Meet, Marry, Murder - Season 1, Episode 42 - Augustine - Full Episode | Forensic Files

The life of Dallas Augustine, daughter of a connected Republican. She knew what she wanted. She had her
eyes on the prize. She wanted national office. Dallas's mother would be murdered by her
husband. Telephone 911. My wife is not breathing. The tragedies just kept on coming. Her
sister was to die in a traffic accident. Dallas Augustine found refuge in a same-sex marriage with someone whose
carefree nature was just what she needed. Jesse McKascal was a very different person from Dallas. She was really
upbeat, happy, smart. Would Jesse prove the perfect match? or were the lives of a couple whose love
was born out of despair heading for a double tragedy. There was infidelity allegations and
they had been involved in a couple of physical fights. It's a real life story that seems too
tragic to be true. The lives and loves of Jesse McKascal and Dallas Augustine. [Music]
[Music] August 27, 2012 Phoenix, Arizona, a lakeside condo shared by Dallas Augustine and her wife Jesse McKascal.
Phoenix Police officers responded to a residence in the area of 11th Place in Greenway. Uh family members and friends
had called the Phoenix Police Department because they were concerned that they had not seen Dallas or Jesse for a few
days. Neighbors had noticed troubling signs the previous week, but things had been
quiet for days. What was going on? A kidnapping? Maybe there was an innocent explanation.
When officers arrived, they approached the residents. They did see a couple of friends and neighbors that were outside.
The door was open. It was unlocked. The officers went inside and that's when they saw Dallas and Jesse.
Police had arrived with questions. Some were answered on stepping into the house.
Both of them were inside the residence and they were deceased. And it loo it appeared to them that it had been a
couple of days that they had been in that uh state. There was blood just everywhere around
them. Something extraordinary had taken place in an ordinary home in Maricopa County,
Arizona. It was a very impulsive thing that happened, but at the same time, I think
it was inevitable. Dallas and Jesse. Wedding day photographs from 5 years earlier showed
a seemingly blissful relationship. How had things ended in a suburban blood bath?
Dallas Augustine was born in 1979 in Orange County, California. By the time she was a young adult, she'd seen more
than her fair share of tragedy. Dallas really had a tough life. She'd had a background um marked by tragedy.
Dallas Augustine's life included seeing her parents' divorce. She then grew up fond of her stepfather, Charles, known
as Chuck. He'd been an airline pilot and a Vietnam veteran. She was uh said to be
pretty close to her father, Charles. The same could not be said for Dallas's relationship with her mother. Kathy
Augustine had forged a career as a Republican lawmaker in Nevada where the family lived. Her life was very much
about attention seeking. I'm Victoria Campbell. I worked as a television reporter in Reno, Nevada for
almost 25 years, assigned primarily to the crime and courtbeat. Reporter Campbell got to know Dallas's
mom in 1992. She had been elected to a two-year term in the state assembly. In 1994, she had been elected to the state
senate. And in 1998, she became the first female to become the Nevada state controller.
Dallas Augustine would have been raised in a lifestyle that was very much sort of put on for the public.
She wasn't um terribly close to her mother. They kind of had a rocky relationship, but then Dallas had a
difficult relationship with her whole family. Her mother being in politics must have really cared about
appearances. It's just part of the job of a politician. Kathy was known as a very uh tough boss
to work for, she was very strong. She took no prisoners. She took no guff from anybody in what she did. While some
people said you could hear her laughing all around the state capital building, uh you could also hear her shouting at
her employees. Did her mother's strong personality get in the way of Dallas's relationship with
her mother? A question considered by psychologist Judy Hoe. She probably just never felt accepted by
her mother and she probably felt because of her mother's life in the public eye that the public was more important than
she was. She was tough there. There was really no other word for it. Um she she knew what
she wanted. She had her eyes on the prize. She wanted national office. I think she had great aspirations and
ambitions uh in politics. Would it have helped Dallas's mom's political career back in the '90s for her daughter to
reveal something to the world that she was a lesbian? I wonder how open she was able to be
with her mother about her own interest, her sexual preference, all of those self-doubts really played Dallas for
much of her life. Indeed, the emotional side of her life was never easy for Dallas Augustine. It
was early in her 20s when her stepfather Chuck suffered a massive stroke. They said it was natural causes. uh but
he was only 63 years old so that was really hard on her. Friends said Chuck's death left her
bereft. Her confidence never high took a knock. The woman who would become her partner, Jesse McKascal, appeared to
have no confidence issues. She was 18 years older than Dallas and had come into her life not long after the death
of Chuck. Jesse McKascal was a very different person from Dallas. She was said to be
just really upbeat, happy, smart. Um, people loved being around her. She was fiercely loyal of her friends. Uh, she
loved to travel and to write and and um to entertain. She was one of those really optimistic, hopeful people.
Jesse was someone who would share the ups and downs of Dallas's life, which at times appeared almost like a soap opera.
3 weeks after Chuck died, Kathy Augustine married again to the very man who had nursed her husband, Chuck,
while he was being treated. and was seriously ill. One of his nurses was Chaz Higgs and he made Kathy Augustine's
acquaintance while she was there uh tending to her husband. They were estranged at that point. Uh Charles and
Kathy Augustine were estranged and heading toward divorce um when he fell ill. Um Charles Augustine died in summer
of 2003. Three weeks later, Kathy Augustine and Chaz Higgs were married in Hawaii, three weeks after Charles
Augustine died. Kathy Augustine's family and friends, I think, were uh taken by surprise, would
probably be an understatement when she um married him so quickly after Charles Augustine had passed away.
Dallas's life story just kept on getting complicated. Kathy, when just 50, also died. A murder mystery begins.
prosecuting attorney Tom Barb went to the autopsy, watched that from beginning to end. Nothing was found in
the sense of a cause of death. Found that her heart was in good shape, that her lungs were in good shape. Uh there
was no evidence of of a brain bleed or anything like that. Um so the cause of death was hanging until the toxicology
reports came back. Kathy Augustine's death just didn't add up. She just died. It's kind of like sudden
infant death syndrome where the the baby just dies and there's really no explanation, but this would have been an
adult case. Months later, the toxicology report suggested that Dallas's mom had died
because she had been injected with a drug called suinal coline. Dallas had more to cope with than just Chuck's
death. Kathy Augustine, Dallas's mother, is murdered by her husband, um, Chaz. And he killed Kathy by poisoning her
with a an overdose of a powerful muscle relaxant. Can't have people going around sticking
people with needles full of suinal choline. Just can't have it. Chaz Higgs was sentenced to life in
prison in 2007. After the death of both of her parents, Dallas Augustine struggled to build a
new life for herself. Dallas must have felt abandoned. They died and she was alone. She was effectively an orphan.
And she had something else to handle. Chuck was relatively young when he died. Were Chaz Higgs and his lover Dallas's
mom Kathy possibly involved in his death. After Cathy's death, people start speculating, wait a minute, could
Charles Austinine's death maybe have been caused by Chaz and Kathy. It became clear that suinal choline was going to
play a role in the prosecution into her death. Uh the adult children of Charles Augustine asked to have his body exumed
to see if there was any trace of suinal choline in his body because they were not sure and they suspected but were not
sure if Chaz Higgs may have paid played a role in their father's death. Now Dallas is sort of trying to defend
her her mother's name. The body was exumed. uh tests were run, there was no evidence of suinal choline
found in his body. They turn up no evidence to indicate that there was any foul play there.
So it seemed Dallas had lost one parent to a suspicious but ultimately natural death and another to murder. That was
the context of the life of Dallas Augustine in 2007 as she tried married life with Jesse McCascal. Dallas is not
somebody who hasn't suffered grief, dealt with loss, and processed probably very little of it. I think she tried to
strongarm her way through the sadness in her life and just try to move on. But that grief can cut so deeply, especially
when you lose both parents. [Music] Kathy Augustine's murder in 2006, devastating though it was for Dallas,
removed any last obstacle to her developing relationship with Jesse McKascal. I think she saw Jesse as her saving
grace. She had lost both parents. She had nothing to tether to, and Jesse was going to be her new safe haven and her
stability and her rock. From the outside, they seemed to get along pretty well. So well, in fact, that the relationship
moved on quickly in the months that followed. About a year after Dallas's mother died,
she and her girlfriend decide to get married. The date is set for a small private
ceremony in California. September 22nd, 2007, Dallas Augustine marries her girlfriend, Jesse McKascal.
They'd been dating for 3 years. Dallas was 28 years old. Jesse McKascal was 45, but the two of them were just very much
in love. Just how much in love they were could be seen from the sunny photos showing
Dallas and Jesse in a wedding gown in front of a well-known tourist landmark. They get married at this um sort of
famous uh hotel, the hotel de Coronado on Coronado Island in Southern California. And it's just beautiful
there. We believe Dallas wore the tuxedo and Jesse wore a white dress. You know, some
might see this as sort of them taking roles in their relationship. It was a brief moment of happiness in
two lives that would seldom be far from tragedy. To look at this picture of them on their
wedding day, this happy couple, you know, her in the tuxedo, the other one in in the white dress. Um, you know,
they look like a very loving couple, but the reality of it was they they fought like cats and dogs.
It was a beautiful way to start the marriage, but as it turns out, the relationship wasn't quite so
picturesque. Wed bliss for Dallas Augustine and her new wife Jesse McKascal was not to last
long. Dallas and Jesse were married in 2007. They had a big, beautiful, lavish wedding. By 2010, they started having
problems. In a poignant post on her Facebook page, Jesse wrote, "I have achieved one really huge
lifelong dream. Be careful with those. Once you're done with that, regular life kind of pales for a while."
was one of the reasons Jesse and Dallas were not hitting it off to do with a big
decision taken by Dallas just a year after the sunshine ceremony in California. In 2008, she decides to run for her
mother's old assembly seat. That was the first political job that Kathy Augustine
held. Dallas actually followed in her mother's legislative footsteps and she ran for
office. And I think it was a way for her to maybe honor her mother despite the relationship problems they had with one
another. Even though she wasn't close to her mother, she says, "You know, I really
had never intended to do this, but I I think my mom would be proud of me. This was a very, very important election to
Dallas." And Jesse, by all appearances, was very supportive of all of her career
pursuits. Dallas's conservative upbringing and her mother's political career meant there
was only one direction she could take. Dallas was going to try to go for office as a Republican.
She probably had many regrets about how she treated her mother, how certain arguments went down. And in some ways,
this was her making repairs on that relationship. And perhaps if she won this election, if she was able to take
office and she can do some good and she can finish the good work that her mother
started. For Dallas, the election didn't go according to plan. She winds up losing by over 6,000 votes.
So, there's another setback there. Jesse may have supported Dallas's political ambitions in public, but behind closed
doors, the couple's relationship was constantly volatile. They were together for 8 years, and that
entire 8-year relationship was very rocky for both of them. Jesse's friends and family pointed the
finger at Dallas, the much younger wife with a troubled background. I can imagine that people thought twice
about getting to know Dallas. You know, she was sort of a poison pill, if you will. They said she seemed to be pretty
unstable, mentally unstable, and she had um uh substance abuse issues. She was uh
appeared to be an alcoholic. Um she had a lot of problems. Jesse's sister would eventually reveal
that she believed Dallas to be an alcoholic with mental issues and a lot of emotional instability going on.
But police heard both women could be difficult. There was one prior incident that involved both Jesse and Dallas, and
that incident is the one that was documented with the Phoenix Police Department.
Dallas was not the only one drinking heavily in this relationship. Based on some of the information that
was received from family and friends that were close to both Jesse and Dallas, there was allegations that there
was alcohol consumption and that there was recent uh problems within that relationship, which was causing a lot of
the drinking um from both Dallas and Jesse. had Dallas perhaps seen a a therapist or a counselor or gone gone to
someone and asked for help in dealing with sort of her her early life tragedies. You know, there might have
been hope for her. Instead of seeking professional help, Dallas took out her insecurities on her
wife, Jesse. Dallas and Jesse's relationship was very difficult, and most people that knew
them knew of the shouting, the fighting, and the difficulties that they had. For
a campaigner against domestic abuse, Karen Jarmach, violence between partners is not contained to heterosexual
relationships. Domestic violence between two individuals, we often also interchangeably refer to it as intimate
partner violence. And so when we say that, we mean it's between two individuals who are in an intimate
relationship. They're they're partners. And so, uh, one individual in that relationship seeks to have control over
the other. And in the case of Dallas and Jesse, that battle for control escalated
to ugly times. Both drank, Jesse in particular. For victims of domestic violence,
there's uh serious and ongoing trauma associated with being treated in this way by your partner. Uh often on a daily
basis, um on a yearly or over time, they can become fearful to just exist in their world. They can uh develop
substance use issues, uh mental health challenges. All of those factors seem to exist
inside the home of Dallas and Jesse. We're talking some some loud arguments. The neighbors would would remark about
how loud the arguments were. You'd hear a lot of yelling. You'd hear the sound of things smashing or breaking. It
sounded like someone was throwing something. Did those arguments stem from Dallas's
turbulent life experiences? what she chose to do with her, you know, troubled emotions or her mental health was act
out in ways um that were very unhealthy. Even though Dallas and Jesse are married, uh Dallas, it appears, is
acting like a single woman. She's out there bar hopping, looking for some fresh catch.
Dallas had began to cheat on Jesse. She would go out to lesbian bars. She would meet and date and involve herself
with other people. Dr. Judy Hoe believes it was Dallas's unconventional way of holding things
together. Her trolling these bars and having an affair was her saying, "I still have
control. I don't need you." And it was a message she had to tell herself to just
survive. [Music] She really didn't pick a very healthy way of dealing with her her her issues.
[Music] [Applause] [Music] It appeared Dallas, the younger woman, was the married partner ready to stray,
hitting the bar scene. When they fought and when they argued, Dallas was the person who had her foot
out the door always. She was the one who would be trolling bars, flirting with other women, picking them up, basically
telling Jesse, "I don't need you." But then at the same time, never leaving Jesse. And that must have been very,
very confusing dynamic in their relationship. By 2010, just 3 years after their fairy
tale wedding, that relationship had taken a new disturbing turn. They were all very pleasant outside, but
once they got indoors, all hell broke loose. So, um, this this fighting was pretty constant. And what many people
didn't know is that sometimes the fights would get physical. There was a documented incident where
there was a history of domestic violence. Dallas ended up beating Jesse in public.
She physically beat Jesse outside of a bowling alley in Henderson, Nevada. Their arguments had just risen to such a
level that they couldn't keep it contained in the home. They she was so upset and she was so overcome with fury
that she couldn't control her impulses to basically act out. The assault would have far-reaching
consequences for both of them. Dallas was charged with domestic violence and she was convicted.
Domestic violence is something that our department takes very seriously. Jesse did not want her family to know
this. Like a lot of domestic abuse victims, she wanted to keep it a secret, so she did.
Dallas Augustine's life, a father figure who had died in mysterious circumstances. a mother who had been
murdered was coming apart at the seams. The fact that Dallas was already experiencing mental health issues
coupled with her substance misuse issues and then all of this extra added sort of
stress. Um I think it was just too much for her to bear. That wasn't all. There was the question
of the considerable amount of money Father Chuck had left behind for Cathy. The money that she had um received as a
result of Charles Augustine's death was a significant amount of money. that money was going to go to her daughter,
Dallas Augustine. She had inherited a pretty large trust. Kathy had left her um some real estate
that was worth uh about half a million dollars along with about $150,000 in a money market account. Uh along with
that, she had $4,600 in her father's monthly annuity. And uh then there was about $100,000 worth of jewelry.
She inherited quite a lot of wealth. She had property. She had annuities. She had
jewelry and large sums of money. Where did all that money go? Nobody seemed to know, least of all the
government who were pursuing Dallas for a hefty tax bill. She was now uh having some pretty severe
financial problems. She was $80,000 in debt. The IRS was coming after her. They were going to seize her all of her
assets. Dallas continued to spend a lot on drink and drugs. When substances are involved,
almost always impulsiveness is a factor. And something that you might not have done when you were sober, you'll do when
you're intoxicated. We know that she had substance misuse issues um and other things going on in
her life. We're probably all ways of trying to cope with all of this tragedy. It was the latest worrying sign to add
to a dangerous cocktail of behavioral issues from Dallas. There's a lot of arguing. There's
substance misuse. um some violence. These are all red flags that something is going wrong.
Things came to a head in 2012 where Dallas went beyond trolling lesbian bars for casual sex.
Dallas has an affair with a woman she meets in a gay bar. Dallas trolled these bars and eventually
had an affair because she was trying to assert that she was still in control, that she still had power in this
relationship. When in fact, I bet she felt out of control all the time. Every single time that Dallas and Jesse
argued, I bet Dallas felt like she was going to lose Jesse. Even though Jesse had been very steadfast and very loyal
to Dallas this entire time, hers was a relationship web of complications. That woman at some point may have
threatened Dallas, that she was going to tell Jesse about the affair. Dallas was attracted to a certain type
of woman, someone who would stand up to her. Now she had two to deal with and one of them had to go. For the woman
Dallas was seeing on the side, the threat to expose their affair backfired badly.
This black melon actually caused Dallas to just confess it to Jesse. Dallas finally comes clean to Jesse and
tells her about this affair she's been having. It was crunch time for the couple's
already creaking marriage. They were definitely on the rocks. That caused some serious problems in her
relationship, resulting in Jesse asking her to leave. Jesse is just she's just devastated and she's she she tells
Dallas to just get out. For those who've researched the factors in deteriorating relationships, a
decision to end it can actually kickstart a tragic end game. Both Dallas and Jesse were out of control.
That's a really really critical dangerous time because things begin to unravel. So, we always know uh and
that's I think what's so tragic and sad uh when a domestic violence homicide occurs because there are always these
red flags that aren't always uh as noticeable to the victim andor to those individuals around them. Um but when we
look back, we we see them there. After all the flings, fights, and confrontations, Dallas's confession was
a step too far for Jesse. Dallas goes to stay at a hotel and Jesse burns their wedding photos.
If either or both of the women had visited one of the domestic abuse advocates available in most states in
America, they could have been counseledled. Everyone's story is different. Uh, everyone's experience and their
relationship is different. And so that's why an advocate exists. um they are certified and skilled around talking
through everyone's unique circumstance and supporting them and also talking about their safety.
But rather than talk about what they were both feeling, Dallas and Jesse asked no one for help. Still hiding the
fact that she was the victim of domestic abuse, Jesse now took to social media to
embarrass her unfaithful wife. She posts the confession that her wife had just given her that she's been having this
affair with this other woman. Could life get any more tortured for Dallas Augustine? Yes.
In 2012, her sister Andrea Walsh was killed in a car smash in Fresno County, California. She was 43. Within a decade,
Dallas Augustine had lost her stepfather, her mother, and her sister in tragic violent circumstances. The
Augustines seemed a family cursed. Here's Dallas with really no family other than Jesse,
a married couple at war, two women who had shared a series of traumas and the curse of the Augustine family.
I can imagine people probably avoided the Augustines. A tragic story was set to continue.
there had been recent uh issues and problems in that relationship that there was infidelity um allegations and that
they had been involved in a couple of physical fights amongst themselves. The neighbors used to say that they
heard um fighting about up to four times a month. Jesse McKascal had been shot multiple
times, including one shot that was fatal to the top of her head. [Music] Sometime in late 2011, Jesse and Dallas
Augustine separated. There had been an escalation of violence in their home. Despite her life falling apart, Dallas
made the decision to turn her life around. First on her priority list, finding a job. She sets her sights on
one with authority. She wanted a job as a prison officer. When Dallas Augustine applies for a job
with the Department of Public Services, she is rejected, at least at first. Dallas had originally been rejected by
the Arizona Department of Corrections for this domestic violence charge. She should not have been hired.
Dallas would not give up. After applying again and again, she was hired. She actually got the job despite her
conviction. And that wasn't the only red flag that she had on her record. I mean, uh there
was the substance abuse problems there. She'd had drunk driving issues. Uh, and she also had uh financial instability.
She was very financially unstable because probably because she's mentally unstable.
Even though Arizona state officials knew of her troubled background, Dallas was duly trained as a prison officer. By
August 2012, she was about to start her new job in the town of Florence, across the desert, and about an hour outside
Phoenix. It was kind of an exciting time in Dallas's life professionally. She had
just graduated and was able to move on in her career. Dallas had graduated from Prison Guard
Academy uh and was scheduled to be assigned to uh to a prison in in Arizona. She was to report to the Florence
Maximum Security Prison to begin her career. As part of her preparation for her role,
Dallas acquired some key new skills. Dallas's training as a prison guard would have involved firearms training,
weapons training. How that happened when she has a domestic violence conviction? We'll
never know. With a state job under her belt and a newfound confidence from her training,
Dallas worked on building bridges with her wife, Jesse. They once again lived under the same roof.
I think perhaps there was a a sense of a will to still stay in this unhappy relationship and try their best to make
it work. The couple talked about reconciliation, maybe getting things back together.
Certainly for both Jesse and Dallas, there may have been this feeling of stronger commitment to try their best to
make it work. Even if they were terribly unhappy because they really wanted to show the world that they could make it.
It seems that some things hadn't changed. The neighbors still heard the disruptions and the the fights and the
the violence behind the closed doors. It almost seemed like their 8-year relationship was just stuck in the same
place and they were repeating the same pattern over and over again. Wasn't long before they started arguing
constantly. The neighbors said up to four times a month they could hear things breaking.
It appeared both gave as good as they got, but that's probably not a correct assessment.
Domestic violence is really complicated. Often victims have strategies of trying
to stay safe or protect themselves or react uh and it might be on its face looking like they're trying to
perpetrate violence also or engage in it also but in fact uh they are simply trying to survive dayto-day.
As the fights with Jesse intensified, Dallas faced the prospect of losing her wife for good. Jesse was the only real
family Dallas believed she had. They try to work things out, but it's it's pretty touchandgo. It it isn't
going well. They're still fighting just nonstop. Another split was on the cards. One way
or another, Dallas wasn't going to let that happen. She had a job. She was getting clean. Why would Jesse leave her
now? But on August the 23rd, 2012, in the dusty streets of southern Phoenix, Jesse McKascal was packing a bag in the
house that she shared with Dallas Augustine. Dallas saw that her life was finally coming together. She was finally
going to get some self-esteem, some meaning and purpose in her life. And during this time where she should have
been feeling as high as a kite, her partner, her lover, her wife says, "I don't love you."
Jesse had packed an overnight bag. And in that bag, she had her favorite jeans and some other personal items.
Was Jesse packing to leave Dallas for good, or was Jesse just going away for the weekend? Jesse had been loyal this
entire time, but Jesse finally had enough and threatened to leave. It felt like a very concrete declaration that
this relationship is over. Jesse may have just said, "Look, I've had it. This isn't working. Um, it it's it's time to
just admit that this marriage isn't working. I'm I'm leaving you." The idea is that Jesse is hers. In some ways,
there may have been a very possessive side to Dallas. And when Jesse says she was leaving, in Dallas's mind, she's
thinking, "No, I'm the person who gets to step out of our marriage. I'm the person who gets to troll the bars and
have affairs, but you don't get to leave. You don't get to have that say." Sergeant Mercedes Fortune was one of the
Phoenix police officers involved in what happened next. It's a quiet neighborhood. It's a
residential area and the neighbors hear screaming. They heard a bunch of arguing and
screaming, but that was not out of the ordinary. Shouting, screaming, the sound of things
being broken. But after the 23rd, that's the last they hear of either of them. For 4 days, suddenly, the home of the
constantly arguing women in 11th place Phoenix had strangely fallen silent. with Dallas's black Dodge Ram truck
still parked outside. It was odd, but the truck was in the driveway and the neighbors didn't really
think a whole lot about it. They do see that Dallas's truck is parked in the driveway and the days go
by and they don't see or hear from either of them. There was something else strange, too.
Over the next few days, Jesse made no contact with her family. Four days pass and the neighbors have been suspicious
and the family's gotten worried. They were concerned because they had not talked to or seen Jesse or Dallas in a
couple of days. The neighbors have for for days now have not heard or seen the couple, but their
dogs are barking, which is unusual. They're just constantly barking. So, they're thinking something is odd with
that. Finally, on August 27th, Jesse's worried family dialed 911. 911, what's your emergency?
Jesse's family hasn't heard from her, and she usually they usually do. And um so they call police to do a welfare
check. officers responded to a check welfare when neighbors and family were concerned about the uh just the
whereabouts of the two people um that were uh living at that residence. A welfare check is is done probably on a
case-byase basis, but typically um a family member may be concerned about someone or loved one and police will go
to the home. The police made their inquiries, telephoned the home and cell phones of
those missing. No replies. Time to pitch up at their shared home. On August 27th, uh, 2012, at about 8:30
in the evening, Phoenix police officers were called to a house in the area of 11th Place in Greenway. Uh, they spoke
to several people that met them out front of that residence and were informed that they were concerned
because they had not talked to or seen Jesse or Dallas in a couple of days. They were concerned. um they hadn't
heard from Jesse since the previous Thursday and this was a Monday. The initial call was uh was received
from both family and friends and neighbors of Jesse and Dallas. Everyone wanted to know where were Jesse
and Dallas missing? Could it be presumed they were dead? And if so, how? After all, despite the fighting, they had
stuck together. They seemed tethered to each other no matter what. Once the officers went inside that
residence, that's when they located Jesse in Dallas. At 8:30 that Monday evening, officers
pulled up outside the condo. Typically, officers would have gone up to the to the residence, knocked to see
if anybody came to the door, and at some point, no one came to the door, and that's when they tried to see if the
door was unlocked. the door was unlocked and that's when a decision was made to go inside that home to make sure that uh
there was nobody e either inside or if there was someone inside if they needed help.
Not knowing what to expect, officers trod carefully. There were no signs of a struggle other
than a broken plate. There was no uh reports of uh any suspicious activity or any type of
gunfire that was heard from that night. The officers went from room to room and found a scene of carnage.
The crime scene was bloody. They go inside and in the living room they find the decomposing bodies of Dallas
Austinine and Jesse McKascal. Based on the status of uh the injuries and based on what they were seeing from
the bodies uh they they believe that that body the bodies had been uh deceased for a couple of days.
There there's blood just everywhere around them. Jesse in particular had suffered
horrific injuries. Jesse McKascal has been shot multiple times, including one shot directly to the head.
She was slumped over and all the blood by gravity was forced to her face, causing advanced decomposition.
That really disturbed the family. One of the bullets went straight through her head and exited her jaw. So, her
beautiful face was was just destroyed and unrecognizable. She had to be identified by dental records.
Nearby, Dallas Augustine's body was sitting upright. Dallas had been shot with just a single
gunshot wound to the temple. The gun used to kill them is lying between the two women.
What had gone on? Detectives had to build a picture of the turbulent world of Jesse McKascal and Dallas Augustine.
Had both women been killed by an intruder, or was this a case of a murder and then a suicide? Those living nearby
were about to recount what they had seen and heard from the home of Jesse and Dallas.
Our homicide unit responded to that location. More in-depth interviews need to be done with the witnesses and um
anybody that's actually going to be involved in the in the case itself. Careful about drawing conclusions,
officers took their findings to the medical examiner's office in Maricopa County.
Every homicide is complex. Every homicide has different elements to it. And so detectives must work through that
evidence and must work with the medical examiner's office to kind of gain uh exact facts on what led to each
incident. So each each investigation is is stands on its own merits and they are
complex. The telltale signs that this would be a murder suicide is that one person was
shot numerous times and the other shot once. They would look at the trajectory. They
look at the obviously evidence on that weapon. They look and to see if uh you know what the medical examiner found as
well and based on the statements um that's what that's that's what led them to believe that this was a murder
suicide. The fact that one person was shot in the side of the head or the temple would
show that that person is probably the the person who pulled the trigger. The physical evidence appeared to
suggest that Dallas Augustine had killed her wife firing from close range. The way the projectile traversed through the
top of her head into her face destroyed most of her face. And then the woman who had lost a father
figure when she was young, seen her mother marry the nurse she had met when he worked at her stepfather's deathbed,
only to see that nurse murder her mother, and who had then lost a sister in a car accident, was facing the end of
her marriage and could take no more. Having killed, she turned the gun on herself.
I think Dallas was desperate. I think she was desperate for an end to whatever pain she was experiencing.
This is one of those cases, those classic cases where if I can't have you, no one will. And I think that in some
ways that murder suicide was her bringing to fruition what she had believed all along about herself and her
life, that she was just destined to have a tragic life and she didn't deserve happiness. Dallas had had intended to
commit suicide. We know that where um there's an abuse of power and control relationship and the perpetrator
threatens suicide, it usually means you're going to die first and then I'm going to kill myself.
In a chilling irony, the gun Dallas used for the killings was the same type that
she had been trained how to handle for her new job, due to start on the same day their bodies were discovered.
When she underwent training at the academy, she was trained in the use of firearms.
And yet, as a convicted felon, she never should have had a firearm. Not only did they hire her, they trained
her how to use the very weapon she went on to kill Jesse with. If the state had never hired her, if they had never
trained her in the use of firearms, would she and her wife Jesse still be alive today?
The killings didn't just rob Jesse's family of their loved one by taking her own life. Dallas Augustine also denied
them any chance of seeing justice done to Jesse's killer. Dallas was the person that took the life
of Jesse. Uh, obviously that's that's ruled as a homicide and then she took her own life. Uh, so obviously that's
where the suicide comes, but there is no a judicial process since the suspect has
deceased. Had Dallas Augustine, the troubled wife with a tragic backstory, tried to
exercise the family curse with her final act of violence. This is a case where, you know, you
might be forgiven for feeling some sympathy for um for Dallas. She did have a really hard life. Um
she just couldn't get a fair break. I think she always felt a little bit like she was a tragic figure. The impulses,
the worst parts of yourself that you might consider when you're sober but not act on. Dallas did.
She had had a very troubled life. She had finally found her perfect woman. She had got a good job.
But uh at the end of the day, it didn't save her from herself. Heat. Heat. [Music]
[Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Dallas Augustine had wealth, a wife she loved and a fledgling political career. But drinking and violence caused it all to fall apart.

Though wedded couples vow to stay together until death do they part, this new true crime series looks at what happens when a groom or bride causes their beloved's death.

Brief Summary

Dallas Augustine and Jesse McKascal's tragic relationship ends in murder-suicide amid a backdrop of family trauma and domestic violence.

Key points

The Tragic Life of Dallas Augustine. Dallas Augustine's life was marked by tragedy, including the murder of her mother.
A Marriage Born of Despair. Dallas found refuge in a same-sex marriage, but it was fraught with challenges.
A Wedding Amidst Chaos. Dallas and Jesse's wedding seemed blissful, but their relationship was tumultuous.
Political Aspirations and Setbacks. Dallas ran for her mother's old assembly seat but lost by a significant margin.
Domestic Violence Unveiled. Dallas's struggles with mental health and substance abuse led to domestic violence.
A Marriage on the Rocks. Dallas and Jesse's relationship deteriorates amidst infidelity and violence.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's a real life story that seems too tragic to be true.

Describing the tumultuous lives of Jesse McKascal and Dallas Augustine.

1:04WatchJun 8, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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