Feb. 13, 2026

Bonus Episode: Cory and Curtis Lovelace

Bonus Episode: Cory and Curtis Lovelace
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On Valentine’s Day 2006, Cory Lovelace was found dead in her Quincy, Illinois home, her cause of death undetermined. Eight years later, her husband, Curt Lovelace, a former star football player, prosecutor, and school board president, long regarded as a hometown hero, was charged with her murder shocking the community. The state’s case hinged on disputed forensic timelines, interpretations of rigor mortis, and private struggles within the marriage that had largely remained hidden.

Today's snack: Betty Crocker cherry chip cake

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Hi, I'm Tina, and I'm Rich. If there's one thing

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we've learned in over twenty years of marriage, it's.

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That some days you'll feel like killing your wife.

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And some days you'll feel like killing your husband.

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Welcome to a bonus episode of Love Mary Kill.

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Hello, my darling, Hello, my love. How are you?

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I'm doing wonderful?

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How are you going to be nicer to each other

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this episode?

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Carl, He's pretty nice to each other.

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Well, it is a bonus episode, a Valentine's bonus episode.

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This case isn't super Valentiny. It just is.

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Most true crime murder cases aren't. Even if they take

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place on Valentine's Day, they're not really super Valentine's.

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This one really wasn't. But Valentine's Day is one of

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my favorite holidays. I love a holiday, but Valentine's Day.

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I just like to show people that I love them

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and I care about them.

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And it's just, you know, just nice, just to be

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able to say I love you to someone.

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And I know not everyone loves Valentine's Day, but if

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you do not have a Valentine, you can be our Valentine. Yeah,

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for sure, hang out with us today and I hope

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you enjoy this episode. So we're not going to talk

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about the weather. But it's still freezing here. But I

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know I complained about it for three episodes in.

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A row, but it's going on and on.

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But this week we have a few peaks of sunshine

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and the temperature is going up a little bit.

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Nice.

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We still really haven't goune sledding, so yeah, maybe as

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it starts melting, I'm yeah, sure, why not?

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Okay?

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I did go once this winter. Well I went down

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the hill like twice by myself, and well, I thought,

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maybe maybe you're too old. Maybe that's it. You're too

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you're Are you afraid of injury? Yeah, you know what

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a hip injury is. At it I totally understand.

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That's it.

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So we are recording on Monday, February ninth, and the

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super Bowl was last night. It was, And you gave

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a bold prediction I did. How do you feel about

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your prediction? The outcome of your prediction?

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Not too bad. I picked the winner right, The score

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was off by quite a bit. I think I picked

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Seattle to win twenty four to twenty three. They ended

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up winning twenty nine to thirteen.

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Okay, I stopped watching after the start of the third quarter.

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So I was surprised because it was nine desire.

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Six defensive battle.

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It was crazy, so I'm surprised they scored as much.

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It really wasn't the most fun game to watch, I'll

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be honest with you. Like games with a lot more

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offense are more fun to watch. But it was it

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was a good game.

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Well, you've been obsessed with curling.

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I know you've kind of taken me away from my

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busy curly curling.

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I know I'm not exaggerating when I say you are

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obsessed with curling. You have been for decades really, and

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it's been your dream to be an Olympic curler because.

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Well it's never going to happen at this point. But

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I do like to watch curling because when I do

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watch curling, I always think, man if I had taken

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up curling when I was young, I think I could

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have been really good at it. It's like right up

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my alley. Yeah, but it's fun. I enjoy watch. I

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know it's not the most popular winter sport, but it's

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just it's just fun to watch. Sure, I've been watching

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the mixed doubles, and they work together so well, they

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communicate and they're just strategy going on.

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I should watch it with you. I do enjoy every

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Olympic sport. The Olympics just make me feel I think

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everyone says, like, Wow, if I would have worked just

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a little harder, I would have been an Olympic athlete,

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if someone would have just encouraged me along the way.

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It's crazy how dedicated these people are and how talented

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they are. But yeah, it just makes you feel good

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inside to watch the Olympics.

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So the curling team, you know there, I'm sure this

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is true of a lot of the athletes across different sports,

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but you know, they have like day jobs. They're talking

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about the.

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Guy, especially like the curlers.

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He's a realtor in Minnesota, but he does curling. It's

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like his passion, you know, and it's just so cool.

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We watched the opening ceremonies and when Sean White was

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talking about his life as a professional snowboarder, like I

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have never felt like further away from anyone when he's

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talking about, you know, like all the ting he does

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and how he rents out mountains, and it's crazy the

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difference between the life of an Olympic curler to the

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life of a professional snowboarder is so different.

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Yeah, very different.

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I think about once a week we get a comment

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either on YouTube or Spotify or wherever that's like, why

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are you guys talking so much? I just want to

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point out there are two versions of our podcast. There

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is the Love Mary Kill Regular Edition, and then there

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is Just the Facts. So if you don't want to

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hear us going on about curling or whatever, yeah, then

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just listen to Just the Facts and you don't have

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it's all edited out. That way, it's the same podcast,

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just all our banter is edited out. But speaking of snacks,

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I brought you a special Valentine's Day snack and I

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think you're gonna like a lot.

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Oh boy, I'm excited.

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Are you ready?

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I am?

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Okay? Here it is. Oh you a cake?

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Is that a cherry chipcake?

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I made you a Valentine's cherry chip. If you remember

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from Rich's birthday, I could not find a cherry chipcase

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and it didn't get here. Well, I found one on

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I found some on eBay, yeah, and bought them, but

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they didn't get here until after your birthday. So yeah,

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I just made that. I haven't made it yet, so

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I just made you a little it's a heart shape.

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You can't really tell because the heart. But anyway, I

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made you. Yeah, do you want to give it a

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little try? It's pretty big.

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It's it's like, yeah, I'm not even sure I can

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eat all that, but I'm going to do my best.

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Well, I think it's like three servings. Really, okay? Did

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you enjoy your cherry chip cake?

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I did. It made it feel like it was my birthday.

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That was really nice of you. Thank you so much.

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But you're welcome. I love you well. I love you too.

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I'm laughing because we had to edit out your first

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I love you because it sounded like you never said

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it before. It's so awkward, but I know that you

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love me. Even if you don't you say it. We

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say it. Actually, probably say it more people.

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The microphone to an audience.

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In reason, when I'm at a store or something and

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I hear, you know, like a husband talking to his wife,

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And you can always tell like the people's relationship, because

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sometimes you'll hear them say I love you at the

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end of the call. At other times it's just I

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talk to you later.

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You know, a lot of times it's sort of like

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a love you like it's just sort of thrown out

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there as I.

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Really do we say it every time we end a

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phone call. I don't think we do.

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I don't think.

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But like most of our phone calls happen inside our house,

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that's true, Like I'm upstairs in your downstairs, and yeah,

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so we don't really need to say it when we're

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in the same house. Guys. Any anyway, well, thank you

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to our listener Lindsay for recommending today's case. It's a

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story right out of a John Grisham novel. Hometown hero

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Curtis Lovelass returned to Quincy, Illinois after a storied college

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football career with a fighting a line. I married a

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hometown girl and started a family, then became a prosecutor

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and president of the local school board. Together with his

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beautiful wife, Corey, they had four children and seemed to

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live an enviable life. But on Valentine's Day two thousand

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and six, a day meant for paper hearts, chocolate, candle

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lit dinners, and whispered sweet nothings, that seemingly perfect life

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fractured permanently. Corey Loveless, thirty eight, had been sidelined all

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weekend with a flu. That morning, Kurt told Corey stay

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in bed and he'd take care of the kids. He

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rankled the four children, ensure they ate breakfast and had

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their Valentine cards and candy tucked into their backpacks. He

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drove the three older children to school, leaving four year

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old Larson at home with Corey. When Kurt returned twenty

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minutes later, the house felt unnaturally quiet after the chaos

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of the morning. Larson waited for him on the steps

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and told him Mommy wouldn't wake up. He assumed she

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was just sleeping and went to work, answering a few

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work emails before he had headed upstairs to take a

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shower and check on his wife, expecting to find her resting,

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but instead he discovered Corey laying in their eye is

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wide open, but unresponsive and not breathing. Instead of calling

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emergency services, Kurt called his boss, John Barnard, an Adams

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County state's attorney, and told him his wife was dead.

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Barnard then called nine one one on his behalf. Curtis

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made no further calls or attempted CPR, and he knew CPR.

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What began as a tragic Valentine's morning would soon spiral

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into a decade long mystery, peeling back the layers, exposing

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not just a fractured marriage, but two individuals wrestling with

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private demons.

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I'm sure we're going to get more into it, but

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that's a curious choice to call your boss instead of

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nine to one one in that situation.

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Yeah, And like I said, he knew CPR, but he

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didn't even attempt it. But he said when he walked

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in the room and he saw her, he just knew

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that she was gone. Nestled along the bluffs of the

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Mississippi River, Quincy, Illinois is a mid sized city of

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about forty thousand. It was once the second largest city

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in Illinois. It sits in the middle of the state,

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on the most western edge of Illinois. Once you cross

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the Quincy Memorial Bridge, you'll find yourself in West Quincy, Missouri.

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Quincy's proximity to the Mississippi River made it a popular

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place to settle, with easy access to both riverbows and trains.

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Founded in eighteen twenty five, Quincy is known as the

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Gem city for its nineteenth century boom as a vital

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Mississippi River port, and its striking collection of historic Victorian

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architecture reflecting the town's legacy as a prosperous hub of

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industry and culture. Quincy carries the dual identity of being

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a historic, tight knit community and a former seedy rivertown,

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once nicknamed Little Chicago due to its colorful history of

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mobster's bootlegging and red light districts. Quincy was once host

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to one of Abraham Lincoln's famous debates with Stephen Douglas

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in eighteen fifty eight. Lincoln spent time in Quincy and

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had many friends there. Because Illinois, a free state, sat

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next to Missouri, a slave state, Quincy played an integral

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part in the underground railroad. With its charming neighborhoods, historic architecture,

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abundant parks, and thriving arts scene, Quincy is a place

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for tradition and small town charm blend with Midwestern hospitality.

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A lot of listeners have said they like when we

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talk about the geographical locations that we're discussing. I don't

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always do it, but in this case, Quincy is almost

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like a character in the case the family in this case,

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their name is looks like it's lovelace, but most people

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say loveless. Dennis Murphy said, Lovelace but local people seem

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to say loveless, so we will say loveless, okay. Curtis

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Tyson Loveless was born in Quincy, Illinois, in October nineteen

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sixty eight. In high school, Curtis earned six varsity letters

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and track, wrestling, and football. He was later inducted into

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the Quincy High School Hall of Fame. Kurt graduated from

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Quincy High School in nineteen eighty six, as did his

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future wife, Corey Didrickson. Kurt wanted to join the military

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after high school, but when the University of Illinois offered

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him a football scholarship, he accepted and majored in business.

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At the University of Illinois, Kurt was a three year

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starter and team captain. He earned two All Big Ten

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selections and was also an academic All American. Do you

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know what it means to be an All Big Ten selectionist?

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I mean, not exactly, but I assume it's sort of

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like you're one of the best players in the Big Ten.

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Yeah. His former coach John Mackovic called him the brains

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of the whole team. Loveless told the Bloomington Pantograph quote,

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I did not come to the University of Illinois as

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a star student or athlete. I think I've reached this

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point with hard work. Kurt had a shot as a

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free agent with the New England Patriots, but a knee

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injury took him out of contention. Corey attended the University

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of Iowa to study communications. She and Kurt weren't friends

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00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:52.039
in high school and didn't begin dating until they'd reconnected

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during a college break, and then began a long distance relationship.

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Their friends and family thought they were well suited for

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each other. They were very happy together in the beginning.

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Corey had an outgoing, adventurous spirit, always with a big smile,

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while Kurt was more serious, driven by a desire to succeed.

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In nineteen ninety four, Kurt earned a law degree from

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the University of Illinois and went on to pass the

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00:12:15.399 --> 00:12:19.000
bar exam in November of that year. After several years

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in private practice, Lovelace joined Dot Foods in nineteen ninety eight,

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overseeing its perishable distribution center in Mount Stirling until two

253
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thousand and four, when he moved to the Adams County

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State's Attorney's office. Working as an assistant District attorney for

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00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:37.679
seven and a half years, he handled civil matters and

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00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:40.759
did legal work for the county board. Beyond his day

257
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to day work, Lovelace also spent twelve years on the

258
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Quincy School Board, serving from nineteen ninety nine to twenty eleven,

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including eight years as president. Kurt's father was a marine,

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and he'd always been interested in serving himself, but after

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00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:57.960
high school, his football career came first. But in two

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00:12:58.039 --> 00:13:01.120
thousand and nine he joined the Illinois Army National Guard,

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00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:05.279
becoming a captain and completed Judge Advocate General or JAG

264
00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:08.440
training and worked as a trial defense lawyer, helping Army

265
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soldiers with legal matters. So this is three years after

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Corey's death that he decided to join the National Guard.

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Which I mean, he's one of those people that just

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can't seem to be busy.

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In really very driven. It sounds like, yeah, he's.

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A single dad. Then to you know, three kids or

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four kids, and you know he still joins the National Guard.

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Wow.

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He also worked as an adjunct professor at Quincy University.

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Some claim that as his career success grew, he became

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increasingly arrogant and self important, changed those close to him say,

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altered the way he treated the people around him.

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Corey and Kurt wed on January twenty sixth, nineteen ninety one.

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Corey couldn't wait to start a family. Their first and

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00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:53.600
only daughter, Lindsay, was born in nineteen ninety three. Three

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00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:58.360
sons followed, Logan, Lincoln, and Larson. Corey loved the fast

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paced life of having a big, active family, but with

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Kurt's demanding career, she often found herself meeting the never

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00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:08.799
ending needs of four children on her own. When Kurt

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00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:12.519
was home, they fought often, and loudly. So loudly, it

285
00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:16.279
was no secret to neighbors that they were having marital problems.

286
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In college, they were both partiers, but once married, the

287
00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:23.120
stressors of everyday life led them to become heavy drinkers.

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00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:28.120
Corey also suffered from bolimia. Neighbors said the couple fought daily,

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00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:30.919
and they often heard Corey yelling at the children when

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00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:31.840
Kurt wasn't home.

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I point out the struggles that Corey was dealing with,

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00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:38.679
not to disparage her, but she was human, she was

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00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:41.879
a mom, and she was having a hard time. She

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00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.759
was a very loving mom, but I think sometimes she

295
00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:46.440
had a lot on her plate and she yelled at

296
00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:48.240
her kids. We all yell at her kids. And if

297
00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:50.639
you don't look good for you, but most of us do.

298
00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:54.480
It happens to most people. Kurt's work in the Adams

299
00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.840
County DA's office and as school board president made the

300
00:14:57.879 --> 00:15:01.720
Lovelesses a prominent family in quinn See. While Corey focused

301
00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:04.799
on raising the children and volunteering at their schools and

302
00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:08.440
in the community, Kurt's demanding schedule left little time for

303
00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:11.080
family life, adding strained to the marriage.

304
00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:13.679
With people like Kurt, I always wonder why are you

305
00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.240
so busy? He didn't need to be so busy, but

306
00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:19.200
it almost seemed like he wanted to not be home

307
00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:22.279
all the time. And his kids were little, and it

308
00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:25.960
was like, you know, he took on the adjunct professorship,

309
00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:29.600
and you know, the school board was certainly demanding. Yeah,

310
00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:31.919
and I just wonder, you know, why are you so

311
00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:33.799
busy all the time? When our kids were little. We

312
00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.039
tried our best to you know, enjoy your time as

313
00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:38.360
a family. Yeah, and it just seemed like they were,

314
00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:39.879
you know, go go go all the time.

315
00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:42.399
I think some people, I think it could be that

316
00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:45.360
he was trying to escape from his home life or

317
00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:48.000
didn't wasn't interested in being a parent. But some people

318
00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:51.879
are just really like driven by certain things and they

319
00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:54.559
just put those priorities first. And I'm not saying it's right.

320
00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:57.159
Well, I might have misspoke. I don't think he wasn't

321
00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:00.519
interested in being a parent, but you know, he liked

322
00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:03.320
the things that kept him busy too, And he did

323
00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:05.279
leave a lot on Corey's playing. You know, she had

324
00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:07.080
to take care of the four kids and they were

325
00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.200
pretty close in age. So yeah, that's a daunting task

326
00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:10.759
for right.

327
00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:14.360
The weekend before Valentine's Day, Corey was sick with the flu,

328
00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:17.399
but life pressed on for the busy mother of four.

329
00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:21.159
On Monday, February thirteenth, she made dinner and then helped

330
00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:24.720
the kids finish their Valentine's cards. Lindsay, who was twelve

331
00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:27.159
at the time, remembered curling up on the couch with

332
00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:29.960
Corey after dinner, the two of them watching the Winter

333
00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:33.919
Olympics together. But the next morning, Corey was still unwell,

334
00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:37.320
so Kurt canceled his class, got the children ready, and

335
00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:41.080
drove them to school himself. Later, the children recalled Corey

336
00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:44.039
coming downstairs that morning to help get everyone out the door.

337
00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:48.960
As months and years passed, their memories diverged slightly, especially

338
00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:51.960
regarding how long they saw her, and whether they remembered

339
00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:52.799
seeing her at all.

340
00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:55.120
This is an important part of the story.

341
00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:58.279
Lindsay especially would call her memory of that day a

342
00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:02.399
black hole. Uncertain of what she recalled. Kurt recalled to

343
00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:04.920
Dateline that Corey was so weak that he had to

344
00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:07.839
help her back to bed. When Kurt returned home from

345
00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:10.880
drop off, he did some work before heading upstairs to

346
00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:13.720
take a shower. He found Corey in bed, but he

347
00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:17.519
said she didn't look right. She was motionless and very pale.

348
00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:20.480
He called his boss, who then called nine one one.

349
00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:24.319
Kurt made no further calls and didn't attempt CPR, despite

350
00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:28.200
being trained in it. When first responders arrived, several noted

351
00:17:28.279 --> 00:17:32.079
Corey's body was warm to the touch, although coroner James

352
00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:35.720
Keller and at least one other emt disputed this and

353
00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:38.799
even described an unpleasant odor in the room and said

354
00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:42.559
that Corey's body was in full rigor mortis. According to

355
00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:46.279
court records, and Emt raised Corey's arms from a position

356
00:17:46.359 --> 00:17:49.000
on her body to a point above her heart so

357
00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:51.440
that he could attach a probe there in an attempt

358
00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:55.039
to revive her. Her arms remained in the elevated position.

359
00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:58.759
Corey had an abrasion on her upper lip, just beneath

360
00:17:58.759 --> 00:18:01.480
her nose along the cut on the inside of her

361
00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:04.079
lip in the same area. There were no signs of

362
00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.119
a struggle in the bedroom. In fact, there were several

363
00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:11.440
cups and glasses on Corey's bedside table that remained undisturbed.

364
00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:13.359
One cup spelled of alcohol.

365
00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:16.440
Remember last week when I tried to smother you with

366
00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:20.119
a pillow, I remember that. I then put the pillow

367
00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:21.880
under your arms and I said, leave your Do you

368
00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:24.119
remember this? Oh yeah, yeah, we did a little. Yeah,

369
00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:25.599
you were a little scared, and I was like, I

370
00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:27.519
promise I'm not going to kill you.

371
00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:27.960
You didn't.

372
00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:30.519
But it was the thing that was so odd about

373
00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:33.759
this situation is that Curtis saying, I drove the kids

374
00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:36.960
to school and she was fine. Right when I got back,

375
00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:39.839
rigor mortis had already set in and her arms were

376
00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:42.799
you know, I'm showing you what her arms were doing,

377
00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:44.759
but they were almost as if they were like levitating.

378
00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:47.839
You know, I'm not sure how six to nine inches

379
00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:48.599
above her body.

380
00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:51.559
Yeah, And it reminded me normally, how long does rigor

381
00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:53.279
mortis take to start to set it.

382
00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:56.000
Twlve to twenty four hours Yeah, it's not like you

383
00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:59.319
can set a stop watch and everybody is a little different.

384
00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:01.599
And we'll talk about that as we get further into

385
00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:02.000
the case.

386
00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:05.240
Just so unclear, were her arms in an elevated position

387
00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:07.920
when the EMT's arrived or it was that the empties

388
00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:09.559
raised her arm and it stayed up.

389
00:19:09.799 --> 00:19:12.759
That's the question. It depends who you ask. Okay, So

390
00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:15.079
this EMT, the one who put the probe on her,

391
00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:19.200
said that he lifted her arms up. That doesn't quite

392
00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:20.880
make sense to me that he would have to lift

393
00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.200
both of her arms. I mean, maybe he did, but

394
00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:26.000
he said once he lifted them, then they remained there. Okay,

395
00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:28.200
But other people said that they walked into the room.

396
00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:31.960
But I guess it depended when the did the procedure. Yeah.

397
00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:37.359
Observers called Kurt cooperative and somber, upset about his wife's death,

398
00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:41.640
but not overwrought with emotion, although later his sons recalled

399
00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:45.160
that he was sobbing. The children's grandmother, Marty, who lived

400
00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:47.880
a few houses away on the same street, said that

401
00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:50.920
on the morning her daughter was found dead, Curtis appeared

402
00:19:50.920 --> 00:19:54.240
at her door carrying the youngest child, Larsen. When she

403
00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:56.680
opened the door, he handed her the child and asked

404
00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:59.480
her to watch him and said bluntly, oh, and your

405
00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:03.960
daughter's dea, then turned and walked away. She never accused

406
00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:07.039
Kurt of wrongdoing. She knew Corey wasn't in the best

407
00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:10.160
of health. Later that morning, Kurt picked the children up

408
00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:13.319
from school to deliver the heartbreaking news that their mother

409
00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:16.319
had died, but Lindsey asked to go back to school,

410
00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:19.319
wanting to stick to her routine and have the support

411
00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:21.960
of her friends. Corey's father, who had been in the

412
00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:25.759
late stages of cancer, died weeks after. They were buried

413
00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:29.680
side by side. Marty was heartbroken and soon she would

414
00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:32.039
lose contact with her grandsons too.

415
00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:35.759
Corey's mom appeared in an episode of Dateline Sweet Lady,

416
00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:39.440
and she just seemed heartbroken, obviously over this whole situation.

417
00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:42.720
She never accused Kurt though she wasn't you know, she

418
00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:45.680
wasn't sure what happened, but it was just so odd

419
00:20:45.720 --> 00:20:48.960
how he handed her the son and just went on

420
00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:49.400
his way.

421
00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:53.039
That is very odd. Yeah, we'll be back after a break.

422
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:02.839
When the deputy coroner arrived, he noted that Corey's body

423
00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:05.839
appeared to be in full rigor mortis, a process that

424
00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:09.720
typically develops over twelve to twenty four hours. However, rigor

425
00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:13.200
mortis can't be measured with precision. It's a subjective assessment

426
00:21:13.319 --> 00:21:16.440
influenced by many factors. Others at the scene believed that

427
00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:19.839
her body was in earlier stages of rigor. Corey's arms

428
00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:22.559
were in a partially raised position, almost as if they

429
00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:25.119
were levitating, as if there had been a pillow under

430
00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:28.480
them and it had been removed, and due to rigor mortis,

431
00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:32.519
Corey's arms couldn't be lowered again. The initial investigation was

432
00:21:32.599 --> 00:21:35.839
led by Detective Jeff Baird. He questioned Curtis and the

433
00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:39.599
three oldest Loveless children, who were seven, eight, and twelve

434
00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:42.799
of the time. However, he didn't question the children until

435
00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:46.200
two days after Corey's death, which called into question whether

436
00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:48.920
or not they could have been coached by their father

437
00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:52.319
in that time. They all recalled seeing their mother that morning,

438
00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:56.519
but had slightly different recollections. The youngest child, Larson, who

439
00:21:56.599 --> 00:21:59.720
was four at the time, later testified that he remembered

440
00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:02.359
try to wake his mother up by poking her after

441
00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:05.000
his father had left to drive his siblings to school.

442
00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:08.319
He hadn't been interviewed at the time, because Baar deemed

443
00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:11.960
him too young. When Corey didn't budge, Larson sat on

444
00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:14.640
top of the stairs and waited for his father to return.

445
00:22:15.079 --> 00:22:17.559
I thought the scene was a little strange because I

446
00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:20.279
think a four year old would tell their father, well,

447
00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:22.799
mommy didn't wake up, you know, and then he would

448
00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:23.720
go check on Yeah.

449
00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:26.079
I would go check on you if someone if our

450
00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:27.119
four year old told me that.

451
00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:30.319
Yeah. But maybe maybe Kurt just thought, oh, she's sleeping,

452
00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:32.559
let's just leave her alone. She was really in a

453
00:22:32.599 --> 00:22:34.839
deep slumber. Yeah, that's why she didn't wake up.

454
00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:37.799
Probably, And just so I'm clear on the timeline when

455
00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:40.960
he finally did go in and find her unresponsive and

456
00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:43.440
he called his boss, So what time was that.

457
00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:45.319
I think it was a little after nine, okay.

458
00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:48.839
And he claims that he saw her that morning and

459
00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:51.599
she was, oh, I mean sick but alive.

460
00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:55.519
Well, Lindsay said that she made breakfast for the kids,

461
00:22:56.759 --> 00:23:01.759
and they all had slightly different recollections like I saw mom.

462
00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:04.200
It's just strange because I know Rigormorts is different for

463
00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:06.720
different people. But if Rigormorris had said it would have

464
00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:09.160
had to have been at least a few hours, because

465
00:23:09.160 --> 00:23:10.480
that's what you'd think. Yeah.

466
00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:14.359
Kurt offered to take a polygraphic examination, but none was

467
00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:19.079
ever administered. There was trauma to Cory's lip, described as

468
00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:22.920
an unhealed abrasion, and a corresponding cut under her mouth.

469
00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:25.799
The injury did not bleed enough to transfer any blood

470
00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:28.400
to the pillow, but it could have occurred during a spill.

471
00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:31.359
Her daughter recalled that she'd taken over the weekend. I

472
00:23:31.400 --> 00:23:34.160
think she fell out of bed, but such an abrasion

473
00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:38.119
is also common in suffocation. When investigators talked to the

474
00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:41.480
lovelace's neighbors, they learned that it wasn't uncommon for neighbors

475
00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:44.119
to hear loud arguments coming from their home. On the

476
00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:47.839
night of February thirteenth, one neighbor recalled hearing a loud

477
00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.559
fight while out on a walk. She paused, listened closely,

478
00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:54.720
poised to call nine one one if the argument escalated

479
00:23:54.759 --> 00:23:58.920
to assault, but ultimately continued on, concluding that the fight

480
00:23:59.079 --> 00:24:01.960
was not physical. This is February and the windows are

481
00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:04.000
closed and the neighbor can hear them fight, so that

482
00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:06.400
must have been some fight. Yeah, I think their house

483
00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:09.359
was closer to the sidewalk. It's always chilling when you

484
00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:11.680
hear people fighting if you're taking a walk or something

485
00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:12.960
from over our old neighbors.

486
00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:16.119
Yes, I do. And that was always really yeah, it.

487
00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:18.400
Was they were kind of far They weren't far away.

488
00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:20.400
But it was, yeah, it was. It was a ways

489
00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:21.799
away to be able to hear them that we.

490
00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:26.000
Hear exactly what they were saying. Detective Baird's investigation into

491
00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:30.720
Corey's death effectively ended after about a month, ruled undetermined,

492
00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:34.240
technically left open. Later, given that Baird was a friend

493
00:24:34.279 --> 00:24:36.839
of Kurtz, the police chief and others would say that

494
00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:39.559
he never should have been the one leading the investigation

495
00:24:39.880 --> 00:24:43.359
in the first. Yeah, but everyone knew him in town.

496
00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:46.720
You know, he's this hometown hero. He is a prosecutor,

497
00:24:46.920 --> 00:24:49.160
so you know, a lot of people knew him. The

498
00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:53.279
autopsy was conducted the day after Corey's death in Springfield, Illinois,

499
00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:57.240
by pathologist Jessica Bowman. It did not reveal a definitive

500
00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:00.960
cause of death, but noted significant fatty lips disease, a

501
00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:05.079
condition often linked to heavy alcohol use, but also seen

502
00:25:05.079 --> 00:25:08.400
in many people who don't drink heavily. Corey's liver was

503
00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:11.119
twice the size of a normal liver. There was no

504
00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:15.319
evidence of petechial hemorrhage, which is present in about fifty

505
00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:21.079
to eighty percent of strangulation or asphyxia cases. Patkia are tiny,

506
00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:25.680
pinpoint hemorrhages caused by sudden increases and venous pressure, usually

507
00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:30.000
found on or near the face or eyes. Toxicology tests

508
00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:33.440
revealed alcohol in Corey's blood, but it was below the

509
00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:36.440
legal limit. Her manner and cause of death were both

510
00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:40.319
ruled as undetermined. Corey was cremated two days after her

511
00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:44.200
death with her mother's approval, or was she. I read

512
00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:46.880
differing accounts about this, like her mom said no, I

513
00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:50.359
didn't approve of that, but some accounts said that she did. Okay.

514
00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:54.039
It's always so frustrating when an autopsy can't conclude the

515
00:25:54.039 --> 00:25:56.559
manner of death or the cause of death, because it's

516
00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:59.960
just he wants science to be so precise and exact.

517
00:25:59.559 --> 00:26:03.680
But especially when the body is cremated and it's gone.

518
00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:06.559
Any chance that you're going to have to ever find out.

519
00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:10.160
A coroner's inquest was held on March twenty third, two

520
00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:13.759
thousand and six. Although rare, many states, including Illinois, still

521
00:26:13.880 --> 00:26:17.279
use them. A coroner's jury isn't a criminal jury. It

522
00:26:17.319 --> 00:26:20.599
doesn't decide guilt or innocence. It's composed of a panel

523
00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:23.279
of citizens brought together to hear evidence about a death

524
00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:26.960
in return if an official finding about how that person died,

525
00:26:27.400 --> 00:26:31.119
especially when the circumstances are unclear or controversial. The in

526
00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:34.799
questions in Corey's case were in agreement with a pathologist

527
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:38.000
and concluded that both the manner and cause of Corey's

528
00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:39.559
death were undetermined.

529
00:26:39.720 --> 00:26:42.519
It's interesting, so the people that sit on these coroner's

530
00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:46.559
jury are just ordinary citizens without any kind of medical

531
00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:50.039
training or anything like that. It seems it's interesting that

532
00:26:50.039 --> 00:26:51.559
that's sort of the process, right.

533
00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:54.079
But the process is, you know, they're given the evidence,

534
00:26:54.200 --> 00:26:56.680
and you know, you don't necessarily need a medical degree

535
00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:59.119
because you know you have expert witnesses that are explaining

536
00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:01.759
it all to you. But again, it is interesting. Six

537
00:27:01.799 --> 00:27:05.000
months after Corey's death, Kurt began dating a woman named

538
00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:08.039
Erica Gomez, whom he met when she was enrolled in

539
00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:12.039
his business law class at Quincy University. They married on

540
00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:15.160
May tenth, two thousand and eight, in Puerto Rico. Erica

541
00:27:15.240 --> 00:27:18.240
told the Harold Whig newspaper quote, at the beginning of

542
00:27:18.279 --> 00:27:21.720
our marriage, he was a wonderful, amazing, man, but soon

543
00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:25.000
his alcohol dependency caused their marriage to turn rocky too.

544
00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:28.279
After the wedding, Erica and her daughter from a previous

545
00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:32.559
relationship moved into Kurt's house with his four children. Lindsay

546
00:27:32.599 --> 00:27:36.599
Loveless recalled frequent arguments with her new stepmother. During one

547
00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:40.039
heated argument, Erica threw Lindsay's clothing out of the house.

548
00:27:40.599 --> 00:27:43.920
She gathered up her belongings and moved in with her grandmother, Marty.

549
00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:47.920
Lindsay's relationship with her father was irrevocably damaged.

550
00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:51.599
Lindsay was the oldest. Did the other children remain with

551
00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:52.559
Kurt and Erica?

552
00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:53.640
They did, yes?

553
00:27:53.720 --> 00:27:54.759
And how long after?

554
00:27:55.519 --> 00:27:57.519
It was about less than two and a half years

555
00:27:57.559 --> 00:28:01.200
between the time that Corey died and he married at Erica.

556
00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:05.000
By December twenty twelve, the marriage became untenable and Kurt

557
00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:10.079
filed for divorce, citing extreme and repeated mental cruelty. Erica

558
00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:13.559
accused him of physical and verbal abuse, sexual assault, and

559
00:28:13.640 --> 00:28:17.319
poisoning her. She also alleged that a woman named Christine

560
00:28:17.319 --> 00:28:19.839
Brewster played a role in the breakdown of their marriage.

561
00:28:19.880 --> 00:28:24.200
After she and Curtis reconnected on Facebook in April twenty twelve,

562
00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:26.880
Kurt said that when he filed for divorce, he took

563
00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:30.279
his last drink and began attending AA meetings, and he

564
00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:33.839
has been sober since. Kurt forty five, was granted a

565
00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:37.240
no fault divorce from Erica forty on September twenty seventh,

566
00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:40.599
twenty thirteen. They were married for just over five years.

567
00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:45.200
According to Adams County Clerk records. Kurt and Christine Brewster

568
00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:49.079
of Minneapolis, Minnesota, applied for a marriage license in November

569
00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:52.599
twenty thirteen. They married the day after Christmas. The four

570
00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:55.559
Loveless children were present for the wedding, which included a

571
00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:59.359
special ceremony joining the family together. Lindsay was there and

572
00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:02.559
happy for her father and brothers. She liked Christine and

573
00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:06.759
was grateful to reconcile with her family. Christine and Kurt

574
00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:09.079
had known each other since high school and had even

575
00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:12.799
gone to their senior year homecoming dance together. The relationship

576
00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:16.160
was short lived then, because Christine's father hadn't allowed her

577
00:29:16.279 --> 00:29:18.920
to date in high school. While Kurt worked at his

578
00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:23.039
own law practice, Christine opened a bakery specializing in pies.

579
00:29:23.400 --> 00:29:27.200
She adopted Kurt's three youngest children in twenty fourteen. Lindsay

580
00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:30.039
was already an adult. The family had a brief window

581
00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:33.119
of peace and happiness, but there always seemed to be

582
00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:37.039
some drama surrounding the Lovelesses. At one point, a rat

583
00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:41.559
was released inside Christine's pie shop. Surveillance footage later showed

584
00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:44.880
Erica's daughter purchasing a rat from a pet store just

585
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:47.680
minutes before her friends entered the shop and released it.

586
00:29:47.880 --> 00:29:52.160
Wow. In December twenty thirteen, the same month that Kurt

587
00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:56.480
Lovelace married his third wife, newly minted detective Adam Gibson

588
00:29:56.640 --> 00:29:59.799
reviewed Corey's case with fresh eyes. When he saw the

589
00:29:59.799 --> 00:30:02.240
p picture of her arms raised above her body in

590
00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:06.759
mid air, almost as if they were levitating, he became suspicious.

591
00:30:06.839 --> 00:30:09.559
He decided to pass the file on to two forensic

592
00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:14.279
pathologists to review Corey's autopsy results. They concluded that the

593
00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:18.440
findings were more consistent with smothering than with flu like illness,

594
00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:21.720
in part due to rigor mortis already setting in when

595
00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:26.599
emergency services arrived. Gibson didn't rule out a potential poisoning either.

596
00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:29.680
He was sure that Kurt had killed Corey, but he

597
00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:32.359
couldn't settle on a motive. He hadn't been able to

598
00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:35.440
find an affair, a big life insurance payout, or any

599
00:30:35.480 --> 00:30:39.359
other motive. Gibson drove to see Lindsay, then a student

600
00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:43.079
at the University of Iowa, her mother's alma mater, majoring

601
00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:46.640
in education. He questioned her about her parents' marriage, which

602
00:30:46.680 --> 00:30:50.319
she admitted had been tumultuous. She recounted the morning of

603
00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:53.640
Valentine's Day two thousand and six, Corey had made the

604
00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:56.680
family breakfast and helped them get ready before their dad

605
00:30:56.759 --> 00:30:59.559
drove them to school. Gibson asked her not to tell

606
00:30:59.559 --> 00:31:02.160
her father that he had been there. She wasn't sure

607
00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:03.839
what to think about his intentions.

608
00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:07.519
Like, that's really underhanded, Like Lindsay probably is like nineteen

609
00:31:07.559 --> 00:31:09.799
at this time, and to go there and tell her,

610
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:11.680
you know, don't tell your dad I was here.

611
00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:14.400
Yeah, that was a little bit shady. I think you

612
00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:17.759
said earlier that Lindsay wasn't one hundred percent sure about

613
00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:18.400
her recollection.

614
00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:22.440
Right as time passed, she became less sure of what

615
00:31:22.519 --> 00:31:23.079
she remembered.

616
00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:25.680
Yeah, understandably, she was what twelve at the time. Right.

617
00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:29.480
In August twenty fourteen, after presenting his findings to a

618
00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:33.640
grand jury, Curtis Lovelace was arrested and indicted on first

619
00:31:33.640 --> 00:31:37.559
degree murder charges. The chief of police admitted to Datelines

620
00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:40.599
Dennis Murphy that Kurt may have gotten the benefit of

621
00:31:40.599 --> 00:31:43.200
the doubt because of his position in the community.

622
00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:48.119
That episode of Dateline was from season twenty six, episode two.

623
00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:50.319
It's called a Mystery on the Mississippi.

624
00:31:50.680 --> 00:31:55.480
The pathologist who performed Corey Lovelace's autopsy, Jessica Bowman, came

625
00:31:55.559 --> 00:31:58.640
under fire in twenty fourteen when Adam Gibson took a

626
00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:02.240
closer look at the case. Investigator said it was glaringly

627
00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:06.519
obvious that she mishandled Corey's autopsy and prevented a clearer

628
00:32:06.599 --> 00:32:09.480
understanding of her death. It was not the first time

629
00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:13.319
her work had been scrutinized. Several counties had severed ties

630
00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:15.559
with her, and she was no longer used as a

631
00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:18.880
trial witness. Most notably, she had ruled a two year

632
00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:21.440
old's death to be the result of a rare cancer,

633
00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:26.079
a conclusion later overruled by two other pathologists who determined

634
00:32:26.119 --> 00:32:30.079
the child had actually been violently attacked by his mother's boyfriend.

635
00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:32.839
Wow, Yeah, that's a big miss. Yeah.

636
00:32:33.079 --> 00:32:36.319
Corey's cremation could only happen if the coroner signed off

637
00:32:36.359 --> 00:32:39.200
on releasing her body. That meant that at the time

638
00:32:39.240 --> 00:32:42.359
of her death, authorities did not believe there was forensic

639
00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:46.799
evidence requiring her body to be kept intact. Whatever suspicions

640
00:32:46.839 --> 00:32:49.880
arose later came after that decision, when the body was

641
00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:50.680
already gone.

642
00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:54.640
I am really interested in coroners, how one gets to

643
00:32:54.680 --> 00:32:57.200
be a coroner and how someone like why would you

644
00:32:57.279 --> 00:32:59.319
want to be a coroner? But in the US, a

645
00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:01.599
coroner doesn't have to be a doctor or a lawyer.

646
00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:05.920
It's most often an elected official official and the qualifications

647
00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:10.400
can be surprisingly minimal. They rely on police and forensic

648
00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:14.640
pathologists for expertise, but the authority and the final decisions

649
00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:15.279
are theirs.

650
00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:18.480
That is interesting. I did not know that you didn't

651
00:33:18.519 --> 00:33:20.799
have to really have any qualifications to be a corner.

652
00:33:21.400 --> 00:33:24.759
Sometimes there are elected positions and it's not a well

653
00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:25.519
paying position.

654
00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:25.920
No.

655
00:33:26.039 --> 00:33:28.559
I think in this case, the coroner made sixty thousand

656
00:33:28.599 --> 00:33:29.279
dollars a year.

657
00:33:30.119 --> 00:33:34.359
Fatty liver disease alone rarely causes sudden death, but combined

658
00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:38.359
with bulimia, it can significantly increase the risk of sudden,

659
00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:43.240
unexpected death caused by fatal heart rhythm disturbances or severe

660
00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:47.480
metabolic imbalances. Adding a severe illness such as the flu,

661
00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:50.880
on top of fatty liver disease and bulimia can further

662
00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:54.400
increase the risk of death, particularly if the person is

663
00:33:54.440 --> 00:34:00.599
not eating or drinking normally. Dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, metabolics, dress,

664
00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:05.720
and increased cardiac strain can combine in dangerous, even fatal ways.

665
00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:10.119
And you said in the autopsy they did find alcohol.

666
00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:12.320
It wasn't at a super high level, but.

667
00:34:12.280 --> 00:34:14.239
She did it not above the legal limit, as she

668
00:34:14.280 --> 00:34:16.800
had alcohol in her system. And on the bedside table

669
00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:19.360
next to her there was a cop that had some

670
00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:21.920
sort of drink in it that smelled of alcohol. Yeah,

671
00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:25.480
so she likely had been drinking even though she'd been ill. Yeah,

672
00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:28.159
and she probably you know, I don't think she had

673
00:34:28.199 --> 00:34:30.199
been eating. I think she'd been vomiting.

674
00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:30.639
Mm.

675
00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:33.199
She really wasn't feeling well. So all of that could

676
00:34:33.239 --> 00:34:35.239
possibly lead to a sudden desk.

677
00:34:35.320 --> 00:34:38.800
Yeah, and it makes sense. On August twenty seventh, twenty fourteen,

678
00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:41.800
Kurt forty five had stepped out of his office just

679
00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:45.079
after noon to meet Christine for lunch at her pie shop,

680
00:34:45.280 --> 00:34:47.920
Oh My Pie. When he was arrested for the two

681
00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:51.079
thousand and six murder of his first wife, Corey, eight

682
00:34:51.079 --> 00:34:54.159
and a half years after her death. Kurt told Dateline

683
00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:57.320
that he was completely blindsided. He had no idea he

684
00:34:57.360 --> 00:35:00.559
was under investigation. He thought the case had been closed

685
00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:03.360
years earlier. When he was late for their lunch date,

686
00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:07.320
Christine grew concerned. A local reporter called to ask her

687
00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:11.079
what she thought about her husband's arrest. She was gobsmacked.

688
00:35:11.639 --> 00:35:14.039
Kurt was taken to the police station to be interviewed

689
00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:18.559
by Detective Gibson. Kurt described Corey's body as cold and stiff,

690
00:35:18.679 --> 00:35:21.039
with her hands up in the air, but he had

691
00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:25.280
difficulty remembering some details. They were foggy after so many years.

692
00:35:25.559 --> 00:35:29.559
So it's interesting that here he is recounting her being

693
00:35:29.639 --> 00:35:31.880
cold in her hands up in the air. Yeah, that is,

694
00:35:32.119 --> 00:35:34.119
but I mean it was eight and a half years later.

695
00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:38.599
Maybe he just remembered the scene after the medical people

696
00:35:38.639 --> 00:35:39.079
had been there.

697
00:35:39.159 --> 00:35:41.320
Yeah, that could be. He was held on a five

698
00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:44.000
million dollar bond, which he was not able to post.

699
00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:48.360
He pleaded not guilty. A special prosecutor, Ed Parkinson was

700
00:35:48.400 --> 00:35:51.760
appointed to handle the case due to Kurt's former employment

701
00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:54.760
with the state. Because of safety concerns, tied to his

702
00:35:54.880 --> 00:35:57.800
former role as a prosecutor. Kurt was jailed in a

703
00:35:57.800 --> 00:36:01.599
neighboring county after the arrest. To Quincy, Police Chief Rob

704
00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:07.360
Coppley said, delayed justice is just as important as timely justice. Meanwhile,

705
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:11.400
the police went to Logan, Lincoln and Larson's schools, picked

706
00:36:11.400 --> 00:36:13.559
them up and took them to the police station for

707
00:36:13.679 --> 00:36:17.480
questioning without their parents' knowledge or consent. They were all

708
00:36:17.559 --> 00:36:20.440
miners seventeen, fifteen and twelve.

709
00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:22.199
Huge mistake yeah.

710
00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:27.159
The trial began on Monday, January twenty fifth, twenty sixteen. Kurt,

711
00:36:27.199 --> 00:36:30.519
forty seven, faced anywhere from twenty to sixty years in

712
00:36:30.599 --> 00:36:34.400
prison if convicted. His second wife, Erica, was barred from

713
00:36:34.440 --> 00:36:38.519
testifying after the judge ruled her testimony would be prejudicial

714
00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:42.679
against him. The prosecution alleged that Kurt had smothered Corey

715
00:36:42.800 --> 00:36:46.280
late on the night of February thirteenth during a heated argument.

716
00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:50.800
Christine testified during his trial and expressed offense when the

717
00:36:50.840 --> 00:36:55.119
prosecutor asked if she slept with one eye open. She

718
00:36:55.280 --> 00:36:58.639
claimed that there was no overlap between Curtis's relationship with

719
00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:02.000
Erica and herself, despite their only being a three month

720
00:37:02.079 --> 00:37:04.320
gap between the two marriages.

721
00:37:04.199 --> 00:37:05.840
But he did file for a divorce and it took

722
00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:09.000
a while for the divorce to get size.

723
00:37:09.800 --> 00:37:12.840
The prosecution maintained that the jury could not rely on

724
00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:17.079
the children's early statements to Detective Jeff Baird, describing them

725
00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:21.039
as inconsistent. Baird testified that all three of the oldest

726
00:37:21.039 --> 00:37:24.079
Loveless children said that they had seen their mother live

727
00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:28.320
that morning. Years later, at trial, Logan and Lincoln testified

728
00:37:28.360 --> 00:37:31.840
and stood by that memory, stating they remembered seeing their

729
00:37:31.880 --> 00:37:35.960
mother on Valentine's Day and saying goodbye, but Lindsey twenty two,

730
00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:39.559
couldn't confirm seeing her mother that morning. She hadn't talked

731
00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:42.800
to her brothers or father since his arrest. Kurt did

732
00:37:42.840 --> 00:37:45.840
not testify at his trial. He was stoic until his

733
00:37:45.920 --> 00:37:49.800
son's testified, then he was seen wiping tears from his eyes.

734
00:37:50.280 --> 00:37:54.000
The prosecution's forensic experts testify that Corey may have been

735
00:37:54.039 --> 00:37:57.360
dead for up to twelve hours before she was reportedly

736
00:37:57.400 --> 00:38:01.119
found by her husband around nine am on fur February fourteenth,

737
00:38:01.320 --> 00:38:05.239
pointing to what they described as full rigor mortis. Pathologist

738
00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:09.039
doctor Michael Bodden testified that, in his opinion, Corey had

739
00:38:09.039 --> 00:38:12.239
been dead for approximately ten to twelve hours before her

740
00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:17.239
death was reported. Pathologist doctor Scott Denton testified that Corey

741
00:38:17.280 --> 00:38:20.679
Lovelace was likely killed by suffocation, although he could not

742
00:38:20.800 --> 00:38:25.159
rule out poisoning. Yet another pathologist testified for the defense

743
00:38:25.239 --> 00:38:28.880
that Corey may have died from causes related to alcoholism,

744
00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:32.159
stating his belief that she died from acute fatty liver

745
00:38:32.559 --> 00:38:36.599
due to alcohol withdrawal. The defense accused the prosecution of

746
00:38:36.679 --> 00:38:40.239
doctor shopping to find a pathologist willing to co sign

747
00:38:40.280 --> 00:38:44.719
the theory that Corey had been suffocated. Kurt's wife, Christine,

748
00:38:44.760 --> 00:38:47.000
and his sons attended the trial each.

749
00:38:46.920 --> 00:38:50.199
Day, So a lot of pathologists testified at the trial.

750
00:38:50.519 --> 00:38:52.440
I feel like, if you don't see the body, it

751
00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:55.119
must be really hard to know.

752
00:38:55.559 --> 00:38:58.320
Well, yeah, especially when there's nothing left to examine either

753
00:38:58.480 --> 00:38:59.760
when the body was cremated.

754
00:38:59.800 --> 00:39:04.079
Soh you have pictures and you know you have the report.

755
00:39:04.280 --> 00:39:07.320
But we already know that the initial pathologists she wasn't

756
00:39:07.360 --> 00:39:11.639
the strongest pathologist and her qualifications weren't the best, right,

757
00:39:12.039 --> 00:39:15.280
So that's what the other people were basing their testimony on,

758
00:39:15.639 --> 00:39:17.880
was you know that data? So how do we know

759
00:39:17.920 --> 00:39:20.079
that you know that information was taken correctly.

760
00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:22.039
Yeah, it just seems like it would be really hard

761
00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:24.559
to find someone to get up on a stand and

762
00:39:24.639 --> 00:39:27.800
be confident in their conclusions that they've come to. But

763
00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:29.840
it's like you all, you always can find.

764
00:39:29.639 --> 00:39:33.360
Somebody butt in. We talk about him. It's crazy how many.

765
00:39:33.400 --> 00:39:35.480
He shows up at pretty much every every trial where

766
00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:37.159
there's a mysterious.

767
00:39:36.559 --> 00:39:39.400
Right, you know, they portray themselves as confident on the

768
00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:40.079
stand though.

769
00:39:40.320 --> 00:39:42.199
Yeah, that's why I could never do that job, because

770
00:39:42.199 --> 00:39:43.960
I would be like, well, I don't know, could have

771
00:39:43.960 --> 00:39:45.159
been this, I could have been that.

772
00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:48.320
Yeah, I'd be curious to know the contents of her stomach.

773
00:39:48.679 --> 00:39:50.960
That's often a good indicator of time of death.

774
00:39:51.239 --> 00:39:53.239
Right, we'll be back after a break.

775
00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:03.320
So the jury, made up of ten women and two men,

776
00:40:03.440 --> 00:40:07.679
deliberated for sixteen hours over two days. On February seventh,

777
00:40:07.800 --> 00:40:12.440
twenty sixteen, they announced they were hopelessly deadlocked. Judge Hardwick

778
00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:15.079
declared a mistrial and set a new trial date for

779
00:40:15.280 --> 00:40:18.960
May thirty. First, Curtis was still unable to make bail

780
00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:22.920
and remained in jail. So that's a relatively short amount

781
00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:25.679
of time to deliberate to announce that you're deadlocked. I

782
00:40:25.719 --> 00:40:27.920
was surprised that the judge let that go. I think

783
00:40:27.960 --> 00:40:30.519
he did encourage them go back deliberate again. I think

784
00:40:30.519 --> 00:40:32.440
he did that a couple of times, but they were.

785
00:40:32.320 --> 00:40:35.159
Like, nope, must he must have just known, like, yeah,

786
00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:36.800
they're not They're not going to be able to come

787
00:40:36.880 --> 00:40:38.199
up with a conclusion on this one.

788
00:40:38.440 --> 00:40:42.239
Juror Susie Koontz said to the Herald Wit newspaper after

789
00:40:42.239 --> 00:40:45.639
the mistrial was declared, quote, I would have found him guilty.

790
00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:49.480
Most everyone felt he was guilty. But some people, even

791
00:40:49.480 --> 00:40:52.639
though they felt he was guilty, they believe there wasn't

792
00:40:52.760 --> 00:40:55.559
enough to support that and they wouldn't be able to

793
00:40:55.599 --> 00:40:59.079
sleep at night if they chose guilty. She continued, I

794
00:40:59.119 --> 00:41:01.000
don't want people to think that we just gave up,

795
00:41:01.159 --> 00:41:03.920
because that's not what we did. We hit the stalemate

796
00:41:03.960 --> 00:41:06.400
early on and kept working to get through it. We

797
00:41:06.480 --> 00:41:08.960
worked very hard to try to find the right answer.

798
00:41:09.280 --> 00:41:13.280
The answer, unfortunately, was that we were stuck. Susie said

799
00:41:13.280 --> 00:41:16.840
that the jury had many conversations about rigor mortis, and

800
00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:20.480
they believed the children's memories had been planted by their father.

801
00:41:21.239 --> 00:41:24.360
The first trial wiped out the Lovelace's personal finances and

802
00:41:24.480 --> 00:41:27.559
left them underwater on their home. Kurt could no longer

803
00:41:27.599 --> 00:41:32.000
afford private counsel and turn to public defenders. Christine didn't

804
00:41:32.039 --> 00:41:36.199
find that acceptable and approached the Exoneration Project of Chicago

805
00:41:36.440 --> 00:41:40.679
to represent him. John Lovy and Tara Thompson agreed to

806
00:41:40.679 --> 00:41:43.840
take on the case pro bono, along with Edward Downey,

807
00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:47.960
a retired attorney who had served as chief public defender

808
00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:52.000
in Adams County for seventeen years. Before the second trial began,

809
00:41:52.239 --> 00:41:56.840
special Prosecutor ed Parkinson offered Kurt a plea deal. If

810
00:41:56.880 --> 00:42:00.360
he pleaded guilty to second degree murder, he would Viva's

811
00:42:00.360 --> 00:42:04.360
sentence of approximately thirteen years in prison. Over the course

812
00:42:04.400 --> 00:42:07.039
of the case, Parkins had extended a total of eight

813
00:42:07.119 --> 00:42:11.079
plea offers with reduced prison sentences, and Kurt declined them all.

814
00:42:11.199 --> 00:42:12.880
I think I would have declined them all as well.

815
00:42:13.239 --> 00:42:15.760
Christine and the boys had been without Kurt for twenty

816
00:42:15.760 --> 00:42:18.199
one months and were having a hard time in his absence.

817
00:42:18.400 --> 00:42:20.960
And poor Christine, she is raising these kids on her

818
00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:24.000
own and she adopted. She and Kurt were only married

819
00:42:24.039 --> 00:42:26.199
for eight months and she hadn't known the boys for

820
00:42:26.239 --> 00:42:27.719
a long time, so that must have been a super

821
00:42:27.800 --> 00:42:31.039
challenging role. Christine went to family and friends and asked

822
00:42:31.079 --> 00:42:34.360
them to pull their resources to help Kurt make bail,

823
00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:36.960
and soon he was free and at home with his family,

824
00:42:37.079 --> 00:42:40.440
but remained under strict house arrest for nine months, and

825
00:42:40.519 --> 00:42:43.360
he'd also lost his law practice and was unable to

826
00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:46.960
make a living during that time. In March twenty seventeen,

827
00:42:47.079 --> 00:42:50.559
Kurt's second trial began. It was moved to Springfield, Illinois,

828
00:42:50.599 --> 00:42:54.239
because there was so much publicity surprounding the case. The

829
00:42:54.360 --> 00:42:57.719
judge in the first trial hadn't allowed Erika Gomez, Kurt's

830
00:42:57.719 --> 00:43:00.599
second wife, to testify, but she was allowed in the

831
00:43:00.639 --> 00:43:03.880
second trial. She testified that he was an angry and

832
00:43:04.039 --> 00:43:07.679
violent man who had attacked her on numerous occasions, especially

833
00:43:07.679 --> 00:43:10.440
when he was drinking. She accused him of trying to

834
00:43:10.480 --> 00:43:14.119
poison her and her daughter, and I don't say this lightly,

835
00:43:14.400 --> 00:43:18.559
but she seems unhinged and she was overly emotional during

836
00:43:18.559 --> 00:43:22.480
her testimony. A friend of Erica's testified that Kurt treated

837
00:43:22.519 --> 00:43:26.159
her well during their relationship, describing him as a good partner,

838
00:43:26.400 --> 00:43:28.840
saying that he made her happy at the time, but

839
00:43:28.960 --> 00:43:33.079
after they separated, Erica became an angry and resentful person.

840
00:43:33.639 --> 00:43:36.199
She claimed that Erica told her that she intended to

841
00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:40.400
ruin Kurt's life and his military career and prevent him

842
00:43:40.400 --> 00:43:44.440
from ever practicing law again. So Lindsay did not testify

843
00:43:44.480 --> 00:43:46.840
at the second trial, but Kurt took the stand in

844
00:43:46.880 --> 00:43:49.639
his own defense. He talked about his marriage with Corey,

845
00:43:49.840 --> 00:43:54.159
admitting it wasn't perfect. Quote. Alcohol was part of our life.

846
00:43:54.280 --> 00:43:56.599
She would drink more. There was a lot going on

847
00:43:56.719 --> 00:43:59.360
with the kids, and it all fell on her. As

848
00:43:59.400 --> 00:44:02.239
the children got older and involved in more activities, Kurt said,

849
00:44:02.280 --> 00:44:05.079
the problem grew. He said talking with Corey about her

850
00:44:05.119 --> 00:44:08.760
drinking became difficult because he was also an alcoholic. The

851
00:44:08.840 --> 00:44:13.639
jury found his testimony sincere and compelling. After only two hours,

852
00:44:13.679 --> 00:44:17.239
the jury reached a verdict not guilty. Kurt spoke with

853
00:44:17.280 --> 00:44:20.440
the media after the verdict. We've been praying for quite

854
00:44:20.440 --> 00:44:22.840
some time, and even when it seemed like things were

855
00:44:22.840 --> 00:44:26.199
going slow, those prayers were answered. God has a plan

856
00:44:26.280 --> 00:44:29.079
and we trusted in that and we would pray God

857
00:44:29.159 --> 00:44:31.280
would send us a message. I think one of the

858
00:44:31.320 --> 00:44:33.519
things that we learned through this is that the system

859
00:44:33.599 --> 00:44:36.239
is not perfect. It never was and it never will be.

860
00:44:36.760 --> 00:44:39.400
But that's not because of the system. There is nothing

861
00:44:39.440 --> 00:44:43.000
inherent about a system, it's the people in it. Unfortunately,

862
00:44:43.079 --> 00:44:46.480
sometimes there are bad people driving the system, and that's

863
00:44:46.519 --> 00:44:49.239
when you get bad results. But there are plenty of

864
00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:52.559
good people too. In that statement, Kurt, I believe was

865
00:44:52.559 --> 00:44:56.400
referring to Adam Gibson, the detective who took another look

866
00:44:56.440 --> 00:44:59.320
at his case. And there wasn't a ton of evidence

867
00:44:59.360 --> 00:45:02.920
against Kurt, right, there was nothing new that came up right, right,

868
00:45:03.119 --> 00:45:05.519
He just saw this picture and he thought that it

869
00:45:05.519 --> 00:45:06.679
looked like murder.

870
00:45:06.840 --> 00:45:08.159
Yeah, I can understand that.

871
00:45:08.480 --> 00:45:11.880
So Kurt Loveless was now a free man, albeit a

872
00:45:11.920 --> 00:45:15.480
man saddled with an enormous amount of debt, a ruined reputation,

873
00:45:15.920 --> 00:45:17.880
and shaky career opportunities.

874
00:45:17.960 --> 00:45:20.119
And how old was Kurt by this time that he

875
00:45:20.360 --> 00:45:21.559
got acquitted.

876
00:45:21.880 --> 00:45:23.960
I think he was forty eight or forty nine.

877
00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:25.519
It was still relatively young.

878
00:45:26.480 --> 00:45:29.960
In May twenty seventeen, Kurt Lovelace filed a civil lawsuit

879
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:33.760
against the City of Quincy, the Quincy Police Department, detective

880
00:45:33.920 --> 00:45:38.199
Adam Gibson, police Chief Rob Copley, and many others. The

881
00:45:38.280 --> 00:45:43.000
lawsuit alleged that the defendants framed him withheld exculpatory evidence

882
00:45:43.000 --> 00:45:47.760
from his attorneys and unlawfully detained Logan Lincoln and Larson

883
00:45:47.840 --> 00:45:50.800
Loveless to try to get them to falsely implicate their

884
00:45:50.880 --> 00:45:54.000
father and their mother's death. He won the lawsuit and

885
00:45:54.239 --> 00:45:57.480
was awarded four point five million dollars. Oh wow, So

886
00:45:57.519 --> 00:46:00.760
I believe he and Christine are still together. They moved

887
00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:03.880
to Champagne, Illinois. First, they felt like his reputation was

888
00:46:03.960 --> 00:46:07.119
too damaged. They were tired, like people really thought he

889
00:46:07.159 --> 00:46:11.320
was guilty. I believe in his hometown and he opened

890
00:46:11.320 --> 00:46:14.480
a new law office, but he has since moved to Texas,

891
00:46:14.519 --> 00:46:18.440
where he continues to practice law. I believe Corey Didwickson

892
00:46:18.559 --> 00:46:21.719
Loveless had a warm Brice Mile loved listening to abba

893
00:46:21.840 --> 00:46:24.880
and dancing, and above all, she loved her children. Those

894
00:46:24.880 --> 00:46:27.920
who knew her remember a loving, devoted mother who showed

895
00:46:27.960 --> 00:46:31.320
up for her family, her community, and her faith despite

896
00:46:31.320 --> 00:46:34.239
her personal struggles. She was a member of the National

897
00:46:34.239 --> 00:46:39.159
Honor Society and Kyomega Sorority. She volunteered with friends and counsel,

898
00:46:39.719 --> 00:46:44.159
the Quincy Service League, Women's inter Denominational Bible Study, the

899
00:46:44.199 --> 00:46:49.039
First Union Congregational Church, and her children's school ptas, often

900
00:46:49.079 --> 00:46:52.440
serving as room mother. Corey was a loving daughter, wife,

901
00:46:52.440 --> 00:46:55.760
and mother. May she rest in peace. So what do

902
00:46:55.800 --> 00:46:59.280
you think. Do you think that Kurt killed Corey or

903
00:46:59.320 --> 00:47:01.880
do you think that her sudden death was you know,

904
00:47:02.039 --> 00:47:04.960
just a sudden death due to you know, all the

905
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:06.880
other health issues she had going on.

906
00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:09.239
I mean, what I really think is that the investigation

907
00:47:09.480 --> 00:47:12.519
was botched, or the autopsy might have been botched, but

908
00:47:12.639 --> 00:47:16.480
I think the EMTs showed up. I don't know what's

909
00:47:16.480 --> 00:47:18.960
typical in a situation like this, but it would have

910
00:47:18.960 --> 00:47:21.159
been a pretty easy thing for them to really note

911
00:47:21.239 --> 00:47:23.960
whether there was rigor mortis or not, right, yes or no,

912
00:47:24.199 --> 00:47:25.000
and if there was.

913
00:47:25.400 --> 00:47:28.119
But there's not an easy way to say, you know,

914
00:47:28.280 --> 00:47:30.880
she's in fifty percent brigor mortis because it is a

915
00:47:30.920 --> 00:47:33.639
subjective opinion. One thing that they could have done was

916
00:47:33.679 --> 00:47:36.519
taken her body temperature, yeah too, Yeah, because I think

917
00:47:36.599 --> 00:47:39.960
that's that is more of a precise Yeah, even.

918
00:47:39.840 --> 00:47:43.039
If rigormortis isn't precise to me, it's I don't know.

919
00:47:43.079 --> 00:47:45.519
It just seems like the condition of her body would

920
00:47:45.519 --> 00:47:48.280
have been documented and noted and that would have helped.

921
00:47:48.480 --> 00:47:49.960
There are a lot of things that would have helped.

922
00:47:50.039 --> 00:47:52.159
But I think when you ask my opinion, of whether

923
00:47:52.199 --> 00:47:55.239
he killed her or not, I really don't know, And

924
00:47:55.280 --> 00:47:57.920
I think if I was on the jury, I probably

925
00:47:57.960 --> 00:48:01.159
would have found him not guilty as well, just because, Yeah.

926
00:48:01.079 --> 00:48:03.360
I don't think there was enough evidence to send him

927
00:48:03.400 --> 00:48:06.000
away for his whole life in prison. Yeah. There are

928
00:48:06.039 --> 00:48:09.599
a lot of factors that determine how soon a body

929
00:48:09.679 --> 00:48:12.159
goes into rigor mortis, and one of them is the

930
00:48:12.199 --> 00:48:15.280
amount of muscle mass you have. Corey was a pretty

931
00:48:15.320 --> 00:48:17.960
slight woman, so I think that she would have gone

932
00:48:18.039 --> 00:48:22.039
into rigor mortis sooner because she had less muscle mass,

933
00:48:22.119 --> 00:48:25.280
But also like she was dehydrated because she was sick,

934
00:48:25.679 --> 00:48:28.280
so I think that is also another factorate that would

935
00:48:28.360 --> 00:48:31.639
hasten the rigor mortis. So there's a lot of things

936
00:48:31.679 --> 00:48:34.079
that aren't necessarily.

937
00:48:33.559 --> 00:48:36.199
Measurable right now that all makes sense.

938
00:48:36.119 --> 00:48:40.440
One hour, and I think that seems generous to give

939
00:48:40.440 --> 00:48:43.760
a whole hour that her body would be that far

940
00:48:43.800 --> 00:48:44.800
into brigor mortis.

941
00:48:44.880 --> 00:48:46.519
Yeah, that doesn't seem likely to me either.

942
00:48:46.760 --> 00:48:49.039
How do you feel about the children being such a

943
00:48:49.039 --> 00:48:52.079
big part of this case and them being interviewed after

944
00:48:52.119 --> 00:48:52.920
their mother's death.

945
00:48:53.199 --> 00:48:56.000
It's really tough. I think, you know, you have to

946
00:48:56.000 --> 00:48:58.920
interview the children because they are witnesses in this but

947
00:48:58.960 --> 00:49:02.880
you also have to take their comments and their testimony

948
00:49:02.920 --> 00:49:05.239
with a grain of salt, right, because.

949
00:49:04.920 --> 00:49:06.599
It just makes me so sad, you know. I mean,

950
00:49:06.639 --> 00:49:08.679
nothing is harder on a child than the death of

951
00:49:08.719 --> 00:49:11.480
their parent, right, and then to have to be interviewed

952
00:49:11.519 --> 00:49:13.639
and you know, to be such a critical part of

953
00:49:13.679 --> 00:49:14.159
this case.

954
00:49:14.360 --> 00:49:14.719
Yeah.

955
00:49:14.840 --> 00:49:17.079
One thing that breaks my heart in this case is

956
00:49:17.119 --> 00:49:20.360
I don't know how much these kids were they able

957
00:49:20.400 --> 00:49:24.000
to grieve, especially Lindsay. Yeah, because Kurt, you know, started

958
00:49:24.079 --> 00:49:27.679
dating pretty quickly and being I think she was fourteen

959
00:49:27.719 --> 00:49:30.920
at the time, that's such a crucial age for young women. Yeah,

960
00:49:30.960 --> 00:49:34.719
for sure, and her stepmom, she doesn't sound like the

961
00:49:34.800 --> 00:49:38.639
nicest person, to be honest, and I think that, you know,

962
00:49:38.679 --> 00:49:42.039
they weren't given the opportunity to grieve. Yeah, that makes

963
00:49:42.039 --> 00:49:42.760
me really sad.

964
00:49:43.119 --> 00:49:45.840
Yeah, it is really sad for the kids all around.

965
00:49:46.039 --> 00:49:48.000
And you don't know if they were influenced in what

966
00:49:48.079 --> 00:49:50.280
they had to say either. It sounds like there's a

967
00:49:50.320 --> 00:49:53.760
potential that Kurt, you know, maybe influenced what they had

968
00:49:53.800 --> 00:49:57.440
to say a little bit, And it's just it is heartbreaking. Yeah.

969
00:49:57.639 --> 00:49:59.960
I saw a lot of interviews with Kurt and Christine,

970
00:50:00.159 --> 00:50:02.000
they were. I think they were in the Daylin episode.

971
00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:04.679
There was a forty eight Hours episode two. I watched

972
00:50:04.719 --> 00:50:06.599
both of those, and they didn't show a lot of

973
00:50:06.679 --> 00:50:10.400
empathy for the children, and that bothered me. And maybe

974
00:50:10.480 --> 00:50:12.280
Kurt said it and I just didn't hear it, but

975
00:50:12.400 --> 00:50:15.599
he never said, like Corey, you know, I loved my wife.

976
00:50:15.639 --> 00:50:18.880
She was an excellent mom. You know, he just didn't

977
00:50:18.960 --> 00:50:22.760
really whatever struggle she had. I think it's important for

978
00:50:22.800 --> 00:50:26.000
her children to remember her and its positive as a

979
00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:26.880
way as possible.

980
00:50:27.039 --> 00:50:29.000
Right, she's still the mother of his children.

981
00:50:29.440 --> 00:50:32.840
Yeah, And Lindsay's Jill doesn't have a relationship with him,

982
00:50:33.000 --> 00:50:37.440
which makes me really sad. Yeah, Christine said, at one point, well,

983
00:50:37.880 --> 00:50:40.639
our attorneys told us like it seemed like once Lindsay said,

984
00:50:40.760 --> 00:50:42.960
oh I don't have a clear memory of that day,

985
00:50:43.039 --> 00:50:45.880
that they kind of didn't want a relationship with her

986
00:50:46.039 --> 00:50:49.400
as much. And that really bothered me too. And Christine said,

987
00:50:49.440 --> 00:50:52.719
our attorneys told us you probably shouldn't have a relationship

988
00:50:52.760 --> 00:50:55.000
with her, really, which I'm sorry.

989
00:50:55.400 --> 00:50:59.119
Really disturbing. Yeah. So it's almost like because she didn't

990
00:50:59.400 --> 00:51:01.480
want to tell the story that they wanted her to tell,

991
00:51:01.519 --> 00:51:03.320
that they rejected her because of that.

992
00:51:03.440 --> 00:51:05.400
I mean, I don't know if that's the situation, but

993
00:51:06.519 --> 00:51:11.360
like that, So, yeah, I don't think that Kurt killed Corey,

994
00:51:11.800 --> 00:51:14.400
but I don't like him very much. I just don't

995
00:51:14.440 --> 00:51:15.639
think he's a very good guy.

996
00:51:16.320 --> 00:51:18.559
Yeah, I don't like him very much either, But I'm

997
00:51:18.599 --> 00:51:20.599
a little more on the fence about whether he killed

998
00:51:20.639 --> 00:51:22.679
her or not. I just I'm kind of fifty to fifty.

999
00:51:22.960 --> 00:51:24.599
What brings you to that conclusion?

1000
00:51:24.760 --> 00:51:26.840
Just the rigor It just sounds like the rigor mortis.

1001
00:51:26.840 --> 00:51:27.559
I can't get past.

1002
00:51:27.679 --> 00:51:27.760
It.

1003
00:51:27.800 --> 00:51:32.320
Sounds like they had a very volatile relationship. The you know,

1004
00:51:33.559 --> 00:51:34.920
abrasion in her mouth.

1005
00:51:35.039 --> 00:51:37.519
She had fallen out of bad that that weekend before.

1006
00:51:37.760 --> 00:51:40.400
Yeah, I know, I just think that all the factors

1007
00:51:40.440 --> 00:51:44.000
together make me think it's a strong possibility. But again,

1008
00:51:44.039 --> 00:51:46.239
I'm fifty to fifty and I don't think. I definitely

1009
00:51:46.280 --> 00:51:47.840
wouldn't have convicted him.

1010
00:51:47.920 --> 00:51:51.280
So I have contradictory opinions. One thing that I was like,

1011
00:51:51.400 --> 00:51:53.239
she had a bunch of cups and there was pictures

1012
00:51:53.280 --> 00:51:56.039
on her bed her night what do you call her

1013
00:51:56.119 --> 00:51:57.519
end table or bedside table?

1014
00:51:57.639 --> 00:51:57.800
Right?

1015
00:51:58.199 --> 00:52:00.400
And if you I would think that though would have

1016
00:52:00.400 --> 00:52:03.480
been disturbed if he had you know, tried to suffocate her,

1017
00:52:04.480 --> 00:52:05.760
there would have been a little bit of a struggle.

1018
00:52:05.800 --> 00:52:07.559
There was no signs of a struggle on her body

1019
00:52:07.599 --> 00:52:09.239
other than the abrasion on her lip.

1020
00:52:09.440 --> 00:52:11.639
Yeah, that's a good point, but that's also assuming that

1021
00:52:11.719 --> 00:52:13.880
he did it while she was laying there in bad

1022
00:52:13.920 --> 00:52:16.199
He could have been somewhere else. But it is a

1023
00:52:16.239 --> 00:52:18.280
good point. Yeah. You would think if he did do

1024
00:52:18.400 --> 00:52:21.320
something to smother or strangle her in bad that things

1025
00:52:21.320 --> 00:52:22.320
would have been disturbed.

1026
00:52:22.440 --> 00:52:25.079
And it was Tuesday morning and she had been sick

1027
00:52:25.320 --> 00:52:27.679
like the whole weekend, so I think by Tuesday morning

1028
00:52:27.800 --> 00:52:30.400
she would have been feeling better. The fact that he

1029
00:52:30.559 --> 00:52:34.199
canceled his class surprised me. And he said, oh, I'll

1030
00:52:34.239 --> 00:52:36.679
take the kids to school, because he doesn't seem like

1031
00:52:36.719 --> 00:52:39.599
the kind of guy that really was there for Corey

1032
00:52:39.760 --> 00:52:42.159
and the kids. Yeah, so that surprised me a little bit.

1033
00:52:42.280 --> 00:52:44.079
Does that seem suspicious to you at all?

1034
00:52:44.079 --> 00:52:47.079
But a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, maybe I'm being too

1035
00:52:47.119 --> 00:52:50.639
hard on him, But I mean, to cancel your college class,

1036
00:52:50.760 --> 00:52:53.199
you know, someone has to be pretty sick, I would think, right,

1037
00:52:53.519 --> 00:52:56.760
And it was probably The kids went to two different schools,

1038
00:52:56.760 --> 00:52:58.960
and I think they were both within five minutes. So

1039
00:52:59.039 --> 00:53:01.559
I'm sure Corey wasn't well, but she probably you know,

1040
00:53:01.599 --> 00:53:03.880
still could have gotten them to school. Okay, Yeah, I

1041
00:53:03.920 --> 00:53:05.800
don't know. Maybe I'm being too hard on him.

1042
00:53:06.239 --> 00:53:08.360
I mean, I don't know. I think it's definitely worth

1043
00:53:08.559 --> 00:53:11.280
talking about whether that was suspicious, because it does seem

1044
00:53:11.320 --> 00:53:13.880
out of character based on what you know, what you've

1045
00:53:13.880 --> 00:53:14.679
told me about him.

1046
00:53:14.920 --> 00:53:17.440
Well, like I said, I don't think that Kurt killed Corey,

1047
00:53:17.559 --> 00:53:21.039
but I do believe that their relationship and emotional distance

1048
00:53:21.079 --> 00:53:24.559
within it mattered. Corey needed support, connection, and care, and

1049
00:53:24.639 --> 00:53:26.840
it doesn't appear that she was getting enough of any

1050
00:53:26.920 --> 00:53:30.159
of those things from her husband. His negligence didn't make

1051
00:53:30.199 --> 00:53:33.920
Hime a murderer, but still had devastating consequences. A parent

1052
00:53:34.039 --> 00:53:37.480
can be physically present and still emotionally unavailable, and I

1053
00:53:37.519 --> 00:53:40.039
believe Kurt failed both Corey and his children.

1054
00:53:40.440 --> 00:53:42.400
That's a very good point and very well said.

1055
00:53:42.760 --> 00:53:45.199
Well, that's the story of Corey and Kurt loveless. Let

1056
00:53:45.280 --> 00:53:52.880
us know what you think. Well, before we end this

1057
00:53:53.000 --> 00:53:55.400
Valentine's edition of Love Mary Kill, we thought we might

1058
00:53:55.440 --> 00:53:59.800
tackle some relationship questions from real listeners who may or

1059
00:53:59.840 --> 00:54:03.639
may not have sent these questions in okay.

1060
00:54:04.519 --> 00:54:07.079
Question one, Wait, these are questions you're gonna ask me

1061
00:54:07.559 --> 00:54:08.920
to answer questions.

1062
00:54:08.880 --> 00:54:11.800
Relationship, going to give people relationship advice.

1063
00:54:11.960 --> 00:54:13.960
I'll have just say raf the bat that you should

1064
00:54:13.960 --> 00:54:15.760
listen to Tina's answer, not mine.

1065
00:54:15.519 --> 00:54:18.000
But go ahead. Why would you say that just.

1066
00:54:17.960 --> 00:54:20.679
Because I don't think I am going to provide good answers.

1067
00:54:20.679 --> 00:54:23.159
But okay, sale.

1068
00:54:22.920 --> 00:54:26.920
Goes Suddenly you're humble. I don't understand Question one. My

1069
00:54:27.000 --> 00:54:31.000
partner eats my snacks without asking. I've tried labeling them,

1070
00:54:31.400 --> 00:54:34.199
they ignore the labels. Is this a red flag or

1071
00:54:34.880 --> 00:54:35.920
or grounds for breakup?

1072
00:54:36.039 --> 00:54:37.360
Oh? I thought you were going to ask if that

1073
00:54:37.400 --> 00:54:41.039
was justifiable bu ho homicide if I was gonna say yes.

1074
00:54:40.760 --> 00:54:43.880
But well, yeah, it's not a red flag. This is

1075
00:54:43.920 --> 00:54:48.679
a crime. Communication is important, but boundaries around snacks are

1076
00:54:48.760 --> 00:54:52.239
sacred place. So I don't understand why a couple would

1077
00:54:52.280 --> 00:54:53.119
have separate snacks.

1078
00:54:53.119 --> 00:54:56.599
We share everything, yeah, except when you hide snacks in

1079
00:54:56.639 --> 00:54:58.599
your drawers or in the laundry.

1080
00:54:58.360 --> 00:55:00.719
Room solf Okay. The only reason I I do that, though,

1081
00:55:00.840 --> 00:55:04.800
is because you literally say hide these from me. Yes,

1082
00:55:04.880 --> 00:55:07.119
that's true, and we talked about this before. Like I

1083
00:55:07.159 --> 00:55:09.719
can have like one piece of chocolate I have.

1084
00:55:09.800 --> 00:55:11.599
Very little self control when it comes to those.

1085
00:55:11.719 --> 00:55:13.280
You have a little bit of a challenge with that.

1086
00:55:13.400 --> 00:55:15.920
Yeah, No, I actually appreciate you hiding the snacks when

1087
00:55:15.920 --> 00:55:16.159
you do.

1088
00:55:16.320 --> 00:55:19.360
And then sometimes you'll be like, can can you give

1089
00:55:19.400 --> 00:55:20.639
me something? I need something?

1090
00:55:20.719 --> 00:55:23.079
Yeah, and you are usually pretty good.

1091
00:55:22.880 --> 00:55:26.119
About Actually I don't have any snacks hidden right now. Well,

1092
00:55:26.199 --> 00:55:28.719
there's a couple of things. But but you know where

1093
00:55:28.719 --> 00:55:31.199
they are find them later. No, you know where they are, though,

1094
00:55:31.239 --> 00:55:34.159
don't you. Yeah? In general though, I mean, if you

1095
00:55:34.199 --> 00:55:35.719
have a partner, you should be willing to share with

1096
00:55:35.760 --> 00:55:36.800
your partner, right you should.

1097
00:55:36.800 --> 00:55:39.559
And if some if your partner is eating in your

1098
00:55:39.599 --> 00:55:41.800
snacks that you don't want them to, you should communicate

1099
00:55:41.800 --> 00:55:42.239
about that.

1100
00:55:42.559 --> 00:55:45.400
Okay. Question two, We've been together for years and we

1101
00:55:45.480 --> 00:55:48.559
still can't agree on the thermostat. What do we do?

1102
00:55:49.840 --> 00:55:52.280
This is a big problem for a lot of couples.

1103
00:55:52.559 --> 00:55:55.119
And again I don't know why. We have no reason

1104
00:55:55.159 --> 00:55:56.440
to be answering anyone's question.

1105
00:55:56.599 --> 00:55:57.639
No, we really don't.

1106
00:55:58.480 --> 00:56:01.159
But yeah, this it's a tough one because it is.

1107
00:56:01.039 --> 00:56:04.280
You can't like you have to have it one temperature another.

1108
00:56:04.360 --> 00:56:05.960
You can't please both people.

1109
00:56:06.159 --> 00:56:08.719
Well, you can have a fan if one person wants

1110
00:56:08.760 --> 00:56:10.599
a warmer but then the fan kind of blows on

1111
00:56:10.679 --> 00:56:11.199
both people.

1112
00:56:11.440 --> 00:56:13.920
Yeah, I was gonna say, if it's really cold, like,

1113
00:56:13.960 --> 00:56:16.400
you can always put on extra clothing as well, So

1114
00:56:16.519 --> 00:56:19.119
I would tend to defer towards like keeping it a

1115
00:56:19.159 --> 00:56:19.760
little cooler.

1116
00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:21.960
You don't like it to be cold either, though.

1117
00:56:21.800 --> 00:56:24.360
I don't, but I am willing to accept that.

1118
00:56:24.440 --> 00:56:27.000
I could always I prefer our room to be a

1119
00:56:27.039 --> 00:56:29.840
little cooler. But yeah, I mean, at this time of year,

1120
00:56:30.159 --> 00:56:34.199
our heating bill is ridiculous, and part of it is like, well,

1121
00:56:34.239 --> 00:56:36.920
we can't afford for our house to be at seventy

1122
00:56:36.960 --> 00:56:37.480
all the time.

1123
00:56:37.599 --> 00:56:40.199
Yeah, so that is a real conundrum. Though I think

1124
00:56:40.199 --> 00:56:41.920
the answer is just to have separate.

1125
00:56:41.639 --> 00:56:46.719
Rooms so I get to I can move out, which, well,

1126
00:56:46.719 --> 00:56:48.199
which one of us is going to move out? Because

1127
00:56:48.239 --> 00:56:49.000
you both really like.

1128
00:56:48.960 --> 00:56:51.039
Oh, I'm staying in the bad. If you're the one

1129
00:56:51.039 --> 00:56:53.079
who doesn't like it the temperature I want it, then

1130
00:56:53.119 --> 00:56:54.199
you should probably you know.

1131
00:56:54.239 --> 00:56:57.119
That is very Yeah, that is a very rich answer

1132
00:56:58.360 --> 00:57:01.519
question three. And my partner says they're fine, but they're

1133
00:57:01.559 --> 00:57:03.480
clearly not fine. What should I do?

1134
00:57:04.519 --> 00:57:06.760
I think if I ever ask you how are you doing?

1135
00:57:06.800 --> 00:57:09.159
And you say fine, I just say, oh, that's good

1136
00:57:09.199 --> 00:57:11.400
and then just leave. That would be my advice.

1137
00:57:11.760 --> 00:57:14.360
Sometimes a girl does just want her space and she

1138
00:57:14.400 --> 00:57:17.840
wants to be left alone. But generally, if you I'm

1139
00:57:17.880 --> 00:57:22.239
pretty verbal, yeah, and pretty forthcoming, I don't really hold much.

1140
00:57:23.159 --> 00:57:24.760
Yeah, I usually don't have to pry it out of you.

1141
00:57:24.800 --> 00:57:27.079
If if you're upset about something.

1142
00:57:26.880 --> 00:57:29.840
Yeah, I usually tell you so, I think honest. But

1143
00:57:30.079 --> 00:57:34.639
sometimes you have to evaluate your own mood and like,

1144
00:57:34.719 --> 00:57:37.639
am I being grumpy because I'm just grumpy? Or is

1145
00:57:37.679 --> 00:57:39.320
there something that's really bothering me?

1146
00:57:39.639 --> 00:57:39.880
Yeah?

1147
00:57:40.159 --> 00:57:42.320
You always have to ask yourself what's the cause?

1148
00:57:42.480 --> 00:57:45.480
It could be tricky sometimes sometimes when I'm feeling grumpy,

1149
00:57:45.480 --> 00:57:47.920
I don't know why. I'm just feeling like irritable, and I'm.

1150
00:57:47.800 --> 00:57:51.039
Like, why you might grumpy? Since twenty fifteen, that's true,

1151
00:57:51.320 --> 00:57:53.880
you know, Well you're almost never grumpy with me, and

1152
00:57:53.920 --> 00:57:57.400
that's all that really matters. You get grumpy with you know,

1153
00:57:57.559 --> 00:57:59.679
maybe an acquaintance.

1154
00:57:59.119 --> 00:58:01.719
Or wait, a colleague again, yeah.

1155
00:58:01.400 --> 00:58:05.119
But never with me, because ever we're just precious. Well

1156
00:58:05.159 --> 00:58:07.840
that's all the free Valentine's Day advice that we have

1157
00:58:08.000 --> 00:58:10.800
for you, and you get what you pay for. Yes, exactly,

1158
00:58:11.320 --> 00:58:13.280
what's your advice for the guys out there. When your

1159
00:58:13.320 --> 00:58:16.159
wife says I don't want anything for Valentine's Day, don't

1160
00:58:16.159 --> 00:58:18.559
get me anything. What does a man to do?

1161
00:58:18.920 --> 00:58:20.840
I mean, if you said you didn't want anything, I

1162
00:58:20.880 --> 00:58:23.039
would just say, oh, okay. If you don't want anything,

1163
00:58:23.079 --> 00:58:24.119
then that's all right.

1164
00:58:24.440 --> 00:58:27.519
You've just signed your JAT warrant. Though, then I'm gonna

1165
00:58:27.559 --> 00:58:31.519
say I'm fine. I'm just fine all Valentine's.

1166
00:58:31.119 --> 00:58:34.079
I am completely joking. That is the wrong answer. That

1167
00:58:34.199 --> 00:58:37.000
was a trick answer on my part. Do not do that.

1168
00:58:37.199 --> 00:58:39.719
If your spouse tells you they don't want anything for

1169
00:58:39.800 --> 00:58:42.360
Valentine's Day, I think you should still get at least

1170
00:58:42.360 --> 00:58:46.679
something to acknowledge and show your show your love for them.

1171
00:58:46.920 --> 00:58:49.559
Well, speaking of love, we love you guys, and we're

1172
00:58:49.559 --> 00:58:52.039
so grateful that you listened. We hope you enjoyed this

1173
00:58:52.280 --> 00:58:56.960
Valentine's Day bonus episode and I love you. Happy Valentine's Day,

1174
00:58:57.039 --> 00:58:59.800
Happy Valentine. Next time, don't kill your wife and don't

1175
00:58:59.840 --> 00:59:42.000
kill your husband.