Crimes of Passion | “48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] so right here in this general area is where the caretaker was living at when he went for a walk up this
little Offroad when he found her [Music] initially now it wasn't even if was real
at first I thought it might be some kind of a prank you know actually I did reach down and touch
her hand that feels like flesh and bone to me when we found Anna rina's body we were able to see that her feet were
probably down in about this location and her head was pointed back towards the forest here
one of the first things we noticed when we made it our way to this Landing is there's pieces of trash and there was
garbage one of the biggest pieces of evidence that we found in this case was a KFC
[Music] bag along the edge of that clear bag there was a receipt that had the date of
the 14th so April 14th which is only a few days [Music] prior who was Anna rupina Anna was 27
years old and she came from a good strong family in Russia she wanted somebody to love her
wanted to have kids and so that's why she went on to the dating websites she happened to find will
Hargrove he's always trying to make people laugh making sure that everybody else is happy trying to push them to
become the better person that they can be he was complimentary to her uh he sent her flowers from the United States
to Russia he paid attention to her with everything that he had explained to me everything he had told me Anna was the
love of his life the sense that you got from Anna repina was that she was in love this wasn't coming to the United
States as some male order bride how does Michelle Chavez fit into this case well Michelle shavez is the
other woman she is that third part of the triangle he made me feel special he has a Charisma about him it's
like everything he's saying he truly believes and you believe it he makes you believe it especially if you're in love
and you want to believe it yeah and you were in love I was and it was always I choose you it
was how much pressure was he getting from Michelle to end it with Anna I know for a fact that Michelle didn't want
Anna even over here in the states he was basically given the ultimatum of one or
the other and 2 days later on it was found dead [Music] [Music] [Music] this is outside of corval quite a ways
out in the alc area and up a remote Logging [Music] [Applause] Road Ryan Joselyn and Amy matuso both
Deputy District attorneys in Benton County Oregon received an urgent call that a body had been found on April 17th
2017 he and I were both on scene to take a look for ourselves it's so important in a prosecutor's role that you
understand the scene not just from photos but having been there not too many people are going to
be up in that area but frankly the fact that the body was discovered as quickly as it was uh was pretty
extraordinary lead detective Lieutenant Chris duffett says a local caretaker happened to be out walking his dog that
day when he came across the body the caller was walking on this road on a day and a time and a place that he really
should have never been so we were very very lucky to find her body if it would have been any more time we might have
never found her the victim was identified as 27-year-old Moscow native Anna repkina she had been
shot she was smart intelligent she had an office job working for Ikea she loved cats she loved to travel
Anna had a lot going for her a lot of people liked her so how did a Russian woman who had a seemingly happy life
meet her end on a remote Logging Road nearly 5500 miles from home she had broken up with her boyfriend of
seven years and was really looking for that connection a year earlier newly single Anna started looking for love
online and joined a Russian social networking site she found what she was looking for halfway across the world
when she met 26-year-old Oregonian William Hargrove then they started really chatting they chatted a lot over
Facebook then uh they started video conferencing and that was happening on an almost daily
basis Anna and will found that they had a lot in common they really bonded over music she
very much loved music she liked to go to rock concerts they would have discussions about bands she had a good
sense of humor she would constantly send funny memes and she connected with her friends and her family that
way will and Anna exchanged thousands of messages imagining their future together
if Anna came to Oregon he definitely had the Gift of Gab The Gift of Gab he could talk a good
game he could he could talk a very good game Will's friend and former roommate Jamie clz he and I had things in common
cars he works on cars I work on cars I'm more Harry Potter he's more The Avengers
kind of genre but we could nerd out on things like that he actually took me to see my first Avengers movie he was a
likable guy a jokester he just liked to laugh and have fun I enjoyed being around him will worked as a mechanic at
a local auto dealership in his free time he'd meet up with friends like Joseph Thompson at the peacock Bar and Grill we
would play pool over there on Sunday nights and just basically ended up hanging out
doing karaoke I don't know how many times me and him would be sitting there playing pool and he'd just have women
walk up from the bar just sit there talk to him he was very charismatic he had the personality the presence was he a
player no not necessarily will was such a good friend that Joseph called him his
brother we were both in the military a lot of the training and stuff we had went through was similar and it helped
pull us together what branch of the service were you in Army and will I believe he was Marines he said that he
used to be stationed in Russia will seemed to have an affinity for all things Russian and his online
relationship with Anna took off Anna decided to fly to the states to spend the holidays with Will in Oregon
and see if their virtual love would feel the same in reality December of 2016 she
traveled here and spent a couple weeks with um William Hargrove but the road to romance had an unexpected
detour there was a problem when she first came out in December to see Mr harrove she mistakenly mixed up Portland
Maine for Portland Oregon and she was stranded in Portland Main amidst the chaos of flight changes
Anna messaged will building the anticipation to finally be together Anna eventually made it to the
right Portland and into the arms of will Hargrove during her visit she posted highlights of their Whirlwind romance
including photos of their trips to the coast Will's cars and even a Christmas wish scrolled out to her family back
home she came here for Love at the conclusion of this trip she actually became engaged to William harro and they
had plans to get married in the future Anna returned home to Russia after 10 days with a souvenir an engagement ring
from Will and plans to pack up her life in Russia and move to Oregon with the promise of marriage she was excited
about the wedding she was talking about um all the different style dresses and what she really wanted but there was
going to be an obstacle in Anna's path to love I'm Michelle Chavez and I was Will hard Grove's girlfriend
[Music] [Music] in 2015 33-year-old Michelle shavez was living with her husband and two children
in Albany Oregon unfortunately all was not right in the marriage our relationship at that point in time
really wasn't one it was like roommates that just happened to be married slept in the same bed but that was about it
didn't really talk Michelle met will car Grove while she was working as a cab driver it was a
kind of slow time in the summer and I was waiting at the bar waiting for people to call to go pick people up what
was your first impression of him God he short he's short yes God he short yeah um he is
short but that first impression gave way to something much more for shavez who was so unhappy at home he made you feel
like you were in the sun when he talked to you he had a way of being able to look at me and I I felt like I was
actually seen I felt beautiful I felt like I was wanted and so Michelle and will became much more than friends it
wasn't a planned thing it wasn't like it went off in my head I was like I'm I'm going to have a relationship with him it
just progressed that way this is one of him and our mutual friend Jamie he was willing to give her what she needed
affection attention the following year 2016 the relationship grew to a new and somewhat unusual level
with Will renting a spare bedroom in Michelle's house the same one she shared with her husband and kids though it's
not clear what Michelle's husband knew about her relationship with will he only had to pay $300 a month and his own food
unless he liked whatever it was we were making at the time honestly pretty sweet
deal Michelle even gave will her wedding ring a promise that she'd leave her husband soon but it wasn't enough for
will if Will had this relationship with Michelle and was in love with Michelle why was he going on internet dating
sites I think that it had to do with jealousy Michelle was going to leave her husband on her terms and it wasn't going
fast enough if he could make her jealous then maybe it would speed things up which may explain why when Anna
visited will over Christmas they stayed at Michelle's house under Michelle's nose it seems Anna knew nothing of
Will's other relationship they were in his room most of the time on New Year's Eve they were getting ready to go out
will was like oh maybe I should introduce you guys and then she shook my hand and she said her name was Anna I
said it was nice to meet her but Michelle wouldn't be quite that welcoming when Anna returned a few
months later on March 1st 2017 with the intention of becoming coming Will's wife
I was like well she's not staying here she's not staying in my house so will and Anna rented an apartment in Corvalis
a small college town not far from Michelle's home with Will working and without a job
herself Anna spent time on her own even joining the local gym life wasn't as easy for Michelle what did you want
simple just be happy and you thought you'd found that with him I thought I had but you have to actually know
somebody to find those things I think turns out actually knowing will was going to be a bit of a challenge for
everyone even with his new fiance in America he split his nights between his two love interests he really continued
to float between those two uh places back at Michelle's place and then back at the apartment with Ana with no clue
as to why will kept disappearing Anna often had to resort to contacting his friends to find her own fiance and she's
seeing him gone in the text messages she's reaching out to his friends do you know where he is what's going on she's
becoming suspicious where is he going what is going on with this time as it happened Anna's instincts were right on
the money this man was a fraud and relied heavily on Deception to convince other
people he was the type of person he wanted to be perceived as and he wanted to be something greater than he was he
told a number of people he was in the armed forces he was never in the armed forces then there's the matter of a
certain engagement ring Anna's ring or was it her and I had friended each other on
Facebook and then I saw her wearing my wedding ring what yeah the ring that had been Michelle's wedding ring had been
repurposed when will proposed to Anna will told Anna that this ring belonged to his grandmother and had
sentimental value to him Anna had no idea she was wearing Michelle's ring and on March 22nd she was shocked to get a
Facebook message from Michelle about sharing will at this point all Anna knows is
that Michelle Chavez is the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend because that's what Will harrove has told her and so Anna says no
way you get out of our life lives something about me being a [ __ ] I believe and I was like I'm just getting
started being one were you threatening her no just being mouthy I just meant that if you
think I'm being [ __ ] now like just watch just 3 Days Later Anna and will headed to the Oregon coast for their
wedding ceremony Anna brought a wedding dress with her from Russia she had her ring
that William uh preped poos to her with on the way will decided to stop at the local Walmart to buy their wedding
bands leaving bride to be Anna in the car while he's in Walmart shopping for his wedding ring he is on the phone with
Michelle Chavez and he is discussing their relationship and whether or not he's going to come see her that
night and you had no clue when he said he was in Walmart if he was like headed to a wedding no no none at all but as it
would turn out Anna and will were not headed to a wedding they go to the beach and the officient doesn't show up so he
has a phone call in which he relays to both the witnesses and to Anna that the officient couldn't make it he was Ill
something came up and William Haro was actually calling a couple video game stores to presumably
pretend he was talking to a wedding official to show him how mad he was about the
day he never arranged for an efficient he never got a marriage license he didn't have anything set
up sadly there'd be only one portrait of the Bride that day picking up some fast
food the McDonald's drive-through video is the only video or photo taken on Anna
rina's wedding day and you can actually see Anna repkina in her wedding dress uh
in William haro's vehicle seemingly oblivious to Will's feelings for Michelle Anna set her heart on a
rescheduled wedding date but Michelle had other plans so did you give him an ultimatum at one point I
did told him it was he had to pick one I didn't want anything bad to happen to her I just didn't want her
here so you pressured him to choose I did [Music] in April 2017 the relationship between
Michelle and will hit a Crossroads with Michelle insisting will finally choose between her and
[Music] Anna will told Michelle she was his choice so April 19th was the deadline right for
both of you correct you were going to be done with your marriage and he was supposed to she was supposed to be gone
or whatever he was going to leave her how much pressure did Michelle Put on Will to get rid of Anna a lot there
was a lot of pressure there's a lot of back and forth in there between all the text messages
is where one minute it's like clean out your stuff and get out the next minute is I love you I want to be together but
we can't do that if she's here there are texts between the two of you with you pressuring him to choose
and at one point you told him to fix it yeah what do you mean by that in the general sense fix it in the
sense that you would take care of it not take care of it like take somebody out you would end the relationship that you
would be done will told Michelle he' tried to send Anna packing many times but she wouldn't go so Michelle
perceived Anna as this girl who kind of never got the hint that she was being told to leave and she kept coming back
although Anna never knew any of this was really [Music] happening on Saturday night April 15th
Just 4 days shy of the deadline they'd set Michelle was supposed to have at Will's apartment it wasn't until about
8:00 p.m. that night that William harrove tells Michelle Chavez that she actually can't come over the Anna showed
back up the Anna's back again he'll take care of it what followed was yet another heated
text conversation not a surprise according to Detective Chris Dale who says Michelle
and will exchanged more than 13,000 texts during their relationship constant check checking in every morning to make
sure that he's woken up on time uh to get to work didn't seem as if there was a an hour and a day that went by where
they were not uh communicating but on that day there was one critical text so will Hargrove sent
a message to Miss Chavez I will have this permanently fixed by 1800 tomorrow so he'll have the situation of anarina
handled by p.m. uh the following day which was Easter Sunday that Assurance was not enough for
Michelle she continued texting and calling will who turned off his phone as the hours passed with no reply
Michelle's hope that will was truly fixing the problem with Anna vanished I guess you made your
choice okay I'll let you be [Music] why I just want to know why I want you be but I just want
why the next morning Michelle headed to her mother's house for Easter Jamie was there as well she said that she'd spent
the night ugly crying and even though I knew what the probable answer was going to be I still
asked her like why and she looks at me and she goes why do you think and I said because of
will meanwhile back at his apartment will was dealing with a very different but urgent problem his car insurance
policy they've been sending him notices that if he doesn't have it paid by midnight on the 16th they're going to
cancel his insurance he tells them that he knows his insurance lapses that evening and he needs to get it uh
extended uh for free uh because if it doesn't he's going to lose his uh vehicle loan and they're going to
repossess it immediately okay can you guys hold off until the 21st so I can get you paid um unfortunately once it is
pending cancellation for non-payment we don't have the ability to move the dates
at all um and this one yeah so it'll be effect canceled effective tonight at midnight just after 4:30 p.m. Michelle's
phone rang it was Will and what did he say that he had been out at the coast he was on his way back in and he almost had
a deer he ran off the road he had a flat tire and he needed help how did he sound
shaken sad and so Michelle left her family's Easter celebration to go and meet will in the town of
Alie he waited for her at a local convenience store you can see him walk to the uh cooler where he gets uh a
Pepsi he goes and gets his candy bar and then he ultimately gets a pack of cigarettes about an hour later Michelle
arrived she parks on the side of that store uh we see her get out of her Prius I asked him what what happened where
have you been he told me that he after we had talked that they got into an argument and he said horrible mean
things to her and that she had turned around and taken her suitcases and had walked out thinking Anna had finally
left the apartment for good Michelle says she and will got into his car we drove for a little bit and we'd pulled
off and we were talking for a few and then honestly we end up having sex in the front seat so you had makeup sex
essentially yeah essentially makeup sacks in the front seat Michelle and will then went their separate ways with
Michelle returning to her family's Easter celebration she came back she was in a good mood she was smiling she was
you know she was happy she looked totally 180 from what she looked like in the morning will headed home but he made
a few stops along the way first at an ATM where he withdrew money from Anna's bank account made a
$200 withdrawal from this machine and then engaged in some conversation with some employees um at that gas station
where he actually ended up hugging one of them and crying about the fact that his girlfriend an a rekina uh had left
him him his girlfriend whose account he just took $200 from yes will then headed to a second ATM he
goes to the Chase Bank and withdraws an additional $600 of Anar reina's money so
now William harrove has $800 uh that he stole from Anor reina's bank account at about 9 9:30 p.m. on
that same night he drives to another bank and he ends up depositing $160 of that cash
uh into his bank account will had just one more chore to take care of that evening thank you for
calling Progressive y should have a card on file for me and I need to make a payment please several hours earlier he
has no money all good then everything's done yeah everything is taken care of you are insured as we're
speaking excellent thank you very much ma'am my pleasure have a good night will all of a sudden he has money
and he's taking it out of Honor reina's bank account who's found dead the next day on April 17th 2017 the day after
Easter Sunday Anna repkina was found with a shotgun blast to the back of her head her body left like one more piece
of garbage Anna was discarded in this Landing with the other trash fast food bags uh cigarette
cartons candy wrappers uh that were that we here and at that point we don't know
what's evidence and what's not because that could either be huge evidence in this case or it could be just
trash while investigators hope to find a connection to Anna's killer will was sending on a text showing concern about
her whereabouts after the fight he said they'd had the day before will also launched a bizarre Deep dive online
researching time travel he is uh trying to ask for help in how to uh travel back
in time back to April 16th in order to correct a horrible mistake his words correct a horrible mistake yes
even went so far as to message strangers on WhatsApp for advice to help someone he called his best
friend will was apparently so desperate for this information he offered a reward
his [Music] soul in addition to his strange internet search will went on a shopping spree
spending more of that cash he stole from Anna buying candy video games and toys he bought aund and something something
dollar Set of Legos from a Walmart will reached out to a friend named Kevin Thomas saying that he's spending money
he shouldn't trying to distract himself on Wednesday April 19th investigators struck a lead with the trash found next
to Anna's body a KFC receipt from 3 days earlier with a crucial timestamp was there a name on the
receipt so on the receipt there was no name KFC told us that there was uh actually a car that pulled up on that
Friday uh and there was two purchases made from that car there was one made with a debit card that came back to
Kevin Thomas and another uh purchase that was made with cash with only one name to work with
investigators headed to Kevin's Corvalis home was trying to put some pieces together for that case um the garbage we
found was I think some you bought last week from KFC okay do you know about that yeah me and my brother go to KFC go
to KFC on Fridays what's your brother's name Kevin uh will harrove Kevin and will became Pals at
the peacock Bar and Grill Kevin like Joseph Thompson called will his brother police continued talking to Kevin at the
Sheriff's Office where he offered a revelation a few weeks earlier will had asked to borrow something that belonged
to Kevin his shotgun did you say why you wanted to borrow it just said he was going to go up and go shooting in the
woods and just kind of blow off some steam what's more Kevin told police that will had yet to return the gun with this
new information investigators headed straight to Michelle's house where will was staying to question him he answered
the door we're here following up on a case for working and uh uh your name came across and I want to talk to you
okay will then lied to investigators telling them that he and Michelle drove up to Alie together on Easter Sunday
drove into Elsie stopped at the little market there picked up a pack of cigarettes and drove back did you dump
some trash there when you were there yeah I did on the side of the building on the side of the general
storm but that trash that will claimed to have left at the store was the very same that was found next to Anna's body
investigators asked will to come to the Sheriff's Office while will was getting ready to leave he texted Michelle to
ensure their stories matched at the Sheriff's Office investigators got to the question of Anna what do you
know about her oh it's nothing how' you how' you guys meet matter downtown C just walking around yeah Will played
down their relationship even calling Anna psychotic we went on two dates and then decid I I told her it wasn't going
to be anything more than that and I was happy to keep hanging out with her but that was all it was going to be how long
ago was that uh last time I saw her was middle of March middle of March cut it off because she decided to put on
Facebook that we were engaged she posted that yeah after two dayses oh yeah and it brought hell down
upon me from who sure Lieutenant duffett turned up the heat on will and got right to the point
so will your trash was found where somebody was killed I'm sored to what okay that's what we're talking about
here you guys are looking me for this your trash like my partner said was found there and your your stuff was
found at a scene where somebody died yeah okay talking to you there a lot of inconsistencies with your story
about what what happened that's when will stopped talking and asked for a lawyer no offense guys you've been
really kind and I'd like to and I don't mind that but the moment that you say somebody was killed out there no I it's
just no okay so uh William harrove I need you to stand up and put your hands behind your back you're under the arrest
for the murder of Anna Rina will Hargrove was placed under arrest but did police have the right person in
custody if anyone on the face of it looks like they have a motive to kill Anna it's the other woman it's Michelle
how can you be so sure that she had nothing to do with Anna's murder just hours after will Hargrove
was arrested for Anor reina's murder El to go over at this point Michelle Chavez
was brought in for questioning about what she was doing Easter Sunday can you tell me what this is about though she
starts out on the wrong foot telling police what will had texted her to say that they' driven to ALC together and he
picked you up at your mom's house at that time he did okay ask him to take his immediately Michelle reverses
herself admitting what she just stated was false that's a little bit of lie he called me he was going to pick me
up and then he didn't why did you lie to them honestly I wasn't thinking and I don't have a
good answer I want you to know right now the Will's under arrest for murder okay
okay investigators say Michelle didn't seem at all surprised when they told her will had just been been arrested for
killing Anna how are you not extremely upset right now to know that the person who you were romantically involved with
I am very upset right now I'm very upset right now I don't understand how that can be a person that
I have spent the last year and a half with I was numb it didn't make [Music] sense over a year later in July 2018
will was formally indicted for Anna's murder the defense would go on to spin an entirely different theory of the
crime one that had Michelle pulling the trigger after arriving from her family's
Easter celebration according to them the defendant had taken Michelle Chavez up to the location to have a conversation
with Anna and the shelle had taken the gun out from him and shot on him a few pieces of evidence had given
investigators cause for concern for one thing Michelle mysteriously ended up in possession of Anna's phone Michelle
blames will I didn't realize it was hers he had given it to me I guess the night
before he got arrested Michelle's own cell phone records showed that a month before
Anna's body was found Michelle had visited that exact spot on the Logging Road Michelle claims that's only because
will brought her there but could she have been scouting the location the defense says that will loved Anna that
he was starting a life with her that you're the one with all the reasons to kill her what do you say to that I had
no reason to want her dead no reason to kill [Music] her I do get how it looks but her being dead is nothing I
ever wanted wanted to go home did you ever tell Will to kill Anna no days after Will's arrest his friend
Kevin's shotgun was recovered from the back of Will's vehicle evidence supports there had only been one killer will
harro's fingerprint was on the shotgun Michelle Chavez's DNA was never on that shotgun Michelle Chavez's fingerprints
were never on that shotgun piecing together various security cameras investigators tracked Will's
drive with Anna to Alie we see the defendant's car that's distinct for various reasons traveling along a
certain path and gave us location as well as time frames but it was GPS tracking that gave police an even bigger
piece of the puzzle with Will's phone pinging from the murder site from 4:35 to 4:48 that afternoon the reason we
have that it's because he called Michelle Chavez Michelle Chavez who was still at her
mother's house at that Easter celebration we don't have any forensic data or information that was left at
that crime scene to suggest that Michelle was at the crime scene on that day and remember that video of will
shopping at the alc convenience store as he waited for Michelle to arrive towards
the top of his bald head you can see what appears to be smaller black dots raising the question could it have been
blood spatter we can't tell you if that was blood we can't tell you what that was but we can tell you it was there
before he met Michelle Chavez subsequent photo comparison afterwards showed that
those spots weren't moles they weren't anything that was there permanently there was one more
heart-wrenching piece of evidence found in the trash alongside Anna's body from another fast food drive-thru a receipt
from McDonald's uh in Newport Oregon dated on March 25th of 2017 March 25th the day that should have been an his
wedding [Music] day Will's trial got underway in October 2019 the original witness list was 131
people eventually I believe close to 70 people testified the trial took a month will Hargrove was found guilty of
Anna's murder as well as identity theft and two counts of second deegree theft for
stealing that money from Anna's bank account I want to talk about Anna Rina for a minute and I placed her photo on
the witness stand to remind everyone of a life that was lost contrary to specul will sentencing was
held in January 2020 she came here with hopes and dreams to find somebody that was loving
her and start a family she doesn't have that anymore the defendant very nearly got away with this
crime it was his own trash that betrayed him uh you were receiving a sense of life
imprisonment will received a life sentence with a possibility of parole after 25 years
Michelle says living under the scrutiny of people in town wondering what she knew or didn't know became all too much
how bad did it get for you bad enough bad bad she had an incident uh in which she
couldn't take the stress uh anymore um and uh almost didn't get the police there in
time Michelle says that in June 2018 she tried to take her own life I tried to die I'm still here it didn't
work as for the young Moscow native who flew to the US with the promise of love I think you have to remember Anna
as the sweet loving caring person who put herself out there to be loved because Anna was
loved she was loved alive and she was loved after [Music] 48 Hours don't miss an
episode the [Music] [Music] the evil clowns you've seen in the movies well it came to life in this
case when your mom was growing up was she fascinated with clowns she was she even painted pictures of
them my mother Marlene Warren was a beautiful person she was loving caring kind [Music]
on May 26 1990 a woman answered her door in front of her 21-year-old son and saw
a clown at the door handing her balloons and flowers that was the worst day of my
life we were eating breakfast we saw the colors of the reflections through the glass looked like a clown costume my
mother opened the door and I heard how pretty and I heard bang I saw her fall and I ran toward
her as the clown was walking away and I saw that she's been shot in the face at that moment I felt my heart my
soul just rip out of my [Music] body what did you see on the Clown's face well it was a white face nose
orangish red hair and it was just a clown suit what does the clown do calmly walks
right back to the car like nothing happened a person disguised as a clown walked up to Marlene Warren's AOW Club
home in Wellington and shot her in the mouth I was working as a prosecutor here in this office when it happened and it
was big news meanwhile at our home investigators gather evidence searching for Clues killing with a great costume
to conceal one's identity and anybody passing by would probably say oh is that nice somebody's getting flowers it
wouldn't be suspicious and it would certainly make for the Perfect Crime Marlene Warren was someone without
any known enemies someone who cared deeply about her family and they lived in a home in a pretty secluded part of
Palm Beach County Michael Warren was married to marleene Warren Michael was a local businessman
in the car business the Warren's marriage seemed to be an ideal marriage but for the people on the inside that
knew better Marlene was expressing issues with Michael Warren the people closest to Michael
Warren that worked with him knew there was something wrong because they were observing Michael Warren's interactions
with a woman by the name of Sheila Kean and the rumors was what about Sheila and
Mike well it was more than a rumor that Sheila Kean and Michael Warren were having an affair it was not hidden from
any of the employees in the hours after the murder of marleene Warren the suspects became clear it was Sheila Kean
and was Michael waren but Michael waren had an alibi Michael and Sheila thought that
they could get away with anything it took over 30 years to make sense of it all [Music]
[Music] this house was the scene of a bizarre murder that shooter a clown carrying
flowers and balloons it's easy to see why this case has so much interest who isn't afraid of
a killer clown the 1990 murder of marleene Warren shot by someone dressed as a clown
haunted not just the public but the Palm Beach County state attorney's office despite identifying two suspects the
case for decades went unsolved Dave aronberg is the current state attorney this was an assassination this was not a
random act of violence this was not a robbery the unknowingness of this heinous crime
the fear it was hell Joe arens was 21 living at home with his stepfather Mike and his mother
marleene when she was murdered she was a good mother everything she did she took pride
in the morning of May 26th 1990 had started as a cheerful one Joe recuperating from a broken leg was was
having breakfast at home with his mom and three friends when they saw a clown approaching carrying balloons and
flowers and we kind of figured I had cast on somebody was sending to heal and for
gesture this is like oh what a delightful gift to cheer you up with your broken leg
right my mother opened the door and then we heard bang and she fell at that point
we knew something was wrong my mother was struggling to breathe and then I jumped to the phone you know called 911
right away as the clowns slowly and silently walked to a car Joe and some of his friends tried to get a closer look
at anything that might help describe the disguised attacker the only thing didn't
have any color on it was the shoes that were solid black and the white gloves and did you notice anything about the
Clown's eyes I did that that's the most thing I I saw was the big brown eyes and
the clown gets in the car what kind of car was it it was a white the baron and does the car peel off no just goes into
gear and drives off like nothing happened while some of Joe's friends remained at his house waiting for EMS
Joe got into Marlene's car and tried to chase down the clown but he couldn't catch up he is seen here back home after
afterwards where TV news crews were on the scene meanwhile with the clowns balloons and flowers Left Behind Marlene
was rushed to the hospital barely alive where she was put on life support I kept
telling her I love her and I don't want her to go and Please Don't Leave Me 2 days later with no hope of a recovery
life support was removed and Marlene died I knew my life was going to change and I knew it was going to become hell
cuz she wasn't here to help me a top clue the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office had was Joe's description of the
clown about 61 tall skinny with orange hair a red nose and a big orange smile and male and those balloons Left Behind
they now seemed cruy mocking you're the greatest one said the other had a picture of Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs authorities had also spoken with Joe's stepfather Mike Warren who they learned had an alibi he was in a car
with friends heading to a racetrack when the shooting took place growing up with
Mike Warren what was that like was he a good dad I thought so that's the only father I knew I mean I was really young
when my real father and mother separated marleene and Mike were married when joob was just three they had built
a comfortable life in Wellington Florida an affluence suburb marleene owned several businesses including apartment
complexes and the couple ran bargain Motors specializing in used cars and rentals while business was good the
marriage says Joe was troubled he says his mother became convinced Mike was having an affair making her fearful she
said if anything does happen to me your father did it she said I told her no way
he would never do anything like that she said don't put it past him marleene shared that same fear with her mother
Shirley twing she says if anything happens to me Mike did it we interviewed Shirley in
2017 when 48 Hours started investigating Marlene's murder that's an ominous thing
to say did you sense fear in her voice sure yeah yes I did so when Shirley learned her daughter had been murdered
her mind went to Mike right away I figured Mike had something to do with it that's for damn sure but Mike had that
alibi so authorities were looking for someone else and when they visited bargain Motors Mike's place of business
one name kept popping up that woman with whom Mike was supposedly having an affair everybody at the bargain Motors
were reporting that you should look first at Sheila Kean Altha McRoberts an assistant State
Attorney in Palm Beach county has worked on the case from the beginning and within the next day or so tips were
being called in that you really should investigate Sheila Kean and Michael Warren they were definitely seeing one
another Dela Ward worked at bargain motors with Mike Warren he had a lot of compassion a lot of empathy and people
just were drawn to him especially women one of those women Dela believed was Sheila Keen I found her very nice very
bubbly you knew the way she looked at Michael you just you loved them you could see it Sheila who also had a
reputation for toughness was a repo woman repossessing cars at bargain Motors to do repos you have to you have
to have some kind of guts she told me I keep a gun for my protection cuz people are crazy what they do Sheila told
investigators she was out working at the time of Marlene's murder she claimed that she was looking for repossession
vehicles but she was unable to provide any address that she went to so that they could follow up and confirm it as
for the affair both Sheila and Mike told investigators they were just friends but
that's not what authorities learned when they talked to she Sheila's Neighbors The Neighbors at that apartment complex
believed that Michael Warren and Sheila Kean were husband and wife is there any doubt in your mind that there was a
romantic relationship there's no doubt and they didn't hide it an affair though isn't necessarily a motive for murder
did anyone profit financially from Marlene's death yes so Michael Warren profited largely the properties and
assets that they own together were in her name so by her pred deceasing him he was able to obtain 100% of the
assets investigators were also trying to locate local stores that had recently sold clown outfits Deborah offord had
been working at a costume shop when two nights before Marlene's murder a customer knocked at the door at closing
time she wanted to see the clown costumes I said can you come back tomorrow and she said no I need
something right now Deborah told investigators the customer paid cash buying a clown suit an orange wig makeup
and a red clown nose she was I would say about 510 um long thick straight like chocolate color hair big brown eyes
detectives later presented Deborah with a photo lineup that included a picture of she Shea Kean Deborah identified Kean
and one other woman as possibly being the person who bought the clown costume the Sheriff's Office also believed they
located where the shooter bought those flowers and balloons this Supermarket the buyer described as a white female
with dark brown hair the description of the customer given by the worker at the supermarket brown hair and at the
costume store brown hair brown eyes was consistent with Sheila Kean and there was Sheila's reported affair with Mike
Warren it was intriguing circumstantial evidence but would it be enough to make an arrest
[Music] [Music] before they turn the machine off on my [Music] mother God I wish you could be here with
me I told her that I loved her very much and that we were going to get justice as as Joe arens mourned the loss
of his mother marleene investigators continued looking for additional evidence tying Sheila
Kean to Marlene Warren's murder you talk about this case to anyone and the first
place people go is yeah it's the mistress so investigators focused on Sheila Kean and soon a big break when
detectives located this abandoned white Chrysler learon matching the description
Witnesses gave of the getaway car what was found inside that Chrysler learon there was synthetic fibers similar type
fibers to a clown wig they were orange the same color as the wig Joe Aaron says the as salent was wearing also inside
the car they found a human hair it was brown like Sheila ke's Sheriff's detectives executed a
search warrant at the home of Sheila Keen in inside Sheila's closet detectives say they recovered orange
fibers that a forensic examination later concluded were similar to the ones found
in the Chrysler learon and another breakthrough was made when Sheila's hair from her apartment was compared to the
one recovered from the getaway car that was scientifically microscopically examined and found to be consistent
consistent with Sheila's hair but DNA technology was still in its infancy in 1990 and scientists were unable to make
a definitive connection there were other challenges for investigators the gun used to kill Marlene and the actual
costume the Killer Clown wore were never found and remember Joe thought the attacker was a 6ot tall man Sheila
didn't fit either of those descriptions we're talking about an event that took seconds glances of this CL was a second
or two also McRoberts says any eyewitness would have a hard time describing someone in a baggy clown
costume makeup and a wig it's basically a clown is a clown and there was Sheila's alleged affair
with Mike Warren those fiber and hair results and those sales clerks at the costume and grocery stores whose
description of the customer purchasing the clown outfit balloons and flowers was consistent with Sheila this sounds
like the evidence is really building up it's like you've got enough there to make an arrest what happens well there
was certainly argument about that and opinions that differed at the time and then there's a an indecision about do I
do it now or should we keep trying and get a little bit more as investigators looked for more
evidence they discovered that Mike Warren's business bargain Motors was connected to the suspected getaway
car they learned an employee stole the car from a competitor several weeks before the murder and that's how they
got the chrysal the baron Sheriff's detectives spent about 5 hours Thursday night searching the offices of bargain
Motors at and as they investigated Mike Warren's business they discovered widespread fraud charging him with
racketeering insurance fraud and odometer t pampering he ultimately was convicted on 43 counts of Fraud and sent
to prison it was for fraud and so you know you just can't extrapolate one to the next I mean there's no evidence that
he's a murderer we do have our suspicions though he was not charged with any crime in connection with
Marlene's murder and Warren felt he was a victim in this case sentiments he shared in a radio interview before he
went to prison they wanted to put me out of business Warren speculated that marleene might actually have been the
victim of an angry tenant or car buyer I really can't think of a reason why uh other than the fact of the type of
businesses that we're in as far as them landlords and crossing a few people by repossessing their
car but law enforcement did not think Marlin Warren's murder was the work of a disgruntle tenant or customer and as the
years passed the case grew cold and as for Sheila Keen she seemed to disappear nobody ever brought her name
up again you know for many years I was suffering in in despair after Mike Warren went to prison Joe says he and
his stepfather became aranged and as he continued to grieve the loss of his mother he was consumed by her case going
unsolved and give me a sense of what problems you fell into after your mother's murder ah wow where do we start
alcoholism drugs I mean you name it it was especially painful says Joe on each passing anniversary of the shooting I
would blow up that day and go get drunk you know and just go to her grave site it was sad would you go out to her grave
to talk to her I did I a lot I to try to find answers you know but I was so confused I was getting nothing I was
just lost I miss you I wish you could help me through these Hard Times Joe eventually emerged from the
fog of drugs and despair with that behind him he became increasingly certain of who murdered his mother I
concluded that Sheila was the one that did it she probably never thought in a million years she'd be held accountable
for her crimes she thought she got away with [Music] it these are paintings that Marlin had
painted when she was about 14 years old I kind of grin cuz I can almost see her doing this Shirley twing and her
daughter marleene Shar a fascination with clowns and over here in Shirley's home she even kept a room full of clown
art and figurin this one says to me things will get better the sad sometimes unsettling
images brought Comfort to Shirley despite the fact that a clown had so brutally ended her daughter's life I
don't hate clowns I just hate one although the Palm Beach County sh Sheriff's Office hadn't given up on
solving Marlene's murder 27 long years had passed without an arrest then by 2017 a Cold Case unit
made a breakthrough State Attorney Dave aronburg finally had new important evidence the hairs that were found in
the learon were able to be traced to Sheila Keen through DNA technology with that new DNA match
detectives believe they could now definitively connect Sheila to the alleged getaway car and to marleene
Warren's murder and when Sheriff's found suspect Sheila Kain they were blown away to
learn whom she had married after Michael Warren got out of prison he reconnected with Sheila Keen
here's someone whose wife had been murdered and he just married the chief suspect what did that tell you when you
combine the fact that the two of them were in a fair at the time of the murder and then later they got married it did
seem like mission accomplished that marriage was in 2002 the Warren now middle-aged settled into
a new life in Tennessee running this burger joint called Purple Cow she took Mike's last name but in an interesting
twist assistant State Attorney Altha McRoberts says she changed her first name she and Warren introduced herself
to their friends in that life that her name was Debbie she had dyed her hair blonde changed her name and was living a
full life we would have dinners they were wonderful Cooks the Warren befriended Brook bevens this is Mike
Warren's house a neighbor at a weekend property the couple purchased in the Virginia mountains when we spoke to
Brooke in 2018 she said she knew Mike's wife as Debbie and was told it was a childhood nickname her dad nicknamed her
that when she was small I never caught her Sheila always called her Debbie former Purple Cow employees Ashley sexon
and Cynthia Swafford say they knew Debbie as a tough boss I mean she was awful aggressive mean and even heard an
alarming rumor about her past the rumor around Purple Cow when we worked there was Debbie killed Mike's
ex-wife I thought they was blowing off steam I was like okay whatever but the rumors said it more
than once even to where we know she dressed up like a clown according to an employee Sheila
had appeared in clown makeup at the restaurant one year during Halloween by the fall of 2017 the warrant had sold
the business and retired fulltime to the house in Virginia meanwhile State Attorney
aronburg felt the case against Sheila had only gotten stronger when you combine the fact that they got married
and seemingly lived happily ever after with the new DNA breakthrough we're able to get enough evidence to make an
arrest on September 26 2017 27 years after Marlene's murder authorities arrested Sheila Warren
driving on a Road near their home she was charged with first-degree murder Sheila did not murder Marlene
Warren Greg Rosenfeld Sheila Keen Warren's defense attorney says Sheila was not the shooter everything was so
methodical this person walking up to the house committing the shooting and then slowly walking
away we're dealing with someone who had experience in committing a hit or a murder that's not Sheila that is not
Sheila shortly after Sheila's arrest Dave aronberg addressed reporters today we filed notice intent to seek the death
penalty in this case can you say whether Michael Warren is a suspect I can't say
that Altha mcrobert says there was something Sheila asked as she was being taken into custody that caught
Prosecutor's attention one of the first things she said is well are you going to
arrest him too pointing to her husband which suggests what to you that she knew exactly what she was being arrested for
and they had done it together Joe had come to the same conclusion that his stepfather and Sheila were both involved
in his mother's murder would you like to see Mike Warren charged in the murder of
your mother yes I would with Sheila in custody we wanted to speak with Mike Warren we're going to go to his front
door give it a knock see if he'll answer a couple of questions [Music] [Music] after the arrest of Sheila Warren in
2017 48 Hours wanted to talk to Mike Warren about what he knew about his wife's murder here he
comes hey Mike I'm Peter vanent with CBS News he wouldn't open the door but we spoke through it for several minutes
competing with a barking dog did you have anything to do with planning the murder of your wife
Marlene you did not he was adamant that neither he nor Sheila Keen Warren had anything to do
with Marlene's murder did you suggest to Sheila that she dress in a clown outfit
you're saying she she who I don't think thought do you believe based on the evidence over the years that Mike Warren
knew what was going to happen that day I don't believe there's any direct evidence of that there just wasn't
enough evidence to prosecute Michael Warren but if evidence emerges we'll pursue
it as they prepared for trial despite never recovering the clown disguise or the gun prosecutors were confident they
could prove that Sheila Keen Warren committed the murder so that she could marry Mike Warren Sheila Keen Warren had
the means the motive and the opportunity to do this we will never know who killed
marleene Warren because the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and the state attorney's office did such a poor job
investigating this case I can tell you without question that it was not Sheila Keen Sheila Keen
Warren's defense attorney Greg Rosenfeld says she's innocent a victim of the state attorney's Reckless desire to
close a notorious Cold Case and they said you know what this is our suspect we're going to stick with it even though
the pieces of the puzzle didn't fit the puzzle Rosenfeld says there were other potential suspects authorities ignored
including an inmate who supposedly bragged in prison about murdering marleene but prosecutors say he was
investigated and cleared it's not surprising that they would try to point the finger at law enforcement for not
looking at every potential suspect but if you look at the evidence it pointed to one person all along Sheila Keen
Warren the state was confident Sheila Keen Warren was responsible for Marlene's murder but Rosenfeld plans to
poke holes in its case at trial how do you overcome DNA evidence the state attorney's office should be embarrassed
about the DNA evidence in this case Rosenfeld agrees the hair prosecutors say was found in the learon getaway car
could be from Sheila King Warren but he says it could also be from about 4% of the US Caucasian population they
couldn't exclude marleene Warren from that hair sample so that was their groundbreaking DNA evidence and if you
con see that the hair is from Sheila Keen Warren says Rosenfeld there's an innocent explanation as to how it got
there the labarin was on the lot at bargain Motors where she worked Sheila may have been in the
car used in this murder that's it the defense attorney says well of course her hair might be in there it doesn't
suggest that she was driving at the time of the murder what do you say to that it's just one more link once you put
that one thing with the totality of all the circumstances then it starts become overwhelming Rosenfeld says the orange
fibers found in the car which prosecutors say could be from the clown costume should also be excluded so the
fibers found in the car were synthetic fibers that same type of fiber can be used in thousands of different products
so the state likes to present it as clown wig fibers but that's factually incorrect
even more troubling than the evidence gathered says Rosenfeld is how it was handled over the decades what are we
looking at here these are evidence bags at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office evidence unit torn
open just gaping holes in these evidence bags if there's gaping holes what can that do to the evidence
inside that's precisely how how you have cross-contamination now look at if I can zoom in here this bag contains
a clown wig investigators purchased similar to the one they believed was worn by the as salent they used it to
compare to the fibers found in the learon and in Sheila's home this is an open evidence bag with the wig sticking
out this is horrifying and so your bottom line is is that this evidence is unreliable now
with without question can it not be argued that some of the evidence in this case was indeed bungled you know it's
you're asking a lot of law enforcement to be perfect from 1990 to today some of the evidence was kept in an Evidence
storage area that wasn't ideal any mistake any small opening will be exploited by defense
lawyers prosecutors were still certain they had the right person for Marlene murder but in February 2020 after a
re-evaluation of Sheila Keen Warren's case they announced they would no longer seek the death penalty were you told by
the prosecutor's office that there was always a chance in a jury trial that she might even be
acquitted yes when you think of your mom today what do you think about what images come to
mind well she was robbed and so was I it is said the wheels of Justice turn slowly and when it came to the murder of
marleene Warren that grind often seemed to come to a halt after the 27e wait for
an arrest Sheila keing Warren's trial kept getting delayed by 22 she had spent 5 years in jail her trial postponed six
times and then we had covid so it just was one thing after another Decades of accumulation of files and photographs
and mountains of evidence and documents defense attorney Greg Rosenfeld was also trying to work his
way through all that evidence and he says adding to the delays was a lack of cooperation from the state evidence kept
I'd say disappearing Rosenfeld says one crucial piece of evidence for the defense that
disappeared for years was what investigators called the clown sighting file these were all the tips about
people who alleged to have seen clowns in the area that opens up for you new avenues as to possible suspects
absolutely absolutely I think the sheriff's off office and the state attorney's office just decided they
didn't want to look for this evidence but then suddenly in October of 20122 as another trial date neared the
file was found it was located not with the sheilan clown murder boxes it was actually a file out of place they find
this clown setting file and there's 35 tips we begin to investigate them now we're 32 years after the murder you know
we couldn't track down these Witnesses I've seen it and it's silly things clearly clown sightings that had nothing
to do with marlein Warren and it wasn't being intentionally hidden from the defense absolutely not we were
meticulous about making sure they had everything though as the trial neared the Decades of delays were causing
problems for the prosecution as well every day that went by it was a tougher case Witnesses die memories fade
evidence spoils one of our key Witnesses passed away he was the one who compiled
the evidence and without him we lost a chain of custody for some crucial evidence relating to the fibers if I can
zoom in here this is an open evidence bag evidence the defense already claimed had been poorly stored and mishandled
contaminated inadmissible unreliable it just goes to show you how poor of an investigation that was done they were
going to be able to argue that because of the opening of the bags that the evidence was spoiled and because of the
break in the chain of custody because of the death of our Witnesses it shouldn't
even be admitted so you had some real potential for Reasonable Doubt there was beyond Reasonable Doubt on April 25th
2023 2 weeks before Sheila Keen Warren's trial for the murder of Marlene Warren was to begin there was yet another
surprise in a case that had been filled with the unexpected a plea deal was reached Miss
Keen Warren the defendant herein will agree to withdraw her previously in her plea of not guilty in her plea of guilty
Sheila Keen Warren whose case at one time included the death penalty then life in prison would now plead guilty to
second degree murder and be sentenced to 12 years in prison under sentencing guidelines for time served she is
expected to be released in 2025 perhaps sooner we had to make a judgment based on what we had because
the fear is what if you take this to tral the worst thing that could happen would be that Sheila Keen Warren would
be found not guilty not because she was innocent but because after 33 years we could not prove Beyond a reasonable
doubt that she was the one who did it but Sheila Keen Warren did have to publicly pay a price for this plea deal
admitting in open court that she in fact did murder marleene Warren if this case
were to proceed to jury trial the state would present evidence that honor about May the 26th of 1990 the defendant was
responsible for the death of Marlene Warren Warren did you hear all that yes sir and do you agree with that factual
basis yes despite admitting her crime Sheila Keen Warren through her attorney still maintains she is innocent Sheila
did not commit this murder it was was very difficult for her to admit to committing a crime that she did not
commit but as a matter of law she has admitted to committing The Murder by saying yes correct for the purpose of so
she is a convicted murderer and so far as the laog go sure but when you're told you could be home or you know you can
play Russian Roulette and risk spending the rest of your life in prison it's kind of a no-brainer the defense cannot
have it both ways so she will be a murderer for every day for the rest of her life even when she gets out of
prison one day she'll still be a convicted murderer when she does get out of prison
she will reunite with her husband Michael Warren Sheila is going home to Tennessee
she's going back to her life Michael Warren in a statement provided 2 48 Hours regarding the polia
said my wife wife did not commit this crime it was difficult to see her plea to a crime she did not commit but it
wasn't worth the gamble when she was offered a deal that'll have her home in 16 to 18 months with this deal there is
a chance that Sheila might get out of prison within the next year or two are you all right with
that well I'm not all right with it but I have to be still Joe erens approved the plea deal feeling it wasn't worth
the gamble of going to trial that was very emotional because that was the end of something so huge That Grew for 33
years of my life finally it's over finally you know it [Music] was the demons that once occupied Joe's
mind are gone replaced with loving memories of how his mother Marlene lived lived rather than how that life was so
violently taken what would you say to your mother if you could speak to her today wow what
can I say to my mother thank you for showing me how to love and be peaceful and thank you for being in my
life hurts [Music] 48 hours to miss it would be a crime were you at all prepared for what
happened in this case [Music] here with the fabulous Mo Wilson you are like ready I'm ready yeah I'm so excited
to be here um feels like the first big race of the year so um yeah ready to kick it
off I'm still getting better I'm still learning it's an exciting time there's still so much for me to learn her name
was Mariah but everybody called her Mo my name is Po Mendes and I am a senior reporter with The Daily
Beast funny and friendly and smart and driven Mo was a rising star she graduated from Dartmouth in
engineering everyone thought she was about to make her big break in cycling I have always relied on other
people to push myself what happened to Mo was a tragedy they found Mo inside the
residence who is pretty grizzly scene she had been shot multiple times at first detectives
thought it was a robbery you're looking into this possibility of a robbery or a burglary but parallel to that there is
this name Colin Strickland my name is Colin Strickland I am a bicycle racer Colin Strickland was a top biker and he
was also friends with Mo I mean Colin you know he was an interesting character had a lot of like
you know cool qualities about him motorcycled professional athlete I mean Colin had dated like a few girls in the
cycling scene you know girlfriends here and there but you know pretty standard stuff Colin's relationship with Mo like
was like they were both bike Racers they had like a romantic relationship there had definitely been
something romantic between them Colin said they had broken up the situation was complicated there was another woman in
Colin's life her name was Caitlyn Armstrong Caitlyn you know first impressions she was really nice glow
hopping around the world was you know really interested in yoga like very attractive person uh both inside and out
at least the Caitlyn and I you know initially knew homicide detectives were very
interested in talking to Caitlyn Armstrong he's starting to get the sense that there could be some jealousy to it
she has a gun few things like that start to paint a picture of like it could definitely be
her we were still trying to figure out are they going to enough information to sit down and scratch out a
warrant at this point she kind of disappears no one knows where she [Music] is Caitlyn Armstrong vanished seemingly
in a thin air sparking what would become an international Manhunt first leading authorities across the United States and
then eventually here to the beaches of Costa Rica along the way she used multiple identities and changed her
appearance even getting plastic surgery how smart was Kaitlyn Armstrong she did some pretty intelligent things
the thing that people don't know is you don't have to be just smarter than one two three or four of us cuz there's a
team of 20 plus people you have to be smarter than a lot of people to get away with it m it almost worked it almost
worked [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] hello I'm here with the fabulous Mo Wilson you are like ready I'm ready
ready in March of 2022 upand cominging PR gravel bike racer 25-year-old Anna Mariah Wilson known as Mo to some
appeared on the pre-ride show an online program about cycling so excited to be here um feels like the first big race of
the year so um yeah I'm ready to kick it off just two months later Mariah was found murdered the news shocking the
cycling Community I don't think anybody could really believe it at first you know why
would anybody want to hurt or harm or kill this lovely talented young woman Lisa Goslin Lynn is the editor of
Vermont Sports magazine and Vermont ski and Ride magazine she's also a CBS News consultant Mariah Wilson right there
coming in Lynn had been following Mariah Wilson's career for many months before her tragic death it is all Mariah Wilson
as she is snaking through into the Finish Mariah was pretty much winning every race that she entered Mariah
Wilson the winner of round one of winning or finishing in the top two and the races
that she entered were top tier in first place Mo Wilson Mariah had the potential
to be one of the top bike racers definitely in the country and probably in the world Mo phenomenal race
remarkably Lynn says that Mariah was new to the procycling world her first Passion had been downhill ski racing a
love shared by her close family she was born into a family of really great athletes her father Eric had been on the
US ski team and Mariah's Aunt actually was a two-time Olympic Nordic ski racer and it's no surprise that Mariah was
drawn to outdoor Endurance Sports she was raised in Northern Vermont next to Kingdom Trails a mecca for skiers and
mountain bikers and that was her playground Mariah attended Burke Mountain Academy
an elite ski school that produced Olympic rates like two-time gold medalist Michaela schiffren Mariah had
hoped to make the US ski team but knee injuries eventually ended her skiing career that's when she switched Sports
she had used cycling as a way for rehabbing and kind of building back her strength what was fascinating to me was
she then went on to Dartmouth she got an engineering degree and after doing that
she went to her mother and said hey Mom I think I want to be professional cycl [Music]
and Mariah told the podcast we got to hang out that she wanted to do much more than just win
races how can I inspire people how can I give back to the cycling Community how can I bring more people into the sport
how can I make it more inclusive like I want to find meaning and purpose in cycling that goes like far beyond the
the result Mariah eventually moved to San Francisco where she focused on cycling
and quickly Rose to the top of the sport Mariah was forging her own path she knew
what she wanted to do and she was working hard to pursue [Music] it on May 10th 2022 just one week before
her 26th birthday Mariah arrived in Austin Texas to prepare for the gravel Loos bike race a race she was favored to
win Mariah stayed with a close friend in this Austin apartment but the next evening just before 1 p.m.
the friend returned home and discovered Mariah who had been shot multiple times she called 911 she's laying on the
bathroom floor and there's blood everywhere Maria's friend tried CPR but it was too late it sound like started
off near the door and went backwards like she was trying to get away or there was some sort of struggle or a Austin
police officers Mark McLoud and Jonathan r worked the case from the beginning whoever shot her at that point stood
over top of her and shot her at least once you're in a 1 investigators wondered who could have murdered this
promising young athlete as they canvased the immediate area police discovered a possible clue 432 I located the bike
Mariah's expensive racing bicycle had been discarded in the bushes so at that point okay is this a burglary a robbery
gone wrong but that theory was quickly dismissed because there was no sign of a Breakin then police learned that just
hours before Mariah was found murdered at around 8:30 p.m. she had been dropped off by another professional bike racer
named Colin Strickland so obviously the focus would be who's this Colin Strickland Colin Strickland was a very
good grapple racer he was at the top Echelon Colin Strickland who was 35 was considered a a Pioneer in the sport he
had won some of the most prestigious races and was sponsored by the industry's top brands like Red Bull my
name is Colin Strickland I am a bicycle racer and general Entertainer in 20120 he appeared in an
online video called Wahoo Frontiers about his long and successful career pretty early on I looked up to Colin
when I was coming up in the scene please welcome for Chris colie Chris T is friends with Colin
Strickland they met on the racetrack he was the one to beat he loved to kind of create a show around bike racing uh kind
of selling bike racing he was really passionate about it and tal said although his friend had
been popular with women he eventually became serious with a woman named Caitlyn Armstrong however in a social
media post after the crime Strickland wrote that about 6 months before Mariah's murder during a short breakup
with Armstrong he did have a brief romantic relationship with Mariah that spanned a week or so he said that it
ended and their relationship had turned into a platonic and professional one he just wanted to be friends with like
someone who was going to do great things in cycling the day after Mariah's murder
police visited and spoke to Colin Strickland at his home my personal take was he's being very Cooperative being
very forthcoming um obviously he was in shock being very transparent very transparent yeah an investigator say
when he agreed to go down to the police station to be interviewed he didn't seem
to hold back when telling them about the day he spent with Mariah a day that would end up being her last that day in
May it was hot in the80s and this story started with a swim right here it's a famous old outdoor pool and Colin
Strickland told detectives he took the victim Mo Wilson on on the back of his motorcycle here to cool off they went
swimming then they got food Mariah and Strickland are seen here on the restaurant's security camera I know he's
being transparent at this point during this questioning but what he's saying is starting to sound a lot like a date oh
yeah 100% investigators had a lot of questions and their prior visit to Strickland's home had raised even more
on the night of Mariah's murder police discovered an important clue on video from a neighbor security camera the
video was taken just 1 minute after Mariah was dropped off there's a video from a ring doorbell camera that clearly
shows like a black SUV with a bike rack can't see the license plate because of the bike rack on it so it was obviously
like we need to focus on this and a vehicle that fit that description was outside Strickland's house who was
driving the black Jeep SUV with the bike rack the answer would lead directly to another
[Music] woman the day after Mariah Wilson's murder investigators quickly had an answer to who could have been driving
that black Jeep that was seen on security cameras shortly before her death investigators had spotted a similar
looking Jeep in Colin Strickland's driveway when they spoke to him they see a black jeep with the bike rack on the
back of it so at that point we run the license plate and it comes back that it's registered to Caitlyn
Armstrong Caitlyn Armstrong Colin Strickland's Girlfriend Chris tally says he knew her very well you know we
connected pretty early on Caitlyn and I became friends they were both from the mid West we kind of had a similar uh
like upbringing and so I think that kind of uh you know helped us become like even better friends she'd come over to
parties I would have Armstrong had a background in finance and loved yoga she had a really strong you know kind of uh
you know love for travel love you know she spent time pretty much you know Globe hopping around the world really
you know kind of interesting person Armstrong got certified as a yoga instructor in Bali after she met Colin
Strickland in 200 19 she also started getting into cycling he was very willing to kind of show her you know what his
passions were and how passion he was for cycling and you know get her involved with it and she also became you know
kind of addicted to cycling along with Colin Armstrong even started racing on an amateur level at the end of the day
like I feel like they had a pretty like normal relationship they both ride bikes
together they would you know do fun stuff and you know then 2020 happened and the pandemic started so everyone
would was kind of you know forced with uh you know Close Quarters with their significant others the couple eventually
moved in together the moment I I saw the relationship become more serious is you
know they talked about uh that they purchased a house recently uh together which I thought you know was a pretty
big indication that a you know a serious relationship they also started a business together restoring classic
trailers I think she was helping with the finance side of things Colin was doing a lot of the operations their
relationship went from you know just a normal couple to also owning a business together but things got bumpy in late
2021 the breakup I personally didn't know like they were split up at the time neither of them mentioned anything to me
it was during this time that Colin Strickland and Mariah Wilson had briefly dated although Strickland had said they
had broken It Off Mariah seemed confused in the aftermath polar Mendez covered the case
for The Daily Beast around this time I think Mo was pretty Prett confused by her the status of her relationship with
Colin and she literally wrote this weekend was strange for me if you just want to be friends that's cool honestly
my mind has been going in circles it sounds like someone who's in her early 20s who just wants to know the status of
her relationship with someone that's confusing her and it seems totally reasonable that she might be
confused Strickland had a lot to say about his relationship with Caitlyn Armstrong he starts to portray her as
being the jealous type even saying things like I can't keep people in my phone like Mo's not in my phone is Mo
Strickland told investigators he kept marah's phone number under an alias in his contacts and on that evening after
he'd been out with Mariah at the pool he texted Armstrong that he'd been running
an errand and that his phone had died that was not true investigators say there were other
Clues pointing toward Caitlyn Armstrong on the night of the murder Caitlyn Armstrong's phone was not
connected to a cell network not connected correct so whether she powered it off whether she put it in Airplane
Mode uh there's some something happened that her phone was not communicating with any cell phone towers do you think
this was on purpose absolutely in this day and age if your phone is off and not connected to a network you're either the
victim of a crime or you're probably committing one a silent phone speaks louder in some cases than actions oh
absolutely Strickland also shared that he had bought handguns for Armstrong and himself for personal security he talks
about how they purchased guns and that there are these two guns and that she has a gun um they've taken lessons and
that th these guns are back at the house and so few things like that start to paint a picture of like this could it
could definitely be her police worked quickly that same day investigators picked Caitlyn Armstrong up on an old
warrant for failing to pay for a Botox treatment she's just kind of sitting there and she's not showing very much
emotion at all what were you doing yesterday I would like to leave I think typically when we see some interviews
going on and if you didn't do it this is your like you're going to be like you know not me not it I want out of this
room what do you want to know so you don't come back looking for me and there was none of that is there any
explanation as far as why the vehicle would be over there I would like to leave she was almost completely
disinterested in in hearing what the detectives had to say so it sounds like this is a big red flag immediately oh oh
absolutely absolutely but investigators had to let Armstrong go there was a problem Armstrong's birth date did not
match the date on the warrant so the warrant wasn't valid and police didn't have enough to charge charger with
anything else 2 days after that interview police got an unexpected call it was from a
friend of Caitlyn Armstrong police say the caller told them that Armstrong was so angry about Strickland's relationship
with Mariah that she wanted to kill her it was yet another indication that they were on the right
track a few days later an arrest warrant was issued but when police went looking
for Caitlyn Armstrong she was [Music] gone after Caitlyn Armstrong vanished US Marshals got the job of
tracking her down plain and simply the Marshals are manhunters Chris godet hosts and
produces a podcast with the US Marshal service I'm Chris goik and this is chasing
evil his podcast tells the stories of some of the US Marshals biggest cases including the hunt for Caitlyn
Armstrong nobody thought Caitlyn Armstrong was going to run and she surprised them all she disappeared
Caitlyn Armstrong ran from a murder charge but the US Marshals Lone Star fugitive task force had a different
plan so take me through this where do you begin when you're looking for somebody that does not want to be found
you know it depends on the case honestly we look for friends sometimes we look for family one of the things that I did
was collect as many photos as I could Damen Fernandez and Amir Perez are Deputy US Marshals they joined ausome
police officers Jonathan Riley the and Mark McLoud on the case watch the house the team based in Texas is known as the
Lone Star fugitive task force with no sign of Caitlyn Armstrong the task force suspected Armstrong may have
left town headed for her sister Christy's place in Upstate New York we were thinking maybe she's
driving cross country we didn't know their instincts were right and Upstate New York another deputy Marshall managed
to track down Armstrong's sister what did the sister say the sister ultimately said that her sister had come to visit
her had stayed with her a couple of days but that she had dropped her off at the
end airport in New York and uh last she heard she was going to board a flight back to Austin but then called her back
later and said that she decided that she was going to drive back and which made Absolut no sense to
any of us that you would just drive back when the task force checked outbound flights at Newark Airport No
Reservations had been made in Caitlyn Armstrong's name we never got a hit on on Caitlyn Armstrong's passport but the
team had a hunch unaware of because Christy told the deputy Marshall in New York that she didn't know where her
passport was so they checked with their contact at Homeland Security and within minutes of reaching out to him he got
back to me and he's like yes we're showing uh Christy Armstrong traveled out of Newark New Jersey International
Airport on a one-way flight to Costa ricao you knew it and I said there's no way that the sister left and we're
looking for her we can't F Caitlyn no that's Caitlyn the Marshall suspected that Caitlyn Armstrong had used her
sister's passport to flee Christy Armstrong later emphasized to authorities she did not give her sister
the passport she has never been charged with any crime related to this [Music] case and this is where Caitlyn Armstrong
landed Costa Rica Gem of Central America home to mountains tropical rainforests and white sand beaches as far as the eye
can see but she didn't spend much time here in San Jose shortly after arriving Caitlyn Armstrong disappeared again and
she had a huge lead on the US Marshals Marshalls Amir Perez and Damen Fernandez arrived in Costa Rica a month
after Armstrong this is you guys now on the hunt how intense is it once you touch
down in Costa Rica what happens you're on a timeline I hear timeline and I hear the pressure's on pressure's on I know
we were sitting in the plane and we're talking what's the game plan although they would have help from
the Costa Rican authorities and US state department officers on the ground they knew finding Armstrong was going to be a
big challenge we had other intelligence indicating that she was staying in hosts
in Costa Rica and I don't know if you know anything about Costa Rica but Costa Rica has a lot of hostiles a lot an
unbelievable amount of hostiles the marshals wouldn't tell us exactly how their intelligence gathering
worked but their team back in the States had managed to track down the phone number for an American businessman they
believed had connected with Caitlyn Armstrong at some point we didn't know what city he was in so we decided hey
let's just cold call him so we call him and we're on the conference room he answers and we're like hey it's the US
Marshals U my name is Mark and he goes I don't want any click just hangs up like
it's a like a telar telemarker call yeah after three or four call attempts the businessman finally stayed on the line
to answer the Marshall's questions and we actually end up sending a picture of Caitlyn while we're on the phone with
him he looks at it and goes yes but she doesn't look like that and she's not using that name and did he tell you her
new name he did it was bad B going by bath and the businessman said Armstrong no longer looked like this she had cut
her hair and changed its color went Brown instead of red she dyed her hair the businessman told the marshals he had
no idea that the woman who called herself Beth was actually Caitlyn Armstrong but he did tell them where
they might find her he's like well I met her at a yoga studio in [Music] hako this is hako a popular tourist
destination known for its nightlife and its beaches and the perfect place to hide it was the Marshall's first real
tip so they rushed out here they canvased the area combed through hours of surveillance video but
could not find a single sign of Caitlyn Armstrong anywhere it was a bust but the Marshalls have one more
solid lead and that takes them to a beautiful touristy Beach Town a one street town called Santa Teresa
[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] one month after Caitlyn Armstrong disappeared the US Marshals were in Hot
Pursuit of her and another area of Costa Rica a source had suggested she might have gone to a small village on the
Pacific coast the marshals took a fairy like this one to reach a remote Peninsula one there they drove by car
through those mountains to the Tiny Town of Santa Teresa but when they finally arrived they ran into an unexpected
problem get to Santa Teresa was it easy to identify her there from the other people that were there I think from the
get-go we were told you're going to be in for a surprise cuz a lot of the women in Santa Teresa look just like Kate a
lot of them and it turns out that that advice was right the town was full of foreign
tourists Deputy Marshals Fernandez and Perez arrived in Santa Teresa after dark so we get there and he starts walking
down a main strip that's there uh like down the street there's only one road on on that town and he sees Main Road he
sees a girl and he says you know that looks just like her well couple of minutes later we see another one and
it's late at night and we're like well oh man that's two and then there's another
one as the marshals tried to find Armstrong they even had one of their female operatives start going to yoga
classes to see if they could spot her she actually did three different classes for us and they tapped into
local contacts oh yeah we made friends with people there that would send us pictures
oh look I I think I saw her at this restaurant yesterday and she's in the back in the background of a photo that I
took stuff like that [Music] in fact people had seen Caitlyn Armstrong at local spots in Santa Teresa
but they didn't realize who she was Armstrong was hiding in plain sight using different
names she had like multiple names yeah um she came in Beth um Beth it wasn't Beth Ari Ari Ari Ari right so she came
in as re Greg Haber is an American from the New York area who owns a restaurant called Cook's Smokehouse and bar here in
Santa Teresa Ari what did Ari look like did she stand out to you pretty came in introduced herself as a yoga teacher
which is basically anybody else down here hey I moved here teaching yoga down the street and that was it what was her
General Vibe like she definitely seemed like she was trying to establish Roots here like this was going to be her new
home and Haber says one day he noticed something different about her I saw her on the beach I walk my dog on the beach
every night for Sunset and you're walking through and you see the bandage on her face it's like ah what happened
she like ah surfboard hit me in the face it's like well happens to everybody right at least once so you wouldn't even
question that story here like you see people all the time turns out that bandage would later prove to be an
important part of this story and one of the reasons the Marshalls say Armstrong was so hard to find so you're this close
to giving up yes finally they decided on one one last tactic they turned to a local Facebook page we decided we were
going to put an ad out for a yoga instructor and see what would happen so this is the equivalent of Craigslist yes
correct pretty much and a little of a more lively but yes and just saying ay we're this hostel we're looking for a
yoga instructor the soon as the possible please contact us at this number but after almost a week of hunting even that
didn't seem to be working Sunday we decided we haven't gotten any response back from anything we're so Sunday are
like okay we're done none of them have panned out so we're going back to San Jose now back in San Jose the marshals
were getting ready to head home when suddenly we got a bite somebody that identified herself as a yoga instructor
and said that wanted to meet with us at a particular hostel and we said this is this is our chance Deputy Marshall's and
Fernandez rush back to Santa Teresa just ahead of a tropical storm caroso tourism police Lieutenant Juan
Carlos solano's team helped the marshals in their search for Caitlyn Armstrong they did surveillance on a hostel called
Don John's where the yoga instructor the one who answered the online ad was believed to be so there is this massive
International Manhunt and of all places in the world it ends in this very discreet
hostel it was now time for the marshals to make their move so I walked up and I got in they decided that Deputy Marshall
Perez would approach the woman alone they didn't want to scare her off he would pretend to be a tourist and try to
get a really good look at her face and I saw two individuals sitting there at a table off to the the left uh as soon as
I walked in he says one was a woman she looked like Caitlyn but not 100% so I thought well how can I approach her or
get close enough where I start asking questions where she doesn't suspect something so I decided that I was going
to speak to her in Spanish so I spoke to her in nothing but Spanish so you're communicating she goes to use her phone
for Google translate and then so I got a little closer cuz I saw that she was trying to get to Google Translate on on
her phone and she'd raised it up to me and I got even closer and I noticed that she had a bandage on her nose and
possibly her lips were swollen and I saw her eyes the eyes are the exact same ones that I saw in the picture and this
is her 100% he gets in the car and he's like that's her she's in there local police moved in to make the
actual arrest and soon the marshals discovered why Armstrong had been so hard to find
she had been getting plastic surgery when they first arrived in Santa Teresa at the hospital they found a
receipt the receipt for surgery plastic surgery plastic surgery in these side bys side photos you can see that
Armstrong changed the shape of her nose the deputy Marshall said their female operative the woman they sent to
yoga classes to try to find Armstrong told them Armstrong's New Look would have tricked her she told me I think if
I would have run into her at the yoga studio I don't think I would have recognized her wow it almost worked it
almost worked the marshals took Armstrong back to Texas where she was charged and held
in jail but just weeks before she was due to stand trial for the murder of Mori Wilson Caitlyn Armstrong escaped
again almost 3 weeks before her trial former fugitive Caitlyn Armstrong somehow managed to escape from custody she was
at a doctor's appointment and tried to escape as they were walking out parar Melendez from The Daily Beast says
Armstrong didn't get far before deputies caught her it was pretty astonishing that she did that given the fact that
she had tried to escape prosecution prior this was just more evidence of her guilt Jose Garza is Travis County's
district attorney he says his team of prosecutors Ricky Jones and gal Gonzalez were more than ready to try the case
when we learned that um she had tried to escape um it just added to our confidence level in the facts of this
case that we would be able to secure Justice for Ryan her family on November 1st
2023 Armstrong's trial began the Last Thing mo did on this Earth was scam and Terror in opening
statement Jones told the jury about chilling audio from a security camera that captured the last moments of
Mariah's life those screams are followed by two gunshots kayen Armstrong stood over Mo Wilson and put a
third shot right in MO Wilson prosecutors said Armstrong had been tracking Mariah Wilson using a
sports app Caitlyn prior to the murder had been following Mo on a straa app which is basically an app that athletes
USS to track their miles running biking and she knew exactly where she was and they said that Armstrong on the
night of the murder was most likely tracking Colin Strickland as well she did have the ability to monitor his
Communications she had access to all of his passwords so she had access to um his Instagram account I believe that
when Mo sent Colin a text letting him know the address where she was I believe that Kaylin Armstrong was at home on
Colin Strickland's laptop she saw that message after murdering Mariah and before leaving the scene Jones told the
jury that Armstrong took Mariah's bike and discarded it in the bushes just yards away from where her Jeep was
parked our belief is that she maybe stag it to look like a robbery or something or another theory is Mo Wilson's
bike is a tool of her trade it might have been like the bullet shot in the heart
I'm going to shoot you in the heart I'm going to throw away your bike but they said Armstrong made one
big mistake she left her DNA behind on the handlebars and seat of Mariah's bike and that's on all the evidence
prosecutors had against Armstrong there was that receipt that showed Armstrong had received plastic surgery while
hiding out in Costa Rica everything she does it's all consistent with trying to evade the authorities but when it was
the defense's turn attorney Jeffrey puer told the jury there was no direct evidence including security footage that
actually showed Armstrong was at the scene of the crime not one witness saw Caitlyn Armstrong allegedly Commit This
murder then why would Armstrong flee and hide from the authorities defense attorney Rick kofer pointed the finger
at Colin Strickland was she scared what do you think think do you think that she may
have been concerned a little bit that her boyfriend had killed someone fear results in fight or
flight and it was flight but Janes said there was a big problem with this Theory
because Strickland had nothing to do with the murder of Mariah Wilson in fact at the time of the murder
he was actually on the phone speaking with someone it wasn't Colin Strickland Armstrong's defend team did
not respond to our request for an interview after a twoe trial the defendant will please rise it took the
jury around 2 hours to decide Armstrong's feate we the jury find the defendant Caitlin Armstrong guilty of
the offense of murder as a prosecutor the first row right behind you is the family and you
began to feel their pain and their desire for a just outcome for their loved ones one day after her conviction
Armstrong was sentenced to 90 years behind bars you may be seated but before the case came to an
end judge Brenda Kennedy allowed Caitlyn cash Mariah's close friend whose apartment she'd been staying at and who
had found Mariah's body to take the stand and speak directly to Armstrong so many people in this room
have lost so much I'm angry at you at the UT utter tragic nature at the senselessness at not being able to hear
Mo's voice again I feel deep sadness for the road ahead then it was Mariah's mother's turn
I hate what you did to my beautiful daughter it was very selfish and cowardly that violent act on May 11th it
was cowardly because you never chose to face her woman to woman in a civil conversation she would have
listened she was an amazing listener she would have cared about your [Music] feelings but despite the pain Karen
Wilson closed with words of love and optimism because she said that's how Mariah would have wanted it you killed
her Earthly body but her spirit is so very much alive and you can never change that today in Kingdom trails in Northern
Vermont a place that was sacred to Mariah a trail was built in her honor it's called Mariah's
Ascent Mariah was a vermonter she was giving she was hardworking she was honest she was caring and she came
from a wonderful family and that family really wants that Legacy and all of her good qualities to inspire others
[Music] 48 Hours don't miss an episode [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]
[Music] did you have anything to do with the death of your wife Cory I did not two minutes I'm with the CBS affiliate
in Quincy so we've been covering this from day one I was a journalist in Quincy for 25 years and I'm now writing
a book on the CH save the [Music] touchdown Curtis Loveless was a center on the Quincy High football team the
offensive line Kurt L went to the University of Illinois and became an all big 10 Center well we're just underway I
think we all understand the concept of the play more than in the past he was hired in the Adams County
State's Attorney's office as an assistant State's Attorney she was a beautiful blond-haired blue-eyed woman
thin perfect face essentially what it was it's you have like the star football player dating the cheerleader that's
what Cory and Curtis were and then they get married and they have these kids everybody thinking he had it all
do you have good memories of any of the time together I do there were good times
uh and bad I mean it wasn't a perfect [Music] marriage on Valentine's Day 2006 Curtis
Loveless found his wife Corey dead in the bedroom of their home on Kentucky Street in Quincy what was your reaction
just utter shock just not knowing what to do at what point does it change from being this Blissful you know storybook
relationship to death on Valentine's Day I think the volatility you know sort of
built over time it did escalate to a point where there was a lot of Gossip in the community about him the case was
quickly closed there was no determination for a cause of death and Curtis went on with his life that's when
the Quincy gossip mil got started going people wanted to know what happened to her
I was sitting in my Newsroom and uh got the call and they said sounds like Curtis less has been
arrested Curtis less was arrested this afternoon and less is accused of suffocating his former wife Cory
Loveless in 20 We Begin tonight with the start of a Curtis Loveless murder trial
to not only be called a murder but to say that I murdered the mother of my children it's horrible this is a
prosecution that should have never been brought there never should have been an indictment breaking news here inside the
Adams County Courthouse judge Hardwick did just now declare a mistrial it set for retrial we plan to retry
[Music] it here we are again the beginning of another Loveless trial the retrial we a
year after the first one defendant's first wife Cory Loveless will suffocate that will be our medical
evidence you know in the age of supposed fake news this is a fake case and there
are fake Witnesses no evidence of any Jenny what do you see as the big difference this time around lovel's
second wife Erica Gomez as we know she was banned from this first trial she is the biggest difference in this case a
lot of people saying that she was the missing puzzle piece to why we're even here to begin with you come up here and
be sworn May 2012 is the first time that he attacked me he ripped my shirt and he tried to
grab me again and I kept on trying to fight him off the children were called down to stop me from calling the
police they were lies I told them multiple times that I had nothing to do with Cory's death so
how do you find yourself in this position it's a good question and it's a question that we've been asking for the
last two and a half years [Music] [Music] [Music] the way I describe circumstantial
evidence says as follows I like to look at it as pebbles in a mosaic and you're going to step
away from that Mosaic you know what it's going to say murder opening statements are about what
the evidence is going to show the state had an opportunity to explain to you what evidence they have
that c love murdered his wife for love and they didn't present him because there
is for Curtis Loveless and his family February 14th 2006 might seem like a long time ago but for the second time in
two years the husband and children of Corey Loveless are about to relive those difficult days after she died with yet
another murder trial this time it's in a different courthouse in a different city
but first you need to know how this all [Music] started it's Friday night in Quincy
Illinois [Applause] and hundreds have come out for the home [Music] team local journalist Bob gof swaps his
keyboard for a microphone and moonlights as an announcer score Quincy 28 if you're a
local sports star people are always uh wanting to know about you and at Quincy High in the 80s there was no bigger star
than blue Devil's Hall of Famer Curtis Loveless both on the field and in the classroom
Curtis Loveless was a very hardworking kid smart kid the fight L the University of Illinois gave Loveless number 54 a
scholarship to play football but he wasn't just any player Loveless a business administration major
was considered one of the top offensive linemen in the Big 10 a team captain who
led the fighting Aline ey to the conference Championship his senior year he even got a look in free agent camp in
the NFL with the Patriots had a bad knee injury which uh not sure if he would have made it or not but that certainly
didn't help the situation but being a smart kid you know Curtis Loveless already had other goals in mind while
still in college Curtis started a long-distance relationship with high school classmate Corey dedrickson who
was studying Communications at the University of Iowa she just had a perfect smile Marty
dedrickson Corey's mother spoke to our CBS affiliate khqa and she just smiled at everybody
and she just did stuff Cory was vibrant Dynamic a little bit of stubbornness and
she was a pistol and I loved her for that Steve Belo Beth doisy and Brett Shader grew up with Corey and Curtis in
Quincy Kurt was easygoing he was a gentleman funloving intelligent uh a gentleman did you think
they were well matched I did I did they well they looked great together they had
a lot of similarities and they seemed to have fun together in 1991 just one year
after graduation they were married Steve was Kurt's best man and Beth was Cory's
bridesmaid it one of the best days you know in our lives they were very happy the pictures you could see on their
faces it was a magical night with Corey by his side Loveless had Grand plans he attended law school and
eventually became an assistant State's Attorney in the city they both loved Quincy what did Corey want to do with
her life what were her dreams Corey was all about family she wanted the big family the happy marriage being involved
in Quincy Corey's Dream came true in 1993 when their first child Lindsay was born what are you doing Lindsay that's
an ugly dog you got there and continued with the addition of Three Sons Logan Logan say something
he Lincoln hey Lincoln smile and lson Lindsay is now in her 20s she was a loving person she was involved head room
mother PTA always there at our games dance recital everything um our number one cheerlead later do you have a
fondest memory of her I always say dancing to Aba in the kitchen um she always played ABA and we
always sang along and twirling around and it was just special and I still listen because it's everything to me and
Curtis continued to chase his dreams as well in 2005 while still at the State's Attorney's office he started his own law
firm and as if he wasn't busy enough Loveless was elected president of the school board became a captain in the
Illinois National Guard and an Adjunct professor at Quincy University Big Man on Campus and he always kind of had that
air about him was he arrogant he became arrogant more and more yes there was a little bit of a holier than now maybe
you were entitled to this living I I think he lost friends over time because of that and the situation at home was
changing as well Curtis's working long hours away from Corey and the kids was taking a toll on their personal
life they fought as at a young age I thought it was normal but then growing up later on after she was gone I
realized that it wasn't normal neighbors around the Loveless house here on Kentucky Street say that in the months
leading up to her death they had heard loud and contentious arguments between Corey and Curtis by many accounts counts
both were heavy Drinkers and in this small community it was known that at times there was a tremendous amount of
turmoil in their home I knew that uh she wasn't taking care of herself Cory's family acknowledges she was suffering
with an eating disorder bulimia I was aware of the bulimia aing and the purging late in the day Cory was an
alcoholic and unfortunately so much of alcoholism all of alcohol ism is not it's not pretty it's it's it's ugly and
it brings out often times the worst in people and it was something that she she struggled with you said you drank would
you describe yourself as an alcoholic I do describe myself as an alcoholic and I
stopped drinking was Corey's death the result of her alcohol abuse or was it murder it was a question that would go
unanswered for almost 8 years until a rookie detective would take a new look at this old case that's when I went to
the Chief and asked him if if I could take a look at it again and when you saw the pictures what was your first
reaction it did not appear to me that that could have been a natural death I was at the office just reading old
case files and the Loveless case popped into my head in 2014 Adam Gibson as a newly promoted
detective decided to take a look at a file of a case he'd always been curious about the death of Cory Loveless 8 years
earlier a death ruled as undetermined after seeing the photo that's when I went to the Chief and
asked him if if I could take a look at it again the photos of Cory's body show her arms slightly elevated above her
chest it didn't really make sense and there was no real explanation for him in reopening the case Gibson first
consulted Adams County coroner James Keller who was the deputy coroner in 2006 when he was called to the Loveless
house the morning of February 14th upon entering the bedroom I notice the um female lying on the bed on her back with
her hands kind of in an upright position a body always tells a story the way you
find them what is the story that Cory's body was telling you that she had passed
earlier that prior evening or day Gibson contacted Dr Jane Turner an assistant medical examiner in St Louis who agreed
with k tell's assessment that Cory's body had stiffened a condition called rigor mortise which only happens over an
extended period of time in my report I stated 10 to 12 hours rigor mortise develops maximally at 12 hours and it
was the position of Cory's arms that led Dr Turner to the theory that Corey had been suffocated what did you determine
would have caused the Suffocation well with the position of the hands it suggests that there was an
object between her hands and her body and it appears that there's a pillow missing so I suppose that a pillow was
used to suffocate her Turner theorized that the pillow had not been removed until much later her after Cory's arms
had Frozen around it that her dead body had laid in bed all night Gibson and Turner's theory of murder was a a very
different account than the one Curtis Loveless gave police Curtis says it all started the weekend before Valentine's
Day she had become ill um she uh appeared to have the flu Curtis insists Corey was very much
alive that morning the vivid memory is is her coming down one of the one of the kids needed uh a pair of
pants she wasn't feeling any better and we we made the decision that I would take the kids to
school 4-year-old Larson stayed home while Curtis dropped off the other kids lson would later tell police that on
that morning he couldn't wake mommy up frightened he waited at the top of the stairs for his dad by 9:00 a.m. Curtis
returned and that's when he found Corey dead in their bed what was your reaction um just utter shock uh I in
fact uh I'm not even sure how I reacted I know what I did oddly Curtis did not react by calling 911 what I saw was
someone who didn't need help um I just saw my wife who who had passed away Loveless says at that moment his main
concern was to get his youngest child Larson out of the house at trial Cory's mother Marty testifies that Curtis
brought him over to her house which was just around the corner sometime after nine Curtis's knocks on the
door and he asked if I would watch Larson so I take Larson and he turns and he said oh by
the way Cory's dead then what did Mr he turned to leave and I'm trying to think I I I
think I think I remember the the fact that on the way I said I want to go and he said everything's been taken care of
and he left did he stay there and explain to you you no nothing no did you have anything to do with the death of your
wife Cory I did not but detective Gibson wasn't buying it his investigation would
lead to an indictment Curtis Loveless was arrested afternoon in connection and Curtis less' first trial 10 years after
his wife's death following breaking news outside of the Adams County Courthouse where a mistrial has been declared the
jury deadlocked on able to decide if Corey was murdered how does it feel to be released
finally Curtis Loveless was out of jail but for how long one year later a new trial a very
dramatic day today here in the segment County a new jury but the same question did Cory die from alcohol abuse or
something more Sinister right see folks the second trial would be the culmination of events that began 11
years ago that Valentine's Day morning she was laying in the bed and her arms were drawn up by her chest the Grim
details of that morning would be embedded in the minds of those who were there EMT Cole Miller was among the
first on the scene I went in there to check for signs of life and checked her cored pulse in her neck and then checked
her wrist and saw that it was cold and stiff I'm Jeff be be was the lead detective in the case in 2006 you
determined that this investigation should be closed because there was no evidence that is what we determined
defense attorney John Loy asks him to describe the scene did you find anything whatsoever that seem consistent with any
kind of no did you find any evidence of a homicide no no signs of homicide because
the cause of death was ruled undetermined were you surprised she came back undetermined I think it was
unexpected I was expecting to see a death from natural causes related to a health condition be also didn't expect
to see on the day he discovered Corey the condition of her hands and arms and her arms were up in an unnatural
position her hands and arms from the elbow to the hands were leaning or resting against her abdomen and appear
to be up it is this strange position of Cory's arms that would become a critical
and controversial piece of this case there was mild rigor in one of her arms and moderate rigor in the other uh
rigger was also forming in her legs let's be real clear were her arms still pliable at 105 yes tell the jury what
pliable we could move them the defense argues if Cory's arms were pliable it would indicate she could have died that
morning and that is in direct contrast to James Keller's testimony the body was in a full state of rigor rigor mortise
however long Cory Loveless had been dead to Keller it certainly appeared that medical rigor mortise had set in the
state of rigor mortise to get in that position um generally the rulle of stum of anywhere from 8 to 12 hours did it
make any sense to you that they were saying it was that morning it did not it just didn't seem to add up 2 days after
Cory's death her body was cremated and the case was closed a 38-year-old woman was suddenly dead for seemingly no
apparent reason we assume that uh that her her eating disorder that her alcoholism um somehow caused her death
and whether it was checked undetermined uh or natural death really wasn't something that we were concerned about
life went on 6 months later Loveless started dating Erica Gomez who he later married
Gomez would become an explosive figure in his second trial his parents knew that he was abusive that's why they came
and got him his parents probably knew that he killed his first [Music] wife after his wife Cory mysteriously
pass passed away in 2006 it took Curtis Loveless less than 6 months to find love
again this time with one of his students at Quincy University Erica Gomez I remember my dad coming up to me and
saying hey just so you know I've been seeing this woman and what was your reaction I was shocked but couldn't
process it at the same time because what 12-year-old's going to process apparent
dating mhm especially so quickly after the loss and looking back it was I think properly characterized as a rebound
relationship I regret starting the relationship were you lonely absolutely two years later Loveless and Gomez were
married what was your relationship like with Erica not good at all um for some reason there was some hatred towards my
mom like she was Public Enemy Number One so I would tell her heard who stop like
it's not fair and then I would get punished for that by whom by Erica and what scared me more was that my dad
would sit there and watch it it didn't take long for things to go from bad to much worse it was Christmas Eve and my
mom's side of the family invited all of us to come for family dinner Christmas was my
mom's favorite holiday and I Was Cry cuz I missed her and I wanted her there and all of a
sudden Erica walks in and says we're leaving now so I get 3 to 5 minutes to calm down get ready go to walk out the
door find out that my dad Erica the boys had left my family was not happy with them
leaving me and that set off a bomb a bomb that blew her family apart it blew up to the point where when I
returned home that evening uh Miss Gomez was throwing Lindsay's stuff out of the
house my clothes were in the street my room is completely trashed I knew my life was never going to be normal ever
again and that's when you moved in with your mom's mom yeah Loveless and Gomez divorced in
2013 I decided that IID made a a poor decision um and tried to end that relationship as peacefully and as
amicably as possible unfortunately it just didn't didn't end as peacefully and amicably as it as it should have on the
stand in front of the jury Erica gave the courtroom a sample of her explosive personality he threatened me he
controlled me he is physically abusive to me he had hurling a variety of accusations against Loveless I watched
him get rid of evidence have you watched him use his children to get rid of evidence he used my social security
number to try and Ste money out of my account he did you have any concern that they
would buy into what she was saying I didn't have that concern because I knew they were lies he was
poisoning me there was my hair was falling out with were white lines on my fingers I was extremely sick I had to
you were aware Miss Gomez that you were not supposed to mention that because there was no evidence well Gomez was a
witness for the prosecution ultimately her testimony may have done more for the defense I had a hard time believing that
the prosecution actually wanted to put her on the stand also in the courtroom Curtis Loveless is third wife Christine
who like Corey Curtis knew from Quincy High they were married in 2013 just months after his divorce from
Gomez the behavior was so outlandish the accusations were so outlandish the fake
tears the children were called down to stop me from calling the police so you felt that the jury would
have zero credibility with absolutely on the stand for the prosecution detective
Adam Gibson would have to defend his credibility and explained just how he found an expert to support his belief
that Corey was murdered it's been implied that you did some doctor shoing yes do you think that's what you did
absolutely not remember Dr Jane Turner cided with Detective Gibson after studying the evidence Turner believed
that Corey had died the night before police arrived given the circumstances of the state in which her body was found
and the altered that it it appears that she did die of homicide from Suffocation a logical
conclusion except for the fact that when questioned by Quincy police the Loveless
children except lson said they saw their mother alive on the stairs before going
off to school the morning Gibson believed Corey was already dead when Adam Gibson came to speak to you and he
asked you do you remember you told him that you did you remembered seeing her that morning and you came to believe
that the children were wrong correct I didn't say they were wrong I don't know what they saw and maybe
neither did they I had had a story in my head of I saw her sitting on the stairs
waving to us goodbye I love you left and I always said oh it was great I got to say I love you do you remember seeing
your mother that Valentine's Day morning it's a black hole you don't know no how
certain are you now that Curtis Loveless murdered his wife Corey I'm 100% certain
but defense attorney John Loy was about to challenge everything detective Adam Gibson believed about the death of Corey
lovess Adam Gibson decided to create a crime where one didn't exist you knew that the case had been closed because
nobody found sufficient evidence of corre s read that it was closed prosecutor Ed Parkinson brings in three
forensic Pathologists to prove detective Gibson's theory that Corey was murdered
from world-renowned Doctor wner Spitz Miss Lov died in my view of Suffocation to Dr Scott Denton the pathologist was
first consulted when the case was reopened I would determine her cause of death to be Suffocation and finally to
Dr Jane Turner the outof state expert who also believes Corey was suffocated defense attorney ly tries to discredit
Turner saying she never saw Cory's body and her opinion that Cory's body was in full rigor Morse conflicts with the
First Responders on the scene for you to be right Jeff be has to be wrong about his assessment cor that's correct right
yes for you to be right paramedic Ballard has to be wrong about his assessment that the arm was still
correct yes if Cory less' body was pliable as the defense claims full Ram mortis had not set in and she did not
die the night before when coroner Keller is cross-examined ly belittles his role in
the case you're at the scene of Cory death for all of five minutes right sir probably yes sir lby comes down
hardest on detective Gibson you continue to pursue Mr love all right because you
had already decided that this man must be guilty no he grills Gibson about rigor mortise at what point did you
learn that you were wrong that the body was in full rigor at the scene I don't know to the to this day
that I'm wrong I'm going to show you a copy then a new twist ly accuses Gibson of withholding evidence emails that
never made it into the first trial you did delete all your emails in January 2015 did you not yes the defense was
able to recover those emails Loy reads one email from a pathologist who told Gibson he could never make a good murder
case since Corey's death had originally been ruled undetermined that is more than Reasonable Doubt in any reasonable
person's mind all right this email should have been turned over right I believe so it should
yes you didn't turn it over did you I did not but Gibson testified that he never
engaged in any intentional wrongdoing and have you ever intentionally deleted or modified emails to manipulating
investigation no this time we call Dr calls to the stand his own noted pathologist Dr William Oliver who was on
the OJ Simpson case Oliver had no doubt how Corey died it is my opinion that she
died of the complication of alcohol withdrawal known as a cute fatty liver after a battle of the
experts the defense gambles that the most believable Witness might be the accused killer
himself as I approached the bed I could I could see I could see her hands um I could see um I could see her eyes were
open um and she was she was very pale and there was just there was nothing there Cory was dead um that's that's
what I saw um that's what I saw I told them multiple times that I had nothing to do
with Corey's death being accused of a cold blooded murderer of your wife that reduces your liability Factor
correct a little bit do you feel like every thing you said every decision you made is now being picked over and
twisted unfairly um we've been doing this for two and a half years and it was remembering the time
right after Corey died that Curtis became most emotional one of our high school classmates who was a pastor um he
he's he's the one that that that delivered the eulogy I wrote it but I couldn't couldn't deliver
it all three Loveless boys continue to support their father the two oldest testified they saw their mother that
valent Val 's morning I remember getting ready for school walking back and forth
getting stuff done sitting on the stairs with my mother um and heading out the door how confident are you though from
your memory itself that you saw your mother 100% was this the last time you ever saw
your mother yes their sister Lindsay was not called to testify by either side as the trial goes to final
arguments you A Reasonable Doubt ladies and gentlemen is the standard those words don't have a dictionary definition
you're all going to have to apply your life experiences beyond the Reasonable Doubt doesn't mean probably doesn't mean
Beyond a reasonable what's that mean because really what the case is about is that
lady Cory that's who the case is about she died at age 38 because a 6'4 in former
football player standing over her muffled her and and forgot to take the pillow away the question is whether any jury
can sort out what exactly happened that Valentine's Day morning do you think we'll ever know what happened with your
mom no if a verdict comes out this round it comes out I don't think we'll ever fully
know [Music] all murder trials have their clashes between the prosecution and defense I
would like to know who's coming like you Bard pretend but the spats between Ed Parkinson and John ly morning were more
contentious I've objected to his Antics I told him to shut up I don't like him after 7 Days of testimony in Curtis
less' second murder trial the jury continues hearing closing arguments so here we are what is the
state showing died from Suffocation and he didn't prosecutor David Robinson he had
a motive she was an alcoholic she yelled at him she yelled at the kids and that night he had
enough the state has to find C was guilty of Mur there is no evidence in this case
that this woman was smothered she died a natural death they have no murder weapon
they have no forensic evidence I me he went out trying to prove a case where there was no
crime this is rebuttal and I won't keep you on I got good news for you I'm not going to take
long because he committed a stupid crime this B smart smart man here you can do your job now because the
only thing that makes sense here is that she was suffocated thank and with that the jury
began their deliberations this case is stated in these instructions and it's your duty to
follow all I believe in everything we did um every step that we took it was a search for the
truth then in little more than two hours all parties were called back to the courthouse unlike in the first trial
this time the jury had reached a verdict we were prepared um uh in our minds in our heart for for whatever the
verdict was so this time at least you know there's going to be an answer we know there's going to be an answer but
still knowing that 12 people have our fate in our future and our children's future in their hands is
scary we the jury defendant ctis L Not Guilty by person and 11 thank you anybody like
[Music] to more than 10 years after Corey died and two trials accusing him for the
murder of his wife Curtis Loveless surrounded by his three sons walks out of the courtroom a free man we put our
trust in God and and uh and we put our trust in the legal system and uh we weren't let down and so it's a a great
day for uh our family um a great day um for all of our friends and uh we're just
we're just thankful Kurt had absolutely nothing to do with his wife's death and the jury saw that prosecutor Ed
Parkinson is clearly upset by the quick decision uh disappointed but but the jury is so that
it's the end of it but just days after the verdict Curtis Loveless told 48 hours that he and Christine still have a
lot of questions about detective Adam Gibson's investigation cor I don't appreciate
what he's done to uh to me and my family and um uh whatever happens with Adam Gibson um happens with Adam Gibson
there's truth and uh and I believe the truth will come out you intend to pursue how and why this all
happened I I think those are questions we want answered the family remains deeply divided by the legal Saga now
behind them Curtis Christine and the three boys have not spoken to Lindsay since the day Curtis was arrested in
2014 I I don't think by our choice we were advised not to engage in a relationship with people who were
possibly against Kurt so do you see a day when we hope so together we talk about it often is that on the docket of
things to do you know I I think we we'd all like to see reconciliation I'm just not sure
how that happens it's it's it it it I'm sure it's going to be difficult for now Lindsay says she is
working to move forward with her own life inspired by her mother's memory my mom was a beautiful
person she touched so many people she was passionate but that's the kind of person she was and that's the kind of
person I try to be [Music] [Music] 48 Hours presents this is Officer the Houston
Police Department major offenders division career criminal [Music] Squad hey my name is Valerie
McDaniel I've always tried to be an honest kind person I've tried to live the best life
I can Valerie wound up being the top of the class the valedictorian the valedictorian in our 1987 High School
graduating class she sure did my name is Megan she's my second cousin she's generous and creative smart
nice and sweet she would always like to take care of my dog I wasn't sure if I should be a vet
anymore and Valerie brought that passion back I know that Valerie made an audio recording of all of her memorable
moments in life I met through friends a man named Max mcdel and thought was the cutest thing
tall and skinny with his [Applause] boots Valerie and Mac Liv a lavish lifestyle a high-end life you know a
life of luxury a life of beauty Great Cars Valley had a Mercedes daughter went to a great
school they worked a lot that was a big thing they' both be working and but did they seem happy together yeah yeah it
seemed [Music] great one morning work there was a a note on my desk that said Dr McDaniel call Miss
Brown she said I've been your husband's lover it tore up divorce is never an easy
thing she met Leon a medical doctor he actually went to the same school I did a little bit of ER but then also like like
cardio and Transplant I looked at him and smiled and he smiled back and just a beautiful
person her face her smile she had this outwardly exuberance of energy that I really can't describe she fell for Leon
she was madly in love with him we were um planning on getting [Music] married Mac always wanted more more more
at the detriment of their daughter my name is MZ Ai and Le Jacob tried to hire me as a
Hitman in the car did he give you $2,500 he paid the $ 2,5 in cash yes in cash right and what did you see on his
face excitement he was enjoying it like he actually was excited about the whole thing I could never hurt the man that my
daughter loves so much the male subject he's gone he's done all right this is been a long drawn out
story that's led to an unbelievable conclusion when he came into my office he shut the door he said I'm Dr Leon
Jacob I felt like I was talking to Satan himself [Music] [Music] 48 hours operation murder reported by
Peter vanent [Music] 2453 2453 yes ma'am it's going to be a major offenders investigation it's 3:00 a.m. on Friday
March 10th 2017 Houston police are making their way to the seventh floor condo of beloved
veterinarian Valerie McDaniel bad doesn't begin to describe what's about to be revealed found it looks like
it turns out to be a fatality Valerie's ex-husband Mack police tell her was dead just 6 months
after their divorce had become final do you have anybody you can call to to help
you to stay to stay with you but how could Valerie's life have arrived at this Dreadful
[Music] moment Valerie earned her degree in veterinary medicine at Texas A&M it was
during that time she met Mack McDaniel Valerie's friend Greg Holloway my impression of Mac is that he was a a
good man he was a stand up guy Mac proposed and Valerie had the man of her dreams as she describes in that
recording of her memories we did get married we had a beautiful fairy tale wedding moved into a house that my
parents had bought for me to live in not long after that Valerie decided to open
her own Clinic Valerie's cousin Cody Bernard I admired her it sunk something inside of
me I want to I want to do that one day something big you know Mack was her office manager but
even as the vet clinic thrived the two longed for something more he said she couldn't have any children so the only
option was to adopt in 2008 the couple adopted a daughter when she was just 2 days old
but as their new family came together their marriage began to fall apart it started Valerie says with a phone call
from a stranger the woman who claimed to have been Max's lover but Valerie says that wasn't all she gave me L of women
that he had slept with Valerie says she confronted Mac and forgave him but claims it wasn't long
before Mack cheated again and that was the first time I ever said the word divorce and I yeled at him
outside and I yelled it and I yelled it Valerie says she forgave Mac yet again but then a chance encounter would
change the course of her life Leon Jacob the son of Valerie's neighbor Golda Jacob stopped by he ran up to me and um
stuck his hand out and introduced himself the cockiest mother ever met in my life Valerie was in her mid-40s but
she was stunning um both inside and out the attraction was Mutual you could tell
he knew how beautiful he was and I was lonely Leon Jacob was 8 years younger than Valery and a doctor what type of
surgeries have you done all kinds of surgeries I've assisted in heart kidney pancreas
transplants with a strained home life and an attractive new friend what happened next may have been inevitable
and he sat across from me and we had some wine and I had my feet out on the chair next to him just out of the blue
he reached out and just ran his finger up my left foot and that was it it was like
a movie moment it's quite an interlude according to what she described yeah compliments
uh all around I guess in December 2014 Valerie filed for divorce claiming Mac committed adultery Mac's attorneys told
us Mac had no comment about the divorce petition and the claims Valerie made in her audio
diary between Max alleged cheating and Valerie's new love interest both wanted out of the marriage the divorce was
finalized in August 2016 Valerie and her daughter then moved into this building in the upscale River
Oak section of Houston not long after Leon joined them here the RO ship really Blossom quickly
because we had been very close friends for so long Dr Britney King worked alongside Valerie at the vet clinic I
seem very much in love um holding hands and and loving towards each other but there was one old problem in Valerie and
Leon's new relationship and his name was Mac there were multiple times in the clinic where she would just be in tears
um was say everything okay and it was was something surrounding um her ex-husband Mac had found out that Leon
was staying with me it be arguments or uh stuff with the the child of visitation but Leon had his own issues
with past loves one involving extreme mental cruelty and another assault and stalking charges Leon Jacob is a
predator he's scary Samantha connect is a Harris County assistant district attorney he wants what he wants and
he'll stop at nothing to get it could there be more to Valerie's new love than she can
imagine he has no problem using women um in fact I I think he enjoys it Valerie McDaniel's new live-in boyfriend
grew up in a Texas sized world of beauty opulence and opportunity I always wanted
to be a doctor my whole life ever since I was about three or four as he pursued his degrees Leon met
and married his college sweetheart they had two boys we had a happy loving family I got two great kids two
boys they're the most important things to me in my life a good family and now with an MD after
his name Leon was well on his way but Leon's picture perfect life disguised a troubled
relationship after 12 years of marriage his wife filed for divorce citing extreme mental cruelty and one year
later Leon was arrested for stalking his now ex Leon has to be in control when his ex-wife went to end their
relationship he wasn't going to have it um and he wasn't going to go down without a fight Leon isn't it true that
you've had brushes with the law involving stalking cyber stalking intimidation uh physical harassment
assault aren't all those true I plad guilty to a attempted cyber harassment charge that
was stemming from an acrimonious divorce that I went through with a my previous wife Leon admits that he called often
but he claims it was simply to speak with his Boys I Tried desperately to contact my kids over and over and over
again and I'm not going to apologize for that Leon finally moved on to a new residency and was living in Pittsburgh
where he met this woman 33-year-old Megan veras I met Megan in a hotel in Pittsburgh she was the assistant general
manager there the new couple moved to Houston there were lavish vacations family get togethers and yet
another residency Leon's seventh he's a failed doctor he's been kicked out of every Residency program he's ever been a
part of and what's the problem what was the basis of these dismissals do you know the belief that he was the smartest
guy in the room in ability to get along with people um and ability to get along with patients and in fact one of the
records that we found said that they believe that he was a danger to patients and that he would be a liability for
them to keep around three years into their relationship Megan vericast thought Leon
was a threat to her too Megan kicked Leon out of their apartment later accusing him of assaulting
her she wanted me to move all my stuff out she came there was very hostile the police uh were called there was no
violence of any kind and a day later she claimed that I had hit her and that you'd put your hand over her mouth yeah
which is not true Leon is about Leon smile D smile it frustrated him to know in that Megan varos would not forgive
him and the fact that he couldn't get Megan back frustrated him and angered him Leon was arrested in February
2017 for assault and stalking you can charge anybody with anything it doesn't mean that you're guilty of that the DA's
officers has been on this case since its Inception uh we help prosecutors are convinced that Lon knew his future as a
doctor would be destroyed if Megan testified against him so they believe he planned a little operation to make his
pain go away he feels like if Megan disappears if she goes away that his criminal case will go away and he can
resume his career as this beloved surgeon that he thinks that he is prosecutors claim Le decided what he
needed was a hitman and he thought he'd found one Taz are you a Hitman no were you ever willing to murder anyone for
money no no no no I would never do something like that Taz aay was introduced to Leon by a mutual
acquaintance did Leon ever tell you how he wanted his ex-girlfriend to be killed
yes he he actually offered suggestions one of them was a syringe to the heart with potassium
would give her a heart attack and that would actually kill her Taz is a decorated former US Army soldier who saw
Leon's deadly demand as an opportunity to Save a Life I saw somebody in danger and I knew that I can do something about
it and I did something about it Leon knew Taz by the code name Zach he says Leon wanted him to kidnap Megan first to
talk her into taking him back and if that didn't work leaving town but that wasn't all if she doesn't leave what are
you going to do and he was like I want you to kill her I'm not going to comment on any of this it's just
ridiculous Taz says Leon paid him $99,000 which he happily spat to be honest I don't feel bad that I spent
Jacob's money matter of fact I feel really good I spent thisy money then the man Leon knew as Zach
vanished Leon Jacob was one of the most Unique Individuals I'd ever met bale bondsman Michael kubos this guy was
focused was very intimidating didn't shake my hand just wanted to know one thing I want Zach's number he said I've
paid Zach a lot of money to take care of this I felt like I was talking to the Devil Himself
[Music] tucked away on a side street in Houston is perhaps the most colorful bail
bondsman in all of Texas having hung out a bit with you you are the Elvis of bale
bondsman you have his name is Michael kubos these are people that we're looking for fugitives and he understands
the Criminal Mind I deal with the nicest the kindest and the meanest people on the face of the Earth I've bonded out
judges prostitutes preachers missionaries he's also a larger than life member of the Houston city council
who helped saved lives during Hurricane Harvey I can see you've been really working hard I know all the Major law
enforcement people in in the whole County Leon had stormed into kash's office he said I've paid Zach a lot of
money to take care of this said take care of what he said I want her out of the picture and and and I she can't be
testifying against me out of the picture out of the picture I believe that he meant ill toward this woman and that's
why I call the chief the chief of the chief of police in Houston Texas a search for the mysterious Zach was
triggered and investigators quickly learned his real name Taz a a name that kubos did recognize as a former military
man who is facing a misdemeanor theft charge for stealing from his roommate he was on bond with me he was still
free it took Houston police about a week to find Taz and that's when things got really
interesting to me Taz seemed genuinely concerned for Megan this man is an undercover officer with the Houston
Police Department who goes by the name detective Javier he didn't want to see her hurt so Taz agreed to participate in
a sting operation to help catch Leon Jacob in the act of soliciting a murder hello hey what's up man
how you doing Budd Taz told Leon that he felt he had grown too close to him and Valerie and thought it best to hire
another Hitman and he knew just the right guy can you meet me tomorrow yeah I I'll C my schedule no
problem the next day Taz would introduce leyon to his new Hitman undercover detective Javier but before Taz could
hang up Leon Dropped a Bomb we're taking care of both problems what both problems
both of the individuals that we're talking about uh okay Valerie McDaniel Leon's new
girlfriend The mild-mannered veteranarian Who friends had described as an angel wanted her ex-husband
murdered Valerie wants to talk to you about what he want she wants to do with her ex-husband okay that's good all
right just bring her with you tomorrow the next day Leon and Valerie met with Taz and detective Javier at this Olive
Garden to discuss the fate of both their exes over lunch the entire operation was
recorded the meeting lasted nearly 2 hours and began with Leon's Target Megan I don't want you to hurt her but I want
her to go he told me that he wanted me to run her off the road and threaten her but
then he would say to me if she does not understand that then you do what you have to do those options don't
work I don't we got we got do there was no doubt in my mind that Leon wanted Megan killed the subject
then turned to Valerie's Target her ex-husband Mac say if something would happen to
him be like car wreck or it could be a car wreck it could be a robbery going WR she was under the Bel that I was going
to carjack him and I was going to put a bullet in his head which is exactly what
I told her I was going to do but you need to give me to go ahead want to do that going take my
daughter the next day March 9th 2017 detective Javier called Leon to say he had good news that he insisted on
delivering in person are you afraid he went to their home where he informed them Mac was dead neither
wanted to see this photo which seemed to show Mac with a gunshot to the head when Valerie got the
news that her husband was dead was she emotional about it did she say say oh my God I never wanted to go this far she
did not show that what they didn't know is that Mac was alive and well he'd posed for those photos as part of this
elaborate sting operation believing Mack was dead Leon set his sights on Megan so you're going
to snatch her and you're going to bring her some and talk to her that's the plan I need to show up you call me later
that night these staged photographs of Megan were texted to Leon and he was told she was
so out of control she had to be killed she's dead she's gone I don't want to know
anything on that scale of good to evil in your mind what is Leon Jacob Leon is a very evil person he was
willing to do whatever he needed to do to [Music] [Music] survive it was probably around 2: or 3:
in the morning on March 10th 2017 Valerie McDaniel and her Livin boyfriend Leon Jacob get a wakeup call from
Sergeant Frank Quinn that will soon lead to an Oscar winning performance what's going on she lets them inside but she FS
surprise she can't understand why they're there remember just hours before detective Javier posing as a Hitman had
told her that Mack was dead but now Valerie has to convince police she is hearing it for the first time sorry I
had to tell you you heard from you recently she pretends to be upset she puts her head in her
hands uh she sits down and she acts like she's completely shocked and surprised that her ex-husband is dead is your
boyfriend here with you you think you can kind of be a little help [Music] to this surreal scene caught by the body
cameras of Houston Police is about to reach its climax [Music] we were hoping you could help us we had
to deliver some bad news to H oh my God [Music] like might have been a robbery going
wrong trying if anybody knows anything or no we to help us are you okay baby we've been here all
night we were here all they with and their their daughter and we were watching movies we haven't been out of the house
all day except then the cops decide to call cut on all this bad acting right now we're going to read you your rights
both of you have being arrested it is only then that the couple learns that both their intended targets
are alive and well I don't know why I'm being arrested Leon is Led Out can I get us sure I'm already cold
and Valerie has a much bigger concern her daughter who's been asleep in the apartment this whole time although not
caught on camera Mac arrives to pick up their 8-year-old and what did Valerie say to
her you know something along the lines of just you know taking you to your dad he's outside and he's going to take you
and it was very benign and you know just normal as could be and so all of a sudden sudden on the news media came the
arrest of two doctors a Houston woman and her boyfriend were charged with trying to have their exes killed and I'm
laying there thinking well that's not the Valerie I know and they show the film of her going up for her arraignment
you about fall out of your chair that almost rolled out of the bed because Leon has those other pending charges
related to Megan he doesn't make bail but Valerie does Valerie was rushed out the jail alongside family after and goes
home to wait for the legal process to play out I remember texting her throughout the week and calling her and
constantly sending her I love you you know we can get through this so happy you're
out Valerie's Veterinary license got suspended because of the charges Britney says Valerie was weighed down by her
arrest and the prospect she wouldn't be seeing her daughter for a long long time
she visited Valerie at her high-rise condo but I remember giving her a hug goodbye and I just felt the life in the
eyes was not there it's weird things it wasn't like Bam Bam Bam progression things just
gradually happened two weeks after the shock and shame of being charged with solicitation of capital murder Valerie
McDaniel used her iPad March 25th it's been a few days to record her side of the story I didn't wake up one day and
just say hey I want to kill my ex-husband for Valerie everything she loved was slipping
away I want to talk to my daughter I want to talk to [Music] Leon this I'm just not strong enough I
wish I were I just can't do it two days after her final recording on March 27th 2017 Valerie who once seemed Unstoppable
did the unthinkable she climbed over this very railing and jumped seven stories to her
death she wanted me to be home with her and we were going to get through this and it was devastating and
[Music] shocking I think that she was in a very vulnerable position when she met Leon
Jacob but I think he influenced her and brainwashed her I'm innocent and um as a human being
and as a physician that thought of killing somebody else is just goes against everything in my my nature it really
depends on what they Leon has hired one of the top defense attorneys in Texas George parum who says
Valerie McDaniel was the one calling all the shots I'm sorry for her demise but I
believe that Valerie uh is and was responsible for this entire scenario that she was the driver she was the
financier of all of this that that is my understanding the question now what will
a jury think on March 20th 2018 a week before the first anniversary of Valerie's
suicide this is a state of Texas versus Leon Philip Jacob Leon alone stands trial on two counts of solicitation of
capital murder one of the things you learn about Leon Jacob is he has to be in control ma
was going to die and Megan was going to die Cameron cigan is antha con's co-prosecutor he says Leon's motive was
clear there was two obstacles to the defendant's new life with Valerie mcdan it was Ma and it was Megan Mack could
keep Valerie away from him by making Valerie choose between the defendant and her daughter and Megan could make him
end up in prison George Pam's co-counsel Matthew ppil claims that it was the undercover
officer whose identity were protecting by calling detective Javier who pushed FY and Lon to make a deadly choice if it
was not her offic trying to make this into a television story and force his own narrative Leon would not be forced
here today to tell his story all right thank you all please be seated let's continue testimony begins with some of
the early stops on this long road to Justice starting with Megan he didn't want her to testify against him and he
had paid some a lot of money to make sure that she wouldn't be here to testify against him he actually wanted
me to um make her disappear oh basically he wanted to gone like dead call your next witness please before the trial
concludes two potential victims will rise from the dead to take the stand could you please introduce yourself to
the members of our jury and the jury will hear from Leon who says he's only guilty of being a Casanova I have no
problem sitting here and saying that I slept with Valerie 7 days after Megan and I broke up but I'm not on trial for
being a womanizer I'm on trial for solicitation of capital murder so you can assassinate my character all you
want up here doesn't make me guilty of what You' charged me with [Music] one of the prosecution's strongest
Witnesses Megan veros Leon's ex-girlfriend who had filed assault charges against him in January
2017 takes the stand it was a long time coming um I tried to leave several times
she recalls Leon coming to the house where she was staying just after the alleged incident I
obviously didn't want to be near him so I hid in a closet why did you hide in a closet because I was afraid of Leon he
came in and was screaming and yelling and he said I know that that [ __ ] is here Megan says Leon kept pursuing her
when she was at work he was in the bushes outside um on a cell phone um waiting for me and when she drove to her
new home at that point I called 911 to let them know um that you know my ex-boyfriend who assaulted me was um in
a car behind me and then some point Leon had gotten out of his vehicle in front of mine just
yelling and waving his hand saying you know just talk to me just talk to me I need to talk to you Leon was arrested a
second time on stalking charges on February 16th 2017 less than 10 days after that Megan
was contacted by police and warned her life could be in danger she fled to her hometown of Pittsburgh but police soon
called her to return to Houston to be part of that sting operation I sat in a chair in a warehouse and um they zip
tied my hands and my feet um and put duct tap around my mouth to make me look as if I had been kidnapped I was crying
and really upset next it was Valerie's ex-husband Mac McDaniel's turn we were married for
17 years and divorced in 2016 he recalled finding out his ex-wife was living with leyon what was your initial
reaction to that my initial reaction was not good and why was that because I was
aware of his history his criminal history did you convey to Valerie that you did not want the defendant around
your daughter on the weeks that she had custody yes ma'am and did she agree to that she did at some point did you learn
that she was not abiding by the agreement I did Mack tells the jury he too was is notified he was the target of
a murder plot then the prosecution shows the jury that photo can you describe for
the members of the jury what you're doing here staging my own death did they pour blood on you Pig's
blood 3 days into the 5-day long trial it's the defense's turn they call their star
witness I never asked anybody to kill anybody does the word kill kill hurt harm in any way shape or form appear at
any of those recorded conversations not on my behalf except for to exclude them from
things I want done I never asked to have anybody hurt killed hared um kidnapped I never asked for anybody to
be in any way physically hurt but the prosecution says that's not true she's dead she's gone
I don't want to know anything and they claim those undercover tapes back that up did you not want anybody hurt when
you said inject her with potassium chloride stop her heart untraceable I said that was a something
you could do I didn't say that for him to do that did you recall telling the undercover officer if those options
don't work I don't give a then you got to do what you got to do because my survival is more important
yes Leon's own words come back to haunt him regarding Mack as well after the undercover officer proposed a fatal
carjacking it could be a robbery Leon offered $110,000 in four weekly installments so you're agreeing to give
him $2500 just after he tells you I'm going to put a bullet in his head and throw
him on the street if that's what you say well that's in the recording it's not what I say it's
what Javier and you said right I guess Leon and the defense team tried to make their point that the
undercover officer was pressuring them into making deadly decisions I kept on telling them I didn't want anybody hurt
and they kept on going back to the theme of killing people I felt a lot of pressure from them to sort of commit to
this idea killing people and that was never my intent were you asking them just to threaten
people essentially yes did you actually want any harm to come to anybody no but the prosecution points out that when
Leon thought Megan was tied up and refusing to cooperate he did nothing to stop the lethal final step you'd agree
with me that you never said no no I don't want you to do anything stop this you didn't say anything like that did
you no the jury gets the case has the jury reached unanimous verdicts and takes just an hour and 15 minutes before
returning to the courtroom we the jury find the defendant Leon Philip Jacob guilty of solicitation
of capit to murderers charged in the indictment Leon is found guilty on both counts of conspiring to have men Megan
and Mack kill the trial moves to the sentencing phase the same jury that found Leon
guilty will decide his punishment new testimony begins I have no sense of trust um just constantly afraid that something
else is going to happen the only thing that might impact Leon's sentence more than the words of his
exgirlfriend may end up being the words of his ex-wife State calls Annie Morrison Annie Morrison has flown in
from Chicago to testify yes there was a time that we got into a fight and he pulled a knife on me there was one time
he pushed my head down onto the counter and and bruised my face near my eye Annie recounts an incident she says
occurred when she was 7 months pregnant with their second child he threatened to punch me in the
stomach um he kicked my legs I remember I remember bringing my legs up as far as
I could toward my chest to try to protect my stomach he threatened that if I ever left that he would kill
me he said that nobody would ever find my body because he was a doctor and he had access to chemicals that
would that would dissolve my body Annie did leave moving to her parents' home in Chicago that's when Lon
started threatening her parents thank you judge may I publish st's exhibit number 81 to the jury as the jury heard
in this recording Annie made of a phone call with Leon I will torture them in front of
you the defendant please St the jury took just 1 hour to decide Leon Jacob's sentence life in prison on each
count solicitation of capital murder for Megan veros and Mac McDaniel Victim Impact statement
please in Texas the victim impact statements come after the sentence Megan takes the stand one last time you will
never see your children grow up you will not be a part of their lives and they will be F better for it you destroy me
financially and took away my sense of security but you can do that no more while you sit in jail I hope you think
of me the girl that you called poor and uneducated because it's because of me you will be in prison for life
[Music] [Music]

Ahead of Valentine’s Day, “48 Hours" compiled cases involving crimes of passion. Watch the YouTube super marathon, which includes "The Murder of Anna Repkina," "Murder by Clown," "Capturing Moriah Wilson's Killer," "Death on Valentine's Day" and "Operation Murder."

00:00 The Murder of Anna Repkina 42:22 Murder by Clown 1:24:13 Capturing Moriah Wilson's Killer 2:06:31 Death on Valentine's Day 2:48:23 Operation Murder

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

For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

Brief Summary

Anna Repkina's murder reveals a deadly love triangle involving William Hargrove and Michelle Chavez, leading to Hargrove's arrest and conviction.

Key points

The Love Triangle. Will Hargrove juggles two relationships, leading to tension and conflict.
The ATM Withdrawals. William Harrove withdraws $800 from Anna's account before her murder.
Michelle's Struggles. Michelle Chavez faces scrutiny and attempts suicide after Will's arrest.
DNA Breakthrough in Cold Case. In 2017, new DNA evidence links Sheila to the murder, leading to her arrest.
The Discovery of Clown Sighting Evidence. After years of delays, crucial clown sighting evidence resurfaces just before trial.
Mariah Wilson's Shocking Murder. Just before her 26th birthday, rising cycling star Mariah Wilson is found murdered.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This man was a fraud and relied heavily on deception.

Description of Will's character.

14:49WatchFeb 8, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.