Crosby, Tenn., is shocked when a beloved father and pastor is found dead outside a ransacked house.Season 32, Episode 3Originally aired: March 5, 2023Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What happened to the beloved father and pastor?
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The father walked up there and discovered the son shot to death.
It appeared he had surprised the people that were burglarizing the house and tried to flee.
As the investigation takes shape, it reveals a life in turmoil.
The post office had been tipped off that there was drugs coming in.
And a secret affair pushes this family to the brink.
The affair was finally the straw that broke the camel's back, and he filed for divorce.
His wife had left the estate with his children and nowhere to go.
Then a brave young voice comes forward.
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Chapter 2: What led to the shocking discovery of Aaron Smith's body?
That campground was such a close-knit family, if you will. They loved the family atmosphere.
However, at 6.05 p.m. on July 23rd, the serene campground turns chaotic when a shocking call comes in to 911.
I got a notification from the Sheriff's Department that they had received a 911 call that there had been a body found at Camp Wright Acres off of Cosby Highway that appeared to be gunshot.
The caller is Harry Smith. He owns the campground and says that he's just found his son, Aaron, and thinks he's been shot.
Minutes later, Cocke County Sheriff's deputies arrive. They follow directions Harry gave the dispatcher to a cabin at the back of the property.
The house was a one-story frame house that was the owner's home. The body was about 13, 14 feet from the front door.
The father who walked up there and discovered him was very visibly upset. He just found his son shot to death.
Harry Smith directs law enforcement up a walkway toward the cabin.
He's lying face down in a pool of his own blood.
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Chapter 3: What was the state of Aaron Smith's family life?
The deputies call for backup. Minutes later, Cocke County homicide detectives arrive, along with agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
For Aaron's death, it was a terrible, terrible heartache. Everybody was actually naturally drawn to him just because of his personality. Everybody that knew him, they were traumatized so much because this was wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen.
In 1960, Jonathan Aaron Smith was born to parents Harry and Cleta. They raised Aaron and his brother in the small town of Cleveland, Tennessee.
Aaron's relationship with his mom and dad, I mean, was just like the loving all-American family. They were always cutting up together.
My dad and his brother grew up in church. I don't know of a time when they weren't going to church on Sundays. That was always a priority. He was very fun-loving and very adventurous, and he was the class clown. And he just had that happy, bubbly personality. He never met a stranger.
In 1981, 20-year-old Aaron was at a local Blockbuster video store when he struck up a conversation with the clerk, 20-year-old Denise Graham.
He came in one night to rent a movie, and he flirted a little bit with her, and she smiled back at him. But yeah, he went into Blockbuster to rent a movie and came out with a girlfriend, apparently.
Denise was born in 1961 to Don and Linda Graham. But Denise didn't come into this world alone.
Don and Linda were expecting. They didn't know it was twins until the girls were born.
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Chapter 4: What role did Denise play in the tumultuous marriage?
Linda suddenly died of a massive heart attack. Linda was the pillar that held that Graham family together.
With their mother gone, Denise and Debbie grew even further apart.
Debbie drifted. She had a lot of problems. She ended up living in New York, and she and Denise rarely spoke or even saw each other.
Denise threw herself into starting a family of her own.
A couple years later, my parents had me. I was early, but I made it through. And a couple years later, they had my brother, who has Down syndrome. My dad couldn't have loved him anymore. He was just happy to have a son. When we were kids, we liked to always be outside. We would go hiking, and we would stop and pick blackberries. And my dad would make a blackberry cobbler or a blackberry pie.
In 1991, Aaron's parents announced they'd found an investment opportunity while on vacation in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
They came across this campground for sale, and they really liked it. My grandparents thought it would be a good addition to their retirement, so they just decided to buy that campground.
There was a caretaker's home on the property that Aaron and Denise moved into, and Aaron helped his dad build another home for him and Aaron's mom.
The rest of the 38 acres was rented out to campers. As Erin and Denise settled into their new home, Erin saw the opportunity to make a lifelong dream come true.
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Chapter 5: How did Aaron's divorce impact his life?
That car only entered that gate because the person in the car knew the code.
Coming up, investigators learn of big trouble brewing in a marriage on the brink.
There's a warrant out for her arrest, but they still have no idea where the kids are.
I thought I was going on a trip. They never thought in a million years that she was gonna run and kidnap us.
Tennessee investigators are at the Campwright Acres Campground, where minister and father of two, Aaron Smith, has just been found shot dead.
The investigators found a witness who had seen a white car at the house at the campground prior to the murder and also heard one or two gunshots.
There's only one way in and one way out of the campground, and that road is blocked by a gate. You have to know the code to open the gate.
Detectives realize it's possible Aaron knew his killer, and they ask his parents to shed some light on his background.
We learned from Harry that they had just went through a divorce and a custody battle over the two children.
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Chapter 6: What were the details surrounding Aaron's tragic death?
When the investigator told her that he was dead, he said he got no response out of her. She just listened.
He started questioning her about where she was and where the children were.
She said she was in Florida and said that she would come back.
Ten days after Denise disappeared with the children and four days after Aaron's murder, investigators finally get word that Denise is back in Tennessee alone. and she decides to turn herself in.
She traveled to Tennessee. She did not bring the children. She was taken into custody on the custodial interference warrant. I wouldn't say she was cooperating. She wouldn't advise where the children were. She wouldn't talk about Aaron's death. But we had our suspicion that she was involved. the cause of the divorce and the custody battle and how rancorous it had been.
She said she didn't know what had happened to them. She took the kids to Florida, and that was her alibi.
She held out for a couple of days, but they wouldn't let her post bond until she turned us in. She called her aunt and uncle where we were staying and told them to bring us back.
The children were returned. They came and went to live with Aaron's parents.
With no concrete evidence against her, investigators release Denise on Bonn and focus on Aaron's movements in the days before his murder. It doesn't take long to find something suspicious.
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Chapter 7: What evidence pointed to the involvement of Denise?
With Brittany's help, investigators are closing in.
A lot of times, you know, you get information that you believe is good, but they corroborate it. But this, get this information from a 10-year-old girl, corroborate every bit of it, I'm just glad it turned out that way.
But their work isn't finished just yet. Investigators still need to prove Denise's connection to the murder.
She paid for the rental car. She knew what happened. Did she put Alex and her sister up to it?
Coming up, investigators zero in on Denise.
She had bragged that he was not going to get those children. She had seen that.
And an important piece of evidence is recovered.
There were five fingerprints on the outside label of the envelope.
Investigators looking into the murder of Aaron Smith believe his ex-wife Denise worked with her sister Debbie, their father Don, and Debbie's boyfriend Alex to carry out the deadly plan.
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Chapter 8: What happened after Denise disappeared with the children?
Alex was moving around a lot, changed his location. He was at different addresses in the city. And agents in New York finally located him. About a year later, New York authorities arrested him.
Authorities attempt to interview Alex, but like Denise and Debbie, he doesn't want to talk.
Alex didn't give any kind of statement for or against anyone, other than to say he didn't know what we were talking about and he wouldn't be involved in anything like that. When confronted with the ticket, he had to admit that he had been in Tennessee.
And when confronted with the information about the white car that had been seen there at the time that the gunshots were heard, he said, oh, yeah, it was there, but only meant to scare him. He was alive when they left. That just doesn't apply.
It's obvious that he went there with the intention to kill.
Investigators say Debbie and Alex ambushed Aaron inside his parents' house.
that went in, got the drop on him, they handcuffed him. He got out of the handcuffs. And Alex started shooting at him and shot at him at least three times.
After the arrests, investigators speak with Denise's father, Don.
The investigators believe Don was there in the motel with them in Miami.
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