Joan Harmon and Christian “Kit” Martin - Part 1

0:00 I am Rich and I'm Tina. And if there's one thing we've learned in over twenty years of. Marriage, some days you'll feel like killing your husband, and. Some days you'll feel like killing your wife. Welcome to love, Mary Kill. Hey you, Tina, Hey Rich? How are you today? Great? How are you? I'm good? Happy? First day of spring? Yeah? Vernal equinox? Yeah? Did I get that right? I have no idea. Yes, I think you did, because it wouldn't be the autumnal equinox, right, so vernal?

0:40 Yeah? Makes sense. Did you put an egg like you're supposed to put an egg up on its end? Oh? I didn't do that. I've never done that. Maybe we could try that during our commercial break, okay, because it only works. Does that have to be a hard boiled egg or a regular eg? I think it's supposed to be a regular and it's supposed. To balance on its end only the equinox. I think that's actually been disproven that you can do it anytime. Give me you're more determined to get it on, you know, the first day of spring. Maybe? So it is very midwestern spring here today, we've had all sorts of weather. I know, it was beautiful a couple of days ago, and now it's been snowing all day, and. Well, yesterday, wasn't it seventy yesterday? Yeah, that's what they say in Michigan. You know, if you don't like the weather, stick around. I think we've talked about that, say that in a lot of places, don't they.

1:27 Oh, I don't know, but I had never heard that until you said it every time it rained here in Michigan when I first moved here. So literally minutes ago, I just finished my NCAA bracket, and I think there have already been games, no just like this one. This one, this one I've heard Gonzaga is good. So yeah, that's that's kind of how I did it. My perfect bracket was busted after the first game, so. I yeah, I didn't finish mine before the first game, so mine is probably busted too. Probably. Oh well, it's always next year. So I spelled you cooking something, yes, something meaty. Well you know what it. Is already, because you know, you were a little detective and you saw the things I bought and you figured it out right away.

2:13 Two ingredients that I knew that you said you went to the store to purchase, and I was like, Okay, there's sausage and there's cheese. So yeah, so I made you sausage cheese puffs. Sounds good. And don't ask me how I came over with. I have no idea I was. I started looking at Kentucky snacks because our case does take place in Kentucky today, but this is not a Kentucky snack. I just somehow ended up on a website with different snacks and I looked at it. I thought, that looks really yummy. Yeah, and it's really simple too. There's only four ingredients to the whole thing. So they're kind of like biscuits. But hold them up so I can see them. Yeah, they're a little Oh they look really good. It's kind of like, from from the distance, it looks like a cookie.

2:55 Yeah, kind of, but they're more like biscuits than cookies. But you tried one yet? I did? Yeah, Oh, okay, that's okay. Would you like to try one? Sure? All right? How did you like the sausage cheese puffs? That was really tasty. You're really good, aren't they. You're a good little cook. Well, there's really not a whole lot to it. It's basically just sausage cheddar cheese, biscuit mix or baking mix, and a little buttermilk. Super simple. Definitely like if you were a farmer who was going to go, you know, harvest their fields, that would be a really nice, hearty breakfast. Yeah, I speak for the rest of us. Might be a little heavy, but it was really yummy. I would give it a nine out of ten awesome.

3:39 I would give it the same. What kind of sausage did you use? Did you use Jimmy Dean, Bob Evans? I believe it was Bob. Why are sausages named after men? Is this strange? I don't know. It's a very good question. Never thought about that before. Thank you for bringing it up. Yeah, and you used just cheddar cheese, yes, well kind of. You know, you could use like a zesty or a spicy sausage, or you could use like a pepper jack cheese. Yeah. I thought about putting like doing. You could add some garlic to it or other things, but I just went simple since I hadn't tried this before. Very good. Well, today we are. Going to tell the story of major Christian kit Martin, Joan Harmon, Pamela and Calvin Phillips and Ed Danzero. This case was a suggestion from our listener Julie and Julie, I really appreciate the suggestion, and Tina, I know you're a little salty that I.

4:30 Took this case. First of all, I just want to say thank you to Julie, because Julie is one of our og listeners and she's just a gem. She's so kind and supportive of the podcast, and we really appreciate Julie. So thank you for the suggestion, Julie. But yes, I had purchased the book that Julie recommended, and it was in my kindle and we share the kindle, and I did you see it in my kindle or how did you know? I just saw it on our list of suggestions, And I did message you to be fair and asked if you were doing it, and you said no, so I took it and then you were. You had some regret after that. Well, heause, I didn't want to do it, but I'm sure you did a great job, and it's all. It's all good. I mean, I'm working on like six different cases.

5:12 I have like notes in all these different cases, so it's okay. You got it done pretty quickly, so I'm sure you did it justice. And I know we say this probably about a lot of cases, but this one is really a fascinating case. I think it'll be we'll have some really good discussion. There is a content warning. This episode will contain descriptions of child abuse that may be disturbing, so please listen with care. It was a quiet November morning in twenty fifteen when Earl Jet set out from his farm in Pembroke, Kentucky. Just a short drive into town, nothing out of the ordinary. But as he rumbled down the road, something caught his eye. Smoke rising from a dirt road near his property. A flicker of memory surfaced, his dog barking in the middle of the night, a strange glow in the distance. He had brushed it off then, but now something felt wrong.

5:57 Curiosity got the best of him. He turned down the dirt road and soon stopped in his tracks a car charred, barely recognizable. He called nine one one. When first responders arrived, the horror deepened. Inside the burned out vehicle were the skeletal remains of two people, and just a couple miles away, inside a quiet home, police made another grizzly discovery. One more body beaten and shot multiple times, a triple murder in a town of less than one thousand people. The investigation quickly zeroed in on an Army major stationed at nearby Fort Campbell, Christian kit Martin, a man with military training, a man with a past, a man who lived right across the street from the victims. The police believed they had their killer, but was kit Martin truly a cold blooded murderer or had someone else been pulling the strings all along, perhaps the person who had vowed three years earlier to ruin kit Martin's life. Christian Richard Martin was born into a life of service. His grandfather had been in the Army Cavalry and his father, a decorated Air Force vas veteran, served in Vietnam and dedicated thirty seven years to the military. Following in their footsteps seemed inevitable.

7:07 Like many military families, the Martins moved frequently, even spending time in Europe. As a teenager, Chris embraced the family tradition, enlisting in the Army Reserves at just seventeen. After graduating high school and completing basic training, he enrolled at the University of Nebraska juggling ROTC training, a part time job, and his weekend commitments with the Reserves. With so many cadets named Chris in the program, Martin decided he needed a standout nickname. He recalled a boy scout trip where his troop visited the grave of Christopher kit Carson, the nineteenth century frontiersman. Inspired, he started calling himself Kit Martin, a name that would stick. During his officer training in Washington State, Kit met Stacey, a fellow ROTC cadet who was attending Middle Tennessee State University. They maintained a long distance relationship while finishing school, Kit in Nebraska, Stacey and ten time. He earned his degree in geography in nineteen ninety and by nineteen ninety one they were married. He was twenty two, she was twenty five. Over the next few years, they welcomed three children, Mackenzie in nineteen ninety two, followed by Chase and Zachary. As part of his ROTC scholarship, Kit was required to serve full time in the Army after graduation. He was stationed in California, where he endured the grueling twelve week Ranger School training. But his true ambition was to fly helicopters. After completing his active duty service, he pursued flight training while Stacey and the kids moved back to Tennessee so that she could be closer to

8:37 family and earn her realtor's license. Kit's aviation career took off when he joined a company called air Logistics, ferrying helicopters to and from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The job kept him away for two weeks at a time, with five days at home in between. The strain of his schedule, combined with financial struggles, took a toll on the marriage. By two thousand and four, Stacey us for a divorce. Though officially separated, the couple continued living under the same roof while waiting for their house to sell. It was during this uneasy limbo that Kit took a step into the world of online dating. He posted an ad on Yahoo Personals, and one of the first responses he received was from Joan harmon Yahoo personals. It's a blast in the past.

9:20 I don't remember that no. Did you ever use NO? I never used it, but I think it eventually became match dot com. I think it was match dot com before there was Match dot Com. While Kit was adjusting to life as a newly single father of three, Joan Harmon had a complicated past of her own. She was also a mother of three, with her oldest child just seven years old when she met Kit. How old were kids at this time? Do you know? His oldest Mackenzie would have been about twelve. She shared a tragic story. Her first child's father had died in a gruesome logging accident. He was decapitated. Her two younger daughters were from her marriage to Carlos Squera, a man she said she had recently divorced, but according to Joan, the divorce hadn't ended their troubles. She alledged that Guera was stalking and threatening her. Even more disturbing, she accused him of being abusive and of sexually assaulting their daughters. Wanted to help, Kit stepped in. He rented a U haul and helped Joan move into a rental property he owned. He didn't charge her rent and even gave her money for food and other expenses. Not long after she moved in, however, Kit began having doubts. Joan frequently recounted harrowing stories of abuse, not just from her ex husband, but also from her father. Over time, some of her accounts seemed exaggerated and inconsistencies started to emerge. Concerned, Kit ended the relationship, but then Joan called him with devastating news her brother had been killed in Iraq. Wanted

10:51 to comfort her, Kit went over to see her. One thing led to another, and they rekindled their relationship. Around this time, Kit felt a renewed sense of duty. Since nine eleven he had considered returning to active military service, and with the Iraq War now escalating, he felt it was time before re enlisting. He and Joan married in December two thousand four. Over the next few years, Kit served three combat tours in Iraq as a helicopter pilot, logging more than one thousand hours in the air, five hundred of those using night vision. Meanwhile, he, Joan and her children spent time stationed in Germany before returning to the US in twenty ten. Kit was then stationed in Rhode Island, where he pursued a master's degree in National defense at the Naval War College. By the time he graduated, he had achieved the rank of major and was assigned to the one hundred first Airborne division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

11:48 Looking for a home near Fort Campbell, Joan found an old house in the small town of Pembroke, Kentucky, about fifteen miles from the base. Built in nineteen o six, the house was a fixer upper, but it had plenty of space. It sat on an acre and a half, and it fit their budget. But Joan and Kit saw potential in the place, viewing it as a project they could take on together. The first thing they did after moving was give the house a bold new look, painting the exterior a bright yellow. At first, life in Pembroke was relatively peaceful. Kit and Joan settled into their new home and their relationship remained steady, though one point of contention began to emerge. Kit's ex's wife, Stacy. Despite their divorce, Kit and Stacy had remained on good terms, co parenting their children without issue, but Joan wasn't convinced there still weren't feelings there. Even though Kit reassured her their communication was strictly about the kid's Joan's jealousy flared whenever Stacy entered the conversation. As time went on, tensions in the marriage grew because of Kit's military duties. The couple had spent long stretches apart. Now living together full time for the first time, their different and sins became harder to ignore.

13:02 Their arguments became more frequent and more intense. Kit began to feel that Joan intentionally started fights in front of the children, something that deeply bothered him. Despite the growing tension at home, the couple quickly became part of the Pembroke community and a small town, neighbors tend to get to know one another, and Kit and Joan were no exception. Directly across the street lived Ed Danzero, a man in his early sixties with an easy going charm. A professional pianist, Ed had a deep love for jazz, but could play just about anything. He split his time between Pembroke and Bowling Green, where his girlfriend Sally lived. When he wasn't at the piano, he enjoyed cooking gourmet meals.

13:42 I'll just say I found some YouTube videos of Ed not video, just audio, but it was on YouTube with him playing the piano as band really really good. Cool. Next door to Ed lived Kelvin and Pamela Phillips. Kelvin, a retired Army logistics officer, had served seventeen years in the military, including a tour in the Gulf War. He was loud, gregarious, and could talk your ear off if you let him. His wife, Pamela, was his opposite, reserved, steady and dedicated to her job as a bank vice president, where she worked long hours. The couple had a grown son, Matt, who lived in Louisville. Calvin and Ed were close friends. They shared a love of music, often spending evenings around a backyard fire, guitars in hand, playing songs over a few beers, sometimes into the early morning hours. Kit and Joan quickly integrated into this tight knit circle. Not long after moving in, Calvin invited them to the annual Ham Festival in Cadiz.

14:39 Yes, I want to go to the Ham Festival thing. You do love Ham. They went with him and Pam and had a great time. I mean, how can you not have a great time when was the focus of the festival? For sure? Kit bonded with Ed as well. If Ed spotted Kit in the yard, he'd wave him over for a beer on his front porch. Another neighbor, Billy Watson, often stip to help Kit with house projects. At some point, Joan began spending a lot of time at Calvin's house. With Pamela working long hours and Kit busy on bass, She and Calvin seemed to have plenty of time together. Joan told Kit they were discussing business ideas, one of which involved Kelvin teaching concealed carry classes in his backyard. He Eden set up a small shooting range and held a class.

15:23 When that Joan attended, using a pistol registered to Kit. Soon rumors started swirling around town. People whispered about Joan and Kelvin's growing closeness, and Kit couldn't ignore the uneasy feeling creeping in. He suspected an affair, but hadn't confronted Joan about it, at least not yet. Then came September fifth, twenty twelve. After the explosive fight they had that evening, Kit no longer cared whether she was having an affair or not. He was done. The fight began over something small, but it had been brewing for a long time. That evening, Joan found out that Kit had made plans to have lunch with his nineteen year old daughter, Mackenzie. She had recently transferred to Austin p University in Clarksville, Tennessee, only about thirty minutes from Pembroke, and had moved in with Kit and Joan, along with Joan's three children, sixteen year old Elijah, eleven year old Alma, and nine year old Essie. Joan was furious that Kit and Mackenzie had made lunch plans without including her. That was the spark, but the fire had been building for years. They argued about money, especially Joan's habit of starting expensive home projects without consulting Kit. They argued about Kit's ex wife, Stacy, and her frequent phone calls.

16:38 Kit insisted they only spoke about the kids, but Joan refused to believe him. The fight escalated. Later, Joan would claim that Kit struck her in the temple with his fingers and hit the sides of her head with his fists. Kit's version was much different. He said he flicked her hair. That was it. Trying to cool down, he went upstairs, took a shower, and settled into the TV room to decompress, but Joan wasn't done. She followed him in and kept the argument going. That's when Kit decided he was done. He told Joan it was over, he wanted a divorce. According to Kit, Joan's response was chilling quote. If you divorce me, I will ruin your career. I will ruin your life, and I know how to do it. Mackenzie, who was in the next room, later recalled a slightly different version of Joan's words, but the meaning was the same. If you leave me, I will ruin your life and I will ruin your military career. Then Joan made her threat explicit.

17:30 She said that she would tell Kit's superior officers that he had abused her. A domestic abuse accusation, true or not, could destroy Kit's career in the military. Kit called her bluff. If you think you've been abused, He told her you should call the police. Before he could make a call himself, Joan dialed nine one one. What's going on? Man? Domestic abuse? My husband? What's he doing to you? Talking me in the head, screaming in my face and threatening me. After hanging up, Joan turned to Elijah. Mackenzie, who overheard the conversation, later said that she heard Joan instruct Elijah to say that he had seen Kit hit her, something Joan would later deny, but Mackenzie immediately pulled Elijah aside and told him not to lie to the police. When Deputy Eddie Fry arrived, Joan wasted no time. He beat the shit out of me again, she told him. Fry asked where she had been hit. Joan pointed to her temples and the back of her head. The deputy shined a flashlight on her face, but saw no marks. Joan then suggested he speak to her son, Elijah, who had supposedly witnessed everything upstairs. The deputy questioned, Elijah, what did you see, he asked. Elijah said that his mom was yelling at Kit and added, he never touched her. You never saw him hit her. The deputy pressed no, Elijah confirmed he did not hit her. With tensions high, Kit agreed to leave the house for the night. He and Mackenzie packed some things and headed to a hotel. Before they left, Deputy Fry asked if there were any weapons in the house that should be secured. Kit, a gun owner,

19:01 gathered his firearms, locked them in a safe in the bedroom, and removed the face plate so that it couldn't be opened. The deputy, still wary, asked if Joan had access to any other weapons. Kit said, she has a forty five caliber pistol in her glove box, but it's registered to me. Fry instructed Kit to retrieve that gun as well and secure it in the safe. Before leaving, the deputy asked Joan if she wanted to file for an order of protection. She declined. He also offered to take her and the kids to a domestic violence shelter called the Sanctuary. Again, she said no, but later that night, Joan changed her mind. She contacted the sanctuary and arranged to go there with her children, claiming that she felt unsafe, especially now that all the guns were locked up and she had no way to protect herself.

19:46 Do you think that she was really in danger? I really don't know. I mean, it's definitely a classic, he said, She said, situation. It doesn't seem like, you know, based on what her son said that Kit had actually hit her. But he did have a lot of guns and he locked them in the safe. But he was the one who had access to he had the key. Yeah, so I don't you know, I can totally understand that maybe she felt unsafe at that point. The next day, she changed her mind about the order of protection as well. She filed for an Emergency Protective Order or EPO against Kit, stating that he had hit her in the temples and the back of her skull. Her written statement read quote, he threatened to harm me if I ever told the police, so I went to the sanctuary to protect myself and my children. I felt he would come back and harm us.

20:30 He has abused us for years. A hearing for the EPO was set for September eighteenth, just two weeks after the fight that ended Kit and Joan's marriage. We'll be back after a break. So far, the abuse that Joan has claimed that has been done to her by Kit is like poking her in the temples or in the back of the head, minor. But if she's a smaller woman and he's a big man like yelling at her in her face, sure like that could be really scary too. Yeah, for sure, and her allegations are going to get a lot more severe as well. Both Kit and Joan had a lot riding on the outcome of the Emergency Protective Order hearing. For Kit, the stakes were enormous. As a member of the military, a domestic violence ruling could not only damage his reputation, but also subject him to a court martial for Joan. The hearing carried financial implications.

21:31 Without an income of her own, she could receive aid from the family Advocacy program at Fort Campbell if the judge ruled in her favor. The hearing began with Joan giving her version of the events from September fifth. She repeated her claim that Kit had hit her on the temple with his fingers and insisted that he had threatened her in the past, warning her not to speak out about his alleged abuse. Then Kit's attorney began questioning Joan about her history. Specifically, he brought up her previous abuse allegations against her first husband, Carlos Guerra under oath. Joan admitted that she had fabricated those claims after their separation. Next, Joan presented photographs of Elijah showing red marks all over his back that looked like welts or rugburn's. She alleged that Kit had inflicted those injuries a few years earlier when they lived in Rhode Island. However, the judge refused to admit the photos as evidence, ruling that they were unrelated to the specific allegations being considered. Then Elijah took the stand, and what he said was drastically different from the story that he had told the police just two weeks earlier. This time, Elijah testified that Kit, not Joan, was the one yelling during the argument. He also claimed that he had seen Kit strike his mother. The judge reminded Elijah that his statements contradicted what he told officers on the night of the incident. Elijah's response, I lied to the police. Jones's two daughters, Alma and Essie, followed with their testimony. They claimed to have overheard the argument and to have seen Kit hit their mother. The judge

23:02 asked Almah if anyone had spoken to her about what to say in court. She said that her mom had told her to tell the truth, but also to quote, make sure she told the judge what Dad did to her unquote. Then it was Kit's turn to testify. Since Joan was representing herself in the hearing, she questioned him directly. Kit firmly denied ever striking Joan, but then out of nowhere, Joan accused him of something new. She asked if he recalled throwing her down a flight of stairs. Kit appeared stunned. He denied the accusation outright, and even offered to take a polygraph test to prove that he was telling the truth. Regarding Elijah's injuries, Kit denied ever intentionally harming him. However, he didn't rule out the possibility that the marks on Elijah's back could have been the result of the ju jitsu and self defense lessons that Kit had given him. Finally, Kit's daughter, Mackenzie took the stand. She testified about what she had seen and heard on the night of September fifth, including the moment when Joan co coached Elijah to say that he saw Kit hit her. After testifying, Mackenzie left the courtroom to wait in a conference room down the hall.

24:07 While sitting there, she overheard voices coming from another conference room with the door open. Joanes's children were inside. She distinctly heard Elijah say that he had testified to what Mom told me to say. Mackenzie immediately told her father, and Kit's attorney informed the judge. The judge called both McKenzie and Elijah back to the stand to. Address the situation. Elijah, however, denied making the statement. Ordinarily, it would have been one step sibling's word against the others, but this time, there was another witness, a lawyer from Kentucky legal aide who had been waiting outside the courtroom for an unrelated case. She stepped forward and confirmed that she too had heard Elijah's statement. With that the hearing ended.

24:50 So this lawyer who heard Elijah's statement had nothing to do with the case at all. She was just walking by. She just happened to be outside waiting for. A diffic She had no reason to make a foot no, not at all. After a brief deliberation, the judge returned with his ruling. He acknowledged that in a he said, she said situation, credibility was key, and while he didn't go so far as to say that the children had lied, he made it clear that Elijah's testimony had credibility issues, since he had either lied to the police or lied in court. Ultimately, the burden of proof was on Joan, and in the judge's opinion, she hadn't met that burden. He ruled in favor of Kit. However, to ensure that the two stayed away from each other, the judge issued a mutual restraining order for both Kit and Joan.

25:35 Although Kit had been cleared of domestic abuse, in the EPO hearing, Joan was far from finished. The next day, she reported Kit to Family Protective Services for child abuse. She also contacted the Family Advocacy program at Fort Campbell with the same allegation. Meanwhile, Joan and the kids needed a new place to live. Kit had been granted exclusive use of the house until the divorce was finalized, meaning they could not return. That's when Calvin Phillips stepped in. He offered Joan and the kids a place to stay in a rental property he owned, asking only that she covered the two hundred twelve monthly mortgage payment. When Kit and mac Kenzie moved back into their home after Joan had vacated, they found it nearly empty. Joan had taken everything that wasn't too heavy to move, including Kit's family heirlooms and photographs, but something else, even more valuable had gone missing. At some point during Joan's move to Calvin's rental property, the two of them made a discovery, one that would shift the focus of the Army's investigation into Kit.

26:38 Among the items they came across were a laptop and a collection of computer discs. Some were labeled in magic marker with the word secret. One was marked secret operations. Exactly where and when these were found remains unclear. Joan claimed that she had discovered them in a box covered with quilts while packing. She said she had moved the box to Colvin's warehouse and later found the materials there. Kelvin, however, initially said he had found them inside Joan's house while helping her move. Later, he changed his story to match Jones. Regardless of how they were found, Kelvin, a longtime military man, immediately recognized the gravity of the situation. These belonged to the Army. He said, you can't have these at home.

27:23 On December sixth, twenty twelfth, Joan and Kelvin took the laptop and disks to the local FBI office and turned them in. Soon after, an Army intelligence officer contacted Joan. He wanted to know if she had ever noticed anything unusual about Kit's behavior. She said yes. While they were stationed in Europe, she claimed Kit would frequently disappear for twenty to sixty minutes at a time with no explanation. She also noted that he always seemed to have plenty of cash on hand. The implication was clear, was Kit a spy. The Army Counter Intelligence Command launched an investigation closely on using Kit's communications and activities in the months that followed. Meanwhile, Child Protective Services completed their investigation into Joan's abuse allegations a month later. They ruled her claims unsubstantiated and declined to pursue the matter further, but the Army investigation that was just getting started.

28:19 One of the things I found interesting about this case is that there are two systems of justice, one for civilians and one for the military. Yeah, and Kit was sort of embroiled in both, right, he had two different kind of investigations going on at the same time against him. Unaware that he was now the subject of a classified military investigation, Kit tried to rebuild his life as a newly single man. His first priority was finalizing the divorce, but there was a problem. His attorneys couldn't find any record of Joan's divorce from her first husband, Carlos Guerra. When asked for proof, Jones said she would have to look for the records. If Joan had never actually divorced Carlos, it wouldn't just be a crime, it could significantly impact her financial claims. After all, it would be difficult to convince a judge that Kit oder alimony as she was still legally married to someone else. As Kit worked through the legal battle, he also decided it was time to start dating again. He returned to Yahoo Personals, where he met Laura Spencer.

29:20 Not the Laura Spencer from General Hospital. Luke and Laura Fame just in case you were wondering that. Gina, how old that makes you sound? Laura was a nursing instructor at Austin p University. She had been married to a soldier stationed at Fort Campbell, but tragically he had taken his own life. She was twenty one when she married, and now, at thirty five, she was raising her two children, ages fourteen and twelve, on her own. Her date with Kit was the first she had been on since losing her husband. It was also Kit's first date since separating from Joan. They took things slowly at first, but after six months they both knew it fell right. Laura introduced Kit to her children, and before long they moved into Kit's home, the Big Yellow House on Pembroke's Main Street. By this time, Kit was fully aware of the Army's investigation into Joan's delegation, both the abuse claims and the discovery of the classified materials. He was upfront with Laura about everything. She never doubted his character. Soon after Laura and her kids moved in, two unsettling things started happening. First, Kit and Laura repeatedly saw Joan's car parked at the Phillips house almost daily. Pam, Kelvin's wife, was at work during these times, meaning Joan was spending significant amounts of time alone with Kelvin. Technically she was close enough to Kit's house to violate the restraining order.

30:42 Then came the vandalism. Kit and Laura's vehicles were repeatedly damaged with slash tires, key scratches, and the removal of military ID stickers. They could never prove who was responsible, but one incident left no doubt that someone wanted to send a message. Afternoon, Mackenzie was heading to Walmart when she stopped at the end of the driveway to check the mail. As she got out of her car, she noticed Joan sitting on Kelvin's porch watching her, smirking the Kenzie opened the mailbox and froze inside was a dead animal. Horrify. She slammed the mailbox shut, jumped back into her car, and drove away in tears. She called her dad, who told her to take a picture of it when she got back. But when she returned home, the dead animal was gone.

31:30 That's so horrible, isn't it. It is so horrible. Do you know what it was like? Now? I never saw what kind of animal it was. I'm glad you asked that, because I really wanted to know for some strange reason, but I never found out. After six months of surveillance, the Army finally informed Kit that he was under investigation for wrongful possession and storage of classified information. Kit didn't hesitate. He voluntarily came in for questioning. Sitting through three and a half hours of interrogation without a lawyer. He answered every question and even invited investors gators to search his home. Kit believed that Joan must have been the one who packed the classified materials, either by accident or on purpose, when she had helped clear out his office in Germany before their move back to the US. At the end of the interrogation, the investigators asked him to take a polygraph test, and Kit agreed.

32:18 For three hours he was strapped to the machine, answering question after question. Finally, the examiner determined the verdict. He passed three hours as a long polygraph test. Really long, because normally aren't they like, you know, like six questions? Yeah, yeah, I was struck by the same thing, like, how many questions could you ask him? Three hours? Ia? His military polygraphs are a whole different, different world. The investigators told him that with this result the matter would soon be closed, but it wasn't that simple. Even though Kit had been cleared of espionage, he started feeling the effects of the investigation almost immediately. He wrote letters to the army and to his congressman, insisting that he had been treated unfairly. Instead of helping, this seemed to backfire.

33:01 Despite his exemplary military record, his performance reviews suddenly tanked, he was passed over for a promotion, and most damaging of all, a red flag was placed on his record, marking him as being under investigation. Even though he had never been charged with espionage. This was a career killer. The only evidence against him was these was it discs. There was a laptop and some computer discs. I think they were like CDs or DVD. Discs and two of them, and you don't know what was on them that's classified. So I can't just it, no, don't. I don't actually know because I think it was classified. I've read different things that there was some pretty important things on there, but I don't know specifically what they were.

33:43 So it's not that he had information that he shouldn't have had. It was just that he shouldn't have had it at home. Okay, Yeah, I think in his role in the military, and again I don't know exactly the details, I think he had access to things that were classified and confidential. But it's a big no to take any of that. Still, copy it onto a disc and then bring it home. Right right. The top legal advisor to the commanding general at Fort Campbell recommended that all the charges be dropped, but the acting base commander, Brigadier General Mark Stammer, ignored that advice. Instead, Stammer pushed forward with something called an Article fifteen. Under Article fifteen of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a commanding officer can impose non judicial punishment for minor offenses, no court, no jury, just a swift decision on paper.

34:32 An Article fifteen was a slap on the wrist. The worst that could happen a fine, loss of pay, or a temporary restrictive status up up to sixty days. But for Kit, it was far worse than that. Accepting an Article fifteen would destroy any chance of future promotions, security clearances, or special assignments his military career. His entire future would be permanently stalled. And there was another problem. An Article fifteen hearing wouldn't involve the jury of his peers. It would be decided solely by Brigadier General Stammer, the same man pushing for punishment in the first place. Kit knew with ninety nine percent certainty how that would turn out. After a preliminary hearing, Judge Advocate General or JAG investigators presented Kit with a choice proceed with the Article fifteen hearing, where a General Stammer would have complete control over his fate, or request a court martial where a panel of his peers would decide. Kit should have consulted a lawyer. Any competent attorney would have strongly advised him to accept the Article fifteen. It would have been damaging, yes, but it was nothing compared to a court martial. But under pressure, Kit made the decision on the spot, he checked the box requesting a court martial.

35:43 Okay, tell us what a court martial is? Really quick, I mean, it's basically a trial under the military law, so it's very similar to a regular trial. You could go to a court martial and be found innocent. You could go and be found guilty. If you're found guilty, it could result in any It could result in imprisonment, it could result in being kicked out of the military, any number of punishments. That move requesting the court martial was something that Kit would later deeply regret. Shortly after that, Kit learned that his court martial investigation wasn't just about the classified materials. The Army was also investigating him for child abuse, molestation, and sexual assault. It seems like those charges came out of nowhere.

36:24 I mean they basically sexual. Molestation, Like they hadn't heard anything about that previously. Right, Yeah, we're going to talk about that in just a minute. They all came from Joan like it. Basically, she kept adding and adding new allegations and new accusations against him. She had provided investigators with the photos of Elijah's back injuries from years earlier. We mentioned that She tried to introduce those at the EPO hearing, but this time she went even further. She made a whole bunch of new allegations. Like we just mentioned, her newest claims against Kit were even more extreme than before. She now alleged that he physically abused her children constantly. If she tried to intervene, he would slap her, choke her until she lost consciousness, and threatened to kill her. She said he raped and sodomized her while in Germany. She said that he dangled Essie over a third story balcony, holding her by the foot and laughing as.

37:14 He did it. She said he whipped the kids with. A Roman style whip, which is like a multithonged leather whip or a bamboo stick. He bathed with the girls in the nude. He once punched Elijah in the face so hard that it knocked his glasses off, and then he stomped on them until they shattered. The JAG investigators interviewed Joanes's children, who agreed with her claims and added more. Alma alleged that Kit bathed with her an Essie and on one occasion inserted his fingers inside of her Elijah said that Kit once tied him up in the basement, blindfolded him, and left him alone. Later, Kit returned and punched him in the stomach. All three children said that Kit would become aggressive if chores weren't done properly. There was one major problem with these interviews. The children were all interviewed together together. This is a serious breach of investigative protocol. Witnesses, especially children, should always be interviewed separately, otherwise they can influence one another, embellished stories, or even fabricate details. Despite this, the investigation continued. Investigators interviewed Laura Spencer.

38:18 They told her that it was a routine safety check, but it quickly became clear that they were trying to get her to say that Kit was abusive. They implied that some women don't recognize abuse when they're in it. Laura shut them down. She told them that she was a nurse well trained in recognizing abuse. Not only that, but she had been in a verbally abusive marriage for many years and vowed never to put herself or her kids in that situation again. They also searched Kit's home, looking for the Roman whip or the bamboo sticks that Joan claimed he used for beatings, but they found nothing. Investigators reached out to Kit's first wife, Stacy, and their three children. Every single one of them defended Kit. His son Tyler was a special blunt quote. I stopped visiting my father when he married Joni because she is a compulsive liar. She made up stuff about me to get me in trouble. She picked fights with my dad whenever he spent time with us. I tried to get along with her, but after a while I quit. She's a crazy bitch and it just wasn't worth it. His ex wife Stacy, had a similar take quote. The malicious, lies, deceit and fabricated stories Jonie told were so harsh that she successfully isolated Chris Martin from everyone he cared about.

39:29 She constantly caused problems and lied. The list of lies is too long to count, but I can say this, Chris Martin is an excellent father. He would absolutely never abuse any child, not physically, not mentally, not sexually. Mackenzie also spoke to investigators, recounting the dead animal in the mailbox incident and adding that Joan was emotionally abusive, not just to Kit's children, but to her own as well. When Kit was finally called in, he was stunned to learn the full extent of Joan's accusations. There were thirteen new allegations against him, rape, sodomy, child abuse, child molestation. And more. He was floored. He swore that none of it was even remotely true.

40:10 Wow. As a rule, I always say, believe the women, But it's really hard to believe all of these allegations against him. Like you said, they keep multiplying and fabricating more and more. And Joan like has a history of doing this sort of thing as well, and it seems like there is enough evidence there to make you very doubtful of her claims that I agree with you, Like you want to believe women, you want to believe the person accusing someone of this, but yeah, in this case, you have to you. Have to wonder. And it's sad that she put her children in that position. So the only people that could corroborate the abuse, right were her and her children. Yes, and you know, if they hadn't gone along with what she said, then they would have received, you know, abuse from her, maybe not physical abuse, but you know, mental abuse.

41:00 Yeah, it's just horrible. The whole situation is horrible, like there's no winners in this situation. We'll be back after a. Break, Kit decided it was time to take the offensive. He hired a private investigator, Mary Martin's, to dig up both Joan and Kelvin's pasts. Mary's investigation led her to Jones's first husband, Carlos Squera. Guera revealed a troubling story. One day, he came home to find Joan and their children gone, along with nearly everything in the house. He had not seen the kids since Guera was not yet a US citizen, and he claimed Joan had threatened to have him deported if he tried to pursue custody or visitation rights. Guera also disclosed that he and Joan had each retained divorce attorneys, but when legal feels piled up, Joanes simply abandoned the process. Legally, they were still married.

41:56 That meant Joan's marriage to Kit wasn't just fraudulent, it was big of me. Mary also uncovered evidence suggesting that Joan and Calvin's relationship was more than just friendship. Two separate individuals claimed they had walked in on the pair having sex at different times. One of them was none other than the chief of police. He recalled an incident that occurred before Kit and Joan had officially separated. He had entered Kelvin's warehouse and was startled to find Kelvin completely naked having sex with a blond woman. Embarrassed, the chief quickly left, but moments later he saw Joan walking out of the warehouse. Why was the police chief there was it was during the investigation.

42:37 No, I don't think so. I mean, it's a very small town, so I think people knew each other. And I also don't know, like Calvin had this warehouse, huh. He was retired from the military, but he seemed like he had a lot of things going on, Like I don't know if he had some business. I was never able to find out exactly what he did, but he had a warehouse that he had a lot of things stored in. Apparently, Mary confronted Calvin directly, asking him about his really relationship with Joan. He did not deny an affair, but he didn't admit to one either, claiming he was merely helping her after her split from Kit. When Mary pressed him about the police chief story, Calvin brushed it off with an excuse that was almost laughable. Yes, he had been naked at his warehouse, but not because of an affair.

43:20 According to Calvin, he had simply been rushing one of his dogs, which happened to have blonde. For hard time getting through that sentence without laughing. That is very plausible, Calvin, Yes, I mean, who doesn't. Why would you want to get for all your clothes? Take it was the door opened to the ware I'm not sure. As for Kit's alleged abuse, Calvin said he had never witnessed Kit harming Joan's children. The only accusation he had ever heard came from Elijah, who once told him that Kit had abused him. However, Calvin also admitted that Joan had never personally mentioned Kit sexually assaulting her are molesting her children? Whlear in this she never told you that he's molesting the kids.

44:05 No, I don't ever remember me. No, he soldomized me. He bates me. No. Kit's legal team carefully reviewed Mary's recorded conversation with Calvin as the person who had discovered the classified information that Kit had possession of. Calvin was supposed to be a key witness in the upcoming court martial hearing. But now instead of seeing him as a liability, Kid and his defense team realized Calvin's testimony might actually work in their favor, and since they had his statements on tape, they could use them to challenge any contradictory testimony he might give in court. One little thing I found interesting that's not directly related. Calvin had no idea he was being recorded, but the recording was actually legal under Kentucky's one party consent law.

44:50 So Mary was there with her assistant, and her assistant recorded the conversation, and because Mary had given consent to record the conversation, it was actually perfectly legal and admissible. Which is really interesting. And I think every state has different recording consent laws, and that really surprised me that that would be okay. Feeling confident in Calvin's testimony would ultimately benefit their case, Kit's legal team made a bold move. They subpoened him, ensuring he would have no choice but to appear at Kit's court martial hearing. The first step in a court martial is an Article thirty two hearing, a proceeding similar to a civilian pre trial hearing. Its purpose is to evaluate the evidence and determine whether a full trial is warranted.

45:34 Kit's Article thirty two hearing took place in July twenty fourteen. On the advice of his attorney, he chose not to testify. Given the seriousness of the charges, It was unlikely the case would be dismissed outright, and revealing their defense strategy too early could be a costly mistake. The prosecution relied heavily on testimony from Joan and her three children, Elijah, Si and Alma, who did the alleged abuse in detail, but und her close cross examination, Joan admitted that she never had sought medical treatment for any of the injuries she claimed Kit had inflicted on her or her kids. No other witnesses could corroborate the abuse allegations. The only physical evidence presented was a set of photos showing red marks and Walt's on Elijah's back, and those were the ones that Kit said had come from like he was helping him learn self defense or something.

46:28 He didn't say they came from that. He just acknowledged that it was possible that maybe he had gotten a rugburn or something when they were doing self defense. And if you truly are a victim of abuse, then document it and take pictures, write notes, keep a diary. I think it's really important that you have some sort of evidence to back up your claims absolutely. When the hearing concluded, the child molestation charge was dropped. However, the charges of sexual assault, child abuse, and mishandling classified information remained for Kit in his legal team, the Article thirty two hearing was a wake up call. While the physical evidence was weak, the testimony from Joanes's children would be difficult to overcome. Kit's attorney recommended a drastic course of action, resigning from the military. If his resignation was accepted, the case would be rendered moot in a military court. Kit was torn. He had dedicated much of his life to the military and walking away felt like an admitting defeat.

47:29 But faced with a no win situation, he reluctantly submitted his letter of resignation. Brigadier General Stammer, however, refused to accept it. He viewed the charges as too serious to let Kit leave on his own terms. With no other option, Kit was forced to rescind his resignation and prepare for the battle ahead. I'm not sure how common it is to allow someone to resign when they're facing a court martial. It seems like I can understand General Stammer's point of view would be like, well, yeah, you can't just get off that easy by resigning, right, But I just don't know if that's a common thing or. Not, because if the charges are military charges of civilian court wouldn't be able to pursue the same charges.

48:11 Right Well, they definitely wouldn't be able to pursue the classified information charges, and they had already investigated the child abuse charges and declined to pursue it. Just a week after the Article thirty two hearing, Joan found herself in legal trouble of her own. She was indicted for big of me, despite having just testified under oath that she and Carlo Squera were divorced. So it's probably lucky that she wasn't also charged with perjury. Yeah, for sure. This was a major setback for the JAG prosecutors handling Kits court martial. Joan was their star witness, and a criminal charge calling her credibility into question would weaken their case. Determined to protect their key witness, they launched a pressure campaign against the prosecutor handling Joan's bigamy case. Assistant County secutor Catherine Garber Foster. According to garber Foster, two prosecutors from Kit's case called her directly urging her to drop the charges against Joan. She later described their tone as rude, and she said she felt pressured by them to back off.

49:16 She said it was the first time in her career that she had felt that someone was questioning her prosecutorial discretion. Joan's legal team also attempted to intervene, filing a motion to have garber Foster removed from the case. Their efforts failed. In the end, Joan had little choice but to plead guilty to bigamy. She was given five years of unsupervised probation and her marriage to Kit was nullified. Meanwhile, Kit's private investigator, Mary Martin's, continued digging, and what she uncovered was nothing short of shocking. For years, Joan had claimed that Elijah's father had died in a gruesome logging accident, even going so far as to say that he had been decapitated. But Mary discovered that this was yet another of Joan's fabrications. Elijah's father, Michael Atkins, was very much alive, head and all.

50:05 Really. When Mary tracked Atkins down, he shared his side of the story. According to him, Joan left shortly after giving birth to Elijah, and he had never seen his son again. He also alleged that Joan had been physically abusive, recalling multiple occasions where she punched him in the face. Before ending the call, he summed up his feelings in one chilling sentence, what can I tell you? She's the devil. Even Joan's own family had little good to say about her. Her sister told Mary that Joan had a lifelong habit of lying, so much so that she had long since given up trying to separate fact from fiction. Joan's father, who hadn't spoken to her in over twenty years, echoed the sentiment quote, Joan always had a problem with telling the truth. She would make up lies and fabrications about just about anything and everything. After multiple delays, Kit's court martial hearing was finally set for early December twenty fifteen. Meanwhile, Joan had moved on with a new boyfriend, a man named William Stokes. She was working at a diner but struggling to make ends meet. Her co workers, however, had little sympathy. According to several employees who spoke with Mary Martin's Joan was rude, overbearing, and made the workplace miserable.

51:17 One coworker recalled overhearing a disturbing conversation. She claimed she once heard William Stokes say to Joan, I'll go shoot his fucking ass myself. It wasn't clear who he was referring to, but the threat lingered in the air. Joan's behavior was so problematic that both the diner's manager and owner wanted to fire her. However, they were afraid of the consequences, worried that Joan or possibly William, might retaliate. Then, in June twenty fifteen, a brutal crime shocked to the nearby town of Guthrie, Kentucky, about fifteen miles from Pembroke. Amos and Marjorie Yoder, an elderly Mennonite couple, were attacked in their home. Amos died from his injuries, while Marjorie suffered severe head trauma, leaving her brain damaged and unable to identify her attacker. Investigators believed the motive was robbery.

52:06 The Ooders were rumored to keep large amounts of cash on their property, possibly ten thousand dollars or more. At first glance, the incident seemed unrelated to Kit's case, but a curious connection soon emerged. Joan had previously rented a house from the Yoders, and had even told her co workers at the diner that the couple had been like grandparents to her children. Then something strange happened. Shortly after the attack on the Yoders. Joan appeared to come into money. Her manager noticed she was suddenly bragging about buying new furniture and a car, and she started showing up to work in brand new outfits. When asked about her sudden change in fortune, Joan claimed her mother had sent her some money. To this day, the murder of Amos Yoder and the assault on his wife, Marjorie remain unsolved.

52:53 That is a really a sad story. Yeah, it really is. The stories of when elderly people are killed in their homes they just heartbreaking. I know, they're just so helpless, really, and someone coming in and doing that is just really cold blooded and cruel. By early November twenty fifteen, final preparations were underway for Kit's court martial, now just a month away. The prosecution felt confident about at least one charge mishandling classified documents. Under military law, negligence was not a valid defense. Whether Kit or Joan had packed the materials by accident didn't matter. The charge would likely stick, but the abuse and sexual assault allegations were another story. The case rested entirely on the testimony of Joan and her children, and Joan's credibility was already in question. She had a well documented history of dishonesty, and there were indications that she had coached her children on what to say. Inconsistencies in their statements only further weakened the prosecution's case. On November two, Kit's private investigator, Mary Martin's, paid another visit to Calvin Phillips.

53:58 She was trying to pin down what he might say under oath, particularly regarding the discrepancies between his story and Jon's about how he discovered Kit's laptop and classified discs. This time, however, Calvin was unusually tight lipped. Instead of his usual willingness to talk, he brushed off his role in the situation as minor. He said he would tell his story under oath and they could hear it. Then, when asked again about his alleged affair with Joan, he neither confirmed nor denied it. He simply shrugged and said so what. A couple of days later, witnesses spotted Calvin walking into the diner where Joan worked. What started as a heated exchange quickly escalated into an argument, which Joan took outside. No one knew exactly what they were fighting about, but the tension between them was undeniable. Wednesday, November eighteenth, twenty fifteen, began early for Laura Spencer. She had nursing clinicals that morning and was out the door by five forty eight a m captured on Kit's security camera across the street. Pamela Phillips was also up early. She had two training sessions to teach at different bank branches that day.

55:05 Though the Phillipses didn't have security cameras, she would have left for work around six thirty am. Laura's children, Austin and Emma left for school at seven twenty three am, leaving Kit home alone for the next hour and forty five minutes until he departed for Fort Campbell at nine to eleven AM. That morning, Calvin and Pamela were expecting a special delivery. Their son Matt had bought them a new washing machine as an anniversary gift. Scheduled for arrival between ten and twelve. Calvin was planning to be at home so he could receive it. At ten forty am, Kit's next door neighbor, Billy Watkins, stepped out onto his porch. Heavy rain had been falling for days. As he looked out, he noticed a maroon suv driving down Main Street, followed closely by a white box truck. The suv slowed near Calvin's driveway, signaling to the truck, apparently helping the drivers locate the correct house. The box truck then backed into the driveway, while the suv turned around and drove away.

56:04 A few minutes later, as Billy left his house, he saw one of the delivery drivers on the phone. Most likely, the driver was calling Pamela Phillips. At ten fifty a m. Pam received a call at work. The delivery team was at the house, but no one was answering the door. They had also tried the home phone with no response. Frustrated, Pam tried calling Calvin's cell phone, no answer. She called again and again as the hours passed with no response. Her frustration turned to worry. Around one thirty or two pm, Marlene Laroq, a friend of the Phillips, tried calling their house. She and Calvin had bonded over their shared love of dogs, and she had heard from their vet that one of Calvin's dogs was sick. When her call went unanswered.

56:48 She left a message. She decided to stop. By, figuring that Calvin was out working in the yard. Around two pm, she and her daughter pulled into Calvin's driveway, expecting to find him outside. Instead, they found something unsettling. The front door stood wide open. That was unusual. The Phillips always kept their front door shut. Marlene knocked and called out for Calvin, but there was silence. Maybe he was out in the field behind the house, she thought. Not wanting to intrude, she left. Meanwhile, Laura wrapped up her clinicals and returned home at two thirty four pm. Kit left work early to drop off a check for his lawyer and to pick up roses for Laura. It was the third anniversary of the day that they met with the kids at after school activities. They had the house to themselves. He arrived home at four fifteen PM, and the couple spent the evening together, enjoying dinner and cuddling on the couch. By five pm, Pam's frustration with Calvin had shifted to full blown anxiety. He hadn't returned any of her calls. She reached out to their next door neighbor, ed Danzaro, asking if he had seen Calvin.

57:52 Ed said that he had been out most of the day and hadn't noticed anything unusual, but he promised to keep an eye out. While making dinner. His kit window had a clear view of the Phillips home. After calling Ed, Pam left the bank and hurried home, but when she arrived there was still no sign of Calvin inside or outside. Growing more concerned, she checked the home answering machine and heard the message from Marlene asking about Calvin's dog. Pam immediately called Marlene back. The conversation took a chilling turn. Pam asked if Marlene had seen Calvin that day. Marlene told her about stopping by the house and finding the front door wide open, but no sign of Calvin. Pam mentioned that his keys and wallet were still on the table, raising the possibility that he had wandered out into the fields behind their home. She told Marlene she had asked a neighbor to check. Then suddenly Pam said, hold on, don't hang up, I think I see something. Then there was silence. Marlene waited, straining to hear anything on the other end of the line. Then a sound, a startled yelp, not quite a scream, more like the kind of noise someone makes when they jump at the sight of a mouse.

59:00 And then nothing. Marlene held on listening for any sign of Pam, but the silence stretched on, cold and unnerving. After several minutes, she finally hung up. A gnawing unease settled over her. She turned to her daughter, we need to go back over there. By six pm, they were back at the Phillips house. The front door was still wide open. Marlene knocked and called for Pam. No answer. She pushed the screen door open, stepping forward, but then she stopped. Something in her gut told her don't go in there. The feeling was too strong to ignore. She and her daughter left, but the uneasy feeling wouldn't let go. After some time, Marlene turned to her daughter again, I think we should go back.

59:43 This time. It was between seven and seven thirty and darkness had settled in. As they pulled up. They immediately noticed two things. The front door, which had been standing open earlier, was now shut, and Pam's car, which had previously been parked facing the house was now turned around, backed up toward the porch. Once again, Marlene knocked. Once again, there was no answer. This time, she didn't hesitate to leave. That night, at eleven forty three pm, Kit's security camera captured him stepping outside through the back door. He went out and returned twice within a couple of minutes later. He explained that his dogs had been barking. He had gone outside to move them from the side yard to the backyard, hoping to settle them down. What exactly had his dogs been barking at. No one knew, and no one yet realized what had happened inside the Phillips home that day. So I know, I went through a lot of times and people and dates there, so maybe just a quick recap. Calvin disappeared sometime after his wife left for work and before ten fifty I think was when the delivery truck drove so there's like a three hour window of time when something happened to him.

1:00:53 We don't know what yet. And then in the afternoon, Pam came home looking for him. She was on the phone with their friend Marlene, and suddenly, like Marlene hears, you know, pam say, I think I see something and then she hears like a shriek or something like that. So obviously something has happened to both of them. Will get into kind of you know, what the police discovered the next But. The span of time there is several hours. Yeah, I mean, Calvin disappeared sometime between like six thirty am and ten fifty am. Pamela came home at five thirty. I mean, we know exactly she was on the phone with Marlene at five point thirty when she said she saw something and let out a shriek. So yeah, very different times. So if we go to November nineteenth, in the early hours of that morning, on Rosetown Road, just over two miles from the Phillips home, Earl Jet and his wife were jolted awake by the sound of their dog barking. It was just before two am on Thursday the nineteenth. Earl got up to investigate and saw that the dog was fixated on something outside, barking toward a field south of their house. Peering into the darkness, Earle noticed a flickering glow in the distance. His first thought was that his neighbor, John Homick was burning something in his usual burn pile, but something about the location seemed off.

1:02:11 The glow wasn't coming from where John's burn pile normally was. Still, it was late and Earl was groggy. He brushed off the thought and went back to bed. Moments later, two loud bangs shattered the night. Lying in bed, Earl assumed that something in the fire had exploded, maybe a couple of aerosol cans thrown into the flames. He glanced at his watch two thirteen am. Then he rolled over and went back to sleep. Down the road, John Homick also heard the two sharp blasts. His mind went to a different explanation. Someone must be out shooting in the field across the street. He too noted the time two thirteen am. Then, like Earle, he drifted back to sleep. By eight am, Earl jet was up and heading into town. As he neared John Homick's farm, something caught his eye, wisps so of smoke rising into the morning air from a dirt road off to the side. Curious, he turned onto the road.

1:03:05 Driving closer, he saw a car sitting in the mud, smoldering, with its frame charred and blackened from the fire. Earle wasted no time. He turned around and pulled into John Holmick's driveway, and together the two men called nine one one. Volunteer firefighter Phillips Peterson was the first down the scene. The moment he approached the burned out car, he made a grim discovery. Inside the scorched remains of the vehicle were two bodies, one slumped in the front passenger seat, the other in the back. It was impossible to tell who they were. Kentucky State Police Detective Leonard Scott Smith arrived soon after and took in the scene. A strong acrid smell hit him immediately kerosene. The odor was unmistakable someone had doused the car in fuel before setting it a blaze. The vehicle itself was stuck in the mud just off the dirt road. It looked like whoever had been driving had taken a wrong turn in the dark, missing a bend, and accidentally driving into the soft, rain soaked ground. While most of the ground was slick with mud, the area around the driver's side door was firm. There were no visible shoe or bootprints. The fire had reduced the car and its occupants to little more than ash and twisted metal. But then investigators caught a break. A license plate had fallen to the ground, somehow escaping the flames.

1:04:23 They ran the number and found that the car belonged to Pamela Phillips. Mmm, so, whoever had been driving the car? We don't know who it was. We don't know where they went right. Two deputies from the Christian County Sheriff's Department were dispatched to the home of Calvin and Pamela Phillips. When knocking on the door yielded no response, they tried the house next door, hoping their neighbor at Danzerobe might have some answers, but no one answered there either. Something wasn't right. The deputies requested a search warrant for the Phillips residence. Once granted, officers entered the house cautiously, moving vigilantly from room to room, weapons drawn. No one was inside. Now the search became more methodical. Officers combed through the cluttered home looking for any sign of what had happened. It was on the back porch that one of them noticed something odd. A blue tarp stained with what looked like blood. Pulling the tarp aside, they uncovered something they might have otherwise missed, a cellar door built directly into the floor of the porch.

1:05:25 They opened it. At the bottom of the steps. In the dim light, lay the crumpled body of a man. It was Calvin Phillips. Calvin was still wearing his raincoat, its hood tightly pulled around his head. The previous morning had been marked by heavy rains, suggesting that he had gone outside before he was killed, and his body was later dragged to the cellar. He had been shot multiple times, but that wasn't all. The lower half of his face showed significant trauma. An autopsy would later reveal that these injuries had occurred before he died. Investigators now faced two horrorifying possibilities. Calvin had been beaten before being shot, or he had been thrown down the stairs while still alive, his face striking the steps on the way down. The latter seemed likely. Blood was found on the cellar steps, and one of Calvin's teeth had been knocked out, discovered beneath his body. A bullet fragment was also found underneath him, suggesting that he had been shot at least once while lying at the bottom of the stairs. Scattered around his body were blood stained towels and clothing. Nearby, officers found something even more disturbing, charred wood and a partially burned roll of paper towels. It looked as though someone had attempted to destroy evidence by setting a fire near Calvin's body, but the fire had gone out after the cellar door had been closed. Beyond the cellar, investigators found little evidence of a struggle. Inside the house. There was no blood spatter, no signs of forced entry, but a faint trail of

1:06:56 blood led from the kitchen to. The back porch. In the foyer. Between the kitchen and the back porch, something caught their attention, a clump of dark hair. DNA testing would later confirm that it belonged to Pamela Phillips. Outside, the evidence told a more chaotic story. Blood was found in the grass next to a cell phone. A small caliber handgun was discovered in the backyard near the driveway, beside another blood stain. Additional blood spots dotted the sidewalk connecting the back porch to the driveway. Back inside, another oddity emerged. Calvin's wallet and cell phone were sitting on the top shelf of a built in bookcase in the foyer near the back porch.

1:07:37 This contradicted what Marlene Laroq, a friend of the Phillips family, would later tell police. Pam had specifically mentioned that Calvin's wallet and keys were on the table, so someone must have moved them. The house was cluttered, Calvin was known to be somewhat of a hoarder, But amid the mess, one piece of paper stood out, lying on a table in plain view was a subpoena. It revealed that in less than two weeks, Calvin Phillips was scheduled to testify as a witness in the court martial trial of Christian Martin. Christian Martin, the man who lived right across the street. Deputies began canvassing the neighborhood, hoping to find anyone who might have seen or heard something unusual. Their first stop was right next door at Danziero's house. They knocked, but there was no answer, and then they noticed something unsettling.

1:08:26 Ed's side door was wide open, calling out as they entered, deputies stepped cautiously inside. The house was empty, but it looked as if Ed had left in a hurry. On the kitchen counter, an uncooked fish filet sat out forgotten. The TV was still on, flickering in the dim room, an empty gun holster lay on a recliner, as if the weapon had been grabbed in haste. Everything pointed to one chilling conclusion. Ed Danzero had been interrupted. Something had drawn him away from his home so suddenly that he didn't bother turning off the television, didn't finish pairing dinner, didn't hesitate to take his gun. Hours later, his. Car was discovered four blocks away, sitting in a gravel parking lot of a former elementary school. Its location was ominous.

1:09:11 It was parked right at the corner of the highway leading out of town. More disturbingly, the car was located in the direction of Rosetown Road, where Pamela phillips burned out vehicle had been found. When forensic testing was completed, the truth was confirmed. The two bodies found inside Pam's scorched car were those of Pamela Phillips and ed Danzero. How far apart were these two cars. Probably like a mile and a half. It was two miles from Calvin and Pamela's home to where Pam's car was found, and then Ed's car was found like in that direction, but like four blocks away, so maybe maybe a half a mile at most. Well, that is where we're going to end part one. Before we do, I just want to talk a little bit more about the crime scene because I think I went through a lot of details there. It's just it's sort of bizarre. So Calvin was found at home in his cellar, beaten and shot, and then Pam, who.

1:10:08 Was obviously killed hours later. Hours later, Yeah, her body and Ed's were found in a car that some you know, the killer had driven them out to this country road set their car on fire, and then Ed's car was found. Somewhere in between the two cars. So what I mean, just what are your initial thoughts on, Like what do you make of that crime scene? Like whoever killed them? Why would they have done all these different things? First, I have a question how big were Ed and Calvin? Would one person have been able to I guess you said Calvin was probably thrown down the stairs. Yeah, I don't know how big either. It's a good question.

1:10:48 I don't know how big either of them were, but it does make you wonder if more than one person would have had to have been involved partly, yeah, because it seems like Calvin for sure was killed outside. They found blood in the grass. There was no blood spatter in the house, so someone had to have taken him into the house. There was a tarp there, so they could have used the tarp to drag his body into the house and throw him to the cellar. Where was the cellar outside of the house. It was on the back porch, so it was like, I think it was like a screened in back porch. And then loading both pam and add into the car would have also taken a fair amount of effort. Well well, and in broad daylight. Well, that's the other weird thing about this is the killer had to have come back to the house three times.

1:11:31 They had to have been there once when Calvin was killed. Then they had to come back later at five point thirty pm and killed Pamela unless they stayed there maybe, but then they would have had to come back again or stayed there until two in the morning when they loaded these bodies up into the car. So it's just and you're pointing to two am because. That's when the dogs were No, that's when ed the one the farmer saw the fire off in the distance, and then the next morning. He found the car burned. So yeah, whoever they took the you know, the car and the bodies out at like two am and set them on fire. So it's just it's just crazy that whoever did this either returned to the home three times or stayed there for a whole day. It just doesn't make any sense. And you know, burning the car with the two bodies obviously destroyed evidence. But at the same time, they left Calvin's body at the house without doing anything there, although apparently they tried to set a fire. The whole thing is just so so bizarre.

1:12:30 Did the paper towels have an accelerant on them? Not that I read about there. Was, like I think I said there were there was some wood there, so I don't know if they tried to use that as like a kindling to start the fire, but yeah, that didn't work. Well, we have a lot more to talk about in part two, but there are there are a lot of baffling things about this case, and there are going to continue to be baffling things about this case, so be sure to come back for part two. Well, as we talked about Spring is here, and with spring come birds. I'm at war with the birds right now.

1:13:10 We have been at war with birds for years, right. And the thing is, I love birds. I really do love birds. We feed them and we. Have a book on birds that we look up with. We get excited when we see a new bird that we haven't seen in a while, because we're not cool anymore. I have an app on my phone that can identify the type of birds in your yard based on their song. But they torment us. They do torment us. Last year, in particular, we had a bird make a nest in our mailbox. Like our mailbox has a little open space underneath it where you could put like flyers or newspapers or whatever, and a bird made a nest in there, and it made our life a living hell. For like three weeks in a row, you couldn't go anywhere near the mailbox without getting dive bombed.

1:13:57 I remember one time I went for a walk down the street and the bird follow Yeah, and it dive bombed me for like a quarter mile as. I walked it. Did I remember it was there? And in our backyard they build their nests under our deck. Yeah, And the same thing happens. They'll like get very irritated if we go out on our deck. But this year you said, I am gonna I'm gonna win. Enough it a step ahead of the birds. Yes, So I did some googling. I did some research, and I found these little spikes, these like plastic spikes. Because he's a cruel, cruel man. This is not intended to hurt the birds. It's intended to deter them from building a nest. And so well, it's kind of funny. As a side note, for Christmas, I got you something called the shock tea Matt, Yes, and you have like a pillow in this little mat.

1:14:44 It's essentially like a plastic bed of nails, and it's supposed to really I bought it as a tortured toise, but don't tell me. It's really supposed to help you sleep, right, it has it. I love it. I think it's been really good. I lay on it for like twenty minutes every night before I go to sleep. But yet, so the spikes I bought, maybe it's like they have a little bit of a little. Similarity, but I put them. I bought these spikes and I spent like hours under our deck putting them on top. Of all the joists where they build their nest. It was an A plus effort, it really was. And within twenty four hours the birds started building nests on top of the spikes. You're pretty upset about that. It's when you got them.

1:15:24 I did kind of think like, that looks like the perfect vessel in which the bird can place its nest where the nest wouldn't get blown away. I think that's exactly what the birds thought as well. They were like, oh, look, this homeowner put this nice thing here to keep our nests secure. And so they started building. Our nests on top of the spike of the spike. So then I was not done yet. I went and I bought some dangly mirror things. Yes, very classy. Our deck looks so cool. It's so great right now. So apparently if you hang these mirrors up, like the sun shines off them, or the birds see their reflection. To the homeowners association gets a load of those. Yes, and that also has failed foiled tarn it.

1:16:08 So I've now given up given up. Well, so the bird, the birds, the ones under the deck. It depends what you're doing. We have a hot tub under the deck, which we almost never use. And really the birds are only bad for a few weeks. And some are worse than others. Some breeds of birds are like oh whatever. Robins are particularly aggressive. Yeah, we had a really aggressive robin out there, well at. Our old house. That's the those were the ones that tormented me. Literally. They three I think it was at least three years that and I don't know if it was the same robin, but they would like just all day long, just fly into our window over and over. And we tried a lot of different things. We put up oil, we put up loons.

1:16:50 We put up pictures of giant hawks. Yeah, and the bird would just bang into the window like all long. It was really that really tormented me, Like what's going on now doesn't bother me nearly as much as the bird at our old house. And gratefully we don't have that situation. But our old house we had woodpeckers who our house was cedar sided woodpeckers. And carpenter bees and so many, so many things. But that yeah, that robin, it had to have brain damage because it would just all day long, bang into the window, go back, bang into it again. That was tough. Well, I applaud your efforts. Yeah, I feel that nature is usually gonna beat man. I think creature is always going to beat man.

1:17:31 Well, I did leave the spikes in the mailbox, and so far no nests are in there, so I'm hopefully. We had a little a little piece of wood. And I thought that was a good idea. But you're I don't know, I don't know. Yeah, well, if you have any great ideas for us out there, let us know how you have. Yeah, well that was too late because now they're going to be laying eggs any day now, and I can't we can't disrupt that once they once they lay. Eggs, told you to go down there with the weed or not the weed wager, but the flower. Just plow off all the vests that. I think I did. I did, Yeah, I. Mean because there weren't any eggs yet. No, you're not a complete month. No, their nests were just in the beginning stages of being built, and I blew them off. I did that two days in a row.

1:18:14 But then I was like whatever, yeah, whatever, have at it. Have fun. Well, then we have those other little birds that just run around and they kill there. It's the worst nest ever, I would have cured. They're adorable. Nothing is cutter than a baby killed her. But their nests. They lay them in like our molt on the ground, or actually sometimes in the in the little the middle of the yard, in the grass, and then the person who moser lawn has to go around them for a few weeks. But yeah, they're so adorable though I love them. They're very cute. Well enough bird talk, we should probably move on. Thank you all so much for listening. We really appreciate it.

1:18:55 If you want to listen to part two of this episode, join us on patrion dot slash Love Mary Kill for early ad free episodes and a monthly anthly a monthly bonus episode for five dollars. We thank you so much for your support. The only reason that there is a podcast is because of you. Please rate, review, follow and subscribe, find us on social media, or send us an email at Lovemarykill at gmail dot com. Until next time, don't here a husband and don't kill your wife. The