Forensic Files - Season 10, Episode 34 - Bump in the Night - Full Episode | Forensic Files

NARRATOR: A man sleeping in his bed was brutally murdered by an intruder. The victim lived alone, but with three ex-wives,
there was no shortage of suspects. A muddy footprint, an electrically charged blood
sample, and a blood spatter recreation were all that was needed to solve the case.
[theme music] 47-year-old Bill Lowes rarely missed work. His employer considered Bill to be one of their most
reliable and conscientious truck drivers. So when Bill didn't show up for work for two straight days,
the supervisor called his family to find out why. -I told my wife that, well, I'll run by where he lived
because my place of employment is just down the street from where Bill-- Bill lives.
So I went to-- to his house. NARRATOR: Bill's car was outside and his front door was open.
Inside, Joe found his brother. He said he'd never seen anything like it. -In there where he was laying in bed, and blood all
over the floor, blood all over the walls. It was just like I went through hell. -The officers told me they had never
seen quite so much blood on a ceiling before. NARRATOR: Bill's body was under the bed sheets.
His body was cold, indicating he'd been dead for some time. -You wouldn't think it would happen
to you, or to your family. NARRATOR: In a small town like Cape Girardeau, Missouri,
police and sheriff officers all knew Bill Lowes. They said he was an easygoing man who never finished
high school, but was a hard worker. He spent his free time playing pool at a local bar.
SHERIFF JOHN JORDAN: He had a history of some drinking, but that was it. There was no indication that William Lowes was involved
in any kind of drugs or gangs or any kind of activity or illegal activity like that.
NARRATOR: Police found no signs of forced entry, but Lowes had a habit of leaving his doors unlocked.
A habit his friends and family would have known. -Whoever committed this crime either knew that there was
a certain door would be left unlocked, or they had a set of keys. So it was someone close to him. LT.
TRACY LEMONDS: The fact that we found his wallet in his pants pocket undisturbed indicates to me that robbery
was not a motive in this case. -It has long been a rule of thumb in homicide investigations that 75% of the time, the victim
knew his killer or was related to his killer. That it's either a friend or a family member.
NARRATOR: Forensic pathologist Dr. Mary Case performed the autopsy and quickly concluded this was a homicide.
-He had four very large wounds above and slightly behind the ear, then going towards the back of the head.
NARRATOR: And Dr. Case found proof that Bill Lowes was asleep when he was attacked and never heard the killer.
-There were no defensive wounds, which are wounds that we sometimes see when people are trying to ward
off an injury, hold up their hand, hold up their arm. And then you would see injuries to those surfaces.
There were no other wounds to his body. MORLEY SWINGLE: Bill Lowes was virtually totally deaf
in one ear, and partially deaf in another, which also explained why he could be sleeping in bed
and not hear the killer come into the house. SHERIFF JOHN JORDAN: It was a very vicious attack.
You have a man who is asleep in bed, and from the blood spatter evidence, you cant tell that he never moved at all.
NARRATOR: Police didn't find the murder weapon at the crime scene, but Dr. Case suspected it was a long linear object.
-You could think of things like crowbars, or a baseball bat. NARRATOR: Investigators found no foreign fingerprints
inside Bill's home. Outside, however, they found their first piece of forensic evidence.
A shoe impression in the mud. -It had rained in Cape Girardeau, and so if that shoe print had been left over from days
or weeks before, it would've-- it would've not still been there from the weather.
NARRATOR: Crime technicians poured plaster into the shoe impression, a forensic technique that's
been done the same way for more than 200 years. When the plaster hardened, investigators
had a clear shoe impression. -And if we could find the person that was wearing that tennis
shoes, we could at least put them at the crime scene within the period of time that we
felt that the murder had occurred. NARRATOR: And to find a suspect, investigators
had to figure out who wanted Bill Lowes dead. JOE LOWES: After the I don't know how many different people came to me
and said that Bill had helped him out or gave me a room to stay, or gave me food,
I didn't have anything. Bill was that-- Bill was that way. I mean, that-- that was Bill.
For him to die like this, you know, it's just not right. NARRATOR: In the search for Bill Lowes' killer,
investigators began by looking at the usual suspects. -You look at his coworkers and see
is there a coworker that might be mad at him. Was he having an affair with another female coworker
that-- that might have triggered animosity from a spouse. NARRATOR: Although Bill Lowes wasn't married
at the time of his murder, he had three ex-wives. SHERIFF JOHN JORDAN: 80% percent of homicides
that occur are considered love-hate killings. You had to love the person enough to kill them, or hate him enough to kill him.
And to do that, you have to be close to that person. JOE LOWES: Him and his first wife
were still on good speaking terms because they had a child together. His second marriage, I think they were still on good terms,
but it just didn't work out. NARRATOR: Ex-wife number one and ex-wife number two both had alibis for the night of the murder.
JOE LOWES: And then, of course, the third marriage, that's a different story. NARRATOR: 39-year-old Wanda Kay Knupp
was married to Bill Lowes for about two years. -I thought Bill when I first met him was a gentle kind person.
Bill's family wouldn't accept me because there's an old saying in southern Illinois, you don't come from the right side
of the railroad tracks, you're the wrong type. And I came from the poor side. NARRATOR: Bill was Wanda's sixth husband,
and she was convinced he would be a wonderful stepfather to her 17-year-old son, Bryan.
-He was a great man, you know. I enjoyed going out and doing things with him. The job he had, I used to go with him all the way to St.
Louis and back helping him and stuff. NARRATOR: Wanda and Bill both drank heavily, ran up debts,
and their fights were occasionally physical. -When he started drinking, it went to [beep].
I loved him at one time, he was a great stepfather. But when he was drinking, he was a piece of [beep].
WANDA KNUPPS: What caused us to decide to separate is when I took one severe beating from him.
-Bill was not an abusive individual as certain people try to portray him as. No, he was not.
NARRATOR: Wanda and Bill divorced a year before he was killed. But investigators were surprised to learn that Wanda was still
the beneficiary of Bill's $20,000 life insurance policy. MORLEY SWINGLE: Here she has 20,000 motives
to have him killed when she's no longer married to him and she's having financial trouble.
So it was a red flag that the officers felt like they definitely needed to look into.
NARRATOR: Wanda vehemently denied any involvement in Bill's murder. WANDA KNUPPS: The police asked me about the life insurance,
and I told the police I didn't know nothing about it. NARRATOR: And Wanda had an alibi.
On the night of the murder, she was in a bar with her new boyfriend, and there were plenty of witnesses.
-And so they were able to rule out that the fact that she had had anything to do with it.
NARRATOR: Her son, Bryan, also had a solid alibi. He was camping with his friend Mike Hale.
-I got the receipts. SHERIFF JOHN JORDAN: Michael Hale backed up the alibi. They went fishing.
He could produce receipts of where they went and bought the camping supplies and the food for the camping outing.
NARRATOR: No one seemed to have a motive, and the investigation quickly turned cold.
Bryan Crews had an alibi for the night of his stepfather's murder. He said he was camping with his best friend, Mike Hale,
and Hale corroborated his story. The police interview with Bryan Crews was routine.
Crews had no financial motive in the murder and claimed his relationship with Bill Lowes was a good one.
-He was the dad I always wanted and never had. We had great times as a family, something that I'd never
had for real as-- all through my childhood. NARRATOR: While they were talking, the sheriff noticed Crews was wearing athletic shoes that
looked similar to the shoe impression found at the crime scene. -Could I see the bottom of your sneakers?
SHERIFF JOHN JORDAN: I asked to see the soles of his shoes. And when he showed me, from just seeing the shoe prints
at the scene, I knew the shoe was very close to what they had found. NARRATOR: Investigators sent Bryan's shoes
to analyst Dave Warren. -When we get the shoe out, we compare it directly with the plaster cast because the plaster cast
is a positive impression of the outsole. So we're able to compare those with each other.
NARRATOR: The shoe impression was not the best in terms of quality. Occasionally, a shoe slips when someone walks through mud.
The plaster cast showed the size, make, and model of the shoe. And just enough of the tread pattern to permit a comparison.
-The wear patterns that were present in the 3-dimensional plaster casts were consistent with the wear patterns
that were on the suspect's shoes. -It was a got you type piece of information, like, you know,
we found these shoe prints and they-- they look like they match your shoes. And so, you know, a part of you is sitting there thinking,
kind of like a chess game, what's his next move? And you know he's sitting across the table
and he's sitting there thinking, oh my gosh, you know, they've got my shoe prints at the scene now.
Oh crap, you know, what am I going to say next? NARRATOR: But Bryan Crews had a simple explanation.
He said he went to Bill's home a few days before the murder to get some of his mother's personal belongings.
He said he left the shoe impression at that time. So police needed to make sure Bryan's alibi
for the night of the murder was air-tight. And the alibi started to crumble when police discovered
that Bryan's friend, 31-year-old Mike Hale had a prior conviction for robbery. SHERIFF JOHN JORDAN: Michael Hale had been to prison
already, so he knew that the stakes were high. NARRATOR: Initially, Mike Hale corroborated Bryan's alibi.
But under pressure, Hale started to change his story. SHERIFF JOHN JORDAN: When it got to a certain point,
it was just like, I'm going to tell you what I know. And so then, Bryan Crews' alibi then began to be torn down.
NARRATOR: Mike Hale admitted he was with Bryan Crews on the night of the murder and said
they stopped by Bill Lowes' home. Hale said he waited outside while Bryan went in to speak with his stepfather.
He said Bryan came out a few minutes later, covered in blood and carrying an axe handle.
SHERIFF JOHN JORDAN: And, of course, at that time, Hale was like, whoa, you know, what happened?
And Crews then told him, he said, well, Bill Lowes will never bother my mother again.
NARRATOR: Hale said they walked to a nearby office park where Bryan threw the axe handle onto the roof
of a vacant office building. Police found a wooden axe handle just where Mike said it would be.
Investigators found no fingerprints, but there were several human hairs and some dried blood.
The hair was microscopically similar to that of Bill Lowes. -The expert was able to say that the hair that he found,
only about 1 in 4,500 people would be expected to have those same characteristics.
NARRATOR: The blood on the handle was type A, consistent with Bill Lowes' blood type.
Since this was before DNA testing, investigators used a process called electrophoresis to analyze the blood.
They exposed a sample to electricity, which enabled them to separate then chart the enzymes.
The results were clear. This was the victim's blood. -Only 3 in 100 people would have this same combination
of enzymes. And-- and Bill Lowes was one of them. -So we had a murder weapon that we could relate positively
back to William Lowes as it being the murder weapon. NARRATOR: But investigators still needed proof
that Bryan Crews was the killer. Or was the real killer Mike Hale? Forensic testing proved that Bill Lowes was beaten to death
with the wooden axe handle found several blocks from the crime scene. But there were no fingerprints found on the handle,
so investigators weren't sure who had used the weapon. Mike Hale said Bryan Crews was the killer.
But when told of Hale's statement, Crews denied it. -I can look you in the eye, you can hook me up
to a lie detector test, and I can tell you point blank, I did not kill Bill Lowes.
I did not conspire to kill Bill Lowes and I'll take any test you want. NARRATOR: Crews claimed that his accuser, Mike Hale,
was the real killer, so investigators confiscated the clothing each man was wearing
on the night of the murder. After a careful evaluation, investigators found no blood
spatter on Mike Hale's clothing. If Hale had been involved in the murder, he would have had at least some blood on his clothing.
But on Bryan Crews' black sweat shirt and his jeans, investigators found tiny specks of blood spatter,
consistent with the type created in a beating. the blood was Bill Lowes. -The blood on the sweatshirt by itself
shows that our victim and suspect were at one time together when the victim was bleeding.
That's-- that's pretty powerful stuff. NARRATOR: Crews then admitted he was at Bill's home on the night
of the murder, but claimed self-defense. BRYAN CREWS: What happened with me that night?
Basically, there was some of my stuff still in the house and I went over there to get it.
He swung at me with the axe handle and I took it away and hit him in the head with it.
I know I hit him, but I know I didn't kill him. I know that. He was breathing when I put him in his bed.
I know he was alive when I left that house. NARRATOR: Crews said that Mike Hale returned to the house
later and killed Lowes. But the forensic evidence contradicted that. There was no evidence that there was any kind of attack
in the kitchen, as Crews claimed. -Had he been struck any of these blows in the kitchen,
he would have shed blood. And there was no blood there. NARRATOR: And there were other discrepancies.
-From his voice, I could tell he'd been drinking. NARRATOR: A toxicology test revealed
Lowes' blood alcohol level was zero. -So those are points of dishonesty there, they're not true.
And when you have somebody that is telling an untrue story, you have to say, why would you tell a story that's not true
unless they have something to hide. And something that is so obviously untrue as he was drunk.
Well, he's obviously not drunk. Just that one point alone would make you think this person truly has something to hide.
NARRATOR: Bryan Crews was arrested and charged with his stepfather's murder. Prosecutors believe the motive was money,
that Bryan Crews wanted to kill his stepfather before he had a chance to remove his mother as beneficiary
of his life insurance policy. According to the forensic evidence, Bryan snuck up to Bill's home and looked into his bedroom
window to make sure he was asleep. That's where he left his shoe impression. Crews then entered Bill's home, picked up
the axe handle Bill had put there to defend himself, and beat him to death. The blood spatter on Bryan's clothes,
on the bedroom walls and ceiling, proved he killed Bill Lowes. And he did it in the bedroom.
He later disposed of the murder weapon by throwing it onto the roof of a vacant building.
But, he did so in front of a witness. -The police made a bargain with Mike Hale.
Mike Hale turned snitch, rat, whatever you want to call it. NARRATOR: The jury deliberated for just one hour
before finding Bryan Crews guilty of first degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
For his part in the crime, Mike Hale was convicted of hindering the prosecution,
served one month in jail, and was released. Prosecutors have no proof that Bryan's mother
had anything to do with the crime. -My mom had nothing to do with it. NARRATOR: During our interview, Bryan threatened Mike Hale's
life if he ever got out of prison. -If there's justice, Mike Hale will get his. All I know is one day, I should get out of here one day.
If there's any justice in this world, I'll get out one day. May come right back to prison, but it
would be justified this time. NARRATOR: Prosecutors say it's that kind of thinking
that landed Bryan Crews in jail, and they're grateful for the science that put him there.
MORLEY SWINGLE: You started out with a body lying in a bedroom, and it's a complete mystery as to who did it.
And you end up that it was the stepson who had nursed a grudge against this man for some time and now saw dollar signs
of a chance to kill him so his mother could get some extra money. -While Bryan's story lied, and we could tell it was lying,
the evidence at the crime scene was telling us a different story. And it doesn't lie.
[theme music]

When a victim is brutally murdered in his own bed, investigators find a shoe impression in the mud outside--physical evidence they hope will lead to the killer.

Forensic Files is the longest-running true crime series in television history. Evidence and interviews with experts help solve real crimes, disease outbreaks and accidents around the world.

Brief Summary

Bill Lowes was murdered by his stepson Bryan Crews over financial motives, leading to a conviction based on forensic evidence.

Key points

Brutal Murder Unfolds. A man is found brutally murdered in his home, shocking the community.
Investigation Begins. The search for the killer begins as police uncover evidence and motives.
Forensic Evidence Revealed. Investigators find blood spatter and a murder weapon linked to the suspect.
A Shocking Confession. Bryan Crews admits to being at the scene, claiming self-defense.
Justice Served. Bryan Crews is found guilty of murder, sentenced to life in prison.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It was just like I went through hell.

Joe describing the scene of his brother's murder.

1:39WatchJan 14, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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