Brett Kelman, and Colin Atagi

The Desert Sun

Investigators discovered at least four new or improved pieces of evidence — including information from recorded phone calls and a secret informant — in the revived Pinyon Pines triple murder case, which was refiled against suspects Robert Pape and Cristin Smith last week.

They're accused of killing John Hayward, Vicki Friedli and Becky Friedli in 2006 in one of the most notorious murder mysteries in the history of the Coachella Valley. The victims were found at their burned home in Pinyon Pines, a small community in the mountains south of Palm Desert.

According to court documents, the new or improved evidence includes:

Jail call recordings in which Pape discusses the concealment of unregistered firearms, including a .40-caliber Glock that matches the size of weapon that killed Vicky Friedli;

Better cell phone tracking, which places the suspects together and traveling toward Pinyon Pines before the murders;

Improved DNA tests that match Smith to a business card found at the murder scene to a 1 to 28 trillion certainty;

Finally, investigators now have a confidential informant who claims they overheard Smith say in 2007 he was responsible for the fire at the Friedli home.

“Something went wrong and we torched the whole f---ing place,” Smith allegedly told the informant, according to court documents.

Smith's attorney, John Patrick Dolan, said Tuesday that he could not comment on the new evidence in the case because he had not yet reviewed it. However, Dolan said he was immediately doubtful of any statements from a confidential informant.

“That’s highly suspect when you see something like that,” Dolan said.

Pape does not have an attorney listed in the public court record.

Pape and Smith have been suspects in the Pinyon Pines case for years. Pape and Smith were childhood friends in Cathedral City, and Pape is an ex-boyfriend of Becky Friedli. Today, Pape is a local air-conditioning repairman. Smith is a decorated Army ranger.

Prosecutors first charged the suspects in 2014 and later dropped the case. District Attorney Mike Hestrin, who took over after the dismissal, said the prosecution was mishandled and that his administration would re-investigate with “fresh eyes,” as if the murders had happened yesterday.

Hestrin refiled murder charges against both suspects on Wednesday. At a news conference on Friday, Hestrin said the new charges were possible because of new and improved evidence, but said he could not identify what that evidence was. Court documents made public Tuesday make the new evidence clear.

According to the documents, investigators monitored hundreds of hours of recorded jail telephone calls Pape made after he was arrested in 2014. In two of those calls, Pape talked to his wife about concealing two guns they own – one of which was described as a gun that would “never be registered.” Investigators believe that gun was a Glock 22.

“The discussion of the Glock pistol is pertinent to the investigation because DOJ examination developed a short list of three firearm manufactures that could have fired the large caliber projective removed from Vickie’s head,” court documents state. “One of which was the Glock, model 22, .40-caliber.”

The rest of the new evidence comes from the new informant. Investigators say in court documents they received an anonymous tip from this person in 2011, but the caller refused to cooperate with investigators, so the lead fizzled. Only recently, since the prior dismissal in 2014, have investigations been able to reconnect with the tipster for a detailed interview. The tipster elaborated, and became a confidential informant.

The other developments are from old evidence that has been re-evaluated with improved technology.

Authorities previously found a business card at the murder scene which they believed contained Smith’s DNA, but they later identified the DNA to a mathematical certainty.

Pinyon Pines murders: New evidence, new arrests

Investigators had also previously used cell records to track the suspect’s phones, but this evidence is stronger now, too. In the prior case, cell phone records showed that Pape’s phone had pinged a cell phone tower along the road to Pinyon Pines before both suspects' phones entered a “dark period,” during which they were likely turned off, for near four hours. Investigators now say the new investigation has “empirically eliminated any competing theories that the suspects were not traveling toward the Friedli residence before the murders.”

Pape was scheduled for an arraignment hearing on Tuesday afternoon, but it was delayed. Smith, who is currently held in Sacramento but is being transferred to Riverside County, is expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday or Friday.

Reporter Brett Kelman can be reached at 760 778 4642 or brett.kelman@desertsun.com. Follow him on Twitter at TDSbrettkelman.