March 24, 2025

Joan Harmon and Christian “Kit” Martin - Part 1

Apple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconYouTube podcast player icon
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconYouTube podcast player icon

In November 2015, three people were brutally murdered in the small town of Pembroke, Kentucky – Pamela and Calvin Phillips, and Ed Dansereau. The police quickly homed in on a suspect, Major Christian “Kit” Martin, who lived across the street. Martin was set to be tried in a court martial hearing in just two weeks, and Calvin Phillips was a key witness. But Kit had recently been through an ugly separation from his wife, Joan Harmon, who threatened to “ruin his life”. Did Kit commit these horrible murders, or did Joan follow through on her threat?

Listen to part 2 now on Patreon.

Today's snack: Sausage cheese puffs

Sources:

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:02.000
I am Rich and I'm Tina.

2
00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:04.040
And if there's one thing we've learned in over twenty

3
00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:04.480
years of.

4
00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:07.639
Marriage, some days you'll feel like killing your husband, and.

5
00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:09.519
Some days you'll feel like killing your wife.

6
00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:12.160
Welcome to love, Mary Kill.

7
00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:28.480
Hey you, Tina, Hey Rich?

8
00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:29.280
How are you today?

9
00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:29.960
Great? How are you?

10
00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:31.679
I'm good? Happy? First day of spring?

11
00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:33.640
Yeah? Vernal equinox?

12
00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:34.000
Yeah?

13
00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:34.880
Did I get that right?

14
00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:36.280
I have no idea.

15
00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:38.320
Yes, I think you did, because it wouldn't be the

16
00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:40.719
autumnal equinox, right, so vernal?

17
00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:41.679
Yeah? Makes sense.

18
00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:44.560
Did you put an egg like you're supposed to put

19
00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:45.759
an egg up on its end?

20
00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:46.000
Oh?

21
00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:47.560
I didn't do that. I've never done that.

22
00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:49.920
Maybe we could try that during our commercial break, okay,

23
00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:50.840
because it only works.

24
00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:52.640
Does that have to be a hard boiled egg or

25
00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:53.399
a regular eg?

26
00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.000
I think it's supposed to be a regular and it's supposed.

27
00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:59.600
To balance on its end only the equinox.

28
00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:02.280
I think that's actually been disproven that you can do

29
00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:06.680
it anytime. Give me you're more determined to get it on,

30
00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:08.680
you know, the first day of spring.

31
00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:09.040
Maybe?

32
00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:12.200
So it is very midwestern spring here today, we've had

33
00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:13.040
all sorts of weather.

34
00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:15.040
I know, it was beautiful a couple of days ago,

35
00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:17.239
and now it's been snowing all day, and.

36
00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:19.280
Well, yesterday, wasn't it seventy yesterday?

37
00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:21.640
Yeah, that's what they say in Michigan. You know, if

38
00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:23.959
you don't like the weather, stick around. I think we've

39
00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:26.599
talked about that, say that in a lot of places,

40
00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:27.200
don't they.

41
00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:29.480
Oh, I don't know, but I had never heard that

42
00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:32.840
until you said it every time it rained here in

43
00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:36.840
Michigan when I first moved here. So literally minutes ago,

44
00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:40.319
I just finished my NCAA bracket, and I think there

45
00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:44.879
have already been games, no just like this one. This one,

46
00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:48.879
this one I've heard Gonzaga is good. So yeah, that's

47
00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:49.959
that's kind of how I did it.

48
00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.200
My perfect bracket was busted after the first game, so.

49
00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:57.040
I yeah, I didn't finish mine before the first game,

50
00:01:57.079 --> 00:01:58.400
so mine is probably busted too.

51
00:01:58.519 --> 00:01:58.959
Probably.

52
00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:02.040
Oh well, it's always next year. So I spelled you

53
00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:05.280
cooking something, yes, something meaty.

54
00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:07.280
Well you know what it.

55
00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:10.039
Is already, because you know, you were a little detective

56
00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:12.560
and you saw the things I bought and you figured

57
00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:13.199
it out right away.

58
00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:15.680
Two ingredients that I knew that you said you went

59
00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:17.560
to the store to purchase, and I was like, Okay,

60
00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:19.479
there's sausage and there's cheese.

61
00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:23.560
So yeah, so I made you sausage cheese puffs.

62
00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:24.360
Sounds good.

63
00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:28.280
And don't ask me how I came over with. I

64
00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:31.520
have no idea I was. I started looking at Kentucky

65
00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:35.240
snacks because our case does take place in Kentucky today,

66
00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:38.439
but this is not a Kentucky snack. I just somehow

67
00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:41.240
ended up on a website with different snacks and I

68
00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:43.759
looked at it. I thought, that looks really yummy. Yeah,

69
00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:46.199
and it's really simple too. There's only four ingredients to

70
00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:46.759
the whole thing.

71
00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:48.400
So they're kind of like biscuits.

72
00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:49.960
But hold them up so I can see them.

73
00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.879
Yeah, they're a little Oh they look really good.

74
00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:55.000
It's kind of like, from from the distance, it looks

75
00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:55.639
like a cookie.

76
00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:58.680
Yeah, kind of, but they're more like biscuits than cookies.

77
00:02:58.680 --> 00:02:59.800
But you tried one yet?

78
00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:00.319
I did?

79
00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:02.360
Yeah, Oh, okay, that's okay.

80
00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:04.360
Would you like to try one? Sure?

81
00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:12.759
All right? How did you like the sausage cheese puffs?

82
00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:14.439
That was really tasty.

83
00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:15.479
You're really good, aren't they.

84
00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:16.439
You're a good little cook.

85
00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:18.879
Well, there's really not a whole lot to it. It's

86
00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:23.439
basically just sausage cheddar cheese, biscuit mix or baking mix,

87
00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:25.840
and a little buttermilk. Super simple.

88
00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:28.960
Definitely like if you were a farmer who was going

89
00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:31.680
to go, you know, harvest their fields, that would be

90
00:03:31.719 --> 00:03:34.680
a really nice, hearty breakfast. Yeah, I speak for the

91
00:03:34.680 --> 00:03:36.520
rest of us. Might be a little heavy, but it

92
00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:38.439
was really yummy. I would give it a nine out

93
00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:39.400
of ten awesome.

94
00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:40.360
I would give it the same.

95
00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:42.639
What kind of sausage did you use? Did you use

96
00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:44.360
Jimmy Dean, Bob Evans?

97
00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:45.560
I believe it was Bob.

98
00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:50.039
Why are sausages named after men? Is this strange?

99
00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:52.879
I don't know. It's a very good question.

100
00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:56.759
Never thought about that before. Thank you for bringing it up.

101
00:03:56.840 --> 00:03:59.599
Yeah, and you used just cheddar cheese, yes, well kind of.

102
00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:01.719
You know, you could use like a zesty or a

103
00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:04.759
spicy sausage, or you could use like a pepper jack cheese.

104
00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:06.520
Yeah. I thought about putting like doing.

105
00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:09.199
You could add some garlic to it or other things,

106
00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:12.280
but I just went simple since I hadn't tried this before.

107
00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:13.120
Very good.

108
00:04:13.319 --> 00:04:14.159
Well, today we are.

109
00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:17.519
Going to tell the story of major Christian kit Martin,

110
00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:22.519
Joan Harmon, Pamela and Calvin Phillips and Ed Danzero. This

111
00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:25.759
case was a suggestion from our listener Julie and Julie,

112
00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:29.079
I really appreciate the suggestion, and Tina, I know you're

113
00:04:29.079 --> 00:04:30.360
a little salty that I.

114
00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:30.959
Took this case.

115
00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:32.360
First of all, I just want to say thank you

116
00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:34.920
to Julie, because Julie is one of our og listeners

117
00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:38.879
and she's just a gem. She's so kind and supportive

118
00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:41.959
of the podcast, and we really appreciate Julie. So thank

119
00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:44.720
you for the suggestion, Julie. But yes, I had purchased

120
00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:48.319
the book that Julie recommended, and it was in my

121
00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:52.279
kindle and we share the kindle, and I did you

122
00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:54.199
see it in my kindle or how did you know?

123
00:04:54.439 --> 00:04:56.959
I just saw it on our list of suggestions, And

124
00:04:57.040 --> 00:04:59.800
I did message you to be fair and asked if

125
00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:01.360
you were doing it, and you said no, so I

126
00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:02.800
took it and then you were.

127
00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:05.079
You had some regret after that.

128
00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:07.120
Well, heause, I didn't want to do it, but I'm

129
00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.720
sure you did a great job, and it's all. It's

130
00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.439
all good. I mean, I'm working on like six different cases.

131
00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:14.439
I have like notes in all these different cases, so

132
00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:17.959
it's okay. You got it done pretty quickly, so I'm

133
00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.040
sure you did it justice.

134
00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:20.720
And I know we say this probably about a lot

135
00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:23.560
of cases, but this one is really a fascinating case.

136
00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:25.600
I think it'll be we'll have some really good discussion.

137
00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:28.839
There is a content warning. This episode will contain descriptions

138
00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:31.839
of child abuse that may be disturbing, so please listen

139
00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:34.839
with care. It was a quiet November morning in twenty

140
00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:38.800
fifteen when Earl Jet set out from his farm in Pembroke, Kentucky.

141
00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:41.759
Just a short drive into town, nothing out of the ordinary.

142
00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:44.680
But as he rumbled down the road, something caught his eye.

143
00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:48.040
Smoke rising from a dirt road near his property. A

144
00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:51.199
flicker of memory surfaced, his dog barking in the middle

145
00:05:51.240 --> 00:05:53.759
of the night, a strange glow in the distance. He

146
00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:56.959
had brushed it off then, but now something felt wrong.

147
00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.120
Curiosity got the best of him. He turned down the

148
00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:03.879
dirt road and soon stopped in his tracks a car charred,

149
00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:08.680
barely recognizable. He called nine one one. When first responders arrived,

150
00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:11.720
the horror deepened. Inside the burned out vehicle were the

151
00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:15.439
skeletal remains of two people, and just a couple miles away,

152
00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:19.759
inside a quiet home, police made another grizzly discovery. One

153
00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:23.839
more body beaten and shot multiple times, a triple murder

154
00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:26.600
in a town of less than one thousand people. The

155
00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:30.079
investigation quickly zeroed in on an Army major stationed at

156
00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:34.800
nearby Fort Campbell, Christian kit Martin, a man with military training,

157
00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:37.560
a man with a past, a man who lived right

158
00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:40.600
across the street from the victims. The police believed they

159
00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:43.439
had their killer, but was kit Martin truly a cold

160
00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:46.519
blooded murderer or had someone else been pulling the strings

161
00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:49.680
all along, perhaps the person who had vowed three years

162
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:53.720
earlier to ruin kit Martin's life. Christian Richard Martin was

163
00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:56.720
born into a life of service. His grandfather had been

164
00:06:56.759 --> 00:06:59.560
in the Army Cavalry and his father, a decorated Air

165
00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:03.040
Force vas veteran, served in Vietnam and dedicated thirty seven

166
00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:06.920
years to the military. Following in their footsteps seemed inevitable.

167
00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:10.839
Like many military families, the Martins moved frequently, even spending

168
00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:14.759
time in Europe. As a teenager, Chris embraced the family tradition,

169
00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:18.600
enlisting in the Army Reserves at just seventeen. After graduating

170
00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:21.639
high school and completing basic training, he enrolled at the

171
00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:26.240
University of Nebraska juggling ROTC training, a part time job,

172
00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:29.920
and his weekend commitments with the Reserves. With so many

173
00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:33.199
cadets named Chris in the program, Martin decided he needed

174
00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:36.319
a standout nickname. He recalled a boy scout trip where

175
00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:39.639
his troop visited the grave of Christopher kit Carson, the

176
00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:44.160
nineteenth century frontiersman. Inspired, he started calling himself Kit Martin,

177
00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.360
a name that would stick. During his officer training in

178
00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:51.639
Washington State, Kit met Stacey, a fellow ROTC cadet who

179
00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:55.360
was attending Middle Tennessee State University. They maintained a long

180
00:07:55.399 --> 00:07:59.680
distance relationship while finishing school, Kit in Nebraska, Stacey and

181
00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:03.079
ten time. He earned his degree in geography in nineteen

182
00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:06.120
ninety and by nineteen ninety one they were married. He

183
00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:09.279
was twenty two, she was twenty five. Over the next

184
00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:13.480
few years, they welcomed three children, Mackenzie in nineteen ninety two,

185
00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:18.000
followed by Chase and Zachary. As part of his ROTC scholarship,

186
00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:20.560
Kit was required to serve full time in the Army

187
00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:24.519
after graduation. He was stationed in California, where he endured

188
00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:27.959
the grueling twelve week Ranger School training. But his true

189
00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:32.320
ambition was to fly helicopters. After completing his active duty service,

190
00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:35.519
he pursued flight training while Stacey and the kids moved

191
00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:37.639
back to Tennessee so that she could be closer to

192
00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:42.279
family and earn her realtor's license. Kit's aviation career took

193
00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:45.480
off when he joined a company called air Logistics, ferrying

194
00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:48.679
helicopters to and from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

195
00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:51.360
The job kept him away for two weeks at a time,

196
00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:54.279
with five days at home in between. The strain of

197
00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:57.480
his schedule, combined with financial struggles, took a toll on

198
00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:00.360
the marriage. By two thousand and four, Stacey us for

199
00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:04.000
a divorce. Though officially separated, the couple continued living under

200
00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:06.279
the same roof while waiting for their house to sell.

201
00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:09.159
It was during this uneasy limbo that Kit took a

202
00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:12.200
step into the world of online dating. He posted an

203
00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:15.759
ad on Yahoo Personals, and one of the first responses

204
00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:19.840
he received was from Joan harmon Yahoo personals. It's a

205
00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:20.799
blast in the past.

206
00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:24.559
I don't remember that no. Did you ever use NO?

207
00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:26.720
I never used it, but I think it eventually became

208
00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:29.440
match dot com. I think it was match dot com

209
00:09:29.480 --> 00:09:31.480
before there was Match dot Com.

210
00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.240
While Kit was adjusting to life as a newly single

211
00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:37.600
father of three, Joan Harmon had a complicated past of

212
00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:40.200
her own. She was also a mother of three, with

213
00:09:40.279 --> 00:09:43.320
her oldest child just seven years old when she met Kit.

214
00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:45.919
How old were kids at this time? Do you know?

215
00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:49.039
His oldest Mackenzie would have been about twelve.

216
00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:52.519
She shared a tragic story. Her first child's father had

217
00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:56.600
died in a gruesome logging accident. He was decapitated. Her

218
00:09:56.679 --> 00:09:59.559
two younger daughters were from her marriage to Carlos Squera,

219
00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:03.200
a man she said she had recently divorced, but according

220
00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:06.799
to Joan, the divorce hadn't ended their troubles. She alledged

221
00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:10.919
that Guera was stalking and threatening her. Even more disturbing,

222
00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:14.799
she accused him of being abusive and of sexually assaulting

223
00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:18.720
their daughters. Wanted to help, Kit stepped in. He rented

224
00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:21.080
a U haul and helped Joan move into a rental

225
00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:24.279
property he owned. He didn't charge her rent and even

226
00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:27.639
gave her money for food and other expenses. Not long

227
00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:31.240
after she moved in, however, Kit began having doubts. Joan

228
00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:35.039
frequently recounted harrowing stories of abuse, not just from her

229
00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:38.679
ex husband, but also from her father. Over time, some

230
00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:44.480
of her accounts seemed exaggerated and inconsistencies started to emerge. Concerned,

231
00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:47.840
Kit ended the relationship, but then Joan called him with

232
00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:51.639
devastating news her brother had been killed in Iraq. Wanted

233
00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:54.440
to comfort her, Kit went over to see her. One

234
00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:58.080
thing led to another, and they rekindled their relationship. Around

235
00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:01.360
this time, Kit felt a renewed sense of duty. Since

236
00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:05.159
nine eleven he had considered returning to active military service,

237
00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:08.519
and with the Iraq War now escalating, he felt it

238
00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:12.759
was time before re enlisting. He and Joan married in

239
00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:16.320
December two thousand four. Over the next few years, Kit

240
00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:20.360
served three combat tours in Iraq as a helicopter pilot,

241
00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:23.679
logging more than one thousand hours in the air, five

242
00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:27.559
hundred of those using night vision. Meanwhile, he, Joan and

243
00:11:27.639 --> 00:11:31.080
her children spent time stationed in Germany before returning to

244
00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:34.039
the US in twenty ten. Kit was then stationed in

245
00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:37.080
Rhode Island, where he pursued a master's degree in National

246
00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:40.919
defense at the Naval War College. By the time he graduated,

247
00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:44.120
he had achieved the rank of major and was assigned

248
00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:48.080
to the one hundred first Airborne division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

249
00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:51.559
Looking for a home near Fort Campbell, Joan found an

250
00:11:51.559 --> 00:11:55.159
old house in the small town of Pembroke, Kentucky, about

251
00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:58.279
fifteen miles from the base. Built in nineteen o six,

252
00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:01.039
the house was a fixer upper, but it had plenty

253
00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:03.600
of space. It sat on an acre and a half,

254
00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:06.600
and it fit their budget. But Joan and Kit saw

255
00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:09.600
potential in the place, viewing it as a project they

256
00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:12.600
could take on together. The first thing they did after

257
00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:15.960
moving was give the house a bold new look, painting

258
00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:19.759
the exterior a bright yellow. At first, life in Pembroke

259
00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:23.080
was relatively peaceful. Kit and Joan settled into their new

260
00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:26.879
home and their relationship remained steady, though one point of

261
00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:32.159
contention began to emerge. Kit's ex's wife, Stacy. Despite their divorce,

262
00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:35.879
Kit and Stacy had remained on good terms, co parenting

263
00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:39.399
their children without issue, but Joan wasn't convinced there still

264
00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:43.159
weren't feelings there. Even though Kit reassured her their communication

265
00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:47.799
was strictly about the kid's Joan's jealousy flared whenever Stacy

266
00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:51.320
entered the conversation. As time went on, tensions in the

267
00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:54.840
marriage grew because of Kit's military duties. The couple had

268
00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:58.480
spent long stretches apart. Now living together full time for

269
00:12:58.519 --> 00:13:01.759
the first time, their different and sins became harder to ignore.

270
00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:06.200
Their arguments became more frequent and more intense. Kit began

271
00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:09.159
to feel that Joan intentionally started fights in front of

272
00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:13.279
the children, something that deeply bothered him. Despite the growing

273
00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.720
tension at home, the couple quickly became part of the

274
00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:18.720
Pembroke community and a small town, neighbors tend to get

275
00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:21.559
to know one another, and Kit and Joan were no exception.

276
00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:25.720
Directly across the street lived Ed Danzero, a man in

277
00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:29.879
his early sixties with an easy going charm. A professional pianist,

278
00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:32.879
Ed had a deep love for jazz, but could play

279
00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:36.000
just about anything. He split his time between Pembroke and

280
00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:39.159
Bowling Green, where his girlfriend Sally lived. When he wasn't

281
00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:42.200
at the piano, he enjoyed cooking gourmet meals.

282
00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:45.200
I'll just say I found some YouTube videos of Ed

283
00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:48.240
not video, just audio, but it was on YouTube with

284
00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:51.320
him playing the piano as band really really good.

285
00:13:51.639 --> 00:13:56.039
Cool. Next door to Ed lived Kelvin and Pamela Phillips. Kelvin,

286
00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:59.519
a retired Army logistics officer, had served seventeen years in

287
00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:02.639
the military, including a tour in the Gulf War. He

288
00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:06.000
was loud, gregarious, and could talk your ear off if

289
00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:09.639
you let him. His wife, Pamela, was his opposite, reserved,

290
00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:12.639
steady and dedicated to her job as a bank vice president,

291
00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:16.080
where she worked long hours. The couple had a grown son, Matt,

292
00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:19.600
who lived in Louisville. Calvin and Ed were close friends.

293
00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:22.559
They shared a love of music, often spending evenings around

294
00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:26.039
a backyard fire, guitars in hand, playing songs over a

295
00:14:26.039 --> 00:14:29.840
few beers, sometimes into the early morning hours. Kit and

296
00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:33.519
Joan quickly integrated into this tight knit circle. Not long

297
00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:37.159
after moving in, Calvin invited them to the annual Ham

298
00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:38.879
Festival in Cadiz.

299
00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:41.320
Yes, I want to go to the Ham Festival thing.

300
00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.320
You do love Ham. They went with him and Pam

301
00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:47.759
and had a great time. I mean, how can you

302
00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:49.879
not have a great time when was the focus of

303
00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:50.440
the festival?

304
00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:50.799
For sure?

305
00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:54.039
Kit bonded with Ed as well. If Ed spotted Kit

306
00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:56.120
in the yard, he'd wave him over for a beer

307
00:14:56.159 --> 00:15:00.159
on his front porch. Another neighbor, Billy Watson, often stip

308
00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:03.639
to help Kit with house projects. At some point, Joan

309
00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:06.360
began spending a lot of time at Calvin's house. With

310
00:15:06.440 --> 00:15:09.840
Pamela working long hours and Kit busy on bass, She

311
00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:13.039
and Calvin seemed to have plenty of time together. Joan

312
00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:16.360
told Kit they were discussing business ideas, one of which

313
00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:20.799
involved Kelvin teaching concealed carry classes in his backyard. He

314
00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:23.600
Eden set up a small shooting range and held a class.

315
00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:27.279
When that Joan attended, using a pistol registered to Kit.

316
00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:32.440
Soon rumors started swirling around town. People whispered about Joan

317
00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:36.360
and Kelvin's growing closeness, and Kit couldn't ignore the uneasy

318
00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:40.919
feeling creeping in. He suspected an affair, but hadn't confronted

319
00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:45.080
Joan about it, at least not yet. Then came September fifth,

320
00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:48.720
twenty twelve. After the explosive fight they had that evening,

321
00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:51.679
Kit no longer cared whether she was having an affair

322
00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:53.279
or not. He was done.

323
00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:56.600
The fight began over something small, but it had been

324
00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:59.679
brewing for a long time. That evening, Joan found out

325
00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:01.759
that Kit had made plans to have lunch with his

326
00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:05.240
nineteen year old daughter, Mackenzie. She had recently transferred to

327
00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:09.679
Austin p University in Clarksville, Tennessee, only about thirty minutes

328
00:16:09.720 --> 00:16:12.320
from Pembroke, and had moved in with Kit and Joan,

329
00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:16.360
along with Joan's three children, sixteen year old Elijah, eleven

330
00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:20.039
year old Alma, and nine year old Essie. Joan was

331
00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:23.240
furious that Kit and Mackenzie had made lunch plans without

332
00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:26.200
including her. That was the spark, but the fire had

333
00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:30.039
been building for years. They argued about money, especially Joan's

334
00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:34.200
habit of starting expensive home projects without consulting Kit. They

335
00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.840
argued about Kit's ex wife, Stacy, and her frequent phone calls.

336
00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:40.679
Kit insisted they only spoke about the kids, but Joan

337
00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:41.919
refused to believe him.

338
00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:43.360
The fight escalated.

339
00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.159
Later, Joan would claim that Kit struck her in the

340
00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:48.440
temple with his fingers and hit the sides of her

341
00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.200
head with his fists. Kit's version was much different. He

342
00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:53.279
said he flicked her hair.

343
00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:53.960
That was it.

344
00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:57.039
Trying to cool down, he went upstairs, took a shower,

345
00:16:57.080 --> 00:17:00.480
and settled into the TV room to decompress, but Joan

346
00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:03.559
wasn't done. She followed him in and kept the argument going.

347
00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:06.720
That's when Kit decided he was done. He told Joan

348
00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:10.000
it was over, he wanted a divorce. According to Kit,

349
00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:13.759
Joan's response was chilling quote. If you divorce me, I

350
00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:16.200
will ruin your career. I will ruin your life, and

351
00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.759
I know how to do it. Mackenzie, who was in

352
00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:21.599
the next room, later recalled a slightly different version of

353
00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.480
Joan's words, but the meaning was the same. If you

354
00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:26.440
leave me, I will ruin your life and I will

355
00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:30.359
ruin your military career. Then Joan made her threat explicit.

356
00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:33.559
She said that she would tell Kit's superior officers that

357
00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.279
he had abused her. A domestic abuse accusation, true or not,

358
00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:39.599
could destroy Kit's career in the military.

359
00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:41.160
Kit called her bluff.

360
00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:43.319
If you think you've been abused, He told her you

361
00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:46.599
should call the police. Before he could make a call himself,

362
00:17:46.839 --> 00:17:49.200
Joan dialed nine one one. What's going on?

363
00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:49.480
Man?

364
00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:51.640
Domestic abuse?

365
00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:55.359
My husband? What's he doing to you?

366
00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:57.559
Talking me in the head, screaming in my face and

367
00:17:57.599 --> 00:17:58.119
threatening me.

368
00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:03.400
After hanging up, Joan turned to Elijah. Mackenzie, who overheard

369
00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:06.920
the conversation, later said that she heard Joan instruct Elijah

370
00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:09.720
to say that he had seen Kit hit her, something

371
00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:13.880
Joan would later deny, but Mackenzie immediately pulled Elijah aside

372
00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:16.400
and told him not to lie to the police. When

373
00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:20.200
Deputy Eddie Fry arrived, Joan wasted no time. He beat

374
00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:22.519
the shit out of me again, she told him. Fry

375
00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:25.119
asked where she had been hit. Joan pointed to her

376
00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:27.880
temples and the back of her head. The deputy shined

377
00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:30.759
a flashlight on her face, but saw no marks. Joan

378
00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:33.640
then suggested he speak to her son, Elijah, who had

379
00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:38.400
supposedly witnessed everything upstairs. The deputy questioned, Elijah, what did

380
00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:41.039
you see, he asked. Elijah said that his mom was

381
00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:44.119
yelling at Kit and added, he never touched her. You

382
00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:47.160
never saw him hit her. The deputy pressed no, Elijah

383
00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:50.240
confirmed he did not hit her. With tensions high, Kit

384
00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:52.440
agreed to leave the house for the night. He and

385
00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:55.640
Mackenzie packed some things and headed to a hotel. Before

386
00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:58.319
they left, Deputy Fry asked if there were any weapons

387
00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:01.200
in the house that should be secured. Kit, a gun owner,

388
00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:04.599
gathered his firearms, locked them in a safe in the bedroom,

389
00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:07.480
and removed the face plate so that it couldn't be opened.

390
00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:10.880
The deputy, still wary, asked if Joan had access to

391
00:19:10.920 --> 00:19:13.880
any other weapons. Kit said, she has a forty five

392
00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:16.799
caliber pistol in her glove box, but it's registered to me.

393
00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:20.279
Fry instructed Kit to retrieve that gun as well and

394
00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:23.400
secure it in the safe. Before leaving, the deputy asked

395
00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:26.039
Joan if she wanted to file for an order of protection.

396
00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:29.359
She declined. He also offered to take her and the

397
00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:33.240
kids to a domestic violence shelter called the Sanctuary. Again,

398
00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:36.799
she said no, but later that night, Joan changed her mind.

399
00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:39.839
She contacted the sanctuary and arranged to go there with

400
00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:43.279
her children, claiming that she felt unsafe, especially now that

401
00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:45.319
all the guns were locked up and she had no

402
00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:46.640
way to protect herself.

403
00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:48.680
Do you think that she was really in danger?

404
00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:50.079
I really don't know.

405
00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:53.359
I mean, it's definitely a classic, he said, She said, situation.

406
00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:55.880
It doesn't seem like, you know, based on what her

407
00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:58.599
son said that Kit had actually hit her. But he

408
00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:01.079
did have a lot of guns and he locked them

409
00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:02.960
in the safe. But he was the one who had

410
00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:04.880
access to he had the key. Yeah, so I don't

411
00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:07.759
you know, I can totally understand that maybe she felt

412
00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:10.640
unsafe at that point. The next day, she changed her

413
00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:13.720
mind about the order of protection as well. She filed

414
00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:17.839
for an Emergency Protective Order or EPO against Kit, stating

415
00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:19.559
that he had hit her in the temples and the

416
00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:22.839
back of her skull. Her written statement read quote, he

417
00:20:22.920 --> 00:20:25.079
threatened to harm me if I ever told the police,

418
00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:27.480
so I went to the sanctuary to protect myself and

419
00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:30.279
my children. I felt he would come back and harm us.

420
00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:33.680
He has abused us for years. A hearing for the

421
00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:37.119
EPO was set for September eighteenth, just two weeks after

422
00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:39.720
the fight that ended Kit and Joan's marriage.

423
00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:41.440
We'll be back after a break.

424
00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:54.119
So far, the abuse that Joan has claimed that has

425
00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:57.079
been done to her by Kit is like poking her

426
00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:00.880
in the temples or in the back of the head, minor.

427
00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:04.400
But if she's a smaller woman and he's a big

428
00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:07.079
man like yelling at her in her face, sure like

429
00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:08.759
that could be really scary too.

430
00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:11.400
Yeah, for sure, and her allegations are going to get

431
00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:14.319
a lot more severe as well. Both Kit and Joan

432
00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:17.000
had a lot riding on the outcome of the Emergency

433
00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.759
Protective Order hearing. For Kit, the stakes were enormous. As

434
00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:23.960
a member of the military, a domestic violence ruling could

435
00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:27.240
not only damage his reputation, but also subject him to

436
00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:31.319
a court martial for Joan. The hearing carried financial implications.

437
00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:34.240
Without an income of her own, she could receive aid

438
00:21:34.279 --> 00:21:37.640
from the family Advocacy program at Fort Campbell if the

439
00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:41.000
judge ruled in her favor. The hearing began with Joan

440
00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:44.279
giving her version of the events from September fifth. She

441
00:21:44.440 --> 00:21:46.720
repeated her claim that Kit had hit her on the

442
00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:49.759
temple with his fingers and insisted that he had threatened

443
00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:52.200
her in the past, warning her not to speak out

444
00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:56.119
about his alleged abuse. Then Kit's attorney began questioning Joan

445
00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:59.880
about her history. Specifically, he brought up her previous abuse

446
00:22:00.039 --> 00:22:04.519
allegations against her first husband, Carlos Guerra under oath. Joan

447
00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:08.960
admitted that she had fabricated those claims after their separation. Next,

448
00:22:09.079 --> 00:22:12.799
Joan presented photographs of Elijah showing red marks all over

449
00:22:12.839 --> 00:22:16.640
his back that looked like welts or rugburn's. She alleged

450
00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:19.599
that Kit had inflicted those injuries a few years earlier

451
00:22:19.640 --> 00:22:22.839
when they lived in Rhode Island. However, the judge refused

452
00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:25.640
to admit the photos as evidence, ruling that they were

453
00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:30.240
unrelated to the specific allegations being considered. Then Elijah took

454
00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:33.200
the stand, and what he said was drastically different from

455
00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:35.759
the story that he had told the police just two

456
00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:39.680
weeks earlier. This time, Elijah testified that Kit, not Joan,

457
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:42.839
was the one yelling during the argument. He also claimed

458
00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:45.640
that he had seen Kit strike his mother. The judge

459
00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:49.200
reminded Elijah that his statements contradicted what he told officers

460
00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:52.839
on the night of the incident. Elijah's response, I lied

461
00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:56.720
to the police. Jones's two daughters, Alma and Essie, followed

462
00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:59.759
with their testimony. They claimed to have overheard the argument

463
00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:02.799
and to have seen Kit hit their mother. The judge

464
00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:05.359
asked Almah if anyone had spoken to her about what

465
00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:07.839
to say in court. She said that her mom had

466
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:10.400
told her to tell the truth, but also to quote,

467
00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:13.039
make sure she told the judge what Dad did to

468
00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:17.039
her unquote. Then it was Kit's turn to testify. Since

469
00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:20.640
Joan was representing herself in the hearing, she questioned him directly.

470
00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:25.000
Kit firmly denied ever striking Joan, but then out of nowhere,

471
00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:28.079
Joan accused him of something new. She asked if he

472
00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:32.000
recalled throwing her down a flight of stairs. Kit appeared stunned.

473
00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:35.319
He denied the accusation outright, and even offered to take

474
00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:38.240
a polygraph test to prove that he was telling the truth.

475
00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:42.960
Regarding Elijah's injuries, Kit denied ever intentionally harming him. However,

476
00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:45.559
he didn't rule out the possibility that the marks on

477
00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:48.000
Elijah's back could have been the result of the ju

478
00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:52.279
jitsu and self defense lessons that Kit had given him. Finally,

479
00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:55.640
Kit's daughter, Mackenzie took the stand. She testified about what

480
00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:58.200
she had seen and heard on the night of September fifth,

481
00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:01.200
including the moment when Joan co coached Elijah to say

482
00:24:01.240 --> 00:24:04.599
that he saw Kit hit her. After testifying, Mackenzie left

483
00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:07.240
the courtroom to wait in a conference room down the hall.

484
00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:10.759
While sitting there, she overheard voices coming from another conference

485
00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:14.240
room with the door open. Joanes's children were inside. She

486
00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:17.640
distinctly heard Elijah say that he had testified to what

487
00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:21.400
Mom told me to say. Mackenzie immediately told her father,

488
00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:25.000
and Kit's attorney informed the judge. The judge called both

489
00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:27.599
McKenzie and Elijah back to the stand to.

490
00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:28.680
Address the situation.

491
00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:33.240
Elijah, however, denied making the statement. Ordinarily, it would have

492
00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:36.720
been one step sibling's word against the others, but this time,

493
00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:40.119
there was another witness, a lawyer from Kentucky legal aide

494
00:24:40.119 --> 00:24:43.240
who had been waiting outside the courtroom for an unrelated case.

495
00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:47.079
She stepped forward and confirmed that she too had heard

496
00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:49.880
Elijah's statement. With that the hearing ended.

497
00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:53.799
So this lawyer who heard Elijah's statement had nothing to

498
00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:55.559
do with the case at all. She was just walking by.

499
00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:57.799
She just happened to be outside waiting for.

500
00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:00.480
A diffic She had no reason to make a foot no,

501
00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:01.240
not at all.

502
00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:05.119
After a brief deliberation, the judge returned with his ruling.

503
00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:08.519
He acknowledged that in a he said, she said situation,

504
00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:11.720
credibility was key, and while he didn't go so far

505
00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:14.000
as to say that the children had lied, he made

506
00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:18.119
it clear that Elijah's testimony had credibility issues, since he

507
00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:21.640
had either lied to the police or lied in court. Ultimately,

508
00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:24.000
the burden of proof was on Joan, and in the

509
00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:27.119
judge's opinion, she hadn't met that burden. He ruled in

510
00:25:27.160 --> 00:25:30.119
favor of Kit. However, to ensure that the two stayed

511
00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:33.000
away from each other, the judge issued a mutual restraining

512
00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:34.839
order for both Kit and Joan.

513
00:25:35.319 --> 00:25:37.960
Although Kit had been cleared of domestic abuse, in the

514
00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:41.920
EPO hearing, Joan was far from finished. The next day,

515
00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:46.000
she reported Kit to Family Protective Services for child abuse.

516
00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:50.559
She also contacted the Family Advocacy program at Fort Campbell

517
00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:54.559
with the same allegation. Meanwhile, Joan and the kids needed

518
00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:57.559
a new place to live. Kit had been granted exclusive

519
00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:00.640
use of the house until the divorce was finalized, meaning

520
00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:03.759
they could not return. That's when Calvin Phillips stepped in.

521
00:26:04.119 --> 00:26:06.240
He offered Joan and the kids a place to stay

522
00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:09.119
in a rental property he owned, asking only that she

523
00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:13.039
covered the two hundred twelve monthly mortgage payment. When Kit

524
00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:15.599
and mac Kenzie moved back into their home after Joan

525
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:19.440
had vacated, they found it nearly empty. Joan had taken

526
00:26:19.799 --> 00:26:23.440
everything that wasn't too heavy to move, including Kit's family

527
00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:27.799
heirlooms and photographs, but something else, even more valuable had

528
00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:31.359
gone missing. At some point during Joan's move to Calvin's

529
00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:34.920
rental property, the two of them made a discovery, one

530
00:26:34.920 --> 00:26:37.799
that would shift the focus of the Army's investigation into Kit.

531
00:26:38.119 --> 00:26:40.799
Among the items they came across were a laptop and

532
00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:44.359
a collection of computer discs. Some were labeled in magic

533
00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:48.880
marker with the word secret. One was marked secret operations.

534
00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:53.880
Exactly where and when these were found remains unclear. Joan

535
00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.559
claimed that she had discovered them in a box covered

536
00:26:56.559 --> 00:26:59.440
with quilts while packing. She said she had moved the

537
00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:04.400
box to Colvin's warehouse and later found the materials there. Kelvin, however,

538
00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:08.039
initially said he had found them inside Joan's house while

539
00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:11.759
helping her move. Later, he changed his story to match Jones.

540
00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:16.279
Regardless of how they were found, Kelvin, a longtime military man,

541
00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:20.359
immediately recognized the gravity of the situation. These belonged to

542
00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:23.079
the Army. He said, you can't have these at home.

543
00:27:23.640 --> 00:27:26.640
On December sixth, twenty twelfth, Joan and Kelvin took the

544
00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:30.079
laptop and disks to the local FBI office and turned

545
00:27:30.119 --> 00:27:34.359
them in. Soon after, an Army intelligence officer contacted Joan.

546
00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:37.640
He wanted to know if she had ever noticed anything

547
00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:42.039
unusual about Kit's behavior. She said yes. While they were

548
00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:45.160
stationed in Europe, she claimed Kit would frequently disappear for

549
00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:48.440
twenty to sixty minutes at a time with no explanation.

550
00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:51.160
She also noted that he always seemed to have plenty

551
00:27:51.160 --> 00:27:54.680
of cash on hand. The implication was clear, was Kit

552
00:27:54.759 --> 00:27:59.079
a spy. The Army Counter Intelligence Command launched an investigation

553
00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:03.039
closely on using Kit's communications and activities in the months

554
00:28:03.079 --> 00:28:08.200
that followed. Meanwhile, Child Protective Services completed their investigation into

555
00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:12.440
Joan's abuse allegations a month later. They ruled her claims

556
00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:16.680
unsubstantiated and declined to pursue the matter further, but the

557
00:28:16.839 --> 00:28:19.640
Army investigation that was just getting started.

558
00:28:19.960 --> 00:28:21.960
One of the things I found interesting about this case

559
00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:24.480
is that there are two systems of justice, one for

560
00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:27.839
civilians and one for the military. Yeah, and Kit was

561
00:28:28.039 --> 00:28:30.359
sort of embroiled in both, right, he had two different

562
00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:34.200
kind of investigations going on at the same time against him.

563
00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:36.759
Unaware that he was now the subject of a classified

564
00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:40.279
military investigation, Kit tried to rebuild his life as a

565
00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:44.359
newly single man. His first priority was finalizing the divorce,

566
00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:48.079
but there was a problem. His attorneys couldn't find any

567
00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:52.240
record of Joan's divorce from her first husband, Carlos Guerra.

568
00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:55.279
When asked for proof, Jones said she would have to

569
00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:59.200
look for the records. If Joan had never actually divorced Carlos,

570
00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:02.480
it wouldn't just be a crime, it could significantly impact

571
00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:05.720
her financial claims. After all, it would be difficult to

572
00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:08.759
convince a judge that Kit oder alimony as she was

573
00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:12.240
still legally married to someone else. As Kit worked through

574
00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:14.640
the legal battle, he also decided it was time to

575
00:29:14.680 --> 00:29:18.960
start dating again. He returned to Yahoo Personals, where he

576
00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:20.720
met Laura Spencer.

577
00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:23.680
Not the Laura Spencer from General Hospital. Luke and Laura

578
00:29:23.720 --> 00:29:25.279
Fame just in case you were wondering that.

579
00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:28.960
Gina, how old that makes you sound? Laura was a

580
00:29:29.119 --> 00:29:33.160
nursing instructor at Austin p University. She had been married

581
00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:36.319
to a soldier stationed at Fort Campbell, but tragically he

582
00:29:36.359 --> 00:29:38.960
had taken his own life. She was twenty one when

583
00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:41.559
she married, and now, at thirty five, she was raising

584
00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:44.680
her two children, ages fourteen and twelve, on her own.

585
00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:47.880
Her date with Kit was the first she had been

586
00:29:47.880 --> 00:29:51.079
on since losing her husband. It was also Kit's first

587
00:29:51.160 --> 00:29:54.960
date since separating from Joan. They took things slowly at first,

588
00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:57.759
but after six months they both knew it fell right.

589
00:29:58.200 --> 00:30:00.839
Laura introduced Kit to her children, and before long they

590
00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:04.160
moved into Kit's home, the Big Yellow House on Pembroke's

591
00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:06.839
Main Street. By this time, Kit was fully aware of

592
00:30:06.839 --> 00:30:11.000
the Army's investigation into Joan's delegation, both the abuse claims

593
00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:14.559
and the discovery of the classified materials. He was upfront

594
00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:18.599
with Laura about everything. She never doubted his character. Soon

595
00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:21.799
after Laura and her kids moved in, two unsettling things

596
00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:26.079
started happening. First, Kit and Laura repeatedly saw Joan's car

597
00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:30.519
parked at the Phillips house almost daily. Pam, Kelvin's wife,

598
00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:34.240
was at work during these times, meaning Joan was spending

599
00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:38.559
significant amounts of time alone with Kelvin. Technically she was

600
00:30:38.599 --> 00:30:41.599
close enough to Kit's house to violate the restraining order.

601
00:30:42.119 --> 00:30:46.559
Then came the vandalism. Kit and Laura's vehicles were repeatedly

602
00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:50.680
damaged with slash tires, key scratches, and the removal of

603
00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:55.160
military ID stickers. They could never prove who was responsible,

604
00:30:55.480 --> 00:30:58.400
but one incident left no doubt that someone wanted to

605
00:30:58.440 --> 00:31:02.359
send a message. Afternoon, Mackenzie was heading to Walmart when

606
00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:04.359
she stopped at the end of the driveway to check

607
00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:06.480
the mail. As she got out of her car, she

608
00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:11.559
noticed Joan sitting on Kelvin's porch watching her, smirking the

609
00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:17.680
Kenzie opened the mailbox and froze inside was a dead animal. Horrify.

610
00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:20.880
She slammed the mailbox shut, jumped back into her car,

611
00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:24.240
and drove away in tears. She called her dad, who

612
00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:25.920
told her to take a picture of it when she

613
00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:29.680
got back. But when she returned home, the dead animal

614
00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:30.279
was gone.

615
00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:32.079
That's so horrible, isn't it.

616
00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:35.039
It is so horrible. Do you know what it was like? Now?

617
00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:37.119
I never saw what kind of animal it was. I'm

618
00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:38.960
glad you asked that, because I really wanted to know

619
00:31:39.240 --> 00:31:42.079
for some strange reason, but I never found out. After

620
00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:45.319
six months of surveillance, the Army finally informed Kit that

621
00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:48.720
he was under investigation for wrongful possession and storage of

622
00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:53.880
classified information. Kit didn't hesitate. He voluntarily came in for questioning.

623
00:31:53.960 --> 00:31:56.680
Sitting through three and a half hours of interrogation without

624
00:31:56.680 --> 00:32:00.000
a lawyer. He answered every question and even invited investors

625
00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:03.240
gators to search his home. Kit believed that Joan must

626
00:32:03.240 --> 00:32:06.160
have been the one who packed the classified materials, either

627
00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:09.039
by accident or on purpose, when she had helped clear

628
00:32:09.079 --> 00:32:11.599
out his office in Germany before their move back to

629
00:32:11.640 --> 00:32:14.759
the US. At the end of the interrogation, the investigators

630
00:32:14.759 --> 00:32:17.680
asked him to take a polygraph test, and Kit agreed.

631
00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:20.720
For three hours he was strapped to the machine, answering

632
00:32:20.839 --> 00:32:25.119
question after question. Finally, the examiner determined the verdict. He

633
00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:28.440
passed three hours as a long polygraph test.

634
00:32:28.359 --> 00:32:30.720
Really long, because normally aren't they like, you know, like

635
00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:31.599
six questions?

636
00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:33.720
Yeah, yeah, I was struck by the same thing, like,

637
00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:35.400
how many questions could you ask him?

638
00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:36.079
Three hours?

639
00:32:36.359 --> 00:32:36.519
Ia?

640
00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:40.079
His military polygraphs are a whole different, different world. The

641
00:32:40.160 --> 00:32:43.400
investigators told him that with this result the matter would

642
00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:46.880
soon be closed, but it wasn't that simple. Even though

643
00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:49.960
Kit had been cleared of espionage, he started feeling the

644
00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:53.839
effects of the investigation almost immediately. He wrote letters to

645
00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:56.680
the army and to his congressman, insisting that he had

646
00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:00.640
been treated unfairly. Instead of helping, this seemed to backfire.

647
00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:05.559
Despite his exemplary military record, his performance reviews suddenly tanked,

648
00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:08.839
he was passed over for a promotion, and most damaging

649
00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:11.200
of all, a red flag was placed on his record,

650
00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:15.079
marking him as being under investigation. Even though he had

651
00:33:15.079 --> 00:33:18.319
never been charged with espionage. This was a career killer.

652
00:33:18.559 --> 00:33:22.720
The only evidence against him was these was it discs.

653
00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:25.160
There was a laptop and some computer discs. I think

654
00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:26.960
they were like CDs or DVD.

655
00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:29.680
Discs and two of them, and you don't know what

656
00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:31.480
was on them that's classified.

657
00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:33.359
So I can't just it, no, don't.

658
00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:35.759
I don't actually know because I think it was classified.

659
00:33:35.799 --> 00:33:39.240
I've read different things that there was some pretty important

660
00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:42.839
things on there, but I don't know specifically what they were.

661
00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:46.279
So it's not that he had information that he shouldn't

662
00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:46.799
have had.

663
00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:50.720
It was just that he shouldn't have had it at home. Okay, Yeah,

664
00:33:50.759 --> 00:33:53.039
I think in his role in the military, and again

665
00:33:53.079 --> 00:33:56.160
I don't know exactly the details, I think he had

666
00:33:56.200 --> 00:33:59.599
access to things that were classified and confidential. But it's

667
00:33:59.640 --> 00:34:01.160
a big no to take any of that.

668
00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:03.559
Still, copy it onto a disc and then bring it home.

669
00:34:03.559 --> 00:34:04.000
Right right.

670
00:34:04.480 --> 00:34:07.519
The top legal advisor to the commanding general at Fort

671
00:34:07.559 --> 00:34:10.760
Campbell recommended that all the charges be dropped, but the

672
00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:15.719
acting base commander, Brigadier General Mark Stammer, ignored that advice. Instead,

673
00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:19.880
Stammer pushed forward with something called an Article fifteen. Under

674
00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:23.480
Article fifteen of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a

675
00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:27.880
commanding officer can impose non judicial punishment for minor offenses,

676
00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:32.119
no court, no jury, just a swift decision on paper.

677
00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:35.000
An Article fifteen was a slap on the wrist. The

678
00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:38.159
worst that could happen a fine, loss of pay, or

679
00:34:38.199 --> 00:34:41.920
a temporary restrictive status up up to sixty days. But

680
00:34:42.039 --> 00:34:44.760
for Kit, it was far worse than that. Accepting an

681
00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:50.039
Article fifteen would destroy any chance of future promotions, security clearances,

682
00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:54.760
or special assignments his military career. His entire future would

683
00:34:54.760 --> 00:34:58.400
be permanently stalled. And there was another problem. An Article

684
00:34:58.440 --> 00:35:01.800
fifteen hearing wouldn't involve the jury of his peers. It

685
00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:05.320
would be decided solely by Brigadier General Stammer, the same

686
00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:08.599
man pushing for punishment in the first place. Kit knew

687
00:35:08.599 --> 00:35:11.280
with ninety nine percent certainty how that would turn out.

688
00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:15.960
After a preliminary hearing, Judge Advocate General or JAG investigators

689
00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:19.880
presented Kit with a choice proceed with the Article fifteen hearing,

690
00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:22.960
where a General Stammer would have complete control over his fate,

691
00:35:23.400 --> 00:35:25.840
or request a court martial where a panel of his

692
00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:29.920
peers would decide. Kit should have consulted a lawyer. Any

693
00:35:29.960 --> 00:35:32.800
competent attorney would have strongly advised him to accept the

694
00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:36.039
Article fifteen. It would have been damaging, yes, but it

695
00:35:36.119 --> 00:35:39.079
was nothing compared to a court martial. But under pressure,

696
00:35:39.159 --> 00:35:41.519
Kit made the decision on the spot, he checked the

697
00:35:41.559 --> 00:35:43.280
box requesting a court martial.

698
00:35:43.400 --> 00:35:44.960
Okay, tell us what a court martial is?

699
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:47.719
Really quick, I mean, it's basically a trial under the

700
00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:51.039
military law, so it's very similar to a regular trial.

701
00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:54.440
You could go to a court martial and be found innocent.

702
00:35:54.559 --> 00:35:57.199
You could go and be found guilty. If you're found guilty,

703
00:35:57.239 --> 00:35:59.760
it could result in any It could result in imprisonment,

704
00:36:00.199 --> 00:36:02.320
it could result in being kicked out of the military,

705
00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:06.840
any number of punishments. That move requesting the court martial

706
00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:11.000
was something that Kit would later deeply regret. Shortly after that,

707
00:36:11.159 --> 00:36:14.440
Kit learned that his court martial investigation wasn't just about

708
00:36:14.480 --> 00:36:18.199
the classified materials. The Army was also investigating him for

709
00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:21.599
child abuse, molestation, and sexual assault.

710
00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:24.320
It seems like those charges came out of nowhere.

711
00:36:24.679 --> 00:36:26.840
I mean they basically sexual.

712
00:36:26.320 --> 00:36:29.920
Molestation, Like they hadn't heard anything about that previously.

713
00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:31.239
Right, Yeah, we're going to talk about that in just

714
00:36:31.239 --> 00:36:33.920
a minute. They all came from Joan like it. Basically,

715
00:36:33.960 --> 00:36:37.679
she kept adding and adding new allegations and new accusations

716
00:36:37.719 --> 00:36:41.199
against him. She had provided investigators with the photos of

717
00:36:41.239 --> 00:36:44.679
Elijah's back injuries from years earlier. We mentioned that She

718
00:36:44.760 --> 00:36:47.559
tried to introduce those at the EPO hearing, but this

719
00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:49.960
time she went even further. She made a whole bunch

720
00:36:49.960 --> 00:36:53.119
of new allegations. Like we just mentioned, her newest claims

721
00:36:53.119 --> 00:36:56.400
against Kit were even more extreme than before. She now

722
00:36:56.440 --> 00:37:00.360
alleged that he physically abused her children constantly. If she

723
00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:03.079
tried to intervene, he would slap her, choke her until

724
00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:06.320
she lost consciousness, and threatened to kill her. She said

725
00:37:06.360 --> 00:37:09.719
he raped and sodomized her while in Germany. She said

726
00:37:09.760 --> 00:37:13.119
that he dangled Essie over a third story balcony, holding

727
00:37:13.159 --> 00:37:14.760
her by the foot and laughing as.

728
00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:17.079
He did it. She said he whipped the kids with.

729
00:37:17.079 --> 00:37:20.159
A Roman style whip, which is like a multithonged leather

730
00:37:20.199 --> 00:37:23.920
whip or a bamboo stick. He bathed with the girls

731
00:37:23.920 --> 00:37:26.760
in the nude. He once punched Elijah in the face

732
00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:29.000
so hard that it knocked his glasses off, and then

733
00:37:29.000 --> 00:37:32.519
he stomped on them until they shattered. The JAG investigators

734
00:37:32.519 --> 00:37:35.920
interviewed Joanes's children, who agreed with her claims and added more.

735
00:37:36.360 --> 00:37:39.480
Alma alleged that Kit bathed with her an Essie and

736
00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:43.800
on one occasion inserted his fingers inside of her Elijah

737
00:37:43.880 --> 00:37:46.000
said that Kit once tied him up in the basement,

738
00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:49.639
blindfolded him, and left him alone. Later, Kit returned and

739
00:37:49.679 --> 00:37:52.440
punched him in the stomach. All three children said that

740
00:37:52.519 --> 00:37:56.199
Kit would become aggressive if chores weren't done properly. There

741
00:37:56.239 --> 00:37:59.119
was one major problem with these interviews. The children were

742
00:37:59.159 --> 00:38:02.320
all interviewed together together. This is a serious breach of

743
00:38:02.440 --> 00:38:07.840
investigative protocol. Witnesses, especially children, should always be interviewed separately,

744
00:38:08.239 --> 00:38:11.880
otherwise they can influence one another, embellished stories, or even

745
00:38:11.960 --> 00:38:18.320
fabricate details. Despite this, the investigation continued. Investigators interviewed Laura Spencer.

746
00:38:18.599 --> 00:38:21.199
They told her that it was a routine safety check,

747
00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:23.800
but it quickly became clear that they were trying to

748
00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:26.719
get her to say that Kit was abusive. They implied

749
00:38:26.719 --> 00:38:29.280
that some women don't recognize abuse when they're in it.

750
00:38:29.719 --> 00:38:32.320
Laura shut them down. She told them that she was

751
00:38:32.360 --> 00:38:35.920
a nurse well trained in recognizing abuse. Not only that,

752
00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:38.360
but she had been in a verbally abusive marriage for

753
00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:41.079
many years and vowed never to put herself or her

754
00:38:41.159 --> 00:38:44.880
kids in that situation again. They also searched Kit's home,

755
00:38:45.119 --> 00:38:47.800
looking for the Roman whip or the bamboo sticks that

756
00:38:47.880 --> 00:38:51.119
Joan claimed he used for beatings, but they found nothing.

757
00:38:51.840 --> 00:38:55.039
Investigators reached out to Kit's first wife, Stacy, and their

758
00:38:55.079 --> 00:38:58.639
three children. Every single one of them defended Kit. His

759
00:38:58.719 --> 00:39:02.519
son Tyler was a special blunt quote. I stopped visiting

760
00:39:02.559 --> 00:39:04.840
my father when he married Joni because she is a

761
00:39:04.880 --> 00:39:07.760
compulsive liar. She made up stuff about me to get

762
00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:10.440
me in trouble. She picked fights with my dad whenever

763
00:39:10.480 --> 00:39:12.800
he spent time with us. I tried to get along

764
00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:15.039
with her, but after a while I quit. She's a

765
00:39:15.079 --> 00:39:17.880
crazy bitch and it just wasn't worth it. His ex

766
00:39:17.920 --> 00:39:21.559
wife Stacy, had a similar take quote. The malicious, lies,

767
00:39:21.639 --> 00:39:25.159
deceit and fabricated stories Jonie told were so harsh that

768
00:39:25.239 --> 00:39:28.760
she successfully isolated Chris Martin from everyone he cared about.

769
00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:32.360
She constantly caused problems and lied. The list of lies

770
00:39:32.400 --> 00:39:34.599
is too long to count, but I can say this,

771
00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:38.039
Chris Martin is an excellent father. He would absolutely never

772
00:39:38.079 --> 00:39:43.199
abuse any child, not physically, not mentally, not sexually. Mackenzie

773
00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:46.280
also spoke to investigators, recounting the dead animal in the

774
00:39:46.280 --> 00:39:50.599
mailbox incident and adding that Joan was emotionally abusive, not

775
00:39:50.719 --> 00:39:53.119
just to Kit's children, but to her own as well.

776
00:39:53.519 --> 00:39:56.280
When Kit was finally called in, he was stunned to

777
00:39:56.360 --> 00:40:00.000
learn the full extent of Joan's accusations. There were thirteen

778
00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:05.679
new allegations against him, rape, sodomy, child abuse, child molestation.

779
00:40:05.320 --> 00:40:06.920
And more. He was floored.

780
00:40:07.360 --> 00:40:10.079
He swore that none of it was even remotely true.

781
00:40:10.480 --> 00:40:14.159
Wow. As a rule, I always say, believe the women,

782
00:40:14.760 --> 00:40:18.119
But it's really hard to believe all of these allegations

783
00:40:18.159 --> 00:40:22.239
against him. Like you said, they keep multiplying and fabricating

784
00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:23.440
more and more.

785
00:40:23.519 --> 00:40:26.599
And Joan like has a history of doing this sort

786
00:40:26.639 --> 00:40:28.920
of thing as well, and it seems like there is

787
00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:32.079
enough evidence there to make you very doubtful of her

788
00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:34.039
claims that I agree with you, Like you want to

789
00:40:34.079 --> 00:40:37.440
believe women, you want to believe the person accusing someone

790
00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:39.800
of this, but yeah, in this case, you have to you.

791
00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:40.320
Have to wonder.

792
00:40:40.679 --> 00:40:43.719
And it's sad that she put her children in that position.

793
00:40:43.960 --> 00:40:47.760
So the only people that could corroborate the abuse, right

794
00:40:47.880 --> 00:40:51.000
were her and her children. Yes, and you know, if

795
00:40:51.039 --> 00:40:53.880
they hadn't gone along with what she said, then they

796
00:40:53.880 --> 00:40:57.400
would have received, you know, abuse from her, maybe not

797
00:40:57.480 --> 00:41:00.000
physical abuse, but you know, mental abuse.

798
00:41:00.199 --> 00:41:02.519
Yeah, it's just horrible. The whole situation is horrible, like

799
00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:05.800
there's no winners in this situation. We'll be back after a.

800
00:41:05.760 --> 00:41:15.559
Break, Kit decided it was time to take the offensive.

801
00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:19.039
He hired a private investigator, Mary Martin's, to dig up

802
00:41:19.119 --> 00:41:23.519
both Joan and Kelvin's pasts. Mary's investigation led her to

803
00:41:23.599 --> 00:41:28.079
Jones's first husband, Carlos Squera. Guera revealed a troubling story.

804
00:41:28.440 --> 00:41:30.519
One day, he came home to find Joan and their

805
00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:34.039
children gone, along with nearly everything in the house. He

806
00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:37.280
had not seen the kids since Guera was not yet

807
00:41:37.320 --> 00:41:40.199
a US citizen, and he claimed Joan had threatened to

808
00:41:40.239 --> 00:41:43.599
have him deported if he tried to pursue custody or

809
00:41:43.679 --> 00:41:47.840
visitation rights. Guera also disclosed that he and Joan had

810
00:41:47.880 --> 00:41:51.480
each retained divorce attorneys, but when legal feels piled up,

811
00:41:51.639 --> 00:41:56.159
Joanes simply abandoned the process. Legally, they were still married.

812
00:41:56.559 --> 00:42:00.079
That meant Joan's marriage to Kit wasn't just fraudulent, it

813
00:41:59.920 --> 00:42:03.639
was big of me. Mary also uncovered evidence suggesting that

814
00:42:03.719 --> 00:42:07.320
Joan and Calvin's relationship was more than just friendship. Two

815
00:42:07.480 --> 00:42:10.480
separate individuals claimed they had walked in on the pair

816
00:42:10.679 --> 00:42:13.960
having sex at different times. One of them was none

817
00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:17.239
other than the chief of police. He recalled an incident

818
00:42:17.280 --> 00:42:20.840
that occurred before Kit and Joan had officially separated. He

819
00:42:20.880 --> 00:42:24.440
had entered Kelvin's warehouse and was startled to find Kelvin

820
00:42:24.719 --> 00:42:28.639
completely naked having sex with a blond woman. Embarrassed, the

821
00:42:28.760 --> 00:42:32.639
chief quickly left, but moments later he saw Joan walking

822
00:42:32.679 --> 00:42:35.440
out of the warehouse. Why was the police chief there

823
00:42:35.519 --> 00:42:36.920
was it was during the investigation.

824
00:42:37.519 --> 00:42:38.519
No, I don't think so.

825
00:42:38.639 --> 00:42:40.199
I mean, it's a very small town, so I think

826
00:42:40.199 --> 00:42:42.360
people knew each other. And I also don't know, like

827
00:42:42.440 --> 00:42:46.119
Calvin had this warehouse, huh. He was retired from the military,

828
00:42:46.159 --> 00:42:47.800
but he seemed like he had a lot of things

829
00:42:47.840 --> 00:42:49.920
going on, Like I don't know if he had some business.

830
00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:52.599
I was never able to find out exactly what he did,

831
00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:54.599
but he had a warehouse that he had a lot

832
00:42:54.639 --> 00:42:55.679
of things stored in.

833
00:42:55.719 --> 00:42:59.920
Apparently, Mary confronted Calvin directly, asking him about his really

834
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:03.599
relationship with Joan. He did not deny an affair, but

835
00:43:03.760 --> 00:43:06.719
he didn't admit to one either, claiming he was merely

836
00:43:06.800 --> 00:43:10.159
helping her after her split from Kit. When Mary pressed

837
00:43:10.199 --> 00:43:13.199
him about the police chief story, Calvin brushed it off

838
00:43:13.199 --> 00:43:16.840
with an excuse that was almost laughable. Yes, he had

839
00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:19.679
been naked at his warehouse, but not because of an affair.

840
00:43:20.079 --> 00:43:24.079
According to Calvin, he had simply been rushing one of

841
00:43:24.119 --> 00:43:27.320
his dogs, which happened to have blonde.

842
00:43:27.400 --> 00:43:30.000
For hard time getting through that sentence without laughing.

843
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:33.519
That is very plausible, Calvin, Yes, I mean, who doesn't.

844
00:43:34.159 --> 00:43:36.000
Why would you want to get for all your clothes?

845
00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:40.760
Take it was the door opened to the ware I'm

846
00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:44.639
not sure. As for Kit's alleged abuse, Calvin said he

847
00:43:44.679 --> 00:43:48.800
had never witnessed Kit harming Joan's children. The only accusation

848
00:43:48.880 --> 00:43:51.559
he had ever heard came from Elijah, who once told

849
00:43:51.639 --> 00:43:55.440
him that Kit had abused him. However, Calvin also admitted

850
00:43:55.480 --> 00:43:59.639
that Joan had never personally mentioned Kit sexually assaulting her

851
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:03.480
are molesting her children? Whlear in this she never told

852
00:44:03.519 --> 00:44:05.400
you that he's molesting the kids.

853
00:44:05.519 --> 00:44:07.239
No, I don't ever remember me.

854
00:44:07.639 --> 00:44:10.320
No, he soldomized me. He bates me.

855
00:44:11.039 --> 00:44:11.199
No.

856
00:44:11.559 --> 00:44:15.320
Kit's legal team carefully reviewed Mary's recorded conversation with Calvin

857
00:44:15.760 --> 00:44:18.639
as the person who had discovered the classified information that

858
00:44:18.719 --> 00:44:21.360
Kit had possession of. Calvin was supposed to be a

859
00:44:21.440 --> 00:44:24.719
key witness in the upcoming court martial hearing. But now

860
00:44:24.760 --> 00:44:27.719
instead of seeing him as a liability, Kid and his

861
00:44:27.800 --> 00:44:32.280
defense team realized Calvin's testimony might actually work in their favor,

862
00:44:32.599 --> 00:44:35.159
and since they had his statements on tape, they could

863
00:44:35.280 --> 00:44:38.920
use them to challenge any contradictory testimony he might give

864
00:44:38.920 --> 00:44:39.360
in court.

865
00:44:39.840 --> 00:44:42.639
One little thing I found interesting that's not directly related.

866
00:44:42.920 --> 00:44:45.800
Calvin had no idea he was being recorded, but the

867
00:44:45.880 --> 00:44:49.840
recording was actually legal under Kentucky's one party consent law.

868
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:53.719
So Mary was there with her assistant, and her assistant

869
00:44:53.760 --> 00:44:57.400
recorded the conversation, and because Mary had given consent to

870
00:44:57.440 --> 00:45:01.559
record the conversation, it was actually perfectly legal and admissible.

871
00:45:01.079 --> 00:45:02.199
Which is really interesting.

872
00:45:02.280 --> 00:45:05.559
And I think every state has different recording consent laws,

873
00:45:05.599 --> 00:45:08.440
and that really surprised me that that would be okay.

874
00:45:09.079 --> 00:45:12.960
Feeling confident in Calvin's testimony would ultimately benefit their case,

875
00:45:13.159 --> 00:45:16.880
Kit's legal team made a bold move. They subpoened him,

876
00:45:17.119 --> 00:45:19.960
ensuring he would have no choice but to appear at

877
00:45:20.159 --> 00:45:23.320
Kit's court martial hearing. The first step in a court

878
00:45:23.360 --> 00:45:26.960
martial is an Article thirty two hearing, a proceeding similar

879
00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:30.360
to a civilian pre trial hearing. Its purpose is to

880
00:45:30.440 --> 00:45:34.239
evaluate the evidence and determine whether a full trial is warranted.

881
00:45:34.719 --> 00:45:38.800
Kit's Article thirty two hearing took place in July twenty fourteen.

882
00:45:39.280 --> 00:45:42.920
On the advice of his attorney, he chose not to testify.

883
00:45:43.360 --> 00:45:46.519
Given the seriousness of the charges, It was unlikely the

884
00:45:46.559 --> 00:45:50.320
case would be dismissed outright, and revealing their defense strategy

885
00:45:50.360 --> 00:45:54.199
too early could be a costly mistake. The prosecution relied

886
00:45:54.199 --> 00:45:58.039
heavily on testimony from Joan and her three children, Elijah,

887
00:45:58.199 --> 00:46:02.039
Si and Alma, who did the alleged abuse in detail,

888
00:46:02.400 --> 00:46:06.119
but und her close cross examination, Joan admitted that she

889
00:46:06.280 --> 00:46:09.440
never had sought medical treatment for any of the injuries

890
00:46:09.440 --> 00:46:12.679
she claimed Kit had inflicted on her or her kids.

891
00:46:13.119 --> 00:46:17.159
No other witnesses could corroborate the abuse allegations. The only

892
00:46:17.159 --> 00:46:21.320
physical evidence presented was a set of photos showing red

893
00:46:21.360 --> 00:46:24.480
marks and Walt's on Elijah's back, and those were the

894
00:46:24.519 --> 00:46:26.840
ones that Kit said had come from like he was

895
00:46:26.880 --> 00:46:28.639
helping him learn self defense or something.

896
00:46:28.760 --> 00:46:29.920
He didn't say they came from that.

897
00:46:29.960 --> 00:46:32.360
He just acknowledged that it was possible that maybe he

898
00:46:32.360 --> 00:46:35.119
had gotten a rugburn or something when they were doing

899
00:46:35.119 --> 00:46:35.840
self defense.

900
00:46:36.280 --> 00:46:39.840
And if you truly are a victim of abuse, then

901
00:46:40.079 --> 00:46:43.519
document it and take pictures, write notes, keep a diary.

902
00:46:43.760 --> 00:46:46.440
I think it's really important that you have some sort

903
00:46:46.440 --> 00:46:49.239
of evidence to back up your claims absolutely. When the

904
00:46:49.239 --> 00:46:53.400
hearing concluded, the child molestation charge was dropped. However, the

905
00:46:53.480 --> 00:46:58.559
charges of sexual assault, child abuse, and mishandling classified information

906
00:46:58.800 --> 00:47:01.719
remained for Kit in his legal team, the Article thirty

907
00:47:01.760 --> 00:47:04.480
two hearing was a wake up call. While the physical

908
00:47:04.519 --> 00:47:07.960
evidence was weak, the testimony from Joanes's children would be

909
00:47:08.039 --> 00:47:12.639
difficult to overcome. Kit's attorney recommended a drastic course of action,

910
00:47:13.199 --> 00:47:17.880
resigning from the military. If his resignation was accepted, the

911
00:47:17.960 --> 00:47:21.840
case would be rendered moot in a military court. Kit

912
00:47:22.039 --> 00:47:24.599
was torn. He had dedicated much of his life to

913
00:47:24.639 --> 00:47:28.679
the military and walking away felt like an admitting defeat.

914
00:47:29.119 --> 00:47:32.679
But faced with a no win situation, he reluctantly submitted

915
00:47:32.679 --> 00:47:37.960
his letter of resignation. Brigadier General Stammer, however, refused to

916
00:47:38.000 --> 00:47:41.079
accept it. He viewed the charges as too serious to

917
00:47:41.159 --> 00:47:44.639
let Kit leave on his own terms. With no other option,

918
00:47:45.039 --> 00:47:48.719
Kit was forced to rescind his resignation and prepare for

919
00:47:48.800 --> 00:47:49.920
the battle ahead.

920
00:47:50.440 --> 00:47:53.159
I'm not sure how common it is to allow someone

921
00:47:53.199 --> 00:47:56.159
to resign when they're facing a court martial. It seems

922
00:47:56.199 --> 00:47:58.920
like I can understand General Stammer's point of view would

923
00:47:58.920 --> 00:48:00.519
be like, well, yeah, you can't just get off that

924
00:48:00.559 --> 00:48:02.960
easy by resigning, right, But I just don't know if

925
00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:04.079
that's a common thing or.

926
00:48:04.079 --> 00:48:08.639
Not, because if the charges are military charges of civilian

927
00:48:08.719 --> 00:48:11.280
court wouldn't be able to pursue the same charges.

928
00:48:11.079 --> 00:48:13.239
Right Well, they definitely wouldn't be able to pursue the

929
00:48:13.280 --> 00:48:16.719
classified information charges, and they had already investigated the child

930
00:48:16.719 --> 00:48:19.480
abuse charges and declined to pursue it.

931
00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:22.599
Just a week after the Article thirty two hearing, Joan

932
00:48:22.679 --> 00:48:26.119
found herself in legal trouble of her own. She was

933
00:48:26.119 --> 00:48:29.719
indicted for big of me, despite having just testified under

934
00:48:29.760 --> 00:48:33.440
oath that she and Carlo Squera were divorced. So it's

935
00:48:33.480 --> 00:48:38.079
probably lucky that she wasn't also charged with perjury.

936
00:48:38.760 --> 00:48:39.519
Yeah, for sure.

937
00:48:39.960 --> 00:48:43.000
This was a major setback for the JAG prosecutors handling

938
00:48:43.079 --> 00:48:46.400
Kits court martial. Joan was their star witness, and a

939
00:48:46.400 --> 00:48:50.440
criminal charge calling her credibility into question would weaken their case.

940
00:48:50.880 --> 00:48:54.400
Determined to protect their key witness, they launched a pressure

941
00:48:54.440 --> 00:48:59.639
campaign against the prosecutor handling Joan's bigamy case. Assistant County

942
00:49:00.039 --> 00:49:05.559
secutor Catherine Garber Foster. According to garber Foster, two prosecutors

943
00:49:05.599 --> 00:49:09.199
from Kit's case called her directly urging her to drop

944
00:49:09.239 --> 00:49:13.199
the charges against Joan. She later described their tone as rude,

945
00:49:13.239 --> 00:49:16.360
and she said she felt pressured by them to back off.

946
00:49:16.880 --> 00:49:18.800
She said it was the first time in her career

947
00:49:18.880 --> 00:49:23.400
that she had felt that someone was questioning her prosecutorial discretion.

948
00:49:24.119 --> 00:49:27.800
Joan's legal team also attempted to intervene, filing a motion

949
00:49:27.960 --> 00:49:31.719
to have garber Foster removed from the case. Their efforts failed.

950
00:49:32.039 --> 00:49:34.320
In the end, Joan had little choice but to plead

951
00:49:34.360 --> 00:49:38.199
guilty to bigamy. She was given five years of unsupervised

952
00:49:38.199 --> 00:49:41.760
probation and her marriage to Kit was nullified.

953
00:49:42.440 --> 00:49:46.599
Meanwhile, Kit's private investigator, Mary Martin's, continued digging, and what

954
00:49:46.760 --> 00:49:50.199
she uncovered was nothing short of shocking. For years, Joan

955
00:49:50.239 --> 00:49:52.960
had claimed that Elijah's father had died in a gruesome

956
00:49:53.039 --> 00:49:55.760
logging accident, even going so far as to say that

957
00:49:55.800 --> 00:49:58.880
he had been decapitated. But Mary discovered that this was

958
00:49:58.960 --> 00:50:03.679
yet another of Joan's fabrications. Elijah's father, Michael Atkins, was

959
00:50:03.800 --> 00:50:05.519
very much alive, head and all.

960
00:50:05.840 --> 00:50:06.239
Really.

961
00:50:06.679 --> 00:50:09.440
When Mary tracked Atkins down, he shared his side of

962
00:50:09.480 --> 00:50:12.760
the story. According to him, Joan left shortly after giving

963
00:50:12.760 --> 00:50:15.719
birth to Elijah, and he had never seen his son again.

964
00:50:16.119 --> 00:50:19.400
He also alleged that Joan had been physically abusive, recalling

965
00:50:19.480 --> 00:50:22.960
multiple occasions where she punched him in the face. Before

966
00:50:23.039 --> 00:50:25.320
ending the call, he summed up his feelings in one

967
00:50:25.480 --> 00:50:27.639
chilling sentence, what can I tell you?

968
00:50:27.840 --> 00:50:28.639
She's the devil.

969
00:50:29.239 --> 00:50:32.199
Even Joan's own family had little good to say about her.

970
00:50:32.519 --> 00:50:35.280
Her sister told Mary that Joan had a lifelong habit

971
00:50:35.320 --> 00:50:37.920
of lying, so much so that she had long since

972
00:50:37.960 --> 00:50:41.360
given up trying to separate fact from fiction. Joan's father,

973
00:50:41.440 --> 00:50:44.400
who hadn't spoken to her in over twenty years, echoed

974
00:50:44.400 --> 00:50:47.800
the sentiment quote, Joan always had a problem with telling

975
00:50:47.840 --> 00:50:50.840
the truth. She would make up lies and fabrications about

976
00:50:50.920 --> 00:50:55.280
just about anything and everything. After multiple delays, Kit's court

977
00:50:55.280 --> 00:50:59.840
martial hearing was finally set for early December twenty fifteen. Meanwhile,

978
00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:02.400
Joan had moved on with a new boyfriend, a man

979
00:51:02.519 --> 00:51:05.599
named William Stokes. She was working at a diner but

980
00:51:05.760 --> 00:51:09.199
struggling to make ends meet. Her co workers, however, had

981
00:51:09.239 --> 00:51:12.840
little sympathy. According to several employees who spoke with Mary

982
00:51:12.880 --> 00:51:17.000
Martin's Joan was rude, overbearing, and made the workplace miserable.

983
00:51:17.639 --> 00:51:22.119
One coworker recalled overhearing a disturbing conversation. She claimed she

984
00:51:22.199 --> 00:51:25.440
once heard William Stokes say to Joan, I'll go shoot

985
00:51:25.480 --> 00:51:28.199
his fucking ass myself. It wasn't clear who he was

986
00:51:28.239 --> 00:51:31.639
referring to, but the threat lingered in the air. Joan's

987
00:51:31.639 --> 00:51:34.960
behavior was so problematic that both the diner's manager and

988
00:51:35.039 --> 00:51:37.960
owner wanted to fire her. However, they were afraid of

989
00:51:38.000 --> 00:51:43.320
the consequences, worried that Joan or possibly William, might retaliate. Then,

990
00:51:43.360 --> 00:51:46.199
in June twenty fifteen, a brutal crime shocked to the

991
00:51:46.239 --> 00:51:50.000
nearby town of Guthrie, Kentucky, about fifteen miles from Pembroke.

992
00:51:50.440 --> 00:51:54.159
Amos and Marjorie Yoder, an elderly Mennonite couple, were attacked

993
00:51:54.199 --> 00:51:58.039
in their home. Amos died from his injuries, while Marjorie

994
00:51:58.039 --> 00:52:01.880
suffered severe head trauma, leaving her brain damaged and unable

995
00:52:01.920 --> 00:52:06.320
to identify her attacker. Investigators believed the motive was robbery.

996
00:52:06.760 --> 00:52:09.360
The Ooders were rumored to keep large amounts of cash

997
00:52:09.400 --> 00:52:13.159
on their property, possibly ten thousand dollars or more. At

998
00:52:13.239 --> 00:52:17.000
first glance, the incident seemed unrelated to Kit's case, but

999
00:52:17.079 --> 00:52:21.159
a curious connection soon emerged. Joan had previously rented a

1000
00:52:21.239 --> 00:52:23.519
house from the Yoders, and had even told her co

1001
00:52:23.719 --> 00:52:26.079
workers at the diner that the couple had been like

1002
00:52:26.159 --> 00:52:30.760
grandparents to her children. Then something strange happened. Shortly after

1003
00:52:30.760 --> 00:52:33.800
the attack on the Yoders. Joan appeared to come into money.

1004
00:52:34.199 --> 00:52:37.239
Her manager noticed she was suddenly bragging about buying new

1005
00:52:37.239 --> 00:52:40.079
furniture and a car, and she started showing up to

1006
00:52:40.159 --> 00:52:43.280
work in brand new outfits. When asked about her sudden

1007
00:52:43.320 --> 00:52:46.079
change in fortune, Joan claimed her mother had sent her

1008
00:52:46.119 --> 00:52:49.119
some money. To this day, the murder of Amos Yoder

1009
00:52:49.159 --> 00:52:52.719
and the assault on his wife, Marjorie remain unsolved.

1010
00:52:53.000 --> 00:52:54.400
That is a really a sad story.

1011
00:52:54.559 --> 00:52:55.599
Yeah, it really is.

1012
00:52:56.000 --> 00:52:58.960
The stories of when elderly people are killed in their

1013
00:52:58.960 --> 00:53:00.559
homes they just heartbreaking.

1014
00:53:00.719 --> 00:53:04.400
I know, they're just so helpless, really, and someone coming

1015
00:53:04.440 --> 00:53:07.199
in and doing that is just really cold blooded and cruel.

1016
00:53:08.159 --> 00:53:11.840
By early November twenty fifteen, final preparations were underway for

1017
00:53:11.960 --> 00:53:15.519
Kit's court martial, now just a month away. The prosecution

1018
00:53:15.639 --> 00:53:20.000
felt confident about at least one charge mishandling classified documents.

1019
00:53:20.400 --> 00:53:24.280
Under military law, negligence was not a valid defense. Whether

1020
00:53:24.360 --> 00:53:27.519
Kit or Joan had packed the materials by accident didn't matter.

1021
00:53:27.840 --> 00:53:30.800
The charge would likely stick, but the abuse and sexual

1022
00:53:30.840 --> 00:53:34.800
assault allegations were another story. The case rested entirely on

1023
00:53:34.880 --> 00:53:38.440
the testimony of Joan and her children, and Joan's credibility

1024
00:53:38.519 --> 00:53:41.880
was already in question. She had a well documented history

1025
00:53:41.880 --> 00:53:45.480
of dishonesty, and there were indications that she had coached

1026
00:53:45.480 --> 00:53:49.159
her children on what to say. Inconsistencies in their statements

1027
00:53:49.360 --> 00:53:53.599
only further weakened the prosecution's case. On November two, Kit's

1028
00:53:53.639 --> 00:53:57.920
private investigator, Mary Martin's, paid another visit to Calvin Phillips.

1029
00:53:58.079 --> 00:54:00.119
She was trying to pin down what he might say

1030
00:54:00.199 --> 00:54:04.639
under oath, particularly regarding the discrepancies between his story and

1031
00:54:04.800 --> 00:54:09.119
Jon's about how he discovered Kit's laptop and classified discs.

1032
00:54:09.760 --> 00:54:13.480
This time, however, Calvin was unusually tight lipped. Instead of

1033
00:54:13.519 --> 00:54:16.519
his usual willingness to talk, he brushed off his role

1034
00:54:16.559 --> 00:54:19.480
in the situation as minor. He said he would tell

1035
00:54:19.519 --> 00:54:21.519
his story under oath and they could hear it. Then,

1036
00:54:22.119 --> 00:54:25.400
when asked again about his alleged affair with Joan, he

1037
00:54:25.519 --> 00:54:28.880
neither confirmed nor denied it. He simply shrugged and said

1038
00:54:29.119 --> 00:54:32.639
so what. A couple of days later, witnesses spotted Calvin

1039
00:54:32.719 --> 00:54:35.760
walking into the diner where Joan worked. What started as

1040
00:54:35.760 --> 00:54:39.360
a heated exchange quickly escalated into an argument, which Joan

1041
00:54:39.440 --> 00:54:43.039
took outside. No one knew exactly what they were fighting about,

1042
00:54:43.079 --> 00:54:47.840
but the tension between them was undeniable. Wednesday, November eighteenth,

1043
00:54:47.920 --> 00:54:51.840
twenty fifteen, began early for Laura Spencer. She had nursing

1044
00:54:51.880 --> 00:54:54.239
clinicals that morning and was out the door by five

1045
00:54:54.360 --> 00:54:58.480
forty eight a m captured on Kit's security camera across

1046
00:54:58.519 --> 00:55:01.719
the street. Pamela Phillips was also up early. She had

1047
00:55:01.760 --> 00:55:05.039
two training sessions to teach at different bank branches that day.

1048
00:55:05.599 --> 00:55:08.559
Though the Phillipses didn't have security cameras, she would have

1049
00:55:08.639 --> 00:55:12.880
left for work around six thirty am. Laura's children, Austin

1050
00:55:12.920 --> 00:55:15.920
and Emma left for school at seven twenty three am,

1051
00:55:16.079 --> 00:55:18.599
leaving Kit home alone for the next hour and forty

1052
00:55:18.599 --> 00:55:21.960
five minutes until he departed for Fort Campbell at nine

1053
00:55:22.000 --> 00:55:26.119
to eleven AM. That morning, Calvin and Pamela were expecting

1054
00:55:26.119 --> 00:55:29.000
a special delivery. Their son Matt had bought them a

1055
00:55:29.039 --> 00:55:32.679
new washing machine as an anniversary gift. Scheduled for arrival

1056
00:55:32.679 --> 00:55:35.719
between ten and twelve. Calvin was planning to be at

1057
00:55:35.719 --> 00:55:38.719
home so he could receive it. At ten forty am,

1058
00:55:38.920 --> 00:55:42.320
Kit's next door neighbor, Billy Watkins, stepped out onto his porch.

1059
00:55:42.840 --> 00:55:46.000
Heavy rain had been falling for days. As he looked out,

1060
00:55:46.039 --> 00:55:49.880
he noticed a maroon suv driving down Main Street, followed

1061
00:55:49.920 --> 00:55:53.480
closely by a white box truck. The suv slowed near

1062
00:55:53.559 --> 00:55:57.400
Calvin's driveway, signaling to the truck, apparently helping the drivers

1063
00:55:57.480 --> 00:56:00.880
locate the correct house. The box truck then backed into

1064
00:56:00.880 --> 00:56:03.960
the driveway, while the suv turned around and drove away.

1065
00:56:04.599 --> 00:56:06.679
A few minutes later, as Billy left his house, he

1066
00:56:06.719 --> 00:56:10.039
saw one of the delivery drivers on the phone. Most likely,

1067
00:56:10.079 --> 00:56:13.599
the driver was calling Pamela Phillips. At ten fifty a m.

1068
00:56:13.880 --> 00:56:16.639
Pam received a call at work. The delivery team was

1069
00:56:16.679 --> 00:56:18.800
at the house, but no one was answering the door.

1070
00:56:19.360 --> 00:56:23.199
They had also tried the home phone with no response. Frustrated,

1071
00:56:23.239 --> 00:56:27.199
Pam tried calling Calvin's cell phone, no answer. She called

1072
00:56:27.239 --> 00:56:30.840
again and again as the hours passed with no response.

1073
00:56:30.920 --> 00:56:35.400
Her frustration turned to worry. Around one thirty or two pm,

1074
00:56:35.599 --> 00:56:39.320
Marlene Laroq, a friend of the Phillips, tried calling their house.

1075
00:56:39.880 --> 00:56:42.880
She and Calvin had bonded over their shared love of dogs,

1076
00:56:42.960 --> 00:56:45.360
and she had heard from their vet that one of

1077
00:56:45.400 --> 00:56:49.079
Calvin's dogs was sick. When her call went unanswered.

1078
00:56:48.519 --> 00:56:51.440
She left a message. She decided to stop.

1079
00:56:51.159 --> 00:56:53.679
By, figuring that Calvin was out working in the yard.

1080
00:56:54.119 --> 00:56:57.400
Around two pm, she and her daughter pulled into Calvin's driveway,

1081
00:56:57.480 --> 00:57:01.440
expecting to find him outside. Instead, they found something unsettling.

1082
00:57:01.719 --> 00:57:05.360
The front door stood wide open. That was unusual. The

1083
00:57:05.400 --> 00:57:08.960
Phillips always kept their front door shut. Marlene knocked and

1084
00:57:09.000 --> 00:57:12.239
called out for Calvin, but there was silence. Maybe he

1085
00:57:12.320 --> 00:57:14.320
was out in the field behind the house, she thought.

1086
00:57:14.679 --> 00:57:18.360
Not wanting to intrude, she left. Meanwhile, Laura wrapped up

1087
00:57:18.360 --> 00:57:21.400
her clinicals and returned home at two thirty four pm.

1088
00:57:21.679 --> 00:57:23.840
Kit left work early to drop off a check for

1089
00:57:23.880 --> 00:57:26.760
his lawyer and to pick up roses for Laura. It

1090
00:57:26.840 --> 00:57:29.000
was the third anniversary of the day that they met

1091
00:57:29.519 --> 00:57:32.000
with the kids at after school activities. They had the

1092
00:57:32.039 --> 00:57:35.559
house to themselves. He arrived home at four fifteen PM,

1093
00:57:35.599 --> 00:57:38.920
and the couple spent the evening together, enjoying dinner and

1094
00:57:39.039 --> 00:57:42.920
cuddling on the couch. By five pm, Pam's frustration with

1095
00:57:43.000 --> 00:57:46.519
Calvin had shifted to full blown anxiety. He hadn't returned

1096
00:57:46.559 --> 00:57:49.079
any of her calls. She reached out to their next

1097
00:57:49.119 --> 00:57:52.199
door neighbor, ed Danzaro, asking if he had seen Calvin.

1098
00:57:52.960 --> 00:57:54.519
Ed said that he had been out most of the

1099
00:57:54.599 --> 00:57:57.760
day and hadn't noticed anything unusual, but he promised to

1100
00:57:57.840 --> 00:58:00.599
keep an eye out. While making dinner. His kit window

1101
00:58:00.639 --> 00:58:03.920
had a clear view of the Phillips home. After calling Ed,

1102
00:58:04.039 --> 00:58:06.679
Pam left the bank and hurried home, but when she

1103
00:58:06.800 --> 00:58:10.199
arrived there was still no sign of Calvin inside or outside.

1104
00:58:10.760 --> 00:58:13.960
Growing more concerned, she checked the home answering machine and

1105
00:58:14.039 --> 00:58:18.000
heard the message from Marlene asking about Calvin's dog. Pam

1106
00:58:18.039 --> 00:58:21.840
immediately called Marlene back. The conversation took a chilling turn.

1107
00:58:22.360 --> 00:58:25.920
Pam asked if Marlene had seen Calvin that day. Marlene

1108
00:58:25.920 --> 00:58:28.199
told her about stopping by the house and finding the

1109
00:58:28.199 --> 00:58:31.440
front door wide open, but no sign of Calvin. Pam

1110
00:58:31.519 --> 00:58:34.079
mentioned that his keys and wallet were still on the table,

1111
00:58:34.440 --> 00:58:36.880
raising the possibility that he had wandered out into the

1112
00:58:36.880 --> 00:58:40.159
fields behind their home. She told Marlene she had asked

1113
00:58:40.159 --> 00:58:43.840
a neighbor to check. Then suddenly Pam said, hold on,

1114
00:58:44.079 --> 00:58:46.760
don't hang up, I think I see something. Then there

1115
00:58:46.840 --> 00:58:50.519
was silence. Marlene waited, straining to hear anything on the

1116
00:58:50.559 --> 00:58:54.719
other end of the line. Then a sound, a startled yelp,

1117
00:58:55.039 --> 00:58:57.360
not quite a scream, more like the kind of noise

1118
00:58:57.400 --> 00:58:59.599
someone makes when they jump at the sight of a mouse.

1119
00:59:00.159 --> 00:59:01.360
And then nothing.

1120
00:59:02.000 --> 00:59:05.360
Marlene held on listening for any sign of Pam, but

1121
00:59:05.440 --> 00:59:09.599
the silence stretched on, cold and unnerving. After several minutes,

1122
00:59:09.679 --> 00:59:13.280
she finally hung up. A gnawing unease settled over her.

1123
00:59:13.599 --> 00:59:15.960
She turned to her daughter, we need to go back

1124
00:59:16.000 --> 00:59:18.559
over there. By six pm, they were back at the

1125
00:59:18.599 --> 00:59:22.559
Phillips house. The front door was still wide open. Marlene

1126
00:59:22.679 --> 00:59:24.280
knocked and called for Pam.

1127
00:59:24.559 --> 00:59:25.239
No answer.

1128
00:59:25.679 --> 00:59:28.360
She pushed the screen door open, stepping forward, but then

1129
00:59:28.400 --> 00:59:31.119
she stopped. Something in her gut told her don't go

1130
00:59:31.199 --> 00:59:34.480
in there. The feeling was too strong to ignore. She

1131
00:59:34.599 --> 00:59:37.719
and her daughter left, but the uneasy feeling wouldn't let go.

1132
00:59:38.239 --> 00:59:41.400
After some time, Marlene turned to her daughter again, I

1133
00:59:41.440 --> 00:59:42.480
think we should go back.

1134
00:59:43.119 --> 00:59:43.599
This time.

1135
00:59:43.639 --> 00:59:46.400
It was between seven and seven thirty and darkness had

1136
00:59:46.440 --> 00:59:47.000
settled in.

1137
00:59:47.639 --> 00:59:48.480
As they pulled up.

1138
00:59:48.519 --> 00:59:51.760
They immediately noticed two things. The front door, which had

1139
00:59:51.800 --> 00:59:55.320
been standing open earlier, was now shut, and Pam's car,

1140
00:59:55.360 --> 00:59:58.599
which had previously been parked facing the house was now

1141
00:59:58.639 --> 01:00:03.320
turned around, backed up toward the porch. Once again, Marlene knocked.

1142
01:00:03.920 --> 01:00:06.960
Once again, there was no answer. This time, she didn't

1143
01:00:06.960 --> 01:00:10.599
hesitate to leave. That night, at eleven forty three pm,

1144
01:00:11.039 --> 01:00:14.679
Kit's security camera captured him stepping outside through the back door.

1145
01:00:15.159 --> 01:00:17.519
He went out and returned twice within a couple of

1146
01:00:17.559 --> 01:00:20.639
minutes later. He explained that his dogs had been barking.

1147
01:00:20.960 --> 01:00:23.000
He had gone outside to move them from the side

1148
01:00:23.079 --> 01:00:26.320
yard to the backyard, hoping to settle them down. What

1149
01:00:26.480 --> 01:00:29.880
exactly had his dogs been barking at. No one knew,

1150
01:00:30.039 --> 01:00:32.920
and no one yet realized what had happened inside the

1151
01:00:32.960 --> 01:00:35.559
Phillips home that day. So I know, I went through

1152
01:00:35.599 --> 01:00:39.000
a lot of times and people and dates there, so

1153
01:00:39.480 --> 01:00:45.000
maybe just a quick recap. Calvin disappeared sometime after his

1154
01:00:45.039 --> 01:00:48.679
wife left for work and before ten fifty I think

1155
01:00:48.800 --> 01:00:50.800
was when the delivery truck drove so there's like a

1156
01:00:50.840 --> 01:00:53.880
three hour window of time when something happened to him.

1157
01:00:53.880 --> 01:00:54.800
We don't know what yet.

1158
01:00:55.159 --> 01:00:59.119
And then in the afternoon, Pam came home looking for him.

1159
01:00:59.559 --> 01:01:02.679
She was on the phone with their friend Marlene, and suddenly,

1160
01:01:02.719 --> 01:01:05.519
like Marlene hears, you know, pam say, I think I

1161
01:01:05.559 --> 01:01:08.760
see something and then she hears like a shriek or

1162
01:01:08.800 --> 01:01:11.920
something like that. So obviously something has happened to both

1163
01:01:11.920 --> 01:01:14.519
of them. Will get into kind of you know, what

1164
01:01:14.679 --> 01:01:16.119
the police discovered the next But.

1165
01:01:16.199 --> 01:01:18.440
The span of time there is several hours.

1166
01:01:18.639 --> 01:01:22.559
Yeah, I mean, Calvin disappeared sometime between like six thirty

1167
01:01:22.559 --> 01:01:24.400
am and ten fifty am.

1168
01:01:24.719 --> 01:01:26.519
Pamela came home at five thirty.

1169
01:01:26.559 --> 01:01:28.639
I mean, we know exactly she was on the phone

1170
01:01:28.679 --> 01:01:31.559
with Marlene at five point thirty when she said she

1171
01:01:31.760 --> 01:01:35.199
saw something and let out a shriek. So yeah, very

1172
01:01:35.199 --> 01:01:38.119
different times. So if we go to November nineteenth, in

1173
01:01:38.159 --> 01:01:41.920
the early hours of that morning, on Rosetown Road, just

1174
01:01:42.000 --> 01:01:44.920
over two miles from the Phillips home, Earl Jet and

1175
01:01:44.960 --> 01:01:47.119
his wife were jolted awake by the sound of their

1176
01:01:47.159 --> 01:01:50.440
dog barking. It was just before two am on Thursday

1177
01:01:50.519 --> 01:01:53.719
the nineteenth. Earl got up to investigate and saw that

1178
01:01:53.800 --> 01:01:57.519
the dog was fixated on something outside, barking toward a

1179
01:01:57.559 --> 01:02:00.719
field south of their house. Peering into the darkness, Earle

1180
01:02:00.840 --> 01:02:03.920
noticed a flickering glow in the distance. His first thought

1181
01:02:04.000 --> 01:02:06.719
was that his neighbor, John Homick was burning something in

1182
01:02:06.800 --> 01:02:10.800
his usual burn pile, but something about the location seemed off.

1183
01:02:11.320 --> 01:02:15.880
The glow wasn't coming from where John's burn pile normally was. Still,

1184
01:02:15.920 --> 01:02:19.000
it was late and Earl was groggy. He brushed off

1185
01:02:19.039 --> 01:02:22.159
the thought and went back to bed. Moments later, two

1186
01:02:22.280 --> 01:02:26.199
loud bangs shattered the night. Lying in bed, Earl assumed

1187
01:02:26.199 --> 01:02:28.960
that something in the fire had exploded, maybe a couple

1188
01:02:28.960 --> 01:02:32.320
of aerosol cans thrown into the flames. He glanced at

1189
01:02:32.320 --> 01:02:36.000
his watch two thirteen am. Then he rolled over and

1190
01:02:36.039 --> 01:02:39.280
went back to sleep. Down the road, John Homick also

1191
01:02:39.360 --> 01:02:42.320
heard the two sharp blasts. His mind went to a

1192
01:02:42.360 --> 01:02:45.599
different explanation. Someone must be out shooting in the field

1193
01:02:45.599 --> 01:02:50.400
across the street. He too noted the time two thirteen am. Then,

1194
01:02:50.480 --> 01:02:53.559
like Earle, he drifted back to sleep. By eight am,

1195
01:02:53.679 --> 01:02:56.320
Earl jet was up and heading into town. As he

1196
01:02:56.400 --> 01:02:59.960
neared John Homick's farm, something caught his eye, wisps so

1197
01:03:00.039 --> 01:03:02.320
of smoke rising into the morning air from a dirt

1198
01:03:02.400 --> 01:03:05.559
road off to the side. Curious, he turned onto the road.

1199
01:03:05.639 --> 01:03:09.719
Driving closer, he saw a car sitting in the mud, smoldering,

1200
01:03:09.800 --> 01:03:13.480
with its frame charred and blackened from the fire. Earle

1201
01:03:13.519 --> 01:03:16.079
wasted no time. He turned around and pulled into John

1202
01:03:16.119 --> 01:03:20.159
Holmick's driveway, and together the two men called nine one one.

1203
01:03:20.239 --> 01:03:23.679
Volunteer firefighter Phillips Peterson was the first down the scene.

1204
01:03:24.079 --> 01:03:26.440
The moment he approached the burned out car, he made

1205
01:03:26.480 --> 01:03:30.320
a grim discovery. Inside the scorched remains of the vehicle

1206
01:03:30.400 --> 01:03:33.719
were two bodies, one slumped in the front passenger seat,

1207
01:03:33.920 --> 01:03:36.440
the other in the back. It was impossible to tell

1208
01:03:36.519 --> 01:03:40.679
who they were. Kentucky State Police Detective Leonard Scott Smith

1209
01:03:40.880 --> 01:03:43.920
arrived soon after and took in the scene. A strong

1210
01:03:44.039 --> 01:03:48.599
acrid smell hit him immediately kerosene. The odor was unmistakable

1211
01:03:49.159 --> 01:03:51.800
someone had doused the car in fuel before setting it

1212
01:03:51.840 --> 01:03:55.239
a blaze. The vehicle itself was stuck in the mud

1213
01:03:55.360 --> 01:03:57.760
just off the dirt road. It looked like whoever had

1214
01:03:57.760 --> 01:04:00.239
been driving had taken a wrong turn in the dark,

1215
01:04:00.559 --> 01:04:03.599
missing a bend, and accidentally driving into the soft, rain

1216
01:04:03.679 --> 01:04:06.880
soaked ground. While most of the ground was slick with mud,

1217
01:04:06.920 --> 01:04:09.840
the area around the driver's side door was firm. There

1218
01:04:09.840 --> 01:04:13.400
were no visible shoe or bootprints. The fire had reduced

1219
01:04:13.440 --> 01:04:15.960
the car and its occupants to little more than ash

1220
01:04:16.039 --> 01:04:19.719
and twisted metal. But then investigators caught a break. A

1221
01:04:19.800 --> 01:04:23.320
license plate had fallen to the ground, somehow escaping the flames.

1222
01:04:23.800 --> 01:04:26.239
They ran the number and found that the car belonged

1223
01:04:26.320 --> 01:04:27.400
to Pamela Phillips.

1224
01:04:27.599 --> 01:04:31.280
Mmm, so, whoever had been driving the car? We don't

1225
01:04:31.320 --> 01:04:33.719
know who it was. We don't know where they went right.

1226
01:04:34.360 --> 01:04:38.079
Two deputies from the Christian County Sheriff's Department were dispatched

1227
01:04:38.119 --> 01:04:41.239
to the home of Calvin and Pamela Phillips. When knocking

1228
01:04:41.239 --> 01:04:43.719
on the door yielded no response, they tried the house

1229
01:04:43.760 --> 01:04:47.599
next door, hoping their neighbor at Danzerobe might have some answers,

1230
01:04:47.920 --> 01:04:51.639
but no one answered there either. Something wasn't right. The

1231
01:04:51.679 --> 01:04:56.239
deputies requested a search warrant for the Phillips residence. Once granted,

1232
01:04:56.559 --> 01:05:00.519
officers entered the house cautiously, moving vigilantly from room to room,

1233
01:05:00.760 --> 01:05:04.920
weapons drawn. No one was inside. Now the search became

1234
01:05:05.000 --> 01:05:09.079
more methodical. Officers combed through the cluttered home looking for

1235
01:05:09.159 --> 01:05:11.599
any sign of what had happened. It was on the

1236
01:05:11.599 --> 01:05:14.599
back porch that one of them noticed something odd. A

1237
01:05:14.639 --> 01:05:18.400
blue tarp stained with what looked like blood. Pulling the

1238
01:05:18.440 --> 01:05:21.639
tarp aside, they uncovered something they might have otherwise missed,

1239
01:05:21.880 --> 01:05:25.159
a cellar door built directly into the floor of the porch.

1240
01:05:25.840 --> 01:05:28.360
They opened it. At the bottom of the steps. In

1241
01:05:28.400 --> 01:05:30.800
the dim light, lay the crumpled body of a man.

1242
01:05:31.400 --> 01:05:35.320
It was Calvin Phillips. Calvin was still wearing his raincoat,

1243
01:05:35.599 --> 01:05:39.360
its hood tightly pulled around his head. The previous morning

1244
01:05:39.360 --> 01:05:41.760
had been marked by heavy rains, suggesting that he had

1245
01:05:41.760 --> 01:05:44.880
gone outside before he was killed, and his body was

1246
01:05:44.960 --> 01:05:48.320
later dragged to the cellar. He had been shot multiple times,

1247
01:05:48.719 --> 01:05:51.440
but that wasn't all. The lower half of his face

1248
01:05:51.480 --> 01:05:55.400
showed significant trauma. An autopsy would later reveal that these

1249
01:05:55.440 --> 01:05:59.639
injuries had occurred before he died. Investigators now faced two

1250
01:05:59.679 --> 01:06:04.840
horrorifying possibilities. Calvin had been beaten before being shot, or

1251
01:06:04.920 --> 01:06:07.519
he had been thrown down the stairs while still alive,

1252
01:06:08.159 --> 01:06:11.360
his face striking the steps on the way down. The

1253
01:06:11.440 --> 01:06:14.920
latter seemed likely. Blood was found on the cellar steps,

1254
01:06:14.960 --> 01:06:18.239
and one of Calvin's teeth had been knocked out, discovered

1255
01:06:18.239 --> 01:06:22.159
beneath his body. A bullet fragment was also found underneath him,

1256
01:06:22.639 --> 01:06:25.119
suggesting that he had been shot at least once while

1257
01:06:25.159 --> 01:06:28.320
lying at the bottom of the stairs. Scattered around his

1258
01:06:28.360 --> 01:06:32.679
body were blood stained towels and clothing. Nearby, officers found

1259
01:06:32.679 --> 01:06:36.440
something even more disturbing, charred wood and a partially burned

1260
01:06:36.519 --> 01:06:39.440
roll of paper towels. It looked as though someone had

1261
01:06:39.440 --> 01:06:43.199
attempted to destroy evidence by setting a fire near Calvin's body,

1262
01:06:43.679 --> 01:06:45.920
but the fire had gone out after the cellar door

1263
01:06:45.960 --> 01:06:49.880
had been closed. Beyond the cellar, investigators found little evidence

1264
01:06:49.920 --> 01:06:53.119
of a struggle. Inside the house. There was no blood spatter,

1265
01:06:53.639 --> 01:06:56.480
no signs of forced entry, but a faint trail of

1266
01:06:56.480 --> 01:06:58.079
blood led from the kitchen to.

1267
01:06:58.079 --> 01:07:00.239
The back porch. In the foyer.

1268
01:07:00.360 --> 01:07:03.320
Between the kitchen and the back porch, something caught their attention,

1269
01:07:03.920 --> 01:07:07.480
a clump of dark hair. DNA testing would later confirm

1270
01:07:07.559 --> 01:07:11.920
that it belonged to Pamela Phillips. Outside, the evidence told

1271
01:07:11.920 --> 01:07:15.079
a more chaotic story. Blood was found in the grass

1272
01:07:15.159 --> 01:07:18.280
next to a cell phone. A small caliber handgun was

1273
01:07:18.320 --> 01:07:22.320
discovered in the backyard near the driveway, beside another blood stain.

1274
01:07:23.000 --> 01:07:26.719
Additional blood spots dotted the sidewalk connecting the back porch

1275
01:07:26.800 --> 01:07:31.840
to the driveway. Back inside, another oddity emerged. Calvin's wallet

1276
01:07:31.880 --> 01:07:33.960
and cell phone were sitting on the top shelf of

1277
01:07:34.000 --> 01:07:37.159
a built in bookcase in the foyer near the back porch.

1278
01:07:37.719 --> 01:07:41.119
This contradicted what Marlene Laroq, a friend of the Phillips family,

1279
01:07:41.159 --> 01:07:45.280
would later tell police. Pam had specifically mentioned that Calvin's

1280
01:07:45.280 --> 01:07:48.559
wallet and keys were on the table, so someone must

1281
01:07:48.559 --> 01:07:52.440
have moved them. The house was cluttered, Calvin was known

1282
01:07:52.480 --> 01:07:54.800
to be somewhat of a hoarder, But amid the mess,

1283
01:07:55.159 --> 01:07:58.000
one piece of paper stood out, lying on a table

1284
01:07:58.000 --> 01:08:01.199
in plain view was a subpoena. It revealed that in

1285
01:08:01.320 --> 01:08:04.760
less than two weeks, Calvin Phillips was scheduled to testify

1286
01:08:04.800 --> 01:08:08.000
as a witness in the court martial trial of Christian Martin.

1287
01:08:08.400 --> 01:08:11.559
Christian Martin, the man who lived right across the street.

1288
01:08:12.280 --> 01:08:15.559
Deputies began canvassing the neighborhood, hoping to find anyone who

1289
01:08:15.639 --> 01:08:18.760
might have seen or heard something unusual. Their first stop

1290
01:08:18.840 --> 01:08:22.279
was right next door at Danziero's house. They knocked, but

1291
01:08:22.319 --> 01:08:25.479
there was no answer, and then they noticed something unsettling.

1292
01:08:26.039 --> 01:08:29.600
Ed's side door was wide open, calling out as they entered,

1293
01:08:29.600 --> 01:08:33.479
deputies stepped cautiously inside. The house was empty, but it

1294
01:08:33.520 --> 01:08:35.960
looked as if Ed had left in a hurry. On

1295
01:08:36.039 --> 01:08:39.600
the kitchen counter, an uncooked fish filet sat out forgotten.

1296
01:08:40.159 --> 01:08:42.800
The TV was still on, flickering in the dim room,

1297
01:08:43.359 --> 01:08:46.479
an empty gun holster lay on a recliner, as if

1298
01:08:46.520 --> 01:08:49.920
the weapon had been grabbed in haste. Everything pointed to

1299
01:08:50.000 --> 01:08:54.479
one chilling conclusion. Ed Danzero had been interrupted. Something had

1300
01:08:54.560 --> 01:08:56.920
drawn him away from his home so suddenly that he

1301
01:08:56.960 --> 01:09:00.720
didn't bother turning off the television, didn't finish pairing dinner,

1302
01:09:01.119 --> 01:09:02.800
didn't hesitate to take his gun.

1303
01:09:03.439 --> 01:09:04.520
Hours later, his.

1304
01:09:04.399 --> 01:09:07.399
Car was discovered four blocks away, sitting in a gravel

1305
01:09:07.439 --> 01:09:11.680
parking lot of a former elementary school. Its location was ominous.

1306
01:09:11.720 --> 01:09:14.119
It was parked right at the corner of the highway

1307
01:09:14.199 --> 01:09:17.560
leading out of town. More disturbingly, the car was located

1308
01:09:17.600 --> 01:09:21.399
in the direction of Rosetown Road, where Pamela phillips burned

1309
01:09:21.439 --> 01:09:25.279
out vehicle had been found. When forensic testing was completed,

1310
01:09:25.479 --> 01:09:29.119
the truth was confirmed. The two bodies found inside Pam's

1311
01:09:29.199 --> 01:09:32.960
scorched car were those of Pamela Phillips and ed Danzero.

1312
01:09:33.640 --> 01:09:35.960
How far apart were these two cars.

1313
01:09:36.720 --> 01:09:38.880
Probably like a mile and a half. It was two

1314
01:09:38.880 --> 01:09:42.399
miles from Calvin and Pamela's home to where Pam's car

1315
01:09:42.520 --> 01:09:45.479
was found, and then Ed's car was found like in

1316
01:09:45.520 --> 01:09:48.800
that direction, but like four blocks away, so maybe maybe

1317
01:09:48.840 --> 01:09:51.239
a half a mile at most. Well, that is where

1318
01:09:51.279 --> 01:09:54.439
we're going to end part one. Before we do, I

1319
01:09:54.479 --> 01:09:56.039
just want to talk a little bit more about the

1320
01:09:56.119 --> 01:09:58.520
crime scene because I think I went through a lot

1321
01:09:58.560 --> 01:10:01.880
of details there. It's just it's sort of bizarre. So

1322
01:10:02.479 --> 01:10:07.000
Calvin was found at home in his cellar, beaten and shot,

1323
01:10:07.119 --> 01:10:08.640
and then Pam, who.

1324
01:10:08.520 --> 01:10:10.880
Was obviously killed hours later.

1325
01:10:11.000 --> 01:10:14.479
Hours later, Yeah, her body and Ed's were found in

1326
01:10:14.560 --> 01:10:17.439
a car that some you know, the killer had driven

1327
01:10:17.479 --> 01:10:20.680
them out to this country road set their car on fire,

1328
01:10:21.319 --> 01:10:24.039
and then Ed's car was found.

1329
01:10:23.760 --> 01:10:25.960
Somewhere in between the two cars.

1330
01:10:26.000 --> 01:10:28.640
So what I mean, just what are your initial thoughts on,

1331
01:10:28.720 --> 01:10:30.279
Like what do you make of that crime scene? Like

1332
01:10:30.760 --> 01:10:34.000
whoever killed them? Why would they have done all these

1333
01:10:34.159 --> 01:10:35.279
different things?

1334
01:10:35.960 --> 01:10:40.359
First, I have a question how big were Ed and Calvin?

1335
01:10:40.880 --> 01:10:44.039
Would one person have been able to I guess you

1336
01:10:44.039 --> 01:10:46.560
said Calvin was probably thrown down the stairs.

1337
01:10:46.640 --> 01:10:48.840
Yeah, I don't know how big either. It's a good question.

1338
01:10:48.920 --> 01:10:50.479
I don't know how big either of them were, but

1339
01:10:50.520 --> 01:10:53.279
it does make you wonder if more than one person

1340
01:10:53.319 --> 01:10:56.640
would have had to have been involved partly, yeah, because

1341
01:10:56.640 --> 01:11:00.239
it seems like Calvin for sure was killed outside. They

1342
01:11:00.239 --> 01:11:02.319
found blood in the grass. There was no blood spatter

1343
01:11:02.359 --> 01:11:04.760
in the house, so someone had to have taken him

1344
01:11:05.039 --> 01:11:05.640
into the house.

1345
01:11:05.760 --> 01:11:07.800
There was a tarp there, so they could have used

1346
01:11:07.800 --> 01:11:10.239
the tarp to drag his body into the house and

1347
01:11:10.279 --> 01:11:12.960
throw him to the cellar. Where was the cellar outside

1348
01:11:12.960 --> 01:11:13.359
of the house.

1349
01:11:13.439 --> 01:11:15.079
It was on the back porch, so it was like,

1350
01:11:15.079 --> 01:11:17.039
I think it was like a screened in back porch.

1351
01:11:17.880 --> 01:11:21.920
And then loading both pam and add into the car

1352
01:11:22.039 --> 01:11:24.199
would have also taken a fair amount of effort.

1353
01:11:24.600 --> 01:11:26.680
Well well, and in broad daylight.

1354
01:11:27.119 --> 01:11:29.000
Well, that's the other weird thing about this is the

1355
01:11:29.079 --> 01:11:31.520
killer had to have come back to the house three times.

1356
01:11:31.920 --> 01:11:34.319
They had to have been there once when Calvin was killed.

1357
01:11:34.359 --> 01:11:36.399
Then they had to come back later at five point

1358
01:11:36.399 --> 01:11:40.439
thirty pm and killed Pamela unless they stayed there maybe,

1359
01:11:40.840 --> 01:11:42.760
but then they would have had to come back again

1360
01:11:43.199 --> 01:11:46.119
or stayed there until two in the morning when they

1361
01:11:46.159 --> 01:11:47.880
loaded these bodies up into the car.

1362
01:11:48.039 --> 01:11:51.079
So it's just and you're pointing to two am because.

1363
01:11:50.840 --> 01:11:54.039
That's when the dogs were No, that's when ed the

1364
01:11:54.079 --> 01:11:56.640
one the farmer saw the fire off in the distance,

1365
01:11:56.960 --> 01:11:58.199
and then the next morning.

1366
01:11:57.960 --> 01:11:59.439
He found the car burned.

1367
01:12:00.079 --> 01:12:02.880
So yeah, whoever they took the you know, the car

1368
01:12:03.000 --> 01:12:05.960
and the bodies out at like two am and set

1369
01:12:05.960 --> 01:12:08.720
them on fire. So it's just it's just crazy that

1370
01:12:09.079 --> 01:12:12.319
whoever did this either returned to the home three times

1371
01:12:12.399 --> 01:12:14.920
or stayed there for a whole day. It just doesn't

1372
01:12:14.960 --> 01:12:17.640
make any sense. And you know, burning the car with

1373
01:12:17.680 --> 01:12:21.239
the two bodies obviously destroyed evidence. But at the same time,

1374
01:12:21.239 --> 01:12:24.960
they left Calvin's body at the house without doing anything there,

1375
01:12:25.039 --> 01:12:28.520
although apparently they tried to set a fire. The whole

1376
01:12:28.520 --> 01:12:30.239
thing is just so so bizarre.

1377
01:12:30.359 --> 01:12:32.960
Did the paper towels have an accelerant on them?

1378
01:12:33.560 --> 01:12:36.399
Not that I read about there.

1379
01:12:36.279 --> 01:12:37.880
Was, like I think I said there were there was

1380
01:12:37.920 --> 01:12:40.439
some wood there, so I don't know if they tried

1381
01:12:40.479 --> 01:12:43.680
to use that as like a kindling to start the fire,

1382
01:12:43.720 --> 01:12:46.279
but yeah, that didn't work. Well, we have a lot

1383
01:12:46.319 --> 01:12:48.880
more to talk about in part two, but there are

1384
01:12:49.239 --> 01:12:51.079
there are a lot of baffling things about this case,

1385
01:12:51.119 --> 01:12:53.520
and there are going to continue to be baffling things

1386
01:12:53.520 --> 01:12:55.600
about this case, so be sure to come back for

1387
01:12:55.680 --> 01:13:04.279
part two. Well, as we talked about Spring is here,

1388
01:13:04.319 --> 01:13:09.159
and with spring come birds. I'm at war with the

1389
01:13:09.159 --> 01:13:10.000
birds right now.

1390
01:13:10.760 --> 01:13:15.319
We have been at war with birds for years, right.

1391
01:13:15.560 --> 01:13:18.520
And the thing is, I love birds. I really do

1392
01:13:18.560 --> 01:13:19.159
love birds.

1393
01:13:19.159 --> 01:13:22.279
We feed them and we.

1394
01:13:21.680 --> 01:13:23.479
Have a book on birds that we look up with.

1395
01:13:23.600 --> 01:13:25.640
We get excited when we see a new bird that

1396
01:13:25.680 --> 01:13:29.039
we haven't seen in a while, because we're not cool anymore.

1397
01:13:30.000 --> 01:13:32.199
I have an app on my phone that can identify

1398
01:13:32.279 --> 01:13:34.840
the type of birds in your yard based on their song.

1399
01:13:35.560 --> 01:13:36.920
But they torment us.

1400
01:13:37.039 --> 01:13:40.000
They do torment us. Last year, in particular, we had

1401
01:13:40.039 --> 01:13:42.760
a bird make a nest in our mailbox. Like our

1402
01:13:42.760 --> 01:13:45.800
mailbox has a little open space underneath it where you

1403
01:13:45.800 --> 01:13:48.720
could put like flyers or newspapers or whatever, and a

1404
01:13:48.720 --> 01:13:50.840
bird made a nest in there, and it made our

1405
01:13:50.880 --> 01:13:54.000
life a living hell. For like three weeks in a row,

1406
01:13:54.079 --> 01:13:57.239
you couldn't go anywhere near the mailbox without getting dive bombed.

1407
01:13:57.359 --> 01:13:58.920
I remember one time I went for a walk down

1408
01:13:58.960 --> 01:14:01.520
the street and the bird follow Yeah, and it dive

1409
01:14:01.600 --> 01:14:03.640
bombed me for like a quarter mile as.

1410
01:14:03.600 --> 01:14:04.199
I walked it.

1411
01:14:04.279 --> 01:14:05.600
Did I remember it was there?

1412
01:14:05.800 --> 01:14:09.840
And in our backyard they build their nests under our deck. Yeah,

1413
01:14:09.880 --> 01:14:13.159
And the same thing happens. They'll like get very irritated

1414
01:14:13.199 --> 01:14:14.239
if we go out on our deck.

1415
01:14:14.359 --> 01:14:18.000
But this year you said, I am gonna I'm gonna win.

1416
01:14:18.279 --> 01:14:21.039
Enough it a step ahead of the birds.

1417
01:14:21.079 --> 01:14:22.720
Yes, So I did some googling.

1418
01:14:22.840 --> 01:14:26.039
I did some research, and I found these little spikes,

1419
01:14:26.239 --> 01:14:27.399
these like plastic spikes.

1420
01:14:27.439 --> 01:14:29.920
Because he's a cruel, cruel man.

1421
01:14:30.880 --> 01:14:33.159
This is not intended to hurt the birds. It's intended

1422
01:14:33.199 --> 01:14:35.319
to deter them from building a nest.

1423
01:14:35.399 --> 01:14:37.640
And so well, it's kind of funny. As a side note,

1424
01:14:37.800 --> 01:14:42.000
for Christmas, I got you something called the shock tea Matt, Yes,

1425
01:14:42.039 --> 01:14:44.039
and you have like a pillow in this little mat.

1426
01:14:44.239 --> 01:14:47.159
It's essentially like a plastic bed of nails, and it's

1427
01:14:47.159 --> 01:14:49.800
supposed to really I bought it as a tortured toise,

1428
01:14:49.840 --> 01:14:53.439
but don't tell me. It's really supposed to help you sleep, right,

1429
01:14:53.800 --> 01:14:54.199
it has it.

1430
01:14:54.560 --> 01:14:55.079
I love it.

1431
01:14:55.239 --> 01:14:57.119
I think it's been really good. I lay on it

1432
01:14:57.119 --> 01:14:59.239
for like twenty minutes every night before I go to sleep.

1433
01:14:59.560 --> 01:15:02.319
But yet, so the spikes I bought, maybe it's like

1434
01:15:02.399 --> 01:15:03.800
they have a little bit of a little.

1435
01:15:03.680 --> 01:15:05.880
Similarity, but I put them.

1436
01:15:06.079 --> 01:15:09.359
I bought these spikes and I spent like hours under

1437
01:15:09.399 --> 01:15:11.359
our deck putting them on top.

1438
01:15:11.199 --> 01:15:13.319
Of all the joists where they build their nest.

1439
01:15:13.439 --> 01:15:15.680
It was an A plus effort, it really was.

1440
01:15:15.760 --> 01:15:19.479
And within twenty four hours the birds started building nests

1441
01:15:19.560 --> 01:15:21.000
on top of the spikes.

1442
01:15:21.039 --> 01:15:24.439
You're pretty upset about that. It's when you got them.

1443
01:15:24.479 --> 01:15:27.119
I did kind of think like, that looks like the

1444
01:15:27.159 --> 01:15:31.039
perfect vessel in which the bird can place its nest

1445
01:15:31.079 --> 01:15:33.000
where the nest wouldn't get blown away.

1446
01:15:33.680 --> 01:15:35.680
I think that's exactly what the birds thought as well.

1447
01:15:35.720 --> 01:15:38.600
They were like, oh, look, this homeowner put this nice

1448
01:15:38.640 --> 01:15:40.359
thing here to keep our nests secure.

1449
01:15:40.920 --> 01:15:42.239
And so they started building.

1450
01:15:42.039 --> 01:15:44.079
Our nests on top of the spike of the spike.

1451
01:15:44.199 --> 01:15:47.399
So then I was not done yet. I went and

1452
01:15:47.439 --> 01:15:50.359
I bought some dangly mirror things.

1453
01:15:50.800 --> 01:15:54.399
Yes, very classy. Our deck looks so cool. It's so

1454
01:15:54.479 --> 01:15:55.159
great right now.

1455
01:15:55.399 --> 01:15:58.319
So apparently if you hang these mirrors up, like the

1456
01:15:58.359 --> 01:16:01.159
sun shines off them, or the birds see their reflection.

1457
01:16:00.840 --> 01:16:03.279
To the homeowners association gets a load of those.

1458
01:16:03.399 --> 01:16:08.159
Yes, and that also has failed foiled tarn it.

1459
01:16:08.439 --> 01:16:10.399
So I've now given up given up.

1460
01:16:11.319 --> 01:16:14.199
Well, so the bird, the birds, the ones under the deck.

1461
01:16:14.319 --> 01:16:16.640
It depends what you're doing. We have a hot tub

1462
01:16:16.720 --> 01:16:20.600
under the deck, which we almost never use. And really

1463
01:16:20.680 --> 01:16:23.039
the birds are only bad for a few weeks.

1464
01:16:23.000 --> 01:16:25.079
And some are worse than others. Some breeds of birds

1465
01:16:25.079 --> 01:16:25.800
are like oh whatever.

1466
01:16:26.680 --> 01:16:28.800
Robins are particularly aggressive.

1467
01:16:28.880 --> 01:16:31.079
Yeah, we had a really aggressive robin out there, well at.

1468
01:16:31.039 --> 01:16:33.520
Our old house. That's the those were the ones that

1469
01:16:33.600 --> 01:16:38.640
tormented me. Literally. They three I think it was at

1470
01:16:38.720 --> 01:16:41.039
least three years that and I don't know if it

1471
01:16:41.119 --> 01:16:43.840
was the same robin, but they would like just all

1472
01:16:43.920 --> 01:16:46.640
day long, just fly into our window over and over.

1473
01:16:46.720 --> 01:16:49.159
And we tried a lot of different things. We put

1474
01:16:49.199 --> 01:16:51.119
up oil, we put up loons.

1475
01:16:50.760 --> 01:16:52.920
We put up pictures of giant hawks.

1476
01:16:53.039 --> 01:16:56.159
Yeah, and the bird would just bang into the window

1477
01:16:56.279 --> 01:17:00.159
like all long. It was really that really tormented me,

1478
01:17:00.239 --> 01:17:02.680
Like what's going on now doesn't bother me nearly as

1479
01:17:02.720 --> 01:17:05.560
much as the bird at our old house. And gratefully

1480
01:17:05.680 --> 01:17:08.319
we don't have that situation. But our old house we

1481
01:17:08.359 --> 01:17:12.920
had woodpeckers who our house was cedar sided woodpeckers.

1482
01:17:12.279 --> 01:17:15.760
And carpenter bees and so many, so many things. But

1483
01:17:15.800 --> 01:17:18.199
that yeah, that robin, it had to have brain damage

1484
01:17:18.199 --> 01:17:21.479
because it would just all day long, bang into the window,

1485
01:17:21.720 --> 01:17:23.159
go back, bang into it again.

1486
01:17:23.560 --> 01:17:24.279
That was tough.

1487
01:17:24.399 --> 01:17:27.760
Well, I applaud your efforts. Yeah, I feel that nature

1488
01:17:27.840 --> 01:17:30.560
is usually gonna beat man. I think creature is always

1489
01:17:30.560 --> 01:17:31.239
going to beat man.

1490
01:17:31.359 --> 01:17:33.439
Well, I did leave the spikes in the mailbox, and

1491
01:17:33.520 --> 01:17:36.680
so far no nests are in there, so I'm hopefully.

1492
01:17:36.359 --> 01:17:38.279
We had a little a little piece of wood. And

1493
01:17:38.279 --> 01:17:39.560
I thought that was a good idea.

1494
01:17:39.640 --> 01:17:41.760
But you're I don't know, I don't know.

1495
01:17:42.079 --> 01:17:44.720
Yeah, well, if you have any great ideas for us

1496
01:17:44.760 --> 01:17:46.840
out there, let us know how you have.

1497
01:17:47.399 --> 01:17:49.720
Yeah, well that was too late because now they're going

1498
01:17:49.760 --> 01:17:51.600
to be laying eggs any day now, and I can't

1499
01:17:51.640 --> 01:17:54.600
we can't disrupt that once they once they lay.

1500
01:17:54.399 --> 01:17:56.960
Eggs, told you to go down there with the weed

1501
01:17:57.119 --> 01:18:00.840
or not the weed wager, but the flower. Just plow

1502
01:18:00.840 --> 01:18:02.039
off all the vests that.

1503
01:18:02.119 --> 01:18:05.399
I think I did. I did, Yeah, I.

1504
01:18:05.359 --> 01:18:07.880
Mean because there weren't any eggs yet. No, you're not

1505
01:18:07.920 --> 01:18:08.640
a complete month.

1506
01:18:08.720 --> 01:18:11.800
No, their nests were just in the beginning stages of

1507
01:18:11.840 --> 01:18:13.399
being built, and I blew them off. I did that

1508
01:18:13.439 --> 01:18:14.239
two days in a row.

1509
01:18:14.279 --> 01:18:17.560
But then I was like whatever, yeah, whatever, have at it.

1510
01:18:17.600 --> 01:18:18.039
Have fun.

1511
01:18:18.399 --> 01:18:20.840
Well, then we have those other little birds that just

1512
01:18:20.960 --> 01:18:25.600
run around and they kill there. It's the worst nest ever,

1513
01:18:26.720 --> 01:18:29.880
I would have cured. They're adorable. Nothing is cutter than

1514
01:18:29.880 --> 01:18:32.600
a baby killed her. But their nests. They lay them

1515
01:18:32.640 --> 01:18:36.399
in like our molt on the ground, or actually sometimes

1516
01:18:36.399 --> 01:18:38.640
in the in the little the middle of the yard,

1517
01:18:38.720 --> 01:18:41.960
in the grass, and then the person who moser lawn

1518
01:18:42.039 --> 01:18:43.840
has to go around them for a few weeks.

1519
01:18:43.880 --> 01:18:46.239
But yeah, they're so adorable though I love them.

1520
01:18:46.800 --> 01:18:47.680
They're very cute.

1521
01:18:48.560 --> 01:18:52.279
Well enough bird talk, we should probably move on. Thank

1522
01:18:52.319 --> 01:18:54.960
you all so much for listening. We really appreciate it.

1523
01:18:55.239 --> 01:18:57.800
If you want to listen to part two of this episode,

1524
01:18:58.279 --> 01:19:02.000
join us on patrion dot slash Love Mary Kill for

1525
01:19:02.359 --> 01:19:06.319
early ad free episodes and a monthly anthly a monthly

1526
01:19:06.399 --> 01:19:09.560
bonus episode for five dollars. We thank you so much

1527
01:19:09.600 --> 01:19:11.840
for your support. The only reason that there is a

1528
01:19:11.880 --> 01:19:16.560
podcast is because of you. Please rate, review, follow and subscribe,

1529
01:19:16.640 --> 01:19:19.359
find us on social media, or send us an email

1530
01:19:19.439 --> 01:19:22.479
at Lovemarykill at gmail dot com.

1531
01:19:22.560 --> 01:19:24.960
Until next time, don't here a husband and don't kill

1532
01:19:25.000 --> 01:20:00.159
your wife. The