Kidnapped

0:00Spring just slid into your DMs. Grab that boho look for that rooftop dinner, those sandals that can keep up with you, and hang some string lights to give your patio a glow up. Spring's calling. Ross, work your magic. This podcast is brought to you by Progressive Insurance, Fiskely Responsible, Financial Geniuses, Monetary Magicians. These are the things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it. So your dollar goes a long way. Visit Progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, potential savings will vary, not available in all states or situations. This program contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. There are over 100,000 cold cases in America. Only 1% are ever solved.

1:01This is one of those rare stories. It's 2 a.m. on October 13th, 1991, in the town of Tyler, Texas. A single set of headlights creeps down 29th street towards a house set back among the trees. A shadow slips through a door and down a hallway towards a back bedroom. Inside, an 8-year-old boy named Chad Choice Sleeps. He never makes a sound as the intruder gathers up the boy and carries him into the night. The following morning is Sunday and Chad's mother Karen gets ready for church. That was my birthday that day. And I was getting ready for church, coffee, and reading. As I always did. And I decided not to wake the children. The mother of four allows her children to sleep in

2:02and heads off to church. Just minutes into the service, Karen gets a call from home. It was my daughter. And she asked me if Chad was with me. And I said, no, I left him at home. And she said, well, we've looked everywhere and we can't find him. Within the hour, Karen and family and friends are walking the neighborhood, looking for Chad. Hoping he is just playing a game of hide-and-seek. We were just looking up to see if he was just playing a joke on us. And we were walking around the house, looking up in the trees to see if he was there. But all in the same time, there was just something that just kept, I just had this reading, something was wrong. Karen Choice puts a call into police. Sergeant Bill Gecking responds, the first thing he notices is that there are no primarchs on the door and no sign of a struggle inside the house. We didn't see anything like a forced entry, any blood trails, any signs of ransacking, things that would be indicative of a crime scene.

3:03Gecking suggests that Chad might be a runaway, but Chad's mother objects. That basically was not Chad, because as mischievous as he was and loved playing, he was still a mama's baby. And he would stick close to home. And he would go to the apartments to play with his friends. He would go to the playground. But he didn't venture too far from home. Karen Choice believes her son has been kidnapped. As Sunday afternoon deepens into Sunday evening, Karen wonders if she will ever see her son alive again. Devastation, fear starts to set in. And you're wondering what is going on? Who is he with? Because I knew it was his dark now. And he's ready to come home. Two days after her son disappeared, Karen Choice spends her days by the phone, waiting for a call from his kidnappers.

4:04That call never comes. Instead, there's a letter addressed to Karen's brother Greg Sterling and left on the front steps of the family business, a local funeral home. The letter reads, if you want your boy alive, you'll do exactly what I say. He's okay now, but one mistake and he'll be a memory. The note demands $10,000 be delivered to a Greyhound bus station and adds this post script. If we don't show, that means we heard something from our inside contact. Could even be your own family. Be careful. There was a ransom and then you begin to wonder who is doing this. Who would do something like this? Who would take a baby from home for money? With their case officially a kidnapping, Tyler Police invite the FBI to join the investigation. Jeff Block is an agent with the bureau and has a clear idea of where to look for Chad's kidnappers.

5:05Jeff's voice has been disguised to protect his identity in other ongoing investigations. The fact that there was no visible signs of a break in, let us to believe that there's a good chance that someone close to the family or in the family was somehow involved. Among the family and friends, one person in particular stands out as a suspect to police, the man who received the ransom note for Chad, his uncle Greg. Tyler Police Detective Bill Horton was familiar with Greg. Greg Starling had been in the drugs in him for years. He was somewhat of our focus. Maybe not as taken as a child, but possibly being the cause of the child being taken. Detective Speculate, Starling might need money to pay for his drug habit and is using his nephew to extort money from the family. Starling denies any such involvement and offers to help police by delivering the briefcase full of ransom money.

6:05Two days later, on the corner of Locust Street and Bowdark, the operation unfolds. Some detectives hide in bushes, others sit in parked cars or poses travelers waiting for their bus to arrive. Also inside the Greyhound station is Greg Starling carrying the briefcase. At a little past 2 p.m., he approaches a bench and drops the ransom money as instructed by the kidnappers. An hour later, the briefcase still sits on the bus station floor, untouched. We waited and waited and waited and nothing happened. This concern started to rise that the person that the note mentioned that would be close to the investigation and close to the family may be the person actually in the bus station with the money. An hour later, the kidnappers still haven't shown up and the operation is terminated. Detectives ask Chad's family and friends to each take polygraph. They all pass the exam except one. All of the members of the family

7:05passed the polygraph except for Greg Starling. And he showed deception on several polygraph tests, several separate tests. Detectives suspect Greg Starling might somehow be tied to his nephew's disappearance, but have no evidence to prove it. Investigators also know the clock is ticking and an eight-year-old boy's life hangs in the balance. It's kind of a real thumb and it's not like this in every case, but if you're not on the road towards resolving something or 48 hours, it's going to be difficult to resolve. The first 48 hours pass, then a week and a month. Six months later, there are no further phone calls, no more ransom demands and no discoveries of a body. Chad choices disappearance slips into the cold files and his mother continues to wait. It was almost like trying to catch your breath and you're basically just out of air. That's just the way it seemed like it was just hard

8:06for me to even breathe. I would think about him and it would just like take my breath away. In a case like this, it's a giant jigsaw puzzle and very few people have all the pieces. They might only have one or two small pieces that they don't even realize is a piece of the puzzle. On the morning of October 14th, 1992, a year after Chad disappeared, one of the pieces to the puzzle falls into place in the form of another demand for ransom. It's a Wednesday and Karen choice is running late for work. At a little after 7.30 a.m., she heads out to her car where she notices something flapping under her windshield wiper. We noticed that there was this note on the windshield. My immediate reaction was fear because I'm looking around and I'm saying, here's someone that has come up to this yard again, but all in the same time that gave me hope thinking that,

9:08okay, they're ready to bring Chad home now. The typed note is a demand for ransom. The second the choice family has received and the first contact with the kidnappers in more than a year. The note reads, I guess you have suffered enough. Even though he misses you a lot, he will never see you again unless you cooperate with me. Last time, death came close upon your son because of your stupidity. It will take $6,000 and no police. Get the money before next Tuesday and I will contact you. It appeared to me that the whoever was sending the notes was almost taunting the family, reopening a wound. By this time, our hopes that Chad was alive were slim. We really didn't have any idea. In our own minds that he would still be alive. So another demand would seem very strange. Detectives passed the note to forensics. The note, however, carries no prints

10:08or other clues as to who might have sent it. Chad's family can do nothing but wait for further instructions. There was this renewal for a brief moment and then we sat there and we waited and waited and waited on a call that didn't come through. Karen Choice never receives a follow-up call and the case goes cold again. It will remain that way for two more years until 1994 when a bank gets robbed setting in motion a series of events that lead detectives back to Chad's kidnapper. On the afternoon of July 21, 1994, two men enter the Union Heritage Federal Credit Union wearing masks and carrying guns. A few minutes later, they leave with more than $8,000. FBI agent Jim Mendez and Tyler Police Detective Bill Horton worked the case. For Tyler Texas, any bank robbery was a big deal. Tyler's not a big town, it's a fairly small town.

11:09We didn't have a whole lot of bank robberies. We had some general suspect information and no evidence that wouldn't lead us to anybody in particular. The investigator's best lead is a partial tag number of the getaway car scribbled down by a witness. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles provides 400 possible matches to the partial plate number. It's better than nothing, but still a long shot. 400 cars are a lot of cars to try and sort down and in state of Texas is a big state. We started in Tyler and started working our way out, looking at, you know, possible. And as time went on, we still hadn't identified any vehicles that would be good viable leads. After three and a half months, Horton and Mendez haven't made much progress. Then the credit union gets hit again. It's two in the afternoon on November 8, 1994, when the tellers at United Heritage relive a nightmare.

12:10For the second time in three and a half months, two men enter the union wearing masks and carrying guns. Again, it's the same thing. Two men come in with their faces covered up, carrying weapons, immediately rush the tellers, catching them off guard, and demand money. It was our belief that probably the same two people were responsible for it. It happened in the same manner. Two black males walked in, masked. Unlike the first robbery, this time surveillance cameras are in place, capturing an image of the two suspects. One of the pieces of clothing was fairly unique. The rest of it was pretty nondescript, but one of the subjects was wearing a hooded plaid jacket and the hood on the jacket was solid gray. Details on the robbery, as well as pieces of the surveillance tape, are broadcast three hours later on the five o'clock news. Tyler Petrol Officer Lewis Correa is at home watching when the tape catches his eye.

13:12And they show the bank robbers wearing ski masks. Well, the bank robbers, one of them was exceptionally tall. The other one was shorter. Just moments earlier, Correa was standing outside his home. When he noticed his next-door neighbor, Chris Wells, walking down the street with a friend. Wells is tall, while his companion is short. They're both wearing clothes similar to what Correa had seen in the surveillance video. The two seemed to be acting strange. Both of the young men were looking behind their shoulders and over their shoulders, and every time a car went by, they looked at it. Correa gets on the phone and shares his suspicions with detectives. Bill Horton believes Correa's tip is a long shot, but worth checking out. It sounded like a pretty good lead because the officer knew him and was very adamant about the clothing that he was wearing at the time, which, like I say, was within not too many minutes after the robbery.

14:14Jim Mendez and fellow FBI agent Jim Horsley head over to Chris Wells' home, and his brother Keith answers the door. Almost immediately, investigators catch a glimpse of a hooded sweatshirt similar to the one used in the robbery. Then, they show Keith a photo from the video surveillance. We showed him the photograph, and he literally looked at it, and this is a photograph that you can't really make out a whole lot other than that jacket, and he says, that's Chris. Chris Wells is arrested and brought downtown for questioning. He has a right to remain silent and not make any statement at all. Inside an interview room, Detective Bill Horton sits with Chris Wells to discuss the Union Heritage robbery. Right now, when you're looking into the robbery of the Great Union, over here on Oakland Street, the railroad tracks Houston, want you to tell us what you know about it. Confronted with the videotape, Chris Wells confesses to both credit union robberies, identifying a local man named Gene Lindsay as an accomplice,

15:16and another man named Pat Horn, as mastermind behind the crimes. He said, but you know, the man we gotta get, you gotta be down for. He said, we don't have no nuts, we ain't got no gloves. Two days later, Gene Lindsay sits in the same room as Chris Wells. He, too, is eager to talk, admitting his role in both credit union heists, and then going further with a story of another crime, murder. He said, mother fucker, are you gonna die? Who the hell man said that? Chris, Chris said that. OK, I told him, now, man, now, man. What the man is doing? He tried to take out a run. This episode is brought to you by IQ Barth, our exclusive snack hydration and coffee sponsor. IQ Bar Protein Bars, IQ Mix Hydration Mixes, and IQ Joe Mushroom Coffees are the delicious, low sugar, brain, and body fuel you need to win your day. If you've never tried IQ Bar before, their ultimate sampler pack is an awesome place to start.

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17:19Cold case files is brought to you by progressive insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart choice. Progressive loves to help people make smart choices. That's why they offer a tool called auto quote explorer that allows you to compare your progressive car insurance quote with rates from other companies. So you save time on the research and can enjoy savings when you choose the best rate for you. Give it a try after this episode at progressive.com, progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, not available in all states or situations. Price is very based on how you buy. In October of 1991, Chad choice is abducted from his home in Tyler, Texas. Three years later, three men, Chris Wells, Jean Lindsay and Pat Horn are implicated in a series of local bank robberies. The connection between the missing boy and the robberies is well hidden, revealing itself in pieces. The first piece is the story of a murder that took place on a dusty afternoon alongside a country road in Smith County, Texas.

18:22On October 5th, 1994, patrol officer Melody McKay begins her day driving through the larger part of Smith County. Her route starts in Tyler and heads south towards Lake Palestine. This morning, like most, is reserved for checking in with local fruit vendors set up along Highway 155. One such vendor is 80-year-old J.C. Lavasser. Mr. Lavasser, along with several other gentlemen, used to sell produce along the side of the roads. And of course in daily duties, you're just riding around talking to people and sometimes I would stop in and buy produce or just stop in and talk. As McKay arrives, she notices Lavasser is just setting up his stand for the day. I stopped and talked to him because it was payday and I said, well, I'll be back. I got to get my check cash and I'll have some money. I'll come back and get my produce. The officer says goodbye to Lavasser and continues her patrol. Never imagining the next time she would see J.C. Lavasser, he'd be a murder victim. Later that day, at 3 p.m.,

19:23officer McKay is finishing rounds when she picks up a call on her radio. J.C. Lavasser has disappeared from his fruit stand. McKay arrives on the scene a few minutes later. I was looking around his stand, see if there's anything unusual. And his fruit was still there. There was still some money under a rock. Didn't show any real signs of struggle. And they said, well, his truck is parked down here, almost in the middle of the road. Lavasser's truck is abandoned, less than a mile from his fruit stand. No keys sitting in park, windows rolled down. And I thought, well, why would it be all the way down here when it's parked beside the trailer usually? So that didn't make any sense to me. A bystander then calls for Melody's attention saying he's found something in the woods. He leads her down a dirt path. So I walked down there in the minute I saw the clothes and everything. I knew immediately it was Mr. Lavasser. That was kind of tough. I've talked to somebody that morning and now you find him dead on the ground.

20:25Lavasser lies face down in the woods, a pool of blood underneath his head. The first question that comes to my case mind is why? And I thought, you know, just poor man, you didn't have to do this to him. You know, he couldn't fight you. Even there's one or three or more. And he would have given you that old truck. I mean, you could tell it happened to him pretty quick because it's like he just fell down. Not to his knees or anything, he just fell. The patrol officer calls for backup and secures the scene. Suspecting robbery to be the motive, she takes a look inside Lavasser's pockets. I started checking around his body, still found the money in his pocket. I could still feel the money. And you know, all I could do is just cover him up. I feel like that's what I need to do is cover him up. Detective Jason Waller meets McKay at the scene and examines the body. Lavasser died from a single shot to the back of the head, but there is no answer as to why. This is one thing that you wonder what was the motive?

21:26Why would someone kill this 80-year-old man who just sew produce on the side of the road and hurt anybody? The only thing Waller could put together was someone wanted J.C. Lavasser's truck. And when the car jacking went wrong, Lavasser was killed. Waller's theory gained some traction when tips began to filter in. People who saw two black males that day struggling to get Lavasser's standard transmission truck out of first gear. Two young black males, one taller than the other, then the taller one being thinner, the other one kind of being a little stocky, a little darker, complex, and we've got a physical description if we could just find pictures, put faces, you know, together, that we might be able to identify them, at least to go question them. For days, Waller tries to find suspects that fit the descriptions. The investigation, however, goes nowhere. Here was a true, true victim, an innocent victim, an innocent man, trying to make an honest dollar,

22:29just retired and trying to enjoy life with a woman, he'd been married to her for 60 years, just trying to spend his last years of his life and then someone come and take it. And so it was frustrating. Five weeks later, Detective Waller gets the break he needs when police pull in Jean Lindsay for the Credit Union robberies. Lindsay quickly confesses to the crimes and identifies two accomplices, Pat Horn and Chris Wells. Hoping to get a better deal for himself, Lindsay then tells detectives about another crime the three men committed, the J.C. Lavasser car-jacking. He told him he quieted and didn't truck. Do you all have guns? Yep, it's 22. According to Lindsay, Lavasser showed them how to drive the truck, traveling with them a short distance down the road. Then, according to Lindsay, Lavasser got out and Chris Wells got out with him. So Chris let the man go. For her? Chris, they get a shroom, something.

23:30Get a what? Had a shroom, something. Show them something. Yep. Told the man that we had a friend down there. But once they got him out of the truck and started walking away from the truck, Chris Wells turned basically to him and said, listen, the old bastard's got to die. He's seen as he knows who he is. He can identify as he is. The mother of the **** are you going to die? Who told the man to do that? Chris, Chris said that. OK, I told him, now, man, now, man. What the man do? He tried to get a run. When Chris said that, he took off runs? Yeah, he did. And so, at that point in time, Mr. Lavasher apparently dated for his life. He told him that, listen, hey, take my money, take my bill, hold, take my truck. And at that point in time, Christopher was shot at him and graced him. Mr. Lavasher apparently made some movement away from him. I mean, Christopher Wells ran up to him and then shot him in the back of the head. And he did what he did. Right now, Chris, now, man. He said, now, this little bell's up in the die. And he shot him in the head, and the man just fell.

24:32Chris Wells, Gene Lindsay, and Pat Horn are arrested on Capitol murder charges, each looking at a possible death penalty for shooting J.C. Lavasher. Their story, however, is far from finished. As they await trial, one of them receives a package in prison. Inside it is the leg bone of a young boy, the final piece that takes cold case detectives back to eight-year-old Chad Choice. Like every parent of a missing child, Karen Choice knows that after 48 hours, the chance of a child returning home alive gets smaller by the minute. By the fall of 1995, Karen's son, Chad, has been gone for four years. I just kept saying no. This could be the one that they're wrong about, you know? He could still be there. He's still out there. And I'm going to still actively search no matter what the stats are saying. In one fall morning, a grocery sack is left on the doorstep of the choice home. Inside it is a human skull.

25:34And the moment Karen Choice has been dreading. I didn't want to believe it. There was this part of me that was saying this maybe, but I'm saying no. No, this is not Chad, Chad, it's still alive. Bill Horton has worked Chad's disappearance from the beginning. Along with the skull, he finds a note found inside the bag that states, you only paid part, so here is a part. At this point, there is no leverage now. Any hopes that they would have had, in my opinion, of getting any more money if they deliver the skull, there's no reason to give any more money. Cold case detectives send samples of the skull to the FBI for DNA comparisons with samples taken from Chad Choice's family. The results, however, are inconclusive. Investigators then turn to the University of North Texas and the science of forensic anthropology. Dr. Harold Gill King is an anthropologist

26:36at the University of North Texas. He takes delivery of the skull left on Karen Choice's front porch. Unfortunately, there are no dental X-rays available from Chad Choice, making the comparison of teeth impossible. Dr. Gill King then asks the family for any recent photos of the missing boy. Sometimes, and particularly in the case of children, when there is not much of a medical or dental record, we might resort to other techniques. For example, if we think we know who the remains represent, we might ask for photographs of the individual, and we might attempt to do some sort of comparison between the skeletal remains and a photograph. Gill King places the skull in a sandbox, turns on a video camera, and begins recording. Using a computer, he overlays the image with a photo of Chad, and begins the comparison. We burn an image of the photograph into memory in the computer, and we gradually

27:39bring in the skull to see if we can fit it into that picture. Working with different photos, Gill King determines that the skull left on the family doorstep belongs to Chad. In her heart, Karen Choice has known her boy was unlikely to ever be found alive. She never thought, however, that his skull would be delivered to her front door. Who could be this demonic to do something like this, and then to place it on the family doorstep? Who is this person? And I mean, I think that there was an anger, that rose up in me that I had never felt before. The motive of the kidnapping and the reasoning behind the notes still mystifies authorities. The skull, however, gives cold case detectives their first solid piece of evidence in five years. They are about to get a second piece, and it comes from inside a Texas jail cell. In April of 1996, Pat Horn sits in a Texas jail cell,

28:43looking at either life in prison or a possible death sentence for his part in two bank robberies and the murder of Frutstan owner, J.C. Levasser. Horn decides he wants to make a deal and mentions the name Chad Choice. He's in a very dangerous light at this point, because we're conversing with him. We're talking to him. And now Chad Choice's name has come up and that it really got our interest. Pat Horn lived in the same neighborhood as Chad Choice and knew the family. He claims the boy was killed by two local drug dealers, Columbia Nationals, who go by the street names Paco and Carlos. They had history of violence, and so that was possible and they had a connection to Pat Horn. On the other hand, we also considered a real possibility that Pat was kind of making it up as he went along, trying to get out of his predicament. We are hopeful because he had told us something that we highly suspected all along.

29:46Knowing Pat, though, we were not totally convinced that what he was telling us was all of the truth. Horton and Block follow leads on Paco and Carlos. The two, however, have alibis. Colt case detectives are about to dismiss Horn as a credible source when the investigation takes on yet another twist. Pat Horn receives a package in his jail cell. Inside it is the leg bone of a young boy. The jailers intercept this package that was sent to Pat Horn. They find what appears to be a leg bone and also a note threatening him that if he gives any information about Chad Choice that they'll kill him or kill his family. The leg bone is confirmed as human and eventually confirmed as belonging to Chad Choice. The question is, who sent it? Pat Horn claims it was Paco and Carlos. Colt case detectives, including FBI agent Jim Wilkins,

30:48suspect Horn knows more than he is telling. I think one thing that made us doubt Pat Horn was knowing just how much he was involved with these guys because Pat had a reputation of exaggerating and trying to build up his own self-importance. He really opens the door wide as far as us looking at him as being involved in this, certainly more so than he tells us. Months after the leg bone is confirmed as belonging to Chad, Pat Horn still claims to know nothing more about the disappearance. Then he gets a visit in prison from Chad's mother, Karen, desperate for any scrap of information about her missing son. Pat, Pat, Pat, Pat. Pat, please, please, Pat. Pat, I got to know.

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32:57That's mintmobile.com slash gold case. Up from payment of $45 for three month, five gigabyte plan required equivalent to $15 per month. New customer offer for first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra at Mint Mobile for details. And TV shows like Survivor, SpongeBob SquarePants, the fairly odd parent and goes, Pudotv is always free. Pudotv, stream now, pain ever. Karen Choice has known Pat Horn since he was five. In the spring of 1996, she learns he is in jail awaiting sentencing on a murder charge. She also discovers he has had a package delivered to his cell containing the leg bone of her

34:01missing son. It was basically just settling in my mind that here's this person that I knew as a little boy that had something to do with my son's kidnapping and his murder and all I wanted to know then was where, or his remains. On May 24, 1996, Karen Choice walks into a police interrogation room and sits down. Across from her is Horn, a former family friend who she now barely recognizes. I guess that was what was so strange when I finally saw him face to face because this was totally a different person than the one that used to come to my house and play with the children. Karen Choice wastes little time with Horn, pleading for information about her son's murder, or at least the location of his bones. I should get you like you with my son. Always welcome in the house.

35:02Fidget, pray for you. What about you? You want to see a picture that reminds you, but you want to see his picture. I need to know again. I need to know. He did not want to tell me anything, and it was almost like he did not know who I was. I was just somebody that just came in, you know, and interrupted his life. What about you? It's like nobody gave you that choice, and I need to know. Pat Horn bows his head, but remains silent. Then cold case detectives apply pressure, hoping to rattle him. Finally, Karen comes across the room toward Pat Horn, gets on her knees, and begs for answers.

36:11Pat Horn, Pat Horn. I've got one problem. Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat. That's not gonna hurt. That is your man. Pat, please. Please, Pat. Pat. Pat. Pat I got to know. The interview ends with the fate of Chad Choice still a mystery to all accept his killers. One week later, Pat Horn is still marking time in his cell, getting closer to a possible place on Texas's death row. With his options running low, Horn again calls cold case detectives with more information on Chad. According to Horn, Paco and Carlos are still the killers, but now Horn admits he actually saw the murder and knows where Chad is buried. Eventually, he told us that he had helped, that he had dug a hole, dug a grave, forechad

37:16at the direction of Paco and Carlos. He tells us, he says, see, you know, basically I'm a victim in this crime as well. All I did was help bury the child, didn't have any other involvement in it, and now they're threatening me because of my knowledge of what they did. Horn claims Chad Choice is buried in Horn's own backyard. Investigators put him in handcuffs and drive into the heart of Tyler's west side. At 4 p.m. on May 31st, detectives start to dig. FBI agent Jim Wilkins is at the scene. Some of the agents and officers dug down. They hit a plastic bag and dug a little more and found bones, found clothing. The remains are that of a young boy quickly identified as Chad Choice. Also in the grave are 380 caliber shell casings, most likely the shots that killed Chad. Chad's remains are unearthed and sent to the morgue.

38:20Meanwhile, his mom gets the phone call she has been waiting for and dreading for more than 5 years. All of the years of hoping, you know, that he would come home at that very moment. You know, it was over and I would never see him as that little boy, you know, again, it truly tore my heart completely. Pat Horn claims he has told detectives all he knows and wants to make a deal for leading them to the body. In case detectives, however, are not ready to bargain. Not everybody has a body buried in their backyard and then hides it for years. So we were still very suspicious of him and not totally satisfied that he was giving us all of the truth. Some of us started saying, hey, this doesn't fit because he knows too much. Finally, we came to the conclusion that he was there when it happened or was the one

39:23that did it. Investigators believe Pat Horn is Chad's killer but don't have the evidence to charge him. That is until they talk to Horn's brother and put together the final pieces in their case. Keith and Horn is Pat Horn's younger brother. In June of 1996, he sits in a jail cell in Athens, Texas, booked on a probation violation. While he's there, cold case detectives take a chance. He seized an opportunity when he was in custody in Athens and really conducted a hard interview with him and he chose to come forward. Keith and tells detectives he dug up Chad choice's bones, prepared a threatening note, and sent the package to Pat Horn's jail cell, all at his older brother's direction. He admitted to digging up the bones or the leg bone and mailing to Pat in jail and at

40:23his direction, preparing the note to make it look like a threat from Paco and Carlos. What Keith and did was show us that Paco and Carlos have not reached out to Pat to threaten him. The Pat had reached out to himself basically to make it look like he was being threatened which was a very, very important break on the taste. Pat Horn's elaborate scheme finally collapses under its own weight, leaving him as the man who took Chad choice from his home held him for ransom, killed him, and finally used the boys' bones to try and lead cold case detectives astray. As for why Pat Horn chose to kill Chad choice, detectives could only offer Horn's need to inflate his reputation. Well, as I said, Pat's ambition was to be a gangster, to be a crook, and Pat is one of those people that I believe that if he's not recognized by someone else, he's going to make sure that someone recognizes what he did.

41:25I mean, it's a six cents of what he did. On September 24, 1999, a jury finds Pat Horn guilty. He sentenced to die in Texas's lethal injection chamber. For Karen choice, Horn's pending execution seems as pointless as her own son's untimely death. And I have to say, and a lot of people don't agree with me. I basically don't believe in the death penalty. Pat Horn's death is not going to bring Chad back. I would like for him to close his eyes and see Chad's face, you know, and realize not only did he take my baby's life, you know, but he is over as far as anything that he could do successfully. So we'll give him time to think about the habit and the hurt that he has torn through

42:29this family. In February of 2003, Karen finally laid to rest her son's remains in a family plot just outside of Tyler. She has also started a ministry service in Tyler. It focuses on people in trouble and is called Chad's house. What we're trying to do is to help people, men, women, and children that find themselves in a crisis of whatever kind it may be, if it's homelessness, if it's substance abuse, if it's sexual assault, battery, and we started a home called Chad's house. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute anyone who was younger than 18 at the time of committing capital murder. Because Patrick Horn was 17 years old when he killed Chad Choice, he can no longer be executed for his crime. He is currently serving a life sentence in an Atlanta, Georgia prison.

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