Solve this case: Who Killed Kay Wenal? | Full Episode

real people real crimes real life drama it was a Savage murder that was probably one of the most brutal that I've seen the brutality of this was what stunned us all but to cut a woman's throat it's Revenge it's anger somebody hated her take a look at this cigar just isn't she full of life just a little sweetheart once you knew her you loved her forever can you give me her whole name her maiden name Eva K Smith UK Judd Eva K Wilson Eva K Gilbert Eva k wennel each time did she think okay this guy this is going to be the one I guess she was the wife of Hal wennel and Hal was a real estate developer he was very wealthy successful businessman [Music] he was a jet setter he ran in a fast crowd of big money he liked very pretty women and he liked the glitter of life I'm Ned Timmons and my team was hired by Hal wants to investigate the death of his wife how would you all describe this case puzzling uh frustrating you want to right the wrong somebody is out there that took this lady's life and it's our job to try and find them this incident happened on May 1st 2008. K10 was at home she hadn't been feeling well I think it was right over in this area is where the first encounter happened the attack at the front door was brutal and then I think he just like hits her like this somebody hit her with a prize fighter type punch and just smashed her face in I think she recovered and ran for the kitchen she was running for a life and I think this is where the perpetrator the assailant got her caught her from behind forced her to the ground and then and then cut her neck [Music] I believe Hal came home around 6 30 or 7 o'clock at night and found k [Music] what's the hardest part about losing your sister this way is my best friend [Music] How could somebody do that somebody like her we have found people have free lives they have a public life a private life and a secret life do you believe Kate winell had a secret life I believe she did yes and that's where I believe the answer lies [Music] I'm Erin Moriarty tonight I'm 48 hours who killed Kay wennel [Music] thank you [Music] 48 hours we'll be back in 90 seconds [Music] and why are you talking to me I'm talking to you because I want to find out who murdered my sister [Music] at the time of her murder Kay was married to real estate developer Hal wennel her fourth husband he was smitten from the moment he first set eyes on Kaye in a Reno Airport she said she bent over to get luggage off the rag and that's when Hal noticed her how could you not Pam sleeper says her sister was striking and vivacious Hal was proud of her he used to love to walk into restaurants she was arm candy oh look at that woman wow and at the age of 60 K was still turning heads and everyone seemed to love her [Music] which made her murder in May 2008 all the more shocking and difficult to solve what's more there is little physical evidence crime scene investigators took this video which reveals no fingerprints Footprints defensive wounds hairs or fibers and all the blood tested was K's so three weeks after his wife's death Hal wennel offered a reward that would grow to a quarter of a million dollars he wanted to try to find out who murdered K and he was willing to pay dearly to do it but when months went by without a real lead the frustrated multi-millionaire hired his own team of private investigators led by Ned Timmons we want this guy we want this salt Timmins a retired FBI agent recruited former colleagues his own ex-wife Kathleen and John and Sonia you know when you get involved in this kind of work you want to have closure you want to bring them to an end we brought them together with retired Gwinnett County Police Lieutenant Charlie Bishop who also worked on this case to re-examine a murder that continues to haunt them all so can this be solved we need that lucky break normally we follow a murder case after an arrest has been made but not to not tonight's report is a true whodunit so listen closely maybe you know something that can solve this case May 1st 2008 wasn't a typical day for Kay wennel she woke up that morning with all the intentions of going to work usually she was out finding tenants to fill her husband's shopping centers when she changed her mind saying I don't feel well so whoever did this knew that she was home there are no signs of forced entry this is where you believe the assailant came in is that correct that's correct so John and Sonia believes Kay let her kill her inside and was immediately assaulted the proof says Ned Timmons is all that blood and you can see by the way the blood droplets hit her back had to be there and he had to hit her with a very very powerful blow out there that stunned her and sent her glasses flying across the room she realized I'm in trouble and then try and Escape she flees to the kitchen perhaps to get the phone there he gets her and that's where he takes control of her and kills her by slashing her throat what happened next shocked even these veteran investigators then he decided to do what we call an insurance cut a second cut to make sure that she was going to die I mean that's a cold blood exactly right yeah it really is and Kay's killer appeared to have carefully planned his attack nobody saw him coming in nobody saw him leave which makes what the killer left behind so puzzling there's the bloody towel up in the upstairs bedroom [Music] a towel with smudges of Kay's blood was found in her closet off the master bathroom why is he in there it's her closet maybe takes one final trophy what are you looking for in that room it's a big question this is what investigators do know the weapon I think it might have been a scalpel or something like that could have been a hunting or fishing knife whatever it was it was extremely sharp it did not cause any Jagged lacerations it was like the assailant you all use he you believe a man did this because of the strength that it took I don't see a woman cutting another woman's throat like that you know are there women that could do this sure I don't think it's likely I think this was a man a man that John and Sonia believes is right-handed because I think he hit her with his right and I think the way the the cuts were on her neck it started from here to here and if he was left-handed I think he would start here and go this way and he was probably wearing gloves pieces of a latex glove were found inside the house and on the back deck that didn't match ones used by First Responders that also is confirmation that whoever did this came prepared I mean who walks around with rubber gloves in their pocket the motive everyone agrees this was not a robbery she had plenty of rings on Kay's wallet and credit cards were out in the open jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars was locked in a safe upstairs if this was some guy that came to Robert wouldn't he take the Rings wouldn't he take something The Impressions that I got were that someone was very comfortable in that home knew their way around that home and this person has no concern that anyone is going to walk in and catch him and then walks out the back door and departs investigators believe the killer made his Escape through the woods behind the wennel home he clearly knew where he was going to when he left and that takes an awful lot of Prior planning but did he make a mistake who is this I don't know but I sure wished I did I'm thinking is this the guy that murdered my sister [Music] thank you six days after Kay wanna was murdered her family and friends gathered to say goodbye it was packed lots of people there was a lot of policemen there Gwinnett County Police took this surveillance footage they were searching the faces for suspects Pam sleeper was searching for answers we Decay have enemies I didn't think she did but apparently she did did she ever talk about having any fears no no anybody threatening her no you had to wonder about HAL didn't you no it just never crossed my mind ever but it certainly occurred to police to look at Kay's husband Hal was a suspect from day one Hal however appeared eager to cooperate agreeing to this police interview in 2008 without his lawyer present in the best of my knowledge I will tell you everything I know and as investigators discovered Hal had an iron-clad alibi we knew how physically wasn't there we have video even leaving his office we have video even going to a fast food restaurant all within the time we believe the murder took place it was also no evidence how scared anyone wants more he seemed grief stricken by Kay's death Knights I wake up crying my heart out middle of the night a child it's horrible really horrible and especially if you don't know why if she was hit by a car Hal wasn't a part of this in my opinion so you don't believe he was involved no but I think Hal was protecting the memory of Kay the secret stuff the secret stuff and he didn't want to divulge that because it would reflect poorly uh on K Secrets K didn't even share with her sister Pam there was a whole lot apparently she didn't talk to me about and you think somewhere in there is the clue to her Keller I sure do K had a colorful past as investigators discovered she not only married a lot she also had affairs she needed to be loved and she needed to feel that she could attract any man she was obsessed with this in fact Ned Timmons theorizes she may have been seeing someone at the time of her death Hal knew her Secret Life Al was involved in the secret life in my opinion do you think he put up with her than having Affairs just to keep her on his arm absolutely yeah in a murder investigation nothing is private so the rental house was searched and according to John and Sonia more possible evidence of Kay's secret life was uncovered material we found in the house right which would not be normal in what way what do you mean it was unusual uh almost perverteth kinky kinky yes kinky's good work outfits detectives described as fetish wear and when we talked to Hal about it first he said no I don't know anything about that stuff oh then the next time oh yeah we went to a uh a masquerade party and she dressed like a French maid but this Halloween costume is tame compared to what else was found in Kay's closet the list in police reports is x-rated these outfits were not something a French maid would wear and if she's not wearing them for how then who she wearing them for if you came out and I'd line up 30 guys I know they don't tell you the same thing anybody any guy would fall in love with K in a minute do you believe she knew her color I think she probably did and cops do have one possible clue to his identity a stranger seen in this neighborhood the very afternoon K was killed this sketch was made with help from one of the wennel's neighbors who told police he actually saw the same man twice on the day of the murder and the day before and he had a flyer for a house that was for sale in the subdivision and the neighbor said oh it's way on the other side and he just turned around he walked away out of sight the first encounter stood out to the neighbor because the stranger didn't seem to have a car now this is an area you just don't walk around in a neighborhood you have to drive nobody nobody walks police later discovered that the house for sale flyer was only given to people who have been inside that house and there have been no showings on the day the stranger first appeared the following day the same neighbor was looking out his bathroom window and he sees the same guy walking toward wennel's house right about the time they believed that the homicide occurred I mean do you think this person could be the killer I think it's a strong possibility obviously we can't save for 100 until we identify that person he saw and for more than eight years that's exactly what Gwinnett County Police have been trying to do Sergeant John Richter took over the investigation in 2011. Lieutenant Stephen Shaw is his supervisor it's a standard you know white male with wire rim glasses that's aging and starting to bald and there are probably hundreds and hundreds of males walking around that look something like this and we've you know obviously explored case Inner Circle and Hal Circle and and all of their friends and acquaintances they checked out everyone from Kay's doctor to a restaurant manager even a clerk at the local Hobby Lobby store who had a crush on Kay she said that's as strangest thing he calls me and wants me to go for a drink with him investigators have cleared and eliminated all three men but they're still trying to find this man pictured with K in a photo taken years earlier in Las Vegas who seemed to resemble the sketch do you think that person is this person well I think it's a possibility that that person has seated next Decay and with another female it for sure could be him either he's a suspect or not you just I never could identify him nobody seemed to know who he was as investigators were searching for the man in the sketch Hal suggested they should also look at a man in case past no I have something that backed my mind I don't even want to say it yet that that was years and years ago yeah uh that the weirdest thing was um and I I really don't even like saying it is her ex-husband her third husband Jeff Gilbert she's still married to him when you two men when we met absolutely yes she was he was running Bally's Casino where K was modeling when Hal swept in and stole her away he threatened her when she was trying to leave I know that but that's what she told me so you don't think that would make Jeff angry enough to want to kill it no no no never but just a few months before Kay was killed Jeff called he was traveling to Atlanta and wanted to see her and how well what are you gonna do huh she's like don't we're not going she said he's living about it we looked at him because an ex-husband is is of course on our suspect list but no indication that he was involved we don't have any evidence through Airlines or phone records and we looked into it to indicate that he was in the Atlanta area then nearly three months after Kay was killed out of the blue the most tantalizing and perplexing clue of all I was in shock I I didn't know what to think [Music] 48 Hours the 30th season From Russia with murder I was hired to hunt down Victoria nasirova she allegedly killed Nadia Ford's mother from the streets of Russia you need to speak Russian too Victoria CBS News to the streets of New York there are allegations that Victoria has left a trail of victims she was going to continue drugging and poisoning people to get what she wanted tracking her mother's killer I fear for my own life she's Pure Evil the Widow County 9-1-1 tell me was it a homicide or was it a suicide there were three shots this is not a comfortable way to kill yourself it's not what do you believe happened to David Lee reynella Leaf killed him anyone see her pick up the gun no fingerprints no that's a problem isn't it what about her first husband he was trampled by his own cattle she'd been charged with the murder of two husbands they called her the Black Widow were you at all prepared for what happened in this case shock is the word that comes to mind Grapes of Wrath he calls 9-1-1 and he's yelling into the phone help me help me he shot me the shooter is in the truck shooting out the window who are these guys greetings from doll Vineyards Robert was almost too good to be true FEMA Golden Boy at Cisco who was Starstruck about getting into the Napa Valley Wine business and iman's dream crossed paths with rubber dalstring this is over money eight hundred thousand dollars in a gym bag yeah this is what eight hundred thousand dollars in cash looks like did you ever imagine that this is how it was going to end a new 48 hours I stand on that bridge on the second floor I look down at that front door [Music] I say okay what happened here what what really happened whoever did this in this because one of two reasons they're very angry with her or they're very angry with you I've been in this game for 40 years who the hell kills your wife not even the mafia does that despite what how Bueno believed Cold Case investigators Lieutenant Stephen Shaw and Sergeant John Richter wonder if the killer could be connected in some way to wennel's business we have to look at every option and every possibility to figure out who did it back in two thousand it was a picture of wealth and success at the time of Kay's death what kind of shape was his business in it's hard to tell in the face it looks like they had a lot of money however after digging into the case it appears that it was maybe smoke and mirrors as we find out that maybe there was some fraud or some stuff that wasn't always on the up and UPS how wano made his fortune buying land Building shopping centers and then selling the malls fully leased for a profit but according to Marie Lundquist how would sometimes cook the books he wasn't the most honest person in the world [Music] Marie began working for Hal in 2007 as his Administrative Assistant we sold a shopping center in Lawrenceville and the whole deal was bad he was paying tenants rent so while the new owners bought it the books looked like they were paying rent every month when in fact Hal was paying their rent some of them yeah I can say to you without reservation I can't even think of anybody we have tenants occasions that will fall out but they don't blame me yet we found six lawsuits filed against Hal and as various companies some of them from people who did blame him claiming fraud but Hal brushed It Off [Music] if you don't make any money you'll never get sued for anything the minute you make about people come after you do you think there's any possibility that the K's death might have something to do with someone angry with how yeah because apparently he owed a lot of people many and he didn't make a lot of friends it could be a Revenge thing [Music] Kay's sister Pam wonders if an investor was angry enough to hire a professional killer which could explain the lack of evidence at the crime scene there was a lot of blood there and how this guy got away without a footprint a hand mark on the wall or anything I it's just amazing but the idea of a professional hit doesn't make sense to the investigators who've examined the case over the years I think if it was a hired killer it would have been a yeah gone with a gun yeah no physical contact boom boom bye out the door see you later that's it I'm done and what makes the Hitman even more unlikely they say is what happened nearly three months after Kay was murdered [Music] A peculiar letter arrived at the Gwinnett County offices of the Atlanta Journal Constitution the letter wasn't published back then but it was given to the police [Music] the police department wanted to meet with us they showed us this letter [Music] cut out in little bitty individual different Letters Out of different magazine all glued in to this page and it was shocking the envelope postmarked July 21st 2008 and mailed from Augusta Georgia some 140 miles away from where K was murdered wow it I mean it was bizarre odd the letter and envelope were taken apart and carefully examined by the crime lab but no DNA or other useful forensics were found whoever did this did it with with gloves on it I mean they cut each individual letters out and then glued them so it was very time consuming to do that do you know how hard that would be to stick these things oh it's incredible I mean this is really a long I mean just to go through the magazine the letter is shocking filled with expletives I bet Kay wennel never told anyone what she really was it turns out she was just a money-grubby [ __ ] I loved her and she said we could be together she told me she hated her house in that fat miserable lying mother from effing husband she said she left me but that was a lie too I told her this would happen if she didn't keep her damn promises to me family screwed everything up those white trash ass many was more important than our love we could have been so happy together but they everything up on its face it sounds like the words of a jolted lover if you look at the letter yeah if we're going to go with the jilton lover theory that this person she finally told me no I'm staying with Hal in other words did the family talk her into staying with Hal that irritated the actual perpetrator but Pam says Kay never mentioned any plans to leave Hal o she admits parts of the letter have a ring of truth especially about the house they were renting I know that she didn't like her house I mean that was the first thing that stood out to me was wow I know she was kind of unhappy with Hal about that so it was someone who knew her oh yeah apparently go to such trouble is the latter really what it appears to be how many of you believe this was actually written by a sperm lover do you based on the reading of it yes Kathleen I don't I do because of the reference to the family the house and things things that wouldn't be known to everybody but those are exactly why it wouldn't be a sperm lover a sperm lover doesn't give a care about her house a spurned lover doesn't give a care about her family I believe at this point it's not a jilted lover that's a red herring [Music] review the clues help solve this case join us now on Facebook at 48 hours a special 48 Hours podcast series on radio.com the Widow six episodes starting Tuesday one woman two dead husbands could she be that unlucky the investigation into K wano's death got new life when this letter arrived in July of 2008. it felt like something dreamed up by a Hollywood screenwriter it's what the author thinks threat letters should look like this is almost scripted so you have to say what's the purpose former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole agreed to examine the letter for us she now heads the forensic science program at George Mason University this is someone I think that's pretending to be the killer to create this Boogeyman suspect and to push the police away from the actual motive in the case the writer may not be a jolted lover at all from working cases like this if this was a spurned lover then this would not be the first note a sperm lover is going to have notes preceding this one where K is the most wonderful thing in the world I love you we're perfect together even if it's a delusional stalker initially they love their victims they're beautiful they're going to spend their life together it's only after a few letters that you see that transition to you are now this horrible human being I hate you what's more the investigation hasn't revealed any other men in K's life exactly what Hal told detectives back in 2008 as God is my judge I don't think Kay was having an affair she had the best damn actress in the world it turns out that while K was sexy and flirtatious investigators may have been looking in the wrong direction they didn't find any evidence of an affair at the time of her murder and Kathleen Timmons says neither did the medical examiner and this letter that implies that she's got yet in very active current lovers and yet when they they did the autopsy examination she had no indication that that there had been recent sexual activity it's no indication that she's involved with anybody including her husband do you believe that the person who sent this letter is actually the person who went into the home and killed her not necessarily oh tool suspects the killer may have had help I think it's possible that there are two people that could be involved you could have somebody that wrote the letter and then someone that came into the home Mary Ellen O'Toole says writers of cut and paste notes tend to have one thing in common they are women [Music] I can tell you that that's my experience I've seen them written by teenage girls I've seen them written by middle-aged women but the behavior of the scene just that kind of violence certainly suggests to me a male offender if the profiler is right that means a man and a woman could be involved in Kay's death with the woman creating the note to throw police off the trail someone may have been interviewed and they felt like they could have been considered a suspect didn't want that and produced this note isn't this a very risky thing a terribly risky thing to do oh tools suggests taking another look at the people interviewed by police back in 2008 one of those people was this woman a friend of K's and house Karen Scott [Music] Karen worked for Hal and she promoted herself as Hal's right hand man and Karen was an obvious suspect of ours because she was close with Hal and Kate and any investigation you're going to start with who's closest to them so close that when Karen remarried it was Kay who gave the wedding shower and was matron of honor Marie Lundquist was there oh my gosh it was a gorgeous wedding Hal walked her down the aisle and the day K was killed investigators discovered Hal and a colleague had brought breakfast to Karen who was home recovering from surgery and later when he discovered Kay's body Karen was his first call she was destroyed because she and K were like very very I mean extremely close that's Karen Scott on police surveillance tape at Kay's funeral you know things change back then we thought she was a good source she would email me wanting to be kept up on what was going on all seemingly innocent that may not be documents show Karen had ongoing financial problems but Hal was a generous boss the money was great I don't think she could have made that kind of money elsewhere and she was ambitious we looked into Karen we looked into every other person at work who was closest to K how what they would gain if K was out of the pitcher according to the to the port Karen admitted to detectives that with Kay's death she possibly gained the opportunity to operate the company but she also denied that she would have had any motivation to bring harm to Kay over those facts and she described herself as Kay's best friend and when I heard that I was like really I mean that surprised me Kay's sister and best friend Pam sleeper remember you know I know a best friend out of their relationship was not like my best friends some were colleagues also question how close they really were they were not best friends maybe to her face but that's not what she was saying behind Kay's back we reached out to Karen Scott and she sent us this letter stating I lost my best friend to a brutal attack but she declined our request for an interview Karen has been questioned by investigators about Kay wennel's death and according to police reports she adamantly denied any and all involvement what's more police say cell phone records back Karen's Alibi that she was home around the time of the murder and Richter says he's unable to connect her to the ladder we investigated that thoroughly and and quite frankly we're still investigating it but we can't find anything to suggest that Karen was responsible for the letter or that anybody in particular is responsible for that letter [Music] with an unknown assailant still on the loose Pam sleeper says her determination to find her sister's killer comes with wrist I do walk around kind of scared sometimes I wonder if he's going to be after me next because I don't give it up you think because you keep her name alive and you keep this case alive that somebody might come after you [Music] foreign sleeper says that after Kay's murder How well was never the same he called me every day he was just lost he missed her so much he would say who why I was like I don't know how that's what we're trying to find out I try to stay busy morning noon night I hate the mornings going to work because I know I'm coming home to that house at night weekends I despise how may have hated being in the house but he refused to leave it if your wife or significant other was murdered in that house wouldn't you want to get out of that house private investigator Ned Timmons you want to walk in the kitchen every day and have this vision of all this blood and her lying there with her throat cut you know it just didn't make sense still more perplexing to investigators Hal kept the house exactly as it was the day K was killed her sneakers next to the living room couch her book opened to the page she was reading drops of her blood on the staircase it was never cleaned up even when our team showed up months and months later yeah the house was exactly very strange they're exactly the way it was you'd think you'd have a cleaning crew come in and cleanse it all the place but there was still the blood splatters I want nothing more on God's Earth than to find the guy who did this and I'd give everything I have to get case together even if it meant spending his fortune to do it [Music] the Gwinnett County Police Department was having their financial difficulties so it was really a bad time for law enforcement is that part of the problem here that it's a problem everywhere there was just no money there again another reason Hal contacted these folks because they had so much more resources available to him than we did Ned Timmons says it was Hal who paid for much needed lab work to be done I was dealing with private laboratory weekly and we sent a lot of fibers we sent a lot of fluids for DNA sampling and Hal would have to approve everything yeah every time samplings are five six thousand on it and we had people in Las Vegas we had people leads in California where it leads all over the country it was costing him a lot of money house Quest came to an abrupt end in 2010 after he died of a heart attack his estate cut off the 250 000 reward money and fired his private investigators you know there were things that we wanted to do other leads that we wanted to follow up on and then all of a sudden you know the executor says you guys are all finished we weren't happy about it I'll tell you that those FBI agents we don't ever want to quit and we never wanted to stop but we couldn't afford to finance it ourselves the current Cold Case detectives seem to have made no Headway and their investigation up here stalled this case on the face of it looks like it would be solvable why is it still open from the amount of time put into it and different investigators involved I really don't have an answer for that and that's the most frustrating part and I think that's probably why we're here today is that we'll get someone's attention and someone who knows something will call us I know there's somebody out there that knows and I think they just need to come forward and let us know you know it will just help so much we'd be so grateful as they've done so many times Pam sleeper her mother and their husbands made an emotional visit to Kay's grave if it was me Kay would not give up and I'm not going to give up tonight investigators are asking for your help to solve K Wells murder once again here is what we know she was at home in Lawrenceville Georgia on May 1st 2008 when she was viciously attacked investigators believe her assailant was a right-handed man wearing gloves who used a very sharp weapon this unidentified man seen near the wennel home the day of the murder may have been involved and then there's the cut and paste letter sent nearly three months later people who think they get away with murder sigh a big sigh of relief when years go by but this program is going to make them very nervous [Music] foreign one with information is asked to contact Gwinnett County criminal investigation division anonymous tip line 1-770-513-5390 [Music] Crime Stoppers Atlanta 1 404-577-tips [Music] I've basically spent a conflict-free life he divided us not guilty of murder he defined us the system balanced in favor of a black man and still we can't get past that now what OJ would never lay low Saturday at nine

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 2,023,537

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news, 48 hours full episodes, Kay wenal, lawrenceville ga, murder, Gwinnett County, unsolved, right-handed assailant, cut-and-paste letter

Id: 3cnLMaXq2VQ

Length: 43min 36sec (2616 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 11 2023