Hidden Evidence | “48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] once I started you know and there was nothing else like it what are you holding in your hands
now these are items that were seized out of Israel Key's jail cell has the public ever been shown this
before no these skulls are drawn in blood the blood where do you believe the blood
came from I think it was Israel's blood Israel Keys is a serial killer who hid his crimes for many years he was
meticulous uh he was incredibly bright uh and he was incredibly lethal and the significance of the 11 skulls what is
that we believe that 11 is the total number of victims I don't think anybody in his
family his friends his relationships his spouses had any idea what he was doing it gives me the chills to think I had
talked to him had known him that's where I got um my kicks I guess was being able
to live two different lives and have no one have a clue unless you heard him talk about the murders you would not
know that he was a serial killer with kit it wasn't about a particular victim it was about a location why did he pick
these folks I didn't it was just random Samantha kig is an 18-year-old girl who was uh raised and lived in Alaska she
went to high school here she worked at the coffee stand she was a young girl working her job I I'm terrified of what
she went through so at this point Samantha is just she's making coffee she has no idea
her entire life is about to change in a horrible way no people never expect stuff to happen
he would wait until he had the victims under control and then that's when I think the the real monster came
out there's a specific way I wanted things done very specific way I wanted things to happen and uh and I have the
whole thing planned out I have everything I need to do it he loved to travel every time i' Drive I'd be
looking for places good places to do stuff you'll see locations in Seattle Gresham Oregon Port Angeles Washington
he would rent cars he would drive thousands of miles he would take people from one state and he would bury them in
other states San Diego Tijana Salt Lake City Utah Cleveland Ohio Edmund Washington Fort Wayne Indiana there are
potential victims wherever Israel Keys traveled do you believe that this weapon somewhere in the United States may have
been used to kill someone it's possible I had big plans for that [Music] we know that there are families out
there whose loved ones um died at the hands of Israel keys right now we're just trying to find them
[Music] n [Music] [Music] in February of 2012 the residents of Anchorage Alaska were shaken by a
frightening mystery it basically looked like someone just literally walked out of their shift it was the evening of
February 1st when 18-year-old Samantha kig vanished after her night shift at this roadside espresso stand she went to
work that day expecting to go home go home to her boyfriend and her dad Michelle Tasker is a family friend her
boyfriend was supposed to pick her up that night but that didn't happen multiple calls went
unanswered several hours later her boyfriend's cell phone lit up with a message from Samantha's phone the text
messages said something to the effect of I'm going on vacation I'm tired you know
that she was just going away and she just left but we knew she hadn't left that wasn't her character so they knew
something was wrong something was terribly wrong and the next day investigators watched it all
unfold on security camera video FBI special agent Jolene Goden soon joined the team trying to find
Samantha what are we looking at this is Samantha 8:00 p.m. is closing time so she's doing all of her normal things
that she would do to to get ready for closing that's when a masked man walked up to the window he wanted much more
more than just coffee so Samantha's over at the window here she handed something
to the customer she backs up and this is where you see Samantha do this you see her raise her
arms when you raise your hands like that it's usually CU somebody's doing something exactly what started as an
apparent robbery suddenly took a darker turn she turns the lights off do you think her as salance said turn off the
lights yes at this point you see an individual jump in through the window uh right through the window right
through the window have you ever seen something like that before no and then you see two individuals walk
away it it looks like an abduction as the news spread say please help find my daughter Samantha's Father
James kig went public I don't know if my daughter's being fed taken care of if she's still alive if she's getting any
sleep as time went on there was a tremendous amount of fear uh about what happened
and and who was in our community that could do something like this the FBI joined the Anchorage Police Department
in looking at family and friends did you have a sense you were getting to know this young woman yes yes FBI special
agent cat Nelson learned everything she could about Samantha and the people she knew she seemed like she had a very good
spirit like she was a very kind individual caring about others um you could tell that she had a lot of friends
that cared about her a lot Samantha's boyfriend was quickly ruled out as a suspect there was no obvious lead in
this case and it ped so many um barriers for us in the beginning as to where to start looking for
her 10 days after Samantha disappeared a vigil was held hundreds of people came what else can we
do Flyers hand out flyers ask around if you know somebody who knows something get them to talk we just need some sort
it's that one lead that one tip that's going to bring her home as friends and family fan out
across Anchorage to try to find Samantha the question is could she also be out here somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness
then finally after three agonizing weeks that's when the text came in that said there was a ransom note and where to go
the text to Samantha's boyfriend was as mysterious as her disappearance it said to look in Connor Park under pick of
Albert it also said ain't she pretty we just got up and just ran and everybody took off to the
park one of the girls kind of noticed something on the bulle board I walk up and there's a picture of a missing dog
named Albert and right underneath is a plastic bag with a look like a clipping and a photograph in it didn't touch it
we called the police that note contained a picture of Samantha and a long typed out message that talked about putting
$30,000 into Samantha's bank account that account was connected to Samantha's debit card which the kidnapper had and
the photo which is has not been made public was of Samantha holding a newspaper I believe it was dated
February 13th so well after Samantha's abductions so the hope of course is that Samantha is alive Samantha's dad
deposited $5,000 into her account several hours later a man makes an ATM withdrawal using Samantha's card he has
a covering over his face um dark clothing he has gloves on his hands I so it's there's very little you can tell
investigators rushed to the ATM but we're too late missing the suspect by minutes one week later another ATM
withdrawal is made this one is very different this withdrawal occurs in Willcox Arizona nearly 4,000 mil away
and then a short time later we have one in Lordsburg New Mexico then Umble Texas and then
Shephard Texas he's heading east he's heading east we can see that he's moving across the Corridor but the suspect had
made a crucial mistake during the ATM withdrawal in Arizona a white Ford Focus can be seen in the background that
information was pushed out to to law enforcement across that entire Corridor then on March 13th a State Trooper
notices a vehicle matching that description in a Texas Hotel parking lot and a short time later a man comes out
he gets in the vehicle um and he starts to drive away the trooper follows and once that vehicle exceeds the speed
limit he has his probable cause to pull that vehicle over and when he asks the driver for
identification he ultimately presents him with an identification card for Israel
keys and who the heck is Israel Keys Israel Keys was not even on our radar that trooper's instincts were
spoton a search of the car uncovers Samantha's ID her deit card her cell phone and a gun along with a disguise
that matched the man in the ATM photos at this point we believe we have our guide but now the FBI wanted to know
what had Israel Keys done with Samantha kig the race is on because we still don't have Samantha we have him but we
don't have Samantha so if Samantha is alive and we really need to find her quickly
[Music] in March 2012 two weeks after Israel Keys was arrested in Texas he was extradited to Anchorage Alaska at the
point we didn't really know you know was he the one who took and kidnapped Samantha kig or was he someone who was
just using a credit card that he found FBI agent Jolene Goden says investigators initially didn't know what
to make of keys what was it like to look into the eyes of Israel keys I spent a lot of
time with Israel Keys you could be in a room with him and it was like you were in the room with your neighbor I think
I'm bed at Walmart and then there were other times where the hair on the back of your neck stands up a little
bit investigators scramble to learn everything they could about Israel Keys the man did he have a criminal record I
believe he had a a DUI but that was it no no crimes of violence in his history no sex offenses in his history nothing
like that he's a 34 year-old man from Alaska who has a construction business small kind of quiet life even one of my
colleagues at the US attorney's office used him as a handyman one of your colleagues hired him to do some work
sure this is someone you felt comfortable giving a key to your house so he could go there when you weren't
there to fix things an Anchorage resident since 2007 Keys lived in this house with his girlfriend and his
10-year-old daughter from a previous relationship neighbors say he didn't stand out nothing suspicious at all
except for that he worked hard but investigators had suspicions and one very pressing question we started off
with where is Samantha no one knew if Samantha the con was still alive Anchorage assistant us attorney Frank
Russo and his colleagues knew time was of the essence he would have been sitting right here so they confronted
Keys about Samantha once we heard what he had to say and went from being a very happy day as a prosecutor to one of the
worst I've ever had we ended up hearing a confession Keys admitted he had killed
Samantha so we wanted to find out why he did what he did but before he would say
more one the lawyers got you this Keys began what would become a pattern for giving information he wanted an
americano coffee from Starbucks he wanted a Snickers bar and he wanted a particular cigar ultimately Keys lays
out the entire story of of how the Abduction of Samantha occurred the video of that confession had never been made
public before in it Kei says he pointed a 22 caliber pistol at Samantha I remember asking him you know why did you
picked that coffee cart at that time and he just simply said well it was open late meaning he chose her completely at
random key said as they walked off into the night Samantha Broke Free and ran he
chased after her and tackled her he indicates that his plan is to hold her for ransom suggesting to Samantha that
that if she cooperates he'll release her she'll be able to to go home it was all
a lie instead keys drove Samantha to his home chained her up in his shed and sexually assaulted her keys then
strangled her to death Key's family the FBI later determined knew nothing about the horrors that had just taken place he
was talking about the murder of this girl like someone else would discuss what they had for lunch within hours of
murdering Samantha Israel keys left Anchorage for a Caribbean vacation with his family and where did he leave
Samantha where was she where was her body Samantha was in the shed uh at his house keys didn't return until 2 weeks
later it was then that he posted the ransom note and texted Samantha's boyfriend knowing she was already
dead Keys told investigators he had driven some 35 miles north of Anchorage to manusa Lake where over the course of
three trips he disposed of Samantha's remains he had drilled a hole and went ice fishing in the lake and he had tied
it up with bailing wire and weights and he had placed parts of her body down the
lake as he fished I remember asking him did you catch any fish and he said yeah I caught fish and I said what did you do
with the fish and he said well I took him home and ate them and for me that that just
turned my stomach it took the FBI's dive team 10 hours to recover Samantha's body
I remember I was the one who told both Samantha's mom and dad and that was that was a bad day Koenig family friend
Michelle Tasker he has a daughter and you did that to somebody else's daughter I don't understand you have the right to
talk to after talking to keys investigators realized they had a depraved killer on their hands and that
Samantha was likely not Key's only victim I'm two different people basically how long have you been two
different people long time 14 years and that tells you what that he had been a serial
killer for 14 years special agent Katherine Nelson knew every aspect of Key's life needed
to be examined Cleveland Ohio so she started a deep dive into his paper trail cell phone records Financial records
anything we could find out about his background his travels anything that would just tell us a better story about
him it was starting to look like Keys could have victims across the United States we know that Israel Keys travel
to places such as Washington California Wyoming Texas Vermont we'll get the whole story eventually and he teased his
interrogators with details of other murders I'll tell you about everything I'll give you every single gory detail
you want but before Keys would agree to do that he wanted something extraordinary in return I want an
execution date for you yes and he said I want a promise that I'll get the death penalty if you do that then I'll tell
you about all the people I killed what we said is the more murders you give us the more likely it is that they're going
to want to impose the death penalty on you but without a guarantee of death Keys was reluctant to say anything more
so give me something to work with hold a bunch of your cards back but give me a card finally Keys folded all right I'll
give you two bodies and a name [Music] hey is how you doing all right eat no candy
bar they are odd moments to see swear off those C it's in the fridge I'm going to eat
it investigators casually bonding with their interview guest let get him a cigar and let him say we got you over
here awesome cigar for nothing in some ways to The Outsider it looked like you guys were in a way befriending a serial
killer yeah you give me like an hour on the internet but there was method to this
madness says assistant us attorney Frank Russo it was just the act that we had to
put on when we went in that room it was just trying to kind of do anything we could to get
information Israel Keys voluntarily granted two dozen interviews to various investigators in the seven months after
his arrest is it true he could have walked out at any time sure FBI special agent Jolene Goden I think he wanted to
tell the story he wanted to talk about what he did even my own family pretty much I did he enjoyed the rush he
enjoyed the thrill of it that strategy paid off when Keys gave up the names of two victims a married
couple more than 4,000 M from Anchorage in Vermont he gave us the names of the people we wrote them down and what was
the couple's name Bill and Lorraine Courier do your Intel guys immediately try to find out if there's a missing
couple absolutely what do you learn right away that bill and the rain are missing and have been missing for some
time correct bill and the rain Courier are a couple that lived in Essex Vermont nothing stands out really about them
they were just kind of living their life the couriers vanished on a night in June
2011 leaving their family bewildered we love them both with all our hearts we're
devastated by their disappearance and in fear for their lives after interviewing
neighbors police Drew this sketch of a possible suspect police say this composite sketch
of a man who may have been seen driving the couple's dark green Saturn sedan is a big break but the case went cold for
nearly a year until Keys laid out the road map of what had happened he flew into Chicago and he
drove East he intended on that trip to commit a homicide he didn't know who it would be yet on that trip Keys stayed at
this hotel in Essex Vermont while there he dug up a bucket similar to this one that he had buried a few years
prior so this is just the standard orange Home Depot bucket for the first time the FBI is
showing 48 Hours these are several boxes of 22 ammunition the contents of what keys like to call a kill cach so he
would preposition these caches and then when the urge Came Upon him if he happened to be in that state he had his
tools of Destruction ready to go correct or he'd plan a trip to a particular State knowing he already had a cash
there he didn't know who he was going to kill but he already knew that he had the
items there that he needed we have the silencer for the 22 we have a wood stock for a 22 a plastic stock for a 22 uh a
portion of a 22 rifle and then we have the drum magazine the 22 had a number of 22 caliber bullets that's correct you
ever seen anything like this in your career no the cash used in The Courier attack has never been found but Keys
told the FBI where they could find this a weapon he had used in Vermont this is a silencer that heys actually
constructed himself with his murderous Tools in hand Keys went hunting for victims and found himself Outside The
Courier house I decided I was going to look for a house with a couple in it I was looking for a fairly easy way to get
into the garage and there was the first house I found that had all those things he just happens to take a walk from his
hotel into a neighborhood and this un suspecting couple just living their lives is about to have a monster at
their door yeah the monster didn't knock he's very quickly in the house he restrains
bill in the rain very quickly you just make sure they know right away who's in charge and immediately tie them up and
then he moves them to their car and he drives them to an abandoned Farmhouse that he had scoped out earlier Keys
attacks Lorraine first she's upstairs in the bedroom he had restrained uh Bill downstairs but the couriers were not
going down without a fight Bill's yelling for his wife Bill ultimately starts to break free from the restraints
and Keys has to go back downstairs in order to restrain him again and what happens down there there's a struggle
that ensues so I knew I was either going to have to knock him out or just kill him he saw the gun he started to say
something and it just pissed me off and I just started pulling the trigger do you think that this silencer
might have been used in the murder of Bill career I think it's very likely Keys then strangled Lorraine Courier and
left the couple in the basement of the abandoned Farmhouse did anyone ever find these
bodies no a short time after this happened the house ended up being demolished and it was taken to the
landfill we made numerous attempts at the landfill it was a I believe a 10 or 12 week search at the landfill
the FBI was searching in an attempt to find them but we were not able to recover their bodies but as meticulous
as Keys was in covering his tracks he slipped up this is the one item in all the things that we found that belong to
keys that actually had his finger print on it there's a perfect right thumb print for is Keys yeah right no there is
I don't have the lab wow yeah I'm impressed well I'm disappointed in myself mostly but I'm
s what other Clues had keys left behind what other murders had he committed investigators began focusing on his time
in Washington state where Keys was raised a place where he would admit to killing at least four more people he go
sh Strang we'll get the whole story eventually far back cuz I can remember but you know that's
where I get a lot of the ideas either fishing or out hunting and see somebody in the
woods to understand Israel Keys you have to go deep into the vast remote Wilderness where he was raised the place
where he lived off and on for more than 20 years Washington State how many people in the state of
Washington do you believe Israel Keys killed we believe he killed four victims total in Washington state FBI special
agents Ted holla and Colleen Sanders first question keys in 2012 they have spent 8 years
investigating his life and crimes in Washington searching for more victims this is like a horror movie isn't it
it's very much like a horror movie the opening scenes of Key's life took place in a secluded cabin outside
the small town of cville he grew up poor uh he grew up in a large family there were 10 children in
all and they kind of live apart from society John where are we heading now so we're heading north out of out of
calville we're going to go see if we can find uh where is Israel Keys grew up just right up here on the right John
Smith and his wife Desiree knew Israel Keys when he was a teenager Desiree hasn't been in this area since she was
15 yes this could be it yeah I remember it being long and Steep and kind of headed up the mountain side and yeah it
was completely impassible through most of the winter it was built to be completely off the grid be completely
isolated from society no radio no television no electricity nothing nothing the key family attended a church
that preached Christian identity theology a philosophy John and Desiree were also raised on but have since
disavowed Christian identity theology is very white supremacist um they come from
the perspective that the other races are subhuman so with Israel keys specifically he could dehumanize anybody
if they rejected his worldview schooled at home cut off from the outside world Keys was socially awkward very quiet uh
very loner is uh standoffish it's it's hard to explain how he made me feel but I felt unsafe
being near him so one specific conversation about killing a deer um he said that the initial shot didn't kill
it and so when he arrived he started to gut the thing while it was alive this is
interrogation audio of keys describing himself I've known since I was 14 that there were things that that I thought
were normal and that were okay that nobody else seems to think were normal and okay but just when Keys committed his
first murder is still an open question whose picture are you holding my daughter Julie Marie Harris she was 12
years old and disappeared on March 3rd 1996 Sher odard says her daughter Julie a Special Olympics athlete with
prosthetic feet vanished from koville while waiting for a ride to church then I went up and down every street in this
town and screamed her name and there was no Trace there was no Trace Israel Keys
then 18 years old lived in the area at the time Julie's prosthetic feet were discovered at the mouth of the the
cville river the next year her skeletal remains were found we asked Israel Keys about Julie Harris and her death and he
said he was aware of it but that he was not involved in it I remember the name I
don't remember the details of the story Keys told investigators the birth of his
daughter convinced him to never Target children something kind of changed in the way I thought and I didn't want to
do anything that would mess with kids or whatever but Key's daughter was born after Julie Harris was
murdered 48 Hours Tracked Down friends of Julie who had never spoken with law enforcement one of those friends told us
she remembers Keys talking to Julie at the pool where she often swam and that Julie ended up giving him her address
and phone number have you heard this no I did not know that does that sound tantalizing as a possible
clue like any other lead that we have we would want to investigate it fully we would certainly be be interested in
talking with her people have wondered if your daughter was the very first victim
of Israel keys and I'm wondering that too despite the Intrigue surrounding Julie Harris Keys claims his first
attempted murder came in 1997 or 1998 when he abducted and sexually assaulted a young woman near Bend Oregon it was
weird Ian she was scared but also just talking like about random stuff I don't know it was weird I I was just convinced
that I had screwed up that time in Oregon because you know I I I let her go he indicated he never let another go
after that sometime after that assault Keys joined the US Army our investigation lent us to believe that he
was a model Soldier and excelled in the Army Keys told investigators he waited until he completed a three-year stint in
the Army before he stalked his next victim when you were told us it wasn't long when you got out of the military
that he killed somebody and it was that sort of feeling that you needed to do something it was hard to
resist B Town Nia Bay at the farthest Northwestern tip of of Washington is best known as home to the mcot tribe
legendary Whale hunters Keys moved here after marrying a tribe member he met online they started a family he lived
there he rented the house out Eric Johnson worked with keys at The Parks and Recreation Department this is a shop
here the blue part the blue part that was his shop that's where he worked yeah there are reminders of Key's skilled
carpentry all around town Town including this structure he was a great Family Guy
a smart guy gifted Carpenter you know well spoken an upstanding member of the communing member of the community yeah I
would do something and then I would go back like business as usual and go out with
friends go out to bars you know for all the years they've known me they actually
don't know me at all really [Music] about 60 Mi southeast of Nia Bay is another spectacular location one of the
deepest lakes in the United States which investigators suspect is also a watery grave you guys know about Lake Crescent
in Washington he revealed to us that one of the Washington State victims was actually their body was sunk in this
particular Lake I think that lake is 5 to 700 ft deep here's a picture of Israel Keys's boat sometime in 2005 or
2006 Keys had a body in this boat any idea who this person may be any idea how this person was killed no how long did
the body last and a freshwater lake in the last months of 2012 special agents Hala and Sanders were hopeful that Keys
would give them more information on who is at the bottom of this Lake but the Killer had another plan I can't be
satisfied sitting in prison for all my life I'd rather go out while I still have some sanity good memories
[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you really think I'm going to feel like when you need more
information after 7 months of interrogations 7 months of teasing investigators with bits and pieces of
his violent past Israel Keys decided to take one more life his own serial killer Israel Keys was found
dead at the Anchorage Correctional Complex we received a call early in the morning that on December 1st 2012 Israel
Keys had committed suicide in his jail cell he used a disposable razor to slit his wrist and keys attempted to strangle
himself with betting and what was your reaction to that my reaction was a lot of these secrets are going to die with
him now for Samantha koenig's loved ones the news hit like a gut punch he should have
been executed now he killed himself that's great it's not what we wanted we wanted him to stand trial we wanted him
to answer for what he did but the world's better off he's gone inside key cell jailers discovered
a bizarre blood soaked suicide note with passages like Crush like a bug you still
die we had hoped that that note was going to be Clues and tips for us on and that he was finally going to give us all
of the information on the homicides and it really wasn't it was kind of a rant but the end of Keys was by no means
the end of this case a few months before his suicide investigators found those mob
drawings he drew a series of 11 skulls and these were found underneath his bed in his jail cell
drawn in Israel Key's own blood you have 11 skulls what does this mean I think this is the entirety of of
his crimes and it indicates that there are seven victims we don't have identified prior to his death Keys had
pointed the FBI to another victim there's one in New York he refused to provide that victim's name but
investigators believe it happened when Keys took a road trip through New York state in the spring of
2009 so they comb through missing persons reports and keys computer is this the person very in New York no
her name was on your computer which computer mine when they confronted him with photos one in particular rattled
him it was a photo of a woman named Deborah Feldman given the way he looked at it and he started shaking a little
bit um I would say she is definitely one of his victims Deborah Feldman is a a woman who went missing from New Jersey
it was in 2009 her body has never been recovered we're relatively confident about Deborah Feldman however we do not
have any forensic evidence to to make that connection according to the FBI that would make Deborah Feldman Key's
fourth known victim along with Samantha kig and Bill and Lorraine Courier agents
are now determined to identify the remaining seven and they are clues that point to at least two other states tell
me about Wyoming was there for him the Green River in Wyoming is where Keys had buried his
Casher is there a sense that there may be a body somewhere near that River we have a strong suspicion that Keys may
have a victim located in that area in the late 2000s Israel Keys also spent time in California's Wine Country
including visiting the Posh Sonoma town of Hillsburg in May of 20 7 Keys has often talked to investigators about
using boats and also kayaks in the disposal of bodies we know that he rented a single person kayak in hburg
near a campground during that time in 2007 but Key's road trips weren't limited to the US in 2007 he drove along
the alen Highway by himself for about a week of that year the alcen highway goes
through Canada up to Alaska yes correct we know that Keys traveled to Canada quite extensively and
specifically said that he would go to Montreal when he was asked about whether he killed anyone in Canada what did he
say he said Canadians don't count it's been several years since Israel Keys killed
himself the FBI hopes investigators across the country will take a second look at suspicious deaths in their area
they're also hoping the public can help if anyone has any information on Israel keys and his travels or if they have a
family member that they think may have been potentially a victim of Israel keys that they come forward to the FBI with
that information that includes the Lake Crescent area of Washington state where Keys told investigators he had dumped a
body we absolutely want people to come forward who think they may have seen something connected to Israel Keys
especially on this Lake and what about those kill caches buried throughout the country if anyone out
there comes across one of these what should they do first for people not to not to touch too much and not to
contaminate it too much and definitely contact local law enforcement in their Community who can then reach out to
us for the FBI their focus is clear for me the important thing is Samantha and Bill and Lorraine and Deborah and all
the victims that we don't have identified that's what this case is about and their commitment unwavering do
you have an optimistic streak that says we can find answers to the other seven cases I do I absolutely do and it won't
be easy by any means and it may take a long time but I'll never give up trying [Music]
[Music] the 911 call came in around 10:50 p.m. it's a female hyperventilating okay calm down where are you
at and then the phone goes dead she's pinging on kener at 2595 and she's extremely out of breath she sounds
like she's running that we got First Responders arriving to a unmaintained County Road
2595 they don't know what they're getting into as they're going down this dark Road in the middle of the night 38
we're out with that female 25 they see a white female flagging them down what's going on my husband he went
to go help me my Jeep is stuck in the back around the corner and he's been shot in the head
please is he okay I need to know if my husband is okay dispatch calls me on the cell phone said hey I think they need
you out there on scene want to check her out make sure she's okay and then you want yeah yeah
yeah you want a little bit of oxygen help you out she was just frantic she had blood on her shoulder area and uh
it's all over her leg and her shirt what's your name Chasey Chasey Chasey what pointer tell us what what what
happened I heard a shot and the Jeep started rolling and I didn't see anything and I saw I saw a shadow that's
all I saw no was it your husband what's his name Robert Rob pointer Robert Pointer yes
he's a firefighter that's why has blood just breathe for me that's why hasn't blood
on me I robbed here right around midnight so we're walking up with our flashlights this point on you can start
making out a silhouette of somebody still in the [Music] Jeep the Jeep was covered in blood there
was no indication of a struggle he's he's around the corner we had a witness Chasey pointer and that
there was somebody loose you know at large that had killed her husband and I could see
Robert and as soon as that that shot he slumped over into the passenger seat [Music]
I just I just wanted to be okay was he dead or alive he was dead this is a case About
Sex Lies money and murder [Music] the [Music] [Music] when I'm awake I see his [Music]
face when I'm asleep I see [Music] it it hurts and he's been shot in the head please he's he's around the corner come
here the harrowing night of September 9th 2016 is forever etched in the memory of Chasey pointer Cal yourself down it's
something I can't get out of my head and when I walked up to him I yelled his name and I just felt something when she
says her husband Robert Pointer a decorated fire department Captain was gunned down by a shadowy figure just
feet away from her on this Rural Road in Roy City Texas you can if you look below
us Tire Treads from tractors uh deep ruts it's a true Farm Road detective Michael Burke photographed the
SE the Night Out Of The Murder they were still watering the ruts they were still
muddy it was pretty rough it's not even a traveled Road it's for Farmers to use to make access to
their fields that night Sergeant Shane Meek wondered how Chasey and her husband ended up on this broken road and
questioned a breathless Chasey in the back of his squad car breathe for me Miss pointer calm down and breathe for
me okay breathe fast like that you're not helping yourself okay slow breaths chasy says the couple plan to meet at a
fast food restaurant for tacos I was going to meet him up at the jacket box I don't I don't ever take
this road all right I what made you come down this one I I missed my last one oh
you did yeah okay so I I didn't I've never never been done right before she texted her husband what do you say to
him told him that GPS said that I was 3 mil out Chasey says while texting she got
stuck I called him after that I told him that my jeep was stuck and that I needed
him to come help me as a fire captain Robert was used to coming to the rescue he rushed to her side I said on the
phone with him he drove out there why did he park there he told Chasey that the ruts were too deep and he
wasn't going to be able to get his truck down here I met him almost all the way down
to his truck and we walked back together and then he went to go get my Jeep got on the driver's side as Chasey
waited on the side of the road for Robert to back up she heard a gunshot I don't think I reacted to the
sound it was Robert I jumped in the Jeep it was rolling very slowly I was holding his
head in my left hand and I put the Jeep in park with my right hand and I just I was calling his
name I could see his eyes I could just feel the blood this was a clean assassination Robert unfortunately
didn't have a clue what what happened to him the victim was sitting in the driver's
seat he's got an entry wound approximately right here in the temple on the right side of his yes sir and the
wding from a shotgun shell was still in his skull and could you tell if that blast was was shot from forward of the
vehicle or from behind it was hard to tell chasy says as she ran for help she saw that shadowy figure there was a man
I there's a tall person at that's H know taller than me and what was he wearing dark clothes is all know did you see any
type of firearm rifle or anything like that in his hand no while sympathetic Sergeant Meek was puzzled that some guy
just happened to be standing in the shadows of the trees to step out and shoot this guy point blank in the in the
head with a gun just didn't make sense all right well give me a second my partners need to speak to me I'll be
right back with you okay I was terrifi right I just watched my husband get shot and the man that did it was still
out there but whoever that suspect was why would he want Robert Pointer dead Robert
was a devoted public servant a career firefighter honestly it's one of those things you don't even believe in at
first at the University Park Firehouse near Dallas where Robert spent 19 years as a firefighter and later a captain the
pain of his loss is still raw for his buddies Jason Paul Earl and Mark but every day you
still feel this absence yeah absolutely you still miss the man no how could you not I think of bob every day I come up
here it burns me up inside but every time I pass Locker I get choked up inside it makes me want to
cry I'm about to cry now a firefighter with the touch of a gentle [Music] giant my last fire was Bob this uh
little girl she was crying Bob took the time comfort her and tell her we were all okay and everything was
fine and that's the way Bob always was not just that little girl his girls his girls were number one on his list always
always no matter how much help he needed he was always there Robert Pointer had three
daughters a 6 and a half-year-old with Chasey and from his first marriage Natalie and Nicole the things you miss
the most are the simple things like being able to call him being able to see him and hug him you
know back in 2008 his 20-year marriage to their mother Amy pointer his high school sweetheart began to UNR travel
signs started showing up that something was a Miss he was shorter with conversations he wasn't home as much
there were excuses when he was gone then Nicole discovered her dad had a second cell phone that was the initial
realization that there was somebody else and eventually this other woman you learn her name it was chasy Tyler
Mormon chasy was a 20-year-old working as a nurse aid he was introduced to Robert through a mutual friend from the
first moment that I ever met him in person we were never apart after that what was his marital status as far as I
knew he was separated from what I understand she continued to go up to the station to kind of let him know that she
was interested and did that quite often she pursued Bob she pursued Bob we've been married 20 years and
here's a young girl that's giving him attention and I just think that she continue to try and you know feel any
need and be there we started seeing each other in December of 2007 and I I was pregnant by
May of 2009 Robert and chasy were married on December 28th 2009 she was 22 he was 40
I knew I wanted to marry him what is it about Robert that you fell in love with he's goofy he would just make me laugh
but almost 7 years later Chasey says the couple's love faded the corner and he's
been shot in the head and that night in the squad car chasy decided to share her
frustrations I was young and stupid when we got married I didn't want to be married anymore
[Music] we've been we've been having problems I was coming to be him with the jck box so
we could talk what do y'all fight over my daughter he's trying to take my daughter away from me just over an hour
after chasy pointer held her husband's blooded head in her hands she kept giving Sergeant Meek details not of the
shooting we're trying to work on it but of the state of her marriage why would he try to take your daughter away like
what reason did he give you knows that that's what's going to hurt me the most yeah her story kept adding all
these different twists and turns and pieces of information that just weren't fitting in the place of the puzzle we're
talking about marital problems at a time when your husband's body is still in a jeep why did you go there I don't
know chayay says 3 years into their marriage the couple grew apart nothing really set it off we slept
in SE separate bedrooms I never felt he loved me like he could have he loved his
ex-wife a lot and I felt like she still had a lot of him according to chasy Robert had a temper he was taking
testosterone and steroids to treat low testosterone levels and Chasey claims that made him violent there would just
be times you know he would grab me by my hair um I could get thrown up against the wall this was verbal abuse and
physical abuse is that right verbal mental physical Robert's ex-wife Amy doesn't buy it that is all made up he
did get on treatments he had normal testosterone for her to say that he had Roid Rage and all that that that just
wasn't him so she's lying to me is what you're saying yes I am when Natalie was 16 she lived with her dad and Chasey for
6 months and never saw him become violent so it was useless to try to come to me and act like Dad was some kind of
Beast did you ever see him slam Chasey against a wall absolutely not Natalie and Nicole have told us that it never
happened are they telling the truth no sir they've never really cared for me from the beginning I was the younger
girl that came in and took their father Chasey believed she had a good reason for not reporting the alleged abuse to
authorities you know I don't walk out and announce he's beating on me I'm not going to do that because it would
jeopardize his job despite their problems Chasey says she tried to keep the spark alive in the marriage I don't
mean to embarrass you with this but what is this from this was done for Robert I
had a friend of mine who was a photographer and she did a budoir shoot for me he wasn't attracted to me after I
lost all the weight he he liked me when I was heavier over a 2-year span chasy transformed her
body the first picture is December probably about 2013 uh the second picture was December
2015 I lost a total of 104 lbs I got up every morning ran strict diet worked out
I pushed myself pretty hard Chasey admits she began seeing other men a lot of men when I dropped the weight I
didn't hide in his shadow anymore you had confidence correct I started meeting people you know I was going out more I
was doing things for myself Natalie accidentally found evidence on chasey's computer that her stepmother was
cheating she had left it open on her Facebook and she was talking to Men on there that weren't dad what kind of
conversations very sexual and gross Natalie says while her father pulled overnight shifts at the the
firehouse Chasey often snuck out for hours at a time leaving Natalie and her then four-year-old sister
alone she was never wearing gym clothes but she always said she was going to the
gym and often my little sister would wake up and she would cry and cry because she couldn't find her
mom Natalie eventually Found the courage to tell her dad about chasey's cheating
ways I will stand up for what I know and what I believe in and that to me wasn't
right you said what I said I think Tracy's cheating on you deeply troubled Robert filed paperwork for divorce but
ended up not following through he was trying to save the marriage he had already been divorced once he didn't
want to lose his his third daughter and not be able to be with her all the time Robert installed a security camera next
to the front door to try and catch Chasey cheating with one of her lovers then just 12 days before Robert's
murder the doorbell rang soon as that doorbell rang I was out that door telling him he had to go and off he runs
and Robert knew correct I love him he's a pain in the ass but I love him on the night of
Robert's murder Sergeant Meek had a hunch that Chasey pointer knew more than she was
saying something just didn't sit right JC do you mind if I take some pictures of you real quick although she wasn't
under arrest she was read her rights all right look up at me all right listen to
me you have the right to remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law house but
Chasey kept on talking yeah revealing what she was up to before that fateful Rendevous with her husband whose house
was that Michael Garza hanging out with someone named Michael Garza are you and Michael Garza dating or anything like
that you have a relationship yes well then that read flag goes off did y'all have a date was
it date night no we we just hung out we we had sex [Music] obviously you got okay what were you saying I'm sorry
he's contacted an attorney to get a divorce and I was I was okay with that we've been married
six years almost seven years investigators say the more chasy pointer talked the more she seemed like a
suspect than a grieving wife we we don't we don't meet up the hyperventilating is
now stopped and she's gone into this stutter talking so I I don't know which leads me to believe that she does these
pauses and so I told him to gather additional thoughts so are you thinking is this a performance yes sir it it
started seeming more and more that way and a performance with a recurring character Michael Garza I was a with at
Michael's house at Michael's house what what tell me his name again I'm sorry Michael Garza Michael Garza yes you have
a relationship yes yes yes Michael Garza who is he he was a place that I would go
to to vent and and I loved him for that Chasey began having an affair with Michael Garza after meeting him on
Facebook in the summer of 2016 this selfie captured one intimate moment it was something I felt guilty about
Robert shared his frustrations about Chasey with his buddies at the firehouse and I told him man you just
got to cut your losses divorce sucks but you're miserable and he said yeah you're
right you're right but I'm invested those are his exact words I'm invested in this Robert was hopeful the marriage
could be saved he took Chasey and their daughter to Mexico on vacation but it backfired we fought he
thought I was on the phone with somebody else it upset him it was the Wednesday that Bob had
come home from Mexico he said the trip wasn't good he said I just can't do this anymore and when did he die right not
long after Chasey told Sergeant Meek about the affair with Michael Garza I'll be transporting the female to the Roy
City Police Department she was driven downtown to be questioned by detective Michael Burke let me get this door
68 car just have me sit right there the interrogation started at 220 in the morning did I love Robert yes he was an
me I love and lasted 8 hours I loved them I I really did love him we've had a lot of issues in our
marriage among those issues her affair with Garza Michael and I ended up having friends while I was there and she gave
more detail about Robert's murder right to the front of my Jeep there was someone standing there probably 6 foot
maybe I could see dark clothes that's it I don't know if they were white black I
don't know anything somebody from what you're saying shoot your husband cold blooded
murder and just let you run away there was someone standing there when somebody comes out to murder a random stranger
you know a big red flag is that they don't let a witness go and that suggested what to you suggested she
might have known the killer look the way your husband was killed somebody was right next to him detective Burke
pressed her I think you're full of crap I want trigger I don't know who pull the
trigger see I think you do and that's the problem no I don't two hours into the interrogation detective Burke broke
through who killed your husband who shot [Music] Robert can you say that louder for me
please Mikey as in Michael Garza where was to the passenger side now cornered Chasey changed her entire story she says
she told Garza about Robert's alleged anger issues I didn't want I just [Music] I wanted to come to know what it's like
to be bulli all the time Chasey told 48 Hours Garza rode with her that night the
plan was to confront Robert outside the Jack in the Box and demand he leave Chasey
alone did you see him put a shotgun in your vehicle no sir you never saw a shotgun no sir how can that be true I
was on my phone Garza tells me make a right ha to County Road 2595 and ask him what was going on he
said he's going to meet us here Chasey now claims it was Garza setting a trap he told me to take my Jeep back up
around the first corner and let Robert know that my jeep was stuck and I needed him to come help
me you had to tell Robert something to get him to come to the location right yeah yes sir but my Jeep wasn't
stuck when Robert arrived she noticed something kind of touching he wore the cologne that he wore on our wedding day
and he hadn't worn it since and I made a joke about it and uh and he laughed Robert could never have imagined that he
was just moments away from Death as I was walking to the Jeep I said stop who are you Ying stop to too to Garza but
why would you have shouted that way if this was just going to be a conversation between two men isn't that indicative
that you shouted stop because that meant don't shoot him no I didn't at that point I didn't want him to even talk to
Robert at that moment sorry at that time there was a gunshot did Garza say anything to you
nothing 91 not until after I called 911 did he run up to me and he took my phone from me when he threw it down on
the ground prosecutor Jeff kovat doesn't buy any of it the question is which one of
those stories does she want us to believe hurt him scare him or just have a talking to none of them more
credible investigators believed that you were luring your husband to this remote
area so he could be murdered there was no plan to to bring him out and and murder him there was no talk of
[Music] that on September 10th the morning after her husband's murder Chasey pointer was arrested for
conspiracy to commit murder the couple's daughter would stay with chasey's mother
did you conspire to have your husband murdered no sir you're telling me that you are speaking the truth yes
sir investigators then set out to find the man who allegedly shot Robert Pointer but Michael Garza the truck
driver had hit the road [Music] [Music] the funeral was absolutely beautiful it was very
ceremonial on September 15th 2016 just 5 days after his wife was charged in his death Captain Robert Pointer was laid to
rest we had guards guarding his n his ashes the entire time firefighters from All Over Texas honored him did the
Fireman's Prayer when duty calls me oh Lord wherever Flames May rage give me the strength to save some
life whatever be its age I remember trying to hold it all together and then when I lost it it's
when we walked out other fire station and police came in and they lined from the church all the way to the
fire station I remember the bag Vibes painful one of the hardest things is they give the last call for Robert
Pointer you still think that person's still there somewhere that this couldn't have happened that's the thing with Bob
you always had this underlying feeling that even if he had to walk through fire somehow that man would make it through
Amy Says in the last days of his life Robert was finally ready to walk away from Chasey he was kind of beaten down
he was tired where he was just ready you know to get a divorce I think she knew he was ready to move
on investigators say just the day before he was gunned down Robert had reached out to a divorce attorney on Facebook
sending this provocative message I'm thinking of a surprise attack and he said something to her about a
surprise attack on me he had contacted a realtor said he was going to put the house up for sale he was going to have
custody of our daughter the next day he is killed do you think that's just a coincidence that's not a coincidence
that's why the murder happened when the murder happened what was the attraction for Chasey with your dad was it Love or
Money Money Natalie says Chasey had convinced her father to change his almost $685,000
life insurance policy instead of the girls getting the money Chasey was made the primary beneficiary we believe that
was the motive she saw him as an ATM machine and she was going to milk the last little bit of money she could get
out of him prosecutor Calvin Grogan says investigators discovered a mountain of digital
evidence there were plenty of text messages after the life insurance beneficiary designation change occurred
in April indicating that Chasey pointer was looking for somebody that would take
care of Robert and many of those techs more than 10,000 were between chasy and her lovers
she's having affairs with multile men Danny Mims brag golden Shan butcher Michael
Garza prosecutors believe Chasey began grooming Garza for murder convincing him that Robert was an imminent threat she
used sex to manipulate men she's not going to come right out and ask about hey will you kill my husband for me
chacy pointer plays the victim and then she uses that to manipulate people and so she told all of these men that she's
just abused battered woman she texted Garza from that Mexican vacation where the couple was to reconcile quote he's
coming after me sooner or later Garza answers F him no I will shot that dude dude was Michael Garett talking about
murdering your husband I didn't think he was serious I didn't want him involved I
told him that I'm telling you man this girl was good at what she did this is Brad golden she would be at my house
every day every day around 4 to 5:00 he's the lover caught on the security camera video he says Chasey manipulated
him I never even suspected suspect boy never she had been married she had told me she' been divorced since 2014
Brad says Chasey told him horror stories about Robert She always told me that Robert was abusive to her I don't know
if she was trying to get me to feel sorry for her and I just wasn't falling for it or whatever cuz I kept trying to
get the M Poli station know were you ever able to cooperate any of her story of abuse we spoke to neighbors we spoke
to friends I mean there was no evidence of support reped at all Chasey had made allegations about Robert's anger issues
to ex-lovers Sean Butcher and Danny Mims who she often texted 8 days prior to the
murder I wish he'd run out of air in a fire moving back to July 11th I need him Gone Gone go all capitalized Denny Mims
replies I'm not a magician Chasey answers well I need one did you want him dead no I was upset Sean butcher says to
Chasey what do you need to leave Chasey pointer says I would be better off with him gone benefits and can't lose custody
investigators have said you were going from person to person to try to find someone who would kill your husband I
wasn't the day before the murder it's from chy dears I've made up my mind what do you think she's made up her mind
about I think it's pretty clear it's about killing Robert Pointer with Michael Garza on the run a
SWAT team raided his [Music] house coming up empty but the next day garit turned
himself in and he was charged with Robert Pointer's murder he did not want to speak to us
only wanted to speak to his attorney and that's as far as we got with their two suspect ects now
Behind Bars investigators hope to find direct evidence linking Garza to the murder 5 weeks later that evidence would
come from a farmer with emergency I believe I found the shotgun who Unearthed the murder weapon
while plowing this field less than A4 mile from where Robert was shot that shot got
was still loaded the shell hadn't been ejected okay and there's two more uh in the magazine and they're all man killing
slugs consistent with what the medical examiner said was used to kill Robert Pointer we did a um a search on the
firearm Mossberg 835 UL mag I came back to Matthew Garza Michael Garza's brother police now had what they needed
Michael Garo would be the first to face trial Michael Garza just happened to be the person that was in chasey's life at
the right time and all it really took for Chasey is to basically just dangled the
[Music] bait and then when I looked up there was nobody there okay you probably think I'm
crazy from her bizarre performance the night her husband was murdered to her confession about her lover Michael Garza
Michael was going to shoot Robert he was going to do it investigators were convinced chasy pointer was determined
to have her husband killed that night he's around the corter come here investigators believe you knew about the
mission planned the mission to murder your husband for money that's what they say and look at me they're right aren't
they no sir on July 10th 2018 the prosecution put the alleged trigger man Michael
Garza on trial he had pleaded not guilty when Garza took the stand he made a shattering
announcement implicating chasy he says that he gave her his brother shotgun cuz he thought that she was abused he
implied that she did it Garza told the court he couldn't have murdered Robert Pointer because he was tending to a sick
animal on the Family Farm his Alibi is that he was tended to Oreo the cow while this whole murder was going on the jury
didn't find Garza's Alibi credible I actually do believe that his testimony helped us on July 20th Michael Gara was
found guilty and sentenced to 99 years in prison it was a huge step forward but it also felt like the real
battle had just begun the pointer family now focused on chasing in my mind she's
always pulled the trigger because she was the instigator of all of it what were you thinking going into
trial I was very hopeful prosecutors were hopeful too that they would prove chasy wanted Robert's money and that she
was The Mastermind there's no way Michael Garza was ever going to get Robert Pointer out of on that road alone
only Chasey could do that and she played her part well using chasey's text prosecutors
demonstrated that her alleged love for Michael Garza was really a Sinister Ploy he is a pawn he's the dumb idiot
she got to do this in fact Garza didn't know that after he shot Robert chasee planned on spending the night with
another lover she was texting Brad goldon while she's out there committing this Murder She had sex with Brad gold
that morning they still planed to meet up that night what the heck is going on I don't
know my life was out of control chasey's defense attorneys Scott corod and Frank Hughes say the state's
obsession with chasey's Affairs tainted the jury Chasey having Affairs has nothing to do with murder it just
demonizes her chasy pointer is not guilty of murder she's guilty of being negligent because she should have
anticipated that this Thug Garza would commit a murder to get to her calling 9111 is probably the strongest point
that we have in her defense no one who planned to kill someone would shoot him and call 911 he went to go help me my
jeus second but the prosecutors argued at the sight of her dead husband Chasey had a moment of
around it's one thing to talk about killing somebody it's another thing to go through with
it while Chasey chose not to take the stand jurors did hear her speak he knew that I was seeing someone and through
those recorded police videos I didn't want to be married anymore one that captured this revealing
moment at the end of her two-e trial the jury began its deliberations we waited for a
while Hour 2 Hour 3 hours went by after the fourth hour hey okay they have a verdict
okay Chasey pointer was found guilty of [Music] murder I cried and relieved they got it that they saw who
she really was she met him and she walked him to his death smiling and gigglin talking
about tacos and cologne she's [Music] evil Chasey told me that you always had Robert's heart I think that's true she
took away all choice of anybody of having any relationship or any you know future with him
this is his bunker gear having it is almost like having part of his presence which is comforting in a way and uh
painful in another how do you want your father to be remembered as as he was as he really
was he was gentle and he was smart and he was kind he was rare and we were lucky to
have him this is a Injustice true Redemption and remorse comes from telling the truth isn't it
time you did that he wasn't supposed to die jurors sentenced Chasey pointer to life in
prison with the possibility of Parole in 30 [Music] years are your tears now tears of what
you did to your own life or tears of what you did to him it's both [Music] we all live two
lives only the most intimate people that we know really know who we are 911 do you need police or paramedic uh
paramedic it begins with a 911 call from the house it was a Sunday morning November 13th year
2016 what's the address of the emergency sir it's a TGA in San Clemente too is a new community it's
kind of considered a sleepy little town nice place to work nice place to live now what's happened we got a patient
here who's Fallen upstairs and I don't have a pulse and she cold Eric Scott Sills is a fertility doctor you found
her down at the bottom of the stairs yeah partially on the stairs Suzanne SS is his wife looks like her shoe come off
or something the mother of twins a boy and a girl so she's not breathing no she's not breathing she was
the one who was found that morning I'm going to give you instructions for chest compressions okay
they had it on a speaker phone so Scott and Mary Kate the daughter were both heard on the on the 911 call
what are you trying to do sir I can't see what's going on what are you CPR I'm doing the CPR Dr SS was a infertility
specialist you going keep up I'm going to do it this way they ran their Clinic as partners Suzanne took care of all the
business side of things continue the compressions until paramedics arrive and take over she's making noises out of her
mouth she was his number one supporter in everything that he did they really looked like they had it all okay hold on
we're doing it baby come she was making some kind of noise just from the compressions that I think
she was already dead we get notified by our Sergeant to come out to a house and begin a death
investigation so when you went inside what stuck out to you well as soon as you go into the front door the stairwell
is right off to your left Suzanne was right there she had a blanket covering her body we could see
the other things laying around like this stainless steel Soup pot a purse an empty medication bottle and then the
scarf was a little bit further down away from her the deputy Corner during her preliminary body exam of Suzanne the
injuries weren't consistent with somebody falling down the stairs her neck had a pretty pronounced ligature
Mark the question is how was she strangled when she was found the scarf was around her
neck I think the first day there was mention of dogs maybe pulling on a scarf oh you so good they had a couple of dogs
rescues very K saw the dogs pulling on the scarf we didn't get the impression that it was any kind of violent pulling
do you think that the dogs could have pulled on her scarf hard enough to strangle her to death could they do it
yes when you came to the house it was a death investigation by the time you left
was it a murder investigation no it wasn't just as clearcut as that [Music] [Music]
[Music] do you have a spidey sense when you go into these scenes like to think so
probably all of us would like to think so that we could just figure it out as soon as we walk in Sherlock Holmes
Style on that Sunday morning in November 2016 Orange County Sheriff's homicide detectives Eric hatch and Dave Holloway
had more questions than Clues at that point in time that morning November 13th was Scott Sills a victim or a suspect to
us he was a victim we were going to a house where two kids and a husband just lost their wife and mother Dr Scott
zills had made that 911 call and reported finding his wife and business partner Suzanne at the bottom of the
stairs is it a steep stairway yeah it's pretty high I believe it was 13 and 1/2 ft from the floor to the top of the
stairs did it seem plausible that a 45-year-old woman in pretty good shape would have fallen down the stairs to her
death at the time it sounded believable Suzanne had injuries to pretty much her whole
body her face was all bruised up her back was bruised up both arms and legs were had bruising and abrasions and
around her body was that odd collection of items they definitely stood out especially that steel Puck it almost
looked like it was placed there it wasn't upside down or leaning against anything we had to figure out why those
things were there the detectives say Dr Sills didn't seem nervous that a homicide team was in his home asking
questions he was just kind of going with the flow how Cooperative was he oh very
everything we asked of him he he gave us he signed a consent form that gave us permission to search his house and when
they interviewed the Sill's children Mary Katherine and Eric the 12-year-old twins each told a similar story to their
dad that Suzanne had not been feeling well that night Suzanne had a history of migraines they were typically
debilitating requiring a dark room quiet and bed rest rest and she had been suffering from a migraine that weekend
the migraine seemed to explain that large pot sometimes she carried around a bowl in order to have it near her
bedside in case she threw up in the middle of the night and the empty pill bottle was for a pain medication Dr
Sills said his wife took to treat her migraines so did that make it sound more possible that she could have fallen down
the stairs because she was suffering from a migraine maybe and there seemed to be nothing in the relationship to
suggest another reason what did you learn about the Sill's marriage according to Scott everything was fine
they had a you know a good relationship both children attested that their parents loved each other and said they
rarely argued and were never violent detectives started piecing together a timeline of the
weekend Saturday night she was on the couch Eric came down to see her check on her make sure she was
okay it was around midnight when Eric said he and his mom went back upstairs after she put the dogs away in their
crate Mary Katherine had gone to bed in her parents' bedroom Suzanne was going to spend the night in Mary Katherine's
room which was the quietest it was Mary Katherine's idea for Suzanne to spend the night in that room it was clean
according to Mary Katherine and done up like a little hotel suite for Susan and a convalescent
there Mary Catherine had left a note on her door with what would be her last words to her
mom I know you were tired she said but you need to know that I love [Music] you around 4:00 a.m. Eric said he woke
to the sound of his parents arguing in the Next Room the two windows that's Eric's room so
Eric is right next to Mary Katherine's room where his mom was and what did he tell you he heard
well he heard loud voices arguing but he didn't describe hearing any physical confrontation Eric told detectives that
after about 5 minutes he decided to go sleep in the main bedroom with his sister according to Mary Katherine's
statement she thought he'd come in around 3:40 a.m. and told her their parents were arguing about a work email
how do you know she she got an email because Eric said they were talking about oh okay so Eric told you that
there that she got an email and that she was it was about some something something about work Dr Sills told
detectives he had argued with Suzanne because he found her working late on her laptop which made her migraines worse
when you heard that they had an argument shortly before she was found at the bottom of the stairs dead was going
through your mind well again that's one more piece of data that we're going to collect it doesn't mean one way or the
other that it was a murder but that's definitely an Avenue that we would have to pursue neither Eric nor Mary
Katherine heard their dad return to the bedroom I woke up and my dad was just like on the coverage just laying there
like there wasn't enough room to get in I guess we just was laying there on top of it
yeah it was was around 6:30 a.m. the next morning when Dr Sills and the twins woke
up he asked them if they wanted to go to the pool and get some donuts Mary Catherine said when she left
the bedroom and looked over the banister she saw her mom's body at the bottom of the stairs that long red and
white scarf around her neck that was Mary Katherine's scarf it was found in the same room as Suzanne's
body but the scarf wasn't on her body when we arrived it was not Mary Katherine told us that she had to remove
the scarf and she did that not to impede mom's breathing adding to the mystery were the injuries to Suzanne's neck the
deputy coroner had noticed during a preliminary examination of the body earlier that morning especially with the
lature mark across her neck it just didn't make sense is it possible that she could have fallen down the stairs
and then somehow the scarf strangled her could have caught on a banister sure I suppose so but we didn't have any
evidence of that as detectives continued their investigation the questions mounted did anybody in the house hear a
fall down the stairs no nobody described hearing a fall down the stairs or if suzan had been carrying that stainless
steel pot no one heard that bounce down the stairs or land on the tile floor there was no evidence on the stairs of
someone going down like broken ballast or anything like that and something else the detectives
thought was strange it was a warm day even though it was November but when we spoke with Scott and during the whole
time we were in the house doing our investigation he was wearing a beanie over his head and he said that he slept
with it cuz it was cold did you ask him to remove the beanie yes as it turned out Suzanne wasn't the only one with
injuries that morning [Music] we discovered that Scott had some injuries he had a cut up here on his
forehead and on his arm he had a uh bruise Dr Scott Sills said there was a simple explanation for the injuries he
had hurt himself while working on his car in the garage with his son Eric there was just one problem Eric told us
dad didn't hurt himself did he say to you I left the garage so maybe you heard himself while I was gone no he told us
they came in the house together and investigators said they found something Dr Sills couldn't explain on that day
you found blood yes blood in Mary Katherine's room where Suzanne had been staying on the curtains the wall and the
nightstand so that morning when you ask Scott about the blood what did he say he
didn't know where it came from he He was unaware of it Mary Katherine told investigators the
room was quote perfect when she left it she also said she'd turned down the bed but now it was made it didn't really
make sense why would Suzanne take the time to make the bed in the middle of the night so if you found blood in Mary
Katherine's bedroom you know that there are ligature marks on Suzanne why not take him down to the station at
this point and question him once you arrest somebody that starts processes that you can't stop besides the blood in
the bedroom we didn't really have enough evidence of a fight occurring so at the
end of the day there wasn't enough probable cause legally to arrest him Suzanne's autopsy 4 days later didn't
provide any definitive answers the forensic pathologist noted that Suzanne had injuries all over over
her body that could have resulted from a fall including a fractured C3 vertebrae
near the base of her neck which can be fatal then there was that ligature mark across her neck and hemorrhaging of the
blood vessels in her eyes which pointed to strangulation it would take months to
make an official ruling it's not something they want to rush into it's not something they want
to make a rash judgment on the doctor wanted to examine the whole case more more clearly
in the meantime detectives requested DNA testing on evidence collected from the Sill's home and forensic analysis on
Suzanne's phone and laptop they also dug deeper into who the Sills were none of their immediate neighbors knew anything
about the family eventually we contacted whoever we could out of their contact list to try and find out
[Music] more in high school I thought but this must be what genius means his humor his his quick wit Sandy
Roberts and Jamie aens have known Scott Sills since their high school days in Herman Tennessee he was something we had
never seen before in a small town in Tennessee at that age he was very special it was
hilarious how many people come to class in a three-piece suit and it's not dress
up day he's flamboyant he's bigger than life he was very very kind I grew up uh pretty poor I didn't have a car in high
school or anything like that and a lot of times no lunch money and uh he always pulled out his wallet and paid for it it
just wasn't a question his future seemed Limitless he was accepted to both law school and medical school we were kind
of all on the edge of our seat wondering what he was going to decide to do and it was no surprise when the
hometown boy became a renowned IVF specialist a profession that would lead him to suzan Suzanne was going through
fertility treatment trying to get pregnant with her first husband Chris solamini met Suzanne AR
swaga in business school where she earned an MBA she had confided in him about her struggles to get pregnant
having kids was everything to suzan she'd cry about it I mean it was so important to her
[Music] and Eric Scott SS was her fertility doctor but soon Chris says they were a
couple she started talking about Dr Sills after she had told me she was getting divorced and that she was now
dating him I just remember her saying he's a brilliant doctor Dr Sills who was also
coming out of a previous marriage seemed to have met his match suzan was smart witty we love Mr
St sarcastic but not in a mean way you know just enough to to dig at you you know incredibly driven a loyal friend
she was so classy so beautiful very engaging seemed like to me he he found one that is a good it was a good fit
Suzanne fit right in at Scott's 20th High School reunion she danced the whole time
they were lovely together he just seemed really happy the couple married and welcomed twins through IVF adding to Dr
Sill's two older kids and eventually Suzanne's business Acumen would lead them to start their
own IVF practice in April 2015 she started the business and she built it Suzanne pretty much ran
everything with the exception of actually doing the procedures the practice soon took off we actually
have Dr Scott SS here in OBGYN who's also a fertility specialist so and Dr Sills was often featured on the TV
program The Doctors which was distributed by CBS we've decided to provide you that removal surgery at no
cost he was in many eyes a saint he was uh loved by his patients Dr Julio Novoa is an OBGYN who co-authored a book with
Dr Sills Dr SS was a great doctor and and Susan was a a great advocate for women as well and there were a team not
just married but a team and working well together but about a month before her death Rick Leeds another of Suzanne's
friends says she left him a troubling message she sounded like she was whispering it was so different from the
happy jovial excited voicemails I got before this one was definitely things were
good when they spoke Rick says it sounded like there was tension over a photo she said it was a topless photo of
her that had appeared on a Blog this was some discussion she didn't want to [Music]
have when news of Suzanne's death reached her friends they were stunned it was devastating I couldn't believe it it
didn't seem plausible to me that she just fell down the stairs with a migraine headache it didn't sound like the
vibrant Suzanne they knew Dr Sill's friends say they were equally perplexed Scott would not discuss
anything with us he quickly changed the subject we never spoke again you don't know how tragedies
affect people what were your impressions of Scott Sills throughout the investigation
I would describe him as emotionless he never acted as though Suzanne was even his wife he talked about what a good
manager she was and how she kept their business flowing but he never once mentioned that she was a good mother or
that he loved her all very businesslike yeah in fact the day after Suzanne's death the doctor had gone to work
work I was shocked at who goes to the office the next morning when your wife died Joanie Ricker's daughter was a
nurse at the Sills IVF clinic and had called her in a panic she said her patients are in cycle and they have to
be treated Joanie volunteered to help manage the office something Suzanne did and ended up working there for 2 years
did Dr SS talk about his wife oh never did he ever say how she died or we it was never
discussed pretty soon she says the doctor started changing his appearance he started dress like a movie
star I mean he was very simple before and she says the once balding doctor now had a full head of hair we definitely
noticed um new hair they also noticed Dr Sill's flashier online persona I said to one of my friends now is SS a
doctor or a model I personally don't know any doctors on social media that are taking selfies in the gym and their
their Blazers and their sunglasses and in their Porsches I it was a little much all of a sudden there started to be
another woman in photos and he was out on dates and they were going around town the behavior raised eyebrows but it
was hardly evidence then in November 2017 a year after Suzanne's death there was finally news from the coroner's
office Suzanne's cause of death was cited as ligature strangulation and the manor a
homicide Dr Sills was now the prime suspect DNA results on the blood in Mary Katherine's room showed a mixture of his
and suzan's DNA they were both there there was a fight there's a fight and he killed his
wife on August 8th 2018 nearly two years after suzan's death detectives Holloway
and hatch made a surprise house call at the doctor's home did you ask Dr Sills at this point
just flat out did you kill your wife yes and started stressing out and started sweating and he became more
defensive they say the doctor denied killing his wife and he now offered an explanation for his blood in Mary
Katherine's room he said he had injured himself replacing a window screen wouldn't Mary Katherine have seen the
blood that he left from replacing the screen for sure and she didn't mention it nope despite the death being ruled a
homicide detectives said they still had more investigating to do like finding a motive a search of suzan's phone
provided some Clues text messages hinted at problems in the marriage there was one in particular where she had some
pretty strong words towards Scott in text sent in late August Less Than 3 months before her death Suzanne wrote I
am trapped you are killing me I just want out and we just aren't right for each other and about a month before her death
Suzanne had confided in Rick Leeds she and Scott we're in a really rocky place and she was thinking about leaving
him he said Suzanne was also upset about a photo she'd posted online whatever was
going on between her and Scott and this picture was just a pivotal point for her Suzanne had posted a topless photo
after making a bet in a political chat room called patrick.net Suzanne apparently was one of the few women who
was involved in this forum she kind of threw out that if Donald Trump won the presidential nomination that she would
post a picture of her bare breasts and on the day of her death detectives had found a print out in Dr
Sill's home office of an exchange between Suzanne and another patrick.net member from August 30th 2016 discussing
the photo the man who went by 10B bass wrote All I've got to say is you must have a super cool husband Suzanne AKA
turtle dove replied he's exhausted actually it isn't easy being married to a woman who is partially naked and
posing alluringly all the time Dr Sills denied that he had printed that chat but
when investigators later searched his phone they found a photo of the same exchange does this sound like this could
lead to motive yes if it's something that's building up in him some kind of anger or jealousy about what his wife's
doing online without him enough to kill her mhm detectives also learned that Dr Sills had tried to collect on a
$250,000 life insurance policy on Suzanne but he claimed the insurance company had called him he wasn't able to
collect that death certificate was ruled as a homicide do you think Scott sils thought he'd gotten away with it I think
so every day that went by he felt a little bit more at ease I think on April 25th 2019 nearly 2 and 1/2 years after
Suzanne's death Dr Sills was arrested for her alleged murder on his way to surgery he quickly posted a million
dooll Bond but investigators were about to get an unexpected tip from a woman who said she had met Dr Sills while
Suzanne was still alive they met through Facebook he was infatuated with her she shared an email
Dr Sills had sent her about two weeks after Suzanne's death poor marer Marie yes so it's in French this is probably
the most important manuscript I have ever written I am asking you to seriously rethink our suspended but once
intense relationship when you first read that email what was your reaction I thought may I was shocked
this is a motive so could Dr SS have killed his wife to get her out of the way oh I just don't see that at all Dr
s's defense attorney Jack early denies that there was a romantic relationship and he says that email was merely a
devastated father's desperate attempt to find a new mother for his children did you feel in your gut that you could win
this case oh yes [Music] [Music] in November 2023 just over 7 years after Suzanne Sills death Scott Sills now
stripped of his medical license went on trial for her murder the Orange County District Attorney's Office declined our
request for an interview but cameras were allowed in court for portions of the trial where senior Deputy da
Jennifer Walker laid out her case to the jury November 13th of 2016 this man killed his
wife and hit it Walker argued that Scott Sills beat and then strangled Suzanne to
death before staging the scene to make it look like she'd fallen down the stairs this is a murder not an accident
the prosecution's case relied heavily on suzan's autopsy but Scott Sill's defense
attorney Jack early came to court armed with a unique theory he suggested that Suzanne fell either going up or down the
stairs and that one or both of the family dogs then tugged on the scarf that was wrapped around her neck do you
honestly think that the dogs pulled hard enough to strangle her to death no no I
didn't that was not the main theory that the dogs actually strangled her to death instead early focused on another
injury identified in suzan's autopsy that fractured C3 vertebra he he says that injury is consistent with a fall
and that it would have left Suzanne incapacitated let's assume that someone trips and falls and fractures their C3
their breathing is compromised if they're then choked it doesn't take much to kill them the defense had the scarf
tested for dog DNA it came back positive and there was testimony that the dogs were known to play tug of war as seen in
this video and when Suzanne and Scott's now 19-year-old daughter Mary Katherine took
the stand for the prosecution her testimony supported the defense's theory investigator Dave Holloway was at
the trial Mary Katherine testified that she saw the dogs pulling at the scarf around her neck and none of that came up
during the the day we interviewed her the first time how did that strike you well um I know that she was still close
with her father do you think she's trying to protect her dad I would say so early denies that he says the reason
Mary Katherine didn't tell investigators is simple it wasn't asked why would she
think the dogs are important she doesn't even know that there's any question of being choked he says Scott zills did
tell First Responders and he argued that suzan's toxicology tests point to an accidental fall she had a muscle
relaxing and pain medication in her system and early told the jury that Suzanne suffered from a fainting
disorder and that vertigo would accompany her migraines but the prosecution said the defense's theory
just doesn't make sense strangulation is a silent killer you know what's not a silent killer falling down multiple
stairs you have to believe she bounced her head neck back shoulders Insider arms legs and feet multiple ways against
approximately six stairs like being in a soundproof pinball machine then was strangled by her dogs
not reasonable and why would Suzanne have a scarf around her neck that early in the morning to begin with prosecutor
suggested that Scott Sills used it to strangle her and then left it around her neck to cover the marks but early told
the jury it wasn't unusual for Suzanne to wear a scarf especially when she wasn't feeling well because if she got
sick that was something that she would would would wear a scarf to wipe your mouth with it
but the prosecution also pointed out that Suzanne and Scott's son Eric told investigators he saw his mother put the
dogs away in their crate in the hours before she died Eric said that his mom put the dogs
in the crate yes sometimes dogs when they're crate trained when they go to bed will go lay in the crate even with
the door open there was also no blood on the stairs or damage to them there are all these injuries that you say come
from the fall down the stairs all over her body but she leaves no marks on the stairs but there's no marks anywhere in
the house but there was that blood in Mary Catherine's bedroom and the prosecution argued it was evidence that
a fight occurred a forensic scientist testified that the stains on the nightstand and drapes were consistent
with Scott Sill's DNA early did acknowledge that his client's blood was in the room but he told the jury about
Scott's claim that he heard himself there on an earlier date from Scott replacing a screen yeah from getting cut
on a nail that was in the back of the nightstand that was there that forensic scientists though testified that one of
the stains on the wall was a mixture of DNA and Scott and Suzanne were likely contributors early says that doesn't
mean it was suzan's blood and that it could have been her touch DNA that was picked up Susan had touched that area
before at some point in time and she lived there but the prosecution pointed out out that there were also clumps of
suzan's hair found in Mary Katherine's room and there were blood stains on Suzanne's clothing that were found to be
consistent with Scott Sill's DNA too early had a rebuttal to it all starting with the hair she has hair extensions
and you know what hair extensions cause loss of hair and the blood on the clothes you don't know how old it
is the jury was also shown pictures of those injuries that were observed on Scott remember how he told investigators
that he hurt himself while working on his car with his son and how according to investigators Eric said that his
father didn't get injured well when Eric took the stand his testimony allowed for
the possibility what he testified is why I didn't stay there the whole time he fixed the car does that seem like a
discrepancy to you well it's not a discrepancy nobody's asking him that full story at at the age of 12 so he
didn't necessarily say at age 12 dad didn't get the injury from the car no he basically said I wasn't there when he
got the injury while Eric SS did testify that a loud discussion between his parents had woken him up shortly before
his mother's death the defense told the jury that there was nothing to it and those texts between Scott and Suzanne in
the months before Suzanne's death if you have 40,000 texts and there's five of them with hard language in it that's a
perfect marriage the jury didn't hear about the life insurance policy that email Scott
sent to another woman or his social media photos in the wake of his wife's death but they were told about the
patrick.net posts and the prosecution argued that topless photo that Suzanne posted on the site enraged Scott it
wasn't a big deal it's not striking to you that he had this photo in two places on his phone and then on the printer no
first of all I don't know really who printed this stuff up early maintains there is no motive for murder there was
never any physical violence there working in marriage relationship everybody looked at as
loving Scott Sills chose not to take the stand the trial spanned 3 weeks and then
the case went to the jury my heart was just [Music] pounding what do you make of the defense
that the dogs may have played a role in her death chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and
[Music] X jurors Aaron Ellis Jack VanCamp and Susan bleo say that when deliberations
began they felt the pressure it's just so intimidating that you got someone's life on the line it weighs on you oh
yeah and the ripple effect the kids and the yeah did you think about that that these kids didn't really lose their mom
that if you convict him now they're losing their dad of course yeah they say they also felt a clear motive was
lacking I mean it's hard to imagine why something like this somebody would do that
yeah after about 3 hours they came to a decision the Jes have indicated that they
breached a verdict in this matter the clerk read the verdict we the jury in the above
entitled action find the defendant Eric Scott Sills not guilty of the crime of first-degree
murder we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant Eric Scott Sills guilty of the crime of second
deegree murder guilty of second deegree murder Scott Sills who gave the gift of life to so many through his IVF practice
now convicted of taking the life of his wife the mother of his kids I just felt sad I mean I was
tearing up on the way out this whole family had been through so much you know now this is the next phase of it but he
did that the jurors we spoke to say that no one on the jury bought the defense's
theory about the dogs the dogs would have to choke her on the stairs and my dog was as big as hers
and my dog cannot get a grip on wooden stairs with their nails to do anything they just slide the scarf had no
puncture wounds either I would have expected holes and the pole down the stairs wouldn't create that scenario in
her [Music] body instead what they spent the most time grappling with was whether Scott
Sills was guilty of first deegree or second deegree murder first degree murder requires premeditation and
deliberation I just didn't think he planned it I don't and if he had planned it or done any kind of forethought it
wouldn't be a hot mess crime scene that it was it was kind of like a snap but investigator Dave Holloway says
while Scott Sills may not have planned his crime he certainly had the time to think about what he was doing he had
plenty of time from when he applied pressure to suzan's neck till she died to stop what he was doing he still did
it I was a little disappointed that it was a second degree on March 15th 2024 about 3 months
after the verdict court reconvened for sentencing Suzanne Sill's Mother Teresa newbower addressed the court and kept
the focus on her daughter she was a dynamic person she had hopes and dreams hopes and dreams newbower said
that one day Suzanne would see her daughter Mary Katherine walk down the stairs of the family's San Clemente home
on her wedding day it was a very painful uh thing for me to learn of the role the staircase
eventually played in real life Mary Katherine also addressed the court and spoke of all the loss she had
endured at such a young age she and her brother were taken in by a family friend
after their father's arrest and that family friend died suddenly of a health condition around the end of the trial
she asked the judge to show her father Mercy I want my father to walk me down the aisle at my wedding someday when I
have a family and children I want my father to be there to hold my baby I have been left orphaned and I feel so
lost without my parents we're here for sentencing on the matter judge Patrick Donahue sentenced
Scott Sills to the mandatory sentence under California law 15 years to life in prison H good luck
sir his fate was decided but for so many questions remain exactly what led up to
Suzanne Sill's death do you think we'll ever know exact how it happened I don't think so yeah Scott Sills declined our
requests for an interview but in the end no explanation will suffice or ease the
profound sense of loss that lingers patients now without their doctor thousands of women felt him to be
a saint from the saint all the way down to the devil that's how it ended up being and children without their father
or their mother her kids were so important to her and everything she did revolved around
her her children she was an incredible human being you know I miss her [Music] need more time with 48 Hours go deep
behind every True Crime episode with firsthand accounts from 48 Hours investigations were you at all prepared
for what happened in this case shock is the word that comes to mind get inside the twists and turns and get in on the
case listen to postmortem from 48 hours now available wherever you get your podcasts

“48 Hours" reports on cases involving evidence that changed the course of known investigations. Watch the YouTube mini-marathon, which includes "Tracking the Murders of Israel Keyes," "Chacey Poynter: Witness to Murder" and "The Puzzling Death of Susann Sills."

00:00 Tracking the Murders of Israel Keyes 42:10 Chacey Poynter: Witness to Murder 1:23:33 The Puzzling Death of Susann Sills

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

Israel Keyes, a serial killer, confessed to Samantha Koenig's murder and hinted at multiple other victims across the U.S.

Key points

The Mysterious Disappearance of Samantha Kig. Samantha Kig vanishes after her shift at a coffee stand, sparking a frantic search.
The Chilling Confession of Israel Keys. Israel Keys admits to killing Samantha Kig and reveals his methodical approach to abduction.
The Courier Couple. Keys reveals the names of his victims, leading to the investigation of a missing couple.
Israel Keys' Suicide. Serial killer Israel Keys took his own life in prison, leaving many questions unanswered.
The Murder of Robert Pointer. Chasey Pointer's husband, Robert, was shot while trying to help her with her stuck Jeep.
Marital Strain. Chasey reveals her discontent in her marriage to Robert.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I caught fish and I said what did you do with the fish?

Israel Keys' chilling response about his fishing trip after the murder.

16:19WatchJan 25, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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