The Puppet Master

0:00Music

0:199-1-1, do you have an emergency? Yes, we do. We have shooting in a car in North Federal and Yamada. We have people with injuries. Oh, my God. She's, um... We're on the way. They're on the way. They're on the way. I don't think she's bleeding. Even though the shooting happened nine years ago, it seems like it happened yesterday. He said, do you want to make some good money, around$20 ,000, make it look like a robbery? I thought we could get away with it. On that day, the weather was beautiful and warm. Heather and John Grossman were having a normal day. We were driving a black Lincoln Continental.

1:00My husband John was driving, and I was in the passenger front seat, and John and I were on our way to lunch. Slim's driving. He's telling Runyon what to do. I'm in the back seat. And Runyon's sitting in the back seat with a rifle. I remember going down Federal Highway, and... They were about to stop at one place, and then they decided on another place they made a U-turn. So John and I turned around. We followed them. Come up to a red light. I remember coming up to a stoplight. They're in one lane. We're in the lane right next to them on the left. I reached down to get something out of my briefcase.

1:41Roger Runyon took out a long rifle. So I was like, do it, do it, do it, do it. And I came up and. I stuck the weapon out the window and.

1:55And I shot into the back window. I felt the bullet penetrate. She disappears. I remember my body shaking. Then Slim pulled up next to the car. Fired another shot and winged John Grossman in the cheek. Where is she shot? She shot, I think, in the head or face. And she's face down and... I don't want to touch her. She's all slumped over. My name is Alan Johnson. I'm Chief Assistant State Attorney at the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office. Roger Runyon was the shooter. I attempted to kill people for money. Roger Runyon was one of the puppets. I'll go to hell. Roger Runyon is the man that shot me.

2:44I ruined her life. I ruined her kid's life. I don't hold hatred towards him. Roger Runyon is not on trial. We want the mastermind. The man that paid him to shoot. The mastermind of the crime. He finally got me. He put me in my wheelchair. The puppet master is responsible for the actions of the puppets. The Puppet Master, tonight's 48 Hours mystery.

3:14Yamato and Federal Southeast corner reference to shooting two victims. First, we had a real loud bang. About 10 seconds after that, we heard another loud bang. I've got one person shot in a black Lincoln, also white males sitting on the floor of the vehicle holding his face.

3:30Troy Roberts:The first report on that October day in 1997 was that a woman had been killed in a drive-by shooting. There's a wife in there. She's dead. I remember tears falling down the sides of my cheek. I'm feeling so scared. The bullet that struck then 31-year-old Heather Grossman ripped a fist-sized hole in her neck, severing her spinal cord. The bullet that struck her husband John Grossman, then 47, only grazed him. But Heather's life was forever changed. They explained what had happened and that I was going to be paralyzed from the neck down. that I was going to be a quadriplegic. It pains me to see her crippled and helpless in that chair.

4:25Troy Roberts:Ron Samuels rushed to the scene. He was Heather's first husband and father of their three children. I was under the impression that these people were shot and killed. Police were there. I said, that's my ex-wife, I think. I want to know, were there three children in the car? It was that time of the day when my three kids could have been with them. The welfare of the children had always been a contentious issue in a messy custody battle. A far cry from the happier times the couple enjoyed when they met a decade earlier. Ron met Heather when she was working as a flight attendant. She was prettier than any movie star in Hollywood.

5:13Troy Roberts:Samuels, a 40-year-old entrepreneur, fell hard for the former high school cheerleader from Minnesota. I was the only first-class passenger on the way back from Oregon. I just talked to him a little bit. He was just a passenger. And I said, Dora, you either come home with me now or I'll see you in the movies. He was very persistent. Soon after that flight, they moved in together. What were your impressions of him? He could charm people. They lived in Pensacola, Florida, where Samuels owned a successful car dealership. At the height, what was your net worth? In excess of$30 million. $30 million.

6:01That's right. Was he very generous? Yes, he was very generous. You spoiled your wife. I enjoyed it. We took very lavish trips. We went everywhere in the world on private jets, too.

6:16Troy Roberts:After living together for several years, in December of 1988, Heather and Ron were married. Their son Ronnie was born shortly afterwards. Two years later, they had twins Lauren and Joe. Ronnie and his dad are going to sing the Miami Dolphin pipe song. Miami Dolphins number one. What do you think of that? I had three beautiful children. Look at this bright boy! She was an excellent mother. She was always with the children. Ben and Helen Bentfeld were good friends. I thought they were getting along beautifully, didn't you? I thought everything was going along great. But if it all seemed perfect, behind the scenes, the marriage was beginning to crumble.

7:05I was 18 or 18 and a half years older than Heather was. We became controlling and rude and scary and intimidating. I expected her to understand that to live the lifestyle that she wanted, that somebody had to pay the bill. Did your arguments turn violent? Yes, they became violent. How? When I wanted to leave him, he held a gun to my head.

7:38Troy Roberts:Did you ever put a gun to her head? Never. I was terrified of him, and I said, I'm out of here. Heather fled with the children to her parents' home in Minnesota and filed for divorce. When I left him and divorced him, he said, you know, you will pay. Did you say to Heather, if you leave me, you're going to pay? Not that I recall ever saying that. Heather moved on and began dating John Grossman, the son of a business tycoon who was part owner of the Minnesota Vikings football team. I had a wonderful relationship with John Grossman, and we were in love, and everything was really pretty much perfect.

8:27You weren't jealous of him? No, I wasn't jealous of John Grossman. We were happy we were starting out our lives, despite all the torture in the background of Ron Samuels.

8:41Troy Roberts:Samuels hired a succession of lawyers to fight Heather over custody of the children and child support payments. The court ordered you to pay$3 ,000 a month in child support. Is that right? You refused to pay. Altogether you spent$650 ,000... $665 ,000. in legal fees to fight this. That's correct. He didn't want shared custody. He wanted custody of the children full-time, all the time, without me having any contact with them. Samuels also moved on, marrying Debbie Love, a legal secretary in the firm that represented him in his divorce. Debbie and Samuels, who always struggled with his weight, saw his children often during scheduled visitations.

9:34Troy Roberts:It was during one of those visits, Samuel says his children told him that John Grossman was mistreating them. You're a cowardly, motherless son of a bitch. Samuels confronted Grossman on the phone. That's not very nice. No, no, no, I want to see. No, I tell him not what you put your hands on the children. You know Don Wilder never put their hands on the children. No, all three of them here told me differently. We're getting calls at night and we're getting death threats. But was Samuels capable of carrying out those threats? If you want to know, would I have killed John Grossman? Had I had the opportunity, I definitely would have.

10:16And what about Heather? I would never do that to the lady that I watch give birth to my three children. There's no reason in the world for that.

10:31When life gets busy, even something as routine as grocery shopping can start to feel like a big lift. That's where Instacart comes in. With delivery via Instacart, it's easy to shop from thousands of stores and get exactly what's needed, whether it's fresh ingredients for the week, household essentials, or specific brands that matter. The app makes it simple to search, filter, and build a cart with intention so nothing gets overlooked. And when quality matters, there's confidence in knowing items are selected with care. It's easy to communicate preferences, make substitutions, and stay in control of every order.

11:07On top of that, the convenience is hard to beat. Groceries can arrive in as fast as 30 minutes, making it easier to stay on schedule and keep everything running smoothly. And if you're like me, someone who's often traveling for work and juggling family schedules at home, this level of efficiency could be music to your ears. Instacart brings convenience, quality, and ease right to your door so you can focus on what matters most. Download the Instacart app now and get groceries just how you like it.

11:42Troy Roberts:After a five-year relationship, Heather married John Grossman in June of 1997 and moved back to Florida. This was a happy time for you. Yes, a very happy time.

11:57Troy Roberts:But their happiness was overshadowed by their fear of Heather's first husband, Ron Samuels, who had accused Grossman of abusing his children. Were you hurt when Heather married John Grossman? Not particularly. What were your impressions of him? I don't think I could say that on camera. Go ahead, try. He was a rotten, despicable scumbag. Because of Samuel's unpredictable and volatile behavior, Heather and John chose to keep their wedding location a secret. That's how afraid I was of him. Just four months later, while driving to a lunch date, Heather and John were gunned down. There was no doubt in the moment I was shot, But I knew Ron Samuels was responsible.

12:55Troy Roberts:How are you so confident? How are you so sure? Because when I left him, he said that he would destroy me, that he would kill me. Samuels vehemently denies having anything to do with the shooting. The one question I have is if I didn't do it, who did and why? I have that question too. And he has a theory. I think John Grossman had a motive to want to get rid of Heather for many, many reasons. But the biggest one is because I was a pain in his ass and I had just enough money to be that pain. So you're suggesting that John Grossman staged this shooting. He was injured though in the shooting. He was shot.

13:49Doesn't make any sense to me. I don't think that was intentional.

13:58He shot somebody in a car twice with a rifle out the window.

14:03Troy Roberts:But the evidence the investigators were gathering told a very different story. It began with a great lead. A detailed description of the hitman's car. It's a teal-colored Thunderbird, a newer model. Including the license plate. B-I-X-30-I. The car was registered to an insurance salesman named Hugh Estes. At the time, Estes was a self-admitted crack addict. I had a lot of money. I got hooked into cocaine and other drugs. and boy, it'll empty your wallet fast. Investigators put the squeeze on Estes, who told them all about the plan. He coughed up the names of the two men in the T-Berg. A crack dealer and pimp named Eddie Slim Stafford was the driver.

15:04Troy Roberts:Another petty criminal, Roger Runyon, was the shooter. Still, another man, Jeff Pollack, was not involved in drugs, but was at meetings where Samuels allegedly discussed the murder plans. He said, I want her dead. The motive? Money. It was, you know, hey, here's 10 grand. Do something for me. Yeah, sure. Thanks a lot, sucker. You know, take the money and run. But who was paying? Ron Samuels gave the instructions to Hugh Estes and to Jeff Pollack. Assistant State Attorney Al Johnson. What were the instructions? Get me somebody to kill my ex-wife. Ron, did you hire these men to kill your ex-wife?

15:53Troy, I'm from Brooklyn, New York. If I wanted to pay somebody to do this, I'd have gone to New York, and the professionals would have come there. And no, I didn't want to do that, and no, I did not pay anybody. RONALD SAMUELS WAS THE PUPPET MASTER.

16:15Troy Roberts:BUT COULD THIS BIZARRE CONSPIRACY STORY HOLD UP IN COURT? INVESTIGATORS HAD NO DIRECT EVIDENCE LINKING SAMUELS TO THE CRIME, BUT THEY BELIEVED HE HAD A POWERFUL MOTIVE, THE COSTLY CUSTODY FIGHT THAT COULD SEE HIM LOSE HIS CHILDREN, A FIGHT SAMUELS WAS DETERMINED TO WIN. Look, it's my clone. Say hi, Papa, I'm the clone. Hi, Papa, I'm the clone. What do the children mean to you? I was willing to swap my life for theirs. And he was willing to put his children right in the middle of the fight. Come on over here and let's just have a seat. To document his claims that John Grossman was abusing the children, He had them examined by a psychologist.

17:04If you've done something wrong at your house when you're at your mom, what happens? I get spanked. And who does spanking? It's usually John and Grandpa and Grandma.

17:18Troy Roberts:Little Ronnie was just six years old when he accused John Grossman and Heather's parents of harming him. I said to them, you guys understand these are very serious things you're saying? very serious. We promised, Daddy, it's the truth. We don't want to go back there. Did you ever see John Grossman mistreat your children? No. Did you ever see your parents mistreat your children? Oh, no, not at all. Did you coach your children to lie about the child abuse allegation? I would never do that. Never. In order to gain the upper hand, it's my belief that Ronald Samuels would call and make these child abuse accusations.

18:04They were investigated by the police in Minnesota. They were investigated by the police in Boca Raton. They were found to be unfounded.

18:13Troy Roberts:The claims of child abuse were rejected by a Florida judge, and Heather was awarded permanent custody of the children. Yeah, that was eight days before I was shot. My wife's in there. My wife's in there. How's she doing? Is she breathing? While investigators were convinced Samuels was the mastermind behind the attempted murders, they felt they just didn't have enough evidence to bring a case against him. The key was getting the alleged co-conspirators to cooperate. But at what cost? It wasn't an easy decision for anybody, but the decision was made, and it was the right decision. The decision was to make a controversial and highly unusual deal.

19:03Troy Roberts:In exchange for truthful testimony about Samuels' lead role in the conspiracy, complete immunity from prosecution for everyone involved, everyone that is, except for Ron Samuels. In a perfect world, all five would have done prison time for this. We live in a world of choices and we make the best choice we can. There was no question that we had to make the immunity deal. It was 100 % the right thing to do. The key person to get was Ron Samuels. With the deal made, the investigators were ready to make a move. But before Ron Samuels could be arrested, he was gone.

20:00Troy Roberts:Five months after the shooting, and just days before he was to be arrested, Ron Samuels was on the run.

20:11U.S. Attorney's Office called me and said, Larry Samuels didn't show up. We think he's a fugitive.

20:16Troy Roberts:Now retired FBI agent Larry Doss tracked Samuels to Monterey, Mexico,

20:24Troy Roberts:a sprawling city about 200 miles south of the border. Why'd you go to Mexico? The reason that I went was to eventually bring the three kids there legally or illegally, I was going to do it. On the 20th of May, 1998, he's now calling from Mexico using a credit card. Can you get the car and meet me somewhere with it safe? On the other end of the line was someone Samuels trusted, his second wife, Debbie Love. Debbie was the only one who knew I was in Monterey and what hotel I was at. Little did Samuels know that Debbie was cooperating with Florida police and allowed them to tap her phone. Debbie, if I can get out of this, I'll straighten our lives out.

21:19Oh, not with me, you won't.

21:21Troy Roberts:The Mexican authorities working with the FBI were following Samuels' every move. And as they closed in, he became more desperate. I'm begging you, please, please. A short time after the surveillance started, he realizes that he's being followed. A high-speed chase ensues. The car gets wrecked. And when they arrest him, an inventory is car. He has six kilograms of cocaine. You were found with six kilos of cocaine. That's what the report said. Not true? Not true. Ron Samuels would serve five years in a Mexican prison for narcotics trafficking. And his second wife, Debbie, would divorce him. How does one man have so much bad luck?