Somebody Lifted Her by the Ankles – But Who?

In the Pinyon Pines Murder case, the autopsy showed that Becky Friedli was already dead when she was set afire. But that would then imply that she must have been placed in the wheelbarrow after her murder. 

Who moved the body?

Becky apparently told a friend that she had just showered and put on clean clothes, expecting Robert to come up. So, she must have had on clean socks. .

The DNA analysis showed two sets of male DNA were on her otherwise clean socks.  Well, this might be a significant clue! Did that DNA belong to Robert Pape or Cristin Smith? 

No.  The DNA did not belong to either Robert or Cristin.  This fact was actually a stipulation in the trial.  This means the jury did not have to question it’s truth.

The same can be said for the male DNA found on one of the wheelbarrow handles.  

The DNA on her socks was from a MALE, but it was definitely NOT from Robert or Cristin!

So, somebody else was there. 

  • How many wrongly convicted defendants have been exonerated by DNA trace evidence?  
  • How did the jury not see this as ‘reasonable doubt’?
  • How can the district attorney’s office even proceed with the trial?

This evidence is case-shattering.  Yet they prosecuted anyways.  And now two innocent men are to spend their entire lives in prison.  Two more families are devastated.

But the D.A. won re-election.

Comments 32

  1. How are we certain the DNA didnt belong to John Hayward, who would’ve used the wheelbarrow previously and easily could’ve been the person to fold Becky’s socks after they were laundered? How can we be certain Becky’s murderer lifted her from her ankles to put her in the wheelbarrow? Isn’t it likely the murderer would’ve lifter her from underneath?

    1. Great questions. The DNA was said to be from 2 UNKNOWN males. Did investigators check for a match with Jon Hayward? We would expect that they did, although experience shows that there are many unexplainable omissions in this investigation. Becky might have been lifted by her torso, or by her arms and legs. But the DNA from 2 UNKNOWN males on her socks was presented as evidence in the trial of Robert and Cristin. Why was it presented? The entire trial is like this. It makes no sense, yet two innocent young men received life without parole, on a 12 year old cold case, convicted by…non evidence. The DNA specifically EXCLUDED ROBERT AND CRISTIN.

      1. If I am remembering correctly, I am pretty sure the DNA was compared to all the samples they had, so it should of been compared.

    2. If it were 2 men, one lifted by her ankles and one lifted by her shoulders.
      They had Jons DNA. The DA said the DNA on the socks was from “unknown persons”

  2. 1. The shoe foot print was the wrong size!
    2. No murder weapon was found
    3. No matches to any guns or shell casing or bullets matched any weapon they these men owned!!!
    4. A card found with DNA was tested not once not twice not these times but the fourth time they find fingerprints on it.
    5. Key witness said overheard a conversation about house being investigated
    Then key witness say’s He received a call from Lois and told him about the investigators going to there place of residence.
    THEN ON TV KMIR SAY”S ( JACKIE CALLED HIM ON PHONE )
    6. While under the influence of alcohol, not recorded a interview was done.
    Different than the first call.
    7. Impersonating a officer
    8.

  3. Does anyone know if the DNA on the wheelbarrow or the socks was ever entered into CODIS?

    Normally this wouldn’t even be a question I would ask, but given everything else that wasn’t followed through on, makes me wonder.

    1. no, I believe it was specified to dna testing to Christen and Robert
      May I also add The results were definitely NOT Christen or Roberts

  4. Makes my stomach churn. This could be me one day. My sister’s. My husband. Too many people are becoming victim to this insanity. Justice system. What Justice? The system doesn’t work. It’s beyond broken. I get angered to see the lives of the wrongly accused and their families being torn apart and destroyed. What burns my ass even more are the people who sit idly by while it happens or the ones involved in the corruption. Then I think about Casey Anthony sitting on a lounge chair smoking a cigarette and sipping on a martini.

    Unreal.

    1. From the onset of any criminal investigation the chain of evidence is completely in police control. It only takes one bad apple to ignore, toss or dispose of a piece of it in any way, or add anything. Justice wholly depends on integrity.

  5. If ONE person lifts a body into a wheelbarrow, they would likely place one of their arms somewhere under its back, and one behind the knees (try it!). No need for anybody to touch the socks.

    If TWO people lift a body into a wheelbarrow, one person would logically hold it near the wrists, and the other person would hold the ankles. In this scenario, we might reasonably expect only one murderer’s DNA left behind on Becky’s socks. As was suggested earlier, the second DNA could have been Jon Hayward’s.

    Of course the socks may have been touched by the killer(s) at some other point.

  6. Pingback: A Tragedy compounded by a Wrongful Conviction | Pinyon Pines Murders

  7. I’m sorry and I understand why you won’t allow yourself to believe in there guilt but sadly they did kill those 3 people. Nobody wants to believe someone they loved would do such a thing and if it were my son I would be saying they are innocent but I am also smart enough to understand eveidence, motive and what good people are capable of doing on any given day. Yes they did kill them and The smith kid was just a follower on this. He doesn’t have the personality or reason to do it but his best friend did and we will do anything for friends. I don’t know them personally and I only base my decisions on facts and painstaking research. I’ll completely understand if you will read this and say your wrong. But deep down you all know and always knew the truth.

    1. There is no evidence tying either Robert or Cristin to this crime. This case was built on misinterpretation of ping data and unreliable hearsay.

      All evidence gathered at the crime scene excludes these two. Timelines presented at trial excludes them as well. There is no actual evidence that Becky Friedli was even the intended target. And leads that clearly should have been followed up on by investigators, never were.

      One glaring indication of a failed investigation is that the driver of a red truck who nearly collides with first responders, is ruled as a suspect-without ever being identified. NO indication from testimony at trial that investigators ever made an attempt to identify that driver. This truck nearly runs head on into the first fire engine to the scene, at the approximate time someone fleeing the Friedli residence would have reached that location in the road. The timing alone should have warranted some canvassing of the neighborhood, to at least find out if neighbors had seen this vehicle. But all indications from the trial is that this did not occur.

      How do you rule out a suspect, if you haven’t bothered to find out who they are?

      Add to this that none of the DNA found at the crime scene was entered into the CODIS database, even though it was not a match to either Robert or Cristin.

      And there was no grid search of the area around the home to determine by what route the killers entered and left.

      This case should be in a training manual of how NOT to investigate a crime.

      1. This was a blotched meth robbery. The way it went down has all the signs of methheads. Bottomline Cristin had absolutely nothing to do with the atrocities.

      2. Javier, Becky’s good friend, identified the driver of the red truck, in his interview with the police, as his friend Nick who lives in the area.
        It’s absolutely incredible to me that they did not pursue him.

    2. Television tends to create subconscious bias. For those of you whom believe that Cristin Smith or Robert Pape are guilty, you’re wrong. How do I know? I know that’s all. It will come out in the book. The murderer(s) and myself are in negotiations now.

    3. Well I’m not a parent of these young men.
      But what I can see, these boys are Innocent. I have served on Jury Duty many times, followed this case
      and attending the trial everyday, I can say without a doubt these young men are Innocent!
      I’m really disheartened for the victims family, because not only have they endured a horrific crime of their loved ones,but the real killer or killers are still out there somewhere! I hope someone out there will take the time and help give the victims family Honest, truthful, factual closure.
      Then free these young men!

    4. Agreed, bodmer a d bombensero are responsible responsible. Corrupt cops using a jail house snitch to stay out of jail

    5. Have you ever watched the 8 min statement Cristin Smith made along with 3 Rangers. Have you ever watched 2 men that are innocent being convicted of a crime they didn’t committ have 4 hours of people and the community speak on there behalf. I’m sure you didn’t high recommend you watch Cristin Smith with his wife behind him sobbing on. Utube Cristin Smith Innocent man. 17 year Olds do not murder for no reason both boys never in trouble ever did drugs. Becky was never the target. Cops could solved this case had they did their job. They are probably involved

  8. Crazy ass meth-heads acting on a bumwire that there was a meth lab or quantity of crank on the Friedli property. Definitely not Cristin’s trip!

  9. This does not look just meth heads that did it, It was personal with Becky’s burnt dolls and photos found near the wheelbarrow. Seeming like a great guy with a family makes these men neither innocent or guilty.
    It does seems a bit strange this site has no pictures of Becky or her parents. Even if the cops and jurors got the wrong men, atleast put some photos up of the victims, at the very least since this site is called pinyon pines murders and you’d expect to see at least one photo of the victims- but nope. If they got the wrong men, it is still a tragedy- if these two are truely innocent, then there are still killers out there who are walking free after a home invasion style murder of a family. photos of the pinyon pines murder victims might strike someone’s memory if these two were innocent. You would think these guys and their families would be hell bent on keeping this story alive and the victims in peoples minds, in hopes that someone or some clue would come forward that exonerates them both without question.

  10. This does not look like meth heads that did it, It was personal with Becky’s burnt dolls and photos found near the wheelbarrow. Seeming like a great guy with a family makes these men neither innocent or guilty.
    It does seems a bit strange this site has no pictures of Becky or her parents. Even if the cops and jurors got the wrong men, atleast put some photos up of the victims, at the very least since this site is called pinyon pines murders and you’d expect to see at least one photo of the victims- but nope. If they got the wrong men, it is still a tragedy- if these two are truely innocent, then there are still killers out there who are walking free after a home invasion style murder of a family. photos of the pinyon pines murder victims might strike someone’s memory if these two were innocent. You would think these guys and their families would be hell bent on keeping this story alive and the victims in peoples minds, in hopes that someone or some clue would come forward that exonerates them both without question.

  11. I’m just reading about this case for the first time, and I don’t know if these two are guilty or innocent, but I can say one thing; the evidence against them seems weak. In their case, where all the evidence seems to be circumstantial and can’t really be refuted, the best way to prove these guys are innocent is to identify who actually did the murders. The families and their legal counsels should be doing everything and anything to get the DNA tested. Tested against CODIS, tested against law enforcement, even independently tested against alternative suspects. Genetic genealogy has come a long way and could also be useful in this case to identify perpetrators who aren’t currently known.

Leave a Reply to Heart Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.