Latest / Gone Cold - Texas True Crime / The Murder of Lauren Whitener Part 1: A Single Blade of Grass

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The Murder of Lauren Whitener Part 1: A Single Blade of Grass · Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Gone Call. Podcasts may contain violent or graphics subject matter.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Listener discretion is advised. Wise County, Texas, located immediately northwest
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: of Tarrant County, is home to about sixty nine thousand residents.
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  Speaker 1: Lake Bridgeport, a popular destination for boaters and anglers, is
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  Speaker 1: on the western end of Wise County. Located on the
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  Speaker 1: east of the man made Reservoir is the city of
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  Speaker 1: Lake Bridgeport, a tight knit community of around three hundred
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: and fifty some retired and others still firmly rooted in
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  Speaker 1: the working world. The small town has a city government,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: but no police force or other services those in bigger
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  Speaker 1: cities are accustomed to. On Thursday, July fourth, twenty nineteen,
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  Speaker 1: there was a block party on the six hundred block
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  Speaker 1: of North Main Street in Lake Bridgeport to celebrate the holiday.
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  Speaker 1: The small row of duplexes, surrounded by large, rural, densely
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  Speaker 1: wooded properties, was home to a handful of folks, including
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: thirty two year old Lauren Whitener. Her seven year old
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  Speaker 1: son and roommate were both out for the night, so
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  Speaker 1: Lauren enjoyed time with her friends from an adjacent duplex,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: eating Chinese food and day drinking. She was close with
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: these neighbors, often joining them for backyard cookouts, and their
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: children played together, usually on the neighbour's trampoline. When the
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: sun went down, the usual peace and quiet took the
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: back seat to the pops and bangs of fireworks. After all,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: it wouldn't be Independence Day without them. At some point,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: things quieted down enough for Chasin and Helen Capehart, Lauren's
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  Speaker 1: immediate neighbors, to go to bed in the middle of
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  Speaker 1: the night. At around four fifteen a m. Now July fifth,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Helen and Chasin awoke to the smell of smoke, the
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: unmistakable smell of a house fire. Chasin sprung from bed
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  Speaker 1: and raced to search the home, but could find nothing,
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  Speaker 1: no fire. He raced next door to Lauren Whitener's side
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: of the duplex, and upon reaching the front porch, heard
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: the sound of a smoke detector. In an attempt to
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: get Lauren's attention, Chasin banged on the door. Lauren didn't come.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: The door was hot to the touch and he could
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  Speaker 1: see the smoke seeping from the unit. He quickly made
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: his way back to his unit and called nine to
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  Speaker 1: one One. Firefighters were on the scene within minutes. And
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: began battling the blaze. As they did, they made their
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: way through the duplex. When they'd finished putting out the fire,
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  Speaker 1: first responders were shocked and saddened to find the badly
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  Speaker 1: burned body of a woman later determined to be Lauren Whitener.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Firefighters and police managed to keep the fire out of
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: the press for days. For all anyone knew it was
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: an accidental fire and death, so reporters did little digging
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: when the public learned that the fire wasn't what killed Lauren. However,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: lake Bridgeport and Wise County became embroiled in a terrible
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: murder mystery that, although an arrest was made, remains unsolved today.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Lauren Ann Whitner was born on April eighth, nineteen eighty seven,
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  Speaker 1: in Fort Worth, Texas, to James Whitner and Julie Johnson
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: described her as charismatic, adding that she made friends easily.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Whether that had anything to do with her smile or
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: laughter is up in the air. Both are said to
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: have been contagious. Once you were a friend, Lauren would
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: lay down her life for yours. When she graduated high school,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Lauren enlisted in the US Army as a sergeant She
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, including on the front lines.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: After serving a couple of tours overseas, something she rarely
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: spoke about, Lauren enrolled in college, where she eventually graduated
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: with honors. She picked up a job as a surgical
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  Speaker 1: scrub nurse at Wise Health System Hospital. Lauren loved her
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  Speaker 1: job and she was quite fond of living down the
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  Speaker 1: road from the lake, but her life revolved around her
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  Speaker 1: seven year old son, Colton. Being a mother came natural
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: to Lauren, and she's been described as an amazing one.
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  Speaker 1: Not only did she love hard, but she was also
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: very loved. Lauren was doing well. She had her son,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: close friends, a good job, and had recently moved into
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  Speaker 1: the lake Bridgeport community. Many were devastated and in states
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: of disbelief when Lauren's body was found in her burned
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  Speaker 1: out home. As the investigation into her death continued, everything
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  Speaker 1: became even more unbelievable. After the blaze was put out,
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  Speaker 1: Wise County Sheriff's Office Crimes against Persons Unit investigator Philip
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Fivang was dispatched to Lauren's home. Upon entering the living room,
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  Speaker 1: investigator Fivang noticed a severely fire damage to couch. He
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  Speaker 1: continued on to the master bedroom, where he inspected Lauren's
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  Speaker 1: body lying on her back. Her white T shirt, the
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  Speaker 1: only article of clothing she wore, was pushed up over
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  Speaker 1: her breath. Guests Lauren's face, chest, and belly were badly burned.
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  Speaker 1: When the body was lifted, investigator Fivang saw what appeared
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  Speaker 1: to be stab wounds on Loren's upper back and jawline.
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  Speaker 1: There were approximately eight wounds there, he observed, and another
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  Speaker 1: on her right side, just under her breast. It was
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  Speaker 1: already a suspected crime scene, but after observing the injuries,
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  Speaker 1: it was certain the mattress under her was badly burned,
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  Speaker 1: an obvious place of origin for the blaze. Fivang noticed
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: other pieces of furniture around the apartment that it appeared
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  Speaker 1: to have been lit on fire, but that wasn't the
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  Speaker 1: most suspicious discovery. Investigators noticed three out of the four
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: smoke detectors in the home were missing, most notably from
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: the master bedroom and hallway. Those detectors, with the batteries removed,
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  Speaker 1: were found in the hall bathroom. As they worked the scene,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: investigators took several samples to test for the use of accelerants.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Investigator Fivang proceeded to conduct interviews with neighbors in his vehicle. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: Lauren's body was sent for an autopsy. The Dallas County
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: Medical Examiner inspected her and discovered she had multiple sharp
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: force trauma wounds to her upper back and neck, but
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: investigator Fivang was wrong about the number of wounds. Instead
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: of the eight he counted, there were actually eighteen total
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  Speaker 1: stab wounds, the majority of which sixteen were in her
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  Speaker 1: upper back. There was also a slicing wound there. Lauren
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: was deceased before the fire was set. The medical examiner
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  Speaker 1: determined the death, of course, was ruled a homicide. Wise,
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  Speaker 1: County Sheriff Lane Aiken remarked that the case was complicated
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: and had only become more so with the findings of
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  Speaker 1: the autopsy, but the former Texas ranger added the department
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: would continue working tirelessly until they had answers. Aiken said
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: he was cautiously optimistic about identifying the person responsible. The
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: fire investigators knew was a way to cleanse the scene
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  Speaker 1: of evidence and taking the batteries out of the smoke
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  Speaker 1: detectors was to give the fire time to engulf the home.
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  Speaker 1: Despite the fire, many pieces of evidence were found. Within weeks,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: evidence sent to the Southwest Institute of Forensic Science in
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Dallas came back multiple pieces of furniture had been doused
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  Speaker 1: with accelerants, as had Lauren's body on her clothing. Heavy
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: petroleum distillate was found, a flammable ingredient in many substances
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: that can be used as accelerants, from charcoal, lighter fluid
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: to kerosene. A few days after those results were released,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Sheriff Aiken reported that they were still waiting on several
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  Speaker 1: items from crime labs in Dallas and Austin, including trace evidence,
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  Speaker 1: physical evidence, and digital evidence. When evidence finally came back
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: from the lab in Dallas, they'd been unable to determine anything,
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  Speaker 1: so it was sent to Pure Gold Labs in California,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: who were able to identify DNA markers quickly. As they
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: awaited those final results, Sheriff Aiken assured locals there was
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: no reason to be fearful of another attack. We do
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  Speaker 1: not think this was a random event, he said. This
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  Speaker 1: was targeted. Reading between the lines wasn't difficult. Although the
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: sheriff claimed his deputies had identified multiple suspects, it was
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  Speaker 1: obvious they had a prime suspect who knew Lauren. On
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: the afternoon of Thursday, July eleventh, twenty nineteen, exactly one
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  Speaker 1: week after the murder of thirty two year old Lauren
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  Speaker 1: Whitner and the fire set to destroy any evidence left behind,
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  Speaker 1: Wise County Sheriff's Office investigators executed a related search warrant
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  Speaker 1: at six p sixty North Main Street. Several things led
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: them to this residence, which was in the set of
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: duplexes directly next to the victims. First, a neighbor reported
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: a disturbing fight between the couple who lived there. During
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: the Fourth of July Bloc party, Lauren buddied up with
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  Speaker 1: Rodney Eric Maxwell and his common law wife, Ashley Hill.
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  Speaker 1: Lauren spent the day with them. She was with Maxwell
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: and Hill. In fact, according to the witness, they'd previously
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: had a threesome. That night, after a long day of drinking,
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell and Hill got into a heated argument, one the
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  Speaker 1: neighbor said was the result of jealousy about Hill and
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  Speaker 1: Lauren's relationship on Maxwell's part, meaning he believed his common
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  Speaker 1: law wife would rather be with Lauren than with him.
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  Speaker 1: At one point during the argument, Maxwell grabbed Hill by
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  Speaker 1: the jaw, the witness said, and Lauren jumped in between them.
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  Speaker 1: She and Hill left and went to Lauren's house to
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  Speaker 1: set off fireworks. Maxwell walked to the neighbor's house, where
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: he told the story of what had happened. The witness
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: told detectives that based on the way Maxwell looked as
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  Speaker 1: they spoke, he felt in retrospect that Maxwell had killed Lauren.
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  Speaker 1: Although she'd tried to convince Ashley Hill to stay with
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  Speaker 1: her due to the earlier argument, the woman declined and
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: went back home. Because of their friendship with her and Maxwell,
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  Speaker 1: Lauren had become close friends with Hill's mother, who she
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: called at around ten twenty five pm. That call lasted
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  Speaker 1: seven minutes, according to court documents, and a second call
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  Speaker 1: began at ten thirty seven pm, lasting about fifty three minutes.
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  Speaker 1: Lauren and Hill's mother then exchanged text messages until about
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  Speaker 1: twelve oh three am now July the fifth. Investigators also
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  Speaker 1: felt Maxwell had lied to them. According to investigator Fevang,
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell told them he'd never performed any repairs inside Lauren's home,
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  Speaker 1: but when investigators brought up the fact that there might
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  Speaker 1: be DNA on the smoke, detectors and or batteries. Maxwell
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  Speaker 1: changed his tune, telling them that he might have replaced
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  Speaker 1: the batteries before. Many ideas of interest were found as
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: they performed their search on Maxwell's home. On the front
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  Speaker 1: porch was a red gasoline can. A bottle of lighter
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  Speaker 1: fluid was found in the home's pantry. Some items lit
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  Speaker 1: up when sprayed with blue Star, alumina based chemical that
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: tests for the presence of possible blood. According to a
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  Speaker 1: warrant affidaphit, later items also tested positive for the presence
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  Speaker 1: of gasoline. The affient investigator, Philip Fivang claimed. Investigators came
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  Speaker 1: back to Lauren's home on July seventeenth. This time, they
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  Speaker 1: sought to perform more presumptive tests for blood, focusing on
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  Speaker 1: the backyard and the space between her home and maxwell
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  Speaker 1: and Hills. Using blue Star again, deputies sprayed the fifty
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  Speaker 1: foot area. According to the affidaphit, the area illuminated, showing
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  Speaker 1: a path of blood. However, only a single blade of
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: grass was sent to a forensic lab. This blade of
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  Speaker 1: grass was found around the halfway point between Lauren and
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell's homes. Possible blood was also said to be found
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  Speaker 1: on Lauren's back porch and back doorknob. Lauren's best friend,
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  Speaker 1: Ashley Fowler, recalled her experiences with Rodney Eric Maxwell to
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: the Fort Worth Star Telegram. Later on the day of
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  Speaker 1: the murder. She, Maxwell and others were outside the crime
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  Speaker 1: scene on Lauren's porch. Each time Maxwell described what had
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  Speaker 1: happened the previous day, his story, Ashley said, changed. His
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: fingernails looked like he had a fresh manicure. They were
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: so clean, more than a normal clean, and I remember
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: that stuck in my head, she told the reporter. There
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: was at least one more suspect. On August first, twenty nineteen,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: an unnamed man's recently abandoned residence was searched and he
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: was given a polygraph exam. According to a court document
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: penned by Maxwell's defense, this individual also allowed deputies to
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  Speaker 1: take his DNA. Wise County authorities traveled to Austin to
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: seize and search this man's truck on August fifth. Little
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: else is known about this person of interest. On Wednesday,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: September fourth, twenty nineteen, an arrest warrant was issued for
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  Speaker 1: thirty nine year old Rodney Eric Maxwell. Two days later,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: at around noon, he was taken into custody during a
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  Speaker 1: traffic stop just south of Decatur without incident, though the
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  Speaker 1: warrant affidavit lacked the proverbial smoking gun. Sheriff Lane Aiken
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: told the Wise County Messenger there was additional evidence in
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: the form of witness interviews and data that had been developed.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Maxwell was arraigned and his bond was set at eight
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty five thousand dollars. On November twentieth, after
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: spending more than a month in county jail, Maxwell was
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: indicted for capital murder punishable by a sentence of life
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: without parole or death. Specifically, the indictment details that he
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: caused Lauren Whitener's death by cutting or stabbing her with
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: a knife. The aggravated charges included kidnapping, arson, and sexual assault.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: An assault with a deadly weapon charge was included, meaning
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: the fire. Maxwell was also indicted for the attempted murders
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: of Helen and Chasin kpe Part along with their unborn child,
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: Lauren's neighbors on the other side of the duplex, who
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: could have died in the fire. On September twelfth, twenty nineteen,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: Barry Green was officially appointed to represent Maxwell in a
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: motion for bond reduction. Maxwell's attorney described several issues with
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: the case against his client, as well as a general
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: timeline of events. Maxwell had been cooperative with the Wise
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: County Sheriff's Office during their investigation of Lauren's homicide, having
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: first gave investigator Philip the Vang an interview on the
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: morning of July fifth, twenty nineteen, just hours after the
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: body was found. Later that day, Maxwell and his wife
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: traveled to the Sheriff's office to give formal videotaped statements.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: He also readily provided his fingerprints and gave his DNA.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: The next interview came on July eleventh. This time, Greene's
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: motion for a bond reduction state was much different, much
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: less friendly. Texas ranger James Holland was there, a man
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: who is well known for his ability to drag out
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: confessions from suspects, even like in the case of Larry
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: Driscoll in twenty fifteen, incredibly questionable confessions that actually contradict
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: the known facts in the case, but somehow land the
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: suspect in jail. Anyway. After an hour interview, Holland asked
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: Maxwell to submit to a polygraph examination. He'd brought along
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: an expert polygraph operator from the Justice Department in Washington,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: D C. Holland told Maxwell, who agreed to take the
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: test without hesitation. Maxwell was immediately given the polygraph examination.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: After it was completed, he was told he failed the test,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: something Barry Green explains in his motion for a bond reduction,
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: a suspect is always told that they have failed the test.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: Defense attorney states, even when there are no results to interpret.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: When used by law enforcement, the point of the polygraph
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: isn't to determine what is or isn't the truth, but
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: instead it's used as a tool to get a confession.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: A suspect will take the polygraph, Green explains, will then
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: be told by the polygrapher in harsh and certain terms
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: that he had failed the test, that the test cannot
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: be wrong, and then a law enforcement officer will enter
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: the room and attempt to obtain a confession. And that's
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: exactly what happened next. After taking a polygraph examination voluntarily,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Defense attorney Barry Green said Rodney Eric Maxwell was interrogated
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: by Texas ranger James Holland for hours. According to Green,
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: the session was textbook to put further pressure on the suspect.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Holland confronted Maxwell with the fact that a search warrant
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: was being executed on his home. As they spoke something
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: Maxwell didn't know what was happening. The ranger showed the
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: suspect photos of the search in real time from his
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: cell phone, pointing out the presumptive blood evidence in an
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: attempt to crack him. Items later referred to in the
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: arrest warrant affidephids, namely a bottle of lighter fluid, were
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: said to test positive for blood. Other items included a
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: cutout swatch from a love seat and a portion of
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: a towel found in a trash bag on the front porch.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: The interrogation lasted for several hours, nine and a half
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: of which were recorded, but Maxwell never budged. He did
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: not kill Lauren Whitner, he told Holland. The following day,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: Maxwell's vehicle was searched and a tracking device was put
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: on his car, unbeknownst to him. Six days after that,
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: his home was searched again. At every search, Green said
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: evidence was obtained that presumptively tested positive for blood and
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: was suitable for DNA testing. On August fifteenth, twenty nineteen,
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: both Rodney Eric Maxwell and his wife Ashley Hill were
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: asked to come in for an interview again. They were
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: both cooperative and never lawyered up. Then, on September sixth,
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: Maxwell was asked to come to the Texas Department of
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Public Safety office for another interview. Listen for a second,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: does you have an opportunity here? I didn't do this.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: I can't say I did anything. Couldn't do again, Till
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: out for a second. Okay, I'm not undermining y'all or anything.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: I didn't do this, but I didn't do it. Know
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: what's gonna happen. I'm in so it understand they have
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: been through this evidence insight now. They've been studying it
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: while I've been gone. They've had experts from the Department
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: of Justice coming and look at it to see if
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: there's anything I wish. You wouldn't make this decision, man.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: He was intensely interrogated. Defense lawyer Barry Green said, allowed
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: to leave, and then a short distance later arrested at gunpoint,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: cuffed while lying face down in the street. What to
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: the bat? Come over here? You want to come the riter?
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: Why all we go to the crown? What you like?
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: Puts your head? Wake your head? Way come there in
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: the crowd go more. Green points out that when sent
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas, the
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: five items collected in the first search again tested positive
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: for possible blood, but further serological testing determined that the
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: presence of blood could not be confirmed on four of
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: the items the sample size was too small, though DNA
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: testing would possibly be viable. The fifth item, the portion
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: of a towel collected from a trash bag at Maxwell's residence,
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: tested negative. Not only did these results render the July
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: eleventh search meaningless as far as evidence goes, but it
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: could also be interpreted as proving deception in the arrest
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: warrant affidaphit other less than onest language in the arrest
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: warrant affidaephits included the red gas can confiscated from Maxwell's
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: front porch, an item that wasn't collected until the July
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: eighteenth search. It's unclear why it wasn't collected during the
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: July eleventh search. After obtaining permission from the owner of
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: the properties, investigators conducted another search of Laurence home. That's
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: when they determined there was a so called path of
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: blood leading from her back porch to Maxwell's back gate. However,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: from that path, investigators apparently only collected one blade of
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: grass from around the halfway point to be sent in
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: for testing. That blade of grass contained laurens DNA along
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: with another contributor, but the sample of the second contributor
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: was insufficient to create a profile. Still, the blade of
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: grass seemed to be the Wise County Sheriff's Office US
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: smoking gun in the Lauren Whitner case. According to defense
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: attorney Barry Green, on the day Lauren's body was discovered,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: after taking pictures of the crime scene itself, the crime
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: scene photographer wandered out into the backyard of the residence
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: to take more photographs there, potentially becoming the source of
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: the trail of blood. Green also points out that the
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: affidaephet uses the term charcoal lighter fluid to describe the
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: bottle found at Maxwell's home, a term then used to
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: describe a possible source of the ingredient heavy petroleum distillate
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: which was found on Lauren's body. That bottle of lighter fluid,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Green points out, did not actually presumptively test positive for blood,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: as the affidaephitt says, and the item is an item
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: that can be found in every household with a charcoal grill,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: which the suspect had. The red guarascan, too, is an
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: item found in most households. Attempts were made to locate
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Lauren Whitener's DNA in Maxwell's home, but those efforts were
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: unsuccessful for police. Perhaps this was suspicious, after all, Lauren
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: spent a lot of time over there. However, it seems
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: unlikely Maxwell would be able to get rid of all
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: DNA traces of Lauren inside his house while also being
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: careless enough to leave the accelerants in plain sight. Finally,
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: the four smoke detectors in the home, three of which
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: had been taken down the batteries removed, contained the DNA
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: of at least four individuals. While the arrest warrant Affidaphet
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: suggests Rodney Eric Maxwell tried covering his tracks by saying
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: he might have switched out the batteries and the smoke detectors.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Neither his DNA, his wife's DNA, or the unknown person
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: of interests DNA could be found on them. All three,
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: in fact, were absolutely excluded as contributors. Loren's DNA was
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: found on all six of the items. The three smoke
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: detectors and the three batteries, and an unknown female's DNA
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: profile was discovered on one of the batteries. In his
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: motion for bond reduction, defense attorney Barry Green also suggests
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: the police weren't so sure Maxwell was their man, since
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: they continued to investigate the person of interest as well.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: On October two, twenty nineteen, according to Green, Texas rangers
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: interrogated the person of interest using the same techniques they'd
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: used on Maxwell. Apparently, the person of interest had no
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: alibi witness, a matter that was pressed on during the investigation.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: He maintained his innocence, as he had from the beginning,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: but the mere fact that he was being investigated after
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: Maxwell's arrest certainly showed at least a shadow of a
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: doubt that Maxwell was responsible for Lauren's murder. Items found
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: in his truck, including a white cutoff T shirt with
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: presumptive blood, were sent off to a California lab for testing,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: though those results remain unknown. A single blade of Grass
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: would be an apt title if Lauren's case was a
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: true crime novel. Green said in closing, that's what the
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: entire case against Maxwell rested on, But the argument against
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: the man's guilt didn't end there, and perhaps another potential
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: suspect other than the person of interest, one whose known
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: method of operation resembles the terrible crime against Lauren Whitener
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: casts further doubt on Maxwell as the prime suspect. That's
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: next time on Gone Cold, Texas True Crime. If you
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: have any information about the murder of Lauren Ann Whitner,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: please contact the Wise County Sheriff's Office at nine four
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: zero six two seven five nine seven one or crime
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Stoppers at nine four zero six two seven eight four
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: seven seven. If you'd like to join gon Cold's mission
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: to shine a light on unsolved homicides and missing persons cases,
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: get the show at free and have access to bonus content.
• 29:32
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• 29:37
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• 29:40
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• 29:44
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• 29:48
  Speaker 1: we appreciate you. Thanks for listening, y'all.