The Pretender
6/24/202640 min
In 2001, Christian Longo murdered his wife and their three children in Oregon and then fled to Mexico using a false identity. At trial, prosecutors argued Longo killed his family to escape financial troubles and Longo portrayed himself as a misunderstood family man. "48 Hours" correspondent Maureen Maher reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 3/28/2015.
Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays and stream on demand on Paramount+.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
[dramatic music] [waves crashing] [birds cawing] [camera clicking] There was nothing that was important to her as much as those kids. Those kids were her world. But the last time we got together, I noticed she wasn't the sister I knew.
Maureen Maher0:41
You thought she was in danger?
Speaker 10:44
[waves crashing] I knew she was.
Trish Miller· Guest0:50
It started on December 19th, 2001. Um, we got a report of a child in the bay. My name is Trish Miller, and I'm the lead investigator. We did a neighborhood canvas of that area. We knocked on every door.
Michael Finkel· Guest1:10
Every child in the, the 2,000-person town of Waldport was checked upon. No one was found missing. It was a complete mystery.
Trish Miller· Guest1:19
We thought that maybe there was a car accident and that a vehicle had gone in the water- [water splashing] ... and we would find the rest of the family.