Don't Scream

26:51It turned out the Raymond Ertman mentioned is a former inmate. We're only using his first name. He had served time on a methamphetamine possession charge. Now out on probation, Raymond agreed to talk with the detectives on camera, although he wasn't quite sure what about. Raymond, we want to ask you some questions about when you were in our jail. Okay. I spent 90 days in, like, Davis County. And so I'm doing pretty good because, to be honest, being skinny and weak and ridiculous all the time was kind of not my lifestyle. He's a character. But when he talks, it's instantly credible. He doesn't have anything to hide.

27:37Until Sergeant Thompson brought up Chris Ertman, and something changed. Did you get to know any of the inmates in there? What about a guy named Christopher Ertman? Oh, yeah, yeah. He's a quiet guy. Did he ever talk about the situation that he was in with his ex-wife? and all that stuff? Yeah. Tell me about that. What happened in jail stayed in jail, man. But Daly saw a chance to appeal to Raymond's conscience. There's a time to do what's right. This is one of those moments in your life that you can start with that. It worked. Okay, so what do you want to know specifically? Just tell me about his conversations.

28:26What do you know? He just admitted guilt, man, I guess, like that he's the one that cut her throat. For Prosecutor Richard Larson, that was a crucial admission from Ertman. Up until that point, he had claimed that he had had no involvement. And that wasn't all. Raymond told them about a handwritten letter that Ertman gave him to copy once he got out of jail. Saying that I was his wife to the judge that is presiding over his case, saying that she admitted that she lied and that the allegations were false. It sounded a lot like the other letter from Mary Olson. Remember, authorities suspected it was orchestrated by Ertman, but they couldn't prove it.

29:11If they could find this letter in Ertman's handwriting, they could charge him with obstruction of justice. Well, let's get that letter. Yeah. Where's it at? I have to find it, dude. I think it's an octagon. And while Raymond was getting things off his chest, Thompson took a chance. Did he ever ask you to do anything to Tiffany?

29:37Uh, yeah. That question was purely just a shot in the dark. Tell me about that. He just asked me if I had the connections to arrange for bad things to happen to her. I told him that I did not. And you can see Jen all of a sudden leans forward like, holy cow. You said bad things. What are bad things? To arrange her death specifically. According to Raymond, Ertman asked him to hire a hitman to silence Tiffany for good. At that moment, we realized that this has gone to a whole new level where we've got somebody who's in custody that is still trying to orchestrate the death of his victim. And if they could prove that Chris Ertman was looking to put out a hit on Tiffany, they could charge him with another crime, solicitation to commit aggravated murder, potentially ensuring that he would stay behind bars for the rest of his life.

30:41But first, they had to warn Tiffany. He wanted to have me killed. He wanted to have someone else do what he couldn't. I remember everyone was asleep, just sitting on the floor, crying and rocking back and forth and wondering if I could ever leave the house again. And the case against Ertman got stronger when Raymond was able to find that Ertman letter. I remember Jen and Bob coming in with great big smiles on their face. They're like, we've got it. A handwriting analysis confirmed that Ertman had written it. Next, Daly and Thompson sent Raymond back in to visit Ertman through the jail's video conference system.

31:30How are you holding up, bro? Not bad, you know, just chilling. The goal? To get Ertman on tape telling Raymond to send that letter to the judge. And more important, to order a hit. I've still got that letter, dude. Like, I've got that ready, bro. Like, you want me to send it? Yeah, you can do that. You got him. On obstructing charges. But when it came to the hit... Remember that work that you needed done, though? Yeah. Dude, I've got that guy, bro. I can't do that this time, no. Should I try to, like, negotiate a little bit and see what I can do or what? No, let's just wait on that. Without that green light from Ertman, prosecutors didn't have enough for the solicitation charge, and they had used up their source.

32:21All right, man. Peace. It seemed like a dead end. It sucked. There's no doubt about it. There was a devastation, and it was interesting because then it was like, where do we go from here? I couldn't give it up. I'm glad I never gave it up because the next step came.

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35:50If I hadn't have told him what he wanted to hear, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have happily watched me bleed to death.

36:08Davis County detectives Bob Thompson and Jen Daly were convinced that even from jail, Chris Ertman was still trying to kill his wife. They just couldn't prove it. We were done at that point, or so we thought.

36:26And then out of the blue, Daly heard from an old friend, a jailhouse informant who had given her information in the past. He's a bad guy. He's hurt people. You wouldn't want to meet him up in an alley. The inmate, we're not using his name and we've obscured his face, was back in the Davis County Jail in the same cell block as Chris Ertman. And he told Daly he had information he was willing to trade for help with his case. And I told him, no. So you're either going to tell me what you have or this is done. Daly knew from experience how unreliable this particular inmate could be. In one minute, the guy has amazing information and it's validated, and in the next minute, he screws you.

37:19Still, this snitch knew specific details about Tiffany's attack. And there was more. Chris is trying to get him to hire somebody to kill Tiffany. I almost fell off my seat because if anybody could do it, it's him. This heightened it even more for me. So Daly and the team decided to set up a sting and arrange for Ertman to be introduced to a person posing as a hired gun. Don't you worry about this idea that the defendant can say, this was entrapment. I wasn't planning on hiring a hitman. Not at all. I mean, the case law is very clear. It's only entrapment if the government is convincing somebody to do something they wouldn't otherwise do.

38:07You don't go and say, hey, can I do this for you? It's, I've heard you want me to do this. Is that correct? What have you been doing, though, man? You been working out in there or what? So they turn to an undercover cop. We're calling Jim Kelly. This is you? Correct. At that time, Kelly was working in narcotics and knew how to deal with informants. The detectives put their plan in motion and sent Kelly to visit the informant at the jail. Right as I came back, he came back to the room. Really interested. That's him in the upper right-hand corner talking to Kelly. Where's Ertman? Tell Ertman to come here for a second.

38:48He had told Ertman he was meeting with a hit man who could help him out. Okay, I think he's coming out behind him already. That's Chris Ertman. And he's taking a look at you because he wants to get... He wants to see who he's talking to because he's curious to see who is this person that's going to come do this for me. But looking is all Ertman does. Instead of talking, he hands the inmate a piece of paper to show to the hitman. Can you see that? Yeah, okay. It's the address where Tiffany is staying. And is it the correct address? It is. It shows that he's starting to take the bait. It's a start.

39:30But Prosecutor Larson says it's not yet enough to bring new charges. The criminal act is the solicitation to have her killed. Just because he provides an address of his victim isn't enough. They needed Ertman to confirm on camera that his ex-wife was the target.

39:52Detectives warned Tiffany about the latest threat and asked her to pose for photos, staged to look like surveillance photos taken by the hitman. We filled up some bags and she got in her car and then got out and was walking into the house as if she just got home from shopping and we took photos.

40:16Jim Kelly then headed back to the jail with the photos. But when he got there, the whole thing falls apart. It starts to implode. Yeah. The notoriously unreliable jailhouse informant wanted a deal. He refused to cooperate any further unless he was released from jail. Prosecutor Jason Nelson got the call. I was not very happy we weren't going to be extorted by someone trying to leverage us with evidence of a potential first-degree felony. They quickly moved the snitch out of the cell block. But Bob Thompson was convinced he'd already tipped off Ertman. It's all over. That's what it felt like. That's what it felt like to me.

41:04I thought all this hard work just became unraveled by a career criminal. Still, Jen Daly was determined. I wanted the undercover cop to still go in, only visit Chris this time. And he was, no, no, it's not going to work. And I'm like, I don't care. I'm doing it anyway. Six days after that first visit, Jim Kelly walked back into the visitor's entrance of the jail, asking to see Chris Ertman. Jen Daly was in her office, watching the clock and praying.

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44:29I was a basket case. Like, I seriously had butterflies in my belly to the point I thought I was going to throw up waiting. and tick-tock, tick-tock.

44:44As Jen Daly waits, undercover cop Jim Kelly returns to the Davis County Jail along with those surveillance photos of Tiffany Meade. He knows it's a gamble with long odds. Would Chris Ertman be willing to talk to him? You don't know whether he's going to pick up the phone or not, right? No. I can hear myself talking. Please, Lord, please let him pick up that phone. Please help her. And the next thing I know, I'm on the phone with him. What's up, man? How much? How are you? Good. How are you? It's Ertman. And that's me. Kelly, posing as a hitman, needs to get Ertman to identify the target and give him the go-ahead.

45:29I took a couple pictures and just want to verify with you. Yeah? So Kelly shows him the surveillance photos taken by the detectives. Do you see that? Yeah. Is that right? Yeah. Is that her? Yeah. Okay. So no matter what, you know on your own that he wants something done to his wife. Done to her, yeah, exactly. Ertman had backed out before, so Kelly needs to find out if he's really serious about killing his wife. Some people say, you know, I want to kill my wife. And then other people say, I want to kill my wife. Right. What kind of things did you ask him to make sure he really wanted her dead?

46:17Mm-hmm. I mean, because we were being recorded and he knew we were being recorded, we had to kind of speak in a code. So what was telling me was, you know, make it happen. And so I had to do the best I could in making sure that we were talking about what we believed we were talking about.

46:46Three or four times tried to say things like, you know, this is, you know, we're going all the way and making him affirm that. And he just says, yeah, go have fun. Yeah, go have fun was hard to hear. Is there a time period? I mean, is there a... No, no. No? Sooner the better. Sooner the better? Yeah. Okay. And then it's time to talk money. I've never been asked to kill anybody. I don't know what the dollar figure is. So he went where we all go for answers. Google. You can actually Google the going rate for murder for hire? Unfortunately, yeah, we put that into Google and we found a number. I'm thinking about 5K.

47:24Yeah. Does that work? Yeah. Kelly had the green light from Ertman, but just to be sure, he asked again. So, but just so we're clear, I'm talking about, you know, we're not, there's no way to come back from it once I do it. You're good with that? Yeah, yeah. It's good. 5 ,000 is good? Yeah. Okay, well, I'm planning on taking care of it this weekend. Okay.

47:58Back in her office, Jen Daly gets the news she had been praying for. And I went from complete, almost despair that we lost this case, to elation like I haven't felt in the blink of an eye. It was the best feeling ever. We knew this was a solid case, and we knew that we could get the conviction now. Daly then calls Tiffany. I was so relieved. The best feeling you'd had in a while? Yeah, that was probably the safest I had been since all of it started. Along with the attempted murder charge, prosecutors now added obstruction of justice and solicitation to commit aggravated murder. That man committed more felonies in the jail than he did when he was free.

48:57It took Jen Daly and Bob Thompson almost a year to get the evidence they had hoped would keep Chris Ertman locked up. But the case would never go to trial. Disappointed? No. No. For Tiffany, she didn't want it to go to trial. Prosecutors offered Chris Ertman a deal, and he pleaded no contest. I mean, I'll take blood for it. Yeah, I did it. But it was not in my right mind. Are you not dangerous? Chris says that he was suffering from PTSD. Right. You don't buy that. I don't buy it at all. We had no actual diagnosis of PTSD. For us, we believed that that was fictional and that he was only saying that to try and negate his personal accountability.

49:44Ertman's plea means he could spend anywhere from six years to the rest of his life in prison. By law in Utah, it will be up to the Board of Pardons and Parole to decide when Ertman will be released.

50:05Jen Daly makes the 150-mile drive to be at the hearing and to support Tiffany. Oh, there's my girl. How are you doing, honey? I, in my career, have never attended a parole hearing, and I won't miss one of his. I hope that I can help keep him there as long as possible. He's that dangerous? Yes. At Tiffany's side is Butters, her very protective emotional support dog. I have to do everything in my power to keep this monster locked away.

50:46I wake up every morning wondering if today is going to be the day that Chris will send someone to have fun killing me. I am here again, terrified. If he's ever released, there is no doubt in my mind he will come for me, and he will finish what he started. Please help me keep my kids safe. Tiffany will have to wait for the board's decision. But five years after she was almost killed, her future seems brighter. Besides her loving family, she has a new husband and her ever-present guardian angel, Captain Jen Daly. I'm so happy you did such a good job. You were stern.

51:38She's moved mountains. She's helped save my life. I don't know why the cards fell the way they did. I'm just grateful it all worked out for Tiffany Mead because I got involved into this job in 1989 to help people. And I can say I helped one person.

52:05Christopher Ehrman's parole was denied. His next hearing will be in 2029. For help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE. That's 1-800-799-7233. We optimize hydration, movement, supplements, and sleep. But most people completely ignore the air they're breathing. And when your air is off, your body feels it first. The Blue Signature Air Purifiers by Blue Air quietly remove airborne pollutants, odors, smoke, and allergens, supporting deeper sleep, better recovery, and clearer focus. It's the most customizable air purifier you can get, with exclusive accessories designed to fit your space and your style.

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