00:00:00
foreign [Music] always had a great spirit about her she knew what she wanted she went for it to
00:00:14
jump out of a perfect job [Music] she could take care of herself [Music] she was obviously very beautiful very
00:00:28
attractive but there was something about her she radiated light I worked with Crystal as a flight attendant she was
00:00:37
definitely a goofball and she would even describe herself as a dork International
00:00:44
she kind of has like a gypsy Soul like she was a flight attendant you know she just likes traveling I've been dating
00:00:50
Crystal McDowell for a few weeks now we've both been divorced and we knew exactly what we wanted you know when you
00:00:56
first meet somebody and you're kind of on Cloud9 that's kind of how we were tropical storm Harvey is expected to
00:01:03
strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall in Texas hurricane warnings in place along most
00:01:09
of the Texas coast Friday morning August 25th is when she left the house she was actually living
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with her ex-husband she was living in the master bedroom downstairs and he had moved into a bedroom upstairs he had
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such a passion of love for her it was almost like an obsessive controlling love she sent me a few text messages
00:01:31
and I replied back but I never got a reply for that so I thought maybe she was just
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preoccupied with getting ready for the storm across southern Texas grocery store shelves are bare people are
00:01:44
rushing to stock up on last minute supplies at that point in time I just started trying to find relatives or
00:01:51
friends to reach out to them to see if they knew where she was and that's when I reached out to Jeff Walters he's her
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uncle I get messages from her every morning I get messages all throughout the day
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she's one of the most responsible people that I know she never loses contact with
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us Chambers County Sheriff's Office [Music] no one can get a [Music] serious storm it's going to last four or
00:02:27
five days and quite frankly this is Day Day One morning police are searching for a Texas
00:02:32
mother who mysteriously disappeared before Harvey hit we are hampered by some of the flood issues but we are as
00:02:41
aggressive as ever trying to locate Crystal McDowell I knew she wouldn't run away she would
00:02:47
never be that type of person so that was would she have ever left her kids no happy birthday
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[Music] automatically as a sheriff I know that mothers don't leave their children and there's
00:03:01
obviously never a good time for anybody to become missing but the timing was terrible
00:03:09
was there a part of you that just went it can't get any worse um on more than one occasion
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my gut tells me there's something catastrophically wrong with this scenario by the time flood waters receded
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authorities believed one of three men knew where Crystal was got the boyfriend got the ex-husband well then the uncle
00:03:33
was making Such Noise about everything I started thinking about him 21 months later one would be on trial for murder
00:03:43
oh foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign Baytown has picked up 32.9 inches the
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house is totaled all my furniture is totaled can you get to the top of your vehicle
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it was horrible the rain wouldn't stop it just would not stop district attorney Cheryl leak says despite the horrific
00:04:49
flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Baytown Texas a suburb of Houston the investigators were determined to find
00:04:57
crystal McDowell we had deputies that were flooded out of their homes one of our investigators lost his entire house
00:05:03
our local Texas Ranger and his wife were flooded out of theirs and yet they showed up for work yep every day yep
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everybody all day looking for this woman everybody but weather was not their only challenge
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if we still had met with Foul Play the sheriff says there was a growing list of people to question she was extremely
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social she had lots of friends she had been at flight attendant for 10 years and then had become a real estate agent
00:05:36
on the top of the list Crystal's Uncle Jeff who cared for Crystal after her parents died when she was 11 years old
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and our main objective is just to get crystals back out he was the person that was extremely
00:05:51
emotional and reported or missing but then he kept getting in the way of the investigation
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[Music] getting in the way by going through Crystal's townhouse with other family
00:06:05
members potentially tainting important evidence this is not a game to us this is not a hobby this is what we do
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Crystal's Family even hired a private investigator but you don't bring on some amateur super sleuth wannabe when you're
00:06:21
in the middle of a missing person's investigation also on the list the men romantically linked to Crystal
00:06:29
there was Steve McDowell Crystal's ex-husband a shipping manager in June 2017 the couple went through what many
00:06:37
described as an amical divorce after 10 years of marriage and two children a boy
00:06:43
Madden and a girl Maui and what was his story of for Friday morning that she never showed up that she was supposed to
00:06:50
show up and and she just never did that morning at 701 on August 25th Steve who had the kids says he received a text
00:07:01
message from Crystal it read on my way do you have water looks like I may stay here with the kids it seems just like
00:07:10
rain but Uncle Jeff Walter says that Steve showed him another text that Crystal allegedly sent around 9 30 that morning
00:07:20
saying she had changed her mind and she planned to stop by pick up the kids and take them to Dallas they just said it
00:07:28
just didn't sound like her and that nobody knew where she was nobody had heard her voice and they just knew that
00:07:33
something wasn't right what did he tell authorities about their marriage their relationship he told them that they were
00:07:39
fine he didn't mind the divorce and everything was just hunky-dory in fact Crystal was living with Steve and the
00:07:46
kids in a house she helped him buy while her townhouse was being renovated he had
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such a passion of love for her that it was almost unhealthy Cindy see rate is Crystal's
00:07:59
Aunt like if she wanted her feet rubbed he would rub her feet if she wanted her hair brush she would brush her hair is
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it fair to say that she wore the pants in the family yes most definitely but over time they grew apart he didn't
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challenge her was the word she wanted to be the best she could possibly be and Steve was okay with just stepping back
00:08:19
being you know the house person he was the dad she was more of the provider Krista McDowell Steve's daughter from a
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previous relationship was at Texas A M University when she heard the news Crystal was missing is he love being
00:08:37
around the kids there is life she was his life and they were his life to the sheriff it certainly didn't seem like
00:08:44
Crystal's ex-husband knew anything about her disappearance but he was very Cooperative us very very kind very
00:08:51
friendly and he immediately says that he wants to help it was Crystal's new boyfriend Paul
00:08:59
Hargrave who the sheriff really wanted to speak with Paul owned a local jewelry store and had been dating Crystal for a
00:09:07
few weeks the last place that we have her is in the Baytown area leaving Paul's house
00:09:15
she seemed in love with him they seemed perfect together she was happy so happy that Crystal had posted on Facebook just
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two days before she disappeared I've never been happier in my whole life than I am right now God is so good well
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we had talked about going to Europe and she got a ticket to go with me to Belgium next month the investigators
00:09:37
would learn Crystal had also invited Paul to go on a family cruise they only caveat Steve her ex-husband was going
00:09:47
too and I told her well gosh I'd love to go but I think it's going to be awkward
00:09:51
for me to be there with the ex-husband so she had asked him to refrain from going and I know that that didn't go
00:09:57
well she stressed to me that he was pretty upset about that which is why Paul said he was deeply concerned when
00:10:04
Crystal disappeared after she left his home in her black Mercedes which was also missing I hope and pray that you
00:10:13
know she's okay and she's going to come back to us so he went on national TV and spoke with
00:10:19
CBS this morning's Michelle Miller what do you think happened to I'm not sure but we're just trying to focus on
00:10:35
on finding her and assisting the glutes with whatever we can assist them with but Sheriff Hawthorne says he became
00:10:46
suspicious after Paul failed to tell authorities about security footage from his home
00:10:53
showing the last time Crystal was seen alive he actually walked right through this living room at 709 when my cameras
00:11:00
picked that up I think she was seen leaving the driveway at 7 10. Paul shared the tapes not with investigators
00:11:09
but with the media so immediately we're like well why would he be turning it over to the media
00:11:15
but yet my investigators don't have that those videos intentional or oversight on
00:11:22
his part I don't know because it it took us a few days to get it so obviously every hour that ticked off
00:11:29
he became the sheriff's Person of Interest that's for sure the case stalled mostly says the sheriff
00:11:44
because investigators couldn't agree on which direction to go in some of the investigators that were involved in this
00:11:50
would say you know I I think it's Steve and some would say I still can't get over Jeff
00:11:56
and I'm still looking at Paul but then finally a break in the case Crystal's Mercedes was spotted by a
00:12:10
friend I will give the family credit for finding that vehicle so now they knew where the car was but who put it there
00:12:18
and what would they find inside weather and time deteriorate evidence physical evidence
00:12:28
foreign the cops were here busting indoors to find out where this lady is how are you Ron Hawthorne Sheriff
00:12:56
Hawthorne could not believe what he found when he arrived at Crystal's Mercedes in the Motel 6 parking lot well
00:13:02
you could get in the car because it was unlocked and the keys were sitting on the console did that strike you as odd
00:13:08
oh very odd my criminal investigation Captain told me he said I feel like it's been staged set up for someone to take
00:13:14
it correct but whoever had left the car there to be taken did not anticipate the massive
00:13:23
flooding in the aftermath of hurricane Harvey the water had risen you couldn't get it out of the parking lot and that
00:13:30
was finally a break in your direction correct Crystal's Mercedes was finally towed
00:13:36
from the motel and processed but flood waters in Houston made it impossible to get results back from the crime scene
00:13:44
lab a lot of their majors and captains and sergeants and and investigators homes were going
00:13:51
underwater it was chaos for everybody they're just a lot of moving Parts at this point we're just going to get this
00:14:01
thing started y'all and and 48 Hours was granted unprecedented access inside the
00:14:07
sheriff's war room you know in interviewing Stephen he was telling us he was making calls from certain
00:14:12
locations he didn't make those he was actually mobile he is denying knowing Paul existed until two days ago I don't
00:14:20
believe that the investigation had taken a toll on D.A leak who had lost all hope
00:14:26
I know she's dead [Music] there has been no activity on any of her credit cards debit cards nothing you
00:14:35
know and she doesn't have a cell phone nobody leaves anymore without a cell phone
00:14:40
Sheriff Hawthorne deputies and Texas Rangers expanded their focus from finding Crystal to finding her
00:14:48
killer we've got a handful of folks that need to be interviewed what else do you guys
00:14:54
seeing it's up on this board that we need to get done because this stuff's going to start drying up on us if we
00:15:00
don't jump on it Paul is just soaking up to all their attention yeah he is and he
00:15:04
loves it and he's best buddies with Uncle Jeff too that's what I don't understand
00:15:09
it's getting more and more interesting about Uncle Jeff isn't it as of about midnight last night the net
00:15:16
has widened and its husband boyfriend uncle Jesus early in the investigation the top
00:15:31
Persons of Interest had been brought in for questioning in his police interview Paul pointed the finger at Steve
00:15:41
foreign Jeff Walters was no fan of Crystal's new boyfriend Paul and Steve stuck with his story that
00:16:04
Crystal never showed up at his house we polygraphed two of them and Steve and Paul Stephen Paul that is correct and
00:16:12
how did they do um Steve failed and I'll let Paul tell you how he did he insinuated he didn't use
00:16:19
those terms but he called me a liar but security cameras don't lie focusing on the location of the car deputies began
00:16:31
Gathering video from nearby businesses a camera at a Shell gas station next door to the motel appears to have
00:16:39
captured one of their three Persons of Interest looks like he's getting out and he's
00:16:45
putting something in the trash can and he's stuffing it all the way down like to his elbow like a bag or it looked
00:16:53
like clothing is what it looked like deputies say it is Steve McDowell and it's what McDowell keeps glancing at
00:17:00
that makes the investigators sit up and take notice the motel 6. you can see that he's looking over
00:17:08
and he's looking to see if the car is still there and it was we recovered the trash can and the
00:17:18
problem is all the contents had floated out of it because of the hurt because of
00:17:22
the storm then investigators received different security video showing Steve in action
00:17:30
right in the Motel 6 parking lot you just see somebody park the car and and someone that that has that resembles her
00:17:38
ex-husband getting out of it and what does that say to you um it says that my purse of Interest has changed I
00:17:46
remember I'm I'm the one that's still looking at Paul the videos purely circumstantial evidence
00:17:53
but that's where I'm going with this okay for the first time investigators are all heading in the same direction
00:18:01
confront Steve about where is she but Steve was still insisting he had nothing to do with Crystal's
00:18:11
disappearance this is what I carry so they turned to someone else in the family's Inner Circle for help Crystal's
00:18:19
Aunt Cindy C Wright I said Cindy I need you to stay close to Steve I said we we need communication and he
00:18:26
may not communicate with us and he may communicate with you every day I was just praying every day that I went that
00:18:31
he would say something today the investigators were becoming increasingly frustrated when you have no body that's
00:18:39
a huge hindrance [Music] the way someone's killed where they're found that generally can give you an
00:18:46
idea of who killed them all right guys and gals we've been asked by Chambers County to go ahead and
00:18:52
search for crystal Texas equisearch to help find Crystal let's remember that this place flooded
00:19:09
real bad so if she was dumped in this area let's hope that she got washed up in maybe some tree lines and stuff did not
00:19:19
end up in the water I'll joined the suitors and Alters pitched he's offered a ten thousand dollar
00:19:27
reward and I offered a five thousand dollar reward investigators dug in more things didn't quite add up
00:19:38
this is a case about lots of Secrets double lives on many people's parts it's one of those cases I think I've
00:19:47
seen it all I've never seen anything like this before listen to the interrogations are there
00:19:56
Clues to find crystal go to Facebook at 48 hours [Music] what are you doing today I'm about to
00:20:16
jump out of a perfect job whose idea was this Steve Steve your idea five years before her disappearance it seemed like
00:20:25
Crystal and Steve McDowell were on top of the world how high are we right now what does that say the jump had been a
00:20:32
33rd birthday gift from Steve happy birthday high five hey look your husband lived
00:20:49
too what a bonus no Crystal's ex-husband was the main person of interest in her disappearance
00:20:57
there were those security tapes and D.A Cheryl League says they had discovered Steve had lied about their so-called
00:21:06
friendly divorce what did you find out as the investigation went along that he didn't want the divorce what we were
00:21:12
getting from the family is that he was distraught had always been distraught every time she tried to leave him it was
00:21:19
early on when things started not going well LJ Adams a bail bondsman and Crystal's good friend says the
00:21:28
relationship was troubled right from the start judging from the things that she said Steve McDowell is a very very
00:21:34
self-centered selfish manipulative person he just got to where he wanted things his way and he wanted it that way
00:21:42
and right now and if it didn't work out or she couldn't do it at that moment it would be a temper tantrum in 2008 just
00:21:49
one year after they married Crystal filed for divorce but LJ says she didn't go through with it back then because
00:21:57
Steve had made threats it was always like well if you leave me you know I'm just going to kill myself emotional
00:22:03
blackmail yeah kind of sort of but he knew what to say and what to do Dexter come on
00:22:11
but Krista McDowell says her father is not that man she knows him as a loving father with a
00:22:19
playful side he's a really goofy guy like that's the best way I could describe him fun guy fun guy
00:22:27
so her father was in and out of her life for form there was a brief period of time
00:22:34
when she lived with Steve and Crystal I was in high school so it was like eighth
00:22:39
grade to sophomore year I guess I was 14 about 16. she admits the relationship between Crystal and her father was
00:22:47
turbulent but says he was not the only one at fault both weren't perfect and they both had their issues I just think
00:22:55
that they were very toxic for each other and they made each other crazy whenever
00:22:59
they were together it was never a happy ending she was hopeful things would get better once they finally got divorced
00:23:06
but after Crystal officially filed the paperwork in February 2017. Krista says her father began
00:23:15
acting strangely so in March I noticed that my dad had like been acting weird on Facebook then he also changed his
00:23:21
profile pictures to like it was a grave and then it was a grim reaper like profile picture and then he made it a
00:23:28
picture of him and Crystal and then he took that off and then he made it say no profile picture
00:23:33
in a short period of time this was on like a matter of like two three days I learned that shortly after Crystal
00:23:45
filed for divorce she had called 9-1-1 and told police that Steve had disappeared with their kids she had
00:23:54
given Steve the kids and he essentially did not bring the kids back for a few days for a few days and did he threaten
00:24:02
to hurt himself and the kids it kind of put out an allegation and a threat that you know he would
00:24:08
harm himself and Crystal and and the kids [Music] [Music] daughter that he had become upset after
00:24:23
discovering that Crystal had numerous Affairs while they were married but he said he was so in love with her yes and
00:24:31
he said like I love her with all my heart but I just can't let her keep tearing me down like this so he was okay
00:24:36
with getting a divorce at that point he was accepting of it he thought it was for the best he thought maybe he could
00:24:43
like get his life in order then but crystals on Cindy says Steve was just not ready to let go remember that
00:24:52
Crews they were supposed to go on Cindy says Steve actually planned to propose to Crystal again even though
00:25:00
they had just been divorced he literally bought some clothes for both of them it's a white dress and a white suit and
00:25:08
literally he was going to propose but Christos says her father told her this was all his ex-wife's idea my dad told
00:25:16
me just the other day that she had mentioned how would you feel about getting remarried on the cruise it's
00:25:21
like a fresh start do you think that's true that she said that to him yeah I don't believe Crystal would ever lead
00:25:28
him to believe that I really don't this was a fantasy in his head I believe that
00:25:32
in early August it seemed Crystal had moved on and was dating Paul Hargrave Cindy C Ray says at first Crystal tried
00:25:42
to keep it a secret from Steve even though she was still living with him as she said Aunt Cindy I have to keep this
00:25:48
quiet he will kill me but by August 23rd just two days before she disappeared Crystal made that Facebook post and had
00:25:57
disinvited Steve from the cruise D.A leak thinks this might have been the start of Steve's final unraveling
00:26:06
Steve was probably more upset about not going on the cruise because he thought they were going to rekindle their
00:26:11
Romance and there was more she was a financial meal ticket to him LJ Adams says Crystal had recently
00:26:20
decided to cut Steve off financially because he was just spending money just spending money just ridiculously just
00:26:28
spending money and at that point she just said I can't do this anymore Steve was it just losing her Cheryl or was it
00:26:35
he was losing his whole life someone else was sliding into his position his whole life his whole lifestyle
00:26:46
as cleanup from Hurricane Harvey was underway the investigators had cleared Paul Hargrave and Crystal's Uncle Jeff
00:26:55
they were now convinced Steve McDowell had the motive to murder his ex-wife and that he had dumped her car at the motel
00:27:03
6. but how did he get home this security video from a nearby Walmart would provide bad answer we spot a bicycle on
00:27:12
the service road Interstate 10 Service Road investigators were convinced it was Steve McDowell for you the surveillance
00:27:20
footage is the Turning Point absolutely absolutely Authority 30s were closing in
00:27:25
on Steve McDowell and the stakes were only getting higher because he still had the children we could potentially be
00:27:33
minutes or hours away from somebody losing control again again correct [Music] foreign
00:28:05
he'd come in every day and sit there five hours or so and just nope nope wasn't mean wasn't me
00:28:12
district attorney Cheryl League knew Steve McDowell had killed Crystal but knowing it and proving it were two
00:28:21
different things we didn't have enough to arrest him and she says McDowell seemed to
00:28:28
understand that was he arrogant helpful Cooperative arrogant in aloof it was a game he's just he's just gaming us he
00:28:37
thinks at this point we have no direct evidence we just have circumstantial evidence
00:28:44
circumstantial evidence has as much weight in a court as direct evidence but you just need more of it
00:28:51
Luke says the evidence that finally brought the case home for her was that security video from this Walmart showing
00:29:00
how McDowell probably got home after ditching Crystal's car we had him buying the bike and riding it out what happens
00:29:09
next we bring him back in day after day investigators were telling McDowell they were successfully
00:29:16
Gathering more and more evidence a ploy to wear him down he was just like melting you know you could see that it
00:29:24
was getting to him you could tell he wasn't eating he wasn't sleeping his face had sunken in there's no telling
00:29:29
what Steve may be trying to to tell the kids Sheriff Brian Hawthorne says investigators were under pressure too
00:29:35
you know we can't wait and deeply concerned about just how much might be too much for McDowell at the time when
00:29:44
all this is taking place he is got custody of his children I kept thinking he's going to kill those kids he's going
00:29:50
to kill those kids once again Steve voluntarily came in for questioning but Cheryl leak wasn't taking any more
00:29:59
chances she'd been in touch with family and protective services and convinced the agency to remove the McDowell kids
00:30:07
from his home that evening and place them with their Aunt Cindy we knew psychologically that that would be the
00:30:15
final straw for him his kids being gone he would have nothing left right and what was his
00:30:21
response he just about collapsed exhausted McDowell said he wanted to go home but promised he would return in the
00:30:30
morning ready to talk he said I'll tell you everything without enough evidence to arrest him
00:30:37
and knowing a full confession was their only real chance of finding Crystal's body the sheriff allowed his prime
00:30:46
suspect to walk out the door that was a big risk that he wouldn't run or kill himself it was a risk I've been
00:30:54
a crime reporter for 25 years I have never heard of a department saying go home and get your Affairs in order I
00:31:02
mean that's the part I go really like they let him go home but see this is a thing we had the kids
00:31:08
and taking them is a moment Sheriff Hawthorne will never forget we knew that these kids were probably
00:31:17
never going to see their mother again or their father as a father or their father is a free
00:31:22
man can you give me a minute yes both of the children came out and gave every one of us
00:31:40
bear hugs and that's when you realize the the totality and the impact that Family Violence
00:31:52
has on children [Music] McDowell's Young he summoned his older daughter Krista to
00:32:07
come home from college immediately I was at work and I work at a bar so I work pretty late Kristen McDowell says
00:32:15
she was confused when her father texted her in the middle of the night he said your little brother and sister are going
00:32:21
to go live somewhere else for a while she was already planning to head home later that day and he was like is there
00:32:28
any way you can be here sooner you probably won't see me for a while unless you come see me in person before then
00:32:34
and so I got in my car 3 30 in the morning drove all the way to Baytown two hours later it was the beginning of
00:32:44
the end of Christa's life as she knew it it was dark still I knocked on his door
00:32:50
and he let me in he told me that at 10 am the Rangers were gonna come pick him up
00:32:57
she says at first her father seemed more annoyed than anything did you think he had anything to do with it at that point
00:33:04
no not at all not a single like hint that he had anything to do with that did you ask him if he had anything to do
00:33:11
with it yes I'd asked him multiple times like like are you guilty and he was just
00:33:16
like no like I just don't understand like why I'm getting blamed and the entire time he pleaded to me like his
00:33:24
innocence Christus says though clearly anxious it mostly seemed like her father was just
00:33:31
trying to take care of business giving her photo albums financial statements even the keys to his beloved Mustang
00:33:40
until the conversation took an Abrupt turn he looks at me and he says the Rangers told me that if I tell them
00:33:49
where the body is that they'll lessen my punishment and I said well you don't know where the body is like how would
00:33:57
you know and he was like What if it's true and I asked him you know where the body
00:34:01
is and he just like looked away from me and just like buys out and at that point I knew I he
00:34:09
knew where it was what did you think at that point I don't know what do you think
00:34:19
if someone that you love and you've sat here and defended the whole time tells you they're guilty what do you think
00:34:27
did you think he had actually confessed to you at that point even though he never said the actual
00:34:34
words what he did over and over I begged him to tell me and he was just like I just I
00:34:42
can't tell you what I did and then um all of a sudden like we heard a noise and he stood up and he was like they're
00:34:48
here and then all of a sudden he's he's gone yeah I literally dropped to my knees and
00:34:56
just cried [Music] police brought Steve McDowell back to the station to deliver his
00:35:06
much-anticipated confession but the man who had kept them guessing about so much
00:35:12
for so long was about to make them guess again he's like gank in your chain yeah
00:35:19
I had had it at this point I had had it [Music] foreign [Music] I didn't sleep much
00:35:39
literally I could not wait for daylight to come up Steve McDowell agreed to meet
00:35:44
with Sheriff Hawthorne at the investigation team one more time and finally provide an answer to the
00:35:50
question what happened to Crystal my understanding from our communication was that you were kind of ready to be
00:35:57
honest about some things we needed a confession we needed somebody to take us to her body
00:36:07
Sheriff Hawthorne watched in a nearby room as McDonald's shared the details of the morning Crystal came home after a
00:36:14
night with her boyfriend [Music] I love her I would do anything of my life I think they got into an argument when
00:36:27
she got home and I think he was mad that she had stayed out all night she didn't love you anymore
00:36:38
and it seems that was enough for Steve McDowell to make a terrible choice [Music]
00:36:45
scribes and essentially shows that he strangled her from behind so she had no idea he was coming
00:36:51
yes okay like a Chokehold or something did she say anything when that was going on or did she fight or what happened
00:37:08
how did you eventually know that she was no longer alive and what'd you do after that I told her
00:37:18
basically bad and then we put her in the car a daughter of putting up the trash bags
00:37:28
and then McDowell says early the following morning he drove off to dispose of Crystal's body leaving their
00:37:36
two children home alone the body was found right in here McDowell leads investigators here
00:37:46
a densely wooded area off an access road not far from his house Steve drives the
00:37:53
detectives and the investigators out here our cameras were the train was pretty tough because it was a
00:38:10
lot of work just trying to clear the trees and the limbs so that we could bring the body out
00:38:18
at the end of a long search sheriff and D.A share a moment it was just relief today at 2 45 pm
00:38:31
Crystal's body was discovered and Stephen Wayne McDowell 44 has been arrested charged with murder
00:38:38
if he had not told you exactly where the body was would she have ever been found
00:38:47
Steve McDonald showed investigators where the body was he was brought here to the Chambers County jail now even
00:38:54
though he confessed to strangling Crystal that may not be the end of it in Texas a defendant can claim they killed
00:39:01
someone out of sudden passion which could mean as little as two years in prison which is exactly what Steve McDowell did
00:39:11
in June 2019 during his trial for murder McDowell testified that Crystal's death
00:39:18
was a result of a spontaneous hug that got out of control but D.A Lee gave the jury a different point of view do you
00:39:26
think this was premeditated yes without a doubt and this was not just he snapped
00:39:31
well you can snap and still think about it I think he just decided if I can't have her nobody can
00:39:42
after five days of testimony evidence and argument it only took three and a half hours for the jury to reach a
00:39:49
verdict guilty one day later the same jury sentence Steve McDowell to 50 years in prison for the murder of his ex-wife
00:39:59
we've been very fortunate the jury saw it the same way the law enforcement officers and the District Attorney's
00:40:04
office did it feels good I think they made the right decision so it was 50 years he
00:40:11
will have to serve at least 25. uh before he's eligible for parole I hope he never makes it out of there he
00:40:18
deserves whatever he gets for the kids it's just a sad situation all the way around
00:40:24
both parents are gone now basically those kids are motherless and fatherless just like Crystal was
00:40:36
which brings us back to the other victims in this case the children it was on Cindy who was tasked with telling an
00:40:45
eight-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister the truth and I just grabbed their hands and I
00:40:52
said we've found your mommy she's in heaven and your daddy's in jail for taking your
00:41:02
mother's life [Music] and at that point Madden looked up and he said I said okay he said I can deal with this
00:41:13
and Madden grabbed his sister and they hugged and he said I love you Maui he said I'll always take care of you
00:41:20
and Krista promises to always be a part of their lives I thought about my brother and sister and I was like they
00:41:28
have no one I need to be the bigger person right now and I need to be the person they look up to
00:41:35
Crystal loved him with every part of her being she wanted them to have the wonderful life
00:41:40
[Music] you think he'll be okay I know they will be without a shadow of a doubt the couple's young children are living
00:41:54
out of state with a family friend who is in the process of obtaining full legal custody
00:41:59
Steve McDowell will be eligible for parole in 2042. a young mother vanishes her fiance charged with murder stunning
00:42:13
evidence his secret girlfriend shows police how she cleaned up the crime scene Justice for Kelsey 48 hours next on CBS