REOPENED: Favor For A Friend

Summary

Cold Case Files: REOPENED – Favor For A Friend

Host: Paula Barros
Release Date: January 16, 2025
Production: A&E / PodcastOne

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Introduction

In the gripping episode titled "REOPENED: Favor For A Friend" from the acclaimed podcast Cold Case Files, host Paula Barros delves into one of the most perplexing unsolved murders that remained dormant for over a decade. This detailed recounting highlights the relentless pursuit of justice by dedicated detectives, the intricate web of friendships and deceit, and the breakthroughs facilitated by advances in forensic technology.

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The Crime

On the evening of March 8, 1987, Ray and Rita Duhamel were enjoying a night out at their local VFW before heading home in their van. Around 8 PM, Ray began acting strangely, pulling over near the Blanco Bridge where he subsequently passed out. Rita’s attempts to awaken him were futile, prompting her to seek help by flagging down passersby. Before she could secure assistance, a man in a dark pickup truck approached, but instead of helping, he fired two bullets through Ray's van window, killing him instantly. Rita's desperate call to 911 marked the beginning of a chilling investigation.

Notable Quote:

Detective Dana Peterson ([02:14]): "Mr. Duhamel was in the vehicle. He was in the driver's side. The sidewalk window of the driver's door is broken. I recall one bullet hole through the roof and the other bullet had entered Mr. Duhamel from the left side."

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Initial Investigation

Detective Dana Peterson was assigned to the case, where he meticulously gathered evidence from the crime scene. The investigation revealed two .45 caliber shell casings inside the van and tire tracks indicating a second vehicle's presence near the van’s parking spot. A pivotal discovery was an address book found near where Ray was shot, which Detective Gordon noted:

Notable Quote:

Detective Gordon ([03:51]): "Sometimes bad guys make silly mistakes, and that's all to our benefit, you know, so we. When we found the address book, we figured, well, this has got to take us someplace."

The address book belonged to Norman Baird, a 27-year-old local man who owned a dark gray pickup truck. Initial interviews with Baird revealed inconsistencies in his alibi, particularly his claim of being at a job interview in Marina, which clashed with his friend Ron's statement.

Notable Quote:

Detective Gordon ([06:10]): "That was just another confirmation that Baird was not being truthful. And the more inconsistencies and the more lies you can catch a suspect in, the better for the investigation."

Despite these red flags, the lack of concrete physical evidence meant that charges against Baird could not be substantiated, leading the case to grow cold.

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Cold Case

Years passed without resolution, but Detective Peterson remained haunted by the unresolved case. His commitment never waned, leading him to become the head of the county robbery homicide division. In October 2000, he decided to revisit the Duhamel case by sending Detective Fred de los Santos to a seminar on cold cases, hoping to apply new strategies and insights.

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Revival of the Case

Detective De los Santos re-engaged with Ron, Norman Baird's oldest friend, aiming to extract more information. Initially resistant, Ron gradually revealed critical details about the night of the murder. His breakthrough came when he disclosed the location of the buried gun used to kill Ray Duhamel.

Notable Quote:

Ron ([14:20]): "It's buried somewhere. Yes, sir. But I wanted to get rid of that gun. I didn't want it around where he could come back and get it, so I disposed of it. I buried it in the side of a mountain."

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Breakthrough

With Ron’s confession, Detective De los Santos enlisted the help of the Treasure Hunter Society of Santa Clara Valley. On January 30, 2002, a team of 24 treasure hunters meticulously searched the designated field, leveraging their expertise with metal detectors. After hours of fruitless searching, Warren Whited, a seasoned treasure hunter, made a significant discovery:

Notable Quote:

Warren Whited ([15:52]): "I could make out the outline of an ammunition box. And so I gave a good holler. Got a target over here. And the lead man got hold of the officer, and up they came."

The excavation revealed an ammunition box containing a .45 caliber gun and cartons of ammunition. Impressively, fingerprints were still recoverable from the gun after more than a decade underground. These were sent for analysis, leading to a match with Norman Baird.

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Resolution

The forensic delay didn't stop the momentum. Ballistic testing confirmed that the retrieved gun was the murder weapon used to kill Ray Duhamel. With this irrefutable evidence, Norman Baird was charged with second-degree murder fifteen years after the heinous crime.

Baird chose to plead no contest, effectively acknowledging the sufficiency of the evidence without admitting guilt. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Throughout the proceedings, Ron grappled with his conscience over his involvement in concealing the weapon.

Notable Quote:

Ron ([18:03]): "You never feel good about anything like that. It doesn't matter how much weight's off your shoulders, you still feel like hell because you participated in it, period, whether it was brought to your door or not."

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Aftermath

Rita Duhamel, who had endured years of grief and uncertainty, attended Norman Baird's sentencing in 2004. Tragically, she passed away six years later at the age of 72. Norman Baird was denied parole in 2011 and remains incarcerated, with the next parole eligibility in 2021. Ray and Rita's surviving daughters continue to participate in parole hearings, seeking closure and justice for their father.

Notable Quote:

Detective Dana Peterson ([11:29]): "It was always personal with me. It was the first homicide I'd worked that I really had a major role in. I always felt that this case could be solved. So I. It always bothered me."

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Conclusion

"REOPENED: Favor For A Friend" encapsulates the essence of Cold Case Files by showcasing the unwavering determination of law enforcement to seek justice, regardless of the time elapsed. This episode not only highlights the intricate details of the Duhamel case but also underscores the profound personal impacts on those involved, from detectives to friends inadvertently entwined in the tragedy.

For more stories like this, visit AE RealCrime.

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Production Credits:
Host: Brooke Giddings
Producers: McCamey, Lynn, and Steve Delamater
Associate Producer: Julie McGruder
Executive Producer: Ted Butler
Music: Blake Maples
Distribution: PodcastOne

Note: The Cold Case Files TV series is produced by Curtis Productions and hosted by Bill Curtis.

Transcript

[Baratunde Thurston]

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[Unknown]

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[Narrator]

On March 8, 1987, Ray and Rita Duhamel enjoyed drinks and music at their local VFW. The couple left around 8pm and headed home in their van. Ray seemed a little off though. He pulled over near the Blanco Bridge and and then passed out. Ray's wife Rita shook him and yelled his name, but she couldn't get him to wake up. It was before the time of cell phones, so Rita tried to flag someone down for help. A man in a dark colored pickup truck stopped and she was relieved that help had arrived. She wasn't relieved for very long though. The man fired two bullets through her husband's window. Less than an hour later this call was made to 911.

[Unknown]

Reporting that there's.

[Narrator]

A lady reporting that there's her husband.

[Unknown]

Lying in the van.

[Narrator]

He's shot out the window.

[Detective Dana Peterson]

He won't respond to her and she.

[Unknown]

Doesn'T know he's dead or alive.

[Narrator]

From ae. This is Cold Case Files. Rita had finally managed to get someone to stop and help her. They placed the 911 call and Detective Dana Peterson was dispatched to the location where the Duhamel's van had been parked. He discovered Rita crying hysterically and 49 year old Ray shot to death. This is Detective Peterson.

[Detective Dana Peterson]

Mr. Duhamel was in the vehicle. He was in the driver's side. The sidewalk window of the driver's door is broken. I recall one bullet hole through the roof and the other bullet had entered Mr. Duhamel from the left side.

[Narrator]

Rita Duhamel told the detective that her husband had passed out. Then she explained that the man she thought was coming to help was the one who had shot her husband.

[Detective Dana Peterson]

He may have been able to wake Mr. Duhamel up because the van rolls and contacts the suspect vehicle. The suspect gets real mad, according to Mrs. Duhamel, and starts shouting, no mother can run into my van. Or something along that line.

[Narrator]

The detective believed that the shooter broke the window with the butt of his gun and that caused him to accidentally fire the first shot.

[Detective Dana Peterson]

Yeah, I think he would have just hit it and broken it this way. And that first round, as his hand passed through, after he shattered it, it put the first round up through the top of the roof. And then he just confronted. Continue down. Mr. Demelle is probably leaning away when he was shot, and that's why he was in that position.

[Narrator]

The crime scene evidence appeared to support that theory. Investigators collected two.45 caliber shell casings inside the van. The tire tracks at the scene seemed to show a second vehicle pulling up close to where the duhamel's van was parked. Consistent with rita's story. One last piece of evidence discovered was. Was a small address book that was laying in the dirt Close to where ray duhamel was shot. This is detective gordon's own.

[Detective Gordon]

Sometimes bad guys make silly mistakes, and that's all to our benefit, you know, so we. When we found the address book, we figured, well, this has got to take us someplace.

[Narrator]

In the same way that I might call a person's contacts In a found cell phone to identify the owner, the police started contacting the people listed in the book. This is detective peterson.

[Detective Dana Peterson]

But we just basically started calling the people in the notebook. Tell them we found this notebook. Basically, we're trying to identify who owns it.

[Narrator]

The book belonged to a local man named Norman Baird. He was 27, and according to his friends, owned a dark gray pickup truck. The detectives paid him a visit to ask if he was missing the book.

[Detective Dana Peterson]

We just made a casual contact with him, non accusatory, saying, we just been. We found this laying out in this area. And do you recognize this book? Is it yours? And he was able to identify it as his.

[Detective Gordon]

We told him that we were involved in an investigation and we needed to ask him some questions on his whereabouts the day before. And he indicated he'd not been out of town, that he'd not gone out by the blanco bridge, which is where the crime scene was. But he couldn't explain how his notebook had gotten to the crime scene.

[Narrator]

The detectives didn't totally trust Norman Baird's story, But they didn't have any evidence that would support searching his home or truck. So they went back to the address book and made contact with someone who identified himself as Norman Baird's oldest friend. We're calling him ron.

[Unknown]

We did everything together. If you've seen one, you seen the other. If you had to hide from one, you better hide from the both of them.

[Narrator]

Ron told the police that. That he had been with Baird on the day that Ray duhamel was killed. They were at a party together.

[Unknown]

No, there wasn't Nothing particularly bothering him. I mean, there was a lot of time spent over by his pickup with a few other people, but no, there wasn't. Nothing stood out.

[Narrator]

Then Ron told detectives that Baird left the party to go to a job interview in Marina, meaning that he would have been driving down Blanco Road when Rita Duhamel was looking for help. Ron's statement conflicted with what Baird had told detectives. This is Detective Sohn.

[Detective Gordon]

That was just another confirmation that Baird was not being truthful. And the more inconsistencies and the more lies you can catch a suspect in, the better for the investigation.

[Narrator]

The investigators developed a theoretical timeline for Baird's actions on the night of the murder. Baird had been drinking at the party and might not have been as reasonable as he could have been. Maybe he had a little road rage incident and took it too far, shooting Ray Duhamel and dropping his address book. The detectives filed for a search warrant, and less than two weeks after the shooting, they were able to search Norman Baird's home and then his parents home. They started with the truck. Here's Detective Peterson again.

[Detective Dana Peterson]

We looked to see if there were any paint transfers on the truck, any damage or freshly repaired areas, and we found none.

[Narrator]

While searching the homes, the detectives found a.45 caliber gun, but it didn't match the slugs that had been pulled from the crime scene. Having not found any physical evidence during their search, the detectives tried to question Baird again. The suspect wouldn't talk to them, though. He requested an attorney. With no physical evidence tying Baird to the scene, they weren't able to make any charges stick and the case went cold. This is Detective Peterson.

[Detective Dana Peterson]

We needed a little something more to relate the suspect to the victim. We really just don't have enough. We're just right there at the cusp, but not quite enough to push it over.

[Unknown]

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[Narrator]

Greenlight.Com Cold case 13 years passed, but Detective Peterson never forgot about the unsolved Duhamel case.

[Detective Dana Peterson]

It was always personal with me. It was the first homicide I'd worked that I really had a major role in. I always felt that this case could be solved. So I. It always bothered me.

[Narrator]

Peterson became the head of the county robbery homicide division and in October of 2000, sent one of his detectives, Fred de los Santos, to a seminar on cold cases. When Detective De los Santos returned, he was eager to put what he had learned to use. Peterson suggested he look into the case of Ray Duhamel's shooting. Here's Detective De los Santos.

[Unknown]

Detective Sergeant Peterson at the time always felt that the key person in this thing was, was going to be a friend of the suspect.

[Narrator]

De los Santos decided to reinterview Ron, hoping that time might have made him a little more open to the questions. When Ron was originally interviewed, he said that he didn't know anything that happened after Baird had left the party and.

[Unknown]

He answered the door. I told him who I was and what I'm investigating and told him that I needed him to come down to the office and he agreed to do it.

[Narrator]

The two men went to the police station and De los Santos started the questions. Here's some audio from the interrogation.

[Unknown]

I know you didn't sue the guy, so you're not the murderer. You're not the guy I'm looking for.

Okay?

And so today I just want a truthful statement from you as to what Norman told you.

He told me something had happened out there. You know, I crashed into his truck and some state of mind was very erratic, crying, talking too fast. He did not know if he had hit anybody or anything like that, but he said he had fired the weapon into the vehicle and he didn't know what to do.

[Narrator]

Ron said he took the gun from his friend, not knowing what else to do in such an intense situation.

[Unknown]

In a situation like that, where do you want the gun, your hands or his? His hands. The whole public's in trouble. Maybe my hands. He can't get it back.

Let me ask you, did you destroy the gun?

No.

Did Norman give you the gun to get rid of it for him?

If I was to answer that Would incriminate me, wouldn't it?

[Narrator]

Detective de los Santos believed he was very close to being able to find the gun that had killed Ray Duhamel.

[Unknown]

He had started to waver by saying, you know, if I say something, is it going to incriminate me? And I kept assuring him that he was helping me in this investigation. So as he spoke to me, I could tell that he wanted to tell me something. And he knew where the gun was.

[Narrator]

He doesn't push, though. He just continues his conversation with Ron.

[Unknown]

Will you get an address I can go get the gun at? I'll just drive over there and pick it up.

It's.

It's. It's not at an address.

Is it buried somewhere?

Yes, sir. But I wanted to get rid of that gun. I didn't want it around where he could come back and get it, so I disposed of it. I buried it in the side of a mountain.

Okay, is it old state road or San Juan road?

San Juan grade road. I guess it'd be old stage. Okay.

Can you point it out to me?

I hope so.

[Narrator]

Ron told the investigators that he had put the gun in an ammo box and buried it in a field next to a tree. The problem was the field was an entire acre and had around 100 trees.

[Unknown]

I thought, we're never going to find it. This was just something, Another thing that going to end up being a dead end.

[Narrator]

Detective de los Santos was discouraged, but he didn't give up. He decided to ask for help from a group that was known for their expertise in finding things. The treasure hunter society of Santa Clara Valley. It was formed in 1976 by a few friends who liked to use metal detectors and hunt for treasure to share their common interests. The group size increased, and a lot more than just a few friends had become members. On January 30, 2002, 24 treasure hunters with their metal detectors came to help search the field. This is Warren Whited, one of the treasure hunters.

[I]

It was just hard packed cow pasture ground, and we were coming up with bullets, nails, and all kinds of other pieces of metal. But as I got up closer to the trees, I thought in my mind that if I was going to hide something, I need a landmark. These trees look like that'd be a perfect spot. Took off the scraper and scraped away about maybe 3 or 4 inches of leaves, and then start bringing down maybe 3 to 4 inches of dirt. And I could make out the outline of an ammunition box. And so I gave a good holler. Got a target over here. And the lead man got hold of the officer, and up they came.

[Narrator]

Detective De los Santos confirmed it was an ammo box like the one Ron had described. It had been buried for more than a decade. When they opened the box, they found a.45 caliber gun and cartons of ammunition. The investigators were able to lift fingerprints from the gun, even though it had been in the ground for over a decade. They sent the fingerprints out for analysis and waited to see if their treasure hunt had paid off. After all that time, they got back a match. The fingerprints belong to Norman Baird. A fingerprint match alone wouldn't be enough to satisfy the prosecutor. It only proved that Baird had touched the gun, not that it was used to kill Ray Duhamel. Investigators still needed to place the gun at the scene of the crime for the fingerprint evidence to even be useful. So detectives sent the recently unearthed gun to the ballistics team to compare with the shell casings found in the Duhamel's van. The team was able to confirm that the gun in the buried box and the gun that killed Ray Jamel were one in the same. Fifteen years after Ray Duhamel was shot to death, Norman Baird was charged with second degree murder. Baird pled no contest to the charge, meaning he wasn't admitting guilt, but acknowledged there was sufficient evidence to convict him. He received a sentence of 15 years. Ron was conflicted about his role in the conviction.

[Unknown]

You never feel good about anything like that. It doesn't matter how much weight's off your shoulders, you still feel like hell because you participated in it, period, whether it was brought to your door or not.

[Narrator]

Ron was a lot younger when he took his friend's gun and. And buried it in a field. But as he matured, his priorities changed.

[Unknown]

When it happened, it was just me to worry about. Since then, you have a child, you get married, you have a second child, you buy a house, you got a mortgage, you got responsibilities. Life grows bigger and better and fun. And like that, somebody else's actions can bring you down.

[Narrator]

Rita Duhamel attended the sentencing hearing in 2004. Six years later, she passed away at the age of 72. Norman Baird was denied parole in 2011 and will not be eligible to apply again until 2021. Ray and Rita's two surviving daughters still attend Norman Baer's parole hearings. Cold Case Files. The podcast is hosted by Brooke giddings, produced by McCamey, Lynn and Steve Delamater. Our associate producer is Julie McGruder. Our executive producer is Ted Butler. Our music was created by Blake Maples. This podcast is distributed by Podcast One. The Cold Case Files TV series was produced by Curtis Productions and is hosted by Bill Curtis. Check out more Cold case [e-mail] or learn more about cases like this one by visiting the AE RealCrime [e-mail] RealCrime.

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