Page 2 - David 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...

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...

And then the second time she saw the vehicle there, it was backed up to the front door. and the two guys got out, opened the tailgate, and we were walking back and forth inside the front door. >> wow. >> how important was that in the -- >> extremely important. she -- she identified david mcmannis as being at the house with barr. she identified him there at a time when the pickup truck was backed up to the front door. what other reason was that pickup truck backed up the front door other than to ...

Breaking that small palm tree in the process. >> it was almost like they had a mission, that they had a plan. and one went straight to the tailgate and put the tailgate down out the truck and the other went straight to the front door. >> all business? >> all business. >> reporter: that, said the prosecutor, is when they cleaned up and took taras body in a bed sheet, loaded it into the truck, and waited for dark when one or both of them dumped her body in the woods. but to tell that story took tw...

>> extremely important. she -- she identified david mcmannis as being at the house with barr. she identified him there at a time when the pickup truck was backed up to the front door. what other reason was that pickup truck backed up the front door other than to take tara out of that house? >> reporter: we went out to the house to get a better idea of where this woman was sitting and what she could have seen. >> so, shes sitting right here. >> wow. so thats one, two, three, four, five, six, seve...

To cover it up. >> reporter: the only thing that dave mcmannis was guilty of, said bross, was being a sarcastic guy. >> the majority of the statements that were made were sarcasm, at best. so if hes guilty -- >> its a claim. yeah. and thats kind of an easy out for saying terrible things, isnt it? >> well, it was inappropriate statements, if said at all. david is known to be a jokester and sarcastic. even during the course of the trial, he would say things that were sarcastic. >> reporter: the tr...

And she overheard david mcmannis respond, "she had to die." >> reporter: not very believable, said the defense attorneys. just people making things up, said barrs lawyer >> we contended that those conversations never took place. snitches.er: some of those >> i never met a confidential informant thats gonna inform just cause he wants to be a nice guy or a good citizen. theres always something in it for him. >> reporter: that woman, the star witness found by the cold case team, who said she saw th...

>> phillip barr was saying to david mcmannis, "i didnt want to kill her." and she overheard david mcmannis respond, "she had to die." >> reporter: not very believable, said the defense attorneys. just people making things up, said barrs lawyer, mark de sisto. >> we contended that those conversations never took place. >> reporter: some of those witnesses were inmates, too, snitches. >> i never met a confidential informant thats gonna inform just cause he wants to be a nice guy or a good citizen. ...