# 76 Minutes of True Crime Cases Explained

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 13 Nov 2025, 1 h 14 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO1436186852.mp3

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## Transcript

[0:00] In late March of 2024, a routine morning drive turned into a
[0:05] chilling mystery. Christina Ace, a 61 year old
[0:09] nurse from Vancouver, WA, left her home before dawn to head to
[0:14] work, something she'd done faithfully for 15 years.
[0:19] But this time she never arrived, and instead her colleagues
[0:22] received an unusual message that she would be late.
[0:26] By the next day. Her SUV was found abandoned with
[0:29] a strange residue on the seats. Christina herself had vanished
[0:33] without a trace, and what happened to her continues to
[0:36] remain an unresolved mystery. Born in Argentina in 1962,
[0:43] Christina moved to the United States in the mid 2000s to build
[0:47] a new life. Back in Argentina, she had
[0:50] worked as a biochemist and after immigrating she earned a
[0:54] bachelor's in nursing followed by a doctorate in medical
[0:58] science. This impressive background LED
[1:01] her to a career in elder care. By 2024, Christina was the
[1:06] nursing director at the Rose Lynn Care Center in West Linn,
[1:09] OR, where she had worked for about 15 years.
[1:15] Tuesday March 26th, 2024 began like any other work day for
[1:20] Christina. She was last seen by her husband
[1:23] around 6:30 AM that morning as she left their Vancouver home to
[1:27] drive to work across the Columbia River in Oregon.
[1:32] Typically Christina started work around 7:30 AM, but that morning
[1:37] her Co workers received a brief text.
[1:40] It was from her phone and it was sent at about 6:30 AM,
[1:45] indicating she would arrive around 8:30 instead.
[1:49] No explanation was given for this one hour delay, which
[1:52] struck her colleagues as unusual.
[1:55] In fact, 2 Co workers later remarked that it was odd
[1:58] Christina only messaged one Co worker instead of their usual
[2:02] group chat, almost as if she didn't want to alert everyone.
[2:06] Still, the message suggested Christina was on her way, just
[2:10] running late. However, Christina never showed
[2:15] up at the care facility that day.
[2:17] By mid morning, concern was mounting, especially since this
[2:21] was a woman who never missed work without prior notice in 15
[2:24] years. Her Co workers tried to reach
[2:27] her, but calls went straight to voicemail.
[2:30] By early afternoon, the Rose Lynn Care Center's executive
[2:33] director phoned Christina's husband, Anibal Diaz, to ask if
[2:37] she was OK. It turns out he was just as
[2:42] shocked to hear she hadn't arrived at work, and for good
[2:45] reason. He had watched her leave for her
[2:48] normal shift and had no idea she planned on coming in late.
[2:53] Alarmed by her unexplained absence, both Annabel and
[2:56] Christina's Co workers independently contacted the
[2:59] police that same day to report her missing.
[3:02] A search for the missing nurse was now underway just hours
[3:06] after she was last seen. Initial searches found no sign
[3:12] of Christina herself, but a series of unsettling clues soon
[3:16] surfaced. The day after she vanished on
[3:20] March 27th, investigators discovered Christina's vehicle,
[3:24] a dark grey 2013 Toyota Rav 4, parked on a roadside about a
[3:29] mile from her apartment in Vancouver.
[3:32] The SUV was unoccupied and appeared as if someone had left
[3:36] it in haste. Tellingly, the rear view mirror
[3:39] was skewed and more disturbingly, a white residue
[3:43] coated several surfaces inside the car.
[3:46] It looked as if someone might have wiped down the interior
[3:49] with bleach or another cleaner, an ominous sign that suggested
[3:53] evidence could have been deliberately scrubbed.
[3:56] Literally. Police seized the vehicle for
[4:01] forensic analysis, considering the unusual state of the car a
[4:05] major red flag. The fact that the car had
[4:08] reappeared near her home, seemingly cleaned, raised many
[4:12] questions. Had Christina driven off and
[4:16] then returned on her own? Or had someone else driven her
[4:20] car back to her neighborhood after harming her?
[4:23] Investigators noted that whoever brought the SUV back must have
[4:27] known where Christina lived or found her address, hinting at a
[4:31] possible personal connection. Meanwhile, detectives delved
[4:36] into Christina's cell phone records, which revealed A
[4:39] puzzling journey on the morning of March 26th.
[4:42] Data from her phone showed that after leaving home at 6:34 AM,
[4:47] she drove S from Vancouver into Portland via Interstate 2O5.
[4:53] At 6:47 AM, her phone took the Foster Rd. exit into a
[4:58] residential area of Southeast Portland.
[5:01] Instead of continuing toward her workplace, the phone stayed in
[5:04] the vicinity of a neighborhood near Glenwood Park for over 3
[5:08] hours that morning. During that period, roughly 648
[5:12] to 10 AM, the phone signals suggested movement between the
[5:16] park and one or more houses nearby.
[5:20] At 10 AM, the device pinged near the intersection of Flavel
[5:24] Street and 92nd Ave. a spot adjacent to that same park.
[5:29] And then it went dark, either powered off or disabled.
[5:35] After a full forensic review of the phone and all records, the
[5:38] authorities determined it was never turned on again.
[5:44] The area around Glenwood Park is a residential zone and it has a
[5:48] reputation for higher crime related activities.
[5:51] The phone data suggested this was not a one time occurrence
[5:55] either. Investigators discovered that on
[5:57] at least two prior occasions in the weeks before her
[6:00] disappearance, Christina had travelled to that same Southeast
[6:04] Portland vicinity. Each time, she left home around
[6:08] 6:30 AM and sent a text to her boss about 20 minutes later,
[6:13] roughly when she would be reaching the Foster Rd. exit.
[6:17] According to police analysis, it appeared Christina had some
[6:21] secret errand or meeting in that neighborhood that she hadn't
[6:24] shared with her husband or employer.
[6:29] These revelations deepen the mystery, and police were
[6:32] increasingly convinced that foul play was involved.
[6:36] The Vancouver Police Department publicly stated that Christina's
[6:39] disappearance was suspicious. They enlisted help from multiple
[6:44] agencies, including Portland and Westland police and even the
[6:47] FBI. Based on the evidence,
[6:50] detectives said there was probable cause to believe
[6:53] Christina's fate was linked to a serious crime or an imminently
[6:56] dangerous situation. With concrete evidence scarce,
[7:03] numerous theories have emerged about what might have happened
[7:05] to Christina Ace. One line of speculation centers
[7:09] on the secret visits to the Southeast Portland neighborhood.
[7:13] Some who know Christina find it hard to believe she would lie
[7:16] about her whereabouts unless she had a compelling personal
[7:20] reason. It's been speculated that she
[7:23] may have sparked up a hidden romance in the area.
[7:26] If so, it's possible she arranged A brief meet up that
[7:30] morning and something went terribly wrong.
[7:33] An acquaintance or romantic partner might have harmed her
[7:37] and then driven her car back to Vancouver to cover their tracks.
[7:41] The careful cleaning of the car's interior supports the idea
[7:45] that an offender tried to destroy evidence.
[7:48] This theory is chilling, suggesting Christina fell victim
[7:52] to foul play at the hands of someone she trusted.
[7:56] Another theory points to a more random crime.
[8:00] The area where her phone last pinged near Glenwood Park is
[8:04] known for some homeless encampments and criminal
[8:06] activity. It's conceivable that Christina
[8:09] could have been carjacked or abducted by a stranger after
[8:12] taking that detour. Perhaps she stopped for someone
[8:16] in distress or was lured into that area and then attacked.
[8:22] In such a scenario, the perpetrator might have driven
[8:25] her car back to her neighborhood to delay raising alarm.
[8:29] Under this scenario, they may have learned her address from
[8:32] her license or registration. However, this seems less likely
[8:38] to some random criminals, typically abandoned stolen cars
[8:43] or strip them for parts, not return them cleaned.
[8:46] The level of effort to wipe down the vehicle and place it near
[8:49] her home suggests a more calculated approach, which a
[8:53] stranger would be less motivated to do.
[8:56] However, without knowing why Christina went to that
[8:59] neighborhood, a chance encounter gone wrong seems much less
[9:03] likely. It's not a great neighborhood,
[9:06] and absolutely nobody knew why she would be there to begin
[9:09] with. Naturally, investigators also
[9:14] look close to home. Statistically, a spouse or
[9:17] family member is often involved when someone disappears.
[9:21] However, by all accounts, Christina's husband and
[9:23] relatives have fully cooperated with the investigation.
[9:27] There were no known marital problems reported publicly, and
[9:31] Annabal was genuinely shocked and upset when he learned she
[9:34] was missing. Police have not named him or any
[9:38] family as suspects, and the focus seems to be elsewhere.
[9:42] The fact that Christina was apparently hiding something from
[9:45] both her husband and boss suggests that the key to this
[9:49] mystery might lie in that secret part of her routine.
[9:55] While investigators and loved ones have leaned heavily toward
[9:58] foul play, one possibility worth examining is that Christina may
[10:02] have voluntarily left her life behind.
[10:05] To many, this seems improbable. She was deeply committed to her
[10:10] nursing career, adored by her colleagues, and described as
[10:14] reliable to a fault. Yet the details of her
[10:17] disappearance raise questions that leave the door open for
[10:20] this theory. The most striking clue is the
[10:24] repeated detours Christina made in the weeks before she
[10:27] vanished. That secrecy hints at the
[10:30] potential for dissatisfaction at home or in her professional
[10:33] life. Choosing to start fresh
[10:36] elsewhere, especially for someone with her professional
[10:39] background and international ties, isn't beyond imagination.
[10:46] Another possibility investigators have quietly
[10:48] considered is that Christina may have been battling a private
[10:51] addiction. And yeah, I'm going to confess
[10:53] here that when I was researching this case, this was the first
[10:57] thing that popped into my mind. To those who knew her, Christina
[11:02] seemed the picture of stability, A devoted nurse, a reliable Co
[11:07] worker and a compassionate leader.
[11:11] Yet her unexplained detours into a Southeast Portland
[11:14] neighborhood raised the question of whether she was seeking
[11:17] something she didn't want others to know about.
[11:21] Addictions can remain hidden even from close family,
[11:24] especially when someone is highly functional in other
[11:27] aspects of life. If Christina had developed a
[11:30] dependency, she may have concealed it to protect her
[11:33] professional reputation in marriage.
[11:36] This could explain the secrecy, the unusual morning trips, and
[11:41] even why she kept those visits private.
[11:44] While unproven, the possibility of a secret addiction lingers as
[11:49] one of the darker theories in her case.
[11:53] If this theory is true, it could be that she overdosed and her
[11:57] body was dumped separately from her vehicle.
[12:00] If so, she may be a Jane Doe, or perhaps she's never yet been
[12:04] located. For now, what actually happened
[12:08] to Christina remains an unsolved mystery.
[12:11] Her family and friends remain extremely active in the search
[12:14] for Christina and this case is still being actively
[12:17] investigated by the authorities. A frantic phone call and a pride
[12:25] open door led to a chilling discovery. 19 year old beauty
[12:29] queen Nona Dirksmeyer was found deceased in her apartment after
[12:33] being beaten with the base of a floor lamp.
[12:36] The crime, which took place on December 15th, 2005, shocked the
[12:42] small town of Russellville, AR Russellville had rarely seen
[12:47] such brutality, and the loss of a beloved young woman left
[12:51] residents shaken and hungry for justice.
[12:54] In the aftermath, a desperate search for answers unfolded,
[12:58] entangling police, family, and an entire community in a
[13:03] whodunit that remains unsolved to this day.
[13:08] Nona Dirksmeyer was, by all accounts, a kind and
[13:11] compassionate young woman. By 2005, she was a freshman at
[13:15] Arkansas Tech University and had been a contestant in the Miss
[13:19] Arkansas pageant. She was dating her high school
[13:23] sweetheart, Kevin Jones, and was deeply loved by her family and
[13:27] friends. On December 15th, 2005, Nona
[13:33] spent the day on campus taking final exams.
[13:37] That evening. Her boyfriend Kevin grew alarmed
[13:39] when she didn't answer her phone, which was highly unusual.
[13:44] He sent a friend to check on her.
[13:46] The friend saw Nona's car outside but got no answer at the
[13:49] door. Fearing something was wrong,
[13:53] Kevin and his mother, Janice, drove to Nona's apartment
[13:56] immediately. They found the front door
[13:59] locked, so Kevin forced open a sliding glass door at the back.
[14:05] Inside, they stumbled onto a nightmare.
[14:09] Nona lay on the floor in a pool of blood, unresponsive.
[14:13] Kevin frantically tried to revive her while Janice called
[14:16] 911, but it was too late. Nona was already gone.
[14:22] The living room was spattered with blood, and a tall floor
[14:25] lamp lay broken nearby. Investigators later determined
[14:29] that the lamps heavy base was the weapon used to dispatch her.
[14:34] Nona had also been stabbed multiple times around her neck
[14:37] and chest before being bludgeoned, indicating an
[14:40] extremely personal rage fuelled assault.
[14:45] There were no signs of forced entry and nothing whatsoever to
[14:48] suggest that she had been subjected to an indecent
[14:51] assault. To investigators, this strongly
[14:54] suggested she likely knew her attacker and had let him in
[14:58] willingly. Police naturally looked at Kevin
[15:03] first. He was the one who found Nona,
[15:06] and when officers arrived they noticed he was covered in her
[15:09] blood. Kevin said it got on him from
[15:12] cradling and trying to revive her, but detectives remained
[15:16] wary. His demeanour also struck them
[15:19] as odd. One officer later noted that
[15:21] Kevin, in shock, reached out as if to shake hands despite having
[15:26] blood on him. This struck the officer as
[15:29] incredibly odd for a number of reasons.
[15:35] At the station, Kevin underwent hours of questioning and even a
[15:38] polygraph test, which police said he failed.
[15:42] When left alone in the interrogation room, he broke
[15:45] down and at one point slammed a chair in frustration and
[15:49] outburst investigators interpreted as a sign of a
[15:52] hidden temper. Then a critical piece of
[15:57] evidence turned up, a bloody palm print on the lamp, and it
[16:01] matched Kevin's hand. To the police, this was damning
[16:05] proof that he had handled the weapon during the attack.
[16:10] By this point, detectives had formulated a theory that Nona's
[16:13] slaying was a crime of passion. On the kitchen counter, they
[16:16] found an empty condom wrapper, a clue suggesting Nona might have
[16:20] been with another man. Investigators speculated that
[16:24] Kevin discovered this and in a jealous fury, confronted Nona.
[16:30] In their scenario, an argument erupted and Kevin brutally
[16:34] assaulted her. The brutality of the scene did
[16:37] seem to fit a sudden outburst of anger.
[16:40] Just six days after the attack, the lead detective told Kevin he
[16:44] was no longer the prime suspect, but rather that he was their
[16:48] only suspect. On March 31st, 2006, Kevin was
[16:54] formally arrested and charged with Nona's slaying.
[16:59] By then, investigators had interviewed around 50 people in
[17:03] Nona's life, but nothing they learned shook their focus on
[17:06] Kevin. The case quickly became front
[17:09] page news, and the slaying of a beauty queen brought intense
[17:12] pressure to solve the crime. Local media coverage and
[17:16] community outrage added momentum to the swift action against
[17:20] Kevin. Kevin, just 20 years old,
[17:24] continued to insist he was innocent, and those close to the
[17:28] couple argued that the police had it wrong.
[17:31] Nevertheless, the case against Kevin moved forward to a jury
[17:34] trial. Kevin's trial took place in
[17:39] 2007, and prosecutors argued he was a jealous boyfriend who
[17:44] snapped, pointing to the bloody handprint and the condom
[17:47] wrapper. As evidence, The defense
[17:50] countered that Kevin's palm print got on the lamp when he
[17:53] tried to help Nona and that there was no direct proof he
[17:56] committed the crime. One point of contention was the
[18:01] state of the blood on the lamp. Police witnesses described it as
[18:05] slightly sticky, which the defense argued meant Kevin's
[18:08] handprint was left when the blood was fresh.
[18:12] Under this theory, it was left there during his panicked
[18:15] attempt to save Nona, not at the time of the attack.
[18:19] With no eyewitnesses or confession, and with Kevin's
[18:22] clean record, the defense maintained that the
[18:25] prosecution's case was built on circumstantial clues and a
[18:29] flawed timeline. The decision in this case
[18:33] probably won't shock you because, yeah, the prosecution
[18:36] has to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
[18:42] After deliberation, the jury agreed there was reasonable
[18:45] doubt, and in July 2007, Kevin was found not guilty and
[18:51] acquitted of all charges. He walked free, his name cleared
[18:55] after 18 months under a cloud of suspicion.
[18:59] Nona's family, however, was crushed by the verdict,
[19:02] convinced that the perpetrator had just escaped justice.
[19:06] For the investigators, the outcome was a major set back.
[19:10] Their primary theory had completely collapsed and the
[19:13] real perpetrator was still at large.
[19:18] After Kevin's acquittal, authorities appointed a special
[19:21] prosecutor to re examine Nona's case.
[19:24] In this second investigation, a new suspect emerged, Nona's
[19:30] neighbor, Gary Dunn. It turned out that a crucial
[19:34] piece of evidence, the condom wrapper from Nona's apartment,
[19:37] had been tested for DNA in early 2008.
[19:41] That DNA was matched to Gary Dunn.
[19:44] Also, as a quick aside, the initial investigators never
[19:48] checked for DNA on the wrapper, and it was Kevin's defense team
[19:52] that had it tested in an effort to get him acquitted.
[19:55] Clearly, that seems like incredibly sloppy police work
[19:58] from investigators who were sure they already had their man.
[20:05] This was a major turning point in the case.
[20:08] Dunn lived in the same complex and had a violent past.
[20:11] In 2002, he was convicted of attacking a female jogger with a
[20:16] tree branch in a park and served several years in prison.
[20:19] He had been out on parole for only a few months at the time of
[20:23] Nona's death. Investigators also learned that
[20:27] Dunn's initial statements were deceptive.
[20:29] He gave a shaky alibi and even showed signs of lying on a
[20:33] polygraph when questioned shortly after the slaying.
[20:38] In 2008, armed with the DNA evidence, prosecutors charged
[20:43] Gary Dunn. The case against Dunn, however,
[20:46] was not a slam dunk. The DNA on the condom wrapper
[20:49] placed him in Nona's apartment, but there was little else to tie
[20:53] him definitively to the crime. Further, there was no evidence
[20:58] that she had been subjected to an indecent assault.
[21:04] Notably, it was Kevin's defense team, not the original police,
[21:08] who uncovered the rapper DNA match, raising questions about
[21:12] oversights in the initial investigation.
[21:15] At Dunn's trial, prosecutors argued that his history of
[21:19] violence made it likely he attacked Nona, while the defense
[21:22] insisted the evidence was too weak and circumstantial.
[21:26] The first trial, in 2009, ended with a hung jury when jurors
[21:31] couldn't agree on a verdict. A second trial in 2010 had the
[21:35] same result, another deadlocked jury.
[21:39] After two mistrials, prosecutors decided not to attempt a third
[21:43] trial. Dunn was released and once again
[21:46] Nona's case had no resolution. Gary Dunn always maintained his
[21:50] innocence and continues to do so until this day.
[21:56] The attack that led to the end of Nona Dirksmeyer remains
[21:59] unsolved at present, despite 2 men having been tried for her
[22:03] slaying. No one has been convicted and
[22:06] the question of who ended her life her still hangs over
[22:10] Russellville. Many who followed the case
[22:12] believe Gary Dunn was the likely culprit and that he slipped
[22:16] through the cracks of the justice system.
[22:19] This suspicion was reinforced when in 2018, Dunn was arrested
[22:25] for harassing and attempting to abduct a woman in a parking lot,
[22:29] a crime for which he is now serving prison time.
[22:34] I have some significant doubts that there will ever be justice
[22:37] for Nona. The initial investigators
[22:40] clearly mishandled the evidence and didn't even bother to test
[22:44] the condom wrapper found in the apartment.
[22:47] Any further attempt to prosecute anyone for this crime will
[22:50] likely be limited by these failures of the initial
[22:52] investigators. It's important to remember that
[22:56] the prosecution has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt,
[23:00] and when there are such glaring holes in the initial
[23:03] investigation, that makes it hard to do.
[23:08] On the morning of May 21st, 1980, a horrifying discovery
[23:12] shattered the calm in the small town of Ayer, Massachusetts.
[23:16] Inside her own home, 48 year old Katharina Wright's brow lay
[23:21] dead, brutally stabbed approximately 30 times and
[23:25] bludgeoned with a blunt object. The viciousness of the attack
[23:29] and the mystery of who could have done it cast a long shadow
[23:32] over the community. It would take nearly 45 years, a
[23:37] winding journey marked by injustice, perseverance and
[23:40] scientific breakthroughs, before the truth behind Katharina's
[23:45] slaying would finally come to light.
[23:50] Katarina was a hard working wife and mother of two who lived with
[23:53] her husband in a trailer home on the outskirts of Eyre.
[23:57] Family members described her as a loving mother and a proud
[24:00] grandmother. On that fateful spring morning,
[24:04] Katharina's husband left for work around 7:10 AM, expecting a
[24:08] day like any other. By 10:45 AM, Katharina's body
[24:14] was found inside their home, the victim of a savagely violent
[24:18] crime. Investigators determined that
[24:23] Katharina was slain in the narrow window after her
[24:25] husband's departure, likely closer to the earlier end of
[24:29] that time frame. She had suffered 30 stab wounds,
[24:33] five of which punctured her heart, and had also been struck
[24:37] repeatedly while still alive, indicating A brutal struggle.
[24:43] There were no obvious signs of forced entry, but the inside of
[24:47] the home told a story of chaos and violence.
[24:50] Furniture was overturned, blood stains were found throughout,
[24:55] and all evidence pointed towards a fierce fight.
[25:00] One of the weapons, a bloodied kitchen knife, was discovered
[25:03] tossed in a wastebasket. Investigators also noted a
[25:07] possible motive. Katharina's purse was missing,
[25:11] along with a large sum of cash she was known to keep hidden in
[25:14] a linen closet. It appeared that robbery might
[25:18] have been the primary factor in the attack, adding a layer of
[25:21] cold blooded calculation to the ferocity of the crime.
[25:27] Early on, police focused their attention on a neighbor named
[25:30] Kenny Waters. Kenny lived next door with his
[25:33] girlfriend and worked as a chef at a local diner where Katharina
[25:37] was a frequent customer. In fact, it was common knowledge
[25:41] among some diner staff and locals that Katharina kept
[25:44] significant cash reserves in her home since she didn't trust
[25:47] banks. This rumor put a target on her
[25:50] back and, in the eyes of investigators, made Kenny a
[25:55] person of interest. He was familiar with the
[25:58] victim's routine and the layout of her home, and he had at least
[26:01] indirect knowledge of her cash stash.
[26:06] Police brought Waters in for questioning shortly after the
[26:09] attack. He had a seemingly solid alibi.
[26:12] He claimed he'd been at work until 8:30 AM that morning, then
[26:16] at the local courthouse by 9:00 AM for an unrelated matter.
[26:21] Co workers and records initially backed up his story and officers
[26:26] examined his clothing and body on the day of the slaying and
[26:29] found no cuts or blood on him. With no physical evidence tying
[26:33] him to the scene, Waters was released and the investigation
[26:38] continued without an immediate arrest.
[26:41] This wouldn't be the last time Kenny would be hearing from the
[26:43] cops. For two years, Katharina's
[26:48] slaying went unsolved. Then in October 1982, a dramatic
[26:54] twist changed everything. A man named Robert Osborne, by
[26:59] then the boyfriend of Kenny's ex-girlfriend Brenda, came
[27:02] forward to police. He claimed he had information on
[27:06] the attack and implied that Kenny was the culprit.
[27:09] By many accounts, Osborne was motivated by the reward money
[27:13] associated with the case, though this is simply an allegation and
[27:18] nothing was ever proven. Brenda Marsh and another former
[27:24] girlfriend, Rosanna Perry, were interrogated for hours about
[27:28] their knowledge of the slaying. Both initially insisted that
[27:32] Kenny was a good guy who wouldn't do anything of the
[27:34] sort. However, investigators leaned on
[27:38] them heavily and implied that the two women may have actually
[27:41] been involved before, during, or after the event.
[27:48] Eventually, under this significant pressure, both women
[27:51] changed their stories and told investigators what they wanted
[27:54] to hear. Brenda said Kenny came home on
[27:58] the morning of May 21st, 1980 with a long scratch on his face.
[28:03] Rosanna claimed Kenny had made remarks about stabbing a woman
[28:07] and stealing her money. These statements were the
[28:10] breakthrough authorities had been waiting for, or so they
[28:13] thought. Fingerprints at the crime scene
[28:18] did not match Waters, but despite this, prosecutors now
[28:22] felt they had enough to charge Kenny.
[28:25] He was arrested in 1982, and after a trial that relied
[28:29] heavily on those shaky witness testimonies, Waters was
[28:33] convicted of Katharina's slaying in May 1983.
[28:38] Kenny Waters vehemently maintained his innocence and one
[28:41] person above all believed him, his sister, Betty Ann Waters.
[28:47] In an extraordinary act of extreme devotion or pure
[28:50] insanity, Betty Ann, a working mom who hadn't completed high
[28:55] school, decided to go ham. She put herself through college
[28:59] and then law school solely to free her brother.
[29:02] And just to give you some context here, this is 7 years
[29:06] combined of study all to write this injustice.
[29:11] Over the next 18 years, she doggedly pursued justice,
[29:16] working with the Innocence Project to re examine the
[29:18] evidence. By the late 1990s, DNA testing
[29:22] technology had advanced dramatically from what was
[29:26] available. In 1980, Betty Ann managed to
[29:30] locate crucial evidence from the crime scene that had been
[29:32] preserved, the blood stains collected from Katherine's home.
[29:37] In 2000. Those samples were tested for
[29:40] DNA and the results were unequivocal.
[29:44] The blood was not Kenny's. Nearly two decades after his
[29:48] conviction, Kenny Waters was officially exonerated and his
[29:52] 1983 conviction was vacated. In March 2001, he walked out of
[29:58] prison after spending 18 years locked up for a crime he did not
[30:01] commit. Tragically, though, there was no
[30:06] happily ever after for Kenny. Just six months after his
[30:10] release from prison, he died in an accident and never got to see
[30:14] the true resolution to this case.
[30:18] After 2001, the slaying of Katharina Wright's brow became a
[30:22] cold case, but it was never forgotten and a new generation
[30:26] of investigators wanted to right the wrongs of this case.
[30:30] That said, for 20 years, basically nothing happened on
[30:34] the case until the introduction of a little technology called
[30:39] forensic genealogy. Detectives partnered with
[30:44] forensic specialists from Paraben Nano Labs, a company
[30:48] renowned for genetic genealogy work.
[30:51] By reconstructing family trees and zeroing in on the overlaps,
[30:55] they identified 2 possible suspects, brothers from
[30:59] Massachusetts, both of whom had already died.
[31:03] To differentiate between the two, police located living
[31:06] family members, a relative of each brother, and obtained
[31:11] voluntary DNA samples from them. The result was definitive, and
[31:16] the evidence showed it was an overwhelming statistical match
[31:19] to the older brother, Joseph Leo Boudreaux.
[31:24] In June 2025, the District Attorney publicly announced that
[31:29] Boudreaux had been identified through DNA as the person
[31:32] responsible for Katharina's slaying.
[31:35] Unfortunately, Boudreaux would never face trial as he had died
[31:39] in 2004 at age 61, but after nearly half a century, the case
[31:45] was officially considered solved based upon the blood found in
[31:49] the household. Boudreaux was a long time
[31:53] Massachusetts resident who was born in 1943.
[31:58] In the 1970s, Boudreaux worked in the Framingham area and had a
[32:02] history of violence. He was convicted of armed
[32:05] robbery in 1975. In 1980, he was 37 years old and
[32:12] had no known personal connection to her.
[32:15] Not long after Katerina's slaying, Boudreaux moved N to
[32:18] Maine in 1987, where he lived out the rest of his life.
[32:25] Despite extensive queries, investigators have found no link
[32:29] between Boudreaux and either Waters or Osborne.
[32:34] Some have speculated that Boudreau may have been a patron
[32:37] of the diner and overheard idle chatter about Katharina's habit
[32:41] of storing money at her house. Others have speculated that
[32:45] Katarina may have simply believed this was what Boudreaux
[32:47] came for and revealed the money to him.
[32:51] Under this theory, she was slain afterwards to cover up the
[32:54] robbery. Whatever the case, the full
[32:59] truth will never be known and certain elements of this case
[33:02] will continue to remain an unsolved mystery.
[33:09] Hey everyone, it's Jimmy here, with my usual reminder for you
[33:12] to like this video and to click the share button and send it
[33:15] along to two of your friends or family members.
[33:19] Also, search up Lazy Chill True Crime wherever you get your
[33:21] podcasts, and remember to follow me on your chosen platform as
[33:25] well. I'll also toss a link to the
[33:28] podcast in the description to make things even easier.
[33:35] On a chilly evening in March 1974, a quiet Pittsburgh suburb
[33:40] was shaken by a terrible discovery.
[33:43] Police found the lifeless body of 23 year old Annette Towcars
[33:47] lying in a shallow Creek in Hopewell Township.
[33:51] The young woman had been forcefully drowned, a brutal end
[33:54] that sent shock waves through the community.
[33:58] For Tokarz's family, it was the beginning of a nightmare that
[34:02] police now officially claim has been solved.
[34:06] And as you may have guessed from my phrasing, I'm not entirely
[34:09] convinced. But we'll get to that.
[34:14] The tragedy unfolded on March 6th, 1974.
[34:19] That night, Annette crossed paths with fate in the most
[34:22] devastating way. She had been out that evening,
[34:26] and according to one acquaintance, she was last seen
[34:29] leaving a local bar with an unidentified man.
[34:33] When she didn't return home, concern grew quickly.
[34:37] The next morning, police officers made a grim discovery
[34:41] in Hopewell Community Park. They found Annette's body face
[34:45] down in a shallow Creek within the park grounds.
[34:50] Investigators determined that she had been forcibly held
[34:53] underwater until she drowned. The serene park, normally a spot
[34:58] for picnics and neighborhood gatherings, was now a chilling
[35:02] crime scene cordoned off by yellow tape.
[35:06] Unfortunately, Annette's family learned of her death in the most
[35:10] heartbreaking and impersonal way from a television news report.
[35:15] Her mother was watching the nightly news when the announcer
[35:18] spoke of an unidentified young woman found dead in Hopewell
[35:22] Township. Realizing with horror that it
[35:25] might be her missing daughter, Annette's mother was soon
[35:29] confronted with the unthinkable confirmation.
[35:32] The family's worst fears were realized at the morgue when they
[35:35] identified the Jane Doe as Annette.
[35:40] In the immediate aftermath of the slaying, local law
[35:44] enforcement sprang into action, determined to find whoever was
[35:48] responsible. Detectives interviewed friends,
[35:51] acquaintances and witnesses who had seen Annette in her final
[35:55] hours. Early on, one name caught their
[35:59] attention. Cornelius McCoy McCoy was a man
[36:04] who knew Annette and had reportedly seen her on the night
[36:07] of March 5th, 1974, just hours before her body was found.
[36:13] He told police that he last saw Annette leaving a bar with
[36:16] another man, which immediately made McCoy both a key witness
[36:20] and a potential suspect. In fact, for a time,
[36:24] investigators focused on McCoy as the prime suspect.
[36:31] Despite their suspicions, police in 1974 struggled to build a
[36:35] case against McCoy or anyone else.
[36:38] The forensic science of the era was primitive by today's
[36:41] standards. Investigators had to rely on old
[36:44] fashioned detective work, interviews, alibis and
[36:49] circumstantial clues. McCoy claimed he was innocent,
[36:54] and indeed, he had told police that Annette left with another
[36:57] man, hinting that someone else might be responsible.
[37:03] Detectives followed other leads, too.
[37:06] They took note of Annette's on and off boyfriend, a man named
[37:09] Wilkie Sims, who was interviewed at the time.
[37:13] Sims told police he hadn't seen Annette in two months and that
[37:17] he had been out of town in West Virginia when she was slain.
[37:21] Notably, it appears that this alibi wasn't meaningfully
[37:24] checked out at the time, which you're going to want to keep in
[37:27] mind for later. With no physical evidence to tie
[37:32] anyone to the crime and conflicting accounts of
[37:35] Annette's last movements, the case hit a wall.
[37:39] The police lacked the proof needed to charge McCoy, Sims, or
[37:43] anyone else, and as the months went by, the trail grew colder.
[37:49] As 1974 turned into 1975 and then into the late 1970s,
[37:55] Annette Tokarz's case languished without resolution.
[37:59] The community of Hopewell Township was unnerved that the
[38:02] perpetrator hadn't been brought to justice, but leads were
[38:06] virtually non existent. Annette's family continued to
[38:10] grieve and wonder, keeping her memory alive even as the
[38:14] investigation stalled and the case officially went cold.
[38:20] The cops continued to believe that Cornelius was likely,
[38:23] though not certainly responsible, given that he was
[38:27] the last person who had seen her.
[38:29] Cornelius passed away around 2007, taking any secrets he had
[38:34] with him to the grave. With McCoy dead and no new
[38:39] information, it seemed the truth of what happened that night in
[38:42] 1974 might never be known. But Annette's case was never
[38:47] completely forgotten. Her sisters and other loved ones
[38:51] carried the hope that someday they might get answers.
[38:55] They held on to the idea that Annette's life mattered and that
[38:59] someone out there knew what happened.
[39:02] Little did they know it would take over 5 decades and a new
[39:06] generation of detective work before that hope was apparently
[39:10] realized. The stage was set for what has
[39:14] been claimed to be an extraordinary breakthrough.
[39:17] However, it would require advancements in science and the
[39:21] sheer persistence of a detective who refused to let the case stay
[39:24] cold. In 2017, a seasoned investigator
[39:31] named Patrick Young came across Annette Tokarz's case file while
[39:34] working at the Beaver County Detective Bureau.
[39:38] Young, who had been in law enforcement since the mid 1990s,
[39:42] had a passion for cold cases and a knack for uncovering long
[39:46] buried clues. When he learned about Annette's
[39:49] unsolved slaying, he was intrigued and moved.
[39:53] Here was a 23 year old woman whose life had been brutally cut
[39:57] short and for over 40 years no one had answered for the crime.
[40:02] Young made a decision that would change everything.
[40:05] He would dedicate himself to finding out who ended the life
[40:08] of Annette. Chief Detective Young carefully
[40:13] reviewed the old case notes, photographs and reports.
[40:17] He noted the names of the people involved, including Cornelius
[40:21] McCoy and Walton Sims. And the dead ends that earlier
[40:24] detectives had faced. One thing in the file stood out
[40:28] to him, a leopard print coat that Annette had been wearing on
[40:32] the night of her death. That coat had been collected as
[40:36] evidence back in 1974. Thanks to careful preservation,
[40:41] it remained intact in the police archives.
[40:45] Young wondered if modern forensic technology could reveal
[40:48] something that 1970s science could not.
[40:52] The original investigators had no way to test the coat for DNA.
[40:56] But now, decades later, that was about to change.
[41:02] Detective Young sent Annette's clothing and other preserved
[41:05] evidence for advanced forensic testing.
[41:08] In the lining of that leopard print coat, analysts discovered
[41:11] a stain that yielded a small quantity of DNA.
[41:16] It was a stunning find. And if the Authority's theory is
[41:19] accepted as correct, it's essentially A genetic
[41:23] fingerprint left behind by the perpetrator.
[41:27] Given the nature of the stain, investigators believed it likely
[41:31] came from the perpetrator during a violent encounter.
[41:35] This was the first major piece of physical evidence in the
[41:38] case. However, there was a catch.
[41:42] When the forensic team tried to analyze the DNA for
[41:45] identification, they ran into limitations.
[41:48] They couldn't extract a full DNA profile and thus weren't able to
[41:52] use the CODIS database to search for matches.
[41:57] Instead of being discouraged, Young took a more manual
[42:00] approach. His first thought was to re
[42:02] examine the prime suspect from decades earlier.
[42:06] By 2017, McCoy was deceased, but Detective Young located some of
[42:11] Mccoy's surviving relatives and asked for DNA cheek swabs.
[42:16] If McCoy had been the perp, his family members would share some
[42:20] genetic markers with the DNA from the crime scene.
[42:24] Mccoy's family members were eager to prove his innocence and
[42:27] the results were conclusive. There was no match whatsoever.
[42:32] The unknown DNA didn't appear to come from McCoy, effectively
[42:36] ruling out the man who had once been the prime suspect.
[42:42] By the early twenty 20s, investigative genetic genealogy
[42:46] had emerged as a powerful tool for solving cold cases.
[42:50] Detective Young decided it was time to try what was then still
[42:53] an unconventional approach on Annette's case.
[42:57] This genealogical research LED Detective Young to several
[43:00] individuals who turned out to be relatives of the person who left
[43:04] DNA on Annette's coat. Using those genetic leads, Young
[43:10] built out family trees and zeroed in on a particular family
[43:13] name that kept appearing Sims. This was a familiar name from
[43:18] the original case file. In fact, Wilkie Sims, Annette's
[43:23] ex-boyfriend, had been mentioned in the 1974 investigation notes.
[43:30] Detective Young now had a strong circumstantial case pointing to
[43:33] Sims. However, solid proof was needed
[43:37] to conclusively tie the DNA to him.
[43:40] There was an immediate complication.
[43:43] Sims couldn't be interrogated or asked for ADNA sample because he
[43:46] had died in 2015. But even death wouldn't let him
[43:51] escape scrutiny. Young found that Sims had
[43:53] children, and one of them could potentially provide the key to
[43:57] confirm his guilt. In 2023, armed with a court
[44:02] order, the detective obtained adna sample from one of Walton
[44:05] Sims's sons. Young sent the two samples, one
[44:10] from the crime scene and one from the relative, to a
[44:13] laboratory, for analysis. The waiting period was tense,
[44:17] but the results were definitive. Wilkie Sims had left the genetic
[44:22] material there. Beaver County authorities
[44:25] publicly named Walton Sims, the former boyfriend who had long
[44:29] been in the case files shadows, as the perpetrator.
[44:34] OK, so if you're a regular viewer of any of my channels, I
[44:38] suspect you may already have guessed that I was going to add
[44:41] some additional commentary at the end of this segment.
[44:44] Personally, I have a lot of problems accepting that Wilkie
[44:47] Sims did it, and I suspect this wouldn't have been said
[44:51] officially if the man was still alive at the time.
[44:57] Although investigators link the coat DNA to The Sims family,
[45:00] Wilkie Sims was a documented ex-boyfriend of Annette's, and
[45:04] everyone accepts this to be fact.
[45:07] This offers a straightforward and potentially innocent
[45:09] explanation for his genetic material to appear on her
[45:13] clothing. Normal, consensual contact could
[45:17] easily explain how this sort of biological material ended up on
[45:21] the coat. Further, there's no evidence to
[45:26] indicate that this biological material actually came from the
[45:29] night of the attack. Wilkie Sims claimed that he was
[45:32] in West Virginia at the time, and if the biological evidence
[45:37] was found fresh with evidence of an indecent assault, this would
[45:41] be entirely different. In that case, I think the
[45:46] evidence would be sufficient to say that he was likely the
[45:48] responsible party, but that's not the evidence as it's
[45:52] presented to us. Crucially, there's nothing
[45:57] whatsoever in the way of independent corroboration to
[46:00] make this theory work. For example, there's no reliable
[46:04] eyewitness placing Sims with Annette that night.
[46:07] Further, yet, there are no other forensic links tying him to the
[46:11] scene whatsoever. Given those gaps, a jury could
[46:15] reasonably accept innocent explanations for the DNA and
[46:19] conclude the evidence doesn't eliminate reasonable doubt.
[46:23] However, here, of course, there never will be a jury and the
[46:26] evidence will never be subjected to the rigors of a trial based
[46:31] on the evidence alone. I just simply don't see that
[46:35] there's enough here to stop investigating this case.
[46:39] It's very possible that the true monster that attacked Annette
[46:42] that night can now rest easily knowing the case is fully
[46:45] closed. Anyway, this isn't the first
[46:50] time I've seen this sort of weak logic applied to cold cases
[46:53] where the supposed perpetrator is already deceased.
[46:56] It offers a convenient excuse to close out a cold case while
[47:00] placing the blame on someone who can no longer say anything to
[47:04] counteract what the authorities say.
[47:07] It may give some comfort to the families involved, but upon
[47:10] closer examination in a case like this, it shouldn't, since
[47:15] there would have never been enough evidence to convict Sims.
[47:21] A grand Victorian mansion in Westfield, NJ, stood eerily
[47:25] silent in late 1971, its lights blazing day and night with no
[47:30] sign of the family who lived there.
[47:33] Neighbors grew suspicious as mail piled up, as if the family
[47:36] living there had just dropped off the face of the earth.
[47:40] When police finally entered the home, they found a ghastly
[47:43] scene. Five bodies, a mother, three
[47:47] children and their elderly grandmother were laid out on
[47:51] sleeping bags in the ballroom. A religious hymn played softly
[47:55] on a radio that had been set to a Christian station, and the
[48:00] houses air conditioning was cranked up high to slow
[48:02] decomposition. On a desk lay A5 page letter
[48:06] confessing to the Acts and offering a disturbing
[48:09] justification. The author of that letter and
[48:13] the man responsible for the carnage was John Liszt, a church
[48:17] going accountant and father who had been regarded as a pillar of
[48:21] the community. To everyone in Westfield, John
[48:27] Liszt appeared to be a model family man.
[48:30] Born in 1925 and raised by strict Lutheran parents, Liszt
[48:35] was devoutly religious and taught Sunday school, embodying
[48:38] an image of piety and discipline.
[48:41] He was an Army veteran and a college educated accountant who
[48:45] by the mid 1960s had secured a position as a bank vice
[48:49] president. In 1965 he moved with his family
[48:53] to a 19 room mansion named Breeze Knoll in the affluent
[48:57] suburbs of Westfield, complete with an elegant ballroom.
[49:02] Outwardly, they were the picture of suburban success and
[49:06] propriety. Yet behind the facade, John List
[49:12] was under immense pressure. By 1971, he was in serious
[49:17] financial trouble, as he had lost his job as a bank executive
[49:21] and was secretly struggling to find work while debt mounted.
[49:26] Every morning he pretended to go off to his office, maintaining
[49:29] the routine so his family wouldn't know he'd been laid
[49:32] off. In reality, he spent his days at
[49:36] the train station or job hunting.
[49:38] Too prideful to admit his failure, he began siphoning
[49:43] money from his elderly mother's bank accounts to keep up with
[49:46] the mortgage payments on the mansion.
[49:50] At the same time, Helen lists health and behaviour were
[49:54] deteriorating. She had a number of chronic
[49:57] illnesses, including complications from syphilis and
[50:01] alcoholism, that made her increasingly unstable and often
[50:05] LED her to publicly ridicule John.
[50:09] The once orderly household was fracturing under financial
[50:12] strain and personal tensions. John lists Strict religious
[50:18] beliefs compounded his desperation.
[50:21] A devout Lutheran, he feared that the hardships of poverty
[50:25] would cause his family to stray from their faith.
[50:28] In his warped reasoning, he came to see only two possible
[50:32] outcomes for his family's crisis except public assistance and
[50:36] downsize or slay his family to, quote UN quote, save them from
[50:41] the worldly evils of poverty. By late 1971, the 46 year old
[50:48] Sunday school teacher had convinced himself that the
[50:51] latter option was a tragic necessity.
[50:55] Or at least that's how he would frame it.
[50:57] And given the horrific acts he committed, I'm not quite sure
[51:00] this is someone whose word we should be taking at face value.
[51:06] On the morning of November 9th, 1971, John List put his plan
[51:11] into action. It seemed like a normal Tuesday
[51:14] at the List household. He saw his children off to
[51:17] school as usual, but once alone in the big house, he went out to
[51:22] the garage and retrieved 2 handguns he had stashed.
[51:26] He then returned inside the mansion and headed for the
[51:28] kitchen, where his 46 year old wife, Helen, was sipping her
[51:32] morning coffee. Without warning, John raised one
[51:36] of the guns and shot Helen in the back of the head at close
[51:38] range, eliminating her instantly.
[51:41] He dragged her body on a sleeping bag into the home's
[51:44] cavernous ballroom, leaving a trail of blood that he carefully
[51:48] mopped up to hide any sign of violence.
[51:53] Upstairs, his elderly mother, Alma, had heard the commotion.
[51:58] John climbed the stairs to the third floor apartment where Alma
[52:01] lived, found her waiting in confusion at the threshold.
[52:05] There he shot his 84 year old mother just above her left eye
[52:09] again, apparently to save her from the horrors of poverty.
[52:14] And yeah, if you couldn't tell, that was a bit of sarcasm since
[52:18] I don't really believe a word of this guy's confession.
[52:23] He then attempted to bring her into the ballroom, but found
[52:26] that she was too heavy for him to move down the stairs, so he
[52:30] left her there. With his wife and mother dead,
[52:36] Liszt had a few hours before his children would come home from
[52:39] school. In a remarkably composed manner,
[52:42] he went about cleaning the crime scenes.
[52:45] He scrubbed the kitchen floor where Helen had fallen and
[52:49] disposed of blood stained rags. He then fixed himself a sandwich
[52:53] for lunch and sat down at the kitchen table to eat, waiting
[52:57] calmly for his children's return.
[53:00] I'm going to spare you the details of what happened next,
[53:03] but he ambushed the kids as they all came home at different
[53:06] times. Disturbingly, evidence would
[53:10] show that while two of the teenagers didn't know what
[53:12] happened to them, one of them fought back and knew full well
[53:16] what his father had done. Before he left the house, John
[53:22] Lis took a few final steps to delay the discovery of the
[53:25] crime. He gathered and cut his face out
[53:28] of every family photograph in the home, ensuring police
[53:32] wouldn't have a recent picture of him to release.
[53:35] He turned the thermostat as low as possible and left the radio
[53:39] tune to a religious music station.
[53:42] He hoped the chilled air and continuous hymns would mask the
[53:45] odor of decay and make it seem like someone was still living in
[53:49] the house. Days earlier, he had already put
[53:55] his plan in motion by contacting the children's schools to say
[53:58] that they would be away for the next couple weeks.
[54:01] He had stopped the mail, milk, and newspaper deliveries to the
[54:04] mansion as best he could, though some mail would eventually start
[54:08] trickling through. All of these preparations
[54:11] worked. Not a single person realized
[54:14] anything was wrong at the list home for nearly a month.
[54:18] The bodies of his family lay decomposing for four weeks under
[54:22] the blast of the air conditioning while religious
[54:25] music drifted through the empty halls.
[54:30] It was not until December 7th, 1971, almost 29 days after the
[54:35] slayings, that police were finally called to investigate
[54:38] the list residence. Officers entering through an
[54:42] unlocked window were met with the overwhelming smell of death.
[54:46] They discovered 4 bodies in the ballroom and Alma's upstairs,
[54:51] along with John's confession letter detailing the motive for
[54:54] the slayings. By then, Liszt was long gone and
[54:59] all that remained was a mystery, a family annihilator who had
[55:03] vanished into thin air, leaving a community in shock.
[55:09] In the meantime, Liszt had assumed a new identity and began
[55:13] to live a different life. Under the highly generic name of
[55:17] Bob Clark, List managed to obtain new documents, including
[55:22] a Social Security card, and restarted his life as if he were
[55:26] an entirely different person. Living quietly in Denver, John
[55:32] List continued working in accounting, the same profession
[55:35] he'd had before he joined a Lutheran Church community there,
[55:40] blending in as a congenial middle-aged man.
[55:43] By all accounts, he kept a low profile and avoided trouble with
[55:46] the law, which helped him evade detection.
[55:50] He even met a woman at a church gathering, and they got married
[55:54] in 1985, all while she believed she was in a relationship with
[55:58] Bob Clark. By the late 1980s, it seemed
[56:04] John List might indeed get away with his atrocious crimes.
[56:09] He had built an entirely new life, and even those close to
[56:13] him had no idea who he really was.
[56:16] However, law enforcement and the public had not forgotten the
[56:19] list slayings. In 1989, a popular television
[56:24] program gave the cold case new life.
[56:27] America's Most Wanted ATV Show, dedicated to profiling
[56:31] fugitives, decided to feature the John List case during its
[56:35] first year on air. On May 21st, 1989, the show
[56:40] aired A segment recounting list crimes and his disappearance.
[56:44] The authorities received hundreds of tips, most of which
[56:47] were baseless. However, one of these tips came
[56:51] from a friend of the wife of a quiet religious accountant named
[56:54] Bob Clark. On June 1st, 1989, nearly 18
[57:01] years after John List had vanished, federal agents arrived
[57:05] at the accounting office where 63 year old Bob Clark worked.
[57:09] They found Liszt at his desk and arrested him on the spot.
[57:13] At first, the man insisted he was not John Liszt at all,
[57:16] coolly maintaining his Bob Clark persona.
[57:20] But the charade didn't last long.
[57:22] Faced with fingerprint evidence and the mounting proof of his
[57:25] true identity, John Liszt eventually admitted who he
[57:29] really was. He showed no remorse, and one of
[57:33] the FBI agents who brought him in eventually described him as a
[57:36] husk of a human being. In 1990, John List finally faced
[57:44] justice in a New Jersey courtroom.
[57:46] He went on trial for the five slayings and, not surprisingly,
[57:51] was found guilty on all counts. At sentencing, the judge noted
[57:56] the calculated nature of the crimes and the lack of remorse
[58:00] and imposed the maximum penalty, five life terms in prison.
[58:08] In the years that followed, John List gave a few interviews from
[58:12] prison that provided A glimpse into his still twisted mindset.
[58:17] In a 2002 interview, List expressed a degree of regret,
[58:21] saying he wished he hadn't done it and had prayed for
[58:24] forgiveness. Yet, disturbingly, he still
[58:28] reiterated his disgusting reasoning for committing the
[58:31] acts. And perhaps most chillingly of
[58:34] all, when he was asked why he didn't finish himself off, he
[58:38] stated that doing so would have barred him from entry into
[58:41] heaven. John List died in prison in 2008
[58:47] at the age of 82 from complications of pneumonia.
[58:51] He spent his final 18 years in a New Jersey State prison, where
[58:55] he was reportedly a quiet, unremarkable inmate.
[59:02] On a warm August morning in 2025, residents of a quiet
[59:07] senior living community in West Phoenix woke to a horrifying
[59:11] scene. Inside one of the complex's
[59:14] apartments lay the body of a teenage girl, 15 year old
[59:18] Kelowna Smiley, dead from a gunshot wound.
[59:22] The setting was shocking. A retirement complex for
[59:25] seniors. Hardly a typical place for
[59:28] violent crime. Immediately, questions swirled
[59:32] about what had brought this young girl to such an unlikely
[59:34] place and who could have harmed her.
[59:38] The mystery deepened when just days later, the man identified
[59:42] by police as the prime suspect, a 67 year old resident of the
[59:46] community, was found dead by his own hand.
[59:53] Kelowna Smiley was an ordinary 15 year old girl with a vibrant
[59:56] personality and a bright future. She was about to start her
[1:00:00] freshman year at Trevor G Brown High School in Phoenix.
[1:00:04] Her mother, Fiona Austin, described her as outgoing and
[1:00:08] outspoken, a teenager with a big personality and a caring heart.
[1:00:14] In the summer of 2025, Kelowna was enjoying her last days of
[1:00:18] vacation before high school, but sadly, those days would be her
[1:00:22] last. In early August 2025, Kelowna
[1:00:29] left home on Friday, August 1st, planning to stay over at a
[1:00:33] friend's house for a couple of days.
[1:00:36] When she didn't return home as expected on Monday, her worried
[1:00:39] mother filed a missing persons report with the Phoenix police.
[1:00:44] At that point, Fiona Austin was anxious but hopeful that her
[1:00:49] daughter would be found safe. Little did she know that by the
[1:00:53] time she reported Kelowna missing, the worst had already
[1:00:57] happened. On Monday morning, August 4th,
[1:01:02] 2025, around 9:40 AM, Phoenix police officers responded to an
[1:01:08] apartment at a senior living complex.
[1:01:11] Inside, they discovered a female victim with an apparent gunshot
[1:01:15] wound. She was pronounced dead at the
[1:01:17] scene. At first, officers assumed the
[1:01:20] victim was an adult because of the setting, but later that
[1:01:24] week, authorities confirmed the deceased was actually Kelowna.
[1:01:28] A teenager had been killed in a place meant for retirees, a
[1:01:32] scenario that baffled both investigators and residents of
[1:01:35] the community. Police secured the area and
[1:01:41] immediately launched an investigation into the slaying.
[1:01:44] From the outset, there were far more questions than answers.
[1:01:48] Detectives couldn't determine what had led up to the shooting
[1:01:52] or how Kelowna ended up in that apartment.
[1:01:55] Kelowna didn't live at the complex and her mother confirmed
[1:01:59] she had no known reason to be there.
[1:02:01] There were no immediate witnesses and the elderly
[1:02:04] residents were just as confused as the police.
[1:02:08] The question on everyone's mind was how and why a 15 year old
[1:02:12] girl had come to be the victim of a shooting in a senior
[1:02:14] community. Phoenix detectives worked
[1:02:19] quickly to identify a suspect in the days after the attack.
[1:02:23] Before long, they focused on one of the complex's residence, 67
[1:02:28] year old Nohe Prado Morelia. Police haven't revealed exactly
[1:02:33] what evidence linked Morelia to the crime, and it remains
[1:02:37] unclear if he had any prior connection to Kelowna.
[1:02:40] However, her family knew of no link between them, essentially
[1:02:45] making him a stranger to her. Nevertheless, he rapidly became
[1:02:50] the prime suspect in Kelowna's death.
[1:02:54] When investigators attempted to locate Morelia for questioning,
[1:02:58] they discovered that he had already disappeared.
[1:03:03] On Friday, August 8th, four days after Kelowna was slain,
[1:03:07] officers responded to a call at a business area in Phoenix.
[1:03:11] There, miles away from the scene of the crime, officers found
[1:03:15] Morelia's body, and it was evident that he had
[1:03:18] intentionally checked out. This development meant that
[1:03:21] police would never be able to interrogate Morelia about the
[1:03:25] crime. In the aftermath of Morelia's
[1:03:30] death, detectives continued working to confirm that he was
[1:03:33] indeed the killer. A police press release later
[1:03:36] stated that evidence established Morelia as the person
[1:03:39] responsible for Kelowna's slaying and no other suspects
[1:03:43] were involved. Authorities announced that the
[1:03:46] case was considered solved and was being closed.
[1:03:49] However, one crucial piece remained missing.
[1:03:53] The motive. Investigators acknowledge that
[1:03:58] the motive for the killing remained unknown.
[1:04:01] Even Phoenix's police chief admitted that the investigation
[1:04:04] was still very preliminary and that he knew of no further
[1:04:08] details. Yet with the suspect gone, any
[1:04:12] explanation for his actions remains elusive.
[1:04:18] Hey everyone, it's Jimmy here. Just reminding you to click like
[1:04:22] and subscribe and to check out the YouTube membership and the
[1:04:25] Patreon. Also, remember to check out my
[1:04:28] podcast Lazy Chill True Crime by clicking the link in the
[1:04:33] description. Just days before Christmas 2016,
[1:04:40] a quiet Georgia home erupted into chaos.
[1:04:43] Nicole Brazil was settling into bed when she heard a series of
[1:04:46] pops she assumed were firecrackers.
[1:04:49] Instead, she found her 23 year old daughter Ashley bleeding on
[1:04:55] the living room couch and her 16 year old son standing over her
[1:04:59] with a weapon. In a flat, eerily calm voice,
[1:05:04] Sonny Kim told his mother that Ashley was dead.
[1:05:07] While Christmas decorations hung in the room as a macabre
[1:05:10] backdrop to the unimaginable scene.
[1:05:15] Sonny Kim's case is as perplexing as it is tragic.
[1:05:19] He was, by all accounts, a brilliant nerd, a quiet, brainy
[1:05:23] teen with an IQ near genius level and a deep love of
[1:05:27] computers and books. He was shy and far more
[1:05:30] comfortable with gadgets and games than with crowds of
[1:05:34] people. Sonny and Ashley were both
[1:05:37] exceptionally smart and they would playfully tease each other
[1:05:40] about who was the bigger nerd. He built his own PCs and landed
[1:05:44] a part time job at a local computer shop while barely a
[1:05:47] teenager. Sonny graduated high school
[1:05:50] early and was taking college classes by 16.
[1:05:54] Nothing in his upbringing or past behavior suggested
[1:05:57] violence, which made his actions in December 2016 all the more
[1:06:02] shocking and difficult to comprehend.
[1:06:07] On the evening of December 20th, 2016, Ashley Kim was back home
[1:06:12] in Martinez, GA for the holidays.
[1:06:15] She had been living in Colorado and was eager to spend Christmas
[1:06:17] with her family. The family spent the night
[1:06:20] sharing laughs and enjoying each other's company.
[1:06:23] There were no fights, no outbursts, nothing to foreshadow
[1:06:27] what was about to happen. Sometime around midnight, Sonny
[1:06:32] retrieved a 45 caliber pistol, shockingly the very gun he had
[1:06:37] purchased as a Christmas gift for his stepdad and secretly
[1:06:40] unwrapped early. Then he walked quietly into the
[1:06:43] living room and without a word, he raised the weapon and opened
[1:06:47] fire on Ashley as she relaxed on the couch.
[1:06:51] He shot her eight times at point blank range, ensuring that there
[1:06:55] was virtually no possibility that she could survive the storm
[1:06:58] of lead. Hearing the shots, Nicole and
[1:07:03] her husband eventually burst out of their bedroom to see what
[1:07:06] exactly was happening. They were greeted by a ghastly
[1:07:09] sight, Ashley sprawled on the sofa and Sonny standing over her
[1:07:14] with a firearm. When Nicole cried out in
[1:07:17] confusion and terror, Sonny responded with an emotionless
[1:07:21] declaration that her daughter was already gone.
[1:07:27] Sunny then turned the weapon toward his stepfather and
[1:07:30] mother, apparently intent on cutting them down as well.
[1:07:34] He later admitted to investigators that he had
[1:07:36] planned to slay his entire family and then himself, though
[1:07:40] he couldn't articulate any logical reason why.
[1:07:44] As Sunny aimed at James and Nicole, fate intervened.
[1:07:48] The weapon either jammed or ran out of ammunition.
[1:07:51] After the burst of shots at Ashley, James seized the
[1:07:55] opportunity to tackle the teenager and wrestle the weapon
[1:07:58] away from Sonny. With Sonny subdued, James dialed
[1:08:02] the cops while Nicole tried in vain to tend to Ashley.
[1:08:06] Paramedics arrived within minutes, but 23 year old Ashley
[1:08:10] was beyond help and was pronounced deceased at the
[1:08:13] scene. Investigators soon observed that
[1:08:18] Sonny's demeanour was oddly calm and detached for a boy who had
[1:08:22] just slaughtered his sister during a videotaped
[1:08:25] interrogation. He was cooperative and polite
[1:08:29] and spoke in a cold and detached manner.
[1:08:33] When asked the burning question, why did you do this, Sonny had
[1:08:38] no clear answer. He insisted it wasn't out of
[1:08:41] anger or any dispute. In essence, he claimed he just
[1:08:45] did it without fully understanding why, and this
[1:08:49] baffling lack of motive would become a central issue in the
[1:08:52] case. In the wake of the attack,
[1:08:57] Sonny's family and the community struggled to make sense of the
[1:09:00] senseless. Nicole Brazil was convinced that
[1:09:03] something had gone terribly wrong in her son's mind.
[1:09:07] She knew Sonny adored Ashley and had never shown a violent
[1:09:10] tendency before. Mental health experts did, in
[1:09:14] fact, find serious issues underlying Sonny's shocking act.
[1:09:18] Psychologists who examined him in jail diagnosed Sonny with
[1:09:22] Asperger's syndrome and noted he showed symptoms of a
[1:09:25] schizophrenia like psychosis. In plain terms, it appeared he
[1:09:30] may have experienced a sudden break from reality, a psychotic
[1:09:34] episode that led to the extreme violence.
[1:09:39] Sunny himself later described feeling as if he wasn't in
[1:09:42] control, and he expressed fear that he could snap again without
[1:09:46] warning. This understanding offered a
[1:09:49] possible explanation, albeit an unsettling one.
[1:09:53] The brain that made Sunny so intelligent and unique also
[1:09:57] harboured A latent darkness that erupted unpredictably.
[1:10:03] Legal proceedings against Sonny moved slowly.
[1:10:06] As a 16 year old charged with a slaying, he was held in juvenile
[1:10:10] custody and then transferred to adult court.
[1:10:14] There were delays as public defenders came and went, and as
[1:10:18] attorneys weighed how to handle his mental state.
[1:10:21] Ultimately, nearly three years after the disturbing act, Sonny
[1:10:25] Kim pleaded guilty to the slaying of Ashley and related
[1:10:29] charges in July 2019. By accepting A plea deal, he
[1:10:34] avoided a trial and possible additional penalties, and he
[1:10:37] spared his parents the ordeal of reliving the tragedy in court.
[1:10:42] At the sentencing hearing, the emotional weight of the case was
[1:10:45] on full display. Sonny, then 19, apologized and
[1:10:50] accepted responsibility in his own quiet way while his mother
[1:10:55] addressed him with a mix of love and anguish.
[1:10:58] The judge sentenced Sonny to life in prison with the
[1:11:01] possibility of parole after 30 years, with a strict condition
[1:11:05] that he receive ongoing mental health treatment while
[1:11:07] incarcerated. In practical terms, this means
[1:11:13] Sonny will be nearly 50 years old before he can even be
[1:11:16] considered for release. In delivering the sentence, the
[1:11:20] judge emphasized that addressing Sonny's mental health was
[1:11:23] crucial, implicitly recognizing that this crime was born from
[1:11:27] illness as much as intent. Outside the courthouse, the Kim
[1:11:32] family was left to grapple with heartbreak.
[1:11:35] They had lost Ashley forever, and in a sense, they lost Sonny,
[1:11:39] too, to the prison system. An unexpected twist to this
[1:11:45] story emerged a couple of years into Sonny's life behind bars.
[1:11:50] In late 2021, true crime followers were surprised to
[1:11:54] discover that Sonny Kim had surfaced on Reddit, apparently
[1:11:58] using a smuggled cell phone from prison.
[1:12:01] Posting in the subreddit R Slash Prison, a user believed to be
[1:12:05] Sonny shared photos of a prison cell that looked more like a
[1:12:08] geeky college dorm. The walls were adorned with hand
[1:12:12] drawn fantasy and furry style art, and shelves were stacked
[1:12:16] with paperback novels and role-playing game manuals.
[1:12:20] In follow up comments, the inmate answered questions from
[1:12:24] other Reddit users in a surprisingly friendly and upbeat
[1:12:27] tone. He joked about staying positive
[1:12:31] and said he would remain a nerd until the day he dies.
[1:12:34] He even recounted witnessing a grisly incident, an inmate
[1:12:38] stabbing his own bunkmate and hiding the body on a top bunk
[1:12:42] with a disturbing detachment, as if it were an everyday anecdote.
[1:12:49] The idea of someone convicted for such a crime casually
[1:12:52] chatting online and showing off his hobbies from prison was
[1:12:55] jarring to many. Some Reddit readers were
[1:12:58] fascinated by the glimpse into an incarcerated person's daily
[1:13:02] life, especially one with such a nerdy intellectual bent.
[1:13:06] However, many others were disturbed.
[1:13:09] Commenters pointed out that behind the post was a man who
[1:13:12] had slain his own sister, and they criticized any responses
[1:13:16] that seemed to flatter or humanize him.
[1:13:21] As of 2025, Sonny Kim remains behind bars in Georgia,
[1:13:26] undergoing treatment and living out his days in a prison cell
[1:13:30] filled with books and drawings. He will be a much older man
[1:13:33] before he has any chance of release, and it's uncertain what
[1:13:37] kind of person he'll be if that day comes.
[1:13:42] What is certain is the lasting impact of his actions, a beloved
[1:13:47] sister's life cut short and a family that must carry the
[1:13:50] weight of an unfathomable loss of two family members in one
[1:13:54] tragic, disturbed incident. Hi, I'm Chris Gethard, and I'm
[1:14:01] very excited to tell you about Beautiful Anonymous, a podcast
[1:14:04] where I talk to random people on the phone.
[1:14:06] I tweet out a phone number, thousands of people try to call,
[1:14:09] talk to one of them. They stay anonymous.
[1:14:10] I can't hang up. That's all the rules.
[1:14:12] I never know what's going to happen.
[1:14:14] We get serious ones. I've talked with meth dealers on
[1:14:17] their way to prison. I've talked to people who
[1:14:18] survived mass shootings, crazy, funny ones.
[1:14:21] I talked to a guy with a goose laugh, somebody who dresses up
[1:14:23] as a pirate on the weekends. I never know what's going to
[1:14:25] happen. It's a great show.
[1:14:27] Subscribe today Beautiful Anonymous.

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