The College Drug Ring Murder

48 Hours

CBS News

True Crime, News Commentary, News, Tv & Film, Cbs

3.9 • 7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The investigation of the March 2001 killing of Danny Petrole, the son of a retired Secret Service agent, revealed that Petrole was involved in a million-dollar drug ring, created and controlled by suburban college students. “48 Hours" Correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 7/4/2003. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	He's scared.
0:07.0	He's 20 years old, and he's facing the death.
0:12.0	They were college students in a quiet town.
0:16.0	Suburbia, rich kids.
0:19.0	Then, one of them, the son of a retired Secret Service agent, was shot dead.
0:25.6	It was really an execution.
0:27.4	It opened a window to a dark world.
0:30.5	None of these parents.
0:31.9	They never would have known.
0:33.4	And a secret network unraveled.
0:36.2	I sold drugs for five years and didn't get any kind of trouble whatsoever.
0:39.3	Kids from the best of families.
0:42.3	Everybody had a future. They were all real smart.
0:46.3	Peter Vansant investigates, dealing drugs worth millions.
0:50.3	What's the most amount of cash you ever had?
0:52.3	Over a hundred some.
0:53.3	For a hundred thousand dollars? Yeah. It makes you a movie star and a small town. Did life in the fast lane drive Justin to murder? And that's what drives these kids. It's the money, and it's a lifestyle that comes along with it. I can't even believe what's happened to me. A special 48 hours mystery.
1:11.6	Isn't it time you confess to this crime?
1:13.6	The Millionaire Boys Club.
1:15.6	I'm Leslie Stahl.
1:28.3	Tonight we bring you a morality tale about the appearance of good and the reality of evil.
1:34.3	We take you to a place where young people grow up with the best of everything and parents believe they can trust their children.
	...

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