Transcripts For MSNBCW Dateline Extra 20210101

Dont kill anybody. My whole world just died right there. For months the murder stayed cold. Didnt have witnesses, didnt have video, didnt have dna. We have everything going against us. We would go down and talk to the detective. We wouldnt let it go. Then a break, another victim. He would duct tape me, duct tape my mouth. And she knew a secret. Could she risk revealing it . Somethings going to happen tonight. A killer ready to run, face to face with the one person who might be able to stop him. He just reached over the glove compartment and he pulled out the gun. And i said, please dont kill me. I wanted to get out of there alive. It was a monday morning in january, 2007, 9 08 a. M. A young woman in san antonio texted her boyfriend. I love you. Thats all it said. I love you. Nothing more. Downtown, the alamo had just opened its doors. A few tourists began boarding little booats to gaze. And several miles away the manager of a Video Game Store began his daily ritual. His name was mariano rivera. The store opens at 10 00, but the managers get there at 9 00 in the morning. Go to the bank. Similar process to the sister store. Same company, not far away. That one managed by the woman who sent the text to her boyfriend except this was strange. As the morning stood by, her store remained closed. Mariano got a call from the district manager. Can you go over there and maybe you can see something, see whats going on . He did. He saw a white car in the parking lot looked like the young womans car. He peered into the store window. Nobody there. I thought, man, this is strange. Where is she . So i kept calling. Her name was amber belkin. Ambitious, very much in charge. She was a fire cracker. Thats the easiest way to put it. Matt pena worked with amber at the Video Game Store. She would let you know what she wanted, but i think she was one of the kindest souls ever that ive ever met. I guess it depended what side you met her on and how much you made her mad. She could be tough . Most certainly. She just expected you to do your job. As long as you did that job, there was never any problems with it. She made sure to surround herself with people that were trying to go somewhere, do something. She loved her job. She did. Monica and ashley for ambers best friends. Was she cut out to be a manager . Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. She was fierce. But she still was friendly. Yeah. She loved all her employees. Yeah. And she loved all of her customers. She was only 25. She was a store manager, so it was a very good sense of shes doing it. Shes making something of her life. She had goals. She had ambitions. She wanted to go back to school. She wanted all of it. Not that she set out to work in a game store. She wanted to be a veterinarian. She was just so loving. We couldnt pass a turtle on the road. She had to turn around and pick it up and take it to her house. We would go to pet shops all the time and buy turtles and fish. Snakes. Snakes. She hliked snacks. She had a snake once. Wow. A white albino python. She would find these random animals on the side of the road, like where did you find that animal . Like her little dog buddy. Ambers parents lee and randy. She actually ran for buddy across the expressway and the hair was all matted up, looked like dreadlocks. And she said, well i cant put it back out on the road, itll get killed. So, i just opened the door and let it in. Amber was their own child. They doted on her from the day she was born and she was good in return. Amber was the type person that would give you the shirt off her back. She helped anybody that needed it. They didnt even have to ask. She was going to make sure that you were protected. But now where was amber . Why was her store not open . Why didnt she answer the phone . Early afternoon, still no sign of amber. So, again, the district manager called mariano. Something is just strange. And sent him back for a second look. So, again, mariano looked in through the big front window. But this time he saw someone. Ambers assistant manager brandon just standing there behind the counter. I knock on the door, so he lets me in. I said, have you seen amber . Hes like, no, he goes, but something is strange. Theres money in the floor. Looks like theres some kind of struggle. Something happened. Things got knocked over. My first thought was, wheres amber. So, he said he didnt know. Of course right away im thinking, what is going on with this guy . He clearly sees theres something wrong. He must have recognized her car. Im thinking thats her car outside. You see it. Sure. You see theres things in the floor, why havent you reacted right away and call someone or check the rest of the store . But he hadnt. So, mariano ran to the back office, the only other room in the store. Not a moment hell ever forget, not for the rest of his life. And when i run to the back, i found out ambers on the floor, face down, and she has a plastic bag wrapped around her head. And instantly i knew what happened. Coming up, one mystery solved. Amber was no longer missing. But a much bigger mystery remained. Most people that rob a store dont kill anybody. They just go in there, do the robbery and leave. Maybe the robbery was just a cover for murder. He had the classic motive. It did kind of seem personal. When everything she knew continues. When everything she knew continues. Investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. The sleep number 360 smart bed. Prices of the season on can it help with snoring . Ive never heard snoring. Exactly. No problem. And done. And now, the queen sleep number 360 c2 smart bed is only 899. Plus, no interest until january 2024. Ends monday. There are some things which once seen can never be unseen. Amb amber bell kin sprawled in death, her head wrapped in a plastic bag. Mario dialled 911. His mind a horrible confusion. He stared at the assistant manager. I was angry. I was upset. Im looking at brandon like i dont understand. How did this happen . I dont want to blame anybody but your first thought is who is around . Who can you look at . Maybe he had something to do with it. Its got to be a shocking thing to discover. Its hard to describe. You have a million emotions running through and you dont know what to make of them. The police took one look and called Raymond Ray Bob roberts, then a detective with the San Antonio Police department. Looks like a robbery gone bad. The store is in disarray. The clerk is found in the back office. Shes dead. Try to get information. Are there any witnesses . No, sir. So, try to get the crime scene, detectives out there. The news, indistinct, unconfirmed spread through the afternoon, somebody dead in ambers store, but most people did not know who, including ambers father. My brother called me and said that there was a robbery and a manager had found someone murdered in the store. And my daughter was a manager. And i started calling ambers phone. You thought she was the manager who discovered the body. I jumped in my truck, and i called a friend of mine who is a defense attorney. And i said i need you to call anybody that you can and see what you can find out. And i was just about there, and he called me, and he said, well how far are you from here . And thats when he realized it wasnt that amber found someone dead. They found her. My knees just buckled and i just my whole world just died right there. Its a pretty dreadful feeling, isnt it . Its the worst feeling in the world because you totally realize no one can fix this. Nobody can bring her back. Not for them. Not for her friends. Then everything just stopped. Disbelief. Disbelief. Your earth shatters. I sat on the curve and cried. Everything around me was just a blur. Inside the store, detective roberts had had a look around. Theres a bunch of dvd games on the ground. Where the Cash Register was right there by the front, the tills open, the drawer is open. Theres change laying around. Theres more dvds on the ground in the back. Like somebody came in, ransacked it. Ransacked the place, took off, yeah. He ran to the back alley. Was this an escape t route. Probably stacked the games up here either had their car here in the alley or had them pashlged here, put the boxes there, picked them up. You wouldnt think robbing a game store would be worth killing somebody in the process. Well, you wouldnt think anybody would rob a game store. Yeah, normally during robberies, its just a robbery. Theres no murder. And this was certainly a robbery, given the mess and the empty safe. We checked the bank. There was no deposit made for that morning. There was 1,900 stolen, three, four big video games, playstations and ps3s and dvd games. All that was taken. The haul totalled just under 6,000. Maybe the store surveillance cameras could tell who took it. Except theres no Surveillance Video in the store. Theres none in the strip center the store was located in. Theres no video. There was video at starbucks next door and it only showed the front door. And thats it. You dont see anything. Who would know that . Who would know it was the video game companys only store in san antonio not equipped with cameras. The answer was obvious, thought the detectives, an employee would know, just like an employee would know amber hadnt taken the cash to the bank yet. Then why he didnt understand why brandon didnt look for amber until mariano arrived. His first thought should have been there might have been a robber. First of all, the robbers might still be in here. And then where is amber. Just what detectives were thinking. They said she had issues with brandon. They never learned to Work Together yet. When you have a guy like that thats not the same type of attitude or mentality the rest of us were, it causes troubles. Did she trust him . You know, i dont know. In some instances with some things, no. Even ambers parents said they knew she was dissatisfied with brandon. Because she had written him up. She had prepared a negative work review. She was going to turn it in that way. Its just his last chance, mom. She said, i cant i cant allow him to continue to make these mistakes. So, motive, opportunity, behavior that didnt seem innocent . I mean, he had the classic motive. He didnt want her to write him up. Yeah. He didnt want to get fired. He didnt want to get fired. This seemed like a personal crime. Could have been. Most people that go to rob a store dont go with the intentions of killing somebody. They go in, do the robbery and leaving. Putting a plastic bag on their head squeezing it tight. Squeezing it tight, takes four or five minutes. Even though shes struggling, shes just not laying there. That takes a while. That takes it does kind of seem personal. They had brandon in the backseat of a patrol car. Detective went to talk to him. He tells me a story, and its just not making any sense. So he had brandon taken downtown and questioned by a colleague known for her special interviewing skills. Shes a real good detective. She has a way of getting things out of people. About an hour later she calls me back to the scene, says, yeah, somethings up with this guy. Coming up, ambers parents were convinced it was brandon. We definitely thought brandon did it. Everything pointed to him. That explained what ambers mom said she saw at the funeral. She put one of the game stop tag holders that had their id on it, he put one of those in her casket. When everything she knew continues. Casket when everything she knew continues. Robinhood believes now is the time to do money. Without the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. It was four days after that awful morning in the have you had yo game store. Amber belkins funeral was huge, as if in death she had been adopted by the Community Around her. Over 600 people. And the ones that couldnt get into the chapel waited in the lobby and the parking lot. Is that a comfort . A very big comfort that she touched that many lives. They loved amber. They said, we loved amber. They did. As ambers parents watched, they could not stop seeing in their heads another scene, the one in the back room of the have you had yo game store, the way she was killed. They told me it was personal. She had to be so frightened. And when she tried to pick up the phone, i know it was to call us. And he yanked the phone out of the wall. Was it brandon biel . By the day of the funeral, they were sure. We definitely thought brandon did it. Everything pointed to him. And then as mourners filed by to pay their respects, suddenly there he was at the funeral in front of them. Brandon biel. Did you think, my god, her killer has come to the funeral . Oh, he came and shook my hand and i got up and my knees just felt weak and i just fell. Then, said ambers mother, she was sure she saw brandon walk right up to the casket and put something into it. He put one of the gamestop tag holders that had their id on it. He put one of those in her casket. And i got that thing out of there as fast as i could and put it in a tissue and put it in my purse because i thought thats the last thing i want buried with my daughter. Was that id potential evidence, she wondered . Was brandon trying to bury evidence with ambers body. So, mamas automatly thinking brandon did it. Its got to be brandon. A week after the murder, detective roberts questioned brandon on video tape. Im going back over everybody we talked to, trying to figure this thing out. Brandon repeated the story he had been telling from the start. He was nowhere near the store that morning. Got up, let my dog out, watched sportscenter. Then at 9 45 i left to go help my fiances parents move a big island that goes in the kitchen. He didnt get to the store, he said, until after 2 00 p. M. For afternoon shift. And when he got there, he insisted it was still closed. So, he panicked. Was he supposed to open this morning . I was putting my stuff in so i checked the computer. He looked around and sees the dvds on the floor, the cashiers drawer open. He sees this all this and thought, hm, so he starts going about to open the door. He thought hm . Yeah, so, you know, hes not looking for amber or not looking for anybody thats supposed to be working. Brandon told detective roberts he had no idea amber was in the store, no idea amber intended to submit a negative work review about him that very day, didnt notice her car in the parking lot, he said, didnt think the obvious mess in the store meant they had been robbed. You saw the disarray. Yeah. If an employee saw disarray a normal person you would think would go in and start looking, somethings up. Somethings wrong here. Yeah. So, they got a search warrant for brandons house and car. Maybe they would find some of the stolen dvds and consoles there. They did not. But there had to be something. For weeks, detectives looked for evidence on brandon biel. Randy and mom called me 24 7. Every day. Two or three times a day. Brandon, brandon, brandon, brandon. Detectives questioned his fiance, her parents. They scoured his phone records. We did everything we could to try to get some kind of evidence on brandon. And there was none there. Yeah. And there was none there because he didnt do it. That alibi about helping his fiances parents checked out. And his phone records revealed he was miles from the store when amber was murdered. Finally, brandon biel was cleared. Did you at some point think im going to be charged with murder . Yes, i did. The memory still fresh. Had nightmares of going to jail. It was hard for me to sleep. That terrible day what time were you supposed to be at work . I would come in at 2 00 and close the store. What did you think when you got there . When i got to the store im thinking, it was all closed up like normal. Like it had never been opened. Like it had never been opened. My whole thought process was i have to get this store open because i think i screwed up. Yeah, i think i screwed up. Why didnt he notice they were robbed . Some stores are messier than others. The person that worked the night before didnt put away the night before. Yeah, that was my thought process. Brandon was 23 then and terrified. Im thinking theyre really trying to put this on this young black man. When they questioned his fiance they was trying to convince her i did it. They would say things to her like, how can you sleep with a murderer . You know he did it. Youre possibly next. What did that do to you . It angered me because theyre trying to convince my fiance to lie on me pretty much. But shes a strong woman, so shes telling me dont worry about it. You know, i know you didnt do it. When they searched his house it seemed like a scene out of a movie, just going through drawers, throwing clothes. They left my house a wreck. Looked in the attic, looked in our garage, in our refrigerator. They went through my car. You know, they were swabbing stuff, these little sticky circle things and they was just swabbing everything, swabbing everything. Even when he was finally cleared, he said no one told him, nor was he told amber had written him up, though he agreed they hadnt always seen eye to eye on some things. And until we spoke with him, he said, he had no idea ambers mother believed she saw him put something in her coffin. Did you put a lanyard in her coffin . That was the most absurd thing i ever heard. That was my first funeral so i didnt even get close to the casket. But brandon is a father now, two kids. He told us he thinks of ambers parents and understands. I couldnt imagine losing one of my children. But if brandon biel didnt kill amber, then who did . Coming up im sitting at the office and the phone rings. A caller reluctant to give up his name but gives up someone elses. Says i know who killed this girl. I know who killed this girl 9. 95 at my age . 9. 95 . No way. 9. 95 . Thats impossible. Hi, im jonathan, a manager here at Colonial Penn Life Insurance company, to tell you it is possible. If youre age 50 to 85, you can get Life Insurance with options starting at just 9. 95 a month. Okay, jonathan, im listening. Tell me more. 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Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. Putting 2020 in the rearview mirror. An oddly empty times square saw the ball drop. The u. S. Surpassed 20 million positive cases of covid. And Mother Nature is welcoming 2021 with a winter storm moving from the midwest to the east coast. Ice will be the main concern on friday along with snow and rain for others. Now back to dateline extra. If brandon biel did not kill his boss amber belkin was very clear, which meant ray bob roberts had a big problem. We had everything going against us. Didnt have dna, didnt have fingerprints, didnt have nothing. He went public then, had to. We held a big News Conference with the parents, mom and dad, pleading for help. We kept saying if you could do this to amber, youve got to stop him because he could do this to your child, to your daughter, to your son, to your mother. Theres no telling what this person can do. Crime stoppers put up a lot of money. Nothing. I was hoping, you know 100 grand reward. 100 grand reward is a lot of money. Nothing. We put fliers up all over san antonio. We wouldnt let her go. But as months went by without a single solid lead, detective roberts sank through frustration and into a kind of despair. This little girl was like my girl. She resembled my daughter, same build, same color of hair. Ambers Favorite Book is if you give a mouse a cookie. I read that to my daughter a million times. You know, you do this for an extended period of time, you try to distance yourself. Sure, you guilty ot it. And the worst mistake you can make is getting too close to it, close to the family, mentally, physically for the detective. If we do that every case youre no good. Youre no good. Youre a burden. And then about seven months africanameric after ambers murder. The phone rings. The caller claims to know something. Whats your name . Just call me joe. Okay, joe. What you got. I know who killed this guy. Okay, who. A guy named giovani. What makes you think this guy did it . Well, he asked me if i wanted to do a robbery with him before. Okay. Fascinating. He says, we used to both work for eb games. You said, well why did he want to do this robbery. Well, theres no cameras. I call eb games. Yeah, both of them did work for eb games. Yeah. So, im thinking, finally got a break. The detective asked joe to come in for a talk. Joe told him that at first he didnt think giovanis request was serious. I just kind of blew it off. You dont think your best friend is actually going to go through with something. After he heard about amber, said joe, it all clicked. Giovani must have killed her. But how much stock could roberts put in this guy, joe, who wouldnt give his full name, and who was this giovani anyway. The detective checked for priors. Wasnt much. Had a record as a juvenile. Got the fingerprints, fingerprints we lifted from the crime scene. There are hardly any legible. And none were a match. Now youre stuck as an investigator. You want to tie the suspect to the scene but theres nothing to tie him. Theres nothing. I have nothing to hit him on. But worth a try. He brought giovani in for an interview. Of course he denies it. Im real comfortable thinking that youre responsible for this crime. Thats crazy, sir. Was it crazy . No way to prove really. And then a couple of days later, detective roberts brought the tip administer, joe, back in and this time joe poured it all out, said giovani told him straight out that he killed someone. I just was in shock when he told me that. I was like, wow. I was scared too because i was in the car thinking, i freaked out, like whats he going to do to me . Now, that was huge if joe was telling the truth. But just one guys accusation, no idea how credible it might be wasnt much to go on. Still, it was all they had, so so, i draft out an arrest warrant and draft out a search warrant, bring it to the magistrate. He reads it, says its about tomb. This was in the news. It was a high profile case. Rich white girl dies at work. People went crazy. It shouldnt have mattered, but people went crazy. They want justice. Yeah. Go get the search warrant signed, get the arrest warrant signed. Its my birthday. Uts the best birthday present ever. But schethen he got a call f his sergeant. He says, ray bob, keep your mouth shut. I want you to do what im telling you to do. I need you to get that arrest warrant quashed. Giovani would not be arrested after all, just not enough evidence. The prosecutor made it clear he didnt want to try him and fail in court. But the detective still had a warrant for giovanis dman, so they went to his house unannounced. He opens the door, said got a warrant for you. I didnt say search warrant, didnt say arrest warrant. He sinks. He turns back to his wife and says im going with him. He was defeated. Put his hands behind his back. Like he was getting ready to be cuffed. Like he was getting ready to be handcuffed. Did you . It was only a search warrant. I grabbed him by his arm and said, come on, lets go and he kind of perked up a little. Perked up a little and got in the car. He thought he was going to go to jail. Thats certainly a tell. Oh yeah. Giovani gave them a dna sample. But afterwards he clammed up. I was disgusted so i had somebody take him home, but i said keep an eye on this guy. Sure enough he got a call. S. W. A. T calls me and says ray bob, hes loading everything up in a car, hes moving. They pulled giovani over, asked him wheres he heading . He was going to texas along the mexicoen border. Nothing ray bob could do about it. And the case went pretty much nowhere after that for many months until there was a woman. She was terrified. And did she have a story to tell . Coming up, a young mother locked in with a killer. He just reached over the glove compartment and he pulled out the gun, and i said, please dont kill me. When everything she knew continues. When everything she knew continues. Late june, almost a year and a half after the murder of amber belkin, detective ray bob roberts roared down the highway to la ray doe. He had just gotten a call from the police there. Giovanis wife wanted to talk. Her name was veronica, and what a story she told. I made a dumb choice. I was really young, and i got pregnant really young. Still in high school. Yeah. She tried to resist him, she said, but he was insistent. And when she was pregnant our family insisted we got married. I listened to everyone except my own feelings. I didnt want to get marry, but i thought maybe that was the best thing for my family. Maybe they know better than i know. Yeah, and i said all right, i guess thats the best thing to do. And once they were married, he demanded sex whenever he wanted it. Whenever he touched me, i would feel sick and tell him to stop. There were times he would get angry and frustrated and then he would force himself on me. And right beside sleeping children in their one small bedroom. And he would use the children as a way to get me to cooperate. Like, if he wanted to, and i would say no, he would be firm about it. Like, you know, youre going to do this. The kids are asleep right now. If you make any noise or wake them up, im not going to stop. Theyre going to see everything. He would duct tape me, duct tape my mouth, duct tape, you know, my wrists to the leg of a chair and just to keep me quiet. I was very afraid and again i was young. Much too afraid to tell. And while detectives searched for more clues in ambers death in late january 2007 as she watched tv, she saw the news of ambers murder. And i said look at this, wow, isnt that crazy. And he just looked and he said wow, thats he mirrored my reaction to it. Wow, thats wow, i cant believe it. He walked by to the bedroom. In shock. Like he was shocked. I never thought for one second he just acted normal that whole time. That is until after the police knocked at their door in the fall of 2007 after joe reported giovani, after detective roberts got that search warrant for giovanis dna. We were asleep and it was early in the morning. And then we hear a pounding at the door, a boom, boom, boom, like just and, you know, that we woke us up. He got up first and he went to check. And then he returned and told her, its the police. They think i killed someone. I was like did you . Whats it like to hear that . I was shocked and mortified. And he says, its because i did kill someone. What . And thats all he said. He said, i killed someone. Who . Why . Im assuming maybe he had an altercation with someone, maybe a friend or some guy down the street. I dont know. But giovani only said were going to move to lor ray doe, lets just go. That very day . The very next day. Unprepared. It was fast. Veronica was beside herself, paralyzed by fear . What do i do . And i just stayed quiet and i was so afraid to say something. And then one night she worked up the courage to ask him a question. I said, did this have anything to do with what i saw on the news that day. He said, yes, i did that. That was me. What was that like to hear . I just started crying and sobbing, like oh my god. How, why . Why . Why did you do that . He said, we we needed we needed the money. Suddenly the responsibility for this terrible act has shifted somehow, right . Hes told you. Now what are you going to do . I didnt know what to do. I was desperate. I was desperate to get out. She begged him, turn yourself in. Instead, he went to his mother. She would cry to him, like no, please dont go. You dont want to leave your children. Theyre never going to see you again. And im crying like, why, like inside im trying to do it as peacefully as i can without making him angry toward me. And then around dinner time one evening, veronica finally told him shed had enough. The marriage was over. Then he said, you know what, lets go for a drive. Lets go get the kids something to eat. Instead, he drove her to a secluded area. I was just jerked all around. No one inside. Thats when he pushed the auto the lock. The car lock. The car lock and he locked all the doors. Thats when i was like, okay, like, somethings going to happen tonight. Somethings going to happen. Because we were in the middle of nowhere. I knew he was going to kill me then. I was like am i going to get out of this . And i look over and he just reached over the glove compartment and he pulled out the gun. And i said, please dont kill me. He said, dont worry, just do what i say. Get into the backseat, he ordered. He followed her. And then he raped me back there and i started crying. I just started praying. God, please. I wanted to get out of there alive. But it wasnt veronica who would die. It was giovani. He pulled her out of the car. Take the gun, he said. Shoot me. I said, i cant do that. Hes like, yes, youre going to do it because if you dont do it, im going to come after you and im going to come after the children. Im going to come after your family. And whoever you end up with, im going come after him too. So, you need to end my life tonight. I cant do this, i cant kill you. I cannot be like you. I cant do this. She tried to reason with him, she said, told him if she killed him and went to prison, their children would have no parents. I just said anything i could say just to get him out of this mentality. And it worked. He drove home, told her what she had to do. He had me lay down next to him. He made sure i was right there. I was awake the whole night because i was afraid he would do something while i was asleep or to the children or do something crazy. The next morning he said, im just going to disappear. He drove veronica and the kids to her mothers house and he took off. What did it feel like to walk away from him . Like im almost there. Its almost over. And i run in in and i said, i need to make a phone call. I need to tell the police what happened. And she did. I started telling them everything. I was like, my names veronica. Im his wife. This is what i know. He said he was going to disappear. That must have been quite a phone call. It was. They asked me, why did you take so long . I said, i was just so afraid, but im here now and im telling you everything i know, everything that he told me. But now he was truly gone. Coming up, the man hunt goes into overdrive and stretches along the border. Were in a jail, a cold stinky, loud jail. Confronting a killer, healing a wound. They were grateful that i said something, that i did the right thing. When everything she knew continues. When everything she knew continues. The day veronica called the police was the beginning of the end for giovani rivera. Im drafting the arrest warrant. Were going to get him. Not that easy. All they knew was he had gone somewhere, probably mexico. But it was a full six weeks before they tracked him down, surprised him at a relatives house, sure enough, in mexico, as he played one of the video games he stole from ambers store. Detective roberts finally got his suspect exactly where he wanted him. Were in a jail, a cold, stinky, loud jail. Im detective roberts. All this background noise, we read giovani his rights. You have the right to remain silent. And he starts talk k. I wanted to turn myself in. I was putting the needs of others before me. Wait, put the needs of others before me . Really . He says this past christmas, i need money, eb games, the one on san pedro because theres no v video. He drives there, he tells me i have tape and a knife. Whats the tape for . Tie them up. He claimed he didnt know it was tiny amber belkin running the store that day. In my heart, i think he knew. After all, giovani had worked for the company, knew who managed the store and knew amber. If he was going to pick somebody to rob, why wouldnt he pick a 52 100 pound young woman. Instead of brandon whos big and tough. He knew. When he got there, said giovani. She recognized me and i when i was in there, i asked for the money. I tried explaining to her, look, im having some problems, and she she said just take the money. But then, he claims he reached for the phone, so he took her down, taped her wrists with duct tape, like he had often done to his wife. Thats when she panicked and wanted to scream and i covered her mouth and said please dont scream. Dont scream like that. And then im saying i cant lose everything that i gained, my family. Ive already hit the point of no return. And i just grabbed a bag and i just choke her. Just be quiet, just be quiet. He put a bag around her head, he said. He squeezed her tight around her neck. He held it there. I heard her gurgling. I didnt hear her screaming. I turned around and i untied her. I said are you okay, and she wasnt breathing. I heard her gasp but she didnt respond anymore. Thats when i left. I already had the money and i pecked the stuff ipd to pick up so i could sell and i left out the back door. Giovanis story would not be tested in court. He took a plea deal, murder, but life in prison with parole possible beginning in the year 2038. At the sentencing, the belkins finally confronted the killing of their only child, their darling daughter. Is it helpful to do that . It is, it is. No. Not for you . He sat back on the constables desk tapping his foot, just looking around like youre wasting my time. It would have been beneficial if i had heard him say, i am really sorry. I am so sorry, mr. And mrs. Belkin. You know, amber didnt deserve to die, im so sorry. What did he say . Nothing. But the belkin did say get an apology from somebody else, giovanis now exwife veronica. Hi. They met for the very first time when we shot this story. Ive blamed myself for not saying something sooner, for waiting too long. And i always felt like they had maybe some anger towards me. But blame her . No. They knew she was a victim too. In fact, giovani pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting veronica. They werent resentful at all . They were really nice. That was a weight off my shoulders. They were grateful that i said something, that i did the right thing. And that was nice to hear them say that to me, knowing that they didnt feel that way at all. And i can go back home not feeling, you know, like a terrible person. Keep putting more and more of these things behind you now. Yes, little by little. We dont have any ill feelings at all. Shes a wonderful girl. I was very happy for her that she has a new life and a safe life. And we told her if she ever needed anything from us or to talk or anything, just call us up. They are, they told us, broken still and always will be. And they cling now to ambers best friends ashley and monica. Our daughters, our adopted daughters, ambers friends through thick and thin. They call us on fathers day, mothers day. And send me flowers. But we know that theyve had children. So, in a way, you know, weve got grandchildren. They have each named daughters after amber. And they hang on to memories like gold. Its like you have to put it in a box and then just keep it there for safekeeping because thats what you have. Thats what you hold on to. It hurts. It hurts. Life will never be what it was with her. Its shocking. You just kind of go into crisis mode. I dont think they knew exactly what hadne happened other than was covered in blood. She was just broken and lost. There is a murderer out there, and its terrifying. It was supposed to be an anniversary celebration, 32 years together. They were in love, even after all those years. They were very happy together. We suddenly, an intimate moment turned into infinite terror