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JonBenet: The Master Detective /// Part 2 /// 719

November 29, 2023 / 57:23

This episode covers the investigation of the John Benet Ramsey case, featuring insights from John Wesley Anderson, who discusses Lou Smith's theories and evidence.

John Wesley Anderson shares his experiences working alongside Lou Smith, a key investigator in the Ramsey case. He recounts how Lou faced challenges with the Boulder police, particularly regarding evidence that supported the intruder theory.

The conversation highlights five vital pieces of evidence that Lou believed supported the intruder theory, including foreign DNA found on John Benet's clothing and the significance of a high-tech bootprint.

Anderson also discusses the ongoing efforts of the Smith family team to pursue leads and test DNA from potential suspects, emphasizing the advancements in DNA technology that could help solve the case.

The episode concludes with a reflection on Lou's dedication to seeking justice for John Benet and the impact of his work on the ongoing investigation.

TLDR

John Wesley Anderson discusses Lou Smith's investigation into the John Benet Ramsey case and ongoing efforts to solve it.

Episode

57:23
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okay so your mentor or I I can call Lou your one of your mentors right he he is yes and so he's brought on this I mean
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it's one of the most high-profile cases ever right and he is going into it with the idea like you said well this should
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be pretty simple MH but he's also going into it with the idea that they want to know the truth at some point he's
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hit like with a brick wall right do you remember having any conversations with him about his frustration
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and and and what he felt that he needed to do um we had many discussions and you
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know I don't know if it was a brick wall immediately but he he definitely um came
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across evidence that didn't support the Ramsay did it and the more he got into it the more more evidence supported the
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Intruder Theory as as he developed it and then I think after it was it was more than a couple weeks it might have
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been a month or two I think that's when he realized that there was a brick wall that he was being stonewalled and when
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he would bring up information to the um uh Boulder uh police um it would be dismissed or or they would try to
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um exclude the evidence through some some rationale for example when Lou pointed out in the cramin photos taken
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that morning of the basement with that window standing wide open and the suitcase standing up right below it and
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there's also what Lou thought was to be a black scuff mark on the wall so when when he's pointing to the crime scene
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photos that Boulder police crime scene technicians had taken and he's showing the detectives that that is evidence of
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forc Entry one of the first things the Boulder Police said is oh no no nobody could gotten in that window well Lou Lou
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is frustrated because he's trying to explain well well that's how John B's dad got into the home when he left his
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keys in the house and and so what Lou did is he um had himself vide taped crawling in and out of that window and
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Lou I think at the time was I don't know he was always in good shape I think he was probably mid-60s at the time but he
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would show that you know I I can get in and out that window here watch and he had had himself videotaped and then
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showed that videotape to the boulder detectives and they would just ignore it and and then they would you know go on
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you know to something else and Lua that's what was really so frustrating was you would confront them with
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physical evidence and then they would dismiss it a good example is the this the foreign D DNA that was under the
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little girl's fingernails on the crotch of her panties and then in 2008 it was also determined to be on below the
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waistband of her of the long johnon that she was wearing for for pajama bottoms and so when Lou pointed out that not
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only does that exclude the any members of the Ramsey family it gives us something to work with because it's it
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it it's male so we can stop looking at at women being involved unless there you know is a conspiracy here or someone
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else involved but he said we we need to find out who who's who who's the the male who left that foreign DNA um uh on
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her clothing and on her body and so what the Boulder police would do is they would say you know that could be
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anything you know that that might have been U you know casual contact you know DNA that was you know from trace or
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touch DNA that was left you know for casual contact and what Lou would say was that makes no sense he said you know
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I I don't know you're thinking but um anytime that there's unknown male DNA found on the crotch of a little
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girl's panties that's that's not uh you know casual touch that's that's evidence
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of of uh something that's that's really wrong but then it's the same it matches the genetic markers are the same that's
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underneath the fingernails and when the the the genetic material this tissue that is is forcibly under her
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fingernails that was found the autopsy that's evidence of her clawing and scratching
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that her a salent you know try trying to um uh breathe she's fighting for her life and they just no that you know that
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that's not what that means and LU just would would just be just beside himself she I can't understand how you can you
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know just simply try to just dismiss this evidence because it doesn't fit with your theory that that the ramies
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have done it did you ever meet olly gray oh yes I knew olly very well and in fact
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when I was a sheriff he came to work for me for a few months as my comp troller know knew him very very well could you
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tell our listeners most of our listeners will not know who he is could you tell our listeners who Ali gray was in his in
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relation to the the Ramsay case yes Oli was a a friend of Blues as well and um there was another person that that is
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very important here too John St Augustine and when um John ran after Le had had resigned from the bowler DA's
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office he continued working the case for himself but uh on his own his own time his own expense but he he didn't want it
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to look like he was working for the Ramsay so he would never take any money from the ramies and he wanted to
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objectively investigate the case not at the direction of the Ramsay so when the Ramsay said well we really need to hire
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some competent private investigators because bowler police obviously were not going to be able to clear this on their
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own own and so Lou recommended olly gray and John St Augustine John had also worked for me at the sher's office and a
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bright young investigator Olie has since passed on John is still around but um uh
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they worked the case um as private investigators for the Ramsey family for some time maybe for for a year or two
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and I know that that and Allie did have a law enforcement background from California and um new investigations was
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a very competent pi and I know he stayed in and John St aain stayed in touch with
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Lou and they had frequent um discussions and I I uh and I I don't know specifically what
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Lou would have given them or received from them but I do know Lou is very good about sharing information and
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particularly if it fit into um uh a profile or a suspect or Person of Interest that um the Ramsay's private
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investigators were were pursuing so I know Lou was very supportive and and U hoping that olly and John would would
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have some some some success but it's my understanding Ali gray was the only individual in all these Decades of this
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case dragging on and on he's the only person that ever worked for both sides of the table correct he worked for
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with Boulder for a while and then decided to go and work with the ramies and while working with the ramies
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it's my understanding he told John Ramsay immediately look if I find anything that suggests that that you or
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paty or Burke that somebody inside the Ramsey household did this I'm turning it into Boulder immediately is that correct
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correct except for one exception he NE oie never worked with the Boulder Police Department or the Sheriff's Office
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direct directly he did work with um Lou and I at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office but when he was hired by the
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ramsy he had left the DA's office he had already been retired from law enforcement agency in California when I
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hired him to come into the sheriff's office but you're you're right not only he but John St Augustine and Lou had
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they ever come across any evidence that you know that uh a that um suggested any of the ramies were
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involved they would have definitely turned that over that was that was the kind of people that they were they
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wouldn't sit on that even if they were uh uh employed by the ramies they would have resigned that position and then
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turned in the information that's they were very E look OE was very ethical that way what are the the keys to this
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investigation as far as getting it solved the evidence I know that you point to five very vital pieces of
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evidence that support Lou Smith's Intruder Theory could you take us through those five vital pieces of
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evidence happy to the first one is the Paracord and uh the second one is the um uh black duct tape the third one is the
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stun gun the um and and all those those three items are still uh valid with this
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exception that after 27 years whether or not we can find the Paracord you know that the that the bindage was was
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removed for or the parent roll from the duct tape or the stun gun at this point in the possession of the Killer is very
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doubtful um the fourth item of evidence that Lou always talked about that supported his Intruder theory was the um
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high-tech bootprint and what Lou did not know and I did not know this until after
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the the book had been published um one of the other team members that's on our spint family team Kurt pillard came
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across a report um in a um a Boulder Police um supplemental report that got released after lose passing in 2010 and
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it and this this lab report talked about at least one or may might have been more
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than one Boulder police officers who were in the crime scene did admit to having high-tech boots U so um what L
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didn't know is that bootprint very easily could have belonged to one of the First Responders one of that bre of
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Boulder please so we we have we don't put a lot of credibility onto that bootprint but the most important piece
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of evidence the fifth piece evidence that Lou always believed would be the the what solved this case was the
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unknown male DNA that's on three pieces of uh her the clothing two pieces of clothing Long John's the the underwear
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and then under her um uh fingernails U and the scrapings that that came from the autopsy and um and
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um our team one of the things that we've been working with is the genetic markers
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the DNA markers that Lou left um in his case report that thata supplemental reports investigative notes that were
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passed down to his family that our team has had access to that th those three locations the the the DNA genetic
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markers do fit now we didn't have a complete set I think I think there's at least 14 maybe 15 genetic markers now
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but it is sufficient to to have it into the codus the combined DNA information system that the FBI maintains one other
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uh piece of uh positive news a couple things just to leave the interview on a uh kind of on a on an upnote a hopeful
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note that that our team um and I think the Ramsey family also finds some comfort is that um the the the DNA
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technology has evolved so sign significantly in the last 27 years that that law enforcement agencies are
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clearing cold cases that are 20 25 30 years old by going back to the original evidence the the original article of
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evidence and retesting that using more modern DNA Technologies and what what what is h what has been so um uh uh
00:14:26
helpful is that what we use to uh have to look at when you when you did DNA analysis maybe you know 15 or 20 years
00:14:34
ago it was being measured in um nanograms which is a very small minute amount but today the technology is is
00:14:44
able and I'm not a DNA expert but but it it is known that the DNA can be measured
00:14:51
now in picograms which are significantly smaller um uh um amounts and so that's highly encouraging the
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second part of that is that the databases every year keep growing exponentially whether it's law
00:15:09
enforcement databases or public um or private DNA uh databases and that's how a lot of cases that that you all know
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about um have been solved like the Golden State killer they didn't actually have the killer DNA they were able to
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get into the familial DNA and uh found a relative I think it was a niece who lived in another state and her DNA um
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showed that the Killer's DNA that they shared a common ancestor and that's what we hope um and that was one of the
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reasons to to get the book out was to encourage law enforcement agencies to continue to do that the other
00:15:49
encouraging thing just within the last few months is that the Boulder Police have released um uh statements and and
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the boulder district attorney have um made comments that um uh that the case is being looked at the evidence is being
00:16:09
re-evaluated and um using more modern Technologies the district attorney in Boulder um the now da Michael dhy he
00:16:19
even commented in the news uh recently that the FBI are also assisting and that's very encouraging because the FBI
00:16:27
has some very right people um uh you know they they have access to some Cutting Edge Technologies and DNA and of
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course they maintain the U cotus the the the national DNA database so what we were really hopeful in in in going into
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this holiday season is that there's never been a better time for this case the John Ben Ramsey case to be solved
00:16:53
then now that I think um the family Fields this too the Smith family team that we hope the Boulder Police and the
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law enforcement agencies that around them now um are doing everything that they can to take an objective look at
00:17:06
the the physical evidence using modern Technologies for DNA analysis and hopefully that will identify the person
00:17:14
responsible for the crime which in some people's mind will be the only way for the Ramsey family ever to be removed
00:17:22
from that umbrella of Suspicion yeah and if it gets solved it grants lose d wish
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because I I don't think people understand how and and I think when you were if you
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use the word obsessed that sometimes people use that as a bad thing he's on his deathbed yeah and his family wants
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to talk about good times and there's video footage that I've seen where he's like no no you guys need to listen to me
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and he's going Page by Page in his in his case files to explain to him what each page means and uh he set up that
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list of people that I know that they've been uh going through and and trying to get DNA and testing through that list so
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as much as you want Justice for this little girl and and her family and for that Community uh I really believe it U
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if there ever is um an arrest that Lou is is is uh directly responsible for that
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you're you're so right because I would never written the book had it not been for for Lou and not only do we want
00:18:36
Justice for John Benet and of course on a personal note I'd I'd really like to see Lou um is is the to be proven right
00:18:46
and and the family being the Ramsay family being able to enjoy regular Christmas and not have to worry about
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this if if that's possible U our Smith family team we talk about this all the time too we meet probably once a month
00:19:01
or or every five or six weeks we've got uh our list from Lou you know of our top
00:19:06
20 people that we continue to to work on and what we would love to do as a team is to be able to close all of our
00:19:14
investigation down too and and just live a normal life like like everybody else this has taken a lot of time and energy
00:19:22
and and we had all made such a commitment to Lou that we just can't back away from that
00:19:29
um that was it was a really emotional time for all of us and for Lou when he was diagnosed with cancer when it
00:19:37
returned and and admitted to hospital or hospice uh he was able to go home for for a couple of weeks and he had a
00:19:44
visiting nurse and I know that's when he put a lot more of the case in organized
00:19:48
it a little bit better for us because he knew he wasn't going to get around to many of those those leads but his last
00:19:55
several weeks in hospice as he continued every time I would would go see him every couple of days you know he was
00:20:01
slipping a little further and a little further and um the last three days when I before he passed he was pretty much in
00:20:10
a coma we weren't able to have any communication two way I'd sit and talk to him and hold his hands but when uh
00:20:17
when he was able to talk yeah we' talk about the good times and laugh about things and are friends and joke and and
00:20:25
uh I remember uh he said you know hey one of the good things about hospice is they let you eat or drink you know
00:20:29
anything you want even though we didn't have much of an appetite at the end but they' say yeah I want ice cream and it's
00:20:34
you know the middle the morning or whatever or beer I know I walked in one time and I don't know if the nurses knew
00:20:41
this but he had a six-pack of beer that one of the detectives had brought in so we enjoyed another beer together last
00:20:46
beer but uh the conversations always would come around and say now don't forget bootman and and saying don't
00:20:54
forget so and so and remember to look at this and don't forget about the evidence
00:20:59
and and those were our last conversations it was it was it was foremost on his mind and and you're
00:21:06
you're right Nick I don't think obsessed is the right word I think it was just driven or dedicated I I think uh you
00:21:14
know people uh probably have a hard time you know um grasping that but Lou was such a unique um man and such a u a
00:21:26
consant professional and he' never believed he worked for you know the police department or you know Sergeant
00:21:33
so and so or Captain so and so he always he always said I work for the victim and
00:21:37
I think that was was really his uh his take on the Ramsay case he didn't work for John or paty or any of the Ramsey
00:21:45
family he worked for for John Benet that was that was who he he worked for and Lou one of his dying wishes was that
00:21:55
this case would finally be solved and we also have go back in time paty Ramsay on her deathbed asking Lou
00:22:06
to find out who did this yes that was a conversation that Lou and that Lou shared with me um when pany was on her
00:22:14
deathbed in hospice Lou flew down to Atlanta to see her one last time and um part of that you know he told me later
00:22:26
was to see if she wanted to give it dying confession not that he ever thought she'd ever confess to that but
00:22:31
he wanted to make sure he closed that door and so she didn't give dying confession she gave the opposite she
00:22:39
gave him the charge you know to to to continue pursuing the this killer don't don't don't give up and and that that
00:22:50
really did motivate Lou not that he needed additional motivation but I I think u i I know that that was a a emotional
00:23:00
trip when he he went to visit her that last time and um when Lou was in hospice John Ramsey came and visited Lou and um
00:23:12
that was um John Ramsey told me he said that he said I tried to go in to give Lou encouragement and cheer him up but
00:23:20
he said it turned out to be the other way around um yeah Lou was quite a quite a
00:23:26
guy tell everybody about the jbr Smith family team I know you've talked about it just a little bit but really tell us
00:23:34
what that is what is the objective what is the strategy that you're employing to
00:23:38
try to reach those goals great question and thanks for for bringing that in Nick
00:23:43
it um when Lou passed away in 2010 he had all of his uh investigative notes he had put together a spread sheet
00:23:53
883 um um entries on this spreadsheet 53 columns uh he had a a PowerPoint presentation that grown to 632 slides
00:24:04
and he showed me this as it's evolving and he had all of his investigative notes and crime scene photos and autopsy
00:24:12
photos and autopsy reports and and he had everything so organized that when you'd walk into his home he said hey I
00:24:17
want I want to show you this and so we were very familiar with what he had put together and then when he passed away
00:24:24
all of his his his wife Barb had already pass pass away from cancer a few years before so all of Lou's investigative
00:24:32
notes and his computer and his case File all was part of his estate that got passed down to his four children and
00:24:39
within about a month of his uh passing um uh his middle daughter Cindy called me and she said hey John he she said you
00:24:48
know hey we've got all the dad's you know investigative notes and his spreadsheet and and everything and he
00:24:53
said you know we're we're going to assemble a team um and do what Dad said um and and continue working this case
00:25:01
because we don't believe Boulder will ever solve this on their own and and Lou left us with all of this information to
00:25:07
work with will you come and be a part of the team and before I could answer yes or no because I was I'd retired from the
00:25:13
Sheriff's Office and I was working for locki Martin and doing a lot of travel and and but before I could say yes or no
00:25:20
she said and Dave Spencer's already agreed to be a part of it because she she knew how close Dave and I were to to
00:25:26
to one another as well as to and so when she told me Dave Spencer was on board already I said okay I I'm in because I
00:25:34
knew how organized Dave was and what a competent detective he was as well as a private investigator when he retired
00:25:42
from the PD so um so since 2010 the Smith family jbr John Ben Ramsey jbr team we've been meeting um at Le once a
00:25:54
month or maybe every six weeks probably an average of 10 10 times a year um and what we do is we go through our top 20
00:26:03
list we've gone out um on more than a dozen cases of Persons of Interest left from Lou where we'll um try to obtain
00:26:13
that person's DNA and um submit it to the lab we we pay for the DNA analysis U on our own um after a few years the
00:26:24
first few years we just had to pass the Hat because we didn't have any money and
00:26:28
and um U but after a few years Cindy did put together a GoFundMe um uh account and um we had budgeted at that time for
00:26:38
our top 20 we were averaging about $5,000 per test and that included the travel to fly out to um hotel if we had
00:26:49
to stay somewhere and then in the lab analysis that was a good average so we thought to get our top 20 we would need
00:26:57
100,00 ,000 so that was our um GoFundMe account Target last I looked I think we were up to like 62 or
00:27:06
63,000 and um uh that might be one thing we could do Nick and Captain is is if I
00:27:12
send you the link maybe you can you know make that available you know to your listeners um there there's three
00:27:18
different accounts only one of them is connected to our our team and so I want to make sure everybody gets the the
00:27:25
right the right one but um we've had some very generous uh donations and you can look on there and you can see you
00:27:32
know who's donated and how much the Ramsay family um Jeff Ramsey's contributed several times that's John's
00:27:39
brother one of the neat things we had was um a lady who had read my book that I'd never met she called me and she said
00:27:48
um John I'm in really impressed with your book and we really want to see your Smith Family Team succeed and she said
00:27:55
I'm prepared today to make a 10,000 ,000 donation and I sent her the link you know and you you kind of think well you
00:28:02
know is this a scam you know are they going to want my you know account number or whatever but she was true to her word
00:28:08
within hours we had a $10,000 uh donation from an anonymous source and that that's helped a lot and uh I think
00:28:17
we have we have several thousand dollars in there now but I know the Ramsey family have said you know hey if if you
00:28:23
guys start running low you you let us know and we'll contribute and sometimes we've we've gone out and actually
00:28:30
approached somebody who was on the the list and a lot of these names are known you know they've been in other people's
00:28:35
books and and so we'll go up to to somebody and contact them and say Hey you know you were brought up as a
00:28:41
potential suspect you know back in 97 or 98 and and and if they were falsely accused would say you know we can give
00:28:49
you an opportunity to clear yourself if you want and and we'll pay for it and um
00:28:54
so sometimes we've had a couple of Persons of Interest willingly give us a a DNA it's usually
00:29:02
just a an oral swab on a qtip that we submit to the lab and um a couple of times you know they kind of hesitated
00:29:10
and we said well if we gave you $300 or $500 would that would that um um you know work better for you so we we have
00:29:19
paid for a few DNA samples and when we when we when we get a sample off of discarded DNA or whatever we we hold her
00:29:27
breath you know hoping that this is the one and um it takes a painful amount of time to get the analysis back and so
00:29:36
we've had many disappointments um that that that we sent in somebody that could be a strong person that was on loose
00:29:45
list and it comes back negative but I keep hearing my uh former partner's voice in my ear saying okay now we know
00:29:52
who didn't do it let's let's move on to the next one next man up [Music] if you're a parent and you want to help
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your 50% off at rosettastone.com garaget [Music] toay so you have people that you've
00:33:53
eliminated you have a top 20 Persons of Interest list and these are lists that you at one time shared with Boulder PD
00:34:02
correct absolutely yeah we've shared that list in confidence then we when we've eliminated somebody on our top 20
00:34:10
we go back to lose spreadsheet and we take the next most likely person and bump them up into the top 20 uh Lou left
00:34:17
it uh his 883 entry SP spreadsheet in four tiers Tier 1 2 3 4 tier one is who we thought needed the the most most look
00:34:27
and he had he had eliminated U probably over 100 people well maybe not that many
00:34:32
anyway he had eliminated a number of people before he passed on and then our team is eliminated and and rep
00:34:40
prioritized I think last count was like 23 other other names some of them you know was a name that was brought up as a
00:34:49
potential suspect and then once you look at them you can say well can't be this guy because you know he died in you know
00:34:56
95 or this guy was in prison since 93 or or whatever so so you can eliminate some
00:35:02
without doing the DNA but the ones that remain we we look at oh who was most likely being Boulder was there some
00:35:09
motive um you know uh we also because of Lou had access to the boulder um uh DNA
00:35:18
um lab reports that showed you know who had been eliminated previously so we were able to you know exclude some of
00:35:27
those but when we when we gave our top 20 to Boulder Police we've done this a couple of times and the boulder da who
00:35:35
said you know if there's somebody on this list that you've already eliminated could you please let us know that way
00:35:42
we're not bothering them or we're not you know wasting our time and money and our first meeting with the da is he
00:35:49
agreed to do that and then the second meeting six months later um they refused to to do that but we still keep s
00:35:56
sending them the the names that we've eliminated we let them know who we're we're looking at but um yeah so far um
00:36:06
as Commander tro told me going in that you know this is a one-way Street we're not sharing any information with you Tom
00:36:13
tro was was the C commander of the um homicide unit for for years he'd been on the original crime scene and uh one time
00:36:22
was a friend of mine but um Tom Tom was a um disciplined along with five other Boulder detectives in Jan in December of
00:36:32
last year for not thoroughly investigating their cases and he was removed as the captain of detectives and
00:36:40
put into Patrol on midnights and then these other detectives either left or were um disciplined for not uh
00:36:48
thoroughly investigating their cases the Boulder Police public information officer put out a statement that had
00:36:55
nothing to do with a John B Ramsey case but I voice maintained it had everything
00:36:59
to do with a jumy Ramsey case because unfortunately that was the culture that L bumped up to in 96 and 97 was they
00:37:08
just were not interested or didn't know how or didn't have the right supervision
00:37:13
you know to thoroughly investigate their their cases so there is a new captain um
00:37:19
Commander there's um new detectives there's new leadership there's a different police chief and that was
00:37:25
their back this happen so we're uh our team our Smith family team we're continuing to to meet and pursue our top
00:37:33
20 list but we're also wishing Boulder Police the FBI whoever is involved in this case coloral Bure investigation uh
00:37:41
much success because we we just love to see the case solv for the family and and
00:37:47
um be able to close this case once and for all I I should also mention mo one of the other motivations is like with
00:37:54
with the Heather daon Church case is the likelihood of this killer as violent as
00:38:00
a crime as this is that this being a a a oneof is is minimal you know this this is the type of a violent um pedophile
00:38:10
that you know just doesn't start off you know at that that level of violence you
00:38:14
know they they increase their ummo um M operand they they they they fine-tune that they get more and more
00:38:25
violent more and more cre native and so the likelihood that there's not victims before and and most likely after um this
00:38:35
murder is is minimal so I I think like with the heatherd Don Church case who whenever this person's identified
00:38:43
there's a strong likelihood that there'll be a pattern of um violent offenses so we we hope that it's solved
00:38:50
not just to get Justice for John Benet and prove Lou right but more importantly is to get this this violent pedophile
00:38:56
off off the street if he's still out there do you have and I know I we don't want to get too specific about names
00:39:02
here on on either one of your list but as far as your Persons of Interest go and you have a top 20 Lou had a
00:39:10
spreadsheet that had many more names on it than that are all of these persons identified like or any of them
00:39:20
referenced and not identified by name all of ours are identified by name and our top 20 there are several with lose
00:39:30
um entries when you look at the 883 you'll see a nickname or you'll see someone referred to as a landscaper for
00:39:38
example um but but or a plumber who had been in the house three months before something and uh Lou Lou was convinced
00:39:47
that the killer had access to the home before the night of the murder it just seems like knew where things were
00:39:55
located and um Lou believed that he probably even went through that that um window in the in the basement uh before
00:40:03
that night so Lou was looking um very carefully at other people who had access to the home and so there were a few
00:40:11
people on his list that didn't have a name but were referenced to in some capacity a good example most people know
00:40:20
who followed this case know um the reference to Santa Claus that person was later identified and and through DNA
00:40:29
that person was eliminated as a potential uh suspect but yes to answer your question there are some that are
00:40:37
either known as a nickname or partial name or or some some tagline do you recall if the running man is on that
00:40:44
list oh I remember something about the Running Man H I'd have to go back and look yeah the Running Man is always kind
00:40:50
of spooked me a bit and I don't know that there's much known about him other than one or two persons saying that they
00:40:56
thought they saw a tall Slender Man running uh in the area at some point that yeah I know our teams yeah it goes
00:41:05
back a few years we did spend some time on on this running man Theory but um I don't I don't know that that was ever R
00:41:13
um tracked down or identified H I'll have to look into that good thought Captain do you have any uh last
00:41:20
questions I got I got like a mill a million there's only 100, questions in this case but Mr Anderson you had a
00:41:30
correct me if I'm wrong but with the uh you know I read the book months and months ago CU it came out early this
00:41:35
year and I believe you said in the book that you have a do you have a website or
00:41:41
somewhere that people can go to view more information about the case yes yeah thank you I I should have mentioned that
00:41:49
earlier um my publisher for Lou and John Benet is wild blue press and they have um a website and what I did with
00:42:01
permission of the F of lose family is in the book The hard cover and the soft cover I have 36 slides that uh from
00:42:11
Lou's original presentation that are are printed in in the book in the middle of
00:42:15
the book kind of like photos in my audio book um obviously since you wouldn't have you know access
00:42:22
to those photos my publisher offered to host the photos that I wanted to include
00:42:29
on their website while bless.com and if you look up my book Lou and John benay instead of doing the same 36 photos that
00:42:37
are in the book we picked 20 other photos that are not in the book crime scene photos so if you if you compare
00:42:45
the two that's 56 slides of L's that he put together they're all his notes and um I think that gives people uh a really
00:42:54
good overview of the crime scene the autopsy nothing overly gory or bloody there but um there are a few autopsy
00:43:04
photos like for example the stun gun marks and um so if if anybody's interested in in looking at the slides
00:43:11
that L put together I think that the WildBlue press.com is real is is very good for that and then they've also put
00:43:19
together a couple of good um oh let's see there's been some blogs and some other things that they've done a good
00:43:25
job with and what we'll do Nick or Captain if one of you when this is finished and and you put it out if
00:43:32
you'll send me a link I'll get that added to the uh website for wild blue press uh as well another thing that was
00:43:39
really incredible with your book that is just I mean there's no shortage of books
00:43:44
about the John Benet case but this is the only book that I've seen that features the floor diagrams the layout
00:43:51
of the complete house the first floor second floor third floor it has every room of the house in the basement
00:43:59
included so I thought that was if you don't understand the crime scene there's no way to understand the case and so to
00:44:06
include stuff like that in a case that's been so convoluted over the years and in
00:44:12
a case where people are so heavily charged up about their Theory or thoughts of who did it but there's still
00:44:20
a lot of information out there that that most people just don't know so thank you
00:44:23
for including those diagrams in your book very welcome and that that's a very good observation and I can't take credit
00:44:30
for that because that's vintage L SMI he's the one who put together those four diagrams um using his computer and um
00:44:41
uh so uh I think that that shows why this book is unique is because Lou had access to the crime scene personally I
00:44:50
mean he he went there and he took those measurements to make that those diagrams
00:44:55
and to see how you know where was the evidence found where is this blue suitcase at where's this baseball at
00:45:01
baseball V bat at and I think what makes the book unique and I realized that I was in the unique position
00:45:08
to or a position of responsibility to to get those out there was because I was one of the few people that that had
00:45:15
access to lose spreadsheet and his his case File and his notes thanks to his family so yes I think that is what's
00:45:23
different from other books because a lot of the other authors you know um studied
00:45:29
you know was in the newspaper might have gotten copies of reports but Lou was actually there he he was in the crime
00:45:36
scene um I I've been to the Ramsey former Ramsey home several times but I was never inside but Lou was many many
00:45:44
times so he had an intimate understanding of the of the um crime scene inside and and out one other thing
00:45:53
that um and thank you for the nice compliments about my book it any book as you guys know is a is a team effort and
00:46:02
um one of the things that I most proud of on the book is the cover and one of the few uh requests I made of of my
00:46:10
publisher wild blue press was I had two photos that I had one of Lou and uh that
00:46:17
was the first day in the Sheriff's Office January 10th 1995 when we were both sworn in I became the sheriff he
00:46:24
became my C detective so I wanted that photo of Lou one of my favorite photos on the cover and then the photo of John
00:46:31
Benet was one of my favorite photos and I had a different photo that came out a loose case File of her in her
00:46:38
kindergarten class and um I sent them to as a mockup of the cover to her dad and
00:46:46
I said hey John these are the this is kind of what the cover is looking like and and you know I did not want a
00:46:51
glamour shot there were too many books out there with that and Lou never saw saw John Benet as a beauty queen he
00:46:58
always saw her as a little innocent little kindergartener as she as she was and so um when I sent the the other
00:47:06
mockup of the book cover to her dad um he sent me a nice little email and he said I like that photo too but he said
00:47:13
John could you use this one instead he said it was John benet's first day of kindergarten and he said it's one of my
00:47:19
favorite photos and paty took that photo right be um uh right before she put her
00:47:25
in the car and took her to her first day of kindergarten and it's a it's a neat little photo because it shows her with
00:47:31
her little backpack slung over her shoulder and she's got a little plastic Apple that has treats or something for
00:47:36
the kids I don't actually know what's in there and then her little dog jock and it's a cute little outfit that I'm sure
00:47:42
py picked out to wear for the first day of kindergarten but I think it gives you
00:47:46
a real look at two important photos two people who never met and are forever linked in history through this case is
00:47:55
there something as you guys have looked through you know it's been a team effort
00:48:02
to look through lose Case Files is there something that you feel like he got wrong what a good question well
00:48:11
certainly the high-tech boot we've had to take you know um a step back on that um yeah because I remember talking to
00:48:19
him specifically about that bootprint and he said yep he said none of the Boulder Police um uh you know have been
00:48:28
confirmed to wear high-tech boots they've been asked they didn't um let's see so I'm convinced he's he he just
00:48:36
didn't have the right information uh I can't really say he was wrong on that um let's see
00:48:44
h no I think uh yeah I can't think of of anything else I think um I think it's the opposite I think the
00:48:56
more and more our team you know have gone through the lab analysis the reports the more we realize that he was
00:49:02
spot on a good example of that was the DNA the initial reports had um under like the fingernails and I can't
00:49:11
remember the exact numbers I think there were like six genetic markers on the two
00:49:17
hands left and right initially and I think there were like nine that came off of the underwear then they were the same
00:49:24
six or or one that that were on the nine and so Lou was was convinced you know this was from the same person the 2008
00:49:33
analysis with the long johns now here's a different article of clothing and it gives us I think there was 11 or 12
00:49:43
genetic markers on that one there were more anyway but it was the same six that were in the fingernails that were on the
00:49:49
long johns the same nine that were on the underwear so it what what it's done Nick is it's kind of done the opposite
00:49:56
every time we get a little bit more physical evidence a little more cooperating evidence information it
00:50:02
really substantiates that Lou was right all along yeah and I think a lot of people that have looked into this case
00:50:09
after Lou they nitpick things like where they go just like the window I think what
00:50:18
Lou was able to prove is cuz there was a lot of speculation that that the ramies
00:50:24
would leave d unlocked or people that worked for the Rams would say not only were the doors unlocked but there would
00:50:30
be a jar and and there was it's such a big house that you know John Ramsey would come downstairs and have to start
00:50:39
shutting windows and shutting doors and locking things because the kids would just leave things
00:50:44
open but I also think he proved like well even if there was locked doors and locked Windows here's a way that the
00:50:51
Intruder could get in right and I think that's where I think people nitpick they
00:50:56
go well there's no proof that somebody went through there but it's like no he he's just pointing out that there's the
00:51:02
possibility if there was an unlocked door or a Jarred door then the Intruder could have got in that way I've always
00:51:09
argued that possibly they went through the window or possibly went through a door but I I believe that the the
00:51:17
Intruder was trying to leave through that window and I think and Lou definitely would have agreed with you and and again
00:51:27
you know having the the body found in the basement just you know within I don't know how many feet from that
00:51:33
window the scuff mark below the window um there were there were some um other things that you know LED Lou to believe
00:51:42
that that was likely the POI the point of entry but also the point of exit and what Lou knew being an experienced uh
00:51:50
police officer most burglars that commit a crime they enter um a dwelling or or business um through whatever you know a
00:52:01
door window but that's the majority of the time their point of exit as well because they're familiar with that route
00:52:08
you know that that's how they entered and so most burglaries and I can't I don't remember the statistic it's 80 87%
00:52:16
of burglaries that that enter a home exit through that same uh point of entry so I think Lou was aware of that but I
00:52:24
think because the crime the murder happened in the basement that would have been the closest exit that the suspect
00:52:32
was familiar with and then that suitcase being positioned upright L said you know
00:52:38
and he crawled in out of that window several times said it it's kind of hard to get up in the window unless you have
00:52:43
something to stand on and that's that's what he believes that was positioned like it was and when John Ramsey walked
00:52:50
down there one of the first things he said was that suitcase wasn't there you know we didn't keep the suitcases
00:52:56
upright you know underneath that window some someone's positioned that there yeah and that's another um I think point
00:53:03
of argument when when I've talked to this uh about this case with other individuals is to go well how would John
00:53:09
know that because the house was so large and like you pointed out yeah the house
00:53:13
was large but the basement was not a full basement it was a partial basement right right yeah um if I can leave with
00:53:23
with this request it if it doesn't sound too self-serving but people o often ask
00:53:30
when I do a talk or or book signing they say well how can we help the two two things that that really do help with the
00:53:37
book as you guys know the more Amazon reviews the book gets the the higher the ratings are and the whole intent is to
00:53:46
get the story out there so if someone takes the time to read the book would they please you know consider doing a um
00:53:54
a review on Amazon because that'll help get that much more exposure to the book and then the second thing if someone's
00:54:02
that's reads the book or or listens to the this program if you have the financial ability to make a donation to
00:54:10
the uh GoFundMe account we really would appreciate any it was just $10 or $50 whatever um it it's a way of U us
00:54:21
continuing our work again we're not um uh in uh in dire streets financially but the more people that contribute the more
00:54:31
we can do so if someone is in a position to make a a donation or GoFundMe account
00:54:37
none of us get paid uh the money only goes to reimburse us if we um have to travel or or go in a hotel and it's
00:54:47
mostly used for to pay for the DNA testing so we're not we're not making any money off of this but it does help
00:54:54
us with the expenses to continue our work yes of course thank you so much Mr Anderson for joining us today and
00:55:01
telling us about the great L SMI and his involvement in the ramsy case and your continued involvement and your team's
00:55:08
involvement in seeing this thing through well thank you and the captain for your
00:55:14
time today and sharing this story [Music] [Music] want to thank everybody for joining us
00:55:45
here in the garage if you have thoughts and opinions on this interview share them with us at our blog
00:55:52
at truecrime garage.com while you're there check out our recommended reading page Colonel do we have any recommended
00:56:00
reading for the beautiful listeners today yes we do Captain and of course this week we are going to be
00:56:05
recommending Lou and John Benet a legendary Lawman's quest to solve a child beauty queens Murder by John
00:56:13
Wesley Anderson Our Guest that you heard here today and yesterday in the garage make sure you pick up his book it's it's
00:56:21
a great way to review L career Mr Anderson's career and then Lou SMI working and his findings on the John
00:56:31
Benet case that's Lou and John Benet you can find that title and many other wonderful titles on our recommended Page
00:56:39
by going to our website True Crime garage.com and until next week be good be kind and don't
00:56:53
live [Music]

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Episode Highlights

  • The Expansion of NCIS
    The NCIS franchise expands with NCIS Sydney, bringing more mystery and action.
    “NCIS franchise expands with NCIS Sydney”
    @ 00m 19s
    November 29, 2023
  • The Importance of DNA Evidence
    Modern DNA technology offers hope in solving cold cases, including the Ramsey case.
    “There's never been a better time for this case to be solved.”
    @ 16m 50s
    November 29, 2023
  • Lou's Legacy
    Lou's dedication to the Ramsey case continues to inspire those seeking justice.
    “Lou was driven or dedicated, working for the victim.”
    @ 21m 11s
    November 29, 2023
  • Continuing Lou's Legacy
    After Lou's passing, his family and team committed to solving the case he worked on.
    “We don't believe Boulder will ever solve this on their own.”
    @ 25m 01s
    November 29, 2023
  • The Importance of DNA Testing
    The team actively pursues DNA testing for Persons of Interest to find new leads.
    “We go through our top 20 list... to obtain that person's DNA.”
    @ 26m 03s
    November 29, 2023
  • Generous Donations for Justice
    A stranger donated $10,000 to support the investigation team, showcasing community support.
    “I'm prepared today to make a $10,000 donation.”
    @ 27m 55s
    November 29, 2023
  • The Importance of Evidence
    The conversation highlights how new evidence continues to support Lou's original conclusions.
    “Every time we get a little bit more physical evidence, it substantiates that Lou was right.”
    @ 50m 02s
    November 29, 2023
  • Lou and John Benet: A Legendary Lawman's Quest
    John Wesley Anderson discusses his book detailing the investigation into John Benet's murder.
    “It's a great way to review Lou's career and findings.”
    @ 56m 13s
    November 29, 2023

Episode Quotes

  • I can get in and out that window, here watch.
    JonBenet: The Master Detective /// Part 2 /// 719
  • Lou was such a unique man and a constant professional.
    JonBenet: The Master Detective /// Part 2 /// 719
  • Lou left us with all of this information to work with.
    JonBenet: The Master Detective /// Part 2 /// 719
  • We just love to see the case solved for the family.
    JonBenet: The Master Detective /// Part 2 /// 719
  • Lou never saw John Benet as a beauty queen.
    JonBenet: The Master Detective /// Part 2 /// 719
  • It's a neat little photo because it shows her with her little backpack.
    JonBenet: The Master Detective /// Part 2 /// 719

Key Moments

  • Lou's Commitment21:55
  • Lou's Legacy25:07
  • Community Support27:55
  • Investigation Challenges29:39
  • Hope for Justice37:43
  • First Day as Sheriff46:17
  • Cherished Photos46:26
  • Evidence Discussion48:11

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown