The Puppet Master
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What happened during the drive-by shooting involving Heather and John Grossman?
911, do you have an emergency? Yes, we do. We have a shooting in a car, a North Federal in Yamato.
We have people with injuries. Oh, my God. She's, um... Please tell them 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. My 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. And he's telling Runyon what to do. I'm in the back seat. And Runyon is 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.
Roger Runyon took out a long rifle.
How did Heather Grossman's life change after the shooting?
Slim's like, do it, do it, do it, do it. And I came up and... I stuck the weapon out the window and... And I shot into the back window and... 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's shot, I think, in the head or face. And she's face down in the middle. 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.
I 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. DENNIS FARINA, The Puppet Master, tonight's 48 Hours Mystery.
Yamato and Federal, southeast corner, reference to shooting two victims.
What role did Ron Samuels play in the events leading up to the shooting?
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 finger.
The first report on that October day in 1997 was that a woman had been killed in a drive-by shooting.
I remember tears rolling 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. 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. 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.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What happened during the drive-by shooting involving Heather and John Grossman?
0:19–1:44
2
How did Heather Grossman's life change after the shooting?
1:44–3:18
3
What role did Ron Samuels play in the events leading up to the shooting?
3:18–5:38
4
What led to the custody battle over Heather's children?
5:38–7:12
5
How did the investigation unfold after the shooting?
7:12–9:34
6
What was the motive behind the conspiracy to kill Heather?
9:34–12:36
7
What evidence linked Ron Samuels to the shooting?
12:36–14:27
8
What was the outcome of the trial and how did Heather feel about it?
14:27–41:15