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[Music] we all live two lives only the most intimate people that we know really know who we
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are 911 do need police or paramedics uh paramedic it begins with a 911 call from
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the house it was a Sunday morning November 13th year 2016 what's the address of the emergency
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sir it's a TGA in San Clemente too is a new community it's kind of considered a sleepy little town
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nice place to work nice place to live now What's happen we got a patient here who's Fallen upstairs and I don't have a
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pulse and she's cold Eric Scott Sills is a fertility doctor you found her down at
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the bottom of the stairs yeah partially on the stairs Suzanne Stills is his wife
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looks like her shoe come off or something the mother of twins a boy and a girl so she's not
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breathing no she's not breathing she was the one who was found that morning I'm going to give you
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instructions for chest compressions okay they had it on a speaker phone so Scott
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and Mary Kate the daughter were both heard on the on the 911 call what are you trying to do sir I can't see what's
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going on what you CPR I'm doing the CPR Dr Sills was a infertility specialist you going keep up I'm going to do it
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this way they ran their Clinic as partners Suzanne took care of all the business side of things continue the
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compressions until paramedics arrive and take over she's making noises out of her
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mouth she was his number one supporter in everything that he did they really looked like they had it all okay hold on
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we're we're doing it she was making some kind of noise just from the compressions but I think
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she was already dead we get notified by our Sergeant to come out to a house and begin a death
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investigation so when you went inside what stuck out to you well soon as you go into the front door the stairwells
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right off to your left Suzanne was right there she had a blanket covering her body we could see
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the other things laying around like this stainless steel Soup pot a purse an empty medication bottle and then the
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scarf was a little bit further down away from her the deputy Corner during her preliminary body exam of Suzanne the
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injuries weren't consistent with somebody falling down the stairs her neck had a pretty pronounced ligature
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Mark the question is how was she strangled when she was found the scarf was around her
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neck I think the first day there was mention of dogs maybe pulling on a scarf oh you're so good had a couple of dogs
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rescues very K saw the dogs pulling on the scarf we didn't get the impression that it was any kind of violent pulling
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do you think that the dogs could have pulled on her scarf hard enough to strangle her to death could they do it
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yes when you came to the house it was a death investigation by the time you left
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was it a murder investigation no it wasn't just as clearcut as that [Music] [Music]
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[Music] do you have a spidey sense when you go into these scenes I'd like to think so
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probably all of us would like to think so that we could just figure it out as soon as we walk in Sherlock hom
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Style on that sun Sunday morning in November 2016 Orange County Sheriff's homicide detectives Eric hatch and Dave
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Holloway had more questions than Clues at that point in time that morning November 13th was Scott Sills a victim
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or a suspect to us he was a victim we were going to a house where two kids and a husband just lost their wife and
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mother Dr Scott Sills had made that 911 call and reported finding his wife and business partner Suzanne at the bottom
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of the stairs is it a steep stairway yeah it's pretty high I believe it was 13 and 1 12 ft from the floor to the top
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of the stairs did it seem plausible that a 45-year-old woman in pretty good shape
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would have fallen down the stairs to her death at the time it sounded believable Suzanne had injuries to
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pretty much her whole body her face was all bruised up her back was bruised up both arms and legs
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were had bruising and abrasions and around her body was that odd collection of items they definitely stood out
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especially that steel Puck it almost looked like it was placed there it wasn't upside down or leaning against
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anything we had to figure out why those things were there the detectives say Dr Sills didn't seem nervous that a
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homicide team was in his home asking questions he was just kind of going with the flow how Cooperative was he oh very
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everything we asked of him he he gave us he signed a consent form that gave us permission to search his house and when
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they interviewed the Sill's children Mary Katherine and Eric the 12-year-old twins each told a similar story to their
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dad that Suzanne had not been feeling well that night Suzanne had a history of migraines they were typically
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debilitating requiring a dark room quiet and bed rest and she had been suffering
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from a migraine that weekend the migraine seemed to explain that large pot sometimes she carried around a bowl
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in order to have it near her bedside in case she threw up in the middle of the night and the empty pill bottle was for
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a pain medication Dr SS said his wife took to treat her migraines so did that make it sound more possible that she
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could have fallen down the stairs because she was suffering from a migraine maybe and there seemed to be
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nothing in the couple's relationship to suggest another reason what did you learn about the Sill's marriage
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according to Scott everything was fine they had a you know a good relationship both children attested that their
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parents loved each other and said they rarely argued and were never violent detectives started piecing
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together a timeline of the weekend Saturday night she was on the couch Eric came down to see her check on
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her make sure she was okay it was around midnight when Eric said he and and his mom went back
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upstairs after she put the dogs away in their crate Mary Katherine had gone to bed in her parents' bedroom Susanne was
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going to spend the night in Mary Katherine's room which was the quietest it was Mary Katherine's idea for Suzanne
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to spend the night in that room it was clean according to Mary Katherine and done up like a little hotel suite for
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suzan to convalesce in there Mary Katherine had left a note on her door with what would be her last
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words to her mom I know you were tired she said but you need to know that I love
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[Music] you around 4:00 a.m. Eric said he woke to the sound of his parents arguing in
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the Next Room the two windows that's Eric's room so Eric is right next to Mary Katherine's room where his mom was
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and what did he tell you he heard well he heard loud voices arguing but he didn't describe hearing any physical
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confrontation Eric told detectives that after about 5 minutes he decided to go sleep in the main bedroom with his
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sister according to Mary Katherine's statement she thought he'd come in around 3:40 a.m. and told her their
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parents were arguing about a work email how do you know she she got an email because Eric said they were talking
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about that oh okay so Eric told you that there that she got an email and that she
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was it was about some something something about word Dr Sills told detectives he had argued with Suzanne
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because he found her working late on her laptop which made her migraines worse when you heard that they had an argument
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shortly before she was found at the bottom of the stairs dead what was going through your mind well again that's one
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more piece of data that we're going to collect it doesn't mean one way or the other that it was a murder but that's
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definitely an Avenue that we would have to pursue neither Eric nor Mary Catherine heard their dad return to the
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bedroom I woke up and my dad was just like on the cover just laying there like there wasn't enough room to get in I
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guess so we just was laying there on top of it yeah it was around 6:30 a.m. the next
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morning when Dr Sills and the twins woke up he asked them if they wanted to go to
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the pool and get some donuts Mary Catherine said when she left the bedroom and looked over the
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banister she saw her mom's body at the bottom of the stairs that long red and white scarf around her
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neck that was Mary Katherine's scarf it was found in the same room as suzan's body but the scarf wasn't on her body
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when we arrived it was not Mary Katherine told us that she had to remove the scarf and she did that not to impede
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mom's breathing adding to the mystery were the injuries to Suzanne's neck the deputy coroner had noticed during a
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preliminary examination of the body earlier that morning especially with the lature mark across her neck it just
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didn't make sense is it possible that she could have fallen down the stairs and then somehow the scarf strangled her
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could have caught on a banister sure I suppose so but we didn't have any evidence of that as detectives continued
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their investigation the question did anybody in the house hear a down the stairs no nobody described hearing a
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fall down the stairs or if Suzanne had been carrying that stainless steel pot no one heard that bounce down the stairs
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or land on the tile floor there was no evidence on the stairs of someone going down like broken ballast or anything
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like that and something else the detectives thought was strange it was a warm day
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even though it was November but when we spoke with Scott and during the whole time we were in the house doing our
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investigation he was wearing a beanie over his head and he said that he slept with it cuz it was cold did you ask him
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to remove the beanie yes as it turned out Suzanne wasn't the only one with injuries that morning
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[Music] we discovered that Scott had some injuries he had a cut up here on his forehead and on his arm he had a uh
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bruise Dr Scott Sills said there was a simple explanation for the injuries he had hurt himself while working on his
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car in the garage with his son Eric there was just one problem Eric told us dad didn't hurt himself did he say to
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you I left the garage so maybe you hurt himself while I was gone no he told us they came in the house together and
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investigators said they found something Dr Sills couldn't explain on that day you found blood yes blood in Mary
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Katherine's room where Suzanne had been staying on the curtains the wall and the
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nightstand so that morning when you asked Scott about the blood what did he say he didn't know where it came from he
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He was unaware of it Mary Catherine told investigators the room was quote perfect when she left it
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she also said she'd turned down the bed but now it was made it didn't really make sense why would Suzanne take the
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time to make the bed in the middle of the night so if you found blood in Mary Katherine's bedroom you know that there
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are ligature marks on Suzanne why not take him down to the station at this point and question him
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once you arrest somebody that starts processes that you you can't stop besides the blood in the bedroom we
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didn't really have enough evidence of a fight occurring so at the end of the day
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there wasn't enough probable cause legally to arrest him Suzanne's autopsy 4 days later didn't provide any
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definitive answers the forensic pathologist noted that Suzanne had injuries all over her
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body that could have resulted from a fall including a fractured C3 vertebrae near the base of her neck which can be
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fatal then there was that ligature mark across her neck and hemorrhaging of the blood vessels in her eyes which pointed
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to strangulation it would take months to make an official ruling it's not something they want to
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rush into it's not something they want to make a rash judgment on the doctor wanted to examine the whole case more
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more clearly in the meantime detectives requested DNA testing on evidence collected from the Sill's home and
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forensic analysis on Suzanne's phone and laptop they also dug deeper into who the
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Sills were none of their immediate neighbors knew anything about the family eventually we contacted whoever we could
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out of their contact list to try and find out [Music] more in high school I thought this must be what genius
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means his humor his his quick wit Sandy Roberts and Jamie aens have known Scott Sills since their high school days in
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Herman Tennessee he was something we had never seen before in a small town in Tennessee at that age he was very
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special it was hilarious how many people come to class in a three-piece suit and it's not dress
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up day he's flamboyant he's bigger than life he was very very kind I grew up uh pretty poor I didn't have a car in high
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school or anything like that and a lot of times no lunch money and uh he always pulled out his wallet and paid for it it
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just wasn't a question his future seemed Limitless he was accepted to both law school and medical school we were kind
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of all on the edge of our seat wondering what he was going to decide to do and it was no surprise when the
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hometown boy became a renowned IVF specialist a profession that would lead him to Suzanne Suzanne was going through
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fertility treatment trying to get pregnant with her first husband Chris solamini met Suzanne AR
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swaga in business school where she earned an MBA she had confided in him about her struggles to get pregnant
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having kids was everything to suzan she'd cry about it I mean it was so important to
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her and Eric Scotts was her fertility doctor but soon Chris says they were were a couple she started talking about
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Dr Sills after she had told me she was getting divorced and that she was now dating
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him I just remember her saying he's a brilliant doctor Dr Sills who was also coming out of a previous marriage seemed
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to have met his match Susanna was smart witty we love Mr St sarcastic but not in a mean way you
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know just enough to to dig at you you know incredibly driven a loyal friend she was so classy so beautiful very
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engaging seemed like to me he he found one that is a good it was a good fit Suzanne fit right in at Scott's 20th
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High School reunion she danced the whole time they were lovely together he just seemed really happy the couple married
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and welcomed twins through IVF adding to Dr Sill's two older kids and eventually Suzanne's business
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Acumen would lead them to start their own IVF practice in April 2015 she started the business and she
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built it Suzanne pretty much ran everything with the exception of actually doing the
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procedures the practice soon took off we actually have Dr Scott sils here in OBGYN who's also a fertility specialist
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so and Dr s was often featured on the TV program The Doctors which was distributed by CBS we've decided to
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provide you that removal surgery at no cost he was in many eyes a saint he was uh loved by his patients Dr Julio Novoa
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is an OBGYN who co-authored a book with Dr Sills Dr Sills was a great doctor and
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and Susan was a a great advocate for women as well and there were a team not just married but a team and working well
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together but about a month before her death Rick Leeds another of Suzanne's friends says she left him a troubling
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message she sounded like she was whispering it was so different from the happy jovial excited voicemails I got
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before this one was definitely things weren't good when they spoke Rick says it sounded like there was tension over a
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photo she said it was a topless photo of her that had appeared on a Blog this was
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some discussion she didn't want to [Music] have when news of Suzanne's death reached her friends they were stunned it
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was devastating I couldn't believe it it didn't seem plausible to me that she just fell down the stairs with a
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migraine headache it didn't sound like the vibrant Suzanne they knew Dr Sill's friends say they were
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equally perplexed Scott would not discuss anything with us he quickly changed the
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subject we never spoke again you don't know how tragedies affect people what were your impressions of
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Scott Sills throughout the investigation I would describe him as emotionless he never acted as though Suzanne was even
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his wife he talked about what a good manager she was and how she kept their business flowing but he never once
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mentioned that she was a good mother or that he loved her all very businesslike yeah in fact the day after Suzanne's
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death the doctor had gone to work I was shocked at who goes to the office the next morning when your wife
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died Joanie Ricker's daughter was a nurse at the Sills IVF clinic and had called her in a panic she said her
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patients are in cycle and they have to be treated Joanie volunteered to help manage the office something Suzanne did
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and ended up working there for two years did Dr SS talk about his wife oh never did he ever say how she died or it was
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never discussed pretty soon she says the doctor started changing his his appearance he started dress like a movie
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star I mean he was very simple before and she says the once balding doctor now had a full head of hair we definitely
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noticed um new hair they also noticed Dr Sill's flashier online Persona I said to one of my friends now
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is SS a doctor or a model I personally don't know any doctors on social media that are taking selfies in the gym and
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their their Blazers and their sunglasses and in their Porsches I it was a little
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much all of a sudden there started to be another woman in photos and he was out on dates and they were going around
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town the behavior raised eyebrows but it was hardly evidence then in November 2017 a year after Suzanne's death there
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was finally news from the coroner's office Suzanne's cause of death was cited as ligature strangulation and the
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manor a homicide Dr Sills was now the prime suspect DNA results on the blood in Mary
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Katherine's room showed a mixture of his and suzan's DNA they were both there there was a fight there was a fight and
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he killed his wife on August 8th 2018 nearly 2 years after Suzanne's death detectives
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Holloway and hatch made a surprise house call at the doctor's home did you ask Dr Sills at this point
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just flat out did you kill your wife yes and started stressing out and started sweating and he became more
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defensive they say the doctor denied killing his wife and he now offered an explanation for his blood in Mary
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Katherine's room he said he had injured himself replacing a window screen wouldn't Mary Katherine have seen the
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blood that he left from replacing the screen for sure and she didn't mention it nope despite the death being ruled a
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homicide detectives said they still had more investigating to do like finding a motive a search of Suzanne's phone
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provided some Clues text messages hinted at problems in the marriage there was one in particular where she had some
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pretty strong words towards Scot in text sent in late August Less Than 3 months before her death Suzanne wrote I am
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trapped you are killing me I just want out and we just aren't right for each other and about a month before her death
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Suzanne had confided in Rick Leeds she and Scott were in a really rocky place and she was thinking about leaving
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him he said Suzanne was also upset about a photo photo she' posted online whatever was going on between her and
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Scott and this picture was just a pivotal point for her Suzanne had posted a topless photo
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after making a bet in a political chat room called patrick.net Suzanne apparently was one of the few women who
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was involved in this forum she kind of threw out that if Donald Trump won the presidential nomination that she would
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post a picture of her bare breasts and on the day of her death detectives had found a print out in Dr Sill's home
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office of an exchange between Suzanne and another patrick.net member from August 30th 2016 discussing the photo
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the man who went by 10B bass wrote All I've got to say is you must have a super cool husband Suzanne AKA turtle dove
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replied he's exhausted actually it isn't easy being married to a woman who is partially naked and posing alluringly
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all the time Dr Sills denied that he had printed that chat but when investigators
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later searched his phone they found a photo of the same exchange does this sound like this could
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lead to motive yes if it's something that's building up in him some kind of anger or jealousy about what his wife's
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doing online without him enough to kill her mhm detectives also learned that Dr Sills had tried to collect on a
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$250,000 life insurance policy on Suzanne but he claimed the insurance company had called him he wasn't able to
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collect a death certificate was ruled as a homicide do you think Scott sils thought he'd gotten away with it I think
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so every day that went by he felt a little bit more at ease I think on April 25th 2019 nearly 2 and a half years
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after Suzanne's death Dr Sills was arrested for her alleged murder on his way to surgery he quickly posted a
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million-dollar Bond but investigators were about to get an unexpected tip from a woman who said she had met Dr Sills
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while Suzanne was still alive they met through Facebook he was infatuated with her she shared an email
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Dr Sills had sent her about two weeks after Suzanne's death poor marer Marie yes so it's in
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French this is probably the most important manuscript I have ever written I am asking you to seriously rethink our
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suspended but once intense relationship when you first read that email what was your
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reaction I thought me I was shocked this is a motive so could Dr SS have killed his wife to get her out of the way oh I
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just don't see that at all Dr SS defense attorney Jack early denies that there was a romantic relationship and he says
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that email was merely a devastated father's desperate attempt to find a new mother for his children did you feel in
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your gut that you could win this case oh [Music] [Music] yes in November 2023 just over 7 years
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after Suzanne Sills death Scott Sills now stripped of his medical license went on trial for her murder the Orange
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County District Attorney's Office declined our request for an interview but cameras were allowed in court for
00:27:37
portions of the trial where senior Deputy da Jennifer Walker laid out her case to the jury November 13th of
00:27:47
2016 this man killed his wife and hit it Walker argued that Scott Sills beat and then strangled Susan to
00:27:58
death before staging the scene to make it look like she'd fallen down the stairs this is a murder not an accident
00:28:06
the prosecution's case relied heavily on suzan's autopsy but Scott s's defense attorney Jack early came to court armed
00:28:14
with a unique theory he suggested that Suzanne fell either going up or down the stairs and that one or both of the
00:28:24
family dogs then tugged on the scarf that was wrapped around her her neck do you honestly think that the dogs pulled
00:28:31
hard enough to strangle her to death no no I didn't that was not the main theory
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that the dogs actually strangled her to death instead early focused on another injury identified in suzan's autopsy
00:28:46
that fractured C3 vertebra he says that injury is consistent with a fall and that it would have left Suzanne
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incapacitated let's assume that someone trips and falls and fractures or C3 their breathing is compromised if
00:29:01
they're then choked it doesn't take much to kill them the defense had the scarf tested for dog DNA it came back positive
00:29:10
and there was testimony that the dogs were known to play tug-of-war as seen in this
00:29:15
video and when Suzanne and Scott's now 19-year-old daughter Mary Katherine took the stand for the prosecution her
00:29:22
testimony supported the defenses Theory investigator Dave Hollow was at the trial Mary Catherine testified that
00:29:31
she saw the dogs pulling at the scarf around her neck and none of that came up during the the day we interviewed her
00:29:38
the first time how did that strike you well um I know that she was still close with her father do you think she's
00:29:45
trying to protect her dad I would say so early denies that he says the reason Mary Katherine didn't tell investigators
00:29:54
is simple it wasn't asked why would she think the dogs are important she doesn't
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even know that there's any question of being choked he says Scott Sills did tell First Responders and he argued that
00:30:07
suzan's toxicology tests point to an accidental fall she had a muscle relaxing and pain medication in her
00:30:14
system and early told the jury that Suzanne suffered from a fainting disorder and that vertigo would
00:30:20
accompany her migraines but the prosecution said the defense's theory just doesn't make sense strangulation is
00:30:28
a silent killer you know what's not a silent killer falling down multiple stairs you have to believe she bounced
00:30:34
her head neck back shoulders Insider arms legs and feet multiple ways against approximately six stairs like being in a
00:30:44
soundproof pinball machine then was strangled by her dogs not reasonable and why would
00:30:52
Suzanne have a scarf around her neck that early in the morning to begin with prosecutors suggested that Scott Sills
00:30:59
used it to strangle her and then left it around her neck to cover the marks but early told the jury it wasn't unusual
00:31:07
for Suzanne to wear a scarf especially when she wasn't feeling well because if she got sick that was something that she
00:31:14
would would would wear a scarf to wipe your mouth with it but the prosecution also pointed out
00:31:21
that Suzanne and Scott's son Eric told investigators he saw his mother put the dogs away in their crate in the hours
00:31:29
before she died Eric said that his mom put the dogs in the crate yes sometimes dogs when they're crate trained when
00:31:37
they go to bed will go lay in the crate even with the door open there was also no blood on the stairs or damage to them
00:31:46
there are all these injuries that you say come from the fall down the stairs all over her body but she leaves no
00:31:50
marks on the stairs but there's no marks anywhere in the house but there was that
00:31:56
blood in Mary Catherine's bed room and the prosecution argued it was evidence that a fight occurred a forensic
00:32:03
scientist testified that the stains on the nightstand and drapes were consistent with Scott Sill's
00:32:09
DNA early did acknowledge that his client's blood was in the room but he told the jury about Scott's claim that
00:32:16
he heard himself there on an earlier date from Scott replacing a screen yeah from getting cut on a nail that was in
00:32:23
the back of the nightstand that was there that forensic scientist though testified that one of the stains on the
00:32:30
wall was a mixture of DNA and Scott and Suzanne were likely contributors early says that doesn't mean it was suzan's
00:32:38
blood and that it could have been her touch DNA that was picked up Susan had touched that area before at some point
00:32:46
in time and she lived there but the prosecution pointed out that there were also clumps of suzan's hair found in
00:32:52
Mary Katherine's room and there were blood stains on Suzanne's clothing that were found to be consistent with Scott
00:32:59
Sill's DNA too early had a rebuttal to it all starting with the hair she has hair extensions and you know what hair
00:33:07
extensions cause loss of hair and the blood on the clothes you don't know how old it
00:33:14
is the jury was also shown pictures of those injuries that were observed on Scott remember how he told investigators
00:33:21
that he hurt himself while working on his car with his son and how according to investigators Eric said that his
00:33:28
father didn't get injured well when Eric took the stand his testimony allowed for
00:33:34
the possibility what he testified is why didn't stay there the whole time he fixed the car does that seem like a
00:33:41
discrepancy to you well it's not a discrepancy nobody's asking him that full story at at the age of 12 so he
00:33:49
didn't necessarily say at age 12 dad didn't get the injury from the car no he basically said I wasn't there when he
00:33:56
got the injury while Eric Sills did testify that a loud discussion between his parents had woken him up shortly
00:34:03
before his mother's death the defense told the jury that there was nothing to it and those texts between Scott and
00:34:10
Suzanne in the months before Suzanne's death if you have 40,000 texts and there's five of them with hard language
00:34:17
in it that's a perfect marriage the jury didn't hear about the life insurance policy that email Scott
00:34:25
sent to another woman or his his social media photos in the wake of his wife's death but they were told about the
00:34:32
patrick.net posts and the prosecution argued that topless photo that Suzanne posted on the site enraged Scott it
00:34:41
wasn't a big deal it's not striking to you that he had this photo in two places on his phone and then on the printer no
00:34:48
first of all I don't know really who printed this stuff up early maintains there is no motive for murder there was
00:34:55
never any physical violence they're working in and marriage relationship everybody looked at as
00:35:02
loving Scott Sills chose not to take the stand the trial spanned 3 weeks and then
00:35:08
the case went to the jury my heart was just [Music] pounding what do you make of the defense
00:35:17
that the dogs may have played a role in her death chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X
00:35:33
jurors Aaron Ellis Jack Van Camp and Susan bleo say that when deliberations began they felt the pressure it's just
00:35:43
so intimidating that you got someone's life on the line it weighs on you oh yeah and the ripple effect the kids and
00:35:51
know yeah did you think about that that these kids didn't only lose their mom mom that if you convict him now they're
00:35:59
losing their dad of course yeah they say they also felt a clear motive was lacking I mean it's hard to imagine why
00:36:08
something like this somebody would do that yeah after about 3 hours they came to a
00:36:18
decision the Jes have indicated that they breached a verdict in this matter the clerk read the
00:36:26
verdict we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant Eric Scott Sills not guilty of the crime of
00:36:34
first-degree murder we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant Eric Scott
00:36:40
Sills guilty of the crime of second degree murder guilty of second deegree murder Scott Sills who gave the gift of
00:36:50
life to so many through his IVF practice now convicted of taking the life of his
00:36:55
wife the mother of his kids I just felt sad I mean I was tearing up on the way out this whole family had
00:37:04
been through so much you know now this is the next phase of it but he did that the jurors we spoke to say that no
00:37:15
one on the jury bought the defense's theory about the dogs the dogs would have to choke her on the stairs and my
00:37:24
dog was as big as hers and my dog canot get a grip on wooden stairs with their nails to do anything they just slide the
00:37:35
scarf had no puncture wounds either I would have expected holes and the fall down the stairs wouldn't create that
00:37:43
scenario in her [Music] body instead what they spent the most time grappling with was whether Scott
00:37:52
Sills was guilty of first deegree or second degree murder first deegree murder requires premeditation and
00:38:00
deliberation I just didn't think he planned it I don't and if he had planned it or done any kind of forethought it
00:38:08
wouldn't be a hot mess crime scene that it was it was kind of like a snap but investigator Dave Holloway says
00:38:17
while Scott Sills may not have planned his crime he certainly had the time to think about what he was doing he had
00:38:24
plenty of time from when he applied pressure to suzan's neck till she died to stop what he was doing he still did
00:38:30
it I was a little disappointed that it was a second degree on March 15th 2024 about 3 months
00:38:39
after the verdict court reconvened for sentencing Suzanne s's Mother Teresa newbower addressed the court and kept
00:38:47
the focus on her daughter she was a dynamic person she had hopes and dreams hopes and dreams new bow said
00:38:58
that one day Suzanne would see her daughter Mary Katherine walk down the stairs of the family's San Clemente home
00:39:05
on her wedding day it was a very painful uh thing for me to learn of the role the staircase
00:39:16
eventually played in real life Mary Katherine also addressed the court and spoke of all the loss she had
00:39:26
endured at such a young age she and her brother were taken in by a family friend
00:39:31
after their father's arrest and that family friend died suddenly of a health condition around the end of the trial
00:39:38
she asked the judge to show her father Mercy I want my father to walk me down the aisle at my wedding someday when I
00:39:45
have a family and children I want my father to be there to hold my baby I have been left orphaned and I feel so
00:39:52
lost without my parents we're here for s on the matter judge Patrick Donahue sentenced Scott
00:40:00
Sills to the mandatory sentence under California law 15 years to life in prison uh good luck
00:40:07
sir his fate was decided but for so many questions remain exactly what led up to
00:40:15
Suzanne Sill's death do you think we'll ever know exactly how it happened I don't think so Scott Sills declined our
00:40:23
requests for an interview but in the end no explanation will suffice or ease the
00:40:29
profound sense of loss that lingers patients now without their doctor thousands of women felt him to be
00:40:37
a saint from the saint all the way down to the devil that's how it ended up being and children without their father
00:40:50
or their mother her kids were so important to her and everything she did revolved around
00:40:56
her her children she was an incredible human being you know I miss [Music] her need more time with 48 Hours go deep
00:41:27
behind every True Crime episode with firsthand accounts from 48 Hours investigations were you at all prepared
00:41:33
for what happened in this case shock is the word that comes to mind get inside the twists and turns and get in on the
00:41:39
case listen to postmortem from 48 hours now available wherever you get your [Music]
00:41:54
podcasts if you're afraid of snakes then everything you think you know about them
00:41:59
is wrong my name is Ben renck I'm with Ben renck reptiles and this is my story Ben renck is an artist when it
00:42:12
comes to breeding snakes and this is the project that I'm actually a really big fan of are there some species of snakes
00:42:20
in here that Ben used to work with yeah actually right behind me there's a reticulated python and Ben was actually
00:42:25
very fond of his reticulated pythons Ben renck was a great businessman he was a young upcoming rock
00:42:36
star in the reptile world my wife and I uh mainly run this company Linley renic is a kind soul a devoted mother and I
00:42:48
would say a genuinely caring person they were happy you know they were very busy
00:42:53
you know they worked a lot and there was never any instance of anything ever being
00:43:03
wrong on June 8th of 2017 at about 5:30 in the afternoon Linley renck drives home to where her home and her and her
00:43:14
husband's snake facility is she goes inside and she finds her husband Ben renic lying face down in a pool of blood
00:43:24
I got a call from Linley she was hysterical complete in panic 91 moment the address the
00:43:34
emergency ground everywhere and I went in to try and find Ben and when I found Ben and um and his
00:43:44
body I knew that uh it was too late oh my God my brother's dead what what may have happened he got killed by
00:43:55
snake I assed it was a [Music] snake 1850 building full of snakes a snake every 4 in in here I don't know what
00:44:08
it's done someone being killed by a snake is not something that happens every day especially in Missouri
00:44:14
paramedic said there's a bike mark on so there's a snake loose in here mhm so watch
00:44:19
your being the coroner walking into a death scene with thousands of snakes jumping at the cages it was just a crazy
00:44:28
scene to be at do we have anybody we could call the deal with an anaconda I'm going to kill it we see
00:44:39
it how could you have something big enough to kill a person here I still didn't know what to
00:44:46
think I squatted down next to the body there's significant damage there's blood all around when I saw that shell casing
00:44:54
on the Shelf just above his head I knew that this was not from a snake this was something much more heinous I knew that
00:45:02
this was a homicide at that time who would want to kill Ben renck that was the question we could have
00:45:12
imagined anything like that and it was a long wait until we got that answer [Music]
00:45:56
[Music] I don't care if it's if it's a 5 in Long steak and somebody trying to bite me I'm
00:46:13
going to light on a hot Missouri summer day in June 2017 Montgomery County sheriff's deputies were called to a
00:46:22
unique and potentially dangerous death scene a literal snake pit a building with more
00:46:31
than 3,000 exotic serpents something got him to watch your the First Responders aren't sure if one of these snakes may
00:46:41
have killed renowned breeder Ben renck who is Ben that's Ben renck oh make sure there's no snakes around the
00:46:49
victim yeah excuse me coroner Dave Colbert had never seen anything like it they're holding shotguns in hand they
00:46:57
were guns out you could just feel the anxiety amongst everyone there no one knew where the killer could be coiled or
00:47:05
lurking but while examining Ben's body the corner made that surprising discovery Ben's body lying face down hid
00:47:14
the true cause of death he hadn't been bitten by a giant snake Ben had been shot eight
00:47:21
times once at close range this was something that was not just a random act a snake
00:47:33
honey nearby was Ben's wife Linley she had discovered his body and she was visibly upset uh what you would describe
00:47:43
as somebody who is grieving and you know just lost a loved one okay Linley had called Sam who
00:47:54
rushed to the scene Sam ly did so I don't know that okay I he was all shot in the back almost exclusively I don't I
00:48:03
don't think he saw it coming at all been had such a future ahead of him you know
00:48:07
he was 29 years old he was almost 30 a lot was lost near this remote Highway about 80
00:48:15
Mi west of St Louis once stood a world-renowned snake breeding facility renck reptiles where Ben renck built his
00:48:24
Empire of serpents welcome to the basement of R reptiles uh we keep particular pythons blood pythons
00:48:32
wh pythons green anacondas I've been had his first snake at a very young age and
00:48:37
that became a somewhat of a passion for him came a uh a hobby did build into a business and he was he was very good at
00:48:46
what he did at the time of the murder Sam and Ben renick were living in separate houses with their families on
00:48:53
this 70 acre spread we lived out there together and raised our kidss out there together that we went fishing on the
00:49:00
weekends and you know we were close Ben and Lin Lee first met when they were teenagers they reconnected in 2011 says
00:49:09
local attorney Katherine Burger they head it off right away and their relationship got pretty serious pretty
00:49:17
quickly um I think they moved in together within the first year of dating Linley had a son from a previous
00:49:24
relationship Sam says Ben became a second father to the child in 2014 Ben and Linley decided to tie the knot uh
00:49:34
they had a beautiful wedding and it was beautiful small family event and it was very
00:49:40
special soon they had a baby of their own a growing family to go with their booming snake breeding business Linley
00:49:49
found Ben's passion interesting she would work day and night helping Ben with the snakes handling them cleaning
00:49:57
them sorting them in 2016 they opened a second business a CA Spa in Columbia Missouri a longtime dream of Linley who
00:50:08
once worked as a massage therapist hi I'm Linley I'm the owner here I know that when she started her Spa business
00:50:14
this is something that she had always wanted to do that you know that empowered her quite a
00:50:20
bit by 2017 renck snake business was wildly successful he was shipping his snakes around the world from the UK to
00:50:30
Japan and traveling to reptile conventions across the United States he was so successful Ben realized that if
00:50:38
he sold a portion of renic reptiles he could make some real money Ben had planned on selling the
00:50:46
majority of his ball python collection for uh from my understanding it was about $1.2 million things were going to
00:50:52
be very good for uh my brother and and Lenley the couple had received their first payment of at least
00:51:02
$200,000 but then Ben was murdered when you heard that he was dead what did you think might have happened
00:51:11
to him so the first question that I asked was uh how many snakes were missing a facility like Ben's um it uh
00:51:20
unfortunately attracts a lot of bad people bad people that see these snakes not as these beautiful amazing creatures
00:51:27
that they are but see them as dollar signs to understand the world of snakes that Ben lived and worked in we spoke
00:51:35
with Ben's friend Dave Kaufman who introduced me to a reticulated python a snake Ben was known for throughout the
00:51:43
world because of how he bred them in captivity Ben Loved These snakes because how can you not love these snakes I mean
00:51:51
really when it comes down to it they're big they're beautiful they're personal she's going to go right over your
00:51:58
shoulder and try to go on the cage behind you let's see if I'm right oh no she's going to wrap around you my new
00:52:04
scarf there you go Kaufman is also a snake breeder you ever seen a blood pipe on this big and a document filmmaker who
00:52:14
also travels the world tracking rare and exotic reptiles for his YouTube channel
00:52:20
this is a first it is a remarkable sensation it is investigators looked into the theory
00:52:28
that Ben's murder may have been a robbery gone bad but ruled it out no snakes were missing Dave Colbert says it
00:52:37
made sense to look more carefully at those closest to Ben we definitely didn't want to exclude anybody from
00:52:46
being a possible suspect I didn't know if Sam was involved didn't know if Lindley was
00:52:54
involved the day after after his brother's murder Sam renck was brought in for questioning I don't know where it
00:53:02
starts okay and they also brought in Linley any questions for us what [Music] happen what I mean what do I
00:53:19
do friends and family but soon enough those same friends and family would have reason to question
00:53:27
everything they thought they knew about Lenley reic Lenley that we knew back then was uh very sweet uh kind however
00:53:35
there was there other Siz there that we didn't know [Music] with laww enforcement discovering that
00:54:00
Ben renick had not been killed by a snake and quickly ruling out the possibility of a robbery gone bad Sam
00:54:07
renck had one major question who would have want to been dead a Missouri State Highway Patrol detective had the same
00:54:16
question when he spoke with Ben's wife Linley could you see anybody you know being upset with been to the point
00:54:25
where that man both Linley and Sam were Cooperative in their initial interviews are you willing
00:54:34
to submit to a shotgun or not shotgun gun shot res anything he want got okay Sam says he understood why police would
00:54:43
first focus on them and he told investigators he could never imagine Linley being involved I didn't think
00:54:51
that Linley would have been capable of murder like that Linley also agreed to a gunshot residue
00:55:00
test but in her one-on-one interview with a detective Linley made a startling claim saying that Sam might have had a
00:55:09
motive to kill his brother was there any family issues like between D and yeah at issue Linley said was Ben's plan
00:55:22
to possibly sell the property where they all lived she she claims Sam was upset about
00:55:29
it Ben had inherited the property after another tragedy on the renck Family Farm
00:55:35
just 5 years earlier the suicide of Ben and Sam's father Frank renck Ben found him uh he came and got me and I we went
00:55:46
there together and uh it was a tough day Frank renck shot himself in 2012 after being
00:55:54
implicated in a multi million doll Ponzi scheme involving fraudulent stock certificates there's a lot of people
00:56:02
that lost a lot of money you know due to my father unaware that Linley was implicating him Sam wondered whether Ben
00:56:10
had been killed in an act of revenge against their father we were concerned however that you know someone could have
00:56:17
been upset enough to to have waited done something like this but that theory never took off and Sam who had tested
00:56:26
negative for gun residue on his hands was ruled out after cooperating fully with investigators I provided them you
00:56:34
know everything I had my cell phone the shirt off my back uh my alibi to where I
00:56:40
was when the murder happened I I gave a polygraph as Highway Patrol detectives continued their investigation the
00:56:50
reptile Community stepped up to help Ben's wife and children we have a male fire cinnamon they held this online
00:56:59
auction of donated snakes she's a pretty girl guys raising more than $40,000 guys remember all this money is
00:57:07
going to a great great great cause you guys banded together and you got thousands of dollars to Linley to help
00:57:13
her during this time of Crisis T of yeah we we raised tens of thousands of dollars to help Linley and the kids
00:57:19
because you felt she was a victim that's correct but that supposed victim had a startling confession when Lindley spoke
00:57:27
with detectives again just 11 days after Ben's murder so have you been talking to
00:57:33
anyone or did you have a relationship you Linley admitted she had been unfaithful it was just just
00:57:47
that did he think the same way detectives checked that man's Alibi and cleared him of any suspicion
00:57:57
investigators then interviewed Ashley Shaw one of linley's employees and a close friend who she had confided in
00:58:06
which may have been a mistake I mean I'm sure that you know she was having um an
00:58:11
affair a couple Affairs actually um Ashley the manager at asensa spa said that Linley had also been seen another
00:58:19
man named Brandon Blackwell who she had met on a dating website she said Linley was hooking up up with Brandon before
00:58:28
Ben's murder I know Brandon was like really a short time before that I believe along with linley's affairs
00:58:35
investigators had discovered Facebook messages between Ben and Linley they revealed that Ben had found out the spa
00:58:43
was losing money and that Lenley had lied to him about it Ben sent a message to Lenley just hours before he was
00:58:53
murdered no more line no more key keeping things from me no more not paying people and thinking it's okay to
00:59:01
pay later 4 months after Ben's murder Len Lee was in front of cops again and agreed to take a polygraph exam okay how
00:59:10
do you think you did Len Lee okay not exactly linley's polygraph test was a dismal
00:59:19
failure so the results of the polygraph showed that you failed the test when I ask you did you shoot that man you
00:59:28
failed this explain why I just failed that but I didn't K but investigators suspected she did and may have had help
00:59:39
from yet another man in her life his name is Michael Humphrey an old ex-boyfriend and excon fresh out of
00:59:48
prison on drug possession charges who she texted and called numerous times including on the day her husband was
00:59:57
murdered coming in from the but the thing is is that that right there is very suspicious it appeared Linley was close
01:00:07
to Breaking but she continued to deny any involvement dozens of times I didn't have anything to do with
01:00:20
this there is so much circumstantial evidence against you in this case it's my b
01:00:27
sure but linley's gunshot residue test had come back negative with no Witnesses no murder
01:00:35
weapon found or direct evidence linking her to Ben's murder I need to go get my she left that interrogation room a
01:00:46
free woman out the investigation went cold for nearly 3 years until unexpectedly
01:00:58
someone came forward with everything Missouri Highway Patrol investigators were looking
01:01:04
[Music] [Music] for the boas are long gone pythons packed up snakes in new homes The Reptilian
01:01:30
Paradise turned crime scene now a vacant frozen field eight fatal shots unanswered I wasn't sure what to think
01:01:44
unaware that investigators suspected Linley Ben reck's Brother Sam was left more than a little uneasy it was very
01:01:52
very tough knowing um that someone's out that had essentially gotten away with murder um I was conserve my own
01:02:02
safety and without an arrest serpent lovers were also left rattled so when the case went cold we
01:02:11
would all contact each other asking if anybody had any information on what was going on it was frustrating it was
01:02:17
frustrating to have all this time pass and not have a culprit in custody all Dave Kaufman knew for sure humans do
01:02:27
things other than what you expect snakes do not and the most unexpected Behavior
01:02:33
came from the human closest to Ben renck his widow Linley we want to be you know as
01:02:40
understanding as possible however in time when she refused to talk to us or allow us to talk to the kids or even uh
01:02:49
receive my brother's belongings we knew something was wrong in fact just just weeks after
01:02:56
Ben's murder with her Spa business failing Linley had sold the family property closed up shop and left town in
01:03:04
a hurry so like one day she was there and the next day just left and then never came back today Beth maybery works at
01:03:14
that same location but back then she was just one more True Crime buff in Columbia Missouri riveted by a case
01:03:22
without a conclusion how much is this rent case talked about around here among it's a lot and what do people say what
01:03:30
do they think um crazy it's crazy um and people did start to wonder maybe Linley
01:03:36
did it maybe she had someone do this um it did become a question a question without an
01:03:45
answer until January 2020 when cops followed up on a jailhouse tip we're investigator
01:03:53
for I'm here because you used to be dating Lenley that's correct out of nowhere comes this you know what what
01:04:01
I'm sure the investigators would would think as a god a God's end journalist Dave McKenna of Defector media was
01:04:08
following the case that was about to change fast for investigators your dad gave me a call
01:04:15
today and said that you wanted to talk to us yeah just lays out the whole story and it is very
01:04:22
detailed it was Brandon Blackwell the man Lin Lee met online the lover she was hooking up with the very weak Ben was
01:04:31
murdered her husband is freshly dead body's still warm and she's found another warm body only a year and a half
01:04:40
after Ben was killed Blackwell and Linley had a child together but Linley alleged Blackwell had become threatening
01:04:47
and they had broken up Linley got an order of protection and Blackwell was then charged with violating that order
01:04:54
and stalking her charges he denies he was jammed up in jail and looking to make a deal concern is getting out of
01:05:03
that cell now you're coming to us when you're in a pickle so right Blackwell's taale began weeks
01:05:10
before Ben reic was shot dead when he says Linley and Spa employee Ashley Shaw whipped up a toxic shake for Ben he was
01:05:21
given a a protein drink one night that was laced full of enormous amounts of Narcotics and
01:05:29
somehow live through it but the plan was for that to be the last day of his life
01:05:35
a poison potion served to a husband by his wife Brandon says Linley confessed that and much more to him my information
01:05:44
is out of the horse's mouth okay so when pills failed to kill Brandon says Linley
01:05:49
turned to onetime boyfriend Michael Humphrey the J to the farm he had gloves he had a firearm plan was for him to do
01:06:01
it um they get there he hands her the gun and says he doesn't feel comfortable doing it something she's got to take
01:06:09
care of she walks in with the gun and just shoots him a bunch of times and according to Blackwell
01:06:17
linley's Spa employee Ashley Shaw was once again involved Brandon Blackwell told the police that was in on it
01:06:26
intimately from from the start of the planning the Cold Case was blown wide open on January 16th 2020 cops made
01:06:36
their moves Linley renck and Michael Humphrey were arrested charged with the murder of
01:06:44
Ben renck loved ones and Friends never saw it coming what that moment was like for you disbelief I thought they got the
01:06:52
wrong person it it took us years to find that Linley was lying and that she was living a double life sociopath uh if you
01:07:00
look that up that's linley's picture will be sitting right there with it but what motive could Linley have to murder
01:07:06
the man she had built so much with some say it was as coldblooded as a cobra money Lindley stood to gain
01:07:17
millions of dollars from the death of my brother between the life insurance the sale of the snakes and the family farm
01:07:23
that she would inherit it was significant still investigators needed someone to flip they arrested
01:07:31
Ashley and fast let her know exactly what her future reality might look like now is a time you're either on team
01:07:39
Lenley or you're on team Missouri and team lindley's going to jail they're going to prison for first-degree murder
01:07:46
in exchange for leniency Ashley turned on her onetime boss starting with the toxic ingredients in linley's venomous
01:07:54
smoothie Ashley would say that Linley told her Ben had abused her she asked if I could get any um thing any
01:08:03
prescription pills or anything in the amount that could um help her kill him and so I got her um per it was peret I'm
01:08:14
pretty sure and there was um I think 15 of them according to Ashley after the shooting Linley claimed Michael Humphrey
01:08:22
was the trigger man but she says a few days later Linley changed her story Ashley now claimed that Linley confessed
01:08:30
to being the Killer and she said oh no once we got there I I was fine to do it and so he handed me the gun and I did it
01:08:39
after the murder she have seen remor sorry never no but as the case headed to trial
01:08:49
lindley's legal team insists Michael Humphrey was the real shooter and they argue this st's case isn't based on
01:08:57
truth but on the fearful coer testimony of Ashley Shaw you're either on team Lenley or you're on team Missouri and
01:09:04
team Lenley is going to jail how would that impact somebody a woman like Ashley Shaw do you think well if Ashley Shaw
01:09:11
ever wants to leave that interview room for the rest of her life or for the indefinite future she's going to change
01:09:16
her story it was only after that threat that she changed her story and implicated Lyle renck
01:09:35
I don't know what happened with him I don't know it took a lot of time to just process you know the lies that we were
01:09:45
given by Linley in late 2021 Sam renck was bracing himself for the trials of his brother's alleged Killers my biggest
01:09:55
concern was keeping my composure during the whole time first up linley's old boyfriend
01:10:01
Michael Humphrey the prosecution said Linley fired the gun and that Humphrey was in on the plan prosecutor said he
01:10:10
was in on the plotting he provided the weapon he helped knock off her husband but that murder weapon had not
01:10:19
been recovered Humphrey's defense argued that he had been lured to the Snake Farm
01:10:24
by Linley who claimed she wanted protection when asking Ben for a divorce Lindley had then surprised him and
01:10:33
pulled out a gun and shot her husband they painted him as kind of a fawning Suitor of this pretty blonde petite uh
01:10:43
snake salesman the jury didn't believe Humphrey's story of being an innocent spectator after deliberating for just 5
01:10:50
hours jurors convicted him of first-degree murder Linley is a manipulator and I truly
01:11:00
believe that he was manipulated into where he is right now then facing Life Behind Bars Michael Humphrey changed his
01:11:08
story lindley's trial attorneys Tim hesman and Katherine Burger he decides to flip why does he do that he's
01:11:17
convicted of first-degree murder after a jury trial uh he agrees to cooperate with the state in the hopes that he
01:11:23
might be able to parole out eventually Humphrey now admits that he provided the gun that Linley used to
01:11:31
shoot her husband and he tells them where they can find it which is in his girlfriend's mother's attic with the
01:11:38
murder weapon in hand jurors in linley's upcoming trial would have to answer one
01:11:43
unresolved question who pulled the trigger this is case number 307 State versus Lenley Renning
01:11:55
the defendant Lyle renck shot her husband Ben eight times killing him we're going to come back and ask you to
01:12:02
find her guilty of Mur the prosecution painted Linley as coldblooded as one of her husband's snakes a killer who shot
01:12:09
Ben and then went about her daily routine as if nothing had happened she goes to the school picks up her two
01:12:18
children and drives them back to the place where she knows she is going to find their father's dead body she kill
01:12:26
Lenley is being deceptive to Ben the defense counters by saying that while Lenley lied and cheated on Ben that
01:12:35
doesn't make her a killer she's not planning a murder she's planning a divorce they pointed the finger at the
01:12:42
man already convicted of murdering Ben renck Michael Humphrey took it upon himself acting completely independently
01:12:50
took Ben's life himself but linley's employee and Confidant Ash Shaw now the prosecution star witness swears Michael
01:12:59
Humphrey and Linley were full partners in crime Michael was going to come to the spa and they were going to go
01:13:06
together to her house his business um to kill him at home or at at work Shaw says
01:13:14
after the murder Linley returned to the spa not for a massage but to wash away her sins so Linley goes back there and
01:13:22
she tells you to do what uh to give her a shower and she asked me to scrub her body and her hands really well and she
01:13:30
washed then Ashley tells the jurors what Lyle told her about what really happened
01:13:35
at renck reptiles the day Ben was killed she said that Michael got uh too nervous
01:13:41
or didn't want to do it and so he handed her the gun and she actually killed him
01:13:46
she said that she put the gun to his back and shot him several times but the defense claims Ashley Shaw just like
01:13:53
Michael Humphrey made up the story in order to avoid life in prison how are you able to be so calm when you're being
01:14:02
questioned about murders that you evidently claim to be involved in how is that Ashley I don't know there are so
01:14:09
many aspects of Ashley Shaw's story that simply are not credible and now in a strange Twist of
01:14:18
judicial fate the prosecution called an unlikely key witness to the stand now what am I hold holding up that's that's
01:14:26
my gun that's what your gun is convicted murderer Michael Humphrey who now swears
01:14:32
he's telling the truth about how Linley killed her husband I heard a shot come out so I kind of ducked a little bit I
01:14:39
looked down through there and she was at the end of the um Corridor or whatever you want to call it posed up like this
01:14:46
with a gun all right thank you so much are you next WITN Bo as the trial neared its end
01:14:53
the defense took a chance on a star witness of their own Linley began by detailing the troubled and sometimes
01:15:01
violent marriage she claims she was trying to escape Linley uh was there ever any other occasion where an
01:15:09
argument with Ben turned physical yes Ben and I had been arguing at the house and he grabbed my arm and pushed me into
01:15:19
the refrigerator and was like I'm not done with this we're going to finish it now Linley renick never filed any police
01:15:26
reports about the alleged physical abuse abusive is a word that I would not use with Ben he was very kind very loving
01:15:35
then came her chance to explain why she asked Michael Humphrey to accompany her that fatal day hey my marriage is
01:15:43
falling apart will you please just go with me just to make sure like you know I'm safe and I can get some stuff and go
01:15:49
did you ask Michael to help you kill your husband no said the scene for me and the jury and I walked up right right
01:16:00
behind Michael and then Michael turned around and I saw a gun in his hands and then I
01:16:09
heard shots ring out and I screamed and I ran outside and then I heard more shots go
01:16:18
off and everything just went numb and I remember staring at the trees and then Michael running out of the
01:16:28
facility and pushing me towards the car and telling me we have to go lle get in the car we have to go
01:16:36
now claiming to be in shock Linley admitted she didn't tell the truth to investigators but said that didn't add
01:16:44
up to murder and I understand what that means and how this looks I just I don't know how to fully
01:16:56
Express that I I never wanted been dead and Miss Ren you and Michael the prosecution was ready to
01:17:05
strike you were interviewed a bunch by a bunch of cops correct yes and you lied to them every time yes but deep down in
01:17:14
that heart of yours and in that brain of yours you know who killed him correct yes linley's lies to Cops included a
01:17:23
terrible slander accusing Sam renick of killing his brother and then anytime the
01:17:29
police asked me who I thought I just told them Sam I'm so sorry her trying to apologize to me on
01:17:38
the stand and guard her sympathy with the jury didn't sit well with me I'm sorry there's no low too low for for
01:17:46
that one why should these jurors now believe you you now want these 12 people to
01:17:53
believe you correct yes I bet you do while I regret that it took her 2 and 1/2 years to tell the
01:18:02
truth I think she was relieved that the full story had finally been told and now
01:18:09
it was in the jury's hands it had been almost five long years since Ben renck was murdered exhausted
01:18:30
Sam waited for a jury to weigh the evidence against his younger brother's bride and for the record and after 12
01:18:37
hours the judge revealed the verdict as to count one we the jury find the defendant Lenley renick guilty of
01:18:47
murder in the second degree verdict as to count two we the jury find the defend guilty of armed
01:18:56
criminal action in that moment 33-year-old Lindley renck became a convicted killer
01:19:05
she really believed that she was going to get away with all this and she really believed that she was going to get what
01:19:10
she had planned after murdering my brother the time still to be measured the length of her stay in a Missouri
01:19:17
prison you may now retire to consider punishment in this case all please for that jurors gathered again for a
01:19:27
separate sentencing hearing while life was an option the jury would settle on something considerably less punishment
01:19:35
for murder in the second degree at 13 years punishment for armed criminal action at three
01:19:44
years 13 + three for Ben renick's life jurors never said why they chose such a seemingly light punishment but 6 weeks
01:19:54
later Sam would tell the court that the sentence itself was an injustice I beg the common person to watch the trial
01:20:01
again and ask themselves if my brother's life was worth only 16 years 16 years is why I'm here
01:20:09
today he would recount That Hideous day that changed everything the web of Devastation travels far and spared no
01:20:17
one she put the children through this experience here I am covered in my brother's blood attempting to come
01:20:24
Comfort the children despite them asking me if their daddy's dead Sam's frustration at the sentence seemed to be
01:20:32
shared by the judge but under Missouri law he could not increase linley's punishment you're awful lucky ma'am
01:20:40
you're going to get out in your 40s and my 40s weren't too bad I just hope you don't kill again that's it
01:20:49
[Music] some reflected on the cast of Bad characters two convicted killers and Ashley Shaw granted immunity after
01:21:03
plotting with Linley twice these people these creeps and dark characters behaving very badly and behaving
01:21:11
inhumanely towards humans Ben renick had created an Eden for serpent lovers spot
01:21:18
those Cloud but it was people not a snake that destroyed his paradise you can reduce it to a story of greed it may
01:21:26
be as simple as that greed that left in its bloody wake children and a brother determined to carry on the kids lost
01:21:34
their father my babies and Ben's babies and I'm here to take care of them for the rest of my
01:21:40
life and around the world wherever reptiles coil Slither and Slide the loss of a superstar is still felt what
01:21:50
happened to Ben was a tragedy that absolutely did not need to happen and yet Ben renck lives on in a way he
01:22:04
would surely have loved celebrated with a new breed of snake named just for him The renic Ghost and what ghost is is a
01:22:14
slight reduction of blacks color it gives the snake kind of a ghosty appearance to it and that is such a test
01:22:24
submit to what Ben meant to this community that he now has a mutation of a snake named after him you miss your
01:22:31
friend every single Expo that we would see each other at there is a vacancy there that will never be filled again
01:22:42
[Music] 48 hours to miss it would be a crime were you at all prepared for what happened in this case
01:23:06
[Music] [Music] this story has always been one that has fascinated people because it's so bizarre that this
01:23:53
could even happen 17 and 1 12 years we have always talked about Mike Williams being
01:24:01
missing not ever finding his body not ever having resolution was very difficult he was going to wake up early
01:24:13
and go duck hunting he was a big duck hunter and so he went off to the lake and then he never came back
01:24:21
[Music] Mike Williams was a straight shooter he loved his family he loved his wife he
01:24:31
put her on a pedestal Mike did everything that she wanted done Denise said jump Mike want to know how high
01:24:39
they were going to be celebrating their wedding anniversary and so when he did not come home about noon when he was
01:24:44
supposed to Denise started getting worried and started calling around this search was the most
01:24:51
intensive I ever seen law hemen and friends and family combing the lake looking for
01:24:59
me they found the boat his truck the trailer that was all there I got up in the helicopter flew around and looked
01:25:08
for his body and one of the things that I noticed there were no less than 15 to 20 very large alligators swimming all
01:25:17
around this area lake seol is known for having a lot of alligators we're in North Florida
01:25:26
there are a lot of alligators when we went back out there you know there was more evidence that
01:25:33
there was there had been alligator activity around there that's what you believed happened
01:25:39
to Mike yes I I firmly believe that I guess you're sort of hoping you find something and sort of hoping you
01:25:47
don't well we was hoping if he was here we would find him and get closure but no
01:25:51
it didn't happen people are attacked by alligators little dogs are eaten by alligators but you never hear of someone
01:26:03
who's just vanished eaten by whole by an alligator it is totally impossible for 185lb man to be consumed by an alligator
01:26:13
Without a Trace I think that's when we started going oh my gosh this is not what we thought it
01:26:20
was many people felt like there was foul play in involved Cheryl Williams Mike's mom
01:26:28
comes along and I pray every day that Mike will come home Cheryl begins her Crusade if you will trying to get
01:26:36
answers she'd make picket signs and stand in front of the church there were Billboards you know have you seen my son
01:26:43
she wrote the governor a letter every day for 9 years until God tells me in my heart that that child is dead I cannot
01:26:51
give up looking for him she wasn't going to quit until she had a body alive or dead he didn't just fall out of the boat
01:27:02
this wasn't just a hunting [Music] accident this man was murdered and they blamed it on alligators for 17 years
01:27:17
[Music] [Music] you've got a really love duck hunting to love Lake seol it's shallow it's swampy and it's
01:28:11
popular with the local alligators Mike Williams really did love duck hunting and people say that's why
01:28:19
he came here well Before Dawn on December 16th 2000 alone his wife said the plan was that
01:28:28
Mike would be back home in time to celebrate his wedding anniversary but 12 hours later after his
01:28:36
wife reported him missing Lake seol would be swarming with Rescuers searching for Mike Williams on the land
01:28:44
on the water and in the air can you show me the area that you guys searched in basically this area from here to there
01:28:54
about five acres Alton rainu and David Arnett were among the first law enforcement officers to get a call about
01:29:02
a missing duck hunter what we thought had happened is that he possibly fell out of the boat or capsized is it
01:29:08
unusual for people to fall out of boats while they're hunting for ducks It's Not
01:29:13
Unusual it it happens um quite often out here as far as they might hit a stump and throw them
01:29:19
out early the next morning there was a break Mike's boat was found on board were some
01:29:28
decoys and his shotgun but no sign of Mike himself we done a grid search very slow meticulous
01:29:37
grid search back and forth over the search area and what began as a search and rescue soon turned into a search for a
01:29:47
body we stayed with that grid until we covered this whole area caver dogs were brought in while team scoured the murky
01:29:55
bottom of lake seol in a gruesome search for Mike's body that was high intensity
01:30:02
and low Tech this is the tool of your trade right that was that was actually one of
01:30:10
the poles and and all you do is put it in the water and see if you feel anything if it's a log it's kind of a a
01:30:17
a thump kind of a hard thump if it would been body you hit it it's kind of like a
01:30:23
pillow did you feel something ever on the bottom that felt like a body never never Williams vanished one day before
01:30:35
his sixth wedding anniversary he met his wife Denise at North Florida Christian High School he
01:30:42
was a football player she was a cheerleader he was president of the student council she was the secretary
01:30:51
had they seem together gray couple Scott dunie met Mike in high school he and his
01:30:57
wife Anessa were among Mike's best friends if you knew Mike he's the kind of person that uh is going to do
01:31:05
anything and everything for you so Denise you know found a gem they both graduated from Florida
01:31:12
State University Denise became an accountant for the state Mike became a real estate appraiser working for clay
01:31:20
Ketchum this kid was straight as an AA he really TR truly was Clay and his wife Patty got to know Mike well he was an
01:31:29
unbelievable worker it was not uncommon for him to do 15-hour days I mean he would be in there early work until 1: or
01:31:36
2 in the morning and then be right back he had incredible energy before long Mike's career took
01:31:43
off and that's when he married Denise he loved his wife he even would leave the office and go pump her gas I'm
01:31:54
sorry go pump her gas yes she would call him and say Mike I need gas and Mike would run over there pump her gas and
01:32:02
run back we all said we wanted to be married to Mike just before Mother's Day in 1999 Denise gave birth to the
01:32:11
couple's daughter and by chance a local Tallahassee TV station was at the hospital we're just totally overwhelmed
01:32:19
she was due Tuesday and she would have made me wait a whole another year for Mother's Day she TI the scales it was
01:32:24
unbelievable I have a whole new respect for my wife and women in general and what they go through to bring a a new
01:32:30
child new life into the world 19 months after he became a father Mike was missing and the longer the search lasted
01:32:41
on Lake seol the harder it was on the Searchers afraid of what they might find one of Mike's oldest friends Brian
01:32:52
Winchester was out there looking for him from the start and it was Brian who discovered Mike's empty
01:33:01
boat Brian decided that we didn't want to be there when Mike's body was pulled up Brett Ketchum was with Brian during
01:33:09
the search so we would get in a car and drive to a gas station and go get a Coke
01:33:15
and it was very emotional trips I mean it was you know crying and it was tough the search was called off after 44
01:33:25
days Rescuers could find no trace of Mike Williams he was listed officially as still missing and some people
01:33:34
wondered if he had just run off we knew M could not run off I mean he loved his family and he adored his
01:33:43
daughter adored her so Mike did not run off this was not some elaborate ruse soon there was another explanation
01:33:52
offered for why m body could not be found that he had been snatched by an alligator alligators they don't eat you
01:34:04
right then this is morbid to talk about but they go stuff you somewhere for 6 months and and then come back later one
01:34:10
of the rescue teams agreed writing the alligators have dismembered and have stored the remains in a location that we
01:34:19
would not be able to find but there was at least one person who had serious doubts about that
01:34:29
theory Mike's mother Cheryl she pretty early on believed that there was more to this and that he was
01:34:39
not and likes him at all I think she just thought something something's not right
01:34:45
[Music] here 6 months mons after Mike Williams disappeared investigators had no new
01:34:57
leads no real hope of finding him and then what could be a break bubbled up from the muck of lake
01:35:06
seol that pole is marking a spot where the waiters had popped up a local fisherman found a pair of
01:35:15
waiters like these which were believed to have belonged to Williams did it make sense to you that
01:35:22
they popped up here I mean you would you would search that area right we had searched it many times Well very
01:35:31
well then two days after that Mike's fishing jacket and his hunting license were found at the same spot along with a
01:35:41
flashlight but Williams was still missing his wife Denise was raising their 2-year-old daughter
01:35:49
alone Denise was a doting mother the pride and joy of her life [Music] but Scott dunie says now that Denise was
01:35:58
a single mom money was getting tight I was helping her with some of the items that needed to be sold and to generate
01:36:07
some cash until the insurance money came and there was a lot of insurance money involved Williams had three
01:36:15
policies worth more than $1.75 million Mike wanted to make sure his family was taken care of of because Mike
01:36:24
hunted and fished and did some pretty high-risk activity and Clay really encouraged him to load
01:36:30
up with her expenses reportedly mounting Denise went after the insurance money quickly while the search itself is still
01:36:39
going on while he is still actively missing they're still actively searching for her he she is going and filing a
01:36:46
claim against his life insurance Jennifer Portman covered this case for the Tallahassee Democrat she
01:36:53
was a consultant for 48 hours she was really ready to accept the fact that he was missing and presumed dead very early
01:37:02
on but the State of Florida was not according to Florida law since there was no proof Williams had died he would not
01:37:10
be declared dead for 5 years Denise did not want to wait that long to collect on
01:37:17
Mike's life insurance how much time did it take in this case it took six months it was very fast abnormally
01:37:26
fast that's because Denise's attorney argued to a judge that the waiters the vest and the hunting license were proof
01:37:34
enough that Williams was dead the judge agreed and issued a death certificate cause of death accidental drowning while
01:37:43
duck hunting on Lake seol body has not yet been recovered based on that and that alone was what got him declared
01:37:52
dead per waiters and a fishing license and some other stuff yeah exactly the case of the missing Hunter
01:37:59
seemed closed and was soon forgotten by almost everyone but not by Mike's mother
01:38:06
Cheryl did she believe that her son drowned in Lake seol she never ever believed that her son was in the lake
01:38:15
and she was absolutely committed to finding out what happened to him it's never out of my head where is this
01:38:27
child Cheryl caught the attention of the local news he may be dead but he's not in that Lake and if somebody did hurt my
01:38:36
child I want them found and I want them punished Cheryl started keeping notes of
01:38:41
everything copious notes of all of the you know strange things that were going on she eventually filled 27 single
01:38:50
spaced pages with lots of unanswered questions like like what made the waiters float after 6 and 1/2 months
01:38:58
underwater her notes ended with a plea to anyone who would listen please help me find my son she was trying to
01:39:07
basically compile all of these evidence that she could find and trying to get it
01:39:12
in front of someone who would listen to her well did Denise help her oh no Denise completely cut her
01:39:19
off Denise was adamant no investigation she threatened to withhold Cheryl's granddaughter from her correct she said
01:39:29
if you continue to press for this investigation you will never see your granddaughter again so what did she do
01:39:36
she took the energy she would have spent love it on that child and tried to find her
01:39:42
daddy Cheryl pressed on and started poking holes in the official version of what happened to her son for years after
01:39:52
Mike Williams disappeared there was a theory that the reason his body was never found was that he had been eaten
01:39:58
by alligators turns out there is a problem with that theory Cheryl contacted Matthew aresco an alligator
01:40:07
expert Florida has a few of them in his response he explained that alligators do
01:40:13
not feed in the cold winter months cold weather um causes a water temperature to
01:40:19
drop so alligators don't feed in winter time what's more aresco said that when alligators kill there is always forensic
01:40:27
evidence left behind and he said attributing Mike's disappearance to an alligator attack may be a convenient
01:40:35
explanation for the authorities but was virtually impossible we're in North Florida there are a lot of alligators I
01:40:43
will give you that but it is winter alligators do not eat human beings without leaving a trace in the middle of
01:40:51
December when it's cold it just doesn't happen if not for Cheryl Williams there's no way that we would
01:41:08
know where Mike Williams was or anything that ever happened to him she was the driving
01:41:14
force charl Williams knew because an expert told her that her son was not eaten by an
01:41:21
alligator but did not know much else about how he vanished one of the things that has been so difficult about this
01:41:29
case is that there was an absolute lack of physical evidence you didn't have a body you didn't have any of these things
01:41:36
that maybe could point you towards something but Cheryl had something those 27 pages of detailed notes in 2004 four
01:41:45
years after Mike disappeared Cheryl's campaign finally caught the attention of the Florida Department of Law
01:41:52
Enforcement investigators met with her and then launched a multi-agency investigation when did you first begin
01:42:02
thinking this was a crime the first night we talked to Miss Cheryl at the time Derek Wester was with the Jackson
01:42:08
County Sheriff's Office he was part of the investigation she had it all broke down and then as she's relaying this
01:42:16
story all these inconsistencies start adding up do you remember what some of those inconsistencies were the insurance
01:42:23
it was Mike's three life insurance policies that caught their attention particularly the last one he bought not
01:42:30
long before he disappeared worth $1 million how did Mike Williams end up with that million-dollar life insurance
01:42:40
policy who sold it to him Brian Winchester sold him the million-dollar life insurance policy about 6 months
01:42:45
before he went missing Brian Winchester was an insurance agent he'd been Mike's best friend since
01:42:52
high school where like Mike he met his future wife Kathy Aldrich and from then on the two
01:42:59
couples were inseparable you know they did literally everything together they went out to dinner together they bought
01:43:07
houses at the same time they got married at the same time babies at the same time
01:43:13
you know they were they were very close Brian Winchester was in the insurance business so it's not that odd that he
01:43:18
would sell his friend an insurance policy no it's not I mean just the timing of it in retrospect looks a
01:43:25
little weird that wasn't the only thing that started to look weird those waiters that
01:43:32
popped up in Lake seol surfaced just as Denise Williams needed proof that her husband was dead in order to get the
01:43:40
insurance money how many days before the court hearing these waiters popped up less
01:43:47
than a month I mean it was really close they had supposedly been submerged in the
01:43:53
for 6 months these waiters was in very good shape they were also not slimy and what did that mean they had not been in
01:44:00
the water very long so you looked at that stuff and you thought to yourself what plantet it was planted yeah no one
01:44:09
could say for sure who planted it but as time passed Denise Williams and Brian Winchester started attracting attention
01:44:17
and some suspicion because years after Mike disappeared Winchester divorced his wife Kathy he began dating
01:44:27
Denise and then he married her we went to the wedding was she a suspect in your mind at that point I think in mine I was
01:44:36
yes the minister at some point said I've counsel with this couple and they have no secrets I don't know and clay and I
01:44:43
both went we kind of nudged each other like well there might be this one little secret you don't
01:44:51
know all these things start becoming like clear that we now we've got the insurance now we've got the waiters got
01:44:58
the alligator Theory being busted by the experts so as they're building their case you know they talk to people they
01:45:07
start getting somewhere one of the first people investigators talk to was Denise Williams there's no
01:45:15
emotion there's no softening up there there's there's nothing I mean she's just matter of fact and cold but Brian
01:45:24
Winchester had much more to say he offered detectives an alibi for the mourning Mike Williams went missing he
01:45:31
said he was 60 M away from the lake in bed Brian tells us that he was going hunting with his father-in-law and
01:45:39
overlip you know for a fact that Brian was not telling you the truth then M Winchester could not have known it but
01:45:46
detectives already had a witness who said he saw Winchester that morning at Lake s all I know the the man personally
01:45:55
I mean i' I've known him all my life and um I composed a lineup and I took it to
01:45:59
him Joel says well he wasn't smiling like that but that's him and he pointed to Brian Winchester and he had seen that
01:46:06
same man he said when that morning there was one more thing Winchester didn't know police were talking to his ex-wife
01:46:15
and she told them Denise and Brian might have been having an affair for years before my might
01:46:23
disappear there was definitely a suspicion that him and her were having a fair well before that December while
01:46:31
Denise was still married to Mike yes the plot was sure thickening but investigators still weren't sure what
01:46:38
the full story was after 2 years the FDLE hit a wall but Cheryl Williams who had been
01:46:47
fighting since the day her son disappeared was not giving up and horrible not knowing what happened to
01:46:55
him she was very very very frustrated with FDLE and felt that they were not doing their job they weren't
01:47:01
trying so she picketed you know she would have signs made and and walk up and down in front of the
01:47:08
church every year she would have Billboards put up around town showed a picture of Mike and missing and if you
01:47:15
have any information who's to contact and she went after the governor she wrote the governor a letter every day
01:47:21
for nine years in fact the governor received 1,472 letters that we know of her suspicion was always with Brian
01:47:35
and Denise more so with Denise the two people who were considered most likely suspects were
01:47:45
together and unless one of them turned on the other you were never going to find out what happened
01:47:50
here did you think this case would get broken not until I found out that they were
01:47:55
having marital problems they turned on each other like brats in a [Music] sa until God tells me in my heart that
01:48:21
that child is dead I cannot give up looking for him as the years dragged on it looked
01:48:29
like the mystery of what happened to Mike Williams might never be solved if Brian and Denise knew anything
01:48:37
about Mike's disappearance they weren't talking and no one could make them by Florida law as long as they stayed
01:48:45
married neither could be forced to testify against the other with Brian and Denise being married you were how are
01:48:53
you ever going to get the truth because one is not going to turn on the other but behind the scenes Denise and
01:49:05
Brian's marriage was disintegrating and after 7 years in 2012 they decided to separate he is you know
01:49:18
self-described as being a sex addict he's trying to please her by going going to therapy by getting counseling like
01:49:24
he's jumping through all these hoops trying to do all these things to get her back and she's not kind of accepting
01:49:30
them after four more years of trying to patch things up Brian snapped one morning Denise gets in her
01:49:41
car she's driving to work and she senses something in the back and Brian Winchester has hidden in the back of her
01:49:47
car and is coming over the seat and has got a gun he's got a gun he's got a gun he had a gun he had a tarp the idea was
01:49:55
that he was going to kill her he's screaming and I'm just like shaking and he's telling me to stop
01:50:01
crying that people are going to notice because reported her kidnapping to the leyon county sheriff's office I was like
01:50:08
are you planning on you know ending both of our lives today well mine I'm planning on mine and then he would say I
01:50:15
want to kill M he must have said a million times I want to kill myself Brian Winchester was soon arrested and
01:50:21
charged with the kidnapping an aggravated assault of his wife I was just kind of agreeing with whatever he
01:50:28
was saying and I was like I know that you love me police quickly realized that the rift in Denise and Brian's marriage
01:50:36
presented an opportunity a tag team of detectives arrived to see what they could get out
01:50:44
of Denise to see if she would Now flip on her estranged husband and talk about his involvement in Mike Williams
01:50:52
disappearance I know I know Denise he did and you know exactly what I'm talking about and he was going to do
01:51:01
it again Tallahassee detective David mccraine tried he wasn't going to kill himself the he was going to kill you so
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that you didn't talk about him leater that is the truth McCrae turned up the heat 15 years ago he walked in
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and told you he' done something deny no Denise no you have Gat this is not going away okay he's going
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to kill you he's even to kill himself because he's got know Avenue but Denise did not
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budge his I'm Flor Department of so special agent Mike dainy came in he'd been working the Williams case for years
01:51:44
you think he's responsible for Mike I do not and I never have I would have never
01:51:50
married him if I thought that I mean in my mind and in my heart no she wasn't giving up anything she was giving up
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absolutely nothing where do you think my spirit is oh I I have no idea any speculation
01:52:03
on that on where he's Buried buried I mean I believe you don't really believe he he died at on the
01:52:11
lake I do why I just I just always have that's what I believe that was her story and
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sticking to it that left Brian as the only possible source of information in the Williams
01:52:27
case he was facing a long stretch in prison for the kidnapping but there was no word about what if anything he would
01:52:36
say about Mike's disappearance we're here in state of Florida versus Brian Winchester 2 16
01:52:46
months later Brian pled guilty to kidnapping and assaulting Denise and appeared in court for his sentencing we
01:52:54
had a a plea and we weren't sure what the government was going to ask for he was crying at times he apologized Tim
01:53:02
jansson is Brian Winchester's lawyer we had indicated we want 15 the state gets up and asks for 45 my client would like
01:53:10
to address the courtly never ever did I have any intentions of harming Denise nor would
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I nonetheless I do know that she was hurt by my actions and again I am truly [Music]
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sorry Start by stating your name please Denise Williams Denise showed up at the sentencing what was she like there what
01:53:49
did she want she wanted him to go to prison for the rest of his life I start each day with the memory of him jumping
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out of the back and I end each day feeling the gun shoved in my ribs when I turn on my right side trying to
01:54:06
sleep she was scared she was compelling he will finish what he has started no matter what age he is when he's released
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most people in the courtroom were pretty stunned by it it was pretty powerful I'm
01:54:18
asking you to sentence him to life in prison for the crimes he has committed it comes down to my life or his and I'm
01:54:26
asking you please to choose mine thank you come on up with your client Mr Janson for kidnapping Denise Brian was
01:54:38
sentenced to 20 years behind bars he was Shackled at the waist and the ankles and when they shuffled him
01:54:48
off to prison we felt so defeated because we said there'll never be an answer to our friend Mike never an
01:54:57
answer we won't know well you were wrong we were wrong they had found Mike's [Music]
01:55:20
body this was so so huge it still is really pretty stunning just one day after Brian
01:55:29
Winchester was sentenced for kidnapping Denise Williams the Florida Department of Law Enforcement held a news
01:55:36
conference and the News really was huge standing here now I can tell you that we
01:55:42
know what happened to Mike Williams he was murdered they know that because sometime
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before he was sentenced for kidnapping Brian Winchester cracked and confessed in these audio
01:55:56
recordings I went and met Mike at a gas station I followed him to the lake we launched the boat it was just like a
01:56:05
hunting trip was supposed to [Music] be Winchester had cut a deal with prosecutors in exchange for his
01:56:13
confession he would not be charged with murder even though he admitted killing his best friend I got him to stand up
01:56:22
and I pushed him into the water and he was in a panic obviously I was in a panic I didn't know what to do and I
01:56:30
ended up shooting him the agreement that we drafted up said that anything he said that day
01:56:37
could not be used against him Winchester gave prosecutors what they wanted most the location of Mike Williams's body I
01:56:47
backed my Suburban down to the edge of the lake and put his body in the back and pushed his boat back out into the
01:56:55
water Brian says he left Mike's truck and trailer at Lake seol to make Mike's disappearance look like an accident but
01:57:03
actually Mike's body was nowhere near Lake seol he was 60 M away at car Lake a remote marshy area just 10 minutes from
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Winchester's home Brian left investigators here to the spot he buried Mike back in
01:57:27
2000 and they commenced what FD told me it's the most extensive search they have
01:57:32
ever undertaken in the history of the agency the search uncovered Mike's skeletal
01:57:38
remains and his wedding ring among other things and there was horrifying evidence
01:57:47
of what happened to him and what they were able to show very clearly was that he had been shot
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basically at Point Blank Range in the face with a shotgun this was up close personal deadly yeah and gruesome
01:58:05
yeah and Winchester provided one final piece of the puzzle he said it was all Denise's
01:58:14
idea she would not get divorced and so she basically said there's only one solution as he tells it she was not
01:58:23
willing to endure the public shame of a divorce so she thought murder was a better answer I guess it was better to
01:58:30
be known as a widow than a divorce wow that is incredibly cold and wouldn't it be great if we also oh by the way
01:58:38
collected you know almost $2 million in insurance we would end up together we would live happily ever after and as a
01:58:46
side note we've got all this money to enjoy a wonderful life together the happily Ever After part didn't work out
01:58:55
so well in May 2018 5 months after the discovery of Mike's body was announced Denise Williams was arrested and charged
01:59:05
with first-degree murder conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact it was a very bizarre moment and
01:59:18
she said nothing and she didn't look at anybody she just looked St ahead it's a bitter sweet feeling you
01:59:27
are so thankful that she has been outed for the true person she is but it doesn't you're still left with the same
01:59:35
result even though you saw her let away in shackles and an ugly dress and hair that
01:59:42
needed a die job I got to tell you that felt pretty good to me cuz I know how important appearances are to her
01:59:52
she didn't do it she had nothing to do with it she's completely innocent defense attorney Ethan Way is
01:59:57
representing Denise did she know about it no not before not during not after you are very confident I have an
02:00:03
innocent client it's the best [Music] kind on December 11th 2018 prosecutor John fuches gave his opening argument at
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Denise Williams's murder trial Denise likes a sound of being a widow much more than a divorce obviously can't be caught
02:00:24
with a murder so they had to make it look like an accident raise your right hand please
02:00:29
sir early on the state called Brian Winchester we had an agreement that she would never say anything about me and I
02:00:37
would never say anything about her because we felt like that as long as neither one of us talked that nobody
02:00:43
would ever find out what happened good morning ladies and gentlemen Ethan Way was in an enviable
02:00:50
position for a defense attorney representing an accused murderer the prosecution star witness admits he is
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the killer when you shot Mike Williams with a 12 gauge shotgun was anise Williams standing there with you no she
02:01:05
wasn't she was in my head behind me Denise Williams had no idea that you shot her husband in the face with a
02:01:11
shotgun did you correct Mr Winchester You're a murderer isn't it true yes sir Mr Winchester you're a liar isn't it
02:01:19
true yes sir of course Cheryl William Willams always suspected her one-time daughter-in-law was involved and Cheryl
02:01:27
was now a witness for the prosecution the initial theory was that he was missing and possibly eaten by alligators
02:01:35
right you never believed that did you no sir how long did it take before Denise called you and said I'm sorry I was
02:01:41
wrong all these years she never did finally Winchester's ex-wife Kathy testified Denise kept quiet and as part
02:01:52
of a conspiracy of Silence between Brian and Denise were you aware that Brian Winchester kidnapped Denise Williams yes
02:02:01
about a week after that did Denise ask you to do something Denise asked me to get a message to
02:02:08
Brian that I'm not talking after 3 days of testimony both sides rested Ethan wey was so confident
02:02:22
the state had no hard evidence that he didn't want the jury to consider any charges less than murder one this is a
02:02:30
strategy decision it's you understand it's a little bit out of the ordinary yes I guess for one of a better word
02:02:37
it's a little bit of a gamble yes the jury was now facing an All or Nothing decision and the attorneys presented
02:02:45
their closing arguments this is not a case about trying to get quote Justice for Mike this is a murder murder case
02:02:53
there's no evidence that supports any of the allegations against my client we are
02:02:59
counting on you to return a verdict that speaks the truth and that verdict is not
02:03:03
guilty think back 3 days ago Brian Winchester is on the stand describing how he shot his best
02:03:13
friend everybody in this entire room was moved by the sheer horror of that situation one
02:03:25
person that one person sad here absolute stoneface didn't bat an eye didn't shed
02:03:32
a tear that lady right there that's Denise Williams the jury took 8 hours to reach a verdict the defendant is guilty
02:03:41
of conspiracy to commit first grade murder Denise Williams was found guilty as to count to we the jury find
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the defendant is guilty of first deegree murder on all counts the defendant is guilty of accessory after the fact of
02:04:02
first degree murder Mike's family and friends waited 18 years for this day sometimes the
02:04:11
wheels of Justice turn slowly but they do still turn for Cheryl Williams it has been a
02:04:18
long heartbreaking fight but now she can finally lay her son to rest it hit her really hard and and I think she's still
02:04:30
coming to terms with it I mean the brutality of it the the finality of it how anyone could do this to Mike it kind
02:04:37
of destroys your your faith in in man to do this to him and the way it was done and it's just
02:04:46
unimaginable you still miss him oh God he was such a good guy he loved to work he loved his family he put him on a
02:04:54
pedestal and he got killed for it that's the irony of this is the kid did nothing
02:05:00
[Music] wrong he knew he was going to be murdered you don't s he knew where and how she said you're going to get shot in
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the head why couldn't it be stopped if you made this into a movie tomorrow nobody' believe it actually happened 48
02:05:34
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