Grapes of Wrath

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Grapes of Wrath"

Podcast: 48 Hours
Host: CBS News
Date: March 5, 2026
Episode Theme: Crime, deception, and ambition in California’s wine country, culminating in murder.

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Main Theme & Purpose

“Grapes of Wrath” uncovers the astonishing saga behind a violent crime in Napa Valley. What began as a tale of entrepreneurship—a Silicon Valley investor and a charismatic wine country operator chasing the American dream—swiftly unravels into a story of betrayal, financial fraud, and ultimately murder. Through powerful firsthand accounts and insider perspectives, the episode dissects how greed, ambition, and unchecked trust turned Napa’s dreamers into victims.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Key Players: Dreamers, Dealmakers… and a Killer (00:52–05:56)

• Imad Tawfilis: A wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneur with passions for movies and wine. He invested heavily in both industries hoping for fulfillment beyond tech.
• Robert Dahl: A magnetic and self-assured transplant from Minnesota who reinvented himself from a mold-removal businessman to a Napa Valley wine mogul. Dahl had boundless ambition but a mysterious financial past.
  • “He really did have the vision of having some form of a winery. Robert made me feel like we’d been friends forever.” – Greg Knittle (Business Partner), 01:53
  • “He could sell anyone. So the wine didn’t even have to really be that good... It never was really that good.” – Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker), 07:46
• Describes the rapid formation of partnerships and deep bonds in the wine industry, often built more on trust than due diligence.

2. The Napa Wine Dream: All That Glitters… (05:56–11:06)

• Wine Country’s Allure:
  • Entrepreneurs and celebrities are routinely drawn to Napa, sometimes ill-prepared for the cutthroat realities beneath the idyllic veneer.
  • “They all want to come and have a slice of this. And a lot of people see the glamorous side of it without seeing the hard work… blood, sweat, and tears…” – Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner), 05:35
• Power of Trust:
  • Deals often sealed on handshakes and personalities, not paper.
  • “You bond with a person… because you need to know that you can trust that person.” – Dominic Fapoli, 06:16

3. The Partnerships—and the Duplicity (11:06–24:26)

• The Web of Businesses:

  • Dahl moved quickly—from bottling unlabelled “shiners” to joint ventures with established locals like Fapoli and the Knittles, and leveraging Tawfilis’s cash for ever-bigger schemes.
  • “One time… he pointed at a mansion and said, ‘Greg and I are going to make so much money that he’s going to be able to buy a house like this for you someday.’” – Greg Knittle, 02:20; repeated at 17:04
  • Dahl lured partners in with charm and grand promises.
  • “He was a great salesman… He talked a great game.” – Jonathan Kesselman, 07:47–07:56

• Financial Irregularities:

  • Partners started questioning, “Where’s the money going?” (18:48) as investments disappeared into lavish spending and ill-fated new ventures.
  • “No one that ever put money into something that he was doing was ever going to get anything back.” – Jonathan Kesselman, 20:56

4. The Unraveling: Red Flags, Lies, and Lawsuits (24:26–32:35)

• Discovery of Fraud:

  • Tawfilis’s investment totaled over $1.2 million (14:19), much diverted to support Dahl’s lifestyle and failing businesses.
  • Multiple people—including winemakers, contractors, and entrepreneurs—were owed substantial sums, discovering too late that Dahl’s successes were an illusion.

• Dahl’s Criminal Past:

  • Private Investigator Don King uncovers a trail of liens, lawsuits, and felony convictions for theft by swindle back in Minnesota. (25:00–25:50)
    • “He was a criminal… I like to put rats in prison.” – Don King, 25:58 & 25:10

• Legal Showdown:

  • Tawfilis, represented by attorney David Wiseblood, sues Dahl, eventually seizing wine equipment and tanks as collateral.
  • “He was a desperate man. On a scale from 1 to 10, he was about a 9.” – Don King, 28:32

5. Murder in the Vineyard: The Fatal Conclusion (32:35–41:48)

• Failed Negotiation, Deadly Ending:

  • On March 16, 2015, after a tense face-to-face meeting at Dahl Vineyards between Dahl and Tawfilis (lawyers on conference call), Dahl erupts, brandishing a “crazy manifesto” and ultimately a gun.
  • “It was eerily calm.” – Various, 33:04–33:14
  • Dahl chases and shoots Tawfilis as he desperately calls 911 (36:02). “He’s calling 911 as he’s running through the vineyard.” – Lou Perdue, 36:02
  • With police arriving, Dahl delivers a final headshot then flees. Cornered, he commits suicide. (37:21)

• Premeditation & Possible Further Violence:

  • Authorities find a “murder kit” in Dahl’s car (duct tape, ammo, restraints, tarp), suggesting plans for wider violence against perceived enemies.
    • “To me, that is a murder kit. Plain and simple.” – Don King, 38:55

6. Aftermath: Grief, Guilt, and Lessons (41:08–41:52)

• Lingering Guilt:
  • Fapoli expresses guilt over not warning Tawfilis adequately: “Honestly, I started crying. And it was a mix of guilt because I guess I didn’t do enough to warn Ahmad about him.” – Dominic Fapoli, 40:53
• Remembering the Victim:
  • “He was a really sweet, kind, generous guy… so it’s on the record, there’s some legacy… he was remembered.” – Jonathan Kesselman, 41:12
• The Final Judgment:
  • “He wanted to be that guy that had a vineyard and had wine with his name on it. He wanted to live the life of the big fish. He was a little fish.” – Don King, 41:36

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Money is intoxicating and when you mix money and wine, I think you get intoxicated to the second or third power.” – Lou Perdue, 06:36
• “Could have been me running through the vineyard and ducking from flying bullets.” – Don King (reflecting on potential victims), 04:14 & 39:20
• “He was an Academy Award winning actor when it comes to convincing people to trust him.” – Lou Perdue, 40:05
• “Nobody checked.” – Don King (on the lack of due diligence), 40:13

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:52–04:14: Introduction of main players and initial 911 call
• 05:56–11:06: Napa’s allure, trust culture, and the beginnings of key partnerships
• 14:19: $1.2 million investment from Tawfilis
• 18:48: First explicit mention of missing money
• 20:56: Partners reveal they never got their money back
• 25:00–25:58: Discovery of Dahl’s criminal history
• 28:32: Tawfilis’s desperation and legal struggles
• 32:35–37:21: The murder, 911 call, and suicide
• 38:55: Details of “murder kit” and hints at intended further violence
• 41:12–41:36: Reflections on legacy and lessons from the tragedy

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Concluding Insights

This episode reveals how the California wine industry, with its romance and high stakes, can be fertile ground for both dreams and schemes. Robert Dahl’s ability to charm and manipulate, combined with systemic gaps in due diligence and the intoxicating prospect of wealth, left a series of betrayed partners and a trail of devastation.

Memories and grief linger for the victims, and the community is left wary of dreamers offering too-good-to-be-true promises:
“This is not your typical wine story… and one that we don’t want to hear about around here again for sure.” – Don King, 41:52

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For further depth and personal impact, listen to the full episode to hear voices and emotional nuances not captured in transcription alone.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

91 1. Where's the emergency?

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

He calls 911 and he's yelling into the phone, help me, help me.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

He sh.

[Narrator/Reporter]

This is the actual Transcript from the 911 call.

Yes.

So he's running through the vineyard.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

He is running through the vineyard. And the shooter is in the truck, coming after him, shooting out the window.

[Narrator/Reporter]

This is crazy.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Crazy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Who are these guys? These guys were a couple of rich, ambitious wine lovers who wanted to be in the business and own their own vineyards. Look, I have pictures. Here's Imod. Imod Tawfilis. He's a smart guy from Silicon Valley who loved Hollywood. He even financed a movie. And here's the other guy. Robert Dahl, an operator who people said could make money grow on trees. In this case, vines.

[Narrator/Host]

Take one, Amar.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

My name is Jonathan Kesselman. I'm a filmmaker.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Jimmy Vasforth is a terrorist.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

I was directing a film and Imod was the principal investor in the film.

[Narrator/Reporter]

IMOD made his money in Silicon Valley and then was looking for other things to invest in.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Yeah, I think, you know, he made a good living, wanted to invest his money into things. He was more passionate about. Movies, wine.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Robert Dahl, did he come with a dream?

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

Oh, definitely. He really did have the vision of having some form of a winery. Robert made me feel like we'd been friends forever.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Upon first meeting. Oh, upon.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

No, within like the first ten minutes.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

He was a very nice, outgoing, hard working guy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So it seemed like a good guy to partner up with.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Absolutely.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

One time, I don't know how, I ended up on the back of his motorcycle. And he looked out and he pointed at this mansion and he said, you know what? Greg and I are going to make so much money that he's going to be able to buy a house like this for you someday.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Everything seemed to be going great.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

Oh, it was awesome. Yeah, perfect.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Until it all went wrong. Yes. And this is over money.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

This is over money.

[Narrator/Reporter]

$800,000 in a gym bag.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Broken dreams. Broken dreams.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Who lives? Who dies? It's an incredible tale of wine, money and murder.

[Narrator/Host]

We have a male saying, help me, help me. Did rise the subject saying that he

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

has been shot again twice now.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It was a showdown between two millionaires, Robert Dahl and Imod Tofillas.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

While the tales of a shocking murder in the Napa Valley, a bitter money dispute ends in an execution style shooting.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

This all started at Doll Vineyards on Solano Avenue. The victim,

[Narrator/Reporter]

I mean, just look at this place. Napa Valley. Who wouldn't want a piece of this? That's what these Two men wanted and they went for it, but it ended in murder. So we came here to figure out what happened. And what we discovered is really interesting. It turns out that no less than four people thought that they could have ended up targets of the killer, too.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Could have been me running through the vineyard and ducking from flying bullets.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

I was probably number one on his list to kill.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

My first thought was, that could have very easily been Greg.

[Narrator/Reporter]

What do you think would have happened if you were there?

[Narrator/Host]

I think you would have killed me.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Hold on. Let's just slow down for a second. How do you get from two ambitious guys trying to make it in the wine business to a murder mystery with four or five other potential victims? Well, we found a guy who can explain it all right, because his family has worked in these valleys for generations,

and he says he could have been a victim that day, too.

So is it customary if we visit to open a bottle of wine?

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

The only way that you can visit?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Sure.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

Gotta have some wine,

[Narrator/Host]

so cheers.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Cheers.

Meet Dominic Fapolli. Pretty close to royalty around here.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

Me and my brother and two sisters were the fourth generation in our family to be involved. I mean, our great grandfather started doing this with grapes and making some wine in the early 1900s.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Now he and his brother and sisters and friends run the Christopher Creek Winery.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

We've known each other for all of

[Narrator/Host]

our lives, and so we are family above and beyond.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Are there a lot of dreamers who come here?

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

Oh, yeah. Big time. Tech tycoons, Wall street guys, rock stars, movie people. And they all want to come and have a slice of this. And a lot of people see the. The glamorous side of it without, you know, seeing the hard work that goes into it, the blood, sweat, and tears that it really takes to get to the point where we're at right now of drinking a great bottle.

[Narrator/Reporter]

How tough is it to break in?

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

It's very, very tough, unless you're coming with a lot of money.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And then there's the matter of trust. Doing business in the wine country is often very personal.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

You know, their word is their bond. Shake their hands, you look in their eye, and they're good.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You bond with a person and then maybe go into business with them.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

Absolutely. That's a huge, huge part of it. So. Because you need to know that you can trust that person.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But as we'll find out, watch out if that bond is broken, because the stakes are high.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

The money makes people crazy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Lou Perdue is a tech entrepreneur and the most respected wine writer in Napa.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Money is intoxicating and when you mix money and wine, I think you get intoxicated to the second or third power.

[Narrator/Reporter]

How often does it happen that somebody comes with a lot of money and not so much knowledge about wine, but just wants to be a part of this?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Every day?

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Every day.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Back in 2011, a guy named Robert Dahl was about to get drunk on all that money. He decided to leave Minnesota, where he had an unglamorous mold removal business and become a Napa Valley wine entrepreneur.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

He had a booming voice. He was always the loudest guy in the room.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Just a big presence.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Yeah, big presence.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Miles Davis is an electrician who worked for Dahl almost from the beginning of his time in Napa.

You were friends with him initially when he was doing what business?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Selling and buying grapes.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Selling and buying grapes. That's one way of saying Dahl was in the lower end of the wine business. He wasn't making fine wines. He was bottling no name wine, making what they call shiners.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

The shiner is a bottle that doesn't have a label, and then he'd sell you that fruit. You put your own label on it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Was he a good salesman?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

A great salesman.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Great sal.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

He could sell anyone.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So the wine didn't even have to really be that good. He could sell it well.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

It never was really that good.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And he talked a good game.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

He talked a great game.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And you knew enough to know that he didn't know a lot.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

I knew that he had a good line of bs, which is fine. And it made him funnier.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Was part of his charm that he could bs?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Yeah, I loved it about him.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Dahl had moved to wine country with his wife and three children.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

His family's amazing. They're just wonderful people. His wife's a very sweet, loving woman. The kids are amazing. In fact, they call me their godfather.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Within a couple of years, his bottling business was a big success, and Dahl liked to show it.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

He showed up my office with $10,000 and said, let's buy a Harley.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I'm sorry.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

He showed up at my office and

[Narrator/Reporter]

with $10,000 in cash and said, we're buying a Harley.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

You pay me back in the next few months. Or whenever. That's Robert. He was. He was all about stuff like that.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Did he seem concerned about money?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

No, never.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So it was in 2011 that Robert Dahl took his next big step toward his dream of making it big in the wine business. He linked up with that prince of the wine country, Dominic Fapoli.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

I had met some people from Asia who were looking into getting into Importing California wine.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Fapoli was young. He didn't have his own personal vineyard yet, and he needed more products.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

I couldn't literally package wine fast enough because I didn't have my own facility. And so I met Robert. He was very new to this, but he was willing to work really, really hard. And he had a genuineness that he could project that made you want to trust him, made you want to like him.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Over the next year, Fapoli and Dahl became close.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

We'd go out to dinner and hang out, and as a friend, he was always there. I could text him at 11 o' clock at night and he'd get back to me.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Business was good, and one day, Dahl made him a proposition.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

He called me up and said, hey, there's this place in your neck of the woods.

[Narrator/Reporter]

They'd buy their own vineyard.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

And so I came over and I met him here and looked at this view in the vineyards. And literally an hour after sitting down with him, we drank a bottle of wine on this. On this deck. I said, I'm in. Let's do this.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Fapoli staked everything he had on this partnership, even his house.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

You know, I said, this is something I'm going to do. I'm going to have to go all in, and I need you to be all in, too. And he said, I got you.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Fapoli didn't think it would be a stretch for Robert Dahl.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

I assumed that this was a fun little side project for him. I never had any reason to doubt that he was doing tremendously well.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Did you feel like he had your back?

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

Oh, completely. There was not. I didn't doubt for a second.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But almost as soon as the vineyard deal with Fapoli was closed, Dahl was looking for the next big thing. Sharing ownership in a vineyard wasn't good enough. He wanted to be the boss. To do that, he needed new partners. And then he found just the man he was looking for. A man with connections to the bright lights of Hollywood, with a gym bag full of money.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

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[Narrator/Reporter]

It's a comedy.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

It's a comedy starring a comic named Maz Jobrani.

[Narrator/Host]

I'm Jimmy. Jimmy Westwood. Like Clint Eastwood, but Westwood.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Very funny film.

[Narrator/Host]

Hello, Mr. Carr.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Director and screenwriter Jonathan Kesselman was shooting the film's wedding scene when one of the extras struck up a conversation.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

While we're sort of in between setups, we started talking and he said, hi, I'm Imad. I'm the investor in the film and just a really nice guy. We chatted.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Imad Tafilis was a young businessman from Silicon Valley.

What kind of actor was he?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

He was a better humanitarian than an actor. He was a good extra.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

He was very good.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

He hit his marks.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Imad was principal investor in the film. He put up about $200,000, and Kesselman became friendly with him.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

He was like a business person in tech, and I think he was excited to be not a corporate guy anymore. He had sort of made a lot of money, and he was tired of it and wanted to sort of explore other things in his life, things that he had passion for.

[Narrator/Reporter]

One of those passions was film. The other was wine. Imad invited his new film director friend and his wife to the fancy home he owned near the wine country.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

It was just, you know, I love wine. You guys like wine, let's go wine tasting. He actually gave us his bedroom. His bedroom was very flashy. Like his bathroom. He had redone. Like, there was a television inside the mirror in the bathroom, and he was very excited about his bathroom.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But wine was more than a passion for Imad. It was a driving ambition. In 2011, Imad Tafilis got to know Robert Dahl, and they talked about the dream they shared of making it big in the wine business.

But this story isn't just about wine. It's about cash. Close to a million dollars in cash. Now, if you're wondering what that looks like, well, so were we. So we got some Hollywood prop money, which looks a lot and feels a lot like the real thing. And this is how Robert Dahl did his next deal. $800,000 in cash in a gym bag.

The money came from that movie investor, Imad Tawfilis, in 2013. According to Imad, Robert told him that returns on his investment would be big, and if he invested cash, they'd get better deals. IMOD was jumping into business with Robert Dahl with both feet.

It sounds like the perfect match. Robert, who supposedly knows about wine but doesn't have the money. And then Imod, who doesn't know a lot about wine but has the cash.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Exactly.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Remember, Dahl had already started a vineyard business with Dominic Fapoli. But that wasn't enough for him. Shortly after Dahl's partnership with Fapoli began. It ended. There'd been problems. Now Dahl wanted his own thing. He wanted his name on the bottle. Imod was going to make that happen. His investment, which now totaled $1.2 million, would help launch Dahl Vineyards. Imod was finally a player, and Dahl was center stage.

[Narrator/Host]

Welcome to Doll Vineyards in lovely Yanpa, California.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

He's a salesman. It's a show.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Did people seem like they were having a good time?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Oh, yeah, always. He pours good wine, and he pours

[Narrator/Reporter]

it well and generously.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Generously. And it was a nice product. He did a nice job on that winery.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And the business prospered so much that Dahl was soon able to repay imad part of his investment.

And that's the thing. Everything that Robert Dahl touched seemed to be turning out golden. And it was happening so, so fast. Now, armed with Imad Tafilis money, Dahl was on his way to being everything he wanted to be. The big man in Napa. Did he exude confidence?

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

He exuded confidence. Oh, my gosh, like nobody I've ever met before in my life.

[Narrator/Reporter]

That same year, Dahl started up another brand new business with that Napa couple, Francine and Greg Knittle.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

This is just an abstract vineyard scene.

[Narrator/Reporter]

They'd been pursuing their passions in Napa for years. Francine did her art.

So Napa clearly inspires you.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

Yes, definitely.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And Greg's construction business.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

This is one of our custom remodels.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Oh, this is beautiful.

Built some of the area's nicest homes and tasting rooms.

Oh, look at the ceiling. It's like the Sistine Chapel. Some of this stuff I feel like we can't show on television, but it's.

Life was good.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

Every time we come home, we just say to each other, look at where we live. We're so blessed.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And there was no hesitation when the new guy, Robert Dahl, came into their lives.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

He was very outgoing, charismatic, hard working, very hardworking.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So it seemed like a good guy to partner up with.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Absolutely.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

Oh, yeah.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Dahl and the Knittles started a craft beer brewery, a business that created fancy handmade beers. Greg was a handy partner for Dahl. His construction company built the brewery.

What did he promise you?

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Well, that we were going to have an operate a reputable business that we would be able to hand off to our kids.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

And he pointed at this mansion that's right off the Silverado trail. And he looked back at me and he said, you know what? Greg and I are Going to make so much money that he's going to be able to buy a house like this for, for you someday.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The business was off to a good start. They added a brew pub.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

I mean, we had the best beer ever. Our restaurant was booming. The brewery was, I mean, like within like three or four months. Like, it was incredible. It was incredible.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Francine and Greg even became close friends with Dahl and his wife Janelle.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

We did everything together for a year and it was boot, like it was going really well. Like really, really well.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

He liked to live well, you know, he couldn't live in a 3,000 square foot house. It had to be a 5,000 square foot house.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It was all about looks.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

He didn't have to have one brand new motorcycle. He had to have two brand new motorcycles. I'm sure you'll play the video of him after the Napa earthquake.

[Narrator/Reporter]

In fact, I have that video right here. This was taken after the 2014 earthquake in Napa.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

If an east Coaster is thinking about coming to Napa for harvest season to have some nice wine and have a few dinners, is it time to call that vacation off?

[Narrator/Host]

Oh, absolutely not. Everything is back going in wine country. It's a great time to visit wine country, see some grapes being crushed, taste some fresh juice and really take in the wine.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

Lifestyle, man.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Listening to him, it almost sounds like he could be the mayor of Napa. But things aren't always exactly as they appear to be.

Remember Dominic Fapolli, Dahl's former partner? Dominic had been running the winery and Dahl was running the books.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

You know, we're selling a bunch of wine. I mean, the winery was a hit, but there wasn't enough money to keep paying our bills, which I didn't understand, I didn't get.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Where's the money going?

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

Where's the money going?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Where's the money going? That was the question. Plenty more people in the wine country were about to start asking. By 2014, the new doll vineyards seem to be taking off. Robert Dahl and Imad Tafilis, the two ambitious entrepreneurs were living their dreams. Robert himself running the show.

[Narrator/Host]

Greetings from Dahl vineyards.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And Imad, silent partner providing the money.

[Narrator/Host]

Enjoy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But what Imad didn't know was partnerships with Robert Dahl had a way of turning sour. Remember Robert's first vineyard, the one he shared with Dominic Fapoli? One day, Dominic got a phone call from their lender.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

I'm starting foreclosure proceedings on you guys.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Foreclosure proceedings?

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

Foreclosure, yeah. Because we had missed our first payment to him for the Winery. So I called Robert and he said, you shouldn't be worried about that. I've got all that covered. I said, are you kidding me?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Fapoli went ballistic.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

This is my dream. And we were successful in everything we were doing.

[Narrator/Reporter]

His life savings and reputation were on the line. He had to get rid of Dahl.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

So my family and my partners, my brother and my best friends came around and said, we'll do whatever we need to do and let's get this guy out.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Fapoli got control of the vineyard, but he had to pay Dahl to go away.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

He was bitter, you know, I introduced him as my partner and my friend. So I brought him into that circle of trust that we have here. Everybody welcomed him with open arms because I vouched for him. I had never been burned before. I was naive.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And it turns out Fapoli wasn't the only one.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

No one that ever put money into something that he was doing was ever going to get anything back.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Steve Birch knows. He's a winemaker who worked for Dahl back when Dahl looked like he was the golden boy of wine country. Burch introduced him to celebrities for the comic and TV personality Adam Carolla.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Thank you so much for enjoying this.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He bottled a sangria called Mangria.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

We made money on it, but I know that there was a significant amount of payment for that that Adam never received.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And there was the rapper E40.

[Narrator/Host]

You a loser? Nope. Winner.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He had Dahl package some wines for his label. Earl Stevens Wines.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

We started his product and it went really well. But I know he wasn't. He wasn't paid either.

[Narrator/Reporter]

No. And there was Birch himself.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

I left with him owing me a lot of money.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Can you give me a ballpark?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Yeah. We'll say it was well over $10,000.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The same thing happened to Dahl's friend, electrician Miles Davis. Doll owed him $15,000.

Did you ever see that money?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

No.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But you were friends with him again.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Yeah.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

Because he's a great.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Yeah, I'm fine with that. I mean, it wasn't about the money. It was about, you know, there was concerns that he was in trouble. So I. I didn't feel like my little 15,000 was anything to worry about.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Because he was getting underwater.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Did you say anything? No, no, no. Did you figure he'd find a way out of it?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Yep. I hoped he would.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And then there was Francine and Greg Knittle. Just a few months after the successful debut of the brewery they started with Dahl and a well known brewmaster, the business started slipping.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

I got the first Inkling that Dahl wasn't what he says he was. Because a friend of mine went to his brewery, and I put quotes around that. Because a friend of mine liked craft beer, and he wasn't making beer at his quote unquote brew pub.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Apparently, by the time Lou's friend stopped by for a drink, the brewery was no longer making its own beer.

He wasn't making beer at the brewery.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

No. He was buying kegs from somebody else. And when this friend of mine came face to face and told him about that, he. He just went ballistic.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Like he'd been found out.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Like he had been found out.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Dahl's partners, Francine and Greg, say they didn't know what Dahl was up to at the brewery. And they were shocked when Dahl came in one day and announced he was shutting down the whole thing.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Robert's sitting there and he goes, guys, the brewery's not making enough money. I'm going to close the doors.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Francine and Greg say they not only lost $250,000 of their own money, they'd encouraged friends to invest, too. And unlike Miles Davis, they felt personally betrayed by their friend, Robert Dahl.

What gets to you the most?

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

Somebody that we trusted had this capability, had this. I mean, Robert knew the whole time, gonna pretty much screw us over.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But no one felt more ripped off than Imad Tafilis. He thought he'd invested more than a million dollars in a vineyard. Instead, Dahl diverted the cash, spending it on his lavish lifestyle. The brewery business, just about anything else.

Dahl had stopped paying back the money he borrowed. And Tophillis hired a lawyer. He was angry. He wanted his money, and he wanted to find out everything he could about Robert Dahl.

You amassed a pile of information about Robert Dahl.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

This is the pile of liens that Robert had against him. Civil judgment from Ford Motor Company, 19,000. Allied Building Products Company. 61,000. 53,000. 7900.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Oh, my goodness.

IMOD hired Dawn King, who has her own special niche in Napa Valley.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Well, I'm a private investigator here in Napa, and I was an FBI agent for 10 years.

[Narrator/Reporter]

An FBI agent?

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Yes.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So you can smell a rat?

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Well, I like to put rats in prison. Anyway,

[Narrator/Reporter]

Don started digging, so he was

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

just not paying his bills. I mean, he was just, like, you know, charging credit cards. Here's the Federal Credit Union. 53,000. And then you get into his lawsuit.

[Narrator/Reporter]

A lot of what Don discovered happened back in Minnesota during the years before Dahl came to Napa. But to Don, it told a story.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

You know, this is the theft. One of his Theft charges.

[Narrator/Reporter]

One of his theft charges.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Yeah, he had two. This was the theft by swindle.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So actually was convicted of theft by swindle. He was.

Thefts and swindles got Dahl thrown into jail not once, but twice back in Minnesota and left him a convicted felon.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

I mean, this guy was a criminal.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Now here in the wine country, Dahl seemed to be scamming again. Every time he'd get a business investment, the money seemed to go right into his pocket.

Was this kind of a Ponzi scheme?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Yeah, to some extent. I mean, except that no one got paid. It's usually an apology scene first people in get paid. But at this point, Robert did. It was right. Robert got paid, but Robert spent all the money.

[Narrator/Reporter]

In 2014, Wine reporter Lou Perdue began to uncover the swindles Robert Dahl was pulling right here in Napa Valley. He started blogging what he found, and guess who responded.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

And those are his comments.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Robert Dahl.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Those are his comments. And then he starts to rant. Paragraph.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Oh, I see this.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

The cap in red by paragraph.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Oh, my goodness.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Everything in big red, capital letters just keeps coming.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Oh, my goodness.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

And it comes.

[Narrator/Reporter]

This is like one of those magic scarves.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

And it comes, just ranting and ranting and ranting. I think I measured this at 26ft.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And what did this say to you?

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

This says to me the guy was off his nut.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Things were really heating up. Both sides were suing, and it looked as if things were headed for a showdown.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Ahmad was just like, so crazed, and he was becoming like a desperate man.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

For years, Gone south has been a podcast about crime in the American South.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But for our new season, we're widening the lens.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Through deeply reported, narrative driven stories. We're digging into the myths, scandals, and power structures that still shape the south and in a lot of ways, the country itself.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Follow and listen to gone South Season

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

5, an Odyssey podcast, available now on

[Narrator/Host]

Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Oh, my gosh. I mean, I used to get 10, 15, 20 phone calls a day.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Imad Tafilis was angry, very angry. He wanted his whole investment back, but it wasn't looking good.

How desperate was Imad?

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

He was a desperate man. On a scale from 1 to 10, he was about a 9.

[Narrator/Host]

He was not going to let someone like Robert Dahl take advantage of him and bully him into being submissive.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Attorney David Wiseblood, Imod came to me

[Narrator/Host]

saying, I have this problem. So I looked at it and said, yeah, you have a problem. So we devised a strategy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

That strategy was to hammer Robert Dahl in court and force him to pay up.

[Narrator/Host]

So the strategy was file a lawsuit in Napa to basically get control of the collateral and to prevent stuff from disappearing.

[Narrator/Reporter]

That collateral was mostly the wine tanks and all the equipment used to make the wine.

And what happened?

[Narrator/Host]

Robert didn't roll that well. What happened? I had in a four month period 19 court appearances in the Napa court, which is crazy. I mean, the short answer is the Napa court issued an injunction against Robert saying you can't sell inventory, which in effect should have shut down his winemaking and wine selling operations.

[Narrator/Reporter]

That all belongs to IMOD basically, right?

[Narrator/Host]

Pretty much.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Even though IMOD was winning in court, Robert Dahl was doing everything he could to cheat. He was even secretly taking equipment and trying to sell it off.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Robert at that point had started hiding equipment, hiding whatever he could. He started moving stuff.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But Robert Dahl's attorneys, Jasmine Dwal and

Koosha Barrakim, there's a lot more than

the headlines say Dahl was a clever businessman, but he was no crook.

You think Robert's mindset was, I'm going to take this but I'll be able to pay it back and everything's going to be okay.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Absolutely. I think he had every intention to pay back the entire loan.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Dahl's lawyers believed Dahl was a stand up guy, that classic all American risk taking entrepreneur who puts it all on the line and at the last minute comes out a hero.

[Narrator/Host]

The business was growing and it was not a Ponzi scheme or house of cards.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I was shown a document that says Robert Dahl was convicted of suicide swindle in Minnesota.

[Narrator/Host]

If you look at that document again, you will see that that goes back to when he was about 19 or 21 years old or so.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But still people look at that and say once a con man, always a con man.

[Narrator/Host]

Robert definitely had his share of failed ventures before as well.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But you don't think that proves that he's a thief?

[Narrator/Host]

Not at all. A thief takes money and runs with it. A thief doesn't go to court. He was a risk taker. And when you take risks, sometimes you end up harming other people as well. But our system is set up for

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

that

[Narrator/Reporter]

in the wine business. Dahl's lawyers say sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And they insist Imad Tawfilas was the real villain in this business deal.

You think this was a scam for Imad?

[Narrator/Host]

Absolutely. How would one come up with that much cash? And why?

[Narrator/Reporter]

It's still a mystery where all that cash came from. But Dahl's lawyers say Imad was so angry, he was determined to destroy Robert Dahl's business.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

His barrels of wines were taken. His cars were taken. His brewing systems were taken.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He was in an impossible place

with no business to operate. Dahl couldn't earn any money to pay off the debts he owed to IMOD and others. And then, surprisingly, there was a breakthrough. It looked as if IMOD might get more of his money back.

The lawyers had come to a deal, and Yamhad and Robert were going to get together to hammer out the details.

Robert wanted to meet here at his vineyard.

[Narrator/Host]

I went to my office Monday morning and I get a phone call from Iman David and I've decided to go to the winery. On that morning. I was on the phone and Imad's attorney was on the phone.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Imad and Robert were there in person. Their attorneys joined them on a conference call.

[Narrator/Host]

There was a definite agreement on what was going to be paid to Imad. It was just so eerily calm.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It was eerily calm.

[Narrator/Host]

It was eerily calm.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But then Robert Dahl rocked the boat

[Narrator/Host]

and he said, why don't give an s what the lawyers negotiated. This is my offer.

[Narrator/Reporter]

What seemed to be a nearly done deal suddenly started unraveling, which was several

[Narrator/Host]

hundred thousand dollars less than what was agreed to.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The lawyers felt it was a breakdown that IMOD and Robert should deal with themselves.

[Narrator/Host]

They were both business savvy, and this was something that they both could have easily handled.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So both lawyers got off the phone. Both expected to hear right back from their clients.

[Narrator/Host]

20 minutes go by.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

We had no idea what was going on.

[Narrator/Host]

I don't hear from you, ma. I was expecting a call, then I got an email saying there was a shooting. I got a call from Mr. Weisblood. He said, kusha, tell me this didn't really happen.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You thought Imad lost it?

[Narrator/Host]

I thought Imad lost it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We both thought that.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

That's the winery up at the end of the row.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

At the end of the row there?

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Yeah, up at the end of the row.

[Narrator/Reporter]

On March 16, 2015, Imad Tafilis and Robert Dahl had finally gotten together to try to settle their ugly dispute.

They'd been meeting one on one in a room inside that barn over there at Dahl vineyard. The lawyers were on the phone on a conference call. But just a few moments after everything started, they hit a snag.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

IMOD wanted to settle it and Dahl

[Narrator/Reporter]

wanted to settle it, but something went wrong.

Clearly they can't come to an agreement down there in the vineyard.

Not only couldn't they come to an agreement all hell breaks loose. There's a burst of gunfire, and evidence shows the men come tumbling out of the barn. One has a gun. He's firing. The other man is wounded, running for his life into the vines.

They can't agree. And suddenly one person takes off down these rows, like in between these grapes here.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Right.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Running through here.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Right.

[Narrator/Reporter]

IMOD and Robert both take off, one

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

hunting, the other running down the row, being pursued by the other one who is shooting at the guy who became

[Narrator/Reporter]

the victim, is shooting through these grapes just as the guy's running.

It's a wild chase, something out of a movie. The hunted man desperately dials 911.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

He's calling 911 as he's running through the vineyard.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He's still running even though he's been shot.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Right.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So what does the shooter do?

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

The shooter knows he can't catch the victim, so he goes back to the winery, gets in his car and drives over, hoping to cut the victim off as the victim runs out. As the victim gets here, he tells 911 that he can see the deputies arriving here.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So he's saved. He can see the deputies and the shooting.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

The shooter comes around, gets out of his car and shoots the victim in the head with a fatal shot as the police cars are arriving.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So the shooter gets out, basically stands over the guy.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Yes. Delivers the coup de grace.

[Narrator/Reporter]

While the sheriff's deputies were right there,

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

the sheriff's deputies were arriving right at this corner.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And this is where it all ended. The winery these two men had dreamed of building together. Imad Tafilis was lying dead on the ground, murdered by Robert Dahl.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

He knows it's all over. I mean, he knows that no matter what he does, he's been caught. He can't talk his way out of it. So he gets in the vehicle, drives up a terrible road here, where there are very few outlets. And as the police are closing in on him, he shoots himself in the head and kills himself and kills himself all over. The final bad life choice on a crooked life that's led all the way back to Minnesota.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It's hard to say what's set Robert Dahl off that day. It certainly seems the crime was premeditated. Dahl had brought a gun. And remember, he was a convicted felon and he wasn't allowed to own one. And at that final meeting, he pulled out a bizarre document that he wanted Tophilas to sign, a document that seemed almost insane.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

That was basically a manifesto that IMOD was trying to ruin his life. This was supposed to be a confession, Confession by Imod that it was all a hoax and it was all his fault.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So the idea is Robert pulls out this crazy manifesto and says, sign this.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

And he pulls out a gun and says, sign this.

[Narrator/Reporter]

There was evidence that Dahl may have been ready to kill more people.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Duct tape, flex cuffs, a tarp, gloves.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And there was ammo. More than 750 rounds.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

A magnetic gun holder that goes on a car.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Hide the gun.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Yeah. To me, that is a murder kit. I mean, plain and simple.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

I think he was trying to figure out how to kill the people that had brought him down.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And that theory fits what we've discovered here in Napa. In the course of our reporting, so many people told us they took could have been victims. There was Don King, the dirt digging private eye.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Could have been me running through the vineyard.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Could have been Lou Perdue, the dogged wine journalist.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

I think I was probably number one on his list to kill because I was the guy who blew the whistle and everything.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Francine and Greg Knittle, who filed a criminal case against Dahl.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

My first thought was that could have

[Narrator/Reporter]

very easily been Greg and Imad Tafilis. Attorney David Wiseblood.

[Narrator/Host]

It certainly could have been me and I'm sure that it would have been.

[Narrator/Reporter]

There was even that prince of the wine country, Dominic Fapoli. You think he would have killed you too?

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

Oh, yeah.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Finally, we were left with one more question.

[Narrator/Host]

This month's wine club shipment includes our.

[Narrator/Reporter]

How could Robert Dahl have convinced all these people to believe in him?

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Robert Dahl was an Academy Award winning actor. When it comes to convincing people to

[Narrator/Reporter]

trust him, how did he not get found out?

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

Nobody checked.

[Greg Knittle (Business Partner)]

People like this, they keep exactly moving. Destroy somebody else's life for their own good, their own benefit.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Imad Tafilis's murder haunts almost everyone he knew in the wine country.

You think about this case every day.

[Narrator/Host]

I do, yeah. Two years. Two years plus.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Dominic Fapoli says back when he and Dahl were still partners, he tried to warn imod.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

I said, I want to give you a heads up. I'm having all these issues with Robert.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You warned him?

[Narrator/Host]

Yeah.

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

We sat here on this deck and, you know, and talked.

[Narrator/Reporter]

How did you hear about what he did?

[Dominic Fapoli (Winery Owner)]

Somebody pulled up their phone and they showed me the article, what had happened. I was just in shock. And immediately, I mean, honestly, I started crying. And it was a mix of guilt because I guess I didn't do enough to warn Ahmad about him.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Jonathan Kesselman, the director, felt deeply about imod.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

He was a really sweet, kind, generous guy. And I just felt I needed to say that. You know, just so it's on the record, you know, there's some legacy of IMOD where, you know, he was remembered. He was a good person.

[Narrator/Reporter]

As for Robert Dahl, he may have shown up in Napa with a grand vision, but in the end, he brought his dreams and those of so many around him crashing down.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

He wanted to be that guy that had a vineyard and had wine with his name on it. He wanted to live the life of the big fish. He was a little fish.

[Narrator/Reporter]

This is not your typical wine story.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

No, it isn't. And one that we don't want to hear about around here again for sure.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

When beloved family patriarch Gary Farris went

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

missing, his family looked everywhere on their property until they came across something horrifying.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

It's a homicide.

[Narrator/Host]

Absolutely.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

The blame game in this family went round and round.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

This is Blood is Thicker, the Ferris Wheel.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

I would don't see how anyone can

[Narrator/Host]

look at this story and think they were happy.

[Lou Perdue (Wine Writer/Tech Entrepreneur)]

Blood is Thicker. The Ferris Wheel is available on Amazon Music.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Follow the show on Amazon Music for more future episodes.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I'm back.

[Don King (Private Investigator)]

I'm really back.

[Narrator/Reporter]

School Spirits returns. Why am I here?

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

Not dead, right?

[Narrator/Reporter]

This place is an absolute death trap.

[Jonathan Kesselman (Filmmaker/Director)]

We need to get out of here now. School Spirits new season now streaming only on Paramount plus.