In November 2000, bank manager and single mother Michelle Renee was in her Vista, California, home with her seven-year-old daughter Breea, when three masked gunmen broke into the house. The gunmen held them captive overnight, and in the morning strapped dynamite onto their backs. Breea was shoved into a closet, while Michelle was ordered to rob the bank where she worked. She obeyed, and the next morning she cleaned out the bank vault and gave the gunmen a duffel bag containing $360,000. Police and FBI investigation soon apprehended four suspects: Christopher Butler, Lisa Ramirez, Christopher Huggins, and Robert Ortiz. “48 Hours" correspondent Susan Spencer reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 7/23/2010. 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
Chapter 1: What happened to Michelle and Breea on that fateful night?
We had gotten home right around 6.30. The sun was setting, and we were getting ready to go into the house and make homemade pizzas. I was a single mother, and my daughter loved when we got to spend time together. We decided to sit down on the couch and play some Game Boy to unwind from the day. And then everything was completely shattered in one blink of an eye.
The back door to our house just came crashing in with a sound that is completely indescribable. There were three men all dressed in black and masked, rushing towards us, SWAT style, in a line. They grabbed us, threw us to the floor. One man was on my back with guns to my head, and the duct tape started to unroll and rip.
My daughter was out of sight, couldn't hear her, didn't know what was going on, and I was screaming for our life. There's three of them. There's nothing, absolutely nothing I could have done to protect her. I'm Michelle Renee, and I was kidnapped and held hostage along with my seven-year-old daughter.
We were held for 14 hours all night long until the next morning when it was time to, as they said, go to work. That meant go rob the bank on that day. They duct taped dynamite to our backs. He showed us a device that he said was a detonation device. He said, if you don't do everything perfect, your daughter will blow up first, you will blow up next. So don't screw this up.
Chapter 2: How did the intruders control Michelle and her daughter?
Show me the money.
Tonight's 48 Hours Mystery.
I start feeling anxiety when I'm approaching the house.
It was here at this hillside home in Vista, California, where Michelle Renee once felt happiest.
lived in my dream house pretty much. It was up on top of a hill. It was overlooking the ocean.
She was 35, a divorced single mother raising her daughter Bria and working full time as a bank manager.
I felt very, very safe. I felt like we were far away from everything.
Until that awful night nine years ago when the three masked men charged through her back door. And everything was slow motion in that moment.
It was like it wasn't real. Oh, my God, my daughter. They pointed their guns at Michelle and Bria. I was just begging for her life. Please don't hurt her. Please don't hurt her.
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Chapter 3: What was the plan for the bank robbery?
This video was shot by the FBI after the break-in.
They said, do you know why we're here? I said, no, I have nothing. I mean, you know, we don't have anything. Why are you here?
But it turns out this was not just some random crime. We've been following you for weeks.
We know everything about you. We know you have a roommate when she coming home. And most important of all, they knew where she worked. We know you're the bank manager. That's why we're here, because you're going to get us the money out of the vault of that bank or you're going to die.
the intruders turned off all the lights, duct taped Michelle and Bria's wrists and ankles, and then dumped them on the couch.
They threatened us all night long. Okay. I was counting the minutes to the end of my life.
At 11 p.m., Michelle's roommate, Kimbra, came home. The gunman overpowered her, duct taped her too, and dragged her over to Michelle.
At that point, they were really, really graphic with their sexual talk, super, super bad.
Michelle says it was always clear which of the three men was in charge.
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Chapter 4: How did Michelle manage to rob the bank?
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I thought for sure once they get what they want, once they get the money, we're dead. They don't want witnesses.
Terrified and with sticks of dynamite cutting into her back. I didn't know what I would find when I got home, if I made it home.
Michelle Renee raced back to the house. All I knew was that's where my daughter was. Nothing else mattered. All I could think of was getting back to her.
She found Kimbra on the bed and Bria in the closet, right where she'd left her.
I was so excited. I was like, someone's coming back. It's my mom. I think it's my mom. And I was like, OK, it's over. It's over, because if my mom's back, they're gone.
I just wanted to grab her and never, never, ever let go of her. I just wanted to hold her. Hold her, she did. I was crouched down. I was just right in front of her, holding her, getting the tape off of her. It hit me right then. Oh, my gosh. I've got dynamite on my back.
I've got dynamite on my back still. But Kimbra and Bria's dynamite was gone. Kimbra said one of the men just ripped it off. Later, police took these photos to illustrate what happened. And I was like, okay, get it off of me. Get it off of me. And she did. Kimbra dashed outside and put the dynamite on the retaining wall. Then all three ran up the hill to the nearest neighbor. That security gate.
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Chapter 5: What evidence led to the capture of the suspects?
Chris Butler was under surveillance when police nabbed him at this intersection. In the car with him was his girlfriend, Lisa Ramirez, whom police suspected was the woman in the bank.
They were in shock. I would, yeah.
They thought they were such master criminals they could never be caught, or what? Correct.
They thought they were free and clear.
$10,000, $5,000, $2,000.
Wow, that's a lot of money. And in the glove compartment, this gun. It's a BB gun. It's not a real weapon, but... This is a BB gun?
Yes.
The treasure hunt continued at this house, where Butler and Ramirez had been staying. How important was the evidence that you found here?
At this residence, it was crucial, I would say.
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Chapter 6: How did Michelle's past complicate the investigation?
Here was Lisa pointing the finger at Michelle. Determined to find the truth, investigators again asked Michelle to reenact the crime, this time with props. Though they had reservations, they put fake dynamite on her, Kimbra, and even on little Bria and took those pictures. Were you testing her?
We were allowing the evidence to guide us where we needed to go. She was going to survive or she was going to break. She was very upset, very emotional.
They didn't say, we think you're innocent but we're doing our job. They didn't say, we have to investigate because this is our job. They didn't do any of that.
Every time we pushed a button, she would react in a way a true victim should.
Investigators were inclined to believe her, but still, they were puzzled.
And we say, What are we missing? What did we miss on this?
You just didn't think these bozos could do it by themselves. That was always kind of in the back of our mind, is how can these four individuals pull this off without assistance?
You mean just because they just didn't seem smart enough?
They just didn't seem smart enough.
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Chapter 7: What was the aftermath of the robbery for Michelle and her daughter?
It was a nerve-wracking year and a half after the kidnapping and robbery before the first two defendants, Chris Butler and Lisa Ramirez, went to trial.
There's no possible way to prepare for what was about to happen.
Michelle was the state's key witness, and she was feeling the pressure. She could no longer bear to work at the bank. She left her dream house, and now she had to face her captors.
Every single emotion you can imagine was just coming at me like darts.
But at least prosecutor Tom Manning was on her side.
We looked under every rock and explored every detail. I believed she was a victim, and I couldn't imagine that Michelle would put Brea in that kind of jeopardy.
Early on, Manning felt pretty good about his case. Along with an abundance of evidence, he had Michelle's roommate to back up her story. And better yet, he had a confession from Lisa Ramirez. Even Lisa's own lawyer, Herb Weston, saw this as a long shot for his client.
You play the card your doubt, and then you try to get a winning strategy.
He wasn't expecting miracles. Things didn't look too bright at the beginning. Things really stunk. But he got a miracle. The judge threw out Lisa Ramirez's confession.
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Chapter 8: What were the consequences for the suspects involved?
Normal and typical ways victims and witnesses act.
I'm going to be strong. But Michelle was her own worst enemy. She even argued with the prosecution.
You can see anger, and she gets defensive. It obviously caused concerns for the jury.
Was there anything that she did well as a prosecution witness? Showed up. When it was the defense's turn, Weston went gunning for Michelle.
We don't win cases by evidence. We win cases by emotion. She did certain things that just seem so unbelievable.
Specifically, why would Michelle race home to her daughter if she believed the dynamite was real?
Here's a person who's supposed to have a bomb on her back. A bomb. And she's so worried about her daughter. So she runs into the same room where her daughter was. Would you take the chance? Does that seem believable?
And if she had really been bound with tape, where were the marks?
Why isn't there any tape marks? That's what tape does. It leaves marks, and yet they don't find any of that. Why?
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