Kent Heitholt murder: Crime scene & suspects

Kent Heitholt crime scene, Columbia, Mo. — Columbia Police Department

Kent Heitholt's body was found next to his car in the parking lot of the Columbia Daily Tribune. The newspaper's sports editor was last seen by his colleagues shortly after 2 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2001. He was severely beaten with a blunt object, but the cause of death was strangulation.

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Kent Heitholt was the sports editor of the Columbia Tribune. Known by colleagues as a hard working and friendly man, he left behind a wife and two teenage children.

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Colleague Rus Baer describes Kent Heitholt, shown, as a "big, bubbly, friendly bear of a man." At about 6'5" and 300 lbs., he was hardly an easy target for a mugging.

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Kent Heitholt's belt buckle and a fragment of the belt at the crime scene — Columbia Police Department

Kent Heitholt was strangled with his own belt. The leather snapped, leaving the buckle and a fragment of the belt at the crime scene. The rest of the belt was never recovered. The crime scene left police stymied for more than two years before they arrested Charles Erickson and Ryan Ferguson.

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Police discovered bloody shoe prints leading away from the crime scene. The prints could not be positively matched to either Charles Erickson or Ryan Ferguson.

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Police discovered several unidentified fingerprints on Kent Heitholt's car. The prints could not be matched to the victim or either of the suspects, Charles Erickson and Ryan Ferguson.

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Columbia Police Department released a composite sketch of suspect — Columbia Police Department

The Columbia Police Department released a composite sketch based on interviews with Shawna Ornt, a janitor who saw two young men in the parking lot, one of whom she got a clear look at when he spoke to her before walking off.

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Charles "Chuck" Erickson's 2004 booking photo — Columbia Police Department

Charles "Chuck" Erickson's booking photo, taken at the Boone County Jail after his arrest on March 10, 2004. Erickson confessed to the crime immediately, but seemed confused about the details.

Erickson's police interrogation
48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Ryan Ferguson's 2004 booking photo — Columbia Police Department

Ryan Ferguson's booking photo, taken at the Boone County Jail after his arrest on March 10, 2004. Ferguson maintained his innocence from the moment he was arrested.

Ferguson's police interrogation
48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Ryan Ferguson reacts to the jury's decision on Oct. 21, 2005, to convict him of second-degree murder and first-degree robbery. Several weeks later, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Bill Ferguson with his son, Ryan, and daughter, Kelly, during happier times.

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Ryan Ferguson and his father, Bill — Ferguson family

Ryan Ferguson and Bill Ferguson in a photo taken before Ryan's arrest. Bill says, "We've always been close. Really, really close."

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Ryan Ferguson with his mother, Leslie, in a photo taken during a family visit at Jefferson City Correctional Center.

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night

Ryan Ferguson with his father, Bill, taken during a family visit at Jefferson City Correctional Center. "The day that Ryan walks out of prison I'm going to feel as a father that I have done my job."

48 Hours Mystery: The Lost Night