1 00:00:02,936 --> 00:00:04,403 [piano music playing] 2 00:00:06,740 --> 00:00:10,743 The internal organs looked like the cells were actually killing themselves. 3 00:00:14,481 --> 00:00:15,547 [gasps] 4 00:00:18,818 --> 00:00:22,154 The difference in cases of poisoning is these are invisible murders. 5 00:00:24,491 --> 00:00:26,025 [Tony] Who was within her circle? 6 00:00:26,059 --> 00:00:28,093 Who would have physical access to her? 7 00:00:33,967 --> 00:00:35,701 The bed was barely cold 8 00:00:35,735 --> 00:00:38,237 before there was another woman in bed with him. 9 00:00:38,938 --> 00:00:40,372 [Laurie] There was a fight. 10 00:00:40,407 --> 00:00:43,108 It was a hard pill for us to swallow, 11 00:00:43,143 --> 00:00:45,110 that he couldn't kill his mother. 12 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:48,881 [gasps] 13 00:00:48,915 --> 00:00:53,685 Whoever wrote that letter was behind the homicide of Mary Yoder. 14 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:55,821 There's no doubt about it, it was almost the perfect crime. 15 00:01:00,794 --> 00:01:02,628 [narrator] Every day in North America, 16 00:01:02,662 --> 00:01:04,963 dozens of people are murdered. 17 00:01:04,998 --> 00:01:07,833 The key to solving the toughest of these homicides 18 00:01:07,867 --> 00:01:10,936 lies in the final 24 hours of the victim's life. 19 00:01:11,771 --> 00:01:13,405 To crack the case, 20 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,176 detectives must reconstruct that critical timeline. 21 00:01:17,210 --> 00:01:19,978 The minutes and hours containing evidence 22 00:01:20,013 --> 00:01:23,282 that can help unlock the mystery and catch the killer. 23 00:01:33,660 --> 00:01:35,060 Whitesboro, New York, 24 00:01:36,329 --> 00:01:39,031 a suburban enclave in Oneida County 25 00:01:39,065 --> 00:01:42,734 where families and business professionals can thrive. 26 00:01:42,769 --> 00:01:46,605 Whitesboro is a very stereotypical suburb, 27 00:01:46,639 --> 00:01:48,974 little more than three hours outside of New York City. 28 00:01:49,609 --> 00:01:51,944 It is extremely diverse 29 00:01:51,978 --> 00:01:53,979 for something that is so small. 30 00:01:54,013 --> 00:01:56,648 The village of Whitesboro's a small community. 31 00:01:56,683 --> 00:01:58,417 Usually everybody knows everybody. 32 00:01:58,451 --> 00:01:59,785 Very low crime rate. 33 00:01:59,819 --> 00:02:02,521 They have their own police department. 34 00:02:02,555 --> 00:02:06,425 [Tony] In Whitesboro, homicides are incredibly rare. 35 00:02:06,459 --> 00:02:08,427 I'm not sure I can, off the top of my head, 36 00:02:08,461 --> 00:02:10,929 think of one of the last homicides occurred in Whitesboro. 37 00:02:12,732 --> 00:02:14,800 [narrator] But while most residents are enjoying 38 00:02:14,834 --> 00:02:17,402 a quiet Tuesday morning commute, 39 00:02:17,437 --> 00:02:19,171 William Yoder brings her wife Mary 40 00:02:19,239 --> 00:02:20,539 to Saint Luke's Hospital 41 00:02:20,573 --> 00:02:22,541 under mysterious circumstances. 42 00:02:24,377 --> 00:02:26,812 [Mark] On July 21st, Mary arrives to the hospital 43 00:02:26,846 --> 00:02:29,148 complaining of stomach issues, 44 00:02:29,182 --> 00:02:33,585 she's been puking, diarrhea for the past 18 hours. 45 00:02:33,620 --> 00:02:36,288 Doctors have no idea really what's going on. 46 00:02:38,291 --> 00:02:42,227 In the middle of the night she went into cardiac arrest. 47 00:02:43,596 --> 00:02:45,430 And they revived her. 48 00:02:45,465 --> 00:02:47,966 Numerous tests were ran in the hospital. 49 00:02:48,001 --> 00:02:49,968 They still weren't able to determine 50 00:02:50,003 --> 00:02:52,538 what was causing her to be so sick. 51 00:02:54,707 --> 00:02:58,744 That afternoon, on the 22nd at around 2:54, 52 00:03:00,613 --> 00:03:04,816 after having gone into cardiac arrest about seven times, 53 00:03:06,619 --> 00:03:08,687 Mary Yoder finally succumbed. 54 00:03:11,858 --> 00:03:13,892 [beeping] 55 00:03:13,927 --> 00:03:16,261 [narrator] Mary's death leaves her family and doctors 56 00:03:16,296 --> 00:03:18,096 asking the same question, 57 00:03:18,131 --> 00:03:21,366 "How could a seemingly healthy woman die so suddenly 58 00:03:21,401 --> 00:03:23,468 with no known prior illnesses?" 59 00:03:25,104 --> 00:03:27,472 [Laurie] Marie Yoder was a full of life, 60 00:03:27,507 --> 00:03:30,309 vibrant woman in her early 60s. 61 00:03:30,343 --> 00:03:32,878 She was married to William Yoder 62 00:03:32,912 --> 00:03:34,613 for approximately 40 years. 63 00:03:34,647 --> 00:03:39,218 They had three children, Liana, Tamryn and Adam. 64 00:03:39,252 --> 00:03:42,087 [Mark] Mary and Bill were both licensed chiropractors 65 00:03:42,121 --> 00:03:43,088 in New York State, 66 00:03:43,122 --> 00:03:44,556 they owned their own practice. 67 00:03:44,591 --> 00:03:47,726 Everybody describes Mary as a kind, caring person. 68 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,997 No enemies, no people that disliked her or she would dislike them. 69 00:03:52,031 --> 00:03:55,434 Marie Yoder was an extremely healthy woman for her age. 70 00:03:55,468 --> 00:03:57,869 She had a very healthy diet. 71 00:03:57,904 --> 00:04:00,872 She took a lot of supplements and a lot of vitamins 72 00:04:00,907 --> 00:04:04,309 and led a very active life. 73 00:04:04,344 --> 00:04:06,945 Her death was obviously perplexing to the doctors 74 00:04:06,980 --> 00:04:10,549 as it's not a person with chronic disease or chronic illness. 75 00:04:10,583 --> 00:04:14,119 Obviously, there was a lot of emotional trauma involved with the family. 76 00:04:14,153 --> 00:04:15,887 I mean, this is totally out of the blue, 77 00:04:15,922 --> 00:04:18,123 this a shock to everybody. 78 00:04:18,157 --> 00:04:20,225 [narrator] Because Mary is under hospital care 79 00:04:20,260 --> 00:04:22,794 when she dies, an autopsy is ordered 80 00:04:22,829 --> 00:04:26,365 by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner's Office. 81 00:04:26,399 --> 00:04:30,002 [Mark] One of things that Dr. Clark who performed the autopsy noticed is 82 00:04:30,036 --> 00:04:33,038 that the internal organs looked like organs 83 00:04:33,072 --> 00:04:35,507 of a person receiving chemotherapy. 84 00:04:35,541 --> 00:04:39,044 The cells were actually killing themselves. 85 00:04:39,078 --> 00:04:41,146 So that let them to believe, obviously, 86 00:04:41,180 --> 00:04:43,982 there were some foreign chemical or substance 87 00:04:44,017 --> 00:04:47,352 that may have been responsible for this death. 88 00:04:47,387 --> 00:04:50,956 [narrator] Heading up the investigation into the suspicious circumstances 89 00:04:50,990 --> 00:04:52,858 surrounding Mary Yoder's death 90 00:04:52,892 --> 00:04:54,493 is detective Mark Van Namee 91 00:04:54,527 --> 00:04:56,895 of the Oneida County Sheriff's Office. 92 00:04:57,897 --> 00:05:00,265 The Oneida County Sheriff's Office, myself, 93 00:05:00,333 --> 00:05:01,533 received a phone call 94 00:05:01,567 --> 00:05:04,603 from Mary's youngest sister, Sharon, stating that, 95 00:05:04,637 --> 00:05:07,639 her sister had passed away. Can you guys look into it. 96 00:05:09,242 --> 00:05:12,010 When Dr. Clark ordered the first section 97 00:05:12,045 --> 00:05:13,712 of toxicology 98 00:05:13,746 --> 00:05:15,947 on Mary's blood from the autopsy, 99 00:05:15,982 --> 00:05:18,784 he checked for the typical heavy metals in poisons 100 00:05:18,818 --> 00:05:20,319 that could have possibly been. 101 00:05:21,087 --> 00:05:22,821 And that came back negative. 102 00:05:23,756 --> 00:05:26,725 He then reaches out for poison control, 103 00:05:26,759 --> 00:05:30,228 and he speaks with the Dr. Jeanna Marraffa. 104 00:05:30,263 --> 00:05:34,833 [Laurie] Dr. Marraffa reviewed all of Marie Yoder's medical records 105 00:05:34,867 --> 00:05:37,836 and she recommended that Dr. Clark test 106 00:05:37,870 --> 00:05:42,007 for something called Colchicine toxicity. 107 00:05:42,041 --> 00:05:46,044 It came back that Mary Yoder had extremely high levels 108 00:05:46,079 --> 00:05:48,547 of colchicine in her system. 109 00:05:48,581 --> 00:05:50,716 The cause of death was ultimately ruled 110 00:05:50,750 --> 00:05:53,618 death by colchicine toxicity. 111 00:05:53,653 --> 00:05:57,422 [Mark] Her stomach contents also came back positive for colchicine, 112 00:05:57,457 --> 00:05:59,291 which let us know that this substance 113 00:05:59,325 --> 00:06:02,861 was orally ingested not injected into her vein. 114 00:06:02,895 --> 00:06:06,031 Colchicine is typically used to treat gout. 115 00:06:06,065 --> 00:06:08,734 It would typically take about 60 pills 116 00:06:08,768 --> 00:06:11,403 to kill somebody of Mary's size. 117 00:06:11,437 --> 00:06:14,172 However, when you buy it in the pure powder form, 118 00:06:14,207 --> 00:06:17,476 you could balance a lethal dose of colchicine 119 00:06:17,510 --> 00:06:20,445 basically on the end of a tooth pack. 120 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,448 There was nothing anybody could do to save this lady. 121 00:06:23,483 --> 00:06:25,751 Not one thing. 122 00:06:25,785 --> 00:06:29,154 There's no antidote for colchicine. 123 00:06:29,188 --> 00:06:31,957 So, as we're moving forward in the investigation, 124 00:06:31,991 --> 00:06:34,693 we start to realize that we're dealing with a homicide. 125 00:06:36,062 --> 00:06:38,764 [narrator] To find out who poisoned Mary Yoder, 126 00:06:38,798 --> 00:06:41,299 investigators will now need to piece together 127 00:06:41,334 --> 00:06:43,201 her final 24 hours. 128 00:06:44,337 --> 00:06:46,505 Once we learned that the colchicine was ingested, 129 00:06:46,539 --> 00:06:48,440 it became important to us to try to figure out 130 00:06:48,474 --> 00:06:51,676 what Mary had to eat or drink that day. 131 00:06:51,711 --> 00:06:56,314 The timeline for one to see effects on Colchicine in their body 132 00:06:56,349 --> 00:07:01,253 is anywhere from four to eight hours after ingestion. 133 00:07:01,287 --> 00:07:05,857 Based on when Mary Yoder started to exhibit symptoms around 4:30, 134 00:07:05,892 --> 00:07:07,826 she could have been ingested this anywhere 135 00:07:07,860 --> 00:07:11,263 between 8:30 in the morning and 2:30 in the afternoon. 136 00:07:11,297 --> 00:07:13,064 That's the time period 137 00:07:13,099 --> 00:07:15,500 of opportunity they have to look at 138 00:07:15,535 --> 00:07:17,135 to see who had access 139 00:07:17,170 --> 00:07:19,171 to anything that Mary Yoder might have drank 140 00:07:19,205 --> 00:07:20,806 or eaten at that time, 141 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:22,974 and those are the people that we need to look at 142 00:07:23,009 --> 00:07:25,243 as potential suspects in this case. 143 00:07:27,246 --> 00:07:29,748 William Yoder advised the investigators 144 00:07:29,782 --> 00:07:32,350 that Mary started developing symptoms 145 00:07:32,385 --> 00:07:33,885 while she was still at work, 146 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,021 so they obviously wanted to interview 147 00:07:36,055 --> 00:07:37,756 anybody that was working with her that day. 148 00:07:39,091 --> 00:07:41,393 [narrator] Having stablished that Mary was poisoned 149 00:07:41,427 --> 00:07:44,429 between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., 150 00:07:44,464 --> 00:07:47,732 investigators contacted the office manager of her clinic, 151 00:07:47,767 --> 00:07:51,570 Kaitlyn Conley, to find out more about her schedule. 152 00:07:51,604 --> 00:07:53,238 [Laurie] Through the investigation, 153 00:07:53,272 --> 00:07:55,240 we learned that Kaitlyn Conley 154 00:07:55,274 --> 00:07:58,477 was the on-again-off-again girlfriend 155 00:07:58,511 --> 00:08:00,912 of Mary Yoder's son, Adam Yoder. 156 00:08:00,947 --> 00:08:04,082 Back in 2011 or 2012, 157 00:08:04,116 --> 00:08:07,085 Adam was able to get her involved 158 00:08:07,119 --> 00:08:09,554 in the family business, and then ultimately 159 00:08:09,589 --> 00:08:12,791 Kaitlyn took over as the office manager 160 00:08:12,825 --> 00:08:15,260 at the Chiropractic Family Care. 161 00:08:15,294 --> 00:08:19,097 Kaitlyn Conley is an important figure in this timeline 162 00:08:19,131 --> 00:08:22,033 based upon the fact that on the date Mary becomes ill, 163 00:08:22,068 --> 00:08:23,368 Kaitlyn is with her 164 00:08:23,402 --> 00:08:26,605 from the minute she walks in the office until she leaves. 165 00:08:26,639 --> 00:08:30,141 Kaitlyn does state that Mary left for a lunch period 166 00:08:30,176 --> 00:08:33,111 from approximately 12:30 to 1:30. 167 00:08:33,145 --> 00:08:35,647 [Laurie] Mary was going to go have lunch with her mother, 168 00:08:35,681 --> 00:08:39,251 but by the time she got to her mother's home, 169 00:08:39,285 --> 00:08:41,453 her mother had already had lunch. 170 00:08:41,487 --> 00:08:44,823 So, when Mary got back at around 1:30, 171 00:08:44,857 --> 00:08:47,626 she prepared a protein shake for herself 172 00:08:47,660 --> 00:08:50,562 which was something that she had quite often for lunch, 173 00:08:50,596 --> 00:08:52,163 and she took some supplements. 174 00:08:53,032 --> 00:08:55,033 Once she got that down, 175 00:08:55,067 --> 00:08:57,903 she began to see her afternoon patients. 176 00:08:57,937 --> 00:09:00,539 And then, at around 4:30 in the afternoon, 177 00:09:00,573 --> 00:09:03,375 Kaitlyn noticed that Mary wasn't herself, 178 00:09:03,409 --> 00:09:05,977 Mary was going back and forth to the bathroom. 179 00:09:06,012 --> 00:09:09,347 And then, when Mary left work at around 6:00, 180 00:09:09,382 --> 00:09:11,683 she had advised Kaitlyn 181 00:09:11,717 --> 00:09:13,418 that she was feeling quite ill. 182 00:09:15,488 --> 00:09:16,621 So, based on that, 183 00:09:16,656 --> 00:09:20,125 the investigators were able to work backwards, 184 00:09:20,159 --> 00:09:22,160 and the strong feeling was that 185 00:09:22,194 --> 00:09:24,729 she probably ingested the colchicine 186 00:09:24,764 --> 00:09:26,197 at the same time 187 00:09:26,232 --> 00:09:28,967 she drank the protein shake at lunch time. 188 00:09:30,069 --> 00:09:32,137 [Mark] And that is the only thing we know 189 00:09:32,171 --> 00:09:34,506 that Mary Yoder has to eat or drink 190 00:09:34,540 --> 00:09:36,041 from eight o'clock in the morning 191 00:09:36,075 --> 00:09:40,445 until she started showing symptoms, about 4:30 p.m. 192 00:09:40,479 --> 00:09:43,214 [narrator] Having determined Mary's lunchtime protein shake 193 00:09:43,249 --> 00:09:44,950 was spiked with Colchicine, 194 00:09:44,984 --> 00:09:49,287 investigators need to confirm who was at Mary's office on July 20th. 195 00:09:49,322 --> 00:09:51,456 [Mark] When you're dealing with a poisoning case, 196 00:09:51,490 --> 00:09:52,857 you need to determine a timeline, 197 00:09:52,892 --> 00:09:56,695 obviously you gotta talk to the people around your victim that day. 198 00:09:57,763 --> 00:10:00,632 [Laurie] They got a hold of Mary Yoder's schedule 199 00:10:00,666 --> 00:10:04,970 and made contact with every single patient and interviewed them. 200 00:10:06,238 --> 00:10:09,040 Basically, they described her as somebody that everybody loved. 201 00:10:09,075 --> 00:10:11,810 We didn't find any that were unhappy with Mary 202 00:10:11,844 --> 00:10:14,279 or that there were conflicts with. 203 00:10:14,313 --> 00:10:16,448 [Tony] Looking through Mary Yoder's devices 204 00:10:16,482 --> 00:10:20,986 there are no communications, saying that someone has 205 00:10:21,020 --> 00:10:24,823 a problem with Mary Yoder or someone's threatening her. 206 00:10:24,857 --> 00:10:27,525 [Mark] So, were pretty comfortable that whatever happened 207 00:10:27,560 --> 00:10:30,695 wasn't the result of an unhappy or upset client. 208 00:10:32,098 --> 00:10:33,632 [narrator] Without a clear motive, 209 00:10:33,666 --> 00:10:36,668 detectives are left wondering who would want to kill 210 00:10:36,702 --> 00:10:39,037 such a beloved woman as Mary. 211 00:10:39,071 --> 00:10:40,639 Who are within her circle? 212 00:10:40,673 --> 00:10:42,941 Who would have physical access to her? 213 00:10:42,975 --> 00:10:45,076 Who could have actually poisoned her? 214 00:10:47,747 --> 00:10:49,514 [Michael] The difference in cases of poisoning is 215 00:10:49,548 --> 00:10:52,183 these are invisible murders. 216 00:10:52,218 --> 00:10:55,487 This is someone who would've had access to the victim 217 00:10:55,521 --> 00:10:57,822 that suggest some kind of trusting relationship 218 00:10:57,857 --> 00:10:59,491 between victim and offender. 219 00:11:00,726 --> 00:11:03,194 [Keira] There's lots of premeditation involved here. 220 00:11:03,229 --> 00:11:06,031 Even to be able to know what type of poison to use, 221 00:11:06,065 --> 00:11:07,866 to know where to get that from, 222 00:11:07,900 --> 00:11:10,402 how to purchase that, and how to conceal it. 223 00:11:10,436 --> 00:11:12,871 This person has clearly done lots of thinking 224 00:11:12,905 --> 00:11:15,607 in regard to this method of murder. 225 00:11:15,641 --> 00:11:17,175 Odds are, this was committed 226 00:11:17,209 --> 00:11:19,844 by somebody who knows her well, and the question is who. 227 00:11:30,489 --> 00:11:33,491 [narrator] In the investigation into Mary Yoder's homicide, 228 00:11:33,526 --> 00:11:35,794 detectives believe the mother of four 229 00:11:35,828 --> 00:11:37,996 was poisoned by someone close to her. 230 00:11:38,030 --> 00:11:39,864 Their search for suspects 231 00:11:39,899 --> 00:11:42,333 begins with her husband, William Yoder. 232 00:11:44,370 --> 00:11:47,839 When you have a homicide that involves a husband or a wife, 233 00:11:47,873 --> 00:11:51,309 obviously the spouse is gonna be a main focus. 234 00:11:52,845 --> 00:11:55,447 I don't know the exact stat, but a high percentage 235 00:11:55,481 --> 00:11:58,183 if a husband or wife is a victim of a homicide, 236 00:11:58,217 --> 00:12:00,719 often the spouse is the one responsible. 237 00:12:01,887 --> 00:12:03,722 You don't wanna go interview the main suspect 238 00:12:03,756 --> 00:12:05,724 without all the background information possible. 239 00:12:08,461 --> 00:12:10,095 [narrator] To help build their case, 240 00:12:10,129 --> 00:12:13,665 investigators ask William and Mary's eldest daughter, Liana, 241 00:12:13,699 --> 00:12:16,668 for more insight into her parents' marriage. 242 00:12:16,702 --> 00:12:21,573 Liana describes they were a very happily married couple, 243 00:12:21,607 --> 00:12:23,942 extremely devoted to one another. 244 00:12:25,211 --> 00:12:27,378 They've been married for 40 years, 245 00:12:27,413 --> 00:12:30,348 and when she died so suddenly, 246 00:12:30,382 --> 00:12:33,384 he actually advised his daughter Liana 247 00:12:33,419 --> 00:12:36,287 that he didn't think that he could go on living without his wife. 248 00:12:37,556 --> 00:12:39,324 But she knew her aunt, 249 00:12:39,358 --> 00:12:41,526 Kathy, one of Mary Yoder's sisters, 250 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:44,696 had just lost her husband a year prior 251 00:12:44,730 --> 00:12:48,133 and strongly suggested he reach out to Kathy 252 00:12:48,167 --> 00:12:49,701 and maybe that would help. 253 00:12:52,204 --> 00:12:54,539 Ultimately, they struck up a friendship 254 00:12:54,573 --> 00:13:00,145 and that friendship became a romantic relationship. 255 00:13:00,179 --> 00:13:03,381 [narrator] This new revelation about William's romantic life 256 00:13:03,415 --> 00:13:06,384 comes as a surprise to investigators. 257 00:13:06,418 --> 00:13:09,387 [Roots] William had taken up with his sister-in-law 258 00:13:09,421 --> 00:13:13,992 some short weeks right after the death of his wife. 259 00:13:14,026 --> 00:13:19,264 So, that would've raised a significant concern for investigators. 260 00:13:19,298 --> 00:13:21,065 The bed was barely cold 261 00:13:21,133 --> 00:13:24,302 before there was another woman in bed with him. 262 00:13:24,336 --> 00:13:27,806 [Laurie] Could William Yoder have had a relationship with Kathy 263 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:30,074 prior to the death of Mary Yoder? 264 00:13:30,109 --> 00:13:34,245 Then decided that he wanted his wife out of the picture? 265 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:36,581 Could he have possibly been responsible 266 00:13:36,615 --> 00:13:39,851 for administrating colchicine to his wife that day? 267 00:13:42,154 --> 00:13:46,391 Investigators are interested in William Yoder's timeline 268 00:13:46,425 --> 00:13:49,327 because they want to know at what point 269 00:13:49,361 --> 00:13:53,464 he had access to his wife and any food or drink 270 00:13:53,499 --> 00:13:56,601 that she may have been ingested that day. 271 00:13:56,635 --> 00:13:59,437 [narrator] With suspicions swirling around William Yoder, 272 00:13:59,471 --> 00:14:01,940 detectives bring him for an interview. 273 00:14:01,974 --> 00:14:04,008 They start by drilling down on both, 274 00:14:04,043 --> 00:14:07,178 his and Mary's timelines leading up to her death. 275 00:14:07,213 --> 00:14:10,882 [Laurie] On July 20th, William Yoder got up around 6:00 o'clock. 276 00:14:10,916 --> 00:14:13,384 He does exercises and he's the one 277 00:14:13,419 --> 00:14:16,955 that usually gets breakfast ready for himself and Mary. 278 00:14:16,989 --> 00:14:19,157 [Mark] He indicated that nothing was out of the ordinary 279 00:14:19,191 --> 00:14:20,358 on the day she becomes ill. 280 00:14:20,392 --> 00:14:21,860 She woke up at her normal time, 281 00:14:21,894 --> 00:14:25,563 wasn't complaining about any kind of symptoms or anything like that. 282 00:14:25,598 --> 00:14:28,333 [Laurie] She grabbed a quick breakfast that morning 283 00:14:28,367 --> 00:14:30,368 that her husband prepared for her, 284 00:14:30,402 --> 00:14:32,604 ran off to work at 8:30 285 00:14:32,638 --> 00:14:38,142 and would've normally been done around 5:00 or 5:30 in the evening. 286 00:14:38,177 --> 00:14:41,946 We know that Colchicine was in either the supplement 287 00:14:41,981 --> 00:14:44,549 or the protein powder shake that Mary Yoder drank 288 00:14:44,583 --> 00:14:47,151 around 1:30 that afternoon. 289 00:14:47,186 --> 00:14:51,189 [Mark] William reported to us on July 20th he had a typically day off, 290 00:14:51,223 --> 00:14:52,824 reading, watched a movie, 291 00:14:52,858 --> 00:14:55,894 he basically spend the day at home by himself. 292 00:14:55,928 --> 00:14:57,896 [Laurie] Mary left Chiropractic Family Care 293 00:14:57,930 --> 00:15:00,298 feeling extremely ill around 6:00, 294 00:15:00,332 --> 00:15:03,167 and around 6:30 she arrived at her home. 295 00:15:03,202 --> 00:15:06,471 For the rest of the night, she remained on their couch. 296 00:15:06,505 --> 00:15:10,074 William advised investigators that during that evening, 297 00:15:10,109 --> 00:15:14,746 she spent the time continuously going back and forth to the bathroom 298 00:15:14,780 --> 00:15:16,915 with diarrhea and vomiting. 299 00:15:18,417 --> 00:15:20,051 [Mark] Early the very next morning, 300 00:15:20,085 --> 00:15:22,353 William reaches out for their daughter Liana, 301 00:15:22,388 --> 00:15:24,355 who's a doctor in Long Island. 302 00:15:24,390 --> 00:15:26,357 It is at that point, Liana is like, 303 00:15:26,392 --> 00:15:27,725 you probably should take mom to the hospital, 304 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:28,960 she's not any better, 305 00:15:28,994 --> 00:15:31,963 it sounds more serious than the typical upset stomach. 306 00:15:33,399 --> 00:15:34,832 [narrator] Once at the hospital, 307 00:15:34,867 --> 00:15:38,336 Mary's condition continues to deteriorate. 308 00:15:38,370 --> 00:15:40,538 In the middle of the night, she starts having cardiac events. 309 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:45,009 Where she's revived through electronic shock, 310 00:15:45,044 --> 00:15:48,246 and eventually after six or seven of these incidences, 311 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:52,050 she passes away at roughly 2:50 the next afternoon. 312 00:15:52,985 --> 00:15:54,385 [machine beeping] 313 00:15:55,554 --> 00:15:57,956 [narrator] Detective Van Namee then shifts course 314 00:15:57,990 --> 00:16:00,658 and asks William about an odd note he found 315 00:16:00,693 --> 00:16:02,794 in the initial police report. 316 00:16:02,828 --> 00:16:05,430 [Laurie] Before she went into cardiac arrest, 317 00:16:05,464 --> 00:16:08,766 William Yoder left his wife's bedside 318 00:16:08,801 --> 00:16:11,336 on the night of July 21st 319 00:16:11,370 --> 00:16:13,171 because his wife wanted him to go, 320 00:16:13,205 --> 00:16:15,907 she needed sleep, and she knew that 321 00:16:15,941 --> 00:16:18,876 he was going to be covering her patients the following day. 322 00:16:19,678 --> 00:16:21,245 [Michael] It's after he goes home 323 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:23,448 that her conditions deteriorates even further. 324 00:16:24,616 --> 00:16:26,951 So, the hospital reaches out for William 325 00:16:26,986 --> 00:16:28,186 in the middle of the night. 326 00:16:28,220 --> 00:16:29,620 He does not hear the phone calls, 327 00:16:29,655 --> 00:16:32,256 so the hospital actually reaches out to the state police 328 00:16:32,291 --> 00:16:33,925 and sends a state trooper 329 00:16:33,959 --> 00:16:35,593 to William's house to knock out the door, 330 00:16:35,627 --> 00:16:37,862 and alert him that there's a problem at the hospital. 331 00:16:38,964 --> 00:16:41,332 I think common sense dictates that 332 00:16:41,367 --> 00:16:44,168 if you have a loved one who's in the hospital, 333 00:16:44,203 --> 00:16:46,804 then you're gonna have your phone with you at all times 334 00:16:46,839 --> 00:16:50,441 in case the hospital or your loved one wants to reach you. 335 00:16:50,476 --> 00:16:53,244 The fact that William Yoder went home 336 00:16:53,278 --> 00:16:56,014 and put his cellphone in another room 337 00:16:56,048 --> 00:16:58,583 and made him essentially unreachable 338 00:16:58,617 --> 00:17:02,353 was an issue that we had to contend with. 339 00:17:02,388 --> 00:17:05,723 [narrator] Investigators question if Williams mysterious behavior 340 00:17:05,758 --> 00:17:07,825 was influenced by his new relationship 341 00:17:07,860 --> 00:17:10,361 with Mary's older sister, Kathy. 342 00:17:10,396 --> 00:17:13,097 [Mark] We're trying to determine when this relationship started 343 00:17:13,132 --> 00:17:15,500 so, we need to speak with Kathy. 344 00:17:15,534 --> 00:17:19,003 She was fully forthcoming and provided us a deposition, 345 00:17:19,038 --> 00:17:23,041 gave us free access to anything we wanted, phone records. 346 00:17:23,075 --> 00:17:25,743 She wasn't trying to hide anything. 347 00:17:25,777 --> 00:17:28,546 [Laurie] After an extensive interview with Kathy, 348 00:17:28,580 --> 00:17:30,748 they were able to determine that there was really 349 00:17:30,783 --> 00:17:33,518 no real relationship between Kathy and William 350 00:17:33,552 --> 00:17:36,521 prior to the death of her sister Mary. 351 00:17:36,555 --> 00:17:38,723 It started because these were two people 352 00:17:38,757 --> 00:17:41,092 who had lost their significant others 353 00:17:41,126 --> 00:17:44,562 and found some companionship in each other. 354 00:17:44,596 --> 00:17:49,400 They determined the relationship between William Yoder and Kathy 355 00:17:49,435 --> 00:17:52,103 is just not an issue in this case. 356 00:17:53,739 --> 00:17:56,307 [Mark] William and Mary had been together 40 years. 357 00:17:56,341 --> 00:17:58,876 They ran a business together. They had three kids together. 358 00:17:58,911 --> 00:18:01,779 There's no indication that there was marital problems 359 00:18:01,814 --> 00:18:05,650 that would've led to Mary's demise by poisoning. 360 00:18:06,752 --> 00:18:08,553 [Laurie] Based on that information, 361 00:18:08,587 --> 00:18:12,924 William Yoder is probably not a suspect in the killing of his wife. 362 00:18:13,759 --> 00:18:15,426 [narrator] With William ruled out, 363 00:18:15,461 --> 00:18:18,830 investigators are back in the hunt for their next suspect. 364 00:18:19,798 --> 00:18:21,299 [Tony] The investigators involved 365 00:18:21,333 --> 00:18:23,868 have to consider all possibilities. 366 00:18:23,902 --> 00:18:28,940 All potential suspects who would have access, who would motive. 367 00:18:30,075 --> 00:18:33,044 The use of poisoning as a weapon 368 00:18:33,078 --> 00:18:35,313 can tell us a lot about an offender's mindset. 369 00:18:35,380 --> 00:18:37,882 This is not a frenzy crime. 370 00:18:37,916 --> 00:18:40,151 This is not a crime committed from ambush. 371 00:18:40,185 --> 00:18:44,288 This is something often slow, methodical, and silent. 372 00:18:46,592 --> 00:18:48,593 [narrator] Then, out of nowhere, 373 00:18:48,627 --> 00:18:50,761 the case takes a surprising turn 374 00:18:50,796 --> 00:18:53,764 when investigators receive a pair of anonymous letters. 375 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:58,402 [Laurie] On November 23rd, 2015, 376 00:18:58,437 --> 00:19:01,606 both the Onondaga County Medical Examiner's Office 377 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:03,875 and the Oneida County Sheriff's department 378 00:19:03,909 --> 00:19:07,411 received a typed written anonymous letter. 379 00:19:09,014 --> 00:19:12,049 [Mark] The letter clearly points that Adam Yoder, 380 00:19:12,084 --> 00:19:14,285 William's and Mary's youngest son, 381 00:19:14,319 --> 00:19:16,020 is the main suspect. 382 00:19:16,054 --> 00:19:17,889 It talks about why Adam Yoder 383 00:19:17,923 --> 00:19:20,124 would have the motive to carry this out. 384 00:19:20,159 --> 00:19:22,460 That he had financial means to gain by this. 385 00:19:22,494 --> 00:19:27,165 It also talks about how he purchased the Colchicine. 386 00:19:27,199 --> 00:19:28,966 It was almost as if it was too good to be true. 387 00:19:37,609 --> 00:19:39,377 [narrator] In the homicide by poison of Mary Yoder, 388 00:19:39,411 --> 00:19:41,779 a beloved mother and chiropractor, 389 00:19:41,813 --> 00:19:44,715 detectives have received two anonymous letters 390 00:19:44,750 --> 00:19:47,618 that claim to know the identity of her killer. 391 00:19:47,653 --> 00:19:50,655 Mary's own son, Adam Yoder. 392 00:19:52,724 --> 00:19:54,625 [Mark] When we received the anonymous letter, 393 00:19:54,660 --> 00:19:56,360 we were guarded about, you know, 394 00:19:56,395 --> 00:19:57,662 how much faith we put in this. 395 00:19:58,830 --> 00:20:01,432 [Laurie] One of the reasons why get anonymous tips 396 00:20:01,466 --> 00:20:05,236 or anonymous letters is the person either doesn't want to get involved 397 00:20:05,270 --> 00:20:07,004 or somehow is involved 398 00:20:07,039 --> 00:20:10,107 and doesn't want their identity known to law enforcement. 399 00:20:11,109 --> 00:20:12,944 [Mark] The person who's writing that letter 400 00:20:12,978 --> 00:20:15,346 has way to much knowledge of this case 401 00:20:15,380 --> 00:20:17,748 and specifics of this case to not be involved. 402 00:20:18,750 --> 00:20:21,185 The letter talks about why Adam Yoder 403 00:20:21,220 --> 00:20:22,920 would have the motive to carry this out. 404 00:20:22,955 --> 00:20:25,122 That he had financial means to gain. 405 00:20:25,157 --> 00:20:29,560 It also talks about how he purchased the colchicine, 406 00:20:29,595 --> 00:20:32,430 and that we're going to find the bottle of colchicine 407 00:20:32,464 --> 00:20:35,233 under the passenger seat of Adam Yoder's car. 408 00:20:36,134 --> 00:20:37,668 The person writing this letter 409 00:20:37,703 --> 00:20:39,604 has an immense knowledge of this crime. 410 00:20:39,638 --> 00:20:43,274 So, one of my main goals was to figure out who wrote the letter. 411 00:20:44,710 --> 00:20:47,345 The letter we received is typed on a computer, 412 00:20:47,379 --> 00:20:49,914 there's no handwritten marks on it, no return labels. 413 00:20:49,948 --> 00:20:52,550 No indications about where this may have came from. 414 00:20:53,885 --> 00:20:55,753 [Laurie] But there's a stamp on it. 415 00:20:55,787 --> 00:20:57,855 Obviously, they're interested in determining 416 00:20:57,889 --> 00:21:00,258 whether if they can find any DNA under that stamp 417 00:21:00,292 --> 00:21:04,195 that might lead them to the person who wrote his letters. 418 00:21:04,229 --> 00:21:07,898 [narrator] While investigators wait for the results of the DNA testing, 419 00:21:07,933 --> 00:21:10,034 they dig into Adam Yoder's background. 420 00:21:11,103 --> 00:21:14,272 [Laurie] It was a hard pill for us to swallow 421 00:21:14,306 --> 00:21:17,174 that Adam Yoder could in fact have killed his mother. 422 00:21:17,209 --> 00:21:20,678 But clearly based on the information that was in the letter, 423 00:21:20,712 --> 00:21:23,414 we had to include Adam Yoder 424 00:21:23,448 --> 00:21:26,017 as a person of interest in this investigation. 425 00:21:27,286 --> 00:21:30,521 We learned that Adam had some issues. 426 00:21:30,555 --> 00:21:33,691 He worked on-and-off, he went to school on-and-off, 427 00:21:33,725 --> 00:21:36,861 he wasn't financially independent at this point. 428 00:21:36,895 --> 00:21:39,363 Adam was the youngest and he was the only son, 429 00:21:39,398 --> 00:21:42,233 and I think his mother was super protective of him 430 00:21:42,267 --> 00:21:43,801 and coddled him a lot. 431 00:21:43,835 --> 00:21:46,637 But there's was this allegation that there's was a fight 432 00:21:46,672 --> 00:21:50,341 with Adam and his mother, that he was upset, 433 00:21:50,375 --> 00:21:54,478 and so, supposedly he took some of her supplements 434 00:21:54,513 --> 00:21:56,347 and put colchicine 435 00:21:56,381 --> 00:21:58,849 on the supplements or in the supplements. 436 00:21:58,884 --> 00:22:02,687 And that's how Mary Yoder ingested colchicine. 437 00:22:04,423 --> 00:22:06,691 [narrator] With the possible motive stablished, 438 00:22:06,725 --> 00:22:10,561 investigators called Adam down to the station for questioning. 439 00:22:10,595 --> 00:22:14,532 And lo and behold, not only did he respond immediately 440 00:22:14,566 --> 00:22:16,000 to the sheriff's department, 441 00:22:16,034 --> 00:22:18,703 but it actually came in the vehicle 442 00:22:18,737 --> 00:22:20,738 that the anonymous letter writers said 443 00:22:20,772 --> 00:22:22,707 the murder weapon could be found in. 444 00:22:24,743 --> 00:22:26,477 [Mark] When Adam arrives at the office, 445 00:22:26,511 --> 00:22:27,978 I am the one who interviews him. 446 00:22:28,013 --> 00:22:30,514 When he sat down, I told him, make no mistakes about this, 447 00:22:30,549 --> 00:22:33,584 we're investigating the homicide of your mother. 448 00:22:33,618 --> 00:22:36,587 [narrator] Investigators grill Adam about his whereabouts 449 00:22:36,621 --> 00:22:39,857 in the days leading up to his mother's poisoning. 450 00:22:39,891 --> 00:22:43,494 [Laurie] Adam Yoder advises the investigators on July 15th, 451 00:22:43,528 --> 00:22:46,497 five days before Mary Yoder ingested the colchicine, 452 00:22:46,531 --> 00:22:48,032 he went to Long Island 453 00:22:48,066 --> 00:22:50,801 where his sister Liana lived and stayed with her. 454 00:22:50,836 --> 00:22:53,637 She had four young children. They love their uncle. 455 00:22:53,672 --> 00:22:55,806 He was a sort of the building babysitter. 456 00:22:55,841 --> 00:22:58,909 And the only reason he left Liana's home on that day 457 00:22:58,944 --> 00:23:02,980 is because he found out that his mother was ill in the hospital. 458 00:23:03,014 --> 00:23:05,649 And then ultimately, they brought up to him, 459 00:23:05,684 --> 00:23:09,120 the fact that they had received this anonymous letter. 460 00:23:09,154 --> 00:23:11,822 At that point, he didn't necessarily believed 461 00:23:11,857 --> 00:23:13,758 that this was really true, 462 00:23:13,792 --> 00:23:18,429 and then investigator Van Namee showed him portions of that letter 463 00:23:18,463 --> 00:23:20,398 that said where in the vehicle 464 00:23:20,432 --> 00:23:23,134 the murder weapon could be found. 465 00:23:23,168 --> 00:23:26,604 At that point, investigator Van Namee asked Adam Yoder 466 00:23:26,638 --> 00:23:30,441 if he would be willing to have them search his vehicle. 467 00:23:30,475 --> 00:23:33,778 Adam was skeptical and wanted to speak to a lawyer, 468 00:23:33,812 --> 00:23:36,313 which is absolutely his right to do so. 469 00:23:38,116 --> 00:23:41,018 [narrator] Investigators set Adam up with a public defender 470 00:23:42,421 --> 00:23:44,755 and after speaking in private on the phone, 471 00:23:44,790 --> 00:23:47,858 Adam agrees to let detectives to search his car. 472 00:23:49,694 --> 00:23:51,328 [Mark] I wanted Adam out there, 473 00:23:51,363 --> 00:23:54,532 because if we pulled out what was potentially the murder weapon, 474 00:23:54,566 --> 00:23:55,800 I wanted to see his reaction. 475 00:23:57,302 --> 00:24:00,471 We're outside at the sheriff's office, he's smoking a cigarette. 476 00:24:00,505 --> 00:24:03,240 Investigator Simmons pulls out the bottle labeled colchicine. 477 00:24:04,509 --> 00:24:07,311 And I can remember this, and I'll probably remember it forever, 478 00:24:07,345 --> 00:24:10,281 the cigarette almost fell out of the corner of this mouth. 479 00:24:10,315 --> 00:24:13,384 Like he was in such shock at what he just observed. 480 00:24:14,653 --> 00:24:16,654 [Laurie] And in addition to the colchicine 481 00:24:16,688 --> 00:24:20,891 and probably more importantly, they find the receipt 482 00:24:20,926 --> 00:24:22,993 for the purchase of that colchicine. 483 00:24:23,662 --> 00:24:25,162 The receipt indicates 484 00:24:25,197 --> 00:24:29,700 there's a Gmail account used to buy this colchicine, 485 00:24:29,734 --> 00:24:35,439 and that's address is MrAdamYoder1990@gmail.com. 486 00:24:35,474 --> 00:24:37,441 [narrator] But something about the evidence 487 00:24:37,476 --> 00:24:39,643 doesn't sit right with the investigators. 488 00:24:39,678 --> 00:24:43,280 [Laurie] If I'm responsible for committing a crime, 489 00:24:43,315 --> 00:24:47,017 the last thing I'm gonna do is drive to a law enforcement 490 00:24:47,052 --> 00:24:48,486 with the murder weapon in my vehicle. 491 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,222 I'm just not gonna do that. Doesn't make any sense. 492 00:24:53,058 --> 00:24:54,859 [Mark] This is not hard to dispose of. 493 00:24:54,893 --> 00:24:56,160 If he was responsible, 494 00:24:56,194 --> 00:24:58,095 we were certain that this would have been gone. 495 00:24:59,164 --> 00:25:00,865 [Michael] The fact that the purchasing 496 00:25:00,899 --> 00:25:02,166 and the poison used in this case 497 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,668 was associated with the Gmail account in Adam's name 498 00:25:04,703 --> 00:25:06,504 isn't necessarily a smoking gun. 499 00:25:06,538 --> 00:25:09,373 Anybody can create any digital identity 500 00:25:09,407 --> 00:25:10,674 in anybody else's name. 501 00:25:10,709 --> 00:25:13,010 So, it's very easy to misdirect police 502 00:25:13,044 --> 00:25:17,281 and effectively digitally frame somebody for a crime. 503 00:25:17,315 --> 00:25:19,917 [Lauri] When Adam is shown the address 504 00:25:19,951 --> 00:25:22,186 he indicates it almost looks like it's a combination 505 00:25:22,220 --> 00:25:24,255 of two e-mail accounts he has. 506 00:25:24,289 --> 00:25:28,526 But that is not one that he's ever seen or ever created, 507 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,862 and law enforcement has no reason to disbelieve him 508 00:25:31,897 --> 00:25:35,199 based on everything else they've learned from him. 509 00:25:35,233 --> 00:25:37,234 [narrator] Even though the evidence suggests 510 00:25:37,269 --> 00:25:39,770 Adam is being framed for his mother's murder, 511 00:25:39,804 --> 00:25:44,174 investigators need more information to prove he wasn't involved. 512 00:25:44,209 --> 00:25:47,311 So, in my mind he becomes maybe our best witness. 513 00:25:48,613 --> 00:25:50,681 And I make it very clear to Adam, 514 00:25:50,715 --> 00:25:52,383 as we're back in the interview room, 515 00:25:52,417 --> 00:25:56,120 that if there's something he's not telling us, we need it now. 516 00:25:56,154 --> 00:25:59,089 Because it's obvious somebody's out to get you 517 00:25:59,124 --> 00:26:01,358 and we need to try to figure out who that is 518 00:26:01,393 --> 00:26:03,794 as quickly as possible. 519 00:26:03,828 --> 00:26:06,997 [Laurie] Obviously, whoever was the author of that letter 520 00:26:07,032 --> 00:26:09,133 was wanting to point the finger 521 00:26:09,167 --> 00:26:11,068 and wanting the investigation to go 522 00:26:11,102 --> 00:26:12,469 in the direction of Adam Yoder. 523 00:26:13,872 --> 00:26:18,075 So we were very interested in finding out who that person was. 524 00:26:18,109 --> 00:26:19,209 They don't wanna be known. 525 00:26:19,844 --> 00:26:21,278 Whoever wrote that letter 526 00:26:21,313 --> 00:26:22,846 was the person who was probably 527 00:26:22,881 --> 00:26:25,149 behind the homicide of Mary Yoder. 528 00:26:32,424 --> 00:26:35,192 [narrator] In the mysterious murder of Mary Yoder, investigators believe 529 00:26:35,226 --> 00:26:38,896 the author of the anonymous letter is their main suspect. 530 00:26:38,930 --> 00:26:43,434 But who stands to gain from framing Adam Yoder from his mother's murder? 531 00:26:43,468 --> 00:26:45,369 [Mark] This is an absolutely crazy case, 532 00:26:45,403 --> 00:26:47,905 but the thing you've gotta remember in all investigations 533 00:26:47,939 --> 00:26:49,006 is you go back to basics. 534 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,775 Relying on evidence and following evidence. 535 00:26:51,810 --> 00:26:53,877 [narrator] Since the letter led investigators 536 00:26:53,912 --> 00:26:55,679 to the poison in Adam's car, 537 00:26:55,714 --> 00:26:59,116 they take a deeper look at the bottle and receipt. 538 00:26:59,150 --> 00:27:02,119 [Laurie] The receipt provides a lot of information, 539 00:27:02,153 --> 00:27:03,687 and that Gmail account 540 00:27:03,722 --> 00:27:07,358 now is something that law enforcement can look into. 541 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:10,594 [Mark] The Sheriff's Office was able 542 00:27:10,629 --> 00:27:13,831 to get Adam Yoder's laptop and his cellphone. 543 00:27:13,865 --> 00:27:16,467 A complete forensic examination 544 00:27:16,501 --> 00:27:20,070 showed no evidence of the use 545 00:27:20,105 --> 00:27:23,440 of the mradamyoder1990@gmail.com 546 00:27:23,475 --> 00:27:25,809 e-mail address ever. 547 00:27:25,844 --> 00:27:29,980 It was kind of our way of cleaning Adam Yoder very easily. 548 00:27:30,015 --> 00:27:34,251 And now the person who's trying to put it on him becomes the sole focus. 549 00:27:34,285 --> 00:27:37,087 [Tony] The absolutely critical next step in the investigation 550 00:27:37,122 --> 00:27:40,524 is to understand when the account was created, 551 00:27:40,558 --> 00:27:46,430 by what device, and when is it accessed and by what device. 552 00:27:46,464 --> 00:27:48,966 [Mark] Whoever has control of that Gmail account 553 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:50,501 becomes very important to us 554 00:27:50,535 --> 00:27:53,103 because whoever has control of that Gmail account 555 00:27:53,138 --> 00:27:56,006 is the one that's purchasing this colchicine. 556 00:27:56,041 --> 00:27:59,988 Gmail doesn't request any verification of the identity 557 00:28:00,012 --> 00:28:01,812 of the person who sets it up. 558 00:28:01,846 --> 00:28:05,249 So truly anyone, anywhere 559 00:28:05,283 --> 00:28:08,452 can set up a Gmail account that says just about anything. 560 00:28:09,454 --> 00:28:11,155 To further the investigation, 561 00:28:11,189 --> 00:28:15,526 we need to know information that Google has. 562 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:18,195 [narrator] When investigators submit a subpoena to Google 563 00:28:18,229 --> 00:28:20,364 requesting information on the account, 564 00:28:20,398 --> 00:28:21,899 the company's response 565 00:28:21,933 --> 00:28:24,368 provides them with a surprising new lead. 566 00:28:24,402 --> 00:28:25,369 [phone ringing] 567 00:28:25,403 --> 00:28:27,971 The response from Google shows that the account 568 00:28:28,006 --> 00:28:30,574 was accessed from two different locations 569 00:28:30,608 --> 00:28:32,976 using two separate IP addresses, 570 00:28:33,011 --> 00:28:35,212 the house where Kaitlyn Conley lives 571 00:28:35,246 --> 00:28:39,016 and the chiropractic office where Kaitlyn Conley works. 572 00:28:39,050 --> 00:28:41,385 [Laurie] Every time it was always accessed 573 00:28:41,419 --> 00:28:44,922 from the device exclusively used by Kaitlyn Conley. 574 00:28:47,192 --> 00:28:50,494 That is a huge moment in this investigation. 575 00:28:50,528 --> 00:28:53,731 Here is a person who is supposed to have been 576 00:28:53,765 --> 00:28:55,532 a girlfriend of Adam Yoder, 577 00:28:55,567 --> 00:28:58,869 a loyal employee of William and Mary Yoder. 578 00:29:00,572 --> 00:29:03,040 So we call Kaitlyn Conley 579 00:29:03,074 --> 00:29:06,610 and specifically requesting an interview with her. 580 00:29:06,644 --> 00:29:08,212 As we're interviewing Kaitlyn, 581 00:29:08,246 --> 00:29:10,948 we asked about what her status is with Adam. 582 00:29:10,982 --> 00:29:13,283 She tells us she's no longer seeing Adam 583 00:29:13,318 --> 00:29:16,153 or has not seen him or spoken with him 584 00:29:16,187 --> 00:29:19,423 since September of 2015, about three months prior. 585 00:29:19,457 --> 00:29:22,893 [Laurie] She describes how she felt like Adam mistreated her 586 00:29:22,927 --> 00:29:26,663 a lot of times during the course of their relationship. 587 00:29:26,698 --> 00:29:29,466 [Mark] Kaitlyn describes Adam as not a very hard worker, 588 00:29:29,501 --> 00:29:30,567 he can't keep a job. 589 00:29:30,602 --> 00:29:32,436 He's horrible with money. 590 00:29:32,470 --> 00:29:34,238 [Laurie] Kaitlyn tells the investigators 591 00:29:34,272 --> 00:29:38,475 when Adam found out that his mother was gravely ill, 592 00:29:38,510 --> 00:29:42,613 first person that he reached out for was Kaitlyn Conley. 593 00:29:42,647 --> 00:29:44,381 He told her he needed her 594 00:29:44,415 --> 00:29:47,951 and asked her to please come to the hospital with him, 595 00:29:47,986 --> 00:29:49,286 and at that point 596 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:52,356 they resumed a romantic relationship, 597 00:29:53,358 --> 00:29:55,159 but an incident occurred 598 00:29:55,193 --> 00:29:57,427 several months after Mary died, 599 00:29:57,462 --> 00:30:00,264 in which Adam went back to the office 600 00:30:00,298 --> 00:30:01,565 looking for evidence 601 00:30:01,633 --> 00:30:05,102 of whom might've been responsible for his mother's death. 602 00:30:05,136 --> 00:30:08,038 Kaitlyn and Adam got into a fight 603 00:30:08,072 --> 00:30:11,542 and Adam was advised by his father to leave the office. 604 00:30:11,576 --> 00:30:14,378 [narrator] But when investigators started asking Kaitlyn 605 00:30:14,412 --> 00:30:15,879 about Mary's poisoning, 606 00:30:15,914 --> 00:30:18,282 the interview takes a surprising turn. 607 00:30:18,316 --> 00:30:23,053 Kaitlyn is asked if she knows what Mary Yoder died from 608 00:30:23,087 --> 00:30:26,490 and she indicates that she doesn't know. 609 00:30:26,524 --> 00:30:30,828 [Mark] I explained to her that Mary dies of colchicine intoxication. 610 00:30:30,862 --> 00:30:32,663 And then she asked me how she spelled that, 611 00:30:32,697 --> 00:30:34,665 so I took the corner of my notebook 612 00:30:34,699 --> 00:30:36,200 and actually ripped out a page, 613 00:30:36,234 --> 00:30:37,768 and I spelled out colchicine 614 00:30:37,802 --> 00:30:40,270 and slid it across the desk to her. 615 00:30:40,305 --> 00:30:43,540 [Laurie] But someone who assisted in taking over 616 00:30:43,575 --> 00:30:47,144 Mary Yoder's practice advised Law enforcement 617 00:30:47,178 --> 00:30:51,048 he had learned that Mary Yoder had died from colchicine toxicity, 618 00:30:51,082 --> 00:30:53,083 and he shared that information 619 00:30:53,117 --> 00:30:55,786 with Kaitlyn Conley in September. 620 00:30:55,820 --> 00:30:58,455 So when she spoked to law enforcement in December 621 00:30:58,489 --> 00:31:01,158 and denied knowing what killed Mary Yoder, 622 00:31:01,726 --> 00:31:03,827 that was a lie. 623 00:31:03,862 --> 00:31:06,363 [Mark] She's downplaying her knowledge of colchicine. 624 00:31:06,397 --> 00:31:09,800 Why would a person care that they've ever heard of colchicine before 625 00:31:09,834 --> 00:31:11,802 or why would they try to conceal that? 626 00:31:26,818 --> 00:31:27,985 [Laurie] And at that point, 627 00:31:28,019 --> 00:31:30,053 Mark Van Namee confronts Kaitlyn 628 00:31:30,088 --> 00:31:32,890 as to the fact that this Gmail account 629 00:31:32,924 --> 00:31:34,224 that's been accessed, 630 00:31:34,259 --> 00:31:36,827 all roads point to her devices. 631 00:31:58,917 --> 00:32:01,385 "We were back together and, you know, 632 00:32:01,419 --> 00:32:02,786 he's been to my home. 633 00:32:02,820 --> 00:32:04,554 He would have access to my computers," 634 00:32:04,589 --> 00:32:07,424 and attempting to point the finger at Adam. 635 00:32:07,458 --> 00:32:10,794 [Mark] Once we start catching Kaitlyn in several lies, 636 00:32:10,828 --> 00:32:13,030 obviously, that is very important. 637 00:32:13,064 --> 00:32:14,798 We weren't catching Adam in lies, 638 00:32:14,832 --> 00:32:16,767 we weren't catching William Yoder in lies, 639 00:32:16,801 --> 00:32:18,268 and she keeps bringing up Adam. 640 00:32:18,303 --> 00:32:20,103 Adam this, Adam this. 641 00:32:20,138 --> 00:32:22,039 [Laurie] The investigator then decided, 642 00:32:22,073 --> 00:32:24,875 "Wait a minute, we've got this anonymous letter" 643 00:32:24,909 --> 00:32:26,843 pointing the finger at Adam Yoder, 644 00:32:26,878 --> 00:32:29,012 we've got Kaitlyn Conley now 645 00:32:29,047 --> 00:32:30,914 pointing the finger at Adam Yoder. 646 00:32:30,949 --> 00:32:34,918 "Hey, maybe Kaitlyn Conley is the anonymous letter writer." 647 00:32:36,287 --> 00:32:38,588 [narrator] If investigators can link Kaitlyn to both 648 00:32:38,623 --> 00:32:41,258 the anonymous letter and the purchase of the poison, 649 00:32:41,292 --> 00:32:42,793 they've found their killer. 650 00:32:42,827 --> 00:32:47,431 But the question remains, why would she want to poison Mary Yoder? 651 00:32:47,465 --> 00:32:50,667 [Lauri] Investigators were able to get a pretty good idea 652 00:32:50,702 --> 00:32:53,570 of the type of relationship Kaitlyn and Adam had, 653 00:32:53,604 --> 00:32:55,839 which quite frankly and ironically 654 00:32:55,873 --> 00:32:57,908 was a toxic relationship. 655 00:32:57,942 --> 00:33:01,745 Any time Adam Yoder broke off with Kaitlyn Conley, 656 00:33:01,779 --> 00:33:05,015 she did something to bring him back to her. 657 00:33:06,017 --> 00:33:09,319 She fabricated an ectopic pregnancy, 658 00:33:09,354 --> 00:33:11,455 and he immediately came back to her. 659 00:33:11,489 --> 00:33:13,490 She accused him of raping her 660 00:33:13,524 --> 00:33:15,759 and being violent towards her. 661 00:33:15,793 --> 00:33:18,695 Ironically, even after a rape allegation, 662 00:33:18,730 --> 00:33:21,365 Adam Yoder went back to her, 663 00:33:21,399 --> 00:33:23,900 and I think finally Adam realized 664 00:33:23,935 --> 00:33:25,836 he just couldn't be with her anymore. 665 00:33:27,505 --> 00:33:30,007 And when it ended finally, 666 00:33:30,041 --> 00:33:32,509 Kaitlyn Conley decided she was going to do 667 00:33:32,543 --> 00:33:34,644 one last thing to try to get him back, 668 00:33:35,546 --> 00:33:38,382 and that was to kill his mother. 669 00:33:44,889 --> 00:33:46,656 [narrator] Detectives are working a new theory 670 00:33:46,691 --> 00:33:49,860 in the murder by poison of 60 year old Mary Yoder. 671 00:33:49,894 --> 00:33:51,995 Could her officer manager, Kaitlyn Conley, 672 00:33:52,030 --> 00:33:54,631 have killed Mary to punish her son, Adam, 673 00:33:54,665 --> 00:33:56,700 for ending their relationship? 674 00:33:56,734 --> 00:34:00,737 [Mark] Obviously, she has an extra grind with Adam Yoder. 675 00:34:00,772 --> 00:34:02,139 They're no longer friends. 676 00:34:04,108 --> 00:34:07,110 They had some sort of on-again, off-again relationship 677 00:34:07,145 --> 00:34:08,512 throughout the years. 678 00:34:08,546 --> 00:34:11,014 If you use the theory that the person that wrote the letter 679 00:34:11,049 --> 00:34:12,582 was responsible for the homicide, 680 00:34:12,617 --> 00:34:14,684 she becomes the main suspect. 681 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,354 [narrator] With the investigation shifting to Kaitlyn, 682 00:34:17,388 --> 00:34:19,689 detective Van Namee gets another break 683 00:34:19,724 --> 00:34:21,224 when the DNA analysis 684 00:34:21,259 --> 00:34:24,227 of the two anonymous letters come back. 685 00:34:24,262 --> 00:34:26,696 We've been notified that there's female DNA 686 00:34:26,731 --> 00:34:29,266 under the stamp of the envelope. 687 00:34:30,735 --> 00:34:33,437 So we ask Kaitlyn Conley to come in to give us 688 00:34:33,471 --> 00:34:35,105 a fingerprint and DNA sample. 689 00:34:35,973 --> 00:34:37,941 She not only comes to give her DNA, 690 00:34:37,975 --> 00:34:40,010 but she brought the envelope from the office, 691 00:34:40,044 --> 00:34:41,244 letterheads from the office. 692 00:34:41,279 --> 00:34:44,114 Like, stuff that I did not ask for. 693 00:34:44,148 --> 00:34:47,584 I mean, it was almost like she was going over the top to be helpful. 694 00:34:47,618 --> 00:34:49,786 So I specifically asked Kaitlyn, 695 00:34:49,821 --> 00:34:52,289 "Did you write to us the anonymous letter?" 696 00:34:52,323 --> 00:34:54,291 And there was silence and she stated, 697 00:34:54,325 --> 00:34:56,259 "You can't protect me." 698 00:34:56,294 --> 00:34:58,061 Well, any answer another than a yes or a no 699 00:34:58,096 --> 00:34:59,362 to a "yes, no" question, 700 00:34:59,397 --> 00:35:00,831 you gotta ask the question again. 701 00:35:00,865 --> 00:35:02,199 So I immediately asked, 702 00:35:02,233 --> 00:35:04,167 "If you're the one that wrote us that letter I need to know, 703 00:35:04,202 --> 00:35:06,303 you might be our only witness." 704 00:35:06,337 --> 00:35:09,306 There was in that interview that Kaitlyn actually admitted 705 00:35:09,340 --> 00:35:10,941 to writing the anonymous letter. 706 00:35:20,218 --> 00:35:22,919 Kaitlyn makes the argument that she wants us to know the truth 707 00:35:22,954 --> 00:35:24,287 in that she's scared of Adam Yoder. 708 00:35:25,890 --> 00:35:28,492 [Laurie] I think at this point in Kaitlyn Conley's mind, 709 00:35:28,526 --> 00:35:30,193 she is actually operating 710 00:35:30,228 --> 00:35:32,329 in terms of self-preservation mode 711 00:35:32,363 --> 00:35:36,233 and so her defense is to tell investigator Van Namee 712 00:35:36,267 --> 00:35:38,168 that he wasn't a good boyfriend, 713 00:35:38,202 --> 00:35:40,504 and that she was afraid of him. 714 00:35:40,538 --> 00:35:43,507 He was physically abusive and hit her in the past, 715 00:35:43,541 --> 00:35:46,443 and that's why she wrote the anonymous letter, 716 00:35:46,477 --> 00:35:48,645 and that's why she didn't call the police 717 00:35:48,679 --> 00:35:52,015 because she was afraid that he would come after her. 718 00:35:52,049 --> 00:35:54,495 [Mark] Right after she admits to being the letter writer 719 00:35:54,519 --> 00:35:58,121 and we are talking about Adam being a suspect, 720 00:35:58,156 --> 00:35:59,623 and I'm going along with, you know, 721 00:35:59,657 --> 00:36:02,125 "Why would Adam want to kill his mom," and this and that. 722 00:36:21,112 --> 00:36:23,146 [Michael] Poisoning, at least, anecdotally 723 00:36:23,181 --> 00:36:25,849 is a preferred method of murder 724 00:36:25,883 --> 00:36:28,685 frequently among women because it is so insidious. 725 00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:31,855 It does not require exertion of tremendous strength, 726 00:36:31,889 --> 00:36:34,925 it does not involve a tremendous degree of violence. 727 00:36:34,959 --> 00:36:36,760 It is a silent killer. 728 00:36:36,794 --> 00:36:41,097 It's effortless effectively, which is what makes it so dangerous. 729 00:36:42,166 --> 00:36:43,833 [narrator] Even with Kaitlyn's confession 730 00:36:43,868 --> 00:36:45,502 to writing the anonymous letter, 731 00:36:45,536 --> 00:36:48,738 investigators have no evidence that she poisoned Mary 732 00:36:48,773 --> 00:36:51,541 and are forced to let her go. 733 00:36:51,576 --> 00:36:55,412 [Laurie] It's frustrating that you have somebody sitting before you 734 00:36:55,446 --> 00:36:59,916 who you know has probably in a very cold and calculating manner 735 00:36:59,951 --> 00:37:03,620 cause the death of someone who was very well loved in the community. 736 00:37:03,654 --> 00:37:06,723 It's frustrating to know that you have to let them walk out the door. 737 00:37:06,757 --> 00:37:08,558 You don't have enough evidence at this point 738 00:37:08,593 --> 00:37:09,926 to maybe arrest them. 739 00:37:12,463 --> 00:37:16,132 [narrator] As investigators continue building their case against Kaitlyn, 740 00:37:16,167 --> 00:37:18,935 they get a surprise visit from Adam Yoder. 741 00:37:18,970 --> 00:37:20,437 [Laurie] He told investigators 742 00:37:20,504 --> 00:37:22,906 that in his relationship with Kaitlyn Conley, 743 00:37:22,940 --> 00:37:26,042 he had gotten very ill almost three months 744 00:37:26,077 --> 00:37:30,280 to the day prior to his mother getting very ill. 745 00:37:30,314 --> 00:37:32,716 He had been given Alpha Brain pills 746 00:37:32,783 --> 00:37:36,253 by Kaitlyn Conley and he had become very ill. 747 00:37:36,287 --> 00:37:40,056 So he sort of half joking asked her 748 00:37:40,091 --> 00:37:42,459 if she had poisoned him. 749 00:37:42,493 --> 00:37:45,228 That actually caused a fight between the two of them, 750 00:37:45,263 --> 00:37:48,598 but it was something that had always been in the back of his mind. 751 00:37:49,934 --> 00:37:52,602 It is our belief that Kaitlyn Conley 752 00:37:52,637 --> 00:37:57,073 caused Adam Yoder to ingest colchicine as well. 753 00:37:57,108 --> 00:38:00,710 [narrator] With a potential pattern of poisoning stablished for Kaitlyn, 754 00:38:00,745 --> 00:38:02,612 detectives dig into the details 755 00:38:02,647 --> 00:38:04,214 of the colchicine purchase. 756 00:38:05,316 --> 00:38:08,318 [Lurie] Investigators learn prepaid credit cards 757 00:38:08,352 --> 00:38:10,987 were used to purchase the colchicine 758 00:38:11,022 --> 00:38:13,623 and they were able to trace them back 759 00:38:13,658 --> 00:38:16,693 to being purchased at a local grocery store. 760 00:38:16,727 --> 00:38:19,496 [Mark] They had no other purchases on those credit cards, 761 00:38:19,530 --> 00:38:21,831 so it became very important to us, 762 00:38:21,866 --> 00:38:23,867 whoever purchased those credit cards 763 00:38:23,901 --> 00:38:25,268 that were used for the colchicine, 764 00:38:25,303 --> 00:38:26,536 they had one mission, 765 00:38:26,570 --> 00:38:28,538 they were trying to buy a poison. 766 00:38:30,574 --> 00:38:32,709 [narrator] Investigators called Kaitlyn back in, 767 00:38:32,743 --> 00:38:34,210 hoping they can bluff her 768 00:38:34,245 --> 00:38:36,313 into admitting she purchased the credit cards 769 00:38:36,347 --> 00:38:39,282 used to buy the poison that killed Mary. 770 00:38:39,317 --> 00:38:40,884 [Mark] In an investigation when you're in a room 771 00:38:40,918 --> 00:38:42,519 with somebody, you can use a prop. 772 00:38:42,553 --> 00:38:45,055 The decision was made that we would tell her 773 00:38:45,089 --> 00:38:46,556 we had security video 774 00:38:46,590 --> 00:38:49,092 of that purchase from the supermarket. 775 00:38:59,303 --> 00:39:01,071 She continually said, "That's not me. 776 00:39:01,105 --> 00:39:03,440 Adam must've done it. Not me, not me, not me." 777 00:39:29,066 --> 00:39:31,101 [Mark] She could've said, "I didn't buy them." 778 00:39:31,135 --> 00:39:34,838 But no, she believed at that moment I had her. 779 00:39:34,872 --> 00:39:37,841 [Laurie] It was a risk at that point we felt like we had to take 780 00:39:37,875 --> 00:39:41,111 because we wanted some admissions from her. 781 00:39:41,145 --> 00:39:44,214 [Mark] We proved that Kaitlyn was the one that bought the credit card. 782 00:39:44,248 --> 00:39:46,883 She's the one that has control of the Gmail account. 783 00:39:46,917 --> 00:39:49,452 I mean, we can put the poison in her hand, 784 00:39:49,487 --> 00:39:51,087 we can't do that with anybody else. 785 00:39:51,122 --> 00:39:54,557 There's no doubt she's the one that's responsible for Mary Yoder's death. 786 00:40:09,473 --> 00:40:14,778 One has to wonder if a part of the motive in this case was somehow to punishing Adam. 787 00:40:14,812 --> 00:40:17,714 That having him suffer through this death 788 00:40:17,748 --> 00:40:20,083 and effectively claim two victims in the process. 789 00:40:23,821 --> 00:40:26,956 [narrator] With Kaitlyn's confession to purchasing colchicine, 790 00:40:26,991 --> 00:40:31,928 detectives are now able to reconstruct Mary Yoder's final hours. 791 00:40:31,962 --> 00:40:34,764 [Mark] Kaitlyn arrives at the office on July 20th, 792 00:40:34,799 --> 00:40:36,399 just prior to 8:00 a.m., 793 00:40:36,434 --> 00:40:41,237 Mary arrives approximately at 8:30 a.m. to begin her day. 794 00:40:41,272 --> 00:40:44,407 Mary leaves the office approximately at 12:30 p.m. 795 00:40:44,442 --> 00:40:46,576 to go have lunch with her mother. 796 00:40:46,610 --> 00:40:49,212 [Laurie] It would've been during the lunch time 797 00:40:49,246 --> 00:40:51,614 where Mary Yoder was out of the office 798 00:40:51,649 --> 00:40:55,418 and Kaitlyn Conley was alone there by herself 799 00:40:55,453 --> 00:40:59,889 that colchicine was placed in the protein powder shake 800 00:40:59,924 --> 00:41:03,393 that Mary Yoder drank around 1:30 that afternoon. 801 00:41:05,029 --> 00:41:07,931 Kaitlyn Conley remained in the office with Mary Yoder 802 00:41:07,965 --> 00:41:13,336 until around 6:30 that evening of July 20th. 803 00:41:13,370 --> 00:41:15,805 Forty-eight hours after ingesting the colchicine, 804 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:19,142 Mary Yoder died from colchicine toxicity. 805 00:41:23,013 --> 00:41:25,081 [narrator] Detectives arrest Kaitlyn Conley 806 00:41:25,115 --> 00:41:27,083 and charge her with second degree murder. 807 00:41:27,117 --> 00:41:29,586 At trial, she gets eventually convicted 808 00:41:29,620 --> 00:41:32,121 of the lesser charge of first degree manslaughter 809 00:41:32,156 --> 00:41:35,658 and is sentenced to 23 years in prison. 810 00:41:35,693 --> 00:41:37,927 Kaitlyn Conley thought a long time about this. 811 00:41:37,962 --> 00:41:40,830 She spent a lot of time planning this. 812 00:41:40,865 --> 00:41:43,733 Based on everything I observed, 813 00:41:43,767 --> 00:41:48,171 I would describe Kaitlyn Conley as a cold, 814 00:41:48,205 --> 00:41:50,473 calculating sociopath. 815 00:41:52,443 --> 00:41:54,811 There's no doubt about it, it was almost the perfect crime. 816 00:41:54,845 --> 00:41:57,113 She came very close to pulling it off. 817 00:41:58,649 --> 00:42:01,084 [Tony] One of the things I think about often 818 00:42:01,118 --> 00:42:04,587 is how easily this case could've never been solved. 819 00:42:07,024 --> 00:42:08,658 Justice for Mary Yoder 820 00:42:08,692 --> 00:42:11,361 very easily could've been lost. 821 00:42:11,395 --> 00:42:14,697 She loved her family very much, she loved her job. 822 00:42:14,732 --> 00:42:17,901 She loved her practice, she loved her patience. 823 00:42:17,935 --> 00:42:20,503 She was just incredibly passionate 824 00:42:20,538 --> 00:42:24,340 about helping people and doing what was right. 825 00:42:24,375 --> 00:42:28,177 Clearly, she was lost long before she should've been.