Page 14 - Michael Beard News Today

Right off the bat as we need to go talk to michael beard again. >> he denied any type of involvement. he even denied receiving the phone call. they never talked. >> did that seem odd? >> it did can seem odd. he denied having any type of conversation. he said he didnt even remember receiving it and he wouldnt have answered a call that wasnt -- that he didnt know the number. >> and when investigators looked at beards phone, there was no sign of a call from linda millers cell. >> it had been erased...

>> id never been in such a 2015, that was a first. >> how long has she been down. >> i dont know, i dont know. tense, anxious atmosphere. i just got home. the courtroom was typically tense throughout the entire >> we received a dispatch from trial, but as far as anxiety was our 911 center, unknown possible medical situation. concerned, i had never been in a i responded. room that was filled with so much anxiety. to be honest with you, in route i felt there w >> why? >> reporter: the only one who...

>> more than a little suspicious, the millers kept digging. they went online to check lindas phone records and there it was, the number tom dialed about an hour before the murder, a number they didnt recognize. investigator donnie lewis took it from there. >> so what i did was i got the number and put it into actually facebook on my phone, and as soon as i put that number in the profile that pops up is michael beard. >> michael beard, the ex employee who had been some cooperative with investigat...

Courtroom, the reporter noticed >> from what i could see, the attack started in the main bedroom, went out into the a change in tom clayton. hallway. >> that was really the first looks like a fight ensued. there were pictures knocked off the door and there was a time that i saw in his face that landing. you got the sense that this guy finally knew that oh, god, i could go to prison for life. the stairs go straight down and depending on what theyre about theres a left-turn landing and to say. >> ...

Not-so-promising michael beard tip, sheriffs investigators had tom at the station. detective donnie lewis said they still had questions. >> for the most part it looks pretty good for tom. >> correct. >> this alibi is pretty strong? >> absolutely. the witnesses that see him at the poker game, we know where he was all night. >> thats not the end of the story though? >> that is not the end of the story. >> not the end of the story because there was something investigators just couldnt get around, t...

>> while investigator lambert was speaking with beard, he was interrupted by a colleague who had been grilling beards wife. she mentioned a dramatic piece of information, something about a big payment beard was expecting to get from tom, $10,000. the investigators confronted beard. >> at that point he was just defeated. i had looked at him and said $10,000, is that why you killed kelley, and he looked at me and said, yes. >> this was your big moment. >> that was -- that was the win. >> michael b...

The 28th, 29th, so it wasnt long at all. >> was it possible that beard was angry about losing his job and that kelleys murder was some kind of revenge? molly went through her cellphone and her facebook contacts and gave investigators beards address. >> i gave that to them and they were just like, okay, thank you. >> the steuben county sheriffs office needed all hands on deck and called in the new york state police for the assistance. >> i was contacted by investigators the day of the homicide. >...

A number they didnt recognize. investigator donnie lewis took it from there. >> so what i did was i got the number and put it into actually facebook on my phone, and as soon as i put that number in the profile that pops up is michael beard. >> michael beard, the ex employee who had been some cooperative with investigators. suddenly he didnt seem so innocent. now police had to reconsider their theory of the crime. maybe it wasnt tom who had beaten kelley to death. maybe their daughters descriptio...

And that therefore led to an incomplete vision. >> and in fact, investigators never found evidence nad tom paid beard for a hit. >> as far as tom clayton, there was no conversation over heard. there was no money exchanging hands. you couldnt even use the confession from mike beard. so there were a lot of things you didnt have. >> right, but if you look at thomas claytons conduct, he never mentioned michael beard. everybody says michael beard should be an immediate suspect. he never mentioned mic...

Of information, something about a big payment beard was expecting to get from tom, $10,000. the investigators confronted beard. >> at that point he was just defeated. i had looked at him and said $10,000, is that why you killed kelley, and he looked at me and said, yes. >> this was your big moment. >> that was -- that was the win. >> michael beard was arrested for murder, and tom, already in custody, was now accused of orchestrating the crime. but toms newly-hired defense attorney wasnt having i...