Neighbor Thinks He Got Away With Murder

I think my husband's dead.Are you alive?

On the night of April 28th, 2024, the caller and her husband were returning home from his father's birthday party, unaware the night would end in a vicious attack on their lives.But as the call unfolds, it's clear she doesn't believe this was a random act of violence.The following is based on official police records released to date, and most of the footage has never been seen before until now.

Dave, Dave, Dave, sit up.Dave, Dave.Hello?I'm here.We're getting you help on the way.Yeah, somebody shot him.

I don't know if he's alive or dead.There's blood everywhere.

Can you tell if he's breathing?

I think I feel a heart pulse in his neck.I'm not sure.Somebody just shot like one, two, three, four, five, six, seven shots at our car.And I don't know how many times.Do you see the other car or no?Yeah, we think it's my mother -in -law's neighbor.

He was following us.We think he was following us on the freeway.And then all of a sudden he started shooting at our car.We don't even know why.He's kind of crazy, honey.Oh, honey, are you OK?

He's sitting up, but I can't tell if he's breathing or not.I don't even know how many where he shot.Oh, I think he shot in the head.Oh, this isn't good at all.This is not good at all.I see a police coming.

I see the police car coming, but I don't know.He shot in the head and blood everywhere.OK.

Cuyahoga Heights police officers reached the horrific scene, finding 59 -year -old Jacqueline Perez covered in blood and standing at the driver's side door of a black Dodge that has been riddled with bullet holes.With a bullet wound in her left arm, Jacqueline managed to gain control of the truck to prevent a wreck or harm to any other drivers on the busy freeway.Her husband, 57 -year -old David Perez, is slumped over in the driver's seat with multiple gunshot woundswounds to his head and body.Tragically, David is deceased.Before being transported to the hospital, Jacqueline is able to identify the shooter as 29 -year -old Ian Rich, the man who lives next door to her husband's parents.

A bolo is put out on Ian's black Audi convertible, and nearly an hour and a half later, Brattonville police officers spot his car.

Exiting at St. Clair and Superior.I'm lighting it up.What's the dog's name?The officer removes everything from Ian's pockets while the other secures his dog.

Sienna, safely in the backseat of a cruiser.

Anything else?No guns on you?What's this?What's this?Hey, there's a crack bite in plain view.Do you have ID on you?

No?What's your name?Ian what?Do you have a track on you?What do they apply?Speed?

Ian is placed in the cruiser and read his Miranda rights, but the officer will ultimately save any questioning regarding the shooting for a Cuyahoga Heights detective.

Is there anything in the car we should know about?There's guns.There's guns?Yeah.Okay.

Where's the gun?Well, there's one in the center console behind the seat.Okay.And the rest of my pistols are in the trunk.So they're in the trunk?Yeah, there's more in the trunk, in an FN bag.

Okay, so how many total?

Five?Five guns total.Okay.Watch your foot.

The officers choose not to do a detailed search of Ian's car and instead radio an officer with Cuyahoga Heights to take custody of the vehicle and its contents.They then take a moment to appreciate the outcome of the arrest, which played out far more calmly than they expected.

I can't believe you didn't take off.I was waiting.I was like, I want to make sure you're there with me. I gave everything over radio.I was ready to go.I was like, you ain't getting me on none of this.

Worked out perfect.

Put that down and just stop.

the Cuyahoga Heights arrives and takes a clos car.

Where are the five?are in the trunk, right?I the car.I didn't touch a the back window for you.They're probably in ther touch it.

Officers begin But as for his dog, Sienna, officers discuss whether a neighbor can retrieve her, or if they will be forced to take her to the local pound.

I would just rather, if it came to that, I'd rather go to my mom.My mom's got another dog.She doesn't want to take care of her, but she will if she has to.

And it wouldn't be the first time.Ian's dog, Sienna, has been collected by the Newburgh Police Department on more than one occasion, and each time his mother agreed to collect the dog.But Sienna's history with the police pales in comparison to Ian's, which spans multiple encounters over several years and will later shed a tragic new light on his actions tonight.Once they arrive at the jail, Ian is taken inside and seated in a booking area joined by Detective Lucas and a lieutenant.The following interrogation has been analyzed by a retired detective, who is also a licensed polygraph examiner, as well as a former hostage negotiation commander and instructor.Ian's Miranda rights are not read by Detective Lucas on camera prior to conducting this interview, as an officer has already read them at the scene.

However, the delivery of the rights by another officer creates potential issues.If Ian didn't fully comprehend the warning, any statements he makes going forward could be challenged in court.A critical first step in any interview is establishing a baseline of the suspect's knowledge, awareness, and mental state.Given that Ian has a known psychiatric history, Detective Lucas should have assessed his orientation and level of understanding by asking basic facts such as the date, where they are, or why they're here.Instead, he begins the interview by asking Ian to describe his day, which he says began at around 10 o 'clock this morning.

demolition in there, I guess.We'll try to renovate it.

Newburgh Heights police records show a pattern of alarming behavior at Ian's home, including repeated noise complaints and property damage.Two weeks before the shooting, his mother told officers the house was unlivable, with walls torn down in every room, and that Ian had been drilling into the foundation because he believed his neighbors were, quote, doing things underground.She also reported that he had schizophrenia and was self -medicating with drugs.The detective began appropriately by asking Ian what he did after waking up, which is an effective open -ended question.However, rather than allowing Ian the opportunity to speak freely, Detective Lucas quickly interrupts and shifts the conversation to his drug use.

What kind of drugs are you on?Meth.Meth?Okay.How long have you been on that?

Not that long.

Not long.Why did you get on it?I was on it for a few years.Okay.

Once the conversation returns to establishing a timeline, Ian says that after waking up he went to AutoZone, returned home and later went out to dinner.Then after 9 p .m.his female friend Ashiana sent him a text message and he decided to go to her house for a visit.

I left just knowing I was going to head over there eventually.I was just cruising kind of.

I mean I wasn't like making a beeline there.So what if there was a camera that saw you getting on 77 South around that time?

I might have went South, yeah.

Okay, you might have went South?

I mean I don't know.When I left I was just cruising.Okay, gotcha.

Yeah.But in reality, Ian followed Jacqueline and David Perez as they pulled out of his parents' driveway and began shadowing them in his car, as seen on multiple security cameras that recorded his every move.In an interview filmed three days after the shooting, Jacqueline, along with David's parents, Sally and Ted, shed light on the incident.They explained they were celebrating Ted's birthday just before David and Jacqueline left at 9 .21 p .m., and it wasn't long before David realized Ian Rich was behind them.

I said, well, I'm going to call your dad, which I have the time.I called him at 926.And I called him.I said, you're crazy.They were stalling us again.And that's when the bullets hit us.

I didn't know.I thought he threw a rock at us because I just seen all, it looked like pebbles in there, but I guess it was glass.And that's when I looked.I don't even know where he went after that I looked at my husband he was slumped over and I'm thinking okay I get you how do I stop the truck because I was all you know it was all over the road and I couldn't get him out of the truck and so it because it's a push button no thingy so I don't even know how it stopped.I had no idea.Okay did your husband I think he died instantly because he was already, when I looked over, he was slumped over.

Do you know who your neighbor is?Yeah.What's his name?Ted.Have you ever had any issues with him?No.

I don't really know why he beat him.Did you follow that vehicle today?

No.

What if we had a video of your car behind him?

Ian's confident assertion that he didn't follow Ted is the truth, given it wasn't Ted that he followed, but Ted's son David.Detective Lucas needs to slow down, both mentally and physically.He should take time to refocus and allow Ian to speak freely without interruption, which could lead to gathering critical information.Instead, the miscommunication continues as Detective Lucas questions ongoing problems with Ted and not the true victim, David.

Was there a problem that occurred with you and Ted prior to what happened?

Not that I know.I mean, I had like a time where I, it was from the drug.I thought that maybe they were like trying to mess with me or something.This is years ago.Other than that, that little episode that I had, it was like a, I don't know if that was a delusion or something.It was wild.

Other than that episode, I've never had anything, any thoughts like that.

But what Ian describes as a little episode is.far from the truth.According to Newburgh Heights police records, Ian's delusional thoughts about his neighbors have been occurring repeatedly for years.Incident reports detail Ian's concerns that his neighbors were spying on him using advanced high -tech equipment, including a laptop with an overhead view of his house.In June of 2022, he was committed to a psychiatric hospital after insisting his elderly neighbors were trying to murder him.and stating he will take matters into his own hands.

Now, we've never met him.We've never talked to him.We've never seen him.He just knew his car.Okay.

So you don't really even know what he looks like.

No, I've never seen that picture.And those ring cameras don't give you a real clear picture of his face.And that was another thing too.He always walked with his head down.He never walked with his head straightened up.

According to court documents, Ian exhibited extreme erratic behavior.He had become convinced that his neighbors were working with the FBI, conspiring to kill him through radio waves or poison in the ground.

He thought her name was paid and that she worked for the FBI and that I had all kinds of lasers and stuff going into his house where I could hear every conversation and I could see everything that he was doing.The reason I'm saying that is because It was my sister.

So that's how he had to deal with that.But we never had no kind of confrontation with her at all.There wasn't, he cut on the side of his house, which was his property.She always had flowers there for years.Well, he didn't want them there, he cut them down.

After this incident, which was reported in July of 2022, the Perez family told police they were, quote, concerned that his erratic behavior would progress into something dangerous to them.

At that time, there was nothing, you know, there was no education.no throwing nothing over.Nothing.Nothing, there was never like a fear of him or anything?Oh yeah, there was a fear of him.There was a fear.

Because of the stuff that he did.That he was doing.And this is something I wanna emphasize, and this is causing us a problem.I seen his dad one day, this is a couple of years ago.And I said to his dad, I said, I said, can I have your phone number just in case, you know, I call you if something happens over here?He says, yeah, he gives me his phone number.

And I asked him, I said, does he have any weapons in there?And his father's reply to me was, you don't have to have a weapon to hurt somebody.

Yeah, I'm Lieutenant Grabowski.All those firearms are registered to you, purchased legally.Great, thanks.They should have all been in the car, except for my rifle.

What did you use that Marlowe for, hunting or anything?

Detective Lucas should have paused here to ask more questions, such as, when was the last time you fired a firearm?And what type of firearm did you shoot?Once again, he misses the opportunity to press Ian further by asking a simple question.If all of his guns are typically loaded, why was the one he had with him empty?Okay.Note the way Ian first nods yes, then answers no to the question.

This contradiction between verbal and non -verbal communication is significant.

If I were to ask you, did you fire a gun to that?You did?No.

The detective repeatedly uses the phrase, if I were to ask you, instead of just asking directly.Overall, his questioning is scattered and lacks structure.The lieutenant intervenes.asking a question of his own.

You have no idea why you're up in this jail right now.

That's a very serious reason why you're in this jail.We're not here because of the drugs.Something bad happened today.Very bad.And we're trying to figure out exactly what happened.

After being told that something bad happened, Ian nodded his head in agreement.But what's more important is that he showed no obvious surprise, concern, or curiosity in the form of follow -up questions.

I was just, honestly, I was just always in my way over towards my friend's house.

Again, Detective Lucas interrupted Ian during a critical moment.Ian finally asked what happened, but the detective never answered him.Soon after, the detective shifts the topic back to firearms, reminding Ian that they can test for gunshot residue on his hands.This seems to encourage him to change his earlier answer about not firing a gun today.

I might have accidentally fired it in my garage.Okay.If I was to tell you But there was bullet casings that were picked up on 77 South.Are any of those casings going to come back to any of the guns that you own?Hopefully not.

None of my stuff should be on the road there.

This response is noteworthy and should have been addressed further.An appropriate response from an uninvolved individual would typically be a clear no.The detective missed the opportunity to follow up on this statement.

If somebody was shot or something, somebody's dead, okay?Had died.

Ian shows no visible reaction to this news and the detective is still naming the wrong victim.

You gotta realize life, 29, you can still get out from today, okay?If something happens and I put in here that you sat here callous, I'm gonna tell them.

Ian just admitted that he was in the area when the shooting took place, then quickly self -corrected.His statement should be explored further as it suggests possible involvement or at least uncertainty.This was a significant moment and the detective misses the opportunity to follow up.

I think you're just living in this crazy world where you think that you're gonna be fine.

It's not gonna be fine.Is he life in prison or parole?

If Ian were to confess now, he would have a good argument to say the only reason he confessed is due to the threat of life in prison versus the chance for parole.The use of threats and comments related to legal counsel could potentially affect whether this interview is admissible in court.The detective also doesn't have the authority to make those kinds of promises or guarantees about sentencing outcomes.The interrogation is soon headed for a more heated confrontation.But for now, investigators with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation interrupt the interview to take swabs of Ian's hands.

Have you been fingerprinted since you were here?No.No.

Whether or not the cleaning solution successfully removed any gunshot residue remains to be seen.Before the interview continues, a conversation begins regarding evidence from the crime scene.

weapon yet.

The detective should not be answering these questions in front of Ian, who can clearly hear what is being discussed, and he now knows what the detective has for evidence.Disclosing this information could undermine their ability to employ strategic interviewing techniques, such as controlled disclosure or bluffing, and could allow Ian to challenge or manipulate the situation.As the interview continues, the detective offers Ian a way to save face.

Maybe you had some type of psychotic episode, Maybe you had some type of out -of -body experience, but what happened today, you read it.

Ian nods his head in agreement, but Detective Lucas doesn't seem to pick up on the gesture.

And I'm just trying to figure out why you'd do such a thing.And to help you, when this goes to court, why that.

Establishing motive is not a necessary element for the interview at this stage.While understanding the reasoning behind an incident is helpful, it's not essential to prove the case.The detective's approach would have been more effective if he'd framed it in a neutral information gathering way, such as, help me understand how this incident occurred.

I didn't shoot.

A good question for the detective to ask would be, who set you up and why?Instead, Detective Lucas takes a more direct approach.Using the victim's name throughout this interview could have made the situation more personal and real for Ian, potentially breaking down some of his emotional distance, consistently referring to the victim by name as a simple but important technique that isn't being used.

When I go look at that car tonight, when we're done here, I'm going to find some more evidence that puts you there.

And if you don't tell us why it happened and we go to court on this, I'm going to stand up there and that.box, and I'm gonna make sure you go to jail.

Detective Lucas repeats the same statements without moving the conversation forward.As it stands, he's not maintaining control of the interview, and he himself is being manipulated by the suspect.As the interview goes on, the lieutenant interrupts to question Ian about his earlier claim that he's being framed.

What do you think's setting you up?You think that her wife just set you up, set someone up to kill her husband and frame you?That'd make zero sense.Right, but...So there's no setup here.

Well, I mean, they don't...They're just accusing me and they have, like, some fake evidence.

Because they really don't even know you.There is no fake evidence.

There's a ton of real evidence.There's an eyewitness.There's cameras.There's poetry.

I don't have any beef with them.They don't...

It doesn't matter if you have beef or anything.I'm just trying to say, did you have something in your mind today that made you thought that they did something to you or...

No.Definitely not.In the past I had, I thought, I thought they were like getting me while I was speaking or they made me FBI or something.I like, it was a, it was an episode I had, it was like when I was doing too much stuff and then it was like I realized that none of that was real.

Ian has just implied the behavior that occurred in the past was when he was quote, doing too much stuff, likely referring to drugs.The detective should follow up on this statement and reminded him that he used methamphetamine the day before, then develop a line of questioning around how that may have affected his actions or judgment.Building on this point could help create a theme that Ian was impaired, which might encourage him to open up further about what happened.

I did not.Plus your car, an Audi TT, black in color with a convertible freaking top.Plus you got a thousand guns in your backseat.And then I'm going to go find one when we're done here with eight bullets missing.And then I'm going to find gunshot residue on your freaking hand.Yeah, you did it.

I didn't shoot you.I didn't shoot your car.That's a false accusation.

Nobody's false accusing you.There's an eyewitness.

I didn't shoot.It wasn't.

I didn't shoot.You shot a gun.The evidence is going to be there, and I'm going to be there when you go on trial.And I'm going to say, I sat in front of this and basically listened to him lie to my face, knowing that he shot a guy and killed him.You understand that?Me, I'm your lifeline.

He's your lifeline.And that's it.If you don't understand that, I don't know what to tell you.OK?Do you want to go to jail and sit with a bunch of murderers?I really don't.

Well, guess what?If you don't tell us what the hell happened, that's where you're going.There's a thousand pieces of evidence against you!A thousand!But why would I do that?

Ian's question, why would I do that, suggests he's looking for a reason he can use to save face, where an innocent person would simply say, I did not do it.His question presents an opportunity for the detective to introduce alternative explanations or themes.For example, he could suggest the possibility that the firearm discharged accidentally, or that Ian intended only to scare the victim rather than shoot him.Instead, Detective Lucas continues pressing for Ian to share his own motive.

That's why I'm asking.That's why I'm trying to tell you.If you would explain to me why you did this, I can portray you as a normal human being.I am a normal human being.I know you are.So tell me why you did it.

I didn't do it.There's no reason to.I just saw him.I'm sorry.

I know you did it.I'm just trying to figure out why it happened and make you seem human.And I know you're going to keep shaking your head.I didn't do it.I didn't do it.I didn't do it.

But one day you're going to come back and you're like, man, I wish I would have Detective Lucas again resorts to making threats and is noticeably becoming frustrated and angry.

At this point, it would have been more appropriate for the detective to take a step back or even pause the interview.

I shouldn't be doing that in the garage.I shouldn't be shooting a gun in the garage.

You are full of absolute...If you saw the garage, you...You're full of...No.You're coked.You're absolutely coked.

That's all I'm trying to tell you.You are coked.

Ian reiterates that he was just out for a cruise tonight, but when he shares new information, the confusion over the victim's identity gets in the way.

When I was texting that Asiana Ron, I did receive a call from Teddy Perez.Okay.After a time...I didn't see that coming.

Once again, Ted Perez is still alive, as the murder victim was his son David.If Ted did contact Ian after learning he was following his son, the opportunity to question him about that call is lost.This type of statement is not only inappropriate, but also counterproductive, as it increases resistance rather than encouraging cooperation.A more flexible and controlled approach would likely have been far more effective at this stage of the interview.Allowing something small, like a cigarette break, could help ease tension and create a calmer atmosphere, which may make Ian more willing to talk.In this situation, there's little to lose, and it could improve the overall tone of the interaction.

However, he's denied.The BCI agents remove and collect all of Ian's clothing, and once they resume the interview, the lieutenant asks a simple question that sends the interrogation on another downward spiral.

Is there anything else that you want to say to us?

They said someone called about the dog.We're not worried about that dog.Why?Well, I'm worried about a dead guy.I just, I would rather hear her go to my mom than hear somebody call.

There's a guy that's dead.There's somebody that's dead.Right.And you're worried about your dog.

Well, I don't want less than having my dog.There's a dead guy.And you're worried about a dog?Somebody's dead.And you're worried about a goddamn dog.

Unfortunately, police records make no mention of where Ian's dog, Sienna, was taken following his arrest.There's little effort to build rapport or show compassion towards Ian, and the detective's approach appears to rely heavily on confrontation.With a suspect like Ian, raising one's voice or making threats is not effective and works against the goal of getting useful information.

You know how they brought that guy back?They actually loaded the truck that he's dead in, hunched over the steering wheel, on a flatbed truck, down to the coroner's office to process the view, okay?

Would you want any of your family members being processed like that?

No!Meanwhile, David's family struggles with the tragic aftermath of a situation that has been escalating for some time.

It's like they kept almost pacifying us where there's really not much we can do unless he actually hurts you or harasses you and that wasn't happening but We would hear him beating on the walls of his house.Sometimes it would even shake our house because he was beating on the inside walls with sledgehammer and stuff.And he would take that sledgehammer back into his garage and then beat in his garage.I mean, people all over the lady across the street, neighbors would hear all this.And that's why we were scared of him because we kept saying, and then the police were there so many times too on a welfare check.His mother would send them over there to check on him and stuff.

And we were thinking, when is this guy gonna really go off the deep end?And that's what we kept saying to each other, and then look what happens.

According to an autopsy report, 57 -year -old David Perez ultimately died from two gunshot wounds to the left side of his head, as well as two to the left arm.Still, Ian refuses to confess that he was the one who pulled the trigger.

I hope it's burning to you, because if you're not willing to blame what happened or shed light, and makes you seem like you are a homophobic killer.If you want to see your parents again, bang a chick again, anything, you better come clean about it.Because if not, see to it that you don't.

The evidence and all that does me in, and it does it, but not if it doesn't.I can't.I didn't do that.They got me behind, saying I'm behind them.I don't have any reason to.There's no motive.

I don't know those people.I don't care about them.I'm a single 28 -year -old guy.But why is he messaging you on Facebook?Exactly.I don't know.

And why did someone call and want to take my dog?That's not someone that I want.

Nobody gives a flying f*** about your dog.

Right, but I'm just saying, what if it's...I don't know what's going on, you know?I'm the guy who's just cruising around, what's your name?

No, you...

Okay.That's what you wanna go with?You wanna go with a guy cruising around?No.You wanna go with a guy cruising around?Huh?

You're a guy that was just cruising around, there's a bullet flash, a gun flash that's coming from a goddamn Audi TT, triple black, into a goddamn truck that was a guy that was killed with an eyewitness.And you're gonna sit here and lie to me.You're gonna sit here and lie to me all day while I'm sitting here at three o 'clock in the morning After nearly three hours of questioning, 29 -year -old Ian Rich left the interrogation without giving a confession.

Even without an admission of guilt, the evidence against Ian was damning.BCI investigation reports reveal that Ian tested positive for gunshot residue on his hands and that the 9mm handgun found in the center console of Ian's car was a match to multiple fired casings recovered from the crime scene.According to court documents, Ian Rich was indicted in May of 2024 on one count of aggravated murder, three counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of discharging a firearm on or near prohibited premises, and four counts of felonious assault, all carrying firearm specifications.On May 5th, 2025, Ian Rich accepted a plea deal to reduce charges of involuntary manslaughter with a five -year firearm specification.attempted murder with a three -year firearm specification, and discharge of a firearm on the spot.near prohibited premises.

The court imposed a minimum aggregate prison term of 40 to 45 and a half years in prison, with 402 days credited for time served, plus an additional two to five years of mandatory post -release control.Jacqueline Perez later filed a lawsuit against Ian Rich and three members of the Newburgh Heights Police Department for the, quote, foreseeable, preventable, and wrongful death of David Perez.as well as her own injury.The lawsuit states the defendants share culpability for the actions of Ian Rich because they, quote, knew about the danger he presented and recklessly failed to fulfill their duties to the public.The lawsuit is ongoing.Watch our full videos as they were originally made with no randomly muted words or details cut.

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