[ad_1]
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
Tag: 48 Hours
-
Chandler Halderson case: Did a Wisconsin man’s lies lead to the murders of his parents?
[ad_1]
This story originally aired on Nov. 5, 2022. It was updated on Aug. 5, 2023.
Bart and Krista Halderson had everything a couple could want: a beautiful home in Windsor, Wisconsin, and two sons they adored. Mitchell, 24, who worked in tech, Chandler, 23, a college student living at home.
Chandler had big ambitions – he talked of getting his IT degree, of his promising internship at an insurance company, and was especially excited about a new job he landed at Space X—founded by one of the richest people in the world, Elon Musk.
Dane County Sheriff’s Office
Everything seemed to be going well for the Haldersons. So, on Friday morning, July 2, when Krista just didn’t show up at the office, Daniel Kroninger remembers becoming concerned.
Erin Moriarty: How unusual was it for, number one, for Krista not to show up for work, not to call and just not show up? How unusual?
Daniel Kroninger: Extremely unusual.
Kroninger and Krista not only worked together, but they were also close friends.
Daniel Kroninger: So, when she hadn’t said anything to me, I was like, “we’ll that’s kinda weird” you know … It wasn’t something that she would ever do.
Kroninger says he texted and called her several times but got no response. Later that afternoon, he and his girlfriend drove over to the Halderson home. A neighbor’s security camera shows them arriving.
Daniel Kroninger: You know, knocked on the door, didn’t hear anything … peered through the window. The only thing that seemed weird was there was a coffee table on its side. … you look through the door it was kinda off to the right over by … they had a fireplace over there.
Then, Kroninger says, he walked over to the garage window.
Daniel Kroninger: I looked in. Both cars were there. And I was like, “what?” You know, why are both cars here? And I was starting to go around the back of the house, and then Chandler came out the side door … and he came out in a towel saying, “Oh, I just got outta the shower,” you know, “hey what’s goin’ on?” I was like, “we’re just looking for Bart and Krista.” And he said, “Oh yeah, they went … had to go up north this morning for an emergency up at the cabin.”
Kroninger says he was relieved to know that Bart and Krista were at the family cabin. Over the holiday weekend, he kept in touch with Chandler to see if he had heard from his mom and dad.
Daniel Kroninger: He said, “yeah, they don’t have very good service up there so you kinda have to wait till the clouds clear before they get a message.”
On Sunday July 4, Kroninger says Chandler called him and said he was “bored and needed something to do.” So, Dan invited him over to watch the fireworks and asked Chandler about his parents.
Daniel Kroninger: He mentioned that he talked to them and they’re gonna be back Monday.
Erin Moriarty: When he said that he talked to them, did he say, he talked to both his parents or just his mom? What did he say? Do you remember?
Daniel Kroninger: I don’t think he was specific … I mean, I was asking about his mom because I knew she had a doctor’s appointment coming up that she was really, really wanted to be at. I think it had been rescheduled before.
But Krista didn’t show up for work on Monday and again on Tuesday. By Wednesday July 7, when there was still no word. Dan knew something was wrong.
Daniel Kroninger: And now she’s missed her appointment
Erin Moriarty: So, now it’s all out concern.
Daniel Kroninger: Right.
Erin Moriarty: You know something’s happened to her now.
Daniel Kroninger: Right, right.
Kroninger pushed Chandler to file a missing person’s report that morning.
Det. Sabrina Sims: Chandler Halderson walked into one of our precincts to report his parents missing.
Detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Shunk with the Dane County Sheriff’s Office would lead the team to track down the missing couple.
Det. Brian Shunk: We had a lot of detectives assisting us with the caseload.
Their first stop: the Halderson home on Oak Spring Circle Drive
Erin Moriarty: So, when you first got there, who was home?
Det. Brian Shunk: It was just Chandler.
Det. Sabrina Sims: We’re inside the house with him and detectives are getting information outside and so we’re either getting phone calls or text messages of you know “hey, maybe ask about this.” We’re walking around the house with him. He’s pointing out things at the house, things that were missing that his parents took when they traveled to the cabin.
While deputies began interviewing neighbors and friends, Barbi Townsend, Krista’s first cousin, who lives in southern California, knew only what she had seen on the news: that the Halderson’s 23-year-old son Chandler had gone to the police telling them his parents were missing.
Barbi Townsend: What does that mean? What does missing mean? And that they had gone up to our cabin … the family cottage and didn’t return.
Bart and Krista had not mentioned to coworkers, or their older son Mitchell, that they’d been planning to go to the cabin that weekend. But according to Chandler, another couple, who he didn’t know, picked up his parents and drove them there.
The cabin was a remote, rustic lakeside retreat, and a treasured family heirloom. Barbi and Krista’s grandparents built it in the 1940s.
Barbi Townsend: You know, you start to think of crazy things cause our cabin’s up in the woods … and so we were worried are they being held hostage somewhere? … Are they tied up somewhere?
The day after Chandler reported them missing, his brother Mitchell and his fiancée drove three hours up north to see if he could find any sign of his parents.
Barbi Townsend: Why would they not call? Why wouldn’t there be a text or something?
Barbi Townsend: Your mind starts to go down really murky trails because you are trying to figure out what’s going on.
OFFICER (body cam): Hi there.
MITCHELL HALDERSON’S FIANCÉE: Hi there.
OFFICER: Are you guys uh …
MITCHELL HALDERSON’S FIANCÉE: The Haldersons.
OFFICER: You — OK you are affiliated with them?
MITCHELL HALDERSON’S FIANCÉE: Yes.
OFFICER: OK, maybe we could just take a walk around and see, you would know the property probably better than we would.
The police met Mitchell and his fiancée at the cabin — prepared for the worst.
SEARCHING FOR KRISTA AND BART
When the Haldersons disappeared, it stunned everyone who knew them. Barbi Townsend said neither her cousin Krista nor her husband Bart would just leave on a whim
Barbi Townsend: He was more structured. She was more nurturing – you know, indulging mom. It was a wonderful combination.
She worked as a customer service representative for an auto body shop and loved art projects. He was a managing director for an international accounting firm and enjoyed woodworking.
Barbi Townsend: They were 100 percent about family … and very involved in the scouting.
Haldersons were together on Father’s Day in June 2021, less than a month before Bart disappeared. In a photo taken that day, Mitchell is smiling and Chandler, who had a mild concussion from a fall, is wearing a neck brace.
Investigators, anxious to find out what had happened to Bart and Krista Halderson, asked deputies from the Langlade County Sheriff’s Office to help Mitchell, who brought along his fiancée, search the family’s cabin – a three-hour drive north of the family home.
When they got inside, it was dark. There were no signs of Krista and Bart. They also checked a shed; the canoe was there. It was obvious. No one had been to the cabin in a very long time.
OFFICER (body cam): They’re believed to be with another couple?
MITCHELL HALDERSON: Someone else at least.
OFFICER: OK.
When Mitchell was with the police searching the family’s cabin, Chandler was on his own hunt throughout the neighborhood.
He is seen on video doorbell cameras going door to door asking homeowners if they had seen or heard from his parents.
Dane County Sheriff’s Office
CHANDLER HALDERSON (doorbell camera video): It’s kinda difficult to track them down.
Reporter Adam Duxter, now with CBS station WCCO in Minneapolis, worked in Madison, Wisconsin, at the time. He immediately started calling his sources.
Adam Duxter: So, we’re waiting to hear back from the sheriff’s office, and my boss at the time, he was like, “Well you can’t just sit around, you gotta go start shooting something” … and so … packed my gear in my car and drove out to their street in Windsor.
He knocked on the Halderson’s front door. The missing couple’s son Chandler answered.
Adam Duxter: And, so, I’m like, “If you’d be willing … I’d love to do a quick interview” … And he was like, “Yeah, I’ll do that. … but I don’t want you got film me. I don’t want to be shown, but you can record my voice.”
CHANDLER HALDERSON INTERVIEW AUDIO: So, my last message I got from them, they were going to White Lake for the Fourth of July … Other than that, their plan or from to my knowledge they were going to Langlade County to a cabin, their cabin …
Adam Duxter: At the time, I got the sense that he was in shock … This is someone who is roughly my age … And so, I’m thinking like, “Yeah, if my parents just went missing” – he probably hasn’t slept, he’s probably really nervous.
Alex Gravatt knew Chandler well.
Alex Gravatt: I was roommates with Chandler for a little while. … I called him Chaz.
The two friends shared an apartment from 2019 to 2020.
Alex Gravatt: We grew up together and we played soccer together, did cub scouts together, and just hung out together. … he was a great swimmer, so I know that the swim team really got along with him.
Gravatt says his friend Chandler, who went by the name “Chaz,” could be a playful guy.
Alex Gravatt: He was a goon, a hooligan in a lot of — in a lot of senses.
Erin Moriarty: What do you mean by that?
Alex Gravatt: Yeah, I mean, so he would play pranks and … he would make lots of jokes or poke fun at people.
Gravatt described “Chaz” as popular with women. College student Cathryn Mellender, known as “Cat,” was his longtime girlfriend.
Alex Gravatt: He was a relatively attractive guy. … I mean he looked good. He had great hair. He kept up on appearances.
According to Gravatt, when they were roommates, “Chaz” often bragged to friends about “hooking up” with different women behind Cat’s back. When she found out about it —
Alex Gravatt: She grilled him. She was like “are you seeing other people?” … and he just kept denying it.
But Mellender remained suspicious and began tracking her boyfriend on social media. Gravatt says Chaz became more secretive and moved back home with his parents. And now those parents were missing. Detectives Shunk and Sims began follow-up interviews.
Det. Sabrina Sims: At that point, you know, what do we really have? We don’t know what we have.
Then they got a tip they desperately needed from the owner of a farm outside town.
Det. Sabrina Sims: We received information … from someone that, “yes … Chandler has been out to my property over the Fourth of July weekend.”
The owner was a friend of Chandler’s girlfriend Cat Mellender. The owner said she was with the couple at her farm on July 4. She told deputies she was surprised to see Chandler again, the very next day, and this time he was alone.
Det. Sabrina Sims: You know, and I saw him coming from the wood line. His car was parked backed up to the field. … So, of course right from that interview, we want to go search that property.
As deputies began searching, detectives wanted to know why Chandler had never mentioned he’d gone back to the farm by himself. Police picked Chandler up and took him to the station.
Detective Brian Shunk asked him to once again describe the last time he had seen his parents.
CHANDLER HALDERSON: It’s Thursday morning. I wake up.
DET. BRIAN SHUNK: What time do you think?
CHANDLER HALDERSON: Six.
Chandler said his dad Bart was at home working, and that later he had dinner with both his parents.
CHANDLER HALDERSON: That’s where they told me, while they were eating it … they were gonna go with their friends, and I was like, “Oh, cool.”
DET. BRIAN SHUNK: And they had said they were going to the cabin.
CHANDLER HALDERSON: Well, “we’re going up north.”
While detectives questioned Chandler, deputies were out searching the farm and made a discovery that quickly changed the tone of the interview.
Dane County Sheriff’s Office
DET. HENDRICKSON: Listen to me. This is the only chance you’re gonna have to tell us the truth. OK? … What we, listen, listen — I can’t tell you what we know, but we know you’re not telling us the truth … you need to tell the truth.
CHANDLER HALDERSON: There’s — (sighs)
DET. HENDRICKSON: Listen, listen, you need to tell the truth about what happened. And just tell us why it happened. I’m not B.S.in’ you, OK? So, can we do that?
CHANDLER HALDERSON: OK … yeah, OK. Lawyer.
Chandler’s request for a lawyer ended that interview. Detective Sims remembers the moment she learned what deputies told her they had found near that field.
Det. Sabrina Sims: You know, Brian and I were in the command post together … And I said, “What did you say?” You know I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
They had discovered human remains.
A DISTURBING DISCOVERY
On Thursday, July 8, 2021, in the village of Windsor, Wisconsin, the community struggled to make sense of the disturbing news.
The remains of an adult male had been found on a farm 20 miles from Bart and Krista Halderson’s home.
SHERIFF KALVIN BARRETT (to reporters): At this point, it’s very early in our investigation. I don’t want to make any uncorroborated speculations at this time.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett warned residents not to jump to conclusions.
The gruesome discovery was made the day after Bart and Krista had been reported missing by their son, and it was something detectives Brian Shunk and Sabrina Sims had never encountered.
Det. Sabrina Sims: The grass had been matted down. And they followed it to a trail which led to the discovery of a male torso that was concealed with sticks and twigs.
Erin Moriarty: That was really the moment, right?
Det. Brian Shunk: It was huge.
Det. Sabrina Sims: I think of other death investigations or homicide cases we’ve worked and, I don’t remember a time that I’ve worked a dismemberment case.
Erin Moriarty: And what other evidence was found out there?
Det. Sabrina Sims: We found some cutting instruments that were hidden in an old oil drum … some scissors, pruning shears – a broken bow saw.
And it was all in the same wooded area where the Halderson’s son, Chandler, had been seen earlier in the week. Detective Sims had a pretty good idea who the victim was.
Det. Sabrina Sims: Knowing in my gut that that was most likely Bart Halderson, and his son was seen in that area …
Police turned their full attention to Chandler Halderson; he was now a person of interest and the prime suspect. While tests were being done to confirm the victim’s identity, detectives arrested Chandler and charged him with lying to them.
SHERIFF KALVIN BARRETT (to reporters): The arrest was based on him providing false information in regards to a missing person.
Erin Moriarty: What did you think? They arrested him … for giving false information about a missing person.
Barbi Townsend | Krista Halderson’s cousin: That was the first day that I started to suspect foul play from their — from their own son.
Alex Gravatt: I checked my phone … and I saw that — that he had been arrested … and it was pretty wild.
Alex Gravatt, his childhood friend, learned about it on social media.
Alex Gravatt: My eyes got wide, I kinda just sat there for a second reading it … my first thought was if he’s being arrested for giving misinformation to the police … I didn’t think that there was really much chance that he wasn’t involved somehow.
But there’s someone who had a hard time imaging Chandler was involved – his girlfriend Cat Mellender. She spoke to police just before his arrest.
DETECTIVE: You don’t think he had anything to do with his mom and dad being unheard from?
CAT MELLENDER: No. I just — no. … that’d be crazy. … but I just don’t see him killing Mr. and Mrs. Halderson. Like, he had SpaceX. Like, why would he jeopardize something he, like, would dream of, you know? Like, they’re his parents. For Christmas, they got him and his brother matching tool sets. Like, come on.
DETECTIVE: OK.
CAT MELLENDER: He cooks dinner for them. They have root beer floats together. They play Mario Kart whenever his parents want to.
But, on Saturday July 10, 2021, the victim found in the woods was identified as Bart Halderson.
Det. Sabrina Sims: It just changed everything, like that moment changed everything …
Preliminary autopsy results would reveal Bart had been shot at least two times in the back. And there was still the troubling question: where was Krista?
SHERIFF KALVIN BARRETT (to reporters): Krista Halderson remains a missing person and we continue to ask for citizen involvement.
Krista’s co-worker Dan Kroninger ran through all the different possibilities.
Erin Moriarty: Did you at that moment … wonder, like, maybe Krista was involved in this too?
Dan Kroninger: It had definitely crossed my mind … you start to wonder, “well, why is Chandler lying? Is he covering for himself is or he covering for perhaps his mother? Is she involved?”
But the more investigators looked, it seemed the only person Chandler Halderson was covering for was himself.
Det. Sabrina Sims: You know, he just lied to everybody.
And in his lies, police started to believe they found a motive for murder. For months he’d been telling everyone, including his childhood friend, Alex Gravatt, that he was enrolled at Madison College during the 2021 spring semester.
Erin Moriarty: Did you have any idea he had flunked out?
Alex Gravatt: No.
Erin Moriarty: He didn’t tell you?
Alex Gravatt: No, it was surprising.
Detectives believe his parents had no idea he wasn’t in school. They say when his parents questioned him about his transcripts, the computer savvy Chandler Halderson crafted a chain of emails that seemed to come from the college.
Dane County Clerk of Courts
Det. Sabrina Sims: Chandler creates people that work for Madison College and communicates via email with them. You know, Bart’s on some of them as well, talking to who he believes is employees of the school.
Erin Moriarty: And do any of those people actually exist?
Det. Sabrina Sims: No.
In June 2021, Bart Halderson called Madison College, pretending to be Chandler, and got an answer he wasn’t expecting:
MADISON COLLEGE OFFICIAL (phone call audio): I don’t see that you were admitted in any program
BART HALDERSON: you said there, the IT degree is in there, right?
MADISON COLLEGE OFFICIAL: No, those are just classes … You might have just took the classes but not be in the program.
Bart learned that not only had his son been lying about that IT degree, but there was no internship with an insurance company, either. And remember that big job with SpaceX? It turns out that was just another elaborate lie.
Barbi Townsend: The delusional reality that he concocted … that is shocking to me.
According to detectives, Bart was planning to meet at the college with his son on Thursday July 1. Around 2 p.m. Bart, who was working from home, sent his son this text: “I’m ready whenever you are.”
That text is believed to be the last message Bart sent.
Seven days later, Bart’s remains were found. Investigators got a search warrant for the Halderson home. No weapon was found there, but a shell casing was discovered in the basement, and several areas inside the house tested positive for blood.
SHERIFF KALVIN BARRETT (to reporters): Chandler middle initial, M, last name Halderson, age 23 of Windsor, is now being charged with first-degree homicide, hiding a corpse, and mutilating a corpse.
Dane County Jail Records
On July 15, 2021, Chandler Halderson was formally charged with his father’s murder.
SHERIFF KALVIN BARRETT (to reporters): Chandler is currently being held in the Dane County Jail.
Barbi Townsend: I mean I don’t know what else to say … How could you do that to your father?
But where was his mother, Krista? Chandler Halderson had lawyered up and wasn’t talking, but someone very close to him was.
Det. Sabrina Sims: She had communicated with him that whole weekend.
That loyal girlfriend, Cat Mellender, had a potentially damning piece of evidence about her boyfriend on the social media app Snapchat.
Det. Sabrina Sims: She actually consented to a download … of her phone.
Erin Moriarty: So that was a breakthrough.
Det. Sabrina Sims: (nods her head yes to affirm)
THE SNAPCHAT CLUE
Chandler Halderson was charged with his father’s murder, but his mother’s whereabouts were still unknown. Lead detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Shunk knew if Krista was alive, they needed to find her fast.
Det. Brian Shunk: At that point, we were hoping for the best … it was one of those things we just needed to push on.
Detectives turned to Chandler’s girlfriend for help. She had given them permission to download information from her phone.
Det. Sabrina Sims: Chandler had lied to her before and had cheated on her before. And so she — you know, would track his location.
Cat Mellender had convinced Chandler to let her track his movements using Snapchat — the popular social media app which allows users to send messages and share their location in real time.
Det. Sabrina Sims: And that was an agreement that … “Yes, you will have your locations on so I can see where you are going…”
Detectives were most intrigued by messages posted early on the morning of July 1, the day Chandler Halderson and his father were supposed to meet with Madison College officials. Chandler Halderson, whose online name was “chazzzledazl, messaged Mellender at 7:30 a.m.
chazzzledazl: I hardly slept
Cat: I’m sorry b. Why?
chazzzledazl: Idk stuff hasn’t really been going well for me lately so I’m tryna plan for the next thing to f*** me over
Cat: B it’s gonna be okay
chazzzledazl: Yeah I just had a great future planned and it’s falling apart
According to detectives, the tone of those messages worried Cat. So, two days later when Cat checks Snapchat and noticed her boyfriend’s avatar — “Hubby” on her screen—indicated that he was nearly 25 miles from home – Cat saved the image to her phone.
Dane County Clerk of Courts
Det. Sabrina Sims: It was a Snapchat screen shot of Chandler … almost nine in the morning out by the Wisconsin River.
Detectives Sims and Shunk took “48 Hours” to that location on the river where they had hoped to find Krista.
Erin Moriarty: So where are we exactly? What would you call this area?
Det. Brian Shunk: It’s the Wisconsin State Lower Riverway.
Dane County Clerk of Courts
And it’s a familiar place to the former high school swimmer Chandler Halderson — close to his favorite swimming hole where he was photographed a year earlier, holding a large knife.
Law enforcement throughout Dane County searched the wooded area.
Erin Moriarty: And how long was he here?
Det. Brian Shunk: Forty-five minutes, I believe.
Det. Brian Shunk: And just keep in mind, in July … it was definitely far thicker than what you’re seeing here now.
Still no sign of Krista Halderson, but search teams refused to give up.
Det. Sabrina Sims: “Let’s go hit one more area” and that was where they ended up discovering the remains.
Erin Moriarty: And what exactly did they find there?
Det. Brian Shunk: They ended up findin’ two legs – cut into different sections.
Maria Falconer
DNA tests confirmed it was Krista Halderson. The concerned son who had reported his mom and dad missing was now charged with both of their murders. Krista’s cousins were horrified.
Barbi Townsend: You couldn’t write this. … it just wasn’t anything that you could possibly come up with in your head.
Erin Moriarty: How do you make sense of it?
Barbi Townsend: We don’t. And that’s the hard part. We don’t have a why.
In January of 2022, at the Dane County Courthouse, Chandler Halderson went on trial for the murder of his parents. He was also facing charges for lying to the police and for mutilating and hiding their bodies.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: Our job is to, over the course of the next couple of weeks, present evidence to show you the path of what we believed happened –
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: That Chandler Halderson killed his parents, dismembered their bodies and hid them around southern Wisconsin.
WISC
Prosecutors laid out a motive. They say Chandler murdered his parents when his lies were about to be exposed and that for months, he had been trying to hide the truth from them.
Among the evidence: those fake e-mail accounts he created.
ADA ANDREA RAYMOND (in court): No one uses a Gmail account as their official Madison College email?
KATE JOCHIMSEN | MADISON COLLEGE: No.
And his fictious internship with an insurance company
LORI SNAPP | AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE (in court): I found no record of that person working for American Family.
Investigators believe the murder weapon was a semi-automatic rifle that had been hidden in a barn at that farm where Bart’s remains were discovered.
The rifle came from Andrew Smith, who testified that he was in the military when he met Halderson online.
ANDREW SMITH (in court): Playing video games, while stationed in Germany, sir.
Halderson had wanted a gun. Smith testified he had no idea what Halderson wanted to do with the weapon, and in June 2021, he gave him that semi-automatic rifle as a gift — and nearly 480 rounds of ammunition.
ANDREW SMITH: I’m going to give it to someone who might actually appreciate this weapon and take care of it.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: How did Chandler react when you gave him the gun?
ANDREW SMITH: Oh, he was happy.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: How did you know he was happy … how do you know that?
ANDREW SMITH: Because he had a big smile on his face when I had given it to him as a gift..
But the most anticipated witness in this trial would be Halderson’s girlfriend who gave police that Snapchat screen shot.
ATTORNEY: What is that?
CAT MELLENDER: Screenshot of Chandler by the Wisconsin River.
A JURY DECIDES
For three hours, Cat Mellender, sat on the stand telling the jury about the young man she thought she knew: Chandler Halderson.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: Did you go on a lot of dates together?
CAT MELLENDER: Yeah, we would grab dinners, um have movie dates … just sit at home and watch movies, go on walks quite often.
Mellender told the jury that she was working on July 1, when authorities believe the murders happened, and didn’t see her boyfriend in person that day.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: You weren’t with him?
CAT MELLENDER: I was not with him.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: Did you know that Bart and Krista Halderson had died?
CAT MELLENDER: No (cries).
According to investigators, Chandler asked Mellender to bring a few cleaning supplies to his home the following day. He told her he’d stepped on some broken glass from the fireplace. She brought him a Swiffer mop and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: Cat, did you have absolutely anything to do with cleaning anything up or their disappearance?
CAT MELLENDER: No.
Investigators say there is no evidence that Mellender had any involvement in the murders. They believe Chandler Halderson acted alone. Prosecutors showed the jury police video from inside the Halderson home. At first glance, it seemed neat and clean, but test results revealed what appeared to be blood.
Dane County Clerk of Courts
ATTORNEY: Is that all blood that it’s reacting to?
OFFICER: This could be blood that it’s reacting to, and it appears to be some wiping or clean up.
For Barbi Townsend, the most disturbing part was when the jury was shown a view of the Halderson home from a neighbor’s security camera.
Barbi Townsend: I was talking to one of my cousins. We said one of the images that is gonna be seared in our minds is when they showed that video of the window. … And it was the flickering glow from the fireplace, for like hours. that is haunting, knowing what was happening,
A forensic expert testified more than 200 bone fragments were discovered in the fireplace.
ATTORNEY: there’s a white area in the middle of that base.
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST: Based on my training and experience that appears to be bone.
Halderson’s defense attorney Catherine Dorl did not address the bone and blood evidence found in the home but insisted that did not mean her client was the killer.
CATHERINE DORL: Chandler Halderson did not murder his parents. He is not guilty of those crimes.
She reminded the jury there were too many unanswered questions.
CATHERINE DORL: What happened to the Haldersons? What happened in the Halderson’s home? … You just are not going to know what happened.
Chandler Halderson himself didn’t testify and his defense didn’t call any witnesses.
Instead, defense attorney Crystal Vera, closed the case, and urged the jury to find reasonable doubt. She admits Chandler told a lot of lies, but she argues there isn’t enough direct evidence to tie him to the murders.
CRYSTAL VERA: You have to go back and look at everything.
CRYSTAL VERA: I guarantee you that the 12 of you that are going to go back and deliberate are all gonna have 12 different theories on what happened. And that’s a problem. I’m asking you to find him not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide.
Prosecutors had the final word.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: This is a first-degree intentional homicide. You cannot shoot someone in the back, you cannot chop them up, you cannot scatter their remains and come to any other conclusion. And there is only one person who did those things here and that is Chandler Halderson. We’re asking you to find him guilty. Thank you.
It didn’t take long for the jury to decide.
JUDGE JOHN D. HYLAND (reading verdict): “We the jury find the defendant Chandler M. Halderson guilty of first-degree intentional homicide as to Bart A. Halderson. Guilty of providing false information. Guilty of mutilating a corpse. Guilty of first-degree intentional homicide. Guilty of mutilating a corpse. Guilty of hiding a corpse.”
Guilty on all eight charges.
Det. Sabrina Sims: I think it was just overwhelming … from all the work that we put in on it.
In March 2022, at his sentencing hearing, Chandler Halderson, who had been silent during his trial, surprised everyone by indicating he finally had something to say.
JUDGE JOHN D. HYLAND: Mr. Halderson wishes to make a statement.
CHANDLER HALDERSON (addressing the court): Your Honor, I want to take this opportunity to state my intent to appeal my convictions. If there are any lawyers listening and willing to take on my appeal, take a moment to please reach out to me. It’s not that I do not have feelings, it is that I was warned to not show them due to the scrutiny of this case. Thank you.
Erin Moriarty: What was your reaction when he had the chance to speak and all he did was ask for a lawyer to take an appeal? What was your reaction?
Barbi Townsend: I was actually disgusted. I just couldn’t believe it. Like, you can’t even say I’m sorry.
Chandler was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Erin Moriarty: When do you miss ’em?
Dan Kroninger: Oh, I think about ’em just about every day.
Erin Moriarty: Really?
Dan Kroninger: Yeah … we’re building a pond in our backyard or … and just, you know, they would love to see that, and love be a part of it.
Mitchell Halderson, Bart and Krista’s oldest son, is now living with an unimaginable loss. Barbi Townsend shared a text and a photo that Krista sent to family just three months before she died
Barbi Townsend (reading text): “Happy Easter. Yes, the boys and their women . Mitchell is still at Epic Systems and will turn 25 this year. Yikes. … Chandler is currently interning with American Family Insurance as an IT administrator. But his other degree, sustainability management, has given him an edge …”
Barbi Townsend
Barbi Townsend: You see in her text how proud she was of her boys … and how 100 percent completely believing Chandler.
She can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Chandler had just been honest with everyone.
Erin Moriarty: If he had just gone and thrown himself at the mercy of his parents, what do you think Krista and Bart would have done?
Barbi Townsend: They would have helped him. … they definitely would have confronted him on it. But after the confrontation and the truth telling, would have come to grace. “How do we go forward? How do we help you? How do we get your life back on track?” They would’ve helped him.
In April 2023, two of Chandler Halderson’s convictions related to hiding his parents’ corpses were vacated on procedural grounds. He continues to serve a life sentence with no possibility of parole for the murder and dismemberment of his parents.
Her has filed an appeal.
Produced by Marcelena Spencer. Iris Carreras is the field producer. David Dow is the development producer. Mike McHugh and Greg McLaughlin are the editors. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
[ad_2]
-
The Tree that Helped Solve a Murder
[ad_1]
The Tree that Helped Solve a Murder – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
The Eye Drop Homicide
[ad_1]
The Eye Drop Homicide – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
Searching for Maya Millete
[ad_1]
Searching for Maya Millete – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
The Disappearance of Kristin Smart
[ad_1]
The Disappearance of Kristin Smart – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
The Kidnapping of Schanda Handley
[ad_1]
The Kidnapping of Schanda Handley – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
A murder plan is discovered in a trash can — will it lead to a killer?
[ad_1]
A murder plan is discovered in a trash can — will it lead to a killer? – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
Woman wears the engagement ring of her slain fiancé years later
[ad_1]
Woman wears the engagement ring of her slain fiancé years later – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
The Case Against Michael Politte
[ad_1]
The Case Against Michael Politte – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
The Ring: The Murder of Patrick De La Cerda
[ad_1]
The Ring: The Murder of Patrick De La Cerda – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
The Suzanne Morphew Case: Nothing Is What It Seems
[ad_1]
The Suzanne Morphew Case: Nothing Is What It Seems – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
Death on Safari
[ad_1]
Death on Safari – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
Wife of Pittsburgh dentist dies from fatal gunshot on safari — was it an accident or murder?
[ad_1]
This story previously aired on Sept 10, 2022. It was updated on July 1, 2023.
Lawrence “Larry” Rudolph and his wife, Bianca, were getting ready to head back to the United States after a safari vacation in Zambia, Africa, in October 2016 when tragedy struck.
Larry, a Pittsburgh-area dentist, said he was in the bathroom, heard a gunshot, and found his wife bleeding, dead on the bedroom floor. He said while Bianca was packing the shotgun, it must have accidentally fired.
Larry’s description raises questions, says retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent and CBS News consultant James Gagliano. “It boggles the mind that two experienced hunters, for this to have been an accident,” he tells “48 Hours.”
Game scout Spencer Kakoma says he also has questions. He insists after the hunt, the guns were emptied of ammunition.
Larry had his wife’s body quickly cremated in Zambia, which led a friend of Bianca’s to doubt this was an accident. Soon after Bianca’s death, the friend called the FBI. According to an FBI complaint, she also said Lawrence was having an affair and had been verbally abusive to Bianca. The friend also told the FBI that the couple fought over money.
Investigators spent five years working the case. Larry was arrested in December 2021 for the murder of his wife. He maintains that he is innocent, and his attorneys write in a statement to “48 Hours” that the case is built “… without any real evidence, no eyewitnesses, no forensics, no anything …”
So, what happened to Bianca Rudolph?
DEATH ON SAFARI
Nearly two weeks after Bianca Rudolph’s death while on a hunting trip in Zambia, family and friends in Arizona gathered to remember her at her funeral. But at husband Larry Rudolph’s Pennsylvania dental practice, there was a hush in the air.
Sherry Houck: Larry never talked about Bianca’s death ever. … he was saying to everyone not to talk about it. … it made it, sort of, suspicious.
Sherry Houck worked as a dental assistant in Dr. Rudolph’s Three Rivers Dental Group for nearly eight years. The lucrative practice, with five offices in the Pittsburgh area, specializes in sedation dentistry, providing anesthesia for fearful patients.
Sherry Houck: I liked everything about how we treated our patients … And I really believed in everything we did and — how he did it.
After years building his successful practice, Dr. Rudolph, says Sherry, was now spending limited time in the office. He and Bianca had lived in homes in Pittsburgh and Arizona. The couple had met while Larry was in dental school and Bianca was at the University of Pittsburgh.
Meghan Schiller: Larry and Bianca got married in the early ’80s, shortly after … she graduated from college.
Meghan Schiller is a reporter at Pittsburgh’s CBS affiliate, KDKA.
Meghan Schiller: They proceeded to have two kids. They had Julian, who is their son, who’s now an attorney in Florida, and they had a daughter, Ana, who is now following in her father’s footsteps.
Ana, a friend of Sherry’s, is also a dentist at the practice.
Sherry Houck: Ana described her mom as, like, an angel. She loved her mom. … People that knew Bianca Rudolph described her as a very kind, caring person.
Sherry never met Bianca, and there may have been a reason why: she says Larry was having an affair with the woman who managed the offices, Lori Milliron.
Sherry Houck: Larry and Lori’s affair just seemed like it was just very open … as far as I know, it was probably going on for 20 years. … it was just — uncomfortable and you just didn’t talk about it.
In the office, Sherry saw different sides of Larry.
Sherry Houck: Larry could be very nice, and he could change — attitude within, a matter of minutes.
That erratic behavior, Sherry says, was one of the reasons she left her job.
Sherry Houck: He could … throw tempers. And we would, sort of, just call it like he was … going Rudolph.
Larry Rudolph/Facebook
Something Larry did enjoy talking about in the office, and took pride in, was his hobby: big game hunting.
Sherry Houck: Larry Rudolph and Bianca Rudolph were avid hunters. That was a huge part of their life. … They were both, like, very well known for it.
Rudolph served for several years as the President of Safari Club International, a group that promotes hunting. He traveled the world, recording messages for members.
LARRY RUDOLPH [Safari Club International video]: “I’m here on the banks of the Kafue River in Zambia – I’ve been doing some lion hunting … and just having a great adventure.”
His term, though, would be tainted by claims he’d damaged the club’s reputation through alleged misconduct, including supposed adultery. Larry denied the claims and sued for defamation. The case was ultimately settled, but Larry was ousted as a club member.
But his passion for hunting endured and in 2016, he and Bianca headed to a favorite location: Kafue National Park in Zambia.
Meghan Schiller: Kafue National Park is considered a big game paradise. … the oldest and the most prestigious national park in that area of southern Africa. Just to put it in scale, it’s the size of New Jersey.
CBS News
The park has one section that is a protected wildlife sanctuary —and an adjacent area, referred to as game management, that allows hunting. On the trip, the Rudolphs stayed in a two-room cabin consisting of a bedroom and a bathroom.
Meghan Schiller: Bianca wants to finally hunt a leopard. … She’d been trying for years to hunt a leopard.
The trip lasted about 10 days. A time that was happy, according to Spencer Kakoma, the local game scout accompanying the couple.
Spencer Kakoma: They were laughing at each other, kissing each other, hugging each other
Debora Patta: Did you think they were a happily married couple?
Spencer Kakoma: I — I was even — admiring that ’cause I’m also married.
Debora Patta: And did you see any tension between Larry and Bianca Rudolph?
Spencer Kakoma: No, I didn’t see any tension
Bianca never did shoot a leopard. And on the final day of the safari, before the Rudolphs went to their cabin, Spencer says, as is daily protocol, the guns were emptied of all ammunition.
Debora Patta: And you saw Bianca Rudolph cleaning her gun of live ammunition?
Spencer Kakoma: I saw — Bianca Rudolph doing that. … It was cleaned, or it was clear. There was no — ammunition which was there.
Debora Patta: You saw it with your own eyes?
Spencer Kakoma: Yes
It was the end of the Rudolphs’ Zambian hunting trip. They were supposedly packing up and getting ready to fly home. But then, Bianca Rudolph suffered a fatal gunshot wound.
CBS News
Spencer was working about 30 yards away when he heard the gun shot and ran to the cabin, finding 56-year-old Bianca Rudolph dead on the floor, shot in the heart. The weapon was a 12-gauge shot gun. Spencer says the gun, partially in a soft-sided case, was next to her. And Larry Rudolph seemed inconsolable, sobbing.
Spencer Kakoma: He’s crying, crying, “Let me just kill myself because my wife, she has committed suicide. She has killed herself. Want to kill myself also.”
Spencer says Larry first claimed Bianca died by suicide, shooting herself intentionally, while he was in the bathroom. And he says Larry was so distraught, that he ran to a nearby river saying he wanted to jump in and drown himself. Spencer says he calmed Larry down and they went back to the cabin. But now, Larry had a different version of events. It was no longer a suicide, but that Bianca accidentally shot herself packing up the gun.
Debora Patta: Were you surprised that a shot had gone off?
Spencer Kakoma: Yeah. That’s one of the thing which — made me to suspect. … I saw Bianca Rudolph removing the ammunition from the — their guns.
Debora Patta: So, how do you think ammunition got into the shotgun?
Spencer Kakoma: I think there must be just someone who loaded it.
Debora Patta: Somebody loaded that gun …
Spencer Kakoma: Yes.
Things were not adding up for Spencer. He and Larry Rudolph went to the local police station. Rudolph was interviewed for about 30 minutes by now retired Police Commander Roston Yeyenga, and Larry told him Bianca accidentally shot herself while packing the gun.
Roston Yeyenga: He heard the gunshot and a scream… he said he rushed to the bedroom, and then he found the wife lying down in a pool of blood. [was it face down?]
Debora Patta: Did you believe him?
Roston Yeyenga: I believed him because I wasn’t there. I wasn’t there.
Commander Yeyenga sent his investigators to the scene, who told him it matched Dr. Rudolph’s description of events. They believed the shotgun, found approximately 3 feet from Bianca’s body, was discharged while inside its case, and reported that Dr. Rudolph had tried to resuscitate his wife.
Debora Patta: It was decided that this was an accident?
Roston Yeyenga: Yes — this is the report that we received.
The police report, dated two days after Bianca’s death concluded:
“Dr. Lawrence Rudolph rushed to the bedroom only to find his wife lying on the floor bleeding.” … “The findings further suggested that the firearm was loaded from the previous hunting activities … causing the firearm to accidentally fire.”
James Gagliano: This is to me a little bit astounding that they would’ve made that conclusive, declarative statement that — this was absolutely an accident, so soon after Ms. Rudolph died.
WHAT HAPPENED TO BIANCA?
Bianca Rudolph’s death in Zambia was devastating for her daughter Ana.
Sherry Houck: Ana always said Bianca was, like, the best mom and just did everything — was, like, a very good person and was very — wholesome and kind.
Dental assistant Sherry Houck says Larry Rudolph didn’t tell Ana or her brother Julian about their mother’s passing for nearly a week. Ana had troubling questions about what had happened.
Sherry Houck: She had no idea whether her mom got shot in the face or the chest or anywhere … She just would say, “I want to know what happened to my mom.”
And at the Kafue National Park there were doubts too … from the moment the gunshot rang out early that October morning.
David Katz: It’s a loud boom.
David Katz is a ballistics expert and former Special Agent at the Drug Enforcement Agency. “48 Hours” asked him to review documents in this case. He says the blast from the Rudolph’s 12-gauge shotgun would have been ferocious.
Spencer Kakoma: Bianca Rudolph screamed after the gunshot.
Game scout Spencer Kakoma instantly knew that sound meant trouble.
Spencer Kakoma: — she didn’t scream “help” or — she screamed — “ah!” Then that’s how we rushed there. Within 15 seconds, we reached there. She was dead already.
From the beginning, Spencer says he had questions about Larry’s version of events, including when Larry told him he was in the bath when he heard the gunshot, and raced out to find Bianca dead.
Debora Patta: But when you saw him, he was fully dressed?
Spencer Kakoma: Dressed, with – with – with — shoes.
Spencer Kakoma: … it confused me.
Debora Patta: Fifteen seconds to be fully clothed with shoes is pretty quick.
Spencer Kakoma: Exactly.
But local police say Larry told them he was wrapped in a towel when Spencer arrived.
Kafue National Park Investigator Masuwa Musese also had questions about what he saw in the couple’s cabin. He says he observed the wound on Bianca’s chest, the gun nearby, and wondered how she could have accidently shot herself in the heart while handling the long-barreled weapon.
Debora Patta: What did you think? What was your theory?
Masuwa Musese: To me … I suspected this to be a foul play. Because the way the firearm was lying. The way the deceased was lying. The way the bullet went through. Because to me to say that she shot herself — I doubt it.
Debora Patta: So, Mr. Musese, did you ever voice your suspicions of foul play to the Zambian police?
Masuwa Musese: I voiced my suspicion to the police.
Debora Patta: And what did they say in response?
Masuwa Musese: In respond, the Zambia Police told me that … the police will really investigate at the bottom of the issue.
Debora Patta: But did they?
Masuwa Musese: They didn’t.
Within days, says KDKA reporter Meghan Schiller, local officials allowed Bianca’s remains to be cremated in Zambia.
Meghan Schiller: Even the paper over there reported what had happened as an accidental shooting.
And the comments on social media were people saying … that it seemed suspicious to them.
One reader suggested, “This doesn’t sound right. Something’s fishy here.”
And it was suspicious to one of Bianca’s friends. Certain Bianca was opposed to cremation for religious reasons, the friend made a call about two weeks later… and set a chain of events in motion.
Mary Fulginiti: There was one point when this case became an active international investigation, and that is when Bianca’s friend called the attaché of the FBI in South Africa and said that she suspected foul play.
Mary Fulginiti is a former federal prosecutor and CBS News consultant. She says Bianca’s friend told the FBI about Larry’s affair — said Larry had been verbally abusive to Bianca and reported that Larry and Bianca had fights about money.
Mary Fulginiti: She opened up a Pandora’s box as to why Lawrence would want to kill his wife.
Even the consular chief at the U.S. Embassy in Zambia had suspicions. He spoke on the phone with Larry Rudolph just hours after Bianca’s death.
Mary Fulginiti: The consular chief had a bad feeling … he said, because Lawrence quickly turned to cremation and getting out of the country, which he thought was highly suspect.
The consular chief was a former Marine, with decades of experience with weapons. Unbeknownst to Larry, he decided to inspect Bianca’s body before it was cremated. He measured the shotgun wound and took photos.
Meghan Schiller: The consular chief said based on looking at Bianca’s body, he didn’t think there was any way that she could’ve done this to herself … that she could’ve been leaning on the shotgun. He said it looked like someone was holding the shotgun several feet away and fired it at her.
The consular chief turned his photos and notes over to the FBI. An inquiry into Bianca’s death was underway. Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent and CBS News consultant James Gagliano says international investigations take time.
James Gagliano: This case is being investigated outside of the United States. It presents a ton of different problems that you have to deal with.
Back home, life went on for Larry. The FBI kept working the case both in the U.S. and in Zambia. And investigators eventually made their way back to game scout Spencer Kakoma.
Debora Patta: So, five years later –
Spencer Kakoma: That’s when they called –
Debora Patta: — you heard from the FBI?
Spencer Kakoma: Yes. That’s when they called me.
Debora Patta: Were you surprised?
Spencer Kakoma: Yes, I was surprised.
Over the course of five years, FBI investigators interviewed numerous people, reviewed documents, photos and conducted forensics tests – eventually filing a complaint – listing evidence of possible foul play in Bianca Rudolph’s death.
James Gagliano: The … complaint lays out a neat road map of a lot of circumstantial evidence that points in the direction of Lawrence Rudolph as the murderer of his wife, Bianca.
ACCIDENT OR MURDER?
Zambia’s Kafue National Park is vast, stunning … serene. But retired Police Commander Roston Yeyenga will never forget the day back in 2016 when that gunshot rang out from the Rudolph’s cabin, killing Bianca Rudolph.
Debora Patta: When your officers went to the scene … what did they see?
Roston Yeyenga: What they told me was that they found a dead body, lying facing upwards.
And years later he still recalls his conversation with Dr. Rudolph.
Roston Yeyenga: He seemed to be sorrowful, you know?
Debora Patta: He was very sorrowful?
Roston Yeyenga: Yeah, you know, when you lose your beloved one, you can be in that mood, yeah. I could even see some tears in his eyes.
Yeyenga says the initial investigation was not rushed and says at the time no one told him they suspected Larry had anything to do with his wife’s death.
Debora Patta: What is the most powerful thing that he said to you that convinced you this man is innocent?
Roston Yeyenga: To say he was innocent. That was his story.
Debora Patta: You’re so easily convinced. I just have to tell you a story and you believe me.
Roston Yeyenga: It’s coming from your own mouth. I can believe you. Whatever story you tell me, I can believe it.
Safari Hunting Blog via Daily Mail
But could an experienced hunter like Bianca accidentally shoot herself in the heart while placing a long-barreled shotgun into a gun case?
David Katz: For the shooters out in the audience, everyone’s gonna understand immediately. … There’s a visceral feeling, no, don’t do it.
Ballistics expert David Katz says if that happened Bianca would have been pointing the muzzle at herself, ignoring safety protocol.
David Katz: Whether the gun is loaded or unloaded … if you know your way around guns, you would never under any circumstances point that weapon toward you or another human being.
Katz often works with firearms at the company he owns, Global Security Group. At our request he reviewed the initial FBI complaint.
David Katz: The complaint, in fairness to — to Larry Rudolph … it’s just the government’s version of events. … It’s a one-sided document. So, I want, I want to be completely fair to Larry Rudolph.
According to the complaint, the FBI interviewed a Zambian ballistics expert who performed what’s called a drop test to determine if the gun could have accidentally misfired if Bianca dropped it on the ground.
David Katz: So, the question is … if you slam the weapon hard enough, if you drop it, if you bang it on the — on the ground, will that weapon discharge?
The Zambian ballistics expert repeatedly dropped the gun – most likely loaded with a dummy round – about four-and-a-half feet onto cement and reported the gun “did not misfire.”
The complaint lists some of the other FBI findings, including the results of a series of tests using a 12-gauge shotgun of the same make and model as the gun that killed Bianca, and a soft-sided gun case like the Rudolph’s.
Meghan Schiller: They did gun tests. They did a study with people who were about the same height as Bianca and had similar arm lengths.
The FBI performed a reach study which Katz says would determine if Bianca could have reached the trigger while packing the shotgun into a gun bag. Fifteen women who were near Bianca’s height were tested. None was able to reach the trigger of the shotgun while zipping the case.
“48 Hours” asked Katz to demonstrate how the test might have been done, with the help of a woman who is 5’4 ½”. Bianca was 5’4″.
DAVID KATZ [demo]: This is not a live weapon …
DAVID KATZ [demo]: So, I’m going to measure your arm…
CBS News
FBI analysts used a photo of Bianca to measure her arm length. They estimated Bianca’s longest possible right arm length at 28.75 inches.
DAVID KATZ [demo]: 29 inches. So, your reach is slightly longer than the maximum reach as estimated by the FBI.
The gun used in this demonstration is not the same make and model as the Rudolph’s gun.
DAVID KATZ [demo]: It is not a weapon; it just looks like one.
It’s a prop gun — non-functional and not capable of holding a bullet. According to the FBI, the model of gun the Rudolphs had was approximately 31.1875 inches from trigger to muzzle. We attached a wooden dowel to the barrel of the prop gun to make it match that length.
DAVID KATZ [demo]: So, I’m gonna take this weapon. I’m gonna point it at your chest right where the wound on the victim was placed. … the idea is that somehow the weapon could be discharged accidentally as if it was being pushed into a gun case. So, let’s bend over … Keep goin’, keep goin’. Can you — if you — if you can touch the ground even with it. Now try to stretch out and touch the trigger.
DAVID KATZ [demo]: You’re not on the trigger. You’re close to the trigger.
Next, Katz added a gun case similar to the one the Rudolph’s owned.
DAVID KATZ [demo]: All right, let’s say you were zipping … can you reach your hand in and touch the trigger?
WOMAN: Not under this angle.
DAVID KATZ: Almost, you can almost get there.
The woman in our demonstration was able to reach the trigger.
DAVID KATZ [demo]: Just about, just about.
WOMAN: It’s very difficult.
DAVID KATZ: Yeah.
DAVID KATZ: I guess what I’m left with is this conclusion: … Possible. Unlikely, but, you know, with a sufficient leaning forward. … But that would — then suggest without — without any doubt a contact shot.
A contact shot is a gunshot wound occurring when the muzzle of the gun is in direct contact with the body at the moment the gun fires.
David Katz: This is a 12-gauge shotgun shell. … it contains … pellets … of double-aught buckshot.
In a contact shot, there is no time for the pellets to spread – instead they go straight into the tissue in one tight group the same diameter as the gun barrel.
David Katz: A contact shot, you’re gonna get this [his hands touching]. Further away you’re gonna get this [his hands separate], further away you’re gonna get this [his hands separate further].
Katz says those photos of Bianca’s body taken by the consular chief in Zambia may rule out death by a contact shot.
David Katz: The most critically important issue in this case is how far from her body was the muzzle of that shotgun when the rounds were fired?
When the consular chief took those photos, he also measured Bianca’s shotgun wound – and noted the pellets covered approximately 6 centimeters in diameter – roughly 2-and-a-half inches.
David Katz: That — pattern would be impossible if the muzzle had been pressed against the victim’s body.
So, from what distance would a weapon have to be fired to cause a 2-and-a-half-inch wound?
We asked Katz to use a real shotgun to show “48 Hours” how rounds fired from different distances can make different sized wounds. We didn’t have access to key information about the Rudolph’s gun, but the long barrel of this gun measures the same distance from trigger to muzzle – approximately 31.1875 inches.
Katz fired into a block made of ballistic gelatin designed to simulate the effects of bullet wounds in human tissue.
SAFETY OFFICER: Fire!
CBS News
David Katz [pointing to bullet holes in the gelatin]: When I fired the last round that was from 10 feet, there are discernible pellet wounds here. Here. Here. This is why the consular chief was suspicious when he saw the wound. Because he saw a wound that was more like this.
FBI investigators also compared shot patterns created by firing from various distances and estimated that Bianca’s wound depicted in the photographs was “created by a shot from a distance of between 2 and 3-and-one-half feet.” The complaint’s conclusion: “Bianca Rudolph was not killed by an accidental discharge …” And it wasn’t just ballistics catching the attention of the FBI.
James Gagliano: This is — a case that’s gonna be made on the totality of the circumstances.
AN ARREST
Sherry Houck: Ana always said … how she … wished she had more time with her mom.
Sherry Houck says Bianca’s death continues to haunt the Rudolphs’ daughter, Ana.
Sherry Houck: She was devastated that she couldn’t even say goodbye to her.
It appears Larry Rudolph wasted no time setting up house with his longtime rumored girlfriend Lori Milliron in Paradise Valley.
Meghan Schiller: Within weeks she had moved into their home in Arizona.
Instagram/Lori Milliron
Rudolph’s business continued to thrive. He and Lori split their time between Pittsburgh, Arizona and a vacation home in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Sherry Houck: After a while, I thought, well, if it wasn’t an accident, wouldn’t he have been arrested by now? … Nothing’s really happened.
But in December 2021, more than five years after Bianca’s death, Rudolph’s new life with Lori was about to change. And that FBI complaint would turn out to be the key.
Meghan Schiller: The federal prosecutors and the FBI agents had decided that they had enough information to essentially charge Larry with crimes.
Lori Milliron’s attorney John Dill says the pair was at the Cabo home.
John Dill: They were going down there for a vacation and having a return flight. … He wasn’t fleeing or disappearing, or anything like that.
But their holiday came to a sudden and surprising end when local authorities arrested Rudolph.
John Dill: Lori’s reaction when he was arrested, obviously … she was shocked.
Mexican police executed a warrant for Lawrence Rudolph’s arrest for the foreign murder of Bianca Rudolph and for mail fraud relating to Rudolph collecting Bianca’s life insurance. The FBI said the insurance never should have been paid because it believed Rudolph murdered Bianca.
Meghan Schiller: Larry Rudolph was the beneficiary, and he was the recipient of nearly $5 million of insurance money.
Those millions were spread out over nine separate policies. One of the insurance companies where Larry mailed a claim is located in Colorado, so that’s where the case would be tried.
Meghan Schiller: Bianca died on October 11th, and the first claim was submitted on October 31st.
John Dill: I’m not sure if there’s a time period when there’s an accidental death that somebody’s supposed to wait so it doesn’t look wrong.
In a court filing, the defense claimed there was no financial motive for the alleged crime, asserting that Rudolph’s dental practice alone was worth $8 million. What’s more, Dill says the fact that all nine policies were paid proves Bianca’s death was as Rudolph described and Zambian officials ruled: an accident.
John Dill: You’ll see insurance companies went through a full investigation, including goin’ to Africa.
But Mary Fulginiti says not so fast. For one thing, the FBI’s resources would have allowed for a much more thorough investigation into Bianca’s cause of death.
Mary Fulginiti: They just have access to more things. They have ballistic experts, … access to the consular chief, and other witnesses in Africa that I’m not sure the — insurance firm had access to, to talk to.
Three Rivers Dental
Within days of his arrest, Rudolph was extradited to Denver. A grand jury was convened there to hear evidence about his case.
Meghan Schiller: Everyone in Pittsburgh was talking about how this dentist, who was a well-known, respected dentist, could possibly be accused by the FBI.
Sherry says word of Rudolph’s arrest hit Ana hard.
Sherry Houck: She was just devastated. … I called to check on her and … she would not talk about her dad being arrested. She just talked to me about anything but that.
Lori Milliron followed Rudolph to Denver. She was about to become involved in the case as well by way of a subpoena.
John Dill: She was called to go before the grand jury.
John Dill: And she was in town for his bond hearing and went and testified.
About two weeks after Rudolph’s arrest, that grand jury handed down their indictment.
NEWS REPORT: FBI agents believe their investigation will prove he killed his wife while on vacation before allegedly collecting millions in insurance money.
It seemed that the multimillion-dollar windfall of insurance money Rudolph received wasn’t the only motive the FBI believes was behind Bianca’s murder. In the complaint, it says Lori Milliron had given Rudolph an ultimatum.
Meghan Schiller: “You have one year to get rid of the practice and leave your wife.”
Dill says there was no ultimatum. That allegation came from a disgruntled employee according to a defense motion.
John Dill: All we can say is that’s not what the evidence is gonna be.
As for the speed of Bianca’s cremation, Rudolph’s attorney says that’s no attempt at a cover-up — that both he and Bianca had expressed their final wishes.
Mary Fulginiti: The defense is gonna argue … Well, they have a will, and in the will, it was the directive of both parties to be cremated.
Murders on foreign soil are difficult to prove. And the length of the investigation might actually be a liability.
Mary Fulginiti: What the defense is gonna do is try to make it look like this case, which is five-plus years old, has stale testimony, stale witnesses, stale everything.
But it turns out that years after Bianca Rudolph died, there would be something new after all: another arrest that no one saw coming.
A SURPRISING ARREST
The truth about the death of Bianca Rudolph, wife and mother, has remained as elusive as the Zambian leopard she hunted. Her husband stood charged with murder and mail fraud. Then come February 2022 this case would grow even more complex, when Lori Milliron was charged.
Meghan Schiller: As if the story couldn’t get any stranger, now we know that his alleged longtime girlfriend Lori Milliron … is now facing federal charges.
Seven federal counts alleging she provided false and misleading testimony to a grand jury sitting in the District of Colorado. Just over a month after that testimony Lori Milliron was arrested.
Meghan Schiller: She’s accused of lying about her relationship with Larry. She’s accused of lying about what Larry said in the days and months following Bianca’s sudden death.
John Dill: I think she was shocked. … She did not expect this to happen.
A 64-year-old woman, she faces as much as 30 years in prison for those charges. But her attorney John Dill emphasizes …
John Dill: There’s no allegations by the government that she was somehow involved or had anything to do with what happened to Bianca Rudolph in 2016.
Lori Milliron
Dill says that the speculation and the charges against his client are all false.
John Dill: The truth is Lori Milliron is not a criminal. She didn’t perjure herself. Didn’t lie to the grand jury.
But former prosecutor Mary Fulginiti says there may be another reason the government filed those seven counts against Lori Milliron.
Mary Fulginiti: They might have also charged her because they would like to put some pressure on her to cooperate.
Pressuring Rudolph’s longtime girlfriend to be the star witness against him.
Mary Fulginiti: If I was the prosecutor in this case, I would absolutely be hoping that she was gonna come forward, and possibly cooperate against him, and she’s the one witness that could possibly do him in.
Meanwhile, from home detention in Arizona, Lori Milliron is still connected with Rudolph, running his multimillion-dollar dentistry practice, but forbidden to contact him.
John Dill: Still attempting to work, yeah, from where she is. It’s a lot more difficult, obviously.
The government planned to try them together in the same courtroom — an outcome their lawyers fought against and lost. The two on trial together was a powerful image that could have impacted Lori Milliron.
Mary Fulginiti: Lori Milliron does not want to be sitting next to Lawrence Rudolph at trial, because he’s charged with murder … and she wants nothing to do with that, and she doesn’t want any of that prejudice to spill over to her, which will ultimately say, “Oh well she was a part of it.” I mean she’s the lover.
And in a pre-trial affidavit filed by Rudolph’s attorneys, and signed by Lori, she wrote that, “Larry and I were romantically involved and Mrs. Bianca Rudolph was aware of that.” The suggestion: the affair was an open secret, not a motive for murder. But the prosecution would soon test the loyalties of Lori Milliron and Larry Rudolph.
Mary Fulginiti: And see if they stay aligned. Or if at the end of the day she does ultimately cooperate.
John Dill: Our defense is basically that what the government is saying, not only can’t they prove it, that’s not the facts.
Over the years, and across an ocean, facts have been hard to come by in this case. Retired FBI special agent James Gagliano knows time can be a prosecution’s toughest challenge.
James Gagliano: Memories get rusty and cloudy. Documents get lost or destroyed. With every day that passes, it gets more and more difficult to close a loop here, get the evidence you need, and make a conviction.
Mary Fulginiti: There’s a lot of hurdles that have to be overcome here, so it’s by no means an easy prosecution.
Seven-thousand miles and a world away, Bianca Rudolph’s death has impacted those who barely knew her. Former police commander Roston Yeyenga still thinks it was all a terrible accident.
Roston Yeyenga: There will be no evidence connecting him to the murder.
Debora Patta: There’ll be no evidence connecting Dr. Rudolph to the murder?
Roston Yeyenga: I don’t think so. From the experience that I had, no.
But one-time scout Spencer Kakoma was so shaken by this experience that he quit his job. He believes that in his beautiful country, as Bianca Rudolph hunted, she became the prey.
Spencer Kakoma: Yes, I’m just happy with the American investigation. He wanted to escape, but they have managed to corner him.
Larry Rudolph’s legal team provided “48 Hours” with the following statement:
“Dr. Rudolph is innocent. The Zambian authorities who were there and investigated said so. The insurance companies who paid the claim after they investigated said so. Strangely, five years later, the feds brought charges without any real evidence — no eye-witnesses, no forensics, no anything. — except for some speculation sprinkled into a chasm of conjecture.”
Ana and Julian have lost their mother. Sources tell us they have expressed support for their father. And now what really happened in the country Bianca Rudolph cherished, will be decided in a Colorado courtroom.
On Aug. 1, 2022, Larry Rudolph was found guilty of murdering his wife Bianca Rudolph. He’s awaiting sentencing.
Lori Milliron was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact to murder. She was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Produced by Ruth Chenetz, Mary Ann Rotondi, Susan Mallie and Jamie Stolz. Tamara Weitzman, Elena DiFiore and Michelle Fanucci are the development producers. Sarah Carter is the producer in Zambia. Richard Barber is the producer-editor. Jud Johnston, Marlon Disla, Mike Baluzy and Phil Tangel are the editors. Jen Terker and Chelsea Narvaez are the associate producers. Anthony Batson is the senior broadcast producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
[ad_2]
-
Missing woman’s dog helps lead investigators to suspect with a criminal past
[ad_1]
Missing woman’s dog helps lead investigators to suspect with a criminal past – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
A Man with a Past
[ad_1]
A Man with a Past – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
“Please Don’t Tell”
[ad_1]
“Please Don’t Tell” – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
The Strange Death of Professor Shockley
[ad_1]
The Strange Death of Professor Shockley – CBS News
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
[ad_2]
-
“48 Hours” investigates the claims and stunning allegations behind Vincent Simmons’ conviction
[ad_1]
This story originally aired on May 21, 2022. It was updated on June 17, 2023.
Vincent Simmons was released from a Louisiana prison in February 2022 after serving 44 years for attempted aggravated rape of twin sisters. He says he didn’t do it — but the sisters say he’s guilty. Are the sisters telling the truth or was this a lie to protect a family secret? “48 Hours” contributor David Begnaud investigates the case against Simmons and hears for the first time from a woman who says she knows the truth.
For identical twins Karen and Sharon Sanders, life is broken into two parts: before May 1977 — and after. They say what happened one night that May changed everything.
Karen Sanders: Every time I talk about it, it makes me feel like I’m 14 again.
Karen Sanders: The limitations it put on our life, like with anxiety … depression—panic attacks … It’s crippling, really. … It’s taken a lot from us.
Back in 1977, the 14-year-old twins were living with their grandparents in the quiet, small town of Marksville, Louisiana. And for the most part, they say they were happy there staying busy and enjoying the little things in life.
Sharon Sanders: I— was all about—
Sharon and Karen Sanders: Makeup —
Sharon Sanders: — and perfume and being prissy (laughs). And Karen was more outside playing in the dirt.
Karen Sanders: This is true.
Karen Sanders
Life was simple … until it wasn’t.
David Begnaud: What makes it so difficult for you, Karen, 44 years later, to even talk about it?
Karen Sanders: Well, it’s—a lot happened that night.
The twins say it all began May 9, 1977, when their cousin, Keith Laborde, picked them up so they could help him clean his house…
By the time they finished cleaning, it was just beginning to get dark, Keith was driving them home, and that’s when they say he stopped at that gas station and encountered a Black man.
Sharon Sanders: He walked up to the car and told Keith that he almost hit him. And Keith, you know, did not. … And Keith would tell him, he didn’t want a fight. And he said, “I don’t fight. I shoot.”
David Begnaud: The man said this?
Karen Sanders: Yes—
Sharon Sanders: The man said it instantly. Karen went inside to pay for the gas. And … me and Keith were talking to this man. And we exchanged names … And he said his name was Simmons.
The twins say any tension between Keith and the man soon lifted, and that’s why they say Keith agreed to give the man a ride.
Karen Sanders: We were like, Keith, you know, —don’t. And he’s like, “it’ll be OK. It’ll be OK. “
But they say they knew it wasn’t OK when the man directed them to that desolate area of Little California Road and threatened them.
Sharon Sanders: He told us that before we could get a gun, he would shoot us.
Karen Sanders: Uh-huh.
Sharon Sanders: Which we did not have a gun. … So, we knew he had a gun.
Avoyelles Parish District Attorney’s Office
They say the man ordered them out of the car and forced Keith into the trunk.
David Begnaud: Keith’s how old?
Karen and Sharon Sanders: Eighteen.
David Begnaud: So, he got in the trunk?
Sharon Sanders: Yes—
Karen Sanders: He did.
Sharon Sanders: He told us to take off our clothes. Karen started to run at that point. And I yelled and she stopped.
Karen Sanders: He said, “This one’s gonna give me trouble.” And so, he opened the trunk and he put me in the trunk with Keith. And he had Sharon.
Sharon Sanders: I took off my clothes. Told me to get in the back seat and I did. And he told me how to lay and I did.
Karen Sanders: I can hear Sharon cryin’. And, of course, I can’t take it. So, I’m bangin’ on the trunk and I’m banging and I’m screaming, “Take me. Take me. Leave her alone. Take me. Take me.”
Sharon Sanders: Karen was back there making all kinds of commotion. And things didn’t work out for him with me.
Karen Sanders [to Sharon]: It’s all right.
Sharon Sanders: And he was very frustrated. You could see it and feel it. And he got very aggravated and told me to put my clothes back on.
David Begnaud: When you say things didn’t work out for him, what do you mean?
Sharon Sanders: He tried to penetrate and was unsuccessful. But at the time, I was 14. I did not know he was unsuccessful. I really thought—
Karen Sanders: You had lost your virginity—
Sharon Sanders: — I had lost my virginity. I had no clue.
Afterwards, Sharon says she was put in the trunk with Karen and Keith – and then, the man started driving.
Karen Sanders: We just found each other’s hands and began to pray. And then the car stopped. And he said, “You, out.”
David Begnaud: And pointed at you, Karen?
Karen Sanders: Yes. … He told me to lay in the back seat. … He, um—he raped me.
Then, with Sharon and Keith still in the trunk, Karen says the man just wanted to talk.
Karen Sanders: It was like nothing had happened, that we were like best friends; that we were just hanging out.
David Begnaud: And you went along with it, just talking –
Karen Sanders: Absolutely. … To keep him calm.
David Begnaud: And how long did this go on for?
Karen Sanders: To me, a lifetime. … He told me he came from a large family … and about where he had lived and all this and he had just gotten back from Texas.
CBS News
She says when they stopped talking, the man raped her again — multiple times.
Karen Sanders: I remember, like, laying in that back seat and his chest – I mean, his heaviness on my chest and the sweat … And it was just disgusting.
She says he then drove them to a local cemetery where he got out of the car.
Karen Sanders: He opens the trunk, and he lets them out. … He’s going to let us go.
Sharon Sanders: And he told us, if you tell anyone, I know where y’all live. I’ve got friends. He said, “And I will come back.”
Sharon Sanders: And we all swore to each other that we would not tell a soul.
They say just the fear of what might happen if they told, kept them silent for two weeks — until Karen says she couldn’t keep it in anymore. She says she confided in Keith’s sister.
Karen Sanders: And I said, “But please —please don’t tell anyone. Please don’t tell anyone.” … She said, “I’m not gonna tell anyone.”
Sharon Sanders: And it just unraveled from there.
The next day, Keith’s parents found out—and soon, Karen, Sharon and Keith all ended up at the sheriff’s office. Karen and Sharon each gave statements reporting that they had been raped and less than 24 hours later, on the morning of May 23, 1977, 25-year-old Vincent Simmons was taken into custody as he was walking down the street.
David Begnaud: Did you know Karen and Sharon Sanders?
Vincent Simmons: Never seen ’em before in my life.
LINEUP, ARREST & TRIAL
It was May 23, 1977, when Vincent Simmons was brought to the sheriff’s office, which used to be on the second floor of the Avoyelles Parish Courthouse, in Marksville.
Vincent Simmons: And they took me and put me in a lineup.
Avoyelles Parish District Attorney’s Office
Karen, Sharon and Keith were all there to see if they could identify a suspect.
Sharon Sanders: We’re all three … in the room.
Karen Sanders: But we’re not all walking up to the window at the same time—
Sharon Sanders: No.
Karen Sanders: Keith goes first. Keith writes the number down on a pad.
Karen Sanders: I walk up, I look at him … And I go to the pad; I write his number down. And then Sharon goes up to the window, looks out—and writes her number down.
Sharon Sanders: And writes the number down.
David Begnaud: What number did you all write?
Karen and Sharon Sanders: Four.
Karen Sanders: And then they said –
Sharon Sanders [to Karen]: You remember that? Oh my gosh, yeah. Of course you do.
Karen Sanders: Then they said to us, “Y’all have all picked the same man.”
That man they identified was 25-year-old Vincent Simmons. He was from a big family in the next town over from Marksville, and this wasn’t the first time he found himself in the sheriff’s office.
Vincent Simmons: I didn’t have a daddy, you know, so basically, I grew up on my own, looking out for my little sisters … I was doing wrong. I was going into stores … just to get some food to feed them.
Vincent was convicted of a home burglary at the age of 18. While incarcerated, he escaped from the jail in Marksville. He lived on the run in Texas for nearly six years until he came back to town — shortly before that lineup.
Karen Sanders: And when I walked up to the window, and I looked … I had no second doubt … I know exactly who raped me that night.
CBS News
After Sharon, Karen, and Keith, ID’d Vincent, he says he was brought upstairs to the jail where he waited while an officer was writing something down.
Vincent Simmons: I’m sitting on the chair in handcuffs. When he gets through, he said, “I want you to sign that.” I said, “What is that?” He said, “This is a confession saying that you committed this crime.” I said, “What crime?” You know, he said, “Rape of those two white girls.” I said, “I don’t even know these white girls.”
Vincent says when he refused to sign the confession, the officer knocked him down, and as they struggled, another officer shot him.
Vincent Simmons: Boom. I was burning through my chest, you know. And I fell on the floor … When I woke up, I’m in the hospital.
The two officers involved tell a very different story. They say Vincent grabbed one officer’s gun and was pointing it at both of them when the second officer shot Vincent in the shoulder— in self-defense. Whatever the truth, Vincent was never prosecuted for that incident. Instead, less than two months after he was shot, he was brought to court to face Sharon and Karen.
David Begnaud: Less than 60 days after he was arrested, Vincent went on trial. Is that a pretty rapid … time?
DA Charles Riddle: In 1977, I would say, for major cases, they went to court quickly.
Charles Riddle was not the district attorney back then, but he is now and is familiar with the details of the case.
David Begnaud: What was the evidence against him?
DA Charles Riddle: The testimony of the witnesses — the victims.
Karen, Sharon and Keith all took the stand.
Karen Sanders: Walk into a courtroom. Your parents, everybody that loves you, is sitting there.
Sharon Sanders: And seeing him for the very —
Sharon and Karen Sanders [in unison]: — first time.
Sharon Sanders: We have not seen him since the lineup. And then seeing him, face to face … was really hard.
Karen Sanders: Of course, I had to put my hand on the Bible and swear to tell the truth, nothing but the truth, which is all I had, anyway.
They all testified that on the night of the rape Vincent had told them his last name.
Karen Sanders: Believe it or not, all night long, we called him Simmons. He told us to call him Simmons.
David Begnaud: At trial … they all say, “Simmons, Simmons, the man told us his name was Simmons.” What’d you think then?
Vincent Simmons: I thought they were crazy. I actually thought they were crazy. You mean to tell me I’m going to do something to y’all and let y’all know my name? … I’m going to tell you who I am? No. That don’t make sense, man.
Avoyelles Parish District Attorney’s Office
The jury got to see Keith’s car and a photo police had taken of Karen, Sharon and Keith reenacting how they fit in the trunk. When it was the defense’s turn, Vincent took the stand.
Vincent Simmons: I told the jury that I was innocent. I didn’t rape nobody.
Vincent’s lawyers also called three alibi witnesses who claimed that Vincent was at a bar on the night of the alleged crime. The bar owner said Vincent was there all night—he got into a fight—and police were called. But the prosecution called a police officer who said the bar fight was on another night.
DA Charles Riddle: I don’t think they had much of a defense.
After a two-day trial, the jury sided with Karen, Sharon and Keith. Vincent Simmons was found guilty of two counts of attempted aggravated rape.
Vincent Simmons: I was shocked. Guilty? I ain’t did nothing.
David Begnaud: When the verdict came back, guilty, unanimously, how did that feel?
Sharon Sanders: Sigh of relief. We knew we were free.
Vincent was sentenced to two consecutive 50-year terms — 100 years behind bars.
Sharon Sanders: We thought we’d never have to face him again.
But Vincent refused to give up hope.
Vincent Simmons: I wanted to prove that I’m innocent, man. I never knew these people.
More than four decades later, Justin Bonus, a newly minted lawyer from Brooklyn, New York, would become involved in Vincent’s defense and was immediately skeptical of the prosecution’s case.
Justin Bonus: I looked at the discovery, I was like, “Well, everything they said at trial was a lie. It’s all a lie.” … There’s nothing that supports what they say.
WHAT THE JURY DIDN’T HEAR
Generations of men have labored in the fields at Louisiana State Penitentiary. It is the country’s largest maximum-security prison, built on the site of a former slave plantation called Angola.
Vincent Simmons: You know we had to work seven days a week. … ’til it gets dark. …That’s how Angola was.
Louisiana State Penitentiary
Since the day that cell door closed behind him, Vincent Simmons has been working to overturn his conviction. In 1993, 16 years after that guilty verdict, he finally succeeded in getting a copy of the prosecution’s case file.
Vincent Simmons: Mailman came, and he gave me this big old envelope. When I opened it up— man, I was in shock.
Inside that envelope were items that Vincent had never seen before, including copies of the initial statements that Karen, Keith, and Sharon gave to police. Remember how all three testified at trial that they knew their attacker’s name?
Karen Sanders: “He told us to call him Simmons.”
But as it turns out, when they first spoke to the investigators, they didn’t say that. Defense attorney Justin Bonus has since reviewed those statements.
CBS News
David Begnaud: When the girls initially went to police, they didn’t say the name “Simmons?”
Justin Bonus: No.
David Begnaud: What name did they say?
Justin Bonus: They didn’t give a name.
And Bonus noticed something else in those statements. Sharon used the N-word to refer to her attacker and said, “all Blacks look alike to me”— which she does not deny saying.
David Begnaud: So, what did you say when they asked you to identify the man?
Sharon Sanders: I said, “All Blacks look alike.”
But still, Karen, Keith, and Sharon, all picked Vincent out of that lineup. And Bonus says he may know why. The photo that was in that file appears to show the lineup. In it, Vincent is the only one in handcuffs.
David Begnaud: When you saw that lineup photo, what’d you think?
Justin Bonus: What? I said this is crazy. Nuts. … Highly suggestive. When you put the cuffs on him, you’re telling them, that’s who we want you to pick.
But Charles Riddle, the current district attorney, says that photo was taken after the twins ID’d Vincent.
DA Charles Riddle: They call it the lineup … it was a photo of the lineup after he was identified and placed in cuffs.
David Begnaud: But how do you know it was after?
DA Charles Riddle: Because the girls told me that.
David Begnaud: So, when you picked him out of the lineup, was he wearing handcuffs –
Karen Sanders: No.
Sharon Sanders: No, he was not.
Karen Sanders: Not at all.
And Karen says they initially didn’t tell police the name Simmons out of fear.
Karen Sanders: I mean, we were scared of him.
Sharon Sanders: And see, I don’t know why I didn’t.
Karen Sanders: I mean, I think it’s –
Sharon Sanders: Other than I was –
Karen Sanders: — fear. We were afraid of him.
CBS News
And there’s another item in that file that Bonus says is critical and was never seen at the trial. It’s the report from a doctor—who was also the local coroner. He examined the girls two weeks after the reported rape, and did not document any signs of sexual assault.
David Begnaud: How big a deal do you think the coroner’s report … plays in this story?
Justin Bonus: Massive.
And Bonus says that report suggests that Sharon was still a virgin—the doctor wrote that her hymen was intact. But Charles Riddle says that report does not prove that the twins were not raped.
CBS News
DA Charles Riddle: Because the definition of rape is slightest penetration. … And the part about no sign of sexual assault? After two weeks, it’s very probable that there would be no sign of sexual assault.
Bonus thinks the jury should have had the chance to consider all of that at trial.
Justin Bonus: His attorneys … They had nothing. They went in there flying blind with their arms tied behind their back in a boxing match. … That’s literally what it was.
David Begnaud: So, you’re telling me the original statements that the girls and Keith gave to police, where they could not identify this individual—
Justin Bonus: Right.
David Begnaud: —that was never heard by the jury?
Justin Bonus: Absolutely not.
David Begnaud: And the medical report from the coroner was never heard by the jury?
Justin Bonus: Right.
David Begnaud: And the lineup photo? Not seen by the jury?
Justin Bonus: No.
David Begnaud: If the statements from the girls had been presented at trial …
Justin Bonus: Right.
David Begnaud: If the coroner’s report had been known and presented at trial…
Justin Bonus: Right.
David Begnaud: Do you think Vincent still would’ve been found guilty?
Justin Bonus: No. Absolutely not.
Back in 1993, when Vincent first got his hands on that evidence, he made it his mission to get his case in front of a judge. He filed numerous pleadings over multiple years, but no court ever ruled in his favor.
DA Charles Riddle: And not a single judge felt like there was enough evidence, not the appellate courts, federal courts, state courts, supreme court.
Vincent was hoping that the parole board at the prison might have more sympathy. So, in 1997, 20 years into his 100-year sentence, he had his first hearing with them. And it was filmed as part of a documentary called, “The Farm,” which profiled inmates at Angola. Vincent showed them the evidence that his defense did not have at trial.
[From “THE FARM”]
VINCENT SIMMONS [addressing board members: We didn’t have none of this evidence. None of this evidence was presented before the jury.
BOARD MEMBER: You were the only one handcuffed in the lineup?
VINCENT SIMMONS: I’m the only one.
BOARD MEMBER: OK, if y’all step out we’ll discuss the case.
Vincent hoped the board would rule in his favor.
BOARD MEMBER [to other board members]: In 20 years, I’d come up with something too.
ANOTHER BOARD MEMBER: Oh yes, yes — he did it. Ain’t no doubt in my mind.
But they would not.
BOARD MEMBER: Mr. Simmons after listening to testimony and going over the reports the board has voted at this time to deny your request for parole.
Vincent Simmons: I was hopeless, but … I know the truth. And no matter how many times they knock you down, keep getting up.
Almost 20 years later, Justin Bonus watched “The Farm” documentary with his wife.
Justin Bonus: And we were shocked. … She told me, you know, “You should take this case. … She basically said, “You need to write him.” And it wasn’t really a suggestion. (laughs) It was, “write him!” … … and that’s what I did.
EXPLOSIVE NEW ALLEGATIONS
David Begnaud: You’re a Brooklyn guy. … You go down to Marksville.
Justin Bonus: I felt like “My Cousin Vinny.” … I mean, it was like, country, OK?
By early 2020, Justin Bonus had become Vincent Simmons’ lawyer. He had just a year of experience under his belt and was warned that the odds were against him.
Justin Bonus: “It’s over, like, he doesn’t have any more appeals,” I was like, “Nah. … That’s not true. … It’s never true. Absolutely not.”
Vincent had been fighting unsuccessfully for decades to overturn his conviction. All the while, Karen and Sharon Sanders remained firm about his guilt.
Karen Sanders: We have no reason to lie. Why would we lie? Why would we let someone … spend their life in prison if we even had the slightest doubt that it wasn’t him?
Not long after Vincent’s ill-fated parole hearing, documentary cameras were rolling again in the late 90s when he and the twins agreed to a reconciliation meeting. It’s where victims and offenders come together to try and heal.
KAREN TO VINCENT: We came today not to free you from your prison, but to free us from our prison.
SHARON TO VINCENT: Today I am closing the door to my pain. … I’m letting go.
When the time came for Vincent to speak, he had questions.
VINCENT SIMMONS: My questions going to be directly based on your statement that you gave—
KAREN & SHARON: No, we’re not going there.
And that’s when the meeting unraveled.
SHARON SANDERS: What are you doing here then? Since you’re innocent, what are you doing here?
VINCENT SIMMONS: Y’all put me here.
SHARON SANDERS: We did? No, a choice that you chose to make put you here.
VINCENT SIMMONS: I mean the truth was hidden
KAREN SANDERS: OK. I think we’re—I think we’ve had enough. I think it’s kind of going sour.
SHARON SANDERS: Vincent, maybe one day you can get out of your pain, of your misery.
Justin Bonus: They didn’t let him speak … because they don’t view him as a human being.
Bonus wanted to put a spotlight on the case and really dig deeper, but he needed some help. So, he turned to Jason Flom, a recording industry executive known for launching the careers of Katy Perry, Matchbox 20, and Lorde, among others. Flom is also a criminal justice advocate and he hosts a podcast called, “Wrongful Conviction,” which has featured big name guests like Kim Kardashian.
Jason Flom: When I heard about Vincent’s case … I was just like, “This is another level.” … I had to do something about it.
Flom featured Vincent’s case on his podcast.
JASON FLOM [Wrongful Conviction” podcast]: How could anyone get convicted on the basis of this?
Jason Flom: This is a man whose life was stolen away from him.
And he gave Justin Bonus money to go out and hire a private investigator in Louisiana named Brian Andrews.
Brian Andrews: Justin actually asked me to be the boots on the ground … take statements, gather information.
Andrews tracked down Diane Prater, the lone surviving juror from Vincent’s trial and the only African American on the jury. Turns out, she says she never wanted to convict Vincent. Prater was in her 20s at the time of trial and says she still remembers her reaction to the twins’ testimony.
CBS News
Diane Prater: When they … told their story, I’m, like, “Ain’t no way in the world that happened like that.” … Put a Black man in your car at that time?
David Begnaud: You didn’t believe it because at that period in history, you just couldn’t see White people giving a ride to Black people?
Diane Prater: Correct.
David Begnaud: Was there a lot of racism in Marksville?
Diane Prater: Yes, it was. It was in Marksville. It was … everywhere.
And she says the jury foreman told her that her vote wouldn’t matter. In 1977, Louisiana juries could convict a defendant with only 10 out of 12 voting guilty.
Diane Prater: So, I say to myself … it ain’t going to do me no good to say nothing … But I never, never, never believed Vincent was guilty.
The private investigator also tried to talk to relatives of Karen, Sharon, and Keith. He ended up conducting a videotaped interview with Keith’s cousin, Dana Brouillette — and she told him a shocking story. Dana said that Keith told her in a bar, long after the trial, that Vincent Simmons was never with them on Little California Road that night.
DANA BROUILLETTE [to Brian Andrews]: He came out and told me. There was never a Black man.
Instead, in a sworn affidavit, Dana says that Keith told her that “he had consensual sex with one of the girls and locked the other in the trunk.”
DANA BROUILLETTE [to Brian Andrews]: He had gone down Little California Road and he locked Sharon in the trunk, and he said the sex between him and Karen was consensual. He said but the other one was a little hellcat. … That’s the one that put the scratches on his neck.
Brian Andrews
In the affidavit, Dana says Keith had scratches on his neck. She told the private investigator that she believes Keith and the twins made up the story about a Black man to explain away those scratches and
Brian Andrews: Blew my mind the things that she said.
David Begnaud: Had Dana ever told anyone that?
Brian Andrews: To my knowledge – I don’t think she had.
DANA BROUILLETTE [to Brian Andrews]: I maybe should have come forward a long time ago … I really did think the man got released.
And Dana’s allegations didn’t stop there. She also gave the private investigator a copy of a Facebook message exchange that she says she had with Karen in October 2020. Karen and Dana were talking about how Keith had allegedly made sexual advances towards female relatives. We asked Karen about that.
CBS News
David Begnaud: You said … “I didn’t realize how sick he was. I thought it was only me.”
Karen Sanders: I don’t remember saying that.
David Begnaud: Yeah, because that’s the message from you. … So what did you mean by that?
Karen Sanders: OK. We need to cut right now. Cut this. Can we cut for a second?
David Begnaud: Yeah. Yeah.
Right then, Karen said she was not ready to talk about that exchange with Dana. But two weeks later, in a follow-up interview with both her and Sharon, she admitted that years before she says they were attacked, when she was a child and Keith was a teenager, something happened.
David Begnaud: Did you have consensual sex with Keith Laborde?
Karen Sanders: OK, let’s put it like this: We were kids … We experimented. So yes.
David Begnaud: How old were you when it happened?
Karen Sanders: I have—I cannot—honestly … I don’t know. Nine, 10, maybe?
David Begnaud: And is this the first time you are saying this publicly?
Karen Sanders: Yes, it is.
Karen Sanders: But that has nothing to do with what Vincent did. That’s two separate incidents. … David, think about it … if me and Keith had had consensual sex way, way before, now why is he locking us in the trunk of a car? Why is he taking us down a dirt road?
But Bonus believes they wanted to cover up what happened that night.
Justin Bonus: It gives motive for why they would lie. … It shows that Karen always was hiding something from day one. … Keith was 18, Karen was 14.
Justin Bonus: So, what do they do? They blame a Black man.
David Begnaud: To be clear, was Keith the perpetrator that night?
Sharon Sanders: No.
Sharon Sanders: He was a victim also. Keith was a victim —
Karen Sanders: That night—
Sharon Sanders: He was not—
Karen Sanders: He was a victim. He stayed in that trunk the whole time.
I went to Keith Laborde’s house to speak with him about all of this. No one answered the door, so later, I called him.
VICTORY FOR VINCENT
David Begnaud: Hello, Keith? This is David Begnaud with CBS News.
When reached by phone, Keith, now 63 years old, denied ever having sex with his cousin, Karen. He said they just, “played around like children.” And he also insisted that whatever had happened between him and Karen had nothing to do with what Vincent Simmons did that night.
Keith Laborde: That goddamn n—– is guilty. I don’t give a f— and yeah, he’s a goddamn n—– and you can put that on TV. I ain’t scared of him.
Despite the allegations concerning Karen and Keith, District Attorney Charles Riddle says he believes the right man was convicted.
Charles Riddle: I’m firmly convinced that he’s guilty. … I don’t believe that the cousin was the one.
But Bonus was more determined than ever to see Vincent walk free. And in April 2021, the district attorney made an offer that would allow for just that. Riddle said he felt like Vincent had done enough time.
Justin Bonus: Vincent could have walked right out the door.
But there was a catch.
Justin Bonus: Vincent would have had to been a sex offender though … Vincent turned that down and said, “I am not a sex offender. I didn’t do this. I am innocent. I’m not a sex offender.”
David Begnaud: What’d you think when you hung up the phone—
Justin Bonus: I mean, that’s it. We’re going to war.
Bonus kept fighting — and in February 2022, he finally got a hearing where a judge would decide Vincent’s fate once and for all. The day of the hearing, as Karen and Sharon made their way into the courthouse, they paused to pray. When Vincent Simmons arrived in a prison van, he was carrying a Bible. A group of supporters greeted him. They were cheering.
CBS News
Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom as Judge William Bennett delivered his decision.
David Begnaud: What did the judge decide?
Justin Bonus: He decided to give Vincent a new trial because of the constitutional violation that he didn’t receive a fair trial.
Vincent’s conviction was thrown out due to the evidence that he himself had obtained almost 30 years earlier — and the fact that his defense team didn’t have it back in 1977. Judge Bennett made it clear though that he did not place fault on anyone for that. Instead, he found that the speediness with which the case went to trial made it likely that the original district attorney on the case, Eddie Knoll, didn’t even have all the evidence himself at that time.
CBS News
David Begnaud: So just to be clear, you believe that in 1977, the police didn’t turn over key evidence to the district attorney?
Judge William Bennett: That’s the only explanation feasible and logical after studying everything that I did. That’s it.
David Begnaud: Are you blaming the police—
Judge William Bennett: No, I don’t believe anybody intentionally hid anything. … It’s just the way it happened because it was fast.
In a court affidavit, the original DA, Eddie Knoll, said he “did not hide or deny Simmons any evidence,” nor did he “prosecute him because of bias.” And he continues to believe that Vincent is guilty. And he’s not the only one that feels that way. Current district attorney Charles Riddle.
David Begnaud: Do you believe a man who was convicted at a trial that was not fair should’ve ever served a day in prison?
DA Charles Riddle: Legally?
David Begnaud: Legally.
DA Charles Riddle: OK, legally no.
David Begnaud: But he did.
DA Charles Riddle: Yes—
David Begnaud: 44 years.
DA Charles Riddle: —and then the judge decided that. Okay, let me tell you, he deserved to serve the 44 years.
David Begnaud: Why?
DA Charles Riddle: Because he’s guilty.
Judge Bennett was careful to say he has “no opinion on the guilt or innocence of Vincent Simmons.” With his decision, it was now up to District Attorney Riddle whether he wanted to retry the case.
David Begnaud: You stood up and said what?
DA Charles Riddle: I said that “He served enough time,” and that, “We’re not gonna prosecute him again”
Justin Bonus: In the eyes of the people and the constitution, he is presumed innocent. And when Charles Riddle dismissed that case, that presumption of innocence carries.
JUSTIN BONUS [in court to Simmons]: You’re free, brother.
Vincent is a free man, but for Karen and Sharon, nothing has changed.
KAREN SANDERS [in the courtroom]: He went in guilty. He is guilty now. And guess what? He will die guilty. So, I’m, I’m happy. I got 44 years.
The twins say they accept the judge’s decision, but they are still hurt by it.
Sharon Sanders: The legal system didn’t just fail him, it failed us in many ways also.
While Vincent has his freedom, they say they still don’t have theirs.
Karen Sanders: It’s frustrating because no one sees our bars. … They don’t see our prison. … We still have our anxiety. We still have our depressions. We still have our fears. … Our bars are real. And if you look deep enough, you can see them.
Judge Bennett is sympathetic toward the women, but he is confident in his decision. The case holds extra meaning for him because his father, now deceased, was one of the many judges who denied motions filed by Vincent over the past years. But that was before Vincent had gained access to the prosecution’s file.
Judge William Bennett: He and I had talked about the Vincent Simmons case years ago. … And I know if he would be here, he today would have done what I did.
David Begnaud: What’s on your heart? Because I can see the emotion.
Judge William Bennett I did the right thing.
Just hours after the judge delivered his decision, and right before the sun set, Vincent Simmons walked out of Angola. He went in when he was just 25 years old and was released three days before his 70th birthday.
CBS News
Later that night, he shared a celebratory meal with his family and friends.
Vincent Simmons [making a toast]: This is going to freedom …
David Begnaud: What’s it like, being out of prison?
Vincent Simmons: Oh, man. It’s, it’s a joy that is unexplainable, really.
But with that joy, comes challenge. Adjusting to life outside prison walls has proven to be difficult. So much has changed since 1977.
Vincent Simmons: Ooh, man. … New technology. I’m just like a little baby, got to learn.
David Begnaud: What are the simple things that you enjoy now?
Vincent Simmons: Breathing the free air … walking outside … basically it’s freedom … to just enjoy the moment.
Vincent Simmons filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing officials of fabricating evidence against him and suppressing other evidence that could have prevented his conviction.
Produced by Stephanie Slifer, Sarah Prior and Murray Weiss. Stephen A. McCain is the development producer. Hannah Vair is the field producer. Lauren Turner Dunn in the broadcast associate. CBS News producers are T. Sean Herbert, Chris Weicher and Maryhelen Campa. Doreen Schechter is the producer-editor. Richard Barber and Marlon Disla are the editors. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
[ad_2]
-
Letters offer a rare look at the thoughts of “The Dexter Killer”: “It’s what it is and I’m what I am.”
[ad_1]
This story previously aired on April 23, 2022. It was updated on June 10, 2023.
These are the words of Mark Twitchell, written to investigative journalist and author Steve Lillibuen:
Steve Lillibuen [reading letters]: “It would appear that I’m unique in the world. There is no key. No root cause … If I really were capable of premeditated murder … Normal, healthy, well-adjusted 30-year-old men … I once heard the legend of another worthy victim … I dealt with his remains in a disrespectful manner that traumatized me forever … psychopathic serial killer … I quickly grew to resent and hate this man.”
Mark Twitchell letter
Steve Lillibuen [reading letter]: “It’s what it is and I’m what I am.”
Lillibuen is revealing the contents of Twitchell’s letters. It’s a rare look inside the mind of a killer.
Steve Lillibuen (reading letter): “Nobody would side with Dexter Morgan if he went around slaughtering schoolteachers and mail carriers on a whim.”
Police say Twitchell was fascinated by the fictional character in the hit Showtime series “Dexter.” Showtime is a division of Paramount Global, which owns CBS.
Steve Lillibuen: Twitchell’s been dubbed “The Dexter Killer” because of the numerous links between the television series and the real-life crimes.
So how did this young Canadian filmmaker end up accused of horrific acts? The story begins in October 2008.
Det. Bill Clark | Edmonton Police: To hear how everything happened … it was like you’re watching the movies … But now we have it happening in real life.
Det. Bill Clark: Gilles Tetreault was online on the plentyoffish.com website … Which is a dating site.
Tetreault, who was 33 at the time, was excited to meet the woman who called herself “Sheena.”
Gilles Tetreault [driving]: I was actually late, so I was driving quite fast to get there.
Gilles Tetreault: She said … “I’ll just leave the garage door open for you. And then you just go in through the garage.”
Det. Bill Clark: I don’t think he ever imagined in a million years what would happen to him in that garage.
Gilles Tetreault: It was dark … then I kind of looked around for the door she told me to go through … and that’s when somebody came out … attacked me from behind.
Gilles Tetreault: Finally, I look back, and that’s when I see this man — kinda hovering over me with a hockey mask … There’s just this chill down my back, as I — wow, this is no date.
Gilles Tetreault: He’s about 6 foot and this black and gold hockey mask painted — all painted up on his face.
The hockey mask wearing man had ordered him to the ground at gunpoint.
Gilles Tetreault: And he tore a piece of tape and he covered my eyes with it. … I start hearing different things… like a jingling noise and stuff like that … my head is just racing, like it’s like thinking, “What’s goin’ on? What’s he gonna do? Is he takin’ another weapon out?”
Tetreault decided he wasn’t waiting to find out.
Gilles Tetreault: I can’t do this, I gotta fight back … so I got up and I ripped the tape off my eyes. … And he was stunned that I got up and started yelling at me to back down on the ground.
Instead, he grabbed the attacker’s gun.
Gilles Tetreault: When I … grabbed the gun, I felt the gun was plastic. This is the greatest feeling I ever felt in my life, because then I knew I had a fighting chance to get away.
Gilles Tetreault: That’s when I was ready to fight … I punched him and I felt really weak. I’m like “Wow, why was my punch so weak?
What Tetreault didn’t realize was that he had been weakened by the effects of a stun baton.
Gilles Tetreault: And then he starts punching me on the side of the head.
Just about then, he came up with a plan.
Gilles Tetreault: He grabbed my jacket … I jerked forward to make sure he had a good hold on it, and I thought it’s … the perfect time.
Troy Roberts: That was part of your plan, you’re thinking he grabs my jacket, and I can get free …
Gilles Tetreault: Right. And that’s when I slipped out of the jacket, rolled underneath the garage door and then got up…. And it worked.
Gilles Tetreault: And I tried to run and all of a sudden my legs wouldn’t work … I just fell, boom right on the gravel driveway. … That’s when he grabbed my legs and started pulling me back to the garage…. So, I’m like, “Oh no, what am I gonna do now. I’m dead.”
Tetreault was thrown back in the garage, but he surprised himself by rolling out again. This time, he managed to get into his truck.
Gilles Tetreault: I stuck the key in the ignition … and then I just sped away.
When Tetreault got home, he discovered the profile on the dating site had been deleted. And he did his best to erase his own memory.
Troy Roberts: Why didn’t you go to the police immediately?
Gilles Tetreault: At first, I was in shock. I said- I told myself I’ll do it tomorrow. And tomorrow came and I was…I felt so ashamed that I got duped.
Embarrassed and confused, Tetreault convinced himself that perhaps it wasn’t as serious as he first thought.
Gilles Tetreault: I really thought it was a mugging at the time.
But just one week later, another man, Johnny Altinger, would answer a similar dating ad and disappear.
Gary Altinger: Where is he? What’s going on? He wouldn’t do this to us.
Gary Altinger, Johnny’s older brother, says the last time anyone heard from him was on October 10, 2008, when the 38-year-old left for a date with a woman named “Jen.”
Gary Altinger: Not a message, nothing. … And then, not showing up for work? Totally out — out of character. … John was very, very, very responsible.
Troy Roberts: And when did you grow concerned.
Gary Altinger: When I received that email … And this e-mail was completely out of character.
Troy Roberts: What did it say?
Edmonton Journal
Gary Altinger: I’ve met a woman named Jen. And I’m going away with her to — Costa Rica and I’ll call you at Christmastime.”
Gary Altinger: I just thought right away after I had read this, that’s gotta be the weirdest message I’ve ever received.
That identical strange message had gone out to all of Johnny’s friends as well. Desperate for some answers, Johnny’s friends broke into his apartment.
Gary Altinger: They found his passport. And they found dirty dishes. And they found everything just like as if he were going to return an hour or two later … And with that information, then they went to the police, and they said, “Hey, listen. You’ve got to do something.”
Det. Bill Clark: His red Mazda was missing. … He had taken his vehicle; it couldn’t be found. So obviously that’s what we’re gonna look for first. Easier to find a car than — than a person.
Det. Bill Clark: Based on the emails, they talk about Costa Rica, the officers search all the parking lots at the airport … It’s not found. … Everything’s turning up negative.
But there was one clue that would give police their first big break in the case. On the day he disappeared, Johnny Altinger had forwarded the directions of where he was going to friends.
Det. Bill Clark: Well, John’s friends were concerned. … And his friend even questioned him on the email. You know, be careful … And John said, “Yeah, well, here’s the directions. And if anything happens to me, you’ll know where to look.”
Armed with the directions, police were led directly to that garage.
Det. Bill Clark: They learned, of course, the garage is rented out to an individual named Mark Twitchell.
Twitchell, then 29 years old, a married man with a young daughter, had used the garage as a set for a recent movie project.
MARK TWITCHELL [graduation video]: “I’m glad I got to work with you all and I hope I see you all in the industry.”
Twitchell denied knowing anything about a missing man or a red Mazda and he had no problem with the police wanting to search the garage.
Det. Bill Clark: They have a look around and they see some…what looks like blood. And Mark Twitchell’s explaining, “Oh, no, that’s my movie prop. We did a film about … killin’ a guy in here and I filmed it all. And I’ve been cleaning it up over the last couple weeks …”
Det. Bill Clark: And there are some things that were, you know, raisin’ your Spidey senses in this one. Goin’, “Yeah, this isn’t right. … Something goin’ on here.”
QUESTIONS FOR THE FILMMAKER
For detectives in the Edmonton Police Department, the disappearance of Johnny Altinger was a mystery in more ways than one.
Det. Bill Clark: It’s a missing persons case. … We don’t know if foul play’s happened here. We — we don’t have a body. We don’t even know if we have a crime.
Their only lead was Mark Twitchell’s film set garage. Voluntarily, the amateur filmmaker came down to the Edmonton Police Station to speak with detectives.
DETECTIVE [interrogation]: Altinger … Does that name ring a bell to you or mean anything to you?
MARK TWITCHELL: No.
DETECTIVE: Never heard it before?
MARK TWITCHELL: No.
Twitchell appeared to be eager to help. He had no history of violence and was hardly a suspect. In fact, he seemed guilty of nothing more than wanting to brag about his film career.
MARK TWITCHELL [interrogation]: I’m working on a comedy right now. Which is a — it’s actually a full-blown feature that’s actually gonna have a decent budget in the neighborhood of about three-and-a-half million …
Twitchell’s first film project, a “Star Wars” fan film, had received some media buzz back in 2007.
MARK TWITCHELL movie interview]: “The word has gotten around that I’m making a 100 million dollar movie for 60 grand, and some production and directing jobs have already come my way.”
Edmonton Police Service
But the police were more interested in Twitchell’s latest production: a suspense thriller called “House of Cards,” where a hockey masked serial killer lures a man to garage via the internet and kills him.
DETECTIVE [interrogation]: I mean it’s kinda odd that you’re filming that kind of thing.
MARK TWITCHELL: Mm hmm.
DETECTIVE: And we end up going to that garage because of a missing person who supposedly went there.
MARK TWITCHELL: Yeah. It’s really freaky too … And as soon as they called me on the phone … I got this weird chill.
Det. Bill Clark: He looked pretty comfortable in the interview. … And when it was done and I watched, I went, “Wow, that guy interviewed well.”
Hours later, Twitchell even agreed to let officers back into the garage where he had filmed “House of Cards.” Little did they know the case was about to take an unusual turn.
Det. Bill Clark: Detective Murphy goes, you know, and meets him and talks to him. And there’s this huge revelation about “Oh yeah, I bought a red car off a guy.” It’s like — I remember getting the phone call at the police station just thinking “holy crap.”
That’s because police were still looking for Johnny Altinger’s red Mazda. So, investigators called Twitchell again. And again, he voluntarily agreed to answer more questions. This time Bill Clark conducted the interview.
DET. BILL CLARK [interrogation]: So, as you know Mark, we’re just here trying to find this John fellow. John Altinger.
MARK TWITCHELL: Mm hmm.
Clark listened while Twitchell told him how he came into possession of a red car — a detail he failed to mention when he spoke with police earlier.
MARK TWITCHELL [interrogation]: This guy, uh, taps on my window … you know, “Hey buddy do you wanna buy a car? … I — I’ve shacked up with this really rich lady … She’s even gonna buy me a new car … so I’m just looking to unload mine… how much do you have on you?”
Twitchell claimed he bought the red Mazda for just $40, and that it was parked at a friend’s house.
Troy Roberts: What are you thinking when you hear that? That he purchased a car for $40?
Det. Bill Clark: I just thought, “That’s unbelievable.” Right away I’m saying to myself this is a bunch of crap.
The strange story about the red car, the serial killer movie being filmed — for Clark it could only mean one thing.
Edmonton Police Service
DET. BILL CLARK [interrogation]: There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that you’re involved in the disappearance of John Altinger. No doubt in my mind at all Mark.
MARK TWITCHELL: Why?
But it was only a hunch. Clark had no hard evidence against Mark Twitchell. Police began digging deeper into his background. They were interested in speaking with anyone who had worked on “House of Cards,” where actor Chris Heward’s character meets an untimely, bloody end in the film.
Chris Heward: My character was killed with a samurai sword. … They said they would have a mannequin or a dummy to run the sword through, and when I got there, there was none. … When I looked at the weapons … that was my first sign. … When I saw that they were real, I thought, “This is off. … Why didn’t I tell somebody where I am?”
Heward left the garage film set unharmed but rattled. His unease only escalated when police asked him about that allegedly fake movie blood they spotted in the garage.
Chris Heward: “How much of the blood splatter on the wall was from your filming?” I said, “None of the blood splatter was from us.”
And then, in a search of Twitchell’s belongings, police found his laptop.
Det. Bill Clark: They pulled off the hard drive a deleted file … titled “SK Confessions.”
“SK Confessions.” Police believed “SK” was shorthand for “serial killer.”
Det. Bill Clark: One of the first lines … it says — “I’m not sure when I decided to become a serial killer, but it was a feeling of pure euphoria.”
“SK Confessions” told the story of a man who was lured to a garage and stabbed to death — a plot strikingly similar to “House of Cards.”
“SK CONFESSIONS” PASSAGE: “I plunged the knife deep into his neck …”
Det. Bill Clark: It was unbelievable. … I just remember reading it all and just was fascinated by this document going, “Holy mackerel.”
But was the document a screenplay? Or was it in fact Mark Twitchell’s confession of murder?
THE “DEXTER” CONNECTION
Two weeks after the disappearance of Johnny Altinger at a garage film set, police had sharpened their focus on filmmaker Mark Twitchell.
Det. Bill Clark: It just doesn’t make sense. … where there’s smoke there’s fire.
Police cameras were rolling as a forensics team processed Twitchell’s family car and the garage he rented.
And a few miles away, detectives had been at the Twitchell home where they found Jess Twitchell — Mark’s unsuspecting wife of two years.
Det. Bill Clark [in car in front of Twitchell’s house]: What I said was, “We’re investigating a missing persons. I believe your husband’s got somethin’ to do with it … and this quite possibly — you know, could be a homicide.” I didn’t really go into anything more, but I think that was enough. I mean, she was emotional.
Police soon discovered that the Twitchell marriage was already fractured.
Det. Bill Clark: They had been livin’ and basically sleeping in separate bedrooms. She was basically livin’ on the main floor, he was livin’ in the basement. So, there was obviously troubles in paradise there, we knew that …
QMI Agency
Mark Twitchell had been having an affair with an old girlfriend and lying to his wife about having a job.
Det. Bill Clark: We found out he was telling his wife he was going to work every day. He had no job. … He was getting his friends to invest in his alleged movie-making business with his Hollywood connections … And basically, Mark Twitchell was living off their money.
Interestingly, the document police had found in Twitchell’s laptop titled “SK Confessions” also referenced a crumbling marriage and secrets. It read “I went through great lengths to bring my wife over to the comfortable belief I wasn’t cheating on her.”
Det. Bill Clark: It was basically almost like a movie script.
But what was real and what was fiction? The closer police looked, the more the lines blurred. Police discovered Twitchell spent countless hours making elaborate Halloween costumes.
Det. Bill Clark: It’s almost like, at times, Mark Twitchell lives in a fantasy world.
But it was Twitchell’s Facebook page — comparing himself to TV’s fictional serial killer Dexter Morgan — that really raised eyebrows.
“Mark has way too much in common with Dexter Morgan” read Twitchell’s status.
Det. Bill Clark: He talked a lot about how he loved the show “Dexter.”
Twitchell even posed as Dexter Morgan on Facebook.
Renee [reading Facebook message]: “We all have a dark side, some darker than others and you’re not the only one to relate to Dexter. It sometimes scares me how much I relate. I mean look at this profile.”
That profile had caught the attention of a woman named Renee from Cleveland, Ohio.
Renee: I’m a huge fan of the Showtime show “Dexter.” … So, I thought, “Oh, well, you know, I’ll be friends with him.”
Eventually, Twitchell revealed his true identity.
Renee: He was a filmmaker … and he was working on — a new thing called “House of Cards.”
Renee was intrigued. After all, she was an aspiring writer and a friendship with a movie maker could open doors.
Renee: I thought it was gonna be like a working relationship, a working friendship. You know, we had a lot in common.
Troy Roberts: So, I mean, you spoke to him a couple of times a day online?
Renee: Couple of times a day.
Troy Roberts: Was it flirtatious?
Renee: Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
Their email exchanges soon became dark. It was shortly before Johnny Altinger disappeared.
Renee: We talked about— you know, serial killers … and, you know, the psychology behind a serial killer.
At the time, Renee was upset with her ex-husband’s new wife.
Renee: And I wanted her dead, at the time. … But I said I couldn’t do it. … And hypothetically, how would you get away with it?
Troy Roberts: How do you get away with it?
Renee: He said, “You cut her up in little pieces. You put her in trash bags, like Dexter.” And since I was close to the lake, “You rent a boat and — dump her out in the middle of Lake Erie.”
But then, she began to wonder.
Renee: He said over the weekend he did something, and he liked it. … “I crossed the line and I did something and I liked it”
Troy Roberts: And what did you take that to mean?
Renee: That he killed somebody. What other line is there to cross? … Something inside my head just gave me red flags and said, “He did it.”
And her suspicions kept growing with another email he sent.
Renee [reading email]: “There’s an enormous missing person, possible homicide investigation going on centralized around a location I’ve rented for film work. … So of course the police have tossed my house and impounded my car … Not fun considering they won’t find anything …”
But Twitchell had underestimated the police.
Det. Bill Clark: He thought he was way smarter than the police. One of the biggest mistakes I think that he made was he had no idea how we do our job and that was a huge advantage to us.
Adding to their circumstantial case: Twitchell possessing Altinger’s car, the “SK Confessions” document and his “Dexter” obsession. Investigators finally had hard evidence — they had found Altinger’s blood in Twitchell’s trunk.
Det. Bill Clark: When we got the word that the DNA matched, we briefed our tactical team—our arrest team, and we had officers ready to make the arrest.
On Halloween morning 2008, while Twitchell was putting the finishing touches on his Halloween costume at his parents’ home, police were busy laying a trap.
Det. Bill Clark: We got an undercover operator to work the internet and pretend he was gonna — an investor. … He was lured out on the promise to meet this guy at this coffee shop … And when he got about three blocks from his house, the tactical team swooped in on him and took him down. Tough guy Mark Twitchell peed his pants he was so scared. And it was a little taste of his own medicine, I guess.
Back at the station, Detective Clark and Mark Twitchell came face to face in the interrogation room once again.
DET. BILL CLARK [Mark Twitchell interrogation]: As I told you that night, I knew that you were involved in the disappearance at that time of Johnny Altinger. That’s changed slightly … I now know that you killed John Altinger.
Three weeks after Altinger’s disappearance, police charged Twitchell with first-degree murder. The once talkative movie director barely uttered a line.
CBS News
Troy Roberts [watching interrogation video]: You didn’t get much of a reaction, did you?
Det. Bill Clark: No, he’s uh — well he knows not to say anything … he’s talking to his lawyers. He’s not gonna admit to anything.
He didn’t have to. “SK Confessions,” which police had been dissecting word by word, spoke volumes. They were now convinced it was no screenplay, but rather a diary of murder.
One passage about a knife read: “I thrust it into his gut. His reaction was pure Hollywood.”
Det. Bill Clark: We do believe, as investigators, that the account written by Mark Twitchell in that “SK Confessions” is exactly what he did to John Altinger.
By now, Renee had called police. As authorities began building their case, there was one crucial part of “SK Confessions” they wanted to verify … about a victim who had survived.
Det. Bill Clark: It was just a huge piece of evidence ’cause not only would it verify what was written in “SK Confessions”… it would also have — a living witness … so it was paramount that we find this person.
THE MAN WHO GOT AWAY
Detective Bill Clark knew his next move was finding the alleged victim who had escaped from Mark Twitchell’s garage.
Det. Bill Clark: You know, one of the first things we did was check the police records … figuring hopefully someone called the police on this. And we have nothing.
But police had found a helpful clue during the search of Twitchell’s home.
Det. Bill Clark: One of the things they had found was a hockey mask…the “SK Confessions” talked about how … Mark Twitchell had worn this mask when he attacked both victims. But we figured it was something the first victim would key on.
Police soon took to the airwaves.
DET. MARK ANSTEY [to reporters, holding up hockey mask]: We have some details on this male victim who was attacked, and we would like him to come forward.
Gilles Tetreault was at home oblivious to the horror he had escaped when a friend told him to watch the news.
DET. MARK ANSTEY [to reporters]: To date we do not know who this victim is…. I believe the victim entered the garage and was attacked by another male who was wearing a hockey mask …
Gilles Tetreault: And it’s the same hockey mask that I saw. … Wow, yeah, this is — this is the guy. This is what happened to me. It’s the same mask, everything.
What Tetreault heard next came as an even greater shock. Another man had been lured to the same garage and met a gruesome end.
DET. MARK ANSTEY [to reporters]: We have not found John Altinger’s body.
Troy Roberts: And what were you thinking when — when you heard this?
Gilles Tetreault: I couldn’t believe it. … Once you — find out the whole story … I knew at that point it was not just a mugging. It was actually — he was probably going to kill me. … And I’m like, “Wow, I— I have to go forward now. I have to come forward.”
Exactly one month after he was attacked, Gilles Tetreault walked into the Edmonton Police Department and told police his incredible story.
GILLES TETREAULT [police interview]: I was off balance, I couldn’t run … I fell down on the gravel driveway and, uh, basically crawling. … So, he dragged me back to the garage.
Tetreault’s story matched nearly word for word what was in “SK Confessions.”
“SK CONFESSIONS” PASSAGE: “I grabbed him by the leg as if to drag him back into the garage caveman style.”
Det. Bill Clark: So, I know that this diary we have is true.
GILLES TETREAULT [police interview]: After this all happened, I realized how lucky I was.
Seven days after Tetreault was attacked, police say Twitchell wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
Troy Roberts: How did he kill John?
Det. Bill Clark: We know that he lured him to the garage in the same way he lured Gilles Tetreault. … And then in this case … because he learned from Gilles that the Taser didn’t work, he hit him over the head with a lead pipe.
“SK CONFESSIONS” PASSAGE: “Please stop hitting me … oh my skull.”
Following the narrative, police believe Altinger was then stabbed and dismembered on a makeshift autopsy table.
Troy Roberts [outside Twitchell’s garage]: What was the most damning piece of evidence that you discovered?
Det. Bill Clark: We had a, you know, luminol tests done on the floor. … Large amounts of blood had been spilled on the floor of the garage. … Probably one of the … biggest pieces, a piece of tooth that was found inside there. That piece of tooth matched up to our victim.
According to “SK Confessions,” the killer then broke into Altinger’s apartment and sent out those emails about taking an exotic vacation.
The killer then attempted to burn the remains in a barrel but failed. He next tried to dump them into the river but was afraid of being seen.
Det. Bill Clark: Ultimately Mark Twitchell drove around with it, according to the “SK Confessions” document. … He even talked about driving around with him and pulling up beside people at red lights and looking at them thinking that “they don’t know I have a dead body in the trunk of my car.”
But where was Johnny Altinger’s body? “SK Confessions” described the killer finally choosing a sewer to dump the remains, but that’s where the pages stopped. It was a story without an ending.
Det. Bill Clark: In any homicide investigation you obviously want to bring closure to the family… So not only do you want to make that phone call saying, “We got the guy that did this to your loved one,” but in this case, we wanted to say to ’em, look, “we found Johnny.”
Detective Clark hoped Twitchell would provide the final chapter.
DET. BILL CLARK [interviewing Twitchell]: I’m gonna go get the car ready. We’re gonna take a drive.
Troy Roberts: You guys were driving around and there was a camera trained on him in the back of the police car. Tell me about that.
Det. Bill Clark: When you — you read all the experts’ books about these type of individuals is they tend to like the media attention. … So, we thought, “Well, maybe if we drive him around and we’ll put a camera on him, maybe he’ll just — we’ll just take him to places,” ’cause we had no idea where — where Johnny remains were at that time.
DET. BILL CLARK [to Twitchell in police car]: So, in order to finish the movie, we have to find the body, take it back to the people, the family — done. Movie’s over. And you can write it all down.
Detective Clark was relentless, taking Twitchell on a tour of his old neighborhood.
Det. Bill Clark: And we first drove to his parents’ house where he had been staying. … We actually … demanded that he tell us. He wouldn’t.
DET. BILL CLARK [to Twitchell in police car]: Look familiar Mark? Are we parked right on top of the sewer where you dumped the body?
Next stop, the scene of the crime.
DET. BILL CLARK [to Twitchell in police car]: So here we are back at the killing garage. The “Dexter” garage.
OFFICER [to Twitchell outside garage]: Bring back any memories? You wanna tell us where the body is now? Get this over with?
But Twitchell remained silent. So, police kept searching on their own, looking in sewer after sewer.
Det. Bill Clark [driving]: So, all these manhole covers were pulled off in this alley. … So anytime I’d seen one I’d always have my flashlight with me and would get out and actually take a look.
Weeks, then months, passed and still no luck. Then a year-and-a-half after Johnny Altinger disappeared, Twitchell, while awaiting trial, broke his silence and gave the police a map.
Investigators followed it to an alleyway just a half block away from where they had stopped the search.
Edmonton Police Service
Det. Bill Clark [with Roberts at sewer]: And he had marked an “X,” “X” marks the spot, and took us right to this sewer cover here. … We could see what looked like pieces of human torso down there.
In March of 2011, Mark Twitchell went on trial for the murder of Johnny Altinger. Prosecutors called Gilles Tetreault to testify, and to prove that what Twitchell described in “SK Confessions” was not a work of fiction but an account of what had actually happened.
Gilles Tetreault: I wasn’t really afraid of him at that time. … I knew he couldn’t hurt me anymore.
The only witness the defense called was Mark Twitchell and he had one unbelievable tale to tell. Steve Lillibuen, a college professor and an investigative journalist, was covering the trial for the Edmonton Journal and went on to write a book, “The Devil’s Cinema,” about the case.
Steve Lillibuen: Mark Twitchell testified … that this was all a big misunderstanding … he had killed Johnny in self-defense …
Twitchell claimed that Altinger’s death was nothing more than a publicity stunt gone horribly awry. He said he intended to let both men go so they would create a buzz for his film by telling people that this had actually happened to them. But he claimed Altinger became enraged at being tricked, and he accidentally killed him in self-defense.
Steve Lillibuen: He blames Johnny, saying it was Johnny’s reaction to his attempt at this promotion is what happened.
In the end, the jury took just five hours to find Mark Twitchell guilty. He was sentenced to 25 years to life. But for Lillibuen, there were still so many questions.
Steve Lillibuen: So, the motive is the mystery, the why did he do this. … What’s Mark Twitchell’s psyche? What led to this happening?
Questions Lillibuen hoped might be answered when he got a call out of the blue from Mark Twitchell himself.
Steve Lillibuen: He just said straight out, “If you’re gonna be writing a book about me, you might as well come straight to the source.”
A KILLER’S OWN WORDS
Steve Lillibuen: The first time I met him, he actually had me laughing. … He’s very charismatic.
Mark Twitchell was nothing like author Steve Lillibuen expected.
Steve Lillibuen: He has very much that salesman slick behavior, he knows how to put it on to get people to like him.
Twitchell began writing to Lillibuen before he was even convicted in 2011. Over the course of almost three years, they exchanged dozens of letters.
CBS News
Steve Lillibuen: I learned really quickly that he preferred to talk through writing.
Troy Roberts: These weren’t ramblings of a crazy man. There was actually some substance in these letters?
Steve Lillibuen: Yes absolutely. So, he’s not crazy. He is lucid.
At first, Lillibuen didn’t want to push Twitchell away with too many probing questions about his crimes.
Steve Lillibuen: I asked him a lotta softball questions just about who he was, his family, his upbringing — all that kinda background detail.
Steve Lillibuen: He was newly married and a new father. So he was, you know, just a typical local guy who had dreams of making it big in Hollywood and really no red flags. No warning signs that something like this was on the horizon.
In letters, Twitchell clung to his defense that he had no choice but to kill Johnny Altinger and then dismember him.
Steve Lillibuen [reading letter]: He writes, “I killed Johnny Altinger in a horrific accident of self-defense. After cursorily shoving aside my human sensibilities, I dealt with his remains in a disrespectful manner that traumatized me forever.”
Steve Lillibuen: … still is adamant … that this was not a planned and deliberate murder … and to be frank, he is wrong.
Edmonton Crown Prosecution Office
Lillibuen points to “SK Confessions,” where Twitchell describes how he turned that garage into a kill room, set up a makeshift autopsy table, had plastic sheeting, and a processing kit similar to the one Dexter Morgan used.
Steve Lillibuen: Mark Twitchell wrote to me quite extensively about his interest in “Dexter.”
“Dexter” on his mind, Twitchell drew a portrait of Michael C. Hall – the actor who plays him. And to Lillibuen’s surprise, even behind bars Twitchell was able to feed his obsessions.
Steve Lillibuen: Mark Twitchell had actually been granted access to finish watching the series while he was incarcerated.
In 2012, Michael C. Hall was asked about Mark Twitchell on a Canadian radio program.
MICHAEL C. HALL (audio): it is horrifying to entertain the notion that something you did inspired that.
Twitchell’s response to Hall’s comments was to downplay his fascination with the “Dexter” character.
Mark Twitchell letter
Steve Lillibuen [reading letter]: He wrote to me “As you are aware, Dexter has almost nothing to do with my case.”
Throughout their correspondence, Lillibuen continued to grapple with what drove Twitchell and then Twitchell told him:
Steve Lillibuen [reading letter]: “There is no key. No root cause …there is no school bully or impressionably gory movies … or Showtime television series to point the finger at. It is what it is and I am what I am.”
Julia Cowley: He’s a depraved individual, and he knows that.
Retired FBI criminal profiler Julia Cowley didn’t work on this case, but she spoke with Detective Clark and reviewed Mark Twitchell’s writings and letters for “48 Hours.” She thinks she knows what made Twitchell tick.
Julia Cowley: I think he identified with Dexter to some degree. … I think he is different than Dexter.
Julia Cowley: He’s not killing bad guys. He is killing very innocent, good people living productive lives.
Julia Cowley: And while he’s technically not a serial killer … he was headed in that direction if they hadn’t have caught him.
Cowley believes Twitchell took pleasure in planning and executing his crimes as if they were romantic trysts.
Julia Cowley: I think the primary motivation was sexual.
Troy Roberts: Sexual?
Julia Cowley: Yes. … He is targeting men that perhaps he would be interested in having a date with. … It’s a combination of a sexual motive and thrill killing.
Julia Cowley: He is pretending to be a woman … He … writes extensively about … what he’s going to wear, the weapon that he chooses. He sort of describes it in seductive language. “I wanted the weapon used for the deed itself to be simple, elegant and beautiful.”
And in a strange twist, Twitchell’s been able to feed that obsession too. In 2017, he was allowed to join an online dating website for inmates.
Steve Lillibuen: Which, you know, I find quite surprising considering that the way he ended up in prison … I believe it’s been taken down since then.
The man who was tricked into that very bad date in Twitchell’s garage, Gilles Tetreault, continues to be haunted by the experience. Tetreault, who has written a book about his ordeal, spoke to “48 Hours” recently.
Gilles Tetreault: I still think about the painted-up hockey mask. I still think about the stun gun. You know, the fight for my life —
In 2023, Twitchell will be eligible to apply for early parole. Experts say it’s a long shot, but it worries Tetreault.
Gilles Tetreault: I’m scared that he might want to finish what he started and come after me.
Julia Cowley: Mark Twitchell cannot be rehabilitated. This is who he is.
And for Mark Twitchell, the aspiring filmmaker, there may be one final plot twist. Author Steve Lillibuen sold the rights to his book “The Devil’s Cinema” to a film company. Twitchell’s story may be coming to the big screen.
Produced by Asena Basak. Michael McHugh is the producer-editor. Lourdes Aguiar and Anthony Venditti are also producers. Joan Adelman and Michelle Harris are the editors. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Susan Zirinsky and Judy Tygard are the executive producers
[ad_2]
