A Husband's House of Horrors

911 where is your emergency I'm on North 225 West Road there's a body hanging off the bridge no head there's the car coming okay [Applause] there's a dead body are you sure yeah okay she thinks it's a deer uh no it's a body it's a body yeah that's what I've seen with no head I'm freaking out okay I've never seen someone like this on August 20th 2020 officers responded to this bone-chilling phone call at 5am they swarmed the Sugar Creek Bridge and upon arrival they were taken aback by the ghastly scene before them what had momentarily been mistaken for roadkill was a deceased middle-aged woman her body was badly bruised her arms were bent at odd angles and most disturbingly her head was gone how and where she'd been left only made the scene harder to stomach closer inspection revealed that she wasn't next to the Bridge's guard rail rather she'd been stuffed underneath it so that her upper body was splayed out on the road while her legs hung limply off the side of the bridge at the same time the police were working to make sense of what might have happened to their headless Jane Doe Indiana resident Michael Parks was making a 9-1-1 call to report his wife hope Parks missing hi my name is Michael Parks and me and my wife we kind of got into an argument it's Tuesday and I haven't seen her and I'm getting worried okay um what's her name hope somebody picked her up she got into a car with somebody and they left because these are a silver or a white like Honda Civic following this call a sergeant from the Crawfordsville Police Department briefly spoke with Michael over the phone to get a description of his missing wife Michael described a few of Hope's tattoos one being a heart with his name on it after police inspected the body's tattoos Michael was instructed to immediately make his way to the Crawfordsville Police Department to speak further about his wife's disappearance only when he arrived at the station was Michael informed that the headless woman they'd found that morning matched his description of his wife for the sake of the investigation he was immediately escorted into an interrogation room where the following never before seen footage was recorded one thing I do I record everything through my nose suck so um I do record everything one thing what is your feelings first Michael Dale Hurst interrogation rooms can be scary places but Michael has been brought into a soft interrogation room this is highly unusual these soft rooms are primarily used for victims usually children as The Grieving husband the police may have chosen this room to offer him a bit of comfort however in most cases the spouse is the prime suspect until they're cleared if the police do suspect Michael the choice of a soft room could then be an attempt to put him at ease as well the detective is making sure to alleviate any of Michael's possible concerns by telling him that the recording is for the detective's own notes I'm worried about her don't worry about your wife yes okay um why what's called we've been arguing over my son for the last couple of months he's in and out of drugs can't keep a job he brought drugs into the house I kicked him out I don't want him there she wants you there it got to the point where I told her to choose between me or one of us is going to go well he left she's been wanting him to come home I say no he got a speeding ticket and the proof of no insurance or whatever whatever they call that he has the car it's his car it's in my wife's name oh okay but he paid her for the car he never took the time I told her to give it to him to answer the insurance she never did because that's how we heard in just the first few minutes Michael has made several assertions that indicate possible control issues he cited several instances where he's told his wife what to do rather than communicating and making decisions together she texted me he asked me if I called you insurance I said no he said I haven't had time you can read notice how Michael rubs his face after handing his phone to the detective then proceeds to partially cover his mouth with his hand keeping it there for the next couple minutes Michael is also covering his genitals here this is a common barrier used by men when they feel threatened or stressed these gestures convey anxiety and uneasiness Not Unusual for someone who's just lost their spouse however hiding the face is also typical of someone who might be trying to hide something else she's very controlling Michael's answer here is completely irrelevant to the question instead of Simply responding with information about Hope substance abuse he goes into a rather sudden and impertinent spiel about how controlling she is so far Michael has taken almost every chance to speak negatively of his wife even if it wasn't warranted very clean self-control or controlling controlling on everybody function which I'm used to it they don't bother me about 25 years you find your Niche I mean I'm getting used to it I take medication I do have anger issues but I take medication for it but I've never done anything Michael continues to divulge information that wasn't asked for the fact that he has anger issues which he takes medication for Clues detectives in on Michael's capacity to become violent he then feels it necessary to include that he's never done anything violent to his wife what Michael is doing here is over sharing or volunteering unnecessary and excessive amounts of information oversharing is more often than not a nervous attempt to convince others that one is being open and honest however as you can see here it often has the opposite effect it's entirely possible that Michael could be over sharing to alleviate anxiety as some people tend to do okay so nothing or anything like that okay no and granted it's it's what all families do as well especially if you're you're an older kid and stuff um I want to hurting I hate to say this and have it on recording but I do I want to hurt him that's why he had to go Michael doesn't even let the detective finish his question before he goes off on another tangent this time he derails the conversation to the topic of his son John admitting to something less egregious in order to appear completely transparent is a common tactic used to gain the trust of others when she confide in him or your daughter you know me and my daughter are real close her and John are real close she'll do anything for him which that's what makes me mad Michael clearly possesses a considerable level of bitterness toward his wife concerning how much she dotes on their son not only that but up to this point Michael has centered the entire interrogation around how toxic he believes his wife and son are painting John is the problem and his wife is an out of control enabler if he did have something to do with what happened to hope he's just established a clear motive for himself when she left um you started getting in the car if you haven't seen the driver at all you can tell male female anything frankly Michael seems much more concerned about their intermarital issues than he does about the fact that his wife might have been found dead just that morning has she ever been known to kind of step outside the marriage at all the way from a pastor she could run to the we used to live in Illinois me and my daughter talked about that I said anything it's my daughter well and we're still I mean they're still doing some stuff somewhere else so that's why we're telling you to get information and and I actually don't know what all the author told you I'm just trying to get he just wrong picture told me that the tattoos that I described to him which I do have pictures of them you see the tattoos matched the description um you said you earlier you're gonna give her until Friday what made you decide go ahead and call today repair motion I am I'm very worried about very worried about her and this in addition to stuttering throughout his answer Michael appears to break eye contact with the detective for a moment and looks directly at the camera he seems uncertain in what he's saying so we're still looking into that um before now Michael has been informed that the tattoos found on the headless woman matched those of his wife however hearing the news again begets a distressed reaction which is expected he covers his mouth with his hand and looks away from the detective he also uncrosses his leg a shift referred to as an anchor Point movement when someone is stressed you'll commonly see shifts in their anchor points in the case of a person who's sitting down like Michael their anchor points are their legs buttocks and back though his physical reaction is appropriate it seems oddly void of the usual overwhelming anger or sadness that you might see from someone in Michael's position what made you think the stuff the most I need to stress I don't think anything happened to her sister I wanted to know where she was this question is at first met with Silence from Michael perhaps because it requires him to go into detail about how he feels about his wife's disappearance he seems uncomfortable and exasperated but he proceeds to mumble and answer from behind his hand as far as he said and just consent to search your house there's some things we need to find out about her his length and I don't know her and I don't really know you um because we need to um yeah but um I'll go ahead and let him tell that paperwork I'll step outside and I'll try to get some more information Michael's body language is very important here at the mention of needing to search their home and car Michael begins to noticeably fidget he rubs his face and his leg begins to shake though he seems to catch it and get himself back under control Michael is then left alone in the interrogation room for the next few minutes he changes positions and fidgets quite frequently at one point he even puts his head in his hands these gestures signify stress and uneasiness what we'd like to do is be able to get concerned and we'd like to be able to get that from you is there something you'd be wanting to do if you can bring me the car right now if you want normally a search warrant is required to search someone's property it's common knowledge that in order to obtain a search warrant police must have probable cause or specific facts that would lead a person to believe that evidence of a crime is located on someone's property however it's a lesser-known fact that police can simply ask an individual for permission to search their property the owner's written consent is just as valid as a search warrant and officers will often try to Garner consent to search from the suspect first especially in time-sensitive cases as it saves them a lot of precious time and resources Okay so note how his hands are positioned when a person feels threatened or stressed they'll sometimes subconsciously take up a position that protects or covers their vital body parts given the circumstances he has plenty of reason to be anxious that could have nothing to do with guilt he might Simply Be displeased with the idea of strangers rummaging through and taking things that belong to his possibly deceased wife or anything okay also Michael's shakes are likely spurred on by intense levels of anxiety and shock that he's experiencing shaking is a common physical reaction to bad news during this break in the interview CPD officers made a beeline for Michael's residence to execute their search they scan the exterior of the property before thoroughly searching the inside of the Park's home for any clues as to where hope might have gone on the night that she disappeared what they would find in and around the Park's property would only raise more questions about Hope's disappearance questions the detectives hope Michael can answer for them following the break detectives bring Michael back into the interrogation room in hopes that he may shed some light on their unexpected findings do you know of anybody that um [Music] somebody that would be um [Music] she knows how to piss people off or you know she knows how it's chilling that Michael can describe his wife in such a shocking and insensitive way right after she's been found so devastatingly mangled and discarded perhaps he's using a bit of humor to cope with his feelings or perhaps detectives are getting a peek into Michael's true feelings toward his wife part of what we were looking for and we found some blood at your house there would be any reason why there would be blood in the house the question of the blood is sprung on Michael quite suddenly likely in the hopes that they'll catch him off guard in a lie this is called a bait question the detective will carefully observe Michael's behavioral responses to this question okay I cut myself right my favorite I smashed my finger work some ones located in the garage that would be when I smashed my finger when I was doing the transmission when you say you selling the motor and stuff in there didn't you see the truck yeah that's true the remark about his truck seems completely inappropriate given the circumstances however it's not uncommon for someone who's experiencing high levels of uneasiness to make out of place comments in a subconscious attempt to escape the situation so this is kind of where you need to kind of Step Up the flight to tell us what happened it was at your house but something happened to it not with me there's nobody else that could have been I don't know what to tell you Michael simply shrugs off the detective's theory that he somehow took part in his wife's murder a person in his position would typically react with some measure of shock or outrage at such an accusation Michael on the other hand doesn't even seem interested in what they found inside his home or what the findings could possibly mean saying I did something yeah and then we're just trying to figure out I mean obviously you're not a bad person in your work you've got two kids with her you've lived a long life with her this is a strategically placed pacifier since if Michael becomes too upset he might close himself off or request a lawyer this would immediately end the interview it's in the detective's best interest to keep Michael open and willing to answer questions I hate doing anything I swear to God I did not do anything swearing to God serves a similar function as a qualifier here it's used as an attempt to add credibility to a statement that's otherwise hard to believe this is called bolstering well part of it is is that we went through the whole house we found everything the detective is intentionally being vague about what investigators found at Michael's home in order to gauge Michael's reaction before the big reveal watch everything true the rest of her okay so what for him and we found everything this is a critical moment in the interrogation but caught under the microscope of what should be a bone-chilling reveal Michael's response is rather dull there's no immediate reaction and the reaction he does give seems to be one of exasperation rather than shock or concern he exhales deeply leans back and most notably he covers his face once again a move we've come to recognize as a possible attempt to hide something that the face might give away Hope's head is perhaps the most incriminating thing that officers found inside the home however that's not all they found an exterior search of the property yielded several blood smears and stains on the gravel in front of the garage door in the grass next to their back patio on the wood floor of the patio itself as well as on the ramp that leads up to the patio blood smears as well as bloody Footprints were found inside the garage a bullet casing was also found in the grass near the patio the interior of the home was reportedly very clean and well kept that is until officers got to the basement spots of blood were visible on the steps leading down into the foreboding Cellar continuing down the stairs it became apparent that there were drag marks and the shallow layer of dirt that covered the concrete basement floor large bloody zip ties and torn pieces of plastic were also found in several locations around the basement down there among the dust and discarded equipment officers made the most unsettling discovery of the investigation hopes severed head it had been wrapped in plastic shopping bags placed in a shallow hole in the floor and covered in dirt and debris hidden by a pile of flex ducts that had been arranged on top of the grave circumstantial evidence makes it apparent to everyone present that Michael had something to do with his wife's murder however there's not yet any physical proof that he is the one that heard hope so and obviously you're you're not a bad person you you provided for your family you've done so what happened what snapped here the detective is suggesting a lighter version of events that Michael simply snapped under the pressure of his controlling wife this version paints him as a generally good person maybe even as a victim himself however if Michael were to go along with this reasoning he'd still be admitting to killing his wife I know what you're thinking but yeah no it wasn't me I'm sorry a little stupid talk to my son Michael has gone out of his way to paint his son in a negative light now he's finally come out and said what he seems to have been implying he claims that his son John is likely responsible for Hope's death I've told you we've made people come to the house my neighbors know about it yeah I've talked to him quite a bit today but part of it too you know you're telling your son you know if he's screwing up and you know you need to step a play and if you screw it up you need to step up to the plane yes I understand there there's nobody that's going to hurt your wife like you would hurt her and that's what happened to her what do you mean no no before Michael denies involvement this time we catch a brief moment of hesitation as if he's thinking about something before he seems to snap back he then makes several sudden movements he shifts his legs buttocks and back all three anchor points that we discussed earlier Michael's denial is rather weak using one-word answers and looking away an innocent person would be forceful and adamant with their denial when being accused of murdering their wife he's likely reflecting on his decisions up until this point and weighing his options uh okay the detective instructs Michael to sit back down to reassert his authority and for safety reasons as he wants to be able to see him Michael's resolve is visibly wearing Down Under the pressure pacing is notoriously a nervous act an effort to release nervous energy and ease mounting tension something happened to her last night and something happened to her at your house at your house that night I guess this is the part where I need a lawyer because you're not listening to invoke one's right to an attorney the suspect should unequivocally declare that they want to speak to an attorney however if the suspect gives a more ambiguous remark about obtaining counsel most courts require the interrogator to inquire further to clarify their desire Michael has not yet stated clearly that he wants legal representation I guess this is the part where I need a lawyer therefore detectives can legally continue to question him but ideally should have clarified if he was requesting counsel or not before continuing otherwise they risk the rest of his statements being inadmissible I'll answer your questions I'm just saying I didn't do this and you can ask me this a hundred times and I'm still going to tell you I did not do this you're the only one at the house you're the only one who can know or what happened to your wife okay you didn't mean to do this to her Michael's body language indicates that he shut down the protective position of his arms across his body is a self-soothing behavior that indicates that he's closing himself off from the situation likely due to sheer discomfort and stress so we're trying to ask you how how did she lose parts of her body in your house no clue do you have a clue no I do not there's nowhere else for us to look there's nowhere else for us to go there's nobody else who to talk to about this book I mean I want a lawyer and just like that the interview is over this time Michael has clearly communicated his desire to speak to a lawyer the detectives are no longer allowed to ask him any more questions sorry um over the next 10 minutes Michael attempts to make conversation with the detective who's no longer inclined to speak with him since the detective can't question him any further after the detective refuses to allow Michael another smoke break Michael gets up and begins to anxiously Pace the room once more when he sits back down he sits on the side of the couch that's the farthest from the detective this clearly communicates his desire to escape the situation as soon as possible finally the silence is broken by a police officer who has come to put Michael in handcuffs his hopes of removing himself from the situation are dashed Michael makes one last plea of Innocence but detectives are no longer feeding into it he's escorted to a holding cell by a pair of armed police officers however this isn't the last that detectives will hear from Michael over the next few days officers continue to investigate the Park's home and cars follow up on potential leads and speak to the couple's friends and family members detectives have lost hope of getting any valuable information out of Michael that is until four days later when he unexpectedly requests to speak to detectives again without a lawyer present sure you remember me from the other day this interview takes place the following Monday it was Tuesday at 3 30. I was home by quarter after four kids came over like I said that was not alive we were arguing like I said over my son I was on the back porch after everybody left let's go shoot a groundhog I had groundhogs in the backyard I knew I never does he never came back I went to discharge to go I shot three rounds into the tree I went in the house I was gonna clean the gun I sat at the kitchen table they were still one round in them she hit the floor she was fixing dinner I panicked I just flat out panicked I didn't know what to do in the state of Indiana accidentally killing someone doesn't make a person guilty of murder to be considered a murderer the prosecution must prove that the killing was intentional therefore if detectives accept Michael's version of events then the most Michael can be charged with in the state of Indiana would be Reckless homicide even then in order to win a reckless homicide charge the prosecution would have to prove that Michael was acting recklessly and that his recklessness somehow led to Hope's death went everywhere to cover it up picked everything up I cleaned the mess up I put up the garbage everything else is just kind of popular if Hope's death was an honest accident it doesn't make logical sense that he would try to cover it up typically when someone has accidentally hurt another especially someone they love their first move would be to call for help or to take some action to try to save their life Michael on the other hand didn't even try to correct his supposed mistake to make matters worse for detectives Michael's story not only features unlikely details but also missing details or blurs the detectives have to uncover his recount is seeming more unreliable as it unfolds what do you do after that there and I cried I thought about everything that was going on with fighting who's going to believe me Michael has gotten to what is supposedly a very emotional and traumatic moment in his story therefore it's odd that he recounts it with little emotion his lack of emotional reaction over the course of the interviews is noteworthy I didn't know what to do tell us what happened so she's on the floor you're upset obviously what what did you do at that point I wrapped her in an apartment took her down to the basement I cleaned everything up by telling detectives how he moved the body and cleaned the scene Michael might have just unknowingly admitted to tampering with evidence even if he does secure himself a lesser murder charge the prosecution could potentially use that information against him to get him more jail time foreign Michael covers his face entirely with his hand and his voice breaks as if he's crying it doesn't seem that there are any other indicators of genuine emotion though no sniffles tears or heavy breathing if this is an attempt to feign sadness it's a rather lackluster one it's more likely that this performance is an excuse to hide his face which Michael has proven to do when he's lying about guns and what people tell me so I disregard you taking information as far as it looks stealing down I've ever fired the closer you are to something or somebody you get more residue and the further away the less residue you get when you fire the gun so uh she seemed to have some residue around the entry wound so that would indicate that the gun would be closer well four or five feet this single piece of evidence puts a rather large hole in Michael's story if Michael can't bridge this gap between his story and the evidence it would be nearly impossible for Michael's attorneys to prove that the shooting was accidental it for me to be able to help I gotta know you're I don't I don't know how close she was in it I know that she was getting ready to fix dinner that's all I know and I sat down I had the gun in my hand that's when it went off I'm telling I did not do it deliberately Michael likely knows that he's in a deep hole right now since his assertion that he didn't deliberately shoot his wife isn't said with much conviction on the contrary it seems there are notes of desperation in his voice he needs detectives to believe his story yet he's likely very aware that his defense of I don't know isn't helping his case at all the doctor and the gun show he actually put an edge report that it was a contact wound which means the barrel I was close to the skin that well maybe she was closer than what I thought now the detectives are back on the topic of the gunshot wound Michael has wrapped his arms tightly around himself this is a protective position that maybe Michael's attempt at self-soothing it's clear that Michael is uncomfortable with this subject very possibly because he doesn't have an answer for it so if you're at the table and she's an angle could I get some more it seems that Michael might be asking for some water to create a break in the conversation perhaps to buy himself time to think of a sufficient answer to the detective's questions there's going to be two schools of thought on this one somehow you tragically shot her with the muzzle of the gun touching the back of her head or two there was a disagreement there was an argument and a snap there was no bad bad judgment no argument after everybody no argument were you still just upset from the argument earlier because just people on the outside looking in I don't care what anybody else thinks the whole thing was shooting her if she was where she was standing I don't know if she was right there I don't know I did not stick the gun to the back of her head hold the trigger I did not do that and all I'm telling you is the science proves differently and she was closer than what I thought okay you didn't want her to die no but circumstances led to her death what was the mental capacity of you at the time were you so enraged from an earlier argument that she smiled off something and you don't know what you did the detective is offering Michael a way out by suggesting that his actions were simply triggered by something that his wife might have said this shifts some of the blame onto his wife which may make it easier for Michael to admit his part in what happened kind of a Tasmanian Devil kind of event after she's on the ground you lost it and it's okay to tell me that because that shows emotion and before he came in that was the one thing that I was trying to figure out what happened the hamburger if she's if she's down here I think I'm the one that knocked it off though can you tell us what's going on when that hamburger gets knocked off still call myself by recalling what specific words he used at the time he might be trying to draw attention away from what actually caused the hamburger to be knocked off the stove such as a fight or struggle ever been a problem with that rifle's trigger and going off when you didn't want it to or not that I know I didn't even have it that long maybe a week week and a half the fact that Michael had only been in possession of the rifle for such a short period of time could be used as evidence against him in court the prosecution could make the case that it was Reckless of Michael to be wielding a loaded firearm that he wasn't familiar with indoors especially next to a family member the detective begins questioning Michael about the details related to dismembering his wife to me she's got it and none of us are young anymore so I mean your skin doesn't stay like it should so each each drag did like just the the muscle and the skin go with it I don't even remember doing it I don't remember that part yeah and that's the brain again trying to protect you from typically the goriest most traumatic Parts another benefit of Michael's selective memory defense is that he doesn't have to disclose the Gory details of what it was like to cut off his wife's head he could be under the impression that giving those details would only serve to make them appear more like a cold-blooded killer there is no way that The Gunshot happened the way you're presenting it so this was the second I said I don't remember exactly how it happened I'm telling you I didn't do it didn't kill her on purpose or didn't shoot her off the detective's question implies that Michael might have intended to shoot hope without intending to actually kill her however under Indiana Law this is actually somewhat of a false dichotomy murder in Indiana is classified as any killing done purposefully or knowingly here knowingly means taking action without the specific intent to kill a person but nonetheless with knowledge that death is substantially certain to occur since the evidence from Hope's autopsy proves that Michael shot his wife at point-blank range even if he didn't exactly intend to kill her Michael could still be convicted of murder simply because he was knowledgeable that such an action would almost certainly result in her death it just happened so in your opinion would you call that just recklessness it was just I mean because if you've got it up in the air nobody's going to say well I mean you couldn't have shot or he was laying on the table facing down the hallway Reckless yes unbeknownst to him under Indiana Law Michael has just admitted to Reckless homicide the conversation we were having at the time was over John with the insurance to car insurance because she lied to me over the car insurance she told me that she was going to cancel the insurance this detail makes the circumstances surrounding Hope's death much different he's admitted that he and his wife actually were arguing at the time he was in the kitchen with a gun where after she turned around and walked away this version of events shows an obvious motive and opportunity for Michael to shoot her in the back of the head it makes you wonder what else Michael has lied about thus far are you a fist pounding kind of guy when you're mad you're like damn it woman just do what I'm asking you to do and the guy in your hand unfortunately at that time squeeze reflex yes I don't remember everything but what you said makes sense like I said that it was not intentional Michael seems to finally be resigning himself to some explanation of how he shot hope probably after realizing that detectives weren't going to back down until his story matched the evidence same thing your daughter wants to know and the Sun wisens up it's the same thing he's going to like I know I know why it happened and I can't I can never tell him I can't do that to him because that's the reason why I pulled the trigger not intentionally again Michael Seitz his son as the reason for his plight however this is the first time he specifically said that John is the reason that he killed his wife he quickly tries to backtrack though the statement implies that Michael is probably more aware of the reason behind Hope's death than what he's letting on he may have slipped up due to stress and fatigue from the long interrogation after four long hours the interrogation is now over Michael is escorted from the interrogation room without further incident following his interview Michael was moved to Montgomery County Jail where he sat for almost two years he was scheduled to stand trial in front of a jury on May 9 2022 that is until investigators made a single haunting find that would spell Doom for Michael's case it was discovered that prior to Michael murdering his wife he'd been doing online research on the effectiveness of bottle silencers bottle silencers or makeshift gun silencers constructed simply from plastic bottles not only that but he'd also looked into whether pillows could be used to muffle gunfire this discovery proved that the murder of 44 year old hope Parts was indeed premeditated and under Indiana state law crushed all possibility of Michael receiving anything less than a murder charge on May 6 2022 just three days before he was scheduled to stand trial Michael changed his plea from not guilty to guilty and accepted a negotiated plea deal on May 9 Michael Parks was found guilty of the murder of his wife hope Parks he was sentenced to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole we reached out to Michael through email to see if he would be willing to share his side of the story and answer some of our questions about the case at first we didn't hear back but when Michael finally responded he stated that he would only participate in a discussion if we met his List of Demands including 300 to be put into his commissary account and for a fan and a television specifically 36 inches or more to be shipped to his facility we did not agree to any of these terms and are still waiting to hear back if Michael will speak with us Michael is set to be released in 2070 when he is 94 years old

Channel: EXPLORE WITH US

Views: 9,286,357

Keywords: documentary, true crime documentary, psychology, law

Id: A01e2gr8wBU

Length: 40min 50sec (2450 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 22 2022