- Female narrator: A bizarre incident
On a remote highway
Shocks investigators.
- Gordon evilsizor: We opened up the door to the car,
And we noticed that she was blue.
- She had massive trauma from a shotgun blast.
At the moment you're thinking,
Okay, this is obviously a homicide.
- Narrator: As investigators piece together
The victim's past,
A sordid web of unrequited love and jealousy unravels.
- She was completely obsessed.
- Jeffrey middleton: She certainly manipulated
All these people.
I don't know what power she held over these people.
- Narrator: But simmering under the surface
Is an even darker tale of lust, lies,
And betrayal turned deadly.
- This is quite literally insane.
Everyone's sleeping with each other.
- Max lewis: She actually caught them
In the act together, and she flipped out.
- She was livid. And then soon after that,
Started getting threatening phone calls.
A perfect storm. A perfect storm of evil.
- ♪
- Narrator: February 19th, 1996.
It's a cold, quiet evening in mottville, michigan.
Until just after 8:30pm, when an alarming call for help
Reaches michigan state police officers.
- We were the closest and most available car.
So, we started heading that way.
- When we got there, it's just bumped up
Against the front porch.
There was no damage to the car, you know,
As far as the collision part.
- Narrator: Though the vehicle appears unscathed,
A closer look reveals the driver wasn't as lucky.
- Gordon: We opened up the door to the car,
And she was still in the driver seat.
Well, we noticed that she was blue.
I'm trying to figure out why she's blue.
- Jeff miazga: We could see right away that this crash
Didn't involve the type of impact that would cause
Somebody to die from the injuries involved
In the actual impact with the house.
You're starting to think of,
"okay, is this medical related, drug related?"
- Gordon: The ambulance was right behind us
As we pulled in there, so the ambulance attendants
Got her out and took her to the back of the ambulance,
And tried to do cpr on her. There was no response.
- So, as the paramedics are working on her,
She is completely unresponsive. She's not moving.
- Jeff m.: We found her purse in the vehicle,
And we could identify her as carol knepp of mottville.
- Jeffrey m.: Her house was not very far away.
It's probably two or three miles, if that much.
They were trying to figure out what they had here.
- Jeff m.: We had to really break down the incident,
As far as what had caused her to come off the roadway.
We needed to figure out what happened.
- Narrator: Born in 1967,
Carol summey grew up in rural southern michigan.
- Pat gordon: Her stepfather and mom owned
A big christmas tree farm. So, she helped out there.
Rode three wheelers, and she was just an all around
All-american girl.
- She was a very friendly girl. She was a lot like me
In that we kind of shot from the hip
When we spoke about anything.
- Narrator: Following high school,
18-year-old carol began working at a factory.
Outside of work, she turned heads with her stunning beauty.
- Pretty. Tall and thin and well-built.
Dark brown eyes. Very pretty girl.
- She was a big pet lover. She was a country girl.
- Max: Carol dated around. She had several boyfriends,
But never really was serious with anybody,
That is until she met gary knepp.
- They both worked at the same factory.
And they met, and it's kind of history from there.
- Tiffany salameh: Gary was a long haul truck driver,
As many people are from this area,
And he was a rugged guy, outdoors-y.
They kind of shared similar interests there.
Her family was happy to see carol
Finally settling down with a man,
But they did have their reservations.
- We were concerned, because gary was married
To a woman named lori.
- Pat: Lori and gary were married,
And then carol had an affair with him and anyway,
That whole situation broke up.
- Narrator: With carol now in his life,
In November of 1994, gary put divorce proceedings
On the fast track to end his four-year marriage to lori.
- It only took a few months for lori and gary
To have their divorce finalized and you know,
That quickly escalated carol and gary's relationship.
They got married on valentine's day in 1995.
- He was very, very sweet to her, very caring.
- Gary would cook for her, and they had a lot of pets,
And they had a good time doing that,
And they would go places and do things.
- Narrator: When gary wasn't on the road,
He and carol hung out with friends
From the trucking community.
- Max: One of gary's best friends was ron hostetter,
And they both knew each other, because they were both
Long haul truck drivers, and you know,
They started to bring their wives around,
Gary bringing carol, and ron bringing his wife lisa around.
- Narrator: While ron and gary had already been friends
For years, their wives sparked a friendship of their own.
- Pat: Gary and lisa and carol and all of them
And going to parties, and I think that it just all
Become easy and they lived fairly close together.
- Jeffrey m. Lisa's family owned a septic pumping company,
And I think they installed dry wells and septic tanks
And maybe did some excavation work.
She had two sisters.
I think they were kind of hardscrabble,
Northern indiana people.
- Tiffany: It was a friendship that really took off.
They clicked almost immediately.
They shared similar interests, both of their husbands
Were truck drivers.
They were able to really talk about anything.
- Narrator: By the time she and carol became friends,
Lisa and ron were well past the newlywed stage.
- Lisa was a stay-at-home mom to her two kids with ron,
And they even, you know, took in foster kids here and there.
And so she was a very typical, loving, stay-at-home mom.
- Narrator: As a respite from the road
And raising their kids,
Ron and lisa often blew off steam with gary and carol.
- On the weekends, they'd go to do dinner parties,
Go to each other's houses.
- The four of them hang out together, they barbecue,
They drink, they do everything together.
- Narrator: Suddenly on February 19th, 1996,
The good times come to a screeching halt
Off a rural stretch of michigan highway,
Where carol is found unresponsive in her car.
- Jeff m. She had maneuvered into the driveway.
There was a fence in front of it, so we knew
She had turned towards the house, and then just didn't stop
Before she struck the porch.
- They were administering cpr
And were getting no response.
- Narrator: But while emt's work to save carol's life,
The mystery of her accident only deepens...
- Gordon: The ambulance guys start figuring out
The air wasn't helping her,
Then they took some of her clothes off and figured out
That there was a shotgun blast to her chest.
- Jeff m.: We continued with cpr in efforts to revive her.
We packed it with gauze and tried to hold the blood in,
But there was just too much damage at that point
To be able to save her.
- They pronounced her dead then.
- Jeff m.: That changes the whole dynamic of the incident.
This is obviously a homicide.
Who could be involved? Why did she get shot and killed?
- Narrator: Coming up, investigators piece together
Carol's final moments.
- It looked like someone was driving alongside her
On that highway when they shot her.
- This looks like it could be a targeted killing.
- Narrator: And a tale of bad blood
And romantic rivals is revealed...
- Right away, we started thinking about,
We need to find the husband.
- ♪
- Narrator: In rural st. Joseph county, michigan,
A quiet home has just turned into the scene
Of a homicide investigation.
- It looked like a car crash at first,
But then when police got there, they realized that
A woman was shot to death inside that car.
- A michigan driver's license identified her as carol knepp.
She had massive trauma from a shotgun blast to her back,
Upper shoulder, which would have been fatal within moments.
- Gordon: We don't have that kind of crime in that area,
And everybody was kind of stunned that it happened.
- Max: Police start really looking throughout
This entire crime scene to, sort of,
Figure out what happened.
- Jeff m.: During a canvas of the scene,
We were able to locate a, uh, glass, debris field
From where we could tell a window had been broken
In a glass pattern in the roadway.
So, we protected that so that we could get some more, uh,
Evidence from the- from the actual road where we then
Believe the, uh, actual shooting had happened.
The debris field in the roadway was found probably
About a quarter mile, or less, from where she actually,
Uh, turned into the driveway then crashed into the house.
- It does seem like carol was trying to get help,
By continuing to drive to this person's house
After she was shot.
- Narrator: Investigators doubt carol's death was random.
- Tiffany: It looked like someone was driving
Alongside her on that highway when they shot her.
- Jeff m.: Who are the players involved?
We need to figure out who else was with her,
Or if anyone else was with her.
The area's basically a farming community
Lined with farm field and farm housing.
- Max: Not very many people live there,
This highway goes through a pretty rural area of town,
This looks like it could be a targeted killing.
- Narrator: Investigators hope to locate an eyewitness
To piece together carol's final moments.
- Jeff m: The people who called were concerned.
They were obviously jostled awake by the car
Hitting the front porch.
But as far as anger or scare or anything like that,
No, it was just a normal, you know, caller.
- Gordon: You don't know who might be a suspect,
So you want to get everybody that's there and get a name
And what you were doing before this happened, and so on.
- Michigan state police investigators are looking at
The neighbors in the area where carol crashed.
They figured out that no one really knew carol,
And it didn't make sense that any of those neighbors
Would target her or want to hurt her.
- Narrator: With no additional leads from the crime scene
Or its surroundings,
Investigators have their next destination in mind.
- Jeff m.: The registration for the vehicle provided us
With her home address.
Right away, we started thinking we need to find the husband.
- We knocked on the door, and no answer at the door.
- Max: It was completely dark,
It doesn't look like anybody's even home.
And as they're leaving, a man sort of comes around the house,
And it's gary knepp.
- Gordon: He seemed kind of nervous.
It was odd that he just showed up out the blue.
- Pat: Gary was asking in some form,
"what happened to my wife?" before they had a chance
To say anything to him.
- Jeffrey m.: His whole affect was off.
The officers were considering him to be a suspect.
- Tiffany: They're kind of asking,
Why does he think something is wrong with carol?
And gary explains himself.
- Carol worked at night, and she had just started this shift,
Where she was gonna be in the plant,
I think by herself, starting from about 9 o'clock at night.
And she said, well, call me when I get to work,
To make sure I got there alright,
Although I don't think it was very far.
So he was unable to reach her,
And he wanted to know what was going on.
- Narrator: Gary says his concern
Led to an investigation of his own.
- Tiffany: Gary explained to investigators
He figured out that something might be wrong with carol,
And she might be in danger.
He started looking around the surrounding area.
He knows which way carol takes to work,
So he's kind of looking for any clues
As to what might have happened to her.
- Narrator: Gary explains he called their friend,
Lisa hostetter, for backup.
- Jeffrey m.: Gary and carol only had one working car.
Lisa drove up there to bring a vehicle to gary
That he could then use.
- Narrator: With gary's initial statement
Easing investigators' suspicions,
They finally reveal carol's fate.
- When police do tell gary
That his wife has been shot and killed, it was sad.
It was something that really shook him.
- Narrator: As gary reels from the news,
A car pulls up to his house.
- Tiffany: Lisa shows up at gary and carol's home,
And at that time, investigators are still
At the house talking to gary.
And when she finds out what happens to carol,
Her first reaction is to comfort gary
And kind of be someone for him to lean on.
- She was inquisitive. She wanted to know what happened
And what was going on, and at that point,
They didn't know a lot.
- Narrator: While investigators allow gary some time
To process the news,
They pull lisa aside for a quick interview.
- She tells the cops that, you know,
Carol adored gary. They had a loving relationship.
- Narrator: However, lisa explains the origin
Of gary and carol's relationship was shrouded in scandal.
- Max: Gary and carol had a pretty steamy affair going on
Until his wife lori actually caught them in the act together,
And when she did that, she flipped out.
- Police are quickly learning that this is a love triangle.
- Narrator: According to lisa,
It's possible the bad blood between lori and carol
Has now led to bloodshed.
- Jeffrey m.: There was implications that lori
Was still angry that carol had stolen her husband.
- Narrator: Coming up, a new red flag flies high...
- Tiffany: Lori's a truck driver,
And they figured out that one of lori's routes
That she drives on is the exact road where carol was shot.
- Narrator: And layers of infidelity muddle the case.
- Pat: Everybody was with everybody,
It was just such an ongoing mess.
- Carol found in gary's truck a love letter.
- ♪
- Narrator: Hours after 28-year-old carol knepp
Is gunned down along a michigan highway,
Investigators have eyes on two potential suspects:
Her husband, gary knepp and his ex-wife, lori.
- Lisa falzone: Lori had caught carol and gary having an affair
A year prior to carol's murder.
So, it stand to reason that there was some major resentment
On lori's behalf, so that she might wanted to do something
To carol in retribution.
- Narrator: Investigators ask gary
To come to the station for a more formal interview.
- Max: The police ask gary about his, you know,
Relationship with carol.
And he says, you know, it's a loving marriage.
They are, you know, happily in love,
And he was devastated.
- Max: He tells them that he was home
At the time of the murder.
He was making calls to carol's work and calls to lisa
To try and find her.
- Narrator: According to gary, the couple had been on edge
Ever since they'd been receiving
Some threatening messages on their answering machine.
- Pat: Carol was getting threatening phone calls,
And she was pretty worried about that.
So, they were trying to figure out where they were coming from.
- Tiffany: It's a man, an unidentified man,
Who's calling the residence and threatening carol.
- Jeffrey m.: Gary says one phone call said something like,
"hey, you need to leave him alone, or we're going to party,"
Or something to that effect.
- Tiffany: Gary tells them
That this is something that's been happening for months.
- Pat: She was scared, so she changed her phone number,
And she changed her hours, so they didn't know
When she was going to work and coming home.
- Narrator: When the messages kept coming,
Gary and carol had an idea who might be behind them.
- He believes that lori might be behind
Those threatening voicemails because he thinks
That lori never got over him.
- Narrator: As for gary,
Initial doubts of his innocence
Have begun to dissolve.
- Tiffany: He does stick by his story,
And I think that's one of the things that ultimately
Led investigators to rule out him as a suspect.
He stuck to his story, he was only worried about his wife.
They were happily married, and he made multiple calls
That night, looking for her and trying to find her.
- We did a lot of telephone tracing to figure out
What calls gary made from who to who, at what exact time.
So, there were some phone calls that had gone back and forth
That were documented, and confirmed his alibi.
- Narrator: With gary seemingly in the clear,
Investigators ask him for more details
About his ex-wife, lori.
- Tiffany: They discover lori is also a truck driver,
And they figured out that one of lori's routes
That she drives on is the exact road where carol was shot.
- Narrator: But before they track down lori,
Investigators pay a 2am visit to carol's mom
To deliver the tragic news.
- Tiffany: For carol's mother, this is not something
That's taken easily. She's heartbroken by this.
I mean, this is a daughter that she was close with.
- Pat: Totally shocked, because carol,
She was a very outgoing person and everything,
But she was never in trouble.
She was never around people that were bad people.
- This is little, tiny, mottville, michigan.
This doesn't happen here. And why her?
- Narrator: Despite her grief,
Carol's mom makes a shocking accusation.
- She said carol found in gary's truck
A love letter written to him.
- Lisa: Carol found a card that was a love card
From lisa to gary.
That is the linchpin that carol got a clue
That gary must be having some sort of affair with lisa.
- Narrator: Carol's mom says her daughter felt betrayed
By someone she considered a friend.
- Lisa: I can see her threatening lisa,
Telling her, "stay away from gary."
But that's certainly something that carol
Would have never followed through with.
That was definitely not in her nature.
- Pat: She of course, she was livid,
Like all of us would be.
And then soon after that, that's when carol
Started getting threatening phone calls.
- Tiffany: This complicates things for investigators.
They thought lori might be the one.
But now, they're focusing their attention on lisa,
Who also could very well be involved in carol's murder.
- Narrator: Investigators are shocked to learn
The woman they'd just spoken with hours earlier
May have been involved in carol's death.
- Tiffany: These people connected to lisa
Really make them take a look at her as the murder suspect.
- Narrator: While officers work to bring lisa in
For a polygraph examination,
Investigators sit down with gary's ex-wife, lori.
- Max: The police ask her where she was
On the night that carol was murdered.
And she tells them that she was with her boyfriend all night.
- Narrator: At first, it seems lori is telling the truth,
But deception is detected elsewhere.
- They asked lori if she was having an affair,
And at that time, her voice wavered,
And they knew she was lying.
She said, "no, I wasn't having an affair."
- Max: The police question her about it, and you know,
Ask her if she is having an affair with gary,
And she sort of, you know, laughs at them,
And basically says, "well no, I'm having an affair
With ron, lisa's husband."
- Jeffrey m.: I don't even know how to get my head around that.
Everybody was unfaithful with everybody else.
Ron and lori watt, that relationship ended
After a very short time.
- Narrator: After confirming lori's alibi with her boyfriend,
She is free to go.
- Lori is never charged with carol's murder.
Investigators determine she had nothing to do with it.
- Narrator: However, her latest reveal
Leaves investigators' heads spinning.
- Pat: Everybody was with everybody,
It was just such an ongoing mess, and divorces,
And you didn't know who was with who, week-to-week.
- Narrator: Detectives next revisit
Another tale of infidelity, the alleged affair
Between gary knepp and lisa hostetter.
But, they hit a wall.
- Jeffrey m.: Lisa and gary each got attorneys
And declined to speak to us any further.
- Narrator: While the move heightens suspicion around them,
It also has investigators questioning
What lisa's husband, ron hostetter, may know.
On February 21st, five days after carol's murder,
Authorities interview ron at his home.
- Ron's statement doesn't really give the police
Anything that they can work with.
- Narrator: Despite their suspicion of ron and lisa,
Investigators are far from proving anything.
- Max: They're trying to piece together, you know,
This entire love triangle at this point.
And you know, the case turned days, turned into weeks,
Turned into months.
And they really have nothing at this point.
- Narrator: Eight months after carol's murder,
On November 1st, 1996,
Michigan state police detectives get a call
From the sheriff in elkhart, indiana.
The investigator says they have a man in custody
Named dale smith, who might be able to help
With the stalled homicide investigation.
- Jeffrey m.: Lisa's brother-in-law, dale smith,
Had been charged with some sort of an assaultive offense
In indiana.
An indiana investigator was talking to him about that,
And all dale wanted to talk about
Was the carol knepp murder.
- Narrator: Coming up, a shocking confession
Turns the investigation on its head.
- Narrator: And an unexpected witness comes forward.
- Jeffrey m.: He just blurted out,
"I did it. I'm going to tell everybody what happened."
- ♪
- Narrator: In November of 1996,
Eight months since the murder of carol knepp,
Michigan state police detectives travel to indiana
To interview dale smith, brother-in-law
Of murder suspect lisa hostetter,
Hoping to connect ron and lisa to carol's murder.
- Jeffrey m.: He said he was there, they talked about it,
They planned it, but he was absent from the shooting.
He said ron drove 105 miles an hour down the toll road,
Brought him the guns and told him to get rid of them.
- Narrator: Though dale's statement reinforces
Investigators' belief that lisa hostetter
Was behind carol's killing,
A destroyed murder weapon makes it difficult to prove.
- It was a very excruciating, unpleasant time in our lives.
I personally was very worried
That this was never gonna be resolved.
- Narrator: Finally, on April 3rd, 1998,
Two years after carol's murder,
Lisa shocks detectives when she contacts them.
- Max: About a year after carol was murdered,
Lisa divorces ron and then she ends up moving in with gary.
- Tiffany: This kind of raises some red flags,
Because it doesn't look good for her at this point.
- Narrator: But now, it seems lisa has no reason
To cover for her ex any further,
And decides to tell all.
- Narrator: However, lisa isn't able to offer any proof,
Other than her word.
- Jeffrey m.: She was very manipulative.
I felt lisa controlled ron, but knowing it
And proving it are two different things.
- Jeffrey m.: It's interesting,
Everyone blamed everyone else, but each person that then
Told us what happened gave more of the pieces of the puzzle.
- Narrator: Much like dale's statement,
Lisa's allegations don't add up to much without proof.
Until a woman named kerri demski calls the station.
- Max: After lisa and ron are divorced,
Ron sort of moves on with his life
And meets a woman named kerri.
Kerri, though, goes to police at one point,
Because they had had a pipe bomb go off
Outside of their house.
- Narrator: Kerri tells police she thinks she knows why.
- Max: Kerri told the police that she suspected
That that bomb was to keep ron quiet
About something that he knew about carol knepp's murder.
- Kerri tells police that they've been receiving
Threatening phone calls from lisa.
And it did seem like lisa was worried
That ron might say something about carol's murder.
- Narrator: Kerri reveals that she and ron
Are actually outside the station in the parking lot.
But when detectives invite the shell-shocked couple inside,
They find ron less than forthcoming.
- Ron had some sort of not very tight alibi.
- His story is that he was home
At the time of carol's murder.
They're sitting there wondering,
"well, what is this guy here for?"
They think that he's holding back.
It didn't make sense to investigators.
- Narrator: Ron leaves investigators
With more questions than answers.
But they refuse to let the case go cold,
And two months later, their efforts finally pay off.
- We invoked the potential of a federal grand jury.
We never actually did it, but the fact
That the feds were involved was intimidating to people,
And I think people's conscience just got the better of them.
- Lisa: This was a big wake-up call for ron.
I think he decided that it was time to come clean.
- Jeffrey m.: He hired some attorneys,
And they approached us and said,
"we would like to maybe give some information."
There was a meeting set up at the fbi office
In kalamazoo, and ron was there with his lawyers,
And finally, he just blurted out,
"I did it, I'm gonna tell everybody what happened."
And then ron pretty much laid it all out.
- Narrator: Now willing to cooperate,
Ron explains that in February of 1996,
He and lisa were back on good terms
After her affair with carol's husband gary,
But she confided in him and her brother-in-law, dale smith,
That carol had been threatening her.
- Lisa: That lit lisa's fire, so she decided,
Well, I'm gonna threaten you.
So, she decided to get a hold of someone
That was big and burly and who sounds intimidating,
And I'm going to throw it right back at you.
So, there were phone calls made to her residence,
Which- some of which I understand
She actually had conversations with, and some were
Actually recorded on her machine.
- Narrator: According to ron, lisa claimed
The phone messages didn't work,
And carol was taking her threats a step too far.
- Lisa perceived something that carol
Was somehow threatening her children.
That's how I think lisa got ron,
Saying, "she may harm our children."
- Narrator: Fearful for the lives of his kids,
Ron says he agreed carol needed to go,
And decided to help lisa's brother-in-law dale
Carry out her plan.
- Dale wanted to be a part of lisa's family,
He kind of felt like an outsider,
And this was his way in.
- Narrator: Ron says lisa stalked carol
To figure out her commute to work and back.
- This is a highway that carol takes to work every day.
And once carol was driving by,
That's when they were supposed to take her out.
- Narrator: On February 19th, 1996,
Ron says the trio put the plan into motion.
- Jeffrey m.: Ron was driving,
And dale was in the passenger's seat.
And they knew when she was gonna be leaving
And what route she was going to be taking.
- Max: Lisa was waiting outside of carol's house
And radioed to ron and dale that she was leaving
And she was gonna be driving by.
- Jeffrey m.: According to ron, ron was driving,
And they saw the car, they pulled out,
Ron pulled up beside her and dale pulled the trigger.
- Narrator: According to ron,
Dale thought the shot was a miss.
- Jeffrey m.: He said, "I missed, let's get out of here,"
And they took off.
I don't think they could actually believe
They actually did it, but the deed was done.
Shortly after that, carol died.
- Tiffany: Ron tells police that he was the getaway driver,
But the actual shooter,
The person who shot carol to death,
Was lisa's brother-in-law, dale smith.
- Jeffrey m.: Lisa manipulated all these people.
When you step back and think,
I got my husband and my brother-in-law
To murder my boyfriend's wife,
That's a difficult concept.
I don't know what power she held over these people.
- Narrator: As for gary, ron says he knew nothing
Of the plan to kill his wife.
- Police never found anything that indicated
That gary was a part of carol's murder.
- Narrator: Ron says lisa even had a plan
For how they would get away with it.
- Tiffany: Ron explains to investigators
That lisa really wanted to frame
Lori for carol's murder.
Police believe that ron is telling the truth,
He legitimately fears for his life
Because of lisa's actions,
And they do think he is telling the truth.
- Narrator: As detectives prepare
To make the long awaited arrests, prosecutors hit a snag.
- Jeffrey m.: Prior to 2000 in michigan,
The spousal privilege was with the defendant.
You could claim the spousal privilege.
- Lisa: If you were married at the time
Of a commissioned crime, you couldn't testify
Against one another.
They were married during that commission,
So that communication is privileged information.
- Narrator: Coming up,
Lisa won't go down without a fight.
- She turned to the family and she said
That she was innocent, that she didn't do this.
- Jeffrey m.: They all pointed the finger
In a circular roundabout.
- ♪
- Narrator: Four years after being gunned down
On the highway in 1996,
Carol knepp's murder case remains open.
Despite a confession from getaway driver ron hostetter,
A michigan law stands in the way of justice.
- There came to a point when ron hostetter
Wanted to talk about it, and there had to be a change
In the michigan law for spousal privilege.
- It was just completely overwhelming,
And especially 'cause they couldn't arrest,
It was just devastating.
- Narrator: While prosecutors work to change the law,
They get multiple anonymous phone calls regarding the case,
Although they think they know exactly who is behind them.
- Jeffrey m.: I believe lisa
Continued to write me anonymous letters,
And even called me a time or two anonymously,
Because she just wanted to know what was going on
And keep her fingers in it.
- Narrator: Eventually, the legal process pays off...
- Jeffrey m.: Prior to 2000 in michigan,
The spousal privilege was with the defendant.
If you were charged with a crime,
And your wife was called as a witness,
You could claim the spousal privilege,
And prohibit your wife from testifying against you.
The law changed,
And the privilege then became with the witness.
So now, she could claim the privilege
And decline to testify without punishment for contempt.
She could also choose to testify.
- Narrator: Prosecutors fight for the change
To apply retroactively to carol's case.
- Jeffrey m.: I appealed that, ultimately all the way
To the michigan supreme court,
And that took more than a year,
And then the supreme court remanded it back
To the court of appeals, and the court of appeals
Then ruled that ron could testify.
- Narrator: On August 28th, 2000,
Michigan state police finally arrest lisa hostetter,
Her ex-husband, ron,
And her brother-in-law, dale smith,
For carol's murder.
- Lisa: It wasn't until late August of 2000,
Was there any arrests made. And once it finally came,
I'm telling you, it was total elation.
That evening, I saw it on the news,
And when I saw lisa's picture flash up on the screen,
Was one of the more happy moments of my life.
- I felt elated. I mean, just relief.
- Narrator: Following her arrest,
Lisa refuses to make a statement
And stands by her innocence.
- She was defiant. Unaccepting of responsibility.
"I didn't do it, it's not my fault."
So, we needed ron's testimony to charge lisa
To proceed further.
A plea agreement was worked out with ron,
And he pled, I believe, to second degree murder,
And he agreed to testify against lisa.
- Narrator: 39-year-old ron also agrees to testify
Against 42-year-old dale smith,
The man he says fired the shot that killed carol knepp.
- Jeffrey m.: Dale was convicted of conspiracy to commit
First degree murder and possession of a firearm
During the commission of a felony.
So, that was very satisfying.
- Narrator: In November 2002, ron takes the stand
Against his ex-wife at her trial.
- Tiffany: Ron's testimony ultimately amounted to him
Saying lisa was a manipulative, evil person.
She manipulated the men in her life to kill carol
And end up with gary.
- Jeffrey m.: She certainly manipulated all these people.
She had an effect on other people,
They were willing to follow her lead.
I think she wanted gary.
I believe that's what motivated lisa
To put this whole thing into motion.
- Narrator: Lisa's attorneys continue to claim
That ron and dale acted alone.
- Jeffrey m.: Dale smith blamed lisa and ron.
Ron blamed dale and lisa.
And lisa blamed dale and ron.
So they all pointed the finger in a circular roundabout.
Lisa talked about the planning that had gone into it,
And left herself out of the picture.
- Narrator: Though the court doesn't buy
Lisa's claims of innocence, they do cut her some slack.
- She was not convicted of first degree murder,
Or conspiracy to commit first degree murder,
She was convicted of second degree murder,
Which carries an indeterminate sentence.
She was given a sentence of 25 to 50 years.
- During lisa's sentencing, she turned to the family
And she said that she was innocent,
That she didn't do this,
And that god says that she must forgive us,
For we don't know what we have done.
That left a profound emotion in me.
She did do it.
And we do not forgive her. And we never will.
- Pat: She's a perfect storm.
Lisa hostetter is a perfect storm of evil.
That's the only way that you can describe her.
She was just completely obsessed with gary.
She was gonna have gary at all costs.
A good life taken for absolutely no reason.
No reason, other than someone wanted your husband,
And they'll do anything to get it.
- ♪