you broke into this house you kidnapped this man and you held him hostage for 2 hours so the question is like I said did you go there and kill him because you have me fooled and you're just a monster or did you go there cuz you're desperate for something and things got out of hand this is Billy Phillips and just days before this interview his boss was found murdered in his own home what go ahead and make notifications for Major Crimes now Billy will do anything to prove his innocence but little does he know his crimes were recorded and detectives saw everything so that's you on video who's that that's me who's that me me no I'm I'm I'm scared to death right this second Jeff bid was the successful owner of Payment Solutions and had planned a date with a woman on June 23rd 2021 like always he let his employees know well before this date that he would not come in for work however on the day of his absence Jeff's employees would receive a cryptic rushed email had a family emergency come up this morning more than likely we be Out Of Reach today I apologize for the short email and we'll be in touch when I can thanks Jeff Jeff was never one to send emergency emails and even stranger was the fact that he had already called off from work for an entirely different reason so why would he send an email like this immediately the Montgomery County Police Department was notified and dispatched to conduct a welfare check at Jeff's home Unfortunately they could never have suspected the horrors they were about to discover can you unlock it what go ahead and um make notifications for Major Crimes okay homicide first or medical homicide lot of blood looks like he crashed around a lot so you said 122 caliber case 122 it looks like a 22 okay um well you don't see that no I don't see the the weapon unless he's laying on top of it but again he thrashed around a lot oh boy and it starts it starts back back over there now that I stepped on their stuff I'll keep stepping a forensic analysis of Jeff's body reveals revealed that his murder was far from Quick he was shot three times in non-lethal regions and once in the head this meant the killer likely wanted Jeff to suffer and officers were about to get a good idea of who this killer might be after Jeff's murder check deposits were still being made in his name by a man called Billy Phillips when officers began digging deeper they found several bank records and Camera recordings that showed Billy depositing close to $20,000 in Forge checks both before and after after the murder and this wasn't his first rodeo when it came to stealing money Billy was a prior convict who served 7 years in prison because of a bank robbery he committed in Virginia years after his release in 2019 it was Jeff who out of the kindness of his heart gave him a job at his company paying Billy $83,000 a year and often relied on him for working on the company's finances despite his past ironically just months before the murder Billy attempted to commit fraud at Jeff's company for which he was fired if this wasn't bad enough Billy had been caught on CCTV at Jeff's house on the day of the murder in a white SUV clearly he was involved in Jeff's murder but why why would an ex-employee come running to the boss who gave him a second chance at life only to torture and murder him in Cold Blood 6 days after the murder Billy was apprehended and brought in for an interview to answer these questions what cops did not expect however is the history of turmoil and lies they are are about to discover in the following footage provided to us by the Montgomery County Police Department Maryland all right Billy do you know why you're here not exactly what do you mean not exactly do you have some idea they told me I was under an arrest that I would be taught to when I got here they didn't tell you an arrest for no sir did they tell you had a warrant they did but they didn't tell you what it was about no sure you don't have any idea what it would be about so you hear about some checks that you deposited okay okay have you deposit any checks lat yes sir okay why do you sign like that I could explain it to you but you probably wouldn't get it well why don't you try because I've heard a lot of [ __ ] so maybe I would I I deposited check that I shouldn't have deposited mainly out of desperation with new baby on the way and back was against the wall whose checks did you deposit Steve Willards Steve Willards did they go through or did they bounce they went through okay how much were they four normally like 25 okay how did you get get like come into possession of the checks again let's some of the checks I already had okay in my possession they were given to me and then certain things happened so you mean they were like legitimate checks that he wrote to you they were given to me in case of emergencies so blank checks okay with the with the understanding that okay let's not write the bank off here okay okay but let's again it was in case of emergency I worked really close with the man okay how long did you work for him for since 2016 y 2016 2017 until 202 2020 um July sometime why'd you leave well he went crazy there's no other way to tell you I mean I've talked to the guy so like he he went they said it was a well he said it was what's it called when you have the mood swing back in Forth bipolar bipolar MH however you know it being as close as I was to him and talking is more like paranoid schizophrenic yeah what was he paranoid about um a lot of people in the company cellfire yes sir okay and what was he par like what about people in the company um well PE certain [Music] people coming after his position trying to take over trying to screw him over at the board and so on and so forth and unfortunately you know he was he was right that they were trying to do that my job was monitoring and giving him information were you like an it a there I wasn't an auditor was more of uh Jack wall trades IT personnel okay how much was he paying 83 a year okay plus health insurance and all that plus health insurance um and then what kind of went sideways was muray and Marie got sick and she had had an episode back in February she had another episode and I covered for her and ended up getting you know put myling and Mr Willard who had given me standing orders if anything would ever happen again with Marie to handle it this way then report to him well he was at uh there's a psych up north in sville well were you being funny no there's literally one in no there's shepher Pratt shepher in Baltimore okay so he was jeer Pratt and so I couldn't get in touch with him Steve was yes Steven Willard was one of Jeff's best friends and business partners together the two of them helped Billy out financially and even gave him blank checks under Steven's name in case of emergencies for a man Fresh Off seven years in prison Billy had everything he needed to turn his life around bosses who trusted him and were willing to help and a job giving him $83,000 a year but blinded by his greed Billy double crossed them and stole a pattern that was all too familiar and a pattern that Billy admits to completely devoid of any shame so Steve Willard checks the only checks that you've cashed or deposited I I'll say cash and deposit and I use them kind of iner you know there was you thinking I'm trying to okay if I showed you some pictures of some checks might say jog your mem the thing is who's Jeff ble guy I used to work for you ever cash any his checks I have have you ever forged any checks from Jeff to [Music] yourself tce okay one was that I think you know when that was what do you mean I know when that was was recently how recent last week okay it's kind of shitty timing isn't it h that's kind of shitty timing isn't it how do you know Jeff you said to work for yes okay this is kind of like a shitty print out I'll see if I can get you that on but you recognize that picture [Music] yes sir so this one is a check that you deposited into an ATM at the Navy Federal over in Crown yes I know it's kind of hard to make it out over here here's a better here's a better picture it's a95 it's for $9,500 for sure okay you deposited on it looks like you can't read it here very well but it's on June 23rd which was last Wednesday mhm at 11:53 p.m. okay this one you deposited I believe with a teller on June 23rd for $4,450 June 23rd Navy Federal there's no time on here but I believe it was somewhere around 1:00 could be wrong about that according to a report Jeff's time of death was placed at 9:30 a.m. this means that 3 and 1/2 hours after his passing Billy just so happened to cash out nearly $15,000 under Jeff's name a mistake that he is about to realize the gravity of where did you get those checks what Jeff shs mhm this where I'm I'm real scared right this second okay why are you scared and I'm I mean you've been nice to me everybody's been nice I don't want to I want to talk to my my fiance okay okay I can see about that so I can see you're getting kind of emotional so I'm just going to ask you know what happened to Jeff right I do and that was I didn't I didn't do anything well I'm going to stop you there we'll talk about that in a second okay we'll get to that in a second all right bill you seem like a nice guy man like there's nothing personal going on here okay like I'm not being nice to you as an act I don't think anybody's been nice to you as an act if you were a I would be one F on it's okay if I drink my water we talk absolutely absolutely but why is Jeff's card in your wallet see Billy the thing is is that things happen and things have happened okay and everything that happens happens for a reason you know and you know Jeff's dead okay and somebody killed him was a murder okay and I know that you were there I can prove it I can prove it to you right here that you were there but before we get there okay like everybody has all this nice [ __ ] to say about Jeff you know what I mean like that's really the story here that we have so far is how nice of a guy Jeff is and how like I can't believe any he had no enemies I can't believe anybody would do this to him and there's a reason what happened to him happened to him I'm not saying because like he was a bad guy and made enemies with you or anybody else okay but you know obviously like you're in a situation in your life where there's a certain level of desperation okay I know Steve Willard fired you you know whether it was because you did something wrong or he was going crazy is kind of irrelevant well he didn't well his HR got rid of you okay again whether it was for a legitimate reason or not that still puts you in AUP situation financially you got a new kid on the way in your strap for C okay so I can completely understand you know like how you're in this spot you have a history obviously with Steve of stealing checks or you know writing fraudulent checks Jeff's got money you go there with the intention of taking his checks and maybe he's home and he's not supposed to be that something happens you know maybe you're like you know you did prison time right in Virginia you don't want to go back to prison and [ __ ] it's out of control and out of hand that's a very different story than like you know Billy's a monster that went to Jeff's house and brutally murdered him for no reason okay those are two very different stories all right but here's the problem I'm going to show you some records I'm going to show you how I know that you were there who's that that's me who's that me me wearing Dan near the same [ __ ] you're wearing now yep me that's me that's me that's Mr B need Federal account [Music] records to go through that right now something specific I'm looking for to show you [Music] okay here's what I'm looking for so these records are from Jack's phone okay in a second SC to all right so I want you to look at the date okay so 622 that's the day before Jeff was killed okay this is at 10:20 p.m. probably goes to sleep sometime after here okay 6:23 at 5:55 a.m. he Googles Good Good Day Sunshine which is a song okay all right 6:23 525 Good Day Sunshine he searches for it again 623 2021 YouTube 623 555 Good Day Sunshine he's listening to the song here he starts listening Beatles Here Comes the Sun Here Comes the Sun back to YouTube at 6:00 here at 6:00 then right here 623 at 659 a.m what's that can you read that sunrust he goes to his Sun Trust account okay right here same exact time another you probably clicked another link on his sress account okay this is from his phone put that aside for a second this is a forwarded email the top half was forwarded to my partner okay at 9:07 a.m. an email goes from Jeff to some of the membership of PSI okay had a family emergency come up this morning more than likely we about to reach for the day apologize for the short email and we'll be in touch when I can thanks Jeff so when they got this email I immediately they became suspicious because Jeff wasn't supposed to work on this day what I know about Jeff and what I'm sure you know about him is that he's a workaholic so he's always at work well he took off on Wednesday the 23rd he was going on a date with this girl he just started dating we were supposed to be going all day so right away the company is like you know what I mean like that's weird but this wasn't the only thing that was weird about the email the formatting was completely off and one of the First Responders was even informed about this when Jeff's body was initially discovered oh okay you can hear me okay so they said there were a couple weird things like he put in the header family emergency and they said he is the type of guy that every single email he ever sends out is in the subject line he puts what he wants to tell you and he said for years like they've known this guy for like 11 years worked for him and they said we've told him just do your emails properly and but he said this time head the subject line said family emergency and when you open the email it said hi guys sorry I'm going to be out of the office today for a family emergency and they said but he was but they already knew he wasn't going to be in the office like that was already pre a long time ago I forget what he had if he had some medical thing but he was planning not to be in the office okay so is really weird since the email wasn't from Jeff there is only one plausible outcome the detectives believe happened Billy likely held him hostage and tortured him because of their tumultuous past but Jeff's discipline in showing up to work was a problem as he was known never to miss a day without any prior notice if Billy didn't do something Jeff's employees would become suspicious and catch on so in a hurry he sent out an email of absence under the guise of a family emergency however little did he know that not only had Jeff called off from work that day for an entirely different reason but the formatting of the email was completely off and if this is not bad enough it is only one piece of the Mountain of evidence detectives have against Billy we had you on video sooco to driver did you drive that car often yes okay so the times on this camera are Tad off you know how someone's cameras can be but at 7:02 a.m. this car goes by jeffon house so this this camera is the Corner House which is the one next to Jeff's okay so this is Jeff Street okay so right around the same time that that sunrust website you know accesses this car which right now like yeah I can't see the tag on this okay but that's your car I know it's your car going by then that email sent at 907 all right no other emails or any text messages go out from Jeff's phone 9:20 in the morning this is a it's a bad picture because it's a still shot I took from a video okay but this is you walking away from his house and when we get your cell phone records back I know exactly what they're going to say you're an IT guy right M so you know how cell phones work right M you know that there apps are always updating they're always trying to reach out to Wi-Fi and reach out the update so we get this data called timing Advance data M so about every you know 30 or so seconds your phone is reaching out reaching out I know what your cell phone's going to come back and say I don't have it yet you know I don't have the records back yet so that's how I know that you were there when Jeff was killed so the question is like I said did you go there and kill them because you have me fooled and you're just a monster or did you go there because you're desperate for something and things got out of hand and this is your opportunity you know to tell that side of the story you know they say there's two sides to every story well if the side that I had was favorable to you already you wouldn't be here you know what I'm saying so this is it man like this is your shot to tell us what happened you know I know what happened I don't know all the details I don't know how it happened and I don't know why it happened but this is your chance to maybe put a little bit of an explanation on it because people want to know and people are are going to be asking and it matters you know maybe there's a reason for why what happen happened maybe there isn't but there's only two people who know the answer to that one of them is dead and the other one's a convicted felon I don't care that you're a convicted felon at all that has nothing to do with why you're here you know I mean like I I don't like yes you're a convicted felon you're convicted bank robber but that was a long time ago okay but and you're not here because I was like oh [ __ ] Billy did a bank robbery he must have killed Jeff no you're here because everything lines up the evidence put you there I mean that also goes to show that like this wasn't some pre-planned out horrific thing like you did a awful job if you know would I mean if this is a pre-planned thing but it looks bad because you're a big dude you're 36 years old he's a 66 year old man killed in his house it looks bad man you know and you're wearing the same clothes that you're wearing at the bank you're wearing the same clothes that you're wearing on that video you know like nothing here looks good for you but again the thing you have to hold on to is that there might be a reason for this like you didn't mean for this to happen I mean or maybe you did I'm wrong you're just you know but like you don't strike me as that I mean the guys who took you in a custody out by your apartment you know they called me right away right and they're like dude this guy is as nice as can be you've been as nice and as respectful as can be here like I'm younger than you and you're calling me sir and [ __ ] like you don't have to do that anyways you know what I mean like I'm I'm not sir I'm just pee but like you know there's no question that you did this it's there isn't or that you were there I I was there but I didn't kill him so what happened if you were there but you didn't kill him what happened and this is the part that just so that's you on video what happened was somebody else with you no okay did he shoot himself no okay I know he didn't shoot himself because of where he was shot and how many times he was shot so what the [ __ ] happened I I know he was alive between 600 and 7 I know what time you got there okay I know he didn't make that call a Sun Trust unless he did it because you made him do it you have his card in your wallet you cashed his checks that you forged to yourself the day he was murdered and I like I'm not yelling at you to yell at you or being like I'm trying to get it through your head that like this is [ __ ] up you know and I'm giving you the chance to tell me what happened because you know if you don't give me the chance if you don't tell me what happened you know what it looks like and you know what they're going to say you know I can't make you any promises man but like you're looking at like this is serious you think your bank robbery was bad how much time did you do for that so seven you think that was bad bro you're looking at going to prison for the rest of your life you know cuz the way it looks is it looks like you broke into this house you kidnapped this man and you held him hostage for 2 hours and murdered him in Cold Blood and then cashed his checks on not only the day of the murder but two days later how does that look you know and it frustrates me because I know there's a reason like I know you didn't just go there to kill that dude because I believe because you have some working knowledge of his company and his work habits because you used to work for him that you had no idea he was going to be there I don't think you went there to hurt him I think you went there to steal checks actually I knew he was so you knew he was going to be there MH okay so how did you end up there at 7 o' in the morning why did you go there I mean this is it Billy like right now sitting here talking to me this is the biggest moment of your life okay it's bigger than when your daughter was born last month or earlier this month this is the biggest moment of your life right now well there's no I mean there's just no way there's no what you know you're sitting here telling me I didn't do it I didn't this I didn't that but you're not giving me anything other than like give me something here give yourself something here you know what I mean like this is your chance to explain what happened because it doesn't look good it looks horrible you know but maybe I'm wrong maybe they're just isn't a reason maybe that's why you can't tell me anything because maybe you did just go there to kill him cuz you were mad at him that is that not what happened no that's not what happened Pete sorry no no Pete call me Pete that's my name okay you know you don't need to call me detective or sir or anything call me Pete like see no matter way no matter what I do is you're not going to believe me it won't matter well you haven't told me anything Billy like you say that but you haven't told me anything all you've told me is that you were there but then you won't say and you said nobody else was there you know so it's not like you went there with somebody else all you've told me is that you were there which I already knew you know and then it won't matter that's all you've said so you say that but how do you know like I'm telling you man I'm not lying to you this is your one opportunity to put out there what happened because everything's going to change after this you know what happened right like you know how it happened you're the only one that can put those pieces together because again I'm not going to sit here and lie to you and be like oh you can just explain your way out of this and it all be okay no no I'm not but the fact is is that like again there's a huge difference between you know there's a lot of like when things happen when people get shot or what like there's a lot different reasons like on one end of the spectrum you have like where like somebody shoots and kill somebody self-defense right that that happens then the other end of the spectrum you have a serial killer you know that just kills people just to kill him there's a huge space in between and I don't think he meant to kill Jeff at all okay but I think something got out of hand you know and what happened happened but dude I'm telling you if this is the Spectrum with what I have what I've seen okay okay what that crime scene looks like you know and you sitting here and not telling me anything it looks closer to this end of the spectrum than this end okay when maybe the truth is somewhere in here but only you can put that out there only you can give that you know only you can give yourself that chance give yourself like help yourself here man like I'm throwing you a on you know with the amount of evidence that I have and I know that I don't have yet but that I will have because I've been doing this for a while and I know how these things unfold okay like I know what's going to come in the future evidence wise at least I can take a pretty good guess like I didn't even have to come in here and talk to you today you know you could have gone straight up the road but I that's not really how I operate you know I believe there's always a reason for something I mean dude I know the circumstances behind when you your bank robbery thing like I read the report I talked to the investigator like clearly that was the act of a desperate man that was not a bank you know like a Serial bank robber or something you see on TV you know cash and Steve Willard checks I know about all that I mean obviously that's not why we're here I don't think there's any mystery why we're here you know cash and Jeff's checks like are stealing checks from Jeff like you got no job or well you may have a job but you have gotten fired from one you had a baby on the way I know how stressful that can be even in the best of circumstances and so do you because you have other kids you know know I can understand why you would go try to steal or try to you know do what you have to do to feed yourself and your family you know and I understand because I've been doing this job for a while that sometimes [ __ ] just happens and it just gets out of hand and you don't intend for something to happen but it does you know but again I can't stress it enough man like it's only you that can that can make that a reality it's only you that can put that out there cuz what we have right now don't look good his card is in your wallet I know it is you know you deposited $94 cash okay from a man who religiously kept around $100 in his wallet so even if you didn't take the money out of his wallet it looks like you did you took his checks you took his card and probably his cash and he's dead I mean that doesn't look good what the officer is referencing right here is Jeff's wallet which happened to be missing $100 and all of his bank cards with Billy's incredible genius he deposited this exact amount after Jeff's murder in an ATM and considering all of the evidence so far it wouldn't take long for Dumb and Dumber here to give a full confession are you a monster no I'm not a monster okay are you a cold blooded killer no okay then something happened you know maybe something got out of hand maybe Jeff you got there Jeff fought back you know I don't know maybe you're like this guy knows me like I don't want to go back to prison and [ __ ] just went South you know and you shot him once and then you're like well I got to kill him now I don't even have a gun then how are you there and he ends up shot four times maybe he had the gun you know like that's what I'm saying Billy is like you're a convicted felon and I don't say that to be an [ __ ] I say that because I know how hard it can be for a convicted felon to get a gun you know so it totally makes sense that you wouldn't have a gun maybe he had the gun maybe you went to his house there's a disagreement he pulls out a gun you're a big dude you get it away from him and [ __ ] goes maybe that's what happened but like you're not giving me that I mean I just spun that up in my head but I see how that could be a possibility but you're not giv giv me that what it looks like is that you went there with a gun and youing killed him so if that's not what happened tell me because this is the only shot you're going to have why don't we just go back to how you got the checks how did those three checks come into your possession like 7 o'clock you pull onto the street what happens from there what happens when you get there walk me through it P I'm I'm I'm scared to death right a second okay okay let's talk about that I I I want I want to I want to trust you okay I do okay and and legitimately I have an explanation okay it's not great it's still bad okay okay well then what you need to do is trust yourself you don't need to worry about trusting me okay but you're you're asking me okay MH and you know every every single time hell even Willer told me you know to to not say anything in ask for an attorney but I've always I've always felt that you know just talking to somebody you know being up front is is always the better option but well Billy the the thing is man is like and I don't want to be L with a monster CU I'm not a monster so that's what I'm telling you bro but they're already labeling me a monster nobody's labeled you anything okay it's just me and you here okay nobody knows you're here except for me and the guys that I work with h you know my fiance and my son know well there's nothing we can do about that okay no but except put the right picture out there don't put the monster picture out there that's not what it is let's put the right picture out there but you're not you're not going to believe the the the you're not going to believe it I don't have a gun I I'm sorry just don't have one okay okay now how I came into the checks where it was the same day okay okay well here's the thing man is like it doesn't necess like you're sitting here saying I'm not going to believe you we haven't told me yet first of all second of all like bro like there's only one way to go here and that's up because it looks up so tell me what happened tell me how you got there tell me how you got the checks put the story out there this is your chance to write your side of the story you know and you don't have to trust me to believe that that's the truth like this is your shot to write your side of the story I didn't I didn't kill anybody beete so what happened said you got there before 8:00 how did you get in the house this my life I can't afford to have it all twisted up man well that's what I'm saying man this is your life and this is a pivotal moment of it and this is your chance to explain how we got here but even if I explain it and I and I and I show and I tell you I didn't do it I'm still going to be charged for it and now it's going to be up to the damn court so the court how did you get in the house through the front door was it locked or unlocked it was unlocked you ran the doorbell I knocked on the door a few times the front door yes right so then what happened what happened after you knocked on the door I'm not a monster P well tell me tell me why prove it to me you knock on the door what happens how many times you knock on the door twice with my the standard knock I do okay did Jeff come to the door no so did you let yourself in went smoked a cigarette first thinking maybe he was just in the bathroom or he was running l for e not what you think well all we got right now is you at the door you knocked on the door you let to smoke a cigarette then what happened should I have should I have an attorney or no I can't tell you that man this is your life man this is your chance to tell us what happened this is your chance [Music] you know this is your chance to write your side of the story that that's all I can give you is an opportunity Pete what I did was robong me but I didn't kill him okay I did not kill anybody so what happened how did you get into the house you said the front door it was unlocked so you let yourself into the house I can't I can't do it I need an attorney I'm sorry with Billy demanding an attorney this interview comes to a screeching halt as detectives cannot question him any further however the investigation did not end there right after this interview officers searched the home of Billy's girlfriend and found a 22 caliber handgun this weapon was determined to be used in Jeff's murder and after a forensic analysis Billy's DNA was found on it consequently he went on to face trial for 2 years and by April of 2023 pleaded guilty to a plethora of charges first-degree murder home invasion armed robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony ultimately he was given a life sentence plus an additional 65 years in prison