Background
Free Eric Babos
The following case background was compiled from transcripts of the trial.
Eric and John Riebe had been friends for over twenty years, they attended high school together and Eric attended John's wedding. John and Eric worked together on and off for the last 8 or 9 years.
On Friday December 10, 2004 John had a party at his house which included drugs, alcohol, and prostitutes; the drug dealer who supplied the party was Valynn Rodgers. While at the party, Valynn Rodgers brandished a handgun and stated, "You guys better not be cops and nobody better fuck with me."
On Monday December 13, 2004 John and Eric finished a sub-contracting job started the previous week, and went to A-1 Heating to receive the pay. The secretary had left for the day so the owner, Mr. Pfiefer, advanced the pay to John as he had done in the past. Eric and John split the money and drove home.
They did not work the following day. The day after that, Wednesday December 15, was the day John Riebe was murdered. John and Eric intended on going to A-1 Heating to get the balance of payment owed for the completed work.
On December 15, Eric called John at 6:30am and asked about working and getting the check from A-1. John said call back as he needed more time to get ready. From past experiences Eric believed John had no intention of working that day.
Eric called his brother Greg who was at work at 8:52 am to line up another job. Greg had a vacant home that needed remodeling. Greg said he could do the work so Eric called his father and asked for a ride.
His father said he would pick him up soon after a 10:30 am appointment.
When his father arrived they stopped for coffee and arrived at the house on Westacre by 11:00 am and surveyed the work to be done. His father left about ten minutes later.
While working, Eric called John Riebe's house at 12:06 p.m., John said his ex wife Lisa would pick up the check.
At 2:26 p.m. after not hearing from John, Eric called John's house again. John sounded very anxious and told Eric that he needed some money.
John's ex wife testified she received a voice-mail from John at 2:58 p.m. asking her to pick up a check from A-1 Heating.
At 3:00 p.m. there was another voice-mail, with John stating there is "someone" there waiting for his money. Lisa testified that John sounded panicked.
On December 15, 2004 at 3:03 p.m. John called A-1 Heating on an unpublished contractor number and asked manager Dan Boyle if his check was ready, Boyle said it was.
At 3:06 p.m. a second call was placed from John's house to A-1, again answered by Boyle; the caller said, "I want my fucking money" and identified himself as "Eric, John's helper." The caller put John on the phone and Boyle told him the check was waiting. During the short conversation, John made no reference to the identity of the person who made the call. Boyle had met Eric a few days prior but testified he would not recognize him from that meeting.
At 3:08 p.m. a third call was placed from John's house to A-1 Heating and owner Bob Pfiefer placed it on hold before talking with anyone.
At 3:13 p.m. a fourth call was made from John's house to A-1, answered again by Pfiefer, the caller identified himself as "Eric" and said "I want the money you owe me."
A school bus dropped off John's daughters in front of their home between 3:16pm and 3:20pm on December 15. They didn't have a key so they climbed in the window, and saw their father, John, lying on the floor. 911 was called.
At 4:02 p.m. Eric called John's house and asked to talk to John and said he wanted his money. John's daughter stated something was wrong with her father and he could not come to the phone, she testified Eric was complaining about his money and stated she was upset during the time of the call. Eric was not aware John was dead. Detective Caldwell was at John's house during this call and told her to hang up the phone. Phone records show that Eric tried to call again but no one answered.
A minute later at 4:07pm, Eric called the number for A-1 Heating that his brother looked up for him; Mr. Pfiefer answered. Eric identified himself and stated something was wrong with John, that he might be in the hospital, and asked about the money that was owed. Pfiefer assumed he was speaking to the same person who called an hour earlier who had also identified himself as "Eric" and indeed, months later, at trial, after learning from detectives that they believed Eric to be the killer, Pfiefer testified he recognized "Eric's" voice from the 3:13pm call to be the same as that of "Eric" during the 4:07pm call. Pfiefer had never spoken with Eric, either in person or on the phone, prior to the 4:07pm call that day. Detective Caldwell testified there was nothing remarkable nor memorable about Eric's voice.
Eric's brother called him at 4:24pm to say he had left work and would be at the Westacre house soon. When he arrived, he went inside and saw the work Eric had done. Eric and his brother then went to the bank and ran some other errands.
Two days after John's murder, Eric's house was searched, nothing was seized and no evidence of any crime was found. Two weeks after John's death, December 29, 2004 Eric was indicted and charged with John's murder.
There was no weapon ever found.
There was no blood evidence.
There was no eye witness.
No gunshot residue was found on a police swab taken of his hands the night of the murder when he went to the police to help, because John Riebe was his friend and employer. Crimelab test results found over 1000 mineral particles but no gunshot residue.
Trace amounts of gunshot residue were found on a left sleeve taken two weeks after the murder. Eric is right handed and the transference of that residue from someone or something after the murder is how we believe it got there.