Latest / The Mind of a Man / Bad Acting _ Lies Leads Police to the Killer_ The Murder of Barry Schmalbach _ True Crime Doc

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Bad Acting _ Lies Leads Police to the Killer_ The Murder of Barry Schmalbach _ True Crime Doc · The Mind of a Man

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: On the night of July 19th, 2023, desperate cries were
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: heard emanating from Barry Schmalbach's condo in Cape Coral. In
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the days that followed, no one saw Barry. Messages sent
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: from his cell phone were at first odd, then they
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: ceased entirely. Barry's boyfriend, his closest friends, and his family
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: spoke with police. Though, by the time investigators began retracing
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: his steps, it seemed It was too late. Hi there,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: I'm Kevin and welcome to Just Thought Lounge. Today's case
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: is about a man who worked hard, made lifelong friends,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: and then met a terrible fate. It's a harsh reminder
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: to be cautious about who you let into your life.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Sometimes people are not as they seem. Let's take a look.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Cape Coral is a quaint coastal community in southwest Florida.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: With over 400 miles of waterways, its extensive canal network
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: has earned the city the affectionate nickname, the Venice of America.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: 56-year-old Barry Schmalbach relocated from Naples, Florida to Cape Coral
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: in 2022. purchasing a corner condo unit in a welcoming
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: building on Beach Parkway. Years before, Barry had left his
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: role as vice president and head of the buying department
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: for paper goods and equipment at a restaurant supplier in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: In Florida, he started his own business and experienced continued success.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: But now, he could also enjoy more of the sunshine.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Barry had done just that. He was close with his neighbors,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: often spending time together at the communal pool. The group
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: was so involved in each other's lives, they joked that
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: the building was just like the old TV show, Melrose Place.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: In recent months, they had a new addition, Barry's new boyfriend,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: 35-year-old Christopher Davis. Christopher moved in with Barry after just
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: a couple of months. They met at a Cinco de
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Mayo party hosted by a mutual friend. However, by late July,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: their whirlwind romance was already on the rocks. Miguel Blanco,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: one of Barry's longtime friends in Cape Coral, awoke on
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: the morning of Thursday, July 20, 2023, to find a
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: voicemail that Barry had left him the night before. The
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: timestamp of the message was 8.21 p.m. Hey, it's me.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Give me a call.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: I need your help.
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: I need to get rid of this f * *
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: * ing idiot.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: Because I can't take it anymore.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Miguel returned Barry's call but received no answer. His next
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: call was to Christopher. It seemed obvious from the frustration
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: expressed in Barry's message that the two had at least
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: been arguing, if not formally ending, their relationship. Miguel assumed
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Barry needed help moving Christopher out of the condo. But
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: when he checked in, Christopher sent Miguel a screenshot of
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: his last exchange with his boyfriend. The last message read,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: I'm fine. I'm staying with friends for a few days.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I need some space. Please stop calling me. Blurred out
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: in the messages were an abundance of curse words scattered
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: amongst Christopher's angry demands and pleas to his boyfriend. Miguel
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: and his husband Tom scrutinized the exchange. They had known
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Barry for nearly 10 years. His response did not strike
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: them as genuine. The two friends agreed. If someone spoke
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: to Barry in an aggressive way, he would give the
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: same energy back. Neither believed that Barry had written that message.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Miguel and Tom arrived at the condo building on Beach
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Parkway the following day to check in on their friend.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Barry's Jeep was missing from the parking lot. They found
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: two packages addressed to his business outside of his doorway.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: There was no response when they knocked on the door.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Tom and Miguel used the spare key Barry had given
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: them to let themselves into the condo. Inside, they were
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: shocked by the state of the home. Barry was an
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: unfailingly tidy individual. The word most often used to describe
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: his habits was meticulous. Everything had its place. That was
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: not what Miguel and Tom found in the condo that
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Friday evening. Items sat out. They noted mud tracked around
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: on the floor. Lights had been left on. It was
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: so uncharacteristic of their dear friend that it set off
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: alarm bells. Disturbed, they left the business packages on the
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: counter inside and the pair left. They went home and
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: called the police. Miguel and Tom were not the only
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: ones to contact law enforcement. The following morning, Christopher Davis
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: called the non-emergency line.
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: My boyfriend, I haven't heard from him in a few days.
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: He did tell me that he wanted some space and
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: he needed a few days, but his friends haven't heard
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: from him. And I'm concerned. I wouldn't try to do
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: that to him, but he left about a month here
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: and he was coming in there and we had the
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: county dinner with someone last night.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: So you said that he.
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: Had not been coming in last night, so he was
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: on his phone?
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: I don't see what he typed. It's an Apple Watch.
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: A message popped in from a 23 number, and it said,
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: how did you feel about that Italian dinner last night?
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: How about Chinese tomorrow?
• 5:52
  Speaker 6: OK.
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: But his other friends have not heard from him. His friend,
• 5:55
  Speaker 5: the girl, has not heard from him, and I have not.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Heard from him.
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: He did message me and tell me that he wanted
• 6:00
  Speaker 5: to stay for a few days. Right.
• 6:03
  Speaker 6: OK.
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: And someone came in our house and put packages on
• 6:06
  Speaker 5: the counter, so I think he would share that thing
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: with his packages on the counter.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: But I don't know.
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: Okay, so I'll have an officer come out and meet
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: with you.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: It doesn't sound like he's missing.
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: If he's still coming and dropping stuff off and having dinners.
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: But what is his name?
• 6:19
  Speaker 7: Very small.
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: Can you spell that for me, please?
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: An officer for the Cape Coral Police Department was dispatched
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: to speak with Christopher. The 35-year-old was simultaneously emotional over
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: his missing boyfriend, while maintaining that there was likely no
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: real reason for concern.
• 6:40
  Speaker 8: So my boyfriend, Barry, hasn't been home in a few days.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: He told me he was going with friends.
• 6:47
  Speaker 9: His friends called me today, said that they haven't heard
• 6:50
  Speaker 9: from him.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Now I'm calling. I'm beginning to get in the middle
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: stages of worried. He did leave his Apple Watch here.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: I just turned it on. And apparently he was having
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: an Italian dinner with someone last night.
• 7:03
  Speaker 10: I can take him like a different.
• 7:07
  Speaker 7: Okay.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: Kind of shape, but he is not responding to me
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: or his friends.
• 7:11
  Speaker 10: So I saw on the notes, it said that he
• 7:13
  Speaker 10: needed some space.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: Is that correct?
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 7:17
  Speaker 10: Okay.
• 7:19
  Speaker 9: So we have, like, an open relationship, and he's been
• 7:23
  Speaker 9: talking to guys on Grindr and, like, doing that kind
• 7:26
  Speaker 9: of thing, and so that's what he, like, that's what
• 7:28
  Speaker 9: I took the space to mean, and.
• 7:30
  Speaker 11: It's because he goes out of town all the time.
• 7:32
  Speaker 11: If you want to look at my phone, I can
• 7:34
  Speaker 11: show you he's done this.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Three or four times, where he Christopher showed the officer
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: previous messages between himself and Barry, which he suggested showed
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: that this behavior was not atypical of his boyfriend. Nonetheless,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: he thought he should file a report.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: And then if you look here, if you want to
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: go back, you can see where, like, he's ghosted me before.
• 8:00
  Speaker 10: What day was this for, James?
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: This one right here?
• 8:03
  Speaker 10: Yeah, what is all that? Is that from yesterday?
• 8:05
  Speaker 12: No, no, no.
• 8:06
  Speaker 11: This is from another time.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: This is from about three weeks ago. Okay. Where he
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: did this same thing, which is why I did initially, like,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: freak out.
• 8:13
  Speaker 11: But, like, he's had it more and more frequently, and
• 8:15
  Speaker 11: I don't know if he's got, like, maybe he's got, like, a.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Drug problem, or if he's sick. Like, he does business
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: from home. I don't know. Okay, okay.
• 8:25
  Speaker 10: And so he leaves and goes.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: He was just in Wisconsin for two weeks. He was
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: in Los Angeles, or sorry, San Diego for two weeks.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: He was just in Chicago before that.
• 8:36
  Speaker 10: Okay, okay.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: So what is the last time that you... If you
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: look and see, this is what I'm saying. It's like,
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: this has happened. Is this all you?
• 8:45
  Speaker 10: Yeah, this is all me. Okay, he's not coming back.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so that was on July 5th. So that's what
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: I'm saying. It's like, this happens all the time.
• 8:53
  Speaker 11: Okay, so I don't know what to do, but I
• 8:55
  Speaker 11: wanted to go ahead and follow the report because his
• 8:57
  Speaker 11: friends are now saying that I need to because he's
• 9:00
  Speaker 11: not responding to them.
• 9:01
  Speaker 7: And friends.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: Christopher then pointed to communication that came through Barry's Apple Watch,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: which he had inexplicably left at home. Those messages suggested
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: he had been out recently having dinner with an unknown companion.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: So this is what I found. Everybody's messaging him, where
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: are you, where are you? Where are you? And then
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: this came up. That's it. And this was, I'm sorry.
• 9:35
  Speaker 10: And this was yesterday.
• 9:36
  Speaker 13: Yesterday.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: How did you prove it? He does have his cell
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: phone with him.
• 9:40
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: But yeah, so I....
• 9:51
  Speaker 11: I was just, I was on my way to Walmart
• 9:53
  Speaker 11: today and to Sprint. Because that's what he meant, because
• 10:02
  Speaker 11: that's what I thought he said when he said he
• 10:03
  Speaker 11: was going to go stay with friends.
• 10:04
  Speaker 14: Right, right.
• 10:05
  Speaker 10: You said he does go out of town? He does
• 10:07
  Speaker 10: go out of town, yeah. All right. Is his vehicle here?
• 10:10
  Speaker 10: Did he take his vehicle?
• 10:11
  Speaker 11: No, he didn't take his vehicle, but he definitely takes
• 10:13
  Speaker 11: his vehicle.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: Does he like an Uber or something like that? Yes.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: Every time he goes to the airport, he takes his vehicle.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Every single time, he never takes the car.
• 10:20
  Speaker 7: Out of town.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Given the circumstances, the officer agreed that they did not
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: need to follow through with a formal missing persons report
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: right away. Since there appeared to be communication from Barry recently,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Christopher was advised to wait a day or two.
• 10:35
  Speaker 11: He knows that I tried to mess with him, the
• 10:38
  Speaker 11: freaking argument that we got into was because I tried
• 10:41
  Speaker 11: to find my eye patch on his phone because I
• 10:44
  Speaker 11: thought it.
• 10:44
  Speaker 7: Was a joke.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: And it could be.
• 10:46
  Speaker 10: He's here to be an asshole.
• 10:50
  Speaker 15: It could be.
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: I mean, like I said, I don't know what you
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: all do and what type of relationship you got.
• 10:53
  Speaker 10: Or anything like that, but.
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: It seems like he needed some space.
• 10:57
  Speaker 10: He wanted to head out.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: He maybe didn't want to talk to anybody around here
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: for a while.
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: Obviously, from the looks of it, he shouldn't have actually
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: left all this stuff.
• 11:06
  Speaker 7: Okay.
• 11:06
  Speaker 10: Like I said, I can document it that I did
• 11:09
  Speaker 10: talk to you. Do you have a driver's license?
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: I do have to.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Find Christopher failed to locate his driver's license for the officer,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: but did provide him with information. Born in Homer, Alaska,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Christopher provided the birth date of June 9th, 1989. Uh,
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: you want my.
• 11:29
  Speaker 10: Chris or Christopher?
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: Christopher.
• 11:31
  Speaker 10: Christopher, what's your rental initial? G. And your birth?
• 11:36
  Speaker 7: 6-9-89.
• 11:36
  Speaker 10: And it's out of Alaska, you said?
• 11:38
  Speaker 13: Yeah.
• 11:41
  Speaker 10: You out of Florida? No, out of Alaska. His last
• 11:45
  Speaker 10: name is Davis?
• 11:46
  Speaker 15: Yes.
• 11:47
  Speaker 10: Okay. It's not coming back. Did you change the name
• 11:51
  Speaker 10: or anything like that?
• 11:52
  Speaker 13: No.
• 11:52
  Speaker 10: I mean, it is a popular name. I mean, Davis
• 11:55
  Speaker 10: is popular, but... Well, anyway, like I said, Christopher, give
• 11:59
  Speaker 10: it a little bit of time. Like I said, he
• 12:00
  Speaker 10: needed space.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry. Yeah, that's fine.
• 12:03
  Speaker 11: Like I said, you can do that because it's going
• 12:06
  Speaker 11: to show a little.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Police would later determine that Christopher Davis' real date of
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: birth is June 8th, 1988, not the date he gave
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: and verified to the officer that day. Had he provided
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: the correct information, they would have immediately discovered that he
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: was wanted on two active arrest warrants, one in Georgia
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: for a probation violation for fraud and another in South
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Carolina for a probation violation for larceny. It was Miguel
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: and Tom who insisted a missing persons report be filed
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: that day. After they did so, police returned to the
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: condo to speak with Christopher. He told them that he
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: witnessed Barry leaving in someone else's vehicle, possibly an Uber,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: two days before on July 20th. However, there was further
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: reason to doubt this assertion. Barry had recently experienced some
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: health issues and had an ongoing heart condition. Following his
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: recovery from a serious heart attack, Barry had taken a
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: series of steps to ensure his well-being. First, he began
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: walking every morning, rising at 5 a.m. and covering 5
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: to 6 miles on foot each day. He also changed
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: his diet, lost a significant amount of weight, and began
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: taking medication. Inside the condo, investigators found Barry's heart medication.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: Inside of a backpack near to his desk, they also
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: found his passport. Then, crucially, in a wallet containing Christopher
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: Davis' driver's license... they retrieved a handful of credit cards,
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: each one under the same name, Barry Schmalbach.
• 13:51
  Speaker 8: He was standing over there by the pool, and all
• 13:54
  Speaker 8: the cops were here, and I was like, hey, man,
• 13:55
  Speaker 8: what's up?
• 13:56
  Speaker 6: He's like, hey, and I'm like, you know what's going on?
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: And he said, yeah, they're searching my condo.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: And I was like, ooh, that's no good.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: And he said, yeah, my boyfriend's missing.
• 14:05
  Speaker 16: It's been seven days, you know, No contact with anybody
• 14:11
  Speaker 16: for seven days. That's not normal. For anybody that's even upset,
• 14:15
  Speaker 16: that's not normal not to contact anybody for seven days.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: It was Wednesday, July 26th, when police launched a formal
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: investigation into Barry's disappearance, calling the circumstances suspicious.
• 14:30
  Speaker 17: So this is the reason why we're holding the news
• 14:32
  Speaker 17: conference today, is because this is abnormal behavior. So that
• 14:36
  Speaker 17: being said, him not contacting his family is not something
• 14:39
  Speaker 17: that he normally would do. So that's why it's going
• 14:42
  Speaker 17: to be a heightened missing persons case, and that's.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Why we're here today.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: The last verifiable sighting of Barry was one week prior,
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: on Wednesday, July 19th, the same day he left the
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: voicemail on Miguel's phone. That night, Barry had also been
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: in contact with a close friend in Chicago, Rosalie Falico.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: At just past 6 p.m., he wrote to Rosalie, I
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: am at the bar with my BF, but I am
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: so done with this BS. Please call me tomorrow. I
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: miss you so much.
• 15:12
  Speaker 6: This is my best friend of 40 years. His name
• 15:15
  Speaker 6: is Barry. He lives in Cape Coral, Florida. I think
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: I was the last message that he had on July 19th.
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: He was out at a bar on Wednesday, the 19th
• 15:27
  Speaker 6: of July. I'm sure in Cape.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: Coral, Barry was spotted with Christopher that evening at Cruiser's Lounge,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: a local gay bar. Witnesses at the bar reported that
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: the couple appeared to be having a disagreement. It came
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: to an end when Barry paid the tab and walked
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: out of the building. Christopher was chasing after him. Cameras
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: captured the couple walking home just before 8.30pm. Barry in
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: the blue shirt and Christopher in black. Barry must have
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: left his voicemail for Miguel during the walk. The cameras
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: placed the couple back in the condo by 8.30. At
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: around that time, from the unit just below, Barry's neighbor, Kimberly,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: reported hearing noises. She later described them as someone being
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: tossed around. A voice cried out, no, no, no, followed
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: by a muffled whimper. She said later that she felt
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: she had been listening to someone take their last breath.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: The sounds were so disturbing that they sent chills down
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: her spine.
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: Why didn't they call the police? I mean, if you hear, yeah,
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: I'm really upset about that too. They should have called
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: the police. Or somehow, oh, hey, we can hear you
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: down here. You know, maybe it would.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Have stopped him, you know? I would have called the cops.
• 16:57
  Speaker 13: Or banged on the wall and said, hey, you know,
• 17:00
  Speaker 13: I can hear you down here. Something, you know, to
• 17:04
  Speaker 13: startle him out of the state that he must have
• 17:07
  Speaker 13: been in when he did this to my brother.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: The last message Rosalie received from Barry that night had
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: been only minutes before the neighbor heard the disturbing noises
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: coming from inside his condo. That last message read, It's okay,
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: I love him. He's a knucklehead, but I can't wait
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: to speak to you. I've had a few. Christopher Davis
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: left the condo on Beach Parkway at 9pm that night.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: He drove Barry's Jeep to a local Walmart, where he
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: was captured on camera using cash to purchase a plastic
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: 12x24 foot tarp alongside two rolls of duct tape. He
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: also bought a chocolate milk. The next morning, he made
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: his regular stop at Starbucks, telling the barista that Barry
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: wasn't with him because he was busy working. His next
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: stop was at a Lowe's hardware store. At roughly 8.45am,
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: he walked out of the store pushing a new red
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: hand trolley, used to move heavy materials. Then he went
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: on a bit of a shopping spree He goes to Publix,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: where he purchased some fried chicken and an iced tea,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: using Barry's credit card. At Target, he was captured while
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: checking out with a few small purchases, again with Barry's card.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: At that store, he is shown accessing an ATM. Later
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: that day, a phone call was placed to PNC Bank
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: from someone claiming to be Barry Schmalbach, seeking to have
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: a card connected to his phone. The caller struggled to
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: respond to the security questions, though ultimately had the card
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: connected for his use.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: Thank you, and welcome to.
• 18:53
  Speaker 7: What you did.
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: Please hand me my card to respond. Let's start by
• 18:58
  Speaker 5: getting your social security number.
• 19:02
  Speaker 16: Yes, absolutely.
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: Over the following days, the purchases continued. Gas for the Jeep,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: further stops at ATMs and bank machines to withdraw cash,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: and purchases at Walmart. Christopher also searched for aesthetic treatments
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: and booked appointments for cosmetic procedures. Two days after Barry
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: was reported missing, Christopher spent over $ 1, 400 of his boyfriend's
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: money on Botox, fillers, and a trip to a nail
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: salon for a manicure. Investigators later located some of the
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: items they believed Christopher Davis used to clean up after
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: he had killed his boyfriend. inside the condo. They found
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: the packaging for the trolley in the trash at the building,
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: alongside pieces of the newly purchased duct tape. They also
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: found a phone case in the trash that matched Barry's device,
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: but not Christopher's. They did not find Barry's phone. The
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: discovery of this evidence was crucial, because the steps that
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Christopher took next made it nearly impossible to find what
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: they were really looking for. Barry Schmalbach. License plate readers
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: tracked Barry's Jeep, driving two hours east towards Clewiston and
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: Montura in Hendry County. The area is extremely rural, characterized
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: by large green spaces. On his way, Christopher made a
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: few stops. At a Walmart, he got some cash and
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: bought two air fresheners, one to hang from the rear
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: view mirror and the second a spray bottle that was
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: later found in the Jeep's trunk. He also stopped at
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: an Ace Hardware store. There, he used cash to purchase
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: a large pickaxe as well as a shovel. Arriving in Manchuria,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Christopher booked a one-night stay in an Airbnb using his
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: brother Tyler's account. After checking in, he told his host
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: that he would be going out for a run. Christopher's
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: cell phone placed him at the Airbnb before the device
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: was powered off for roughly three hours. When it came
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: back onto the network, he was no longer at the rental,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: but about five miles away, returning in the Jeep. License
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: plate readers captured a clean vehicle driving out. Then, a mud-splattered,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: externally filthy vehicle upon his return. Where exactly he went
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: in this three hours, however, could not be determined. He
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: left the Airbnb in a similar state of disarray. Furniture
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: had been moved, mud was on the floor, and an
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: excessive amount of sand in the shower. In over 10 years,
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: the host said they had never seen anything like it.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Christopher may have left his overnight rental a mess, but
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: he had cleaned himself up. Over more than 24 hours,
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: he had been captured wearing the same black tank top
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: and shorts that he had worn to Cruiser's Lounge on
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: July 19th. Returning from the Clewiston area on the 21st, however,
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Christopher had on a new outfit. He purchased some new
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: toiletries and a hot dog. His last stop was at
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: the same Ace Hardware where he had purchased the pickaxe
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: and shovel, but this time he pulled into the back
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: of the store next to a large recycling bin. Into
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: the bin, he began to toss items, including the pickaxe.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: An employee of the store monitoring the cameras from inside
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: confronted him as he lifted the shovel from the back
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: of the jeep. Not only was he not permitted to
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: dispose of items in those dumpsters, but he was trying
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: to recycle them. Christopher was prompted to remove the pickaxe.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: It was left sitting next to the bin as he
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: drove away. It was not until the next day that
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: he called to report Barry missing. once Christopher's movements had
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: been traced, searches for Barry's body in the Montreux area
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: were undertaken. Investigators described the process as looking for a
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: needle in a haystack. They drove out from the Airbnb
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: into the surrounding countryside, attempting to deduce which areas appeared
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: to be accessible from the road. They were looking for
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: any logical indication of where Christopher would choose to pull
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: into the brush. And it was rough terrain, If he
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: had hidden Barry somewhere in the area as they suspected,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: they expected Christopher to be covered in scratches. As it
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: turns out, he was. On Tuesday, August 1st, Christopher Davis
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: was arrested on his outstanding warrant out of South Carolina
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: and taken into custody by Cape Coral Police. Two days later,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: his arrest was made public. Police announced they had a
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: person of interest in Barry's case, but failed to name
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Christopher Davis.
• 24:29
  Speaker 7: Mr.
• 24:29
  Speaker 15: Schmalbach has not been heard from or seen since the
• 24:33
  Speaker 15: evening of July 19th, 2023, near the 1800 block of
• 24:38
  Speaker 15: Beach Parkway East here in Cape Coral, near his home.
• 24:42
  Speaker 15: At this time, we do have a person of interest. However,
• 24:45
  Speaker 15: I'm unable to name that person today. Our detectives continue
• 24:50
  Speaker 15: to actively pursue all leads and process pertinent evidence in
• 24:54
  Speaker 15: our attempt to locate Mr.
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: Schmalbach.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Eventually, Christopher was extradited back to South Carolina where he
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: was handed a five-year sentence for his parole violations. Thankfully,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: it did not take that long for Lee County prosecutors
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: to seek an indictment for murder. In January, Cape Coral
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: Police announced Christopher had been charged with Barry Schmalbach's murder
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: and they had issued an arrest warrant to have him
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: brought back to Lee County.
• 25:23
  Speaker 15: This has culminated with the issuance of an arrest warrant
• 25:27
  Speaker 15: For Christopher Davis, on one count of second-degree murder, one
• 25:32
  Speaker 15: count of tampering with evidence, and nine counts of fraudulent
• 25:36
  Speaker 15: use of personal identification of a deceased individual.
• 25:41
  Speaker 14: Hearing it and having it confirmed brought a whole new
• 25:44
  Speaker 14: wave of emotions.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: I love you so much.
• 25:50
  Speaker 5: I'm so heartbroken that this happened to you. And I'm
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: so sorry.
• 25:57
  Speaker 10: And I miss you.
• 26:01
  Speaker 5: I would just hug him so hard.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Searches for Barry continued. The case against his boyfriend was strong,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: yet hampered by law enforcement's inability to find him. Family
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: and friends launched a grassroots effort, handing out flyers and
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: accumulating a reward from various anonymous donors, totaling $ 16, 000 for
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: information leading to his location. During this time, police played
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: with alternative theories. They undertook an extensive search of the
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: sewer system near the Beach Parkway condo complex. Christopher reported
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: being the target of attacks by other inmates. Christopher's legal
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: team would repeatedly file to have him transferred to what
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: they called safer conditions than the county jail. His requests
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: were refused and he went to trial in June, 2025.
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: No, no.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: Those are the last noises.
• 27:04
  Speaker 5: That the neighbor heard.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: From Barry Schmalbach's apartment before Barry was never seen or
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: heard from again.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: While the state outlined a thorough timeline of the crime
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: through witnesses at the building, surveillance cameras, and Christopher's own lies,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: the defense tried to create doubt where they could. Since
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Barry had never been located, it was primarily a circumstantial case. Barry,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: concerned over his health, they argued, had been keen to
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: have Christopher move in to help take care of him,
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: Despite the fact that Christopher did not work, they had
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: a supportive and mutually beneficial relationship, they argued.
• 27:54
  Speaker 18: And here at that time, the severe heart issues Barry
• 28:01
  Speaker 18: was having, and the medical issues, and then soon after,
• 28:08
  Speaker 18: Chris moves in to the apartment. You know, here it
• 28:11
  Speaker 18: was very common, because Barry was so concerned about his
• 28:15
  Speaker 18: The defense asserted that the argument between the couple that night,
• 28:21
  Speaker 18: which formed the basis of the state's theory of motive,
• 28:25
  Speaker 18: was not that serious.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: Indeed, the bartender at Cruisers, who once dated.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: Christopher, said it wasn't loud or over the top, just
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: a little argument. They asserted that as his boyfriend, Christopher
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: had been given use of Barry's credit cards. Barry's wallet, curiously,
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: had been located days after his disappearance in a storm
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: drain along the path he usually took on his long
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: morning walks. Most of his credit and bank cards, however,
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: had been located in Christopher's wallet. Neighbors at the Beach
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: Parkway complex took the stand. Kimberly, from the unit directly
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: below 303, recalled what she heard the night of July 19th.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: Noises that she later recognized were those of her friend
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: and neighbor being murdered on the floor above.
• 29:29
  Speaker 7: I was watching some TV, and between that time, I
• 29:34
  Speaker 7: heard something directly right above my unit. where I was sitting,
• 29:41
  Speaker 7: because we, like I said, had the same floor plans.
• 29:44
  Speaker 7: I heard something being thrown up against the wall and heard, no, no, no.
• 29:50
  Speaker 10: And did you hear anything after that?
• 29:52
  Speaker 7: Yeah, a couple minutes later, I heard uh, this noise
• 29:59
  Speaker 7: and it gave me chills, like the hair on my arms.
• 30:02
  Speaker 7: And it was, uh, uh, like someone losing their last breath.
• 30:11
  Speaker 7: And then maybe 10 minutes later, I heard chirp chirp,
• 30:17
  Speaker 7: which was a car, someone opening up their car. And I,
• 30:22
  Speaker 7: like I said, I know it had to be around
• 30:24
  Speaker 7: nine o'clock and I thought, well, that's weird. There's only
• 30:29
  Speaker 7: three of us on my side of the building. And
• 30:33
  Speaker 7: they were on upstairs. And like I said, I know
• 30:36
  Speaker 7: they go to bed early. And Mary was downstairs. She
• 30:41
  Speaker 7: don't go nowhere. And it was me. So I thought, well,
• 30:45
  Speaker 7: it's time for me to go to bed. So I
• 30:47
  Speaker 7: went to the front to lock the door. And as
• 30:49
  Speaker 7: I walked by my window, I thought, let me see who.
• 30:52
  Speaker 7: And I looked out and Barry's Jeep was missing.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Kimberly was not the only resident of the building to
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: witness portions of this horrific crime. In the early morning
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: hours of July 20th, Brian Jobe awoke in his unit
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: on the other side of the building to noises from outside.
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: There had been construction underway in the area. At first,
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: Brian thought perhaps teenagers had gotten into the construction zone.
• 31:19
  Speaker 3: So I went to the front door, opened it up
• 31:23
  Speaker 3: just a little bit, maybe 10 inches, and I heard
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: the plastic. And then within just a few seconds, I
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: saw a person dragging something back into the, you know,
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: where I could see like the back half of them.
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: They were bent over, dragging something, and then I could
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: spot them, their back end.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: Brian watched as the individual began carrying items into Unit 303.
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: He was carrying a black.
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: Tote with a yellow top, like you see at Sam's
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: or Home Depot.
• 32:03
  Speaker 12: And did you see where that individual would go?
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: He went right into the Unit 303.
• 32:09
  Speaker 12: And Unit 303, once again, is that Mr. Schmalbach's residence?
• 32:12
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 32:13
  Speaker 12: And were you able to discern whether or not that
• 32:16
  Speaker 12: individual was one and the same individual that was going
• 32:19
  Speaker 12: ahead and pulling that heavy tarp?
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: It was.
• 32:23
  Speaker 12: And did that individual, when you saw him once again
• 32:25
  Speaker 12: with the black bin and the yellow top, were you
• 32:31
  Speaker 12: able to discern by and through what you observed who
• 32:34
  Speaker 12: that was?
• 32:35
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: Who was that? Christopher Davis.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: When law enforcement searched the building days later, they brought
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: in cadaver dogs. The handler was not informed which vehicle
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: in the parking lot was of interest. The dogs clearly
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: indicated that human remains had been inside Barry Schmalbach's Jeep.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: In their closing argument, the defense posited a few theories.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: Perhaps Barry met up with a man from a dating
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: app and things went wrong. Or perhaps Barry had too
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: much to drink that night at cruisers and was struck
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: by a driver on the walk home. Or maybe he
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: just stumbled into a canal.
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: And Barry leaves and goes wandering out Beach Parkway.
• 33:21
  Speaker 8: And if you've heard, Beach Parkway goes kind of to
• 33:24
  Speaker 8: the river in Cape Coral.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: And then there's canals all around it.
• 33:29
  Speaker 8: And say someone's coming down Beach Parkway and mows them down.
• 33:33
  Speaker 10: Because they're drunk too.
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: A DUI manslaughter. Oh my God, my life's ruined.
• 33:37
  Speaker 12: What do I do?
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: Crap.
• 33:42
  Speaker 8: They're in the car and go. Meanwhile, his wallet fell
• 33:46
  Speaker 8: out and is now in a storm drain. Well, let's
• 33:49
  Speaker 8: get rid of that. Let's blame it all on Chris.
• 33:51
  Speaker 8: Let's infer from the evidence everything.
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: It's all on him. The mastermind here.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: The trial was over quickly. Every piece of evidence was
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: presented inside of four days. Christopher Davis did not take
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: the stand. The defense called no witnesses. When it came
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: time for the jury to deliberate, they took less than
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: two hours.
• 34:17
  Speaker 7: We, the jury, finds as follows as to count one
• 34:19
  Speaker 7: of the charge. Count one second-degree murder. The defendant is
• 34:25
  Speaker 7: guilty of second-degree murder.
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: Count two, tampering with physical evidence.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: Christopher was found guilty of each count. The judge swiftly
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: delivered his sentence, life in prison. Christopher also received an
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: additional five years for tampering with evidence and five consecutive
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: years for each of the eight counts related to credit
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: card and identity fraud for using Barry's identity after his death.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: the conviction brought some relief to Barry's friends and family.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Though it could not remove their grief, made worse knowing
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: that Barry has not been found and that they may
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: never locate him.
• 35:07
  Speaker 7: Our end goal hasn't changed.
• 35:08
  Speaker 14: We want to find Barry. And we are well aware
• 35:11
  Speaker 14: that a lot of these cases go unsolved. And there's
• 35:15
  Speaker 14: no resolution. And families are always just left wondering whether
• 35:20
  Speaker 14: what happened to my loved one. And we are extremely
• 35:23
  Speaker 14: appreciative for all of the work that has been put
• 35:27
  Speaker 14: into Barry's case.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: And that was the tragic case of Barry Schmalbach. Thanks
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: for joining me. And a special thanks this week to
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: Amy Gutierrez, FLXRZ, and Life in General for joining our
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: members lounge. I'm Kevin. This is Just Thought Lounge, and
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: I'll see you in the next one.