Dangerous Reunion

48 Hours

CBS News

True Crime, News, Tv & Film, Cbs

3.9 • 7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2023

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This classic episode of “48 Hours" explores a series of 1981 sexual assaults targeting members of the Castleberry High cheerleading team that occurred in and around River Oaks, Texas. In January 1982, the body of Retha Stratton, a former Castleberry High cheerleader, was discovered by her roommate. Fort Worth Police Detective Dennis Timmons quickly focused his investigation on Wesley Wayne Miller, former captain of the Castleberry High football team. "48 Hours" correspondent Susan Spencer reports. This "48 Hours" episode last aired on 8/11/2007. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the 48-Hours Podcasts
0:04.4	Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the app today.
0:09.4	This case began approximately 25 years ago, starting with the serial rapes of several young ladies.
0:34.4	The picture of the Castleberry cheerleaders is chilling. There's no way you can look at that picture and not realize that he was targeting the cheerleaders in that photograph.
0:48.4	My name is Lisa Tickner-Gabbert and I was raped on December 7, 1981.
0:57.4	The impact that rape has on your life is something that lasts for a lifetime.
1:03.4	Throughout that year, there was a classic period of escalation and frequency and violence of the attacks. The attacks ended in 1982 with the murder of Rita Stratton.
1:17.4	The call came in on the evening of January 21 as a call for homicide detective. Immediately upon entering the house, you see a massive blood on the carpet.
1:29.4	I knew that there was a violent struggle that had ensued in that house and one person lost that struggle and lost their life.
1:36.4	She had 38 stab wounds. This was one of the bloodiest crime scenes that I'd ever been involved in.
1:44.4	Rita Stratton was a very good friend that I grew up with.
1:50.4	Rita was a quite liked young lady. She had quite a following of cheerleader of friends and people in the community everybody just loved her.
2:00.4	My name is Dennis Timmons. I was the lead detective in the Rita Stratton murder case.
2:08.4	The way she was positioned, the way that body spoke to me, so this was not supposed to happen to me. I had a life to live, please help me.
2:22.4	Wesley went to school with Rieke tonight. He was handsome. He was friendly. It was fun to be around, laughed, smiled. He was just one of us.
2:36.4	I never would have looked at him and said you did that to me.
2:41.4	Wesley Miller is the person that raped all the individuals and eventually murdered Rita Stratton.
2:48.4	My name is Joey Robertson and I'm the lead prosecutor on this case.
2:53.4	Wesley Miller received a 25-year senate.
2:57.4	When the realization came to me that 25 years is all that Wesley would get, I felt cheated, I felt betrayed.
3:06.4	Sometime in 2007, Wesley Miller is going to walk out of prison and there's nothing anyone can do to stop that.
3:15.4	It is a guarantee that Wesley Miller will come out of prison and harm another person if we don't have something in place to protect society.
	...

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