JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For the first time, the public is hearing from the man accused of killing his co-worker and ex-girlfriend, Savannah Gold.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office released a video of Lee Rodarte who spoke to police about his relationship with Gold in the lengthy and heated interrogation interview.
The video shows Rodarte admitting to confronting Gold the night she disappeared.
“I was obviously the last one to see (Gold), so I was a little bit scared at that,” Rodarte said in the interview.
Rodarte is accused of killing the 21-year-old woman in August 2017. Rodarte was one of Gold's managers at the Mandarin Bonefish Grill.
Rodarte told police he confronted Gold in the Bonefish Grill parking lot. He was upset Gold was telling co-workers the two had a sexual relationship. “I said, ‘Leave me alone. I don’t want to talk to you,’” he had told investigators.
In the interview, Rodarte said after their argument, Gold walked off and got into another vehicle.
Investigators didn’t buy Rodarte's story, and asked him point blank:
<strong>Investigators:</strong> So where is savannah right now?<br/> <strong>Rodarte:</strong> I don't know.<br/> <strong>Investigators: </strong>Where can I find her ?<br/> <strong>Rodarte:</strong> I don't know.
The interview got heated between investigators and Rodarte:
<strong>Investigators: </strong>You're not telling the truth. Maybe something got out of hand in the car. <br/> <strong>Rodarte:</strong> I didn't do anything.
During the interrogation video, police confronted Rodarte about surveillance video that shows Gold never got out of his car. “She never got out of your back seat, Lee. Video cameras don’t lie,” investigators said.
Police said Rodarte knew where Gold was. He led police to Gold's body that was dumped in a pond on Club Duclay Drive and admitted to investigators he killed gold.
Rodarte pleaded not guilty in late August. His next hearing is March 8.