Husband Has No Idea the Hitman He Hired Already Told Police
The Denial Tapes
7,484 views
Husband Has No Clue the Hitman He Chauffeured Already Confessed
On 23 March 2024, Lindy Rummell, 60, was shot five times inside her home in Brush Prairie, Washington. Her husband James came home with two friends and Chinese food to a staged burglary. Five days later he sat with two Clark County deputies for two hours and thirty-nine minutes and denied everything.
He did not know that the man he had picked up in Eugene that morning, Darrell Riley, a friend from an Oregon prison, had already told police the whole story.
James Rummell was convicted of aggravated first-degree murder and solicitation to commit murder on 12 August 2026 and sentenced to life without parole on 21 August 2026. Darrell Riley pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years.
CHAPTERS
0:00 The interview room, 28 March 2024
1:58 Act One · Fingers
5:30 Act Two · The gas saver
10:57 Act Three · The drive
15:47 Act Four · The pattern
19:38 Act Five · Flat
25:30 Act Six · The play-by-play
30:39 Act Seven · Circumstantial
36:38 Act Eight · Believe that or no
40:28 The record: plea, trial, verdict, sentence
SOURCES
Interview recording: Clark County Sheriff's Office, 28 March 2024 (public record, via Crime Case Media).
Court record and reporting: The Columbian, KGW, KPTV, KOIN, KATU, The Register-Guard (dates on screen).
Location imagery: Google Street View (credited on screen). Maps: OpenFreeMap / OpenStreetMap contributors.
Music and sound design: original, produced for this film.
The recording is the real interview. Narration states the public record; nothing said by anyone in the room has been altered. Some devices on screen were built for this film to present that record; no scene was re-enacted with actors and no real person's likeness was generated.
The Denial Tapes: the interview room, and the record beside it. Subscribe for the next tape.
7 Comments
0:03 — "Ultimately, I didn't hire anybody."
0:58 — "Once everything is paid off, there's nothing left."
3:27 — "I would say he's quite a bullshitter."
6:05 — "We had been talking for a couple weeks about doing taxes."
11:15 — "He suggested going to the Bi-Mart."
25:41 — "Then do I need to get a lawyer?"
30:33 — "Believe what you want. You already do."
32:33 — "And that's the word right there, circumstantial."
39:18 — "They don't believe me anyway, just like you guys don't."
Which answer gave him away for you?
Husband Has No Idea the Hitman He Hired Already Told Police
The Denial Tapes
7,484 views
Husband Has No Clue the Hitman He Chauffeured Already Confessed
On 23 March 2024, Lindy Rummell, 60, was shot five times inside her home in Brush Prairie, Washington. Her husband James came home with two friends and Chinese food to a staged burglary. Five days later he sat with two Clark County deputies for two hours and thirty-nine minutes and denied everything.
He did not know that the man he had picked up in Eugene that morning, Darrell Riley, a friend from an Oregon prison, had already told police the whole story.
James Rummell was convicted of aggravated first-degree murder and solicitation to commit murder on 12 August 2026 and sentenced to life without parole on 21 August 2026. Darrell Riley pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years.
CHAPTERS
0:00 The interview room, 28 March 2024
1:58 Act One · Fingers
5:30 Act Two · The gas saver
10:57 Act Three · The drive
15:47 Act Four · The pattern
19:38 Act Five · Flat
25:30 Act Six · The play-by-play
30:39 Act Seven · Circumstantial
36:38 Act Eight · Believe that or no
40:28 The record: plea, trial, verdict, sentence
SOURCES
Interview recording: Clark County Sheriff's Office, 28 March 2024 (public record, via Crime Case Media).
Court record and reporting: The Columbian, KGW, KPTV, KOIN, KATU, The Register-Guard (dates on screen).
Location imagery: Google Street View (credited on screen). Maps: OpenFreeMap / OpenStreetMap contributors.
Music and sound design: original, produced for this film.
The recording is the real interview. Narration states the public record; nothing said by anyone in the room has been altered. Some devices on screen were built for this film to present that record; no scene was re-enacted with actors and no real person's likeness was generated.
The Denial Tapes: the interview room, and the record beside it. Subscribe for the next tape.