Dont kill anybody. My whole world just died right there. For months the murder stayed cold. Didnt have witnesses, didnt have video, didnt have dna. We have everything going against us. We would go down and talk to the detective. We wouldnt let it go. Then a break, another victim. He would duct tape me, duct tape my mouth. And she knew a secret. Could she risk revealing it . Somethings going to happen tonight. A killer ready to run, face to face with the one person who might be able to stop him. He just reached over the glove compartment and he pulled out the gun. And i said, please dont kill me. I wanted to get out of there alive. It was a monday morning in january, 2007, 9 08 a. M. A young woman in san antonio texted her boyfriend. I love you. Thats all it said. I love you. Nothing more. Downtown, the alamo had just opened its doors. A few tourists began boarding little booats to gaze. And several miles away the manager of a Video Game Store began his daily ritual. His name was mariano rivera. The store opens at 10 00, but the managers get there at 9 00 in the morning. Go to the bank. Similar process to the sister store. Same company, not far away. That one managed by the woman who sent the text to her boyfriend except this was strange. As the morning stood by, her store remained closed. Mariano got a call from the district manager. Can you go over there and maybe you can see something, see whats going on . He did. He saw a white car in the parking lot looked like the young womans car. He peered into the store window. Nobody there. I thought, man, this is strange. Where is she . So i kept calling. Her name was amber belkin. Ambitious, very much in charge. She was a fire cracker. Thats the easiest way to put it. Matt pena worked with amber at the Video Game Store. She would let you know what she wanted, but i think she was one of the kindest souls ever that ive ever met. I guess it depended what side you met her on and how much you made her mad. She could be tough . Most certainly. She just expected you to do your job. As long as you did that job, there was never any problems with it. She made sure to surround herself with people that were trying to go somewhere, do something. She loved her job. She did. Monica and ashley for ambers best friends. Was she cut out to be a manager . Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. She was fierce. But she still was friendly. Yeah. She loved all her employees. Yeah. And she loved all of her customers. She was only 25. She was a store manager, so it was a very good sense of shes doing it. Shes making something of her life. She had goals. She had ambitions. She wanted to go back to school. She wanted all of it. Not that she set out to work in a game store. She wanted to be a veterinarian. She was just so loving. We couldnt pass a turtle on the road. She had to turn around and pick it up and take it to her house. We would go to pet shops all the time and buy turtles and fish. Snakes. Snakes. She hliked snacks. She had a snake once. Wow. A white albino python. She would find these random animals on the side of the road, like where did you find that animal . Like her little dog buddy. Ambers parents lee and randy. She actually ran for buddy across the expressway and the hair was all matted up, looked like dreadlocks. And she said, well i cant put it back out on the road, itll get killed. So, i just opened the door and let it in. Amber was their own child. They doted on her from the day she was born and she was good in return. Amber was the type person that would give you the shirt off her back. She helped anybody that needed it. They didnt even have to ask. She was going to make sure that you were protected. But now where was amber . Why was her store not open . Why didnt she answer the phone . Early afternoon, still no sign of amber. So, again, the district manager called mariano. Something is just strange. And sent him back for a second look. So, again, mariano looked in through the big front window. But this time he saw someone. Ambers assistant manager brandon just standing there behind the counter. I knock on the door, so he lets me in. I said, have you seen amber . Hes like, no, he goes, but something is strange. Theres money in the floor. Looks like theres some kind of struggle. Something happened. Things got knocked over. My first thought was, wheres amber. So, he said he didnt know. Of course right away im thinking, what is going on with this guy . He clearly sees theres something wrong. He must have recognized her car. Im thinking thats her car outside. You see it. Sure. You see theres things in the floor, why havent you reacted right away and call someone or check the rest of the store . But he hadnt. So, mariano ran to the back office, the only other room in the store. Not a moment hell ever forget, not for the rest of his life. And when i run to the back, i found out ambers on the floor, face down, and she has a plastic bag wrapped around her head. And instantly i knew what happened. Coming up, one mystery solved. Amber was no longer missing. But a much bigger mystery remained. Most people that rob a store dont kill anybody. They just go in there, do the robbery and leave. Maybe the robbery was just a cover for murder. He had the classic motive. It did kind of seem personal. When everything she knew continues. When everything she knew continues. Investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. The sleep number 360 smart bed. Prices of the season on can it help with snoring . Ive never heard snoring. Exactly. No problem. And done. And now, the queen sleep number 360 c2 smart bed is only 899. Plus, no interest until january 2024. Ends monday. There are some things which once seen can never be unseen. Amb amber bell kin sprawled in death, her head wrapped in a plastic bag. Mario dialled 911. His mind a horrible confusion. He stared at the assistant manager. I was angry. I was upset. Im looking at brandon like i dont understand. How did this happen . I dont want to blame anybody but your first thought is who is around . Who can you look at . Maybe he had something to do with it. Its got to be a shocking thing to discover. Its hard to describe. You have a million emotions running through and you dont know what to make of them. The police took one look and called Raymond Ray Bob roberts, then a detective with the San Antonio Police department. Looks like a robbery gone bad. The store is in disarray. The clerk is found in the back office. Shes dead. Try to get information. Are there any witnesses . No, sir. So, try to get the crime scene, detectives out there. The news, indistinct, unconfirmed spread through the afternoon, somebody dead in ambers store, but most people did not know who, including ambers father. My brother called me and said that there was a robbery and a manager had found someone murdered in the store. And my daughter was a manager. And i started calling ambers phone. You thought she was the manager who discovered the body. I jumped in my truck, and i called a friend of mine who is a defense attorney. And i said i need you to call anybody that you can and see what you can find out. And i was just about there, and he called me, and he said, well how far are you from here . And thats when he realized it wasnt that amber found someone dead. They found her. My knees just buckled and i just my whole world just died right there. Its a pretty dreadful feeling, isnt it . Its the worst feeling in the world because you totally realize no one can fix this. Nobody can bring her back. Not for them. Not for her friends. Then everything just stopped. Disbelief. Disbelief. Your earth shatters. I sat on the curve and cried. Everything around me was just a blur. Inside the store, detective roberts had had a look around. Theres a bunch of dvd games on the ground. Where the Cash Register was right there by the front, the tills open, the drawer is open. Theres change laying around. Theres more dvds on the ground in the back. Like somebody came in, ransacked it. Ransacked the place, took off, yeah. He ran to the back alley. Was this an escape t route. Probably stacked the games up here either had their car here in the alley or had them pashlged here, put the boxes there, picked them up. You wouldnt think robbing a game store would be worth killing somebody in the process. Well, you wouldnt think anybody would rob a game store. Yeah, normally during robberies, its just a robbery. Theres no murder. And this was certainly a robbery, given the mess and the empty safe. We checked the bank. There was no deposit made for that morning. There was 1,900 stolen, three, four big video games, playstations and ps3s and dvd games. All that was taken. The haul totalled just under 6,000. Maybe the store surveillance cameras could tell who took it. Except theres no Surveillance Video in the store. Theres none in the strip center the store was located in. Theres no video. There was video at starbucks next door and it only showed the front door. And thats it. You dont see anything. Who would know that . Who would know it was the video game companys only store in san antonio not equipped with cameras. The answer was obvious, thought the detectives, an employee would know, just like an employee would know amber hadnt taken the cash to the bank yet. Then why he didnt understand why brandon didnt look for amber until mariano arrived. His first thought should have been there might have been a robber. First of all, the robbers might still be in here. And then where is amber. Just what detectives were thinking. They said she had issues with brandon. They never learned to Work Together yet. When you have a guy like that thats not the same type of attitude or mentality the rest of us were, it causes troubles. Did she trust him . You know, i dont know. In some instances with some things, no. Even ambers parents said they knew she was dissatisfied with brandon. Because she had written him up. She had prepared a negative work review. She was going to turn it in that way. Its just his last chance, mom. She said, i cant i cant allow him to continue to make these mistakes. So, motive, opportunity, behavior that didnt seem innocent . I mean, he had the classic motive. He didnt want her to write him up. Yeah. He didnt want to get fired. He didnt want to get fired. This seemed like a personal crime. Could have been. Most people that go to rob a store dont go with the intentions of killing somebody. They go in, do the robbery and leaving. Putting a plastic bag on their head squeezing it tight. Squeezing it tight, takes four or five minutes. Even though shes struggling, shes just not laying there. That takes a while. That takes it does kind of seem personal. They had brandon in the backseat of a patrol car. Detective went to talk to him. He tells me a story, and its just not making any sense. So he had brandon taken downtown and questioned by a colleague known for her special interviewing skills. Shes a real good detective. She has a way of getting things out of people. About an hour later she calls me back to the scene, says, yeah, somethings up with this guy. Coming up, ambers parents were convinced it was brandon. We definitely thought brandon did it. Everything pointed to him. That explained what ambers mom said she saw at the funeral. She put one of the game stop tag holders that had their id on it, he put one of those in her casket. When everything she knew continues. Casket when everything she knew continues. Robinhood believes now is the time to do money. Without the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. It was four days after that awful morning in the have you had yo game store. Amber belkins funeral was huge, as if in death she had been adopted by the Community Around her. Over 600 people. And the ones that couldnt get into the chapel waited in the lobby and the parking lot. Is that a comfort . A very big comfort that she touched that many lives. They loved amber. They said, we loved amber. They did. As ambers parents watched, they could not stop seeing in their heads another scene, the one in the back room of the have you had yo game store, the way she was killed. They told me it was personal. She had to be so frightened. And when she tried to pick up the phone, i know it was to call us. And he yanked the phone out of the wall. Was it brandon biel . By the day of the funeral, they were sure. We definitely thought brandon did it. Everything pointed to him. And then as mourners filed by to pay their respects, suddenly there he was at the funeral in front of them. Brandon biel. Did you think, my god, her killer has come to the funeral . Oh, he came and shook my hand and i got up and my knees just felt weak and i just fell. Then, said ambers mother, she was sure she saw brandon walk right up to the casket and put something into it. He put one of the gamestop tag holders that had their id on it. He put one of those in her casket. And i got that thing out of there as fast as i could and put it in a tissue and put it in my purse because i thought thats the last thing i want buried with my daughter. Was that id potential evidence, she wondered . Was brandon trying to bury evidence with ambers body. So, mamas automatly thinking brandon did it. Its got to be brandon. A week after the murder, detective roberts questioned brandon on video tape. Im going back over everybody we talked to, trying to figure this thing out. Brandon repeated the story he had been telling from the start. He was nowhere near the store that morning. Got up, let my dog out, watched sportscenter. Then at 9 45 i left to go help my fiances parents move a big island that goes in the kitchen. He didnt get to the store, he said, until after 2 00 p. M. For afternoon shift. And when he got there, he insisted it was still closed. So, he panicked. Was he supposed to open this morning . I was putting my stuff in so i checked the computer. He looked around and sees the dvds on the floor, the cashiers drawer open. He sees this all this and thought, hm, so he starts going about to open the door. He thought hm . Yeah, so, you know, hes not looking for amber or not looking for anybody thats supposed to be working. Brandon told detective roberts he had no idea amber was in the store, no idea amber intended to submit a negative work review about him that very day, didnt notice her car in the parking lot, he said, didnt think the obvious mess in the store meant they had been robbed. You saw the disarray. Yeah. If an employee saw disarray a normal person you would think would go in and start looking, somethings up. Somethings wrong here. Yeah. So, they got a search warrant for brandons house and car. Maybe they would find some of the stolen dvds and consoles there. They did not. But there had to be something. For weeks, detectives looked for evidence on brandon biel. Randy and mom called me 24 7. Every day. Two or three times a day. Brandon, brandon, brandon, brandon. Detectives questioned his fiance, her parents. They scoured his phone records. We did everything we could to try to get some kind of evidence on brandon. And there was none there. Yeah. And there was none there because he didnt do it. That alibi about helping his fiances parents checked out. And his phone records revealed he was miles from the store when amber was murdered. Finally, brandon biel was cleared. Did you at some point think im going to be charged with murder . Yes, i did. The memory still fresh. Had nightmares of going to jail. It was hard for me to sleep. That terrible day what time were you supposed to be at work . I would come in at 2 00 and close the store. What did you think when you got there . When i got to the store im thinking, it was all closed up like normal. Like it had never been opened. Like it had never been opened. My whole thought process was i have to get this store open because i think i screwed up. Yeah, i think i screwed up. Why didnt he notice they were robbed . Some stores are messier than others. The person that worked the night before didnt put away the night before. Yeah, that was my thought process. Brandon was 23 then and terrified. Im thinking theyre really trying to put this on this young black man. When they questioned his fiance they was trying to convince her i did it. They would say things to her like, how can you sleep with a murderer . You know he did it. Youre possibly next. What did that do to you . It angered me because theyre trying to convince my fiance to lie on me pretty much. But shes a strong woman, so shes telling me dont worry about it. You know, i know you didnt do it. When they searched his house it seemed like a scene out of a movie, just going through drawers, throwing clothes. They left my house a wreck. Looked in the attic, looked in our garage, in our refrigerator. They went through my car. You know, they were swabbing stuff, these little sticky circle things and they was just swabbing everything, swabbing everything. Even when he was finally cleared, he said no one told him, nor was he told amber had written him up, though he agreed they hadnt always seen eye to eye on some things. And until we spoke with him, he said, he had no idea ambers mother believed she saw him put something in her coffin. Did you put a lanyard in her coffin . That was the most absurd thing i ever heard. That was my first funeral so i didnt even get close to the casket. But brandon is a father now, two kids. He told us he thinks of ambers parents and understands. I couldnt imagine losing one of my children. But if brandon biel didnt kill amber, then who did . Coming up im sitting at the office and the phone rings. A caller reluctant to give up his name but gives up someone elses. Says i know who killed this girl. I know who killed this girl 9. 95 at my age . 9. 95 . No way. 9. 95 . Thats impossible. Hi, im jonathan, a manager here at Colonial PennLife Insurance company, to tell you it is possible. If youre age 50 to 85, you can get Life Insurance with options starting at just 9. 95 a month. Okay, jonathan, im listening. Tell me more. 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