Dateline NBC - The Ruse

Episode Date: December 9, 2025

When Tom Perez Sr. fails to return home after a trip to check the mail, Tom Jr. calls police — only to find himself the focus of their investigation until a stunning revelation upends the case. Lester Holt reports.Keith Morrison and Lester Holt go behind the scenes of the making of this episode in ‘Talking Dateline’Listen on Apple: https://apple.co/48v6UqzListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1EPrfFZ8uK2z6XgMorqbl3 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight on Dateline. They had gone into the house. There was an obvious smell of bleach. We discovered a lot of blood evidence. Maybe there was some foul play involved here. We believed that something violent happened in the house and that Mr. Perez was the one that did it to his father. Were you convinced that your friend had killed his dad?

Yes. An officer indicated we have overwhelming evidence. How would blood get in those spots? I don't know. You think he's lying to you. Correct. You told him his dad was dead? Correct.

You told him you had the body? Yes, correct. Thomas, that's not going to help anything. It was a really difficult thing to watch. We see you ripping at your clothes, ripping at your hair. They think I murdered my father. This can't be real. This can't be right.

This was the moment that you thought maybe he was done to crack. We just looked at each other, shocked. Couldn't believe it. Still can't. A father missing. A son under suspicion. under suspicion, and an ending that will make your jaw drop. I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline.

Tonight, the ruse. Hello, this is CSO-Pia with Fontana Police. It began in August 2018, Fontana, California. Sometimes he takes a dog for a walk, but... The man on the phone, Tom Perez Jr., was describing how his father, Tom Perez, Sr., went on for a walk and didn't come back. What happened was he went to the mailbox last night, normal, no big deal. He went there with the dog, and the dog came back, and he wasn't around. Tom Jr. and his dad lived together here on this quiet street.

Both were in real estate, though Tom Sr. was retired. Carl Parazza has known both men for more than 20 years. How would you describe the younger, Tom? He's unique. He's extremely intelligent, very self-disciplined. Papa Tom, he's very quiet. He's very opposite from his son. I've known him for a long time. We would go to their house and have a little party, watch sports.

And now Tom was asking him. police if anyone had reported seeing his dad. He told the officer he had wandered off before. You didn't hear any weird noises or anything like that? No, no type of reality, no type of struggle. After speaking with Tom, community service officer Joanna Pina paid him a visit. Hello. She took immediate note of his appearance. His pants are unbuckled. Dad. And he's just kind of, like, I'm not concerned, just standing here, like, oh, hey. Tom told Pina he'd been awake all night, packing to move.

I noticed there was a bunch of boxes, a lot of, it was the house was in disarray. I'm like, what are you doing? And then as you get deeper inside, does this thing become more curious to you? Yes. And you left his wallet in his phone here and his keys? Yeah, because he just went to the mailbox. The mailbox wasn't full. far, just a two-minute walk around the corner.

Did you go check to see if he actually picked up the mail? Yeah, go for it. We went to the mill. And this is the mailbox right here. This is the mailbox here. The mail that from the day before was still there. Why he didn't get the mail? I don't know. Was he volunteering information where you were having to drag it out of it?

I was asking him. And he wasn't very clear on his answer. clear on his answers. It was very big. He might have just walked to the metro and head to the L.A. Peanut isn't a detective, but her gut told her this case needed one. Recording started. More officers and detectives arrived. Can I kind of tell you where we're at? Obviously, we want to find your dad. So what I would like to do is I like for you to go back

to the station with me so I can use all my resources and all that good stuff. Let's go. Tom left with police as Sergeant Brian. and McLean took charge of a now growing investigation. I noticed almost immediately when I started to go upstairs there was an obvious smell of bleach. What was really telling to me was the shower curtain was missing. We discovered a lot of blood evidence.

Blood evidence that you could see with the naked eye and blood evidence that you could see using a mixture of spray that can show trace evidence of blood that had been cleaned up. Are you talking about smears or drops? All of the above. They brought in a cadaver dog. Was the dog successful in sniffing out human remains?

It did have a positive alert to the odor of human remains within the room. And in the kitchen, investigators found a receipt from Lowe's. Time stamp the night Tom Sr. vanished. Police checked surveillance footage. And there was Tom Jones. Junior, buying large trash bags. It feels like what you're describing as arrows all pointing roughly in the same direction. Definitely, yes.

What was that direction? That the father may have been killed, and his son may have been responsible for it. That was only the beginning. The real surprises would come out later. Wow. I couldn't believe it. We haven't talked about the cruelest thing they did, yeah, which was? I don't think we did anything wrong.

Yeah, let's go. After reporting his father missing, Tom Perez willingly went to the police station where he was interviewed for hours overnight. The whole time insisting he had no idea where his dad was. The next morning, two new detectives, David Janice. and Kyle Guthrie took over. We were investigating a possible homicide. Hoping in Thomas, it's bro. We got him out of the interview room,

went and got him some coffee. Now, detectives asked Tom to take them through every moment from when his dad supposedly went to the mailbox to when he called police. How about a little drive where you drove? Tom led them to a donation site, where he said he'd gotten rid of some things that night while packing.

What's all yours? Just that box. This? What about the bed frame that matches? We came here and we found three bags with the father's clothing that he had deposited. So thinking something nefarious may have happened between the time that he said his dad went missing and the time that he called us. He also led them to a golf course where his dad sometimes played.

And immediately when we got out of the car, he started looking. looking in the bushes kind of oddly. And then he started to walk over to the water hazard. And then while standing next to the watered hazard, he asked me, don't body's float. Don't body's float? No. Is this where you think he's at?

Which seemed to be extremely suspicious. Back in the car, Tom began to get emotional. You're the only one that can help Daddy. If he is in trouble, that's all I want to do. We had a lot of circumstantial evidence. Because of what we had in front of us, we weren't weighing too much on his statement that he didn't do anything.

They took Tom back to the station to ask him more questions. What was your first awareness that both father and son might be in trouble? I got a call. He identified himself as an officer from Montana Police Department. He says, I have Tom here. And we're looking for his father. He said, we'd like you to come to the police station

because we believe he may have committed a homicide. I explained to Carl that, you know, we're trying to get Mr. Perez to tell us what happened at the house. We believe that there were some type of struggle. An officer indicated to me we have overwhelming evidence that there was a murder committed and he committed this murder. Were you convinced that your friend had killed his dad? Yes.

Carl rushed to the station. The freaking evidence, okay, I'm talking to them. They said they have enough evidence on murder. And murder are you, too? Well, I don't care. It's bull-h-h-bo-h-h-h-bo-h-h-h---------- It's all circumstantial, so you got a body. Let's say it did.

Because, nah, do-p-d-d-do. What else makes sense, man? I mean, based on the evidence. Then and then we're really, really, really. really blew the way they say it's his blood. He just ignored. He says, yeah, you know what? It's the wrong, this and that.

He was a little incoherent because he was extremely tired. The detectives tried something else. We brought the dog in so that he would maybe feel a little bit more comfortable and relax. Comfort for Tom and detective said more evidence against him. One of the crime scene investigators did find human blood in the paws of the dog. I know where she got from inside your house. Where all the other blood is that we found.

Detective Janice told Tom a story about another dog. One who had been so disturbed by witnessing a murder, it had to be euthanized. And the dog was so distraught and depressed like that dog is that they ended up happening and put it down because of what I witnessed. They told Tom they were sure Margo had seen a murder too. You killed him. And Margo was there, and Margo saw it. You're watching this interplay.

Yes, yes. And I said, wow. I don't know what tactic that is. I would blood get in those spots? I don't know. But soon, the detectives had something to tell Tom, a bombshell that turned the case upside down. This was the moment that you thought maybe he was going to go ahead.

We thought that. We're on. With water. Tom Perez, Jr. had been talking to police for more than 24 hours straight when the detectives dropped a bomb, news that finally shifted the interrogation. It's not circumstantial anymore. No. They told Tom they had found his father's body.

What happened? I don't know. He'd kill us. Or what is he? We're not getting into that. Well, he's gone. He's in heaven. Tom didn't cry.

He didn't collapse. To the detectives that said everything. You know what's messed up, Tom? We just told you we found her dead. dad and you don't give a f*** not a tear not a hmm I'm sorry what yeah exactly you don't even care you won't even care we find your dad and he's dead they left Tom alone in the room he curled up on the floor clutched his dog Margo and cried you're all right Thomas we'll jump back up man

How can you sit there and say you don't know what happened and your dog is sitting here looking at you knowing that you killed your dad? Look at your dog. That's when Tom started to unravel. Would it be easier to write it than say it out loud? Oh, no, no. Thomas, that's not going to help anything. Thomas. Thomas.

Thomas. We see him literally pulling his hair out, pulling his buttons off. Did moments like that give you pause? Not completely. I've had other homicide suspects admit to murder in the past, and there is a lot of a release of emotion. This was the moment that you thought maybe he was going to do. We thought that. After nearly two more hours of denials, Tom's story slowly began to change.

He stood up, and then he came toward me, and then he said, I'm tired of you. Tom agreed that maybe he did. fly into a rage. Is it plausible that you stabbed him? The scissors? Was it the scissors? So how many times do you think when you were in that rage you stabbed him with the scissors?

If that were the case with scissors or some other knife. I wouldn't stop. He went through motive. He talked about a fight they had in a kitchen, him stabbing his dad. Did he fall down? I don't know. Yes, you do.

Because... Oh. He went upstairs to shower and he did fall down. He mentioned his dad going up to the bathroom and potentially bleeding out in the bathtub. What was he like just covered in blood and you couldn't see anything? Yeah, because the shower's on and it's just all splashing and it's... There's blood everywhere? I pulled them out of the tub. I remember.

Yeah. How did you get an upstairs? Would have been slid him on the carpet? And what is covering him, the carpet? Shower curtain? Maybe that's what that was, the shower curtain. It was a very detailed confession that he gave us. Minutes later, Tom sat alone in the interrogation room.

He removed his shoelaces, tied them together, and tried to hang himself. tried to hang himself from the table. You okay, buddy? Brian McLean was monitoring it all outside of the room. Maybe he was now feeling the pressure of having to face something that he may have done to his dad. Case closed, not even close. You may not believe who I'm about to interview next.

So Tom, who's is sitting next to you? This is Tom Perez, Jr. He agreed to sit down for an interview to tell his side of the story. He says what police called a detailed confession was really just a guided fantasy, directed by them. I didn't say Yeah, I killed him. I didn't say that. Did you stab him?

I didn't think that I did. They said, if you were to kill him, how would you do it? But if you did, where would you stab him? So then he said, did you wrap him in the shower curtain? Are you sure you didn't wrap them up in the shower curtain? I mean, I just kept going with their lead. That's what they call a confession.

Tom told us he was exhausted and hungry. So I'm in the 30-something hour straight with no sleep. Tom says there were innocent explanations for everything police found suspicious, explanations he'd offered to detectives. Where did the blood come from? Not certain, but I do know dad falls. He says his dad had a history of falling, and he offered another explanation. I had been telling them.

They said there's no blood, and then if there were blood, it had to be probably from he checks his diabetic prick, he likes to prick the thing, and he walks around. So if there's any blood, it could be from that. I tried to give answers along the way. And they rejected them? They rejected them, yes. There was some concern about your demeanor, your behavior. My demeanor being how?

The way it was expressed to us from police is that you did not appear to have a great deal of concern for your father's whereabouts? That would probably be correct because he's done this thing before. Even though Tom called police, he says he never expected them to jump to the conclusion his dad was dead. He told us the pressure in that interview room was intense, bordering on psychological torture. I'm starting to go in a downward spiral because now we have my father's dead. My dog's going to die.

They think I murdered my father. And you wanted to end it? I wanted to stop. Painful. And why should we believe Tom's story now? Well, he didn't come to our interview alone. So Tom, who's this sitting next to you? My father.

Tom Sr. Tom Sr. Yeah, I've heard a lot about you. I'm sure. That's right. Tom Sr. was not dead. There was no murder. There was no crime. You don't even care we find your dad. And he's dead. You don't even care. Police had lied about finding his dad's body. It's a legal interrogation tactic that the Fontana investigators call a ruse. Prior to all this, did you have any idea that police can legally lie to a

suspect? No, I had no idea. What was it like to hear police tell you that your father is dead? Heart sunk. Shock. So, what really happened? I've got to ask you, where were you? When I started off my little journey to the mailbox, I said, well, it was very nice evening, and I find myself close to the railroad tracks. and I said, oh, it'd be kind of nice. It's still early enough to take a little train ride so that I did. That exact theory was among the first his son had suggested. He might have just walked to the metro and head out of it.

And that's what he did. That's exactly what he did. Destination unknown. Have you seen any of the interrogation tape? Oh, no. A glimpse of it. He brings tears to your eyes. they're leaning by my son

Thomas I said what are they doing when you finally found out that Papa Tom as you know him was alive and well I couldn't believe it what else makes sense man I mean based on the evidence

I said what did I just do his father's alive I trusted the officers I don't understand how they can deceive people like this Have you ever seen a case like this one? No.

No. Civil rights attorney Jerry Steering represents Tom. He spent four decades suing police for misconduct. He says lying to suspects isn't the exception. It's common. What's uncommon is that that doesn't happen until they know there's been a crime committed. What makes it different is that there was no crime in this case. This one, you could argue, they had suspicion that a crime had been committed.

Yeah. And they had suspicion that this was the guy that did it. Okay. So shouldn't they, as police, have the right to follow up on that, per se? Absolutely. Ask him any question you want. But how about when you mentally torture him so badly that attempt suicide in the police station, how about that? Do you think that's bad enough?

We haven't talked about the cruelest thing they did yet. Which was? After they found out that his father. that was okay. They put him in the mental hospital. After attempting suicide, Tom was involuntarily committed and put on a 72-hour hold. All that time, police chose not to tell him his father was alive, saying they were still investigating. So for three additional days, he believed that his dad was dead and that he's going to prison for life and then he knew Ethanize his dog for three additional days. I thought that those cops had no souls.

I thought that they were cruel and vicious and creepy. What do the Fontana police have to say about that? Do either of you think you've done anything wrong? Detectives David Janice and Kyle Guthrie believed they'd solved a murder, only to learn there wasn't even a crime. Tell me when you found out that Mr. Perez was alive. We were shocked. I was shocked.

Based on all of the evidence that we had, we believed that something violent happened in the house and that Mr. Perez was the one that did it to his father. Up until his father was found, I can honestly say that we thought his dad was. dead. Based on that evidence. Knowing what you know now, would you have done anything differently?

I don't think we would have done anything differently. Maybe at the very tail end, if we were going to use a ruse again in the future, we would probably discuss it more in depth. You keep using the term ruse of it, but I want to ask you about lying them. Do you still think it's a useful tool

in extracting a confession? Yeah. Well, he's done. He's in heaven. Do either of you think you have done anything wrong? I don't think we did anything wrong. But to bring an individual to the point where they're trying suicide to the point where they think their dog is going to be perhaps euthanized, to the point they're being told their father, his dad, has been murdered.

Can you understand why people would use the word cruel to describe how you handle this? I could understand that. I could understand that. But I do think that those are three things that are very small part of this in a large investigation. in my view police should never ever be allowed to lie in the interrogation room Stephen Kleiman is a former military intelligence officer who has conducted interrogations around the world he says lying to suspects can result in false confessions while being honest with suspects builds trust and trust leads to truth everything I tell you is going to be

Now, am I going to tell you everything I know? No, I can't. Just like, I'm not going to share everything you tell me with everybody. But that creates a certain level of trust. And this is a judgment based on empirical research by behavioral scientists. We asked him to watch Tom Perez's interrogation. In all, Tom had been with police for more than 24 hours in that room for 17. All three of us know that Daddy's not coming back. The statement of fact that Daddy's not coming back? I mean, that doesn't even border on the ridiculous. That exceeds it by a margin

that should be an embarrassment. Kleinman says he's not surprised Tom broke down, given the length of the interrogation and the lie. False confessions occur at a frequency that would alarm anybody. Tom

felt so manipulated, so pressured, so confused, that he said things that he knew wasn't true. Many people say they would never confess to something they didn't do. It happens. That type of interrogation and that pressure and that breakdown was that intense. I don't think anybody's exempt from falsely confessing.

This year, Virginia became the 11th state to bar police from lying during interrogations, but only to juveniles. Just a handful of states have pending legislation to examine. that to adults. Law enforcement has incredible challenges and... Michael Dorsey is the current chief of police in Fontana. I think it is super important to understand that everything that the officers did is legal. I mean, there are some leading experts who believe that police should never use lying or ruses as a technique.

I understand where they're coming from. We do not always lie to people, but it is a legally acceptable practice on occasion when needed, and sometimes it is needed. Some of the scenes that we see play out, I mean, did they make you wince? They did. I'll be honest. It's uncomfortable to watch Mr. Perez as he has an emotional response to the interrogation.

He tries to kill himself. He does. You know, if you're sitting here with Tom Perez Jr. right now, what would you say to him? I would tell Mr. Perez that I apologize. I apologize for what you went through. What I want you to know, Mr. Perez, is that we are a better policing organization because of this incident. Tom Perez sued the city of Fontana.

Last year, the case settled for $900,000. The city admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement. Would it surprise you to know that the... Police Chief of Fontana, in an interview with us, apologize to you. Yes. Yeah, that would surprise me because they've held the position the whole time they did nothing wrong. How does this affect you even today? Today, I'm more cautious.

If Dad's going to go out to check the mail, I'm timing him now. That's all for this. edition of Dateline, and don't forget to check out our Talking Dateline podcast in which I'll go behind the scenes of tonight's episode, available Wednesday in the Dateline feed wherever you get your podcasts. We'll see you again next Friday at 9-8 Central. I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night.