[female narrator] he was a man on a mission
To get his life back.
He was a full-fledged alcoholic.
He said, "I'm ready."
He says, "I'm done with all that".
He loved going to church.
He was like a different person.
He came back here and opened up his own mechanic shop,
And he was a really good father.
[narrator] but his efforts are cut short one September evening
In a peaceful roadside park.
The body was still warm.
When you have a lot of stab wounds,
It's something very personal.
Why was he there?
[narrator] investigators suspect that a complicated love life
Led to bloodshed.
He always had a girlfriend.
Those relationships go south,
People make poor decisions and then bad things happen.
[narrator] ultimately, investigators find one ex-lover
With a wicked plot no one saw coming.
I didn't even know she had a girlfriend, that was new news.
They had to formulate a plan to keep from disrupting
The family that they built.
I never dreamed that they was capable of what they done.
[theme music]
[narrator] a va, missouri, a tiny town of just under 3,000
Nestled in the picturesque ozark mountains.
[chris] it's a very rural and it's a tight-knit community.
It's very common to walk into all the stores
And--and people see ya' and--and speak to ya'.
[narrator] on September 10th, 2010,
A call comes in to the douglas county sheriff's department
Just after 10:30 pm from a roadside park north of town.
[warren] it's a very pretty little roadside park
On highway 5. It's very undeveloped.
It's just a couple of picnic tables and things like that.
There was just, uh, two random people that had driven through
The roadside park.
They had stopped by, uh, to rest.
As they were leaving, they were driving out,
And they observed a body lying in the road.
[narrator] within minutes, deputies arrive
To find a man face down in the road in a pool of blood.
The first thing that was obvious to me was
A-a gunshot wound to his left temple.
The body was still warm when we first arrived.
So, we were quite confident
That he hadn't been laying there very long.
[narrator] deputies question the two people who called 911.
They were searched and there was no firearms,
There was no knives, uh,
That were found in their vehicle or on their person.
We were able to talk to them and, uh,
Find out why they were there.
And we were just essentially able to rule them out.
They were purely witnesses that had driven upon the scene
And called it in out of concern.
[narrator] police check the man's wallet for an id
And run the tags on the pickup truck parked nearby.
Both belong to 43-year-old phillip taylor.
[chris] he lived in an adjoining county.
I contacted the sheriff in wright county and asked him
If he was familiar with him, and he was.
The sheriff was able to come down and confirm, look at him,
And say, "yes, that is phillip taylor."
Without a doubt, he knew him.
[narrator] born in 1966,
Phil taylor was raised in florida.
He grew up close with his brothers and sister,
But there was a hole in phil's life he could never get past.
[melina] oh, his dad passed away when he was really young.
And that really, you know, bothered him a lot,
And he had a lot of trouble with that.
[marvin] his brothers, real close.
And he had a sister too.
You could tell that in the way they--
They was a real good family togetherness there with them.
[narrator] when phil was a teenager,
He developed a love of cars
And a passion for learning how they worked.
He dropped out of high school to pursue his dream
One of his first jobs working at a ford dealership in florida.
The big motor companies would send you through school
As long as you worked for them, see.
And that's where he got a lot of his training.
[narrator] by his mid-twenties, phil was looking for a change.
He left the sunshine and salty air of florida
For the lush, green ozarks.
There, he met marvin elliot.
[marvin] I-I had a shop in norwood, missouri.
We become friends and he went to work for me.
Easy to talk to and just a nice guy.
And I knew he was a good mechanic,
And that's how it started.
[narrator] while in norwood, he found himself drawn to
A down-to-earth single mother and waitress, melina cooley.
I was working at a little place, um,
It's a little restaurant in town,
And he was working at a tire shop behind it.
And he come up there and got food and drinks, whatever,
And that's how we met.
[narrator] in 1994, phil married melina.
He moved in with her and her 3-year-old daughter, ashley.
I was single for a long time, um, single mother,
And he said a lot of the right things.
Kind and I guess just gentleman toward me.
[narrator] about a year later, phil and melina
Welcomed a daughter of their own, shelbie.
He was good with the kids to take 'em fishing,
And he was always coming up with a four-wheeler or a dune buggy
That they would have a lot of fun on.
He was a good guy, um, hardworking,
Cared a lot for us kids.
Um, he would do anything for them.
[narrator] after a couple of years of playing house
With melina and the girls, phil grew restless.
He started spending time with a younger, faster crowd.
While hanging with his new friends,
An attractive young woman caught his eye.
[melina] that's how he met April.
He got mixed up with the wrong crowd,
And they just kept coming around,
Kept wanting him to come out--
Come out and join the party.
And he was a little older than them,
And he got to partying, drinking.
And then, uh, this was the crowd he was hanging around,
And they were all--they were friends with April.
She was really young.
I think he's close to ten years older than her.
[narrator] it was clear to phil that 17-year-old April
Had a crush on him.
But it didn't take long for phil to feel the same,
And their affair began.
She would sit and wait at the convenience stores,
Hoping he would come through town just so she could see him.
She just kept chasing him till she got what she wanted.
She was adamant on getting-- getting him away from me.
We'd try to get back together,
And then she would be coming around.
[warren] April quick was an affair
That he was having on the side.
He even got her a place to live in mansfield,
Basically for his--his side chick.
[narrator] before long, April was more than
Phil's side chick-- he was in love with her.
[melina] I got where I didn't trust him
Because she was always coming around.
And so I just--about a year and half of their relationship,
I was like, that's enough.
I was just like, okay, this is not good for my kids.
So, I eventually filed for a divorce.
[narrator] in 1998, after a year and a half
Of phil being unfaithful,
Phil and melina finalized their divorce.
And phil and April moved to florida on a whim,
Leaving his family behind in missouri.
There, 18-year-old April became pregnant almost immediately.
Phil struggled to transition from party life
Back to family life.
[marvin] he was a full-fledged alcoholic.
I mean, he had to drink all the time.
You know, when you become a alcoholic, your priorities,
Your--are not your family, most of 'em.
They're getting that next drink, see.
[narrator] not long after their first child was born,
April became pregnant again.
But as their family continued to grow,
So did phil's addiction.
And by early 2001, it was worse than ever.
[warren] he began to abuse drugs and alcohol again,
And the relationship really went bad.
[marvin] he, uh, got so bad, he had to do a major surgery.
And it almost killed him.
[warren] eventually, they had both moved back to missouri,
And he had gone into rehab.
When he got out of rehab, they moved into her parents' house,
And she became pregnant with their third child.
But once they moved out of there into another place,
He began to abuse drugs and alcohol again.
Eventually, phillip moved back to florida,
And she stayed in missouri with the kids.
[narrator] after moving back to florida, phil spiraled.
And in 2007, he missed child support payments,
And it landed him in a florida jail cell.
[melina] after he had been arrested and put in jail,
It's like it dried him up.
Then, he got drug free, and he was like a different person.
And that's when he--he came back here.
[narrator] a newly clean and sober phil
Vowed to melina and April that he was ready to be the father
His five children needed him to be.
He had tunnel vision of what he was going to do,
And it was for his kids.
He had his mind right on track.
He just concentrated on working and doing good things.
He loved going to church.
He reached out to my mother and, um, wanted to
Try to build a relationship with me again.
And so he started emailing me
And just kind of grew from there.
[melina] he, um, tried to make up for lost time
And tried to get close to shelbie.
And he was like a different person.
He came to open up his own mechanic shop
And was doing really good.
[narrator] but 5 months after his move back to missouri,
Phil's fresh start comes to a tragic end
At a remote roadside park.
[warren] his wallet had been taken out of his pocket.
There's blood transfer on his pocket,
And the wallet was laying between his legs.
So, it appeared that somebody had robbed him.
[narrator] but when investigators take a closer loo
At phil's body, they make a disturbing discovery.
[chris] we seen the gunshot wound to the head.
Then, as we started examining and looking at things closer,
There were, uh, stab wounds to the back of the head.
Well, it was obvious he was attacked from behind,
Which kind of led me to believe that there was two people.
You know, maybe he was talking to someone,
And then someone jumped out from hiding
And--and attacked him from behind.
[narrator] was the robbery a cover-up
To hide a more cold-blooded motive?
There was two stab wounds to the chest,
There were several to the back,
Several to the back of the head,
One of his elbows, one of his forearms.
Generally, when you see that type of aggression,
You have some type of personal connection.
[narrator] coming up,
Had phil gotten mixed up with the wrong woman?
He had a new girlfriend. Her name was tammy.
She was still married at that time.
[narrator] and investigators discover
That a dead man's cell phone is still on the move.
[chris] it was hitting towers.
We were able to see that phone definitely tracking south.
More than likely whoever has his phone
Was involved in the murder.
[theme music]
[narrator] on September 10th, 2010,
Authorities are trying to determine
Who stabbed and shot local mechanic phil taylor
At a roadside park in the ozarks.
[chris] it appeared that he was attacked initially from behind
With--with a knife,
And at--at some point, um, you know, was on the ground
And--and someone came up and shot him.
[narrator] the single gunshot wound
Went directly into phil's left temple.
[warren] it appeared to be a close contact-type wound.
'cause you can tell that from looking at the wounds
From the stippling and different things around it,
The powder burns.
So, it appeared to be a-a close, up close and personal wound.
[narrator] the location of the stab wounds
On phil's head and torso
Indicate they probably came before the gunshot--
Likely in an attempt to incapacitate him.
Whoever killed phil left only one clue behind.
One of the--the main things that we found
Was a .22-caliber brass that was near the body.
So, we're looking at some type of semiautomatic weapon.
[narrator] other than that, the remote crime scene
Yields little information.
[warren] you're out in the middle of nowhere.
There's no surveillance systems.
There's, at that point, you know, initially no suspects.
You're starting from scratch.
But we're in rural communities where the sheriffs
And the police officers know a lot of the people in that area.
And the sheriff had had dealings with him in the past, and so
We knew he was from wright county,
Had a repair shop up there that he was running.
[narrator] early the next morning,
Investigators head to phil's auto repair shop
And meet with marvin elliot, phil's friend and landlord.
[ashley] marvin owns a mechanic shop,
And phillip had a little shop to the side that he rented out
And did his mechanic work.
[narrator] marvin tells detectives
While phil had his struggles in the past,
He was currently devoted to two things--
His children and his sobriety.
[warren] he was trying to make things right in his life.
He had started paying child support,
And basically was trying to turn his life around
And start doing the right things.
[marvin] when he came back, he was like his old self.
He had his life in line. He was all lined up.
He knew what he had to do and wanted to do.
[narrator] phil had been living in a trailer on his property,
But was in the process of buying his own home.
[marvin] he'd just been approved.
Phil got the loan.
And so he was tickled about that.
[narrator] marvin says he last saw phil yesterday
At around 6:00 pm as he was leaving the shop.
He had worked all day that day and had been tired,
Didn't feel like going out that evening,
And had a lot of work to do the following day.
[narrator] as far as his social life goes,
Marvin admits that phil did like to have a lady by his side
He always had a girlfriend. You know what I mean?
He didn't get serious very much.
[narrator] in fact, he shares that phil
Had just met someone new-- online.
Marvin had indicated to us that he had a new girlfriend,
Her name was tammy.
[marvin] I had heard about her,
But he wasn't serious or nothing about her.
[narrator] rumor had it that phil had recently taken tammy
On a date that had gone sideways.
Everybody knew that he had been seeing her,
And taking her to the river,
And there had been a confrontation there.
They were having a nice day kind of hanging out.
And while they were there,
They had ran into a previous girlfriend of phil's.
And that there'd been a little bit of a heated exchange between
This previous girlfriend and his current girlfriend.
[narrator] what's more, phil's new love interest,
Tammy, was still married.
She was in the process of going through a divorce,
And that--but she was still married at that time.
[narrator] with relationship drama becoming
A consistent trend in phil's life,
Detectives are left to consider if this led to phil's murder.
In almost all homicides that I've worked,
It's been somebody that's close to the victim.
So, you're looking for those relationships that go south,
People make poor decisions at the time, and bad things happen.
[narrator] marvin agrees to let investigators
Into phil's trailer.
We went into the trailer after marvin opened it up,
And--and it was small.
You know, you could obviously tell that--that a single guy
Was living there.
[narrator] inside, they find an empty cellphone box--
Only investigators note they didn't find a cell phone
At the crime scene.
We were able to find out that
He had recently purchased a cellphone.
So, with that we were able to obtain a cellphone number
For him from that cellphone box.
We're able to do an emergency circumstance ping,
And that allows us just to get limited information
Off of that phone in order to be able to track it.
[narrator] as investigators continue to search the trailer,
They discover another clue--
A post-it note with the name "tammy" written on it.
Uh, it had her name on it.
Then there were handwritten directions to her house
In marshfield.
[narrator] just before they leave,
Investigators find something else.
We also located a certified letter to an April quick.
She lived in mountain home, arkansas.
That was an actual copy of a letter that he sent her,
Indicating that he wanted to spend more time
With his children and kind of get back involved
In his children's lives.
[warren] the letter said that he had previously sent
Another letter to her that she had never responded to.
So he stated that he had been paying child support
For two years,
And that if he wasn't allowed to see his children,
He was gonna take her to court.
[narrator] the letter is dated just two days prior,
And it demands a response from April by September 18th,
Just a week after phil's murder
This letter was absolutely a red flag.
It said phil had planned on getting an attorney
And wanted to see his children.
[narrator] investigators leave the trailer
With not one, but two potential leads.
[chris] we had the girlfriend in marshfield,
Or we had April quick in a-- in mountain home, arkansas.
[narrator] both women are located about an hour away
In opposite directions.
[chris] initially, we were focused on tammy.
With the information that we had,
We felt that we needed to start towards marshfield.
[narrator] investigators start the drive 40 miles north,
Towards tammy's house in marshfield, missouri.
But just as they reach the county line,
They get a call from the phone company,
And it's a game changer.
Phil's cell phone is still powered on.
More than likely, whoever has his phone
Was involved in the murder or was there when it happened.
It was hitting towers. We were able to see that phone
Definitely tracking south towards arkansas.
This information came through,
And then we immediately turned from there
And headed back in the direction that we came.
We had two things to go on at that point.
We were following the evidence that we had in a hand.
[narrator] coming up, investigators confront
Their two suspects.
It was still a fairly new relationship,
But she seemed upset.
[narrator] and later, could supermarket surveillance footag
Hold the key to finding phil's killer?
The woman on the video was a fairly short, stocky lady
With short hair.
From what we could tell, it obviously was not April.
[theme music]
[narrator] missouri investigators looking into
The murder of phil taylor are following two leads--
Phil's current love interest, tammy,
And his ex-girlfriend, April quick.
But the investigation takes a sharp turn
When they discover phil's cell phone is powered on
And moving south towards arkansas.
April quick lived in mountain home, arkansas.
[narrator] while missouri detectives have yet
To rule tammy out as a person of interest,
They also put out a bolo for April quick.
In the meantime, they contact phil's first wife, melina.
[melina] it was hard to, uh, believe that it happened.
I just hate it for the girls, you know.
It's sad to see the pain that, you know,
From him basically leaving their life twice--
The last time, you know, permanently.
She was, you know, in a--a decent relationship with him.
And they talked occasionally,
And she was fine with him seeing her daughter.
[narrator] phil had confided in melina
That April quick was less willing to let him
Back into her life.
He had been trying to see his kids
And told her he was back in missouri and wanted to,
You know, try to make up for lost time.
[warren] he'd been out of her life for years
And was trying to basically get back into her life
And the children's life, and she don't want him there.
Phil told me he finally decided to send a certified letter.
If she didn't respond to him, he was contacting an attorney
To start the process of getting custody of the children.
[narrator] did the letter push April over the edge?
Before investigators explore that question,
They need to rule out their other lead--
Phil's online love interest, tammy.
[warren] tammy voluntarily came in to talk to us.
I mean, it was still a fairly new relationship,
But, uh, she seemed upset that--that he was gone.
And the relationship had been good.
There was no problems.
They had plans for the weekend after he was killed and, uh,
She had been trying to call him,
And he hadn't contacted her back,
And she was worried about him.
[narrator] but detectives' previous suspicions about tammy
Subside when she explains her whereabouts
The night of the murder.
[warren] I think she had an alibi
For where she was that night that we were able to check out.
There was no red flags at all during her interview,
Nothing that caused me to think
That she had anything to do with it.
[narrator] investigators receive phil's phone records
For September 10th, the night of his murder,
And immediately notice two incoming calls
At around 9:30 pm.
There were two phone calls from an 870 number.
That was an arkansas number.
So, we wrote a search warrant to obtain
The information on the phone.
We learned that that phone was a tracfone out of arkansas
That was bought at a walmart.
[narrator] the walmart is just minutes
From the home of April quick.
So, we sent officers to that walmart to try to identify
Who had purchased the phone.
They were able to obtain video surveillance of the lady
That had put those minutes on the phone.
The woman on the video was a-a fairly short, stocky lady
With short hair.
[narrator] when investigators compare the woman in the footag
With April quick's driver's license photo,
They are in for a surprise.
We could tell it obviously was not April,
So we need to identify who this person is.
April of course is on the radar;
She's moving towards the front of the list.
But we still need to figure out who this other woman is
And what relationship she had with phillip taylor,
And why she's contacting him.
[narrator] hoping to catch a break,
The investigators send a still from the surveillance video
To the mountain home police department.
It didn't take long before an officer looked at it
And he said, "that is aimee herring.
"in fact, I was just called to her house,
"where they reported some money and jewelry
"and a .22-caliber pistol
Stolen from the residence on Friday night."
The same night that phil was murdered.
[chris] we had a .22 casing at the scene,
And now we have a person the same night of a murder
Reporting a .22 pistol stolen.
[narrator] the officer has more to share.
That officer also knew that aimee herring
Was in a relationship with April quick.
At that residence was April quick and her children
That she had with phillip taylor, and aimee herring.
That kind of helped tie a lot of things together
As far as what the relationship is
And why she would be having contact with phillip taylor.
[narrator] between the phone evidence and the stolen .22,
Investigators feel they have enough
To pay a visit to April quick.
[chris] at this point, we've been able to rule out
Any other names that have came up.
And right now, I think that the evidence is 100% leading towards
April quick and aimee herring.
[narrator] on September 14th, four days after the murder,
Investigators contact April quick for an interview.
[warren] April voluntarily came to the sheriff's department.
We were following up on phillip taylor's death,
Which, of course, she'd heard about.
[narrator] when they sit down with April,
She is eager to talk about her relationship with phil--
One that she says began when she was only 17.
She started in a relationship with him,
Unaware that he was married to melina taylor at the time,
Is what she said.
But that he'd gotten her a place to live in mansfield,
And that they continued their relationship
For quite some time.
[narrator] April claims that after they moved to florida,
Phil's drug use escalated, and he became abusive.
[narrator] once she became pregnant for the third time,
April dumped phil and headed back home.
[narrator] once back in missouri,
April found love in the arms of a woman, aimee herring.
For the past three years, she and aimee
Have been in a relationship, co-parenting April's three kids
[narrator] investigators ask April about the letters
Phil sent, requesting to see his kids again.
She had really, basically had no contact with him.
And she thought he was on probation or parole,
So she really wasn't too concerned about it,
And she pretty much just ignored that letter.
And then she told me that she'd gotten another letter
On Friday the 10th.
[narrator] April says before she could respond,
She got the news that phil had been murdered--
News that was sad, but not unexpected.
[narrator] when investigators question April
On her whereabouts the night of the murder,
April states that she and aimee dropped the kids off
With her mom so they could go on a date to the movies.
[warren] and she said they, uh, went to a movie at 9 o'clock
And gotten home about midnight,
And they'd noticed that their place had been broken into.
[narrator] that's when they called police
And reported some stolen jewelry, money,
And a .22-caliber pistol.
Investigators seize the opportunity.
[narrator] but instead of changing her tune,
April shuts down the interview.
[narrator] coming up, April drops a hint.
[narrator] and a search warrant causes a change of heart.
We were able to locate some burnt items in the backyard.
You could tell it was a cell phone.
[theme music]
[narrator] investigators are interviewing April quick
About the murder of her ex, phil taylor,
When she suddenly asks for an attorney .
Right before she leaves the room,
April makes an offhand, but revealing, comment.
[chris] it was a very weird statement.
I mean, if she was trying to pass blame
That it was somebody else that--that murdered phillip,
Why would she essentially to confess to murdering him,
But say it wasn't premeditated?
[narrator] April's girlfriend aimee herring
Also requests an attorney.
Ultimately, both women are charged with phil's murder,
And investigators head to their home to gather more evidence.
We were able to search and locate some burnt items
In the backyard, in a bag.
Initially looking at it, you could tell it was a cell phone.
It was burned beyond the point
Where we could positively identify it as phil's phone,
But what we believe was his cell phone.
There was clothing, uh, in there that was partially burnt.
And then the knife we believe they used in the murder as well.
So, we photograph it, we seize it.
[narrator] before heading back to the station armed with
Even more evidence, investigators do a quick check
On April and aimee's alibi.
[warren] we went and obtained the video surveillance
From the movie theater, and they were not at the movie.
[narrator] before investigators can make their next move,
They learn that April is ready to talk.
[warren] I advised her of her rights.
I again told her I respect your right to an attorney,
And the only reason you're here is because you wanna talk to me.
I think at that point, she kind of knew the gig was up
And knew that we knew that they had done it
And wanted to explain her side of the story.
[narrator] April tells detectives that she called phil
After receiving the second letter.
She stated that she set up the meeting at roadside park
To talk to him about the kids.
[narrator] given her past with phil,
April brought aimee and the .22 for protection.
'cause she said she was scared of phillip taylor,
That he had been very violent in the past.
[narrator] the women arrived at the park first.
April asked aimee to hang back and stay hidden.
[warren] a little later, phillip had arrived.
And he had parked and gotten out,
And they were talking between the vehicles.
[chris] she stated at that point that
Aimee jumped out from her hiding spot
And began stabbing phillip in the back to get him off of her.
[narrator] April says that aimee yelled for her to get the gun.
Fearful now for her lover's safety, April did just that.
[narrator] April says afterward,
They took the cash from phil's wallet
To make it look like a robbery.
They also took his cellphone.
And they put his phone, their clothing, a knife,
And all those things in a bag and stopped on highway j
And set that bag on fire.
They left.
They said they threw the gun out the window of their car.
And then they went home.
[narrator] the next day, April grew concerned
That someone might find the bag with the burned evidence.
She returned and brought it back home.
We've seen that several times in cases where people burn evidence
Related to the crime, and we're able to sift through that,
To find out that they were connected to the crime.
The thing that did surprise me
Was that they took it back to their house.
[narrator] April also confirms the knife found
Was the one used in the attack.
Investigators finally have a confession--
Only it doesn't quite match the evidence.
I felt that she was being somewhat accurate with--with
Most of the information that she was providing us
Except everything with the gunshot.
The gunshot wound, evidence indicated that it was made
At close range.
And for her to be merely grabbing a gun, uh,
From a vehicle and handing it to aimee,
And it just accidentally goes off
Did--did not meet the evidence that we were looking at.
[narrator] then, investigators learn that they might have
One more shot at getting the truth.
The detention officers there at baxter county came up
And told us that--that aimee herring
Would now like to speak with us.
[narrator] coming up, aimee takes the fall for her lover.
[narrator] and investigators must determine
Was this self-defense or cold-blooded murder?
They didn't contact the authorities.
They tried to destroy all the evidence in this case.
[theme music]
[narrator] four days after the murder of phil taylor,
April quick has just confessed to accidentally killing him
Following an altercation at a roadside park.
Then April's lover, aimee herring, comes forward
With her version of what happened that night.
She stated that they'd tried to contact phillip
To speak about the children.
They'd met there at the roadside park
And that he had gotten physical with April.
And then she stated that she jumped out and stabbed him.
[warren] she made a lot of statements
Basically volunteering her guilt,
But not giving the whole story.
I thought some of the statements were a little farfetched.
But it became very obvious that we had the right people.
[narrator] with the two women in custody,
Investigators take a close look at the claims phil was abusive.
They find no police reports to back the accusations.
They reach out to the woman who knew phil
In both the depths of his addiction
And heights of his recovery--
Phil's first wife, melina aldridge.
[melina] he was not a violent person.
When he was there and was not into alcohol or drugs,
He was a really good father.
[chris] you know, as a part of this investigation we--
We did a lot of follow-up, uh, interviews with people
That knew him and were acquainted with phillip,
And people that may have been involved in past relationships
With him, ex-wives, and girlfriends.
When I asked if he'd ever been violent with them,
All of them said no.
You know, aside from April quick,
That's the only person that we found that indicated phillip
Had any type of violent past.
[narrator] as for their claims that phil attacked them
On the day of the murder, if he did,
Both aimee and April walked away unscathed.
Had this really been a self-defense,
I would have expected them to have shown up at my office
Showing me some type of injuries.
They didn't contact the authorities.
What they did is they took a hundred bucks out of his wallet,
They stole his cell phone,
Tried to destroy all the evidence in this case.
They knew that they were going to kill him.
[narrator] when it comes to what happened that night,
To investigators, there's only one explanation.
I think that they planned to meet him there.
[chris] the letter just kind of pushed things over the edge
And--and they snapped.
They planned this murder, and then they filed a false report
In mountain home, arkansas
To say that your home was burglarized
And the murder weapon was stolen.
[narrator] facing overwhelming evidence against them
That they conspired to kill phil taylor,
Both aimee and April agree to plead out.
Their only way of escaping a first-degree murder conviction
Was to take a plea bargain to a second-degree murder.
[warren] aimee herring and April quick
Were charged with second-degree murder.
They eventually pled guilty,
And aimee was sentenced to 15 years in prison,
And April quick was sentenced to 20 years.
[melina] people I talk to, they're like,
"I cannot believe that's all she got."
What do you do?
It's like...I think she deserved more.
[ashley] I think he was remembered as a family man.
He was hardworking and caring.
He would do anything for his kids.
Just a good brother, uncle.
[shelbie] I can't ever see him, I can't hug him,
He can't walk me down the aisle. I miss my dad,
And there's nothing that will bring him back.
[music]