American Homicide - S1: E4 – Murder in the Desert, Part 1

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

Detectives in Las Cruces, New Mexico, uncover a chilling murder scene: three bodies, and all signs pointing to a single suspect. With no physical evidence, and only a threatening voicemail to guide them, investigators face a tense pursuit of justice in this desert mystery.   To reach out to the American Homicide team, please email us at [e-mail]. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Audio Up, the creators of Stephen King's Strawberry Spring, comes The Unborn, a shocking true story. My babies, please! My babies! One woman, two lives, and a secret she would kill to protect. She went crazy and shot and killed all her farm animals. Slaughtered them in front of the kids. Tried to burn their house down. Listen to The Unborn on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Entrepreneurs and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about.

It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine.

I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God. What is that? Bullets.

Listen to Escape from Zakistan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Deputies had gone over to do a welfare check. What they walked into was a murder scene. They had found three bodies. And all roads led to one suspect. We knew who the killer was, but we didn't have any physical evidence.

He was a hothead and you, if you said the wrong thing, it pressed a button and the fuse was lit. I would tell these guys, watch your back. I will give my vengeance when I get the out of here. That's all that counts, okay? He knew the vehicles that we were driving, the detectives that were involved. So it brought some concern to us. And this is going to get bad. This is American Homicide,

a show where we take you across the country to investigate some of America's deadliest crimes. We'll explore how these murders are shaped by their unique landscapes, and in turn, how these tragedies have shaped the fabric of these American communities forever. Today we're in Las Cruces, New Mexico. This is part one of Murder in the Desert. This podcast also contains subject matter which may not be suitable for all audiences. Discretion is advised.

Just north of the Mexican border is Las Cruces. Las Cruces is in the far south end of New Mexico. It's a place Bob Senecal calls home. It's a very harmonious setting. People are very comfortable with each other and gracious to each other. It could have something to do with all that vitamin D. Las Cruces sees sunshine 350 days a year and consistently ranks on the list of best places to retire. Think about the moon with lots of sun. This is a desert landscape. And it's also rich in history.

This is home to Billy the Kid and a lot of the desperados and characters. The notorious outlaw Billy the Kid is known for evading authorities in the late 1800s. He's the subject of several old western TV shows and movies. Billy the Kid was sentenced to death here in the town of Mesilla, which is just to the south of us. Bob moved to Las Cruces in the early 2000s and had no idea there was an outlaw living among them. We'll get back to that in a minute. Bob's home sat in the hills of an affluent section of Las Cruces. It's a neighborhood where numerous seniors lived, including a couple named Gilles and Helga Delisle. There was a lot of commonality between us, especially myself and Gilles. We were kind of brethren, I think you could say.

Helga and Gilles, very educated. They both got their doctorates in language. Helga came out to New Mexico State University with the intent of taking over the language department, which she did. She spoke four languages and was active in the local art scene. She and her acrylic paintings were well known in the area. As for Jill, he was an inventor who created a device that dug up a Christmas tree without severing its roots. And in 2010, he was about to sell another device that would extend gas mileage,

and he planned to donate the proceeds to charity. But he spent most of his time in real estate. He started developing real estate investment trusts, and he and his partner did this on a regular basis. Without any children, Jill and Helga were always traveling back and forth to Mexico, Costa Rica, and South Africa. Jill had heart issues that caused him to slow down. So he put his name on the waiting list for a transplant. His spot came up in 1996. And he was very, very grateful to be alive.

And his joie de vivre expressed itself. Gilles adopted the expression carpe diem, seize the day. He was French-Canadian, impulsive, and fun-loving and daredevil, if you will. He was a good man. He was a buddy. Gilles was also a guy with a problem. He hired the contractor who built his palatial estate in Las Cruces to build some other properties.

But the deal fell apart. The contractor blew through his budget and then took out a loan from Gal but didn't pay him back. When his tab climbed over a million dollars, Geal sued him. They've been in court several times over the last three years. Their long legal battle was finally supposed to come to an end in April 2010, which thrilled Geal. We were at his house for dinner, and Gilles said, the judge is going to make a ruling on Thursday

and declare him bankrupt and take his assets. That Thursday, Gilles, Helga, and their business partner, Peter White, never showed up to court. Their lawyer called 911. 911, emergency. I'm a lawyer here in town. We had a special master sale scheduled for this morning and my client intended to be there. He, his wife, and their friend, who's also my client.

We can't get a hold of them on cell phones or on their house phone. Okay, not a problem. We're sending someone out there to go ahead and check it out and we'll get back to you as soon as we find some information out, okay? The Delisle's home sits in a remote part of Las Cruces that's accessible by just two roads. It's to the west of the Rio Grande River and a fairly affluent neighborhood. That morning, just after 11 a.m., Sergeant Joe Renaud was one of the first responders. This house is kind of up on a hill. It's got a very long dirt driveway. Officers walked past a Cadillac parked on the driveway and approached the home. They knocked on a large glass door, but no one answered.

We had to force entry to get into the house. So they broke the window and entered the house through that way. And there was shattered glass all over the floor. And I can remember my feet crunching the shards of glass on the floor. It opens up into a wide open living space. And the kitchen was to the right. And I immediately saw Mrs. Delisle laying face down on the floor. I've got adults on the ground in the kitchen. Possible code 30 means homicide.

Police found the body of 72-year-old Helga Delisle lying on the kitchen floor. Next to her body was her purse and cell phone, along with a small plastic bag of groceries. and cell phone, along with a small plastic bag of groceries. A narrow pool of blood extended from her head to the edge of the kitchen, where the hardwood met the tile of the dining area. The sergeant of patrol then took me to the other side of the kitchen counter, where I saw Mr. Delisle. 69-year-old Jill Delisle was face down on the floor.

His entire body was soaked with blood. I just couldn't believe how brutal it was. That's what was going through my head, that this was just brutal. So upon seeing a scene like that, I always go through a lot of different scenarios and possibilities in my head and one by one kind of mentally check them off as I'm walking through a scene. And to me, it appeared to be an unintentional homicide. Whoever did this just absolutely hated these people. With news of a double homicide,

prosecutor Amy Orlando joined the team of officers at the scene. When you then enter the front door, you didn't see anything disturbed. The house was in pristine, like someone had just come and cleaned it. There wasn't anything turned over. Nothing had been knocked on the floor. Aside from the two bodies and some shell casings from a 9mm gun, the kitchen was relatively clean. You saw some where somebody had tried to clean up some blood, and there were smears. The smears indicated that Helga's body may have been dragged into the kitchen next to her husband, who took multiple gunshots to the legs, chest, and head. So we believe that he

tortured him to some degree before he finally killed him. Helga was still holding her purse. Her wallet was in there. So far, it looks like two victims were executed, but nothing appears to be taken from the victims or even the house. There's a long hallway going down the house. And then at the very end of the house where there's nothing else left is a walk-in shower. This is where they make another gruesome discovery. There was another victim, a male who was slumped against the shower. The third victim had clearly ran down there.

He was still holding his grocery bag and was clutching it and had literally ran to the end of the house where he could run no more. And I just think of how terrifying that feeling must have been to know that there was nothing else you could do. The third victim was identified as Peter Weif, the Delisle's business partner. He was the owner of the Cadillac parked in the driveway. Investigators found an important clue inside Peter's grocery bag, a receipt. That, along with the receipt inside Helga's grocery bag, helped the detectives piece together an approximate timeline.

They believed the killer was inside the Delisleios home between 4.30 and 6.30 p.m. It had to be someone that at least knew him or was familiar with the place because when you have three people that have been killed, it would not be in a pristine condition as if it had literally just been cleaned by a professional. There would be blood droplets someplace. There wasn't. Other than the blood smears, there was no blood. We found one blood droplet on the garage door. In their garage, police noticed that one of the Delisles' vehicles was missing.

So a BOLO alert went out to be on the lookout for their white Nissan Pathfinder. But a key piece of evidence came from the Delisles's landline telephone. Keep in mind, it was 2010 and landlines were still common. The police officers investigators had looked and had seen like some call IDs that would have come about during the time frame that the murders happened. The caller ID on the Delisle's phone showed a series of calls from pay phones. Detectives wanted to know more about these calls, but getting answers wouldn't be easy. It was a landline, and because they live in kind of an outskirts area, it was a phone company that wasn't real cooperative with us. But we were trying to track down those calls.

But there was something else on that phone. A mysterious and angry voicemail. Detectives listened as this person rattled off a series of threats to Jeal. Just before the 30-second message abruptly ended, there was one final threat. It's not easy to hear all of what was said, but the caller threatened to murder Jill Delisle. So the question for police was, whose voice was on the other end of that call? The answer would lead detectives directly into harm's way. In the quiet town of Avella, Pennsylvania, Jared and Christy Akron seemed to have it all. A whirlwind romance, a new home and twins on the way.

What no one knew was that Christy was hiding a secret so shocking it would tear their world apart. 911 response, what's your emergency? My babies, please, my babies. One woman, two lives, and the truth more terrifying than anyone could imagine. They had her as one of the suspects, but they could never prove it. You're going to go to jail if you don't come with us right now. Throughout this whole thing, I kept telling myself,

nobody's that crazy. Uncover the chilling mystery that will leave you questioning everything. A story of the lengths we go to protect our darkest secrets. She went batshit crazy, shot and killed all her farm animals. Slaughtered them in front of the kids, tried to burn her house down. Audio Up presents The Unborn on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes,

entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. You know that rush of endorphins you feel after a great workout? Well, that's when the real magic happens. So if you love hearing real, inspiring stories from the people you know,

follow, and admire, join me every week for Post Run High. It's where we take the conversation beyond the run and get into the heart of it all. It's lighthearted, pretty crazy, and very fun. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia Keys opens up about conquering doubt, learning to trust herself and leaning into her

dreams. I think a lot of times we are built to doubt the possibilities for ourselves, for self-preservation and protection. it was literally that step by step. And so I discovered that that is how we get where we're going. This increment of small, determined moments. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay. Like grace. Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best. And you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the afternoon of April 14th, 2010, Jill and Helga Delisle and their business partner, Peter Wythe, were murdered in the Delisle's home. Sergeant Joe Renaud investigated. I could tell that it wasn't a robbery immediately. It didn't appear that the house was ransacked. It didn't appear that the bodies had been rummaged through.

And for a husband and a wife, all being elderly, it puts an exclamation point on what that killer wanted to do. This was a triple murder inside of a home. But the crime scene was surprisingly clean. So what we had was the three bodies and evidence on the bodies, So what we had was the three bodies and evidence on the bodies, nine millimeter casings, and a missing vehicle that belonged to Mr. Delisle. There was also a series of phone calls to the Delisle's landline.

These calls originated from pay phones around the time of the murders. Plus, there was the mysterious voicemail. I want to put a bullet in your f***ing head. Do you understand that, you little f***ing sucker? You disrespectful little mother f***er. F*** you. He was very angry. He was leaving a message in a very threatening voice and ultimately stated, I will put a bullet in your head. Detectives learned that the person who left that message was the same

contractor the Delios had sued. Yes, the same contractor who they were to square off against in court the day after they were killed. He was a business associate, if you will, and his name was Gino Freire. Prosecutor Amy Orlando quickly learned that Gino had been a thorn in the Delio side for years. These people had been through just a nightmare of trying to protect their business from Gino. He had taken assets. He had mismanaged their property. Gino owed them money. By the time his tab climbed over $1 million, Jill sued him. But Gino filed for bankruptcy.

He had filed bankruptcy fraudulently. And so that morning, that hearing was going to solve it all. It was going to end that relationship once and for all to the detriment of Gino. But instead of collecting that money from Gino, the three never made it to court that Thursday because they were murdered that previous afternoon. Police found the bodies in the Delisle's Las Cruces home. And so it was shocking to everybody. We never had a case where three people had been killed all in one home and all at one time. When investigators returned to the initial 911 call, the Delisle's lawyer even mentioned Gino by name. Okay, and who are the subjects that they're afraid of?

A guy named Ferry, F-E-R-R-I. First name is Gino. Okay, now, do they ever express any sort of fear? Oh, yeah, all the time. Yeah, we were concerned. We talked about it a number of times. He tended to act like a bully. Gino fancied himself what we believed to be kind of a big, scary person. So it's pretty obvious what's going on here. Gino was behind these murders

and he wasn't afraid. On top of that, no one was really sure what Gino did for a living, other than run his mouth. He just seemed to be one of those people that tried to have his fingers in a lot of different people's business. He never really owned anything or really did anything successful in his own right. He just always was like trying to make the next dollar. In other words?

A scam artist, a con artist. Sergeant Joe Reneau took a closer look into Go Ferry's past and found numerous fraud charges. We started to piece together as modus operandi of how he got investors to give him money. He would ask for $150,000 from this guy to buy this apartment complex and then I promise I'll remodel it and it'll be a 50% additional return on your investments. And then when this guy that loaned him the money started yelling, then he'd go out and find another investor to do the same thing but he'd take that investors money to pay back that investor. If the investors

struck a chord with Gino as far as them threatening to sue him, you don't want to f*** me, you don't want to screw with me, and he had a very threatening demeanor and investors were convinced that he might do something to them and they would back off. So there were very few people who risked any civil action against Gino. So we know that Gino threatened the Delios, but could detectives prove Gino was responsible for their murders? We had what I would classify as very little evidence. It was circumstantial, pointing to Gino. When Sergeant Renaud questioned Gino at his home, a few things stood out. He portrayed himself as being a soprano. He was Italian. He wore a gold necklace. He wore a gold medallion. His shorts were always unbuttoned down to mid-chest, and he had a hairy chest.

He just tried to portray himself as, you know, don't screw with me. And his cell phone even had a ringback tone, which was the Sopranos theme song. And all of this would be laughable for a lot of people. But with Gino, it was terrifying. He wasn't your typical suspect. I don't care. Do it. Come to my house. I don't care. Sergeant Reno asked him if he had anything to do with Jill Delisle's murder. Basically says, yeah, I didn't like the mother****er.

But I wasn't there. It wasn't me. I can prove where I was. I was in El Paso, and I was at the gym. I have receipts. He said he was at the gym at 9 o'clock in the morning. And that turned out to be false, because he had to use a key card to check in,

and they had no record of him checking in. Gino also claimed that he took his girlfriend shopping at an outlet mall in El Paso. We confirmed that he was in El Paso, but he was back in town at about 4 o'clock, 4.15 to 4.30-ish. Keep in mind, the police believe the murders took place that afternoon between 4.30 and 6.30 p.m. He said, yeah, I got back into town after some shopping with my girlfriend, and my shoulder was hurting, and I took a bike and laid down for a couple hours.

And to me, that was a red flag. To me, that was a, okay, he just gave us the time span in which we believe the homicides could have occurred. That evening, Gino said he went to a friend's house that got gas, dinner, and groceries before heading back to his mother's house. Whenever a suspect gives me an alibi of a certain time period that is impossible to confirm, in other words, I was by myself and I was asleep or I was driving in the middle of the desert for two hours and it can't be confirmed, that's a red flag to me.

And I put my pen down and I looked him straight in the eye, and I said, did you kill those three people? For a guy who always had an immediate response, he did not this time. And it took him about 10 seconds. He's, no, I didn't have anything to do with that. You know that. You're wasting your time. Detectives question family, friends, and anyone with a motive.

But all roads kept leading back to Gino Ferry, who seemed to almost dare investigators to prove he did it. He was cocky. He was extremely cocky. On the 10th day after the murders, things took a strange turn when the Delisle stolen vehicle turned up right in front of their eyes. The missing car was recovered across the street from the sheriff's department. And that was kind of odd. Jill's missing Nissan Pathfinder sat in a parking lot across the street from the sheriff's department.

It was empty. And it had been wiped clean of any fingerprints, leaving prosecutor Amy Orlando to wonder if someone was trying to send a message. It was as if the car was left as, like, to mock law enforcement. Literally, you could walk from the sheriff's department to where the car was.

Investigators believe Gino was playing a dangerous game of catch me if you can. In the quiet town of Avella, Pennsylvania, Jared and Christy Akron seemed to have it all. A whirlwind romance, a new home and twins on the way. What no one knew was that Christy was hiding a secret so shocking it would tear their world apart. 911 response, what's your emergency? My babies, please, my babies. One woman, two lives, and the truth more terrifying than anyone could imagine. They had her as one of the suspects, but they could never prove it.

You're going to go to jail if you don't come with us right now. Throughout this whole thing, I kept telling myself, nobody's that crazy. Uncover the chilling mystery that will leave you questioning everything. A story of the lengths we go to protect our darkest secrets. She went batshit crazy, shot and killed all her farm animals, slaughtered them in front of the kids, tried to burn her house down. Audio Web presents The Unborn on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Is your country falling apart?

Feeling tired, depressed, a little bit revolutionary? Consider this. Start your own country. I planted the flag. I just kind of looked out of like, this is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. There's 55 gallons of water for 500 I own this. It's surprisingly easy. There are 55 gallons

of water for 500 pounds of concrete. Everybody's doing it. I am King Ernest Emmanuel. I am the Queen of Ladonia. I'm Jackson I, King of Capraburg. I am the Supreme Leader of the Grand Republic of Mentonia. Be part of a great colonial tradition. The Waikana tried my country. My forefathers did that themselves. What could go wrong? No country willingly gives up their territory. I was making a rocket with a black powder, you know, with explosive warhead. Oh my God. What is that? Bullets.

Bullets. We need help! We still have the off-road portion to go. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. And we're losing daylight fast. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, And we're losing daylight fast. entrepreneurs and more after those runs the conversations keep going that's what my podcast post run high is all about it's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories their journeys and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together

you know that rush of endorphins you feel after a great workout? Well, that's when the real magic happens. So if you love hearing real inspiring stories from the people, you know, follow and admire join me every week for post run high. It's where we take the conversation beyond the run and get into the heart of it all. It's lighthearted, pretty crazy, and very fun. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jill and Helga Delisle were found murdered in their Las Cruces, New Mexico home in April 2010. Their business associate, Peter Weith, was also executed.

I lost a good friend. Friends. So I'm sad about that. The loss affected their neighbor, Bob Senecal. We had a service for him at the Farm and Ranch Museum, heavily attended because they had a lot of friends. But one of the tragic parts of that service was that Gilles's heart was donated by the mother of a girl that died in a motorcycle accident. And she was at the services, and it felt like she had lost her daughter twice.

That mother must have been absolutely devastated. must have been absolutely devastated. As weeks turned into months without an arrest, Bob, like many others, lost patience with the investigation. And I was disturbed because almost a year had passed and we've had no results. Nothing has happened. Obviously, the sheriff's department

doesn't know what they're doing. And I think it's time to turn this over to the federal authorities. Bob put his frustration into words and sent a letter to the editor of the local Las Cruces newspaper. I don't want to sound macho. I've seen too much in the way of death. This was another person we were laying to rest, and it was sad. Police very quickly said, this is not a random event.

This was a planned killing. For Bob, it was a no-brainer who the killer was. Gino was the culprit. No question. Because Gino hated him. Didn't hate Helga, and I don't think he hated Peter that much. But he hated Gino because Gino foiled him every time he tried to do something. And I think that's what got him killed.

Prosecutor Amy Orlando didn't publicly name Gino Ferry as their main suspect, but that's who they were building their case against. It's like we knew who the killer was, but to prove it, we didn't have any physical evidence. Gino claimed to have an alibi. But the police were slowly chipping away at it. Their biggest obstacle was the local phone company. Police knew three calls came from payphones to the Giles' house on the day they were murdered. But investigators had been waiting for weeks for the phone company to turn over information

about the location of these payphones. It wasn't until the spring of 2011 that they finally got their answer. The payphones were at a gas station about two miles from the Delisle's house. And we went in and asked them if they had cameras. But prosecutor Amy Orlando's team did so under the radar. They tried to do it very inconspicuous because we also believe that Gina was watching

a lot of the police work. Think about that. The police were the ones looking over their shoulders. My personal opinion was he was getting like some satisfaction after watching us kind of chase our tails. When officers showed up at the gas station, they were thrilled to find surveillance cameras pointed right at the payphones. And so then I get a call later that afternoon and they're like, we found it. And I'm like, what? Detectives managed to retrieve footage from the day of the murders, which occurred nearly 11 months earlier. Luckily, we got the cameras before they were erased. After reviewing hours of footage,

the police finally found Gino's vehicle. The video showed Gino's Silver Lincoln Navigator enter the gas station around the same time the phone calls were placed to the Deliles house. A car pulls up. It has two people in it. They make a call. They get back in the car, and it kind of looks like it fits the description of Gina. There's also someone else driving the car, but that person never exited the vehicle. The car leaves and heads towards the direction of

the victims. But there's a problem. The video is grainy, and the car is parked in the distance where shadows make it difficult to see who the two men are. Police kept searching the footage and discovered that a little while later, another car pulled up and parked near the same pay phone. But again, the phone is far off in the distance, making it difficult for police to tell who it was.

The building sits here and it's a ways on the whole other side of the parking lot. This time, there's just one person in the vehicle. He got out of the car, made a phone call, and then walked towards the convenience store attached to the gas station. Comes into the store, buys a soda, we believe to get changed. The video from the camera inside the store is much clearer. But there's still a problem. You can't really make him out completely because he has a baseball cap on.

The white male appears heavyset. He wore blue shorts with a red and blue striped shirt. This person wasn't Gino. The video shows this unknown man buy a soft drink and then exit the store. He used the change from his purchase to make another phone call from the payphone. Seconds later, he hung up, got in his car, and drove away. So now we know that those two calls in the time frame from the video match up to the calls that came in on the victim's home. Now we have to find out who that person is.

Using Gino Ferry's phone records, the police learn the man from the gas station is named Ricky Huckabee. Ricky was a convicted felon who served 10 years in prison for armed robbery. who served 10 years in prison for armed robbery. He was in his mid-50s, did odd jobs for Gino, and even lived in a building that Gino's mom once owned. When the police searched Ricky's home, they found that red and blue striped shirt he wore at the gas station. But they also found a gun.

The problem for Ricky is that federal law prohibits convicted felons from possessing a gun. We bring him in, and the investigators talk to him about how he knows Gino, what's going on with Gino. We would like to hear your side of the story, okay? Okay. The way those surveillance videos work, they're time-stamped. You're there. You stopped out there at the phone booth and made a phone call. It was made to the DeLong's residence, and you're standing there at the payphone making it. You don't remember calling over there? No, I don't. Well, you did. That's the thing. At first, Ricky was uncooperative and said he didn't remember much, but detectives kept pushing. They pulled out copies of Gino's

phone records to refresh Ricky's memory. You and Gino talked throughout the day. There's about a two-hour or something window that he doesn't call anybody, and there's about a three-hour window that you don't call anybody, but you're there at that payphone making a phone call to the victim's residence after all this happened. So I don't know if you helped him out, if you guys planned it. You guys are trying to implicate me in something I had nothing to do with, and I would have no part in something like that. That's a fact. Well.

No blood on my hand. Ricky Huckabee denied having anything to do with the murders. But police wondered, was he holding back because he was afraid of Gino? He likes the people to have the fear of him. It's just his ego, you know? After some back and forth and some assurance from law enforcement that they'd protect Ricky and his family, Ricky did a 180 and shared what happened the night of the murders. So his version was that he got a call from Gino. Gino tells him, I need you to meet me at the Rio Grande River.

Don't bring a cell phone, and I need you to meet me here at a certain time. Mr. Huckabee thinks it's a little bit odd, but he goes and meets him there. Gino gets into Ricky's car and asks Ricky to drive him to the Delios house. Gino then said he wanted to try to negotiate with them one more time before they went to court. This is my last meeting time with them, so I need you to take me there. On the way there, Gino had Ricky stop at a gas station

to make a phone call. This was captured in the surveillance footage. Gino told Ricky he wanted to be sure Jill was home, but police believe Gino called to make sure that no one was home. There was no answer, so Gino hung up the phone and got back in the car. So Mr. Huckabee drives him there, drops him off. He's carrying a duffel bag, and he gets out, and he's like, well, you need me? And he goes, no, no, I'll get a ride back. Don't worry about it. I'm just going to meet him here. This way they have to talk to me.

He says, meet me back at the river. Mr. Huckabee goes back to the river and sits. After about an hour, he starts to get nervous and he kind of is thinking, well, how is Gino going to come here? Maybe I should call. So Ricky Huckabee drives back to the gas station where surveillance cameras captured Ricky calling the Delisle's house. Again, there's no answer. So Ricky drove back to the river and

waited for Gino. 30 to 45 minutes passed before Gino showed up in the Delisle's Nissan Pathfinder. Mr. Huckabee doesn't ask any questions. He knows something probably isn't great that happened, but he doesn't know that they were killed. Gino explained that he had to get rid of the car and instructed Ricky to follow him. Gino then parked the Nissan across the street from the sheriff's office and had Ricky drive him back to get his vehicle. He goes into the little restroom there.

It's an outhouse kind of restroom. And he is still carrying a duffel bag. And when he comes back out, duffel bag is gone and his clothes are changed. Ricky later met Gino at a frozen yogurt stand where he shared some shocking details. He just confided in me that he did the triple homicide. When did he do that? The same evening. The same evening? Same evening. And he did the man first, the other guy, and the woman. Since Gino built the house,

he had a key and knew the layout. He let himself in, wore a mask and gloves, and waited for the Delisles to arrive. But he wasn't expecting Peter Wythe to show up. When Peter arrived, Gino chased and shot him in the bathroom. What did he shoot him with? I think a 9mm Uzi or something, something like that. 9mm Uzi? I think so. Okay.

What made Ricky Huckabee go from saying he didn't know anything to ratting out Gino? We have to tread lightly on trusting him. So we said, well, you wear a wire. And he says he will. The hope was that Ricky would record Gino confessing to the triple murder. But things got off to a rocky start.

Well, every time it just seemed odd to us because it wouldn't turn on. It would stop. So again, we were a little suspicious of him. Like, why is it not working? When the wire finally started working, detectives heard something startling. Gino kept telling Ricky Huckabee, I think there's somebody snitching me out. He knew somebody was giving us information. And he told Ricky, I'm going to kill whoever it is. I'm just going to kill him. Was Gino sending a message to the police or to Ricky?

We were getting worried because we were thinking that he might be catching on. And how is he finding out this information? And this is going to get bad. With Ricky Huckabee potentially in danger, detectives had to work overtime to put Gino Ferry away. Gino was just a hothead. If you said the wrong thing, it pressed a button and the fuse was lit. And so we had to convince the DA that we've got to charge this guy.

He's too dangerous. But Gino wasn't going down without a fight. He was going to make us pay. He was going to make our families pay. And the battle turned into a full-out war. We had to have the bomb dogs come. We had snipers on the roof. In my career, I've never seen anything like it. All of which would push the people of Las Cruces to their limits.

Nerve-wracking. Very nerve-wracking. This was not your typical game of cat and mouse. Keep in mind, police were contending with a cold-hearted, cold-blooded murderer. Here are the links law enforcement had to go to in order to put Gina Ferry behind bars. That's next time on American Homicide. written by me, Sloan Glass, and is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Todd Gans. The series is also written and produced by Todd Gans,

with additional writing by Ben Fetterman and Andrea Gunning. Our associate producer is Kristen Melcury. Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreinchak. and Andrea Gunning. Our associate producer is Kristen Malkury. Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreinchak. Audio editing and mixing by Matt DelVecchio. Additional editing support

from Nick Aruka, Tanner Robbins, Britt Robichaux, and Patrick Walsh. American Homicide's theme song was composed by Oliver Baines of Noiser. Music library provided by MyMusic.

Follow American Homicide on Apple Podcasts. And please rate and review American Homicide. Your five-star review goes a long way towards helping others find this show. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. From Audio Up, the creators of Stephen King's Strawberry Spring,

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