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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
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anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website in the spring of 2016
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Detective Sergeant Randy McAllister was sitting in his office at the college Grove police department where he had
00:01:36
worked for nearly 20 years if you're going to be a police officer you could do worse than being stationed at Cottage
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Grove Minnesota Cottage Grove population 36,000 lies on the north bank of the Mississippi River a half hour drive from
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the Minneapolis City Center it has its share of problems just like any other suburb of a major metropolitan area but
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nothing like the problems of the inner city Brenda McAllister liked the quiet and predictability of working for a
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low-crime small city community serious violent crime was rare and over his entire career McAllister had known of
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just two murders both of which had been in the previous four years the 31st of May 2016 was much like any other day
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until the monotony was broken up by a visit from the FBI although not an everyday occurrence it was not
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completely out of the ordinary for the FBI to contact local police as a courtesy to let them know that they were
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investigating a crime in their area special agent Asher silky informed detective sergeant McAllister that the
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FBI had intercepted a threat made on the Internet involving a possible victim in
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Cottage Grove Sukie asked if a local police officer could accompany him to notify the
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potential victim threat reports are a common issue they usually come via the internet or text messaging but this one
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was a little different it had come by a something called the dark web there was a term that Randy McAllister
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had heard but like most people didn't really have much understanding of he signed one of his detectives to
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accompany the FBI agent to visit a mrs. Amy Alwine at her home on 76 24 110th Street south Cottage Grove one hundred
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and tenth Street is a long semi rural road of very large blocks the old ones lived in the last house on the right
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before a 20 car park led to the gray cloud dunes sand gravel Prairie the Prairie was popular with walkers and
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often sunset Watchers would sit in parked cars enjoying the view the letter boxes along the street were peppered
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with neighborhood watch stickers but there were rarely any incidents that required reporting the house owned by
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Stephen and Amy all one was no Shack but the simple dwelling could not compete with the significantly larger and more
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elaborate homes of their neighbors there was the epitome of the worst house on the best Street a prefab home that had
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been shipped in pieces and assembled on the property it comprised four small bedrooms an open-plan kitchen living
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area and three bathrooms and attached a double garage provided an alternative entry to the house via a mudroom that
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doubled as a laundry the 28 acres also held a large barn that had been refurbished
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for house Amy all wines dog training business active dog sports the rest of the land was rented out for truck
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gardening when Special Agent silky end of the local detective knocked on the door of number 76 24 it was answered by
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a thin blunt man in his early 40s he was Steven Alwine he explained and his wife Amy wasn't home the two law
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enforcement officers told him they needed to speak to a me urgently though they didn't think she was in immediate
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danger they made arrangements for Amy to attend at the Cottage Grove police department as soon as she could
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Steven and Amy attended the station the next day June 1st 2016 when the FBI agent tell them why they
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had been called in the story that unfolded was unbelievable [Music] the dark web is a sort of parallel
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internet that can only be accessed by downloading special software once it's installed on a computer a user can visit
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websites that can't be found on the regular Internet sites on the dark web include black
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market selling weapons drugs forgeries banking details stolen goods credit cards and in new identities illegal porn
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forums and file-sharing sites political dissent and hate sites and hacking communities the dark web is
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covered in greater detail in case 76 of case file Silk Road many people refer to
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the dark web as the Wild West of the Internet where anything goes it's the Internet's evil twin where
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people have total freedom to buy sell share or create anything they want confident that they can not be found
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some people want to buy murderous substances and implements some want to sell people others want to share live
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streams of torture or create pictures and films of such depravity they're seasoned cops who view them need
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counselling and some people want to hire a hitman in 2016 the most popular and profitable murder-for-hire outfit on the
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dark web was called Besser mafia Besser mafia opened shop on the dark web in December 2015 with a slick and
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professional side borrowing from the success of dark net markets like Silk Road Besser mafia promised to match
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buyers and sellers of services someone could either sign up as a potential customer or to offer their services as a
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potential killer Parker thug or loan shark when a customer posted a job besa mafia
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would assign a nearby operative holding the money in escrow until the job was done to the customer's satisfaction
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while some dark web hitman sites had tried to convey the impression they were the suave shadowy figures of popular
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culture Besson mafia admitted outright that their hitmen what gang members and drug addicts
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mostly stupid but willing to murder a stranger provided they were paid on April 25 2016
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the Besser mafia website was hacked revealing an extensive database of names addresses and photographs of people who
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had been targeted for murder at least a dozen of these names had Bitcoin addresses attached to them meaning that
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the people placing the hits were serious enough that they had paid large sums of
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money Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and is the favorite method of paying for illegal goods and services on the dark
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web among the files was order number 3 0 3 1 to target Amy Alwine description about 546 looks about 200 pounds the
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order asked that they hit be taken out when Amy would be at La Quinta Inn and Moline Airport in Illinois she would be
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driving a dark green toyota sienna minivan there was a link to a photograph that showed a happy Amy on a family
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holiday in Hawaii the associated Bitcoin address showed that Bitcoin worth around
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12 to 13 thousand dollars had been paid to Besser mafia for her murder the person ordering the hit called
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themselves don't day God dog day God first contacted Besser mafia on February 15th 2016 sending an email that said I'm
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looking to hire you for a hit but what is the recommended way to convert cash to Bitcoin anonymously Dog Day God was
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concerned that pulling out a large sum of money to buy a Bitcoin would raise suspicion of the authorities so they
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wanted advice on how to hide the transaction the response from Besser mafia was swift and helpful the customer
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service administrator provided dog day God with the names of a couple of Bitcoin traders that didn't require
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identification and suggest that there were several ways to explain away the missing money investment purchasing
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goods and services or gambling online dog day God wrote back the target will be traveling out of town to Moline
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Illinois in March what is the price in Bitcoin for a hit ideally making it look like an accident
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several emails went back and forth between dog day God into the administrator of the Besser mafia saw it
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the starting point was five thousand dollars which would be a hit by a low-level gang member wearing a
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turtleneck and using a handgun staging an accident would usually cost an extra four thousand they eventually settled on
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six thousand dollars for a gang member to wait at a predetermined location Andrea Mamie with a stolen car Dog Day
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God provided details of a trip Amy would be taking to a dog training event in Moline on March 19 2016 the best mafia
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admin agreed to take the job and told Dog Day God on March 19 make sure you were surrounded by people most of the
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day or in public places where they have video surveillance if you have a good alibi they can't do anything else then
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say it was an accident and close the case don't die God responded thank you for the reminder I will make sure I have a
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good alibi the transaction was completed the Bitcoin paid and everything set for
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a me all want to be killed in Moline Illinois on March 20 don't day God wrote to Besser mafia asking whether the job
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had been carried out besa mafia replied no not yet the Hitman has followed her but he didn't have the
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chance to do the hit yet he needs to be in a position where he can hit her car to the driver door to make sure she dies
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besa mafia suggested a sniper might be a better option provided nobody would suspect don't they God if amy was
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obviously murdered don't de God responded no I would not be a suspect on fine with whatever you think is best
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besa mafia are assured Dog Day God that a sniper had a 100% success rate but would cost another $6,000 Dog Day God
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didn't have the amount handy and the hit man was apparently unable to find an opportune time to rename his car so the
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hit was not carried out the next day besa mafia wrote we don't usually ask this because we are not interested in
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the reason why the people are killed but if she is your wife for some family member we can do it in your city as well
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making it look like an accident or robbery dog day guard right back not my wife but I was thinking the same
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thing how much would it be to kill her at home and to then burn their house so that they cannot tell if anything was
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stolen I'm not sure if they have anything worth stealing this Thursday I know she will be home between about 9:00
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and noon Central Time her home address is 76 24 110 Street South Cottage Grove Minnesota near
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Minneapolis Besser mafia are great to kill Amy at home and burn down the house but it would cost an extra 10 Bitcoin
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that day God deposited the extra funds the next day and emailed Besser mafia confirmation that the deposit had gone
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to a specific Bitcoin address Bitcoin addresses are a string of 34 characters and numbers each address is unique and
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is proof that a transaction took place anyone can go online to the site blockchain dot info and see exactly when
00:14:04
and how much Bitcoin has moved into or out of an address although there is no way of telling who is on either side of
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the transaction don't de God wrote ok I've got some more details on her schedule I'm trying to get as much as I
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can without being obvious it looks like she'll be home tomorrow from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. and Thursday from 12:00 to
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1:00 p.m. those are the only times that I know about at the moment let me know the plan
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so I can be somewhere else public I know her husband has a big tractor so I suspect that he has gas cans in the
00:14:40
garage but I do not know that for sure she usually drives the sienna so if that's there she should be home Thursday
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March 24 came and went and amy was not killed besa mafia said the hitmen had problems
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trying to get to the location and asked if the hit could be carried out another time doc de God replied yes I do want it
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done but I have to pretend to be her friend to get this information and it's driving me crazy to be nice to her I'm
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also afraid that if I dig for information too many more times that it will look strange they rescheduled for
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the following Monday morning but again the hit wasn't carried out according to Besser mafia this time the
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assigned hitman was stopped by police for a registration check and as he was in a stolen car he was taken in for
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questioning Dog Day God was getting frustrated in her robe I realized that things happen but this [ __ ] has torn my
00:15:49
family apart by sleeping with my husband who then left me and he's stealing clients from my business I've had to
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continue to act like a friend to get information and I cannot do it anymore I've gone out of my way to try and get
00:16:03
you good information I feel that I am at risk of being suspected if I asked too many more questions you have had three
00:16:11
good attempts at her and none of them have worked a lot to the idea of shooting and fire because I think it
00:16:17
would look like a robbery and cover-up but I'm at the point that I do not care how it's done I believe that if I go
00:16:23
about my regular routine that I will not be a suspect if it's not done in some way by May 1st then I would like my
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money back does that sound like enough time for you I cannot get my hopes built up again like I did this weekend I don't
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care about date or method you have a picture and address so you can tell her or do whatever you need to do to get the
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job done I do know that she is going to take a trip to Atlanta the weekend of April 7 to 10 but I do not know the
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details I also was passing by recently when they had the garage door open and I was able
00:17:00
to see that they have three five gallon gas cans just outside the door from the house to the garage and what looked like
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a propane tank as well I'm not sure if any of them are full but they are there thanks for your help with this I need
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her out of my life so I can move on as the story unfolded in the Cottage Grove police station Stephen and Amy Alwin
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expressed the great shock as far as Amy was aware she had no enemies she never even had disagreements with anyone
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personal or business she was a normal suburban housewife who had just three things in life she cared about her
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family her church and her dogs she was adamant that she had never been and would never be unfaithful to her husband
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their marriage was rock solid and that would go against everything she believed in Amy Alwine grew up dedicating herself
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to her faith into helping others born to a couple who were adherence to a fundamentalist religion which later
00:18:13
became known as the United Church of God amy was the middle child with an older sister and younger brother the children
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were not allowed to take part in extracurricular activities at school nor did they have any friends from outside
00:18:27
the church amy attendant would bury high school where her participation in school
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life was limited to lessons nevertheless Amy had a happy childhood and had a social life that revolved around at the
00:18:41
family's faith she was an enthusiastic cheerleader for the church basketball team and put a lot of time into
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developing dance routines for the girls on the squad adhering to the conservative values of the church there
00:18:54
were no skimpy outfits or suggestive moves in Amy's choreography Stevan or one met Amy when they were
00:19:02
both students at ambassador College in Big Sandy Texas Stephen was also from a family that worshiped at the United
00:19:10
Church of God not so much an educational institution as a training ground to prepare youthful life and service in
00:19:17
church the college had a motto recapturing true values Stephen and Amy got to know each other through church
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socials where they would always choose each other as dance partners after college
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Stephen moved to Amy's hometown of st. Paul Minnesota and they married on August 11 1996 in Cottage Grove Amy's
00:19:41
father Charles placed Amy's hand into Stephen's and said take good care of my little girl both Stephen and Amy were
00:19:51
deeply committed to the church God and religion played a central part in their life together the United Church of God
00:19:58
had here strictly and literally to the teachings of the Bible including those of the Old Testament in some circles the
00:20:06
small religion is defined as a cult members are expected to marry only within of the faith which meant
00:20:13
according to one former member the pool was very small Stephen and Amy did not observe Christmas or Easter as the
00:20:22
United Church of God teaches that these are pagan celebrations the old ones attended services every Saturday at a
00:20:29
modest building in st. Paul they would arrive around 12:30 a good hour before the service began and would stay for all
00:20:36
the activities afterwards not leaving until the evening [Music] Stephen and Amy spent most of their
00:20:47
spare time together and to the bulk of that time was devoted to church business they traveled extensively serving
00:20:55
congregations around the world and taking part in humanitarian efforts the two were ordained as deacon and a
00:21:02
Deaconess of the United Church of God in the spring of 2006 after that Stephen rose to the position of elder with
00:21:11
responsibility for canceling married couples giving sermons at church and anointing those who fell ill a year
00:21:19
later they adopted their only child a son Amy bringing him home when he was just two days of there was an open
00:21:27
adoption into the Alwine stayed in touch with his birth mother she had chosen them because amy was unable to have
00:21:34
children they were dog people and they were a very loving and affectionate couple
00:21:41
the desperately wanted child became part of the family and joined the tradition of Friday night dinners with amy's
00:21:47
parents and brother on those nights Amy's mother would put out the good China and silverware while her father
00:21:53
prepared the food Amy always brought dessert usually strawberry pie which was her mother's favorite when he was old
00:22:02
enough their son Joe would join Amy in picking the biggest juiciest fresh strawberries they could find to make the
00:22:08
pie well known and loved for her generosity amy travelled extensively doing charitable deeds and spreading the
00:22:17
word of god to developing countries the entire family amy's parents siblings husband and two later their son would
00:22:26
travel overseas every other year for the full religious festival of their church
00:22:30
the harvest feast amy's primary passion outside the church was dogs she had been
00:22:39
a dog lover since childhood and as an adult she became an active and popular member of the dog training and
00:22:44
competition scene before long her Australian Shepherds were frequent competition winners thanks to Amy's
00:22:51
talent for training that knack with dogs saw Amy turned her hobby into a career training other people's dogs to compete
00:22:59
in agility trials and competitions she opened her training school active dog sports and threw herself into the
00:23:07
business of dog training in a way that was consistent with her values although her core business was the trained dogs
00:23:13
to be competitive she didn't put pressure on owners who wanted to keep the training just for fun her clients
00:23:20
both dog and human adored her the dog training shed on the old wines property was three times the size of
00:23:28
their house and Amy made sure it was kept immaculate active dog sports grew to be a respected and successful
00:23:36
business offering an array of dog related services and leading the way in dog nose work amy sunny personality and
00:23:45
her training by positive reinforcement saw her friendship group among fellow dog lovers grow to become second only to
00:23:52
her church group despite her growing success Amy's first priority continued to be her family in
00:24:00
her church she would never work or attend shows on Saturday which was her Sabbath she was known for being
00:24:07
relentlessly positive friends claimed she was never without a huge smile and who they describe her as a sweet
00:24:14
friendly and a loving person she was never negative never judgmental and never gossipy
00:24:21
whilst being utterly devoted to her faith Amy wasn't evangelical to those who didn't share her beliefs according
00:24:29
to those who knew her in the competitive dog circles one of her most outstanding
00:24:33
attributes was her empathy part of that empathy was her ability to imagine how she would feel if someone were to impose
00:24:41
their beliefs onto her ami Alwine appeared to have it all she seemed to be the last person in the
00:24:53
world there should have been the subject of a dark web here but there was no question that the details provided to
00:24:59
Besser mafia were her the reason the FBI had advised Amy that she was not in any
00:25:05
immediate danger when they first visited her house was because the hack of the Besser mafia website had revealed
00:25:12
something else Besser mafia was a con and build a God had been one of the worst scammed a
00:25:22
total of 147 messages went back and forth between build a god and abasa mafia with plans made to kill Amy all
00:25:30
one one over a dozen different days finally on May 20 2016 doc day God gave up and demanded a refund riding that's
00:25:41
it your local guys suck they cannot do simple things even when given plenty of time I will try again later with one of
00:25:49
your pros but it would need to save up for that can you give me a quote of what I would need to work with a pro and then
00:25:55
I will try to get a new order worked up in a couple months until then please refund more money besa mafia responded
00:26:06
by telling Dog Day God that the site had been hacked and if don't de God didn't cough up another 10 bitcoins their
00:26:12
emails would be forwarded to the police that was a little over a week before the
00:26:18
FBI visited Cottage Grove however the fact that dog day God had been scammed and Amy had never been in any danger
00:26:25
from Besser mafia didn't change the fact that somebody who knew intimate details
00:26:30
of Amy's life and paid a large sum of money to have her killed and to that somebody presumably still wanted her
00:26:37
dead FBI Special Agent silkie asked the old ones if any of the details in the messages made them think of anyone in
00:26:47
their lives Amy was adamant that she had not carried on an affair and that she could not imagine who Dodd day God might
00:26:54
be the best lead they had was the assertion that if Amy died don't day God would inherit her business
00:27:02
Amy's husband Stephen had no interest in dogs and too knew nothing about the business of dog training
00:27:09
Amy reluctantly provided the names of her colleagues including her best friend Sharon and fellow dog trainers Gayle and
00:27:17
Kristin of all of them Stephen and Amy said the clues pointed most closely to Kristin who had helped Amy set up her
00:27:24
computer network and online presence Kristin also watched the irwins dogs for them while they were away in her child
00:27:32
sometimes played with the all ones son but interviews with Sharon Gayle and Kristin went nowhere with no other leads
00:27:42
the police asked Amy to provide a list of everybody who knew her well especially in the dog training world
00:27:48
Amy provided a list of hundreds of names and the FBI made some discreet inquiries
00:27:53
of those who might have accessed to the level of detail about Amy's life that dog day God had the overwhelming
00:28:01
response was that Amy had not an enemy in the world and nobody could think of anyone who would want to harm her every
00:28:08
single person the police spoke to was adamant that there was no way amy was having or had ever had an extramarital
00:28:15
affair with their inquiries going nowhere special agent Pasha Sookie provided Amy
00:28:22
with his business card and told her to contact him anytime she wanted he'd was the all wines to install extra security
00:28:29
at the residence and report any suspicious activity to the police immediately Stephen said about
00:28:36
installing an alarm on the secluded house and put new codes on the garage door he set up notion detection cameras
00:28:44
on each entry point to the house other than the patio door that led to the backyard where the dogs usually roamed
00:28:50
all day and would keep setting the cameras off unnecessarily the old one became more vigilant about their
00:28:57
surroundings and in June 2016 Amy called the police to report a suspicious blue van parked at the end of
00:29:04
the street police attended but it turned out to be somebody who worked in here by taking a
00:29:09
nap [Music] Stephen decided on a further more drastic measure although the old ones
00:29:17
already had a shotgun and two rifles On June 22 2016 he applied for a permit to purchase a handgun for personal
00:29:25
protection pay and Amy went shopping and settled on a Springfield 9-millimeter they kept the gun in a handgun case
00:29:33
under Amy's side of the bed and to the key inside a cupboard next to the bathtub in the ensuite bathroom
00:29:40
the two had date nights where they went to the range to learn how to shoot properly Stephen slept with the shotgun
00:29:46
on his side of the bed Stephen also obtained a concealed carry permit for the 9-millimeter but rarely had cause to
00:29:54
use it the one time he did carry the handgun was when he visited Kristen when she asked him over to help set up a
00:30:01
Wi-Fi security system the old one still weren't sure whether they could trust Kristen but the visit was without
00:30:08
incident after the fbi's visit Amy took special agent silky at his word and started
00:30:15
contacting him regularly she would let him know what was going on in her life and how she was feeling about it the two
00:30:23
struck up why - a silky described as a friendship they had a number of telephone conversations and several
00:30:29
meetings in person Amy's husband Steven attended at least two of these meetings but other times amy would meet with a
00:30:36
special agent alone several weeks went by without incident as often happens with these things Steven and Amy soon
00:30:48
became relaxed in setting the alarm codes on the doors they resumed to their day-to-day lives
00:30:55
Steven working from home and his two jobs from the basement Amy conducting dog training classes and both of them
00:31:02
participating in church activities although she confided in her best friend Sharon and the two of them puzzled over
00:31:10
who could possibly be behind the plot amy kept the threats to herself not even telling her parents who were just
00:31:17
worried she downplayed the seriousness to those who knew because they had been questioned by police from the outside
00:31:25
nobody could tell anything was wrong Amy continued to be the same bubbly happy person when she attended her regular
00:31:33
meetings with the dog community however she would sometimes sit and talk with her sister and admit that inside
00:31:40
she was devastated that there was someone that thought the world would be better off without her and she had no
00:31:46
idea who it had broken Amy's heart to provide names of her friends to police there were people she knew and laughed
00:31:54
and she did not think for a moment they had anything to do with threatening her life on July 31 2016
00:32:04
Amy Alwine called agent Asha silky honey cell phone clearly upset she had just received a disturbing email when she
00:32:14
told him what it said special agent silky jumped into his car and went straight to the old wines house Amy had
00:32:23
received an email from an anonymous email address from someone called Jane it said Amy your family is in danger
00:32:33
last Sunday you received an email with the solution to this problem and you have not done anything about it yet are
00:32:41
you so selfish that you will put your family's lives at risk if you did not see the email then check
00:32:47
your junk mail soon ami did not recall any such emails so she checked her spam folder sure enough
00:32:57
there was an email from the same person calling themselves as Jane dated a few days earlier it said Amy I still blame
00:33:09
you for my life falling apart I don't know how a fat [ __ ] like you got to my husband but because of you he left and
00:33:16
my life has become [ __ ] I'm sending you this email because it looks like you already know about me I see that you
00:33:23
have put up a security system near there not being informed by people on the Internet
00:33:28
the police was snooping around my earlier emails I've been assured that the emails are untraceable and that they
00:33:34
will not find me but I can not attack you directly with them watching here's what's going to happen since I cannot
00:33:42
get to you I will come after everything else that you love I know about your son
00:33:48
your husband and your business and thanks to the Internet I see you have a mother and father in Woodbury a brother
00:33:55
in st. Paul and a sister in Yardley Pennsylvania I've been busy researching topics on the
00:34:03
Internet and have found that if you inject the water into the bright wine then you will cause them to fail what
00:34:10
would happen if the brakes on the truck failed when your husband was hauling a heavy load I found how to blow up a gas
00:34:17
meter and to make it look like an accident I know that the meter on your house and your business are on the east
00:34:22
side and the meter on your parents house is on the south side I'm still watching
00:34:29
you and your family while I did not see your son this week I saw last Friday he was wearing a bright pink shirt I see
00:34:38
that you moved to the RV here is how you can save your family commit suicide if you did not then you
00:34:49
will slowly see things taken away from you and each time you'll know that you could have stopped it which will eat you
00:34:55
apart from the inside by the time I am done you will want to end it anyway so why not do it now and save them I think
00:35:04
it's an easy choice one life to save six lives your family does not need you but
00:35:11
you can save them do not tell anyone about this email what this deal is off and I will come after your family unless
00:35:20
you are a heartless selfish [ __ ] then I expect to see your obituary in the paper
00:35:25
in the next couple weeks amy was understandably upset by this new turn of events Asha silkie asked Amy
00:35:38
about the information specified in the email and she confirmed that details such as the location of the meters and
00:35:45
to the fact that Joseph had been wearing a pink shirt the week before were correct however the author had been
00:35:51
wrong about the address of her sister the threatening email was sent via a disposable Lee mail service where users
00:36:00
can send emails anonymously making them untraceable nevertheless the FBI took the threat seriously and asked Sivan
00:36:08
Alwine for consent to review the family's electronics which he gave immediately the feds took away their
00:36:16
computers imaged them and returned them a day or two later nothing relevant was found the FBI also revisited some of the
00:36:27
people involved in the dog training world and image to their electronics as well again the FBI found nothing through
00:36:36
several email exchanges with the FBI Amy was eventually put at ease by the opinion that a move from trying to
00:36:43
arrange for Amy's murder - telling her to kill herself was an overall de-escalation of the situation
00:36:50
Amy assured Special Agent silkie that she would not be taking Jane's advice to end her own life her family needed her
00:36:58
and it was at complete odds with the teachings of her church a few weeks later Amy enrolled in the eight-week
00:37:06
Cottage Grove Citizens Police Academy under the question on her application asking why she was interested in
00:37:13
attending the Academy Amy wrote I would like to learn more about the police department what it does and how it works
00:37:21
I would also like to see what I can do to support them better as a citizen when it came to the four-hour ride along with
00:37:29
an officer that was part of the Academy experience Amy naturally requested she'd be
00:37:34
assigned to accompany a k-9 officer in October 2016 the all one family went on there
00:37:42
your pilgrimage to the United Church of gods Fall Festival faced in Germany the whole family noted that amy was happier
00:37:50
and more relaxed than she had been in a long time far away from Cottage Grove and to the
00:37:56
person who wanted her dead on the afternoon of November 13 2016 after a morning spent trapshooting Troy
00:38:07
Larson was cleaning his koi pond when he glanced across the road he had lived on
00:38:13
one hundred and tenth Street for 11 years and he had met his neighbors Steven and Amy Alwine but didn't really
00:38:19
know them he noticed with passing interest that heavy white grey smoke was coming from the old wines would burn off
00:38:27
he only noticed because it was unseasonable warm in fact Troy was wearing just a t-shirt and none of the
00:38:36
other neighbors had their wood burners running that day the old ones dogs were barking but the dogs were always barking
00:38:45
so Troy Larson went back to tending to his pond that afternoon several people were in the old wine shed that housed
00:38:56
active dog sports training the large shed was located just meters away from the old whines house some of the
00:39:04
trainers had independent access to the facility which they could book online for private dog training sessions that
00:39:11
day there was a canine no square class that went from 4:45 to 5:45 p.m. the class was run by a dog trainer named
00:39:20
Barbara and five students were in attendance the students were startled sometime toward the end of the class to
00:39:28
hear screeching and skidding tires right outside the building as if somebody was
00:39:32
leaving in a hurry it was not enough that two of the students exchanged looks that said what the hell was that but it
00:39:40
was not enough that anybody went outside to check the class finished at 5:45 and everyone
00:39:48
was gone by 6:00 p.m. a little before 7:00 p.m. that evening save an old wine arrived home with his son Joe went in
00:39:59
ahead of Stephen while he unpacked the car as Stephen removed his shoes in the mudroom Joe came back and asked why's
00:40:09
mummy lying on the floor thank you for listening to today's episode we'll be back soon the last defense is an ABC
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file that's MVM t.com / case file join the movement amy was beside the bed staring up at the
00:44:41
ceiling she was warm but there was no pulse which was unsurprising given the blood and brain matter on the floor
00:44:49
beneath her head the gun was near her left elbow and one shell casing was near her right foot Stephen called 9-1-1 and
00:44:59
said I think I think my wife shot herself there's blood all over the operator tried to get information out of
00:45:09
him as he spoke to his anxious son in the background Stephen provided the address as well as
00:45:14
details on the number of a guns in the house he told the operator he had last seen Amy when he left the house sometime
00:45:21
before 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. the operator asked him to check on his wife to determine if she was still breathing
00:45:29
she's not breathing I can't tell where she's shot I don't know [Music] Cottage Grove police department patrol
00:45:39
officers arrived while Stephen was still on the phone the smell of roasting pumpkin emanated from the kitchen
00:45:47
Stephen and his 9 year old son was standing in the garage amy was on the floor of her bedroom a gunshot wound to
00:45:55
her head a 9-millimeter Springfield handgun on the floor beside her she lay flat on her back her arm splayed out to
00:46:03
the sides in a pool of blood beside her neatly made bed her pants were undone and her red sweater slightly pulled up
00:46:11
displaying her stomach and underwear sergeant Gwen Martin one of the first responders was stunned to recognize Amy
00:46:20
from the citizens Academy on her class evaluation Amy had just written I would like to do this again in a few years
00:46:28
amy was passionate about her business eager to learn during the citizens Academy and future-oriented nothing in
00:46:36
her demeanor suggests that she was suicidal sergeant when Martin broke down when notifying Detective Sergeant Rhee
00:46:44
Andy McAllister who was the on-call detective that evening there was an apparent suicide she told him and he
00:46:51
needed to attend MacAlister was perplexed suicides while tragic were a common enough occurrence
00:47:00
for the Cottage Grove police department and not something that required a detective to attend
00:47:06
Gwen Martin's men are also concerned him the sergeant who was also a trained paramedic was abnormally distraught as
00:47:15
her voice choked Martin handed the phone to her partner sergeant Pat nickel nickel taught McAlister that the victim
00:47:23
had been a recent graduate from sergeant Martin's class in the Citizens Police Academy her name was Amy Alwine Randy
00:47:32
McAllister felt the stirring of recognition at the name she was the one that was threatened on the internet that
00:47:39
time nickel filled in upon hearing that Detective Sergeant McAllister lost no time in getting dressed and making his
00:47:47
way to the Alwine property he was on the alert for anything that looked out of the ordinary that occurred to him that a
00:47:55
woman planning on ending her life was unlikely to be cooking dinner shortly before as Amy had been doing there was
00:48:03
also something not quite right with the blood beneath her body and there was a film over the floorboards outside the
00:48:09
bedroom is if they had been recently cleaned there was a large pool of blood on the carpet around Amy's head which
00:48:17
was to be expected but McAlister was more interested in the drops to the left he had seen many suicide scenes over the
00:48:24
years as both paramedic and detective and these look out of place as though they had dripped from something being
00:48:31
suspended from above the area blood from both her nose and mouth had dripped down
00:48:37
the left side of her face despite her being flood on her back facing straight to the ceiling this suggests that that
00:48:44
at some time her head had been on its side and was later placed facing upwards the clean patch on the wooden floor just
00:48:52
outside the bedroom door was at odds with the rest of the house including the bedroom which was messy with dog hair
00:49:00
the police quizzed Stephen Alwine in an attempt to determine Amy's last movements
00:49:06
Stephen tell police he had been working from home that day as he usually did from his basement Amy had said she
00:49:13
wasn't feeling well and he had checked on her throughout the morning they had lunch together around midday after which
00:49:19
Amy went to lie down Amy's father Charles came to the house that afternoon to finish off installing a new dog door
00:49:28
Charles was a frequent visitor to the home and enjoyed helping them with handyman projects he put the dogs in
00:49:35
their kennels in the mudroom so that they wouldn't disturb him doing their job as Amy was feeling poorly and having
00:49:42
a lie-down her father chose not to bother her he finished the job and left the house
00:49:47
without speaking to his daughter Charles had only driven five minutes down the road when he got a call from Stephen
00:49:54
asking him to return and take their son Joe as Amy had decided to go to the hospital
00:50:00
Charles returned to pick up his grandson who was waiting outside for him afterwards Stephen said that when he
00:50:08
went back to Amy she was sitting up and looked a little off she said she was lightheaded and
00:50:14
felt dizzy with a dry mouth Stephen googled the symptoms which he found were consistent with a stroke or
00:50:21
heart issues nevertheless Amy changed her mind deciding not to go to hospital but to
00:50:28
remain in bed Stephen returned to his office in the basement and continued to work Amy the severe migraines sometimes
00:50:38
especially when she had her period and today had been more frequent since the incidents with the FBI Stephen said he
00:50:46
looked in on her one more time before he went to collect their son Joe at around
00:50:50
5:00 p.m. when Stephen left Amy was kneeling beside the bed and he assumed she was praying
00:50:59
usually a the Steven or Amy would take Joe to ninja warrior class that evening but they were running late because
00:51:06
Steven had stopped to get gas and to then spoke to Charles about Amy's health for a while
00:51:11
so instead Steven and Joe went straight to dinner at Culver's a fast-food restaurant about a five-minute drive
00:51:18
from their house they texted Amy to see if she wanted anything but they got no reply Stephen had the receipts for both
00:51:26
gas and dinner when they got home Stephen removed his shoes in the mudroom the dogs were still in their kennels as
00:51:35
Stephen had not released them after Charles had finished installing the new dog door when Joe found his mother in a
00:51:41
pool of blood on the bedroom floor Stephen called 9-1-1 police allowed Stephen to call whoever he needed to his
00:51:52
first call was to amy's parents Charles and Diane to whom he blurted out amy is dead she shot us off Charles and Diane
00:52:02
rushed over along with Amy's brother Stephen also called their pastor Brian Shaw who
00:52:08
dropped everything to come to the house Stephen told officers that Amy had not acted or claimed to be depressed that
00:52:17
day in fact she'd been getting better lately something that was corroborated by her father Charles who stated that
00:52:24
her family were the world to Amy Stephen provided his two phones and their pass codes to police a black
00:52:32
Samsung Galaxy s7 and a silver iPhone 6 he readily submitted to a test for gunshot residue on his hands as well as
00:52:41
DNA samples from both him and his son when amy's parents advised that amy was right-handed and de McAlister saw the
00:52:50
gun placement was by her left elbow that was enough for him to want another set of eyes he called the state Bureau of
00:52:58
Criminal Apprehension and asked for one of its agents to attend the scene the rest of that night
00:53:04
the house was swarming with law enforcement officers some officers went door knocking among the neighbors to
00:53:11
determine if they saw or heard anything one of the neighbors mentioned the screeching car that had left the street
00:53:17
in a hurry earlier law enforcement officers and the medical examiner stayed at the Alwine house until early the next
00:53:24
morning they sprayed luminol on the floor which showed that a significant amount of blood had been spilled in the
00:53:31
hallway then tracked through the house at some stage they bagged Amy's hands to preserve them to test for gunshot
00:53:38
residue and prepared her for autopsy after all the formalities had been taken care of and Amy's body taken away by the
00:53:53
medical examiner the Cottage Grove police set to work one of the first things they did was to go back and look
00:54:00
through the files the FBI had created about the threats made to a me through the dark web one detective decided to do
00:54:07
his own dark web exploring he discovered that Besser mafia wasn't the only website that dog day God had used
00:54:15
somebody with the same username had created an account on the dream marketplace after the final message to
00:54:21
besa mafia dream was one of the large eBay like one-stop markets where buyers could buy any drug imaginable as well as
00:54:29
an array of other illegal goods Dante God had made just two posts on dream the first post was in the
00:54:38
marketplace discussion forum where dog day God wrote looking for drug dealer physically located in Minneapolis area
00:54:45
looking for a partner for a job need to be willing to stay anonymous and be paid
00:54:50
by Bitcoin the second post thug day God made said does anyone have scopolamine for sale scopolamine is a drug used to
00:55:03
treat motion sickness but is dangerous in large doses it is sometimes referred to as the zombie drug as it's said to
00:55:10
induce him neva when too much is ingested it can make the user so drowsy that they are incapacitated and it can
00:55:17
make unsuspecting victims highly susceptible to suggestion although dog day God didn't get a public
00:55:24
response to the first request there were two replies about the scopolamine the first anticipated that it was to be used
00:55:32
for no good and said avoid that [ __ ] mate it's dangerous as [ __ ] and you will
00:55:38
kill someone however the second response provided dog day God with the name of a
00:55:44
seller and the following warning be careful that [ __ ] will make you gladly hand over your kidneys and have no idea
00:55:52
where why or who - when you come back to reality when Detective Sergeant McAllister heard about this he made a
00:56:02
phone call to the medical examiner and made a request that the examiner had never had before he asked her to test a
00:56:09
me Alwine for the presence of scopolamine when detectives invited Stephen auld one
00:56:16
to attend the police station for further chat two days after Amy's death he agreed
00:56:21
immediately but brought two people with him his attorney Kevin Devore and the Regional pastor for the United Church of
00:56:28
God Brian Shaw pastor Brian Shaw oversaw the educational social and recreational
00:56:36
programs of the regional congregations and provided counsel and guidance to local membership Stephen was a preacher
00:56:43
at the Twin Falls congregation and also provided counseling to married couples the church held strong views on subjects
00:56:52
such as infidelity and divorce anyone guilty of breaching the marital vows by either means would not be allowed to
00:56:58
hold a formal position in the church and may even be asked to leave the congregation altogether on this day
00:57:06
pastor Shaw was asked to wait outside as Stephen and his attorney attended the interview with special agent Michele
00:57:12
fraccion of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Stephen said he did not want passed ashore or anyone from the
00:57:19
church knowing that Amy had committed suicide during the two-hour interview Stephen was subdued and softly spoken he
00:57:29
only perked up when he spoke about his church his voice would become stronger and he would sit up to attention he
00:57:37
answered all of the questions about Amy into their life together hunched over the desk not referring to his attorney
00:57:43
at all he told police he couldn't explain a cleaned-up blood on the hallway floor outside the bedroom and
00:57:49
said nobody in the family have had any injuries as far as he knew he said he had not heard of the dark web until the
00:57:57
FBI visited Stephen was asked if he had a gut feeling about who might be behind for threats and emails and he said that
00:58:05
some but not all details pointed the fellow dog trainer Kristen he offered up that he had no idea where
00:58:12
Amy's dog trolls took her but Kristen did and she had made the arrangements for the Moline trip
00:58:19
Stephen then talked about the email from Jane telling Amy to kill herself he said
00:58:25
he didn't believe she would actually do it as anyone who took their own life would
00:58:29
not be allowed to enter heaven when the police asked again about the allegations
00:58:35
in the emails and messages about Amy being a homewrecker Stephen dropped a bombshell it was he who had been
00:58:43
unfaithful Stephen had a lover her name was Michelle and she knew all about Amy Stephen and Michelle had met on a
00:58:56
website called Ashley Madison Ashley Madison was a dating web site with a difference rather than matchmaking
00:59:03
singles looking for love it catered exclusively to those who were seeking an extramarital hookup not surprisingly the
00:59:11
site came under considerable criticism for its unabashed advertising life short have an affair
00:59:18
Stephen claimed he had learned about Ashley Madison from younger church members during his counseling sessions
00:59:24
he turned to Ashley Madison out of curiosity his first attempt dinner at the legends Golf Club ended abruptly
00:59:32
when after the meal his day said she had to go to the bathroom and had never returned his next match Michelle proved
00:59:40
to be more successful Michelle was a small slim blonde in her 40s who had suffered with anxiety and depression
00:59:48
Michelle was married but she claimed it was an open relationship they started seeing each other in
00:59:54
October 2015 when Stephen offered to attend a doctor's appointment with Michelle
00:59:59
after that they would meet for coffee lunch dinner and sex most often when amy was on one of her many trips attending
01:00:07
dog training events and competitions there Troost's would usually take place in Michelle's house but Stephen also
01:00:14
took her away on to work trips as an anxious nervous person Michelle appreciated Stephens kindness
01:00:22
and polite demeanor he sometimes spoke of Amy saying he didn't know what the future hold for their marriage he told
01:00:29
her Amy didn't spend enough time with the family preferring to be working with the dogs and that community he never
01:00:36
spoke of his faith so Michelle was surprised when she googled him to discover that he held a position in the
01:00:42
United Church of God as a preacher his photograph and links to sermons were on their website alongside articles that
01:00:49
laid out the teachings of the church including those that said a member of the Church of God could never divorce
01:00:57
around February 2016 Stephen and Michelle's relationship started to cool off nevertheless they still met up from
01:01:05
time to time they met for lunch on Stevens birthday in March where he was running late
01:01:10
because he had locked his keys in the trunk in April Stephen finally gave in to Michelle's
01:01:17
curiosity about where he lived amy was out of town at a dog show and Stephen walked Michelle through the house April
01:01:26
was the last time they were intimate together a few months later in September Stephen and Michelle met up again for
01:01:33
lunch Stephen told Michelle about the FBI visit and the threats against Amy he told her that the threats were coming
01:01:40
from someone who hoped to take over the business Michelle responded who would want to
01:01:46
kill somebody over a $50,000 business Stephen told police all about Michelle in his interview that day but he
01:01:56
referred to it as having had a short fling a couple of years ago he said it initially started off as a friendship as
01:02:02
Michelle was going through a rough time in her life and due to the fact that he was a minister there was more of a
01:02:08
counseling role he said he had told her about the FBI investigation as it was a stressful point in his life and he
01:02:16
needed to share it with someone Steven decided there was no need to tell his pastor about Michelle he also decided
01:02:24
Amy's parents didn't need to know especially as Stephen and Joe were in the process of moving in with them
01:02:31
Amy's parents had insisted that Stephen and Joe could not possibly stay where the tragedy had occurred police again
01:02:40
interviewed Amy's colleague Kristin whom Stephen had mentioned several times during interrogations
01:02:45
she had a solid alibi she had been in Oklahoma at a dog show on the day of Amy's death something easily verified by
01:02:54
police the test physical pala meaning Amy Alwine system came back positive for an amount of 40 times the therapeutic
01:03:02
dose for motion sickness such a level would cause blurred vision confusion and hallucinations with the victim being
01:03:10
receptive to doing anything someone commanded of them detective Randy McAlister and the rest of the Cottage
01:03:18
Grove police department were now definitely treating Amy's death as murder murders were rare enough in
01:03:28
Cottage Grove murder-for-hire was unheard of terms like the dark web and Bitcoin were unfamiliar to the college
01:03:36
growth Police Department before the Amy auld one case however there had been one
01:03:41
police report lodged and then forgotten about way back in March that popped up when the police did a search on any
01:03:48
potentially related cases someone had walked into the Cottage Grove police department in March 2016 to make a very
01:03:56
unusual report they had been defrauded in a Bitcoin transaction the person said they had entered into a transaction with
01:04:05
an individual known only as mark to purchase training and test preparation materials for $6,000 mark wanted to be
01:04:13
paid in Bitcoin which was acquired and transferred but the goods were never delivered
01:04:19
the complainant suspicions that they had been defrauded was aroused when they noticed that mark had used an
01:04:24
untraceable gorilla mail address confirming the transaction the cottage grove police were not familiar with
01:04:32
Bitcoin and didn't really know what was being recorded to them in any event the person making the report didn't seem too
01:04:38
concerned about the police following up on the crime so the report was taken but
01:04:43
then filed away without any further investigation but now a report involving Bitcoin in early March 2016 the same
01:04:53
time dog day God was paying besser mafia to murder Amy Alwine seemed very significant detective McAllister pulled
01:05:02
out the paperwork to see if it hold any clues the person who made the report was
01:05:08
Stephen old wine now that the police had a reason to look at Amy's husband more closely they became even more thorough
01:05:17
in their searches five officers were assigned to almost full time hours uncovering and sifting through the
01:05:24
unusual evidence the police took a total of 66 devices belonging to Stephen and Amy all wine including computers laptops
01:05:33
phones and hard drives there were thousands of emails and pages of data for law enforcement and an independent
01:05:40
computer forensics investigator to sift through with little hope that anything could be recovered
01:05:45
Stephen Alwine was an IT specialist and if he was guilty he would have covered his tracks
01:05:52
however the specialists were able to recover some evidence from stephen's macbook pro that had not been completely
01:05:59
obliterated Stephen had told police that he had not heard of the dark web prior to being contacted by the FBI however
01:06:08
before the hit was placed on a me his macbook pro under the username s Alwine was used to search for the Tor network
01:06:16
the software required to get onto the dark web the search was also conducted for a system called tails which
01:06:23
eradicate all evidence of Tor based activity from the computer at all the user s all one conducted Google
01:06:31
searches for installing the tales operating system on an Acer computer notably an Acer branded computer or device was
01:06:39
not provided to the police by Steven Alwine shortly after the first message was sent by dog day god tabasum Alfio
01:06:48
Stevens MacBook Pro was used to conduct searches for Bitcoin the user profile S or one made several more searches for
01:06:56
Bitcoin and two made visits to a Bitcoin exchange over the next couple of days just minutes before Dog Day God sent a
01:07:04
message to Besser mafia describing exactly where a me would be in Moline Illinois the user s Alwine on Stevens
01:07:12
MacBook Pro googled canine nose work and reviewed an online event calendar for the trials then used Google Maps to
01:07:19
calculate moline's distance from Chicago this was the precise information that was then provided to Bessemer feel the
01:07:30
photograph of a me in Hawaii was uploaded to the family web site moments before dog day God provided a Tibetan
01:07:37
mafia on February 17 Stevens MacBook Pro was used to look up a $700,000 life insurance policy on Amy Alwine the
01:07:47
beneficiary of which was Steven the user wrestle-1 also conducted several searches for members of Amy's family on
01:07:56
Stevens MacBook Pro just days before Amy received the threatening email from Jane
01:08:01
that threatened her family not only did computer forensics discover what was on Stephen all wines MacBook
01:08:11
Pro they made a note of what was not found namely any evidence of the mysterious mark who had supposedly
01:08:18
transacted with Stephen over email to sell training equipment for Bitcoin other than the single email supplied by
01:08:26
Stephen to the police when making the report there were no other back and forth emails you might expect when
01:08:31
making a six thousand dollar business transaction the email from mark was sent using a disposable email address and
01:08:39
forensics proved that Stephens MacBook Pro had been used to access disposable email at the exact time that was sent
01:08:49
all of this along with other minor artifacts left on his computer and his phone such as access the Bitcoin
01:08:55
exchanges was mounting circumstantial evidence against Stephen or one but nothing that couldn't be explained away
01:09:02
by a clever lawyer investigators started going painstakingly through backups until they came to a backup of Stephens
01:09:11
iPhone created on August 3rd 2016 within that backup was a note which contained a
01:09:18
single line of 34 apparently random letters and numbers the note had been made and then deleted a minute later but
01:09:27
not before it had been backed up to the cloud the 34 characters and letters equated to
01:09:34
the exact address that dog day God had told Besser mafia that they had paid Bitcoin into to carry out the hit the
01:09:41
record showed the note was created around 20 seconds before the message was sent to Besser mafia Stephan had copied
01:09:49
the address and pasted it into the email to the murder-for-hire saw this was a smoking gun Bitcoin addresses are unique
01:09:58
and it created the direct nexus between dog day God and Stephan or one other evidence started coming in as well
01:10:08
Stephan worked for two companies and he said he had been working from his basement all day however both companies
01:10:15
confirmed that he had not logged on to their systems after lunch and he performed no work functions that
01:10:21
afternoon a review of the old ones video doorbell system determined that no person had rung the doorbell that day
01:10:28
until the police did nor had it been turned off the home security system data confirmed that nobody had come to the
01:10:37
house from the time Stephan left until he returned if a disgruntled dog owner had entered the house they somehow
01:10:44
managed to avoid all monitored entry points police contacted Michele who confirmed that she had had an affair
01:10:51
with Steven after meeting him through the Ashley Madison website she also told them about the day Steven had been
01:10:59
running late for that day because he had locked these keys in his car when buying
01:11:02
Bitcoin from someone in a fast food outlet car park upon reviewing the 9-1-1 call Steven had made after finding Amy
01:11:11
something really stood out as Steven spoke to the operator and simultaneously spoke to his son will Amy lay in a pool
01:11:19
of blood the little boy asked his father quite clearly are you gonna remarry Steven
01:11:26
laughed and replied but a no bud the evidence was mounting and it all pointed to just one person Amy all wines
01:11:38
husband Stephen who was currently living in the home of her parents On January 20 2017 Stephen all one was
01:11:54
arrested at a traffic stop on his way home from dropping his son to school Stephen was charged with the
01:12:00
second-degree murder of his wife Amy which suggested a non premeditated killing this seemed surprising given
01:12:07
that Stephen had apparently been planning his wife's murder for nearly a year Stephen soon posted the $500,000 bail
01:12:16
which had several conditions attached including GPS monitoring and only supervised visits with his son Joe Joe
01:12:25
was to stay with his maternal grandparents and Stephen returned to the home he had shared with Amy it was a
01:12:32
matter of just two weeks before Stephen was arrested again after Amy's parents reported to authorities that he had
01:12:38
tried to contact his son with whom he was supposed to have no one supervised to contact Stephen had asked amy's
01:12:45
parents to charge up his son's Smart Watch so that he could track his whereabouts the judge raised the amount
01:12:52
required for conditional bail to $600,000 and ordered Stephen to have no contact with his son or Amy's parents he
01:13:01
once again managed to post bail and was free to return home on March 24 2017 a grand jury elevated the charge against
01:13:12
Stephen to first-degree murder the judge said his unconditional bail at 2 million and a conditional bail at 1
01:13:18
million this time Stephen was unable to post it and he was remanded in custody to await trial on January 23
01:13:29
2018 after six days of questioning 50 potential jurors the opposing attorneys finally settled on a pool of eight women
01:13:37
and seven men to decide whether Stephen Alwine killed his wife three of them were spares
01:13:44
those who were chosen profess the working knowledge of computers but no in-depth technical expertise in his
01:13:53
final case before retirement district judge B William Eckstrom presided over the most bizarre trial Washington County
01:14:01
Minnesota had ever seen over the next week prosecutors drew together the threads of evidence the
01:14:08
point at the Steven auld one being Besser mafia customer dog day God into the men who ultimately pulled the
01:14:14
trigger that took Amy all whines life the prosecution claimed Steven Alwine gave Amy the scopolamine in her lunch
01:14:23
then got his son Joe out of the house before shooting a me while she was disorientated from the drug he then
01:14:31
cleaned up the blood and burned the cleaning cloth and any clothes that have been spotted later he went to collect
01:14:38
his son carefully keeping receipts from the places he visited as an alibi when he returned home he let his son go in
01:14:45
ahead of him to find his mother on the floor of the bedroom Stephen all wines motive for killing his wife was simply
01:14:54
that he wanted out of their marriage however nothing was more important to him than his status in the United Church
01:15:00
of God he would lose his role if he were to initiate divorce proceedings in fact
01:15:06
the church would probably ask him to leave the congregation altogether throughout the trial the courtroom was
01:15:14
filled to capacity with family from both sides Church congregation members and to
01:15:19
the professional dog training community they took their own notes which they would compare during breaks and probe
01:15:25
for inconsistencies in testimony Steven and Amy's pastor would spend breaks counseling family and friends who were
01:15:32
trying to make sense of what had happened Steven showed almost no emotion throughout the trial he did not turn to
01:15:40
look at his family and rarely acknowledged his own lawyer instead he would read through every report and
01:15:46
piece of evidence that was tendered and occasionally pour himself a paper cup of
01:15:50
water sometimes when it seemed appropriate such as when the 9-1-1 call was played and photographs of Amy's body
01:15:58
would spied he would appear to be solving however the box of tissues in front of
01:16:04
him remained untouched the trial called for a wide array of witnesses including an escort a Bitcoin trader a pawn broker
01:16:19
neighbors dog trainers an array of forensic and medical specialists as well as the law enforcement officers who had
01:16:26
attended the incident and worked the case the prosecution elicited responses from witnesses that cumulatively built
01:16:34
an airtight case against the defendant the Bitcoin trader confirmed that he had met Stephen at a fast-food restaurant to
01:16:41
selling Bitcoin and Stephens presence there was confirmed by a call out to roadside assistance when he locked his
01:16:47
keys in his car the escort confirmed she had met the man of God through backpage.com and they had
01:16:54
sex together for $400 for an overnight stay long before his Ashley Madison flings the bloody footprints at the
01:17:03
scene of the crime matched Stephen Erlewine sock fee the gunshot residue test was positive on his right hand the
01:17:11
furnace had been going that afternoon despite it being unseasonable warm which suggested Stephen had burned evidence
01:17:18
the security system showed there were no trips of the front door garage service door or egress window after Stephen
01:17:25
Alwine left the house to go pick up Joe meaning nobody entered the residence through those three entry points the
01:17:33
prosecution's case ended with a detailed timeline of the improbable coincidences
01:17:38
between the actions of Dog Day God and to the actions of Stephen Alwine it was impossible not to draw the conclusion
01:17:45
that both were one and the same all one's defense lawyer did his best with what he had there was a neighbor
01:17:53
who may or may not have seen Amy around 5:00 p.m. when the prosecution said she was dead there were the reports from
01:18:00
neighbors and the dog trainers using Amy's facility that two cars had brought away from the property at around 5:45
01:18:06
that evening it was the unlocked unmonitored patio door that was never tested for prints into the dogs that
01:18:14
were usually in the backyard to deter anyone from entering the house that way were locked in their kennels the
01:18:22
prosecution said Amy had been killed in the hallway and then moved to the bedroom however there was no blood on
01:18:28
the carpet between the hallway and Amy nor had the carpet been cleaned and it's unlikely Stephen could have carried her
01:18:37
with medical evidence ruling out suicide the only alternative theory the defense
01:18:43
could offer was that somebody else killed Amy that evening the intruders would have entered via the patio door
01:18:50
with the dog safely locked in their kennels killed the scopolamine dosed Amy while Stephen was establishing his alibi
01:18:57
and then wrought off in their separate vehicles however with overwhelming computer forensic evidence that fingered
01:19:05
Stephen as dog day God all this theory did was suggest Stephen had finally been successful in finding his hitmen either
01:19:14
way it took the jury just eight hours to declare Stephen guilty of premeditated murder given that Stephen had gunshot
01:19:23
residue on his right hand they determined that having failed to hire a hitman he pulled the trigger himself at
01:19:32
the sentencing hearing Amy's family spoke of the hole left in their lives her parents had come to the trial with
01:19:38
open hearts hoping that Stephen would be proven innocent they had provided Stephen with a home
01:19:45
from the time of Amy's death until he was arrested so they felt doubly betrayed when the evidence convinced
01:19:51
them they had been housing not only an adulterer but their daughter's murderer for the first time
01:19:59
Stephen spoke in a rambling speech that went too long he maintained his innocence and the love for Amy he said
01:20:07
he had been locked up with drug addicts child molesters and kidnappers but that he was bringing God to them three
01:20:14
atheists so far had been turned and were now attending Bible studies regularly judge Eckstrom was having none of it
01:20:22
addressing Stephen directly he told him he believed he was a hypocrite and a gray doctor who could turn tears on and
01:20:29
off Stephen was sentenced to mandatory life in prison without parole the United Church of God put out a
01:20:40
lengthy public release that expressed concern about the potential negative media coverage the case could bring the
01:20:45
church given the fact that mr. Alwin was technically a lay minister at the time the barely mentioned Amy
01:21:08
this episode of case file was researched and written by Arlene Ormsby author of the darkest web drugs death and
01:21:16
destroyed lives the inside story of the Internet's evil twin you can read more about amy old wines murder as well as
01:21:23
other dark web-enabled crimes in the darkest web [Music] you [Music]