00:00:07
I can't tell Jeff this enough in Survivor in general that it really did save my life and just going through the
00:00:13
trauma of different things with my sister and and the real reason why I came on Survivor and they were
00:00:19
kind enough to let me play this wonderful game. Um, I'm indebted to them and so there's no such thing as getting
00:00:24
third and if you think that's losing, uh, you haven't lived my life. >> Well, that is Survivor contestant Joe
00:00:30
Hunter the morning after the season 50 finale of Survivor talking to CBS Mornings Gayle King and he's talking
00:00:39
about his late sister Joanna. Joe was a two-time finalist on Survivor and as we said in season 50, he talked about
00:00:47
coming in third, but he said it really was a win for him in the long run because he brought so much attention to
00:00:54
his sister and her death. In 2011, 36-year-old Joanna was found dead in her Vacaville, California home hanging
00:01:03
inside a bedroom closet by a bathrobe sash. Now, Joanna's death was ruled a suicide, but Joe and his mother Patricia
00:01:10
believed that her husband, who was a church pastor, Mark Lewis, killed her after a history of domestic violence.
00:01:18
Mark Lewis has not been charged with any crime relating to the death of Joanna. I'm CBS News correspondent Natalie
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Morales and this is case by case. I interviewed Joe Hunter for 48 Hours last year for our episode called Joe Hunter's
00:01:33
Mission. Well, joining me today is producer Michelle Fanucci who was with me every step of the way. Michelle, you
00:01:40
really were the one who got us all started on this journey with Joe. When you first met him, I remember you
00:01:46
texting me and saying how incredible this story is. >> That meeting with Joe was probably one
00:01:52
of the most memorable meetings I've I've ever had at 48 Hours and um he he told me about his sister's case, and um the
00:02:01
circumstances surrounding it, which sounded extremely suspicious, and his heart and his compassion for his sister
00:02:09
really touched me, and I knew it was something we had to look into further. >> And Joe's mission throughout has always
00:02:17
been to be Joanna's voice. And competing on Survivor was an avenue, it was a way
00:02:25
because he knew that it was something that he and Joanna had talked about. They dreamed of competing with each
00:02:31
other. And of course, when she died, there was no longer the opportunity to do that. But he knew he had to do
00:02:39
something, and what better way to tell her story than on a competition show that he and his sister had absolutely
00:02:46
loved and watched together. Uh I want to play a little bit about some of Joe's decision to take part in that.
00:02:54
>> You know, honestly, the vulnerable part for me is I had been going through some really
00:02:59
tough times in the moment. And recently, and I was going through, you know, I was
00:03:05
struggling with depression, I was struggling with the sadness of this with Joanna, and
00:03:10
really giving up. No one was listening to us, no one was believing this, and my counselor said that to do something
00:03:16
really spectacular would be to help you manage the situation with Joanna is do something for you and her. And I thought
00:03:23
back, and I said, she had always mentioned that she actually was a super fan. And um
00:03:29
I thought, all right, I'll give it a shot. >> You were the little brother. What was
00:03:33
the age difference, and what do you remember about her as big sis? >> Yeah, so there was a 4-year gap between
00:03:39
us. And, you know, anyone that knows like what a sibling, specifically the older sister, I always tried to be in
00:03:45
charge, but she wouldn't let that happen. And she just took care of me. She protected me a lot. And we were the
00:03:53
perfect team. >> You said she was very protective. Was she protective of of, you know,
00:03:59
maybe not wanting to tell a lot about life as well? >> Yeah, I think that she, you know,
00:04:05
learned pretty quickly that how fiercely protective I was of her. So, she also did a great job of probably
00:04:15
shielding me from a lot of things that were hurting her. But, um she also couldn't rely on me
00:04:22
because I knew her so well on a personal level, but also just on a level of deeper
00:04:28
connection that I always knew when something was wrong. >> Joe is a Sacramento fire captain. He is
00:04:35
a protector by nature. But, it's interesting because Joanna was the older sister and she was always the one, he
00:04:43
said, who was protecting him. But, you know, in this case with Joanna, I think his greatest regret is that he felt he
00:04:52
couldn't do more to protect her, to help keep her safe, especially after when she
00:04:59
met Mark Lewis. I believe was she 16? >> Around that age. Yeah, she was she was pretty young. But, I mean, from the very
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beginning it was a very intense relationship. And Joe and Patricia said they both feared Joanna was losing
00:05:15
herself to Mark. Here's Joe talking about how that relationship started out. >> I do know that was her first partner
00:05:23
both physically and emotionally. And she fell in love and she believed him. She believed in the things that he
00:05:31
was saying. And there was an intimate connection. There was also a connection then religion was abused and used as a
00:05:39
weapon against her. And all of those things led to him really being able to cocoon her and him in an isolated
00:05:46
environment and protect her from those people that really had her best interest at heart.
00:05:51
>> Mhm. >> So, that made it very difficult for Joanna because that was her first real
00:05:54
relationship and me being 4 years younger, I couldn't advise her on those things cuz I hadn't myself experienced
00:06:00
any relationship. So, um it was very difficult to witness as it developed. >> And
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as far as evidence of abuse, I mean, you saw it multiple times. >> You know, you want to say the word
00:06:14
hundreds, but dozen. I mean, over the years of um you know, look at that time, back in the '90s, a turtleneck in the
00:06:25
summer is not popular. But, seeing your sister wearing a turtleneck and a long length dress in
00:06:31
the middle of the summer, that was her regular outfit. And it felt like it was a normal occurrence
00:06:41
of this is what I did this time to deserve this. This is what happened this time. I'll
00:06:47
get better. It'll stop once I get better. >> So, she blamed herself once I get better?
00:06:53
>> Mhm. And to have that type of feeling come out of my person is so upsetting. Cuz it's you just want to scream it from
00:07:06
a mountain top. I'm like, it's not you. I had been screaming at her for so long.
00:07:12
2 years straight. Every single day. Every single day I saw her, I would I hate this guy. Leave this guy.
00:07:21
Please stop. My parents are doing the same thing. But, I saw her start to back away.
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Isolating her room. Run away. Stay away for hours past curfew. I thought, I'm going to lose her
00:07:36
for good. >> That's more dangerous. >> More dangerous. So, I'm just going to listen.
00:07:40
I won't act. >> You said she told you a lot of the deepest darkest secrets. >> Mhm.
00:07:47
>> Some of which you haven't even told your your your own mother these days or how
00:07:51
does she know everything at this point? >> No, she doesn't know everything. >> Yeah.
00:07:56
>> There's some things that she shared with me that were um really hard to hear.
00:08:02
Really hard to hear. That um I didn't know what else to do because I was also seeing what it was
00:08:08
doing to my dad. Seeing what it was doing to my mom. Seeing what it did to my friends
00:08:15
and my sister. So, there was a lot of what do you say? >> Mhm. >> These restraining orders aren't working.
00:08:21
This piece of paper isn't working. >> So, you were documenting this and reporting this? I mean, she was
00:08:28
getting restraining orders. >> She was getting restraining orders. >> Do you think she was ever suicidal?
00:08:34
>> You know, I think that when you go through that, I'm sure she got in many dark places.
00:08:41
But, in no way, shape, or form was she capable of that mindset because I know my sister deep down just wanted to
00:08:48
leave. She had never said that. She never mentioned being suicidal. I never saw anything
00:08:54
that she wrote about saying that or even implying that. She just knew near the end that she needed to get away from
00:09:00
him, but she never wanted to leave me or my family. >> If you or someone you know is a victim
00:09:07
of domestic violence, call 1-800-799-SAFE or visit the hotline.org. So, she was planning to leave in the
00:09:21
end. >> Correct. >> When when was that? >> I would say maybe about a couple months before she passed.
00:09:33
>> Mhm. >> Um my mom called me and said, "Joanna's coming home." I said, "Oh, really?" "Yeah, she's
00:09:39
done." And I said, "She's really, really done this time?" "She's really done." And we
00:09:44
were all just so happy and she seemed so confident this time and it was a different Joanna and I thought, "Man,
00:09:52
like we got her back. We win. Like we win." I could see it in her. She was done and he
00:09:59
kept calling my parents' house again. We had changed numbers and he found a way to get through then and at this time she
00:10:06
had a phone. So, he kept calling and calling and calling. And my mom begged her not to go back and she
00:10:18
said she just had to go back to get one or two more things. That's all she had to do. This is
00:10:25
something I have to face. And we never saw her again. >> That was the last time you saw her
00:10:38
alive? >> Correct. >> And tell me about and I know how painful it is to go back to the moment where you
00:10:46
and your mother get the news. >> Right. >> Who told you? How did you hear? >> Um
00:10:53
I was down near the Modesto area. I was doing some training for the fire department and
00:10:58
then at right about 8:48 in the morning I see my fire chief at the time and my captain at the time
00:11:08
in their formal uniform and he started crying. He said "Your sister's gone." >> I am
00:11:37
I dropped to my knees. I said, "You take me to him right now." There wasn't a doubt in my mind. I
00:11:45
didn't hear anything else, but you take me to him. And um that moment stands out in my mind because
00:12:01
half of me died right there. And we fought the night before about him. We had had a phone call that didn't go
00:12:16
well. We always say we love each other. But I didn't. And there's not a day that goes by that
00:12:30
if I could just hear her voice. It's like one word. Just one word. I just I love you.
00:12:44
>> You know, he called Joanna his best friend. You know, it was really the the day after that
00:12:51
he and Patricia were told. >> So, uh he had never heard from law enforcement uh until he was asked to to
00:12:59
identify the body. >> And then of course, he realizes that her death is ruled a suicide by the Solano
00:13:06
County Sheriff's Office. I want to play for you what Joe told us about getting that information.
00:13:15
>> It's the most um hopeless feeling on the planet. That on top of losing my sister
00:13:22
knowing that she suffered. The way this story ends is then you tell us that she took her own
00:13:32
life. It's absolutely horrible. >> As you said, the Sheriff's Department said there was this suicide note.
00:13:41
>> Mhm. >> Tell me about you said it was found on top of a suitcase. >> Correct.
00:13:46
>> From what you know about what your sister was planning to do, >> you know, I finally was able to read the note a
00:13:53
while after her passing. And I was expecting unfortunately to hear in the letter maybe a very lengthy
00:14:00
reason in his handwriting. I expected to see some form of foul play in the letter. And it was her
00:14:08
handwriting. And all it said, and nothing more, nothing less, was make sure that you take care of the
00:14:16
dogs. >> Did you ever come to terms with that, or did you fight back, you know, with what the police
00:14:25
had come up with as far as the answer? >> You know, immediately when I heard that
00:14:30
on the phone from the one of the detectives at the time, I thought it's not a it's not a suicide. What do
00:14:36
you what do you mean? And I immediately thought I was in a movie. I thought this isn't happening.
00:14:42
You're not you're not you're not doing this to us. What are you saying? It's a suicide, and we immediately
00:14:47
pushed back. Show me this, show me that. >> So, the Huntley family knew in their
00:14:53
bones that this didn't ring true. >> It was well documented, that history of domestic violence, and she had actually
00:15:00
gone to the hospital at one point with a sprained neck. Now, Mark was convicted on a domestic violence charge, and
00:15:08
according to court documents, he was sentenced to 36 months in the Solano County Jail.
00:15:14
Joanna did though return to the relationship. But, what's interesting, Michelle, is when this responding
00:15:20
officer from the Solano County Sheriff's Department arrives there on scene. He sort of processes it all within 30
00:15:28
minutes. And so the hunters are saying this was all sort of a a rush to judgment.
00:15:34
>> And let's just remember that Joe and Patricia and the family were were terrified. So when the news came, this
00:15:43
was all their absolute worst nightmare. >> So during the episode, we were able to
00:15:49
really dig into the history of domestic violence here. And Michelle, you know, we asked the Solano County Sheriff's if
00:15:57
that history was even taken into account at the time in 2011 when they arrived at
00:16:04
that at that scene. Now, they said it wasn't. So then I was able to press the Solano County Sheriff's uh public
00:16:11
information officer Captain Jackson Harris of the Sheriff's Department. Now, he was not involved in this case back in
00:16:17
2011. Harris told us the reason they continue to say this was suicide and that's all they see there is because
00:16:28
they didn't see any evidence of a struggle. There was no evidence that another person was there to kill her.
00:16:36
The external autopsy also said that it was a suicide. >> But then a couple years after Joanna's
00:16:43
death, Mark is arrested, but it's it has nothing to do with Joanna's case. Uh a woman came forward named Sarah
00:16:50
Nottingham. >> Right. And Sarah used to be a member of the church, the congregation. She and
00:16:57
Mark were friends at first, but then they started dating after Joanna's death. And she told us during the course
00:17:04
of that relationship that he became more and more controlling, sometimes became even a little bit physically rough with
00:17:10
her. And she tried to break things off with him after she said she discovered that
00:17:17
he was texting with an underage girl. So, that's when she said enough is enough. I'm leaving and when she tried
00:17:25
to break up with him, that's when we hear of this incident in 2014 where police determined that Mark had hired
00:17:33
three people to throw a Molotov cocktail in the overnight hours into her parents'
00:17:39
home. I mean, she's in the house with her parents and her two kids. Mark pleaded no contest to arson and stalking
00:17:47
charges. However, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison. He did serve 5 years. Sarah's story, Michelle, really is what
00:17:55
brought renewed attention to Joanna's story and to her case. And it got Joe Hunter and his mother's attention. And
00:18:05
once again, they went to the Sheriff's Department and they begged them to look at this evidence again.
00:18:13
So, to their credit, the Solano County Sheriff's Department did reopen the investigation and they took a look at
00:18:20
some of the evidence at the time. They re-interviewed some of the witnesses at the time and they found some
00:18:25
inconsistencies in the storytelling. And more time goes by with more review. But,
00:18:32
they also hired some experts including Dr. Bill Smock who is a police surgeon and he's also a trained expert in
00:18:41
strangulation. And what was really interesting, Michelle, is Dr. Smock saw something in the photo evidence of taken
00:18:49
of Joanna as her body was hanging in the closet. >> He discovered nautical rope um
00:18:56
by her feet, which is what he believes was the weapon. >> So, again, Dr. Smock believes somebody
00:19:04
applied the nautical rope to her neck and killed her. And then when she was dead, put the bathrobe sash around her
00:19:12
neck and staged her death to look like a suicide. Here's Joe. >> I still haven't been able to read
00:19:18
through all of it, but it was the first piece in so many years for my mom and I that we finally
00:19:24
got something moving in the right direction. Finally, it wasn't just the emotional
00:19:29
family. Finally, it wasn't just the sporadic mother or son who were being irrational.
00:19:34
Finally, we had hard evidence and we thought finally, we win. We thought it was over.
00:19:43
And it wasn't. >> Because they hired another. >> They then get a third party that then
00:19:50
deems no, this is a suicide and the case is closed. >> But that's not to say it was the end of
00:19:56
the story because Joanna's story is so powerful and Joe and Patricia Hunter really got some important people to help
00:20:06
in their efforts. >> Yeah, there's an incredible organization called Alliance for Hope International
00:20:12
who took a look at the case and believed so strongly that there was foul play involved.
00:20:17
>> And they have what they call red flags in cases when they look at them. >> It had all the hallmarks of a staged
00:20:25
suicide. >> One of the biggest red flags, of course, is if there is a history of domestic
00:20:30
violence. Are you going to read just like two or three, Michelle? >> Yeah, the victim dies unexpectedly.
00:20:37
One partner wants to end the relationship. Victim is found in their home or place
00:20:42
of residence. The partner is the last person to see the victim alive. And there's a whole
00:20:48
>> list of the 10. We'll make sure that we put that up so that people can see them
00:20:53
and understand it. But uh it was really the Alliance for Hope who took on Joe and Patricia Hunter's case. And they had
00:21:01
actually recommended Dr. Smock to the Sheriff's Department. And they helped then push forward a new law here in the
00:21:08
state of California, which they do hope to take national. >> And we were able to collaborate to make
00:21:16
Joanna's Law, which is SB989. And the whole point behind that law is now prevention. It's saying, "Hey, we need
00:21:22
to enhance protocols when it's surrounding death of a person when they have a history of
00:21:28
domestic violence, and that they must treat that scene like a homicide." So, it increases the diligency that the
00:21:36
police officers and first responders have to do on that scene. The goal is that this
00:21:42
travels throughout the country, and that people adopt the same thing for prevention, and that Joanna's Law will
00:21:48
continue to improve those protocols and make sure that other families don't have the same issue, but it also
00:21:57
gives them a voice. It gives them rights to access to things. It gives them the ability to say, "Hey, even though my
00:22:04
person is married to this person, as the family, we have certain rights, and we have certain access to certain
00:22:11
information." That's not done right now. And so, many families are probably struggling with what we did, and this is
00:22:18
just the start. >> And such an important law, which we're already seeing have a tremendous impact
00:22:24
in even some of the cases that we're covering here at 48 Hours. I've come across another case that has used
00:22:29
Joanna's Law to uh help bring justice to the victim. >> And I was just working on another 48
00:22:36
Hours story this week, and the assistant prosecutor told me that Joanna's Law allowed her to present a previous case
00:22:45
of domestic violence to be presented to the judge, and the judge allowed that as
00:22:50
as part of the evidence into the case when it was presented at trial, resulting in a guilty verdict.
00:22:56
>> And just back to Mark Lewis real quick. >> We've We tried to reach out to Mark
00:22:59
Lewis a few times, and we were able to find where he lives in Arizona. >> Yeah, we went to his house to try to get
00:23:05
his side of the story. >> And uh that's when Natalie was able to to question him.
00:23:10
>> And Michelle, you were there right by my side. We really tried to ask him just
00:23:14
point-blank if he had anything to do with Joanna's death, and he refused to answer our question. He ran right back
00:23:21
into the house and closed the door on us. Mark Lewis is now once again remarried, and he's married to somebody
00:23:28
who once was in his congregation, as well. You know, we may never know the true circumstances surrounding Joanna's
00:23:36
death, >> but we know the Hunter family is is never going to take their eyes eyes off the ball here, and they will
00:23:44
they will fight till the end to make sure Joanna gets the justice that they believe she deserves.
00:23:50
>> That's right. But, I want to bring it back to just last week. We were able to
00:23:54
celebrate what was a big win, maybe not the Survivor finale, with Joe and his mother, Patricia, but we were able to
00:24:02
celebrate with them at the Gracies Award, which is uh given by the Alliance for Women in Media. It's a really
00:24:10
significant achievement, because it's women supporting women. And I mean, I don't know about you, but I had had
00:24:16
goosebumps the whole night seeing Patricia and Joe being honored along with everybody else in that room.
00:24:22
>> Yeah, same same with me. It was an incredibly emotional night, and I think it meant the world to Patricia and Joe,
00:24:30
and they they couldn't believe it. >> He got touched when they played the clip of our episode of 48 Hours that was
00:24:37
given this award, and and at one point you even recorded some beautiful video. >> That was the sweetest moment, and when
00:24:43
you look at it, Joe's winking at you, and and you're smiling, and uh again, chills all around.
00:24:51
>> Well, Michelle Fanucci, you are one of the great ones, and I so appreciate that
00:24:56
we got to really work on such a labor of love in telling Joe Hunter's mission and
00:25:01
Joanna's story. I want to thank you all for joining me today and thanks to you for listening or watching. Be sure to
00:25:07
rate and review Case by Case wherever you get your podcasts.