Latest / History Dark / Todd Becker Case ADDICTED TO THE LIFE (Full Documentary) _ Dark Crimes

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Todd Becker Case ADDICTED TO THE LIFE (Full Documentary) _ Dark Crimes · History Dark

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: From rising tennis star to the head of a multi-million
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: dollar crime operation.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: He got addicted to the fact that he was making
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: money illegally.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Todd Becker is having his cake and eating it, too.
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: He's the smartest criminal that I've known in 22 years
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: in this business.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: But when fortunes turned, He'll sacrifice even his nearest and
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: dearest for the sake of greed and grand larceny.
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: The End.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: 33-year-old Todd Becker is presiding over a scene of perfect bliss.
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: Glad you could make it.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: His pretty wife, Kathy, has spent a fortune throwing Todd
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the ultimate party at the swankiest country club in town,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: and it shows. Marjolaine! Hi! So good to see you!
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: His children are by his side, and he's even flown
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: his two brothers, Bill and Duane, in from Florida for
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: the big day. All expenses paid.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: To other people, the Beckers had the perfect life. This
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: house was paid for. There's money in the bank for
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: children to go to college.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Todd is the perfect father, the perfect provider, The perfect husband.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Perhaps too perfect. It's a facade he's been perfecting for decades.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Raised in the beachside town of Port St. Lucie, Florida,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Todd is one of three boys. His mother is a
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: devoted homemaker. His father, a respected cop. Todd's dad decides
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: to quit the force to sell encyclopedias. He also attempts
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: to make money through less honest schemes.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: His dad got into some trouble through his business practices
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: and was convicted of some fraudulent charges.
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: And had to spend some time in jail.
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: Todd was probably 13, 14 years old when my father
• 2:50
  Speaker 6: got in trouble.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: The arrest leaves the family destitute.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: His mother had to end up delivering pizzas at night
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: to try to keep the bank from foreclosing on their house.
• 3:11
  Speaker 7: Hey, Ma, how you doing?
• 3:12
  Speaker 8: Hi. How are you?
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: Good.
• 3:15
  Speaker 5: Starting.
• 3:16
  Speaker 7: I thought you were going shopping today. Hey, listen, um,
• 3:24
  Speaker 7: I don't have any money.
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: I don't get paid until tonight. But, um.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Todd decides then and there that he will never want
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: for anything again. He works hard in school and excels
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: in sports. In fact, he's an ace tennis player and
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: the star of the varsity squad.
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: Here we go.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: He also plays at the local country club and makes
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: a little extra cash there on the side. It's Todd's
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: first taste of life among the upper crust. His talents
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: on the court even land him a full scholarship to
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Central Florida University, where it's more of everything. Trophies, attention,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: and success. The sky is the limit. But then... everything
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: comes crashing down. Todd injures his shoulder in a match,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: and his game is never the same again. He loses
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: his scholarship, drops out of college, and begins to drift.
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: Would you like another?
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: Uh, yeah, why not?
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: And then, opportunity comes knocking.
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: Want to shoot some pool?
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: I'm Michael, by the way. Hey, Todd.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Todd tells his new friend, Michael, his hard luck story,
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: and his fate would have it. Michael has a unique
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: employment opportunity.
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: Listen, I might have something for you.
• 5:10
  Speaker 7: Do it.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Michael's business is stealing Apple computers and then selling them
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: for a profit on the black market.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: These were Apple computers when Apple computers cost $ 4, 000.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: And if Todd wants in on the game, he can
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: make a lot of cash. Todd weighs his options, toil
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: away in pursuit of the American dream, or grab it
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: off the shelf right now.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: I think because his family was down on his luck,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: that Todd felt angry. So he decided he would do anything,
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: even if it meant.
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: Crossing the line. That's where his criminal life started.
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: You sure know what's coming?
• 6:13
  Speaker 6: I'm watching.
• 6:13
  Speaker 7: You just gotta hurry this up.
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: Almost got it. Let's go. Come on.
• 6:17
  Speaker 7: You got this, man.
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: Come on. I got it.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: Todd sees his fortune.
• 6:33
  Speaker 7: Holy crap.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: And all signs point to more. To claim his share
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: of the American dream, former ace tennis player Todd Becker
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: is now using his skills for an entirely different purpose,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: a life of crime. And he's just hit his first jackpot.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Dozens of computers, every one of them worth two grand
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: on the black market. Todd nets thousands of dollars.
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: Yep.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: Before long, Todd recruits his brothers to share the wealth
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: and join his illegal business.
• 7:18
  Speaker 7: I think I have an opportunity that you might be
• 7:20
  Speaker 7: well-suited for.
• 7:22
  Speaker 5: Opportunity?
• 7:23
  Speaker 7: Yeah, it's, uh.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: Duane has been trying to make a living doing Internet
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: porn with his girlfriend.
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: You mean Bill.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Bill is a failed restaurant manager who works part-time as
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: a Santa's helper at Christmastime.
• 7:36
  Speaker 7: I need muscle and you need money, let's be honest.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Todd thinks they both need to aim higher in life.
• 7:41
  Speaker 7: Computer acquisition, you could call it.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: Acquisition. Acquisition.
• 7:46
  Speaker 6: Todd told me that, hey, I got something going on.
• 7:49
  Speaker 7: You have 15 grand sitting around?
• 7:50
  Speaker 6: We can get away with it.
• 7:52
  Speaker 7: That's what we'll be pulling in every night.
• 7:55
  Speaker 6: Just listen to me.
• 7:56
  Speaker 7: Talking real money here.
• 7:58
  Speaker 6: And we can make a lot of money doing it.
• 8:00
  Speaker 7: Come on, brother, what do you say? Here's the yes.
• 8:03
  Speaker 7: That's what I'm talking about.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: The Becker boys are in business.
• 8:14
  Speaker 7: There's an electronic store down here.
• 8:16
  Speaker 6: What are their hours?
• 8:17
  Speaker 7: This is gonna be deserted tonight.
• 8:19
  Speaker 8: We had every detail planned in advance, and that's not
• 8:24
  Speaker 8: typical for a burglar. Once they would arrive at the location,
• 8:31
  Speaker 8: they would first cut the phone lines and the alarm.
• 8:36
  Speaker 8: They would then leave the location and wait for 30
• 8:40
  Speaker 8: minutes to see if law enforcement would respond. If no
• 8:44
  Speaker 8: law enforcement was.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Present, they would enter.
• 8:46
  Speaker 8: And they would load up all of the stolen goods
• 8:54
  Speaker 8: into the vehicle and leave.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: He's the smartest criminal that I've known in 22 years
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: in this business.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: And he always offloads the stolen goods.
• 9:04
  Speaker 7: All right, Chip, take a look.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: As quickly as possible.
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: Sweet.
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: Looks like you got at least 20 here.
• 9:12
  Speaker 7: Oh, yeah, we got at least 20.
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: It's a real thing, man.
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: I'll take it.
• 9:18
  Speaker 8: Deal, man.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 9:19
  Speaker 8: You got it.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Over the next two years, Todd and his brothers make
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands of dollars stealing computers. And Todd takes
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: the biggest piece of the pie, 65%.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: Todd would justify that money distribution by telling them a
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: few things. Number one, if you don't like it, you
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: can hit the road. Number two, I do all the work.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: I do all of the casing. I decide where it's
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: going to be. I pay all the expenses.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: And number three, if they ever land in jail, Todd
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: will be there to bail them out. As a criminal entrepreneur,
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Todd now has the means to grasp his American dream.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: The only thing missing is a family of his own.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: And then he meets Kathy.
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: Kathy grew up in a poor West Texas environment. Todd.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Told her he wanted to have a great little family
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: business with a great little family.
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: And to Kathy, that kind of life sounded ideal.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: When the couple gets engaged, Kathy believes she's probably hooked
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: the most successful computer salesman in Texas. They have a
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: spectacular wedding, and children soon follow. They move into an
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: upscale suburb with a white picket fence. But he neglects
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: to tell her that his life is funded illegally.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: He was so addicted to the American dream, to living
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: his modern-day version of Warden June Cleaver.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: In order to meet the demands of his idyllic new life,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: Todd needs to expand the business. And soon, during a
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: routine computer burglary, He does.
• 11:16
  Speaker 6: Todd!
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: What you got? Come have a look at this. Holy moly.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: One of his brothers saw a small safe and said,
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: let's take it.
• 11:29
  Speaker 7: One, two, three.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: And they ripped it out of the wall and took
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: it along with them.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: And back at home, they get to work cracking it open.
• 11:54
  Speaker 7: Of mercy.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: You gotta be kidding me.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: Suddenly it occurred to Todd that this was a whole
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: new way of committing crimes that no one ever tried before.
• 12:11
  Speaker 7: Boys, we are done with computers. This is our business now.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: This was a very easy way to get straight cash.
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: I can't argue with that. It's free money.
• 12:25
  Speaker 7: There's at least 12 grand in here.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: But Todd is about to find out the hard way
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: that free money always comes at a price. To keep
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: up with the increasing financial demands of his oversized American dream,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Todd Becker expands his business model. Now, instead of stealing
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: computers and selling them through a middleman, the Becker clan
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: starts stealing safes from businesses. For over 10 years, nothing
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: goes wrong and business booms. Once, they pull over $ 140, 000
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: in cash from one safe alone. And no one suspects
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: Todd Becker of being anything but perfect.
• 13:21
  Speaker 8: People in his life thought that he was a successful
• 13:24
  Speaker 8: computer salesman and he was living the dream that everyone
• 13:30
  Speaker 8: would like to live.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: And no one has bought into that dream more than
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: Todd's wife, Kathy. She seems blithely unaware that Todd's fortune
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: is built on lies and larceny. Little does she know,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: the downward spiral has already begun.
• 13:51
  Speaker 7: Glad you could make it.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: The more Todd gets, the more Todd wants. And without
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: one bust in over a decade, he starts to feel invincible.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: He was so addicted to the American dream, but then
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: he got addicted to the thrill of the crime. He
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: got addicted to the fact that he was good at
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: beating the cops. He got addicted to the fact that
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: he was making money illegally. without really hurting anybody.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: And as the business expands, Todd finds he needs to
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: hire more staff. So he decides to bring a down-on-his-luck
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: neighbor named Joey Thompson into the fold, and an old
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: childhood friend named Paolo Rodriguez.
• 14:38
  Speaker 6: What's up?
• 14:40
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: Paolo and Joey may appreciate Todd Becker's generosity, but his
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: older brother, Dwayne, does not. More members of the team
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: mean less of a cut for him.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Dwayne always wanted more money, and he wanted Todd to
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: just give him more money.
• 15:02
  Speaker 6: You are my friend.
• 15:05
  Speaker 8: Thanks.
• 15:05
  Speaker 6: You're not crazy, huh?
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: Which Todd wouldn't do.
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: Is this it?
• 15:12
  Speaker 7: I want the money I had before you brought these
• 15:16
  Speaker 7: clowns on board. Dwayne, we have a bigger operation. We
• 15:19
  Speaker 7: need more employees. Fat and stupid's no way to go
• 15:22
  Speaker 7: through an operation.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: Resentment grows between the two brothers. It all comes to
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: a head when Becker and his crew break into a
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: rib restaurant. and try to dislodge a 500-pound safe with
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: a gas-powered saw.
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: The blade broke.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: So they ran to Home Depot, bought a power saw blade,
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: raced back to the rib joint, finished the job, and
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: were headed down the street when they realized they had
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: left the power saw itself in the.
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: Rib joint.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: He ran back in the restaurant, grabbed the saw and
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: ran back out.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: But on the way out, he runs right into the cook,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: who's just arrived for his morning shift.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: So it's actually a real comedy of errors.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: Todd narrowly escapes. But this is the closest call he's
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: ever had. He vows to get back on track and
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: be more careful next time.
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: Morning.
• 16:56
  Speaker 6: Did you get breakfast?
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: I got breakfast.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: But soon after, before Todd can even start thinking about
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: his next heist, Dwayne calls.
• 17:06
  Speaker 8: Hello? Hey.
• 17:15
  Speaker 7: What?
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: He's in jail.
• 17:17
  Speaker 7: I'm going to be there as soon as I can.
• 17:19
  Speaker 7: Do not talk to anyone.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Will Dwayne keep the family secret, or will the disgruntled
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: brother finally betray Todd Becker's crimes and deceit? After a
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: safe-cracking heist goes horribly wrong, Todd Becker vows to get
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: the gang back on track. But the whole operation gets
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: derailed when his brother, Dwayne, lands in jail, not for burglary,
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: but for domestic violence.
• 17:54
  Speaker 6: Brother, you got to get me out of here quick.
• 17:58
  Speaker 7: What are you in for? You know, my girlfriend. She
• 18:01
  Speaker 7: just won't shut up. So you hit her?
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: He had hit his girlfriend in the mouth and knocked
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: out her two front teeth. His bond was $ 10, 000.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: Todd had always promised his brothers that he would get
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: them out of trouble.
• 18:18
  Speaker 6: He said, if anything ever happens, you know, I'll get
• 18:21
  Speaker 6: your attorney, I'll bond you out.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: But for Todd, stealing safes is one thing. Domestic violence
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: is another thing altogether.
• 18:34
  Speaker 7: You're on your own.
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: I'm your brother.
• 18:40
  Speaker 7: I'm not taking care of this.
• 18:42
  Speaker 5: Why?
• 18:43
  Speaker 7: Because you know what the rules are. There's no violence
• 18:46
  Speaker 7: and you don't hit women.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: Duane has stepped over Todd's moral line.
• 18:51
  Speaker 7: So you're gonna leave me in here right away?
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: I'm your brother.
• 18:55
  Speaker 6: There was no bonding out, so his word to me
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: was just nothing anymore.
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: You're gonna be sorry for this. Let's go.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: Todd leaves his brother to languish behind bars.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Dwayne was angry at Todd and wanted revenge.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: And he gets it. Dwayne tells a detective that he
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: knows something about a string of unsolved break-ins. And then
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: he spills his guts.
• 19:29
  Speaker 6: So I started talking.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: He tells detectives all about the Becker gang, all about
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: Todd being the mastermind behind the thefts. He doesn't miss
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: a detail. and he doesn't even ask for a deal.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: It was 33 hours that Duane and I were together.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: nonstop talking. I realized that we had gone from, there's
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: some guy at the jail that wants to talk to you, to,
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: oh my goodness, the mother loads.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: Armed with Dwayne's statement, cops head to Todd's house where
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: his American dream falls to pieces.
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: Todd? Honey?
• 20:16
  Speaker 7: What's going on here?
• 20:18
  Speaker 8: Mr.
• 20:18
  Speaker 6: Backer?
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: Yes? We have a warrant for your arrest. Hold on
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: a second.
• 20:24
  Speaker 8: Hold on.
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: This is some kind of mistake.
• 20:26
  Speaker 7: This is some kind of misunderstanding.
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: What's going on?
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: Honey, we're going to figure this out.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Todd is led out of his perfect house, on his
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: perfect street, in his perfect clothes. in handcuffs. And just
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: like his father had done to him, his family is
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: left to fend for themselves.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: Todd wants everyone to think that he's the all-American great
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: model dad. I think at some point he even got
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: to where he believed that himself.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Todd and the rest of the Becker gang are out
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: of business. Bill and Duane each receive two-year sentences for
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: their role in the robberies. And for Todd, the never-ending
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: quest for the good life gets him over four years
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: in jail.
• 21:19
  Speaker 8: He had all the tools and gifts to be a
• 21:23
  Speaker 8: legitimately successful person, and instead he used his gifts of
• 21:29
  Speaker 8: charm and intelligence to basically waste away his life.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: The bottom line is Todd is two things. He's a
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: criminal and a cold-hearted son of a bitch.