Free Blood Ambush by Sheila Johnson Page B

lessons from the South River Gun Club, based in Conyers. He had paid $395.70 for the lessons on February 27, 2006.
    With so much incriminating evidence found in the suspects’ apartment, Cherokee County, Alabama, authorities quickly obtained arrest warrants for Barbara Ann Roberts and Robert John Schiess III and faxed them to the GBI. The investigators had already received the date and time of the couple’s scheduled flight from Texas back to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. As soon as their plane landed, officers boarded before the passengers began to deplane. They hurried down the aisle, shoving some of the passengers out of their way in their haste to reach Barbara and Schiess and arrest them before they had time to react. The woman sitting next to the aisle beside Schiess was yanked unceremoniously to her feet and pulled out into the aisle. Schiess and Barbara were handcuffed, read their rights, and hustled out of the plane, through the airport, and to the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO).
    Once there, Schiess never once uttered a word, refusing to make any statement of any sort without an attorney present. On the other hand, Barbara didn’t wait for her attorney, Steve Lanier, to show up. He had spoken with her by phone before the pair had left the Texas airport, and he had advised her not to give any statements, telling her he would be in touch with her the following morning. She and Schiess had called Lanier because they claimed they had heard some of the details of the murder from Barbara’s family, and they expected that investigators would want to talk to them. Instead of waiting for Lanier, however, Barbara was frightened and disoriented, and she did not remember the importance of having counsel present when any statements were made. She began talking to the investigators without benefit of counsel, making the first of many long, rambling, and highly incriminating statements and admissions, which ultimately would seal her fate.

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    When Bob Schiess was taken into custody at the Atlanta airport, he had in his possession a black leather satchel. While he and Barbara Roberts were being booked into the Rockdale County Jail, the investigators searched the satchel for weapons and any other information that might possibly be related to the murder of Darlene Roberts. As they had earlier at the apartment, they once again hit pay dirt—the satchel was literally packed with evidence.
    There was a receipt from Dick’s Sporting Goods in Atlanta, showing the purchase of a pair of DBX Prowler in-line skates, a pair of DBX Aggressive in-line skates, DBX adult protective gear, a package of crew socks, and a bottle of Powerade fruit punch. The items were purchased on April 8, 2006, at 7:41 P.M. and paid for with an American Express card.
    The satchel also contained thirteen downloaded and printed pages of an Internet document called “Frequently Asked Questions about Fingerprints,” and Schiess had printed pages one through fourteen of forty-eight pages. The information he had selected dealt with the fundamentals of the science of fingerprints. On the second page of the text, it asked the readers to describe themselves in order for the website to provide the best answers for their questions. According to the printout, Schiess had made inquiries both as a “law enforcement officer” and as a “criminal” about fingerprint information.
    By far, the most crucial piece of evidence that was collected from the black leather satchel that day was a rental agreement. It was between Schiess and Aaron & Montana Self Storage, a Conyers facility located on Iris Drive, for leasing of space in Building A. The agreement was dated April 8, 2006. The spaces at the storage center were large enough to drive a vehicle into and park it.
    The investigators had a strong hunch that they had just located the hiding place of the black Dodge Dakota pickup truck.

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    At 6:30 P.M. , on April 19, Barbara Roberts was