Primetime exclusive tonight: Joe Vega, a close family friend of missing 6-year-old Isabel Celis' family speaks out regarding the newly released 911 calls and Isabel's dad being barred from seeing his family.
Beloved Middle School Principal Gunned Down in His Own Home
42-year-old Washington, D.C. middle school principal, Brian Betts, committed his life to education, nurturing and preparing students for bright futures. Betts so devoted to education, he has the courage to take on the uphill task of turning around struggling District of Columbia public school, Shaw Middle School. Arriving in 2008, Betts immediately became popular and beloved among the 300 students. But Brian Betts’ own future mysteriously cut short on a chilly April night. When he didn’t show up for school on April 14, something very unusual for Betts, a co-worker becomes concerned, driving over to Betts’ Silver Spring house to make sure everything is alright.
But when the co-worker arrives, something doesn’t seem to be right. Betts’ 2007 dark blue Nissan Xterra is missing from the driveway, the front door is unlocked and a light is on upstairs. Feeling spooked, the co-worker backs out of the home and calls police. There, inside the split-level colonial home, cops find Betts…dead! The middle school principal had been shot at least once in cold-blood.
Now officially a homicide case, investigators quickly begin to construct a timeline. Based on a conversation Betts had with someone (reportedly a neighbor), police are able to determine that Betts was last seen alive around 11:30 p.m. the night before he was shot to death. It’s still a mystery as to how the perpetrator entered the home, as cops reveal there were no signs of forced entry. And it’s still a mystery what happened to Betts between the hours of 11:30 p.m. and the moment detectives found his body, clothed, inside a bedroom. Investigators combing over every square inch of Betts’ home with a fine tooth comb for evidence. So far the only thing cops will reveal is the home was not ransacked and some items were missing.
Vehicles Could be Key to Solving Homicide as Cops Search for More Than One Suspect
As the search for Betts’ killer or killers kicks into high gear, a major break emerges in the case. Just 14 miles from Betts’ Silver Spring home, a resident notifies cops of a suspicious vehicle parked in the neighborhood. The SUV turns out to be Betts’ Nissan Xterra and was reportedly found undamaged with a clean interior. A witness reports seeing two people walking away from Betts’ Nissan after it was parked and left abandoned in that residential area. And now another vehicle appears to be playing a major role in the timeline and cracking this homicide. Montgomery County police announce they are on the lookout for a vehicle seen driving off from an alley next to Brian Betts’ home at about 12:45 a.m., just 45 minutes after Betts was last believed to be alive. The sighting could turn out to be the key factor in solving the case. Investigators, who are keeping tight-lipped about the vehicle’s description, believe it could be related to Betts’ homicide. According to Montgomery County Police spokesman, Capt. Paul Starks, the suspicious vehicle and Betts’ SUV lead investigators to believe there is more than one suspect. And the manhunt is on!
If you have any information about the vehicle in question or the murder of Brian Betts call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477) or Montgomery County Homicide detectives at 240-773-5070. Crime Solvers is offering a cash reward of up to $1,000.
We Want Justice for Brian Betts!
Stay strong,
S. Newman
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One person making a difference in a place of high crime rates. Taking young men out the life of crime. Why would someone kill this fine young man? someone who was trying to make change in his community? This is absolutely horrible for his school family, his relatives, and the many young lives who may say that nothing ever changes, nothing matters. Please find his killers!!
nancy, I love your program. My question is, have they checked for dna evidance in josh's vechicle!
I am happy to see a posting about this issue but unhappy about the way it is delivered. While the entire DCPS community is up in arms and devastated about Principal Brian Betts passing, the posting is both grammatically flowed and needs a serious fact checking. First, Brian was murdered on the night of April 15, 2010. It was wednesday. The lifeless body of Shaw @ Garnett-Patterson Middle school's principal was found on Thursday, April 16, 2010. Wednesday night Brian posted his last message on Facebook: having a cocktail and grilling. Check the weather forecast, it was a lovely spring evening, not "chilling" unless you knew what was going to happen... Please, please!!! I met Brian Betts on a couple of occasions and he didn't deserve to die the way he did! Nancy Grace, I am sure the authorities are doing what's right, but most people we are left out in the dark. Nothing is going to bring Brian back to life, but we need some kind of closure on this orrible act of sensless violence! Thank you
why dont people value the life of gift from god. so many loving people who cant bear children , but these heartless monsters can i have no desire to be a mother. so they kill them. i dont understand why death. why dont they just give these kids to the ones that do love them instead of killing them. i hope casey anthony and misty get the worst punishment possible. its sickening. at least misty grandmothers is honest and telling what shes knows unlike the anthonys who stand behide the murdering casey. she never cared about that beautiful child. and poor haleigh living with a bunch a drug addicts. these kids never had a chance.
What do the cases of Caylee Anthony and Haliegh Cummings have to do with the murder of Brian Betts? Absolutely nothing. It is very disrespectful to the memory of Brian to be ranting and raving about two cases that have nothing to do with him.
why dont people value life of a child as a gift from god. So many loving couples who cant bear children desperatey wanting a child cant. But these heartless monsters can an they have no desire to be mothers, because their interfering in their partying so they are in the way so kill them. I dont understand why they just dont leave the childwith family members who want and love them. i hope casey and misty both get the maximum punishment . at least misty grandmothers is coming clean unlike the anthonys who stand beside their daughter casey. i am a mother of four and would come forth if any one of them harmed my grandchildren. if just sickens me.
My thoughts and prayers go out to Brian Betts'family friends and students.
When i saw the story on the news my heart broke.Brian Betts seemed to put his school children before himself.To see his picture on tv with that huge smile although i didnt know him but you can tell Brian Betts was very happy with his life and his job .To see the childrens prayers and condolences written on the school sent chills to every part of my body and at that point i could no longer see the screen through the tears.When they started speaking to the children to hear the children crying but making sure they got their thoughts about Brain Betts out there for everyone to know what they thought of him and what he did for them was the most heart wrenching thing i ever saw.As an adult I do not think i could have done it.
I hope and pray they catch the monster or monsters who murdered Brian Betts.When they do the police need to show them how many people he murdered it has effected by showing them every picture of the kids at the school.Kids do not have many good role models nowadays and to brutally take a real role model away from these children and his family and friends is just sickening.
We’re With You
When you miss him/her,
we’re with you in spirit,
wondering how you feel,
hoping you’re coping,
and getting a little better each day.
We understand. We care.
When you’re grieving,
we’re beside you,
in our hearts, in our thoughts,
we’re sending you sympathy,
encouragement, affection,
and strength to carry on with life.
He/she would want it that way.
By Joanna Fuchs
Our prayers go out to Brian`s family. Why is it always the ones who are trying to do something good.
Maybe the person that shot him came up behind betts as he was leaving then drag betts up stairs and if there was blood dripping maybe the dude that shot betts cleaned off the blood that was dripping
did the door knob on the fron't door get looked at for finger prints?
did the light switch get looked at for finger prints or the whole room that the murder was in I know how some people use gloves for murdering somebody but if we are in lucky maby the murder did not use gloves
Betts, was a part of the class of 1985. We are planning
our 25 year high school reunion in august 21, 2010 in Manassas.
The class of 1985 was very close to Brian and this horrible
tragic accident is very sad for all of us and the children who
Betts, guided through school. We will miss him and hopefully,
who ever took part in this tragic killing will be caught. Closure now
is what we all need for this. Thanks Nancy....
He was an amazing Teacher one of the best, he touched my life and being 23 I still carry what he taught me..... he made me a better person. I will miss him dearly. I met him before I entered middle school.We had to get our gym uniforms before the actual school year started,My Mom being a single mother could not afford a car so we walked the 3miles in pooring rain to the school, we arrive and realize we can not afford the gym uniform we make our way to the bus stop across from the school and about 5 minutes later I see Mr.Brian K Betts running across the field getting soaked towards us.....he hugs my Mother and hands me gym clothes in a plastic bag and smiled that big smile and said " see you in class" he gave them to me for free he and i became close while i was in middle school and i would visit him through high school.....what a great loss......R.I.P MR. BETTS! KNIGHTS FOR LIFE!
I taught under Brian last year at Shaw. I know everyone is hurting deeply right now. Please keep posting updates to this story as we are all on edge to find out if justice will be delivered to the person or persons involved. I only pray that the people responsible were not his former students as that would certainly add to the already devastating circumstances. Brian's birthday is this Thursday and he would have been 43. I hope his story is one that is remembered for a long time.
Please get justice for a very dear friend of mine I went to school with him and he was amazing... I am saddened and seriously distressed over this.
I worked with Brian at Neelsville Middle School from 1999-2001. He was one the type of teachers that they make those inspirational movies out of. I have never met an educator in my life who cared about his students as much as he did. coming in at 6am and staying after school to cook dinner for kids in the Home Ec classroom. I feel for his kids, because one of the best things they had in thier lives was taken from them. Whomever has to follow him will certainly have big shoes to fill.
R.I.P Brian
Hello. I read that Read that Mr Betts was soliciting young men to have sex with on a sex chat line. This is how he was killed. How can a school hire someone like this. Of course he love being around children.
What was he doing on a sex line looking for men??? He became a target. You know what they say "live by the sword, die by the sword.
Would it be any different if he had met a woman on facebook and set up a meet up? Or is it just because he was gay? All the young men that have been arrested are over 18. How do you know they didn't lie about thier ages online and present themselves as older? For all we know, they used someone else's picture when they chatted. It's the internet after all. Please refrain from making accusations about a man who cannot defend himself until all the facts come in.
Yes, I did work with him, and yes, I knew he was gay. But there is no evidence that he was looking for UNDERAGE comapnionship and to paint him as a pedophile at this point in the investigation is irresponsible.
In the boys' locker room of Neelsville Middle School where Betts was a gym teacher for several years, the gym teachers' office had a full-window view of the locker room changing area. I'm sure he loved his job.
What a waste of the life of someone making a difference. The irony
is that his life was taken by the very type of person he was trying to
spare his students from becoming.
To be honest my mind went across a spectrum of wonderings. I thought, this was a homocide. This man kept secrets. Latenight invitations are booty calls. I thought it was a secret lover, at least someone he knew. What extreme degrees of duality, Superhero of the DC School system to man on the downlow. When the truth came out, ( thanks to God for the stupidity of these suspects) I thought, was this man a fool or extremely trusting and naive, inviting a total stranger to his home for sex. This so-called youth, how devious and evil to pose on a chat line in order to prowl for victims. His friends must be devastated, asking themselves why they didn't just go have dinner, or visit for a few hours. That late, why didn't he just go to bed, read a book? In the beginning, I examined and dismissed quickly the thought he might be a pedophile. Those types do place themselves in a position to be deeply immersed in the lives of children. I don't think he was, though.
He was a good person....one who engaged in risky behavior....risky
behavior that cost him his life. There are predators everywhere. He
can still teach his children a lesson in life. No, it does not matter that
he was gay. It does matter that one can seldom ever really know a
person. How ever perfect they may seem there could be a dark hidden part that is destructive either to themselves or to others. Was it the thrill of the risk or was it lonliness that made him call that number? I think the latter.
Kevin, in my theory after hearing the outcome, is that he let the guy in,
headed up to the bedroom to get to it and was shot quickly as the
suspect had no intention of going through with the arrangement.
The news reported that the house was not in disarray leads me to
think that.
The police were not telling everything, but there was no news of a
struggle. To me this was predatory and cold blooded.