The Mary Yoder Case Is Not Over | Forensic Files

right now there's a lot of things un unanswered questions that we have right >> um the Gmail account and some other
things and like you said those don't point to that they point to that phone >> I know
>> you need to help us clear you >> hi crime junkies I'm your host Ashley Flowers
>> and I'm Brit >> Last episode I walked you through the first 5 months following the death of
Mary Yodar 60-year-old Mary was happy healthy and beloved by her friends family and patients near Udica in
central New York where she and her husband Bill were chiropractors with their own practice.
But out of nowhere, one Monday afternoon in July 2015, Mary became violently ill.
Her son had become sick with the same symptoms a few months before, and it took him a while to heal, but he had.
So, initially, she and her husband thought this was the same thing, some kind of stomach bug. But in less than 48
hours, Mary was dead. And when toxicology results come back, they revealed something no one knew while
Mary was alive. She had lethal levels of a drug called cultine in her system, a gout medication that she had no reason
to be taking. As it becomes clear that Mary was poisoned, suspicion fell on her husband, Bill, who had started a
relationship with one of Mary's own sisters just two months after her death. But just as detectives were getting
started, an anonymous letter arrived at their office, pointing the finger somewhere else entirely. The tipster
claimed that Bill and Mary's 25-year-old son, Adam, had killed her. And there was
proof. The cultine bottle was still in Adam's Jeep. And sure enough, when police went looking, there it was with
the receipt of purchase emailed to Mr. Adam Yoder 1990@gmail.com. It all seemed just a little too perfect
for Anida County Sheriff's Lieutenant Robert Nelson and investigator Mark Vanam. An anonymous letter that just
happens to lead them right to the evidence. They had to wonder, was someone trying to frame Adam? And if so,
who? His own father. Police clearly didn't have a full picture of this family yet. So, they brought in one
person who knew all of these players, 22-year-old Caitlyn Connley. Katie had dated Adam on and off for years, and she
was the office manager at Bill and Mary's practice. But she was more than an employee. Mary considered her family,
and she was even named in Mary's obituary. And soft-spoken Katie didn't point the
finger at Bill. Instead, she told detectives how suspicious she was of Adam. But the more she talked, the more
convinced they became that Katie sounded a lot like their anonymous letter writer. So after that first meeting in
December 2015, detectives walked away with a new question. Not did Adam do it, but who is Caitlyn Connley and what have
we been missing? It turns out a lot. You ready to dive in, Brett? >> Let's go. As soon as detectives found the cultine
with the receipt in Adam's car, they began trying to trace where it came from and who it was shipped to. What they
found is that the 1 g bottle of powder was mailed from a company in California to the Yodar's chiropractic office in
February 2015, addressed to Adam. But the person who signed for it was the office manager, Katie Connley, which
isn't unusual, right? She signed for most packages at the practice. What is unusual is her connection to the email
address that ordered it. Google records show that the email used to buy the cultine, that Mr. Adam Yoda 1990, it was
accessed from the Conley's home IP address where Katie lives with her family. Then in late November, that
entire Gmail account was deleted using her phone. So just a few days after they spoke with Katie, investigator Van Amy
and Lieutenant Nelson asked her to come back in and they confront her with what they found. You say you've never heard
of Mr. Adam Yoder 1990 email address, but it was deleted from your phone. How do you explain that? At first, Katie
suggests maybe Adam accessed it using her cell at some point, >> like logged in or deleted it.
>> Logged in, which you get it. It doesn't explain the thing investigators are actually asking about,
>> right? >> So, eventually she admits that she is the one who deleted the account, but
only after she just stumbled across it. The thing is, even that doesn't really make sense because when you delete a
Gmail account, you know what? You need the password. Yeah. So detectives push her. You knew the password at some
point, Katie. What was it? She says she can't remember. Now they humor her though, not going super hard because
they can tell that she's building towards something. And finally, she comes out with it. Adam confessed to her
and told her that he ordered the cultine, had it shipped to the office, poisoned his mother, then stashed the
bottle in his jeep. She says Adam regrets it, that she thinks he killed Mary by accident, mostly because she
doesn't understand why he'd want to hurt her. But she also claims that he asked her about cultureine about a year before
Mary died, wanting to know how to get his hands on some. >> How do you accidentally plan something
for like a year? >> This it's not adding up. >> It also sounds a heck of a lot like the
anonymous letter that they got. Like word for word, he regrets it. Did he stash the bottle in his jeep? Bingo. And
and remember, they don't just think that this letter came from a tipster trying to do the right thing. Before they ever
can tie anyone to it, they felt pretty confident that the letter was written or the letters, there was two of them, they
were written by Mary's real killer to throw off suspicion. >> So, they press her on it. You wrote it,
didn't you? And once Katie admits it, investigator Van Amy starts recording. In the footage, Katie is sitting at the
side of a desk in a small office. She's quiet as she waits for Van Amy to come back into the room.
We've been chatting for quite a while today about a lot of things. Okay, I want to ask you some more species. I
really appreciate you helping us out and pointing us in the right direction with
a letter into Adam. Okay. You follow me then? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Why yourselves up?
>> Have I been anything less than nice to you? >> I've been really nice. I just really smart.
>> Okay. And you've said that to me a couple times that Adam's really smart and he's
he's not going to let anything come back to him. I understand that. But myself and my friends in the other
room, the investigators on this case are really good at what we do. Okay? And we
always get to the truth. I believe you about what you're telling me, Adam. You know, I just need your help to help
me prove it to Adam. Okay. You can't prove it to Adam. >> Okay. Well, that that falls on me. Who
do you If you can't prove it's Adam, >> who's it? Who am I going to prove it is then? Right.
>> Who did he make this look like? It is. >> I'm afraid he put it back on me. >> You're afraid Adam did?
>> Yeah. >> Why? >> I don't know. So that I can't I can't go to you for help. >> Do you know that he did that?
Do you know that he's trying to point the finger at you? But at the office, he said that if
anyone was going to get in trouble, it was going to be >> Why would he keep a container? Why would
he keep something that's going to link him to the crime that he just committed? You know what I mean?
>> Yeah. >> You could drop that in any garbage can and nobody would have been the wiser. He
put that in a soda cup or soda bottle, put in that garbage. You could have thrown it out in here and we would have
never known. >> You can get rid of it anywhere. Why? Why do you think I have held on to that?
>> Why you keep it for so long? >> I'm going to ask you a straight up question. Every time I ask these, I
already know the answer. >> Is it possible that somebody made it look like Adam did this?
>> Yes, but I don't think so. It is possible that somebody planted that on because I can tell you right now
in the FBI's studies and everything that we went back on, guys don't hang on to the murder weapon because that's why
they get caught, >> right? But guys also don't use poison. >> They say it's a lady's weapon.
>> They say it's a lady's weapon. >> No. Now, Vanami has clearly been playing good cup. We believe you. We're going to
find the truth and help you. But Katie's got her shovel and she just keeps digging herself deeper. Uh,
>> no kidding. I mean, poison is a lady's weapon. Like, does she does she hear herself?
>> I I know it is looking worse and worse for Katie. So, that's when Van Namy and
Lieutenant Nelson swap out and he gets a little more direct with the questions. >> Here's some issues I still have. You got
to from you got to look at it from our point of view. We're looking at one of three people here.
>> The husband. >> Mhm. >> Adam or you. Okay. You're going to have to help us. If you're telling us you
have nothing to do with this, you're going to have to help us rule you out. Just like we got to help out Adam or
Bill, whoever is not responsible for this, >> which is I'm trying to help. >> I know. Right now, there's a lot of
things unanswered questions that we had, >> right? >> Um the Gmail account and some other
things. And like you said, those don't point to at they point to that phone. >> I know.
>> You need to help us clear you. >> Yes. >> Katie has gone from witness to suspect,
but investigators aren't ready to arrest her yet. They want to be able to directly tie her to the culture scene in
a way that she can't like wiggle out of. So, they start digging into the digital
trail to piece everything together. And there is a lot to unpack here, so just bear with me. What they find is that the
Mr. Adam Yoder 1990 email account was created back in September 2014 using the IP address at the Yod's office. That
same month, someone opened a credit card in Mary's name. But the contact number on that account, Katie's cell. Then a
couple of months later in December, a prepaid credit card was used to try and buy cultine online, but that order
failed because the supplier required paperwork that the buyer didn't have. In early January 2015, someone tried again
with a second prepaid card from the same store. This time it went through and they bought a gram of cultureine from
that company in California. Now to complete the order, the buyer submitted a letter of intent explaining who they
were, why they needed the drug. Now, the letter was supposedly signed by Adam and
Mary, and it listed Adam as the buyer and claimed that he needed the cultine to manipulate plant genetics. and it
also named him as the manager at the clinic even though again he had not worked there in years. Meanwhile, on the
front office computer, which Katie used more than anyone, there were searches for various poisons, including cultine
and how much it would take to kill someone based on their body weight. One investigator even told ABC News that
someone took Mary's exact body weight and plugged it into a formula to calculate the fatal dose, although we
couldn't find that detail in the records that we have. And what's interesting is
some of those searches happened about a week after Adam went to the ER with the same symptoms that Mary would later
have. Wait, is cultine what made him sick, too? >> Well, at the time they just thought it
was a stomach bug. I mean, they ran blood work, they did scans, noted mild inflammation in his intestines, gave him
medicine, sent him home. Never tied to cultine because why would you do that kind of thing unless again you're doing
an autopsy. Anyway, that same office computer had been used to access the Gmail account tied to the cultureine
order. So, the office computer she uses the most has the Gmail account on it, the Mr. Adam 1990,
>> which was also pulled up from her home IP address. >> And eventually the account gets deleted
altogether, but from her phone. >> Correct. But just staying with the office computer for one sec. in November
2015. So, this is around the time that the anonymous letters were sent, someone installed software on it to mask IP
addresses, a way to hide like what sites had been visited, but it didn't work. The clinic's antivirus program logged
the activity anyway. And what it recorded was that someone on that computer during business hours was
downloading the masking software first, then using a private browser to log into
that same Gmail account. So, whoever did this took steps to cover their tracks before they ever pulled it up,
>> was trying to hide it in the first place. >> And listen, there's also a typewriter at
the office, and the ink ribbon still had faint impressions of what had been typed, which matched the anonymous
letters sent to the ME in the sheriff's office. Then on Katie's phone, investigators found a deleted note with
lines that read 1990 at lowercase G and capital A is gay. They figured that this
was shorthand for the email address that's at the center of this whole thing, Mr. Adam Yoder 1990@gmail.com
and maybe its password, which turned out to be Adam is gay. Now, that same email
and password were also used to set up a document scanning app on Katie's phone, too. The app had been deleted by the
time they got to it, but the cloud storage was still accessible, and in it were scanned copies of every document
sent to the supplier, the order forms, the letter of intent, all of it. There was also a letter of recommendation that
Mary had written for Katie with Mary's signature on it. Implication being that that could have been used to forge the
other documents. And there were other notes on Katie's phone that suggested she had been like workshopping how to
frame Adam, drafting the language for the letter, even references to legal standards like what police need from an
informant's tip before they can use it to get a warrant. Now, contrary to the mountain of evidence they find on
Katie's phone, when they search Adam's devices, those all come up clean. No poison research, no suspicious searches,
no sign that he ever tried to buy cultine. And the physical evidence tells a similar story. Katie's DNA is
consistent with being a major contributor on the cultine bottle, on the cultine bottles wrapper, and under
the stamp on the letter sent to the medical examiner. Adam's DNA doesn't show up anywhere. So on February 5th,
police bring Katie back in and investigator Van Amy confronts her with something major.
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When Katie comes back into the sheriff's office in February, Vanami doesn't just
hit her with all the digital forensic evidence. Like, he's got her on that. What he wants is to tie her to the
actual prepaid cards that were used to buy the drug. So, he bluffs. He tells Katie that police have surveillance
footage of her buying the prepaid credit cards. >> If you purchase them, you are involved
in this. I'm telling you, Kitty, there's no way around this. Okay, I've let you sit
here. That's why I asked if I could show you this. Okay, I let you tell me. I don't know how they
got on my phone. Okay, >> we're in a crossroad now. Okay, because I know all along I don't ask a question
I don't know the answer to. Okay, >> you purchased those credit cards, didn't you?
>> Yes. >> Okay. So, she admits to buying the cards, but she is still insists that she
didn't actually buy the culture scene. And the only explanation she can offer is that somehow Adam must have used
them. Even though, according to investigators, cell records show that Adam was nowhere near Katie on the day
that she scanned the documents needed to make the purchase. >> Those documents were scanned in your
phone. I know that. And you were in possession of your phone. We're at a crossroad right now, Katie.
And I'm going to be honest with you. You lied to me earlier when you said you don't know how those were scanned. I
know for a fact that you were in possession of your phone when they were scanned.
>> Yes. >> You're saying you purchased this credit card and it was immediately used for the
payment within a day. Who did you give that credit card to then? If that's the road we're going to go down, let's keep
rolling the snowball. That's not the only hole in her story. You see, investigators had found a draft
of the anonymous letter saved on the Google Drive connected to that Gmail account. It had been edited in November,
right before it was sent. So now, if Katie admits to writing that letter, she is also admitting that she had access to
the Gmail account. And if she was the one using the account, she is the one who ordered the poison. But what do you
mean if she admits to writing the letter? I I thought she already admitted to writing it.
>> She did, but now she's saying that she didn't write this letter, the one that
was drafted in November. >> What? >> Yeah. She claims she sent a different letter to police like back in September.
>> We can prove without a doubt that it's typed in November. >> Okay. >> Okay. We we know that. That's not even
that's not even a question. Okay. I'm telling you in the one one of the last times I talked to you, you told me about
sending the letter in November. >> No, in September. >> You, Katie, I'm telling you, you didn't
There's no way you sent that letter in September. >> That's what he told me. >> You didn't send the letter in September.
You're the one saying Adam told you that he did this. So, nobody else is is involved in that. Your letter, nobody
else sent us a letter. We got one letter. You said you sent us a letter. That's your letter.
I'm confused. >> The way my brain almost exploded as I tried to like untangle this.
>> I mean, basically, if she wrote the letter, she owns the suspicious Gmail account. And if she owns the account,
that's it. I mean, did police get a letter in September? >> No. The only letters anyone received
were the two in November. One to the sheriff's office, one to the Emmy. So investigators are starting to develop a
pretty clear picture of what they think happened, including a firmer timeline. Cultazine poisoning typically shows
symptoms within 8 hours, but a large dose can hit a lot faster. Their theory is that Katie laced Mary's afternoon
protein shake around 1 to 1:30ish on July 20th while they were both at the office.
>> But why? Well, prosecutors theorize that it all goes back to Katie's tumultuous
relationship with Adam. In their view, Katie is a scorned ex and Mary is just collateral damage. Either revenge on
Adam or some kind of twisted attempt to pull him back after he dumped her supposedly for cheating on him. Either
way, basically like an if I can't have him, I'll hurt him or I'll be the shoulder that he cries on after like if
I secretly create a tragedy. They also say that this wouldn't be the first time that Katie did something dramatic to win
Adam back, that she once faked an ectopic pregnancy. She said that she required a medically necessary abortion
which led to them rekindling their romance. And according to prosecutors, it worked again this time because after
Mary died, Adam leaned on Katie and that's when they briefly got back together. It's a compelling narrative
with compelling evidence to back it up. Which is why nearly a year after Mary's death on June 13th, 2016, Katie gets
indicted by a grand jury on charges of seconddegree murder, falsifying business records, seconddegree forgery, and petty
larseny. The falsifying accounts are for the documents that she allegedly created
to make it look like Adam bought the cultine. And the other charges came out of the investigation. I guess the
forgery is for a parking ticket that she supposedly signed with Bill's name and then the larseny is for about 90 bucks
that the investigators say she stole from the office. Now, the assistant DA knows that most of the evidence that
they have is just circumstantial, but she still firmly believes that the case is really strong. Except not everyone is
convinced. According to ABC News, Katie's arrest sends shock waves through their small community. The Yoders and
the Connley's are both well-known families, and this case creates this real divide. In fact, some of Mary's own
sisters side with Katie. They are still much more suspicious of Bill even after all of this comes out.
>> Yep. I'm I'm presuming not including the one dating him. >> Oh no. Yeah. So, uh the ones who are
suspicious are still the same trio that I mentioned before. Janine, Sharon, and Sally. And even though authorities say
that there's no evidence implicating Bill, that is exactly the argument that the defense makes when Katie's first
trial begins in Onida County Court in April 2017. Katie's attorney, Christopher P, says that Bill had
something that Katie didn't have. real motives, a troubled marriage, money problems that went away when Mary died,
and possibly an affair with Mary's own sister. Starting with the marriage, P says that it wasn't as solid as Bill
claimed. Before they even tied the knot, I guess Bill had suggested keeping things open, which they decided against.
And Bill says that he never cheated on Mary, but at some point he started disappearing to hotels on various
weekends. those solo trips I talked about supposedly to write. And so they kind of pose this question like, was
that really the only reason he would take these trips? And then there's the Kathleen of it all. What kind of guy
takes up with his dead wife's sister at all? Let alone 2 months after your wife dies. And how do we know they even
waited that long? I mean, sure, Kathleen and Bill say it all began in September,
but a neighbor of Kathleen's testifies that she saw them on Kathleen's front porch, all snuggled up, looking very
much like a couple the week before Mary died. And don't forget about the money. True, Mary didn't have any life
insurance, but Bill had recently inherited that close to half a million bucks from his dad. And after Mary died,
he told one of his daughters, Tamron, that while it wasn't enough for two people to retire on, it was for just
one. And what's up with Bill's behavior after Mary died? Why did he ever cremated before anyone knew what the
heck was going on? Why wasn't he more curious about what killed her? Why didn't he push investigators for
answers? Cuz it sounds like he was moving on and was in love with someone else. >> Yeah. And it seems to be the thing that
people have a problem with. Mhm. >> There is also a strong possible link to the poison. Maybe Mary ordered it for
gardening and Bill then used it against her. Or maybe he bought it. Either way, he would potentially know what to do
with it. I mean, remember how Mary's sister mentioned that Bill had experimented with growing marijuana back
in the 80s. >> Actually, the letter of intent to the supplier to get the cultine was all
about manipulating plant genetics. I >> and that was Bill's world, not Katie's. So, the defense is saying that she
didn't know anything about that. >> I mean, sure, maybe she didn't, but how do they explain away all of the digital
stuff tying Katie to the culture scene? Like, there's so much. For her defense attorney, Py, he goes after that, too.
He says that the state's forensic expert is unqualified, uncertified, a college student who cherrypicked data to fit his
theory. And he argues that the digital trail isn't as solid as it looks. I guess the Conley's home Wi-Fi, which
Adam actually set up, wasn't password protected, so anyone nearby could have used the IP address. So theoretically,
they're saying someone could have been outside the Conlay's house and connected to their Wi-Fi.
>> Yeah. If the range was wide enough or somebody who would have been over at their house, but didn't they check all
of Bill's devices to see if he did anything like that? Eventually. I mean, they had his phone records pretty
quickly. But here's the thing. When that Adam letter came and then they started looking at Katie, for some reason,
checking Bill's devices got put way on the back burner, which I think comes back to bite them during this trial
because apparently right after Mary died, Bill told his daughter Tamron like not to touch either of their home
computers because they had viruses. But investigators didn't collect any of this
until September 2016 and then some data couldn't be recovered at all. Plus, Bill
was apparently no stranger to computers. He managed the network that connected all the chiropractic office computers
for years, and a lot of the stuff was done on the office computer and with office supplies, right? Typewriter,
envelopes. Yeah, sure, Katie used all of that the most. But the defense points out that it was Bill's office after all.
Like, he could use any of the equipment he wanted, including envelopes that Katie had pre-stamped. So they're trying
to argue that even though her DNA was found under one of the stamps that she could have done that at any random time.
>> Yeah. And he just like grabbed one. >> Is there any physical evidence pointing
to Bill? >> Uh so DNA results on the cultine bottle were inconclusive. So the science could
not rule him in or out. >> I thought the DNA on the bottle was Katie's. >> It was. But there was actually at least
three profiles. So Katie was the only one like or the only match that could be like fully identified and they were able
to completely rule Adam out, >> but for some reason not Bill just based on I guess the sample they had or
whatever. And listen, there is also a problem with the prosecution's theory that Katie poisoned Mary's protein
shake. Mary's medical records from when she was admitted to the hospital say that she had a protein bar and grilled
chicken that day. There was nothing in there about a shake. Okay, but where's that coming from? Like, did she tell
them during intake? >> Yeah, this isn't like stomach contents or anything. She comes into the
hospital. Mary's telling them herself. She was still like coherent when she comes to the hospital. And sure, right?
Like she's in like the worst position or like the her the worst spot. She's so sick. Maybe she misspoke. Maybe she had
both. Maybe someone wrote it down wrong. But P offers another idea that maybe Bill could have slipped the cultene into
Mary's food on the morning of July 20th and possibly given her a second dose while she was still at the hospital. So
they're saying she was poisoned twice. Well, the experts can't rule it out. Apparently, there's no way to know
exactly how much cultine Mary ingested, but the fact that it was in her stomach fluid during the autopsy indicates that
it got into her system orally rather than through like inhalation or injection. And keep in mind, this was
after 2 days of vomiting. So, the pathologist says that the levels in her system were actually rising when she
died, like her body was still absorbing it. Now, the prosecution has an explanation for that. They say it has to
do with the way that drugs can shift around in the body after death. And their toxicologist says a second dose
would have triggered a fresh round of symptoms, which did not happen. But the defense pushes back. Mary was on
anti-nausea medication at the hospital. So they are saying that could have maybe
masked new symptoms. And so it's just like this pingpong back and forth at trial. But you said in part one that
Katie was at the hospital with Mary and the family. So, if there was a second dose,
who's to say who actually gave it to her? Like, what about it is tying Bill to this theory and not Katie? Well,
because Katie wasn't there at the hospital until Wednesday, like closer to the time that Mary died. Bill was the
only one there with Mary on Tuesday before she took a turn for the worse. And Mary wasn't supposed to eat or drink
or anything while she was hospitalized. But Bill admitted that he brought her cough drops and an inhaler from home
when she asked. So either one could have theoretically been laced. But it's not clear if those things were ever tested.
Although, as far as I can tell, they weren't. >> My head is >> spinning. I know you're you're not the
only one. This trial stretches on for over 3 weeks with dozens of witnesses. The jury goes on to deliberate for
nearly 24 hours, over 5 days, but they are hopelessly deadlocked. Reportedly 10 to2 in favor of a quiddle. So on May
18th, 2017, the judge declares a mistrial. No verdict, no closure. Katie is in legal limbo, still charged with murder,
and prosecutors aren't about to let things go. 5 months later in October, they bring Katie to trial again. Now,
the theory is the same, but this time, the prosecution has a new ace in the hole. As they prepped for round two,
investigators re-examined Adam's laptop, and they realized that one of the phone
backups on it wasn't from Adam's device. It was from Katie's. In August 2015, so
just weeks after Mary died, Katie had plugged her iPhone into Adam's laptop and without meaning to, she triggers a
full backup, preserving everything on that phone at the time, including stuff that she later deleted.
What they found painted a picture of someone doing their homework. In the fall of 2014, Katie started researching
different poisons and screenshotting articles about how deadly each one was. By December, she seemed to land on
cultine. She was researching chemical suppliers, looked up the prognosis and treatment of cultine poisoning, and then
ordered it using those fake documents that she'd scanned with her phone. To prosecutors, this is a smoking gun, and
they're feeling good. as everyone crowds back into the courtroom. But I don't think they are expecting the curveball
that Katie's new lawyer is about to throw at them. Katie's defense attorney for trial
number two is a guy named Frank Policelli and he has a whole new approach. Instead of accusing Bill,
Polelli lays the blame on Adam. This time, the defense says that Katie actually tried to help investigators see
what was really going on. But they were so focused on her, they dismissed everything she told them, including her
claim that Adam had confessed to her. According to Pichelli, here's what really happened. Adam was desperate,
volatile, and had a strained relationship with his mother. And when he couldn't hold on to Katie, he
concocted a plan to poison Mary in a way that would make sure Katie took the fall. Think about it from this angle.
Adam actually studied computer science in college and he had way more digital knowhow than Katie. He had used her
devices in the past. Was it really a coincidence that her damning phone backup was on his laptop?
>> I mean, you got to find a way to explain that new evidence. In Bolichelli's view,
Adam could have planted or manipulated any incriminating data. He had access to the Yodor's office, too. Even had his
own key, which he claims he lost. And when police searched his Jeep, they found goggles and gloves and a face
mask, the kind of stuff that you would want if you were handling something toxic. But investigators never collected
those things, let alone tested them. And yes, the relationship between him and Katie was toxic. No one disputes that.
But Policelli says that Adam was the problem, not Katie. She had moved on. She had a new boyfriend and she was
making plans for a future while Adam couldn't let go. Apparently, over the years, she had lent him thousands of
dollars that he never paid back and she was scared of him. By his own admission,
he had gotten physical with her. Said that he slapped her in the face a few times at a party in 2013. if he's
willing to do that in front of people. You know what's happening when no one's watching? And then there's the sexual
assault allegation from 2014 that Katie told the detectives about in their first
meeting. Remember that? Now, Adam denies it, but he also admits that he was so drunk that night, he doesn't remember
anything. So, how can you deny something you don't even remember? >> Well, here's the thing. Prosecutors
actually don't even believe Katie about it either. She had given police photos of injuries that she said came from the
assault, but when investigators pulled the data, capture times told a different story. Some were taken nearly a year
before the night in question, others were months after. None of them matched up with when she said like they were
supposed to have happened. >> And so, just like this, for almost every argument the defense tries to make, the
prosecution comes back with a one-two punch. And they insist via expert witnesses who did the data extractions
that there was no digital tampering or modification and nothing pointing to Adam at all except for Katie's word.
They are confident that the right person is on trial. But they do start to worry
that some jurors might believe Katie didn't intend to kill Mary, just make her sick, like the way Adam got sick
before from who knows what. Which by the way, even back then, like when he got sick, he made sort of a joke, question
mark, that Katie poisoned him, cuz he said that he got sick right after taking some supplements that she had given him.
Uh, >> can I just say that if that thought even crosses your mind when you're in a
relationship, run, >> get out. Yeah, but that half joking, did she poison me thing, that's something
that we know from Katie's original interview with detectives and messages that she and Adam exchanged. And at
trial, the defense actually brings up Adam's illness, too. But they suggest that Adam poisoned himself for attention
and then later did the same to Mary. Or maybe he bought the cultine to grow marijuana and then got sick while
handling it. But either way, this ends up backfiring. Like I said, the prosecution's getting a little nervous.
So, they go and ask the judge, "Listen, instead of just guilty or not guilty for
seconddegree murder, can we give the jury an option? Can we add firstdegree manslaughter? That way, it won't be an
all or nothing on seconddegree murder." Now, the defense tries to keep the lesser charge off the table, but they
can't because by floating the theory that Adam poisoned himself and then Mary, they'd basically open the legal
door and the state just walks right in. If Katie was behind both poisonings, maybe she just expected Mary to get
better since Adam had gotten better. So, was it ever confirmed that Adam had cultine in his system or could he have
just been really sick unrelated? >> We don't know. Investigators tested the supplements from like the ones he was
taking when Adam got sick. Those came back clean, but they don't even know for sure if they were from the same bottle
that Katie gave him. So, like it that part is all just still a big mystery. Either way, the question of intent is
now in the jury's hands, and in early November, they start deliberating. At one point, it looks like they won't
even be able to agree. And everyone's kind of like holding their breath, wondering if this is like going to be
another mistrial, but they're able to work through it. And after 2 days of hashing it out, the verdict comes in.
not guilty of seconddegree murder, but guilty of firstdegree manslaughter. According to Observer Dispatch reporter
Jolene Clever, Katie's bail is revoked and she is taken into custody. Even after two trials, some of Mary's sisters
still don't believe that Katie did this. When she is sentenced in January 2018, they ask the judge for leniency. And on
the other side is Bill with his and Mary's children who all stand by the conviction. To them, Katie took Mary's
love and repaid it with poison. And Adam's voice, you can hear it break as he talks about the guilt that he carries
for bringing Katie into his family. A family who welcomed her because he once loved her, but not anymore. He tells the
court he hates her for what she has done. But Katie maintains that she didn't do anything and that the system
got it wrong, though the judge isn't moved. The fact is Mary died in agony, never understanding what was happening
to her. And so he sentences Katie to 23 years. That was in 2018. So realistically, she could have been in
jail until like 2041. But then an attorney named Melissa Schwarz takes on her appeal
and she zeros in on the warrant that police used to search Katie's phone. Law enforcement had permission to take the
phone, but apparently they didn't have permission to dig through all of the data inside of it. Schwarz argues that
Katie's trial attorneys should have fought to get that evidence thrown out. They didn't. And that failure cost Katie
her freedom. And so just last year, the appellet court agreed. In late January 2025, Katie's conviction was overturned.
And a few days later, she walked out of prison free for the first time in 7 years. Now, you know, this overturned
doesn't mean exonerated. Prosecutors can try again, and they're planning to do exactly that.
But almost immediately, they shoot themselves in the foot. You see, when Katie was released, her attorney asked
the judge to seal the case records, which Schwarz told us is a pretty standard for a conviction that gets
tossed. What's unusual is that the DA's office didn't object. And so now all of the evidence, police reports, witness
statements, digital records, all of it is locked away, not just from the public, but from prosecutors, too. Oh.
Uh, why wouldn't they push back on that? >> I don't get it. Maybe they figured that
the seal only covered the conviction and not the actual evidence, which like not
true. >> And they should have known. >> Mhm. So, even though they got like a whole another grand jury to do the whole
song and dance again, even get to the point where they call Schwarz to schedule Katie's arraignment because
they expect a new indictment soon, they get blocked cuz it's at that point when Schwarz is like, "Wait, did you unseal
the case first?" >> Right. Cuz like, what are you even going to bring to this grand jury? Cuz it's
all tucked away. >> Yeah. And that's when the DA's office has this like oh moment. They had been
using evidence that they had no right to touch. >> The judge orders them to stop and now
they're just stuck. They can't even ask to unseal the records themselves because
only law enforcement can do that and they can only do that if there's an active investigation. But police have
admitted that no one is currently working on Mary's case. So from there, it just spirals. The DA's office tries
to get the judge removed, accusing the judge of bias, claiming that at some point she said that she thought Bill
killed Mary. The judge denies it, refuses to step aside. Then the DA files multiple appeals. All of this back and
forth over months, which brings me to right now. >> Oh, she's still out. >> Oh, yeah. This is active and ongoing.
There is actually a hearing coming up in April. But Schwarz says that the state has been fighting the wrong battles that
they have been focused on whether the judge was wrong when she ordered them to stop using the sealed evidence. But
again, even if they win that, everything is still sealed. >> Yes. It's like arguing you shouldn't be
able to stay out of a room that you like cannot get into in the first place. >> So, they're not even getting at the real
issue here. Plus, even if they do get the records unsealed, most of the evidence might be worthless
>> because of the >> the appeals court decided that the search of Katie's phone was illegal.
Right. >> Right. They shouldn't The evidence that's there shouldn't even be there
essentially. >> Yeah. Anything that came from it, including the backup on Adam's laptop,
the statement that Katie made based on what cops found, all of it can be tossed.
>> Wait, why the laptop backup? Didn't they have a a warrant for his devices? They
did, but there are a few problems with it. Like for one, the only reason they even knew to look at it was because they
had Katie's phone first. >> The fruit of the forbidden tree. >> Exactly. On top of that, there's a
question of whether Adam should have even had the backup on his computer. But even if prosecutors can use it, it's
weaker now. I mean, at trial, they verified the backup by comparing it against the physical phone. basically
like matching digital fingerprints to like prove nobody had tampered with it with the phone suppressed now. They
can't have that. >> They can't even do that anymore. So, you're left with like a backup file that
they can't independently verify just sitting on Adam's laptop. And think about what the defense argued at Katie's
second trial. Adam is techsavvy. Adam had possession of the laptop. Adam had every opportunity to manipulate what was
on it. Without the phone to prove that those searches also existed on Katie's actual device, the defense can say that
the only place this incriminating evidence lives >> is on the computer belonging to the guy
>> that they think did it. >> Yep. >> So, even in the best case scenario for prosecutors, that backup is nowhere near
as powerful without the phone to back it up, for a lack of a better term. Actually, it could even hurt their case.
But no matter what the path they want to take is, the clock is ticking because unlike murder, manslaughter has a time
limit. Swart says that prosecutors have maybe three more years. And if they can't retry Katie before then, it's
over. I mean, she got acquitted on the second degree murder, right? They cannot go back with that. All they have is that
manslaughter charge. And even if investigators wanted to take another look at Bill or at Adam, which they
seemingly don't, they're out of luck because they both got immunity when they testified before the grand jury.
>> What? I had the same reaction. Apparently in New York, that's routine. >> Routine.
>> It doesn't protect you from perjury if you lie. But it does mean that neither
of them can ever be prosecuted for Mary's death, which as it stands, there doesn't appear to be any evidence for
anyway. As of right now, the case is officially unsolved, but only on paper. Police are sure that they arrested the
right person. Prosecutors are sure that the right person was on trial. >> And what does Katie say?
>> You know, she actually did an interview within the last couple of years with ABC
News for that docu series I mentioned in the first episode. And I will say her attorney told us that she feels that
when it came out, it lacked important context in how some of it was presented, but the way it was presented, there were
parts that I found kind of odd. Like producers asked her if she ever searched for lethal poisons on her phone. And
instead of just saying no, she told them that she doesn't even have a reason to search for poisons because she's not the
type of person who could do something like that. And her parents who were also interviewed said that when they asked
her straight up, did you kill Mary? Again, the answer is not no. She basically told them, you know, I want a
family someday, so why would I jeopardize my future? Which again, not not a denial.
>> Like, no is right there. >> I know. But to answer your question, Katie says that she goes back and forth.
Sometimes she thinks it was Bill. Maybe Bill and Adam. She just knows it wasn't her.
Okay. I'm still confused about the anonymous letters. Like, >> oh my god, that's like it's like the
murkiest part to me. >> Does she admit that she wrote them or not? >> So, some people think that her initial
confession to police about writing those letters was coerced and that she didn't
actually write them at all. >> Okay. >> But during her second trial, Pichelli said that Katie did admit to writing it,
but then when ABC News asked her about it, Schwarz stopped her from answering. So, you've got these like competing
claims. Either Katie wrote the November letters, which ties her to the Gmail account and the cultine order,
>> or she wrote the letters, but somehow the digital trail leading to the cultine
isn't as airtight as investigators claimed. Or she wrote a different letter entirely that just never got to police.
Or she didn't write any letters at all and her confession was coerced. Well, >> that clears up absolutely nothing.
Welcome to my world. I'm honestly not sure anyone has a straight answer on all of the letter stuff. I mean, so much
about this case is still up in the air. And our reporter, Nenah, reached out to Bill and Adam, but we never heard back.
What we do know, though, is that Mary's loved ones still feel her absence every day, and the divide between them may
never heal. I don't know if Bill and Kathleen are still together, but Mary's other sisters that we've mentioned have
remained some of Katie's biggest supporters. They even teamed up with the Conleys to
fight for her release, but they live with the guilt of being the ones who pushed for an investigation in the first
place, never dreaming that it would lead to a woman that they now think is innocent. Of course, the Yoders have
their own burdens. Tamron told ABC News that she struggles with the fact that she once even suspected her own father.
And she said that Adam, who didn't participate in the show, may never stop blaming himself for bringing Katie into
the family in the first place. No matter what you believe happened, one thing is
certain, and it's really the most devastating part of all. Mary wasn't killed by a stranger. She was killed by
someone she loved, someone she trusted, and someone that she never saw coming. You can find all the source material for
this episode on our website, crimejunkkey.com. And you can follow us on Instagram, crimejunkie podcast.
>> We'll be back next week with a brand new episode.

In July 2015, beloved chiropractor Mary Yoder died suddenly in Utica, New York after falling violently ill. Toxicology later revealed lethal levels of colchicine in her system, a prescription drug she was never prescribed.

In Part 1, suspicion shifted from Mary’s husband, Dr. William “Bill” Yoder, to her son, Adam Yoder, after an anonymous letter led investigators to a bottle of colchicine hidden in Adam’s Jeep. But in Part 2, everything changes.

Digital evidence begins to tell a different story, one that points to Kaitlyn Conley, the Yoders’ office manager and Adam’s former girlfriend. Investigators uncover: a secret Gmail account used to order colchicine, prepaid credit cards purchased under suspicious circumstances, internet searches about lethal dosages, a draft of the anonymous letter saved to cloud storage, and phone backups that would become central at trial.

In 2017, Kaitlyn Conley was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in Oneida County Court. She was sentenced to 23 years in prison. But in January 2025, her conviction was overturned on appeal due to issues surrounding the search warrant used to examine her phone. She was released from custody, and now prosecutors are fighting to retry the case before the statute of limitations runs out.

With key evidence sealed, digital forensics under scrutiny, and legal battles ongoing, the death of Mary Yoder remains one of central New York’s most controversial homicide cases. Who poisoned Mary Yoder?

Key Episode Moments: 0:00 Intro 1:24 The Anonymous Letter: Framing Adam? 3:18 The Digital Trail: Mr. Adam Yoder 1990 6:18 Katie Conley’s Recorded Interrogation 10:47 Forensics: Poison Searches & Forged Documents 16:38 The Bluff: Prepaid Cards & The Gmail Account 21:38 Trial #1: The Case Against Bill Yoder 31:13 Trial #2: The Hidden Phone Backup 38:38 2025 Update -------- Follow Crime Junkie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crimejunkiepodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrimeJunkiePodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrimeJunkiePod Crime Junkie is created and hosted by Ashley Flowers.

About Ashley Flowers Ashley Flowers is the top female podcaster in the U.S. and the host of Crime Junkie, the #1 podcast among women and the #1 true crime podcast globally. As the Founder of audiochuck, she has built a top-tier podcast production company that has garnered over 2.6 billion downloads, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling through 10+ chart topping podcasts. Ashley and her team are dedicated to creating responsible true crime content that respects victims and their families.

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Check out these other great crime channels: @annieelise Jeans Around Her Knees, Lost CCTV & a Case That Still Haunts Australia | Phoebe Handsjuk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gecJXUHEUKs @EleanorNeale The Hunt to Catch the 'First Date' Killer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nMsYt_MNLE&t=6s @christinaarandall Wife Goes to Trial For Ending Her Husband & Is Shocked By GUILTY Verdict! Kori Richins Web of Lies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WU3xUaBixQ @rottenmangopod Unpacking 3 Million Pages Of Epstein Files + Epstein’s Secret 2 Hour Interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwSKdtALJcg

Brief Summary

Mary Yodar was poisoned, leading to Caitlyn Connley's controversial conviction and later exoneration amid conflicting evidence and family dynamics.

Key points

The Mysterious Poisoning of Mary Yodar. Mary Yodar's sudden death raises questions of foul play, leading detectives to suspect her family.
The Confession. Katie admits to deleting the Gmail account, raising further suspicions.
Katie Connley's Involvement. Katie, once a trusted family friend, becomes a key suspect in the investigation.
The Digital Trail. Investigators uncover a web of digital evidence linking Katie to the crime.
The Poisoning Theory. Investigators theorize that Katie poisoned Mary out of revenge.
Katie's Indictment. Nearly a year after Mary's death, Katie is indicted on multiple charges, including murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

How do you accidentally plan something for like a year?

Detectives question the plausibility of Adam's actions.

5:38WatchMar 23, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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