Page 18 - John Creech News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> powerhouse gym was very gossipy. so if you told the wrong person something, your secret would be all over the gym. >> reporter: lauren, just 18 years old back then, asked us not to use her last name. not after she found herself in the middle of a homicide investigation when police came across her while doing surveillance on john creech. lauren used to work at the pro shop of the powerhouse gym in chatsworth, california. and that's where she first met creech. >> he was beautiful. he was tall, and he was muscular. and a lot of women especially wanted to date him, a lot of men wanted to be him...

Murder of gavin smith. >> reporter: not guilty of first-degree murder! but the jury wasn't done. >> guilty of the crime of y voluntary manslaughter. >> reporter: the verdict, guilty of voluntary manslaughter.te in other words, they believed john creech killed gavin smith in a moment of blind passion. >> i was devastated by the verdict. i am still devastated by the verdict because he did absolutely plan on murdering my husband and thought about it for years and did it. >> reporter: what about creech's friends jorge and stan, who te helped creech cover up the killing?ec >> they both had signific...

Dating a high school girl. in fact, sheer coincidence, lauren went to high school with gavin smith's sons. so she knew when he disappeared in may 2012 but made no connection between that and something she noticed about her boyfriend john creech. >> i discovered he had scrapes on his hands and on his arms. >> she didn't think he had anything to do with the disappearance. >> reporter: but when detective o'brien heard about creech's scrapes, he immediately thought of gavin smith's wounds. he needed to talk to john creech again, and he found him in jail serving eight years on a cocaine charge. his...

Welcome back. nearly three years after gavin smith's disappearance, john creech was charged with his murder. police believe john carried out the rage-fueled killing as revenge for gavin's affair with john's wife chandy. several of john's associates admitted they helped john hide evidence. but investigators did not think they had the whole story just yet. and there was one person who could give it to them directly. so they figured out a way to get it. once again, here's keith morrison. >> reporter: detectives john o'brien and ty labbe had a problem. an important witness who wouldn't talk. chand...

In stan's garage. >> and did that upset you? >> very much so. >> reporter: so weeks later, two men arrived with a trailer. >> and did you watch them take the mercedes out of your garage? >> yes, i did. >> reporter: that, said prosecutor grace, is when they moved the mercedes into reina's storage locker. where, months later, detective labbe noticed one crucial little detail that survived the attempted cover-up. >> i was looking at the license plate, and i see that it's not there. there should be a california license plate. it's not -- >> you'd kinda think. >> it's gone. and i also see that ther...