00:00:09
[music] If you're afraid of snakes, then everything you think you know about them
00:00:15
is wrong. >> My name is Ben Renick. I'm with Ben Renick Reptiles, and this is [music] my
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story. Ben Renick is an artist when it comes to breeding snakes. >> And this is a project that I'm actually
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a really big fan of. >> Are there some species of snakes in [music] here that Ben used to work with?
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>> Yeah, actually right behind me there's a reticulated python. And Ben was actually
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very fond of his reticulated pythons. Ben Renick was a great businessman. He was a young upandcoming rock star in
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the reptile world. My wife and I uh mainly run this company. >> Lley Renick is [music] a kind soul, a
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devoted mother, and I would say a genuinely caring person. >> They were happy. You know, they were
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very busy. You know, they worked a lot, and there was never any instance of anything ever being wrong.
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On June 8th of 2017, at about 5:30 in the afternoon, Linley Renick drives home to where her home and her and her
00:01:30
husband's [music] snake facility is. She goes inside and she finds her husband, Ben Renick, lying face down in a pool of
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blood. >> I got a call from Lley. She was hysterical, complete [music] in panic.
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>> 911. moment he addressed the emergency on the ground. >> And I went in to try and find Ben. And
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when I found Ben and um and his body, I knew that uh it was too late. >> Oh my god, my brother's dead.
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>> What What may have happened? >> He got killed by snake. >> I assumed it was a snake.
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Care for that 1850. The >> whole building full of snakes. There's a >> snake every 4 in here. I don't know what
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to stop. >> Someone being killed by a snake is not something that happens every day,
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especially in Missouri. >> Paramedic said there's a bike mark on him. So, there's a snake loose in here.
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>> Mhm. >> So, watch your >> Being the coroner [music] walking into a death scene with
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thousands of snakes jumping at the cages. It was just a crazy scene to be at. >> Do we have anybody we could call to
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deal with an anaconda? >> All right. >> How could you have something big enough to kill a person here? I still didn't
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know what to think. I squatted down next to the body. There's significant damage. There's
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blood all around. When I saw that shell casing on the shelf just above his head,
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I knew this was not from a snake. This was something much more heinous. I knew that this was a homicide at that time.
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>> Who would want to kill Ben Renick? >> That was the question. >> We couldn't have imagined anything like
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that. >> And it was a long wait [music] until we got that answer. >> [music] [music]
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>> Heat. Heat. N. [music] >> [music] >> I don't care if it's a if it's a 5 in long steak. Somebody's trying to bite
00:04:28
me, I'm gonna I'm gonna light it up. >> On a hot Missouri summer day in June 2017, Montgomery [music] County
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Sheriff's deputies were called to a unique and potentially dangerous death scene.
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>> A literal snake pit. A building with more than 3,000 exotic serpents. Something got him. So, watch your
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>> The first responders aren't sure if one of these snakes may have killed renowned
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breeder Ben Renick. >> Who is? >> Okay, that's Ben Renick. >> Oh, make sure there's no snakes around
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the victims. >> Yeah, >> excuse me. >> Coroner Dave Colbert had never seen anything like it.
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>> They're holding shotguns in hand. They were guns out. She could just feel the
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anxiety amongst everyone there. No one knew where the killer could be coiled or lurking. But while examining
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Ben's body, the coroner made that surprising discovery. Ben's body lying face down hid the true
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cause of death. He hadn't been bitten by a giant snake. Ben had been shot eight times,
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once at close range. >> This was something that was not just a random act. I saw a snake.
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>> There's a snake, honey. >> Nearby was Ben's wife, Lindley. She had discovered his body
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>> and she was visibly upset. Uh what you would describe as somebody who is grieving and, you know, just lost a
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loved one. >> Okay. >> Lley had called Sam who rushed to the scene. >> Sam got here before, so I don't know.
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>> Okay. I he was always shot in the back almost exclusively. I don't I don't think he
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saw it coming at all. Ben had such a future ahead of him. You know, he was 29 years old. He was almost [music] 30. A
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lot was lost. Near this remote highway about 80 mi west of St. Louis once stood a
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worldrenowned snake breeding facility, Renick Reptiles, where Ben Renick built his empire of serpents.
00:06:42
Welcome to the basement of uh Ren Reptiles. Uh we keep reticular pythons, blood pythons, white pythons, green
00:06:49
anacondas. >> Ben had his first snake at a very young age and that became a [music] somewhat
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of a passion for him became a uh a hobby did build into a business and he was he
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was very good at what he did. >> At the time of the murder, Sam and Ben Renick were living in separate houses
00:07:07
with [music] their families on this 70 acre spread. We lived out there together and raised our kids out there together.
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Then we went fishing on the weekends and you know, we were close. >> Ben and Lyn Lee first met when they were
00:07:21
teenagers. They reconnected in 2011, says local attorney Katherine Burgerer. >> They hit it off right away and their
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relationship got pretty serious pretty quickly. Um, I think they moved in together within the first year of
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dating. Lindley had a son from a previous relationship. Sam says Ben became a second father to the child. In
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2014, [music] Ben and Lindley decided to tie the knot. >> Uh they had a beautiful wedding and it
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[music] was beautiful small family event and it was very special. >> Soon they had a baby of their own, a
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[music] growing family to go with their booming snake breeding business. Lynley found Ben's passion interesting. She
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would work day and night helping Ben with the snakes, handling them, cleaning them, sorting them. In 2016, they opened
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a second business, a Senia Spa in Columbia, Missouri. A longtime dream of Lindley, who once worked as a massage
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therapist. >> Hi, I'm Lindley. I'm the owner here. I know that when she started her spa
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business, this is something that she had always wanted to do that she empowered her quite a bit.
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>> By 2017, Renick's snake business was wildly successful. He was shipping his snakes around the world, from the UK to
00:08:45
Japan, and traveling to reptile conventions across the United States. He was so successful, Ben realized that if
00:08:54
he sold a portion of Renick Reptiles, he could make some real money. >> Ben had planned on selling the majority
00:09:02
of his ball python collection for uh from my understanding was about $1.2 million. Things were going to be very
00:09:08
good for uh my brother and and Lenley. The couple had received their first payment of at least $200,000,
00:09:18
but then Ben was murdered. >> When you heard that he was dead, what did you think might have happened to
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him? >> So, the first question that I asked was, uh, how many snakes were missing? A
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facility like Ben's um, it unfortunately attracts a lot of bad people. bad people
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that see these snakes not as these beautiful amazing creatures that they are, but see them as dollar signs.
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>> To understand the world of snakes that Ben lived and worked in, we spoke with
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Ben's friend Dave Kaufman, [music] who introduced me to a reticulated python, a snake Ben [music] was known
00:09:57
for throughout the world because of how he bred them in captivity. >> Ben loved these snakes because how can
00:10:05
you not love these snakes? I mean, really, when it comes down to it, they're big, they're beautiful, they're
00:10:11
personable. She's going to go right over your shoulder and try to go on the cage
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behind you. >> Let's see if I'm right. Oh, no. She's going to wrap around you. >> It's my new scarf.
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>> There you go. >> Kaufman is also a snake breeder. >> Have you ever seen a blood python this
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big? >> And a [music] documentary filmmaker who also travels the world tracking rare and
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exotic reptiles [music] for his YouTube channel. This is a first. >> It is a remarkable sensation.
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>> It is. >> Investigators looked into the theory that Ben's murder may have been a
00:10:46
robbery gone bad, but ruled it out. No snakes were missing. Dave Colbert says it made sense to look more carefully at
00:10:55
those closest to Ben. >> We definitely didn't want to exclude anybody from being a possible suspect.
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I didn't know if Sam was involved. Didn't know if Lindley was involved. >> The day after his brother's murder, Sam
00:11:13
Renick was brought in for questioning. >> I don't know where to start. >> Okay. >> And they also brought in Lindley.
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>> Take me questions. >> What happened? Yeah. >> What I mean, what do I do? My other friends and family.
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>> But soon enough, those same friends and family would have reason to question everything they thought they knew about
00:11:44
Lenley Reic. >> Lenley that we knew back then was uh very sweet [music] uh kind. However, there was there were
00:11:51
other sides there that we didn't know. With law enforcement discovering that Ben [music] Renick had not been killed
00:12:18
by a snake and quickly ruling out the possibility of a robbery gone bad, Sam Renick had one major question.
00:12:27
Who would have want to been dead? >> A Missouri State Highway Patrol detective had the same question when he
00:12:34
spoke with Ben's wife, Lindley. >> Could you see anybody, you know, be upset with Ben to the point where
00:12:42
that may happen? >> Both Lley and Sam were cooperative in their initial interviews.
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>> Are you willing to submit to a shotgun or not shotgun, a gunshot? >> Yeah. Anything you want, you got Okay.
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>> Sam says he understood why police would first focus on them. And he told investigators he could never imagine
00:13:05
Lindley being involved. >> I didn't think that Lindley would have been capable of murder like that.
00:13:13
>> Lindley also agreed to a gunshot residue test. But in her one-on-one interview
00:13:19
with the detective, Lindley made a startling claim, saying that Sam might have had a motive to kill his brother.
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>> Was there any family issues >> like between them and uh yeah. >> At issue, Lley said, was Ben's plan to
00:13:39
possibly sell the property where they all lived. She claimed Sam was upset about it.
00:13:46
Ben had inherited the property after another tragedy on the Renick family farm just 5 years earlier. The suicide
00:13:54
of Ben and Sam's father, Frank Renick. >> Ben found him. Uh he came and got me and
00:14:02
I we went there together and uh it was a tough day. Frank Renick shot himself in 2012 after being implicated
00:14:11
in a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme involving fraudulent stock certificates. There's a lot of people that lost a lot
00:14:19
of money, you know, due to my father. >> Unaware that Lindley was implicating him, Sam wondered whether Ben had been
00:14:26
killed in an act of revenge against their father. We were concerned, however, that, you know, someone could
00:14:33
have been upset enough to to have waited, done something like this. >> But that theory never took off. And Sam,
00:14:41
who had tested negative for gun residue on his hands, was ruled out after cooperating fully with investigators.
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>> I provided them, you know, everything I had, my cell phone, the shirt off my back, uh, my alibi to where I was when
00:14:57
the murder happened. I I gave a polygraph. >> As highway patrol detectives continued
00:15:05
their investigation, the reptile community stepped up to help Ben's wife and children.
00:15:10
>> We have a male fire cinnamon. >> They held this online auction of donated snakes.
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>> She's a pretty girl, guys. >> Raising more than $40,000. >> Guys, remember all this money is going
00:15:23
to a great great great cause. You guys banded together and you got thousands of dollars to Lindley to help her during
00:15:30
this time of crime. >> Tens of thou? Yeah, we we raised tens of thousands of dollars to help Lindley and
00:15:35
the kids >> because you felt she was a victim. >> That's correct. >> But that supposed victim had a startling
00:15:42
confession when Lindley spoke with detectives again just 11 days after Ben's murder.
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>> So, have you been talking to anyone or did you have a relationship? How did you guys feel about
00:15:58
>> Lindley admitted she had been unfaithful. >> It was just just Did he think the same way?
00:16:06
>> Yeah. >> Detectives checked that man's alibi and cleared him of any suspicion.
00:16:14
Investigators then interviewed Ashley Shaw, one of Lindley's employees, and a close friend who she had confided in,
00:16:22
which may have been a mistake. >> I mean, I'm sure that, you know, she was having um an affair,
00:16:28
>> a couple affairs, actually. Um >> Ashley, the manager at Asensia Spa, said that Lindley had also been seeing
00:16:35
another man [music] named Brandon Blackwell, who she had met on a dating website. She said Lley was hooking up
00:16:42
with Brandon before Ben's murder. >> I know Brandon was like really a short time before that, I believe.
00:16:50
>> Along with Lynley's affairs, investigators had discovered Facebook messages between Ben and Lindley. They
00:16:57
revealed that Ben had found out the spa was losing money and that Lley had lied to him about it. Ben sent a message to
00:17:05
Lenley just hours before he was murdered. No more lying. No more keeping things from me. No more not paying people and
00:17:16
thinking it's okay to pay later. 4 months after Ben's murder, Lenley was in front of cops again and agreed to
00:17:24
take a polygraph exam. >> Okay. How do you think you did, Lenley? >> Okay. >> Not exactly. Lynley's polygraph test was
00:17:34
a dismal failure. And so the results of the polygraph showed that you failed the
00:17:40
the test. When I asked you, did you shoot that man? You failed the test. Just wanted to help you.
00:17:47
>> Why? I just failed that, but I didn't kill Ben. And >> but investigators suspected she did and
00:17:55
may have had help from yet another man in her life. His name is Michael Humphrey, an old ex-boyfriend and ex-con
00:18:04
fresh out of prison on drug possession charges who she texted and called numerous times, including on the day her
00:18:12
husband was murdered. >> Coming in from the side, >> the thing is is that that right there is
00:18:20
very suspicious. It appeared Lley was close to breaking. >> I don't know, >> but she continued to deny any
00:18:29
involvement dozens of times. >> I don't have anything to do with this. >> There is so much circumstantial evidence
00:18:39
against you in this case, it's mindboggling. But Lindley's gunshot residue test had
00:18:47
come back negative with no witnesses, no murder weapon found or direct evidence linking her to
00:18:54
Ben's murder. >> I need to go get my children. >> She left that interrogation room a free
00:19:03
woman. The investigation went cold for nearly 3 years until unexpectedly someone came forward [music] with
00:19:16
everything Missouri Highway Patrol investigators were looking for. [music] The boas are long gone. [music]
00:19:39
Pythons packed up. Snakes in new homes. The reptilian paradise turn crime [music] scene now a
00:19:49
vacant frozen field. Eight fatal shots unanswered. >> I wasn't [music] sure what to think.
00:20:01
Unaware that investigators suspected Lindley, Ben Reic's brother, Sam was left more than a little uneasy.
00:20:09
>> It was very, very tough knowing um that someone's out there that had essentially
00:20:14
gotten away with murder. Um I was concerned for my own safety. >> And without an arrest, serpent lovers
00:20:22
were also left rattled. So when the case went cold, we would all contact each other asking if anybody had
00:20:31
any information on what was going on. It was frustrating. It was frustrating to have all this time pass and not have a
00:20:39
culprit in custody. >> All Dave Kaufman knew for sure, >> humans do things other than what you
00:20:45
expect. Snakes do not. >> And the most unexpected behavior came from the human closest to Ben Renick,
00:20:53
his widow, Lindley. We wanted to be, you know, as understanding as possible. However, in
00:21:00
time when she refused to talk to us or allow us to talk to the kids or even uh receive my brother's belongings, we knew
00:21:09
something was wrong. >> In fact, just weeks after Ben's murder, with her spa business failing, Lindley
00:21:17
had sold the family property, closed up shop, and left town in a hurry. So like one day she was there and the
00:21:25
next day just left and then never came back. >> Today Beth Mayberry works at that same
00:21:31
location. But back then she was just one more true crime buff in Columbia, Missouri, riveted by a case without a
00:21:39
conclusion. How much is this Renick case talked about around here among >> It's a lot.
00:21:45
>> And what do people say? What do they think? >> Um crazy. It's crazy. Um, and people did
00:21:51
start to wonder, maybe Lindley did it, maybe she had someone do this. Um, it did become a question,
00:21:58
>> a question without an answer until January 2020 when cops followed up on a jail house tip.
00:22:08
>> We're investigators. >> I'm here because you used to be dating Lenley. >> That's correct. Out of nowhere comes
00:22:16
this, you know what what I'm sure the investigators would would think as a god a godsend.
00:22:22
>> Journalist Dave McKenna of Defeector Media was following the case that was about to change fast for investigators.
00:22:31
>> Your dad gave me a call today and said that you wanted to talk to us. >> Yeah.
00:22:36
>> Just lays out the whole story and it is very detailed. >> It was Brandon Blackwell, the man Lyn
00:22:43
Lee met online. the lover she was hooking up with the very week Ben was murdered.
00:22:49
>> Her husband is freshly dead. Body's still warm and she's found another warm body.
00:22:55
>> Only a year and a half after Ben was killed, Blackwell and Lindley had a child together. But Lindley alleged
00:23:02
Blackwell had become threatening and they had broken up. Lindley got an order of protection and Blackwell was then
00:23:09
charged with violating that order and stalking her. charges he denies. He was jammed up in jail and looking to make a
00:23:18
deal. >> My concern is getting out of that cell. >> Now you're coming to us when you're in a
00:23:22
pickle. So, >> right. >> Blackwell's tale begin weeks before Ben Reic was shot dead when [music] he says
00:23:30
Lley and spa employee Ashley Shaw whipped up a toxic shake for Ben. He was given a a protein drink one night that
00:23:40
was laced full of enormous amounts of narcotics and somehow lived through it. But the plan was for that to be the last
00:23:50
day of his life. >> A poison potion served to a husband by his wife. [music] Brandon says Lley
00:23:57
confessed that and much more to him. >> My information is out of the horse's mouth.
00:24:02
>> Okay. So when pills failed to kill, Brandon says Lindley turned to one-time boyfriend Michael Humphrey.
00:24:11
>> They drove to the farm. He had gloves. He had a firearm. Plan was for him to do
00:24:17
it. Um they get there, he hands her the gun and says he doesn't feel comfortable
00:24:24
doing something she's got to take care of. She walks in with a gun and just shoots him a bunch of times.
00:24:32
>> And according to Blackwell, Lindley's spa employee, Ashley Shaw, was once again involved.
00:24:39
>> Brandon Blackwell told the police that Ashley was in on it intimately from from
00:24:45
the start of the planning. >> The cold case was blown wide open. On January 16th, 2020, cops made their
00:24:53
moves. Lley Renick and Michael Humphrey were arrested, charged with the murder of Ben
00:25:01
Renick. Loved ones and friends never saw it coming. What that moment was like for
00:25:07
you? Disbelief. I thought they got the wrong person. It >> It took us years to find out that Lley
00:25:13
was lying and that she was living in a double life. A sociopath. Uh if you look that up, that's Lynley's picture will be
00:25:19
sitting right there with it. But what motive could Lley have to murder the man she had built so much with? Some say it
00:25:27
was as coldblooded as a cobra. Money. [music] >> Lley stood to gain millions of dollars
00:25:35
from the death of my brother. Between the life insurance, the sale of the snakes, and the family farm that she
00:25:40
would inherit, it was significant. >> Still, investigators needed someone to flip. They arrested Ashley and fast let
00:25:49
her know exactly what her future reality might look like. >> Now is a time you're either on team
00:25:56
Lenley or you're on team Missouri. And team Lenley's going to jail. They're going to prison for first-degree murder.
00:26:02
>> In exchange for leniency, [music] Ashley turned on her one-time boss. Starting
00:26:08
with the toxic ingredients in Lley's venomous smoothie. Ashley would say that Lley told her Ben had abused her.
00:26:17
>> She asked if I could get any um thing, any prescription pills or anything in the amount that could um help her kill
00:26:26
him. And so I got her um per it was percoet, I'm pretty sure. And there was um I think 15 of them.
00:26:34
>> According to Ashley, after the shooting, Lindley claimed Michael Humphrey was the
00:26:39
trigger man. But she says a few days later, Lley changed her story. Ashley now claimed that Lley confessed [music]
00:26:47
to being the killer >> and she said, "Oh no, once we got there, I I was fine to do it." And so he handed
00:26:54
me the gun and I did it. >> After the murder, she ever seemed remorseful. She was sorry.
00:26:59
>> Never. No. But as the case headed to trial, Lindley's legal team insists Michael
00:27:08
Humphrey was the real shooter. And they argue the state's case isn't based on truth, but on the fearful, coerced
00:27:16
testimony of Ashley Shaw. >> You're either on team Lenley or you're on team Missouri. And team Lenley is
00:27:22
going to jail. >> How would that impact somebody uh a woman like Ashley Shaw, do you think?
00:27:27
Well, if Ashley Shaw ever wants to leave that interview room for the rest of her
00:27:31
life or for the indefinite future, she's going to change her story. >> It was only after that threat that she
00:27:36
changed her story and implicated Lonely Renick. I don't know what happened with this. I
00:27:55
don't know. It took a lot of time to just process, you know, the lies that we were given by
00:28:03
Lley. >> In late 2021, Sam Renick was bracing himself for the trials of his brother's
00:28:10
alleged killers. >> My biggest concern was keeping my composure during the whole time.
00:28:16
>> First up, Lindley's old boyfriend, Michael Humphrey. The prosecution said Lindley fired the gun and that Humphrey
00:28:24
was in on the plan. Prosecutors said he was in on the plotting. He provided the weapon. He helped knock off her husband.
00:28:34
>> But that murder weapon had not been recovered. Humphrey's defense argued that he had been lured to the snake farm
00:28:41
by Lindley, who claimed she wanted protection when asking Ben for a divorce. Lley had then surprised him and
00:28:50
pulled out a gun and shot her husband. They painted him as kind of a fawning suitor of this pretty blonde petite uh
00:29:00
snake salesman. >> The jury didn't believe Humphrey's story of being an innocent spectator. After
00:29:06
deliberating for just 5 hours, jurors convicted him of firstdegree murder. >> Lley is a manipulator and I truly
00:29:17
believe that he was manipulated into where he is right now. Then facing life behind bars, Michael Humphrey, changed
00:29:25
his story. Lynley's trial attorneys, Tim Hesman and Katherine Burgerer. He decides to flip. Why does he do that?
00:29:34
>> He's convicted of first-degree murder after a jury trial. Uh he agrees to cooperate with the state in the hopes
00:29:40
that he might be able to parole out eventually. >> Humphrey now admits that he provided the
00:29:46
gun that Lindley used to shoot her husband. and he tells them where they can find it, which is in his
00:29:53
girlfriend's mother's attic. >> With the murder weapon in hand, jurors in Lynley's upcoming trial would have to
00:30:00
answer one unresolved question. Who pulled the trigger? >> This is case number 307, State versus
00:30:10
Lenley Renick. >> The defendant, Lenley Renick, shot her husband, Ben, eight times, killing him.
00:30:18
We're going to come back and ask you to find her guilty of murder. >> The prosecution painted Lindley as
00:30:22
coldblooded as one of her husband's snakes, a killer who shot Ben and then went about her daily routine as if
00:30:30
nothing had happened. >> She goes to the school, picks up her two children, and drives them back to the
00:30:37
place where she knows she is going to find their father's dead body because she killed him.
00:30:43
>> Lenley is being deceptive to Ben. The defense counters by saying that while Lindley lied and cheated on Ben, that
00:30:52
doesn't make her a killer. >> She's not planning a murder, she's planning a divorce.
00:30:57
>> They pointed the finger at the man already convicted of murdering Ben Renick. [music]
00:31:03
>> Michael Humphrey took it upon himself, acting completely independently, took Ben's life himself. But Lynley's
00:31:10
employee and confidant, Ashley Shaw, now the prosecution star witness, swears Michael Humphrey and Lindley were full
00:31:18
partners in crime. >> Michael is going to come to the spa and they were going to go together to her
00:31:24
house, his business, um to kill him at home or at work. >> Shaw says after the murder, Lindley
00:31:33
returned to the spa not for a massage, but to wash away her sins. So Lley goes back there and she tells you to do what?
00:31:42
>> Uh to give her a shower and she asked me to scrub her body and her hands really
00:31:47
well and she walked. >> Then Ashley tells the jurors what Lley told her about what really happened at
00:31:53
Renick Reptiles the day Ben was killed. >> She said that Michael got uh too nervous
00:31:59
or didn't want to do it and so he handed her the gun and she actually killed him.
00:32:03
She said that she put the gun to his back and shot him several times. But the defense claims Ashley Shaw, just like
00:32:10
Michael Humphrey, made up this story in order to avoid life in prison. >> How are you able to be so calm when
00:32:19
you're being questioned about murders that you evidently claim to be involved in? How is that, Ashley?
00:32:25
>> I don't know. >> There are so many aspects of Ashley Shaw's story that simply are not
00:32:31
credible. And now, in a strange twist of judicial fate, the prosecution called an unlikely
00:32:39
key witness to the stand. >> Now, what am I holding up? >> That's That's my gun.
00:32:44
>> That's what your gun is? >> Yes. >> Convicted murderer Michael Humphrey, who now swears he's telling the truth about
00:32:51
how Lindley killed her husband. >> I heard a shot come out, so I kind of ducked a little bit. I looked down
00:32:57
through there and she was at the end of the corridor, whatever you want to call it,
00:33:02
posed up like this with a gun. >> All right, thank you so much. Call your next witness.
00:33:09
>> As the trial neared its end, the defense took a chance on a star witness of their
00:33:14
own. Lley began by detailing the troubled and sometimes violent marriage she claims she was trying to escape.
00:33:22
Lley. Uh, was there ever any other occasion where an argument with Ben turned physical?
00:33:29
>> Yes. Ben and I had been arguing at the house and he grabbed my arm and pushed
00:33:35
me into the refrigerator and was like, "I'm not done with this. We're going to finish it now."
00:33:40
>> Lley Renick never filed any police reports about the alleged physical abuse. >> Abusive is a word that I would not use
00:33:48
with Ben. She was very kind, very loving. >> Then came her chance to explain why she
00:33:55
asked Michael Humphrey to accompany her that fatal day. >> Hey, my marriage is falling apart. Will
00:34:01
you please just go with me just to make sure like, you know, I'm safe and I can get some stuff and go.
00:34:06
>> Did you ask Michael to help you kill your husband? >> No. >> Set the scene for me and the jury.
00:34:15
I walked up right right behind Michael and then Michael turned around and I saw a gun in his hands and then I heard
00:34:26
shots ring out and I screamed and I ran outside and then I heard more shots go off and
00:34:36
everything just went numb and I remember staring at the trees And then Michael running out of the
00:34:45
facility and pushing me towards the car and telling me, "We have to go, Lindley.
00:34:51
Get in the car. We have to go now." >> Claiming to be in shock, Lindley admitted she didn't tell the truth to
00:34:58
investigators, but said that didn't add up to murder. >> "And I understand what that means and how this looks.
00:35:10
I just I don't know how to fully express that I I never wanted Ben dead. And I >> Miss Renick, you would not get home for
00:35:20
>> the prosecution was ready to strike. >> You were interviewed a bunch by a bunch
00:35:25
of cops. Correct. >> Yes. >> And you lied to them every time. >> Yes. >> But deep down in that heart of yours and
00:35:32
in that brain of yours, you know who killed him. Correct. >> Yes. Lynley's lies to cops included a
00:35:40
terrible slander, accusing Sam Renick of killing his brother. >> And then anytime the police asked me who
00:35:47
I thought, I just told them, "Sam, I'm so sorry." >> Her trying to apologize to me on the
00:35:55
stand and garner sympathy with the jury didn't sit well with me. >> I'm sorry. >> There's no low too low for for that one.
00:36:04
Why should these jurors now believe you? >> You now want these 12 people to believe
00:36:10
it. Correct. >> Yes. >> I bet you do. >> While I regret that it took her 2 and 1/2 years to tell the truth.
00:36:20
I think she was relieved that the full story had finally been told and now it was in the jury's [music] hands.
00:36:30
>> Who do you think pulled the trigger? Look at the evidence in the case at 48 hours.com.
00:36:45
It had been almost five long years since Ben Renick was murdered. Exhausted, Sam
00:36:51
waited for a jury to weigh the [music] evidence against his younger brother's bride.
00:36:56
>> And for the record, >> and after 12 hours, the judge revealed the verdict. As to count one, we the jury find the
00:37:05
defendant Lenley Renick guilty of murder in the second degree. Verdict. As to count two, we the jury
00:37:14
find the defendant guilty of armed criminal action. >> In that moment, 33-year-old Lily Renick
00:37:24
became a convicted killer. She really believed that she was going to get away with all this [music] and she really
00:37:29
believed that she was going to get what she had planned after murdering my brother.
00:37:34
>> The time still to be measured, the length of her stay in a Missouri prison. >> You may now retire to consider
00:37:42
punishment in this case. >> For that, jurors [music] gathered again for a separate sentencing hearing. While
00:37:51
life was an option, the jury would settle on something [music] considerably less.
00:37:56
>> Punishment for murder in the second degree at 13 years. Punishment for armed criminal action at 3 years.
00:38:06
>> 13 + three for Ben Renick's life. Jurors never said why they chose such a seemingly light punishment. But 6 weeks
00:38:15
later, Sam would tell the court that the sentence itself was an injustice. >> I beg the common person to watch the
00:38:22
trial again and ask themselves if my brother's life was worth only 16 years. 16 years is why I'm here today.
00:38:31
>> He would recount that hideous day that changed everything. >> The web of devastation travels far
00:38:37
>> and spared no one. >> She put the children through this experience. Here I am, covered in my brother's
00:38:44
blood, attempting to comfort the children despite them asking me if their daddy's dead.
00:38:50
>> Sam's frustration at the sentence seemed to be shared by the judge. But under
00:38:55
Missouri law, he could not increase Lindley's punishment. >> You're awful lucky, ma'am. You're going
00:39:02
to get out in your 40s, and my 40s weren't too bad. I just hope you don't kill again. That's it.
00:39:15
Some reflected on the cast of bad characters, two convicted killers, and Ashley Shaw granted immunity after
00:39:24
plotting with Linley twice. >> These people, these creeps and dark characters, behaving very badly and
00:39:31
behaving inhumanely towards humans. >> Ben Renick had created an Eden for serpent lovers.
00:39:38
>> Spot those clowns. But it was people, not a snake, that destroyed his paradise.
00:39:44
>> You can reduce it to a story of greed. It may be as simple as that. >> Greed that left in its bloody wake
00:39:51
children, and a brother determined to carry on. >> The kids lost a father, my babies, and
00:39:57
Ben's [music] babies. And I'm here to take care of them for the rest of my life.
00:40:02
And around the world, wherever [music] reptiles coil, slither, and slide, the loss of a superstar is still felt.
00:40:11
>> What happened to Ben was a tragedy that absolutely did not need to happen. And
00:40:22
>> yet Ben Renick lives on in a way he would surely have loved, celebrated with a new breed of snake named just for him.
00:40:32
>> The Renick ghost. And what ghost is is a slight reduction of blacks color. It
00:40:39
gives the snake kind of a ghosty appearance to it. And that [music] is such a testament to what Ben meant to
00:40:47
this community that he now has a mutation of a snake named after him. >> You miss your friend.
00:40:53
>> Every single expo that we would see each other at, there is a vacancy there that
00:40:59
will never be filled again. CBS next Saturday. 48 Hours brings you backto back episodes all summer long.
00:41:26
Next week, House of Horrors. >> Something went terribly, terribly wrong. >> Heidi was struck in the back as she was
00:41:33
trying to flee towards the kitchen. >> 48 hours prime time double feature next Saturday on CBS streaming on Paramount
00:41:39
Plus. We are floating along Lake Wy, South Carolina, which is a roughly [music] 20 mile long
00:42:07
lake. As we've been cruising along here, it it has looked like an episode of [music]
00:42:13
lifestyles of the rich and famous. A lot of wealth. >> It certainly is. There are
00:42:17
million-dollar homes. If you look [music] at this one here, this is the Clayton estate.
00:42:24
Steven and Lana moved into it in 2015, and it's actually modeled after President [music] George Washington's
00:42:29
Mount Vernon estate. Steven Clayton [music] was a very well-liked person, had lots of friends,
00:42:38
very sociable. Lana worked as a nurse in [music] several different Veterans Affairs
00:42:44
hospitals. >> Steven Clayton was found dead at the bottom of a staircase. [music]
00:42:55
>> At the outset, this appeared to be a natural death. >> There's nothing unusual.
00:43:03
It looked like a [music] man who had fallen down a flight of stairs. >> Yes. Who had been ill according to his
00:43:08
wife and then she found him unresponsive. >> She was crying and she was upset. >> Is it allowable to have somebody pray
00:43:19
over? >> Oh yes, ma'am. So if there's someone you want to call >> I pulled into the driveway right over
00:43:26
here. My main [music] goal at that point was to try and help Lena, to console her.
00:43:32
>> When did you start to see things that troubled you? >> Right away. >> He didn't show any signs of any sort of
00:43:39
medical issues. She made no mention of attempting to revive him. >> We decided to call the coroner and see
00:43:45
if we could get either an autopsy or a toxicology report. >> I am the coroner for York County, South
00:43:51
Carolina. Luckily, family started picking up on some red flags. My name is Demi Garvin. I am a forensic
00:44:03
[music] toxicologist. >> When Demiy's toxicology report came across my fax machine, I was like, hm,
00:44:09
what is tetrahydroene? [music] And then immediately Demi and I were on the phone
00:44:14
together. I was like, whoa, wait. Tetrahydroine is the common ingredient in Visine,
00:44:18
>> the eye drop. >> The eye drop. When it is given orally via the mouth, it is uh very toxic and can render
00:44:26
someone into a coma within uh 15 to 30 minutes. >> Can it create a heart attack?
00:44:32
>> It can. It has a devastating effect on your body. >> Somebody one time told him well go to
00:44:40
the bathroom and he put like two drops in his coffee. >> Can't imagine him doing that. Can't
00:44:48
imagine anyone doing that. So, who then becomes the suspect? Lana Clayton. She reported on her own that Steven
00:44:57
Clayton like to place a few drops of Visine in his coffee each morning. >> And I did not kill my [music] husband.
00:45:15
There was another death that appeared to be of natural causes related to a cardiac arrest of Stacy Hun sucker. They
00:45:23
found the high levels of tetrahydroine in her system. >> It's very possible [music] that was a
00:45:30
copycat situation. The suspect in that case heard about our case down here uh saw it on the news.
00:45:37
>> So what you're saying is that this little bottle could be a murder weapon. >> Absolutely.
00:45:44
Yeah. [music] [music] Heat. >> [music] [music] [music] >> I'm a Vietnam veteran, so I've seen
00:46:39
things, [music] done things. But James Blackidge wasn't ready for what was about to happen as he rode by the home
00:46:46
of Steve and Lana Clayton on the morning of July 21st, 2018. >> I was out riding my motorcycle coming
00:46:54
down this road and all of a sudden I see a woman [music] running across this yard
00:46:59
and she was waving me down. >> It was Lana Clayton who apparently had just run out of her house.
00:47:07
She flagged me down, stopped me, and first thing she said was, "Call 911." Is >> this 911?
00:47:14
>> It is. >> I was just riding by and a woman came running out and said her husband fell
00:47:18
down the steps and she thinks he's dead. >> As Black Ledge stayed on the phone with
00:47:25
the dispatcher, he watched Lana run across the street to a neighbor's house. >> All of a sudden, I heard this loud knock
00:47:34
on the screen. almost sound like somebody, you know, was going to bust the glass out. It was Lana.
00:47:39
>> Terry Floyd is a close friend of Lana and Steve. >> And I asked her, of course, what was
00:47:45
what was wrong? And she just kept saying, "It's Steve. It's Steve." >> The two jumped into Terry's golf cart
00:47:52
and dashed over to the Clayton's front door. >> And I said, "Well, where is he?" And she
00:47:58
said, "He's at the base of the stairs there in the forer." And what were you thinking as all this
00:48:05
is unfolding? >> I just thought it was an accident. Strange accident. Then what I really
00:48:10
thought was strange was she sat on the front steps. The man went inside the house.
00:48:16
>> I tried to [music] get a pulse. >> I couldn't get a pulse and uh I I you know I just I knew he was dead.
00:48:26
According to Lana, Steve had come down with a bout of vertigo three days prior. News
00:48:34
reporter Christy O'Conor of WBTV covered the story. >> He was nauseated and dizzy and
00:48:41
bedridden. >> Their bedroom was on the second floor of this house, right? >> That's exactly correct.
00:48:48
>> Lana said [music] she checked on him around 11 that morning and found him sound asleep. So she went outside to mow
00:48:55
the lawn. >> She made [music] sure he had his water. She had his medications and things next
00:49:01
to his bed. Made sure he had everything he needed. >> Lana was a nurse. A calling that made
00:49:08
Steve's sister Rosie very happy. >> I felt, wow, she'll be there for him. God forbid something should happen. He
00:49:16
should fall ill. >> The couple met online in 2010. Three years later, they married in [music]
00:49:24
nearby Charlotte, North Carolina. >> I sensed that my brother loved her very much, that she loved him very much.
00:49:32
>> It was Lana's second [music] marriage. Steve's family had lost count on the number of times he'd been down the
00:49:39
aisle. >> I think the number is somewhere around six [music] or seven. Steve loved being
00:49:43
in love. You know, it didn't always work out well for him. Steve's [music] nephew, Chris Fagan, says his uncle was
00:49:49
an accountant by trade who in the [music] 1980s created a highly successful physical therapy business
00:49:56
targeting sports injuries. [music] >> And he made millions off of this. Correct.
00:50:00
>> He did. He then fully retired at the age of 40. >> From all [music] outside appearances,
00:50:08
what was their life like? >> I would say dare to say that they had it all. But [music] on July 21st, 2018, when
00:50:16
Lana came in after a couple hours of yard work, she [music] discovered her 64year-old husband was dead.
00:50:26
>> Myself and a few of the other neighbors we consolding her. All the neighbors were behind her 110%.
00:50:34
When York County Sheriff's deputies arrived, they found Lana in distress over her husband's apparent fall down
00:50:41
the stairs. >> She's kind of having guilt trips about >> Oh, no. >> not checking on him.
00:50:46
>> Just take a look and see if you see any signs of him falling or anything. >> Okay.
00:50:53
>> Everybody okay? >> Pretty much. Pretty much there's >> the officer on the scene and a friend
00:50:59
comforted her. You you can't blame yourself for any of this. >> Oh, no. Not at all.
00:51:05
>> As [music] word spread about Steve's sudden death, his nephew Nick French, who's a police officer in a nearby town,
00:51:12
rushed to the mansion. That's Nick inside the house. [music] >> She gave me a a big hug, started crying.
00:51:23
Right after that, I walked [music] in where Steve was and and saw him. It was very much a shock. Um, I love
00:51:32
Steve and to see him in a vulnerable position like that was very difficult for me.
00:51:38
>> Shortly after 100 p.m., coroner Sabrina Gast [music] received a call that Steve had died.
00:51:45
>> I have a deputy coroner and she responded to the home. >> Gas says her deputy saw nothing
00:51:51
suspicious and believed the cause of death was most likely due to a heart attack. She concluded at that point in
00:51:58
time that it appeared to be a natural death. >> But being an experienced cop and
00:52:03
investigator, Nick French couldn't help noticing some red flags about Lana's actions [music]
00:52:10
immediately after she found Steve. >> There were at least two phones in that house and she's a nurse. Why wouldn't
00:52:16
she have called from one of those phones? And also, why wasn't she doing CPR when they arrived on scene?
00:52:24
That's when he began to make mental notes. >> Steve always had his phone on him. Um,
00:52:29
always. It was his lifeline. >> We were not able to find Steve's phone anywhere.
00:52:36
>> I don't even know what I'm looking for. >> Nick also noted Lana's reaction when the
00:52:41
deputy coroner asked about funeral arrangements. >> Lana said, "It's just too much right
00:52:46
now." She had her head in her hands and she said, "I have no idea." So the deputy coroner offered to take Steve's
00:52:52
body to the morg and run some tests. >> I would do that. >> And she looked up from her hands and
00:53:00
said, "That funeral home, the one that's right down the street, let's take him there and have him cremated."
00:53:06
And it was just that quick. She went from, "I have no idea what I'm going to do to let's have him cremated."
00:53:13
>> Nick wanted to call Chris and let him know their beloved uncle had died. He says Lana insisted she didn't want Chris
00:53:21
to see his uncle in that state. >> Chris is an adult. He's a big boy. That should be Chris's choice.
00:53:28
>> No, no, no. I get it. >> I started thinking, you know, something's going on. So, when she told
00:53:34
me no the third time and yelled at me, I walked upstairs and called Chris. >> Why would you be excluded?
00:53:39
>> That I couldn't tell you. Um, it still puzzles me to this day. >> Chris then called Steve's sister, Rosie,
00:53:46
in Florida. I still hear him crying. >> I couldn't speak. It wasn't real. It didn't seem real.
00:53:54
>> For 3 days prior to his death, Rosie had been worried she couldn't reach her brother on the phone.
00:54:01
>> Suddenly, there were no replies and that was not like him to just completely cut
00:54:07
off. I thought it was very odd. >> Also odd was what Nick would later discover in Steve's upstairs [music]
00:54:14
bedroom. The state of the bedroom that indicated to me that Steve had been in that bed
00:54:19
multiple days and he wasn't able to get out of the bed. Just a culmination of everything we saw out there was highly
00:54:26
suspicious. Married to death. One of 48 Hours correspondent Aaron Morardi's most
00:54:45
controversial cases. Her two husbands dead. [music] Was this widow a killer? Her final trial. Listen to the original
00:54:52
48 [music] Hours podcast. Now available wherever you get your podcasts. I try [music] not to go into the house a
00:55:08
whole lot. That's where the bad memories are really. >> For Steve's [music] nephew, Chris Fagan,
00:55:14
visiting his uncle's home brings back mixed emotions. >> But out here is where we enjoyed
00:55:20
parties. >> In the best of times at this house, what was it like? >> A lot of fun. Yeah. The dogs running
00:55:25
around, the kids chasing them, Steve telling jokes, music going. One favorite [music] memory, the July
00:55:31
4th party Lana and Steve threw [singing] >> just [music] weeks before his death.
00:55:38
>> Steve was always big on July 4th. He had huge celebrations out here. We'd have a dance floor right here,
00:55:45
[music] fireworks out there. >> To most outsiders, the couple appeared happy and in love.
00:55:51
>> I thought it was a good relationship. She always kissed Steve on the forehead
00:55:56
there and said, "I love you." But Dr. Nan Se, a veterinarian who took care of their dogs at the Clayton
00:56:03
Mansion, >> claims it was all a facade. When you saw the two of them together, were they a
00:56:09
loving couple? >> No. No. I I wondered why they got married. It was strange. The simplest
00:56:19
thing was that she did not speak when he was in the room. Then there was a bizarre incident in the
00:56:26
bedroom [music] just 2 years before Steve's death. Lana said she accidentally shot her husband in the
00:56:32
head with a crossbow while he slept. >> Steven himself said it was an accident. Lana said it was an accident.
00:56:42
>> Miraculously, Steve's injury was minor and police never filed charges. I don't
00:56:47
know how many crossbows you have in your bedroom, but that seemed kind of strange.
00:56:53
Right. >> Yes. >> Lana and Steve moved on from that incident. But two months before his
00:57:00
death, Steve confided to Chris that their marriage of 5 years was in trouble. [music]
00:57:06
>> He had mentioned that he wasn't as happy as he thought he was going to be. >> When Chris got to the house that day, he
00:57:12
comforted Lana. She told him she needed his help in organizing Steve's affairs. >> And I said, "Well, the first thing we
00:57:20
need to do is find the will." and that'll tell us what Steve's wishes were in terms of whether he should be buried
00:57:26
or cremated. >> Chris was startled by Lana's response. >> She said, "Well, there is no will."
00:57:31
[music] And I said, "No, there's a will. I know that there is. I've seen it." Steve had asked me to be his executive.
00:57:38
And at that point, she stood up and said, I said, "There is no will." And she went into the house. My aha moment
00:57:46
came [music] about the same time >> Nick was gobsmacked when he heard Lana badmouthing Steve. She was in the
00:57:54
kitchen and she was telling [music] these lurid stories of all Steve's elicit drug abuse. She used the words he
00:58:02
was a hardcore drug abuser and she's telling these stories and she's laughing. >> And you guys had known him forever. Do
00:58:08
you ever see him high on illicit drugs? >> Never. >> Never. She basically said that she
00:58:16
didn't want an autopsy done because she was worried about what the toxicology would show. And you know, for me it was
00:58:24
jarring when I heard it. >> Nick would [music] soon be jarred again. He went upstairs where Lana had said
00:58:31
Steve was bedridden for [music] 3 days. >> The bed was the worst part of the upstairs. Just drenched with urine. And
00:58:39
I asked Lana and she said, "Oh, Steve does that when he has vertigo." that happens really made me think he was
00:58:45
there suffering and and could reach no one for help. >> A short time later, Chris says Lana
00:58:52
demanded that everyone leave. >> When we got in the car, my wife and I I said something is wrong.
00:58:58
>> Nick was having a similar conversation with his [music] wife. >> We were both of the opinion that she had
00:59:04
a hand in his death. We didn't know how. >> Meanwhile, Rosie was trying to reconcile
00:59:09
how Steve's [music] vertigo may have led to a heart attack. It seemed too weird to attribute what was happening to him
00:59:17
to what we already knew were his very benign light symptoms. >> On Sunday, the day after [music] Steve's
00:59:25
death, Chris and his wife had planned to help Lana find his will. >> Lana said, "Do not come here. This is my
00:59:32
house. He was my husband. I will handle everything." And she hung up. That's when Nick [music] and his wife
00:59:41
drove to Chris's house. >> We looked at each other. We went through the small talk and I said, "Something's
00:59:49
wrong." >> I said, "Thank God, cuz we feel the exact same way." >> And we went to work. And we knew one of
00:59:56
the first things that we had to do was get in touch with the coroner's office. >> It was a race against the clock. Lana
01:00:05
had scheduled a cremation for the very next day. >> Steve was at the funeral home and they
01:00:11
can move forward. So, with whatever Lana says >> exactly. >> Nick and Chris demanded the coroner
01:00:17
order an autopsy and a toxicology test. She agreed. >> We were relieved at that point, but we
01:00:24
also knew that Landon didn't know. >> When the autopsy was done, the family's suspicions were confirmed. Steve had not
01:00:34
succumbed to a heart attack. >> They looked at the chest. They looked at the heart, the lungs. Nothing really
01:00:40
suspicious with the autopsy. >> But the toxicology results revealed something sinister. Not hardcore drug
01:00:47
use, but the presence of poison, a chemical found in eye drops. And in an instant, Steve's death became
01:00:57
highly suspicious. Forensic toxicologist Demi Garvin. So suddenly this could be a
01:01:03
poisoning. >> Yes, >> it was without question the cause of death. >> Was it an accidental overdose? We didn't
01:01:11
know that. Was it a homicidal overdose? >> His mobility is limited. He's incapacitated. [music]
01:01:18
It will cause respiratory depression which then causes death. >> What do you make of the crossbow
01:01:27
incident? When coroner Sabrina Gast first reviewed Steve Clayton's toxicology report, there
01:01:45
was a chemical found in his blood that she had never heard of before. >> Hm. What is tetrahydroylene? I don't
01:01:52
know what that is. So, I had to look up what tetrahydroine was. I was like, whoa, wait.
01:01:57
>> And what is it? What is this? Tetrahydroxylene is the common ingredient in Visine.
01:02:02
>> The eye drop. >> The eye drop. >> Get the red out. >> Exactly. >> And Steve's results revealed a large
01:02:08
amount of the chemical [music] which is found in a number of brands of eye drops.
01:02:13
>> In fact, at a concentration of 68 nanogs per mill in the blood sample. >> And in English that means
01:02:19
>> in English that means I'm very worried. >> It's a lot. >> It's a lot. Forensic toxicologist Demi Garvin was
01:02:26
aware of the many ways tetrahydroylene, also known as THZ, could be abused. >> We refer to this drug as a uh modern-day
01:02:36
Mickey Finn, where a substance is introduced into a beverage without the consent of the individual who's going to
01:02:44
consume it for purposes of incapacitating them. Uh, that could be for robbery, it could be for sexual
01:02:51
assault, it could be for both. >> In the movie Wedding Crashers, a character squirts eye drops into the
01:02:57
drink of his rival, causing trouble. >> Oh no. [snorts] >> Nausea, vomiting, uh, reduced heart
01:03:04
rate, uh, dizziness, confusion. >> But if a poisoner empties an entire bottle in someone's drink, it can attack
01:03:12
the respiratory system. And if breathing slows sufficiently, it will um cause respiratory depression which then uh
01:03:20
causes death. >> Poisoning with eye drops is also the plotline of an episode of the CBS drama
01:03:28
CSI. >> There was tetrahydroine in the victim's drink. >> She killed him [music] with eye drops.
01:03:33
>> Well, it's not that far-fetched. >> It's colorless, odorless, and tasteless. >> So, like I have a water bottle here. If
01:03:41
it was in there, I wouldn't know it. >> Correct. The results of Steve Clayton's toxicology were a potential gamecher.
01:03:48
>> The initial assessment at the scene is this appeared to be a natural death. What are you thinking now?
01:03:54
>> Um I'm thinking, wow, we've got some work to do. The next phone call was to the sheriff's office.
01:03:59
>> Well, now of course there are a whole series of questions that um have been raised.
01:04:04
>> Solicitor Kevin Brackett acts as the prosecutor in York and Union counties in
01:04:10
South Carolina. Uh first and foremost, how did the visine get in his system? >> We didn't know if he had intentionally
01:04:17
taken the tetrahydroene uh with the intent of harming himself. >> To find out, the coroner called Lana in
01:04:24
for an interview. >> Describe the woman that was sitting across from you. >> I would describe her as confident.
01:04:31
[music] >> By now, Lana knew that an autopsy had been performed on Steve. What she didn't
01:04:36
know was that investigators from the sheriff's office and the FBI were in the next [music] room listening in.
01:04:44
>> We had set up microphones in the office so that they could hear the questions
01:04:48
and her responses. >> Got a couple questions over some of the reports back. [music]
01:04:56
>> We were trying to get information from her about how he used the product. How
01:05:01
how often did he use the product? Somebody somebody one time told him, "Well, blue eyes would help him go to
01:05:07
the bathroom." And he put like two drops in his coffee and then go to the bathroom.
01:05:14
>> And how long had he been doing that for years? >> He would put it in his coffee every
01:05:20
morning so that he would have a bowel movement. It would not be something that you would um ever want to do. What that
01:05:28
comment did tell us is that she was aware that we were going to find Visine in his system because
01:05:37
she put it there. >> Um, let's go over the toxicology. Um, there's a drug called tetrahydraine.
01:05:44
That is visine. >> Mhm. >> Immediately she knew exactly what tetrahydroine was. >> You saw it on her face.
01:05:50
>> She said, "Oh yes, that's Visine." That was where it clicked for me of, "Oh, okay. This is kind of This is really
01:05:57
odd. >> That's when those investigators nearby entered the room, surprising Lana.
01:06:03
>> So, I'm a detective with County Sheriff's Office. >> I'm just overwhelmed by children. Yes,
01:06:08
ma'am. Now, listen. You are by no means in any trouble. We do want to ask you questions.
01:06:15
>> We have to read. I'm an everybody. Okay. Do you have the right to remain silent?
01:06:19
>> Lana Clayton began turning on her husband. I'm wondering if he tried to commit suicide. He had a mood disorder.
01:06:28
I always watched on the eggshells. I didn't know what Steven I was going to come home to. Or if he's angry, you
01:06:35
know, he would he would, you know, he can be really nasty, you know. >> Okay. What What is nasty?
01:06:41
>> Um it's really verbally abusive, you know. Um calling them names, stupid >> We never saw any [music] evidence of
01:06:50
that. >> Never. >> Did you ever see it? I never saw it. And not only did we never see it, but um
01:06:56
there was no record of anything like that. >> That's I I'm feel I'm painting a bad
01:07:01
picture of him. He wasn't, you know, a monster. >> The two investigators pressed her.
01:07:07
>> Right now, the death is suspicious in nature. >> Did you make his coffee for him?
01:07:12
>> No, he made his coffee. Everybody keeps asking me, you know, about the the coffee, and I know they're
01:07:19
wanting to know about the body. Yeah, there's only two people in the house. >> It was you and him.
01:07:24
>> I know. >> Did he have any? >> He always had the vice. >> Did he have any that day?
01:07:28
>> Guess what? I don't know. >> You're in the nursing business, though. Wouldn't you know the effects of it? Oh,
01:07:35
>> sure. I didn't think Visine was anything that would be serious to your to your
01:07:42
health. >> With the tough questioning, Brackett says Lana got defensive. I I feel like
01:07:49
you guys are, you know, doing your job and you're, you know, wondering if I killed my husband and I did not
01:07:54
[clears throat] kill my husband. >> Lana then stopped the interview and returned to the mansion. Investigators
01:08:00
followed her home where she continued talking. They recorded the conversation. >> After that conversation, the situation
01:08:08
changes significantly. >> What Lana Clayton told investigators was nothing short of a confession. you know,
01:08:16
had his little table set up next to the bed with his tissues, his urinal, his, you know, medications, his visine, and I
01:08:23
just saw it and just I was so angry and I just took and squirted it. I think I put the whole thing in.
01:08:29
>> That amount of THZ would have caused Steve to stop breathing. >> See, the whole bottle?
01:08:38
>> I think I did. >> Okay. >> I squeezed it hard. >> Okay. So, where was he when you did
01:08:43
this? >> He was sleeping. I don't know. I just saw it there and I just I just did it. I
01:08:49
I don't have an excuse. I don't have I just did it. >> When Nick learned of Lana's confession,
01:08:56
he called Chris. >> He said, "She did it." And and I I knew immediately what he was talking about.
01:09:04
And I had a few choice words and screamed. Started crying as well. >> This was murder. Correct.
01:09:20
After admitting she emptied a bottle of eye drops into her husband's water, Lana
01:09:25
kept talking to the investigators back at the mansion. >> Just what if I didn't kill him? What if
01:09:32
I >> caused his death with the buzzing? >> She quickly transformed [music] from a
01:09:38
grieving widow into an embittered wife. I just wanted him to just I just wanted him to suffer. I mean [music]
01:09:45
>> suffer because Lana claimed she was fed up with Steve's constant demands. >> I was just I was just angry. He was just
01:09:55
constantly Lana come here. Lana, come here. You know, uh you know, help me to the bathroom. Do this, do that, and
01:10:00
everything. And I don't, >> you know, just build up. >> It just all all just built up. And I just
01:10:09
>> Lana tried to convince investigators that she never wanted to kill Steve. >> No, I just wanted him to have diarrhea.
01:10:17
I wanted to just be miserable. >> She's admitted that she's poisoned him. >> Solicitor Kevin Brackett,
01:10:25
>> she's trying to think of her story that keeps her out of, you know, the trick
01:10:30
bag. As Lana's story evolved, it now included allegations of physical abuse. He >> He was verbally and physically abusive.
01:10:40
He had hit me several times. [music] >> Is there any evidence that he was physically abusing her?
01:10:47
>> No. No. >> Steve's sister, Rosie. >> The way she portrayed him, I don't know that person. Nobody that knows Steve
01:10:55
knows that person. The unflattering portrait of Steve does not ring true [music] for those who
01:11:01
loved him. Ilana Ianova was Steve's girlfriend for almost 3 years before meeting Lana.
01:11:09
>> Was he ever abusive toward [music] you verbally? >> Never. >> Or physically? >> Never. He was nothing close to being
01:11:18
abusive. This is completely made up. Everybody who knew him knew how generous and loving and kind he is. His former
01:11:27
[music] partners shared similar sentiments about the abuse claims. >> They did not believe them. Some of them
01:11:33
still considered him to be the love of their life. >> And what about that bizarre crossbow
01:11:39
shooting incident back in 2016. Lana changed her story, admitting it was no accident.
01:11:47
>> I was trying to protect myself >> from him cuz he was, you know, coming at me. and I had picked up the crossbow and
01:11:54
turned and I just shot it at him. >> Nick French and [music] Chris Fagan didn't learn of the crossbow story until
01:12:02
after Steve's death. They don't believe Lana was defending herself. >> Nick, what do you think of that story?
01:12:10
>> Unofficially, >> do you think that was an attempted murder? >> Absolutely. I think it was. Yeah,
01:12:15
>> we think that was her first attempt at her first at doing this. After Lena's devastating [music] interrogation,
01:12:22
investigators left her at the mansion to prepare an arrest warrant. That's when she attempted suicide.
01:12:30
>> She took some pills [music] and turned the gas on. She left notes indicating that she felt bad about poisoning her
01:12:37
husband and that she couldn't live with herself. >> A neighbor went to the house that
01:12:41
morning and called for help. >> She was treated briefly at the hospital and taken into custody at that point.
01:12:50
Brackett had developed a dripby [music] drip theory of this ey drop crime. She incapacitated [music]
01:12:59
him with a smaller amount and then gradually ramped it up until the fatal dose. >> That would explain why Steve was
01:13:06
bedridden for 3 days prior to his death. Brackett theorizes that Steve may have somehow attempted an escape.
01:13:16
>> He might have gotten a surge of adrenaline. realizing that he was very very sick and he needed help and he
01:13:21
tried to go for help and made it as far as the bottom of the stairs where he died.
01:13:27
>> Couldn't call for help. His phone could not be found after he died. >> On August 31st, 2018, more than a month
01:13:37
after Steve's death, Lana Clayton was formally charged with murder. I think Lana Clayton had several million
01:13:46
reasons why she wanted her husband dead. >> You're talking about millions of dollars.
01:13:52
>> Exactly. Right. >> Steve's family [music] speculates Lana started planning Steve's death back in
01:13:58
2016 when [music] Lana convinced him to move from North Carolina to the mansion in South Carolina. It was important for
01:14:06
her to be in South Carolina and I think I was able to put some puzzle pieces together after the fact.
01:14:12
>> She was married to a very wealthy man and if that man were to die in the absence of a will then he would die in
01:14:20
testate which under South Carolina law leaves her inheriting the entire estate. >> And remember Lana insisted there was no
01:14:29
will. Chris recalls she became agitated when he asked her about it the day Steve
01:14:34
died. >> She stands up, she turns, looks me right in the eye, and says, "There is no
01:14:39
will." Just like that. >> Chris is certain Lana destroyed the will in a fire the neighbors saw her start
01:14:46
[music] the day after Steve's death. >> My personal opinion is that's the first thing that she burned.
01:14:52
>> This is the fire hit Peter. his whole life in in paper was burned right here.
01:15:06
>> About 3 weeks after Lana's arrest, there was another [music] suspicious death
01:15:12
just 12 miles away in Mount Holly, North Carolina. >> The method of killing in that case was
01:15:18
the same as ours, a poisoning with THC. >> With eye drops. >> With eye drops. >> Yes. For investigators, it seemed like
01:15:27
deja vu. >> Our office was consulted on that because it happened in such close proximity.
01:15:32
It's very possible that uh the suspect in that case heard about our case down here, uh saw it on the news.
01:15:39
>> 32-year-old Stacy [music] Hunucker, a mother of two young children, was found
01:15:44
dead by her husband, Joshua Hunucker. Just like in the Clayton case, her cause of death was initially ruled a heart
01:15:52
attack. Shortly after Stacy died, he collected almost $250,000 from two life insurance policies taken
01:16:01
out on her behalf. And that apparently didn't sit right with Stacy's mother. >> We got involved because Stacy's mother
01:16:09
contacted us with the possible [music] insurance fraud. Who would ever guess that a insurance fraud investigation
01:16:18
[music] could lead to a full-blown murder investigation? They were [music] high school
01:16:39
sweethearts. They had two children together. >> Stacy and Josh Hunucker had been married
01:16:46
for eight years before her tragic death from an apparent heart attack. Stacy had
01:16:52
suffered from heart problems and had a pacemaker. >> Stacy was a parallegal at one time and
01:16:58
then was a preschool teacher. He was a paramedic, a flight medic actually at Atrium Health, the major hospital system
01:17:05
in the Charlotte area. >> Reporter Christy O' Conor says Josh's actions after Stacy's passing raised
01:17:12
eyebrows. >> I never saw him sad ever. In fact, babysitter Kayn Macdonald, who looked after the couple's children after
01:17:23
Stacy's death, says Josh was dating a coworker, Jennifer Elkins. >> He was happy with his new girlfriend.
01:17:30
[music] Very happy. And it was always about Jen. >> For Stacy's mother, Susie Robinson, that
01:17:37
was a red flag. Another one was when she learned just 48 hours after Stacy's death, Josh started the process of
01:17:45
collecting $250,000 in two life insurance policies. Susie called the North Carolina Department of
01:17:54
Insurance to investigate. >> Had it not been for Susie, we may not have any of this murder investigation.
01:18:02
>> Mike Cosy is the commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Insurance. His agents got involved in Stacy's case
01:18:10
in May 2019. >> It was referred to our criminal investigations division. Initial reports
01:18:17
from the local police department had it a natural death heart attack. >> But Stacy's body had been cremated at
01:18:25
the request of her husband. No autopsy. >> No autopsy. Joshua actually did not want
01:18:31
an autopsy done because he didn't want her cut up. But the agents got a huge break when they discovered Stacy was an
01:18:39
organ donor and a vial of blood had been collected and stored before she was cremated. That blood was sent out for a
01:18:47
toxicology screening. >> There was traces of some poison, specifically THZ, a common chemical
01:18:56
that's used in eye drops to get the red out. >> In the Hunsucker case, have you given
01:19:01
authorities there some advice based on your experience here? Yes, that the presence of the tetrahydroylene
01:19:08
uh in the concentration that was reported warranted further investigation. >> They ended up accusing him of poisoning
01:19:14
her with tetrahydroine. >> On December 19th, 2019, 15 months after Stacy's death, Hunucker was charged with
01:19:23
her murder. His attorney says the allegations will be [music] strenuously opposed. He is free on bail. $100,000
01:19:33
secure. >> Experts fear homicidal poisonings [music] have been going undetected because their symptoms can mimic natural
01:19:42
illness and labs don't routinely screen for them. >> Do you think that this drug should be
01:19:47
part of a basic screen in a toxicology test? >> Yes. >> Do you feel the same way?
01:19:54
>> Yes. Because it is so innocuous. It's odorless. It's tasteless. Anybody can buy it. In a statement, Johnson and
01:20:01
Johnson, the makers of Visine, said they are quote devastated that anyone would use our product for such an abhorrent
01:20:10
act. And quote, "Visine is clearly labeled for external use only and should never be swallowed."
01:20:19
In Lana Clayton's case, she decided to plead guilty to tampering with food and drugs and voluntary manslaughter. who
01:20:28
would like to apologize to Steven's family. >> She continued to insist she never meant
01:20:33
to kill him. >> I did impulsively put the visine in Steven's drink, and I did it with the
01:20:39
intent to make him sick and uncomfortable. >> Her defense team painted Lana as a
01:20:44
victim who suffered from PTSD stemming from [music] sexual abuse in her past. So their claims were that she was
01:20:54
sexually assaulted throughout her youth and that went unreported to authorities.
01:20:59
Then when she went into the US Air Force, her defense team says that she was raped by three servicemen.
01:21:06
>> But that alleged assault also wasn't reported. Lana told the court it was Steve's treatment of her that made her
01:21:14
snap. >> I was upset about the abuse and just wanted him to leave me alone. >> [snorts]
01:21:20
>> I never thought it would kill him. I had never heard of him being deadly. >> I told the judge I knew it had to be
01:21:27
very difficult to see someone who looks so frail, so gentle, so quiet and meek, and think that that [music] person could
01:21:36
be a a cold-blooded murderer. >> What a tangle web wee weave. Miss Clayton, you sure have tangled this one up. On
01:21:47
January 16th, [music] 2020, Judge Burch sentenced Lana Clayton to 25 years in [music] prison.
01:21:55
>> I didn't think it was enough. My brother was my world. He was the center of my
01:21:59
world. >> She stole [music] an amazing man from a lot of people that loved him. >> There's a huge hole in everyone that
01:22:07
knew Steve, and I think that that hole will be there for the rest of our lives. Lana Clayton declined our request for an
01:22:15
[music] interview, writing in an email, "It's been a long journey for me, and it
01:22:20
hasn't been easy coming to terms with Steven's death. I'm now at peace." And as for Steve's loved ones, they are
01:22:28
struggling with their loss. >> None of us can ever be made whole because Steven is gone.
01:22:35
>> Rosie prays the mother of Stacy Hansucker may find peace. We have a saying in Spanish that says lasyama,
01:22:44
which means the blood cries out for justice. I would like to one day meet the mother
01:22:52
of that precious girl that was killed using the same method cuz I do believe her daughter's blood was crying out for
01:23:00
justice, too. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] [music]
01:24:20
>> This is a story that has obviously shaken Colorado. It's stunned the world. >> A Colorado dentist accused of poisoning
01:24:29
his wife's protein shakes was charged today with her murder. >> You have got to be effing kidding me.
01:24:34
That guy was my dentist. >> Hi, I'm Dr. Jim Craig. >> You just don't see stories like this.
01:24:39
Maybe in a Hollywood bad script. >> 45-year-old James Craig is accused of putting arsenic and cyanide in her
01:24:47
protein shakes. He's allegedly ordering potassium cyanide and arsenic online. You have [music] got to be kidding me.
01:24:57
Jim and Angela Craig seemingly had everything. Successful dental practice, [music] beautiful large family. They
01:25:04
seemingly to me were in love. >> Investigators say he researched poisons [music] in the days leading up to his
01:25:11
wife's death. >> I couldn't believe the allegations. I couldn't believe the story. [music]
01:25:15
I couldn't believe the mug shot. There's my dentist. A mug shot. >> Good afternoon, Colorado. I'm Stefan
01:25:22
Tubs. >> I'm a talk show host here in Denver. >> Late breaking news this afternoon.
01:25:27
>> I was told by several people, you got to do a podcast on this. People want to
01:25:32
know. So, we started a podcast called Arsenic DDS. >> Welcome to the first episode of this
01:25:40
series. >> I'd like the truth. Another new development. >> Like to know why Jim Craig is an
01:25:47
innocent man until proven guilty. If the allegations are true, why did my former
01:25:51
dentist kill his wife? >> Her symptoms: [music] dizziness, blurred vision, headache, slowed responsiveness.
01:25:58
What does that tell you? [music] >> Yeah, that's really worrisome. >> I'm Dr. Jeff Leo. I'm a emergency
01:26:05
physician and toxicologist. [music] Arsenic will be absorbed very rapidly and you would probably start getting
01:26:11
sick pretty quick. >> What about potassium cyanide? [music] >> Cyanide is one of the most effective
01:26:16
poisons. You're being suffocated on a cellular level. [music] >> Angela Craig is getting sicker and
01:26:24
sicker and sicker and sicker and she'd she'd quickly be declared brain dead. Dr. Jim Craig is
01:26:37
accused [music] of premeditated first-degree murder in the poisoning death of his wife, Angela.
01:26:45
>> There does seem like there's substantial evidence in the case. The arrest warrant
01:26:48
was 52 pages long. I'm Skylazaro. I'm a criminal defense lawyer. The spouse is a
01:26:55
very easy target. >> He's entered a plea of not guilty. >> Maybe he's the most convenient person to
01:27:02
look at. If I'm the defense on this, you go after the state and you say you didn't go look at things you should have
01:27:08
looked at. >> He [music] administered allegedly the poison via her protein shakes.
01:27:14
>> The state hasn't presented you any evidence [music] that the poison was actually in the
01:27:18
drink. You can't show that he did it. >> I wouldn't say this is a slam dunk case.
01:27:25
There's no motive here. What is the motive? >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music]
01:28:18
>> Under that vast rocky mountain sky on March 18th, 2023 in the Denver suburb of
01:28:25
Aurora, Angela Craig died. Just days later, former radio personality Stephan Tubs began his
01:28:34
podcast about the sensational case and the unimaginable news. >> I want to personally [music] send our
01:28:42
condolences to the friends and family of Angela Craig, just 43 years old. She passed away, declared brain dead. And
01:28:51
not lost on me is the fact that this family has been temporarily destroyed. Jim Craig had been almost immediately
01:28:59
charged with the first-degree murder of his wife, Angela. He has pleaded not guilty. The story of the dentist, his
01:29:07
wife, and the allegedly poisoned shakes would be told around the world. >> Come on, a dentist
01:29:15
allegedly ordering potassium cyanide and arsenic. Really? But it was all as painfully real as a
01:29:26
dentist drill. Dr. Craig and Angela Craig were just like two peas in a pod. The two of them
01:29:37
in the office was cute cuz they would play pranks on each other all day long. >> Chelsea Toya got to know Jim and Angela
01:29:44
when she worked for Dr. Craig at Summerbrook Dental. They seemed like the [music] perfect couple
01:29:50
>> until, according to Colorado cops, James took his shot at the perfect crime. >> Investigators say he researched poisons
01:29:58
in the days leading up to his wife's death. >> The idea that the dentist stood accused
01:30:03
of murdering Angela, his wife of 23 years, seemed incomprehensible because the Craigs seemed so close.
01:30:12
It just was heartbreaking for everyone and I felt bad. >> My name is Dr. Jim Craig and I practice
01:30:20
at Summerbrook Dental Group. >> Coming up on our left, the former home of Summerbrook Dental.
01:30:26
>> Is it this one over here? >> It's that one right there. Yeah. >> For Tubs, this office building, once
01:30:31
home to Summerbrook, has become a tragic touchstone. >> The last time that I had eye contact
01:30:37
with Dr. Jim Craig, he gave me a root canal. I thought he was a great guy. I got
01:30:43
incredibly competent, friendly care. He was a family man. We talked about his family, his kids. I I met his wife.
01:30:54
>> Angela was the heart and soul of that family, mother to their six children, and a hands-on partner in what seemed
01:31:03
like a thriving business. >> She was not somebody just to sit there and and stay [music] quiet. She was
01:31:09
engaged in the dental practice. She was somebody who was talking about ideas and
01:31:15
their marketing, their message. Tubs helped refine that message, working on some of Summerbrook's advertising. He
01:31:22
witnessed how those two P's in a pod work side by side with Angela pitching in as one of Jim's office managers.
01:31:31
>> I thought it was kind of cool. You know, you've got a husband and wife, huge [music] family. I thought it was it was
01:31:36
great to see a small Colorado business operated by, you know, husband and wife. >> Welcome to our third edition of this
01:31:47
podcast. >> Tub's podcast. We delve into the disturbing details of Angela's medical
01:31:52
journey, how and why she was allegedly murdered. That account from police is contained in this 52page arrest warrant.
01:32:01
In nearly 34 years of being a newsman, the most unbelievable and seemingly thorough arrest affidavit [music]
01:32:10
I have ever read. >> The warrant alleges that James has shown the planning and intent to end his
01:32:17
wife's life by searching for ways to kill someone undetected. >> This was not the James Craig that I
01:32:25
knew. >> Dentistry can be expensive. [music] Dentistry can be scary. Dentistry could
01:32:31
be uncomfortable. >> The James Craig Aurora new was on display that March 6, 2023, the day
01:32:38
Angela's Odyssey began. Jim was at Somerbrook when Angela texted from home. "My eyes don't want to focus," she
01:32:46
texted. "I feel drugged." And Jim headed right home. He picked up Angela and drove to the ER
01:32:55
at Parker Adventist Hospital. She reported feeling dizzy and weak. Doctors fast went to work. She ends up going
01:33:03
into the hospital first time. It was March 6th. Is that correct? >> That's right. March 6 was her first time
01:33:07
into the hospital. >> At the time, George Brockler was another force in Colorado talk radio.
01:33:14
>> This is the George Show. I'll be with you. >> He is also the former elected district
01:33:17
attorney for Arapjo County where Angela lived and would die, rattling this community.
01:33:24
>> This is a huge story. Like Stefan Tubs, Brockler has immersed himself in the details of Angela's final days, a
01:33:33
desperate two-week ordeal. But on that March 6th, as the [music] hours passed in the ER, there were lots
01:33:40
of questions, but few answers. >> They really didn't have a good answer for what she was going through, and they
01:33:47
end up uh releasing her and sending her home. >> Home where Angela appeared to think she
01:33:54
was safe in her marriage. At least that's how she sounded in messages the couple sent each other. With Angela now
01:34:01
home, recuperating from her ER visit, >> there were texts that would suggest a very supportive, loving relationship.
01:34:09
>> Jim texts, "I love you. It was so nice hanging out with you and just watching a
01:34:14
show and snuggling." Angela texts Jim, "Hi, baby. I love your face." Back home, the busy couple picked up the
01:34:23
daily routine that sustained them. >> Jim and Angela apparently worked out in the morning. They worked out together.
01:34:29
And one of the things that Jim did for his wife was to prepare her a protein shake. It was an absolute routine. This
01:34:35
was just part of the normal day. >> Jim texts, "I'll need to ask what you're hungry for and bring it to you. I'm kind
01:34:41
of feeling just a smoothie or something." "I'm not feeling anything," Angela replies. "Don't bring anything.
01:34:48
I'll eat something here. Within 24 hours, Angela's symptoms came back fast and strong. She headed back to
01:34:58
Parker Adventist. This time, she would be admitted. >> The doctors and nurses are trying.
01:35:04
They're conducting tests. They just cannot figure out what is ailing this relatively normal and healthy
01:35:13
43-year-old woman. All the steps that the doctors and medical staff had taken seemed to not be
01:35:20
working was a real mystery. There was nothing [music] that would be even remotely a red flag
01:35:52
or this is a rocky troubled marriage. None of that at all. >> With Angela still terribly sick, in
01:36:02
March of 2023, she was back at Parker Adventist a second time, now as an admitted patient. According to the
01:36:10
warrant, during her stay, Angela texted her husband, Jim, "Now I'm hungry." And he texted back later that he was
01:36:17
bringing food, writing, "Okay, I got you." >> Of the loving husband who wants to see
01:36:23
his wife remain healthy. >> That arrest warrant contains numerous texts detailing how as Angela was
01:36:30
hospitalized, Jim went back and forth from their home to her bedside to Somerbrook. a husband seemingly
01:36:38
supporting his wife and caring for their kids. >> He's continuing to go to work, and I
01:36:43
don't begrudge him for that. He's got a family of six kids. >> And the warrant would show that apparent
01:36:49
trust that Angela placed in Jim, how she reached out to him to share her symptoms, texting, I'm cold, super
01:36:57
tired, weak, shaky, and dizzy. And Jim sent [music] compassionate texts to Angela. I love you and miss you and
01:37:06
I'm so worried. I wish you were healthy enough to come home tonight and snuggle me.
01:37:18
>> Angela Craig was so sick. >> It seemed that all her symptoms had returned. >> She had horrible headaches, horrible
01:37:28
[snorts] nausea. She was dizzy and doctors were at a loss. were struggling to figure out what
01:37:34
in the hell is causing this? What is making her sick? >> And they just could not get an answer.
01:37:41
>> As Angela stayed in the hospital without a diagnosis, Jim Craig was in touch with
01:37:46
his friends Michelle and Ryan Redern, a fellow dentist. Ryan had recently become
01:37:52
business partners with Jim. He would later tell police. >> Ryan Redfern went to dental school with
01:37:58
Jim Craig all those 20 plus years ago. He'd known him all that time. He was a close confidant.
01:38:03
>> And with Angela so sick, according to the warrant, Jim also texted with Ryan's
01:38:09
wife, Michelle Redford, trained as a nurse. What were they texting about? >> The texts were really the kinds of
01:38:15
things you would exchange with someone who's another medical professional. I mean, he was talking about blood
01:38:20
pressure. He was talking about concerns the doctors had expressed about symptomology that should have resolved
01:38:26
by now. But one of Jim's texts, in retrospect, seemed odd, as it appeared he was making light of Angela's
01:38:33
mysterious illness. >> Jim Craig texts Michelle Redern, quote, "If it wasn't my wife, this would be
01:38:42
kind of a fun puzzle to try to work out." exclamation point. Who says that? Still, a bad joke in times of crisis
01:38:55
isn't unusual, says former DA Brockler. >> Everybody reacts to trauma differently.
01:39:01
>> And James Craig seemed worried. It had been four hectic days since Angela was
01:39:06
admitted. 1:00 a.m. in the desolate hospital corridors. Police say Jim told others he was
01:39:22
sleeping on a stool next to Angela when her vital signs crashed. Doctors responded through the night.
01:39:33
>> I have thought about every agonizing minute that Angela Craig was in. >> [music]
01:39:46
>> But over the next day, Angela seemed to stabilize. And on March 14th, still with no answers
01:39:54
as to why she was sick, Angela was released from Parker for a second time. Once again, Angela came home to her
01:40:04
husband of 23 years. But she wouldn't be home for long. Within a day, she started feeling sick
01:40:14
again. So on March 15th, she was admitted to nearby University Hospital. There would be more tubes and tests and
01:40:27
monitors. Jim was soon by her side. >> They had no idea what was wrong with her.
01:40:35
>> Police say Jim didn't stay long at first. Within half an hour, he drove home from the hospital. Then about an
01:40:43
hour and a half later, he returned carrying food. Cops say he then went into Angela's room
01:40:50
alone. Soon after, Angela had a seizure and once again, her vital signs crashed.
01:41:00
>> It was critical. >> Jim Craig took these photos of Angela as hospital staff tried to save her.
01:41:08
Angela, once so full of life, was put on life support. What medical staff didn't know at the
01:41:23
time was that days earlier, a package had reportedly arrived at Jim Craig's office.
01:41:30
Authorities say what was in the package ordered by Jim Craig himself would become key evidence in this case. Craig
01:41:38
allegedly told a staff member that he would be receiving a personal package and not to open it.
01:41:48
Jim Craig had said don't [music] open this package. Somebody did. She sees the words potassium cyanide.
01:41:55
Why are we getting potassium cyanide to a Colorado dentist's [music] office? Angela Craig was on life support
01:42:22
fighting to survive. Jim Craig [music] texted the photos he took to Michelle Redford, writing,
01:42:29
"Crash intubated." Doc says she's very, very worried. Michelle and Ryan raced to
01:42:36
the hospital. Ryan would later tell police he watched as Jim Craig broke down. [music] He saw
01:42:45
Craig crying after speaking to doctors about Angela's prognosis. Yep. He did say he saw him crying afterwards.
01:42:53
>> But according to police, Ryan Redford was far from convinced those tears were
01:42:58
real. That's because on his way to the hospital, he had gotten a call from a staff member at the office. The call was
01:43:05
to alert Redford about that package marked potassium cyanide that had arrived at Somerbrook Dental, allegedly
01:43:14
addressed and later given to Jim Craig. And there's the dominoes that are now falling one after the other.
01:43:22
>> Ryan Redern led the way. >> He does what any other normal person would do. >> According to police, while Angela was on
01:43:28
life support, Ryan tells a nurse that Jim Craig recently ordered potassium cyanide, adding that there was no
01:43:36
medical reason or purpose to order potassium cyanide for a dental practice. The nurse being a mandatory reporter
01:43:44
calls Aurora police and I mean it's like that within 5 hours probably even less there is a member of the homicide unit
01:43:51
with Aurora PD at University Hospital. >> Cops started asking questions. Then according to the warrant, Ryan received
01:43:59
a call from James personal cell phone. >> Tell me about that phone call. >> I think Ryan and his wife are in the
01:44:06
parking lot of the hospital when Jim calls them. According to police, Jim asked Ryan if he had said anything to
01:44:12
the hospital staff. Ryan confirmed that he had and told Jim that he knew what Jim had ordered. And Jim replied that
01:44:22
the package was a ring for Angela and that he wanted to surprise her. >> And Ryan says, "It's not a ring. We know
01:44:30
what was in there." I mean, this is a testament to Ryan Redford. >> A decadesl long friendship was about to
01:44:36
be tested. then shattered. This tale was once again told in a text revealed in that warrant as the next
01:44:45
morning, James Craig pleaded with his pal [music] and partner texting in part, "I want to make an urgent plea to you.
01:44:52
Please don't talk to anyone, including any law enforcement officers. You are under no obligation to answer their
01:44:59
questions unless you are served a subpoena and you will do more damage than good to my family by continuing to
01:45:06
insert yourself into this. >> How damning is that text in itself? >> I'm trying to think of all the innocent
01:45:15
applications of the phrase, "Please don't talk to the police." I can't come up with any. It's a desperate effort to
01:45:20
try to keep Ryan from cooperating any farther with law enforcement. But if that's what he was trying to do, it was
01:45:27
too late. Police had already launched their investigation. On March 18th, 2023, Angela was taken off life support.
01:45:43
Friend, wife, mother of six, Angela Craig was dead. I was in complete shock and complete
01:45:55
disbelief. In my head, I'm like, "This is crazy. It's not true." I thought maybe it was an accident.
01:46:05
But investigators didn't think so. Just hours after Angela died, Dr. James Craig would be arrested and charged with
01:46:16
the firstdegree murder of his wife, Angela. [music] There's my dentist. A mug shot.
01:46:24
>> James Craig [music] would plead not guilty. >> Months later, Angela's autopsy would be
01:46:31
released. That autopsy states Angela died from a lethal concentration of cyanide and a lethal concentration of
01:46:39
tetrahydroylene, the chemical found in some eye drops. And it says that Angela had toxic
01:46:46
concentrations of arsenic in her blood in those two earlier hospital visits. >> To think about what Angela Craig
01:46:56
endured, this woman was in agony dying for so long. Just a week before Angela got sick, according to the warrant, Jim
01:47:09
Craig set up a new email account using the alias Jim and Waffles and used it to research multiple poisons, all part of
01:47:18
his plan, according to investigators, to murder Angela. >> One particular Google search, how many
01:47:26
grams of pure arsenic will kill a human? Craig investigators say also found these
01:47:33
videos >> popular for many reasons. We have cyanide >> with titles like top five undetectable
01:47:40
poisons that show no sign of foul play. >> Arsenic is virtually undetectable. >> And police say on the same day he did
01:47:49
that online research, James Craig made a purchase arsenic and had it delivered straight to his family's mailbox. I
01:47:58
think he legitimately believed that he would be able to poison his wife. She would die. He would have her cremated
01:48:04
and then they'd move on. >> Poison. Some call it the recipe for a perfect crime. A silent invisible
01:48:12
killer. No blood, no gun, no fingerprints. Even doctors can have a hard time spotting it.
01:48:20
>> It's a pretty rare medical subsp specialty. >> Dr. Dr. Jeff Le Point is the director of
01:48:24
the division of medical toxicology at San Diego's Kaiser Permanente Hospital. >> If it's a poison or a venom,
01:48:31
>> that's what we specialize. >> You're that guy. >> Yeah. >> So, we asked him and Dr. Le Point
01:48:36
focused in on the alleged actions of James Craig and the final days of Angela's life. He reviewed the arrest
01:48:44
warrant for us and some of the deadly drugs it lists. >> Let's start with arsenic.
01:48:49
>> Okay. Um, yeah, arsenic is a very famous poison. It's uh not detectable by taste
01:48:54
or odor. >> Dr. Le Point says Angela's symptoms in those first two hospital visits are
01:49:00
consistent with arsenic poisoning. >> Nausea and vomiting, >> lower blood pressure, higher blood
01:49:06
pressure, >> generally lower. >> How much would kill a person? >> It does not take very much.
01:49:10
>> But police say there was more. A week after he purchased that arsenic, they allege Craig, as Jim and Waffles, went
01:49:19
back online. He ordered a second poison. Beguiling and beautiful. Oleandrin. What
01:49:27
is that? >> So oleandrin is a toxin found in oleander. >> I'm thinking of those white flowers.
01:49:32
>> Yeah, they're really beautiful. >> Yeah. >> As lovely as a rose, only deadly.
01:49:37
>> It prevents the heart from beating very efficiently. >> But after 3 days, the oleandrin hadn't
01:49:43
been delivered. That's when investigators say Jim Craig up the ante. Cops say he placed this order with the
01:49:50
medical supply company for his strongest toxin yet, potassium cyanide. >> Sin's one of the most effective poisons
01:50:00
that exist. >> Just a micro dose could kill you then. >> Yeah. A very small amount per kilogram
01:50:05
and you're you're not going to live. When you are poisoned with cyanide, you're being suffocated on a cellular
01:50:13
level. It's a very potent poison. your victim would die very rapidly. >> Cyanide is so deadly that you need a
01:50:21
medical license to buy it. >> My name is Dr. Jim Craig. >> And police say that when Dr. James Craig
01:50:28
placed his order from a medical supply company. He stated he needed it for a complex dental procedure.
01:50:36
>> There's no use for potassium cyanide in my practice or I can't think of uh many
01:50:41
medical practices. So, a dentist ordering arsenic, potassium cyanide, and oleandrin. What does that suggest to
01:50:48
you? >> Someone is trying to collect poison. >> But this father and husband would offer
01:50:54
a very different story about why he wanted those deadly poisons. Detectives suspected Jim Craig had
01:51:17
bought all those poisons to kill his wife. But they wanted to know why. They would find a lead miles away from Aurora
01:51:26
on a trip Jim Craig made and a woman he met just before Angela got sick. >> Doesn't it just always seem like there's
01:51:33
another woman involved? Always. Almost always. [music] What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
01:51:43
It's a rule of the road there. But investigators allege it is yet one more rule James Craig didn't think he had to
01:51:51
play by when he met Karen Kaine. >> Karen Kaine, an orthodontist from Austin, Texas. She meets Jim Craig at a
01:52:00
dental conference in Las Vegas. >> It was February 23rd, a week and a half before Angela Craig first went to the
01:52:09
hospital. The doctor was traveling alone and he rolled the dice. >> They strike up a relationship. They hit
01:52:16
it off. It's a whirlwind. >> A few weeks later, according to the warrant, Karen Kaine would fly to
01:52:24
Colorado and rendevu in this hotel with James Craig. He would use that newly created email, Jim and Waffles, to flirt
01:52:33
with her. >> It's not illegal to have affairs. Sky Lazaro is an experienced defense
01:52:38
attorney familiar with cases involving poison. James Craig and his attorney declined our request for an interview.
01:52:46
Lazaro reviewed the case against Jim Craig for 48 hours and she identified potential weaknesses.
01:52:53
>> Is it reasonable that that you would kill your wife to be with someone that you had had a 10day relationship with?
01:53:02
The common defense strategy is affairs do not make a murderer. >> Right? One doesn't automatically mean
01:53:10
you did the other. >> At the time she visited Jim in Colorado, Karen Kaine did seem to know Angela was
01:53:19
very sick and in the hospital. In fact, she had sent a concerned email to Jim. It read in part, "Hi, honey. I am so
01:53:27
sorry for what has transpired [music] this week in your world. I am praying for you and seeking God's wisdom for
01:53:34
this time. I love you. But there is no evidence to suggest Karen Kaine [music] knew anything more.
01:53:41
>> Nothing that I have seen gives any indication that she knew that Jim was trying to kill his wife.
01:53:48
>> And according to investigators, Jim Craig lied to Karen, telling her that he [music] filed for divorce and was living
01:53:55
separate in an apartment. He gives the standard male typical I'm going through a divorce. No, he's not.
01:54:07
>> And a detective said she told them her relationship with Jim was intimate but
01:54:12
not sexual. Karen Kaine sent 48 hours an email writing, "I had absolutely nothing
01:54:19
to do with this horrific crime and my heart is absolutely broken for Angela Craig and her family." and she says she
01:54:27
is cooperating fully with the police and prosecution. >> Karen Kaine met the wrong guy at the
01:54:34
wrong time. She didn't know anything. [music] >> Tubs and Brockler imply maybe no one
01:54:40
knew anything about who Jim Craig really was. His pristine image, loving [music]
01:54:46
parent, church member, dedicated husband, now all being questioned. [music] And as cops continue to
01:54:54
investigate, another possible motive emerged. >> One of the things that surprised me in
01:55:02
this story is the financial duress that Summerbrook Dentl was under. [music] >> In fact, Jim Craig's business had filed
01:55:13
for bankruptcy in 2020. Shortly after, his then friend Ryan Redern signed on as a partner. financial
01:55:22
problems. >> Financial problems. >> He was way in over his head then in debt. >> Way in over his head.
01:55:28
>> And at a preliminary hearing in 2023, prosecutors argued that Jim Craig had about 3.4 million reasons to kill his
01:55:38
wife, the value of Angela's life insurance. >> Jim had liabilities in excess of $2
01:55:44
million, and we know that from some of the bankruptcy filings. But Lazaro says she's not convinced those financial
01:55:51
problems give James Craig a motive for murder. >> Is this sort of the the portrait [music]
01:55:57
of a desperate man? >> Not necessarily. We see businesses go through bankruptcy all the time and come
01:56:03
out the other side. [music] >> And as for any poisons he may have ordered, Lazaro states those purchases
01:56:11
may not even be illegal. >> He can legitimately purchase it cuz he has a DEA number. as a doctor, as a
01:56:18
dentist. Right. >> Right. Just having it isn't murder. >> Administering it. Right. [music]
01:56:26
>> But according to the arrest paperwork, Jim Craig might have thought he had that
01:56:30
figured out, too. Authorities say he could have slipped the poison into one of those protein shakes he so often
01:56:39
made. >> The morning routine at home, for example. >> Yeah. On that morning of March 15th, the day
01:56:47
Angela Craig would finally crash before she was taken to the hospital, she was home with Jim. Investigators say that's
01:56:55
when he may have made her one of those protein shakes and laced it with potassium cyanide.
01:57:02
>> It is tasteless. It is odorless. It is colorless. It is really hidable inside
01:57:08
something like a shake >> and highly lethal. That's >> highly lethal. But attorney Lazaro counters the
01:57:15
evidence may not be there. She has reviewed [music] the transcripts from that July 2023 preliminary hearing and
01:57:23
says there's nothing there that shows Jim Craig put poison in Angela's shakes. >> They went and tested everything in the
01:57:31
house and didn't find [music] any trace evidence of there being arsenic or cyanide or anything in the protein
01:57:38
powder in the protein bottles. The state hasn't presented you any evidence that the poison was actually in the drink.
01:57:45
>> And Mazaro says the defense can paint a picture of Jim Craig as a kind and attentive partner.
01:57:52
>> Jim's text messages to Angela are extremely loving and extremely caring. He repeatedly asks her how she's doing.
01:58:00
He tells her he loves her. >> So, if Jim Craig didn't poison his wife, who did? Craig had a story to tell about
01:58:07
that. Go behind the scenes with the 48 hours post-mortem podcast. [music] Welcome to the first episode of
01:58:29
>> As Stefan Tubs reported on his podcast, there may be another story to tell about
01:58:34
Jim Craig and what happened to Angela. The story wasn't about murder. It was about suicide.
01:58:42
>> Craig says [music] to the business partner on the phone, she was just playing chicken.
01:58:48
[music] >> According to the warrant, when Ryan Redford confronted Jim about the cyanide, [music] Jim allegedly said that
01:58:55
Angela asked him to order it for her, that it was all a dare, kind of a deadly game of chicken. According to Jim Craig,
01:59:04
she's [music] been threatening suicide. And this game of chicken is now, are you
01:59:10
going to are you going to take it? >> But according to that 52page warrant, none of Angela's family members told
01:59:18
police she was suicidal. A more likely argument for the defense, says attorney Lazaro, is that Jim Craig had been
01:59:26
looking for cyanide, not to kill Angela, but to kill himself. There was some statements that he in fact was suicidal,
01:59:37
not her. [snorts] >> At that preliminary hearing in 2023, Jim Craig's defense team said Jim had spoken
01:59:43
to a friend about his own past plans to die by suicide and that Dr. Craig had made a statement to that friend that he
01:59:52
was going to die by suicide [music] with something that was not traceable. The defense pointed out that Jim
01:59:58
suffered from depression and went to counseling in the past. And as the defense indicated, Jim told
02:00:06
Angela at one point that he had actually drugged her years earlier when he had tried to kill himself, hoping that while
02:00:14
she was drugged, she wouldn't be able to stop him. It sounds like there had been
02:00:20
something that he had tried before with her. >> That he had drugged her so that she
02:00:27
would fall asleep, so that he could go essentially kill himself. And she wouldn't be there to render any aid or
02:00:35
call for help. [music] And remember when Angela first started feeling sick and she texted Jim, "I feel drugged."
02:00:42
Craig's [music] defense points out that he texted back, "Given our history, I know that must be triggering. Just for
02:00:49
the record, I didn't drug you." The defense said this text supports the story of Jim [music] Craig's past
02:00:57
depression and suicide attempts. But Lazaro says it's unlikely the defense would try to tell a jury that
02:01:06
Jim and Angela were both trying to die by suicide. You have to pick one at some point and it's either she's suicidal or
02:01:15
that he's [music] suicidal and this is why he bought the drugs. >> But perhaps the most compelling evidence
02:01:23
authorities say they have is what [music] Angela Craig left behind in her own blood. That autopsy revealed
02:01:31
something investigators find remarkable. The levels of cyanide in Angela's body [music] actually increased while she was
02:01:40
in the hospital on that final day. The possible implication. [music] Tubs wonders if prosecutors will contend
02:01:50
[music] Craig gave his wife more poison in the hospital. >> If the allegations are true, this is
02:01:56
about as cruel as it gets. Period. Jim Craig's defense has hired its own toxicologist.
02:02:04
And come his trial for murder, Sky Lazaro says Jim Craig, innocent until proven guilty, may himself be portrayed
02:02:13
as a victim of cops too eager to make a fast arrest. >> It's essentially a three-day
02:02:19
investigation. >> Jim Craig's quick arrest, she says, could be a weakness for the state.
02:02:26
You decided from the get-go that this had to be poisoning. This was the foregone conclusion. So, you never went
02:02:33
and looked for anything else. [music] And as for that idea that poison might be the key to someone trying to commit
02:02:41
the perfect crime, toxicologist [music] Dr. Jeff Le Point says that is just plain wrong.
02:02:49
>> You're going to get caught. >> That's an important [music] message. >> Yeah, very. There are ways that these
02:02:54
will be traced and you will be found. >> You will be found. >> And while Angela's friends and family
02:03:05
are waiting for their day in court, they are left with photographs and their memories.
02:03:12
Three of Jim and Angela's six children are living with Jim Craig's brother. The other three are now adults living on
02:03:19
their own, including their daughter, Meera. [music] On Mother's Day 2023, Meera wrote this on social media. As of
02:03:28
tomorrow, my mom will be two months gone. I haven't the words to express the heartache my siblings and I feel every
02:03:37
day. >> There's no words. You know, the whole situation is just traumatic. >> This will all end. The lights will come
02:03:54
down and the cameras leave. 30 years from now, [music] those kids who are in their teens right now still will be
02:04:00
without a mom. >> Meera's last words in that post, "I love you so much, mama. We miss you.
02:04:22
Two gruesome murders unsolved. Same area, same mo. >> Ambushed, stabbed multiple times.
02:04:28
>> Can a man known as the zombie hunter help police find a killer? >> And then he's defending the world
02:04:33
against zombies. >> It was [music] like he was hiding in plain sight. >> 48 hours next on CBS and streaming on
02:04:38
Paramount Plus.