one was successful, the other wasn't, which created substantial losses for investors. >> there were a couple of them that had actually lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. it didn't surprise them at all that the victim had met such a violent death, because they felt that his business practices were dubious and unethical. >> with so many potential avenues to explore, investigators focused first on who knew that the shaws had a safe? >> the people that knew about the safe was the safe company, my family, ronnie's family, people at the office, the architect, the construction workers, friends. there was a lot of people that could have known about the safe. >> the general contractor who built the shaws' home fully cooperated with authorities. >> ernest touchet revealed the names of several disgruntled employees that he felt might play a role.
the ski mask implicated ronald benson. the shoe impression outside the shaws' home implicated shannon touchet. but there was no forensic evidence linking reggie basile to the crime. >> as an investigator, that's a little hard to swallow, you know. that's a little hard to leave in the end of the day with, knowing that there's nothing else you can do, and you feel fairly certain of who's responsible for doing it. >> investigators hoped that would change.
floors from various angles and saw two more sets of shoe impressions. criminalists lifted the prints with gelatin strips. >> you roll the gelatin with the black side down on to your questioned shoe impression. and when you peel it off, the adhesive in the gelatin adheres to the dust particles on the floor. >> with some research, investigators identified the prints outside as a pair of size 10 nike air jordans. the perpetrators inside also wore nike shoes. one wore the air medal force model, the other the shocks trainers. when police interviewed the neighbors, several of them said they saw a burgundy-colored car parked a short distance away from the shaws' home. >> the vehicle was occupied by black males. either they observed these black males within the vehicle or standing outside the vehicle,
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i was going to stand outside and wait for them. >> shannon said the motive was robbery. this was how shannon repaid ron shaw for giving him a job at his grandfather's request. >> i was talking about my job, which mr. shaw, he was paying me good. i was telling them about that and how he had money and stuff. we started planning for, like, two weeks before, and then we finally went and did it. >> prosecutors say the three men drove to ron shaw's neighborhood and waited for the shaws to come home. witnesses saw the three men loitering in the area. when the shaws arrived, they were ambushed. ronald benson fired twice. reggie basile fired the third shot.
his gym bag. the murder weapons have never been found, nor the shoes that left the impressions inside the shaws' home. shannon touchet and reggie basile both pled guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated robbery and were sentenced to life in prison. ronald benson chose to go to trial. the jury found him guilty. he got the same sentence. life in prison. >> the forensic efforts on the part of our crime lab were invaluable to the final conclusion in this case. without them, there would have been no conviction for any of the three defendants. >> it was amazing to me the -- about the dna, the shoe prints, all the evidence they can gather from the crime place.
to do with her husband's murder. ron's grown son from his first marriage certainly thought so. >> he had distress for her. he wondered what her motivation was for marrying his father. had she married for money? >> and there were others who had a potential motive. a background check revealed ron had shifted funds from one oil drilling research project to another. one was successful. the other wasn't, which created substantial losses for investors. >> there were a couple of them that had actually lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. it didn't surprise them at all that the victim had met such a violent death, because they felt that his business practices were dubious and unethical. >> with so many potential avenues to explore, investigators focused first on who knew that the shaws had a safe. >> the people that knew about the safe was the safe company, my family, ronnie's family, people at the office, the architect, the construction workers, friends. there was a lot of people that could have known about the safe. >> the general contractor who built the shaws' home fully
>> ron shaw was a successful oil man. he had developed the concept of placing global positioning satellite chips in his drill bits which improved accuracy when drilling for oil. although the shaws were a wealthy couple, police weren't sure the motive was robbery. >> they left jewelry in the safe. they left an additional $5,500 in the safe, gold coins that were valuable. he had $1,133 in his pocket. he had a rolex watch on his arm. and none of these were taken. >> and police found the box of jewelry several hundred yards behind the shaws' home. >> we had considered that the motive may have been a murder-for-hire, as opposed to a robbery. >> the question was, who wanted ron shaw dead?
investigators lit the hardwood floors from various angles and saw two more sets of shoe impressions. criminalists lifted the prints with gelatin strips. >> you roll the gelatin with the black side down on to your questioned shoe impression. and when you peel it off, the adhesive in the gelatin adheres to the dust particles on the floor. >> with some research, investigators identified the prints outside as a pair of size 10 nike air jordans. the perpetrators inside also wore nike shoes. one wore the air medal force model, the other the shocks trainers. when police interviewed the neighbors, several of them said they saw a burgundy-colored car parked a short distance away from the shaws' home. >> the vehicle was occupied by black males.
benson. the shoe impression outside the shaws' home implicated shannon touchet. but there was no forensic evidence linking reggie basile to the crime. >> as an investigator, that's a little hard to swallow, you know. that's a little hard to leave in the end of the day with, knowing that there's nothing else you can do, and you feel fairly certain of who's responsible for doing it. >> investigators hoped that would change. [ male announcer ] this is the cat that drank the milk... [ meows ] ...and let in the dog that woke the man who drove to the control room [ woman ] driverless mode engaged. find parking space. [ woman ] parking space found. [ male announcer ] ...that secured the data that directed the turbines that powered the farm that made the milk that went to the store that reminded the man to buy the milk that was poured by the girl who loved the cat. [ meows ] the internet of everything is changing everything.