Prosecutor Bobby Grace News Today

John creech was on the phone a lot. >> he was calling multiple people very intensely. >> so like three or four or five calls to the same person over and over. >> exactly. >> reporter: some of those calls were to creechs buddies from the powerhouse gym. >> we did a multi-location search warrant, and we hit everybody that we believed might have helped on that evening. we hit all those houses all at once. >> reporter: one by one, those buddies turned. they told detectives how a frantic creech showe...

Passenger seat. >> it looked like a body. it was just stiff, like a stick, you know, a long stick. >> and you said it was wrapped up? >> wrapped up in a blanket. >> reporter: eventually jorge got rid of gavins cell phone, but that very night, said the prosecutor, creech called a friend from the powerhouse gym, stan mcquay. >> he asked if he can come over and if he can park his car in my garage. >> was the body still in it at that point? >> yes. >> reporter: mcquay allows creech to keep the body ...

>> im just thinking how in the [ bleep ] that i get in this situation. you know, i was scared for my life. >> reporter: and then gavin then got out of the mercedes, said creech. and there was something in his hand. >> it was like a ten to twelve-inch stainless steel thing that at the time i thought was a knife. we fell in the ground, and we went at it for about ten or fifteen seconds exchanging punches. >> at some point did you get that weapon? >> i kept punching him until he let go of it. >> ok...

Its a serious business, covering for a crime that awful. but chandy had a card to play. she agreed to testify. >> members and alternate members of the jury. >> reporter: and in june 2017, john creech went on trial. on the face of it, it looked like a solid case. the phone evidence, the coverup, the truly appalling crime scene in gavins car. but did it add up to first degree murder? gavin smith had been dead five years. >> he was killed in his mercedes-benz in an act of almost stunning brutality....

>> john had gavin pinned down. >> reporter: later, she said, creech wanted her to drive him back to the crime scene, help him take gavin to the hospital. a block and a half away, she refused to go closer and dropped creech off. >> why didnt you take him all the way back to the scene? >> because i was afraid of what i would see. >> reporter: gavin was dead by then. and the prosecutor told the jury creech wasnt going to any hospital. he was setting out to recruit help for his cover-up. >> so the f...

Hospital. he was setting out to recruit help for his cover-up. so first person he calls is jorge. >> he was the first of a series of friend who told an incredible tale. >> did you ask any of these people at central question, what were you thinking? >> they all ultimately said that they were trying to help johnny. >> because hes such a nice man. >> because he was a nice guy. >> nice? when creech showed up at jorges house that night, he was driving gavins black mercedes and jorge saw something in ...

Sf >> yes. he allows him to keep the body and car at his house for five to six days. >> really? >> yes. >> thats when creech turned to reina lyn, the in urs who lived with him and took care of chandys grandmother. creech got her to rent a van. >> and then he uses the van to drive up to the national forest and he finds a secluded area to bury gavin smiths body. >> where buddy the dog later found it. but the mercedes benz was still in stans garage. >> and did that upset you? >> very much so. >> so...

>> he was calling multiple people, very intensely. >> so three, four, five calls to the same person over and over again? >> exactly. >> some of the calls were to creechs buddies from the power house gym. >> we did a multilocation search warrant and we hit everybody that we believed that might have helped on thatening auto. we hit all the houses all at once. >> one by one those buddies turned. they told detectives how a frantic creech showed up that night, how he persuaded one friend to get rid o...

You know, i was scared for my life. >> then gavin got out of the mercedes, said creech, and there was something in his hand. >> it was a ten to 12 inch stainless steel thing that i thought was a knife. >> we fell on the ground and went at it 10 to 15 seconds. >> at some point did you get that weapon? >> i kept punching him until he let go of it. >> what did do you with it? >> i threw it over the back wall of my property. >> such a weapon was not recovered, by the way, creech insisted there was, ...

But did it add up to first-degree murder? gavin smith had been dead five years. >> he was killed in his mercedes benz in an act of almost stunning brutality by the defendant john creech who is sitting in the courtroom. this game gavin sminls tomb. >> but what happened wasnt merely an outburst of rage, said prosecutor bobby grace. no, he said, creech had been plotting for two years ever since he found out about chandy and gavin. after that day back in december 2010 when at their mothers request, ...