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Right now we're in Pitcher Canyon. It's about 4 miles south of Wanache. It's a place that there's really no reason to
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be this time of year and this time of night unless you live here. When we think of Pitcher Canyon, anybody
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who was here in 2010, they're always going to think of the Mackenzie Cow case Case. McKenzie was a senior in high
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school. She was on the verge of being grown up. >> This wasn't your normal missing person's
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case. >> February 9th of 2010, and I last saw her as she packed up her bundles of books
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and left between 7:00 and 7:30 in the morning. Had made a quick little date. See you
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tonight for teriyak burgers. Okay, Dad. Love you. So, I was expecting her home. Called
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about 5:40. That's when the phone went straight to her voicemail. It wasn't It didn't even
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ring. Of course, you go through different waves of messages. One message will be,
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"Call me. I'm concerned." One message will be, "No, I'm getting irritated you haven't called me back." And then the
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next message might be, "I'm sorry I was irritated. Call me when you can. Maybe something's wrong.
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Something a little unusual happened here that night. A rancher came down, uh, found a red car
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here that didn't belong here, and he called it in. The deputy came up here. He ran the license plate. They contacted
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the registered owner, Reed Cowl. The phone rang and it was a deputy who was asking if I was missing my car and I
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told him, "Yeah, I'm missing my car and the girl that drives it." [Music] I said, "Where's the car?" And he told
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me it was up Pitcher Canyon. So, I hopped in the car and headed straight that direction.
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[Music] Here we are driving. It's dark. It's cold. [Music] When I pulled around the corner, all I
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saw was the red car with flashing police lights. It was a pretty ominous thing to
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see. >> Deputies checked the car and they found that McKenzie's purse was inside.
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>> Well, that's really not right. Kenzie doesn't go anywhere without her purse. This is not good. Somebody's messed with
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her. There was a lot of concern right away that something had happened to McKenzie.
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>> That was just a long, dark, evil, strange night. >> McKenzie went missing shortly after 3:00
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p.m. on February 9th. Her body was discovered around 1:00, February 13th on the banks of the
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Columbia River. >> I mean, it just made me cold stone numb. It was just blank. The day that we found McKenzie
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and we saw how brutally she had been murdered, we knew we were in for one tough investigation. The list went on
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and on. >> Hold it right there. >> So many different suspects that we didn't know what to think.
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I'm Peter Vans. Tonight on 48 hours, Secrets of the River. [Music] [Applause] [Music]
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With the miracle of another spring, the small town of Wanachi, Washington nestled in a landscape of endless apple
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orchards turns out to celebrate the annual Apple Blossom Parade. But in 2011, one graceful dancer is
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missing from the festivities. McKenzie Cowl. >> She loved to dance, dance, dance
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anywhere we went. She danced grocery stores, gas stations, anywhere. If a song came on, she would just break out
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in a boogie. >> McKenzie's father, Reed Cowell, and his fiance, Sandy Francis, cheer on
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McKenzie's old high school dance team, the Appalletes. >> And was she good at it?
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>> Oh, she loved it. She loved it. >> Beautiful. >> McKenzie, 17 years old, was 5'8, strong,
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and beautiful. a young woman with a future at the heart of a family unit that couldn't get enough of each other.
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>> We used to call each other on our cell phones. That's how bad it was. Rooms were
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>> upstairs to downstairs to argue over whose turn it was to make floats. >> Yeah.
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>> This to make like Coke floats, root beer floats. Floats were >> root beer floats. Orange floats.
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>> The family is as authentic as the American West. Starting with Reed. He's at home among the soaring Cascade
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Mountains, rich blue skies, and of course, the orchards of apples. >> And you felt safe having your family
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here. >> We did feel safe. >> And McKenzie, a senior in high school, was thriving.
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>> She was working to achieve dreams that she created on her own. So, her day started at 6:15 in the morning. She had
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to be out of the door by 7:15. There was also her dance, modeling, and efforts to learn a trade. For that, she
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came here, the Academy of Hair Design, smack in the middle of downtown Wan that. What drew her to that, do you
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think? >> I think her modeling and her love of clothes and, you know, the makeup and
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just pimping and being a girl. >> Being a girl was something McKenzie loved. Her boyfriend Villisano was
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smitten. >> Did you love her? >> Yeah, I loved her a lot. >> Did she love him? >> Absolutely.
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>> It was February 9th, 2010. Reed and McKenzie had planned a father-daughter dinner date at home. The orchards were
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barren and the cold Colombia rolled through town. beauty school got out at 5:00. So, I
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called her about 5:40 to see how close she was and her cell phone went right to the voicemail, which was pretty weird.
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>> 2 hours later came that call from police and Reed's desperate ride into darkness and fear.
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The next morning, Detective John Cruz of the Wanache Police Department joined the
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search for McKenzie. >> It got serious pretty quick. >> Police would trace McKenzie's last known
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steps on the day she disappeared. >> We're at the Academy of Hair Design. Mackenzie Cowl is a student here. It's
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3:00. She's just finished asking one of her co- studentents, "Hey, do I have to sign out if I'm just leaving for 15
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minutes?" Right after that, she leaves out this door right here. >> This one right here.
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>> Right here. She comes up these stairs and she's recorded on these cameras here. These security cameras on the side
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of this wall. That's correct. This video taken by those security cameras captured
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the last images of McKenzie alive. When she got to her car, she sent a text to her boyfriend. She said, "Hey, hey."
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That was the way she greeted you. Yeah. >> Then McKenzie Cowell disappeared. >> Like she drives off the face of the
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earth. >> That's a good way to put it. I'd lay at wake at night and where are you?
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>> Everyone, even strangers, was searching for that answer. >> We just started canvasing any
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neighborhood. After several days, that was our strength and our hope. >> Then 4 days into it, Reed Cowell got a
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call from the FBI. But she told me she was so very very sorry to have to tell me this over the
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phone, but that they had found a body. >> I didn't know what to say to him. What
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do you say? >> In a bend of the mighty Columbia River called Crescent Bar, McKenzie Cowell lay
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in the shallow water. And right here in this location, uh, about 15 ft out from here is where
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Mackenzie's body was located. >> Douglas County's Chief Deputy Robin Wag was struck by the brutality of the
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murder. A >> combination of strangulation, a blunt force trauma to the head, a deep
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laceration into the neck. >> And horribly, McKenzie's killer had attempted to saw off her arm.
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>> You could see a knife still stuck into the the tissue. Uh, >> a knife was still in her body,
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>> still stuck in into her shoulder, into the tissue. >> What did you guys do at that moment?
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>> Just stood there and held each other. >> The police went to work and after meeting with McKenzie's boyfriend, they
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decided to give him a lie detector test. Do you know who killed McKenzie? And they kept saying that I failed that
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question. >> Do you know who killed McKenzie? >> No, I didn't. Detectives kept Waqin in
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their sights, but the investigation took a dramatic turn when a surprise witness
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came forward. Liz Reed swore she knew who killed McKenzie Cowl and that the video of McKenzie leaving the beauty
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school was not the last recorded image of her alive. Liz swears she saw the murder itself unfold in a chilling
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videotape. I saw it with my own eyes. >> Recorded by the killers. [Music] [Music]
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The Colombia River held a silent secret about how McKenzie Cowell, so full of life, had come to rest along the bank at
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Crescent Bar. some 48 m from home. >> It was a violent violent way to meet your end. And then the attempted
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dismemberment afterwards, that was probably the most shocking thing. >> Detective Cruz and Chief Wag sensed the
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challenge that lay ahead. >> No stone would go unturned, no matter how long it took.
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>> But first, a town took time to grieve. >> We are here today because somebody stole
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her life. McKenzie's stunned classmates gathered in the local arena. >> They did something that only God is
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allowed to do. >> The Appalletes danced for their friend. And Reverend Sandy Brown tried to
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somehow make sense of it all. >> But we are here today also because no one can steal our memories of Furry.
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>> McKenzie, we love you. McKenzie's mother, Wendy Cowell, went on local news and begged for answers.
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>> It's important to my family and I for you to bring that person forward. >> As the hunt for a murderer began, an
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unprecedented statewide task force of top investigators from around the region join forces.
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>> I think this is probably the biggest investigation the Wachi Valley has ever seen. First to be questioned were those
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who loved McKenzie most. >> We interviewed Wendy, Reed, family members. >> I would never describe Reed or the
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mother Wendy as a person of interest in in this case, but we certainly did look at them,
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>> but it's got to be somebody that she knew and trusted. I knew that for a fact.
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>> I really think I was like the number one suspect. McKenzie's boyfriend, who had failed that one question on a
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lie detector test, came directly under the police spotlight. >> So then he asked me like three times if
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I was a gangster. Then I was like, "No." >> And soon police concluded Waqen with an
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airtight alibi had lost as much as anyone. >> Yeah, I loved her a lot. But that was not the case with this man,
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Joey Fischer, with whom McKenzie had her problems. >> Joe Fischer was the boyfriend of Wendy
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Kell, Mackenzie's mother. >> Is this potentially the guy? >> We know that they have this relationship
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that sometimes involved arguments. >> She told her mom, "It's either him or me."
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>> That was the day before she went missing that they had had a huge fight. They had
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had a huge >> the day before. >> Yes. >> Because the next day after this volatile
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confrontation, >> she disappears. >> She's gone. >> He remained uh very high interest with
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the for the task force. In the end, we could find no physical linkage. >> There was no evidence to tie Joey Fiser
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to McKenzie's murder, and he was completely exonerated by police. The investigation into the murder of
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McKenzie Cowell was stalled. [Music] Two months would pass and then from the shadowy side of Wanache, an unexpected
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witness emerged. A walking contradiction named Liz Reed. >> I am in college full-time. I have a
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straight A GPA. If the cops were here, they'd say, "Not bad for a drugdeing liar."
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>> I'm sure they would say that. >> When McKenzie Cowell was doing everything to build an honest life, Liz
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Reed was doing anything to stay high on Oxycontton. >> I was selling drugs. I was writing bad
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prescriptions, doctor shopping >> to get access to Oxycontton. >> Correct. Liz was also working with the police.
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You were an informant, >> correct? >> The information Liz Reed gave police sent the investigation of McKenzie
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Cowell's murder into overdrive. >> She began providing us information about two individuals in this area.
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She named name names Sam Quavvis and Emmanuel SOS nicknamed Buddha. Streetwise convicted criminals drug
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dealers Liz Reed hung out with >> and she tells a very compelling story that Sam Quavvis and Emanuel SOS abduct
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and kill McKenzie Cal on a bluff near Crescent Bar. Liz Reed told police that McKenzie died because of a horrible case
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of mistaken identity. That Quavvis and Buddha murdered McKenzie because they wrongly thought she was in the drug
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world too and a police informant. >> We choked that [ __ ] to shut her up. And that's what he said.
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>> At that moment, Sam Quavvis had basically told you he had murdered McKenzie Cal.
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>> Yes. He said they had to choke her two times because they choked her once. They
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thought she was dead. >> It was compelling and that's why we invested so much time and so much
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resources cuz we were excited. >> Liz Reed claims she provided more details to the cops, including a
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description of the knife allegedly used during the attack. So essentially, you had described the murder weapon prior to
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it being made public by anyone. >> Yes. >> And come spring, as the orchards came to life again, the
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task force thought they'd found the killers. >> That was the belief of a number of task
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force members at the time based on what Miss Reed was telling us. >> Liz Reed swears she was actually shown a
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snuff film of McKenzie Cowell's death. You say the killers told you and they showed you. They showed you a video.
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>> Yes. To have to watch somebody be tortured like they did to her and kill her and laugh about it. It
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never goes away. But as cops investigated Liz's disturbing story, a totally new tip came
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in about yet another suspect. someone McKenzie saw every day, a classmate at her beauty school.
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>> I think he was fascinated with serial killers. He certainly was uh fascinated
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with death. >> He's a dangerous man. [Music] [Music] The investigation into the murder of
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McKenzie Cowell had dragged on for 7 months. >> We later found out that that information
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was not true. >> Police task force investigators had come to distrust their star informant, Liz
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Reed. >> I'm sensing that she's not being truthful. >> And what of that gruesome murder video?
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Cops spent months looking for it. >> We found nothing. We found nothing that was a video of this murder.
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>> Under pressure, Liz then threw the entire investigation upside down. She retracted her story of seeing a snuff
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film of Quavvis and Buddha murdering McKenzie. >> You completely changed your story.
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>> I did. >> Liz says she felt threatened by police >> that they were going to charge me with
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murder. >> You were frightened. And you were terrified. >> I was terrified. I'm like, my god,
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you're going to get taken over there and charged with something to do with killing this girl.
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>> But cops say Liz was never a suspect, just a desperate informant with a madeup
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story. >> Can Liz Reed be trusted? No. I think we've proven that. >> Investigators were frustrated. Months
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passed. I think you have faith that they'll find them. They will eventually. It may take
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a while. >> Spring slowly ripened into summer when police got that intriguing new lead.
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>> He's walking northbound in the alley. >> Northbound toward Yakim Street. >> You know, we didn't even know Chris
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Wilson. >> Christopher Wilson was a classmate of McKenzie's at the Academy of Hair
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Design. >> There she is walking right across the parking lot. Police speculate Chris and
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McKenzie had decided to meet. That the brutal killing occurred only minutes after McKenzie left their beauty school
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after her classmate Chris came out that same back door. >> We show them leaving 72 seconds apart.
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>> You know, we're less than three blocks from there. Three short blocks to his apartment from here.
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>> Just who is Chris Wilson? That question would end up on the front page. artist,
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musician, had done some artwork and photography that might strike some as dark. >> CBS News consultant Jefferson Robbins is
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an investigative reporter for the local paper, The Wanache World. He'd come to know everything about Chris Wilson.
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>> He has a tattoo of Hannibal Lectar on his arm. Hannibal Lectar being in the Silence of the Lambs, the serial killer.
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Correct. >> He didn't fit into the Wachi norm. If he would have been in a big city in
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Seattle, New York, or Portland, he would have been a non-event. >> Kathleen Zorns, Chris's mother, contends
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her son isn't dark or evil. He's just different. >> What's a Hannibal Lecter tattoo?
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>> It's not a an insight into his soul. >> I don't believe so. No. >> I mean, Chris isn't so bizarre. It's
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just that it's such a normal little town where everyone looks just the same. Amelia Savage is Chris's best friend.
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She agrees he's guilty of being an eccentric, artsy kid in a small town. >> He's not a perfect person, but he's a
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good person. >> So, it was seemingly out of the blue that friends and family were told Chris
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wasn't just different, he was potentially dangerous. Was he fascinated with with the dead, with
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serial killers? >> No. >> You laugh. It's >> it's it's it's ridiculous. >> And compounding their disbelief was the
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source of the letter to investigators suggesting Chris Wilson might be a killer. Theo Keys is yet another
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troubled police informant. a man who served jail time, had been a friend of Chris Wilson, and had a reported history
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of mental illness. >> He wrote the letter while he was in jail for exposing himself to a barista.
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>> In that jailhouse letter, Theo wrote that Chris Wilson had an interest in dead bodies and serial killers.
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>> We don't pick people to provide information to us. We take information that comes in. Theo Keys, we treat it
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exactly the same as Liz Reed. Investigators came to see Chris Wilson as a deeply troubled misfit whose
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obsessive fascination with death, they claimed, led him to work in a funeral home.
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>> There are thousands of people working in funeral homes across the country. That's
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a profession. >> But it wouldn't be Chris's tattoo or work in a funeral parlor that made him
00:23:00
the prime suspect in McKenzie's murder. It would be forensic evidence discovered
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by investigators along the muddy river bank at Crescent Bar. What led us to Chris Wilson was DNA
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evidence. His YSTR DNA was on a piece of duct tape that also had Mackenzie's blood that was by Mackenzie's body. It
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wasn't that he was different. It was his DNA. >> Chris had given police a swab of his DNA
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on August 11th. Although not totally conclusive, the crime lab determined the DNA on the duct tape could belong to
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Chris Wilson. That's when Chris got the grilling of a lifetime. >> Chris, have you been to Crescent Bar?
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No, I haven't been to Crescent Bar. Well, you know, your DNA was. And at that point, he goes ahead and says, I
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don't see how that could be, and I want a lawyer. I tell him, Chris, you're under arrest for the murder of Mackenzie
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Cowl. No emotion. Absolute flat light. No reaction at all. >> Zero. >> Eight months after McKenzie Cowell's car
00:24:06
was found abandoned. >> Chris Wilson appeared in court and there he is standing at the table in front of
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the judge and I just went, "That's him? No, that can't be. How could that guy have killed McKenzie?"
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crime. >> Chris Wilson was charged with the murder of McKenzie Cowell. The >> charge here, sir, is murder in the
00:24:35
second degree. How do you blame not? >> And when you made eye contact with him, >> Chris Wilson does not make eye contact
00:24:43
with anyone. >> Kathleen, you are passionate in your belief in Chris's innocence. Correct.
00:24:50
>> That is correct. In fact, Kathleen says that at the time police believed McKenzie was being
00:24:56
murdered, Chris was with her picking up a plate of cupcakes. >> He was perfectly normal, fine, happy.
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>> He was the Chris as you would have seen on any other day. >> Any other day. any other day.
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[Music] All the promise, all the grace that defined 17-year-old Mackenzie Cowell's
00:25:28
life had been stolen. Yet, her spirit still inspired a community. >> Mackenzie, we love you.
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>> She was full of life. She was just going a mile a minute and and taking life full blast. A task
00:25:45
force. >> We collected swab samples of >> a town. No one can steal our memories of
00:25:51
her. >> A father kept McKenzie's memory alive. >> I think of all the things that we did
00:25:58
down here, swimming and running and sometimes just sitting. But now was the time for justice and hopefully answers
00:26:07
to unbearable questions. >> I would like to talk to this guy. You know, why'd you take McKenzie?
00:26:14
>> Chris Wilson declaring his innocence was headed to trial. Is this a winnable case
00:26:20
in your opinion? >> It's a very winnable case because investigators say the DNA on that duct
00:26:26
tape was just the start of the case. This is uh what we determined was the residence for Chris Wilson.
00:26:33
>> Let's head inside. Okay. >> Chief Wag's task force combed over every inch of it.
00:26:40
>> When they started spraying the luminol, they found what turned out to be a fairly substantial stain that they were
00:26:46
sure was blood, and it was right in this area right in here. >> The cops cut the stained carpet.
00:26:52
Then a small bloody patch was tested for DNA. It came back exclusively as Mackenzie Cal's blood and it was a
00:27:00
substantial stain. >> So, Chief, what do you believe happened in this apartment?
00:27:07
>> Uh, this is where Mackenzie Cal was murdered by Chris Wilson. >> Then there was this
00:27:13
>> pretty clean. >> A controversial video of Chris Wilson. >> Video mean just get away. Is it clean?
00:27:20
>> Taken by his friend Tessa Skylaman. In the video shot as Chris moved out of apartment 28, the two friends seem
00:27:29
concerned that it's neat and clean so Chris could get his security deposit back. Chris would later explain the
00:27:36
carpet was damaged during a party. >> Does it look clean? >> Clean for for what happening?
00:27:45
Clean considering. >> Yeah, it's clean considering. But police allege Wilson was checking for blood.
00:27:55
>> She zooms right on the carpet where that blood is. >> The police task force is now certain
00:28:04
that McKenzie Cowell's blood was here, soaked deep into the carpet in apartment 28, where Chris Wilson lived at the time
00:28:13
of the murder. The question that now defines this case is how did her blood get here? We have a whole list of things
00:28:20
that make this look very suspicious. >> Washington state's own John Henry Brown,
00:28:26
hired by Chris's mother, is among the most high-powered lawyers anywhere. His clients have ranged from Robert Bales,
00:28:34
the American soldier who plead guilty to mass murder in Afghanistan to serial killer Ted Bundy to the
00:28:42
barefoot bandit Colton Harris Moore. Now add Chris Wilson. >> Chris is clearly kind of the classic
00:28:51
underdog and that always is attractive to us. >> Together with co-consel Emma Scandlin.
00:28:57
He is crafting a strategy that it's not Chris Wilson who is guilty. It's law enforcement of unspeakable corruption.
00:29:06
>> I'm saying to avoid professional embarrassment. They did whatever it took. including alleged these two
00:29:11
lawyers somehow planting McKenzie's blood in Chris's apartment. >> This is Wachi. They do things like that.
00:29:20
>> John Henry Brown's attitude about Wanachi goes way back. >> Allegations about sexual abuse of
00:29:27
children. >> It was the mid '90s. Dozens of people were charged with child sexual abuse.
00:29:33
Most were convicted wrongfully, it turned out, until a young John Henry Brown succeeded, in having some of the
00:29:40
cases dropped or overturned. >> It was completely false, made up, uh, what's become known as the Wachi Witch
00:29:48
hunt. >> You don't like that when your investigators are accused of things that seem to be baseless.
00:29:54
>> Gary Rezen was the prosecutor then, going up against John Henry Brown in the child sex abuse scandal. and he is the
00:30:02
prosecutor now against Chris Wilson. >> Mr. Brown uh likes cases that are high visibility. He likes publicity in his
00:30:10
cases. >> What bothers law enforcement most isn't Brown's dramatic flare. >> There's no evidence that the blood was
00:30:18
planted. The blood was left there by McKenzie Cal when Chris Wilson murdered her.
00:30:24
>> Remember, McKenzie's jugular vein had been cut. And Brown argues there should
00:30:30
have been blood discovered all over Chris's apartment. How do you explain that? >> He was interested and infatuated with
00:30:38
the serial killer Dexter. The serious Dexter. >> Dexter is the hit Showtime series where
00:30:45
the killer often brings his victim into a room draped in plastic to keep the crime scene clean.
00:30:53
>> You know, he very well could have had plastic down on the floor. We just don't
00:30:56
know. But why was McKenzie in Chris's apartment? Police believe they'd become friends. No way, swears Chris's mother.
00:31:06
>> They weren't friends on Facebook, on MySpace. >> In your opinion, is there a campaign
00:31:11
against your son? >> I believe there is a conspiracy to frame him. Yes. >> And I'll tell you this, that's nuts. DNA
00:31:19
evidence led us to Chris Wilson, and the DNA evidence tied him to Mackenzie Cal.
00:31:25
If Chris Wilson did not murder Mackenzie Cowell, who did? >> Sam Quas and Emanuel Sos.
00:31:34
>> Sam Quavvis and Emmanuel Buddha Seros, those two smalltime drug dealers Liz Reed once swore confessed to her. Liz
00:31:43
changed her story yet again and now told Chris Wilson's lawyers her tale about seeing that videotape of McKenzie's
00:31:51
murder. And she was prepared to testify under oath that it was all true. >> You're certain what you saw was the
00:31:59
death of Mackenzie Cow >> on video. >> Yes. Liz Reed was now slated to be the Star Defense Lawyer's star witness. But
00:32:09
Chris Wilson still had one big problem. McKenzie Cowell's blood is in Chris Wilson's apartment, and you can't
00:32:20
explain how it got there. >> Well, yeah, it's very difficult to convince a jury that evidence has been
00:32:26
planted, but we are going to attempt to do that. [Music] McKenzie Cowell's bedroom hasn't changed
00:32:44
much since she last slept peacefully. Time frozen in teenage photos. Her Appallet's outfit ready for the next
00:32:53
dance. >> The life she was full of life and joy and happiness and kindness. Um, her and
00:33:02
her dad had so much fun together. She loved her dad dearly. >> But here in Wanachi, there were two
00:33:08
families waiting for answers to the mysterious murder. Each with very different versions of justice for Chris
00:33:15
Wilson. >> He is anxious for trial. He wants to tell his side of the story. >> The famous lawyer and the longtime DA
00:33:25
were primed. Then in a stunning development, Gary Rees made Wilson the offer of a lifetime, plead guilty to
00:33:34
manslaughter and serve only 6 and 1/2 years in prison. >> I indicated, yeah, if he'd plead to
00:33:40
that, um, I would recommend that we do that, take that offer. >> Were you in any way intimidated by the
00:33:46
fact that Brown was on this case? >> Well, I I don't think so. But if Wilson was a killer, a very sweet deal now lay
00:33:55
on the table. If I was innocent, I'd take that deal. >> He said it wouldn't matter if they
00:33:59
offered him six months, six years, six days. He is not going to plead to something he did not do.
00:34:06
>> Chris Wilson turned down the DA's offer. The trial was on and Liz Reed's story
00:34:13
now had a new twist that threatened the prosecutor's claim that McKenzie was killed in Chris Wilson's apartment.
00:34:23
We're heading to the overlook. >> Liz claims McKenzie was actually murdered on this secluded bluff and that
00:34:31
she can prove it. Is there any doubt in your mind that where we stand right now is where McKenzie died?
00:34:39
>> None. >> Liz says that Buddha Seros demanded she come here to find a ring ripped from
00:34:46
McKenzie's hand during the killing. >> It was smashed. It was bent a little, but it was a ring.
00:34:52
>> This is the ring Liz says she found on the bluff. Attorney John Henry Brown says it matches the ring seen in this
00:34:59
picture of McKenzie. If true, Brown says Chris Wilson is an innocent man. >> I personally took that ring that she
00:35:08
found. I showed it to Reed Cal. I showed it to Wendy Cal. I showed it to Mackenzie's boyfriend. None of them
00:35:14
recognized that ring at all. >> Where is Mackenzie's ring? If that's not Mackenzie's ring, you bring her ring
00:35:19
into court. They don't have it because that is her ring. >> Police concluded it wasn't Mckenzie's
00:35:26
ring and that Sam Quavvis and Emanuel Buddha Seros had zero to do with the disappearance or death of McKenzie Cow.
00:35:35
>> I don't know Mackenzie Cow. Never met her, never seen her. >> This is Emmanuel Buddha Seros. You
00:35:42
>> want to throw a rock? After we tried for a year and a half to meet him, he finally surfaced.
00:35:49
>> Well, Liz is a liar, so I know she she just likes to take innocent people down
00:35:54
for for no reason. >> At the time, Buddha was working an honest job and said Liz Reed's
00:36:00
accusations damaged him badly. >> I go to grocery store, they look at me like like, you know, like I'm a killer
00:36:07
or something. They just stare at me. And Buddhist swears the cops got it right. There was never any video of McKenzie
00:36:16
being murdered. >> No, I don't have nothing to do with Mackenzie Cow's murder. >> It was Chris Wilson alone who would be
00:36:23
tried for murder. >> It's too late to take a plea. >> That's correct. >> Chris Wilson, are you there?
00:36:28
>> Yes. >> I spoke with Chris Wilson about the extraordinary moments that were about to
00:36:34
unfold in a Wan that courtroom. What was your relationship with McKenzie Cal? >> There was absolutely no relationship at
00:36:42
all. >> You never had coffee with her? Never took her out on a date? >> Nothing. And we've never had a
00:36:46
conversation ever. >> Chris, did you kill Mckenzie Cow? >> No, I did not kill Mackenzie Cow.
00:36:56
>> But a jury would decide that. And the members of that jury were now being selected.
00:37:02
That's when all hell broke loose. Hey Reed, when we got the jury questionnaires back, I believe it was 80
00:37:10
to 85% of them said, uh, no, he's absolutely guilty. >> There is no way in hell he will get a
00:37:18
fair trial here. >> It was the 11th hour and 59 minutes. Suddenly, Chris Wilson was getting cold
00:37:26
feet. The veteran DA and the star defense lawyer once again talked plea bargain.
00:37:32
>> So, is this a done deal? No, because they have to talk to the family. >> Reed Cowell and Sandy Francis, who had
00:37:38
lived every day for McKenzie, made their way through a courthouse in chaos. >> So, uh, what's going on?
00:37:46
>> Plea bargain. But it also includes a written statement that I did this, I kidnapped her, and I
00:37:57
murdered her. So, it's it's >> Please try. >> In Judge John Bridg's packed courtroom,
00:38:07
a community gathered. >> You may be seated. Thank you. >> Chris Wilson accepted a sentence far
00:38:13
longer than the first deal, 14 years in prison in exchange for agreeing to these
00:38:20
words. >> Mr. Wilson, it reads, "This is my statement. I also did recklessly cause
00:38:27
the death of McKenzie Cal by strangulation and by stabbing her with a knife. Uh, Mr. Wilson, is that your
00:38:35
statement? >> Yes. >> And are are those the things that you did? >> Yes. >> You have any question?
00:38:44
>> But Wilson would tell 48 hours. He pauses at this moment in the courtroom. >> Are those the things that you did?
00:38:54
Yes. >> Because the deal was based on a lie and that he took it only to avoid a longer
00:39:02
sentence. >> Did you almost say no? >> Absolutely. >> Do you believe you were framed?
00:39:08
>> Framed by law enforcement? Yes. >> Am I happy that Chris Wilson's jail for 14 years? Absolutely. Do I wish it was
00:39:16
40? Absolutely. >> But just why did the DA offer a deal? >> I had no evidence to prove Mr. Wilson
00:39:23
was in there with Miss Cal when that blood was deposited. The judicial dance was over.
00:39:30
>> Our job is to keep our community safe and we know that we are sending the killer to prison today.
00:39:35
>> The anguish and questions were not. In open court, Chris just plead guilty on
00:39:42
three counts. Do you believe him? >> No. I'm his mom. I do not believe him. Then two proud women who had lost what
00:39:52
they valued most shared the humanity they had left. >> Sorry. I'm sorry. >> Jefferson Robbins told the tale on the
00:40:04
front page. Reed and Sandy headed home past the gentle orchards as the Columbia River rolled on
00:40:15
whispering the name McKenzie. I have a really nice windchime out in the front yard. And when that windchime
00:40:26
goes off, I think it's her talking to me. And I don't always think about her as being gone. I still think about her as
00:40:33
though she's still around. Less than a year after accepting the plea deal, Chris Wilson filed a motion
00:40:46
to withdraw his guilty plea. >> Are those the things that you did? >> He contends his plea was not voluntary.
00:40:55
Wilson claims he entered into the plea bargain without fully understanding the consequences, how much time he would
00:41:02
ultimately serve in prison. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music]