"Survivor" finalist Joe Hunter’s fight for justice | "Case by Case" | "48 Hours" Podcast | Forensic Files

I can't tell Jeff this enough in Survivor in general that it really did save my life and just going through the
trauma of different things with my sister and and the real reason why I came on Survivor and they were
kind enough to let me play this wonderful game. Um, I'm indebted to them and so there's no such thing as getting
third and if you think that's losing, uh, you haven't lived my life. >> Well, that is Survivor contestant Joe
Hunter the morning after the season 50 finale of Survivor talking to CBS Mornings Gayle King and he's talking
about his late sister Joanna. Joe was a two-time finalist on Survivor and as we said in season 50, he talked about
coming in third, but he said it really was a win for him in the long run because he brought so much attention to
his sister and her death. In 2011, 36-year-old Joanna was found dead in her Vacaville, California home hanging
inside a bedroom closet by a bathrobe sash. Now, Joanna's death was ruled a suicide, but Joe and his mother Patricia
believed that her husband, who was a church pastor, Mark Lewis, killed her after a history of domestic violence.
Mark Lewis has not been charged with any crime relating to the death of Joanna. I'm CBS News correspondent Natalie
Morales and this is case by case. I interviewed Joe Hunter for 48 Hours last year for our episode called Joe Hunter's
Mission. Well, joining me today is producer Michelle Fanucci who was with me every step of the way. Michelle, you
really were the one who got us all started on this journey with Joe. When you first met him, I remember you
texting me and saying how incredible this story is. >> That meeting with Joe was probably one
of the most memorable meetings I've I've ever had at 48 Hours and um he he told me about his sister's case, and um the
circumstances surrounding it, which sounded extremely suspicious, and his heart and his compassion for his sister
really touched me, and I knew it was something we had to look into further. >> And Joe's mission throughout has always
been to be Joanna's voice. And competing on Survivor was an avenue, it was a way
because he knew that it was something that he and Joanna had talked about. They dreamed of competing with each
other. And of course, when she died, there was no longer the opportunity to do that. But he knew he had to do
something, and what better way to tell her story than on a competition show that he and his sister had absolutely
loved and watched together. Uh I want to play a little bit about some of Joe's decision to take part in that.
>> You know, honestly, the vulnerable part for me is I had been going through some really
tough times in the moment. And recently, and I was going through, you know, I was
struggling with depression, I was struggling with the sadness of this with Joanna, and
really giving up. No one was listening to us, no one was believing this, and my counselor said that to do something
really spectacular would be to help you manage the situation with Joanna is do something for you and her. And I thought
back, and I said, she had always mentioned that she actually was a super fan. And um
I thought, all right, I'll give it a shot. >> You were the little brother. What was
the age difference, and what do you remember about her as big sis? >> Yeah, so there was a 4-year gap between
us. And, you know, anyone that knows like what a sibling, specifically the older sister, I always tried to be in
charge, but she wouldn't let that happen. And she just took care of me. She protected me a lot. And we were the
perfect team. >> You said she was very protective. Was she protective of of, you know,
maybe not wanting to tell a lot about life as well? >> Yeah, I think that she, you know,
learned pretty quickly that how fiercely protective I was of her. So, she also did a great job of probably
shielding me from a lot of things that were hurting her. But, um she also couldn't rely on me
because I knew her so well on a personal level, but also just on a level of deeper
connection that I always knew when something was wrong. >> Joe is a Sacramento fire captain. He is
a protector by nature. But, it's interesting because Joanna was the older sister and she was always the one, he
said, who was protecting him. But, you know, in this case with Joanna, I think his greatest regret is that he felt he
couldn't do more to protect her, to help keep her safe, especially after when she
met Mark Lewis. I believe was she 16? >> Around that age. Yeah, she was she was pretty young. But, I mean, from the very
beginning it was a very intense relationship. And Joe and Patricia said they both feared Joanna was losing
herself to Mark. Here's Joe talking about how that relationship started out. >> I do know that was her first partner
both physically and emotionally. And she fell in love and she believed him. She believed in the things that he
was saying. And there was an intimate connection. There was also a connection then religion was abused and used as a
weapon against her. And all of those things led to him really being able to cocoon her and him in an isolated
environment and protect her from those people that really had her best interest at heart.
>> Mhm. >> So, that made it very difficult for Joanna because that was her first real
relationship and me being 4 years younger, I couldn't advise her on those things cuz I hadn't myself experienced
any relationship. So, um it was very difficult to witness as it developed. >> And
as far as evidence of abuse, I mean, you saw it multiple times. >> You know, you want to say the word
hundreds, but dozen. I mean, over the years of um you know, look at that time, back in the '90s, a turtleneck in the
summer is not popular. But, seeing your sister wearing a turtleneck and a long length dress in
the middle of the summer, that was her regular outfit. And it felt like it was a normal occurrence
of this is what I did this time to deserve this. This is what happened this time. I'll
get better. It'll stop once I get better. >> So, she blamed herself once I get better?
>> Mhm. And to have that type of feeling come out of my person is so upsetting. Cuz it's you just want to scream it from
a mountain top. I'm like, it's not you. I had been screaming at her for so long.
2 years straight. Every single day. Every single day I saw her, I would I hate this guy. Leave this guy.
Please stop. My parents are doing the same thing. But, I saw her start to back away.
Isolating her room. Run away. Stay away for hours past curfew. I thought, I'm going to lose her
for good. >> That's more dangerous. >> More dangerous. So, I'm just going to listen.
I won't act. >> You said she told you a lot of the deepest darkest secrets. >> Mhm.
>> Some of which you haven't even told your your your own mother these days or how
does she know everything at this point? >> No, she doesn't know everything. >> Yeah.
>> There's some things that she shared with me that were um really hard to hear.
Really hard to hear. That um I didn't know what else to do because I was also seeing what it was
doing to my dad. Seeing what it was doing to my mom. Seeing what it did to my friends
and my sister. So, there was a lot of what do you say? >> Mhm. >> These restraining orders aren't working.
This piece of paper isn't working. >> So, you were documenting this and reporting this? I mean, she was
getting restraining orders. >> She was getting restraining orders. >> Do you think she was ever suicidal?
>> You know, I think that when you go through that, I'm sure she got in many dark places.
But, in no way, shape, or form was she capable of that mindset because I know my sister deep down just wanted to
leave. She had never said that. She never mentioned being suicidal. I never saw anything
that she wrote about saying that or even implying that. She just knew near the end that she needed to get away from
him, but she never wanted to leave me or my family. >> If you or someone you know is a victim
of domestic violence, call 1-800-799-SAFE or visit the hotline.org. So, she was planning to leave in the
end. >> Correct. >> When when was that? >> I would say maybe about a couple months before she passed.
>> Mhm. >> Um my mom called me and said, "Joanna's coming home." I said, "Oh, really?" "Yeah, she's
done." And I said, "She's really, really done this time?" "She's really done." And we
were all just so happy and she seemed so confident this time and it was a different Joanna and I thought, "Man,
like we got her back. We win. Like we win." I could see it in her. She was done and he
kept calling my parents' house again. We had changed numbers and he found a way to get through then and at this time she
had a phone. So, he kept calling and calling and calling. And my mom begged her not to go back and she
said she just had to go back to get one or two more things. That's all she had to do. This is
something I have to face. And we never saw her again. >> That was the last time you saw her
alive? >> Correct. >> And tell me about and I know how painful it is to go back to the moment where you
and your mother get the news. >> Right. >> Who told you? How did you hear? >> Um
I was down near the Modesto area. I was doing some training for the fire department and
then at right about 8:48 in the morning I see my fire chief at the time and my captain at the time
in their formal uniform and he started crying. He said "Your sister's gone." >> I am
I dropped to my knees. I said, "You take me to him right now." There wasn't a doubt in my mind. I
didn't hear anything else, but you take me to him. And um that moment stands out in my mind because
half of me died right there. And we fought the night before about him. We had had a phone call that didn't go
well. We always say we love each other. But I didn't. And there's not a day that goes by that
if I could just hear her voice. It's like one word. Just one word. I just I love you.
>> You know, he called Joanna his best friend. You know, it was really the the day after that
he and Patricia were told. >> So, uh he had never heard from law enforcement uh until he was asked to to
identify the body. >> And then of course, he realizes that her death is ruled a suicide by the Solano
County Sheriff's Office. I want to play for you what Joe told us about getting that information.
>> It's the most um hopeless feeling on the planet. That on top of losing my sister
knowing that she suffered. The way this story ends is then you tell us that she took her own
life. It's absolutely horrible. >> As you said, the Sheriff's Department said there was this suicide note.
>> Mhm. >> Tell me about you said it was found on top of a suitcase. >> Correct.
>> From what you know about what your sister was planning to do, >> you know, I finally was able to read the note a
while after her passing. And I was expecting unfortunately to hear in the letter maybe a very lengthy
reason in his handwriting. I expected to see some form of foul play in the letter. And it was her
handwriting. And all it said, and nothing more, nothing less, was make sure that you take care of the
dogs. >> Did you ever come to terms with that, or did you fight back, you know, with what the police
had come up with as far as the answer? >> You know, immediately when I heard that
on the phone from the one of the detectives at the time, I thought it's not a it's not a suicide. What do
you what do you mean? And I immediately thought I was in a movie. I thought this isn't happening.
You're not you're not you're not doing this to us. What are you saying? It's a suicide, and we immediately
pushed back. Show me this, show me that. >> So, the Huntley family knew in their
bones that this didn't ring true. >> It was well documented, that history of domestic violence, and she had actually
gone to the hospital at one point with a sprained neck. Now, Mark was convicted on a domestic violence charge, and
according to court documents, he was sentenced to 36 months in the Solano County Jail.
Joanna did though return to the relationship. But, what's interesting, Michelle, is when this responding
officer from the Solano County Sheriff's Department arrives there on scene. He sort of processes it all within 30
minutes. And so the hunters are saying this was all sort of a a rush to judgment.
>> And let's just remember that Joe and Patricia and the family were were terrified. So when the news came, this
was all their absolute worst nightmare. >> So during the episode, we were able to
really dig into the history of domestic violence here. And Michelle, you know, we asked the Solano County Sheriff's if
that history was even taken into account at the time in 2011 when they arrived at
that at that scene. Now, they said it wasn't. So then I was able to press the Solano County Sheriff's uh public
information officer Captain Jackson Harris of the Sheriff's Department. Now, he was not involved in this case back in
2011. Harris told us the reason they continue to say this was suicide and that's all they see there is because
they didn't see any evidence of a struggle. There was no evidence that another person was there to kill her.
The external autopsy also said that it was a suicide. >> But then a couple years after Joanna's
death, Mark is arrested, but it's it has nothing to do with Joanna's case. Uh a woman came forward named Sarah
Nottingham. >> Right. And Sarah used to be a member of the church, the congregation. She and
Mark were friends at first, but then they started dating after Joanna's death. And she told us during the course
of that relationship that he became more and more controlling, sometimes became even a little bit physically rough with
her. And she tried to break things off with him after she said she discovered that
he was texting with an underage girl. So, that's when she said enough is enough. I'm leaving and when she tried
to break up with him, that's when we hear of this incident in 2014 where police determined that Mark had hired
three people to throw a Molotov cocktail in the overnight hours into her parents'
home. I mean, she's in the house with her parents and her two kids. Mark pleaded no contest to arson and stalking
charges. However, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison. He did serve 5 years. Sarah's story, Michelle, really is what
brought renewed attention to Joanna's story and to her case. And it got Joe Hunter and his mother's attention. And
once again, they went to the Sheriff's Department and they begged them to look at this evidence again.
So, to their credit, the Solano County Sheriff's Department did reopen the investigation and they took a look at
some of the evidence at the time. They re-interviewed some of the witnesses at the time and they found some
inconsistencies in the storytelling. And more time goes by with more review. But,
they also hired some experts including Dr. Bill Smock who is a police surgeon and he's also a trained expert in
strangulation. And what was really interesting, Michelle, is Dr. Smock saw something in the photo evidence of taken
of Joanna as her body was hanging in the closet. >> He discovered nautical rope um
by her feet, which is what he believes was the weapon. >> So, again, Dr. Smock believes somebody
applied the nautical rope to her neck and killed her. And then when she was dead, put the bathrobe sash around her
neck and staged her death to look like a suicide. Here's Joe. >> I still haven't been able to read
through all of it, but it was the first piece in so many years for my mom and I that we finally
got something moving in the right direction. Finally, it wasn't just the emotional
family. Finally, it wasn't just the sporadic mother or son who were being irrational.
Finally, we had hard evidence and we thought finally, we win. We thought it was over.
And it wasn't. >> Because they hired another. >> They then get a third party that then
deems no, this is a suicide and the case is closed. >> But that's not to say it was the end of
the story because Joanna's story is so powerful and Joe and Patricia Hunter really got some important people to help
in their efforts. >> Yeah, there's an incredible organization called Alliance for Hope International
who took a look at the case and believed so strongly that there was foul play involved.
>> And they have what they call red flags in cases when they look at them. >> It had all the hallmarks of a staged
suicide. >> One of the biggest red flags, of course, is if there is a history of domestic
violence. Are you going to read just like two or three, Michelle? >> Yeah, the victim dies unexpectedly.
One partner wants to end the relationship. Victim is found in their home or place
of residence. The partner is the last person to see the victim alive. And there's a whole
>> list of the 10. We'll make sure that we put that up so that people can see them
and understand it. But uh it was really the Alliance for Hope who took on Joe and Patricia Hunter's case. And they had
actually recommended Dr. Smock to the Sheriff's Department. And they helped then push forward a new law here in the
state of California, which they do hope to take national. >> And we were able to collaborate to make
Joanna's Law, which is SB989. And the whole point behind that law is now prevention. It's saying, "Hey, we need
to enhance protocols when it's surrounding death of a person when they have a history of
domestic violence, and that they must treat that scene like a homicide." So, it increases the diligency that the
police officers and first responders have to do on that scene. The goal is that this
travels throughout the country, and that people adopt the same thing for prevention, and that Joanna's Law will
continue to improve those protocols and make sure that other families don't have the same issue, but it also
gives them a voice. It gives them rights to access to things. It gives them the ability to say, "Hey, even though my
person is married to this person, as the family, we have certain rights, and we have certain access to certain
information." That's not done right now. And so, many families are probably struggling with what we did, and this is
just the start. >> And such an important law, which we're already seeing have a tremendous impact
in even some of the cases that we're covering here at 48 Hours. I've come across another case that has used
Joanna's Law to uh help bring justice to the victim. >> And I was just working on another 48
Hours story this week, and the assistant prosecutor told me that Joanna's Law allowed her to present a previous case
of domestic violence to be presented to the judge, and the judge allowed that as
as part of the evidence into the case when it was presented at trial, resulting in a guilty verdict.
>> And just back to Mark Lewis real quick. >> We've We tried to reach out to Mark
Lewis a few times, and we were able to find where he lives in Arizona. >> Yeah, we went to his house to try to get
his side of the story. >> And uh that's when Natalie was able to to question him.
>> And Michelle, you were there right by my side. We really tried to ask him just
point-blank if he had anything to do with Joanna's death, and he refused to answer our question. He ran right back
into the house and closed the door on us. Mark Lewis is now once again remarried, and he's married to somebody
who once was in his congregation, as well. You know, we may never know the true circumstances surrounding Joanna's
death, >> but we know the Hunter family is is never going to take their eyes eyes off the ball here, and they will
they will fight till the end to make sure Joanna gets the justice that they believe she deserves.
>> That's right. But, I want to bring it back to just last week. We were able to
celebrate what was a big win, maybe not the Survivor finale, with Joe and his mother, Patricia, but we were able to
celebrate with them at the Gracies Award, which is uh given by the Alliance for Women in Media. It's a really
significant achievement, because it's women supporting women. And I mean, I don't know about you, but I had had
goosebumps the whole night seeing Patricia and Joe being honored along with everybody else in that room.
>> Yeah, same same with me. It was an incredibly emotional night, and I think it meant the world to Patricia and Joe,
and they they couldn't believe it. >> He got touched when they played the clip of our episode of 48 Hours that was
given this award, and and at one point you even recorded some beautiful video. >> That was the sweetest moment, and when
you look at it, Joe's winking at you, and and you're smiling, and uh again, chills all around.
>> Well, Michelle Fanucci, you are one of the great ones, and I so appreciate that
we got to really work on such a labor of love in telling Joe Hunter's mission and
Joanna's story. I want to thank you all for joining me today and thanks to you for listening or watching. Be sure to
rate and review Case by Case wherever you get your podcasts.

During his time competing on "Survivor," Joe Hunter has been open about seeking justice for the death of his sister Joanna. “48 Hours” correspondent Natalie Morales and producer Michelle Fanucci discuss the investigation into Joanna’s death, which was ruled a suicide, and an interview with Hunter who believes Joanna’s husband, former pastor Mark Lewis, staged the scene after years of domestic violence.

Alliance for Hope International's list of Ten Factors of a Suspicious Death in a Domestic Violence Relationship: https://www.allianceforhope.org/training-institute-on-strangulation-prevention/resources/10-factors-of-a-suspicious-death-in-domestic-violence-relationships

The cases everyone's talking about, explained as they happen. "Case by Case" is a weekly update on the biggest criminal stories unfolding now. New episodes every Friday, available wherever you watch or listen to podcasts. You can also get ad-free access to 48 Hours podcasts by subscribing to 48 Hours+ at 48HoursPodcasts.com.

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Brief Summary

Joe Hunter discusses his sister Joanna's tragic death and his fight for justice after competing on Survivor.

Key points

Joe Hunter's Survivor Journey. Joe Hunter shares how Survivor helped him cope with his sister's death.
The Moment of Loss. Joe describes the devastating moment he learned of his sister's passing.
Renewed Investigation. Joe and his mother push for a re-examination of Joanna's case after new evidence arises.
Joanna's Law. A new law aimed at improving protocols for domestic violence cases is introduced.
Joanna's Law Impact. Joanna's Law allowed crucial evidence in her case, leading to a guilty verdict.
Mark Lewis Encounter. Attempts to confront Mark Lewis about Joanna's death ended with him refusing to answer.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You haven't lived my life.

Joe Hunter reflecting on his Survivor journey.

0:27WatchMay 29, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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