Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Secret Evidence: ‘Persons of interest’ remain in Missy Bevers murder probe

Episode Date: April 18, 2017

Midlothian, Texas, police still have “persons of interest” in the Missy Bevers murder probe, but they are keeping key evidence a secret for now, Assistant Chief Kevin Johnson says. The chief breaks a 6-month silence about the case on the first anniversary of the fitness instructor’s death in this episode, telling Nancy Grace and Alan Duke why investigators have been so “judicious” in what they make public about the shocking murder inside a church. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. The murder case of Missy Beavers continues to stump investigators. In the early morning hours of April 18th, Beavers, a fitness instructor, a mom and wife, showed up at this church to teach a class. Police says she was killed by puncture wounds to the head and chest. This person intended to do exactly what they did, when they did it, and whom they did it to. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The circle of people who may know what happened is likely very small. There has to be some link between her death and people in her past.

Investigators have poured over Beavers' internet history and executed multiple warrants, but say today the ID on this suspect will come from a tip they still haven't received. Twelve months later, investigators are still searching for her killer. Today is the one- year mark of the murder of a Midlothian, Texas mom, Missy Beavers. Her killer was caught on camera. We know the killer's size, their approximate weight, even their gait.

I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. It seems as if the police force, in fact, the entire community has gone DEFCON 4. They're silent. Nobody's talking. But today, we remember and we want answers. What happened to Missy Beavers? Who killed her? Midlothian Police Assistant Chief Kevin Johnson spoke to us to discuss Missy's murder on the first year mark of the brutal attack there inside Creekside Church of Christ.

Johnson has not spoken publicly about Missy's case since last year. Alan Duke is with us. Nancy, before we hear Chief Johnson's interview, let me share with you an email that I got yesterday from Brandon Beavers. He's Missy Beavers' husband. He's been silent also for some time, about six months since he gave an interview or anybody from the family. And this is what he told me in response to my request that he talk with us today. The family has unilaterally decided not to do any interviews. We have elected not to memorialize the date of the event, but to celebrate her life in private instead. Chief, thank you for talking to us today. It's been one year since

the brutal death of Missy Beavers. What is the latest that you can tell us about the Midlothian Police Department's investigation? Well, it continues to be an open and active investigation. Obviously, the tips have slowed, but we continue to work through every bit of information we have. We have a full-time investigator assigned to this, as well as continuing our collaboration with our other investigative partners, particularly the FBI. Your department and you have been pretty quiet about this over the last several months. Should we interpret that to mean anything? You know, I think what you have to realize is our investigative strategy and our media response are two separate things.

We decided early on that the investigation would come first, and I think we've stuck to that when there hasn't been anything to say. We haven't gone out there before the media just for the sake of doing so. That, to some people, means that nothing is new. Or I think some people have mistakenly assumed that we're not working on this case. And that's far from true. Like I said, obviously, the tips have slowed down since the early months of the investigation. And when we've had the time, we've gone back over information, conducted follow-up and repeat interviews,

got fresh eyes to look at the case. Nobody here has forgotten about the case. That's certainly at the case. Nobody here has forgotten about the case. That's certainly not the situation. I think it's safe to say that in a small town, and what do you got about 20,000 citizens in Midlothian, it's a lot harder to deal with an investigation and the media as opposed to a big city where not everybody's everybody's neighbor and everybody knows everybody. Is that safe to say? Yeah, that's probably an accurate statement. Because when there's a news report or speculation, let's just say speculation, it can make things uncomfortable and more difficult for investigators. It can. It can. And again,

you know, we just didn't want attention for attention's sake or media for media's sake. And I know that's been frustrating to some people, but we've been very judicious with the information that has been released. And there's a lot of information that hasn't been discussed and that we haven't responded to because we want to protect the integrity of this investigation. There are some people who think that that makes us less transparent and that because it's been a year, we should just open the books for the whole world to see. And clearly that's not a reasonable approach to any kind of police work, more especially an investigation as important as this. Is there something the public can help with?

I know that not long after this murder, you put out some video and you put out the image, that car of interest, for example, at the gun shop. Is there anything that people can look for or anything specifically you would like the public to be aware of? No, not that we haven't already said. I do want to encourage people if they have information that for whatever reason they haven't shared, maybe they didn't think it was important enough. You never know what tip may be helpful in this case. And when we combine that with information we already know, it could be productive. So if there's anybody who hasn't come forward that has something to say, we certainly would encourage them to do that. Are you still wanting people to keep an eye out for the

potential car of interest, that Nissan Altima that you tweeted about? Is that still a thing that you would like people to be aware of? Absolutely. That's still a component of this investigation that's an unknown. And certainly, yeah, we would definitely love to locate that car and that driver. I know there are people who look very closely at those images and try to figure out what they can from that. So it's an active investigation. You have detectives working on it regularly, and Missy is not forgotten.

I think that's the message today. Absolutely. Again, you know, you have to be careful drawing conclusions from, you know, a lack of us, you know, being out on the front steps holding conferences when we don't have information that needs to be shared. And I think the layperson believes, hey, the more information the better because you just never know what will happen. And that may sound good until you realize, you know, someday we're going to be sitting in an interview room with this killer and anybody with a computer is going to know every detail about this crime. And that's not a good position

to be in as a police officer or the prosecutor of the case later on. So obviously, we're going to treat this investigation very carefully and, again, be judicious with the release of information. I think it's interesting that you do have to have the perspective that someday this will be in the history books in a way, and people will look back and then they're going to find things to question and criticize. So you have to make sure every step you take is the proper one. Absolutely. And listen, I'll say this, you know, when this investigation does draw to a close, we will open the books. And I would just ask people to reserve their criticism for that day. And if we find then that there were mistakes we made,

then by all means let's discuss it. Give us an opportunity to explain it. We'll all learn from it. We have probably made a mistake or mistakes that we don't yet know what those mistakes are. But we certainly are, we think our investigation is defensible. We think our effort is the best that this case could have. And so, again, one day the books will be open and everybody can make their opinion then.

I don't think it's fair now before all the information is known to draw conclusions about the investigation or what should or shouldn't have been done. Everybody working on this case is dedicated to finding justice for Missy, and that's our guiding principle when we make a decision about the release of information or an interview or press conference. Again, the investigation and what we do with the media are two different things. I think the public's interest in this case, in particular in our community, is obviously just a reflection of how concerned they are about this case and how concerned they are about our efforts, and I get that. But the speculation, it goes with the business for us, the criticism

and the speculation. But goodness, we're talking about a human being here with a husband, a mother, a father, three beautiful girls. It's not just the subject of public interest. I mean, it's a person. It's a member of our community. And some of the reason and order and statement, to the extent that I think some people feel like they can't answer a question correctly because it'll be picked apart in social media, and it'll lead to more insinuation or speculation or assumptions.

And certainly we wouldn't let that prevent us from putting information out there that needed to be put out there. But it's an interesting challenge. It's a frustration, I think, as the policing field adapts to, if you want to call it the social media age. You know, we've got to learn how best to capitalize on that. The assistant chief there in Midlothian, Kevin Johnson, states that his department is still actively investigating. There is one detective full-time working with the FBI, other agencies as

well. When asked why the case has gone silent recently, he states that, quote, the investigation will come first and are not talking if they don't have anything specific to say. Nancy, Chief Johnson says in this age of the internet, when anybody can learn everything about a case just by searching, that it could jeopardize their investigation to make public all of their evidence, especially when they bring a suspect into the interrogation room. They'd like that person of interest to be a little bit in the dark about some of the details. So there is evidence they're not sharing with us about Missy's killing, and it sounds like it's important evidence. Detectives so far have come through 1,400 tips sent in by the public in the past year, but as he said, that flow of tips

has slowed. There is a $50,000 reward, by the way. While family and close friends are ruled out from suspicion, there are still several persons of interest that detectives are looking at. And what do police know about the killer based on that video? They have determined that this person is between 5'2 and 5'7. That's short for a man, not short for a woman, and walks with a distinctive gait. Chief Johnson says that his detectives are split on if it is a woman or a man. And investigators also are split on if Missy was targeted by the killer or if it was just a random attack. And you heard Chief Johnson confirm that Nissan Altima, seen in the gun store parking lot in the hours before the murder,

that car is still a vehicle of interest. Then why haven't we heard about the tag plate? He also talks about how social media speculation has complicated the investigation, especially in a small town like Midlothian. Yes, Facebook and other social platforms can help, the chief said, but they also can create unwarranted suspicion and fear that can, well, complicate the investigation and cause problems inside the small town. Our prayers continue for Missy's children, her family, and our search for justice goes on in the murder of Missy Beavers.

Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.