Critical Questions | 48 Hours Full Episodes | Forensic Files

I was the first responding deputy to the scene that night of November of '92. too.
>> Oh, I'll never forget that night. A couple came in and reported that a car was sitting down at the offramp with the
lights on and the engine running. We opened the door and looked in with my flashlight
and that's when I saw this girl slumped over in the seat. There was a lot of blood in her hair. I really thought that
she was dead. didn't appear to be breathing at all. Her name was Angel Michelle Lawless. She
was a 19-year-old college student. She was approximately a half a mile from her residence when I found her.
There's a lot of things that happened that night is still a mystery. She leaves her boyfriend's house and she
was on her way home. It's possible somebody was following her up the interstate.
Maybe they knew her and they got her to pull over and stop. If she knew them, and I believe that she
did know them, I think she knew how bad they were and how serious this situation
was. And and maybe that's why she ended down at the bottom of the hill. Maybe she was running for her life and they
caught her. The beating started there. Once it started, it was it was like in a rage and there was no stopping. But the
worst part was yet to come whenever she was put back in the car. She was shot three times at point blank
range. This was cold blooded. >> I think this person is a monster. I was calling monster,
calling me a killer. Calling me a murderer. Doesn't need to get any worse than that.
Josh Kaser was convicted of the murder of Angel Michelle Lawless, serving 60 years at the state correctional
facility. The only thing I remember is when the verdict came back, I I went numb
and everything became like I was in a drum. Like all the voices other than my own
were at a distance. I was uh yelling that it wasn't me. I I didn't do it. There was people that came forward and
said that he had bragged about killing Michelle Lawless. >> I had never met Michelle Lawless.
>> The night that uh Michelle was murdered, I was 350 mi away. I'm an innocent man. People kept asking
me, "Do you have the right person in prison?" In the back of my mind, there was a a possibility that maybe Josh
didn't do this. If Josh Keyser didn't do it, I hate to think there's somebody still
out there that's responsible for this and got away with it all these years. I think they should be locked up like the
animal that they are. I would very much like to find out who that is. And I will.
>> The girl who knew too much. Tonight's 48 hours mystery. Heat. Heat. You know, when I look back, I wish that
maybe I'd have listened a little more or been there a a little more because she was always there for me.
>> More than 19 years have passed since 19-year-old Michelle Lawless was found bludgeoned and shot to death in her car.
Some of this stuff's hard to read. >> And it's still not easy for her best friend to read the cheery diary that
Michelle kept the last year of her life. >> January 1st, slept real late. Family
went to Mingo and I to Leon's. We loved and ate and talked and rented movies. Made me feel loved today and I am really
happy. Love him. Great first day of 1992. Melissa Gaines met Michelle when they were high school freshmen in Benton,
Missouri. >> I had just moved to Kelly High School. Didn't know anybody. Her little bubbly
self come bouncing up and introduced herself and it was all over. She was part of my life from that moment on.
While Michelle stood barely 5 feet tall, >> she was just little bitty. She was tiny.
>> She was no lightweight, she was a green belt in karate, halfway to earning a black belt.
>> I can't even remember anything she was ever scared of. She was fearless. >> Would it ever occur to you that Michelle
might be in danger? >> No. >> No. I mean, that never was a thought to me. Never.
Which is why what happened in the early morning hours of November 8th, 1992 was so unexpected, so shocking. How brutal a
murder was this? >> Very. >> That's Rick Walder, the man with the mustache. He was a 32-year-old part-time
deputy sheriff when he discovered the body of Michelle Lawless. >> This is Small Town, USA. You know, a lot
of stuff like this just doesn't happen. female's head is slumped over on the passenger seat.
>> Police documented the grizzly scene using blood evidence to reconstruct Michelle's final terrifying moments.
>> What appears to be blood splatters on the highway. >> I believe that she got out of the
vehicle and I think there was an argument >> pool of blood 16 18 in away from the
left. >> She ended up over the guard rail and down the bottom of the slope. A very
violent altercation took place. I believe that she was beat at the bottom and knocked unconscious. There was a lot
of blood. >> What appears to be a trail. >> There's some right there. There's some
right there. >> There was also blood under Michelle's fingernails and marks on her right hand and wrist
suggesting she had fought her asalants. I >> think she was she was fighting for her
life. I think she was fighting more than one person. There was a blood trail going back up
the hill. They carry her across the guardrail. >> Some blood dripped on the guard rail.
>> They put her back in the car. >> Appears to be a 380 caliber. >> It wasn't until investigators searched
her car and found three spent shell casings from a 380 handgun that they realized Michelle had been
shot, too. I think after she got back in the car, I think that's when she regained conscious and somebody wretched
through the window, shot her point blank in the face, shot in the back of the head, and then
one more time in the back. I can't imagine what she went through that night. At the same time Rick Walter was working
the crime scene, a 23-year-old local man walked into the sheriff's office with a
surprising story. >> Scared me. I've never really seen anything like that. >> Mark Abbott reported that he had also
seen the woman in the car. >> All I remember is her face was just matted and covered with hair and blood.
>> Did you know who it was? >> No. Abbott told the dispatcher he thought the woman had been shot and that
he tried to call 911, but a nearby pay phone was out of order. >> Pulled out there as fast I could and
went straight to the county sheriff's department trying to get uh an ambulance. >> As he was leaving, Abbott saw, as he
described to investigators, a white car with several dark-skinned Hispanic men driving away from the crime scene.
>> Well, a man for sure and two or three other people. Michelle's family got the news when
authorities came to their door. >> I answered the door. It's about 3:00 a.m., I guess.
>> Jason Lawless was 15 when his older sister was killed. >> I don't do this. Well,
>> how would you describe the effect on your family? Whoever shot my sister killed my family.
Every ounce of it, every fiber that held it together. The first suspect was, of course, the
last person to admit seeing Michelle alive. the boyfriend she stopped to see, Leon Lamb.
What time did she arrive at your house? >> She was only there about an hour or so,
so it it could have been 11:30 or or 12 at night. >> And what time did she leave?
>> Just right at 1:00 a.m. >> Was Michelle your first love? >> Yes, ma'am. >> January 6th. Called Leon and told him I
love him so much. And from the entries in her diary, Michelle clearly loved Leon, but they also argued frequently.
Michelle was hurt that Leon was seeing other girls. >> No matter how mean he is to me, I still
love him. >> But that night, says Leon, things were fine. Although he remembers Michelle was
reluctant to leave his house. >> Now that I look back, it seemed like that she knew something was wrong. Maybe
something was going to happen. Investigators looked closely at Leon, but they could find nothing to tie him
to the scene, and he passed a polygraph. Did you think it could be Leon? >> He never crossed my mind. No.
>> Why not? >> I just could never imagine him wanting to harm her like that ever.
>> Weeks went by with few other leads and no arrests. And then finally, four months after Michelle's murder, a break.
a big one. Several inmates at the county jail reported that a 17-year-old Illinois boy who had been held there
briefly on an assault charge had confessed to killing Michelle Lawless. His name was Joshua Keyser. When Mark
Abbott was shown a photo lineup, he picked out Keyser as the driver he saw near the crime scene.
>> Did you say, "Yeah, this is the guy I saw. I know this is it." >> No. >> What did you say? It looks like him and
that looks like the car. >> That's all investigators needed. Joshua Keyser was charged with the firstdegree
murder of Michelle Lawless. >> I sit there stunned. I immediately started to just be shaken
and confused and I didn't know what was happening. I just knew that something very real was
happening. >> Michelle's family and friends were just as stunned. Had you ever heard your
sister mention the name Josh Kzer? >> No. >> Had you ever heard the name Josh Keyser?
>> No. >> There was no truth to what they were presenting. >> Everything was a lie.
We want to know who did it, of course. We just would really like to know why. Was there a purpose behind it?
>> Valerie Eubanks is Michelle Lawless's kid's sister. Was it just a fluke? Was she at the
wrong place at the wrong time? Did she walk up on something? >> You know, you just want to deny it. You
don't want it to be true. >> Esther Lawless is their mother. What do you know about her last hours who she
was with? >> She was with some of her friends um from Sykeson that she hung out with all the
time driving around in Saxton. They would drive up and down Main Street and park in Malco parking lot or whatever
and hang out. It seemed to be a very typical, you know, Saturday night. >> In the days before November 7th and 8th,
did Michelle express any kind of concerns or being afraid of anybody? >> Not to us. No.
Do you think that Michelle would have stopped for a stranger on the street? >> Not at all.
>> We always kind of felt that someone she knew was involved and that's what made
her pull over and stop. >> Which is what made the arrest of Joshua Keys so puzzling. There's no mention of
him anywhere in Michelle's diary. >> Had you ever met her, heard her name? >> No. The first time I'd ever seen her is
when my attorney brought me a picture of her obituary. That's the first time I had actually ever seen
her face. When they began to ask me a a few questions about some murder, I was like,
what? You know, why are they asking me about this stuff? >> Josh certainly fit the type. He was a
17-year-old dropout and rumored to be a gang member. He came from a broken home,
bouncing between his parents and living on the street. >> You know, he had long hair. He was he
was dirty. He slept on the street a lot of times and and slept wherever he could. He had already had a couple
different runins with the law. >> I wasn't really that different than most kids that um don't have an advantage.
And I was just going through some very, you know, difficult struggles. Even though Josh insisted he was 350
miles away the night of the murder, investigators hauled him into the office of Bill Frell, the Scott County Sheriff
back then. >> He settles into his chair like split second later, literally comes halfway over his desk
and accuses me of killing, and I quote, his little girl, and that they were charging me with first-degree murder.
More than a year later, in June of 1994, Josh Keyzer got his day in court. >> What did you believe would happen at the
trial? >> I believe I would win. What were they going to present? They had blood underneath the victim's
fingernails. >> Was it yours? >> It was not my type. It was not my DNA. They did not have fingerprints, palm
prints, no weapon, no paper trail, no motive. But the prosecution did have those
jailhouse informants who took the stand and swore that Josh had confessed to the
murder and then a surprise witness. >> You went to the trial. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Although Chantel Krider could only see
the back of Kzer's head in court. She whispered to a friend that she thought she recognized him as a young man who
had argued with Michelle at a Halloween party just one week before her murder. This guy kept asking her out and she
refused. He was real arrogant and and very hateful. >> What do you mean hateful?
>> He called her a because she kept refusing and was like, "Leave me alone." Then he asked me out and I told him, I
said, "Are you crazy? You just asked my best friend out. There's no way." And he
slapped me in the back of my hair. Josh Kezer looked like him. >> It looked Yeah, it looked like him.
Finally, the connection the prosecutor needed. Chantel was questioned for hours by Sheriff Bill Frell
and became the state's star witness. So, you took the stand and what did you say on the stand? I believed it was
Josh. >> Also on the stand, Mark Abbott, the man who had reported seeing Michelle Lawless
in her car the night of her murder. Once again, he identified Josh as the driver
of the white car he saw near the crime scene. But the defense pointed out that Abbott had reported seeing several men
that night and had given conflicting descriptions. >> They chose to rely on the credibility of
a man who first claimed that it was a light-skinned black man, then a carload of Mexicans, and then they finally
settled on a pale white kid from Illinois. >> No physical evidence tied Josh to the
murder. This is the leather jacket that >> But the prosecutor told the jury the test showed there was blood on Josh's
jacket and a car he was driving. At the end of the trial, the jury was out just 3 and 1/2 hours.
>> I'm sitting there ready to jump and then the verdict came back guilty. guilty of secondderee murder in the
death of Michelle Lawless. >> The only thing I remember is when the verdict came back, I I went numb. It's
confused. I I remember hearing myself yelling and screaming. It wasn't me. It wasn't me.
>> What did you think when he yelled that leaving the courtroom? >> What else can he say but I didn't do it.
Josh Keyser sentence, 60 years in prison. Josh was sent to a notorious prison known as the Walls, the Missouri State
Penitentiary. Now closed, it was such a violent place. It was once called the bloodiest 47 acres in America. And for
nearly 10 years, Josh lived right here in housing unit 4, cell number 99. >> There was a point that I I got attacked
when I was in prison. Um, there were some men who wanted to rape me and they tried and they failed. Praise God.
But in the process of defending myself, I I got beat up quite bad and ended up in the hospital
on two occasions. I I prayed for death. I didn't want to wake up. We're going toward U where Michelle was
found that night. There's nothing about this whole case that that makes me feel good at all.
>> In 2005, more than 12 years after finding Michelle Lawless shot dead in her car.
>> Yeah, I go by I go by here a lot. >> Rick Walter was no longer a part-time deputy. He was now the sheriff of Scott
County. >> I think about the family and I can't imagine what the family went through.
For years, Walter had nagging doubts about the conviction of Josh Keyser. >> Talk to the average everyday lay person,
you know, and they they would tell me the same thing. This kid didn't do it. >> So, as first order of business, the new
sheriff did something extraordinary. He reopened Josh Keyser's case. You must know how incredibly unusual that is.
>> It's very unusual. Uh, in the law enforcement community, that's not a real popular thing to do. This wasn't a cold
case. This was a closed case. >> But Walter, with a wife and three children, quickly discovered that his
decision to get to the truth made some people very uncomfortable. >> You've had death threats.
>> Sure. Sure. >> Undeterred, Walter hired an investigator from another county, Brandon Cade, who
knew nothing about the case, to conduct an independent review of the files. At first, Cade thought he was wasting
his time. >> Reading the court transcripts, everything. They had witnesses that said
he confessed. It seemed pretty rock solid when I first read through it. >> But as he dug through the files, that
rock solid case began to crumble. >> Every bit of it, once once you really took and examined it piece by piece and
just looked at it a little harder, it it came apart. Remember those jailhouse informants
who claimed Josh had confessed? After getting better deals in exchange for their testimony, these three later
admitted they lied. And there's more. >> This is the leather jacket that belonged
to Josh Keyser. >> And this was evidence that supposedly tied him to the murder.
>> Right. The jury had been told that luminol tests done on this jacket and a car keys
are borrowed indicated drops of blood. >> We had it tested and uh in fact it wasn't blood.
>> It wasn't blood at all. No. >> And yet the jury in Josh's trial heard it was >> right.
>> And what about the surprise star witness Chantel Krider who connected Josh Keyser
to Michelle at the Halloween party? And in fact, did Chantel see Josh at a party? Did she see him
arguing with Michelle Laws? >> No. >> Was he even at that party? >> No. >> How do you know for a fact Josh Keyser
wasn't at that party? >> Don Pierce hosted the Halloween party? >> Cuz I know every guy that was there,
there was not a strange man to me. >> So why did Chantel testify that Josh was there? She now says she was pushed hard
by the then sheriff Bill Frell. >> Did you feel pressured in that room? >> Yes, ma'am. I did. I I really did.
He kept going on and on and on about how my testimony was that important because
I was what they needed to link them together. Just days after the verdict, Don Pierce
and another girl who was at the party went to Keyser's attorney and provided a sworn statement.
>> They contacted his defense attorney the next Monday and said that he was not at
our party. They had a list of all the kids that was there. >> That list was given to Sheriff Frell,
but somehow the information went nowhere. >> Everyone wanted to believe that this
thing was done and over with. and the guy was in jail. >> Jason Lawless believes there was a lot
of pressure on Sheriff Frell to find his sister's killer. >> He wanted a conviction. He wanted it
quick and he wanted it fast and he got it. >> And you're trying to make it right.
>> I'm trying and I will. >> Rick Walder was about to find out he wasn't all alone in his search for the
truth. that there was absolutely no reason why they convicted him. >> James Williams was a church volunteer at
the Missouri State Prison where Josh Keyser was serving out his sentence. >> I'm not an attorney. I had never read a
trial transcript before. I really knew nothing about any of this. But as I began to just read it and truthfully
just pray about it, I felt very clearly that I had to do something about this. Armed with her passion, Jane wrote a
detailed summary and found lawyers willing to take Kzer's case for free. In December of 2008, after spending more
than 15 years in prison, you seated. >> Josh finally got what he wanted. Judge Richard Callahan agreed to review
his case. Witness after witness testified for Josh. They followed her. They got the wrong guy,
>> including a tearful Chantel Crider. >> I regret it horribly. >> It affects me every day. An innocent man
has been locked up and he doesn't deserve to be. >> But will it be enough to convince the
judge to order a new trial? Two long months passed after the court hearing. Josh Keyser sat in prison,
afraid to get his hopes up. And then on February 17th, 2009, Judge Richard Callahan made an unusual ruling. Instead
of ordering a new trial, he went ahead and declared Josh Keyser an innocent man. As you sit here today, do you
believe that Josh Keyser had anything to do with the murder of Michelle Lawless?
>> Absolutely not. I I I believe he is innocent and I so found. >> I let out this just roar.
I mean, I I just let it out. I yelled. I shouted with everything I had in me. >> The very next day, Keyzer walked out of
prison. A free man for the first time in 16 years. He hugged his mother. >> He hugged Jane Williams, the social
worker who had championed his case. >> For years, he had had to carry that he was a monster killer who brutally killed
someone, which was not true. >> And then he turned to Sheriff Rick Walter. >> I wanted to thank him personally for
what he'd done. Both the prosecutor Kenneth Holshoff and former Sheriff Bill Frell have declined
our requests for interviews, but in court documents, Frell denies any wrongdoing.
>> Here we go. Take care. >> And Holshaw has said publicly he still believes Kzer's guilty. What do you
think of that? >> I think we done the right thing and we move on and and try to find out who done
this. Sheriff Walter still believes it was someone Michelle knew. >> There's people of suspicion. We have
right now about six or seven different people that, you know, we're definitely interested in and we're looking at
>> on that list. >> Still today, I'm a number one suspect in this murder. Am or am I not?
>> That's right. Mark Abbott, once a star witness for the prosecution. Now, Abbott's account that night raises
questions. questions starting with what he says he did when he found Michelle in
her car. >> I just reached in the window when I grabbed her and she came up. >> What's wrong with that story? The side
window was only partly open. Not wide enough, says the sheriff, to fit Mark's story.
>> You could reach through the window and grab somebody and set them up. Not the
way he said. >> Did you kill Michelle Lawless? >> No. >> But there are a lot of people in this
town who think you did. A lot a lot of people think I do. >> I've also spoken to a number of people
who have said, "You've bragged about it." >> One of them was Ron Burton, a gun shop
owner and longtime friend of Abbott's family. Burton remembers one chilling conversation with Abbott soon after Kzer
was convicted. >> He said, and I quote, "I took care of the bitch." And that's what he said. And he kind of
had a smirky little grin on his face. and I'll never forget it because it shocked me.
>> Do you think he was kidding? >> No. No, I don't. >> Abbott denies ever saying that.
>> You're saying that Ron Burton is lying? >> Lying. >> There's also an affidavit from a
narcotics detective who says Abbott told him that he didn't kill Michelle, but watched another man do it.
>> Were you there when someone else killed her? >> No. He's full of >> Why would so many people think you're
capable of something like this that they'd point the finger? >> I don't know what I did to him to anger
him like that. >> They're pointing the finger at you. Why? >> I do not have an answer to that. I do
not. >> Abbott says he never met Michelle, but her close friend Melissa Gaines has a
different recollection. Did Michelle ever mention a Mark Abbott? >> Yes. Yes, she did. She had said that she
had met Mark Abbott, one of the Abbott boys, and thought he was good-looking guy. And I told her, Michelle, you know,
don't mess with either one of the Abbott boys. You know better than that. >> In fact, there are two Abbott boys.
They're identical twins. >> Those boys, they would change places with each other, you know, from little
boys on. You can't tell them apart. Which is why to this day, the sheriff isn't absolutely sure which Abbott
brother came in to report finding Michelle. Two people in the sheriff's office say it was Matt.
>> So, was Matt Abbott involved? Was Mark involved? Matt said he never was, but yet we got two people that says he
walked in and reported it. They have him down as Matt Abbott. So, you know, that
could be a conspiracy, couldn't it? Mark and Matt Abbott were later convicted on federal drug charges in
1997, making some people in town wonder if maybe Michelle Lawless had something on
them. >> There's a lot of theories out there. One of them was that she had information on
their u their drug dealing. And there's a lot of money, you know, involved in that and that's motive enough for
somebody to to kill somebody. Along with Abbott, Sheriff Walter hasn't ruled out
Leon Lamb, the last person to admit to seeing Michelle Lawless alive. Did you have anything to do with
Michelle Lawless's death? >> Not at all. I loved her. >> You know that your DNA was found under
her finger nails? >> Yes, ma'am. >> And how do you explain that? >> We had sex that night. Um, and
we were both pretty passionate people. So, you know, time and again she did scratch me during sex.
>> But Leon confirms what Michelle wrote in her diary that the couple had frequent
arguments, especially when he saw her with other men. And in fact, the night of her murder, Michelle had run into
Leon while she was driving around with male friends. >> Did that bother you? It did. Um,
you know, because we had been together for three years. >> Did she leave the house upset with you
or angry with you at all? >> No, not at all. I mean, we, like I said, we we hugged, kissed, and said our good
nights, and that was it. >> These are only two of a halfozen suspects. >> Looked like from the pictures that there
was some blood transfer. >> And Sheriff Walter needs more than theories and speculation. And this is
kind of like behind the knee, right? >> He needs hard evidence. To find it, he went all the way to the Netherlands to a
place known as the crime farm. Halfway around the world from Scott County, Missouri, there's a rustic house
in the Netherlands known as the crime farm. >> I came here in hopes to find u some DNA.
We're we're looking to um maybe get some skin cells off of some of the uh some of
the clothing. >> But they did and they were >> Dutch forensic experts Selma and Richard
Ike began the painstaking process of trying to find a killer's DNA. jeans, one pair.
>> Using techniques not widely available in the US, Richard first examines the material with crime scopes.
>> What we're looking for is small stains >> which emit different kinds of light to
locate normally invisible spots of skin cells or other material. >> This is this actually Yeah, the fingers
up here. It's like this. >> Those spots will be tested for what's called touch or grip DNA. Number one,
>> they'll compare what they find with DNA samples from the people of interest on
the sheriff's list. They didn't have Mark Abbott's DNA, so they're using a sample from his
identical twin, Matt. Is the DNA of identical twins identical? Completely identical.
>> Um, normally it is. >> The Dutch team made an intriguing discovery that raises even more doubts
about Mark Abbott's story. of how he pulled Michelle upright in her seat that night.
>> And where exactly did you grab her? >> Uh, on a shoulder kind of might have been by the breast a little
bit. I I can't fully remember, but I know it wasn't too far. You know, >> if I were the driver.
>> Yeah, your shoulder. >> This shoulder. >> Yeah, on that side. But the Dutch couple say they found what
is likely Abbott DNA in other places on Lis's clothes. >> I mean, did you just grab the shoulder?
Did you grab more of her body to pull her up? Do you remember? >> I just grabbed her shoulder.
>> I I know what he said where he touched her. If it's somewhere else that that he
it was impossible for him to touch or that's that's where we find it, then he has a problem. In December 2009, Mark
Abbott was moved temporarily from the federal prison where he was doing time on those drug charges to Missouri for a
hearing on an unrelated charge. >> Walter. Hey. Good. I see you got a lot of busy things going on right here.
>> You're famous. >> Yeah, thanks. It's I I can't thank nobody but you. Abbott agreed to talk to
Sheriff Walter about the lawless case, even offering his own DNA sample, which was shipped off to the crime farm for
additional testing. And what about Leon Lamb? The Dutch confirm that Lamb's DNA is mixed with
Michelle's blood that was found under her fingernails. No surprise since Lamb says he had sex with Michelle earlier
the night she was killed. But they don't find anyone else's DNA. And that is something of a surprise since it appears
Michelle fought her attacker. >> She wouldn't take anything off anybody. She would fight if she if she needed to.
And um you know, I believe she she fought for her life that night. >> A reason to continue looking at Leon,
says Sheriff Walter. Although he points out Michelle may not have made contact with her asalent.
If she grabbed their clothing, they're she's not going to get any of of their skin cells. You know, unless she got
them in the face, there's a good chance that we're not going to get anything >> you up behind a computer.
>> So far, none of the team's findings point conclusively to any one suspect, but Selma Ike believes the findings can
help the sheriff get someone to talk. >> This DNA results, it can become a leverage for the sheriff to get things
starting up again. Sheriff Walter is hoping that those DNA results and further investigation will
allow him to go to a grand jury soon. A lot of people are really scared about this case.
>> Who are they afraid of? Or what are they afraid of? >> Maybe they're afraid of the people that
done this. 6 months after Josh Keyser was released, we took him back to the now closed
prison where he served most of his nearly 16 years in custody. It's now being redeveloped as a museum and office
park. >> What's it like to be in here? >> Strangely, way too familiar. And where did you sleep?
>> Right here. I lived in this cell. Swept this cell. Mopped this cell. >> When you look around here, how would you
describe your life now? >> Oh, I am blessed and highly favored. I'm living a dream.
>> Josh got a job working construction. I would like I mean this >> his own apartment has
>> controlling me and owning me all these years >> and he often speaks about his experience
advocating for judicial reform. >> He remains close with Jame Williams and enjoys strong support from his church
community. He insists he is not bitter. >> I don't look back my 16 years in prison
and get hateful and angry about all of it. It does not excuse what was done to me. There is no excuse for that. It was
wrong. It was evil. Which might explain why he was so eager to assist with the prison renovation?
Do you believe that Michelle's death will be solved? That you will find out who killed her? I have
to believe that. >> Yeah, >> I really do. >> To this day, Michelle Lawless's family
remains tormented by the mystery of her senseless murder. >> Whoever took her life needs to pay for
what they did. It's not going to bring her back. I know that. But it will help all of us rest a little easier.
I owe that to her family to find out um who done it and I owe it to this community to find out because if there's
somebody that's got away with murder, they need to pay for their crime. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey.
Crystal always had a great spirit about her. She knew what she wanted. She went for it. about to jump out of a perfectly
good >> airplane out of a plane. >> She could take care of herself. >> I did a punk cow like a girl.
>> She was obviously very beautiful, very attractive, but there was something about her. She radiated light. I worked
with Crystal as a flight attendant. She was definitely a goofball and she would even describe herself as a dork.
She kind of has like a gypsy soul. Like she was a flight attendant, you know, she just likes traveling.
>> I've been dating Crystal McDall for a few weeks now. We'd both been divorced and we knew exactly what we wanted. You
know, when you first meet somebody and you're kind of on cloud N, that's kind of how we were.
>> Tropical Storm Harvey is expected to strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall in Texas. Hurricane
warnings in place along most of the Texas coast. Friday morning, uh, August 25th is when
she left the house. >> She was actually living with her ex-husband. She was living in the master
bedroom downstairs and he had moved into a bedroom upstairs. >> He had such a passion of love for her.
It was almost like an obsessive, controlling love. >> She sent me a few text messages and um,
I replied back, but I never got a reply after that. So, I thought maybe she was just preoccupied with getting ready for
the storm. Across southern Texas, grocery store shelves are bare. People are rushing to stock up on last minute
supplies. >> At that point in time, I just started trying to find relatives or friends to
reach out to them to see if they knew where she was. And that's when I reached out to Jeff Walters. He's her uncle.
>> I get messages from her every morning. I get messages all throughout the day.
She's one of the most responsible people that I know. She never loses contact with us.
>> Chambers County Sheriff's Office. >> It's my niece. >> Okay, your niece. >> No one can get a hold of her. No one is
hurt from her. I'm really concerned. >> It's a serious storm. It's going to last
four or five days. And quite frankly, this is day day one. >> This morning, police are searching for a
Texas mother who mysteriously disappeared before Harvey hit. We are hampered by some of the flood issues,
but we are as aggressive as ever trying to locate Crystal McDow. >> I knew she wouldn't run away. She would
never be that type of person. So, that was >> Would she have ever left her kids?
>> No. >> Happy birthday to you. Automatically as a sheriff, I know that mothers
don't leave their children, and there's obviously never a good time for anybody to to become missing, but the timing was
terrible. >> Was there a part of you that just went, it can't get any worse? >> Um, on more than one occasion,
>> my gut tells me there's something catastrophically wrong with this scenario. By the time floodwaters receded,
authorities believed one of three men knew where Crystal was. >> Got the boyfriend, got the ex-husband.
Well, then the uncle was making such noise about everything, I started thinking about him. 21 months later, one
would be on trial for murder. Got to get a boat out here. >> Watch the water, man. Watch the lift.
left the baby. >> Baytown has picked up 32.9 in. >> The house is totaled. All my furniture
is totaled. >> Can you get to the top of your vehicle? >> It was horrible. The rain wouldn't stop.
It just would not stop. >> District Attorney Cheryl Leak says despite the horrific flooding from
Hurricane Harvey in Baytown, Texas, a suburb of Houston, the investigators were determined to find Crystal McDow.
We had deputies that were flooded out of their homes. One of our investigators lost his entire house. Our local Texas
ranger and his wife were flooded out of theirs. >> And yet they showed up for work.
>> Yeah. >> Every day. >> Yep. Everybody. >> All day looking for this woman. >> Everybody.
>> But weather was not their only challenge. If Crystal had met with foul play, the sheriff says there was a
growing list of people to question. She was extremely social. She had lots of friends. She had had been a flight
attendant for 10 years and then had become a real estate agent. >> On the top of the list, Crystal's uncle
Jeff, who cared for Crystal after her parents died when she was 11 years old. >> And our main objective is just to get
Crystal back home. He was the person that was extremely emotional and reported her missing, but
then he kept getting in the way of the investigation. >> Getting in the way by going through
Crystal's townhouse with other family members, potentially tainting important evidence.
>> This is not a game to us. This is not a hobby. This is what we do. >> Crystal's family even hired a private
investigator. But you don't bring on some amateur super sleuth wannabe when you're in the middle of a missing
person's investigation. >> Also on the list, the men romantically linked to Crystal. There was Steve
McDall, Crystal's ex-husband, a shipping manager. In June 2017, the couple went through what many described as an amicle
divorce after 10 years of marriage and two children, a boy Madden and a girl Maui. And what was his story of for
Friday morning? >> That she never showed up, that she was supposed to show up and and she just
never did. >> That morning at 7:01 on August 25th, Steve, who had the kids, says he
received a text message from Crystal. It read, "On my way. Do you have water? Looks like I may stay here with the
kids. It seems just like rain." But Uncle Jeff Walters says that Steve showed him another text that Crystal
allegedly sent around 9:30 that morning, saying she had changed her mind, and she
planned to stop by, pick up the kids, and take them to Dallas. >> They just said it just didn't sound like
her, and that nobody knew where she was, nobody had heard her voice, and they just knew that something wasn't right.
>> What did he tell authorities about their marriage, their relationship? >> He told them that they were fine. They
didn't mind the divorce and everything was just hunky dory. >> In fact, Crystal was living with Steve
and the kids in a house she helped him buy while her townhouse was being renovated.
>> He had such a passion of love for her that it was almost unhealthy. >> Cindy Seate is Crystal's aunt.
>> Like if she wanted her feet rubbed, he would rub her feet. If she wanted her hair brushed, she would brush her hair.
>> Is it fair to say that she wore the pants in the family? Yes, most definitely.
>> But over time, they grew apart. >> He didn't challenge her was the word. She wanted to be the best she could
possibly be. And Steve was okay with just stepping back, being, you know, the house person.
>> He was the dad. >> She was more of the provider. >> Christa McDall, Steve's daughter from a
previous relationship, was at Texas A&M University. When she heard the news, Crystal was missing. cuz he loved being
around the kids. They're his life. >> She was his life and they were his life. >> To the sheriff, it certainly didn't seem
like Crystal's ex-husband knew anything about her disappearance. >> But he was very cooperative of us. Very,
very kind, very friendly, and he immediately says that he wants to help. >> It was Crystal's new boyfriend, Paul
Hargrave, who the sheriff really wanted to speak with. Paul owned a local jewelry store and had been dating
Crystal for a few weeks. >> The last place that we have her is in the Baytown area leaving uh Paul's
house. >> She seemed in love with him. They seemed perfect together. She was happy.
>> So happy that Crystal had posted on Facebook just two days before she disappeared. I've never been happier in
my whole life than I am right now. God is so good. >> We had talked about going to Europe and
she got a ticket to go with me to to Belgium next month. >> Investigators would learn Crystal had
also invited Paul to go on a family cruise. The only caveat, Steve, her ex-husband, was going too.
>> And I told her, "Well, gosh, I'd love to go, but I think it's going to be awkward
for me to be there with the ex-husband." So, she had asked him to refrain from going, and I know that that didn't go
well. She had stressed to me that he was pretty upset about that. >> Which is why Paul said he was deeply
concerned when Crystal disappeared after she left his home in her black Mercedes,
which was also missing. >> I uh hope and pray that, you know, she's okay and she's going to come back to us.
>> So, he went on national TV and spoke with CBS This Morning's Michelle Miller.
>> What do you think happened to her? I'm not sure, but we're just trying to um focus on um
on finding her and um assisting the police with whatever we can assist him with.
But Sheriff Hawthorne says he became suspicious after Paul failed to tell authorities about security footage from
his home, showing the last time Crystal was seen alive. >> She actually walked right through this
living room at at 7:09. One of my cameras picked that up. I think she was seen leaving the driveway at 710.
>> Paul shared the tapes, not with investigators, but with the media. So immediately we're like, well, why would
he be turning it over to the media, but yet my investigators don't have that those videos
>> intentional or oversight on his part? >> I don't know cuz it it it took us a few
days to get it. So obviously every hour that ticked off, he became the sheriff's
person of interest. That's for sure. Surrounded by the chaos of both a natural disaster
and suspicious characters, the case stalled mostly, says the sheriff, because investigators couldn't agree on
which direction to go in. >> Some of the investigators that were involved in this would say, you know, I
I think it's Steve. And some would say, I still can't get over Jeff. And I'm still looking at Paul.
>> See this black car right here? this Mercedes. >> But then finally, a break in the case.
Crystal's Mercedes was spotted by a friend. >> I will give the family credit for
finding that vehicle. >> So now they knew where the car was, but who put it there? And what would they
find inside? >> Weather and time deteriorate. Uh evidence, physical evidence. The cops were here busting indoors
to find out where this lady is. >> How are you, Brian Hawthorne? Sheriff Hawthorne could not believe what he
found when he arrived at Crystal's Mercedes in the Motel 6 parking lot. >> Well, you could get in the car because
it was unlocked and the keys were sitting on the console. >> Did that strike you as odd?
>> Oh, very odd. My criminal investigation captain told me, he said, "I feel like
it's been staged, >> set up for someone to take it." >> Correct. But whoever had left the car there to be
taken did not anticipate the massive flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
>> The water had risen. You couldn't get it out of the parking lot. >> And that was finally a break in your
direction. >> Correct. >> Crystal's Mercedes was finally towed from the motel and processed, but
floodwaters in Houston made it impossible to get results back from the crime scene lab.
>> A lot of their majors and captains and sergeants and and investigators. Homes were going
underwater. >> It was chaos for everybody. >> There just a lot of moving parts at this
point. >> We're just going to get this thing started, y'all. And and >> 48 hours was granted unprecedented
access inside the sheriff's war room. >> You know, in interviewing Stephen, he was telling us he was making calls from
certain locations. He didn't make those. He was actually mobile. He is denying knowing Paul existed until 2 days ago. I
don't believe that >> the investigation had taken a toll on Da Leak who had lost all hope.
>> I know she's dead. >> There has been no activity on any of her credit cards, debit cards, nothing, you
know, and she doesn't have a cell phone. Nobody leaves anymore without a cell phone.
Sheriff Hawthorne, deputies and Texas Rangers expanded their focus from finding Crystal to finding her killer.
>> We've got a handful of folks that need to be interviewed. What else do you guys
see that's up on this board that we need to get done because this stuff's going to start drying up on us if we don't
jump on it? >> Paul is just soaking up to all the attention. >> Yeah, he is. And
>> he loves it. >> And he's best buddies with Uncle Jeff, too. That's what I don't understand.
It's getting more and more interesting about Uncle Jeff, isn't it? As of about midnight last night, the net
has widened and it's husband, boyfriend, uncle. >> Early in the investigation, the top
persons of interest had been brought in for questioning. In his police interview, Paul pointed the finger at
Steve. >> She was concerned about him finding out. >> Did you have anything to do with the
disparities? >> Absolutely not. I don't understand even that's been insinuated and I don't
like it. >> Jeff Walters was no fan of Crystal's new boyfriend, Paul. >> He reminded me of animals and he creeped
me out. And Steve stuck with his story that Crystal never showed up at his house.
>> We polygraphed two of them >> and and >> Steve and Paul. >> Steve and Paul. That is correct.
>> And how did they do? >> Um Steve failed. >> And I'll let Paul tell you how he did.
>> He insinuated he didn't use those terms, but he call me a liar. >> But security cameras don't lie. Focusing
on the location of the car, deputies began gathering video from nearby businesses.
A camera at a Shell gas station next door to the motel appears to have captured one of their three persons of
interest. >> It looks like he's getting out and he's putting something in the trash can and
he's stuffing it all the way down like to his elbow, >> like a bag or >> It looked like clothing is what it
looked like. Deputies say it is Steve McDow. And it's what McDow keeps glancing at that makes the investigators
sit up and take notice. The Motel 6. >> You can see that he's looking over and he's looking to see if the car is still
there and it was. We recovered the trash can and the problem is all the contents had floated
out of it because of the hurricane. >> Because of the storm. Then investigators receive different security video showing
Steve in action right in the Motel 6 parking lot. >> You just see somebody park the car and
and someone that that has that resembles her ex-husband getting out of it. >> And what does that say to you?
>> Um says that my person of interest is has changed. All right. Remember I'm I'm the
one that's still looking at Paul. The videos are purely circumstantial evidence, but
>> that's where I'm going with this. >> For the first time, investigators are all heading in the same direction.
>> Confront Steve about where is she? >> But Steve was still insisting he had nothing to do with Crystal's
disappearance. >> This is um what I carry. >> So, they turned to someone else in the
family's inner circle for help. Crystal's aunt Cindy Crate. >> I said, "Cindy, I need you to stay close
to Steve." >> I said, "We we need communication, and he may not communicate with us, and he
may communicate with you." >> Every day, I was just praying every day that I went that he would say something.
>> Investigators were becoming increasingly frustrated. >> When you have no body, that's a huge
hindrance. >> The way someone's killed, where they're found, that generally can give you an
idea of who killed them. Hi, guys and gals. We've been asked by uh Chambers County to to go ahead and search for
Crystal. >> Deputies called upon an experienced volunteer search and rescue organization, Texas,
to help find Crystal. >> Let's remember that this place flooded real bad. So, if she was dumped in this
area, let's hope that she got washed up in maybe some tree lines and stuff did not
end up in the water. >> Paul joined the searchers and Uncle Jeff Walters pitched in.
>> He's offered a $10,000 reward and I offered a $5,000 reward. >> The more investigators dug in, the more
things didn't quite add up. >> This is a case about lots of secrets. double lives on many people's parts.
It's one of those cases. I think I've seen it all. I've never seen anything like this
before. >> What are you doing today? >> About to jump out of a perfect airplane.
>> Have a plane. Whose idea was this? >> Steve. >> Steve, your idea. >> 5 years before her disappearance, it
seemed like Crystal and Steve McDall were on top of the world. >> How high are we right now? What does
that say? >> 6,000 ft. >> The jump had been a 33rd birthday gift from Steve. >> Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday. Hey, high five. Hey, look. Your husband lived, too. What a bonus.
>> Now, Crystal's ex-husband was the main person of interest in her disappearance.
There were those security tapes, and DA Cheryl Leak says they had discovered Steve had lied about their so-called
friendly divorce. What did you find out as the investigation went along? >> That he didn't want the divorce. What we
were getting from the family is that he was distraught. had always been distraught every time she tried to leave
him. >> It was early on when things started not going well. >> LJ Adams, a bail bondsman and Crystal's
good friend says the relationship was troubled right from the start. >> Judging from the things that she said,
Steve McDall is a very, very self-centered, selfish, manipulative person. He just got to where he wanted
things his way and he wanted it that way and right now. And if it didn't work out
or she couldn't do it at that moment, it would be a temper tantrum. >> In 2008, just one year after they
married, Crystal filed for divorce. But LJ says she didn't go through with it back then because Steve had made
threats. >> It was always like, "Well, if you leave me, you know, I'm just going to kill
myself." >> Emotional blackmail. >> Yeah, kind of. Sort of. But he knew what to say and what to do.
>> Come on. But Christa McDow says her father is not that man. She knows him as a loving
father with a playful side. >> He's a really goofy guy. Like that's the best way I could describe him.
>> Fun guy. >> Fun guy. >> And even though her father was in and out of her life for most of her
childhood, there was a brief period of time when she lived with Steve and Crystal.
>> I was in high school, so it was like 8th grade to sophomore year. I guess I was
14 to about 16. >> She admits the relationship between Crystal and her father was turbulent,
but says he was not the only one at fault. >> Both weren't perfect and they both had
their issues. I just think that they were very toxic for each other and they made each other crazy. Whenever they
were together, it was never a happy ending. >> She was hopeful things would get better
once they finally got divorced. But after Crystal officially filed the paperwork in February 2017,
Christa says her father began acting strangely. >> So in March, I noticed that my dad had
like been acting weird on Facebook. Then he also changed his profile pictures to
like it was a grave and then it was a grim reaper like profile picture and then he made it a picture of him and
Crystal and then he took that off and then he made it say no profile picture >> in a short period of time. This was all
in like a matter of like 2 3 days. >> Sheriff Hawthorne would learn that shortly after Crystal filed for divorce.
She had called 911 and told police that Steve had disappeared with their kids. >> She had given Steve the kids and he
essentially did not bring the kids back >> for a few days. >> For a few days. >> And did he threaten to hurt himself and
the kids? had kind of put out an allegation and a threat that, you know, he would u harm himself and Crystal and
and the kids. Steve eventually returned the children unharmed and no charges were filed. He
later explained to his daughter that he had become upset after discovering that Crystal had numerous affairs while they
were married. >> But he said he was still in love with her. >> Yes. and he said like, "I love her with
all my heart, but I just can't let her keep tearing me down like this." >> So, he was okay with getting a divorce
at that point. >> He was accepting of it. He thought it was for the best. He thought maybe he
could like get his life in order then. But Crystals on Cindy says Steve was just not ready to let go. Remember that
cruise they were supposed to go on? Cindy says Steve actually planned to propose to Crystal again.
Even though they had just been divorced, >> he literally bought some clothes for
both of them, some a white dress and a white suit, and literally he was going to propose.
>> But Christa says her father told her this was all his ex-wife's idea. >> My dad told me just the other day that
she had mentioned, "How would you feel about getting remarried on the cruise?" It's like a fresh start.
>> Do you think that's true that she said that to him? >> Yeah. >> I don't believe Crystal would ever lead
him to believe that. Mhm. >> I really don't. This was a fantasy in his head. >> I believe that.
>> In early August, it seemed Crystal had moved on and was dating Paul Hargrave.
Cindy Seate says at first Crystal tried to keep it a secret from Steve even though she was still living with him.
>> And she said, "Aunt Cindy, I have to keep this quiet. He will kill me." But by August 23rd, just two days before she
disappeared, Crystal made that Facebook post and had disinvited Steve from the cruise.
Da Leak thinks this might have been the start of Steve's final unraveling. >> Steve was probably more upset about not
going on the cruise because he thought they were going to rekindle their romance.
>> And there was more. >> She was a financial meal ticket to him. LJ Adams says Crystal had recently
decided to cut Steve off financially >> because he was just spending money just spending money just ridiculously just
spending money. And at that point she just said I can't do this anymore. Steve, >> was it just losing her, Cheryl, or was
it he was losing his whole life? Someone else was sliding into his position. >> His whole life. his whole lifestyle.
>> As cleanup from Hurricane Harvey was underway, investigators had cleared Paul
Hargrave and Crystal's uncle, Jeff. >> Thank you. I appreciate >> They were now convinced Steve McDow had
the motive to murder his ex-wife and that he had dumped her car at the Motel 6. But how did he get home? This
security video from a nearby Walmart would provide that answer. >> We spot a bicycle on the service road,
Interstate 10 service road. >> Investigators were convinced it was Steve McDow. For you, the surveillance
footage is the turning point. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> Authorities were closing in on Steve
McDow and the stakes were only getting higher because he still had the children. We could potentially be
minutes or hours away from somebody losing control >> again. >> Again, >> it's almost life or death for these
kids. >> Correct. He kept coming in and talking. He'd come in every day and sit there 5
hours or so and just, you know, nope. Wasn't me and wasn't me. >> District Attorney Cheryl League knew
Steve McDow had killed Crystal. But knowing it and proving it were two different things. We didn't have enough
to arrest him. >> And she says McDow seemed to understand that. >> Was he arrogant, helpful, cooperative?
>> Arrogant and aloof. It was a game. He's just he's just gaming us. He thinks at this point we have no direct
evidence. We just have circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence has as much
weight in a court as direct evidence, but you just need more of it. Lick says the evidence that finally
brought the case home for her was that security video from this Walmart showing how McDonald probably got home after
ditching Crystal's car. >> We had him behind the bike and riding it out. What happens next? And bring him
back in. >> Day after day, investigators were telling McDall they were successfully
gathering more and more evidence. a ploy to wear him down. >> He was just like melting. You know, you
could see that it was getting to him. You could tell he wasn't eating. He wasn't sleeping. His face had sunken in.
>> There's no telling what Steve may be trying to to tell the kids. That's >> Sheriff Brian Hawthorne says
investigators were under pressure, too. >> You know, we can't wait. >> And deeply concerned about just how much
might be too much for McDow. >> At the time when all this is taking place, he is got custody of his
children. I kept thinking, "He's going to kill those kids. He's going to kill those kids."
>> Once again, Steve voluntarily came in for questioning. But Chery Leak wasn't taking any more chances. She'd been in
touch with family and protective services and convinced the agency to remove the Mcdow kids from his home that
evening and place them with their aunt Cindy. We knew psychologically that that would be the final straw for him, his
kids being gone. >> He would have nothing left, >> right? >> And what was his response?
>> He just about collapsed. >> Exhausted, McDow said he wanted to go home, but promised he would return in
the morning, ready to talk. >> He said, "I'll tell you everything." Without enough evidence to arrest him,
and knowing a full confession was their only real chance of finding Crystal's body, the sheriff allowed his prime
suspect to walk out the door. That was a big risk that he wouldn't run or kill himself.
>> It It was a risk. I >> I've been a crime reporter for 25 years. I have never heard of a department
saying, "Go home and get your affairs in order." I mean, that's the part I go, "Really?" like they let him.
>> But see, this is the thing. We had the kids. >> And taking them is a moment Sheriff
Hawthorne will never forget. >> We knew that these kids were probably never going to see their mother again
>> or their father >> as a free man >> or their or their father as a free man. >> Can you give me a minute?
>> Yes. both of the children came out and gave every one of us bear hugs. And that's when you realize the the
totality and the impact that um family violence has on children. A few hours after Steve McDow's youngest
children were taken from him, he summoned his older daughter, Christa, to come home from college immediately.
>> I was at work and I work at a bar, so I work pretty late. >> Christa McDall says she was confused
when her father texted her in the middle of the night. >> He said, "Your little brother and sister
are going to go live somewhere else for a while." >> She was already planning to head home
later that day. And he was like, "Is there any way you can be here sooner? You probably won't see me for a while
unless you come see me in person before then." And so I got in my car 3:30 in the morning, drove all the way to
Baytown. >> 2 hours later, it was the beginning of the end of Christa's life as she knew
it. >> It was dark still. I knocked on his door and he let me in. He told me that at
10:00 a.m. the rangers were going to come pick him up. She says at first her father seemed more
annoyed than anything. >> Did you think he had anything to do with it at that point?
>> No, not at all. Not a single like hint that he had anything to do with that. >> Did you ask him if he had anything to do
with it? >> Um yes. I'd asked him multiple times like like are you guilty? And he would
just like no. Like I just don't understand like why I'm getting blamed. And the entire time he pleaded to me
like his innocence. >> Christa says though clearly anxious, it mostly seemed like her father was just
trying to take care of business, giving her photo albums, financial statements, even the keys to his beloved Mustang.
Until the conversation took an abrupt turn. He looks at me and he says, "The rangers told me that if I tell them
where the body is that they'll lessen my punishment." And I said, "Well, you don't know where the body is. Like, how
would you know?" And he was like, "What if it's true?" And I asked him, "Do you know where the body is?" And he just
like looked away from me and just like baldled his eyes out. And at that point, I knew like he knew where it was.
>> What did you think at that point? I don't know. What do you think? Like if someone that
you love and you've sat here and defended the whole time tells you they're guilty, what do you think?
>> Did you think he had actually confessed to you at that point? Even though he never said the actual
words >> cuz I asked him what he did over and over. I begged him to tell me and he was
just like, "I just I can't tell you what I did." And then um all of a sudden like
we heard a noise and he stood up and he was like, "They're here." And then all of a sudden he's he's gone.
>> Yeah. I literally dropped to my knees and just cried. Police brought Steve McDow back to the
station to deliver his much anticipated confession. But the man who had kept them guessing about so much for so long
was about to make them guess again. >> He's like yanking your chain back and forth. And I had I'd had it at this
point. I had had it. Saturday, September 9th. >> I didn't sleep much. Literally, I I
could not wait for daylight to come up. >> Steve McDall agreed to meet with Sheriff
Hawthorne and the investigation team one more time and finally provide an answer
to the question, "What happened to Crystal?" My understanding from our communication
was that you were kind of ready to be honest about some things. >> We needed a confession.
>> Mhm. >> We needed somebody to take us to her body. >> Sheriff Hawthorne watched in a nearby
room as McDall shared the details of the morning Crystal came home after a night
with her boyfriend. >> I love her. I would do anything of my life for her. Right.
>> I think they got into an argument when she got home and I think he was mad that
she had stayed out all night. >> And then when she told you that she didn't love you anymore.
>> Yeah. When she told you she didn't want to be with you or have anything to do
with you. >> And it seems that was enough for Steve McDow to make a terrible choice.
>> He describes and essentially shows that he strangled her from behind. So she had
no idea he was coming. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Okay. Like a chokeold or something? Did she say anything when that was going
on? Or did she fight or what happened? >> Just scared her. >> How did you eventually know that that
she was no longer alive? >> And what' you do after that? I come replacing the bag.
>> And then you put her in the car. >> I t put her in the trash bag and put her in the car.
>> And then McDall says early the following morning, he drove off to dispose of Crystal's body, leaving their two
children home alone. >> The body was found right in here. >> McDow leads investigators here.
a densely wooded area off an access road not far from his house. >> Steve drives the detectives and the
investigators out here. >> Our cameras were the only ones allowed at the crime scene as the investigators
began their arduous work. The terrain was pretty tough because it was a lot of work just trying to clear
the trees and the limbs so that we could bring the body out. At the end of a long search,
the sheriff and DA share a moment. It was just relief. >> Today at 2:45 p.m., Crystal's body was
discovered and Steven Wayne McDall, 44, has been arrested, charged with murder. >> If he had not told you exactly where the
body was, would she have ever been found? >> No. Once Steve McDall showed investigators
where the body was, he was brought here to the Chambers County Jail. Now, even though he confessed to strangling
Crystal, that may not be the end of it. In Texas, a defendant can claim they killed someone out of sudden passion,
which could mean as little as two years in prison, which is exactly what Steve McDall did
in June 2019 during his trial for murder. McDall testified that Crystal's death was a result of a spontaneous hug
that got out of control, but DA Lee gave the jury a different point of view. >> Do you think this was premeditated? Yes,
without a doubt. >> And this was not just he snapped. >> Well, you can snap and still think about
it. I think he just decided if I can't have her, nobody can. >> After 5 days of testimony, evidence, and
argument, it only took three and a half hours for the jury to reach a verdict. Guilty. One day later, the same jury
sentenced Steve McDall to 50 years in prison for the murder of his ex-wife. >> We've been very fortunate. The jury saw
it the same way the law enforcement officers in the district attorney's office did.
>> It feels good. I think they made the right decision. So, with 50 years, he will have to serve at least 25 uh before
he's eligible for parole. >> I hope he never makes it out of there. He deserves whatever he gets
>> for the kids. It's just a sad situation all the way around. >> Both parents are gone now. Basically,
those kids are motherless and fatherless just like Crystal was. >> Happy birthday to you.
>> Which brings us back to the other victims in this case, the children. It was Aunt Cindy who was tasked with
telling an eight-year-old boy and his 5-year-old sister the truth. And I just grabbed their hands and I
said, "We found your mommy and she's in heaven and your daddy's in jail for taking your
mother's life." And at that point, Madden looked up and he said, he said, "Okay." He said, "I can deal
with this." And Madden grabbed his sister and they hugged and he said, "I love you, Maui." He said, "I will always
take care of you. And Christa promises to always be a part of their lives. I thought about my
brother and sister and I was like, they have no one. I need to be the bigger person right now and I need to be the
person they look up to. >> Crystal loved them with every part of her being. She wanted them to have the
wonderful life. >> You think they'll be okay? I know they will be without a shadow of a doubt.
Look at they're madly in love. They are. Look at that. Nancy Sunenfeld was found shot in the
head. The police report says she was in a second floor bedroom. She later died. >> We always thought a wonderful couple
because they're always laughing. >> Attractive and young and you just couldn't imagine a happier couple.
>> Kurt Sonfeld, he was this debonire, really buff, eloquent young man. You know, everybody
who met him liked him. He was a videographer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
>> This is a box of some of my things from FEMA. >> My name is Kirk Mitchell. I'm a reporter
at the Denver Post back in 2001. Kurt went to 911 and he uh videotaped ground zero.
Nancy Senfeld, she was a star in her own right. She got a well-paying job as in an advertising agency. They're a very
hip couple. They would go to all the trendy bars in downtown Denver. They went on trips. They went to Amsterdam.
They went to South America. They had the a beautiful relationship. January 1st, 2002, New Year's Day, get a
call uh of a shooting. Individual frantically calling the police saying his wife had shot herself. The evidence
didn't really match up with what we were being told occurred. 13. >> We were questioning nearly from the
start uh that this had anything to do with a self-inflicted injury and was more consistent with a homicide.
>> Curt Sonnenfeld was arrested and charged with his wife's death, which he insisted
was a suicide. But prosecutors suddenly dropped the charge, saying they did not believe they could prove Sonnenfeld
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. After he was released from jail, he took a trip to Argentina.
>> My world had been completely destroyed. And uh when Paula and I first met, she
was the reward for all the suffering that I had been through. >> He had fallen madly in love with this
young woman and decided that he was going to stay in Argentina. Two years later, prosecutors filed new
charges against Sunenfeld. But Suninenfeld had moved to Argentina and prosecutors can get him extradited.
>> Kurt Sinenfeld went there so that he didn't have to face trial in Colorado. >> Do you believe he's going to get away
with murder? >> It's possible. >> Without a doubt, everybody knew was a suicide.
>> He is innocent. There's nothing else to say. It's pretty incredible what he's pulled
off. >> My name is Curt Sonnenfeld. This is my story. >> I'm Aaron Morardi. Tonight on 48 hours,
the strange case of Kurt Sonnenfeld. Kurt Sonnenfeld has built a new life for himself in Argentina.
Here he's out of the grasp of US authorities who want him extradited so that they can try him for the murder of
his first wife. There are people in Denver, Colorado who think Kurt killed Nancy. What do you say?
>> Well, they are wrong. >> Kurt staunchest supporter is his second wife, Pala. They met at a restaurant
when he arrived in 2003 and married just 40 days later. They're now the parents of twin girls. You can tell just looking
at Kurt and especially after you talk to him that he is a beautiful person. Kurt
is incapable of even killing a cricket or an ant. Paula has been at Kurt's side as he's
waged a public campaign to clear his name. >> You were innocent for the USA justice.
>> Yes, I'm innocent. This is from a 2005 TV appearance in Argentina. >> On January 1st, uh, 2002,
my wife committed suicide with a single gunshot wound to the side of her head. The first policeman that came in said,
"Women don't commit suicide." That was when the the lies began. But authorities in Denver believe it's
Kurt who's lying. Back in the US, Nancy Sonnenfeld's family has been waiting for
justice for more than 14 years. Amy Leak is NY's sister. >> A lot of times when people have somebody
murdered in their family, it goes to trial and it's over. And it's still painful, but you can move on. We can
never have closure. In the year before Nancy died, the two sisters had grown closer than ever.
>> We were finally becoming the best friends that I had wanted us to be. >> I didn't forget.
>> She was a strong person. She was very sophisticated. I always thought she was
beautiful and like I saw her as being perfect. >> Do you remember when your sister met
Kurt? >> Yes, I do. I remember how excited she was. She said she met her soulmate.
>> And there's Uncle Kurt. Hi, Uncle Kurt. >> We loved Kurt. He became part of our
family. He was fun to be with. He was good at telling stories. He was pretty much good at everything he did. He had
great charisma. >> Kurt traveled extensively as a freelance cameraman for FEMA, filming natural
disasters. He also documented weapon storage and disposal sites. His biggest assignment was being sent to ground zero
as one of two official videographers. >> I saw this opening that smoke was pouring out of and it looked just like
the entrance to hell to me. And >> the footage shot by Kurt and his partner was seen all over the world. And Kurt
seemed to revel in the attention he was getting appearing in magazine articles and posing with celebrities. I must say
that Kurt liked attention and Kurt liked to be in the limelight. >> Leslie Lindberg is NY's cousin. And what
did she think of that? >> She was proud of him. She She loved him. >> But there were problems beneath the
surface. Leslie says Nancy confided in her that Kurt had a problem with drugs and alcohol and it was putting a strain
on their marriage. >> Nancy was very concerned about his drug use. She talked to him about it and he
said that he would stop, but he didn't. >> She saw him going downhill and she was
scared he was going to destroy his life. >> The last straw came when the couple took
a trip to Thailand around Thanksgiving of 2001. >> It was the turning point that affected
the rest of her life. >> Nancy called both her sister and her cousin from Thailand, saying Kurt had
disappeared. She said she found him days later in a hotel room with two women doing drugs. Kurt and Nancy returned to
the US separately. >> I even confronted him. I said, "Kurt, what did you do in Thailand?" I said,
"Even, what kind of drugs did you do?" And his response to me was everything I could get my hands on.
>> Nancy filed for a separation. Do you think she intended to actually divorce him?
>> Mhm. We talked about it and she did. She was planning on moving on. >> This close friend of the couple who
asked us not to show his face says Kurt was worried about money. >> Did Kurt want this divorce?
>> No. He was angry when they spoke about divorcing would ruin their finances. Also, I think he was worried about the
house cuz they owned a house together. >> Had Nancy cut off some of the credit cards
>> that he had? Yeah, she was still more the bread winner of the family and did what she did to try and cut back on his
spending. >> Despite their problems, Nancy and Kurt spent New Year's Eve together. He says
they had arrived home from a party around 1:30 a.m. and just minutes later, NY's life came to a violent end.
>> When I heard the gunshot, I ran into the room where she was. I saw her there bleeding profusely. I was
hysterical. Uh the first thing that I did was to to hold her and then I jumped up and called
the police. >> We realized so really very very quickly that that this was not a suicide. This
was a homicide investigation. >> Retired Denver detective Jonathan Priest says police were immediately suspicious
of Kurt's account. Anytime there's someone else present when somebody kills themselves, those are characterized as
attended suicides. Those bother me. >> But why do attended suicides make you uncomfortable?
>> Attended suicides, people rarely kill themselves in front of other people. Most suicides occur when people are
alone. >> And there was something else that troubled first responders. >> There was a very fine mist of uh what
appeared to be blood staining on his face. The mist staining suggested he was was near her at the time of the firearm
discharge. >> That this was blood spatter at the time the gum went off. >> Yes. >> Kurt also had a bruise forming around
his right eye. Possible evidence of a struggle. But most telling to the officers on the
scene was the unusual location of NY's gunshot wound towards the back of her head. We asked Dr. Amy Martin, who was
Denver's assistant medical examiner, to demonstrate >> it was a little bit above uh the ear
hole and behind her ear hole on the right side of her head. So, uh in in approximately this area here. Now,
you've got to angle the gun so that so that it's going upwards and also a little bit behind.
I mean, this is very awkward. I don't think I have ever seen a clear self-inflicted gunshot wound in that
part of the head. >> And what about the fact that it's what you call a non-cont that it's not up
against her head? The gun was not held up against her head. >> That's unusual. Also, uh it does occur.
When I look at at her wound, um I I just would wonder why why would you why would
you shoot yourself that way? If you're going to shoot yourself, why wouldn't you just shoot yourself in the temple?
It's a lot easier to hold the gun to your temple. >> Nancy Sonel died in the hospital later
that morning, New Year's Day 2002. She was 36 years old. Dr. Martin ruled her death a homicide, and police believe
Kurt was her killer. When Curt Soninfeld was brought in for questioning, that's when he first
learned his wife Nancy had died. He broke down, started crying, and started stating that his wife had shot herself
and began offering suggestions as to what we as law enforcement should be doing to help prove that that that she
shot herself, >> insisting that detectives test NY's hands for gunshot residue. >> The investigators are wondering, why is
he telling us this rather than, you know, my god, my my wife has been shot. what happened.
>> But as the questioning continued, says former detective John Priest, Kurt admitted the marriage had been in
trouble. >> She was upset with him over a trip that they had taken to um Thailand. She was
upset with him for using drugs, according to him. And Kurt told police it was possible they had fought about
his drinking that night and that Nancy probably saw no hope. What do you think happened that night?
>> Maybe she was kicking him out. >> Kurt was arrested for firstdegree murder within hours of NY's death.
The physical evidence thought detectives just didn't seem consistent with suicide.
Using a mannequin and a couch similar to the Soninfelds, Priest demonstrates his
theory. >> You believe Kurt Sinfeld shot his wife. Do you believe he was sitting next to
her on the couch as he did it? >> It would make sense. Yes. >> This is where my radiating spatter is
coming from is this exit wound. So, I'm looking at something like this. >> Priest also believes Nancy was moved
because of the odd position she was found in. She was leaned back against the the back of the couch and her head
was slightly back up against the wall. >> All right. If first responders first found her sitting like this, what was
the evidence that made you believe she had been moved? >> On the end of the couch over here, very
large saturation pattern of blood that's coming from her head and then created a
very large pool on the floor. She had to be tipped over like this at some point.
>> Nancy. >> Hi. Investigators believe Kirk tipped Nancy over so he could get up after shooting
her. And Priest thinks Nancy lay there bleeding for at least 10 minutes before Kurt propped her back up and called 911.
>> The pool of blood that's over here that was created over a good period of time.
That delay, says Priest, gave Kurt time to clean up. And it could explain why gunshot residue was found on Kurt's
clothing, but not his hands. >> He had more than enough time to wash his hands. The fact that he has gunshot
residue on him at all is what's significant because he claims not to have been in the room when the firearm
was discharged. >> But if she was murdered, how did gunshot residue get on NY's hand? And why is her
fingerprint, not Curt's, on the gun's magazine? >> Do you believe that he held the gun in
her hand, or do you believe that he actually had the gun in his hand when he shot her?
>> Well, that I can't tell one way or the other. I can put the gun in the position
when it was fired. Whose hand or hands were on the firearm, I can't tell you. >> I believe it was suicide, and I believe
the evidence showed that. Kurt's defense attorney, Carrie Thompson, says detectives got it all wrong. I believe
that there was a rush to judgment. There was an assumption this was a homicide. >> I mean, how would you describe then the
investigation into this case? >> Shoddy. Shoddy. >> Yeah. Shoddy. >> From the police report accounts, she was
found sitting up in the middle, you know, approximately here. Thompson says Nancy fell over on
her own after shooting herself. >> We're saying that the physical evidence showed that she at one time had slumped
over but never really mo wasn't moved. Just the top part of her body had slumped over with her head causing that
drip that caused that that pool of blood. >> She says that when Kurt discovered his
wife, he grabbed her and then sat her up on the couch. And that Thompson says could account for that blood mist on his
face. She was still breathing which means she could have sprayed out some blood herself onto him.
>> She has no blood in her nose or her mouth. So how do we have expirated blood?
>> This is her graduation from college. She was very proud of that day. >> Would you have ever described your
sister as suicidal? >> No, I never saw her as suicidal at all. Still, Kurt kept insisting Nancy had
been suicidal long before that night. >> She was heartbroken. She was depressed.
You know, her marriage was falling apart. But she was a fighter and she was looking towards the future.
>> But Kurt's attorney claims that less than a month after NY's death, she had gone into the home and personally found
a suicide note. evidence she says police overlooked. >> I can recall very specifically when I
found it. It was right there on the dresser along with her her writings. Thompson says the note appeared to have
been torn from NY's diary. It contained a line from a Walt Whitman poem. What indeed is finally beautiful except death
and love? To which Nancy added, "Kurt, please get help." >> Do you believe that is a suicide note?
>> No. It doesn't read like a suicide note. It doesn't read like the, you know, goodbye cruel world or or I can't live
like this any longer. >> She was asking Kurt to get help. >> It's not a suicide note. She was just so
concerned for him and she was worried that if he didn't stop with drugs that possibly he would kill himself.
As Kurt's trial date was approaching, the defense team went on the offensive, doing their own crime scene analysis
that seemed to contradict the cop's murder theory. >> I think they did a half-ass job, quite
frankly. >> Then District Attorney Bill Ritter, >> it just felt to me like our Denver
Police Department homicide division still had work to do on this case. >> Did that mean that you're having some
doubts about whether this was a homicide or a suicide? Well, I think the best way
to answer that question is to say I believed that we had some significant chance of losing at
trial. >> Just a little more than 5 months after NY's death, Ritter made a highly unusual
decision. He dismissed the murder charge against Kurt, but without prejudice, which meant the investigation would
continue and charges could be reinstated later. What was your reaction, Amy, when
you heard charges were dropped and he would just go home? We were upset, of course. I cannot even explain to you the
pain that we went through. >> Family, >> it all goes back to our faith in God. There's nothing else that would have
carried us through. >> On June 14th, 2002, Curt Soninfeld walked out of jail a free man.
The murder charge against Curt Soninfeld had been dropped. But for months after Kurt's release, Denver police continued
to dig for new evidence. Starting with Kurt's computer, >> he says that he was in his um office. He
said he was in there on his computer uh when he heard the firearm discharge and went in to check on his wife.
>> When his computer was checked, did that check out? >> No. A forensic analysis revealed that the
computer was last used around 700 p.m. on New Year's Eve. But Curt's call to 911, saying his wife had just shot
herself didn't come in till hours later at 1:40 a.m. Then there was a suspicious
injury to NY's left index fingernail. >> So it could be evidence of some kind of
struggle somewhere. It could be um some she had some bruises on on her hands, bruises around her right wrist certainly
were consistent with uh some kind of a struggle. >> Curt's DNA was found under that
fingernail. More possible evidence of a struggle. And there were also two jail house informants who say Kurt Sonnenfeld
confessed. They came forward separately after Sonnenfeld had been released. John
Priest says their statements contained information only NY's killer would know. Like what? Give me an example that
really just blew you away. Thought, "Wow, this guy must have really talked to him."
>> Um, positions in the crime scene, where evidence was located, things that there
just no way they would have had that information. >> 48 hours tracked down one of those
informants. Robert Drier has a history of identity theft, fraud, and forgery. He shared a jail cell with Son and for
four days and didn't much like him. >> Arrogant, ignorant, selfcentered. >> Drier is a hard man to pin down, but he
claims Kurt told him about the night Nancy died. >> What happened at the party? She came
outside and she saw him was another girl again and suspected that he was getting
high and she got mad and she left. She said, "I'm leaving." He goes, "What do you mean you're leaving?" She goes, "I'm
going home and I'm leaving you." She said, "That was it." And she left and she went home. She walked home
>> without him. >> Without him. >> Drier says when Kurt got home, the couple argued. He said, "You're not
going to leave me. We're going to be together. We're not getting divorced." >> According to Drier, Kurt first told him
he was out of the room when Nancy committed suicide by shooting herself in the back of the head.
>> I said, "Well, she shot herself behind the ear." He said, "Well, that's I said,
"People don't shoot themselves behind the ear, Kurt. Come on, man. You did it, didn't you?" And you know, he said,
"Yeah, he admitted. Yeah, I did." He said, "But the cops will never figure it out, and it'd be your word against
mine." >> As for why Kurt had no gunshot residue on his hands, >> he said, "Well, that's why they make
saran wrap." >> Drier's statements to police could be devastating if they're true. Let's be
honest, you lied to police all the time. You would use other people's identities.
>> You lie all the time. Why should anybody believe what you're telling now? You
don't have to believe it, but I'm going to tell you that man told me he killed that woman,
his wife. I have no reason to lie. I got nothing for it. And Drier didn't receive any special
treatment in return for coming forward. In December 2003, two years after NY's death, the Denver
District Attorney's Office felt it had enough to refile the murder charge. But when police tried to locate Sonnenfeld,
he was nowhere to be found. >> And it's uh-oh. >> Police considered him a fugitive.
>> We start looking for him and we find out that he's no longer in the United States.
When authorities decided to rearrest Kurt Sonel for murder, they didn't know he had moved 6,000 miles away from
Denver. He was now living here in Buenoseres, Argentina. And he wasn't exactly living the life of a man on the
run. He was free to go to Argentina. He met somebody there. The characterization
that he fled to Argentina is bull. >> I had never hid when I was here. I I traveled here with my own uh passport
with an airline ticket under my name. >> In that 2005 interview, Kurt said he simply came here on vacation, intending
only to stay a few weeks. But when he met Pala, that changed everything. >> What made you fall in love with him?
>> Because he is so kind. Because he respect all the forms of life. In PA, he found a sympathetic ear and the perfect
advocate. She's a human rights activist. Kurt declined to talk to us on camera, but PA spoke on his behalf.
>> You knew from the very beginning he had been accused of killing his wife. >> Yes. He told me everything about him.
>> And did that put you off at all? Did that make you a little nervous about being around him?
>> Of course not. It just make me sad because the story is terrible. Kurt settled into his life in Argentina with
Pala. He found work as a freelance cameraman, but their life was interrupted after those charges were
refiled in the US. Sonnenfeld was suddenly arrested by Interpole. >> This could not be happening.
Kurt was taken to Argentina's Devoto prison while US authorities fought to have him extradited and sent back to
Colorado. >> Did you fear during that time that he was going to be extradited? >> Uh, it's always fear, but in this case,
uh, I trust in my country. Kurt was jailed for nearly seven months, but in March 2005, a judge in Argentina
rejected the extradition request. He ordered Sonninfeld's immediate release. The reason, Colorado has the death
penalty. >> We were never going to be trying to get the death penalty for Kurt Sonnenfeld.
then Colorado Governor Bill Owens. >> I signed promises that we wouldn't seek the death penalty. These promises were
affirmed by the Denver District Attorney and every other party involved. I was frustrated.
I was frustrated uh that he wasn't going to come back to the States. But it wasn't over yet. The extradition
ruling was appealed. So Kurt launched his own public relations campaign. A >> lot of people saying that these charges
were a mistake. >> And for the first time, Kurt claimed that US authorities are really after him
for what he saw at ground zero. >> My things from FEMA >> and that his life is in danger.
When Curt Soninfeld decided to go public with his story in 2005, he turned to Rolando Grana, a popular
journalist in Argentina. >> What was the story he told you? He told me that um he was one of two cameramans
who record the ground zero after the the plane crash. I can't believe it really. He
think he was a hero and then he was in jail and he doesn't know why. >> Kurt told Grana his wife Nancy took her
own life. My wife had uh left a suicide note. She had left a journal of suicidal
writings. She had been uh severely depressed in the months. >> I think Kurt is not a murderer. I'm sure
he's not a murderer. >> Gra admits he never did his own investigation, but says the fact that
charges were dropped is evidence the case must be weak. >> What made you believe him? If someone is
uh has killed his wife, it's difficult to understand why he's free. >> What's more, Kurt told Grana a chilling
tale of being falsely accused and tortured by police in Denver. >> One of them put me into a choke hold
while the other one was kicking me repeatedly in the groin, in the stomach. Uh he also had a rubber glove on his
hand with a red chemical and he inserted it up into my nose. >> But if that did happen, Kurt's defense
attorney never heard about it. >> Was he ever beaten at the jail that you're aware of?
>> I have no information about that. >> Kurt also claimed he faced the death penalty.
>> Uh they told me I was going to be put to death. It's not true, but for years, Kurt and
Palacefeld have capitalized on that claim. They've even used their twin daughters to make their case.
>> Scarlet and Natasha are soldiers in this cause. >> It's a poignant and disturbing picture.
The girls holding up signs saying, "Don't let the US government assassinate my father."
Pala even insisted that her now 9-year-old daughters sit in on our interview. >> Are you comfortable with having both of
them here during this? >> Absolutely. How you hide all this that is happening to us from children?
>> Despite what she knew would be sensitive subject matter. >> You know, Kurt's case never had the
death penalty. It doesn't even qualify for the death penalty. >> Mhm. And what about being in jail
forever and dying in a jail? That's the same. >> Still, the concern that Kurt could be
executed won him support in Argentina. >> What is it about Kurt Sinenfeld's case
that made you want to fight for him? Jorge Rishar and his wife Dolores Rivas are prominent human rights activists who
run centers that care for poor and orphan children. >> Dolores says she's worried about what
would happen to Kurt's daughters if he's sent back to the US. But what really turned Kurt Zinfeld into
a cause celeb in Argentina is something that many here in the US might find outrageous. His claim that he saw
evidence that the US government played a role in the attack on the World Trade Center. Sonnenfeld claims that's the
real reason why authorities are after him. >> Do you think that the government knows
the the crash will come? Yeah, I'm 100% sure of it. >> And according to Sonnenfeld, the US did
nothing to stop it. He also claims that it was suspicious that the airplane's flight data recorders or black boxes
were never recovered. >> The black boxes were supposedly vaporized. Right. But I have footage of
the landing gear of the the the seats of the airplane. All of that survived. Sonnenfeld also suggested that the
cleanup at ground zero happened too quickly. >> Almost from day one, they began taking
away all of the metal beams, driving trucks all over the evidence. So, they themselves were destroying evidence
almost purposely and programmatically from the very first days. It was almost like it was pre-planned.
But what he never told Grana is that he didn't even get to ground zero until a full week after the attack. And if he
has any concrete evidence to back up his conspiracy theory, he hasn't shown it to
anyone. Kurt is just saying what other people have been saying for 14 years. He doesn't appear to have any any proof
that of anything new. So why would the American government go after him? Kurt repeated his claims in interviews
on Argentinian talk radio, in magazines and other TV shows. The World Trade Center and his story has been embraced
by those who have little trust in governments. Adulo Perez Esabel won the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1980 after years of imprisonment and torture by Argentina's military ha. He's been trying to help
Kurt stay in the country. Kurt and Pala claimed they've been spied on and harassed in Argentina by American
agents sent to intimidate them. Kurt even wrote a book about his case published in Spanish only called El
Perso or the Persecuted. >> It reads like a spy novel and it's one of the reasons why journalists in
Argentina have compared him to James Bond. But he's no hero to Kirk Mitchell, the reporter for the Denver Post, who is
a CBS News consultant. He's been covering the Curt Sonnenfeld case since the beginning. So here, Curt Sonfeld is
a a a murder suspect in Argentina. What is he? >> He he is the whistleblower, the a brave
man who stood up to a corrupt government. This stuff comes up after his arrest in
Argentina when he starts making this and the prosecutor and I are looking at each
other like where did that come from? >> He was a photographer at ground zero. >> Yes, he was. But he's also an
exceptional liar. >> He is trying to use that terrible situation to shield himself
from murder charges. He's trying to use his children to shield himself from murder charges.
When is Kurt Sinenfeld going to stop? When is he going to come home and account for that night?
More than 14 years have passed since Nancy Sonnenfeld's death, and her family still clings to the hope
that Kurt will someday go on trial for murder. Why does it matter that Kurt come back
and go on trial? >> It matters because my cousin who loved him so much, who gave him so much,
it matters because my cousin lost her life, she's not there because of him. He needs to account atone for that
night. Nancy Sonnenfeld has gotten lost in all of this, says Denver Post reporter Kurt
Mitchell. >> The way he has uh couched what has happened to him is he is the victim is
pretty incredible what he's pulled off. >> Mitchell was so intrigued by the case
that he wrote a book about it. >> You call your book Spin Doctor. Why? Well, I came to the conclusion that his
story was so far-fetched, so far from the truth that that's what he's become. You know, to me, it's astonishing that
it's being believed. >> Is Curt Sonnenfeld gaming the system? >> Kurt Sonninenfeld is definitely gaming
the system, though someday hopefully that game may run out. Former Colorado Governor Bill Owens says Sonninfeld has
come up with a novel way to avoid prosecution by cleverly spinning the horror of 911 to his own advantage.
>> There are a lot of people around the world who want to believe the worst about our country. And when he says,
"Look, I'm a victim. Intelligence agencies are after me." There are a lot of victims in this case. Not one of them
is Kurt Sonnenfeld. NY's family continued to live in limbo as Kurt's case dragged on through the
Argentine courts. In 2014, it landed on President Christina Kersner's desk. >> There's politics that get wrapped up in
these cases. The current president of Argentina comes from a party that was very antagonistic
towards the US. a fact that Kurt and Pala seem to be counting on. >> I know that my government is going to
protect us. We will fight for Kurt and we are not alone. >> And Pala may have been right. In 2015,
during the final weeks of her presidency, Kersner's administration ruled that Curt Sonenfeld will not be
extradited, stating that to do so would be a violation of human rights. human rights. What about my cousin? What
about her human rights? >> I absolutely believe it's political. I believe that Mr. Sonnenfeld has built an
aura as a martyr, as a hero, and I think the politics of Argentina have protected
him from a murder charge. Kurt and Pala wouldn't comment to us, but shortly after the ruling, Pala
tweeted, "We're living the first day of the rest of our lives." Has the murder suspect outsmarted the US
government? It certainly looks that way. But NY's cousin is determined Kurt will
never find peace. lies, the manipulations, they go on and on and it will come out and I will be alive to see
it. Even if I have to go to Argentina, I will look that man in the eye again just
so that he knows I am still alive. >> And I am here for my cousin. >> Happy birthday
to you. >> And I will never let this die. >> Bye. 48 hours. Don't miss an episode.

"48 Hours" cases involving key questions throughout crime probes. Watch "The Girl Who Knew Too Much," "Storm of Suspicion" and "The Strange Case of Kurt Sonnenfeld."

00:00 The Girl Who Knew Too Much 41:09 The Strange Case of Kurt Sonnenfeld 01:23:21 The Strange Case of Kurt Sonnenfeld

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

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Brief Summary

The episode investigates the wrongful conviction of Joshua Keyser for the murder of Michelle Lawless and the ongoing search for her true killer.

Key points

The Conviction. Josh Kaser is convicted of Michelle's murder, serving 60 years in prison.
Reopening the Case. Sheriff Rick Walter reopens the case, questioning the validity of Josh Keyser's conviction.
Josh Keyser's Innocence Declared. After 15 years in prison, Judge Callahan declares Josh Keyser innocent.
The Mystery of Michelle Lawless. The investigation into Michelle Lawless's murder reveals multiple suspects and conflicting stories.
Crystal McDow Goes Missing. As Hurricane Harvey approaches, Crystal McDow mysteriously disappears, prompting a frantic search.
Steve's Changing Story. As the investigation unfolds, Steve's alibi and behavior raise suspicions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Whoever shot my sister killed my family.

9:46WatchApr 4, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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