Beverly Hills 911

0:00Erin Moriarty:Getting dressed should feel simple with pieces that are comfortable, easy to style, and still look put together without a lot of effort. That's exactly where Quince comes in. Quince offers thoughtfully designed clothing made with high-quality materials that feel great to wear every day. From breathable linen to soft cotton and comfortable denim, their pieces are designed to be versatile, lightweight, and easy to reach for again and again, especially as the weather warms up. What really sets Quince apart is the value. Quince says they work directly with their production partners in an effort to skip traditional markups so they can offer the same level of quality you'd expect from higher-end brands, but at a much more accessible price point.

0:45Erin Moriarty:The result is clothing that feels elevated, fits well, and holds up without overcomplicating your wardrobe or your budget. Refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to Quince.com slash 48 hours for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Quince.com slash 48 hours for free shipping and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. Quince.com slash 48 hours. Spring always feels like a reset. The days get longer, routines shift, and life starts moving fast again. And when your schedule is packed, complicated wellness habits are usually the first thing to disappear.

1:30Erin Moriarty:Gruen's makes that part simpler. Gruen's are a convenient, comprehensive formula packed into a snack pack of gummies a day. This isn't a multivitamin, a greens gummy, or a prebiotic. It's all those things and then some at a fraction of the price. Each serving includes more than 20 vitamins and minerals and 60 ingredients, which include nutrient-dense and whole foods. It also has 6 grams of prebiotic fiber. That is three times more dietary fiber than leading greens powders and more than two cups of broccoli. And because you can't fit this level of nutrition into just one gummy, Gruen's comes as a full daily pack, making it both functional and easy to work into your routine.

2:14Erin Moriarty:With ingredients backed by over 35 ,000 research publications, Grooms is built to simplify wellness when life gets busy. Save up to 52 % off with code hours at Grooms.co. That's code hours at G-R-U-N-S dot C-O.

2:39We've all been angry at people that we love. And I think we've all probably done things that we wish we could take back or regret.

2:53October 10, 2017, the Beverly Hills Police Department received a 911 call of an unintended death. What's going on there?

3:06She's found on the floor by her son and daughter. Violet Yacoby was a 67-year-old widow whose husband had passed a year earlier. She was living in that house alone. It was a nice house. No one had heard from her that day, which was uncommon. Daniel Yacoby and his sister, Dina Yacoby, meet at the house. Daniel calls 911. Okay, is she still unconscious? Yes. Yes? Is she breathing? No. Daniel Colby is a 36-year-old son of Violet. He was a dentist. How long ago did you last see her? Like, how long has she been like that? Do you know? No, I have no... He's asked by the 911 operator if anyone knows CPR.

3:55Do you need me to walk you through it, or does somebody know it? No, we're both doctors. You're both doctors? Okay. We have... We're dentists. Never mind. He says my sister's doing CPR. Who's doing CPR? Mike's good sir. During that call, it was just a matter of minutes. The first patrol car had arrived at the house. I'm here, here. The police are there? Yes. This is Violet's house? Yes, this is it. Do you remember coming here? Yeah. It was dark, nighttime. I remember walking up the steps and in the door. And no sign of forced entry? No. It's a large entry doorway, marble floor. There's a large curving staircase that's to the right.

4:41The victim was laying on her back. Initially, they thought that she had fallen over the railing.

4:47Erin Moriarty:They just didn't know the cause of death. It wasn't like she'd been stabbed or shot. One of the issues that becomes incredibly relevant to this case is where she's laying, where it is in vicinity to a railing. I'm looking straight down, and her feet are under the staircase. That, to me, she didn't fall over the railing. He was the one who said, this is not sitting well with me. There was very significant abrasion on her jawline in a kind of V-shaped pattern. There was a separate abrasion just below that on her neck. What you're saying is they were suspecting pretty quickly that she might have been strangled.

5:29Certainly it was an option. What did you learn about this family? We learned it was a tight family. It was a tight community. I'm telling you straight to your face, you're not being completely honest with us. That it was not all roses and rainbows in that house.

5:54Aaron Moriarty reports. Beverly Hills, 911.

6:03Any unattended death like this, we will get called out to. Some are clearly more suspicious than others. When Beverly Hills Police Detective Mark Schwartz got the call about an unintended death at the home of 67-year-old widow Violet Yacobi, he didn't know what he would find. This one gradually got more and more suspicious. It was October 10, 2017. Violet's son Daniel and daughter Dina had told police they found their mother on the marble entryway below the staircase around 7.30 p.m. Responding officers initially suspected it might be a suicide. The information that we got very early on about possibly being depressed and possibly falling over the railing, those are the things that we showed up with.

6:55Her dog had just died. She had canceled her cleaning lady. Violet had just marked the one-year anniversary of her husband's death. But when Detective George Elwell, now retired, arrived at the home, he didn't think she could have gone over the railing. In this crime scene photo, 48 Hours rendered the body as a graphic to show the position. Is that a pretty good description? Yes. And so what am I seeing there? where the body was laying at the time I got there. Elwell says that when he looked down from the top of the railing, he was surprised that he couldn't see Violet's feet, which were under the staircase.

7:37I'm not an expert in physics, but anything that's going to go over that, that has any kind of weight to it, the momentum is going to take it away from the staircase a little bit. Elwell, an old school investigator with a background in burglaries, also had an eye for more tactile evidence, like the dust that still covered much of the staircase railing. Up and down the entire railing, there's dust patterns. But for a person of her stature, there's absolutely no disturbance on that railing that would have indicated anything had gone over. When he got to the station, he pulled me aside, and he said, we got to write a search warrant.

8:22I'm not comfortable with what I'm seeing. Around midnight, the two detectives went to the scene together and they asked Daniel and Dina to come for a walkthrough. There were no signs of a burglary. Her wallet was there, her checkbook, cell phone, iPad. Anything that would have been stolen was still there. And they soon became more convinced that Violet had not gone over the railing. We had Dina stand next to the railing. I asked her how tall the mother was. She told me. She said she was shorter than me. Violet was about five feet tall, and the railing was just over three feet, more than half her height.

9:05The railing would come up too high. If she wanted to climb over, the dust would have been completely damaged. For her to accidentally fall over was just not reasonable. Raising more questions were the injuries on Violet's face and neck. There was some sort of mark under her chin here. There's unnatural marks on her neck. It also appeared Violet had vomited. And what does that say to you guys? To me, there was a couple of different possibilities. Did she choke? Was she strangled? During an initial interview with two other detectives, Daniel had also wondered if his mother had been strangled. Let me ask you something, though.

9:49I mean, I don't know. I just can't get my head around.

9:59Like, I saw bruising everywhere, right? And I saw a bruise right here. So, it looks like she was trembling. I, at that point, had not ruled out this idea that she had hung herself. Yet there were no obvious signs like a rope or a belt near Violet's body. And Violet's family members rejected the idea that she would take her life. Daniel had described seeing her just two days earlier at a family dinner. And we were sitting right next to each other and everything was fine. When Detective Schwartz learned that Violet was part of a close-knit Russian-Jewish community where suicide is taboo, it occurred to him that her children might be covering it up.

10:51I'm a little more in tune with the Jewish community, so I was thinking, how would it be looked at? And so you thought maybe the kids might hide? Right, right. Could it be an insurance thing? Could it be a shame thing? Later that day, they talked about oddities they both had observed in Daniel's behavior. For Elwell, it was during the walkthrough. Daniel's in the foyer where the body was found, just moving from side to side. He's looking down, he's crouching, he's touching the tile, and it just didn't sit well with me. You didn't think it could just be a grieving son? No. Trying to figure out why his mother ended up on the floor?

11:31No, it was so animated. It was just like watching an episode of Columbo when he would look for evidence. For Schwartz, it was Daniel's demeanor when they met. Daniel was very eager to help. And what's wrong with that? Nothing, but it was like a nervous energy that he had. But I mean, all along, Daniel Jacoby is being cooperative. Absolutely. Yes. Your concern may be too cooperative. Yes. They had questions about the initial story that Daniel told to other detectives of how he and his sister had come to meet at their mother's house when he learned that no one had heard from Violet. Apparently, they went there because no one had been able to get a hold of her during the day.

12:19So I called my sister immediately a few times. Daniel calls his sister, and there's some sort of convoluted story about the keys. Hey sis, I can't find my keys anywhere. Do you know where, do you have your keys to the house? So Daniel's telling Dina, meet me at the house. So we meet exactly at the same time. Didn't sit right. And there were conflicting stories about who had performed CPR. On the 911 call, Daniel told the operator his sister was performing CPR. But when talking to detectives, he said he also had done compressions. My sister and I, she did more of the mouth-to-mouth. I did the compressions.

13:04Did your brother help with the CPR? No. When Detective Schwartz called Dina, she confirmed that Daniel had not done CPR. George and I said there's only one person that doesn't seem to be forthcoming and doesn't seem genuine. They decided they needed to interview Daniel themselves, especially once they learned that Violet had died the night of Monday, October 9th, nearly 24 hours before she was found. Based off of missed phone calls, contents in her stomach, we're pretty confident right now that it's the night of the night that she dies. And detectives want to know, where was Daniel?

13:54Erin Moriarty:If you've ever been overwhelmed trying to figure out weight loss, I get it. There's so much noise out there, different plans, different advice, and it's hard to know where to start. That's where Weight Loss by HERS can make things simpler. HERS offers access to an affordable range of FDA-approved GLP-1 medications, including the Wagovi pill and the Wagovi pen. With Wagovi, you could lose up to 20 % or more of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise, all while helping regulate your appetite. What makes it really convenient is that it's entirely online. You connect with the licensed provider, and if prescribed, your medication is delivered right to your door.

14:33Erin Moriarty:Plus, HERS supports you beyond medication with personalized plans, lifestyle tools, and access to a care team whenever you need it. Ready to reach your goals? Visit forhers.com slash 48 hours to get personalized, affordable care that gets you. That's F-O-R-H-E-R-S dot com slash 48 hours. Forhers.com slash 48 hours. Weight loss by HERS is not available in all 50 states. Wagovi is the registered trademark of Novo Nordisk AS. To get started and learn more, including important safety information, Wagovi clinical study information, and restrictions, visit forhers.com. If you've ever been hit with a random banking fee and thought, wait, for what?

15:15Erin Moriarty:You're not alone. That's exactly why Chime is doing things differently. Chime offers fee-free banking that actually works in your favor. No monthly fees, no overdraft fees, and access to thousands of fee-free ATMs. Because seriously, why pay to get your own money? But what really sets Chime apart is how rewarding it is. Members can get up to$1 ,150 in annual rewards, especially when you set up direct deposit. You can earn 5 % cash back on your Chime card, grow your savings with a 3.75 APY, and even enjoy travel perks like airport lounge access. On top of that, features like SpotMe let you overdraft up to$200 with no fees.

16:00Erin Moriarty:And MyPay gives you access to up to$500 of your paycheck early. I think I know a couple of friends who could benefit from all those perks. Chime is not just smarter banking. It is the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking fee-free today. Head to Chime.com slash 48 hours. That is Chime.com slash 48 hours. It only takes a few minutes to sign up.

16:45Initially, it's like an unbelievable explosion of horrible news. The nudes of Violet Yacobi's death stunned and saddened her large circle of friends in Beverly Hills, including Galena Blackman. Who would ever kill Violet? Violet and her husband had long been pillars in their community. Perfect couple. He was a very, very solid doctor. They were very well known. What was important to Violet? Family. Her brothers, her husband, her children. She had the mission of making everybody happy, I think. Her son Daniel was a dentist, and her daughter Dina worked in physical therapy. They are the American dream.

17:46Immigrant family, and we're able to create a beautiful life in Beverly Hills. From the outside, it is a tight-knit, successful family, and that's what we saw initially. But detectives began to take a closer look. On Friday, October 13th, nearly three days after Violet's body was found, the deputy medical examiner completed the autopsy. The official cause of death was asphyxia by neck compression. Strangulation? Yes. Her death was being ruled a homicide. This was now a murder investigation. and detectives asked Daniel to come back for another interview. Any interview at this point forward is voluntary.

18:36You're not under arrest. So we know that he is saying he had not seen his mother since Sunday. First time he sees his mother is Tuesday when he discovers the body. So we have that full time frame that we're looking at. They first asked Daniel to go through the events of Tuesday, October 10th, and the night he and his sister had arrived at Violet's house. We both get there the same time. He told them he was in a panic when he walked in and saw her on the floor. And I go there, like, in utter shock, and, you know, like, it's my mom, so I'm, like, hysterical. He said he hugged his mother's body before starting CPR.

19:25I grab her a little bit and just, you know, one hug. And then I start doing chest compression. But when detectives share with Daniel the results of the autopsy, he didn't seem surprised to learn her death had been ruled a homicide. I can tell you that she has ligature marks on her neck. At this point, she was trying to... Oh my God, I knew it. I had a sense of that. They told him, based on the lividity patterns, the way the blood settles in the body after death, that they suspected Violet's body had been moved shortly after she died. She wasn't lying on her back like that for hours at a time and died.

20:14She was moved. They also told him they believed he was hiding something.

20:24Daniel continued talking, even when he was asked if he was responsible for his mother's death.

20:46Detectives decided they needed to lock Daniel into his story about where he was the night Violet died. What did you do Monday night? Driving home from St. Inglewood. He had consistently told them that on that Monday he worked at his dental office in Inglewood, about 12 miles from Beverly Hills, and then drove straight home, which was another six miles from Violet's house. Did you stop at the house? No. On Monday? No. Positive. But each time he was asked to describe his drive home, he seemed stymied by the details. What route do you take to go home? Because I was, I take, I take, sometimes I go to Beverly Hills.

21:42So I did go to Beverly Hills. What?

21:48On, but I didn't go through that street. When we started getting his time frame of Monday, that's where he got uncomfortable. No, I took the 405. At this point, we don't know he wasn't at Inglewood, but his description of how he got home, it was so labored for such a simple question. And he could not give a clear answer. But Daniel was adamant when asked if he was at or near his mother's house Monday night or any point Tuesday before he reported finding the body. The next day, do you ever come into Beverly Hills the next day? No. So we're not going to find your car or you anytime Tuesday? No. Or Monday night?

22:37Monday night? No. Are you sure about this? Yes. We couldn't call him out on the lie, but we knew he was lying. And I knew he was lying during a time frame that was very significant in this case. Whatever he was holding in, it was for a reason. Detective Elwell told Daniel they suspected he had been alone inside his mother's home before going over with his sister on Tuesday night. I see right through you. I can read you. It's right in there, bugging the crap out of you. But Daniel pushed back and said the detectives had it all wrong. I'm telling you everything I know. You think this is easy for me?

23:23My mom just died. There's nobody closer in this world than my mom. Nobody. And there was something else. He had told detectives he had a great relationship with his mom, saying they talked and texted on a regular basis. I text her baby pictures all the time. How are you? Blah, blah, blah. But when Detective Schwartz looked at Daniel's phone, the last photo he had sent his mom was a month earlier. It's been lost. And it wasn't a picture of his baby, but of his bank account. Will you have financial problems? No. We're just always, like, we're very open about it. At this point, I found that to be significant.

24:10By that Friday, he's our suspect. No doubt about it.

24:26I think a lot of people, when they hear the name Beverly Hills, they think of movie stars. No, that's not Beverly Hills. Beverly Hills is very, very reachable. You can drive and you see the homes. Movie stars live in areas where they cannot be reached. That wasn't the case with Violet Jacobi, says Galena Blackman. She liked to impress. Blackman, a Beverly Hills realtor for more than 36 years, specializes in luxury properties like Violet's. Galena was asked to appraise the home while Violet's husband was still alive. At that time, I said, I think it's an$8 million house. When interviewing Violet's son Daniel just days following her death on Friday, October 13th, Detective Schwartz wondered if money was a motive.