00:00:08
Julia: This time on Killers
Caught on Camera. In Florida-- - Sheriff's Office. Make yourself known.
00:00:15
- Not very often do
you get a recording of your victim being shot. Julia: An ongoing feud
between a husband and wife
00:00:23
comes to a fatal end. Cop: I was just out
here an hour ago. - There's no way you
could have predicted
00:00:29
this would have happened. Julia: And in Ohio. Cop: Can we just start
the video and just--
00:00:35
just watch it? Julia: Odd behavior
and a missing antiques dealer trigger a desperate search.
00:00:41
Cop: Two people go in,
one person comes out. We knew at that point,
something must have happened.
00:00:47
Cop: Yep, that's blood. Julia: As security
cameras capture-- - A video doesn't lie.
00:00:54
Julia: --a bizarre coverup. [tense music] Man: It just sounds
like something bad is happening to her.
00:01:01
Woman: We know what
happened because the video tells us what happened. Man: I heard some gunshots.
00:01:05
- I need to get rid of the gun. - Man, that's good. Cop: The camera doesn't lie.
00:01:17
Julia: In the US,
Northern Florida, the town of Gulf Breeze. [phone ringing] Julia: Dispatchers
tried to find out
00:01:42
how much danger she was in. David: Domestic disturbances
between families are one of our highest
calls that we
00:01:59
go to as far as volume-wise. David: Collin and Bree
live down in Gulf Breeze. They had been married
for several years.
00:02:24
Julia: Two patrol
officers arrived at Bree and Collin's home. cop: Hello, ma'am.
00:02:29
Beautiful day. David: A lot of the times,
you arrive on scene, and it's a he said,
she said situation.
00:02:36
cop: You guys separate. Is it all right if I
go inside and of us go inside and talk to you?
00:02:41
Julia: The couple had two young
children, aged three and four. They also had a child each
from previous relationships.
00:02:50
- Collin Turner had
been in the Marines 14 years and had retired
and was functioning
00:02:56
as a stay-at-home dad. cop: Do me a favor and lift
your shirt up a little bit. - Yeah, of course.
cop: OK.
00:03:04
Shawn: Collin was discharged
with a traumatic brain injury from the military
and was transitioning
00:03:09
into just about
starting a master's in electrical engineering
at John Hopkins. When someone's transitioning
from working in the military
00:03:16
to civilian life, that
can be a big adjustment. You're used to being in charge. You're in a very close,
tight-knit community
00:03:22
with colleagues, and to then
transition into domestic life can be very, very difficult.
00:03:30
cop: So why don't you give
me a rundown of what-- what happened during your argument?
00:03:35
Mark: Collin made
statements that she had been watching
television late at night,
00:03:39
and she refused to turn
the volume down. So he disconnected the Wi-Fi. He also said that she had put
his laptop in the dishwasher.
00:03:57
Mark: It seemed that it
was a petty argument, and it just kept escalating,
which led to the--
00:04:04
the next day. Julia: Collin's wife, Bree,
was a chief petty officer in the US Navy,
the breadwinner in the family.
00:04:58
Mark: Bree seemed upset when
she was speaking to the police, and she described that she
had been pushed into a doorway
00:05:03
and then thrown to the floor. But the first thing she
told the police officer was about that he wants
to leave with the children.
00:05:11
And it seemed that that was
really her primary concern. Shawn: If you're gonna threaten
to take your kids away from
00:05:20
a parent, that's-- that's
gonna be really charged and really provocative. And if he knows that
she's borderline, which
00:05:26
means abandonment is
gonna be a huge trigger, that's gonna be really,
really aggravating
00:05:32
for Bree with the thought
that he's gonna take his kids away from her. So that's gonna be a very
provocative thing to do.
00:05:38
cop: Miss Bree? - Yes? cop: I'm gonna give you
both a business card. Here's one for you, Collin.
00:05:44
Julia: The deputy explained
to Bree that it was not illegal for Collin to take his
own children to Georgia, even
00:05:50
without her consent. cop: If you guys need
anything, call us, OK? Julia: Without any
physical evidence of abuse,
00:05:58
there was no further action. - There was no marks,
scratches, or bruises on her.
00:06:03
So we had left the scene. Julia: But only four
hours later, another 911 call, this time from Collin.
00:06:32
- On the face of it,
that seems a little bit extreme to call the police if
you're locked out of the house.
00:06:36
Usually people will calm down
and eventually be let in, and the majority are not
gonna call the police.
00:06:41
So that, for me,
shows an escalation, a kind of upping the ante. [sirens blaring]
00:06:55
cop: Hello. - Glad you're here. cop: What can I do for you? - Hey, my wife won't
let me in my house.
00:07:00
cop: Is this wife in dispute?
- Yep. cop: OK, can I talk
to you over here, ma'am?
00:07:03
Bree: Can I have
my daughter, please? cop: Not right now.
Hold on. Just one second.
We'll get this figured out, OK?
00:07:07
What's going on today, sir? - I was trying to leave for
Georgia to get a break from her
00:07:11
for me and the kids
earlier today, and then she called you guys. I was talking to you guys.
00:07:18
She took my photo ID, all my
access to money and everything, and then took the kids
inside and locked me out.
00:07:23
So I've been locked
outside in my driveway. Here we are. cop: OK, at any point, with
this argument, was it physical,
00:07:28
or was anybody hit, scratched,
kicked, bite, pushed, anything like that? Is it a continuation from
what happened earlier then?
00:07:33
Is that fair to say? - Continuation
of years, but yeah. Cop: OK. - After speaking with
Collin, the deputy
00:07:39
goes and speaks
with Bree Kuhn and asks for her account
of what has happened. - I was talking to him
about wanting a divorce,
00:07:45
and he said that he's gonna
take the kids to Georgia. And he can because we're
still married.
00:07:49
cop: OK. I don't know if you
overheard what I told him. It's his house too, right?
00:07:54
Whatever you guys
got going, you got to put aside for the kids.
You see what I'm saying?
00:07:57
- But he told me
not to talk to him. cop: OK. - I'm not gonna let
him in the house
00:08:00
if he's gonna come
in and start-- cop: OK.
- --start arguing. cop: But at the same time,
that's leaving the child.
00:08:04
I mean, that's kind
of leaving the child out here to fend for herself.
Does that make sense?
00:08:08
- Yeah, for sure. I don't want him to do that. Shawn: Collin says there's
been a long history of years
00:08:16
of this kind of conflict,
so the escalation makes sense in that context. Bree mentions a divorce.
00:08:24
And in response to the divorce,
Collin says, I want to take the kids to Georgia.
00:08:29
So it doesn't sound like it's
just for a visit to get away. It sounds like
if they get divorced,
00:08:33
he wants to take
the kids to Georgia. Bree is trying to keep control,
trying to stop him from doing
00:08:38
that, taking away his ID. These are all
escalations, and the kids are caught in the middle,
which is really, really sad.
00:08:45
- I'm sorry. I really have to go back
in because my four-year-old. Can I just--
cop: Yeah, absolutely.
00:08:49
Well, he's gonna wait out
here for just a second. I'll go inside,
if you want, with you.
00:08:52
- I don't trust
him alone with her. cop: OK, well, then we
can all walk back inside.
00:08:56
- OK.
Cop: All right. - Don't want that, either. David: She's alleging
a crime happened.
00:09:01
He's alleging a crime happened. Neither party has any marks,
scratches, or bruises,
00:09:07
and you can't make them
leave their own home. As a patrol deputy,
you just kind of try to reason with them.
00:09:14
- Might be a cop-out,
but she's nice to you. cop: Well, I understand.
I understand.
00:09:18
- Not like that when
you're not here. David: We again left the scene
due to not observing any signs
00:09:25
of, you know, criminal acts. cop: You're good to go. She's gonna let you back
inside with the kid.
00:09:30
- Cool.
cop: All right. We just-- like I
said, let's just try not to nitpick at each other.
00:09:34
I mean, I'm not saying
you are, but we got to come to a resolution on it.
- Yeah.
00:09:38
cop: OK?
All right. All right, I
appreciate you, sir. Collin: Thank you. Shawn: This does not seem
like they're trying to end it.
00:09:44
This just seems like this
is part of their style of relationship. When you argue,
adrenaline gets released,
00:09:51
and adrenaline is one of the
most addictive substances. That's kind of like
heroin, in a way.
00:09:57
So people can,
in high-conflict relationships, be addicted in a way
to the-- the intensity.
00:10:04
It creates passion. You don't have
to regulate yourself. You don't have
to monitor yourself.
00:10:09
You know, in many ways, it
feels good to be aggressive. [tense music] ♪ ♪ Julia: But 45 minutes
after the second call out,
00:10:23
the tension in the house
boiled over. dispatcher: [on phone]
I just heard four shots.
00:10:29
Can we get EMS en route? David: The dispatcher
heard four gunshots, and police respond lights
and sirens to the residence.
00:10:44
cop: Sheriff's Office. Make yourself known. Mark: The Sheriff's
Office searched the house,
00:10:49
and there were no
signs of disturbance throughout the house,
but they located the firearm that was
placed behind a toaster
00:10:56
in the kitchen. ♪ ♪ David: There's a lot
of moving parts. You're trying to figure
out, OK, where's my suspect?
00:11:11
cop: Hi, Are you
in shock right now? - I need you to go
with this deputy. Have a seat.
She's gonna hang out with you.
00:11:17
David: When they
arrive, Bree Kuhn is at the next-door
neighbor, and they escort
00:11:21
her to one of the vehicles. - Sweetheart, come on.
Let's go. Let's go. Come over here.
00:11:26
That way, we'll get
EMS to check you out and make sure you're OK, OK? Come on.
- Sit over here, OK?
00:11:31
Cop: Come over here. cop: Hold on, hold on,
hold on real quick. We're gonna search you, OK?
00:11:36
Just hold on to your hand
real fast, OK? cop: Do you have a bra on? - I do have a bra.
00:11:41
Julia: Unprompted, Bree
made a startling revelation. - He's dead. I saw him, and I tried
to help, but he's dead.
00:11:51
cop: Well, let's not talk
about that right now, OK? - My kids don't have
a dad or a mom, you know?
00:11:57
And it's my fault. He's right. cop: All right. For right now, we're just gonna
do this for right now, OK?
00:12:06
cop: For your safety
and for ours. OK?
- I'm a murderer. cop: Listen, you're
not-- listen to me.
00:12:10
You're not under
arrest right now. You're being investigated. - No, you should arrest me.
00:12:14
I killed my husband. ♪ ♪ cop: Yeah, he's dead. - The victim,
Collin Turner, was
00:12:25
deceased in the garage with
gunshot wounds to his torso. cop: I was just out
here an hour ago.
00:12:33
- No way you could
have predicted this would have happened. cop: Just cordon it all
the way off to the street.
00:12:40
Julia: Officers
secured the area while investigators pulled
Bree and Collin's security
00:12:45
camera footage. A few seconds before
police arrived, Bree took the kids to a neighbor.
00:12:55
- I love you. Julia: Where
they'd be protected from what she knew was coming. - How come they're
not going to get him?
00:13:05
The ambulance. - I think they need
to talk to you, too. - Will the ambulance
go get him?
00:13:12
Cop: We'll get this
figured out, OK? I'm gonna let you know as soon
as I know something, OK?
00:13:15
- He's dead.
Cop: Listen to me. I'm gonna let you know as soon
as I know something, OK?
00:13:18
Cop: I think she's in shock. Cop: All right. Twist around, feet
inside there, OK?
00:13:24
Shawn: The third
time the police are called out,
they capture Bree clearly in a state of shock.
00:13:29
You could see her
eyes are really big. She's-- she's
kind of, like, has a blank stare on her face,
and she clearly looks in shock.
00:13:36
And she's saying
contradictory things, which are very typical
when someone's in shock.
00:13:40
So part of her
recognizes, I shot him. And yet, she's also
doesn't want to admit that.
00:13:46
So you're gonna have
a kind of wrestling between acknowledging
reality and not wanting to face the reality.
00:13:52
And you can see that
play out on camera. - He's dead. Julia: Back
at the station, detectives
00:14:01
spoke to Bree
about what happened just before Collin died. - You feel more comfortable
in there, you said?
00:14:09
OK. When I sat down with
Bree, we kind of just went about the night. She did admit
to shooting Collin,
00:14:16
but she was very hazy
on some of the details. Bree: He was in the garage.
I locked him out.
00:14:22
- OK. Bree: He tried coming in,
so I blocked the door, and he kicked my foot
and was trying to push--
00:14:34
push to go in the door. - She described that she had
used the gun in self-defense.
00:14:42
Bree: And I was trying
to keep him out. [crying] And then I shot him. Julia: Bree's account
of Collin's last moments
00:14:59
needed to be checked
against his 911 call. - Collin was on the phone
with our 911 dispatch
00:15:08
around the time he was shot. So I contacted our dispatch,
and I had them forward me
00:15:13
a copy of the-- the audio call. - And out of nowhere,
there's a gunshot. - And then three more gunshots
go off in rapid succession.
00:15:52
- The dispatcher keeps
asking, sir, are you there? Sir, please respond. But Collin never responds.
00:16:05
David: It's not very often do
you have the crime occurring on a recorded dispatch line.
00:16:14
Julia: Bree's version of events
was at odds with the recording. Bree: I didn't
mean to shoot him.
00:16:24
Just the look on his face,
you don't understand. - What was the look
on his face?
00:16:30
Bree: He was gonna kill me. And that's when I shot him. David: Listening
to the 911 call,
00:16:39
didn't appear that there's any
sort of physical altercation going on. It doesn't even even sound like
there's any verbal altercation.
00:16:45
Matter of fact, you
can't hear Bree at all. Mark: He never paused. He never hesitated.
00:16:59
And so the logical
conclusion was that he never even saw her coming at him. The first he knew
of what was happening
00:17:05
was when she shot him
the first time in the back. Where was he standing
when you were in the--
00:17:12
in the garage? Bree: I don't know. Just-- - Bree really danced around
some of my more serious
00:17:23
questions that I had for her. You already had
the gun in your hand when you came
to the garage door?
00:17:29
Bree: I think.
- You think so? Bree: I don't know. - OK. She had already locked
Collin in the garage.
00:17:35
He wasn't a threat to her. All the kids were inside. He had nothing. They were all safe from
him, including her.
00:17:45
Shawn: Whereas when she was
arrested, she was in shock, and that seemed really genuine.
00:17:48
In the police
interview, that, for me, feels like she was just lying. And it was kind
of a manipulation
00:17:54
because clearly, she didn't
know yet that the police knew. So she was trying to kind
of get away with it
00:18:00
as self-defense. She knows what she did. I imagine she just snapped. And I think it
was very reactive,
00:18:07
and just, it just escalation
got out of control. Bree: I don't want
to talk about it anymore.
00:18:18
- Bree had decided
to lawyer up. She didn't want to answer
any more questions without a lawyer present.
00:18:30
Julia: As Bree stayed silent,
the evidence in the garage spoke volumes. Mark: It appeared from
the physical evidence
00:18:40
that Collin may have been
seated inside the garage. There was a cooler
that had blood on it.
00:18:48
He was seated on that
while speaking with 911 and had his back
to the kitchen door.
00:18:56
The first shot went through his
back, exited through his neck, and entered his wrist as he
is speaking on the phone.
00:19:03
[gunshot] David: And then it appears
that Bree walked up to Collin and fired three more rounds
directly into Collin's back
00:19:17
and after he was
already on the ground. He was murdered. [tense music] ♪ ♪ Julia: Bree was charged
with premeditated murder.
00:19:31
Her trial began
on September 24, 2024. David: Bree's
defense was initially going to be that repeated
acts of violence against her
00:19:43
caused her to do this. However, at the last
minute, Bree declined to go
on the stand, which
00:19:49
was paramount to her case. Her entire defense
fell through. Julia: After just four
days, the verdict came in.
00:20:02
David: Bree was found
guilty by 12 jurors on premeditated murder, and she
was sentenced to life in prison
00:20:08
without the possibility
of parole. Julia: In Florida,
the prosecution did not have to prove
motive, but the body cam
00:20:18
captured a mother on the edge. Mark: During this entire
video, her primary source
00:20:25
of frustration seems to be that
he wanted to take the children. - I was talking to him
about wanting a divorce,
00:20:30
and he said that he's gonna
take the kids to Georgia. And he can because we're
still married.
00:20:36
- There was
an impending divorce and an impending custody battle. And with Bree's, some
of her mental health issues,
00:20:45
it appears that
Collin may have been the stronger candidate to get
custody of those two children.
00:20:52
Julia: Collin's loved ones
were asked if he'd ever been violent towards Bree. David: I've spoken
with many people that
00:21:00
knew Collin,
friends and family, and they all speak
of him as a good man. And the body cam
was hard to watch,
00:21:07
especially where Collin's
interacting with the children. He's holding his
daughter, and you're
00:21:12
realizing this is the last
time his daughter's ever gonna see him. That's hard to watch.
00:21:19
- He was a great dad, a great
son, big heart, a happy person. The damage that this case
has will be everlasting.
00:21:32
[somber music] ♪ ♪ - With some murders,
there are red flags, and there are reports
made to the police even.
00:21:48
But because of the nature
of the reports or the evidence, the police are unable
to do anything about it.
00:21:52
But other times, there's no
signs, there's no red flags. And then a situation can
quickly escalate in a way
00:21:58
that nobody saw coming. [tense music] ♪ ♪ Julia: In Ohio is the Rust
Belt city of Akron.
00:22:19
On June 18, 2019, a 911
call alerted police to an unexpected disappearance. - Katie was probably one
of the most well-liked
00:22:50
people I've ever known. She just had friends
from all walks of life. - I've known Katie
for 25 years.
00:23:01
We were fellow antique dealers. We'd go to auctions together. We just had each other's back.
00:23:09
Julia: In the tight-knit
community of antiques dealers
in Akron, Mary Kay was loved for her generous
and helpful spirit,
00:23:16
known as Katie to her friends. Susan: She was very kind. She would come
into our estate sales
00:23:23
and hand us a bag of cookies
at the front desk, making sure we had enough
to eat while we were working.
00:23:31
Katie was always looking
out for other people. [tense music] On that Monday morning,
I had a small apartment
00:23:41
that I was
liquidating, and I had arranged for Katie
and one of her partners to come that morning.
00:23:49
And as a courtesy call,
I had reached out to see if they still wanted to come. And that's when her
business partner told
00:23:55
me that Katie was missing. Julia: The missing persons
report was picked up by patrol
00:24:03
officer Ryan McDowell. - I responded. I met with her family
and her business partner.
00:24:10
Hi. What's going on? - She's been missing
for 48 hours. And there was no
sign of her, her car.
00:24:19
She didn't feed her cats. Her cats are everything
in the whole wide world. Can't find her.
00:24:24
I mean, we've
checked the house. We've checked everything. - Being a solo
officer, it was on me
00:24:29
to gather as much
information as I could to put into the missing
person report. - She would never not--
00:24:35
not get in touch with us. - No medical issues. - From what I learned about
her, she was a antique dealer.
00:24:45
I don't believe she owned any
type of formal establishment, but she had a storage unit
full of antique-y type things
00:24:52
that she would buy and sell. Any idea where she'd go? - Here's the only thing
we can piece together.
00:25:02
She had called her
sister and left a message that she had
a handyman that-- that
00:25:07
could do work for her. And that's the last message,
the last anybody heard of her.
00:25:12
Ryan: Did she give you this
guy's name or anything? - No. - That kind of made
my spider senses peak.
00:25:21
Julia: Officer
McDowell's gut feeling got worse when he received
a call from the owners
00:25:25
of Mary Kay's storage unit. Ryan: I took off driving as
safe as I can in an emergency
00:25:48
manner to get up there. I arrived
at the storage facility, and the owners and employees
had the security
00:25:59
footage ready for us to view. Can we just start
the video and just-- just watch it?
00:26:05
You mind if I take a seat? At that point, I just
want to watch it. I want to figure
out what's going on.
00:26:10
I want to get
the missing pieces. Julia: The owners
of the storage company played the video from
two days earlier,
00:26:17
just before Mary
Kay went missing. Ryan: It's almost surreal
watching this from the
00:26:24
outside in. You see Mary Kay kind
of moving things in and out of her storage unit.
00:26:33
We see her van parked
there, and then we see someone across the drive. The initial reaction
was friendly.
00:26:48
They were conversating. They do a high five, which
is a friendly gesture. Mary Kay gave him something.
00:27:03
But this is where it
starts to get kind of odd. ♪ ♪ He's ducking down
around her car,
00:27:15
almost like he's stalking
her, watching her. She's not really seeing it. And this is not
normal behavior.
00:27:24
Even as he backs away
towards his storage unit, he's walking at an angle, but
he's making sure he-- he kind
00:27:30
of keeps looking at Mary Kay. You're kind of wondering
what's going on? What's he thinking about?
00:27:44
Julia: This footage is bizarre
to watch because the behavior is so weird. It feels almost like an animal
that's circling prey.
00:27:54
He's got these evasive
hiding maneuvers that he's engaging
in, and it feels like a super suspicious
way to behave,
00:28:02
especially in an area
that is absolutely littered with cameras. Ryan: Mary Kay is just
going on about her business,
00:28:11
doing some things
in her storage unit, putting things in, taking
things out, things like that.
00:28:15
And we continue to watch. Mary Kay kind of walks off
out of view of the camera, and he checks down, kind
of looking for his opportunity
00:28:25
and enters her storage
unit when she's not there. ♪ ♪ Mary Kay comes walking back
down with an empty box.
00:28:39
She must have thrown
something away. And she enters
her storage unit. And then you see the garage
door come all the way down.
00:28:52
Julia: The unit door remained
closed for a number of minutes. Ryan: Being a police
officer, you
00:28:59
see a lot of very
odd things, but that probably was
a little more shocking than what we expected to see.
00:29:06
♪ ♪ Two people go in, one person
comes out, covered in a sheet, runs across back
into the other storage unit,
00:29:18
and it was almost something
out of the movies. That uh-oh factor kicked in. man: I never saw her come out.
00:29:32
Ryan: I'm gonna pause this.
- Just pause it. - We need to check the welfare. - We'll be back to finish this.
00:29:36
We're gonna go check that unit. We needed to go in and check
Mary Kay's storage facility.
00:29:42
Hopefully make sure she was
still in there and still alive. Julia: But behind the door
of Mary Kay's unit,
00:29:50
the scale
of the challenge emerged. Ryan: That's a lot
to stack back up. - China and stuff back there.
00:29:57
Julia: Any potential
evidence buried in antiques. Ryan: That storage facility
was packed full of stuff.
00:30:05
You could maybe only go
5 to 6 feet in, at most. We start pulling
things out because we
00:30:14
got to make our way all
the way through this if-- if Mary Kay is in here. And I pulled this
long metal rod.
00:30:24
Look at this. Yep, that's blood. The more I look, the more
blood I'm seeing all around me.
00:30:36
There's blood all over this. [background chatter] Tony: When I got there,
the crime scene had arrived,
00:30:48
and they began processing
the blood that we did discover. Julia: Detective Starvaggi's
team emptied the storage unit,
00:30:58
but there was no
sign of Mary Kay. Back in the office, they needed
to check the security footage
00:31:06
to see what happened next. Tony: The video shows a male
that gets in her vehicle,
00:31:16
drives off the premise. He returns on foot. He gets in his
truck and leaves. We kind of got a knot
in our bellies.
00:31:29
That does not look good. Julia: Detectives
alerted all agencies to be on the lookout
for both trucks.
00:31:38
Meanwhile, the storage
company was able to identify the man
last seen with Mary Kay.
00:31:44
His name was Michael Olson. Susan: Mike Olson was
a white male in his mid 30s, but no criminal history.
00:31:53
I think some minor drug charge. At that point, we had him
at least for the auto theft,
00:32:02
him driving her van off. The storage unit that
he was coming from happened to be his father's.
00:32:09
His father gave us
a little history. Said Michael was
kind of bad luck, down and out,
sleeping sometimes
00:32:16
there at the storage unit,
sometimes at his dad's duplex. His father called
him, asked him to come
00:32:26
back to the storage unit. He wasn't showing
up and finally stopped answering his
phone and stopped replying
00:32:33
to his father's texts. Julia: Detectives
revisited the security footage after Mary
Kay disappeared
00:32:43
inside her own unit. It showed Michael Olson
had returned the next day. Tony: We had video
surveillance showing
00:32:55
him going from his storage
unit with a empty trash can over to her unit. Julia: Shortly afterwards,
Michael Olson reemerged
00:33:08
from Mary Kay's storage unit. ♪ ♪ Ryan: He's moving
the trash cans from one side to the other.
00:33:21
He's struggling with it there. The way the trash can,
it's not a natural angle. And there's a sheet
over it as if he's
00:33:29
trying to conceal whatever's
in between the two trash cans. The security footage answered
a lot of questions for us
00:33:38
before we actually had
to go ask the questions. Julia: Michael Olson did
not appear again on camera.
00:33:50
Detectives needed
to search Olson's unit. Tony: We found a couple
of poles and instruments
00:33:59
with blood on them. Eventually, we found a trash
can covered with a tarp, and you could tell
there was something
00:34:14
that was sticking out. - That's where they
found Mary Kay's body. Karen: I was
scrolling my phone and
00:34:28
I saw that people were saying,
has anyone seen Mary Kay? She's missing. I called a fellow
antique dealer.
00:34:36
And he said, Karen, it's
much worse than that. Susan: I was shocked
when I learned
00:34:46
that Katie had been murdered,
stunned that someone would be so callous with
another human being,
00:34:56
especially someone
as helpful as Katie was. Julia: Mary Kay was
lifted from the trash cans
00:35:06
and laid on the floor
for the medical examiner. Tony: She was very bloody,
including her face,
00:35:16
but we knew that it was Katie. She did have lacerations in her
genital area and some bruising,
00:35:26
so they could only
assume that it was sexual assault in nature. She was choked with
one of those sticks.
00:35:37
She had a broken
neck, and she had blunt force trauma in her head
and other parts of her body.
00:35:48
Julia: It was now
a matter of urgency to find Michael Olson,
a violent fugitive
00:35:53
with a significant head start. He'd turned off
his phone, making it impossible to track him.
00:36:01
- We had the murder
weapon with blood on it. We had Katie's body in his
father's storage unit.
00:36:09
So now it was just
a matter of finding him. Julia: By chance, Michael
Olsen hadn't gone far.
00:36:18
- Ironically, Summit
County sheriffs had our suspect
in custody because he was trying to break into the
adjoining duplex of his father
00:36:32
and that they were gonna
charge him with burglary. cop: Go this way, sir. cop: I know your face.
Michael: What's that?
00:36:39
Cop: You ever been
to County before? Michael: Yes. - I was astonished. They transported him
to the Akron police station,
00:36:51
where we interviewed him. - This is ridiculous, dude. Julia: Suspected of murder, his
demeanor in the interview room
00:37:01
continued to be odd. - This is their fault anyway. My pants are gonna fall off. I lost so much damn weight.
00:37:12
Julia: His behavior in the room
where he is with direct eye contact to the camera,
talking to people,
00:37:17
basically knowing
he's being observed and almost performing
for the camera in some way.
00:37:22
He seems to be trying
to manage the situation. And in these kinds
of circumstances
00:37:25
where you know
you're being watched, you'd think you'd be
on your best behavior,
00:37:29
and instead, you've got someone
who's pulling his pants down, who's adjusting himself, who
is kind of depicting himself
00:37:34
as this really chaotic person. - Mom, Dad, love you. Love you. Julia: I think it's someone
who is overcompensating and
00:37:49
trying to look really
chill and in the process, looking really sloppy
and a little bit creepy.
00:37:57
Detective Starvaggi
didn't reveal that they'd found Mary Kay's body. He kept the conversation
related to the burglary
00:38:06
to build rapport. Michael: Well, why
would they say that I was trying to steal stuff?
00:38:11
Gah, I've lived there for-- - I don't know that they
actually said you were trying to steal something.
00:38:17
- What am I doing here? Tony: When we talked
to him about the burglary, he was going into his life.
00:38:24
He had just broken
up with his fiancee. Julia: Once Michael Olson had
shared his emotional issues,
00:38:32
detectives switched
the topic of conversation. - So I read you
your Miranda rights.
00:38:39
Keeping those rights
in mind, we'd like to talk to you about another issue. Julia: The murder
of Mary Kay Wohlfarth.
00:38:49
- We just kind of walking
through a story. So when was the last
time that you were up at the storage unit?
00:38:56
- I don't know, three
or four days ago, something like that, five days. I literally-- my days
have been running
00:39:01
together so much that I've
been freaking going crazy. - That's you, right? - Oh, yeah.
00:39:07
Yeah, that's Dave
and Kathlin, Kathleen. - Katie.
- Katie. That's the same name, right?
00:39:14
Yeah, I think so. Yeah. - He said that she
had the storage unit across from his father's.
00:39:21
So your storage unit,
who has access to it? - Me and my dad. And then there's-- Tony: Anyone else?
00:39:29
- No, but I mean,
I don't know if you know about theft that was
up there not that long ago.
00:39:33
This guy used to get
into all the units, stole all types of shit,
Silverton bolts.
00:39:36
I don't know if you
know that name. - He tried to bring
up a guy named Tim. We never did establish
who this Tim was.
00:39:45
Were you up there Monday? - I don't think I
was up there Monday. I really don't.
00:39:54
Julia: After Michael denied
being at the storage unit on Monday, Detective Starvaggi
revealed his evidence.
00:40:00
- The other day-- - Yeah. - --we watch video. - Oh, you watched nobody. Tony: We have video
of you talking to her
00:40:10
Monday, driving her van away. Her keys-- her keys were found
in your dad's basement today.
00:40:20
- [bleep] No, Tim [bleep]. cop: That's not the narrative
you want to start with.
00:40:26
That's-- that's not gonna
work for you, buddy. Tony: It's typical
for criminals to try to blame
someone until they
00:40:34
know that they're cornered. Something bad
happened to Katie. You know it. You know what happened.
00:40:41
Video doesn't lie. When you interview
someone and you're about to get
a confession, some people
00:40:48
just exhale, and it's like
their-- their chest sinks. It's like a [sighs]. - [sighs]
00:40:56
- He did that, and we
thought, OK, we got him. cop: Tell us what happened.
- I snapped, man.
00:41:04
I snapped. I just-- something
came over me. I don't know.
cop: What made you snap?
00:41:09
- My ex-girlfriend, dude, she--
it was a downfall or something. Like, it's not like
she was one to hold
00:41:14
a gun to me, my ex-girlfriend. But she made me
a different person because of her toxic,
narcissistic ways.
00:41:20
I was mentally, verbally,
emotionally abused. I don't know, I just snapped,
and Katie said something
00:41:25
about my ex-girlfriend. I don't know. - He said that he was
talking about his breakup
00:41:31
with his girlfriend, and Katie
said it was probably his fault. This is what
caused him to snap.
00:41:39
There was no credibility
to-- to that story. So we-- we knew that he was
just using that as an excuse.
00:41:48
cop: Can you explain why
her clothes get ripped or-- - Shoot, I mean, it was just--
00:41:52
cop: You didn't
sexually assault her? - No, I did not
sexually assault her. No, not at all, dude.
00:41:59
Julia: Michael Olson
says that he snapped. He is shifting
repeatedly who could be
00:42:05
responsible for the situation. There was no aggression.
There was no dispute. There was nothing.
00:42:11
And I think the narrative about
why gender-based attacks happen is totally turned upside down.
00:42:18
And it has to entirely be
a conversation about men and why men are
failing to control
00:42:24
or choosing to fail to control
their urges, their-- their aggression,
why they maybe
00:42:29
can't deal with small
comments about their life that they perceive as a slight,
and they can't handle that.
00:42:38
This is a prolonged and vicious
attack where at any point, he could have said, I'm
done, I have to stop,
00:42:45
rather than going all
the way and killing her. [tense music] Cop: Tell us what happened.
00:42:53
- I think you know
that, and I think you're getting me wanting to say it. Well, obviously, just went over
there, I hit her in the head.
00:43:01
That was it. And then I just tried
to get rid of the evidence, but I'll see what I can
do about this [bleep].
00:43:10
♪ ♪ Julia: On August 20,
2019, a grand jury indicted Michael Olson
on five charges--
00:43:23
aggravated murder, rape, grand
theft of a motor vehicle, trespassing, and gross
abuse of a corpse.
00:43:32
- With the premeditation
and then the sexual assault, the prosecutors felt that there
was a good chance that they
00:43:40
could get the death penalty. Julia: Michael Olson
was facing death row. He decided to cut a deal and
pleaded guilty to all charges.
00:43:52
Karen: I went to the court. For him to say he
snapped is just I can't believe that
because he was stalking her
00:43:59
around her car and everything. That's not snapping. Julia: I think the potential
motive in this context
00:44:07
is, I mean, quite
frankly, it feels like it might be boredom and
opportunity where he is putting
00:44:15
himself in a situation
where he goes, hmm, I wonder if I
could sexually assault her or injure her initially.
00:44:23
So I don't think
that there's a really clear plan, which is also
why it all looks so bizarre.
00:44:29
Instead, it's a really
senseless crime that is gender-based, where
we see a sexual element
00:44:34
to the crime, where
almost certainly this was done to her partly
because she was a woman,
00:44:41
and he thought that either
he could get away with it or that it wasn't
as bad or as dangerous
00:44:46
as if he'd attacked a man. Karen: In the videos,
she looked so relaxed. I guess when you're dealing
with evil, they find a way.
00:45:00
Tony: As far
as sentencing, he actually received life without parole. Ryan: I believe
we did a good job.
00:45:09
Not the outcome initially that
we wanted, but at the end, I think we hopefully
did right by the family,
00:45:16
did right by Mary Kay. Tony: Katie was everything
I'd look for in a friend-- kind, generous, friendly.
00:45:28
I learned from Katie an extra
layer of caring and compassion watching her interact
with a variety of people.
00:45:38
Karen: I love how
independent she was. One of my favorite stories,
we were at an auction.
00:45:44
It was late at night. We heard a car accident
outside the auction house. She throws me her
purse, says, hold this.
00:45:55
She runs outside, helps men
turn a flipped car over, and I just stand
there holding purses.
00:46:03
That independent part just
sticks out so much to me because I look up
to strong women.
00:46:11
Katie will be remembered
as a lovely, independent, generous, kind woman. [somber music]
00:46:22
♪ ♪ [tense music] ♪ ♪