For the Love of Cayley Mandadi | Full Episode + Post Mortem | Forensic Files

[Music] on October the 29th of 2017 Kaye mandad and Mark Howton go to the maluna music
festival in San Antonio they arrived late in the afternoon and they consumed ecstasy there's an argument and Kaylee
and Mark leave and at some point they pull off of the road for what Mark describes as makeup sex and afterward
she tells Mark she's not feeling well there are hours that are unaccounted for she goes
unconscious and at 10:30 at night he goes to the hospital and he Flags down the nearest EMT she has no pulse she's
covered head to toe in bruises and unclothed from the waist down and her bra above her chest oh I'm just looking
for we we're uh quiet place to talk quiet place to talk [Music] so she was perfectly normal having sex yes just
like always J was Nor when I first got to the hospital I saw something I could have
never imagined I was kayle's best friend I know she was definitely mine it just felt
absurd the amount of life support that she was on doctor came in and we asked what's the prognosis and he said there
is none he said she's not coming out of this I'm telling you right now I'm sorry the
medical examiner ruled that kayy had died from blunt force trauma to the face and to the head and Mark Howton is
arrested this is a case where there's more than meets the eye and things aren't always as they seem he tried to
perform CPR on her while trying to operate a motor vehicle a client isn't exactly The Brightest Bulb in the box at
this moment but he's attempting to try and assister her it's not a homicide in my opinion this is I think a terrible
terrible accident Mark Howton he's a dangerous person he is a textbook example of a
domestic violence abuser it's about control with him kayy Madi she had just turned 19 she was coherent she was
walking on her own and she got into the car with that defendant after what can only be described as a dramatic trial
all right J the jury ultimately hangs and ladies and gentlemen jury I'm declaring a
mistrial devastated by the result of the first trial kayle's parents feel the need to take things into their own hands
and to see that Justice was served in the second trial I spent hours and hours studying
autopsy photos we knew she had suffered big blow on her left side and I wanted to see what did her head hit at after
taking that blow Lawrence tell me about this car Peter this is Mark howerton's car and you bought this car is that
right yes I did I needed to be able to show the jury what happened to Kaylee what did you figure out so we determined
that kayle's head likely struck that locking knob resulting in fatal injury they commission a reenactment of what
they believe happened to their daughter the video could be a game changer this is the moment of
truth will their daughter get Justice [Music] [Music] Kaye mandar and Taylor Clement best
friends since 9th grade had a streak Snapchatting every morning every single day she was much more of a morning
person so I would get mine first thing in the morning but Monday morning October 30th
2017 no word from Kaylee I didn't get a Snapchat at 8:00 in the morning like I usually do and that's
actually how I knew something was really wrong both good students they bonded in
science class Taylor says she was instantly drawn to Kaylee she had like a really infectious smile and the big eyes
and like the loving heart the two separated to go to different colleges that October morning Kaye was on
Taylor's mind as I'm working in the library it's in the back of my head like I haven't heard from her Taylor didn't
know it but just hours earlier kayle's mother Allison steel and stepfather lorrence bitand were awakened at 4 in
the morning with horrifying news your daughter has been involved in some incident and she's been LIF flighted to
Kyle Texas they raced from their home in Houston to the hospital praying Kaye was
okay what was it like when you entered that room what did you see I saw my daughter's body
smashed I could see that she was on a ventilator and my heart just stopped and I knew that it was bad within hours
kayle's parents were told told there was no hope for Recovery their daughter just
19 years old once so full of life was soon declared brain dead Lawrence and Allison want the world to know what
happened to her all that potential had been destroyed and not knowing how it happened or how it was even
possible they invited kayle's friends to see her one last time Taylor sat with Allison as she held kayle's hand and
prayed I remember her repeating over and over this has to be for something this has to be for something Kaylee had
previously requested that her organs be donated to help others as she was taken to surgery for that procedure her
parents said goodbye it was very emotional of course we didn't want to let her go but this is
what had to be just days before things seemed to be going well for Kaye a sophomore
Communications major at Trinity University in San Antonio she had joined a sorority and was a cheerleader and she
met a boy Kaye at the time was very much in love with the only serious boyfriend
she had ever had his name was Jet burin Jet was a trinity football player and fraternity brother Kaylee dated him for
freshman year but they broke up what she told me was I don't know that he wants a
serious relationship and she did I think that part of her life got very murky for
her very fast there was another man in kayle's life Mark Howton he was 22 years old and had been a star high school
baseball player I've been a pretty good hitter I just keep my weight back and keep your eye on the ball and
and whack it Mark lived in Houston but was often on Trinity's campus visiting friends that's where he met Kaye I think
that they're both very beautiful people and I think that that was the primary attraction John Hunter is howerton's
lawyer I think that there were problems with her relationship with jet and Mark was offering an alternative to that both
Jed and Mark knew Kaye was seen the other man and neither friend and say like the
competition then just one month into this new relationship Mark Howton rushes Kaye to a small rural Hospital in Luling
Texas the chapel is actually really quiet while medical staff tended to Kaye police officers interviewed Howton in
the quietest place they could find okay it was recorded on the officer's body cam so tell me where where we all at
today Howton told officers that he and Kaylee went to the music festival there they
drank alcohol and took MDMA a drug known as Molly or ecstasy Christy Jack is an attorney based in
Fort Worth we asked her to look at the files in this case she says things took a troubling turn at the music festival
they saw jet burchum at some point and began to argue Howton says sometime after 400 p.m. he and Kaye left in his
Mercedes still arguing after Kaye told him she still had feelings for jet I was pretty much saying you need to get over
this dude you ain't worth your time your friends are fake as I was just telling her all I was trying trying to get it
through her head Howton said they then stopped in a parking lot where they had make up sex we were having sex not
but it wasn't like kill it it wasn't it wasn't like that rough said Howton but consensual 500% consensual after we had
sex like she um still talked to me for five six minutes afterwards that's when she was like I'm not feeling too good
but then she just passed out but Howton told officers they got back on the road hours passed Howton says at some point
Kaylee stopped breathing and he tried to resuscitate her and at 10:30 at night he
sees a sign on the road that indicates a hospital the next exit he pulls off emergency medical workers told
investigators they instantly knew Kaylee was in bad shape she was nearly naked bruised and had no pulse you have a
paramedic or a nurse who says these were on her when she arrived at the hospital
in Luling why isn't she responding Howton told the police officer Kaye already had bruises on her
legs earlier in the day she bruises easy she look seriously she gets drunk and she falls over and she
bruises police interviewed Howton several times but he was not charged with any crime related to kayle's death
then 3 months later her autopsy report was released the medical examiner ruled that Kaylee had died from blunt force
face and head trauma it was ruled a homicide Mark Howton was charged with murder he pleaded not guilty and was
released on bail there were a large amount of drugs taken over the course of this weekend Mr
Howton brought the decease to a hospital which is something you don't typically C murderers don't usually do
that no all rise to the jury the idea that it was open and shut is a mistake as the trial begins John Hunter says he
has evidence that will surprise the jury in December 2019 2 years after Kaya manda's disturbing demise Mark Howton is
finally brought to trial for allegedly kidnapping assaulting and murdering her call rise for the jury
I to your what was it like to see Mark Howton in the courtroom like everybody else I Tred not to look at him too much
the trial begins with prosecutor Alesandra crenshaw's opening statement I think the best way to tell
this story is to start where Kaye mad's life ended and that's in the car of this
defendant prosecutors alleged that Howton forcefully escorted Kaye from the maluna music festival to his car he then
drove her to a parking lot where he sexually assaulted and beat her causing a fatal brain bleed these photos show
kayle's condition about 18 hours after she arrived at the hospital I believe that you will have No
Reservations about finding this defendant guilty of the offensive murder things are not always as they
seem in his opening statement defense attorney John Hunter attacks the very foundation of the prosecution's case Mr
Howton did not caused kayy mad's death no one saw anything that transpired between Mark Howton and kayy mandad that
evening on the 29th there are no eyewitnesses the state begins its case with paramedic Cheryl Lane Sol is squ
tell the truth who was driving an ambulance up to the Luling hospital that night when a vehicle suddenly appeared
behind her there's a black car behind us honking and flashing the lights before I even get out I see a gentleman
that's hollering and screaming I open the door he's telling me that his girlfriend is not breathing and he needs
help when Lane looked inside howerton's car she saw a disturbing scene she was exposed her pants and
clothes were in the floorboard by her feet she had bruises on her just multiple bruises that I just remember
seeing that's when I started CPR but Hunter says not everyone at the hospital believed Kaye had been attacked
the treating physician at the Ling Hospital approached this as a drug overdose wasn't that because Mark had
told them he thought she had overdosed correct but the symptoms she was presenting were consistent with that
patient history was this woman beaten or not no Hunter insists the photos showing
bruising on Kaylee don't point to Foul Play by the time that the sexual assault nurse exam photographs
her she has been resuscitated six times I believe maybe eight she's had chest tube inserted she's had IVs placed on
both arms she's been worked over by those physicians at the Ling Hospital in a traumatic
way while the medical team fought for kayle's life police interviewed I'm just trying to figure out what's going on and
photographed Howton police officer Chris Adams while I was taking photographs of my notice
the tops of both of his hands they look red to you yes sir and usually red yes sir evidence investigators believe that
Howton did hit Kaye those actually do look like they scabs already on them the mark Howton arrested after
kayle's death was an enormously muscled intimidating figure kayle's friends say he use steroids even in such a confined
space it would have been relatively easy for him to cause that kind of damage to
her head Mark Howton initially cooperated with investigators allowing police to search his Mercedes where they
found a gun and marijuana if he was worried about himself he would have told the police to get a warrant instead
Hunter says Howton was much more concerned about Kaye I found out of update on here
please is there any ways is there anything else you the only person who could counter Howton story was dead
investigators hoped kayle's remains might speak on her behalf swear to tell the truth Dr Susanna Dana performed the
autopsy and says the evidence shows Kaye was beaten to death she had a number of
what I call blunt force injuries to her face and her head and what is this that we see behind
the ear that's a bruise that's a contusion defendant's exhibit number one but during cross-examination hunter gets
Dr Dana to admit at least one of kayle's injuries was caused by her medical care
so CPR can cause a lot of different injuries not just simply superficial on right yes in this case the rib was
broken is that correct I believe so yes the medical examiner says the cause of death is complications of blunt force
face and head trauma and the manner of death is homicide is the examiner wrong I believe the examiner is definitely
wrong whatever the jury thinks about how Kaye died they're about to learn much more about her troubled love life with
Mark Howton um he had grabbed her and drawn her against the wall [Music] in the agonizing Final hours of Kaye
mad's life her friends gathered to say goodbye kayle's childhood friend Taylor Clement met her College friends for the
first time they bonded talking about Kaye even in that situation she was bringing people close that would have
never met before some of those friends now nervously wait to testify in Mark howerton's murder
trial do you recognize this person who is this individual her roommate Morgan Samson
told of a stormy history between Kaylee and Mark including one particularly disturbing incident just a few weeks
before kayle's death she was planning to go to a party and says Mark got upset when she invited Kaye to come along Mark
and Kaye were out on the balcony um and he had thrown her up against the brick wall Kaye ended up going to that party
against howerton's wishes soon neighbors reported hearing loud banging in Kay's room campus police officer Roderick
Lewis was dispatched to investigate when I arrived at the location male subject was exiting the room so you're in the
room just waiting on her while she's at party exactly okay any mind if I take a look in the room man no this Howton
resisted officer ls's requests to see inside I'd like you to step out here with my partner right
now when officer Lewis did go into kayle's room he found the glass door to the balcony was cracked and kayle's
clothes were scattered in the trees friends say howon later smashed kayle's laptop on the street the university
barred him from camp Kaye told her ex-boyfriend jet buram that she wanted to get back with him she
was really torn between two different people and both of whom were vying for her
affection jet told the jurors it all came to a head at the music festival she she wanted to break up with
them at Malla cuz there' be plenty of witnesses and people around did she seem worried about
breaking up with him yes Howard picked Kaye up to go to the music festival but first he says they pulled
into a nearby car wash to take MDMA or Molly Howton said they had more once they got to the
festival we're talking about massive doses well above what would be necessary for it to effect be effective uh to gain
the experience when Kaye didn't show up on campus that night her friends started
calling her Howton answered kayle's phone I was like have you seen Kaye have you heard from her like are you with her
and he said she can't talk right now and then hung up the phone panicked they began searching for Kaye jet buram who
also attended the festival says he saw Mark and Kaylee move towards the exit seemingly against kayle's wishes Kay
looked like she was trying to create space and kind of just get away now what did you see do uh as she's trying to
step away I see him reach out his right arm and hook it around her shoulder and pull her in closer and then turn and
walk away this is important testimony it's important testimony because it's showing that she's being taken someplace
against her will defense attorney John Hunter hammers him on cross-examination it immediately falls
apart almost from the very first question in his questioning Hunter confronts jet want you to take a look at
that revealing how he initially misled investigators about what he had seen and you advise the police that you saw Mark
phally pick her up and place her in his car isn't that correct yes sir and it differs from the testimony that you gave
today right yes sir I did not see him put her in the car beram admits he exaggerated to
police but why prosecutors say he was worried about kayle's safety and wanted to conv against cops to search for her
Hunter then challenges jet regarding inconsistencies in his testimony to the grand jury about the timeline at the
music festival would it surpris you to learn that the phone call you placed to KY M's phone was made at 7:00 no sir in
an effort to undermine Jet's credibility he is asked about an unrelated drug charge you were on probation at the time
were you not Mr mering correct in 47 minutes of brutal questioning money and marijuana it was on your phone buram
takes the Fifth byth Amendment 30 times by by the fth amendment that's his lawyer by his son by the fth amendment
the damage is done tell me the impact of him saying over and over that he's taken
the fifth the impact I think can't be understated it's a it's a huge thing to see somebody do that Hunter has a star
witness of his own Dr William Anderson good afternoon a forensic pathologist and former medical
examiner who reviewed kayle's autopsy and records for the defense so you look at the autopsy you're going to see
you're going to see what look like bruises now Anderson presents the Crux of Hunter's case that kayle's bruising
was caused in part by resuscitation efforts and the organ donation process he goes one step further pointing to a
thin line in a photo of kayle's skull starting here we have this Jagged line it's like I said it's like a crack in
the that is a skull fracture a skull fracture which Hunter says could indicate that kayle's brain bleed was
caused by a fall she was in a car she was in a car for portions of that day hematomas don't kill people
instantaneously thank you doctor if you can I don't think that you can overstate
the importance of his testimony from a defense perspective it creates the impression that all of these injuries
occurred by every other means but Mark Howton once the defense rests prosecutors bring the medical
examiner back to challenge Dr Anderson's testimony is that a school fracture no it's not the faint line that Dr Anderson
was referring to came from a picture I didn't believe it I thought it was Reckless for him to have that
opinion opinion so definitively with only a picture all right the jurors must now
make a momentous decision did Mark Howton kill [Music] Kaye after just 10 hours of deliberating
the jury in the mark Howton murder trial sends a note to the judge all right jury
there will be no verdict after careful deliberation discussion unfortunately we cannot come to an an decision ladies and
gentlemen jury I'm declaring a mistrial mistrial are you happy is that in a way a victory for you anytime that your
client doesn't go to prison it's a victory it was a little bit disheartening but at the same time
I was mentally prepared for that outcome prosecutors David Lunen and Alexandra Cranshaw were disheartened too did you
feel as though you'd let the family down well sure yeah absolutely but it doesn't end there the
prosecutors plan to retry the case and get busy preparing for round two starting with the defense star witness
medical examiner Dr William Anderson I was not prepared for Dr Anderson to testify uh to what he testified to
they'd been stunned by his claims that Kaye had a skull fracture and her bruising was caused in part by the organ
donation process so do you find that this notion that organ harvesting caused these bruises to be absurd absurd absurd
in this instance it's absurd while the prosecutors work to address those claims defense attorney
John Hunter files a motion to get the whole case dismissed based in part on what he says were jet burcham's lies The
Knowing use of false evidence by the prosecution undermines our entire faith and confidence in the judicial system if
that can happen then there's no point in even having a trial kayle's mom Allison steel and
stepdad Lawrence baand sat through the first trial and concluded jurors needed more information about what happened
inside Mark howerton's car you became investigators we did yes I knew we needed to show what happened
in that car the jury needed to know how it happened she's a scientist he's a NASA engineer they got to work I spent
hours and hours studying autopsy photos and I really fixated on one of the autopsy pH photos that showed an impact
on kayle's head you know right in front of her ear this photo of a small dot above kayle's right ear other photos
show deep bruising above kayle's left ear like this one described by the medical examiner in the first trial and
what is this that we see behind the ear that's a bruise that's a contusion kayle's parents believe that when taken
together the photos tell a story we believe that of all of the injuries the blows that he landed on her the Fatal
one occurred when he reached from his driver's seat HIIT her in the left ear and drove her head into the window and
onto the lock button of the car in fact in a recorded audio interview with police the day Kaylee died Howton
admitted he had previously done just that did you ever push Kay's up against the
window um I pushed her and she hit the window one time that was over a week ago yes so in many respects it was like same
song second verse they'd need proof to convince a jury kayle's parents had it to a used car lot where Allison posed in
a car similar to the Mercedes Howton drove that night and I'd photographed her head in different positions while
I'm holding the autopsy images trying to see if they match up with the door and it's a near perfect match Lawrence
decided to go a step further so then I loaded this 3D modeling program building a 3D model of kayle's head the first
thing you can do is you can create a solid out of that 3D mesh and then and you can project an image on to it and
bringing them closer to having actual proof so this gave me the confidence to go to the next step which
was just seek out the Killer's car Mark Howton sold the car in 2018 Lawrence Tracked Down the new owner and bought
the car what' you think of that uh well this is new this is uh not something I've been uh accustomed to hearing uh in
other cases show me what what you believe went down let's go up here to the passenger side the car Kaye was
fatally injured in is sitting in her parents' driveway Lauren says driving at home was a haunting experience it's
torturous um but it's also you know she was showing us what happened you know she was guiding us to
this car and you believe that he struck her when he did she came over to this knob
her hit her head hit it now you notice when you push it down it doesn't go FL it doesn't go flat right this will not
retract fully no matter how hard you hit it kayle's parents decided to make a video to demonstrate their theory in
court they went and found two actors a male and a female to dress the parts they were um similar size similar weight
if we did the Reconstruction ourselves it would be considered biased and probably thrown out or at least
discredited so they hired a private investigator to produce the demonstration they didn't even look at
it in case they were called to testify about it the video is simple showing three angles of what kayle's parents and
their experts believe happened would showing a jury a video like this potentially help the prosecution's case
if if it's allowed jurors are very visual it makes it easier for them it shows how it can happen and it answers a
number of the questions that the jury had in the first trial John Hunter says however Kaylee got that
dot above her ear it's all speculation it could be from something at the hospital it could have been from
something before she got in Mark's Car could it be that that is from a locking thing on the door I mean sure it could
also be that A Space Alien came and put a little you know Mark on her I almost feel like it's not worth discussing
because it's so unscientific years go by I am not law enforcement that's not my background
Allison worked to pass the Texas Clear alert bill it enables law enforcement to quickly initiate searches when people
aged 18 to 64 go missing in 2021 a district court in Texas denied John Hunter's motion to dismiss the case
ruling there was no evidence of prosecutorial misconduct relating to Jet bur's testimony Hunter app healed that
ruling it was horrible just waiting and not knowing what was going to happen Hunter filed appeals all the way to the
United States Supreme Court which declined to hear the case we lost in every Court we could take it to and so
more than 5 years after kayle's death a date for a second trial is set May 23rd 2023 what's at stake here our feelings
running High I running High I don't think the stakes could be any [Music] higher what do you make of Kay's parents
investigation see more evidence from the case at 48 [Music] hours.com in May of 2023 Mark Howton is
about to go on trial for the second time time for the murder of Kaye mandadi I felt confident that this was
her time in the five plus years since kayle's death Howton was active on social media posting things like come at
me legally I'll beat you showing little remorse wow 75% of people think I'm guilty that just means 75% of people and
the world are going to have to suck he was living large and bragging about having beaten the state of Texas
in a court of law howerton's attorneys John Hunter and Haley peas say acting out on social
media was his way of coping with the pressure of being falsely accused of murder he was using social media as an
outlet to relieve some of that tension during the first trial jurors had only one charge to consider felony murder
this time around lawyers add more charges including aggravated assault and criminally negligent
homicide then came time to consider the video kayle's parents had made did you want the jurors to see that video I did
initially presenting the video came with risks including the risk that Hunter's cross-examination about it might
undermine the whole case the judge said I'm going to let it in but if so then the parents are now Witnesses and they
will no longer be allowed to sit in the trial and the prosecution went and talked to the parents and they decided
to withdraw the exhibit on May 23rd trial 2 begins this one without television cameras Alexandra
crenshaw's opening statement is nearly the same I basically told the jury that the best way to explain this case is to
start working KY mad's life ended and that's in the car with this defendant but there is a big change to the witness
list no jet burchen there was nothing to be gained and prosecutors add a witness an expert
on domestic violence who told jurors Howton was a textbook abuser who isolated and manipulated kayy and
ultimately became enraged and lost control a pattern particularly difficult to handle at just 19 years of age I
think she had no idea the dangerous predicament she was in John Hunter wants jurors to give Howton the benefit of the
doubt the presentation of how Kaylee looks in the hospital and how she looked at the autopsy does not mean that she
was being his case this time around relies heavily on the testimony of a a pharmacologist who said the high levels
of MDMA or ecstasy in kayle's system could have caused her brain bleed I've always felt that that was the
major precipitating reason for her death but prosecutors and kayle's family say hunter grossly exaggerated the danger of
MDMA there's never been a single documented case anywhere of MDMA causing a subdural hematoma what do you say to
that well first of all they haven't done much research on this at all Hunter plans one Final witness the former
medical examiner whose testimony about organ donation and a possible skull fracture caused so much damage to the
prosecution in the first trial Dr William Anderson this time prosecutors are ready
for him with a new Witness a respected medical examiner who told them Anderson's claims in the first trial
were irresponsible they realized that we were going to be more than prepared to shoot
down all those claims that he had made in the first trial I didn't need to have a fight about the skull fracture so the
defense rests without Dr Anderson it was a shock you could hear a gasp in the courtroom now a second set of 12 people
will determine Mark howerton's fate it's an agonizing second wait for kayle's parents this is the moment of truth will
their daughter get Justice agonizing for John Hunter 2 he'd spent nearly six years working to keep
Howton free so the jury comes back in what do you hear the two most beautiful words in
the English language not guilty not guilty of murder my my heart sank when we heard
not guilty on the murder they're thinking dear God this is the Final Nightmare he's going to walk out of the
courtroom but there was more Howton was convicted of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury everyone was
hugging each other and expressing their relief that that Mark Howton was going to prison I turned to my left
and eight Sheriff's off officers had assembled to take him to jail eight so that
was their way of saying we're here for you so that was a that was a nice moment to see that Howton was sentenced to the
maximum 20 years in prison to kayle's family not nearly enough Mark Harton's a monster and he does what a monster does
for kayle's friend Taylor the wound remains raw I miss my best [Music] friend Lawrence and Allison say they
have no regrets about spending time and money on a video the jury never got to see it helped us learn what happened we
would do it over again if we had to we showed Alice in that video for the very first
time it's hard to see it because that's most likely the blow that killed her kayle's mom who prayed something
good would come from her daughter's death continues her fight to help other victims of
violence what I would like is for her sacrifice to help other people that's what she would want I have absolutely no
doubt about [Music] that a good family man disappears I knew something bad was happening to him I
felt it then a highspeed Chase reveals Clues it was like the scene out of a movie and a powerful motive Revenge I
had no idea the type of evil we were dealing with 48 hours Saturday on CBS at streaming on Paramount
[Music] [Applause] [Music] plus hello and welcome to another episode of 48 Hours postmortem I'm CBS
News correspondent anarie green and today we're going to take you inside the most recent episode of 48 hours for the
love of Kaye mandad you're going to hear the dramatic story of not one but two trials as family members and Friends
seek Justice for the death of Texas College cheerleader Kaylee mandad and joining me now for a deeper dive are
Peter vanent and Chris riten who have been reporting on this case since 2019 thank you so much for joining us hello
Amar hey Anmar good to see you again um I know folks have a lot of questions about this episode but first of course
as per usual we're going to start with a short recap of the case one October night Kaye mad's sometime
boyfriend Mark Howton brought her to a hospital in rural Texas he told police officers they'd consumed ecstasy and
after rough sex in the car 19-year-old Kaye stopped breathing she was nearly naked and bruised Howton Express concern
why isn't she responding she died a day later a medical examiner ruled Kaylee died of
blunt force trauma to the face and head Mark Howton was charged with murder all right jury 2019 prosecutors argue that
Howton beat Kaylee but his lawyer said her bruising was caused by resuscitation efforts at the hospital and possibly a
fall it ended in a mistrial a second trial was set for 2023 kayle's mom Al steel and stepdad Lawrence baand went on
a mission you became investigators we did yes they tracked down howerton's car and bought it Kaye was assaulted in the
passenger seat they commissioned a video using actors could this convince a second jury that Mark Howton killed
[Music] Kaye so like I said earlier you've been reporting on the death of Kaye for 5
years what was it like for you revisiting this case for me there was this emotional attachment that we have
that we have to the story to kayle's memory to her parents and wanting to see justice so Peter I'll say you know I I
was there for both trials and you know I'll say that the first trial is actually one that I will never forget um
you could feel the tension in the room you know when you see the photos of bruising on Kaye mad's body and when you
learn about Mark howerton's past abuse of Kaye the fact that defense attorney John Hunter was able to persuade jurs
otherwise shows just how good of a lawyer you know he really is yeah hter is one of the most impressive young
defense attorneys I've seen in the United States and for kayle's family though they see him uh In a Different
Light So speaking of Attorney John Hunter he was part of another case we recently talked about on this podcast
yeah John Hunter represented Air Force Major Andre McDonald in another San Antonio case McDonald was found not
guilty of murder uh but guilty of manslaughter in the death of his wife and Dre and this was the case in which
Andre McDonald confessed to killing her just a couple days before the trial started and
yet Hunter was able to get a manslaughter as opposed to a murder conviction for him uh that was a a big
victory so so Hunter's a big deal he's a big deal in Texas he played a pivotal role in the first trial when it comes to
the testimony of kayle's ex-boyfriend jet did he ever and Jet buram uh who was a former boyfriend of kayle's he was a
very important witness because when she and Howton got inside howerton's car at this music festival in San Antonio and
drove off everyone who knew the two of them was they were concerned about kayle's safety and so jet burum decides
to tell authorities that howon man handled her to get her into his car well so he gets up on the stand to tell this
this story and it turns out that portion of it was a lie and Hunter knew this and
Hunter takes him apart in a cross-examination unlike anything I've ever seen and you advise the police that
you saw Mark physically pick her up and place her in his car isn't that correct yes sir and it differs from the
testimony that you gave today right yes sir I did not see him put her in the car and then there was that crazy moment
where he took the fifth since he had been on probation for a drug charge at the time of kayle's death you know I'll
say you know sitting in that courtroom when jet took the fifth 30 times um you know my jaw literally dropped never seen
that before I know you've seen your fair share of court cases yes this this like
I hate to say it this way but it was like watching a slow motion train wreck seriously I I it was I will never forget
it and the fantasy if you're the prosecutor or defense attorney is to turn the other side star witness into
your witness and that's what John Hunter did here and by the time buram stepped off of that stand he was a broken
witness and Lord knows what what the jurors at that point are thinking about wait a minute are these prosecutors
telling us the truth do they have their act together it starts to raise Reasonable Doubt in this episode you
mentioned that investigators really hoped kayle's remains would speak on her behalf the bruising would be evidence
that she had been beaten to death by Mark Howton but then the defense called forensic pathologist William Anderson to
the stand yeah and here was another devastating moment for the prosecution side of this because the prosecutors
were trying to make the point that this was the result of a beating inside that car of a jealous boyfriend who took it
out on her and and she died as a result of that but uh William Anderson a forensic pathologist um his testimony
raised the possibility that some of these bruises may have been from the times that they tried to resuscitate her
in the hospital chest compressions you know putting in lots of needles in the arms legs into veins and things working
the body over and also uh the fact that she had previously signed a document that if she ever died that she would
donate her organs and so they did an organ removal and so what they were able to argue to the jurors is that no no no
a lot of these bruises are from the medical personnel themselves and and that was an enormous moment and his
testimony was powerful and Chris Mark Howton never took the stand never took the stand absolutely he had spoken to uh
investigators at the hospital they took him into the chapel and he answered a number of questions without an attorney
uh volunteered to do so and so they got somewhat of a baseline at least of his story of what happened that night but by
not taking the stand at trial Howton never subjected himself to cross-examination and trust me that is
one area these prosecutors would have been ready to strike you know a lot of the times um why victim's families trust
48 hours to tell the story is because um you guys have really done a lot of work
behind the scenes building up trust and Chris you kept in touch with kayle's mother and stepfather this whole time
right yes um you know I talked to them a lot uh throughout these these last five
years and I can tell you that they were suffering you know as a parent myself I really can imagine their pain you know
not only losing their their daughter but the fact that one the first trial ended
in a hung jury and then they had to wait so long almost 5 years for retrial and they coped with their grief by really
looking for for answers here are her parents Allison and Lawrence just speaking about that I knew we needed to
show what what happened in that car the jury needed to know how it happened she's a scientist he's a NASA engineer
they got to work I spent hours and hours studying autopsy photos and I really fixated on one of the autopsy photos
that showed an impact on kayle's head you know right in front of her ear it it's really incredible yeah their
their belief is that Mark Howton you know hit Kay in the left ear and drove her head into the window and onto the
lock button of the car yeah what they did with this information remember is as you just heard one's a scientist one's
an engineer and they tapped into a brilliant network of experts as far away as the United Kingdom and uh and
Lawrence ends up creating this 3D imagery of of kayle's head and using photos from autopsy and their own
personal photos he creates a face that was just remarkable it's it's almost for some though kind of uncomfortable so we
didn't put the face on on television but he created this and and so he could demonstrate exactly where these injuries
were on the head so you know these are science-minded people they want to be as accurate as possible so it's not just
about just the Imaging they actually bought Mark howerton's car in between trials Lawrence kept telling me that he
was looking for howerton's car and I really didn't believe him you know that he would actually find it and and buy it
um once again I feel like there's a lot of first in the story and this was yet another one I never really experienced
anything like this just how chilling is it to hear him talk about driving the car home this is the car in which you
know he believes that his daughter was killed in I want to play some sound it's torturous um but it's
also you know she was showing us what happened you know she was guiding us to this
car I know it took him a very long time to find it and the details I'm not really sure about but um I can tell you
he Lauren spent hours many long hours you know tracking it down wow all right so we're GNA take a short break when we
come back kayle's family finds hope in a second trial welcome back before we get back to
the case itself Peter you mentioned you observed something about yourself while watching the episode again can you talk
about that so we're in Fort Worth I'm doing an interview with Christy Jack a very prominent defense attorney and
former prosecutor who uh is helping us on this story we had set up a studio inside this large Ballroom it was all
lit but all around it was completely pitch black long story short one of the crew guys put a sandbag we'd been using
to keep a door open in the darkness I'm walking uh back onto the set and my toe hits this bag I I tumble over forward I
break my right large toe I land on the barely covered floor which is concrete on my right knee so I'm in excruciating
pain the knee is swelling up and within about two minutes after I had done this she comes back in Christy Jack comes
back in with her Entourage so I'm like oh yeah have a seat Christy Let's uh we because I still had another hour of
interviewing to do so if you look during the show you'll see at some point that I
my hair's a little messed up my face is sweating a bit and a little bit red and it's because I am in screaming
excruciating pain with a broken toe and a uh damaged right knee and she never knew she had no idea Peter I'm trying to
hold back I don't want to laugh at you but that is hilarious and as soon as you said toe everyone knows it's the
smallest piece of real estate on the body but it just cannot take any pain at all uh how are things looking right now
full recovery all is healed yeah I'm doing just fine I'm just still embarrassed so the big reason that we're
doing this follow-up episode uh on the death of Kaye mandadi is that the case went to a second trial in May of 2023
but before it does Mark Howton is posting on social media here he is in a video that he posted
online wow 75% of people think I'm guilty that just means 75% of people in the world are going to have to
suck when I saw it the first time I fell out of my chair well I'm sure his defense attorneys must have been like
can you please get off of social media when Peter asked them in the interview they basically said that Howton was
coping with the pressure of just being falsely accused and um basically said quote is relieving some of that t
okay that I suppose that's one way to do it um so Chris can we talk about the second trial and just like how did it
feel different so the first trial you know the pro they just had one charge felony murder this trial they decided to
have more charges including aggravated assault and criminally negligent homicide felony murder wasn't going to
stick in Texas the bar is very high to prove intent to kill um and also the defense did not call forensic
pathologist William Anderson no here's the star witness and he's not even called in the second and why because
this time the prosecutors knew everything that he had to say from the first trial they were ready to counter
it they had their own expert ready to counter it and through Discovery John Hunter learns that they've got somebody
who can basically Checkmate their star witness so they don't uh bring him on another person who does not appear in
the second trial is the ex-boyfriend jet of buram no they were not going to bring
jet burchen back on the stand uh for humiliation round two he was right he played no role whatsoever so can we also
talk about uh that video that kayle's Mom and stepdad commissioned they used actors to demonstrate just how Mark
could have assaulted Kaylee in the car they faced quite a choice at Tri here's attorney Christy Jack explaining the
judge said I'm going to let it in but if so then the parents are now Witnesses and they will no longer be allowed to
sit in the trial and the prosecution went and talked to the parents and they decided to withdraw the exhibit remember
the parents even though they're the scientists behind this they did not take part in the production of the video they
hired a private investigator but the parents did tell us that they didn't realize if they introduced this because
they funded it uh that um uh they would not be able to sit in for the rest of the trial and they told us that was the
main reason why they ended up going along with not showing the video and just to reinforce what you said they
actually didn't even see the video until after you screened it for them that's right and we screen it uh during the
course of the hour but that was part of the condition where they would have no influence no bias whatsoever with this
video and and you know listen Allison is a very um everyone deals with their pain
differently and she's she's not an emotional person but when she saw that video um for the first time she did
break down and um she said to us that she felt like she was watching how her daughter was killed because that's how
Visual and how strong strong the video was it was a powerful moment okay let's talk about the verdict
um Mark Howton was found not guilty of murder but he was convicted of aggravated assault causing serious
bodily injury and he was sentenced to the maximum for that 20 years in prison I I know the family really wanted murder
um but Mark howon will be locked up for 20 years and um they do feel some sense of relief about that but I do know that
they are still angry and during the allocution part of this of this trial Lawrence basically gave some statements
and he directed a lot of of his anger um you know at John Hunter Mark Harton's attorney in fact I want to play a little
sound my statement after this sentencing hearing was to hold Mr Hunter accountable for his actions to make him
aware of what he's doing to the victims and his own legacy and his relationships
with the people around him are going to change because of his lack of moral character and Hunter ended up standing
up during this hearing and he walked out of the room now John Hunter told me he resented the insinuation or outright
accusation that he had done anything unethical or dishonest in his presentation of the evidence you know
he's a grieving man and um in his mind this is black and white and the fact that it wasn't black and
white in reality and the fact that there was a lot of complexity to it and the fact that there was reasonable doubt
that acquitted Mark of murder obviously infuriates him um I'm sure John Hunter thought that
he was doing what he's supposed to do um it's a great episode as usual thank you
so much Peter and Chris for joining us today thanks amarie thanks amarie so listen be sure to join us next
Tuesday Tuesday of course for another postmortem and watch 48 hours Saturdays 109 Central on CBS and streaming on
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subscription on Apple podcasts

A mother and stepfather track down answers in their daughter’s violent death.

Watch "For the Love of Cayley Mandadi" and then catch up with "48 Hours" Correspondent Peter Van Sant and producer Chris Ritzen on "Post Mortem" as they discuss following this case for over five years, two trials, and the unconventional investigation that Cayley’s parents undertook to seek the truth about what happened to their daughter.

00:01 The Journals of Maria Muñoz 42:00 Listen to a post-mortem on the episode

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

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Brief Summary

Kaye Mandad's tragic death leads to two trials, revealing domestic violence and drug use, with Mark Howton convicted of aggravated assault but not murder.

Key points

The Mistrial. After a dramatic trial, the jury hangs, leading to a mistrial for Mark Howton.
Kaylee's Tragic Demise. Kaylee Mandad, just 19, is declared brain dead after a night out with Mark Howton.
The Autopsy Revelation. The medical examiner rules Kaylee's death a homicide due to blunt force trauma.
The Defense's Argument. The defense claims Kaylee's injuries were caused by resuscitation efforts, not Mark Howton.
Mistrial Declared. After hours of deliberation, the jury declares a mistrial in the Mark Howton case.
Parents Become Investigators. Kayle's parents take matters into their own hands, investigating the case themselves.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I could see that she was on a ventilator and my heart just stopped.

Allison describing her first sight of Kaylee in the hospital.

5:51WatchJul 26, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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