Crying Clown News Today

Had been fuelled by an estimated 325 jello shots that were on board that bus. heather and joel were suddenly in the midst of people in halloween costumes. as the security video shows there was a clown with a bright rainbow colored hair, there was a cowboy, a hunter, a lion, a gangsta and a woman who went as paris hilton. joel in his green hockey jersey was enjoying a rare cigar and playing blackjack next to a man dressed as a penguin. >> how was the night going? >> it was fine. at one point he h...

Weve ever had because of alcohol involved, large crowds, people in costumes. >> the night of joels murder police interviewed about 80 people still left at the broken drum, and heres what they heard. the party bus went downtown after it left the broken drum and police heard descriptions of some costumed people last seen near either joel or that bus, a clown, a cowboy, a penguin, a gangster and a construction worker. and while searching for people in costumes sounds almost comical, it actually hel...

Difficult the night of the murder to come back to police headquarters the following day. they did, and this time sang a different tune, one that seemed to get them all off the hook. they told cops they didnt see joel loveliens murder, but told of a fight outside the broken drum earlier that evening between one of their pals dressed as a hunter and a guy in an odd costume with a yellow sweat shirt who had also been on the bus. because of that fight, they told the guy in the yellow outfit he could...

Real-life game of clue. the round up of those possible suspects begins, the penguin, the cowboy and the clown, when "dateline" continues. nues antioxidants and real superfoods new protein shake new snack break new emergen-c protein fuel & superfoods emerge & see. could you email me the part great about geicon, tim. making it easy to switch and save hundreds? oh yeah, sure. um. you dont know my name, do you? (laughs nervously) of course i know your name. i just get you mixed up with the other guy...

Thought it was a bird foot and it had blood on it. >> it could be the penguin. >> yes. at that point we didnt know how the foot played into it or not. >> was it webbed? >> you know, i guess i dont recall if it was webbed or not. >> but the thinking was this came from if not the actual person who had done the beating, at least somebody who was there during the fight. >> yes, absolutely that was the thinking. >> police swarmed downtown ground forks, and at another bar they found one of the costume...

Was not cooperative. >> what is the big deal. i heard theres a fight. >> listen to me. ill tell you what the big deal is, someones dead because of this fight. your name specifically has come up as being [ bleep ]. now, thats what i think -- >> the clown told police he had nothing to do with any murder and was crying because of a domestic argument. >> that night he explained to us that, you know, he had had a bad argument with his girlfriend. thats not real clear and convincing to us. >> police s...

But the defense countered that the broken drum security tape proved just the opposite. on that same tape was something important that police and prosecutors apparently missed, the clown. everyone agrees the clown was on the bus when it left, but here he is still in the bar after joel leaves, which means as long as the clown was in the bar the bus was still in the parking lot. >> you can see joel leave the bar? >> absolutely. >> and you can see the clown leave the bar? >> no doubt. >> three-and-a...

>> the bus was there at the time. had to have been. the bus was there longer than the prosecution was saying. >> reporter: jurors were also troubled by the clown. remember, he was found crying soon after joel was murdered. >> and that just struck me as completely odd. out of character for a young guy on a halloween night. >> they were also concerned by what the clown told police that evening. >> it was pretty important that he would say things got out of hand. >> yes. >> and they questioned why ...

>> travis stay was -- >> the defense team tried to prove that. they conducted a withering cross-examination of the man who was wearing the cowboy costume that night. the cowboy admitted he had lied to police the night of the murder about not witnessing the fight between travis and the man in the hunters costume. the defense wanted the know what else he might be lying about. >> what is it that we can look for that will help us determine when youre telling the truth? >> i dont know. >> well, if yo...