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[Music] serial killers can be very difficult to predict they're constantly thinking
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about hunting for human beings and police reported another grandfin to hurt and to kill her car was later found
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abandoned on I45 the highways are a particularly good effective hunting ground once you commit your murder
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you're good to hit the road again the 12-year-old disappeared April 3rd while jogging near her
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home she's a beautiful child how soon did you really know that something awful had happened when we
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first went out to search and we didn't find her when there was absolutely no sign of her we knew then that something
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terrible had happened Kelly Cox locked her keys in her car after taking a college field
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trip to the Denton Police Department she was last seen making a call from a pay phone not knowing where your daughter
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was how do you describe that there's really not a way to describe it I had nightmares for years that she was being
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hurt or harmed every day the pain does not go away Tiffany Johnston went missing from
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a Bethany Car Wash Tiffany was abducted and broad daylight she just vanished Tiffany was my baby daughter my shadow
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anywhere I was at Tiffany was with [Music] me been a week since Jessica Kane disappeared her car was found abandoned
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on I45 she would not go somewhere without calling and that's why we know something's wrong and we got to find her
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childhood friends came together to hold a vigil praying she would be found until
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she's found and someone proves that she's not alive she is alive to us and we're still
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searching could it happen again was it going to happen again William Reese was on the top of the list very early on
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Reese is the primary suspect in the kidnapping of Laura Smither I think most investigators felt
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like he was responsible for multiple girls but you couldn't couldn't get him on it no the case went on for number of
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years and no one ever forgot the pain from [Music] 97 he had to cooperate or those girls
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were gone forever today's March 1st 2016 if you're comfortable with it I would like to go
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through these four different incidents Mr occurred are you okay with that yes these offenders they love to brag about
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themselves and I took this throw blacket I had and I laid it on top of her so it
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becomes something that's fun for them a little bit of a cat and mouse game stuff
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you're saying I don't remember that they are pathological liars and then you immediately buried her after that yes
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sir they lie about things they don't even have to lie about you can't necessarily trust what he says you have
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to verify this is the area that he brought you to but I mean you were looking and you weren't finding her
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right some folks thinking that maybe the information was not accurate I have no reason to lie to you guys and that he
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was playing us certainly we were hoping it was going to be a little bit faster uh than it was but you can see that
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truly confirms a needle in a hay [Music] stack [Music] [Music] there was a very scary killer who was
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going up and down I45 that is correct killing young women that is correct Interstate 45 runs through the swamps
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and the derel oil fields between Galveston and Houston the highway marks a trail of
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unsolved murders that stretches back for decades and friends with Texas Deputy Chief of Police Josh Roger says
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1997 was a particularly deadly year we were living in such a false sense of security it was quite a shock to the
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system when we got educated and you got educated the hard way the worst way absolutely the worst way on April 3rd
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199 7 gay smi's 12-year-old daughter Laura an aspiring ballerina went out for a run and never returned as days pass
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thousands of volunteers on foot and on Horseback combed the swamps and fields around their home in Friendswood keep
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your eyes open this is what we're looking for the US Marines even flew in to help we just wanted to say thank you
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to everybody we are going to find her what does this say your T-shirt this says pray for laa I was also there in
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1997 with the family gay Bob and Laura's younger brother David are you surprised
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by the outpouring of concern Sympathy uplifted by it it's just the only thing that's
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getting us from one day to the next the beginning of the ballerina exactly yeah I was taking her backyard at the other
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the house there's no doubt she's coming home I went into denial immediately I I would not accept any
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other scenario other than somebody had taken her to end if I prayed hard enough she'd
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be released to come home to us that's how I coped then came the devastating news 17 days later when Laura's
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decomposing body was found in a retention Pond 12 mil from her home by a father and son walking their dogs we
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thought it was you know like a dead animal in the water something like that certain Jason he says no said animals
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don't have socks I screamed into the phone that's not Laura that's not Laura that's I
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couldn't accept it I can still hear my screams in my nightmares and then of course we had to
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tell David for something there are no words how old was David at the time nine he not only lost his sister in a way he
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lost his parents we were physically there but we were emotionally absent part of
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us was gone part of us was ripped out after weeks in the water Laura's exact cause of death could not be
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determined investigators also couldn't be sure if she had been sexually assaulted in spite of the unknowns a
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suspect emerged pretty quickly a man named William ree it was the third day that Laura was missing that he was on
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the police radar that quickly yes the third day and why because he was a a sex offender Rees have been released 6
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months before Laura's murder after spending 10 years in prison for two rapes in his native Oklahoma he was now
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working in Friendswood Texas he was building a residential subdivision and was a bulldozer operator and on the day
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Laura went missing because of rain police learned ree was let off work at 9:00 a.m.
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which would have taken him right in the direct path of Laura Smither investigators searched Reese's truck and
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found fibers from replacement floor mats that were consistent with Trace fibers found on Laura's socks these weren't
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Factory floor mats these weren't common fibers while police continued to investigate Laura's case Reese remained
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free and was traveling back and forth between Houston where he worked and Oklahoma where his mother lived then in
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July of 1997 in Denton Texas a university town along the stretch of Interstate connecting them 20-year-old
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Kelly Cox disappeared to describe it it's like martians picked her up she just vanished Kelly's mother Jan bam
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says Kelly had gotten locked out of her car after a class trip to the Denton police station she had gone to a nearby
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gas station parking lot to use the pay phone very busy area with police officers everywhere Jan knew something
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was wrong when Kelly failed to pick up her then toddler Alexis from daycare that afternoon she would never have left
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her daughter she was only 19 when Alexis was born she took such responsibility and she import embraced
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being a mom m oh my gosh she embraced it and I know she absolutely adored this one over here in addition to raising
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Alexis now 27 years old Kelly was taking a full load of courses at UNT the University of North Texas in Denton she
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was maintaining straight A in college all a on her fin a week after having yeah week after after she had Alexis she
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took her final exams and pulled all eyes on the I mean she was very very driven Alexa says she remembers little about
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her mother except the anguish of her being gone I remember looking for her you do looking underneath the bed mhm I
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remember looking all around the house look in closets she would look under the bed and say Mommy Mommy the days of
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searching turned into weeks than then months we can get this face out there Jan was on local TV pleading for help
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finding her daughter I don't want it on a back burner I want her face out there but unlike Laura Smither Kelly was a
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young woman not a child and as the case dragged on Jan says she didn't feel that
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finding Kelly remained a priority for police Jan still remembers a conversation she had with one member of
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the department 3 months after Kelly went missing and he said you should just consider yourself lucky we're even
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working on this case most police departments would have just turned her picture in to the missing person's
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Clearing House and been done with it that was heartbreaking Jim was certain that someone had abducted Kelly but was
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at a loss police had no body and no strong leads and the case soon grew cold I don't think did I ever completely not
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think when the phone would ring that maybe it was something about Kelly just 11 days after Kelly went missing up in
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Oklahoma and not far from William Reese's Hometown another young woman was about to
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vanish She'll always be my baby She'll always be a granddaughter and she'll be a
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wife Kathy Do's daughter Tiffany Johnson 19 years old and newly married was just
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starting to build her [Music] life on July 26th 1997 she vanished from this Bethany
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Oklahoma car wash leaving her car behind her car mats were hanging on the car wash rack her money her
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paycheck everything was in her car the next day Tiffany's partially clothed body was found in tall grass
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here just off the interstate 15 miles west of that car wash she had been strangled and sexually
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assaulted she had rope Burns around her wrist she had black and blue places on her
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face no one at the car wash reported seeing anything out of the ordinary so whoever took her had to be pretty
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calculating and thinking about the surroundings oh yeah and Tiffany would fight a few days after Tiffany's murder
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Kathy says she got a phone call from a man she knew from her town of anad Darko William ree he called to tell me he was
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sorry that he had heard Tiffany had gotten killed and how did he sound when he called you sincere all he said was
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I'm sorry to hear about your daughter how did you first meet William Reese I met him at the
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restaurant Kathy was a waitress in town and knew Reese's mother and when Reese was released from in 1996 and came home
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Kathy had given him a ride to get a new driver's license did you know what he had spent
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time in prison for no they acted like it was no big deal and would you have even
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guessed that he had been convicted of violent crimes toward women oh heavens no it never occurred to Kathy that ree
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could have anything to do with Tiffany's murder I couldn't see someone that I knew that would kill Tiff
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because they knew how much she meant to me as for investigators they found the Killer's DNA on Tiffany's body but they
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weren't able to develop a profile at some point Kathy did you give up thinking they're just never going to
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find the person who killed my daughter I never gave up because I made a promise to
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Tiffany when I buried her that I would not give up until we found who did it why was it so important to
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find who killed her cuz I didn't want him killing someone else's child if you have my daughter I pray
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that you would return her we want her back home just 3 weeks after Tiffany's murder back in Lamar Texas it happened
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again we're not going to let her go Jessica Kain was about to graduate high school the 17-year-old was last seen
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leaving Clear Lake Area restaurant on August 17th 1997 when she didn't come home by curfew Jessica's father CH Kane
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went out looking for her I had been to all the places where I thought she might be and I was on my way
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home it's actually just about 3 or 4 miles from the house on the side of the road he spotted her truck on the
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shoulder of I45 but Jessica was gone and there was no sign of struggle once again search parties comb
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the area for yet another missing girl more than a 100 volunteers searched on foot along the marshes and through
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the brush tracking dogs were called in to help we were the most broken people at that point gay and Bob Smither still
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reeling from the loss of their daughter Laura Just 4 months earlier felt compelled to join the surge
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we didn't hesitate we went immediately the search for Jessica C widened today across the Salt Grass and
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scrub that surrounds the marshes in the the search went on for weeks but there was no sign of Jessica and no clue who
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had taken her we wondered could it be the same person who took Laura from us you know we just didn't know as gay
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wondered about William Reese and his involvement a story emerged about another cas
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where the victim survived everything happened so fast back in May of 1997 3 months before
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Jessica C disappeared a 19-year-old mother Sandra saot stopped at a convenience store off of I45 in Webster
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Texas she noticed a man staring at her from the parking lot his truck was out there parked but I wasn't really paying
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attention when Sandra left and went to a waffle house across the street she saw the man
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again he followed me to the waffle house and I parked and he asked me if I needed
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help and I go get help for what and he goes will your tires flat but just moments later The Stranger
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was forcing her into his white pickup truck at knife point he was just telling me to keep my mouth shut I mean I was
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terrified she says he sexually assaulted her in the truck and then they started speeding down the
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interstate and the only thing I was thinking like he's going to kill me I rather jump and kill myself than him
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doing that to me and that's just what Sandra did as the truck sped down I45 she opened the door jumped out and hit
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the pavement and then I got up started [Music] running Gravely injured Sandra managed
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to get help and reported the incident 5 months later in October of 1997 during a meeting with Friendswood
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Police Webster investigators noticed that that Sandra's description of her abductor pickup sounded similar to the
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truck that friends with police had searched in Laura smi's case belonging to William
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ree okay if y'all would get shoulder shoulder uh with the guy on the on the red circle on October 16th
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1997 Reese was pulled in for a lineup number four step to the red circle want you take quarter turn to the
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left when he walked out and I knew that was him no no doubt that was him you can allow Bo get the truck get
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the truck William Reese was immediately arrested and charged with kidnapping he pleaded not
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guilty he was finally behind bars but not for any of the murdered girls did you attack Laura
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SM face of glass I want you to repeat after me in a loud clear voice do not scream
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do not scream get in the truck be the truck William Reese was defiant he denied kidnapping Sandra SAA and
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slashing her tire but after his arrest investigators were determined to TI him to lores smi's murder too think you're
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being unfairly treated Mr Reese yeah I did I didn't friends with deputy chief Josh Rogers says they thought they found
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another link when they searched Reese's apartment he had a horse blanket that was multicolored most of those colors
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were also found on one of Loris smi's socks so the evidence was was uh strong and they already had those other fibers
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on Laura's socks that match Reese's floor mats still the da at the time did not feel that was enough evidence to
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charge ree with Laura's murder and was that frustrating very very I got very very angry I felt that
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the system had failed us and failed Laura but Friendswood detectives weren't giving up they pulled records to trace
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Reese's movements during the previous summer and discovered that Reese might be connected to the other unsolved cases
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there was a fuel charge from Denton on July 15th the same place and date of Kelly Cox's
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disappearance it was the first time Kelly's mother Jan bham had heard the name William ree he was now also on the
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radar of Denton police that you know caused them to want to check Kelly's fingerprints against anything in
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his truck or car did they find anything fingerprints anything connected to Kelly
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no they did not friends with detectives also found records showing Reese had used a pay phone in the town where
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Tiffany Johnson's body was found less than an hour after she disappeared and the owner of the car wash after seeing
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his picture says re was a frequent customer with that Reese joined a list of possible suspects anyone along that
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route during that time period uh he was looked at investigators were also now eyeing him in Jessica kain's
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disappearance and used bulldozers to look for evidence at the horse ranch where he had
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worked but they came up empty-handed and in April of 1998 as suspicion swirled around William Reese
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in several jurisdictions he went on trial for the kidnapping of Sandra sea you went to the trial why for
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Laura I had to be there for Laura I got very angry with what I learned at that trial because of course
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it puts everything in your head at what he had done to Laura gay Smither says she was
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especially upset when she heard the testimony of Reese's two rape victims from the
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1980s remember he had been released from prison for those attacks just 6 months before Laura was
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murdered they came down and testified and I was mortified to hear what he had done to those two young
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women the jury didn't take long they went out and minutes later was a guilty verdict William ree was
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convicted did and sentenced to 60 years for kidnapping Sandra sea I think a lot of people felt like
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that was probably going to be the best that we were going to be able to do um is just to keep William Reese off the
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streets again but Laura's case remained officially unsolved and the Smithers wanted to see Rees charged up in
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Oklahoma Kathy doy continued to pressure investigators to solve Tiffany's murder
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at first i' call every week it was always the same thing they didn't have anything it would take more than a
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decade before Kathy says her calls were finally answered all I knew was that I've got a
00:25:14
victim whose car was at the car wash in 2012 retired police chief Lynn Williams had recently started working on cold
00:25:23
cases at the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations or the OSB I and was assigned to Tiffany's case the car was
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abandoned the keys were in ignition the doors were unlocked no witnesses there was that DNA evidence
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from Tiffany's body so really DNA was going to be your only hope that was my frame of mind but the DNA had already
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been tested twice without success we are worried usually that there's nothing left to test
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Wendy Duke is the supervising criminologist at the OSBI Cold Case unit she found two samples from Tiffany's
00:26:07
body that had not been totally consumed in earlier testing and was able to develop a partial male profile from them
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it's exciting even if it is a partial profile because it was a partial profile Duke could only compare it to a profile
00:26:25
from a known person and the team slowly eliminated suspects from the file until they got to William Reese and what was
00:26:35
the result and he could not be eliminated from that partial profile on the swab from Tiffany the da in Oklahoma
00:26:42
thought it was enough to charge Reese for Tiffany Johnson's murder and after all those years of waiting Kathy finally
00:26:51
had some news and I said oh my God why Tiffany that was my main thing why Tiffany Oklahoma law enforcement also
00:27:02
shared the news with Texas investigators including the Texas Rangers who wondered
00:27:08
if William Reese might be willing to talk to them about their cases they went to visit ree in prison
00:27:17
and to their surprise he agreed to talk further if they could take the death penalty off the table the Smithers
00:27:25
agreed and so did Jan bham as long as Reese help police find Kelly that's a huge decision to make
00:27:34
before you even know oh I know and basically I said I wanted answers I wanted to know what whether my daughter
00:27:42
was alive or dead what would you do with the difficult decision that the BAM and
00:27:51
Smither fames faced chat now on Facebook and X je what are you doing what are you doing
00:28:08
what are you doing look look when they would find a body anywhere and then they would confirm who
00:28:20
it was and it wasn't Kelly and I'd go oh it's not Kelly and then I'd go but it was
00:28:27
somebody's daughter almost 19 years after Kelly Cox's disappearance her mother Jam was
00:28:37
finally close to knowing what had [Music] happened in February 2016 William Reese was moved from prison
00:28:48
to the Friendswood jail after agreeing to give investigators information about their three Texas cases he hoped his
00:28:57
cooperation might help him in Oklahoma too he told us that he wasn't going to play games if
00:29:02
we weren't going to play games investigators took Reese out to this remote Field South of Friendswood where
00:29:09
he said Kelly Cox's remains were located Reese hadn't yet told them if he was responsible for her death he doesn't
00:29:18
give any confession no but it's clear that he's got some involvement correct police spent long days and nights with
00:29:27
Reese in the jail and out in the field looking for Kelly's remains and during that time ree started telling
00:29:35
investigators about his encounter with Kelly Cox and Denton he claimed they got into a fight in the gas station parking
00:29:43
lot after he bumped into her and she spilled her soda on him I started curing her I think I pushed her that's when she
00:29:52
hit me with the coke I slapped her then it was over she was fighting back yes okay what
00:30:03
happens next and then I grabed her around the throat I show her Reese had just confessed to murdering Kelly Cox
00:30:11
but investigators weren't sure if his story was true they hadn't found any sign of Kelly in that field but as they
00:30:19
kept looking this was not the only major Revelation to emerge I remember going to
00:30:25
work at construction job site it's a rainy morning soon reys was telling investigators what he said happened to
00:30:33
Laura Smither on that rainy morning in Friendswood I hear something Slam against my
00:30:45
miror and uh it scared me so I stop I got out and that's when I look in the ditch and I seen L Smithers laying
00:30:55
in the ditch and uh she wasn't breathing Reese claimed that Laura had died instantly after he had hit her with
00:31:06
his truck by accident but he later changed that story claiming Laura had survived but when he tried to stop her
00:31:15
from crying he accidentally broke her neck psychopaths are incredibly callous individuals they are without guilt and
00:31:24
they are without remorse marelen ool is a retired FBI profiler we asked her to review the case records and Reese's
00:31:33
videotape statements to try to understand his psychology I've not assessed him not met
00:31:39
him and I'm just going from my own experience but looking at his cases looking at his behavior I would say in
00:31:46
my opinion that he manifests traits of psychopathy you wanted the truth so I'm telling you the TR and once police got
00:31:53
him talking I had a raptor and a married Raptor Bree didn't seem to want to stop
00:31:59
SE I jumped curve it was right there old tul says that Reese was probably enjoying the attention and to break from
00:32:06
his routine this whe what's the worst thing that you can do for someone that has a
00:32:12
tendency to love exciting challenging stimulating things you put them in an environment like prison where they get
00:32:20
bored so when you offer them the opportunity to come out and assist law enforcement they're going to jump at
00:32:26
that after a week of fruitlessly searching for Kelly Cox reys offered to help them
00:32:35
find another victim Jessica Kaine whom he said he had buried in a different field closer to Friendswood and while
00:32:44
Rees didn't have an agreement with the da in that case said being against drinking he started telling that story
00:32:52
too claiming he had had an argument with Jessica outside the restaurant where she
00:32:57
was last seen scene and that she followed him down I45 for 30 miles I don't know why I just pulled over she
00:33:05
pulled up behind me started yelling and I went off on her again okay then you end up choking her out then yes sir on
00:33:14
the on I 45 on I 45 but even as Reese admitted murdering Jessica he would not admit to raping her or Kelly or Laura do
00:33:25
you believe that most likely every one of his victims was raped I do I believe that they were because I believe that
00:33:32
that was really the intent of the crime if that's his motivation sexual motivation why doesn't he admit that is
00:33:39
that typical in some cases I would say that's that's typical because in their eyes that makes them look pretty
00:33:47
pathetic that you have to attack someone strangle someone beat someone up in order to be sexually gratified go ahead
00:33:54
with the next one that's the war in Oklahoma City can finally even though he could again be facing the death penalty
00:34:02
investigators were able to get ree to talk about the last case they thought he was linked to from
00:34:09
1997 Tiffany Johnston who re said he had encountered at that car wash in Oklahoma
00:34:16
I was spraying clean up underneath my truck that's when that girl yelled hey I sprider little sorry I thought she said
00:34:25
something I said I started curing matter her and me and her got into it he knew police had his DNA and admitted having
00:34:37
sexual contact with Tiffany after forcing her into his horse trailer was fighting un Snapp her overalls I don't
00:34:46
know why once again reys made a point to blame his victim for the violence that followed she hit me in the back of the
00:34:54
head with her horseshoe pissed me off started squeezing her around the throat and I grabbed that lead rope wrapped
00:35:03
around her pulled it tight four victims and four confessions but with no sign of
00:35:10
Kelly Cox or Jessica Kaine not everyone believe Rees was telling the truth there
00:35:15
was some folks thinking that maybe the information was not accurate and that he was playing
00:35:21
us go inside the case and see more of the evidence at 48 hours.com as we dug and we continued to not locate
00:35:38
anything there certainly wasn't as many investigators helping at the end of it as they were at the beginning of it in
00:35:45
March of 2016 after 25 days of digging and with William Reese's guidance there was
00:35:53
finally some news they found Jessica K's Remains What was that day like very emotional we were sad but also we were
00:36:03
joyful as well to have located uh the remains Jessica's parents asked for privacy as they processed the news and
00:36:12
buried their daughter four investigators finding Jessica corroborated William Reese's stories and re-energized the
00:36:20
search for Kelly Cox and after another two weeks of painstaking work they found her
00:36:28
I had nightmares for the first time where she had to wake me up screaming never had nightmares like that before
00:36:34
her nightmares were being down in a hole it was just after Kelly and Jessica were found
00:36:42
Oklahoma County Prosecutors Jimmy Harmon and Ryan Stevenson have William Reese transported back to their state to face
00:36:51
a capital murder trial for Tiffany Johnston we typically only seek the death penalty on the worst of the worst
00:36:58
murderers and Mr ree certainly fit that bill Reese pleaded not guilty even though prosecutors had the DNA evidence
00:37:06
and his chilling words from his tape confession that's when I grabbed her around the throat choked her when the
00:37:13
trial began in May of 2021 Reese's defense fought to keep that video out but the judge decided that the jury
00:37:22
would watch it and hear all his statements where he admitted killing Laura Smither Kelly Cox and Jessica
00:37:30
Kaine all relevant says Stevenson for showing that Reese had a pattern all of that being in such a short time period
00:37:39
we wanted to be able to show the jury that this guy wasn't stopping he was stopped Sandra SAA and two women who say
00:37:47
re sexually assaulted them in 1997 all testified at the trial prosecutors say this testimony was crucial to correct
00:37:57
the self-serving stories that ree told on those tapes you never quite get the full story out of William ree he always
00:38:06
tells it in the way that makes him look best prosecutors think the true story is
00:38:11
that Reese would set traps for his victims he would sometimes create the situation in the case of Sandra Sea by
00:38:19
slashing her Tire presented himself as the Good Samaritan and he would then attack them after 9 days in that
00:38:26
Oklahoma court room the case went to the jury it took them less than 2 hours to decide finding William Reese guilty of
00:38:36
murdering Tiffany Johnson Reese was sentenced to death I'll never forgive him for killing Tiffany he should die
00:38:46
but instead of being sent right away to death row reys first made one final trip
00:38:52
back down the interstate to Texas where he agreed to plead guilty to murdering Laura Smither Kelly Cox and Jessica
00:39:00
Kaine it took almost 25 years but you finally got Justice for Laura didn't you yeah and for Jessica and Kelly and that
00:39:11
was very important to Bob and I in exchange for his guilty pleas Reese received three life sentences in the
00:39:19
Texas cases gay Smither made a statement at one of those hearings I spoke about Laura and how we had an empty seat at
00:39:29
our table for the rest of our lives and then I told him that I I forgave him for
00:39:35
what he did you forgive him for ruining your lives you lost Laura who had her whole life ahead of her forgiveness does
00:39:43
not mean I condone what he did nor does it mean I will ever forget what he did forgiveness was for me to not live in a
00:39:52
in a cage of Rage that's what forgiveness is with Laura's case now resolved gay and Bob
00:40:00
could devote more time with their son David now 34 and his children gay also travels the country training law
00:40:09
enforcement on handling missing persons cases I'm here to tell you what happened
00:40:16
with the prayer that you will be inspired by Laura's Story to never give up the bams wanted a way to share their
00:40:25
memories of Kelly and and created this statue in her Honor on the UN campus where Kelly had once been a student
00:40:34
hoping to remind people to be aware of their surroundings you've got to live but you can do that in a smart way and
00:40:43
be safe Jan says like every family touched by William reee she's having to learn how to live with grief I cry every
00:40:53
day I used to say to people if you don't want to see me cry then you can walk away cuz I am going to cry what are you
00:41:00
doing how do you want people to remember your mother just the way she was she was
00:41:06
a ball of fun she was a beautiful young woman who had a lot going for her she was driven
00:41:15
and she was doing it for [Music] me [Music] two gruesome murders unsolved same area
00:41:31
same MMO ambushed stabbed multiple times can a man known as the zombie hunter help police find a killer and then he's
00:41:38
defending the world against zombies it was like he was hiding in playing sight 48 Hours next on CBS and streaming on
00:41:44
Paramount [Music] Plus Andre McDonald had a very very strict regimen she followed it
00:42:08
daily nice drop it that a girl she would be at the gym at 5:30 in the morning in
00:42:15
the office by 8:00 on March 1st they had no indication she would be late she didn't show up for
00:42:22
work this was very significant to her employees they called the gym and found out she never showed up to the gymm
00:42:29
which is like a religion to her I Colin Andy repeatedly it's going to voicemail you know the anxiety starts steading in
00:42:39
like I start panicking for anging to be missing is not possible the biggest issue for me were
00:42:47
the fact that her phone was missing her purse was still there her keys were on the counter and her Vehicles were still
00:42:56
there if her vehicle's there her purse is there her keys are there if she's missing is there a concern of an
00:43:04
Abduction the deputies obviously didn't know what to think at this point they were just beginning the
00:43:14
investigation what we did learn is andrean McDonald a beautiful Jamaican woman was brought to the United States
00:43:22
by uh Andre her husband as a major in the Air Force and and had top secret security
00:43:29
clearance they began a assisted living business where they in short order became
00:43:39
millionaires the picture of the American dream she's not boastful or anything like
00:43:46
that she's just that humble person andreen had a great reputation in not only the assisted living community here
00:43:54
in San Antonio and we're on the side of the street this morning and we're giving
00:43:58
out food for those less fortunate and she was very very generous with her wealth and her time God bless you kind
00:44:07
of a a rising star of the of San Antonio absolutely a very much so a rising star they were always laughing together
00:44:18
they were always joking around the home didn't seem to be in terrible disarray no furniture was
00:44:26
knocked over or anything was broken I found there was blood on the wall in an area that was kind of odd
00:44:35
there was blood and hair on a light switch we assumed that something happened there it was a crime scene of
00:44:43
some sort I was on social media and I saw that initial poster that came out with
00:44:52
her face and then it says missing on the top andrean is not the person to go take
00:44:57
off somewhere no one knows where she is supporters for Andre McDonald renewed their search efforts when the months
00:45:05
went by and the days went by and they haven't found anything in my mind that's not such a bad
00:45:14
thing because if they're not able to find something that solidifies her being dead I mean she's alive right and she's
00:45:24
[Music] somewhere [Music] [Music] [Music] in the afternoon of March 1st 2019 after
00:46:20
29-year-old andreen McDonald was reported missing by her mother Moren a bear county sheriff's deputy arrived at
00:46:27
the McDonald home in an upscale gated community in San Antonio within minutes Sheriff javar Salazar says his Deputy
00:46:36
made a disturbing Discovery one of my deputies had seen what they believed to be Blood on the wall and possibly
00:46:44
hair and in the backyard normally beautifully landscaped another troubling clue a random burn
00:46:54
pile right here I saw the burn pile we found a zipper from Andre's blouse it was Andre's blouse
00:47:06
mhm Andre's husband Andre Andy McDonald told the deputy that when he woke up he got their daughter Elena to school
00:47:15
before reporting to lackan Air Force Base where he served as a cyber warfare analyst once he learned andreen was
00:47:23
missing Andre rushed back home but he quick headed out the door again to act on a hunch that andreen who suffered
00:47:32
from migraines might have gone to a nearby hospital for treatment Andre's arrival to the
00:47:39
hospital was captured by surveillance cameras lead investigator Frank stubs on that tape he comes in you can see him
00:47:48
asking for McDonald and they tell him there's somebody in room three named McDonald he arrives back back to the
00:47:57
house what does he tell them he tells them that she's in the hospital but when the deputy called the hospital he
00:48:03
discovered that the McDonald who had checked in was not andreen McDonald Andre told deputies that he
00:48:11
rushed back home before seeing his wife because he had left his cell phone at home and wanted to let Moren know he had
00:48:19
found andreen there was some indication to him that she was there and injured to
00:48:24
some extent unfortunately the Major's hunch turned out to be wrong when I heard I was oh God I was so upset I was
00:48:34
just thinking that she's some place that we can find her and for Andre's mother-in-law Jackie who lived in
00:48:42
Florida there was uncertainty I had called andrene's phone about a thousand times already saying
00:48:49
andreen whatever it is please please just call me back what concerned everyone was the fact Andre
00:48:57
would never just disappear she was known for her sense of responsibility and dedication to her family and
00:49:06
business how would you describe andreen she knows what she wants and she will never stop until she
00:49:17
get it I did come in before he did right andreen did defeat me and she is so excited
00:49:27
andreen created an assisted living business in San Antonio called Starlight homes when she was just 22 and according
00:49:35
to Andre's close friend Andrew Russell in order to start the business Andre he liquidated his 401k Andre bankrolled her
00:49:45
dreams and he sold the BMW that he owned they were doing so well they were doing
00:49:53
everything that would make any mother proud Starlight homes thrived and under Andre's watch the tiny homebased
00:50:04
business transformed into a multi-million doll Enterprise in just 7 years when I started my assistant Li I
00:50:13
only started with three residents today Starlite homes living we have two locations in the San Anton
00:50:21
area childhood friend Mandy says Andre's success was born out of humble beginnings growing up in Portland
00:50:30
Jamaica we didn't have a lot and so we figured if we wanted to get somewhere in life it would be in America that's where
00:50:39
the dream was Andre's dream of coming to America came true at 19 when she met Andre he was also a native of Jamaica
00:50:49
who at the time was a captain in the US Air Force Andre had returned home to Port Antonio in May of 2009 to attend a
00:50:59
funeral where he met andreen who was 10 years younger was there an attraction right from the beginning she was excited
00:51:07
when she met him excited about the captain in the Air Force they both decide for her to come
00:51:15
to America they married that July was happy to know he had met somebody that he could have a life with that life
00:51:26
would soon include a baby girl Elena Elena was at the center of Andre's World which made her disappearance so
00:51:35
perplexing says Jackie I don't think andrene would just get up and walk away and leave
00:51:43
Elena and nobody hear from her that evening a forensic crime unit examined those stains in the bathroom
00:51:54
and confirmed the initial belief that they were blood while you were going through the house was Andre there yes he
00:52:01
was did you see any signs of bruising on his body any signs of of any injuries that perhaps he'd been in a struggle
00:52:09
nothing that we could that we could determine investigators were hoping Andre had some answers but he said the
00:52:17
last time he had seen his wife was the night before and they said what Andre described raised more questions than
00:52:25
answers he had told them they had come home from the tax preparers office and that that they had argued
00:52:32
over um the business and he went up the road got some gas and just cooled off we were able to obtain video
00:52:43
evidence of him going to the Shell station Andre said when he returned home he and andreen went to separate
00:52:51
bedrooms but according to investigators what Andre didn't mention was the text exchange that happened at the gas
00:53:07
[Music] station for investigators the text messages found on Andre's phone revealed
00:53:20
a marriage in turmoil including allegations of betrayal accusations of unfaith in these text messages correct
00:53:28
that's correct we have uh a printed copy would you mind reading these from his phone
00:53:36
andreen responds if you bring up aubit again I will divorce you myself auin Hall a businessman living in Port
00:53:44
Antonio Jamaica who according to investigators was andrene's ex-boyfriend and potentially her current lover in
00:53:53
response to Andre's threat of divorce Andre text I don't care if you get a divorce you brought auin into our life
00:54:03
auin dated andreen when she was a teenager say investigators Andre's close friend Mandy says the two rekindled
00:54:11
their romance in 2017 during one of her philanthropic trips to the island auin has always been
00:54:19
that first love it wasn't something andin got over emotionally Mandy says They carried on their fair in secret
00:54:28
until the summer of 2018 when andreen got two new tattoos an initial a tattooed on her hand and a date tattooed
00:54:38
on her wrist Andy was definitely suspicious of what it meant with a Suspicious Mind Mandy says Andre went to
00:54:47
work to solve this tattoo mystery he went and he did his own digging it was on social media where Andre discovered
00:54:56
an interesting photograph of auin branded with the same exact tattoo that was also on Andre's hand and those
00:55:05
numbers 14376 they're ain's birthday day month and year she told me that she impulsively got the tattoo she knew it
00:55:17
was something stupid to do enraged Mandy says Andre threatened divorce unless andring cut off contact with auin
00:55:25
covered up her tatto tattoos and promised to never travel to Jamaica without him she did cover up the tattoos
00:55:33
she didn't want to lose half of everything she worked hard for at Andre's 40th birthday party Mandy
00:55:43
says by all outward appearances that McDonald's seemed to be getting along but just 13 days later on March 1st
00:55:52
2019 that's when andreen disappeared the once festive home had transformed into a crime scene as investigators
00:56:03
worked the McDonald residents until 2 the next morning when they couldn't locate Andre's cell phone investigators
00:56:11
checked to see if her credit cards or passport had been used all dead ends we came up dry on on on all of these
00:56:21
inquiries at this point all we had was a missing person Within hours of his wife's disappearance Andre McDonald was
00:56:29
a person of interest he stopped answering questions and lawyered up at 2: p.m. the next day an undercover
00:56:38
investigator assigned to watch the McDonald's house noticed that the garage had been damaged and Andre was backing
00:56:46
out of the driveway the investigator followed him to a nearby gun shop where additional investigators who were called
00:56:53
to the scene observed Andre purchasing a 9mm handgun and ammunition we were under the assumption
00:57:02
that he was purchasing a gun to probably harm himself when Andre walked back to his
00:57:09
car investigators confronted him their violent takedown may be disturbing to viewers investigators moved to detain
00:57:19
the Air Force Major and turned him over to military authorities for a mental evaluation meanwhile investigators
00:57:28
returned to the house with a search warrant and checked andrene's car while there some objects caught their eye
00:57:37
there was a shovel there was an axe an axe uh there was a like a hatchet kind of Mall there was trash bags there were
00:57:46
gloves and a couple of gas cans and there was more inside the garbage can in the house
00:57:55
was a receipt from Lowe's that had been torn up detectives were able to obtain surveillance footage from the hardware
00:58:04
store items that were purchased the day after andreen went missing this is Andre
00:58:11
McDonald coming into the Lowe's he's going to purchase several items you can see him with a basket here you can see
00:58:17
there's a shovel in the basket now he comes up here there's two gas cans there's a a mul or a
00:58:24
hatchet here's that axe what's at play here it appeared to us that now that his wife is missing um it
00:58:32
pointed to the disposal of her body look at that cart full of ill will right yes and in the corner of the
00:58:43
garage investigators would uncover what they say was the most damning evidence of all we found a hammer and clothing in
00:58:52
the garbage the clothing that we found appeared to be Andre clothing investigators say they found traces of
00:58:59
Blood on the pocket of these genes what's on the claw hammer that's of Interest the lab determined that there
00:59:06
was the presence of blood on the hammer and the DNA that they obtained from that
00:59:14
that blood sample was from entry we concluded that that hammer was probably used as the murder weapon this is
00:59:23
significant very significant 48 hours into the investigation detective stubs believed he had
00:59:45
discovered key evidence that implicated Major Andre McDonald in his wife's disappearance investigators located
00:59:53
those items stained with Andre Green's blood inside the family's trash can this missing person's case had become much
01:00:03
more Sinister and it's pointing toward what the evidence was pointing towards a murder but there was a problem none of
01:00:16
the evidence collected proved that a murder had actually occurred turning a missing person's case into a homicide
01:00:25
case is very difficult on March 3rd 2019 the Air Force concluded its evaluation of Andre
01:00:35
and released him Civil Authorities quickly moved in and placed him under arrest daughter my family what do you
01:00:43
have to say about this entire investigation but it wasn't for murder Major Andre McDonald was arrested for
01:00:50
tampering with evidence based upon that torn receipt found at the house listing the items he had purchased from the
01:00:57
hardware store Andre's arrest left his mother Jackie in a State of Shock and disbelief I saw that Andre was taken
01:01:09
into custody and I just collapsed I know he loved Andre why would he harm her and for Andre's mother Andre's
01:01:23
arrest left her head spinning oh God Andre could not hurt andreen that's what I was saying but who
01:01:34
else adding to everyone's sense of shock confusion and suspicion was Andre's decision to stop cooperating with
01:01:45
detectives Andre's face told us there was no way in hell we were going to break him and make him tell us what had
01:01:51
happened Sheriff Salazar went on local TV after asking for help we are asking anybody with any information on her
01:01:59
whereabouts to give us a call at 210 335 soon after the community of San Antonio along with family and friends
01:02:09
came out in droves to look for and dream including a volunteer search Party formed by former Air Force Airman Bobby
01:02:18
green Bobby took us out to one of the areas where he searched for and dream right now we're behind a hospital we
01:02:27
thought he might have taken her here to a wooded area as you walk through here what are you looking for you would look
01:02:34
at tree branches that had been pushed away something that was cut fresh uh tire tracks how many miles did you cover
01:02:42
it was hundreds of miles as search efforts continued Andre McDonald was released from jail on where and with his
01:02:52
wife absent Andre took over management of Starlight homes search efforts continued although investigators say
01:03:00
Andre didn't take part days would eventually turn into months of dead ends as the search for andreen went on
01:03:10
investigators dug further into the couple's relationship learning that they had business problems as well as
01:03:17
romantic ones in WhatsApp messages shared with friends there are arguments over who
01:03:24
really was the brains be behind their successful business in one andreen tells Andre Starlight Holmes is my idea my
01:03:34
dream and would not have happened without my drive back then friends like Andrew Russell became worried about the
01:03:43
potential for violence and I have text message from Andre that's saying someone is going to snap Andrew told
01:03:52
investigators that the couple's war of words turned physical the night before a Christmas party at their home in 2018
01:04:01
where the McDonald's got into a physical altercation so when I went into the kitchen Andy and andrene were grappling
01:04:08
on the floor the next morning they were laughing about it I did feel uncomfortable after that I thought the
01:04:15
the situation had become toxic just over 2 months later andrene's blood was spilled in her home and she
01:04:24
vanished finally on the evening of July 11th 2019 133 days after andren had gone missing
01:04:34
there was a break in the case about 7:30 this evening uh the bar County Sheriff's
01:04:39
Office patrol deputies were dispatched to this location for a report of some human remains that were found skeletal
01:04:46
remains were located in a farmer's field just 6 miles from the McDonald home this
01:04:53
man Clifton cundi made the discovery Clifton had taken out his tractor to retrieve a cow skull that had been
01:05:01
spotted right along the tree line of the property I saw the what appeared to be a
01:05:07
human skull in front of the cow skull that must have been a shock a shock yes officials determined that the human
01:05:16
skeletal remains belong to andreen McDonald her sister Cindy Johnson I was at a church
01:05:26
praying for andr I couldn't do anything I broke down it hit us like a storm cuz we still wasn't thinking like
01:05:41
that never I never saw this coming less than 48 hours later Andre McDonald would be arrested and charged
01:05:56
with his wife's murder see more evidence from the case at 48 hours.com Andre's family had waited for
01:06:15
justice for 4 years it hurts every night before I go to my bed I think about her bar County
01:06:26
assistant District Attorneys Steven spear Lauren Scott and Ryan groomer would prosecute McDonald for the murder
01:06:34
of his wife and dream but the prosecution would face an uphill battle despite the evidence found at the
01:06:41
McDonald home the hammer and the blood the prosecution could not say for sure how andreen died because Andre's body
01:06:51
was out in the elements in that field for all of those days Medical examiner's office was unable to specify what
01:06:58
exactly caused Andre's death and does that Stephen complicate your preparation no it absolutely does we say he caused
01:07:06
her death however we don't know how if Andre murdered his wife what do you believe was his motive I believe it was
01:07:15
largely because he felt emasculated she was such a rising star had control of these businesses and I think he was
01:07:21
jealous of that McDonald who pleaded not guilty was represented by some of the top defense lawyers in San Antonio John
01:07:30
convery Zoe Russell and John Hunter how would you respond to the notion that what caused all this was his
01:07:40
Envy of his wife's success I I don't see any evidence of that Andre is a major in
01:07:45
the Air Force I mean he's incredibly successful on his own right Major Andre McDonald had been under house arrest
01:07:53
since April of 2021 but days before his trial was set to begin January 17th 2023 McDonald who had remained silent
01:08:04
about his wife's death began telling an extraordinary story beginning with his own mother Jackie says her son told her
01:08:15
andrene's death was an accident he looked at me and he said Mom I'm going to tell you the truth and he
01:08:24
started to cry McDonald then called Andre's mother and sister Cindy who put the call on speaker phone he gave the
01:08:34
family for the first time details of what happened according to him according to him yes it was a phone call that
01:08:43
stunned his defense team was it shocking to you that he had done this shocking is
01:08:49
a good word for it yeah the entire context of the case changed his best thought thought would be to tell a story
01:08:57
in court McDonald would get to tell his story but not before the prosecution laid out its case in opening stat ladies
01:09:06
and gentlemen inside the trash B in the garage a hammer that hammer has flood on it it is the victim's
01:09:18
blood the defense contended that andrene's death was an accident this is not a murder case it is
01:09:28
a case about the degree and level of responsibility with evidence of accident a mutual
01:09:40
fight all of which happens in the blink of an ey the prosecution also called forensic pathologist Dr James fig who
01:09:49
testified that andrein skeletal remains had severe injuries consistent with being struck by a blunt object she had a
01:09:57
fractured spinal cord a broken rib and a split jaw but the pathologist could not
01:10:04
determine what exactly had caused Andre's death so the way that I have phrased her cause
01:10:15
of death is homicidal violence including blood force trauma after 6 days of testimony and 33
01:10:24
Witnesses the prosecution rested the defense had only one witness defense calls Major
01:10:32
Andre McDonald McDonald described the evening of February 28th 2019 while at the tax preparers office with his wife
01:10:42
he discovered that andreen had started a new business a year earlier without his
01:10:47
knowledge what did that signify to you basically U that meant to me pretty much that she was robing me after a heated
01:10:57
argument that evening McDonald says he left the house to cool off at that gas station McDonald says they continued
01:11:05
their argument over text and when he returned home he raised the possibility of divorce and splitting their business
01:11:14
in half she became extremely irate at the thought of splitting the business charges into the room to confront me so
01:11:23
when she comes into the room you know know I turn around and she comes like right up in my face so at that moment
01:11:31
she spits in my face so at that point grabbed her cuz she's like right in front of me so I grabbed her head I
01:11:38
think we had like a a clash of heads and I think it opened up like a cut somewhere on her face McDonald said
01:11:44
andreen ran into the bathroom and turned on the lights when andren saw her bloody
01:11:50
face in the mirror McDonald claims she attacked him his testimony may be disturbing to some
01:11:58
viewers when she comes she's like throwing like some punches so I'm trying to like duck down and like keep my head
01:12:04
my face from getting hit with the blows I remember like grabbing her like tripping her and then she like Falls and
01:12:10
that's when I kick her life twice but the second kick I think I heard like some type of
01:12:16
weing and then also like in the background I could hear like some footsteps the footsteps of their young
01:12:23
daughter Elena Donald said he left to put Elena back to bed and when he returned about 30 minutes later his wife
01:12:31
was dead I became like pretty frantic at that point because you know she's dead on the floor you never thought I need to
01:12:41
cross-examination prosecutor spear asked if McDonald had thought about calling 911 I never thought about calling
01:12:50
anybody to revive a dead person my purpose at that point was simply to get her out of the house so that my
01:12:56
7-year-old daughter wouldn't see her mother laying on the floor dead after putting Elena back to bed McDonald said
01:13:02
he dumped Andre's body in this field stripped her naked and returned home to burn her clothing which left that burn
01:13:11
patch in the backyard but what about Andre's Blood on the yellow hammer on the face of it the evidence doesn't
01:13:19
square with McDonald's account of an accident McDonald had an explan ation for that he testified that when
01:13:28
investigators finished searching his home he went back to the field Before Dawn angry and armed with the yellow
01:13:36
Hammer a can of gasoline and a plan my plan was to hit the person that caused this whole circumstance and you
01:13:46
felt it was her fault right it's absolutely your fault what did you do with the gasoline I poured it on her and then I
01:13:53
used the the and set it on fire McDonald said when the flame subsided that's when
01:14:00
he attacked his wife's corpse with the yellow Hammer I hit her in the face the neck and I just like hit her again as I
01:14:09
was walking away why that last blow as I was walking away yes I guess I was still
01:14:16
angry when I was walking away after that gruesome testimony the defense shifted gears and tried to refocus the jury on
01:14:25
on their theory of the crime and for the first time the defense brought up why McDonald acted the way he did that night
01:14:34
have you always believed you acted in self-defense yes I've always believed that from the very beginning than the
01:14:40
defense played videos showing andreen giving her husband a piggyback ride and working
01:14:47
out would you describe andreen as a very strong powerful woman yes I would straight up according to McDonald his
01:14:57
wife could lift up to 300 lb yes ma'am when she attacked you were you in fear yes I was in fear of you know being
01:15:08
harmed during that that whole situation they want you to forget and disregard about all his actions closing
01:15:16
arguments defense Council said that this is self-defense folks this is not self-defense it's time to hold this man
01:15:25
responsible for what he did and it's time to find him guilty of murder Andre McDonald did not intentionally
01:15:33
rly murder and dream McDon he acted in self-defense and your duty and your obligation is to say not
01:15:44
guilty thank you after 6 days of testimony the jury got the case all the jury approximately 11 hours into their
01:15:54
deliberation the jury sent a note to the judge that says we're hopelessly dead law what do you make of Andre McDonald's
01:16:06
claim of self-defense chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook [Music] andex after almost 11 hours of
01:16:27
deliberating the jury was deadlocked unable to decide if Andre McDonald was guilty of murder manslaughter or Not
01:16:35
Guilty by self-defense everything was said in the courtroom all the evidence were were
01:16:42
there he confessed on the stand what he did they saw his demeanor I don't know what what was um the problem for jurors
01:16:52
Brandon meden I voted for murder and I saw that we were six and six and Rudy Ruiz at no point did any juror think
01:17:01
that he was innocent or that it was self-defense the problem was wording because people really picked apart the
01:17:08
definitions of murder and recklessness the jury of Six Women and six men spent hours discussing whether
01:17:17
McDonald Had intentionally murdered andreen or if he had recklessly killed her making it manslaughter
01:17:25
murder carries a life sentence manslaughter up to 20 years and I think most of us could agree that whatever
01:17:35
happened it was Reckless he left her on the ground and he did not render Aid now the
01:17:44
trick was to try and convince the other jurors that it was murder but as the deliberations
01:17:51
continued some of the jurors had been swayed with nine now for manslaughter mí says the biggest factor in swaying the
01:18:00
vote was Andre McDonald's testimony there was so little evidence and so a lot of people believed because we don't
01:18:09
know anything else other than what he has told us that we have to take what he told us and he was actually able to
01:18:16
convince a lot of the jurors we had that one juror that he said well I've kicked
01:18:22
someone I never intended to kill them medine Ruiz and a third juror were the staunch holdouts for murder no one was
01:18:31
going to change anyone's mind the judge then invoked what's called an Allen charge urging the holdout jurors to
01:18:38
reconsider the evidence and reach a unanimous decision after another hour of deliberations a verdict and Mr McDonald
01:18:47
please stand with your councel to the count of murder charging the indictment the jury finds the defendant not guilty
01:18:58
of the offense of murder has charged in the indictment and guilty guilty of the offense of
01:19:05
manslaughter Andre McDonald was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the Lesser charge
01:19:14
manslaughter Andre's sister Cindy was in disbelief a manslaughter after he spoke with no
01:19:23
remorse no love nothing at all and use Hammer stripper clothes throw gasoline on her burnt her and they gave him
01:19:35
manslaughter that's crazy I I am going to struggle with this thought until the day I
01:19:43
die the prosecution had a mixed reaction to the verdict I was disappointed however the jury rejected his
01:19:51
self-defense argument and held him accountable for at least some for the defense Andre McDonald may not
01:19:58
have walked out a free man but this is a win despite how I believe that this is a
01:20:05
self-defense case I do respect the outcome and Dre's best friend Mandy Hall he's there to tell his story he's there
01:20:14
to make up whatever he wants to make up she she doesn't she can't do that because he took that away from
01:20:22
her Cindy now sees that phone call from McDonald before the trial in a whole new
01:20:28
light as a calculated ploy to deflect blame it's four years it took him four years for him to recognize that he did
01:20:39
what he did and then all of a sudden he's um reaching out to us to let us think that
01:20:45
he's been responsible he didn't mean anything he is lying all a lies it's all a lie after the verdict Sher Sheriff
01:20:54
Salazar reached out to andrene's Father a retired member of the Jamaican army with an unusual
01:21:02
offering I did present Mr Anderson with a gift uh I asked my Deputy to remove the handcuffs from from Andre as they
01:21:09
put him back into the um cell and I gave I presented those cuffs to to Mr Anderson I wanted them to feel some sort
01:21:18
of connection to at least sending him away to to prison I want to tell you that we really appreciate it thank you
01:21:26
very much God bless you for andrene's mother nothing about this tragedy makes sense her daughter
01:21:35
and the Beautiful Life she had created are gone andreen McDonald who came to America became a successful entrepreneur
01:21:45
and found her purpose in serving others sadly the business she created is now closed I'm miss her very
01:21:58
much most times when I think about her I just it's like I feel like giving up and
01:22:04
in those times marine and Cindy lean on one another we're blessed to have each other to take us through this sad
01:22:13
Journey um when I'm weak my mom is strong when my mom is weak I am strong we have to be strong for Alena
01:22:26
Elena now 12 years old is the glue that binds this fractured family a family that still includes Andre's mother
01:22:34
Jackie though she is mainly left with the memories and the pain of what once was I think I heard for Alena more than
01:22:44
I heard for everyone no child should ever have to go through what she went through Moren and Cindy are now raising
01:22:55
Elena it's bittersweet cuz we have Elena Elena reminds us so much of Andre can Mommy get a
01:23:07
kiss love [Music] you a young wife and mother found with a strange mix of drugs at her system hey
01:23:24
there's a needle right here it makes you stop breathing if you have too much was
01:23:28
it murder investigators turned to her journals for answers how crucial were those journals very 48 hours Saturday on
01:23:36
CVS streaming on Paran [Music] plus it was somewhat unusual for someone someone to just vanish out of thin air
01:23:58
especially on the east side of Milwaukee Kelly dwire she is a young woman that is out trying to discover
01:24:10
herself you see this brigh eyed smiling beautiful girl who really seemed to have
01:24:16
a lot of life and vitality we got to spend quite a bit of time together in the yoga room it was
01:24:26
rare not to see her and I had just assumed she was on an adventure of some sort October 12th
01:24:34
2013 she did not show up for work her co-workers were absolutely the first to respond Kelly was very tied to
01:24:45
her cell phone always posting on social media always texting when they called Kelly's cell
01:24:53
phone it went straight to voicemail Kelly dwire is missing Flyers started going out all of the sudden in the
01:25:02
community it was Boom everybody knew that she was [Music] missing there's a sense of urgency here
01:25:13
absolute sense of urgency for certain today authorities and volunteers hunted for clues in her
01:25:19
disappearance I think that people saw those images and realized you know this could be my daughter this could be my
01:25:27
best friend Kelly DWI was an acquaintance of mine we would meet up at aliam a local bar and we would touch
01:25:35
face frequently throughout the week we learned that she was on a number of websites where one would meet men she
01:25:45
was bright sweet just kind-hearted good person she was on websites that could expose you to people very quickly that
01:25:54
are strangers some of her friends made comments that she might be with one of those people right now M DWI was meeting
01:26:02
people that could have put her In Harm's [Music] Way [Music] [Music] [Music] it's like she
01:26:59
vanishes her social media goes dead her debit card goes dead the phone is dead like the rest of Milwaukee
01:27:11
assistant district attorney Sarah Hill found Kelly dwi's sudden Disappearance in
01:27:16
2013 baffling in an age of an electronic footprint if you will it's not there it's like she just isn't
01:27:29
anymore the night of October 10th started out like any other for Kelly she'd been on a date with a man named
01:27:36
Chris Sako Kelly came to Chris's apartment building they go to get a few drinks and have a nice night out at a
01:27:44
place called aliia a cute little uh bar that was uh kind of across the street from the apartment building I remember
01:27:53
her and I having a small conversation of so what do you have to do tomorrow and she goes I actually have off Chanel
01:28:00
Royston was at the bar that night Kelly told her what she planned to do the next
01:28:05
day I want to wake up in the morning I want to do yoga I want to do laundry and just have an easy
01:28:12
day they picked up a pizza from Ian's a little pizza place that's like a block away brought it to the bar we were all
01:28:19
sitting outside on this very long communal picnic bench we were all nibbly on the pizza you know they're sharing it
01:28:26
with us Kelly and Chris decide to call it a night a little after 2 in the morning they head back to uh Mr zaco's
01:28:35
apartment building across the [Music] street Kelly and Chris had been dating for about a year after being introduced
01:28:44
through a mutual friend Kelly had moved to Milwaukee in 2008 and gone to college
01:28:51
when we're in our early 20s that's definitely a Time of exploration when you're trying to find your own footing
01:28:57
as an adult that's it biceps behind the ears lower your chin she always greeted me
01:29:04
with a huget Kelly's Journey of self-discovery had led to yoga class an instructor Ryan hater she was always
01:29:13
excited to see me and excited to get her butt kicked in my class keep your upper
01:29:18
back strong and her energy was just infectious Kelly worked part-time as a n and as a salesperson for an athletic
01:29:27
apparel store where her tight-knit co-workers were the first to sound the alarm when she missed a shift they
01:29:34
worked together and they played together it's like she found her tribe when was the
01:29:41
last time that you saw Kelly dwire it was just before her birthday she was like something big is going to happen I
01:29:49
can feel it this feels really important to me Kelly had just turned 27 and her relationship with 38-year-old Chris Sako
01:30:00
seemed to be taking on greater meaning for her based on what her friends said it certainly appeared to me that she was
01:30:08
extremely interested in him maybe even in love with him Chris's mother Joyce fry he was always into sports he always
01:30:17
had a lot of friends he was a very good golfer my dad took him uh out to the driving ranges I think he put a golf
01:30:24
club in Chris's hand when he was about three Chris graduated from Boston University with a degree in
01:30:30
international business but his love of sports led him to his dream job he was a major Yankee fan and they
01:30:40
did hire him in their IT staff and he just thought that was there could never be anything better and where was his
01:30:49
office it was at the Ballpark that's where at Yankee Stadium mhm that's where his office was so he was in heaven yeah
01:30:56
he really was but Joyce says Chris left New York in search of New Opportunities eventually Landing in Milwaukee in 2009
01:31:06
and winding up at the relocation management company where she worked he was the CIO the Chief Information
01:31:14
officer I became involved in Kelly dwi's missing person investigation Katherine Spano then a detective with the
01:31:21
Milwaukee Police Department would learn about Kelly and Chris's relationship she
01:31:26
says Kelly's reasons for dating Chris were obvious he was educated he was bright he was smart he had a job that
01:31:34
paid him well he had a nice car a beautiful condo down on the east side while some friends thought Kelly might
01:31:40
have been in love with Chris it seems zako might not have been on the same page Chris zako described his
01:31:47
relationship with Kelly dwire as friends with benefits but it did seem Kelly was
01:31:53
keeping keeping her options open Mr zigo didn't make promises to her that he was
01:31:58
being exclusive with her and she also dated some other people Royston recalls another time not long before Kelly went
01:32:08
missing it was a very easy night here at the bar Chanel was out at the aliam bar
01:32:15
when Chris and Kelly invited her back to Chris's apartment at closing time I went
01:32:20
across the street with him for a night cap walked out to the balcony to smoke a cigarette Chris then joined me he was
01:32:27
smoking marijuana Kelly was inside I don't know exactly what Kelly was doing Chanel says she got a bad feeling I just
01:32:37
had this urge that I needed to leave though she just arrived she told Chris and Kelly she suddenly realized how late
01:32:43
it was and that she had to work in the morning I looked at Kelly I said I need to leave and she looked up and said are
01:32:51
you sure I said yep it's okay it's just late later than I thought I need to go home and I walked out what was it what
01:32:57
was your six sense telling you I don't know it just you weren't supposed to be there bad space bad juju you don't need
01:33:08
to be here Chanel wasn't the only one to get the sense that all might not have been right in Kelly's
01:33:15
World Kelly like many women her AG had been active on several dating websites even though she was seeing
01:33:23
Chris and I'm thinking that that was the main person she was seeing she was dating other people there were other
01:33:29
people other men involved and her friends were concerned she made a few statements they were usually prompted by
01:33:37
the friends observing bruising on her wrists or her neck and wondering why she has those
01:33:44
bruises she told one friend uh she kind of laughed about these bruises on her neck and wrists and laughed it off as a
01:33:52
as a crazy night right and change the subject yes as police face the daunting task of
01:34:00
finding Kelly would her love life provide their first clue there are some evil people out
01:34:07
[Music] there [Music] 9129 I'm 23 so on Monday October 14th I started my shift at 400 p.m. I learned that
01:34:44
Kelly DWI a young woman had been reported missing and had not been seen or heard from since the previous Friday
01:34:59
as Kelly dwi's family and friends continued to search for her Milwaukee detective Tammy TRL mlan arrived at the
01:35:07
scene of Kelly's last known whereabouts 3 days earlier Chris sako's apartment building they come right through this
01:35:16
door and he actually holds the door open for [Music] her you can see that on the video yes
01:35:25
you see two people that are chatting walk past that camera then there's another camera that catches them turning
01:35:32
the corner to the elevator and you can see Kelly in her typical I think outgoing fashion she's gesturing with
01:35:39
her hands a little they bend the corner and then that's the last time that she is ever seen Alive by
01:35:50
anyone now it was time to talk to the the other person in that video treml mlan sat down with zako in his 18th
01:35:59
floor apartment he came off as a pretty nice guy he said she would hang out with
01:36:04
him a couple times a week he used the word party they party together somewhat shockingly zako didn't
01:36:12
hold back telling police exactly what he meant by party as he described how he and Kelly had ended their evening they
01:36:21
walk back and they do L of cocaine they have a couple more drinks he says there was sex and they both passed out on
01:36:33
opposite ends of his couch zako said Kelly left around 9:00 the next morning adding that he heard
01:36:41
the front door click shut behind her there was only one problem with that while I'm speaking with him I get a text
01:36:49
message from one of the other investigators who had been watching video downstairs with the manager and he
01:36:58
simply just says in the text she doesn't come out as treml mlan focused on how Kelly could have slipped out of this
01:37:06
high security building undetected zako seemed more interested in shifting Focus away from himself well
01:37:14
you know she's messing around with a lot of other guys there's some other guy you
01:37:19
know kind of trying to take the attention away from himself that may have been zaku's intention but that's
01:37:26
not what happened in your bones in your gut based on your instinct and your training and experience you felt like
01:37:34
you were looking at a suspect yes police needed a way to search sako's apartment for evidence because he had
01:37:42
told TRL mlan he'd used drugs there they were able to get a search warrant what'd
01:37:49
you find lines of cocaine on top of a magazine uh some canisters of marijuana in the refrigerator painkillers uh pills
01:37:59
and marijuana pipes smoking pipes they should tell you how cold it is in this place before they zako was
01:38:06
arrested for drug possession during his interview he seemed flip even when asked
01:38:12
routine questions about his medical history anxiety nothing like that I had anxiety they brought me in okay but no
01:38:20
uh I'm not taking anything for it okay no but no bipolar schizophrenia I suppose that's all open
01:38:28
to interpretation by somebody zaco's interrogation finishes abruptly let's call my lawyer but while
01:38:37
they had zako in custody police get a warrant to search his cell phone hoping to find clues in Kelly's
01:38:45
disappearance they were stunned to find a video of zako and Kelly DWI engaged in
01:38:51
a sex act where Kelly appears to be in distress she can't breathe she's straining for breath when was this video
01:39:00
taken that video was taken approximately 3 weeks before she went missing and there was more incriminating
01:39:10
evidence disturbing pictures of Kelly on Zak's phone still photographs that are very concerning as well because she
01:39:19
appears to be unconscious on his bed but police could not link those images to Kelly's disappearance and despite zako
01:39:29
being a person of interest they could only charge him with drug possession but that search of his apartment LED police
01:39:36
to a bizarre Discovery in his bathroom during that first search warrant the police observe the shower curtain hooks
01:39:46
with the torn fragments of shower curtain not knowing what a torn down shower curtain could mean and concern
01:39:53
that Kelly is never seen exiting the building they then bring in a canine to conduct a sniff for the order of
01:40:01
decomposing human remains and that police caber dog Molly would deliver some stunning
01:40:10
results there's an indication at the outside of the apartment door in the parking garage on the level he parked
01:40:16
his car on the dumpster door on the 18th floor Molly alert alerted on the hallway guest
01:40:28
bedroom guest bathroom she went on to the master bedroom got up onto Chris zaco's bed she seemed to be sniffing
01:40:37
vigorously on top of his bed and gives her final formal trained alert for police that moment changed this case
01:40:45
forever they now believed Kelly was dead and her final moments had been in Chris
01:40:52
sako's apartment and if Kelly died on that bed where did the body go that's what we needed to
01:40:59
find out and Chris zaco had those answers and at that point it was turning into a
01:41:06
homicide investigation not having enough to charge zako and not knowing where Kelly's Body could be police search
01:41:15
zaco's home electronics for more clues they examined an external hard drive and some discs that were found in a spare
01:41:25
bedroom what's on that hard drive that hard drive has a number of Hardcore child pornography
01:41:33
videos very extremely extremely disturbing zako disavowed any knowledge of the child pornography police found if
01:41:43
you're an IT guy you collect stuff so you collect old hard drives you collect discs you collect you know you just
01:41:50
collect it equipment and that particular hard drive was from his former uh place
01:41:57
of work in Boston he didn't know it was there and you believe him I do believe him
01:42:04
yeah it had been two weeks since Kelly disappeared zako was arrested again this time for possession of child
01:42:14
pornography by early November 2013 he was out on bail and awaiting trial on the drug and child porn charges
01:42:23
girlfriend uh no I mean I date multiple people but before zako had lawyered up in that first interrogation it would
01:42:31
turn out he'd said something that would come back to haunt him okay so nobody you consider your girlfriend right now
01:42:39
no there's a couple girls that I would like to be my girlfriend but it hasn't moved that seriously yet I
01:42:45
guess he began dating a young woman in 2009 he was living two different lives towards the end there was more
01:43:10
touching more of the smiling towards each other there was more affection there than there had been towards the
01:43:20
beginning according to Chanel royon before Kelly DWI disappeared it seemed her relationship with Chris zako was
01:43:28
evolving did Kelly ever tell you that she was falling in love with Chris she never told me but you could tell you
01:43:37
know how she would look at him that she was looking for something more and I think that she did love him at that
01:43:45
point it turns out zako may have been in love as well with someone else he was in
01:43:52
a very serious relationship with a woman who he was dating at the time that he was seeing Kelly and this young woman
01:43:59
knew nothing about the relationship with Kelly and did Kelly have any idea about
01:44:04
this other woman absolutely not and neither did investigators until this other woman's
01:44:11
brother after seeing zako arrested on the news reported to police that his sister Megan had been dating zako for
01:44:20
more than 3 years when I went to interview the long-term girlfriend Megan and I had a lot of photographs from the
01:44:27
search warrants with me and I was able to have her identify different objects within the
01:44:34
apartment they learned that a number of things were missing she described that guest bathroom there should have been a
01:44:42
shower curtain there should have been a little rug and some matching decorative towels all of those things were gone and
01:44:50
she was surprised to see that she she identified the shower curtain hooks that were bent and torn identified the fact
01:44:57
that they were not like that when she had last been in there and it's in that very bathroom where the sniffer dog had
01:45:03
alerted detecting human remains exactly Megan also identified one more missing item there had been a large
01:45:13
travel golf bag lying in front of the TV that had been there for weeks and weeks
01:45:17
that they literally would have to step over to get into the bathroom and that was missing
01:45:23
a travel golf bag possibly like this one is commonly used by golfers to protect their clubs it's all padded corre very
01:45:32
large very large it was padded it was silver and uh she thought it was maybe 2 2 and 1/2 ft wide detectives wondered if
01:45:39
zako had a more Sinister use for the bag could Kelly's Body have fit inside that
01:45:45
travel bag yes absolutely absolutely but how did zako get that bag out of his apartment the there is no
01:45:53
video of zako leaving on any of the 28 surveillance cameras in the building there's no camera on the elevator so he
01:46:02
could take her body in the travel golf bag um out of his apartment into the elevator down to the first floor and out
01:46:12
that door to the garage without being captured on any cameras but there are cameras inside the garage and yet no
01:46:20
image of zako with that bag the garage is the only area where the cameras would be motion activated some
01:46:31
of the investigators think hey he just got lucky with it it took months of painstaking work
01:46:37
for Milwaukee PD investigators to piece together Chris sako's movements on the days after his date with Kelly dwire
01:46:46
Lieutenant Eric goldbranson worked the case as both a homicide and Cold Case Detective
01:46:55
at 10:06 a.m. we have Chris zako standing by the driver side door when he leaves that building at 10:08 a.m. Kelly
01:47:06
dwi's phone it goes dead what do you think happened to the phone at that moment broken powered down thrown in the water
01:47:15
the river is very close by zako is next seen back in his garage 16 minutes later standing by the trunk
01:47:26
of his car if you look closely in that image there's a gray or silver object lying in the vehicle above the trunk
01:47:36
level I think that's consistent with the travel golf Bay so you believe Kelly DWI
01:47:41
is in the trunk of his vehicle I do investigators believe that because the kadav dog Molly told them so the
01:47:50
cadav dog not only hits on all those things in the apartment but the dog hits on the car also in the trunk and on the
01:47:58
door handle and inside the vehicle over the next 8 hours video shows zako coming and going several more
01:48:07
times loading items into his car before finally leaving for the day at 6:16 p.m.
01:48:15
he said he decided to take his summer sports equipment to his mother's house on a Friday night around 6:30 sure yes
01:48:25
he came over to drop off some golf clubs and his baseball equipment and so there's nothing in your mind unusual
01:48:33
when he showed up with this sporting equipment at your place not at all there's a golf bag that investigators
01:48:41
say went missing a bag that they claim Kelly dwi's body was in did you ever see this golf bag
01:48:51
never 7:30 p.m. and zako is now due at his girlfriend's house for a Friday night
01:48:59
dinner but investigators learn he didn't arrive until about 8:45 there's time that's unaccounted for
01:49:07
and we believe he was possibly looking for areas to dispose of the body during that
01:49:13
time unfortunately detectives weren't able to trace sako's movements from his phone records was his cell phone on or
01:49:22
off it was off when zako did finally arrive for dinner his girlfriend told investigators he
01:49:30
wasn't quite himself he was quite late and he seemed a little bit ruffled a little bit nervous he's fiddling with
01:49:38
his phone claiming it doesn't work when they went to bed she described them as being Restless she described them as
01:49:46
sweating profusely to the point where she actually had to change the sheets she found that very unusual and zako may
01:49:55
have had a very good reason to sweat that night his car is parked near his girlfriend's house overnight we believe
01:50:03
that body is absolutely in that trunk locked inside that golf bag he could not have left that body in his apartment
01:50:10
because that's the first place everybody went to look for Kelly the following morning investigators say zako rose with
01:50:17
the sun still faced with a nightmare he was desperate by Saturday he had to get that body out of that
01:50:26
[Music] [Music] vehicle one day after Kelly DWI disappeared Chris Sako left his girlfriend's apartment and hit the road
01:50:50
where he went that morning would be the first in a series of Clues as to what may have happened to Kelly dwire Chris
01:50:58
zako had gone to a place called The Mouse House what's the mouse house it's a cheese
01:51:07
place this is The Mouse House 80 mi from Milwaukee near Madison Wisconsin one cheese shop in a state full of cheese
01:51:19
shops why would he drive up toward Madison to buy cheese it's a very good question a very good question zako says
01:51:27
he drove 160 mil round trip to buy a half PB wedge of cheese for his girlfriend's parents but the
01:51:36
investigators say that he did it to finally dispose of Kelly's body somewhere in the rural Wisconsin
01:51:43
Farmland between Madison and Milwaukee in case he was spotted do you believe zako actually went to The Mouse House to
01:51:51
create an buy of sorts I do I certainly do police believe that after dumping Kelly's Body zako made his way to this
01:52:04
shopping center on his drive back to Milwaukee investigators say that he walked into a Sports Authority and used
01:52:11
his credit card to buy a brand new pair of sneakers why is he buying new sneakers he may have purchased those
01:52:18
sneakers to replace ones that he used in in dumping the body like he might have been concerned that evidence got on
01:52:26
those sneakers so he had to have new ones to put on here's the slip up I don't know if maybe he just had a
01:52:32
momentary lapse of judgment but that created a paper trail for him okay that paper trail was a single credit card
01:52:39
receipt which gave detectives a critical piece of the timeline we know through the investigation that he purchased the
01:52:47
cheese at 9:55 a.m. and we know that he purchased the shoes at 1211 p.m. the distance between the mouse house and
01:52:57
Sports Authority is 54 miles and it should take 47 minutes to get there but yet we have 90 minutes on accounted for
01:53:05
at that time 90 minutes certainly enough time detectives believed for zako to locate a secluded spot off the highway
01:53:15
but for them to find that spot would be like finding a needle in a hay stack and
01:53:21
without Kelly's Body there was no physical evidence of a crime to charge zako with only circumstance and
01:53:29
suspicion did you want to take it to trial then it was tough what was missing what was missing was her body eventually
01:53:39
Chris Sako did go on trial in November 2014 not for murder but for the child pornography possession uncovered with
01:53:48
the initial investigation search warrants what's the result of that that trial he's convicted of all but one
01:53:54
count one month later zako pleaded guilty to additional drug charges and was sentenced to a total of 19
01:54:04
years so are you done with Chris zako is that it or is the potential murder investigation still hanging over his
01:54:12
head it's still there well we still wanted to be able to find out what actually happened with
01:54:21
Kelly authorities have just identified the remains of 27-year-old Kelly dwire detective where are we we are on a
01:54:31
deadend country road and we are about 45 mil west of Milwaukee um and it's quite
01:54:37
overgrown here but this is the specific area where Kelly DW's body was found for a year and a half Kelly dwire
01:54:47
had been here hidden under these trees just 6 miles from busy I 94 before her remains were discovered by
01:54:59
a local man out for a walk he catches a glint of light Hitting off of something that's whitish in color
01:55:09
and when he takes a closer look he sees what appears to be a human skull 6 days later using dental records
01:55:18
those remains were confirmed to be Kelly DWI when what could not be confirmed though was just how she died there was
01:55:27
nothing on that skeleton to tell us what the cause of death was there was no physical evidence found at the scene
01:55:33
either no shower curtain no cloth no towel no clothing and no travel golf bag but detectives say there was one clue
01:55:43
Left Behind the position of Kelly's skeleton her feet and legs were more over in this area um with one of her
01:55:53
legs completely turned very contorted same thing with her left arm it was behind her back as if she had been
01:55:59
scrunched into some kind of a container like a golf travel bag like a golf travel bag exactly exactly it would
01:56:07
appear that police now had enough evidence to bring Chris Sako back to court for the death of Kelly
01:56:15
dwire it is just too much of a coincidence that her body is found somewhat near where he was shopping on
01:56:23
the day after she goes missing but assistant district attorney Hill wanted more than coincidence to build an
01:56:31
airtight case we wanted to make sure that we had uncovered all of the evidence we would be able to uncover
01:56:38
when you have a case that's going to be largely circumstantial it's absolutely essential you do that and with Sako
01:56:46
already in prison there was no rush it took another two years of investigative work before the state of Wisconsin
01:56:54
charged Chris zako in the death of Kelly dwire and another year and a half to bring the case to
01:57:03
[Music] trial good morning ladies and gentlemen this case is about a young woman named
01:57:15
Kelly dwire almost 5 years after Kelly DWI went missing Chris Sako goes on trial for her
01:57:23
death but surprising to some not for murder Chris zacho was charged with first degree Reckless homicide hiding a
01:57:32
corpse and strangulation Suffocation with the media restricted behind courtroom security glass prosecutor
01:57:39
Sarah Hill presents the state's theory of how they believe Kelly died you will hear evidence that the defendant Mr zako
01:57:48
was basically having sex with Kelly DWI and he winds up killing her I think Chris zako enjoyed taking
01:57:58
women to the brink of death for his own sexual gratification in fact investigators interviewed several women
01:58:06
who said that zako engaged in this type of behavior as far back as high school and that it was that Reckless conduct
01:58:15
that wound up killing Kelly DWI and then Mr zaco had to do something about it Chris uses that shower curtain and
01:58:28
wraps her up puts her into the golf bag and goes down to his parking garage the police have no evidence to believe that
01:58:37
M DWI exited the apartment in either a shower curtain or a golf travel bag Chris sako's defense attorneys Craig
01:58:46
mastantuno and Rebecca coffee say the state has it all wrong someone did Kill Kelly DWI but it wasn't
01:58:55
Chris zacho this case is more about the state wanting Mr zacho to be guilty than
01:59:01
having the evidence to prove it is there any eyewitness to this alleged crime there was no eyewitness no is there a
01:59:09
CSI moment some definitive piece of DNA there was no DNA evidence the prosecution contends that
01:59:18
while the security camera video clearly shows Kelly walking into zaco's building
01:59:24
she is never seen walking out she very well could have left the building in a way that wasn't
01:59:31
reviewed the defense argues there is video from several cameras they never had a chance to examine because it was
01:59:39
not preserved as evidence when the defense went to review all of the video evidence that video was
01:59:48
missing and what about that missing travel golf bag police insist is in the back of Zak's car we've looked at that
01:59:56
picture there is no silver bag in his trunk there is no video of him carrying a bag that would have been a very large
02:00:03
bag to fit a woman who is 5' 7 there was no video of that because that didn't happen the cadav dog evidence seems
02:00:12
significant K9 Molly alerts on the bed in the master bedroom and she also alerts in the garage there's no way
02:00:22
whatsoever to verify what the officer says this dog alerted to it wasn't even filmed and so it's entirely dependent on
02:00:32
a police officer describing what she believes her dog was alerting to and the defense also has an
02:00:40
explanation for that video on zaco's phone where Kelly appears to be in distress the government found a video
02:00:48
that Kelly dwire and Chris zacho made together they are calling it Str angulation or Suffocation a consensual
02:00:55
sexual act is what it depicts that type of sex is depicted in mainstream Motion Pictures like 50 Shades of Gray as being
02:01:03
engaged in with two consensual adults if Chris zako did not kill Kelly dwire who
02:01:10
did I don't know I don't think that we know I think that we know that it could have been a number of other
02:01:20
people the defense says that's because Kelly dated men she had met online and it's the suggestion that she met up with
02:01:29
one of these individuals and that that could be the cause of her disappearance yes yes yes to support
02:01:37
that theory the defense presented a witness who says that he saw Kelly after she was reported missing someone who
02:01:46
credibly said I saw her that weekend in the car of another individual his obser ation of this individual was very brief
02:01:54
at a stoplight I was sure that it was her it looked exactly like her he went to the district station and said I saw
02:02:03
the woman that is being looked for that's on the posters that's on TV did anyone ever follow up with you about
02:02:10
that information no you think he's just mistaken I think he's mistaken I I don't
02:02:16
think he was trying to mislead anybody I just truly believe he's mistaken after N9 days of argument and testimony
02:02:26
the case seemed to rest on one thing the quality of the evidence ladies and gentlemen the defendant killed Kelly DWI
02:02:34
every piece of circumstantial evidence supports that despite the tragedy of M dwi's demise it's not Justice to find
02:02:41
Chris Sako guilty based on conjecture it's Justice to find him not guilty all of the factors pointed to him there's no
02:02:48
other person that could have done it it took the jury only 3 and 1 half hours to reach the same conclusion we the jury
02:02:58
find the defendant Chris zaco guilty of first degree Reckless homicide is charged and C one of the information
02:03:04
finally after 5 years of waiting and wondering there is Justice for Kelly DWI as for Chris Sako he did look at me
02:03:16
when he was being removed what did you see he was devastated and what was Chris's sentence 31
02:03:26
years is that on top of the 19 years yes chisako is a person who's demonstrated that he poses a danger to
02:03:37
society particularly to women and someone is dead as a result that someone was a vibrant and
02:03:45
trusting young woman just beginning to find her way in the world she was a loving person who truly cared about
02:03:55
people and loved so much that she didn't really find much fault in [Music] anyone there's this sense of profound
02:04:07
loss loss for her family her friends you see a loss of a light because of one person's
02:04:16
selfishness and that's a tragedy tragedy is the best word word for [Music] it [Music]
02:05:07
for