Murder of Robert Eidman by Cleo Hines and Paul White examined on A Time To Kill

A Time To Kill is investigating the murder of businessman Robert “Bob” Eidman, who was shot dead while working in his office in St. Charles, Missouri, by Cleo Hines and Paul White.

The case proved to be a tricky one for the detectives. The insurance agency where Eidman worked often had dealings with individuals on low incomes and had poor credit leading the cops to wonder if it was a robbery or a business deal gone wrong.

At one point in the investigation, suspicion also fell on Eidman’s wife, but she was quickly found to be innocent.

On June 8, 2007, at approximately 11 am, Robert Eidman was working at his desk when two men came into his office and demanded money. When the pair were unable to access cash from Eidman’s drawer, they ripped a wallet from his back pocket and shot him three times.

Bullets hit the 48-year-old in the chin and in the neck from a distance of about only two feet. The third and fatal shot hit him in the eye and traveled through the back of his skull. According to forensic detectives, this third shot was fired as Eidman lay on his back with the shooter standing over him.

An early breakthrough in the case came when the cops discovered that a surveillance camera from a neighboring business had spotted a white Ford Focus with two occupants drive up to Eidman’s office minutes before he was killed.

The cops also had one other key piece of evidence; they had managed to swab a DNA sample from the victim’s back pocket where his wallet had been swiped.

A traffic stop turned Cleo Hines and Paul White into suspects

In March 2010, the cops pulled over a white Ford Focus occupied by Cleo Hines and Paul White. The police took a routine DNA sample, and they discovered that White’s DNA matched that found on Eidman’s clothes.

The detectives questioned White about the murder, and at first, he denied any involvement. However, the cops continued to probe until he finally admitted that he and his roommate, Hines, had robbed Eidman.

White admitted that he had been broke after losing all his money at a casino and that he had decided to perform a robbery with the help of Hines. White said he knew Eidman through his wife, who was a client of the insurance agent. White said it was Hines who pulled the trigger.

Hines later pleaded guilty to murder and robbery and was given two life sentences as punishment.

Even though Hines had been the trigger man, White was also charged with murder as he had been the one to plan the robbery, and he had provided his partner in crime with the firearm. He was also sentenced to life in prison.

More from A Time To Kill

Follow the links to read about more murders profiled on A Time To Kill.

Paige Birgfeld was leading a secret double life as an adult escort when one of her clients, Lester Ralph Jones, abducted her and murdered her in a secluded area near Grand Junction, Colorado.

A bizarre case from Barre Mills, Wisconsin, saw Eric Koula imprisoned for the murder of his parents, Dennis and Merna Koula. He tried to claim that they had been the victim of a hitman, but the police concluded that Koula, who was heavily in debt, had killed them for the inheritance.

A Time To Kill airs at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.