Latest / The Mind of a Man / The Strangest Case You Have Never Heard_ The Murder of Mindi Kassotis _ True Crime Documentary

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The Strangest Case You Have Never Heard_ The Murder of Mindi Kassotis _ True Crime Documentary · The Mind of a Man

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Over the period of five days in December 2022, the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: body parts of a woman were discovered scattered across a
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: three-mile radius within vast logging and hunting grounds in southeast Georgia.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: It would take law enforcement nearly six months to identify
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: their victim. When they did, investigators began to uncover an
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: elaborate and unbelievable story of threats, money, manipulation, and hidden romance.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Hi there, I'm Kevin and welcome to Just Thought Lounge.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: The case we're about to examine is a strange one.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: The details that follow are as bizarre as they are complex.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: So let's take a look. The Portal Hunting Club in
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Riceboro is the oldest in the state of Georgia. Located
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: on the edge of the Bulltown Swamp where Long, McIntosh,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: and Liberty Counties meet, the club covers a vast 13,000 acres.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: At just before 5 p.m. on December 2, 2022, two
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: hunters out with their dogs in the woodland near Jones
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Road made a successful shot at a deer. When the
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: dogs ran towards their kill, however, they did not leave
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: the hunters alone. to an animal carcass. What they found,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: not far from the road, was a human torso. It
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: belonged to an adult white female. Law enforcement descended upon
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: the scene and began the laborious process of combing through
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: the massive woodland in search of any further remains. Over
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: the following days, more body parts were discovered scattered in
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: the woods, near the roads often used only by logging trucks, hunters,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: and some locals. Two and a half miles from the torso,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: a right leg was found by another hunter after he
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: spotted a buzzard circling in the sky above. A left
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: leg was sniffed out by a dog shortly after. On
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: December 7th, five days after the torso was first discovered,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: A searcher spotted an area of disturbed ground near a tree.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Its roots appeared to have been damaged. Digging into the soil,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: searchers pulled the head of a 40-year-old woman from the ground.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: It had been the only part of her body to
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: be buried. The identity of the woman in the woods
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: was unknown. Dispersed throughout the roughly three-mile radius in which
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: she was found, however, were clues indicating how she had
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: gotten there. In the area near the torso recovery site,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: a large black tote was left upside down on the
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: woodland floor. Feet from this tote was a red-handled Milwaukee
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: brand utility knife. There were disinfectant wipes scattered across the area,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: over a dozen of them. Whoever had left the items
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: behind had wiped them down thoroughly. There was no DNA
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: found on the knife. In the bottom of the black
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: tote was a substance that later tested positive for human blood.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: the DNA sample returned no matches to individuals known to
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: law enforcement. A second large tote, this one gray in color,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: was also recovered within the vicinity. This container had been
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: likewise wiped clean, presumably by the same Clorox wipes. After
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: discovering blood residue in this second bin as well, investigators
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: speculated that they had been used to transport the heavier
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: body parts from the road to just inside the tree line,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: where each piece... was eventually found. The remains had not
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: been in the hunting grounds for very long. A forensic
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: entomologist was able to date the time of death to
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: only days before the first group of hunters notified law
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: enforcement on December 2. The unidentified woman had likely passed
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: away on or near November 27. Though the dismemberment and
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: subsequent exposure to the elements made it challenging, the medical
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: examiner was nonetheless able to conclude a manner and cause
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: of death. The victim had suffered no less than nine
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: traumatic wounds to the skull, defensive wounds on the arms,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: as well as abdominal wounds. It was impossible to conclusively
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: state what type of implement had been used to separate
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: her remains, but experts believed that power tools were likely employed. Curiously,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: the Milwaukee knife left at the scene was neither the
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: murder weapon or a tool used after the fact. They
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: were obviously dealing with a brutal homicide. Investigators attempted to
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: identify the victim through her fingerprints but failed to return
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: a match. The same was true for her DNA. They
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: attempted to track down the origin of a dental implant
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: but were unsuccessful. A forensic sketch was produced and circulated
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: to the media. Each tip they received then needed to
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: be tracked down. Weeks and months passed with no identification. Eventually,
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: a genealogical history was developed, which detailed family trees and
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: located potential relatives of the deceased. Through this method, after
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: nearly six months of effort, investigators were finally able to
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: name the victim, 40-year-old Mindy Mabane Kasotis. They confirmed her
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: identity through a DNA sample from her mother. Mindy Mabane-Casotis
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: was the eldest of three children, sister to two younger brothers,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: Frank IV and Matthew. She had been particularly close with
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: her parents, her mother Betsy and her father, Frank III.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Mindy was known to be bright, curious, as well as ambitious.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: She held a master's degree in public service. After years
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: working as a legal secretary in the corporate sector, she
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: made a move to the world of non-profits. Her desire
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: to help others drove her forward. Mindy cherished lifelong friendships
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: and had a loving, close family. Her husband, a man
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: named Nicholas Kisotis, was a Navy veteran who served in
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: the JAG Corps as a prosecuting attorney. He was a
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: decorated naval officer and had two tours in the Iraq War.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Nick was also a former employee at the Pentagon. After
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: the two married in the autumn of 2016, they lived
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: for a time with Mindy's family at her brother Frank's
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: home with his wife and baby daughter. Later, they moved
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: into a bungalow in Savannah with Frank III and Betsy.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: This was the house where she lived at the time
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: of her death, along with her husband and parents. It
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: did not seem possible that Mindy could simply disappear without
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: anyone noticing. When Mindy's family was informed of the identification,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: the news of her death was not surprising. The news
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: that she had been brutally murdered certainly was. According to
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: her parents, Mindy had passed away in early December from
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: a stroke while in hospital being monitored for blood pressure issues.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: It was a devastating loss, made worse, they said, because
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Mindy had been eight months pregnant. She was to give
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: birth to her first child in January. Nick Kasotis explained
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: to investigators that on the weekend after Thanksgiving, while his
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: in-laws were away, his wife had been taken to a
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: birthing center to be treated. Days later, he received a
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: call to collect her. When he arrived, he instead received
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: the horrible news.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: I was given an address in Savannah. I don't recall
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: exactly where it was. I drove out there and.
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: That afternoon, it was a brick building.
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: Somebody was waiting outside and brought me to.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: A caucus and said that Nadine passed away. He said
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: that she just passed away very suddenly and that That,
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: you know, they thought it might have been her heart,
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: but they weren't sure. They told you that she passed away? Yeah.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: And what did you do then? I yelled and sobbed.
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 8:49
  Speaker 6: I mean, I.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: Was a wreck.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: Nick explained that an autopsy was meant to take place,
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: but the next time he heard from the facility, It
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: was not with these results, but to inform him that
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: Mindy had been mistakenly cremated.
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: Somebody contacted me and said that they had cremated her body.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: I was extremely upset. I thought that I was going
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: to make a decision on where she was sent. He
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: named that person Buzz?
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: No.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: He said that.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: The fee was $ 5, 000, payable in cash. Did you pay that?
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: I did.
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: I met him the next day in Montgomery.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: I withdrew $ 5, 000 in cash. Did you ever inquire about
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: a test certificate?
• 9:50
  Speaker 8: No, I did not.
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: No, I should have.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: The story that Nick told was, on its surface, unbelievable.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: And not only because Mindy had obviously not been cremated.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: The widower had been unable to provide the name of
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: the facility where Mindy had been treated and died. He
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: could not provide the name of her doctor or any
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: of the other medical staff. The man he met in
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: Alabama to receive what he thought were her ashes was
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: likewise a complete mystery. Though they never saw her body,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Mindy's parents had been informed, by the son-in-law that they
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: loved and trusted, that she had passed away unexpectedly while
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: they were away for the weekend. A memorial service was
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: expected to be arranged in the new year, but that
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: service never happened. In the days following Mindy's death in December,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Frank and Betsy moved from the bungalow in Savannah into
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: a new home. After that, Nick disappeared from their lives entirely.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: In the vast expanse of the woodland where Mindy was found,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: there are few buildings and even fewer cameras. Yet, situated
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: just down the road from the location where hunters recovered
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: the torso is a water pump station operated by the
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: city of Riceboro. An external camera on this building captured
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: a 2022 Ford Explorer, the same make and model owned
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: by Nick Kasotis, driving past the building on November 29th
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: at around noon. The same vehicle is captured a short
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: time later, driving in the opposite direction. When Nick sat
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: down once again with investigators, he did not deny that
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: he had driven to a location on that day via
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: a route which may have taken him through the woodland
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: and past the water pump station. But the explanation he
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: gave for his presence there was long and complicated. It
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: all began, he said, five years earlier in 2017, when
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: he and Mindy began receiving threats to their lives, experienced
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: vandalism to their property, mysterious withdrawals from their bank accounts,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: and other harassing behavior. This alleged harassment escalated to a
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: physical attack by men at his home wielding a baseball bat,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: he claimed. Nick explained that he and Mindy had been
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: living under the radar for years before she passed. They
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: had been moving constantly to try to stay hidden from
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: those that wished to do them harm. The investigation and
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: their security concerns were being managed by someone he had
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: believed to be an FBI agent by the name of
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: Jim McIntyre. Agent McIntyre oversaw a security team that issued
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: Nick and Mindy instructions on how to stay safe.
• 12:40
  Speaker 9: Jim.
• 12:40
  Speaker 8: Jim.
• 12:41
  Speaker 10: Yes.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: The last name McIntyre. I don't, I quite honestly, I feel.
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: Like he's lied to me so much that I haven't
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: met him in person. I haven't met him in person, yes.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: Where'd you meet him? I've met him multiple times.
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: He showed up at places where we were, told us
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: that he thought.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: It was time for us to move, to find another place.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: So he told you that your parents weren't your parents?
• 13:13
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: And how did he get that? What was his source
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: of information? He had me.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: Take a DNA test and told me that the result,
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: that he had gotten a sample from them.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: He would put me on the phone with the.
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: People he said were investigators that I questioned.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: For years before Nick grew suspicious of Jim McIntyre, the
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Navy vet had believed what Jim apparently told him. This
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: included one central lie, that Nick's father, Wayne Kasotis, was
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: not his biological father and was in fact the person
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: behind the threats, harassment, as well as the physical attack
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: with the baseball bat. that Nick had allegedly suffered. Nick's
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: belief that his life was in danger was integral to
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: understanding the steps he took around the time of Mindy's death.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: The couple were always following instructions from Jim and his
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: security team, whom they trusted unquestionably to protect them.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: How can I get in touch with Jim?
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: How would you get in touch with Jim?
• 14:46
  Speaker 11: He would message me.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: On the morning of November 29th, Nick claimed to have
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: been directed by his security team to pack his and
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Mindy's personal belongings into large plastic totes in preparation for
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: a move from Savannah. It would be one of over
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: 50 moves the couple made over a three-year period, ostensibly
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: for their own safety. Always at the direction of Jim McIntyre.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: Nick was given GPS coordinates to the location where he
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: was to deliver these containers. The man who received them
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: would ensure they were moved to their next rental. When
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: he reached the designated place, which he said was a house,
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: he was met by an unknown red-headed man who collected
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: the totes.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: I moved the things from the back of the car.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: And there's And I don't know.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Where were the things left? You said you removed them
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: from the car in his house.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Where were they left? Like, just on the ground?
• 15:55
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: He said he would take care of them.
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: And it wasn't your personal property that was in those
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: containers that was.
• 16:02
  Speaker 8: Going to be?
• 16:03
  Speaker 11: No, sir.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: I didn't pack those containers myself. It's your laptop. He
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: did pack them yourself. If your wife's dismembered body. Sir,
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: that's not true. That is true.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: As he approached the dense woodland with the black and
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: gray bins, he was told to turn off his cell phone,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: which he did, for roughly two hours. The Ford Explorer, however,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: continued to track his movements. He was in the vicinity
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: of where Mindy's remains would be found for roughly two hours.
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: So, your 40 minutes that you're there, you're at the
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: exact same spot where your wife's torso was found. The
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: other stop where you dug with the shovel and hit
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: roots and hit roots, that's recorded.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: On the very same information.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: The next spot that you stopped in Berry Church, it's cold.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: It's covered.
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: It's that same spot. Even the next spot with the
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: leg is covered. There's no issues here. It's very clear.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: GPS tracking not only placed Nick at key locations across
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: the logging grounds, but also making key purchases. He made
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: two stops before reaching the hunting club, the first to
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: get gas, and the second at a Home Depot, where
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: he purchased one red-handled Milwaukee utility knife. Earlier in the month,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: he was captured at a Home Depot once again. On
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: that occasion, he purchased a shovel. Forensic experts descended upon
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: the short-term Airbnb rental in Savannah where Mindy had spent
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: her last days. Luminol testing of the floor lit up
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: an area that appeared to have been cleaned of blood.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: There were tiny, nearly invisible reactions also made by the
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: chemical on the walls. It was the futon, however, that
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: told a clear story. There was a large stain visible
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: on the fabric, even to the naked eye. Initial tests
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: confirmed blood. When the fabric was removed for further testing,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: it showed the blood had seeped into the mattress. The
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: results on the test sample came back conclusive. Mindy Kasotis'
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: DNA was a match. Based on how the futon mattress
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: was situated on the frame, the location of the stain
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: suggested that Mindy had been in a seated position when
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: the fatal blows were delivered to her head. After Mindy's death,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Nick claimed to have suffered two unfortunate events. First, he
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: witnessed an unknown individual break into his car and take
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: a backpack, which contained two laptops and a cell phone.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: This was vital electronic evidence that could have been used
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: to support many of his assertions about Jim McIntyre, but
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: it was all lost. Then, in an even more unlucky
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: turn of events, His newly purchased Ford Explorer began emitting
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: smoke from under the hood while he was driving it.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Pulling off the road to inspect it, the vehicle suddenly
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: burst into flames. Nick claimed to have suffered minor burns
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: from the incident, and the GPS that he had used
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: to locate the house in the woods to deliver his totes,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: it was burnt to ash. So too, said Nick, was
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: a cashier's check for $ 800, 000. It was intended for the
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: purchase of a new house.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: So my point is, everything you do, Jim told you
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: to jump off a cliff, you were going to jump
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: off a cliff?
• 19:48
  Speaker 8: Yes, sir.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: For years, for years we did exactly what Jim told
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: us to do.
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: He wanted full access to our lives, he.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Said he was keeping us safe. Did Jim tell you
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: about your car? Sir, I didn't bring my car.
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: Well, the burns that you got that you described to
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: the interest adjuster for your medical records, you described burns
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: going up into your nose and your face, it sounds
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: like a flash burn.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: From fumes.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: Sounds like a flash car from fumes from 87.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: I opened the car door, and that's when the flames
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: got mine.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: But what was important in the car that got burned
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: on that day? I thought my phone was in there.
• 20:24
  Speaker 8: What else was in there?
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I had some random stuff in there.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Was there a check in there? Yes, there was a
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: check in there. What was the check for? The check
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: was for a house.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: And what was the insurance company going to do about that?
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: I don't think the insurance company had anything to do
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: with the check. Is it a sizeable check?
• 20:43
  Speaker 8: Yes, sir.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: How much? Eight hundred and sixty-some-odd thousand dollars. Just called?
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: Almost a million dollars?
• 20:52
  Speaker 12: Yes, sir.
• 20:54
  Speaker 8: And back up a.
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: Little bit before that, when you start getting pressured to
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: move into a house and get away from your B
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: & Bs, the car mysteriously burns with all your money in.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: It. So you won't be able to close on a house.
• 21:08
  Speaker 6: Apparently.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: So was it time to look for a new wife?
• 21:13
  Speaker 13: No, sir.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: In September of 2022, when Mindy was still alive and
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: apparently pregnant with their child, Nick began private messaging an
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: author and independent film producer whose work he admired. That writer,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: Samantha Kolsnick, is the author of a handful of dark
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: fiction novels, including one entitled True Crime. Nick and Samantha
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: bonded over a shared interest in the genre. Indeed, Nick
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: had completed his own short story entitled, I Think My
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Mother-in-Law Is Trying to Kill Me. Originally published on Reddit,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Nick claimed to have sold his work to Sony for
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: film rights worth over $ 300, 000.
• 21:57
  Speaker 14: I found one story today that I was obsessed with
• 22:00
  Speaker 14: and I went to go message them because on no sleep,
• 22:02
  Speaker 14: you also have to ask for permission to use their stories.
• 22:06
  Speaker 14: And they actually sold the story to Sony and it's
• 22:10
  Speaker 14: being turned into a movie.
• 22:11
  Speaker 15: Wow.
• 22:11
  Speaker 14: So I like couldn't even read that one, but they
• 22:13
  Speaker 14: had a bunch of other stories that I was like, okay,
• 22:16
  Speaker 14: this one is amazing. Like let's, let's do this one too.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Within months of Mindy's sudden death, Nick legally changed his
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: name to Nicholas Killian James Stark. married Samantha, the fellow
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: dark fiction writer, and moved to Pennsylvania. He told Samantha
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: that Mindy had died years before, in 2020. He also
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: lied to her by omission when he failed to tell
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: her that Mindy was not his first wife.
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: What did you say on that marriage last? I said
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: that I'd been married once. I said that Mindy passed
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: away in 2020.
• 22:51
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: Two things that Jim told me to put down.
• 22:54
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: Nick's first marriage to a woman named Heather lasted for
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: roughly six years between 2009 and 2015.
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: When the two failed to conceive, the relationship soured and
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: they sought a divorce.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: Investigators believed that Nick's first marriage to Heather and their
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: subsequent divorce explained the bizarre behavior from Nick and Mindy
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: in the years that followed. Nick had been ordered to
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: pay Heather $ 1. 5 million in their divorce settlement. Inexplicably, the
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: Navy veteran told a judge that he could afford this
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: payment because he was actually worth $ 32 million, a fortune
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: that he had earned working on top-secret software projects for
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: a company called Apis Limited under the direction of Jim McIntyre.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: For his safety and security, he had never received a
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: salary for this work, but had rather been paid in
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: generous stock options, which had been transferred into a trust
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: managed by Jim. Despite his apparent wealth, Nick never paid
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: the money he owed to Heather. By moving home constantly,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: no longer holding formal employment, and severing ties with his family,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: Nick avoided the court order that would force him to
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: make the payment. He also avoided being arrested for non-payment.
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: I mean, the things that we did for years, the
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: places we went, we.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: You did to get away from the judgment, from Heather. No, sir. So,
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: you didn't know you were wanted, and I'm going to
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: run from Heather and the judgment, the civil judgment?
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: No, sir.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: Jim told me that I've been taken care of. How
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: did Jim take care of that? I don't know, sir.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: When you testified that you had $ 32 million.
• 24:54
  Speaker 16: Yes, sir.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: That was true. I believed it was true, sir. You
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: believed it was true? I believed it was true. I
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: don't know what to believe, my questioner. Why did you
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: believe that was true?
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: Because I had documents that he provided to me that
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: I had, that I had $ 32 million.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Did you get it earned?
• 25:10
  Speaker 8: No, I didn't.
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: I had worked around the clock on this project.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: $ 32 million that he did have.
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: Investigators believed that Nick's first marriage left one other lasting impact,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: his desperate desire to have children. After a devastating miscarriage
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: signaled the beginning of the end for Nick and Heather,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: it was speculated that Mindy feared her marriage would also
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: fall apart if they could not conceive. When Mindy's autopsy
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: was complete, it showed that she had not, in fact,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: been eight months pregnant. She was not expecting, though she
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: had openly told friends, family, and her husband that this
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: was the case. Although this news came as a shock
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: to Mindy's family, who believed she was about to be
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: a mother, investigators did not believe that this information was
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: a surprise to her husband. On the contrary, discovering this
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: truth may well have been his motive to kill her.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: And the big question is why? Sir, I would never
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: have killed Mindy. I woke up in the morning and
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: I took care of her. I rubbed her back, I
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: rubbed her legs. She wasn't pregnant. Sir, she was due
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: in January. She was not pregnant. No, she was pregnant.
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: Even the times that they were saying that she was pregnant,
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: she was not pregnant.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: She was not pregnant at the time of her death.
• 26:45
  Speaker 8: Sir, she was.
• 26:46
  Speaker 10: She was not.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: That's a medical certainty. She was not pregnant.
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: So this is your opportunity here now to say what
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: happened in that room.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: At the house, with her, with me.
• 27:02
  Speaker 12: So, nothing happened.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: That's it.
• 27:06
  Speaker 13: Alright, sir.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: Are you really going to.
• 27:08
  Speaker 8: Put Frank here?
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: That's a good one. Sir, I never, I never hurt anybody.
• 27:13
  Speaker 8: They loved me.
• 27:14
  Speaker 5: Sir, I left them.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: Nick Kasotis, or rather, by this time, Nicholas Stark, maintained
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: his story, pleaded not guilty to 12 charges, including murder,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: and stood trial in August 2025 in a Georgia courtroom.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Arguments from both the state and defense centered around dissecting
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: the former prosecutor's intricate narrative about a man he called
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: Jim McIntyre.
• 27:50
  Speaker 11: Decorated military veteran.
• 27:53
  Speaker 5: Prosecutor.
• 27:55
  Speaker 11: Judge Advocate General with the Navy.
• 27:58
  Speaker 12: Navy.
• 27:59
  Speaker 8: Pentagon.
• 28:01
  Speaker 11: Boston. Two law degrees.
• 28:06
  Speaker 17: It's not just her family that believed him. Everybody believed him.
• 28:17
  Speaker 17: On paper, he looked like Prince Charming. I submit to
• 28:19
  Speaker 17: you that's what the evidence will show.
• 28:22
  Speaker 18: My client, Nick Kasotis, is not just an accomplished attorney
• 28:28
  Speaker 18: and decorated JAG officer who serves his country in Iraq
• 28:34
  Speaker 18: and in the Pentagon. He is also a man who
• 28:39
  Speaker 18: lived in fear. Relentless, all-consuming fear. His wife, Mindy, also
• 28:48
  Speaker 18: lived in fear.
• 28:53
  Speaker 5: Mr. and Mrs. Kasotis were told that they were targets.
• 29:00
  Speaker 18: You'll hear testimony that a man calling himself Jim McIntyre,
• 29:06
  Speaker 18: who knows if that is his real name, claiming to
• 29:10
  Speaker 18: be with the FBI, told them that their lives were
• 29:14
  Speaker 18: in danger. that they had to disappear, follow orders without question,
• 29:22
  Speaker 18: and trust no one.
• 29:25
  Speaker 6: Mr.
• 29:25
  Speaker 18: Kasotis lied to his friends. He lied to his family.
• 29:32
  Speaker 18: He lied to Mindy's loved ones. He lied for years.
• 29:38
  Speaker 18: Not because he wanted to deceive them, but because he
• 29:43
  Speaker 18: believed that their lives depended on it.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: Mindy's mother, Betsy, took the stand to explain how her
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: daughter had lived in fear for years following her marriage.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: The belief that their lives were in danger was real.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: even if the threat never was.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 30:03
  Speaker 11: Was Mindy working at the time?
• 30:05
  Speaker 12: No, she was not.
• 30:06
  Speaker 9: Okay.
• 30:07
  Speaker 8: Do you know why she was not working?
• 30:12
  Speaker 12: Well, one basic reason was she was scared to death to.
• 30:17
  Speaker 8: Leave the house. Tell us what you mean by that.
• 30:21
  Speaker 12: Well, there were supposed to be people after them, They
• 30:27
  Speaker 12: supposedly had security, and so she was truly fearful for
• 30:35
  Speaker 12: her life.
• 30:36
  Speaker 5: Did you believe that?
• 30:38
  Speaker 10: Yes.
• 30:40
  Speaker 11: Would you have considered her gullible?
• 30:43
  Speaker 6: No.
• 30:44
  Speaker 11: So when she told you she was afraid, did you
• 30:46
  Speaker 11: believe her?
• 30:47
  Speaker 8: Absolutely.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 30:49
  Speaker 11: And did her behavior seem to be consistent with that?
• 30:53
  Speaker 12: Yes, very much so.
• 30:54
  Speaker 8: Okay. Okay.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Betsy also explained how Nick had told them about the
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: loss of their daughter. Frank III had undergone hip surgery
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: on November 30th. Upon his return from the hospital, Nick
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: had greeted them at the bungalow, helped Frank inside, and
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: cared for him. After getting his father-in-law settled, Nick said
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: he was going to the hospital to check in on Mindy.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: When he returned from that visit, he delivered the heartbreaking news.
• 31:22
  Speaker 12: And he was, he just started bawling, crying, hysterically and talking,
• 31:29
  Speaker 12: and I really couldn't even understand much of.
• 31:32
  Speaker 8: What he said.
• 31:33
  Speaker 12: So I said, please come out and sit in the
• 31:38
  Speaker 12: living room, the den or whatever, and tell us what's wrong.
• 31:42
  Speaker 12: And so that's when, I mean, all I could really
• 31:46
  Speaker 12: understand was she's not coming home. So, and he met Mindy.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: Is that when he told you?
• 31:55
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 31:57
  Speaker 17: And when he said she's not coming home, did you
• 31:59
  Speaker 17: understand what he meant when he first said it?
• 32:05
  Speaker 12: No, not really. I mean, the way he was crying,
• 32:09
  Speaker 12: I figured it was not good.
• 32:14
  Speaker 11: Did he eventually tell you she died?
• 32:16
  Speaker 12: Yes, and he didn't know exactly what had happened. He
• 32:22
  Speaker 12: said he'd been texting her all morning and she didn't answer,
• 32:25
  Speaker 12: so he thought she was sleeping.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: After moving them to a home in Hilton Head, Nick
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: parted ways with his in-laws. What happened next explains why,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: when Nick disappeared from their lives so soon after Mindy's death,
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: Mindy's parents never looked for him. The security team at
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Apis Limited sent Betsy and Frank an email.
• 32:47
  Speaker 11: When he left Hilton Head, did you expect to see
• 32:51
  Speaker 11: him again?
• 32:52
  Speaker 8: Yes, we did.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: Did you ever?
• 32:54
  Speaker 16: No.
• 32:59
  Speaker 17: So you got an email notification from the security team
• 33:01
  Speaker 17: that he had been in a terrible car accident?
• 33:03
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 33:04
  Speaker 17: Was there any follow-up communication from the security team concerning
• 33:08
  Speaker 17: his condition?
• 33:09
  Speaker 12: Yes, I believe it was several weeks later we were
• 33:12
  Speaker 12: told that, unfortunately, he had died. We were already grieving
• 33:17
  Speaker 12: for Mindy, and then we were grieving for him.
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: Nick's first wife, Heather, explained to the jury that she
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: went to great lengths to obtain the $ 1. 5 million settlement
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: from her ex-husband after he testified that he was worth millions. However,
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: in that testimony at their divorce hearing, he did not
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: explain that covert FBI agent McIntyre was in control of
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: his millions in a hidden trust. Instead, he stated that
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: it was Mindy that was withholding the money.
• 33:54
  Speaker 15: The judge was very upset after he heard Nick testify
• 33:59
  Speaker 15: under oath that he not only had the money, he
• 34:02
  Speaker 15: had more than enough of the money, and that he
• 34:05
  Speaker 15: just was refusing to pay it. So the judge was
• 34:09
  Speaker 15: not very kind.
• 34:11
  Speaker 5: He admitted having how much money?
• 34:12
  Speaker 15: $ 32 million.
• 34:17
  Speaker 18: And did he tell the court he was having difficulty
• 34:20
  Speaker 18: accessing that money?
• 34:21
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 34:22
  Speaker 5: What did he tell the court?
• 34:23
  Speaker 15: He told the court that his wife, his current wife, Mindy,
• 34:27
  Speaker 15: was holding his funds and that he thought that she
• 34:32
  Speaker 15: had a claim to it because it was earned during
• 34:35
  Speaker 15: his marriage with her.
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 34:38
  Speaker 5: And so that $ 1.
• 34:39
  Speaker 18: 5 million that he had agreed to pay you, he
• 34:44
  Speaker 18: agreed to that. He agreed to the $ 1. 5 million in
• 34:46
  Speaker 18: the course of the negotiation, correct?
• 34:47
  Speaker 8: Correct.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: And.
• 34:52
  Speaker 18: Had you seen any evidence that Nick had $ 1.
• 34:55
  Speaker 5: 5 million?
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: No.
• 34:59
  Speaker 18: Have you seen, or at the time, or at any time,
• 35:02
  Speaker 18: did you see any evidence that Nick Kasotis had the
• 35:06
  Speaker 18: $ 32 million that he.
• 35:08
  Speaker 5: Said he had?
• 35:08
  Speaker 15: When he testified under oath.
• 35:10
  Speaker 5: I understand that. Did you see any, okay, did you
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: see any documentation of the $ 32 million?
• 35:15
  Speaker 11: No.
• 35:16
  Speaker 5: Bank statements?
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes.
• 35:18
  Speaker 15: Yes.
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: That showed $ 32 million?
• 35:20
  Speaker 15: They were fake, but yes.
• 35:23
  Speaker 5: And when you followed up on that, do you remember
• 35:25
  Speaker 5: the bank?
• 35:26
  Speaker 12: Bank of America?
• 35:28
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 35:28
  Speaker 18: Did you do anything with Bank of America to see
• 35:30
  Speaker 18: if there was $ 32 million in there?
• 35:32
  Speaker 15: I tried filing the judgment in every single banking institution
• 35:34
  Speaker 15: in the Virginia area, sir.
• 35:36
  Speaker 18: And were you successful at getting the $ 1. 5 million from
• 35:39
  Speaker 18: any of those banks?
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: No.
• 35:42
  Speaker 18: What did they say about the $ 32 million when you
• 35:44
  Speaker 18: presented Bank of America with those statements?
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: Nick's third wife, Samantha, testified that Nick manipulated and lied
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: to her.
• 35:58
  Speaker 11: Did you know Mr. Stark's marital status?
• 36:04
  Speaker 6: I believed I had.
• 36:06
  Speaker 11: He told me that he was a.
• 36:08
  Speaker 6: Widower and that he had lost his wife and his
• 36:14
  Speaker 6: unborn child about two years prior and that they had
• 36:19
  Speaker 6: both died in a hospital.
• 36:22
  Speaker 11: He told you that in October of 2022?
• 36:23
  Speaker 6: Yes, on Twitter in the direct messages.
• 36:29
  Speaker 11: Did you subsequently determine that that was not correct? Meaning,
• 36:34
  Speaker 11: did you find out from law enforcement that that was
• 36:36
  Speaker 11: not the case?
• 36:37
  Speaker 6: Oh, yes, I found out from law enforcement that that
• 36:40
  Speaker 6: was not the case on the date of his arrest,
• 36:44
  Speaker 6: and that was not until May 2023.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: As they had started corresponding via Twitter messages, she had
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: asked for documents to verify his identity. He sent her
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: a Georgia driver's license, later determined to be photoshopped with
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: his desired last name, Stark, which he hadn't yet changed.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: He also sent her an employment letter from the fake
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: entity Apis Limited. The couple became engaged in February and
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: married in April, just months after Mindy's actual death. In
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: March of 2023, Nick's Ford Explorer burst into flames containing
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: the check for their new home, which Samantha believed he
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: had the funds to pay for. She told the jury
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: that Nick wanted to try for children right away. After
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: learning of her husband's past, Samantha had the marriage annulled.
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: Nicholas Kasotis took the stand in his own defense. He
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: testified for hours about his past, his marriages, and his
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: interactions with Jim McIntyre. Nick told the jury that despite
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: what his first wife said, they had never tried to
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: have children. She ultimately decided that she did not want
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: to have.
• 37:58
  Speaker 8: Any with him.
• 38:00
  Speaker 5: Did you ever have children with Ms.
• 38:01
  Speaker 4: Bassett?
• 38:02
  Speaker 8: I did not, no. We discussed it many times. At
• 38:05
  Speaker 8: one point, we both got tested to see if everything
• 38:08
  Speaker 8: was in working order, but she chose not to take
• 38:12
  Speaker 8: the medication, and therefore, we never had children. There was
• 38:19
  Speaker 8: never a pregnancy or the attempt of a pregnancy.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: The mysterious Jim McIntyre entered Nick and Mindy's lives following
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: their first wave of vandalism, threats, and strange bank account
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: activity in 2017. Nick testified that the man who claimed
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: to be an FBI agent came to their home and
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: offered to look into their case.
• 38:42
  Speaker 18: So some random individual shows up at your house, says
• 38:45
  Speaker 18: he's with the FBI and claims to be a man
• 38:47
  Speaker 18: named Jim McIntyre.
• 38:49
  Speaker 5: What did you do to verify that information?
• 38:51
  Speaker 8: I didn't verify it. Mindy believed that she had seen
• 38:55
  Speaker 8: a badge. She told me at the time that she'd
• 38:57
  Speaker 8: seen a badge. I had no reason to doubt that
• 38:58
  Speaker 8: he was who he said he was. It didn't cross
• 39:01
  Speaker 8: my mind that somebody else could have shown up at
• 39:03
  Speaker 8: my house at that time.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: After lengthy investigations and the consideration of many leads, Jim
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: concluded that Nick was being targeted by individuals claiming to
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: be his family members. Throughout this period, he and Mindy
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: continuously moved. assisted by Jim and what he called their
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: security team. However, after roughly two years, Nick began to
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: question where Jim was sourcing the funds for their rentals
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: and living costs. He had only just learned, he claimed,
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: that a good friend's credit card had been charged roughly $ 200, 000
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: over this time.
• 39:41
  Speaker 8: I had a conversation with him as to why he
• 39:43
  Speaker 8: was charging a friend of mine's card. Why wasn't there.
• 39:49
  Speaker 8: You know, either coming from our own money or some
• 39:52
  Speaker 8: sort of official fund, you know, why this was happening.
• 39:56
  Speaker 8: And I made some reference to wanting to speak to
• 39:58
  Speaker 8: his superior. And he said, you know, Nick, I'm not
• 40:02
  Speaker 8: an FBI agent. Why would you think that?
• 40:06
  Speaker 18: Did you inquire of Jim McIntyre why he was doing
• 40:09
  Speaker 18: all of this work for you if he was not.
• 40:12
  Speaker 5: With the FBI?
• 40:12
  Speaker 8: Absolutely.
• 40:13
  Speaker 5: What did you learn?
• 40:14
  Speaker 8: I learned that he was the majority investor in this
• 40:18
  Speaker 8: company that I was working for. He also said that
• 40:23
  Speaker 8: he had worked extensively with the FBI. And, you know,
• 40:26
  Speaker 8: I had many phone calls with people I believed to be,
• 40:29
  Speaker 8: you know, even following that FBI agents.
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: According to her husband, on December 1st, 2022, Mindy Kasotis
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: died from an unexpected and ill-defined complication or condition in
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: an unnamed hospital facility located somewhere in Savannah, California.
• 40:48
  Speaker 8: But that evening, Thursday, December 1st, I was told that
• 40:53
  Speaker 8: she had died.
• 40:55
  Speaker 5: Who told you that she had died?
• 40:57
  Speaker 8: A man at a medical clinic of some sort.
• 41:00
  Speaker 10: That I went to.
• 41:03
  Speaker 5: Where was the medical clinic you went to?
• 41:05
  Speaker 8: Somewhere in Savannah or the greater Savannah area. I don't
• 41:09
  Speaker 8: know Savannah very well.
• 41:10
  Speaker 5: What was the name of the man that told you that?
• 41:13
  Speaker 8: I do not recall. And he sat me down and said,
• 41:16
  Speaker 8: you know, I'm very sorry to tell you that Mindy
• 41:17
  Speaker 8: passed away very suddenly today.
• 41:21
  Speaker 5: Did you ask to see her?
• 41:23
  Speaker 8: I did.
• 41:24
  Speaker 5: What was the result of that?
• 41:26
  Speaker 8: He said I could not at that time. My understanding leaving,
• 41:30
  Speaker 8: I don't recall his exact words. I was an absolute wreck.
• 41:35
  Speaker 8: But my understanding was that there was going to be
• 41:37
  Speaker 8: an autopsy. So I assumed that she was being prepped
• 41:40
  Speaker 8: for that or she had already been transported somewhere.
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: For After collecting Mindy's ashes from another mystery man on
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: the side of a road in Montgomery, Nick said he
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: took them to Chesapeake Bay, where he spread them in
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: a solemn ceremony, alone. In response to the mounting evidence
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: of his guilt, the former JAG officer had an explanation
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: for almost everything, except the blood found in his Airbnb
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: rental in Savannah. He said he had no idea where
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: that came from. Most of his explanations were based on
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: instructions handed down by Jim McIntyre. Nick said that the
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: Milwaukee knife he purchased at Home Depot was not the
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: one found next to one of the totes at the scene.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: His had been bought to repair a screen at their
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: Airbnb and had likely burnt up in the unfortunate vehicle fire.
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: Another set of knives that he was found to have
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: purchased was never located. This was a seven-piece deer processing
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: kit bought from a Bass Pro shop. One exactly like
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: it was sourced by investigators, and a forensic expert found
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: that it could not be eliminated as one of the
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: tools used on Mindy's remains.
• 42:55
  Speaker 5: Are you a hunter?
• 42:56
  Speaker 8: I am not.
• 42:57
  Speaker 5: Why would you buy a deer processing kit at Bass
• 43:00
  Speaker 5: Pro Shops?
• 43:00
  Speaker 8: I received a message from who I believe was Mindy
• 43:03
  Speaker 8: on Monday, the 28th of November, and said that she'd
• 43:09
  Speaker 8: been thinking about Christmas gifts for her brother, Matthew, who
• 43:11
  Speaker 8: is a hunter at this point. That seemed to be
• 43:14
  Speaker 8: everything he did on weekends and directed me to go
• 43:18
  Speaker 8: to Bass Pro Shops and to buy it.
• 43:20
  Speaker 5: So I did. Did you kill your wife, Mindy Kasotis?
• 43:25
  Speaker 8: I absolutely did not. I've never put my hands on
• 43:30
  Speaker 8: a woman. I've never hurt a woman. I would never
• 43:33
  Speaker 8: have hurt Mindy.
• 43:36
  Speaker 5: Did you strike her on the head up to nine times?
• 43:38
  Speaker 8: Never. Never. Not once.
• 43:43
  Speaker 5: Did you dispose of her body? No.
• 43:48
  Speaker 6: Never. Never.
• 43:50
  Speaker 5: Did you dismember her body?
• 43:51
  Speaker 8: No, absolutely not. Frankly, I'm not great with blood. So
• 43:57
  Speaker 8: as anyone who's ever given me a doctor's exam can
• 44:00
  Speaker 8: tell you, that is not something that is even remotely
• 44:04
  Speaker 8: possible for me.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: During cross-examination, Prosecutor Lori Baio hammered Nick Kasotis-Stark over his
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: failure to verify or support a single detail in his
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: account of Mindy's death. As a former JAG officer and
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: counsel to senior officials at the Pentagon, he should have
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: been well-versed in legal documentation. Yet, he wanted the jury
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: to believe that he never verified Agent McIntyre was working
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: for the FBI, nor ever sought a death certificate for
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: his wife.
• 44:36
  Speaker 11: Never got a single document.
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: No, ma'am.
• 44:39
  Speaker 8: I didn't have any reason to have a document, and
• 44:42
  Speaker 8: so I failed to follow up on it.
• 44:43
  Speaker 11: You were on trial for murder.
• 44:47
  Speaker 8: Correct? I was not.
• 44:49
  Speaker 7: In anticipation of today and your testimony, you knew you
• 44:53
  Speaker 7: were on trial for murder, correct?
• 44:55
  Speaker 8: Yes, ma'am.
• 44:55
  Speaker 11: And you didn't bring a single court document with you?
• 44:59
  Speaker 8: Well, ma'am, I believe the testimony is fairly clear that
• 45:03
  Speaker 8: I was lied to about Mindy's death and that I
• 45:06
  Speaker 8: did not have a document because there were no documents.
• 45:08
  Speaker 11: You worked for Apis Security, correct?
• 45:10
  Speaker 8: I believe so, ma'am.
• 45:13
  Speaker 5: And the records for Apis Limited.
• 45:16
  Speaker 17: You subpoenaed those records in anticipation of court, correct?
• 45:19
  Speaker 18: No, ma'am.
• 45:20
  Speaker 11: You know what a subpoena is as an attorney, right, sir?
• 45:22
  Speaker 18: I do, ma'am.
• 45:25
  Speaker 11: And you knew that Mr.
• 45:26
  Speaker 7: McIntyre was a majority investor, I think is the phrasing.
• 45:30
  Speaker 11: That you used, right?
• 45:32
  Speaker 8: That was what I believed, ma'am.
• 45:37
  Speaker 11: You hired a private investigator to find him?
• 45:40
  Speaker 8: No, ma'am. I hoped the state would do that, but
• 45:43
  Speaker 8: y'all didn't really care that much.
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: The prosecution argued that Nick Kassotis simply liked making up stories,
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: and because of his background in the Navy and government service,
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: everyone believed him, including Mindy. The defense countered that both
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: Nick and Mindy's behavior in the years before her death
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: were proof that they were living the reality of the
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: story Nick told.
• 46:11
  Speaker 5: You're a fiction writer.
• 46:12
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 46:14
  Speaker 5: You make up stories?
• 46:17
  Speaker 8: When I write, yes, sir.
• 46:20
  Speaker 5: How do we know the story is that you're telling
• 46:22
  Speaker 5: today is not fiction? You have not made this up.
• 46:26
  Speaker 15: Yes, sir.
• 46:28
  Speaker 8: Absolutely everything we did for five years makes absolutely no
• 46:32
  Speaker 8: sense absent somebody telling us to do it. From the
• 46:36
  Speaker 8: very large settlement I was willing to give, I was
• 46:39
  Speaker 8: willing to voluntarily give Heather, which would make no sense
• 46:42
  Speaker 8: if I didn't believe I had $ 32 million coming in.
• 46:45
  Speaker 8: to staying in the house at a time where the
• 46:49
  Speaker 8: state says that I knew that I was on the run.
• 46:52
  Speaker 8: I had absolutely no idea. I lived in that house
• 46:55
  Speaker 8: for another nine months.
• 46:57
  Speaker 18: As you sit here today, do you think that there
• 47:02
  Speaker 18: was a person named Jim McIntyre?
• 47:04
  Speaker 8: I do not believe that was his name, no.
• 47:12
  Speaker 5: How does that make you feel?
• 47:15
  Speaker 8: Angry, betrayed, frankly dumb.
• 47:20
  Speaker 5: Do you know who killed your wife, Mindy Cassodas?
• 47:22
  Speaker 8: I do not.
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: He lived that Jim McIntyre story. He lived it.
• 47:32
  Speaker 19: This isn't a fiction that the writer, Nick Cassodas, makes
• 47:39
  Speaker 19: up upon arrest. I mean, he's good.
• 47:44
  Speaker 5: He sold the story to Sony, but he's.
• 47:46
  Speaker 12: Not that good.
• 47:47
  Speaker 19: He's not that good that he could make up a
• 47:51
  Speaker 19: story and then retroactively have lived it.
• 47:55
  Speaker 20: He lived the Jim McIntyre story for years before the arrest,
• 48:01
  Speaker 20: for years before Mindy Kasodes' murder.
• 48:06
  Speaker 11: They actually lived like that.
• 48:09
  Speaker 7: He wanted kids and he found out Mindy wasn't pregnant.
• 48:14
  Speaker 7: Because if Mindy was pregnant, you know what he doesn't do?
• 48:16
  Speaker 7: He doesn't kill her. Because he wanted kids. He found
• 48:21
  Speaker 7: out she wasn't.
• 48:24
  Speaker 17: Then there's the abdominal wounds.
• 48:26
  Speaker 11: This goes back to Mindy not being pregnant.
• 48:28
  Speaker 8: And you're mad!
• 48:31
  Speaker 11: She told you she was pregnant.
• 48:36
  Speaker 2: You're mad.
• 48:38
  Speaker 12: That's why you bury a head.
• 48:40
  Speaker 11: That's why you stab her in the belly. That's murder, Mr.
• 48:45
  Speaker 5: Kasotis.
• 48:48
  Speaker 11: Mindy loved Mr.
• 48:49
  Speaker 15: Kasotis.
• 48:51
  Speaker 11: And she didn't want to lose him. I submit to you,
• 48:57
  Speaker 11: she wasn't pregnant.
• 49:02
  Speaker 4: Mr.
• 49:02
  Speaker 7: Kasotis told you that he and Heather divorced because she
• 49:08
  Speaker 7: told him she wanted kids but didn't really.
• 49:12
  Speaker 11: That's what he told you on the stand. Mindy knew,
• 49:16
  Speaker 11: I submit to you, that if he found out, that
• 49:20
  Speaker 11: she wasn't pregnant, she'd lose him.
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: The jury returned with their verdict in just over one hour.
• 49:34
  Speaker 16: Count one, malice murder, guilty. Count two, felony murder, guilty.
• 49:44
  Speaker 16: Count three, aggravated assault, guilty.
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: At the sentencing, Nick's parents stood up on his behalf.
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: Despite years of estrangement and the blame that had been
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: placed on them as the alleged perpetrators of years of harassment,
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: they told the judge that their son was innocent.
• 50:10
  Speaker 10: He is truly a wonderful, kind person. And from the beginning,
• 50:20
  Speaker 10: when this all broke, we never believed that this was possible.
• 50:25
  Speaker 10: And we still do not believe that this is possible.
• 50:29
  Speaker 10: We know the person sitting there, our son, as a
• 50:33
  Speaker 10: kind and gentle person that would not do this And
• 50:39
  Speaker 10: there's really no evidence that showed that he did.
• 50:43
  Speaker 13: He is a good and kind and gentle person. The
• 50:47
  Speaker 13: thought that he could take someone else's life is just unbelievable, honestly.
• 50:54
  Speaker 13: I respect the jury's work that they did, but they
• 51:00
  Speaker 13: got this one wrong.
• 51:01
  Speaker 8: I'm sorry.
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: The state requested a sentence of life without the possibility
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: of parole. Morgan Paddock, one of Mindy's closest friends, spoke
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: of the pain of processing both Mindy's loss and the
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: manipulation that her friend must have suffered during her marriage
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: to Nick Kasotis. Mindy was more than the woman found
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: in the woods, and she was much more than a
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: character in her husband's twisted story.
• 51:33
  Speaker 9: Mindy was so much more than what happened to her.
• 51:36
  Speaker 9: She was a bright light, vibrant, generous woman. funny, caring,
• 51:42
  Speaker 9: a defender of others, passionate, trustworthy, and so much more.
• 51:48
  Speaker 9: If anyone in her life would have been in her position,
• 51:50
  Speaker 9: she would be standing right here today speaking for them. Nick,
• 51:55
  Speaker 9: you slowly and strategically tried to dampen her light, isolating
• 52:00
  Speaker 9: her from the people she deeply loved, robbing her of time, laughter,
• 52:06
  Speaker 9: creating memories and peace. always living in fear and isolation.
• 52:12
  Speaker 9: She loved you and trusted you to tell her the truth,
• 52:17
  Speaker 9: to protect her, to live out your marriage vows. And
• 52:21
  Speaker 9: yet you were the one that she needed protection from.
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: In August 2025, Nicholas Kasotis Stark was sentenced to life
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: without the possibility of parole, plus 25 years. And that
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: was the tragic case of Mindy Mabane-Casotis. Thank you for
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: joining me, and a special shout out this week to
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: Destiny DeMello for joining our Sherlock Holmes membership. Welcome to
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: the JTL Members Lounge. I'm Kevin, this is Just Thought Lounge,
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: and I'll see you in the next one.
• 53:09
  Speaker 2: KTM, found out the lounge is what you thought.
• 53:13
  Speaker 19: Casey, they really make you think.
• 53:16
  Speaker 6: James.