Broken Hearts | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] I've been a writer for almost 50 years and I have never encountered a story like this that was such a
combination of utter tragedy and happiness we call this story the beating heart because a heart survived a tragic
event so it was Christmas 1986 all the Christmas cheer of the Season everyone's happy smiling so it
was the the best Christmas ever I was falling hard in love and then it all ended
police got a call around 2:00 a.m. that shots were fired at an apartment complex
and they rushed to the scene the first detective on the scene was detective Tommy
Lee I went up to the second floor to the apartment I walked in and a young 19-year-old female was laying on the
floor uh with what appeared to be blood coming from her face and her head and her
eyes the victim was Karen hert at 2:30 a.m. Saturday Karen hert was found dead in her apartment shot three times in the
head detective Le is looking at this horrifying scene and suddenly a woman shows up and it's the victim's
mother we looked each other in the face and I said I hate to tell you this but your 19-year-old daughter is dead she
was murdered and she claps in my arms Tommy I can't imagine there's anything you learn in the academy that
prepares you for a moment like that I'll never forget it you never forget telling
a mother that her 19-year-old daughter has been murdered I was shocked I didn't believe
it at first my name is Rich Lee I had known Karen irmer for several years and we had recently started dating and it
just hit me like a ton of bricks I couldn't imagine what happened went upstairs to my room laid down in my bed
and I think I cried for 12 hours it was just she's gone I didn't get to say goodbye to her it just kind
of left the hole but that's not where this story ended something amazing came out of
something horrifying doesn't happen that often [Music] [Music] if there are two things in this world
that Washington Post columnist Jean weart loves they are writing old clocks are Timeless and tinkering with time
this was made around 1895 and when I'm done with it it'll be working like new when you're repairing a really old
clock you feel as though you're in touch with time itself Jean has long believed there is
no such thing as an ordinary day that countless stories lay hidden in space and time
some lost forever others destined to be discovered my theory has been that if you take a day midnight to midnight the
single day you would find encapsulated in that day the entire Human Experience and I decided to challenge
that theory how by pulling numbers randomly out of a hat Jean and his editor Tom Schroeder
went to the old ebbit Grill in Washington DC threw 20 years of random dates into a green Fedora and picked one
to prove Jean's theory that something extraordinary happens every day we came up with December
28th 1986 it was the slowest news day of the week a Sunday during the slowest time of
the year the Christmas holidays if we could have read the thought bubbles over both of your heads you couldn't print
them we felt we had really drawn a terrible terrible day but true to Jean's theory he would
soon learn this was no ordinary day something amazing had happened a medical feat that would make
history something astonishing happened a remarkable Triumph and then I investigated
further in an entirely different Different Story related to it emerged and that involved
a Savage murder the murder of Karen [Music] hert he met a detective named Tommy Lee
who had held on to Karen's file for 30 years for reasons he couldn't quite explain the case was closed but I
couldn't just store her away it bothered me that her life was cut short I thank goodness for Jean weine
Gardner because she's going to have a little more of a legacy than just a obituary in a
yearbook can you describe Karen for me a little bit from a purely physical standpoint she was effortlessly
beautiful you look at her pictures and you just see someone who wasn't trying to be pretty she just was pretty she was
talented she played the flute and every body really loved her including Rich Lee
I think about her all the time Rich first met Karen in high school when she started dating another guy his
childhood friend Mark Wy he worshiped the ground she walked on just a teenage boy that was really proud to be on the
arm of a beautiful young girl but over time Rich who double dated with Mark and Karen says Mark's Pride turned to
obsession if she wasn't with him he always wanted to know where she was he actually at times drove around Northern
Virginia following her to find out what she was doing and where she was he was a
young man who was furiously in love with a young woman and I'm using the word furiously deliberately he was what we
would Now call a stalker this was a guy who had this beautiful teenage girl on his arm and
lived in fear that he was going to lose her oh definitely if she were somewhere and somebody smiled looked at her and
she smiled back what are you looking at them for this is not somebody who got a little too into his romantic partner he
wanted to own her Mark's affection for whiskey made matters worse as soon as he started
getting alcohol in him he got paranoid a little defensive about every little thing and really
brooding and Moody he became a dark figure yes he was commonly known as an angry
drunk and Karen was not one to back down from a fight they became very fiery together he would start an argument oh
he looked at you you looked at him but she would argue back and I think that just made him angrier Rich this is a
combustible mix yeah yeah it really was rich grew so disgusted by Mark's behavior toward Karen he severed his
friendship with Mark but he would later learn just how combustible Mark and Karen's relationship was she had gone to
the hospital a number of times for injuries she said that they would get into fights and it was literally like a
fist fight that she just had to try to defend herself that was very disturbing to hear that he overwhelmed her over the
years to the point where she realized she could take this no more and she broke up with him around this time Rich
received a letter that would change his life I got a an anonymous letter and it was a love letter I was just I don't
know who this is I'd like to know who this is but I have no idea completely Anonymous completely Anonymous it was
obviously from someone who knew me and that she thought that I was kind and considerate and she hoped that she could
get up the nerve to to tell me who she was finally she did come Christmas Day I get a phone call and it's Karen and she
tells me I broke up with Mark I'm in my apartment all by myself my roommates are gone come over keep me
company sure love Karen great friends so we spent a a wonderful evening together
talking and just having a great time and about halfway through the night she tells me did you get a letter a couple
months ago and uh I was just floored I I had no idea she told me that she'd always had
feelings for me and we just fell right into step if I inject you with truth serum on
the night of the 26th you think you found your life partner yeah probably can't help but Wonder
What Might Have Been it was like a revelation to her as sad as this sounds that you could have a romantic
relationship that didn't cause pain she hadn't known that but Mark Wy refused to
Let Her Go says Rich who was there when Karen called Mark to tell him there was no chance of getting back together
basically it was look I've tried to tell you nicely I've tried to explain it to you tried to be gentle about it but
we're through I'm not going to put up with your abuse anymore and I don't want to see you anymore what did you hear
just a raised voice angry raised voice but she was smiling and I think she felt a huge sense of relief to finally felt
like I'm done with this nobody really caught the pure horror of this breakup he told her at
the time he was going to kill her she left she didn't think this was going to be possible
[Music] Rich Lee will never forget the last time he saw Karen Herer he was saying goodbye before
leaving on a one-day ski trip I told her I I really don't want to go I just want to spend the time with
you but I already made an obligation they're expecting me and she said okay I'll see you tomorrow I said sure I will
call you as soon as I get in and we parted ways neither one imagined her estranged
boyfriend Mark Wy was making plans of his own he was either going to be able to get back together yep with this woman
he had this Obsession about yes or he was going to kill it that's correct armed with a bottle of whiskey
and a 22 caliber rifle Mark Wy got into his car and headed to Karen's apartment Mark was in a ridge obviously he's not
thinking clearly Karen had every right to break up with him she almost had an obligation to break up with
[Music] him so he's got a bunch of Rage yes he does he's got a bunch of booze yes and
he's got a rifle yes awful combination deadly one so take me through it he shows up here
he doesn't go in through the front door no he Parks his car around the other side walks over here he climbed up a
tree to a balcony near her bedroom he apparently had the rifle on his back he stowed it on the balcony walked into the
house Detective Lee believes it was Mark's last ditch effort to win her back and got into a rather heated argument
and I think it was at that time that that he decided it's not going to work out and he goes back out and gets to 22
and shoots five rounds in killing [Music] her rich Lee got the news when he returned from his ski trip I walk in in
the door drop my stuff immediately go to pick up the phone and my mother comes in and stops
me from dialing and says Rich uh Karen was shot last night and I'm just in shock oh my gosh what
hospital where she at she didn't make it and this is the part of the story where
out of something horrifying came something amazing says Jean the part of the story that belonged to this young
woman Eva bazy a very sick 20-year-old nursing student fighting for her life in Fairfax
Hospital a couple of months earlier the single mother of two young children had suddenly Fallen ill she couldn't walk
more than a half block with without stopping and wheezing climbing a set of stairs had
become a Himalayan task for her her own doctor felt she had possibly a month or two to live she finally went to see a
heart specialist and the heart specialist did some tests and said I need to put you in touch with a man I
know and it was Dr lfra when Dr Ed lafra chief of cardiac surgery at Fairfax Hospital in Virginia
Virginia met Eva basy she was suffering from idiopathic cardiomyopathy the idiopathic means we have no idea what
caused the heart failure her heart began to fail Dr lra knew she would not survive
without a radical procedure a heart transplant there was just one hitch had you ever performed a heart
transplant before no I had not in 1986 heart transplants were so uncommon no hospitals in the greater
Washington DC area were legally allowed to perform them Dr LeFrak determined to make Fairfax the first fought
relentlessly to get permission the local health agency said no there wasn't enough demand some people might hear the
no and go away well that's that's not how my roll yeah it's just the opposite Mary delinger was his surgical
nurse he was very determined and he wouldn't take no for an answer LEF Frack hatched a plan bring
the man who performed the first successful heart transplant ever in 1967 celebrated on the cover of Time
Magazine Dr Christian Barnard to Lobby the State Health commissioner on lra's behalf
he arrived in Virginia like a superstar he said it would be aoral to not permit a qualified surgeon
like Dr lefr to do this surgery and instantly they they got permission Dr lfra just came in the O the next day and
he says we got it and what were you thinking well I was thinking okay we're on now we need to find the first perfect
patient that first perfect patient was Eva bazy but she was running out of time Eva was dying she was getting sicker and
sicker dear J Carolyn derflinger was Eva's primary care nurse it was a very real possibility
that she could die before she got a heart many people [Music] do not knowing when or if a donor would
come through Dr lfra his wife Trudy and their four girls cancelled their family holiday ski trip he only had one thing
on his mind Dr lfra and his team they're looking for a heart they have somebody to save and then it came the call they'd
been waiting for it's a go it's a go [Music] Dr lefr and his team were getting ready
to make history about to become the first team in the greater DC area to attempt a heart
transplant they had finally found the perfect donor for Eva bazy did you know anything anything about the donor at
that point no I really did not know anything about the donor I think they called me and told me
it was a donor with a gunshot wound to the head but it wasn't Karen Herer in the perfect
narrative Karen her's heart would have been the one that saved Eva basy but that's not how it happened
things are not always that simple it was the Killer's heart that safety basy after Mark Wy shot his
ex-girlfriend Karen irmer dead he paused he waited in the house until the police arrived and started knocking on
the door and then he shot himself in the forehead so if the relationship was over
then life was going to be over yes for both Karen and for him that's correct correct Mark Wy was declared brain dead
but his heart was still beating how was it still beating the bullet passed through both hemispheres of the brain
somehow when that happens often but not always the heart keeps beating by the time you arrive at this
apartment he's gone yes he's been transported to the hospital yes his body was rushed to the the same hospital
where Eva bazy Lay Dying as the transplant coordinator saw permission from Mark's parents to donate their
son's still beating heart Mark's father Larry Wy gave a brief voice-only statement to local
media two families have suffered a terrible tragedy one that can never be totally healed hopefully something good
can come out of this tragedy they were good people they were they were horrified they were in grief and you
know they they made the right call Eva bazy was wheeled down to operating room six I set a prayer for
her I'm a firm believer in prayer we're excited for her but we're also terrified
I mean she could die downstairs Dr lfra and his team gathered in operating room 12 to remove for the
first time a living Beating Heart they had been working with corpses in the morg heart
transplantation was not taught in colleges in in medical schools at the time the only way to learn it was to do
it I would do a regular heart operation in the morning and then be in between operations uh go to the morg with the
team and then go back to the operating room doctor you were learning how to perform heart transplants on your lunch
hour yeah I guess you could say that but this time it was for real as ready as you were was
any part of you at all a little scared no not at all but I felt totally comfortable with it because I had done
this many times in the mor you play like you practice exactly yeah Dr lafra began
to remove the donor heart lra is a man with a pair of scissors and he essentially cut it out
of that body with scissors that aren't very different from what a second grader would use to cut colored paper they're
just scissors we cut cut cut cut cut the aorta cut the pulmonary artery and then
the heart is free taking a heart out of it donor takes five minutes it's uh minutes it's
pretty easy so we take it out cold because we put cold solution in it and then immediately put it it in bags with ice
the heart which ideally shouldn't stay outside the body more than 4 hours was back and put into an Igloo cooler the
same kind you buy at the supermarket when we were gathering all our supplies it was like well who's got a cooler I
said well I got an Igloo cooler so you brought your cooler in from home I brought my cooler in from home I I still
have that cooler the cooler with the heart was carried from o12 90 ft down the hall to
o6 Eva's room what was the mood like in o6 I think it was a high real high sense
of anticipation oh my gosh we're really doing this 12 is trauma and despair six is Hope yeah absolutely and you know
that we're fixing somebody Dr lafra began replacing Eva's dying heart with the healthy one you remove Eva's heart
and now what once it's out now we take the donor heart out of the cooler and uh have to do a little preparing on it to
sew it into this big empty space which is quite a dramatic scene there's a person lying there on the operating
table Eva with her chest open and no heart and she is alive because she's getting circulation through the heart
lung machine he began to sew the new heart into Eva's chest the back wall wall of Eva's heart was left in place
that makes it much easier to sew the donor heart to Eva after about 45 minutes the new heart
was in Eva baz's chest now came the Moment of Truth usually you need an electric shock you
have those paddles that you use in this case there was like this odd Alchemy and the heart just started
beating that must have been it was incredible exhilarating and U very rewarding cuz see I get chearful if I aim at say
anything and is that the moment you think to yourself did it I don't know I don't usually think like that because
it's not over to it's over to see goes [Music] home every detective has a case that
haunt you and this case will haunt me until the day I die the Karen her murder case was closed
the killer was dead but the detective Tommy Lee couldn't let it go he went to her
funeral you didn't know her no but I had some time with her mother it would have
been wrong for me not to go pay respects to Karen whose life was cut so short there's no way you can wipe
away the central tragedy of the story a deeply Disturbed man killed an innocent young woman you can only move on from it
and say something positive happened as a result the Washington area's first heart
transplant case is a dramatic story of one District woman's life renewed it was huge news the first heart transplant
recipient in the greater Washington DC area had made it through the operation a 20-year-old mother of two is in serious
but stable condition in Fairfax Hospital tonight it's a miracle it's a miracle I
was very touched and happy by the fact that she was doing well and had gotten through the
surgery finally Eva bazy opened her eyes I just woke up like I just went to sleep
that night like any other night you know I I had forgotten that I was sick when I
woke up and I just wanted to go home the next day I'm like you I go home you know
I'm ready you know so meanwhile they're like what part of trans plan didn't you understand exactly
yes she didn't know it but the hardest part was still to come the fight against her body's natural instinct to reject
her new heart transplant coordinator Mary Beth Mido their body never never accepts that heart as their own it's
always somebody else's genes so we have to fool it always the way to fool the body is with
anti-rejection drugs and since Eva was patient number one Dr lefar was teaching himself all about
it it was a delicate Balancing Act of suppressing her immune system to prevent rejection without leaving her too
vulnerable to infection it was quite a while she was in the hospital I think every time Eva had rejection I was
worried that we would lose her because her rejections were quite severe sometimes Eva was quarantined to guard
against infection you look like from the movies now where people go into the room
where someone has ebola or something you know we put booties on and the head coverings and gowns and everything just
to go into the room she must have felt so isolated and scared in there it was difficult that was the hardest I want to
see my babies they would let my mom come in and she had to stand in a corner for
5 minutes with a mask on and gloves you know so you couldn't hug no no as the weeks ticked by Eva seemed to be doing
well medically but struggled in her small lonely world says deerra who was one of her few connections to the
outside very lonely that's why I used to stay after sometimes and just sit with her so that she had some company I mean
we try and bring her in things if she wanted it or you know we'd get her stuff from home and bring it in we did
whatever we could to keep her more comfortable Eva was particularly upset one day and she said I just I want to
get out of here want to breathe fresh air so dearra devised a plan she carefully cleaned her car put Eva in a
mask and gloves and the two hit the road we just went out for a drive they even stopped at
McDonald's she got a hamburger and I think a Coke or something and she wanted french fries I think we ditched the
french fries I said let's not push it I'd like to keep my job God bless d H yeah and um it oh my God it was the best
burger I've ever had I was so tired of hospital food Dr lafra had reluctantly agreed to the outing but dearra and Eva
kept the fast food part a secret I mean we gave her guidelines but she wasn't a big guideline person it turns out that
the transplant transformed more than just the patient surgeons aren't usually known for their bedside manner yeah
that's how he was in the beginning in the beginning yes he's very quiet he's very quiet he's very um hi Eva I'm
going to inject this into you and bye Eva straight to the point and get out my room how did that relationship evolve I
think that he was happy that it was a success so he became a little more open and then eventually he you know just
came out of his shell I learned to love Eva and accept all parts s so I love you is not
standard operating procedure between surgeon and patient no I don't think I've ever had that kind of relationship
with any other patient you know Dr LeFrak wasn't the only one falling under Eva's spell she's so
thankful and kind you feel appreciated so you appreciate back nearly two months after being wheeled in
so close to death Eva basy was finally given the okay to walk out the hospital doors the day she was ready to go home
the whole team was there to say goodbye to Eva and her mom was there I just want
to thank everybody for helping my daughter it was a wonderful time this been so beautiful
I mean that was so exhilarating to see her go out that door and to know she had gotten through this did you allow
yourself a moment when she did go home to think to yourself I have now accomplished a heart
transplant yeah that was a good day I can picture exactly her getting into the car patient number one went home but it
would be years before she learned the whole story behind her new heart [Music] [Music]
it's going to be a very special Valentine's Day for one District woman Eva bazy finally went home but
life was not the same at first she could only see her kids an hour a day due to the risk of infection and she was told
she could never work as a nurse doctors were concerned that she would be susceptible to disease if she worked
around sick people the procedure that saved her life was going to cost her her job more than her job it was going to
cost her her dream she wanted to work with babies and old people instead Eva concentrated on
raising her two children Shakita and Antonia she always asked the Lord to just let her see us make it until 18
so I think that that was her her main Drive behind Staying Alive with her kids stay alive she did surpassing all
expectations we thought transplant people were going to live 5 years I think it was actually a shock to her
after 5 years that we said to her you know you're still here maybe you need to get a
job Dr lafra agreed Eva was doing so well he changed his mind she could work in healthc care after all she's been
helping sick people deal with their health problems ever since I'll tell them my story about my you know the
transplant I say things are not always going to be like this I promise you they will get better and they do Eva
continued to defy the odds five years became 10 10 became 15 15 became 30 happy anniversary happy anniversary Eva happy
December 28th on December 28th 2019 Dr lefr made the call he's made on that day every year did you do on Christmas since
the transplant what do you say to each other in that anniversary phone call well I
congratulate her and usually tell her that I love her I'll keep in touch with you Eva I love you you know what so this
isn't just your doctor no he's my friend you know I still call him Dr Frack but he's um he's my friend now yeah I love
him I love him dearly and the feeling is quite Mutual what is that all about I don't know I just I respect her
and you know kind of sorry but I just I I just love I don't know what it's about just really
appreciate her and it's all it's all good I just hope she lives forever Eva bazy who had a life
expectancy of 1 to 5 years is now one of the longest living heart transplant recipients in medical
history 20 years is considered great in 2019 Eva celebrated her 33rd anniversary
why do you think she's doing so well why why has she done so well and lived so long some of it is
luck and a lot of it is tenacity she's really sweet but if she didn't have a certain amount of tenacity backbone and
grit she wouldn't have gotten out 33 years Dr lfra celebrating here with his Five Daughters retired 10 years
ago he happily tossed his pager into the pomac toasting a next chapter he was determined to make
great at 76 he recently rode in a 100m bicycle race the heart transplant program he started continues to thrive
and so does his message best summed up by patient number one it's okay to let your loved ones organs be donated to
help someone else's loved ones I was naive to donation until it actually happened to me and I think a lot of us
are until we actually know someone now I'm Eva and you know me it works Eva bazy never knew the whole
truth about the heart that saved her life thank you very much oh thank you it wasn't until Jean weart published his
book one day that she learned the full story a story that led back to that senseless murder of Karen hert by her
estranged boyfriend Mark W do you ever think about her Karen now that you know a little bit more since Jean wrote the
story I do now yes she would be a mom would she have grandkids I think about her a lot now if you could speak to
Karen's family what would you want to say to them I'm sorry thank you you know in the movie version you
get her heart and in real life you got his heart M does it make any difference to you
no it's just it's a heart it's a organ it's not a a murder organ and it's just a organ that to happen to saves my
life and the story here is what the person who received the organ does with the extra years she then gets that is
correct when you heard this woman Eva bazy got a heart and she's still alive 33 years later does that help you make
any sense of what happened it does it really does it lightens my soul to know that somebody got a second chance at
life out of the tragedy that happened and so it seems Jean we Garten was right there is no such thing as an
ordinary day no way to make sense of who lives and who dies that any GI given time perhaps all
we can do is treasure the memories of those now gone and thank the heavens and in this
case a team of extraordinary doctors and nurses for those who still walk among us
and I'm still here you know and I just how blessed I am [Music] for [Music] [Music]
he [Music]

A story of tragedy and triumph -- the murder of a young woman and how a her killer’s heart saves the life of a dying woman. CBS News' Jim Axelrod reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "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

The episode tells the intertwined stories of Karen Hert's murder and Eva Bazy's life-saving heart transplant.

Key points

The Tragic Murder of Karen Hert. Detective Tommy Lee recounts the heartbreaking moment he had to inform Karen's mother of her murder.
A Love Letter Changes Everything. Rich Lee receives an anonymous love letter from Karen, leading to a rekindled relationship.
A Historic Heart Transplant. Dr. Ed Lafra and his team prepare for the first heart transplant in the greater DC area.
Eva's Hospital Struggles. Eva faced severe rejections and isolation during her recovery, feeling scared and alone.
A Taste of Freedom. Eva's friend Deeara takes her for a secret outing, bringing joy amidst her hospital stay.
A Heartfelt Connection. Dr. LeFrak's relationship with Eva evolves from clinical to deeply personal over time.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It just hit me like a ton of bricks.

Rich Lee describes the shock of losing Karen.

2:36WatchDec 23, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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