1 00:00:07,413 --> 00:00:09,413 JENNIFER: People gravitated towards Cindy, 2 00:00:09,415 --> 00:00:12,049 and Cindy was a lot of fun. 3 00:00:12,151 --> 00:00:14,818 [man speaking] 4 00:00:16,389 --> 00:00:17,721 She loved being on camera. 5 00:00:17,723 --> 00:00:20,057 Just hamming it up. 6 00:00:20,125 --> 00:00:23,961 Cindy always saw the best in people, and she was very, 7 00:00:24,030 --> 00:00:25,329 very trusting. 8 00:00:25,331 --> 00:00:30,467 But she met some people that she shouldn't have met. 9 00:00:32,038 --> 00:00:34,304 [Cindy speaking] 10 00:00:35,908 --> 00:00:38,409 LINDA: She was so wrapped up in 11 00:00:38,511 --> 00:00:41,045 the whole thing that she was like a captive. 12 00:00:41,113 --> 00:00:44,515 The effort they went to, it was pure evilness. 13 00:00:44,617 --> 00:00:47,618 [Kathy speaking] 14 00:00:51,924 --> 00:00:55,626 You're not thinking that there was such danger coming. 15 00:01:08,707 --> 00:01:12,342 NARRATOR: It's April 12th, 1984, in Los Angeles. 16 00:01:15,815 --> 00:01:18,315 25-year-old Cindy Monkman sits 17 00:01:18,417 --> 00:01:20,050 in the audience of hit game show, 18 00:01:20,119 --> 00:01:23,053 "The Price Is Right" -- alongside her are her 19 00:01:23,155 --> 00:01:26,457 24-year-old sister Kathy and their grandma, Estelle. 20 00:01:26,525 --> 00:01:30,260 [audience applause] 21 00:01:35,067 --> 00:01:36,633 Welcome to "The Price Is Right." 22 00:01:36,768 --> 00:01:38,669 KATHY: Cindy was always obsessed with "The Price is Right." 23 00:01:38,770 --> 00:01:41,105 She watched that show religiously. 24 00:01:41,207 --> 00:01:43,407 We went every year to Santa Monica to visit 25 00:01:43,409 --> 00:01:47,811 our grandma, doing these wild adventures all throughout L.A. 26 00:01:47,813 --> 00:01:50,114 Cindy was always initiating stuff like, 27 00:01:50,116 --> 00:01:51,315 "Hey, we're gonna do this now, 28 00:01:51,450 --> 00:01:55,219 let's go do this," very adventurous wanting to travel, 29 00:01:55,221 --> 00:01:56,453 try new things. 30 00:01:56,522 --> 00:01:59,723 Cindy said, "We are gonna go on 'The Price Is Right.'" 31 00:01:59,725 --> 00:02:01,825 She's like, "I'm gonna get on that show. 32 00:02:01,827 --> 00:02:02,960 "I know how to do it. 33 00:02:03,061 --> 00:02:04,361 I know the formula." 34 00:02:04,430 --> 00:02:07,831 We down-dressed me to the max, and then 35 00:02:07,933 --> 00:02:10,801 we put her in this bright, hot fuchsia shirt, 36 00:02:10,803 --> 00:02:13,804 made her hair super big, we really dolled her up 37 00:02:13,806 --> 00:02:15,539 so that she would get chosen. 38 00:02:15,608 --> 00:02:17,808 John, I have a vacant spot right here. 39 00:02:17,810 --> 00:02:19,510 What are you going to do about that? 40 00:02:19,512 --> 00:02:22,846 JOHN: Bob, we're gonna try to fill it with Cynthia Monkman! 41 00:02:22,948 --> 00:02:24,148 You know, there's Cindy 42 00:02:24,249 --> 00:02:27,251 and my grandma and me -- you can see I'm grabbing her, 43 00:02:27,352 --> 00:02:29,319 and, like, had this big look of shock. 44 00:02:29,421 --> 00:02:32,156 I mean, that was a peak moment for her. 45 00:02:32,257 --> 00:02:34,124 [audience applause] 46 00:02:35,628 --> 00:02:36,827 Cynthia, I... 47 00:02:36,829 --> 00:02:38,462 KATHY: That was more of a big deal than, like, any even 48 00:02:38,564 --> 00:02:41,365 birthday or anything like that, you know, for her to be on TV. 49 00:02:41,466 --> 00:02:42,733 -BOB: What do you want to do? -I'm gonna... 50 00:02:42,834 --> 00:02:47,704 KATHY: She really wanted that kind of spotlight, I guess. 51 00:02:47,806 --> 00:02:50,741 I was so happy for her that she got on there. 52 00:02:51,744 --> 00:02:54,011 And there she is meeting her idol, Bob Barker. 53 00:02:55,347 --> 00:02:58,448 It was a really great, great day, and a great memory. 54 00:03:00,319 --> 00:03:03,020 NARRATOR: The naturally extroverted Cindy, who loves 55 00:03:03,022 --> 00:03:06,423 being the center of attention, started life in the sunshine. 56 00:03:08,227 --> 00:03:11,662 KATHY: Cindy was born September 16th, 1958, 57 00:03:11,730 --> 00:03:13,964 in Pensacola, Florida. 58 00:03:14,066 --> 00:03:17,734 I came along 14 months after Cindy was born. 59 00:03:17,836 --> 00:03:20,537 In many ways, we were like twins, you know, 60 00:03:20,606 --> 00:03:23,740 I think, because we were pretty inseparable, and we did 61 00:03:23,809 --> 00:03:27,844 everything together, and, you know, we were best friends. 62 00:03:27,947 --> 00:03:30,814 NARRATOR: Cindy, Kathy, and their younger brother, John, 63 00:03:30,816 --> 00:03:33,850 spend their early childhood in Florida, together 64 00:03:33,953 --> 00:03:35,419 with parents Jack and Dorothy. 65 00:03:37,122 --> 00:03:39,656 My dad was working as a psychologist. 66 00:03:39,725 --> 00:03:41,959 Our mother was a stay-at-home mom. 67 00:03:44,797 --> 00:03:47,631 NARRATOR: In 1963, doctors diagnosed 68 00:03:47,633 --> 00:03:49,266 Dorothy with breast cancer. 69 00:03:50,736 --> 00:03:53,537 When it became clear that she was not going to survive, 70 00:03:53,606 --> 00:03:56,873 my dad packed us all up and moved back to rural Illinois, 71 00:03:56,875 --> 00:03:58,342 which is where she was from. 72 00:04:00,112 --> 00:04:04,414 She passed the end of October '65. 73 00:04:04,416 --> 00:04:08,118 She was 36. 74 00:04:09,321 --> 00:04:12,022 We were affected growing up without our mom, for sure. 75 00:04:13,025 --> 00:04:15,025 You just don't have an internal compass 76 00:04:15,027 --> 00:04:16,526 that you have when you have a mother. 77 00:04:17,596 --> 00:04:21,632 NARRATOR: Dad, Jack, marries Marjory McQueen in 1971. 78 00:04:23,936 --> 00:04:25,902 Cindy and the rest of her family carry 79 00:04:25,904 --> 00:04:28,905 on with small town life in Champaign, Illinois. 80 00:04:30,009 --> 00:04:33,610 My family moved into a house that was about a block 81 00:04:33,612 --> 00:04:35,812 and a half from Cindy's house, 82 00:04:35,914 --> 00:04:39,950 and we were instant friends. 83 00:04:40,052 --> 00:04:42,319 KATHY: Cindy did make friends easily. 84 00:04:42,321 --> 00:04:45,822 She was a very innocent kind of person, 85 00:04:45,824 --> 00:04:47,724 extremely sensitive. 86 00:04:49,061 --> 00:04:51,862 NARRATOR: In 1980, Kathy moves to Arizona 87 00:04:51,964 --> 00:04:53,230 to enroll in nursing school. 88 00:04:55,134 --> 00:04:57,834 Cindy follows her sister, and two years later, 89 00:04:57,836 --> 00:05:00,137 she completes a Master's degree in 90 00:05:00,205 --> 00:05:02,239 Community Health Education. 91 00:05:02,308 --> 00:05:03,373 KATHY: We had a lot of fun. 92 00:05:03,409 --> 00:05:06,710 We did a lot of partying back then, actually. 93 00:05:06,845 --> 00:05:10,314 There was something about our dynamic that was 94 00:05:10,449 --> 00:05:12,149 very magnetic to other people, 95 00:05:12,217 --> 00:05:14,117 to the point where they would tease us and say it's 96 00:05:14,219 --> 00:05:16,620 the Monkman sisters syndrome. 97 00:05:16,722 --> 00:05:20,724 We were each other's life force in a lot of ways, 98 00:05:20,726 --> 00:05:23,827 but we both had our demons we had to meet. 99 00:05:27,666 --> 00:05:30,634 NARRATOR: In 1983, Cindy receives an offer 100 00:05:30,736 --> 00:05:32,769 that she cannot refuse. 101 00:05:32,838 --> 00:05:36,406 She got this great job opportunity, heading up 102 00:05:36,408 --> 00:05:41,511 a wellness program at a major corporation in Minneapolis. 103 00:05:41,513 --> 00:05:45,349 It really was Cindy's dream job, because she had spent 104 00:05:45,417 --> 00:05:49,119 years being a nutritionist and working in diet programs 105 00:05:49,221 --> 00:05:50,153 and schools. 106 00:05:50,221 --> 00:05:52,956 It paid well, and it was a great job. 107 00:05:54,526 --> 00:05:57,728 It was really, really hard 108 00:05:57,730 --> 00:06:00,464 to say goodbye to her. 109 00:06:01,667 --> 00:06:04,334 Of course, this was before the Internet or cellphones. 110 00:06:04,403 --> 00:06:09,606 Long distance calling was very expensive. 111 00:06:09,708 --> 00:06:12,309 She was really into doing things on cassette tapes. 112 00:06:13,612 --> 00:06:16,113 [Cindy speaking] 113 00:06:25,724 --> 00:06:28,191 You would just be talking like you're talking to the person 114 00:06:28,193 --> 00:06:29,960 on the phone, but you're speaking 115 00:06:30,028 --> 00:06:32,729 into this cassette player, and then we 116 00:06:32,798 --> 00:06:35,565 would mail off the cassettes to each other back and forth. 117 00:06:35,634 --> 00:06:37,834 We did that for months. 118 00:06:38,837 --> 00:06:42,305 [Cindy speaking] 119 00:06:52,418 --> 00:06:54,050 KATHY: A lot of it was about boys. 120 00:06:54,152 --> 00:06:56,453 She was always looking for the tallest guy in the room. 121 00:06:56,555 --> 00:06:57,654 She loved blondes. 122 00:06:57,756 --> 00:07:01,558 She called it the caramels, which was attraction, 123 00:07:01,627 --> 00:07:04,261 that infatuation that feels really good. 124 00:07:04,329 --> 00:07:07,631 She was definitely looking for that with somebody. 125 00:07:08,801 --> 00:07:11,134 Minneapolis was a very corporate, 126 00:07:11,236 --> 00:07:15,038 very settled life, and she just didn't feel like she really fit 127 00:07:15,107 --> 00:07:16,740 there, and she wanted to still be... 128 00:07:18,110 --> 00:07:20,410 kind of party girl. 129 00:07:20,412 --> 00:07:23,547 So she left it and moved back to Arizona. 130 00:07:25,217 --> 00:07:27,050 I was thrilled. 131 00:07:27,119 --> 00:07:32,756 NARRATOR: Always restless, Cindy returns to Mesa in late 1986. 132 00:07:32,858 --> 00:07:34,124 KATHY: She didn't even really have 133 00:07:34,226 --> 00:07:35,926 a big plan when she moved back. 134 00:07:35,928 --> 00:07:39,830 So she was pretty footloose and fancy free. 135 00:07:39,932 --> 00:07:41,932 We were both living in Mesa. 136 00:07:41,934 --> 00:07:44,835 I was living in my little house, and Cindy was living in 137 00:07:44,837 --> 00:07:47,003 a nearby apartment, and it was 138 00:07:47,005 --> 00:07:49,206 probably pretty soon after moving back, 139 00:07:49,308 --> 00:07:52,142 she met Mark, and that was a big deal. 140 00:07:54,513 --> 00:07:58,548 Mark Maurer was Mark in the Dark on KDKB, 141 00:07:58,617 --> 00:08:00,217 the nighttime DJ. 142 00:08:00,219 --> 00:08:02,219 DJs back then were rock stars. 143 00:08:02,221 --> 00:08:05,355 Their -- their face might be on the side of a bus. 144 00:08:05,424 --> 00:08:09,059 She jumped into that relationship pretty quickly. 145 00:08:10,128 --> 00:08:11,294 It was wild. 146 00:08:11,296 --> 00:08:14,764 A lot of passion, a lot of drinking, a lot of partying. 147 00:08:14,833 --> 00:08:16,533 She was having a lot of fun with it. 148 00:08:16,535 --> 00:08:18,735 She was having a lot of angst with it, too. 149 00:08:18,804 --> 00:08:21,805 It pushed a lot of insecure buttons in her, 150 00:08:21,907 --> 00:08:24,941 being with somebody that kind of well known 151 00:08:25,043 --> 00:08:26,443 and popular and stuff. 152 00:08:26,512 --> 00:08:31,414 They had a lot of extreme highs and lows. 153 00:08:31,517 --> 00:08:34,117 I think they dated for close to a year. 154 00:08:35,621 --> 00:08:37,721 There was a lot of drama between her and Mark. 155 00:08:38,824 --> 00:08:43,059 Mark had a previous relationship with a woman 156 00:08:43,161 --> 00:08:46,830 who was murdered, and it was never solved. 157 00:08:46,832 --> 00:08:48,865 You know, it kind of freaked her out. 158 00:08:48,967 --> 00:08:51,368 So she knew it needed to end. 159 00:08:53,238 --> 00:08:55,839 NARRATOR: Cindy telephones Mark to end the relationship 160 00:08:55,941 --> 00:08:58,041 in July 1988. 161 00:08:58,143 --> 00:09:02,812 She records their conversation as a keepsake. 162 00:09:02,814 --> 00:09:04,681 [Mark speaking] 163 00:09:04,816 --> 00:09:07,117 [Cindy speaking] 164 00:09:07,219 --> 00:09:10,620 [Mark speaking] 165 00:09:12,958 --> 00:09:16,626 [Cindy speaking] 166 00:09:30,742 --> 00:09:33,209 You know, she was getting close to 30 167 00:09:33,211 --> 00:09:37,447 and watching her friends get married and have kids. 168 00:09:37,516 --> 00:09:43,320 It was just, I know it's time for me to change my life. 169 00:09:43,422 --> 00:09:45,822 NARRATOR: A month after the breakup with Mark, 170 00:09:45,924 --> 00:09:48,658 Cindy joins the rest of the Monkmans at Monkey Spoon, 171 00:09:48,727 --> 00:09:52,128 the family's vacation cottage on the Maine coast. 172 00:09:54,866 --> 00:09:58,234 KATHY: We had been going there since the early seventies. 173 00:09:59,972 --> 00:10:02,305 That was where we spent most of our summer holidays. 174 00:10:02,407 --> 00:10:04,207 [man 1 speaking] 175 00:10:04,209 --> 00:10:07,310 [man 2 speaking] 176 00:10:07,312 --> 00:10:10,513 There's my bro, putting on his Monkey Spoon T-shirt. 177 00:10:10,515 --> 00:10:13,850 We all had T-shirts with the logo of the cottage on 'em. 178 00:10:15,153 --> 00:10:16,953 And there's Cindy. 179 00:10:17,022 --> 00:10:19,422 [man speaking] 180 00:10:20,359 --> 00:10:21,558 [Cindy speaking] 181 00:10:23,462 --> 00:10:28,064 KATHY: She's saying, "I love you so very, very, very much." 182 00:10:28,133 --> 00:10:30,867 It was good for her to be there and with family. 183 00:10:30,969 --> 00:10:34,237 She and Mark had just broken up, like, a month before. 184 00:10:34,339 --> 00:10:36,906 She was still needing a lot of 185 00:10:36,908 --> 00:10:39,242 reassurance that she did the right thing. 186 00:10:39,311 --> 00:10:40,944 You know, it's gonna get better, 187 00:10:41,046 --> 00:10:42,679 and you made the right decision, 188 00:10:42,681 --> 00:10:45,849 but on that trip, she was really struggling. 189 00:10:45,984 --> 00:10:50,220 I'm sure she was suffering from depression, she felt lost. 190 00:10:50,222 --> 00:10:53,156 She did a very good job of covering it up, 191 00:10:53,225 --> 00:10:57,560 but I definitely knew her very well, and I could feel it every 192 00:10:57,629 --> 00:10:59,362 single minute of every single day. 193 00:10:59,464 --> 00:11:01,164 [laughing] 194 00:11:03,635 --> 00:11:06,069 KATHY: She brought the fun in our family, 195 00:11:06,138 --> 00:11:09,939 and we lost that, because she was, like, the spark. 196 00:11:18,917 --> 00:11:21,818 NARRATOR: It's December 17, 1988. 197 00:11:22,821 --> 00:11:25,855 Cindy Monkman attends the wedding of her close friend, 198 00:11:25,957 --> 00:11:29,526 Linda Smith at Pointe Tapatio Resort in Phoenix. 199 00:11:30,862 --> 00:11:34,064 I met Cindy, we were both enrolled in a course 200 00:11:34,165 --> 00:11:37,133 at Arizona State University in Tempe, 201 00:11:37,235 --> 00:11:39,769 but Cindy and I just sort of hit it off. 202 00:11:39,838 --> 00:11:42,305 So here I am talking to Cindy on 203 00:11:42,307 --> 00:11:45,742 the left, and she was asking me who certain people were. 204 00:11:45,811 --> 00:11:47,744 I was very happy to see that she'd brought 205 00:11:47,813 --> 00:11:52,348 a date, Michael from Germany, and she seemed very comfortable 206 00:11:52,417 --> 00:11:53,616 with him. 207 00:11:53,719 --> 00:11:56,486 I do remember Cindy coming over at some point, 208 00:11:56,488 --> 00:12:01,558 and she held out her finger with a ring on it 209 00:12:01,659 --> 00:12:06,963 and I said, "Oh my gosh, you're engaged!" 210 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,735 And she said, "No, I'm married." 211 00:12:11,837 --> 00:12:14,838 And I remember my first reaction 212 00:12:14,940 --> 00:12:17,707 was...what?! 213 00:12:18,844 --> 00:12:20,744 I remember going over to my husband 214 00:12:20,845 --> 00:12:23,313 and saying, "Cindy found the love of her life." 215 00:12:28,253 --> 00:12:30,920 NARRATOR: Rewind two months to October 8th. 216 00:12:33,291 --> 00:12:35,058 A mutual friend invites Kathy 217 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:37,160 and Cindy for a night out in town. 218 00:12:38,730 --> 00:12:41,231 She takes the sisters to Bobby McGee's, 219 00:12:41,233 --> 00:12:43,166 a trendy nightspot in Mesa. 220 00:12:44,870 --> 00:12:47,637 KATHY: She had met these two brothers. 221 00:12:47,706 --> 00:12:49,906 Michael and Rudi Apelt 222 00:12:49,908 --> 00:12:54,043 were from Dusseldorf, Germany, and she had kind of hit 223 00:12:54,112 --> 00:12:57,046 it off with one of them, and the other brother 224 00:12:57,148 --> 00:12:59,816 was 6'7" and blonde. 225 00:12:59,818 --> 00:13:02,452 I went and joined them, and, um, Cindy 226 00:13:02,521 --> 00:13:06,823 was already wrapped around this tall, blond guy. 227 00:13:06,825 --> 00:13:08,424 They looked wealthy. 228 00:13:08,527 --> 00:13:11,127 Michael was wearing a tuxedo with all kinds of, 229 00:13:11,129 --> 00:13:15,064 you know, diamond earrings, gold rings, gold chains. 230 00:13:15,166 --> 00:13:18,935 Um, Rudi was wearing a suit, so they stood out. 231 00:13:21,506 --> 00:13:22,739 After the night was over, 232 00:13:22,808 --> 00:13:25,742 these guys left kind of early, and so the three of us 233 00:13:25,844 --> 00:13:30,213 went out to breakfast, and Cindy had the stars in her eyes. 234 00:13:30,315 --> 00:13:33,449 "He was so into me, he just was so into me. 235 00:13:33,518 --> 00:13:35,018 He even asked me to marry him." 236 00:13:35,954 --> 00:13:39,255 I was like, "Oh, please, don't -- don't even." 237 00:13:39,357 --> 00:13:40,589 Or something like that. 238 00:13:40,625 --> 00:13:42,992 And she just, like, swung her head around and snapped at 239 00:13:42,994 --> 00:13:46,930 me and said, "Do not burst my bubble, Kathy," like that. 240 00:13:46,932 --> 00:13:49,132 It's taking her out of this depression. 241 00:13:49,134 --> 00:13:51,367 She's feeling like a million bucks. 242 00:13:51,469 --> 00:13:54,337 And you gotta let her have it. 243 00:13:54,439 --> 00:13:56,406 She and Mark had just broken up. 244 00:13:56,508 --> 00:13:58,508 There's nothing better going through a breakup than having 245 00:13:58,510 --> 00:14:00,443 somebody come along who thinks you're just 246 00:14:00,545 --> 00:14:02,512 absolutely everything. 247 00:14:02,614 --> 00:14:06,616 It scared me, because here comes Mr. Glitz and Glamour 248 00:14:06,718 --> 00:14:11,221 and way into the party seen, this big, unknown person. 249 00:14:11,289 --> 00:14:14,524 Michael was supposedly a big deal. 250 00:14:14,626 --> 00:14:15,858 She had just come out of 251 00:14:15,860 --> 00:14:17,827 a relationship with somebody who was a big somebody. 252 00:14:17,829 --> 00:14:21,164 It was a lot of a repeat of Mark, 253 00:14:21,266 --> 00:14:24,767 and I think she just found that appealing. 254 00:14:26,438 --> 00:14:28,238 NARRATOR: Rudi tells the sisters that 255 00:14:28,339 --> 00:14:30,106 he is in international banking. 256 00:14:30,108 --> 00:14:32,842 Michael says that he is an IT expert 257 00:14:32,944 --> 00:14:34,310 for big corporations. 258 00:14:34,412 --> 00:14:36,312 KATHY: They were visiting for business, 259 00:14:36,414 --> 00:14:39,549 so they were staying at the Holiday Inn in Mesa. 260 00:14:39,617 --> 00:14:46,222 Cindy and our friend started hanging out with them a lot. 261 00:14:46,224 --> 00:14:49,559 Immediately, she used the word "whirlwind." 262 00:14:50,962 --> 00:14:53,263 Within a couple weeks, they noticed that every time 263 00:14:53,331 --> 00:14:54,731 they dropped them off at the Holiday Inn, 264 00:14:54,733 --> 00:14:57,433 they never invited them to their room. 265 00:14:57,568 --> 00:15:00,803 They always seemed to be hanging out in the lobby. 266 00:15:00,805 --> 00:15:03,339 NARRATOR: Suspicious, Cindy and her friend followed 267 00:15:03,441 --> 00:15:05,508 the brothers to check on their movements. 268 00:15:06,945 --> 00:15:11,414 So they decided to basically spy on them. 269 00:15:12,517 --> 00:15:14,517 They saw that they walked right through 270 00:15:14,652 --> 00:15:16,686 the lobby and out through another door. 271 00:15:16,688 --> 00:15:18,454 And so then they just followed them 272 00:15:18,523 --> 00:15:21,758 into a cheap Motel 6 across the street, 273 00:15:21,859 --> 00:15:25,395 and somehow, they convinced the desk clerk 274 00:15:25,397 --> 00:15:27,931 to give them their room number. 275 00:15:29,234 --> 00:15:31,167 NARRATOR: A young woman with a German accent 276 00:15:31,236 --> 00:15:34,604 answers the door to Michael and Rudi's room. 277 00:15:34,606 --> 00:15:38,308 She said that she was a family friend. 278 00:15:38,410 --> 00:15:41,344 Our friend just pushed her way into the room and said, 279 00:15:41,446 --> 00:15:42,845 "They're in here, I know they're in here." 280 00:15:42,948 --> 00:15:46,049 And there, she saw their shoes they'd been wearing that night, 281 00:15:46,051 --> 00:15:48,151 their watches they'd been wearing that night, 282 00:15:48,252 --> 00:15:50,420 and they're confronting this person who's German 283 00:15:50,422 --> 00:15:52,422 and who's saying, "They're not here, 284 00:15:52,557 --> 00:15:54,958 they're not here," you know? And they end up leaving. 285 00:15:57,796 --> 00:16:00,330 NARRATOR: The next day, Cindy and her friend return 286 00:16:00,332 --> 00:16:03,066 to the motel to confront the Apelt brothers. 287 00:16:04,836 --> 00:16:07,537 Michael and Rudi explained that the woman in their room 288 00:16:07,638 --> 00:16:10,807 the night before is their friend, Anke Dorn, 289 00:16:10,809 --> 00:16:12,208 also from Germany. 290 00:16:13,611 --> 00:16:16,212 They're just helping out, because her husband 291 00:16:16,314 --> 00:16:18,114 was here on vacation and died. 292 00:16:18,116 --> 00:16:20,149 It was pure drama. 293 00:16:20,218 --> 00:16:22,185 These guys convinced these women 294 00:16:22,187 --> 00:16:25,254 that because they snooped on them like that, 295 00:16:25,356 --> 00:16:29,525 that they lost their jobs and they lost 296 00:16:29,527 --> 00:16:33,029 their security clearance because of this snooping. 297 00:16:34,566 --> 00:16:36,833 NARRATOR: The brothers say that they are unable to access 298 00:16:36,935 --> 00:16:39,669 their money and that they have nowhere to go. 299 00:16:39,771 --> 00:16:42,805 Cindy and our friend went into, "Oh, my God, 300 00:16:42,807 --> 00:16:45,208 "we owe you, how could make this right for you? 301 00:16:45,310 --> 00:16:47,410 We're so sorry." You know, they felt terrible. 302 00:16:47,545 --> 00:16:50,613 They were both crying, everything was blamed on them. 303 00:16:50,748 --> 00:16:53,916 Cindy and our friend bought into that nonsense. 304 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:57,420 NARRATOR: Now feeling sorry, Cindy invites 305 00:16:57,422 --> 00:17:00,123 Michael to stay at her apartment. 306 00:17:00,225 --> 00:17:01,924 KATHY: It was an impulsive decision. 307 00:17:01,926 --> 00:17:03,526 She could be impulsive. 308 00:17:03,595 --> 00:17:07,063 She really believed that he was, like, a multimillionaire. 309 00:17:07,131 --> 00:17:09,165 She didn't want him to slip through her fingers, 310 00:17:09,267 --> 00:17:12,235 and she wanted to give this relationship a chance. 311 00:17:12,237 --> 00:17:14,437 Within a couple of weeks, we were talking on the phone 312 00:17:14,506 --> 00:17:16,339 and she said he told her he was gonna have to go back 313 00:17:16,408 --> 00:17:20,510 to Germany, and the only way that that relationship could 314 00:17:20,645 --> 00:17:23,613 continue was to marry him, and then he can 315 00:17:23,715 --> 00:17:25,615 legitimately stay in the country. 316 00:17:25,717 --> 00:17:28,951 And I was like, really? I said, "Well... 317 00:17:30,422 --> 00:17:32,355 you're not gonna marry this guy or anything, 318 00:17:32,390 --> 00:17:35,058 are you?" Fell silent. 319 00:17:36,094 --> 00:17:37,527 And she said, 320 00:17:37,629 --> 00:17:41,064 "What would you say if I told you I already had?" 321 00:17:43,935 --> 00:17:46,269 NARRATOR: Michael convinced Cindy to marry him in 322 00:17:46,370 --> 00:17:51,607 a secret ceremony in Las Vegas on October 28th, 1988, 323 00:17:51,742 --> 00:17:55,144 just three weeks after they first met. 324 00:17:55,213 --> 00:17:58,214 It's the first time in our entire lives that 325 00:17:58,216 --> 00:18:00,716 a secret like that was kept on either end. 326 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,720 And so I just said, "I will do my best 327 00:18:04,822 --> 00:18:08,524 to accept him, because he can't drive a wedge between us. 328 00:18:08,593 --> 00:18:10,126 That's not gonna happen." 329 00:18:10,128 --> 00:18:13,062 NARRATOR: Fast forward two months 330 00:18:13,098 --> 00:18:16,732 to Linda's wedding on December 17th, 1988. 331 00:18:18,136 --> 00:18:20,770 Cindy introduces Michael to her friends. 332 00:18:22,707 --> 00:18:25,041 LINDA: I know I was happy for her at the time. 333 00:18:25,110 --> 00:18:28,711 My impression of Michael was that he and Cindy made a very 334 00:18:28,713 --> 00:18:31,114 nice-looking couple, but I was 335 00:18:31,116 --> 00:18:35,118 also thinking, this seems so fast. 336 00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:38,721 I wasn't gonna lecture her -- she seemed happy. 337 00:18:38,856 --> 00:18:41,891 I remember thinking we gotta find out what happened 338 00:18:41,893 --> 00:18:45,761 there and then just sort of laughing it off. 339 00:18:45,797 --> 00:18:48,531 I mean, it's a happy time -- Cindy's married. 340 00:18:48,533 --> 00:18:50,733 What's not to be happy about? 341 00:18:50,868 --> 00:18:54,804 So everybody was in good spirits, and we had all 342 00:18:54,806 --> 00:18:58,141 the time in the world to talk about it afterwards. 343 00:18:58,209 --> 00:19:01,043 It was just a week later that it all changed, so... 344 00:19:07,752 --> 00:19:09,819 When Cindy and I talked about us going 345 00:19:09,821 --> 00:19:13,422 home for Christmas and her getting married to Michael, 346 00:19:13,424 --> 00:19:15,825 I strongly suggested that she let 347 00:19:15,827 --> 00:19:19,729 our parents know before she got there. 348 00:19:19,731 --> 00:19:22,265 So yeah, she called them. 349 00:19:23,434 --> 00:19:25,968 NARRATOR: Kathy books tickets for her and Cindy to 350 00:19:26,070 --> 00:19:29,238 fly home to Champaign, Illinois, on Christmas Eve. 351 00:19:30,742 --> 00:19:32,842 Cindy mails a letter to her parents with 352 00:19:32,944 --> 00:19:36,712 a Christmas present wish list and news about Michael. 353 00:19:36,814 --> 00:19:41,117 He couldn't come with Cindy for Christmas, because he was 354 00:19:41,219 --> 00:19:45,321 gonna have to go back to Germany and visit his mom. 355 00:19:45,323 --> 00:19:48,024 I was relieved that it was just gonna be her and me going back. 356 00:19:48,026 --> 00:19:49,725 I was looking forward to the plane flight, 357 00:19:49,727 --> 00:19:54,163 getting more of the scoop on that relationship. 358 00:19:55,233 --> 00:19:57,833 NARRATOR: Three days before the sisters' flight home 359 00:19:57,936 --> 00:20:01,003 for Christmas, Cindy calls Kathy. 360 00:20:01,005 --> 00:20:04,407 She tells Kathy about a phone call to her ex-boyfriend, 361 00:20:04,409 --> 00:20:06,342 Mark Maurer. 362 00:20:06,411 --> 00:20:08,711 KATHY: She was very distraught. 363 00:20:08,713 --> 00:20:11,214 "Oh, Katie, I did something really stupid. 364 00:20:11,349 --> 00:20:16,819 "I called Mark, and I told him that I had married Michael, 365 00:20:16,954 --> 00:20:18,521 and he got really mad at me," 366 00:20:18,523 --> 00:20:20,823 and she ended up confessing that she still 367 00:20:20,825 --> 00:20:22,625 had feelings for Mark. 368 00:20:22,727 --> 00:20:27,563 He said, "I'm likely coming over to Phoenix over the holidays, 369 00:20:27,632 --> 00:20:31,467 and maybe we can see each other," and I said, 370 00:20:31,536 --> 00:20:33,536 "We're gonna obsess over all of this when we get on 371 00:20:33,638 --> 00:20:36,005 the plane, so don't even worry about it." 372 00:20:38,042 --> 00:20:41,510 NARRATOR: Cindy checks in with Kathy the day before the trip. 373 00:20:41,646 --> 00:20:43,412 KATHY: We were flying out the next morning, 374 00:20:43,514 --> 00:20:45,248 and she contacted me, and she said, 375 00:20:45,349 --> 00:20:47,049 "When you get off work, call me, 376 00:20:47,118 --> 00:20:48,918 and we will finalize the details." 377 00:20:50,054 --> 00:20:52,888 Cindy had arranged a little Christmas party gathering with 378 00:20:52,890 --> 00:20:54,523 some friends before she left. 379 00:20:54,525 --> 00:20:56,959 I worked the evening shift at my job. 380 00:20:56,995 --> 00:20:59,729 So when I got home, I just thought, oh, I'll have a message 381 00:20:59,731 --> 00:21:02,431 from her, and there was nothing, you know, 382 00:21:02,533 --> 00:21:05,635 there was nothing on the answer machine, and I called 383 00:21:05,637 --> 00:21:08,704 one of those friends who said Cindy never showed up, 384 00:21:08,706 --> 00:21:11,207 and, I mean, Cindy had organized this thing. 385 00:21:11,309 --> 00:21:15,011 That was a big sign of something being wrong. 386 00:21:15,013 --> 00:21:18,648 I called several times, leaving her messages. 387 00:21:18,749 --> 00:21:21,517 [Kathy speaking] 388 00:21:28,626 --> 00:21:29,825 [answering machine beeps] 389 00:21:29,927 --> 00:21:34,130 [Kathy speaking] 390 00:21:41,606 --> 00:21:43,105 But then Michael called. 391 00:21:45,443 --> 00:21:48,044 [Michael speaking] 392 00:21:51,416 --> 00:21:53,215 It went back and forth -- I called 393 00:21:53,217 --> 00:21:56,952 several times, and he wouldn't hang up on me, 394 00:21:57,055 --> 00:22:01,624 And 1:30 in the morning, he calls me, and he's wasted. 395 00:22:01,626 --> 00:22:03,059 I mean, slurring his words, 396 00:22:04,329 --> 00:22:05,728 and he's yelling, "Where's Cindy? 397 00:22:05,730 --> 00:22:07,530 Where's Cindy?" I'm like, "Where's Cindy? 398 00:22:07,632 --> 00:22:08,964 You tell me where she is." 399 00:22:11,969 --> 00:22:15,004 NARRATOR: Minutes later, Cathy telephones a friend to 400 00:22:15,006 --> 00:22:16,806 ask her to go to Cindy and Michael's 401 00:22:16,808 --> 00:22:18,507 apartment to investigate. 402 00:22:18,609 --> 00:22:21,043 She knew him better than me 403 00:22:21,112 --> 00:22:23,012 and felt like she could communicate with him. 404 00:22:23,014 --> 00:22:24,714 She gets over there, she's like, 405 00:22:24,716 --> 00:22:27,149 "He's passed out and snoring in the bed. 406 00:22:27,218 --> 00:22:29,051 "Cindy's purse is here. 407 00:22:30,221 --> 00:22:31,954 And her keys are here." 408 00:22:32,023 --> 00:22:36,125 Michael got up and was totally intoxicated, 409 00:22:36,127 --> 00:22:40,262 and he's saying that she ran out of the house, 410 00:22:40,331 --> 00:22:43,566 because she got a phone call from an angry man, 411 00:22:43,634 --> 00:22:47,169 Which, of course, I'm thinking 100 percent is Mark Maurer, 412 00:22:47,238 --> 00:22:50,206 who said he was coming back in over the holidays. 413 00:22:50,208 --> 00:22:53,442 It's like, "Oh, my God, she's run off with Mark." 414 00:22:53,511 --> 00:22:54,744 I just know that's what it is. 415 00:22:54,845 --> 00:22:58,247 She's just drinking herself into oblivion 416 00:22:58,316 --> 00:23:00,649 and being impulsive and crazy 417 00:23:00,718 --> 00:23:03,853 and, you know, on a bender with Mark. 418 00:23:03,955 --> 00:23:06,122 It just didn't make sense why she wouldn't call me, 419 00:23:06,124 --> 00:23:08,324 you know, if that was the case and this friend and I 420 00:23:08,459 --> 00:23:09,725 decided to call the police. 421 00:23:10,962 --> 00:23:13,462 NARRATOR: Mesa police agree to designate 422 00:23:13,531 --> 00:23:15,331 Cindy a missing person. 423 00:23:15,333 --> 00:23:18,067 I was up all night. 424 00:23:18,169 --> 00:23:20,970 Police calling me and giving a statement and what 425 00:23:21,038 --> 00:23:23,506 I knew, and I didn't know what to tell my parents. 426 00:23:23,508 --> 00:23:27,943 I finally called them 5 in the morning, and I said, 427 00:23:28,078 --> 00:23:31,046 "Cindy's missing. Her face is on the news." 428 00:23:31,148 --> 00:23:34,216 NARRATOR: Kathy's parents asked her to catch her flight home so 429 00:23:34,218 --> 00:23:37,019 that she can join the rest of the family for Christmas. 430 00:23:38,823 --> 00:23:41,624 Kathy leaves behind Cindy's ticket for her sister to 431 00:23:41,726 --> 00:23:43,159 collect later. 432 00:23:43,260 --> 00:23:45,628 KATHY: I left it with a note, I wrote, 433 00:23:45,630 --> 00:23:48,964 "I love you. Don't worry about anything. 434 00:23:49,033 --> 00:23:51,567 It's all gonna be okay." 435 00:23:51,669 --> 00:23:53,736 NARRATOR: Kathy departs Phoenix Airport 436 00:23:53,738 --> 00:23:56,105 bound for Illinois at 7:30 a.m. 437 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:57,940 On December 24th. 438 00:24:02,113 --> 00:24:03,512 RON: I was a detective at 439 00:24:03,514 --> 00:24:07,450 the Mesa police department -- in December 24th, 440 00:24:07,551 --> 00:24:11,053 I received a phone call from Sergeant George Felger to 441 00:24:11,155 --> 00:24:13,722 help with a missing persons case with German speakers 442 00:24:13,824 --> 00:24:15,124 being involved. 443 00:24:15,126 --> 00:24:18,561 I was the only fluent-speaking detective I believe in 444 00:24:18,662 --> 00:24:19,462 the entire valley, 445 00:24:19,563 --> 00:24:21,263 let alone the Mesa police department. 446 00:24:22,567 --> 00:24:26,368 At 8:45, I arrived at Michael Apelt's apartment. 447 00:24:27,405 --> 00:24:30,039 We knocked several times, and then finally, 448 00:24:30,140 --> 00:24:33,142 Michael Apelt opened the door, 449 00:24:33,211 --> 00:24:35,411 and then when I introduced myself to him in German, 450 00:24:35,513 --> 00:24:37,413 he was very, very surprised. 451 00:24:38,449 --> 00:24:41,050 We interviewed him about his wife coming up missing. 452 00:24:43,054 --> 00:24:47,056 Michael's story was that Cindy received a phone call, 453 00:24:47,124 --> 00:24:50,459 and she got upset, and then she told Michael 454 00:24:50,528 --> 00:24:53,229 she had to go somewhere with someone that's waiting outside, 455 00:24:53,231 --> 00:24:55,164 and she would meet them at Bobby McGee's. 456 00:24:56,334 --> 00:24:59,735 Michael, Rudi, and Anke ordered a table for four, 457 00:24:59,837 --> 00:25:02,905 stating that Cindy was going to meet them there for dinner. 458 00:25:02,907 --> 00:25:05,608 They ordered food, ate their dinner, 459 00:25:05,710 --> 00:25:07,409 and Cindy still hadn't showed up. 460 00:25:08,946 --> 00:25:10,946 Michael gave permission to search the apartment 461 00:25:11,015 --> 00:25:13,516 and to search the car that they had. 462 00:25:13,518 --> 00:25:15,518 He didn't seem worried at all. 463 00:25:15,653 --> 00:25:17,553 He seemed, like, matter-of-factly 464 00:25:17,655 --> 00:25:19,355 and very cooperative. 465 00:25:19,423 --> 00:25:23,158 He provided a receipt that he had dinner at Bobby McGee's. 466 00:25:24,428 --> 00:25:27,596 We noticed the $400,000 insurance policy in 467 00:25:27,598 --> 00:25:30,633 the living room and the double indemnity. 468 00:25:30,735 --> 00:25:34,537 The policy became effective 469 00:25:34,605 --> 00:25:36,338 either that day or the day before. 470 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:37,806 So if Cindy were to die 471 00:25:37,942 --> 00:25:41,510 accidentally, it would be an $800,000 payout. 472 00:25:41,512 --> 00:25:44,313 And then there was another $100,000 policy 473 00:25:44,315 --> 00:25:46,949 that they opened, a double indemnity, which 474 00:25:47,018 --> 00:25:50,553 would bring the entire sum to $1 million dollars, 475 00:25:50,621 --> 00:25:53,055 and it kind of concerned us. 476 00:25:53,157 --> 00:25:59,795 ♪♪ 477 00:25:59,797 --> 00:26:02,631 NARRATOR: The phone in Cindy's apartment rings mid-morning. 478 00:26:02,766 --> 00:26:06,468 Her ex, Mark Maurer, leaves a message 479 00:26:20,151 --> 00:26:21,350 I pointed them to Mark. 480 00:26:22,453 --> 00:26:26,021 Definitely -- Mark Maurer was the only person 481 00:26:26,023 --> 00:26:28,023 on the planet Earth that she would have 482 00:26:28,025 --> 00:26:30,626 run out of the house for like that, would have been him. 483 00:26:32,330 --> 00:26:35,864 I was clinging to that story, because 484 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:37,433 it was the best option. 485 00:26:38,970 --> 00:26:41,837 RON: We found out that he had a former 486 00:26:41,939 --> 00:26:46,208 girlfriend in Illinois where he lived that was killed. 487 00:26:46,210 --> 00:26:50,913 So Mark Maurer became a person of interest immediately. 488 00:26:59,457 --> 00:27:03,125 Two p.m. on December 24th, Pinal County 489 00:27:03,227 --> 00:27:05,594 Sheriff's Office received a 911 call. 490 00:27:06,731 --> 00:27:10,966 A father and son had just been driving through the desert, 491 00:27:11,068 --> 00:27:12,534 and they came across a body. 492 00:27:14,105 --> 00:27:17,339 We had already put out an attempt to locate on Cindy, 493 00:27:17,408 --> 00:27:20,709 so Pinal County picked up on that, and they contacted us. 494 00:27:20,711 --> 00:27:23,946 Our detectives and another detective from 495 00:27:24,048 --> 00:27:26,215 Pinal County went to the scene. 496 00:27:27,518 --> 00:27:30,819 They found a white female laying off the side 497 00:27:30,921 --> 00:27:36,225 of the road, and she had blood all over her. 498 00:27:36,227 --> 00:27:38,127 The scene was extremely violent. 499 00:27:38,195 --> 00:27:41,430 She was stabbed in the back at least three times, 500 00:27:41,432 --> 00:27:43,232 in the front once. 501 00:27:43,334 --> 00:27:46,135 One of the wounds in the back penetrated the heart, 502 00:27:46,203 --> 00:27:49,204 which was the wound that killed her, and her throat was 503 00:27:49,206 --> 00:27:52,641 cut to the point where only her backbone was still intact. 504 00:27:54,111 --> 00:27:57,046 We found footprints around the body 505 00:27:57,147 --> 00:27:59,348 and one on the forehead, 506 00:27:59,417 --> 00:28:02,051 and there were tire tracks found on the ground 507 00:28:02,086 --> 00:28:03,719 near the body. 508 00:28:05,022 --> 00:28:08,524 We did all the comparisons, and from the missing person report, 509 00:28:08,626 --> 00:28:11,126 we suspected we had Cindy Monkman as the victim. 510 00:28:11,128 --> 00:28:14,763 It obviously went from a missing persons case to a homicide. 511 00:28:15,966 --> 00:28:17,433 It was escalated right away. 512 00:28:21,505 --> 00:28:23,605 KATHY: The whole house is decorated for Christmas. 513 00:28:23,708 --> 00:28:25,808 We're sitting in this Christmas tree room, 514 00:28:25,910 --> 00:28:28,210 and presents everywhere and decorations, 515 00:28:28,312 --> 00:28:30,145 and we're waiting and waiting and waiting 516 00:28:30,247 --> 00:28:31,914 to hear from the police, 517 00:28:31,916 --> 00:28:34,416 trying to convince ourselves she's holed 518 00:28:34,518 --> 00:28:36,351 up in a hotel with Mark somewhere. 519 00:28:36,420 --> 00:28:38,520 [voices overlapping] 520 00:28:38,655 --> 00:28:40,622 I remember my dad saying, 521 00:28:40,624 --> 00:28:42,257 "It feels way worse than that to me." 522 00:28:44,261 --> 00:28:45,961 NARRATOR: The Monkman family receives 523 00:28:46,030 --> 00:28:48,130 a phone call the night of Christmas Eve. 524 00:28:50,668 --> 00:28:52,634 I watched my dad hang up the phone, 525 00:28:52,737 --> 00:28:54,870 and I knew it was bad. 526 00:28:57,208 --> 00:28:59,641 And he, like, had us put our arms around each other. 527 00:29:01,345 --> 00:29:05,414 He said, "They've recovered Cindy -- she's not alive." 528 00:29:05,416 --> 00:29:14,623 ♪♪ 529 00:29:14,625 --> 00:29:16,725 NARRATOR: Detective Davis asks Michael to 530 00:29:16,827 --> 00:29:18,827 come to the Mesa Police Department. 531 00:29:20,131 --> 00:29:22,064 He arrives with his brother, Rudi. 532 00:29:23,667 --> 00:29:25,667 RON: We told Michael that the body we found 533 00:29:25,769 --> 00:29:27,236 was that of his wife. 534 00:29:27,371 --> 00:29:31,106 He became very upset. 535 00:29:31,108 --> 00:29:32,808 He started crying, he started yelling, 536 00:29:32,910 --> 00:29:35,310 "Why her? Why me?" 537 00:29:35,312 --> 00:29:38,113 And he couldn't believe that was -- that happened. 538 00:29:38,115 --> 00:29:41,717 We really weren't focused on the brothers at that point, 539 00:29:41,819 --> 00:29:45,053 but they were coming into focus. 540 00:29:45,122 --> 00:29:48,724 We told them that we had to get 541 00:29:48,826 --> 00:29:51,727 evidence to be able to exclude them from suspicion. 542 00:29:51,729 --> 00:29:55,330 We collected saliva, head hair, 543 00:29:55,332 --> 00:29:59,635 pubic hair for our lab to compare to evidence found on 544 00:29:59,737 --> 00:30:01,537 the body and at the scene. 545 00:30:01,638 --> 00:30:04,940 They had no problem helping us with the exclusionary evidence. 546 00:30:07,611 --> 00:30:10,412 NARRATOR: Investigators examined the car that Michael and Rudi 547 00:30:10,414 --> 00:30:13,615 used in the days leading up to Cindy's disappearance. 548 00:30:15,419 --> 00:30:19,054 Michael did tell the police that Cindy's car was in 549 00:30:19,156 --> 00:30:22,424 the shop and so they had to rent another car. 550 00:30:22,426 --> 00:30:24,426 They rented a Subaru. 551 00:30:24,428 --> 00:30:27,362 The police went and looked at the cars. 552 00:30:27,431 --> 00:30:31,233 They inked the tires so they would have an imprint of 553 00:30:31,335 --> 00:30:33,068 what the tread was like. 554 00:30:33,170 --> 00:30:34,570 They examined the trunk. 555 00:30:34,638 --> 00:30:37,439 You know, they put Luminol to see if there was any traces 556 00:30:37,541 --> 00:30:40,209 of blood, but there was no physical evidence 557 00:30:40,211 --> 00:30:42,845 at all linking Michael 558 00:30:42,947 --> 00:30:45,214 and Rudi to the crime scene. 559 00:30:45,316 --> 00:30:47,316 Mesa and Pinal County were 560 00:30:47,451 --> 00:30:50,052 following up on all kinds of leads. 561 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,822 They were chasing down Mark Maurer as a suspect. 562 00:30:53,824 --> 00:30:56,158 Just the most remarkable coincidence, 563 00:30:56,260 --> 00:30:59,828 Mark had a previous girlfriend 564 00:30:59,830 --> 00:31:02,631 who had been murdered. 565 00:31:02,700 --> 00:31:05,534 RON: Mark Jones, who was leading homicide investigator, 566 00:31:05,536 --> 00:31:10,038 he flew to Los Angeles to meet with Mark Maurer to 567 00:31:10,140 --> 00:31:13,942 interview him on his whereabouts and his possible 568 00:31:14,011 --> 00:31:15,510 involvement in this case. 569 00:31:17,314 --> 00:31:19,248 NARRATOR: Mark describes his movements around 570 00:31:19,349 --> 00:31:22,851 the time of Cindy's murder to the detective. 571 00:31:22,953 --> 00:31:26,355 CATHY: He rented a car to drive to Palm Springs, 572 00:31:26,423 --> 00:31:27,623 where his mother lived, 573 00:31:27,758 --> 00:31:30,058 and he and his mother and his sister were going to spend 574 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:31,393 Christmas Eve together. 575 00:31:31,395 --> 00:31:34,930 He had rental car receipts, and he had 576 00:31:34,932 --> 00:31:37,966 his mother and his sister as alibi witnesses. 577 00:31:38,035 --> 00:31:40,335 It turned out to be impossible for him to 578 00:31:40,337 --> 00:31:44,506 have been in the Phoenix area to murder her. 579 00:31:46,010 --> 00:31:48,010 NARRATOR: The detectives rule Mark Maurer out of 580 00:31:48,012 --> 00:31:49,811 the investigation. 581 00:31:49,914 --> 00:31:53,048 They charge him with no crime in relation to Cindy's death. 582 00:31:55,719 --> 00:31:59,221 We were having meetings every morning to see what we found, 583 00:31:59,323 --> 00:32:00,422 where else we had to go. 584 00:32:01,525 --> 00:32:05,060 On January 3rd, 1989, I received 585 00:32:05,129 --> 00:32:09,331 a telephone message from Michael Apelt 586 00:32:09,333 --> 00:32:11,133 telling me about a threatening message 587 00:32:11,135 --> 00:32:14,169 he received on his phone's answering machine, 588 00:32:14,238 --> 00:32:16,038 and I needed to come down to the station 589 00:32:16,106 --> 00:32:17,806 to hear the phone call 590 00:32:17,808 --> 00:32:21,343 and to do whatever we had to do to take action 591 00:32:21,412 --> 00:32:23,312 on -- on that threat. 592 00:32:23,414 --> 00:32:26,415 I told him, "Don't erase the message. 593 00:32:26,517 --> 00:32:28,450 Take the tape out and secure it." 594 00:32:29,954 --> 00:32:31,653 On the following day, Michael brought 595 00:32:31,722 --> 00:32:33,855 the message to the Mesa Police Department. 596 00:32:33,958 --> 00:32:35,223 [answering machine beeps] 597 00:32:35,326 --> 00:32:38,727 [man speaking] 598 00:32:56,447 --> 00:33:00,015 The message was pretty clear, 599 00:33:00,017 --> 00:33:02,217 but what's alarming about it is 600 00:33:02,219 --> 00:33:04,619 at the very beginning of the message, 601 00:33:04,621 --> 00:33:07,255 he had cut Cindy's throat and stabbed her in 602 00:33:07,324 --> 00:33:10,959 the back and the front and that he wanted his drugs, 603 00:33:11,061 --> 00:33:14,529 and that if you can't get them, 604 00:33:14,664 --> 00:33:17,466 then your -- your brother and your girlfriend will be 605 00:33:17,534 --> 00:33:18,699 next to die. 606 00:33:18,701 --> 00:33:20,669 And then finally, it will be you, being Michael. 607 00:33:20,771 --> 00:33:22,337 [rewinding noises] 608 00:33:22,406 --> 00:33:25,040 [man speaking] 609 00:33:32,716 --> 00:33:36,418 The thing that was peculiar about it was the grammar 610 00:33:36,420 --> 00:33:38,653 was wrong, the syntax was wrong, 611 00:33:38,689 --> 00:33:41,623 and I told 612 00:33:41,758 --> 00:33:44,426 the detectives that this was a translation. 613 00:33:44,561 --> 00:33:46,194 This is not... 614 00:33:46,196 --> 00:33:49,664 someone speaking English from America. 615 00:33:52,169 --> 00:33:54,369 If you translate it straight back in the German from 616 00:33:54,438 --> 00:33:56,238 the English, the literal translation 617 00:33:56,306 --> 00:33:59,708 made perfect sense in German, and the only 618 00:33:59,810 --> 00:34:02,110 Germans we were dealing with was Michael, Anke, and Rudi. 619 00:34:11,522 --> 00:34:13,922 RON: I asked my sergeant to put 620 00:34:13,924 --> 00:34:15,857 a surveillance team on the house. 621 00:34:15,959 --> 00:34:18,226 That same evening, I received another phone call 622 00:34:18,328 --> 00:34:19,861 from Michael Apelt, claiming that 623 00:34:19,963 --> 00:34:23,832 there was two black men at the door wanting 624 00:34:23,934 --> 00:34:25,133 their drugs or their money. 625 00:34:25,135 --> 00:34:29,037 [Michael speaking] 626 00:34:32,342 --> 00:34:37,112 [woman speaking] 627 00:34:37,114 --> 00:34:38,447 [man speaking] 628 00:34:38,515 --> 00:34:40,515 [woman speaking] 629 00:34:40,517 --> 00:34:42,818 RON: None of the detectives that were there on surveillance all 630 00:34:42,820 --> 00:34:47,022 night ever saw any black people come to the door. 631 00:34:47,024 --> 00:34:50,225 I said, "We need you to come to the station to talk 632 00:34:50,227 --> 00:34:53,795 "with you individually so we can do composite drawings of 633 00:34:53,797 --> 00:34:55,630 these suspects." 634 00:34:55,732 --> 00:34:59,234 The next morning, Michael sat down with forensic artists. 635 00:34:59,236 --> 00:35:03,038 The end result of the composite was a young 636 00:35:03,140 --> 00:35:06,942 black man with a suit and expensive sunglasses on. 637 00:35:07,043 --> 00:35:09,611 It looked like one of the actors from "Miami Vice." 638 00:35:10,914 --> 00:35:12,714 They were big "Miami Vice" fans. 639 00:35:14,918 --> 00:35:17,052 After interviewing Michael and Rudi, 640 00:35:17,154 --> 00:35:19,654 we believed Michael and Rudi were definitely involved. 641 00:35:22,392 --> 00:35:25,227 NARRATOR: The police decide to officially question Michael, 642 00:35:25,329 --> 00:35:28,330 Rudi, and Anke in connection with Cindy's murder. 643 00:35:29,533 --> 00:35:32,467 RON: Michael and Rudi were being interviewed several hours. 644 00:35:32,536 --> 00:35:35,537 Michael was confronted with... 645 00:35:35,606 --> 00:35:38,006 "We think you killed your wife," 646 00:35:38,008 --> 00:35:41,409 and he totally denies everything, he says 647 00:35:41,512 --> 00:35:44,112 it's a joke -- all the while, 648 00:35:44,214 --> 00:35:47,349 he refers to his wife as "my wife" 649 00:35:47,450 --> 00:35:48,750 and not as Cindy, 650 00:35:48,819 --> 00:35:53,455 which in interrogations is a big clue as to the suspect 651 00:35:53,524 --> 00:35:57,125 distancing themselves from the victim 652 00:35:57,227 --> 00:35:58,827 because they've done something bad to them. 653 00:36:00,330 --> 00:36:02,364 And during this long time period, 654 00:36:02,432 --> 00:36:05,634 we were watching Anke Dorn in the hallway. 655 00:36:05,769 --> 00:36:09,137 She, at one point, put her head between her legs 656 00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:13,608 and put her hands behind her head like something was wrong, 657 00:36:13,710 --> 00:36:15,744 like she was going to get sick. 658 00:36:15,812 --> 00:36:17,812 Detective Jones was made aware of that. 659 00:36:17,814 --> 00:36:22,050 He was waiting for a sign like that of breaking. 660 00:36:22,152 --> 00:36:25,153 He started showing her pictures of Cindy, 661 00:36:25,255 --> 00:36:27,422 her half-decapitated head, 662 00:36:27,424 --> 00:36:30,859 her body with the stab wounds and the blood and everything 663 00:36:30,994 --> 00:36:32,727 out there at the scene. 664 00:36:32,729 --> 00:36:34,963 He kept after her, and he just told her, "Look, 665 00:36:35,065 --> 00:36:36,298 you need to tell the truth." 666 00:36:36,300 --> 00:36:39,134 She tried to cover her eyes, and that was 667 00:36:39,269 --> 00:36:42,437 when she started turning and telling what really happened. 668 00:36:51,114 --> 00:36:55,617 CATHY: The night of the 23rd, Michael showed up 669 00:36:55,719 --> 00:36:58,954 at the motel where Anke and Rudi had been staying. 670 00:37:00,490 --> 00:37:03,959 She and Rudy were following Michael, and she says 671 00:37:04,060 --> 00:37:06,261 she didn't know that Cindy was in the car. 672 00:37:08,799 --> 00:37:11,266 But she claims that when they got out to the desert, 673 00:37:11,335 --> 00:37:12,533 that Rudi got out of the car. 674 00:37:12,536 --> 00:37:15,737 She stayed in her car, and she didn't see anything. 675 00:37:16,807 --> 00:37:19,608 She realized afterwards that they had 676 00:37:19,610 --> 00:37:23,511 murdered Cindy, because they had bloody clothes. 677 00:37:23,513 --> 00:37:27,148 They had to go back to the motel to clean up 678 00:37:27,217 --> 00:37:28,950 and then dump their bloody clothes, 679 00:37:29,052 --> 00:37:31,720 and then they went out to create their alibi 680 00:37:31,722 --> 00:37:33,722 by going to Bobby McGee's. 681 00:37:39,630 --> 00:37:44,065 Anke Dorn told us that Michael planned all the cover-up 682 00:37:44,134 --> 00:37:48,169 afterwards -- he began to be concerned that the tire 683 00:37:48,238 --> 00:37:50,105 tread on their rental car 684 00:37:50,107 --> 00:37:52,440 might be traced back to the crime scene. 685 00:37:52,542 --> 00:37:55,944 She told us that they had driven the car down to 686 00:37:56,046 --> 00:38:00,348 a riverbed and deliberately tried to destroy 687 00:38:00,417 --> 00:38:01,850 the tread on the tire. 688 00:38:03,754 --> 00:38:07,022 Anke's story was corroborated by the fact that 689 00:38:07,024 --> 00:38:10,625 the rental company had to change the tires. 690 00:38:10,694 --> 00:38:14,462 The police processed the car -- it had brand-new tires on it. 691 00:38:14,531 --> 00:38:20,835 ♪♪ 692 00:38:20,970 --> 00:38:24,539 Michael, Rudi, and Anke decided that they would travel to L.A. 693 00:38:24,608 --> 00:38:28,943 and randomly picked a homeless person off the street 694 00:38:29,046 --> 00:38:32,814 and offered him $20 to read a message back 695 00:38:32,916 --> 00:38:34,416 into Cindy's answering machine. 696 00:38:34,518 --> 00:38:38,653 [man speaking] 697 00:38:44,761 --> 00:38:50,365 It was a message that was dictated by Michael in German. 698 00:38:50,467 --> 00:38:53,635 But Anke, who had the better command 699 00:38:53,637 --> 00:38:56,338 of the English language, wrote it out. 700 00:38:57,908 --> 00:39:00,075 NARRATOR: Police officers arrest Michael 701 00:39:00,143 --> 00:39:02,510 and Rudi Apelt for first-degree murder 702 00:39:02,512 --> 00:39:05,313 on January 6th, 1989. 703 00:39:06,817 --> 00:39:09,651 We got a call from the detectives, and they 704 00:39:09,720 --> 00:39:12,654 told me that they had arrested Michael and Rudi. 705 00:39:12,756 --> 00:39:14,923 It was -- it was a feeling 706 00:39:14,925 --> 00:39:17,726 of satisfaction, because justice is coming. 707 00:39:19,262 --> 00:39:22,864 NARRATOR: Prosecutors strike a deal with Anke -- immunity in 708 00:39:22,966 --> 00:39:26,434 return for her testimony at Michael and Rudi's trials. 709 00:39:28,705 --> 00:39:30,538 They then find a piece of evidence 710 00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:32,107 that clinches the case. 711 00:39:33,844 --> 00:39:36,644 The evidence that was found at the crime scene 712 00:39:36,746 --> 00:39:40,815 included only one usable tennis shoe print 713 00:39:40,817 --> 00:39:42,117 where you could actually identify 714 00:39:42,119 --> 00:39:44,352 the tread on the ground. 715 00:39:44,421 --> 00:39:46,955 The sole was patterned. 716 00:39:47,057 --> 00:39:49,257 When they searched the apartment, 717 00:39:49,326 --> 00:39:51,760 there were no tennis shoes. 718 00:39:51,861 --> 00:39:55,530 They found a roll of film, and one 719 00:39:55,632 --> 00:39:58,133 of the pictures was a picture of Michael. 720 00:39:58,268 --> 00:40:00,702 He was wearing a pair of shoes, 721 00:40:00,704 --> 00:40:03,738 and it was obvious that they were Reebok tennis shoes. 722 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:06,641 It matched the shoe print at the scene, 723 00:40:06,710 --> 00:40:10,044 but also, we were able to match it to the footprint on 724 00:40:10,146 --> 00:40:11,413 her forehead. 725 00:40:11,415 --> 00:40:14,349 So the logical inference is that he destroyed 726 00:40:14,418 --> 00:40:17,218 the shoes, because they had Cindy's blood on them. 727 00:40:19,923 --> 00:40:22,257 RON: Michael Apelt's trial began 728 00:40:22,325 --> 00:40:25,960 on April 18th, 1990, at the Pinal County 729 00:40:26,029 --> 00:40:28,530 courthouse in Florence, Arizona. 730 00:40:28,632 --> 00:40:31,833 It was probably the most complex case 731 00:40:31,935 --> 00:40:35,303 that I've ever handled -- Anke Dorn provided us 732 00:40:35,305 --> 00:40:37,305 with so much corroborating evidence. 733 00:40:37,307 --> 00:40:40,141 She was a key to the case, really. 734 00:40:40,210 --> 00:40:44,112 Michael and Rudi had hatched this plan to find a woman 735 00:40:44,214 --> 00:40:47,415 to marry, take insurance out on her life, and murder her. 736 00:40:47,417 --> 00:40:51,119 Michael told Anke Dorn that when Cindy signed 737 00:40:51,254 --> 00:40:54,122 the insurance papers, she signed her death warrant. 738 00:41:02,599 --> 00:41:07,469 CATHY: On August 13th, 1990, Michael Apelt was sentenced 739 00:41:07,537 --> 00:41:10,905 to death on the charge of first-degree murder. 740 00:41:11,942 --> 00:41:13,708 NARRATOR: Five months later, 741 00:41:13,710 --> 00:41:15,410 a jury also finds Michael's brother, 742 00:41:15,412 --> 00:41:18,012 Rudi guilty of first-degree murder. 743 00:41:18,014 --> 00:41:20,415 The judge sentences him to death. 744 00:41:25,222 --> 00:41:26,521 When they kill your best friend, 745 00:41:26,523 --> 00:41:28,823 it shakes your world. 746 00:41:28,925 --> 00:41:33,161 They killed somebody so full of life and love 747 00:41:34,631 --> 00:41:37,131 and forever damaged a family. 748 00:41:38,935 --> 00:41:41,436 KATHY: A part of me wishes I had just scooped her up 749 00:41:41,438 --> 00:41:45,106 and just gotten her away from him, you know? 750 00:41:46,109 --> 00:41:49,511 I miss her voice, I miss her -- I miss those times, 751 00:41:49,613 --> 00:41:51,246 you know, I miss our bubble. 752 00:41:51,314 --> 00:41:53,915 It's bittersweet, because I think, well, 753 00:41:53,917 --> 00:41:56,317 I did have it for 29 years. 754 00:41:56,419 --> 00:41:57,619 I don't know how I would 755 00:41:57,721 --> 00:42:00,522 have gotten through our childhood without her. 756 00:42:00,657 --> 00:42:04,025 But she's a big person to miss, and... 757 00:42:04,027 --> 00:42:05,960 I'm living this life for both of us.