rushed to the scene. He was Heather's first husband and father of their three children.

Speaker 8 I was under the impression that these people were shot and killed.

Speaker 8 Police were there. I said, that's my ex-wife, I think.
I want to know, were there three children in the car? It was that time of the day when my three kids could have been with them.

Speaker 10 The welfare of the children had always been a contentious issue in a messy custody battle. A far cry from the happier times the couple enjoyed enjoyed when they met a decade earlier.

Speaker 10 Ron met Heather when she was working as a flight attendant.

Speaker 8 She was prettier than any movie star in Hollywood.

Speaker 10 Samuels, a 40-year-old entrepreneur, fell hard for the former high school cheerleader from Minnesota.

Speaker 8 I was the only first-class passenger on the way back from Oregon.

Speaker 6 I just talked to him a little bit. He was just a passenger.

Speaker 8 And I said to her, you either come home with me now or I'll see you in the movies.

Speaker 6 He was very persistent.

Speaker 10 Soon after that flight, they moved in together. What were your impressions of him?

Speaker 6 He could

Speaker 6 charm people.

Speaker 10 They lived in Pensacola, Florida, where Samuels owned a successful car dealership.

Speaker 10 At the height, what was your net worth?

Speaker 8 In excess of $30 million.

Speaker 8 dollars 30 million dollars that's right was he very generous yes he was very generous you spoiled your wife i enjoyed it we took very lavish trips we went everywhere in the world on private jets too

Speaker 10 after living together for several years in december of 1988 heather and ron were married Their son Ronnie was born shortly afterwards.

Speaker 10 Two years later, they had twins, Lauren and Joe.

Speaker 10 Ronnie and his dad are going to sing the Miami Dolphin fight song, Miami Dolphins Number One.

Speaker 8 What do you think of that? I had three beautiful children.

Speaker 5 Look at them.

Speaker 5 Ronnie was fine.

Speaker 15 She was an excellent mother. She was always with the children.

Speaker 10 Ben and Helen Benfeld were good friends.

Speaker 15 I thought they were getting along beautifully, didn't you? I thought everything was going along great.

Speaker 10 But if it all seemed perfect, behind the scenes, the marriage was beginning to crumble.

Speaker 8 I was 18 or 18 and a half years older than Heather was.

Speaker 6 We became controlling

Speaker 6 and rude and

Speaker 6 scary and intimidating.

Speaker 8 I expected her to understand that to live the lifestyle that she wanted, that somebody had to pay the bill.

Speaker 10 Did your arguments turn violent?

Speaker 6 Yes, they became violent.

Speaker 15 How?

Speaker 6 When I wanted to

Speaker 6 leave him, he held a gun to my head.

Speaker 10 Did you ever put a gun to her head?

Speaker 8 Never.

Speaker 6 I was terrified of him and I said, I'm out of here.

Speaker 10 Heather fled with the children to her parents' home in Minnesota and filed for divorce.

Speaker 6 When I left him, and divorced him, he said,

Speaker 6 you know, you will pay.

Speaker 10 Did you say to Heather, if you leave me, you're gonna pay?

Speaker 8 Not that I recall ever saying that.

Speaker 10 Heather moved on and began dating John Grossman,

Speaker 10 the son of a business tycoon who was part owner of the Minnesota Vikings football team.

Speaker 6 I had a wonderful relationship with John Grossman, and we were in love and

Speaker 6 everything was really pretty much perfect.

Speaker 10 You weren't jealous of him?

Speaker 8 No, No, I wasn't jealous of John Grossman.

Speaker 6 We were happy we were starting on our lives, despite all the torture in the background of Ron Samuels.

Speaker 10 Samuels hired a succession of lawyers to fight Heather over custody of the children and child support payments. The court ordered you to pay $3,000 a month in child support.
Is that right?

Speaker 17 You refused to pay.

Speaker 10 Altogether, you spent $650,000

Speaker 10 in legal fees to fight this.

Speaker 8 That's correct.

Speaker 6 He didn't want shared custody. He wanted custody of the children full-time, all the time, without me having any

Speaker 6 contact with them.

Speaker 10 Samuels also moved on, marrying Debbie Love, a legal secretary in the firm that represented him in his divorce.

Speaker 10 Debbie and Samuels, who always struggled with his weight, saw his children often during scheduled visitations.

Speaker 10 It was during one of those visits, Samuel says his children told him that John Grossman was mistreating them.

Speaker 5 You're a cowardly, motherless son of a bitch.

Speaker 10 Samuels confronted Grossman on the phone. That's not very nice.

Speaker 5 No, you're the father. No, I wouldn't

Speaker 5 have what you put your hands on the children. You know darn well I never put my hands on.

Speaker 5 All three of them here told me differently.

Speaker 6 We're getting calls at night and we're getting death threats.

Speaker 10 But was Samuels capable of carrying out those threats?

Speaker 8 If you want to know, would I have killed John Grossman had I had the opportunity? I definitely would have.

Speaker 10 And what about Heather?

Speaker 8 I would never do that to the lady that I watched give birth to my three children. There's no reason in the world for that.

Speaker 2 Hey, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. You know, one of the perks about having four kids that you know about is actually getting a direct line to the big man up north.

Speaker 2 And this year, he wants you to know the best gift that you can give someone is the gift of Mint Mobile's unlimited wireless for $15 a month.

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Speaker 2 Give it a try at mintmobile.com/slash switch.

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Speaker 10 After a five-year relationship, Heather married John Grossman in June of 1997 and moved back to Florida. This was a happy time for you.

Speaker 6 Yes, a very happy time.

Speaker 10 But their happiness was overshadowed by their fear of Heather's first husband,

Speaker 10 Ron Samuels, who had accused Grossman of abusing his children. Were you hurt when Heather married John Grossman?

Speaker 8 Not particularly.

Speaker 10 What were your impressions of him?

Speaker 8 I don't think I could say that on camera.

Speaker 10 Go ahead, try.

Speaker 8 He was a rotten, despicable

Speaker 8 scumbag.

Speaker 10 Because of Samuel's unpredictable and volatile behavior, Heather and John chose to keep their wedding location a secret.

Speaker 6 That's how afraid

Speaker 6 I was of him.

Speaker 10 Just four months later, while driving to a lunch date, Heather and John were gunned down.

Speaker 6 There was no doubt in the moment I was shot, I knew Ron Samuels was responsible for the shooting.

Speaker 10 How are you so confident? How are you so sure?

Speaker 6 Because when I left him, he said that he would destroy me, that he would kill me?

Speaker 10 Samuels vehemently denies having anything to do with the shooting.

Speaker 8 The one question I have is if I didn't do it, who did and why?

Speaker 8 I have that question too.

Speaker 10 And he has a theory.

Speaker 8 I think John Grossman had a motive to want to get rid of Heather. for many, many reasons, but the biggest one is

Speaker 8 because I was a pain in his ass, and I had just enough money to be that pain.

Speaker 10 So you're suggesting that John Grossman staged this shooting.

Speaker 10 He was injured, though, in the shooting. He was shot.

Speaker 10 Doesn't make any sense to me.

Speaker 8 I don't think that was intentional.

Speaker 17 He shot somebody in a car twice with a rifle out the window.

Speaker 10 But the evidence the investigators were gathering told a very different story.

Speaker 10 It began with the great lead.

Speaker 10 A detailed description of the hitman's car.

Speaker 5 It's a teal-colored Thunderbird, a newer model,

Speaker 10 including the license plate.

Speaker 5 VIX30I.

Speaker 10 The car was registered to an insurance salesman named Hugh Estes.

Speaker 10 At the time, Estes was a self-admitted crack addict.

Speaker 11 I had a lot of money. I got hooked into cocaine and

Speaker 11 other drugs, and boy,

Speaker 11 it'll empty your wallet fast.

Speaker 10 Investigators put the squeeze on Estes, who told them all about the plan. He coughed up the names of the two men in the T-Bird.

Speaker 10 A crack dealer and pimp named Eddie Slim Stafford was the driver. Another petty criminal, Roger Runyon, was the shooter.

Speaker 10 Still, another man, Jeff Pollack, was not involved in drugs, but was at meetings where Samuels allegedly discussed the murder plans.

Speaker 11 He said, I want her dead.

Speaker 10 The motive? Money.

Speaker 11 It was, you know, hey, here's 10 grand. Do something for me.
Yeah, sure. Thanks a lot, sucker.
You know, take the money and run.

Speaker 10 But who was paying?

Speaker 9 Ron Samuels gave the instructions to Hugh Estes and to Jeff Pollock.

Speaker 10 Assistant State Attorney Al Johnson. What were the instructions?

Speaker 9 Get me somebody to kill my ex-wife.

Speaker 10 Ron, did you hire these men to kill your ex-wife?

Speaker 5 Troy,

Speaker 8 I'm from Brooklyn, New York. If I wanted to pay somebody to do this,

Speaker 8 I'd have gone to New York and the professionals would have come there and know I didn't want to do that and no I did not pay anybody.

Speaker 9 Ronald Samuels was the puppet master.

Speaker 10 But could this bizarre conspiracy story hold up in court? Investigators had no direct evidence linking Samuels to the crime, but they believed he had a powerful motive.

Speaker 10 The costly custody fight that could see him lose his children. A fight Samuels was determined to win.
Look, it's my clothes!

Speaker 10 Say hi, Papa, I'm the close! Hi, Papa, I'm the clothes!

Speaker 10 What do the children mean to you?

Speaker 8 I was willing to swap my life for theirs.

Speaker 10 And he was willing to put his children right in the middle of the fight.

Speaker 4 Come on over here and let's just have a seat.

Speaker 10 To document his claims that John Grossman was abusing the children, he had them examined by a psychologist.

Speaker 4 If you've done something wrong at your house when you're at your mom, what happens?

Speaker 20 I get spanked.

Speaker 19 And who does the spanking?

Speaker 21 It's usually John and Grandpa and Grandma.

Speaker 10 Little Ronnie was just six years old when he accused John Grossman and Heather's parents of harming him.

Speaker 8 I said to them, you guys understand these are very serious things you're saying.

Speaker 8 Very serious.

Speaker 8 We promise, Daddy, it's the truth. We don't want to go back there.

Speaker 10 Did you ever see John Grossman mistreat your children? No. Did you ever see your parents mistreat your children?

Speaker 6 Oh no, not at all.

Speaker 10 Did you coach your children to lie about the child abuse allegations?

Speaker 8 I would never do that.

Speaker 8 Never.

Speaker 9 In order to gain the upper hand, it's my belief. that Ronald Samuels would call and make these child abuse accusations.
They were investigated by the police in Minnesota.

Speaker 9 They were investigated by the police in Boca Raton. They were found to be unfounded.

Speaker 10 The claims of child abuse were rejected by a Florida judge, and Heather was awarded permanent custody of the children.

Speaker 6 Yeah, that was eight days

Speaker 6 before I was shot.

Speaker 6 Is she breathing?

Speaker 10 While investigators were convinced Samuels Samuels was the mastermind behind the attempted murders,

Speaker 10 they felt they just didn't have enough evidence to bring a case against him. The key was getting the alleged co-conspirators to cooperate.
But at what cost?

Speaker 9 It wasn't an easy decision for anybody, but the decision was made, and it was the right decision.

Speaker 10 The decision was to make a controversial and highly unusual deal.

Speaker 10 In exchange for truthful testimony about Samuels' lead role in the conspiracy, complete immunity from prosecution for everyone involved, everyone that is, except for Ron Samuels.

Speaker 9 In a perfect world, all five would have done prison time for this.

Speaker 9 We live in a world of choices and we make the best choice we can.

Speaker 6 There was no question that we had to make the immunity deal. It was 100% the right thing to do.

Speaker 6 The key person to get was Ron Samuels.

Speaker 10 With the deal made, the investigators were ready to make a move.

Speaker 10 But before Ron Samuels could be arrested, one, two, three, four.

Speaker 5 He was gone.

Speaker 10 Five months after the shooting and just days before he was to be arrested, Ron Samuels was on the run.

Speaker 10 U.S. Attorney's Office called me and said, Larry Samuels didn't show up.
We think he's a fugitive.

Speaker 10 Now retired FBI agent Larry Doss tracks Samuels to Monterey, Mexico.

Speaker 10 A sprawling city about 200 miles south of the border. Why'd you go to Mexico?

Speaker 8 The reason that I went was to eventually bring the three kids there, legally or illegally. I was going to do it.

Speaker 10 On the 20th of May, 1998, he's now calling from Mexico using a credit card.

Speaker 5 Can you get the car and meet me somewhere with it, safe?

Speaker 10 On the other end of the line was someone Samuels trusted, his second wife, Debbie Love.

Speaker 8 Debbie was the only one knew I was in Monterey and what hotel I was at.

Speaker 10 Little did Samuels know that Debbie was cooperating with Florida police and allowed them to tap her phone. Debbie, if I can get out of this, I'll straighten our lives out.

Speaker 5 Not with me, you won't.

Speaker 10 The Mexican authorities working with the FBI were following Samuels' every move. And as they closed in, he became more desperate.

Speaker 5 I'm begging you, please.

Speaker 10 A short time after the surveillance started, he realizes that he's being followed.

Speaker 10 A high-speed chase ensues, the car gets wrecked,

Speaker 10 and when they arrest him and inventory his car, he has six kilograms of cocaine.

Speaker 10 You were found with six kilos of cocaine.

Speaker 8 That's what the report said.

Speaker 10 Not true?

Speaker 8 Not true.

Speaker 10 Ron Samuels would serve five years in a Mexican prison for narcotics trafficking. And his second wife, Debbie, would divorce him.

Speaker 10 How does one man have so much bad luck?

Speaker 8 Some might say I brought it on myself.

Speaker 10 Did you?

Speaker 8 I must have been a very bad judge of two women.

Speaker 10 But amazingly, even behind bars, Samuels found romance. Ron,

Speaker 23 I want to tell you that I love you so much.

Speaker 10 When he had a chance encounter with Elizabeth Pastrana.

Speaker 24 I met him when I had a clothing business, and I took clothes to the poor at the jail.

Speaker 10 Three years later, while Samuels was still in prison, Elizabeth became wife, number three.

Speaker 24 He said, Do you want to marry me, Elizabeth?

Speaker 24 And then I said, Yes, my love, I want to marry you.

Speaker 10 To this day, even in light of the charges against him, Elizabeth remains loyal to Samuels.

Speaker 24 I believe in him. I believe in his innocence.

Speaker 10 While Samuels was serving out his sentence in Mexico, John Grossman, Heather, and her children moved to Arizona.

Speaker 10 Not long after she was shot, Heather says, John became increasingly abusive both physically and emotionally.

Speaker 6 I truly believe John can handle it. And his anger and his rage

Speaker 6 just took over.

Speaker 10 In 2003, they divorced. Two years later, John died of a massive heart attack.

Speaker 6 I forgive him and

Speaker 6 I can understand it now.

Speaker 10 You forgive your second husband, John Grossman, for his abusive behavior.

Speaker 10 Do you forgive Ron Samuels?

Speaker 6 I forgive Ron Samuels, but

Speaker 6 I am afraid of him still.

Speaker 10 Ron Samuels was extradited from Mexico and returned to Florida to stand trial here in West Palm Beach on two counts of attempted murder.

Speaker 10 The co-conspirators, under the grant of immunity, are scheduled to testify about their role in the plot to kill Heather and her second husband, John Grossman.

Speaker 10 She's in good hands, don't worry.

Speaker 10 Heather makes the long trip across country from Arizona to Florida to testify.

Speaker 5 Comes to Missoula Lens Left number 1830 with non-stop service in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Speaker 10 She needs to confront the man she believes has caused her so much pain.

Speaker 6 I have to understand

Speaker 6 somehow how the individual that I love so much

Speaker 6 could have done this to me.

Speaker 10 It's been nine years since that fateful day.

Speaker 10 Prosecutor Al Johnson.

Speaker 9 Heather Grossman woke up today a quadriplegic. The defendant did that to her.

Speaker 10 No, he didn't pull the trigger.

Speaker 9 He wasn't the henchman. He was too clever for that.

Speaker 17 Mr. Samuels is saying that I did not commit the crimes that the state is alleging, that I am not guilty.

Speaker 10 Defense attorneys Ned Reagan and Alex Bromfield plan to attack the credibility of the co-conspirators. Are all of these men liars?

Speaker 15 I would say yes.

Speaker 10 So your position is that this immunity deal gave them a license to lie?

Speaker 25 That's exactly it.

Speaker 10 Why would these guys want to harm this woman? Why would they want to execute Heather Grossman? What would be their motive? I don't know what their motive was.

Speaker 9 On October 14th, 1997, did you shoot Heather and John Grossman?

Speaker 10 Yes, I did.

Speaker 9 Who was the primary target that day?

Speaker 8 She was.

Speaker 10 Trigger man Roger Runyon's testimony makes Samuels explode.

Speaker 8 I'll meet you in hell, you son of a bitch.

Speaker 5 I'll find you one way or the other.

Speaker 26 I'm sorry. You will not

Speaker 5 listen to me.

Speaker 26 Close your mouth.

Speaker 26 Mr. Samuels, stop talking.

Speaker 8 That cowardly son of a bitch shot my ex-wife in the back of the head. That's why I was angry in the court that day.

Speaker 10 After order is restored, one by one, the other alleged co-conspirators take the stand to testify.

Speaker 10 Eddie Stafford, the drug dealer and pimp who was driving the car, says Samuels talked often about killing Heather.

Speaker 9 What kind of terms did he use?

Speaker 16 He wanted to kill that bitch.

Speaker 10 Jeff Pollack, who worked odd jobs for Samuels, says he was at a meeting where Samuels gave the orders to kill Heather.

Speaker 16 When Ron mentioned he wants his ex-wife taken care of, he made a motion of a gun. in his hand.

Speaker 9 So he said the exact words I want?

Speaker 9 Her taken care of? Yes. And then he would make a motion.
What kind of motion are you?

Speaker 8 Like a gun.

Speaker 10 Hugh Estes, the old friend of Samuels, who says he arranged it all.

Speaker 9 Did there come a time when you provided him somebody that might do this for him?

Speaker 5 Yes.

Speaker 9 Did Ronald Samuels want Heather dead?

Speaker 8 Yes, sir.

Speaker 11 He said he wanted his wife whacked?

Speaker 9 Are those the words he used?

Speaker 15 Yes, those are the exact words.

Speaker 10 The testimony seems to put all the elements of the conspiracy in place.

Speaker 8 I think that you could get anybody to say anything if they think they're not going to go to jail for whatever it is they have pending.

Speaker 10 But there's no getting around phone records. The prosecution says link Samuels to Estes and Stafford.

Speaker 9 The linchpin of our case was corroboration through the phone records.

Speaker 10 And the phone calls ceased after the shooting.

Speaker 9 Pretty much.

Speaker 21 After our marriage, Ron immediately changed.

Speaker 10 Debbie Love, Ron Samuels' second wife, tells the jurors she was afraid of Samuels.

Speaker 21 I was fearful of Ron.

Speaker 24 He's very forceful.

Speaker 21 He's very domineering, dominating, and controlling.

Speaker 10 And then she makes the prosecution's day.

Speaker 9 What terms would he use when he was describing Heather?

Speaker 27 That she was a gold digger.

Speaker 27 That she took his money.

Speaker 9 Did the defendant ever indicate that he wished ill

Speaker 9 of Heather?

Speaker 27 Yes, he did.

Speaker 9 In what manner? What words did he say?

Speaker 27 That bitch should be dead.

Speaker 27 Wish she was dead. She needs to be dead.
Somebody needs to kill the bitch. We need to get rid of her.

Speaker 8 Deborah is a liar.

Speaker 10 Everyone's telling the same story of rage and revenge and murder for hire.

Speaker 10 Everyone, that is,

Speaker 10 except Ron Samuels.

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Speaker 30 Welcome to Radio Rental.

Speaker 30 The scariest stories you've ever heard in your life.

Speaker 22 All told by real

Speaker 5 people.

Speaker 30 And off we go.

Speaker 30 This wasn't a human being that I saw. There's something here in this house.
Something out of this world. There was a woman moving through the hall.

Speaker 4 I stepped back and I was completely alone.

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Speaker 6 Oh boy, I'm too nervous.

Speaker 5 I wish I would have eaten breakfast.

Speaker 10 So Heather, what do you want the Jory to understand?

Speaker 6 Um,

Speaker 6 I want them to understand how hard and difficult my life is every day.

Speaker 10 Heather Grossman is about to confront the man she believes was behind the plot to kill her.

Speaker 5 So cold.

Speaker 6 I might have to look away because he still scares me.

Speaker 6 Just knowing that he's there is eerie enough.

Speaker 10 Your son is testifying today.

Speaker 10 Are you worried for him?

Speaker 6 Yes, I am.

Speaker 6 This is going to be a very hard moment in his life.

Speaker 10 Ronnie, 17, is called to testify. about the decade-old allegations of child abuse against his stepfather, John Grossman.

Speaker 31 The things that you told the

Speaker 31 social services or children's services persons about the abuse, was that the truth or was it a lie?

Speaker 17 No, ma'am, it was a lie.

Speaker 10 A lie that his father, Ronnie says, convinced him to tell.

Speaker 31 Did Ronald Samuels tell you the reason why he wanted you to make these allegations?

Speaker 17 Yes, he wanted, you know, to take me away from my mom and John.

Speaker 31 Were you afraid not to do what he asked you to do?

Speaker 17 Yes. He was six foot six.
He's a very big guy.

Speaker 31 And at times, did that frighten you?

Speaker 17 Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 17 He's just got a very deep voice. It's very intimidating.
I mean, you know, scared us when we were younger.

Speaker 10 Your own son says

Speaker 10 that you manipulated him into telling these lies.

Speaker 8 What would you expect my child to say after 10 years of being told his dad did that to his mom and seeing his mom suffer every day of her life in that chair?

Speaker 10 The statement calls Heather Grossman and now, finally, it's Heather's moment of truth.

Speaker 6 I'm not scared of him like I was before.

Speaker 6 I was afraid to see him at first, but he doesn't look intimidating now.

Speaker 6 I somewhat feel sorry for him that he chose to do what he did and it's really messed up his life.

Speaker 9 The problems you were experiencing with Mr. Samuels, did they intensify in the latter part of 1996 and into 1997?

Speaker 6 Yes, they kept getting worse.

Speaker 9 What was Mr. Samuels' demeanor like when he would pick up or drop off the children?

Speaker 6 Very loud,

Speaker 6 threatening, very pushy.

Speaker 9 Did your children, either Ronnie, Joseph, or Lauren, ever complain to you about John Grossman's treatment of them?

Speaker 6 No.

Speaker 10 Then the courtroom is hushed. as Heather recalls the very moment she was shot.

Speaker 6 I tried to scream out for help and

Speaker 6 help wouldn't come out

Speaker 6 and I don't remember anything after that.

Speaker 9 To this day, do you have any sensation whatsoever below the neck or the place where you were shot?

Speaker 6 No, I don't.

Speaker 10 If the courtroom was riveted by Heather's testimony,

Speaker 28 Fence calls Ron Samuels.

Speaker 10 The atmosphere becomes electric when Ron Samuels, against against the advice of his lawyers, takes the stand.

Speaker 26 Raise your right hand.

Speaker 9 Mrs.

Speaker 10 Samuels, did you have anything to do with the shooting of Mr.

Speaker 14 Grossman?

Speaker 8 I did not.

Speaker 10 Did you have anything to do with the shooting of Mrs.

Speaker 8 Grossman?

Speaker 8 I did not.

Speaker 8 I wouldn't want anything like that to happen, Tucker.

Speaker 10 Samuels insists he had nothing to do with the murder for Hiersky.

Speaker 14 Did you go to a Denny's and meet with Hugh Estes, Jeffrey Pollock, and Eddie Stafford?

Speaker 5 No.

Speaker 10 And that the phone records don't prove anything.

Speaker 14 There's been numerous testimony with regard to telephone records.

Speaker 8 Yes, anything can be made sinister.

Speaker 9 Mr. Samuels, this case never really was about the children.
This was about winning, wasn't it?

Speaker 8 That's not true.

Speaker 9 This was about keeping that $3,000 from that bitch heaven.

Speaker 14 Isn't that true?

Speaker 8 No, that's not true.

Speaker 9 Yes or no, sir?

Speaker 5 Did you?

Speaker 10 Why would you allow the prosecutors to have an opportunity to question you?

Speaker 8 Because I told the truth. And I didn't want my son to believe, like he's been told for the last 10 years, that I tried to kill mom.

Speaker 8 That's a terrible thing to live with.

Speaker 14 You never wanted Heather to be a quadriplegic, did you?

Speaker 8 I never wanted her to be dead either.

Speaker 9 That's exactly what you wanted her to be, sir.

Speaker 5 Dead.

Speaker 5 I slept so good.

Speaker 6 I took all my pills.

Speaker 5 I'm good.

Speaker 10 Ron Samuels claims he truly feels Heather's anguish, but he insists he's innocent.

Speaker 8 Heather, I'm not the one responsible.

Speaker 8 You're blaming the wrong person.

Speaker 10 How do you think your father looked?

Speaker 17 He looked aged, very aged.

Speaker 10 Up until the trial, Young Ronnie hadn't seen his father since the shooting more than nine years ago.

Speaker 10 You believe your father took out a contract on your mother's life?

Speaker 17 Yes, I do believe that. As bad as that sounds.

Speaker 10 Is there anything that he can say to you that would change anything?

Speaker 8 Oh, not at all.

Speaker 17 You know, he made his mistake. That's his doing.

Speaker 5 No.

Speaker 17 He chose it this way.

Speaker 14 What sentence would satisfy you?

Speaker 17 Life.

Speaker 16 He wants to kill that bitch.

Speaker 10 Find a shooter or you can do it yourself. After three weeks of testimony, do it, do it, do it, do it.

Speaker 10 And three days of deliberation.

Speaker 20 Okay, we are ready for the jury.

Speaker 10 This is so exciting.

Speaker 26 Everyone, please rise.

Speaker 10 Heather Grossman's nine-year wait for a verdict is about to be over.

Speaker 19 As to count one, victim Heather Grossman, we find the defendant guilty of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm as charged in the indictment.

Speaker 10 Guilty on two counts of attempted murder. And guilty on four additional charges related to the murder for higher conspiracy.

Speaker 19 Guilty of shooting into an occupied vehicle.

Speaker 5 I was like, yes.

Speaker 6 Yes.

Speaker 6 You know, I had waited so long to hear those words. And.

Speaker 10 Guilty.

Speaker 6 Guilty, yes.

Speaker 6 Guilty, guilty, guilty.

Speaker 10 The sentence...

Speaker 20 Based on the evidence, life in prison is the appropriate sentence.

Speaker 10 Life in prison for the attempted murders and an additional 120 years for the other charges.

Speaker 6 I know that he

Speaker 6 is out of our lives forever. He will never bother us.
And

Speaker 6 I know that I'm safe and my children are safe.

Speaker 7 I'll never forget myself.

Speaker 10 As for the trigger man, Roger Runyon, under the immunity deal, he won't serve a day in prison, but he's still haunted by his actions.

Speaker 7 Right now, I wish I never would have been born.

Speaker 10 As he begins serving out his sentence in a Florida prison, Ron Samuels, who still maintains his innocence, has grown almost philosophical about his fate.

Speaker 10 I don't understand how a man who has realized so many of his goals

Speaker 10 could end up here.

Speaker 8 Stupidity.

Speaker 8 Stupidity and naivete.

Speaker 10 What is your greatest regret?

Speaker 8 My greatest regret is

Speaker 8 that both of us should have tried harder for the sake of the three children. And I'm hoping that one day

Speaker 8 they'll want to come see their father

Speaker 8 before I die.

Speaker 10 Don't you think that your children

Speaker 10 need to know the truth?

Speaker 8 I certainly do.

Speaker 18 And what is the truth?

Speaker 8 The truth is I would never, ever harm one hair on Heather's head.

Speaker 20 As part of sentencing, he was ordered to pay restitution.

Speaker 10 The court ordered Samuels to pay Heather more than $300,000.

Speaker 10 You claim at one time you had close to $30 million. Yes, sir.
What is your net worth now?

Speaker 8 Zero, and then some.

Speaker 10 But if there's really no money left for Heather, she says that perhaps Samuels has something else he could offer her of value.

Speaker 6 I would have liked an apology, but I know I will never

Speaker 6 get one because

Speaker 6 I'm sure he was overjoyed that day that I was shot. Ron Samuels is exactly where he belongs.
I don't have to think about him anymore.

Speaker 10 Is there any chance for rehabilitation?

Speaker 6 No.

Speaker 6 Maybe in 20 years there will be rehabilitation

Speaker 6 for somebody in my condition.

Speaker 6 I don't think that's going to happen in my lifetime.

Speaker 10 Today, Heather requires 24-hour attendant care.

Speaker 6 I had to learn how to eat, how to swallow, how to sit up, how to speak on a ventilator, and just deal with everyday life this way.

Speaker 10 Do you ever feel sorry for yourself?

Speaker 6 Some days, you know,

Speaker 6 I might have a difficult day.

Speaker 6 It's been very hard.

Speaker 6 But now I'm, you know, with my faith and the way my life is now, it's great.

Speaker 6 It might be hard for some people to believe, but it, I mean, I'm

Speaker 6 sitting in a very happy place.

Speaker 3 Tu mereces disfrutar tusaboritos por menos. Ja sel una Big Mac, McNuggets, oh a sausage, egg and cheese, McFriddles, pie tuntojo como un meal, y a hora.
Oof, nava comodarte un gustaso por tam poco.

Speaker 3 Los extra value meals están de regreso.

Speaker 25 Gana por la mañana con el extra value meal, sausage, mc muffin with egg, hash browns, y un cafe cariente pequeño por solo se dolaris. Bara, ba ba ba.
Preces y participación pueden varía.

Speaker 25 Los preces de la promosión pueden serminos que lo de las comidas.

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