Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Fired Fire Captain Pleads Guilty to Gunning Down Girlfriend, Her Young Son | Crime Alert Recap Saturday 03.21.26

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Fired Fire Captain Pleads Guilty to Gunning Down Girlfriend, Her Young Son | Crime Alert Recap Saturday 03.21.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alrd hourly update Breaking crime news Now.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Sidney Sumner. A former captain with California's Wildfire Management Agency,
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  Speaker 2: has pleaded guilty to gunning down his girlfriend and her
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  Speaker 2: second greater son last year. Darren McFarlane may have changed
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  Speaker 2: his plea to guilty to avoid the death penalty, as
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  Speaker 2: prosecutors had initially said. He faces death or life without
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  Speaker 2: parole because of special circumstances. Those special circumstances were added
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  Speaker 2: because McFarlane killed twenty nine year old Marissa Herzog and
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  Speaker 2: Josiah devoted Lessa because they were witnesses to a crime.
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  Speaker 2: Details about that crime have not been released, although the
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  Speaker 2: boy's death may have been because he witnessed his mother's murder.
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  Speaker 2: McFarlane also attempted to kill Herzog's daughter in the home,
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  Speaker 2: but was unsuccessful. Prosecutors say that McFarlane attacked Herzog inside
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  Speaker 2: a bedroom before she left the room and used her
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  Speaker 2: cell phone. McFarlane then obtained a gun and went out
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  Speaker 2: to the dining room to kill her. The arrest affidavit
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  Speaker 2: says that Herzog's murder was wilful, deliberate, and pre med meditated,
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  Speaker 2: and that she and her son were killed because they
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  Speaker 2: witnessed a crime. McFarlane then attempted to kill a second child,
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  Speaker 2: identified as Herzog's daughter. The court document say the killer
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  Speaker 2: did wilfully and unlawfully inflict unjustifiable mental suffering on a
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  Speaker 2: child or permitted child to suffer unjustifiable mental suffering under
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  Speaker 2: circumstances and conditions likely to reduce great bodily harm. El
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  Speaker 2: Dorado County deputies found Herzog dead at the scene when
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  Speaker 2: they arrived. Josiah was taken to a hospital, where he died.
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  Speaker 2: McFarlane had fled the scene and was later arrested several
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  Speaker 2: counties away in Mono County. McFarlane was fired shortly after
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  Speaker 2: his arrest. McFarlane pleaded guilty to two counts of first
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  Speaker 2: degree murder with special circumstances, attempted murder, child abuse, intentional
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  Speaker 2: discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury, and corporal
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  Speaker 2: injury to a cohabitant. His sentencing is scheduled for April thirteenth.
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  Speaker 2: A thirty seven year old Pennsylvania man was charged with
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  Speaker 2: abuse of a corpse this week, months after his seventy
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  Speaker 2: year old mother was found dead in the home they
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  Speaker 2: shared in Ben Salem. Police said they were called to
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  Speaker 2: the home by a neighbor who reported a foul odor
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  Speaker 2: in October. Derek Bouffard answered the door and told an
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  Speaker 2: officer he was about to call quote, my mom stopped breathing.
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  Speaker 2: This morning, officers found Cynthia Buffard in the family room,
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  Speaker 2: emaciated and decomposing. She weighed just sixty pounds, and the
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  Speaker 2: coroner said she'd likely been dead for nearly two weeks.
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  Speaker 2: Investigators found that Derek Bouffard had been ordering food delivered
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  Speaker 2: to the home multiple times a day, and he had
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  Speaker 2: to walk past his mother's body to get to the
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  Speaker 2: front door to retrieve the food. The Bucks County District
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  Speaker 2: Attorney's office said the medical examiner's report indicates Cynthia Bouffard
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  Speaker 2: died of medical causes and did not appear to have
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  Speaker 2: been denied food. Her daughter, Carrie Assevedo, said it suspected
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  Speaker 2: her mother had severe dementia but was never diagnosed. She
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  Speaker 2: said that her brother had been living with her for years. Acevedo,
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  Speaker 2: who lives out of state, said she had begged her
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  Speaker 2: mother to come live with her, but her mom would
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  Speaker 2: not leave her son behind. She commented, I feel super conflicted.
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  Speaker 2: I know my mom loves my brother very much. I
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  Speaker 2: don't want to feel hate for my brother. It feels
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  Speaker 2: like a movie. It doesn't feel like it's real life.
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  Speaker 2: I feel regret for not being there, for not doing more.
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  Speaker 2: Derek Bouffard is due in court for a preliminary hearing
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  Speaker 2: next month. More crime and justice news.
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  Speaker 3: After this.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Nicole Parton. Police in Florida have arrested thirty one
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  Speaker 1: year old Joseph Garrett Dugger, charging him with lewde and
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  Speaker 1: lascivious conduct related to the unlawful sexual interaction with a minor.
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  Speaker 1: The Bay County Sheriff's Office reported that a detective from
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  Speaker 1: the Tante Town Police Department in Arkansas reached out to
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  Speaker 1: them on Wednesday regarding allegations of past sexual abuse. During
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  Speaker 1: a forensic interview, a fourteen year old victim recounted incidents
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  Speaker 1: involving Dugger that occurred during a family vacation to Panama
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  Speaker 1: City Beach when she was just nine years old. The
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  Speaker 1: investigation revealed that these incidents transpired while the family was
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  Speaker 1: staying at a residence in Penama City. According to the
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  Speaker 1: Sheriff's office, the victim alleged that Dugger persistently urged her
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  Speaker 1: to sit on his lap, sit next to him on
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  Speaker 1: the couch, and then covered himself and her with a blanket.
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  Speaker 1: Authorities further stated that Dugger allegedly manipulated the girl's underwear,
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  Speaker 1: made contact with her private areas, and rubbed his hands
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  Speaker 1: on her thighs. Investigators noted that the victim shared that
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  Speaker 1: Dugger eventually expressed remorse, saying he was sorry, leading to
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  Speaker 1: him stopping the actions. Earlier this week, the girl's father
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  Speaker 1: confronted Dugger regarding the incidents. According to the Sheriff's office,
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  Speaker 1: Dugger confessed to both the father and the tauntingon detectives.
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  Speaker 1: Duggar Face's charges that include molestation of a victim under
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  Speaker 1: the age of twelve. The family member, known for his
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  Speaker 1: appearances on TLC's Nineteen Kids and Counting, is currently awaiting
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  Speaker 1: extradition Bay County.
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  Speaker 4: I'm Drew Nelson in Georgia, a longtime grocery store manager,
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  Speaker 4: says he was fired after stepping in to protect an
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  Speaker 4: elderly coworker from shoplifters, suffering a head injury during the attack.
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  Speaker 4: It went down in Decatur, where Michael self says it
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  Speaker 4: happened at the Kroger on Nord Decatur Road. That's Mike Kroger.
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  Speaker 4: Cell phone video shows masked suspects swinging a bag of
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  Speaker 4: paper towels at an elderly employee and shoving her. It
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  Speaker 4: also shows Self on the ground after He says he
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  Speaker 4: was struck in the head.
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  Speaker 3: And as soon as I got away from that out
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  Speaker 3: of that door, someone hit me in the back of
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  Speaker 3: the hell with something.
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  Speaker 4: That's self on WSB. Police responded to the store on
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  Speaker 4: May twenty fourth of twenty twenty five. Around eight twenty
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  Speaker 4: That morning, Self was taken to Emory University Hospital with
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  Speaker 4: a concussion and he had to have staples in his head.
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  Speaker 4: Self says he had managed that location for fourteen years.
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  Speaker 4: He says he went outside to protect a coworker who
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  Speaker 4: had followed the suspects.
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  Speaker 3: I literally just wanted to draw attention away from mass
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  Speaker 3: they were already on their way out there, get them
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  Speaker 3: to stop, and everybody just be done.
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  Speaker 4: Self says he did not chase anyone. He says he
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  Speaker 4: did not throw a punch. He says he was trying
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  Speaker 4: to keep the situation from getting worse.
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  Speaker 3: No tell them what would happen if I wouldn't have
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  Speaker 3: drawn their attention away.
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  Speaker 4: Three days later, Self says he was fired. He says
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  Speaker 4: the company accused him of violating at shoplifting policy and
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  Speaker 4: starting the fight.
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  Speaker 3: I didn't even get to talk to the people that
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  Speaker 3: decided to fire me.
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  Speaker 4: Kroger told WSB it cannot comment on personnel matters. It's
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  Speaker 4: common among many companies to put strict rules in writing,
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  Speaker 4: telling employees not to engage with shoplifters because of the
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  Speaker 4: risk of injury. Self says the outcome has been devastating
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  Speaker 4: for his family. A fundraiser has been created to help
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  Speaker 4: with medical bills, legal costs, and daily needs as he
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  Speaker 4: recovers and tries to rebuild.
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  Speaker 5: I'm Jennifer Gould. A terminal cancer diagnosis allegedly sent an
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  Speaker 5: Arizona stand up comedian on a cross country mission of murder,
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  Speaker 5: ending in a blood soaked final tour through the streets
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  Speaker 5: of Anchorage, Alaska. Matthew Thomas Becker, the sixty one year
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  Speaker 5: old owner of Bisbee's Chuckleheads comedy club in Arizona, traveled
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  Speaker 5: over three thousand miles to hunt down his ex wife
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  Speaker 5: before executing her. Eighty seven year old father Romayne Clark
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  Speaker 5: in cold blood. The nightmare began when Becker's ex wife,
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  Speaker 5: Rebecca Clark, arrived at her midtown hair salon to find
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  Speaker 5: her door locks tampered with. Unaware her terminal ex was
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  Speaker 5: lurking in a Nissan Altima just feet away. As Rebecca
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  Speaker 5: fled from a hail of pistol fire hiding between buildings
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  Speaker 5: to save her life, Becker allegedly pivoted to his next target.
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  Speaker 5: He drove straight to her Airport Heights home and opened
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  Speaker 5: fire on the defenseless eighty seven year old patriarch. Chief
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  Speaker 5: Sean Case with the Anchorage Police Department spoke to KTUU
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  Speaker 5: Alaska News too.
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  Speaker 6: Based on prelamary investigation, appears that the suspect went to
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  Speaker 6: the rear of the victim's residence, fired a couple of
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  Speaker 6: rounds through a glass window, striking and killing the victim,
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  Speaker 6: and then fleeing the scene.
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  Speaker 5: Neighbors and friends found the elderly victim's body after Becker
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  Speaker 5: vanished into the Alaskan wilderness. The Anchorage Police Department swiftly
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  Speaker 5: id'd Becker as the prime suspect, charging him with first
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  Speaker 5: degree murder in the killing of Romayne Clark and attempted
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  Speaker 5: murder in the Salon attack. The Anchorage Police Department launched
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  Speaker 5: a massive manhunt for the armed and dangerous comic, whose
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  Speaker 5: brother confirmed he was recently told his days were numbered
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  Speaker 5: due to terminal cancer. The search ended though the next day,
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  Speaker 5: when search teams discovered Becker's lifeless body in a wooded
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  Speaker 5: area near Eagle River. While the medical examiner is still
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  Speaker 5: finalizing the cause of death, authorities belief the comedian took
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  Speaker 5: his own life. Detectives are still tracing Becker's movements from
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  Speaker 5: Arizona to Alaska to see if anyone helped him obtain
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  Speaker 5: the murder weapon used in the spree, as his twenty
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  Speaker 5: twenty divorce was marked by a domestic violence restraining which
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  Speaker 5: barred him from possessing any firearms under federal law. As
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  Speaker 5: for the motive, Bisbee cops recovered rambling handwritten notes taped
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  Speaker 5: to the Chucklehead's stage shortly after Becker fled for Alaska.
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  Speaker 5: The cryptic messages reportedly detailed his quote unquote final gig
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  Speaker 5: and a desperate desire to quote unquote settle the score
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  Speaker 5: before his terminal clock ran out. Follow the crime Alert
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  Speaker 5: hourly update on your favorite podcast staff with this crime alert,
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  Speaker 5: I'm Jennifer Gould.