Killing On Christmas Eve

Summary

Cold Case Files: "Killing On Christmas Eve" - Detailed Summary

Introduction to the Case

In the poignant episode titled "Killing On Christmas Eve," Paula Barros delves into one of Lewis County’s most heart-wrenching cold cases: the brutal murder of Ed and Minnie Marin. This case, which occurred on December 19, 1985, in the close-knit logging community of Chehalis, Washington, remained unsolved for nearly three decades, leaving a lasting scar on the Marin family and the community.

The Disappearance and Initial Investigation

On a cold Christmas Eve in 1985, Ed and Minnie Marin were seen driving through the center of Chehalis in their 1969 Chrysler. Their disappearance shortly after raised immediate alarms in the community.

Minnie Moran [02:37]: "I didn't get the call until 8:30 at night... Soon as I got out of my pickup, I was greeted by one of the officers. He said, we don't know for sure, but your grandma and grandpa's missing and there looks like there's been some foul play."

The initial investigation, led by Detective David Neiser, quickly hit dead ends. With no witnesses willing to come forward and a lack of tangible evidence—Dennis Hadler, Minnie's son, recalls:

Dennis Hadler [04:13]: "We had no murder weapon. We had no fingerprints of suspects at the crime scene. We had no DNA evidence because there was none."

Despite extensive searches involving hundreds of volunteers and officials, the bodies of Ed and Minnie were found days later, revealing a gruesome scene. Minnie was found shot in the left shoulder and neck, while Ed was fatally shot in the back.

The Cold Case

As years turned into decades, the case grew cold, with public interest waning and the Marin family left yearning for answers. Emotions ran high within the family, with Minnie Moran expressing the enduring pain:

Minnie Moran [07:19]: "The rage in me wanted to come out because I wanted to know who did it so we could go take care of it and get it over with."

Breakthrough in 2005

A significant breakthrough came in April 1994 when a tip pointed investigators toward Scott Colter, a man with a criminal history and connections to the Marin family. However, Colter's misleading statements and incorrect details about the crime led detectives to dismiss him as a suspect, pushing the case back into obscurity.

Reopening the Case and Arrest

Nearly two decades later, in 2004, Detective Bruce Kimsey, a young investigator newly hired at the Lewis County Sheriff's office, became determined to solve the case. His relentless pursuit led to a crucial development in November 2005 when Jake Shriver, a high school friend of Mike Hadler (Ed and Minnie's grandson), came forward with vital information implicating the Rife brothers—Rick and Greg Rife.

Jake Shriver [26:55]: "I know who did it. My mother was driving Highway 12 West... I saw him. He did it."

Shriver revealed that the Rife brothers had connections to the Marin family through their work at the Christmas tree farm and were involved in criminal activities, including drugs. This testimony was pivotal in establishing a link between the Rifes and the murders.

Detective Kimsey and his team acted swiftly, securing warrants to arrest the suspects. John Gregory Rife, Rick’s brother, was found dead before they could be apprehended. Nonetheless, Rick Rife was successfully arrested in Alaska on July 8, 2012, after a decade-long manhunt.

Bruce Kimsey [33:05]: "We have the warrants, we're good to go... And he is so matter of fact, at this point, the state investigator advises him he's under arrest."

Impact on the Family

The prolonged quest for justice took an immense toll on the Marin family. Minnie Moran shares the emotional and psychological burden they endured:

Minnie Moran [20:18]: "Take care of it. That's how we was raised... I dreamt ways to torture. And I don't know that we'll ever find peace until we find out who did it."

Despite the eventual arrest and sentencing of Rick Rife to 103 years in prison in 2013, Minnie remains grappling with unresolved grief and the enduring pain of her grandparents' loss.

Minnie Moran [30:19]: "These sons of bitches are still sitting there living, and they took something out of my life that I'll never get back."

Conclusion

After 27 years, "Killing On Christmas Eve" highlights the relentless dedication of law enforcement and the enduring hope of a family seeking justice. Detective Bruce Kimsey’s commitment exemplifies how advancements in forensic technology and persistent investigation can breathe new life into even the coldest cases. The Marin family, while finally having their grandparents’ killer behind bars, continues to mourn and seek closure.

Bruce Kimsey [36:16]: "When that sentencing and verdict came down on Rick Rife, I've never sensed any feeling like that in my career. I was just really proud of our community, proud of our system."

This episode underscores the profound impact of cold cases on families and communities, reminding listeners of the enduring pursuit of truth and justice.

Transcript

[Bruce Kimsey]

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[Mike Hadler]

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[Marissa Pinson]

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[Bruce Kimsey]

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[Marissa Pinson]

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[Mike Hadler]

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[Marissa Pinson]

Visit www.tritondigital.com to learn more. 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 podcast, 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. This program contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

[Mike Hadler]

Grandma and Grandpa loved each other very much. The hard part is one of them had to see the other one die.

[Bruce Kimsey]

I said, I want to solve the murder of Ed and Minnie Marin.

[Dennis Hadler]

We didn't have any more witnesses. This case is dead.

[Mike Hadler]

I've always wanted Grandma and Grandpa to be remembered as that happy little couple taking care of each other rather than just victims of homicide.

[Marissa Pinson]

When an investigation runs out of leads, it becomes a cold case. Years pass and hope fades. But for the families of the victims, these cases are never cold. Truth takes time. It's December 19, 1985 in Chehalis, Washington. It's nearly Christmas and the people of this close knit logging community watch as the 69 Chrysler of Ed and Minnie Moran drives through the center of town. The people of Morin don't know that their neighbors will soon be dead. Mike Hadler and Denise Snell are Ed and Minnie's grandchildren.

[Minnie Moran]

I didn't get the call until 8:30 at night. I had came home from working out in the wet cold snow and ice and had dinner and was headed off to bed when my dad called and said, you need to come down to Grandma and Grandpa's and I knew something was wrong right then. I got in my truck, left my Ranch went down and there was many things going through my mind. It was spinning fast. I know around the corner and I see all the cop vehicles. Felt like my heart dropped out of my chest and hit the bottom. Soon as I got out of my pickup, I was greeted by one of the officers. He said, we don't know for sure, but your grandma and grandpa's missing and there looks like there's been some foul play. I walked in and I see papers strung around in the house. They kept a bunch of bank statements and shoeboxes and they were strung out over the living room. Grandma's purse was left by her chair tucked behind the couch. She never left the house without her purse. This ain't normal.

[Mike Hadler]

My dad came over to our house and he said Grandma and Grandpa were missing. Their car was missing too. We were all in shock and disbelief.

[Marissa Pinson]

David Neiser was the original detective on the case.

[Dennis Hadler]

The morons had some financial means. They sold Christmas trees from their Christmas tree feel. One scenario was probably that maybe they'd been kidnapped and were being held somewhere. Dennis Hadler was Minnie Moran's son. He was a well known entity in Lewis county because he was the owner of Dennis Hadler Logging.

[Marissa Pinson]

Bruce Kimsey is the chief detective on the case.

[Bruce Kimsey]

He was probably one of the largest logging companies in the Northwest at the time. I remember growing up here in Lewis county and if you worked in the woods, you probably worked for Dennis Haller.

[Marissa Pinson]

Dennis Hadler is Ed and Minnie's son.

[Minnie Moran]

I thought somebody grabbed Ed and my mother and that they would hold them ransom, you know. Most everybody was trying to think the best, but figuring that the worst was about to come.

[Bruce Kimsey]

The very next day, in the early morning hours, an employee at the Yarbird Shopping Mall reports a vehicle matching the Marin's description. Detectives responded over to the parking lot and they found the car. It is a icy morning. They could not see in the window. And one of the detectives, instead of touching the car without having fingerprints, blew warm air onto the glass. Once he did that, he could see that the car was covered in blood, which would probably be burned in his brain for the rest of his life. There was a red blanket covering the seat. The detectives could see damage from what appeared to be shotgun pellets going into the dash. Mr. Marin's hat that he's known to wear all the time was laying on a floorboard. And still no sign of Ed and Minnie. Maybe they're in the trunk. There's nothing in the trunk.

[Minnie Moran]

I never did go see the car.

[Jake Shriver]

Did you want to See the car.

[Bruce Kimsey]

Did you choose not to see the car?

[Minnie Moran]

I chose not to go look at the car.

[Mike Hadler]

During the first few days that Grandma and grandpa were missing, we got together at my mom and dad's house with Search and Rescue. They had a huge map. We were given a section to go and look for them.

[Minnie Moran]

There must have been a couple hundred people involved, plus all the sheriffs and pretty intense search.

[Mike Hadler]

We gotta find them. They're out there and we know that they're hurt.

[Minnie Moran]

We're searching everywhere, but the logging roads are endless around here.

[Mike Hadler]

I'm actually scared to get out and look. I was terrified.

[Minnie Moran]

I was out scouring the different county roads when I got the call over the radio and said they had found their bodies.

[Marissa Pinson]

Jonathan Meyer is a Lewis county prosecutor.

[Rick Rife]

A man was traveling down a logging road and he saw what he thought was a CPR dummy. And then he realized that it wasn't a CPR dummy. He had actually discovered the body of Minnie Marin.

[Mike Hadler]

A friend of mine was the one that found them. He saw grandma laying alongside the road and then grandpa was in a brush close to her.

[Rick Rife]

Minnie had been shot in the left shoulder and the neck. And then Ed had been shot almost square on in the back.

[Dennis Hadler]

We go to the scene, we realize that there are drag marks saying they were drugged from their car and dumped like garbage along the side of the road.

[Mike Hadler]

When we went up to look at the crime scene, it was ribboned off. And my dad said, well, I guess that's mom's blood. Cause it was frozen where she, where she laid. The hard part is they were scared to death. Their last few moments together. And then one of them had to see the other one die.

[Minnie Moran]

The last time that I seen my grandparents was on the Sunday before they disappeared. And I stopped in to see them, took my grandfather down to the store, got milk and eggs and bread. Not realizing that that's the last time you're going to be able to touch them or hold them or talk to them or see them or anything. I put my hand on her on the casket and I said, mom, we're gonna catch em.

[Bruce Kimsey]

I grew up in Lewis County. In 1985 when this occurred, I was 10 years old. Ed and Minnie were everybody's grandparents. The murder changed the way a lot of people felt growing up and living here.

[Dennis Hadler]

It bothers you when the morons were killed. The public asked us about it constantly. The question would be who? Who would do this to two 85 year old defenseless old people? We really wanted to succeed, but we had no murder Weapon. We had no fingerprints of suspects at the crime scene. We had no DNA evidence because there was none. In that day and age, there's dozens.

[Bruce Kimsey]

And dozens of fingerprints in the house, in the vehicle and exterior of the vehicle. Majority of those prints came back to Ed and Minnie and some other family members. One of the biggest items that's collected as evidence is that they found a bank receipt in Ed's pocket.

[Marissa Pinson]

Investigators sent an officer to the bank to find out more information.

[Minnie Moran]

I'm presently out at Sterling Savings. Apparently you had a transaction with Mr. Morin. Could you explain what occurred, ma' am?

[Mike Hadler]

Mr. Morin called and asked if we had any money. And I said, yeah, we had a nickel or a dime. And he said, no, he would need a little more than that. And I asked him how much, and he said, $8,500.

[Rick Rife]

When he got there, the money still wasn't ready. And so rather than wait in the bank, Ed went back out to the car. And when the teller went out to get him, Ed got out of the car before she got too close. She thought that she saw someone else in the car, but couldn't be sure.

[Dennis Hadler]

When ed Moran withdrew $8,500 from the bank, the question became, who knew that they had that money to withdraw? What if it was a family member of the Morans? There were cigarette butts in the car. Ed Minney did not smoke, and Mike Adler did smoke.

[Marissa Pinson]

On December 28, 1985, eight days after their murder, Ed and Minnie are laid to rest as mourners leave the church. Detectives record the scene to keep an eye on Mike Hadler.

[Dennis Hadler]

They're going to bring all the people out into the caskets, will pile up behind them.

[Minnie Moran]

You're going to get some good shots of everybody coming out. Corey.

[Dennis Hadler]

You come to casket. A couple of people we want to talk to.

[Bruce Kimsey]

Look at the Paul barrel. Here comes your guy right there.

[Dennis Hadler]

Okay, Mike pressed up. That's the bad guy.

[Rick Rife]

I think some family members were looked at a little bit harder than others simply because of their history. And one of those was Mike. Mike had had a history with law enforcement.

[Bruce Kimsey]

Mike had a temper. A little bit too much drinking and fighting and getting involved in things that he probably shouldn't have.

[Minnie Moran]

It made me mad, pissed me off, and I pretty much told him to kiss my ass.

[Rick Rife]

You want to look at someone who had access to the house since there wasn't forced entry. You want to look at somebody that has knowledge of how much money they had. And so they also looked at Rodney, one of the grandsons.

[Marissa Pinson]

This is Rodney Hadler.

[Minnie Moran]

Whenever you have these type murder deals, it's usually always a family member or something like that.

[Bruce Kimsey]

They say that does it?

[Minnie Moran]

Because they're all disgruntled or whatever. So they come and ask you these questions. I call it interrogation. It made you feel like you're guilty.

[Bruce Kimsey]

Between 84 and 86, there's a lot of major crime that's occurring in our massive acres of forest land. We got rape, murder. We got the Green river killer discarding multiple bodies on the side of the county roads. Out in the places where there's no neighbor, you got nothing but trees. For approximately 2,500 square miles, i5 runs right through Lewis county. The interstate brings transients and criminals that normally do not live here, that shouldn't be here and causing problems and crimes. One of them could be the killer in this investigation.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's now been 12 days since the murder.

[Mike Hadler]

I saw a man with a rifle at Yardbird.

[Dennis Hadler]

One of the bigger tips we had was from two ladies who were cutting through the Yardbridge parking lot.

[Mike Hadler]

He was walking fast towards the trees.

[Minnie Moran]

Okay, can you think of anything else?

[Mike Hadler]

I thought it was really strange for him to be carrying a gun across the parking lot. And it was weird that it was wrapped in something instead of in a case or just bare.

[Dennis Hadler]

This was our first description of a suspect leaving the vicinity of the car.

[Mike Hadler]

He had dark brown wavy hair with a small growth of beard on his face. He had on a stocking cap and a green army coat.

[Dennis Hadler]

Once we released the sketch, of course everybody's calling in. Everybody imagines that the person they see is. Could be the person in the sketch.

[Minnie Moran]

I didn't look nothing like the composite. Does my hair look dark?

[Dennis Hadler]

We took pictures of anybody who met the physical description of the sketch that we had drawn.

[Mike Hadler]

I know that workers that had worked on that Christmas tree farm were suspects also. The police took pictures of them, too. And then they made a lineup of, I don't know, 8, 10 pictures or however many they had.

[Bruce Kimsey]

The detectives gave that photo montage of black and white and small pictures to all these witnesses, and nobody could identify a suspect.

[Minnie Moran]

The cops were running into dead ends every time they turned around.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's now April 1994 years after the murder.

[Mike Hadler]

Police department, how may I help you?

[Dennis Hadler]

The police received a phone call that somebody had important information about the Morin case.

[Minnie Moran]

I just found out about a guy that done a double murder and talking about my brother.

[Bruce Kimsey]

Turns out his brother, Scott Coulter, he was married in the family at one time.

[Minnie Moran]

In fact, he laughed about it because it was his wife's grandparents. He said, oh, yeah, but I got that bitch. I killed her grandparents and I got all her savings, too.

[Dennis Hadler]

We decided that we would focus on Scott Colter.

[Rick Rife]

He had burglaries in his history, he had violence in his history, and it was thought that he was seen in the area where the car was found.

[Dennis Hadler]

He was involved in the drug world. We didn't have anything solid on him, so there was no reason to think that if we interviewed him, he would tell us anything.

[Rick Rife]

The detectives devised a plan where they would pretend to be with the mob and that he was going to be initiated into the mob in order to make some money.

[Dennis Hadler]

We met at the Tacoma Narrows International Airport. We got him in the car and we told him that he had to tell us about something he had done which was so serious he would never dare tell anybody about us. I told him down towards the Chehalis Centralia area, there was a job involving two old people, and our sources are telling us that he might be involved in that. But you have to tell us something that tells us you're the man. This could be the guy.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Dennis Hadler]

Scott Colter was about to admit that he had specific information about the Moran case. We tried not to act surprised, but we looked at each other and our eyes got wide. We said, okay, tell us about that. And Scott actually said, well, I just got him in the car and took him to the Ardbird Shopping Center. And he went like that. Well, of course, it wasn't a handgun at all. Now what kind of gun did you use? And he said, A.22. It wasn't a.22, it was a 12 gauge shotgun. He had the wrong kind of gun. He was wrong on where they were killed. He didn't have the right answer to anything. You could have read the paper and gotten more right. He wanted to be the guy so badly that he would lie to us. But he wasn't the guy. Suddenly we're back to square zero. We didn't have any more witnesses. No more people were coming forward. This case is dead.

[Minnie Moran]

There was no relief for a long time, period. And you'd have nightmares. I had nightmares of different people, different faces. You get up screaming and fighting. You fall out of bed slinging your arms and.

[Marissa Pinson]

Susan lamoi is Dennis Hadler's wife.

[Mike Hadler]

The doctors call them night terrors, but I don't think you've had one this week. But last week, generally.

[Bruce Kimsey]

They used to be.

[Mike Hadler]

When this was going on, they were every night. I was just trying to take it all in. I was newly married. I was pregnant with my twins. I went into premature labor and they died. There's always going to be that little hole left in there.

[Minnie Moran]

It never goes away. I wish it would. There was a lot of fingers pointed at me. But what are you going to do? It was really hard to clear your name. Makes you Very angry. Turns you into a mean person instead of a loving, caring person. And I'd just go out and get drunk, end up in a fight. Cops came and got me, and I told them, don't you think you should be out finding my grandparents? Killers? They weren't doing justice by my eyes. The rage in me wanted to come out because I wanted to know who did it so we could go take care of it and get it over with.

[Bruce Kimsey]

What do you mean, take care of it?

[Minnie Moran]

Take care of it. That's how we was raised. Knife for an eye. Tied him into a pickup and drag him up and down the logging road and stop and throw rock salt on them and watch them sit there in pain and drag him a little more, let him bleed to death. I dreamt a ways to torture. And I don't know that we'll ever find peace until we find out who did it.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's now May 2004, 19 years after Ed and Minnie's murder.

[Bruce Kimsey]

When I was hired at the Lewis County Sheriff's office, this case was already cold for 20 years. I'm in my mid-20s. I said, I want to solve the murder of Ed and Minnie Marin. I went into the sergeant and the sergeant goes, what are your goals for this year? And I said, well, I want to solve this case. The detective said, this case has been unsolved for years and years. You might want to think about some other things, you know, like property crimes, burglaries, you know. And I said, no, I'm serious. So when I open up the case, the first thing is going through this massive amount of case file. I'm reading this case every single night, and I'm so fascinated because this is, I feel, one of the most horrific crimes in Lewis county history. We got a robbery, we got a kidnapping, and we have a double murder. I'm living this, breathing this. I want the who, the what, the how, the where, the why. But I'm not the first detective to investigate this case. And so for me, I had to think about something that I can do different.

[Minnie Moran]

Hello?

[Bruce Kimsey]

I ain't Frank there.

[Minnie Moran]

Yeah, Frank, this is Bruce Kimsey.

[Bruce Kimsey]

I ended up going through every single statement of a witness saying I saw the vehicle, I mean, just near Yarbirds alone. You had over a dozen people who saw that vehicle. Did you see the Moran vehicle?

[Mike Hadler]

I'm sure it was there. Darker green Chrysler, something like that.

[Bruce Kimsey]

This is a small town community. People knew who Ed and many were, and so their vehicle was a very well known car. I created a map and I Would pinpoint witnesses on the map. This is Highway 12. We start from the Marin residence and several hundred yards from the Marin residence. As the first witness, he was going east. Are you on the same side of the road or the opposite side?

[Mike Hadler]

Opposite side.

[Bruce Kimsey]

I could see the path of Ed and Minnie's vehicle from their residence all the way to the woods outside of Chehalis, where they were killed. The descriptions match Ed driving the car, Many in the front passenger seat. They could only see one person in the back seat. Can you describe what he was wearing? Kind of a green army type coat. Remember the face at all? I really didn't pay that much attention. This is December 1985 in Lewis County. This suspect is in the vehicle Driving all over the town. This is broad daylight in a small town like this. Somebody must have seen something.

[Minnie Moran]

While detective Bruce Kemsey was fishing for more evidence, I was kept in the dark. I was still considered a suspect because they felt that it had to be somebody that was close to the family.

[Bruce Kimsey]

Some of the theories in the beginning involve the family Because Ed and Minnie are the type of people that do not share their financial statements or financial information to anyone other than family. They're kidnapped out of their house. They're taken to the bank. Ed requested $8,500. I think someone that would be more familiar with them probably would have gotten more money than what they did. Ed and Minnie are from the depression, and they had multiple bank accounts, which is a very common thing for people that age. They would separate their money, and in this case, they went to one bank when they could have got a lot more money. Maybe it's not someone that's close to them. Maybe it's not a family member. It's someone that may not know them that well. Ed and Minnie had a farm with Christmas trees, which would bring in labor workers to work in these trees.

[Rick Rife]

You know, part of the reason that they wanted to look at the people that worked at the Christmas tree farm Is A, it was right next to the house, and you would have contact with Ed and Minnie, and B, those Christmas tree farmers tend to be somewhat more transient in nature.

[Bruce Kimsey]

Back in 1985, the police officers at the time Took photographs of anybody working in the area. Every witness was shown photo montages of these people. The photo montage is about the size of a baseball card. And a person would have to look at this and identify who they saw.

[Rick Rife]

The copies that we had were just not good. They were like copies of a copy of a copy. You couldn't tell who it was.

[Bruce Kimsey]

I went back and found the original photographs which were in color. And I scanned them and I'm using software cleaning up the original to make 8 by 10 pictures. They look better. You can see more of a description on a person's face, make out their eye color, their hair color instead of a black and white.

[Rick Rife]

You know, that's an area where technology really helped because it was like we had a whole new investigative tool.

[Bruce Kimsey]

Do you remember back in 86 giving two statements to detectives? Yes, I do. I needed to find every witness in this entire investigation and then talk to him one more time. I showed you six separate photographs and you immediately picked out one.

[Mike Hadler]

That was the guy that was in.

[Dennis Hadler]

Front of Ed Mennz.

[Bruce Kimsey]

Did he get a good look at his face?

[Mike Hadler]

I got a good look at his face.

[Rick Rife]

You know, it was amazing that as we sat and talked with the witnesses, they knew that they had seen someone. But it wasn't until that they saw the clearer photographs that they were able to pick out who it was in the backseat.

[Bruce Kimsey]

It's all starting to add up, but I still need more information. I think there's a witness out there that knows what happened.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's now November 12, 2005, 20 years after the murder.

[Minnie Moran]

I'm going down to Oregon to go deer hunting. Now I'm driving around in my pickup and I have this guy holler at me, hey, Adler. I was like, God, who knows me in this town now? And so I turn around and look and it's an old buddy from high school, Jake Shriver. So I walk across the street and we start BSing.

[Jake Shriver]

I saw Mike periodically, you know, and I would ask him, hey, what's going on with your grandparents case? You know, after the murders, I always have to pass the Marin's house. My heart would just sink and I just put my head down in shame. I said to Mike, I'm sorry, please forgive me.

[Minnie Moran]

He said, I can't do this anymore. I said, you can't do what? He goes, I gotta tell you something. And he said, you don't understand the hell that. I've lived with this on my mind for the last 20 some years.

[Jake Shriver]

I just had to tell the truth. I feel responsible for causing them so much pain for so long. I still feel horrible back then, I mean, I was scared and I was a 17 year old kid. I never told anyone. But I know what happened. My mother was driving Highway 12 West. A car pulled out in front of us. It was an older car and they were going slowly. So I said to my mother, I said, pass Them. So we passed them and it was the Marins. It was foggy out, but I could see who was in the backseat. They were heading westbound on Highway 12. Mr. Marin was driving. And in the passenger front seat was Mrs. Marin in the back seat. There was two people. I knew him when I was young because they worked for the Marin's on the Christmas tree farm. It was Rick Rife and Greg Rife. And I told him. A few days later, Greg Rife walks over. He said, did you tell anybody? And I said no. I said, I did not say anything to anybody. I said, I swear to God. And I had not said anything. And he said, well, if you say anything, the same thing that happened to them will happen to you. We'll kill your mother, we'll kill your brothers, we'll kill your father, and then we'll kill you. The Rife brothers started driving by our house almost daily. They kill these sweet, innocent elderly people. They're not gonna stop after that. They're gonna kill my whole damn family. I mean, I started carrying a gun since I was 17 years old because of the reif bro. If I had left the house and I didn't have a gun, I was five miles away. I'd turn around and go back and get one. But I am always packing still to this day, you know.

[Dennis Hadler]

You wearing a gun now?

[Jake Shriver]

I don't have a gun now, but I have one in the drawer behind me. So I knew they did it.

[Bruce Kimsey]

It's all starting to add up. And then Jake Shriver comes to the office and he gives a statement. Jake Shriver's statement is huge because in addition to seeing Rick and Greg Rife in the Marin vehicle, Jake ended up being threatened by the suspects. And what they said was, we'll kill you. You kill your mother just like Ed and Minnie Marin. And that is like one of the first admission statements that I ever heard him say. Just blew that case wide open. This is my theory of what happened. Rick Rife and his brother Greg, they were known drug addicts and criminals in the area. The Rifes knew who Ed and Minnie were because of Dennis Hadler and Hatler logging. And so they knew there'd be money. That night, the Rife brothers knocked on the door. When they get into the house, they discovered bank statements, but there's no money. In the morning they're kidnapped out of their house. They're taken to the bank. They get the money and they take them up this logging road. They were killed inside their own vehicle. Minnie was shot in her back and the pellets went through her body and came out portion of her upper shoulder and face. Ed was shot dead center in the back. Bodies were dragged out into the woods and dumped. Then they turn around and come back to Yard Bridge parking lot. Short time later they leave and they move up to Alaska.

[Minnie Moran]

In my eyes, there's only one place them two brothers deserve to be and they both need to be in the ground. These son of bitches are still sitting there living and they took something out of my life that I'll never get back, that none of my family will ever get back. I found out through the investigation that the Rife brothers were up in Alaska and so I went to Alaska. Some things just need to be done and I ain't never gonna be at rest or at peace until they're all dead.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Minnie Moran]

I had found out the area the Rife brothers were in. I was going to take care of the situation. I was going to take them, kill them, feed them to the crabs, leave it at that, walk away.

[Bruce Kimsey]

After all these witnesses identifying either Rick or Greg Rife, I finally had enough information to go to the prosecutor and request a warrant to arrest them for the murders I've had in many.

[Minnie Moran]

The thought never leaves your mind about who killed your grandparents. I would spend my nights going through bars trying to find out where they live. Most people either hadn't heard of them or didn't want to admit that they they heard of him. And by right. So they needed to be scared of them because they wouldn't give a about pulling the trigger on me or you or anybody.

[Bruce Kimsey]

We have the warrants, we're good to go. So we start booking the flights to go up to Alaska. And this is when I discover that John Gregory Rife had died.

[Rick Rife]

When that news came out, it was kind of a blow.

[Bruce Kimsey]

I was just thinking, what are the chances? Could we get a little bit of luck here? You know, we spend all these years working up to this and the day we get the warrant, he's dead. But I knew that Rick Rife was still alive, so we knew we had to get on this now. And so we fly up to King Salmon, Alaska, where Rick Rife was living.

[Minnie Moran]

I got a phone call from my dad and he says, I know what you're doing up there and this ain't the way to handle it. And you need to get your ass back down here and be with your family. You know damn good and well that grandma and grandpa wouldn't want you handling it this way. When Mike in Alaska, I think Mike would have done him in. That would be an awful burden to have all the rest of Mike's life. I really don't know what made me turn the cheek, go the other way. Greg died and that really pissed me off that he didn't have to come down and face the music. But somebody was trying to send me a message to get out of there. And that's what I did.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's now July 8, 2012, 27 years after the murder.

[Bruce Kimsey]

We're walking Down a gravel driveway of Rick Rife. It was pretty surreal. This is 10 years of my life hunting down the killer, not knowing how this is gonna go. I'm scared that he's gonna grab a gun, something bad's gonna happen. I walk up to the door. I see beer cans and a hatchet. The Alaska state investigator knocks two or three times and the door creaks open. I'm thinking, oh, boy, this is not gonna go good. And you can hear a male's voice say, who the is it? He stands up and he looks a lot different from what I expected. He has tubes going into his nose. He's on an oxygen machine. We tell him we have a warrant for two counts of murder, robbery, kidnapping. And he is so matter of fact, at this point, the state investigator advises him he's under arrest. And the only thing he says, well, looks like I'm gonna need my medications. I said, do you ever think all these years that detectives would knock on your door? And he said, well, yeah.

[Marissa Pinson]

In 2013, Rick Rife was sentenced to 103 years in prison for kidnapping, robbery, and first degree murder. He never said which brother fired the shots that killed Ed and Minnie.

[Bruce Kimsey]

When that sentencing and verdict came down on Rick Rife, I've never sensed any feeling like that in my career. I was just really proud of our community, proud of our system.

[Marissa Pinson]

Kimzie. And the Lewis county detectives finally deliver justice as Rick Rife is imprisoned for the murder of Ed and Minnie. After 20 years, the Moran family finally has the truth and hopefully, some comfort.

[Mike Hadler]

Grandma and grandpa are alive in my heart and in my fondest memories. But without them here, the family hasn't been together again. So it was time to get together and maybe have a hadler cousin reunion.

[Minnie Moran]

Is that Michael?

[Mike Hadler]

Oh, God, I haven't seen him for a long time. I haven't either.

[Minnie Moran]

Oh, hi, kid.

[Mike Hadler]

How are you, honey?

[Minnie Moran]

I guess what people don't really realize is my grandparents were only the first victims. Then you got the family. You know me. Let's have a drink.

[Mike Hadler]

Let's go. If I could go back and speak to my grandmother, I would tell her I have five grandkids and I'm living the life I've always dreamed of. I think she'd be proud of me.

[Bruce Kimsey]

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