# 3 True Crime Mysteries: Tom Wales, Sheridan County Jane Doe, Jacques Freitag

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 29 Jul 2025, 24 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO7372692107.mp3

Join me as we discuss the the cases of Tom Wales, the Sheridan County Jane Doe, and Jacques Freitag. Chapters: 0:00 Tom Wales 8:11 Sheridan County Jane Doe 18:30 Jacques Freitag 👇 Support My Work: 🛍️ Merch: https://lazy-chill-zone-shop.fourthwall.com ❤️ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lazychillzone 👇 Youtube links: Lazy Chill True Crime Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8dVJtzeHcJgd_Z0bHrJTHQ Lazy Chill History Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillHistory Lazy Chill Zone Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillZone 👇Social Media Links: https://www.instagram.com/lazychillzone/ 👇 Podcast links: ⚡True Crime Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/0klIz08pAr7wR4we0Ia4sk?si=68qZxCeAQkysXzMZrHE0Iw 🍏 True Crime Podcast on Apple 🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lazy-chill-true-crime/id1815534472

## Transcript

[0:00] On a quiet autumn night in 2001, a shocking criminal conspiracy
[0:04] played out that would shake the entire nation.
[0:07] Assistant US Attorney Tom Wales was gunned down in the basement
[0:11] of his own home, becoming the first sitting federal prosecutor
[0:15] in U.S. history to be assassinated.
[0:18] Wales had dedicated 18 years of his career to the US Department
[0:22] of Justice, serving as an Assistant US Attorney in Seattle
[0:26] and specializing in white collar fraud cases.
[0:30] Colleagues knew him as a meticulous and hard working
[0:32] prosecutor. Outside of work, he was active
[0:36] in civic life. He served on Seattle's Planning
[0:40] Commission and became a leading advocate for tough gun control
[0:43] laws. This blend of professional
[0:46] prominence and personal integrity made his sudden
[0:49] violent death all the more shocking.
[0:54] On the evening of October 11th, 2001, Wales was working at his
[0:59] computer in the downstairs office of his Queen Anne Hill
[1:02] home when an unknown assailant struck sometime around 10:40.
[1:07] PMA gunman slipped into his backyard, avoided motion lights
[1:12] and fired multiple shots through a basement window, hitting
[1:16] whales in the neck and chest. A neighbor heard the commotion
[1:20] and called 911. When first responders arrived,
[1:24] they found Wales collapsed at his desk.
[1:27] He was rushed to a hospital, but he died the next day from his
[1:31] injuries. Forensic experts determined that
[1:34] the weapon was a Makarov semi automatic fitted with an
[1:37] aftermarket barrel. This unusual modification left
[1:41] distinctive markings on the bullets and shell casings,
[1:44] giving agents one of their first solid leads.
[1:48] It was already clear to investigators that this was a
[1:50] planned assassination, not a random crime, and one witness
[1:55] reported seeing a lone male suspect fleeing the scene into
[1:59] the darkness. In the early days of the
[2:05] investigation, agents and Seattle police detectives
[2:08] scoured Wales's professional and personal life for clues.
[2:12] Before long, their attention zeroed in on a possible suspect,
[2:16] a commercial airline pilot whom Wales had prosecuted in a fraud
[2:20] case involving the illegal conversion of a helicopter.
[2:24] In this case, the pilot, along with his business partners, were
[2:27] accused of illegally modifying a military chopper for civilian
[2:31] use and sale. That case, which had been
[2:34] contentious and bitterly fought, ended with charges against the
[2:38] pilot being dropped. The pilot was irate at Wales,
[2:43] even suing the Justice Department for malicious
[2:45] prosecution to recoup his legal fees.
[2:49] Just weeks after Wales's slaying, FBI agents searched the
[2:52] pilot's home in Bellevue for evidence linking him to the
[2:55] crime. However, no forensic evidence
[3:01] tying him to the shooting was found, and he maintained an
[3:04] alibi that he was elsewhere that night.
[3:08] He claimed he'd been at a movie and then on a phone call at home
[3:11] when Wales was shot, an alibi the FBI couldn't disprove.
[3:16] As months passed, agents gradually eliminated other
[3:19] potential suspects, and the theory of a revenge plot by the
[3:23] embittered pilot remained front and center.
[3:27] The FBI also pursued the forensic trail, knowing the
[3:31] perpetrator had used a rare aftermarket barrel.
[3:34] Agents tried to trace every such barrel sold in the United
[3:37] States, roughly 2600 in total. It was a painstaking nationwide
[3:43] effort, and despite testing many weapons, this effort did not
[3:48] turn up the missing gun. Years went by without an arrest,
[3:52] but the case never went cold. In fact, it stayed an active
[3:56] major case for the FBI, with a dedicated task force continually
[4:01] chasing leads. There were false hopes and red
[4:04] herrings. At one point, a jailhouse snitch
[4:07] claimed a cellmate had confessed to having been hired for the
[4:10] job, but that story fell apart under scrutiny.
[4:17] By 2006, five years after the ACT, no charges had been filed,
[4:22] but investigators were increasingly convinced the
[4:24] answer lay in a small circle of people connected to that pilot.
[4:29] An intriguing twist came in early 2006, when an anonymous
[4:33] letter arrived at the FBI office in Seattle.
[4:37] The letter, postmarked from Las Vegas and signed Gigit, claimed
[4:41] that a woman had paid the writer to eliminate Tom Wales.
[4:46] In lurid detail, the self-proclaimed professional
[4:49] described stalking Wales's house, shooting him through the
[4:52] window and escaping after collecting payment for the job.
[4:57] The implications were chilling. If the letter was telling the
[5:00] truth, it meant Wales's slaying was a contract job.
[5:06] Agents noticed that the pilot suspect had coincidentally
[5:09] travelled to Las Vegas shortly before the letter was sent,
[5:13] raising suspicion that he might have been involved in this
[5:15] bizarre message. The pilot's attorney vehemently
[5:19] denied that his client had anything to do with the Gidget
[5:22] letter, and the author of the letter was never identified.
[5:27] Whether it was a genuine confession or a hoax, the letter
[5:31] reinforced the possibility that a hired professional was behind
[5:35] the trigger. Finally, in 2018, a significant
[5:41] public update arrived. Deputy Attorney General Rod
[5:45] Rosenstein came to Seattle in February 2018 to announce that
[5:50] the FBI had evidence Wales was slain as part of a conspiracy
[5:54] involving a professional hitman. This was the first official
[5:57] confirmation of the so-called hitman theory by the
[6:00] authorities. Investigators now believe that a
[6:03] small group of individuals had orchestrated the event.
[6:07] Officials cautioned that they still didn't have enough
[6:09] evidence to charge anyone, but they made it clear they no
[6:13] longer saw this as a potential lone wolf attack.
[6:18] The next year brought a hopeful development for the
[6:21] investigators. In 2019, a federal grand jury in
[6:26] Seattle indicted a woman named Shawna Reed for perjury and
[6:30] obstruction in connection with the Whales case.
[6:34] Investigators allege that she had previously told police
[6:37] someone she knew bragged about being involved in the slaying.
[6:41] However, when she was asked this underoath, she denied ever
[6:45] telling the police this. It was the first time anyone was
[6:49] charged with a crime related to the Whales investigation, an
[6:53] indirect approach aimed at pressuring someone on the
[6:56] periphery of the conspiracy to talk.
[6:59] However, this tactic ultimately fell short, and in a somewhat
[7:04] spectacular way. In 2021, Reed struck A plea deal
[7:09] and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor obstruction charge,
[7:13] receiving a sentence of nine days in jail and a $25 fine.
[7:18] She also didn't provide any new information to advance the case
[7:21] whatsoever. In October 2021, the Justice
[7:28] Department doubled the reward for information about the
[7:31] slaying to $2.5 million, hoping to entice anyone with knowledge
[7:35] to come forward. Some believe that this will be
[7:38] sufficient to get someone on the very outskirts of knowledge of
[7:41] the conspiracy to break. As of 2025, however, this has
[7:46] been unsuccessful and the case of Thomas Wales remains an
[7:50] unsolved mystery. Hey everyone, it's Jimmy here.
[7:57] Just quickly reminding you to hit that like button and share
[8:01] this video with your friends and family.
[8:04] Also, when you're done here, don't forget to check out my
[8:06] True Crime channel where I focus exclusively on solved cases.
[8:14] On April 13th, 1992. Workers with the Wyoming Highway
[8:18] Department and the local sheriff made a grim discovery in
[8:22] Sheridan County, Wyoming. In a ditch along the southbound
[8:26] side of Interstate 90, about 5 miles South of the Montana
[8:30] border, lay the badly decomposed body of a young woman.
[8:35] She had no identification and no immediate clues to her name.
[8:40] Investigators determined the victim had likely been slain
[8:43] elsewhere and dumped beside the highway.
[8:47] In the absence of an identity, she became known simply as the
[8:50] Sheridan County Jane Doe. Interestingly, this is a case
[8:54] where we now know absolutely everything except the identity
[8:58] of this Jane Doe. An autopsy revealed that the
[9:04] woman's death had occurred a couple months before her body
[9:07] was found, likely around February 1992.
[9:12] The first examination couldn't determine an exact cause of
[9:15] death, but foul play was strongly suspected.
[9:20] A later forensic review uncovered evidence of brutal
[9:23] violence. The young woman had died from
[9:25] blunt force trauma to the head. Despite advanced decomposition,
[9:30] investigators pieced together a detailed physical description.
[9:35] The victim was a white female in her late teens or early 20s,
[9:39] standing about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing around 115
[9:44] lbs. She had shoulder length brown
[9:48] hair that was slightly WAVY and notably sun bleached, suggesting
[9:52] she spent a lot of time outdoors.
[9:55] Her eye color couldn't be determined due to the condition
[9:58] of the remains. Forensic dentist noted she had
[10:01] five fillings indicating she had received dental care in life.
[10:06] Crucially, the medical examination also revealed that
[10:10] this young woman had been a mother.
[10:13] Her pelvic bones indicated she had given birth at least once
[10:16] prior to her death. Even more tragically, she was
[10:20] about 10 weeks pregnant at the time when she was slain.
[10:26] From the start, investigators believe that the Jane Doe had
[10:30] been ended somewhere else and dumped alongside Interstate 90.
[10:35] There were no signs of a struggle at the dump site and
[10:37] the location next to a major highway suggested a quick
[10:41] clandestine disposal, likely at night.
[10:45] This pointed to a chilling scenario.
[10:47] Perhaps a passing motorist or long haul truck driver had
[10:51] picked up the young woman and later discarded her body on the
[10:55] lonely stretch of Rd. In fact, a working theory
[10:59] developed that she may have been a hitchhiker or transient who
[11:02] fell prey to a dangerous stranger.
[11:05] Keep this one in mind as we go forward.
[11:07] In this case, one sheriff noted that her sun lightened hair
[11:12] hinted she might even be from a warmer or southern climate, not
[11:16] a local Wyoming resident. If true, she could have
[11:20] journeyed hundreds of miles from home, which would explain why no
[11:23] local missing people matched with her.
[11:26] Investigators in 1992 had limited tools by our present day
[11:30] standards, and forensic DNA technology was still in its
[11:34] infancy. Thankfully, they carefully
[11:37] documented the victim's fingerprints, collected DNA
[11:40] samples, and preserved her dental records.
[11:44] These were entered into national databases when those systems
[11:47] later became available in hopes of a match to a missing person
[11:52] or a relative's DNA. Within the first year or two,
[11:58] law enforcement also became aware that the Sheridan County
[12:01] Jane Doe might not be an isolated case.
[12:05] Just six weeks before her body was found, another unidentified
[12:09] woman had been discovered on the other end of Wyoming under
[12:12] eerily similar circumstances. On March 1st, 1992, a truck
[12:19] driver had spotted a body on Interstate 80 in Sweetwater
[12:22] County, Wyoming, a victim later nicknamed Bitter Creek Betty.
[12:28] An autopsy concluded she died from a vicious blow to the head,
[12:31] much like the Sheridan County Doe.
[12:34] Due to limited communications at the time, authorities saw the 2
[12:38] events as separate crimes. Given the 400 mile distance
[12:43] between the body dump sites, it would take advances in forensic
[12:47] science to connect these dots. Tests eventually showed that the
[12:51] same unknown male DNA was present in both the Sheridan
[12:54] County Jane Doe and Bitter Creek Betty cases.
[12:58] This meant a serial predator was stalking Wyoming's highways.
[13:01] In 1992, one prevailing theory took shape.
[13:07] Both young women likely accepted rides from a truck driver or
[13:10] traveler who turned out to be a sadistic perpetrator.
[13:14] Despite this realization, throughout the 1990's the case
[13:18] grew increasingly cold with no new leads.
[13:23] The 2 Jane Does remained unidentified and their perps
[13:26] identity was a mystery. The breakthrough would
[13:31] eventually come much later and from a very unexpected
[13:35] direction. In 2019, investigators in
[13:39] Tennessee decided to reopen a cold case from 1991.
[13:44] This was the unsolved slaying of 32 year old Pamela McCall, a
[13:49] pregnant woman found strangled off Interstate 65.
[13:53] DNA evidence had been preserved from that crime.
[13:57] When Tennessee forensic scientists generated adna
[14:00] profile of the suspect and ran it through the national
[14:03] database, they got a hit, but not to a name.
[14:08] Instead, it matched unknown DNA from 2 unsolved Wyoming attacks.
[14:14] This was the big break. Proof that one man was behind at
[14:18] least three horrific attacks across 2 states.
[14:22] With three cases now connected by DNA, a task force of state
[14:26] police and the FBI intensified their hunt for the perpetrator.
[14:31] Traditional criminal databases still didn't have his identity,
[14:35] so agents turned to investigative genetic genealogy.
[14:39] They uploaded the unknown DNA profile to genealogical
[14:43] databases, searching for anyone who shared significant DNA
[14:47] segments with the mystery suspect.
[14:50] Before long, this process yielded results.
[14:54] A partial match to a relative of the perp was found in a public
[14:57] genealogy site. By building that person's family
[15:03] tree and zeroing in on the right age and gender, investigators
[15:08] identified a likely suspect, a long haul truck driver from Iowa
[15:13] named Clark Perry Baldwin. To be sure, before making an
[15:18] arrest, agents covertly obtained Baldwin's DNA from items he had
[15:22] discarded. In April 2020, FBI surveillance
[15:27] in Waterloo, IA, picked up trash from Baldwin and tested what
[15:31] they found. The result was definitive.
[15:35] Baldwin's DNA matched the DNA from the Sheridan County Jane
[15:39] Doe, Bitter Creek, Betty and Pamela McCall crime scenes.
[15:44] After nearly 28 years of mystery, investigators finally
[15:48] had their man. On May 6th, 2020, authorities
[15:54] descended on Baldwin's residence in Iowa and took the 59 year old
[15:58] into custody. The former truck driver was
[16:01] charged with multiple counts of first degree slaying.
[16:04] For all the offenses he committed, Baldwin's background
[16:08] seemed to fit the profile investigators had long
[16:10] suspected. He had spent years as an over
[16:13] the road truck driver Criss crossing the country.
[16:17] In fact, Baldwin had a violent history that included
[16:20] allegations strikingly similar to what likely happened to the
[16:23] Sheridan County Jane Doe. Back in 1991, he had been
[16:28] arrested in Texas for the assault of a 21 year old
[16:31] hitchhiker. During that crime, he struck
[16:34] that woman on the head and threatened to end her life.
[16:39] He was facing significant time for this crime when something
[16:42] unexpected occurred. The woman he assaulted dropped
[16:46] off the face of the earth. Once this happened, the case
[16:52] against Baldwin rapidly fell apart.
[16:56] Upon his arrest, Baldwin was extradited first to Tennessee to
[17:00] face trial for the slaying of Pamela McCall in early 2022.
[17:05] A jury in Tennessee found him guilty of that 1991 act, finally
[17:10] delivering justice for Pamela after 31 years.
[17:15] With the Tennessee case concluded, Baldwin was expected
[17:19] to be transferred to Wyoming to stand trial for the slayings of
[17:23] Bitter Creek Betty and the Sheridan County Jane Doe.
[17:27] Wyoming prosecutors have indicated that if convicted in
[17:30] their state, Baldwin could face life in prison or even the
[17:34] chair. As of now, Baldwin remains
[17:37] behind bars awaiting the Wyoming proceedings.
[17:41] Investigators from multiple states are continuing to
[17:43] collaborate on any other unsolved cases that might be
[17:47] connected to him. With an alleged perp identified
[17:52] and charged, one major question still looms, who was the
[17:57] Sheridan County Jane Doe? Solving her slaying was a huge
[18:01] step, but from the beginning, investigators also wanted to
[18:05] give this young woman back her name further, as the forensic
[18:10] examination indicated she was a mother and her child is now in
[18:14] adulthood and deserves to know what happened.
[18:17] Bitter Creek Betty also remains unidentified and I'll be
[18:21] covering her case in a future episode, or perhaps as part of
[18:25] an update episode on the identities of both women.
[18:33] In July 2024, the body of Jacques Freitag, 1, of South
[18:38] Africa's most accomplished high jump athletes, was found in a
[18:41] field near a cemetery in Pretoria riddled with bullets.
[18:46] The discovery ended a frantic 2 week search after his June 17th
[18:50] disappearance and marked the start of a shocking
[18:53] investigation into who committed the act.
[18:56] What initially appeared to be a tragic slaying would end up
[19:00] taking on much more sinister elements.
[19:03] Investigators would reveal that Freitag may have actually been
[19:06] eliminated due to his role as a hitman.
[19:11] Jacques Freitag soared to athletic glory in the early
[19:14] 2000s. Standing 6 foot eight, he
[19:18] dominated South African high jumping for years and achieved
[19:21] some measure of international success.
[19:24] In 2003, he won the high jump at the World Championships in
[19:28] Paris, becoming the first South African to claim a world title
[19:32] in that event. He had also clinched World
[19:35] junior and Youth championship golds, making him one of the
[19:39] select few athletes to win world titles at youth, junior and
[19:43] senior levels. He represented South Africa at
[19:46] the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, further cementing his
[19:50] national prominence. These achievements made him a
[19:54] household name and a source of national pride in South African
[19:57] sports, but injuries and personal struggles later upended
[20:01] his life. After retiring from competition,
[20:05] Freitag reportedly battled severe depression and substance
[20:08] use problems. By 2024, he was facing financial
[20:13] difficulties and had moved back in with family in hopes of a
[20:16] fresh start. This troubled context made what
[20:20] happened next even more tragic and disturbing.
[20:27] On June 17th, 2024, Freitag left his mother's home near Pretoria
[20:33] with a man who had offered him a job opportunity.
[20:36] He never returned home. Witnesses later recalled seeing
[20:40] him dropped off in Pretoria W that morning, after which he
[20:43] vanished. His family grew alarmed and
[20:47] filed a missing person report when they couldn't reach him.
[20:50] Then, on July 1st, a police search team found Freitag's body
[20:56] in an open field by Zanfontaine Cemetery in Pretoria West.
[21:02] No meaningful attempts had been made to cover up what had
[21:05] happened. Investigators noted signs of
[21:08] overkill. He had been both shot up and
[21:11] stabbed repeatedly. This suggested to investigators
[21:15] that this was no random act of violence and they immediately
[21:18] began looking into his inner circle.
[21:23] Suspicion soon fell on two people known to Freitag, 52 year
[21:28] old Rudolf Love and 42 year old Chantelle Ustheisen.
[21:33] It turned out Freitag knew the pair well and had spent time
[21:36] with them in the weeks before his death.
[21:39] By July 10th, police obtained warrants for their arrest,
[21:43] alleging the duo were behind the ACT.
[21:46] Rudolph, a disgraced former lawyer who had been disbarred in
[21:51] 2006 for fraud, and Chantelle, his girlfriend, went on the run,
[21:58] sparking a nationwide manhunt. Less than a week later, officers
[22:03] tracked them to their hideout and arrested them without
[22:06] incident. A tip from a member of the
[22:08] public who had seen their photos and news reports LED police to
[22:12] the fugitives hideout. Both suspects were soon brought
[22:16] to court for the slaying as well as other related offenses.
[22:21] They were remanded in custody as the investigation continued.
[22:25] The arrests answered The Who, but the why remained a mystery.
[22:32] Stunning details about a possible motive soon emerged.
[22:35] Investigators allege that Leb and Ustheizen had entangled
[22:39] Freitag in an elaborate plot before eliminating him to cover
[22:44] up the evidence. Court documents indicate the
[22:47] couple conspired with Freitag to end Ustheizen's fiance, Louis
[22:52] Harms. In other words, they allegedly
[22:55] recruited Freitag, who was desperate for work to act as a
[22:58] hit man in a plan to eliminate Harms.
[23:01] Love and Ustheusen are accused of wanting Harms out of the
[23:04] picture so they could be together.
[23:07] In mid June, just days before Freitag's own death, he
[23:11] reportedly attempted to ambush Harms in a failed attack
[23:15] arranged by the couple. Harm survived the assault and
[23:18] later described his ordeal to investigators, with evidence
[23:22] suggesting that Ustheizen lured her fiance to an apartment where
[23:26] Freitag lay in wait. This botched hit is believed to
[23:31] have been the catalyst for Freitag's demise.
[23:34] When the plan against Harms fell through, police believe that the
[23:38] couple turned on Freitag to silence him and cover their
[23:42] tracks since he was their known associate.
[23:46] At present, the authorities are still trying to untangle the
[23:49] true extent of what happened, and all parties are innocent
[23:53] until proven guilty.

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