Page 219 - Bryan News Today

It was dusk that monday in montana after the weekend murder of dr. bryan rein when investigators drove out to a farm 11 miles east of geraldine. here agent ken thompson and the local undersheriff intended to confront 23-year-old tom jaraczeski, the young man whod lost in love and didnt take it well. when you arrived, what was his demeanor? >> oh, i think his demeanor was to be helpful. he was welcoming, very polite. >> when my mom told me about bryan, one of the first things i thought of, oh, ev...

>> he was actively pursuing her, aggressively pursuing her for her to change her mind to end that relationship with bryan and come back and start over. it was just a continual spiral, the things that he was doing, the more obsessed he got with her. >> reporter: it was, by his own admission, pathetic. like when he drove an atv over and hid outside anns family farmhouse just hoping for a glimpse of her. and then was chased off by anns brothers. >> i just apologized to them and i said, im so stupid...

Sour the joy of a sunrise on the montana prairie. alter the look on a neighbors face down at the local store. after prosecutors decided to dismiss murder charges against him, tom felt like he just couldnt live here anymore. >> i couldnt stay in montana. i needed to move away. and i decided to move to south dakota. >> reporter: so you set up a new life there? >> i did. i got married. had a couple kids. life was good. >> reporter: and truly, you thought it was over? >> i really did. i never though...

The other one was found on bryans left foot. and then investigator thompson saw the blood drops out on the doorstep. >> we knew that thats where the shooting had occurred. blood had dropped straight down and so it was just outside the trailer. >> reporter: did you find some bullets around there? >> they found two bullets lodged in the kitchen cupboard. so the two shots that went through the arm, went through the arm and through that wall and came out into kitchen cabinets on the other side. >> r...

A harrowing thing happened to bryan reins sisters at the murder trial of tom jaraczeski. they re-felt all the searing anger, loss and grief theyd tried to put behind them. >> i can distinctly remember sitting there almost feeling, great, were going to have to relive this all over again. >> reporter: like attending a nightmare version of his funeral. >> but at this funeral were not saying anything nice about him. >> reporter: why would that be? because the sisters knew defense attorney bob peters...

She didnt say anything again and i said, you tramp. because i knew right then she must have cheated on me. >> reporter: tom did not deny that he behaved badly then. he freely admitted that he phoned anns family and her friends. he even called some of bryans former girlfriends. what did that say to you, that behavior? >> he was literally doing his own investigation on bryan. he was calling anns friends trying to get all the dirt he could on bryan so that he could turn around and -- >> reporter: g...

Was in a sarcastic way. but it was like, here im thinking, i cant believe i met the man of my dreams. watch, hell probably get killed in a car wreck. >> reporter: just thinking all the negative possibilities? >> yeah, like here something wonderfuls happened. something awfuls going to happen. >> reporter: and that actually it turned out to be kind of a prophecy, didnt it? >> yeah. >> reporter: it plays back like a bad dream now how she told bryan what tom had been doing and then discovered it was...

Bryans place. >> he was only telling us things that we could confirm. >> and it wasnt long before -- >> i was leaving my apartment to go to work. some guy was standing behind the stairs. he said tom? and i turned around and they put the handcuffs on me. >> what was that like? >> shocking. i couldnt grasp that it was actually happening. >> reporter: tom jaraczeski rode in that police car to ft. benton where they booked him into the county jail and charged him with deliberate homicide. what was it...

Only person with the motive to take bryan rein out of this world. and he did it. and he committed this crime, masterfully. >> reporter: the defense, in its closing, took a swipe at ken thompson, the agent who for two decades wouldnt let the case go. >> we dont convict people because the lead investigator is retiring and wants this case resolved just so we can close the book. >> reporter: the jury went out first thing in the morning the next day. they did not return as quickly as one side, at lea...

Me, it never would have happened. >> reporter: because, of course, she broke up with him. >> its just unbelievable. >> reporter: and here he is, tom jaraczeski. anns ex. otherwise known as the prime suspect. >> it seems like a bad dream that i couldnt wake up from. >> reporter: how did you find out that he was killed? >> from my mom. she just said that shed gotten a phone call that the veterinarian in geraldine had been killed. >> reporter: and of course, tom knew perfectly well who his mother w...