Corrosive Marriages | “48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

Las Vegas is the adult Disneyland of the world. >> People come here to play. Adults come
here to play. The other side of that is there is a community here that services that glitz and glamour
that go to work 9 to5, run the banks, run the police department, run the fire department, and have just steady jobs.
>> That's George, [music] you know, an all-around great guy to hang out with and help you get the job done.
>> Just a very, very kind, generous, and giving person. And that's the George TFA
I know. >> Well, Shauna was so young at heart and she was so fun and she always made me
laugh. >> She looks like Barbie, you know, blonde, beautiful. >> Always had the long hair, you know,
[music] just looked perfect like a little China doll. Well, George and Shauna met in the
casino environment. He saw this blonde person whizzing past him all the time. She was such a hard worker that he
really admired that she was his world. That was his his life. And then when their daughter came around, they just
the cutest trio ever. >> We're at the beach. Okay. >> Maddy's first time at the beach.
>> Turning everybody around. >> Turning us around. >> Maddie was just the light of her life.
It was really her number one priority. >> Nice day today. She was just all in, you
know, 100% there. >> And then a baby. >> They were like a little cocoon. George was so protective. He waited on them
hand and foot. He really did. [music] In the early morning hours on September 29th, 2012, Shauna TFA would
have gotten off work from being a cocktail waitress at a local casino. She went home,
>> parked her car in the garage, entered her house, a killer snuck up behind her, and beat
her to death with a hammer inside her own living room. >> Were you worried that someone was
targeting casino women? >> Yes, >> we were all so scared that, you know, this person was still out there. Was
somebody stalking her? Was somebody obsessed with her? >> Maybe they're going to, you know, come
after one of us. >> I'm Peter Vans. Tonight on 48 hours, Vengeance [music] in Vegas.
[music] >> [music and singing] >> Shauna TFA loved to laugh and sing with her daughter.
>> When she was with Maddie, it was like nothing else was going on around her. so dedicated and so concerned.
>> Shauna's murder has been a devastating loss for her sister Paula Stokes Richards and her husband John.
>> She just laughed at life. You know, she had this innocence. >> It's sad because I just miss her. And
for something like this to happen to her is just it's unimaginable. Shauna Tf, a Mormon born in Salt Lake
City, was 28 when she moved here to Las Vegas. But to Shauna, Vegas was more than one big glitzy party. It was a city
of opportunity. And it wasn't long before she got a glamorous job as a cocktail waitress at one of the hottest
casinos in town. >> [music] >> She loved the Palms. I think she really felt like the Palms was a a family
environment, which might sound contrary to what you would think, but I think the
the people that worked there were really like family and they looked after each other.
>> I never hardly saw like Shauna with a frown or anything. She was just so bubbly and laughing at everything.
Cindy, Randy, and Sienna all worked alongside Shauna for about 10 years. >> She loved her job, though.
>> She loved cocktailing. >> And customers love Shauna. She made close to $100,000 a year in salary and
tips, often paid in casino chips, which in Vegas is the same as money. In 2002, Shauna hit the jackpot when she met
George TFA at the Palms. George was a star athlete and homecoming king at his California high school.
>> Just to look at him, he's very handsome, very charismatic. What more could you
ask for? >> In fact, George is a West Point graduate who served in the Army Corps of
Engineers. Maria and Bernardet are George's sisters. >> He likes to serve people. That's what
attracted him to being a fireman. And George is so handsome, he was even featured in this firefighter pinup
calendar. >> The all-American boy he sounds like. >> Yes, he was. He looked like it. He acted
like it. He was that guy. >> His sisters also say George is a devoted family man who sent money home to help
their mom care for their disabled younger sister. >> If you need a helping hand, there he is.
>> George and Shauna started dating. George was in love. >> Oh, yeah. Head over heels. Yeah. Yeah.
She was his world. That was his life. >> And life only got better for George and
Shauna. Just one year into their relationship, Maddie was born. >> Hey, there's daddy.
>> There's daddy and mama. And little baby. Look at all of us. >> Three years later, they were married in
Hawaii. Mama and dad just got married. There's Shauna Castleton. >> TFA. >> Now she's TFA. Look at that dress on.
Mama. Woo. What a smoking body. >> They really suited each other. It was really nice. They were both hardworking
people. They're both good-looking people. They made a lovely couple. >> But looks, as they say, can be
deceiving. After two happy years of marriage, things started to change. When George lost money in the housing market
crash, Shauna told friends he had become jealous, controlling, and critical of her.
>> He would tell her that she dressed like a [ __ ] when she would get dressed for
work in front of Maddie, which of course would tear Shauna apart, you know, for her little girl to hear these things.
>> Shauna also complained when George brought a homeless man into their lives who he paid to do odd jobs around the
house. Her friend Stephanie Vargas. >> You should call him creepy. God, he's so creepy. Why is he around my house?
>> But George's friend from West Point, Rock Ryder, says he was as kind-hearted as he was handsome. And befriending the
homeless was something he had done for years. >> Every Thanksgiving, he he'd be serving
soup to the homeless people. Just a very, very kind, generous, and giving person.
>> But even though he had a gracious heart, the strains continued in the marriage.
And after nearly 10 years of being together, she had enough and moved into this townhouse. They shared custody of
Maddie. But Shauna was reluctant to file for a divorce. >> She was sad. Her family was [music] breaking up and
this isn't something that she wanted. She wanted the picket fence and the husband and the daughter.
She [music] wanted the fairy tale and the fairy tale was falling apart. [music] Determined to save their marriage,
Shauna and George both agreed to start seeing a marriage counselor. >> I think Shauna was an eternal optimist.
You know, she just kept hoping that things were going to get better. >> Then, weeks before her murder, Shauna's
townhouse was burglarized. Her wedding ring was missing. Strangely, a pair of her bathing suit
bottoms were taken. And strangest of all, the robber left something behind. A pair of boxer shorts, size small.
>> Did this burglary, did it shake her up? >> It did. >> But I just don't think that in her mind
she ever thought that any harm would come to her. >> But in an ominous twist of fate, just
three weeks later, someone was back in her house. this time waiting for her. It is now the early morning hours of
September 29th, 2012. This is Shauna, seen on casino surveillance video clocking out at 3:01 a.m. These are the
last images of her life. After a 30inut drive, Shauna arrives home, letting herself in through the garage.
>> She enters into the hallway. It's dark. There's no light. >> Dan Long and Terry Miller are
investigators with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. >> She moves towards the stairway to go
upstairs to her bedroom >> when suddenly Shauna was attacked by someone wielding
a hammer. >> Her hands were up at some point uh to protect her head in her face. Her
fingers were broken and she was savagely beaten with this metal head of that hammer. until she was dead.
>> At approximately 9:00 a.m., George and Maddie arrived to pick something up when
they walked in and he discovered Shauna's badly bludgeoned body. George immediately called 911.
>> 911 emergency. >> I think I need to report a a break-in in a murder. My wife,
my wife is uh on the floor, bloody, stiff, not moving. >> Naturally, George is going to be our
number one suspect. A woman that he separated from, he finds dead inside of an apartment.
>> Detective Miller interviewed George in a police car at the scene. >> She was lying on the floor.
>> She was covered in blood. I just want to die. and she was surprised with what he
told her. >> What shift did you work yesterday? >> A 24-hour shift. >> He said he was on call at the firehouse
before he picked Maddie up. Maddie had spent the night at her grandmother's house [music] while Shauna went to work.
>> He had an alibi. >> And what did that tell you? >> He's not our killer. It's not just Dan and I.
>> You want a full mag in the weapon? >> Yeah. >> We had our entire team with THIS
>> muzzle down. Lead detectives Terry Miller and Dan Long of the Las Vegas Metro Police had their work cut out for
them. >> The obvious initial suspect in a case like this is the husband, but George TFA
had that airtight alibi. >> They learned right away that he was at work at the fire station and was not the
man that killed Shauna. Shauna's murder was brutal and chilling. >> I remember thinking, do we have a sexual
predator? >> And you got to be wondering to yourselves, do we have some sort of monster out there on the streets?
>> Yes. Uh we're like, who are we looking for? Are we looking for a male? Are we
looking for a female? But 48 hours into the investigation, detectives get a crucial tip from an
unlikely source. William Penn, known as Big Will. >> I've been trying to live a straight life
under the hands of the Lord. >> Big Will had lived in Las Vegas for years, working as a maintenance man at
an apartment complex. He got an urgent call from a friend. >> He said, "Uh, Big Will, I need to talk
to you. The friend came to see him and dropped a bombshell. He just murdered a woman.
When he told you that he had killed this woman, what was the expression on his face?
>> He was happy. Happy like he just completed a mission. A mission to where he's going to get paid a lot of money.
He's going to leave town and live a happy life like that. >> Did he tell you how he killed this
woman? >> Yeah. Yeah. He told me that he was laughing when he said it. He said, uh,
I hit this woman with a hammer over and over and over and over until a hammer broke. The man who called Big Will was
nicknamed Greyhound because he was lean and fast and lived in a tent in the foothills far from the glittering lights
of downtown. Greyhound was an ex-con and Big Will was helping him straighten his
life out. But after the two men spoke, Big Will's mission became bringing Greyhound to justice.
>> This is a damn tragedy. I said, "So if I hear this on the news tomorrow morning, the best thing I can
do is follow his tracks, try to hunt him down so that I can try to bring some kind of
closure to this woman's family." A gorgeous cocktail waitress, a mother, brutally murdered in her own home.
>> That was it. A woman murdered and Big Will knew exactly what he had to do. He
[music] called police. At first, detectives Long and Miller were skeptical. >> Initially, I was thinking to myself,
you've got to be kidding me. He is giving this story about this man who lives up in the mountains in a tent who
is homeless. And it's kind of a crazy story. >> Crazy. But cops [music] felt they had to
check it out. Big Will told them Greyhound often walks miles from his desert tent to this Albertson's grocery
store where he'd been spotted before stealing food. So right away they went with Big Will to look for him. [music]
>> I got out of the vehicle and went in to talk to the Albertson's employees in hopes that they would know who somebody
named Greyhound that matches this description is. >> Big Will knew Greyhound sometimes sold
drugs at the Chevron station right next door. Then a stroke of luck. >> I see Greyhound.
He says, "Hey, Big Will, what you doing over here? So I said, "Wait one minute. I'll be
right back." >> Big Will then whispers into my ear and goes, "That's Greyhound." We got lucky.
To the grace of God, he was there. >> I'm like, "This can't be happening." I walk outside. I want to get as close as
I can to him before he identifies me as a police officer. >> Cops identified themselves and
immediately find drugs in Greyhound's possession. So, they take him to police headquarters. and he's volunteered to
come to our office and help us with their investigation. >> Greyhound's real name is Nol Stevens. He
denies he [music] has anything to do with Shauna TFA's murder. >> I have nothing to do with it's not me.
You have the wrong guy. He tells us that he does live in the desert. He has a tent.
>> All right. Meet you there. >> All right. >> While Greyhound is held on drug charges,
a massive police search is launched to find his campsite. Terry and I walked in that fence. We had
to climb through that fence. That was tough. This case came down to shoe leather. We
ran it all down. Right on top of that little hill was where his tent was. It was [music] out here in these rocky
desert foothills about 8 miles from the Vegas strip, which is behind me, that detectives making their way through this
treacherous landscape, discovered some important evidence. >> We brought a helicopter with us and a
bunch of people to search and we searched every one of these hills. >> Remote. >> Remote. Yes. I walked past a small shrub
and rolled up underneath of the shrub was a pair [music] of pants and looked out of place.
>> Detective Sam Smith had found a crucial piece of evidence near the campsite. A
pair of Steven's pants. They were bloody. Police tested [music] them on the spot. And what did you learn later
about the blood on those jeans? Whose blood was it? >> Uh that was uh Shauna TFA's blood.
Back at headquarters, police confronted Nol Stevens with what they had found. Then they used an old trick to pry more
information out of him. A lot of people don't know this. Investigators are allowed, I'll use this word, to mislead
a suspect. >> No, we're allowed to lie. >> They bluffed Greyhound, saying someone
fingered him for the murder. Stevens stuns the detectives by admitting he killed Shauna TFA. [music]
But why? More clues were found when police examined Null [music] Stevens cell phone.
>> What kind of numbers do you find on that phone? >> We find a guy by the name of George in
his cell phone. And when we ask him who's George, he says that's my friend, the firefighter.
>> George was George TFA, Shauna's husband. And Nell Stevens was that homeless handyman who had caused friction in the
TFA marriage. >> We looked at each other and >> Bing bing bing bing bing. You hit this
is Vegas. You just hit the all sevens, right? Yes, we did. >> Exactly. Yes, we did. [snorts]
There's mama. She's looking hot with the shades on. >> As soon as she heard about the tragic
murder of her beautiful sister, Paula Richards and her husband John immediately had one suspect in mind.
>> Look at everybody. >> Hello. >> We all thought that George was involved, but we couldn't figure out how he did
it. So, they decided to call George, who was [music] still standing outside Shauna's townhouse with police.
>> So, I thought we need to record this. >> Hello, >> George. >> Yes, sir. >> This is This is Paula. Can you tell me
what's going on? >> passed away. >> And [snorts] what did they do to her? >> God,
I don't know. She's laying on the floor with blood on her head. >> How are is she still Is Shauna's body
still there? >> Yes, I think so. >> God, there's Daddy and Mama. >> George then hands his cell phone to a
grief counselor. >> No one else can hear what I'm saying. Correct. >> Correct. >> Paula then makes a startling accusation.
I have my suspicions that her husband may be involved in this based on, you know, many, many conversations
[music] I've had with my sister. Um, I I highly suspect that he may be involved.
>> The day after the murder, the couple caught the first flight to Las Vegas from Nashville. When we landed on the
flight out to Las Vegas, we had both shifted into this investigator mode. >> While John and Paula were conducting
their amateur investigation, detectives Miller and Long were continuing their professional one.
>> You see the telephone poles right along there. >> Armed [music] with a good luck charm, a
casino chip that belonged to Shauna. And I said, "I want you to hold on to this because this has [music] allowed me to
feel like Shauna is near us and uh you can give it back to me when you get an arrest."
>> Soon into their investigation, detectives had discovered dozens [music] of phone calls between Null and George
before the murder. >> You said 87 calls. >> That's That's correct. 87 phone calls in
one month. That's more than I talk to my husband. >> TFA and Stevens met years earlier when
both were living on this middle class street. Null at his sister's house. >> This house right here is the sister's
house which is where null was living. >> And the TFAS down the block right down here.
>> Yes. N got to know George, asked him if he could do yard work for George. >> Cops soon learned from N. Stevens their
relationship was complicated. Null idolized George. He genuinely thought that he and George were very, very close
and would never turn on one another. >> But detectives believed George was manipulating his friend who may have
suffered from mental illness. >> He has a pawn. He has a an implement, a tool in the in the in Null Stevens, and
he's going to use that tool. >> Big Will told detectives that George gave N. Stevens $600 in cash to kill
Shauna with the promise of thousands more to come. He said, "Well, uh, he gave me a key to
get in this lady's house and I murdered her and my heart dropped." And I said, "What?" I said, "You just signed
yourself a death warrant. You don't know if this man is going to try to kill you
or what." When cops were scouring Nol Stevens desert campsite, another intriguing clue they found was a barcode
tag. They scanned it. It matched the style of hammer used to kill Shauna. >> We figure out that Lowe's sells those
hammers. >> That launched investigators on a tedious mission, reviewing hundreds of hours of
video surveillance tape. Finally, they hit pay dirt when they spotted George and N. Stevens shopping
together for hammers. We have our definite connection between Null and George. >> Stevens was singing to cops like a
canary. >> So, he gave you a road map and you're following it and you're finding exactly
what he said you'd find. >> Absolutely. >> Even leading them to where he had buried
the murder weapon. this hammer which broke in two during the brutal attack >> and um there was blood on it.
>> They also discover a possible motive for murder. Money. >> New floors, new carpet, new bathtub, new
sink, new dishwasher. >> Mama's happy about that, huh? >> Shauna liked to spend it [music] and
George liked to save it. There are some financial transactions that appear like he's trying to hide money uh through his
mom. >> With the news tightening on George TFA, detectives meet with his family 9 days
after Shauna's murder. >> So, at the end of the interview, I tell mom and sister that George is involved
in killing Shauna. >> How do they react to that? >> It's traumatic to them. >> No, no, no. They're crying. They're
telling us that we are absolutely 100% wrong. >> Minutes after that conversation, police
who had George under surveillance and were monitoring his phone calls overhear his sister calling him. Suddenly, George
jumped back into his truck [music] and took off quote unquote like a bat out of hell.
>> George weaves erratically through city traffic and onto the Summerland Parkway.
He accelerates to 90 mph and smashes headon into a barrier. Cops believe it was a suicide attempt.
>> He's trying to end his life right now because he can't face the fact of what's
going to come. >> Amazingly, George survived the crash because cops say he was wearing a seat
belt. He was rushed to a local hospital where detectives later arrested him. >> And I said, "George, you're under arrest
for the murder of your wife, Shauna TFA." And his reaction was simply to look up from his hospital bed and say,
"Okay." >> That's when police also charged Null Stevens with Shauna's murder. >> Whoa, look at this. There's Shauna
Castleton. >> TFA. >> Now she's TFA. Wow. She >> It was um a feeling of relief. Um all we
wanted was justice for Shauna. >> Are we ready to arraign Mr. TFA? >> We are. >> Detectives believe George TFA was just
one step away from getting away with it all. >> Commit the murder and then do away with
null. If he can get that done in the right way, he's gonna commit the perfect crime.
>> But George is steadfastly maintaining his innocence. >> No Stevens, >> and prosecutors are worried about their
key witness, Nol Stevens. >> He's at the heart of the murder conspiracy. Right. >> He is a very important factor in the
case. He >> he's mentally ill, right? He has a violent criminal history and he's your
star witness. You know, the defense wants him to be our star witness. George TFA's defense attorney, [music]
Robert Langford, knows how to take command. Whether as an actor in front of a live theater audience,
>> or before a jury in a sin city courtroom, >> there's circumstantial evidence and
there's direct evidence. And now Langford is front and center in a case [music] that even a playwright would
find difficult to imagine. >> It's good story. It's real interesting, but it's not evidence yet in the case.
>> Who is responsible for the murder of Shauna Tf? >> Nol Stevens. Null Stevens says he is. Nvens
beat her to death with a hammer. Was he hired by George TFA to do that? >> There's no evidence of that.
>> It's been 3 years since the murder and Shauna's family and friends like Lacy Green are apprehensive.
>> I'm not confident. It's very scary not knowing what's going to happen. >> I fear that he will be found innocent.
>> At no point during the communication with the police does George TSA ever mention null Stevens. In his opening
statement, prosecutor Mark Djakamo knows he has to make Nol Stevens and George TFA partners in crime.
>> He calls Null Stevens 87 times in the month of September. >> The prosecutor's biggest challenge will
be getting a jury to believe George TFA is capable of murder. You're going up against an all-American boy. That's a
tough challenge. >> It is. As a prosecutor, it's highly unusual to have the resume of George TFA
and then him be a murder suspect. >> I think George TFA is someone who had numerous successes in his life.
>> Pam Wickerly, assistant Clark County DA, has scrutinized what she thinks makes
TFA tick and what may have driven him to murder. >> When his marriage is crumbling, I think
that's something that he just can't cope with. the idea that he wouldn't have complete control over his daughter and
Shauna. Ultimately, >> unraveling the complicated tale of George TFA's intertwined relationship
with N. Stevens is [music] left to prosecution witnesses. Big Will Panics remembers exactly what Stevens told him
the day Shauna was killed. >> He said, "I got something to tell you." And I said, "Well, what is it?" He said,
"Uh, I just, uh, murdered a woman." And right then and there, I said, "You've got to be a damn fool."
>> Did you believe everything that Null Stevens Greyhound told you? >> Uh, it depends on the the day.
>> Yet, Pennix admits under defense questioning that trusting what Stevens has to say is a dubious prospect at
best. At a scale of one to 10, I would put him at a scale of maybe one and a half.
>> 10 being very honest and zero being >> one and a half million not honest at all. That's correct.
>> And prosecutors admit that honesty may be the least of null Stevens problems.
>> He's an alcoholic. He's told a tunnel of lies before and oh, and he's a multiple
time felon on top of it. Despite all that, the courtroom falls silent as a very differentl looking null Stevens,
perhaps the most unlikely star prosecution witness in Clark County history, takes the stand.
>> He looks like a maniac. I I literally felt like my heart dropped into my stomach when I saw him walk through that
door. Stevens, who pleaded guilty in 2013 to Shauna's murder, agreed to testify against TFA once prosecutors in a
pre-trial deal promised not to [music] seek the death penalty against him. >> Where did you grow up?
>> I California. >> When you get nervous, do you have sometimes a little trouble speaking?
>> I said, >> "And you guys, are you thinking to each other, are we nuts?" Yes. >> I don't know if we're thinking it to
each other. We're we're saying it to each other. >> How did you meet George? >> But Stevens soon settles in and prodded
by Dejakamo recites details of his relationship with TFA. >> Are you just doing work for him or is
there something? >> What kind of things have you done together? >> We worked out stuff like that. He
recounts breaking into Shauna's townhouse three weeks before her murder and admits he's the one who left behind
those size small boxers. >> Who told you to make it look like a robber? >> George did.
>> And without a hint of remorse, Stevens coldly describes how he killed Shauna with that hammer.
>> I hit her in the head. >> What happens when you come out that door and you're holding that hammer? She
tells me why I'm doing this. >> She says, "Why are you doing this?" >> Yes. >> Who told you to kill Shonah?
>> George. >> He is a a zombie parrot. In that he had a response which was always, "George.
George did it. George told me. George." Itching to cross-examine Stevens, Langford rips right into him, getting
the state star witness to admit he not only hears voices, >> but has visions. >> Cuz I hallucinate.
>> What kind of hallucinations? >> I see uh sh sometimes. >> Sometimes. Yes. >> Do you see other people?
>> Sometimes. >> Do you hear voices? >> Yes. Nol Stevens is the craziest person I've ever seen take the stand. What is
reasonable doubt if not Null Stevens? >> I think the more null talks uh the more
believable he is. It seemed impossible to me that he could have fabricated this notion of a conspiracy with that level
of detail uh unless it really happened. Prosecutors replace some of the most damning evidence. [music] That footage
of George TFA and Null Stevens buying hammers, knives, and other items. >> You have this defendant buying two
hammers in 5 days. >> TFA himself sits calmly through the trial, showing no emotion. He never
takes the stand. >> They have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. and they didn't. So,
there's no reason to put George on the stand. >> The only defense witness, TFA's sister,
Maria. >> In all the years that you've known George, have you ever known him to be a violent
person? >> Never. Ever. Ever. >> I have no further questions. >> Along with TFA's family, friends from
his childhood and West Point days are in court to show their support. I'm here because I'm willing to stand behind and
defend George's character. >> George is not the person that is being depicted by the prosecutor.
>> After a week-long trial, hearing from some 40 witnesses [music] and with 400 exhibits in evidence, 12
jurors will now decide the fate of George TFA. Juror Roy Wright had questions. Were they just buying these
things for null to be a handyman with or were they buying them for a murder? >> My fear is that that the defense is able
to discredit null enough that it causes reasonable doubt. >> So cute. >> Oh, look.
You can clap. Good girl. It has been 3 years since Shauna Tf was found brutally murdered. And today, her
family hopes their long, agonizing wait will end in justice. >> I'm just on pins and needles. You know,
my stomach has been in knots for days, and I don't think I've ever been so nervous.
>> A jury will decide if George TFA was the mastermind behind his wife's murder.
George TFA is the evil one. >> On one side of the courtroom sits Shauna's family. Some are dressed in her
favorite color, pink. On the other side sites supporters. His sister, Bernardet,
takes a moment to pray. >> He's been called a monster. People call him a monster.
It's just ridiculous and shocking. After three long days, finally a verdict. >> The clerk will read the verdict. The
defendant will rise. We the jury in the above title case find the defendant George MTFA as follows. Count one,
conspiracy to commit murder. Guilty >> guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and firstdegree murder. Seven counts in
all. George stands silent with the same emotionless stare. he has had throughout
the entire trial. >> Guilty of robbery with a deadly >> his family is simply devastated.
>> Murder with you. >> In your opinion, was an injustice done here? >> Yes, because I believe that the evidence
showed reasonable doubt. >> Paula, who knew from day one that George was behind her sister's murder, is
humbled. It was almost three years ago that Shauna was brutally murdered and we're so happy that justice was served.
>> Prosecutor Mark Takamo [music] says he never lost sight of his good luck charm. That casino chip that
belonged to Shauna and given to him by her family. >> And for you, what did that chip
represent? >> It represented their hope of justice. You know, it sat on my computer for 3
years and uh when I walked over for the verdict, I put it in my pocket. >> Everyone
deserves mercy. >> At his sentencing, a jury must decide George's fate. Life in prison or life
with the possibility of parole in as soon as 20 years. >> We hope he gets the maximum penalty.
George is a controller, a manipulator, and I think the worst hell for him will be staying in prison the rest of his
life and not being able to control anything. >> Paula takes the stand to remind the
jurors of her loss. >> Shauna's greatest joy in this world was being a mother. I remember her always
running her fingers through Mattiey's ponytail and she would call her little monkey.
>> I would call Maria. George's family and friends also speak, hoping their words
will persuade the jury to show mercy. >> George is one of the best of us. He's hardworking, compassionate. You will not
find a better firefighter on the job than than George. >> I'm George's brother. That's pretty much
who I am. >> How did you feel about that? >> I was proud. >> Clerk will read the decision.
>> The sentence >> impose a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. George TFA will
spend the rest of his life in prison. >> Juror Roy Wright says that while null Stevens is troubled, they never doubted
his story. >> I think the general consensus was he wasn't really smart enough to make up a
elaborate story that would fit the timeline so perfectly. >> And the jury also believed this witness.
>> I said, "Praise the Lord. Justice has been served." Big Will, who jumpst started the
investigation. >> Is Big Will a hero in this case to you? >> He is and he doesn't believe in being an
individual who turns a friend in. Uh but when he heard the story from null, he felt a moral conviction to make the
phone call and for that you know he is a hero. >> With [music] the trial behind them,
Paula and John Richards worry about Shauna's daughter, Maddie, [music] who is now 11 years old. She has lost both
of her parents. Maddie lives with George's mom, but Paula and John visit her often.
>> I'm sure she was hoping her daddy would come home, but when she's old enough,
I'll explain to her why that's not the case and why it shouldn't be the case. >> Oh, fun to ride. Wonderful. [laughter]
>> This is her birthday dress. Sometimes when [music] we're talking about Shauna
with Maddie, I can tell when Maddie is reflecting in her face that she laughed a lot with her mom. I can't explain it,
but I know that Maddie found a lot of laughter, you know, with Shauna. >> You're so pretty. What a pretty girl.
>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> It was a beautiful wedding. We had a wonderful relationship.
I was very in love. Very in love. Very, very in love. [music] Gary had a very big personality.
He was a big gambler and he loved it. When they first met, she claimed that Gary had told her, "I'm worth 10
million, 20 million." It was in the high millions. Gary Triano. He'd been a hugely successful financial developer,
an entrepreneur. He was doing tribal gambling business. >> That money, which he got every month,
was big money. >> The tribe and himself did not agree on certain things. He was basically forced
out of his gambling connection. He was on a downward spiral financially and there were people who were upset with
him. your husband. He owed a casino in Las Vegas, several million dollars, $1.8 million to an ex-wife, $91,000 to an
attorney, hundreds of thousands of dollars to a group of Mexican investors who people said were involved in
criminal activity. >> Probably >> November 1st, 1996 at the La Palama Country Club.
It's a, you know, a luxury resort, spa, and a fantastic golf course. Gary Triano
finishes playing a game of golf. Walks to his car, and there's an explosion. >> There's some kind of an explosion in the
country club parking lot. I don't know. I guess it's a massive fire. >> What kind of bomb are we talking about?
>> We're talking about a pipe bomb. An extremely large pipe [music] bomb compared to what is normally out there.
Was this survivable? [music] No. >> Gary Triano didn't have a chance. >> He was a dead man.
>> I was absolutely hysterical. >> And I'm thinking, "Oh my god, what am I going to do?"
>> But you must have asked, "Who could have killed Gary?" >> I immediately thought, "Who is it that
he hadn't paid?" Before the bombing, Gary was totally in fear going around with a gun. He had life threats. I had
life threats. The children had life threats. We're talking about Mexican mafia people
you don't cross. There was serious serious things going on. >> I saw the list. It was titled to kill
list and it had names and Gary Toronto was at the top. Did Pam ever talk to you about Gary's
business associations with organized crime? >> Never. >> Never. >> Never. >> She was one of your closest friends. No
talk about mob related people. >> Never. >> Threatening phone calls at the house.
>> That's absurd. >> She felt unsafe. She felt her children were under threat. >> No, I don't believe that ever happened.
I think that's just completely made up. Do you believe Pam would have done anything for money?
>> Well, yeah. [music] >> I'm Peter Vans. Tonight on 48 hours, the hit [music] [music]
>> [music] >> It was back in the '90s and Pam Phillips and her husband Gary Triano were living
large here in the posh foothills of Tucson. They were rich. Gary was a Wheeler dealer, creating businesses,
running Indian bingo, playing a lot of golf. And some say Gary was rubbing shoulders with wise guys.
>> He was flamboyant in a way that I wouldn't normally fall for. >> She sold commercial real estate.
>> I was worth I think a million 8 2 million in there. Made totally on my own. They were socialites with connections.
Connections like their celebrity pals Donald and Mara Trump. Mara I love. Mara is like an angel. And Donald I adore as
well. And he is one of the funniest people to be around you can imagine. >> Donald and Mara came and actually they
went to took him to a basketball game together. Laura Chapman was part of the gang, a
friend. >> We love our Wildcats. [cheering] We're big, huge Wildcat fans. >> University of Arizona.
>> Absolutely. And it was in the paper the next day. You know, here's Gary and Pam
walking down the steps with Donald and Mara. >> Gary and Pam married in 1986. They had a
couple of kids and [music] settled into a comfortable life. >> When she and Gary were married, Pam
didn't even work. She lived a very pampered lifestyle and Gary provided that for her.
>> Tell me about going [music] to Vegas with Gary and Pam. >> That was a trip. It was a lot of fun.
He had his own plane. So he would fly us in. >> What kind of plane? >> Just a It was just a a small jet. It was
like a >> just a small jet. >> Just a small jet. >> Lifestyles of the rich and famous.
>> Absolutely. But all that glitters is not well, you know the [music] story. And after seven
years of marriage, things fell apart. Gary was pushed out of the Indian bingo and his personal gambling debts
skyrocketed. In 1993, [music] Pam and Gary separated and eventually divorced. She moved to Aspen. He stayed in Tucson
until that day, November 1st, 1996. >> The bomb was so powerful, it literally sent debris flying 200 yd into the air.
The windshield actually flew over these trees and into the swimming pool area. >> Just 5 days before Gary's 53rd birthday,
>> Gary definitely was a target. >> Gene Rei is a Puma County investigator. Gary suspected he was being followed and
told people he was being followed by an individual that was driving a green jeep-t type SUV.
>> Was that vehicle seen on the day Gary Triano was murdered? >> There's a similar vehicle or the
specific vehicle was seen up at La Paloma Resort. >> That's where the bomb went off.
>> Where the bombing happened. That's correct. >> [music] >> We're on an explosives range in the
remote mountains of New Mexico. Over those hills, about 40 miles from here, is where they detonated the first atomic
bomb. These ATF agents, >> watch your strap. >> They worked the Triano bombing and came
up with some crucial clues. >> This is the exact location where the device was when it detonated and
murdered Gary Triano. Gary Triano had just finished 18 holes with a pal. He walked to [music] his
car. >> When he entered the car, he leaned over and seen this unknown bag that was
sitting here exactly where it's at right now. >> And like anybody, he probably reached
over and grabbed it, right? What's this? >> ATF bomb expert Tony May. >> This is a reconstruction of the device.
>> And special agent Tom Mangan. >> When you look at something this size, you say, "This is overkill."
>> recreated the bomb at our request. I'll get into count. >> Here we go. >> 5 4 3 2 1
>> lead the way. >> Yep. Let's check out the damage. >> Look at the blast pressures, Tony. Yeah.
Look at that. >> This is all pieces from this last blast. >> Correct. >> What we're looking at here.
>> Correct. >> But for you guys, this is all evidence. >> This is all evidence. But from here, we
have to sort out what is car parts and what is bomb parts. >> Right. You know, >> if you see anything from the bomb,
>> this is an endcap from the pipe bomb itself. Look at the frag pattern on this
door. >> Frag pattern being these holes. >> Frag pattern being these holes. Right
now, we're looking at the seat of the explosion and the explosion itself, right? And you see the fragmentation.
>> Was this survivable? >> No. >> It was quick. It was calculated. And it was murder.
>> This is an exterior door panel that's been blown off. >> There are people who look at this
circumstance and say, "This looks like a classic mob hit, >> right, with the bombing. Everybody
looked at that and said, "That's a signature mob hit." >> Detective James Gamber has been on the
case from day one. I was 2 months into homicide. >> And you get one of the biggest cases in
Tucson history. >> We continue to work it for 18 years. >> 18 years of your life.
>> Yes. >> It took so long because it's been an unusually tangled story filled with
endless leads and with curious characters, many with their own theories. Characters like Dr. Lawrence
De Antonio. >> I'm a family physician here in Tucson, Arizona. I've known Gary Trano since I
was a little boy. >> He's also convinced mobsters killed Gary Triano because he says Gary owed them
money and wouldn't pay. >> He's a very flamboyant man and he's also very good-looking, but he's rotten to
the core. He was a con man. He was a thief and he would rob or steal from anybody, including his own family, his
own wife. That's the way he was. >> Dr. De Antonio says Triano associated with known criminals like the infamous
mafia boss Joe Banano who retired in Tucson. Gary Triano's first business was financed by um Joseph Banano.
>> Was Gary Triano living in a dangerous lifestyle? >> Oh, absolutely. Gary carried a gun all
the time. >> And Dr. De Antonio says he has even seen proof that Gary Triano was on a kill
list. There were a lot of names on this list and some names would come and go, but Gary Toronto was always at the top.
>> The minute the doctor heard about the bombing, he was sure who did it. I was absolutely sure that Gary Trano had just
been murdered by Neil McNe. >> You like the old gum shoe. You like to get out, talk one-on-one to people.
>> I'm I'm old style. I blend in. I fit in. I try and make people comfortable. Investigator Gene Rei was trying to help
Pam Phillips finger the man who he believed killed her ex. >> I'll tell you what I think happened. I
think Gary really burned someone really good and somebody was really upset and someone someone was going to kill him.
>> He's got a pretty good idea of who that someone was. >> This man here is the man that
orchestrated this. >> Like Dr. De Antonio Rei thinks the killer is a man named Neil Mcnes.
>> When Neil Mcnes was on drugs, he was a completely psychotic, insane guy. All I
ever met in his world, his entourage, was drug dealers, drug addicts, strippers, prostitutes, and bad guys. He
had a lot of bad guys that worked for him. >> McNiss was a rich kid. He'd inherited
millions from his family's uranium mining fortune. He also owned a piece of an indie race
car team. But Dr. De Antonio, who once was MC's personal physician, [music] says his
patient slipped into an even faster lane. >> He was heavily on drugs and his drugs
were cocaine and heroin. >> And that's when the trouble started. According to De Antonio, the beef
between Mcnes and Gary Triano was over a huge diamond ring, >> a gorgeous uh diamond wedding ring. And
this thing was magnificent. And Gary said pitched it as a quarter of a million dollar ring.
As the doc tells it, Triano needed cash. So he offered up his wife's $250,000 wedding ring to Mcnes as collateral for
a loan. But there was a problem. the diamond was a fake. And when MC realized he'd been scammed, all hell broke loose.
And Neil went absolutely crazy. And he started to tell me, "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him." And he
said, "And when I kill Gary Triano, it will be spectacular. The whole world will know I killed him."
>> Gary Triano owed him a debt. And I believe that's why Gary Triano was killed.
>> Rei says he's got it all figured out. I'm taking you to where I believe the bomb was built. Let's go inside.
This place looks like a movie set. Thousands of parts, heavy machinery. He has everything here that could be used
to build the bomb. We found at least six pieces of the puzzle within this drawer
right here. We found the shotgun shells. We found bearings. The same type of powder that was used in the bomb. We
found the Radio Shack receipts. >> Linked all this together. >> Linked all this together.
>> Rei says the man who built the bomb right here in this shop was a model airplane hobbyist named Jerry Capuano.
>> This is his bomb builder. He built the bomb. >> Rei's theory of the crime is this. The
bad boy millionaire Mcnes put together a whole hit team to go after Gary Triano.
It was a bunch of low lives. This is his bodyguard who orchestrated and got the hit crew together with these two guys.
And these two guys have a past criminal history. They're complete thugs. MC and his bodyguard also had a criminal
history. They were convicted of extortion for threatening another man who owed MC money.
>> This is where Gary came of his death. >> This is This is where Gary came to play
golf. Rei says he has found a witness who saw that hit team right here in the parking lot.
>> Directly next to Gary Triano when the bomb went off, there was an individual in a vehicle who was sitting there
reading a magazine. Now, he was looking in his mirror and he saw an individual back by the bushes. He also saw another
individual straight ahead up on this null directly in front of us that we're pulling around to.
>> And you believe that person was doing what? I believe those two people were involved involved in the bombing.
So to sum up this tangled story so far, millionaire businessman Gary Triano gets
in big trouble with mobsters and they kill him. Case closed, right? Well, not really. That's just the opening scene of
this mystery. Turns out lead detective James Gamber doesn't buy Rei's mob hit theory.
>> They were all looked at and discounted. >> Police didn't believe the whole Diamond
Ring story. They didn't buy the bomb factory or the hit team. And they didn't believe any of the other mob hit
theories either. >> The Mexican group, the financial group, discounted just a bad business deal. We
went and talked to the casinos and they said, "Yeah, we lose money all the time.
We don't go out and kill people for the money." >> But Tucson detective James Gamber had
another lead. In December 1996, just weeks after Gary Triano's murder, his ex-wife Pam Phillips filed a life
insurance claim, a big one. >> There was a $2 million life insurance policy. $2 million. More than enough reason for
Detective Gamber to travel to Aspen where he spoke to Pam face to face. The money would go to Pam as the trustee.
She's the only person when you followed the money that benefited at all. >> There's nothing about me, nothing about
me that would ever harm a person ever, ever. There was no money motive. There was no insurance motive.
>> Gamber questioned Pam. She told him she divorced Gary Triano, escaped from Tucson, and fled to Aspen. All because
she was terrified. >> There was things happening with him that I couldn't understand. He was off the
wall. Off the wall. >> And you moved because >> because our lives were threatened. I
mean, our lives were threatened. Gary feared everything. Gary was totally in fear going around with a gun.
But Pam's friend Laura Chapman has a different take. Why did things go wrong in their marriage? And
>> when things started to go downward and the money was not going to be there anymore and that, you know, the rich and
famous lifestyle was going to be evaporating, I think she saw the writing on the wall and said, you know, I don't
think I want to be in this relationship anymore. Pam tells the story with such conviction that she'd reached a point
that where she had to leave Gary because of the people he was dealing with, the threats to her family, everyone was
scared and she had to move to Aspen to save her children. >> That's absolutely ridiculous. That is
not why she moved to Aspen. >> Why'd she move to Aspen? >> She, you know, she was looking for her
next ATM, her next bank. She was looking for somebody to provide her that lifestyle again.
After her divorce, Pam Phillips old friend Laura Chapman says Pam was in the mood for love in Aspen. Once she got to
Colorado, what was Pam looking for in a man? >> I think she was looking for is made sure
that he had a basically a net worth probably of at least 10 million or more. >> That was the aphrodisiac. That was the
attraction. >> Yeah, absolutely. It didn't really matter what they looked like, just as
long as they had a lot of money. >> Pam, as usual, gravitated to her people, the rich and famous.
She became a successful real estate agent and resumed her life as a socialite. But she had one friend who
didn't seem to fit the mold. His name was Ron Young. >> I met him at a party next door, the
duplex next door to me, very tall. The guy is like a skyscraper. He was a business manager to people that were at
this barbecue and I could use some help with my business. And so that's kind of what what ended up happening. Pam says
Ron helped her with her business interests and she paid him cash. Pam owned an online company called Star
Babies making astrology charts for infants. >> I hand wrote all the different uh
planetary aspects to understand our children and be a better parent. >> What was your relationship with Ron?
>> Just strictly business pretty much. I mean um doing uh business plans. He helped on pretty much everything you
know. He helped a lot. >> But Pam's nanny in Aspen told police that her relationship with Ron Young
soon moved from the office to the bedroom. >> Now, you're here to tell me the truth,
right? >> I'm here to tell you the truth. >> Did your business relationship with Ron
turn into a romantic relationship? >> No. Not really. >> Cuz it's been alleged that you were
lovers. Were you? >> No, we were not lovers. This is like embarrassing. Could we have crashed out
having wine fully clothed, you know, on a couch or on a bed? That might have happened once or twice. You know, we
were not lovers. No. >> In the summer of 1996, Pam suddenly turned on her partner, accusing Ron
Young of fraud using her credit cards. When she called the cops, Ron disappeared.
[music] Several months later, in November of 1996, Gary Triano was blown up in his car.
>> The bomb blew off the roof and killed Triano only days before his 53rd birthday.
>> And in Aspen, a cop who dealt with Pam in the fraud case saw the bombing story
on TV and called Tucson. Detective James Gamber took the call. We get a call from
Detective Crowley with the Aspen Police Department and he says, "Hey, I have a suspect in a fraud case up in Aspen. His
name is Ron Young. This gentleman right here." >> Turns out that Ron Young had a criminal
record. This was a new intriguing lead, a link [music] between Pam and a small time crook.
>> Where it becomes more interesting is when we actually interview Pamela Phillips and we ask her, we say, "Who's
Ron Young?" And she basically minimizes his relationship to her. Oh, he's somebody who did some financial work for
me. She doesn't talk about the fraud. And she is basically shaken by the question. I mean, visibly shaken by the
question. >> It's a bad movie. It's a nightmare. I would never kill Gary, the father of my
children. It's just I can't even stand it. I'm not even going to go there. It's just not
real. Pam may have been shaken and detectives suspicious, but they didn't yet have a
case. What's worse, Ron Young was nowhere to be found. >> For 9 years, the case languished.
>> Uh, another look at the frack pattern on this door. >> Then in 2005, the case heated up. The
bomb expert Tony May and agent Tom Mangan of the ATF were reviewing cold cases. They took another look at the
murder of Gary Triano. Tell me what this bomb tells you about a potential suspect.
>> Well, it it it tells me quite a bit actually from the size of the battery to the fact that a remote control system
was used. This is somebody that was familiar with model uh boats, model airplanes. But they determined the bomb
builder was an amateur. >> You have sloppy solder points. In this case, the solder points were globbed on.
>> How was this 17in pipe bomb detonated? >> Okay. >> Using a remote control firing system.
>> You just buy this at a hobby shop. >> Buy it any hobby shop. And when he sees
Mr. Triano get into the vehicle and get close proximity to the bomb, initiates the device
>> and boom. >> And boom. Looking at the holes in the roof. The experts were now [music] sure
because of the sloppy workmanship, the bomb was probably not the work of a mob hitman. As far as the cops were
concerned, that took the gangster theory of the crime off the table for good. >> Whose handwriting is this? As he studied
the files, Tucson Detective James Gamber became more and more convinced the key to the case would be the relationship
between Pam Phillips and the vanished con man, Ron Young. Then in 2005, a break. Ron Young was
arrested in Florida on fraud and gun charges. When police searched his apartment, they discovered something
amazing. Ron Young was an obsessive recordkeeper. Gamber learned that during the 1990s, Young had received
significant cash payments from a woman in Colorado. >> Usually between 18 and $2,000.
>> The woman sent hundreds of thousands of dollars. Her name Pam Phillips. >> Why did she pay Ron Young $400,000?
>> You tell me. because she was paying him for the murder. >> The murder >> of Gary Triano.
>> Of Gary Triano. >> Yes. >> This has nothing to do with me. My children have to know this has
nothing to do with me. I had nothing to do with the death of their father. Absolutely nothing.
Absolutely nothing. >> But investigators have said you had two million reasons. >> What? What?
>> $2 million in life insurance money. >> I didn't even know that I had that. >> Well, she did money and she wanted to
get Gary out of her life. So, she reaches out to Ron Young and basically if you look at all the evidence
collectively says, "If Gary dies, I get $2 million. If you kill him, I'll give you 400,000."
>> And for you, that's the motive of this crime. >> Correct. Ron Young didn't just keep extensive
financial records. He also recorded dozens of hours of telephone conversations. Listen to this.
>> About enough to live on for about a year. >> Well, could you uh >> That's Ron Young talking to Pam. If I um
ever found out that you compromised me um for your benefit, it um it'd be really unfortunate for you because um
there's just plenty of stuff that um I just literally dig out of the ground and you're a fried duck.
>> Then investigators discovered this startling piece of audio tape. >> Well, I tell you, you're going to be
very serious. When you sit in a women's prison for murder, >> I only know of one murder that Pam
Phillips is associated with. >> Finish your thought. >> That's Gary Triano. So, what murder could they be talking
about? For Detective Gamber, this case was becoming one of sex, lies, and audio tape. But it all came together when an
obscure police report from 1996 turned up. That was the same year Gary Triano was blown up. Back then, a rented van
was found abandoned in Southern California. No one knew it at the time, but that van would contain some
important circumstantial evidence. And guess who rented it? Ron Young. >> They find basically a map of Tucson. As
far as we know, Ron Young has no relationship to Tucson. There were several notes. one that lists out people
that are very close to Gary Triano. We find a receipt for a local hotel. We find where he stayed there for 18 days
under the name of Philip Desmond. Then we find some of the divorce paperwork from Pam and Gary's divorce.
>> With this new evidence that Young was in Tucson prior to the bombing stalking
Triano, Gamber now believed he had a case. And in October 2008, Ron Young was charged with Gary Triano's murder.
Pam Phillips was next in Gamber's sights. By 2008, [music] Pam Phillips had moved to Europe,
Switzerland mostly, to be with her daughter who was a student there. Then there was a revelation.
>> It all came flooding back to me. It was like, "Oh my gosh, she really did do it."
Laura Chapman, [music] Pam's old pal from Tucson, came forward to tell police a story she says she was too frightened
to tell for 15 years. >> Were you scared? >> Yeah, I was scared. Laura says that back in 1993, shortly
after the triano separated, Pam said Gary was acting crazy one night, threatening her and waving a gun.
>> She called me and she called another woman to come over to their home and she
said, you know, I should just hire someone and have them taken out and you know, then I can collect on the
insurance policy. >> And for cops, Laura's story was the last piece of the puzzle.
In October 2008, Pam Phillips and Ron Young were indicted on the same day for conspiracy and murder.
It would take a year before Pam was tracked down in Europe, now in Austria, and arrested. It would be another year
before she was extradited to the US in 2010. >> So, we agree on 1.7. As all this was
happening, Pam's partner, Ron Young, stood trial. >> He denied everything [music] and never
implicated Pam. But in the end, those records and audio tapes did him in. >> We the jury find the defendant, Ronald
Kelly Young, guilty of the offense of first-degree murder. And then back in Arizona
>> in division 27 of the superior court. >> It was Pam Phillips's turn. >> This is your arraignment. Those are your
charges. >> But then a major delay. Pam's lawyers claimed she was mentally unfit to stand
trial. Pam, is it true that you once believed that you had some sort of computer chip or brain implants put in
that was controlling your thoughts and actions? >> Let's just put it this way. I was a
mess. I was a mess. I was a mess. >> Finally, on February 19th, 2014, >> this time we're going to be hearing
opening statements from the attorneys. 17 years after Gary Triano's murder, Tucson's trial of the century began.
>> It is time to hold Pamela Phillips responsible for her crimes. It is time to find
Pamela Phillips guilty. >> The prosecution case was straightforward. [music] Pam was portrayed as a financially
desperate woman willing to kill her husband for that $2 million life insurance policy. The only person who
stood to gain any benefit from Gary Triano's death was Pamela Phillips. >> The prosecution star witness was Laura
Chapman. >> I remember saying, >> who told that damning story of Pam wanting to hire someone to [music] take
out her husband. >> Is Pam looking at you while you are testifying? I don't know, Peter, because
I never ever looked at her. >> Pam was outraged by Laura's story >> that she should just hire a hitman, have
have him taken out. >> No, I know. Those words would not come out of my mouth ever, ever, ever.
And there's one more thing Pam wants people to know >> about Laura Chapman. That she had a
medical condition that affected her memory. >> Poor girl. She had a she had a brain
tumor. Something happened to her medically. That's that is that is so ridiculous. First of all, I didn't have
a brain tumor when she told me this. That happened many years later. It'll be 9 years this month. And it does not
affect my memory one bit. My memory is perfect. The leads that they dropped, the leads
that they dropped. >> Pam's defense was simple. Someone else did it. Who killed Gary Triano?
>> Neil Mcnes. I believe >> Pam's attorney, Paul Eckerstrom, says the angry millionaire had the motive and
the ability. He says that [music] makes a lot more sense than the notion that Ron Young built the bomb. Ron Young
couldn't even fix a flashlight or a screw in a light bulb as far as I can tell. We found out who did this and we've got
strong strong evidence of who did this and it wasn't Pam and it wasn't Ronald Young. It was people that were involved
with organized crime. But the tapes recorded by Ron Young himself haunted the defense.
Well, I tell you, you're going to be very serious when you sit in a women's prison for murder.
>> The problems with this these tapes, they're spliced and diced. We believe they're they were never authenticated by
any expert. The defense argues that if you listen to the entire audio tape, it's obvious that
Ron Young is talking about his own medical problems and [snorts] that if Pam didn't give him money for treatment,
she'd be murdering him. >> I'm the one who's dying. I have a need. You have my principal. I want a little
bit of it so I can proceed. >> Earstrom says the true story behind most of the tapes was extortion.
Ron Young was just trying to get money out of Pam. >> What he had on Pam was the fact that she
had a reputation in Aspen to protect. It was a small town. She was a real estate
agent. She needed her reputation. According to the defense, Pam was afraid that Ron would spread the news that she
was being investigated in the death of her ex-husband. If Pam paid him, Ron would keep his mouth shut. You're
talking about a guy who's an extortionist. This is what he does. >> He's squeezing Pam is what you're
saying. Trying to get money >> with a minor in chemistry. >> Finally, Pam's defense presented what
they were convinced would be a knockout blow. Something discovered among the bomb
fragments. We found DNA on the bomb. DNA. The CSI moment. Would it work? >> Five 4 3 2 1.
>> In the end, the bomb which killed Gary Triano came back to center stage. >> I thought once we had this, we won the
case. The defense claimed they discovered dramatic new DNA evidence. >> This is one of the places we found it
embedded in the wood. We excluded Ronald Young as the bomb maker. >> And if Ron Young didn't do it, then Pam
is innocent. >> So this is a CSI moment as far as you're concerned, right? >> Yeah. And you know, we don't have to
prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Pam's innocent. All we need to do is create a reasonable doubt.
After 8 weeks of trial, >> you have to tell the state, "Don't charge somebody with scant innuendo and
insinuation." >> The defense had bottom line their case. Pam didn't do the crime. Someone else
did. And that man was the drug crazed millionaire who thought Triano cheated him. Neil Mcnes.
>> The defense has a pretty simple theory. Neil Mcn is the killer. What do you say
>> that they don't have any foundation or any solid factual basis to make that allegation?
>> They claim MC had underworld ties. He had a kill list and Gary Triano was on the top of that list.
>> Correct. And do they have that list? No. >> They also didn't have MC. He died back in 2002 [music]
of a drug overdose. And they didn't have the alleged bomb [music] maker, Jerry Capuano, either. He's dead, too.
>> It's rather convenient. Yes, it's always it's always nice to accuse somebody who
can't defend themselves. >> As for star witness Laura Chapman and her story that Pam once talked about
hiring someone to kill Gary, >> that she should just hire a hitman. >> The defense says it never happened.
There's a problem with your story in that the woman that was with you and Pam that day in the bedroom
says she doesn't remember Pam saying this. >> That is not true. That is not true. I think she purged
herself. I think she knows exactly what was said. >> If the state is required to prove that,
>> of course, all of this was left up to the jury. And after 13 hours of deliberation,
the jury spoke >> to find the defendant Pamela Anne Phillips guilty of conspiracy to commit
first-degree murder as alleged incount of the indictment. >> When you heard the words guilty,
guilty of conspiracy, guilty of firstdegree murder, >> it's a complete frame. here. I said, "And I am innocent."
And the people that killed Gary Triano were out walking around. >> All right, let's go on the record and
see our 200. >> One month later, back in court, >> Miss Phillips, would you give us your
full name, please? >> Pam is sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.
>> I just want everybody to know that I am innocent. I am innocent. I am innocent.
I'm not that person that >> you're not that evil, greedy, money rubbing person who would even kill for
my >> I would never harm anybody. >> It's gut-wrenching for me because I don't just think she's innocent. I know
she is. Two juries have heard this evidence and two juries have convicted Ron Young and Pam Phillips.
>> Right. Aren't you the one who's wrong here? >> No. You know why they were convicted?
Juries believe that you're probably guilty these days because the state would never have brought the case
otherwise. That's the way they think. >> Earstrom also blames the media. He says
because of pre-trial publicity and what he calls inaccurate media reports, he thinks the jury probably made up its
mind before trial. >> Pam didn't have a chance going in. We had a thousand suspects. As for
Detective Gamber, the man who spent 18 years trying to crack this case, >> it all came down to the hitman with an
obsessive need to keep records of everything. >> Do you think there would have been a
conviction without those audio tapes? >> No. >> So Ron, the con man, did himself in?
>> He convicted both of them. >> This is a travesty of our whole judicial system. This could happen to anybody.
You feel like you've been railroaded. >> Totally. Totally. I'm innocent. I am very, very, very
innocent. Stepping. Close the door. >> Is it weird to you? The person that you socialized with, hung out with
celebrities, Donald Trump, the travel, the fun, the parties, the balls, the fancy dress, the lifestyle, is now a
convicted murderer. >> Yeah. It's hard to believe that somebody could stoop so low.
>> In the end, Pam Phillips will sit alone in a cell. Her grown children didn't even come to
her trial. There will be no more ski trips with the Trumps or golf getaways or Vegas weekends. There is just the
prospect of life in prison alone with her belief that the system is rigged and that she is the innocent victim.
>> [music] [music] [music] >> My parents had a very loving relationship. They were a team. They
were always there for us whenever. They always supported us. >> I thought it was great. because I love
you too much. >> She was uh very outgoing and and very bubbly. I loved Kathy. >> Merry Christmas.
>> If you could describe Kathy in one word, it would be fun. She had this musical
laugh. Really enjoyed life. >> There's Mark. >> Mark Wangler is an anesthesiologist and
by all accounts an excellent doctor. >> On your way back, could you bring some of those donuts? You know,
>> Mark's sweet. He's considerate. He's smart. He's funny. >> Thank you. Thank you very much.
>> He's a very spiritual man. [music and singing] >> Mark Wanganger is a religious man. I'm
Greg Suinsky. I'm the crime reporter at the Lyman News. I've been here for 16 years.
On September 4th, 2006, there was a strange incident at the Wangler home on Yorkshire Drive.
My dad said that he woke up in the middle of the night. >> I remember having to go around and and
and figure out, [music] you know, is there a fire in the house? You know, what alarm is going off. I figure out
that it's the the carbon monoxide detector. And I then go up to uh to check on Kathy.
>> So, he ran upstairs to check on my mom and she wasn't responding. So, then he
started giving her CPR and called 911. >> People do die by accident. So, it seemed
like one of those things that we initially were going to write about and probably never write about again.
>> It's like one of these [music] freak accidents that you hear from people of other people's families that this
happened to and you never think it'll happen to yours. >> Nobody lists as a suspect. There really
didn't seem like a reason to list anybody as [music] a suspect. >> Carbon monoxide is a colorless,
odorless, and tasteless [music] gas. There were several things that were red flags, suspicious [music] in nature.
>> 3 years later, you start hearing some whispers behind the scenes. You heard that they were in the house removing
duck work. They were continuing to check into different angles. You think, what's
happening here? Why are they doing all this investigation? Is this a murder case? Now,
>> I had formulated a theory that carbon monoxide had been forced through the duck work at a very high rate of speed
over a short duration of time up the duck work and into the room that Kathy was in. [music]
>> There's a lot of mystery and intrigue surrounding this case. >> We felt we had enough evidence to make
an arrest. This was a murder. This whole case hinges on the theory that gas filled the garage, came down
here to the basement, was sucked into this furnace, went up two floors, and killed someone. That's ridiculous.
House of Secrets. [music] As police continue to investigate, the strange strange death of Kathy Wangler
in her home. >> At first, it was just lonely and uh and and devastating. >> Her husband, Dr. Mark Wangler, found
comfort in his church. He also found comfort in an [music] old friend, Esther Urkman. [singing]
>> The the thing is with Esther and I was we had known each other for a long period of time, not romantically, you
know, had just known each other. In fact, Esther and her husband had been friends with Mark and Kathy for years.
>> Yeah, I saw them many times. They would go out with us with my husband and I um
on many occasions. [music] >> Esther, a psychologist with a PhD, had great respect for Mark, [music] a top
anesthesiologist in Lima, Ohio. >> He's a good doctor. [music] He's a requested doctor. He practiced for, you
know, 29, 30 years with, you know, never losing a patient, never being sued for malpractice.
>> They were brought together by an odd twist of fate. Esther had lost her spouse as well when he underwent a
gender change operation and began living life as a woman. >> Some of my friends tell me that I should
write a book, but then I challenged them and I asked them, would it wind up in the autobiography or the fiction section
because nobody would believe it. The couple began seeing each other and soon fell in love.
>> As people sail through life, you know, u in a sense, he's the anchor that I need
and I'm the wind in his sails. >> But Mark was still haunted by what he has always said was a bizarre accident
when Kathy was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning that Labor Day weekend in 2006.
It happened to be a Sunday, so Kathy and I got up and uh went to church [music] uh together.
>> On that night, the two were sleeping in separate bedrooms. >> I would go to bed earlier because I had
to get up earlier. Kathy was very much a night owl. >> Mark was sleeping on the [music] first
floor here in the master bedroom. >> The the next thing that I remember is uh waking up uh or being woken up by an
alarm. We had the carbon dioxide alarm uh down in the in the basement. >> A piercing sound.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. >> Mark says his natural gas water heater had malfunctioned, [music]
sending poisonous carbon monoxide into the duct work of the house. Cathy was sleeping here on the second floor. And
horribly, with this door closed, this room became a gas chamber. Mark says he began staggering around,
feeling strangely woozy and disoriented. The classic signs of carbon monoxide poisoning.
>> I was nauseated. I I I remember vomiting somewhere along the line as I was going
through the house. And I then go up to uh to check on Kathy. She was sleeping on a uh one
[music] of those inflatable uh mattresses. >> Was she breathing? >> Um I guess she was at that point. I I I
couldn't I couldn't wake her up. >> Mark quickly calls 911. >> My carbon monoxide detector's gone off
and and my wife's having a seizure. I'm I'm going to start in all the windows and stuff. Please get here quickly.
>> I did do uh CPR on her. 2 4 5 1 2 He's not coming around. >> Okay, just Yes, they're on their way.
Just go ahead and continue CPR. >> The paramedics rushed in. But just 38 minutes later, Kathy was pronounced dead
at the hospital. Their youngest son, Aaron, away at college, received a call with the tragic news. I just cried the
whole time. It was very like I can't believe this is [music] real, you know, like you just
can't believe that your mom's gone or like even one of your parents and [music] especially I was 21 at the time.
You don't expect to lose a parent at so young. >> Aaron [music] and his older brother
Nathan rushed to Lima to be with the family. >> Just devastating. My uh just sobbed on
[music] each other's shoulders. We just honed and boned. >> The only reason he survived, [music]
Mark says, is blind luck. He says Kathy caused the toilet in the master bathroom
to overflow. Mark had [music] opened a window and turned on a fan to air the room out.
Mark was questioned by police, but not charged. With Esther by his side, he slowly moved
on with his life and returned to work. >> You know, just having somebody who's a,
you know, an anchor, a point of sanity in my life was was such a blessing. And 14 months after Kathy's death, they were
married. >> I take it you [music] love this man. >> I do. I love him very much. >> They settled into a life focused on each
other and their church. traveling to Zambia on aid missions. >> We've been providing means to have uh
water wells drilled in that country uh which just has a huge impact. >> But back in Lima, the newlyweds lived
under a cloud of suspicion. You've you've talked about insinuation and you know there's sort of a whisper campaign
out there that absolutely suggests you and Mark were having an affair prior to Kathy's death. Is that true?
>> No. He didn't even hold my hand, Peter, until after my divorce was final. That's the kind of man he is.
While Mark believed the investigation was over, Allen [music] County prosecutor Jurgen Waldick never closed
the case. Always troubled by Mark's story. >> On the very night that your wife is
killed by carbon monoxide, you happen to be sleeping in a bedroom with the window
open and a fan going. >> Okay. Is she still conscious? I mean, is she breathing?
>> No, I think she's breathing. >> And Waldick was bothered by Dr. Wangler's behavior on the 911 call.
>> At the assistance of the 911 operator only, he goes back and checks to see whether she has a pulse or whether or
not she's breathing. >> Sir, I need you to check for me. >> No, she's not breathing.
>> Okay. Does she have a heartbeat? >> No, she doesn't have >> If things look so fishy, why wasn't Dr.
Wangler charged with the crime? >> We continued the investigation. Uh, we had our suspicions. Is there a part of
you that wonders? Could he have done this? >> Never. Never. That's never even crossed
my mind. >> You've never doubted your father? >> Never once. >> Did you murder your wife, Kathy?
>> Absolutely not. >> Kill her with carbon monoxide? >> No. >> Are you living with a killer?
>> No. >> You know, I I if I was living with the evil genius, I think I might be one of
the first to know. >> In fact, you have a PhD in psychology. [music] >> Yes, I do.
>> And as part of that, you can read people pretty well, I take. I'd like to think
so. >> But Cathy's family is convinced Mark has everybody fooled that the man trained to
put people to sleep had come up with a textbook murder. >> Kathy Wagner is dead today because of
money. >> You're sure of that? >> I know it. Before her bizarre and tragic death by carbon
monoxide poisoning, Kathy Wangler touched many lives, says her friend Sher Miller.
>> She looked right into your heart, and if you were a good person, she was going to
pull you right into hers, and she was going to love you with everything she had.
>> Friend Heidi Frederick. There are people [music] in this world that just naturally glow with life and Kathy was
one of those people. >> Kathy was the oldest of five siblings in a tight-knit [music] Ohio family. Her
sister Joanne, >> she was always looking out for everybody and she was a good sister. Everybody was
really close. >> Kathy married Mark Wangler [music] when they were both in their 20s and she
worked to help put him through medical school. Each summer as a volunteer at the Allen
County Fair, Kathy raised thousands of dollars for the local school district. In her 30s, she went back to school here
at Ohio State University [music] to get a degree in business. Rodney Null was one of her professors.
>> She she honestly wanted to learn, grow, and do more things with her life. >> But most of all, Kathy was a dedicated
mother, >> a very loving person. always there for my brother and I through thick and thin.
Always pushed us to excel, support us non-stop, supported my father. >> Her husband Mark says they were
opposites. >> She was uh very outgoing. I I tend to be much more introverted. A lot of people
say I'm I'm I'm awkward around other people and uh and and and that's a fair assessment. I I I am rather awkward.
>> The early years with the children were happy ones enjoying holidays. a bright
box >> and traveling the world >> and here's Gabby. >> But the couple drifted apart after their
sons went to college. >> She would come home from Walmart and pop a bag down and I'd say, "Oh, what'd you
get at Walmart?" And she would say like, "Why do you need to know?" And I'm like,
"Well, I guess I didn't need to know." I said, "I was just curious." So, little things like that. But, did the two of
you talk about separation? No, we never did ever talk about divorce. >> No, no, we didn't.
>> But by 2006, they were sleeping in separate bedrooms. >> Kathy had um gained quite a bit of
weight and uh as she gained a lot of weight, [music] she snored violently. >> Mark was also upset by her lack of
attention to housekeeping and the amount of money she was charging on credit cards. Tens of thousands of dollars
worth of jewelry. uh I came to find that there was about another $60,000 worth of credit card
debt uh that I had not been aware of. >> He also discovered she had opened a secret bank account with $16,000
from their joint account. >> The fact that Kathy had set up a separate bank account, isn't that an
indication? Isn't that evidence that she [music] was heading into a new and separate life away from you with her own
finances? Um, yeah, it was. And, uh, and we were in counseling at the time. >> Would you say that the two of you were
falling out of love? >> No, I wouldn't say falling out of love. Um, at least um, you know, I I didn't
consider that. Um Um, you know, I I I loved Kathy. >> But Cathy's family became [music]
concerned after Joanne witnessed a disturbing incident between them. >> They were literally having a wrestling
match over [music] a checkbook. When I turned around, they kind of stopped and he said to Kathy, "This is no way to run
a marriage." >> Did it upset you when you saw it? >> Yes. I was physically shaking. I don't
know what made me say it, but I looked at Kathy and I said, "Is it safe to leave you here?" And she said, "Yes,
I'll be fine." >> Soon after the marriage hit rock bottom. >> She kind of got emotional and broke down
and told me, you know, things were bad. She said, "If I could imagine everything
awful that could have been done to her other than being beaten or raped, Mark had done it to her." And she said when
the time was right, she would sit down and explain everything to me. But we never got that time.
>> But Mark tried to blame Kathy, making a stunning comment to her mother Sarah, a
year before Kathy's death. >> He said, "First place," he says, "I want to tell you one thing. Your daughter is
a monster." I said, "Oh, really?" I said, "In what way is she a monster?" "Well, she doesn't do what I tell her to
do." I said, "That's a monster." >> Kathy's mother suggested a divorce. >> Oh, he said, "I can't get a divorce."
Then he quoted a couple doctors that had gotten divorces and how much it cost them.
>> But Kathy told her sister Joanne she was reluctant to get a divorce, too. And
>> I said, "Why can't you?" And she said, "He will cut off the boys." And I said,
"Well, what's wrong with that? They're in their 20s, you know, they're out of the house." and she goes, "I can't
leave. He'll cut the money off to the boys." >> With tensions escalating in the summer
of 2006, Kathy told various friends about her fears. >> She had told me that um her husband was out to destroy her
financially, emotionally, psychologically, in the community, at her church. Um that he was in the
process of working to destroy her. Rodney Null remembers his last conversation with Kathy.
>> I say to her, said, "Well, take care of yourself." The usual getting ready to say bye kind of
comment. And she says, "Oh, I will. You have to when somebody's trying to destroy you." And she says, and I mean
that literally. And 3 days later, she's dead. I got to tell you that that that leaves
a feeling in the pit of your stomach, your gut, that something sinister, something
evil's happened. >> It was almost like a Sherlock Holmes [music] kind of a mystery because we we
don't have that smoking gun. [music] By early 2007, four months had passed since Kathy Wangler died from an
apparent accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Somehow, while sleeping in the same
house, Dr. Mark Wangler had escaped death. >> Did you ever for a day believe this was
an accident? >> No. Kathy's mother, Sarah, and her family were convinced Mark was getting
away with murder. >> I know we all felt Mark did it. >> The police investigation seemed to be
going nowhere. So Sarah and her daughters launched their own plan. >> It was my strategy.
>> They stayed close to Mark, pretending they believed his story. >> That's what we wanted them to think.
>> Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. >> That was the philosophy.
All the while writing down his actions after Kathy died, hoping to build a case against him.
>> The fake crying, getting rid of all her stuff right away. He kept giving different stories about how she died.
>> He didn't want to be buried beside her. And he didn't care where we buried her.
>> In the limo on the way to the grave site in Salena. Mark was kind of short with
my mom. He told a joke about how people were dying to get in the cemetery. Convinced Mark was responsible, Sarah
called the Allen County Sheriff's Department with an ultimatum. >> I said, "You people have never returned
our phone calls. We have now decided that we're going to the media." >> Soon after, the sheriff's department
assigned veteran investigator Clyde Bridean to the case. >> The family had some doubts, but the
family wanted answers. >> And Brideigan had questions. >> What did kill her? They were looking for
the answer. Was it the hot water tanks? Was it something inside that home? And I
conducted like 80 or 85 interviews with different people. >> Brideigan quickly learned from Kathy's
family that the Wangler marriage had become a disaster. >> Mark and Kathy treated each other
equally evil and that they would do things to each other just to get under each other's skin.
And Mark's story of a faulty water heater that emitted carbon monoxide wasn't quite adding up. Brideigan
interviewed gas company workers who had been at the Wangler house after Cathy's death.
>> And they examined and tested the water heater, the furnace, the vent-free fireplace.
They could not find anything malfunctioning on the morning of the 4th. And Mark's behavior, his lack of
anger struck Brideigan as odd. >> From my point of view, if my wife had died in our home and there was any
suspicion from an appliance, I would be yelling and screaming, "Okay, who installed this and what did you do
wrong?" None of that ever took place. >> And there was that seemingly strange coincidence.
an anesthesiologist whose wife dies from being gassed. >> As an anesthesiologist, you know about
carbon monoxide. >> Not really. Carbon monoxide isn't something that comes into play as as an
anesthesiologist. >> But Brideigan learned from one of Mark's medical partners that simply wasn't
true. >> He had told me Dr. Wangler was a master with gases and that he had been trained
in the old style anesthesiologist techniques and knew all about gases, knew all about carbon monoxide.
But where exactly would the carbon monoxide have come from? Right in Dr. Wangler's own garage, Brideigan figured,
[music] which held two cars and a generator with a camper in the driveway. I had formulated a theory, a mobile
source of carbon monoxide. One of the cars, the generator, whatever, had introduced carbon monoxide into the
home. >> Police performed tests on the camper >> and either by use, and and I can't prove
or disprove this, by use of of a hose, introduced the carbon monoxide into the furnace with the furnace motor running.
The poisonous gas traveled through the duct work of the house into Cathy's bedroom two floors above,
killing her. Crazy. Wrong speculation. >> Mark's defense attorney, Chris McDow, says the hose theory is nonsense.
>> The hoses that were in this house were the hoses that are in anyone's home. A
garden hose. Tests were performed on the garden hose and there's no residue of any of this on this hose. The hose
theory is totally debunked. >> In fact, McDow says any theory involving gas from a motor is impossible because
that hot gas would have had to travel downward from the first floor garage into the basement.
>> According to the prosecution, the gas then goes down these steps and into the basement. It defies the
laws of gravity, the laws of what gas does. Well, according to them, it goes into the furnace area here, and then he
somehow unscrews all of these screws. It's absolutely bogus. It's science fiction.
>> But Brideigan acted on his theory. The [music] detective got a search warrant
and removed sections of the duct work from the Wangler home. He had it tested at a lab for the presence of microscopic
exhaust residue. Their conclusions were that something had been introduced into the duck work
at a very high rate of speed over a short duration of time, >> which is crazy because had that really
occurred, they would have found him dead right here. What really happened, McDow says, was a
tragic accident caused by a defective vent connected to the water heater. And gas from this water heater that
ordinarily would go outside is now trapped inside the home and it eventually makes its way up to the
bedroom where Mrs. Wangler is sleeping. >> But police don't buy that. And three years after Cathy's death, they finally
arrest Mark Wangler and charge him with murder. >> Just in a nutshell, horrible. I just had
a very sick feeling and and you just feel all of that energy, you know, drain out of
you. >> You've gone from being a valued member of this community to in some people's
eyes an evil genius who killed his wife. Yeah, I guess that would be a correct assessment of the situation.
>> While awaiting [music] trial, Dr. Wangler takes comfort in his religion and Cathy's loved ones hope that
judgment day is near. >> If he's killed his wife, he's going to hell along with Satan.
From the bottom of our hearts, we want to say thanks. We prayed for a good jury and my lawyers
tell me that they couldn't be more pleased. 4 and a half years after Kathy Wangler's
poisoned, lifeless body was discovered in her home, her husband goes on trial for her murder.
>> Did you hook up a hose? >> No, I didn't. >> To your motor home? >> Absolutely not.
>> And gas your wife that night? >> Absolutely not. >> He needs to be found guilty for
everybody's sake. Kathy's family arrives at the courthouse ready to absorb every
detail. Go >> ahead, ladies. >> The defendant was deeply obsessed with religion.
>> In her opening [music] statement, assistant prosecutor Jenna Emer cuts to the heart of Mark Wangler's motive.
>> And a divorce would cause him to lose his [music] standing and reputation in the church. And of course, a divorce
after nearly 30 years of marriage would cost him a small fortune. >> Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Dr.
Mark Wangler is innocent. >> In his opening, Wangler's attorney, Chris McDow, makes his strategy clear.
>> This case has been brought as a result of a poor police investigation. >> The prosecution begins.
>> 911, what is your emergency? As jurors watch Mark listening to himself on that
911 call. >> Is she breathing? >> No, I think she's not breathing. >> Does she have a heartbeat?
>> No, she doesn't have >> the courtroom is riveted. >> Did you open up her airway?
>> Yes, I did. Anesthesiologist. I >> Well, first of all, he's an anesthesiologist. lead prosecutor Jurgen
Waldick >> and he shouldn't need prompting from a 911 operator to check to see whether his
wife is breathing, to see whether she has a heartbeat. >> You know, are you aware that carbon
monoxide can affect different people in different ways. >> But McDow says any odd behavior is
because [music] Wangler himself was overcome by carbon monoxide. >> Because your brain is starved of oxygen,
you become very confused. You become disoriented. >> He appeared to have no trouble walking,
no trouble talking to you, no trouble relaying information to you. >> But the prosecution argues that Mark's
efforts to give Kathy CPR were all an act anyway. >> Come on, Kathy. Come on. >> Because Kathy was most likely dead.
>> 1 2 3 >> before he dialed 911. >> She's not coming around. An emergency room doctor [music]
testifies Cathy's body was already cold. >> What I can say is that it seemed to me
from my experience of 22 years that she'd been dead for much longer. [music] >> The prosecution then introduces photos
taken shortly after Cathy's death showing soot marks above the vent in her room. They say [music] it's telltale
evidence that engine exhaust was used to kill her. They believe Dr. Wangler closed all the
vents in the house except the one in her room. >> People will testify that those stains
had been on the walls for years before. >> Those marks were actually there before I
moved for college. >> Aaron Wangler tells jurors he should know because that used to be his room.
So that was back in '04. I never really cleaned my room that much at all to be honest.
>> And older brother Nathan Wangler testifies the soot marks are just residue from burning candles.
>> If we enjoyed candles, we burned a lot of candles. Throughout the entire house,
there's actually discoloration on the walls, on the ceiling. >> Investigators were never able to test
those soot stains. Mark had painted the wall in the months after Cathy's death. Yet, it's not soot marks, but secrets
that prosecutors hope will sway the jury. >> These journals written by Dr. Mark Wangler. Evidence Brideigan uncovered
during a search of the Wangler home after a tip from Kathy's mom. >> Then I said to him when they got search
for it, I said, "Did you find the journals?" And he said, "What journals?" I said, "There's journals." Because
Kathy [music] always told me about when every morning he'd get up and write something in his journal.
>> The entries are damning. >> Lord, Satan has found a weak area to attack me. My marriage and family.
>> For the first time, Mark Wangler's most private secret feelings about his wife
and marriage are publicly revealed as Brideigan reads them in court. >> Five things I have asked Kathy to
improve, but has not. Number one, keep the house, cook, clean, make bed. Two, lose weight. She has gained around 80
pounds in the past 20 years. >> The entries >> are extremely personal. >> I feel judged and rejected by Kathy.
Kathy thinks I am boring in bed. Kathy doesn't really listen to me. I do not trust Kathy. I feel picked on and
put down. I just went home after reading them every night depressed. I felt sorry for [music] the guy.
>> But Mark Wangler says the marriage counselor had told him to write down his feelings and [music]
to be brutally honest. >> We were in counseling. I was trying to reconnect. I I I loved Kathy.
>> As time goes on, the entries get increasingly desperate. Sometimes I feel rage. I feel trapped with no escape. I
pray that I can endure life. Please [music] cast Satan and his demons attacking me out from my life for a
time. >> I think he thought [music] Kathy was evil and that was Satan was working
through her. His mind was twisted to the point that he thought that's what God wanted him to do to rid the world of the
evil one. I see that I am sensitive and that I tend to keep anger inside until I
explode. >> Dr. Wangler even wrote about taking his own life in a way that startled
investigators. >> Thoughts of suicide are a little strong again. Satan is attacking in new way
this time using car exhaust. And then on September 1st, >> 3 days before Kathy's death,
>> an ominous plea to God, >> "Dear Lord, I place our marriage on your altar. Please act in a powerful way."
>> Then in November, 2 months after her burial, Mark writes, >> "And I prayed for God to act in a
powerful way that night. Little did I know that three nights later, our marriage would be changed forever.
>> He used God to justify his actions. >> I was thinking he was thanking God she
was dead. >> The diaries are powerful circumstantial evidence, but are they enough to convict
the doctor of murder? Prosecutor Waldick still has one big hole in his case. He hasn't explained to
the jury exactly how the carbon monoxide got into the duct work or what engine was used. But as we talk right now, you
can't say definitively what the source of that carbon monoxide was, right? >> No. [clears throat]
>> No. >> And that doesn't trouble you? >> No. >> And Chris McDow is counting on those
missing facts to set Mark Wangler free. >> There is not a single theory the government has come up with that makes
any [music] sense. whatsoever. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears, the Lord's ears
are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
>> James 5:16 says, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another." >> As Dr. Mark Wangler's freedom hangs in
the balance. >> This may be my last Wednesday night prayer meeting. >> Yeah. >> He and his wife Esther find strength in
their faith. >> If the Lord calls me to serve him in prison, uh you know, as an inmate, um
that's what it's going to have to be. >> We just pray for your guidance, strength,
>> and we just have to be prepared for whatever happens and to accept whatever happens.
This is the the day of days for you. Do you have some optimism? >> Yeah. The way the evidence is is just
absolutely overwhelming. So, yeah, I've got a great deal of optimism. >> The problem with lying is that it's the
little details that catch [music] up to you. >> Final arguments begin with prosecutor
Janet Emer zeroing in on Mark's suspicious behavior. The morning Kathy died, >> the defendant started to head into his
own house because he wanted to take a shower. Now, if you really thought that a faulty hot water heater had just
killed someone in that potentially unsafe home, the last thing you're going to do is go in there and take a shower.
>> 911, what is your emergency? >> Emmerich dissects Mark's 911 call, saying it too points to his guilt. Is
she breathing? >> No, I think she's not breathing. >> Consider the defendant's tone of voice
and demeanor. Does it sound a little staged, a little phony to you? Red flag. >> But defense attorney Mcdow has a
different take on that 911 call. >> When you listen to the tape, you can hear the panic in his voice.
>> Okay. Does she have a heartbeat? >> No, she doesn't. and he insists the prosecution never
offered a clear explanation of how Dr. Wangler might have murdered his wife with carbon monoxide.
>> It's their theory it came from an internal combustion engine. If that's the case, there would be the strong
smell associated with that gas. The gas and the vehicle exhaust fumes are intertwined. If you have one, you have
the other. The lack of the exhaust smell is strong evidence of accident. >> He thought he had a perfect crime.
>> As the case goes to the jury, Kathy's mother and siblings [music] wait and pray for a verdict of guilty.
>> We're going to put it in the hands of God. [music] There will be justice with
Kathy's death. >> What is this weight like for you? >> Terrible. No words can describe it.
>> But Kathy's son, Aaron, is praying for [music] an acquitt. >> What if the verdict goes against your
father? >> I'll be devastated. I mean, I've already lost one parent and to lose another
would be it'd be a lot. What was that? >> That's my home phone. Excuse me. >> On the second day of deliberations, the
call comes in. >> Okay, we'll be right there, Bill. >> Uh, that was Bill and they have a
verdict. >> What are you thinking? >> Just praying that, uh, you know, for an acquid. That's all I can say. Peter,
>> would you give the verdict forms to [music] the baiff, please? Kathy's mother and siblings gather on one side
of the courtroom, her two sons on the other. >> We the jury being duly impanled and
sworn find the defendant Mark A. Wangler guilty of aggravated murder. >> Guilty of murder.
>> Tears of relief and tears of sorrow. Mark Wangler appears stunned. Then, Judge Richard Warren has some
scathing words as he sentences him to life in prison. >> You violated the Ten Commandments, "Thou
shalt not kill." You also violated the hypocratic oath as a doctor, which is the first thing, you shall do no harm.
This courtroom drama isn't over. Kathy's mother is about to have the last word. >> We know you have always been a very
selfish person who really did not care about our beautiful daughter only yourself.
>> It's a moment Sarah Schlurman has been waiting for for almost 5 years. >> Mark you senselessly robbed Kathy of her
many most precious moments, her two sons, Nathan and Aaron. She worshiped them. did everything in the world for
them. >> Then the man once revered for saving lives is led away to prison for taking
one. vows to keep fighting to free her husband. >> He's innocent of abuse charges. He'll be
out on appeal. >> We will stop at nothing to get him on. This is a cruel, cruel, biased investigation.
>> But it's clear this fight has taken its toll as she retreats to her home comforted by her son.
>> [sighs] >> It's just going to be shock for a long time just figuring out what to do day by
day. >> For now, the case is closed. But for Detective Clyde Bridean, [music] there is no celebrating.
>> Thank you, sweetheart. >> Only thoughts of a family destroyed. >> Mommy, I love you.
>> Thank you guys. >> Thank you guys. >> I feel sorry uh for everybody involved in this. Kathy's gone. Her family
[music] lost Kathy. >> The two boys, Aaron and Nathan, lost their mother. [laughter] Nobody won in
this case. Nobody won. It's just sad. >> She loved life. [laughter] >> Was always happy. Loved family.
I miss that laugh. [snorts] Hey, hey, hey. [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music]

“48 Hours” cases about marriages that ended in deadly scenes. Watch the YouTube mini-marathon, which includes "Vengeance in Vegas," "The Hit" and "House of Secrets."

00:00 Vengeance in Vegas 42:07 The Hit 01:24:37 House of Secrets

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

Shauna TFA was murdered by Nol Stevens, hired by her husband George TFA, who was later convicted of her murder.

Key points

Shauna's Vibrant Life. Shauna TFA was a beloved cocktail waitress and devoted mother, known for her laughter and kindness.
A Tragic Turn. In a shocking twist, Shauna was brutally murdered in her own home, leaving her family devastated.
George's Arrest. George is arrested for the murder of his wife, Shauna, with a chilling response.
Trial Verdict. After a lengthy trial, George TFA is found guilty of conspiracy and murder.
The Mob Hit Theory. Detectives suspect a mob connection in Gary Triano's murder, but evidence suggests otherwise.
Pam's Life Insurance Claim. Pam Phillips filed a $2 million life insurance claim shortly after Gary's murder, raising suspicions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

She wanted the fairy tale and the fairy tale was falling apart.

8:32WatchJul 25, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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