WEBVTT 1 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:34.280 Welcome back to the Path one, Chile for part two of our series about 2 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:38.280 the unexplained death of Steve Sandlin. Robin, do you want to catch everyone 3 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:42.079 up on what we talked about in our previous episode. Well, Steve Sandlin 4 00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:45.920 was a twenty one year old rookie police officer with an infant son, who 5 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:50.039 was also engaged to be married and was following in his father's footsteps. All 6 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:53.520 he'd ever wanted to be was a police officer. He was assigned to a 7 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:57.759 small town called Mountaineer, New Mexico, which only had a total of four 8 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:02.159 officers on the force, including Steve. But then eight weeks into his tenure 9 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:07.000 there, Steve wound up debt inside his own police station under suspicious circumstances, 10 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:10.640 after he was shot to death with his own gun. The police chief, 11 00:01:11.159 --> 00:01:15.680 David Carson, tried to say that Steve's death may have been a suicide because 12 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:19.120 they had an argument earlier that day, or possibly an accident because Steve was 13 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:23.599 playing with his gun, but of course his friends and family did not believe 14 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:26.599 that. It saw a lot of suspicious discrepancies going on. There were hints 15 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.239 that Steve was very disillusioned about stuff that was going on on the job, 16 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:34.879 and he had even had a meeting with the New Mexico Attorney General's office. 17 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:38.680 He had also been involved in a drug bust with a marijuana dealer in which 18 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:45.680 fifty four pounds of marijuana suddenly went missing from a police evidence trailer, and 19 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:49.359 after Steve's death, a bag of what might have one bag of what might 20 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:53.439 have been this marijuana was found inside a drawer inside Steve's home, and it 21 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:57.680 seemed likely that it had been planted in an attempt to assassinate his character. 22 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:05.079 There was some suspicion on Chief Carson himself because numerous witnesses said they saw his 23 00:02:05.159 --> 00:02:09.719 patrol car parked outside the police station during the approximate time period of Steve's death. 24 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:13.879 And he also really didn't have an alibi for that time period and just 25 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:17.080 said that he could not remember where he was. I know that there was 26 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:22.680 a man named James Garantino who was the Assistant Attorney General in New Mexico. 27 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:27.319 He wound up getting fired from his superiors for pushing too hard into this case 28 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:30.439 and not leaving it alone. So he became a parent that there was a 29 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:34.840 major cover up and conspiracy going on. It was not until nineteen ninety five 30 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:39.159 when Steve's death was finally reclassified as a homicide, and they have paid tribute 31 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:43.599 to him in the last few years, but unfortunately there are still no answers 32 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.919 about his death and if whoever killed him has gotten away with it for over 33 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:51.879 thirty five years, well, I think it's safe to say that this story 34 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:55.120 is sketchy as hell. I really can't think of too many unsolved cases where 35 00:02:55.120 --> 00:03:00.360 a police officer was killed inside their own police station. Steve Sandlan sounded like 36 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:06.360 an incredibly ambitious, enthusiastic young man who only wanted to do good and could 37 00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:09.719 have potentially had a great career in law enforcement. But unfortunately it sounds like 38 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:15.400 you wound up getting hired by a rather dysfunctional police department. Now, you 39 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:19.280 do have to cut the Mountaineer PD a little bit of slack, because a 40 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:23.759 Mountain Air is a pretty isolated small town, and these types of police departments 41 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:28.280 obviously do not get the same amount of manpower, resources and training that a 42 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:31.240 police force in a larger city would receive. After all, they only had 43 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:36.439 a total of four officers when Steve joined up. But when a force this 44 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:39.719 small suddenly winds up dealing with a crime that's much bigger than what they're used 45 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:44.520 to dealing with. You can see how things might go wrong. In other 46 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:47.639 words, if they seize fifty four pounds of marijuana in a drug bust and 47 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:52.719 have to leave it lying around on the floor inside the station because they don't 48 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:57.199 have any secure facilities to properly store it, then they're probably in way over 49 00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:01.360 their heads. Now it's up for debate Webther the Mountaineer PD was actually complicit 50 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:06.039 in Steve's death or just watch the investigation. But either way, it's still 51 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:12.599 a pretty infuriating situation because Steve deserved much better. He just sounded like the 52 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:15.639 type of person you'd want to have as a police officer in your community because 53 00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:18.920 he was finally getting to do the one thing he'd always wanted to do since 54 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:23.439 he was a child, and was treating it with the seriousness it deserved. 55 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:28.399 But it sounds like working for the Mountaineer PD did a lot to destroy Steve's 56 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:31.959 passion for his job in a fairly short amount of time. Before we start 57 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:36.480 analyzing this case, I should discuss Chief David Carson, who seems like a 58 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:43.800 pretty sketchy character for starters, his real name was actually David Joseph Shanklin, 59 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:47.439 but he apparently decided to change it after his father got married to his ex 60 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:53.279 wife, which sounds like a pretty awkward situation to say the least. This 61 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:58.120 decision may have also been motivated by the fact that Carson had an extensive criminal 62 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:02.120 record for misdemeanors under his former name. Believe it or not. While Carson 63 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:06.680 was police chief, David Joseph Shanklin still had an active warrant on him in 64 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:12.240 Hamilton County, Ohio, which stemmed from a nineteen seventy five arrest for passing 65 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:17.279 bad checks. Since the war was only applicable in Ohio, Shanklin slash Carson 66 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:20.800 did not have to worry about it, so he was able to be certified 67 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:26.319 as a law enforcement officer in New Mexico and became police chief of Mountainair in 68 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:31.240 September of nineteen eighty seven. Oooh okay, I'm shaking my head, going, 69 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:35.160 wait, what if you have an active warrant in another state? I 70 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:41.519 feel like you should still not be qualified to serve and protect when you're passing 71 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:45.800 bad checks and doing many misdemeanors, whether your name's the same or not, 72 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:50.959 and whether you've moved or not, very interesting. It is to me concerning 73 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:56.360 that he does have Yes they're misdemeanors, but he has his history of being 74 00:05:56.399 --> 00:06:00.040 willing to break the law if he's passing bad checks, is he in financial 75 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:05.279 distress? Is he one of those people who just doesn't care and believes he's 76 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:09.920 above the law. Either way, I don't think it puts him in a 77 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:15.600 very good position to be police chief of a even a small little town, 78 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:19.920 because to me, it shows questionable judgment and a lack of ethics and responsibility. 79 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:25.439 Yes, people can change, Yes people go through phases, but this 80 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:28.839 wasn't like it was, you know, thirty five years ago. It was 81 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:32.839 at the time of Steve's death. It was just thirteen years before he had 82 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:39.800 that warrant signed for the bad checks. So he had to start a law 83 00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:46.439 enforcement career pretty quickly after these misdemeanors had been on his record. And so 84 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:50.199 I'm wondering how quickly this someone changed should become this perfect law abiding citizen when 85 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:56.759 they've had a history of multiple run ins with law enforcement themselves. And correct 86 00:06:56.759 --> 00:07:00.560 me if I'm wrong. Maybe one of you two know, But with law 87 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:06.800 enforcement officers, don't they have to provide their financial information to their employer because 88 00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:14.120 they need to be beyond reproach in the sense that if there are major financial 89 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:16.560 issues or deep into debt, say they've got a gambling addiction, even if 90 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:21.480 gambling is legal there, then that could potentially open them up to making really 91 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:27.240 rash or poor decisions, like say they do a drug bust and they decide 92 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:30.480 to keep the drugs or keep money that they find because they need to pay 93 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:33.800 off you know, Peter or Paul over there. I think there are departments 94 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.720 like that, or especially federal government, when you get into like you know, 95 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.199 FBI and things like that. I know that they ask, you know, 96 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:45.439 for everything but your first child. But when you look at a small 97 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:49.279 town where there's only four officers operating there, I doubt the hiring procedures are 98 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:54.199 strict. We're in a tiny little town. I guarantee you it's not as 99 00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:59.600 difficult to get through the hoops here in a tiny little town of two thousand 100 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:03.839 people as it is in let's say Dallas, Texas or San Francisco or something 101 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:07.040 like that. I just don't think there's a big pool to pull from and 102 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:11.600 so and there's, like you said, not as many resources are personnel able 103 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:15.639 to do the background checks and things like that, so I think it's just 104 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:20.439 more lax in a small town police department. That's what I'm thinking as well. 105 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:22.360 Because it was the nineteen eighties, it's not clear to me if they 106 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:26.759 found out about his previous criminal history, or if they just missed it in 107 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:30.160 the background check, or if they did know about it but just didn't care 108 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:33.679 because they figured, Well, the arrest warrant is only applicable in Ohio, 109 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:37.399 so it's not really our problem here. But like you said, people can 110 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:41.240 change after they make mistakes to commit crimes. But the problem is that he 111 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:43.679 still had an act of warrants, so he never showed up in course court 112 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:48.159 to face his charge or take full responsibility. And that definitely paints a picture 113 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:54.519 of someone who has no remorse about his past mistakes and has not really changed 114 00:08:54.559 --> 00:09:01.600 his spots. But here's the craziest antidote about Carson. He actually has a 115 00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:07.279 connection to an entirely different case which was featured on Unsolved Mysteries and took place 116 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:11.200 in another state. On February eleventh, nineteen ninety one, a young married 117 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:16.799 couple named Eric and Pam Ellender were murdered inside their home in Sulfur, Louisiana. 118 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:22.240 They both had received fatal shotgun blast to the head while they were in 119 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:24.960 their bed, and their infant daughter was in the house of the time, 120 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:30.360 though thankfully she was left unharmed. The following day, eighteen year old Chris 121 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:35.799 Prudeholm and three accomplices were arrested for driving eric stolen car after a sought off 122 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:41.320 shotgun was found in Prudholm's apartment. He quickly confessed to killing the Ellanders and 123 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:46.919 was indicted on two counts of first degree murder. Over two weeks later, 124 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:50.879 his body would be found hanging from torn bed sheets inside the shower room of 125 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:56.799 the Calcasoux Correctional Center, and this left Prudeholm in a coma for nine days 126 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:01.399 before he died. A suicide note was found in pru Udoam cell which he 127 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:05.960 took sole responsibility for the murders and claimed that he enjoyed them. While the 128 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:11.360 Calcashu Paris Sheriff's department believed Prudholm was the lone perpetrator and officially closed the case, 129 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:16.360 but the reason it got featured on Unsolved Mysteries was because Pam's father believed 130 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:20.080 other people were involved in the murders and that they were part of a satanic 131 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:26.399 called the Skaters, an acronym for Satan's kids against the establishment. Yeah, 132 00:10:26.679 --> 00:10:31.879 what can I say? It was the early nineties and people loved their satanic 133 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:37.320 panic Anyway, Prudholm's three accomplices who were busted in the stolen car alongside him 134 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:41.799 did get charged with being accessories after the fact, and that's pretty much where 135 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:48.919 the investigation ended. But here's how this connects to Steve Sandlin's case. David 136 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:52.759 Carson lost his job as Mountainair police chief in March of nineteen ninety, and 137 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:56.440 there was a lot of conflicting stories about whether he resigned or was fired. 138 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:03.519 Afterward, Carson moved to Louisiana and became an intake officer at the Calcashue Parish 139 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:07.519 Jail. According to another employee, the shower room where Prudholm was found hanging 140 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:13.039 could only be accessed by deputies who possessed special rovers keys. One of these 141 00:11:13.080 --> 00:11:18.679 deputies was Carson, and he reportedly left prudholme into the shower room before he 142 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:24.919 hung himself. Another inmate would also claim that Carson had forced him to sign 143 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:31.759 a false witness statement classifying Prudholm's death as a suicide. Rumors circulated that Carson 144 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:35.799 had Prudhom killed in order to prevent him from implicating other people in the Ellender 145 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:41.919 murders, including the Calcashoe Parish sheriff's son. Now, if you've heard Robin's 146 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:46.240 views on the case, you'll know that he does not believe there was a 147 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:50.720 major conspiracy or a satanic called the Skaters. And it's very unlikely that Carson 148 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:56.679 murdered Chris Prudeholme the Carson murdered Chris Prudholm to protect anyone. But even though 149 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:01.600 Carson's name was never mentioned in the Unsolved True segment about the Islanders, it's 150 00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:07.000 pretty crazy that you would be involved in two separate cases from the show which 151 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:11.519 otherwise had nothing to do with each other. This is very, very crazy, 152 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:15.519 And like you said, is there a link to actually his responsibility in 153 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:18.840 one or either of them? Not necessarily, but it's just odd. It's 154 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:24.399 very bizarre, and it's eerie that you have a Carson holding keys to a 155 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:30.960 place where this inmate hangs himself, and then you have where we're pretty sure 156 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:37.000 he at least would be aware of more information than he let on around his 157 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:41.000 own department and Steve's death. So, oh, man, the story about 158 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:46.879 Carson from the time you told me his dad married Carson's ex wife and he 159 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:52.960 has this criminal record. It's just so out there and out of this world. 160 00:12:52.039 --> 00:12:54.919 I don't know what to say, but it's really pitiful that you have 161 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:00.519 this another murder case and Carson's tied to it, and up on on some 162 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:05.240 mysteries as well. Very very interesting. Yeah, it certainly seems like trouble 163 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:07.679 seems to follow this guy around wherever he goes, and you start to wonder 164 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:11.639 that this just cannot be a coincidence. So now let's get back to the 165 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:16.639 Steve Sandland case. I'll state right from the outset that I do not believe 166 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:20.879 Steve's death was a suicide or accident. Yes, in so many of these 167 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.159 cases where a victim is suspected of completing suicide, their loved ones will always 168 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:28.120 say it couldn't have happened that way because they were not the sort of person 169 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:31.399 who would kill themselves. But that doesn't necessarily mean that people who looked fine 170 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:35.200 in the outside might not have had some inner demons which compelled them to take 171 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:39.200 their own life. These types of things do happen, but I really don't 172 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:43.200 think it's likely in this particular case. I have my doubts that a young 173 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:46.919 man with a Beyonce and an infant son, who was making plans for Mother's 174 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:50.919 Day right before he was killed, would suddenly decide to shoot himself over a 175 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:56.039 disagreement with his boss. It's true that Steve was becoming a bit disillusioned with 176 00:13:56.039 --> 00:13:58.759 his job, but he still had a whole lot going on for him, 177 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:05.600 so suicide is a very implausible scenario here. The autopsy also concluded that the 178 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:07.799 god might have been as much as two feet away from Steve's head when it 179 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:11.799 was fired. And I have my doubts that someone planning to kill themselves would 180 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:16.519 do this, since that increases the possibility that a suicide attempt won't be successful. 181 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:22.240 Yeah, everything here is too new for someone to be suicidal at this 182 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:24.559 point. I think, like you said, he has a fiance, he 183 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:28.320 has an infant son, and they're making plans for Mother's Day. Mother's Day 184 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:31.799 is clearly a big deal when you have an eighteen month old little one, 185 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:35.399 moms worked hard. This is the first Mother's Day. He can actually help 186 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.919 you make a little craft and fun things like that you know, And so 187 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:43.000 I don't know. I just think he has this new job, he's got 188 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:46.000 this sweet little family that he's growing, and he has a job that he's 189 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:48.519 passionate about. Remember, he wanted to follow in dad's footsteps, and he's 190 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:54.519 only eight weeks on the job. Getting confronted about being too ambitious at week 191 00:14:54.639 --> 00:15:01.440 eight is not a reason to melt down and to feel distressed. He's frustrated 192 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:03.960 because I'm doing my job the way I'm supposed to the way my dad taught 193 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:07.399 me to do it, and this man isn't respecting that, and he calls 194 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:13.279 his wife to vent. That's all that was. He wasn't so distraught about 195 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:16.840 his career that he was thinking of ending his life. I just don't buy 196 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:20.080 it. And when the autopsy says that the gun could have been as far 197 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:24.360 as two feet away from his head, you're absolutely right. Anyone who says 198 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:30.440 I'm gonna, you know, inflict a life ending wound is not going to 199 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:35.039 hold the gun away from their head. If you did survive, you wouldn't 200 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:39.799 have any brain function and things like that. So it's just it's just not 201 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:43.679 possible. I have to be with the family sentiment that says, just no 202 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:50.159 way in this case. Even if he was frustrated enough that he was disillusioned 203 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:54.519 and he was wondering like, Okay, maybe there this isn't the town for 204 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:58.200 me. I mean, I don't like my boss. There could be some 205 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:02.320 other things going on here. He has the possibility to transfer somewhere else. 206 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:06.320 He's young, he's only eight weeks into the job. His father has that 207 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:11.639 in with the Albuquerque Police. There's so many different potential situations where he could 208 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:18.759 find employment elsewhere to think that he got into a minor argument about parking tickets, 209 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:22.039 like who cares in the grand scheme of things, Like Ash said, 210 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:25.559 it's just venting to his wife. If he was going to end his own 211 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:29.360 life over this, why would he do it in the police station. Most 212 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:33.840 people who typically tend to end their own lives don't do it as a statement 213 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:37.039 making thing in a public place. It just none of it makes sense. 214 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:41.960 The playing with the gun doesn't make sense. It's so obvious that this is 215 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:47.879 murder. It's just atrocious police work. That the scene wasn't properly sealed off, 216 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:52.240 the evidence wasn't collected in a way that the police department should have done 217 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:56.799 so. By some kind of forensic standards, and that they just were so 218 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.399 quick to say, oh, was likely a suicide or or an accident because 219 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:03.839 he liked to play with his gun. It makes me even more suspicious of 220 00:17:03.880 --> 00:17:07.720 them, the fact that they suggested that explanation that he could have been playing 221 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:11.680 with his gun. Because I was the son of a police officer, I 222 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.039 just find it so unlikely the gun safety wasn't ingrained in him from a very 223 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:18.960 young age, and that now as a police officer, it's been like he's 224 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:22.440 been hit over the head with it because he's had to go through all that 225 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:26.839 training. Like actually brought up in Part one that he would have learned how 226 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:29.920 to handle a gun, how to store a gun, how to use a 227 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:33.599 gun, so that you're so comfortable with it. It's like an extra appendage. 228 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:37.920 It's not something where he's just gonna like pull out this dangerous thing when 229 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:41.440 he has no intention of using it. It just none of this makes sense. 230 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:48.279 And then there's Chief Carson's theory that Steve's death was an accident because he 231 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.799 was playing with his gun, like I just mentioned, and it accidentally went 232 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:55.319 off. Well, I guess the theory might make sense was if Steve was 233 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:59.559 eight years old. Otherwise, I think it's pretty insulting. In fact, 234 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:03.119 I have a few feeling that any police officer who has had weapons training would 235 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:07.920 find the idea insulting. Yes, there are documented cases in which cops were 236 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:11.839 killed or injured because they mishandled their gun and it went off accidentally. But 237 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:17.480 by all accounts, Steve was a very responsible police officer who took his job 238 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:21.440 very seriously. And it's hard for me to believe that a twenty one year 239 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:25.440 old man would feel compelled to pull out a loaded gun and play with it 240 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:30.720 like some kid until it discharged and killed him. It's interesting how Chief Carson 241 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:36.359 kind of contradicted himself in interviews where he expressed his reasons why he didn't believe 242 00:18:36.359 --> 00:18:41.319 that Steve was murdered. During his Unsolved Mysteries interview, Carson stated that Steve 243 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:44.480 was just too good of an officer for someone to get the drop on him, 244 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:48.400 grab his gun and shoot him with it. But wait, if you 245 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:52.359 think he was such a good officer, why would you also believe that he 246 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:56.319 would be irresponsible enough to play with a loaded gun. As far as I'm 247 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:02.559 concerned, the fact that there was insignificant an ammounsive gunpowder residue on Steve's hands 248 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:07.000 seems to cancel the possibility that he could have fired the gun himself, intentionally 249 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:14.119 or otherwise. Since his death was eventually reclassified as a homicide, i'day's pretty 250 00:19:14.119 --> 00:19:17.880 clear cut that he was a victim of foul play. But the big unanswered 251 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:21.200 question here is how did it happen and who was involved? I think about 252 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:25.240 it like this too. Remember he's telling his wife that he's alone at the 253 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:30.400 station. He is basically just a security guard, and he's kind of smart 254 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:32.839 smart alec about the fact that if that's what they want me to do, 255 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:38.000 that's what I'll be. And he's frustrated. Is it possible that, since 256 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:45.640 it's so slow there, that he's alone, that he takes his gun off 257 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:48.759 of his hole, like out of his holster or off of his belt like 258 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:52.880 in the holster and sets it on the table or something like that to get 259 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:57.359 comfortable because he's sitting for a long period of time, and someone comes in 260 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:02.440 and takes it off the or grabs it over his shoulder or something like that. 261 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:08.200 Is it possible that someone had another weapon or threatened him and said give 262 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:12.319 me your gun, right and he's going, uh, and it happened that 263 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:15.599 way, or it is possible that they stun him and overpower him and take 264 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:21.039 his gun. But you don't see like much bodily injury or any sign of 265 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:25.519 a struggle supposedly at the scene. I think there's multiple ways someone could have 266 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:27.799 gotten their hands on his gun. And we know for a fact that the 267 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:34.119 shell casings are the striations on the bullets that they all match his weapon specifically, 268 00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:41.359 not just his type of weapon. Yeah, that's correct, Okay, 269 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:44.839 So it's not like it could have been another issued weapon that's the same making 270 00:20:45.079 --> 00:20:48.200 and model. I think he could have been I think he could have been 271 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:52.720 overpowered. I think he could have been lackadaisical and stuck his holster up on 272 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:56.160 the table. And I think he could have been threatened and handed over his 273 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:00.279 gun. That seems least likely because as a law enforcement agent, you going 274 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:03.960 to have to kill me to get it. But there's a lot of scenarios 275 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:07.519 that could have occurred in that situation. If it was someone that he knew 276 00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:11.200 or trusted, he wouldn't have had his guard up too, and they would 277 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:15.000 have been able to approach him, get close enough and just go for the 278 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:18.240 gun because he would never assume that he would be under threat or that somebody 279 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:22.480 would be taking his weapon. What if someone even said something to the effect 280 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:26.599 of, hey man, I need to see your service weapon. I'm I 281 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:27.839 might I got to trade it out, or we're going to take it and 282 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:32.039 do something with it. I mean, theoretically, if you think Chief Carson 283 00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:33.279 was the trigger man, it could have been a thing Steve, I need 284 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:36.880 you to hand over your gun for a second, and then he just takes 285 00:21:36.920 --> 00:21:41.839 the gun and shoots him. That's true, And the gun was never tested 286 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:45.519 correct for fingerprints or anything like that because they thought it was a quote suicide. 287 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:49.359 I think they probably would have checked it at some point. But it's 288 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:53.200 also possible that whoever fired the gun could have wiped it clean a fingerprints. 289 00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:56.039 I mean, I don't trust him for an air PD. But since this 290 00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:00.599 was investigated by the Attorney General's office, I'd liked that they that they did 291 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:06.000 eventually look into that. But I mean they did fire their assistant Attorneys General 292 00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:07.960 who was looking really hard into this case. So like, I just don't 293 00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:12.960 know how much faith I haven't anybody that's true. Yes, well, I'd 294 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:17.599 say there's a good chance that Steve's death was somehow connected to the arrest of 295 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:21.799 Melvin King and the Big Drug Bus, which netted around one hundred thousand dollars 296 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:25.920 worth of marijuana from his home. Since King was released on bond, he 297 00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:30.440 was definitely a free man at the time Steve was killed. He told investigators 298 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:33.839 he was not an Ountain air on that particular evening. But I have no 299 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:37.279 idea if this was ever verified. Now for years. One aspect of this 300 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:41.599 story, which was downplayed during the Unsaw Mystery segment, was a woman being 301 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:47.960 heard in the background during Steve's final conversation with Michelle Sturdevant, as they never 302 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:52.039 really addressed who this woman could have been. Michelle said she thought it sounded 303 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:55.839 like she heard yelling, but Steve apparently told her that the woman was looking 304 00:22:55.880 --> 00:23:00.160 for the town hall. The building which housed the police station was too flo 305 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:03.519 with town hall making up the first floor and the station making up the second. 306 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:07.400 At first, I wondered if this woman might have had no relation to 307 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:11.720 the case and was just a random citizen who wandered in asking for directions, 308 00:23:11.960 --> 00:23:17.799 but left before Steve was killed. However, there's one major problem. This 309 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:22.519 woman never came forward and has never been identified. Mountain Era is a very 310 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:26.559 small town and Steve's death was a pretty big deal there, so if the 311 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:30.279 woman was a local resident, it's hard to believe she wouldn't have heard about 312 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:33.559 what happened. If she had no involvement, why not clarify that with the 313 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:40.240 authorities. While I have a theory about who this woman probably was, Melvin 314 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:44.240 King had a girlfriend named Susan Sprague, who also ran into trouble with the 315 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:48.039 law. Three days after the drug bust at King's house, Sprague's house was 316 00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:52.440 searched and she was arrested after a small quantity of marijuana, along with some 317 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:56.799 drug paraphernalia, was found there. It was suspected that the couple was in 318 00:23:56.839 --> 00:24:02.440 the business of distributing marijuana together. But of course, once all those drugs 319 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:06.839 went missing from the Torrance County Sheriff's office, the charges against both King and 320 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:11.119 Sprague were dropped. We know King died in two thousand and four, but 321 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:15.720 I have no idea what happened to Sprague. If King was involved in Steve's 322 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:18.480 death, there would not surprise me if he sent Sprague into the police station 323 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:23.039 to keep Steve distracted until someone else got the drop on him and used his 324 00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:27.480 own gun to shoot him. Obviously, Steve would have recognized King if he 325 00:24:27.480 --> 00:24:32.599 walked into the station, but since Sprague was arrested by the state Police, 326 00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:36.160 not the Mountaineer PD, I'm not sure if Steve would have known her. 327 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:40.519 Of course, if King was the trigger man, he could never be prosecuted 328 00:24:40.519 --> 00:24:44.000 for the murder since he's dead. But it seems unlikely that he would have 329 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:48.440 acted alone and someone in law enforcement had to be complicit in what happened. 330 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:52.720 Yeah, I think there's this feeling that the lack of concern for the fifty 331 00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:57.119 four pounds of marijuana that were supposedly just scattered in the corner and eventually moved 332 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:03.160 to a trailer that was broken into. How would anyone know where those drugs 333 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.559 were unless someone said, oh, yeah, we just moved those over to 334 00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:10.440 the trailer, or hey, guys, heads up, it's in this trailer 335 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:12.680 over there and there's not good security on it. Hey, heads up, 336 00:25:14.039 --> 00:25:18.680 we have a single officer alone at the station right now. It's just very 337 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:22.599 bizarre how convenient almost everything seems. If you did have a drug ring going 338 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:29.279 on, where the evidence was stolen, where one of the arresting officers was 339 00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:33.359 murdered. Are the police. Is there someone of those four individuals who works 340 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:38.119 there that's getting a kickback from King and Sprague, or is it completely unrelated 341 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:41.839 to law enforcement and it just happens to be this drug ring that's operating and 342 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:47.519 wants to eliminate one of the arresting officers. Either way, it is very 343 00:25:48.119 --> 00:25:53.000 difficult to look away from King and his girlfriend as potential suspects in this case. 344 00:25:53.799 --> 00:25:59.039 Another important detail is that Steve ordinarily did patrol when he was on duty, 345 00:25:59.079 --> 00:26:03.359 and he was specific complaining to Michelle on the phone that if they want 346 00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:06.680 me to be a security guard, I'll be a security guard. So it 347 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:11.119 sounds like it wasn't a common practice for him to work shifts inside the police 348 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:15.920 station. So it makes you wonder if someone from law enforcement told King or 349 00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:18.480 whoever the killer was, that Steve would be there on that particular night. 350 00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:22.200 Ooh, like he got in trouble that night and he said, you're just 351 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:26.079 going to sit your rear in at this destiny and take it easy, man. 352 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:29.400 You don't need to be on the streets. And then he's actually getting 353 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:34.119 set up to be murdered. So if the mountaineer Peedi was involved. There's 354 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:38.680 a good reason to be suspicious of Chief Carson. We know that Stephen Carson 355 00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:45.119 had a conversation earlier that day about Steve writing too many traffic tickets, though 356 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:48.960 it sounded like they each had differing opinions about how he did. This conversation 357 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:53.720 was but since Steve had recently expressed concern to his father that there was something 358 00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:57.359 going on in the town which he did not like, I have to think 359 00:26:57.400 --> 00:27:02.680 that there was more to this disagreement than traffic tickets. The biggest issue with 360 00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:07.119 Carson is that he really doesn't have a credible alibi for the twenty five minute 361 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:11.920 window between seven oh five and seven thirty, which is the approximate time period 362 00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:15.920 when Steve was killed. When questioned about his whereabouts, Carson reportedly said he 363 00:27:17.079 --> 00:27:22.759 quote blocked out, which is not a very satisfactory answer. There were also 364 00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:27.480 multiple witnesses who were certain they saw Carson's patrol car parked outside the police station 365 00:27:27.640 --> 00:27:33.559 between seven fifteen and seven twenty five. If it was just one or two 366 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:37.000 eye witnesses, I could chalk them up to being mistaken. But there were 367 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:41.960 apparently several witnesses who remembered seeing the vehicle there, and when you couple into 368 00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:45.400 Edmundo Diaz's account of Carson appearing to be very upset when he picked him up 369 00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:51.359 at seven point thirty, there are some disturbing implications here. And then there 370 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:56.200 are strange circumstances of how Steve's body was discovered in the first place, as 371 00:27:56.240 --> 00:28:00.319 Eugene Wright claimed he walked into the station, saw Steve's body and radioed Carson. 372 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:04.960 Yet when Wright was questioned by Army investigators, they seemed to think that 373 00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:10.559 he was withholding information and knew more than he was telling. There just seemed 374 00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:15.119 to be an awful lot of discrepancies during the forty five minute window between when 375 00:28:15.160 --> 00:28:19.519 Steve finished his phone conversation with his fiance and when Chief Carson radioed for medical 376 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:25.039 assistance. What's also scary is remember Wright said that if he told the truth 377 00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:27.200 of what happened, that he was going to go to jail. And yet 378 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:32.480 he's buddy buddy with Carson because he directly calls him right like he makes a 379 00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:36.839 personal call to the chief of police after he finds the body. Oh yeah, 380 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:40.599 Like he was friends with Carson's son. So I could definitely see him 381 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:44.680 a lying about what happened. If he was asked to, now, tell 382 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:48.200 me, why was he in the police department in the first place, Why 383 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:52.440 did he even stumble upon Steve's body, That's a good question. I'm not 384 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:55.759 sure that was ever specified. I mean, he could easily say, well, 385 00:28:55.799 --> 00:28:59.480 I'm friends with Carson's son. Maybe he thought that the chief would be 386 00:28:59.480 --> 00:29:03.359 working there and he decided to go in to see him. But maybe. 387 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:07.599 I mean, the Army hasn't released many details about the discrepancies in right story 388 00:29:07.640 --> 00:29:11.240 and what they think he's withholding, So maybe he did not provide a convincing 389 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:15.079 story about why he was in the police station in the first place, and 390 00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:21.359 that's why they became suspicious. It's also incredibly strange that no one from the 391 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:26.519 Mountaineer Police Department bothered to show up for Steve's funeral. I know Carson claimed 392 00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:30.720 the experience would have been quote unquote too emotional for himself and his men, 393 00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:33.799 but my god, I think the vast majority of police officers will tell you 394 00:29:34.039 --> 00:29:37.880 that if one of your own is killed in the line of duty, then 395 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:41.599 you show up at their funeral, regardless of what your personal feelings about the 396 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:45.960 victim might be. If Steve's father could convince several members of the Albuquerque Police 397 00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:51.160 Department to make the nearly eighty mile trip to Mountaineer to pay their respects, 398 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:56.440 then it's ridiculous that Steve's fellow officers could do the same thing. I mean, 399 00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:00.519 even Frank Peeler, who was roommates with Steve for a brief period time, 400 00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:03.640 didn't even attend, and then one week later he suddenly resigns from the 401 00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:08.720 police force. There are just nothing but red flags here. All that being 402 00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:12.960 said, I'm not sure that anyone from the Mountaineer PD actually pulled the trigger 403 00:30:14.039 --> 00:30:18.279 and shot Steve. Remember, one year later, we had a statement from 404 00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:22.920 a witness who claimed that a law enforcement officer from another agency had confessed to 405 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:26.119 murdering Steve. Though it sounds like this part of the investigation was never followed 406 00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:32.680 up on because James Scarantino got fired from the Attorney General's office. But if 407 00:30:32.680 --> 00:30:36.440 this story is true, then it would not surprise me if the law enforcement 408 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:41.400 officer who made this alleged confession belonged to the Torrance County Sheriff's office. That 409 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:47.240 place sounded like an even bigger mess than the Mountaineer PD. They somehow managed 410 00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:51.359 to lose fifty four pounds of marijuana, and Sheriff Gary Watts and three of 411 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:56.279 his deputies would later be indicted on charges of larceny and conspiracy. So you 412 00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:00.960 can pretty much connect the dots here. Stealing fifty four pounds of drugs from 413 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:04.519 a trailer outside a police station is pretty brazen, so would not surprise me 414 00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:10.119 if this so called theft never actually happened. I could chalk it up to 415 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:15.799 police incompetence. Where not for the discrepancies about when this theft occurred. Sheriff 416 00:31:15.880 --> 00:31:19.599 Watts claimed the marijuana was stolen one week after Steve was killed, but five 417 00:31:19.640 --> 00:31:25.680 bags of marijuana were found inside Steve's kitchen drawer only three days after his death. 418 00:31:26.599 --> 00:31:29.680 Since there appeared to be a police evidence tape on the bags, I 419 00:31:29.759 --> 00:31:33.599 have to believe this was some of the same marijuana which was seized from Melvin 420 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:38.000 King's house and booked into evidence at the Torrance County Sheriff's office. Otherwise where 421 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:41.759 else could it have come from. When you couple in the fact that Steve's 422 00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:45.519 tape recordings of his traffic stops also went missing from his house. With that 423 00:31:45.640 --> 00:31:51.240 explanation, then you can't come to any other conclusion than there being a cover 424 00:31:51.359 --> 00:31:55.640 up here. And you've got to remember both of these departments are in on 425 00:31:55.680 --> 00:32:00.920 this single drug deal, right like one's arresting Melvin and one's arresting the girlfriend. 426 00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:05.400 Is that correct? Yeah, that is true. They were both arrested 427 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:08.519 in different places. And even though the Mountaineer PD sees the marijuana, they 428 00:32:08.519 --> 00:32:14.400 obviously trusted the Torrance County Sheriff's Office enough to allow them to store it inside 429 00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:19.039 their police station because there wasn't any places inside the Mountaineer station. So it's 430 00:32:19.079 --> 00:32:22.799 possible that the anger, like you said, is coming from the Torrance County 431 00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:27.519 Sheriff's office. And they all know each other. It's one big circle, 432 00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:32.359 and so it's possible there is a loyalty of those four officers who serve in 433 00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:37.519 the police department to help protect guys that are in the sheriff's office. And 434 00:32:37.559 --> 00:32:39.720 if Steve's a problem for the sheriff's office, their attague could be like, 435 00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:43.599 well, you're kind of a problem for us too, and therefore, maybe 436 00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:47.359 the police department's not responsible for his death. But they didn't care enough to 437 00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:52.480 investigate because there was an assumption that they're friends and individuals who are part of 438 00:32:52.519 --> 00:32:55.480 the sheriff's department were the ones involved and they were just going to look the 439 00:32:55.519 --> 00:33:01.319 other way and correct me if I'm wrong, But say like they somehow are 440 00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:06.240 all involved together in, you know, doing illegal things, and Steve is 441 00:33:06.279 --> 00:33:10.680 a problem. Typically doesn't a sheriff's department. They aren't accountable in the same 442 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:15.720 way that a police department is to the mayor. Isn't that correct? Uh? 443 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:20.400 That would make sense because the Mountain Air PD is part of the city, 444 00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:24.000 whereas the sheriff's office is part of the entire county. So I never 445 00:33:24.039 --> 00:33:28.319 really thought about that, but that would make sense that a sheriff's office would 446 00:33:28.359 --> 00:33:32.480 not have to be accountable towards the town mayor. So there if it's like 447 00:33:32.519 --> 00:33:37.480 the fish rotting from the head and the entire department is corrupt. If you 448 00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:40.720 had somebody who was problematic, and you know you had somebody there who was 449 00:33:40.759 --> 00:33:45.359 willing to take that person out, you might go, oh, we can't 450 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:49.839 physically do it ourselves, but maybe these guys will help us out. And 451 00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:53.039 that would make sense because if Carson, Diaz, and Peeler, even if 452 00:33:53.079 --> 00:33:57.799 they were not personally involved in Steve's death, they still could be feeling like 453 00:33:57.960 --> 00:34:00.799 underlying guilt over the fact that they let it happened, and that could explain 454 00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:05.000 why they never bothered to attend his funeral, even if they were not the 455 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:09.679 ones who killed him. The discovery of the marijuana in Steve's house is pretty 456 00:34:09.719 --> 00:34:14.519 bizarre, and I'm not quite sure what purpose it was supposed to serve. 457 00:34:15.360 --> 00:34:19.079 It was possibly an attempt to discredit Steve in order to make it look like 458 00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:22.920 he was stealing drugs, But if that was a case, how come it 459 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:28.119 wasn't discovered during the initial searches by law enforcement and was only found by Steve's 460 00:34:28.119 --> 00:34:34.039 fiance and mother days later. The house was searched by numerous agencies, including 461 00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:37.880 the new Mexico Attorney General's office, and I have a hard time believing they 462 00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:42.800 all could have missed it, especially since it was hiding in plain sight. 463 00:34:43.559 --> 00:34:46.360 No, the marijuana had to have been planted there. Perhaps they wanted to 464 00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:51.920 make Steve look like an unstable drug addict who was stealing evidence to Pete's habit, 465 00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:55.079 but there were no traces of drugs found in his system, or this 466 00:34:55.280 --> 00:35:00.000 was done to give off the impression that Steve had been murdered by drug dealers. 467 00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:04.639 Because he was stealing marijuana from them. Do people typically steal marijuana from 468 00:35:04.679 --> 00:35:07.760 drug dealers? Guys? Is that a thing? And if they do it 469 00:35:07.760 --> 00:35:12.360 doesn't lead to murder? No? Yeah, but that doesn't make much sense 470 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:15.719 either, since Chief Carson had strongly pushed forward the theory that there was no 471 00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:22.639 foul play and Steve's death was a suicide or an accident. Surprisingly, during 472 00:35:22.679 --> 00:35:27.800 his interview on Unsolved Mysteries, Carson did not discount the idea that someone could 473 00:35:27.800 --> 00:35:30.800 have planted the marijuana in Steve's house, so it might have actually been done 474 00:35:30.840 --> 00:35:36.199 without his knowledge. Given that the drugs were supposedly in the possession of the 475 00:35:36.239 --> 00:35:39.559 Torrans County Sheriff's Office at the time, they were probably the ones who set 476 00:35:39.559 --> 00:35:45.280 this in motion. It also could not be a coincidence that Steve was killed 477 00:35:45.320 --> 00:35:51.199 the very day after he spoke to investigators from the New Mexico Attorney General's Office. 478 00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:54.679 They never publicly released any information on what they spoke about, but Steve 479 00:35:54.719 --> 00:36:00.400 had previously expressed concern to his father that there were things going on in Mountain 480 00:36:00.440 --> 00:36:05.000 Air which he did not approve of. It's unclear just how much Steve knew 481 00:36:05.480 --> 00:36:09.599 or what he revealed to investigators. But even if he didn't know or reveal 482 00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:15.440 that much, someone might have become paranoid that Steve was a liability and could 483 00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:21.039 expose something very incriminating. When Chief Carson spoke with Steve on the afternoon of 484 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:24.360 May seventh and advised him to slow things down and take it easy, this 485 00:36:24.519 --> 00:36:29.039 may have been a last ditch attempt to rein him in. But once it 486 00:36:29.079 --> 00:36:32.400 became a parent that Steve wasn't going to play ball, the final decision might 487 00:36:32.440 --> 00:36:37.360 have been made to get rid of him that night absolutely, Or it could 488 00:36:37.360 --> 00:36:39.440 be that Chief Carson truly was like, oh my gosh, I'm hearing rumors 489 00:36:39.480 --> 00:36:43.679 that this kid's a problem, and I'm worried for him. So he's like, 490 00:36:43.719 --> 00:36:45.440 listen, man, you gotta knock it off, right. He's maybe 491 00:36:45.480 --> 00:36:51.719 trying to warn him and protect him, and it comes off in a confrontational 492 00:36:51.719 --> 00:36:55.639 way, but it's it's insane when you think about the fact that they're assuming 493 00:36:55.719 --> 00:37:01.360 this is a suicide, and so if they're doing an investigation is home what 494 00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:05.840 were they What were they looking for? In my opinion, it would be 495 00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:08.000 something like, was there a suicide note left? Was there evidence of him 496 00:37:08.039 --> 00:37:13.159 being harassed or stocked at the time, or distress in his home or things 497 00:37:13.199 --> 00:37:15.239 like that. You would look in the drawers, wouldn't you if you're looking 498 00:37:15.320 --> 00:37:22.320 for any kind of evidence that like, why investigate if it's a suicide at 499 00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:24.119 the police department? Why were they at his house in the first place? 500 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:30.039 And if they were there to try to get a bigger picture, why wouldn't 501 00:37:30.039 --> 00:37:36.119 they thoroughly actually investigate. Yeah, it just seems like the marijuana was probably 502 00:37:36.159 --> 00:37:39.320 not there during the original searches, and that for reasons on zone someone decided 503 00:37:39.320 --> 00:37:43.880 to plan it there before Steve's family paid a visit. But once again, 504 00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:46.400 that just seems pretty pointless because if you're not going to allow law enforcement to 505 00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:51.440 find it, then what's the point And why why do an investigation anyway, 506 00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:54.719 If you think it's a suicide because you're looking for those missing cassette tapes, 507 00:37:54.880 --> 00:37:59.679 you want to find those because they might have incriminating information. Yeah, they 508 00:37:59.679 --> 00:38:05.280 probably he defind those. That's why they've never been seen ever since. It's 509 00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:07.760 tough to know who exactly would have been involved in this conspiracy, but my 510 00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:12.880 guess is that it all started with Melvin King. King seemed to have a 511 00:38:12.880 --> 00:38:16.400 major marijuana distribution operation going on in the area at that time, and it's 512 00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:21.480 my guess that some members of local law enforcement were complicit or at the very 513 00:38:21.559 --> 00:38:24.800 least paid off by King to look the other way. However, when Steve 514 00:38:24.880 --> 00:38:30.079 pulled King over for drunk driving, busted him from possession, and obtained a 515 00:38:30.119 --> 00:38:34.400 warrant to search King's house in order to uncover over fifty pounds of marijuana, 516 00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:37.840 he stirred up a major hornet's nest. This would definitely explain why the tape 517 00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:44.039 recordings of his traffic stops mysteriously disappeared. Now, I'm willing to believe that 518 00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:47.239 at the outset, at least Chief Carson in the Mountaineer PD had no knowledge 519 00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:52.280 or involvement with King's drug operation. They actually worked with Steve to obtain the 520 00:38:52.320 --> 00:38:57.679 search warrant for King's house and confiscated all his drugs, and I have a 521 00:38:57.719 --> 00:39:00.000 feeling that they would not have gone along with this if they were on King's 522 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:05.920 payroll. But I do think that other law enforcement agencies, most likely the 523 00:39:05.960 --> 00:39:09.760 Torrance County Sheriff's Office, were involved with King's operation, which is why all 524 00:39:09.800 --> 00:39:15.400 the marijuana evidence went missing and the charges against King wound up being dropped. 525 00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:20.280 Since King was released on bond shortly after he was arrested, I'm sure he 526 00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:23.880 believed this young, ambitious, straight ro cop who busted him could pose a 527 00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:30.320 potential problem, so he ultimately made the call to have Steve eliminated. Remember, 528 00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:34.840 King's girlfriend, Susan Sprague, was also facing her own drug charges, 529 00:39:35.199 --> 00:39:38.079 which is why I think she was the woman heard in the background during Steve's 530 00:39:38.079 --> 00:39:43.719 final phone call. She was probably sent in his bait to keep Steve distracted 531 00:39:43.960 --> 00:39:47.159 until someone got the drop on him and had him killed. This was probably 532 00:39:47.199 --> 00:39:51.960 necessary so that they could get their hands on Steve's gun and shoot him with 533 00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:55.440 it, making it easier to craft a cover story that he either completed suicide 534 00:39:55.760 --> 00:40:00.159 or was killed accidentally when his weapon discharged. Now, it's hard to know 535 00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:06.000 who exactly was involved in this and who actually pulled the trigger. It's tempting 536 00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:08.639 to saying that it was Melvin King, but we do have an alleged confession 537 00:40:08.679 --> 00:40:14.880 by a law enforcement officer from another agency who claimed he shot Steve. I 538 00:40:14.920 --> 00:40:17.239 can actually believe King might not have been present at the scene when the murder 539 00:40:17.280 --> 00:40:22.159 took place, because Steve would have recognized him and been on his guard if 540 00:40:22.199 --> 00:40:27.239 he saw King entering the station. But if the perpetrator was another police officer, 541 00:40:27.519 --> 00:40:30.679 then it probably would have been much easier to catch Steve by surprise, 542 00:40:30.679 --> 00:40:34.639 and like we talked about, it'd be easier to get that service weapon away 543 00:40:34.639 --> 00:40:38.079 from him. I don't think if you were confronted by somebody and they said 544 00:40:38.079 --> 00:40:43.880 give me your service weapon, I don't see someone just handing it over. 545 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:46.519 I see them getting a scuffle fussed with them. If you don't have a 546 00:40:46.559 --> 00:40:50.880 weapon and you want mine, we're going to have to fight over it, 547 00:40:51.079 --> 00:40:52.880 you know what I mean. And I just don't see that being the case. 548 00:40:52.920 --> 00:40:57.599 I could see him being more relaxed and maybe having removed his holster from 549 00:40:57.639 --> 00:41:01.199 his belt. I could see another officer asking, like to check a service 550 00:41:01.199 --> 00:41:05.599 weapon or ask him to show him a service weapon or something like that, 551 00:41:05.760 --> 00:41:09.320 and him falling for that. I do think it has to be involved in 552 00:41:09.360 --> 00:41:15.519 this drug bust. There's too many bizarre elements and mishandling of an entirely too 553 00:41:15.559 --> 00:41:21.199 big of an ordeal right to not follow a protocol for the Sheriff's Department to 554 00:41:21.239 --> 00:41:24.159 maybe not be caught up in the drug deals with Melvin and that girlfriend would 555 00:41:24.199 --> 00:41:29.440 be the perfect cover because Steve had never seen her, the Sheriff's department had 556 00:41:29.440 --> 00:41:34.480 seen her, and so I totally bide this an area. You just described 557 00:41:34.519 --> 00:41:38.079 that Melvin King is somehow working with the Sheriff's department and they use the girlfriend 558 00:41:38.119 --> 00:41:43.840 as bait to help kind of distract Steve from being on his game in that 559 00:41:43.880 --> 00:41:46.719 moment. Just who was it that assisted in that moment? Was it another 560 00:41:46.760 --> 00:41:52.760 law enforcement agent? Was it King? Was it somebody that wasn't known yet 561 00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:55.400 to Steve. It's no, it's so difficult to figure out who and what 562 00:41:55.599 --> 00:42:01.559 was accountable here now, regardless of who pulled the trigger, I think there 563 00:42:01.559 --> 00:42:06.679 were at least three people who did not tell the truth about what happened and 564 00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:12.239 are involved, Chief Carson, Edmundo Diaz, and Eugene Wright, the soldier 565 00:42:12.239 --> 00:42:15.719 who supposedly discovered Steve's body. I can't say that any of these people were 566 00:42:15.760 --> 00:42:21.840 actually present and actively participated in Steve's murder, but at the very least they 567 00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:25.639 helped cover something up and lied to the authorities. It all depends on the 568 00:42:25.639 --> 00:42:30.719 timeline. The only reported gunshot that came from a witness who thought they heard 569 00:42:30.719 --> 00:42:36.840 one at seven sixteen, and there are witnesses who were called seeing Carson's patrol 570 00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:42.039 car parked outside the station between seven fifteen and seven twenty five. If these 571 00:42:42.039 --> 00:42:45.360 accounts are accurate, then at the very least, Carson was present when Steve 572 00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:50.840 was shot, and whoever was involved probably spent the next twenty to thirty minutes 573 00:42:50.920 --> 00:42:55.760 fabricating a cover story before they called for medical assistance. It's possible that DEAs 574 00:42:55.760 --> 00:43:00.199 and Wright were not present for the murder, but Carson enlisted their help to 575 00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:02.920 back up his cover story, as Wright was a friend of Carson's son. 576 00:43:04.480 --> 00:43:07.039 But as far as the actual trigger man who shot Steve, it may have 577 00:43:07.079 --> 00:43:12.360 been someone we don't even know about. If the confession is accurate and it 578 00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:15.960 was really a law enforcement officer from another agency, then perhaps it was someone 579 00:43:15.960 --> 00:43:21.360 from the Torrance County Sheriff's office who was involved in me who was involved in 580 00:43:21.400 --> 00:43:25.039 Melvin King's drug operation. Is there any chance that Carson's son had something to 581 00:43:25.079 --> 00:43:30.599 do with it? Where right is there and happens to show up like, 582 00:43:30.760 --> 00:43:35.559 is there a way bay link him in because Carson's son helps carry something off? 583 00:43:36.199 --> 00:43:39.599 I actually don't have any information about Carson's son because They've never mentioned him 584 00:43:39.599 --> 00:43:44.519 in any articles. I have no idea if he was even in Mountain Air 585 00:43:44.639 --> 00:43:47.639 during that time period, so yeah, if he was involved, they've never 586 00:43:47.679 --> 00:43:53.199 publicly named him regardless. This is just a very sad tale of an honest 587 00:43:53.239 --> 00:43:58.000 young man who was finally living his dream of becoming a police officer and only 588 00:43:58.039 --> 00:44:00.320 wanted to do the right thing, but ended up getting swallowed up in a 589 00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:05.159 web of corruption. When he pulled over Melvin King for what seemed like a 590 00:44:05.280 --> 00:44:08.719 routine dui, he inadvertently wound up getting embroiled in something which was a lot 591 00:44:08.760 --> 00:44:15.119 bigger than he expected and led to him ultimately being killed. Sadly, after 592 00:44:15.199 --> 00:44:17.400 all this time, I'm not sure if any of the people who were involved 593 00:44:17.400 --> 00:44:22.079 could still be indicted for their roles in Steve's murder. Melvin King is now 594 00:44:22.119 --> 00:44:25.679 dead, and while David Carson was still alive at the time I released my 595 00:44:25.719 --> 00:44:30.639 original Trail and Cold episode, he passed away in January of twenty twenty three. 596 00:44:31.559 --> 00:44:35.760 But even if Steve's killers are never brought to justice, at the very 597 00:44:35.840 --> 00:44:39.519 least, his death was reclassified as a homicide, and the same police station 598 00:44:39.559 --> 00:44:44.559 where he was killed is now named after him. That's how he deserves to 599 00:44:44.599 --> 00:44:47.599 be remembered, rather than as someone who completed suicide on the job or was 600 00:44:47.719 --> 00:44:52.480 killed because he was playing around with his gun. However, since multiple people 601 00:44:52.519 --> 00:44:57.960 were likely involved in what happened, someone out there probably still knows something and 602 00:44:58.039 --> 00:45:01.239 could come forward with the full truth and provide closure for Steve's loved ones. 603 00:45:01.960 --> 00:45:06.800 So if you happen to have any information on the unsolved death of Steve Sandlin, 604 00:45:07.199 --> 00:45:12.800 please contact the appropriate authorities. Jules Ashley any final thoughts in this case, 605 00:45:14.079 --> 00:45:17.440 My heart really just goes out to Steve's family and the idea that he 606 00:45:17.599 --> 00:45:23.960 had this young fiance and an eighteen month old baby, planning Mother's Day with 607 00:45:24.159 --> 00:45:29.880 his love, right and getting to celebrate with his little one, and he's 608 00:45:30.079 --> 00:45:35.599 murdered on the job, a job that he really had dedicated his life to 609 00:45:35.719 --> 00:45:37.280 pursuing. Right, I'm going to be like my dad, I'm going to 610 00:45:37.400 --> 00:45:42.400 serve and protect my community. And when he took that oath and he put 611 00:45:42.400 --> 00:45:45.760 that badge on, he meant it. He was going to do his job. 612 00:45:45.960 --> 00:45:49.280 He was going to protect the streets, he was going to get drugs 613 00:45:49.320 --> 00:45:52.599 off the streets. And then he calls his wife and he says, if 614 00:45:52.599 --> 00:45:53.760 they want me to be a security guard, I guess I'll just be a 615 00:45:53.800 --> 00:46:00.800 security guard. He's getting in trouble for doing his job, which is enraging 616 00:46:00.840 --> 00:46:04.519 to him, and that's the last time his wife's gonna hear his voice. 617 00:46:04.599 --> 00:46:09.440 He's killed in his place of employment. And what do they do. Everybody 618 00:46:09.480 --> 00:46:14.480 turns their back on Steve. They don't just turn their back on Steve by 619 00:46:14.480 --> 00:46:19.079 not attending the funeral and doing the right thing. They turned their back on 620 00:46:19.159 --> 00:46:22.280 the widow and the eighteen month old baby who he left behind. And so 621 00:46:22.639 --> 00:46:27.800 at the end of the day, the only beauty in this case is that 622 00:46:27.880 --> 00:46:32.000 you see, twenty five years after his murder, you see the very police 623 00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:37.440 department that he served step up and say to his fiance and his son, 624 00:46:37.880 --> 00:46:43.159 we cared about Steve, we care about his legacy. In fact, we're 625 00:46:43.159 --> 00:46:45.800 going to name a building after him in erect a statue because he deserved better 626 00:46:46.199 --> 00:46:52.880 and you deserved better. And so I love that Steve's son is growing up 627 00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:55.719 knowing who his father was and that he was a hero and someone who was 628 00:46:55.719 --> 00:47:01.039 pursuing this beautiful career. But what a tragedy to think at the very least 629 00:47:01.440 --> 00:47:06.920 nobody cared enough to investigate this thoroughly, and at the very worst, the 630 00:47:06.960 --> 00:47:12.079 men he had taken that oath with might be responsible for it. I feel 631 00:47:12.159 --> 00:47:16.679 so terribly for the family. It must have felt like this abandonment, dealing 632 00:47:16.719 --> 00:47:22.840 with the death of her fiance and the father having a child there, and 633 00:47:22.280 --> 00:47:29.000 knowing that the police department they didn't have the constitution to show up. They 634 00:47:29.039 --> 00:47:32.480 were too distraught by this. This is such a no no law enforcement departments 635 00:47:32.719 --> 00:47:37.119 don't necessarily go, oh, you're too sad, you don't go to the 636 00:47:37.159 --> 00:47:42.320 funeral. No, everybody goes. Everybody goes. It's so telling, especially 637 00:47:42.360 --> 00:47:46.079 since Peeler, who had once lived with Steve that he resigns a week later. 638 00:47:46.519 --> 00:47:51.239 I think if law enforcement at this point in time wanted to crack this 639 00:47:51.360 --> 00:47:53.800 cold case, if Peeler is still alive, that would be the one that 640 00:47:53.880 --> 00:47:59.119 I personally would lean on, because I think that although I don't believe he 641 00:47:59.239 --> 00:48:04.159 was directly involved, I think that he would have information that could likely lead 642 00:48:04.199 --> 00:48:07.920 to who was the perpetrator. But I am definitely inclined to think that the 643 00:48:07.920 --> 00:48:10.840 Torrence County Sheriff's Department had something to do with it. But it seems to 644 00:48:10.880 --> 00:48:19.199 be a conspiracy of many all linking back to King's one hundred thousand dollars marijuana 645 00:48:19.239 --> 00:48:23.480 load that was confiscated and then stolen back, and part of it seems to 646 00:48:23.519 --> 00:48:29.039 have been planted in Steve's home. To what end, we have no idea. 647 00:48:29.519 --> 00:48:35.760 It's just such a confusing and convoluted case where it seems pretty clear that 648 00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:40.679 multiple law enforcement agencies, given the fact that we had scandal In that was 649 00:48:40.679 --> 00:48:49.000 at assistant district attorney, right that we had Scarantino who was fired while while 650 00:48:49.039 --> 00:48:54.119 being assistant district attorney when he was digging deeply into this case and the investigators 651 00:48:54.159 --> 00:48:58.719 were reassigned. It seems like he might have been getting too close to some 652 00:48:58.840 --> 00:49:04.639 kind of answers that maybe would have put people in legal peril or like their 653 00:49:04.679 --> 00:49:09.800 whole entire investigative unit or department could have been put in the hot seat. 654 00:49:10.280 --> 00:49:17.519 And for whatever reason, multiple agencies seemed to potentially allegedly conspired together for this 655 00:49:17.760 --> 00:49:22.880 strange type of silence. But things would have moved on by now, like 656 00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:28.079 it's so many years later. We're looking at nearly forty years later, and 657 00:49:28.519 --> 00:49:34.000 yet this isn't solved. When the landscape has entirely changed, so I'm just 658 00:49:34.159 --> 00:49:37.360 curious as to why nobody has come forward with more information after all of these 659 00:49:37.440 --> 00:49:43.239 years. Yeah. I remember being introduced to this case when I saw it 660 00:49:43.239 --> 00:49:45.960 on Unsolved Mysteries over thirty years ago, and at the time, his death 661 00:49:46.039 --> 00:49:50.599 was still classified as undetermined, and to me, this seemed like one of 662 00:49:50.639 --> 00:49:54.880 the most obvious examples of a death being misclassified as a suicide or accident, 663 00:49:54.920 --> 00:49:59.800 because it seemed pretty obvious that it was murdered, and unlike a lot of 664 00:49:59.840 --> 00:50:04.599 these these other cases, they did finally reclassify it as a homicide, so 665 00:50:04.760 --> 00:50:07.760 at least that kind of honored cees memory. They knew that he was a 666 00:50:07.840 --> 00:50:12.000 victim on the line of duty who was not responsible for his own death, 667 00:50:12.519 --> 00:50:15.960 and it is good to know that as time has gone on that the current 668 00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:20.039 people in power have been trying to right this wrong and hopefully find justice for 669 00:50:20.159 --> 00:50:22.280 him. But I think the problem is that so much time has passed, 670 00:50:22.360 --> 00:50:27.079 a lot of the potential players on this are now dead, and a lot 671 00:50:27.119 --> 00:50:30.239 of evidence was not preserved or it was lost, and there's probably still a 672 00:50:30.280 --> 00:50:34.480 code of silence going on out there where there might be people who know the 673 00:50:34.559 --> 00:50:37.480 truth but do not want to come forward. But yeah, this is just 674 00:50:37.519 --> 00:50:43.360 so frustrating when you hear about a police officer who's actually passionate about his job, 675 00:50:43.519 --> 00:50:45.360 wants to do the right thing, and then as a span of only 676 00:50:45.360 --> 00:50:51.039 about eight weeks, he becomes completely disillusioned and says that this is not for 677 00:50:51.159 --> 00:50:53.639 me, this job is not what I've expected. And I can only imagine 678 00:50:53.719 --> 00:50:58.239 what he might have uncovered during that time period to make him feel that way. 679 00:50:58.800 --> 00:51:01.320 And this is what beats a lot of good police officers down, where 680 00:51:01.599 --> 00:51:06.199 if the system is so corrupt and broke in and a lot of bad people 681 00:51:06.239 --> 00:51:09.119 are protecting each other, it can be very hard for like a good cop 682 00:51:09.159 --> 00:51:13.679 to break through and do the right thing. And it sounds like Steve was 683 00:51:13.719 --> 00:51:16.440 trying to do something but then wound up being killed before it could happen. 684 00:51:17.039 --> 00:51:22.280 But like we said, at the very least, his wife and his former 685 00:51:22.320 --> 00:51:27.320 fiance and his son who is now an adult, have finally got to experience 686 00:51:27.400 --> 00:51:30.199 ceremonies which have honored his memory. He has a monument of him, and 687 00:51:30.239 --> 00:51:34.920 he has an entire police station named after him, so they have done him 688 00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:38.159 right. But until this case is conclusively solved, it's going to remain a 689 00:51:38.280 --> 00:51:42.639 major travesty Robin. Do you want to tell us a little bit about the 690 00:51:42.679 --> 00:51:45.920 trailment Cold Patreon? Yes, The Trail Cold Patreon has been around for three 691 00:51:46.000 --> 00:51:52.400 years now, and we offer these standard bonus features like early ad free episodes, 692 00:51:52.440 --> 00:51:55.599 and I also send out stickers and sign thank you cards to anyone who 693 00:51:55.599 --> 00:52:00.639 signs up with us on Patreon. If you join our five dollars tier tier 694 00:52:00.639 --> 00:52:06.000 two, we also offer monthly bonus episodes in which I talk about cases which 695 00:52:06.039 --> 00:52:08.840 are not featured on the Trail Went Cold's original feed, so they're exclusive to 696 00:52:08.840 --> 00:52:14.000 Patreon and if you join our highest tier tier three, the ten dollars tier. 697 00:52:14.519 --> 00:52:19.360 One of the features we offer is a audio commentary track over classic episodes 698 00:52:19.400 --> 00:52:22.880 of UNSAWD Mysteries, where you can download an audio file and then boot up 699 00:52:22.880 --> 00:52:28.920 the original Unsolved Mysteries episode on Amazon Prime or YouTube and play it with my 700 00:52:29.039 --> 00:52:32.559 audio commentary playing in the background, where I just provide trivia and factoids about 701 00:52:32.559 --> 00:52:37.920 the cases featured in this episode. And incidentally, the very first episode that 702 00:52:37.960 --> 00:52:42.280 I did a commentary track over was the episode featuring this case. So if 703 00:52:42.280 --> 00:52:45.079 you want to download a commentary track in which I make more smart ass remarks 704 00:52:45.119 --> 00:52:49.880 about jewel Kaylor, then be sure to join Tier three. So I want 705 00:52:49.920 --> 00:52:52.960 to let you know a little bit about the Jewles and nashty patreons. So 706 00:52:52.039 --> 00:52:57.079 there's early ad free episodes of The Path Went Chili. We've got our Path 707 00:52:57.119 --> 00:53:00.079 Went Chili Vini's which are always over an hour, not very many, but 708 00:53:00.079 --> 00:53:05.000 they're just too short to turn into a series and we're really enjoying doing those. 709 00:53:05.079 --> 00:53:07.360 So we hope you'll check out those patreons will link them in the show 710 00:53:07.400 --> 00:53:10.800 notes. So I want to thank you all for listening, and any chance 711 00:53:10.880 --> 00:53:15.079 you have to share us on social media with a friend or to rate and 712 00:53:15.119 --> 00:53:19.199 review is greatly appreciate it. You can email us at The Pathwentchili at gmail 713 00:53:19.239 --> 00:53:22.159 dot com. You can reach us on Twitter at the Pathwink. So until 714 00:53:22.199 --> 00:53:27.079 next time, be sure to bundle up because cold trails and chili pass call 715 00:53:27.159 --> 00:53:30.360 for warm clothing. Music by Paul Rich from the podcast Cold Callers Comedy