File M For Murder

Summary

Podcast Summary: "File M For Murder" – 20/20 by ABC News

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Introduction

"File M For Murder," an episode of ABC News' "20/20," delves into the harrowing true crime case of Bob Eidman, an insurance agent brutally murdered in his own office in St. Charles, Missouri. This detailed investigation uncovers layers of deceit, hidden relationships, and the relentless pursuit of justice by law enforcement.

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The Crime

June 8, 2007 – A Peaceful Community Shattered

St. Charles, Missouri, known for its tranquil suburban life, was jolted by a chilling murder. Bob Eidman, a 48-year-old insurance agent, was found dead in his Brook Auto Insurance agency located in a busy strip mall near Interstate 70.

• Discovery of the Body:

  • [02:04] A family member recounts the chaotic scene: "There were just floods and floods of police cars coming in and just total chaos."
  • [05:52] Homicide Detective Don Stepp describes the fatal attack: "Bob Aidman was shot three times. The first shot was superficial... The third and fatal shot had been fired through Bob Aidman's left eye as the assailant stood over his prone body."

• Scene Details:

  • No forced entry was evident, raising questions about the motive.
  • Bob's wallet was missing, and the office drawers, typically used for storing cash, showed minimal signs of disturbance.

---

Initial Investigation

Law Enforcement Scrambles for Clues

The immediate response involved a massive police presence, with over 30 detectives from the Major Case Squad deployed to assist in the investigation.

• Key Evidence Collected:

  • Bullet casings, fragments, and DNA evidence from Bob's back pocket were meticulously gathered.
  • [09:56] "Police believe Eidman was working alone when someone walked inside his business, fatally shot him, then took off."

• Primary Leads:

  • Surveillance footage from a nearby grocery store captured a white Ford Focus passing by twice on the morning of the murder, leading investigators to search extensively for the vehicle and its occupants.

---

Introduction of Diane Eidman

The Enigmatic Widow

Diane Eidman, Bob's wife of over two decades, became a central figure in the investigation. Her demeanor and responses raised suspicions among detectives.

• Diane's Background:

  • Diane managed the kitchen at a local hospital and appeared reserved and quiet.
  • Family members described her as "not very outgoing" and "pretty quiet."

• Suspicious Behavior:

  • [22:24] Diane submitted to a polygraph test, which returned inconclusive results.
  • [25:19] She revealed a haunting family history: "Don't take this as a confession or anything, but this happened to my dad too," hinting at previous unresolved murders in her family.

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Discovery of Bob's Secret Life

A Double Life Unveiled

As the investigation progressed, shocking revelations emerged about Bob Eidman's personal life, complicating the case further.

• Hidden Relationships:

  • Secret LGBTQ+ Relationship:
    • [37:14] "We discovered that Bob was having an affair with another man."
    • Bob's interactions with male partners were uncovered through his computer and phone records, indicating visits to gay websites and communication with a man from out of town.

• Impact on the Investigation:

  • This newfound knowledge introduced potential motives, including blackmail or jealousy, complicating the initial robbery theory.

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DNA Evidence and Breakthrough

The Golden Ticket

A pivotal moment in the investigation came with advancements in forensic science, particularly with touch DNA analysis.

• Touch DNA Analysis:

  • [44:17] Police cut out the back pockets of Bob's pants to collect skin cells, hoping to find traces of the assailant's DNA.
  • After processing, the DNA analysis revealed a mixture from Bob and an unknown male.

• Identifying the Suspect:

  • [59:40] The DNA matched Paul White, a name previously not on the investigators' radar.
  • Paul White, serving time for forgery, became the prime suspect after his DNA linked directly to the crime scene.

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Suspects and Interrogations

Paul White and Cleo Hines

The investigation spotlighted two individuals: Paul White and Cleo Hines, both of whom provided conflicting accounts of the murder.

• Paul White:

  • Initially denied any involvement with Bob Eidman.
  • [66:25] Paul insisted, "It's impossible," when confronted with DNA evidence linking him to Bob's pocket.
  • After persistent interrogation, Paul eventually confessed to his role in the murder, detailing the events leading up to Bob's death.

• Cleo Hines:

  • A smooth-talker, Cleo implicated Paul White in the crime.
  • [73:44] Cleo claimed that Paul orchestrated the murder, attempting to shift blame away from himself.
  • His testimony contradicted Paul's account, leaving investigators with conflicting narratives.

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Trial and Verdict

Justice Served

The courtroom became the battleground where the truth behind Bob Eidman's murder was fought over by the accused and the prosecuting team.

• Paul White:

  • [79:08] Faced with insurmountable evidence, Paul was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery.
  • He received a life sentence without the possibility of parole, ensuring he would never regain his freedom.

• Cleo Hines:

  • Opted for an Alford plea, acknowledging sufficient evidence for conviction while maintaining his innocence.
  • He was sentenced to two life terms, with eligibility for parole beginning in 2034.

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Conclusion and Aftermath

Closure and Reflection

The resolution of Bob Eidman's murder brought mixed emotions to those involved. While justice was served, the scars of the tragedy lingered.

• Diane Eidman's Statement:

  • [80:42] Diane expressed profound loss: "I took my best friend, I took my husband away from me."
  • She grappled with the dual trauma of her father's and husband's murders, emphasizing the lasting impact on her life.

• Detective Don Stepp's Commitment:

  • [54:23] Detective Stepp remained dedicated to uncovering the truth, driven by the need for closure for Bob's family.

• Family Reflections:

  • Family members mourned Bob's vibrant personality and the senseless loss of his life for a mere $300.
  • [77:33] "It's hard to think about a man's life being taken for $300."

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Notable Quotes

• Detective Stepp:
  "We found several calls that were coming in and coming out pretty much the same time each day. We discovered that Bob was having an affair."
  [38:09]

• Diane Eidman:
  "He told me intimate things that he hasn't told me. I felt hurt because he wasn't speaking to me that way."
  [50:13]

• Paul White:
  "It's no way in the world. It's impossible."
  [71:13]

• Cleo Hines:
  "I never robbed a guy. I've been in there one time and to get insurance."
  [73:20]

---

Final Thoughts

"File M For Murder" masterfully chronicles the intricate details of a murder investigation that spans over three years, highlighting the challenges of solving crimes in small communities. Through meticulous forensic work, unwavering detective work, and the unraveling of personal secrets, the case of Bob Eidman serves as a poignant reminder of the complexities inherent in true crime mysteries.

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Note: Advertisements and non-content sections from the transcript have been omitted to focus solely on the core narrative of the investigation and its resolution.

Transcript

[Narrator]

And so James, he gets to the front door, he puts his key into.

[Detective]

The lock, he unlocks it, and with.

[Narrator]

A sledgehammer in one hand, he attempts.

[Detective]

To push the door open.

[Narrator]

And so James, as he's pressing the door barely open, he's staring into this.

[Detective]

Crack, trying to make out what's going.

[Narrator]

On inside of his house. And then suddenly, a set of eyes meet his from behind the door. And before James can do anything, this man that is standing inside of his house says to James, hey there, I. I'm Mr. Ballin. And what you just experienced is just a taste of what you can expect when you listen to the Mr. Ballin podcast. In every episode, I peel back the layers of the strange, the dark and the mysterious. From unexplained phenomena that challenge everything you thought you knew about reality to true crimes that keep you up at night.

[Detective]

I cover it all.

[Narrator]

Listen to the Mr. Ballin podcast Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories for free on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Prime members can listen early and ad.

[Detective]

Free on the Amazon Music app. A larger than life businessman gunned down in his office.

[Narrator]

But will the discovery of his secret double life lead to the killer? And all new 2020 starts right now.

[Reporter]

So in broad daylight, a man is shot dead in his place of business on a busy street.

[Detective]

I knew as soon as I saw it, I knew he was gone.

[Narrator]

Just two blocks behind me, Bob Aidman was found robbed and murdered.

[Detective]

Bob Aidman was shot three times. That third shot has been an execution.

[Narrator]

I just all the way there saying.

[Detective]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, nobody. There were just floods and floods of police cars coming in and just total chaos.

[Investigator]

We're with, they only have five days. So the clock is ticking.

[Narrator]

Diane found out on the site murdered.

[Detective]

Yes, she did.

[Reporter]

She makes this statement, something like this has happened before.

[Detective]

There were numerous individuals could have done something such as this.

[Family Member]

He asked me a question that just kind of floored me. He said, we're trying to find out about your brother's lifestyle.

[Narrator]

What is it like to all of a sudden learn that there's this whole other secret part of his life?

[Detective]

People are going to find out some stuff. They're probably not going to.

[Family Member]

June 8, 2007 was a typical day in St. Charles. It was a sunny day when I was proceeding southwest here on First Capital Drive.

[Narrator]

So it was about to break 80 degrees on this Friday morning around 11am and as officer Dean Meyers patrol car is making its way toward Interstate 70, a mail carrier was on her rounds too. This security video showing her dropping off mail at a strip mall grocery store, then driving her truck a few doors down to enter the office where Bob Eidman sold car insurance. Nobody heard her first scream.

[Detective]

Our mail carrier was running up the street and she was flailing her arms and she was yelling for the police.

[Narrator]

Deborah Kennedy was the first person to hear those desperate cries and tried to catch up with her as the mail carrier ran into traffic on the busy road. Before Officer Meyer spotted her, I saw.

[Family Member]

The mail carrier running up the hill with a phone in her hand.

[Detective]

There's a man. I'm delivering a mailbarry house. He's lying on the floor with blood all over. I asked what's going on? And she said bob was laying on the floor and he had blood on his face.

[Narrator]

And she tries to investigate what's going on. She goes into Bob's office and gets the shock of her life. I went inside to see if I.

[Detective]

Could help him, and when I walked in, there was plenty of blood. I watched his chest. His chest didn't move. I knew as soon as I saw it, I knew he was gone. Let me breathe for a second.

[Narrator]

It was St. Charles, first murder of 2007. And right from the start, it was the kind of thing that just isn't supposed to happen here. That's because St. Charles, Missouri, is an idyllic bedroom community. It's just over the bridge from St. Louis with a historic downtown and historic values as well. I guess the idea is that you're supposed to shed the stress of the big city as you come across the wide Missouri river and land here. But as we know, money woes, lies and rage and desperation, the grip of fear, they do not stop at the river's edge.

[Investigator]

Now we've got a whole team of officers from the St. Charles Police Department. They've conversed on the scene of Bob Aidman's murder.

[Detective]

There were just, I mean, floods and floods of police cars coming in and just total chaos. Immediately, I responded to the area, to the scene. Bob is laying on the floor between the two desks. He's laying on his back, and there's a pool of blood around his head. Bob Eidman was shot three times. The first shot was superficial. It was a grazing wound to his chin. The second shot was to his neck, shoulder area, which knocked him down.

[Narrator]

According to St. Charles homicide detective Don Stepp, the third and fatal shot had been fired through Bob Aidman's left eye as the assailant stood over his prone body.

[Detective]

I would definitely classify that third Shot as being an execution. This was an insurance office and it was a fairly open area. We collected bullet casings, bullets, bullet fragments.

[Family Member]

We would mark the position, set up.

[Detective]

Little yellow tents called photo markers. We would photograph it. We dusted for fingerprints. You were hoping that maybe you will find one fingerprint that may lead to a particular suspect.

[Narrator]

Police are seeking out anyone who might have spotted something that morning in Bob's office with her office directly below Bob's. Deborah Kennedy didn't see anyone, but she might have heard something. I think it was probably around 10:30 or 11:00. A friend of mine had come in.

[Detective]

You know, I heard a couple noises and we both kind of looked at each other and then I heard a big thud on my ceiling and were kind of like, what the heck is Bob doing up there? And so being the way I am, I yelled up through the rafters, you know, hey, Bob, keep it down.

[Narrator]

I'm trying to work down here.

[Detective]

We came to the conclusion that those loud bangs that she heard was the gunshots in Bob's office.

[Investigator]

Police quickly worked to gather information about the victim. His name is Bob Eidman. He's 48 years old. He was married for a very long time, had no children and, and worked in the insurance industry.

[Reporter]

But just recently, like the past two years, had just started this new company. He'd got like a franchise. He just started that on his own.

[Narrator]

As news begins to spread that something bad has happened at Bob's office, concerned friends and associates in the insurance business, they rush to the site like the longtime colleague who asked that we call her Dana. What made you want to go over there? That's my friend. I wanted to make sure he was okay. I remember locking up my office. I had a client in there and she saw how distraught I was. And I'm just in the car, just all the way there saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Detective]

No, Bob, no Bob.

[Narrator]

What happened when you got there? Of course there's spectators, so someone said.

[Detective]

That someone got shot.

[Narrator]

Didn't see Bob, didn't see him waving.

[Detective]

In the window, didn't see any sign.

[Narrator]

Of him at all. And then when they took his body out of the office, we knew it was Bob's body because he was a big guy. What's that moment like? Oh, my goodness. It was the worst.

[Investigator]

Local reporters have arrived on the scene as well. Those reporters notice that a woman pulls up and it turns out that she is the now widow of Robert Eidman. Her name is Diane. And Diane approaches the reporters asking Them if they know what's happening. And the reporters are saying that they feel uncomfortable telling her about her husband, so they direct her to the police.

[Detective]

Diane said that she hadn't heard from Bob all day, which was odd. And she kept trying to call him, and he never answered the office phone. So when she shows up and seen all the police cars, she knew something had happened and she identified herself.

[Narrator]

Diane found out on the site, didn't she, that her husband had been murdered?

[Detective]

Yes, she did.

[Narrator]

As investigators comb the area looking for video of any potential suspects, they happen upon this grocery store just a few doors down from Bob Eidman's office. Inside, they take note of the security camera that captured the mail carrier earlier that morning. It was right about there, pointed directly towards the front door. Once they get a look at the video it recorded, it's the first big break in the case.

[Detective]

Police believe Eidman was working alone when someone walked inside his business, fatally shot him, then took off.

[Narrator]

Insurance agent Bob Eidman is dead, shot to death in his office along a busy thoroughfare near the interstate in St. Charles, Missouri.

[Reporter]

We are west of the city of St. Louis, which most people kind of relate that to the arch.

[Narrator]

They are just separated by a river. So just hop on a bridge and.

[Detective]

You'Re in St. Charles.

[Narrator]

And like this town's famous Christmas tradition celebration and their lively oktoberfest, murder comes but once a year.

[Detective]

St. Charles averages about one and a half homicides a year.

[Narrator]

It's a pretty peaceful community and people.

[Detective]

Look out for each other.

[Investigator]

A cold blooded murder is not something St. Charles is known for, and the local cops will probably need some help with what looks like a big investigation. So they appeal to a special group for help.

[Detective]

A request was made to notify the major case squad and they contact other departments that are in our area, and they send detectives that assist us. More than 30 detectives with the major case squad are now looking for his killer.

[Investigator]

This elite major case squad has a very high rate of success. 80% of their cases are solved. But with all this manpower, there's one catch. They only have five days to get the job done. So the clock is ticking.

[Reporter]

They're coming from all other agencies. At some point, they need to get back to theirs.

[Detective]

The police canvassed first capital right there.

[Narrator]

In front of the shop.

[Detective]

How you doing? Fine. What's up? We're with the major K squad and we're investigating the homicide that happened here Friday afternoon, Asking did you notice something on June 7th?

[Narrator]

And then you can see in the distance those apartment houses. You talked to all the people who lived in those apartment houses, too, didn't you?

[Detective]

Every door was knocked on multiple times until we got contact.

[Narrator]

And could one part of Bob Eidman's line of work have put him in jeopardy?

[Detective]

Robert Eidman's specialty in the insurance company was dealing with high risk drivers. Individuals that could not get insurance through traditional places, people that had prior traffic violations.

[Reporter]

He wasn't taking checks because apparently those had been bounced. And this was back in the day when checks were a thing.

[Narrator]

But his good friend and insurance colleague, Dana, she felt Bob was taking too great a risk with the form of payment he did take.

[Detective]

So he would accept cash against a.

[Narrator]

Lot of people who advised him not to take cash. Though he was known for accepting cash. He doesn't have a safe. Instead, police learned Bob would put the cash he received from clients into a far less secure place.

[Detective]

There was a drawer in Bob's desk that was locked, and you'd have to use a screwdriver to manipulate the lock to be able to open it.

[Narrator]

When police managed to open the drawer and they checked the cash box, oh, there's money inside, about $200.

[Reporter]

There was no force entering, but it could have absolutely been a robbery. I know one of the things they were looking for was Bob's wallet missing.

[Narrator]

And you're looking for anywhere that somebody might have thrown something like Bob Eidman's.

[Detective]

Wallet from the top of the roof, all through the grass, ditches, sewers, everywhere. We could not find the wallet. The wallet's gonna be 90% of the time in a man's back pocket. And to get that wallet out, you would have to struggle between the wallet and the inside of the pants, which caused some friction. Bob recommended that we cut the pants pockets out and send them to the crime lab. We just thought maybe a sample of skin cells could be found inside Bob's pocket. When we touch something or brush up against something, some of our DNA is transferred to the other object. If they're located, those skin cells can be broken down into DNA.

[Narrator]

So you're checking for DNA everywhere else. But this was just kind of out of the blue. You just thought, well, you know, I might as well give this a try.

[Detective]

Yes, sir. It was the first time that I'd ever heard of anybody's pants pockets getting cut out.

[Investigator]

While one team is feverishly working to gather physical evidence, another team is talking to anyone they can find, talking to family, friends, anything that will help them glean information about Bob Eidman.

[Narrator]

Bob was a big teddy Bear. He was friendly, he was bubbly.

[Detective]

He called me.

[Narrator]

Wild woman. I think it has something to do with my hair. It grew on me.

[Detective]

Bob was a funny little guy. And I say little meaning that I think he was probably about 5, 4, 5, 6.

[Narrator]

If we were gonna say what size personality he had, like small to large, where would you put him on the scale? I'd say extra large. His Persona was just so, hey, you guys see me? I'm here. How would you describe his relationship to authority growing up?

[Family Member]

Not good. He defied authority with regularity. He had to go to summer school every summer. In fact, my parents tried to bribe him and said, hey, if you can graduate from high school in four years, give you a car. He's like, show me the car first.

[Detective]

We were in high school together. Bob was pretty forward. He liked to talk to the ladies and hang out and visit. Then he met Diane and he fell in love with her. And they were real close.

[Narrator]

I believe Diane and Bobby made a fantastic couple.

[Detective]

I really liked Diane.

[Narrator]

She put Bobby in his place. Bobby say something smart.

[Detective]

She'd say something smart right back at him. She was taller than him. I don't think it really mattered to him at all. He ended up getting some lifts so.

[Narrator]

He felt like he was as tall as his wife.

[Reporter]

Bob and Diane had been married for 20 plus years. They did not have any children.

[Narrator]

So instead, his office featured photos of the muscle cars that he loved. While under his desk, he kept a copy of the Dreamgirl cd. He finally got to be his own boss. But there were great challenges, weren't there?

[Family Member]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

He started talking like, well, the business.

[Family Member]

Isn'T doing so good.

[Detective]

I haven't had that many people come in.

[Family Member]

He kept saying, you know, if I don't make this in the next couple months, I'm not sure it might go under. Yeah, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it.

[Investigator]

Think about all that financial stress. At least one person thinks it was taking a terrible toll.

[Narrator]

I thought he committed suicide. You thought he was so despondent that he might have taken his own life? I did remember that video camera in the grocery store next to Bob's, pointing toward the street in front? Police have been poring over the footage and now they may have found something of interest there.

[Detective]

That white car at 10:50am you see the vehicle drive past the front doors, and four minutes later you see it drive back past the front door is, I believe, a little slower and almost like creeping along looking for something.

[Narrator]

Was this driver making sure the coast.

[Detective]

Was clear it wasn't the greatest picture. I remember that. It's always frustrating when you can't identify the people inside the vehicle. One thing we can tell is a white four door vehicle.

[Narrator]

Luckily, I'm impressed. You can tell it's a four door vehicle. It looks like a white car. But it turned out the small St. Charles Police Department had a car maven.

[Detective]

We have an individual at the time that could almost identify almost any type of vehicle. He was a big car guy. He said it was a Ford Focus.

[Narrator]

Like I like cars. But honestly, wow.

[Detective]

We're kind of looking at this several different ways. Is he having problems with a customer with a white Ford Focus?

[Investigator]

The bad news is that in St. Charles county there are 1300 Ford Focuses. In the state of Missouri, there are 5000.

[Detective]

5000 is a big number to have to deal with.

[Narrator]

But they're not finding anything suspicious until a gift wrapped lead suddenly falls into their lap. A white car is crashed and abandoned nearby. And get this about the driver.

[Detective]

He had bloody clothing on. Why has he got Bob's business card? I hope this is it.

[Family Member]

A mail carrier found Eidman's body shot several times inside his Brook auto insurance agency at about 12:30 Friday afternoon.

[Reporter]

So in broad daylight, a man is shot dead in his place of business on a. On a busy street. I'm sure it did strike fear.

[Detective]

I don't understand why somebody would kill somebody right here. It was such a senseless killing that nobody really understood what was going on. I didn't want to go back to work the next morning. I wanted to get the heck out of Dodge.

[Narrator]

I wanted to get out of town. Police here in St. Charles, Missouri still had no motive, no witnesses, and no way to quell the rising fear of the St. Charles community. Fear and anxiety that grew even more after three men broke into a bowling alley, took $700 and tied up the janitor in the process.

[Reporter]

Two men wearing masks and carrying guns rob a St. Charles bowling alley.

[Narrator]

Well, here is proof. They had a gun. A bullet hole left in the office windows. They busted in through the back door.

[Detective]

Shot up the office, tried to shoot open a safe.

[Reporter]

Geographically, it was just down the street from Brooks insurance.

[Detective]

And it was a bowling alley that we all bowled at. So at first we all thought it was tied together.

[Narrator]

So people wondered if there was a connection between the two robberies.

[Detective]

And we looked at that, seeing if they were connected. And in the course of that investigation, we were able to eliminate it from being a part of this case.

[Investigator]

Police are knee deep in Bob Eidman's murder investigation and they come upon a really interesting scene. It's an abandoned, crashed white car. And when they track down the owner, well, there's a couple of really eye popping pieces of information.

[Detective]

He had bloody clothing on and he also had one of Robert Eidman's business cards. Why does he have bloody clothing? Is it his blood? Is it Bob's blood? We have some questions we need answered. This could be.

[Narrator]

Blew my mind, like, whoa, Travis, Wade Ensley is about to blow a lot of mines at police headquarters where leads in Bob Eidman's murder have been hard to come by.

[Family Member]

The car that I wrecked was a.

[Narrator]

White four door Saturn, which might have looked like the car that was captured on the footage.

[Family Member]

Next thing I know, I'm at St.

[Detective]

Charles Police Station getting questioned for murder.

[Narrator]

Police now feel that he has a lot of explaining to do. So as Travis recalls, his story goes kind of something like this.

[Detective]

I needed new insurance on my car.

[Narrator]

And my buddies like, check this guy.

[Family Member]

Out and called him up, gave me good rates. And then like a week later, I had been out, had a couple drinks. I wound up wrecking my car right by my apartment. My airbags deployed and it knocked the.

[Detective]

Sense out of me.

[Family Member]

And I like staggered down the hill, like right to my apartment, didn't remember nothing.

[Narrator]

Okay.

[Detective]

Next day, I woke up, I walk.

[Family Member]

Out my door, my car's not there.

[Narrator]

So Travis calls police to report his car as stolen, but then is stunned to suddenly find himself a potential person of interest in a murder.

[Family Member]

I was scared enough.

[Narrator]

They were coming at you.

[Family Member]

Yeah, they were coming at me pretty good.

[Investigator]

Travis has what seems like a likely story about why there's blood on a shirt. He said that when he crashed his car, he got a bloody nose. Cops will check out his story. So they're not quite ready to clear him.

[Detective]

And they went and looked into certain.

[Family Member]

You know, my alibi and this and that. They're like, okay, yeah, he's not the guy.

[Investigator]

Now police turn their attention closer to home to Bob Eidman's widow, Diane. It is quite routine for police to look at the spouse of someone who's been murdered.

[Detective]

When Bob's wife Diane was advised that Bob had been murdered in his office, she didn't have a great reaction.

[Narrator]

While Diane does appear to be upset in this photo, some detectives at the scene felt she was not overly emotional.

[Detective]

I don't want to say it didn't seem like a surprise to her, but she wasn't reacting in a manner that I thought a wife would React when they found out her husband was shot. That struck me and I'm sure several detectives as unusual. Is she in shock? Is she in denial? Is she involved in this?

[Narrator]

Then there's Detective Stephanie Kaiser. Already a veteran sex crimes investigator, Kaiser was respected for her sensitivity and understanding with victims.

[Reporter]

That would be completely normal in a shock situation like that. There is no such thing as a one size fits all when you're talking about trauma. Because to be able to process that would take some time. They're moving slow. They can't think. So I make nothing of that behavior.

[Narrator]

Now Detective Kaiser is about to become the St. Charles Police Department's Diane whisperer.

[Reporter]

Diane Imman became my lead. We were assigned to take her from sadly the scene.

[Investigator]

Diane wants to go to Bob's parents home so that she can break the terrible news to them. And during that ride, Diane talks about how she is the manager of the kitchen at the local hospital. And she also offers more information about her beloved husband.

[Reporter]

She said that there was financial problems.

[Narrator]

When you say financial problems, what do you mean?

[Reporter]

They were having a tough time paying bills. According to Diane, there wasn't much cash coming in. The business itself was struggling.

[Investigator]

Detective Kaiser continues talking with Diane. And she makes a note that Diane seems incredibly forgetful. She can't remember her own Social Security number. And then the detective asks her about any existing insurance policies.

[Reporter]

She was up front that, yes, I have a life insurance policy. Through work.

[Detective]

Diane initially gave us an answer that she thought they had a couple of small policies, approximately $5,000.

[Narrator]

Not much, right?

[Detective]

Not much.

[Reporter]

So Diane was pretty direct with me. I think she'd had a lot of questions asked of her and then just kind of tells me boldly, I did not do this.

[Narrator]

These conversations with Diane will shape and reshape the police investigation into Bob Aidman's murder. At the end of that first day, Diane sounds like every other resident of St. Charles. She is terribly afraid.

[Reporter]

It's just dawning on her wait. I'm not safe either. I have to act and get her extra patrol. And I did. But you have to still go where the evidence.

[Narrator]

And no one knows yet where that evidence will lead. Especially in the wake of the very first astonishing story that Diane Eidman tells Detective Kaiser with words that will be ringing in lots of heads at police headquarters.

[Reporter]

One of the first things she says is don't take this as a confession or anything, but this happened to my dad too. Has her father been murdered and her husband been murdered as well? Has lightning struck this, this woman twice.

[Detective]

Coming to ABC and Hulu.

[Narrator]

Amanda Riley was a mother, wife speaker at her church.

[Detective]

And then she got diagnosed with cancer. A beloved young Christian woman fighting a battle undeserved. We thought she was God's gift, but she was a liar.

[Narrator]

Why would somebody fake? Counts everywhere.

[Detective]

From the number one smash hit podcast.

[Investigator]

It was only a matter of time.

[Narrator]

Until Amanda's whole world came tumbling down.

[Investigator]

You're not gonna believe this. Scamanda.

[Detective]

New episodes Thursday nights on ABC and stream on Hulu.

[Narrator]

At the time of his death, Bob Aidman had been married to his wife Diane for more than two decades. And yet even those closest to him could find Diane to be something of an enigma to them.

[Family Member]

Not very outgoing.

[Detective]

No, not very outgoing. She's just kind of shy and quiet.

[Family Member]

I mean, she just didn't really have a lot to say to anyone, really.

[Narrator]

When you would ask Bob about Diane, what kinds of things would he say about her?

[Family Member]

You know, his famous saying was, she's not the person you think she is. And I never knew what that meant.

[Narrator]

Now Detective Kaiser was reeling from the incredible story that Diane had just told her.

[Reporter]

She makes this statement. Don't take this as a confession, but something like this has happened before. And I'm not quoting Diane at this point, but somebody broke into the house and shot my dad. So when I asked, did they catch.

[Narrator]

The person, how did she answer that question?

[Reporter]

She said they thought my mom shot.

[Detective]

My dad and were wondering if lightning had struck twice in the same place.

[Narrator]

Diane Bolling Eidman, seen here on her wedding day in 1978 with her father. Jerome was just 26 years old when he was murdered inside the home he shared with his wife Lenore, Diane's mother. The murder case that made headlines in this region all began when a call came through in the wee hours on the morning of April 6, 1984. Gordon Adams was an officer with the St. Louis County PD. What went out over the radio when you heard the call?

[Family Member]

As I recall, like I say, it.

[Detective]

Came out as a home invasion with someone shot. And so that's what we would consider a hotel call. Well, when I arrived, it's 2:30 in.

[Narrator]

The morning, maybe, maybe 2:35.

[Family Member]

So it's dark as can be.

[Detective]

I immediately went to the door, knocked.

[Family Member]

On the door, and no answered.

[Detective]

And the hair is pristine. And she's standing there in a. In a kind of sheer nightgown. And she says, my husband needs help. He's in the bedroom. He's been shot.

[Narrator]

What are you thinking when you're hearing this story for the first Time. I mean, she didn't strike you as.

[Detective]

A woman who woke up in the middle of the night to find her husband murdered? No tears. The hair was all done. And I'm trying to get information for my report. She actually lit up a cigarette.

[Narrator]

I'm thinking, this is your husband.

[Detective]

He's just been murdered. She didn't have any emotion at all, Almost.

[Narrator]

David Barron was a detective with the St. Louis County Police assigned to the case. So Lenore Bolling was asserting that an intruder had come into the house, somehow found her husband's service revolver, used that service revolver to kill. Kill him, and then left.

[Detective]

That's what she was saying.

[Narrator]

How did that strike you as a plausible story given your years of experience in law enforcement?

[Detective]

It was an improbable set of circumstances. And to throw into that. The garage door was open about a foot.

[Narrator]

Okay, that garage door over there was open a foot.

[Detective]

And the inside garage door leading it from the garage into the house is the only door in the house. It did not have a. A deadbolt.

[Narrator]

Diane's mother had told police she believed she was being stalked in the days prior to the shooting by a black male driving a black car who'd been leaving notes at their home. And there was a note found at the crime scene.

[Detective]

Well, the last note that was found at the scene said, this is for you, pig. For what you did to me. No, I made a canvas. Later on in the neighborhood. No one. And saw a black male in a black car dressed in all black.

[Investigator]

Lenore Boling was charged with the murder of her husband. She pled not guilty. And while she was awaiting trial, she moved in with Bob and Diane.

[Narrator]

How did Bob feel about living with someone who was accused of shooting her husband to death?

[Family Member]

Bob was not happy about that. He was scared.

[Detective]

He would go to bed every night.

[Family Member]

And say, would bolt his door, lock it closed.

[Detective]

He did not. He was afraid. He didn't want to be in the house with her.

[Narrator]

After that fateful night. This saga ending here in the fall of 1985. Diane Eidman's mother, Lenore Bowling, on trial for capital murder in the death of her husband, Diane's father, Jerome Bolling. Lenore Bowling found not guilty of her husband's murder.

[Detective]

They did not believe that she did it. They believed her story.

[Narrator]

The irony not lost on investigators. As Diane EIDMAN, More than 20 years later, now a person of interest in.

[Reporter]

A different killing says her father been murdered and her husband murdered as well. What a weird set of circumstances.

[Narrator]

But it was something else. Diane Edmond told Investigators about her own husband that they said gave them pause.

[Detective]

During Diane's initial interview, she was asked if there was any insurance policies. Diane said that she thought there was one policy and she thought it was just a small policy, approximately $5,000.

[Reporter]

She describes that she has a life insurance policy through work. She's not sure about the details on that.

[Detective]

I was contacted by an insurance company and told that there was additional policies for Robert Eidman that we were not made aware of that were quite substantial in size.

[Narrator]

Now with Bob's death, police say she was suddenly in line to receive more than $300,000 in life insurance.

[Detective]

We did not know if Diane had forgotten to tell us about those policies. Did Diane know about those policies?

[Investigator]

And as they start looking deeper into Bob Eidman, they make a mind blowing decision. Discovery. This man was leading a double life.

[Family Member]

And then the commander of the major K squad asked me a question that just kind of floored me. I had no idea.

[Detective]

I went to Bob's funeral and it was sad to see him there. I didn't expect to go see my friend in a casket. And I felt horrible for his wife and his family.

[Narrator]

Bob's older brother by 21 months, Glenn Eidman, grew up as a straight A student and he was a frequent target of Bob's verbal barbs. How do you feel about you being a policeman?

[Family Member]

He made fun of me a lot. He did not like that, wasn't big on police. He got in trouble.

[Narrator]

Growing up, Glenn always believed that Bob was his mother's favorite. Even so, he said he was not prepared for what he says she asked him to do as they attended Bob's funeral.

[Family Member]

At his funeral, my mom, who was confined to a wheelchair, she was in very poor health. So she goes, how could somebody do this to my boy? I said, mom, I don't know. I don't know why. She goes, well, I want you to find those people. I want you to kill them. And I said, that's not how this works. You know, I'm a police officer, I can't do something like that. But she was very devastated and literally three months after his death, she died.

[Narrator]

She has lost her will to live.

[Family Member]

It was kind of a rough year for sure.

[Detective]

I went up to the funeral and seen Diane as she was broken up, but I didn't ask a lot of questions.

[Family Member]

She never really said a whole lot. She really didn't say a lot about anything. She was pretty quiet.

[Narrator]

I was just watching Diane and just grieving with her. And I noticed there was a large Police presence. And I just thought that was odd for a funeral. But if they suspect the murderers to be there, then they were there for a reason.

[Detective]

At the time of Robert eibonds funeral, we set up surveillance and we recorded video of the attendees at the funeral. As well as obtaining the guest book for the services.

[Investigator]

Police check out every name on the funeral registry. It takes them nowhere. Meanwhile, it's day four of the major crimes task force investigation. The clock is ticking, but still no good leads on who killed Bob aidman.

[Detective]

We were striking out. There was no one that could really come up and say bob's having a problem with anyone.

[Narrator]

But then the major case squad does a deep dive into Bob's email, his phone, and computer records. They're searching for any hidden clues. They make a discovery they're eager to know a lot more about. Just as Glenn comes in for his.

[Family Member]

Interview, you know, they put me in an interview room to ask me some questions. I said, you know, I have nothing to hide. You don't have to play these games, you know, ask me whatever you want. And he asked me a question that just kind of floored me. He said, we're trying to find out about your brother's alternative lifestyle. I said, what alternative? He goes. His affairs, you know, I go, you think he's out picking up women? I mean, he. You know, he's.

[Narrator]

He.

[Family Member]

That just ain't happening. And he's like, your brother was gay. I had no idea.

[Detective]

We had no idea.

[Family Member]

I really. We did not know that.

[Narrator]

Turns out this long married insurance agent was leading a secret double life.

[Detective]

While we were analyzing Bob's computers and it was discovered that he was visiting male on mail, websites, or were sexual in nature, and he was making contact with some of these places. Sometimes in these murder investigations, as we dig into them, you find a lot about a person's life, their lifestyle.

[Narrator]

When you have a secret, what vulnerability does that give someone like Bob Iden?

[Detective]

Anytime somebody has a secret and somebody knows it, and you're keeping it a secret for a reason, People can use that as leverage to get their way if they want to blackmail you or extort you.

[Narrator]

As investigators continue searching through Bob's phone records, they find something else noteworthy. One phone number keeps popping up belonging to a man from out of town.

[Detective]

They had a intimate relationship. They would rent a hotel room somewhere and visit each other. Automatically, a flag gets raised.

[Narrator]

What is it like to all of a sudden learn that there's this whole other secret part of his life that you knew nothing about?

[Family Member]

It was upsetting you know, I guess I felt he should have been able to talk to somebody about that. He shouldn't have had to hide that life. He shouldn't have had to lie. Having a relationship and being gay is. That's just part of life. And I wish he would have been able to share that with us.

[Detective]

How are you doing?

[Investigator]

Police bring in this secret lover for questioning. They can't help but wonder, would this man have a reason to murder Bob? And what about Diane? Could his existence have sent her into a murderous rage?

[Narrator]

We've altered the man's voice.

[Detective]

People are going to find out some stuff they're probably not going to like. Feelings can run wild with someone. If I can't have you, nobody's going to have you. It gives people motive.

[Narrator]

And as a young, untested detective is taking on his very first big murder case, a totally unexpected assist from the cutting edge of forensic science. It's going to take this investigation into surprising territory and bring answers at last to the key question, why was Bob Aidman killed?

[Detective]

It blew my mind when the results came back. It was the golden ticket. This is what we were looking for.

[Narrator]

Two blocks behind me, Bob Aidman was found robbed and murdered. Murdered. Diane found out on the site that her husband had been murdered.

[Detective]

Yes, she did.

[Reporter]

She makes this statement, something like this has happened before. Somebody broke into the house and shot my dad.

[Detective]

It absolutely crossed everybody's mind that this was kind of a copycat murder.

[Reporter]

I've told her, hey, your husband's been killed. Your marriage is about to be put under a spotlight.

[Detective]

We discovered that Bob was having an affair.

[Family Member]

She had found out that he was having an affair with another man and that she was very angry about that.

[Narrator]

They'd had an argument about that.

[Reporter]

Diane was asking, are you telling me my husband's gay?

[Investigator]

This is one of those bizarre cases where all the evidence seems to be pointing in one direction. Then suddenly, the rug is pulled out from under you, stunning everyone.

[Detective]

I was very shocked.

[Narrator]

We cut open the pocket, swabbed the edges, hoping to get possible DNA. And the next day, State gave me the name.

[Family Member]

I was sitting in the same room with the person that shot and killed my brother.

[Narrator]

Friends and family are mourning the light loss of Bob Eidman, gunned down in his office in a small strip mall in St. Charles, Missouri.

[Family Member]

A man that loved life, always wanted to have fun, always wanted to enjoy himself. He had a great personality. Very funny, you know, very intelligent.

[Narrator]

You know, he seemed like a nice guy and. But after you got to know him.

[Detective]

A bit, that's when the bobby came.

[Narrator]

Out, I mean, it was extremely comical. He'd make me laugh so hard.

[Detective]

I mean, it would hurt.

[Narrator]

He liked to have fun. He loved muscle cars. And as far as in the office, you heard him. He was a loud guy. He was one of those guys that.

[Detective]

When he got on the phone, you kind of put your earplugs in because.

[Narrator]

He was pretty loud, larger than life.

[Detective]

He was. I could depend on him. When I was not in a great place, he would talk and he made sense.

[Narrator]

Now Bob Eidman was dead and nothing made sense. It was a little before 11am on June 8 when a mail carrier discovered Bob's lifeless body on the floor of his office.

[Detective]

Bob Ivan was shot three times.

[Reporter]

There was no forced entry or anything. He was a business that was open for business, but it could have absolutely been a robbery.

[Detective]

Robert Ivan's specialty in the insurance company was dealing with high risk drivers, individuals that could not get insurance through traditional places.

[Narrator]

So he would accept cash against a lot of people who didn't take cash and advise them not to take cash.

[Investigator]

This is a huge murder case in a very small town and with more questions than answers. St. Charles PD needs help and boy, do they get it. Enter the elite Major Case Squad.

[Detective]

20 to 30 detectives will respond and only thing they will work on for the next five days is that situation they've been called out on.

[Narrator]

The investigation into Bob Aidman's murder is all hands on deck.

[Detective]

One of the things that we were not able to recover or locate was Robert Eidman's wallet.

[Narrator]

Bob's wife Diane said he always carried his wallet in his back pocket. Police are desperate for leads, so they're going to try something unconventional. They cut the back pockets out of Eidman's pants to send for something they call touch DNA testing.

[Detective]

We just thought maybe a sample of skin cells could be found inside Bob's pocket.

[Narrator]

It's a newer technology and it's a long shot. Police, meanwhile, canvas the neighborhood where the crime occurred. They're knocking on doors. They're looking for every clue they can.

[Reporter]

Find during the area canvas. There's a Mexican grocery store. It's just a couple of doors down. I think it was on the end of this particular strip mall. And they were able to locate some.

[Narrator]

Surveillance video, a white car passing by twice. But the video is grainy.

[Detective]

In that video footage, we saw a Ford Focus. We were not able to get a license plate due to the angle of the camera and we were not able to see who was in the vehicle.

[Narrator]

With Lead after lead coming up empty. And the clock ticking on that major case squad, Diane Aidman. She remains a subject of, well, we'll call it curiosity. She was, after all, the person closest to Bob.

[Investigator]

It is quite routine for police to look at the spouse of someone who's been murdered.

[Narrator]

Tough questions need to be asked about the state of the aydmans marriage.

[Reporter]

I took that a step further. Has there been any time that you two argued? Has there been any time that you were unfaithful to him or he was unfaithful to you?

[Narrator]

Diane insisted the marriage was fine. But when investigators seize Bob's computers to be analyzed, they make a shocking discovery. Bob's been visiting gay websites online. He's looking for massages and sexual relations.

[Investigator]

Bob Eidman had been leading a secret life. And a search of phone records reveals.

[Detective]

We found several calls that were coming in and coming out pretty much the same time each day. We discovered that Bob was having an affair.

[Narrator]

A secret relationship with a man who lived more than three hours away. Police take a drive to interview him.

[Reporter]

He was very forthcoming in the fact that the relationship between him and Bob was an intimate relationship, but very much affectionate and loving. They'd hoped to be together at some point.

[Detective]

It wasn't like a quick fling kind of out the door kind of thing. I think that's what it was gonna be. We just became good friends and just kept talking from there on.

[Narrator]

He says he never visited Bob in St. Charles, but said the two spoke every day and that he loved Bob. The two would stay in motels closer to his hometown when they got together. During the interview with investigators, he rolled up his right sleeve to reveal a tattoo that he said was for Bob.

[Detective]

While doing the search of his home, we located a box the size of a shoebox, and it had cards from Bob. It had receipts from when they'd go to dinner or go to a hotel. He was saving it.

[Narrator]

With such tender and strong feelings for Bob, a handful of scenarios leap to the mind of law enforcement. Could it have been a jilted lover who murdered Bob Aidman?

[Detective]

Feelings can run wild with someone. If I can't have you, nobody's going to have you. It gives people motive.

[Narrator]

In theory, a jilted lover made potential sense to investigators. But the man had an alibi. On the date of the murder, he was at work hours away from St. Charles.

[Detective]

He was on video, and there were numerous people who said, yes, he was here this day. This is the time he clocked in.

[Narrator]

After passing a polygraph. Bob's Secret Lover is cleared. But it's something he tells investigators about Diane that raises red flags.

[Detective]

He called me, he goes, I got some bad news. And I said what? Said she read one of my emails. He said that Friday night. He said it was a pretty bad night.

[Narrator]

Investigators are now zeroing in on Diane. How angry was she when she discovered Bob's secret life? Angry enough to commit murder?

[Detective]

He never met her before? No. I've seen a picture. Would she be angry enough to go in and do that?

[Narrator]

I hope not. Days after Bob Eidman is murdered in his office, police discover the long married insurance agent had a secret male lover. A man whom he met up with for motel room trysts and who he spoke to every day. A man who was devoted to Bob.

[Detective]

Did you guys love each other or was it just a very close personal relationship?

[Narrator]

I loved it, but I don't, I.

[Detective]

Mean, never said it to him.

[Narrator]

The Secret Lover is alibi'd out for Bob's killing. But in a frank session with police, he says Bob told him that Diane had discovered their relationship. And he says that Bob had told him. Diane's reaction had led to a full blown argument between the two.

[Detective]

He said that, you know, she said, who's, who's and you know, so this is, I think he said this is just, you know, fantasy deal or whatever. It's what bops. She asked me if we were sleeping together and he said no. He said it was pretty rough that night. But Friday night.

[Narrator]

It was up to Detective Stephanie Kaiser, the Diane whisperer, to broach the delicate subject with Bob's widow. While interviewing her at the Eidmans home, Kaiser said Diane told her that she'd learned of her husband's relationship with the man after discovering an email between the two that Bob denied having an affair. But it was the tone of that email which had deeply hurt her feelings.

[Reporter]

She describes it as he's telling him intimate things that he hasn't told me. She's telling me I felt hurt because he wasn't speaking to me that way. So they're married.

[Narrator]

What do you think she meant when she said that? What kinds of things were they saying to each other?

[Reporter]

I didn't ask the specifics, but I'm just talking, talking to her about it. Did this happen? You know, could potentially. Could this be a motive?

[Narrator]

In Detective Kaiser's account, Diane seemed to be struggling a little bit with the nature of her husband's relationship to the man or what they did during their time together.

[Reporter]

When I'm interviewing Diane, one of the things I asked was. I asked a lot of different things to the point where Diane was asking me questions like, are you telling me my husband's gay? I asked her, what did Bob tell you? What are your impressions? Her response back was, he told me no, he was going there to meet with him. They worked together and he needed the stress relief.

[Narrator]

Kaiser said Diane told her that when she learned of the relationship after discovering that email, she and Bob discussed it, but they never argued.

[Reporter]

I'm telling Diane, Detective Stepp and Detective Grove are talking to him now. He's saying, you guys had a loud, angry argument. She said, I don't know that it was loud and angry. Well, that's what he's saying, you know Diane, what say you? She said, I told him it was over. I told him he was going to end that friendship. But she said, I don't know if I was yelling and screaming. I go, that's what he's saying. I'm just asking. So.

[Narrator]

But she laid her foot down. She gave him an ultimatum. You are not to see this guy anymore.

[Reporter]

Yes.

[Narrator]

As far as you know, did Bob adhere to that ultimatum?

[Reporter]

No, he did not.

[Narrator]

Diane Eidman finds herself sitting in a polygraph room at the St. Charles Police Department.

[Reporter]

So Diane was pretty direct with me. I think she'd had a lot of questions asked of her and then just kind of tells me boldly, I did not do this. I didn't. Diane is just direct.

[Detective]

Diane, I voluntarily submitted to a polygraph and the results came back being inconclusive.

[Reporter]

She doesn't pass, but it's inconclusive. So it just still kind of puts her in that iffy category, if you will.

[Narrator]

Adding to investigators frustration, a day after Diane takes that polygraph test, the clock expires. The major case squad is out of there. 37 officers, 15 different departments, had spent more than 2500 man hours investigating with no arrests. A frustrating end to a furious search for answers.

[Detective]

When it goes back to our police department at the time, it is frustrating knowing that you didn't solve this case. And it just goes on to an active case file to be looked at as further investigative leads come in. At that point, I'm assigned the investigation.

[Narrator]

The task of solving the murder of Bob Eidman now falls to a junior detective in the department, Don Stepp.

[Detective]

When my sergeant came up and asked if I would like to be assigned this investigation, I was overwhelmed. It's one of those things, am I ready to do this? You don't want to say no. It's an opportunity. I wanted to see this investigation to the end.

[Family Member]

Don had contacted me and said, I'm starting from scratch. I'm gonna take this entire investigation. I'm gonna do everything over again.

[Narrator]

What did that feel like to hear?

[Family Member]

Well, it was refreshing to, you know, I just felt like there wasn't a lot there.

[Detective]

In 2007, I had only been a detective for four years. I was the young guy in the squad.

[Family Member]

I had got promoted. I was a police chief at the time. And I didn't want him to feel like there was pressure on him. But he met with me a couple times and, you know, the one time that really struck home is he said, hey, you're like family and I am going to solve this.

[Detective]

What motivates me to keep going on this investigation is there's someone or someones who had killed Bob Aidman. Bob Aidman needs someone to stand in his corner.

[Narrator]

Detective Stepp continues to immerse himself in the details of the case. It had been over a year since Bob Aidman was murdered. When Stepp is at the airport in St. Louis and he spots Diane.

[Detective]

I was off duty and then I was picking up a family member at the airport and Diane was walking my direction.

[Narrator]

Despite the time that had passed, Diane had never fallen off of Step's radar. Diane Eidman knows that you're keeping a close eye on her, doesn't she?

[Detective]

Yes, sir, she does.

[Narrator]

How would you characterize the look on her face when she saw you shock?

[Detective]

I believe at that point she thought she was gonna be arrested.

[Investigator]

But the surprise of a chance encounter pales in comparison to the shock investigators get when they receive a call from the crime lab. Remember that pocket police cut out of Bob Eidman's pants to send for DNA analysis?

[Detective]

It blew my mind when the results came back. It was the golden ticket. This is what we were looking for.

[Narrator]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

[Detective]

It's Brad Milkey, host of ABC's Daily News podcast. Start here.

[Narrator]

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[Detective]

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[Narrator]

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[Detective]

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[Narrator]

It is 2009. Diane Eidman is spotted at the airport in St. Louis by Detective Don Step. How would you characterize the look on her face when she saw you shock? Step documents the incident, later learns that Diane took a trip to Las Vegas. But nothing comes of it.

[Detective]

If you don't have A suspect right away. Then there's things that take time. So things slowed down, but things did not stop.

[Narrator]

Face it, there are few, if any, solid leads to pursue, including the identity of that mystery driver whose car was seen on the day of the murder.

[Family Member]

They had this famous lead about this car that went around the block and they had it on video. But there were 22 detectives for five days and they didn't find it.

[Investigator]

And there's another lingering piece of evidence still out there that touched DNA taken from Eidman's back pocket. It was sent to the St. Louis Major Crimes lab.

[Detective]

Anytime you submitted any kind of DNA information, DNA samples, it was going to be a year or more before you got an answer to it.

[Narrator]

Nearly two agonizing years after Bob's murder. It's as if this case is frozen in time.

[Detective]

I felt that they were never going.

[Family Member]

To solve the case.

[Detective]

I mean, we'd pray every day, just, we need peace.

[Narrator]

We need to answers.

[Detective]

We need to find out what happened.

[Narrator]

It seemed like there were no answers.

[Detective]

No.

[Narrator]

Then in March of 2009, that touch DNA from Bob's pocket is forwarded to Brian crime. He's a forensic scientist with the St. Charles County Police department. We were contacted by investigators and asked if we could do the DNA on the case. With almost every angle of the case having been explored and explored again, it all comes down to what Kry could uncover with the DNA analysis. If we were going to swab the back pocket of a pair of pants, we would cut open the pocket, swab the edges, hoping to get possible DNA.

[Detective]

Once I get a swab, I process.

[Narrator]

It and cut the tip off and put it in an extension extraction tube. And then we load it onto a genetic analyzer that ultimately produces a DNA profile.

[Investigator]

But given the cold case backlog, it takes several more months for the DNA to be processed. And when the results come back, investigators get a major break that heats up this cold case.

[Narrator]

I developed an unknown male profile.

[Detective]

It was a mixture of two people. One of those persons was the victim.

[Narrator]

Robert Eidman, and the other one was an unknown male.

[Detective]

I knew once we obtained the DNA profile, the identity of the individual in Bob Ivan's pocket, I knew that was the golden tail ticket. I knew that was when we were going to be able to close this case.

[Narrator]

That unknown DNA could lead investigators to Bob's killer. So Kry enters the profile in Dakotas. That's a law enforcement database. Hours later, there's a hit. It hit that same day, and the next day, state gave me the name.

[Investigator]

The DNA doesn't match Bob's wife or his secret lover or anyone else the police had been looking into. Instead, it comes back to someone who was never on the investigator's radar.

[Narrator]

What did you learn? That person's name was Paul White. When the name's first discovered. Detective Stepp is otherwise engaged.

[Detective]

I was on a traffic detail directing traffic.

[Narrator]

You just want to run up and down the street and tell people we've got our guy.

[Detective]

I was very shocked. My mind was not on directing traffic at that time.

[Narrator]

What did you do then?

[Detective]

I started researching Paul White.

[Narrator]

Turns out Paul White was no stranger to law enforcement, having served 15 years in prison for robbery.

[Family Member]

When they got the DNA match, Don had contacted me and said, I'm going to solve this. And I truly believed him. I got to give him a lot of credit, you know, he did a lot of old fashioned work.

[Narrator]

This new lead poses even more questions for investigators. Could Diane have hired Paul White to kill Bob? Or had White acted alone when the DNA came in? That didn't seem to exclude her either. The idea being maybe she had hired somebody.

[Reporter]

Yes, I mean, it was worked all the way through.

[Narrator]

You now have Paul White's DNA on Robert Eidman's pocket at the time of his murder, right?

[Detective]

Yes, sir.

[Narrator]

So I assume you want to talk to Paul White.

[Detective]

Yes, sir, I do.

[Narrator]

And Paul White was not hard to find.

[Detective]

Paul White was incarcerated at the time when the DNA came back.

[Narrator]

And so in September 2010, the detective Stepp pays a visit to Paul White at a maximum security prison in Fulton, Missouri, where he's serving time for forgery.

[Detective]

Do you have any idea why we're here? I wanted him to know right off the bat that we knew he was there. Does this guy look funny? Never seen him before. I wanted the truth. I wanted to get a confession from Paul. I've got your DNA in his back pocket.

[Narrator]

And will that touch DNA evidence be enough to get that confession?

[Detective]

White's leaned back in his chair. He laughed. It's. It's impossible. It's not.

[Narrator]

It's impossible.

[Detective]

It's no way in the world. It's impossible.

[Narrator]

What are you thinking when he does that?

[Detective]

I'm thinking this is going to be a long interview. I'm getting taped and stuff. And I like the.

[Narrator]

More than two years after Bob Aidman was robbed and murdered in his own insurance office. Test results on trace DNA taken from his back pocket are in. And there's a match.

[Detective]

That individual was in the Department of Corrections in Missouri.

[Narrator]

What did you learn? That person's name was Paul White. As investigators dig deeper into Paul White's background, they uncover a possible connection to Bob. It's been hiding in plain sight.

[Detective]

There was numerous files on Bob's desk.

[Family Member]

And there was a file, you know.

[Detective]

Containing Paul White's name.

[Narrator]

Among those files is an application for auto insurance. Two names are listed. Sherry White and her husband, Paul White. Paul White's wife's file was on Bob's desk?

[Detective]

Yes, sir.

[Narrator]

What was it doing?

[Detective]

I think when Mr. Eidman had seen the car pull up and saw Paul White exiting the vehicle, he was grabbing Sherry's file to be ready. So when he came in, investigators quickly.

[Narrator]

Clear Sherry White as a suspect in Bob Eidman's murder. With the trail of evidence now leading directly to Paul White, Detective step decides it's time to meet face to face.

[Detective]

This is where the magic happens.

[Narrator]

Doesn't look all that magical, does it?

[Detective]

No, it doesn't.

[Narrator]

What happens to people when they come into a room like this?

[Detective]

We get to the bottom of facts. This is where people have an opportunity to tell us about what they've done and tell us their story.

[Narrator]

Since Paul White is already serving a prison sentence for an unrelated forgery charge, he's literally a captive audience. Let's go back and talk about some of your strategy as you were going to talk to Paul White.

[Detective]

Paul, I believe, was in a little bit of shock after all these years, two detectives showing up from St. Charles City. He did not expect that to happen that day. Do you have any idea why we're here? Okay.

[Narrator]

Are you thinking the long game at this point, or do you think he's going to start telling you stuff that he knows?

[Detective]

At that first interview, I'm thinking to myself, the DNA itself is probably enough to get an arrest warrant. But I didn't want just an arrest warrant. I wanted the truth. Before I ask you any questions, you must understand your rights. You didn't have to make a statement or answer questions. You have the right to remain silent. Did you understand that? Would you put your initials there, Paul, for me? I think initially Paul White's attitude was very kicked back, relaxed. First of all, do you know a guy named Robert Eidman? Never heard of that guy. I even put a picture down in front of him and asked me, do you know this individual? Does this guy look familiar? Never seen him before. Eventually he came back around and said, yeah, he thought that was his wife's insurance. Man. That picture I showed you, that's Robert Ide. You say it kind of looks familiar? Yeah, that's the guy we got the insurance from. I explained that we were working a homicide investigation. And I explained that his DNA was located in his back pocket. Do you think there's any chance that your DNA is going to pop up inside that car and suit? No robbery. No robbery? None. You come to prison, they take your DNA, your DNA pops up. You know where it pops up? Swabbing in the back pocket of my victim. Your DNA shows up in this guy's back pocket. Nowhere in the world. Why don't you think that? You said that he got robbed. I never robbed a guy. I've been in there one time and to get insurance. So this exactly. You're telling me you've been in there one time? Yeah. And your DNA shows up in this guy's back pocket a month later. That don't even make sense. Exactly. With your story, it doesn't make sense.

[Narrator]

Again and again during that first interrogation, you tell him, I. I mean, you must have told him what, 10 or 15 times in the course of that conversation, right?

[Detective]

At least 10 or 15 times. He kept saying there is no way. Repeatedly. He did not believe it. It's no way in the world. It's impossible. Paul, it's not possible. Okay, well, I'm telling you, I know it's impossible. There's no way in the world then how to get there. I don't even feel like it was there.

[Narrator]

It's impossible for it to be there.

[Investigator]

After White's adamant and repeated denials about that DNA evidence against him, investigators uncover another critical piece of evidence.

[Detective]

I ran every kind of data history check on him. The big point with Paul White was I found out that a neighboring law enforcement agency had issued a ticket to Paul White after our homicide. In a white Ford Focus.

[Investigator]

That's right. A white Ford Focus. And remember, that's the very same vehicle, mate. Caught on a surveillance camera the day Bob Eidman was murdered.

[Detective]

Paul White was a pastor in that vehicle. And the driver was identified via tickets as Cleo Hines.

[Narrator]

Why was the car stopped in the first place?

[Detective]

Registration on the vehicle.

[Narrator]

The registration on the vehicle was out of date.

[Detective]

That's correct.

[Narrator]

Who was the driver of the car?

[Detective]

The driver of the vehicle was Cleo Hines.

[Narrator]

What was significant about that?

[Detective]

We later learned that Cleo Hines was living with Paul White and his girlfriend was best friends with Paul White's wife.

[Narrator]

So they had a long standing relationship.

[Detective]

Yes, sir.

[Narrator]

What would the indication that you had that Cleo Hines might have been involved in the murder of Robert IB it.

[Detective]

Was Cleo Hines vehicle You were sure of that? I was sure of that. I had a couple other officers contact Cleo Hine. And they arrested Cleo Hine and brought him to the St. Charles City Police Department.

[Narrator]

Does Cleo Hines know a secret that could solve Bob Aidman's murder?

[Detective]

You know a man died, right? You know that somebody pulled that trigger.

[Narrator]

After several years of lead after lead turning cold, the investigation into Bob Eidman's murder is now heating up as lead detective Don Stepp zeroes in on a new suspect, a man named Cleo Hines.

[Detective]

I was going to take the same approach with Cleo Hines as I did with Paul White. Are you the hardened criminal? Are you a guy that made a mistake? Let's talk about the robbery. Dude, I know all about it. I told him we had a positive idea of his vehicle. We had a positive idea of a focus, a white four door focus. You know your vehicle's on video. Did you know that? You know that Mexican grocery store? There's a video camera inside. So I said, seeing you pull in now, you didn't just pull around once, did you? No. Like twice. You pulled around twice and that's on camera. Then you pulled up. He knew he owned a white four door focus. He knew he was involved in this. There was no way that he could fight that.

[Narrator]

Unlike Paul White. Hines immediately starts talking, saying White approached him the day of the murder. Murder.

[Detective]

He got a gun in his hand. Okay. He wakes me up out of my sleep, went to my head. He told you he was gonna do a robbery? I basically already knew that because of gun. Okay. And how he was acting. And he never he handle money. It took a very short time. And Cleo just started talking and talking and talking. What kind of handgun do you think it was like what do it kind of like? I mean.

[Investigator]

A 9 millimeter Glock. The same type of handgun investigators determined was used to murder Bob Eidman. But the question is, who pulled the trigger?

[Detective]

Somebody pulled that trigger, okay? It wasn't me. It was him. Okay? And Cleo wanted to give his side of the story to defend himself against whatever Paul might say he did. I take him to the. I'm outside, but he goes and five minutes later he comes back out. Did gloves off, Paul? Yeah, white gloves. White gloves. They were like cotton like gloves.

[Reporter]

Paul Wyatt had been wearing gloves. So Paul Wyatt absolutely wasn't going to say anything because he believed his DNA couldn't have been located because he was wearing gloves.

[Detective]

I don't even feel like it was there. It's impossible for it to be there.

[Narrator]

So if a perpetrator was wearing a cotton glove, when they go into the pocket and digging around, they could leave that DNA that's already on the exterior inside the pocket. Also, if the individual is sweating, it could actually soak through the glove and leave DNA behind that way.

[Detective]

What do you do with those gloves? After shooting in the barbecue pit.

[Narrator]

Armed with Cleo Hines confession, Step hits the road to Fulton Prison once more for another crack at Paul White.

[Detective]

And I'm gonna tell you right up now. I got a full confession from Cleo Hines, okay? He told me everything.

[Narrator]

But even after Detective Stepp reveals Cleo Hines has accused Paul White of being the gunman, Paul White doesn't blame.

[Detective]

If you got Cleo saying that I did this and that he's evidently lying to you, I don't know why he would even say that. I would put a gun to his head and force him to do something. It's hard to do an interview to get a confession from somebody for a murder. It's really hard to get a confession from somebody for a murder.

[Investigator]

Inside prison, White is arrested the next day, and he's charged with robbery and murder and could be facing life in prison. Now, with the pressure turned up so high, will he finally change his story?

[Detective]

I've asked you three times, drove 87 miles one way to ask you these questions. Hypothetically speaking, hypothetical, hypothetically speaking, hypothetical. If I say I was there, you know what I mean? And I saw everything that happened, you know what I mean? And it's like that just makes me as guilty, you know, I still get a murder charge, but I didn't kill him. I didn't pull the trigger.

[Narrator]

Finally, the dam breaks. Paul White starts talking.

[Detective]

I said, I think he got some cash in the. You know what I mean? So I said, we can just go in and rob him. But I said, he probably know who I am. So we gonna have to get some masks. We already had those gloves, those cotton gloves that you were talking about. And then we went out to Walmart and they have those little type ski mats.

[Narrator]

Paul White describes a chilling scene of a panicked Bob Eidman trying to comply with his assailant's demands for money. With that notoriously sticky desk drawer, you know, where Bob kept his money instead of in a safe.

[Detective]

And then he started shaking him, like to his drawer and couldn't get the drawer open. And I was like, man, just give me your wallet. So I reached in his pocket and grabbed the wallet. And Cleo's like, man, no, there's more money there. There was a lot of finger pointing at each other, trying to point the blame to someone else.

[Narrator]

Cleo Hines told police he never even got out of the car at Bob Aidman's office. But Paul White wants police to believe that it was always Hines who had fired the bullets that killed Bob Aidman.

[Detective]

We shot him once. He was like, man, where the rest of the money? Where the rest of the money? And he was like, man, there is no other money. There is no other money. He shot him again. I'm like, man, what the are you doing? I said, man, is he dead? He was like, I don't know. Shot him. So I'm like, man, I'm like, we gotta get rid of this gun. You know what I'm saying? I took it and threw it off the bridge.

[Investigator]

Paul White offers to help find the murder weapon. Riding along in handcuffs in the backseat of a squad car.

[Detective]

We took Paul White out of the St. Charles County Jail, going to find a weapon, and had him point out the area where he got rid of the gun. I would say, like right in here. We searched an extensive area far the gun was never able to locate it.

[Investigator]

Now we have two suspects and two confessions. And with both men pointing the finger at each other, prosecutors are gearing up to put both of them on trial.

[Family Member]

I was sitting in the same room with the person that shot and killed my brother, and that was pretty hard to be calm.

[Narrator]

Will Bob Eidman's family finally learn who murdered him? Nurse listeners, as we go into a new year, we all have a lot on our plates. There are backpacking trips across Europe to plan, personal best to crush in the gym, and capsule wardrobes to create good thing. Our sponsor, NerdWallet is here to take one thing off your plate. Finding the best financial products, introducing NerdWallet's 2025 Best of Awards. List your shortcut to the best credit cards, savings accounts, and more. The nerds have done the work for you, researching and reviewing over 1100 financial products to bring you only the best of the best. Looking for a balanced transfer credit card with 0% APR? They've got a winner for that. Or a bank account with a top rate to hit your savings goals. They've got a winner for that too. Know you're getting the best products for you without doing all the research yourself. So let NerdWallet do the heavy lifting for your finances this year and head over to their 2025 Best of Awards at NerdWallet.com awards to find the best financial products at the Climax of a more than three year investigation that at one point involved 37 officers. Cops finally learned the details of what was stolen the day of Bob Eidman's murder.

[Detective]

How much money was in the wallet? $300. So how much money? 150 a piece. 150 a piece. Paul White and Cleo, both advisor went to the casino after the homicide and lost the $300 almost immediately.

[Family Member]

It's hard to think about a man's life being taken for $300.

[Detective]

He didn't deserve what he. He was running a business, trying to make a living, and somebody felt that what he had, they needed too, and so they took it from him. They could have taken his money and left.

[Narrator]

They didn't have to kill him.

[Investigator]

As far as any connection between the two men accused of killing Bob Aidman and Bob's widow Diane, Paul Wight revealed to investigators that he didn't even know who she was.

[Detective]

Do you know a woman named Diane? No. You don't know a woman named Diane Idman? No.

[Narrator]

With Paul White and Cleo Hines now both charged with Bob Aidman's murder, it now falls to Detective Stepp to break the news to Diane Aidman, who had long been in his crosshairs.

[Detective]

I met Diane at her place of employment and I said, diane, this is over. We have the individuals and we have the charges on them for killing your husband.

[Narrator]

Was she angry at you?

[Detective]

I don't believe she was angry at me. There was a lot of stress that just came off Diane. You could almost see it leaving her body as she was shaking and crying. She was very happy that this was over.

[Narrator]

Here. Some five years after Bob Aidman's murder, Paul White and Cleo Hines are set to stand trial in this courthouse. Two trials, two defendants with two totally different accounts of the crime.

[Investigator]

First stop at trial. Paul White, who pleaded not guilty to first degree murder and first degree robbery.

[Family Member]

Really didn't know what to think when I came into trial because I was sitting in the same room with the person that shot and killed my brother. And that was pretty hard.

[Detective]

The trial for Paul White lasted three days, which is actually very short for a murder trial in this county.

[Investigator]

The trial was swift and so were the deliberations. The jury needed just two and a half hours before delivering a verdict. Paul White guilty of murder and robbery in the first degree.

[Narrator]

As for Cleo Hines, he decided not to put his fate in the hands of a jury. Before his trial, he entered what's known as an Alford plea.

[Detective]

An Alford plea is a plea in the State of Missouri, where an individual. I will not say I did it, but there's enough evidence to say I did it.

[Investigator]

With that plea, Hines is convicted of a lesser crime than White. Second degree murder and first degree robbery. He received two life terms. But while Hines sentence offers the possibility of parole, Paul White will never again see the light of day outside a prison.

[Detective]

Paul White was sentenced to life without parole. The Missouri Department of Corrections.

[Narrator]

The investigation into Bob Eidman's murder had cast a shadow of suspicion on his widow, Diane. Now she stood in court and gave her own account of all she had lost. Were you there for Diane's victim impact statement?

[Family Member]

Yes, we were. She said, I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life. You took my best friend, you took my husband away from me.

[Investigator]

She told the court this in part. I looked over my shoulder for five years, afraid never knowing if the people who killed Bob were coming after me or did the police really believe that I killed my husband.

[Family Member]

I do feel like the system worked. The killers were caught, science prevailed and overwhelmingly prevented provided evidence that got them a conviction. Never again can he come to a Christmas dinner. Never again can we see him for a birthday party. Never again could he and my son talk and have a conversation or a relationship. He just loved life.

[Detective]

I mean, I mean, he was always happy and making jokes, making light of things all the time. We talk about him all the time. It's not like he's gone. He's still here with us.

[Narrator]

Both Paul White and Cleo Hines have.

[Investigator]

Tried appealing their convictions, but back both were denied.

[Narrator]

White's life sentence carries no possibility of parole. Hines first opportunity of parole will be in March of 2034. That's our program for tonight. Thanks so much for watching. I'm David Muir. And I'm Deborah Roberts.

[Investigator]

From all of us here at 2020.

[Narrator]

And ABC News, good night.