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Secret Killer Leads Cops Into Her _3_000_000 Murder Mansion · The Empire of Wealth

0:01
Speaker 1: Doesn't look like anyone's been here.
0:03
Speaker 2: I'm not that snow.
0:07
Speaker 3: This officer is unknowingly reacting to the decomposition odor coming
0:13
from Craig Thetford's hidden body. Police have been searching for
0:17
him for months with no success, and even now with
0:20
the foul odor in the air, they still have no
0:23
idea he's buried only feet away.
0:28
Speaker 4: Dirt. Where's that blood?
0:30
Speaker 5: This is the only way I've been able to have
0:32
any communication with you, and I don't even know if
0:35
it's seen them.
0:36
Speaker 4: Why would he know where to start? Lucky?
0:38
Speaker 6: There's some weird going on.
0:40
Speaker 3: Whoever killed Craig covered their tracks meticulously using chemicals to
0:45
mask the odor, disabling security cameras at hiding in plain sight,
0:50
and while detectives spend months trying to figure out where
0:53
Craig went, the suspected killer quietly continues spending Craig's money,
0:58
allegedly buying houses, cars, and crafting a plan to ensure
1:02
they're never found. Oh well, I want to say something else,
1:10
but I don't want to implicator.
1:11
Speaker 7: You need to say you.
1:13
Speaker 8: Might start looking in the Caribbean.
1:17
Speaker 4: We want it so.
1:23
Speaker 3: It's a late May evening in Cloudcroft, New Mexico talked
1:27
among wooded acreage and mountain terrain to say two thousand
1:31
square foot property owned by sixty year old Craig Thetford.
1:36
He lives inside this large, three story house with his wife, Dina.
1:40
The Thetfords enjoy a comfortable lifestyle thanks to Craig's roofing business.
1:45
They own multiple residential properties and frequently take luxury vacations.
1:49
But a few months ago, something dark took place inside
1:52
the Thetford household, and it went unnoticed for weeks until
1:56
May twenty twenty five, when the Ottero County Sheriff saw
2:00
receives a disturbing call.
2:02
Speaker 7: Communications on a recorded mind.
2:04
Speaker 2: How can I help you?
2:04
Speaker 9: Who would I talk to to have a wellness check
2:07
done on an individual?
2:09
Speaker 7: That would be me?
2:09
Speaker 10: What's going on?
2:10
Speaker 9: Trick saying with Craig Thetford. Everybody here in Texas has
2:14
been trying to get a hold of Craig for nearly
2:16
two months. I mean, we can't get a hold of
2:18
his wife. We're really concerned about him because this is
2:22
not like him. He always answered his folder calls back.
2:25
Even his family here hasn't been able to get hold
2:28
of it. Nobody can get a hold of him.
2:31
Speaker 3: On the line is Larry Scott requesting a welfare check
2:35
on his friend. But something about this call is different.
2:39
As Larry explains, nobody has seen Craig or his wife
2:43
for months. In detail, that's highly unusual since most missing
2:48
person reports come within days. Following this, officers are dispatched
2:53
to the address to conduct a welfare check on the
2:56
Thetford couple. Once they pull up to the long driveway
2:59
and step out into the mountain air, they can sense
3:03
something is off about this place.
3:26
Speaker 4: Turns off it. Can you see anything through the windows?
3:46
Speaker 5: Yeah?
3:46
Speaker 1: I got a pretty good look through the windows. Doesn't
3:49
look like there's anyone in there.
3:51
Speaker 3: As officers walk around the residents, they notice the sheer
3:54
size of the property, with multiple carboards and outbuildings. Lights
3:58
are on throughout the home itself, but strangely, no one
4:03
answers the door. Looking through the windows, one officer notices
4:07
several boxes stacked, suggesting that the couple might be in
4:11
the process of moving or had already left. As another
4:15
officer circles towards the car port, he hesitates, there's something
4:19
odd about the air around him.
4:22
Speaker 4: I got a pretty piece of security camera in the.
4:24
Speaker 1: Back doesn't look like anyone's been here.
4:35
Speaker 11: What's that smell.
4:39
Speaker 3: Coming from the car port? A faint, strange odor drifts
4:43
through the space. But up in the mountains with wildlife
4:47
and wooded terrain, unusual smells aren't uncommon, so the officer
4:52
brushes it off and moves on. With the home appearing
4:56
vacant and no immediate signs of foul play, cops off
5:00
and leave with the impression that the Thetford couple likely
5:04
moved out and simply forgot to inform their friend Larry Unknowingly,
5:08
officers are walking away from the first signs that something
5:12
far more sinister.
5:13
Speaker 4: Is at play.
5:18
Speaker 3: The next day, things begin to shift into something more
5:21
serious as police receive a second call about Craig. However,
5:26
this one carries more concerning details than the last.
5:30
Speaker 7: Tell communications on a recorded line, how can.
5:32
Speaker 2: I help you all good?
5:33
Speaker 10: This is going to seem really really strange. About four
5:36
months ago, my grandpa haw also like face of the World,
5:40
and he's a volunteer firefighter up there. He loves to
5:44
do it. If he talked to him all that all
5:45
the time they saw I'd like to place a wellness shake.
5:48
But the only person that said she's talked to him
5:51
in four months. Is his wife and apparently now they're
5:53
getting a divorce. He's doing the whole bunch of stuff.
5:56
So I don't I don't believe it. It's not my grandpa.
5:59
It's just really strange.
6:01
Speaker 8: Hey, what's his name Bedford?
6:03
Speaker 2: And what's your name?
6:03
Speaker 1: My name is?
6:04
Speaker 10: Cody gives his grandson his wife is supposedly in Texas
6:08
getting a divorce.
6:11
Speaker 3: With yet another welfare check request from Craig's grandson, Cody,
6:15
a clearer timeline begins to form. It now sounds like
6:19
Craig hasn't been missing for two months, as previously believed
6:22
by his friend. Instead, he hasn't been seen for over
6:26
four months, which is even more alarming. Additionally, the reason
6:32
no formal missing person report was filed starts to make
6:35
sense as Cody goes on to explain that his grandfather's wife,
6:39
Dina Thetford, has been telling everyone that Craig is in
6:43
Mexico with another woman after filing for divorce, a story
6:48
that doesn't sit right with Craig's grandson. Following this second call,
6:53
how Taro County Sheriff's deputies are dispatched back to Craig's house.
6:57
This time, instead of simply knocking and leaving, they widen
7:01
the scope. If Craig and his wife aren't inside the house,
7:04
maybe someone nearby has seen or heard something, so deputies
7:09
begin canvassing the surrounding properties, a decision that will quietly
7:13
kickstart an investigation into what may become one of the
7:16
most elaborate and twisted homicide cover ups they've ever handled.
7:22
Speaker 1: We have been through with the Sheriff's office. By chance,
7:24
have you seen your your neighbors over.
7:27
Speaker 5: No, sir, I had I've been really worried about him. Okay,
7:31
it's January, and we were real good friends and everything. Okay,
7:35
and we were both on the Chames Candy Fire Department,
7:38
and come January there was just no contact.
7:41
Speaker 1: No contact at all.
7:42
Speaker 5: Come, Jennius, I got him. I've been on. I was
7:45
on Chames Cany Fire Department there for about five and
7:48
a half years. And when he moved up here, I
7:51
talked to him into it okay, and I mean we
7:53
were real good friends and everything. And then Josh over here,
7:56
he got on. We got him on the fire department,
7:58
Josh and had it here know more information about him
8:01
because okay, I know h.
8:03
Speaker 1: Do you know what the theadress is over there, it's.
8:06
Speaker 5: It's just just that the ice frame right there. This
8:08
when we're here, this one.
8:17
Speaker 7: Help.
8:17
Speaker 4: Yes, ma'am.
8:18
Speaker 11: How are you?
8:18
Speaker 1: I'm definitely up in tour with the turk on Sheriff's office.
8:21
We were looking for Craig Septford.
8:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, we haven't heard from Craig. Okay, we're buying the
8:28
house from him.
8:29
Speaker 12: He was in Breckinridge taking care of his mom.
8:32
Speaker 6: Okay, swipe.
8:32
Speaker 4: Dina's my friend.
8:34
Speaker 2: She's in and out from the house down there.
8:36
Speaker 4: Okay.
8:37
Speaker 2: She hasn't really talked to me, which is weird.
8:39
Speaker 1: Have you talked to Dina lately?
8:41
Speaker 13: Yeah?
8:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, And have you asked her anything about like Craig,
8:44
how he's.
8:44
Speaker 13: Doing or anything like that.
8:46
Speaker 12: From what she's telling me, she's not talking to him either.
8:49
Speaker 1: She's oh, okay, sorry, are they like not together?
8:53
Speaker 14: Up?
8:54
Speaker 13: Gotcha?
8:54
Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, that's what's happening. And when was the last
8:58
time you saw Dina? If you're in the in the year,
9:02
it's been about three weeks now, about three weeks.
9:05
Speaker 3: As far as Heidi knows, Craig and Dina are in
9:07
the middle of separating, with Craig supposedly staying at his
9:11
mother's house in Texas. That explanation doesn't match what Dina
9:15
told Craig's grandson Cody, who was under the impression that
9:19
his grandfather went to Mexico after filing for divorce. To
9:22
investigate further, the deputy asks Heidi for Dina's phone number
9:26
and tries calling her, but worryingly, it goes straight to
9:30
voicemail with no immediate leads. Officers return to the station.
9:34
Before Deputy Pinter can relay his findings to detectives, his
9:38
phone starts ringing. Interestingly, the caller is one of the Theetfords.
9:45
Speaker 2: Hello, Hi, mister a phone call.
9:48
Speaker 1: Yes, maam Herry you this is a pretty pitre calling
9:50
from the Terra Ponisher's office. I was calling in reference
9:53
to your husband, Craig. It seems that he hasn't been
9:57
in contact with a lot of his family and some
9:59
of his friends.
10:00
Speaker 15: All right, Yeah, we have been separated and I recently
10:06
followed for divorce. He's kind of he's involved with someone
10:10
else and currently he's in Mexico.
10:13
Speaker 1: And when was it last time you saw him or
10:15
spoke to him before he left? Would you have an estimate, like,
10:19
you know, was it like one week, two weeks, first
10:22
of the month, first of the month, and you saw
10:24
him in person?
10:26
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, he was packing.
10:28
Speaker 13: Yes?
10:28
Speaker 1: Where was this?
10:29
Speaker 14: That?
10:29
Speaker 1: Was this that your residence on Heatherwiz?
10:31
Speaker 15: Yes, he has moved out.
10:33
Speaker 1: And where are you currently staying at my mom's in Texas, Texas?
10:38
Speaker 4: Yeah?
10:38
Speaker 1: Well I guess let me ask you. Are you gonna
10:40
permanently be staying at Seymour, Texas?
10:43
Speaker 12: No? Okay?
10:44
Speaker 15: And to see what happens in the divorce, I'm gonna ask, Okay,
10:49
I mean, I don't know.
10:50
Speaker 2: I don't think he's missing.
10:53
Speaker 3: On the line is Dina Thetford clarifying that her husband
10:56
is actually in Mexico with another woman, the SAME's story
11:00
she told Craig's grandson, but different from what her neighbor reported. Naturally,
11:05
this drastically complicates the investigation, as locating a missing person
11:10
in another country is exponentially more difficult. But during the
11:14
phone call, Dina also goes on to explain that she
11:18
suspected Craig if cheating on her for nearly a year
11:21
before confirming the affair a couple of months earlier. Now
11:24
she's staying with her mother in Texas, but plans to
11:27
return to New Mexico and fight Craig in court to
11:30
keep the property for herself. The deputy confirms Dina's current
11:34
phone number before ending the call. Aside from the inconsistent
11:38
story about Craig's whereabouts, police have no reason to believe
11:41
Dina is hiding anything, but that is about to change now.
11:45
Speaker 4: I've tried to warn Craig.
11:48
Speaker 16: I could kill Craig and get away away.
11:50
Speaker 12: I'm doing my mom's crazy. She's tried to kill me before.
11:55
Speaker 3: In the days that follow, Craig Thedford is officially entered
11:59
into the f BI database as a missing person, and
12:02
the case is assigned to Detective Bobby Curtis with the
12:05
district's Major Crimes Unit. As Curtis begins digging into the
12:08
couple's background, one detail immediately stands out. Craig is Dina's
12:14
fourth husband. She had already been married three times before,
12:18
and those relationships seemingly ended under troubling circumstances. So Curtis
12:23
decides to call the people who might know Dina best
12:27
her ex husbands, and what she's about to hear may
12:30
not just explain where Craig is, but also what really
12:34
happened to him.
12:36
Speaker 2: I got from you about an hour ago.
12:39
Speaker 7: Again, I was calling to see if you had a
12:42
minute talk to me about Dina was married.
12:46
Speaker 17: To her thirty years ago.
12:48
Speaker 7: I called her game at possessed one time a doctor
12:50
ward crazie.
12:52
Speaker 14: I was told there was possibly a time when she
12:56
had tried to run you over with her car.
13:00
Speaker 4: Probably say that's.
13:00
Speaker 18: Born her drug addicted, her alcohol addicted, to state that
13:06
he gets that way, and that's the best time to
13:11
leave her alone to seek that way. I think that's
13:15
how we we both divide for ten years.
13:21
Speaker 2: Hi is a scotti? Hi, I t Curtis.
13:25
Speaker 12: First.
13:25
Speaker 15: Let go ahead and start with the why did you
13:28
guys end up getting a divorce?
13:30
Speaker 10: Because she's crazy.
13:31
Speaker 19: Here's what they classify as a bench drinking alcoholic QUI treasure.
13:38
Speaker 10: Yeah, he assaulted me multiple times, bros, two PAIRD.
13:41
Speaker 13: Glasses, balled up for fears and hit.
13:43
Speaker 12: Me twice to try to kill me.
13:46
Speaker 20: Yeah.
13:46
Speaker 4: I was always afraid something.
13:48
Speaker 16: Like this was going to happen because I knew she
13:49
was capable.
13:50
Speaker 14: And then you know when I when I saw the
13:52
Craig was.
13:53
Speaker 4: Missing, I immediately called you know, I tried.
13:55
Speaker 16: To warn Craig multiple times.
13:57
Speaker 18: And she did state in front of me and if
14:01
I pure grit and get away away.
14:02
Speaker 3: Up doing that final remark from Scott is disturbing and
14:09
certainly doesn't bode well for the situation. Following these statements
14:13
from Dina's ex husband's, detective Curtis decides to dig further
14:17
into Scott's claims. Turns out, Dina worked as a correctional
14:21
officer for nearly eight years in the early two thousands.
14:24
Then in two thousand and eight, according to Scott, Dina
14:27
was arrested for allegedly trying to stab him while intoxicated,
14:31
an incident that reportedly landed her in jail overnight. After that,
14:36
the couple briefly reconciled, but in twenty ten, Scott also
14:40
alleged that Dina found his pistol and chased him while
14:43
pulling the trigger, though the gun was not loaded and
14:46
he survived. As Curtis continues reviewing the reports, she notices
14:50
that at various points over the years, Dina's daughter, Leslie,
14:54
had lived with her in Craig. So, one of Curtis's
14:57
co investigators reaches out to Leslie to gain insights and
15:00
so what was happening inside that house. When he finally
15:03
gets her on the phone, she shares some startling information
15:06
about her mother.
15:07
Speaker 17: How are you this morning? I'm good. So, whenever you
15:13
were living at the house, Leslie, was there domestic violence
15:17
going on in the house? Did your mom and dad fight?
15:19
Speaker 7: Yeah?
15:20
Speaker 4: All the time.
15:21
Speaker 12: My mom is crazy. My mom is so crazy, Like
15:24
she's tried to kill me before, she stabbed one of
15:27
her other husbands. She tried to run my real dad
15:30
over with a car. She had my sister hog tied
15:33
and thrown in a car, and like shipped off one time.
15:35
Speaker 17: So was your mom to you?
15:38
Speaker 12: Yeah, to everyone pretty much. I always thought she was possessed,
15:44
like demonic, Like it was so evil that like I
15:47
just couln't believe like it was real.
15:49
Speaker 17: Okay at the time that that you were there at
15:52
the house. Did your mom and dad drink or use drugs?
15:55
Either one of them?
15:56
Speaker 8: Yeah.
15:57
Speaker 12: She she's an alcoholic, she's always been. She also does
16:01
other drugs. And I think she might have poisoned him
16:04
or been trying to poison him or something like or
16:07
like messing with his medication or something.
16:10
Speaker 3: Needless to say, things are starting to sound grim. There
16:15
are now two separate people, alleging that Craig may be
16:19
dead and that Dina could somehow be involved with this
16:23
troubling development in mind, Detective Curtis moves on to review
16:26
the couple's recent financial activity, and this is where things
16:29
become very peculiar. In the last four months, Dina appears
16:34
to have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, including a
16:37
new house and a new car, while also potentially helping
16:40
fund her son's new business. With all these findings combined
16:44
and Dina's shifting story, investigators begin to suspect they may
16:48
be dealing with something far more serious than a missing
16:51
person case, and the possibility of a concealed homicide now
16:55
sits squarely on the table. But in the middle of
16:57
trying to piece together what really happened to Craig, detectives
17:00
receive a tip that his wife, Dina, has returned home
17:04
and is acting as if nothing ever happened, obsolets hope.
17:17
Following this, Deputy Roger Schoolcraft is sent to check if
17:20
Dina returned home and can provide any answers. In a
17:23
few seconds, he will come face to face with the
17:26
one person investigators and now believe may be their prime suspect.
17:31
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let's get back to Deputy Roger, who was on the
19:02
verge of hearing a story that may explain why Craig
19:06
truly vanished.
19:15
Speaker 21: All right, good morning, Dina, Yes, all right, good morning,
19:20
good morning. Hey, I'm doing some fall I'm Roger. I'm sorry, Roger, Dina.
19:29
Speaker 8: Yes, I think we met at probably did.
19:33
Speaker 4: I'm trying to do some follow up on Craig and
19:38
I thought maybe I can meet with you. You can
19:40
try to kind of help me and give me some
19:42
information and what can we sit somewhere? All right, guys
19:47
chilly Okay, Well, obviously we got some calls because people
19:53
haven't been hearing from or anything. So you being the wife,
19:57
you might be able to help.
19:58
Speaker 10: Me his mom.
19:59
Speaker 2: I talked to his mom.
20:00
Speaker 4: Oh really, so you guys aren't.
20:03
Speaker 8: No, we have been having some issues. Okay, I guess
20:11
you would say we're separated.
20:13
Speaker 4: How long has that been going on?
20:16
Speaker 8: Nothing's legal yet. We just haven't been spending any time
20:21
together since at least.
20:24
Speaker 4: February February, early February.
20:26
Speaker 2: February February or mid February.
20:28
Speaker 4: Since mid February. Things weren't working out. So you left.
20:32
He left out of that.
20:34
Speaker 16: He left.
20:34
Speaker 8: He told me, well, he first went to Texas because
20:38
he was said he needed to go help.
20:39
Speaker 4: His mom, so he left here to go help his mom.
20:42
Speaker 2: That's that was what he said.
20:44
Speaker 8: Yes, I've never really had any reason not to not
20:48
believe what he said.
20:49
Speaker 4: And that was like the second week of February.
20:53
Speaker 2: You'll have to bear with me because I don't keep
20:55
track of time.
20:57
Speaker 3: Even though Dina doesn't keep track of time, she does
21:00
seem to keep track of other things, like the details
21:03
surrounding Craig's disappearance. Within just a few minutes of their conversation,
21:08
Deputy Roger notices that Dina slightly adjusts her explanation about
21:12
Craig's whereabouts now claiming that he simply told her what
21:15
he was doing and she had no reason not to
21:18
believe him. But as the pair continue rehashing the details,
21:22
Dina begins to visibly since that Deputy Roger isn't convinced,
21:27
she appears to have no idea of the amount of
21:29
suspicion that's been mounting against her. In reality, Dina is
21:34
well prepared for this moment because she's about to present
21:37
what she believes is concrete proof to validate her story
21:41
and put an end to the growing suspicion around her.
21:44
Speaker 2: I've never had a reason to doubt it, but I
21:47
now I do. I mean, I really, I.
21:50
Speaker 8: Think that he has hooked up with some youngsters that
21:55
are doing these classes, and I think he's reliving his
21:59
youth and he's ready for me to get out.
22:02
Speaker 2: Of the picture.
22:02
Speaker 4: Where would he be doing that.
22:05
Speaker 8: Mexico, I guess Mexico. But when I would come home,
22:09
I mean, he's been here and it got to the
22:13
point where he would just leave me a note like.
22:16
Speaker 2: That one over there.
22:19
Speaker 8: Now, this there's been several this is this is our
22:23
communication right here for the last two months, and there's
22:28
been several, but this is the now, this one is from.
22:33
Speaker 2: Not two weeks ago.
22:36
Speaker 4: Can you put place? This is your handwriting and that's
22:38
his Yes.
22:39
Speaker 2: Because his family has been calling me, where is he?
22:42
Speaker 16: You know?
22:43
Speaker 2: And I'm like, I know as much as you do.
22:46
Speaker 4: Where's El Salto, Mexico? And he has friends in El
22:50
Salto or.
22:52
Speaker 2: El Salto is a trophy fish.
22:56
Speaker 4: Okay, yeah, one of my big basket he's.
23:00
Speaker 2: I think this would make the third time he's been there.
23:03
Speaker 3: Even if Deputy Roger tried, he couldn't sound fully convinced
23:08
that Craig actually wrote this message, But he takes the
23:11
bait anyway, or at least allows Dina to believe her
23:14
plan is unfolding exactly as she intended. Conveniently, Dina quickly
23:19
moves on to the next step in her plan. There's
23:22
something downstairs that might help clear things up, and she's
23:26
willing to share it off the record.
23:29
Speaker 2: Can I say something off the record?
23:31
Speaker 4: Sure?
23:34
Speaker 2: Craig keeps all our money in cash.
23:36
Speaker 8: I can't get in the safe, so I can't tell
23:38
you if he took it or if it's there.
23:42
Speaker 4: Full the money. Why can't you get into the same
23:46
I don't.
23:46
Speaker 2: Have the comminations.
23:48
Speaker 4: Was that an issue between the two of you, they
23:50
wouldn't let you have access to the safe.
23:52
Speaker 8: It wasn't an issue with us, but it was an
23:56
issue with this first while.
23:57
Speaker 4: Well, she was stealing money from Okay, I understand, Now
24:01
how much could you show me where that safe is?
24:06
Speaker 3: Okay, that's a substantial amount of money by anyone's standards,
24:13
and Deputy Roger is beginning to suspect he may already
24:16
know why Craig suddenly vanished. Even though Dina claims she
24:21
can't access the safe, Roger will soon discover that this, too,
24:25
might not be true. But since Dina brought up the
24:28
money unprompted, Roger recognizes an opportunity to dig deeper and
24:32
decides to take it.
24:34
Speaker 4: I'm sorry, got a bad knee, I apologizing, No, just
24:43
getting old, feel.
24:49
Speaker 13: Smokes.
24:50
Speaker 4: Big house is too big for two people. This is
24:56
the bottom floor here, yes, okay, I'm sorry. Oh that's cool?
25:01
Speaker 7: Right?
25:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, good lord? That cost a pity.
25:07
Speaker 2: That was my present. Now I don't know if I
25:10
get to keep it this one of them.
25:14
Speaker 4: Yeah, so you don't have a combination for either, say no,
25:19
I just I didn't keep it written down anywhere and
25:23
you don't know.
25:25
Speaker 3: Okay, as Roger checks the safe. He has no idea
25:30
that he is standing in the very spot where Craig's
25:33
body remained for days before it was eventually moved and hidden.
25:38
None of that is apparent in this moment, so the
25:41
two head back upstairs after taking a quick look. By
25:44
this point, Roger feels he's heard what he came for
25:47
and then some. But before leaving, he decides to share
25:50
a small surprise he's been holding back.
25:53
Speaker 4: Have you been married before too?
25:57
Speaker 8: Yes? Why do you say that it seemed to be
26:00
a regular occurrence. Oh no, no, it's I might get
26:04
a joke. I might get a joke. Yeah, I mean,
26:07
I just it took me a long time to figure out.
26:09
I'm the common denominator.
26:11
Speaker 4: So how many times were you married?
26:13
Speaker 2: He is my fourth?
26:15
Speaker 4: Fourth? Okay, oh no, Just a little history of me.
26:19
I'm actually a retired police officer. Came back to work
26:22
about two years ago. I got boards in at home.
26:25
But the vast majority of my career I worked an
26:29
investigation CID homicide, you and Alburquerque, So that's most of
26:34
my career has been doing that.
26:36
Speaker 3: Deputy Roger leaves little room for doubt, suddenly making it
26:40
clear that he is in fact investigating a possible homicide.
26:45
Even though Dina tries to appear nonchalant, her face tells
26:48
a different story. She looks visibly taken aback by the
26:52
idea that a homicide detective is now sitting in her
26:55
living room, and the timing of Roger's reveal couldn't have
26:59
been more to liberate, coming right after Dina seemingly acknowledged
27:03
that she's the common denominator in her previous failed marriages.
27:07
With the surprise revealed, Roger wraps up the conversation and
27:11
heads out, leaving Dina with a clear implication that she
27:14
may now be a prime suspect in the possible homicide
27:18
of her husband, a thought that will soon begin to
27:21
consume her. At the same time, Roger walks away with
27:25
something else he believes he identified during the hour long interview,
27:29
a possible financial motive behind Craig's disappearance, as well as
27:34
an even stronger suspicion that he may have just been
27:37
speaking with the alleged killer herself before heading back to
27:42
the station to relay his findings. Roger's relentless instincts get
27:46
the best of him. With more than two decades of experience,
27:50
and having handled the case with eerily similar circumstances that
27:54
later turned into a homicide, he can't shake the feeling
27:57
that something isn't right. Instead of leaving right away, he
28:01
decides to stick around the neighborhood and speak with people
28:04
who live nearby, a move that will not only fuel
28:07
rogers growing suspicions, but also reveal some new details police
28:11
hadn't fully heard before we met.
28:20
Speaker 13: Yeah, I was at school.
28:22
Speaker 4: You want to go out here? Poor dog by me? No, no, no, no, no,
28:27
just a good barker. What do you know anything? Or
28:31
the last time you saw him or talk to him.
28:34
Speaker 13: No, it's been a while and there's some weird going on.
28:39
Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure.
28:40
Speaker 6: And I'm I don't want to I'm not trying to
28:44
implicate it, all right, anybody what it sounds like in
28:47
the past, you know, whenever those two get like when
28:51
I say those two, mmm, Craig and Dina, they get
28:54
together and you mix in a little bit of alcohol,
28:58
things get a little bit flammable. It can be.
29:03
Speaker 5: And Craig said, if anything ever happens to me, I
29:06
don't want these calls. Dana has a combination to the
29:09
safe and I keep I keep an envelope full.
29:13
Speaker 13: Of money in it.
29:13
Speaker 5: And this is the only way I've been able to
29:16
have any communication with you, and I don't even know
29:18
if it's see them.
29:19
Speaker 4: I wonder who you supposedly went fishing to Mexico with.
29:23
See we had to call like this a long time ago.
29:26
Long story short turned into but she was staying in
29:29
the house three weeks after she'd murdered him, and she
29:32
drug him out in the back porch and cover him
29:34
up with a tar kind of rings. The same deal,
29:37
same story. All he went on the fishing trip, and
29:39
he kept not showing up for work and people are calling,
29:43
so it's.
29:44
Speaker 2: Really nowhere to be seen.
29:45
Speaker 6: He found everything We've been told and heard.
29:53
Speaker 16: And I want to say something else, but I don't
29:55
want to implicate her.
29:57
Speaker 8: You need to say, when we first moved here, we
30:00
were just having conversations and she was like, she shouldn't
30:03
say she'd kill him that She was like, that happened.
30:05
Speaker 2: Do you know I'd be okay with it? From it
30:08
to that effect.
30:10
Speaker 3: By now, the pattern is becoming impossible to ignore, and
30:14
it seems like everyone familiar with the couple is thinking
30:17
the same thing. They're just hesitant to say it out loud. Notably,
30:22
Craig's firefighter friend Thomas, also reveals that Craig told him
30:25
Dina has the combination to this safe, directly contradicting Dina's
30:29
claims earlier when she claimed she had no way of
30:32
accessing the money inside the safe. Roger records these statements
30:36
and eventually heads back to the station to speak with
30:38
the lead detective Curtis to determine their next steps. Even
30:41
though investigators are now strongly considering the possibility of homicide,
30:45
they still lack physical evidence of foul play or Craig's body,
30:50
at least for the time being. Five days after his
30:56
initial visit, Deputy Roger returns to the Bedford's house to
31:00
follow up with Dina. They still haven't been able to
31:02
reach Craig, and this situation is looking increasingly grim. But
31:07
this time something different awaits Roger. As he arrives and
31:11
steps out of his car, he notices something unsettling on
31:14
the ground.
31:16
Speaker 11: Oh, good morning, How are you good good?
31:40
Speaker 2: I was about to make some coffee.
31:42
Speaker 4: I'll take some coffee. What are you putting in the ground.
31:45
I'm not putting in the ground.
31:46
Speaker 2: I was trying to flatten it. I'm gonna row those
31:48
rocks back in there.
31:50
Speaker 4: Oh oh, I saw that metal thing. I thought maybe
31:52
there's some kind of a hole.
31:55
Speaker 7: It's above ground gardening.
31:58
Speaker 4: Oh yeah.
31:59
Speaker 3: Roger treats the discovery lightly, even joking about the massive
32:03
hole Dina dug outside. But he'll soon find out that
32:06
he's been unknowingly walking right over the truth this whole time.
32:11
Speaker 4: What was he close to Was he close to any
32:13
of the females at all?
32:15
Speaker 2: He's not to everybody. I mean, everybody adores him.
32:19
Speaker 8: You know, we were going to church and everybody just
32:24
loves him. And the neighbors who would do anything for anybody.
32:28
Speaker 4: So none of these neighbors had a gripe with him
32:31
or an issue with him. It's just so unusual. May
32:33
just completely just completely pop off the radar, just poof,
32:37
they're gone. Well it's a it's a mystery. I just
32:41
keep thinking he's maybe got an enemy that we're not
32:43
unaware of, or somebody that felt like they had something.
32:46
Speaker 8: Again, I think, you know, if I had just left
32:49
when he told me to, then none of.
32:51
Speaker 2: This would have happened.
32:53
Speaker 3: With this statement coming directly from Dina, she has effectively
32:56
pointed the finger at herself. Whether she realizes it or
33:00
not remains to be seen. With the remainder of the
33:03
conversation yielding no new leads, Roger wraps up his second
33:06
visit and heads out, still empty handed. But as he
33:10
leaves the property, Roger has no idea that this might
33:13
be the last time he ever sees Dina alive. In
33:21
the following weeks, things begin to escalate dramatically as Dina
33:26
appears to have vanished any phone calls from detectives when
33:30
straight to voicemail, and police were unable to locate her.
33:33
Investigators also caught wind of rumors alleging Dina was talking
33:37
about fleeing to Jamaica or taking her own life. However,
33:42
there's a huge development that's about to happen today because
33:46
sometime in the afternoon, an old coworker of Dina from
33:49
her prison job calls lead Detective Curtis with an explosive tap, hell,
33:55
hi is.
33:56
Speaker 7: This Andrew Islam? This is Detective Curtiss with the Yotaro
33:59
Kane Serf's feels.
34:00
Speaker 2: I had a message that you had called all right.
34:03
Speaker 16: What can I help you, wes, Sir?
34:05
Speaker 19: I recently got just with an old friend in mine.
34:08
She was married to that dude, and apparently she said,
34:11
she said she's shiny. I don't I have a conscious
34:14
and I can't. I couldn't just not say nothing.
34:18
Speaker 2: Can you tell me her name? Did she tell you when?
34:23
Speaker 19: No?
34:24
Speaker 7: No, ma'am, I don't have I don't know.
34:26
Speaker 4: Learn to the teachers.
34:27
Speaker 3: What everyone has been anticipating this entire time has finally
34:32
come to fruition, seemingly straight from Dina herself, according to
34:36
her old friend Andrew. However, without a body or hard evidence,
34:41
Detective Curtis can't obtain an arrest warrant or press any charges.
34:45
But not long after this call, another development takes place.
34:49
This time police catch wins that Dina was at her
34:52
mother's house in Texas and attempted to take her home.
34:55
If Detective Curtis realizes how quickly and dangerously the situation
34:59
is as galeating. If Dina manages to flee, or worse yet,
35:04
takes life, they may never find Craig's body, and the
35:08
case is doomed to go cold. With that possibility looming
35:13
over the case, Curtis decides to act fast. She obtains
35:16
a search warrant for Craig's house and begins coordinating with
35:19
the Major Crimes Unit to execute the search, find Dina
35:22
and more importantly, uncover Craig's body. As coordination is underway,
35:27
Curtis sends a group of detectives and heads out to
35:29
Dina's mother's residence. She needs to figure out why Dina
35:33
is trying to herself.
35:35
Speaker 2: I'll watch this tickets commit.
35:40
Speaker 7: Hi, Mary, am Detective Curtis with the Sheriff's office in
35:42
New Mexico.
35:43
Speaker 2: Is it okay?
35:43
Speaker 7: Recommend sure? I understand that these guys updated you on
35:50
why we're all here. Yes, okay, we're hoping that maybe
35:55
we could talk to you a little bit tepit about
35:58
everything that's going on.
35:59
Speaker 16: That's all right, and trying to take her.
36:03
Speaker 7: Did did Deanna tell you why she wanted to take her? No? No?
36:08
Did she have a method she was planning on using.
36:12
Speaker 2: I don't know.
36:13
Speaker 16: She doesn't say no. I mean, shed not depressed. Did
36:23
you expect to this?
36:27
Speaker 7: H How long has she been back here? She started
36:35
coming back?
36:39
Speaker 10: Oh?
36:41
Speaker 16: I think person? Maybe I'm not sure.
36:43
Speaker 3: Dina's mother is visibly shaken by the thought of her
36:46
daughter harming herself, but she can't explain why Dina would
36:50
take such drastic action. Detective Curtis wraps up the interview
36:54
and gathers possible addresses for Dina's acquaintances, hotels and hospitals
36:58
where she might be. They need to find her before
37:00
she can do something irreversible. Hours later, back in New Mexico,
37:05
the Major Crimes Unit is briefed and the coordination is
37:08
in full effect. Detective Curtis and Deputy Roger, along with
37:12
a group of officers, make their way to the Thetford property,
37:15
hoping to find at least one of the two alive.
37:30
Speaker 11: Joss office.
37:37
Speaker 15: Is there a codes fun.
37:40
Speaker 4: You check youse over the doors?
37:43
Speaker 12: No, this was already.
37:48
Speaker 4: It's already been. What huhs.
37:51
Speaker 3: After circling around the exterior of the top floor, deputies
37:55
discover one of the front doors is suspiciously unlocked, suggesting
37:59
Dina made somewhere inside. Officers decide to conduct an initial
38:03
sweep for potential threats. Given Dina's violent past, her prison
38:07
officer background, and the murder allegations hanging over her, deputies
38:11
can't be too careful. One of the deputies has a
38:13
code for the garage door downstairs, and that's where they
38:16
decide to make their entry.
38:22
Speaker 4: Doors will chairs all this, but it's locked. Two doors
38:38
to the left door. You're looking this stairs.
38:48
Speaker 2: What's it you gotta you want to do?
38:52
Speaker 22: You want to check that door in er stairs?
39:09
Speaker 7: I got another door.
39:18
Speaker 2: I got another door. Oh good, yep. Back around.
39:27
Speaker 3: After clearing the basement, officer spot craig safe that's supposedly
39:31
holding one point five million dollars in savings. A locksmith
39:35
quickly gets to work on unlocking the safe, while deputies
39:38
head upstairs to continue sweeping the house, where they'll soon
39:41
find their first clues of foul play.
40:08
Speaker 1: Clear clear, I.
40:10
Speaker 14: Heard you checked the bedroom here in the bathroom in
40:13
the closet.
40:14
Speaker 3: As police finished sweeping the house, they begin to notice
40:17
multiple clues that suggest a violent event and subsequent cleanup.
40:22
Multiple bottles of bleach scattered throughout the house, a surveillance
40:26
system that appears to have been physically disabled, and various
40:29
areas showing signs of cleaning, but with no sign of
40:32
Dina or Craig's body in the main house, deputies move
40:35
outside to check the outbuildings, starting with Craig's man cave.
40:41
Speaker 4: Sir J. Such, what.
41:02
Speaker 9: Looks like you have an upstairs, small.
41:09
Speaker 4: Room, got a door, small room.
41:16
Speaker 20: Coming out okay, small room, Light it up, clip clip,
41:26
do some looking sis.
41:27
Speaker 13: Any camels I haven't see.
41:30
Speaker 4: There's cameras on the back side of.
41:32
Speaker 13: His house, which is good, would be fun.
41:38
Speaker 4: I'm sure she destroyed it if there was any. Is
41:44
that dirt?
41:45
Speaker 13: Where's that blood?
41:51
Speaker 3: As deputies continue their search, they also find a table
41:54
saw with possible blood traces, as well as suspected splatter
41:58
in the workshop area, but still no human body or
42:02
remains anywhere. In the meantime, back in the basement of
42:06
the main house, the locksmith is seconds away from opening
42:09
Craig safe and confirming something Deputy Roger had suspected all along.
42:20
Speaker 4: Let me get talk for you.
42:21
Speaker 2: Guys want us.
42:25
Speaker 22: Camera, We can get out of here for a minute
42:28
if you like you're getting.
42:32
Speaker 4: I hope yo, all this ohly smooth Kimber is missing.
42:39
They don't want to destroy this.
42:45
Speaker 13: Yeah, okay, she missed.
42:57
Speaker 4: Ten thousand, seventy thousand, eighty four thousand and two hundred
43:04
in right ear.
43:07
Speaker 3: The total amount Deputy Roger counts is far less than
43:10
the one point five million dollars Deanna had told him
43:14
was inside just a few weeks ago. The missing money
43:17
further supports investigator's speculations that Craig's been dead for a
43:21
while and that his wife has been burning through his money.
43:25
The area is vast, and if Craig had been buried
43:28
somewhere beyond the property, finding him could take months or longer.
43:33
What officers don't yet realize is that Craig's body has
43:36
been hidden in plain sight the entire time. As the
43:44
search continues, a detective back at the police station gets
43:47
a call from someone all too familiar with Dina, her daughter, Leslie.
43:52
The last time the detective spoke with Leslie, she revealed
43:55
startling allegations about her mother's behavior during the time they
43:59
lived together. This time, however, Leslie has critical information to share,
44:03
details she and her siblings supposedly knew for a while.
44:07
But she's the one who finally decided to talk.
44:10
Speaker 15: And it's Lizzie and I have Leslie on the line.
44:13
So I told her that I had kind of filled
44:15
you in, but I was going to let you ask
44:17
her any questions you might ask.
44:18
Speaker 17: Okay, Hi, Leslie, how are you this morning?
44:21
Speaker 20: Oh?
44:21
Speaker 17: You know, hanging in there. Yeah, we're good. So Leslie,
44:27
can you tell me what your mom told you?
44:29
Speaker 12: It was just like everyone was being so weird, and
44:32
I knew something was going on, but nobody would tell
44:34
me anything.
44:35
Speaker 7: Well, it's not so sorry.
44:36
Speaker 1: She came.
44:37
Speaker 12: She said she was gonna and then she came to
44:40
see me one last time, and she wanted to see
44:42
my son, her grandson, one last time. And then she
44:45
told me what happened.
44:46
Speaker 17: What did she tell you happened?
44:48
Speaker 12: That Kraig pushed her down the stairs and she shot
44:52
him and he fell into the cool room. She left
44:56
him laying there on the floor for like a day,
44:59
two days and a half, and then she wrapped him up,
45:03
I don't know, rug plastic, rapid stuff, and then they
45:06
tied that up with the tractor and they moved him
45:11
with the tractor to.
45:13
Speaker 16: The car port.
45:14
Speaker 12: And there's two car ports over there, and I kind
45:16
of have a feeling that he's probably an one by
45:19
the bunk house where she used to park, like underneath
45:23
a tractor or like something parked on top of him,
45:26
Like it might be like they might have dug like
45:27
a little hole or something. It's like a hidden and
45:30
plain sight type of thing.
45:32
Speaker 17: So why do you think your mom called you?
45:34
Speaker 12: Well, I was the last one to find out. My
45:37
other sibling said, already known him for a long time.
45:40
She said she wanted to like unburden herself all my
45:43
siblings and everybody was like acting so weird. Then my
45:46
sister was crying and everything, and she asked me to
45:48
come to her house this year. So I went to
45:51
her house. And then after I got back from there,
45:54
like everyone cut contact off with me, and I haven't
45:58
talked to him since then.
46:00
Speaker 3: And just like that, Leslie seemingly cracks the case, giving
46:05
investigators the breakthrough they've been looking for. The deputies back
46:09
at the residents are informs that Craig's body is hidden
46:12
on the property. Based on Leslie's tip, they move to
46:16
conduct a thorough search of the detached metal carport west
46:19
of the house, where investigators will discover that the truth
46:23
has been hidden in plain sight all along. In the
46:28
carport next to the tractor, officers spot a large pile
46:32
of cardboard boxes, rugs, soil bags, and other items stacked
46:37
to hide something underneath. As they clear the pile, black
46:41
plastic sheets become visible, and inside they discover a human
46:46
body concealed beneath materials to hide the foul odor. After
46:50
transporting the body for an autopsy, doctors estimated has been
46:54
deceased for weeks to months, consistent with a January killing.
46:59
Three or four shot wounds are found on the left side,
47:02
including one through the heart, classifying the death as humpide.
47:07
After using fingerprints, the body is positively identified as Craig Thetford.
47:13
With this tragic discovery, an arrest warrant is officially issued
47:18
for Dina and multiple units in both New Mexico and
47:21
Texas are informed to be on the lookout for her.
47:24
A few hours into the search, officers in Texas receive
47:27
information from Dina's mother Mary. She tells them that Dina
47:31
is at Red River Hospital. Officers quickly arrive at the hospital,
47:34
where they find Dina alive and unharmed. She's taken into
47:38
custody without incident. As she's transported to the station for questioning,
47:43
Dina remains calm and cordial, almost as if she's been
47:46
expecting this moment for months. Detective Curtis now has a
47:50
body and what she believes enough evidence to pursue homicide charges,
47:55
But there's one final question she doesn't have an answer
47:58
to yet. Why was Craig truly killed?
48:02
Speaker 21: Williams's office out of the mix sorry, I'm Detective Curtis
48:07
will go.
48:07
Speaker 14: To install fuck you, So I'm sure you understand why
48:18
we're all here.
48:18
Speaker 2: Yes, did you get a copy of your restaurant?
48:22
Speaker 12: Now?
48:23
Speaker 2: Gotten a happy anything by anybody anywhere? Okay, and I'm
48:29
just gonna tell you that. Now I'm going to anita lawyer. Okay,
48:32
that's as far as I want to go.
48:34
Speaker 15: Okay, this is my plan because I don't know any
48:36
better any of the way I know either.
48:40
Speaker 2: Unfitly, they don't let me get r close.
48:47
Speaker 3: As fate would have it, Detective Curtis won't get the
48:50
answer she hoped for as Dina invokes her right to
48:53
a lawyer, effectively ending the interview. Following this, Dina is
48:58
booked into jail without bond for her first degree murder
49:01
and tampering with evidence, and while the why of Craig's
49:04
death remains unanswered, the investigation continues. In the following weeks,
49:10
Detectives and prosecutors gather their evidence and build a classic
49:13
circumstantial homicide case, alleging Dina intentionally shot Craig multiple times
49:18
inside the house, moved and hid his body, lied repeatedly
49:22
about his whereabouts, and looted shared assets prosecutors believe what
49:27
they have will lead to a conviction, with the main
49:29
open question being whether the jury finds first degree murder
49:33
or a lesser homicide charge. As of March twenty twenty six,
49:37
Dina Thetford's case is still in the pre trial phase
49:40
and she remains innocent until proven guilty in court. She
49:44
faces life in prison, with the possibility of parole after
49:47
thirty years if convicted of first degree murder or eighteen
49:50
years if convicted of second degree murder, plus additional time
49:54
for the tampering charge.