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00:00A call to police.
00:07I want a wellness check done on my brother, please.
00:10I think something's happened to him.
00:12A man is found murdered at home.
00:15The shot had been delivered to the back of the head.
00:18This person was basically executed.
00:21When I heard that his brother did a well-being check on him,
00:24I just didn't like the sounds of it.
00:26I knew that there was some bad stuff coming out.
00:29An affluent family has been at war for over a decade.
00:33It's one thing to have disagreements in a family,
00:35but to actually bring a lawsuit against a sibling.
00:38The whole family was just suing each other.
00:40It gets to a point where it's the son against his mother,
00:43to have his mother stripped of control of the estate.
00:46She said, I want my children cut out of the will.
00:49With the dispute turning deadly.
00:51Multiple suspects, brother, uncle, nephew,
00:55potentially being involved in a very violent murder.
00:58Now it's family versus family in a criminal court.
01:02You need to tell us your final story.
01:08He told them, hey, you never speak about this to anybody,
01:11even your mother.
01:13This is a family now that is a family in last name only.
01:28The Coastal Village of Hyannis on Cape Cod, Massachusetts,
01:32is a major tourist destination.
01:35It's 5.30 p.m. when a man calls police,
01:39anxious about his brother who lives there.
01:42Barnesville Police Department.
01:44Yes, hi. I want a wellness check done on my brother, please.
01:48His name's Andrew.
01:50Andrew?
01:52Andrew?
01:54Andrew?
01:56Wellness check done on my brother, please.
01:58His name's Aris Manaloulis.
02:00He's 47 years old.
02:02I'm very concerned.
02:04I haven't been able to reach him, and I think something's happened to him.
02:07Okay, you haven't been able to reach him since when?
02:10Since yesterday.
02:14The caller identified himself as Trifon Manaloulis
02:17from Southboro, Massachusetts.
02:19They dispatched uniformed police officers
02:21to go to his brother Aris Manaloulis' residence in Hyannis.
02:25Police officers arrived at the scene.
02:27The main door of the house was open.
02:31They could hear noise inside.
02:33It sounds like a TV.
02:36They're not able to get anybody to come to the door.
02:39Hello? Hello, it's the Barnesville Police Department again.
02:42We've located the house.
02:44The front door is open, and nobody's coming to the door.
02:46Would you like us to check the interior of the home?
02:48Please, please. Okay.
02:51Uniformed officers entered the residence,
02:54and they observed a male subject on the floor, face down,
02:57laying in a pool of blood.
02:59A shocking experience.
03:01As they approach, they see that there's no movement.
03:05There are bullet wounds to the body and to the head.
03:08This person has lost a considerable amount of blood,
03:11and is probably deceased.
03:14Detectives from both local and state police are sent to the scene.
03:19So when I arrived, they had not yet positively identified
03:22the decedent in the home.
03:25In a pocket was a wallet.
03:28We were able to compare that picture to the decedent,
03:30so we were very confident that this was Eris Manoloulis.
03:34There was no forced entry.
03:36The television set was on.
03:38There was no other signs of violence to the body
03:42other than gunshot wounds.
03:46We have spent nine millimeter cartridge casings.
03:49There's three, by my count, on the floor.
03:52I could also see that some of the stuffing
03:55was coming out of one of the pillows on the couch.
03:58The first rounds that had struck him
04:01were probably fired at him while he was seated on the couch.
04:05Eris had hit the floor,
04:07and a shot had been delivered to the back of the head.
04:10This was somebody that wanted him very dead.
04:15I went up the stairs and went into several of the bedrooms
04:18and noticed that the drawers had been pulled open.
04:21The rest of the house was very orderly,
04:24so this was something that stood out.
04:27This might have been motivated by some sort of burglary or robbery.
04:31After inspecting the crime scene for evidence,
04:34investigators turned to their 911 caller, Trifon Manoloulis,
04:38for more information about what led to the wellness check.
04:41While I'm at the scene, I ask one of the officers,
04:44has the brother been called back?
04:46Does he know what we've discovered here?
04:49And they said no, they hadn't heard back from him,
04:52that there hadn't been any further calls.
04:54And I thought that was odd,
04:56that somebody that was that concerned to call about well-being,
04:59now 2 hours down the road,
05:01wasn't ringing the phone off the hook, demanding answers.
05:04Attempts to call Trifon now go unanswered.
05:08So, potentially, the red flag.
05:11Investigators start canvassing Eris' neighbors
05:14to quickly gather more information.
05:16Hear anything? See anything?
05:18What do you know about Eris?
05:21Eris Manoloulis, 47,
05:23had a very good reputation with his neighbors.
05:26He worked pretty hard in the real estate business,
05:28managed many properties over the years.
05:31Eris is unmarried and has no children.
05:34Neighbors say he was previously engaged,
05:36but the relationship ended not long after he moved into this house
05:39several years prior to look after his mother, Fevronia.
05:43She had MS, so she had some health struggles later in life.
05:47He had plans to be married, but he kind of put that on hold
05:50to really become the full-time caregiver for his mother.
05:54Neighbors say after his mother died 2 years ago,
05:57Eris continued living there and mostly kept to himself.
06:01Eris was very quiet, kind of a homebody.
06:05The neighbors on that day, they hadn't heard any shots,
06:08they hadn't seen anything unusual.
06:10They did see him the previous evening,
06:12so we knew the window was relatively small, 24 hours or so.
06:18Then someone claiming to have vital information arrives on the scene.
06:23So I met this very pleasant lady at the yellow tape
06:26and confirmed for her that the decedent had been identified as Eris Manoloulis.
06:30She was very upset and then shared with me
06:33that she was a close friend of Eris and of the Manoloulis family.
06:37She said she had known Eris for a number of years,
06:40that both her husband and her, who lived only a short distance away,
06:43would have him over frequently for dinners.
06:46Importantly, she wanted me to know that there was something going on
06:50with Eris and his brother and sister,
06:53a rift within the family involving an inheritance issue
06:57around Eris's mother.
07:00That the mother had basically left Irene, the sister,
07:04and Trifon out of the will.
07:07We need to know everything about this feud within the Manoloulis family.
07:11And the family friend gave us a little bit of the family history.
07:22In the 1960s, emigrating from Greece,
07:25Eris's parents, Emmanuel and Favronia,
07:28arrived in America with practically nothing
07:31in the hope of building a better life for themselves.
07:34They started a pizza business from scratch
07:37and invested the proceeds into property.
07:40So Emmanuel basically accomplished the American dream.
07:43Out of a couple hundred bucks, he was able to build up an estate,
07:46a multi-million dollar estate.
07:49The couple had three children, Trifon, Eris and Irene.
07:53In Hyannis, the Manoloulis' summer house
07:56was the scene of many extended family get-togethers.
08:00That was the home that we grew up in as kids,
08:03and at the Cape.
08:05Eris was my second cousin.
08:07We just talked so much, joked about the sports.
08:10He would get really upset with the Red Sox.
08:13It was just all fun.
08:15It's like this big, one happy Greek family.
08:18Everybody's around, and I just wish it would have just kept on going, you know.
08:24Their parents tried to provide the three Manoloulis siblings
08:27the best start in life.
08:29Each of the children had a trust fund
08:31that had been established by their parents.
08:33They were given means to be successful themselves.
08:37Finishing their education in the 80s,
08:40the children start making their own way in the world.
08:43So as the children aged and grew,
08:46Irene went off and married.
08:48I also know that Trifon had a career in computers.
08:52Trifon ends up marrying his wife Debra,
08:55and they go on to have three children,
08:57Christine, Christopher and Natalie,
08:59Christopher being in the middle.
09:01He was telling me and the family
09:03how they were trying to set him up with
09:05you're married or something, you know,
09:07and he's just like, I just kind of want to do my own thing, you know.
09:10He seemed like a pretty busy guy.
09:13Eris Manoloulis tried to carry on the foundation
09:16that his father started in the real estate business.
09:19Had properties in a number of states, I believe.
09:23In 1994, the Manoloulises are rocked
09:28when the family patriarch, Emmanuel,
09:31unexpectedly dies of a heart attack at 63.
09:34So we learned that obviously the family was stricken with grief.
09:38The monies that he had were all left to his wife, Favronio.
09:44Trifon and Eris decide to open up a liquor store
09:48the same year that their father passes.
09:50I think it was almost a way for them to honor their father,
09:53to go into business together.
09:55It was not the dream that they thought it would be.
09:58Eris, he believes Trifon had taken $10,000
10:02inappropriately out of the business.
10:05That bad blood between the two begins to reveal itself.
10:10So much so that the business has barely been going a year
10:14when Eris sues his brother over the missing money.
10:17It's one thing to have disagreements in a family,
10:20but to actually file a lawsuit against a sibling.
10:23Trifon maintained that he didn't do anything wrong
10:27and that it was his brother that had cut him off.
10:30Trifon launches a counter-lawsuit against Eris.
10:34Suing each other, oh my God, it's just awful.
10:37What a shame, like, you know, they should be working together,
10:40but they're working in court.
10:42You know, it's just terrible.
10:45It's more than a year before the legal dispute ends in 1997
10:48with neither brother turning up for a hearing,
10:51having decided to try to come to an agreement out of court.
10:55But the family friend who's giving the police this information
10:58says Eris and Trifon's relationship has remained strained ever since.
11:06Now, two hours after Eris was found dead,
11:09as a crowd gathers at the crime scene,
11:12word of what's happened frantically spreads through Eris' family.
11:16I received a phone call of my aunt
11:19that they found him lying dead in the house.
11:23I just got really shocked.
11:25Very quickly, the story started to unfold that he was murdered.
11:30I heard his brother Trifon did a well-being check on him.
11:34It was just a very, very scary situation
11:37because I knew of that bad blood between them.
11:40I suspected Trifon.
11:45The information that Trifon was giving was credible
11:48because it was a father basically putting his son at risk.
11:57He's lived a double life, so he's comfortable lying.
12:00You let them talk. Let him tell his lie.
12:03His own family's just trying to take him out and he doesn't even know.
12:11On Cape Cod, 47-year-old Eris Menoloulis
12:15has been discovered shot dead at his home.
12:18Two hours into the investigation,
12:21police are suspicious that they haven't been able to get a hold of his brother Trifon
12:25since he asked them to check on Eris.
12:29Later that evening, while police finish processing the house,
12:32Trifon does eventually call back.
12:36I called this afternoon for a wellness check on my brother Eris Menoloulis
12:42and I've never heard back.
12:44I'm curious what the status of his matter is.
12:46I'm very concerned.
12:48Dispatch gets lead investigator Chris Mason on the radio.
12:54What I want to do is sit down with Trifon
12:56to find out more information from him.
13:06And we're really not sure what.
13:18And I ask him can he come to the local state police office nearby.
13:22It's just down the road from where he lives.
13:24He agrees to meet us there, says he'll be leaving shortly.
13:27And I will have an officer there to take some information from you.
13:33But Trifon failed to appear at the state police barracks as he agreed to.
13:39That was certainly suspicious.
13:43It's 10 p.m., four hours after Eris was discovered.
13:46Detectives decide to force the issue and pay Trifon a visit.
13:50While they drive the 90 miles northeast to his home,
13:53other detectives on the investigative team
13:55start interviewing Eris and Trifon's various family members
13:58and learn more about the bitter legal battles that divided the Manoloulises.
14:10To go along with this dispute with his brother,
14:13following the death of his father,
14:15Trifon was very upset with his mother.
14:18He alleged that his father had promised him $65,000.
14:22And that his mother refused to pay him that money.
14:25It devolves to a point where Trifon actually files in court
14:29to have his mother stripped of control of the estate.
14:34Trifon accuses his mother of misconduct.
14:37A pretty serious word to use in a lawsuit against your own mother.
14:40Eris supports their mother.
14:42Their sister Irene sides with Trifon.
14:46So Trifon's bid to have his mother excluded as the executor of the estate
14:50is unsuccessful.
14:52The family then kind of entrenched themselves into these two separate camps
14:56with Trifon and his sister on one side
14:58and Eris and his mother on the other side.
15:04It got so bad that Trifon wouldn't let his mother see his children.
15:10And I remember Eris telling me that he had to drive his mom
15:14past Trifon's house so she could see the kids.
15:17That's how close she could get.
15:21After an uneasy relationship spanning more than a decade,
15:24tension between the Manolulas' siblings escalates when their mother dies in 2007.
15:31She leaves Trifon and Irene just $20,000 each
15:35and gives the rest of the family's multi-million dollar estate
15:40to Eris.
15:42They were hurt because their mother liked Eris better than them.
15:49That same year we learned Irene and Trifon decided that this is not right
15:54and they pursued a civil suit.
15:57They alleged that Eris had undue influence over his mother
16:01and that the will should be contested and reevaluated.
16:07Everything is up for grabs at this point.
16:10Even their mother's jewelry.
16:12Trifon and Irene believe they were entitled to some of it as family assets.
16:19Fighting over money just doesn't sit right in your gut.
16:23Especially when it's your family.
16:25You just hear about it and it's kind of disgusting, you know.
16:29When Trifon and Irene's claim against their mother's will is brought before a judge,
16:33they are told their case is unlikely to succeed if they continue.
16:38There was a lawyer for their mother's will.
16:40He said she was of sound mind when their mother did this
16:43and she did not want to provide any of her assets to them.
16:52So speaking to family and friends,
16:54they informed us that Eris just wanted this to be over with
16:57and agreed to settle the case for $120,000.
17:03Eris would just say to me that there was just some tension
17:06but he said that they would resolve it.
17:08He would put family first.
17:09He was that type of a guy.
17:11In fact, he'd even gone so far as to offer to pay
17:14for continuing education for Trifon's son, Chris.
17:21It's just after midnight when investigators arrive at Trifon's house
17:24to question him about his brother's murder
17:26after he didn't show up to their agreed meeting.
17:30Trifon Manolos was at the door first,
17:32said he knew why we were there
17:34and said it is a Greek tragedy, truly a Greek tragedy.
17:39We were greeted by a somber family and two attorneys.
17:43Why are these attorneys here?
17:47So we had to ask Trifon the obvious question,
17:50where were you on the night of the murder?
17:53Trifon told us that him and his wife Debbie
17:55were at a social engagement with a lot of people
17:58that could 1,000% say that he was there and was not on Cape Cod.
18:04Trifon's alibi in hand, the detectives move on with the interview.
18:07When he hits them with a bombshell.
18:10Trifon tells us that his son Chris has something to do with this.
18:17That was the last thing I expected.
18:19It caught me off guard.
18:22Now I am talking about a 17-year-old high school student
18:27potentially being involved in a very violent murder.
18:30And his own father is identifying him.
18:34Is he throwing his son under the bus?
18:37In the presence of lawyers, Trifon Manaloulis
18:41has just told detectives his 17-year-old son Chris
18:45is possibly involved in the shooting of Eris Manaloulis,
18:49Trifon's brother, and Chris' uncle.
18:53Chris Manaloulis is upstairs in his room.
18:56Trifon's demeanor, you could tell that he was struggling.
19:00And he described his son as a man of honor.
19:04And he described his son, Chris, as a high school kid
19:08he's been having some problems with.
19:10And he has some drug and alcohol issues.
19:15Trifon then discloses to them that he had a conversation with Chris.
19:18And Chris said that on the night of the murder,
19:21Chris Manaloulis had gone with his uncle, Bob Upton, to Cape Cod.
19:27Bob Upton is the brother of Debbie Manaloulis, Trifon's wife.
19:31And that during that conversation, Chris said that Bob had shot Eris.
19:37It caught me off guard.
19:40It was eye-opening, to say the least.
19:44Up to this point in the investigation, it had all been kind of focused on Trifon.
19:48So this was kind of a new curve.
19:50So the investigators felt that the information that Trifon was giving
19:54was credible because it was a father basically putting his son at risk.
20:00That it was also given in the presence of attorneys.
20:04But how does Bob fit into this equation?
20:08What is the motive? Why bring Chris?
20:12The investigators were working with the attorney and with the family.
20:15They asked Chris to come down.
20:18The attorneys, they would not let us speak with Chris.
20:21He looked very young. He was 17 years old.
20:26Even though we are not allowed to interview Chris,
20:29we have the statements of Trifon,
20:31who states that he heard this information by Chris directly.
20:35And so investigators place him under arrest.
20:38Even when taken into custody, Chris refuses to answer any questions.
20:44Although he's invoked his right to silence, Chris is not protesting.
20:47He's not saying this isn't true.
20:51Chris is in custody and it's a mere 24 hours or so
20:55since we believe that Eris was murdered.
20:59Now we need to find Bob.
21:03Trifon's wife Debbie can give detectives
21:05some background information on her brother.
21:08Bob Upton is married with children
21:11and he lives in Ipswich, Massachusetts, a car salesman.
21:16I met Bob Upton in 2003 at Long Hummer Cadillac.
21:21I thought he was a great guy. Everybody liked him.
21:24He was married. He has two daughters.
21:27Pretty well off.
21:29Drove nice, expensive vehicles that were close to $70,000.
21:33I'm like, okay, this guy has money.
21:37Bob's sister Debbie explains to police
21:39she thought her brother would be a good influence on her son, Chris.
21:44Chris was struggling and they thought Bob could help him.
21:49He started hanging out with his nephew.
21:52It seemed like Chris had a lot of respect for Bob.
21:54Bob was a person that everybody trusted.
21:57Had no reason to think that he was doing anything wrong.
22:01That was up until the time I found out
22:04that he was dating another person, another woman.
22:08But he made it out that his wife,
22:11she was cheating on him with a fitness instructor.
22:14He made it seem like he really had no relationship with his wife anymore.
22:19Debbie Manaloulis tells us Bob Upton was not legally divorced
22:24but he had a girlfriend that he was seeing frequently.
22:30Police can't get a hold of Bob
22:32so they use the information from his sister to plan their next move.
22:37Investigative team go to the girlfriend's house in Newton
22:41who was extremely upset that we were knocking on her door
22:45looking for her boyfriend.
22:48Soon investigators find Bob's girlfriend has just as many questions as they do.
22:54His girlfriend says that he's at work
22:56so they're obviously thinking he must be at the dealership
22:58but are told no, he's a special agent for the government.
23:03Bob is a car salesman
23:05but his girlfriend says that that is only really a cover for his real job
23:09and that he is deep undercover and that's why he disappeared.
23:12The girlfriend shares how surprised she is
23:16that the state police are even speaking to her
23:19because Bob is a member of law enforcement.
23:22Bob is one of us.
23:26So we were a little bit skeptical of that claim.
23:30We knew Bob was full of it, to be perfectly honest with you.
23:33And she provided us with some documentation that made us even more skeptical.
23:38Bob had an ID that said he was a member of the NSA.
23:45When we looked closer there were some obvious mistakes.
23:49It had training but it had two N's.
23:53The acronym FEMA wasn't capitalized
23:56so there was obviously a homemade card that had been made to dupe somebody.
24:02The detectives had to tell us that Bob was a member of the NSA
24:06The detectives had to tell her that he was not who he claimed to be
24:11which caused her a lot of embarrassment and a lot of hurt.
24:16And Bob had gone to great lengths to prove to her that he was not married anymore.
24:22He produced counterfeit divorce papers for her.
24:27She was lied to.
24:28She's, like I said, shocked but she's very cooperative
24:31and she wants to assist law enforcement.
24:33When investigators ask about Bob's movements on the evening Aris was murdered
24:37they discover his behavior was suspicious, to say the least.
24:42The girlfriend told us on the night in question
24:45that she had observed him cleaning a firearm at her house
24:49and that he was going on a NSA assignment to Cape Cod
24:55and that he wouldn't be home until late.
24:58The girlfriend consents to a search of the residence
25:01but they are unable to locate a firearm.
25:04We need to find that gun and to find the gun we need to find Bob.
25:08He's a known liar and a manipulator.
25:11He's out there and capable of anything.
25:15Where's Bob?
25:23Investigators are hunting for 45-year-old used car salesman Bob Upton
25:28in connection with the murder of his sister's brother-in-law, Aris Manaloulis.
25:33From a review of the firearms record database in Massachusetts
25:36we learned that Bob Upton had purchased a 9mm
25:41on the day of Aris' murder.
25:44And that transaction was also captured on CCTV.
25:50And 9mm shell cases were recovered at the scene.
25:54Could it be a coincidence? Yes.
25:56But we don't believe in coincidences.
26:02While evidence linking Bob Upton to the crime mounts
26:05patrol cars continue searching for him.
26:08And they find him. He's driving his brand new Mercedes.
26:11And he said, I have nothing to do with this. What are you talking to me for?
26:16Bob is taken into custody.
26:18Less than 48 hours since the night Aris Manaloulis was killed in his Cape Cod home
26:23detectives start to interview their prime suspect.
26:41So Bob Upton presents as a very confident person in the interview.
26:45Doesn't seem to be concerned.
26:48He's lived a double life.
26:50His wife, who probably didn't know about the girlfriend.
26:54The girlfriend, who didn't know about the wife.
27:02As investigators, you let them talk.
27:05Let him tell his lie.
27:08I didn't go for a ride in my car.
27:16You know you're going to be able to open up a door and shed some light on his lies.
27:28They said, Bob, you were driving a brand new Mercedes.
27:31All those cars have GPS built right into the car.
27:35We're going to be able to tell you exactly where that car was.
27:39And his tune changes a little bit.
27:51He doesn't appear outwardly nervous until investigators catch him in that first lie.
28:06Bob has distanced himself from that gun.
28:10Why?
28:11Because Bob knows that gun was the murder weapon.
28:17And we know something bad went down in the cave.
28:20You need to tell us.
28:31Then he admits giving a ride to his nephew, Chris, to Cape Cod.
28:37And he drives him very close to Harris' house.
28:41And Chris leaves.
28:44Bob checks his glove box and finds out that his gun is missing.
28:54Now he's pushing it on Chris.
28:58He indicated that Chris returned back to the vehicle, that there were no words exchanged about what had occurred.
29:04So the story just didn't seem credible.
29:07Based on the statements of Chris Manaloulis to Trifon that Robert Upton shot and killed Harris, Bob Upton is placed under arrest.
29:16Chris Manaloulis continues to remain silent in custody.
29:20But having placed himself at the scene, he's charged alongside Bob Upton with the murder of Harris.
29:26Both plead not guilty.
29:29So when I found out Chris was involved with the murder of Harris, I was just shocked.
29:36I remember hearing stories about Chris acting up.
29:39But it just didn't seem that things would get so crazy.
29:45What's missing right now is we have the two people that we believe are responsible for the murder.
29:53But what is the motive?
29:56Juries want physical evidence that ties the offender to the crime.
30:01Where's the gun?
30:02We need answers to questions.
30:06Searching for a possible motive for Bob Upton, investigators dig into his financial records and find he is in serious debt.
30:15I started learning more and more about the untruths that we were all told.
30:20I talked to Bob's wife. I said, well, Bob made us all think that you guys were loaded with money.
30:26She said, we just did bankruptcy.
30:28And I don't have a fitness instructor.
30:31I'm like, OK, here's a guy that I thought I could trust, but obviously nobody can.
30:39Police, armed with the knowledge of Bob's financial situation, must consider this need for cash a potential motive.
30:47Four days after Bob Upton is arrested, another secret's uncovered when his now very much ex-girlfriend makes a discovery at her home.
30:57In the basement, she finds a locked box.
31:02And inside the locked box is a nine millimeter handgun with four rounds missing.
31:09Of course, we have Bob Upton's claim that the gun was stolen, and we juxtapose that with the recovery of the firearm at his girlfriend's.
31:19The gun is taken into the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab, and it's a ballistic match.
31:25One hundred percent is the same gun that killed Eris. We just hit a home run.
31:33Investigators continue to build the case against Bob Upton and Chris Manaloulis,
31:38with the transponder from Bob's car and cell phone data confirming the pair were in the vicinity of Eris's house when he was killed.
31:46They have Bob's version of events, but Chris has spent the past year in custody, remaining silent.
31:52Then there's a huge break for the case.
31:54A call comes from the attorneys saying that Chris is willing to speak with you.
32:01Chris's attorneys are looking at the mounting evidence against Chris's involvement in this.
32:06We're not going to beat this case, so he who gets to the table first speaks the loudest.
32:12He looks relieved to be finally talking to us.
32:15Chris makes a stunning accusation.
32:18Chris claimed that his father Trifon was involved, that he had intended to pay for the murder,
32:24and that Trifon was part and parcel of setting this entire sequence of events in motion.
32:36Seventeen-year-old Chris Manaloulis is finally giving investigators his version of the events
32:41that led up to the murder of his uncle, Eris Manaloulis.
32:46So he interestingly starts his story by telling us the background of the rift between Eris and his father and Trifon.
32:54Even from age 14, he was hearing from his father about this perceived slight that Trifon had suffered,
33:03that he hadn't got the inheritance, and that this was brought up time and time again.
33:09Eris is depriving us of a lifestyle.
33:13The only way for Trifon to get what, according to Chris, he rightly believed was his, was if Eris is out of the way.
33:24If Eris dies, then Trifon would get the inheritance.
33:30It just sounds like Chris was being brainwashed and manipulated into this family feud.
33:39Chris tells investigators that in the weeks leading up to Eris' murder,
33:43his uncle Bob confided in him that he was in big financial trouble.
33:49Bob Upton shared with Chris that he owed somebody, he didn't say who, $165,000.
33:56And that they were going to kill Bob's daughter if he didn't pay the money.
34:02Chris says that he approached his dad about this and said Trifon supposedly told him that he would be able to get Bob the money within five days of his brother's death.
34:16This was to be done when Trifon was at a very public event, because the first person they're going to look at is me because of the inheritance.
34:25So the plan is now is in motion.
34:28But Chris told us that he's having second thoughts, assisting his uncle murder his uncle.
34:35Chris told us his dad said, don't worry, the plan's changed.
34:40And you guys are only going there to steal jewelry.
34:44Now that's what Chris said.
34:49Chris claims on the night of the murder, Bob Upton drove them to Eris' home in Hyannis.
34:55They had put on latex gloves and then they had put regular gloves over the latex gloves so it wouldn't look odd.
35:02Their cover story for why they were knocking unannounced on Eris' door,
35:06Their cover story for why they were knocking unannounced on Eris' door was that they had just been down either fishing or gone to the beach.
35:13They're greeted at the door by Eris. He's very happy to see Chris.
35:20And they're invited in. They're watching the Red Sox game.
35:24Chris says he excused himself to use the bathroom so he could sneak into the bedroom to search for his late grandmother's jewelry.
35:32He returns empty handed. He motions for Bob to come join him in the kitchen.
35:38Bob became very upset that Chris didn't find the jewelry and the walls, I would assume, are closing in on Bob.
35:46He owes a lot of people a lot of money.
35:49Chris says that he sees him take the gun and go back towards the TV room.
35:54He hears, no, no, please, from the mouth of Eris, which is followed by gunshots interspersed with screaming.
36:03Chris, he can't stand this anymore, goes outside the front door. He says he's then shortly joined by Bob.
36:11Bob says to him, words to the effect, I can't believe how much blood came out of his head.
36:18They get back to the car and they go back off Cape.
36:24Chris indicated that when he arrived home, he was angry and upset and that he said to his father, I hope you're happy.
36:32Uncle Bob shot and killed Eris.
36:35Trifon had some conversation with Bob Upton, who had remained outside the house.
36:41So Chris tells investigators that he hears Bob Upton talking to his father about $165,000 that he's owed.
36:48There was an agreement ahead of time and it was essentially murder for hire.
36:51Wow, this poor guy, his own family is just trying to take him out and he doesn't even know.
36:57Chris was alleging that his uncle had threatened harm if word of what had truly happened got out.
37:03This seems a more credible version of what happened than certainly Bob Upton's story.
37:09Chris came off as a very believable person in the interview.
37:13Based on Chris's confession, there was enough evidence to arrest Trifon.
37:19He was shocked and surprised that anyone would think that he had anything to do with his brother's death.
37:26And denies that this conversation with Chris has ever taken place.
37:34Nearly a year after his brother's killing, pleading not guilty, Trifon is also charged with murder alongside his son, Chris, and brother-in-law, Bob Upton.
37:44They definitely had the support of his immediate family, his wife, his daughters, although Chris is notably absent.
37:52My family was just basically sort of happy about that.
37:55They're kind of closing up the book on this, you know.
37:58They got to get everybody who's responsible for what happened to Adi Spagnuolumi.
38:02We didn't want nothing to do with Trifon.
38:06The following year, on September 19th, 2011, for legal reasons,
38:10Trifon's trial takes place first.
38:13The prosecution's star witness is his son, Chris, who will give evidence against Trifon.
38:20That was certainly the biggest moment of that trial.
38:24To have a son testifying against his father in a murder case is not something you see every day.
38:30In the murder trial of Trifon Manolulis, his son, Chris, testifies in court against his father,
38:36alleging that Trifon masterminded the plan to kill his own brother, Eris Manolulis, two years earlier.
38:42But Chris, he was a poor witness, and he didn't present well.
38:46His words would trail off. He was difficult to hear and understand.
38:51He's obviously going up against some very skilled defense lawyers who know a lot about him
38:55and are really, you know, trying to make it look like you can't trust what this kid is saying.
38:59Kind of casting him as a miscreant who smoked pot all the time and an underachiever.
39:05And I remember at one point, the lawyer asks whether he's kind of slow or whether he has any mental issues.
39:12And he says, you know, I don't know.
39:14I remember at one point, the lawyer asks whether he's kind of slow or whether he has any mental issues.
39:20I mean, really, you think about it, quite remarkable for, you know, the lawyer,
39:24for the father to be disparaging the mental acuity of the son with such zeal.
39:29And yet that is what he did.
39:32The second defendant, Bob Upton, still awaiting trial, doesn't testify,
39:37as he's sticking to his story that he did not shoot Eris or take part in any murder plot against him.
39:44So at the end, whether Trifon orchestrated this, it was something we knew we were going to have to let a jury decide.
39:51The defense's strategy to cast doubt on the credibility of the state's star witness pays off.
39:56The jury finds Trifon not guilty of all charges.
40:01He's allowed to walk free and walking out with his family and his wife and his daughter's mother.
40:08I think you say jubilant. He just opened his arms up and kind of looked up and he said,
40:12I forgive my brother for any of the pain, some of that effect that he may have caused our family.
40:18He's innocent, but there are people in that family that do not believe that justice was done.
40:24I guess the jury didn't believe Chris because Chris's background.
40:31A year and a half later, Bob Upton's trial begins.
40:34Chris Manaloulis also testifies against him.
40:37And with the added weight of physical evidence that he bought and concealed the murder weapon,
40:42the jury finds Upton guilty of Eris's murder.
40:46He's sentenced to two life terms.
40:50Anything to say, Mr. Upton?
40:53He got life with no parole and everybody was very, very happy about that.
40:59Very happy about that.
41:00In May 2013, Christopher Manaloulis pleads guilty to manslaughter and other charges.
41:07Sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison.
41:10With good behavior, he was released before he turned 30.
41:18Eris's death meant Trifon and their sister Irene inherited the Manaloulis's family estate.
41:25I guess they got what they were fighting for.
41:28I guess they got what they were fighting for in the worst possible way.
41:33True to form, it appears the siblings don't live happily ever after.
41:39It seems that the Manaloulis feud still lives on.
41:42I'm aware that Irene Manaloulis sued Trifon for monies that she fronted him for his defense attorney.
41:50Now brother and sister are on the opposite sides of a courtroom.
41:53To the very end, just bickering and just fighting over money.
41:58What a sad thing.
42:00Sad.
42:02For a family just to be like that in and out of court with each other, you know.
42:10Eris was just a nice soul, you know.
42:13I wish she was around right now.
42:16You'd still probably be upset with the Red Sox, but, you know, I just wish she was around.
42:21Wish she was around so we could have some of those better days that we had together.
42:26Yeah.