ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A&E has picked a local, high-profile murder case to be the focus of the season premiere for one of its primetime hit shows.
Season two of A&E’s “Interrogation Raw” will kick off Sept. 21 at 9 p.m. with an episode entitled “The Missing Priest.”
It highlights the case of Father Rene Robert from St. Augustine who was kidnapped and murdered in 2017 by a man he was trying to help.
MORE | Priest’s killer: I could have gotten away with murder if I’d kept my mouth shut
Multiple law enforcement agencies worked around the clock as soon as Father Robert went missing, and once Steven Murray was identified as a suspect, homicide detectives with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office worked together to question Murray and find out where Father Robert might be.
A&E describes the series as:
“Criminal cases can be won or lost in the interrogation room. Success can bring justice for the victims; failure can lead to a guilty person walking free. ‘Interrogation Raw’ is a true crime series that explores the delicate twists and turns of some of the most fascinating interrogations ever done. Each hour-long episode will reveal every tactic, every make-or-break moment that occurs within those four walls. Armchair detectives will feel like they are in the room as the very detectives involved share play-by-play commentary on what is often a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. The tension is palpable since, by law, no suspect needs to talk at all. Those who do can stop at any time. On ‘Interrogation Raw,’ it’s a race against the clock and everything is on the line.”
The episode features the multi-state manhunt for Murray, footage from his police interrogation following his capture, accompanied by perspective from Jacksonville Detective Harold Chapman and St. Johns County Detective Jose Jimenez as they describe what they were thinking and strategizing to get Murray to confess and reveal where they could find Father Robert.
“These are the front-line workers who are protecting us,” Peter Tarshis, an executive producer of Interrogation Raw and Vice President of Programming at A&E told News4JAX.
We spoke to Tarshis about how the series shows a different a perspective of the police work involved with these type cases.
“We hope the takeaway, from our series in general, is just how dedicated, how skillful the investigators are,” he said. “We have deep appreciation for the fact that they wade into this nightmare that is violent crime so that we don’t have to, and they dedicate their lives to protecting our communities.”
And it was community that drew him and his team to not only cover how Detectives Chapman and Jimenez helped unravel Father Robert’s case but pick it to kick off the new season of Interrogation Raw.
“We saw again, the outpouring community interest, support, and care about Father Rene and the good works he did and the justice that he deserved. You know, we just felt in this case that we had to do it and we wanted it to be our season opener,” he said.
If you miss the TV airing of “The Missing Priest” episode, it will be available to stream on Friday on A&E’s website and the A&E App.
In 2018, a documentary entitled “Where There is Darkness,” first told the story of Father Rene Robert in a St. Augustine movie theater, and how he had made up his mind to forgive long before his life was taken.
In a 1995 declaration of life he signed, Father Robert asked that if he was ever murdered, that his killer not receive the death penalty. See more about that here.