A Killer Confession

Summary

Cold Case Files: "A Killer Confession" Release Date: February 18, 2025
Host: Paula Barros

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Introduction

In the gripping episode titled "A Killer Confession," host Paula Barros delves into the harrowing 25-year-old cold case of Frank McAllister, a young man whose mysterious disappearance and subsequent murder baffled investigators for decades. The episode meticulously unpacks the timeline, the investigation's evolution, and the eventual breakthrough that brought justice to Frank and his grieving family.

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The Disappearance of Frank McAllister

Background and Initial Disappearance (00:10 - 04:07)
Frank McAllister, a 19-year-old cook from Reading, California, was reported missing on May 7, 1993, by his fiancée, Donnelle Tadich. Donnelle had last heard from Frank the previous evening, the day he cashed a $5,000 insurance settlement from a prior vehicle accident.

Detective Rusty Bishop (02:10): "Frank was supposed to return the previous night, had cash on his person and did not return. So obviously our concern there is, okay, has something happened to him or has he voluntarily left, returned?"

Frank's mother, Cindy Tolmacoff, along with her husband, became increasingly worried when Frank failed to return home, prompting them to travel to Redding in search of him.

Cindy Tolmacoff (02:40): "I just kept thinking of he's going to be there when we get there. Then when he still wasn't, then I started worrying, something's wrong with him."

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The Initial Investigation and Clues

Discovery at Costco (05:37 - 07:39)
The investigation took a pivotal turn when an abandoned vehicle belonging to Donnelle Tadich was found at a Costco parking lot in Redding two nights after Frank's disappearance. Blood stains were discovered both inside and outside the vehicle, suggesting foul play.

Detective Eric Garnero (06:46): "A white t-shirt that was on the floorboard behind the driver's side seat. It had a significant amount of blood on it."

These findings shifted the case's focus from a simple missing person to a potential homicide, prompting detectives to explore possible connections to the local drug community.

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Suspicions and Leads

Potential Drug Involvement (07:39 - 14:11)
Frank had expressed intentions to invest his insurance money into purchasing methamphetamine to sell for profit, a plan that raised suspicions about his entanglement with dangerous individuals.

Detective Eric Garnero (07:39): "The dots are starting to be connected that Frank maybe got hooked up with some wrong people."

The investigation then expanded to include Frank's social circle, including his fiancée Donnelle, their friends Shawna and Curtis Culver, and Brian Hawkins, Shawna's on-and-off boyfriend.

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The Breakthrough: Brian Hawkins' Confession

Courtney Kreider's Interview and Hawkins' Admission (21:56 - 24:22)
Nearly 25 years after Frank's murder, a significant breakthrough occurred when Brian Hawkins reached out to Courtney Kreider, a reporter at KRCR news. Hawkins confessed to his involvement in Frank's death, a revelation that stunned both the investigators and the McAllister family.

Brian Hawkins (23:27): "I'm going to turn myself in next door at the sheriff's department for a crime I was involved in years ago, and somebody lost their life. It was murder."

Kreider's decision to delay airing the confession allowed law enforcement to act swiftly, leading to the arrest of Hawkins and eventually implicating the Culver siblings.

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Unraveling the Truth

Interviews and Confessions (25:16 - 36:42)
Detectives re-interviewed Curtis and Shawna Culver, alongside Brian Hawkins. While Shawna initially denied involvement, Curtis's polygraph test failed, compelling him to confess his role in the murder. The detailed confession revealed a coordinated effort to kill Frank, driven by financial motives and personal conflicts.

Curtis Culver (35:17): "I have nowhere to go. This thing is over. I had to tell him what really happened."

Frank was brutally attacked in a remote area, where both Brian and Curtis participated in the assault, ultimately leading to his death.

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Legal Proceedings and Justice Served

Prosecutions and Sentencing (38:15 - 38:36)
In the aftermath of the confession, all three individuals—Brian Hawkins, Shawna Culver, and Curtis Culver—faced legal consequences. Hawkins pled guilty to first-degree murder and robbery, receiving a sentence of 25 years to life. Shawna and Curtis also entered pleas, with Shawna receiving 20 years and Curtis 35 years in state prison for their respective roles in the crime.

Cindy Tolmacoff (38:32): "I wanted justice, but truthfully, nothing will bring back your child."

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Impact on the McAllister Family

Emotional Aftermath (39:24 - 37:33)
The resolution of the case brought a sense of closure to the McAllister family, though it couldn't alleviate the profound loss of Frank. Cindy Tolmacoff shared her enduring grief and the lingering questions about why Frank waited so long to confess.

Cindy Tolmacoff (37:33): "I don't have him with me no more. Because of him. But why? Just because your girlfriend told you to do it?"

The family grappled with the reality of their son's absence, finding solace in finally knowing the truth while mourning the years lost in uncertainty.

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Conclusion

"A Killer Confession" underscores the relentless pursuit of justice by investigators and the enduring hope of families seeking answers. The case of Frank McAllister serves as a poignant reminder of the profound impact unresolved crimes have on loved ones and the importance of advancements in forensic technology and investigative persistence in solving cold cases.

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Notable Quotes

• Frankie's Brother (00:33): "Frankie made friends with everybody. There was no stranger in his life."

• Cindy Tolmacoff (00:51): "I realized he was gone. I'd never see him again. It was an emptiness. My heart broke."

• Brian Hawkins (08:45): "Bottom line is you did not pass the test, not even close. But I need you to start being honest with me and I need you to start doing that right now." ([08:45])

• Cindy Tolmacoff (09:21): "I realized then that I don't think Frank was coming back and he was gone and I'd never see him again." ([09:21])

• Courtney Kreider (23:38): "And right there, I'm like, wait, what?" ([23:38])

• Brian Hawkins (36:56): "I know the wrong can't be changed, but this is as close as I can come to doing the right thing." ([36:56])

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Key Takeaways

• Persistence Pays Off: The relentless efforts of investigators over decades highlight the importance of perseverance in solving cold cases.

• Technology and Forensics: Advances in forensic technology can break barriers in long-standing investigations, providing new avenues for evidence.

• Emotional Toll: Unresolved cases have lasting psychological impacts on families, underscoring the need for closure.

• Human Complexity: The confession reveals the intricate human motivations behind crimes, blending personal relationships with criminal actions.

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A Killer Confession is a testament to the intricate dance between investigation, technology, and human emotion, offering listeners a comprehensive look into one of America's elusive cold cases finally being brought to light.

Transcript

[Marissa Pinson]

Hi, cold case listeners. I'm Marissa Pinson. And before we get into this week's episode, I just wanted to remind you that episodes of Cold Case Files, as well as the A and E classic podcasts, I Survived, American justice, and City Confidential, are all available ad free on the new A and E Crime and Investigation channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple plus for just $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. And now onto the show. The following episode contains intensely disturbing accounts of violence. Listener discretion is advised.

[Frankie McAllister's Brother]

Frankie made friends with everybody. There was no stranger in his life.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

He loved being outdoors. You get him anything to do with fishing. And he was so happy.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

When we found the vehicle, it appeared abandoned.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

The amount of blood that the officer was seeing, that person was likely the victim of a fatal injury.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I realized he was gone. I'd never see him again. It was an emptiness. My heart broke.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

You can only push so hard. You can't put him in handcuffs and drag him into the police department.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

This is ridiculous.

[Brian Hawkins]

This is ridiculous.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I'm not riding this. It's a fucking lie.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

The whole time she just kind of had this look on her face like she couldn't believe this was happening.

[Marissa Pinson]

There are over 100,000 cold cases in America. Only about 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare stories. On January 10, 2018, in Reading, California, a man walks into a newsroom with a secret he needs to reveal.

[Brian Hawkins]

I've been through hell my whole life because of this. These things that have happened for over 25 years have pushed me and pushed me to do the right thing. I'm going to turn myself in for a crime I was involved in years ago, and somebody lost their life. It was murder.

[Marissa Pinson]

John Severson and Rusty Bishop are retired detectives with the Reading Police Department.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

On May 7, 1993, the Reading Police Department received a missing persons report from from Donnelle Tadich. Donnelle indicated that her fiance, Frank McAllister, had borrowed the car the day before and had not returned.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Donnell woke up on the 7th, realized Frank still hadn't come home. She had called his pager several times. He wasn't calling her back. She said that that was outside of his character and she was concerned.

[Marissa Pinson]

Cindy Tolmacoff is Frank's mom.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I got a call from Dinelle telling me that Frank was missing and so was her car. I just go, what? It's not like him to just up and leave. I hung up the phone and me and my husband Jack went up there to Redding. I just kept thinking of he's going to be there when we get there. Then when he still wasn't, then I started worrying, something's wrong with him.

[Marissa Pinson]

Jonathan McAllister is Frank's uncle.

[Frankie McAllister's Brother]

I didn't think of anything at the time. I just figured he was, you know, gone somewhere, you know. But if he was going to go out of town, say to leave Reading to go to LA or whatever, he would have told somebody so that they would know.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

In a typical missing person case of an adult such as Frank, you know, he's a 19 year old adult male, he'd only been gone in less than 24 hours at the time she reported it. 19 year old guy, sometimes that happens. But Donnell reported that Frank had gotten in a vehicle accident a few months prior, totaled his car and received a $5,000 insurance settlement from that case. So he had just cashed that insurance check the day that he went missing.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

Frank was supposed to return the previous night, had cash on his person and did not return. So obviously our concern there is, okay, has something happened to him or has he voluntarily left, returned?

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

Frank was born September 20, 1973 in Lynwood, California. He was a good baby. He loved to joke, he'd love to tease you and do whatever he could do to get your attention. Frank would get into his dad's fishing poles and he always got by me and had that fishing pole in his hands outside because he would practice, he would throw the fishing rod like he's catching fish and reel it in. You get him anything to do with fishing and he was so happy. My husband Doug and I separated when Frank was about 8 years old. We'd had a lot of ups and downs and we just couldn't make it anymore. And Frank went to live with his dad up in Reading. It was hard, but I didn't want him to stay with me, but didn't even have a car to get around and I needed to establish my life. So yes, at the time I thought he was better off with his dad.

[Frankie McAllister's Brother]

Doug and Frankie were constantly doing stuff together. We live so close to the river and the weather's so hot here in Redding for about seven months out of the year that that's what you get to do. You go to the river. This is a good spot. There's a nice deep hole right there. So we just bring food and water and spend the day down here doing things. You just climb up the side and jump off into the water. This is our swimming pool. This is where summer happened for us, for Frankie.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

That night we received a call from Employees at the costco in redding, they had reported a vehicle in the parking lot. It had been there for two nights, and it appeared abandoned.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

The driver's side window was down. The vehicle was unlocked. The keys were still in the ignition.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

We had one of our service officers respond out there to look at the vehicle. She noticed blood stains on the outside of the vehicle. And the license plate was able to connect that vehicle as belonging to danelle tadich. At the time, I was the lead investigator assigned to the major crimes division, and because of the missing persons case on Frank mcallister, as well as the blood stains on the outside of the vehicle, I was called out to the scene. Upon arrival, we had turned our attention to a close examination of the vehicle. There was a significant amount of blood down the driver's door, the armrest, and down the inside part of the door. The patterning of the blood was primarily centered around the driver's seat.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

A white t shirt that was on the floorboard behind the driver's side seat. It had a significant amount of blood on it. And then a backpack had some newspaper sticking out of it that had blood on it as well.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

Also, there was dirt on the vehicle on the wheels and the wheel wells. So we had this very strong suspicion that something had happened somewhere else, and the vehicle had been transported and left abandoned in the costco parking lot. If we look back to all the cases we had worked where we saw this amount of blood, it was almost always coincided with a homicide case. So we were very, very concerned that someone had been killed in the driver's seat, and then something had happened to them. So we wanted to focus this as if it was a homicide case.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Detectives contacted donell. Donnell tells detectives that frank was working as a cook at a local restaurant. They had also just gotten engaged. They were going to elope in reno and get married and start a life together. She said that frank had dabbled in the use of narcotics, specifically methamphetamine, but she was trying to get frank back on track, get him out of the drug use. Donnell told detectives that Frank realized he only had 5,000 bucks, not a lot for them to get going in life. So he told donnell that he wanted to purchase a large sum of methamphetamine and then sell that methamphetamine for a profit.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

Violence and crime surrounds the drug community. Over the years, I was involved in numerous cases where one drug dealer killed another drug dealer.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

The dots are starting to be connected that frank maybe got hooked up with some wrong people. And if he's naive, to kind of that world, to a certain element of criminal in our area, he would have been a huge target.

[Brian Hawkins]

Bottom line is you did not pass the test, not even close. But I need you to start being honest with me and I need you to start doing that right now.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Frank had told Donnell that he was going to buy a large sum of methamphetamine and sell it, make a profit so the two of them could have a life together.

[Frankie McAllister's Brother]

When I found out what the police said about the amount of blood in the car, I thought, well, Frankie's gone, you know, because it was his car and he's missing. You know, he didn't have a background of being a drug dealer, he didn't have a background of buying drugs. He was pretty naive.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I realized then that I don't think Frank was coming back and he was gone and I'd never see him again. He was an emptiness my heart broke. PETA been living with me the whole time. Would he have been still alive to this day? Why was he up here doing the shit he was doing? It's not him. It wasn't him. He was a good kid.

[Marissa Pinson]

With suspicions of a drug deal gone wrong, detectives reach out to the friends that Frank's fiance Danelle says he was heading to sea when he borrowed her car. 17 year old Shawna Culver and her brother, 21 year old Curtis Culver.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Shawna told detectives that she last saw Frank on the afternoon of May 6, that Shawna and Curtis were hanging out at their apartment. Brian Hawkins was there. Brian was kind of an off again on again boyfriend with Shawna. Frank came by and Shawna, Curtis, Frank and Brian Allison got in Frank's car and drove around reading, just kind of hanging out. Shawna told detectives that Frank had gotten a text on his pager and he made a phone call from a payphone. After he made the call he got back in the car and he told Shawna, Curtis and Brian that he needed to meet with somebody and was urgent and that he would have to drop them off in town at another location. But he would come back and picked them up after he was done meeting this person, Shawna. Curtis and Brian hung out there for a while and realized that Frank probably wasn't coming back and Shawna said that they end up catching a taxi back to their mom's apartment.

[Marissa Pinson]

Detectives interview Curtis, Culver and Shawna's boyfriend, 19 year old Brian Hawkins. Their accounts of that day are the same as Shawna's.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

During our interviews with Brian, Shanna and Curtis, we did not notice any Physical injuries on their hands, fingers, or anything like that, such as you might suspect if there was any sort of fight involving an edged weapon, a knife perhaps. We had every intention of going back and re interviewing Shannon and Curtis and Brian, but all three of them pretty much did not speak with us any further. And at that time, we did not have an injured person or a dead body. Without that physical evidence. We are missing pieces of the puzzle to put it all together.

[Marissa Pinson]

Since Frank had a plan to make a drug deal, investigators turned their attention to the local drug community.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

At that point, the tips coming into the police department pretty much exploded. One of the tips that came across us involved an individual by the name of Brian Bennett.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Brian Bennett was a small time drug dealer in the reading area. So they were familiar with this name when it came in.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

There were several variations on this tip involving Brian Bennett and his involvement with Frank. First one is that they got together and Brian shot him in the head and dropped him down by the river. The second indicated that Brian had been seen driving Frank's car with Frank in the passenger seat.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

A third tip, they said that Brian had been at his house and that Frank had showed up to try and get him to sell him some methamphetamine. Brian Bennett had left his house and had returned really late at night, like 2, 3 o'clock in the morning. He's acting very nervous and his truck is covered in mud and there's blood on his truck. It's one thing to get one tip or maybe even two, but when you get three like that, all naming the same guy, and the fact that law enforcement's already familiar with Brian being involved in that drug world and Frank was looking to make more money off of selling drugs, this is starting to maybe make some sense. So they're thinking at this point that they're definitely on the right track here. Detectives are now armed with these three tips on Brian Bennett. They want to talk to him immediately. At that point, they track him down, they bring him in for an interview. Brian right away said, hey, I have nothing to do with this. In fact, you know that that night when he would have disappeared or that day, I would have been at home. I was hanging out with a group of friends. I was working on my truck.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

We in fact, examined the bed of his truck, the whole tailgate area, and all the cracks did not see any debris or blood, Evans, anything like that.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Detectives were able to check on his alibi and confirm that the information he had provided detectives about what he was doing that day on the 6th matched up.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

So at that point, this went into the file of probable false leads.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Frankie McAllister's Brother]

My brothers Mark and Doug, Frank's dad, scoured the area looking for Frankie for months and months. Then I think hope turned into just wanting to find the body. Now it's like, well, let's find him so we can put him to rest.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's April 12, 1994 in Shingletown, California.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

A little over 11 months after Frank's disappearance. I was contacted by the sheriff's office and they indicated they were up in the Shingletown area, which is a good 24 miles east of Redding. Up in the pine forest, two mushroom hunters stumbled across human remains, specifically bones from a skeleton. And at that point they had also discovered some ID laying on the ground belonging to Frank McAllister. The remains were found 20 to 30 yards off the road. We're approximately seven miles down the dirt road from Highway 44 when I arrived on scene. We conducted a fairly systematic grid search where we walk as a line trying to discover any and every piece that we can see. These are areas that are marked off to indicate certain items. Over in this area where the flag is waving and the tree is what appears to be some type of human or animal bone. These remains were fairly widely scattered. The skull was there, the jawbone was there, the teeth were there. There were ribs and vertebrae. All had been scavenged by animals and the bones dispersed.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

They found some dark colored tennis shoes, a dark pair of jeans and a sock. These were all consistent with the clothes that Frank was reported to have been wearing by Dunnell when she made the missing person report 11 months prior.

[Marissa Pinson]

Dental records confirm that the remains are those of Frank McAllister.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I got a call from the police, they said we found your son's remains. And I dropped the phone and I just started crying. I mean, I didn't know what to do. And then to find out he was murdered and left where he was left.

[Frankie McAllister's Brother]

You know, we wanted closure and that was some comfort. We can lay Frankie's remains to rest and have a place to go and talk to him.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

It was hard to bury your son so young and not get to really see him grow up and be something. It was really hard.

[Marissa Pinson]

As 19 year old Frank is laid to rest, the autopsy report hits detectives desks.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

The forensic anthropologist Discovered two knife wounds, one on the jawbone and one on one of the upper vertebra.

[Marissa Pinson]

Kelly Cafel is a prosecutor with the Shasta County DA's office.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

It was evident from the markings on the spine that Frank McAllister's throat was likely slit. There were other marks in the spine that showed a knife had gone through and nicked the spine, consistent with having somebody over the top of you stabbing you through your chest.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

So this thing's ramping up now. We just went from having a missing person case to a full blown homicide investigation. Now we're going to be making another push to get another interview with the Culvers and Brian Hawkins. If you re interview people, sometimes their stories start changing. They were the last three to most likely be seen with Frank before he was killed. At this point, they're really the only solid that detectives have.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I don't want to do it. I'm not doing it. I'm not going to talk anymore.

[Brian Hawkins]

Is there any reason why?

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

No, I'm just. I don't want to be doing this anymore unless you're going to detain me.

[Brian Hawkins]

Hold on.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Detectives did try and make another run at Shawna and Curtis Culver, Brian Hawkins, but It's only been 11 months. Shawna's still a minor at this point, so we're not going to be able to talk to Shauna at all.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

You can only push so hard. You can't put them in handcuffs and drag him into the police department. You have to have a reason to do that. In this case. We were shut down. They cut off all contact with us.

[Marissa Pinson]

Two years after Frank is murdered, the investigation into the teen who never came home goes cold in my heart.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

He was gone and he was buried. And then one time I went upstairs to lay down, and he was there when he was eight years old. His hair, the way I combed it and everything. And he looked at me and he says, mom, I'm okay. Don't worry about me no more. I'm okay. And then he went away. And I woke up and I said, he's okay now. He's in heaven. He's okay.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's January 9, 2018, nearly 25 years after Frank's murder, when a young KRCR news reporter, Courtney Kreider, gets a phone call.

[Courtney Kreider]

So In January of 2018, I'm six months in as a brand new reporter at KRCR. And I get this call from my grandpa. And I say, hey, grandpa, you know, I'm working. What's up? And he goes, well, I have this Guy, he's got some information on this murder in Shingletown from 25 years ago. He wants to. To talk to you. And I'm thinking, I don't have time for this. But I hear him out. A lot of people know my grandpa Tony Tripasso here in Reading. My grandma and grandpa go to church every Sunday. But my grandpa Tony on this Sunday, had a man approach him saying that he had some things that he wanted to talk to him about and pray about, but specifically he wanted to say about Frank McAllister's death. And the man's name was Brian Hawkins.

[Marissa Pinson]

Courtney rushes to Jennifer Scarborough, the news director at krcr, to pitch the breaking story.

[Courtney Kreider]

My boss said that she remembered this story, and knowing that somehow we might have details that could help this cold case, we both agreed, okay, well, we can't pass up this opportunity to talk to this man because no one has solved this in 25 years. Seeing Brian Hawkins for the first time, he was looking around, fidgety, nervous. He sat down, and I said, so what'd you come here to tell me today?

[Brian Hawkins]

I'm going to turn myself in next door at the sheriff's department for a crime I was involved in years ago, and somebody lost their life. It was murder.

[Courtney Kreider]

And right there, I'm like, wait, what?

[Brian Hawkins]

God in Christ. These things that have happened throughout my whole life since then, for over 25 years, have pushed me and pushed me to do the right thing.

[Courtney Kreider]

He said that God had led him to. That he had gotten saved and that he knew that he needed to make it right. The one thing that he wouldn't give me details of and what I wanted, I wanted details of about the murder.

[Brian Hawkins]

Somebody came up with an idea, or whatever you want to call it. They knew it wasn't my idea. Almost every minute of every day has been a nightmare. I've been through hell my whole life because of this.

[Courtney Kreider]

While I finished the interview with Brian, my boss was calling the police department and telling them, hey, we have these details. He's going to be bringing himself in. And they said, hey, there's two other people involved in this case. Can you hold off on airing this interview until we can go get them?

[Marissa Pinson]

KRCR management agrees to delay airing Hawkins confession for 24 hours.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

I remember my sergeant coming into my office and saying, hey, you need to get over to the sheriff's office because there's a guy in there that's wanting to confess to the Frank McAllister case, homicide. And I'm like, what? One of the things you do as A new detective is familiarize yourself with cold cases. But I hadn't looked at the McAllister case since 2012, so it's like six years. In interviews with suspects, you always try and get a rapport going with that person.

[Brian Hawkins]

We're out of root beer with cherry Pepsi. Right on.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

You like that?

[Brian Hawkins]

Yeah.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

I introduced myself to him, and I just told him I looked at this case six years ago. I said, I haven't looked at it since. I'm gonna give you your time. So I'd like to hear at this.

[Brian Hawkins]

Point, kind of what you have to say. My girlfriend at the time was Shawna Culver, and she had an idea to. She wanted to murder Frank because he had money on him and he wanted to buy a quarter pound of crank. She gave me a knife. She showed it to me in the bedroom.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Why did she say she was getting.

[Brian Hawkins]

A knife at that time? That's what she wanted to use to kill him.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Later that day, Frank shows up at the apartment, and Brian told Frank that he could be the middleman for that methamphetamine deal. The four of them get in Frank's car together. Frank's driving the car. Brian's seated right behind Frank. Curtis Culver's in the right front passenger seat, and Shawn is sitting right behind her brother. Brian directs Frank to drive to the Shingletown area. They get back to this real remote area, and they sit in the car and talk for a couple of hours. And Brian tells me that Shawna kind of nudges him and pulls out the knife that she had shown him.

[Brian Hawkins]

What exactly is she saying to you in the backseat? To stab him.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

She's telling you to stab him. That's when Brian tells me Curtis pulls his own knife out.

[Brian Hawkins]

And who stabbed him first? Curtis did. From the front passenger seat.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Brian tells me that Frank gets out of the vehicle and falls down on the ground just outside his car.

[Brian Hawkins]

I got him there, and I stabbed him also in the neck. I don't know how many times.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

What made you get on.

[Brian Hawkins]

What made you decide to do that? I don't know.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Can you say? You told me a whole bunch of times.

[Brian Hawkins]

Yeah. In his neck? Yes. What made you stop doing what you're doing to him? Because I was yelling. You were yelling? Yeah. Screaming.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

What were you screaming?

[Brian Hawkins]

I don't know.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

He was crying. He was visibly shaking uncontrollably at times. You could tell he was seeing it all over again in his head. He said he then got off of him. He recalled Curtis grabbing Frank and dragging him up towards the front of the vehicle.

[Brian Hawkins]

I hear him say hey Brian, look. And he dropped a big rock on and said yeah, you just dropped it on the text.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Brian told me that Shawna and Curtis drug Frank's body up into the trees. They get into the car. Brian says he drives to Costco while Shawn and Curtis are inside making phone calls for a taxi. Brian tells me that he grabs like a newspaper and he's trying to wipe up blood the bag that he can and then Shawna and Curtis came out of Costco. Shawna and Curtis pulled out a big wad of cash.

[Brian Hawkins]

They gave me some money looking for prank. Yes, there was blood on it.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Brian told me that Shawn and Curtis gave him a few hundred dollars and they essentially parted ways.

[Brian Hawkins]

I've been scared to death ever since.

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[Detective Eric Garnero]

We're really on the clock at this point and the stars align within like a few hours. They had tracked both the brother and sister, Shawna and Curtis Culver down to a town south of us in Red Bluff. So they headed out that next morning. Curtis agreed to come up for an interview. Shawna dug her heels in and was refusing to come up.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I don't want to do it. I'm not doing it. I'm not going to talk anymore.

[Brian Hawkins]

Is there any reason why?

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

No, I'm just. I don't want to be doing this anymore unless you're going to detain me. Hold on, hold on.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

And I said, well, arrest her and bring her here.

[Marissa Pinson]

Detectives split up the Culver's to interview them with Rusty Bishop taking Shawna.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Shawna waives her rights and she talks about the case, gives the same story she gave in 1993. And I tell Her. Well, I go. Some things have changed. Brian came in yesterday and he told us everything that happened from the get go.

[Brian Hawkins]

And based on that and everything else that we have, he's been arrested for murder. Obviously your name came on. Curtis's name came up.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I just don't understand it.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Well, Sean, I think you do. I think you do.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

You do not do it.

[Brian Hawkins]

Why are you saved?

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

He didn't do it.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

How do you know?

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

There's no he didn't do it.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

So she still doesn't really believe Brian confessed. So I end up queuing up the interview on a laptop.

[Brian Hawkins]

He had an idea. He wanted to marry her.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I had an idea it's a lie.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

And the whole time she just kind of had this look on her face like she couldn't believe this was happening.

[Brian Hawkins]

She gave it me a knife. That's what she wanted to use.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I don't know why he's saying this. This is ridiculous. This is ridiculous. I'm not listening, Stack. It's fucking lying.

[Brian Hawkins]

What exactly is she saying to you in the backseat to stab him.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

It's not true.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Tell me what really happened to him.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I never did any of that.

[Brian Hawkins]

You tell me what happened. Anything. You saw it.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

He said I fucking had a knife.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

You saw what happened.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I gave him a knife and he.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Tell me what happened.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

I never did any of that. I never did that. I never said that. And he's a liar.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

He's a liar.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

The whole time she's trying to distance herself from him. At this point, she realizes this is her worst nightmare.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

Why would he even say that?

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Things that he told me in that interview could be.

[Brian Hawkins]

What about physical evidence?

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

Well, then it's a part of us, obviously. Good, because I need a lawyer. I need a lawyer. That's all I'm going to say. It's all I'm going to say anymore. I want a lawyer.

[Marissa Pinson]

Down the hall, Detective Bishop's partner, Eric Garnero interviewed Shawna's brother, Curtis Culver.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

Curtis Culver stuck to the same story that he had been telling for the last 25 years. It was almost a script we knew we would hear.

[Brian Hawkins]

He got a page and then he just sued us out of his car. If he doesn't need to drop you.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

Guys, drive you guys back home.

[Brian Hawkins]

No, no.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

During his interview, my partner convinced Curtis to take a polygraph test was about to begin.

[Brian Hawkins]

Were you physically present when Frank was killed? No.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

That was the greatest thing that ever happened. Curtis bombs it.

[Brian Hawkins]

Bottom line is you did not pass the test. All right? Not even close. But I need you to start being honest with me, and I need you to start doing that right now.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

I think that Curtis realized he just didn't have anywhere to go. This thing is over. He had to tell him what really happened. Curtis said he didn't have the same knowledge about trying to rob or kill Frank prior to them going to Shingletown. He honestly thought it was a drug deal that Brian was setting up for Frank. Curtis had a different spin on the confrontation in the car. Said he got really scared. He couldn't tell my partner why he got scared, but he said he pulled a knife out and he held it, pointing it at Frank. He's just pointing it at him.

[Frankie McAllister's Brother]

And then what happened?

[Brian Hawkins]

So Brian does it like.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

So he grabbed his head?

[Courtney Kreider]

Yeah.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

And did he do a slash or was he stabbing?

[Marissa Pinson]

No.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Oh, really?

[Brian Hawkins]

Yeah.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

He's going right for it, huh?

[Brian Hawkins]

Yeah.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

Frank gets out of the car, falls down. All three of them get out of the car. Brian gets on top of Frank and proceeds to stab him over and over. When Brian is done stabbing Frank, Curtis says he picks up a rock, which he described as about the size of a basketball.

[Brian Hawkins]

Was he saying anything at this point? If he was, it was nothing that I could understand. Was he moving?

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

Yes.

[Brian Hawkins]

And how did you use this rock? I threw it at his head. Mercy.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

But that also tells us that Curtis essentially helped with the murder himself. So that's huge.

[Marissa Pinson]

Redding detectives have all three suspects in the murder of Frank McAllister under arrest, just as KRCR airs Brian Hawkins admission.

[Courtney Kreider]

A confession nearly 25 years in the making from Brian Keith Hawkins.

[Brian Hawkins]

I know the wrong can't be changed, but this is as close as I can come to doing the right thing. It's kind of. Kind of weird that Frank never even got to have a life. And neither did I. And now probably most likely won't.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

Anyways, I believe he really did get God to tell him to confess. But why did he wait so long to get this off his chest? Why 25 years? I am sorry. I. I don't have him with me no more. Because of him. But why? Just because your girlfriend told you to do it?

[Marissa Pinson]

Prosecutors believe they have a solid case against their three suspects, despite contradictory accounts of what happened that day.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

The evidence shows that Frank most likely had his throat slit from behind based on the cuts to the vertebrae. It makes more sense, too, because that's a position of advantage. That's a surprise. Brian's in a perfect spot. It may have been a plan of Shawna's to kill Frank, but we knew of some animosity between Brian and Frank.

[Brian Hawkins]

It seemed like Brian was accumulating anger, like he thought that Frankie is trying to put the news on my sister.

[Detective Eric Garnero]

He snapped and took Frank's life because he was angry with him.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

In November of 2019, Brian Hawkins came into court and pled guilty to murder and robbery and all the enhancements. He then was ultimately sentenced to 25 to life for first degree murder of Frank McAllister.

[Marissa Pinson]

Facing a mountain of evidence, the Culver strike a plea deal.

[Cindy Tolmacoff]

On January 14th of 2022, Shawna Culver pled guilty to her responsibility for the murder to robbery and additional charges and received 20 years in state prison. Curtis Culver pled guilty to manslaughter and robbery and various other assault charges and he received 35 years in state prison. I wanted justice, but truthfully, nothing will bring back your child. I know he went to heaven. He's up there with his dad now. They're probably fishing all the time. And he's in a better place than we are right now. But having to go so long without finding an answer and going through half of my life not knowing what happened. What good is it now? It can't bring him back. We can't bring him back.

[Frankie McAllister's Brother]

It's easy to think about what Frankie lost out on. His life, dreams and aspirations and you know, he was dreaming of having a life, having a girlfriend or a wife, of having a kid of his own and getting to watch him grow up. He missed out on being with his father when his father passed away. He missed out on all that. Frankie could have led a normal everyday life. The chance is gone. It's just a sad ending to his short life.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

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[Marissa Pinson]

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[Detective Rusty Bishop]

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[Marissa Pinson]

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[Brian Hawkins]

You have an incredible gift up here.

[Detective Rusty Bishop]

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[Marissa Pinson]

Next level comedies, music video channels and more. Brilliant black entertainment intentionally curated and all free this month and always on Pluto tv. Stream now pay never.