Rage On The Run

An American Bodybuilder Becomes An International Fugitive

(CBS)  On Feb. 10, 1995, this love triangle came to the attention of Lee County Sheriff’s Det. Barry Futch.

“It was a little after noon when I heard, probably noontime. We had a person shot,” says Futch. “I approached the front door. And there laid this huge man. When I say huge, I’m talkin’ about a man that was - muscles. This guy was gigantic.”

It was the lifeless body of Markus Mueller, shot in the head and stomach.

The body was found by none other than Bieber’s wife and Mueller’s ex, Danielle Labelle, who called 911.

Even more bizarre, David Bieber had driven her to the crime scene.

"He had brought Danielle Labelle, his new wife, over because she had forgotten to get her purse from Markus Mueller’s house," says Futch.

Futch says Bieber was there when detectives arrived. What was Bieber's attitude when he talked to Futch?

“Just nonchalant. Just like nothing was going on. He did seem like he was concealing something,” Futch says.

Futch says he was convinced from the start that Bieber was behind the murder.

"He had two reasons for knocking Markus off. One was the steroid business. And two was Danielle," he says. "So he just decided to get rid of him. And then he would have the girl and he would have the drugs … And I told him that day, 'You know you’re involved in this. And we’re gonna prove it.' ”

But David Bieber was about to go to extraordinary lengths to make sure that didn’t happen.

Markus Mueller’s death had a profound affect on his sister Nancy.

"It was very important for me to let the police know that there’s a family that cares," she says. "And it’s very important for us to find out what happened."

Nancy says she feared police would just ignore the murder. But not only were police not ignoring it, says Futch, they already had a prime suspect: David Bieber.

Futch says he became suspicious as soon as he found out Bieber and Mueller were both selling steroids. "We found out that Marcus Mueller dealt in steroids. And, matter of fact, that day he probably had thousands of dollars worth of steroids in his house, which were missing. We figured that David took 'em."

Police weren’t the only ones who suspected Bieber. In her 911 call, his own wife, Danielle Labelle, accused him of shooting Mueller.

“I think Dave shot him,” she said during the call.

A few weeks later she told Bieber’s friend, Bobby Ammons the same thing.

"I ran into Danielle and David, shortly after Marcus was killed, at a club. And this Danielle girl says, 'You're old friends with my husband, Dave.' And I said yeah. She goes, 'Did you know that he killed my ex-boyfriend?' " Ammons says. "She said this to me."

At first, Ammons didn’t believe her. And Bieber had a solid alibi: witnesses saw him at a club the night Mueller was killed.

But as the summer of 1995 wore on, suspicions about Bieber grew.

"In the midst of this, there was another incident that happened in the city of Fort Myers," says Futch. "And that was where a guy walked up to a girl who was taking some trash out, and shot at her five times. The girl ended up to be David Bieber's ex-girlfriend."

The target - who escaped without a scratch - was Michelle Stanforth, who had once had a stormy relationship with Bieber.

But a tip to police led them not to Bieber, but to a 17-year-old kid named David Snipes. Futch brought him in for questioning.

"In the midst of that conversation with David Snipes that night, he admitted to shooting at the girl. And, he told me that night 'I thought I killed her,' " says Futch.

Futch says Snipes then dropped a bombshell. He confessed to killing Markus Mueller. "He went into the whole details of how he drove, and how he got to Markus's front door. Knocked on the front door, Markus came to the door, Markus opened it, and he shot him. And he made sure he was dead and he shot him again."

[jabailo]

One thing that bothered me...isn''t it standard procedure for a suspect to be "patted down" to look for weapons (guns, billy clubs) by police even in Britain.