The Strange Case of Ryan Waller and Heather Quan

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The case of Ryan Waller and his girlfriend Heather Quan is probably one of the strangest you'll ever hear because not everything was as it seemed. Ryan Waller was interrogated by the police for 6 hours while he had a bullet lodged in his brain.

Beginning:

On December 25th 2006, police were sent to perform a wellness check on Ryan that was requested by his father. When they arrived they discovered the dead body of a woman with a gunshot to the head. Ryan was alive, appeared to have been in a severe altercation and had a swollen black eye as well.

The Interrogation

Ryan was placed into a patrol car and brought to the police station for questioning while the scene was being assessed. Apparently, the police took 43 images of his injuries.

During the interrogation, Ryan did not make much sense and repeatedly asked the police if he could go home and sleep. At one point he named a man named Richie and his father, Larry. Ryan initially said that they had bow and arrows and then changed it to revolvers later on.

According to him, he had been shot in the eye. The police then told him that if he had been shot in the eye, he would not be in the interrogation room.

As the interrogation closed in on 6 hours, the detective decided to take a closer look at Ryan and his injuries. The detective left the room after that and when he came back his whole demeanor had changed. He looked extremely concerned and talked to Ryan about taking him to the hospital and stopped the interrogation.

Suddenly, upon reaching the hospital, a new picture came to light and it was discovered that Ryan Waller was not lying and had in fact been shot in the face. Not only once, but twice.

The Incident

Further investigations revealed that on December 23rd, 2006, Ryan Waller and his girlfriend Heather Quan were spending the night at home. Late in the evening someone knocked on the door, Ryan cracked it open just a little bit and before he knew he had a gun pointed at him. He tried to stop the intruder by pushing against the door but was shot while doing so.

With Ryan now out of the way, the two men could access the apartment. Just to make sure that he wouldn't be a problem anymore, they shot him again and moved on to Heather, shooting her in the head. They grabbed some weapons and a computer from the house before quickly running away.

Despite having a serious brain injury, Ryan had been able to identify the intruders, they were Richie and his father, Larry. He recognized Richie because he was his ex room mate.

Aftermath:

Ryan was transported to the hospital mid-interrogation and had surgery. He lost both of his eyes and a portion of his brain which resulted in him suffering from seizures for the rest of his life. Doctors were able to confirm that he had been shot in the head, twice.

Arrests and Convictions

Richie Carver and his father Larry were arrested a short while later.

In June 2008, Richie was convicted of felony murder, burglary, aggravated assault and misconduct involving weapons. He was given a life sentence.

Initially, it seemed like Larry would get away with his part since the biggest piece of evidence against him was a confession that he gave to his wife. The confession which she later withdrew using her right to marital privilege.

Heather's family fought to have this changed and appealed to Arizona legislature to implement Heather's law, which would revoke the marital privilege law.

In November 2011, Larry was convicted of first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, burglary and aggravated assault.

Even though Ryan survived the attack, his life was never the same as before. In 2016, Ryan Waller passed away from a seizure at the age of 28 years.