More than a decade has passed and no arrest has been made in the murder case of Nathan Matthew Snyder. The 43-year-old man was fatally shot and robbed of his laptop while sitting at a Tampa bus stop on May 15, 2010. Snyder's relative and the lead detective on his cold case say he may have lost his life over his coveted electronic device.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS - NATHAN SNYDER COLD CASE
[sound of crickets]
IT’S 1 A.M. ON SATURDAY…MAY 15, 2010…
ALL IS QUIET AT A CITY BUS STOP AT ORIENT ROAD AND MARTIN LUTHER KING JR AVENUE IN TAMPA…UNTIL…
[sound of gun shots]
NEIGHBORS AT THE NEARBY FAIRVIEW COVE APARTMENTS ARE AWOKEN BY GUNSHOTS FOLLOWED BY THE SOUNDS OF SCREAMING AND MOANING…
A HOMELESS MAN RIDING BY ON HIS BIKE IN SEARCH OF SCRAPE METAL NOTICED SOMEONE SLUMPED OVER ODDLY AT THE BUS STOP.
[SOT - DETECTIVE - SET THE SCENE]
1:07-1:17 “Initially, some people thought that he may just be somebody who is intoxicated and passed out right there, and they just kind of didn’t think twice about it and passed him up.”
DETECTIVE KEVIN RETTEW (RUH-TWO), OF THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION, SAYS THAT CYCLIST COULDN’T LET GO OF HIS NAGGING SUSPICION…SO HE RETURNED WITH A FELLOW HOMELESS FRIEND TO CHECK ON THE MAN…
IT’S THEN THAT HE SPOTTED BLOOD ON THE VICTIM’S UPPER BODY…
THEY FLAGGED DOWN A RESIDENT OUTSIDE THE APARTMENT COMPLEX, WHO CALLED 911…
[sound of police sirens]
[SOT DETECTIVE]
1:27-1:39 “It looked like the victim’s bicycle and maybe his computer bag, laptop bag, were found next to him, as well as a shell casing and a projective from an apparent gunshot.”
A CELLPHONE IN ONE HAND…A KNIFE IN THE OTHER…DETECTIVES BELIEVED THIS VICTIM WAS PREPARED TO PUT UP A FIGHT…BUT DIDN’T HAVE THE CHANCE…
THE MAN — SEEMINGLY LEFT FOR DEAD — WAS LATER IDENTIFIED AS 43-YEAR-OLD NATHAN MATTHEW SNYDER.
[SOT BROTHER]
2:46-2:54 “Nate was a pretty mellow guy. He wasn’t a violent type in any way shape or form.” BUTT TO SOT 1:02-1:10 “He was with his girlfriend for quite some time, and they had talked about getting married, and then this happened.”
HIS BROTHER, JOHN SNYDER, SAYS NATHAN WAS LIVING WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND AT THE TIME. HE WAS AN INDEPENDENT, HARD WORKER IN SEARCH OF NEW EMPLOYMENT…
[SOT BROTHER]
1:47-1:59 "I know that he had recently been laid off and was looking for another job, and that’s why he was out looking for a signal, because he was going through trying to find wanted ads to find employment.”
ACCORDING TO SNYDER’S GIRLFRIEND, HE LEFT THEIR HOME AROUND 10 P-M ON HIS BIKE TO FIND A PLACE WITH ACCESS TO WI-FI…
[SOT BROTHER]
2:13-2:25 “They had lost his income, so I think their cable and internet had gotten turned off, and he was trying to find a job, like I said, so he just went out to try to find an internet signal so he could put some job applications out there.”
THROUGH WORKING ODD JOBS JUST ONE MONTH BEFORE HIS DEATH, SNYDER HAD SAVED UP ENOUGH MONEY TO PURCHASE HIS COMPUTER ON CRAIGSLIST…
DID THE COVETED DEVICE COST HIM HIS LIFE?
[SOT DETECTIVE]
4:54-5:08 “Back in 2010, it was kind of the start of the social media era, as I like to put it. In 2010 Facebook was popular and people were starting to use laptops more to access those sites.” BUTT TO SOT 5:23-5:31 “Because of social media he utilized a laptop, and because he’s utilizing a laptop, something of value, that’s why somebody may have take advantage of him.”
A SEARCH OF LOCAL PAWN SHOPS DID NOT HELP DETECTIVES FIND SNYDER’S LAPTOP…
DURING THEIR INVESTIGATION, THEY DID HOWEVER, LOCATE HIS WALLET…ON ONE OF THE HOMELESS MEN WHO INITIALLY FOUND SNYDER THE NIGHT OF HIS MURDER…
[SOT DETECTIVE] 3:16-3:45 “He admitted that he took the wallet but denied any involvement in the actual shooting or what happened to the victim.”
MODERATOR: “To this day, do we have any reason to believe that one or both of those homeless men are linked to this murder?”
DETECTIVE: At this point, there’s no evidence that can prove or link them to the murder. Based on their statement, it seems that they legitimately just thought he was intoxicated, as did other people, and just took advantage of somebody they thought was passed out."
MORE THAN A DECADE HAS PASSED, AND STILL, NO HARD EVIDENCE AS TO WHO SHOT AND ROBBED NATHAN SNYDER.
[SOT BROTHER]
4:16-4:17 “They took an innocent life.” BUTT TO SOT 4:21-4:30 “It’s a very tragic thing that happened, and you know, somebody should be held accountable for it, and unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case thus far.”
IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION THAT COULD HELP US SOLVE THIS “UNFINISHED BUSINESS,” PLEASE, CALL THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE AT 813-247-8200.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA AT H-C-S-O SHERIFF FOR ANY UPDATES ON THIS CASE.