Death After Midnight

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2:12Erin Moriarty:It is incredibly unbelievable. To see your kid laying in a bed with a bullet hole through them. He shot her. I know he shot her. I did not shoot my wife. What was that that made you decide this was a case worth investigating? There was enough there to suggest that there wasn't at least a thorough investigation. And so I thought I owed it to the family to look at that. I received a tip about this last week and have been working on it. It's brought to my attention by a Fox 31 report. The new investigation that began after our story first... Probably four days after New Year's Eve 2011, a family came to me and said, someone killed our daughter and got away with it.

3:02Erin Moriarty:2011, New Year's Eve party. We were invited up by Ashley, our daughter, and Tom Fallis is her husband. It's recording! Ashley had a zeal for life. She loved life. She loved her kids more than anything. And Ashley and Tom had danced right prior to midnight. There was alcohol there. There was some drinking going on. There was a lot of laughter going on. They were having fun. The night started out as a normal night. There was an eruption during part of the party. Tom had been cussing very loudly, so I asked him to stop after a period of time because it was quite loud and there were kids in the house, and he got very, very angry with me.

3:44Got out of control.

3:45Erin Moriarty:Got it out of control. We were the last ones to see Tom Fallis in a fit of rage. A fit of rage. Our daughter giving us hugs and goodbye kisses, and her standing on the front porch waving goodbye. And that's the last we saw our daughter. I heard her gun caught, and I looked out. I was like, what are you doing? There was smoke. I just ran over to her, and I just grabbed her head. I called 911, I told them my address, and I told them that my wife shot herself. From the very beginning, for whatever reason, Devon's police department ruled Ashley's death as a suicide. They said basically that it had been closed as a suicide within 24 hours, and it was never looked at as a homicide.

4:38The central question that I had to look into as a reporter was whether or not on January 1st of 2012, whether Ashley Fallis, this mother, shot herself in the head, or whether her husband, who was also a Sheriff's Corrections officer, shot her and then covered it up. We hired a forensic animator who examined all the evidence of the death scene, and he reached two equally plausible explanations. One murder, one suicide. That's a difficult case then, when the evidence could go either way. It's a difficult case. It was different than anything I'd done before. I fielded phone calls in the middle of the night more times than I can count.

5:22I mean, I'd never had a case where I did become part of the story. You start on this case, and then all of a sudden, what you uncover changes everything. It did. Did you ever expect what you would uncover would actually lead to an indictment? No, I did not. I didn't, you know, I never expected there to be a trial. He watched the most dramatic and traumatic thing any human being could ever be forced to watch. Go in the courtroom and you see Tom Fallis at the defense table. Isn't that what you always wanted? Absolutely. I desired to see justice served. I think everyone looks to a trial to resolve a case, to come to the truth.

6:07It doesn't always, does it? It doesn't.

6:17Erin Moriarty:After she died, even the day after she died, in my mind, I couldn't comprehend that I would not speak to her every day. The pain is always there for Jenna Fox and adoptive father Joel Ragunden over the death of their daughter, 28-year-old Ashley Fallis, in the early hours of New Year's Day 2012. How would you describe your daughter? Vivacious, full of life, funny. Ashley, they say, would never leave her three kids, Madeline, Jolie, and Blake, all under 10 years old. It's unimaginable. She just loved her family, and she loved life, and she would never do anything like this. Jenna and Ashley were extremely close.

7:02To be honest, they were like best friends. Ashley married her high school sweetheart soon after graduation, and they had two daughters. But that marriage quickly fell apart. And in April 2007, she met Tom Fallis. He seemed responsible and ready for a family. It seemed like their relationship progressed really quickly. Just months into their relationship, Ashley became pregnant.

7:30Erin Moriarty:I think it was a way for them to feel more connected to each other in too short of a period of time. They had a son, Blake. Two weeks after he was born, the couple married. Soon, Tom also adopted the girls after their birth father gave up his parental rights. Ashley's family felt it was all moving too fast. We were not happy about that, and we had actually tried to talk Ashley out of it. Ashley and Tom had only known each other a short time, and Jenna and Joel say they began to notice disturbing aspects of Tom's personality. I didn't like his mentality of being right all the time and fighting all the time and the aggression.

8:21Tom and Ashley settled in the small town of Evans, about an hour north of Denver. Ashley worked as a respiratory therapist, and Tom took a job as a corrections officer with the Weld County Sheriff's Office, working at the local prison.

8:37Erin Moriarty:Joel and I were like, that's the perfect job for someone who has an ego that needs to tell people what to do. I think he was a very insecure person, and he wanted total control of her. Do you think you were a threat to Tom? Absolutely. I was the one person that he could not isolate Ashley against. Ashley was caught in the middle, and the pressure on her only increased when Blake, still a toddler, was diagnosed with a chronic brain condition that required Ashley's constant attention. It all took a stressful toll on Ashley and their marriage. At any time during that, did you feel your daughter was depressed?

9:22Erin Moriarty:No, I think she was anxious and she was concerned and she had a lot on her plate and I think overwhelmed. I would say that they were definitely going through some hard times. The stress was so great that they even considered divorce. But when talking to police after Ashley's death, Tom insisted that things were on the mend as the holidays approached. We were doing so good. They were planning to host a New Year's Eve party, and Ashley even thought she had recently become pregnant. When we found out, when she had the positive test, it was like, all right, it's like, we finally, like, got over everything.

10:07She stopped taking anti-anxiety medications out of precaution, And then, on the day of the party, Tom says, Ashley began to bleed and believed she had miscarried. So she was kind of down today. But Tom says they forged ahead with the party. And as the night went on, the friction between Jenna and Tom began to surface.

10:32Erin Moriarty:I always knew that Tom hated me. As the party was winding down, Tom flew into a rage when he overheard one of the guests, Jenna's brother, offering Ashley marijuana. I told Ashley, I was like, you don't need to get high. I was like, if whatever happened today with the miscarriage, I was like, it happened. I was like, you know what? F*** your mom. F*** everybody. Let it go. As Jenna and Joel were leaving the party, they saw Tom, still upset, go into the bedroom and slam the door. Ashley followed them outside. It was around 1240 a.m. when they said goodbye. And what was Ashley's demeanor like? Was she upset?

11:24Erin Moriarty:No, she's kind of like, whatever. Like, this is normal. This is Tom. Ashley's autopsy shows that she didn't smoke marijuana that night. but Tom says that after she put the kids to bed, Ashley came into the bedroom defiant. And she's like, f*** you, if I want to get high, I'll get high. I'm like, do whatever you want to. As Tom tells it, he was in their closet to change clothes when suddenly he heard the sound of a gun being loaded from across the room. She has a 9mm Taurus and she keeps it under her mattress. She was behind the side of the bed. She was low. He says it all happened so quickly. He was on his way out of the closet, closing the door, and asking Ashley what she was doing when he heard a pop.

12:19I heard it and it just smoked. I just ran over to her and I just grabbed her head. and I was holding her head and I reached up and I grabbed her phone and I told 911. You're standing here. You are not leaving me. You are not leaving me. That 911 call came into the dispatcher at 12.50 a.m. And I opened her eyes and I started talking to her. I said, hey, I'm right here. You're not leaving. You're not leaving me. It was just 10 minutes after Ashley's family had left. Literally, there was two squad cars coming into the neighborhood. We were between the two when we did a U-turn. It was shocking, and everything was happening so fast.

13:06Jenna and Joel didn't see Ashley again until they got to the hospital. Ashley had severe brain trauma from that gunshot wound to the head. Did you get to say goodbye?

13:19Erin Moriarty:Yes, yes. Yes, um, yeah, I don't know. How do you say goodbye? I'm just gonna ask you point blank. Do you believe your daughter committed suicide? No, not at all. No. From the minutes we last saw her alive, we've always known that Thaum Ballas murdered her.

13:54Ashley! Ashley! I'm right here, baby!

14:00In the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2012, officers from the Evans Police Department responded quickly to the call from the Phallus home. This video was shot by first responders. Evans is a peaceful, low-crime community, says Police Chief Rick Brant. I don't think we've had maybe one or two armed robberies since I've been here in almost eight years. Even though Tom Fallis had called in the shooting as a suicide, police brought him in for questioning early that morning while his parents watched the children. Investigators were suspicious right away. She'd have to go like this. Because the neighbors said they heard yelling.

14:44Tom was questioned by Detective Rita Wolfe. She's telling you to get off of her. I wasn't on her! Why do you think someone said that? They could hear her... I wasn't on her! ...vividly say, get off of me, get off of me! I wasn't on her! Somebody's just making that up, Tom? My wife never told me to get off of her. And so when you went upstairs, you were arguing with her. That wound on the back of her head isn't where she could do it herself, Tom. It is not. Oh, bulls**t! It is not. Bulls**t! Bulls**t! Bulls**t! Bulls**t! I didn't shoot my wife! Investigators also searched his body and noticed scratches on his chest.

15:25Tom says he scratched himself. Because I just shaved my chest. I just shaved it because I've never done it before. I'm sitting there going like this with my shirt because it itches and scratches. Tom gets increasingly agitated as Wolf continues her questioning. You're accusing me of killing my wife. I'm not supposed to get upset. That doesn't make sense. You were upset before this. Yeah, because I've been here the whole time. You are willing to blow off the handle is what they're saying. Nobody. I did not shoot Ashley. I didn't shoot my wife. I didn't shoot the mother of my kids. Police found evidence that raises questions about Tom's version of events.

16:09Pictures seem to have been ripped off the wall, indicating a struggle. Divorce papers were found on the dresser. Ashley had bruises on her legs, and Tom had been angry at the end of the party. And how angry was he at that point?

16:26Erin Moriarty:He was very angry, very angry. I mean, he said, I wish she would all effing die. You were mad at the fact that she was listening to her mom. I've already told you that. After he was questioned that first morning, Tom was released without charges. Were you expecting Tom to be charged? Yes. Oh, yes, we were shocked. We were shocked that they let him go. Despite their concerns and evidence pointing to possible homicide, the coroner ruled Ashley's death a suicide on January 5th, four days after it happened and before forensic testing was completed. The case was officially closed two months later. The fact is, if there was evidence to support probable cause finding on Tom, we would have arrested him.

17:22Ashley's parents could hardly believe it. She would never do anything like this. She had a mission for Blake. With Tom free of any charges, he moved with his children to Indiana to attend graduate school. Ashley's parents had lost their daughter, but they didn't want to also lose their grandchildren. So they maintained a relationship with Tom. He's in another state with my grandkids. It's crazy. We continue to do what we need to do because our love for our grandkids is much, much greater and more powerful than the hatred we have for Tom Fallis. But then, two years later... Tom, Justin Joseph with Fox 31 News.

18:07An unexpected twist. A local television news reporter began his own investigation. Fox 31 Denver's Justin Joseph has been digging into this case, discovering new clues. It's not very often that you hear someone confess to murder and get away with it.

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19:42How would you describe the last two years?

19:45Erin Moriarty:It's definitely a roller coaster. It's hard to grieve. In early 2014, Jenna Fox and Joel Ragunden were still convinced that their son-in-law, Tom Fallis, murdered their daughter Ashley after the New Year's party in 2012. Why would he kill her? Out of anger. I think it's a high possibility because of the divorce papers, because of everything that was going on. But the Evans Police Department did rule Ashley's death a suicide and closed the case. And it remained closed. Until reporter Justin Joseph got a call. I had a source with law enforcement who called me and said, something isn't right about this case.

20:33Joseph, who is also a CBS News consultant, spent months investigating and interviewing neighbors who had initially spoken to police. And then in April 2014, he got a major break. Jeremy, as you know, this is a complicated case with many layers. A young next-door neighbor, Nick Lover, told Joseph something about Tom Fallis that was not in the police reports. I saw him walk out, so we all ducked underneath the windowsill. And his parents were standing outside, and he's saying, oh my God, I can't believe I did it, three or four times. And then his parents said, what? What are you saying? And I remember I heard him say, I shot her.

21:19Nick said he told that to Evans police officer Michael Yates. And he said Detective Yates sat right where you're sitting and heard my story and wrote everything down. And then Joseph reported cooperation of Nick's story. A sheriff's deputy at the scene came forward two years later to tell investigators that he also heard Tom say he shot Ashley. Sources identify Chris Graves as the deputy who allegedly heard Fallis' confession. Nick's mother, Kathy, also spoke to Joseph, telling him she had gotten a call that night from another neighbor, a teenager named Chelsea Arrigo. She called me and said, Tell me you called police.

22:03Your neighbor just shot his wife. This came as a shock, because in Yates' report, he writes, that Kathy Glover told him that Chelsea said, quote, your neighbor just shot herself. A major discrepancy. So the Glovers were never presented an opportunity to review their statements. They thought for two years that their statements were correctly recorded and they thought that the Evans Police Department simply declined to prosecute. And so they were as shocked as everyone was to learn that the statements were omitted and the statements were changed. I think it's a question of one individual's word against another.

22:40To this day, Officer Yates insists that Nick Glover never told him that he actually overheard Tom Fallis saying he shot his wife. That's correct. What about Kathy Glover's claim, who says that she got a call saying, I hope you've called the police. Your neighbor just shot his wife. Did, in fact, the witness say that to Officer Yates? Not according to Officer Yates. Still, Chief Brandt can't explain why his officers failed to do a follow-up interview with Chelsea Arrigo They knew from the very first night she had heard Ashley yelling, get off me But Chelsea Arrigo was an earwitness and you didn't go back and interview her, why not?

23:27I can't answer that, but I think that was an error A serious error, wasn't it? I would agree with that Ashley's parents believe the omissions are part of a cover-up by Evans Police. Evans Police Department decided to cover up her death as a suicide from the very beginning. Now, the big question is, is why? There's this allegation that there was some kind of cover-up. Okay, if that happens, somebody's going to find it. To my knowledge, none of that happened. Chief Brand insists there was no cover-up, that his officers just made some mistakes. But he can't really explain why his department concluded so quickly, just days after Ashley's death, that she committed suicide, especially when there was so much circumstantial evidence pointing to foul play.

24:23The pictures, the divorce papers, numerous witnesses at the party reported that Tom was angry that night. Aren't those inconsistencies very troubling? I'm not informed to that level of detail on cases. I get kind of overviews, briefings, where we're at. So much of the detail that you're talking about now, in hindsight after reviewing it, Yes, those draw questions. Chief Brand says his less experienced officers called in the CBI, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, for assistance and then later closed their own investigation. I mean, that's a really important question. Why would you close the case when you still have lab results pending?