[dramatic music]
- Santa ana is the second largest city in orange county.
It's very urban.
Back in the '80s, it was very affluent in some areas
And working-class in many other parts.
- There was a significant military population
Due to the el toro marine base.
And jessie grimes was once stationed at el toro.
- Jessie grimes fought in vietnam.
He was an american hero.
- Jesse was really thrilled with santa ana,
That he had found himself a home.
- But no place is immune to wrongdoers.
- A beloved veteran survives two wars on foreign soil
Only to be brutally gunned down on a hot summer night
In orange county's urban center.
- He had a bullet hole on the right side of his forehead.
- Seeing this young man trying to do cpr on him,
It wasn't making any sense.
- To find answers, detectives must cut through
A tangled web of friends, lovers, and lies.
- The apartment complex was a close-knit community,
And they all knew each other.
But there was constant conflict.
- Who did jessie make an enemy of?
- His alibis weren't 100%.
- This was really a case of a good man
Brought down by bad people.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[tense music]
♪ ♪
- My name is jim donnelly.
I worked for the santa ana police department
For 30 years.
August 20, 1986, I was on patrol that night.
The call came in at 10:52 p.M.
- The caller is frantic.
And the dispatcher heard screaming in the background.
- I responded to north broadway
Just three minutes later at 10:55.
And we saw apartment c.
The door was wide-open.
Once we're in, we start hearing the screaming from upstairs.
So we go upstairs.
And the first thing we see
Is a young man doing cpr on a body.
There was blood on the victim's torso,
And there was a large pool of blood underneath his head.
And there were shell casings on the floor.
My initial visuals are, okay,
This victim has at least one bullet wound to the temple.
- My name is gary mata.
And in 1986,
I was an investigator working for the robbery-homicide unit
In the city of santa ana.
The male giving him cpr identified himself
As the son of the victim.
He was crying, and he kept claiming
That his father had suffered a heart attack,
Even though there was bullet casings
Surrounding the body of the victim.
- He had blood on him and on his hands.
He told me he was michael grimes,
And that was his father, jessie grimes.
This was my first murder scene.
And seeing this young man trying to do cpr
On somebody with a bullet hole in their head,
It wasn't making any sense.
- It's a sweltering summer night in santa ana
That officer jim donnelly won't soon forget.
And with paramedics arriving any second,
He knows he must quickly clear the room.
- So I took it upon myself
To escort the younger male away,
And he was extremely upset.
- It becomes evident once paramedics are inside
That it's too late.
55-year-old jessie grimes is declared dead at the scene.
- So now we got to go to step two,
Which is preserve as much of the scene as you can.
- As police begin to cordon off the crime scene,
Their attention shifts to jessie's 25-year-old son,
Michael.
- He was acting irrational,
Trying to give his father cpr even though it was
Real evident that he had been shot in the head.
He did say he had been drinking,
So obviously he might have been intoxicated at that point.
But it was still suspicious,
So he had to be detained as a person of interest
At that time.
- So he was taken away from the scene
And brought to santa ana police department
So that he could be interviewed
In a more controlled environment.
- With the apartment secure,
Investigators begin to analyze the crime scene step-by-step.
- As I started walking up the stairs,
I saw that there was a casing, a .32-caliber empty casing,
On one of the steps.
On the second floor,
The victim was laying on his back inside the bedroom,
And he had a couple gunshots to the chest
And a bullet hole on the right side of his forehead.
♪ ♪
I looked at the bedroom door, and it had a bullet hole
About five feet from the bottom.
And there was some sort of a dirt markings on the door.
It appeared as if he was trying to lock the door,
Or he was behind the door,
When someone fired a shot through the outside.
And I saw that the latch was kind of forced open.
Whoever was the culprit probably kicked the door open
And got inside and shot the victim
With additional rounds to the chest.
- As detective mata continues to study the scene,
He zeroes in on a telling detail.
- There were five casings from two guns,
The .32 caliber and a .22 caliber.
Normally, one person cannot shoot two guns.
So the only thing you can conclude is that it appeared
To be two individuals that committed the crime.
- Csi's taking pictures of everything.
They're trying to get fingerprints
Off of anything that looked like it was handled.
- The crime scene investigator found $190
In the victim's pocket.
That was collected for evidence.
There was nothing that we could tell that was taken.
So it seemed to me that the motive of this homicide
Was not robbing jessie grimes.
And by that time, the coroner had responded to the scene.
And he gave us a time of death,
And that was about 10:30 p.M.
- My name is marni o'neil.
In 1986, I was 19.
I lived in the condominium complex,
And jessie and mike live
Catty-corner to us,
Maybe 20 feet door to door.
That night was such chaos.
We all went outside to see what we could do.
We didn't know what was wrong with jessie.
We approached the officers on the scene,
And then they took statements.
- It was obvious it was a close-knit community,
And they all knew each other.
- My name is jim carlton.
I was a reporter for the "orange county register"
At the time of this case.
The apartment complex was very open,
And as a result, it was conducive to people,
Like, hanging out a lot.
- We learned that jessie grimes,
He had a really strong relationship
With most of the neighbors there.
He was a good guy.
- Jessie was kind of like a father figure, you know?
I would go to him for advice.
We ended up spending a lot of time together.
I don't think I knew a person that didn't like jessie.
- Jessie grimes was an american hero.
He was in the marine corps for 27 years,
Retired as a captain, serving in both vietnam and korea.
And that's why he was living in santa ana,
Because back then, the marines especially
Were very integral to the community.
- Jessie would give the shirt off his back to anybody.
I remember, maybe a week after we moved in,
He took me and one of my roommates grocery shopping
Because we were young, we were poor.
He was just a very kind man.
- At the time of his tragic murder,
He was a very successful family law attorney.
He had worked vigorously for women's rights.
He helped cofound a women's legal aid center.
So he was a pretty progressive guy for the time.
He had a daughter, and one son was going to divinity school,
And another son, michael, was living with him.
- When I found out he passed,
I was upset.
Everybody was upset.
Yeah, the world lost a great guy that night.
- But while jessie was much loved
In the apartment complex, investigators learn
From neighbors that inside the home,
There was tension between father and son.
- Mike apparently was a real troublemaker,
And there was, uh, constant conflict
Between jessie and the son.
And apparently, jessie was trying
To get his son to move out of the condominium.
♪ ♪
- As investigators continue to talk to neighbors,
They're able to flesh out more details
About the events of the evening.
- I was with my boyfriend.
We were watching a movie.
I thought we heard, like, a drumbeat.
[gunshot echoes]
Like, it could have been a gunshot.
Maybe one, maybe a couple, but we weren't sure.
- Investigators also speak
With the victim's next-door neighbors,
Who confirm the sound of possible gunshots.
- I came across jack and sylvie.
At about 10:30, they heard several banging noises
That could have been gunshots.
And they also told me
That after they heard the banging noises,
But before the first officers arrived,
They heard somebody coming out the door.
And as they looked out the window,
They saw mike walking towards broadway street.
When I learned that information,
Coupled with what I had already heard from the officers,
It is significant.
- What they hear next has them even more on edge.
- Michael was not by himself.
He was with his friend david, who was one of the neighbors.
- With two people leaving the complex
So soon after two weapons were fired,
Investigators quickly land on a theory.
- It was obvious that two guns had to be used,
And the fact that both mike and david were walking together
Towards broadway street, I'm thinking those two people
May have something to do with it.
♪ ♪
- He was crying, but we did not believe him.
- Now you've got three new people right there
During the witching hour of this homicide.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[tense music]
♪ ♪
- Three hours after 55-year-old jessie grimes
Is gunned down in his bedroom,
Santa ana police suspect there are two shooters.
And they believe one of them is the victim's
25-year-old son, michael.
- Michael definitely was a high person of interest.
Mike apparently was having issues with his father,
And a couple of witnesses saw him walking
With his friend david, who was one of the neighbors,
Right after the commotion,
So you can only conclude that maybe
They could have something to do with this crime.
- While officers move to quickly track down david,
Detectives grill michael on his version of events.
- He told us he was at this condo complex with a friend,
Dennis wyatt, in his apartment.
At about 10:00,
Mike walked over to his house
To check on his father.
He went in there, saw that he was okay.
We did ask him the reason why he was
Checking on his father.
- And he said that he was concerned
For his father because apparently he had
A previous heart attack in the past.
And so he was checking on him to make sure he was okay.
- After checking on his father around 10:00 p.M.,
Michael says he went back to dennis' apartment.
- He said that he stayed there with dennis until about 10:45,
At which time he left and went back to check on his father.
- So he gave him cpr at that time.
- To investigators, michael's story sounds far-fetched,
So they begin to challenge him on the details,
Like why he had so much blood on his hands and clothes.
- The way he explained it was that,
When he went back outside, he saw his friend david.
And then together, they walked towards broadway street
To wait for the arrival of the paramedics.
And before the paramedics and police officers arrived,
He went back up to the apartment
To continue to give his father cpr.
- I did not believe him.
And so he was arrested
And booked at the orange county jail
After we finished our interview.
- It became, like, a front-page story.
Here's a marine hero dead, and he'd been shot by his son.
It just seemed to be an open-and-shut case,
And kind of logical, like, well, who else would kill him?
- By 8:30 a.M. Thursday morning,
It's been ten hours since the shooting.
Working on zero sleep,
Investigators return to the condominium complex
To track down and test michael's alibi,
That he was in the apartment of neighbor dennis wyatt.
- My name is jeoff robinson, and at the time,
I was an orange county deputy district attorney.
Michael grimes uses as his primary alibi
Being in dennis' apartment.
However, dennis cannot alibi him for the entire time
Because he informed the police
That on three different occasions,
Michael gets up and leaves the apartment.
- While dennis confirms what mike told police,
That still leaves some of michael's time
Unaccounted for.
So investigators are eager to talk to david,
Their second suspect,
And they finally locate him a few hours later.
- David was transported to the police station.
And he told us that, on the day of the homicide,
He was in the condominium watching television
With his neighbor, jennifer gorman.
At about 10:30,
They heard a series of banging noises.
[gunshots echo] and when he looked
Out the window, he saw michael,
And he appeared to be in distress.
According to david, he came out to comfort him.
Michael told him his father had suffered a heart attack.
And he saw that michael's shirt was bloody.
And he was crying and definitely
Emotionally distraught.
And so david stayed with him
And walked with him towards broadway
To wait for the paramedics to arrive.
But then mike left,
Went back to wait with his father in the apartment.
- David's statement is consistent
With michael's account.
To confirm it, detectives track down
Jennifer gorman, who had been watching tv with david
On the night of the murder.
- Jennifer gorman did confirm that she had been
Watching a movie with david in his apartment
When she heard a series of banging noises
At about 10:30.
- And so that pretty much ruled out david as a suspect.
- But then jennifer gorman tells police
Another detail she remembers from the night before.
- She said, at some point before 10:30,
She walked over to jessie's condo to look for mike.
She said she saw a blonde female
And two men wearing suits inside the house with jessie.
♪ ♪
- This is really huge because
You have three strangers in there.
It shows someone else could have killed jessie.
- Once we learned that there might have been
Other people involved,
That was a pivot point for this investigation.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Thursday, August 21, 1986.
It's been 18 hours since lawyer and retired marine
Jessie grimes was gunned down in his santa ana condominium.
His son michael has been jailed
And charged for the crime.
But police now have new information
That is making them rethink their investigation.
- Jennifer gorman, the witness,
Told us that at some point before 10:30 p.M.,
Which is the time of this homicide,
She walked over to jessie's condominium to look for mike.
She said jessie was watching television.
There was two men wearing suits
Inside the house.
- She said that when she knocked on the door,
A blonde woman answered.
Jessie was sitting on the couch,
And they were kind of just standing around him.
He looked uncomfortable.
- She said that she asked jessie
The whereabouts of michael, and jessie kind of indicated
That he was at the neighbor's house.
So she walked away and went back to watching a movie
With david in his apartment.
- Now you've got three new people right there
During the witching hour of this homicide.
- The fact that these people were seen
At about the time of death of the victim
And the fact that michael is not there
At the time jennifer made these observations,
That was critically important.
- This is going to broaden the investigation.
It was a major turning point.
- Jennifer gorman didn't know the two men,
But she said that she recognized that woman
As being the ex-girlfriend of jessie.
But unfortunately, she didn't know her name.
We located some polaroid pictures
Of the girlfriend in jessie's condominium,
And by showing the photograph to jennifer,
We confirmed that that was the person
That she had seen inside the condo.
So we definitely needed to talk to her
Regarding her reason for being at jessie's house.
- With jessie's son michael looking less like a suspect,
Detectives' next move is to take the polaroid
To the orange county jail,
Where michael has been sitting in a cell
For the past 12 hours.
♪ ♪
- I'm mike grimes.
I'm jessie's oldest son.
When they told me that I'm being charged with murder,
At first, I was scared.
I was scared, because I mean,
People get convicted of stuff they didn't do all the time.
[huffs]
This is gonna make me tear up a little bit.
Um... [sighs]
[somber music]
My dad was the coolest guy you ever met,
Though probably not the best disciplinarian.
He would let me make my own mistakes
And then help me get through them.
And he was just a really laid-back--
Not what you would expect to see as a marine.
[gunfire]
He did two tours in vietnam and one in korea.
One of his buddies from the war told me
That in war, he was, like, the first guy
Into a bad situation with his gun out and going.
But then again, on the trail, he'd be the first one
To bend down and pick up a baby bird
And put it back in its nest.
- After returning from vietnam,
Jessie was stationed at el toro in orange county,
Where he settled with his wife and three children.
- He met a lot of people, a lot of good people,
At the el toro marine base
That became staples in his life.
And santa ana was a nice little neighborhood.
- But within a few years,
Jessie retired from the marines,
Got divorced, and began a second career
As a family law attorney.
And through it all, he remained firmly rooted
In the oc.
- He was a nice guy.
The guy everybody would want
To have a beer with if they knew him.
He made the world a better place.
- Now that police have three other more likely suspects,
Michael's claims of innocence are starting to make sense.
But they can't release him
Until they speak with the woman in the polaroid.
And to find her, they need michael
To answer a few more questions.
- They showed me a picture.
And then they said, "who's this?"
I said, "that's valerie kalman.
That's my dad's ex-girlfriend."
♪ ♪
- We received information from mike
That jessie had represented valerie legally in a case,
And somehow he became romantically involved with her.
And at one time, she was living at the residence
With jessie and mike.
- My dad came from
Pretty meager beginnings himself.
And he definitely had a spot in his heart
For anybody struggling.
Anybody that needs a break, you know,
He was kind of quick to give it to them.
- He served his country, founded a women's law clinic.
He clearly was a good man.
Maybe there's a judgement problem here,
But he had been living with this 19-year-old woman,
Valerie kalman, for a year.
- Oh, I think he loved her. I think he really loved her.
- Dad wasn't stupid, you know,
Foolish perhaps in the ways of love,
But not stupid.
My dad saw valerie as a diamond in the rough.
He said that many times.
- But the may-December romance comes to an end
Several weeks before jessie's murder.
- She was seeing somebody that dad was kind of
Looking the other way about.
And he said, you know, just go, just go.
- Apparently, valerie had moved out
And was no longer staying at the apartment.
- Detectives quickly run a background check on valerie,
And what they learn raises eyebrows.
- We learned that she had a juvenile record,
So we called probation and found out
That the father of valerie was daniel kalman.
So then we called him
Asking for the whereabouts of valerie.
We explained to him that we were investigating
A homicide that happened in santa ana
And we needed to talk to her regarding that incident.
He became real concerned and told us
That he would find her whereabouts and call us back.
- By the following evening, Friday, August 22nd,
Investigators still haven't heard back
From valerie's father.
- Then at that moment, we received a telephone call
At the police department.
The call was from a young woman who said, "I'm valerie."
And she says, "you know what?
I'd like to talk to you about the homicide."
And that just perked up our ears.
We're on it.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- It's been nearly 48 hours
Since jessie grimes was shot dead in his santa ana home.
Detectives have just received an unexpected phone call
From valerie kalman, the key suspect
They've been urgently trying to track down.
She suddenly wants to talk.
- I think she knew we are getting close.
She wants to come and give some sort of an alibi
To keep herself from getting in trouble.
That's what I'm thinking.
- By 9:15 p.M.,
Valerie kalman is sitting in an interrogation room
At the santa ana police department.
- She denied having anything to do with what happened.
So we started putting a little pressure on her.
At that point, she broke down and cried.
[valerie sobbing]
And then she started to talk.
She told us that she had been at the condominium
With two individuals she knows,
George peterson
And tim stotler.
Apparently, george and tim were friends.
And valerie and tim were an item.
- Then we started questioning her
Regarding her relationship with jessie grimes,
If she had any problems with him.
- Valerie insists she did not bring george peterson
And tim stotler to jessie's condo to harm him.
But she does make an admission detectives were looking for.
- She said that they wanted to go to the house
To rob jessie
And that they planned this crime.
- Valerie told the police they were talking about jessie,
And george asked, "does he have any money?"
- Valerie told him, well, of course.
He's an attorney. He's got money.
And so they went over there to rob jessie.
And both men got ready for this crime
By dressing up in nice suits.
And she said they walked in and talked to jessie
With the pretext that she was coming to collect her clothes.
- Valerie explains she and jessie were in his bedroom
Arguing about her missing clothes
When she suddenly decided to leave the room.
- And as soon as she stepped down to the lower floor,
Both men, tim and george,
Walked up and went to jessie's room.
- Valerie claims she never went back upstairs
And doesn't know what happened next.
But investigators push harder.
- [sobs]
- And at that point, she became emotional.
And she just couldn't stop crying.
[sobs]
- She said george and tim went to jessie's room.
At that point, I did ask her,
So did george and tim shoot jessie?
- She said after she heard the shots...
[gunshots echoing]
They came running down the stairs,
And they told her, let's go.
So they got into their vehicle,
And they started driving.
[engine revving]
There was nothing taken.
She said they got spooked after they shot him and left.
At the conclusion of the interview,
It was obvious that valerie had admitted to her participation
With the homicide of jessie grimes.
So she was arrested for the crime.
- With valerie now in custody,
Police are able to release the victim's son,
Michael grimes.
- After we talked to valerie,
We were able to conclude that michael was not responsible
For the death of jessie grimes.
- They just told me they got valerie that night.
She confessed and they were letting me go.
Valerie knew my dad was a good man.
She knew what she was killing, who she was killing,
And it was no way to justify it.
- While michael savors his freedom,
Detectives circle back to valerie
To push her for help locating her two accomplices,
George peterson and tim stotler.
- We still had the two other people outstanding.
And we couldn't stop.
We needed to find the other two suspects.
[siren wailing]
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Nearly 48 hours after the murder of jessie grimes,
His 19-year-old ex-girlfriend, valerie kalman,
Has confessed to taking part in the crime.
Now santa ana detectives are grilling her
On the whereabouts of her two accomplices,
George peterson and tim stotler.
- We continue with the interview with valerie.
She disclosed to us that after they fled the scene
Of the homicide in santa ana,
They started driving for san diego.
- They were stopped by the california highway patrol
Because they were speeding,
And they started searching the vehicle.
- In the vehicle, the authorities found
A .32 automatic pistol
And a .22 ar rifle.
- So george peterson, who was driving the vehicle,
Was arrested for possession of illegal weapons
As well as dui.
- The chp officer was totally unaware
Of the homicide in santa ana.
Because of that, he released both
Valerie and tim at the scene.
- Valerie claims she doesn't know
The whereabouts of tim stotler,
But detectives know exactly
How to track down george peterson.
- I called the california highway patrol,
And we determined that he was in custody
At the orange county jail.
So we questioned him regarding
The homicide of jessie grimes.
I told him that I already had statements from valerie.
And I did lie a little bit. I told him that tim had already
Been arrested and told us all about the crime
And that george had been the person who had planned this.
And I told him they were blaming him
For the shooting of jessie grimes.
And to be honest with you, I think initially,
He was in a bit of a shock
And a little bit concerned that we knew
So much information about what happened.
And he was willing to talk.
He said, "it was all valerie's idea."
"she's the one that took us over there."
And when I ask him about the motive,
He said the reason we did this is because we needed some cash.
- But he did say though that it wasn't planned.
The murder wasn't premeditated.
It was just more like a robbery gone wrong.
- I did ask, what weapon did he use to shoot jessie grimes?
And he said that he was carrying a .22-caliber ar-7
And that tim shot jessie grimes with a .32 beretta.
He said that he shot twice...
[two gunshots]
And that tim shot three times...
[three gunshots]
Which was confirmed with the evidence
That we found at the scene.
I mean, that's a very compelling confession.
So after the interview, he was charged
With the homicide of jessie grimes.
♪ ♪
- With both valerie kalman
And george peterson now in custody,
Detectives go on the hunt for suspect number three,
Timothy stotler.
- We went to tim's residence in anaheim looking for him.
But tim wasn't in the apartment.
- Detectives put stotler's apartment under surveillance
And notify law enforcement throughout orange county.
But there's no trace of the fugitive.
- There's a fear there's, like, a killer on the loose.
And as a family member of the grimes,
I mean, they're all on pins and needles.
They want this guy caught. You know, he could be anywhere.
They really can't have peace until he's in custody.
- That was hell.
I was sleeping with a gun under my pillow,
Thinking I was gonna, you know,
Wake up to stotler in the house.
I really felt in danger, and I really didn't know
What kind of blowback was still to come.
I didn't know if stotler was a heavy-duty kingpin
Or whatever, or if he was just some knucklehead,
Which it probably was the latter.
- As the search for tim stotler continues,
Jessie grimes' family and friends
Gather to pay their respects.
- Jessie grimes got a hero's funeral.
It was at the marine corps tustin air station.
And he's buried with honors,
A flag on his grave and everything.
[somber music]
- I showed up late.
I didn't want to see an open casket.
But of course, my last memory of him is...
I said, "I love you, dad."
He said, "I love you too, son. You have a good night."
I said "I love you," and I never said "I love you."
And it just wasn't something we always did.
And it was kind of--it didn't strike me as super odd then,
But, like, later on, I was like, thank you, jesus,
For letting me say that, you know?
♪ ♪
[tense music]
- Six weeks after the vicious murder of jessie grimes,
Tim stotler is still at large.
And as the manhunt heats up,
Investigators release his photograph
To news outlets in orange county.
- The police asked the media to help.
So his picture was out.
Everybody in southern california
Was looking for timothy stotler.
Then on October 2nd, santa ana police got a call,
And it was from an acquaintance of tim
Who said, "I saw the picture.
I know where he is."
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- By October 2nd, 1986, it's been six weeks
Since the senseless murder of jessie grimes.
While valerie kalman and george peterson
Are in custody,
19-year-old tim stotler is still on the loose.
But after releasing his photograph to the media,
Santa ana detectives receive a hot tip
About stotler's latest hideout in anaheim.
- The authorities received a call
From a friend of stotler's.
And he gave up his whereabouts.
- The acquaintance of tim said,
"I saw the picture.
"you're looking for him. I know where he is.
He's at my house in anaheim."
- On that day, October 2nd,
We responded and we took him into custody without incident.
He was advised of his rights,
But he requested to talk to an attorney,
So no statement was taken from stotler.
♪ ♪
- The arrest of tim stotler really kind of
Put the cherry on top of this case.
The manhunt was over, and now it was time to prosecute them.
- Prosecutors have a compelling case
Based on the detailed confessions
Of both valerie kalman and george peterson
And the two murder weapons found in peterson's truck
During his dui arrest.
- There was ballistic analysis completed, and the weapons
That the california highway patrol recovered,
The .32-caliber beretta and the .22-caliber ar-7,
Were confirmed to be the weapons that were used
For the commission of this homicide.
- Based on all the evidence, we came to believe
That the two shooters were peterson and stotler.
- We did believe that valerie went in there with the pretext
That she wanted to get her clothes,
But got into an argument with jessie.
And then I'm thinking that valerie may have come down
And told them, go up there and get the money.
Once they got up the stairs,
Jessie probably tried to close the door
To prevent them from coming in.
♪ ♪
- Tim stotler shot into the door.
[gunshot echoes]
And the bullet penetrated
And hit jessie grimes in the chest.
The two men then kicked open the door
To find jessie grimes bleeding but still alive.
Peterson and stotler then shot three more times,
Twice in the chest, once in the head.
[gunshots echo]
- But there was nothing taken
Because they were in fear for being caught,
And they were scared and left.
I did get a statement from peterson during the interview
When I asked him, "why did you shoot jessie?"
And his answer was, "stupidity, I guess."
- The three suspects are prosecuted separately,
Beginning with tim stotler in July, 1987.
- Tim stotler and george peterson
Were convicted of first-degree murder
And received 25 years to life.
- In 1988, valerie kalman accepts a deal.
In exchange for her testimony against peterson and stotler,
She pleads guilty to the lesser charge
Of second-degree murder.
- Valerie kalman was sentenced to 15 years to life.
- I didn't feel as though justice had been served.
Justice would be, you know, they're dead and he's alive.
But it was a relief. It was such a relief.
It was like a weight lifted off of me.
[somber music]
- This was just really a tragic case
Of a good man brought down by bad people.
It's sad, he lost his life really for nothing.
- He became such a good friend to me.
He was a generous person,
And he was a compassionate person.
It was a real loss to lose him.
- He was a good guy.
I mean, there's not too many good people
On this planet anymore,
That you could really say they're good.
Those people did the world a big disservice
When they killed him.
I wish everybody had a chance to know him.
♪ ♪
I love that old guy.
♪ ♪