Latest / Gone Cold - Texas True Crime / The Murder of Brittany McGlone Part 3: No Bill

Transcript

The Murder of Brittany McGlone Part 3: No Bill · Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

0:01
Before we get started, I'd like to take a moment to remind y'all of
0:05
the important events coming up soon. The Justice for Brittany McGlone vigil slash rally
0:13
is confirmed to be taking place at the Wood County Courthouse in Quipment, Texas,
0:18
on May fourth. The time has been changed slightly. It'll take place
0:23
from eight thirty am to four pm. Hope to see y'all there. I'd
0:29
also be thrilled to see you a couple days later on May sixth, in
0:33
Brownwood, Texas for the Justice for Leon Laureles event. If I'm not mistaken,
0:40
There's not necessarily an end time set for Leon's memorial, but it is
0:46
to begin at ten am. Before both of these events take place. On
0:52
April twenty nine, that one pm in Fort Worth, there will be a
0:56
mile long march from the city's courthouse to the station that how is the police
1:00
Department's cold case unit. It's been organized to draw attention to Fort Worth's many
1:07
unsolved and missing persons cases. All of these events are twenty twenty three,
1:11
of course, and all are to raise much needed awareness. Again, I
1:18
hope to see y'all at any or all of them will provide links to all
1:23
in the show notes too, Thanks y'all, And one more thing, Our
1:30
goodpal Evan has launched the third season of his documentary travelog podcast, Vanishing Postcards,
1:38
and he's back in Texas. Vanishing Postcards is among the best podcasts out
1:44
there and one of the best possible palate cleansers. If listening to true crime
1:49
has your mind in a dark place, so ride Shotgun with our fellow Texs
1:55
and Evan Stern as he travels the lone Star State's most treasured low cal gems
2:00
and off the beaten path spots in this new journey that has him partnering with
2:05
Southern Foodway Alliance. And try not to get jealous. You're not there with
2:10
him like I do. Here he is to tell you about it. Eighteen
2:15
or eighty, cripple blinder crazy, I'm going dancing tonight. It don't matter
2:22
which one he gets a hold of mayor I get a hold of them.
2:24
You know that's Hoot Gibson. I met him an Archy Blue silver Dollar in
2:29
Bandera, Texas. He's just one of many characters you'll hear from in Vanishing
2:34
Postcards, a podcast where we explore the hidden dives, traditions, and frequently
2:38
threatened histories discovered by exiting the highways. We don't give flid flip for most
2:46
of your regular bar types featuring dispatches from the back roads. Vanishing Postcards is
2:53
a touching, frequently humorous experience, perfect for when you need a breather but
2:59
don't have the time or ugury of jumping in the car. I'm Evan Stern,
3:02
and I invite you to join this ride by finding Vanishing Postcards wherever you
3:07
get your podcasts. Thanks seven now onto the episode. The concol podcast may
3:20
contain violent or graphic subject matter. Listener discretion is advised. Out of the
3:27
several suspects, Wood County, Texas Sheriff's Office investigators looked into for the two
3:32
thousand and seven slang of nineteen year old Brittany McLoone one stood out. Twenty
3:39
five year old Chatteral Car was nervous at the crime scene while speaking with a
3:45
deputy on May fourth, two thousand and seven, the day Brittany was killed.
3:51
The deputy took note that Car detailed his whereabouts that day to the point
3:57
that it seemed like he was setting up a bye. The near minute by
4:01
minute recollection didn't seem quite right, and perhaps it wasn't. Less than twenty
4:09
four hours later, during his interview with Lieutenant Miles Tucker, Carr went over
4:15
his movements on the day of the murder. He lied about some of them,
4:19
including a claim that he was early to an optometrist's appointment, when several
4:26
eyewitnesses who worked there said he was actually late. He told one of those
4:31
witnesses over the phone, the office's receptionist, that he was having trouble with
4:38
his vehicle, but he mentioned nothing of the sort when Lieutenant Tucker questioned him.
4:46
Carr also told the policeman that he'd visited his place of employment that morning.
4:51
However, his supervisor told police it was much later in the afternoon when
4:58
he came in. Considering these deceptions, the small amount of time it took
5:03
Car to drive from one place to the next allowed him plenty of unaccounted for
5:10
time to drive to where Britney was sleeping and commit the crime. According to
5:15
a twenty twenty two arrest affidavit, the source we used for a lot of
5:20
the information pertaining to Chad Car's accounts and movements on the day Brittany McLoone was
5:27
brutally murdered. One of those trips was going home to change clothes. After
5:34
the clothing change, Car told Lieutenant Tucker he returned to Alco, the retail
5:41
store where his aunt was working, to bring her breakfast from sonic. The
5:46
store's dumpster was never searched, nor the store for that matter, places where
5:51
Car could have easily disposed of or hid evidence. If he is indeed the
5:58
killer, Chattero Car's criminal record suggested he was capable of killing Brittany. In
6:05
two thousand and one, he had stocked and assaulted a young woman in her
6:10
Winnsboro trailer home. The weapon he used was an item in which the intended
6:15
use matched the theorized weapon used to kill Brittany McLoone, a carjack handle.
6:24
Several months prior to Britney's murder, fairly fresh out of the prison he'd been
6:29
in as the result of that assault, Car raped his ex wife while his
6:34
child and her baby cried in the next room. These accounts, the lies
6:42
and violent past crimes we discussed in detail on Part two, however, are
6:47
not the only evidence that point to Chatteral Carr as a suspect for the two
6:53
thousand and seven murder of Brittany McLoone, not by a long shot. In
7:08
twenty twenty one, when newly sworn in Wood County Sheriff Kelly Cole assigned Brittany
7:14
mcloone's case to his Captain of criminal Investigations, Mike Chilson, the evidence continually
7:21
came back to one suspect. There's little doubt Captain Chilson was shocked and perhaps
7:28
immensely frustrated at past administration's failure to lean in hard un Chatter or Car.
7:36
It's critical to remember here that most probable cause affidavits are not going to contain
7:43
in them the entirety of a law enforcement jurisdiction's case for an arrest. But
7:49
what ended up in Chilson's request for an arrest warrant is damning. On Thursday
7:57
May seventeenth, two thousand and seven, Car traveled to the Amarillo Police Department
8:03
to undergo a polygraph examination. While the exact questions the suspect was asked are
8:09
unknown to us, if the test was administered correctly, it can be presumed
8:16
that he was asked a series of them that required yes or no answers.
8:22
Likely questions were directed to car that involved the accounts of his whereabouts the day
8:28
Brittany McLoone was killed, and almost certainly the accounts that had been disputed by
8:33
witnesses. According to the twenty twenty two affidavit, he failed the examination,
8:41
though the exact context and circumstance for which is also unknown to us. Apparently,
8:48
Chad Earl Carr always answered that he could not have killed Brittany and that
8:52
all his time was accounted for. However, Captain Chilson noted he never outright
9:00
denied killing her. He never said the words I did not kill Brittany,
9:05
something the policeman noted a normal person would do if accused of a crime they
9:11
did not commit. Now, polygraphs are far from infallible, and they're inadmissible
9:20
as evidence in a court of law in the state of Texas, among most
9:24
others, but they can be valuable as an investigative tool. Also, not
9:31
outright denying you committed a crime, no matter how bad it looks, isn't
9:37
necessarily indicative of guilt. Physical evidence, on the other hand, is a
9:43
little harder to ignore. Just a few days after chat Earl car underwent a
10:01
polygraph examination on Monday May twenty first, two, thousand and seven, a
10:07
search warrant was executed on his residence off Country Road thirty nine ninety in East
10:13
Point. Several items, a twenty twenty two probable cause affidavit states were located
10:20
and collected as evidence. Among these items were one pair of socks, a
10:26
pair of white shorts with several drops of a substance that appeared to be blood,
10:33
a white T shirt with possible blood, a gray ski mask, and
10:39
two pairs of women's underwear, one pink, one white. One pair of
10:45
underwear was size seven and the other size five. The size seven were easy
10:52
enough to explain. They belonged to Carr's girlfriend, Melba, who was also
10:58
the sister of Britain McGlone's boyfriend, Jeff Stagner. When Brittany's body was discovered
11:05
at Jeff's house, her clothing was accounted for everything except her underwear, which
11:11
she most certainly wore. In fact, according to her boyfriend, Brittany never
11:18
slept there without underwear on, since she felt it was disrespectful to Jeff's mother.
11:26
Also, Brittany McGlone war size five underwear, the same size as the
11:31
unaccounted for pair found within Chad Carr's belongings Wood County Sheriff's Office Captain Mike Chilson
11:41
remarked in the twenty twenty two affida Fit that when he began reviewing physical evidence,
11:48
there was no mention of a pair of underwear. Unlike investigators before him,
11:54
it appears Chilson sought to get to the bottom of it. Though he
11:58
does not definitively determined that the size fives belonged to Brittney, the captain did
12:05
determine, through common sense interviews and review of three different size charts, that
12:11
the underwear almost certainly did not belong to Carr's girlfriend, Melba. From the
12:18
moment Brittany McLane's body was discovered, everyone involved, family to investigators, knew
12:26
one thing. It was highly unlikely the perpetrator was an opportunist in the usual
12:33
sense of the term, a stranger who came upon and snuck into the Stagner
12:39
home randomly to do his worst. The house, after all, was located
12:43
on a dead end country road where there were few passers by, Plus there
12:50
were no signs of forced entry. Although the Stagners kept their front door locked,
12:56
we are of the understanding that the back door was often left unlocked.
13:03
It's more probable that whoever killed Brittany was privy to that fact and a couple
13:09
others, that the rest of the family was away from the house that day,
13:13
and that Brittany would be there alone sleeping. The killer, it seems,
13:18
had personal knowledge not only of the Stagner home, but also the few
13:24
factors that would have made May fourth, two thousand and seven, the perfect
13:30
day to carry out the crime. In January of two thousand and eight,
13:35
Chad Carr's girlfriend, Melba, and her mother met with Lieutenant Miles Tucker.
13:43
Melba had typed out her account of the day Brittany was slain, which included
13:48
many very important details. Win Carr picked her up from Winnsboro High School that
13:54
day, Melba wrote he was acting very nervous. After she climbed into his
14:01
vehicle, Melba leaned over to give Car a hug. She immediately recognized the
14:07
smell of her soap on her boyfriend, which Melba identified by name, and
14:13
asked if he had taken a shower. Carr answered yes, but when Melba
14:18
asked if he'd showered at her house, the question was answered with silence.
14:24
The twenty twenty two Affida Foot doesn't go over Melba's accounts in their entirety,
14:31
of course, so it's unknown how much of chad Earl Carr's story was corroborated
14:35
there. That story was he picked her up at school, They got lunch
14:41
at Peralta's Mexican restaurant, went back to his optometrist's office, then an insurance
14:48
office, a flower shop, a business called J and D's, and finally
14:54
ended up at Alco retail store. From Alco, Carr recalled in his statement,
15:01
he and Melba headed toward her house. From Alco, car recalled in
15:05
his statement he Melba and Melba's mother, by all indications, headed toward her
15:11
house unbeknownst to him. He claimed the murder scene. As they drove there,
15:20
Melba said, Carr tried calling his grandfather, who didn't answer. After
15:26
that, he phoned an aunt. Melba continued, and asked her to come
15:31
to the Stagner home because he didn't need to be there by himself, presumably
15:37
meaning the only member of his family. The affide Fit does not give every
15:41
detail of Melba's accounts, but it isn't difficult to imagine Car's request to his
15:48
aunt was confusing, and upon pulling up to a swarm of Wood County Sheriff's
15:54
Office deputies shortly thereafter. Her boyfriend's strange behavior that day, alongside what she
16:00
knew about her family's and Brittany's whereabouts, seems to have hit Melba all at
16:07
once. Where the fuck have you been all day? Melba asked as she
16:12
turned to car. He answered immediately, she recalled, I couldn't have done
16:18
it because I have an alibi, Chad Carr said, as he proceeded to
16:22
recount to her his claimed version of where he'd been for the past several hours.
16:30
Melba's mother corroborated her daughter's accounts. She also told Lieutenant Miles Tucker that
16:37
on the day Brittany was murdered, she had asked Chad to pick her up
16:41
at Alco and bring her back home earlier in the day so she could tidy
16:47
up before her mother got there. If you'll recall, Brittany McGlone's boyfriend,
16:52
Jeff Stagner, and his stepfather were gone all day because they'd driven to Cleburne,
16:57
one hundred and forty five miles west to pick up Jeff's maternal grandmother and
17:03
bring her back to their Wood County home. For a visit, though he
17:07
had never told her no before, Melba's mother told the policeman, and although
17:14
he'd been in town running around all day with seemingly little else to do but
17:19
get to an eye appointment, Chad Carr refused to pick her up early that
17:25
day, and with very little or valid explanation as to why. Motive was
17:33
perhaps the most elusive detail of the murder of Brittany McGlone up until January of
17:41
two thousand and eight, when Lieutenant Miles Tucker visited with Chad Carr's girlfriend,
17:45
Melba and her mother, who both lived in the home. The slang occurred
17:52
until then, and although her family has been told conflicting things concerning whether Brittany
17:57
was raped, sexual assault seemed to be the most plausible motive. Remember her
18:03
underwear, we're missing from the scene. According to multiple news outlets in twenty
18:08
twenty two, it certainly appears to have been a component of the warped reasoning
18:15
behind this depraved act, But according to Melba and her mother, there was
18:21
another factor. Car apparently had always stewed over the fact that the Stagners would
18:27
allow Brittany to spend the night with Jeff, but would not allow him to
18:33
stay overnight at the house with Melba. In the period of time leading up
18:38
to Brittany's violent death, Melba and her mother both reported Car had become increasingly
18:45
angry about it. On the last day of August twenty twenty two, armed
18:52
with five sheets of paper that contained many of the accounts and details we've outlined
18:59
in this episode and the last Wood County Sheriff's Office, Captain Mike Chilson went
19:04
before a judge seeking a warrant for the arrest of then forty year old Chatteral
19:10
Car. The judge approved and signed off on the action. The following day,
19:18
Thursday, September first, twenty twenty two, Captain Chilson traveled to Dallas
19:22
accompanied by Texas Ranger John Vance. There, they located and arrested the suspect.
19:32
Car was driven back to Quitman, charged with the capital murder of Brittany
19:37
Danielle mcgloane, and taken to the Wood County Jail. His bond was set
19:44
at one million dollars. Britney's family were unsure why an arrest took nearly sixteen
19:51
years, since much of the arrest warrant was based upon information known since the
19:56
initial investigation, and that thought inspired a major frustration. The elation they felt
20:04
over the arrest overcame the negative feelings. Finally, it appeared justice for nineteen
20:12
year old Brittany McLoone was on the horizon, and it appeared as though it
20:18
was closing in. However, on Wednesday, November thirtieth, twenty two,
20:25
almost exactly three months after his arrest, the suspect walked out of the jailhouse
20:33
car hadn't made bail. Rather, yet another nightmare had Befallen Britney's loved ones.
20:40
A Wood County grand jury had found that there was insufficient evidence to indict
20:45
Chad Earl Carr. Really, the only person in the office at the DA's
21:03
office is his name's Logan Sawyer. He's a newer he was a defense attorney.
21:07
I think he's been there for a few months. But anyway, I
21:10
talked to him for a couple of minutes. He made a comment that the
21:14
way they interpret the evidence and the way the Sheriff's office interprets the evidence are
21:19
completely different. And you know, my thing is that you're not there to
21:23
interpret the evidence. You're there to present what evidence there is to their grand
21:29
jury and let them decide. It's not your job to decide whether or not
21:33
there's going to be in a diet. That's what the grand jury's job is.
21:36
For a couple of weeks ago, I spoke with Brittany mcloone's sister Hope,
21:41
who, along with Britney's mother Patricia, have turned their anger and frustration
21:48
into an amplified voice for justice. Like here in Texas, you've got if
21:53
you're arrested and you're held in custody and you don't have an indictment within ninety
21:57
days, that toally like you'll get released or maybe have like a bond hearing.
22:03
So it was literally the this was the eighty ninth day of him being
22:08
custody, he went to grand jury, and then it was probably early afternoon
22:14
when Britney's mom texted me and said they no built him and did not did
22:18
not return to an indictment, and then within like an hour of that he
22:22
had already been released. We kind of waited, We've talked with the sheriff.
22:26
Well, I can't I can't share too much about the you know,
22:30
grand jury side of stuff, but he presented some stuff, but so he
22:33
wasn't indicted, he got out, we kind of like waited around to hear
22:38
from the District attorney's office. We obviously are in communication with the sheriff,
22:44
and he shares, you know, what he can with us, so he's
22:48
you know, to this day, I haven't heard anything from him. Shortly
22:52
after Chad Carr's arrest, Patricia wrote in a post on Facebook she called Wood
22:57
County District Attorney Angela Albers to discuss her daughter's case, but Albers did not
23:04
return that call. In fact, even after car was no build and sat
23:11
free, Albers and her office continue to avoid Brittany's family. What jfice,
23:19
Hi, I'm working on a story about the Brittany McLoone case, and I
23:26
was hoping to get a comment from y'all about the recent grand jury's decision to
23:30
no building primary suspect. Okay, hold on just one second, thank you?
23:53
Sure? Yes, Okaya? Is there a way I think it her
24:00
phone number so I can have them call you back. Yeah. Absolutely,
24:03
My number is eight one seven, Okay, Okay. I will make sure
24:08
they get this message. Thank you so much. That's a great you too.
24:12
Byebye. The office also did not call me back after requesting comment.
24:22
After almost sixteen years of little to be optimistic about, for the rug to
24:26
be pulled back out from under their feet after something as huge as the arrest
24:32
of a suspect they've known a lot about since the beginning. A family simply
24:37
needing a non detailed explanation of what is happening is not asking much. Still,
24:45
Besides the council of Sheriff Kelly Cole and Captain Mike Chilson, there's been
24:52
nothing, considering the Wood County DA's office refusal to return their calls. The
24:57
only tool she and Patricia essentially have, hope told us is social media.
25:04
You know, we've just kind of been sitting back the last few months and
25:08
just kind of like waiting, and you know, obviously not not too much
25:11
as going on. So like a couple of days ago, I just,
25:15
you know, kind of decided to just do some more stuff on Facebook because
25:18
that's the only tool I kind of have. So they went and commented on
25:23
a post from the Wood County District Attorney's Office, and then Britty's mom commented
25:29
just the hashtag justice for Berton mcgloan. And then later I went to do
25:33
something and then I noticed, like I was like oh, can't see the
25:34
page anymore. So obviously they blocked my personal Facebook page. We have our
25:42
opinions on kind of maybe what happened that grand jury. I think, or
25:48
I would say we collectively as the family, think that the District Attorney's office
25:52
intentionally caused this to have, you know, this decision to not in DIBt
25:57
him. I think being intentional got that result, and I think it was
26:00
a result that they wanted. I don't think they don't. I think they
26:04
kind of want this case to go away. I don't think they really want
26:07
to deal with it. And you know, that's fine and all, but
26:11
you know, they could recuse themselves from the case and handed over to someone
26:15
else, you know, I don't, I don't know. It is certainly
26:19
not unreasonable for Hope, Patricia and others who have an interest in seeing Brittany
26:26
finally get justice, not to mention a violent offender being locked up for good,
26:32
to take to social media when elected authorities refused to speak with them and
26:37
provide at least some type of answer. Even an explanation of why they might
26:42
not be able to speak about the case would have helped soothe this situation,
26:49
but instead Wood County da Albers and those under her charge have been silent and
26:56
have blocked their constituents on public social media pages. Even folks simply leaving a
27:03
comment with the hashtag justice for Brittney macloane have been blocked. At least one
27:11
of Hope's videos has been taken down as well for the time being, and
27:18
once again justice for Britney maclone seems unclear. Though DNA testing has been mentioned
27:25
in the past, it's unknown to us if any more testing is to be
27:30
done or if previous testing has resulted in anything substantial. Whatever the case,
27:37
and no matter their choice to remain silent, cautious optimism permits some hope that
27:42
more evidence against the suspect can be collected and presented before a grand jury for
27:48
the second time. Should the Wood County District Attorney's office make an attempt to
27:55
explain themselves if this is indeed the plan, maybe Britney's family can have at
28:00
least some well deserved peace of mind in the meantime. Again, on Thursday
28:08
May fourth, twenty twenty three, the sixteenth anniversary of the murder of nineteen
28:14
year old Brittany McLoone, a vigil and rally will be held in Quitman,
28:18
Texas, on the grounds of the Wood County Courthouse. The event is to
28:23
take place from eight thirty am to four pm, so there's plenty of time
28:29
to make an appearance and support Britney's family and loved ones. If you're interested
28:34
in attending, we suggest you like and follow the Facebook page Who Killed Brittany
28:41
McLoone for the most up to date info and for a link to the event
28:45
page. If you have any information about the murder of Brittany Danielle McLoone,
28:52
please contact the Wood County Sheriff's Office at nine zero three seven sixty three two
28:57
two zero one to be eligible for a reward and to remain anonymous. At
29:03
the same time, call Wood County Crime Stoppers at nine zero three seven sixty
29:10
three two two seven four. That's nine zero three seven sixty three cash.
29:18
We would like to thank Hope, Brandon and Patricia for their invaluable help and
29:23
contributions. If you have not already, look for Gone Cold on Instagram,
29:30
Facebook, and Twitter by searching Gone Cold and looking for the Texas logo.
29:36
If you'd like to support the show and get the episodes add free, go
29:40
to Patreon, dot com forward slash Gone Cold Podcast. Thanks to all of
29:45
you who support us there. It's a huge deal to us. If you're
29:52
not in a position to help Gone Cold financially but would like to in some
29:56
other way, well I've got just the thing. Leaving us a five star
30:00
rating and written review on iTunes particularly helps Gonkold's visibility. The more folks who
30:07
find us and listen, the greater chance someone with information about a case here's
30:12
the show and comes forward with what they know. Every little bit helps,
30:17
and we appreciate you'll support immensely however you choose to give it. Sources for
30:23
this episode can be found in the episodes show notes. Thanks for listening, y'all.