Animals involved in murder? | "48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] we all live two lives only the most intimate people that we know really know who we
are 911 do need police or paramedics uh paramedic it begins with a 911 call from
the house it was a Sunday morning November 13th year 2016 what's the address of the emergency
sir it's a TGA in San Clemente too is a new community it's kind of considered a sleepy little town
nice place to work nice place to live now What's happen we got a patient here who's Fallen upstairs and I don't have a
pulse and she's cold Eric Scott Sills is a fertility doctor you found her down at
the bottom of the stairs yeah partially on the stairs Suzanne Stills is his wife
looks like her shoe come off or something the mother of twins a boy and a girl so she's not
breathing no she's not breathing she was the one who was found that morning I'm going to give you
instructions for chest compressions okay they had it on a speaker phone so Scott
and Mary Kate the daughter were both heard on the on the 911 call what are you trying to do sir I can't see what's
going on what you CPR I'm doing the CPR Dr Sills was a infertility specialist you going keep up I'm going to do it
this way they ran their Clinic as partners Suzanne took care of all the business side of things continue the
compressions until paramedics arrive and take over she's making noises out of her
mouth she was his number one supporter in everything that he did they really looked like they had it all okay hold on
we're we're doing it she was making some kind of noise just from the compressions but I think
she was already dead we get notified by our Sergeant to come out to a house and begin a death
investigation so when you went inside what stuck out to you well soon as you go into the front door the stairwells
right off to your left Suzanne was right there she had a blanket covering her body we could see
the other things laying around like this stainless steel Soup pot a purse an empty medication bottle and then the
scarf was a little bit further down away from her the deputy Corner during her preliminary body exam of Suzanne the
injuries weren't consistent with somebody falling down the stairs her neck had a pretty pronounced ligature
Mark the question is how was she strangled when she was found the scarf was around her
neck I think the first day there was mention of dogs maybe pulling on a scarf oh you're so good had a couple of dogs
rescues very K saw the dogs pulling on the scarf we didn't get the impression that it was any kind of violent pulling
do you think that the dogs could have pulled on her scarf hard enough to strangle her to death could they do it
yes when you came to the house it was a death investigation by the time you left
was it a murder investigation no it wasn't just as clearcut as that [Music] [Music]
[Music] do you have a spidey sense when you go into these scenes I'd like to think so
probably all of us would like to think so that we could just figure it out as soon as we walk in Sherlock hom
Style on that sun Sunday morning in November 2016 Orange County Sheriff's homicide detectives Eric hatch and Dave
Holloway had more questions than Clues at that point in time that morning November 13th was Scott Sills a victim
or a suspect to us he was a victim we were going to a house where two kids and a husband just lost their wife and
mother Dr Scott Sills had made that 911 call and reported finding his wife and business partner Suzanne at the bottom
of the stairs is it a steep stairway yeah it's pretty high I believe it was 13 and 1 12 ft from the floor to the top
of the stairs did it seem plausible that a 45-year-old woman in pretty good shape
would have fallen down the stairs to her death at the time it sounded believable Suzanne had injuries to
pretty much her whole body her face was all bruised up her back was bruised up both arms and legs
were had bruising and abrasions and around her body was that odd collection of items they definitely stood out
especially that steel Puck it almost looked like it was placed there it wasn't upside down or leaning against
anything we had to figure out why those things were there the detectives say Dr Sills didn't seem nervous that a
homicide team was in his home asking questions he was just kind of going with the flow how Cooperative was he oh very
everything we asked of him he he gave us he signed a consent form that gave us permission to search his house and when
they interviewed the Sill's children Mary Katherine and Eric the 12-year-old twins each told a similar story to their
dad that Suzanne had not been feeling well that night Suzanne had a history of migraines they were typically
debilitating requiring a dark room quiet and bed rest and she had been suffering
from a migraine that weekend the migraine seemed to explain that large pot sometimes she carried around a bowl
in order to have it near her bedside in case she threw up in the middle of the night and the empty pill bottle was for
a pain medication Dr SS said his wife took to treat her migraines so did that make it sound more possible that she
could have fallen down the stairs because she was suffering from a migraine maybe and there seemed to be
nothing in the couple's relationship to suggest another reason what did you learn about the Sill's marriage
according to Scott everything was fine they had a you know a good relationship both children attested that their
parents loved each other and said they rarely argued and were never violent detectives started piecing
together a timeline of the weekend Saturday night she was on the couch Eric came down to see her check on
her make sure she was okay it was around midnight when Eric said he and and his mom went back
upstairs after she put the dogs away in their crate Mary Katherine had gone to bed in her parents' bedroom Susanne was
going to spend the night in Mary Katherine's room which was the quietest it was Mary Katherine's idea for Suzanne
to spend the night in that room it was clean according to Mary Katherine and done up like a little hotel suite for
suzan to convalesce in there Mary Katherine had left a note on her door with what would be her last
words to her mom I know you were tired she said but you need to know that I love
[Music] you around 4:00 a.m. Eric said he woke to the sound of his parents arguing in
the Next Room the two windows that's Eric's room so Eric is right next to Mary Katherine's room where his mom was
and what did he tell you he heard well he heard loud voices arguing but he didn't describe hearing any physical
confrontation Eric told detectives that after about 5 minutes he decided to go sleep in the main bedroom with his
sister according to Mary Katherine's statement she thought he'd come in around 3:40 a.m. and told her their
parents were arguing about a work email how do you know she she got an email because Eric said they were talking
about that oh okay so Eric told you that there that she got an email and that she
was it was about some something something about word Dr Sills told detectives he had argued with Suzanne
because he found her working late on her laptop which made her migraines worse when you heard that they had an argument
shortly before she was found at the bottom of the stairs dead what was going through your mind well again that's one
more piece of data that we're going to collect it doesn't mean one way or the other that it was a murder but that's
definitely an Avenue that we would have to pursue neither Eric nor Mary Catherine heard their dad return to the
bedroom I woke up and my dad was just like on the cover just laying there like there wasn't enough room to get in I
guess so we just was laying there on top of it yeah it was around 6:30 a.m. the next
morning when Dr Sills and the twins woke up he asked them if they wanted to go to
the pool and get some donuts Mary Catherine said when she left the bedroom and looked over the
banister she saw her mom's body at the bottom of the stairs that long red and white scarf around her
neck that was Mary Katherine's scarf it was found in the same room as suzan's body but the scarf wasn't on her body
when we arrived it was not Mary Katherine told us that she had to remove the scarf and she did that not to impede
mom's breathing adding to the mystery were the injuries to Suzanne's neck the deputy coroner had noticed during a
preliminary examination of the body earlier that morning especially with the lature mark across her neck it just
didn't make sense is it possible that she could have fallen down the stairs and then somehow the scarf strangled her
could have caught on a banister sure I suppose so but we didn't have any evidence of that as detectives continued
their investigation the question did anybody in the house hear a down the stairs no nobody described hearing a
fall down the stairs or if Suzanne had been carrying that stainless steel pot no one heard that bounce down the stairs
or land on the tile floor there was no evidence on the stairs of someone going down like broken ballast or anything
like that and something else the detectives thought was strange it was a warm day
even though it was November but when we spoke with Scott and during the whole time we were in the house doing our
investigation he was wearing a beanie over his head and he said that he slept with it cuz it was cold did you ask him
to remove the beanie yes as it turned out Suzanne wasn't the only one with injuries that morning
[Music] we discovered that Scott had some injuries he had a cut up here on his forehead and on his arm he had a uh
bruise Dr Scott Sills said there was a simple explanation for the injuries he had hurt himself while working on his
car in the garage with his son Eric there was just one problem Eric told us dad didn't hurt himself did he say to
you I left the garage so maybe you hurt himself while I was gone no he told us they came in the house together and
investigators said they found something Dr Sills couldn't explain on that day you found blood yes blood in Mary
Katherine's room where Suzanne had been staying on the curtains the wall and the
nightstand so that morning when you asked Scott about the blood what did he say he didn't know where it came from he
He was unaware of it Mary Catherine told investigators the room was quote perfect when she left it
she also said she'd turned down the bed but now it was made it didn't really make sense why would Suzanne take the
time to make the bed in the middle of the night so if you found blood in Mary Katherine's bedroom you know that there
are ligature marks on Suzanne why not take him down to the station at this point and question him
once you arrest somebody that starts processes that you you can't stop besides the blood in the bedroom we
didn't really have enough evidence of a fight occurring so at the end of the day
there wasn't enough probable cause legally to arrest him Suzanne's autopsy 4 days later didn't provide any
definitive answers the forensic pathologist noted that Suzanne had injuries all over her
body that could have resulted from a fall including a fractured C3 vertebrae near the base of her neck which can be
fatal then there was that ligature mark across her neck and hemorrhaging of the blood vessels in her eyes which pointed
to strangulation it would take months to make an official ruling it's not something they want to
rush into it's not something they want to make a rash judgment on the doctor wanted to examine the whole case more
more clearly in the meantime detectives requested DNA testing on evidence collected from the Sill's home and
forensic analysis on Suzanne's phone and laptop they also dug deeper into who the
Sills were none of their immediate neighbors knew anything about the family eventually we contacted whoever we could
out of their contact list to try and find out [Music] more in high school I thought this must be what genius
means his humor his his quick wit Sandy Roberts and Jamie aens have known Scott Sills since their high school days in
Herman Tennessee he was something we had never seen before in a small town in Tennessee at that age he was very
special it was hilarious how many people come to class in a three-piece suit and it's not dress
up day he's flamboyant he's bigger than life he was very very kind I grew up uh pretty poor I didn't have a car in high
school or anything like that and a lot of times no lunch money and uh he always pulled out his wallet and paid for it it
just wasn't a question his future seemed Limitless he was accepted to both law school and medical school we were kind
of all on the edge of our seat wondering what he was going to decide to do and it was no surprise when the
hometown boy became a renowned IVF specialist a profession that would lead him to Suzanne Suzanne was going through
fertility treatment trying to get pregnant with her first husband Chris solamini met Suzanne AR
swaga in business school where she earned an MBA she had confided in him about her struggles to get pregnant
having kids was everything to suzan she'd cry about it I mean it was so important to
her and Eric Scotts was her fertility doctor but soon Chris says they were were a couple she started talking about
Dr Sills after she had told me she was getting divorced and that she was now dating
him I just remember her saying he's a brilliant doctor Dr Sills who was also coming out of a previous marriage seemed
to have met his match Susanna was smart witty we love Mr St sarcastic but not in a mean way you
know just enough to to dig at you you know incredibly driven a loyal friend she was so classy so beautiful very
engaging seemed like to me he he found one that is a good it was a good fit Suzanne fit right in at Scott's 20th
High School reunion she danced the whole time they were lovely together he just seemed really happy the couple married
and welcomed twins through IVF adding to Dr Sill's two older kids and eventually Suzanne's business
Acumen would lead them to start their own IVF practice in April 2015 she started the business and she
built it Suzanne pretty much ran everything with the exception of actually doing the
procedures the practice soon took off we actually have Dr Scott sils here in OBGYN who's also a fertility specialist
so and Dr s was often featured on the TV program The Doctors which was distributed by CBS we've decided to
provide you that removal surgery at no cost he was in many eyes a saint he was uh loved by his patients Dr Julio Novoa
is an OBGYN who co-authored a book with Dr Sills Dr Sills was a great doctor and
and Susan was a a great advocate for women as well and there were a team not just married but a team and working well
together but about a month before her death Rick Leeds another of Suzanne's friends says she left him a troubling
message she sounded like she was whispering it was so different from the happy jovial excited voicemails I got
before this one was definitely things weren't good when they spoke Rick says it sounded like there was tension over a
photo she said it was a topless photo of her that had appeared on a Blog this was
some discussion she didn't want to [Music] have when news of Suzanne's death reached her friends they were stunned it
was devastating I couldn't believe it it didn't seem plausible to me that she just fell down the stairs with a
migraine headache it didn't sound like the vibrant Suzanne they knew Dr Sill's friends say they were
equally perplexed Scott would not discuss anything with us he quickly changed the
subject we never spoke again you don't know how tragedies affect people what were your impressions of
Scott Sills throughout the investigation I would describe him as emotionless he never acted as though Suzanne was even
his wife he talked about what a good manager she was and how she kept their business flowing but he never once
mentioned that she was a good mother or that he loved her all very businesslike yeah in fact the day after Suzanne's
death the doctor had gone to work I was shocked at who goes to the office the next morning when your wife
died Joanie Ricker's daughter was a nurse at the Sills IVF clinic and had called her in a panic she said her
patients are in cycle and they have to be treated Joanie volunteered to help manage the office something Suzanne did
and ended up working there for two years did Dr SS talk about his wife oh never did he ever say how she died or it was
never discussed pretty soon she says the doctor started changing his his appearance he started dress like a movie
star I mean he was very simple before and she says the once balding doctor now had a full head of hair we definitely
noticed um new hair they also noticed Dr Sill's flashier online Persona I said to one of my friends now
is SS a doctor or a model I personally don't know any doctors on social media that are taking selfies in the gym and
their their Blazers and their sunglasses and in their Porsches I it was a little
much all of a sudden there started to be another woman in photos and he was out on dates and they were going around
town the behavior raised eyebrows but it was hardly evidence then in November 2017 a year after Suzanne's death there
was finally news from the coroner's office Suzanne's cause of death was cited as ligature strangulation and the
manor a homicide Dr Sills was now the prime suspect DNA results on the blood in Mary
Katherine's room showed a mixture of his and suzan's DNA they were both there there was a fight there was a fight and
he killed his wife on August 8th 2018 nearly 2 years after Suzanne's death detectives
Holloway and hatch made a surprise house call at the doctor's home did you ask Dr Sills at this point
just flat out did you kill your wife yes and started stressing out and started sweating and he became more
defensive they say the doctor denied killing his wife and he now offered an explanation for his blood in Mary
Katherine's room he said he had injured himself replacing a window screen wouldn't Mary Katherine have seen the
blood that he left from replacing the screen for sure and she didn't mention it nope despite the death being ruled a
homicide detectives said they still had more investigating to do like finding a motive a search of Suzanne's phone
provided some Clues text messages hinted at problems in the marriage there was one in particular where she had some
pretty strong words towards Scot in text sent in late August Less Than 3 months before her death Suzanne wrote I am
trapped you are killing me I just want out and we just aren't right for each other and about a month before her death
Suzanne had confided in Rick Leeds she and Scott were in a really rocky place and she was thinking about leaving
him he said Suzanne was also upset about a photo photo she' posted online whatever was going on between her and
Scott and this picture was just a pivotal point for her Suzanne had posted a topless photo
after making a bet in a political chat room called patrick.net Suzanne apparently was one of the few women who
was involved in this forum she kind of threw out that if Donald Trump won the presidential nomination that she would
post a picture of her bare breasts and on the day of her death detectives had found a print out in Dr Sill's home
office of an exchange between Suzanne and another patrick.net member from August 30th 2016 discussing the photo
the man who went by 10B bass wrote All I've got to say is you must have a super cool husband Suzanne AKA turtle dove
replied he's exhausted actually it isn't easy being married to a woman who is partially naked and posing alluringly
all the time Dr Sills denied that he had printed that chat but when investigators
later searched his phone they found a photo of the same exchange does this sound like this could
lead to motive yes if it's something that's building up in him some kind of anger or jealousy about what his wife's
doing online without him enough to kill her mhm detectives also learned that Dr Sills had tried to collect on a
$250,000 life insurance policy on Suzanne but he claimed the insurance company had called him he wasn't able to
collect a death certificate was ruled as a homicide do you think Scott sils thought he'd gotten away with it I think
so every day that went by he felt a little bit more at ease I think on April 25th 2019 nearly 2 and a half years
after Suzanne's death Dr Sills was arrested for her alleged murder on his way to surgery he quickly posted a
million-dollar Bond but investigators were about to get an unexpected tip from a woman who said she had met Dr Sills
while Suzanne was still alive they met through Facebook he was infatuated with her she shared an email
Dr Sills had sent her about two weeks after Suzanne's death poor marer Marie yes so it's in
French this is probably the most important manuscript I have ever written I am asking you to seriously rethink our
suspended but once intense relationship when you first read that email what was your
reaction I thought me I was shocked this is a motive so could Dr SS have killed his wife to get her out of the way oh I
just don't see that at all Dr SS defense attorney Jack early denies that there was a romantic relationship and he says
that email was merely a devastated father's desperate attempt to find a new mother for his children did you feel in
your gut that you could win this case oh [Music] [Music] yes in November 2023 just over 7 years
after Suzanne Sills death Scott Sills now stripped of his medical license went on trial for her murder the Orange
County District Attorney's Office declined our request for an interview but cameras were allowed in court for
portions of the trial where senior Deputy da Jennifer Walker laid out her case to the jury November 13th of
2016 this man killed his wife and hit it Walker argued that Scott Sills beat and then strangled Susan to
death before staging the scene to make it look like she'd fallen down the stairs this is a murder not an accident
the prosecution's case relied heavily on suzan's autopsy but Scott s's defense attorney Jack early came to court armed
with a unique theory he suggested that Suzanne fell either going up or down the stairs and that one or both of the
family dogs then tugged on the scarf that was wrapped around her her neck do you honestly think that the dogs pulled
hard enough to strangle her to death no no I didn't that was not the main theory
that the dogs actually strangled her to death instead early focused on another injury identified in suzan's autopsy
that fractured C3 vertebra he says that injury is consistent with a fall and that it would have left Suzanne
incapacitated let's assume that someone trips and falls and fractures or C3 their breathing is compromised if
they're then choked it doesn't take much to kill them the defense had the scarf tested for dog DNA it came back positive
and there was testimony that the dogs were known to play tug-of-war as seen in this
video and when Suzanne and Scott's now 19-year-old daughter Mary Katherine took the stand for the prosecution her
testimony supported the defenses Theory investigator Dave Hollow was at the trial Mary Catherine testified that
she saw the dogs pulling at the scarf around her neck and none of that came up during the the day we interviewed her
the first time how did that strike you well um I know that she was still close with her father do you think she's
trying to protect her dad I would say so early denies that he says the reason Mary Katherine didn't tell investigators
is simple it wasn't asked why would she think the dogs are important she doesn't
even know that there's any question of being choked he says Scott Sills did tell First Responders and he argued that
suzan's toxicology tests point to an accidental fall she had a muscle relaxing and pain medication in her
system and early told the jury that Suzanne suffered from a fainting disorder and that vertigo would
accompany her migraines but the prosecution said the defense's theory just doesn't make sense strangulation is
a silent killer you know what's not a silent killer falling down multiple stairs you have to believe she bounced
her head neck back shoulders Insider arms legs and feet multiple ways against approximately six stairs like being in a
soundproof pinball machine then was strangled by her dogs not reasonable and why would
Suzanne have a scarf around her neck that early in the morning to begin with prosecutors suggested that Scott Sills
used it to strangle her and then left it around her neck to cover the marks but early told the jury it wasn't unusual
for Suzanne to wear a scarf especially when she wasn't feeling well because if she got sick that was something that she
would would would wear a scarf to wipe your mouth with it but the prosecution also pointed out
that Suzanne and Scott's son Eric told investigators he saw his mother put the dogs away in their crate in the hours
before she died Eric said that his mom put the dogs in the crate yes sometimes dogs when they're crate trained when
they go to bed will go lay in the crate even with the door open there was also no blood on the stairs or damage to them
there are all these injuries that you say come from the fall down the stairs all over her body but she leaves no
marks on the stairs but there's no marks anywhere in the house but there was that
blood in Mary Catherine's bed room and the prosecution argued it was evidence that a fight occurred a forensic
scientist testified that the stains on the nightstand and drapes were consistent with Scott Sill's
DNA early did acknowledge that his client's blood was in the room but he told the jury about Scott's claim that
he heard himself there on an earlier date from Scott replacing a screen yeah from getting cut on a nail that was in
the back of the nightstand that was there that forensic scientist though testified that one of the stains on the
wall was a mixture of DNA and Scott and Suzanne were likely contributors early says that doesn't mean it was suzan's
blood and that it could have been her touch DNA that was picked up Susan had touched that area before at some point
in time and she lived there but the prosecution pointed out that there were also clumps of suzan's hair found in
Mary Katherine's room and there were blood stains on Suzanne's clothing that were found to be consistent with Scott
Sill's DNA too early had a rebuttal to it all starting with the hair she has hair extensions and you know what hair
extensions cause loss of hair and the blood on the clothes you don't know how old it
is the jury was also shown pictures of those injuries that were observed on Scott remember how he told investigators
that he hurt himself while working on his car with his son and how according to investigators Eric said that his
father didn't get injured well when Eric took the stand his testimony allowed for
the possibility what he testified is why didn't stay there the whole time he fixed the car does that seem like a
discrepancy to you well it's not a discrepancy nobody's asking him that full story at at the age of 12 so he
didn't necessarily say at age 12 dad didn't get the injury from the car no he basically said I wasn't there when he
got the injury while Eric Sills did testify that a loud discussion between his parents had woken him up shortly
before his mother's death the defense told the jury that there was nothing to it and those texts between Scott and
Suzanne in the months before Suzanne's death if you have 40,000 texts and there's five of them with hard language
in it that's a perfect marriage the jury didn't hear about the life insurance policy that email Scott
sent to another woman or his his social media photos in the wake of his wife's death but they were told about the
patrick.net posts and the prosecution argued that topless photo that Suzanne posted on the site enraged Scott it
wasn't a big deal it's not striking to you that he had this photo in two places on his phone and then on the printer no
first of all I don't know really who printed this stuff up early maintains there is no motive for murder there was
never any physical violence they're working in and marriage relationship everybody looked at as
loving Scott Sills chose not to take the stand the trial spanned 3 weeks and then
the case went to the jury my heart was just [Music] pounding what do you make of the defense
that the dogs may have played a role in her death chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X
jurors Aaron Ellis Jack Van Camp and Susan bleo say that when deliberations began they felt the pressure it's just
so intimidating that you got someone's life on the line it weighs on you oh yeah and the ripple effect the kids and
know yeah did you think about that that these kids didn't only lose their mom mom that if you convict him now they're
losing their dad of course yeah they say they also felt a clear motive was lacking I mean it's hard to imagine why
something like this somebody would do that yeah after about 3 hours they came to a
decision the Jes have indicated that they breached a verdict in this matter the clerk read the
verdict we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant Eric Scott Sills not guilty of the crime of
first-degree murder we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant Eric Scott
Sills guilty of the crime of second degree murder guilty of second deegree murder Scott Sills who gave the gift of
life to so many through his IVF practice now convicted of taking the life of his
wife the mother of his kids I just felt sad I mean I was tearing up on the way out this whole family had
been through so much you know now this is the next phase of it but he did that the jurors we spoke to say that no
one on the jury bought the defense's theory about the dogs the dogs would have to choke her on the stairs and my
dog was as big as hers and my dog canot get a grip on wooden stairs with their nails to do anything they just slide the
scarf had no puncture wounds either I would have expected holes and the fall down the stairs wouldn't create that
scenario in her [Music] body instead what they spent the most time grappling with was whether Scott
Sills was guilty of first deegree or second degree murder first deegree murder requires premeditation and
deliberation I just didn't think he planned it I don't and if he had planned it or done any kind of forethought it
wouldn't be a hot mess crime scene that it was it was kind of like a snap but investigator Dave Holloway says
while Scott Sills may not have planned his crime he certainly had the time to think about what he was doing he had
plenty of time from when he applied pressure to suzan's neck till she died to stop what he was doing he still did
it I was a little disappointed that it was a second degree on March 15th 2024 about 3 months
after the verdict court reconvened for sentencing Suzanne s's Mother Teresa newbower addressed the court and kept
the focus on her daughter she was a dynamic person she had hopes and dreams hopes and dreams new bow said
that one day Suzanne would see her daughter Mary Katherine walk down the stairs of the family's San Clemente home
on her wedding day it was a very painful uh thing for me to learn of the role the staircase
eventually played in real life Mary Katherine also addressed the court and spoke of all the loss she had
endured at such a young age she and her brother were taken in by a family friend
after their father's arrest and that family friend died suddenly of a health condition around the end of the trial
she asked the judge to show her father Mercy I want my father to walk me down the aisle at my wedding someday when I
have a family and children I want my father to be there to hold my baby I have been left orphaned and I feel so
lost without my parents we're here for s on the matter judge Patrick Donahue sentenced Scott
Sills to the mandatory sentence under California law 15 years to life in prison uh good luck
sir his fate was decided but for so many questions remain exactly what led up to
Suzanne Sill's death do you think we'll ever know exactly how it happened I don't think so Scott Sills declined our
requests for an interview but in the end no explanation will suffice or ease the
profound sense of loss that lingers patients now without their doctor thousands of women felt him to be
a saint from the saint all the way down to the devil that's how it ended up being and children without their father
or their mother her kids were so important to her and everything she did revolved around
her her children she was an incredible human being you know I miss [Music] her need more time with 48 Hours go deep
behind every True Crime episode with firsthand accounts from 48 Hours investigations were you at all prepared
for what happened in this case shock is the word that comes to mind get inside the twists and turns and get in on the
case listen to postmortem from 48 hours now available wherever you get your [Music]
podcasts if you're afraid of snakes then everything you think you know about them
is wrong my name is Ben renck I'm with Ben renck reptiles and this is my story Ben renck is an artist when it
comes to breeding snakes and this is the project that I'm actually a really big fan of are there some species of snakes
in here that Ben used to work with yeah actually right behind me there's a reticulated python and Ben was actually
very fond of his reticulated pythons Ben renck was a great businessman he was a young upcoming rock
star in the reptile world my wife and I uh mainly run this company Linley renic is a kind soul a devoted mother and I
would say a genuinely caring person they were happy you know they were very busy
you know they worked a lot and there was never any instance of anything ever being
wrong on June 8th of 2017 at about 5:30 in the afternoon Linley renck drives home to where her home and her and her
husband's snake facility is she goes inside and she finds her husband Ben renic lying face down in a pool of blood
I got a call from Linley she was hysterical complete in panic 91 moment the address the
emergency ground everywhere and I went in to try and find Ben and when I found Ben and um and his
body I knew that uh it was too late oh my God my brother's dead what what may have happened he got killed by
snake I assed it was a [Music] snake 1850 building full of snakes a snake every 4 in in here I don't know what
it's done someone being killed by a snake is not something that happens every day especially in Missouri
paramedic said there's a bike mark on so there's a snake loose in here mhm so watch
your being the coroner walking into a death scene with thousands of snakes jumping at the cages it was just a crazy
scene to be at do we have anybody we could call the deal with an anaconda I'm going to kill it we see
it how could you have something big enough to kill a person here I still didn't know what to
think I squatted down next to the body there's significant damage there's blood all around when I saw that shell casing
on the Shelf just above his head I knew that this was not from a snake this was something much more heinous I knew that
this was a homicide at that time who would want to kill Ben renck that was the question we could have
imagined anything like that and it was a long wait until we got that answer [Music]
[Music] I don't care if it's if it's a 5 in Long steak and somebody trying to bite me I'm
going to light on a hot Missouri summer day in June 2017 Montgomery County sheriff's deputies were called to a
unique and potentially dangerous death scene a literal snake pit a building with more
than 3,000 exotic serpents something got him to watch your the First Responders aren't sure if one of these snakes may
have killed renowned breeder Ben renck who is Ben that's Ben renck oh make sure there's no snakes around the
victim yeah excuse me coroner Dave Colbert had never seen anything like it they're holding shotguns in hand they
were guns out you could just feel the anxiety amongst everyone there no one knew where the killer could be coiled or
lurking but while examining Ben's body the corner made that surprising discovery Ben's body lying face down hid
the true cause of death he hadn't been bitten by a giant snake Ben had been shot eight
times once at close range this was something that was not just a random act a snake
honey nearby was Ben's wife Linley she had discovered his body and she was visibly upset uh what you would describe
as somebody who is grieving and you know just lost a loved one okay Linley had called Sam who
rushed to the scene Sam ly did so I don't know that okay I he was all shot in the back almost exclusively I don't I
don't think he saw it coming at all been had such a future ahead of him you know
he was 29 years old he was almost 30 a lot was lost near this remote Highway about 80
Mi west of St Louis once stood a world-renowned snake breeding facility renck reptiles where Ben renck built his
Empire of serpents welcome to the basement of R reptiles uh we keep particular pythons blood pythons
wh pythons green anacondas I've been had his first snake at a very young age and
that became a somewhat of a passion for him came a uh a hobby did build into a business and he was he was very good at
what he did at the time of the murder Sam and Ben renick were living in separate houses with their families on
this 70 acre spread we lived out there together and raised our kidss out there together that we went fishing on the
weekends and you know we were close Ben and Lin Lee first met when they were teenagers they reconnected in 2011 says
local attorney Katherine Burger they head it off right away and their relationship got pretty serious pretty
quickly um I think they moved in together within the first year of dating Linley had a son from a previous
relationship Sam says Ben became a second father to the child in 2014 Ben and Linley decided to tie the knot uh
they had a beautiful wedding and it was beautiful small family event and it was very
special soon they had a baby of their own a growing family to go with their booming snake breeding business Linley
found Ben's passion interesting she would work day and night helping Ben with the snakes handling them cleaning
them sorting them in 2016 they opened a second business a CA Spa in Columbia Missouri a longtime dream of Linley who
once worked as a massage therapist hi I'm Linley I'm the owner here I know that when she started her Spa business
this is something that she had always wanted to do that you know that empowered her quite a
bit by 2017 renck snake business was wildly successful he was shipping his snakes around the world from the UK to
Japan and traveling to reptile conventions across the United States he was so successful Ben realized that if
he sold a portion of renic reptiles he could make some real money Ben had planned on selling the
majority of his ball python collection for uh from my understanding it was about $1.2 million things were going to
be very good for uh my brother and and Lenley the couple had received their first payment of at least
$200,000 but then Ben was murdered when you heard that he was dead what did you think might have happened
to him so the first question that I asked was uh how many snakes were missing a facility like Ben's um it uh
unfortunately attracts a lot of bad people bad people that see these snakes not as these beautiful amazing creatures
that they are but see them as dollar signs to understand the world of snakes that Ben lived and worked in we spoke
with Ben's friend Dave Kaufman who introduced me to a reticulated python a snake Ben was known for throughout the
world because of how he bred them in captivity Ben Loved These snakes because how can you not love these snakes I mean
really when it comes down to it they're big they're beautiful they're personal she's going to go right over your
shoulder and try to go on the cage behind you let's see if I'm right oh no she's going to wrap around you my new
scarf there you go Kaufman is also a snake breeder you ever seen a blood pipe on this big and a document filmmaker who
also travels the world tracking rare and exotic reptiles for his YouTube channel
this is a first it is a remarkable sensation it is investigators looked into the theory
that Ben's murder may have been a robbery gone bad but ruled it out no snakes were missing Dave Colbert says it
made sense to look more carefully at those closest to Ben we definitely didn't want to exclude anybody from
being a possible suspect I didn't know if Sam was involved didn't know if Lindley was
involved the day after after his brother's murder Sam renck was brought in for questioning I don't know where it
starts okay and they also brought in Linley any questions for us what [Music] happen what I mean what do I
do friends and family but soon enough those same friends and family would have reason to question
everything they thought they knew about Lenley reic Lenley that we knew back then was uh very sweet uh kind however
there was there other Siz there that we didn't know [Music] with laww enforcement discovering that
Ben renick had not been killed by a snake and quickly ruling out the possibility of a robbery gone bad Sam
renck had one major question who would have want to been dead a Missouri State Highway Patrol detective had the same
question when he spoke with Ben's wife Linley could you see anybody you know being upset with been to the point
where that man both Linley and Sam were Cooperative in their initial interviews are you willing
to submit to a shotgun or not shotgun gun shot res anything he want got okay Sam says he understood why police would
first focus on them and he told investigators he could never imagine Linley being involved I didn't think
that Linley would have been capable of murder like that Linley also agreed to a gunshot residue
test but in her one-on-one interview with a detective Linley made a startling claim saying that Sam might have had a
motive to kill his brother was there any family issues like between D and yeah at issue Linley said was Ben's plan
to possibly sell the property where they all lived she she claims Sam was upset about
it Ben had inherited the property after another tragedy on the renck Family Farm
just 5 years earlier the suicide of Ben and Sam's father Frank renck Ben found him uh he came and got me and I we went
there together and uh it was a tough day Frank renck shot himself in 2012 after being
implicated in a multi million doll Ponzi scheme involving fraudulent stock certificates there's a lot of people
that lost a lot of money you know due to my father unaware that Linley was implicating him Sam wondered whether Ben
had been killed in an act of revenge against their father we were concerned however that you know someone could have
been upset enough to to have waited done something like this but that theory never took off and Sam who had tested
negative for gun residue on his hands was ruled out after cooperating fully with investigators I provided them you
know everything I had my cell phone the shirt off my back uh my alibi to where I
was when the murder happened I I gave a polygraph as Highway Patrol detectives continued their investigation the
reptile Community stepped up to help Ben's wife and children we have a male fire cinnamon they held this online
auction of donated snakes she's a pretty girl guys raising more than $40,000 guys remember all this money is
going to a great great great cause you guys banded together and you got thousands of dollars to Linley to help
her during this time of Crisis T of yeah we we raised tens of thousands of dollars to help Linley and the kids
because you felt she was a victim that's correct but that supposed victim had a startling confession when Lindley spoke
with detectives again just 11 days after Ben's murder so have you been talking to
anyone or did you have a relationship you Linley admitted she had been unfaithful it was just just
that did he think the same way detectives checked that man's Alibi and cleared him of any suspicion
investigators then interviewed Ashley Shaw one of linley's employees and a close friend who she had confided in
which may have been a mistake I mean I'm sure that you know she was having um an
affair a couple Affairs actually um Ashley the manager at asensa spa said that Linley had also been seen another
man named Brandon Blackwell who she had met on a dating website she said Linley was hooking up up with Brandon before
Ben's murder I know Brandon was like really a short time before that I believe along with linley's affairs
investigators had discovered Facebook messages between Ben and Linley they revealed that Ben had found out the spa
was losing money and that Lenley had lied to him about it Ben sent a message to Lenley just hours before he was
murdered no more line no more key keeping things from me no more not paying people and thinking it's okay to
pay later 4 months after Ben's murder Len Lee was in front of cops again and agreed to take a polygraph exam okay how
do you think you did Len Lee okay not exactly linley's polygraph test was a dismal
failure so the results of the polygraph showed that you failed the test when I ask you did you shoot that man you
failed this explain why I just failed that but I didn't K but investigators suspected she did and may have had help
from yet another man in her life his name is Michael Humphrey an old ex-boyfriend and excon fresh out of
prison on drug possession charges who she texted and called numerous times including on the day her husband was
murdered coming in from the but the thing is is that that right there is very suspicious it appeared Linley was close
to Breaking but she continued to deny any involvement dozens of times I didn't have anything to do with
this there is so much circumstantial evidence against you in this case it's my b
sure but linley's gunshot residue test had come back negative with no Witnesses no murder
weapon found or direct evidence linking her to Ben's murder I need to go get my she left that interrogation room a
free woman out the investigation went cold for nearly 3 years until unexpectedly
someone came forward with everything Missouri Highway Patrol investigators were looking
[Music] [Music] for the boas are long gone pythons packed up snakes in new homes The Reptilian
Paradise turned crime scene now a vacant frozen field eight fatal shots unanswered I wasn't sure what to think
unaware that investigators suspected Linley Ben reck's Brother Sam was left more than a little uneasy it was very
very tough knowing um that someone's out that had essentially gotten away with murder um I was conserve my own
safety and without an arrest serpent lovers were also left rattled so when the case went cold we
would all contact each other asking if anybody had any information on what was going on it was frustrating it was
frustrating to have all this time pass and not have a culprit in custody all Dave Kaufman knew for sure humans do
things other than what you expect snakes do not and the most unexpected Behavior
came from the human closest to Ben renck his widow Linley we want to be you know as
understanding as possible however in time when she refused to talk to us or allow us to talk to the kids or even uh
receive my brother's belongings we knew something was wrong in fact just just weeks after
Ben's murder with her Spa business failing Linley had sold the family property closed up shop and left town in
a hurry so like one day she was there and the next day just left and then never came back today Beth maybery works at
that same location but back then she was just one more True Crime buff in Columbia Missouri riveted by a case
without a conclusion how much is this rent case talked about around here among it's a lot and what do people say what
do they think um crazy it's crazy um and people did start to wonder maybe Linley
did it maybe she had someone do this um it did become a question a question without an
answer until January 2020 when cops followed up on a jailhouse tip we're investigator
for I'm here because you used to be dating Lenley that's correct out of nowhere comes this you know what what
I'm sure the investigators would would think as a god a God's end journalist Dave McKenna of Defector media was
following the case that was about to change fast for investigators your dad gave me a call
today and said that you wanted to talk to us yeah just lays out the whole story and it is very
detailed it was Brandon Blackwell the man Lin Lee met online the lover she was hooking up with the very weak Ben was
murdered her husband is freshly dead body's still warm and she's found another warm body only a year and a half
after Ben was killed Blackwell and Linley had a child together but Linley alleged Blackwell had become threatening
and they had broken up Linley got an order of protection and Blackwell was then charged with violating that order
and stalking her charges he denies he was jammed up in jail and looking to make a deal concern is getting out of
that cell now you're coming to us when you're in a pickle so right Blackwell's taale began weeks
before Ben reic was shot dead when he says Linley and Spa employee Ashley Shaw whipped up a toxic shake for Ben he was
given a a protein drink one night that was laced full of enormous amounts of Narcotics and
somehow live through it but the plan was for that to be the last day of his life
a poison potion served to a husband by his wife Brandon says Linley confessed that and much more to him my information
is out of the horse's mouth okay so when pills failed to kill Brandon says Linley
turned to onetime boyfriend Michael Humphrey the J to the farm he had gloves he had a firearm plan was for him to do
it um they get there he hands her the gun and says he doesn't feel comfortable doing it something she's got to take
care of she walks in with the gun and just shoots him a bunch of times and according to Blackwell
linley's Spa employee Ashley Shaw was once again involved Brandon Blackwell told the police that was in on it
intimately from from the start of the planning the Cold Case was blown wide open on January 16th 2020 cops made
their moves Linley renck and Michael Humphrey were arrested charged with the murder of
Ben renck loved ones and Friends never saw it coming what that moment was like for you disbelief I thought they got the
wrong person it it took us years to find that Linley was lying and that she was living a double life sociopath uh if you
look that up that's linley's picture will be sitting right there with it but what motive could Linley have to murder
the man she had built so much with some say it was as coldblooded as a cobra money Lindley stood to gain
millions of dollars from the death of my brother between the life insurance the sale of the snakes and the family farm
that she would inherit it was significant still investigators needed someone to flip they arrested
Ashley and fast let her know exactly what her future reality might look like now is a time you're either on team
Lenley or you're on team Missouri and team lindley's going to jail they're going to prison for first-degree murder
in exchange for leniency Ashley turned on her onetime boss starting with the toxic ingredients in linley's venomous
smoothie Ashley would say that Linley told her Ben had abused her she asked if I could get any um thing any
prescription pills or anything in the amount that could um help her kill him and so I got her um per it was peret I'm
pretty sure and there was um I think 15 of them according to Ashley after the shooting Linley claimed Michael Humphrey
was the trigger man but she says a few days later Linley changed her story Ashley now claimed that Linley confessed
to being the Killer and she said oh no once we got there I I was fine to do it and so he handed me the gun and I did it
after the murder she have seen remor sorry never no but as the case headed to trial
lindley's legal team insists Michael Humphrey was the real shooter and they argue this st's case isn't based on
truth but on the fearful coer testimony of Ashley Shaw you're either on team Lenley or you're on team Missouri and
team Lenley is going to jail how would that impact somebody a woman like Ashley Shaw do you think well if Ashley Shaw
ever wants to leave that interview room for the rest of her life or for the indefinite future she's going to change
her story it was only after that threat that she changed her story and implicated Lyle renck
I don't know what happened with him I don't know it took a lot of time to just process you know the lies that we were
given by Linley in late 2021 Sam renck was bracing himself for the trials of his brother's alleged Killers my biggest
concern was keeping my composure during the whole time first up linley's old boyfriend
Michael Humphrey the prosecution said Linley fired the gun and that Humphrey was in on the plan prosecutor said he
was in on the plotting he provided the weapon he helped knock off her husband but that murder weapon had not
been recovered Humphrey's defense argued that he had been lured to the Snake Farm
by Linley who claimed she wanted protection when asking Ben for a divorce Lindley had then surprised him and
pulled out a gun and shot her husband they painted him as kind of a fawning Suitor of this pretty blonde petite uh
snake salesman the jury didn't believe Humphrey's story of being an innocent spectator after deliberating for just 5
hours jurors convicted him of first-degree murder Linley is a manipulator and I truly
believe that he was manipulated into where he is right now then facing Life Behind Bars Michael Humphrey changed his
story lindley's trial attorneys Tim hesman and Katherine Burger he decides to flip why does he do that he's
convicted of first-degree murder after a jury trial uh he agrees to cooperate with the state in the hopes that he
might be able to parole out eventually Humphrey now admits that he provided the gun that Linley used to
shoot her husband and he tells them where they can find it which is in his girlfriend's mother's attic with the
murder weapon in hand jurors in linley's upcoming trial would have to answer one
unresolved question who pulled the trigger this is case number 307 State versus Lenley Renning
the defendant Lyle renck shot her husband Ben eight times killing him we're going to come back and ask you to
find her guilty of Mur the prosecution painted Linley as coldblooded as one of her husband's snakes a killer who shot
Ben and then went about her daily routine as if nothing had happened she goes to the school picks up her two
children and drives them back to the place where she knows she is going to find their father's dead body she kill
Lenley is being deceptive to Ben the defense counters by saying that while Lenley lied and cheated on Ben that
doesn't make her a killer she's not planning a murder she's planning a divorce they pointed the finger at the
man already convicted of murdering Ben renck Michael Humphrey took it upon himself acting completely independently
took Ben's life himself but linley's employee and Confidant Ash Shaw now the prosecution star witness swears Michael
Humphrey and Linley were full partners in crime Michael was going to come to the spa and they were going to go
together to her house his business um to kill him at home or at at work Shaw says
after the murder Linley returned to the spa not for a massage but to wash away her sins so Linley goes back there and
she tells you to do what uh to give her a shower and she asked me to scrub her body and her hands really well and she
washed then Ashley tells the jurors what Lyle told her about what really happened
at renck reptiles the day Ben was killed she said that Michael got uh too nervous
or didn't want to do it and so he handed her the gun and she actually killed him
she said that she put the gun to his back and shot him several times but the defense claims Ashley Shaw just like
Michael Humphrey made up the story in order to avoid life in prison how are you able to be so calm when you're being
questioned about murders that you evidently claim to be involved in how is that Ashley I don't know there are so
many aspects of Ashley Shaw's story that simply are not credible and now in a strange Twist of
judicial fate the prosecution called an unlikely key witness to the stand now what am I hold holding up that's that's
my gun that's what your gun is convicted murderer Michael Humphrey who now swears
he's telling the truth about how Linley killed her husband I heard a shot come out so I kind of ducked a little bit I
looked down through there and she was at the end of the um Corridor or whatever you want to call it posed up like this
with a gun all right thank you so much are you next WITN Bo as the trial neared its end
the defense took a chance on a star witness of their own Linley began by detailing the troubled and sometimes
violent marriage she claims she was trying to escape Linley uh was there ever any other occasion where an
argument with Ben turned physical yes Ben and I had been arguing at the house and he grabbed my arm and pushed me into
the refrigerator and was like I'm not done with this we're going to finish it now Linley renick never filed any police
reports about the alleged physical abuse abusive is a word that I would not use with Ben he was very kind very loving
then came her chance to explain why she asked Michael Humphrey to accompany her that fatal day hey my marriage is
falling apart will you please just go with me just to make sure like you know I'm safe and I can get some stuff and go
did you ask Michael to help you kill your husband no said the scene for me and the jury and I walked up right right
behind Michael and then Michael turned around and I saw a gun in his hands and then I
heard shots ring out and I screamed and I ran outside and then I heard more shots go
off and everything just went numb and I remember staring at the trees and then Michael running out of the
facility and pushing me towards the car and telling me we have to go lle get in the car we have to go
now claiming to be in shock Linley admitted she didn't tell the truth to investigators but said that didn't add
up to murder and I understand what that means and how this looks I just I don't know how to fully
Express that I I never wanted been dead and Miss Ren you and Michael the prosecution was ready to
strike you were interviewed a bunch by a bunch of cops correct yes and you lied to them every time yes but deep down in
that heart of yours and in that brain of yours you know who killed him correct yes linley's lies to Cops included a
terrible slander accusing Sam renick of killing his brother and then anytime the
police asked me who I thought I just told them Sam I'm so sorry her trying to apologize to me on
the stand and guard her sympathy with the jury didn't sit well with me I'm sorry there's no low too low for for
that one why should these jurors now believe you you now want these 12 people to
believe you correct yes I bet you do while I regret that it took her 2 and 1/2 years to tell the
truth I think she was relieved that the full story had finally been told and now
it was in the jury's hands it had been almost five long years since Ben renck was murdered exhausted
Sam waited for a jury to weigh the evidence against his younger brother's bride and for the record and after 12
hours the judge revealed the verdict as to count one we the jury find the defendant Lenley renick guilty of
murder in the second degree verdict as to count two we the jury find the defend guilty of armed
criminal action in that moment 33-year-old Lindley renck became a convicted killer
she really believed that she was going to get away with all this and she really believed that she was going to get what
she had planned after murdering my brother the time still to be measured the length of her stay in a Missouri
prison you may now retire to consider punishment in this case all please for that jurors gathered again for a
separate sentencing hearing while life was an option the jury would settle on something considerably less punishment
for murder in the second degree at 13 years punishment for armed criminal action at three
years 13 + three for Ben renick's life jurors never said why they chose such a seemingly light punishment but 6 weeks
later Sam would tell the court that the sentence itself was an injustice I beg the common person to watch the trial
again and ask themselves if my brother's life was worth only 16 years 16 years is why I'm here
today he would recount That Hideous day that changed everything the web of Devastation travels far and spared no
one she put the children through this experience here I am covered in my brother's blood attempting to come
Comfort the children despite them asking me if their daddy's dead Sam's frustration at the sentence seemed to be
shared by the judge but under Missouri law he could not increase linley's punishment you're awful lucky ma'am
you're going to get out in your 40s and my 40s weren't too bad I just hope you don't kill again that's it
[Music] some reflected on the cast of Bad characters two convicted killers and Ashley Shaw granted immunity after
plotting with Linley twice these people these creeps and dark characters behaving very badly and behaving
inhumanely towards humans Ben renick had created an Eden for serpent lovers spot
those Cloud but it was people not a snake that destroyed his paradise you can reduce it to a story of greed it may
be as simple as that greed that left in its bloody wake children and a brother determined to carry on the kids lost
their father my babies and Ben's babies and I'm here to take care of them for the rest of my
life and around the world wherever reptiles coil Slither and Slide the loss of a superstar is still felt what
happened to Ben was a tragedy that absolutely did not need to happen and yet Ben renck lives on in a way he
would surely have loved celebrated with a new breed of snake named just for him The renic Ghost and what ghost is is a
slight reduction of blacks color it gives the snake kind of a ghosty appearance to it and that is such a test
submit to what Ben meant to this community that he now has a mutation of a snake named after him you miss your
friend every single Expo that we would see each other at there is a vacancy there that will never be filled again
[Music] 48 hours to miss it would be a crime were you at all prepared for what happened in this case
[Music] [Music] this story has always been one that has fascinated people because it's so bizarre that this
could even happen 17 and 1 12 years we have always talked about Mike Williams being
missing not ever finding his body not ever having resolution was very difficult he was going to wake up early
and go duck hunting he was a big duck hunter and so he went off to the lake and then he never came back
[Music] Mike Williams was a straight shooter he loved his family he loved his wife he
put her on a pedestal Mike did everything that she wanted done Denise said jump Mike want to know how high
they were going to be celebrating their wedding anniversary and so when he did not come home about noon when he was
supposed to Denise started getting worried and started calling around this search was the most
intensive I ever seen law hemen and friends and family combing the lake looking for
me they found the boat his truck the trailer that was all there I got up in the helicopter flew around and looked
for his body and one of the things that I noticed there were no less than 15 to 20 very large alligators swimming all
around this area lake seol is known for having a lot of alligators we're in North Florida
there are a lot of alligators when we went back out there you know there was more evidence that
there was there had been alligator activity around there that's what you believed happened
to Mike yes I I firmly believe that I guess you're sort of hoping you find something and sort of hoping you
don't well we was hoping if he was here we would find him and get closure but no
it didn't happen people are attacked by alligators little dogs are eaten by alligators but you never hear of someone
who's just vanished eaten by whole by an alligator it is totally impossible for 185lb man to be consumed by an alligator
Without a Trace I think that's when we started going oh my gosh this is not what we thought it
was many people felt like there was foul play in involved Cheryl Williams Mike's mom
comes along and I pray every day that Mike will come home Cheryl begins her Crusade if you will trying to get
answers she'd make picket signs and stand in front of the church there were Billboards you know have you seen my son
she wrote the governor a letter every day for 9 years until God tells me in my heart that that child is dead I cannot
give up looking for him she wasn't going to quit until she had a body alive or dead he didn't just fall out of the boat
this wasn't just a hunting [Music] accident this man was murdered and they blamed it on alligators for 17 years
[Music] [Music] you've got a really love duck hunting to love Lake seol it's shallow it's swampy and it's
popular with the local alligators Mike Williams really did love duck hunting and people say that's why
he came here well Before Dawn on December 16th 2000 alone his wife said the plan was that
Mike would be back home in time to celebrate his wedding anniversary but 12 hours later after his
wife reported him missing Lake seol would be swarming with Rescuers searching for Mike Williams on the land
on the water and in the air can you show me the area that you guys searched in basically this area from here to there
about five acres Alton rainu and David Arnett were among the first law enforcement officers to get a call about
a missing duck hunter what we thought had happened is that he possibly fell out of the boat or capsized is it
unusual for people to fall out of boats while they're hunting for ducks It's Not
Unusual it it happens um quite often out here as far as they might hit a stump and throw them
out early the next morning there was a break Mike's boat was found on board were some
decoys and his shotgun but no sign of Mike himself we done a grid search very slow meticulous
grid search back and forth over the search area and what began as a search and rescue soon turned into a search for a
body we stayed with that grid until we covered this whole area caver dogs were brought in while team scoured the murky
bottom of lake seol in a gruesome search for Mike's body that was high intensity
and low Tech this is the tool of your trade right that was that was actually one of
the poles and and all you do is put it in the water and see if you feel anything if it's a log it's kind of a a
a thump kind of a hard thump if it would been body you hit it it's kind of like a
pillow did you feel something ever on the bottom that felt like a body never never Williams vanished one day before
his sixth wedding anniversary he met his wife Denise at North Florida Christian High School he
was a football player she was a cheerleader he was president of the student council she was the secretary
had they seem together gray couple Scott dunie met Mike in high school he and his
wife Anessa were among Mike's best friends if you knew Mike he's the kind of person that uh is going to do
anything and everything for you so Denise you know found a gem they both graduated from Florida
State University Denise became an accountant for the state Mike became a real estate appraiser working for clay
Ketchum this kid was straight as an AA he really TR truly was Clay and his wife Patty got to know Mike well he was an
unbelievable worker it was not uncommon for him to do 15-hour days I mean he would be in there early work until 1: or
2 in the morning and then be right back he had incredible energy before long Mike's career took
off and that's when he married Denise he loved his wife he even would leave the office and go pump her gas I'm
sorry go pump her gas yes she would call him and say Mike I need gas and Mike would run over there pump her gas and
run back we all said we wanted to be married to Mike just before Mother's Day in 1999 Denise gave birth to the
couple's daughter and by chance a local Tallahassee TV station was at the hospital we're just totally overwhelmed
she was due Tuesday and she would have made me wait a whole another year for Mother's Day she TI the scales it was
unbelievable I have a whole new respect for my wife and women in general and what they go through to bring a a new
child new life into the world 19 months after he became a father Mike was missing and the longer the search lasted
on Lake seol the harder it was on the Searchers afraid of what they might find one of Mike's oldest friends Brian
Winchester was out there looking for him from the start and it was Brian who discovered Mike's empty
boat Brian decided that we didn't want to be there when Mike's body was pulled up Brett Ketchum was with Brian during
the search so we would get in a car and drive to a gas station and go get a Coke
and it was very emotional trips I mean it was you know crying and it was tough the search was called off after 44
days Rescuers could find no trace of Mike Williams he was listed officially as still missing and some people
wondered if he had just run off we knew M could not run off I mean he loved his family and he adored his
daughter adored her so Mike did not run off this was not some elaborate ruse soon there was another explanation
offered for why m body could not be found that he had been snatched by an alligator alligators they don't eat you
right then this is morbid to talk about but they go stuff you somewhere for 6 months and and then come back later one
of the rescue teams agreed writing the alligators have dismembered and have stored the remains in a location that we
would not be able to find but there was at least one person who had serious doubts about that
theory Mike's mother Cheryl she pretty early on believed that there was more to this and that he was
not and likes him at all I think she just thought something something's not right
[Music] here 6 months mons after Mike Williams disappeared investigators had no new
leads no real hope of finding him and then what could be a break bubbled up from the muck of lake
seol that pole is marking a spot where the waiters had popped up a local fisherman found a pair of
waiters like these which were believed to have belonged to Williams did it make sense to you that
they popped up here I mean you would you would search that area right we had searched it many times Well very
well then two days after that Mike's fishing jacket and his hunting license were found at the same spot along with a
flashlight but Williams was still missing his wife Denise was raising their 2-year-old daughter
alone Denise was a doting mother the pride and joy of her life [Music] but Scott dunie says now that Denise was
a single mom money was getting tight I was helping her with some of the items that needed to be sold and to generate
some cash until the insurance money came and there was a lot of insurance money involved Williams had three
policies worth more than $1.75 million Mike wanted to make sure his family was taken care of of because Mike
hunted and fished and did some pretty high-risk activity and Clay really encouraged him to load
up with her expenses reportedly mounting Denise went after the insurance money quickly while the search itself is still
going on while he is still actively missing they're still actively searching for her he she is going and filing a
claim against his life insurance Jennifer Portman covered this case for the Tallahassee Democrat she
was a consultant for 48 hours she was really ready to accept the fact that he was missing and presumed dead very early
on but the State of Florida was not according to Florida law since there was no proof Williams had died he would not
be declared dead for 5 years Denise did not want to wait that long to collect on
Mike's life insurance how much time did it take in this case it took six months it was very fast abnormally
fast that's because Denise's attorney argued to a judge that the waiters the vest and the hunting license were proof
enough that Williams was dead the judge agreed and issued a death certificate cause of death accidental drowning while
duck hunting on Lake seol body has not yet been recovered based on that and that alone was what got him declared
dead per waiters and a fishing license and some other stuff yeah exactly the case of the missing Hunter
seemed closed and was soon forgotten by almost everyone but not by Mike's mother
Cheryl did she believe that her son drowned in Lake seol she never ever believed that her son was in the lake
and she was absolutely committed to finding out what happened to him it's never out of my head where is this
child Cheryl caught the attention of the local news he may be dead but he's not in that Lake and if somebody did hurt my
child I want them found and I want them punished Cheryl started keeping notes of
everything copious notes of all of the you know strange things that were going on she eventually filled 27 single
spaced pages with lots of unanswered questions like like what made the waiters float after 6 and 1/2 months
underwater her notes ended with a plea to anyone who would listen please help me find my son she was trying to
basically compile all of these evidence that she could find and trying to get it
in front of someone who would listen to her well did Denise help her oh no Denise completely cut her
off Denise was adamant no investigation she threatened to withhold Cheryl's granddaughter from her correct she said
if you continue to press for this investigation you will never see your granddaughter again so what did she do
she took the energy she would have spent love it on that child and tried to find her
daddy Cheryl pressed on and started poking holes in the official version of what happened to her son for years after
Mike Williams disappeared there was a theory that the reason his body was never found was that he had been eaten
by alligators turns out there is a problem with that theory Cheryl contacted Matthew aresco an alligator
expert Florida has a few of them in his response he explained that alligators do
not feed in the cold winter months cold weather um causes a water temperature to
drop so alligators don't feed in winter time what's more aresco said that when alligators kill there is always forensic
evidence left behind and he said attributing Mike's disappearance to an alligator attack may be a convenient
explanation for the authorities but was virtually impossible we're in North Florida there are a lot of alligators I
will give you that but it is winter alligators do not eat human beings without leaving a trace in the middle of
December when it's cold it just doesn't happen if not for Cheryl Williams there's no way that we would
know where Mike Williams was or anything that ever happened to him she was the driving
force charl Williams knew because an expert told her that her son was not eaten by an
alligator but did not know much else about how he vanished one of the things that has been so difficult about this
case is that there was an absolute lack of physical evidence you didn't have a body you didn't have any of these things
that maybe could point you towards something but Cheryl had something those 27 pages of detailed notes in 2004 four
years after Mike disappeared Cheryl's campaign finally caught the attention of the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement investigators met with her and then launched a multi-agency investigation when did you first begin
thinking this was a crime the first night we talked to Miss Cheryl at the time Derek Wester was with the Jackson
County Sheriff's Office he was part of the investigation she had it all broke down and then as she's relaying this
story all these inconsistencies start adding up do you remember what some of those inconsistencies were the insurance
it was Mike's three life insurance policies that caught their attention particularly the last one he bought not
long before he disappeared worth $1 million how did Mike Williams end up with that million-dollar life insurance
policy who sold it to him Brian Winchester sold him the million-dollar life insurance policy about 6 months
before he went missing Brian Winchester was an insurance agent he'd been Mike's best friend since
high school where like Mike he met his future wife Kathy Aldrich and from then on the two
couples were inseparable you know they did literally everything together they went out to dinner together they bought
houses at the same time they got married at the same time babies at the same time
you know they were they were very close Brian Winchester was in the insurance business so it's not that odd that he
would sell his friend an insurance policy no it's not I mean just the timing of it in retrospect looks a
little weird that wasn't the only thing that started to look weird those waiters that
popped up in Lake seol surfaced just as Denise Williams needed proof that her husband was dead in order to get the
insurance money how many days before the court hearing these waiters popped up less
than a month I mean it was really close they had supposedly been submerged in the
for 6 months these waiters was in very good shape they were also not slimy and what did that mean they had not been in
the water very long so you looked at that stuff and you thought to yourself what plantet it was planted yeah no one
could say for sure who planted it but as time passed Denise Williams and Brian Winchester started attracting attention
and some suspicion because years after Mike disappeared Winchester divorced his wife Kathy he began dating
Denise and then he married her we went to the wedding was she a suspect in your mind at that point I think in mine I was
yes the minister at some point said I've counsel with this couple and they have no secrets I don't know and clay and I
both went we kind of nudged each other like well there might be this one little secret you don't
know all these things start becoming like clear that we now we've got the insurance now we've got the waiters got
the alligator Theory being busted by the experts so as they're building their case you know they talk to people they
start getting somewhere one of the first people investigators talk to was Denise Williams there's no
emotion there's no softening up there there's there's nothing I mean she's just matter of fact and cold but Brian
Winchester had much more to say he offered detectives an alibi for the mourning Mike Williams went missing he
said he was 60 M away from the lake in bed Brian tells us that he was going hunting with his father-in-law and
overlip you know for a fact that Brian was not telling you the truth then M Winchester could not have known it but
detectives already had a witness who said he saw Winchester that morning at Lake s all I know the the man personally
I mean i' I've known him all my life and um I composed a lineup and I took it to
him Joel says well he wasn't smiling like that but that's him and he pointed to Brian Winchester and he had seen that
same man he said when that morning there was one more thing Winchester didn't know police were talking to his ex-wife
and she told them Denise and Brian might have been having an affair for years before my might
disappear there was definitely a suspicion that him and her were having a fair well before that December while
Denise was still married to Mike yes the plot was sure thickening but investigators still weren't sure what
the full story was after 2 years the FDLE hit a wall but Cheryl Williams who had been
fighting since the day her son disappeared was not giving up and horrible not knowing what happened to
him she was very very very frustrated with FDLE and felt that they were not doing their job they weren't
trying so she picketed you know she would have signs made and and walk up and down in front of the
church every year she would have Billboards put up around town showed a picture of Mike and missing and if you
have any information who's to contact and she went after the governor she wrote the governor a letter every day
for nine years in fact the governor received 1,472 letters that we know of her suspicion was always with Brian
and Denise more so with Denise the two people who were considered most likely suspects were
together and unless one of them turned on the other you were never going to find out what happened
here did you think this case would get broken not until I found out that they were
having marital problems they turned on each other like brats in a [Music] sa until God tells me in my heart that
that child is dead I cannot give up looking for him as the years dragged on it looked
like the mystery of what happened to Mike Williams might never be solved if Brian and Denise knew anything
about Mike's disappearance they weren't talking and no one could make them by Florida law as long as they stayed
married neither could be forced to testify against the other with Brian and Denise being married you were how are
you ever going to get the truth because one is not going to turn on the other but behind the scenes Denise and
Brian's marriage was disintegrating and after 7 years in 2012 they decided to separate he is you know
self-described as being a sex addict he's trying to please her by going going to therapy by getting counseling like
he's jumping through all these hoops trying to do all these things to get her back and she's not kind of accepting
them after four more years of trying to patch things up Brian snapped one morning Denise gets in her
car she's driving to work and she senses something in the back and Brian Winchester has hidden in the back of her
car and is coming over the seat and has got a gun he's got a gun he's got a gun he had a gun he had a tarp the idea was
that he was going to kill her he's screaming and I'm just like shaking and he's telling me to stop
crying that people are going to notice because reported her kidnapping to the leyon county sheriff's office I was like
are you planning on you know ending both of our lives today well mine I'm planning on mine and then he would say I
want to kill M he must have said a million times I want to kill myself Brian Winchester was soon arrested and
charged with the kidnapping an aggravated assault of his wife I was just kind of agreeing with whatever he
was saying and I was like I know that you love me police quickly realized that the rift in Denise and Brian's marriage
presented an opportunity a tag team of detectives arrived to see what they could get out
of Denise to see if she would Now flip on her estranged husband and talk about his involvement in Mike Williams
disappearance I know I know Denise he did and you know exactly what I'm talking about and he was going to do
it again Tallahassee detective David mccraine tried he wasn't going to kill himself the he was going to kill you so
that you didn't talk about him leater that is the truth McCrae turned up the heat 15 years ago he walked in
and told you he' done something deny no Denise no you have Gat this is not going away okay he's going
to kill you he's even to kill himself because he's got know Avenue but Denise did not
budge his I'm Flor Department of so special agent Mike dainy came in he'd been working the Williams case for years
you think he's responsible for Mike I do not and I never have I would have never
married him if I thought that I mean in my mind and in my heart no she wasn't giving up anything she was giving up
absolutely nothing where do you think my spirit is oh I I have no idea any speculation
on that on where he's Buried buried I mean I believe you don't really believe he he died at on the
lake I do why I just I just always have that's what I believe that was her story and
sticking to it that left Brian as the only possible source of information in the Williams
case he was facing a long stretch in prison for the kidnapping but there was no word about what if anything he would
say about Mike's disappearance we're here in state of Florida versus Brian Winchester 2 16
months later Brian pled guilty to kidnapping and assaulting Denise and appeared in court for his sentencing we
had a a plea and we weren't sure what the government was going to ask for he was crying at times he apologized Tim
jansson is Brian Winchester's lawyer we had indicated we want 15 the state gets up and asks for 45 my client would like
to address the courtly never ever did I have any intentions of harming Denise nor would
I nonetheless I do know that she was hurt by my actions and again I am truly [Music]
sorry Start by stating your name please Denise Williams Denise showed up at the sentencing what was she like there what
did she want she wanted him to go to prison for the rest of his life I start each day with the memory of him jumping
out of the back and I end each day feeling the gun shoved in my ribs when I turn on my right side trying to
sleep she was scared she was compelling he will finish what he has started no matter what age he is when he's released
most people in the courtroom were pretty stunned by it it was pretty powerful I'm
asking you to sentence him to life in prison for the crimes he has committed it comes down to my life or his and I'm
asking you please to choose mine thank you come on up with your client Mr Janson for kidnapping Denise Brian was
sentenced to 20 years behind bars he was Shackled at the waist and the ankles and when they shuffled him
off to prison we felt so defeated because we said there'll never be an answer to our friend Mike never an
answer we won't know well you were wrong we were wrong they had found Mike's [Music]
body this was so so huge it still is really pretty stunning just one day after Brian
Winchester was sentenced for kidnapping Denise Williams the Florida Department of Law Enforcement held a news
conference and the News really was huge standing here now I can tell you that we
know what happened to Mike Williams he was murdered they know that because sometime
before he was sentenced for kidnapping Brian Winchester cracked and confessed in these audio
recordings I went and met Mike at a gas station I followed him to the lake we launched the boat it was just like a
hunting trip was supposed to [Music] be Winchester had cut a deal with prosecutors in exchange for his
confession he would not be charged with murder even though he admitted killing his best friend I got him to stand up
and I pushed him into the water and he was in a panic obviously I was in a panic I didn't know what to do and I
ended up shooting him the agreement that we drafted up said that anything he said that day
could not be used against him Winchester gave prosecutors what they wanted most the location of Mike Williams's body I
backed my Suburban down to the edge of the lake and put his body in the back and pushed his boat back out into the
water Brian says he left Mike's truck and trailer at Lake seol to make Mike's disappearance look like an accident but
actually Mike's body was nowhere near Lake seol he was 60 M away at car Lake a remote marshy area just 10 minutes from
Winchester's home Brian left investigators here to the spot he buried Mike back in
2000 and they commenced what FD told me it's the most extensive search they have
ever undertaken in the history of the agency the search uncovered Mike's skeletal
remains and his wedding ring among other things and there was horrifying evidence
of what happened to him and what they were able to show very clearly was that he had been shot
basically at Point Blank Range in the face with a shotgun this was up close personal deadly yeah and gruesome
yeah and Winchester provided one final piece of the puzzle he said it was all Denise's
idea she would not get divorced and so she basically said there's only one solution as he tells it she was not
willing to endure the public shame of a divorce so she thought murder was a better answer I guess it was better to
be known as a widow than a divorce wow that is incredibly cold and wouldn't it be great if we also oh by the way
collected you know almost $2 million in insurance we would end up together we would live happily ever after and as a
side note we've got all this money to enjoy a wonderful life together the happily Ever After part didn't work out
so well in May 2018 5 months after the discovery of Mike's body was announced Denise Williams was arrested and charged
with first-degree murder conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact it was a very bizarre moment and
she said nothing and she didn't look at anybody she just looked St ahead it's a bitter sweet feeling you
are so thankful that she has been outed for the true person she is but it doesn't you're still left with the same
result even though you saw her let away in shackles and an ugly dress and hair that
needed a die job I got to tell you that felt pretty good to me cuz I know how important appearances are to her
she didn't do it she had nothing to do with it she's completely innocent defense attorney Ethan Way is
representing Denise did she know about it no not before not during not after you are very confident I have an
innocent client it's the best [Music] kind on December 11th 2018 prosecutor John fuches gave his opening argument at
Denise Williams's murder trial Denise likes a sound of being a widow much more than a divorce obviously can't be caught
with a murder so they had to make it look like an accident raise your right hand please
sir early on the state called Brian Winchester we had an agreement that she would never say anything about me and I
would never say anything about her because we felt like that as long as neither one of us talked that nobody
would ever find out what happened good morning ladies and gentlemen Ethan Way was in an enviable
position for a defense attorney representing an accused murderer the prosecution star witness admits he is
the killer when you shot Mike Williams with a 12 gauge shotgun was anise Williams standing there with you no she
wasn't she was in my head behind me Denise Williams had no idea that you shot her husband in the face with a
shotgun did you correct Mr Winchester You're a murderer isn't it true yes sir Mr Winchester you're a liar isn't it
true yes sir of course Cheryl William Willams always suspected her one-time daughter-in-law was involved and Cheryl
was now a witness for the prosecution the initial theory was that he was missing and possibly eaten by alligators
right you never believed that did you no sir how long did it take before Denise called you and said I'm sorry I was
wrong all these years she never did finally Winchester's ex-wife Kathy testified Denise kept quiet and as part
of a conspiracy of Silence between Brian and Denise were you aware that Brian Winchester kidnapped Denise Williams yes
about a week after that did Denise ask you to do something Denise asked me to get a message to
Brian that I'm not talking after 3 days of testimony both sides rested Ethan wey was so confident
the state had no hard evidence that he didn't want the jury to consider any charges less than murder one this is a
strategy decision it's you understand it's a little bit out of the ordinary yes I guess for one of a better word
it's a little bit of a gamble yes the jury was now facing an All or Nothing decision and the attorneys presented
their closing arguments this is not a case about trying to get quote Justice for Mike this is a murder murder case
there's no evidence that supports any of the allegations against my client we are
counting on you to return a verdict that speaks the truth and that verdict is not
guilty think back 3 days ago Brian Winchester is on the stand describing how he shot his best
friend everybody in this entire room was moved by the sheer horror of that situation one
person that one person sad here absolute stoneface didn't bat an eye didn't shed
a tear that lady right there that's Denise Williams the jury took 8 hours to reach a verdict the defendant is guilty
of conspiracy to commit first grade murder Denise Williams was found guilty as to count to we the jury find
the defendant is guilty of first deegree murder on all counts the defendant is guilty of accessory after the fact of
first degree murder Mike's family and friends waited 18 years for this day sometimes the
wheels of Justice turn slowly but they do still turn for Cheryl Williams it has been a
long heartbreaking fight but now she can finally lay her son to rest it hit her really hard and and I think she's still
coming to terms with it I mean the brutality of it the the finality of it how anyone could do this to Mike it kind
of destroys your your faith in in man to do this to him and the way it was done and it's just
unimaginable you still miss him oh God he was such a good guy he loved to work he loved his family he put him on a
pedestal and he got killed for it that's the irony of this is the kid did nothing
[Music] wrong he knew he was going to be murdered you don't s he knew where and how she said you're going to get shot in
the head why couldn't it be stopped if you made this into a movie tomorrow nobody' believe it actually happened 48
Hours next on CBS

"48 Hours" reports on murder cases involving animals in this mini-marathon. Binge-watch the full episodes, which include "The Puzzling Death of Susann Sills," "The Poisonous Wife" and "Cold-blooded Killer."

00:00 The Puzzling Death of Susann Sills 41:45 The Poisonous Wife 1:23:38 Cold-blooded Killer

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Dr. Scott Sills is convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his wife Suzanne, raising questions about their troubled marriage and the investigation.

Key points

The Investigation Begins. Detectives arrive at the scene to investigate Suzanne's death, initially treating it as a tragic accident.
Unraveling the Marriage. Suzanne's friends reveal troubling signs in her relationship with Scott before her death.
Dr. Sills Arrested. Nearly two and a half years after Suzanne's death, Dr. Sills was arrested for her murder.
Trial Verdict. Scott Sills was found guilty of second-degree murder for the death of his wife.
Ben Renck's Murder Shocks Community. Ben Renck, a successful snake breeder, is found murdered, leading to a complex investigation.
Linley's Confession Unravels. Just days after Ben's murder, Linley admits to being unfaithful, raising suspicions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I know you were tired but you need to know that I love you.

8:00WatchJul 13, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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