911 Call Exposes MMA Fighter for Fiancée’s Murder

I need help immediately. My uh it looks. like she's dead. >> A young woman is found in a pool of. blood inside of her apartment, shot. through the eye. Her fiance frantically. called 911, but the story he told. dispatchers quickly unraveled and. investigators followed a damning trail. of evidence straight back to him. The. apparent motive behind this cold-blooded. killing is shocking and you will not. believe what the killer did right after. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

>> 911. What's the address of the. emergency? >> Hello. >> Hello. This is 911. What is the address. of the emergency? >> I need help immediately. My It looks. like she's dead. >> Okay. What is the address? >> Oh my god. I just I just got home. >> All right. Let me put you over to our. fire and rescue in case there's help. Okay. Hold on one moment. >> Oh my god. A former professional mixed. martial artist is behind bars instead of. in the octagon after he pleaded guilty.

in connection with the killing of his. fiance just months before their wedding. We are going to go step by step through. this case. Look at all the information. that prosecutors used to nail their. suspect. There is a lot including his. own admissions and I got to say his. incredibly suspicious actions on the. night of the murder. So, the case dates. back to May of 2021 and professional MMA. fighter Philip Keller and his fiance, popular body piercing specialist at Da. Vinci Tattoo and Piercing, Alicia.

Kempatelli, who friends and family. called Red, were living on Merit Island. in Bvard County, Florida. And. apparently, Red and Keller were having. some trouble in the relationship. That's. what's been reported. Now, according to. Bvard deputies, Keller had relapsed into. drug use on May 14th, and this. apparently led to a blowout with Red. Keller tried to claim that he left the. apartment after Red had made him sleep. on the couch. When he came home the next. morning at around 11:00 a.m., he called.

911. >> Okay. What city is this in, sir? >> Oh my god. I'm trying not to step on. anything. What. >> What city are you in? Are you in? >> Yes, it's. >> Okay. And what is your name, sir? >> All right. And what's going on there? >> It looks like she's been shot and robbed. has been robbed. >> Okay. And you said it looks like. somebody's been shot there. >> She's laying right in front of me. >> Okay. I have help already on the waist. Is she conscious? Is she breathing?

>> No, ma'am. No. >> Okay. She's not breathing at all. >> No. >> Okay. Can you tell where on her body. that she was shot? like somewhere like in the head. >> Okay. Whatever. >> All right. Is there anybody else in the. house or is there anybody else that that. lives there, sir? >> Okay. Phillip, how old is she?

>> She's 35. >> 35. Do you know when the last time she. was you talked to or spoke with her or. saw her awake? Yes, it was last night. >> Okay. Last night. Okay. And you haven't. been since then? >> Hello, sir. >> Hello. >> Hello.

>> School. >> Okay. So, we got a hop on the way. Yeah, we're on our way, too. Thanks. >> Thanks. >> Now, according to Bvard County law. enforcement, Keller disconnected the. call, but we know what happened next. because that's thanks to police reports. that Law and Crime obtained from the. sheriff's office. We're going to go. through everything. And to talk about. each step of this process, I want to. bring in an expert here. I want to bring. in a criminal defense attorney, David. Shapiro. Uh David, thanks so much for. coming on. First of all, that 911 call.

is chilling and it's also very telling. to say the rel to say the least. What'. you make of it? >> Yeah, without question. First of all, thanks so much for having me. It's great. to be back. Uh, the night call was. telling, right? It's telling even in the. way it ended in the sense when he was. asked a question, when Keller was asked. a question that he presumably didn't. want to answer or may have realized, hey, I'm probably saying too much as is. He disconnected the call. And you could. tell he's sort of fumbling over his.

words. He's having a hard time putting. two and two together there. What he said. ultimately, you know, contradicted. everything law enforcement gathered in. evidence in the days ahead. >> And this murder happened in May of 2021. He wasn't sentenced until February 2025. Is that a a normal schedule? Is that a. long schedule? >> Yeah, certainly. A couple things at play. here, right? One is we're we're coming. off the pandemic in in 2021. So, there's. a backlog in courts nationwide, right? Whether you're in Florida, whether. you're in San Diego, wherever you may.

be. And what we also know is that, you. know, whenever you have a case involving. forensics, whenever you have a case. involving murder, whenever you're. dealing with cell phone evidence, you're. dealing with license plate readers, you're dealing with a case of that. magnitude where someone's charged with. and presumably there's enough evidence. for them to be convicted of even a. first-degree murder, it's a long. process. So, the fact that we're three, four years after the fact, not super. concerning, not super alarming, but it. is certainly a long period of time. >> Now, we have been all on top of this. story for a while now. And the reason.

that we can be on top of a story like. this and really break it down and bring. you updates is because of the amazing. support that we get from our sponsor. Morgan and Morgan. This is America's. largest injury law firm. This is a firm. with over a,000 attorneys. You know why. they have so many? Because they win a. lot. They have recovered over $25. billion for more than 500,000 clients. In the past few months, a client in. Florida received $12 million after the. insurance company offered just $350,000. Pennsylvania, a client was awarded $26. million. That is 40 times the insur's.

$650,000 offer. Another client in. Pennsylvania received $29 million after. being offered only $500,000. And even if. you think your case isn't worth millions. of dollars, why not just start a claim. and fight for what you deserve? Morgan. andorggan makes it so simple. You can. start a claim from your phone in just. eight clicks. So, if you're injured, you. can easily start a claim at. forthepeople.comlcside. by clicking the link below or scanning. the QR code on screen.

So, let's go back to May 2021. Okay, so. according to the first deputies on. scene, they actually had a hard time. finding the crime scene because Keller. had given 911 the apartment complex's. address but not the unit number. Now, they eventually figured out where they. needed to be because there was a door. that was open about 6 in. They go inside. and when they go inside, deputies say. they found Keller standing in the living. room and on the floor nearby was read. apparent gunshot wound to her left eye. Now, I'm going to read you from what it.

says in the police report. It says, quote, "While outside with Deputy. O'Hara, Mr. Keller stated he last saw. the deedent around midnight the night. before. Mr. Keller stated during that. time around midnight, they were having. an argument about his drug and alcohol. abuse. He spontaneously stated he sold. his gun two days prior to an unknown. black male in the neighborhood. Mr. Keller further stated it was his belief. that he was supposed to be the intended. target and that if he was home, the boys. would have robbed him. David, he.

spontaneously states that he sold his. gun two days ago and that he's a target. of the robbery. Um, you know what's. interesting about that is even if he. really did sell his gun recently, that's. something someone should just blurt out. a little curious. >> No, I mean I I got to tell you right. obviously first we're dealing with the. tragic loss of life. So that's the most. the biggest tragedy in all this. But as. a criminal defense attorney in a in a. very close second in my professional. opinion, the fact that he was talking. and what he said was catastrophic to his.

defense. Right. And that's one of the. worst things that any suspect in a. crime, whether you're dealing with a. first-degree murder or whether you're. accused of a petty theft could possibly. do because you're fumbling over your. words, you're volunteering information, and you're arguably corroborating some. theories that law enforcement may. already have. Here, he's trying to. divert them away with this gun and and. the boys would have robbed me and all. this other stuff. And it's just red flag. after red flag after red flag. And. Keller seems to be trying to, you know,

direct suspicion away from someone else. onto someone else. And according to. deputies, he apparently admitted that he. traded his handgun for drugs for Molly, a type of MDMA ecstasy. And there are. texts that show that he threatened. someone who seemed to be the dealer. Quote, Mr. Keller showed Deputy Wright. text messages on his cell phone he sent. on Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at. approximately 937 hours to his quote. drug dealer. The first text message. stated, "I want my gun back, bro. I.

traded it to you and gave you cash and. you ripped me off. You're lucky right. now. Time to catch a whooping from me. We can do MMA rules oneonone, bro. You. tell me where." A second text message. sent at approximately 940 hours to the. same number stated, "I forgot I even. traded that to you. I was bleeped up. Now you know where I live. Stay the. bleep away from my house, bro." Okay, David, those texts are interesting. What. do they tell you? Well, the timing of the text is. interesting, right? Because the timing. of the text was that Saturday morning.

when when presumably she'd already been. been murdered, right? So, it looks like. he's scrambling. It looks like he's in. some sort of an altered mental state. because of the drugs, because of his. addiction, and he's trying to cover his. tracks. is trying to lend some credence. by way of these text messages to someone. that he's saying was his dealer that, you know, hey, that his focus that. morning was getting the gun back and and. having this one-on-one beef with the. drug dealer, not necessarily covering. his tracks for the murder of his. girlfriend, which ultimately was proven.

to be the real situation. During this. investigation, there's a neighbor who. told police they heard three gunshots at. around 1:00 a.m. Okay, that timing very. interesting when you think about when. the phone call was made, right? At. around 1:00 a.m. from the direction of. Red and Keller's apartment. And when. deputies spoke with Red's twin, by the. way, she revealed she had gotten a. message from Keller in the morning just. hours after Red was killed. Quote, "During an interview with the deedant. sister, Mrs. Alana Marshall, Mrs. Marshall showed your Afen a text message.

sent to her by Mr. Keller on May 15th, 2021 at approximately 7:39 hours. The. text message stated, "Hello, Alicia told. me to tell you that she dropped and. broke her phone. It's not working at. all. She's getting a new one today.". Now, deputies reports indicate that a. broken cell phone was found on the floor. near Red's body. But David, that really. why that message was sent? It's a It's a prime example of panic.

It's a prime example of trying to. fabricate evidence. It's a prime example. of a cover up and and quite frankly, it. failed miserably for a number of. reasons. You know, you have this now in. conjunction with the texting the. purported drug dealer with this beef to. get back his phone. This is all going on. six, seven, eight, nine hours after the. gunshots were heard by the neighbor. Right. So, we it's just it's just. complete panic mode. It may very well be. substance abuse or alcohol abused in it. may very well be a substance induced or. alcoholinduced panic or it could very.

well be the fact that this guy just. realized that for whatever reason he. took the life of of his long-term. girlfriend and and his fiance. >> Through interviews, surveillance. footage, banking records, deputies were. able to put together a timeline of what. happened here. And I'm going to take you. through it right now. So, according to. Keller, he had wrecked his car. So, he. drove Red to work on Friday, May 14th. He told deputies he relapsed that day, and Red's coworker confirmed she drove. Red home that evening at around 7:15. Keller said that Red was only inside for.

a few minutes when an argument broke out. between them over his drug use. Red had. apparently left, went to the gym, returned sometime between 8:30 and 9:30. that night. When she got home, the. argument continued. Quote, "Sometime. around midnight, the deedant told Mr. Keller to sleep on the couch. Instead of. sleeping on the couch, Mr. Mr. Keller. left the residence with the deedant's. dog in the deedant's vehicle and drove. to Coco to purchase more drugs. Mr. Keller claimed he did not return home. until just a few minutes prior to. finding the deedent deceased. Mr. Keller.

reported the deed and deceased at 113. hours on May 15th. Now, David, the way. that Keller tells it, he left at around. midnight to buy drugs and then come back. for what, 11 hours? That's a big gap, right? And by the way, turns out we knew. what he was doing during that time. visiting multiple ATMs with Red's bank. cards. I'll get into that, but that that. timeline doesn't make sense. >> The the eye in the sky does not lie, right? Surveillance, bank receipts, um.

cell phone data, uh license plate. readers, anything and everything. And. what probably happened based on this. timeline is she was shot before he. ultimately is seen leaving the apartment. complex with the dog, right? And what we. have is we have surveillance from this. apartment complex. Who's coming? who's. going in the parking lot, what car. It. sounds like it wasn't the greatest. quality of surveillance because they're. they're just giving descriptions of what. someone's wearing, not necessarily who. exactly it is. But the problem is that.

just doesn't make sense. And then you're. using your girlfriend who you just. killed hours ago. You're using her ATM. card all over that area in Florida. Yeah. >> Presumably to take out cash to buy. drugs. Whether that's to sort of, you. know, help you get through this tragedy. that had just happened, whether it's to. numb the pain, whatever the case may be, it is a paper trail that no matter how. hard he tried and certainly failed doing. so, he wasn't able to cover up or. correct because there are just some. things you can't avoid when it comes to.

surveillance, when it comes to. technology, uh especially in a case of. this magnitude, law enforcement is going. to be all over it. >> So, according to deputies, okay, Keller. made at least seven withdrawals. He was. seen on surveillance at a Circle K. getting money from an ATM inside the. store just before 2 a.m. According to. Red's bank records, he withdrew $33.50. Later in the morning at around 650 a.m., he was seen on video at an ATM at a. racetrack gas station. So, first he does. a balance inquiry. Then he does three.

withdrawals. $43, $33, $23. So, a total. of $99. Minutes later, he was spotted at. a Wells Fargo ATM withdrawing $103 in. separate transactions. And more than. three hours later, he was back at that. same racetrack. This time taking out. $63. In total, Keller stole almost. $1,500 from Red's account. And these are. very random amounts. Very strange. Do. you know why those specific amounts? Any.

idea about why those specific amounts so. it wouldn't trigger something maybe? I. don't know. It's weird. Yeah, I think. certain ATMs, right, have limits. There. are some you can only take out $200 or. some you might only be able to take out. $100. Uh he he might have done it just. in increments as to get him through the. next hour or two, whether you know, whatever he needed to buy as far as. drugs go. As far as the $3, that's. likely a search charge at some point. So, if I go to an ATM at a gas station. instead of going to my preferred bank, you know, I want to take out $300. is. going to show as a 303 transaction.

because the the ATM machine itself is. going to keep a couple of dollars. But. it's a very erratic, it's very. inconsistent, it's very unplanned, it's. very, you know, sloppy. Uh not to. mention that not only is he doing this. in general, but he's doing this with his. girlfriend's ATM card, who by this time. we know that he had already murdered. Now, if that wasn't shocking enough, guess what Keller did when he said he. came home to find his fiance dead in a. pool of blood in the living room. He.

stepped over her to go change his. clothes. Yeah. According to the police. reports, he checked her for a pulse on. her neck, did not feel one. Mr. Keller. then stepped over the deedent and walked. to the southeast bedroom. Mr. Keller. then redacted and changed his clothes. When asked why he changed his clothes, Mr. Keller stated because his clothes. were sweaty and he'd been in them since. the day prior. Yeah, that makes sense, right, David? Yeah, he was sweaty. That's what it was. >> Another another another. example of.

sort of falling over your own words when. talking to law enforcement. Whether you. did that or not, there's no place to say. that. It just makes you look heartless. It makes you look cold. It makes you. look someone capable of shooting your. girlfriend in the head, presumably for. no real good reason. Not that there. really is a good reason to begin with. And it also makes you look like you had. something to hide. Not that you were. sweaty, that you were looking to get out. of the clothes that you presumably wore. hours earlier when you shot her. repeatedly in the head. >> Maybe not surprising that he ended up. pleading guilty. We'll get to that in a. second. So, 5 days after the murder on.

May 20th, Sheriff Wayne Ivy updated the. public when Keller was taken into. custody and explained how he basically. ratted himself out. Earlier tonight, Keller provided specific information. relating to the crime to a citizen who. then contacted homicide agents. Deputies. located Keller at a local establishment. on Merit Island, who upon seeing their. arrival, jumped into Sykes Creek in an. effort to avoid law enforcement. Keller. was detained shortly after entering the. water and transported to criminal. investigative services where he was. interviewed by agents. As a result of.

the investigation, an arrest warrant was. signed earlier tonight by a judge. charging Keller with first-degree. premeditated murder. That's right. Keller, likely riddled with guilt, confessed to a friend who immediately. did the right thing and took it straight. to law enforcement. The deputies then. set up this controlled calls between the. friend and Keller and got Keller on. tape, essentially spilling his guts. The. basic transcript of the exploive laden. confession was in the report. Quote, "I. killed her, bro. I killed her high as. bleep. I did it. I don't know how I did.

it, but I can't live with myself knowing. that I'm a piece of bleep. I was super. high on Molly." Mr. Keller stated that. if he didn't have that drug in his body, he would not have grabbed the bleeping. gun. I shot her the first time and. missed through a towel and she ducked. her head and I shot her twice in the. back of the head in a cold blood. I did. it. I'm so bleeping sorry, ma'am. In. fact, let's talk about that. When. investigators searched the apartment, they found the towel. It had been. dropped on top of blood spatter on the. floor. And when the towel was folded up, five bullet holes lined up perfectly.

Gunshot residue was found on them. And. Keller went on to explain what he did. after the murder. He left in Red's car, hit up the ATMs, bought more drugs, came. home, saw the bag that the gun had been. on the floor. So, he gathered everything. up, drove it to a nearby store where he. threw everything away near a dumpster, and he said he threw the gun into a. canal. And a little interesting note. here, Keller said that he tried to. locate all three shell casings to throw. them out. Only ended up finding two. You. know who found the other one? Crime. scene investigators. They found it in a.

shoe that was in the living room. So, the then 39-year-old was arrested. He. was taken to the Bvard County Jail. complex, was likely very wet because, remember, he jumped into a creek to try. to get away from deputies. And he was. charged with first-degree murder and. denied bail. Took nearly four years, but. Keller's attorneys eventually reached a. plea deal with prosecutors, downgrading. the charge to seconddegree murder. And. in February 2025, Judge Curt Jacobus. sentenced Keller to 50 years in prison.

Now, according to the deal, he won't be. eligible for parole until at least 25. years from now. And during the. sentencing hearing, Keller didn't speak. He was seen wiping his eyes at the. defense table. This is according to. reporting from Florida Today. David, that's an interesting conclusion. Why do. you think a deal was offered here? And. do you think it's a right deal? Yeah, a a couple things at play is one. from a factual perspective, right? They. they you know, anyone with a pulse and a. barcard would have been able to convict. him on these facts. So, it wasn't.

necessarily a matter of was he going to. be convicted at trial? It was going to. be how long it was going to take. And. sometimes people may look at it and say, "Well, why' they cut him a deal? Why did. he plead to second degree? Why didn't. the prosecutor require that he plead. guilty to first-degree murder what he. was initially charged with?" And there's. many reasons why, right? There could. have been a whole string of mitigation. evidence that would have been presented. to the district attorney about his. substance abuse, about his otherwise. overall character when he was not using. and some of the struggles or demons he. may have been dealing with. It also. could have been, you know, they usually. weigh in as they should the prosecutor.

as they are weighing in with the. victim's family, right? Do you want to. put yourself and your loved ones through. this trial uh and have to hear this. evidence over and over again, the. publicity that goes with it? And in this. situation, yeah, it's a secondderee. sentence, but he still has to serve 25. years until he's even eligible for. parole. And this is a guy who's now in. his mid4s, right? So, he's going to be. into his 60s by the time in all. likelihood he'll be able to even be. eligible for parole, not necessarily to. say that he would ever be parrolled to.

begin with. Well, Red's mother, Deborah. Moore, gave a victim impact statement, saying in part, "Our hearts are so. broken every day. We still hear her. laugh at our family gatherings. It was. not just the end of her life, it was the. end of our family's life. David Shapiro, thank you so much for taking the time. Really appreciate it. >> Thanks so much for having me. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse.

Weber. I'll speak to you next time. [Music].