Page 2 - Dave Mcmannis News Today

Afternoon. She vanished. We just said, oh my god, isnt the one of her earrings. Earrings on the carpet, tire traction on the lawn. There was evidence of a violent struggle. What has happened and who was behind it . Everything was mystery. Was she still alive . You know, was she not . It tore us apart. For years they demanded answers. A struggle each day. Then came the cold case squad with a new bag of tricks. I always felt that this was a case that could be solved. They wanted justice just as ba...

Ribbons on the ground. Tire tracks on the lawn. There was evidence of a violent struggle. What had happened . And who was behind it . Everything was a mystery. Was she still alive . You know . Was she not . It tore us apart. For years, they demanded answers, a struggle each day. Then came the cold case squad with a new bag of tricks. I always felt that this was a case that could be solved. They wanted justice just as bad as we did. As a mother, she fought and fought and fought. We just never gav...

The trials began. dan feinberg was joined by a co-prosecutor named jennifer garczewski, 14 years -- almost to the day -- since taras life ended. >> shes only a year younger than me. so when i think back to where i was in 2001, i was just finishing college and obviously that was a goal of hers. so i did feel a connection to her, thinking about her and where she wouldve been at my age now. >> and the defendants now on trial? phil barr owned a septic tank repair business, dave mcmannis was his help...

>> thats how detailed we were getting. >> but then they just happened to run into a guy who said he knew barr and mcmannis and peewee. >> and he overheard them talking about killing this girl. he heard david mcmannis say, "we shouldnt have done that girl that way. if i dont get out of town, im gonna spend the rest of my life in jail. " phillip barr said something similar because peewee is talking about, "well, ive only seen a body. its not against the law to see -- see a body. " and barr tells h...

Review to determine if we could prosecute this case was the most id ever seen. >> the idea worked. the grand jury indicted both phil barr and dave mcmannis for taras murder. they were arrested in late 2012, 11 years after tara vanished from her home. dave mcmannis was arrested in maryland, where he grew up, while u. s. marshals mounted a manhunt for phil barr. >> kinda lost track of him. we were actually then able to -- to locate phil in the vermont area, very close to the canadian border, where...

Obviously that was a goal of hers. so i did feel a connection to her, thinking about her and where she wouldve been at my age now. >> and the defendants now on trial? phil barr owned a septic tank repair business, dave mcmannis was his helper the day tara disappeared. the detectives had learned that barr used his business as a cover for stealing from the homes of unsuspecting customers. and heres what happened, said the state, that first of october, 2001: taras landlord asked barr for a repair e...

Believe this over so much of a time to make sure the bad guy goes away? >> dave mcmanniss attorney, michael bross, said his view those detectives focused on the wrong man. said phil barrs accomplice must have been peewee st. john, the man whod turned in jewelry three days after tara went missing. >> theres enough circumstantial evidence to believe that he was involved if not in the murder, but definitely in the complicity to cover it up. >> the only thing that dave mcmannis was guilty of, said b...

Each peopled by witnesses the jury might not think were very credible. people who supposedly heard barr and mcmanis say things. >> "we raped and killed the girl. " >> "theyre not gonna find her. " >> "im going to kill you like i killed the girl in florida. " "the girl i killed was 20. " >> one witness testified about overhearing a conversation between barr and mcmannis. >> phillip barr was saying to david mcmannis, "i didnt want to kill her. " and she overheard david mcmannis respond, "she had t...

Was found the hair ribbons. >> way out here? >> right out here. >> okay. so suggesting that they put her in the back of the truck and the hair ribbons came loose as they were driving away or putting her there or something? >> that would be a pretty good -- explanation. >> well, well, well. this -- makes it all the more real when you see how close this must have been. >> the woman said she didnt actually see what the men were doing, because the cab of the truck blocked her view. but still, this w...

Case together, connect all of the dots. >> what requests did you make of them? >> we wanted to know more about every piece of evidence, every -- we have to rule out every piece of dna in that house. so it was closing doors, it was excluding other people. >> so, thats what these three did, as a large photo of tara kept watch. but, again, there was no dna to help them. all they had really were lingering suspicions about the workmen who went to taras house the day she vanished. phil barr, the guy w...