The Mysterious Death of Kat West | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[music] people are so much more than how they are trying to survive in this world.
I wasn't making ends meet. So, I made the decision to post nude photos of myself on the internet to make
more money. I was definitely concerned about [music] the risks of being so exposed on the internet and you
never know [music] what's going to happen. Sometimes I think about Cat West and I
think about where she would be today and how much more of her life she could have
fulfilled. [music] [music] I started getting Facebook messages that a murder had happened in Caller.
[music] you know, a beautiful woman nude in a street in a nice subdivision. That is what doesn't happen every day
around here. And that's what drove the story. [music] Cat West, she was 42, was found dead on
January 13th, 2018. [music] She was a beautiful woman. And she looked a little bit like Marilyn
Monroe. >> Female in the roadway naked. CPR no longer in progress. Female not breathing.
>> You believe it was murder? >> I do. >> It's a mysterious murder case. A married
mom found dead outside her home. >> We didn't know much about Cat West at all, and we certainly didn't know that
her husband Jeff was a suspect. Jeff could not have possibly done it. I believe Cat was murdered, but I do not
believe that it was by her husband. It really turned out that Cat was a lot more than just a wife and a stay-at-home
mom. [music] Cat was the very out there, exuberant, lively. She was the limelight
of everything that we did. Cat West was posting pictures on Only Fans, which [music] is a website where people pay a
subscription to see racy photos. It's sort of the happy medium [music] between porn and the Brady Bunch.
[music] She had several hundred followers. >> Everybody was a suspect to begin with.
>> One of her subscribers, [music] did they come through with rage or jealousy or
wanting something that they couldn't have? >> We were concerned. Do we have somebody
[music] out there that's actually killing people? Had you heard of Only Fans? >> No, ma'am.
>> There's a lot of things I learned in this case. [music] >> [music] [music] [music]
[music] >> One look at her online presence made it clear. Kathleen West put the social in social
media. It was out there for the whole world to see. >> And friends like Britney Dler say Cat
was very extroverted. In the real world, she was always the life of the party as
well. >> Cat would get on stages and sing. She couldn't sing for the life of her,
but she would sing. Cat was proud of who she was. So on January 13th, 2018, when the
42year-old wife and mother, widely known as Cat, was found dead in the street near her Alabama home, veteran reporter
and CBS consultant Carol Robinson smelled [music] a story. In the tight-knit Birmingham suburbs, she's
known as the Coco Chanel of crime. >> I don't let what I cover dictate what I wear.
She later arrived at the scene and started hunting to see if Cat's past could help explain her death.
>> She loved to be outside. That was that was her big deal. She had a swing set.
>> Cat's parents, Nancy and John Martin, say as a kid in Florida, she doted on her dolls.
>> And did she want to be a mom someday? [music] >> Absolutely. Yes. When she got a little bit older,
she wanted to do modeling. >> What was the obsession with Marilyn Monroe? >> She kind of looked like her. She says
she tried to recreate some of her photos, her hairds. She loved her. She was obsessed with Marilyn Monroe and was
trying to emulate her in every way. >> As Carol Robinson retraced the lines of Cat's life,
>> there were always self-esteem issues there. She realized her resemblance to the troubled movie star was more than
skin deep. >> She craved adgulation from some people whether she knew him or not.
>> You tell her she's beautiful. She's just you're just my mom and dad. >> As time went on, Cat's parents say her
feelings of isolation, self-doubt, and depression spiraled out of control. >> I don't know how many different places
we took her to. >> She went to a lot of counseling. It was a tough few years. Her parents
say she was battling bipolar disorder and drinking too much. But by 2004, the broken pieces of Cat's life finally
began to fall into place. It happened at a Super Bowl party. >> And that's where she met Jeff.
>> Cat struck up a conversation with a local Army recruiter named Jeff West. >> They fell in love on their first date.
It was really love at first sight. >> Yes, it was. >> Within the year they were married in Las
Vegas. >> They moved around the country for Jeff's job and in 2005 they had a daughter,
Lola. >> Lola was her light. Lola was her her gift [music] and she adored her daughter.
In 2011, the West family moved to Southern California, where Army veteran Britney Dler's husband was thinking of
enlisting at the recruiting station. Britney says Jeff West basically had her husband at hello.
>> What was your impression of him? >> He was just super reassuring and and nice. He was just nice.
>> So nice, she says, that he even invited the Dlers to his home. his wife Cat [music] answered the door.
>> She was just in her tank top and shorts and really happy, bubbly, and hey girl.
Right off [music] the bat, she was like, "You want a drink?" >> Britney says as far as she could tell,
Cat and Jeff [music] West were a happy, if somewhat unlikely, couple. Seeing how Cat carried herself and what
she looked like and then seeing Jeff, I know opposites attract, but I was like, "That guy pulled that girl." Uh,
you know, it never really made sense to me until I started getting to know them more.
>> You would not describe this as a conventional marriage. >> Definitely not. When it came to the
unspoken rules of entertaining, [music] she admits Cat was so colorful that she sometimes colored outside the lines.
>> She would jump from the kitchen counter to the the sofa and shirtless, balless.
>> Wait, in front of you and your husband? >> Yes. My husband would go, "Oh my gosh."
>> The couples hung out at home, but also started going to bars and clubs. >> She'd be lively, animated. He would just
be sitting on the couch relaxing, having his drink. >> Did you ever see the two of them fight?
>> Cat would fight. Jeff would not. Cat would get emotional. When she was drunk,
she would get loud. She would get um feisty. But he would sit there and just say, "Okay, boo boo. Okay, I love you.
All right, baby girl." You never saw an ounce of jealousy from him. >> Never. Never. That surprised me because
I I don't think many men would feel that [music] way. >> Carol says Jeff was proud of having an
attractive wife. In 2014, the Wests had moved to Alabama where he had a job as a
campus police officer. The couple always made time to be together with a regular
date night, including on the night of January 12th, 2018. Jeff's parents had then 12-year-old Lola
for the evening. They go out to a restaurant. You know, they have some drinks and dinner.
>> After [music] dinner, they stopped at a liquor store. Security cameras show the
couple shopping, apparently without a care in the world. >> Everything seemed fine. At one point, he
even patted her on the butt. >> But it would be the last time Cat West would be seen alive.
I just was shocked, baffled. I don't believe it. >> When Britney Dler learned of Cat's
death, she immediately contacted Jeff West. >> What happened? How did this happen? And
his answer was just, "I don't know. Neither did Mccora Puraphoy. >> It was dark. It was cold. I wasn't sure
like what I was seeing. >> She'd been driving to work before dawn that day when she spotted something.
>> I think I see a person laying in the road. Well, halfway. >> Morchia went home to get her parents.
They returned to the scene. >> Her body was frozen. Like frozen. I was traumatized. I was just in the car
crying. Morscha's mother called 911. >> They asked to see if she was breathing or not. She [music] wasn't
and we just waited for the police to get there. >> Caller Police Sergeant Mike Melhoff, a
veteran criminal investigator, arrived about 30 minutes later. >> Looking at the scene, Kathleen's head is
laying in the road. Her body is actually laying in the grass. >> And there was something else he noticed
right away. >> [music] >> It did appear that the body had been moved more than once.
>> Cat West was found lying in a pool of blood across the street from her house.
Melhoff noticed there was another blood pool nearby. Next to Cat's body, her cell phone and an open bottle of absent
liquor, the kind she and her husband had been seen purchasing the night before. >> The absence bottle. It was just propped
up on the phone just like that. It just did not seem right that it would have landed in such a way if it other than
being staged. >> Carla Robinson, who saw the crime scene photos, also thought it looked staged.
>> That bottle was placed on the phone by somebody. >> By somebody. >> She says there was somebody at the scene
whose behavior caught authorities attention. >> Jeff West standing in the doorway. At
one point he was on the porch smoking a cigarette and watching. And when Melhoff
spoke to Jeff inside, >> his behavior was not what I expected it to be knowing that his wife was outside.
>> What was your reaction to it? >> It was everybody grieves in a different way and that was something I kept
telling myself. >> Cat had a roughly 2in gash on the left side of her head. The cause of death was
blunt force trauma. The injury that she suffered was enough to actually fracture
the skull. >> The autopsy showed signs of sex, but there was no indication of sexual
assault. Also, her blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit. Still, the medical examiner could not
say exactly how Cat sustained the injury. >> The manner of death was undetermined.
>> Was it an accident? Was Cat so intoxicated that she fell and cracked her head? Or was it murder? And if so,
who killed Cat West? Well, authorities searched the neighborhood for clues and witnesses. Jeff went to headquarters.
Police say he stayed for about 6 hours. Was Jeff cooperative? >> Absolutely. [music]
>> Jeff was adamant with police he had no idea what had happened to Cat. He speculated she may have died by
accident. He also said their marriage was in a good place. Police later discovered what the couple's friends
already knew. I think it would be fair to characterize her as an exhibitionist. She enjoyed the attention.
Jeff revealed he would actually photograph Cat [music] and help her post suggestive photos online where hundreds
of paying subscribers knew her as Kitty Cat West. >> She was very out loud about it. She was
making money. >> But Britney says for Cat, it was about a lot more than money. Cat, when not
behind the website, was not [music] always confident. Yes, you have your husband, but you always want to be
pretty to others. >> And remarkably, Jeff seemed to love it. >> Jeff got the best of both worlds. He was
able to be with his wife. She got what she wanted, which was, I get to make my money. I get to show off what I have,
and he's not going to leave me. Britney says by 2018, Cat's online activity had really ramped up. She'd
been using that subscription only website, Only Fans, to share adult photos and videos.
>> She was starting to get knee deep in that type of industry. >> And with Only Fans came a new feature
for Cat. Providers and subscribers could communicate. Subscribers could also make
requests. >> Had you heard of Only Fans? >> No, ma'am. >> Melhoff was interested to learn [music]
that Jeff had photographed Cat for her site the night she died, and her page contained subscriber requests for
[music] personalized content. Could one of her Only Fan subscribers have stalked
[music] and murdered her? >> Do we have somebody else out there that's actually killing people?
He says they knew they had to cast a wider net, so they sent Jeff home. Melhoff says they spent about three
weeks looking for other suspects. >> There were thousands of names that had to be called through in order to
properly investigate this. >> As police continued gathering evidence, Carol Robinson says they had more public
involvement than they wanted. Cat's death had set the internet on fire. You had this huge online presence,
these murder discussion Facebook groups. While they may have started in Caller, you know, there were people from all
over and they aren't quiet about their opinions. >> It seemed everyone had an opinion on the
way Cat died. >> It's the husband. I vote stalker. [music] It might have been a freak accident. and
the way she lived. >> I don't agree with her lifestyle. [music] She brought this on herself.
She was proud to have such an amazing figure. Good for her. She was a [music] sympathetic victim to
many. She was an unsympathetic victim to many. >> On [music] Facebook, Jeff later made it
clear that all the online chatter had taken a toll on the family. To the public, "Our tragedy is juicy gossip,"
he wrote. >> The Facebook thing was really intruding on their lives in his opinion.
>> Investigators had formed their own opinion. Cat's death had been no accident. And on February 22nd, 2018,
they made their move. >> William Jeffrey West, [music] the victim's husband, has been arrested and
charged with the murder. Bail was set at half a million dollars. >> Brittany Dryler says Jeff should never
have been arrested, firmly believing that police failed to fully investigate the hundreds of Only Fan subscribers who
[music] had paid to see the racy content Cat posted. Did someone else kill her? Some see it as unseammly.
Others call it harmless fun. Stay at home. Either way, the online venue where Cat
West posted her racy photos, [music] known as Only Fans, >> welcome to Only Fans,
>> is a lot more than only a website, says Carol Robinson. >> It's sort of the happy medium between
porn [music] and the Brady Bunch. >> Whether you're a vlogger, celebrity, model, whatever, you can reward your
loyal fans [music] with even more of the great content you already produce, but get paid for it.
Since CO 19 caused widespread lockdowns, Only Fans has become a provocative and profitable platform for celebrities.
Former Disney star Bella Thorne reportedly made a million dollars in one day posting lifestyle content.
>> There's a lot of myself in this video. Yeah. So, and the site has become an exotic
destination for more salacious stationers as well. [music] A place to dream of living large and
potentially to make a good living in the process. >> I'm really excited to introduce you to
Courtney Tillia. The former teacher in this YouTube video told a reporter she quadrupled her income posting nudes on
Only Fans. >> I wear things that allow me to feel sexy because when I feel sexy, I feel
powerful. >> This woman says she's paying her way through a neuroscience master's program.
>> Amen. >> And this pastor made headlines when she left the pulpit. Not for a higher
calling, but she did eventually make a higher paycheck. Can I get a hallelujah and an amen?
>> Posting on Only Fans and now reportedly earning tens of thousands of dollars a
month. By the end of 2020, the Londonbased site had grown to more than a million content
providers and 90 million subscribers. Does it surprise you at all to hear that as soon as the pandemic hit, Only Fans,
the popularity and the usage of it jumped by 75%. >> Not at all. >> In 2015, Lauren Quay moved to New York
from her home in West [music] Virginia with dreams of making it big on Broadway.
>> I really wanted to make something of myself. [music] Soon frustrated with the rat race, the
23-year-old daughter of a doctor and nurse began studying emergency medicine and [music] became a paramedic around
the time the pandemic began. >> I knew that there was a job that needed to be done.
>> Almost immediately, she found herself treating and transporting critically ill
CO patients, working at the intersection of life and death. I still remember taking patients
away whose family members couldn't come with us. They didn't know if it was going to be the last time they saw each
other. That was really rough for me. >> Rougher still, she says, because even though she was saving lives,
it was impossible to save any [music] money. She was making only about $40,000 a year, less than other first responders
like many New York police and firefighters. Is what you were getting paid enough to cover your monthly nut?
>> No, not at all. It wasn't feasible to live off of that salary. >> As her bills piled up and employment
options dwindled, Lauren turned to Only Fans. [music] >> I don't have to go outside of my house.
You know, this could be an easy business. Using an alias, she started by posting lingerie pics, [music] cropping
out her face. But she says she soon stopped cropping. And before long, the paramedic, who by
day was covering every inch of her body in protective clothing, started taking it all off online. Did you post full
nude shots? Yes, I did. >> And she says if Cat West was proud to be on Only Fans, she would have had reason
to be. the human body. I believe it should be celebrated. >> And how did it make you feel when you
were posting? >> I felt empowered. I did not feel like I was degrading myself. >> And just to be clear, this was money you
were using to put food on your table. >> 100%. >> But Lauren admits she was worried about
[music] the exposure. It was scary to think that, you know, I'd be taking pictures of myself that would be on the
internet, >> especially as her pool of Only Fan subscribers started to grow. She says
some of the requests for personalized content were disrespectful. >> There are some really weird people on
the internet. >> [music] >> Did you ever consider that maybe someone from her online life could have played a
role in what happened to her that night? >> We looked into that and there just wasn't that evidence out there.
>> No evidence that an Only Fans online user was involved in Cat [music] West's death. What the evidence does show, says
Jeff's attorney, John Robbins, is that Cat wasn't murdered. She fell and hit her head.
>> Jeff's [music] parents, Jerry and Susie, agree. They aren't sure exactly how Cat
hit her head, [music] and they don't think authorities can prove it either. >> They set out to say, "Get Jeff." There
was no investigation. >> I [music] know he's innocent. >> I don't care what anybody says. He did
not do this. >> Jeff's parents say he was incapable [music] of harming his family. Now, that is
exactly what you would expect to hear from the parents of an accused killer, but you would probably not [music]
expect to hear the same thing from the parents of the alleged victim. >> He's honorable and he loved my daughter.
I know he didn't do it. >> He didn't do this. >> Cat's parents, [music] John and Nancy,
say their daughter was conspicuously clumsy and the drinking did not help. Britney Dler concedes anything is
possible. >> She could have ran outside in the street, right, because she was so
intoxicated. >> Authorities insist Jeff West is a murderer, [music] but their tactics
suggest otherwise. John Robin says just a few months before trial, the prosecution offered Jeff West
a deal. It's called an Alfred plea. Jeff would not have to admit that he had committed a crime, but he would have to
acknowledge that the state had enough evidence to likely convict. Now, if the judge accepted that deal, it means that
Jeff would be led off with time served and only two years probation. He could walk out of jail almost immediately.
What does it tell you as a defense attorney when the prosecution is offering a deal? That tells you as a
defense lawyer, the prosecution has some problems with their case and they recognize that.
>> According to Shelby County prosecutors, plea deals are standard in every case.
Robin says he told Jeff it was a reasonable offer. >> He rejected it immediately.
>> Why did he reject the offer? >> Because [music] he says, "I cannot say that I'm guilty of something that I
didn't do. >> [music] >> Jeff West decides to roll the dice and take his chances in court.
>> He understands the risk of going to trial. For more than 2 years, Jeff West has
awaited trial in custody. >> We weren't getting a lot of information at the time. The police were holding
things close to their vest. >> Defense attorney John Robbins believes prosecutors have problems with their
case. He says the Friday before trial, they called him with more talk of a plea deal.
>> We discussed what would it take to settle the case, >> but they could not come to terms. The
prosecution has also notified the court it will make a new filing of evidence, text messages between Jeff and Cat.
>> It was very apparent that it was a very volatile uh relationship. Prosecutors will tell the jury that the
Wests did not have a harmonious marriage. You're throwing almost 14 years of a relationship away she'd
written a week before she died. You don't want me. Fine, someone [music] will. I always want you, he'd replied.
The texts went from erratic to erotic so fast that Robbins actually wants to use
them to defend Jeff. Anytime Cat said something that quote can be considered an argument, his response is, "I love
you. I want you. You're sexy." [music] >> Today is the first day of the murder trial against Jeff West in the murder of
Cat West. The judge banned news cameras from the courtroom, but we were at the courthouse taking [music] notes, and it
soon became clear there were at least two things the defense and prosecution [music]
agreed on. The cause of death, blunt force trauma, and how the night began. Jeff and Cat had started drinking at
dinner and bought more booze on the way home. It was later the cat apparently had
changed into lingerie and asked Jeff to photograph her for her online fans. On Instagram that night, he posted this
picture of the absent liquor bottle. Authorities contend he would bludgeon her to death with that very same bottle.
But why would Jeff West want to kill his [music] wife? I wouldn't want to speculate as to, you
know, what drove him to that point, but I can certainly say that I feel that yes, he's he's the one responsible for
his wife's death. >> At the scene, Melhoff says he found it odd that Jeff did not ask for details
about his wife's condition. >> I would have thought that he would have at least asked, you know, can I see her?
>> Carol believes what Jeff did say made authorities suspicious, too. According to Jeff, he went to bed about 10:30. Cat
stayed up. >> Now, that's Jeff's version of what happened. >> But before long, Milhof unearthed a
different story on a health tracker app on Jeff's cell phone. >> Well, the health app actually shows
Jeff's phone moving as late as 10 minutes after 11:00. >> And Melhoff says he believes Jeff also
lied about when he woke up that morning. Jeff told police his dogs got him up by
barking at the cruisers out front, but a neighbor reported seeing Jeff before police arrived.
>> She could see a man in the house pacing back and forth. >> Having laid out what they believed were
Jeff's movements that night. Police look at Cat's phone, which also had a health
tracker app. It showed her phone had stopped moving [music] 16 minutes before Jeff's.
But what had actually caused Cat's fatal wound? About a month after her death, police
got test results from that absin [music] bottle. It had a sliver of glass chipped
off and there were two spots of cat's blood on the bottom. >> We had Jeff's fingerprints on it.
>> Wouldn't you expect that given that they bought it together and they said they'd
been drinking that his prints would be on? >> Oh, absolutely. But Melhoff says there
was something specific about the [music] prince that helped point the finger of blame at Jeff.
>> Basically, the bottle was held inverted, much like he'd be holding it like a club.
>> Jeff's thumb print was found in a downward position on the bottle and his ring fingerprint was found over here.
>> She was not hit in head with that bottle. Robin says that's clear because Jeff is a righty and the prints and the
bottle were from his left hand and there is a good reason they're upside down. >> The bottle was in a bag. You would pull
it out of the bag in the same way where your thumbrint would be going down. >> But to win this case, the defense will
tell the jury that Jeff West could not have murdered his wife because Cat wasn't murdered. I've handled well over
a hundred murder cases. Never went forward on a murder case where uh the manner of death was classified as
undetermined. >> What happened that night to Cat West? >> In a nutshell, she fell. She hit her
head. >> Robin says police found Jeff dressed in the same clothes as seen in the security
video the night before. >> There was nothing on his clothes. No liquor, no blood, no bodily fluid, no
tissue, no hair, and there was no hair on the bottle. There's no glass in her womb.
>> And despite what police told us, no real effort Robins maintains to consider other suspects or theories about Cat's
death. >> The only person they ever looked at was Jeff, and they really never looked at it
whether it was an accident. Was there ever a time when you or anyone in the police department looked into the
possibility of it being an accident? >> Absolutely not. Um I don't want to sit here and say that I immediately ruled
out an accident, but just the the head trauma alone knowing that the body had been moved. It was very hard to try to
look at this as an accident. >> Not hard at all, insists Robins. The two blood pools at the scene suggest that
after Cat fell, she could have gotten up and fallen again >> because it's clear that she moved around
after uh she had that head injury. >> John Robbins has whittleled his entire case down to only one witness, [music] a
witness guaranteed to get the jury's attention. Cat's mother, Nancy Martin, takes the
stand to tell the jury about her daughter's lifelong struggles. >> It's a lot of pressure.
>> Yeah, it was. It really was. >> Martin testified that she herself had witnessed Cat West in an intoxicated
state go outside barefoot in any whether it was hot or cold. She said she would be in varying stages of dress. Were you
surprised at how supportive Cat's parents, particularly her mother was of the man police say killed her daughter?
>> You know, I can't really recall another case where the mother of the victim and
the father of the victim were so attached to the suspect. >> Cat's parents are even giving Jeff legal
advice, they help convince him not to testify. >> Jeff's a good mood. He's fired up.
>> In closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Daniel McReer finally ties together the state's theory of what
happened that night and why. He says Jeff had lost his temper with his wife. >> He had a problem with her uh drinking
and her social media usage. >> Prosecutors say the evidence from that night shows it. He had thrown her phone
into the street and clubbed her to death with a liquor bottle when she went after
it. And McBrier says the way the bottle and phone were positioned convinced [music]
authorities it could not have been an accident. >> There were those two items stacked
perfectly together right there on the street next to her body. >> Jeff loved his wife.
>> Did you ever consider the possibility that this guy just snapped one night? >> But there's no evidence of that. He has
does not have a history of violence. >> The trial is ending when prosecutors make a lastminute move. They convince
the judge to let the jury consider a lesser charge than murder, reckless manslaughter.
>> I think that we could see a verdict tonight. >> This is the hard part. It just we're
waiting. [music] They were afraid that they were going to lose the case. >> John Robbins says he wasn't happy about
the last minute lesser charge that prosecutors introduced and it's easy to see why. It takes the
jury less than 5 hours to convict Jeff West of reckless manslaughter. >> Jeff is is stunned.
>> Both sets of parents are also stunned by the verdict. >> That was bull and you know it.
>> I couldn't believe it. I I really couldn't. >> Almost 3 months later, >> Judge Bill Bostic sentenced Jeff West to
16 years. >> How did you react when you heard 16 years? I just wanted to cry. [music]
>> With credit for time served, Jeff will be behind bars for 13 more years. For the prosecutors, it's a kind of split
decision. >> Obviously, we would have preferred a murder verdict, >> but they declare victory anyway.
>> We're glad you get a sentence as we did. >> For the defense, it is a stinging
defeat. Jeff knows if he had accepted that plea deal from the prosecutors, he'd probably already be home.
>> In retrospect, that probably he should have taken the deal. >> Both sets of parents stand behind his
decision. >> By a show of hands, who thinks Jeff is not guilty? [music] >> We all think he's not guilty.
>> We all think he's not guilty. >> They sat down with us as a group 3 days after sentencing. [music]
>> Who thinks that he got a fair trial? [laughter] Nobody, >> no hands. [music] >> They believe the judge threw the book at
Jeff West in sentencing for refusing to settle the case and that from the moment
Cat's death made news, >> a double [music] life, an adult themed subscription-based business,
>> she was harshly judged in the court of public opinion. It was the fact that she was doing these
things that small towns don't understand. >> I think society is always going to be
hard on women for anything that we do. >> New York City paramedic Lauren Quay says
for her the harsh judgments did not start until a newspaper reporter contacted her out of the blue.
He said somebody tipped the New York Post that you're a paramedic [music] with an Only Fans.
>> He told her he was investigating whether her Only Fans page violated her employer's code of conduct.
>> And in that moment, I I wanted to just like crawl in a hole and die. >> Lauren says she canled her Only Fans
account immediately. [music] The expose, including her real name and where she lived and worked, began circulating a
few weeks later. >> I opened my Instagram [music] and saw, you know, 600 follow requests.
>> Were you afraid for your safety? >> Absolutely. What do you think would have happened if you had kept your Only Fans
website going after the article dropped? >> Well, I I think it definitely would have
made a lot of money. As it happens, she did anyway. Worried that Lauren might lose her job, a friend
set up a GoFundMe page for her. Supporters contributed more than $100,000. But the private ambulance company she
works for kept her on the clock. >> It's always really hard to watch people pass away. [music]
Sometimes I think about Cat West and I think about where she would be today. Sucks that she was taken so early.
>> Cat's friend Britney Dler is living [music] with loss, too. >> She's gone. That's that that's
heart-wrenching. [snorts] They have a daughter that's in the mix of everything. [music]
>> I think people forget that a child is involved, >> right? Every week, Lola goes with all her
grandparents to see Jeff. >> Are the four of you [music] sticking together just for the sake of Lola?
>> No. No. >> They're family. >> But even when Jeff West does get out of prison, this will always be [music] a
family with someone missing. In an honest light, how would you like her to be remembered?
>> Kind, caring. >> Kind, caring person [music] who loved her husband and loved her
daughter very much. >> 48 hours to miss it would be a crime. >> Were you at all prepared for what
happened in this case? Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [music] [music] >> [music]

A woman is found dead and the scene appeared to be staged with a bottle of absinthe. West, a Marilyn Monroe look-alike, posted on OnlyFans — a website some use to share adult content. Was a fan involved? "48 Hours" correspondent Maureen Maher reports in this episode from February 2022. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Cat West's murder case reveals complexities of her life as an OnlyFans model and her husband's trial for her death.

Key points

The Mysterious Death of Cat West. Cat West, a vibrant woman, was found dead under suspicious circumstances. Her life and online presence raise questions about her tragic end.
Cat's Online Life. Cat West was posting racy photos on Only Fans, blurring the lines between personal and public life.
The Arrest of Jeff West. Authorities arrested William Jeffrey West, Cat's husband, charging him with her murder.
The Plea Deal Offer. The prosecution offered Jeff West a deal that could have set him free immediately.
Trial Begins. The murder trial against Jeff West begins, revealing the circumstances of Cat's death.
Verdict Delivered. The jury convicts Jeff West of reckless manslaughter after a brief deliberation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Cat was a lot more than just a wife and a stay-at-home mom.

2:13WatchJan 13, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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