I Think My Neighbor Did It

WEBVTT

1
00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:42.560
Discretion. During twenty thirteen, seventeen
year old Tara Willenborg was excited for the

2
00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:46.079
rest of her life. She had
moved out of her family home and started

3
00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:50.039
living at an apartment, which she
shared with her twenty one year old partner,

4
00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:55.359
Josh Lewis. Despite their age gap, family and friends reported that the

5
00:00:55.399 --> 00:01:00.520
couple were happy together, and,
even though they weren't formally engaged, started

6
00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:04.519
referring to each other as fiancees.
Josh was in the process of saving to

7
00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:10.239
buy an expensive ring for Tara,
which he planned on using to officially propose

8
00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:15.040
to her in July that year.
On March second, twenty thirteen, Tara

9
00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:19.879
was sitting on the end of the
staircase that led up to her apartment when

10
00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:23.200
she was approached by a familiar face. It was forty nine year old Richard

11
00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:29.920
Houghton, whose girlfriend lived in the
apartment opposite Terra's. That night, Richard

12
00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:33.519
had been out drinking with his girlfriend
and her family at a bar, but

13
00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:37.159
he decided to go home alone because
he wasn't in the mood to get drunk.

14
00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:41.400
When he greeted Tara, he asked
her if she was interested in hanging

15
00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:47.319
out for a while. Tara agreed
and invited Richard inside her apartment. Later,

16
00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:51.159
Richard reflected on the moment that he'd
seen Tara sitting on the stairs and

17
00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:55.120
admitted that as soon as he saw
her, he knew he was going to

18
00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:59.799
try to sexually assault her. Soon
after, Tara turned on her television in

19
00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:04.400
the two of them sat down to
watch, Richard suddenly attacked her. He

20
00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:07.759
was able to overpower Tera, who
was younger and smaller than him, and

21
00:02:07.800 --> 00:02:13.599
he proceeded to sexually assault her while
choking her. At one point, Richard

22
00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:17.479
looked at Tera and noticed during the
assault she had stopped breathing. He panicked

23
00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:23.199
and attempted to resuscitate her, but
when his CPR attempt failed, he realized

24
00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:25.520
that he had killed her. Now
he needed a way to make her death

25
00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:30.439
look nonsuspicious, and he tried to
stage a crime scene to make it look

26
00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:35.360
like Tera had taken her own life. He grabbed Terra's uniform from the time

27
00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:39.240
she had worked at Subway and tied
the apron tightly around her throat, hoping

28
00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:43.759
that it would obscure the fact that
she had been manually strangled to death.

29
00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:50.159
Richard left Terra's body lying inside her
apartment and fled the scene. Later that

30
00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:54.319
night, Terra's fiance returned home from
his shift at work. He immediately thought

31
00:02:54.360 --> 00:03:00.000
it was strange that the apartment door
was unlocked. The couple always made an

32
00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:02.599
effort to lock the door, even
if one of them was inside the apartment.

33
00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:07.400
In the living room, Josh discovered
Terara's dead body, with the apron

34
00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:13.120
still tied around her neck. He
cut the apron before attempting to perform CPR,

35
00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:17.599
but deep down he knew that his
fiance was already gone. Later,

36
00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:23.960
Josh vividly recalled the moment when he
found Tara. Quote. I remember staring

37
00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:27.599
at the wall blankly, he said, I couldn't move. I wanted to

38
00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:31.560
throw up so bad. Searching desperately
for help, Josh ran to ask a

39
00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:37.280
neighbor in the apartment directly across the
hall. He saw Richard Houghton. He'd

40
00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:39.560
recognized him because he had seen him
hanging around the complex, but the two

41
00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:45.759
of them had never spoken. Something
about Richard gave Josh a strange feeling.

42
00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:49.840
He didn't look like he should have. Josh later said, he didn't click

43
00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:52.960
at first, but when I got
to thinking of it, he looked more

44
00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:58.159
worried than shocked that had happened.
Only a few minutes after seeing Josh,

45
00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:02.039
Richard left the apartment come He fled
to an abandoned gas station in the area,

46
00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:10.159
where he hid in one of the
bathrooms. Now my girlfriend is raped

47
00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:15.199
and I think she's dead. I
need someone here now, ok No,

48
00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.079
she angered vomit. She's in beat
because there's something tied around her neck.

49
00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:21.000
I just cut it off. She's
dead. I can't. I've been doing

50
00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:26.920
CPR for the past twenty minutes.
She ain't coming back. She gets someone

51
00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:29.800
down here right now before I kill
them. They're they're on that way,

52
00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:36.040
okay, because I think my neighbor
did it about the other uh setting them

53
00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:42.680
At this time, on the day
of Terra's funeral, Richard was formerly charged

54
00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:47.439
with her sexual assault and murder.
Simultaneously, the Sex Crimes Divisions of the

55
00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:54.480
LMPD was carrying out some investigation into
an unrelated assault that had taken place earlier

56
00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:59.240
that same year, in which Richard
was also suspected to be the perpetrator.

57
00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:04.959
Clark County Prosecutor Steve Stewart announced his
intentions to make sure that Terror received justice,

58
00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:10.560
stating that he would be trying for
the death penalty and that Richard should

59
00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:15.519
never see the light of day again. TERA's uncle, Neil commented on Richard's

60
00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:19.000
arrest, saying quote, our hearts
are broken and our lives will never be

61
00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:24.560
the same. We relieved that the
murderer is behind bars where he can't hurt

62
00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:29.000
any one else, but nothing he
could say or do will bring Tera back.

63
00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:33.079
Our hearts can't yet imagine a future
without her. Tera was our baby

64
00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:39.360
and always will be. Initially,
Richard was facing the death penalty, but

65
00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:43.240
after he decided to accept a plea
deal, he was sentenced to a life

66
00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:47.720
in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional seventy years. He

67
00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:54.319
pleaded guilty to a wide range of
criminal charges, murder, criminal deviant conduct,

68
00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:59.120
and rape, as well as being
a habitual offender. He apologized to

69
00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:02.680
TERA's family, and he seemed accepting
of his sentence. When he was asked

70
00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:06.199
about the decision to accept the plea
deal, he responded that he was trying

71
00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:11.079
to help everyone out in the family. Tara's uncle spoke for the rest of

72
00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:14.560
the family, stating that they were
trying to remember the good parts of Tara's

73
00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:17.519
life instead of focusing on her death. We don't want to focus on the

74
00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:21.839
horrible way Tara died, he said, but on the beautiful life that she

75
00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:27.759
lived. She brought kindness, humor
and peace wherever she went. We're going

76
00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:32.079
to miss her smiles, her curls, and her cupcakes. This law student,

77
00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:38.199
you know, left Rodolls, friends
and my girlfriend and I came back.

78
00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.759
She was sitting on the steps.
I went back in my apartment.

79
00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:50.199
I come back as she's sting after
hang as? When did you know?

80
00:06:50.519 --> 00:06:56.519
When did you decide that you were
going to attacker? So you plan I

81
00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:00.480
didn't really plan it, you know, he really planning or nothing like that,

82
00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:04.000
because I went into her apartment and
then you know, she was pretty

83
00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:08.439
girl, you know, but I
didn't know she was seventeen. I thought

84
00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:11.959
she was like nineteen or twenty.
You know, would that made any difference?

85
00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:15.639
Not really. I never rate nobody
younger than me. You know,

86
00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:19.560
it's always older. She was crying
and telling you not to do this.

87
00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:24.920
Why did you continue to I just
lost it in my head. I just

88
00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:30.600
lost control. Were you under the
influence? Were you drinking on any drugs?

89
00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:32.399
I went on no drugs. I
mean I was drinking earlier, you

90
00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:38.199
know, the house. So she
was drinking, sundering him the books.

91
00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:43.360
I don't know she was drinks.
So we see, as you said,

92
00:07:43.399 --> 00:07:48.040
this is mark the first time this
is happened. Was that great? How

93
00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:55.800
many? How many times does this
happens? I got she was great back

94
00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:59.920
three or four times? You been
in prison forreat three or four times?

95
00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:03.800
How many rapes have there been that
you haven't been to prison for them?

96
00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:15.959
Why do you rape women? Can
you help yourself? The epathy of the

97
00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:20.759
police released yesterday and said that she
or that you knew they were going to

98
00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:26.160
straight? Is that not true?
Or the usual police that you knew ahead

99
00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:30.920
of time? But this was occur
I didn't tell it. You had a

100
00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:37.039
feeling of any sort before coming into
her house, you know, I mean

101
00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:43.279
she was a pretty girl. You
know. Everyone has said, how do

102
00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:48.679
you feel about murdering? Tread by
it? I wish I could take it.

103
00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:54.000
Bye? How did that happen?
How did you go from just you

104
00:08:54.159 --> 00:09:00.279
obviously ranked women before? Why did
it increase to murder? Was his having

105
00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:03.200
sex with her? Anxiety on me? I guess you know, when I

106
00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:05.080
had my hands around the throat and
I just kept going and going. You

107
00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:09.639
know, I hadn't how strong I
was really putting pressure on her. You

108
00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:15.840
know, I chold, why did
you keep going when she was trying and

109
00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:22.639
telling you no? And I just
blocked her down. You know when I'm

110
00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:26.200
thinking about that, it was too
late. And then when you saw that

111
00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:28.720
she was no longer breathing, take
us through what you did next. It

112
00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:31.799
looks like you tried to cover it
up well, but I did. I

113
00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.399
took her off the bed to try
to get a CPR and melt them out,

114
00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:41.200
trying to provide her. And I
did that for like in fifteen minutes,

115
00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:43.399
trying to get her back, and
I couldn't. I just act like

116
00:09:43.639 --> 00:09:46.200
you know, she did herself.
So I tied out of one of her

117
00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:52.279
aprons or whatever around her neck and
I left. What do you call these

118
00:09:54.200 --> 00:09:56.440
kind of scared? Because I ain't? Did you know I did that?

119
00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:01.399
Crime? It's people who are challenged
with murder and race usually don't speak out

120
00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:05.559
and tell us details about what they
did. Why are you doing this?

121
00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.200
I'm just trying to get closure what
happened in owner buying and help her family.

122
00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:28.039
Oh that's ten minute murder for today
Brief and binge able True Crime.

123
00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:31.000
My name is Joe. I'm the
host and Thank you so much for taking

124
00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.159
the time to listen to my little
podcast today. If you're brand new to

125
00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:39.759
Ten Minute Murder, welcome, settle
in, hit subscribe wherever you're listening,

126
00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:43.440
and catch up on all of the
back episodes of the podcast. There's a

127
00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:46.000
whole bunch, so prop your feed
up and take some time for yourself and

128
00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:50.120
just binge one right after the other. That's the way the podcast is meant

129
00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:54.519
to be listened to. Now,
if you've only got ten minutes or ten

130
00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:56.440
ten or so minutes, then you
know, listen to one episode and I

131
00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:00.960
appreciate you listening to this one.
If you are new here, like I

132
00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:05.840
said, subscribe and then also follow
along on Facebook, Instagram, any place

133
00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:09.120
on social media that you want to, and you'll see the photos that go

134
00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:13.720
along with the podcast. And that
goes for you og listeners too. If

135
00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:16.600
you haven't followed the podcast on social
media, go ahead and do that.

136
00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:18.320
Links are in the show notes of
this episode, or you can go to

137
00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:22.919
ten Minute Murder dot com and you'll
find all that stuff. All right,

138
00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.440
that's going to do it. So
thank you for listening to another ten Minute

139
00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:28.559
Murder podcast episode. I will see
you in the next one.