The other part to keep in mind is if it wasn't Steffon Moon, there was no one else's DNA there. I was dumbfounded. He insisted again and again that he was innocent, that this was all a mistake and it was not a rapist. In the end, it didn't take very long at all. I was feeling this intense need to figure out who had done this and fear for who. How do you wrap your mind around the fact that somebody you trusted did this? This is not real. I had nightmares about this case. You know, just come up in there and I've never met you before. I thought he had left me for dead. And then it was. Amber, after all, was slated to be their star witness and they needed her to help seal the case here for the first time since that night in the park, she would finally confront Simon face to face. Why would you attack somebody to such a degree if you didn't have a grudge against them? They have more than 20 years of experience providing online education to the military and working adults and offer low tuition, no cost digital materials and scholarships for those who qualify. Get started today at UMG Dot Edu Slash podcast. How could I not figure this out? And the thing is, you could miss certain threats to your identity by only checking bank statements and monitoring your credit. And for a minute it was like old times. The trial began in the Fort Collins courtroom in August 2013, nearly six years to the day after the attack. By 2015, the Amber Smith duct tape case was old news in Fort Collins at Colorado State University. What is the sense or the level of responsibility that comes crashing down on your shoulders when you see a thing like that? With an electrical engineering degree, practical work experience for various electrical contractors, and studies in circuitry design and electromagnetics, he is able to leverage his experience across the patent prosecution, IP litigation, and technology transactions areas. She was like, You need a call sehbai. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into or what's going to be at the end of this drive. I did not hurt you. The case colder than the Colorado winter. Well, I'm going to do my best to make you as comfortable as possible. I showed her a picture and she said, oh, my God. When Dateline continues. It became very clear that whoever had done this to her was a stranger, a stranger who'd managed to avoid capture for whatever else she'd probably done, someone who had had the bad luck to encounter at a moment of vulnerability. So I remember how I told you about that stuff that happened to me in 2013 about that guy that broke my jaw and stuff. You just kept stammering and kept denying and denying. What's the next thing here? Eric did agree to provide a sample of his DNA, which Detective Seymour got to the lab. And if they could only find her attacker, arrest him, put it where he couldn't get at her anymore. A young woman survives a brutal attack and detectives work tirelessly to find a suspect. We have that. But was he still here in Fort Collins planning his next attack or long gone? She ended up getting pregnant with Gabriel and our relationship kind of grew from there. Keith Morrison reports. And yet Amber could not believe that the man in the picture was him. I felt just like I had failed. So she went on Facebook and found this picture. Couldn't Sam. A podcast hosted by Dateline Producer Dan Slepian tells the story of a man convicted of murder and the letter that changed their lives. There's been an update in your duct tape case where at that moment were you thinking, like, we got it. So I would be talking to her Detective Seymour, one on one as tears rolled down his face. Yeah, you got the guy. It came from the stolen bike that turned up at the pawn shop, the DNA swab of The Bicycle Thief. So I would drive my police car through the park. I thought about my son. That was a place for her to call home there. Can't die. He had to be out there, was he watching? Associate Bryce.Bailey@gtlaw.com. As the young cop approached. A romantic Valentines Day evening at the park turns into a horrifying crime scene for married couple, Stacey and Richard Schoeck. All hesitated. She was settled in and happy. I didn't hurt you. So the police contacted me and said, your DNA matched up. The county sheriff calls for a full-on manhunt and the search for Denise Hallowell's killer begins. But he also knew, I believe at that point in time that something had happened to Amber because he was in connection with other people that she knew. The red that I was seeing was a red duct tape, her hands just bound and duct tape, her hair matted across her face bound and duct taped, her eyes covered. I wanted him to say I did this to you and I'm sorry. Amber Heard's Dateline interview is happening tonight, Friday, June 17, at 8 p.m. EST on NBC. Moon. Amber was there in court listening to all of this. So I started to scream through the tape as loud as I could, and I was trying to break free from the tape. Officially, it wasn't even a case anymore, the Amber Smith investigation was closed two years after the attack. Resides in Palm Springs, CA. How do we not know who this guy is? We got some news about the duct tape case. I actually feel a sense of hope now. She's naked, she's bound, there's just red all over her face. Lester Holt anchors NBC's signature newsmagazine. Everyone's a suspect when you don't know who they are. I'm Lester Holt, thanks for joining us. It wasn't him. The DNA said he had to be the man who attacked her. We expected that it would either hit to other cases or to an offender in the database or of course, to the last person I remember being with Eric Vannak. You can change this. Yeah, definitely, if I went and intoxicated or at that park that night and none of this would have happened, you know, it deserved for that to happen. She was wearing only a sock on one foot. But his story did seem to explain how his DNA could be on Ambriz body consensually. Yeah. The two of you polished off a bottle. They just said, say what you want. Yeah. Amber, who refused to call herself a victim, even faced her attacker in . Twenty fifteen. So a partner of mine and I went to the church to contact him there. Yeah. I feel like I can finally move on with my life. I can't leave my son behind. Provide false information to a pawn broker. Almost exactly six years after a then 20-year-old Fort Collins woman woke up naked and bound with duct tape in a . It's truly, at times feels like the weight of the world to know that I am responsible for figuring out all these parts and pieces, putting them together so that everyone's safe, including me not just solving the crime for her, but for the whole town. She had several friends that he brought up that may have been involved in this. Eric echoed Amber story about drinking and Roxburgh Park having one too many in amber falling asleep. Oh my God, Amber, I, I, I don't know what to say. No, I can't die. And as I swung my car around the headlights car on the service road, instantly my heart just jumped into my throat. It's just awful. You're afraid you failed. And new crimes were demanding attention. I'm a nurse and I say all I hear is that Shamoon was an unlikely suspect for sure, and he'd offered alibis. We couldn't figure out we had everything we needed as far as his DNA to figure out who he was, whoever he was, his behavior, duct taping and torturing his victim was unlike anything that had happened before in Fort Collins. As he bent down to help, a fellow officer snapped these pictures and then sitting there in the cold, concrete, naked, afraid and terrible pain, a young woman looked up and told him her name. I would never be able to fully, you know, move on from it. Updated: Sep 24, 2020 / 04:05 PM EDT. She said there's been an update on your duct tape case. And yes, no surprise, Amber, just 20 years old, had also been raped. And when I saw her driver's license picture, it was nothing like the person that was laying in that bed. I still questioned would she have it in her to testify? Well. The killer has never been caught. And I remember it was like a one, two or three. Take a look back at the case in our Dateline Crime Capsule. I was. And then some words were said to me, words we are simply not going to repeat. But in 2013, when they did when investigators asked Craigslist, was there any such ad at the time? Yeah, and he was eager to provide me with a sample of his DNA to exonerate him. Then she drove in. Bender's Big Night Helps Hillcrest Past Regina. So that tells us that the same individual that sexually assaulted her left DNA on the duct tape that was wrapped around her body. Amber, that's I, I remember you talking about that and that's sick. Lost consciousness, and then she woke up in a cold piece of pavement in a different part, now naked, but for the red duct tape that bound her. She was afraid because she didn't know who did this and confused. No kidding. Get your free dark web scan at LifeLock dotcom slash scan. Coming up, Sam's parents say a brutal attack is just not in his character. I know I'm going to do that. That one took a while. So she fought, struggled to breathe, and then the rope got tighter. So the owner called the cops and who was the owner? So there was this tremendous amount of pressure to get it right. She's bruised and beaten and bloody. . And should he be able to walk around in our community that it's just a matter of time before he goes off again? At the Desk of: Justin Ratchford, Dateline Meet Justin Ratchford, an assistant producer for Dateline. It's you. Call it a small consolation. And then she focused on raising her son. It's what they do. I did not hurt you, Amber, but that was a terrible thing to say. No, I wasn't so interested in. How is this guy not in the system? So we could see where we go. This byline is for a different person with the same name. I thought I would come back for me, even in the safe houses. She became very isolated and she was very self-conscious about everything and everybody that she was around. Amber passed out at an outdoor picnic table. Well, upsetting thing to have your bike stolen, as anyone knows who's had it happen. While in Asheville, North Carolina, for a new episode of Dateline, our producers met local musician, teacher and historian of Asheville: Wayne Erbsen. It was a kick in the gut. Did you see anything that suggested what eventually happened to her? Yeah. Greater Memphis Area. They came back something. I just sobbed and I just remember, like looking at the jury and like why, like I was angry and understand I cannot begin. After Sam's arrest, Detective Seymour and her colleagues went to his parents house and, well, the others searched for evidence. We're not his. In September 2012, the search for Skylar Neese was intensifying. And then Sam told a whole different story about that terrible night. There was some around here a while ago. | Reuters. Take a look back at the case in Dateline Crime Capsule. I'm sorry I didn't hurt you. No one can prevent all identity theft or monitor all transactions at all businesses. 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