Why Does the Laura Sweetman Case Raise so Many Questions? | Forensic Files

Hi Crime Junkies, I'm your host Ashley Flowers. >> And I'm Brett. And welcome back. Last
episode I told you about the murder of Nick Cordova in Gilbert, Arizona. >> [music]
>> In 2020, Nick and his business partner Dave Sweetman were the only ones at their office when two masked men came in
and shot Nick execution style in the back of the head. Dave walked away from that attack and sought out $8 million
in life insurance [music] money with the quote-unquote sign-off from Nick's wife
Alicia. Except she alleges that someone forged her signature. [music] And it took years of fighting in court
for her and their kids to see any share of that life insurance money. Alicia told police that Nick was worried
before his death. Worried about things like Dave taking money from the business. First $30,000, then [music]
$15,000. Nick thought someone was following him. And he half-heartedly joked to her that maybe Dave was going
to hire a hitman to collect on the insurance [music] money. But despite sharing all of this with police, they
seemingly never considered Dave a suspect because they had surveillance video of Nick's murder and it wasn't
Dave who pulled the trigger. So there was really never much of investigation done into Dave that we [music] could see
from the redacted files. There's no mention of the prior civil suits that he was involved in where he was made to pay
out over $10,000 to various people. And there was no mention of Dave's late wife, [music] Laura Sweetman, who died 7
years before Nick. In fact, she didn't come on our radar even until very late into investigating
Nick's case. And the first thing you need to know is that the reason we hadn't heard about Laura's undetermined
[music] death, why almost no one outside of her small circle has, is because people seem to be afraid to talk about
it. More specifically, people seem afraid of Dave and what might happen if they spoke up.
I think that's why this story has never been covered in any news sources that we
could find. But we know from our reporting that Laura Sweetman's family still wants
answers. Her friends want answers. Her colleagues and former patients want [music] answers. Because for some of
them and us, something's not adding up. And what I can tell you after [music] deep diving into this case, is that it
doesn't all point to Dave. This is the story of Laura Sweetman. So let's start with the elephant in the
room, Dave Sweetman. When we first started poking around trying to ask questions about Laura's
case, we were surprised by how many people were afraid to talk to us. They were afraid of Dave because the
prevailing theory among those who knew Laura seemed to be that somehow, some way, Dave was involved in her death.
They didn't have proof, of course, or they would have gone to police with that. But what they had were decades of
stories about a man who scared them and who was scaring Laura right before her death.
So to understand that fear, and before I ever get into how Laura died, I need to
take you all the way back to the 1980s when Dave and Laura first started dating as teenagers at Fallbrook Union High
School in California. As a junior in high school, Laura was a future homemaker of America and part of
the swim team and the yearbook club. And Dave was a varsity football player in the grade above [music] her. This is
like a real all-American California dream kind of couple. Now after graduating, Laura went on to
get her master's in biochemistry. She went to med school, completed her residency in pediatric neurology, and
then worked at Phoenix Children's Hospital. And Dave became a small business owner. Now they got married and
around 2004 they had the first of their three sons. So from the outside, everything seemed
picture perfect. But people who knew Laura knew that that was not the case. Laura's close friend, who we're going to
call Emily, told us that the Sweetman's marriage was always tumultuous. Laura and Emily first met around 2009 when
Emily started training Laura at the [music] gym. And in those early days, Emily said that Laura had like no
confidence. She didn't feel comfortable in her own skin. But as Laura and Emily got closer, Laura started talking about
why. She'd tell Emily about how her husband would belittle her and make her feel small. But the more that they
trained together and the stronger that Laura got, the more comfortable she started to feel in her own body. And
that's when she really began to open up. Now Dave actually trained at that same gym with a different trainer. [music]
And Emily said that her and that trainer would talk about just how different Dave
and Laura were, how there was just something off about Dave, that he gave off quote the creepy vibes. And Emily
told us she couldn't understand why Laura was with Dave when he seemed so manipulative. But as they got closer, it
became clear that when it came to relationships, Laura just didn't know anything else. Now it's important to
note that while Laura was opening up to Emily, most other people were still completely in the dark. And the woman
who nannyed for Laura and Dave's children, her name Stacy Miller, she told police that they seemed like a nice
normal everyday family and she didn't think anything was off about them ever, really. At least until 2006-2007.
In her statement to police, Stacy says that is when Laura and Dave started sleeping on different floors of the
house. Neither of them ever spoke about a change and Stacy said, quote, "It wasn't any of my business anyway, so I
didn't even ask her what went on." End of quote. But by April of 2013, there would be no more keeping their
relationship issues a secret. Because according to the police file, that is when Laura found out about Dave's big
secret. I don't know what drove her into doing a Facebook deep dive. Surely she was
having some suspicions of something, but one click after another after another led her to something that upended her
life for good. Emily was actually one of the many people Laura opened up to about
this. And according to her, what Laura discovered is that Dave had quote a whole other [music] life.
He had been having an affair with a woman who he had a child with that she never knew about. And I'm not talking
about like a newborn baby, like oh he couldn't figure out how to tell her about this in the last like 9 months.
This kid was preschool age, a preschool aged son. >> And did this woman know that Dave was
married? I don't know if the woman he was having an affair with knew. I tried to know. We actually found the woman and
her and Dave are no longer together, so I was really hopeful she was going to talk to us. But if you remember from
last episode when I mentioned that there was a woman who Dave is in a child custody battle with to this day in 2026,
>> Yeah. that is this woman. Woah. >> So she declined to speak with our reporter for either episode because of
her ongoing legal situation with Dave. >> Right. But to go back to April 2013, it
is clear from the police file that is when Laura found out about this other family and she was like done done and
telling everyone as much. To Stacy, she said she quote did not want to stay with
someone who would cheat [music] and lie. End quote. And according to Emily, finding out about this affair finally
gave Laura the push she needed to leave Dave and file for divorce. And she told Emily that she had it all planned out.
The weekend of April 20th, Dave was going to be taking two of their kids to this wrestling tournament in New Mexico.
And so she was going to use that time to get a new car, to get a rental house, and she planned to move all of her stuff
into that. Now come that weekend, everything was lined up and ready to go. The last step would be to loop in the
nanny because Laura didn't want Dave to even know where she lived. So she needed
Stacy to agree to kind of be the one to usher the kids between the houses for whatever custody arrangement ended up
being made. >> Okay. Now, the dates of the following events are inconsistent in Gilbert police
interviews. So I'm going to base the stuff I'm about to tell you, this timeline, off of the Highland Justice
Court's report [music] which was taken on Sunday, April 21st. Saturday, April 20th, Laura told Stacy
her plan. And she asked Stacy to take their third son, the one that had stayed home with her, to Stacy's own apartment
for the night so that she could get all of her things out of the shared house and into her rental. And she explicitly
told Stacy, quote, "Not to tell Dave anything." And Stacy asked Laura if she was sure about the divorce and Laura
said yes, quote, "Everything was taken care of." So the next day, Sunday, April 21st, when Dave was on his way back home
with the two kids, Laura told Stacy to bring their other son back to Dave's so that he would be there when Dave got
back. Now according to what Dave told police, after he got there, Laura put all three children in the car and told
Dave that she was going to take them to the store. But she told the kids that they were going to have an adventure and
stay at a friend's house. >> Assuming friend's house is code for her rental. It doesn't say that explicitly
in the police report, but I think that's a fair assumption. So here's the thing though, Laura didn't drive off right
away. I don't know why, but she went back into the house. And what happened in the hour or so that followed is
different [music] depending on which Sweetman is narrating. The only official record we have is that at 8:44 p.m.
Laura called the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office from a movie theater about [music] 8 minutes away from Dave's
house. She told them that about an hour and a half prior she had an altercation with her husband at their house where he
held her against her will and threatened to kill her and himself. She said that she tried to leave
multiple times but each time Dave grabbed her by the throat and pulled her back into the house. And she said that
he tried to choke her three separate times. When she finally escaped she went to that theater where she was joined by
her friend. >> Wait, where were the kids that whole time? Honestly, I don't know. It's
unclear if Stacy is still with them or if they're all still in the car or if maybe Stacy took them away. I don't know
but honestly they're just not even mentioned in the Highland Justice Court's report. All I know is that Laura
is calling from the theater and police go to their house and respond and take Dave into custody.
But when they do he's adamant that he did not hurt Laura. He denied holding her hostage explaining that during what
she called an altercation she was just feet from the door able to leave and he was sitting he says either like on the
ground or across the room from her. But he did admit that he had her car keys. So she couldn't leave. Yeah, well
at least not in the car it seems. And he also told deputies that he didn't think
he had threatened to hurt Laura but he might have said something irrational when he was upset.
>> So it's like a he said she said situation. But not quite because there was a witness in the house. A 1-hour and
2-minute long audio recording that Laura captured of the whole incident. Quiet coastal towns may seem peaceful
but they can harbor dark secrets. I'm Kylie Low host of Dark Down East a podcast that tells true crime stories
from my own New England community to help victims and families get justice. Listen to Dark Down East wherever you
get your podcasts. >> [music] >> If any copy of this recording exists [music] anymore we weren't able to find
it. According to the incident report Dave can be heard on it threatening to shoot
himself several times but he did not say that he was going to harm Laura. At least audibly. Right. And Laura did ask
to leave twice but both times Dave said no and that he wanted to talk. And one of those times it sounded like there was
a physical struggle and Laura could be heard yelling for help. Okay, so technically Dave didn't say anything out
loud. He just did something to stop her. Like way to play the semantics game dude.
>> to Dave what they heard wasn't a struggle. He told deputies that the only time he put his hands on Laura was to
quote hug her and hold her close. While she yelled help me. He says the moment where she said help me might have been
when they were like deep in an embrace I guess one of Laura's two cell phones slipped out of her belt and
>> So she yelled help me. That's what he said and he says he did. He picked up the phone and set it aside for her.
Now deputies wrote that they didn't see any marks or injuries on Laura [music] and Dave later told police quote I'm
fortunate that I didn't do anything. Which is like He's fortunate? It's a really weird thing to say. I know.
But I'm not sure if Laura like had a full body examination or if the deputy just sort of like gave her like an up
and down with his eyes at the theater because it doesn't state anywhere that she was like taken to the station or
taken to a hospital. And one of Laura's friends told deputies that they saw pink
marks on Laura's neck that had just gone away by the time that police were actually talking to her but we have no
way to actually confirm that now. The incident report literally says quote no photos were taken because none to take.
>> Is this the first kind of call like this or was there like I guess I'm I'm asking like is there any
history of violence with Dave in the past? From what we could find he was arrested for assault in 2008 but the
charges were dismissed. So I don't have any details on what that was or who it even involved.
>> Oh. However, in the police file there is a friend who said that Laura admitted to
her that Dave was abusive. Quote mostly verbal and mental abuse and some physical abuse but not as much as the
mental. End quote. And then another friend told police that people around Laura were afraid that Dave would harm
her. >> Like always afraid or just after this incident? Both but at least from what I
can read no one ever witnessed any physical violence. Injuries or not though [music] Dave did get arrested for
the assault and unlawful imprisonment and he allegedly spent a night in jail. But according to the police file when
the charges got forwarded to the Highland Justice Court they were dropped due to insufficient evidence. So
literally recording what happened isn't even enough for like the she part of he said she said. Not enough for charges.
Cool. But it was enough to get Laura an order of protection against David and full custody of the children. She filed
for that the day after this incident and Laura and Dave did not see each other again for over 5 months.
In that time she was living at her rental house doing her pediatric neurology work taking care of her kids
spending time with friends and she had even started to date. But Laura's close friends knew that this was not an easy
time for her. Emily told police that Laura was always scared of Dave and then she told us that Laura did not feel
safe. On top of that Laura was working all the time and constantly stressed particularly
about [music] money. I mean to the point where Emily said Laura would make comments about what she couldn't afford
at the coffee shop that they would go to together. And Laura apparently stopped going to the gym for personal training
because she could no longer afford sessions. I know money and like financial support
is a big reason that a lot of people feel like they they can't leave a relationship but I'm
I'm kind of surprised about that in this situation cuz like girl's legit got like a good paying job
as a doctor. >> Neurology. Yeah, I'm sure she got paid well at Phoenix Children's Hospital. I'm
just not clear what other factors were at play. I mean I know Emily asked her about it before but Laura would just say
that she had a lot of student loan debt which like med school that's no joke. >> But she also mentioned some IRS tax
stuff that had to do with Dave. Okay, go on. I can't. Like we weren't able to corroborate anything involving the IRS
with official records so I don't know what Laura might have been referring to. But what is in the police report though
is this. One of Laura's coworkers at Phoenix Children's Hospital told investigators
that he and Laura discovered Dave had started several businesses that she didn't even know about.
He told police that she only found out when people began calling her demanding money over bad deals that Dave had
allegedly made. And one of the men that Laura was seeing around the time of her death told police
he knew Dave had quote dickered over on a bunch of money. >> [music] >> End quote. But he didn't elaborate.
According to what Emily told police Dave would say things to Laura about how he was going to end up with the money in
the divorce. >> is there even money to end up with? Dude, I don't know maybe in 2013 right?
I know by 2020 when his business partner Nick Cordova was murdered he was allegedly taking money from the business
and we know there were like previous times that he and his businesses were sued for unlisted reasons and he was
ordered to pay thousands of dollars. Plus if you look at the businesses that David had at the time Gilbert Air and
Monster Impound and Recovery online there's still like a number of negative reviews alleging price gouging
and illegal towing scams. >> And did he own those at the time of the divorce? The towing company yes but it
looks like actually Gilbert Air was founded a couple of years later. So listen, this what I'm saying is I don't
know what Dave's full financial deal was in 2013 but you definitely can see some
like red flags at least later. >> And how did these threats about money even make it to Laura if there's a
protective order in place and he doesn't even know where she lives? Like I assume
they they weren't even speaking. What I know is that the order of protection barred Laura and Dave from having
in-person contact or like talking on the phone but like texting email was totally
fine. I never like understand these things. So it's very possible that they could have been messaging each other
about the divorce. [music] But by all accounts Dave really didn't see Laura or the children even until
October of 2013. This is about 5 months after the domestic violence call. That is when a judge finally gave Dave
some kind of shared custody where he would get the boys every other week. Even then Dave and Laura didn't see each
other except for once at their son's baseball game because remember they had Stacy to usher the boys back and forth.
So it was important to Laura that Dave not know where she lived but friends and family wonder if he found out [music]
because they told police that in the months leading up to her death Laura was worried that someone had been following
her. And they believed that it was either Dave or someone that he hired. So maybe he could figure out where it was
she was living. To be clear, no one ever reported seeing Dave at Laura's rental house, and Dave insisted to detectives
that he had no idea where she lived. But, there is one detail in the police report that sticks out to me.
On November 14th, this is less than a month before Laura would be found dead in her home.
One of her neighbors called police to report a suspicious car parked across the street from Laura's house. It was a
white Isuzu Rodeo with an Arizona license plate. He said there was a white man in the driver's seat doing something
on his phone, and when he walked up to ask him, you know, what he was doing in the neighborhood, the man said that it
was none of his business and basically cursed [music] him out. Now, our reporter, Nicole Kegan, was able to get
in touch with this neighbor, a man named Harry. And he said that this car drove by his
house at least three times that day, and he called police because he thought the
man driving might have been following him. Now, he couldn't say exactly how long the car was in the neighborhood,
but at least a couple of hours, and it seemed like the driver was looking for somebody.
But then at night, Harry noticed that the car parked in [music] Laura's driveway.
>> And did this happen more than once? Well, Harry said that was the only time that he knew of this car being in the
neighborhood. But either way, he said that police didn't seem to care about the call, and they never followed up
with him. And he says he remembers calling them back later himself, and they just said, quote, "Nothing
further." Now, all Harry remembered was that the guy in the car was a white guy with a
medium build, which like sure, fits Dave, but also everyone else. >> How many other Yeah, how many other
guys? But here's the wild part. For what it's worth, Harry did keep meticulous records. So, when Nicole was talking to
him about this, he's like, "Oh, you You know what? Wait 1 second. Let me just go
check my crime folder to see if I have notes from that time." His what? >> I don't know if this man listens to the
show, but he should. He is a crime junkie, because what he did reminds me of when I was young and we would go on
road trips with my family. >> Yes. And while other kids, I'm sure, were like on road trips had coloring
books or like playing I spy, I had this like little notebook. I'm sure you know who I am. Who are I would like to see
this notebook. >> I would like take down license plate numbers of cars that I found to be
suspicious. >> You, like 7-year-old you. It never I don't like that car. It never came in
handy, but Harry's crime folder might come in handy. Because when he went to his computer, he's like, "Yep, I took
notes about this." >> Of course he did. >> I took notes of the type of car, and by
the way, the license plate number, which, Brit, we tried so hard to run this down. I mean, he gave us the
number, >> Yeah. but there's this thing called the Driver's Privacy Protection Act, which
keeps people who aren't detectives or PIs from running license plates to identify a driver.
>> Which like makes sense. And listen, that's where we were like, we even were like, "Oh, we'll just like hire a PI."
But like the DPPA makes it difficult to even do that, too, cuz you're you can't just like be a media company and use
them to like go around it. >> Right, right. But I know for a fact that Harry gave this license plate number to
the police. What I don't know is if they ever did anything with it, if they tracked down
this driver, or who that driver was, because there is no further mention of this tip in Laura's file. Now, we did
FOIA the incident report for Harry's call, but as of this recording, we still haven't gotten a response from the
Gilbert Police Department. In fact, when you submit a request through their portal, it says the minimum processing
time is 18 months. Is that even legal? Uh our legal counsel says she doesn't think so. It's a
constructive denial, which is basically means that the agency didn't want to explicitly say no.
>> anything but no. Yeah, but like so they're basically in their actions or like their lack of actions like does the
speaking for them. So, million-dollar question, what kind of car did Dave drive? Did I
have no idea? No one we asked remembered from that time. And this would have This
would have been a super simple question for police to have answered at the time,
but there is nothing in the records about them checking cars after this tip came in.
>> And was this neighbor's tip in Laura's file, or is just like records we pulled
from calls placed in the neighborhood? >> it's right there in the file. It's just
not >> Never followed up on. >> No. But regardless, I don't think it's outrageous to speculate that whoever was
in that car, for whatever reason, it might have had to do with Laura. Well, yeah, especially if they're parked
in her driveway. So. That is when she did something strange right before Thanksgiving.
Laura wrote a prescription and asked one of her friends, who we're going to call
Tara, for a favor. She wanted Tara to fill the prescription in Tara's name, but then give it to
Laura. Was this something she had done before? Not that we know of. And Tara actually told police that Laura had
never asked her to do any favors at all. But she said that Laura was, quote, "Really behind on paperwork and in
desperation" when she asked this. I don't know if she ever did this before with anyone else. As far as I can tell,
Laura was like a pretty by-the-books person, and this is definitely not legal. Like it could be considered
prescription fraud. And if there is controlled substances involved, >> then it's a huge deal.
>> Yeah, I mean, it can rise to felony charges. It's like the kind of thing that if found out by the medical board,
could cause someone's medical license to be suspended or even revoked. So, I don't know what was driving her to
do this now. >> And do we know what the prescription was for? No, it's redacted in the file, and
Tara declined to speak with us for this episode. [music] Emily, who we talked to, said that she
believed it was for treating anxiety, which like given everything that was going on with Laura at the time, like it
didn't surprise Emily that she might have taken something like that. So, now this brings me to early December.
[music] Laura took the kids to San Diego for Thanksgiving, so when they got back on
December 1st, the boys went to stay with their dad for a full week, including the
weekend. So, they're with him on Monday, December 9th, the morning that Laura Sweetman was
found dead. That morning, it was pretty obvious that something had happened to Laura. She was
a no-call, no-show for work. And I've worked with doctors before. For any good doctor, that is unheard of. So, pretty
early in the morning, one of her co-workers started making calls to check on her. When she didn't answer, they
called Stacy and asked her to go check on Laura. This was shortly before 9:10 a.m.
When Stacy got to Laura's, the metal gate door on the front door, it's like what we would call like a screen door,
right? That was locked and the front door, both locked as usual. So, she had to use her key to get inside. She was
greeted by both of Laura's dogs, but she didn't see Laura anywhere or hear anything when she called out her name.
Before she could even go up the stairs to check Laura's room, she saw the first sign that something was off. Right at
the base of the staircase, the plastic gate that was usually in place to keep Laura's smaller dog from getting by was
laying on the floor in this like diagonal position a few feet away from the staircase. Stacy actually had to
move it out of the way so she could get up the steps. And upstairs, Laura wasn't
in her unmade bed. Stacy found her in the bathtub unresponsive. Within 5 minutes of calling 911, Gilbert
firefighters are at the scene. And what's documented is that Laura was naked, unresponsive, and foaming at the
mouth. And while there was water in the tub, Laura's face wasn't submerged, and there
were no other obvious wounds or bleeding that explained what had happened. But there was no hope of saving her,
because when the fire captain tried to move Laura's arm, he realized that she was already in full rigor, which sets in
after like 6 [snorts] to 12 hours-ish. >> Which would put her time of death at >> Based on my math, sometime between 9:00
p.m. on the 8th and 3:00 a.m. on the 9th. But there is no time of death listed in the police or the ME reports.
So, do we know if anyone saw her in in that window of time? Well, before I get to that, I I want to first point out
some things about the scene. To the first detective that arrives on scene, everything seems in order. Like
there's no obvious signs of a struggle or forced entry. But according to Stacy, there are some things that are out of
place. That dog gate, for one. But also, when she heard the fire truck coming, Stacy went to let the dogs out
in the backyard, and that's when she got a second sign that something was off. The back door, which Laura always locked
before going to bed, was unlocked. So, someone could have easily walked right in. Or walked right
out. It also could mean that she died before going to sleep that night, like before all of her like nighttime
routine. >> Right, before she got a chance to fully lock up for the night. And until police
know what caused Laura's death, like they do have to treat this whole thing as suspicious, which means talking to
those who knew her. This is how we have anything in the police file. And I want to start with Dave's first interview
with police. Because it's really strange. When a detective calls Dave the day that
Laura was found, he tells Dave that Laura is part of an investigation and [music] asks if Dave is able to pick
their kids up from school. A part of an investigation? Like they don't tell him that Laura is dead? Dave asks what's
wrong, but they say that they can't explain it over the phone. So, they agree to meet Dave at his house. Here's
where it gets interesting. So, according to the police file, when Dave greets the
detective outside of his house, he's already crying. Even though they haven't told him what
happened. Exactly. Did Stacy tell him? No, the detective immediately clocks this as odd. So, he specifically asks if
Dave spoke to anyone and he says, [music] "No." So, why is he crying? File doesn't say.
But when the detective finally does tell Dave that Laura died, he just like doubles over and starts
sobbing uncontrollably, which the detective says continues for the duration of their conversation. And they
speak about Laura's medical history, the order of protection, the divorce, the domestic violence call, and even his
affair. But Dave maintains that he had no idea where Laura lived or what her life was
like after they separated. From what I can see, the last time he tells them that he saw Laura was at their son's
baseball game back in October. And for all the things they do talk about, nowhere in the summary [music] do I see
the detective asking Dave any accusatory questions or even anything about where he was the night before. So, we don't
know if he had an alibi or not. Not explicitly, no. But what his three sons were with him all
weekend. How old were they? Back in 2013, they would have been like around six, eight, and nine. And do we know if
they had a sitter at any point or could he have left after they went to bed? Like that would make for a pretty good
alibi. >> Yeah, I mean, sure. Like Laura's rental was only 15 minutes away, but there's no
record of anyone sitting for them. And we reached out to one of Dave and Laura's now adult sons for comment, but
he declined to speak and asked that we not contact anyone else in his family. What I do know is that Gilbert PD did
look at Dave's phone and that showed that he was at his house from the night of December 8th through the morning of
the 9th, up until he dropped the kids off at school between like 7:00 and 7:30 that morning.
>> You mean his phone was there. That's his phone. A phone can be left anywhere.
>> Sure, which is why I'm dying to see more records. Like was there activity on it
during that time? Like was it normal activity? Did they look at location data outside of just that night? Did it ever
come close to Laura's rental? And I would also really love to ask Dave about all of this, but he didn't respond to
any of our calls or our messages. So, when all this happened, were people suspicious of Dave like right off the
bat? Oh, yeah. Laura's dad, her stepmom, one of her coworkers, and Emily all told
police that they thought Dave had something to do with Laura's death. In fact, according to the police file, the
moment Emily heard that Laura died, she immediately texted a friend and said, quote,
"I'm so sick to my stomach. I know David had to do something with it." End quote.
I mean, if we think about possible motive, with Laura gone, Dave could avoid the divorce proceedings.
He'd automatically get custody of the kids. Like this would simplify things for him.
>> what did happen. And some people we spoke to have suggested that Dave benefited from Laura's life insurance
policy, though we have not been able to corroborate that with any official records.
But spoiler alert, Dave has never been publicly named as a suspect or person of interest in this case.
But also, no one has. Because this case has never been discussed publicly by the
police department. So, in my eyes, Dave does seem suspicious, but it's hard to tell how much of that is coming from the
evidence [music] versus like the people in the police file who were already convinced it was
him. And I'll go on the record as saying he may not be the only person in Laura's
life who deserves that level of attention. We know Laura had started to date other
men when she separated from Dave, right? Well, she was in communication with at least five of them in the weeks leading
up to her death. And one of those five was the last known person to see Laura alive.
So, the day before Laura died, this would have been Sunday, December 8th, she invited a man that she had been
seeing named Will over to her place. Will was a trainer at the gym that she went to.
Now, his description of their relationship when he talks to police on December 10th is that they met because
of the training, like he trained both her and Dave at one point, and then they started talking more, going to lunch
together, and that they were, quote, basically friends. But Will does admit to being at Laura's
on the 8th, quote, "for maybe an hour." Okay, like which hour and like to do what? For some reason I cannot
understand, they never actually ask Will for the time that he left, which like is
the important part? >> Yes. And we asked Emily if she knew because she and Will used to be friends,
too, and she said that at the time he told her that he left between 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. But I can't find anything to
corroborate that and it doesn't seem like he explicitly says like what he was even there for. Or at
least if he does say that, it doesn't make it into the police file. So, when he left, what they were doing, I don't
know. Now, he says that when he left at whatever time that was, Laura was completely fine and he says that she
didn't mention anything about anyone else coming to the house that night. But even he adds that he knew Laura was
afraid of Dave and that he really hoped she died of natural causes. I mean, for his sake or hers? That is a great
follow-up question that was not asked. What the detective does seem to ask Will is [music] if he still has any text
messages with Laura from Sunday on his phone. And he says, "No." That he deleted them because he had a
girlfriend and he didn't want her to know about Laura. But I thought he and Laura were just friends.
>> Buddies, right? Yeah. I I think it's safe to assume that it could have been more than that because when Will
consents to give his phone over to police, which he does, he prefaces that there are, quote, images of Laura on it.
Whatever that means. Now, along with his phone, Will gives his DNA, though I don't know what for
because there is no mention in the redacted file of anything that they might be wanting to compare this to. I
know investigators did do a sexual assault kit on Laura, but none of the files that we received mention the
results of that. And do they ever just straight-up ask Will if he had anything to do with Laura's death?
>> Not that I can see. And like Dave, there is no information whatsoever about an
alibi. Actually, at least with Dave, we have phone data. We don't even get that for Will in the file. We don't even know
for sure if he like did leave Laura's place. Well, I mean, we know he wasn't there on Sunday when Stacy got there in
the morning. >> that's all we know. That's all I can say for sure, right. And our reporter
reached out to Will for comment, but as of this recording, he hasn't gotten back
to us. But like I said, Will wasn't the only man that Laura was seeing at the time. In fact, he's not even the only
man she saw that weekend. Through analyzing Laura's text messages, police were able to determine that on
Saturday, December 7th, Laura went on a date with a man named Shaheen. And on Sunday, she texted multiple men to try
and make plans for that night. She asked a man named Ameka to see a movie. She was going to spend the night
with a man named Darren, but he canceled. So, that night she ended up having dinner with a man named Bruce.
And then after that dinner is when Will must have come over. Do these guys know about each other? Well, Will tells the
police that he didn't know about anyone else. As for the other guys, we tried to reach
all of them because as far as I can tell, police never did. But as of this recording, we have not been able to
connect with any of them. I mean, you want to talk about motive? Like who's to say what one of these guys
didn't like find out about the rest, get jealous? >> Right? Like what if the car that Harry
saw, the neighbor, was one of these guys? >> Which like I was going to ask like did
any of them have like a medium build and were white? But like like we said before, that could be any of them.
>> Yeah, I couldn't find any photos of Darren, Ameka, or Shaheen online. But I mean, Will and Bruce could fit that
description. >> And like what if one of them saw Will leaving the house and like confronted
her? The problem I have with a theory like that, no matter who like it would involve, is that feels like a crime of
passion, right? And those usually have a clear-cut cause of death. That is not what we get here.
Which brings me to the part of this case that has been keeping me up at night. Laura's autopsy report. We were able to
get the medical examiner's report and the toxicology report completely unredacted from the Maricopa County
Medical Examiner's office. And let's just say they raise a lot of questions. So, our reporter Nicole
reached out to the medical examiner who performed Laura's autopsy. His name is Dr. Mark Shelley and she consulted an
outside forensic pathologist who has no ties to this case to go through everything line by line and make sure
that we understood exactly what the findings were. The first thing of note is that Laura had no internal injuries.
But there is evidence of trauma on her body. Dr. Shelley notes surface-level bruises,
scrapes, and redness on Laura's head, back, breast, elbow, forearms, wrist, hand, leg, and knee.
But according to the pathologist that we consulted, it's hard to know what what like these might be [music] from. Like
there's no description of any particular patterns. >> And they were all like fresh or or
recent? >> So not all of them cuz this is the other thing, some appear to have been at least
a week old. And Will told police in his interview that Laura bruised easily and would have bruises in random places,
specifically like her shins and her arms, but he didn't know how she got them. He said it never looked like she
had been beaten up or anything like that. >> Okay, did police specifically ask him
that because to them it looked like she'd been beaten up? It's honestly not totally clear from the file like what
prompted that information out of him, but it also could have come up when they were talking about her workout routines
since I mean right we know he's a trainer cuz I actually know that Dave told police Laura {quote} works out like
an idiot. And the pathologist that we consulted said that all of these injuries could have been sustained
during frequent workouts except for the signs of trauma to her head. There is a contusion around the size of
like a business card on the top of Laura's head and then another near her left temple.
Neither of these were lethal injuries. But I don't could they have knocked Laura unconscious? The pathologist says
it's not likely, but it is possible. And were those injuries recent? I would assume yes because they're not noted as
healing like some of the other bruises are. But I can't say 100% for sure. I mean
without photos or more detailed report, the bruises and the contusions are hard to explain. And what's somehow even
harder to explain is the foaming at the mouth. And this is where things start to get
really weird. According to the pathologist, foaming at the mouth is common in drowning because when water
enters someone's lungs and they try to breathe, the air mixes with the water and this thing called surfactant,
[music] which is a natural soapy fluid. And like this mixing creates foam. But Dr. Shelley wrote {quote} there was
no definitive evidence of drowning. End quote. Which also sounds like there was no definitive
evidence that she didn't drown. The pathologist told us that given the bruising on Laura's arm, it's possible
that someone could have held her underwater and drowned her. But without [music] seeing the scene
photos or photos of her body, he just can't say anything with certainty. And Gilbert PD hasn't released any of that.
>> But was there any water in her airways? Dr. Shelley doesn't note any water specifically, but there was {quote}
moderate amounts of blood and frothy fluid. End quote. And that was like in her lungs.
And I wish Gilbert PD would release more or talk to us because to me, the number
one question I have is how was she positioned in the tub? Same because like we know her head wasn't submerged, but I
mean did the water drain out a little bit? Right like you would think that like if her nose and mouth had been
underwater for like a longer period of time, I would I would imagine that it would be like foamy. Like maybe that
would wash away. >> that, yeah. And like actually how much foam was there even? I don't know. Was
she laying down like she was just like enjoying a bath? How cold was the water? I have 4 million questions that the
autopsy report alone does not answer. Now, I know from talking to Emily that Laura was a bath girly. Take it from one
who knows. Particularly loved taking baths at night. But did she go into that tub on her own? That is my question
and I don't know the answer. But let's say for a second that this wasn't a drowning.
There is something else that can cause foaming at the mouth and that is a heart attack. But this is truly a whole
'nother can of worms because according to the ME's report, Dr. Shelley says that he received Laura's medical history
which included {quote} a prior myocardial infarction. End quote. Which is medical speak for a heart attack. But
the pathologist that we spoke to said he wants to know where Dr. Shelley got that
medical history from because the autopsy report states that there was no scarring, no abnormalities of the heart
or cardiovascular system at all. Which he says there typically would be if there was a previous heart attack. But I
mean I know Shelley isn't just like pulling this out of thin air. He's not. That information is backed up in the
police report. In interviews, Laura's friends and family and doctors state that Laura did have a heart attack in
September 2011. This is 2 years before her death. She had it while training for a marathon and she would have been like
39 at the time. [music] And to their credit, Gilbert PD went to Laura's cardiologist who said that when she came
in in 2011, she {quote} did not have any significant blockage and there were not
any additional interventions >> [music] >> needed. So she had a heart attack, but
there was basically no physical evidence of it? I guess so. That cardiologist said that they placed Laura on this like
short-term medication until she took a stress test which showed that she was fine. And actually in May 2013, almost 7
months before her death, Laura saw her cardiologist who said that she was asymptomatic with no complaints. They
also did a blood workup at that time which showed that there was no underlying cause for the initial heart
attack. So it's like if you take everyone at their word, Laura had a heart attack. But if you look at the
evidence >> her heart >> her actual heart which you can only do in an autopsy, she didn't. So
Okay, what like I'm like spiraling on this. Was she like misdiagnosed? Was it just like severe chest pain or like a
panic attack? >> Without like actually seeing her medical records myself, I don't know how they
came to the conclusion that it was a heart attack. Like I'm I'm assuming there had to been some kind of testing,
right? She's a doctor, too. Like I don't Maybe it was so mild that it didn't leave evidence? I mean is that is
that possible? Is that even a a thing? I mean we asked Dr. Shelley, he said that
every case is different and it would depend on the exact intensity of the heart attack.
>> Which I guess makes sense. >> Yeah, and and he says that's information he doesn't remember from her medical
records and like I said, we don't have them. But he remembers that there was no evidence of a new heart attack, but he
couldn't remember if there was evidence of a previous one. And I mean if there was, I think he would have
recorded it. Correct. Maybe it was as undamaging as any heart attack could be because Emily did tell us that Laura
bounced back really quickly after this and just kind of like almost played it off. Like oh, no big deal, just like a
heart attack, whatever. But if there was anything wrong with her heart at any point, there was something Dr. Shelley
noted in his report that could have contributed to her heart stopping. He says that a prescription stimulant
medication was found at the scene. Like stimulant like Adderall? Could have been
anything like that, right? Like Adderall, Ritalin, sure if Laura had. And today, Dr.
Shelley didn't remember what the specific medication was. >> But he's saying it was at the scene. Was
it in her system? That's the catch. There is nothing in her system. Laura's toxicology screen came back completely
clean. There's no alcohol, no common drugs of abuse, no prescription stimulants, or even anxiety medication.
>> So it couldn't have contributed to her heart stopping if she didn't take it. Like finding at the scene means nothing.
Yeah, or at least she didn't take it recently if she had before. Like not that not that day, right?
>> Right like but who was the drug prescribed to? The report doesn't say. But I mean as we know, a basic drug
screen only rules out the most common drugs of abuse. >> they're looking for something specific.
>> Yeah. Like I mean it's like right, it's like probably weed, cocaine, like stimulants. It doesn't mean
that there couldn't have been like something else in Laura's system. It just means that those hypothetical drugs
or like those like common drugs were not there. And [music] Nothing else was tested for.
>> Right, nothing else was tested for. And because the toxicologist didn't include
a methodology in the report, there's no way for us to know what sorts of instruments were used and what
quantities of like drugs that they could detect. >> And is that something that's usually
included in those reports? You know, I'm finding that it really depends on the specific lab or the person performing
the autopsy. >> Great. But the pathologist that we spoke to said that the reports that he's
familiar with usually does include that stuff. And you know, this is one of like the
biggest surprises to me as I've learned about how homicide investigations work. I am shocked at how few standards there
are and like what is optional? Like with any other profession where you have people's life and death in your hands,
there are strict rules about training, certification, continued education, oaths and expectations. Think about what
like Laura probably had to go through to be a neurologist. >> Oh, yeah. But if your loved one is
murdered, you got to just hope and pray that your detective knows what he's doing and that the lab has the right
people running the right tests and then you cross your fingers. And like I'm honestly done with people coming to me
and talking about like underfunding. I know the guys in the trenches can't help it and they don't have a say, but our
government is out here spending like $200 million on a Homeland Security ad saying like don't come here in English
and based on Pentagon estimates reviewed by lawmakers by mid-March, we already spent 11.6 billion on a war that I'm
pretty sure none of us want. And you're telling me we don't have money for justice reform?
>> like a little bit of justice reform. >> have to start a nonprofit to pay out of
my own pocket to solve cold cases because we can't afford it. Like give me a break. What should be done with our tax
dollars can be done. You can solve cases with your vote, you guys. Just remember
that. But I will get off my soapbox and back to this autopsy report that apparently
can include or exclude whatever it wants because there are no rules. There are few rules and it's optional to follow
them. So, another thing that the pathologist we consulted with pointed out was that
there is at least one test result that is discussed in the ME's report that is not mentioned in the tox screen. It's a
sodium level test on fluid from Laura's eye which apparently shows an unusually low number.
And that, he says, is something that you could see in association with fresh water drowning.
It's not definitive evidence [music] of drowning. The pathologist said that you could also see that in someone who
like binge drinks water, but it does raise the question. What else was tested that might have been
left out of the report? All in all, the pathologist said that what he can see from the reports seems to be reasonable,
but if he were doing the autopsy, there are a few things that he would have done
differently to try and get more information. He said that he would have wanted to do a detailed neuropathy
examination or dissect Laura's cardiac conduction system, which Dr. Shelley says that he might have done and is just
not mentioned in the file. But like he doesn't remember now. The consultant also would have wanted to
do some genetic testing to see if Laura had any inherited conditions that could have caused sudden death because of a
heart problem. Like there is this thing called long QT syndrome Which we talked about before. It was in the Lauren
Spierer episode way back, but that's an inherited heart disorder that can cause sudden fainting, seizures, or cardiac
arrest, particularly when the heart beats in an irregular way, like during exercise or stress. Now, Dr. Shelley
says that he doesn't remember if the genetic testing for that was available back in 2013.
>> But it's not like Laura was exercising in her bathtub. True, but we know she was extremely stressed in the months
leading up to her death and, you know, when Will was there, I don't know what these buddies were doing when they were
hanging out. Listen, like the pathologist we talked to said that he doesn't know if any of those tests would
even yield anything. [music] But like what if they did? >> Right. He said that the way Laura was
found suggests to him that she drowned. But what he can't interpret from the reports is why might she have drowned?
>> Mhm. Did someone hold her under the water? Did she have a seizure? Did she fall and get knocked unconscious? Did
she overdose on something on purpose or by accident and it's just a drug that wasn't tested for in the tox screen?
>> I mean, the fall question is really interesting because I feel like the thing that doesn't fit into any of this
is like the dog gate being at the bottom of the stairs. Like I know. >> It it's like I don't know what to make
of that. >> Right, it's notable, but but I don't know what it means. >> Right, did someone like rush out and hit
it? Did she trip over it and hit her head? >> And I I think if she had done it, like
she would have put the gate back up. Like it was there for a reason, it's her house, right?
>> Maybe. Without further investigation like like I we have to guess because all we
have are these reports which don't explain any of that. And I don't know what to think based on just reviewing
these reports. Dr. Shelley said it looks like a typical autopsy and though he doesn't remember what he was thinking
back then, he would make the same undetermined conclusion about the cause and manner of death today with the
information he has. Which he he says is not a common finding that like in the medical examiner world, but quote it
happens. And this is an interesting part, whenever it does happen, the case has to be reviewed by at least one other
pathologist. >> And was this one? I couldn't tell you because there's no documented evidence of a review in the
ME report and when we asked Dr. Shelley if that happened, he said it likely would have been reviewed, but quote 2013
resources are different from 2026 resources, so my best recollection is that we would have done everything we
could have in 2013. End quote. So, here's an example of us having a rule in place, but no one has
to show proof that they're following it. That is if they're even following it. It would
be really great to have someone other than just Dr. Shelley to look to in this case because
there's something that I haven't told you yet. Something that we were not prepared for.
So, Brett, >> [laughter] >> when we were reporting on this case, I get this call from Nicole and she's
like, I have to tell you something. And she's like I don't even I can't even tell you. I need you to just like hear
this clip that I just found from Channel 12 in Arizona. I wanted to play the clip for you. We
could not license it. The fees were like outrageous for the 19 seconds that I wanted.
But the clip starts and there's this newscaster and they're like a doctor takes a dead Marine's brain home with
him and then allows his kids to hold it and take pictures [music] with it. What?
[laughter] And then the anchor pops in and he's like, yeah, a decision that led to this doctor being reprimanded. But it
didn't keep Maricopa County from hiring that very same doctor to work on some of
the most high-profile criminal cases. >> [laughter] >> Okay, sorry. I'm like letting the shock
like wash over my body. That's Dr. Shelley. Okay. >> [laughter] >> Okay. And this is before he did Laura's
autopsy. >> Yeah. Before Maricopa County hired him. Wendy Halloran did a full investigation
into Dr. Shelley's past which revealed that in December 2011, when he was a military medical examiner in Portsmouth,
Virginia, he was performing an autopsy on a Marine Corps sergeant who was found dead in his home.
Afterward, he was meant to take the brain, considered evidence, Right. >> to a naval hospital in Virginia for
further examination. But as I just told you, that's not what he did. [music] Instead, he took it to his house, took
it out of the stock jar, and handed it to his young kids to feel while his wife took pictures. I'm sorry. I'm like
literally >> [laughter] >> speechless. I have like zero words, but all the questions.
>> And Dr. Shelley he did bring the brain to the hospital the next day, but the Virginia Medical Board found out about
his like little detour from an anonymous caller and then they launched this like
whole investigation. >> Yeah, I feel like those pictures have to live on like the wife's cell phone
somewhere. >> to imagine someone saw the pictures and that's what prompted the call. I don't
know. Trust me, we scoured the internet for these pictures if they're anywhere out there, zero luck. Now, the Virginia
Medical Board ended up reprimanding Dr. Shelley. They slapped him with a $2,500 fine. That's it? Well, yes and no
because according to Channel 12, the Navy had also launched their own investigation and though it was found
that Dr. Shelley's show and tell didn't affect the brain examination in any way, he was put on
desk duty, his hospital privileges were suspended, and he was not allowed to do anything clinical. Great. I feel like
this is all semantics. Was he fired or not? The commanding officer of the naval hospital in Virginia quote recommended
that Shelley's privileges be revoked. End quote. >> That's not an answer. >> I know, I'm getting there. But the
surgeon general they had to give the final sign off before that could happen though, Shelley was offered this job
with the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's office in Arizona. >> He got out before he got fired.
>> Yep, isn't like I've seen this in like departments you can resign first, right?
All he had to do was go get his Arizona medical license approved. So, to facilitate that, he wrote this letter to
the board about the indiscretion and I'm actually going to have you read the part
where he describes what it is he did like in his own words. I told my children that I had done an
autopsy and retained the brain so that an expert could examine it. My older son and my stepdaughter
expressed an interest as they always have with my occupation. So, I showed the brain to them and explained what the
different parts of the brain are and how it works. I also allowed them to gently
feel the brain while wearing plastic mittens? I emphasized respect for the decedent
the entire time we examined the brain, which was no more than approximately 3 minutes.
>> 3 minutes. Okay, like in this context, can we like define what respect means? I
thought you were going to say plastic mittens because I want to know what plastic mittens are. And I don't It
might be a medical examiner thing that I'm unaware of, but like I'm imagining like oven mitts. Yeah.
>> But I don't know. Listen, when questioned about his own past, cuz we had to ask him about this,
Dr. Shelley told us, quote, "All the articles speak for themselves and I don't have anything to add."
End quote. Either way, he got his Arizona license in a 5-2 board vote. So, in June 2013, Maricopa
County hired him. And then 5 months onto the job is when he performed Laura's autopsy. There really like aren't any
actual real rules, are there? I have not told you the half of it. So, my spicy little soapbox speech might
have seemed maybe out of left field, but it's because like I've been living in this. You're going to get there. So,
Shelley is the only person we have documented as signing off on the ME report. The guy who signed off on Laura's
toxicology report was someone else, Norman Wade. And surprise, surprise, he has a
checkered past, too. According to Channel 12, in the early '90s, before Norman was the laboratory
director at the Maricopa County ME's office, he was a crime lab manager for a sheriff's office in California.
And while there, he took a gun and another item of evidence out of the evidence room and sold them at a pawn
shop. What? >> He got convicted of grand theft of a firearm in 1995, served 30 days in jail,
and was placed on probation. But here's what's wild. Maricopa County hired him as a forensic toxicologist in 1994
while that criminal investigation was unfolding. And then after his arrest, Norman
resigned from his post, but 5 years later, in 1999, he applied to come back to Maricopa,
this time as the lab director. Which is like a a promotion. On his application, Norman checked a box saying that he had
never been convicted of a crime other than minor traffic violation. Even though a fingerprint check revealed
his record and the information was sent to the medical examiner's office, he started the job anyway.
He went on to testify in major cases for nearly two decades until his [music] past resurfaced. Resurfaced, but it was
there the whole time. Yeah, he was investigated for failing to disclose the conviction and ultimately
he retired in 20 >> AKA just got out before he could get fired. >> 2016, and Norman did not respond to our
request for comment. Two comments here. Weren't you living in Maricopa County during this time?
>> I was. Like how hard up for people is Maricopa County? Literally, that was my first thought and obviously other
people's, too, cuz Channel 12 like asked them for a statement about all this back
in 2017. And they said, quote, "The Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner
faces the same challenge that ME offices across the country are encountering, a shortage of forensic pathologists. The
pool of qualified medical examiners is approximately 500. Maricopa County alone has 15 positions,
11 of which are filled. We expect to fill those remaining positions with exemplary talent. No employee is
perfect. We do not expect perfect past. What current management does expect is integrity, hard work, and
professionalism from the moment a person starts working here." Which like Listen,
I get I didn't realize like things were that dire. I think this is a good callout for our crime junkies. Like
there are some great openings for great people. But I to me it's wild that you can have like a
conviction like that and they're just like so desperate that they're like we might we're willing to risk all these
future cases. I don't know. >> cuz like I feel like everyone we've talked to in this job in our history,
like law enforcement sources always tell us the best indicator of future behavior
is past behavior. >> is past behavior. And like this is pretty clear past behavior to me, at
least. Listen, it is absolutely possible that Laura's autopsy was done according
to protocol with the highest integrity. But everything I just told you is enough, I think, to call that into
question. >> Yeah. And so if the reason that this case isn't being investigated is because
of the ruling undetermined undetermined, and that was made while Laura's body was
at this medical examiner's office, I think that at the very least, that work should be double-checked. Wait, is that
the reason they stopped investigating like once the autopsy came [music] back? Yeah, the autopsy came back in May 2014,
and then 4 months later the case was ruled inactive. Though the file doesn't like it doesn't explicitly make that
connection. The concluding report says that based on gathered facts and the undetermined medical findings, the case
would no longer be actively investigated. I guess nothing I've heard today has convinced me that we can trust
the systems that are at play here. Like it's not just the ME's office, right? Like in last week's episode, you
mentioned like allegations about Gilbert PD destroying police records illegally.
>> Yeah, so back in February, the Attorney General's office was reviewing those claims and they haven't made any public
statements since. Obviously, we reached out to them for comment, but as of this recording, haven't heard back on that,
either. So, here is what I want people to take away from this story. I think in the absence of an
investigation, all people have been left to do is point fingers at Dave. There is
an alleged prior history of abuse. There is an order of protection, a pending divorce, all good reasons to be
suspicious. But I am also kind of suspicious of a lot of the people in this case who were just never looked
into. Police never interviewed any of the guys that I told you Laura was seeing, other than Will. They never
searched their phones. They never looked at their locations or asked for alibis.
If Dave didn't do anything, he should be pissed off, too, because perhaps a better investigation could have answered
all of the open-ended questions that we have, and no one would be talking about him or his wife's death 13 years later.
It is not too late to take another look at this case, but that's not happening. It never has.
Laura's nanny told us that she called Gilbert PD almost every day in the wake of Laura's death to ask if there was
anything at all that they could tell her. And she was always turned away. And at a certain point, she was told
that Laura had a heart attack. Even then, she didn't know if they really looked into that or if they just were
like making that assumption. And Laura's neighbor who called in the suspicious vehicle told us that he remembers seeing
all of the police tape up around Laura's house, but he didn't even know what it was like for because police never
knocked on his door to ask him anything at all. He didn't even know Laura's name
until our reporter told him. Which is bonkers, especially when you think about the fact that you have Will who is
telling you he was right there with her that night right before she died. Like did you see him leave? Did you see any
other car? Did you hear anything? >> I know it is wild to me. And by the way, I'm not even sure how
thorough the few interviews that Gilbert PD did were because Emily told us that her call with them only lasted like 10
minutes. A call? They didn't bring her to the station? No, they called her while she was at her training studio and
then they just never followed up again. So, she told us she felt like they kind of just pushed Laura's case to the side.
Even Laura's dad told us that he has an extremely small amount of first-hand knowledge as to what actually happened
to his daughter. [music] He didn't want to do a formal interview for this episode, but he told us that he
does want to see justice in her case. You think Gilbert PD would have at least taken another look 7 years later when
Nick Cordova was murdered and the same man's name is starting to get like thrown around again in conversation. You
would think, but like I said, there is no mention at all of Laura in Nick's case file.
So, I want to end by saying that I cannot give any explanation for why the police seemingly did so little
work on Laura's case. But I can say that in the cases of Rachel Hansen and Nick Cordova, both stories that we've
recently covered on this show that are also out of Gilbert PD, pressure from the media did get them to
release additional records, and both of those cases reportedly remain active to this day. So, this is where we need the
help of our crime junkies. You guys, it is time to break the 12-year silence on Laura Sweetman's case.
One glance at her memorial Facebook page and it's clear to see the starring role
that she played in so many people's lives, especially the children that she saw in her practice who lost their
dedicated doctor. She never let any of the stressors in her life keep her from enjoying it. In
fact, her presence was so bright and so positive that her loved ones decided to wear colorful clothes to her funeral
instead of black because [music] they said that's what Laura would have wanted. So, please, take to social
media. Tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. Tell your local news people. Let's get people talking about Laura
Sweetman. And let's get the Gilbert Police Department to take notice. Laura's case is no longer being
investigated by law enforcement. So, if you're hearing [music] this and you have
any information that you want to pass along to us, you can email tips@audiochuck.com.
You can find all the source material for this episode on our website, crimejunkie.com.
And you can follow us on Instagram @crimejunkiepodcast. We'll be back next week with a brand new
episode.

In December 2013, Dr. Laura Lisa Sweetman, a pediatric neurologist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, was found unresponsive inside her home in Gilbert, Arizona.

She was discovered in her bathtub. There were no clear signs of forced entry. And the official ruling? Undetermined.

But for those who knew Laura, nothing about her death made sense. In this video, we break down the case of Laura Sweetman, a story that remained largely hidden for over a decade, and the questions that still haven’t been answered such as why were there signs of unexplained trauma on Laura’s body? Why did neighbors report a suspicious vehicle outside her home weeks before her death? Why were key people in her life never fully investigated? And why did the case go inactive just months after her autopsy?

At the time of her death, Laura was in the middle of a contentious separation from her husband, David Sweetman, with an active order of protection in place. Friends say she was afraid and believed she was being watched. Meanwhile, investigators documented an unusual scene inside the home, conflicting medical findings (including possible signs consistent with drowning), a toxicology report that left critical questions unanswered, and multiple individuals who were with Laura in the days before her death but were never deeply examined.

Years later, Laura’s name resurfaced during the investigation into the 2020 murder of Nicholas “Nick” Cordova, where David Sweetman was also present at the scene. Yet, Laura’s case was never re-opened. In this episode, Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat revisit Laura Sweetman’s story, the investigative gaps, and the systemic failures that may have allowed this case to fade into silence.

What really happened to Laura Sweetman?

Laura’s case is no longer being investigated by law enforcement. If you know anything about the 2013 unattended death of Laura Lisa Sweetman in Gilbert, Arizona, please reach out to us at tips@audiochuck.com and a reporter will be in touch with you.

Key Episode Moments: 00:00 Intro 02:37 Laura & Dave’s Marriage 06:52 The Secret Second Family 09:31 When Laura Called Police 18:48 Fear, Surveillance & Suspicious Car 28:25 Laura's Body Is Found 29:55 Dave’s Reaction Raises Questions 35:15 The Last Person to See Her Alive 40:38 Autopsy & Toxicology Questions 1:04:39 Call for Answers & Outro

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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: @kallmekris The Most CONTROVERSIAL Case In US History | OJ Simpson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JhksB7R8HY @annieelise Dumbest Teens Ever Laugh at Attempted Murder Charges | Isabelle Valdez & Lois Lippert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4dOn_Vi-z0 @EleanorNeale Murdered on Spy Camera: The Carol & Stephen Baxter Case https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csasLr65M2A @rottenmangopod Influencer Hunts For Twin Lookalike On Instagram & Brutally Kills Her - But She Won't Say Why https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxy84l8uQlI

Brief Summary

Nick Cordova's murder and Laura Sweetman's suspicious death raise questions about Dave Sweetman's involvement and police investigation failures.

Key points

The Murder of Nick Cordova. Nick Cordova was shot execution style in his office, leading to a tangled web of deceit.
Laura's Discovery. Laura Sweetman uncovers her husband's affair and plans to leave him, but danger looms.
The Domestic Violence Call. Laura calls the police after a violent altercation with Dave, revealing a dark side to their marriage.
Suspicious Car in the Neighborhood. A neighbor reports a suspicious car parked outside Laura's house before her death.
Laura's Unusual Prescription Request. Laura asked a friend to fill a prescription in her name, raising legal concerns.
Dave's Odd Reaction to News. Dave was already crying when police informed him of Laura's death, raising suspicions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

"I did not want to stay with someone who would cheat and lie.".

Laura's declaration to her friend after discovering Dave's affair.

7:37WatchApr 13, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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