Two men were arrested and charged with the decade-old murder of three people in Pinyon Pines on Friday. Tuesday, The Desert Sun reported on the new evidence that investigators claim points to Robert Pape and Cristin Smith in the murders of John Hayward, Vicki Friedli and Becky Friedli in 2006.
The new or improved evidence, found in court documents, includes a confidential informant who claims they heard Smith confess to the crime in 2007 – with Smith telling the informant, “Something went wrong and we torched the whole f—ing place.”
Other evidence reported by the newspaper includes:
- Jail call recordings of Pape discussing hiding an unregistered firearm that matches the weapon that killed Vicky Friedli.
- Enhanced cell phone tracking of the suspects, showing they were together and traveling towards Pinyon Pines prior to the murders.
- DNA testing showing a match to Smith on a business card found at the murder scene – which reportedly carries a 1 to 28 trillion certainty.
The attorney for Smith, John Patrick Dolan, is leery of the the evidence.
“That’s highly suspect when you see something like that,” Dolan told the Desert Sun.
Hayward and Vicki Friedli were shot and then left in their burning home in Pinyon Pines. Becky Friedli’s burned corpse was found in a wheelbarrow.
Smith and Pape were first charged in the case in 2014, but those charges were later dropped.
Related: Watch the ’48 Hours’ episode covering the Pinyon Pines murders.
