The Clear Lake Murders

Summary

True Crime All The Time – Episode 486: The Clear Lake Murders (April 6, 2026)

Hosts: Mike Ferguson and Mike Gibson

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Main Theme / Purpose

In this episode, Mike Ferguson and Mike Gibson ("Gibby") dive deep into the tragic 2003 Clear Lake Murders in Houston, Texas. Four young friends—Rachel Kolaras, Tiffany Rao, Marcus Prisella, and Adelbert Sanchez—were brutally gunned down inside a suburban home. The hosts walk through the intricacies of the case: the lives of the victims, the devastating event, the long, painful search for answers, and the shocking revelation of friends-turned-killers years later. The episode balances a thorough true crime investigation with the hosts’ characteristic light-hearted banter, while respecting the gravity of the tragedy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Background on Victims and Setting

• (06:15–09:01) The victims were:
  • Rachel Kolaras (18)
  • Tiffany Rao (18)
  • Marcus Prisella (19)
  • Adelbert Sanchez (20)
• Tiffany lived in the Brook Forest subdivision of Clear Lake. Her mother had died of cancer; her father remarried and moved, leaving Tiffany in the house to finish school.
• Rachel was her best friend, described as friendly and artistic, who had recently run away from home.
• Marcus (Tiffany’s boyfriend) and Adelbert (his cousin) were often at Tiffany’s house. Both had aspirations and were considering college and other life paths.
• Their home became a gathering place for friends.

The Day of the Murders

• (11:09–15:14) On July 18, 2003, the group was together at Tiffany’s house.

• Around 2:30pm, two young people (a man and a woman dressed in black) were seen entering.

• By 3–3:30pm, neighbors heard suspicious noises.

• At 6:30pm, friends discovered the grisly crime scene: the victims were found shot and some beaten, indicating a sudden, brutal attack.

  “Neighbors entered the home... they initially thought the man and woman on the couch were just watching TV until they saw bullet holes in their heads and blood throughout the living room.” — Mike Ferguson (13:52)

• No forced entry, suggesting the victims knew their killers or trusted them enough to let them in.

Early Investigation & Difficulties

• (17:12–24:01) Initial speculation centered around potential drug involvement; rumors suggested Marcus and Adelbert were dealing drugs from the house.

• Families struggled with grief and conducted their own campaigns for justice, including billboards and large rewards.

  “Rachel’s father... handed out flyers... and put up multiple billboards... he offered a $100,000 reward for information.” — Mike Ferguson (23:24)

The Break in the Case

• (26:17–27:28) Three years later, a Crime Stoppers tip provided details only known to police, naming a former friend of the victims, Christine Paolia, and her then-boyfriend, Christopher Snyder, as suspects.

Christine Paolia’s Story

• (27:28–33:28) Christine was one year younger than her victims; her life was marked by hardship—her father died in an accident, her mother struggled with addiction, and Christine suffered from alopecia.

• Rachel and Tiffany had befriended Christine, making her socially accepted after experiences with bullying.

  “Here's a girl who's really struggling... these two very popular girls take her under her wing, and... she's liked and all of that. But now it's thought that she killed these two people...” — Mike Ferguson (29:09)

The Motive and the Murders

• The suspects reportedly intended to buy drugs, but things turned violent. Christine’s then-husband, Stanley Rod, ultimately made the call to Crime Stoppers after Christine confessed her role in the killings.

  “As part of his 12-step recovery program, he had to do what was right, which meant sharing what he knew. He also said that Christine's story gave him nightmares.” — Mike Ferguson (47:52)

• Christine’s confession to her husband included harrowing details: she and Christopher were welcomed due to friendship, but once inside, Christopher held the men at gunpoint. Christine was also armed. Christopher killed Marcus and Adelbert, then Christine shot Rachel and Tiffany.

• After fleeing, Christine returned to confirm everyone was dead and beat Rachel to death as she tried to call 911.

  “Rachel was on the floor choking on her own blood. She was dying. That’s what bothers me the most. Christine saw Rachel like that... she beat Rachel to death. Christine cried while doing it...” — Stanley Rod, as recounted by Mike Ferguson (51:41)

Trial Evidence and Testimony

• (54:44–66:03) At Christine’s 2008 trial, the prosecution presented strong evidence:

  • Ballistics linked two separate guns to the scene—supporting multiple shooters.
  • Eyewitnesses saw Christine and Christopher enter the house.
  • Christine’s husband testified about her confessions.
  • Christine gave inconsistent statements to police, at times minimizing her role, blaming Christopher, and citing her heavy heroin addiction/withdrawals as a factor in her statements and memory.

  “There was a lot of contradiction in her stories in the three interviews she gave to police. And there were. There's no doubt about it. She changed her stories multiple times.” — Mike Ferguson (66:29)

• The defense argued Christine was coerced by Snyder and under the influence, but her changing versions weighed against her.

• Ultimately, Christine Paolia was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. She avoided the death penalty due to her age at the time of the killings (17).

Aftermath & Reflections

• The families found some closure with the verdict after years of pain and public campaign.
• Christine remains incarcerated, eligible for parole in 2046.
• Powerful themes emerged about the unpredictability of teenage friendships, the impact of trauma and addiction, and the horror of betrayal by those considered friends.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On youthful decisions:

  “We’ve been pretty honest, sometimes brutally honest, about some of the decisions we made when we were 18, 19..." — Mike Ferguson (22:35)

• On family grief:

  "Rachel's father George wrote: 'This pain can't be handled. It's the worst pain life has to offer.'" — Mike Ferguson (18:00)

• On the killer’s betrayal:

  "Testimony would show Rachel asked Christine, 'Why are you doing this to me?' before she was beaten to death." — Mike Ferguson (55:01)

• On the power of rewards:

  “I think the higher the reward, the greater the chance that someone is…willing to come forward and maybe roll on over somebody else.” — Mike Ferguson (25:59)

• On addiction’s impact:

  "She told doctors she was accustomed to taking heroin every 10 to 15 minutes... her last injection was at 10am" — Mike Ferguson (40:09)

• Jury’s perspective:

  "One juror revealed that he was among four who initially voted for acquittal... there was a lot of contradiction in her stories..." — Mike Ferguson (66:03)

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Important Timestamps

• Main case introduction: 05:19
• Victims’ backgrounds: 06:15–10:28
• The crime and crime scene discovery: 11:09–15:14
• Initial speculation and investigation: 17:12–24:01
• Family efforts and reward: 23:24–26:17
• Crime Stoppers tip and suspect identification: 26:17–27:28
• Christine’s background and the nature of her relationship to the victims: 27:28–33:28
• Husband’s confession and details of the crime: 47:52–55:01
• Trial and evidence breakdown: 54:44–66:03
• Verdict and family reactions: 66:03–68:16

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Summary & Takeaways

The Clear Lake Murders episode offers a meticulously detailed look at a shocking case where friendship and trust turned deadly. The hosts emphasize that small decisions—like who you let into your home—can have fateful consequences. The investigation stalled for years until one courageous (and traumatized) tip from the killer’s husband unraveled the truth. The tale is haunting for the depths of betrayal, the role of addiction, and the suffering of those left behind—and is explored thoroughly and respectfully, with ample insight into how true crime cases can shape and forever alter entire communities.

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For those interested in lesser-known true crime stories with a balance of detailed investigation and empathetic reflection, this episode stands out as both moving and deeply informative.

Transcript

[Mike Ferguson]

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[Mike Gibson]

required intro rate first 3 months only,

[Mike Ferguson]

then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms at Mintmobile do. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 486 of the True Crime all the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and and with me as always is my partner in True Crime, Mike Gibson. Gibby, how are you?

[Mike Gibson]

Yo, what's up? What's happening? All right.

[Mike Ferguson]

I like, I like the intro. You're always thinking of interesting things to say. Yeah, we're interesting in your mind.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, it's always very interesting or captivating.

[Mike Ferguson]

You never know how it's going to play.

[Mike Gibson]

Probably not good.

[Mike Ferguson]

Sometimes good, sometimes not.

[Mike Gibson]

So we really like when Gibby just sticks to how he normally opens up the show. Please.

[Mike Ferguson]

No, I think they like it when you go out on a limb.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shout outs. We had Penny. Hey, Penny Carez. Sc.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, let's see. What's sc like soccer club or South Carolina.

[Mike Ferguson]

I don't know. Yeah. Kira Gadamski.

[Mike Gibson]

Hey, Gadamski.

[Mike Ferguson]

Jacqueline.

[Mike Gibson]

What's going on? Jacqueline?

[Mike Ferguson]

Matt Hindershot.

[Mike Gibson]

Hey, Matt.

[Mike Ferguson]

Bill. Knox.

[Mike Gibson]

I appreciate that. Knox.

[Mike Ferguson]

Todd Bird.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, I wonder if everybody, Everybody, anybody ever gives him the bird.

[Mike Ferguson]

They might.

[Mike Gibson]

The bird. Bird.

[Mike Ferguson]

Kirsten Vanderjat.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, that's a mouthful. Vander. Jock. No, VanderJ.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, you might be saying it correctly. You're not saying what I said, but Vanderja, you might be saying it right. Annelise Laronga.

[Mike Gibson]

Hey, Annelise.

[Mike Ferguson]

And last but not least, Lucia Figueras jumped out at her highest level.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, Figueras. Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And then if we go back into the vault this week, we selected Molly Hildebrandt.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Good golly, Miss Molly.

[Mike Ferguson]

So we appreciate the new support. To continued support. We've got a great lineup out right now on Unsolved, which is out already.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

We're talking about 23 year old David Grubbs, who was murdered along a popular bike path in Oregon in 2011 while he was heading home from work. So, you know, we're what, 15 years later.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And despite police naming a person of interest, which is always fascinating to me in unsolved cases.

[Mike Gibson]

Absolutely.

[Mike Ferguson]

His murder remains unsolved.

[Mike Gibson]

And it's already gone.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. According to you. And the episode for TCAT Thursday is one that I just found fascinating. Nobody gets murdered yet. We're still talking about murder and mayhem. And it all revolves around this guy named Bob Ennis, who kind of benignly purchased a domain named rentahitman.com and soon discovered that he had a whole bunch of people trying to hire hitmen.

[Mike Gibson]

It's a serious episode, but I couldn't help but laugh.

[Mike Ferguson]

There were some humorous parts to it, even though you're talking about someone trying to end the life of other people. All right, buddy, are you ready to get into this episode of True Crime all the Time?

[Mike Gibson]

I am.

[Mike Ferguson]

We're talking about the Clear lake murders. In July 2003, four friends were gunned down inside a home in the Clear Lake area of Houston. The community was shocked and devastated that four young lives were brutally cut short. The fact that police couldn't identify the perpetrators only added to the pain and confusion that the victims, families and friends experienced. Three years later, though, a Crime Stoppers tip led to the identification of a surprising suspect.

[Mike Gibson]

Always like Surprises.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, you know, we have changed up how we do true crime all the time a little bit. We've added some mystery which people have asked us to do.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I kind of like the way it works.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, you do.

[Mike Ferguson]

You don't know all the time right from the beginning who done it, who did it. I like to say who done it. I know, because they called a who done it?

[Mike Gibson]

What is a whodunit.

[Mike Ferguson]

The victims of the Clear lake murders were 18 year old Rachel Kolaras, 18 year old Tiffany Rao, 19 year old Marcus Prisella, and 20 year old Adelbert Sanchez. On July 18, 2003, police responded to Tiffany Rao's home in the 3700 block of Millbridge in the quiet Brook Forest subdivision of Clear Lake. Tiffany grew up in this home. Her mother died of cancer in 1998. Her father, Chester remarried and moved to his wife's home in Manville, Texas. But Tiffany remained at the Clear Lake house so that she wouldn't have to change schools her senior year.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, that makes sense.

[Mike Ferguson]

It does. And a lot of people do that. Right. They get it. Something changes in the family dynamic. But who really, going into their senior year, wants to have to change school?

[Mike Gibson]

Well, and I think it's important, especially if you're in your last year or two, to stay as stable as possible.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. You know what kids like a lot? Stability.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Now they don't always get it, but they like it.

[Mike Gibson]

Like most people like stability.

[Mike Ferguson]

I would say everybody does, really. For the past three years, Tiffany had been dating Marcus Prisella, a graduate of Clear Lake High. Friends said that they seemed happy together. Tiffany was described as someone who was friendly, lovable, and always had a smile on her face. She was a talented actress and wanted to be a social worker. She was best friends with Rachel Colorados, who enjoyed art and creative writing. Rachel was undecided on which college she wanted to attend and was considering joining the military then. You know, at that age, Gibbs, when you're in your senior year, you're getting ready to graduate. Man, there are so many options to think about.

[Mike Gibson]

There really are.

[Mike Ferguson]

Now, some people take the route of going to college. Some people decide, hey, college is not for me. Maybe they want to go into the trades or they want to join the military, but really there are limitless options for people.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, possibilities.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

It's always good to have those.

[Mike Ferguson]

Rachel and Tiffany were some of the most popular girls at Clear Lake High. They had just graduated in May 2003, only two months before they died. That summer, Tiffany and Rachel Got jobs bartending and waiting tables at Club Exotica, a topless bar on the Gulf Freeway. Rachel spent a lot of time at Tiffany's house and moved in with her. Just two weeks before the murders. The Houston Chronicle reported that Rachel ran away from her parents home and they were looking for her at the time of her death.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, okay, so she was missing.

[Mike Ferguson]

But not surprising, right, that Rachel would go to Tiffany's house. Tiffany's living in this big house all by herself, and the two had been friends, best friends, for a long time.

[Mike Gibson]

Just makes sense.

[Mike Ferguson]

Marcus Prisella was attending San Jacinto College and finishing up coursework for an automotive technology certificate. He decided to enroll in fall classes to pursue a business degree while working part time as a waiter at a seafood restaurant. Marcus loved working on his car and spending time with his family and Tiffany. His family knew Tiffany well and they thought highly of her. Like Rachel, Marcus also spent a lot of time at Tiffany's home in Clearlake.

[Mike Gibson]

Sounds like it was the house to be at.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, you're 18, 19 years old and you got a house. Okay, That's a pretty big deal.

[Mike Gibson]

It is a big deal.

[Mike Ferguson]

Marcus's cousin, Adelbert Sanchez, loved rap music and sang with a local group. He planned to go to college and study computer technology. He lived at home in North Houston until the week he was killed. He decided to go and stay with Marcus for a while, and the whole group ended up staying at Tiffany's home. And again. Right. Why not? She's living in this house. However big it is, she's there by herself.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

I'm sure quite a number of people could have stayed there and sounds like they did. But to me, it's also about decisions, fateful decisions. Not bad decisions per se. But in the case of Adelbert, he decides to go see his cousin, and it would ultimately turn out to be fateful for him. Friends said that they were having the time of their lives. The night before the murders, Marcus and Adelbert went to a party. Two of those party guests returned with them to Tiffany's house, but left well before the murders. Those guests were interviewed and cleared by police.

[Mike Gibson]

Consider them lucky.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, you know, they're going to be talked to and have to be cleared. And in this case, they were. Tiffany and Rachel worked the night of July 17th and returned to the house early on the morning of July 18, 2003, when they were killed. Later that afternoon, the four victims had just woken up and were in the living room watching TV. Around 2:30pm two people were seen Going to the house. They were described as a man and a woman, both young and both wearing all black, despite the hot summer day. The man was blonde, and the woman had her hair covered by a cap and was carrying a large back.

[Mike Gibson]

Okay. I mean, that is suspicious. I mean, you're in Texas, a hot summer day in your own, and you're wearing all black. Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

It gets very hot in Houston in the summer.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And it would be weird to see somebody dressed in all black. Or two people.

[Mike Gibson]

Right. Even more strange unless they were named Johnny Cash. Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Police believe the victims were killed between 3 and 3:30pm when neighbors reported hearing noises that could have been gunfire. And it's interesting, Gibbs, because you and I talk about this a lot. You know, people hearing something, let's say, from, you know, down the road, another house, a neighboring house, they think it could be gunfire, could be a car backfiring. They don't know exactly what it is. So what do you do? Do you pick up the phone and say, hey, police, I think I hear gunshots? I know where I live. People don't do that. No, because there are gunshots. I hear them all the time.

[Mike Gibson]

I don't think that many people actually call into the police anymore.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I think there's a reason for it. Probably first and foremost, people don't want to be wrong. You don't want to waste the police's time when it turns out to be nothing. And let's face it, most of the time, it probably is nothing.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

The problem is, when it's something, well, then the police get involved later than what they could have. But it's hard to make that argument that somebody, you know, made a serious error in not calling unless they were for sure it was gunshots.

[Mike Gibson]

And that's different.

[Mike Ferguson]

That would be different. Unless you live in a more rural area like I do. There's. There's plenty of land around me. And people do shoot guns. I hear them, surely.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I do. When I leave her.

[Mike Ferguson]

There have been times where it's come through the episode, and I've had to edit it out.

[Mike Gibson]

That's true.

[Mike Ferguson]

At 6:30pm friends who stopped by the home ran outside screaming that people had been shot. Neighbors entered the home and recalled to the Houston Chronicle that they initially thought the man and woman on the couch were just watching TV until they saw bullet holes in their heads and blood throughout the living room.

[Mike Gibson]

It's almost like one of those movies by that really good director, Tarantino.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, it's where I figured you were going.

[Mike Gibson]

It's like A scene from one of his movies. You know, you're walking in and they look like they're just watching TV until you see all the way through their head, the light.

[Mike Ferguson]

But no doubt this would be a very scary thing, right, to have happen. I'm sure these neighbors were concerned, I guess maybe because of what they had heard, which is weird because they just said, well, they didn't call the police, but at some point they must have figured, hey, we should go over and check on them.

[Mike Gibson]

Just make sure, you know, if he can see what we can see.

[Mike Ferguson]

The victims were sitting up with their heads bowed as if they were asleep. The house was silent except for the tv. On the floor was a young woman laying face down in a pool of blood. A man was behind the couch. There were no signs of forced entry. Police couldn't tell if anything had been stolen.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, just because there wasn't forced entry doesn't mean, like, the door. I mean, the door could just been unlocked.

[Mike Ferguson]

Could have been. Or they could have let their killers in. Yeah, I mean, that. That is a direct possibility.

[Mike Gibson]

The.

[Mike Ferguson]

The forced entry is always interesting because obviously, if you have forced entry, if the door frame is busted as though someone kicked it in, well, that tells you something. But the absence of forced entry, I don't know that it tells you as much. The victims were killed in a swift and unprovoked attack, as reported by the Houston Chronicle. Adelbert and Tiffany weren't able to get off the couch before they were killed. Tiffany was shot seven times throughout her body, including the head and face. Adelbert was shot six times in the head, neck, torso, arm and shoulder. Marcus died from wounds to the head, abdomen, and right arm. He also had blunt force head injuries. Rachel died from blunt force to the head and had gunshots to her lower abdomen and lower extremities. I mean, just picture this. This is an absolutely brutal crime scene.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, it sounds like a kill squad

[Mike Ferguson]

went in there earlier that day. Rachel's parents drove to the Brook Forest area and went past Tiffany's house. They heard from one of Rachel's friends that she might be staying in the house and had driven through the subdivision hoping for a glimpse of her. And we said it right. Her parents weren't sure where Rachel was in the week kind of leading up to her death. I did think about it, though. With her and Tiffany being such good friends, her parents probably had to know that Tiffany was living there by herself, that her dad had moved, and they had to have at least a sneaking suspicion that maybe Rachel was there.

[Mike Gibson]

I would think so.

[Mike Ferguson]

In the days after the murders, there was talk among the victims friends that the deaths were drug related. Witnesses told investigators that Adelbert and Marcus were allegedly drug dealers and people came to the house to buy from them. Police acknowledged that drugs were used, bought and sold among the four friends and others, but maintain that the motive was unknown. And I think anytime you have drugs, that has to be a possible motive. If you add in the fact that there's even the possibility that that someone was selling drugs, well, then I think that motive gets a little bit more, you know, higher on the possibility list. Because when you're selling drugs, then there's money involved and more motive.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I mean, you get, you have to worry about that. You know, if they're selling drugs, you also have to worry about are they pushing into somebody else's territory, taking money away from, from that dealer, somebody who

[Mike Ferguson]

maybe is way bigger than them and more ruthless? That's a real possibility. But a year passed with no answers. The Houston Chronicle reported that police had followed many fruitless leads. Talking about the murders was too painful for the families to do in person interviews, but they agreed to answer questions from the Chronicle via email. Adelbert Sanchez's stepmother, who helped raise him, wrote, I don't know how to explain our pain and suffering. It has broken our hearts. Rachel's father George, wrote, this pain can't be handled. It's the worst pain life has to offer. And I cannot even imagine Gibbs losing a child. I just can't. Especially in this type of horrific fashion.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, it would definitely be rough.

[Mike Ferguson]

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[Mike Gibson]

law

[Mike Ferguson]

Investigators noted that they were still seeking the two people who visited the home on the afternoon of the murders. They also wanted to hear from a caller who contacted Crime stoppers in early May 2004 with a tip that may have referred to the two visitors. So please know about these two individuals. They have to be at the top or near the top right of the people that they want to identify and talk to. Hard not to believe that there's a real strong chance that they were either somehow involved or were the perpetrators.

[Mike Gibson]

So you got to follow through.

[Mike Ferguson]

But they don't know who they are. Houston Police Sergeant Wayman Allen said at a press conference in June 2004 that any potential motives were of little importance without suspects. And that's an interesting statement because a lot of times you talk about motives leading to suspects, and here he's saying, well, people are throwing around motives, but we don't have any suspects, so can't time them together. Doesn't really do us much good. He noted that the victims were all very young, very immature and on their own. But he said while they may have exercised bad judgment, they didn't deserve what happened to them.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, to be what, 18, 19, living in a big house and clear lake, probably living it up, you know, not really thinking a lot about the consequences of life or, or what could go wrong.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, but you and I have been pretty honest, sometimes brutally honest about, you know, some of the decisions we made when we were 18, 19. And I'm sure a lot of people listening would say, oh my gosh, I made some horrible decisions and did some Things that I surely wouldn't do today. And then they would say, well, don't call me Shirley, but, you know, who's not immature at 18, 19 now? Not everybody, but to some degree, most of us were in some ways.

[Mike Gibson]

I'm sure there's probably somebody listening that had to go onto an ankle monitor

[Mike Ferguson]

system when they were young and then again when they were in their 30s.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, potentially.

[Mike Ferguson]

Allegedly.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

The victims families never stopped searching for answers. Rachel's father, George Coloradus, printed and handed out flyers to local residents and. And he put up multiple billboards along the Houston highway to raise awareness about the case. He offered a $100,000 reward for information. And that's amazing work. Now, you have to be able to do that. You have to have the resources to be able to do that. And not every family member does, but if you do, there's probably not many of us that wouldn't go to that extent.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I mean, that's amazing that he did.

[Mike Ferguson]

Rachel's mom and Colorado said about her husband's effort per 2020, he was able to think with his head when all I wanted to do was think with my heart. But George never gave up.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, sounds like he was kind of like the glue, you know, trying to keep the family together through this tragic time.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I would agree with that. But, you know, the other thing is, I'm sure he was emotional, but he was also able to kind of continue to plow forward with, you know, a lot of critical thought.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And some people just aren't able to do that. The emotions kind of overwhelm them.

[Mike Gibson]

I think it'd be hard to keep a level head. But like you said, there are people that in events like this, they find a way to keep that, you know, level head.

[Mike Ferguson]

George said, I thought that would have a really meaningful and loud impact on the community, and it would make these killers come out from hiding. And we've talked about rewards a lot, especially the amount of reward.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

In Australian cases, we often see very, very high rewards. Now here in the US, by and large, in comparison, most rewards, unless the family is well off and they're putting it up themselves, most rewards are pretty small. Yeah, 5,000, maybe 10,000. Very rarely do you see rewards go into the triple digits. Right. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. And why does that make a difference?

[Mike Gibson]

Well, I mean, I think the more you offer, the more potential people will come out of the bushes.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I think the higher reward, the greater the chance that someone is willing to come forward and maybe roll on over somebody Else.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, because there's some risk there. Right. If you're going to always, you know, tell on somebody, you're going to want to make sure that you have. You're compensated for it.

[Mike Ferguson]

Three years after the murders in July 2006, a man called Crime Stoppers with a promising tip. He provided details only known to investigators, such as how Rachel tried to crawl away after she was shot and the fact that a phone was found near her hand. So I'm assuming that, you know, these were details that were not publicized at all. Right. We talk about what do police keep back? What do they hold back from the public? And this is one of the reasons why.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Makes confirming some of these stories a lot easier.

[Mike Ferguson]

The tipster named two perpetrators, a man and a woman. Named. He thought the man's name was Chris, but he was certain about the woman's identity. She was Christine Paolia, a former classmate of Rachel and Tiffany at Clear Lake High. They were shot by Christine's boyfriend at the time in a drug deal gone wrong. And Christine paolia was only 17 years old at the time of the murders. She was a grade below Rachel and Tiffany.

[Mike Gibson]

Just a kid.

[Mike Ferguson]

Crystal had a difficult childhood. Her father died in a construction job site accident when she was a child, and her mother, Lori, struggled with drug abuse growing up. Christine was bullied because she has alopecia and had to wear wigs to school. And we talk about bullying all the time. I know. It does still happen. I think as a whole, our society has worked very hard to kind of tamp it down.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

But when you and I were in school, bullying was rampant.

[Mike Gibson]

It was. And it wasn't bullying you from the couch on a social media app, which is terrible today. I get it.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is. It is terrible.

[Mike Gibson]

This was like the bullies were in your face.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. And they would pick on people for just about anything. Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

That would be rough as a, you know, boy or girl, but as a girl, to have your hair coming out.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

It would be tough.

[Mike Ferguson]

It would be very hard. She was a reserved person, Christine. And struggled during her first few years of high school. She was insecure about her appearance because of her alopecia. Rachel and Tiffany befriended Kristen and took her under their wing. And for the first time, it seemed like Christine was liked and widely accepted by her peers. And we said it right. Rachel and Tiffany were two of the most popular kids at their school.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. It's kind of like that show with Rachel McAdams and Mean Girls. Mean Girls, yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

In 2003, her classmates voted Christine Miss Irresistible, Christine's mother told 2020 they did it because they felt that she was the person who they just loved because of the way she was the person she was. And so, I mean, it's a feel good story, that part of it. You know, here's a girl who's really struggling because of this condition. She has these two very popular girls take her under her wing, and from that point on, she seems to do well in school and she's liked and all of that. But now it's thought that she killed these two people or at least had a hand in it. And investigators were faced with the question, why would Christine want to harm the girls who were kind to her during that difficult time in her life?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I mean, because it wasn't like how it was for you in school when you were voted Mr. Resistible. You know, she was voted Miss Irresistible by her friends.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I was actually very resistible for quite a time.

[Mike Gibson]

There still are.

[Mike Ferguson]

Thank you. Thank you very much. But it's a real dilemma.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

It doesn't seem like she would be the first person to pop off the list or off the page as someone who wanted to do harm to these two people.

[Mike Gibson]

It's not adding up right now.

[Mike Ferguson]

Investigators soon identified their second suspect is Christine's ex boyfriend, Christopher Snyder, who was 21 years old in 2003. Investigators believe that Christine and Christopher came to Tiffany's house to buy drugs from Adelbert and Marcus. But something went wrong that led to the shooting. After receiving the tip, police secured a warrant for Christine's arrest in San Antonio, where she had been staying in a hotel with her husband, Stanley Justin Roth. So this is kind of, you know, interesting from this standpoint in that, you know, three years have gone by. Right. Certain people have gone on with their lives.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Christie has gotten married to a different guy, not the guy who was her boyfriend back in 2003.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I guess it, you know, if you don't have a conscience, you can do that. You can move on with your life.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, even if you do, I guess short of giving yourself up, what else can you do now it might haunt you. It might eat at you every day. I think to a lot of criminals, it doesn't. But I don't know about Christine. Stanley met Christine at a drug treatment center in November 2004. They got married four months later. It was later revealed that Stanley was the one who called Crime Stoppers.

[Mike Gibson]

At the end of the day, he

[Mike Ferguson]

had to do the right thing, which is amazing. It always is, because it's One thing to do the right thing when it's easy. How easy is it, though, to do the right thing and report a crime that your wife was involved in before you met her?

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, it changes how you view that person.

[Mike Ferguson]

I know it would for me.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. I mean, I fell in love with what I thought was this person. But you're this person. And if I would have known that ahead of time, I would have never been over here with you and married you.

[Mike Ferguson]

So Christine vaguely told Stanley about an incident with her former boyfriend that resulted in the deaths of four people. On a later occasion, she elaborated that she and Christopher went to Tiffany's house in Clear Lake. Just before entering, Christopher handed her a gun that she carried in her purse. The intention was to take drugs and money, not hurt anyone. She claimed Christopher was the shooter. After fleeing the house, Christine told Christopher that she needed to make sure everyone was really dead. She returned to find Rachel choking on her own blood. She admitted to beating Rachel with her gun until she died.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, why not just shoot her?

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I don't know. Maybe she wasn't familiar with firearms. Maybe she didn't want to shoot a gun. I have no idea. But imagine being Stanley and your wife telling you this story. And the story is not just, hey, my ex boyfriend killed some people. That's not the story. This is a plan. We went in there to do this, this, and this. Now, according to her, it got out of hand. They didn't mean to hurt anybody. But she admits to him that although she didn't shoot anybody, she beat Rachel until she was dead.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I mean, I think unless you got a lot of skeletons in your closet, too, you got to say, hey, I'm out.

[Mike Ferguson]

I'm telling you, man, that's going to be a tough one to look past. Yeah, I know they say love is blind and all of that. Now, if you'd been married for 30 years, I don't know, maybe it changes things, maybe it doesn't. I think if you're just a few years into the relationship, this is a real bombshell. Actually, 30 years in might be a bigger bombshell, but you've developed a much stronger bond, theoretically. I don't know. I don't know if. I don't know if you could handle it at any point. I really don't. Hey, folks, if you're looking for a better way to bank, you got to check out Chime. They're changing the way people bank. It's smarter banking built for you and it's fee free. Forget about the old School banking ways that charge you overdraft and monthly fees. Chime has smarter banking products for everyday people like MyPay, which gives you access to up to $500 of your paycheck anytime and getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit. There's no overdraft fees, no minimum balance fees and no monthly fees. You can also earn up to 3% APY on savings. That's seven times higher than a traditional bank and it's rated five stars by us today for customer service. They have real humans 247 and my younger self would have benefited so much from Chime. I remember in my 20s getting hit with what seemed to be a mountain of banking fees. With Chime you don't have that. Chime is not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank join the millions who are already banking fee free today. It just takes a few minutes to sign up. Head to chime.com tcat that's chime.com/tcatt. Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services A secure Chime Visa credit card and MyPay line of credit provided by the Bancor Bank NA or Stride Bank NA. MyPay eligibility requirements apply and credit limit ranges $20 to $500. Optional services and products may have fees or charges. See chime.com feesinfo advertised annual percentage yield with Chime+status only. Otherwise 1.00% APY applies. No imbalance required. Chime card on time. Payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score. Results may vary. See chime.com for details and applicable terms.

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[Mike Ferguson]

Christine was arrested on July 19, 2006. When officers entered the room, they saw that she and Stanley had been using heroin. There were hundreds of used syringes in the room. Christine was wearing a blood stained T shirt and had needle marks on her body.

[Mike Gibson]

So it sounds like the drug treatment didn't go well.

[Mike Ferguson]

No. Nope. That's where they met. But apparently they continued to do drugs. That fact though, is it even more amazing that Stanley made the phone call? Because you mentioned it, right? If you don't have a lot of skeletons in your closet or you do, I think he had some. He had some. Not skeletons in his closet. They were doing criminal stuff right then and there.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I. I think maybe for him too. You know, when you come out of rehab, you need stability. And, you know, what's not stable is when you find out that the woman you married committed multiple murders, that's gonna mess with you.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I. I think it would be tough in any situation, but maybe more so in that one. But this sounds like just a horrible situation right there in this room. Hundreds of used syringes, and she's wearing a blood stained T shirt with needle marks all up and down her body.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, when you're doing drugs like that, you just. I mean, you just have no care, you know, about your appearance and things around you and.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I can only imagine. Christine agreed to a videotaped interview. In this first interview, she admitted to driving Christopher to Tiffany's home. They went there to buy drugs, but they made a return trip when Christopher complained about forgetting something. Christine insisted that Christopher went into the house by himself on both occasions while she remained in the car. When he returned the second time, she saw him running with a gun in his hands. She denied hearing any gunshots. The questioning ended, but Christine remained alone in the room with the recorder still going. She began to deteriorate and appeared weak and sick. The recording ended when she requested to see a nurse.

[Mike Gibson]

She probably started thinking about that day and what she had done and seen.

[Mike Ferguson]

And there's also the effects of the heroin use and all that. But, you know, what I want to talk about is her side of the story. Right. Because it's always fascinating to hear two sides of a story when you have multiple people involved or three sides or however many people there are to have sides. Because it's going to be interesting to what Christopher has to say because she's basically putting it all on him. And to investigators, she's not admitting to even going inside the house, let alone beating Rachel to death after she had been shot.

[Mike Gibson]

She's kind of acting like she's a victim too.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Christine was transported to the hospital where she reported that she was experiencing heroin withdrawal. She told doctors she was accustomed to taking heroin every 10 to 15 minutes. And her last injection was at 10am

[Mike Gibson]

well, there you go. With 100 plus needles around her. So that would make sense.

[Mike Ferguson]

I had no idea that that was even a possibility. I remember in the days where people smoked a lot.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, very common for someone to light one up as soon as they put the. The one out. Or at the very least every 10 to 15 minutes. Right. Have a cigarette but heroin is a, you know, that's a different animal. I'm not saying cigarettes are good for you by any means, but heroin every 10 to 15 minutes, it's a high level addiction. It is, number one, the fact that you have to use the needle on yourself that often. But number two, let's talk about the cost of that much heroin. That daily habit. Where are you getting that money?

[Mike Gibson]

Either you're selling things or you're selling yourself or you're robbing or you're robbing.

[Mike Ferguson]

At 5:30, she was given a dose of morphine and methadone. Christine was questioned again that evening at the hospital. Once again, she denied ever entering the home but said there was a fight inside and Christopher admitted to shooting all four victims. Christine was flown to Houston later that evening after she was discharged from the hospital. She had an unrecorded interview on the afternoon of July 20th and asked to see a doctor. She was taken to the hospital and again treated for heroin withdrawal. She was discharged late that evening and taken back to police headquarters. She had a final videotaped interrogation at 11:38pm during this interview, she claimed Christopher forced her to go inside with him. When they returned to the house, he made her hold one of his guns. She denied aiming at anyone, but said Christopher put his hand over hers and pulled the trigger a number of times while she held the gun in her hand. So here we have the changing story which always has to be analyzed.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure it does.

[Mike Ferguson]

We start off with, I was never even inside the home to. I was inside the home, but Christopher made me go. He even went as far as forcing me to hold the gun in his hand while he wrapped his hand around it and pulled the trigger.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I mean, before that she said he went in and he killed all four people. Now they're both in there and he's forcing his hand on her hand and making her pull the trigger. But you know, the problem I see with this is that there's four people. And unless you're like super experience and

[Mike Ferguson]

a really quick shot.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. And a good shot.

[Mike Ferguson]

And a good shot, I don't think

[Mike Gibson]

you're going to get all four people by yourself.

[Mike Ferguson]

And let's not forget it was said that some of these people never even got off the couch. Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

It's like they didn't even have the opportunity to move.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. So it does make you question whether one person could have done all that in the way that it's thought that it went down.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, unless they were all. And I think it would have been in the reports, you know, from the police, unless they were on. All on heroin and they couldn't move.

[Mike Ferguson]

And that's a possibility, we don't know. On July 21, 2006, the Houston Police Department announced that capital murder charges had been filed against Christine Paolia and Christopher Snyder. But Christopher was still at large. He was on parole for a robbery conviction in Kentucky, but authorities determined he fled to Greenville, South Carolina. A body believed to be that of Christopher Snyder was found in Greenville, South Carolina on August 5, 2006. He had been in Greenville for about three weeks and was living with a 36 year old woman he met on MySpace.

[Mike Gibson]

The old MySpace.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I was never, you know me, I've never been a huge social media person. Yeah, I never had a MySpace page. All right. So I have no idea what it was even. I know it was kind of like a Facebook or something like that, kind of. But it was said that Christopher was last seen on July 20. Authorities believe a relative warned him there was a warrant out for his arrest in connection with the murders. That day, Christopher fought with his girlfriend about the warrants in Texas. He told her he was wanted for homicide and took several bottles of painkillers before he left her house on foot, wearing only a shirt and shorts. Jerry Reed, the woman's friend, told the Chronicle she didn't have a clue he was a suspect in the murders. The woman told him she met Christopher months earlier and he briefly visited her from Texas several weeks ago. She also visited Texas before Christopher decided to move. Okay, so this is someone that, you know, you started Talking to on MySpace. You hit it off, you've met in person a couple of times. Now he's in South Carolina living with you, and all of a sudden you find out that he's wanted for murder.

[Mike Gibson]

It's going to change some things.

[Mike Ferguson]

It also goes back to that old question. Do you really know who you're talking to online? For that matter, do you really know anybody?

[Mike Gibson]

Unless it could.

[Mike Ferguson]

When, when a relationship first starts, if you're meeting them out of the blue for the, you know, it's not like you went to school with them your whole life. You've worked with them for years and years and years. If you just meet somebody at a bar randomly, what do you really know about that person?

[Mike Gibson]

Well, we all have a history.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. And we've probably all been in that situation in the past.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Where you meet someone, you hit it off, maybe even go home and, you know, have a few Coca Colas and a little rumpus room action.

[Mike Gibson]

But Wake up in handcuffs and is that where you were going?

[Mike Ferguson]

And only your boxers and your wallet and clothes are gone?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And you're handcuffed to the bed. But, you know, what are the chances that you're taking home or you're going home with a killer? That's a scary thought. But you know what? We don't think about that when we're 20.

[Mike Gibson]

No, we don't.

[Mike Ferguson]

Or 21 or whatever.

[Mike Gibson]

We're just happy someone wants to take us home.

[Mike Ferguson]

Absolutely. Christopher's body was found in a wooded area across the street from his girlfriend's house. A K9 team searched the area after Houston police learned from a family member that Christopher made comments in the past that would suggest suicide as an option. Police suspected Christopher may have overdosed on the pills he took from his girlfriend. So, I mean, it does sound to me like he was made aware that police were looking for him. They had tied him to these murders, and he made the decision that he was going to end his life.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Didn't want to have to go through

[Mike Ferguson]

whatever was about to come. Yeah. Yeah, that's what it seems like to me. In July 2007, Stanley Rod did an interview with the Houston chronicles and shared previously unpublicized details of her confession. He said that as part of his 12 step recovery program, he had to do what was right, which meant sharing what he knew. He also said that Christine's story gave him nightmares.

[Mike Gibson]

I bet it did, Especially if you're

[Mike Ferguson]

sleeping next to the person who told you the story. Christine and Stanley married in March 2005. He didn't recall the exact date. She told him what happened, but it happened while they were living in a hotel in San Antonio between the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2006. So that would have been after they got married.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Which is important.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, if he would have married her after that. Okay. Got to pause a little bit there.

[Mike Gibson]

But she probably felt comfortable. Like, hey, we're married now. I'm going to tell you something.

[Mike Ferguson]

He can't testify against me. Maybe.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, maybe she thought that.

[Mike Ferguson]

He told the Chronicle. When she mentioned it to me, it was so overwhelming. I couldn't believe she was the person I married. I didn't understand it. It was so much of a shock. And I was in denial. And I think anybody whose wife or husband. Right. Spouse. Came at them all of a sudden and said, hey, I want to tell you this story that involves the murder of four people. And I was there and to some degree, involved. Now she minimized her involvement. I think shock is an understatement. Yeah, I don't even know what the word or feeling would be.

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[Mike Ferguson]

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[Mike Gibson]

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[Mike Ferguson]

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[Mike Gibson]

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[Mike Ferguson]

Liberty, Liberty. Christine told him that she and Christopher went to Tiffany's house on the afternoon of July 18, 2003. Instead of parking in the driveway, they parked at the end of the street. They were let in because Christine knew the victims. According to Stanley, their intention was to hang out and do drugs. Once inside, Christine went to another part of the house with Rachel while the rest of the group sat in the living room. When the girls returned, Christopher was holding a gun on Marcus, Adelbert, and Tiffany, who were sitting on a couch. And Christine claims she didn't know what happened that led Christopher to draw the gun. They were pleading for their lives, telling Christopher he could take what he wanted and asking him to leave. They didn't try to fight him verbally or physically. Christine pulled a gun from her purse, which Christopher gave her before they went inside. Christopher fired the first shot. He killed Marcus and Adelbert, and then Christine shot the girls. They left the home with a bag of drugs.

[Mike Gibson]

All that for a bag of drugs.

[Mike Ferguson]

So, you know, let's break down this story that, you know, Stanley is relaying and compare it to the story that Christine told investigators. It is very much different.

[Mike Gibson]

It is.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, this has her equally culpable as Christopher.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Christopher killed the two men. Christine killed the two girls. They knew that three of the victims were dead, but Christine mentioned That they needed to go back and make sure everyone was dead. According to Stanley, Rachel was on the floor choking on her own blood. She was dying. That's what bothers me the most. Christine saw Rachel like that and. And she beat Rachel to death. Christine cried while doing it. I don't know if she felt she had to do it. She beat her friend to death. I mean, this is powerful stuff, if true. And I think if you're weighing the truthfulness on a scale, and you have Stanley on one side and you have Christine on the other, I mean, who do you feel is more likely to be telling the truth?

[Mike Gibson]

Stanley doesn't have a reason to lie.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I mean, he doesn't really have to cover his ass right the way that Christine does.

[Mike Gibson]

I still don't get why she had to beat poor Rachel at that time. I mean, she beat her with a gun. Why didn't you just go ahead and shoot her and have it be over so she didn't continue to suffer or

[Mike Ferguson]

maybe pick up the phone and call 911 right before you leave?

[Mike Gibson]

That would have been.

[Mike Ferguson]

And maybe she could have been saved. Now, there's no guarantee she might have been to the point where nobody could have saved her life. The Chronicle reported that Rachel tried to call 911 on her cell phone at 3:12pm Christine clocked into work shortly before 4pm that afternoon. And to me, that's amazing. You could shoot two of your friends and beat one of them to death while she was dying, and then within an hour, you're clocked in at work like nothing happened.

[Mike Gibson]

I still got to work. I got to get there.

[Mike Ferguson]

The Chronicle noted that Stanley's account differed from what Christine told police. Stanley also talked about his and Christine's drug use. He said they were spending about $10,000 on drugs. That money was part of Christine's inheritance she received after her father died. So we asked the question, right? How much would that cost? How do you pay for all those drugs? Well, now we're getting the answer.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. She was just going through her inheritance.

[Mike Ferguson]

Stanley was on probation at the time of his interview for failure to appear. He was not charged with heroin possession. So, I mean, you know, I just said, who do you believe? I think we do have to take into account that Stanley wasn't quite walking the straight and narrow.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

But I guess what would be his motive for lying? Unless it was to try to get out of some charge? And I guess that is a possibility.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, it is a possibility, but I think kind of unlikely.

[Mike Ferguson]

Opening statements in Christine Paolia's capital murder trial began on September 30, 2008. Prosecutor said Christine and her then boyfriend Christopher Snyder gunned down the four victims on July 18, 2003. After Christine shot Rachel, who was supposed to be her best friend, she returned to the home and beat her to death with her gun. As she was crawling to the phone and to call 91 1, testimony would show that Rachel asked Christine, why are you doing this to me? Before she was beaten to death. And that's heartbreaking. I mean, this is a person that you thought was your friend. I mean, we mentioned it, right? These two girls had gone out of their way to take Christine under their wing.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. I mean, they befriended her, made her a popular girl at their school.

[Mike Ferguson]

The defense disputed the allegations and said Christine was befriended by Rachel and Tiffany, but was influenced by bad guys who became her boyfriends. Christine's attorney described her as a lost, sad little girl alone in the world, per the Houston Chronicle.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, I mean, that can happen.

[Mike Ferguson]

It can happen. I think the other thing that really jumps out to me here is that, you know, Christopher Snyder is no longer alive, so he can't tell his side of the story, and we don't know what he would have said. According to the defense, Christopher Snyder tricked Marcus Purcella out of drugs and then took Christine back to the house to show her he wasn't scared. When they arrived, Christopher opened fire with a 9 millimeter semi automatic pistol with 16 bullets. He jammed a.38 caliber revolver into Christine's stomach to try to force her to help. And that goes back to my statement. The defense can say pretty much anything about Christopher because he can't be questioned.

[Mike Gibson]

He can't dispute it, so he can't

[Mike Ferguson]

deny, nor can he corroborate anything. The defense also suggested that Christine's husband reported her to claim the reward money and further alleged that Stanley made a deal with the state to testify falsely against Christine so he would not be prosecuted on drug charges. And I think whether it's true or not, that's a really good defense to make because I did ask the question. Right. What is his motive for turning Christine in?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. What's his gain?

[Mike Ferguson]

He was addicted to heroin.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

So you could argue that maybe the inheritance money was running out or had run out, and he could get a bunch of money, 100,000 in reward money, or you could argue that. Okay. They're found with a bunch of drugs in the hotel room. And the reason why he wasn't prosecuted or charged with the heroin is because he rolled over on Christine, and it

[Mike Gibson]

could have helped his case with all the drugs in the room. You know, he did come forward, what he knew, and they could have said, you know what? We're not going to charge you with this. Like, we know that they didn't charge him.

[Mike Ferguson]

Now, the. The counter argument to that for me is that he called the crime stopper's number before that.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

So I think if you're the prosecution, right, you gotta. You gotta play that angle up. Retired police sergeant Tom Latt testified that by looking at the position of Rachel's body and other evidence, he thought she opened the door to the killers and tried to run away from them. He said she saw something that scared her and she broke and ran. He described it as a gory scene, saying all of the victims had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Sanchez and Rao appeared not to have been able to get off the couch they were sitting on. Two eyewitnesses placed Christine at the scene of the crime. Michelle and Craig Lackner lived next door to Tiffany. They testified that on the day of the shooting, they both saw a young man and woman casually walk down the street and approach Tiffany's house. In court, they identified Christine as the woman. They denied seeing her with a gun, but she was carrying a purse. They also picked Christopher out of a photo lineup. Christine's husband, Stanley, was a key prosecution witness. He testified about Christine's confession and calling crime Stoppers to turn her in. Kim Downs, the state firearms examiner, testified that bullets from two guns were found at the scene and found in the bodies of Tiffany and Marcus. These bullets were traced to two handguns found in Louisville, Kentucky, in a safe inside the home of Christopher Snyder's stepfather.

[Mike Gibson]

It always amazes me that people keep the guns that were used in a murder.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, it does me, too, because guns, like we've said before, are fairly easy to dispose of.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, there's large bodies of water. There's the Godfather 2 route, where you just take the gun apart and put bits and pieces down chimneys as you run across the rooftops. But, yeah, I just. I don't know. They must think, well, they're never going to connect me, and so there's no reason to get rid of it. But what does that do? Yeah, the guns were found in a safe that belonged to his stepfather, but it's also confirmed that two guns were used at the scene. Now, how many perpetrators use two different guns? I don't think many. No.

[Mike Gibson]

Pretty rare.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I think if you have two people at the scene, it's pretty reasonable to Conclude that each one of those persons fired a separate gun. Defense psychiatrist Dr. George Glass testified that Christine was going through heroin withdrawals when she gave statements to police. She would have told investigators anything as long as she thought it would help her get drugs to relieve her pain. Hospital records he reviewed stated that Christine was addicted to heroin. In her videotaped statements, she appeared to be having withdrawal symptoms. Glass also said that Christine had a poor self image. Both Christine and her mother told him that she lost her hair as a child and was teased at school for wearing wigs. Jurors viewed Christine's statement in which she told police that Christopher was responsible. She accompanied him to the house to buy drugs, and the shootings took place when they returned. She claimed she didn't know he intended to shoot the victims. She did not go inside when Christopher went to the house the first time to buy drugs from Marcus. They returned to the home later that afternoon, but this time, they parked down the street and Christopher gave her a gun. They were let into the house, and Christopher and Marcus started arguing, Christine said, per the Houston Chronicle. I was holding the gun down. I didn't want to point it at anybody. I'd never even touched a gun before. I heard the first gunshot. I didn't think it hit anyone. She was crouched behind a pillar, Christine recalled. I felt so scared. I heard another one go off. The girl started screaming. It felt like I could hear bubble wrap pop. It was pop, pop, pop, pop. The gunfire continued, and Christopher summoned her to the living room. She said, he took my gun and held it in my hand. He had my hand on the handle. The gun went off, and according to Christine, she said it felt like a million times. She ran out of the house and Christopher followed, and they drove around Clear Lake before she went to work at 4pm she later started freaking out after finding specks of blood on her hand. So, you know, the one thing I did want to talk about is, you know, her heroin addiction. The withdraws. At one point, it did say that they had given her both morphine and methadone. And I just wonder, you know, was she kind of high when she was being interviewed and how does that play?

[Mike Gibson]

I think it can make a difference in how you are interviewed or if

[Mike Ferguson]

she's just going through withdrawals and is not on those drugs. Either way, you know, how does that affect the statements that she made?

[Mike Gibson]

I think it could be a factor.

[Mike Ferguson]

So basically, what it came down to Gibbs, in large part, right, is that the jury would have to compare the differences between her statement and the Testimony of her husband. And let's face it, a lot of trials come down to this. Maybe it's not husband versus wife, but it could be the state's expert versus the defense's expert. Who does the jury believe is telling the truth. In closing arguments, defense attorney Mike DeGuerin suggested that Christopher was solely responsible. He killed the victims while Christine hit. He forced her into the living area and held her hand on the gun handle as it fired. The defense once again referred to the alleged plea deal with Stanley, but the prosecution objected and the court sustained that objection. Prosecutor Rob Fryer said Christopher was not the only one to blame. He asked the jurors, could this horrible event have happened without Christine? He said, of course not. And it's a good point to make. Right. Even though there are differing versions on who shot who and who pulled the trigger and all that, the one version that everybody did kind of stick with was that the reason why they got into the house in the first place was because of Christine.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Now, her argument was that she didn't know that he was going to kill her. I think if you're a juror, maybe one question you're asking is, if that's the truth, why are you putting a gun in your purse? Why do you even need it?

[Mike Gibson]

That's a good point.

[Mike Ferguson]

On October 13, 2008, Christine Paolia was found guilty of capital murder. She received an automatic life sentence. Christine avoided a potential death sentence because she was only 17 years old at the time of the murder. And you almost forget about that because of how brutal these murders were and what she is said to have done. Right. If she shot these two girls, which were reportedly her friends, and then beat Rachel to death as she was dying, that would be rough for anyone to do.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

But then you think about a 17 year old doing it. That's brutal. One juror revealed that he was among four who initially voted for acquittal, but his questions were answered during discussions. He noted there was a lot of contradiction in her stories in the three interviews she gave to police. And there were. Right. There's no doubt about it. She changed her stories multiple times.

[Mike Gibson]

That's always a problem.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I think as a juror, you have to take that into consideration. Right. If your third version is the truth, why wasn't that your first version?

[Mike Gibson]

Right. I mean, I get it. You know, she can argue, well, I was going through heroin withdrawal or I was on, you know, methadone and morphine. So I wasn't myself. But why three times then?

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I mean, it's a question that has to be asked. The families of the victims told the Houston Chronicle that the verdict would allow them to move forward with their lives. So, as we wrap this one up, Gibbs, you know, Christine is now 40 years old. She's still incarcerated in Texas, and she's not eligible for parole until 2046.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, he said something interesting here. You know, the families of the victims, you know, were finally able to move forward with their lives. It took a while.

[Mike Ferguson]

It did.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, they had to relive this and go through this, and. And I'm sure it wasn't easy. And, you know, they were robbed of what their family members might have done

[Mike Ferguson]

later in life and just the opportunity to be with them. Yeah, you know, that's. That's something you can never forget, because once that's gone, it's gone. You can't get that back. It's never coming back. I mean, this is a case like. Like many are. It's not one of those. That's cut and dry. Right. There is no one piece of evidence that conclusively, you would say, just absolutely points to. Well, it happened this way. So I think you have to take all the evidence into account.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

As I'm sure jurors did. I thought it was interesting that four of them voted to acquit right off the bat. And then slowly, during discussions, some of the questions that they had were, they said, answered, and they eventually got to the guilty verdict. That just shows you right there. There was no slam dunk.

[Mike Gibson]

No. I mean, I can see where you might at first seem sympathetic towards her, but as you learn more, then you kind of distance yourself from that.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, and it's just, who do you believe more? Do you believe her and her three different stories, or do you believe the way that the evidence points? And do you believe Stanley and his story? Yeah, because I think his story does line up a little more with the evidence. Right. Four people shot, and it's all done by Christopher. I'm not saying it couldn't happen.

[Mike Gibson]

It's just more unlikely that it would.

[Mike Ferguson]

I think it is be much easier to control four people if two people both had guns out. And then you look at some of the ballistics and all of that, obviously we don't get to hear or see all the evidence, but I think as a juror, I would be leaning towards Christine not being all that truthful in her statements. And the fact that you have to tell three different ones does not help me. That's it for our episode on the Clear Lake Murders. We got a couple voicemails, Gibbs, you want to check those out?

[Mike Gibson]

Let's hear them.

[Mike Ferguson]

Hey, guys, this is Paul from Las Vegas, Nevada. Man, I love the podcast, but you guys pander to women so hard. You are some real when it comes to that.

[Mike Gibson]

But yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Anyways, Team Gibby, you, Mike. I'm not gonna lie. That made me laugh when I first heard it.

[Mike Gibson]

It did.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I thought, okay, I could go one of two ways. I cannot put it on. But, no, I'm going to, because I feel like all of the voicemails that we have are complimentary. It's very rare that somebody calls in and. And says something even somewhat negative. Now that I get emails all the time with negative stuff. Sure you do, But I thought it was interesting because he said, I love the podcast, but let me tell you this and this and then. Oh, by the way, F you, Mike.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, hey, nothing wrong with someone wanting to give us their opinion.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we don't have to agree with it.

[Mike Gibson]

No. Maybe you'll be out in Vegas and stop by.

[Mike Ferguson]

Maybe.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Come see us.

[Mike Gibson]

Yes.

[Mike Ferguson]

Hey, guys, this is Dana Schwartz from Houston, Texas.

[Mike Gibson]

I just wanted to let you guys know that I am four and a half years sober actually, this month. And true crime all the time, unsolved

[Mike Ferguson]

and true crime all the time has

[Mike Gibson]

actually really helped me with my sobriety.

[Mike Ferguson]

And just all you guys should know,

[Mike Gibson]

keep your own time ticking, keep your head on a swivel.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I'm both Yalls team.

[Mike Gibson]

I put both y' all in my pocket.

[Mike Ferguson]

Y' all take care now.

[Mike Gibson]

Spread the love. You say we're in his pocket?

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. He said he would put both of us in there. Oh.

[Mike Gibson]

But both of us is in pocket.

[Mike Ferguson]

Had to be two different pockets because I'm not going in the same pocket with you.

[Mike Gibson]

No. No way.

[Mike Ferguson]

But seriously, what I will say is, congrats, man. That is awesome. You know, anytime I think, you know, someone can say, I've been sober for X. Yeah, that's a milestone. And then it becomes another milestone when you say that, it's longer. Right. However, you celebrate it in months, six months, years. some point, you know, it's probably years. But congrats to you, man, because I think it's a huge achievement.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Such a struggle. And, you know, to get that, get through that day by day, it is.

[Mike Ferguson]

And it never goes away.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Keep fighting.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Props to you, man. All right, buddy. That is it for another episode of True Crime all the Time. So for Mike and Gibby, stay safe and keep your own time ticking.

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