Secrets of the River | Full Episode | Forensic Files

Right now we're in Pitcher Canyon. It's about 4 miles south of Wanache. It's a place that there's really no reason to
be this time of year and this time of night unless you live here. When we think of Pitcher Canyon, anybody
who was here in 2010, they're always going to think of the Mackenzie Cow case Case. McKenzie was a senior in high
school. She was on the verge of being grown up. >> This wasn't your normal missing person's
case. >> February 9th of 2010, and I last saw her as she packed up her bundles of books
and left between 7:00 and 7:30 in the morning. Had made a quick little date. See you
tonight for teriyak burgers. Okay, Dad. Love you. So, I was expecting her home. Called
about 5:40. That's when the phone went straight to her voicemail. It wasn't It didn't even
ring. Of course, you go through different waves of messages. One message will be,
"Call me. I'm concerned." One message will be, "No, I'm getting irritated you haven't called me back." And then the
next message might be, "I'm sorry I was irritated. Call me when you can. Maybe something's wrong.
Something a little unusual happened here that night. A rancher came down, uh, found a red car
here that didn't belong here, and he called it in. The deputy came up here. He ran the license plate. They contacted
the registered owner, Reed Cowl. The phone rang and it was a deputy who was asking if I was missing my car and I
told him, "Yeah, I'm missing my car and the girl that drives it." [Music] I said, "Where's the car?" And he told
me it was up Pitcher Canyon. So, I hopped in the car and headed straight that direction.
[Music] Here we are driving. It's dark. It's cold. [Music] When I pulled around the corner, all I
saw was the red car with flashing police lights. It was a pretty ominous thing to
see. >> Deputies checked the car and they found that McKenzie's purse was inside.
>> Well, that's really not right. Kenzie doesn't go anywhere without her purse. This is not good. Somebody's messed with
her. There was a lot of concern right away that something had happened to McKenzie.
>> That was just a long, dark, evil, strange night. >> McKenzie went missing shortly after 3:00
p.m. on February 9th. Her body was discovered around 1:00, February 13th on the banks of the
Columbia River. >> I mean, it just made me cold stone numb. It was just blank. The day that we found McKenzie
and we saw how brutally she had been murdered, we knew we were in for one tough investigation. The list went on
and on. >> Hold it right there. >> So many different suspects that we didn't know what to think.
I'm Peter Vans. Tonight on 48 hours, Secrets of the River. [Music] [Applause] [Music]
With the miracle of another spring, the small town of Wanachi, Washington nestled in a landscape of endless apple
orchards turns out to celebrate the annual Apple Blossom Parade. But in 2011, one graceful dancer is
missing from the festivities. McKenzie Cowl. >> She loved to dance, dance, dance
anywhere we went. She danced grocery stores, gas stations, anywhere. If a song came on, she would just break out
in a boogie. >> McKenzie's father, Reed Cowell, and his fiance, Sandy Francis, cheer on
McKenzie's old high school dance team, the Appalletes. >> And was she good at it?
>> Oh, she loved it. She loved it. >> Beautiful. >> McKenzie, 17 years old, was 5'8, strong,
and beautiful. a young woman with a future at the heart of a family unit that couldn't get enough of each other.
>> We used to call each other on our cell phones. That's how bad it was. Rooms were
>> upstairs to downstairs to argue over whose turn it was to make floats. >> Yeah.
>> This to make like Coke floats, root beer floats. Floats were >> root beer floats. Orange floats.
>> The family is as authentic as the American West. Starting with Reed. He's at home among the soaring Cascade
Mountains, rich blue skies, and of course, the orchards of apples. >> And you felt safe having your family
here. >> We did feel safe. >> And McKenzie, a senior in high school, was thriving.
>> She was working to achieve dreams that she created on her own. So, her day started at 6:15 in the morning. She had
to be out of the door by 7:15. There was also her dance, modeling, and efforts to learn a trade. For that, she
came here, the Academy of Hair Design, smack in the middle of downtown Wan that. What drew her to that, do you
think? >> I think her modeling and her love of clothes and, you know, the makeup and
just pimping and being a girl. >> Being a girl was something McKenzie loved. Her boyfriend Villisano was
smitten. >> Did you love her? >> Yeah, I loved her a lot. >> Did she love him? >> Absolutely.
>> It was February 9th, 2010. Reed and McKenzie had planned a father-daughter dinner date at home. The orchards were
barren and the cold Colombia rolled through town. beauty school got out at 5:00. So, I
called her about 5:40 to see how close she was and her cell phone went right to the voicemail, which was pretty weird.
>> 2 hours later came that call from police and Reed's desperate ride into darkness and fear.
The next morning, Detective John Cruz of the Wanache Police Department joined the
search for McKenzie. >> It got serious pretty quick. >> Police would trace McKenzie's last known
steps on the day she disappeared. >> We're at the Academy of Hair Design. Mackenzie Cowl is a student here. It's
3:00. She's just finished asking one of her co- studentents, "Hey, do I have to sign out if I'm just leaving for 15
minutes?" Right after that, she leaves out this door right here. >> This one right here.
>> Right here. She comes up these stairs and she's recorded on these cameras here. These security cameras on the side
of this wall. That's correct. This video taken by those security cameras captured
the last images of McKenzie alive. When she got to her car, she sent a text to her boyfriend. She said, "Hey, hey."
That was the way she greeted you. Yeah. >> Then McKenzie Cowell disappeared. >> Like she drives off the face of the
earth. >> That's a good way to put it. I'd lay at wake at night and where are you?
>> Everyone, even strangers, was searching for that answer. >> We just started canvasing any
neighborhood. After several days, that was our strength and our hope. >> Then 4 days into it, Reed Cowell got a
call from the FBI. But she told me she was so very very sorry to have to tell me this over the
phone, but that they had found a body. >> I didn't know what to say to him. What
do you say? >> In a bend of the mighty Columbia River called Crescent Bar, McKenzie Cowell lay
in the shallow water. And right here in this location, uh, about 15 ft out from here is where
Mackenzie's body was located. >> Douglas County's Chief Deputy Robin Wag was struck by the brutality of the
murder. A >> combination of strangulation, a blunt force trauma to the head, a deep
laceration into the neck. >> And horribly, McKenzie's killer had attempted to saw off her arm.
>> You could see a knife still stuck into the the tissue. Uh, >> a knife was still in her body,
>> still stuck in into her shoulder, into the tissue. >> What did you guys do at that moment?
>> Just stood there and held each other. >> The police went to work and after meeting with McKenzie's boyfriend, they
decided to give him a lie detector test. Do you know who killed McKenzie? And they kept saying that I failed that
question. >> Do you know who killed McKenzie? >> No, I didn't. Detectives kept Waqin in
their sights, but the investigation took a dramatic turn when a surprise witness
came forward. Liz Reed swore she knew who killed McKenzie Cowl and that the video of McKenzie leaving the beauty
school was not the last recorded image of her alive. Liz swears she saw the murder itself unfold in a chilling
videotape. I saw it with my own eyes. >> Recorded by the killers. [Music] [Music]
The Colombia River held a silent secret about how McKenzie Cowell, so full of life, had come to rest along the bank at
Crescent Bar. some 48 m from home. >> It was a violent violent way to meet your end. And then the attempted
dismemberment afterwards, that was probably the most shocking thing. >> Detective Cruz and Chief Wag sensed the
challenge that lay ahead. >> No stone would go unturned, no matter how long it took.
>> But first, a town took time to grieve. >> We are here today because somebody stole
her life. McKenzie's stunned classmates gathered in the local arena. >> They did something that only God is
allowed to do. >> The Appalletes danced for their friend. And Reverend Sandy Brown tried to
somehow make sense of it all. >> But we are here today also because no one can steal our memories of Furry.
>> McKenzie, we love you. McKenzie's mother, Wendy Cowell, went on local news and begged for answers.
>> It's important to my family and I for you to bring that person forward. >> As the hunt for a murderer began, an
unprecedented statewide task force of top investigators from around the region join forces.
>> I think this is probably the biggest investigation the Wachi Valley has ever seen. First to be questioned were those
who loved McKenzie most. >> We interviewed Wendy, Reed, family members. >> I would never describe Reed or the
mother Wendy as a person of interest in in this case, but we certainly did look at them,
>> but it's got to be somebody that she knew and trusted. I knew that for a fact.
>> I really think I was like the number one suspect. McKenzie's boyfriend, who had failed that one question on a
lie detector test, came directly under the police spotlight. >> So then he asked me like three times if
I was a gangster. Then I was like, "No." >> And soon police concluded Waqen with an
airtight alibi had lost as much as anyone. >> Yeah, I loved her a lot. But that was not the case with this man,
Joey Fischer, with whom McKenzie had her problems. >> Joe Fischer was the boyfriend of Wendy
Kell, Mackenzie's mother. >> Is this potentially the guy? >> We know that they have this relationship
that sometimes involved arguments. >> She told her mom, "It's either him or me."
>> That was the day before she went missing that they had had a huge fight. They had
had a huge >> the day before. >> Yes. >> Because the next day after this volatile
confrontation, >> she disappears. >> She's gone. >> He remained uh very high interest with
the for the task force. In the end, we could find no physical linkage. >> There was no evidence to tie Joey Fiser
to McKenzie's murder, and he was completely exonerated by police. The investigation into the murder of
McKenzie Cowell was stalled. [Music] Two months would pass and then from the shadowy side of Wanache, an unexpected
witness emerged. A walking contradiction named Liz Reed. >> I am in college full-time. I have a
straight A GPA. If the cops were here, they'd say, "Not bad for a drugdeing liar."
>> I'm sure they would say that. >> When McKenzie Cowell was doing everything to build an honest life, Liz
Reed was doing anything to stay high on Oxycontton. >> I was selling drugs. I was writing bad
prescriptions, doctor shopping >> to get access to Oxycontton. >> Correct. Liz was also working with the police.
You were an informant, >> correct? >> The information Liz Reed gave police sent the investigation of McKenzie
Cowell's murder into overdrive. >> She began providing us information about two individuals in this area.
She named name names Sam Quavvis and Emmanuel SOS nicknamed Buddha. Streetwise convicted criminals drug
dealers Liz Reed hung out with >> and she tells a very compelling story that Sam Quavvis and Emanuel SOS abduct
and kill McKenzie Cal on a bluff near Crescent Bar. Liz Reed told police that McKenzie died because of a horrible case
of mistaken identity. That Quavvis and Buddha murdered McKenzie because they wrongly thought she was in the drug
world too and a police informant. >> We choked that [ __ ] to shut her up. And that's what he said.
>> At that moment, Sam Quavvis had basically told you he had murdered McKenzie Cal.
>> Yes. He said they had to choke her two times because they choked her once. They
thought she was dead. >> It was compelling and that's why we invested so much time and so much
resources cuz we were excited. >> Liz Reed claims she provided more details to the cops, including a
description of the knife allegedly used during the attack. So essentially, you had described the murder weapon prior to
it being made public by anyone. >> Yes. >> And come spring, as the orchards came to life again, the
task force thought they'd found the killers. >> That was the belief of a number of task
force members at the time based on what Miss Reed was telling us. >> Liz Reed swears she was actually shown a
snuff film of McKenzie Cowell's death. You say the killers told you and they showed you. They showed you a video.
>> Yes. To have to watch somebody be tortured like they did to her and kill her and laugh about it. It
never goes away. But as cops investigated Liz's disturbing story, a totally new tip came
in about yet another suspect. someone McKenzie saw every day, a classmate at her beauty school.
>> I think he was fascinated with serial killers. He certainly was uh fascinated
with death. >> He's a dangerous man. [Music] [Music] The investigation into the murder of
McKenzie Cowell had dragged on for 7 months. >> We later found out that that information
was not true. >> Police task force investigators had come to distrust their star informant, Liz
Reed. >> I'm sensing that she's not being truthful. >> And what of that gruesome murder video?
Cops spent months looking for it. >> We found nothing. We found nothing that was a video of this murder.
>> Under pressure, Liz then threw the entire investigation upside down. She retracted her story of seeing a snuff
film of Quavvis and Buddha murdering McKenzie. >> You completely changed your story.
>> I did. >> Liz says she felt threatened by police >> that they were going to charge me with
murder. >> You were frightened. And you were terrified. >> I was terrified. I'm like, my god,
you're going to get taken over there and charged with something to do with killing this girl.
>> But cops say Liz was never a suspect, just a desperate informant with a madeup
story. >> Can Liz Reed be trusted? No. I think we've proven that. >> Investigators were frustrated. Months
passed. I think you have faith that they'll find them. They will eventually. It may take
a while. >> Spring slowly ripened into summer when police got that intriguing new lead.
>> He's walking northbound in the alley. >> Northbound toward Yakim Street. >> You know, we didn't even know Chris
Wilson. >> Christopher Wilson was a classmate of McKenzie's at the Academy of Hair
Design. >> There she is walking right across the parking lot. Police speculate Chris and
McKenzie had decided to meet. That the brutal killing occurred only minutes after McKenzie left their beauty school
after her classmate Chris came out that same back door. >> We show them leaving 72 seconds apart.
>> You know, we're less than three blocks from there. Three short blocks to his apartment from here.
>> Just who is Chris Wilson? That question would end up on the front page. artist,
musician, had done some artwork and photography that might strike some as dark. >> CBS News consultant Jefferson Robbins is
an investigative reporter for the local paper, The Wanache World. He'd come to know everything about Chris Wilson.
>> He has a tattoo of Hannibal Lectar on his arm. Hannibal Lectar being in the Silence of the Lambs, the serial killer.
Correct. >> He didn't fit into the Wachi norm. If he would have been in a big city in
Seattle, New York, or Portland, he would have been a non-event. >> Kathleen Zorns, Chris's mother, contends
her son isn't dark or evil. He's just different. >> What's a Hannibal Lecter tattoo?
>> It's not a an insight into his soul. >> I don't believe so. No. >> I mean, Chris isn't so bizarre. It's
just that it's such a normal little town where everyone looks just the same. Amelia Savage is Chris's best friend.
She agrees he's guilty of being an eccentric, artsy kid in a small town. >> He's not a perfect person, but he's a
good person. >> So, it was seemingly out of the blue that friends and family were told Chris
wasn't just different, he was potentially dangerous. Was he fascinated with with the dead, with
serial killers? >> No. >> You laugh. It's >> it's it's it's ridiculous. >> And compounding their disbelief was the
source of the letter to investigators suggesting Chris Wilson might be a killer. Theo Keys is yet another
troubled police informant. a man who served jail time, had been a friend of Chris Wilson, and had a reported history
of mental illness. >> He wrote the letter while he was in jail for exposing himself to a barista.
>> In that jailhouse letter, Theo wrote that Chris Wilson had an interest in dead bodies and serial killers.
>> We don't pick people to provide information to us. We take information that comes in. Theo Keys, we treat it
exactly the same as Liz Reed. Investigators came to see Chris Wilson as a deeply troubled misfit whose
obsessive fascination with death, they claimed, led him to work in a funeral home.
>> There are thousands of people working in funeral homes across the country. That's
a profession. >> But it wouldn't be Chris's tattoo or work in a funeral parlor that made him
the prime suspect in McKenzie's murder. It would be forensic evidence discovered
by investigators along the muddy river bank at Crescent Bar. What led us to Chris Wilson was DNA
evidence. His YSTR DNA was on a piece of duct tape that also had Mackenzie's blood that was by Mackenzie's body. It
wasn't that he was different. It was his DNA. >> Chris had given police a swab of his DNA
on August 11th. Although not totally conclusive, the crime lab determined the DNA on the duct tape could belong to
Chris Wilson. That's when Chris got the grilling of a lifetime. >> Chris, have you been to Crescent Bar?
No, I haven't been to Crescent Bar. Well, you know, your DNA was. And at that point, he goes ahead and says, I
don't see how that could be, and I want a lawyer. I tell him, Chris, you're under arrest for the murder of Mackenzie
Cowl. No emotion. Absolute flat light. No reaction at all. >> Zero. >> Eight months after McKenzie Cowell's car
was found abandoned. >> Chris Wilson appeared in court and there he is standing at the table in front of
the judge and I just went, "That's him? No, that can't be. How could that guy have killed McKenzie?"
crime. >> Chris Wilson was charged with the murder of McKenzie Cowell. The >> charge here, sir, is murder in the
second degree. How do you blame not? >> And when you made eye contact with him, >> Chris Wilson does not make eye contact
with anyone. >> Kathleen, you are passionate in your belief in Chris's innocence. Correct.
>> That is correct. In fact, Kathleen says that at the time police believed McKenzie was being
murdered, Chris was with her picking up a plate of cupcakes. >> He was perfectly normal, fine, happy.
>> He was the Chris as you would have seen on any other day. >> Any other day. any other day.
[Music] All the promise, all the grace that defined 17-year-old Mackenzie Cowell's
life had been stolen. Yet, her spirit still inspired a community. >> Mackenzie, we love you.
>> She was full of life. She was just going a mile a minute and and taking life full blast. A task
force. >> We collected swab samples of >> a town. No one can steal our memories of
her. >> A father kept McKenzie's memory alive. >> I think of all the things that we did
down here, swimming and running and sometimes just sitting. But now was the time for justice and hopefully answers
to unbearable questions. >> I would like to talk to this guy. You know, why'd you take McKenzie?
>> Chris Wilson declaring his innocence was headed to trial. Is this a winnable case
in your opinion? >> It's a very winnable case because investigators say the DNA on that duct
tape was just the start of the case. This is uh what we determined was the residence for Chris Wilson.
>> Let's head inside. Okay. >> Chief Wag's task force combed over every inch of it.
>> When they started spraying the luminol, they found what turned out to be a fairly substantial stain that they were
sure was blood, and it was right in this area right in here. >> The cops cut the stained carpet.
Then a small bloody patch was tested for DNA. It came back exclusively as Mackenzie Cal's blood and it was a
substantial stain. >> So, Chief, what do you believe happened in this apartment?
>> Uh, this is where Mackenzie Cal was murdered by Chris Wilson. >> Then there was this
>> pretty clean. >> A controversial video of Chris Wilson. >> Video mean just get away. Is it clean?
>> Taken by his friend Tessa Skylaman. In the video shot as Chris moved out of apartment 28, the two friends seem
concerned that it's neat and clean so Chris could get his security deposit back. Chris would later explain the
carpet was damaged during a party. >> Does it look clean? >> Clean for for what happening?
Clean considering. >> Yeah, it's clean considering. But police allege Wilson was checking for blood.
>> She zooms right on the carpet where that blood is. >> The police task force is now certain
that McKenzie Cowell's blood was here, soaked deep into the carpet in apartment 28, where Chris Wilson lived at the time
of the murder. The question that now defines this case is how did her blood get here? We have a whole list of things
that make this look very suspicious. >> Washington state's own John Henry Brown,
hired by Chris's mother, is among the most high-powered lawyers anywhere. His clients have ranged from Robert Bales,
the American soldier who plead guilty to mass murder in Afghanistan to serial killer Ted Bundy to the
barefoot bandit Colton Harris Moore. Now add Chris Wilson. >> Chris is clearly kind of the classic
underdog and that always is attractive to us. >> Together with co-consel Emma Scandlin.
He is crafting a strategy that it's not Chris Wilson who is guilty. It's law enforcement of unspeakable corruption.
>> I'm saying to avoid professional embarrassment. They did whatever it took. including alleged these two
lawyers somehow planting McKenzie's blood in Chris's apartment. >> This is Wachi. They do things like that.
>> John Henry Brown's attitude about Wanachi goes way back. >> Allegations about sexual abuse of
children. >> It was the mid '90s. Dozens of people were charged with child sexual abuse.
Most were convicted wrongfully, it turned out, until a young John Henry Brown succeeded, in having some of the
cases dropped or overturned. >> It was completely false, made up, uh, what's become known as the Wachi Witch
hunt. >> You don't like that when your investigators are accused of things that seem to be baseless.
>> Gary Rezen was the prosecutor then, going up against John Henry Brown in the child sex abuse scandal. and he is the
prosecutor now against Chris Wilson. >> Mr. Brown uh likes cases that are high visibility. He likes publicity in his
cases. >> What bothers law enforcement most isn't Brown's dramatic flare. >> There's no evidence that the blood was
planted. The blood was left there by McKenzie Cal when Chris Wilson murdered her.
>> Remember, McKenzie's jugular vein had been cut. And Brown argues there should
have been blood discovered all over Chris's apartment. How do you explain that? >> He was interested and infatuated with
the serial killer Dexter. The serious Dexter. >> Dexter is the hit Showtime series where
the killer often brings his victim into a room draped in plastic to keep the crime scene clean.
>> You know, he very well could have had plastic down on the floor. We just don't
know. But why was McKenzie in Chris's apartment? Police believe they'd become friends. No way, swears Chris's mother.
>> They weren't friends on Facebook, on MySpace. >> In your opinion, is there a campaign
against your son? >> I believe there is a conspiracy to frame him. Yes. >> And I'll tell you this, that's nuts. DNA
evidence led us to Chris Wilson, and the DNA evidence tied him to Mackenzie Cal.
If Chris Wilson did not murder Mackenzie Cowell, who did? >> Sam Quas and Emanuel Sos.
>> Sam Quavvis and Emmanuel Buddha Seros, those two smalltime drug dealers Liz Reed once swore confessed to her. Liz
changed her story yet again and now told Chris Wilson's lawyers her tale about seeing that videotape of McKenzie's
murder. And she was prepared to testify under oath that it was all true. >> You're certain what you saw was the
death of Mackenzie Cow >> on video. >> Yes. Liz Reed was now slated to be the Star Defense Lawyer's star witness. But
Chris Wilson still had one big problem. McKenzie Cowell's blood is in Chris Wilson's apartment, and you can't
explain how it got there. >> Well, yeah, it's very difficult to convince a jury that evidence has been
planted, but we are going to attempt to do that. [Music] McKenzie Cowell's bedroom hasn't changed
much since she last slept peacefully. Time frozen in teenage photos. Her Appallet's outfit ready for the next
dance. >> The life she was full of life and joy and happiness and kindness. Um, her and
her dad had so much fun together. She loved her dad dearly. >> But here in Wanachi, there were two
families waiting for answers to the mysterious murder. Each with very different versions of justice for Chris
Wilson. >> He is anxious for trial. He wants to tell his side of the story. >> The famous lawyer and the longtime DA
were primed. Then in a stunning development, Gary Rees made Wilson the offer of a lifetime, plead guilty to
manslaughter and serve only 6 and 1/2 years in prison. >> I indicated, yeah, if he'd plead to
that, um, I would recommend that we do that, take that offer. >> Were you in any way intimidated by the
fact that Brown was on this case? >> Well, I I don't think so. But if Wilson was a killer, a very sweet deal now lay
on the table. If I was innocent, I'd take that deal. >> He said it wouldn't matter if they
offered him six months, six years, six days. He is not going to plead to something he did not do.
>> Chris Wilson turned down the DA's offer. The trial was on and Liz Reed's story
now had a new twist that threatened the prosecutor's claim that McKenzie was killed in Chris Wilson's apartment.
We're heading to the overlook. >> Liz claims McKenzie was actually murdered on this secluded bluff and that
she can prove it. Is there any doubt in your mind that where we stand right now is where McKenzie died?
>> None. >> Liz says that Buddha Seros demanded she come here to find a ring ripped from
McKenzie's hand during the killing. >> It was smashed. It was bent a little, but it was a ring.
>> This is the ring Liz says she found on the bluff. Attorney John Henry Brown says it matches the ring seen in this
picture of McKenzie. If true, Brown says Chris Wilson is an innocent man. >> I personally took that ring that she
found. I showed it to Reed Cal. I showed it to Wendy Cal. I showed it to Mackenzie's boyfriend. None of them
recognized that ring at all. >> Where is Mackenzie's ring? If that's not Mackenzie's ring, you bring her ring
into court. They don't have it because that is her ring. >> Police concluded it wasn't Mckenzie's
ring and that Sam Quavvis and Emanuel Buddha Seros had zero to do with the disappearance or death of McKenzie Cow.
>> I don't know Mackenzie Cow. Never met her, never seen her. >> This is Emmanuel Buddha Seros. You
>> want to throw a rock? After we tried for a year and a half to meet him, he finally surfaced.
>> Well, Liz is a liar, so I know she she just likes to take innocent people down
for for no reason. >> At the time, Buddha was working an honest job and said Liz Reed's
accusations damaged him badly. >> I go to grocery store, they look at me like like, you know, like I'm a killer
or something. They just stare at me. And Buddhist swears the cops got it right. There was never any video of McKenzie
being murdered. >> No, I don't have nothing to do with Mackenzie Cow's murder. >> It was Chris Wilson alone who would be
tried for murder. >> It's too late to take a plea. >> That's correct. >> Chris Wilson, are you there?
>> Yes. >> I spoke with Chris Wilson about the extraordinary moments that were about to
unfold in a Wan that courtroom. What was your relationship with McKenzie Cal? >> There was absolutely no relationship at
all. >> You never had coffee with her? Never took her out on a date? >> Nothing. And we've never had a
conversation ever. >> Chris, did you kill Mckenzie Cow? >> No, I did not kill Mackenzie Cow.
>> But a jury would decide that. And the members of that jury were now being selected.
That's when all hell broke loose. Hey Reed, when we got the jury questionnaires back, I believe it was 80
to 85% of them said, uh, no, he's absolutely guilty. >> There is no way in hell he will get a
fair trial here. >> It was the 11th hour and 59 minutes. Suddenly, Chris Wilson was getting cold
feet. The veteran DA and the star defense lawyer once again talked plea bargain.
>> So, is this a done deal? No, because they have to talk to the family. >> Reed Cowell and Sandy Francis, who had
lived every day for McKenzie, made their way through a courthouse in chaos. >> So, uh, what's going on?
>> Plea bargain. But it also includes a written statement that I did this, I kidnapped her, and I
murdered her. So, it's it's >> Please try. >> In Judge John Bridg's packed courtroom,
a community gathered. >> You may be seated. Thank you. >> Chris Wilson accepted a sentence far
longer than the first deal, 14 years in prison in exchange for agreeing to these
words. >> Mr. Wilson, it reads, "This is my statement. I also did recklessly cause
the death of McKenzie Cal by strangulation and by stabbing her with a knife. Uh, Mr. Wilson, is that your
statement? >> Yes. >> And are are those the things that you did? >> Yes. >> You have any question?
>> But Wilson would tell 48 hours. He pauses at this moment in the courtroom. >> Are those the things that you did?
Yes. >> Because the deal was based on a lie and that he took it only to avoid a longer
sentence. >> Did you almost say no? >> Absolutely. >> Do you believe you were framed?
>> Framed by law enforcement? Yes. >> Am I happy that Chris Wilson's jail for 14 years? Absolutely. Do I wish it was
40? Absolutely. >> But just why did the DA offer a deal? >> I had no evidence to prove Mr. Wilson
was in there with Miss Cal when that blood was deposited. The judicial dance was over.
>> Our job is to keep our community safe and we know that we are sending the killer to prison today.
>> The anguish and questions were not. In open court, Chris just plead guilty on
three counts. Do you believe him? >> No. I'm his mom. I do not believe him. Then two proud women who had lost what
they valued most shared the humanity they had left. >> Sorry. I'm sorry. >> Jefferson Robbins told the tale on the
front page. Reed and Sandy headed home past the gentle orchards as the Columbia River rolled on
whispering the name McKenzie. I have a really nice windchime out in the front yard. And when that windchime
goes off, I think it's her talking to me. And I don't always think about her as being gone. I still think about her as
though she's still around. Less than a year after accepting the plea deal, Chris Wilson filed a motion
to withdraw his guilty plea. >> Are those the things that you did? >> He contends his plea was not voluntary.
Wilson claims he entered into the plea bargain without fully understanding the consequences, how much time he would
ultimately serve in prison. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music]

A high school dancer and aspiring model is found dead. Did the killer videotape the murder? "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

CASE UPDATE: In 2013, an appeals judge denied Chris Wilson's motion to withdraw his guilty plea. He said Wilson provided no evidence he misunderstood the plea deal he signed. Wilson was released from prison on Dec. 11, 2023, after serving 11 1/2 years for the murder of Mackenzie Cowell.

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Brief Summary

The episode details the investigation into McKenzie Cowell's murder, focusing on suspects, DNA evidence, and the plea deal of Chris Wilson.

Key points

The Disappearance of McKenzie Cowell. On February 9, 2010, McKenzie Cowell went missing, leading to a frantic search.
Discovery of McKenzie's Body. Her body was found on February 13, 2010, brutally murdered, shocking the community.
Liz Reed's Disturbing Claims. Liz Reed claims to have witnessed McKenzie's murder, sending the investigation into overdrive.
The Shocking Murder Details. McKenzie was brutally murdered, with signs of attempted dismemberment, leaving investigators stunned.
Chris Wilson Charged with Murder. Chris Wilson faces serious charges in the murder of McKenzie Cowell, igniting a community's search for justice.
Chris Wilson Becomes a Suspect. DNA evidence links Chris Wilson to the crime scene, making him the prime suspect.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Kenzie doesn't go anywhere without her purse.

2:30WatchSep 23, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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