Dr. Insanity - A Detective Tricks Guilty Suspect Into Confession

Episode Date: December 4, 2025

This is the case of Lee Rodarte, who infamously was smarter than the detectives but still fell short. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I don't know where she is. Where is it? No, no, no. What did you go with her? I know you're not that cruel inside. I'm begging you, Lee. Just tell us. I don't know where she is.

This is Leera Darte, a man taken into custody for being sustained. suspected of kidnapping and killing his co-worker, Savannah Gold. With no ideas of where Savannah could be, the cops knew getting this interrogation wrong could mean they might never catch the killer. What's even worse is that Lee had a foolproof story that was going to make sure Savannah was never to be found. Lee, however, is under the impression that he is smarter than the detectives. Little did he know, this would be a massive mistake for him.

On the 2nd of August 2017, Savannah's family received text messages stating she was running away and quitting her job. The messages were riddled with errors causing her family to panic and report her as missing immediately. Throughout the investigation, the police were grasping its straws until they were suddenly sent the CCTV footage from the Bonefish Grill where Savannah worked. The video shows her getting into a silver car in the parking lot before it began to shake violently, with the door being thrust open and pulled shut three times. The car then drove out of the parking lot and Savannah was never seen again. After a series of interviews, they discovered the car was identical to Lee Radarthe's,

a manager at the grill and boyfriend to Savannah for around two months. Lee was immediately arrested on suspicion of murder and brought into the interrogation room. However, he was told by police it was for an unimportant traffic warrant, and that's when the following happened. I'll say right out of here. You can go ahead and have a seat for me real quick. I'll be right back, okay? Yes, sir.

Being told the detective will be right back, obviously implies to Lee that he won't have to wait long to be seen. But it'd actually be 90 minutes before anyone enters the room again. Only a few days ago, Lee was interviewed about the disappearance of a girl he kidnapped, and now he's been handcuffed and taken into a police interrogation room. Lee will be feeling incredibly anxious now. But remember, he's confident that there's...

no way the cops have enough evidence to take him down. But unfortunately for him, the facade the detectives put up is all about to be ripped away. Hey, man. Good, good. Do you remember me from the other day? Detective Reeves? Okay. Um, this is my partner, Detective Saly. The detective that enters isn't the same one that brought him in. It's the one who interviewed him about Savannah three days prior. Any comfort he found in thinking this was all unrelated has now... At Capital One, we're more than just a credit card company. We're people just like like you, who believe in the power of yes.

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I've been completely taken away and replaced with pure panic. But Lee's plan remains the same. So he tries to keep himself composed as he prepares for the onslaught of questions he's about to be hit with. So, Savannah, you said that you knew her and you guys had, you knew her from work. I mean, just kind of fill me in with that. How long have you known her? Like I said, I have known her, obviously, since you've worked, since you started working there. I would say probably about eight months ago, we started hanging out outside of work.

And at the time, I had a girlfriend, but kind of, you know, we kind of connected me into the So we hung out a little bit here and there. Got pretty close. We come from, I guess, somewhat similar backgrounds, I guess you should say. The question Lee was given was how long have you known Savannah? A question that surely merits a fairly simple answer. When hit with a question like this, people who have nothing to hide keep their responses short, taking the questions at face value.

But people who feel pressured will usually extend their answers to questions in an effort to seem as though they know what they're talking about. about something Lee will fall victim to. So we kind of connected, hung out for a little while. I'd probably say a period of two, three months. Okay. And then she started using drugs a lot. I did them with her a couple times, and then she started to get heavy into them.

Oh, gotcha. Okay. So I kind of just tried to take a step back. and, you know, put things off. And then probably a month or so ago, I saw Savannah at work and she looked healthy again. You know, she gained a little bit of weight. We kind of were talking, you know, here and there. We hung out a couple times.

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Now that the detectives have even more reason to suspect that he may be hiding something, they decide to call him out on something small to gauge his reaction. In the first interview, Lee had told investigators he hadn't seen Savannah in a while. But if the CCTV footage is to be believed, this is a bold-faced lie. And then as we hung out, you know, after a couple of times, she brought drugs over. I told her, I was like, you know, you're doing really good. You can't, you know, you should. shouldn't be doing it again.

I think we moved too fast, split mutual ways. Right, yeah. And that was the last time that we text. When was that? Yeah, what was that? It was probably two or three weeks ago. Okay.

Sometime in July. Right, right. Yeah, and I think that's one of the things you said was that was the last time that you had contact with her as far as, I don't want to put words in your mouth, so I mean, you correct me at any time. That was the last time that I texted. Yeah, text or a text or a phone call or a messenger

or anything like that. Two to three weeks ago. Yeah, okay. And then the last time, when was the last time you saw her? This is what I was, I didn't tell you the truth, when we talked about Fish. Okay. The last time I saw her was Wednesday afternoon. Okay.

I heard that she has been basically telling a lot of people at work that we hooked up, a bunch, like a couple days before that. So I met her in the parking lot at Bonefish. Wednesday afternoon. Okay. Well, you know what time or about? It was about 5.30. Okay. Without realizing it, Lee has already provided us with enough evidence to assume he's guilty.

We know he knew Savannah. He had the same vehicle seen in the footage, and he was present at the scene of the crime when it happened. Remember, Lee has no idea the cops have footage of the event. of the event. If he knew about it, he would have tried to provide an alibi that put him somewhere completely different. Unfortunately, though, this isn't quite enough evidence for the cops to get a guaranteed conviction. Instead, they need to push further to try and extract a full confession, something that will not come easy at all. I parked and I said, hey, can I talk to you for a second? And she said, yeah, what's up? And I was like, I heard you've been

saying some things about me and you continuing to hang out and you know that we're boyfriend and girlfriend and she asked me she said can i come sit in the car get no frills delivered shop the same in-store prices online and enjoy unlimited delivery with pc express pass get your first year for 250 a month learn more at pceexpress.ca because i just did some heroin and i'm a little paranoid. It was never confirmed that Savannah did do heroin. Nobody in her life mentioned seeing or suspecting she used it. And even if she did, she was headed to a shift at her job as this conversation was taking place. If she was able to do that without getting paranoid, it seems strange she couldn't simply have a chat in the parking lot. So she came and sat in the car

and I explained to her the situation. I told her that servers at Bonefish were coming to me and telling me that you're telling people when you're out, that I'm a boyfriend and girlfriend. And I said, I need you to stop. Because for one, this jeopardizing my job. We agreed to, you know, split, stop talking mutually and just move on, but it was nothing more than that. And she said, I'm gonna do what I want.

I didn't tell anybody anything. At that point, I got out and I punched with a hold on the tire. And I said, no, stop. And I said, don't do it again. or next time it's gonna be worse, it's gonna be your windows. At that point, she had her phone in her hand, she got out of the car and walked towards the main entrance from San Jose.

Obviously, this entire explanation was crafted to try and create an alibi as close as possible to what actually happened. But the few small inaccuracies are actually glaring windows directly into the truth. We know that Savannah never left the vehicle in the parking lot, and that she drove away with him just minutes after getting in.

Lee is unwittingly constructing a mountain of evidence against him in the form of lies that he thinks he's getting away with. And he's not finished yet. And it looked like she was either texting or calling somebody, because as she started walking towards the, there's an entrance to bump to the plaza, she was walking maybe towards this way. And I was saying, an older model Ford pickup. Green. Okay. Drove past me and around and she got in.

Okay. How long do you think it was between the time that she got out and started using her phone until that green truck pulled up? Um, maybe five minutes. Okay. So wow, so if she called somebody, they got there in five minutes to pick her up? Well, I mean, like I said, it looked like she was going to call somebody and that's when the green truck came around and she got in. So if she gets in the truck, what happened? at that point?

Um, they drove back around, kind of looped around a little bit. Which way they drive? So I guess they exit that way, and at that point, I left. Lee doubles down on the lie, again, thinking that this puts him completely in the clear, as he wouldn't have been the last person to see Savannah, but his decisions continued to work against him. Had he decided to stick closer to the truth, he might have been able to argue that he took Savannah somewhere else and then parted ways with her. But without the knowledge of what police

have against him, Lee is left simply guessing and forced to make up stories on the fly. This is why it's so important to call a lawyer innocent or not. In an interrogation, detectives are allowed to both lie and withhold evidence from you, putting you in a very difficult situation where you're at the mercy of their tactics and games. However, the second you bring an attorney into the mix, things get exponentially easier, as police are forced to turn over all of the evidence in their possession so they can put together a fair and sound defense for you. Calling a lawyer isn't just having a wingman at the interrogation room. It's an unlocked door that bypasses almost all of the police's tricks. It goes from them interrogating you to a legal battle.

But needless to say, Lee hasn't called the lawyer and has been left at a disadvantage from the beginning. If Lee was as smart as he thinks he is, he wouldn't have waived this right, and likely would be in a much better position. What happened to your neck? That was self-inflicted, actually. Why? I just have been having kind of a hard time. I couldn't, yeah, I did. And what did you use? A knife. When did you do that? Um, some, time in July. You did that in July, and it's still bloody? Yeah.

Well, it's, I kind of peeled the scabble here and there at work, hitting in on stuff like that. I peeled it last night working. And it was coming off a little bit today, so I peel that a little bit. All right, let me see. But this, and this was the same night. This one was just a lot worse than this one was. Okay. And that was in July?

Yeah. Like a few weeks back? Yeah. Okay. It doesn't take a genius to realize how brazen of a lie this is. Aside from his incredibly unconvincing delivery of his excuses, Lee has no history with self-harm and was reported to have been in good spirits in the weeks leading up to this event. Furthermore, Lee becomes visibly anxious here.

Most people have a tell that shows when they're lying or feeling uncomfortable. For many, this is crossing their arms or slouching in their chair, Lee keeps his posture and position fairly consistent throughout the interview. Instead, Lee is prone to subconscious jittery movements in his limbs. Earlier in the interview, while being caught in his first lie, he bounced his leg repeatedly the entire time. While here, he moves his hand and fingers unnaturally, every time he tells a lie.

In fact, it's almost comical how perfectly it lines up with the false statements. I met her in the parking lot at Bumpfish. Wednesday? Wednesday afternoon. What happened to your neck? That was self-inflicted, actually. What did you use? A knife.

It's also interesting to note that the detectives almost certainly noticed these marks just seconds into the interview. The decision to mention it now was a conscious one, done to try and build pressure. Lee would likely have anxiety regarding his last big lie about Savannah exiting his vehicle, catching him so suddenly in a second lie right after, will likely amplify these feelings and cause him to feel even more paranoia, As the detectives continue, this is also likely why they immediately flip back to talking about the truck right after. Could you see who the person in the truck was?

The truck had fairly tinted windows. I saw a baseball cap. Yeah. You see a guy, girl, light black? I couldn't really tell if it was a guy or a girl. Okay. I just remember seeing the truck drive and her get in. And obviously I'm sitting in front and truck drives right past me.

And I saw a baseball cap through the passenger window, but... So it seemed like she knew the person? I mean, she got right in. Lee, why didn't you mention this before since we've been looking for this girl? I mean, don't you think that information... I mean, it definitely does. And I regret, obviously, not seeing anything before. So when I come up and talked to you yesterday, I'm not threatening.

I'm just talking to everybody up there. What? I just, you know, I freaked out, to be honest. with you. I mean... This girl was missing? Yes. Okay. But you know she's been missing.

I mean, you have to know. I mean, obviously, you know, I was the last one to see her. So I was a little bit scared at that. How do you know you're the... You just said you weren't the last one to see her. You just said somebody in a truck. Well, I mean, the last one to see her at Bonefish. Okay.

That the last one she's heard from. Right. I had contact with that anybody knows of. Sure. The detective knows he's starting to catch Lee on the back foot, so decides to keep the pressure up. So where's Savannah right now? I don't know.

Where would I find her? I don't know. That's my prime objective is to find her. And here's a couple reasons I need to find her. One is I'm hoping that she's still alive. And that's really, I really do, I'm holding out for that. And if she's not alive, then I think she and her family are due that knowledge. I think they need some closure.

So where is she? I don't know where she is. Where is Savannah? I don't know. I need to know where Savannah is. I don't know where she is. You don't know because you had something done with her and you weren't involved in that part? I don't know.

Tell me something. What can I work with? I told you the last time I saw her. That's not true because we have proof. We have proof. And that's why we're sitting here, Lee. At this point, we need this for her. I mean, I look at that little girl and I think of my little girl, my little girl who's her age.

That's who I was. who I think about. That was my little girl. I couldn't imagine. I don't care what she said about you or whatever, but my little girl is that age. And you're not telling the truth. Maybe something gets out of hand in the car. I didn't do anything. Okay, you didn't do anything, but she was in your car. She never got out of your car. She never got out of your car. Lee? This is where the true genius of these detectives start to shine. The initially quiet female detective suddenly starts to speak up. The male detective had a very deadpan, professional demeanor throughout the interrogation, so having that suddenly contrasted by a vulnerable, emotional-looking person being thrust in front of

him will likely come as even more of a shock to him, especially as she starts to become more emotive and even starts to beg him. She never gets out of that car and you drive off. She never gets out of that car. There is no green truck and that's not right to her. We're fact finders. have anything personal against you no no at all i mean it's it's we're just fact finders we're just doing our job no no no where did you go with her where did you go with her lee be human you're a human you're a man where did you go with her i know you're not that cruel inside maybe you maybe you don't know where she is now where did you go with her please i'm begging you Lee. I know you're not an eagle person. I don't see that in you. I don't see that in your

history. I don't hear those things about you at work. Is she still at your house? No. Okay. Is she still in your car? No. Okay. Where is she? What was going on in the backseat? For the doors to be kicked open. She kicked open that door three times, Lee. She kicked it. We saw it. And you know, and you know, I'm not. You know, I'm going to be kicked open. She kicked open. She kicked open that door three times, Lee. Lee. She kicked it. And you know, and you know, I'm not making it up because I wouldn't know this because I wasn't there unless we had video of it. Correct? Yes, correct.

I'm not trying to trick you. I'm just a fact finder. I mean, she was upset. She tried to slap me. I slapped her. She went to get out. I grabbed around her waist and said, where are you going?

Where are you hitting me? She calmed down and was left. Why would she be with you after? I mean, we've got arguments plenty of times where she says she doesn't care what happens or anything like that. All right, sometimes people do wrong things, right? Some people make mistakes. It's what you do afterwards. We've got a family that needs closure.

They are now coming to the reality that she's no longer with us. Do you want people to remember you as a guy who said, okay, look, I'm going to do the right thing? or do you want your family and everybody else to think that you're some evil, heartless person who won't tell us where she is? I don't think you're that kind of guy. I don't think you're evil. Just tell us where she is.

Closure for her family. She was hitting me. She wouldn't stop, and I'd squeeze back. I just squeezed her off. Stop. You squeezed her. Around her neck or around her neck. She just wanted to go.

I didn't let go. Where are you seen now? Please tell us. All I want to do is to leave me to. It's a pond on the west side. Of the club du clay. Yeah. Okay.

And Longtamp. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Just a few days later, a dive team recovered the remains of Savannah Gold, burned and almost unrecognizable. So much so that her cause of death, couldn't even be determined. Lee Radarthe pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Savannah,

and in March of 2021, was sentenced to 40 years behind bars.