Latest / Gone Cold - Texas True Crime / The Murder of Brittany McGlone Part 2: History of Brutality

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The Murder of Brittany McGlone Part 2: History of Brutality · Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

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A few things before we get started. First, I apologize for the delayed
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release of this episode. My computer went down and it took me days to
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remedy the problem, So sorry about that, y'all. And although we're now
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even further behind than usual, we should be back in business without any more
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hiccups. Also, on the sixteenth anniversary of the murder of nineteen year old
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Brittany McLoone, on Thursday, May fourth, twenty twenty three, a vigil
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and rally will be held in Quitman, Texas, hopefully on the grounds of
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the Wood County Courthouse. We'll do our best to keep y'all updated on our
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social media, but if you're interested in attending, I strongly suggest you like
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and follow the Facebook page Who Killed Brittany McLoone for the most up to date
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info. The event is supposed to take place from eight am to five EM
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so there's plenty of time to make an appearance and support Brittany's family and loved
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ones. There are a couple more events coming up as well. At one
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pm on Saturday, April twenty ninth, twenty twenty three, Thought the Cold
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Cases is taking place here in Fort Worth. It's a mile long march from
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the city's courthouse to the station that houses the police department's cold case unit,
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organized to draw attention to Fort Worth's many unsolved and missing persons cases, and
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finally in Brownwood on Saturday, May sixth, twenty twenty three, a memorial
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and vigil for Leon Laureles is taking place. It begins with a meetup and
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signmaking event at ten am, but lasts into the evening so you have time
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to come and show the family support in their quest for justice for Leon.
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We will of course provide links to these events in the episodes show notes up
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until they happen. I hope to see y'all at any or all of them.
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Thanks y'all, now onto the episode. The Goncole Podcast may contain violent
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or graphic subject matter. Listener discretion is advised. On January first, twenty
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twenty one, thirty seven year veteran of various East Texas law enforcement agencies,
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Kelly Cole became the top lawman in Wood County Sheriff. Cole was a criminal
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investigator when Brittany McLoone was savagely murdered in her boyfriend's bedroom, and one of
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his promises during his campaign for sheriff was to arrest her killer. He assigned
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Mike Chilson to the case. Chilson, as the Captain of Wood County Sheriff's
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Office Criminal Investigation Division, began a renewed investigation into Brittany's case. This meant
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essentially starting from scratch. Family and those close to Brittany were reinterviewed, evidence
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re examined, and suspects once again scrutinized. There were many. A man
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who several people claimed had told them he was responsible for Britney's senseless murder was
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one seemingly a career criminal with a record that includes intoxicated assault with a motor
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vehicle, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted murder, among other
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convictions. The suspect turned out to be serving a ten year prison sentence in
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two thousand and seven. Another suspect had told a few girlfriends that he was
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the killer. This man's criminal record consisted of only nonviolent offenses before Britney was
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slain, but turned violent the following December. Thirty three years old and Brittany's
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next door neighbor at the time of her death, this man told investigators that
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he'd only claimed responsibility during sexual acts with these girlfriends, what he referred to
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as sex games. Another suspect came to the attention of authorities, and since
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this man's criminal record is quite brief and as innocuous as it could be,
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we know neither how his name came on the CoP's radar, nor why he
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appears to have been eliminated. Britney's boyfriend, Jeff Stagner, who not only
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found her beaten body in his bed, but also with whom Brittany had recently
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gone through a tumultuous breakup, was also a suspect. And then there was
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the man whose aunt worked alongside Stagner's mother at the very Alco retail store in
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Winnsborough, Brittney worked at part time, a man whose girlfriend was Stagner's sister,
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Chatteral Car. As Captain Chilson investigated Car further, he realized that the
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evidence stacked up around him more than any of the other suspects. But there
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was far more to this suspect than the many lies that suggested he had something
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to hide, including a past that reflected a readily drawn upon willingness to commit
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acts of violence. On Saturday, December twenty second, two thousand and one,
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a nineteen year old man named chat Earl Carr and his wife were in
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a Winnsboro video store. There, they struck up a conversation with a young
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woman working the counter. That's a normal thing, not only out of common
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courtesy and customer service, but also because everyone in the small East Texas town
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knew or at least knew of, practically every other area resident. This young
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woman had recently separated from her husband, a close friend of Chad Cars,
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and had been staying with her parents since the estrangement. The impending holiday and
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family visiting from out of town was creating chaos there, however, so she
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and her three year old daughter had moved to a trailer house on a separate
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piece of property also owned by her parents. She told Carr and his wife
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as they all made small talk. She and her daughter were the only ones
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staying there, the young woman told them. At about ten PM, the
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young woman closed up shop and headed to her parents' house to pick up her
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daughter. She arrived at the trailer home she was staying in at about eleven
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p m. The young woman put her daughter to bed and dozed on and
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off on the couch while watching television. She woke up at a round five
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thirty a m. And crawled into bed with her daughter, But just after
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she laid down, her dog started barking. Outside the bedroom window, the
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young woman heard what sounded like the crunch of fallen dead leaves being stepped on.
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She dozed back off for a few moments and then heard a knock on
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the door. Her front door had a glass window, and as she approached,
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she saw a familiar face on the other side. It was her husband's
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friend, the man she'd spoken with at the video store the night before,
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Chad Earl Carr. She opened the door and asked what he was doing there
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this early in the morning. Carr told her he was picking up a co
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worker in the neighborhood, but they were not home. The young woman knew
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Car was lying about that particular thing, since the name of the co worker
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he gave her did not live anywhere near her neighborhood, but Carr continued.
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He said that as he was getting ready to leave, he saw someone snooping
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around her trailer, and as he approached, he told her a small car
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sped away. The woman was frightened by this, of course, after all,
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she had heard the sound of someone's steps crushing the leaves outside her bedroom
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window a short time before. She asked Chad Car to wait on the porch
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while she grabbed her daughter and some of their belongings so they could leave.
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After gathering some things, the young woman noticed Car was standing there inside the
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home as she made her way down the hall. As she knelt to pick
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up something near the man, he asked if she was sure no one else
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was in the trailer house. He asked if he would. He asked if
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she was sure no one else was in the trailer house. There wasn't,
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She told him. He struck her in the head with a hard object.
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You just hit me in the head, the young woman exclaimed in disbelief as
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she jumped to her feet. She quickly turned on the lights and saw the
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suspect drop an object that was read with a black rubber handle. Nineteen year
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old Chad Earl Carr became frantically apologetic. He was sorry. He told her
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he thought he'd seen someone and didn't mean to hit her. Car pleaded with
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her not to call the police. He didn't want to go to jail.
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Please don't tell anybody, He asked, the woman agreed not to. When
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she went into the other room to retrieve her daughter, she felt blood running
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down her neck, and upon touching her head, her hands were covered in
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it. The woman insisted Carr take her to the hospital, where she received
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three stables in her scalp to close the wound. After dropping her off at
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the hospital, Chad Earl Car went home and told his wife he'd done something
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really bad. The young woman gave a statement to Wood County Sheriff's Deputy Stephen
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Russell six days later, and Carr was arrested the following January. On April
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twenty ninth, two thousand and two, he was convicted of aggravated assault with
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a deadly weapon and sentenced to four years in a Texas prison. Carr's wife
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later told the young woman that the object was a tire jack handle she'd recently
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borrowed from a friend, a weapon not dissimilar in its intended function to the
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weapon theorized to have been used to brutally murder nineteen year old Brittany McLoone.
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More than five years later, on Friday May fourth, two thousand and seven,
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when Brittney was slain, Chad Earl Carr was twenty five years old and
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dating her boyfriend, Jeff Stagner's sister, who we're calling Melba. Brittany in
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fact, was killed in the Stagner home where Melba also lived. Last episode,
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we went over the day of Britney's murder and what little we know about
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the subsequent investigation, including Car's arrival on the crime scene. Shortly after the
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body was discovered. He was questioned by Wood County Sheriff's Office Deputy Mark Miller,
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who stated in his report that Carr was visibly nervous, shaking both physically
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and audibly as he gave a statement, having served time for the assault of
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a woman he had essentially stalked and planned to do god knows what to,
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and considering he had an almost too detailed alibi for the day of Brittany's murder,
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it seemed like Carr had nothing to hide. Some folks, after all,
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even innocent folks, are simply nervous around cops or other authorities. May
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or may not have been worried about implicating himself in Brittany mcgloane's death, but
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he certainly had another reason to be anxious and uneasy around the cars. Before
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going into the known movements of Chad Earl Car on that day, it is
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perhaps important to discuss another heinous crime the man perpetrated almost a year earlier,
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but was not convicted of until long after Prior to landing the first conviction that
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would send him to prison. Chad Earl Car's record wasn't necessarily one of violence
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that we know of. His record as a juvenile is sealed and isn't publicly
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available, but a crime he committed when he was seventeen years old shows up
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for reasons unclear, In February of the year two thousand, Car was arrested
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for burglary, but was convicted and sentenced after his eighteenth birthday. For that
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conviction, he was given probation that was revoked when he committed assault with a
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deadly weapon against a young woman in a trailer home in Winnsborough. While he
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tried to deny fault by claiming he couldn't see and that he thought the woman
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was an intruder, no one bought it. Two major events happened when Chad
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Earl Carr was incarcerated for this conviction. His wife gave birth to his child,
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and his wife became his ex wife after his release from prison in March
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of two thousand and six, Carr's ex wife traveled to Wood County on Friday,
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July twenty first. She'd brought her children to Jim Hogg Park in the
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county seat quipment, so the parole lee could see the child he'd only seen
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before from behind bars. Carr's family had never seen the child at all,
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and his brother's family and aunt were at the park as well. Not long
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a she arrived with the children, Carr asked his ex wife to follow him
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to his aunt's place in East Point, a very rural community a little less
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than ten miles east. The rest of the family were also coming. Carr
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told her. She agreed, put the kids in the car, and drove
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behind him. Once there, Carr's wife expected to see everyone else show up.
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She waited as he entered another room to take a shower, he told
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her. As more time passed without any sight of Carr's relatives, she grew
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more uncomfortable. They never did show up, and Chad Carr is nothing if
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not a depraved opportunist. As his ex wife comforted, the cries of her
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youngest child, car yelled from the other room to put the baby down and
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come to him. She refused, of course, and he responded by physically
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removing the child from her arms, placing the baby in a car seat that
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had been taken out of the mother's vehicle, and giving the child a bottle.
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He proceeded to make strong sexual advances toward his ex wife, which she
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refused. Upon her refusal, Car slung her over his shoulder. He's a
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large man, about six feet two inches tall and around two hundred pounds,
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so the action was quick and nearly effortless for him. Stay in the living
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room. Carr told the older child, his child, who was yelling no,
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Mama, no. As his mother struggled to free herself and shouted concise
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and clear objections. Chat Earl Car ignored both his ex wife's and child's please.
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He carried her to the bedroom and threw her on the bed. Though
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she still struggled and even landed several kicks to the suspect's body, he was
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not deterred. As she continued struggling, Carr removed her skirt and underwear and
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raped her as her children listened to her beg him to stop. It wasn't
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until she threatened to call police and report him. That the rapist finally stopped,
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he left the room to shower, and she left the home with her
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children, all traumatized from the attack. In the past, the suspect had
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threatened to kidnap her and the children and disappear, something she felt he was
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quite capable of, so naturally she feared him and didn't report the sexual assault
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for five days until she was out of the state of Texas and back home.
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After counseling and almost a year later, Car's ex wife pressed charges on
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him for raping her, and since she was too scared of him to return
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to Texas, Wood County Sheriff's Lieutenant Miles Tucker and then Sergeant Kelly Cole went
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to her on Tuesday May twenty ninth, two thousand and seven. Counseling,
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however, was not the only reason the suspect's ex wife came forward. Something
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else, in fact, had triggered her to do so. The murder of
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Brittany Danielle McGlone. Britney's mother, Patricia told us that after hearing about her
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daughter's murder, chat Earl Carr's ex wife knew it was time to come forward
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because both Brittany and Carr's ex wife shared a very close friend. Her murder
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hit close to home. She knew her ex husband was connected to the case
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through the victim's boyfriend's sister, and not only did she feel immediately sure Car
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was responsible, but also pressing charges seemed vital to protecting any other potential victims.
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Her pressing charges did not work out the way it should have. Chat
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Earl Carr spent an amount of time in jail that is equivalent to the physical
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reprimand of a wrist slap before pleading guilty and accepting probation as the terms of
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a deal to do so. It was a laughably pathetic deal that spat in
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the face of justice, but hardly the first or last bad joke to occur
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at the Wood County Courthouse concerning this particular violent offender. In late twenty eleven,
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Carr violated the terms of his probation in some way that is not clear
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to me and was sent to a Texas prison, where he stayed until November
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of twenty twenty. Nineteen year old Brittany Danielle McGlone arrived at the home her
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boyfriend shared with his siblings and parents just outside Winnsborough city limits on the morning
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of May fourth, two thousand and seven, after working the night shift at
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the Lowe's Home Improvement Stores warehouse in nearby Mount Vernon. After taking Jeff's mother
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to work, his stepfather arrived back at the house at approximately seven forty five
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am. As Jeff and his stepfather prepared to pick up his maternal grandmother in
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Cleburne, one hundred and forty five miles to the west. Chattero Carr arrived
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there to pick up a check for his girlfriend and Jeff's sister, who were
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calling Melba and who was at school. He left the residence at around eight
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thirty AM. Jeff and his stepfather headed out shortly thereafter. Brittany remained behind
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alone in the Stagner home, and when they returned sometime around three pm that
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day, Jeff found Brittany deceased in his bed, brutally beaten to death with
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a blunt object. We went over Jeff Stagner and his stepfather's story on part
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one. Their alibi of going to Cleburne, Texas to pick up a relative,
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a two hour and forty minute drive each way, checked out more than
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anyone else's movements and accounts that day, not to mention the lies he told
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within them, provided him the best opportunity out of all the suspects to murder
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Brittany McLoone. When Chatterroll Carr returned to the Stagner home to drop off Melba,
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Wood County Sheriff's deputies and investigators were already on the scene. Deputy Mark
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Miller questioned them immediately upon their arrival. Carr, Miller later wrote in his
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report, was incredibly nervous, even as Melba tried to calm him by referring
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to the deputy as a nice guy. Miller also noted that Car's accounts of
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the day were so detailed that it seemed as if he were setting up an
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alibi. After a few questions, the policeman told them they were free to
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go. The following day, Saturday, May fifth, two thousand and seven,
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Chad Carr was asked to come down to the Sheriff's office for further questioning.
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He refused to do so at first, but upon conferring with a relative,
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changed his mind and agreed. Once there, and after being read the
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miranda warning, Car also agreed to speak with Lieutenant Miles Tucker without a lawyer
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present. Tucker asked Carr to go over his movements on May fourth. In
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detail, Melba, Carr said, spent the night with him at his aunt's
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house, and he dropped her off at Winnsboro High School for class early in
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the morning. He then went to his place of employment, S and J
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Contractors, and spoke with his boss for ten to fifteen minutes before spending thirty
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to forty minutes at Key Energy Services, an oil well servicing company, for
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reasons unknown. From there, Carr continued in his statement, he drove to
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Alco to pick up glue sticks for Melba. At the retail store, he
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asked his girlfriend's mother, who was a manager, if she had Melba's tax
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return check. She did not have it, she told Car. Rather,
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it was in her husband's pickup truck back at home. That's where he headed
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next, Chad Carr told Lieutenant Tucker. Once there, he saw Jeff Stagner
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and Jeff's stepfather working under the hood of the truck. Jeff and his stepfather
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are said to have laughed at around eight thirty am, which makes Car's several
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claimed movements between this stop and dropping Melbae off at school earlier seemed like too
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much to be true, and according to at least one person, one of
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these stops anyway, did not occur, at least not in the morning.
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One important thing to keep in mind here, Carr never entered the Stagner home,
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he told the policeman, but instead got the check and left from there.
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He drove back to Alco when he arrived. When he arrived at the
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store, Carr went on his aunt assistant manager asked that he go to Sonic,
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a fast food joint, to pick up breakfast for her. Instead of
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going straight to Sonic, Carr said he went to his home in East Point,
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about ten miles away, to change clothes into a pair of shorts.
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He said after that he headed to Sonic, bought breakfast, and delivered it
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to his aunt at Alco, he told Lieutenant Tucker. Next, he went
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to a scheduled appointment at his optometrist, where, according to Car, he
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arrived fifteen minutes early. He did not leave the appointment until at least eleven
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forty am, he said. From the optometrist, Carr advised he picked up
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Melba at eleven fifty five, after which they stopped by the bank and then
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Peralta's Mexican restaurant for lunch. After they finished eating, Car and Melba went
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to his optometrist at around one thirty pm. They ran several other errands before
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ending up back at Alco. From there, Carr told Lieutenant Miles Tucker.
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He and Melba headed to her house, where they were met by a swarm
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of Wood County Sheriff's deputies who were investigating the scene of Brittany's murder. After
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giving his statement, Car was free to go, but he was still at
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the top of the suspect list Wood County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Miles Tucker, of
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course, began an attempt to verify twenty five year old chat Earl Car's alibi
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not long after his interview. First, he spoke with employees at the optometrist's
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office. What he learned solidified Car as a suspect. Carr had told the
27:03
policeman that he was fifteen minutes early for his appointment, but according to the
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office's receptionist, he'd called a little before the scheduled time. He was having
27:14
car trouble, he told her, and actually arrived twenty minutes late. Not
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only did Chad Carr not mention any problems with his vehicle during his interview to
27:26
other witnesses at the optometrist's office, also corroborated the receptionist's account that was a
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nearly indisputable strike one. The second strike was immediately to follow. After leaving
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the optometrist, Lieutenant Miles Tucker headed straight for Carr's employer, S and J.
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Construction. The suspect's boss said that he had indeed stopped by on Friday,
27:56
May fourth, However, it was in the afternoon, around two PM,
28:02
and not first thing in the morning as Carr had claimed in his statement.
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Chad Carr had also been at Alco retail store that morning, as the
28:12
surveillance footage showed, and left at nine twenty one am. Considering he'd been
28:21
to the store three times that morning, and considering that the probable cause affidavite
28:26
doesn't specify whether this time is the first time he left or another, it's
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impossible for us to even begin to speculate on exactly when investigators have theorized Carr
28:40
allegedly killed Brittany. If Jeff Stagner and his stepfather left by eight thirty am,
28:48
which they'd almost certainly had to have done to make it to Cleburne and
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back by around three to three thirty pm. It gave Car plenty of time
28:57
to kill Brittany before arriving at Alco for the second time. Theorizing that Chad
29:03
Car killed Brittany McLoone after leaving Alco at nine twenty one am, if that
29:10
is the last time he was there, perhaps makes the most sense, as
29:15
clocked by Wood County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Miles Tucker. From Alco to the murder
29:21
scene is an approximate six minute drive. From the murder scene to Chad Car's
29:26
residence in East Point, where he told Tucker he changed clothes is about twelve
29:33
minutes. Considering three employees at the optometrist's office all said Car was twenty minutes
29:41
late for his appointment, putting him there at ten twenty am. The suspect
29:47
would have had more than enough time to kill Brittany, but why. Further
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witness accounts and physical evidence made the case against Car even stronger, But when
30:00
it looked like justice for Brittany was within reach, it was abruptly pulled away.
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Brittany's family was once again forced to reckon with the possibility that justice was
30:12
only a word in Wood County and not an action. That's next time ugone
30:19
Cold. If you have any information about the murder of Brittany Danielle McLoone,
30:27
please contact the Wood County Sheriff's Office at nine zero three seven sixty three two
30:33
two zero one to be eligible for a reward and to remain anonymous. At
30:38
the same time, called Wood County Crime Stoppers at nine zero three seven sixty
30:45
three two two seven four. That's nine zero three seven to sixty three cash.
30:53
We would like to thank Hope, Brandon and Patricia for their invaluable help
30:59
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