Surrounded by Evil /// Part 2 /// 914

Summary

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True Crime Garage – Episode 914: Surrounded by Evil /// Part 2

Date: March 18, 2026
Hosts: Nic & The Captain

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Episode Overview

In Part 2 of "Surrounded by Evil," Nic and The Captain guide listeners through the chilling unraveling of the Leah Martin murder case in Graham, Texas, revealing how a missing person investigation led to the exposure of a multi-layered web of violence, betrayal, and shocking criminal confessions. The episode also covers the unexpected link between Martin's suspected killers and a cold case triple homicide in Fort Worth. As always, the hosts blend meticulous case analysis with their trademark banter and moments of dark humor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Suspects Come into Focus

[03:53–08:28]

• The police focus on Ross Helms, the shop handyman at EC’s Auto Repair, whose SUV resembled the one seen on surveillance around the time Leah Martin disappeared.
  • "He's your fix-it guy...not a mechanic. The shop handyman, his name is Ross Hellums. He drove an SUV that the police describe as not unlike the one captured on surveillance video." – Nic [03:53]
• Ross Helms’ alibi falls apart when his claimed host, Michael Brown, denies seeing him the night Martin disappeared.
  • "I didn't see Ross that night...I was with my wife and my kids, not with Ross Hellums." – Michael Brown via Nick [05:41]
• Helms fails a polygraph, leading police to dig deeper, including phone records showing multiple calls between Helms and coworker Billy Minkley the night of the disappearance.
  • "He fails the polygraph test. Not good." – Captain [06:04]

2. Evidence Mounts & The Body Is Found

[06:37–09:43]

• Armonique Jefferson, a relative of Helms, reveals Helms paid her $20 to make threatening phone calls to Leah Martin, and that she saw both Helms and Billy Minkley together at Helms’ home on the night in question.
• Leah’s aunt, Renee Martin, investigates Ross Helms’ property, noting a “fresh dig” and “the smell of decomposition.”
• Leah Martin’s body is discovered, bound and concealed in a blanket, with a plastic bag over her head and a rock in her mouth — found on Ross Helms’ property.
  • "The rock that was stuck in her mouth was to keep her from biting the plastic... that had been put on her head." – Renee Martin [09:00]

3. Building the Case: Motives, Guns, and Breaking Points

[10:32–16:57]

• With evidence pointing toward homicide, police seek further proof, including autopsy results and more witness testimony.
• A friend of Ross Helms comes forward; Helms tried to dispose of a shotgun after Leah disappeared. This friend persuaded Helms to give him the gun instead.
• Forensic testing connects this shotgun to a 2014 Fort Worth triple homicide.

4. The Triple Homicide Connection

[17:00–23:55]

• In June 2014, three people — Ronnie Jackson, Elizabeth Sessoms, and David Adams — were shot dead in Fort Worth. The weapon? The same shotgun Helms tried to discard.
• Victims are described as struggling with addiction but having kind hearts. Their deaths were initially mysterious but are now suspected to be tied to Billy Minkley.
• "This is one of the saddest things to see...somebody that seems like they have a good life, and then they get sucked in..." – Captain [23:29]

5. The Interrogations and Confessions

[31:49–40:10]

• Billy Minkley is confronted with evidence; during a taped confession, he admits to the triple homicide and implicates himself further in Leah Martin’s murder.
  • "Billy Minkley is yelling and crying and he's confessing to this triple homicide shooting." – Nic [32:03]
  • "The Fort Worth triple homicide made us realize that Billy Minkley is a person that could have no problem killing Leah." – Lt. Smith, quoted by Nic [33:25]
• Minkley agrees to testify on Leah’s murder to avoid the death penalty.

6. The Murder Plot Unfolds: The Role of EC Blair

[37:18–43:55]

• According to Minkley’s confession, EC Blair (Leah’s boss and the shop owner) orchestrated Leah’s murder because of personal grievances and complications with his marriage.
• Blair allegedly lured Leah to the shop. Minkley struck her from behind with a tire iron/crowbar at Blair’s instruction. She was suffocated and then buried by Minkley and Helms, who rented a backhoe for the purpose.
  • "Once she's at the office, according to Billy Minkley, Leah is sitting on a couch... and Billy Minkley comes up from behind her and violently strikes her..." – Nic [38:55]
  • "I went back there and I dug the nicest hole I could." – Billy Minkley, in interrogation video [40:08]

7. Charges, Trials & Verdicts

[40:10–52:02]

• All three men — Billy Minkley Jr., Ross Earl Helms, and EC Blair — are charged with Leah Martin’s murder.
• Minkley pleads guilty to murder (receiving life without parole); Helms pleads to murder and tampering with evidence.
• Blair stands trial as the alleged mastermind, but the prosecution's case falls short; he is acquitted due to reasonable doubt.
  • "He was at the center of this, that he was the mastermind...but when you review the information, he's got evil in his heart...but he don't have no blood on his hands." – Nic [43:55]
• The shop ceases operation after 2015, an echo of the traumatic events.

8. The Aftermath & Reflections

[48:05–52:02]

• The episode closes with reflections on the deeply disturbing nature of evil nestled within small communities.
• Special attention given to the tragedy of Leah’s young daughter, Avery, who — years later — leaves a heartfelt online message for her mother, symbolizing the real human cost of such crimes.
  • "She was a mother to a little girl, Avery, who was only two years old at the time that her mother was so brutally and coldheartedly killed...She has a stepmom, stepbrothers and pets that she loves and had some very nice, thoughtful things to say about her mother that she misses very dear." – Nic [51:44]

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Memorable Quotes

• On Evidence and Alibis:
  • "Liar, liar, pants on fire." – Captain [05:41]
  • "He fails the polygraph test. Not good." – Captain [06:04]
• On the Discovery of Leah Martin’s Body:
  • “The rock that was stuck in her mouth was to keep her from biting the plastic... that had been put on her head.” – Renee Martin, via Nic [09:00]
• On the Sudden Case Break:
  • “That gun was the gun that killed those three people.” – Nic [33:02]
• On the Main Suspect’s Character:
  • "The Fort Worth triple homicide made us realize that Billy Minkley is a person that could have no problem killing Leah." – Lt. Smith, quoted by Nic [33:25]
• On the Role of EC Blair:
  • "He's at the center of this, that he was the mastermind...he's got evil in his heart and on his soul, but he don't have no blood on his hands." – Nic [43:55]

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Key Timestamps

• 03:53 – Investigation focuses on Ross Helms and inconsistencies in his alibi.
• 06:37 – Phone records & witness (Armonique Jefferson) implicate Helms and Minkley.
• 08:28 – Discovery of Leah Martin’s body.
• 14:20 – The shotgun’s origins reveal its link to a triple homicide.
• 17:00 – Details of the 2014 Fort Worth triple homicide.
• 31:49 – Minkley’s confession.
• 38:55 – Minkley’s detailed description of the murder and disposal of the body.
• 42:04 – Formal charges and arrests.
• 43:55 – EC Blair’s trial and acquittal.
• 51:44 – Discussion of Leah Martin’s family, her daughter Avery.

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Episode Tone & Style

The hosts maintain a sharp blend of empathy, dark humor, and no-nonsense storytelling. Nic delivers thorough, research-based narrative while Captain provides emotional commentary, skepticism, and occasional comic relief, all in their signature conversational style.

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For Further Exploration

• Related TV feature: Buried in the Backyard, Season 6, Episode 2 (Oxygen Network), documents the Leah Martin case.
• Book Recommendation: Hannibal Lecter: A Life by Brian Rafferty (Recommended by Nic near episode’s end)

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Note: This summary focuses on the key investigative revelations, narrative arcs, and emotional touchstones of the episode — ideal for anyone seeking a comprehensive, content-rich overview of this installment of True Crime Garage.

Transcript

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[Nick]

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[Captain]

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[Nick]

Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, thanks for listening. I'm your host, Nick and with me, as always, a man who eats green eggs and ham on St Patrick's Day. Here he is, the Captain.

[Captain]

I will eat them in a box. I will eat them with the fox. It's good to be seen and good to see you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend

[Nick]

today. We still got some Guinness. We are drinking Guinness Draft. This is like the world's very first craft beer and so darn good. I could tell you about it, but you should experience Guinness for yourself. Pro Tip get it from a tap or pour it in a glass. That's a bottle upside down glass straight up. Pour Garage grade five out of five bottle caps. And let's give some thanks and praise to our good garage friends that helped us fill up the old garage fridge. First up, a cheers to Lee in Leicester, England. And here's a cheers to Linda G. From San Bruno, California. And last but certainly not least, a big cheers to Pam Brown, a true fighter down in York, Alabama. Big hugs to you pa. Everyone we just mentioned they went to truecrimegarage.com and helped us out with this week's Beer run. And for that we thank you.

[Captain]

Yeah, B W E Double Run Beer run. If you need more True Crime Garage for your earballs, make sure you sign up on Patreon or Apple podcast subscriptions. So everybody gather around, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some True crime.

[Nick]

Police want to talk to all the auto shop employees. They're in the process of doing so. And as said, two that they decide to hone in on will be Ross Helms and Billy Minkley. Now, law enforcement will quickly learn that the person whose job title he's. He's basically. I don't know his job title, but basically, Captain, he's the shop handyman. He's. He's your fix it guy, but he's not somebody fixing vehicles. He's not a mechanic. The shop handyman, his name is Ross Hellums. He drove an SUV that the police describe as not unlike the one captured on surveillance video.

[Captain]

So maybe he's the guy, and then he would have access and probably knowledge of the surveillance footage.

[Nick]

Well, and remember, they're at a disadvantage of having to review surrounding surveillance footage rather than the actual auto shops surveillance footage. And so at that distance, the best they can make out is not exactly what SUV pulled up there, but as they said, his SUV was not unlike the one that they captured on that video footage. So obviously, interview this guy. During his interview, Ross Helms said that when Leah Martin disappeared, he had worked at the shop that day up until about 5:30pm so this is about the same time that my man Raphael said that he was leaving after this 5:30 marker, leaving work. He says that he went off to a friend's home. The intention was to hang out and drink until the early morning hours. The friend, his name is Michael Brown, he tells police, he's like, yeah, I didn't see Ross that night.

[Captain]

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

[Nick]

He says, I was with my wife and my kids, not with Ross Hellams.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

So I don't know why he told you guys that. So they sit old Rossi boy down. Our boy George Oliva would like this. Ross Hellums fails a lie detector test. I don't know what questions he was asked, but the record states that he failed the polygraph.

[Captain]

Not a good sign. Yeah, well, so he's lying to the cops about his whereabouts and his alibi. He fails the polygraph test. Not good.

[Nick]

Fails the poly. So what do you got to do here? You go looking for the paper trail. So let's go looking for that paper trail. Phone records are great. The phone records showed Ross Hellums and his co worker, Billy Minkley, made several calls to one another on the night of Leah Martin's disappearance. Interesting, right?

[Captain]

Fish sticks.

[Nick]

Mm. So by the time that we get to our next event, here we are about a month and a half into the ongoing searches for our Missing mother here. Now, authorities are talking to everyone they know, and they learned that Hellam's relative. So a hell. A relative of Ross Helms. Her name is Armonique Jefferson. And it looks like she can provide some information here for our investigators. She told investigators that Ross paid her $20 to call Leah and make threats to her. Arminique also said that she was at Ross's house on the Friday night that is in question. And then at some point that night, she says late Friday night, Ross came out to the house with a friend who she later identified as Billy Minkley. Remember, we know from phone records, they were on the phone with each other several times that night. Now we have a person who's saying, I saw the two together that night at Ross's home. And, oh, by the way, he paid me 20 bucks to call a couple times and make these threatening calls to this person that I don't know. Leah's aunt. Somehow this information makes its way to her aunt Renee Martin. She takes it upon herself to do a little snooping, and she visits Ross Hellam's property. So her and a friend walked the property, and then they report back telling police what they found. They say that they saw evidence of a fresh dig and the smell of decomposition.

[Captain]

Not good.

[Nick]

Now, authorities acted swiftly, leading to the grim discovery, the unfortunate, sad, grim discovery of Leah's body buried on Ross Hellam's property. So this is August 2015, when they recovered the body. She was bound and concealed in a blanket. This is Aug. 5, 2015, when authorities exhumed the body of Leah Martin. She was found covered in a blanket and bound with duct tape with a plastic bag wrapped around her head. Quote, she had a rock stuck in her mouth. The rock that was stuck in her mouth was to keep her from biting the plastic bottle bag that had been put on her head. End quote. That quote came from her aunt, Renee Martin. She said that while she was very, very sad crying about this discovery, Leah Martin's remains were found and recovered from 5656 FM 209. The property belongs, as said, to Ross Helms, him and his wife, Ross and Krista Helms. It's a property just off of Farm Road 209 just outside of Graham, Texas.

[Captain]

But this changes everything because we go from, she's missing. What happened? We've covered a lot of missing person cases. You start speculating, did she run away with another guy? Did she run away to start a new life? Did. Did something bad happen to her? Did she get hurt? And doesn't know who she, who she is or where she's at. But because of this surveillance footage at the car shop, I think you go, well, it looks like there's a good possibility that there's foul play. Now we have all those answers by finding the body. And then obviously now this is narrowing down our suspect pole, so we're going to at least be able to, and not always, but it's, it's hard to brain a no body case to trial.

[Nick]

Yes. It doesn't happen very often. And in fact, you, you don't want to. We've talked about double jeopardy over the years. You don't want to bring something to trial until you feel like you've, you've tapped into everything that you could put in your arsenal to get a conviction. And that is a difficult hurdle to clear. Now here, what you have is you have enough to charge this guy with murder. I, you know, he, you have an SUV that isn't unlike the one you saw in the surveillance footage. Pulls up, person gets out of that suv, goes into the shop. This man works at the shop, Ross Earl Helms. And you see the vehicle you believe belonging to Leah. You believe Leah getting out of that vehicle, going into the same garage bay. Later, you see the person leaving, getting in that suv, and you never really see Leah leaving. And now you have found her remains. And in the state that they're found, buried, concealed, wrapped, bound in the ground on Ross Earl Hellam's property. And then you also have Arminique telling him or telling police about, well, I was paid to make these threatening phone calls. I also saw, this is your kink in the hose here. I also saw Billy Minkley out here, or a person that she later identifies as Billy Minkley at the house on the night in question, where the body's later found. So we got to tap everything we can here on this Minkley situation. So law enforcement here, they catch another break. We learned this from the arrest warrant affidavits because they couldn't. This wasn't found outwardly in any one particular news source. But if you dig for the arrest warrant affidavits here, you get some more of the information nuggets. So this shows that the investigators got their break in the Leo Martin case after a man told them that Ross Earl Hellems had come to his house the day after Leah Martin vanished. And he goes to the house carrying a paper bag that contained clothing and a sawed off shotgun. Helms told the man he intended to throw these items away, to trash them. He wanted to Put them in a random trash bin. This man. Look, I'm not. I'm not going to befriend him because he was friends with Ross Helms. But God bless him for doing this because he says he talked Ross out of getting rid of the shotgun. He says he persuades Ross Helms to give him the gun because he says, look, if you just put it in some random trash bin, some kid could find it.

[Captain]

Right?

[Nick]

And we. We don't want to deal with the outcome or result of what could be a horrific accident here based off of just throwing a firearm in a random trash bin.

[Captain]

Well, and it has value. So give me the gun, and I'll either take care of it or I will sell it myself.

[Nick]

He just wanted to secure it. And he still has the gun. When he comes after he. After the finding of the body, he now realizes that his friend Ross Helms is not. Is no friend at all. He goes to police and says, hey, this happened the day after this Leah person went missing. And, oh, by the way, here's a gun that I talked them into giving me. And so he gives this gun to the police. They're talking to Ross Helms. Of course, Helms claims he got the gun from Billy Minley.

[Captain]

Surprise, surprise.

[Nick]

You're working to buy some time here. If you're the police, if you're the investigators, you're working to buy some time. This is to collect more answers. You've just recovered the body. You are going to be seeking more answers from the autopsy that's going to take place. You're also working to build a case as everything is coming nicely into the purview here.

[Captain]

Yeah, but with every step, you're turning up the heat, Right?

[Nick]

Okay.

[Captain]

You lied to me about where you're at. Now I got you lying on a polygraph. Now we find the body. Now we can do an autopsy. Every little step. Oh, now we got this friend of yours that has one of your guns. Every little step in this investigation starts turning up the heat. And that's just the information that these two suspects know about. They don't know about some of the details that the cops and law enforcement are working behind the scenes or what else is coming out. Who else is talking to law enforcement?

[Nick]

Well, and you can arrest a person, you can hold them, but you can only hold them for a certain period of time before you actually put charges to that hold. So, Ross Hellums, we talked about trying to buy some time here to get those autopsy results and some more information. Ross Hellums and Billy Minkley, they Are arrested on gun charges. But it stated very clearly and publicly this is not connected to Leah Martin's disappearance or her. Her death. So you're holding these guys here. Billy Ray Minkley Jr. Is arrested and charged with tampering with physical evidence, possession of a firearm by a felon. So he's already a felon before any of this happens. And possession of a prohibited weapon. Ross hellums, also arrested and booked on similar charges. These men, even though they're arrested, they're being peppered with questions about Leah Martin's disappearance. How did she die? Why is she on your property, so on and so forth. These men say very little, very little, until Billy Minkley Jr. And this was presented to him by law enforcement. They say, you know what? Since you won't talk about Leah Martin Minkley, you are our number. You have just become our number one suspect in an unrelated 2014 triple homicide. This is a strange turn of events.

[Captain]

Yeah, I was going to say, how does that happen?

[Nick]

So here we go, captain. This is from a Fort Worth, Texas, triple homicide, A case that truly, truly was starting to go cold. The details, I'll summarize everything because we, we're going to run through it, not crawl through it. On June 2, 2014, the bodies of Ronnie Jackson, age 57, his common law wife, Elizabeth Bernard Sessoms, age 47, and their friend, visiting friend, to their home, David Adams, age 50. They were discovered inside Jackson's Fort Worth home, located in the 200 block on Sunset Lane. Each of these three victims had been shot once. Okay? Two of them had been shot in the head, found in one room, and I believe it was Ronnie Jackson who was found shot in the chest, dead in a bedroom, lying on a bed. This discovery of these three dead individuals at the home of Jackson and Sessoms came about because a neighbor was concerned. So a neighbor, A concerned neighbor. Jackson and Sessoms, they couldn't say no to a stray cat. Stray cat shows up, they feed it, they keep it, they care for it. So they had like, I don't know, a dozen stray cats, let's say. And this neighbor said that like clockwork, every day at 7:30am Ronnie Jackson, and most times, Elizabeth would join him. He would be seen outside of the home in the early morning feeding all of the cats. And this neighbor had noticed several days had gone by and these cats hadn't been fed. She hadn't seen Ronnie. She hadn't seen Elizabeth. Now, Ronnie Jackson's father actually owns the home. So this neighbor calls Ronnie's father and Ronnie's father's 80 years old in 2014. And she tells him, hey, I've not seen your son. These cats haven't been fed in several days. I've not seen Elizabeth. I've not seen anybody come and go from the house. So she contacts this. This their father. Elton Jackson is his name. He says he goes out there to the home, and he didn't. He didn't go inside. He approaches the house, he looks in a window. When nobody responds, he said immediately he really felt like something terrible had happened. He looks through the window, and he says that he saw a person who appeared to be dead on the couch and a person who appeared to be dead on the living room floor.

[Captain]

Jesus.

[Nick]

Yeah. He calls police, of course, there. And they're gonna. They're gonna dig through this. This crime scene. Homicide detectives believe that the murders occurred on the evening of May 28th. So this is several days before they're found. So nearly a week before the bodies were found. Detective Kyle Sullivan is the one that catches this case. He stated that to the media that Ronny Jackson and Elizabeth Sessoms, who lived there, they were renting the home. They were known drug users. And he believed because they were the occupants of the home and known drug users, they were likely the intended targets here On. On what they were saying was no sign of forced entry. So they theorized that the killer was someone that they had. That they knew. Right. And knew enough that they were willing to let this person into their home. Now, quickly, I don't want to create a whole two other episodes on this particular case, but I went into the investigation in this case and found it fascinating. One thing they were able to. To figure out was while neighbors reported that a lot of people came. Would come and go from this house, maybe a little more activity than you would want to see. All the neighbors said that these. They were very. I hesitate to use the word street smart because it just seems like too vague of a statement here. But they. They were very particular about who they let into their home. And so that's interesting for your investigation, because this is saying this isn't somebody that they just knew. This is somebody that they knew well and for whatever reason, felt comfortable letting them into the home.

[Captain]

And it's possible that they have drugs. It's possible that they owe somebody money. It's possible that they have money for drugs. It's possible that because they are drug users that maybe they felt like, well, maybe we should sell some drugs. So there's a lot of motivation, or there'd Be a lot of motives here that you could look at if you're law enforcement. But it's all revolving around that drug lifestyle.

[Nick]

And police knew this. The detectives knew this very early on, I would say almost immediately. But what they purposely kept from the, the media was it was about three days before they announced that this wasn't a murder suicide situation. They kind of let that linger for a little bit probably to see what would shake loose in the meantime. Now they would go on to say that this wasn't a murder suicide, that it was. Jackson and Session were the likely targets. That Adams appears to have just been an unintended victim, simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And they would later report that there were items that were missing from the house. No signs of a struggle, no signs of forced entry. They never reported what those items were that were missing from the home. And in all likelihood they probably didn't fully understand every item that was missing from the home. But it's interesting that they knew stuff was missing from the home. The victims family members described these victims as kind hearted individuals who struggled with addiction. Ronnie Jackson was remembered by his father as a giving man. Almost to a fault, he says, who battled addiction for years. Elizabeth Sessom was described by her sister Donna Lott as very beautiful and outgoing before a lifelong struggle with drugs began in her later years.

[Captain]

It's one of the saddest things to see is somebody that seems like they have a good life and a lot of things together and then they get sucked in and, and their, their life seems to be controlled by this, this dark drug entity.

[Nick]

Yeah. And Elizabeth had a lot of personal tragedies that I think may have led to her addiction.

[Captain]

Yeah, self medication that turns into addiction.

[Nick]

David Adams was a 10 year Navy veteran and former city water department employee. He was described by his brother Joe Adams as a very smart individual. In fact, I read some statements where Joe was saying David was always the really smart one and he, he wished he had David's brains, his intelligence. But he said, you know, and at some point he falls into addiction as well. But he, he still kept up with his family, kept in contact with his family. He was still working odd jobs as a handyman and very sad he was, he was still caring for their elderly mother at the time when he was killed. He was actually reported missing by his family the day before. Well, this would have been three days before he was found dead in that home. This is the time when kids benefit from reviewing key concepts and strengthening skills before assessments. Ixl helps reinforce what they're learning right now so they feel ready and capable. IXL is an award winning online learning platform for Pre K through 12th grade with personalized interactive lessons in math, reading, writing and science that adapt to each child's level and pace. Proven in all 50 states to improve grades, students who use IXL score higher on test. IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. i have friends, I have family who use and love ixl. Why? Because they see the positive impact that it is making on their children's learning experience and their education. It's about catching up for some kids. It's about getting ahead for other kids. I get it. It's difficult as parents to strengthen the the areas that challenge our children and that's what IXL can do for you. It gets you organized and it gets you progress for your children and their learning experience. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now and True Crime Garage listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com garage. Visit ixl.com garage to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. So many people are focused on where their money is today. Acorns is the financial wellness app that cares about where your money is going tomorrow. And with the Acorns potential screen, you can find out what your money is capable of. Acorns is easy. You can sign up in minutes and start automatically investing your spare money even if all you've got is spare change. Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus. Investment join the over 14 million all time customers who have already saved and invested over $27 billion with Acorns. Head to acorns.com garage or download the Acorns app to get started. Paid non client endorsement compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns tier 2 compensation provided potential subject to various factors such as customers accounts age and investment settings does not include Acorns fees. Results do not predict or represent the performance of any ACORNS portfolio. Investment results will vary. Investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC Registered Investment Advisor. View Important [e-mail] garage this message is sponsored by Greenlight.

[Captain]

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[Nick]

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[Captain]

Yeah, if you're the detective, you're going

[Nick]

got him in this interrogation. And there's clips of video of this. This is actually later obtained and released by the TV show Buried in the Backyard.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

Billy Minkley is yelling and crying and he's confessing to this triple homicide shooting.

[Captain]

Okay, but let me just see if I'm following you. They. They basically know that this individual is connected some way somehow. So then when they present it to him, he's like, ah, time to spill the beans.

[Nick]

Well, the. Remember the break in the case. What was not so clear as to why was that a big break in the Leah Martin case? Right. The big break was that shotgun. She wasn't killed with the shotgun. So it seems strange to go, well that's a big break in the case when this guy comes forward with this random shotgun saying that I got it from Ross Hellams who says he it was given to him by Billy Minkley. But then you have three dead people, all killed by gunshots a year prior in another city, Fort Worth. That gun was the gun that killed those three people.

[Captain]

Right. So why does he have this? Got him. But also, okay, if he killed these three individuals, he's capable of killing.

[Nick]

Oh yeah.

[Captain]

Yes, Martin. Right.

[Nick]

In fact, that goes. Goes with the very quote that I was going to cite. Right. We're all on the same page here, my friend.

[Captain]

I still want to hear the quote though.

[Nick]

Quote. The Fort Worth triple homicide made us realize that Billy Minkley is a person that could have no problem killing Leah. Said Lt. Smith.

[Captain]

Bingo. Boingo.

[Nick]

So Billy Minkley agreed to discuss Leah Martin's murder, the details of her murder, because he now needs to avoid facing the death penalty in the triple homicide case. This triple homicide case is going to be pretty easy for them. Okay. As far as investigators go to taking it from finding the guy, arresting the guy and, and getting a conviction. Why? Because, well, Billy Minkley actually confessed to a couple people during that time period. So keep in mind, it's almost a year between the time that. Between the two. The two crimes. Right. And over a year before Leah is found, during that time period, he had confessed. Not a full on confession, but I'll give you the first one. The second one's better. As far as getting a conviction. The first one comes from his father. His father says, Billy told me that he killed those three people. But he told me it was in self defense that one of them pulled the gun on him. He took the gun and he shot him.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

Minkley's girlfriend who lived with him.

[Captain]

This is why you should never have a girlfriend.

[Nick]

She was sitting in the car when he shot and killed those three people. Oh, not only that, she went into the home after they were killed. He told her this. He told her the same story.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

He told her the same story that he did it in self defense. That he. In fact, he says Ronnie pulled a gun on him. He shot Ronnie and then was forced to shoot the other two. I don't really believe that. But she goes into the home, she says that she witnessed the three of them dead and the two of them collected items. So Billy lived at that home not at the time of the murders, but months and months prior. Right. And there was some kind of property dispute between Billy and Ronnie. Well, also like Billy had gone there, according to the girlfriend, to collect this property. And he collect it, he was going to take it whether Ronnie was going to turn it over to him or not. And that's what I think happened here. The result is three people dead and then Billy and his girlfriend removing items from that home.

[Captain]

Yeah. It's one thing if you show up and you're wearing a Colt.45, right. You, it's Texas, everybody's carrying. But your story is that this guy pulled a gun on me and then I pulled a shotgun on him.

[Nick]

Right. That's the part that's unclear that I couldn't sort out. There was not enough information available to clearly decide, did he arrive at the home with this gun and just shoot three unarmed people out of anger or was portions of his story true now?

[Captain]

But either way, you killed three people.

[Nick]

Yeah, I glean that he showed up with a gun, but then throwing that into the equation, you'd have to charge the girlfriend. And I was unclear as to whether they charged his girlfriend with. With anything substantial anyway, so. But now he's. He's scared. He's got to sing like a bird because they're threatening him with the death penalty for killing three people. And so this is what they figure out. And this is according to statements released by the prosecutor. Remember, they've already. They're charging these two with crimes unrelated to Leah's case, but very soon going to be charging them with. With Leah's murder. So according to this prosecutor, he says what we learned from Billy Minkley Jr. Was that E.C. blair was at the center of all this. The Shop owner, the. Leah Martin's employer, Billy Minkley's employer, Ross

[Captain]

Hellum's employer, the grandfather to her child,

[Nick]

Billy Minkley tells investigators that E.C. blair was not happy with Leah and the difficulties that it was causing with his marriage. And that E.C. blair wanted some. Something done with Leah. In fact, there was some report out there, but I couldn't absolutely confirm it, where there was a statement by Billy Minley. I believe that he says that the EC Believed that Leah Martin wanted to get back with Aaron Blair, his adopted son, the father of their child.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

And that had a big. Had a big issue with that as well. Now I don't. Again, I couldn't back that up other than that one statement. But the. The Prosecutor believes that E.C. blair lured Leah Martin to the office on the night of her murder. And this would make some sense. She tells dad, I'm going there to pick up some items. But remember, her parents don't know that she had any kind of relationship with EC Blair. So she might just tell dad that I gotta stop my work. Oh, why? Oh, I gotta pick some things up. For whatever reason, the prosecutor seems to have information suggesting to them that E.C. blair lured her to the office that night that she was killed. She. Once she's at the office, according to Billy Minkley, Leah is sitting on a couch in the office, looking at her phone. So she's not completely paying attention to the room. And Billy Minkley comes up from behind her and violently strikes her in the

[Captain]

head with a crowbar or tire iron.

[Nick]

Pry bar, crowbar, tire iron. Big, heavy metal object.

[Captain]

Ouch.

[Nick]

In a different news article, it is stated that according to Billy Minkley, he struck Leah with a crowbar at EC Blair's request. Describing a chilling sequence of events, Minkley and Hellums then placed a bag over her head to, quote, keep the blood from dripping everywhere, end quote. Billy said that he saw she was still alive when the bag began to fill up with air. So he hit her one more time. And then the men put her body in Ross Hellam's Chevy Tahoe. The following day, Billy Minkley rented a backhoe, and he and Ross Helms buried Leah on Hellam's property. The rental came from Westside Rental in Graham, Texas. And here's a quote from the show says, quote, I went back there and I dug the nicest hole I could, end quote. That was a quote by Billy Minkley said in an interrogation video obtained by the TV show buried in the backyard.

[Captain]

So he says, I went back there to bury a nice hole I dug

[Nick]

the nicest hole I could.

[Captain]

Wow.

[Nick]

Minkley and Hellums were charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence of a corpse, to which Minkley pled guilty to the first charge and Helms to both.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

Okay. So now Graham police. Graham City Police promptly arrested E.C. blair, owner of EC's Auto Repair. Blair was arrested and charged with murder after a search warrant was executed at the body shop. And Graham police sent out a press release. This is on Tuesday, September 22, 2015. The press release is as follows. It says Graham police and Texas rangers conducted a third search of Blair's Auto Repair and are formally charging three individuals in the murder of Leah Martin. On September 8, 2015, investigators interviewed Billy Minkley Jr. And during that interview, he implicated himself and others in the murder of Leah Martin and also confessed to participation in a homicide that occurred in Fort Worth in 2014. That case is still being pursued by the Fort Worth Police Department because of the facts that came to light during the interview of Minkley. A search of the premises where Leah Martin worked was conducted to search for evidence that was un. Known to investigators at the time of the previous search warrant. Suspects being charged with capital murder and the death of Leah Martin are identified as Billy Ray Binkley Jr. Age 42, of Graham, Texas, Ross Earl Helms, age 42, of Graham, Texas, and Elton Carol Blair, age 43, of Graham, Blair and Helms will also be charged with tampering with evidence and a human crime corpse.

[Captain]

Oh, we got three pieces of. Right here.

[Nick]

So we get these guys a confession, plus guilty pleas to the charges.

[Captain]

And obviously, like, he has to probably testify on on some level.

[Nick]

Oh, yeah.

[Captain]

Against the other two.

[Nick]

Yeah. So he's going. He's going to testify. And. And then, I mean, of course, they got Ross Oral Helms dead to rights. Right. I mean, they found the body on his property and. And other people pointing the finger at Helms as well. Not just this Billy Minkley Jr. But what's left hanging out there. Yeah, as Jerry was saying, that's a big matzo ball.

[Captain]

September, but your balls are showing.

[Nick]

18th, 2017. EC Blair, old EC Blair. He doesn't admit to anything.

[Captain]

Of course he doesn't.

[Nick]

So he's going to face a capital murder trial. And that trial began on said date. And again, at this trial, everything we've already discussed, everything that we've already uncovered, everything that Billy Minkley Jr. Was saying is all presented at trial. And the prosecutor suspicions all presented at trial, including the prosecutor pointing out and highlighting for the jury his belief not only was EC Blair Involved, but he was at the center of this, that he was the mastermind. In fact, when you look at it, when you look at the story, he's the only one. He may have ordered the murder. He may have brought all the players together to the same venue to watch it play out. But when you review the information, he's got evil in his heart and on his soul, but he don't have no blood on his hands. According to the story that I've just reviewed, Billy Minkley did the killing. Ross Helms helped him. And then the two of them were the ones that took care of the body afterwards. They're the only two that were charged with tampering with evidence.

[Captain]

And for what? For.

[Nick]

I don't know. I don't know. I. I have no idea how this worked out. I have no idea why these people. Now, Billy Minley Jr. It's not. It's only a hop, skip and a quick jump to get from triple murder to killing somebody a year later. Right. It may mean nothing to him.

[Captain]

They.

[Nick]

The cops never like this. Ross Helms either. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, why they wanted to look at him. It's also a little unclear as to who became important first. Right. Chicken or the egg? Ross Helms or Billy Minkley. But at some point, they know, based off of records that. Well, with Ross Helms, it's actually clear as day. Now that I think about it, his alibi for the night doesn't check out. Right. And then you figure out that he's talking to Billy Minkley Jr. Who has a record.

[Captain]

Yeah.

[Nick]

So the prosecutor saying at this trial, you have Leah on the night that she goes missing, talking on the phone and texting with E.C. blair. According to the prosecutor, that's fact. It's his shop. She got there somehow, she was lured there somehow. The defense theory for E.C. blair was. Oh, no, no, no. He didn't have anything to do with it. He just happened to be the shop owner who at one time had some affair with this guy, girl. And she went there as said to collect her belongings like she told her father. And you got these two losers, these two criminals in there at the shop at the time. And she. Their defense was E.C. blair had nothing to do with it. Leah Martin walked in on some sort of felonious behavior. She witnessed something that she shouldn't have witnessed. Maybe a drug deal was going on. We know that Billy Minkley had drug ties. Methamphetamine. We can base that back to the. The triple homicide in 2014 in Fort Worth.

[Captain]

Yeah. Or you also maybe wonder, like, because it's a car shop or are they doing a chop shop after hours?

[Nick]

Yeah, but.

[Captain]

But whatever you surmise, whatever you are hypothesizing, you have to kind of. Well, you don't have to kind of. You, you need to show some proof that that was happening and that you weren't involved. And then you have these other two individuals that I guarantee you they're making the statements of. Well, we wouldn't have done any of this if it wasn't for E.C. blair.

[Nick]

True. I mean, yes, that's a fair statement, but it's also the, you know, the way that it should work is that you, that they have to prove your guilt more than you have to prove your innocence. And in this case, it was too big of a hurdle for the jury to get over, unfortunately, the defense idea and positioning of these two. We know these two guys did this. Was Leah Martin just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Did she walk in on something? Did she witness some type of felonious behavior? Did she witness something where they, where Billy Minkley Jr. And Ross Helms just needed to kill her so she couldn't talk? However the defense packaged that, they packaged it in a way that the jury could not find beyond a reasonable doubt that EC Blair was involved with the murder and therefore he. He was acquitted despite the prosecution's best efforts, despite law enforcement and detectives best efforts and work. Yeah, he was acquitted.

[Captain]

And we already know that he's a piece of. But he gets acquitted of this, he can't be charged again unless they can find some kind of other angle. Right. To. But then it would be different charges. And so this guy just goes back to Graham, Texas and he. Or close to Graham, Texas. I, I guess he lives just outside.

[Nick]

I would move away, but yeah, I

[Captain]

don't think he goes out much. I don't. You know, again, like I said, this, this because it's such a small community and such a small population. These shops were big deals.

[Nick]

Right.

[Captain]

And so this, this shop is then. This is a reminder of the, the bad parts of, of humans. It's a constant reminder.

[Nick]

Yeah, the, the. The shop didn't. Was no longer in operation after 2015. That's. Yeah, I guess some form of punishment for this E.C. blair. I hope his wife kicked him out of the house to kind of put a bow on this here. August of 2018, Ross Earl Helms, 45, one of the three men accused. So this is after the trial, right? After the trial, where they don't get the conviction on EC Blair Ross Hellam's body found on his property. One of the three men accused in the murder of Leah Martin. He accepted a plea deal. He pled guilty to three counts murder, a first degree felony, tampering with and fabricating evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse, a second degree felony, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, a third degree felony. He was sentenced to 20 years, 20 years and 10 years respectively. Hellams is credited with three years for time served from August, when he was, when he was arrested in 2015, up until the time of accepting the plea deal in 2018. So his time on that 50 years starts in 2015 rather than an 18. So he's serving 20 years for the murder conviction, another 20 years for tampering. He's at the All Red unit in Iowa Park, Texas. He's still there but being held there. And then we have Billy Ray. Later learned that his nickname was Tank, but judging by his picture, dumbass would have been a better nickname. Billy Ray Minkley continues to serve life without the possibility of parole at Telford. At the Telford unit in New Boston, Texas, Minkley was accused of digging Martin's grave. As we said, Martin's body was found 10 miles west of Graham and he pled guilty to Martin's murder in exchange for life in prison to avoid that death penalty. And unfortunately that E.C. blair, he got lucky. He got lucky and they couldn't get a conviction here. As said that the case is featured on that show titled Buried in the Backyard. That's season six, episode two from the folks over at the Oxygen Network. And then what's left here, Captain, is you have all these people without these four. Unfortunately we stepped into this thinking we were going to have to carry with our hearts one victim. We leave carrying, carrying four victims, excuse me, with our hearts here. And one of them very sad that she was a mother to a little girl, Avery, who was only two years old at the time that her mother was, was so brutally and cold heartedly killed at her place of work. And she, at the age of 12 she went online to her mother, to her mother's obituary, online obituary and left a very nice message for her mother there. And it sounds like as of 2024 that she was, was doing well, living with, still living with her father and her. They were doing their very best to move on and carry on. She has a stepmom, stepbrothers and pets that she loves and had some very nice, thoughtful things to say about her mother that she misses misses Very dear.

[Captain]

All right, I want to thank everybody for joining us here in the ground each and every week. Thanks for telling your mother. Thanks for telling your brother. Hey, try telling your sister this week as well, Colonel.

[Nick]

Maybe she will listen.

[Captain]

Probably not. Do we have any recommended reading for the beautiful listeners?

[Nick]

Oh, I'll tell you what. This one, I tell you something, was a delight. So I had a road trip. I didn't read this one. I listened to this one shout out to the good folks over at Audible and I had told you prior because I had a bit of a road trip coming up. So I knew I was going to be facing 9 hours ish in the car. And so I listened to this one and it was a delight. Might not be for everybody, but it was for me. Captain, you'll remember this one. Hannibal Lecter A Life by Brian Rafferty. Yeah, and really interesting. He, he basically creates a biography about a fictional character. And I'll give you the summary here. And it says a portion of it anyway. Drawing from exclusive interviews and previously unseen archived materials, this is a one of its kind biography of Hannibal Lecter that documents the cannibal's journey from terrifying villain to unexpectedly adored anti hero. This one was really interesting to me because it was as much about the fictional character of Hannibal Lecter, I learned a lot about the author who, who gave birth really and brought into this world Hannibal Lecter, Thomas Harris, who is a been a rather reclusive celebrity, if you will, or a well known individual. So you learn a lot about Thomas Harris. You learn a good deal about the makings of some of those Hannibal Lecter films in the TV series as well as the actors and actresses that in the making of those films. And as said, of course you, you learn a whole lot about Hannibal Lecter. It was a fun read for me and it's, it feels a little true crime without having having the heaviness of real life true crime. So that's Hannibal Lecter A Life by Brian Rafferty. You don't have to write that title down right now because we will have it listed for you on our website on our recommended page. And our website of course is truecrimegarage.com

[Captain]

hey, and while you're there, sign up on the mailing list and until next

[Nick]

week, be good, be kind, and don't live.

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