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This is Perigen Lake. Just over these trees over here is where the Uptike residence is.
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[Music] In June 2010, Chief Deputy Dave Rodriguez took me out on patrol in an Okonogan County Sheriff's Fastboat on a
00:00:24
lake just a few miles from Linda Updikeke's home outside Winthrop, Washington. Rodriguez had helped Linda Updike train
00:00:34
a new attack dog and later was one of the deputies who arrested Michael Oaks. Months had passed since Mark Stove was
00:00:44
murdered and still his body had not been found. Scadget County Sheriff's Office asked us to check any probable locations
00:00:52
where the body may be dumped in water since we're so close to her home. Um, this was on the list to check.
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Michael Oaks had spent time near these waters and Rodriguez wanted to check if he might have sunk Mark's body here. So,
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how does this work? Well, I don't know if you can see, but the lake is too big for two or three or four or even six
00:01:18
divers to adequate adequately search. That's why they turn to sonar to scour the lake bed. And we grid search across
00:01:27
the lake and then when we find something of interest on the sonar screen, then we
00:01:31
put divers down on it. And that diver will be you. Yes, today is me. Then Deputy Rodriguez slowed the boat
00:01:42
down toward a spot where he had detected some kind of an image. He put on the divers suit.
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Are you ready? Ready. And jumped into the water. He swam below the boat, but no luck.
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It's been quite a while since um Mr. Stover's been missing. So that makes it more difficult. Decomposition. Correct.
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The search for Mark Stove had stretched across the state of Washington. The one person who could end that search decided
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to be Koi. Are you willing to tell authorities where you placed Mark Stove's body?
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Certainly, all that I know about the whereabouts of Mark Stove, I will be more than happy to share with
00:02:40
authorities in the course of our trial. This is going to be a dramatic week. It has been a dramatic year. I'm Peter
00:02:50
Vans. From 48 hours, it's trained to kill the dog trainer, the ays, and the bodyguard.
00:02:59
Episode 6. Time will tell. [Music] Michael Oaks has been accused of a murder of Mark Stove. What do you say?
00:03:15
Prove it. That's John Henry Brown. He was Michael Oak's lead defense attorney. We spoke in
00:03:24
2010. So my defense is prove it. First, they have to prove there's a murder, right? Brown is a brilliant showman
00:03:33
known for making arguments in court that could fit into the final scene of a prime time legal drama. We've got blood,
00:03:41
right? We've got shell casings, correct? Got a dog that was shot, correct? But we
00:03:46
don't have a body. Correct. And what does that add up to for you? Uh, a case of circumstantial evidence.
00:03:54
When it comes to representing accused killers, Brown has been around the block. He titled his memoir The Devil's
00:04:02
Defender to highlight a career spent arguing on behalf of defendants he considered evil. His client list
00:04:10
included one of the most notorious serial killers in American history, Ted Bundy, who said he had murdered 30
00:04:18
people. Bundy once told me that he knew he was evil. Now, most sociopaths don't say that. Now, I don't see any of that
00:04:26
in Michael at all. Brown argued instead that Mark Stove represented the evil in this case, not his client.
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I think somebody asked Michael recently whether he thought Michael thought uh Mark Stover was evil and Michael said no
00:04:45
not not all parts of him which I thought was a very gracious thing for Michael to
00:04:49
say under the circumstances but I think there were parts of Mark Stove that were
00:04:54
very evil. you know, when you start people treating people as objects and when which is what Stover did and
00:05:01
particularly with Linda, um then I think that crosses over. In court, they plan to make the case that Michael shot Mark
00:05:10
in self-defense. The trial started in September 2010, less than a year after Mark Stove was
00:05:18
killed. It did have an interesting cast of characters. Um, everybody appeared at
00:05:25
first blush to be very, very good citizens. That's Judge Mike Rickert. The case became very
00:05:34
sensationalized, uh, much to my chagrin. Um, that makes things more difficult for
00:05:40
us as we're trying to ensure that both sides get a fair shake and that justice is actually done. Judge Rickard said
00:05:46
this turned out to be one of the stranger cases he had presided over. The trial actually lasted four weeks. The
00:05:54
investigation lasted for the year prior to that. And the twists and the turns in
00:05:59
the plot and the details of this case um just kept changing. Witnesses included detectives. Some of Mark's former
00:06:07
employees and Michael's second wife, Jennifer Thompson, who told jurors that Michael said, "If police saw what was in
00:06:16
the back of my car, I'd go to prison for life. But it was Michael himself who played
00:06:24
the leading role in this trial when he took the stand. Mr. Brown, you got a new witness for us? Yes, Mr. Oaks. Mr. Oaks,
00:06:32
come on up. His defense attorney, John Henry Brown, wanted Michael to explain why he had to
00:06:41
defend himself. He came around the corner with a gun in one hand and he pointed the gun at me and the
00:06:52
look on his face, he didn't say anything. Okay. How close is to you? I'm inside the washroom. He's right at
00:07:04
the doorway and he's just inside the hallway. 3 ft maybe. Okay. What happens then?
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I can't remember if he I lunged and he shot. We tangled and I got shot. Remember,
00:07:28
Detective Dan Louver said it was highly improbable that Michael could shoot Mark
00:07:33
in self-defense immediately after being shot himself, even if he was wearing a bulletproof vest. So, Brown asked
00:07:42
Michael to reenact the shooting to show that it was possible. [Music] Would you mind taking off your coat?
00:07:54
I'm not sure how it works. So, why don't you put this on the way you had it on? Right. Brown asked Michael to put on a
00:08:01
Kevlar vest like the one he wore on October 28th, 2009. Brown's co-consel, Corbin Vz, stood in
00:08:12
as Mark Stove. Mr. Valdis is larger than Mr. Stover, as far as I know. He's taller. Volz held up his left hand and
00:08:20
stuck out his pointer finger to act like he was aiming a gun at Michael. So Mr. Vol is holding the gun out. He's fired
00:08:28
at you. Mhm. What do you do? Michael lunged at Valz, grabbed his left arm, and tackled him to the ground.
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I don't think we were expecting that. The aggressive move startled the courtroom into a big laugh. Are you all
00:08:53
right? I'm fine. My finger wasn't loaded. Michael took off the vest and then walked back to the
00:09:02
witness stand. Can I take this off? That was amazingly fast. Mr. Oak, is that the way you did
00:09:08
that? That's how it was trained. Can I take this off? Yes, please take that off.
00:09:16
I asked prosecutor Rich Hyurrick why a bullet hole in Michael Oaks's vest wasn't convincing to authorities.
00:09:24
He explained the location of the bullet was suspicious. It appeared to have gone in very close
00:09:32
to exactly straight exactly in the middle uh of the bulletproof vest. And uh which suggests what to you? Well,
00:09:41
what it suggested to us is that it was uh it was done either before or after uh the event
00:09:48
um as somewhat of an alibi. Back on the stand, Michael eventually came to the dramatic moment everyone was waiting
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for. He was finally going to disclose where he put Mark's body. [Music] you somehow get Mr. Stober's um body
00:10:13
into the station wagon. That's what I did then. I picked him up, which was very difficult, and carried him out to
00:10:21
the back of the station wagon, and laid him there, and I had that kitchen towel that I had
00:10:32
grabbed, and I threw that in with him. Oh, before I when I picked him up and the gun fell
00:10:38
down on the floor, I just put it in his vest pocket. Michael then testified he later drove to that Graange Hall parking
00:10:45
lot nearby where he struggled to transfer Mark's body. I tried to move him to my car, but it was too heavy.
00:10:55
And so I used the plastic that was in the back of the rig. His rig. Yes. in the back of the station wagon and slid
00:11:03
it underneath of him and was able to then slide him across to my car. After meeting with his ex-wife, Jennifer
00:11:10
Thompson in Everett, Washington, he drove back to Anacortis to move Mark's now empty station wagon and it was still
00:11:19
just sitting there and I was blown away. I thought for sure it would have been like some big crime scene investigation.
00:11:27
Michael said he then drove the station wagon about 2 miles to the nearby Swenomish Casino parking lot. Michael
00:11:35
then walked back to his own car where Mark's body was covered up in the back. You leave it there. Yep. Michael told
00:11:44
the courtroom he then decided to dispose of the body because he didn't think investigators would believe his story.
00:11:52
And walking away from Mr. Stover's car. I see some kind of a boat in the water just near there. Michael said he then
00:12:03
drove down to a dock at the far end of that casino's vast parking lot. And I got my car as close to that as possible
00:12:12
and muscled him out and dropped him in the water. According to Michael, he then dropped
00:12:22
Mark's body into the Swenomish Channel, which flows into the Padilla Bay near Anacortis. Was the gun with him? His
00:12:32
gun? His gun? His gun was in his pocket still of his vest. After you did that, what did you do? Um,
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I threw some other stuff like the plastic in the water. Um, and I smelled blood. I'm pretty sensitive to the smell
00:12:48
of blood. I smelled blood and I couldn't see. It was dark and so I started throwing things out of the car into the
00:12:55
water um that were in the back. I had some stuff of the plastic and a piece of carpet from his car and then uh some
00:13:03
other items that were you know were there. He then headed to Linda's home in Winthrop. I arrived there.
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I don't remember now. It was dark. Um, I'd had to stop to throw up a couple times. I don't know. I'm not sure. Okay.
00:13:23
Um, we see your tape of when you get to Linda's. So, that' be accurate, right? Yes. When you got to Linda's, did you
00:13:29
tell her anything about what had happened? I just said I had a really bad day. What time was that? It was late. It was
00:13:37
late. I think it I don't remember now. I was exhausted. But when the prosecution
00:13:42
cross-examined Michael, they zeroed in on some inconsistencies in his story. Here's Scadget County Prosecutor Rich
00:13:51
Hyrick. You indicated that you when you were at the Summit Park range body was too heavy to move from car to
00:14:00
car, so you had to slide it. Is that right? Yeah. Okay. On two other occasions, you were able to
00:14:07
just pick the body up and walk it down. And I think you described a dilapidated dock and toss it in the water. Yes. And
00:14:14
on another occasion, you were able to just pick it up and toss it into the back of Mr. uh Stover's car. Uh pick up
00:14:21
and toss, I think, would be your words. But yes, I was able to pick him up. Why was it too heavy at the Summit Park
00:14:27
range? Because it's a station wagon. I couldn't stand up. You have to lean over to lift something, and I can't do that.
00:14:35
Detectives searched the waters behind the casino with a submersible camera and found nothing. While court was in
00:14:43
recess, I asked Michael if he was telling the truth. Police have searched that area. They have not found a gun.
00:14:52
They have found no skele no skeletal remains. Is that really where you dropped the
00:14:57
body? Absolutely. Yes. No matter where he may have disposed the body, I pressed him more. What do you
00:15:06
say to those who suspect that you disposed of the body because you wanted to dispose of the evidence? That if
00:15:12
people could see Mark Stove's body, maybe there's a bullet hole in the back of the head. Maybe they would have seen
00:15:17
that he was shot in the back, not in the front. Maybe you were trying to cover up a
00:15:22
murder. Well, I understand that feeling. I I really do. And I wish I hope that the body is recovered uh because it will
00:15:31
exactly corroborate my story 100%. After he was cross-examined, Michael watched the woman he loved, the ays, the
00:15:41
person at the center of Mark Stove's rage, Linda Updike, raise her hand. [Music]
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Please state your name for the record and spell your last name. Linda Opdike spelled OP D and David Y C.
00:16:02
Did you choose to violate your attorney's advice and speak to the prosecutor and testify in this trial?
00:16:10
Yes, I did. Why did you change your mind? because I felt this was an important part of the story that I could tell um
00:16:19
about a dangerous stalking situation and if there's any information that I could
00:16:23
offer up, I wanted to do so. But Linda wasn't there just to defend Michael. She told me she also wanted to defend
00:16:31
herself and her father. It's heart-wrenching enough to be dealing with what us as a family are
00:16:40
dealing with with Michael, let alone seeing my family attacked. Um, is just another level of I feel victimization
00:16:48
and randomly going after anybody with no reason for anything. And to do a smear campaign,
00:16:58
here's Scadget County Prosecutor Rosemary Cahol questioning Linda. You continue to have romantic feelings,
00:17:06
intimate feelings toward Mr. Oaks and vice versa. Yes. And in fact, I think that you said that in our interview last
00:17:13
week is that you loved him. Correct. I don't know recall if I said that or not, but I do. Yes.
00:17:21
When Mr. Oaks was arrested, you did what you could to find him a lawyer. Correct.
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Yes. She asked about what help Linda provided Michael after his arrest. And you made some phone calls, took some
00:17:35
notes, tried to figure out who the best lawyer for him would be. Correct. Yes. In addition to that, you figured out um
00:17:42
if what his bail amount was. No, I had nothing to do with that. Michael somehow managed to pay $250,000
00:17:51
for him to get out on bail. Linda insisted she didn't cover that cost. Michael's defense attorney, John Henry
00:18:00
Brown, told me the Updikes weren't paying his fee either. Is Linda Updike paying for Michael Oak's
00:18:08
defense? No. God, I wish she was. Boy, I really wish she was. No, there's no money going through a third party to
00:18:16
Oak's family and back to you guys. No, I'm going to lose my shirt on this case, actually, just like many of my other
00:18:22
cases. Back at trial, the prosecution showed no sympathy in its cross-examination of Linda.
00:18:32
Now, it's correct, isn't it, that throughout the investigation of this case, you've been concerned about your
00:18:38
own potential legal liability in this case? Yes. The prosecutor even suggested Linda's
00:18:48
support for Michael may have been an attempt to protect herself. You don't have to worry about Mr. Stober now, do
00:18:54
you? It appears to be that case. And in that sense, the defendant helped you out.
00:19:02
Correct. No. Isn't it true that if this is a case of self-defense, it gets you off the hook,
00:19:14
too? What do you mean by that? You indicated you were concerned about your own potential liability in this case. If a
00:19:23
jury were to find that this was self-defense, you wouldn't have any more liability either, would you? I have no
00:19:29
liability in this case. The prosecution also argued that Linda had no evidence Mark continued to stalk
00:19:38
her after his arrest. You made a report on December 5th, 2008. Do you recall that?
00:19:46
Yes. And you indicated that time that you believed that you saw Mr. Stover's vehicle in the area. Do you recall that?
00:19:53
Yes, I do. Cahol pointed out that Linda was never able to identify Mark in this incident or several others she reported
00:20:03
in 2008 and 2009. Nobody was able to respond in time. So the answer would be no. That is
00:20:13
correct. Prosecutors also called Mark Stover's fiance, Terresa Vox Michael, to testify.
00:20:24
Their engagement was used as evidence Mark was moving on. I talked to Teresa in 2010. In the weeks before he died,
00:20:33
was he a happy man? Oh, he was. He was like a kid. He was joking with me all the time and he was
00:20:40
always fun, you know, when we were on the phone. But Teresa claimed there was still a
00:20:46
dark presence in his life, his ex-wife, Linda. She said that Mark described Linda as a vengeful ex who wouldn't
00:20:54
leave him alone and often took him to court. He was he just was very troubled about the way things had gone. And in
00:21:02
what did he believe the endgame was with her? I don't know that he thought there
00:21:07
was a goal. He just couldn't believe that things wouldn't stop. The legal battles, the accusations, he
00:21:16
knew his life was in danger. But Michael's attorneys alleged just the opposite. They argued Mark threatened
00:21:25
and stalked Michael and that he only killed Mark to defend himself and his family. They insisted Mark and Michael
00:21:35
met multiple times. The defense even claimed to have a witness who said Mark mentioned seeing Michael and Linda at a
00:21:43
Costco months before the shooting, but the judge ruled there was no way to verify the witness's story.
00:21:53
Soon, Michael would learn his fate. [Music] After more than 50 witnesses and more
00:22:08
than 700 exhibits, the jury began to deliberate. They took 4 days before they reached a verdict. I'll rise, please.
00:22:20
Linda sat next to Michael's mom and tried to comfort Michael's daughters as they all waited.
00:22:27
Mark Stove's niece, Julia Simmons, was there to represent his family. Who did this jury believe?
00:22:36
We, the jury, find the defendant, Michael Glenn Oaks, guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree,
00:22:42
premeditated murder as charged. [Music] Michael was found guilty of firstdegree murder. He turned and hugged his
00:22:56
daughters. At his sentencing, his mother, Corey Oaks, pleaded with the judge to have mercy, that her son never
00:23:05
wanted to hurt Mark. He wanted to reason with him. I believe that with all my heart, and I think it's
00:23:14
grieving him. I know it is. He would never want to take a life. He is not a murderer. And none of us would want that
00:23:22
for Mark. Mark's family felt differently. His sister, Victoria Simmons, asked the
00:23:29
judge to give Michael the maximum sentence. Why was he murdered? Where is my brother? When will I be able to lay
00:23:38
him to rest in a dignified manner? Years from now, Michael Oaks will be released.
00:23:43
He will have paid his debt to society. I will still be serving the life sentence
00:23:47
that Michael Oaks gave me. Judge Mike Rickert sentenced Michael to the maximum amount of time in prison, 26
00:23:57
and a half years. The absurdity of the actions that you took on that day are beyond belief. And I've got to tell you,
00:24:04
there's large parts of your story I just flat do not believe and never will. There was finally an ending to this
00:24:12
emotional saga gone horribly wrong. But there will always be lingering questions
00:24:19
about what really happened on October 28th, 2009. But the pieces don't fit very well in this case after 4 weeks.
00:24:28
And to a certain degree, I almost have more questions now than I had when we picked the jury.
00:24:37
This case of Mark Stove has been defined by an infinite loop of suspicion between
00:24:43
three people. Linda said she feared Mark. Mark said he feared Linda. And Michael said he too eventually feared
00:24:53
Mark. Each person claimed the other was threatening their life until that morning in October proved that one of
00:25:02
them was right. With no more new information surrounding the crime, law enforcement closed the
00:25:11
case in 2012. Linda's father, Wally Updike, died in 2018 at age 81 at his home in Whitefish,
00:25:21
Montana. The Chateau San Michelle Winery, the largest in Washington, remains open
00:25:30
today and thriving. The Updike sold Kick Island, too. It's now a park that belongs to the Swenomish
00:25:39
tribe. It's open to the public for hiking, but there are no dogs allowed. After Michael went to prison, his
00:25:49
daughter, April Oak, said each of her siblings went to stay at a different home. April lived with Linda until she
00:25:57
was 17 and said Linda has remained a big part of the family's lives. Linda last sat for an interview in 2011.
00:26:08
It's incomprehensible to me that that's a verdict that would have come back. Michael's first instinct was to turn to
00:26:15
all of you. Yes. And to hold his family. [Music] Yes. Um he uh definitely loves his children and
00:26:27
loves me and I know that's his biggest concern is for all of us and our biggest concern is him. So, we're all um
00:26:37
supporting each other and just sticking by one another. Michael appealed his case to no avail.
00:26:46
He is incarcerated at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walaw Wala. In a call from prison in April 2025,
00:26:55
Michael said he expects to get out in 2035 when he is 67 years old. He blamed one of his appellet attorneys
00:27:05
failing to file an appeal on time for his inability to keep challenging his sentence in court. Today, there is a
00:27:14
website free oaks.com that advocates for Michael's freedom. His family sent us documents from
00:27:23
Michael's appeal. In 2017, the Oaks family hired an oceanographer to study where Mark's body may have ended up in
00:27:32
the water and believed that the police missed a spot where the current could have moved Mark. Detective Dan Loua said
00:27:41
the police searched the channel multiple times and even used underwater cameras.
00:27:48
We asked Michael about his current relationship with Linda Updike. He said he wanted to respect her privacy.
00:27:57
After Mark's death, Teresa, the woman who had hoped to marry Mark, took his dog Ding, into her home. Ding had
00:28:06
miraculously survived being shot. And when she came to be with me, she slept on my bed. She went to work with
00:28:16
me. She was with I took her everywhere with me. And in petting her, I found a a tumor about this big. Well, it grew and
00:28:25
grew and she was in tremendous pain. Um, so I had to have her put down. And was that was that tough cuz Ding was
00:28:35
a a link to Mark. Oh, she was my my last link to him. Teresa told me that Ding was buried with a custom headstone. She
00:28:45
hopes a day will come when they can give Mark the proper burial. he deserves. I would love to see him buried with a ring
00:28:52
on his finger. Mark's sister, Victoria Simmons, said she will never rest until her brother's
00:29:01
remains are found. I need to find him, and I just can't let that go. Being a woman of faith, I know
00:29:09
that everything done in secret will eventually be shouted from the housetops. You cannot plead the fifth in
00:29:15
heaven and the truth will come out eventually. A celebrity dog trainer, an ays and her
00:29:23
bodyguard. Three lives ruined by a triangle of jealousy, fear, and rage. [Music]
00:29:40
[Music] from 48 hours. This is Train to Kill the Dog Trainer, the Aerys, and the
00:29:48
Bodyguard, produced by Sony Music Entertainment. I'm your host, Peter Vans. Judy Tiger is the executive producer of
00:29:59
48 Hours. Original reporting by 48 Hours producers Ryan Smith and Liza Finley. Jaimeie Benson is the senior producer
00:30:10
for Paramount Audio and Mora Waltz is the senior story editor. Recording assistance from Alan Pang and
00:30:18
Regginald Bazil. Special thanks to Paramont podcast vice president Megan Marcus.
00:30:26
It is written and produced by Alex Schuman. Stephanie Serrano is our editor. Our executive producer is Sherah
00:30:36
Morris. Our associate producer is Zoe Kulkin. Theme and original music composed by
00:30:44
Hansdale Shei. Cedric Wilson is our sound designer and mixed the episodes. We also use music from APM and Epidemic
00:30:55
Sounds. Fendle Fulton is our factchecker. Our production manager is Tamika Balance
00:31:03
Kolassni. I'm Peter Vans. If you're enjoying the show, be sure to rate and review. It
00:31:12
helps more people find it and hear our reporting. Follow and listen to Train to Kill and
00:31:19
other 48 hours podcasts on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:31:27
Thanks for listening. [Music]