Blood Red Snow

Summary

Cold Case Files: "Blood Red Snow" – Detailed Summary

Episode Release Date: February 25, 2025
Host: Paula Barros
Podcast Network: A&E / PodcastOne

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1. Introduction to the Case

"Blood Red Snow" delves into the harrowing murder of Christopher Green, a 19-year-old from Bangor Township, Michigan. On December 9, 2002, Christopher was brutally attacked and left to die in a rural ditch, marking one of the rare cases that eventually saw justice after remaining unsolved for years.

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2. The Crime Scene and Initial Investigation

On a typical Michigan winter day, Michael McKay, a former Michigan State Police trooper, responded to a distress call about a man lying in the ditch on 60th Street and 16th Avenue. Upon arrival, investigators found Christopher Green's body, showing multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma, indicating a vicious and premeditated attack.

Rebecca Burkert (02:38):
"The victim was a white male, thin guy that he had been stabbed in the skull and the body multiple times. This was a very, very brutal assault. Clearly, this was murder."

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3. Key Suspects and Early Leads

Initial suspects included Howard Butler, who called 911 reporting the body, and his girlfriend Jamie Crawford. Additionally, Floyd Cousins, Lisa Cousins' father, emerged as a person of interest due to his aggressive behavior towards Christopher. Ray Barry, a neighbor with a tumultuous past, also became a suspect after a confrontation involving Christopher and Lisa.

Jennifer Green (04:23):
"Christopher was just 19 years old. He was very goofy. He would always do things to try to make somebody laugh. Yet he loved to play Barbies with me... I couldn't fathom that anybody had any ill will against my brother."

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4. Challenges and Cold Case Status

Despite identifying Floyd Cousins and Ray Barry as primary suspects, investigators struggled to find concrete evidence linking them to the crime. Both suspects had alibis that were either unverifiable or contradicted by forensic evidence. With no new leads and mounting case files, the investigation stalled, and the case went cold after a year.

Kevin Conklin (15:01):
"Howard Butler was not very cooperative...He was now strongly looked at as being a suspect."

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5. Reopening the Investigation

In 2010, Kevin Conklin was reassigned to the Bangor area, reigniting interest in Christopher's case. Advances in forensic technology and the possibility of obtaining new witness testimonies provided fresh avenues for investigation. The focus remained on Floyd Cousins and Ray Barry, with particular attention to Ray's behavior and alibi discrepancies.

Kevin Conklin (26:28):
"We make sure that there weren't any stones unturned by reviewing as many reports as possible."

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6. Breakthrough and Arrest

A significant breakthrough occurred in 2011 when Claude Taylor, Ray Barry's half-brother, came forward with crucial information. Offering to cooperate in exchange for leniency, Taylor provided a confession implicating Ray in Christopher's murder. Utilizing a wiretap operation, detectives obtained a confession where Ray admitted inflicting fatal blows on Christopher.

Kevin Conklin (33:11):
"We got the admission that we were looking for. Ray Barry said, 'Chris Green said, don't kill me, man.' That admission kind of sealed it up."

Ray Barry was subsequently arrested for first-degree murder after his prior warrants were addressed.

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7. Trial and Conviction

The trial, commencing in January 2014, centered on circumstantial evidence linking Ray Barry to the murder. Key pieces included:

• Footwear Evidence: Ray owned New Balance shoes that matched the tread marks found at the crime scene.
• Confessions and Statements: Ray's inconsistent statements and eventual confession provided a narrative of jealousy over Christopher's relationship with Lisa Cousins.

Despite the absence of direct DNA or fingerprint evidence, the jury found Ray Barry guilty of premeditated first-degree murder, sentencing him to life without the possibility of parole.

Jennifer Green (37:15):
"It was like this huge relief just raised off of my shoulders... We're not still sitting here wondering what happened."

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8. Impact and Conclusion

The resolution of Christopher Green's case brought a semblance of closure to his family, though the emotional scars remain. Jennifer Green reflected on the loss and the enduring pain caused by her brother's untimely death. The case underscores the challenges of solving violent crimes, especially in rural settings, and highlights the critical role of perseverance and advancements in forensic science in achieving justice.

Kevin Conklin (38:24):
"We were happy that we were able to bring justice to Christopher. I would say to the family, I wish we could have done it sooner."

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Notable Quotes

• Jennifer Green (04:44):
  "Christopher was just 19 years old... I couldn't fathom that anybody had any ill will against my brother."

• Kevin Conklin (06:10):
  "It was such a brutal crime, brutal assault. Looking at the crime scene, it was obvious that the victim knew the assailant."

• Eric Jenkins (19:39):
  "The autopsy report also released showed decisive evidence of blunt force trauma."

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Conclusion

"Blood Red Snow" is a poignant exploration of a tragic cold case that ultimately found resolution through diligent investigation and the relentless pursuit of truth. The episode not only chronicles the procedural aspects of solving a murder but also deeply humanizes the impact on the victim's family, emphasizing the profound need for closure in the wake of unspeakable loss.

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Timestamps Reference:

• 02:38
• 04:23
• 15:01
• 26:28
• 33:11
• 37:15
• 38:24

Transcript

[Marissa Pinson]

Hi, cold case listeners. I'm Marissa Pinson, and if you're enjoying this show, I just want 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.

[Jennifer Green]

Christopher was very goofy. He would always do things to try to make somebody laugh. I had no idea that anybody had any ill will against my brother.

[Eric Jenkins]

It was a shock, the level of.

[Kevin Conklin]

Anger and rage that was involved in this particular death.

[Eric Jenkins]

He was ambushed and attacked. The attack was vicious, it was violent, it was quick.

[Rebecca Burkert]

He was just left in the ditch to die like a piece of trash.

[Eric Jenkins]

Investigators began to see a lot of potential suspects who lived in the area.

[Jennifer Green]

As time goes on and nobody's being charged, are we gonna not ever know what happened? You want answers and you want answers now.

[Marissa Pinson]

There are over 100,000 cold cases in America. Only about 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare stories. It's December 9, 2002 in Bangor area, Michigan. Michael McKay is a former trooper with the Michigan State Police.

[Rebecca Burkert]

It was a typical Michigan winter day. You know, ground was covered with snow. Very cold day. Being as close as we are to Lake Michigan, there is that lake effect snow at the time. I'd been a state trooper assigned to the 5th district for about five years. We had just started an afternoon shift about 3pm and we were just a couple of minutes in when we got the call from central dispatch.

[Eric Jenkins]

Hi, this is concerning citizen.

[Kevin Conklin]

There's a man laying down here in.

[Jennifer Green]

The ditch on 60th street and 16th.

[Eric Jenkins]

It looks like he got hit.

[Rebecca Burkert]

Caller told central dispatch that they thought the man was dead. Is he conscious?

[Jennifer Green]

I'm not messing with the man. I'm not messing with him.

[Marissa Pinson]

Okay. Kevin Conklin is a former detective with the Michigan State Police.

[Rebecca Burkert]

60Th street in Bangor Township is very rural. It's a quiet place, especially during the winter. People are not out as much. We didn't have a lot of murders. And so I'm thinking, you don't know, a medical emergency, a hit and run. When we arrived, we could see the body in the ditch. The victim was a white male, thin guy that he had been stabbed in the skull in the body multiple times. This was a very, very brutal assault. Clearly this was A murder.

[Kevin Conklin]

During the course of the investigation, with all the police vehicles parked, one of the neighbors noticed this commotion, came to inquire as to what was going on, and he identified his son as the person in the ditch. And he was identified as Christopher Green.

[Marissa Pinson]

Jennifer Green is Christopher's sister.

[Jennifer Green]

It was about 6:00 in the evening and I heard a news story come on about, you know, somebody had been found on the side of the road really close to where my parents lived. I just had this uneasiness about me. I called the house and my dad answered the phone. I said, do you guys know what's going on? And he's like, I can't talk about it right now, but it was your brother. And when I heard that, my heart sank. It was very hard. And in that moment, I had to process the best way that I could.

[Marissa Pinson]

How did you learn about the manner.

[Jennifer Green]

In which your brother was killed? When I went to my parents house, I found out that he had been murdered and left on the side of the road. Christopher was just 19 years old. I was protective of Christopher. You know, he was my baby brother. As a child growing up, he had a problem with one of his aortas in his heart. And so that made it very difficult for him to do any strenuous activities. Christopher was definitely resilient. He was like, it is what it is. I'm gonna just do life the way I can do life. So we would ride our bikes down the road and we went camping, fishing. He was very goofy. He would always do things to try to make somebody laugh. Yet he loved to play Barbies with me, which was most younger brothers wouldn't do anything like that. I couldn't fathom that anybody had any ill will against my brother who would do something like this and why they didn't have a ton of information. It happened around 11, 12 o'clock in the afternoon. Christopher had decided to walk down to his friend's house. He never made it home.

[Rebecca Burkert]

This case was unusual in this area in that we didn't have a lot of murders. And even when we did, usually there was some other criminal activity that this was tied to.

[Marissa Pinson]

Rebecca Burkert is a local journalist.

[Kevin Conklin]

That's what was really strange about the crime, that Christopher was the homicide victim.

[Eric Jenkins]

He was a quiet kid and his.

[Kevin Conklin]

Family was a quiet family, good people. Chris Green, he was stabbed multiple times and beat with a large stick. It was almost a tree limb. It was such a brutal crime, brutal assault. Looking at the crime scene, it was obvious to me that the victim knew the Assailant. Somebody really was angry at Chris Green and left him there to die.

[Marissa Pinson]

At the crime scene, police find Christopher's glasses in the roadway a few feet away from his body.

[Rebecca Burkert]

Being that it was winter and that the roadway was snow covered, it gave us some clues initially that you wouldn't have had on dry roads. It became clear that this began on the roadway and then continued to where the body was found in the ditch. Because it was snowing, we could see there were footprints leading away from the scene to the north.

[Kevin Conklin]

The footwear belonged to a larger person. It appeared to be a tennis shoe of some sort. They were able to follow the footwear impressions for quite a distance. But eventually, due to the vehicle traffic.

[Marissa Pinson]

Tracks were lost in the brush near where the footprints disappear. Police recover what appears to be the murder weapon.

[Rebecca Burkert]

There was a knife, right? The blade is still at the scene, but the handle's gone. Followed with that notion that someone did this quickly, viciously, didn't take the time to either look for the blade or just didn't notice because they were in such a rage. We could see the blood on the knife. It's critical to collect all of the blood that you see. You don't know if this is victims suspects.

[Marissa Pinson]

As the crime scene is processed, detectives question the man who called 911.

[Kevin Conklin]

They identified Howard Butler as being the caller. Howard Butler, who lived directly across from where Chris was found. He said he returned home from getting some parts for a vehicle, saw something suspicious in the ditch, got out, looked, saw a body.

[Rebecca Burkert]

In any investigation, you always want to talk to the person that made the call to the police. You want to get that information, what they saw, what information they know, why they called. Talking to the detectives, Howard Butler said he didn't notice anything suspicious. He said he wasn't home at the.

[Marissa Pinson]

Time, but according to his statement, his live in girlfriend was home that afternoon.

[Rebecca Burkert]

So I went to the home. It was older, unkept. A woman answers the door. She was maybe early 30s. And as I'm talking to her, I can smell bleach. I look down and she had white shoes on and there's a giant spot of something red. Now there's a murder victim across the street and I smell bleach, which of course would be the most common way to get rid of blood evidence. I'm looking at what appears to me to be blood on her shoe. And so I ask her what's going on here today? And she says, well, we're just doing some cleaning today. I'm thinking maybe this is part of A cover up. I'm thinking, I have solved this murder. So I made contact with this woman, and her home was within a football field of where Christopher Green was murdered. And I see this red blotch that appears to me to be blood. So now I'm thinking this is absolutely tied to the murder. She told me her name was Jamie Crawford. She didn't seem to be unusually nervous. She was polite enough, allowed me to come in. She says, they were doing some cleaning today, and I thought this home had not been cleaned in a long time. And then she says, we're painting the bathroom red again. I'm thinking maybe this is part of a cover up. The things that people will come up with to cover crimes. She was cooperative. Let me take a look around. Sure enough, they looked like they'd been cleaning. Sure enough, they were painting a bathroom red.

[Marissa Pinson]

Jamie claims that she didn't see anything out of the ordinary that day.

[Rebecca Burkert]

It's possible she didn't notice anything unusual. If you're in your home not paying attention, TV or music's on. She let me take her shoe. I brought that to the state police lab.

[Kevin Conklin]

They also want to confirm Howard Butler's story that he was coming from an auto parts store.

[Rebecca Burkert]

The police got their information so that we could follow up later. They said, detectives are going to want to be talking to you, which they said was fine, no problem.

[Marissa Pinson]

Meanwhile, back at Christopher's home, his family provides detectives with a possible lead.

[Jennifer Green]

So Christopher, in the summer of 2002, he was working at a blueberry farm and had met Lisa Cousins. She lived down the street from us. They started dating. I don't know that it was anything serious, but for whatever reason, Lisa's dad, Floyd, did not like Christopher.

[Rebecca Burkert]

I had had contact with Floyd many times when I was in uniform. Usually it was. It was either someone calling the police about Floyd being aggressive or threatening.

[Jennifer Green]

He didn't want Lisa and Christopher together. He was very adamant, warned Christopher it was best that he stay away.

[Marissa Pinson]

According to his family, Christopher also made a troubling comment just a few weeks before his death.

[Jennifer Green]

Christopher said that if anything ever happens to me, you need to look at Floyd. When I heard, I was kind of floored by it because obviously that's going to raise a red flag.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Eric Jenkins]

Floyd at one point got angry with Christopher and tried to drive him off the property. And this seems to be where this idea that Christopher was worried about Floyd was coming from was this argument when.

[Rebecca Burkert]

You have a murder victim that says before their death, if something happens to me, this is where you need to look. That was very unusual.

[Kevin Conklin]

Investigators at the time did contact Floyd Cousins. He was not very cooperative, wasn't volunteering information, but he made it crystal clear that he didn't want to see Chris Green at his house and or dating his daughter.

[Eric Jenkins]

When police spoke with Floyd, his alibi was unverifiable. It was just that he was at.

[Kevin Conklin]

Home, he was alone with information that Floyd didn't have a good alibi and actually had a reason to wanna cause harm to Chris Green. He was now strongly looked at as being a suspect.

[Eric Jenkins]

However, there was no direct evidence that tied Floyd Cousins to the actual crime scene. Investigators take a look at his shoes. None of the shoes that he owned match the treadmarks that were found at the scene of Christopher Green's murder.

[Rebecca Burkert]

Of course, the fact that investigators can't find the shoe doesn't mean that they're not a suspect. People destroy evidence.

[Marissa Pinson]

Floyd Cousins will remain on the investigators radar. In the meantime, his daughter Lisa mentioned something that sparks their interest.

[Eric Jenkins]

Lisa detailed an incident that had happened relatively close in time to the murder where there was an argument with Christopher and a person named Ray Barry. This was about two weeks before this murder occurred. The argument started when Christopher said something that Lisa took issue with. And Ray, who had had a romantic interest in Lisa Cousins, seeing himself as the knight in shining armor, sort of stepped in.

[Kevin Conklin]

A neighbor reported that the two guys looked like they were ready to square off against one another.

[Eric Jenkins]

At that point, law enforcement, once they identified that Ray Barry was a person of interest, did some digging into his background.

[Kevin Conklin]

Ray Barry was very athletic. He was an all state wrestler. Ray was very charismatic, A happy, go lucky type of guy. But he also had a dark side.

[Eric Jenkins]

Ray Barry was somebody who was sort of described as a Jekyll and Hyde. People in the community knew him as a gentle giant. On one side, however, there was a switch that people knew that could get thrown with Ray where he would snap and go into what was described as an incredible hulk. This different person that could be very violent and very dangerous. It was discovered that Ray Barry already had an active warrant out for his arrest for destruction of property.

[Kevin Conklin]

At that point, detectives absolute wanted to speak with Ray Barry. But when they went to Ray Barry's house, there was no answer at the door. In talking with witnesses, they determined that Ray Barry fled the scene. The fact that he had warrants, you have to figure out whether or not that's the reason why he skipped out or is it because he was involved in the murder of Chris Green.

[Rebecca Burkert]

The fact that Ray Barry was missing, that was very suspicious. This is someone that had to be found.

[Marissa Pinson]

Detectives put the word out on the street.

[Kevin Conklin]

Ray Barry was found to be riding around by troopers on a Traffic stop. It was actually located a short distance from his house. Detectives were called to the scene, started asking Ray Barry questions about Christopher Green case. He stated he did have the warrants on another case. That's why he had fled the residence. When people have warrants, they don't want to be around law enforcement.

[Eric Jenkins]

One of the things about Ray's interview that was interesting to investigators was they asked him about his shoes to potentially compare to the prints found at the crime scene. Ray indicated that the shoes he was wearing were the only shoes that he owned. And they didn't match up to any impressions that were found at the crime scene.

[Rebecca Burkert]

That was very suspicious. In Michigan, winter can be very, very cold.

[Kevin Conklin]

Yeah, that's very unusual that somebody from Michigan would not have a pair of boots of some sort. Something keep your feet warm other than an old, ratty pair of tennis shoes.

[Eric Jenkins]

Another thing about the interview with Ray Barry is that the alibi he gave was unverifiable. He said that he was at home, but no one was around. Certainly this evidence is starting to point more strongly towards Raymond Ray Barry. However, there was no direct evidence linking him to the crime scene.

[Marissa Pinson]

Police arrest Barry for the property destruction charges. And in the days that follow, results from the blood on the murder weapon come in.

[Rebecca Burkert]

The hope is that the murderer left some blood. As it turned out, all of it was the victims. None of it was the.

[Marissa Pinson]

The autopsy report is also released.

[Kevin Conklin]

There was evidence to indicate that he was trying hard to fight back. The victim sustained multiple stab wounds and cuts all over his body. Multiple defensive wounds to his hands and arms. He also sustained lacerations to his skull. But it was determined that Christopher Green actually died of blunt force trauma. Eventually, the knife broke, so it was believed the suspect found a nearby tree limb, and he used that to brutally beat the victim to death.

[Eric Jenkins]

It was a shock, the level of.

[Kevin Conklin]

Anger and rage that was involved in this particular death.

[Jennifer Green]

After the autopsy had been performed, the body was released back to the funeral home. And they invited us in to see Christopher. Even though they fixed him up the best that they could, he didn't look like himself at all. His face had been disfigured quite a bit. We opted for the closed casket. We couldn't, as a family, open the casket for anybody to see him like that. When we had the funeral, I was thinking about what was going through his mind as he fought for his life. What was he thinking? It really took me to a dark place. You want answers, and you want answers now.

[Marissa Pinson]

As the investigation nears the end of the first week, there's an unexpected development involving the suspect who called 911.

[Kevin Conklin]

In the course of the investigation, detectives go back to confirm Howard Butler's story that they were coming from the auto store. They later discovered some discrepancies with that story.

[Rebecca Burkert]

Or our detectives found out he wasn't at that auto parts store.

[Kevin Conklin]

So detectives went back to the house to find Howard Butler.

[Marissa Pinson]

They're met by a roommate with news.

[Kevin Conklin]

He tells detectives that Howard had slipped out during the middle of the night.

[Marissa Pinson]

Police also make a discovery about Howard's girlfriend, Jamie Crawford.

[Rebecca Burkert]

Come to find out she was gone. She had disappeared. But also Jamie Crawford turns out to be a false name.

[Kevin Conklin]

Howard Butler and Jamie Crawford, who live directly across from where the Chris Green homicide happened, they escape during the night. Are they running? What has he got to hide? You have to figure out why they don't want to be there.

[Rebecca Burkert]

And then Jamie Crawford lied about her name. All of that was very suspicious. Jamie Crawford, we later found out, was Jamie McDonald and at the time we were talking, had a warrant out for her arrest for a drug crime.

[Kevin Conklin]

They determined that Howard also had warrants for his arrest. Maybe that's the reason they fled.

[Rebecca Burkert]

This case was unusual in that in this small area, we had an interesting group of people.

[Kevin Conklin]

There was a multitude of suspects that would lived within two miles of our victim in the crime scene. First being Howard Butler and Jamie Crawford, who lived directly across from where Chris was found and fled the scene. Next, you had Floyd Cousins. He had threatened Chris not to come around. And Ray Barry, who is also a neighbor, lives about 150ft from where the body was located. The 5th District Fugitive Team was contacted, and they were eventually able to locate Howard Butler and Jamie McDonald.

[Marissa Pinson]

At the station, detectives confront Howard about his fake alibi.

[Eric Jenkins]

As the investigators looked further into this, they did realize he was being forthcoming about where he was, that Howard had gone to a different autozone in the area.

[Kevin Conklin]

But through the interviews with the clerks, along with a receipt, it did confirm that Howard Butler was there to buy auto parts. Sometimes it's very frustrating for law enforcement. Some people don't understand the details are important. The exact store, exact travel route that you took. Those things matter.

[Marissa Pinson]

Police also received the lab results on the red substance spotted on the footwear of Howard's girlfriend, Jamie.

[Rebecca Burkert]

After taking the shoe from Jamie, they were able to confirm that it wasn't blood on the shoe, that it was actually red paint.

[Eric Jenkins]

Investigators began to realize that a lot of the invasive answers that the two had given earlier had to do with the fact that they Both had warrants. Eventually, police were able to eliminate Jamie McDonald and Howard Butler from the suspect pool to just two key people.

[Kevin Conklin]

After clearing Howard Butler and Jamie McDonald, this left two suspects for the detectives, Floyd Cousins and Ray Barry.

[Eric Jenkins]

The problem was still that even though there were two good suspects in Floyd Cousins and Ray Barry, police had not found enough concrete evidence at that point to seek charges for the murder of Christopher Green.

[Kevin Conklin]

Eventually, no new leads or tips came in. And with a multitude of other cases coming into the office, things got pushed to the back burner, so to speak.

[Marissa Pinson]

A year after Christopher Green's murder, with no new leads, the case goes cold. What are you looking at right now?

[Jennifer Green]

I am looking at pictures of Christopher. He loved cats. He was the best thing when I was little. It's absolutely unfair that Christopher's no longer here. He deserved a life, and it was taken so early from him. Christopher's death, it really put this huge cloud over the family. At the time I was 20. I couldn't go back to school. Every part of the drive in, me just. My dad was just. He was a very much quiet man. And he didn't talk much about what was going on. My mom, it pulled her in a dark place. As the years went on, there's nothing new. Nobody's being charged. It was like, is anybody gonna do anything? You know, will there be any justice?

[Kevin Conklin]

I was reassigned to the Bangor area in 2010, where I eventually became introduced to this case.

[Eric Jenkins]

When a Michigan state police cold case team got involved later on in this investigation, they're now looking for technology, and that was not available in 2002. Also, they're looking for people who may be follow up interviews. As time goes by, people begin to talk. People hear rumors. They hear things that might change what they recall about a situation.

[Marissa Pinson]

The team focuses on the two suspects who were never cleared, Floyd Cousins and Ray Berry.

[Kevin Conklin]

We make sure that there weren't any stones unturned by reviewing as many reports. Detective notes. Going through all your witness statements, detectives.

[Marissa Pinson]

Noticed something odd in Ray Berry's files.

[Kevin Conklin]

Reports indicated that Ray. Ray received a new pair of new balance tennis shoes from his father a few days prior to the homicide. Ray was very proud of his tennis shoes. Being from a poor family, new shoes were kind of a big deal.

[Eric Jenkins]

It was later learned through a family member of Ray's that the day of the murder, Ray had lost the shoes. So that was very odd to have happened considering how proud he was of the shoes. Investigators, the radar was definitely piqued by this statement. What stuck out to them was that Ray Barry told investigators the shoes he was wearing, he said, were the only pair of shoes that he owned. This was in 2002. So basically, Ray Barry was caught in a lie.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Eric Jenkins]

The fact that people had been talking about Ray Barry having a brand new pair of shoes, this was something that investigators were very intrigued by. This could be very important in terms of determining whether or not Ray Barry is the person who committed this murder. And at that point, it was important to compare the treadmark patterns found at the scene with New Balance shoes.

[Kevin Conklin]

The databases for these manufacturers of footwear are very large now compared to what they were back then. The footwear was identified as being a New Balance shoe.

[Eric Jenkins]

It was a vital piece of evidence that the shoe marks found at the scene were linked to different tread patterns for New Balance shoes. And then on the other end of this, Ray Barry owns a pair of New Balance shoes. Is it a complete smoking gun? No. Investigators were still looking for something to really solidify that he was their suspect.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's now July 2011, nine years after Christopher Green's murder.

[Rebecca Burkert]

More time passes. Then in 2011, detectives get what could be a big break.

[Kevin Conklin]

I was contacted by a subject about the Chris Green homicide. He said he had information that he knew would solve this case.

[Marissa Pinson]

The informant's name is Claude Taylor. He is Ray Berry's half brother.

[Kevin Conklin]

Claude Taylor had gotten into some trouble for some breaking entering cases, and he was looking to get some leniency on the case in exchange for his testimony. He told us how Ray Barry showed up that evening of the homicide and was acting real nervous.

[Eric Jenkins]

Claude said that he had been watching the news and that there was a body discovered in Bangor. Ray, when he came over, indicated that the victim was Christopher Green. And then Ray went one step further and advised that he had been involved in the murder.

[Marissa Pinson]

Detective Conklin tells Ray's half brother that he'll agree, agree to a plea deal on one condition.

[Kevin Conklin]

I then discussed the ability to put a wire on the witness. It struck me that if Claude Taylor was willing to wear a wire, we may be able to get Ray Barry to talk about what happened and get him admission, so to speak, that Ray Barry did indeed kill Chris Green. It was the evidence that we were looking for. Claude was apprehensive, but he knew what was on the line here. He needed to cooperate.

[Marissa Pinson]

This one looks nice though, man.

[Kevin Conklin]

I mean, I gotta get a tie rod. I made that clear to him that it needed to feel natural.

[Eric Jenkins]

Anytime you have somebody who is Wearing a wire. They can't just jump right into the part of the conversation that's incriminating.

[Jennifer Green]

That's what he said he heard.

[Kevin Conklin]

Claude came up with the idea to fabricate a story that somebody was talking on the street about Ray Barry and Chris. So I asked him about. I said, so, what's his other room? He said, after booty murder and that thing that happened, and I don't want.

[Jennifer Green]

To talk about no booty murder.

[Rebecca Burkert]

You know what I'm saying?

[Jennifer Green]

It was brutal.

[Rebecca Burkert]

Why was it brutal?

[Eric Jenkins]

What happened?

[Kevin Conklin]

While dropping off Ray Barry, we heard Claude ask Ray, what did Chris say when you were beating him up? It was a moment of silence.

[Eric Jenkins]

Please don't kill me.

[Kevin Conklin]

Don't kill me. I remember looking at my partner and saying, did he say what I think he said?

[Rebecca Burkert]

We.

[Kevin Conklin]

We knew we had it. We got the admission that we were looking for. Ray Barry said, chris Green said, don't kill me, man. That admission kind of sealed it up and really motivated us to want to move forward and get some closure for the family and for this case.

[Marissa Pinson]

Following the wiretap operation, Ray Berry is arrested for a parole violation on an earlier charge.

[Kevin Conklin]

That's when I went and interviewed Ray Barry. We wanted to encourage him to be cooperative and confess ultimately.

[Rebecca Burkert]

How you been?

[Eric Jenkins]

I'm about to sleep right now.

[Kevin Conklin]

He was listed witness on another homicide case that we broke the ice with. Initially, he was very cooperative, even jovial. You're living out there on 60th Street. I let him. He knows more about that case. I thought, well, I'm the one. And then we kind of transitioned to the Chris Green homicide. Next case.

[Rebecca Burkert]

We're talking about the next case? Yeah.

[Kevin Conklin]

There's two cases we mentioned. A couple cases. Is Chris Green. He was.

[Rebecca Burkert]

He was killed on under your street.

[Kevin Conklin]

Remember that case? That case. You could see the switch being flipped. We're talking to everybody.

[Rebecca Burkert]

Yeah.

[Kevin Conklin]

Yeah.

[Marissa Pinson]

Our gun.

[Kevin Conklin]

And that's why, like, how we came here today. If y'all seen my cool person, then why?

[Marissa Pinson]

Cause I keep questioning why.

[Kevin Conklin]

I keep questioning and questioning and questioning. Because we never questioned you. Those other detectives talked to you. Yeah.

[Marissa Pinson]

We've never spoke with you.

[Kevin Conklin]

Right.

[Marissa Pinson]

I know.

[Kevin Conklin]

I told her, detective, I'm done answering questions.

[Eric Jenkins]

Next time, it's going with a lawyer. I want a lawyer.

[Marissa Pinson]

You know what I'm saying?

[Kevin Conklin]

It was a short conversation. It is frustrating to some degree, But I was confident that we had enough to move forward with this case. Once we had enough to get a warrant on Ray Barry for the murder of Chris Green. He told the Greenes. We were ready to make an arrest. They burst out in tears.

[Jennifer Green]

I'm just sitting there like my mind is blown. A whole bunch of emotions were flooding at me. It was, like, relief and frustration and, you know, happiness and anger. I did hear that Ray really liked Lisa, and there may have been some jealousy that Christopher was dating Lisa. My mind couldn't even wrap itself around that thought, that that could be the potential motive.

[Marissa Pinson]

Ray Barry is charged with first degree murder. He pleads not guilty, and the case goes to trial.

[Eric Jenkins]

We knew as we got ready to take this case in front of a jury that we had challenges. It was primarily a circumstantial case. There were no eyewitnesses to the crime. There was no DNA or fingerprints found on scene.

[Jennifer Green]

There was a sense of relief that we're getting closer. This. There could be an end to this, finally. But is there enough evidence really here? Is justice going to be served on what we've got?

[Marissa Pinson]

It's now January 2014, 11 years after Christopher Green's murder.

[Eric Jenkins]

The case that we presented at trial was that Christopher Green was walking home on 60th street when he was ambushed by Ray Barry. Ray had seen Christopher walking outside of his window when the attack happened. We came to the conclusion, based upon witness statements, that there was this jealousy that he had towards Christopher because of Christopher's interactions with Lisa Cousins. And this sort of boiling romantic rivalry eventually led him to explode and kill Christopher Greene. The key pieces of evidence that we had were, first of all, the shoes linking Ray Barry to the crime scene. There was also statements that Ray had made to other people throughout the years that indicated his involvement in the homicide. The jury found Ray Barry guilty of premeditated first degree murder.

[Jennifer Green]

It was like this huge relief just raised off of my shoulders, and I was like, I don't have to carry this pain around anymore. We're not still sitting here wondering what happened.

[Rebecca Burkert]

Investigators, they never forgot about Christopher Green. He deserved Ray Barry to be arrested. His family deserved to see that man locked up.

[Kevin Conklin]

We were happy that we were able to bring justice to Christopher. I would say to the family, I wish we could have done it sooner, and thank you for being patient with us.

[Jennifer Green]

The judge gave him life without the possibility of. So when Ray was sentenced, he had no emotion. I wanted to know, why would you do something of this magnitude? Do you understand the pain that that brings to a family? My father had passed before we went to trial. He didn't get to see that justice for my mom. She's still trying to figure out how to process. I definitely sit there, reflect quite often about what would life be like if Christopher was here. My son was born two years after Christopher had passed. I wanted to give him the middle name of Christopher because I felt that was the way that I could honor my brother. I wonder where he would be now, how he he would be as an uncle to my two children. Would they go camping like we used to do? Would he come over and do fun uncle things with the both of them? My brother would have wanted to be there for all of that.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Rebecca Burkert]

You have an incredible gift up here.

[Marissa Pinson]

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