00:00:07
[Music] Look at they're madly in love. They are. Look at that. >> Nancy Sunonnenfeld was found shot in the
00:00:22
head. >> Police report says she was in a second floor bedroom. She later died. We always
00:00:27
thought a wonderful couple because they're always laughing, >> attractive and young and you just
00:00:31
couldn't imagine a happier couple. >> Kurt Sonfeld, he was this debonire, really buff, uh, eloquent young man. You
00:00:43
know, everybody who met him liked him. He was a videographer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
00:00:51
>> This is a box of some of my things from FEMA. My name is Kirk Mitchell. I'm a reporter
00:00:59
at the Denver Post back in uh 2001. [Music] Kurt went to 911 and he uh videotaped
00:01:11
ground zero. Nancy Senfeld, she was a star in her own right. She got a well-paying job as in
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an advertising agency. They were a very hip couple. They would go to all the trendy bars in downtown Denver. They
00:01:31
went on trips. They went to Amsterdam. They went to South America. They had the a beautiful relationship.
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[Music] January 1st, 2002, New Year's Day, get a call uh of a shooting. Individual
00:01:52
frantically calling the police saying his wife had shot herself. The evidence didn't really match up with what we were
00:01:59
being told occurred. at 13. >> We were questioning nearly from the start uh that this had anything to do
00:02:08
with a self-inflicted injury and was more consistent with a homicide. >> Curt Sonnenfeld was arrested and charged
00:02:15
with his wife's death, which he insisted was a suicide. But prosecutors suddenly
00:02:20
dropped the charge, saying they did not believe they could prove Sonnenfeld guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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After he was released from jail, he took a trip to Argentina. >> My world had been completely destroyed.
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And uh when Paula and I first met, she was the reward for all the suffering that I had been through.
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>> He had fallen madly in love with this young woman and decided that he was going to stay in Argentina.
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Two years later, prosecutors filed new charges against Sunenfeld. But Sunenfeld had moved to Argentina and prosecutors
00:02:57
can get him extradited. >> Kurt Sonnenfeld went there so that he didn't have to face trial in Colorado.
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>> Do you believe he's going to get away with murder? >> It's possible. >> Without a doubt, everybody knew was a
00:03:10
suicide. >> He is innocent. There's nothing else to say. It's pretty incredible what he's pulled off.
00:03:23
>> My name is Curt Sonnenfeld. This is my story. >> I'm Aaron Morardi. Tonight on 48 hours,
00:03:35
the strange case of Curt Sonnenfeld. [Music] [Music] Kurt Sonenfeld has built a new life for
00:04:00
himself in Argentina. Here he's out of the grasp of US authorities who want him extradited so
00:04:08
that they can try him for the murder of his first wife. There are people in Denver, Colorado who think Kurt killed
00:04:16
Nancy. What do you say? >> Well, they are wrong. >> Kurt staunchest supporter is his second
00:04:23
wife, Pala. They met at a restaurant when he arrived in 2003 and married just 40 days later. They're now the parents
00:04:32
of twin girls. You can tell just looking at Kurt and especially after you talk to
00:04:39
him that he is a beautiful person. Kurt is incapable of even killing a cricket or an ant.
00:04:50
Paula has been at Kurt's side as he's waged a public campaign to clear his name.
00:04:56
>> You were innocent for the USA justice. >> Yes, I'm innocent. This is from a 2005
00:05:02
TV appearance in Argentina. >> On January 1st, uh, 2002, my wife committed suicide with a single
00:05:13
gunshot wound to the side of her head. The first policeman that came in said, "Women, don't commit suicide."
00:05:24
That was when the the lies began. But authorities in Denver believe it's Kurt who's lying. Back in the US, Nancy
00:05:33
Sonnenfeld's family has been waiting for justice for more than 14 years. Amy Leak
00:05:38
is NY's sister. >> A lot of times when people have somebody murdered in their family, it goes to
00:05:46
trial and it's over. And it's still painful, but you can move on. We can never have closure.
00:05:53
In the year before Nancy died, the two sisters had grown closer than ever. >> We were finally becoming the best
00:06:02
friends that I had wanted us to be. >> She was a strong person. She was very sophisticated. I always thought she was
00:06:11
beautiful and like I saw her as being perfect. >> Do you remember when your sister met
00:06:16
Kurt? >> Yes, I do. I remember how excited she was. She said she met her soulmate girl.
00:06:23
>> And there's Uncle Kurt. Hi, Uncle Kurt. >> We loved Kurt. He became part of our
00:06:29
family. He was fun to be with. He was good at telling stories. He was pretty much good at everything he did. He had
00:06:35
great charisma. >> Kurt traveled extensively as a freelance cameraman for FEMA, filming natural
00:06:42
disasters. He also documented weapon storage and disposal sites. His biggest assignment was being sent to ground zero
00:06:51
as one of two official videographers. >> I saw this opening that smoke was pouring out of it looked just like the
00:07:00
entrance to hell to me. And >> the footage shot by Kurt and his partner was seen all over the world. And Kurt
00:07:07
seemed to revel in the attention he was getting appearing in magazine articles and posing with celebrities. I must say
00:07:16
that Kurt liked attention and Kurt liked to be in the limelight. >> Leslie Lindberg is NY's cousin. And what
00:07:23
did she think of that? >> She was proud of him. She She loved him. >> But there were problems beneath the
00:07:29
surface. Leslie says Nancy confided in her that Kurt had a problem with drugs and alcohol and it was putting a strain
00:07:37
on their marriage. >> Nancy was very concerned about his drug use. She talked to him about it and he
00:07:43
said that he would stop, but he didn't. >> She saw him going downhill and she was
00:07:50
scared he was going to destroy his life. >> The last straw came when the couple took
00:07:54
a trip to Thailand around Thanksgiving of 2001. >> It was the turning point that affected
00:08:00
the rest of her life. >> Nancy called both her sister and her cousin from Thailand, saying Kurt had
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disappeared. She said she found him days later in a hotel room with two women doing drugs. Kurt and Nancy returned to
00:08:15
the US separately. >> I even confronted him. I said, "Kurt, what did you do in Thailand?" I said,
00:08:21
"Even, what kind of drugs did you do?" And his response to me was everything I could get my hands on.
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>> Nancy filed for a separation. Do you think she intended to actually divorce him?
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>> Mhm. We talked about it and she did. She was planning on moving on. >> This close friend of the couple who
00:08:44
asked us not to show his face says Kurt was worried about money. >> Did Kurt want this divorce?
00:08:50
>> No. He was angry when they spoke about divorcing would ruin their finances. Also, I think he was worried about the
00:08:58
house cuz they owned the house together. >> Had Nancy cut off some of the credit
00:09:03
cards >> that he had? Yeah, she was still more the bread winner of the family and did
00:09:09
what she did to try and cut back on his spending. >> Despite their problems, Nancy and Kurt
00:09:15
spent New Year's Eve together. He says they had arrived home from a party around 1:30 a.m. And just minutes later,
00:09:24
NY's life came to a violent end. >> When I heard the gunshot, I ran into the room where she was. I saw
00:09:34
her there bleeding profusely. I was hysterical. Uh the first thing that I did was to to
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hold her and then I jumped up and called the police. >> We realized so really very very quickly
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that that this was not a suicide. This was a homicide investigation. >> Retired Denver detective Jonathan Priest
00:09:55
says police were immediately suspicious of Kurt's account. Anytime there's someone else present when somebody kills
00:10:03
themselves, those are characterized as attended suicides. Those bother me. >> But why do attended suicides make you
00:10:11
uncomfortable? >> Attended suicides, people rarely kill themselves in front of other people.
00:10:16
Most suicides occur when people are alone. >> And there was something else that troubled first responders.
00:10:21
>> There was a very fine mist of uh what appeared to be blood staining on his face. The mist staining suggested he was
00:10:30
was near her at the time of the firearm discharge. >> That this was blood spatter at the time
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the gum went off. >> Yes. >> Kurt also had a bruise forming around his right eye. Possible evidence of a
00:10:43
struggle. But most telling to the officers on the scene was the unusual location of NY's
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gunshot wound towards the back of her head. We asked Dr. Dr. Amy Martin, who was Denver's assistant medical examiner,
00:10:59
to demonstrate >> it was a little bit above uh the ear hole and behind her ear hole on the
00:11:05
right side of her head. So, uh in in approximately this area here, now you've got to angle the gun
00:11:13
so that so that it's going upwards and also a little bit behind. I mean, this is very awkward. I don't
00:11:22
think I have ever seen a clear self-inflicted gunshot wound in that part of the head.
00:11:31
>> And what about the fact that it's what you call a non-cont that it's not up against her head? The gun was not held
00:11:38
up against her head. >> That's unusual. Also, uh it does occur. When I look at at her wound, um I I just
00:11:46
would wonder why why would you why would you shoot yourself that way? If you're going to shoot yourself, why wouldn't
00:11:51
you just shoot yourself in the temple? It's a lot easier to hold the gun to your temple.
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>> Nancy Sonel died in the hospital later that morning, New Year's Day 2002. She was 36 years old. Dr. Martin ruled
00:12:07
her death a homicide, and police believe Kurt was her killer. [Music] When Curt Soninfeld was brought in for
00:12:29
questioning, that's when he first learned his wife Nancy had died. He broke down, started crying, and started
00:12:36
stating that his wife had shot herself and began offering suggestions as to what we as law enforcement should be
00:12:44
doing to help prove that that that she shot herself, >> insisting that detectives test NY's
00:12:52
hands for gunshot residue. >> The investigators are wondering, why is he telling us this rather than, you
00:12:59
know, my god, my my wife has been shot. what happened. >> But as the questioning continued, says
00:13:07
former detective John Priest, Kurt admitted the marriage had been in trouble. >> She was upset with him over a trip that
00:13:17
they had taken to um Thailand. She was upset with him for using drugs, according to him. And Kurt told police
00:13:25
it was possible they had fought about his drinking that night and that Nancy probably saw no hope. What do you think
00:13:33
happened that night? >> Maybe she was kicking him out. >> Kurt was arrested for firstdegree murder
00:13:40
within hours of NY's death. The physical evidence thought detectives just didn't seem consistent with
00:13:48
suicide. Using a mannequin and a couch similar to the Soninfelds, Priest demonstrates his
00:13:56
theory. >> You believe Kurt Soninfeld shot his wife. Do you believe he was sitting next
00:14:01
to her on the couch as he did it? >> It would make sense. Yes. >> This is where my radiating spatter is
00:14:06
coming from is this exit wound. So, I'm looking at something like this. >> Priest also believes Nancy was moved
00:14:13
because of the odd position she was found in. She was leaned back against the the back of the couch and her head
00:14:20
was slightly back up against the wall. >> All right. If first responders first found her sitting like this, what was
00:14:26
the evidence that made you believe she had been moved >> on the end of the couch over here? Very
00:14:33
large saturation pattern of blood that's coming from her head and then created a
00:14:37
very large pool on the floor. She had to be tipped over like this at some point.
00:14:44
>> Nancy. >> Hi. Investigators believe Kirk tipped Nancy over so he could get up after shooting
00:14:53
her. And Priest thinks Nancy lay there bleeding for at least 10 minutes before Kurt propped her back up and called 911.
00:15:04
>> The pool of blood that's over here that was created over a good period of time.
00:15:09
That delay, says Priest, gave Kurt time to clean up. And it could explain why gunshot residue was found on Kurt's
00:15:16
clothing, but not his hands. >> He had more than enough time to wash his hands. The fact that he has gunshot
00:15:22
residue on him at all is what's significant because he claims not to have been in the room when the firearm
00:15:30
was discharged. >> But if she was murdered, how did gunshot residue get on NY's hand? And why is her
00:15:39
fingerprint, not Curt's, on the gun's magazine? >> Do you believe that he held the gun in
00:15:47
her hand, or do you believe that he actually had the gun in his hand when he shot her?
00:15:52
>> Well, that I can't tell one way or the other. I can put the gun in the position
00:15:56
when it was fired. Whose hand or hands were on the firearm, I can't tell you. >> I believe it was suicide, and I believe
00:16:04
the evidence showed that. Kurt's defense attorney, Carrie Thompson, says detectives got it all wrong. I believe
00:16:11
that there was a rush to judgment. There was an assumption this was a homicide. >> I mean, how would you describe then the
00:16:18
investigation into this case? >> Shoddy. >> Shoddy. >> Yeah. Shoddy. From the police report
00:16:25
accounts, she was found sitting up in the middle, you know, approximately here. Thompson says Nancy fell over on
00:16:33
her own after shooting herself. >> We're saying that the physical evidence showed that she at one time had slumped
00:16:40
over but never really mo wasn't moved. Just the top part of her body had slumped over with her head causing that
00:16:47
drip that caused that that pool of blood. >> She says that when Kurt discovered his
00:16:54
wife, he grabbed her and then sat her up on the couch. And that Thompson says could account for that blood mist on his
00:17:03
face. She was still breathing which means she could have sprayed out some blood herself onto him.
00:17:11
>> She has no blood in her nose or her mouth. So how do we have expirated blood?
00:17:16
>> This is her graduation from college. She was very proud of that day. >> Would you have ever described your
00:17:23
sister as suicidal? >> No, I never saw her as suicidal at all. Still, Kurt kept insisting Nancy had
00:17:31
been suicidal long before that night. >> She was heartbroken. She was depressed.
00:17:39
You know, her marriage was falling apart, but she was a fighter and she was looking towards the future.
00:17:46
>> But Kurt's attorney claims that less than a month after NY's death, she had gone into the home and personally found
00:17:53
a suicide note. evidence she says police overlooked. >> I can recall very specifically when I
00:18:01
found it. It was right there on the dresser along with her her writings. Thompson says the note appeared to have
00:18:10
been torn from NY's diary. It contained a line from a Walt Whitman poem. What indeed is finally beautiful except death
00:18:20
and love? To which Nancy added, "Kurt, please get help." >> Do you believe that is a suicide note?
00:18:28
>> No. It doesn't read like a suicide note. It doesn't read like the, you know, goodbye cruel world or or I can't live
00:18:35
like this any longer. >> She was asking Kurt to get help. >> It's not a suicide note. She was just so
00:18:42
concerned for him and she was worried that if he didn't stop with drugs that possibly he would kill himself.
00:18:50
[Music] As Kurt's trial date was approaching, the defense team went on the offensive,
00:18:57
doing their own crime scene analysis that seemed to contradict the cop's murder theory.
00:19:03
>> I think they did a half-ass job, quite frankly. >> Then District Attorney Bill Ritter,
00:19:08
>> it just felt to me like our Denver Police Department homicide division still had work to do on this case.
00:19:14
>> Did that mean that you're having some doubts about whether this was a homicide
00:19:18
or a suicide? Well, I think the best way to answer that question is to say I believed that we
00:19:27
had some significant chance of losing at trial. >> Just a little more than 5 months after
00:19:35
NY's death, Ritter made a highly unusual decision. He dismissed the murder charge
00:19:42
against Kurt, but without prejudice, which meant the investigation would continue and charges could be reinstated
00:19:51
later. What was your reaction, Amy, when you heard charges were dropped and he would just go home? We were upset, of
00:19:57
course. I cannot even explain to you the pain that we went through. >> Family, >> it all goes back to our faith in God.
00:20:07
There's nothing else that would have carried us through. >> On June 14th, 2002, Curt Soninfeld
00:20:15
walked out of jail a free man. [Music] The murder charge against Kurt Soninfeld had been dropped, but for months after
00:20:32
Curt's release, Denver police continued to dig for new evidence, starting with Kurt's computer.
00:20:40
>> He says that he was in his um office. He said he was in there on his computer uh
00:20:46
when he heard the firearm discharge and went in to check on his wife. >> When his computer was checked, did that
00:20:52
check out? >> No. A forensic analysis revealed that the computer was last used around 700 p.m.
00:20:59
on New Year's Eve. But Curt's call to 911, saying his wife had just shot herself, didn't come in till hours later
00:21:09
at 1:40 a.m. Then there was a suspicious injury to NY's left index fingernail. So, it could be evidence of some kind of
00:21:19
struggle. So, >> it could be um some she had some bruises on on her hands, bruises around her
00:21:25
right wrist certainly were consistent with uh some kind of a struggle. >> Kurt's DNA was found under that
00:21:33
fingernail. More possible evidence of a struggle. And there were also two jail house informants who say Curt Sonnenfeld
00:21:43
confessed. They came forward separately after Son and Feld had been released. John Priest says their statements
00:21:50
contained information only NY's killer would know. >> Like what? Give me an example that
00:21:56
really just blew you away. Thought, "Wow, this guy must have really talked to him."
00:22:02
>> Um, positions in the crime scene, where evidence was located, things that there
00:22:07
just no way they would have had that information. >> 48 hours tracked down one of those
00:22:11
informants. Robert Drier has a history of identity theft, fraud, and forgery. He shared a jail cell with Son and for
00:22:20
four days and didn't much like him. >> Arrogant, ignorant, self-centered. >> Drier is a hard man to pin down, but he
00:22:31
claims Kurt told him about the night Nancy died. >> What happened at the party? She came
00:22:37
outside and she saw him was another girl again and suspected that he was getting
00:22:44
high and she got mad and she left. She said, "I'm leaving." He goes, "What do you mean you're leaving?" She goes, "I'm
00:22:52
going home and I'm leaving you." She said that was it. And she left and she went home. She walked home
00:22:58
>> without him. >> Without him. >> Drier says when Kurt got home, the couple argued. He said, "You're not
00:23:05
going to leave me. We're going to be together. We're not getting divorced." >> According to Drier, Kurt first told him
00:23:13
he was out of the room when Nancy committed suicide by shooting herself in the back of the head.
00:23:19
>> I said, "Well, she shot herself behind the ear." He said, "Well, that's I said,
00:23:24
"People don't shoot themselves behind the ear, Kurt. Come on, man. You did it, didn't you?" And you know, he said,
00:23:30
"Yeah, he admitted. Yeah, I did." He said, "But the cops will never figure it out, and it'd be your word against
00:23:36
mine." >> As for why Kurt had no gunshot residue on his hands, >> he said, "Well, that's why they make
00:23:44
saran wrap." >> Drier's statements to police could be devastating if they're true. Let's be
00:23:52
honest, you lie to police all the time. You would use other people's identities.
00:23:57
>> You lie all the time. Why should anybody believe what you're telling now? Don't have to believe it, but I'm going
00:24:04
to tell you that man told me he killed that woman, his wife. I have no reason to lie. I got
00:24:14
nothing for it. And Dryer didn't receive any special treatment in return for coming forward.
00:24:24
In December 2003, 2 years after NY's death, the Denver District Attorney's Office felt it had
00:24:31
enough to refile the murder charge. But when police tried to locate Soninfeld, he was nowhere to be found.
00:24:41
>> And it's uh-oh. >> Police considered him a fugitive. >> We start looking for him and we find out
00:24:47
that he's no longer in the United States. When authorities decided to rearrest Curt Sonbel for murder, they didn't know
00:24:57
he had moved 6,000 miles away from Denver. He was now living here in Buenoseres, Argentina. And he wasn't
00:25:05
exactly living the life of a man on the run. He was free to go to Argentina. He met somebody there. The characterization
00:25:14
that he fled to Argentina is bull. >> I had never hid when I was here. I I traveled here with my own uh passport
00:25:23
with an airline ticket under my name. >> In that 2005 interview, Kurt said he simply came here on vacation, intending
00:25:32
only to stay a few weeks. But when he met Pala, that changed everything. >> What made you fall in love with him?
00:25:42
>> Because he is so kind. Because he respect all the forms of life. In PA, he found a sympathetic ear and the perfect
00:25:50
advocate. She's a human rights activist. Kurt declined to talk to us on camera, but Pa spoke on his behalf.
00:25:59
>> You knew from the very beginning he had been accused of killing his wife. >> Yes. He he told me everything about him.
00:26:06
>> And did that put you off at all? Did that make you a little nervous about being around him?
00:26:11
>> Of course not. It just make me sad because the story is terrible. Kurt settled into his life in Argentina with
00:26:18
Pala. He found work as a freelance cameraman, but their life was interrupted after those charges were
00:26:26
refiled in the US. Sonnenfeld was suddenly arrested by Interpole. >> This could not be happening.
00:26:35
Kurt was taken to Argentina's Devoto prison while US authorities fought to have him extradited and sent back to
00:26:44
Colorado. Did you fear during that time that he was going to be extradited? >> Uh it's always fear, but in this case uh
00:26:55
I trust in my country. Kurt was jailed for nearly 7 months, but in March 2005, a judge in Argentina
00:27:06
rejected the extradition request. He ordered Sonnenfeld's immediate release. The reason, Colorado has the death
00:27:16
penalty. >> We were never going to be trying to get the death penalty for Curt Sonninenfeld.
00:27:22
then Colorado Governor Bill Owens. >> I signed promises that we wouldn't seek the death penalty. These promises were
00:27:31
affirmed by the Denver District Attorney and every other party involved. I was frustrated.
00:27:41
I was frustrated uh that he wasn't going to come back to the States. But it wasn't over yet. The extradition
00:27:50
ruling was appealed. So Kurt launched his own public relations campaign. >> A lot of people saying that these
00:27:59
charges were a mistake. >> And for the first time, Kurt claimed that US authorities are really after him
00:28:06
for what he saw at ground zero. >> My things from FEMA >> and that his life is in danger.
00:28:13
[Music] When Kurt Sinfeld decided to go public with his story in 2005, he turned to Rolando Grana, a popular
00:28:40
journalist in Argentina. >> What was the story he told you? He told me that um he was one of two cameramans
00:28:50
who record the ground zero after the the plane crash. I can't believe it really.
00:28:58
He think he was a hero and then he was in jail and he doesn't know why. >> Kurt told Gra Nancy took her own life.
00:29:11
My wife had uh left a suicide note. She had left a journal of suicidal writings.
00:29:17
She had been uh severely depressed in the months. >> I think Kurt is not a murderer. I'm sure
00:29:23
he's not a murderer. >> Grana admits he never did his own investigation, but says the fact that
00:29:30
charges were dropped is evidence the case must be weak. >> What made you believe him? If someone is
00:29:37
uh has killed his wife, it's difficult to understand why he's free. >> What's more, Kurt told Grana a chilling
00:29:46
tale of being falsely accused and tortured by police in Denver. >> One of them put me into a choke hold
00:29:52
while the other one was kicking me repeatedly in the groin, in the stomach. Uh he also had a rubber glove on his
00:30:00
hand with a red chemical and he inserted it up into my nose. >> But if that did happen, Kurt's defense
00:30:10
attorney never heard about it. >> Was he ever beaten at the jail that you're aware of?
00:30:16
>> I have no information about that. >> Kurt also claimed he faced the death penalty.
00:30:22
>> Uh they told me I was going to be put to death. It's not true, but for years,
00:30:27
Kurt and Palace Anenfeld have capitalized on that claim. They've even used their twin daughters to make their
00:30:34
case. >> Scarlet and Natasha are soldiers in this cause. >> It's a poignant and disturbing picture.
00:30:44
The girls holding up signs saying, "Don't let the US government assassinate my father."
00:30:51
Pala even insisted that her now 9-year-old daughters sit in on our interview. >> Are you comfortable with having both of
00:30:58
them here during this? >> Absolutely. How you hide all this that is happening to us from children?
00:31:06
>> Despite what she knew would be sensitive subject matter. >> You know, Kurt's case never had the
00:31:12
death penalty. It doesn't even qualify for the death penalty. >> Mhm. And what about being in jail
00:31:18
forever and dying in a jail? That's the same. >> Still, the concern that Kurt could be
00:31:24
executed won him support in Argentina. >> What is it about Kurt Sonnenfeld's case
00:31:30
that made you want to fight for him? Jorge Rishar and his wife Dolores Rivas are prominent human rights activists who
00:31:48
run centers that care for poor and orphan children. [Music] >> Dolores says she's worried about what
00:31:57
would happen to Kurt's daughters if he's sent back to the US. But what really turned Kurt Sinfeld into
00:32:10
a cause celeb in Argentina is something that many here in the US might find outrageous. His claim that he saw
00:32:18
evidence that the US government played a role in the attack on the World Trade Center. Sonnenfeld claims that's the
00:32:25
real reason why authorities are after him. >> Do you think that the government knows
00:32:32
the the crash will come? Yeah, I'm 100% sure of it. >> And according to Soninfeld, the US did
00:32:40
nothing to stop it. He also claims that it was suspicious that the airplane's flight data recorders or black boxes
00:32:48
were never recovered. >> The black boxes were supposedly vaporized. Right. But I have footage of
00:32:54
the landing gear of the the the seats of the airplane. All of that survived. Sonnenfeld also suggested that the
00:33:02
cleanup at ground zero happened too quickly. >> Almost from day one, they began taking
00:33:08
away all of the metal beams, driving trucks all over the evidence. So, they themselves were destroying evidence
00:33:15
almost purposely and programmatically from the very first days. It was almost like it was pre-planned.
00:33:22
But what he never told Grana is that he didn't even get to ground zero until a full week after the attack. And if he
00:33:31
has any concrete evidence to back up his conspiracy theory, he hasn't shown it to
00:33:37
anyone. Kurt is just saying what other people have been saying for 14 years. He doesn't appear to have any any proof
00:33:46
that of anything new. So why would the American government go after him? Kurt repeated his claims in interviews
00:33:57
on Argentinian talk radio, in magazines, and other TV shows. The World Trade Center, and his story
00:34:06
has been embraced by those who have little trust in governments. Adulo Perez Esabel won the Nobel Peace
00:34:24
Prize in 1980 after years of imprisonment and torture by Argentina's military ha. He's been trying to help
00:34:32
Kurt stay in the country. Kurt and Pala claim they've been spied on and harassed in Argentina by American
00:34:45
agents sent to intimidate them. Kurt even wrote a book about his case published in Spanish only called El
00:34:53
Prestoo or the persecuted. >> It reads like a spy novel and it's one of the reasons why journalists in
00:35:00
Argentina have compared him to James Bond. But he's no hero to Kirk Mitchell, the reporter for the Denver Post, who is
00:35:08
a CBS News consultant. He's been covering the Curt Soninfeld case since the beginning.
00:35:15
>> So here, Curt Sonfeld is a a a murder suspect in Argentina. What is he? >> He he is the whistleblower, the a brave
00:35:25
man who stood up to a corrupt government. This stuff comes up after his arrest in
00:35:32
Argentina when he starts making this and the prosecutor and I are looking at each
00:35:36
other like where did that come from? >> He was a photographer at ground zero. >> Yes, he was. But he's also an
00:35:43
exceptional liar. >> He is trying to use that terrible situation to shield himself
00:35:51
from murder charges. He's trying to use his children to shield himself from murder charges.
00:35:58
When is Curt Sonnenfeld going to stop? When is he going to come home and account for that night?
00:36:12
[Music] More than 14 years have passed since Nancy Sonnenfeld's death, and her family still clings to the hope
00:36:23
that Kurt will someday go on trial for murder. Why does it matter that Kurt come back
00:36:30
and go on trial? >> It matters because my cousin who loved him so much, who gave him so much,
00:36:40
it matters because my cousin lost her life. She's not there because of him. He needs to account atone for that
00:36:50
night. [Music] Nancy Sonnenfeld has gotten lost in all of this, says Denver Post reporter Kurt
00:36:59
Mitchell. >> The way he has couched what has happened to him is he is the victim is pretty
00:37:06
incredible what he's pulled off. >> Mitchell was so intrigued by the case that he wrote a book about it. You call
00:37:12
your book Spin Doctor. Why? Well, I came to the conclusion that his story was so far-fetched, so far from
00:37:22
the truth that that's what he's become. You know, to me, it's astonishing that it's being believed.
00:37:29
>> Is Kurt Sonnenfeld gaming the system? >> Kurt Sonninenfeld is definitely gaming
00:37:35
the system, though someday hopefully that game may run out. Former Colorado Governor Bill Owens says
00:37:42
Soninfeld has come up with a novel way to avoid prosecution by cleverly spinning the horror of 911 to his own
00:37:51
advantage. >> There are a lot of people around the world who want to believe the worst
00:37:55
about our country. And when he says, "Look, I'm a victim. Intelligence agencies are after me." There are a lot
00:38:02
of victims in this case. Not one of them is Kurt Sonnenfeld. NY's family continued to live in limbo
00:38:10
as Kurt's case dragged on through the Argentine courts. In 2014, it landed on President
00:38:18
Christina Kersner's desk. >> There's politics that get wrapped up in these cases.
00:38:25
The current president of Argentina comes from a party that was very antagonistic
00:38:30
towards the US. a fact that Kurt and Pala seem to be counting on. >> I know that my government is going to
00:38:39
protect us. We will fight for Kurt and we are not alone. >> And Pala may have been right. In 2015,
00:38:49
during the final weeks of her presidency, Kersner's administration ruled that Curt Sonenfeld will not be
00:38:55
extradited, stating that to do so would be a violation of human rights. human rights. What about my cousin? What
00:39:05
about her human rights? >> I absolutely believe it's political. I believe that Mr. Sonnenfeld has built an
00:39:11
aura as a martyr, as a hero, and I think the politics of Argentina have protected
00:39:17
him from a murder charge. Kurt and Pala wouldn't comment to us, but shortly after the ruling, Pala
00:39:26
tweeted, "We're living the first day of the rest of our lives." Has the murder suspect outsmarted the US
00:39:36
government? It certainly looks that way. But NY's cousin is determined Kurt will
00:39:45
never find peace. lies, the manipulations, they go on and on and it will come out and I will be alive to see
00:39:54
it. Even if I have to go to Argentina, I will look that man in the eye again just
00:40:00
so that he knows I am still alive. >> And I am here for my cousin. >> Happy birthday
00:40:08
to you. >> And I will never let this die. >> Bye. [Music] 48 hours. Don't miss an episode.
00:40:29
[Music] All Hi, this is Con and I'm going to talk to you about social anxiety. Social anxiety,
00:41:15
depression, it's controlling me. There's people that love me. I have a great mom, great dad,
00:41:25
but I'm so depressed. We spent the day walking the beach and we had a conversation and I asked him
00:41:33
about school and he's like, um, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. And I said, you know, don't worry about it.
00:41:39
Everything is going to be okay. >> It was a nice day out with the family. >> Nothing to give any hint of what was to
00:41:47
come later in the day. >> There was no indication anything was going on. >> I've created a monster out of myself,
00:41:55
past few years because of my depression, racing thoughts, suicidal thoughts. Do you remember when is the last time
00:42:08
you saw your brother? >> He was like going at the door. I thought he was just going to his friend's house.
00:42:15
>> You got up in the morning and how did you know he hadn't come home? >> He wasn't there and we just like
00:42:21
couldn't find him. >> This is not like Conrad not to come home. Then they found his body and
00:42:30
around 5:30 in the afternoon and he died in his truck. Carbon monoxide poisoning.
00:42:40
I will live with this forever. Um the pain. Right away we heard from investigators
00:42:48
that medical examiner found that it was a suicide. It wasn't until they started looking at his phone that they realized
00:42:54
that there was something else going on here because on that phone were hundreds and hundreds of texts from Michelle
00:43:00
Carter to Conrad Roy urging him to end his life. >> You can't think about it. You just have
00:43:07
to do it. You said you were going to do it. Like I don't get why you aren't. >> And Michelle Carter admittedly
00:43:14
said do it. She was kind of making fun of him for for not taking his own life. I thought you really wanted to die, but
00:43:23
apparently you don't. I feel played and just stupid. You're going to have to prove me wrong because I just don't
00:43:30
think you really want this. >> And she kept pressuring him to do it. >> You're ready and prepared. All you have
00:43:37
to do is turn the generator on and you be free and happy. No more pushing it off. No more waiting.
00:43:46
>> There was one point where he actually got out of the truck. >> Mhm. and changed his mind.
00:43:52
>> Yeah, he was scared >> and she told him to go back in the truck. >> Yes. >> Carter charged with involuntary
00:44:00
manslaughter. >> She faces up to 20 years in prison. >> This is totally out of left field. I
00:44:05
coached Michelle. I know her as a good kid. >> I don't believe that she has a conscience. She knew exactly what she
00:44:14
was doing and what she said. >> Hang yourself. jump off a building, stab yourself, I don't know. There's a lot of
00:44:23
ways. >> And it's the texts that become the weapon. >> How could she cause a death when she was
00:44:30
35 m away? >> In these circumstances, this is almost akin to loading the gun and handing it
00:44:35
over. Who knows? Who knows when you have your hand in the trigger when you're sending a text?
00:44:45
[Music] [Music] [Music] It's not realistic what what's going in my head that keeps
00:45:45
on piling and piling and piling. One month before 18-year-old Conrad Roy took his own life, when the minds of
00:45:54
many teens wandered to carefree summer days, Conrad's thoughts were more serious, introspective.
00:46:02
>> I need to be comfortable with my skin. >> Sitting at his computer and his home in
00:46:07
Fair Haven, Massachusetts, Conrad recorded his thoughts on coping with his depression.
00:46:13
>> I need to relax. I really do. He wanted to excel. He was just wanted to to be this like
00:46:23
great person. But in my eyes, >> Conrad's mother, Lynn, explains that her son could be his own toughest critic.
00:46:32
>> It was rough on himself. He really really struggled with um just disappointing
00:46:38
I think myself and his dad. >> The sooner I like myself, the better I'm going to be. Lroy thought
00:46:47
her son was getting better. >> I I do have a lot going for me. >> He was getting professional help and on
00:46:53
an anti-depressant, Selexa. He had been licensed to be a tugboat captain like his dad.
00:47:00
>> That's a huge accomplishment to be a captain. had just graduated high school and college with a scholarship
00:47:10
was on the horizon >> and he was doing everything that was positive that was, you know, looking
00:47:16
towards his future. But on July 12th, 2014, Conrad drove to a parking lot and using
00:47:24
a gasoline powered water pump, sat in his pickup truck as it filled with carbon monoxide, knowingly inhaling the
00:47:33
deadly fumes, killing himself. All the while, his friend Michelle Carter, then 17, was encouraging Conrad
00:47:43
from more than 30 miles away on her phone to take his own life. I don't understand why you would want someone
00:47:50
that was so beautiful inside and out that had so much that was such a kind person
00:47:58
to die. >> How do you describe what this young woman did? >> I cannot only only she she can. The intersection
00:48:09
of the lives of Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy has left a trail of heartbreak and questions about the
00:48:17
circumstances that led to such a tragic death. >> He's one of the kindest persons. He grew
00:48:24
up very sensitive, very humble and kind, >> happy child. >> Very happy. Many pictures of him
00:48:33
smiling, laughing until he became a teenager. And I don't know if it was the hormones, he just, you know, became
00:48:43
anxious. >> Conrad was the oldest child in the family with two sisters, Morgan and
00:48:49
Camden. Lynn and Conrad's father separated when Conrad was 16, and their divorce hit him especially hard. I
00:48:58
>> think he was just more worried about me. That's what boys do. They worry about
00:49:02
their moms um a lot. Conrad would confide in his friend Ariana Taylor as they spent hours walking along the
00:49:10
water. >> He didn't really wasn't able to explain it to me in a way that I could
00:49:14
understand. So, he kind of just described it as a darkness and how there would be times where he just kind of
00:49:20
wanted to isolate himself from everybody. >> Conrad's anxiety and self-doubt had
00:49:25
troubled Lynn since he was 16. He started uh having trouble sleeping and we got him treated and then he had his
00:49:35
first uh suicide attempt a year after the age of 17. >> Conrad had overdosed on acetaminophen.
00:49:44
>> I worked in a psychiatric hospital and I never imagined that one of my children
00:49:50
would um have those feelings. >> Do you think he really intended to kill himself at that point? He did contact a
00:49:57
friend. >> That friend was Ariana. >> He told me that he was really sick and that his mom had just left and that he
00:50:03
wanted her to come back. >> Ariana immediately got in touch with Conrad's parents who brought him to the
00:50:10
hospital. >> He told me, "Mom, I will never do that again." He was sorry. And I was sorry as well
00:50:20
that he felt that way. The fact that he wanted you to call his mother, what does
00:50:26
that say to you? >> It just says that he was calling out for help, >> that he didn't actually mean what he was
00:50:32
doing, but he really needed help and that this was the only way he kind of thought that he would really get help.
00:50:39
>> And that help seemed to be working. >> He actually was getting a lot better. He
00:50:44
told me about how he was going out and he was going to like, you know, the high school parties and just hanging out with
00:50:49
everybody. I was like, "That's amazing." Michelle Carter was another friend of Conrads. They met in 2012 while both
00:50:57
were vacationing in Florida. Conrad and his sisters were visiting relatives who happened to know Michelle.
00:51:05
>> How would you describe Michelle? Friendly. >> Yeah, she's really friendly. She always
00:51:09
made Conrad laugh. >> As it turned out, Michelle lived just a few towns over from the Roy in
00:51:15
Massachusetts. And the relationship continued after the vacation. But while Michelle called Conrad her
00:51:23
boyfriend, his family says the two rarely saw each other. And like so many teens, their interactions were mostly
00:51:31
over text messages. >> Had your son ever mentioned Michelle Carter? >> Yes. After they met in Florida? I met
00:51:41
her 2013 at his baseball game and that was the only time I ever met her. Second time was at his week. Michelle and
00:51:48
Conrad shared something in common that Lynn did not know. Michelle had her own struggles, including an eating disorder,
00:51:56
and both teens at times took anti-depressants. >> You know, probably the interaction was
00:52:01
they both had their issues. >> Softball coach Ed McFarland has known Michelle Carter and her family for a
00:52:07
decade. The Michelle he knows is an ideal teammate. >> I've never seen her do a mean thing.
00:52:14
I've never seen her be mean. Michelle's high school yearbook paints a picture of an active, well-liked
00:52:20
student, one voted class clown, and most likely to brighten your day. But that would not be how her actions would be
00:52:30
described on the last day of Conrad's life. That day started out seemingly happy for
00:52:39
Conrad, spending time with his family. That morning on the 12th, what was his mood like? It
00:52:46
>> was fine. He wanted to, you know, go to the beach with the girls. >> While there, Camden at one point noticed
00:52:53
her brother sitting alone texting. >> Did you know who he was texting with? >> No.
00:52:59
>> Now you think he was texting with Michelle Carter? >> Yeah. >> But you didn't know that at the time.
00:53:04
>> And what was his demeanor? >> I don't know. He I don't know. He kind of seemed like anxious like when he was
00:53:09
like texting. Conrad then took his sisters out for ice cream where his mood seemed to lift.
00:53:16
>> I mean, when you think back on that, would you have ever guessed there was anything wrong that afternoon?
00:53:24
>> After going home, Conrad left at about 6:00 p.m. telling his mother he was going to see a friend.
00:53:32
>> And I asked him if he was going to be back for dinner, and he said he didn't think so. And that was the last words
00:53:37
that he spoke to me. It was July 12th, 2014, the heart of summer in New England. Conrad Roy had
00:53:51
headed out in his pickup truck around 6:00 p.m. As the evening passed, Lynn checked to see when he'd be home.
00:53:59
>> And I texted him, I don't know, before I went to bed, maybe around 10:30, 11. And
00:54:04
then I texted him again in the middle of the night. Conrad didn't respond. Still, Lynn
00:54:11
figured everything was okay. She believed he had beaten back much of his anxieties.
00:54:17
That night, Conrad's sister, Camden, unexpectedly heard from Michelle Carter, that 17-year-old who had battled her own
00:54:26
mental health issues and lived about an hour away. >> How surprised were you that you suddenly
00:54:32
got a text from Michelle? And I thought she was just like just like his friend. And but in the
00:54:38
text she said like we're boyfriend and girlfriend now. And I was just like I looked at my mom I was like they are
00:54:45
>> whether teenage love or something else. Michelle was sending out the word. Had
00:54:51
anyone heard from Conrad Roy? >> And what did she text you exactly? >> She was like um hey Camden like do you
00:54:58
know where your brother is? Was that unusual for him not to come home? >> Oh yeah, absolutely. That was not like
00:55:05
him at all. >> It was sunrise and still not a word. >> So in the morning I went to by Ariana's
00:55:13
house and he wasn't there. >> And so that's when I began to search where is he? What happened?
00:55:21
>> We went by dad's house. There was no sign of him. Maybe an hour later, I felt
00:55:27
like like this um rush go through my body that I've never felt in my life. And I felt at that point that he wasn't
00:55:35
with me. On the afternoon of July 13th, police found him inside his pickup truck parked
00:55:44
at the local Kmart, his cell phone right next to him. >> And he died in his truck. Carbon
00:55:51
monoxide poisoning. I got in the car and my mom was just like crying like the most I ever seen her cry. And she was
00:56:00
like, "He's gone." And like she was just like, "Your brother's gone." >> It still hurts just as much as it did
00:56:07
then, doesn't it? >> I will live with this forever. Um the pain. >> I don't get why it happened. Why did it
00:56:19
happen? Why did it happen to him? And Michelle seemed to take Conrad's death as hard as anyone. Once again, a text
00:56:28
was her choice of communication. This time to Lynn. I am so very sorry. Conrad meant so much to me. No one questioned
00:56:39
the suicide until cops got a hold of Conrad Royy's phone. It would prove to be an investigation like no other. No
00:56:50
gun, no knife, no crucial DNA in this case. Only this, a trail of words starting with those on the cell phone.
00:57:01
Messages with Michelle Carter. >> And once investigators found this dialogue, they knew that there was something else
00:57:09
up and they wanted to get to the bottom of it. >> Former Boston Herald legal columnist and
00:57:15
48 Hours consultant Bob McGovern. And so this thing turned from a suicide investigation into a homicide
00:57:23
investigation. >> Michelle seemed to be encouraging Conrad not to live, but to die. Text flew
00:57:31
between the two of them for more than a week. Right up to the moment he took his
00:57:35
own life. I'm determined. I'm happy to hear that. When you get back from the beach, you got to do it. No more
00:57:44
thinking. Yes. No more thinking. you need to just do it. But now with Conrad Roy dead, Michelle seemed devastated,
00:57:55
acting as if his death was a total surprise. When it came to the funeral, she sat up close to kind of where the
00:58:02
family area was. I always described her seen as the grieving widow. She was just
00:58:07
um constantly like sobbing. >> And two months later, Michelle even held a fundraiser to honor Conrad in her town
00:58:15
of Planeville. That fall, investigators interviewed Michelle Carter at her high school.
00:58:21
>> Did you do you think you had contact with him that day? >> I think so. >> But Michelle's story was riddled with
00:58:27
holes and police weren't buying it. They poured through her cell phone. Her texts
00:58:33
ranged from urgent to ominous. Like one sent to her friend Samantha Boardman on July 12th at 8:02 p.m. Just minutes
00:58:42
after police believe Conrad killed himself. He just called me. I heard moaning like someone was in pain and he
00:58:51
wouldn't answer when I said his name. That text was followed by another. I think he just killed himself.
00:58:59
Michelle was texting her friend, but what she wasn't doing was calling for help. And there was at least one more
00:59:08
text found on Conrad's phone that now seems telling. Only moments before he died, Michelle asked him this. Did you
00:59:18
delete the messages? Police would extract more than a thousand deleted text messages between Conrad and
00:59:25
Michelle. Some showed his fear and reluctance to take his life on the very day he died. I don't know. I'm freaking
00:59:33
out again. I do want to, but like I'm freaking out for my family. But even as Conrad panicked and
00:59:42
considered abandoning his plan to die, Michelle egged him on. She described it to her friend Samantha that September in
00:59:50
this text. Sam, his death is my fault. Like honestly, I could have stopped him. I was on the phone with him and he got
00:59:59
out of the car because it was working and he got scared and I effing told him to get back in.
01:00:06
The road to justice would be complicated. Massachusetts has no law against encouraging or assisting
01:00:13
suicide. And Michelle was miles away when Conrad died. >> People don't realize in our generation
01:00:20
texting does a lot. It's like having the person right there in front of you when
01:00:25
you're texting somebody. >> And the Supreme Court of Massachusetts seems to agree. In the summer of 2016,
01:00:31
the court ruled that even though Michelle was an hour away when Conrad Roy died, she had a virtual presence
01:00:38
that night in that pickup truck. It's a controversial legal theory born out of a
01:00:44
digital world. And so nearly 3 years later, Michelle Carter will stay on trial in this courtroom for involuntary
01:00:52
manslaughter. Michelle's attorneys, fearing how the text would play, advised her to wave her
01:00:59
right to a jury trial. She put her fate in the hands of a veteran judge, Lawrence Monz.
01:01:06
>> Are you doing that of your own free will, knowingly involuntarily? >> Yes. >> See more of Michelle Carter's texts to
01:01:16
Conrad Roy on Facebook at 48 hours. [Music] [Music] She assisted and devised and advised and
01:01:38
planned his suicide. >> Inside this Massachusetts courtroom, Michelle Carter, now 20 years old, looks
01:01:46
more like a prep school student than a criminal defendant. And on July 12th, 2014, as his truck was filling with
01:01:57
carbon monoxide, he was scared. He got out. It was the defendant on the other end of the phone who ordered him back
01:02:06
in, then listened for 20 minutes as he cried in pain, took his last breath, and died.
01:02:13
>> The alleged weapon in this case, Michelle Carter's own words. What she did in theory, according to the
01:02:21
prosecutors, is she recklessly caused Conrad Royy's death. >> The state's case revolves around
01:02:28
Michelle's chilling text messages to Conrad as he was apparently having second thoughts the day he took his
01:02:35
life. >> The defendant texted Conrad, "You can't think about it. You just have to do it.
01:02:40
You said you were going to do it. I don't get why you aren't." >> And then there was this. 10 days before
01:02:46
he died, Michelle sent him this text message assuring him not to worry about his family's feelings. Yeah, they'll
01:02:54
probably blame themselves for a while, but they will get over it and learn to accept it. A notion that baffles and
01:03:01
upsets Conrad's mother. >> I think she needs to be uh held responsible for her actions cuz she knew
01:03:08
exactly what she was doing. Linroy testified that on the last day of his life, Conrad was in a good frame of
01:03:14
mind. >> He was eating tortilla chips and guacamole on the way to the beach. >> In um July of 2014, did he ever mention
01:03:24
he wanted to harm himself? >> No. I knew he was a little depressed, but I thought he was he was doing
01:03:32
great. But prosecutors contend that Michelle and her incessant texting had immense influence over Conrad. Even
01:03:40
though Michelle was more than 30 miles away from him when he took his life, that her virtual presence caused him to
01:03:47
do it. >> She helped him devise a plan to kill himself using a combustion engine to
01:03:52
poison himself with carbon monoxide gas. >> Michelle sent Conrad this text message.
01:03:58
I'm not going to sleep until you are in the car with a generator on. Your honor,
01:04:03
this case is a suicide case. It is not a homicide. >> But defense attorney Joseph Cataldo
01:04:10
painted a very different picture. >> The evidence of the texting is overwhelming that Conrad Roy was on this
01:04:17
path to take his own life for years. Michelle Kata was not present. Michelle Kata had been texting with him. She did
01:04:26
not physically see this individual for over one year. The defense brings up Conrad's acetaminophen overdose when he
01:04:34
was 17 and claims he had been suicidal for years in part because of his parents' divorce and he had a
01:04:42
contentious relationship with his father. And if the judge is considering Michelle's text messages, he should look
01:04:49
at all the messages between the teenagers. Even up to a month before Conrad's death, Michelle seemed like a
01:04:57
concerned friend, trying to help a socially awkward and emotionally fragile Conrad. On June 19th, Michelle texts
01:05:05
Conrad, "Are you 100% positive you're never going to commit suicide? Be honest with me. Do you think about doing it?"
01:05:13
"No, I'm not." In other messages, she talks about wanting to take him to a therapist or a mental health hospital.
01:05:22
But on July 1st, 11 days before his suicide, text between Michelle and Conrad took a sinister turn. Prosecutors
01:05:31
let the words tell the story. >> She talked him out of his doubts point by point. She assured him that his
01:05:37
family would understand why he did it. She researched logistics. >> Michelle had been sending Conrad
01:05:43
suggestions on how to kill himself for weeks. Hanging is painless and takes like a second if you do it right.
01:05:51
But what would drive anyone to send a text like that? Prosecutors say Michelle was desperate for friends and attention.
01:06:00
And she got it when she talked about her suicidal boyfriend. Just days before he
01:06:05
died, she sent texts to girls she wanted to be close with in an effort to get their attention and sympathy.
01:06:12
>> Lexi Elyn, please. >> Pretending Conrad was missing. >> Do you remember getting a message about
01:06:18
Conrad being missing? >> Yes. He's missing like they don't know where he is. >> Prosecutors say Conrad still being alive
01:06:25
presented a problem for Michelle. She could be exposed as a liar. So, it was important he kill himself.
01:06:34
On July 12th, the night he did take his life, Conrad drove to a Kmart parking lot and texted Michelle, "Leaving now.
01:06:43
Okay, you can do this. Okay, I'm almost there." That was the last text Conrad ever sent
01:06:51
to anyone. But there was also a 46-inute phone call. Michelle called him. She was the
01:06:59
last person to speak with him. After that call ended, Michelle texted her friend Samantha.
01:07:07
>> I'm going to ask you to read that text message, please, aloud. Sam, he just called me and there was a loud noise
01:07:13
like a motor and I heard moaning like some was in pain and he wouldn't answer when I said his name. I stayed on the
01:07:20
phone for like 20 minutes and that's all I heard. >> Then 27 minutes later, Michelle sent
01:07:26
Samantha another text message. >> I think he just killed himself. >> Prosecutors say Michelle within hours
01:07:33
began building a virtual alibi. Knowing that he was likely dead, she began acting like a concerned friend, sending
01:07:41
Conrad this text message. I'm scared. Are you okay? I love you. Please answer. Michelle showed little emotion at the
01:07:51
trial. Her defense relies on this psychiatrist, Peter Ban, to explain her behavior, even
01:07:59
though he was not treating Michelle at the time. He testifies that she was involuntarily intoxicated by an
01:08:06
anti-depressant drug she started taking three months earlier. Selelexa, >> she was imshed in a delusion where she's
01:08:15
thinking that it's a good thing to help him die. >> But prosecutors completely dismiss that
01:08:22
theory. >> She does not tell the Roy family about being on the phone with Conrad the night
01:08:28
before. Does she? his dead body is in a car 24 hours and she withholds that information
01:08:36
>> inexplicably. Michelle sent more than 80 texts to Conrad after he died. In some
01:08:42
she even apologizes for not saving him. But it wasn't just Conrad she texted. The prosecution is hoping the judge pays
01:08:51
particular attention to this text that she sent to her friend Samantha a week after Conrad's body was discovered.
01:09:00
They have to go through his phone and see if anyone encouraged him to do it on texts and stuff. They read my messages
01:09:07
with him. I'm done. His family will hate me and I could go to jail. Her [Music] actions, your honor, on July 12th, 2014
01:09:32
caused the death of Conrad Roy. They were reckless and she knew it. >> According to the prosecution, Michelle
01:09:41
Carter helped put Conrad Roy in his grave. >> It was a felony and she caused serious
01:09:47
bodily harm. According to the defense, she didn't know what she was doing. >> Good morning.
01:09:53
>> She was psychotic, delusional, involuntarily intoxicated from taking the anti-depressant Selexa.
01:10:02
>> Michelle Carta underwent an involuntary intoxication in June and July >> to prominent child and adolescent
01:10:09
psychiatrist Dr. Harold Coplowitz. That makes no sense at all. Though not a witness in this case, he says those
01:10:17
drugs called SSRI are remarkably safe. >> They don't make you delusional. They don't make you psychotic.
01:10:26
>> And they don't make you intoxicated. >> They don't make you drunk. >> Dr. Coplowitz believes the act of
01:10:33
texting was more mindaltering than any drug. >> And the problem with text is that it
01:10:39
separates you. It makes you feel less responsible. But no amount of distance can explain her behavior, especially the
01:10:47
prosecution's contention that Michelle ordered Conrad back into the truck, says the doctor.
01:10:54
>> It's very hard to understand where the man says to a friend, listen, I'm feeling pain. I don't want to do this.
01:11:02
I'm going to get out of the car. There there's no way to seem to make sense of the fact that someone then says a friend
01:11:09
says get back in the car and kill yourself. This really has a vicious and a very very malicious quality to it.
01:11:17
>> No matter how malicious, Dr. Copit says Michelle really couldn't have convinced
01:11:22
Conrad to kill himself if he hadn't already been suicidal. So while Michelle could not force Conrad
01:11:32
to kill himself, she could enhance his risk of killing himself. She could encourage him to complete the act
01:11:40
because he was already on his way. And simultaneously, she could have screamed out for help, which might have prevented
01:11:48
this deadly outcome. >> I want to recover from this. And I feel like I haven't recovered from it yet. I
01:11:55
feel like I still have a long way to go. >> Clearly, these heartbreaking videos now
01:12:01
posted on YouTube show a young man looking for that different outcome, says Dr. Coplowitz.
01:12:08
>> You expose yourself like this, it says, "Please help me. >> I've created a monster out of myself
01:12:16
past few years because of my depression." Sadly, Conrad Roy is not alone. According to the Centers for Disease
01:12:26
Control and Prevention, we lose approximately 4600 young people between the ages of 10 and 24 to suicide each
01:12:37
year. One reason is that teenagers are simply more prone to depression. Another reason, they're more susceptible to peer
01:12:46
pressure. which is why the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why has caused such an uproar. In the
01:12:55
show, a teenage girl dies by suicide and leaves 13 recordings to other teens whom
01:13:01
she blames. >> I think it's one of the most dangerous programs on the air right now for the
01:13:06
simple reason that it glamorizes suicide. Unfortunately, suicide's very contagious. We know that teenagers who
01:13:14
watch these kind of TV programs are more likely to think about suicide, are more
01:13:18
likely to attempt suicide, are more likely to commit suicide. >> It appears that Michelle Carter may have
01:13:25
been one of those teens influenced by what she saw on TV. Not 13 Reasons Why, but perhaps an episode of Glee. When an
01:13:35
actor on Glee died of an overdose in real life, the show wrote his death into the script. Listen to the similarities
01:13:43
between what the character Rachel says about the loss of her boyfriend and what Michelle later says about losing Conrad.
01:13:51
>> I had it all planned out and we would live happily ever after. >> It's a good plan.
01:14:00
[Music] >> Did you tell him? >> I didn't have to. He knew. >> Michelle's text to a friend after
01:14:07
Conrad's death is almost word for word. I had it all planned out. He knew, too. I didn't have to tell him.
01:14:16
>> He was my person. >> Michelle writes the exact same line. He was my person. Poor her. Her
01:14:25
boyfriend died. They were going to get married one day, and now she's the grieving girlfriend. According to the
01:14:33
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, it all boiled down to that starring role as the grieving girlfriend.
01:14:40
>> The comm's position, your honor, is that she wanted attention. >> After six days of testimony,
01:14:48
closing arguments begin. >> The defense is up first. >> The evidence actually establishes that
01:14:55
Conrad Roy caused his own death. Joe Cataldo reminds the judge that Conrad had attempted suicide before and
01:15:06
points to a text Conrad wrote to Michelle. >> There's nothing anyone can do for me
01:15:13
that's going to make me want to live. It's very bad to hear, but I want to let you know that truthfully.
01:15:21
>> The decision to die was Conrad's, not Michelle's, says Cataldo. He created this situation, your honor.
01:15:29
>> Most importantly, Michelle was nowhere near Conrad when he killed himself. >> There's no evidence that Michelle Carter
01:15:36
has any physical actions whatsoever in this case with Conrad Royy's decision. It was all of his physical activity.
01:15:47
>> But prosecutor Katie Rburn gets the last word. >> Although she wasn't physically present,
01:15:54
she was in his ear. She was in his mind. She was on the phone and she was telling
01:15:59
to him to get back in the car even though she knew he was going to die. She absolutely knew it was wrong. And she
01:16:07
absolutely caused the death of this 18-year-old boy. And I ask you to find her guilty.
01:16:24
[Music] Three days after Judge Monz began his deliberations, two families prepared
01:16:34
themselves for his verdict. >> Mr. Roy. >> For the Carter family, freedom is at stake. For the Roy, it's about justice
01:16:42
for their son. >> She instructs Mr. Roy to get back into the truck. Well, knowing of all of the
01:16:51
feelings that he has exchanged with her, his ambiguities, his fears, his concerns,
01:16:59
>> the judge said Carter caused a dangerous environment. And under Massachusetts
01:17:04
law, she had a duty to save him. >> She called no one. She did not issue a simple additional instruction. Get out
01:17:13
of the truck. Miss Carter, please stand. This court, having reviewed the evidence and applied
01:17:24
the law there too, now finds you guilty on the indictment charging you with the involuntary manslaughter of the person
01:17:34
Conrad Roy III. >> Guilty. This court has proven >> a verdict that is groundbreaking in
01:17:40
terms of recognizing the deadly power of words, but one that leaves no winners, just heartbreak.
01:17:49
>> I know we all wish that he had the opportunity to grow up into adulthood to become a tugboat captain and to enjoy
01:17:55
his future. Nearly seven weeks after being convicted, >> Michelle Carter, who is out on bail,
01:18:05
arrives for sentencing. >> Where hostile words greet her. >> She could face 20 years in prison.
01:18:15
>> Please remain standing for one moment while US warrant. >> First, Conrad's father and sister recall
01:18:21
a life cut short. Not a day goes by with without him being my first thought waking up and my last
01:18:29
thought going to bed. >> Michelle Carter exploited my son's weaknesses and used him as a pawn in her
01:18:36
own well-being. She has not shown any remorse. Where was her humanity? >> The prosecutor reads a statement from
01:18:46
Conrad's mother, Lynn, who found it too difficult to speak. >> I do not know where to begin. I pray
01:18:52
that his death will save lives someday. >> Lynn wants to make it a crime to encourage suicide.
01:19:00
>> I pray that a law comes so forth so that another mother does not have to endure
01:19:05
what I am. I do not believe that another can go on to encourage someone to take their life and it can be okay.
01:19:14
>> The prosecution asks that Carter serve 7 to 12 years behind bars. She has shown no remorse and in fact
01:19:22
after Conrad's death she sought attention and sympathy for herself. All she had to do was say get out of the
01:19:30
car. >> Michelle Carter does not speak at sentencing, but her attorney does and ask for probation.
01:19:38
>> Miss Carter does regret what happened. She also sent a letter to the probation
01:19:44
department where she accepts uh responsibility. This is a terrible, terrible tragedy and uh she very much
01:19:52
regrets this and praise your honest judgment of leniency. >> Then Michelle Carter learns her fate.
01:19:59
>> Miss Carter, please stand. >> He sentences Michelle Carter to 15 months behind bars. A sentence that does
01:20:07
not please the defense who appealed the conviction. We're asking you, your honor, to stay the jail sentence until
01:20:15
we can have our day in court. >> The judge takes the request seriously, recognizing the significance of this
01:20:23
case. >> The conviction may be reversible, but the time spent in prison is not. and
01:20:29
then makes a stunning announcement >> that a grant of a stay through the Massachusetts court system only
01:20:39
is warranted. >> A stay meaning Michelle Carter would be out on probation, not in jail, while her
01:20:46
appeal made its way through the Massachusetts courts. It was a decision that disappointed Lyn Roy and her
01:20:53
daughters. We're just going to honor his life um and do it in the most best way we can. We want him to be proud of us.
01:21:01
>> All right. >> In February of 2019, Michelle Carter's conviction was upheld. >> Miss Carter will now be taken into
01:21:09
custody >> and she began serving her 15-month sentence. Her lawyers appealed to the US
01:21:14
Supreme Court. The court declined to hear that appeal. In response, her lawyers issued the following statement.
01:21:22
We are deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court has decided not to review Michelle Carter's wrongful conviction.
01:21:31
Lyn Royy's focus now is on changing laws. >> What would you like there to be? >> What kind of law?
01:21:39
>> I would love one in honor of him. Uh his name Conrad's Law. >> There's people that love me. I have a
01:21:46
great mom. My son mattered. He matters. Will always matter. Someone that had a family and future and
01:22:02
mom and dad. I will never get over him. [Music] a beautiful ballerina, a troubled
01:22:30
marriage, a deadly confrontation. >> She tells the neighbor, "I shot Doug in self-defense."
01:22:35
>> Was she genuinely afraid or just trying to get her way? >> Underneath those white feathers, she's
01:22:40
an evil woman. She's the black swan. >> 48 hours, Saturday at 10:9 central on CBS.
01:22:47
[Music] >> There's definitely mysteries involved in this case. >> It was a cold Halloween morning. Even
01:23:03
had some snow on the ground. The call came out at 5:37 in the morning. My my life shattered.
01:23:17
>> Colatricle had called our dispatch. >> They met us on the porch. >> Exactly. Where's the house?
01:23:26
>> It's right here. Is this one with red and white? >> Did he seem upset? >> I mean, there were tears coming down and
01:23:35
was hard to understand. Was choked up. We go up to the door, start making announcements inside.
01:23:44
>> Hey, police department. >> Looking to my left is when I first see Kristen. >> I kind of focused in on her jaw moving.
01:23:52
I could see the movement of her jaw. >> We got a shirt. >> You have a hole? >> Yeah.
01:23:58
>> Yep. >> So, she was still alive. >> We were hopeful. >> Could she be saved? >> No.
01:24:10
After you did your autopsy, how did you rule on Kristen Trickle's death? Homicide or suicide?
01:24:17
>> Suicide. >> Suicide. >> Y >> the victim's family in this right out of the gate was just adamant that this was
01:24:26
not a suicide. >> The scene was kind of unusual. We had a female with a large weapon laying in bed and it's not common
01:24:38
to see that. >> You have a replica or a very similar type of gun. Can you show it to me?
01:24:46
>> Sure. >> How large? Oh, >> it's pretty hefty as you can tell. It's a handy. >> I'm a little surprised.
01:24:53
>> Yeah, it's awkward to maneuver. Not something you'd easily turn on yourself. We had evidence that led us to believe
01:25:02
that Kobe Trickle had killed his wife. >> I do not believe he did it. I was Colby
01:25:08
Trickle's defense attorney when he called 911. She was still showing signs of life. Had he intended to murder her,
01:25:16
it just seems odd that he would call immediately. I think it's very possible that Kristen
01:25:24
Trickle picked up a gun that night in great anguish and ended her life. a professional came in and looked at the
01:25:32
life of Kristen, dug into basically every aspect of her life, got into who Kristen was prior to her death.
01:25:42
>> So, basically, this is a psychological autopsy trying to figure out the state
01:25:47
of mind of a person who died. That's difficult to do, isn't it? >> Yeah. And had this ever been done in the state
01:25:57
of Kansas before? >> Never in a criminal case. No. [Music] [Music] Oh no. Sergeant Brandon Halman of the Hayes
01:26:51
Police Department vividly remembers the dark, cold Halloween morning as he arrived at Kristen Trickle's home.
01:26:59
[Music] The bedroom she was in is actually this window on the left. >> Oh, the bedroom's right there.
01:27:06
>> Yeah, that's the bedroom right there. >> And the moment he found the 26-year-old
01:27:10
near death in bed, >> I could see the firearm. from what I could tell initially, a large caliber
01:27:16
revolver and laying across her abdomen about like this. >> How was she dressed? >> Uh, almost fully undressed. She was just
01:27:24
wearing underwear. >> After Kristen showed signs of life, the sergeant quickly moved the revolver away
01:27:30
from her and carried Kristen into the living room for CPR. >> The only injury that I could see at that
01:27:38
point was the the entrance wound. >> And where was that entrance wound? underneath her uh chin here.
01:27:44
>> There was nothing the first responders could do for Kristen. >> I went out to Colby on the porch and
01:27:50
told him that she had died. >> Hello, my name is Brandon H. Hotman. I'm the sergeant working today.
01:27:57
>> Hman's body camera was only recording audio that day. >> She died and I'm so sorry.
01:28:09
>> Are you sure? Are you sure? Sergeant Hman says he asked Kristen's husband, Colby, to go to the police
01:28:16
station so he could tell investigators what happened. >> Did he seem to be cooperative?
01:28:22
>> He was. Yep. >> Agreed to go up. We got him some shoes. >> At the station, Colby said that hours
01:28:28
earlier, Kristen had come home from Walmart, where she worked in the gardening center, and the couple had
01:28:34
played video games. He went to bed before his wife, he said, and woke up to his ears ringing
01:28:42
and then found Kristen lying next to him with a gunshot wound to her head. >> Ran up to her
01:28:52
and she she was looking at me. >> Then what did you do? >> I ran over to my phone and I called 911.
01:29:04
Kowi told investigators that while he was on the phone with 911, he checked Kristen's pulse but felt nothing and
01:29:12
then picked the revolver off her body. >> Where was the gun at? >> It was laying by her neck and pulled it
01:29:19
back. >> What did you do with the gun? >> For a moment, he says he thought about
01:29:25
taking his own life. I started to put in my head and I was on the phone. They said they were
01:29:38
standing sending people. So I thought maybe they'd help her. >> While Kobe Trickle was still at the
01:29:47
station, Kristen's aunt Delin and uncle Brandt Rice, a local pastor, found out Kristen had died. I got a call from my
01:29:58
mom and the worst phone call ever to get. She said, "Kristen's dead. She's been shot." And it was just awful. I
01:30:07
said, "Mom, that can't be right. That can't be right. That doesn't even make sense." But more baffling was that Kobe
01:30:14
had said Kristen's death was a suicide. >> What did you tell investigators initially? We just don't think she would
01:30:22
do this. >> Oh, 100%. I said, "There's no way of all the people I know in this world, the
01:30:27
last person that I would ever think would take their own life would be Kristen because of the joy she she has.
01:30:33
>> It's so out of character to Kristen and how she solves problems. She's not a runner from problems."
01:30:38
>> Delin and Brandt Wright say Kristen's family and her two dogs meant the world
01:30:43
to her. >> The thought of her hurting herself in any way >> or anyone >> or anyone is so foreign. She would never
01:30:52
take her life and not tie up loose ends with her family, make sure her dogs had somewhere to go.
01:31:02
And they believe they knew her better than just about anyone else. They had watched her grow up. It is hard to find
01:31:10
a photograph. She is not smiling just fully. She had had that smile even though Dyn
01:31:17
and Brant say Kristen had a tough childhood. Her mother left her and her father when Kristen was 2 years old.
01:31:25
When she was 17, Kristen moved in with her aunt and uncle and their three kids. Delin and Bran say she thrived.
01:31:35
>> She loved being with our family. She loved the peace in our home. >> Chloe is Brandt and Dyn's daughter.
01:31:41
Kristen was my older sister figure in my life and I really looked up to her and she was just like always there to make
01:31:49
me smile and feel important. The family remembers when Kristen met Colby. They were both 18 years old.
01:31:56
>> Colby attended our church. Colby for a time was on the worship team at our church. They are the band that plays the
01:32:05
worship music during our services. He wowed her with his guitar playing abilities, songs that he had written.
01:32:19
>> But just 5 years later, Kristen was dead and Kobe was saying she took her own
01:32:24
life. Coroner Lyall Nord Hook examined the scene. And looking at the wound, he believed
01:32:32
the revolver was in close range to her chin when it was fired. And in Nord Hook's experience, that was
01:32:40
not unusual for a self-inflicted gunshot wound. How would you believe the revolver was being held?
01:32:46
>> Close to the chin and parallel to the body, >> like this. >> Yeah. >> But Detective JB Burke Holder had also
01:32:55
been called to the house. >> We respond to suicides. They happen several times a year.
01:33:00
>> And to him, this didn't seem like suicide. Having a female with a gunshot wound, especially to the head, uh was uh
01:33:08
was unusual for us. >> Why Why is that more unusual for women? You think >> for women, they're a little bit more
01:33:14
concerned about looks even after death. And so they think about that. >> And there was something else.
01:33:21
>> When I got there, I remember alarm going off. [Music] >> Kristen's cell phone alarm is heard
01:33:29
repeatedly on audio recorded by first responders. I think I actually silenced it. She had set an alarm to get up, to
01:33:37
get ready for work and had plans for that day. A lot of times individuals who are thinking about suiciding, they're
01:33:44
not setting alarms. It doesn't matter when they get up. There was candy set out in the kitchen
01:33:51
area. She and Kobe had planned for Halloween to go on as it normally would with trick-or-treating.
01:33:58
>> And nothing troubled him more than that weapon found at the scene. Detective Burke Holder wasn't sure Kristen was the
01:34:05
one who fired it. >> The gun was a full-size 357 revolver, a large caliber weapon, approximately 11
01:34:12
to 12 in. It can be hard to handle. And so being able to place that gun under your chin, and discharge that firearm
01:34:20
just didn't seem very likely for a smaller female in what was described as a dark bedroom.
01:34:28
This wasn't an openandsh suicide case. There was questions. After his wife Kristen died in the early
01:34:50
morning hours on Halloween, Kobe Trickle spoke with investigators for more than 11 hours.
01:34:57
>> What's your name? >> Kobe. >> Kobe. >> Yes, ma'am. I'm so sorry. >> He was asked over and over again to
01:35:06
recount the events of the night before. >> Do you guys have any fights, anything
01:35:12
like that yesterday? >> No. >> Kobe also told investigators about his job with the US military as part of
01:35:20
human intelligence. There's some interesting places they send you with being intel,
01:35:26
but they sent me to Middle East and they sent me down into Central America. >> Sounds like some movie stuff right
01:35:33
there. >> First impressions of Kobe Trickle, it's that he was a guy who was in the military. He had a I guess a
01:35:43
decorated past of overseas tours. And then also Kobe Trickle was a guy who loved his wife. But detective JB
01:35:51
Burkeholder says he had questions about Kobe's account of the morning Kristen died. After finding Kristen, KBY says he
01:35:59
called 911 and as he later told police, he picked up the gun and thought about ending his life. What troubled
01:36:08
Burkeholder is where Kobe put the gun after he changed his mind back on Kristen's stomach.
01:36:14
>> I put it back down and ran outside. >> Just very odd. It doesn't seem as though
01:36:19
if I'm calling 911, if my wife's dying um on on the bed that I would place the gun back down on her body.
01:36:29
>> Kobe was asked if there was any life insurance on Kristen. >> I have some on me
01:36:36
from military, but that's it. >> No insurance on Kristen, he said. And then was asked if he had anything to do
01:36:44
with Kristen's death. Uh, did you in fact kill her? >> No. [Music] >> Kobe left the police station that day,
01:36:54
but first responder Sergeant Hman was increasingly suspicious about Kobe's actions at the scene. He wondered why
01:37:03
KBY didn't demand to be by Kristen's side as they tried to save her life. >> Your wife's inside and here she is, you
01:37:11
know, bleeding out, dying, and you're on the porch. While first responders were administering CPR, Colby was chatting
01:37:20
with officers about video games. That conversation was recorded by a police body cam.
01:37:28
>> What kind of games do you guys like to play? Counter strike. Everything from Call of Duty to Minecraft.
01:37:35
>> That day, as investigators got a search warrant for Col's cell phone, an autopsy
01:37:40
for Kristen Trickle was underway. At the scene, coroner Lyall Nord Hook, who suspected suicide, had looked for
01:37:49
any evidence that someone else was involved, like signs of a struggle. Were there any signs of defensive wounds or
01:37:58
any signs that she had fought with anyone before she died? >> No. >> Corer Nord Hook says he also examined
01:38:05
Kristen's body for signs of past physical abuse. Typically, if there's a series of progressive injuries over a
01:38:13
period of time, so you can tell that they've been beating on each other. In this case, I wasn't really seeing that.
01:38:19
So, I'm going, well, I have to take the husband's statement at word value that he was there and the gun went off and
01:38:30
she is dead. Norduk says 3 days after Kristen's death, based on the information he had
01:38:39
at the time, he determined that the manner of death was a suicide. But Kristen's uncle Brandt and Aunt Dyn
01:38:48
say the more they learned about the facts of the case, the more questions they had.
01:38:54
>> When I heard that it was a gun, there's no way. We knew Kristen was scared of
01:39:00
guns. Kristen was also very, very private in her body, very modest. When I found out she was not dressed,
01:39:12
that was shocking to me. Reflecting on Kristen's relationship with Colby, Brandon Dyn told authorities that for
01:39:20
years they were bothered by what they say was K's controlling behavior. If she didn't immediately respond to a text or
01:39:29
wasn't able to answer her phone, he would get very frustrated with her, he wanted her at his beck and call.
01:39:38
>> At the time, the Rices say they told Kristen they had serious concerns about Colby.
01:39:44
>> We know that she was not happy with us. I believe that he convinced her that we
01:39:51
were against her and therefore she separated herself somewhat. >> Kristen decided to marry Colby and
01:40:02
eventually moved almost 300 miles away to Kansas City. But life for the couple was difficult,
01:40:10
says Brandt. Colby enlisted with the Army Reserve and did odd jobs. Kristen worked at a vet clinic. Money was tight.
01:40:21
In early 2019, the couple moved back to the Hayes area and the Rice say Kristen was coming to their church again.
01:40:30
>> Oh, we were thrilled. >> We were so thrilled to reconnect with Kristen and it was just like it was when
01:40:37
she lived in our home. >> Yeah. And in the months before her death, they say she was making plans to launch her
01:40:44
pet boarding business. >> She had picked out a little house that's south of town and has a little barn
01:40:50
behind it and she wanted to turn the little barn into the the boarding area. >> To the Rice family, Kristen seemed happy
01:40:58
and excited for her future. But after her death, Brandon Dim wondered about Colby.
01:41:06
Was Colby capable of murder. As investigators began digging into Kobe's story, they poured over the data
01:41:30
in his cell phone. >> There's several, I guess, two big aha moments. They discovered Kobe had been
01:41:37
exchanging flirtatious Snapchat messages with another woman. >> He um had conversations with her, which
01:41:46
would be described as a sexy conversation. >> Also on that cell phone, according to
01:41:50
detective JB Burkeolder, was evidence that contradicted what Kobe had first told investigators when asked about life
01:41:59
insurance on his wife. I have some on me from military, but that's it. >> Cell phone data revealed that not only
01:42:08
was Kobe aware Kristen was covered by a life insurance policy called SGLI for spouses of military members. In the days
01:42:18
before her death, they say he Googled the amount the policy would pay out. Detective Ridgeway was able to find a
01:42:26
well, I believe it was a screenshot of a search that he had conducted uh 10 days
01:42:31
prior to Kristen's death um asking what his spouse's life insurance would be. >> On November 4th, 2019, investigators
01:42:42
asked Colby to return for more questioning. probably 10 days ago. You looked up a life insurance issue.
01:42:52
>> When When I I never did. >> You did? >> I never did it. >> If If I If I died.
01:43:03
>> Well, if your spouse died. >> Colby, who agreed to talk without a lawyer, suggested that Kristen might
01:43:10
have done the search herself on his phone. We always gave each other access to each other's phones and stuff.
01:43:18
>> Investigators also asked Colby about his online relationship. Colby admitted that
01:43:24
it had started a few months prior to his wife's death after he met the woman on a
01:43:29
group chat while playing video games. >> Did Chris find out about that relationship?
01:43:36
Not that I know of. Kobe told them the relationship was a virtual one, that he had never actually
01:43:43
met the woman, but investigators discovered he had been texting with her just hours after Kristen's death while
01:43:51
he was still at the police station. >> I guess to his credit, he said that he was busy and couldn't talk right now.
01:43:59
Uh, but then he said, "I wish I could." Aaron Cunningham is assistant Ellis County attorney,
01:44:07
>> which is probably the last thing that you should say to a woman you're having
01:44:10
an online affair with when you're being investigated about your wife's death. >> When Kobe Trickle left the police
01:44:17
station after his second interview, Detective Burkeholder checked out his claim that Kristen had used his phone to
01:44:25
research life insurance policies. We were able to uh get video, surveillance video from the Walmart
01:44:32
store. >> What they discovered was that Kristen was at work at Walmart at the time the
01:44:38
cell phone search was made. >> We were able to see that she didn't have access to a phone.
01:44:44
>> The inconsistencies in Kobe's statements kept piling up, says Burke Holder. Like
01:44:50
this one, >> she keeps the revolver on her side. Did I have >> Kobe had said Kristen had kept the 357
01:44:57
revolver by her side of the bed, but that didn't seem to line up with what Burke holders saw at the scene.
01:45:04
>> When we looked at the scene, we saw multiple firearms on what was described as K's side of the bed.
01:45:11
>> There were also photos of the couple's bedroom found on K's phone. >> So, this picture was taken, I believe,
01:45:17
um, a month prior to Kristen's death. Um, you see a large framed revolver on the bed where Colobby Trickles uh
01:45:27
described as being his. >> And do you think that's the 357? >> That's the only 357 in the house that we
01:45:33
found. That tells me that this was K's gun. >> Still, the investigation stalled.
01:45:41
>> You have all these investigators who are uncovering more and more evidence that
01:45:47
there's something really wrong with this case. And you've got the coroner who calls this a suicide. I mean, that's a
01:45:54
problem, isn't it? >> Uh, it it is and it isn't. And >> it was initially, wasn't it?
01:45:59
>> Sure. Well, certainly as far as their ability to investigate as efficiently as
01:46:05
they normally would. >> Cunningham says that the coroner's determination the Christen had died by
01:46:10
suicide limited the investigator's ability to obtain search warrants. There was still elements of the
01:46:19
investigation law enforcement wanted to follow up on. >> In the winter of 2020, KBY began
01:46:26
collecting payouts from two insurance policies, $23,000 from Walmart and $100,000
01:46:34
from the US military. Meanwhile, investigators continued to learn more about his time in the military.
01:46:43
>> He was a reserve officer in the military. um that was never deployed. >> Wait, so wait a minute. So he was never
01:46:50
deployed to Central America. >> He had no overseas deployments that were told to us by the United States military
01:46:58
>> and he had no experience talking to informants as part of his job as an intelligence analyst.
01:47:05
>> Right. >> But even with what looked like blatant lies and an apparent motive to kill his
01:47:10
wife, police didn't arrest Colby. So in the year after Kristen's death, authorities watched as Kobe Trickle went
01:47:18
on with his life. [Music] >> It is very frustrating to me. >> I would run into him in public,
01:47:30
>> playing music at a restaurant in town. >> It made my skin crawl. >> So whatever storm you're in, keep
01:47:36
pushing forward. >> Posting Facebook self-help videos. get to the outside where you're free and
01:47:43
enjoy life. >> But then nearly 2 years after Kristen's death, a newly elected county attorney
01:47:52
decided to try something very new that he thought could put Kobe away for life. >> Go behind the scenes with the 48 hours
01:48:02
postmortem podcast. [Music] County Attorney Robert Anderson was just days into his new job in January of 2021
01:48:22
when assistant county attorney Aaron Cunningham and Detective JB Burke Holder pulled him aside.
01:48:29
>> JB and I both cornered him and said, "This is something that's clearly a homicide. help us to get the nails put
01:48:36
in this coffin. >> After reviewing the file, Anderson believed that the coroner got it wrong
01:48:42
and that this was a homicide. On July 14th, 2021, he charged Kobe Trickle with the murder of his wife Kristen.
01:48:52
>> Certainly, the insurance money provides motive. In addition, being in bed next
01:48:57
to your husband naked, shooting oneself in the face after having set alarms uh to get up the next day for work after
01:49:06
setting out candy for Halloween. These circumstances don't point to a woman who was planning a suicide.
01:49:14
>> Hey, uh I need you to step out of the car and come to the back of the car with
01:49:17
me soon. >> When police arrested Colby, he didn't seem surprised. >> Uh detectives, I have some questions for
01:49:24
you. Put you under arrest. You turn around, put your hands behind your back. Sure.
01:49:27
>> And denied killing Kristen. >> I didn't do it. And I know I know many people don't believe that and I respect
01:49:35
that. >> I believe him. >> You don't believe that he would shoot his wife? >> I do not.
01:49:42
>> Cassie Ziggler is one of Kobe Trickle's defense attorneys. >> He cares about his spiritual life. He's
01:49:48
a devoted Christian. I don't see that in him. this ability to connive and plan all of this.
01:49:56
>> Instead, she says Kristen had suffered from depression since childhood. >> I think that Kristen dealt with a lot
01:50:04
more pain in her life than people acknowledged. I don't think there's any worse rejection in life than to be
01:50:11
rejected by your biological mother. At an early age, that's exactly what happened.
01:50:16
>> Kobe's attorney felt confident going into the trial. The coroner was standing
01:50:21
by his assessment that Kristen's death was a suicide. >> You had the ability, you had the power
01:50:28
to change this determination if you wanted to prior to trial. >> Yes, >> you could have. But you didn't.
01:50:37
>> If I've made a determination, am I going to change it to homicide based on an accusation before a court
01:50:45
proceeding? No. So, County Attorney Anderson knew he had to do something to convince a jury that
01:50:54
Kristen didn't die by suicide. And that's when he pursued a different type of autopsy, a psychological one, an
01:51:04
autopsy of the mind. And to conduct it, Anderson hired a forensic psychologist, Dr. Ashley Christensen. her job to
01:51:14
determine Kristen's state of mind leading up to her death. >> Being unable to speak with them because
01:51:21
they're of course no longer here. They have to speak with their family, their friends, their co-workers. They review
01:51:27
any social media diaries, journals, um anything that they can. >> Christensson's conclusions would
01:51:34
eventually take center stage at Kobe Trickle's trial. It was September 2023. members of the jury
01:51:41
>> and prosecutor Cunningham began by telling the jury that Kristen Trickle was murdered for the oldest reasons in
01:51:49
the world. >> This case is as simple as ABC C. A an affair, B a breakdown of control, and
01:52:01
Cold hard cash. >> Col's attorney disputed that. may proceed whenever you're ready to see
01:52:10
her. >> Thank you, your honor. >> Cassie Ziggler says Kobe's alleged affair was really just an online
01:52:16
flirtation. I don't think there was a plan to have this long-term intimate affair.
01:52:23
>> She also denies that Kobe plotted to kill Kristen for cash. And about that Google search into the life insurance
01:52:31
payout, Ziggler says Kobe doesn't remember doing that search, but she acknowledges he had been filling out
01:52:39
paperwork around that time for his own military life insurance. And if he did do it, maybe that's why. It's just a
01:52:48
coincidence that this is happening days before his life. >> Unfortunately, so yeah, bad timing.
01:52:58
At trial, the jury learned that Kobe Trickle had not only collected more than $120,000
01:53:05
from two life insurance policies on his wife, he had already gone through it. >> I think he had spent all of the money in
01:53:15
approximately 8 months. >> What did he spend the money on? When detective JB Burkeholder took the
01:53:22
stand, he was asked to describe one expenditure in particular. >> There's a 1,942
01:53:30
payment to True Touch Dolls. Were you able to determine what that was? >> This is a company that made and
01:53:37
manufactures and distributes life-size sex dolls. Kobe's attorney says Colby was having
01:53:44
trouble sleeping alone and was quite open about the purchase. >> He went and talked to his mother about
01:53:51
it. If you're going to buy it, >> yeah, if you're going to buy a sex toy, a grown man's not going to go talk to
01:53:55
his mother about this sex doll he's going to buy. >> What was your reaction to that?
01:53:59
>> Disgusted. Just disgusted. >> It was described at trial that he needed this doll for comfort.
01:54:07
>> For comfort and warmth. We have electric blankets that we use for that. >> When Brandt Rice took the stand, he told
01:54:15
the jury that his niece had become more assertive in her relationship with her husband in the months before her death.
01:54:21
>> I feel that she had really begun to stand up for herself. We were proud of her for that.
01:54:27
>> And there were texts, says Cunningham, that seemed to support that Kobe feared
01:54:32
he was losing control over Kristen. On April 8th, 2019, when Colby texted that Kristen seemed different and pushy with
01:54:41
things, she responded, >> "I'm just deciding to stick up for myself just like you. I'm taking control
01:54:48
of the situation." >> And then prosecutors called their star witness, Dr. Ashley Christensen.
01:54:57
>> By the time of her death, there was a lot of data suggesting that she had a lot of hope.
01:55:03
>> Dr. Christensen testified that Kristen talked to family members about future plans and seemed optimistic.
01:55:11
>> She wanted to open her own either pet boarding or or dog grooming business and
01:55:16
had discussed his goal for opening her business. >> But Christensen also testified that she
01:55:21
interviewed Colby for her report and he offered what sounded like a reason why Kristen might have been stressed. He
01:55:29
told the doctor Kristen knew about his online relationship with that other woman.
01:55:35
>> He reported that they had lost discuss that relationship the week of her death.
01:55:40
>> But remember in his police interview, Kobe had told investigators that he didn't think Kristen knew.
01:55:47
>> When did Kristen find out about that relationship? >> Not that I know about. >> So which is it? Did she know or she
01:55:55
didn't know? >> I believe she knew. Whether or not Kristen knew, Dr. Christensen told the jury she believed
01:56:03
that at the time of her death, Kristen was at a low risk for suicide. >> It is my opinion that it is relatively
01:56:12
less likely that her death was the result of suicide. >> I love those words, relatively less
01:56:19
likely. That doesn't tell me anything. We can't know the mind of someone who's going to end their life. Defense
01:56:26
attorney Ziggler does not think the report should have been allowed in as evidence. She points out that Dr.
01:56:32
Christensen, who never met Kristen Trickle, did interviews and prepared her report nearly 2 years after Kristen's
01:56:40
death. And Ziegler believes people's memories change over time. >> That is a long time to go back and talk
01:56:49
to people about Kristen. But prosecutors thought there was another piece of evidence that could
01:56:56
bring them a guilty verdict. What do you think is the most powerful evidence against Kobby Trickle? Chat now
01:57:06
with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X. Nearly four years have passed since Kristen Trickle died from a gunshot
01:57:22
wound to her head. >> How would you describe the last four years? >> Hellish. [Music]
01:57:34
>> On September 22nd, 2023, it was Kobe Trickle's last chance to convince a jury that he had nothing to
01:57:42
do with his wife's death. He decided not to testify, but his attorney, Cassie Ziegler, called his mother, Tina Kryer,
01:57:51
to the stand. >> Is it fair to say that Kristen was pretty reserved at first when he met
01:57:57
her? >> Yeah. Very to herself. >> Kryer described her daughter-in-law as a woman who rarely revealed her feelings.
01:58:06
>> Couldn't read her. Very um emotionless. It's a drastically different Kristen says attorney Ziegler than the one her
01:58:16
family describes. >> By their explanation, just the happiest, most joyful person never stops smiling.
01:58:22
She almost is walking on water. I mean, when the reality is we have no idea how she's really feeling now. You find out
01:58:29
he's having an emotional relationship with someone else online. I just I can imagine that being the last straw. But
01:58:37
in his final argument to the jurors, prosecutor Aaron Cunningham shows them the weapon that killed Kristen and says
01:58:45
she couldn't have fired it. >> Members of the jury, this doesn't add up. The state is going to demonstrate it
01:58:52
to you. >> Prosecutor Cunningham showed us with a similar gun. If you look at the autopsy
01:58:59
photos, you see a little divot at the 3:00 mark, which is believed by the corner to be the sight imprint of the
01:59:06
gun. >> And I knew Kristen was right-handed. The natural way a right-handed person would
01:59:12
hold a gun to their head for suicide would be something like this, or maybe something like this, putting the sight
01:59:20
mark somewhere between 9:00 and 6:00. So, for the sight mark to have wound up over at the 3:00 angle would be very
01:59:29
unnatural. >> Cunningham showed us how he believes Kobe Trickle shot his wife while she
01:59:36
slept next to him. >> It would be consistent with the placement of the site mark that he would
01:59:41
have grabbed the gun from his nightstand, rolled over in bed, and placed the gun just underneath her chin
01:59:48
and pulled the trigger. >> So, if you keep it here, then this then would explain. correct appears on her
01:59:54
neck here. >> As the case went to the jury, Seagler had hoped that they would still have too
02:00:01
many doubts. How significant is it the fact that the coroner went to trial, still saying it was a suicide when the
02:00:10
the prosecutors are saying it's a homicide? >> Yeah, it's huge. We have to show doubt.
02:00:16
That's reasonable. And I think there's plenty of that. Do you? >> That's what Kristen's family feared as
02:00:23
well. >> All they have to do is convince one of those 12 >> that they have a reasonable doubt. What
02:00:34
are we going to do if he walks out a free man? >> They don't have to wait long. Less than
02:00:40
2 hours later, there was a verdict. >> Count one. We the jury find the defendant guilty of premeditated murder
02:00:48
in the first degree of Kristen Trickle. >> Kobe Trickle was found guilty for firstdegree premeditated murder and
02:00:56
interference with law enforcement falsely reporting information. >> What do you remember of the verdict?
02:01:04
What did you hear? >> Just feeling like I could breathe. >> Yeah. >> Just feeling a breath. the relief for
02:01:13
safety for our family. >> I feel like we got our life back. >> Yeah. >> After the verdict, we spoke with coroner
02:01:21
Lyall Nord Hook, who said he planned to amend Kristen Trickle's death certificate to now read homicide.
02:01:29
He admitted he had decided on suicide before talking to anyone in Kristen's family or seeing the weapon used to kill
02:01:38
her. But I'm a little surprised. Wouldn't that have been important for you to make to know the size of the
02:01:45
weapon to be able to make your death investigation determination? >> The police should have all that
02:01:50
information and it's usually correlated with the pathologist, but it wasn't in this case.
02:01:55
>> The fact that he had done research on insurance. Were you aware of that? >> No.
02:02:00
>> Were you aware that they found evidence that he was having an online affair? >> No, they didn't share that with me
02:02:06
either. If you had known that, would you have left that as suicide? >> No. >> Investigators acknowledge they should
02:02:14
have done a better job keeping him informed. On November 20th, 2023, Kobe Trickle
02:02:22
returned to court for sentencing, admitting only that he could have been a better husband.
02:02:30
Something that I cannot apologize for is harming Kristen that morning because I cannot apologize for what I didn't do.
02:02:38
Regardless of that fact, I still take partial blame for that morning. I always wonder if she would still be here had I
02:02:45
been a better husband. >> Judge Glenn Braun sentenced Kobe Trickle. >> The court will sentence you to life in
02:02:52
prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years. With Kobe Trickle in prison, the Ricers
02:03:01
say their family is finally beginning to grieve the young woman gone way too soon.
02:03:08
[Music] >> Kristen's cousin Chloe, who grew up with Kristen, wrote a song for her.
02:03:17
[Music] >> How often do you think about Kristen? >> All the time. Every day. >> Every day. You know, we drive by that
02:03:29
little house. >> The house where Kristen one day hoped to start her dream business.
02:03:38
You call it Kristen's house, don't you? >> Yeah. >> She had a future. She had found her
02:03:46
faith again. When you were with her, you felt loved, a beautiful heart, a gentle, gentle
02:03:55
spirit, and >> she was just an amazing girl. [Music] [Music] New CBS next. A young girl found dead in
02:04:25
a swamp. >> Did this look like an accident or something else? Something entirely
02:04:29
different? >> A decades old mystery with a surprising answer. >> Oh no. Oh no. >> I never would have guessed how this
02:04:36
ended. 48 hours is all new CBS next and streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music]