CANYON COUNTY - The re-enactment of a December murder at a gas station in Notus is giving the public more information about what happened the night 25-year-old Christopher Reese was killed.
Early Thursday morning, an Idaho production company got together with a team of volunteers, Crimestoppers of Southwest Idaho and the Canyon County Sheriff's Office to recreate the brutal crime.
The two-minute piece will air on the Justice Network soon after it's edited, in roughly two months.
However, as actors went through the motions, KTVB caught details about the murder that have not been released to the media or the public.
We asked Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue about those details. He says the point of the re-enactment is to tug at the heartstrings of viewers hoping somebody comes forward with a solid tip.
"Our goal is to reach out to someone and touch the sensitivity and sympathize with us and with that family of this victim," said Sheriff Donahue.
Reese was working the overnight shift at the Notus Jacksons store in December. He was alone when two masked men came in the front door and shot him, then left with the safe.
Sheriff Donahue confirmed the new details and describes the killing as brutal.
"It's a very cold-blooded murder, that's what it is," said Donahue.
KTVB learned just how cold-blooded the murder was during the re-enactment.
An actor portraying a suspect wearing a camouflage jacket was instructed to walk into the store and point his gun at the back of an actor playing Reese.
From the way it unfolded, It seems Reese would have not have had time to react.
"As you can see there was not dialogue, as we hear about (with) robberies and things of that nature, that didn't happen here," explained Donahue. "These people went in with a plan, in my opinion, with a plan and they choreographed that plan and they took it upon themselves to do it."
Another new detail from the re-enactment shows the same actor being instructed to take the wallet of the actor playing Reese, as his body lay lifeless on the floor.
Sheriff Donahue also affirmed another thing seen in the re-enactment. The director asked the actor playing that same suspect to walk with "swagger."
His walk was very distinct.
"It seems to be more pronounced," said Donahue. "How he places his feet, how he moved. There is some history here, maybe training, maybe there is some military that this person has in their background."
Reese's family saw media reports of the re-enactment earlier Thursday and spoke to KTVB about it by phone in Tennessee.
Reese's sister Ashley Pearson and his mother, Polly Griggs, said watching the video from online media reports of the re-enactment was heartbreaking to see.
"(It's) Kind of hard seeing the re-enactment," said Pearson. "It really brings to light what was happening that night."
Pearson said, as much as it hurts to watch it, they hope it brings justice to Reese's death.
"We want this to never happen to anybody again," said Pearson. "Please, we are begging you guys to please come forward and give our family some closure. That's what we want, we just want closure. We want my brother to rest in peace."
Sheriff Donahue says, no one is safe as long as the two men are out there. He says, what they did to Reese, they would do to anyone.
"What's off limits? Nothing," he said. "These people have shown propensity to do a very, very heinous crime. They are still out there."
