20/20 - Bad Romance: Shot in the Dark (Revisited)

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

A star football player’s attempt to win back his high school sweetheart ends in foul play. (Originally broadcast 2/6/24) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This show is sponsored by Killer Kin, a podcast from ID. Family dynamics can be tricky, and sometimes even the people closest to you can become the most dangerous. Killer Kin from ID explores real cases about how family life can fall deep into manipulation, obsession, and murder. Unpack what happens when rivalry and desire for control lead investigators and relatives questioning what fueled some of the darkest crimes ever committed. Does evil run in the family? Listen to Killer Ken wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, 2020 listeners. This is Deborah Roberts, co-anchor of 2020. We've got a new spinoff series we think you're going to want to hear. So we're making it available for you right here on our podcast. It's called Bad Romance. Have a listen.

They're the perfect high school couple, prom dates, the cheerleader and the football player. But their story ends with a hooded man hammering on the front door, frightening texts, a mysterious kidnapping, and a deadly shot in the dark. Am I ever going to love, going to love, going to love again? Knoxville is a rural community. There's a lot of mountain folks around here. It's like a slice of Americana, really. It's a really suburban, beautiful city, a nice place to raise your kids. and presumably a safe place to raise your kids.

Everybody goes to the football games, Fridays, everybody's excited at school to see how well we do. It's what our school revolves around, so it's exciting. The Central High Bobcats are a big deal here, and it's just as big of a deal to be on the cheerleading squad. Go, Bobcats! In the fall of 2014, Emma Walker was 14 years old. Emma really took cheerleading seriously.

She really loved doing it. You know, it was one of her passions. She loved leading and she loved football games. She loved just being part of crowd appeal. Going into high school, being a freshman cheerleader, was that a big deal for her? She had done competitive gymnastics as a young child and then competitive. dance. When she tried out for cheerleader, she was the only freshman that made it. So she was very tickled with herself.

People described Emma as bubbly and fun-loving and positive. I think it was really effortless for her because it's kind of who she was in the way. Emma was very kind and warm-hearted, but she was goofy too at the same time. She could do the worm. You know, all of her other moves were kind. kind of like, okay, Emma, you should probably stop now. So before long, freshman Emma is going out with the junior on the football team. Number eight, Riley Gall.

Riley Gall and Emma Walker were just this sort of quintessential high school couple, you know, the cheerleader and the football player. Was he the classic jock in high school? No, he's a little nerdy on the side, a little to himself, kind of. From the outside looking in, you just think you're just a normal guy. What did you think right away of this new boy that she was smitten with? A boy next door. He came in very polite, very nice in the beginning. I thought he was a very nice-looking young man, well-mannered.

What were the rules about dating and going out? And never would let them go out on a formal date. He could come over to the house. They would meet up after football games to eat and things like that. They had fun. They seemed like they really liked each other. We were happy for her that she found someone that she really liked. If you look at Emma's social media, they look like the couple so many envied in high school.

And what was the relationship like? At first, it was just kind of normal, like nothing out of the ordinary. He didn't really talk to us her friends a lot, but I was just like, oh, he's shy, like new boyfriend. It just seemed normal, but then after a while, it was when we got kind of concerned. What concerned you? That he didn't really have any interest in getting to know her friends, and he kind of became controlling over her what she did, her activities. He got more possessive and more clinging towards her and, you know, wouldn't let her do certain things.

Over time, I do think cracks began to emerge in this veneer. And they looked like another typical high school couple, an archetype that people are familiar with, which is the makeup and breakup couple. And when they had fights, were they big fights? They were really dramatic, I would say, just because it was usually just like, yelling at each other or just, like, harmful words towards each other.

The relationship did not seem healthy at all. They argued fiercely, and then they sort of made up fiercely. But it was always drama, always drama with those two. He would comment on what she wore and tell her what not to wear? Yes. And what would you say to that? We're the decision makers in that, not your boyfriend. When things got really intense and bad, he would wait outside her work for her to get off.

and he would just wait outside for hours, just wait. Did you all relate this to Emma? Did you feel concerned for her? Does she seem to feel concerned? I told her, and some of the other friends told her were just like, you could do better. Like, we don't like him, but like, she just kind of brushed it off.

She did her own thing. Riley didn't speak to her the way that a guy should talk to a girl. It was just disrespectful. I hate you. I hate everything about you. You're the biggest bitch I've ever come. come into contact with. I feel like the texts were getting worse and a little bit threatening.

We, on one occasion, so I went off to see your name in the obituary. He wrote that to her. He wrote that to her. And we questioned him about it. He said, I was just angry. That's when it started to get many more red flags. Soon Emma's parents have had enough. They ban Riley from their home and take away Emma's cell phone so the couple can't talk.

But it doesn't work. Riley gave Emma an iPod touch, and she texted him through the Wi-Fi, so they could text and it go undetected. Emma, I'm sorry for however I act to you. I love you more than words can describe. Did you attempt to break them up or advise her to break up? Yes, several times. But as you do that with a teenager, the more you betheads, the more she is going to think he's than the right. because he had a way of isolating her and making her think that he was the only one. Typical high school fights,

but then weird things began to happen. Out of the blue, someone just starts banging on her door. And it's like, I'm getting these really weird text messages saying that Riley's been kidnapped. And that's only the beginning. The college football playoff isn't over. Not yet. That epic run?

That wild dream? Not over till the clock hits zero. Till the stadium shakes. Till the wild things are let loose. Till the trophy is lifted and the confetti falls. This is the national championship. When it's over, you'll feel it. This is the wild world of college football.

The CFP National Championship, Monday, January 19th at 7.30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN and the ESPN app. Tell me lies. Returns with an all-new season. I'm willing to forgive. you after everything you've done. Everything I've done? What about everything you've done?

On January 13th. Every single time you try to make something better, you end up making it so much worse. Every betrayal. Why are you doing this? Has consequences. Because I want to hurt you, and I don't know how else to do it.

Tell me lies. New season, January 13th. Streaming on Hulu and for bundle subscribers on Disney Plus. Terms apply. By the fall of 2016, Riley Gaul is now 18 in a way at college. He and Emma are still together for two years now. So when Riley went off to college, how did things change with Emma? She was dating him.

She didn't see him probably as much because he was busy. But I think she started to see he's out there living life. And I'm sitting in my room. You know, you want to have fun with your friends? and she should be at 16 years old. She'd never had that opportunity in this relationship without him saying that he didn't want her to go or repercussion on her wanting to do things.

She did become like her old self again. She would come out, out of her room, eat dinner with us, socialized with us, instead of being so withdrawn. So was she interested in breaking it off? Yes. And I think she at the, yes. I believe so.

Emma realized she didn't want to be with Riley, and she broke up with him what was supposed to be for good. And then we're like, yes, finally. Like, it's happening, like what we've been waiting for. Her friends and her family, they're relieved, they're excited. They think they have Emma back. Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus, that she didn't plan on going back to him. But Riley isn't taking the burden.

break up well. Over in his college dorm, he takes some Vicodin pills and washes them down with alcohol in an attempt to take his life. One of the things that Riley Gall was known for is when things would not go the way he wanted, he would sometimes claim he was going to kill himself if they didn't, you know, reunite. How did you hear that he might have been suicidal? Just like be off to the side, like moping, saying things like, I just feel so depressed, like I want to hurt myself. blah, blah, blah, blah. But it was just things that he would just, like, say a lot. It's just like a cry for help, I guess, in a way.

It's Friday night. The big playoff game, and the Central High Bobcats win. So Emma's off to a party at a friend's house to celebrate. Then around 11.30 p.m., something strange happens. I walk out. And Emma's, like, coming out of the bathroom, and she's like, Zach, I'm getting these really weird text messages to come outside alone if you don't want to see a loved one get hurt. Was she spooked? Yeah, she was just feeling really weird about it.

I mean, it's a random number. She starts off being very dismissive of them, saying, you know, I don't believe you. This is BS. You're full of it. Riley put you up to this. He's a ditch beside her house. It's a shame you can all of a sudden not value someone else's life. We end up going back outside, and we look, and we see a body laying face down.

Like, just a dark figure. It's a terrifying moment, and even worse, when they see who it is. It's Riley. And then we finally get to him, and he's holding up his head, kind of has this confused face on. He's like, Emma's like, why are you here? He's like, I don't know what happened. I don't know how I got here. I've been kidnapped.

Someone dropped me off here. I don't know what's happening. Where am I? How'd I get here holding his head? Like, he got hit upside the head, kind of. It was just very weird. And when you stepped out, where did you see him? He was kind of up there, and you were, like, kind of the shrub,

like where those thin trees are kind of laying down. Mm-hmm. Part in the driveway, maybe. Lying down? Yeah, like face down, like this, kind of. And how did Emma react? Very uneasy. She was very upset.

She was crying. Emma doesn't know what to think, because this. as a boy she loved, who she's realized now has become very unhealthy, but part of her is, like, who would do something this elaborate if it weren't true? And if that's not bizarre enough, Riley simply walks away and calls his friend Noah. He sounded like he'd been crying or like he was sounding fatigued, I guess. And he basically told me that these people knocked him out, took his car, and threw him in a van, and he didn't know where he was.

Essentially kidnapped? Yeah. Did you believe him? Not at all. You know, but what am I supposed to do? Did anybody offer to call the police? We talked about it, but he said no. He's like, no, no, no, no cops.

Then the morning after Riley's supposed kidnapping, things go from strange to sinister. While she's home, out of the blue, someone just starts banging on her door. All she can see is this person. not opening the door. She's home alone. She's scared. She's talking to her friends at the same time. I'm home alone and somebody in all black walked down my street and came to my door and ring the doorbell over and over again. I thought I was going to die. Emma's obviously shook

and who do you think she calls? She calls Riley. I'm shaking and crying. I hate you, but I need you right now. I'm coming. I'm speeding. Just give me a minute. She was supposed to come meet me. She didn't show. I had an intuition. Something's going on. on. So I drove to home and Riley's car was sitting out front of the house and they were in the driveway. What was your first thought? I thought, you're kidding me. He knows he's not allowed here. And I just said, you know, you're not allowed. You need to leave. And he did leave. Were you worried? Yes, I was worried. Yes. And tried to calm her down and take her mind off of it. But she's thinking, what, that some stalker or maybe some burglar is trying to get into the house?

I think. We were watching her. I mean, Sunday we followed her to work, followed her back home to make sure she was safe. She said, I'm craving ice cream. So we drove to Sonic. We had us a nice, cold Sonic blast. And I wished her. Good night.

I love you. See you tomorrow. I went to bed. She stayed up. And how does she seem? She seemed very happy, very happy, and relaxed. More of it. like a weight had been lifted off her shoulder.

Everybody says goodnight, but her parents don't know that they're actually saying goodbye. Where is your emergency? It's not responsive. You have to imagine how Emma would have been feeling at this point. Friday, Riley is coming out of a ditch, claiming to have been abducted. The next day she's home alone. She's taunted at home by someone dressed in black banging on her door. You know, that is rattling.

In two days of this now, had to have been wearing her down. The next day, I'd win in the next day. I went in there to wake her up, which is usually very easy to wake her up, and said her name, didn't hear anything, bumped her leg, didn't hear anything, and then went to her face and realized and checked for a pulse and couldn't find anything. I don't remember a whole lot from that moment. I mean, I know I called 911. Emma's mother makes maybe one of the most heartbreaking 911 calls that I've ever heard. Where is your emergency? And Jill Walker.

What's going on there? I just heard we get my daughter for school. And she has no calls. All the old is she? She's 16. You said that she's non-responsive? Yeah. And you hear in real time this mother's sort of visceral response to realizing that, like, maybe she's not going to be okay.

The call came out as a suicide. It was about 30 minutes before. shift was over. Officer Nikki Buell's is sent to the crime scene. She's now the lead forensic tech on the case. When I first got there, I started my photographs on the outside of the residence. I walked in, photographed the interior of the residence, photographed the bedroom. It's a classic teen girls bedroom, a little messy, clothes and makeup all over, pictures and cheer trophies on the wall except there was a hole in the wall it appeared to be a bullet hole at that point I knew that it probably was not a suicide it's been upgraded from a suicide to a

homicide lead detective Alan Merritt arrives next so you know I'm standing outside here the bullet hole is, you know, just about shoulder height there in the wall. Big hole? No, it's just a small bullet hole. About the size of a ballpoint ink pen. But there's no gun inside Emma's bedroom. Instead, there's a strange discovery on the outside of the house. Rough thing about this area here, I locate this spent shell casing, the first spent shell casing.

And on the far side of the walker's fence, another piece of evidence. A second shell casing. Yes, ma'am. A second shell casing. So now, you know, I've got a second shell casing. Where's why is it here? Where did it come from? Obviously, there was a second shot fired.

So another hole right there. Once the detective got there, we were asked to leave the residence. They were up and tape around our house and walking around outside. So obviously it had turned into a crime scene at that point. But we still had no idea what had happened to her. What had happened? Emma Walker was killed by a gunshot wound to the head from somebody shooting into the house from outside.

Those two bullets fired through the walls of her bedroom, one striking Emma behind her left ear, the second into the pillow by her head. You know, to hit a target that you can't see, you would have had to know exactly where Emma's head was going to be. That realization, I think, is a stunning and chilling one. You talked to her parents. Did you ask them if they thought there was somebody who could be out to hurt her?

We spoke to the family. We spoke to her friends. And everybody kept giving us the name Riley Gall because of their relationship, because they had seen the way that Riley had treated her, the way he had talked to her. The Knox County Sheriff's Office goes to talk with Riley, and he's distraught. He didn't say a whole lot. He was just kind of in the days a little bit.

He was sat over his girlfriend losing her life. Riley goes to social media, posting, Rest easy now, sweetheart, I love you forever and always. What stood out to me from these tweets immediately was the repetitive nature of him saying, I love you, I love you, I love you. If you just saw that, you would think that this was an ex-boyfriend who just lost his first love. The people of Knoxville were floored. I was a cheerleader who everyone knows and loves.

I was confused. All I knew is she was dead and there's nothing I could do. It didn't register in my mind. No one would expect our Emma to be, you know, dead. Students will be gathering at Central High School tonight to remember the life of a classmate who recently died. Riley seems devastated, but he doesn't go to the vigil.

That... is held for Emma. You know, he justifies his absence at this vigil as he's just too broken to attend. Remember, Riley had attempted suicide once, so his friend Alex gets nervous and tells detectives about the night Riley was found in a ditch outside the party.

He ended up telling me like that night. He was so fearful for his life that he had stolen his grandfather's gun. And he showed it to me. He showed you his grandfather's gun. Yes. and I held it my hand that night. So he's been acting strangely,

and then he shows you a gun. How worried were you about him? I was very worried. He reassured me over and over again that he was the farthest of him suicidal. He was just so scared of these people. I had to get him. I had to get Emma.

He said he had the gun for protection? From the kidnappers. Who did you hear from the friends about what struck them as odd? There had been a series of events leading up to the homicide. One particular incident, the alleged kidnapping. There was another incident the next morning

where a person dressed all in black, head to toe, even sunglasses, a hoodie on, face covered, goes to Emma's house, tries to get in, scares her. Did you think maybe there was some other suspect out there who had been stalking her? Sure. Now, investigators are screening everything they can find on security cameras.

The exits from this residence, we saw cars going by, but couldn't identify them. The cameras didn't have enough resolution. But surveillance footage from a neighbor's house has something. Could it be the mysterious man in black? Is this Emma's killer? For 100 days, I'm going to cross the seven continents, because the answers to everything important are out. out there at the edges of our world.

I'm stepping into the unknown. Where are we going to see our planet? This is amazing. As it's never been seen before. From pole to pole. Pole to Pole with Will Smith. Series premier Tuesday, January 13th at 9 on National Geographic. Stream on Disney Plus and Hulu.

Show me the way. FX is the beauty. Imagine the hottest new super drug that makes you effortlessly beautiful. From executive producer, Ryan Murphy. This is the closest to the fountain of youth any man is ever going to get. Are there side effects? I just went in, woke up, and it looked like this. I would like the first boat.

FX is the beauty. Premier's January 21st on FX, Hulu, and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. A shot for Knoxville and a Knox County High School, a cheerleader shot and killed. Knoxville teen found in her home dead. An investigation right now underway this afternoon in the death of the Knox County team. Riley Gaugh's social media portrays him as the grieving boyfriend. And this is from a gun case. Police want to talk to him.

16 hours after Emma's body is discovered, Riley is brought in for questions. You have the right to remain silent. Detectives with the Knox County Sheriff's Office want to know about his whereabouts over the past weekend. I went over to my friend Nova's house and stayed there. I think I spent the night there actually, I think. Well, that knows when you get there Friday, no. It was just me and him, and then I think it was just me and him online. I don't remember anybody else showing up.

anybody else y'all hunt. And you said you spent the night? I'm pretty sure I did, yes. Actually, yes, I'm positive. I did spend the night. You can't remember if you spent the night at NOS or stated your grandparents? Did that strike you as strange,

that he couldn't remember if he spent the night here, or what time he went there? You know, we're talking about, you know, what did you do yesterday, and not what you did two years ago. His answers were vague. They were expecting, you know, someone who was 18, emotional, heartbroken.

And instead of referring to Emma, by her name. He keeps calling her the girl. The girl. She texted me. Which girl? The one that passed away. Oh, okay. What's her in mind? Hey, mom. Yeah. If that's your girlfriend of two years, who you're in love with, who you're posting these heartbreaking tributes to on social media,

why aren't you using her name? When I first met him at his grandpa's that he might have been a grieving boyfriend. When we got into the interview room and sat down, I feel like there's a dark He didn't have a whole lot of passion or concern. Riley tells them he'd been trying to speak with Emma all weekend, but she wouldn't engage, that she even blocked his number. And she just kept locking me on stuff, so I was just kind of... I got you.

But she said if I would help her write her paper, she would talk to me. And I use one of my friends' phones on campus to call her. Tell me about this phone call you and am I. I was crying, and I was trying to get her to reason with me on being back together with me and she just kept saying no she said she didn't care about the relationship anymore and she said you need to stop you're crazy you need to get alive on the phone block me Riley offers police his alibi saying after Emma hangs up on him he goes to his grandparents house then drives back to his dorm where he breaks down in the parking

lot and just sat there for about two to three hours and just wept just looking at pictures of us and stuff like that he was really really upset about this but when you saw him was he broken up in my opinion he was emotionless his interview was probably one of the most disconnected it almost seemed rehearsed deliberate you had no idea what the grandfather's gun said okay and you you do not on a handgun correct you began to ask him about the gun he did not have the gun, didn't know where the gun was, and basically didn't have anything to do with it. No, you had already talked to friends of his who had told you that he had this gun. Yes, ma'am.

What if I told you someone told us that they saw you with a gun? What would you think about that? I would wonder he said that and where they saw him of the gun. Alex McCarty said that you showed him a handgun. Where is the gun? I do not know. You understand that for us? Alex has no reason to lie about something like that. Yeah, but I'm telling you, I don't know where to that. He said that you showed him the gun.

You told him that you had it, and you told him that you got it from your granddad. Don't have the gun. I don't know why he would say that. I knew immediately within minutes of sitting down to talk to him, Riley Gall wasn't going to confess to anything. He wasn't going to do it. Detectives then turn up the heat, pressing Riley about an odd question he had for his friend Noah.

Do you ever remember having a conversation with Noah about getting fingerprints off a gun? How do you get fingerprints off a gun? No. He asked if I knew how to get fingerprints off a gun. How to get fingerprints off a gun? He said he was asking for his roommate. I told him obviously not and not to ever ask me anything like that again. And he said, I know, I know it was for my roommate.

I thought it was weird. Am I a suspect in her passing? Should you be? I just feel like I'm being badgered with question. I hope to God I'm not a suspect in her death. Did I say you one? I hope you don't think of it because I wouldn't hurt that girl. Did you shoot in to him's house?

No, sir. By the time you finished this interview with him, is there a bell going off in your head saying this is the guy? It's more like a horn. it was, yeah, a bell would be putting it mildly. Yeah, everything about the interview, his answers, his body language, it's screaming that he's got something to do with this, that he's involved in some form or fashion.

Riley Gall has gone from person of interest to suspect in the death of Emma Walker. The problem is they don't have enough evidence to hold him. I do want to thank you for doing it. talking to this. I do appreciate him. Following Riley's interrogation, he reaches out to his friends and he's really angry. Why did you tell him about the gun? They think I shot her because of it. I told him he had no reason to withhold the weapon if he had nothing to hide and that if anything it could prove that he was innocent. At that point I asked him just outright like what happened

in the gun that he showed me and he said I would turn it to my grandpa you don't have to worry about it And his mom walks out and begins questioning Riley in front of me about the whereabouts of the gun. So what are you making of this? He bold-faced like to me just then. That's when the two friends, Noah and Alex, start to realize that something is really wrong here. I didn't fucking kill her, and I'm probably going to jail. What's his demeanor like? He's frantic about getting caught.

He was on edge. And he was like, the only thing we can do is I just have to get rid of it. I have to get rid of the gun in order for me. me not to get pinned for something that I didn't do. In order for me not to go to jail for something that I didn't do, I have to get rid of this weapon. That's when I knew, like, he did it. Riley starts scheming ways that he can help his friends backpedal out of what they said. Tell him you're on LSD, you were drunk. But what Riley doesn't know, his two friends have a plan of their own. They want justice for Emma,

and to do it, they're going to have to go under. cover and get it all on tape. I'm trusting you guys, like, with my life. Alex McCarty and Noah Walton are convinced their longtime friend killed Emma, his high school sweetheart. After all, she was shot. Riley had a gun. He said he wanted to go and throw the gun away.

Yeah, I just knew that if there was a chance that he could get rid of the murder weapon, you should stop it. I had to solve it. The teens decide to work with police to lay a trap for Riley. So the two friends reach out to the detectives and offer to help in any way they can. If they could help us get what they believe to be the murder weapon back, huge, huge piece of information. At this point, all the police really have is circumstantial evidence against Riley. What they needed was the gun to conclude and prove that the bullet that left the barrel

that entered Emma belonged to Riley's grandfather, which meant that Riley was the killer. They wire up the two guys with microphones, a transmitter so they can listen in, and a video camera hidden in a key fob. So you two now offer to help the police in a sting operation. Were you worried about that? I was just fearful that maybe justice couldn't have been done if we made the wrong move. The camera was right on the tip of the key fobub. Let me set it down, pointing right at the couch.

It's now Tuesday, the day after Emma's body was discovered. Alex and Noah invite Riley over to play video games. know who shot him. I put that on my life. I'm not, I wouldn't lie to you right here right now. I don't know who did. I would never hurt her a day in my life. I had that gun because I was scared about what happened. I know you don't believe me. You probably don't either. Whatever. Riley starts scheming ways that he can help his friends backpedal out of what they said. If the cops talk to you again for any reason, tell them you're on LSD, you were drunk and you're high. Your mind was altered. Whatever statement.

you give them wasn't a straightforward answer he basically wanted to nullify all our previous statements by saying we were under the influence and we didn't know what we were talking about what do you say that I said okay I didn't do it but I was like okay sure bro my bad I didn't know I was going to get you in trouble so you're playing him at this point yeah but I'm trusting you guys like with my life because I mean this is 70 years in jail if I get convicted of something I It did. And are you guys, are you busy right now? Like, are you got to do anything?

Well, can we go to the bluffs? That's funny. Because I need to get hurt to get hurt. At the block? I'm going to throw it in the water. They will never, they'll never find it in the river. The Bluffs is out in the woods overlooking the Tennessee River. They've all been there.

It's a place where teenagers go to hang out. I want to get rid of it. Well, do you guys want to go right now? And just like that, the sting-off. Operation is on. No Riley doesn't know, but three unmarked SUVs are tailing the boys. Hey, go up to his house first. He tells us that he doesn't have the gun on him, and we have to go pick it up from his stepfather's house.

He said that he had done in the basement, me and no wait in the car. He didn't want us to come in. He comes back with his trash bag. Success? There's a bag of trash. There's third in there. We had told the boys that it was imperative that they actually physically. see the handgun before they give us the signal to take him down. I just want to throw it and be done.

Are you anxious, like, you want to see it right away, or do you know that you've got to pace yourself? What do you think? We tried a little bit. We did try to coax it. Dang, is it in there? Like, let me see, it's cool. Don't see guns a lot.

And he doesn't buy it? No, he doesn't. He actually was kind of weird about it. Throughout the ride, Alex and Noah try to keep things as casual as possible. They're telling jokes and singing along to the radio. I mean, even going on a run for some fast food. She's just a flavor. I can't imagine what the mood was like inside of that car.

We have two friends in danger in putting themselves in this situation because Riley is armed. This is where the trail is that leads you to your bluff area. So they parked here and they sat in the vehicle for, I'd say probably five, 10 minutes or so talking. He was like putting on white gloves and waiting, everything. He was very meticulous about how he got everything out.

And then we just kept waiting, kept waiting. And are you texting at that point? The police? I told him when we got the bag, I told him we didn't see it yet, but he had a bag full of like black clothes. And it's supposedly in there, and it was about to happen soon, I don't know when. They're about to reach the apex, sort of the climax of this entire mission,

and things could go wrong at any minute. Oh, my God. This is a real gun. Actually, it was a good three or four, maybe up to five minutes of him having the gun out and getting other things out after a note already texted the keyword, and that the cops finally, like, did show up. to every word. Everybody

cut your hands out of the vehicle now. What's the fuck? Oh my God. Leave your hands out at the vehicle.

It actually goes down in less than 90 seconds. Police spring guns drawn. Oh, my f***. Step out of the vehicle. Riley, he's just freaking out. He's swearing left and right. He says, I can't go to jail.

I can't go to jail. didn't suspect that this would be the person we would be filming at 11 as the suspect. Tonight, a Marrival College football player behind bars accused of killing a Knox County teenager. Investigators believe he was trying to destroy evidence. Once he was taken into custody, Riley was charged with first-degree murder and six other felonies. It was a major relief to me knowing that, you know, he's going to... pay for what he done. And after investigators searched the trash bag Riley was using,

they believe he's responsible for even more than Emma's murder. What was in there with the gun gloves? There was gloves and trash bags and tennis shoes, the black tape, some of the black clothing. You think those were the shoes that were used? Yeah, yeah. I really think that that was the clothes used. not only the night of the murder,

but I think also that was the clothes that was used the morning of the man-in-black incident. Those bizarre events leading up to Emma's death all makes sense now to investigators. They're convinced that Riley faked his own kidnapping and posed as that mysterious man-in-black to stalk Emma. Emma's parents are now facing

the young man accused. of murdering their daughter. What are your feelings toward him, Mark? I don't know that I can tell you that on camera. But I would like to tell him one day. Hey, I can quit. It seems like they've got him until Riley's trial. When the defense team delivers an unexpected twist.

We looked at each other and said, did you hear? Did he just say that? By May 2018, nearly two years after Emma Walker's death, it's finally judgment day for Riley Gall. This was a very different person that I didn't recognize. You know, every day he dressed in. Apollo, slacks, didn't look up, didn't talk to anyone. Riley had denied being involved in this period.

So opening arguments occur day one. We'll ask you to find Mr. Gall guilty of reckless. There's a defense lawyer, Wesley Stone, admitting that Riley fired the gun into the house. But he says it wasn't to kill Emma. He wanted to scare her into calling him for help. That way, he could be her hero. To me, the hero defense was laughable. In his mind, oh, I'm just going to scare her by shooting at her through the wall where she's laying her head.

And it was his desperate attempt to get attention from her, then it was really, truly a bad idea. Prosecutors point out the trajectory of the two bullets that struck Emma. The trajectory was a crossing pattern that came where both would have struck her. This is an absolute intent to kill. Did Riley Goal murder Emma Walker? By the definition of murder, no. I do believe it was a reckless homicide. You didn't play football.

After a week of testimony and more than 30 witnesses, the jury has a verdict. Guilty. And when you heard guilty. It's a good feeling. I mean, it doesn't bring her back, but that's the best we could get. He shouldn't get to live.

his life either. 19-year-old Riley Gall sentenced to life in prison. Take a life, give a life. It's exactly what he deserves, honestly. Why do you think he killed Emma? If he couldn't have her. Then nobody can have you.

And so that's really the only thing I can think of. He claimed he loved her, but it wasn't a healthy love, more of just ownership of her. he felt at his sentence scene hearing gall breaks his silence offering a scripted apology i'm sorry i take him away my intentions that night whenever the harm him let alone take her love i wanted to scare her bradley you are not emma's hero you ended her life no punishment will ever bring emma back but what helps is knowing that you can't do this to anyone else

what do you want to see come out of this that might help someone else if your boyfriend or girlfriend is telling you you can't go there or what to wear or who to hang out with or who to talk to, that it's not okay. And I think when they become quiet and withdrawn, it's a big sign too. It's not just bruises. It's emotional and controlling. Riley Gall appealed his sentence. Three years after his conviction, he was back in Knox County Criminal Court to request a retrial. But the judge said no, since there was no new evidence, and the state Supreme Court has since rejected any further consideration. of the case. Riley remains behind bars, serving a life sentence for the murder of Emma Walker.

He'll be in his 70s before he's eligible for parole. I love you so much. The Walker family finding comfort in unexpected surprises Emma left behind. And you didn't know she put this all on? That's their thing. Very cute. Do you find yourself going back looking through these or is it? They're home like a living photo album. Locking Emma in their hearts and memories. You can watch fresh episodes of bad romance from 2020 on Monday nights at 10 p.m. Right after The Bachelor. And of course, tune in on Fridays at 9 for all new episodes.

of 2020. Thanks for listening.