[siren][music playing]NARRATOR: In Texas, a raging fireturns a couple's home into a death chamber.Investigators believe it's arson,but they'll need an expert to sniff out the truth.After a student in Illinois disappears,police fear that she's the victim of a murder.The crime scene may have gone cold,but at least one tracker is still hot on the trail.Detectives in Tennessee suspect that a missing personscase has turned into a homicide.To make their case, they must rely on K-9 detectivesto dig up the truth.When plotting a murder, a clever killerwill do anything to cover his tracks.Not all clues can be concealed.When investigators lose sight of their prey,it falls upon a special breed of dogto pick up the scent of the kill.[theme music]On June 8th, 1994, around 3:15 AM,a pizza delivery man in the rural community of Bellville,Texas, was on his way home after working the late shift.He spotted a man pulling out of the drivewayof a burning house.The driver flagged down the delivery man.-Mhm.Yeah, my wife--NARRATOR: He identified himself as Charles Fitts.Fitts said his wife was trapped inside their burning home.He begged the delivery driver to call 911.By the time the Fire Department arrived,intense flames and heat consumed the home.As long as the fire burned out of control,firefighters could only battle the blaze from the outside.Inside, chances for Frances Fitts' survivalvanished with the rest of the couple's home.Emergency Medical Technicians arrived to treat Charles Fitts.Disoriented and upset, he blamed the fireon the cheap wiring that ran through their home.With difficulty breathing, Fitts was transported to the hospitalfor treatment of smoke inhalation.By the time the flames were extinguished some three hourslater, the house was reduced to a smoldering pile of rubble.Somewhere inside was the body of Frances Fitts.Detectives began their routine investigationinto the cause and origin of the deadly fire.-How you feeling?-Fine, thanks.NARRATOR: They started with a visitto Charles Fitts, who was recovering in the hospital.- --I just need to ask you some questions.NARRATOR: Fitts told them that he'dfallen asleep that night on the sofa.In the early morning hours, he wokeup to a house filled with smoke.He tried to get to the bedroom to save Frances, his wife of 17years, but the smoke and flames were too intense.- --couldn't get out.NARRATOR: He tried repeatedly to get back into the house,breaking several windows in the process.But all of his rescue attempts failed.It was a harrowing account, but to investigators at the AustinCounty Sheriff's Department, the storywas at odds with Fitts' physical condition.Sheriff's Deputy, Richard Holloman explains.DEPUTY RICHARD HOLLOMAN: Accordingto what he was telling us, there should have been, you know,some burn marks on his arms, his face,and should have singed hair, but-- of which he had none.NARRATOR: The next morning, investigatorsproceeded to the fire scene.Frances Fitts was found in what usedto be the couple's bedroom.Her charred remains were transported to the morgue.The medical examiner would later confirm that the cause of deathwas smoke inhalation.Investigators began processing the burned-out wreckage.Looking to confirm Fitts' story, theysearched for signs of faulty wiring,-There's gas on here.NARRATOR: But there was no evidenceof an electrical source to the fire.Neither the gas main nor the water heater had malfunctioned.- --burn on the inside.So probably, it didn't start from here.NARRATOR: With the obvious accidental causes ruled out,there remained one possibility--- --come down, and you see how this here is like an alligator.NARRATOR: The fire had been intentionally set.-That fire started in the bedroom.-Something was doused on here.NARRATOR: Investigators began looking for signs of arson.-That's why we probably have--NARRATOR: During their search, investigators found debriswith alligator-like patterns on the surface.Wood rarely burns this way, unless it is dousedwith an accelerant, like gasoline or lighter fluid.Finding traces of the fluid wouldbe the first step in proving arson.It appeared, however, that the firehad burned away that evidence.But investigators had another tool in their arsenal.K-9s can be trained to sniff out traces of arson thatotherwise go undetected by humans.George Cabot, of the Houston Police Department,teaches dogs to search for flammable liquidscalled hydrocarbons.GEORGE CABOT: It can be naphtha, alcohol, distilled liquor,brake fluid-- anything of that nature-- Coleman fuel, charcoallighter fluid, just a large list of things that puts offthe same scent that the dogs can detect.OK.Good girl!We got that.Good girl.Let's check over here.NARRATOR: The dogs began searchingthrough the remains of Fitts' house.-OK, go back here.Catch it up for me.NARRATOR: Hours of searching passed with no signs of a hit.But then they found something.-Get it out.Is it in there?All right.NARRATOR: And the location was justinches from where Frances Fitts' body was discovered.GEORGE CABOT: Where's it at?Good girl.Good girl.And he worked all areas of the bedroomand came back right to the flooringthat the victim was laying on top of and gave me an alert.And right beside of it and on the bedsprings and that whole segment.NARRATOR: The samples were placed in sealed cansto preserve whatever vapors remained and sent to the lab.With their suspicions raised, investigators nexttook the dogs to the police impound lot,where Charles Fitts' truck had been towed.The dogs were given the command to searchfor traces of accelerant.Again, the dogs alerted police to the presence of hydrocarbonson the gas and brake pedals, Theywere collected along with the other samplesand sent to the lab for analysis.With the help of their K-9 detectives,investigators have recovered enough evidencefor forensic examiners to conduct a thorough analysis.GEORGE CABOT: All right, good girl.NARRATOR: At the lab, a piece of charcoalis inserted into each paint can containingthe evidence removed from the scene.Then the can is heated to just below the boiling pointfor up to 18 hours.During that time, the charcoal absorbs any hydrocarbon vapors.Any potential hydrocarbon is then removed from the charcoalwith the solvent, carbon disulfide.The resulting liquid is then analyzedby means of a gas chromatograph.By breaking down the substance into its various components,the gas chromatograph produces a pattern of peaks and valleys.In this case, the known pattern for gasolinecame up in three of the 13 samples--the two from the interior of Charles Fitts' truckand one from the bedroom where the body was found.Thanks to the accelerant-sniffing dogs,the deadly blaze had been exposedas a deliberate act of arson and a homicide.And Charles Fitts, the only other personin the house, house was the most likelysuspect in his wife's death.Police in Bellville, Texas, investigating the deathof Frances Fitts, killed in a house fire,believed they had uncovered a murder.Since he was the only other person,Frances' husband, Charles, was the prime suspect.Travis Koehn, the district attorney of Austin County,began delving into Charles Fitts' background.TRAVIS KOEHN: The family of Frances Fittstold us that Charles Fitts was a braggart person,who really never held a job.He was somebody who wore flashy jewelry, somebody who worebig hats and big boots, who bragged a lotand made a lot of noise about what he was going to do,but never really did anything.NARRATOR: Through family members,police learned that Frances, a secretary,was the breadwinner of the family,even though she struggled with debilitating arthritis.-I thought I'd just fix us some spaghetti.NARRATOR: She was dedicated to taking care of Charlesand never spoke poorly of him.Though Charles rarely gave anything of himself in return,the marriage seemed solid to outside observers.-That's fine.NARRATOR: Having found no obvious marital problems,police struggled to find a motive for the deadly fire.Perhaps in one of Charles' many unsuccessful business ventures,he had made enemies.Someone seeking revenge against him could have set the fire.Detectives decided to take a closer lookat some of his former associates.As investigators continued looking for answers,Frances' relatives sifted through the wreckage, lookingfor any mementos of their lost loved one.During their search, they found some documentsthat had survived the fire.Among the papers found was a list of overseas phone numbersand several insurance policies on Frances,listing Charles as the beneficiary.Investigators immediately contacted the insurance agent.[phone ringing]-Come on in.NARRATOR: They learned that Charles Fitts had recentlymade changes to the policies.-What can I do to help you today?-Well, I was looking to--NARRATOR: In the months before the fire,he had upped the amount of the insurance on Frances' lifeand on the home.-I was looking to buy uh--NARRATOR: The agent told investigatorsthat Charles Fitts stood to gain $824,000 from the deadly fire.Though the timing of the policy changes was suspicious,it wasn't proof of murder.And investigators still had to rule out the possibilitythat someone other than Charles Fitts had committed the crime.But all of Charles' past business associateshad been dismissed as potential suspects.Now investigators had to determine why Charles Fittswould want his dedicated and supportive wife dead.For answers, they turned to the only other pieceof evidence that survived the fire.One of the overseas phone numbersled investigators to a young English woman namedTracy Munns, who was living in the Philippines.Tracy reluctantly told investigatorsthat she had had an affair with Charles Fittswhile she attended college in Texas.She claimed that they planned to marry after she graduated.CHARLES FITZ: Now wait, is that what you think?Who told you that?TRACY: How could you do that?NARRATOR: Charles had agreed to leave his wife.-How could you do that?CHARLES FITZ: OK.Look, yeah, I'm married.But I--I just didn't know how to tell you.NARRATOR: But Tracy grew frustratedwhen Charles didn't keep up his end of the bargain.She moved to the Philippines and tried to cut ties.Charles wouldn't let it go.TRAVIS KOEHN: Then in June of '94, he called her and said,my wife is gone.I'm free to come down to you.And she said, no, I don't want to have anythingto do with you, and that that wasthe last time she spoke to Charles Fitts.NARRATOR: By killing his wife, investigatorsbelieve that Charles Fitts was clearingthe way to be with his mistress.-Tell you what, let me uh--NARRATOR: The insurance payoff would give himenough money to start a new life overseas.Though Tracy Munns had provided investigatorswith a possible motive, they needed to find proofthat Fitts had planned his wife's murder.Poring over the suspect's financial records,investigators learned that Charles Fittshad sold his second car, a Mercedes,shortly after the fire.Though it didn't seem like much of a clue,they tracked down the classified adand the man who bought the car.To investigators, the language of the ad was telling.It read, "1983 Mercedes.Must sell.Leaving country."The man who bought the car said that during the sale,Fitts told him that he was unmarried.The ad and the information from the car buyer,in addition to the arson uncoveredby the accelerant-sniffing dogs, was enough for investigatorsto arrest Charles Fitts for murder.Detectives theorized that Charles Fitts believedhe had everything to gain from torching his houseand killing his wife.Not only would it give him a huge amount of money,it would clear the way for him to be with his young lover.But he would be disappointed.One week after the fire, Fitts proposed to Tracy,only to find that she'd already married someone else.On February 2nd, 1996, Charles Fittswas found guilty of capital murder.He was sentenced to life in prison.By picking up the scent of arson, dogs in Texasbrought a killer to justice.But in the Midwest, police couldn'tprove a murder had been committed until theygot some help finding the victim.On March 5th, 1987, a distraught fathercontacted the Champaign, Illinois Police Department.-OK.When was the last time you saw her?-Ludwig Warner believed his 22-year-old daughter, Karen,was missing.It was a Thursday, and he hadn't seenher or her car since Monday morning.Her purse, wallet, and eyeglasses were also gone.-His name is Curly.NARRATOR: His daughter frequently spent the nightat friends' homes, but she'd never been gone for this longwithout checking in.-No, sir.No.NARRATOR: The next day, detectivesquestioned Karen Warner's friends.-Have a seat.NARRATOR: Like the young woman's father, none of themhad seen her in four days.-Lisa, I really do appreciate--NARRATOR: One close friend told investigatorsthat over the last week, she hadn't noticed anythingunusual about Karen's behavior.-Maybe two days before that.NARRATOR: Though Karen had recently lost her job,she was looking forward to resumingher college career in the fall.Karen hadn't mentioned any plans to travel,but that didn't mean that she hadn'ttaken an unexpected trip.In fact, Karen had recently been getting callsfrom an ex-boyfriend named Curly B. Lee.-So you don't know if she went to Curly'sNARRATOR: He wanted to rekindle the romance,but Karen was planning to tell himin person that she wasn't interested.-Um, we went out to the mall a couple days before that.NARRATOR: Curly had become too possessiveand physically abusive.- --to um, see if we can find her.NARRATOR: But it was possible that Karenhad a change of heart.-And we'll keep you posted on this.And we really appreciate your coming inand providing this information.NARRATOR: During their time as a couple,Karen and Curly frequently took unplanned vacations.Investigators at the Champaign Police Departmentbelieved there was a reasonable explanationfor Karen's disappearance.Sergeant Jim Luking explains.SERGEANT JIM LUKING: She was gone.He was gone, and her car was gone.It could very well have been that they decided to go offtogether, which wouldn't be all that unusual for two peopleto decide to do that.NARRATOR: To find out, investigatorspaid a visit to Curly Lee.When they were let into his rooming house,they found that Curly and his clothes were gone.-EmptyNARRATOR: And nothing seemed out of the ordinary.But Karen's family didn't buy it.Desperate for answers, they urgedthe media to get involved.Hoping to generate a lead, pictures of Karen, her car,and of Curly, were published in the area newspapers,along with details of her disappearance.SERGEANT JIM LUKING: His name is Curly B. Lee.NARRATOR: No one responded about Karen,but someone had seen Curly.The caller reported that a friend of hershad driven Curly to the bus stationtwo days after Karen's disappearance.-OK?Well, I've had uh--NARRATOR: Curly said he was heading southto his mother's house in Hughes, Arkansas.Champaign Police contacted law enforcement in Arkansasand asked them to speak with Curly.POLICE OFFICER: How you doing?NARRATOR: Like the rest of parents friends,Curly said that he had no idea wherehis ex-girlfriend could be.-Yes, sir.-OK.Some officers from Champaign, Illinois wanted toNARRATOR: He said that he had spoken brieflybefore he left Champaign, but that was just to say goodbye.-I haven't seen her, ever since I was with her.NARRATOR: As investigators struggled to find answers,the family's publicity campaign paid off.-Oh hey, how you doin' today?NARRATOR: A man in Danville, Illinois, 30 milesfrom Champaign, recognized the photograph of Karen's car.He believed that same car was sittingabandoned in his church parking lot.A check of the license plates confirmedthat it was the vehicle registeredto the missing woman.POLICE OFFICER: Three days?TIPSTER: Yes, it's been there three days.NARRATOR: If any questions remained about Karen Warner'sfate, the discovery of her abandoned car erased them.SERGEANT JIM LUKING: That was the first physical evidencethat there was something wrong.It would be unusual for her to be there,for her car to be there, especially.NARRATOR: Investigators brought the car to the police stationfor a more detailed forensic examination.But the initial search of the vehicleindicated no obvious signs of a struggle.The car was thoroughly dusted for prints.Technicians collected blue and red fibers foundon the floor mats and in the trunk.The items were forwarded to the crime lab for further analysis.Hoping someone had seen how the car ended up in Danville,police turned again to the public for help.And again, the strategy paid off.-Whereabouts?NARRATOR: A woman called police to tell themthat she may have seen the car.Police brought her in to identify the vehicle.-I was driving--NARRATOR: The woman's name was Rhonda.And like Karen, she too, was an ex-girlfriend of Curly Lee's.-And you sure that this-- this is it?-Positive.NARRATOR: She recognized the car immediately.-[inaudible].NARRATOR: Police questioned her further.Rhonda admitted that she had driven the car aroundthe time Karen had been reported missing.So then, that you've identified the car--NARRATOR: But she had no idea that the carbelonged to Karen Warner.-Curly asked me to--NARRATOR: She told investigators that Curly had calledher one night, asking for a favor.RHONDA: He said he was going to return the car to a friend.NARRATOR: He needed to return a car to a friend in Danvilleand asked her to drive him, because hedidn't have a license.DETECTIVE MIKE SMITH: You know what was in the bag?Did he get it in?NARRATOR: To Detective Mike Smith,Curly's demeanor sounded suspicious.-But what we're trying to do, and the plate is missing.She asked him whose car it was, and he never replied.He never answered.And he told her to avoid certain streets and to drive fast.NARRATOR: Rhonda said that Curly thendropped her off at a bar in Danville.-I'm going to tell her.NARRATOR: She remembered that he had a grocery bag with himin the car, but she never saw what it contained.Curly explained that he had a few errands to runand told her to wait for him in the bar.-I love you.NARRATOR: He gave Rhonda some money for a drink,then drove away.About 15 minutes later, Curly returned to the bar on foot.-He said that he didn't have a valid driver's license.NARRATOR: Later that night, he hadsome friends drive them back to Champaign.Rhonda hadn't heard from Curly since.-No.OFFICER (ON RADIO): Lieutenant 36.NARRATOR: Investigators suspectedthat in the 15 minutes that Curly had left Rhonda alone,he would have had time to dispose of Karen's body, whichwas likely hidden in the trunk.They believed he then abandoned the car in the church parkinglot, located just a few blocks awayand then returned to the bar on foot.They now focus their attention to finding Karen Warner's body.And they believed it was in the wooded area behind the bar.-He was only gone long enough that he couldn't have gone veryfar to place the body anywhere else.So it had to be down there.In our opinion, it had to be down there in the weedsor in the brush or in the river.NARRATOR: But finding a body in this densely wooded areawould be difficult.There were no obvious grave sites.And in the cold air, any smell of decompositionhad been hampered.After two days of searching, the team had reached their limits.But investigators had one more option.They called upon the expertise of Joyce Phares, a dog handlerfrom nearby Urbana, Illinois.For over 15 years, Phares and her dogshave volunteered their services to local policeand Sheriff's Departments.Bloodhounds like hers are bred to distinguishthe vaguest of scents.The handler has to begin with a scent article.SERGEANT JIM LUKING: Right away?NARRATOR: It can be any object the victimhas come in contact with.In this case, investigators got a t-shirt and a pillowcasefrom Karen Warner's bedroom and sealed them in a plastic bagto preserve the scent.SERGEANT JIM LUKING: Wow, OK.NARRATOR: Phares then gave the dog the "find" command,letting him know his job is to findthe source of that same smell.JOYCE PHARES: Check it out.NARRATOR: The bloodhound took Phares on a twisted route.Three times, he brought her down close to the river,as if someone had carried Karen's body, lookingfor a place to hide her, then deciding against it.Then the dog led Phares to a deep ravine.But it would have been difficult for anyone to cross this gorgecarrying a body.Investigators knew that the body had to be near.Within 15 minutes, the dog closed in on an area of brush.At first, Joyce thought he'd lost the scent.But then, in a slight depression covered with brush,she caught a glimpse of a red sweater and a human hand.JOYCE PHARES: Come on.NARRATOR: Investigators in Champaign,Illinois, struggled to solve the disappearanceof 22-year-old Karen Warner.Hidden in a remote wooded area, Joyce Phares and her bloodhoundbelieved they had finally found her.-Jim!Jim!And then I could see her hand-- the back of her right hand.And that's when I shouted for Jim Luking to come.I believed that we'd found her body.NARRATOR: After removing the body,investigators began scouring the area for clues.Nearby, investigators recovered a blue blanket.100 yards from where the body was found,they discovered a grocery bag like the one Rhonda described.Inside, investigators found shoes, eyeglasses, and a purse.SERGEANT JIM LUKING: Anything else in there?NARRATOR: All of the items were collected,then sent on to the crime lab.SERGEANT JIM LUKING: OK, hold those for me just--NARRATOR: Joyce Phares and her dog had uncovered a homicide,and investigators had little doubtthat they had found Karen Warner.Using dental records, the medical examinerconfirmed that the remains were those of Karen Warner.And a fracture to one of the bones in her throattold him that the young woman had been strangled to death.The lack of defensive wounds and other injuriessuggested that Karen had been caught off guard.Now, investigators had to make a murder case.And Karen's ex-boyfriend, Curly B. Lee,was their prime suspect.They turned to the crime lab for help.Examiners confirm that blue fibers recoveredfrom the victim's clothes matched the fibersfrom the blue blanket found near the body.Next, the blue fibers from the crime scene and red fiberstaken from Karen's sweater were comparedagainst the blue and red fibers foundin the trunk of Karen's car.All of the fibers matched.Examiners had proven that Karen Warner had been wrappedin a blanket and then placed in the trunk of her car.And the last person known to have driven the vehiclewas Curly B. Lee.Illinois police now had enough evidenceto arrest him for murder.But as they headed south to Arkansas to pick him up,they learned from authorities that Curly had fled again.But this time, police quickly tracked him down.By canvassing bus stations, Arkansas policelearned that Curly had just purchaseda ticket to Palm Beach, Florida.[siren]Investigators contacted law enforcement in Palm Beach.They staked out the bus station, waitingfor the unsuspecting fugitive to arrive.Curly was arrested and extradited to Illinois.Back in Champaign, investigators confronted Curly with the casethey'd built against him.He admitted killing Karen, but claimed it was an accident.All of the evidence suggested otherwise.Police theorize that Curly had triedto rekindle his romance with Karen.But when Karen refused his advances,he erupted into a rage.DETECTIVE MIKE SMITH: He didn't like to lose anything,and he decided that he was going to teach her a lesson.And whether he intended to kill her or accidentally killed her,I don't know.But I think if you strangle somebody,you intend to kill 'em.NARRATOR: After killing her, Curlystruggled to come up with a plan to cover up his crime.He collected Karen's belongings in a grocery bagand then searched for a blanket to wrap the body in,before carrying her out to the trunk.Later that night, after dropping Rhonda off at the bar,he drove behind the property and searched for a placeto get rid of his victim.In an effort to make it appear that Karen had simply takenoff, he drove her car to a nearby church and abandoned it.Two days later, he packed up his belongingsand fled to Arkansas.But with Joyce Phares and her bloodhound on his trail,Curly's run quickly came to an end.Curly B. Lee Was convicted of murderand concealment of a homicide.He was sentenced to 35 years in prison.In the Karen Warner case, the doghad to follow a trail that was seven days old.To solve a murder in Tennessee, another caninewill have to track a scent buried for almost a year.In June of 1996, Ray and Fleta Holladaywent to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigationfor help in finding their 39-year-old daughter,Kathy Beadle.-So tell me what you found out.NARRATOR: In April, they said, they received a letterfrom her, saying that she discoveredshe had cancer and was headed to a clinic in Torontofor experimental treatment.She said that she didn't want any direct contactwith them during the therapy.From then on, Kathy communicated only by fax.The typed messages were brief and impersonal,completely out of character for their daughter.Fearing that Kathy might be going through some kindof emotional breakdown, Ray went to Torontoto find his daughter.He got the address off a Father's Day card Kathyhad sent the month before.As he approached the front of the treatment center,a panic set in.The address belonged to a run-downand abandoned building.There was no cancer treatment center and no clueto his daughter's whereabouts.Fleta Holladay added that just before her daughterdisappeared, Kathy was consideringleaving her husband, Tony Vick.-And this is what we have that was the--NARRATOR: But Kathy had two childrenfrom a previous marriage to think about.Her first husband had died tragically in a plane crash.As part of the insurance settlement,Kathy received $8,000 a month.-From your daughter?Not form your daughter.NARRATOR: Though she had become wealthy as a result,she wanted her kids to have a father figure.But Kathy seemed to have fallen out of love with Tony.[phone ringing]And though he made every attempt to getback in her good graces---Hello?NARRATOR: --Kathy didn't want to talk to him.-Tony?NARRATOR: She told her mother that she might need some timeto herself in the near future to sort things out.INVESTIGATOR: And the address--NARRATOR: With no evidence suggesting a crimehad taken place, investigators at the Tennessee Bureauof Investigation believed that Kathy had simply kept her word.But Kathy's parents knew their daughter would notleave her two kids behind and disappear without a trace.Desperate for answers, they mounted their own publicitycampaign, plastering Kathy's picture all over Tennessee.But the family never heard a word.In February of 1997, nearly a yearsince Kathy had disappeared, Ray and Fleta Holladaymade one last attempt to get the police involved.SHERIFF TIM HUTCHINSON: I'll just check around outside, OK?-That'll be fine.SHERIFF TIM HUTCHINSON: All right.NARRATOR: They contacted the Knox County Sheriff's Office.They told investigators that a few months back,Kathy's husband, Tony Vick, had also disappeared,claiming he was going to find his wife.- --resided at this residence.NARRATOR: He left the children and the couple's homewith the Holladays.- --the mortgages.We did get a lot of the faxes, but--NARRATOR: They hadn't heard from Tony since.The resulting financial strain forced Ray and Fletato sell their daughter's home.SHERIFF TIM HUTCHINSON: No phone calls.-And that's not like our daughter.NARRATOR: But before they did, theywanted to be absolutely sure that there weren'tany overlooked clues in the home.Sheriff Tim Hutchinson took the case.SHERIFF TIM HUTCHINSON: Once we learnedthat all the events that had occurred prior to usbeing notified, that number one, shewas missing from our jurisdiction.And second, it had been a long period of time.That's hard to follow up and start an investigationwhen that much time has lapsed.NARRATOR: Investigators processed the empty home,searching for any clues that could helpthem determine Kathy Beadle's fate.But since the home had been placed on the market,a vast amount of potential evidence had been destroyed.Furniture and belongings had been removed.Floors had been scrubbed.Walls had been painted.For investigator Terry Lee, of the Knox County Sheriff'sOffice, working a cleaned crime scenemeans looking past the obvious.TERRY LEE: For instance, in this situation,the carpet had been vacuumed.That's taken up good forensic evidence,such as hair, fiber samples and so forth,that we would normally collect.So you have to look a little bit deeper.NARRATOR: Investigators scrutinizedevery inch of the home.They processed all of the sink drains in the home,using luminol, a chemical that glows in the presence of blood.Traces of blood were found in three separate sink traps.The traps were removed and sent to the crime lab.Investigators determined that the blood found in the sinkwas human, but the samples were toodeteriorated for a more comprehensive analysis.Still, the presence of so much blood led detectivesto suspect something violent had happened in the couple's home.Investigators in Tennessee struggledto solve the mysterious disappearance of Kathy Beadle,a 39-year-old mother of two, missing for over a year.After searching her and her husband's vacant home,investigators believed they had uncoveredevidence of foul play.They decided to take a closer lookat Kathy's husband, Tony Vick.-Someone's called the house.NARRATOR: What they found was not encouraging.SHERIFF TIM HUTCHINSON: And then welearned that Tony Vick's first wife died suspiciously.Some say she slipped and fell and drowned in a bathtub.NARRATOR: Others said that Tony had murdered her.But instead of being charged, Vickturned a profit, earning life insurancepayoffs that totaled over $600,000.Investigators now feared that KathyBeadle met a similar fate.And they believed money was the motive for murder.SHERIFF TIM HUTCHINSON: He didn't hear from her.NARRATOR: But investigators were a long wayfrom making their case.They had no body, and their prime suspect, Tony Vick,had also disappeared.Hoping to generate a lead, details of the casewere published in area newspapers.The tactic worked.The owner of a local consignment shop called police.-I got these clothes--NARRATOR: She recognized Tony Vick.- --help us out.Yeah, this is-- they belonged to my wife.She just passed.NARRATOR: The woman stated that a few months back, a mandropped off a lot of expensive clothing.-Well, two weeks now.NARRATOR: He seemed glum and told herthat his girlfriend had just died of cancer.CLERK: I'm sorry, sir.NARRATOR: He told the owner that he would return for the checkonce the clothes had been sold.He never did.-You know, I'm having a tough time with this.Do you think--NARRATOR: The check, made out to Tony Vick, remained unclaimed.-OK, I'll do the best I can, and how about youNARRATOR: For investigators, Tony's statementsto the consignment store owner had a very clear meaning.SHERIFF TIM HUTCHINSON: And that tells us that, you know,she's-- she's definitely deceased.We just need to keep digging, needto keep looking until we can find her body.NARRATOR: To build their case against Tony Vick,Knox County sheriffs needed to know hisevery move prior to his disappearance.Investigators tracked down the nanny who took care of hisand Kathy's children.She hadn't observed any violence between Kathy and Tony,nor did she notice any sign of strugglein the home following Kathy's disappearance.But she was able to offer investigatorsan unusual piece of information.She remembered that after Kathy disappeared,Vick scolded her and the kids for playing in the backyard.TONY VICK: You understand me?-Yeah.-Get in the house.NARRATOR: Investigators suspected that there wasanother reason for his outburst.-A certain spot--NARRATOR: They now believed that Kathy Beadle wasburied somewhere in her own backyard.A team of forensic investigators went backto Tony and Kathy's vacant house.Now they were looking for a clandestine grave-- onethat had been dug a year earlier.But after hours of searching, theycould find no evidence of a burial site.Unless investigators could find Kathy's body,making a murder case against Tony Vick would be difficult.And they were running out of ways to accomplish that goal.In Tennessee, investigators from the Knox County Sheriff'sDepartment believed their missing person, Kathy Beadle,had been murdered.And they believed her body had beenburied somewhere in her backyard.But hours of exhaustive searching yielded no clues.Investigators had one more option.At Knox County's K-9 Unit, dogs are trainedto search for a variety of scents,from narcotics to explosives to fugitives.Working with dogs since 1994, Sergeant Robert Spanglerhas come to appreciate the animal's ability to pick upwhere the human senses leave off.SERGEANT ROBERT SPANGLER: Their sense of smellis 200,000 times-- 500,000 times than what a human is.And that's basically what they're good for.And if there's any kind of scent there, human or non-human,they're going to pick it up, wherea human can't, even by looking.NARRATOR: But even Sergeant Spanglerhad doubts as to whether the dog could detect a bodyafter it had been buried for a year.In March of 1997, he and his dog were broughtto Vick's backyard, where he gave his partner the commandto search for a human scent.As they approached a pile of wood,he noticed the signs of an alert.The dog was telling them to dig beneath the wood pile.Shortly after they began digging,investigators struck a layer of concrete.Knowing that evidence could be anywhere,they carefully sifted through the soil.As they dug further with their hands,trying not to break the concrete,they realized that the dog had discovered a grave.In the concrete, they could see the outline of a body.Once the cement was carefully removed,they could see the body of a woman wrappedin a sleeping bag and a layer of plastic.The body was sent to the medical examiner's office for autopsy.The medical examiner confirmed through dental recordsthat this was the body of Kathy Beadle.Some snapped cartilage in her necktold her that she'd died from strangulation.Someone had killed her with his bare hands.That someone, investigators believed,was her husband, Tony Vick.The Sheriff's Department finally had the evidencethey needed to secure an arrest warrant for Tony Vick.But they still didn't know where he was.His photograph and description were entered into the NCIC,a database that connects law enforcementagencies throughout the country.A few days later, Knox County Sheriffs received a call.DETECTIVE: Sir.NARRATOR: Tony Vick was apprehended for stealing a $100suit from a store outside of Atlantic City, New Jersey.When police there ran his name through their database,they learned that he was wanted for much more than shoplifting.Detectives theorized that soon after the deathof his first wife, Vick had his eye on Kathy,not for her love or companionship,but strictly for her money.The man Kathy came to trust and love, soonbegan plotting her murder.A year before Kathy disappeared, Tonygave Ray and Fleta Holladay a fax machine.He knew that in order to collect the $8,000 a month Kathyreceived from her first husband's death,it would need to appear as if she were alive.-We appreciate it.-You've got plenty of money.NARRATOR: In April of 1996, after all of the elementsof his plan were in place, Tony Vickcarried out the murder in the couple's home.[washing dishes]NARRATOR: After strangling her, he dug a grave, then covered itwith concrete, thinking it would concealhis guilt from the world.He then sent faxes to the family in Kathy's name,assuring them that their daughter was alive.But Sergeant Spangler's dog uncovered the truth.Tony Vick was convicted of the first degree murder of KathyBeadle and sentenced to life in prison.He was subsequently found guilty of killing his first wife.He received an additional life sentence.When the human senses reach their limit,man's best friend can become a detective's greatest asset.[music playing]Whether they're used to sniff out arson, track a missingperson or uncover a hidden grave,no rival can beat the dog when it comesto finding the scent of the kill.[theme music]
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