Oregon cop’s offer of a cigarette leads to a confession and a body: “Smokin’ and jokin'”

When Aaron Friar, 50, and daughter, Ellie, 15, vanished from their Medford, Oregon, home on Oct. 2, 2017, investigators quickly deduced that there was foul play.

“They saw blood spatter behind the couch, on the ceiling, all the way across the room,” said lead Detective Bill Ford. “There was … a potential that this was what we could refer to as a no-body homicide. That there had been a homicide, but we don’t have a body.”

But who was dead? Was it Aaron Friar, Ellie or both?

Natalie Morales investigates the pair’s mysterious disappearance in “First Love, Then Murder” an all-new “48 Hours” airing Saturday, April 19 at 10/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.

The search was on.

“We probably had 70, 75 [officers] out on the streets of Medford,” says Ford.

Then, just four hours after she had been reported missing, Ellie was located by police. She was alive, unharmed, and had been walking down a busy street with two young men: her boyfriend, Gavin MacFarlane, 19, and Gavin’s friend, Russell Jones, 22.

“So, now we know Ellie is safe,” said Ford.

But what about her father, Aaron Friar?

Based on the bloody crime scene at the house, time was quickly running out to find him. But could Ellie have been involved? Ford kept an open mind.

Ellie and the two men were separated and brought to the Medford Police station for questioning. Ellie seemed perplexed when she was told by police that her father was missing.

“I haven’t been home and now I’m really concerned about what’s been going on,” Ellie told a detective.

She even offered a suggestion as to where her dad might be: “Maybe he was looking for me.”

Around that time, Ford began interviewing Russell Jones.

“He’s a talker … very, very talkative,” said Ford. “So, I kind of knew if I could get in there and get him talking, he would … have a hard time keeping his mouth shut.”

Ford’s theory was correct.

Jones was eager to talk, but he wanted something first: a cigarette.

“I talk better when I have a cigarette,” Jones told Ford during his taped police interview.

Ford took Russell outside of the station for a cigarette break.

“Just kind of smokin’ and jokin’ is what we call it,”  Ford explained.

But Ford was serious about the task at hand: finding Aaron Friar.

“I look at him and I’m like, ‘You know, Russell, I don’t want a child to find Aaron, Ellie’s dad, out there somewhere, come across something like that,'” Ford recalls saying. “I said, ‘Can you take us to Aaron?’ And he didn’t beat an eye. He’s just like, ‘Yeah, I’ll take you to him.'”

Ford was shocked: “Holy smokes! That’s a big moment, you know?”

He immediately loaded Jones into his police car.

As the veteran investigator and his suspect began their drive, Jones confessed to Ford.

“He ends up saying he wasn’t responsible for Aaron’s death, but he helped load the body,” Ford recalled.

“You’re driving along with him, now he’s starting to sing like a canary,” said Morales.

“Exactly,” Ford replied.

But who had killed Aaron Friar and why?

As their journey continued, Ford says Jones began going off on tangents. But Ford says he didn’t mind. It was all part of his plan.

“Keep talking, keep him happy,” said Ford. “He even asked for another cigarette … and I said, ‘You’ve had two already. Once we get out there, I’ll give you another one.’ And that’s a tactic.”

“He’s gotta give us something,” said Ford. “Nicotine is a powerful tool.”

And then, as they ascended a rural mountain pass 20 miles outside of town, Jones made an announcement:

Ford said, “All of a sudden, Russell says ‘Stop! … Stop right here.'”

To see more of the case, watch “First Love, Then Murder” an all-new “48 Hours” airing Saturday, April 19 at 10/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount +.