The dark side of Wall Street romance | Forensic Files

[Music] New York is a hub for business finance fashion technology entertainment art and
is commonly recognized as the city that never sleeps Diane Whitmore always dreamed of making
it in New York and when she met Wall Street stockbroker Joseph Michael she thought she was on the way to the
perfect life she had always dreamed but her marriage to Joe wasn't perfect far from
[Music] [Music] doyon Whitmore was born in the small city of South Bend Indiana on the 20th
of May 1943 her parents were Don Whitmore and Jane Whitmore from a young age Diane suffered
from asthma and was restricted to bed a lot so she read a lot of books her favorite novels were the Nancy Drew
collection in which a teenage girl would solve crimes what attracted Diane the most to Nancy Drew was that her
character was strong sophisticated and a prodigy in many aspects at the age of 12
Diane moved with her parents to Birmingham a suburb of Detroit they spent two years there during which Diane
felt extremely uncomfortable as if she didn't belong it was a miserable time of her childhood in 57 the family moved to
North Plainfield New Jersey Diane fit right in there and was much happier she finished school as one of
the top students in her class Diane transferred to University Mary Washington in Virginia before
transferring to me on Holyoke College in Massachusetts where she studied English
she met Doug Johnston in 1964 who was a student from Yale they quickly became engaged but Diane broke it off
the following year that same year she finished the college and went to work at a bank in San Francisco for the summer
before moving to New York where she had always dreamed of living Diane graduated from college with
recommendations so had no problem in getting a job as the secretary to Eleanor graves one of the editors at
Life magazine Diane first lived in an apartment in Upper East Side with three other women she'd met through a roommate
service in 1967 Diane became a hippie and started dating a string of wrong men they included a drug dealer a gang
leader and a married man in 69 Diane left New York and went on tour with her cousin Tommy who had a band called
Tommy James and the Shondells she traveled to many different places and took odd jobs before ending up back in
New York in 1970 in 71 Diane got a job at the new parks department as an administrative
assistant to the commissioner that same year she entered into a relationship with Ralph shuckin Berg a
photojournalist she'd met while working at Life magazine Diane also started to drink alcohol heavily the relationship
with Ralph was turbulent in 75 Diane sent Ralph a letter where she expressed she wanted them both dead this scared
Ralph however he still decided to marry her their marriage occurred on the 29th of
June 75 one week into the marriage Ralph saw Diane opening letters addressed the
him Ralph said if you do that again I'll push you out the window Diane was terrified she called her
father dawn in tears who sent her money to get an annulment in early 78 Diane decided to do
something about her drinking problem she started Alcoholics Anonymous and that's where she met joseph michael
joseph michael was born in where a small town in the hampshire county of massachusetts in 1934 his family was
both very poor and a very religious it said they had so few toys for joseph and his sister Janice that they had to play
with buttons from their mothers sewing box Joe's father was an alcoholic and used Joe as his personal punching bag
he was also allegedly a Nazi follow up after finishing school Joe took two jobs he was a construction worker by day and
a gravedigger by night after one year and with the help of a scholarship he was able to pay his way into
Northeastern University in Boston where he shared an apartment with a friend Henry saw Oscar at the age of 20 he had
a blind date with a girl named Sandra Java Ninh Sandra said Joe was very driven had three jobs at the time and
won her over by being funny charming and smart she knew he was going to be successful
they started a relationship and had a lot of fun together however when Sandra organized the
holiday with her friends Joe made a scene he showcased possessive controlling behavior Sandra's parents
didn't like him they thought he was someone who always got his own way and considered him to be somewhat of a
dreamer he had big plans of financial success which Sandra's parents thought were unrealistic in 1959 Joe graduated
second in his university class and got a scholarship offer for the MBA programs at Columbia and Wharton universities Joe
rejected the scholarships and paid his own way into Harvard during the summer he married Sandra at a Catholic Church
in Boston there was a small ceremony Sandra's parents didn't attend they had a short honeymoon in québec Canada and
returned soon after so Joe could studies classes at Harvard one year later Joe suffered a bad knee injury and his
doctor recommended taking one year off so Joe had to leave Harvard he found a job managing high-risk funds and started
to drink heavily Joe and Sandra then opened their own security analysis firm called argent they traveled all over the
country looking for potential clients and in the late 60s they were handling 18 million dollars in assets they
received a commission of 10 percent with that success they were able to start living comfortably they rented a duplex
penthouse in Greenwich Village New York and bought a country house in Monterey Massachusetts their financial
partnership was flourishing however their actual relationship was crumbling when Joe drank he had a tendency for
violence and would damage property the next day he'd buy Sandra flowers and acts sweet like nothing had happened in
the beginning these violent outbursts weren't targeted at Sandra however over time Joe started to throw things at her
and two men threatened to kill her Sandra spent a weekend at the country house they owned in Monterey she
returned home early and walked in on Joe having sex with another woman when Sandra had a go at Joe about his affair
he hit her in the back of the head with a sculpture Sandra fell to the floor bleeding Joe left her there and went
back to sleep as if nothing had happened Sandra lost consciousness and when she woke up she drove to her parents house
she had to stop several times along the way to throw up when she was seen by a doctor he didn't believe Joe had hit her
the doctor said come on you fell off a horse didn't you by 1970 Sandra couldn't take anymore
and moved out she rented a house in Massachusetts she told Joe she wanted a divorce which
resulted in her trying to get a restraining order due to his threats to kill her Joe state was getting worse and
worse he was now doing cocaine and amphetamines kept several guns in his office and continued to repeatedly
threatened Sandra's life Joe had several limousine drivers who shared stories with each other one of them said Joe had
asked to be driven to a desolate area and once there he pinned a picture of Sandra against the tree and shot at it
until there wasn't anything left another driver said Joe got into his limo with Sandra they got driven to a
desolate area and once there Joe dug a grave and told Sandra that's where he'd put her a third driver said he picked a
jart from his office one night when Joe got in the limo he pointed a gun at the driver and accused him of having an
affair with Sandra he forced him to write a letter stating he had been having an affair and it was now ready to
commit suicide the driver managed to escape this ordeal and needed to go to hospital as Joe had walked him over the
head with his gun repeatedly he made a complaint to the police however the charges were later dropped
as he refused to testify the divorce between Joe and Sandra became final on the 2nd of January 1974 few months later
Joe was arrested for DUI drugs and a shotgun were also found in his car after their divorce Joe and Sandra's
company argent was closed down Joe started to heavily abuse alcohol and by the end of 1975 he had lost it all he
had no money and was practically living homeless he decided he needed help and entered Alcoholics Anonymous he also got
an entry-level job at a Wall Street research firm Argus a primary rule for AAE members is not to form any new
romances or make any major life decisions in the first year of sobriety Joe had already been in a a for two
years when he met Diane Whitmore it was her first meeting he was 43 she was 34 their first date was in early 78 they
had their first argument on their second day Joe spat on Diane during this argument even though she considered him
crazy Diane was fascinated by Joe she thought he was someone who had endless potential
and she continued to see him a few months into their relationship Diane felt pregnant her friends thought
it wasn't such a good idea to have a baby with the man she had just met but Dorian didn't take their advice she
started making marriage plans they rented an apartment in Greenwich Village for $600 a month at this time Joe was
making $50,000 a year and Diane was still working at the New York Parks Department Joe didn't like Diane working
though and he asked her to quit she did and in June when Joe met Diane's father Don for the first time he told him your
daughter won't have to work anymore I'll be able to take care of her don't like to Joe for that both he and Diane not
only believed Joe they also thought it wouldn't be long until he was extremely successful Joe and Diane married on the
14th of July 1978 soon after Joe went into a rage and smashed all of the China that belonged
to Diane's mother who had since passed away he also accused her of cheating on him
throughout her entire pregnancy their baby daughter Claudia was born on the 1st of February 1979 after her birth Joe
left his job at Argus for a betta painting one at a Wall Street investment bank and fund management company in
October 79 Dorian sent a letter to a friend which said she was thinking about leaving Joe because of his tantrums
the next month she sent another letter to the same friend saying forget what she had said things were getting better
by 1980 both of them had dropped out of AAA and rumors started that Joe was beating
dying in at various times Joe would wake Diane up in the middle of the night tell
her she was a piece of [ __ ] and that she'd never be anything sometimes he also threatened to lock her
in the bathroom for the entire night in the winter of 81 Diane's father Don visited them during this visit Diane
said Joe's always boiling up for me he insults me he mistreats me I don't think it's ever going to get any better I'm
thinking of leaving him Don responded Diane stick with it if you can you've got a young child you don't just run and
get a divorce at the spur of the moment besides he's beginning to make money that'll probably make him treat you
better in the summer of 81 they bought a weekend house in Amagansett in the Hamptons
Long Island by 82 Joe was starting to have increasing success on Wall Street by seeing the potential in small
scandinavian stocks Joe and Diane returned to AAA and Joe became the treasurer he also became the sponsor to
several new starters Joe was thought to be a nice person and Diane was viewed as
elegant and strong nobody knew what happened behind closed doors in the summer of 82
Diane felt pregnant again just like the previous pregnancy Joe became extremely jealous and accused Diane of cheating on
him on one occasion the husband of one of Diane's friends visited Diane to return
a book Joe called home while he was there and heard his voice in the background Joe later turned up at his apartment and
threatened him with a gun he only left when they said they were calling the police after that incident
Diane's friends backed off and kept their distance when Diane was seven months pregnant her and Joe got into an
argument Joe ended up pushing going in out of the car into then sped off Diane hid in a hotel for three days but
eventually told Joe where she was he came for her board her presence and they pretended like nothing happened their
second child was born on the 28th of December 82 they had a son Blake to help out with the children
Diane hired a nanny the first one didn't last long and warned the second nanny to
watch out for Joe the second nanny Karina said she never saw Joe hit Don in but they did argue a lot most of the
arguing was caused by Joe's bad temper but sometimes Diane would provoke him Karina also said quote I noticed the
right away that Joe and Diane had a strange relationship I think they really loved each other but I never saw them
kiss or hold hands or hug each other and I never saw them sit down and talk maybe
they did it in bed before they went to sleep the worst fight Karina witnessed was on a trip to Boston in the spring of
83 Joe and Diane were shopping everything was calm but suddenly an argument broke out and two they hit each
other with umbrellas it was around this time that Joe started going through a perfectionist face he would do things
like mink Diane on his clothes repeatedly as he was never happy he always found some small fault he also
hired a boy to appear at 4 a.m. and clean up any garbage that appeared around his front door so he wouldn't
have to see it by the mid-80s Joe was making $800,000 a year he told Diane almost everyday that if
she left him she'd have nothing diane stayed both for her kids and for the fear of losing everything
she had in 1985 she wanted to get a job her passion was writing she consulted different friends who wrote for a living
and asked what it was like Diane was very insecure about her own writing and she didn't want Joe to ever see anything
she wrote because he tear her down when Diane told Jose she wanted to get a job he destroyed her contact lenses by
stepping on them furiously in the spring of 86 Diane was going through Joe's briefcase
and found a pair of woman stockings they were extremely large and she couldn't really imagine any woman
wearing them curious she went into the attic where she was banned only Joe was allowed in the Attic Diane found
pictures and videotapes of Joe wearing women's underwear dancing and touching himself for the fourth of July weekend
86 they went to the Hamptons and spent the night on the beach watching the fireworks with other friends it was one
of the rare times when it had been a memorable night for a good reason days later one of Diane's friends told
her Joe is so great Diane responded you don't know him a few weeks later Diane told another friend I
want to divorce Joe but I can't leave him because if I do he will kill me Diane wrote to another friend in Vail
Colorado and asked her if the children could stay with her if needed she also specified that all
communication had to be made via letter so Joe couldn't trace any phone bills though and then got three suitcases
ready and took them to another friend's house but Diane had almost no money to leave the joint account she had with Joe
was almost always the left empty on purpose two days later their housekeeper quit
because Joe had mistaken her for Diane and was extremely verbally abusive towards her the next week Joe and Diane
had another huge fight Diane couldn't take it any longer and called a divorce lawyer
rayul Felder she first met with Felder in August 86 Felder proposed getting an order of
protection which essentially was a restraining order with the addition of a private detective to bodyguard her Diane
wanted to know if this would really protect her from Joe Felder said it was only a piece of paper but if Joe was a
rational man it would be enough to keep him away dorian thought Joe was anything
but rational so she didn't get it she gave Felder the pictures and the video tapes of Joe dressed in women's
underwear Diane's friends were relieved she was finally leaving however when Joe got the initial divorce
papers he showered Diane with flowers and apologies and made promises to change they started couples counseling and
Diane taught Felder she had changed her mind she didn't want the divorce anymore
Diane retrieved the three suitcases she'd left at a friend's house she also mentioned she had to do a physical exam
because Joe wanted to take out a 1 million dollar life insurance on her Diane's friends didn't think this was a
good thing in September 86 their nanny Karina and a friend moved in to Joe and Diane's apartment to take care of the
children while they went on an overseas business trip they visited Amsterdam Oslo Tokyo and other places
Diane wrote letters saying she couldn't believe she now had this life and that it couldn't get any better than this
when they returned in October Diane began actively looking for a job in February 87 she enrolled in a writing
workshop at the University School of Continuing Education in New York but Diane was becoming increasingly
pessimistic she told a friend what difference does it make if I find a great job and become a writer and leave
Joe I'll just end up with another man I don't know how to break this cycle in April 87 Diane got a job as an assistant
to the publisher at Harper's Magazine Joe hated the fact that Diane now had a job and he sent out private
investigators to follow her Diane entered a second writing workshop and laughed off J's reaction at first
but then a man who was following her started to really unnerve her and she had suspicions that the calls that the
house would now being monitored she relayed these concerns to her lawyer Felder and he sent a private detective
to check the house out it turned out the calls were being recorded by Joe from the Attic
Diane told the private detective not to remove the recording device and to leave
everything exactly as it was because she was terrified of how Joe would react Diane decided that she now had to leave
Joe and when she brought the divorce up again with him he said he wanted to do further couples counseling but Diane
refused Joe moved his things to another apartment in August 87 Joe called from overseas hotels while away on business
and threatened to die end after every call he'd stay on the line just so that Diane couldn't make any other calls
once a friend of Diane's wanted to use the phone but when she picked it up all she could
hear was heavy breathing on the other side in September 87 Felder requested a statement of Joe's net worth but Joe
refused to comply Joe said Diane could have the children but no money Felder wanted to use the tapes and
pictures of Joe dressed in women's underwear to make him comply but Diane refused she only wanted to use those as
a last resort on Saturday the 17th of October 87 Diane wrote a five-page memo to filter saying it was time to end it
once and for all she could no longer take Joe's mood swings or his violent erratic behavior
she wrote I find my plans continually sabotage along with my peace of mind after not being in the workplace for
nearly ten years with a history of alcoholism myself and asthma I am struggling to build a
go to school and raise normal happy children in a confusing environment in which the threat of abuse and violence
of one kind or another is constant the closing lines of Diane's memo were please help me to resolve this horrible
situation as quickly as possible for all of our sakes it isn't our time I fear for the World
War three you promised me we would have if necessary on Monday the 19th of October 87 Diane entered the office at
Harper's Magazine and sought out her closest friend there Linda McNamara Linda knew about all of the issues and
offered to help Diane pack Diane said she thought she would probably take Linda up on her offer Diane told her
that Jo had proposed to go to their house in Amagansett that Friday to spend the last weekend together as a family
and also to divide the furniture up and prepare the house for sale Diane was tempted to go not for the weekend as a
family but for the prospect of actually getting the house ready to sell and sorting the property out later that
morning Diane made an appointment with a realtor to look at a house available for
rent she used her maiden name Diane Whitmore to make the appointment on Tuesday the 20th Diane called their
nanny Corina and asked her to go to M against it with the family that weekend Corina said she'd think about it on
Wednesday the 21st Diane spoke to in stone the assistant editor of Harper's Magazine Diane
started sobbing while talking about the divorce she said it's so hard I'm so tired I don't know if I can do it n had
come out of a nasty divorce herself and responded you can before leaving Diane said I just want to be alone with my
children in the country that's the only time I feel peaceful Corina received a message on her answering machine from
Joe he asked her to join them on their weekend trip to an organza which she thought was really strange Joe had never
ever asked her to join them before on Thursday the 22nd Sandra dominant chose ex-wife arrived in New York they had
been divorced for 13 years and Sandra was still requesting that Joe pay her outstanding alimony
$28,000 plus $10,000 in interest and legal fees Joe had invited Sandra to New York for lunch
during their meeting he promised he'd settle the alimony he also asked her to sign that she'd become the legal
guardian of Claudia and Blake in the event of his and Diane's death Sandra found of that proposal to be
ridiculous and refused Joe had to return to work but he sent Sandra out with his
driver to do some shopping with his money Sandra couldn't believe she was being treated so well by her ex-husband this
would have been unthinkable when they were married later that evening Joe introduced Sandra to Claudia and
Blake Sandra left New York shortly after this meeting and Joe again requested that she would so on to become Claudia
and Blake's legal guardian if he and Diane were the daughter Sandra told him it was a bad idea
that same day Kareena called Diane to tell her she wouldn't be able to make it on the weekend trip away on Friday the
23rd Jo left for Anna Gansett early he took Claudia and Blake with him Diane had decided she wasn't going but then
later changed her mind she didn't want to leave the kids alone with Jo all weekend Diane didn't leave for
Amagansett until after 10:00 p.m. she arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning the 24th of October 1987 when
Claudia woke up earlier that morning she found her dad asleep on the lounge she wanted to know where her mummy was Jay
told her that Diane had run out of the house after they had an argument Blake woke up soon after and Joe put
both kids in the babysitter's room to watch TV he told them he had to get some things ready to take to the dump they
left the house at 9:30 a.m. they drove in Diane's station wagon to the dump Joe then drove to a hardware store where he
bought a shovel will barrow plastic bags fishing gloves a flashlight and a rope he charged it all to his credit card Joe
then bought 12 bags of ice he drove back to the house and made a series of calls
first he called his security service and changed their houses alarm security codes second he called the local dentist
for an emergency appointment there was no answer so he left a message on the answering machine he got a call back
from the dental office manager soon after Joe told her that his wife Diane had walked out on him after he
confronted her about finding another man's condom under their bed third he called Henry so Oscar his old
roommate from Northeastern University they hadn't spoken in nine years and Joan launched into a rant about finding
another man's condoms under his bed and Diane walking out on him when he confronted her Jo also said he was dying
he asked Henry if he could drive to his house and leave Claudia and Blake with him for the weekend Henry agreed and
invited the three of them for dinner Henry lived about a four-hour drive away at 11:45 a.m. Jo received a call it was
from Marshall Weingarten Marshall and his wife Barbara were friends with Joe and Diane Diane and Barbara had made
plans to have Story Ella that day at the library with the children Marshall was calling to confirm Joe told
Marshall it wouldn't be possible because Diane had disappeared he said Diane arrived at the house about 1:00 a.m.
when he asked her why she arrived so late she got mad and stormed off and she still hadn't returned Marshall asked if
Diane had taken her car Joe said she hadn't Marshall found this odd since it wasn't easy getting anywhere without a
car in that area Joe then told Marshall the story of the condoms only this time he said he'd found them in the living
room not in the bedroom Marshall wasn't too fazed by the condom story he suggested
that they could have belonged to the boyfriend of one of the babysitter's Joe was fast to say no and it had to be
because Diane was cheating on him he added that he had just gotten an awful diagnosis from his doctor and everything
was falling apart for him so he was taking the children upstate to a friend's house Marshall said Joe and the
kids were welcome at his place Joe was grateful and said he would get back to him Barbara wasn't home during this call
but when she did arrive home Marshall instantly told her about it he said he was worried because when talking about
Diane Joe had used the word disappeared but Barbara shrugged it off and said Diane always used that word to describe
Joe Joe disappeared with the kids so on so she thought Joe probably just picked that up from her after lunch Joe
left Claudia and Blake in front of the TV again and told them he had the duck out but he would be right back when he
arrived home he packed clothes a shotgun a knife and the toys for the kids he left for Henry's house between 4:30 and
5:00 p.m. on the way Joe stopped and made a call from a phone booth to his ex-wife Sandra Jasmine he told her he
had something to hide and asked if he could hide it at her house Sandra said yes Joe and the kids arrived to Henry's
house at 9:30 p.m. Joe left the kids with Henry and was back on the road at 10:20 p.m. driving to Norwell
Massachusetts where Sandra lived at 3:30 a.m. he called Sandra asking for directions to her house and 4:00 a.m. he
called again saying he couldn't find it she went out to look for him and when she found him
Joe followed her back to her house but he remained at a distance they arrived that Sandra is at 4:30 a.m. when Joe
walked inside he said where can I bury it Sandra hadn't asked what it was Joe wanted to hide up until this point so
she replied bury what Joe just repeated himself where can I bury it Sandra thought that it must have had something
to do with some financial deal that had gone bad they continued having further conversation after which Sandra told Joe
her property wasn't a good place but she made some other suggestions like a nearby park and another property where
they used to spend weekends when that was still together she also offered to put Joe in touch with Vinny Federico a
lawyer and 5:30 a.m. Joe left Sandra's house Sandra remained sitting in the same spot for any hour in shock she then
got dressed and drove to the police station but turned around and drove home because she realized she really didn't
have anything to tell Joe called Sandra several times throughout that next day wanting to know
she got in touch with the lawyer Federico Sandra then left her house to visit her mother she had two messages
from Joe on her answering machine when she arrived home in the first one he said he was in where his hometown and he
couldn't leave the package there because it was too close to the road in the second message he said he was in a
different town but he couldn't do anything there because it was hunting season and people were walking around
Sandra I raised the both messages at 9:30 a.m. on Monday the 26th of October Joe called Harper's Magazine and told
the receptionist in a stuttering voice that Diane had disappeared over the weekend
the receptionist knew about Diane's situation and suspected the worst a few minutes later Joe called again as the
call ended Diane's friend Linda McNamara walked into the office the receptionist
told her about the strange calls from Diane's husband when the editor's assistant and stern arrived at 10:00
a.m. they decided to call the police they called two police departments the East Hampton department where Diane's
weekend house was located and the New York City Police Department where Joe and Diane usually resided in Stern was
the one who made the calls and said it wasn't like Diane to just not show up to work without any notice and that she
wouldn't walk out on her children both departments said there was nothing they could do a late arrival to work didn't
classify as a missing person case Joe kept calling Harper's every 20 minutes changing his story at first he
was asking where is she then he was saying she had run off with a boyfriend then that progressed to we had a fight
and it got out of hand then he made a reference that alarmed window he said something about dying in rolling-over
Linder and n wanted to know where Blake and Claudia were they called all of Diane's friends all of them suspected
straightaway that Diane had been murdered when they got in touch with Corinna their nanny
she thought that Joe might have locked to Diane in the basement of the Amagansett house Corina tried to call
their friends in the Hamptons to go and check but nobody answered Corina tried calling Joe's office to find out where
Claudia and Blake were but all she was told was that Joe wasn't him in the meantime
Joe stopped at Stewart auto car wash in Newburgh to have the station wagon cleaned as soon as he gave the keys to
the manager he started talking about his wife running off with another man and how he found his condoms under the bed
the manager thought this was a very random and weed conversation Joe made a point of asking for the trunk to be
thoroughly cleaned as it was very sandy Joe then walked over to a nearby dumpster and started throwing out a
number of different items two young men who worked at the carwash thought this was strange Joe then took out the
shotgun from the car he offered it to the manager for $25 the manager thought this was a bargain so he bought it
before leaving the carwash Joe called Sandra and left a message on her answering machine
the package is down as the manager went into the nearby woods to test out the shotgun the two young men who'd seen Joe
throwing things into the dumpster went to see what was in there they found credit cards in the names of Diane Pikul
and Diane Whitmore as well as a knife and a large rubber gloves they informed on the managers wife who was the cashier
and she told her husband he inspected the items and the two young men told him there was also women's clothes in the
dumpster at 3:00 p.m. that afternoon Joe arrived home with Claudia and Blake on the way
he called Federico who agreed to represent him and des they'd arranged for the lawyer to come to New York
stainer hotel at Joe's expense and discussed the case as Joe and the kids entered home one of Diane's friends
caught Joe said he couldn't talk right now but he'd call her right back he went back outside to move his car and while
he was outside Claudia grabbed the phone and called Harper's Diane's boss Randy Warner answered and Claudia asked do you
know where my mummy is Randy told her we're your friends and we're trying to find your mummy Diane's father Donlan
suspected the worst Donna's new wife Gretchen called Joe and asked where Diane was Joe said he couldn't talk
right near Don then called Joe himself Joe said what business of yours is it where my wife went Don called the East
Hampton police and said look I've got a hunch he killed her out by the side of the house in the shed where they keep
the bikes you've got to go to that shed an officer visited the house but the shed was padlocked and they weren't
legally able to remove it at 3:30 p.m. Kareena finally got in touch with Joe Joe was aware she had
been calling his office all day and wanted to know why Kareena said she was simply worried for the kids and she
asked him if he knew where Diane was Joe repeated the story of the boyfriend and
the condoms Kareena didn't believe it she asked if he'd like her to make dinner for the kids and put them to bed
he said no later that afternoon Marshall and Barbara along with another couple from the Hamptons called Joe to offer
their support Joe told them you're the only people who are being nice to me and who aren't accusing me of anything at
5:30 p.m. Kareena called Joe again and this time he said she could come and see the children in Newburgh a police
officer stopped by the auto carwash the officer was friends with the manager so the manager gave him their credit
cards the knife ended the GOP's the officer also went to the dumpster to check out that woman's clothes he
immediately called two other officers to help the three of them found women's clothes jewelry shoes and underwear one
of the officers made the comment that has got to be a body that goes with this they took everything they found to the
station encountered a total of 55 items they eliminated the possibility of a robbery since the credit cards tended to
be discarded separately they searched the owner of the cards on the police system and learned that Diane was of a
smaller build but the clothes they found seemed to be from an extremely large woman the clothes also appeared to be
really cheap but they found cards in the dumpster for very expensive upmarket fashion stores the bras were all of
different cup sizes and of the shoes were extremely large they also found small wallet-sized
pictures of a blonde boy in pajamas they couldn't understand why anyone would throw these pictures out none of it made
a lot of sense to them they alerted their sergeant who alerted detectives meanwhile and stern who had been calling
the police all day finally got to talk to a detective detective bill Glynn he tried to calm me and down and explained
to her that there were a lot of possible scenarios they didn't involve going ham being
murdered but Ian insisted so much that Glynn started to take a claim seriously back at the Newburgh Police Department
detective John Smith called Joe he posed as a regular citizen gave a fake name and said he had just found a whole heap
of credit cards belonging to died in Joe panicked and dropped the phone when Smith heard this he thought something
was definitely wrong so he quickly made a signal to have the conversation recorded Joe picked the
phone back up and said he would send his driver to collect the cards and also hand over a
cash reward they agreed to meet at the auto carwash at 9:30 p.m. Joe then decided to call the police himself he
called the New York City police and got detective Glenn who had just been speaking to n stern Joe said my name is
Joseph Michael and I want to report my wife missing I got your name from someone at Harper's Magazine I don't
really know why I'm calling I've never done this before I'll explain the situation and you can guide me from
there Joe then told Glynn the story about Diane running off with a boyfriend in the condoms Glynn believed that
checked the out for the most part with what Ian had told him he made an appointment to see Joe at 11:00 p.m.
that night at Joe's apartment he would then make an official report as Greene hung up the phone detective John Smith
from the Newburgh Police Department called he wanted to know if they had anything on Joseph Michael the officer
who answered this call started taking notes this officer just happened to be sitting next to Detective Clinton when
the officer left the table to go and check the police system Green looked over and saw she had written Joe's name
on a notepad he picked up the phone and spoke to Smith to find out what was going on Smith explained the items they
had found in the dumpster and the meeting they had made with Joe's driver four nights
that night Glyn explained he sighed and said he had arranged a meeting with Joe at 11:00 p.m. they both came to the same
conclusion it was time to include the Long Island police in the investigation since they am against it house where
Diane was last seen was located in their jurisdiction they got in touch with Long
Island's most senior investigator from the Major Case unit Donald Delaney it was decided that
Delaney would join detective Glynn on the 11:00 p.m. interview with Joe at 7:30 that night Corina got to the
parcours home she saw Joe looked too nervous and was constantly making calls Corina asked Claudia how the weekend had
been and she simply said she had a good time this seemed odd to Corina as eight-year-old Claudia was usually
extremely talkative Claudia's hair looked a very dirty and when Corina asked her about her mummy Claudia just
shrugged her shoulders Corina noticed that Joe was missing a tooth Joe told her it had become loose and he had
accidentally swallowed it in the middle of the dinner Joe said he was leaving with his driver and that he'd be
disconnecting the phone he instructed Corina not to reconnect it Corina put the kids
to bed Blake said his father had told him he'd take them away if mummy left Karina told Blake she'll come back
although she didn't really believe it Joe had been ringing the Newburgh police repeatedly he didn't know it was the
Newburgh police he thought it was the citizen who had run him up about finding Diane's cards detective John Smith sat
by the phone he didn't answer it but he noticed the pan Joe would ring 10 times hang up wait 40 seconds then ring again
it was constant when he left the apartment Joe was driven to meet Federico for the
first time he paid the lawyer $5,000 after dropping Joe off with Federico the driver continued on to Newburgh to meet
the citizen who supposedly had Diane's credit card he got to the auto wash at 9:40 p.m. an
officer was posing as the cashier the plan was for no one to meet with the driver they just wanted to follow him
the driver approached the cashier and asked if anyone else was there the cashier said there was a man who had
been waiting around for a while but he had just left the driver setting his car to wait for a further half an hour
the cashier called detective Smith who arrived in an unmarked car to wait and see the drivers next move
the driver walked over to a hotel across the road which had a phone booth he then
sprinted back and forth between the hotel and the car while making calls to Joe he then returned to the auto wash to
continue waiting at 10:50 p.m. the cashier approached him and said he could stay parked if he wanted but they were
closing and it would get really dark the driver decided to leave and Smith followed him he got up to the New York
State Thruway south entrance but then stopped he ordered for the dumpster in the auto wash to be retrieved for a more
thorough inspection at 11:00 p.m. detective Glynn detective Delaney and a third officer arrived at Joe's house
they were invited inside and sat down and started with small talk about stocks to relax Joe then they asked him to walk
them through the disappearance of Diane Joe said he had an argument after Diane arrived at 1:30 a.m. then he went to
sleep and the next morning while he was taking a shower she left a bit later he changed this version and said Diane had
stormed out during the night the detectives asked him if a car had come to pick her up and he said no she walked
however he changed his version again and said he wasn't sure if Diane had walked
maybe she had been driven they asked him about her supposed to lover but Joe said
he didn't really know anything about them in they asked for permission to search the Amagansett house and Joe
signed a toilet when they asked for a photo of Diane he suddenly got jittery they requested an article of her
clothing Joe went to the bedroom and came out with a pair of her panties saying she wore them jogging and they
haven't been washed the dogs will get a good scent of her the detectives left the apartment and as
I were walking out each one made a different remark Glenn highlighted how many times Joe had changed his story the
other officer present said he was surprised that Joe didn't seem to give a [ __ ] at all about finding Diane Delaney
said Diane was dead and Joe was the killer at 3:00 a.m. Joe got another knock at the door two other officers
from the New York City Police Department had been briefed about the 11:00 p.m. interview and they wanted to take Joe in
for questioning Joe requested to reschedule for later that day but there was a fear that Joe
would leave the city and possibly even try to leave the country so they insisted that he go with them now Joe
finally agreed Joe began this new interview by saying he knew the man who called him about finding billions cards
had been a police officer he also said he had spent the weekend traveling between Massachusetts and New York but
in the 11 p.m. interview he had told detectives he had just stayed at Henry so Oscars house after leaving and
against it eventually he mentioned having a second apartment where he'd moved when he and Diane had split up the
detectives asked if they could see it Joe replied don't be surprised by what you find there what they found was
women's clothes which Joe admitted having a liking for Joe added that Diane knew about this she had videotaped him
and then tried to blackmail him after the check of the second apartment the detectives took Joey out for breakfast
and dropped him back home at 8:30 a.m. that morning Delaney went with a Long Island team to search the Amagansett
house they immediately found a red stains on the kitchen floor which they believed to be blood Delaney
put a stop to the search left an officer at the house to guard it and applied for
a search warrant that enabled them to test for blood hairs and fibers this delayed the search until 6:00 p.m. when
they returned a forensic scientist cutting out the piece of floor where the stains were and conducted a test for
blood the test was positive then they found a set of knives the knife that had been found in a dumpster
at Newburgh matched this set on top of the bedroom dresser they found under Joe's missing tooth Delaney concluded
michael was standing over there trying to kill her in an effort to free herself she stuck an elbow or a blunt object
into his face and broke his tooth they also found the condoms which were indeed under the bed lock Joe had said but
Delaney knew that Joe was conducting market research in Scandinavia on this particular brand
he believed Joe had planted them there in a Mazda car that was parked at the house they found at the backseat full of
sand under the car that was mud beach grass and more sand tire tracks appeared in a nearby potato field but they didn't
match with the car they used police dogs to go through the area but they didn't come up with anything there was a
cemetery next to the house and you know they found a freshly dug grave but the permit to dig up the grave would take
too long to get so Delaney considered it only as a last option he kept the house
secured in case they needed further evidence for trial he then left while this search was happening Glen and his
partner called Joe's driver they told him they had information that he'd been upstate tried to retrieve property
belonging to Diane Pikul the driver confirmed this but said no one had showed up to the meeting Greene asked
him to come into the station the driver showed up and when asked about Diane he said he believed she left
like Joe had told him they allowed the driver to leave but they arranged for a detective to follow him
Glen then went to Harper's through retrieve Dorian's paperwork among it he found a Joe's financial statement which
Felder was able to eventually get for Diane Glynn saw that Joe had hundreds of thousands of dollars hidden away in both
Mexico and Switzerland this made them even more worried that Joe might be planning to leave the country
the detective following the drive I reported that he picked someone up from the airport and then dropped that person
at a hotel they found out this person was Federico Jose Loya they sent some officers to the hotel and one of them
posed there's a bellboy to check if Federico was in the room on his own he was Karina and a friend then turned up
to Joe's apartment and offered to take Claudia and Blake out for dinner the plan was to actually take the kids to
Detective Glen so he could question them alone Joey lay out Karina to take them during
the dinner green question Claudia since Blake was too young but she closed off and he wasn't able to get anything out
of her at 11 p.m. East Hampton police found a freshly dug grave under a kiosk at the beach where Joe and Diane had
spent fourth of July in 1986 what was one of the few happy memories they dug out the grave but found nothing that
Tuesday night there was a big storm in at 2:45 p.m. the next day Wednesday the 28th of October a New York State Thruway
Authority operator was inspecting the drainage he found the Diane's body wrapped in towels and covered in plastic
at a spot that was about a five minute drive away from the car wash at Newburgh officer car Hill was at the Y Amagansett
house when he heard about Diane's body being found he took some towels from the house to see if they matched the ones
Diane's body was wrapped in they did match the towels were Brazilian imports sold only at very few stores on the East
Coast Allen Joseph a district attorney from Orange County New York was assigned the
case to prosecute Joe he believed that the rarity of the towels proved that nobody but Joe could have wrapped
Diane's body Joe was nowhere to be found Claudia and Blake were at home being babysat by Joe's niece police did what
is known as an emergency remove all of the kids and took them to the station where child protection services were
called child protection services wouldn't allow detectives to question Claudia or Blake
they said they have nothing to say please leave them alone detective Glenn asked for permission to keep Claudia and
Blake at his house for the night he knew Child Protective Services were a mess and the kids would probably end up
sleeping uncomfortably somewhere Child Protection refused Claudia and Blake ended up sleeping in wooden chairs at
the agency's center meanwhile the forensic scientist was performing the autopsy on going in and he found the
cause of death was strangulation she had marks on the skin fractures on the bones
of her neck and a buildup of fluids in her lungs the conclusion was that the killer had used his hands and gripped
for more than 30 seconds and then a cord was used for a second strangulation she
also had 10 points of impact on her head where the killer had delivered blows two
officers were checking all of the calls Joe had made they found the calls that he had made to his ex-wife Sandra and
they arranged for her to be interviewed on Thursday the 29th the main priority of the investigation was still to locate
Joe they ran checks at the airport hotels and with Joe's family members at 2:00 p.m. that afternoon a question that
Joe's lawyer Federico he was reluctant to give information at first but eventually said Joe had fired him over
lunch that day Joe had hired two new lawyers and he was currently meeting with them at 3:05
Madison Avenue Suite 1301 the officers ran there to get him when they got to Joe's location there were eight
elevators all of them were coming down at the same time they decided to wait and see if Joe would emerge from one of
them he did he was arrested for Diane's murder they told her they wanted to get information on Joe Pikul
Sandra asked if he was in trouble they told her he was a suspect in the murder of his wife Diane Sandra said I'm lucky
it wasn't me I knew that someday his temper was going to get the best of him she spoke about their divorce about Joe
and explained that she visited New York recently to see him about the alimony money she left out the part where Joe
asked her to be his children's guardian Sandra said she hadn't spoken to Joe since her New York visit they asked her
about the calls she had received from Joe since that trip Sandra said she had missed them and that Joe had left a few
messages on her machine just seeing how she was but she had since erased those messages Sandra then revealed she was in
a relationship with Joe's lawyer federico but said she didn't know Joe had been using his services they asked
her to call if she remembered anything else while Joe was being transported to the police station he said he loved
Claudia and Blake and they were the best part of him he began to cry and talked about Diane and complained she was a bad
mother extremely inattentive hired a different babysitter every night and suddenly he
came out with that's why I did it she's such a [ __ ] she deserved it I never did anything wrong before in my
life well I can't change it now how much will they all be since that outburst wasn't provoked the officers believed
that statement could be admissible in court when they got to the station Joe continued talking about Diane at one
point he said she was an evil and malicious person she tried to kill me not physically but mentally she tried to
break me down I just couldn't take it anymore I don't care if you guys give me ten or twenty years I don't care what
penalty I have to pay I think everybody's just better off without her an officer ready miss Miranda rights
filled out an arrest report and Joe began complaining about his new lawyers he said he'd paid them two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars the least they could do was be there with him but then he smirked and said
he'd stop the payment on the check so they wouldn't get any money anyway Joe then said there's a hook to this case
and asked the way of dying in was he wanted to know if an autopsy was performed and if she had been checked
for eight the bad diagnosis Joe had received from his doctor that he talked about earlier was him testing positive
for AIDS Dayan suspected that he had it he later made the comment my only hope is to beat this thing on a technicality
I killed her for no particular reason this began to go bad in July he went on saying Diane had mentioned at the
divorce she tried to blackmail him and she betrayed him by telling everyone he was a crossdresser
his life was now over anyway he then asked for someone to shoot him at 11:15 p.m. he requested the seat Dorian's body
his words were let's go see the stiff they did take him to see Diane and he made a remark about her not wearing
makeup he said she'd be very upset if she knew we were looking at her like this at 12:30 a.m. Joe was back at the
station and he started asking about his children where they were and what would happen to them he also wanted to know
what exactly his charge was and when his arraignment would be detective Joe tripodo took this opportunity to try and
question him chaparro asked him how did you do it Joe Joe told him he knew already chapada
said he didn't and after some back-and-forth banter Joe took both hands to his neck and simulated a
choking motion at 2:15 a.m. the judge was in the courtroom and ready to arraign Chaparro told Joe to take off
his clothes so they could give him new ones before entering the court Joe begged to get changed in the bathroom in
privacy but it wasn't allowed after taking off his shirt and pants joe revealed a bra
and panty hose he also had a large scratch going from his stomach around through his back
Joe explained he'd gotten this scratch while playing with the kids his bail was set at three hundred and fifty thousand
dollars billions murder appeared on the front page of the New York Post one of the people to see it was Paul Kurland a
corporate securities whale and a teacher of trial advocacy who had met Joe once on Sunday the 1st of November Kurland
and Ronald back off went to see Joe back off was friends with Kurland and a high-profile criminal lawyer who he
recommended to Joe Diane's funeral was held on the 5th of November afterwards Don and other members of her
family held a meeting to discuss what would happen to Claudia and Blake Diane had mentioned two of Joe's nephews in
her will as possible Guardians and in addition Diane's cousin Kathy Hogan offered to take them if neither of Joe's
nephews were able Don then called Diane's lawyer Felder to check if there was a retainer left from her Felder
initially said no but later called Don and said I have good news for you I checked into there's $10,000 left I'll
do whatever fighting I have to do to make sure that those children are taken care of properly the children were sent
to Washington to live with one of Joe's nephews who died in had mentioned in her
will Eadie Pulaski on the 9th of November Joe made bail by paying 180 thousand dollars
of his own money and getting investor friends to meet the other 170,000 the first thing he said when he got out was
I want to see my kids the mother of one of Claudia's classmates heard Joe might get the
children again she was concerned and raised her concerns with the school headmaster the headmaster responded I've
talked to Joe and he's cheerful he's rational he says everything was a dreadful mistake and will be cleared up
the mother decided to turn to her friend who is the editor of New York magazine they both got in contact with
Manhattan's district attorney the DA's assistant Mary O'Donoghue worked for the child abuse unit and she
took personal care of the case Kurland advised Joe not to meet up with the children at home or at the Hamptons as
press would be waiting so Joe arranged to meet them at a hotel Mary O'Donoghue found out about these
plans and called the special services for child abuse hotline to report that two children who may have witnessed
their father murder their mother were near with the father that night a Sullivan County child abuse case worker
reported back to Mary the children were with their father that was safe and well
and there was nothing they could do because there was no evidence of neglect abuse or immediate danger Mary kept
insisting though and at 1:30 a.m. on the 13th of November three state troopers and the caseworker into Joe's apartment
to take the children into protective custody for they're not on the 15th of November there was a hearing in the
Sullivan County Family Court to decide if Joe could have the children for the weekend the judge decided he could
because there was no finding of child abuse Ronald back off said that you could see Joe lived for his kids and it
was very touching so at this stage it was ruled that Joe could have the kids on the weekends in New York however
during the week they would stay with his nephew and Pulaski in Washington but in
the first week of December Edie Pulaski said he couldn't take care of the children anymore so he sent them
back to live full-time with Joe on the 14th of December Diane's cousin Kathy Hogan and her husband Mark filed for
custody of Claudia and Blake through Diane's lawyer filter in a statement they said we wish to god
it wasn't necessary to do so we are not seeking to pass judgment on Joseph Michael nor do we assert that all we
have heard and read is entirely true but because of our love for Dian our great concern for the immediate safety
of the children and our genuine belief that we can provide a safe loving and normal family environment for their
children we're asking for custody the file mentioned Diane's murder should be considered an extraordinary circumstance
the petitions were made to Supreme Court Judge Kristen booth Glenn who accepted Diane's murder as an extraordinary
circumstance she scheduled the first custody hearing for the 17th of December Felder would be representing Cathy and
Mike agin and the pall Kurland would be representing Joe during the hearing judge Blynn had an
idea she believed that whether the children had witnessed something or not if they gave testimony then the
information would be out in the open and the danger against them would disappear
she discussed the possibility of recording a testimony by Claudia since Blake was considered too young with Alan
Joseph Orange County's DA who would prosecute Joe in the criminal trial Alan Joseph said that it wouldn't be
possible since both parties wouldn't agree to do it impartial II judge Glenn then decided to question Claudia herself
alone in a room Glenn came out saying the kids adore their father miss their father and she saw them sleeping in
Joe's arms Glenn asked to have access to Joe's last therapist Kurland denied that
access judge Glenn analyzed the files that had been completed by the child abuse case workers and concluded there
was no evidence of abuse or neglect to the children Shelia and Claudia and Blake to stay with Joe for the weekend
stating in some ways Diane's voice from beyond and her willingness to leave the children in that household for well over
a year after retaining mr. Felder indicates to me that these children are not in any greater danger from this man
than any child is from any parent in the city at this time Felder was outraged and threatened to
contact the media but Glenn said this wouldn't be good for their children's best interest quote the fact that the
lunatic judge gave the kids to the homicidal maniac I don't think that is a good thing for the kids
Felder didn't end up contacting the media on Monday the 21st of December the hearing continued Felder appeared in
court with the five page memo Diane had given him in which she specified the children weren't safe with Jo in one
part she wrote after hearing the nature of our current home life my therapist urged me to ask you to make some
intervention on the basis of psychological abuse of the children this is a situation in which their
babysitter's are subjected to extreme anger or dismissal their mother is belittled and denigrated they have no
ability to predict their schedule or whereabouts no constancy in human relationships just
a constant round of limousine pickups late hours junk food and presence however since Diane wasn't there to give
evidence her memo wasn't admitted neither was a statement from her a a sponsor who described the Jo as
dangerous when Jo took the stand he denied everything he denied being violent doing drugs or ever mistreating
his children or Diane he was the one who insisted they enter counseling and he said Diane verbally abused the children
the hearing was adjourned over the Christmas and New Year period the judge ruled that Jo could keep custody of the
children until the hearing recommenced on the 6th of January 88 Diane's friends organized the protest this decision one
of them got a permit to picket in front of the Supreme Court many didn't join in
as those who knew Jo were afraid he'd recognized them and go after their children Felder was scared the picketing
would backfire on them since judge Glenn didn't like press he said it was a bad idea
Felder found it difficult to get witnesses to testify at the custody hearing because they were all scared of
Jo two days before the custody hearing recommends to Monday the 4th of January 88 Jo was indicted in Orange County for
the second-degree murder in when the custody hearing recommenced the first person called the testifier
was a psychiatrist Glenn had appointed during the holiday break he was asked to examine John the children in two
evaluative Joe was a danger to them he testified what he saw was love and devotion from the kids to their father
and a healthy relationship between the three of them Felder asked him if mr. Park will retained custody do you have
maybe an itty-bitty worry that something could happen to the kids the psychiatrist's report yes I think this
is an open possibility judge Glenn then stepped in is it your opinion that there
could be harm to the children from number one removing their children from his custody and the number two does that
outweigh in your view the open possibility that something could happen to them in his custody
the psychiatrist answered indeed I do because as far as the children are concerned their father is innocent of
any criminal charges he's their daddy and they love him the psychiatrist didn't believe Joe was
a flight risk he believes suicide would be a much more likely outcome given that he had AIDS
and it was believed to be terminal judge Glenn asked him Joe might take Claudia and Blake's lives along with his
own in this event the psychiatrist responded he had no information to conclude that
at the end of the day Glenn again granted Joe temporary custody Felder ended up going to the media the
New York Post ran an article with the headline lawyer says judging wife kill case is playing Russian roulette with
kids lives there were several more days spent in court arguing the custody one child psychologist rebutted previous
testimony she said children love us for all kinds of ways that we have we can be
loved if we're cruel we can be loved if we beat them I have known children who have begged to be returned to psychotic
mothers children who have no trouble loving a father who whips them or whips their mother so for a child to say I
love my daddy is not something we should take at face value another psychologist
took the view that since Joe would most likely be going to prison for a long time that meant he should be able to
spend as much time as he could with the kids a proposal was then put forward that Joe wouldn't lose his rights but
would share them with a family member in this case Joe would be sharing custody with Kathy and Mike again judge Blynn
said she would consider this proposal in late April 88 Glen returned with her decision she said I cannot find that
petitioners have met the heavy burden which would be necessary to deprive Joseph Michael of custody of his
children the testimony she'd given most importance to was that of Mary Bain Mary
Bain was the mother of Jennifer one of Claudia's classmates her and her husband Steven invited John Claudia over for a
playdate after the playdate Mary said Joe is not the horrible person that newspapers were seen after that first
playdate Claudia started calling Mary every day asking to talk to Jennifer Mary in turn got to know Joe better
she said he was gentle funny charming and had charisma by early February Mary's husband Steven said Mary was
hardly ever home anymore Mary testified and described Joe as a wonderful man who'd she left her own
daughter with she also offered to adopt Claudia in Blake if Joe was sent to jail
by early April Mary had separated from her husband Steven and was in a relationship with Jo it wasn't long
before Jo was talking about marrying Mary his lawyer Ronald back off said to Joe look you're going to trial for
killing a wife in a small close-knit conservative community if you tried into court with a new wife on your arm you
might end tag annoys people they'll think didn't he have the decency to wait until he was cleared of the charge some
of them may even think she was your motive for murdering Diane Joe still decided to go through with it and on the
2nd of July they married in a secret ceremony on the 27th of July Kathie and Mike again decided to stop trying to get
custody of Claudia and Blake they visited them and saw the kids call Mary mummy they believed that if they were
happy and had a second mother now then they didn't want to be responsible for taking that away on the 4th of August
Mary Bain wrote a sworn statement saying she wanted custody of Claudia and Blake
no matter the outcome of the criminal trial as a 10 information she wrote her parents had an unused house in Brooklyn
that they could live in and if their children could remain in the same school when Kathie and Mike again found out
about this sworn statement they decided to fight for custody again this time it was Joe who requested a custody hearing
he wanted to block the oguns from getting custody the new hearing took place on the 14th of September and it
started with a recap of all of the previous testimony and evidence then an explosive piece of information
Mary Bain had been going to counseling as she was experiencing marital problems with Joe they'd been married for two
months during one of these counseling sessions she described the violent incident that happened in front of
Claudia and Blake as the children were involved the terms of confidentiality didn't apply so this information came in
Mary was called to the stand reminded she was still under oath and was asked about this particular incident Mary
described getting home late one day Joe was furious and cut the dress she was wearing with a
hunting knife Mary ran from the house and Joe chased her Mary hid at a neighbor's house until Joe approached
the next day and said he wasn't mad any longer Claudia and Blake witnessed this incident Kurland immediately resigned as
Joe's lawyer Joe withdrew his custody petition Glen gave immediate custody of Claudia and Blake to the oguns and a
place for them along with the lawyers and Mary bein under protective custody from Joe a request was made to hold Joe
until the organs got the children but Judge Glenn refused finding it unnecessary as soon as the oguns went
out to look for Claudia and Blake Joe and Mary got in their car and raced to get to them first
but the police got to Claudia and Blake and place them in protective custody before Joe and Mary could find them
judge Glenn allowed Joe to make a nightly phone call to his kids only two days later Joe told Blake on his nightly
call tonight I'm going to come through the window and take you away a security guard was placed with the oguns that
night and he was told by a detective if this maniac comes through a window do what you're going to do because if he
has an opportunity he'll kill you the next day Joe crashed his car into his house a
neighbor came out to see what had happened Joe forced him to change his tire and
the vents started blubbering about going to the border of Canada or Mexico he then said his first wife had been bad
his second one was dead and the third one was good he ended with he can't kill them all
the following day the oguns left with the children to go to a friend's house that night Claudia and Blake spoke to
Joe on the phone Joe asked them how long the drive was from the oguns to where they were now and instructed them to
look out for a street name enter the number of the house he told them not to tell anyone and he'd call back the next
night Mike again was listening in on this call the against old filter and a custodial
interference motion was put forward Felder pled for protection for the children from the homicidal lunatic
judge Blynn suspended Jose Knightley calls as well as barring him from the area where the oguns lived
despite her damaging testimony Jo stayed with Mary and do they appeared on a Current Affair together Mary blamed
herself for losing custody of the kids saying it was her fault for getting counseling instead of giving the
marriage a period of adjustment Orange County newspapers posted regular stories about Jo and airports and
borders had his picture and profile the psychologist who testified at the custody hearing that Jo should spend as
much time as possible with the children before he goes to jail was now Blake and
Claudia's therapist he recommended that Jo should be able to have visitations these were granted every Sunday a
security guard was always present and searched Jo before his visits Jo pleaded not guilty to murder enter the criminal
trial officially started on the 31st of January 1989 the jury was formed by eleven men and one woman
Sandra Jarvan and was the first witness called to the stand her lawyer had since
contacted the police informing him that she knew more information but wanted immunity from prosecution
the police agreed and place their into protective custody Sandra testified that Jo had confessed
to killing Diane and wanted to bury her body in her yard she refused but admitted making suggestions of other
locations where he could bury Diane she said she only did this for her own safety and to get Jo out of her house
next Diane's best friend Maggy Gary was called she identified the brazillian tails that had been wrapped around
Diane's body then everyone who came into contact with Jo after the murder was called the store owner who sold him the
ice the employee at the hardware store the dental assistant the people at the auto wash even Joe's friend Henry
Sawatzky was called then the detectives who worked the case Joe took the stand on the 27th of
February 89 he was going with self-defense he gave a more elaborate story of what he'd been saying since the
night of the murder he said Diane had a boyfriend that she was treating on him with and she didn't enjoy being with the
kids then on the night she was killed he confronted her as she arrived to the house and said he'd win in the divorce
battle Diane became furious and charged at him with a knife cutting him on the side this is how he says he really got
his scratch the one that was seen the night he took his clothes off at the police station that night he said he got
it from playing with the kids now he changed his story during the attack joe said he couldn't control Diane and it
ended up becoming a battle of life or death during which he had to kill her in order to protect himself
Joe's lawyers painted a picture of going in running off with other men all of the
time and being a bad mother he made it believable to at least some of the jurors as one of them told the
other let's face it she was nothing but a pig and a [ __ ] but the jury didn't buy Joe's self-defense story on the 16th
of March they returned with their verdict guilty on the 18th of April they were back in court for sentencing it was
announced that Mary Bane had found a new evidence a tape where Joe and Diane had
a fight and Diane called him a [ __ ] and a bully amongst other names and also threatened to stab him
Joe's lawyer asked for a postponement on the sentencing until the evidence could
be presented in the form of a petition to set aside the guilty verdict and ask for a new trial the judge agreed on the
second of June Joe was secretly transferred from the Orange County Jail to the nearby Arden
Hill hospital his health had been deteriorating rapidly and he died only a few hours later he
was buried in the cemetery next to the hammock Gansett house he murdered Diane six months after his
death his conviction was vacated because he died before he had the chance to appeal so technically he died an
innocent man in 1990 the adoption of Claudia and Blake by the oguns became final years later Kathy Odom's stated
it's not clear to us from what the children have told us that they did not wake up that night
or that they were unaware of a fight or unusual activity and it's clear to us that Claudia would not have revealed to
anyone including justice Glen anything she might have seen or heard not only to protect her father but because she knew
that such a revelation would have put her security in terms of her life with her father in danger
[Music] you

Case 38: The Pikuls

New York is the best-known city in the United States, and the most populated, with over 8 and a half million residents within 305 square miles.

New York is a hub for business, fashion, technology, entertainment, art and is commonly recognized as the "city that never sleeps." Diane Whitmore always dreamed of making it big in New York…

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research, writing – Victoria Dieffenbacher Writing – Anonymous Host Production, scoring – Mike Migas Additional scoring – Andrew Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://www.casefilepodcast.com/the-pikuls

Brief Summary

Diane Whitmore's abusive marriage to Joseph Michael ends tragically with her murder and a complex legal battle for her children.

Key points

Diane's Dream. Diane Whitmore always dreamed of making it in New York, but her life took unexpected turns.
Turbulent Marriage. Diane's marriage to Joe was filled with violence and emotional turmoil, leading her to seek help.
Struggles of a Writer. Diane faced challenges in pursuing her passion for writing while dealing with Joe's controlling behavior.
Diane's Emotional Struggles. Diane shares her fears about the future and her family situation.
Joe's Disturbing Behavior. Joe's actions raise suspicion as he makes strange calls and changes his story.
The Discovery of Evidence. Items found in a dumpster lead police to suspect foul play.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Diane always dreamed of making it in New York.

0:24WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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