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48 Hours Stranger Danger was released two days ago exclusively on CBS and Paramount+ with three separate true-crime cases. Each of these crime cases has one similarity, and that is that all the victims met with strangers by chance. The episode revisits the shocking murder of Nicole Lovell, the disappearance of Hannah Graham, and a brutal shooting of Leslie Reeves and Chris Smith.
The first 48 Hours case tells the story of a 13-year-old Blacksburg girl, Nicole Lovell, who was killed after signing into the chat app Kik in search of a friend. While searching, she found her killer instead of finding a friend. Nicole entered the dangerous space of anonymous online chatting with only a few taps on her smartphone. She entered a space where predators create false identities and fake profiles to target victims.
The second case revisits the disappearance and murder of an 18-year-old second-year University of Virginia student named Hannah Graham. On September 13, 2014, the Britain-born student went missing but was last spotted early that morning at the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia. After five weeks, Hannah's remains were found on Old Lynchburg Road in southern Albemarle County.
The third 48 Hours case revisits the brutal shooting of a Missouri man named Chris Smith who survived somehow after being attacked on a first date. In November 2021, the 52-year-old man was shot in the head while at home with 45‑year‑old Leslie Reeves, a woman he had met online.
Continue reading more about the three cases shown in 48 Hours Stranger Danger.
48 Hours reveals Nicole Lovell's shocking murder
The Blacksburg Police Department stated that on January 27, 2016, Nicole was last seen around midnight. The police issued alerts later that morning. Her missing person’s poster stated that she has a tracheotomy scar on her throat. It also explained that she needs daily prescription medication because of a previous liver transplant, and she currently does not have the medicine with her.
On January 29, 2016, the investigation team directed police to an 18‑year‑old engineering student at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, David Eisenhauer. The next day, Eisenhauer was arrested inside his dorm room at Virginia Tech and charged with a felony count of abduction.
Later that day, at about 4:00 p.m., Virginia State Police discovered Nicole’s remains nearly 80 miles south of her home. The body was located close to an exit on Route 89 in Surry County, North Carolina. On January 31, 2016, the police arrested Natalie Keepers and charged her with a felony count of improper disposal of a dead body. Blacksburg police mentioned in a statement,
"Based on the evidence collected to date, investigators have determined that Eisenhauer and Nicole were acquainted prior to her disappearance. Eisenhauer used this relationship to his advantage to abduct the 13-year-old and then kill her"
On February 2, Montgomery County Commonwealth’s Attorney Mary Pettitt confirmed that the charges against Keepers were raised further because she was accused of helping plan or prepare the crime before it happened, even though she did not carry out the murder herself. The new charge was added to the ones she already had, which were hiding Nicole’s body and helping after the murder had already happened.
48 Hours revisits Hannah Graham's disappearance and murder
On September 13, 2014, a young college student named Hannah Graham went missing from Charlottesville, Virginia. She had a promising future, but she was later murdered. According to police officials, she was last seen in the early morning of her date of disappearance after spending the night out with friends.
The search for her was the biggest and most detailed investigation ever done in Virginia. When her body was found, the case drew national attention. Police then discovered connections to other unsolved attacks on young women that had happened over the last ten years.
Surveillance video and witness reports revealed that Hannah Graham was last spotted at a Tempo restaurant with a 32‑year‑old man named Jesse Matthew Jr. A witness said that Matthew had his arm around Graham inside the restaurant, and she looked drunk. The last person to see her alive said she was with a man who did not seem friendly. As Graham stood near a car later identified as Matthew’s orange 1998 Chrysler Sebring, the witness heard her say,
“I’m not getting in that car with you!”
On October 18, 2014, search teams from the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office discovered human remains in southern Albemarle County. Six days later, on October 24, the remains were confirmed to be those of Graham. Earlier, on September 21, police had issued an arrest warrant against Matthew for reckless driving.
Two days later, on September 23, Chief Longo announced that Matthew was formally charged with abduction with intent to defile. Then, on October 20, 2014, Matthew faced indictment in Fairfax, Virginia, for attempted murder, object sexual penetration, and abduction with intent to defile, connected to a case dating back to September 2005.
Matthew confessed that he killed Hannah Graham, and the court punished him with life in prison. The killer was also convicted of murdering Morgan Dana Harrington, and therefore, he was given three additional life sentences.
48 Hours revisits the brutal shooting of Chris Smith and Leslie Reeves
Leslie Reeves was a fitness instructor from Troy, Illinois, and Chris Smith was from Farmersville. Both of them connected online and chatted on the phone for about two weeks before planning an in-person meeting. On November 24, 2021, the couple went on their official first date at a bar in Farmersville, which is about 75 miles northeast of St. Louis.
After spending the evening out, the couple went back to Chris’s rented house in Farmersville. Inside the kitchen, they placed a frozen pizza in the oven to warm it. At the same time, Leslie’s jealous former boyfriend, Robert Tarr, tracked them to the house and entered through a side door without being noticed.
Leslie was shot once in the head in the living room, where investigators believed she had tried to hide, and she died immediately. Chris was also shot in the head while he was in the kitchen.
After the shootout, Leslie was killed instantly, while Chris was left in a coma. The investigation report states that Reeves’ former boyfriend, Robert Tarr, had followed the couple to Smith’s house, forced his way inside, and shot them both.
In 2023, a judge in Montgomery County, Illinois, sentenced Tarr to 85 years in prison. Smith’s recovery was long and painful because he remained in a coma for nearly two months, suffered two strokes, and underwent six brain surgeries. According to the medical reports, the bullet remained lodged in his brain, and his life was permanently changed by the attack.
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