MURDERED: Gina Hall

[00:00] Hi, Crime Junkies. It's Britt, and I have big news. One of my favorite seasonal shows, CounterClock, is back with a brand new season, and it is wild. Host Delia D'Ambra is digging into the 2008 Lane Bryant murders. I mean, this isn't just a recap. It is a reinvestigation. She's talking to law enforcement, people from the community, even sources who have never spoken publicly until now. And you know I love a show that asks all the questions. Listen to CounterClock Season 8 now wherever you get your podcasts. [00:31] Hi, Crime Junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And the story I want to tell you today starts when a radiant young woman goes out to have a good time and is never seen or heard from again, posing one giant question. [00:46] When the most crucial piece of evidence is missing, [00:50] What does it take to pursue justice and prove a murder? [00:55] This is the story of Gina Hall. [00:58] Music [01:29] In the summer of 1980, a young woman named Delaina Hall is loving the college life at Radford University. Instead of going home for the summer, she's decided to stay in Radford and take summer classes for her grad program. And best of all, she's sharing an apartment with her younger sister, Gina, who's 18 and a freshman nursing student. Delaina and Gina are more than sisters. I mean, they're like best friends. They've always been super close.

[01:59] to have this time together and like live somewhere that's got a little bit more of a city feel than they get back in their hometown of Coburn, Virginia. Well, and to be there and be sisters, like that just seems like so much fun. I know. Now, on Saturday, June 28th, after both Delaina and Gina finish up their summer midterms, Gina decides that she wants to go dancing to celebrate being done with exams. Gina loves dancing and like sing. Okay, just like you. Yeah, I was like, [02:29] for, especially if like Band-Aid Nelly comes on or Get Low. It's over. Oh, truly. I feel like you'd also probably be really good at the wobble. Not as much as you think, no. And listen, though this was well before the music stylings of Lil Wayne or T-Pain, the packed floor of a nightclub is kind of Gina's happy place. And she's really looking forward to letting off some steam at the Blacksburg Marriott about a half hour away. And basically, it's like this club inside this hotel. [02:59] And it's in the city of Blacksburg where Virginia Tech is. So it's like the best dancing spot around. [03:06] Of course, Gina asked Delaina to go, but Delaina says no. She wants to just kind of have a quiet night at home. [03:13] Delaina watches Gina do her makeup and get dressed, but right before Gina leaves, she realizes she's missing her best accessory for dancing, her favorite dress. [03:23] ankle bracelet. I feel that. Yeah, it's gold with like a pair of interlocking hearts and she never goes dancing without it. Since they're sharing a brown Chevy Monte Carlo, Delaina gives Gina her keys and tells her to be careful before seeing her out at around 10 o'clock that night. After Gina leaves, Delaina has her quiet night in and just goes to bed. Well then, at around one o'clock in

[03:53] She gets a strange phone call, and it's Gina on the other end of the line, and Gina just sounds... [04:00] off. Off how? Well, according to Ron Peterson Jr.'s book, Under the Trustle, Gina sounds [04:07] Like... [04:07] nervous and kind of uneasy like something is wrong kind of frazzled yeah and she tells delana that she's out at this lake with a guy named steve but she doesn't really give any more details about that or him or anything else and or like why she's like feeling this way or maybe sounding this way yeah and then suddenly the call cuts off [04:27] Now, somehow, I don't know how, but Delaina manages to fall back asleep after this crazy phone call, which again, like, I don't know that I would have been. But it almost makes me think that maybe it wasn't as disturbing. Yes, in hindsight, she sounded off, but nothing like, oh, my God, come get me. Something's wrong. You know what I mean? Right. It wasn't a call that you were like, I have to leave my house right now and go find my sister. It was just like, oh, she's not having a good time. I'll talk to her about it in the morning or whatever. [04:57] morning, the first thing she does is go to Gina's bedroom to check on her. But Gina isn't there and the car isn't outside either. And so now with that like call replaying in her head, Delaina is starting to worry because it's super out of character for Gina to stay out at night, especially without calling somebody to let them know where she was. [05:18] Like, even in the days before cell phones, Gina was great about checking in with her family and friends so they always knew where she was. And one of Gina's friends, this guy named Greg, who she's kind of got this long distance relationship with, actually comes over to the apartment while Delaina's trying to figure out what to do next. But once Delaina tells him what's going on, he kind of agrees with her right away. Like, this isn't like Gina. Something is up. I mean, okay, but she's 18. She's going dancing.

[05:48] which is like her favorite thing to do. Maybe she just went home with somebody or lost track of time or something. Like it doesn't seem totally out of the question for this just to be something that happens once in a while, right? Yeah, I mean, it's possible. But everyone who knows her thinks that it's really unlikely because aside from, I mean, again, she has this like romantic thing with Greg. They're in a long distance relationship. Like it would be kind of weird if she went out with someone. [06:18] her body. You see, when she was a toddler, Gina got really badly burned in an accident that left her with like a bunch of third degree burn scars and skin grafts like all over her body. She had multiple surgeries throughout her childhood. So she had a lot of scarring and it's nothing to be ashamed of. She was a beautiful girl, but it is something that her sister points out. She says she's always been worried about how a potential partner would react to seeing them. She's like [06:48] the thought of any kind of physical relationship. And she didn't want her scars to ever impact that. So she's like, yes, she had relationships. Yes, she was probably physical, but like not on the first night meeting somebody at a bar. So her sister thinks the odds of her putting herself out there like that with a stranger are slim to pretty much none. So at this point, Delaina pretty much knows that something is up and she manages to round up a bunch of friends to start

[07:18] afternoon going all over town looking for Gina, but there's no trace of her anywhere. And Delaina's getting more and more freaked out as the day goes on. She's terrified that Gina might have gotten into maybe an accident, like driving on backcountry roads or something, because the roads do get like really narrow and all twisty up in the mountains. And it's even harder to navigate when it's dark outside. [07:44] Now, obviously, Delaina's trying so hard not to think of like the worst case scenarios, but she can't help it. [07:50] Finally, after a full day of searching and finding nothing, Delaina calls the Radford police on Sunday night to report Gina missing. [08:01] Butch. [08:02] the Radford police won't let her file the report. What? Why not? According to Under the Trestle, they say it's because Gina's been missing for less than 24 hours, which we've heard before. It's like the worst thing you can possibly say. Yeah. So Delaina tries the Virginia State Police, and she's beyond frustrated when they tell her the same thing. You have to wait. And to Delaina, it feels like she's not being taken seriously, but she refuses to give up. Right. Like you said before, [08:32] squeaky wheel, right? The squeaky wheel. Yes. Like anyone who has a missing family member or knows somebody, like [08:38] Don't just don't just like follow all the rules. You know what I mean? Like, don't do anything illegal, but like be the most noise. Be annoying. Yes. Be an advocate for the person who needs it. Now, the next day on Monday morning, Delaina and Gina's dad, John, makes the three hour drive from their hometown in Coburn to Radford. And he is actually able to file the report and have Gina officially listed as a missing person.

[09:08] Delaina was unwilling to just like sit back and wait for police. Like she wants the whole region to know Gina's missing so that they can keep an eye out for her. And she thinks she knows just how to get the word out. [09:21] She calls up one of the area's biggest radio stations, K92 FM, and asks them to tell their listeners about Gina. But kind of unsurprisingly, the station tells her no. They're like, listen, we're sorry for what you're going through, but we get requests like this all the time. And if we do one, we'll have to do all of them. Which to a certain extent kind of makes sense. I mean, it totally does. But, and this is what I love about Delaina. [09:51] for an answer. She does what I think any of us big sisters would do in her shoes. She borrows a car because remember Gina took hers the night she vanished. And she makes the hour long drive to Roanoke to go talk to the radio people in person. Oh my God. I love it. This is like probably the only let me see the manager thing. [10:13] move I would ever approve of. Absolutely. And get this, it works. K92 FM agrees to run a 30 second PSA twice an hour with a description of Gina asking for anyone with information about where she might be to please call the Radford Police Department. I mean, go Delaina. That is huge. It's massive.

[10:38] While Delaina is in Roanoke, the volunteer search efforts are still going strong all over the Radford area. [10:46] According to WFXR News, a bunch of people make the three-hour drive from the Hall's home to come help search for her. And, you know, they're going door to door with flyers. They're going all over the Radford University campus. A couple of them go back to the nightclub. And they even go over the Virginia Tech campuses to see if anyone remembers seeing Gina. Like, they put together basically this big grassroots operation within less than 48 hours of when she goes missing. That's incredible. [11:16] But I kind of am wondering, what are police doing during all this? Like, are they involved in the searches at all? So I wasn't able to find in my research if they're working directly with the volunteers. But I do know that at a minimum, they've got a bolo out for Gina and the car. And I also read that they talked to Greg that same day to rule him out as a person of interest. But it's not the police's efforts that actually turn up the first lead. [11:44] It's Gina's friends. [11:46] Around lunchtime on that same day, Monday, two of Gina's friends make a shocking discovery. [11:58] Chime is changing the way that people bank. They offer the most rewarding, fee-free banking built for you. Chime has thousands of fee-free ATMs. Like, why pay to get your own money? Plus, you can get savings that grow faster with a 3.75% APY. That is nine times higher than the national average.

[12:26] card and premium travel perks. Their Spot Me feature even lets you overdraft up to $200. And all of that is without fees. There is nothing not to like about this. It is clear why Chime is rated five stars by USA Today for customer service. Real humans 24-7. When you switch, you're not just switching banks. You are upgrading to America's number one choice for banking with a Chime checking account. Chime's not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank. [12:56] We'll see you next time. [13:23] These two guys who know Gina from back home find the car she was driving Saturday night, parked under a railroad bridge on the side of Hazel Hollow Road across the county line in Pulaski County. [13:36] Now, when they find the car, the trunk is open, the door pull strap on the driver's side door somehow got torn off, and strangest of all, the driver's seat is pushed all the way back. [13:51] According to court documents, Gina's only five feet tall and everyone knows that she always drives with a seat pulled like way up, like never pushed back like this. Yeah, I was actually going to ask about that because you and I are only like five, two.

[14:05] And if I ever have to drive my husband's car, I have to scoot the chair like all the way, all the way to the front. And he gets really annoyed by it. So that's like the first thing that came to mind. Like she could not have driven that car, right? Right. Like not only would it not have been comfortable, but I don't even know if she physically could have like reached the pedals. Possibly done it. Right. Yeah. Now, one of the friends stays with the car while the other one rushes to tell police. [14:35] person's case just takes a much darker turn. There, police find blood, [14:42] head hair and pubic hair in the trunk of Gina's car. Oh my God. Even though they haven't actually found any trace of Gina herself, police are now dealing with the possibility that something terrible has happened to her. Okay, going back to the call that Gina made to Delaina... [14:59] She said she was near a lake, [15:01] Is the car found anywhere nearby that lake? So it's about three miles away from Claytor Lake. And the road that the car was found on actually runs parallel to the new river. And Claytor Lake is like a reservoir of the new river. And it's the only lake around. So they're all kind of connected, but also different. Ish, yeah. But basically, like with the call and based on where her car is found, like the only inference police can like really make is they're thinking [15:31] that. [15:31] that lake has to be the one that was her last known location. The rest of that day is spent processing the scene where the car is found while searches continue for Gina. But it wouldn't be until the next day that police would get another break.

[15:46] They get a phone call from a man named Stephen Epperly, and he tells them that he was with Gina the night she disappeared. He's a man named Stephen Epperly, and he tells them that he was with Gina the night she disappeared. [15:56] According to Murderpedia, when he comes in for an interview, Steve tells police that he was at the Blacksburg Marriott nightclub on June 28th with his good friend Bill King and a handful of other buddies. He says he'd never met Gina before, but they kind of clicked pretty well that night. So they danced together for about like four or five songs. And as the night wore on, he invited Gina to come back to Bill's parents' house on Claytor Lake. [16:25] According to Steve, he offered to drive since he knew how to get there. So he says he's the one who drove the Chevy, not Gina. He says he knows Gina called her sister. And then after that, he did try to put the moves on her. But Gina said no. [16:42] Steve tells police that they left the lake house about 3:30 or like 4 o'clock in the morning, and that the last time he saw Gina was when she dropped him off at his parents' house where he lives maybe like a half an hour later. [16:56] Now, later on in the conversation, Steve also mentions that while he was out at the lake house, his friend Bill had come over with a woman, too, sometime between, like, [17:05] 3:45 or 4:00 that morning. So really shortly before he and Gina left. And he's very careful to say that Bill and his companion saw Gina and had a little conversation with her. When he left with Gina, according to Steve's story, Bill and his friend were still there.

[17:24] Something about Steve's story doesn't sit quite right with police. And the more they learn about him, the stronger that feeling gets. [17:34] Steve's from Radford, and since it's a small, close-knit community, there are actually people on the force who know him or his family. And they all say the same thing. [17:46] Steve's got a violent streak. There's gossip about him getting into bad bar fights, memories of the police having to intervene in domestic disputes that he'd have with his family, and allegations of him being really aggressive towards women. Like we're talking about dating violence, you name it. Okay, but does he have any sort of criminal record? [18:16] Steve's been charged with rape in the past. Not once but twice and in both incidents he's allegedly tricked the victims into being alone with him. So Steve is looking like a pretty strong person of interest to police at this point. [18:35] The next day, on July the 2nd, police are able to talk to Steve's friend, Bill. Since Steve put Bill at the house the night Gina went missing, I mean, obviously they want to see what his version of events are. Right. Bill tells them something very interesting. He corroborates Steve's story about meeting Gina at the club. And he says that he did see Gina's car parked out front when he got to the lake house with a girl named Robin.

[19:05] Right. But [19:06] Bill tells them a fascinating detail. He says that when he walked into the first floor den, he stepped in something wet on the carpet. [19:17] bill didn't think anything of it at the time he figured steve and gina probably went for a little late night swim in the lake maybe and trailed some water into the house like no big deal no reason for him to like turn on the lights and check out what it was and risk interrupting whatever steve and gina might be getting up to can we take a second i have a question is it weird that steve is there at bill's house even though it's [19:40] Bill's house and Bill isn't there? - Not really. So Bill and Steve have actually been friends since they were like [19:45] little kids. So Steve's kind of got this open invitation to the house. It's like me having your simply safe codes. Basically is. Yeah. So he can come over anytime he wants. He can even use the house to like hook up after a night out. Now, [19:59] Bill goes on to tell police that he was there outside of the club when Steve and Gina were making plans to like head out to his lake house. But as I read in some court records, Bill says Gina seemed confused about what was going on. I guess what do you mean confused? Was she drunk? No, more like she didn't know who else was going to go to the lake house and like, [20:22] who was taking what car there. Like, she seemed to think that a group would be there, not that she'd be there alone with Steve. It was like, I'll go if you'll go, who else is going type thing. Yeah, I don't know the details, but basically, like, whatever Bill saw, it made him recognize that, like, Gina wasn't going there to, like, hook up with Steve. You know what I mean? Like, she thought something else was going on. It felt more like she was expecting, like, a multi-person party and not, like, he's had a hookup. Yeah, and this is one of the biggest things of all.

[20:52] Bill also tells police that he never saw or spoke to Gina when he was at the lake house, which is the exact opposite of what Steve told them. Right. So with everything they know so far about Steve and his past, law enforcement's curiosity is super piqued about this lake house, about what might have happened there the night Gina went missing. [21:16] The police ask Bill, like, hey, why don't you, like, take us over to the house so we can just, like, have a look around? And Bill agrees. Sure. No problem. So two officers drive out there with him. And as soon as they get inside... [21:31] They see it. [21:33] On the carpet, in the den, is a bleached out pink stain, matching like right about where Bill said that he stepped in something wet that night. And this stain is pretty big. [21:47] Under the trestle describes it as being a bit bigger than a basketball. And it hasn't started to get that discoloration and like weird look that an old stain would. You know what I mean? It's definitely fresh. Exactly. And police have a bad feeling that this might have been blood. [22:05] I wasn't able to find in my research like what exactly they tell Bill at this point. I mean, I have to imagine he's probably trying to like stay out of the way a little bit, [22:15] When he's in the house, he does make a stunning discovery. [22:19] There, at the foot of the stairs, he finds a gold coin.

[22:23] bracelet with two interlocking hearts. [22:26] just like the anklet Gina Hall was wearing, and the clasp is broken. [22:32] Police continue to go over every single inch of the house. And as they search, they keep turning up more and more bloodstains, not big ones like the one from the carpet, but little ones sort of scattered around both inside and outside. A lot of places that an untrained eye would miss. And they find hair, blood and fibers on the refrigerator door smudged like someone was. [23:01] almost had tried to clean it up. And there's also blood on the driveway, in the upstairs bathroom, outside on the deck, and scattered on some stuff in the utility room. Okay, so I have kids who get hurt all the time. So I'm sure there's blood [23:16] In like random places in my house that I don't even know about. But this seems like kind of a lot. Well, it's more than that because they also found blood on a chair leg, on a pitcher, on a dustpan, on a mattock, which is like a pickaxe basically. So something definitely happened here. Yeah, this is way more than like a couple kids with bloody noses over a decade or two. Like it's obvious something terrible happened here. [23:46] worse because [23:47] Next to the fridge, there's a golf shoe with blood and pubic hair

[23:54] in the cleats. [23:56] Now, they have a lot of evidence, but despite all this evidence, there is still no sign of Gina Hall or her body [24:07] anywhere in the house. [24:10] Since this is before DNA, all the labs can do is test for blood type. And everything police have is found to be type O. [24:19] just like Gina was. [24:21] Days go by with more searches and more evidence collected, all pointing right at Steve Epperly. But without a body, this is still all 100% circumstantial. [24:38] Bill's parents get back to their lake house on July 5th. This is a week after Gina first disappeared. And here's the thing. They've been on vacation this whole time with no idea about what's been going on. Oh, my God. Yeah. So instead of coming home to like their normal home, they come back to a crime scene. [24:58] They're horrified, but they're instantly cooperative. And according to court records, they're able to point out six distinct things that are missing from their house. [25:08] a quilt, [25:09] a blue towel, a striped towel, [25:12] a roll of paper towels, [25:14] a bath mat, [25:15] and a can of bathroom cleaner. [25:18] A volunteer searcher actually finds a bloody blue towel along the New River the next day that matches the one missing from the lake house. But nothing else. No bath mat, no quilt.

[25:30] and still no Gina. [25:33] To try and shake something loose, the police decide to start thinking a little easier. [25:39] outside the box. And so on July 11, 1980, they bring in a surprising new helper. [25:48] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. [26:08] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to the deck now. [26:16] wherever you get your podcasts. [26:19] Almost two weeks after Gina went missing, police decide to call in a so-called super dog and his handler. I love the idea of a super dog, just in general. This dog is a big German shepherd named Harass II, which might be my favorite working dog name ever. And he's known for having an incredible sense of smell. His handler, a guy named John Preston, is pretty well known in law enforcement circles. [26:49] is confident that they can find Gina. According to Murderpedia, after John comes to Virginia with Harass II and agrees to help, [26:58] The dog tracks back to Steve three times. Two times with a pair of his dirty underwear to scent from, and another time from the bloody towel. Wait, can you kind of walk me through that? Yeah, so I was a little confused too. Basically, police got a pair of Steve's underwear to give Harass the Second the scent. And then...

[27:20] "Harass" traces that scent back to about 50 yards away from where Gina's car was found. [27:28] And, [27:28] He doesn't stop there, though. He tracks then Stephen's scent from near where Gina's car was, [27:34] all the way back to the Epperly house. I officially love Harass the Second. Yeah, and so those were the first two scents, like, from the underwear. Mm-hmm. And, [27:43] For that third one, police go to the Radford High School building, like right across from their station, where they basically make a lineup of towels with the blue towel that was found by the river in there. And kind of like mixed in there just to see if he would find it. Exactly. So they ask Karas to pick out if one has Steve's scent on it and he goes right to that bloody one. Oh, my God. And then this is the bananas part. [28:13] bloody towel into the auditorium over to the police station where Steve is being interviewed right that very moment. I swear I'm not being dramatic. I have full body chills, but also I'm almost in tears. I love harass. Harass the second is 1000% a super dog. Yes. Harass the second actually goes into the interview room and right then Steve does. He signals. Well, [28:43] does something no one expects. [28:45] As soon as Steve sees Harass II and hears about what he's tracked to and why this dog is here, he says, quote...

[28:54] That's a damn good thing. [28:57] dog. [28:58] Steve actually says that same thing [29:03] Three times. That's a damn good dog. [29:08] According to witness recollections in Under the Trestle, he's not even being sarcastic. His tone is like a little flat and thin. [29:17] almost shocked. Like, that's a damn good dog. Like, how did he do that? Like, it's wild. [29:25] Now, all through his meetings with police, though, and even after Harass the Second does his thing, Steve keeps denying that he had anything to do with Gina's disappearance. And he won't say if he knows where she is. So all law enforcement can do is keep searching. [29:43] As July wears on, searchers keep turning up more and more that tells police Gina isn't coming home. [29:51] Gina's bloody clothes turn up out in the woods under the bridge near where her car was, along with the other missing towel, also bloody, a shovel, and another mattock about 20 feet away. [30:06] And get this, Steve's mom takes one look at both the mattock and the shovel and confirms [30:15] They're the ones that just happened to be missing from the Eberle family garage. [30:22] Now, still, police don't think any of this is enough to arrest Steve and nail him for Gina's murder. What? Yeah. So they kind of just have to...

[30:32] Watch as he moves out of Radford, first to Roanoke, and then out of state altogether to Columbus, Ohio. And in a strange turn of events, while Steve is in Columbus, a woman named Vicky goes missing and is found murdered. And the circumstances around Vicky's case are kind of similar to Gina Hall. [30:55] According to ABC News 6, her murder is still unsolved. And though police didn't find any connection to Steve Epperly at the time in Vicky's case, it is strange and something that you'll see brought up when you dig into Gina's case. And we actually have a little audio extra in the fan club about Vicky's case if you want to get more details on that and kind of compare it to Gina's. [31:19] Now, Steve only stays in Ohio for a couple of months before coming back to Virginia that fall. While all this is happening, the local prosecutor and since Virginia is a Commonwealth, his official title is Commonwealth Attorney of Pulaski County. But the job functions are pretty much the same as a DA does. Right. Right. But anyway, so this man named Everett Shockley is starting to realize that. [31:44] His worst case scenario might be coming true. Like, what if they can't find Gina? All the evidence keeps going right to Steve, to no one else. And Everett knows in his gut, like, this is their guy. But he's all too aware that he's only got one shot at taking Steve to trial for Gina's murder. At this point, is there any precedent for

[32:06] No body homicide trials? So according to Under the Trestle, that's the biggest thing the prosecutor's office is researching at this point. I mean, the current DA's team knows that they've never tried a no body case, but they have no idea if it's ever been done before and actually gotten a conviction anywhere else in the U.S. Right. Like been successful. Right. [32:36] no eyewitnesses, and of course, nobody. And none of those four were in Virginia. I mean, I know that plea deals are like kind of TBD, but is that an option? Like, as opposed to turning this over to a jury? Well, they actually try. So in August of 1980, the prosecution goes to Steve and his attorney, and they offer him a deal that basically if he pleads guilty to second degree murder and tells them where Gina's body is, he'll get 20 years, which is the maximum for second degree [33:06] and Steve's found guilty of first-degree murder, he'll get 20 as the minimum. Right, right. But Steve and his lawyer, like, shut this down. They just turned the deal down flat. Oh, wow. Now, imagine your Everett Shockley. Like, you have been on the job as a Commonwealth attorney for only six months, and already you're looking at a case that will not only make or break your career, but also has the potential to shape Virginia legal precedent for years. Right.

[33:36] not only your career, but your legacy almost. Yes, this case is a huge deal. And the burden of proof on the prosecution is so much different from a normal trial, right? Again, when you don't have that body. Mm-hmm. [33:51] Because again, you're not just trying to prove the murder. Like, you first have to prove that Gina's actually dead. Right. And then prove that she's dead because Steve killed her. And C, basically, you have to prove that he intended to kill her all because, what, like, she wouldn't have sex with him? Right. Like, it's... [34:08] I hate to say it, but kind of a flimsy case. It's hard. And if the jury finds reasonable doubt on any one of those three things, he will get to walk. So what do you do? Do you wait until the body is found? [34:24] Or do you take the gamble and move forward without it? [34:30] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. So [34:50] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to the deck now. [34:57] wherever you get your podcasts. [35:00] After talking to experts and doing some serious soul searching, Everett decides to risk it all. And on September 9th, 1980, Steve Epperly is arrested and charged with the murder of Gina Hall.

[35:16] According to an article I read in the Newsreader, the search for her body doesn't stop after Steve's in custody. He's got a new legal team at this point, a pair of court appointed lawyers who start jumping through all of the hoops they can to keep this case out of court. But it's no use. And finally, the trial starts in December of 1980 in Pulaski County. [35:38] Right from the start, this is a super emotional trial, in no small part because the very first person called to the stand is Delaina Hall, Gina's older sister. She takes the jury through Gina's life, how beloved she was, how deep their bond as sisters ran even now. And most tellingly, she confirms how self-conscious Gina was about her scars. [36:08] bathing suit. She also identifies Gina's ankle bracelet as the one that Bill King found at the lake house. But her most damning testimony isn't about Gina herself. It's about the car. You see, Delaina tells the jury that she always had to fix the car seat after Gina drove because the seat would be like super close up to the steering wheel. So right, like we were talking about earlier. Exactly. So how tall was Steve? Yeah. [36:37] About six feet tall, definitely tall enough that he'd be squashed if he was trying to drive where Gina kept the seat. 100%. Yeah. He would have to push the seat back just like it was when it was found.

[36:52] And this is just one of the circumstances that the prosecution wants the jury to think long and hard about. But it's far from the last because on the third day of trial, Steve's friend Bill King takes the stand and this dude drops a bombshell. [37:09] Bill testifies that Steve never denied killing Gina Hall. [37:15] Wait, what? Yeah. According to another article I read in the News Leader paper, Bill tells the court that when he straight up asked Steve if he killed Gina, all Steve said is, quote, I don't know anything about it. [37:31] We'll have to wait and see. [37:33] End quote. But... Okay, Ashley, like, we've done how many episodes of this show? [37:39] End. [37:40] If you're accused of [37:42] being involved or connected to a murder, almost everyone says, absolutely not. No, no way. There's no way I could have done this. A hard no. Yeah, this wasn't even a soft no. And he's just like, who knows? Yeah. Well, this isn't even like the only thing Bill says. He also tells the jury that when Steve came back over to the lake house the Sunday after for a barbecue with some other [38:12] to get a drink. And according to Bill, Steve was in the house for kind of a long while. Like too long to be like just grabbing more ice or something. And when Bill asked him about it, he claimed to have been looking for a bottle opener, which struck Bill clearly.

[38:28] as being kind of odd because remember like their childhood friends [38:33] Steve comes over there, like, again, he doesn't... The home is, like, very familiar to Steve. Yeah, so for somebody who knows where everything is, like Steve does... [38:44] Why is he spending so much time in the house? Again, he didn't see what he was doing in there. There's nothing he can prove. But it is just this additional piece of circumstantial evidence that he's providing the jury. And Bill goes on to say that when he called him out on it, Steve got pretty evasive about what took him so long, which, again, begs the question, if he wasn't looking for a bottle opener. What was he doing? What was he doing? [39:08] Bill also testified that Steve asked him to keep the news about Gina's disappearance on the down low, like with their friends. I mean, totally normal, right? But... [39:19] I guess devil's advocate is like him spending maybe too much time inside looking for, quote, a bottle opener. It doesn't really prove anything, though, right? No, I mean... [39:29] Right. None of this is. That's why it's all circumstantial. But it's part of the groundwork that the prosecution is laying here without. [39:37] Gina's body. I mean, they've got so much to prove. So along with calling Bill, the prosecution also calls Bill's friend Robin, a girl that was at the lake house with Bill that night. And Robin tells a very similar story to Bill that despite what Steve told police, she never saw or heard Gina while she was there. [39:57] But Robin says she did see Steve walk by the bottom of the stairs when he was talking to them and he was shirtless and wiping himself off.

[40:10] with a blue. [40:12] Like maybe the blue towel that... Had his scent on it? Uh, yeah. That had blood on it? Yeah. Yeah. [40:18] Yeah. [40:19] Now, just like with a lot of Bill's testimony, Robbins isn't particularly shocking, but it keeps raising more questions. Like if Steve has nothing to say, why would he lie to police about things that happened that night? Why say your friend and the girl he brought over had a conversation with her? Why leave out this weird part about you wiping something off with a blue towel? [40:42] One by one, volunteer searchers, police officers, and many others take the stand, steadily hammering away at Steve's credibility. [40:52] John Preston is allowed to testify about his search with Harass the Second, that beautiful German shepherd. And this actually sets another legal precedent in Virginia for allowing dog evidence to be presented in court. I love it. And honestly, like we know that in reality, trials are nothing like what we see on TV. But the longer this trial goes on, the more intense it gets all the way up to the very last day of testimony. [41:22] of physical evidence like the blood and the hair. [41:25] According to the trial transcripts, their witness explains that bloodstains from multiple places matched Gina's blood type. The blood in the trunk of the car, on the mattock, at the lake house, on the golf cleat, it's all type O.

[41:42] They also confirm that the head hairs are similar to Gina's, similar being as clear as they can get in 1980. [41:49] And even though they don't have any of Gina's pubic hair, because again, they don't have her body, they do have Steve's as a sample. And his pubic hair is not similar to the one on the gulf cleat. [42:03] Finally, the prosecution calls their last witness. His name is Bill Cranwell, and he's a pretty upstanding figure in the area who commands a lot of respect. And right away, the whole courtroom is on tenderhooks trying to figure out what the heck this guy could possibly have like anything to do with this case. Why is he here? Right. Like that's when you like stand to attention at that point. Right. So Bill takes the stand and the prosecution asks a critical question. [42:33] When you saw Steve two days after Gina Hall vanished, [42:37] What did Steve ask you [42:40] to ask your brother [42:42] Now, again, this is a small community. So the jury already knows that Bill Cranwell's brother is an attorney. [42:51] And Bill answers, quote, [42:54] He asked me, when you see your brother, ask him if there's anything they can do to me [43:02] if they don't find her body. [43:05] End quote. What? [43:08] Yes. [43:10] I just want to point out that he says "body"…

[43:13] And she's only been missing for, what, two days at this point? Two days, yeah. The defense presses Bill on that very thing, and he holds firm. Even before Gina Hall was believed to be dead, just two days into her being a missing person. Steve referenced her body, not her. Yeah, he's talking about her like she was already dead. Her remains, 100%. The whole courtroom is blown away, and this part will blow your mind. [43:43] Steve's own lawyers are freaking out because according to Under the Trestle, he never told his own lawyers about any of this during trial prep. So they were totally blindsided by this. [43:58] On December 16, 1980, the jury goes into deliberation. It takes them two hours to reach a verdict. [44:06] They find Stephen Epperly guilty of the first degree murder of Gina Hall. And the next day, he's sentenced to life in prison. [44:16] To this day, over 40 years after she disappeared on a warm summer night, Gina Hall's body has never been found. [44:24] Steve is in his late 60s, still in prison despite numerous appeals and parole applications. [44:31] and he continues to maintain his innocence. [44:34] On the other side, Gina's older sister, Delaina, remains a fierce advocate for Gina's memory. She's undertaken her own investigation and reached her own conclusions about what she really thinks happened to Gina.

[44:48] Delaina believes that Gina did not leave the Blacksburg Marriott with Steve Epperly on her own free will. [44:55] Instead, she believes that Gina was abducted. [44:59] According to Marty Gordon's reporting in the Radford News Journal, Delaina got access to what sounds like the police's case files. And she found statements from two women who say that they were at the Marriott nightclub on the night that Gina disappeared. [45:14] And the women claim that they saw her being bothered to the point that Gina actually came over to their table to get away. So Delaina believes that these women's accounts and the broken door pull that I told you about earlier... [45:27] She thinks that those together tell a much different story than what's been officially reported. Earlier this year, in the summer of 2020, there actually may have been a breakthrough because Delaina also believes that she found some of Gina's remains with the help of a research scientist named Arpad Voss and his special invention. But wait, is this the guy from the Brandy Hall gates, like the fingernail guy? Yes, it's the exact same guy. [45:57] back and listen to the Brandy Hall case because I have a feeling, I don't know, this guy's popping up in more and more of these true crime cases. He basically has this invention called the Inquisitor, which he claims can supposedly pick out a specific person's DNA, even if they've been buried for ages. [46:18] So like we touched on in the other episode,

[46:21] R-Pod's got a ton of credentials in research and forensic science. So he's not just some like random dude walking off the street like R-Pod. [46:29] with something he made in his garage. With a gizmo or something. Yeah. And he did manage to get his machine patented. But there's a ton of controversy online around whether or not this thing is legit. Blog posts I read touch on the lack of peer-reviewed testing, among other things. And R-Pod himself is pretty cagey about how exactly it works. So using this invention thing, [46:59] of one of Gina's bones out at a place where Stephen Epperly liked to hunt. [47:06] As far as I could tell in my research, though, Delaina hasn't yet taken the material to a lab to actually get tested for a DNA match. So confirm that it was Gina. Exactly. So until there's confirmation from law enforcement and or like independent testing from a reputable facility, all I can say is I don't know what they found. [47:25] I do, however, share in Delaina's hope that one day the full truth will come out and that finally Gina might be laid to rest. We've gone by the official records from newspapers and police reports and court transcripts to tell you Gina's story. But if you want to know Delaina's side, she's actually written a book about it called The Miraculous Journey, A Day Made in Heaven. And you can find it on her website, themiraculousjourney.com.

[47:55] if you want to see pictures and our source material for this episode you can find all of that on our website crimejunkiepodcast.com and be sure to follow us on instagram at crimejunkiepodcast we'll be back next week with another episode [48:22] *music* [48:39] you [48:40] you [48:41] you [48:42] you [48:45] Crime Junkie is an AudioChuck production. [48:48] So? [48:49] What do you think, Chuck? [48:50] Do you approve? [48:51] *Mooooooow* [48:54] Okay, crime junkies, you know I absolutely love a twist and a turn, especially when it comes to people who turn out to be someone they're not. That's why I have been obsessed with the podcast Chameleon. Every Thursday, host Josh Dean deep dives into a scam so bizarre, it will leave you wondering, how did they get away with that? [49:13] It is truly one of my favorite podcasts right now and I've been listening for years. [49:17] I think you'll love it too. [49:18] Listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.