Good cop, bad cop, but mostly good cop.
Video recordings of the interviews with three of the four alleged participants in a Douglas County murder conspiracy show detectives using every psychological tactic at their disposal to make friends or make enemies — anything to get details.
The result: Within days after the Feb. 23 murders of Amara Wells, 39, and Bob Rafferty, 49, in Castle Rock, three suspects filed into sheriff’s offices proclaiming innocence only to confess and remain there — in handcuffs.
The detectives did their jobs of making the men feel comfortable so well that one talked of calling a lawyer after he was released and another asked if he could go home — after admitting complicity in the murders.
Judge Paul King spent most of the past week at the preliminary hearing for Josiah Sher, 27; Christopher Wells, 49; Matthew Plake, 27; and Micah Woody, 30, watching recordings of the interviews in which three of the four implicated one another. Wells was the estranged husband of Amara Wells.
The video recordings, which yield a detailed narrative of what allegedly happened in the early morning hours of Feb. 23 at 2470 Marlin Way, come off as a better-than-fiction version of “CSI: Castle Rock.” King will decide whether enough evidence exists to proceed to trial.
Prosecutors charge that Sher, an Army veteran who served tours as a sergeant in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, crept from a car driven by Plake to the Rafferty home at 1 a.m. that Wednesday morning
They allege that Sher, dressed head to toe in black and high on cocaine, carried a 4-inch knife with “Operation Enduring Freedom Certified” etched on the blade, a reference to the official designation for the U.S. war in Afghanistan. He allegedly also had a .45-caliber gun purchased by Woody, a finance manager at Rocky Mountain Auto Brokers, where Sher worked, and a small revolver provided by Plake.
Sher was inside the home for an hour. While there, he shot and stabbed Amara Wells and Rafferty. Wells’ 6-year-old daughter ran to a neighbor’s house, away from the man dressed like a “Ninja.”
Arrest within days
Within four days, Douglas County Investigator Jason Weaver, who is now a sergeant, was told by Sher’s co-workers that he was boasting about committing the murders. Deputies arrested Sher that Saturday night.
The videotape shows Weaver entering a small room where Sher is seated behind a round orange table. He reads Sher his rights, and Sher waived them. Weaver explained that whether Sher spoke or didn’t, he had him cold.
“You murdered these people. It doesn’t get worse than that,” Weaver said. “You’re here. You’re not leaving.”
But Weaver also indicated that Sher’s cooperation might help him avoid the death penalty. His tone became more subdued.
“I can tell you feel bad about this,” he said. “You were put up to this. . . . You were going through a rough time . . . .”
Sher was stoic and expressionless. His voice was barely audible. In the courtroom, a prosecutor turned up the volume so loud that coughs sounded like car crashes.
“Help me help this little girl,” Weaver implored. “She saw what you did to her mother. She saw what you did to her uncle. . . . I’m afraid she is going to get killed. . . . Imagine someone trying to kill your child. . . . This is your chance to save her life.”
Sher stared blankly. Then, he spilled.
Dispassionately, he confirmed how he prepared, murdered and covered his tracks. Sher provided exactly what Weaver needed: names of co-conspirators. With one exception. Sher wouldn’t give up a lifelong friend, the man who prosecutors believe drove him to the Rafferty home and discarded his bloody clothes and weapons.
“I know you think I’m a horrible person,” Sher said.
“You’ve done some wonderful things in your life,” Weaver responded, trying to coax the friend’s name out of him. Still, Sher wouldn’t budge.
What Sher didn’t know was that the friend he allegedly was protecting, Plake, was in an interrogation room nearby, caving in to a more aggressive interrogation style.
At first, a sergeant tried to cajole Plake with chitchat about Plake’s naval career and life’s struggles. His demeanor was like Weaver’s as he tried to get Plake to admit that he drove Sher to the Rafferty home. But good cop wasn’t working.
After a break, another investigator entered the room and the tension level soared. In vestigator Ryan Wolfe was loud, profane and insulting.
“There were two people in the car. I believe you were one of them,” Wolfe’s voice boomed.
“Oh, wow. No, sir. . . . I’ll do anything to prove it wasn’t me,” said Plake, with a horrified expression.
“I believe it was you. You had books about being an assassin in your car. . . . We’re not going round and round like this is a (expletive) Mexican merry go round. . . . If you lie to me right now, you are going to be unbelievably (expletive),” Wolfe said.
Plake began to confess.
He admitted that he helped Sher scout the Rafferty home days before the murders, bought black clothing and a holster, gave Sher a revolver, drove him to the house and disposed of Sher’s “garbage” afterwards. He thought Sher wanted to rob, not kill.
It was clear that Plake, who faces multiple life prison sentences, didn’t comprehend his plight.
“I know I can’t go back to the military after this … . . .,” he said. “I know I’m going to do some time. . . . I need a lawyer. . . . In case for some reason I get out tomorrow, I’ll call someone.”
The questioning ceased.
Early the next morning, police arrested Woody, the person Sher had identified as the intermediary for the murder contract. He was the man suspected of connecting Christopher Wells with the “hit man.” Later that Sunday, he sat in an interview room with Weaver, the consummate good cop.
Looking for a confession
Weaver told Woody his fate was sealed.
“I know what you did,” Weaver said. “Do you think we would have sent a SWAT team to your house if we didn’t have you? I’m telling you they talked. . . . You, right now, are the person who can stop this 6-year-old girl from being killed.”
Woody started off denying everything. He vented about the danger his family was in. During the cordial interview, a sergeant let Woody take two outside cigarette breaks, got him two cups of coffee and gave him a sandwich.
Slowly, painfully, Woody began divulging details that led to the person he said was the source of the crime: Christopher Wells, Weaver’s primary target, the man who Woody said had commissioned the murder of his family.
Woody admitted that he had told several fellow employees at the car dealership that Wells offered thousands of dollars to have his family killed. Sher allegedly came to him, and Woody said he told him that Wells could pay $20,000. He had bought a gun with Wells’ money, presumably for his protection.
“He told me he would give me $5,000,” Woody blurted out.
“You were promised $5,000?” Weaver said.
Woody confirmed again. Weaver immediately reached over and shook Woody’s hand and thanked him. Because of him, Wells could never harm the rest of his family, Weaver said.
But in doing so, Woody had also implicated himself. Weaver knew it, but it was obvious Woody didn’t.
Weaver said he had just a couple more questions.
“And then can I leave?” Woody asked.
All four defendants remain in jail awaiting trial. They say they are not guilty.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
