00:00:05
Did you set out on the morning of October 28th, 2009 to murder Mark Stove? I most certainly
00:00:13
did not. In the wee hours of October 28th, 2009, Michael Oaks was seen on Linda Updike's surveillance footage
00:00:22
getting in his SUV and leaving. Why were you going to Stover's house at 2:30 in the morning? I was driving there
00:00:31
to be there at a pre-arranged time, a time set and demanded by Mark Stove himself. And what did he say the purpose
00:00:39
of this visit was going to be? It was put up or shut up time. I was supposed to have obtained the wedding pictures
00:00:48
that up till then I could not find and I was supposed to deliver them to him or else.
00:00:55
And the else is what? My children were frequently mentioned as the else. So I sent my children to stay
00:01:01
with my my parents in case it didn't go well. As Michael told it, Mark instructed him to park about a/4 mile
00:01:10
away from his house at the same church where they had met 4 days before. Why didn't Jesus say, "No, I'm not going to
00:01:18
park there. I'm going to drive up to your home. This is this really sounds bizarre." It certainly did sound
00:01:24
bizarre, and I certainly was frightened, but we're back to that same situation. Either it's everything or it's nothing.
00:01:30
And if it's nothing, it means that I have to scoop up my children. and honestly uh flee to a a foreign country
00:01:38
or or something because there just was no safety inside any area that Mark Stove could find us.
00:01:47
Michael said he did as he was told, walked to Marks and was greeted at the front door by Mark along with his
00:01:55
specially trained attack dog, Ding. From there, Michael described Mark leading him through the living room,
00:02:05
down the hallway, and oddly into the bathroom. That's where he claimed Mark confronted
00:02:12
him once again with his neverending obsession with those wedding photos. And uh I went to his house and told him that
00:02:24
I couldn't get the pictures, that I'd gone through her safe and they weren't in her safe. and they weren't in
00:02:29
her house and I presumed that she had destroyed them. And what did Mark Stove say to that? He didn't say much.
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Instead, Michael claimed Mark suddenly turned around and walked away. He was so agitated or
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erratic that he had he broke off in mid-con conversation. Michael said when Mark returned, he
00:02:54
raised a gun he was holding in his left hand. The long and the short of it was moments later I was shot in the chest.
00:03:03
[Music] But Michael had prepared for this moment. As a self-described security expert, Michael said he was wearing a
00:03:17
bulletproof vest that allowed him to safely take the hit to the chest. He said he then quickly lunged at Mark,
00:03:25
grabbed the gun, and returned fire. He started a gunfight and I won. But the fight wasn't completely over. As Michael
00:03:36
exited the house, he said Mark's dog, Ding, attacked. The dog came at me and uh I had to shoot the dog and I stopped
00:03:46
shooting as soon as it stopped trying to bite me. So, what are you telling me? You shot Mark Stove in self-defense?
00:03:54
Absolutely. But detectives on the case soon came to a very different conclusion about what
00:04:03
happened that morning. This is not a case of self-defense. This is a case of coldblooded murder.
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I'm Peter Vans from 48 hours. This is Train to Kill the Dog Trainer, the Aerys, and the Bodyguard. Episode 5. Put
00:04:24
up or shut up. I want the truth for Michael Oaks as to what really occurred on that day,
00:04:38
October 28th, 2009. This is Detective Dan Louvera with the Scatch County Sheriff's Office. Now
00:04:47
retired, Louvera said he spent nearly 2,500 hours investigating Mark Stove's killing. We were a small department and
00:04:58
we only have five detectives. Loua thought major parts of Michael's story simply weren't true. That included
00:05:07
the meetings over the months that Michael described having with Mark Stove. Michael Oaks claims he met with Mark
00:05:16
Stove at the Northgate shopping mall in Seattle. Do you believe that meeting occurred? No, not at all. He he claims
00:05:23
he met with Mark Stove at a church parking lot in Anacortis. Do you believe that happened? No, not at all. He claims
00:05:30
uh Mark Stove comes out of a Costco in Kenowick, Washington and and basically has a threatening conversation. Do you
00:05:37
believe that happened? No. You think this is all made up? I do. [Music] I first met Detective Loua at Mark's
00:05:48
house back in 2010. He was a sharp detective who was meticulous and tried not to leave any stone unturned.
00:05:58
and we're almost a year to the day when this murder occurred. It was dusk as we started the interview. Soon it would be
00:06:07
dark, just as it was when Michael said he arrived that morning. [Applause] Loua brought a big flashlight to show us
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the crime scene. Michael Oaks says he walked right up the uh front way steps here. First, we went through what
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Michael Oaks said happened. He knocks on the door. Mark Stove answers the door. Mark lets him in.
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Lou Vera and I went inside. Mark's place was like a high-end cabin with darkwood
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floors and exposed oak beams. He said Michael claimed that Mark brought him into that bathroom and then left before
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coming back with a gun. Mark Stove comes around the corner where I'm standing right now. Where you're
00:07:01
standing right there right now. He says Mark Stove came around the corner, fired
00:07:06
one shot. Boom. Right into Michael Oaks's ballistic vest. It's then, Michael said he grabbed the gun from
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Mark's left hand and fired back at point blank range, killing him. The whole thing doesn't make sense. After he told
00:07:22
me Michael's version, Lou Vera then broke down for me why the evidence doesn't match Michael's story. First, he
00:07:31
said investigators discovered that on October 28th, 2009, Michael didn't drive directly to
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Anacortis from Linda's house. Louver said Michael drove west for nearly 3 hours before he made a pit
00:07:46
stop. We have him on surveillance tape at a local Walmart store here in Mount Vernon at approximately 5:30 in the
00:07:53
morning. What did he buy? Michael Oaks bought anchor line, anchor weights. He bought camo pants, camo sweatshirt,
00:08:04
and a backpack. Camouflage. Camouflage. Kind of an odd, eclectic bunch of stuff,
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isn't it? Yes. Loua believed Michael bought those items not to have a talk with Mark Stove, but to hide evidence of
00:08:21
a murder. I believe that he bought those items to uh dispose of Mark's body. Interestingly, Louvera said Michael also
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purchased a pair of soccer shin guards. The reason he bought those is that he knew Mark Stove had his dog, Ding, and
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that Ding was uh trained as a protection dog. Lou said after his Walmart shopping, Michael headed to Anacortis.
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Michael Oak's car arrives in the area of Mark Stover's house uh sometime between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m.
00:08:59
in the morning. it would still be dark. Loua then demonstrated for us what he thought actually happened at Mark's
00:09:08
house that morning. I think he came up the right hand side of his driveway right here.
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You can see the tree lines, fence lines. He could have easy concealment. It's dark out. I think as he's in the
00:09:25
area of the kennels right here, the dogs are barking. They sense someone or something on the
00:09:34
property. Mark was uh probably alerted to the dogs barking at the kennel. Sens something
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was wrong. Loua thought a worried Mark then led Ding out of the house to confront
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whoever or whatever was out there in the darkness. And I think uh the the dog was
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shot right away. Ding starts to yelp. Mark hears Ding yelping. Mark comes out probably on the carport
00:10:07
door porch there or maybe out in the driveway where Michael Oaks encounters Mark
00:10:14
Stove. It's during that encounter that Louvera believes Michael Oaks first shot Mark Stove. Spent shell casings were
00:10:23
found outside. I believe Mark Stover was probably shot just right in this area where we're standing right here. It's
00:10:30
the first time I think he was shot several times. And the first time he was shot, he probably uh started to retreat
00:10:38
back to his residence. Loua believed Mark only made it as far as the hallway just inside the door leading from the
00:10:46
carport. And Michael likely fired again and finished Mark off with one final shot.
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There was blood splatters on the wall here, on the wall here. When you come into Mark's house through the carport
00:11:04
door, immediately on your right is that bathroom. This is where in Michael's dramatic telling, he said Mark shot him
00:11:14
in the chest, a bullet stopped by a bulletproof vest. Michael said he wrestled the gun away from Mark and shot
00:11:22
him dead. But Lou Vera is skeptical. It's too unbelievable that he could get shot in the vest,
00:11:32
lunge at Stover, grab his hand, twist it, and shoot Stover and take him down. He's
00:11:42
going to back up or he's going to grab his chest as a normal reaction of somebody being shot. But he doesn't say
00:11:50
that. He says he immediately goes into a defensive mode and grabs Mark Stove's hand and gun, twists,
00:12:03
shoots, fires. Mark Stove falls. [Music] Loua believed Michael cleaned up the bloody scene at Mark's house with bleach
00:12:18
and put on Mark's trademark hat just in case anyone saw him leave in Mark's station wagon. Investigators suspected
00:12:28
the driver seen speeding down the driveway was Michael with Mark's body in the back and that Michael then moved
00:12:36
Mark's body from the station wagon to his SUV later. Loua said Michael's plan worked, fooling
00:12:46
employee Stephanie Poor. I saw who I thought was Mark going into the house and coming out of the house
00:12:56
putting stuff in the back of the hatch. Well, what made you think it was Mark? Because it was his hat and his jacket.
00:13:04
And why wouldn't I think it was Mark? Michael would continue to cover his tracks, but how long would he be able to
00:13:12
evade authorities after Michael left Mark's house at around 10 that morning, he was seen
00:13:31
stopping at a store where, for some reason, he bought a pair of bolt cutters. And then a couple of hours later, just
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before noon, that's when Tammy Gilden made that call to report a trespasser. Dispatch 911. What's your emergency? Uh,
00:13:49
it's not an emergency, but um I need a sheriff to come out here to Summit Park Green. She told me it seemed like the
00:13:56
man was moving what looked like a body. That was huge. They had no idea what was
00:14:02
going on. They just happened to see two vehicles parked behind the Grange. Then at around 12:30, we now know that
00:14:10
Michael was pulled over in Anacortis, Washington by that Scadget County Sheriff's deputy.
00:14:17
Knowing what we know today, what was in Oak's vehicle when he was pulled over? Mark Sto's body.
00:14:25
It was in the back. Yes. Loua said, "From there, Michael left Anacortis to go meet with his ex-wife,
00:14:39
Jennifer Thompson. She already told us how they met at a Starbucks, went to the beach, and how before long, she realized
00:14:48
Michael had a body with him that day." Investigators said Michael left Jennifer at about 400 p.m. returned the bolt
00:14:57
cutters to that store and drove back east over the Cascade Mountains to Linda's house.
00:15:05
It's a rugged two-lane uh highway that leads through very rural areas of Okonogan and Scaja County.
00:15:18
Surveillance video showed Michael arriving at Linda's at about 11:30 that night. He parked his SUV.
00:15:27
I asked Michael about the evidence they found inside that vehicle. Mark Stover's
00:15:34
blood is in your vehicle. How did it get there? Well, it got there because because he was there.
00:15:46
Michael then left again. Where he went and what he did is unknown. He returned about 30 minutes later.
00:15:56
It was the end of a very long day. A long day that police later learned may have been months in the making.
00:16:06
This is the statement of Jennifer L. Thompson. The date is now 10:30, 2009. The time is now
00:16:17
2200 hours. 2 days after Mark's disappearance, the Scatcha County Sheriff's investigators
00:16:25
question Michael's second wife, Jennifer Thompson. There is some noise in the background since they are recording at
00:16:32
her home. This is Chief Will Reichart. I'm just going to ask you to go over some of the things that we had already
00:16:38
talked about so that it's on the it's on the record. The first thing they wanted
00:16:43
on the record was concerning a call Jennifer claimed Michael received back when they were still married. About May
00:16:52
2008, he told me that there was a potential job coming up that he was interested in taking um about a a woman
00:16:59
and an ex-spouse that was harassing her. If true, that woman could only have been
00:17:06
Linda Updike. Jennifer said Michael then revealed details of a sinister plan. They would basically use Linda as sort
00:17:18
of bait to lure the um expouse toward her. Once Mark Stove was fooled into threatening Linda, Jennifer claimed the
00:17:29
plan was to violently end that threat. They would take him out. Okay. And by taking him out, you understood that to
00:17:36
be they would they would kill him, right? And you mentioned that that didn't really sit too well with you.
00:17:42
Kind of bothered you that he was contemplating doing something like this. Yeah. We had um you know, mortgage,
00:17:49
family, house, kids kind of thing. And I I said, "This isn't a good it's a good thing for you to be doing." And we had a
00:17:56
a big fight about it, big argument. Jennifer claimed that it was after this bitter argument their marriage quickly
00:18:05
fell apart. Eventually, I left the home in July of 2008 for separation. One month later, she said Michael told
00:18:15
her that he wanted a divorce. In January of 2009, our divorce became final and we pretty much stopped
00:18:23
contact. But then in October of 2009, Jennifer reached out to Michael. She wanted to give him one last chance to
00:18:33
reconcile. We still had this intensity together. And so it was just an email of, "Are you sure? Are you sure? Her
00:18:41
instead of me," Jennifer said after a few emails between them, Michael wrote that he'd soon be on the west side of
00:18:49
the mountains and suggested they meet. This was October 24th, which is the same day Michael said he met Mark Stove at
00:18:59
that church in Anacortis. They just said he was here on a job, assigned job, and I knew what that
00:19:08
meant, but I didn't ask for specifics. Did he say that that job was going to be particularly dangerous or did he he did
00:19:15
when he was leaving here he said he was going on and um that there was risk involved possible
00:19:22
injury to himself um that it was fairly dangerous. Michael told me that he showed up to
00:19:31
that October 24th meeting without the wedding photos and that Mark demanded Michael return later in the week. The
00:19:40
following day, Michael messaged Jennifer. He texted me and said, "Um, job failed. I'm okay. No pay though."
00:19:52
3 days after that October 25th message on the same day Mark was killed, Michael and Jennifer met again, the day that
00:20:01
they met at that Starbucks. When Michael mentioned that he was afraid of getting
00:20:07
arrested, he was really concerned about getting pulled over with the things in his vehicle. Um, he wanted to get them
00:20:14
home and get them sterilized. And he said, "If anyone sees this now, I'm going in right away." Uh, but going in
00:20:23
meaning he would be arrested right away. He felt if somebody saw what was in his
00:20:27
vehicle. Mhm. But there was one final interaction with police that convinced Jennifer that
00:20:36
Michael was the hunter in all of this. [Music] A month after Jennifer was questioned,
00:20:51
the detectives came back to her house. They wanted Jennifer to listen to a CD. She told me her reaction after hearing
00:20:59
the anonymous tipster's voice telling the 911 operator about a drug deal involving Mark Stove. There's going to
00:21:08
be a a van transporting some drugs from uh in the Cortis area. My first thought was, um, what an idiot. Jennifer
00:21:19
instantly recognized the voice. I knew it was him. How do you know it's him? I was married to him. I know how he talks.
00:21:26
Michael's voice of his disguise, but it was his speech pattern and and it was it
00:21:30
was him. It was devastating for her. Everything she had suspected suddenly clicked because in that moment I knew it
00:21:39
was all premeditated. Jennifer thought back to that job Michael mentioned and remembered something else Michael told
00:21:46
her. Something he said on the day Mark Stove was shot. He said that the people that were helping him, and I had the
00:21:54
impression that there were two, but I don't know that that was stated. People that were helping him were no longer
00:22:00
helping him, and he was on his own. No one was going to help him. So, who could be helping Michael? Well,
00:22:11
when Jennifer was being questioned by detectives in those early days after the murder, she shared an intriguing detail.
00:22:20
The father of the woman was initiating the job. [Music] That would be multi-millionaire business
00:22:35
tycoon Wally Updike, Linda's father. Later, when I got to sit down with Jennifer, she explained this further.
00:22:45
Wally Optike wanted to hire a Michael Oaks to take out the ex-husband that was stalking his daughter, Linda. Simple as
00:22:53
that. Simple as that. Do you believe that Linda Updike is involved in this? That she either
00:23:01
paid or manipulated Michael to kill? I don't believe she manipulated because he's too smart for that. But I do
00:23:08
believe that they served each other's needs. Meaning I think she's as guilty as he
00:23:17
is. [Music] Jennifer's testimony to police suggested that Mark's murder was a premeditated
00:23:27
hired hit. In our interviews, Linda and Michael both denied that her father had anything to do with Mark's death.
00:23:38
I believe that she knows more than what she's saying and what she's telling. Detective Dan Laa never called Linda
00:23:48
Updike a suspect, but he has always wondered if she was involved. How would Michael Oaks know that Mark
00:23:58
Stove always wore a hat and wore an overcoat driving a car? Through Linda. Linda was was his basis of information.
00:24:10
Linda had knowledge. She had direct knowledge. You know, she was married to Mark. Um
00:24:16
she she knew him best. When I spoke to Michael, he told me that he just spontaneously put on the hat
00:24:26
after he spotted it in Mark's car that morning. There was a pair of glasses and a cap or
00:24:34
a hat sitting on the seat. And when I sat down, I had to move the hat. I put it on my head and thought,
00:24:42
"This shall probably do for getting down the driveway." And that's all there was to that. It
00:24:47
didn't have anything to do with anybody but the moment. You're telling me you just decided to
00:24:55
put this hat on? You hadn't been told by Linda that that's a hat that Mark Stove
00:25:01
would wear? No, I've seen I'd seen two or three pictures of Mark Stove. Detective Laa told me that he wanted to
00:25:09
ask Linda about this and many other aspects of the case. Have you received cooperation from Linda Updike?
00:25:19
No. As is common in a case like this, Linda and her father, Wally Updike, hired lawyers after Michael was
00:25:27
arrested. She won't sit down and talk to you. She won't sit down and talk to us. She's
00:25:32
lawyered up. She's lawyered up. While Linda declined to take questions from Louvera, she was willing to answer mine.
00:25:41
Investigators believe that you must have given Michael details of Mark Stover's life
00:25:51
that would aid him in attacking Mark Stove, knowing when he got up, what hat he wore during the day, what car he
00:25:58
drove with the dogs. What do you say to that? That's simply not true. I had no interaction or contact with Mark for
00:26:08
since the protection order was issued. It's not something I wanted to have any involvement with Mark. Uh there again, I
00:26:17
I wanted no harm or anything to happen to Mark. I just wanted to go on with my life with Michael and I wanted Mark to
00:26:25
go on with his life. In other words, did you brief Michael Oaks on the intricacies of Mark Stove's life? right
00:26:33
down to the hat that he liked to wear during the day to aid him in an assassination.
00:26:40
Of course not. The suggestion is out there. Did your father have anything to do with
00:26:48
the killing of Mark Stove? Absolutely not. Both Linda and Michael refused to answer
00:26:57
most of the authorities questions until they took the stand at trial. There was, of course, one big question
00:27:06
Michael still had not answered. What did you do with Mark Stover's body? I think that probably
00:27:15
the nitty-g gritties on that. I really want to tell you about it. We're going to have to wait to court.
00:27:27
[Music] from 48 hours. This is Train to Kill, the dog trainer, the aerys, and the
00:27:35
bodyguard, produced by Sony Music Entertainment. I'm your host, Peter Vans. Judy Tigard is the executive producer of
00:27:46
48 Hours, original reporting by 48 hours producers Ryan Smith and Liza Finley. Jamie Benson is the senior producer for
00:27:57
Paramount Audio and Mora Waltz is the senior story editor. Recording assistance from Alan Pang and
00:28:05
Reginald Bazil. Special thanks to Paramont podcast vice president Megan Marcus. It is written and produced by Alex
00:28:16
Schuman. Stephanie Serrano is our editor. Our executive producer is Sherah Morris. Our associate producer is Zoe
00:28:26
Kulkin. Theme and original music composed by Hansdale Shei. Cedric Wilson is our sound designer and
00:28:36
mixed the episodes. We also use music from APM and Epidemic Sounds. Fendle Fulton is our fact checker. Our
00:28:48
production manager is Tama Balance Kolassni. I'm Peter Vans. If you're enjoying the
00:28:56
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00:29:03
Follow and listen to Train toKill and other 48 hours podcasts on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your
00:29:12
podcasts. Thanks for listening. [Music]