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13th Juror Podcast
The Prosecution of Robert Atrops
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When 30-year-old Deborah Atrops was found strangled in the trunk of her car in 1988, suspicion quickly turned to her estranged husband, but the case went cold for more than three decades. Now, with new forensic soil analysis, advanced DNA testing, and long-questioned phone records, prosecutors believe they finally have the evidence to prove Robert Atrops committed murder.
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Everyone's told a lie. But what happens when one lie becomes a life, a movement, a conspiracy? I'm Josh Dean, host of Chameleon. And I uncover true stories of deception scams so intimate and convincing, they fooled the people closest to them. These aren't strangers. They're lovers, friends, and trusted allies. Because the most dangerous cons don't feel like crimes. They feel personal. Listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts. On the morning of Thursday, December 1, 1988, a project inspector arrived at a construction site in Beaverton, Oregon for a routine drive through before the workday began. As he moved through the site, a black Honda Accord caught his attention. It was a newer model, parked where it didn't belong. The window was down, the keys were sitting on the passenger seat, and the license plates were missing. The inspector called the police to have it towed. But when officers arrived and opened the trunk, they found something no one was expecting. Inside was the body of 30 year old Deborah Aatrops. Debra had been reported missing just two days earlier by her estranged husband, Robert Aatrops. Robert lived about five miles away on a rural county road in a log cabin he and Deborah shared before their separation roughly five months earlier. After the split, Debra moved into an apartment in Salem, nearly 30 miles away. Robert told police he had been expecting Debra the night she disappeared. She had gone to a hair appointment after work and was supposed to pick up their 8 month old daughter afterward. When she never arrived, Robert began making phone calls to friends, to her parents, even to the babysitter. No one had seen Debra since she left work. Later that night, Robert called the police. By the next morning, Deborah Aatrops was officially listed as a missing person. But the discovery of her body in the trunk of her own car quickly turned a missing person case into a homicide investigation. And detectives didn't take long to focus their attention on Robert. Despite years of investigation, the case stalled and eventually went cold. More than three decades later, investigators reopened the case, this time armed with forensic tools that didn't exist in 1988. When the results came back, detectives believed they finally had evidence to support their long held suspicions. On March 23, 2023, Robert Aatrobs was arrested for the murder of his wife. But did investigators finally get it right? The prosecution says new evidence finally led them to the right man. The defense says misinterpreted evidence led to the arrest of an innocent man. But it's the jurors who have the final say. This is the 13th juror podcast where we break down real court cases and put you in the jurors seat. Two sides, the same evidence. You decide what to believe. I'm your host, Brandi Churchwell. Today's episode is Oregon v. Robert Aatrobs, Part 1. The prosecution. Deborah Atrop spent much of her life searching for stability. She wanted a place to belong, a routine she could trust, and the chance to start over when things fell apart. Her childhood was defined by constant change. Deborah's family frequently relocated due to military life, living everywhere from Guam to the Philippines before eventually returning to Oregon. Friends would later say that kind of upbringing left Debra craving permanence. By her late 20s, Deborah had already been through a failed marriage. So she returned to Salem looking for a fresh start near her family. She began dating a man named Jeff Freeberg, and before long, the two were living together. Although Debra cared deeply for Jeff, the relationship didn't last. They remained close, and one friend would later describe Jeff as the one who got away. Not long after, Debra met Robert Aatrobs, Robert and Deborah's relationship moved quickly. Some family members expressed concern. But just nine months after meeting, Deborah and Robert were married. In June of 1987, they began building a custom log cabin on Robert's family land in rural Sherwood. It was quiet, isolated, and surrounded by family property, the kind of place meant for settling down. By March of 1988, they moved into the cabin and began the process of adopting a baby girl. Robert helped Deborah secure a job in the accounting department at Welland Industries, where his longtime friend's wife was a supervisor. From the outside, Deborah, everything looked stable. A new home, steady work, and soon a baby. That baby, Rihanna, became the center of Deborah's world. But beneath the surface, pressure was building. Adoption was expensive. Construction costs on their home climbed, financial stress crept in, and by the spring of 1988, the marriage began to fracture. Friends and co workers would later say Debra kept many of those struggles private, believing she needed to maintain the appearance of stability to complete the adoption. But by summer, Deborah began planning for independence. She enrolled in classes focused on earning more money, and by the end of the season, she moved into her own apartment in Salem. She settled into a routine she cherished, dropping Rihanna off at the babysitter in the mornings, working a 9 to 5, then picking her up at the end of the day. It was the stability Debra had spent her life searching for. On November 28, 1988, there was a slight change in the routine. Debra had scheduled a hair appointment after work, so Robert was supposed to pick up Brianna from the babysitter and Debra would come get her Once the appointment was over, Deborah arrived at the salon, and her stylist later said she seemed tired but upbeat and happy. She got a perm and left sometime between 7 and 7:15 that evening. After that, Deborah Aatrobs vanished. Two days later. The grisly discovery of her body in the trunk of her car devastated Debra's family and stunned investigators. As months turned into years and years into decades, many wondered whether there would ever be an arrest. But the district attorney would remind the public that a cold case is not a forgotten one. It took more than 37 years to get this case before a jury and prosecutors told jurors they were ready to prove that Robert Aatrobs was not the loving husband he claimed to be, but the man responsible for Debra's murder, according to the evidence and testimony they presented. This is the prosecution story.
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Have you ever experienced something truly unexplainable? A moment that felt almost like a vivid dream, leaving you with a lingering sense of wonder, leaving you questioning everything you thought you knew?
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Perhaps it was a fleeting glimpse of something extraordinary, a chilling whisper in the
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dead of night, or an undeniable premonition
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that comes to life.
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I'm Yvette Gentile.
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And I'm her sister, Racha Pecorero.
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Each week on our podcast, so Supernatural, we partner with the one and only Ashley Flowers, host of the number one true crime podcast, Crime Junkie, to take you on a journey of the world's most mystical mysteries.
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Ready to explore the unknown? Join us every Friday for a new episode of so Supernatural, available wherever you listen to podcasts. When this case finally went to trial, it came with challenges that no courtroom can avoid when nearly four decades have passed since the original incident. Many of the people who knew Deborah Aatrox in 1988 were no longer alive. Others took the stand, knowing their memories had faded or changed over time. Some details were sharp, others were hazy, and some were gone altogether. The prosecution had to adjust their strategy accordingly. They wanted jurors to look back, to hear the story as it was told in 1988 through police reports and early witness statements, and then to layer those accounts with forensic evidence that simply didn't exist at the time. Prosecutors told jurors that this case didn't begin the night Deborah Aatrobs went missing. To understand what really happened, they said, the jury had to rewind the clock back five months, to a period when the events that shaped her final weeks were already unfolding. When Debra moved into her own apartment with Rihanna In June of 1988, the separation between her and Robert was not mutual, her friends testified Robert was unhappy Debra had moved out. The relationship had grown volatile, marked by arguments and tension, especially during childcare exchanges. To make things more complicated, Debra had been keeping a secret. While Robert knew she lived in Salem, worked full time and attended school, he did not know she had begun seeing other men. Shortly after moving to Salem, Debra reconnected with Jeff Freeberg. You'll remember him from earlier in the episode, described by Debra's friend as the one who got away. Jeff lived very close to Debra's new apartment, and by all accounts, their reconnection felt familiar and supportive for Debra. He helped assemble a crib for Rihanna and even gave Debra money to buy a brand new Honda Accord. But the relationship didn't last. Jeff later told investigators that one day he stopped by unexpectedly, and that's how he found out Debra was seeing someone else. That someone else was John Pearson. Debra's relationship with John Pearson was complicated, to say the least. John was significantly older, but more importantly, he was married. John and his wife had two young sons. They were separated and mostly living apart, but because of their children, they still saw each other regularly. The situation became even more complicated by where the relationship unfolded. John worked at Wellen Industries, though in a different department than Debra. Debra's supervisor, Pam Parr, was married to Robert's best friend. Debra knew that if word of the relationship spread at work, it would reach Robert. Despite efforts to keep things quiet, rumors began to circulate. The situation escalated when John's wife, Debbie, discovered the relationship. Debbie Pearson testified that she suspected an affair. So she checked their home phone records and began calling unfamiliar numbers, asking questions. When she realized that John was seeing Debra, she then called Welland Industries, furious, yelling at Debra's supervisor, Pam Parr, and demanding answers. What had been private was quickly becoming public. Debra decided she needed to tell Robert before he found out another way. Debra told Robert about the accusations, insisting they weren't true and warning him in case he was contacted. Later, she confided in a co worker that she believed Robert had accepted her explanation. According to the prosecution, these events created the backdrop to what happened next. A failed marriage, a woman moving on, and a man they say refused to accept it. When her co worker asked what would happen if Robert ever found out the truth, Debra became serious. She said that if Robert found out about her relationship with John Pearson, he would kill her. Within a week, Deborah Aatrobs was dead. On November 28, 1988, Deborah dropped her daughter off at the babysitter's house and went to work. Robert initially planned to keep Rihanna overnight, but around noon, he called Deborah and said he had an early meeting. He asked her to come pick up the baby after her hair appointment. Prosecutors argued this wasn't about child care. It was about getting Debra back to Robert's isolated property. Robert picked up the baby and went home. Debra went to her appointment, leaving the salon around 7:15pm she was never seen alive again. Around 9:30pm Robert began calling people, asking if they'd seen Debra. He called the salon, but it was closed. He called the babysitter, Pam Parr, and her husband and Debra's parents, Gloria and Ed Holland. Then at 9:40pm Robert dialed 911. He told the dispatcher his wife was missing. She was three hours late, and he was worried. He described Debra's car and gave an uncertain plate number. Police told him it was too early to act, but they suggested he drive the route that she would normally take to look for her in case she had broken down or something. Less than an hour later, at approximately 10:25pm debris, Robert called 911 again. He told police he had driven the route and didn't see Debra's car. He said he went back to the salon, but it was closed. He spoke to a woman leaving a nearby business, but she had no information. Once again, police told him it was still too early to act, and they suggested he give it another hour and call back. At 11:29pm Robert called a third time. At that point, dispatch instructed him to contact the sheriff's office due to jurisdictional issues and make what would be his final report for the night. That call was placed at 11:34pm the next morning, Robert contacted police again. Twice, dispatchers asked him directly about the state of the marriage. Were they having problems? Was everything okay between them? Was there any reason Debra wouldn't come home? Robert told them no. He said they weren't having any problems. He gave no indication of separation, no suggestion of conflict, no explanation for why Debra might choose not to return. In fact, prosecutors pointed out that not only did Robert say they weren't having marital problems, but over the course of six different phone calls, Robert never once mentioned that he and Debra were separated. He also never said she lived in Salem and no one was asked to check her apartment. Police were never looking for a missing Salem resident. They were looking for a woman who was late coming home to Sherwood. And there was one more omission investigators would later point to. Robert never called Debra's apartment during the entire missing person search that night. He never contacted the Place where she actually lived. To the state, those omissions mattered. Prosecutors argued that the reason he never made those calls was because Robert already knew where she was. Deborah had been missing for more than a full day when police got their first lead. A Honda Prelude had been spotted in the parking lot of a strip mall by the salon. It was the right color, the right general description, But Deborah's car was an accord, not a prelude. Robert went to the location with the police to help identify it, and the car was ruled out. But that moment, the meeting in that parking lot, marked a turning point. For the first time since Debra disappeared, while Robert was talking to the officer, he acknowledged that there had been problems in the marriage. And for the first time, Robert said that he and Debra were not living together. He offered several reasons why they were living apart. He said she needed space. He talked about financial strain, money problems tied to the adoption in the new house. He said Debra was going to college. But regardless of the potential reason, the disclosure of their living arrangements immediately changed the direction of the investigation. Salem police were promptly dispatched to check Debra's apartment. Robert also gave another piece of information during this meeting. For the first time, he told police that Debra had recently been linked to other men he named Jeff Freeberg, and also mentioned a married co worker, John Pearson. Suddenly, the concerned husband waiting on his missing wife Was becoming a much more complicated case than they realized. While speaking with officers, Robert also went over the route that he said he had driven while searching for Debra the night she vanished. The route Robert described totaled roughly 27 miles. The time he said he was gone, about 45 minutes. Investigators began to wonder whether or not it was possible to travel that route in that amount of time. With all of this new information, police adjusted their parameters and continued the search for Deborah Aatrobs. On December 1st, Deborah's car was found. Multiple witnesses told investigators that it had been there for a day or two in the same position near the construction site in Beaverton. The window of the car was down, and the keys were sitting on the front passenger seat. But before officers could search it, they needed permission. So they called Robert Aatrobs. Prosecutors would later argue that this moment was a defining piece of evidence against him. When officers told Robert that they had located Debra's car, He didn't ask where it was. He asked, is it nearby? According to the prosecution, if Robert truly didn't know where Debra's car was, the first question should have been where it was found. Robert did give police permission to search the car, but. And when they opened the trunk. The missing person investigation became a homicide detectives and crime scene analysts immediately began documenting everything, starting with the condition of the car. There was a significant amount of mud inside, but only in the driver's area. Mud was found on the steering wheel, the gear shift, the dashboard, and the driver's floorboard. The right front tire was heavily caked with mud would splatter along the side of the car, consistent with a tire that had been stuck or driven through soft ground. They also noted that the hood appeared to have been wiped down, raising questions about whether someone had attempted to remove fingerprints. Inside the front seat area were a few personal items, including a pair of shoes and some sort of bag. But Deborah's purse and wallet were missing. Then there was Deborah. She was fully clothed, still wearing her work clothes and nylons, her jacket still on. She was found face down in the trunk. There were no obvious signs of sexual assault, but there were injuries. Deborah had bruising to her face, her right eye, her lip and her nose, as well as a small laceration on her thumb. And there was significant bruising on both sides of her neck. The autopsy would later reveal hemorrhaging in her neck muscles and her eyes, injuries consistent with manual strangulation. The cause of death was ruled homicide. Crime scene analysts collected samples of mud from the tire and from Debra's clothing. They searched the car for fingerprints, but none were found that didn't belong to Debra. Investigators now knew what happened to Deborah Aatrops. The question was, who did it? As is often the case, they turned first to the spouse. Detectives went to Robert Atrop's home for an interview. Robert told them he had barely slept, saying he was too worried to rest. He said it had been more than a week since he last saw Debra, just a few days before Thanksgiving. He acknowledged that they were separated, but insisted that they weren't headed for divorce. He told investigators about the situation involving John Pearson, but said that the affair allegations were just rumors. As for Jeff Freeberg, Robert described him as nothing more than a friend. When detectives asked Robert again about the route he drove the night Deborah disappeared, they pressed him on timing. He told them he left his house around 9:45pm reached the salon by 10, left around 10:05, and was back home roughly 20 minutes later, covering about 27 miles in that span, investigators took note, believing that would be a long route to cover in a short time. As they were preparing to leave, detectives decided to collect soil samples from Robert's property to compare with the mud found on Deborah's car. While doing so, they noticed Something else. A tire track in Robert's yard. They documented it and collected soil from that area as well. Before investigators even left Robert's property, the worried husband had become their prime suspect. Investigators knew they needed to confirm Robert Atrop's alibi. They started by doing the simplest thing, checking with the people Robert said he had called that night. Beginning around 9:30pm each of them confirmed the same thing Robert had called, and he was asking if they had seen Debra. So the calls themselves were real. But when investigators pulled Robert's phone records, something didn't line up. None of the calls Robert said he made between 9:30 and 11:30pm appeared on his bill. The only call that showed up was made at 11:34pm to the Sheriff's office. That raised questions. At the time, Robert lived in Sherwood and Deborah lived in Salem, about 30 miles away. In 1988, the calls between the two areas were considered long distance, and long distance calls were itemized. If Robert had dialed directly from his home phone, the calls should have appeared on his phone records. And if he had used a calling card, those calls would have appeared on the calling card account instead. Today, long distance calls are instant and unlimited. But back in the late 80s, a calling card was how you made a long distance call. Callers would dial an access number and enter a PIN so the call could be billed to their card instead of the phone line. The detectives checked the records for Robert's landline, his calling card account, and another account he had. And while calls from other days appeared, there was nothing from November 29th. When asked about the missing calls, Robert told investigators he had made them from home. He said he didn't use a calling card and didn't know why the calls weren't showing up on his bill. With no record of the calls coming from Robert's home phone, detectives began considering another possibility, that the calls had been made from a payphone. They searched for payphone records in the area, hoping to find evidence of the calls Robert described. But payphone records at the time were limited, and investigators were unable to locate any records tying those calls to a specific phone. Still looking for answers, detectives obtained a search warrant for any calling cards Robert might have had. Robert turned over a work issued calling card billed through New Jersey Bell. Once again, the calls weren't there. By that point, investigators were out of options. They couldn't confirm where Robert was when he made those calls, and they couldn't confirm his alibi through phone records. It was another unanswered question in a case already filled with them. As the investigation continued. Detectives did what they were supposed to do. They looked outward. Law enforcement spoke extensively with both Jeff Freeberg and John Pearson. They checked alibis. They followed leads. Tips came in, as they often do in high profile cases. But none of them panned out. No evidence tied either man to Deborah's murder. One by one, alternative suspects were ruled out. And that left only Robert Aatrobs. As investigators searched for answers, life without Debra went on. Robert became a single father to Reanna. Debra's family initially tried to remain involved, offering support and help with the baby. But in the following months, Robert began distancing himself from Debra's family entirely. Their contact with Reanna became limited and then simply stopped altogether. The last time Debra's family saw Reanna was on her first birthday. Robert did not help plan Deborah's funeral. He didn't even attend it. According to testimony from Debra's brother and stepfather, Robert's only instruction when it came to the arrangements was to, quote, get it done. For detectives, the case was stuck. They believed Robert was responsible for Debra's murder. But belief wasn't enough. Without physical evidence tying him to the crime, there was nowhere left to go. So in 1990, nearly two years after Debra was killed, investigators decided to try one last time. They called Robert and asked to speak with him again. Robert agreed. They met at a restaurant called Sherry's. The plan was simple. Detectives wanted to confront Robert with the unresolved questions, especially the phone calls that still didn't appear on his records. They hoped that after all this time, something would crack. When asked again why the calls weren't on his home phone bill, Robert insisted he had made them from home. If they weren't there, he said, the phone company must have lost them. Detectives pressed further. They asked him directly whether he killed his wife. But Robert denied it. And with that, investigators were out of options. Deborah Atrop's murder remained unsolved. In the years that followed, Deborah Atrop's murder file was passed from desk to desk. There were no new witnesses, no new evidence, no arrests. As years turned into decades, the likelihood of answers and accountability seemed to fade. By the time 30 years had passed, Deborah's case was no longer active. It was cold. Then, in 2021, something changed. The county received a federal grant to establish a cold case unit, money earmarked specifically to take a fresh look at unsolved homicides. Out of all the cold cases on the books, there was only one they chose to reopen Deborah Atrop's murder. For the first time in decades, investigators were given the time and resources to review the case from the beginning.
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Have you ever experienced something truly unexplainable? A moment that felt almost like a vivid dream, leaving you with a lingering sense of wonder, leaving you questioning everything you thought you knew?
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Perhaps it was a fleeting glimpse of something extraordinary, a chilling whisper in the dead of night. Or an undeniable premonition that comes to life.
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I'm Yvette Gentile.
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And I'm her sister, Racha Pecorero.
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Each week on our podcast so Supernatural, we partner with the one and only Ashley Flowers, host of the number one true crime podcast, Crime Junkie, to take you on a journey of the world's most mystical mysteries.
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Ready to explore the unknown? Join us every Friday for a new episode of so Supernatural, available wherever you listen to podcasts. The new investigators started at square one. They read the original reports, rewatched interviews, re examined evidence. And as they worked their way through the file, one thing became immediately clear. Robert Aatrobs had always been the primary suspect. In fact, he had been the only suspect. But belief alone wasn't enough. The missing phone records that had troubled investigators for years still weren't proof of murder. If the case was going to move forward, the team knew they needed something more, something that could tie Robert directly to Deborah's death or to the place where her body was found. So they went back into the field. They began re interviewing witnesses, some of whom hadn't been contacted in decades. And during one of those interviews, investigators believed they finally uncovered a missing piece. It came from a man named Marc St. Pierre. Mark St. Pierre was Robert Atrop's boss at Allied Industries in 1988, and also a friend. He told investigators they were close. Robert spent Thanksgiving with the St. Pierre family during the separation. And when Deborah was found in the trunk, St. Pierre went to Robert's house to support him. Police spoke with St. Pierre in 1988, but when detectives re interviewed him in 2021, he added new context. He explained Robert's former job may have connected him to the location where Debra's body was found. You see, Robert's role required that he travel to specific territories, track construction projects, and try to sell products and materials that the construction workers may need. And the spot where Deborah's car was found was an active construction area. While St. Pierre couldn't say whether Robert sold to that specific site, he said it was within Robert's territory, meaning Robert would have known about it. After Debra's murder, the company he and Robert worked for restructured St. Pierre, said he kept Robert on And even moved him from outside sales to to an inside role because he was counting on him. Then Robert abruptly left for a competitor and pulled away from their friend group. For investigators, Robert's job description was a missing link. Robert had a work related connection to the location where Debra's body was found. From there, they turned to forensics, starting with the mud. In 1988, police had collected soil from Debra's car and clothing, as well as samples from Robert's property. Most of it was too degraded to be useful, but one sample remained. Mud taken from the right front tire of Debra's car. An FBI soil analyst compared the samples using a standardized process examining color, texture and mineral content Under a microscope. The mud on Debra's tire did not match soil from the area where the car was found, and it did not match soil from Robert's driveway. But when it was compared to soil taken from Robert's yard, specifically from an area where investigators had documented a tire track, the analyst could not rule them out as coming from the same place. The conclusion was that the soil from Robert's yard was indistinguishable from the soil found on Deborah's tire. Investigators now had several troubling, unexplained phone calls, a potential connection to the dump site, and a forensic link between Robert's property and Deborah's car. Still, they needed more. So they turned to DNA. In 1988, DNA analysis was still in its infancy. But by the time the case was reopened, advances in technology made it possible to test evidence that had once been unusable. Using federal grant funding, investigators focused on areas most likely to yield results. Knowing the DNA would be degraded, but that even partial answers could be significant. They swabbed the collar and shoulder of Deborah's coat, reasoning that manual strangulation could leave contact DNA there. They also swabbed the cuff area. And although there were no signs of sexual assault, vaginal swabs were tested as well. The samples were compared to known DNA profiles. Deborah's, her daughter, Rihanna's, Jeff Freeberg's, John Pearsons and Robert Aatrops. To interpret the results, analysts used Strmics, a statistical program designed to analyze mixed DNA samples, those containing genetic material from more than one person. Rather than relying on subjective interpretation, Strmics uses probability modeling to assess how likely it is that a specific person contributed to a DNA mixture. Think of it as a calculator for complex DNA evidence. The cuff sample was analyzed first. Strmics excluded Jeff Freeberg and John Pearson as contributors. Deborah and Rhianna could not be excluded, which investigators said made sense given normal contact. As for Robert, the results were inconclusive. Analysts then examined the collar and shoulder sample, which contained DNA from four individuals and was more difficult to interpret. After adjusting the settings and running the analysis multiple times, they finally obtained a result on the third attempt stating that Robert Atrops could not be excluded as a contributor. Statistically, the DNA was calculated to be 132 times more likely if Robert Atrops contributed to the sample than if he did not. For investigators, it was the strongest forensic evidence they had ever had, and the first time in more than three decades they believed the case could finally move forward. By 2022, investigators believed they had enough new evidence and enough unresolved questions to speak with Robert Aatrobs again. Detectives went to his home and recorded the interview, asking many of the same questions he had been asked more than 30 years earlier. This time, some of his answers had changed. When asked about his marriage in 1988, Robert downplayed the problems. He said they weren't truly estranged and claimed Debra had moved out only to attend school, contradicting both his earlier statements and witness testimony from the time. His account of Debra's car also shifted. In 1988, Robert said he had never been in it. In 2022, he told detectives there may have been one occasion when he helped Debra move and might have been inside the car. Investigators noted the change, believing he may have been trying to explain why his DNA or fingerprints could be found, unaware that neither had been recovered. Robert's statements about John Pearson changed as well. In 1988, he said Debra had told him about accusations of an affair, but convinced him they weren't true. In 2022, Roberts said he knew nothing about any affair at all. Other details shifted, too. Robert's description of the route he drove the night Debra disappeared changed, as did his account of how and where he made the phone calls that night. In 1988, he was adamant the calls were made from home. Now, he said he believed he may have used a calling card. Prosecutors later acknowledged that memory fades over time. But they argued these weren't minor inconsistencies. They were details Roberts should have remembered. For investigators, the interview confirmed what they had long suspected. They believed they finally had enough. The evidence was presented to a grand jury, and on March 23, 2023, more than 34 years after Deborah Aatrobs was murdered, Robert Aatrops was arrested and charged with her murder. According to the prosecution, this case is not about a single piece of evidence. It's about how the Evidence fits together. They argued that everything changed when Robert realized Debra was moving on. They told jurors that when Debra began seeing other men and planning a life apart from him, Robert faced something he couldn't accept. In the prosecution's view, it became a situation of if he couldn't have her, no one could. They argued that on November 28, Robert changed the plan, deliberately calling Deborah and telling her that she needed to come pick up their daughter after her hair appointment. Prosecutors said that decision wasn't about childcare. It was about getting Debra back to his property, isolated, rural, and away from anyone who might see or hear what happened next. They believe that's where Debra was killed. Prosecutors told jurors Debra was manually strangled, an intimate physical act, and that the mud found on her clothing and inside her car came from Robert's yard, where investigators had documented a tire track years earlier. From there, they believe, Robert placed Deborah's body in the trunk of her car and drove it to a construction site roughly five miles away, an area he would have known because it fell within his sales territory. They argued that he removed the license plates and took Debra's purse to delay identification, then left the car in a way that may draw attention without immediately revealing what was inside. Prosecutors acknowledged they could not account for every detail detail of how Robert got home or exactly how the crime unfolded minute by minute. But they suggested that Robert could have enlisted help or made his way back on his own. They told jurors that the phone calls that night were not the actions of a frantic husband, but an attempt to create an alibi. The calls were real, they said, but where Robert was when he made them remains unknown. And the missing phone records, prosecutors argued, suggest he was not where he claimed to be. According to the state, from roughly 7pm until 11:34pm Robert Aatrobs was unaccounted for. And prosecutors told jurors that gap exists for one reason. In their view, he had just murdered his wife and was trying to cover it up. They closed by telling the jury that after nearly four decades, it was time for Deborah Atrops to finally get justice. And that justice, they said, required finding Robert Aatrobs guilty of first degree murder. Before the jury can make that determination, the defense has a story of their own to tell. And next week, they drop a bombshell. They say the DNA evidence raises the possibility of another contributor and points towards a man they argue investigators overlooked, a man the defense says went to extraordinary lengths to avoid cold case detectives. A man who, according to testimony, told family he was terrified because His DNA was everywhere and he knew this case was going to come back to him. While investigators were focused on Robert Aatrops, was the real story hiding in plain sight. Thirteenth Juror is an Audio Chuck production hosted by Brandy Churchwell. Ashley Flowers is executive producer. You can follow 13th Juror on Instagram @Thirteenth Juror podcast. I think Chuck would approve. Every year, millions of people head into the wilderness, searching for peace, beauty, and adventure. But hidden in those same scenic landscapes are stories of violence, survival, and lives cut short. I'm Delia d', Ambra, and on my podcast Park Predators, I uncover the true crimes that happened in the most amazing places on Earth. Listen to Park Predators wherever you get your podcasts.