Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Missing tot boy miraculously found alive, soaking wet in briar patch after nearly 3-day search! PLUS: Renters facing eviction allegedly kill, stuff landlord in crawlspace

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Missing tot boy miraculously found alive, soaking wet in briar patch after nearly 3-day search! PLUS: Renters facing eviction allegedly kill, stuff landlord in crawlspace · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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Speaker 1: Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Okay, here with ball there,
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Speaker 1: Um we roll my care your old brandfather that's walked
1:37
Speaker 1: being the worst. Then we can't find him. Three your
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Speaker 1: old brandthorn hey there with them here, Paul, are you
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Speaker 1: here your own? Yeah, he's free. Okay. The girls come
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Speaker 1: to the house and left him there and he's walked
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Speaker 1: go somewhere and we can't find him, I think, but
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Speaker 1: they're not all you're not there in the house now
2:00
Speaker 1: all right to hell hill? Okay? And how long ago
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Speaker 1: do you know he brought in there here? Right for
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Speaker 1: five minutes? Because we've been looking at all in the
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Speaker 1: words forward and behind your home, directly behind your house, yeah,
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Speaker 1: well on the side, yeah, and you know white black
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Speaker 1: do you know what he was wearing? Cabrea a black
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Speaker 1: little curse. You are hearing the frantic nine one one
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Speaker 1: call of the grandma the three year old taught boy
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Speaker 1: Casey goes missing and in the last hours listen, we're
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Speaker 1: responded on a tip and uh located by boys young
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Speaker 1: man and went to him disentanglement from some briars or
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Speaker 1: he was hung up in of brought him out here,
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Speaker 1: will you all that's right, you heard it right, a miracle.
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Speaker 1: Three year old Casey has been found alive, trapped in
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Speaker 1: thorn bush is soaking wet and calling out for his mommy.
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Speaker 1: I Meancy, Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for
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Speaker 1: being with us. First, let's go out to Shane Deetered
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Speaker 1: ABC eleven TV Durham reporters. Shane, what happened? Well, Nancy,
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Speaker 1: we said, calls into the newsroom somewhere around nine o'clock
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Speaker 1: rumors they've been found. So then we tracked it down
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Speaker 1: and yeah, it's not that often that the story ends
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Speaker 1: this way, And of course we had the cruise down
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Speaker 1: the area and we went to the hospital there were
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Speaker 1: the FBI Sheriff's department held a press conference to confirm it,
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Speaker 1: let us know case he was okay. The sheriff said
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Speaker 1: that Casey hadn't been in the place where he was
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Speaker 1: found the whole time, so still trying to figure that
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Speaker 1: out and not for sure that that will ever happen
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Speaker 1: with Casey being three years old. Well, you're right, because
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Speaker 1: the three year old little boy you had been missing
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Speaker 1: for two days in freezing temperature, the bombshell is has
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Speaker 1: been found alive. It is a miracle. He is in
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Speaker 1: good health. Near the North Carolina home from where he disappeared.
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Speaker 1: People coming out in droves to look for the little boy,
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Speaker 1: us trying to find him as well. Joining me right now.
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Speaker 1: Mark Class, tireless advocate for missing children, founder of Class
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Speaker 1: Kids after his daughter Polly went missing. Mark Class, I
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Speaker 1: can't believe it. As it was going into day two,
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Speaker 1: I started wondering if he had been abducted. Well, of
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Speaker 1: course that's always a concern, and we've covered so many
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Speaker 1: of those cases in the past. But to give a
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Speaker 1: little context to this, Nancy, this was an incredibly rural
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Speaker 1: area and he wandered off into the woods and disappeared
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Speaker 1: under pretty treacherous conditions. It was freezing at night, there
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Speaker 1: were winds, there was rain on The woods are full
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Speaker 1: of sinkholes, they're full of ponds, they're full of creeks,
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Speaker 1: and somehow this kid was able to survive. In fact,
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Speaker 1: they even turned away volunteers because of the treachery of
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Speaker 1: the conditions, which left it to the professional search and
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Speaker 1: rescue individuals, These amazing teams that put their lives on
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Speaker 1: the line time after time after time, and this time
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Speaker 1: it came out with a great result. They got the tip,
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Speaker 1: they heard the little boy, they were able to go
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Speaker 1: and rescue him, and he'll now live a full and
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Speaker 1: productive life. It's just a testament to search and rescues greatness.
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Speaker 1: It all started with this frantic nine one one call
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Speaker 1: from the grandma Calbary A Blackwell, Kurt, Yeah, okay, I
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Speaker 1: think easily. Yeah he's there. Yeah, great card. Okay, it's
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Speaker 1: about forty five minutes ago. Yeah, okay, all right, the
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Speaker 1: big area of wood behind your house, Yeah, it's pretty big.
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Speaker 1: I think even out there looking for him. Yeah, okay,
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Speaker 1: all right, we got a debut head to you. Okaya,
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Speaker 1: forty five minutes directly behind your house for a time. Yeah, okay,
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Speaker 1: are you the feelings that we have some deputy put
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Speaker 1: it that way, okay, okay, great, thank you. You're hearing
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Speaker 1: the grandma on the phone to doctor Bethany Marshall, renowned
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Speaker 1: psychoanalyst joining us out of la Doctor Bethany. The grandma's
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Speaker 1: taking a lot of heat because she waited forty five
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Speaker 1: minutes to report him missing. But the reality is she
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Speaker 1: was looking for him, and you know, as Mark Klass said,
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Speaker 1: this was a rural community This is a very innocent story.
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Speaker 1: This is a loving grandmother who is allowing a little kids,
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Speaker 1: toddlers to play in the backyard. But we're not talking
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Speaker 1: of New York City, We're not talking Chicago. We're talking
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Speaker 1: a rural setting where children can go out and play
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Speaker 1: and it's very, very safe. And I think this grandmother
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Speaker 1: thought that she could find a little boy, but little
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Speaker 1: boys do wander. This was innocent on the little boy's
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Speaker 1: part as well. And I think grandma went through forty
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Speaker 1: five terrifying minutes before she finally found finally called nine
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Speaker 1: one one. And I think grandma's to be congratulated because
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Speaker 1: she was providing childcare instead of being criticized for not
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Speaker 1: calling nine one one right away. Yeah, and the grandma's
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Speaker 1: been taking a lot of heat because she waited the
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Speaker 1: forty five minutes before she called nine one one. But again,
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Speaker 1: during those forty five minutes, she was out in the
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Speaker 1: woods all around calling him, calling him for Casey to
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Speaker 1: come home. And it was only when she was met
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Speaker 1: with complete silence that she came back in and breaks
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Speaker 1: down and calls emergency dispatch to report to three year
8:11
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Speaker 1: to tell everybody that we're very thankful that you took
9:45
Speaker 1: the time out to come search for Casey and prayed
9:48
Speaker 1: for him. And he's good. He is good. He's up
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Speaker 1: and talking. He's already asked to watch Netflix, so he's good.
9:55
Speaker 1: He's good. Thank everybody for coming out all to pray
10:00
Speaker 1: a lot. Thank him. Thank you, sir, you're hearing the
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Speaker 1: voices little taught casey parents, Brittany and Chris Hathaway, thanking
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Speaker 1: everyone for all the efforts in the cold, in the wind,
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Speaker 1: in the rain trying to find their little boy. And
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Speaker 1: I know they are exhausted. To doctor Bethany Marshall joining us,
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Speaker 1: I don't know how you ever get that out of
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Speaker 1: your mind. Like I can remember right now when I
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Speaker 1: turned around inside of babies r Us and John David
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Speaker 1: was gone. That's nothing compared to what they've lived through.
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Speaker 1: I mean, how do you ever get past that, Bethany?
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Speaker 1: I don't think you can because from the moment a
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Speaker 1: parent has a child, that parent knows that that child's
10:55
Speaker 1: entire well being is dependent upon them. You're responsible for
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Speaker 1: that child in the world, to keep them safe, to
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Speaker 1: keep them protected. In the idea that you would lose
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Speaker 1: contact with that child and not know where they are
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Speaker 1: is incredibly traumatic. And that's why when people are criticizing
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Speaker 1: this grandma for not calling nine one one for forty
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Speaker 1: five minutes, can you imagine what was going through her mind.
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Speaker 1: She must have been absolutely frantic. There are certain there's
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Speaker 1: certain things that happen to us in life that touch
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Speaker 1: on our core most primitive fears, and I think the
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Speaker 1: idea of losing a child is just the worst trauma
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Speaker 1: that a person can go through. And I want to
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Speaker 1: say one thing about grandma. Grandma's taking care of her
11:42
Speaker 1: grandchild so that the grandchild's parents can work so that
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Speaker 1: they can earn a living and take care of that child.
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Speaker 1: And to criticize that this grandmother or any other grandparent
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Speaker 1: who's taking care of a child, I don't think that
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Speaker 1: is respectful for the role that grandparents play in our
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Speaker 1: society and allowing parents to work and support their children.
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Speaker 1: You know what, You're absolutely right, you know every time
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Speaker 1: I have to go out of town. Bethany, my mom
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Speaker 1: is here with the children with me right now. Mark Class,
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Speaker 1: founder of Class Kids Foundation. Mark, I know that you
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Speaker 1: injured so much pain when Polly went missing. Do you
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Speaker 1: remember it must have been like a nightmare blur even
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Speaker 1: to this day. Well, first of all, Nancy, everything that
12:31
Speaker 1: Bethany said is absolutely spot on, and she was thinking
12:35
Speaker 1: it took me back to those times and it was
12:39
Speaker 1: absolutely the worst thing that I've ever had to live through.
12:42
Speaker 1: And I can tell you that you feel like you're
12:46
Speaker 1: in the middle of a tornado of activity that you
12:48
Speaker 1: have absolutely no control over. And she's absolutely correct. You
12:54
Speaker 1: tell your children that you'll always be there for them,
12:57
Speaker 1: that you'll always protect them, and reality, no parents can
13:02
Speaker 1: do that. You can't be a helicopter parent. Twenty four
13:06
Speaker 1: to seven. And it took me a good decade to
13:10
Speaker 1: be able to put my life in a place where
13:12
Speaker 1: I could look forward and I could appreciate things, and
13:15
Speaker 1: I could listen to the music and I could smell
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Speaker 1: the flowers. Yeah, Mark, when you look back on that
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Speaker 1: time when Polly was missing, before her body was found,
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Speaker 1: that horrible, horrible period of time, what does that I
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Speaker 1: don't even like to think back when Keith was murdered
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Speaker 1: my fiance, because it can drag me down and then
13:38
Speaker 1: I can't get back out. What reaction do you have
13:42
Speaker 1: when you look back at that time period, that chunk
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Speaker 1: of time, Well, it was a seminal moment of my life.
13:49
Speaker 1: I mean it was the first huge moment of my
13:53
Speaker 1: life was a day that my daughter was born, because
13:55
Speaker 1: it taught me I'm conditional love. And during that period
14:00
Speaker 1: was the second huge moment of my life although it
14:05
Speaker 1: lasted two months, but I existed in anger, I existed
14:10
Speaker 1: in fear. Yet I had also existed in diminishing hope,
14:14
Speaker 1: and right until the minute that they were able to
14:17
Speaker 1: tell us that Paulie's remains had been recovered, I had
14:20
Speaker 1: convinced myself and I think many many other people that
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Speaker 1: she was out there and that she was alive, and
14:26
Speaker 1: that we would get the kind of a resolution that
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Speaker 1: Casey Halfaway's parents received just last night. You know what,
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Speaker 1: every time I talked to you, Mark, classic gives it
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Speaker 1: breaks my heart and it gives me so much hope
14:42
Speaker 1: that you have devoted your life to moments just like this,
14:47
Speaker 1: like bringing Casey Hathaway home alive joining me from ABC
14:54
Speaker 1: eleven TV Durham before Shane Ditert Shane out, did they
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Speaker 1: find him and what had the little boy endured? Then
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Speaker 1: there was a tip. Searchers went out and called his
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Speaker 1: name and he answered him in The sheriff of Craven
15:15
Speaker 1: County actually walked to him and helped get him out
15:18
Speaker 1: of the briars. The day before, the weather was so
15:22
Speaker 1: bad it was raining in cloudy. At one point they
15:26
Speaker 1: thought they might have to call the search off. He
15:29
Speaker 1: endured a lot with just the weather called temperatures. We
15:34
Speaker 1: talked about all the rescuers that were out there to help.
15:37
Speaker 1: There were even some soldiers and some marines and they
15:40
Speaker 1: were doing the grid search. You know, they understand something, Shane,
15:44
Speaker 1: I don't understand how he's out in the wilderness. But
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Speaker 1: then they get a tip. How did that? What is that?
15:52
Speaker 1: You know, That's what we are questioning ourselves. And the
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Speaker 1: sheriff didn't answer that question or the f the eye
15:59
Speaker 1: last night we were told that there is you know,
16:03
Speaker 1: they never thought he was abducted, which is one reason
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Speaker 1: that am berler was never issued. Yeah, I'm back to
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Speaker 1: the question. I'm back to the question if he's out
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Speaker 1: in the wilderness, stuck in Briars who called in a tip.
16:16
Speaker 1: There's still something to this story that we don't know yet.
16:20
Speaker 1: That's what we will be working on to figure out.
16:25
Speaker 1: And for him to be less than a quarter of
16:28
Speaker 1: a mile from where he went missing from and you
16:32
Speaker 1: know the way the grandmother went and looked for him.
16:35
Speaker 1: The sheriff did tell us that he hadn't been there
16:39
Speaker 1: in that spot the whole time, so he was moving around,
16:44
Speaker 1: but he survived in thirty degree temperatures for over forty
16:49
Speaker 1: eight hours. The tip to visit Hill, a private investigator,
16:52
Speaker 1: former cop, author of playbook to a Murder on Amazon.
16:56
Speaker 1: I don't understand how you get a tip and you
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Speaker 1: follow the tip and you find the boy in Briars
17:03
Speaker 1: in the wilderness. So where would a tip about that
17:06
Speaker 1: have come from? Yeah, that's a million dollar question Anti,
17:10
Speaker 1: especially since the authorities said he was not previously there
17:13
Speaker 1: when they searched. So how did what did you just
17:16
Speaker 1: say he was not previously there where they found him?
17:21
Speaker 1: So how did he get there? Was he moving around
17:23
Speaker 1: for these forty eight hours? To your point, how did
17:26
Speaker 1: he stay warm for these forty eight hours? So I
17:29
Speaker 1: would question this tip. Where it came from. Who made
17:32
Speaker 1: this tip? How did they know where to go? Look,
17:36
Speaker 1: A lot to be investigated, a lot of questions still
17:39
Speaker 1: floating around, But I'm going to go again to Mark
17:43
Speaker 1: class and the joy of the moment of a miracle.
17:47
Speaker 1: It hardly ever happens. Mark Well, Matthew, I think the
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Speaker 1: first to the tip. I think that somebody either heard
17:56
Speaker 1: the little boy or they saw something. They understood it
18:01
Speaker 1: was stretcher's conditions, and they contacted law enforcement so they
18:04
Speaker 1: could get the search and rescue team over there to
18:07
Speaker 1: pull them out of the briars. That would be my guests.
18:11
Speaker 1: But this is something that we have to hold onto.
18:14
Speaker 1: This is like Jamie Close. We're in a place now
18:18
Speaker 1: where children are being rescued, their disappearances are being taken seriously,
18:23
Speaker 1: they're being assessed correctly, and we're finding them more often
18:28
Speaker 1: then we get in the past. And I think it's
18:30
Speaker 1: a testament to everybody that's working on this issue of
18:35
Speaker 1: missing children and how to recover them that we're in
18:39
Speaker 1: this place and we can only hope that things continue
18:41
Speaker 1: to get better and that more and more children are
18:44
Speaker 1: brought home, and even more importantly than less and less
18:48
Speaker 1: children are abused or otherwise find themselves in these difficult circumstances.
18:54
Speaker 1: We're founded on a tap and located by boys young
19:01
Speaker 1: man and went to him disentangling from some briars or
19:06
Speaker 1: he was hung up in of brought him out here
19:10
Speaker 1: we are. He was cold, but he was he was
19:13
Speaker 1: a verbal man to us. So the more will warmed
19:17
Speaker 1: him up and the more actiitude became. And you know,
19:20
Speaker 1: I think for the conditions, I think I think you're
19:23
Speaker 1: very very well. You know, we're very fortunate for where
19:26
Speaker 1: we are. How far away from where he was reported missing?
19:29
Speaker 1: Did you find him? U? Watch it? Maybe less than
19:33
Speaker 1: a quarter of a mile? Baby, quarter and a half
19:36
Speaker 1: a yeah, little of a quarter of a mile. I'm okay,
19:39
Speaker 1: talcous he's still a high school questions? He tell us
19:41
Speaker 1: what the process to reporting for they further investing issues. Well,
19:46
Speaker 1: as we've trip, we're treating it from the beginning as
19:50
Speaker 1: a missing child. You know, the child has been found
19:54
Speaker 1: in case he's been found and brought home. So um,
19:56
Speaker 1: like I said, the family was very core off, cooperative.
19:59
Speaker 1: That was key, as were all the neighbors. So Damie,
20:03
Speaker 1: he hadn't any indication there was any kind of abduction
20:07
Speaker 1: or that he was taking and then returned, or do
20:10
Speaker 1: we think that absolutely not. At no time did we
20:14
Speaker 1: see any indications of an abduction. And you know, just
20:19
Speaker 1: to take that a little further, that's why an amber
20:21
Speaker 1: alert was not put out. There were no signs of abduction.
20:25
Speaker 1: Believe me, had there been the slightest we would have
20:29
Speaker 1: done that was he still in the sea clothing his
20:32
Speaker 1: want was reported for people to look at. And then
20:35
Speaker 1: he cuts for Bruce as he said, he found he
20:38
Speaker 1: was still in his coat. It was zipped up and
20:42
Speaker 1: he is he's cut up a little bit, scrape and
20:44
Speaker 1: stuff like that, but in very good spirits, very happy
20:49
Speaker 1: and like I said, you know what was really special
20:51
Speaker 1: as when he saw his little sister in smiling so
20:54
Speaker 1: as a very touching moment, very touching. What a miracle
20:58
Speaker 1: our prayers are answered. Casey Away found alive. Hi, Nancy
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Speaker 1: Nancy Fine the truth crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Police
22:23
Speaker 1: say learning the details while investigating this case has not
22:26
Speaker 1: only been disturbing, but unimaginable. Flashing lines outside Princeton Avenue
22:30
Speaker 1: near Windsor Street late Friday night. This is where police
22:33
Speaker 1: were looking for David Stokeo, a father of Ford reported
22:37
Speaker 1: missing on Thursday. When we arrived there, we saw things
22:40
Speaker 1: on scene that rose from the level of concern for
22:43
Speaker 1: his well being. Stokell was a real estate agent from
22:46
Speaker 1: South Jordan on his way to collect rent from this residence.
22:49
Speaker 1: Stokell was found dead with a gunshot wound in a
22:51
Speaker 1: cross space in the house. Police then turned to looking
22:54
Speaker 1: for who shot him. You are hearing from our friends
22:57
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake. That's reporter Aaron Cox and she's talking
23:01
Speaker 1: about a young father of four, David Stokoe, who goes
23:07
Speaker 1: to a property that he's renting out. He's never seen
23:11
Speaker 1: alive again. Then this the victim in this homicide. David
23:18
Speaker 1: was actually in that apartment. There was an area that
23:22
Speaker 1: was not obvious when we went into that apartment then
23:26
Speaker 1: searched it. Initially there was a secret place across space
23:29
Speaker 1: type of area that once we began processing that scene,
23:33
Speaker 1: we discovered that secret passage or secretore and then discovered
23:38
Speaker 1: his remains. So he was at that apartment in that
23:42
Speaker 1: entire time. There was a lie through process and that
23:45
Speaker 1: crime scene, but we were able to discover his whereabout
23:48
Speaker 1: I mean, as he grace, This is crime stories. How
23:51
Speaker 1: did a young, handsome father of four end up dead
23:55
Speaker 1: and a crawl space Joining me right now. Ashley Wilcott,
24:00
Speaker 1: juvenile judge and lawyer. Joe Scott Morgan, forensics expert, author
24:04
Speaker 1: of Blood Beneath My Feet and Professor Forensics, Jacksonville State University,
24:08
Speaker 1: Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family lawyer, and joining you right now,
24:12
Speaker 1: Crime online dot Com investigative reporter Robin will Lensky. Robin,
24:16
Speaker 1: let's start at the beginning. The dad leaves home to
24:19
Speaker 1: go to this property. What happens then? What do we know?
24:22
Speaker 1: We know that he goes to this place that he
24:25
Speaker 1: owns that he's renting out to two people, a man
24:28
Speaker 1: and a woman, and he's going there to collect rent
24:33
Speaker 1: and evict these people. And then suddenly this father of
24:38
Speaker 1: four kids, he has a son and three daughters and
24:41
Speaker 1: a beautiful wife, and it's just never seen again, never
24:45
Speaker 1: seen again. Then cops start investigating. To Kathleen Murphy, North
24:50
Speaker 1: Carolina family lawyer, you know, this reminds me a little
24:53
Speaker 1: bit of cops going to a domestic. They go just
24:57
Speaker 1: to probably break up a fight. Next thing, you know,
24:59
Speaker 1: they end up. This guy goes on seemingly a simple
25:02
Speaker 1: errand to collect rent and or tell the people that
25:06
Speaker 1: got to get out if they don't pay the rent.
25:08
Speaker 1: He's found in the crasspace dead. Kathleen Murphy, how does
25:12
Speaker 1: something so simple when you start dealing with family dynamics
25:18
Speaker 1: go so wrong. You're the North Carolina family lawyer. In
25:22
Speaker 1: family situations, domestic situations where police officers come to the scenes,
25:26
Speaker 1: they have no idea what they're dealing with. You know
25:28
Speaker 1: what did Joe Scott Morgan? How does a simple thing
25:31
Speaker 1: like a cop going to a domestic where you think
25:34
Speaker 1: you're just going to break up a crime or going
25:36
Speaker 1: to collect rent, how does everything go so sideways? You're
25:41
Speaker 1: the forensics expert. It starts out so simply and then
25:44
Speaker 1: all of a sudden you got a homicide. Yeah, I mean,
25:47
Speaker 1: domestic situations, Nancy are proven Tom and Tom again to
25:51
Speaker 1: be the most violent of all because they contain passion.
25:54
Speaker 1: Many times money is involved or potentially drugs. You've got
25:58
Speaker 1: people that are into space, they're arguing, they're fighting their
26:02
Speaker 1: stressed this and I'm not. You know, it's not some
26:05
Speaker 1: dark specter that rises up out of the dark. It's
26:08
Speaker 1: many times people in that intimate circle, people in that
26:12
Speaker 1: environment that are so tense. Horror happens many times. Well,
26:16
Speaker 1: here's another issue to you, Robin Willinski Crimalne dot Com.
26:20
Speaker 1: Invest you at a reporter or the name John Wayne YaCy.
26:24
Speaker 1: Spread's terror John Wayne Gacy. As you will Recall was
26:29
Speaker 1: responsible for at least twenty nine murders and those bodies,
26:36
Speaker 1: six of them were found in the crawl space within
26:40
Speaker 1: his home. So hiding a body and a crawl space
26:44
Speaker 1: or within a wall or is not unusual. It's not
26:47
Speaker 1: the first time it's ever happened, Robin, No, it's not unusual.
26:51
Speaker 1: I think that in this case that you know you're
26:53
Speaker 1: you're saying, you're making the point that you know you
26:56
Speaker 1: police go and knock on the door. They don't know
26:58
Speaker 1: what they're getting into, and then there's an argument potentially,
27:02
Speaker 1: and things go south very very quickly. And there's many
27:06
Speaker 1: crimes of passion. I mean, not necessarily in this case,
27:09
Speaker 1: the crime of passion, but things can go from cold
27:12
Speaker 1: to hot in a matter of seconds, and then people
27:15
Speaker 1: panic after someone is nice or shot or whatever happens,
27:19
Speaker 1: or a neck is broken, and then people panic and
27:21
Speaker 1: then they try to hide the body. Well, you can't
27:23
Speaker 1: put the body under the bed, you can't leave the
27:25
Speaker 1: body on the couch, you can't put the body in
27:27
Speaker 1: the kitchen. So I guess you put the body in
27:30
Speaker 1: the cross space if you don't have a basement, and
27:32
Speaker 1: that really limits the number of suspects because who else
27:34
Speaker 1: has access to a crawl space For Pete's sake. This realtor,
27:38
Speaker 1: a young, handsome, forty year old father off David Stokoe
27:42
Speaker 1: initially reported missing on a Thursday when he failed to
27:46
Speaker 1: come back home after going to an apartment to collect
27:48
Speaker 1: rent from tenants. He never left that apartment, according to police,
27:52
Speaker 1: Police find David fatally shot and his body stuffed he
27:59
Speaker 1: had inside a crawl space inside the wall of the
28:04
Speaker 1: apartment he was visiting to collect the rent. A seemingly
28:10
Speaker 1: mundane task, going to collect the rent goes sideways. David
28:14
Speaker 1: Stoko worked here at rand Life Real Estate as an
28:17
Speaker 1: associate broker. His colleague here tells me his death has
28:22
Speaker 1: devastated their entire team and has shaken the entire real
28:26
Speaker 1: estate community in Utah. Stoco was a licensed real estate
28:30
Speaker 1: realtor for more than eighteen years, and in that time,
28:33
Speaker 1: those who knew him tell me he has a very
28:36
Speaker 1: good reputation of being someone that was kind and easy
28:39
Speaker 1: to work with. Investigators say Stoko was shot and killed
28:42
Speaker 1: during a confrontation while trying to evict one of his tenants.
28:46
Speaker 1: They say this tragedy is an alarming reminder for them
28:50
Speaker 1: of how dangerous their jobs can be. Cripple just cripple
28:59
Speaker 1: er all of us. I mean, as an asset, he's amazing.
29:05
Speaker 1: He had more energy to give than most people I know,
29:11
Speaker 1: positive energy, let alone the pillar he was in the community.
29:15
Speaker 1: And I think it really hit me hard because it
29:17
Speaker 1: was actually here, someone I knew, and in Utah. I
29:21
Speaker 1: read about these stories and other states, but not here.
29:24
Speaker 1: How senseless the death of a father of four not
29:27
Speaker 1: the death of murder you were hearing KTVX ABC four
29:32
Speaker 1: reporter Rosie Gen speaking with his real estate colleagues. Is
29:36
Speaker 1: they remember him? But why did it have to be
29:39
Speaker 1: this way? Just collecting the rent goes so wrong. Drugs, Nancy,
29:45
Speaker 1: and I said to your producer, in this particular situation,
29:49
Speaker 1: the individuals were probably high on drugs. Take a listen
29:53
Speaker 1: to what cops are telling us right now and a
29:55
Speaker 1: police pressor. The people that were dealing with are drug users,
29:59
Speaker 1: and so drugs were part of the world that they
30:01
Speaker 1: were involved in. Certainly, our victim was an innocent person
30:06
Speaker 1: that didn't have anything to do with the drug world.
30:09
Speaker 1: He just happened to be involved in interact and through
30:12
Speaker 1: renting this apartment to people that were involved in the
30:16
Speaker 1: right world. I think it unfolded very quickly once he
30:19
Speaker 1: was there. I don't think that there's anything that had
30:23
Speaker 1: we moved faster would have would have changed any of that.
30:27
Speaker 1: It was a very quick incident, and I haven't spoken
30:31
Speaker 1: with the family. I know our investigators have. They reached
30:33
Speaker 1: out and had communication the different pieces. Obviously, we found
30:37
Speaker 1: the vehicle in West Valley, and we nuns possibly where
30:41
Speaker 1: Mere where we were in an apartment, and South salt Lake.
30:46
Speaker 1: So we're tracking down leads all over. Primarily the South
30:50
Speaker 1: salt Lake location early this morning was where we found
30:54
Speaker 1: several of our individuals associated at this incident. It looks
30:58
Speaker 1: like most of these were found at the warficion you
31:02
Speaker 1: were hearing Detective Gred Wilking with a Salt Lake City PD.
31:07
Speaker 1: You know, your initial hunch, Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family
31:10
Speaker 1: lawyer was absolutely correct. This was a situation that was
31:14
Speaker 1: exacerbated by drug use, not by the victim, the father
31:20
Speaker 1: for David Stokoe, but by allegedly the people he went
31:24
Speaker 1: to go collect rent from. I mean, what could be
31:26
Speaker 1: more normal than paying your rent? And why did it
31:29
Speaker 1: have to end end homicide? Kathleen Murphy the drugs that
31:32
Speaker 1: are affecting our population right now is causing such turmoil
31:38
Speaker 1: and trauma. This guy was shot, I don't know how
31:41
Speaker 1: many times he was shot, but then his body was
31:43
Speaker 1: put into a crawl space. How inhumane is that? I mean,
31:48
Speaker 1: with no regard for the family at all. And I
31:52
Speaker 1: don't wanna go to you. Joe Scott Morgan, forensics expert
31:55
Speaker 1: and author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon. Joe Scott,
31:59
Speaker 1: we see every day in our line of business, no remorse,
32:04
Speaker 1: no empathy at all for the victim or the victim's
32:08
Speaker 1: family at all. Yeah, you're absolutely right. Let me put
32:12
Speaker 1: one more element in here. No common sense on the
32:15
Speaker 1: part of these perpetrators, Nancy. They have left a wide
32:20
Speaker 1: swath of forensic evidence behind that's going to be very,
32:24
Speaker 1: very difficult for them to escape. What I'm really curious
32:28
Speaker 1: about here, the way this young man was killed, the
32:32
Speaker 1: way he was executed. I want to know what. I
32:35
Speaker 1: want to know. What kind of position did they put
32:39
Speaker 1: him in. Did they stand over him and shoot him
32:41
Speaker 1: in the back of the head. Did they just stick
32:43
Speaker 1: a gun in his belly and shoot him. I want
32:46
Speaker 1: to know these things. And Kathleen had mentioned the inhumanity
32:49
Speaker 1: of taking this guy and stuffing him into a crawl
32:52
Speaker 1: space that is going to bode very, very poorly for
32:56
Speaker 1: them in court. You know, it's really haunting me right now.
33:01
Speaker 1: And Robin Willinski Crime Online dot Com investigative reporter, Robin,
33:05
Speaker 1: it's everyday things like I'm going to collect the rent
33:08
Speaker 1: I cop, going to a domestic where you think it's
33:11
Speaker 1: you know, not going to be a big deal. And
33:13
Speaker 1: I can't tell you how many times, Robin. You know
33:15
Speaker 1: my husband very well. He'll be at a red light.
33:19
Speaker 1: The person want movie beeps the horn. Now he more
33:22
Speaker 1: sits on the horn. It's a it's a it's aggressive,
33:27
Speaker 1: not like a dude. Dude, And I'm like, David, have
33:30
Speaker 1: you lost your mind? He goes, they need to go, Like, true,
33:33
Speaker 1: they do need to go. But look around. You don't
33:36
Speaker 1: know who just got out on parole. You don't know
33:38
Speaker 1: who's packing a gun right now. You just don't know
33:40
Speaker 1: what seemed to you it's no big deal. Can turn
33:44
Speaker 1: on a dime, Robin, and that's what happened here. I know,
33:47
Speaker 1: I think exactly like you do, Nancy. You know, I
33:50
Speaker 1: get frustrated in those situations and then you think Wow,
33:52
Speaker 1: does somebody have a gun, It's just going to turn
33:55
Speaker 1: around and shoot you. You don't know if people are
33:57
Speaker 1: hopped up or high on drugs or opioids or what
33:59
Speaker 1: they're doing. Did they just get high, Are they on cocaine?
34:02
Speaker 1: You just don't know. And I think that we need
34:05
Speaker 1: to point out that this guy was not a drug user.
34:07
Speaker 1: He was not going there to buy drugs and putting
34:10
Speaker 1: himself in jeopardy. He was at all. Oh, not at all.
34:13
Speaker 1: That's the point I really want to stress, and that
34:15
Speaker 1: the police are stressing, and that basically he's just there.
34:19
Speaker 1: You know, when you're a realtor, this is a guy
34:21
Speaker 1: who feels comfortable showing strangers homes. So he has no
34:25
Speaker 1: reservations about going into this house because he's the homeowner
34:29
Speaker 1: and they're the tenant in a normal relationship, and so
34:32
Speaker 1: you and I have both rented apartments. You know, the
34:34
Speaker 1: homeowner comes to check on things or collect the rent
34:37
Speaker 1: and nothing like that is going to go down. So
34:39
Speaker 1: he felt comfortable in this scenario because he's a real letor.
34:43
Speaker 1: He deals with strangers. He goes to houses and apartments
34:47
Speaker 1: all the time. So I don't think in his mind
34:49
Speaker 1: this scenario ever played out. He never reminds me. When
34:52
Speaker 1: I was prosecuting downtown Robin and I lived in midtown forever,
34:56
Speaker 1: right behind the popular restaurant Mary Max, where you can
35:00
Speaker 1: still get collars and turnips. And I rented a little, oh, gosh,
35:07
Speaker 1: I don't know what you would call it, a little, tiny,
35:09
Speaker 1: tiny apartment house. And it was behind one of the
35:14
Speaker 1: big old homes on Pen and the landlords was the
35:20
Speaker 1: little old lady who had been born in the home
35:23
Speaker 1: and her new husband, okay, and they're both in their eighties.
35:26
Speaker 1: He was in and out of my apartment all day,
35:29
Speaker 1: every day, merv and he was always fixing this or
35:33
Speaker 1: doing that, and I never thought anything about it. I
35:35
Speaker 1: couldn't have cared less. But you know, people, especially when
35:40
Speaker 1: they're exposed to drugs or they're on drugs, they just
35:44
Speaker 1: don't think the way we think. And I'm looking right now,
35:49
Speaker 1: Kathleen Murphy, family lawyer, I almost will sick them a
35:52
Speaker 1: stomach jack. You look at this picture. This is a
35:55
Speaker 1: picture of David Stokoe with his wife. She's beautiful, and
36:00
Speaker 1: they've got three little girls. She's got them all dressed
36:03
Speaker 1: in these little winter white vests. And a little boy
36:08
Speaker 1: who's dressed like his dad in the picture. Oh my stars,
36:12
Speaker 1: three little girls and a little boy. He's forty. Now
36:16
Speaker 1: what are they gonna do, Kathleen? I mean because of
36:19
Speaker 1: these three drug things don't want to pay their rent
36:24
Speaker 1: and they kill this dad. Oh Nancy, I swear I
36:28
Speaker 1: almost feel sick to my stomach just looking at this
36:30
Speaker 1: picture and imagining what this mom, what is she going
36:34
Speaker 1: to do now? And with these four children to raise
36:36
Speaker 1: all on her own. Nancy have three girls and one boy.
36:40
Speaker 1: My husband has been on many domestic calls as a
36:44
Speaker 1: early firefighter. It is scary for her. It is done,
36:48
Speaker 1: it's happened. Her worst fear has come true, and that
36:53
Speaker 1: I'm going to be by myself and my kids will
36:56
Speaker 1: not have the main role model this girls in their life.
37:01
Speaker 1: Very sad and tragic. Kathleena want you and Robin and
37:07
Speaker 1: Joe Scott and Ashley Jackie. I'll listen because this is
37:14
Speaker 1: his brother. This is David's brother speaking to Aaron Cox.
37:19
Speaker 1: Dave was a real estate agent who was murdered while
37:22
Speaker 1: trying to collect rent from two of his tenants. Absolutely
37:26
Speaker 1: horrific news, but his family says that's not what they're
37:29
Speaker 1: focusing on and any strength and abilities that I have
37:34
Speaker 1: that are the result of somebody on this earth. He's
37:37
Speaker 1: the one. Nil still go is the youngest in his
37:39
Speaker 1: family of six boys. His older brother David was murdered
37:43
Speaker 1: on Thursday. He was everything to him. I looked up
37:46
Speaker 1: to him as a leader, as a friend, as a mentor,
37:49
Speaker 1: as someone who has my back, has my best concern,
37:55
Speaker 1: it might my best interest in mind. Neil says, Dave
37:57
Speaker 1: took the time to know people, especially his four kids.
38:01
Speaker 1: He made decisions like I'm going to stay home and
38:04
Speaker 1: I'm going to color with my kids. Not only a
38:06
Speaker 1: family man, but Dave was also a religious man. Neil says,
38:10
Speaker 1: Dave believed his life had a purpose. And we had
38:13
Speaker 1: a brother that committed suicide when we were you know,
38:15
Speaker 1: when we were in our teenage years, and had a
38:19
Speaker 1: big impact on us. And so he took that cause,
38:22
Speaker 1: and he took that situation and he turned in into
38:24
Speaker 1: a way to help others. Dave was the one who
38:26
Speaker 1: inspired Neil to serve a mission for the Church of
38:29
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. Dave would write him
38:32
Speaker 1: letters of encouragement while he was gone. Every letter that
38:35
Speaker 1: he would send me he always signed it the same
38:37
Speaker 1: thing he said, travel well of the journey. He would
38:40
Speaker 1: say like love you bro, travel well, travel well of
38:42
Speaker 1: the journey. And that's what Neil intends to do, focusing
38:45
Speaker 1: on the life they shared with Dave and hoping for
38:48
Speaker 1: good things to come, just like Dave would have done.
38:58
Speaker 1: The biggest compliment someone does, someone could pay me. I
39:05
Speaker 1: sound like your brother. Leaving behind a family of four
39:08
Speaker 1: and a wife, Neil says he believes he will see
39:10
Speaker 1: Dave again, and until then, in Dave's words, I love
39:14
Speaker 1: you bro, travel well the journey doing good because of this,
39:20
Speaker 1: and that is the very thing that Dave would want
39:24
Speaker 1: out of this whole thing. He would see this as
39:28
Speaker 1: an opportunity for people to be better. Nancy Grace Crime
39:34
Speaker 1: Stories signing off goodbye friend,