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NARRATOR: In Land
O'Lakes, Wisconsin, it's rare to hear the
siren of an ambulance.
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So the death of an otherwise
healthy young woman was particularly troubling. To solve the mystery, a computer
expert, a suicidologist,
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and a forensic plumber worked
together to find the answers. [theme music] NARRATOR: It was a crisp, clear
day in Land O'Lakes, Wisconsin,
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when Ken Johnson got the news
that his 28-year-old daughter was dead. KEN JOHNSON: It's
a beautiful day.
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People were out, walking
around, and enjoying this day. How can they do that? Our daughter has just died.
DISPATCHER: 911.
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What is your emergency?
HUSBAND: I need an ambulance! I think my wife is dead. I found her in the toilet.
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And she was-- she was
face first in the toilet. DISPATCHER: OK.
HUSBAND: Oh my god!
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Oh my god! DISPATCHER: We've
got them coming, sir. HUSBAND: Oh my god! NARRATOR: When
paramedics arrived,
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Genelle Plude was on
the bathroom floor. Her husband, a trained
EMT, was performing CPR.
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But it was too late. She was declared dead
a short time later. -I just remember at the point,
screaming and all, you know,
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and just saying we're
going to be there in a bit. NARRATOR: The death
appeared to be a suicide.
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39 empty capsules
of Fioricet were found in a bathroom
trash basket. Fioricet is a barbiturate
that had been prescribed
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for Genell's migraine headaches. -What we had here were
levels of Fioricet with Codeine in
Genell's, uh, system.
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And we-- I think
they were calculated to be about 20 times
the lethal level. NARRATOR: Apparently,
Genell emptied the Fioricet
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into a drink, so it would
enter her system faster. But instead of killing her,
the drug irritated her stomach.
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She vomited in the
toilet, then passed out and drowned in the toilet bowl. -The pathologist testified
it was death by overdose,
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Fioricet-assisted, with some
potential drowning there. NARRATOR: Genell's mother-in-law
was sleeping in the next room
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and said she heard
nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary. -And that the next thing she
remembered after going to sleep
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was Doug, waking her up, yelling
and screaming that Genell was dead and she was
in the bathroom.
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NARRATOR: Investigators
found evidence that Genell had been
feeling despondent. She and her husband,
Doug, were having
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troubles making ends meet. They both had low-paying
jobs and were deep in debt. DAVID DOBBS: It was 9, 10 years,
and her life was going nowhere.
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No children. They're financially strapped. They had poor motor vehicles,
living under his mother's roof.
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She wanted out. NARRATOR: And Genell started to
question her sexual preferences and whether a traditional
marriage was for her.
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-Her sexual preference was
something that would not have been well-accepted
in that small town.
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That coming out,
telling people about it would have been more stressful
in that situation as opposed
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to a major city. -So for me to leave
from all-- she was leading a heterosexual
life, and she just
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discovered or, or
admitted that she's gay, then the next step
means suicide? I mean, that never--
that, that just
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never crossed my mind at all. That doesn't make sense. NARRATOR: Genell's spirits
took another downturn
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when she learned
that her college roommate committed suicide. And before she did,
left her this note.
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WOMAN (VOICEOVER):
"Sighing as I write you this last words, my love. Never will I be able
to say how very sorry
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I am that this deed that
I'm about to commit, there is no other way
than I am able to say
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I never stopped my
deep love for you." NARRATOR: And investigators
discovered this email
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that Genell sent
to her friends just a few days before her death. WOMAN (VOICEOVER): "Just
to let you all know,
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I may be gone from
this day forward. To all of you who
are Doug's friends, please be there for him.
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My love to all of you. Will miss you all very much. I never meant to cause this much
hurt, but I have to do this."
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NARRATOR: But Genell's
family told investigators to look a little
deeper because they
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didn't believe the
suicide theory. KEN JOHNSON: I said
this was not right. And I only want to make
sure that it was not
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going to be swept under the rug
and just called a suicide when, very likely, it
may not have been.
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NARRATOR: So investigators
did just that and made some
startling discoveries. Toxicology tests on Genell
Plude found lethal levels
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of the barbiturate
Fioricet in her system. And the medical examiner
found water in Genell's lungs,
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consistent with drowning. But her lower esophagus
was severely burned, possibly the result
swallowing the Fioricet
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without the protective capsules. It was clear that Genell
Plude ingested a lethal dose
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of a barbiturate, and then
got sick to her stomach in the toilet. But whether she passed out
and accidentally drowned
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or whether there
was foul play was impossible to tell
from the autopsy. -People just wouldn't
kill themselves
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with this kind of
caustic opening of pills and swallowing them
with water as opposed
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to taking the whole pill, which,
it would not burn your throat. NARRATOR: In Genell's home,
investigators found tissues
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in the trash can, along with
the empty Fioricet capsules. And Genell's fingerprint was
on only one of the capsules.
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AL MOUSTAKIS: None of that
made sense to the detectives. It was unusual. And capsules have ridges
built inside of them
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to keep the capsule
halves together. And to pull that apart
takes some force. NARRATOR: There was no drug
residue around the sink.
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And Genell's fingerprints were
not found on the toilet bowl. -There should have been a
mess on top of that sink.
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There should have been
powder all over the place. -If someone was going
to be sick and they're
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going to be vomiting
in the toilet bowl, wouldn't you think they'd
have their hands around it
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or their hands on it? But there were-- there--
there was nothing. And it-- like it had
been wiped clean.
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NARRATOR: However,
Genell's palm prints were found on the
floor, next to the bowl.
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And her husband
Doug's left palm print was found on the counter
next to the toilet.
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DAVID DOBBS: There was not a lot
of talk about suicide at first. Or the other way, homicide, for
that matter of fact, either.
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There was a lot
of "I don't know." But here we had a healthy
young female who exercised.
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And she was in good shape. She had no major
medical problems. She shouldn't have been dead.
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NARRATOR: Since Genell didn't
own a significant amount of life insurance, money
didn't appear to be a motive.
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Hoping to learn more about
Genell's state of mind, investigators confiscated
the couple's computers
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for a forensic analysis. -First step is to create a copy
of that original hard drive.
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And the reason behind doing
that is so that you don't alter the original data on that drive.
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And you want to keep the
evidence in a pristine state. NARRATOR: They immediately
discovered all sorts
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of information on
the hard drives. -When you visit a web page
all that information is being
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stored to your local hard
drive, but to an examiner, it can be a treasure
trove of information.
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You can find out where
they've been browsing for the last 10, 15,
20 days, and sometimes,
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even beyond that. NARRATOR: The analysis
revealed that the computer was the couple's main
source of amusement.
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-There was definitely
evidence that they spent an enormous amount of
time on the internet
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and using a program called ICQ. NARRATOR: ICQ chat rooms
are similar to chat rooms on other online services.
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New forensic software,
developed in Australia, enabled investigators
to decipher
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the instant messages
stored on the hard drives. There was evidence that
the couple occasionally
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engaged in sexual relations
with online partners. -And we were able
to decipher all
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this information that
we couldn't before. And this is what you have
which was, like, wow!
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NARRATOR: The computer
messages suggested that most of this
activity was Doug's idea.
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And that he also had
an interest in bondage, discipline, and sadomasochism. DAVID DOBBS: It's real shocking.
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And I don't think,
from what I could see and what Genell
wrote that she was happy with that
type of lifestyle.
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WOMAN (VOICEOVER): 'F' some chick that lives
somewhere around here. Wants me to come.
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But my heart lies elsewhere,
and not with a guy." -He was pulling their
marriage in a direction
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that she did not feel was
correct or morally right. NARRATOR: Genell's
parents told investigators
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Genell wanted a divorce. -She valued her body, her life. Just valued life in general.
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So it was, like,
so it just, it-- it did not make any sense
that she committed suicide.
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NARRATOR: Genell's
computer also revealed she was planning a visit
to a woman in Texas whom
00:10:32
she had met in an
online chat room. This was inconsistent with
someone planning a suicide.
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-She was becoming what
she wanted to be in life and was planning a future. All those are
signs that somebody
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has something to
look forward to. There is no evidence of clinical
depression, for instance.
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Those are not signs that you
would associate with somebody who wants to give up on life,
and wants to take their life.
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NARRATOR: And the analysis of
the so-called "goodbye" email to her friends, when
viewed in context
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with other online messages,
revealed Genell was speaking about leaving the marriage
and moving out of the house,
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not about ending her life. Investigators felt
it was now time to look a little closer
at Doug Plude's story.
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-Yeah, very weird. Doug was a very weird guy. NARRATOR: 35-year-old Doug
Plude was a factory worker
00:11:33
and part-time emergency
medical technician. He and Genell had been
married for eight years.
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Doug described his
marriage as a happy one. But Genell's family said
that wasn't the case.
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-He was stuck in a dead-end job. And-- and he seemed to
be satisfied with that, and she was not.
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She wanted to move on. She wanted to do better things. She wanted to go
back to school again.
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NARRATOR: And information
on Genell's computer also disputed the happy
marriage scenario.
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HEATHER SCHAEFER: They had
marital problems, off and on. And they'd, from
my understanding,
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tried the open marriage to
try to save the marriage. And apparently, Genell
had informed him
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that it wasn't working and
that she was sure that she was a lesbian and wanted
to be with a woman.
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KEN JOHNSON: She was going
to ask Doug for divorce. She wanted to leave him. She was definitely concerned
about getting on with her life,
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going back to school. And she mentioned
also that she didn't like the person that
he was turning into.
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NARRATOR: But Doug
Plude continued to insist that he found his
wife unconscious with her head
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in the toilet. Investigators were skeptical. So they took the
unusual step of calling
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in a forensic plumbing
engineer, Julius Ballanco. He says bathroom plumbing
fixtures are designed
00:12:58
specifically to prevent
accidental drownings, even if a person has passed out. -If a person dies or goes
unconscious, passes out,
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they're going to fall
away from the toilet. They're not going to
fall into the toilet.
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Because if you look at
the weight of the body and, you know, you study
the-- the movement of it,
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it's going to be
away from the toilet. It will never be
into the toilet. And we have many instances
where that has occurred.
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NARRATOR: Using a model
the same size as Genell, Ballanco's tests showed that the
width of an adult's shoulders
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prevents them from
submerging anything more than a portion of
their head in the water.
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-Well, you're head
can go in the toilet. You can get nice and
wet up on the top.
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You can actually
submerge your nose. But you can't
submerge your mouth and nose at the same time.
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It's basically impossible
to do for an average adult. NARRATOR: But it was this
autopsy photo taken a day
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after Genell's death
that really caught the attention of investigators. -And I immediately noticed,
as soon as I looked at it,
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there was a bruise on her neck. And I said to myself, right
there, I said, oh my god.
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That is the rim of
the toilet bowl. -If you were sick and you
were vomiting into the toilet,
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you wouldn't be getting
these bruises on your neck unless some type of
pressure was applied.
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NARRATOR: And inside the bruise
was a small laceration that could not have
come from the bowl.
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AL MOUSTAKIS: There are
no ridges on that surface. And I learned that toilet
bowls and other pluming
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fixtures are made
of vitreous china. All the world supplies
of vitreous china comes from the United States.
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And it's very smooth
and a very hard surface. NARRATOR: If the
toilet bowl could not
00:14:40
have caused these cuts,
where did they come from? Genell's family knew
the answer immediately.
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They said it looked like a
chain Genell usually wore. But no one could find it
anywhere in the house.
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So investigators took
a photograph of Genell wearing the chain
and compared it to an autopsy photo
of her neck injury.
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AL MOUSTAKIS: Our crime
lab did an overlay using transparencies. It showed that those breaks
were consistent with the chain,
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the chain links that she wore. NARRATOR: There was only
one possible explanation
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for the marks on Genell's neck. [coughing] NARRATOR: The
necklace got caught between her neck
and the toilet bowl.
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DAVID DOBBS: It shouldn't
have been there. Those are ruptures of
capillaries under the skin,
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indicating those occurred
when the human was alive. And you don't get
that from passing
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out on the toilet on your own. No. It just doesn't work that way. NARRATOR: This discovery,
along with Genell's palm prints
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on the bathroom floor, and
Doug's palm print on the sink counter painted a clear picture
of Genell's last moments alive.
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DAVID DOBBS: She was resisting. That's why there's no prints on
the bowl or edges or anywhere.
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They're down on the floor. And I believe Doug would
be standing order her because his one palm print was
on the edge of the lavatory,
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just right next to the
toilet, where he could apply pressure to the
back of the head.
00:16:15
NARRATOR: Doug
Plude was arrested and charged with
first-degree murder. He denied any involvement
in Genell's death
00:16:22
until an emergency
room nurse came forward with a
most unusual story. The investigation into
Genell Plude's death
00:16:36
eventually convinced prosecutors
to file a first-degree murder charge against
her husband, Doug.
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Based on the forensic computer
analysis, the plumbing expert, and the autopsy
photos, prosecutors
00:16:51
believe Genell told her husband
that she was planning to move out of their home and
that she wanted a divorce.
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The computer messages
to friends show that Doug tried to
talk her out of it. -He had wild dreams
of exotic sex life.
00:17:08
And he needed his wife
to be a partner in this. He needed this beautiful
woman to be at his side
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to show that, you
know, she was his. And in losing it,
he would be a loser. NARRATOR: Doug may also have
known that Genell planned
00:17:25
to visit a woman
in Texas whom she had met in an
internet chat room. Prosecutors believe Doug
was angry and decided
00:17:35
to kill Genell and make her
death look like a suicide. Doug used tissues to remove
the Fioricet from the capsules,
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making sure he left no
fingerprints behind. Then he put some
of the barbiturate into Genell's drink.
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Computer records
indicate Genell logged off her computer around 2:00 AM. Later, while she was asleep
and possibly unconscious,
00:18:09
investigators think Doug
used his training as an EMT to force the remaining
Fioricet into her stomach
00:18:16
with an intubation tube. Then all Doug had to do was to
clean up the evidence and wait.
00:18:30
But there was a problem. The barbiturates
didn't kill Genell. They made her sick
to her stomach.
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When Doug realized Genell
wouldn't have the overdose of barbiturates in her system,
he panicked and drowned her.
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Genell's palm prints show
she fought for her life. And Doug's palm print
showed, he was there.
00:18:57
Genell's necklace was between
her throat and the rim, causing the tiny lacerations
found at the autopsy.
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Doug removed the necklace before
calling for the ambulance. Later in the hospital,
just before Genell's body
00:19:13
was taken to the morgue,
a nurse overheard Doug as he stood next to her body. NURSE (VOICEOVER): I heard, um,
Mr. Plude saying to Genell--
00:19:24
and this is as exactly how
this guy , his tone was. "I told you not to leave me!"
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-The nurse had described
it as a very chilling comment that she
would never forget.
00:19:36
And when you hear
something like that, it made it sound like, yes,
this was a controlling person.
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This was a domestic
violence situation. And-- and, yes, he did kill her. NARRATOR: The jury deliberated
for about eight hours.
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JURY FOREMAN: We, the jury,
find the defendant, Douglas J. Plude, guilty of first-degree
intentional homicide.
00:19:59
-You never think
that this is going to happen to you,
that somebody you know would hurt your children.
00:20:08
That's the most amazing thing
that always is in my head. How could he? NARRATOR: Doug Plude was
sentenced to life in prison.
00:20:19
The forensic evidence, along
with the forensic plumber, proved his story was a lie.
00:20:27
AL MOUSTAKIS: The
injuries were there. You couldn't turn that around. It took control.
00:20:30
And it provided
all the information that experts could look at,
and draw conclusions that, uh,
00:20:38
ultimately led to
his conviction. -You know, you cross
the line and make a mistake in a particular case.
00:20:44
Undoubtedly, law
enforcement is going to catch up to
you at some point. -I doubt the case
would have been
00:20:48
the same without
the toilet bowl. I think they-- I
think the jury really did have to see the toilet bowl
and see somebody act that out.
00:20:56
-I was convinced
this was murder. I tried as hard as I could
to make this a suicide,
00:21:03
and I could not conclude that. [theme music]