Carol Hickok | Pushed to Death | FilmRise True Crime | Forensic Files

[theme music] NARRATOR: A deadly fall in rural Pennsylvania. NARRATOR: A small town left shell-shocked by the death
of a loving wife and mother. - Carol's death rocked the community. It was just so unexpected and so surprising.
- I think both of us felt sick in our stomachs and emotional, like, just a shock.
NARRATOR: Was it simply a tragic accident-- - Perhaps Carol somehow fallen in the bedroom and bled.
Gone outside for fresh air, and stumbled down the stairs and died. NARRATOR: --or was it murder?
INVESTIGATOR: Were you at the house on the day of Carol's death? - Yes-- no. INVESTIGATOR: OK.
OK. - They knew at that point that they had a bigger case on their hands. [theme music]
[stirring music] JENNIFER KINGSLEY: Carol Hickok was born Carol Miller on June 30, 1945.
She was the second oldest of 10 children. Carol, to help her family, took a job delivering newspapers, and that's
where she met Roger Hickok. And Carol and Roger Hickok married on May 9, 1964. NARRATOR: The couple went on to have three children
and raised them in rural Pennsylvania. BETTY THOREN: My name is Betty Thoren, and I first met Carol in 1968 at church.
We were new when we moved here to Canton, Pennsylvania, and she was one of the first gals that I met.
Canton is a very small rural town. I believe the population when we came was about 3,000.
And you had 30 miles plus to go either way north or south to a larger city to shop.
And people often know what's going on in your business before you know it. JENNIFER KINGSLEY: It's a very tight knit community.
Everybody knows everybody. And, you know, there's small mom and pop kind of businesses there.
And then you go to the outer lands. It's very rural and it's very bucolic. You know, it's dotted with beautiful red barns.
And at one time, it was a large dairy community. There were a lot of farms here.
BETTY THOREN: Roger had a farm, and Roger became a very successful veal farmer. Carol also had her own little veal business,
and she did very well with that. She was respected. She was a businesswoman. She ran the business for them.
She did a very good job, and was a good mom to her three children. NARRATOR: Life seemed pretty good for Roger and Carol.
But in 1996, their relationship changed forever. - By all accounts, you know, Roger and
Carol were living a good life. She was a good wife. She was a devoted mother, well revered in the community.
And for one reason or another, Roger met Emily, and they began a 15-year affair.
NARRATOR: After Emily Bellows-Schaffer and Roger started a relationship, he made
no secret of their affair. BETTY THOREN: Roger would spend time with Emily, and he would go home with Carol.
And she would make these wonderful meals and pies and welcome him home. And then he would be with Emily the other times.
And there was a cabin above their home that Emily did stay in from time to time.
Carol did know that Emily was there. She told me. Not everyone could do that, or would do that.
She did that, and she chose to do it because she thought it was right, regardless
of what anyone said. A mutual friend told my husband that he knew that Roger had a little boy, a child with Emily.
It was never difficult to believe, but my husband assured me that it was so, and that they had a little boy.
NARRATOR: The existence of Roger and Emily's son, Charlie, would eventually be learned
by Bradford County District Attorney Daniel Barrett. DANIEL BARRETT: After the son was born, at one point,
Roger had started a divorce from Carol. But Emily, I guess, abandoned Roger at that point,
and then Roger and Carol reconciled. BETTY THOREN: She said, people want to know why I'm still
here, basically, with Roger. She said, I don't feel that the Lord wants me to divorce Roger.
I know I'm to stay here, and that's what I'm going to do. - And then when Emily wasn't taking
very good care of her child, Roger got involved in seeking custody of the child because the child needed care.
Carol was a religious woman. She enjoyed children. And she willingly accepted Charlie into her home.
And they built their life around the child. NARRATOR: Carol, Roger, and Charlie were living together as a family,
when, in the early hours of September 15, 2010, everything changed. An occasional insomniac, Roger was having trouble sleeping.
DANIEL BARRETT: On the morning of the 15th, Roger Hickok woke up. And as he commonly did, he headed to a nearby coffee shop
to get coffee and talk with his friends. NARRATOR: After arriving at the cafe in Canton,
Roger sat and drank coffee for several hours. DANIEL BARRETT: And after a while,
it was getting near school bus time, so he called home to make sure that his son
was on the school bus. His wife didn't answer. His son answered the phone. And his son said that he didn't know
where Mimi was, because Mimi is what he called his stepmother. - A few minutes later, Charlie calls his father and says,
mom is outside at the bottom of the steps. She's unresponsive. She's not moving.
I need you here. - Roger then was stunned and called for 911 help because he knew something horrible had to have happened.
NARRATOR: Roger raced home to find Carol at the bottom of some steps, unresponsive and covered in blood
from what looked like a severe head wound after a tragic fall. - Carol was showing no signs of life,
and Roger recognized that she was dead. He and his son just said a prayer and waited for the emergency personnel to arrive.
NARRATOR: At 8:16 AM, the coroner arrived to find Carol Hickok's body wrapped in a blanket.
And she was officially pronounced dead at the scene. [stirring music] News of Carol's sudden, tragic death
spread quickly to family and friends. BETTY THOREN: We received a phone call about 20
after 8:00 from a friend who told us that Carol had passed away. I think both of us felt sick in our stomachs
and emotional, like, just a shock. My husband and I-- Larry and I just, just sat down.
And how could this be? AMBER HAQUE: Carol's family were devastated by her sudden death.
They struggled to comprehend how they were going to move on with their life. They just said it was the most heartbreaking thing that they'd
ever had to comprehend. JENNIFER KINGSLEY: Carol's death rocked the community. It was just so unexpected and so surprising
because she was a vibrant, healthy woman. And here, something so seemingly simple took her out.
NARRATOR: Carol's death appeared to be a tragic accident from a fatal fall down the rear steps of her home.
But when first responders entered the house, they found there might be more to the story
than they realized. - In the master bedroom, it became very clear that something big happened.
There was a lot of blood. There was blood on the corner of the dresser. There was blood on the floor.
Investigators found blood on the bed, but the comforter had been removed from the bed
and placed in a washing machine, still covered in blood. The washing machine had not been turned on.
DANIEL BARRETT: That was a mystery. And for the police, there was an effort to determine what can we see, what might tell us something
that had happened here. And the circumstances were quite strange. [stirring music]
NARRATOR: Despite the discovery of a large amount of blood in the bedroom and on the comforter found in the washer,
investigators still considered the possibility that Carol's death had been accidental.
DANIEL BARRETT: They began to theorize that perhaps Carol had somehow fallen in the bedroom and bled,
tried to pick up the clothing and sheets that she bled on, gone outside for fresh air, and stumbled down the stairs
and died. It made no sense that this woman would have been the victim of some sort of violence
because there was no sign that anybody had been there. And there's also no reason why anybody
would drag the woman out on the porch or left her in the lawn. NARRATOR: But investigators also had
to follow protocol for an unexplained death and treat it like a homicide investigation
until proven otherwise. DANIEL BARRETT: In cases where there's a possible injury,
there's always the questions that have to be asked-- who would want to kill this person?
The question here would be to look at the family, look at the husband, and anybody that
might have a grudge or a reason to benefit from Carol's death. NARRATOR: With investigators open to the possibility
that Carol may have been murdered, Roger became suspect number one. [stirring music]
After Carol Hickok was found dead at the bottom of a flight of steps at her home on September 15, 2010,
investigators went to speak to her husband, Roger, to see if he could help them work out
if her death was the result of an accidental fall or something more sinister. AMBER HAQUE: When police arrived
at the house they were carrying on their investigation, Roger was sat smoking a cigar.
And this kind of jumped out to the authorities as quite strange behavior. He was smoking a cigar just yards away from where
his wife's dead body lay. NARRATOR: Police took Roger to the local station for an interview.
JENNIFER KINGSLEY: Roger is being questioned because he's the husband. He's the last person to have seen Carol alive that morning.
So, naturally, they had questions for him. DANIEL BARRETT: Roger explained to the police
that he routinely would wake up early and want to do something, and would go and get coffee.
AMBER HAQUE: They immediately deployed officers to the coffee shop to check the CCTV and verify Roger's story.
DANIEL BARRETT: Roger had arrived at the coffee place sometime in the range of 4:00 AM.
It was before daylight, quite early. And it was easy to check whether he'd been there.
The records of the coffee shop could confirm that. AMBER HAQUE: When questioned about the bloodied blanket that
had been left in the washer, Roger said, I don't even do the washing in our household.
I wouldn't even know how to use the machine. Police probed further to ask Roger what had happened that night and
had there been any disagreements between the couple. He said, no, and that they'd gone to bed as normal
between 9:00 to 9:30 PM. And it was at that point of 4:00 AM that he decided to leave the house.
And that was the last time that he saw his wife alive. NARRATOR: Early indications suggest that Carol Hickok died
sometime between 4:00 AM and 7:00 AM, so Roger's timeline stacked up. Officers then asked Roger to take a polygraph test to verify
what he had told them. DANIEL BARRETT: The major benefit of polygraph is that it assists police in eliminating suspects.
Roger's willingness to take the polygraph was, of course, a good sign. DONNA YOUNGS: The police know that the impact
of their suggestion of a polygraph test can be significant on a potential suspect.
So they often use the polygraph as a tool to elicit a reaction, to see what reaction they get.
Someone who readily agrees to take a polygraph test, usually, this indicates that this is someone who wants
to prove their innocence. DANIEL BARRETT: Roger Hickok was on hard and blood pressure medication.
He was 65 years old. And the medications are well-known to mess up polygraph results.
So his polygraph result was inconclusive. NARRATOR: Despite Roger's willingness to take the polygraph test, the inconclusive result
meant police continued to treat him as a suspect. DANIEL BARRETT: The investigations
stayed with Roger because he was the other person in the home. He was married to her.
So he remained somebody that might have, in one way or another, had some benefit or some motive.
- Police needed to consider all possible suspects at this stage, and that included Roger's son, Charlie.
Even though he was 11 years old, he was the person who discovered Carol's body. So the police had to ask him some questions
to rule him out as a suspect. However, Charlie's story that he was asleep during Carol's death checked out, so he was very quickly
ruled out as a suspect. NARRATOR: Diving deeper into Carol and Roger's family background, police then found out about Roger's affair
with Emily-- a revelation that dramatically changed the course of their investigation.
- They found out that Charlie wasn't Carol's biological son, and Charlie was Emily's son.
Carol Hickok's family, of course, had a fair amount of resentment, I guess, about Roger's whole involvement with Emily
and the pain it must have caused Carol over the years and the disruption to the family life.
- Once the investigators found out about this complicated situation, possibly a love
triangle, it then gave them a bit of a motive to question whether Emily had anything
to do with Carol's death. Roger, however, said that he had no relationship with Emily anymore.
They hadn't been in contact for a long time, and that she didn't have anything to do with Charlie.
NARRATOR: Meanwhile, police eagerly awaited the results of Carol's autopsy, hoping that it would reveal whether she
had died from an accidental fatal fall, or if her injuries suggested foul play and the possibility
that she was pushed to her death. JENNIFER KINGSLEY: When the autopsy comes back,
it showed the blunt force trauma to her head. It showed bruising on her torso and her body.
But at the end of the day, the cause of death was undetermined. It is a huge disappointment for investigators
because now they have no idea how Carol really died. - Nine days after Carol's death,
Trooper James Kerrick went over to interview Emily at her home, which is around an hour away in Pennsylvania
from where Carol lived. After this two-hour long interview, Kerrick said that Emily was intelligent,
she was cooperative. But he did notice this resentment that seemed to still be there towards Roger and Carol,
especially because of her lack of contact with Charlie. When asked directly if she had any involvement
in Carol's death, Emily simply answered no. NARRATOR: Emily told Trooper Kerrick
that she could not have got to Canton to commit murder because there was no gas in her tank,
and she had no money. AMBER HAQUE: When he left that day, Trooper Kerrick knew that although Emily
could have had something to do with Carol's death, he had no evidence at this point.
So with no clear leads, all the authorities could do was wait for the forensic and lab results
to come in. NARRATOR: Three months after Carol's death, with investigators no closer to determining how she had died,
the coroner decided to revisit the case. JENNIFER KINGSLEY: It's not common for a coroner
to revisit a case, but there was just something about this case that didn't sit right with investigators.
The coroner is going through the photos again, and he notices that there are scratches to Carol's neck,
and it almost looks like defense wounds. NARRATOR: Suddenly, investigators had a potential cause of death.
- If their suspicions were right, then, at some point, Carol had been fighting for her life
while somebody had their hands around her throat. What had once seemed like a mystery
was now a murder investigation. NARRATOR: After discovering that they were now dealing with a homicide, police received
a phone call that revealed yet another twist to the story. - Carol's brother contacted the police
to say that Roger and Charlie had now moved to Roger's home in Crystal River in Florida, and that Emily was
living with them there too. DANIEL BARRETT: When it became known that Roger had gone to Florida with Emily Bellows-Schaffer and
their son, it was something of interest to the police. - This was very conflicting to what the investigators
originally thought. They had been told that Emily had nothing to do with Charlie,
yet now she had practically stepped in to be another mom to him, all living together
as a family under one roof. And also, it seemed possible that Emily and Roger all along
had been carrying on their relationship, and that actually it had been Carol who was getting in the way.
NARRATOR: The news of Rogers move to Florida with his ex-lover sent shock waves through Carol's family and the local community.
DANIEL BARRETT: People who had reasons to resent either Roger's conduct or Emily's conduct over the years found a good opportunity
to use the trip to Florida as a reason to justify suspicions that Roger, or Roger and Emily, or Emily had been
involved in Carol's death. [stirring music] NARRATOR: Just three months after Carol Hickok
was found dead at the foot of the steps outside her home in Canton, Pennsylvania,
her husband Roger had moved to Florida with his former lover, Emily, and their son.
But without enough evidence, police were unable to bring them back to Pennsylvania
to be interviewed. - Seven months later, on July 19, 2011, police received a call that would
turn the case on its head. - Police get a phone call from Emily Schaffer. And she says she has something interesting to tell
them about Carol Hickok. Emily had explained to police that she and Roger had a falling out.
NARRATOR: She told officers that following their argument, Roger had taken Charlie back to their home
in Canton, Pennsylvania. JENNIFER KINGSLEY: That was kind of the last straw for Emily.
She was very frustrated. She was missing her child. The reason that Emily Schaffer was even in town
was because she had a court hearing to go over custody of young Charlie. [stirring music]
NARRATOR: Eager to speak to Emily about Carol's death, police collected her from the courthouse
for a voluntary interview at the station. - Emily arrives at the police station,
and they bring her into an office rather than an interrogation room. So Emily was not under arrest at this point.
This is just a conversation. They have no idea what she's about to tell them. NARRATOR: Trooper Dave Pelachick
led the interview, with Trooper Nathan Lewis also in attendance. DAVE PELACHICK: We received a phone call from you today.
- Yes. DAVE PELACHICK: You wanted to share some information with us. - Yes. JENNIFER KINGSLEY: She arrives with a backpack
full of paperwork, and troopers want to hear what she has to say. EMILY SCHAFFER: Roger Hickok and I have had--
we've known each other over 15 years. And it was a rocky 15 years. As time progressed, he became more
and more angry and violent. DAVE PELACHICK: Do you think he's capable of something,
of causing harm to someone? - At first, I thought, you know, there's no way Roger could have done this.
But the more I see that he still has the hair trigger temper and the split personality,
I think anything is possible. - She's afraid of Roger, all of a sudden. After a 15-year relationship where
they're loving each other and they have a child, suddenly she's afraid. He's abusive, she's scared of him.
She doesn't know what's going to happen. And it looks like she's trying to protect herself from Roger.
- He is a narcissist, and he is a sociopath. NARRATOR: Emily then went on to talk about Carol's history
with Charlie and Roger. EMILY SCHAFFER: Prior to Carol's death, she was the primary caretaker of Charlie.
After Carol's death, I went to Florida with him, primarily to take care of Charlie
because he does not. JENNIFER KINGSLEY: It becomes very clear that Emily is no longer Roger's ally.
DANIEL BARRETT: When Roger and Emily and their child went to Florida, the relationship with them
didn't develop. It wasn't, at last, we were together, at least as far as Roger was concerned.
Emily had nothing really to call a job. She was living from hand to mouth. And eventually, as the winter ended,
he headed back to Pennsylvania and made it clear that he wasn't bringing Emily with him.
JENNIFER KINGSLEY: In the middle of the interview, as she's carrying on about how awful Roger is, her cell phone rings.
- This is Roger calling right now. NARRATOR: Roger had called Emily to ask her out for lunch.
- When the call comes in from Roger inviting her to lunch, he was calm and reasonable and wasn't
yelling or complaining at her. He just invited her. So his calling her was consistent with being
very reasonable. DAVE PELACHICK: Why do you want to have lunch? - Because what he says to me and
what he says to other people are opposite ends of the spectrum. NARRATOR: Suspicious of Emily's description
of Roger as a violent sociopath, troopers continued to probe Emily on their relationship.
- We were supposed to have shared custody, but he refused every opportunity, every request
that I had to see Charlie. He refused to let me see him. Roger does not want Charlie talking to me.
JENNIFER KINGSLEY: Emily is spinning this tale to investigators about how awful Roger is.
And she's not really getting to the point of why she's there. And so investigators are just letting
her talk because eventually it's going to come out. DAVE PELACHICK: When's the last time,
before Carol's death, that you had been intimate with Roger? - The last weekend in July.
I was so desperate for any contact at all that I had-- with Charlie that if I had to sleep with a son of a bitch,
I'd sleep with just so I knew what was going on in Charlie's life. JENNIFER KINGSLEY: Investigators understand they
have something going on here. And they realize if they let her keep talking, she's going to bring them back to the date of Carol's death.
DAVE PELACHICK: You talked to Roger between the end of July. And the day of Carol's death, did you
have any contacts with him? - I probably talked to him, but I didn't see him. He made it a point to let me know that he was not home.
The morning that Carol died, he sent me a text message at 4:00 o'clock in the morning.
NATHAN LEWIS: What did the text say? [stirring music] EMILY SCHAFFER: The text said--
September 15 at 4:07 AM, he sent a text message, you up? I texted back him at 7:02 AM saying, I'm up.
I said, favor to ask, can I borrow the Ford and the big trailer? I was moving out of my apartment.
He texted back, troubles. That was around 2:21 in the afternoon. I said, work, question mark.
I said, get earlier messages, question mark. He said, death. And I said, never good.
Then he texted back at 3:02, at state police Towanda. I said, what's up? And he said, troubles.
And then I texted back, prayers. DAVE PELACHICK: Let me just back up a little bit.
When he kept saying death, you never asked who? - I never asked who. He didn't say.
JENNIFER KINGSLEY: She's not asking about anybody else in the house. So to me, that's a giant red flag.
You're not asking about your son who lives in the house, or the woman who's taking care of your child,
or any of the other people that are in that family. You're not asking about any of them.
I found that to be very unusual. - Pelachick knew Emily had a motive, that she was mad
at Roger, that she didn't like Roger, and she had things to say. So his curiosity was quite up there.
This was the time to see where the case would take him and keep the person talking.
Let her talk and ask her questions. DAVE PELACHICK: What was the only thing standing in the way between you and Charlie
prior to Carol's death? - Prior to Carol's death? Roger. DAVE PELACHICK: I would say Carol.
- No. She took care of-- DAVE PELACHICK: No, not between-- - OK. DAVE PELACHICK: The only thing between you and Charlie
was Carol. OK, because the minute Carol was removed-- - I moved right in. DAVE PELACHICK: You certainly had motive to get
Carol out of the picture. DANIEL BARRETT: In Emily's mind, it's obvious at that point that she realized
that she was becoming a suspect, that they weren't accepting everything she had to say.
DAVE PELACHICK: Were you at the house on the day of Carol's death? - Yeah-- no. DAVE PELACHICK: OK.
OK. - When Emily stammers, and, first, she says, yes, then quickly correct herself and
says no, they knew at that point that they had a bigger case on their hands. DONNA YOUNGS: This responding, and then
correcting herself shows somebody trying to strategically manage the interview situation to give interviewers the response she thinks
is most appropriate. And indeed, there are times when these kind of verbal slips
are direct indicators of deception, of what the real answer is to the question. Investigators can use that kind of slip
very directly and strategically to pursue that line of inquiry. And they can use it just as a broad indicator
of somebody who is not telling them the whole truth. DAVE PELACHICK: Are you a violent person?
Because if this was not an accidental death-- - Yeah. DAVE PELACHICK: --this is the first time this person
has caused harm to someone. EMILY SCHAFFER: Can I tell you a little bit? He came into the house one time and he said,
I'm going to take Charlie and leave. And I picked up the nearest cast iron frying pan,
and I hit him square in the back with it. And he handed Charlie back to me and left.
- The fact that Emily struck Roger with the frying pan showed that she could let her anger take her to the point
of senseless violence. And real violence, too. Not the slap across the face or anything like that.
NARRATOR: It was at this point that police decided to ask Emily to take a lie detector test.
DAVE PELACHICK: We would like you to take a polygraph at some point just to say, hey, it's not me.
I didn't do anything to it. Well, I was never at the house. The two tubes-- one goes in your chest,
one goes lower-- measures your breathing. Some people breathe more through their chest.
Some people breathe more through their stomach. The reason we measure these-- - (SINGING) I've waited for my chance
because I sing in the shower. DANIEL BARRETT: When she's singing and starting breathing exercises, I think she was probably
trying to be cute and try to endear herself to the policemen, and make them think that she's very relaxed
and confident and so forth. It's an act. - Emily has gone into this interview as a woman very
confident, very organized, very used to handling authority, not intimidated in any way.
And I feel that the singing is part of this attempt to continue to charm the officers.
She believes she can sweet talk her way out of the situation. DAVE PELACHICK: The test is about to begin.
Please remain still. Regarding that woman's death, do you intend to answer each question truthfully?
- Yes. - They had been interviewing Emily for four hours, yet nobody had asked her directly if she was
responsible for Carol's death. DAVE PELACHICK: Did you cause that woman's death?
- No. DAVE PELACHICK: Did you cause that woman's death at her home? EMILY SCHAFFER: No.
DAVE PELACHICK: The test is about to end. Please remain still. - Did I fail or did I pass or what?
DAVE PELACHICK: You failed. [stirring music] - I failed? DAVE PELACHICK: Yes. - No.
DANIEL BARRETT: The point at which the suspect is told they failed the polygraph, that's
when it's raised the level. It's made it a confrontational situation. DAVE PELACHICK: Were you in that house that night with her?
EMILY SCHAFFER: No. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. DAVE PELACHICK: If that was the truth,
you would have passed the polygraph. Emily, what happened that night? Tell us the truth, please.
- I wasn't there. I wasn't there. NATHAN LEWIS: Is this the point that you want to be truthful
and tell us what happened? [stirring music] NARRATOR: After failing a polygraph test
about her movements in the hours before Carol Hickok was found dead at the bottom of a flight
of steps at her home, Emily Bellows-Schaffer continued to deny any responsibility
for Carol's death. - I don't have it in me to hurt anybody. Not intentionally. DAVE PELACHICK: You hit Roger in the back with a skillet.
Listen, we know you were there, OK? I told you that. Can you look at me, please?
Please? We know you were there. NATHAN LEWIS: Did you go out and kill her, or anything?
DANIEL BARRETT: At that point, she knows they're trying to determine what happened
and that she had responsibility there. DAVE PELACHICK: Did you intend for her to die?
- No. DAVE PELACHICK: What happened that night? What was your purpose of being there?
You can do it. NARRATOR: Emily claimed that, uninvited, she had gone to the Hickok home that morning to visit her son.
And when she encountered Carol, a fight between the two unfolded. DAVE PELACHICK: What did she do to you?
DAVE PELACHICK: Can you show me? Was it like this? Like, two of them together? - No, it was like this.
DAVE PELACHICK: And were you close to her? - I was close enough that I pushed her backwards.
She fell backwards into the bedroom, into the dresser. We wrestled around a little bit.
I think we rolled over the bed once. DAVE PELACHICK: Was she saying anything to you during this?
EMILY SCHAFFER: Yeah. My husband, my husband. I'm not here to see your damned husband.
I'm here to see my son. The last place I saw her, she was on the floor next to the dresser.
DAVE PELACHICK: Was she conscious? EMILY SCHAFFER: She was breathing. DAVE PELACHICK: OK.
Do you know if she was bleeding at that time? - Well, there was blood on the bedspread.
DAVE PELACHICK: Did you do something with the bedspread? EMILY SCHAFFER: I put the bedspread
in the washing machine. But I don't know how to run the washing machine, so I just left the bedspread in the washing machine.
DANIEL BARRETT: She knew that her blood was on those sheets. And she knew that her blood might be detected sooner
or later on those sheets. So that's why she headed to the washing machine. DAVE PELACHICK: She had some finger marks on her neck.
Does that trigger anything? Are you trying to get-- EMILY SCHAFFER: I tried to get her off of me.
DAVE PELACHICK: Did you have blood on you? EMILY SCHAFFER: I don't remember blood on my hands or my face.
I don't remember-- I don't remember any blood on my clothing. DONNA YOUNGS: Asked if she had blood on her,
it's as if Emily forgets herself and goes back in time and she's there at the moment of the murder.
And she holds up her hands, and it's as if- she's-- she's looking at the murder weapons.
For a moment, we get this curious indication of absolute guilt. DAVE PELACHICK: Did you ever tell Roger what happened?
- No. DAVE PELACHICK: Did he ever ask you? EMILY SCHAFFER: No. AMBER HAQUE: Emily had the opportunity here
to implicate Roger, that he had somehow enabled or assisted her in murdering Carol.
But she didn't take that opportunity, and so he was cleared. DAVE PELACHICK: How did she get to the bottom of the stairs?
EMILY SCHAFFER: I don't know how she got to the bottom of the stairs. She was quite alive the last time I saw her.
NARRATOR: After talking to Emily for eight hours, the troopers decided to end the interview for the day.
- Are you going to arrest me and fingerprint me and send me to jail? DAVE PELACHICK: You are going to have
to face the music to this. - At this point, they read Emily her rights. They let her know she is under arrest,
and they take her to the county jail. NARRATOR: The following day, investigators
visited Emily to confirm her videotaped confession in writing. DANIEL BARRETT: During the videotaped interview,
Emily tried to claim that Carol had confronted her in the hallway, and it wound up that Carol died.
The next day, she did not change that version. The only part she changed was instead
of saying Carol was alive when she left the house, she admitted that Carol was dead, that she had
taken Carol out of the house. And she acknowledged at that point that she had moved Carol's body down to the foot of the stairs.
NARRATOR: All police needed now was DNA evidence proving that Emily was at the scene of the crime.
DANIEL BARRETT: The sheets and bedding and blood on the scene was analyzed by the state police laboratory.
And it was determined that some of the blood there was Emily's blood, which, of course,
placed Emily at the scene. NARRATOR: Emily's confession and DNA evidence meant that she faced a lengthy prison
sentence for Carol's death, if found guilty of homicide. But because Emily denied the charge of murder,
the case went to court. In August 2012, nearly two years after Carol Hickok's death, Emily
stood trial for the murder of her son's stepmom. - I'm tapped to be there every day.
I show up at the courthouse at least a half-hour beforehand every day, because it was more than just
a story at that point. I had to let the community know what was going on. BETTY THOREN: It was very important
for me to be at this trial. I felt that I needed to be there for justice for Carol.
She was an innocent victim that should be alive today. I wanted to know the truth because there
had been so many stories going around, this and that, and the other thing that I know the truth
should come out in the trial. And I needed to be there for those reasons. JENNIFER KINGSLEY: Something I found incredibly remarkable
was that there was no one for Emily. She has no support in that courtroom, whatsoever.
Emily was incredibly stoic during the trial. She showed very little emotion. Any emotion she showed, she would tip her head down
and she would talk to her attorney. And that was about it. She was very silent through that trial.
- Well, the one thing I remember clearly about Emily, I did not see remorse. I never saw a bit of remorse.
That, I could not fathom and I could not get past. NARRATOR: During the trial, the prosecution
played Emily's videotape confession to the jury before unveiling another key piece of evidence.
- The most interesting part of that trial was the introduction of Emily's diary,
because you could really see where she began to unravel. One excerpt read, she's referring to Roger here,
and you can get a sense of how angry she is toward Roger. "I wish I had a 2" by 4", I'd hit you upside your head and
scream at your lifeless body. Now, we're even. Because I died a little. Every single day you have kept us apart."
And then she goes on to say, "There will be no I love yous until this situation is resolved.
How/why on earth would/could I love anyone who could so carelessly, heartlessly do this to me, who would
be so blind and selfish." DANIEL BARRETT: The things that Emily put in her diary
showed that she very much resented that she didn't have much. Carol was the reason that Roger didn't need
her to help raise the boy. Carol was the reason that Roger didn't want to live with her, and so forth.
So she wanted to get rid of Carol. - Six days before the murder, Emily wrote, "I must do what I must do."
DANIEL BARRETT: The information in the diaries pulled everything together and brought real context
to what it was Emily was doing when she went to the home of Roger Hickok and Carol Hickok.
NARRATOR: The prosecution also highlighted the evidence found by the coroner when he revisited the autopsy photographs.
- A very small, but very significant part of the evidence was little marks, cuts on Carol's neck,
where she was trying to pry away Emily's fingers, trying to get those fingers off her neck.
And it actually cut into her own skin. It showed, among other things, that strangulation
was the cause of death. NARRATOR: The prosecution argued that the only reason Emily went to Carol's house
on the day of her death was to commit murder. - The evidence was clear. She had no need to go to the house to see Charlie.
She could have done that at lunch. She had no reason to go there to see Carol, because Carol wouldn't have wanted to talk to her.
That she went to the house, went into the house and killed Carol, shows that that was
her objective from the start. Emily's confession took herself as far as the offense of voluntary manslaughter, that is causing
a death during a fight. The overall circumstances of the case were such that it was undeniable
that this was murder. This wasn't-- this wasn't a fight that went bad. NARRATOR: On August 10, 2012, the jury retired to deliberate.
And at 4:00 PM, they returned with their verdict. DANIEL BARRETT: The jury found Emily guilty
of second degree murder, the felony offense of burglary, and other charges. On September 27, 2012, Emily Bellows-Schaffer
was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. And she remains incarcerated.
[stirring music] This tragedy began when Roger began a dalliance with Emily Bellows-Schaffer that wound up with Emily
involved in their lives. But the murder itself is all the fault and crime of Emily Bellows-Schaffer.
And that's where guilt was found. And that's where the true and complete blame lies.
Carol's death was truly tragic. A horrible thing happened to a very good person because of someone else's anger,
greed, selfish intentions. - Carol will always be remembered as a pillar in this community.
I never met Carol Hickok, but I regard her as a wonderful woman. And almost a saint, because I don't know how many women could
take in the child of their husband's mistress and carry on and love that child as if the child
were her own. I give her a lot of respect for that. BETTY THOREN: Carol was strong.
What she did, she did 100%-- her business, her hunting, her mothering, her cooking,
her marriage vows. And the way she loved Charlie spoke volumes-- Just spoke volumes.
She was faithful in friendships. She was kind. Just 100% her girl. That's all I can tell you.
She just was great. [dramatic music] [theme music]

The shocking case of Carol Hickok, who is found dead at the foot of a staircase outside her home by her 11-year-old stepson after she fails to wake him for school.

Pushed to Death tells the stories of people who tragically passed away after appearing to suffer a fatal fall in suspicious circumstances.

For More FilmRise Check Out Our Other Channels: FilmRise Television: https://www.youtube.com/⁨@FilmRiseTelevision⁩ FilmRise Movies: https://www.youtube.com/@FilmRiseMovies Highway to Heaven - Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@HighwaytoHeavenFullEpisodes

Brief Summary

Carol Hickok's death leads to a murder investigation, revealing a complex family dynamic and resulting in Emily Bellows-Schaffer's conviction for murder.

Key points

Carol's Tragic Death. Carol Hickok's sudden death shocked her small town community, leaving many in disbelief.
The Affair Uncovered. Roger's long-term affair with Emily complicates the investigation into Carol's death.
Emily's Alarming Testimony. Emily Schaffer reveals troubling details about Roger's behavior during her interview.
Emily's Confession. Emily's confession and DNA evidence lead to her facing murder charges.
Trial Verdict. The jury finds Emily guilty of second-degree murder and other charges.
Community Remembers Carol. Carol is remembered as a strong and loving figure in her community.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It was just so unexpected and so surprising.

Community reaction to Carol's death

0:29WatchJan 29, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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