Stranger Than Fiction | FULL EPISODE | The New Detectives

[Music] a quiet washington state community becomes the backdrop for a string of brutal murders and all of the evidence suggests that a serial killer is responsible [Music] as investigators struggle to identify a suspect more bodies continue to surface in michigan the pregnant wife of a promising young attorney is found dead in the couple's home though it appears to be the result of a tragic accident police are not convinced it falls to forensic examiners to expose the truth solving a murder requires a team of experts whose efforts often go unrecognized when crime fighters meet crime writers their story is finally told and many times it's a tale stranger than fiction [Applause] [Music] bellevue washington lies just east of the city of seattle it's a thriving community of about 100 000 people who live work and play here but in the summer of 1990 young women began turning up dead throughout the city [Music] on saturday june 23rd bellevue police received a 9-1-1 call a restaurant employee had stumbled upon the lifeless body of a young woman investigators responded to the scene [Music] they found the victim lying among trash next to a dumpster behind the restaurant she was nude except for a necklace [Music] her arms and legs were positioned as if she were lying in a coffin a pinecone rested in her hands [Music] it was clear that the victim's body had been posed by the killer technicians managed to locate a single black hair near the woman [Music] but they found no clues to her identity or that of her killer bellevue detective marvin skeen was assigned the case [Music] he knew this wasn't going to be an easy murder to solve [Music] most crime scenes you know who your victim is in this particular crime scene we had no idea at all who our victim was her identification we also lacked clothing so we couldn't provide a clothing description when we asked the public for their assistance in determining who the victim was the medical examiner concluded that the woman likely between the ages of 25 and 35 had died as a result of strangulation had also been brutally beaten and sexually assaulted in addition to collecting biological evidence dozens of fibers clinging to the victim's body were also recovered though it wasn't much to work with detectives forwarded what little evidence they had to the washington state patrol crime lab in nearby tacoma after examining the fibers under a microscope all that scientists could conclude was that they had originated from the carpet or trunk mat of a car next the black hair collected from the crime scene was analyzed in the hopes it would provide some clue to the killer's identity forensic scientist terry mcadam you can look at it for predominantly pigmentation helps us to decide which possible broad racial groups it may belong to from the color texture and shape mcadam determined that the hair had come from an african-american male but having been found among trash and debris its connection with the crime was uncertain investigators knew the best way to find this killer would be to first identify the victim but no missing persons reports filed in the city of bellevue matched their victim we went to the news media who of course were interested in this in the case asked for their assistance we also went to teletypes and bulletins to surrounding law enforcement agencies asking them to check for missing individuals in their cases soon after investigators got their first break [Music] in a neighboring jurisdiction a woman had reported her roommate missing from photos taken at the autopsy she identified the victim as her 27 year old friend marianne polrike she said that she had last seen marianne three nights earlier as she prepared to go out for the evening marianne had borrowed her roommate's necklace it was the same one found around the victim's neck [Music] marianne usually spent her fridays at a bar just a few blocks from where her body was found the roommate indicated to us that marianne's personality was one that was a free spirit and that marianne definitely enjoyed dancing and that she would go to the various local clubs to dance that was her main purpose as far as recreation we learned that marianne was a very hard worker we learned that also from co-workers and from employers but the roommate indicated to us that marianne would not go with a stranger someone unknowing to her following up on the roommate's information police went to the bar where marianne spent her friday nights the restaurant manager knew her well and she had been there the night before her body was discovered though he hadn't noticed who she was with he believed she had left in a hurry marianne had forgotten her sweater and purse investigators collected the items hopefully contained some clue to her killer's identity but the evidence failed to yield any useful information the investigation into marianne paul reich's murder was going nowhere and the case load for bellevue detectives was about to increase on august 9 1990 police were dispatched to the home of carol beathy her ex-husband paul had received a call from his two young children earlier that day when paul came to the house he discovered his 36 year old ex-wife carol dead inside her bedroom it looked as though she had shot herself when police entered the room however it became clear this was no [Music] suicide though a shotgun lay near the victim it had not been fired instead the killer had posed the victim's nude body and used the shotgun graphically as a prop carol beathy had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death but no biological evidence of rape was found technicians collected a few black hairs from the sheets though robbery did not appear to be a motive family members later determined that carol's heirloom ring was missing for bellevue homicide detective dale foote the similarities between the marianne poll reich and carol beathy murders had to be more than coincidental bellevue is pretty quiet suburban town and we don't have a whole lot of homicides here so we have two cases with with women that are openly displayed and they're posed nude um yeah we're having some questions why are these two cases so similar nature is there any connection between them do they know each other do their friends know each other you know did they work together did they you know attend some of these night clubs together we just didn't know so some of those questions we had to answer and answer real fast to find out if the cases were in fact connected police forwarded the hairs recovered from the carol beethy crime scene to the lab [Music] when examiners compared those to the one recovered from the marianne poll-rite crime scene they concluded that the hares had originated from the same person bellevue police were now faced with the possibility that a serial killer was loose in their city looking to find a common thread between the two victims investigators began interviewing carol beathy's co-workers at a popular restaurant where she worked as a waitress [Music] carol's friends could not imagine why anyone would have wanted to hurt her though she and her ex-husband paul were divorced they maintained a great relationship [Music] and carol's two daughters constantly showered her with love and affection though carol beathy would sometimes go to nightclubs police were unable to establish any connection between her and marianne polray the two unsolved murder investigations quickly became front page news soon the mystery caught the attention of veteran crime writer jack olson with 10 true crime novels to his credit olson recognized that as a writer this story was too unusual to be ignored i think the thing that made this case unusual was the posing of the bodies that is not seen it is seen but it's not seen very often it represents some kind of a deep-seated deep-seated hatred of women and bellevue police feared that such a deep-seated hatred would not simply go away on its own if they didn't identify a suspect in the killings and fast it would only be a matter of time until more victims turned up dead [Music] police in bellevue washington struggled to solve the sexual assaults and murders that had claimed the lives of two young women the bodies of 27 year old marianne polreich and 36 year old carol beethy were discovered less than two months apart [Music] having found both victims savagely beaten sexually assaulted and their bodies posed after death investigators had reason to believe that the murders were the work of one predator but so far they had no idea who that was or when he would strike next on september 3rd 1990 police in neighboring king county received a 9-1-1 call the body of 24 year old randy levine had been discovered by her landlady she had been savagely beaten and her nude body was posed suggestively in her bed technicians located a single dark hair near the victim's body the only item determined to be missing from the room was an antique ring [Music] at autopsy the medical examiner confirmed that randy levine had died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head though she had also been sexually assaulted no biological evidence was found but the medical examiner did find evidence that the young woman had been tortured 283 tiny puncture wounds dotted her body the pattern of some of the injuries suggested that the killer had played a game of tic-tac-toe [Music] because the levine homicide happened outside the city limits of bellevue its parallels to the unsolved poll reich and beefy murders might have gone unnoticed but then bellevue police detective ed mott received a call from a paramedic who happened to be called to all three crime scenes and he couldn't help but notice the similarities he says i'm not a cop i'm not a policeman he says but the last three murder cases i've been to he says it's really odd that the three bodies have been posed bellevue police also learned that randy levine had been to a bellevue nightclub the night before she was found murdered [Music] there could now be little doubt that a serial killer had claimed the lives of all three women officers from throughout the area began pooling their resources desperate to identify this killer before he struck again the senselessness of the homicides left veteran crime writer jack olson struggling for answers he wondered why these women in particular had been targeted for murder he could find no rational explanation they were perfectly fine women doing exactly what we would expect decent young women of their age 20 30 35 to be doing they held jobs they were responsible yes they did go to nightclubs now and then they're admirable people as the hunt for the serial killer intensified an intelligence officer with the seattle police department believed he had uncovered a possible lead a few days after the randy levine homicide in king county a man named george waterfield russell was arrested near her residence for impersonating a police officer [Music] according to the reports when 32 year old russell was pulled over for traffic violations the officer saw him try to hide something under the vehicle at first russell identified himself as an undercover police officer but later recanted [Music] suspicious the patrol officer searched his car he located a police scanner a buck knife and two ids [Music] hidden underneath the vehicle he found a loaded handgun a check of the serial numbers revealed that the gun had recently been stolen [Music] russell was placed under arrest for impersonating an officer and being in the possession of a stolen weapon [Music] a records check showed that russell had an extensive criminal record which included sexual assaults and cat burglaries a further background check revealed that russell was known to frequent belgium area nightclubs and he had a reputation well george was a charmer and basically he was liked in the nightclubs he was a popular man in the nightclubs he had a good line of chatter he would sidle over next to the dj and they'd have a nice conversation and then he'd sidle over to the bar and have a nice conversation with the with the bartender and then various people various uh usually young women who came under his aura would sit with him would buy him drinks would tell him what a great guy he was though that wasn't a crime to investigators it went a long way in explaining how the three victims could have been manipulated into being alone with the killer detectives wanted to speak with george russell about the murders he claimed he didn't know anyone named carol beathy or randy levine [Music] however he admitted knowing marianne polreik in fact he had seen her at a bar the night before she was found murdered but he said they weren't there together and didn't speak recalling that fibers from a vehicle had been recovered from pulrek's body police asked for permission to search his car russell claimed he had borrowed a friend's truck that night eager to cooperate he gave police the address of his friend who had lent him the vehicle the man confirmed he had lent russell his truck several months earlier he added that when russell returned the vehicle the following day there were large stains on the seats and the interior of the car wreaked from a horrible smell it was so bad he scrubbed the truck clean later that day for investigators looking for proof that george russell was a serial killer that was the worst news they could hear investigators in bellevue washington believe that 32 year old george russell was responsible for a string of brutal sexual assaults and murders that had claimed the lives of three young women now they needed to prove it police located the vehicle russell had borrowed the night that the first victim marianne polrike was killed hopeful it contained evidence of murder but in the days following the homicide the truck had been thoroughly cleaned by its owner but beneath the upholstery technicians located a suspicious stain it appeared to be blood however it was too degraded for a more comprehensive analysis fiber samples from the vehicle's carpet were also collected at the washington state patrol crime lab examiners compared the fibers recovered from the truck to those collected from the body of marianne polreich though they were consistent with one another supervising forensic scientist terry mcadam knows that no analysis is perfect we can't say that that fiber came from that car because unless we can take out the exact fiber and match up its ends we can't say that what we can say is the fiber we find in a suspect's car matches that found on the clothing the victim as regards to having similar microscopic characteristics we can't say it's a match still the finding was enough to allow investigators to obtain a search warrant for the suspect's apartment there they found a gym bag filled with slips of paper with women's names and phone numbers written on them police contacted several of the women whose names were found in russell's home most knew george russell well [Music] though many had no idea how he got their phone numbers they didn't feel threatened russell had told him he was an undercover cop we kept hearing these same stories about george working for the police and being an undercover agent that kind of thing george is very articulate very charismatic young man and a lot of people bought into his story and uh and actually the fact that they bought it and bought into his story kind of was a hindrance to us because they rather trust george and they would rather trust the police but one of the women contacted felt differently and she had an interesting story for police she said that recently george russell had given her an antique ring it was his way of apologizing for standing her up on a date the week before though she had suspicions that the ring had been stolen she reluctantly accepted the gift shortly after that she learned russell was a suspect in the murders when she began to hear that george was involved or possibly involved with these homicides she became frightened and she gave this ring to another friend of hers who just happened to be leaving town he was on his way to florida and so he took that ring with him and having arrived down there a little short of cash he went down to a pawn shop and pawned this ring fortunately that ring was still there when we called investigators confirmed that it was the same ring that had been stolen from randy levine's room at the time of her murder convinced they had the serial killer investigators next looked to tie the suspect to the murder of marianne polreich detective marvin skeen decided to take advantage of a new forensic technology called dna testing at the time in 1991 introducing dna evidence into court was the first time that it occurred in king county in the state of washington so it was new very new and it was something that had to be looked at and a lot of time spent on to make sure that we did it properly and to get it accepted by the court it was time well spent on january 10 1991 examiners determined that george russell's dna matched the biological samples found on marianne polreck he was subsequently charged with her murder based on the hair analysis he was also charged with the murders of carol beathy and randy levine police believe that george russell used his abundant charm to lure women into his web and once he had them where he wanted he pounced on the unsuspecting victims [Music] george waterfield russell was convicted of the three murders he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 28 years george is a professional listener not because he really cares but because that's the way he takes your defenses down and can do whatever he wants now i spent three hours with george at walla walla penitentiary and i i mean this is this is one of the most horrendous killers that ever lived but it was it was a delightful three hours he's interesting on every subject he's friendly he's smiles and he cracks little jokes that's all the exterior what there is beneath that i don't think even george knows shock value was part of george russell's murderous plan and he went to great lengths manipulating his crime scenes to achieve it [Music] oftentimes the significant facts of a case lie just below the troubled surface just north of detroit michigan lies the city of hazel park its three square miles are home to 8 000 families and in 1999 one ugly scandal on the afternoon of monday august 16th the hazel park police dispatcher received a frantic call what took place a man reported that his wife had accidentally shot herself when the responding officer arrived a few minutes later michael fletcher a prominent local attorney was waiting outside his home his wife was inside he had checked for a pulse but she wasn't breathing he led the officer to the bedroom where his 29 year old wife leanne lay on the floor following protocol the officer kept michael fletcher from entering the room but there was nothing anyone could do [Music] leanne fletcher was dead the result of a single gunshot wound to the head [Music] any shooting death even an accidental one is treated as a crime scene and this one was no different crime scene technicians began processing the room looking for evidence to help them reconstruct what had happened [Music] they collected the 45 caliber handgun found inches away from the victim's body unsure of what to make of the findings police began searching through the contents of the victim's purse looking for a suicide note she may have left behind but what they found was a greeting card from her husband [Music] he was expressing his joy over leanne's recent pregnancy leanne fletcher's body was removed for autopsy for investigators all of the findings suggested the expectant mother's death had resulted from a tragic accident [Music] police in hazel park michigan continued to investigate the tragic shooting death that had claimed the life of 29 year old expectant mother leanne fletcher the victim's husband michael fletcher was brought in to make a statement the 29 year old attorney couldn't believe that his pregnant wife was dead [Music] michael told police that after dropping off their three-year-old daughter earlier that morning he and leanne went to a local firing range he wanted her to learn how to properly shoot a handgun in case she ever needed to protect herself and the children at first leanne was hesitant to handle the weapon [Music] but according to michael she finally became comfortable and then fired a few rounds [Music] when the couple returned home michael wanted to clean up and change clothes before heading off to work he asked leeann to load bullets into the clip and then put the weapon in its case that he kept by the side of the bed [Music] the next thing he knew he heard a shot and rushed out to find his wife bleeding to death he was certain that the safety was on when he handed her the weapon [Music] and he didn't remember that there was a round already in the chamber as a matter of procedure investigators collected the shirt fletcher had been wearing at the time of the accident for testing though michael fletcher's account was consistent with an accidental shooting as a matter of routine investigators needed to interview the couple's friends and family members when questioned the victim's mother was upset and angry she said she never trusted michael fletcher and she was convinced her daughter's death was no accident nearly six months earlier leanne had complained to her mother she was unhappy in the marriage and wanted a divorce when she confronted her husband he was furious to learn she had gone so far as to hire a divorce lawyer [Music] but soon after michael began trying to repair the marriage he had just started to earn a substantial income and the mother believed he was simply trying to avoid having to pay alimony [Music] the information led investigators to take a closer look at leanne's death they forwarded the 45 caliber handgun to forensic examiners believing it possible that the gun had misfired in the hands of an inexperienced leanne fletcher using weights attached to the trigger they found that to successfully discharge the weapon a significant amount of force had to be applied [Music] it was unlikely that the gun would have accidentally gone off on its own but that still left investigators with the possibility however unlikely that the expectant mother had taken her own life at autopsy medical examiner dr l j dragovich looked for signs of suicide though large blood stains were found on the victim's hands he could find no gunpowder residue or mist-like blood spatter which are usually present with self-inflicted gunshot wounds there will be fine mist of blood created by the bullet impacting the skin causing the wound i would have been able to see evidence of that fine mist droplet pattern on the hand of the victim herself that was not there when he examined the wound he noticed that the size and shape of the powder burns or stippling patterns on leanne's head were consistent with the weapon having been fired from less than two feet away [Music] the bullet had entered from above and behind the victim's right ear [Music] based on his findings dr dragovich concluded that it would be nearly impossible for leanne fletcher to have held the gun in the position needed to account for the trajectory of the bullet it's very uncomfortable to try to self-inflict the injury in the way that you have to be a contortionist to be able to do that in addition to having an arm long enough this is not physically possible though the findings were powerful they didn't prove michael fletcher had killed his wife still rumors began to circulate through the small community freelance writer tom henderson followed the story and conducted his own investigation but as an outsider he knew that uncovering the truth would not be easy i gathered the information by just basic reporting you you get used to when you're a reporter being outside your comfort zone girding yourself up to knock on that door with people who don't really want to see you saying hi i want to do a book about your family's tragedy will you cooperate [Music] slowly people opened up to henderson [Music] those close to the couple did not speak kindly about the young attorney but they all agreed that leanne was a supportive and dedicated mother and a wonderful human being lee ann fletcher by all accounts was everybody's best friend and that's that was one of the touching things is you would interview friends sisters everybody said leanne was my best friend michael fletcher was asked to come into the station to answer questions stating he had nothing to hide he agreed but only under the watchful eye of his attorney admitted to police that his marriage had been shaky but over the past several months he said that he and leanne had managed to reconcile their differences in fact just two days before her death leanne prepared a special dinner for the family she used the occasion to have the couple's daughter announce to everyone that there was going to be a new baby in the family michael was elated though he couldn't explain the evidence surrounding leanne's death he insisted he was still very much in love with his wife in the four or five months before the shooting they were by all accounts the happiest that they'd ever been she told her family or sisters or friends that he was finally being the guy that she wanted him to be [Music] though the medical examiner's findings had led investigators to suspect foul play they struggled to find evidence to support that theory police went to the shooting range where michael had taken leanne on the morning of her death the manager of the range recalled the couple well he said he never saw the victim fire the gun and despite her husband's persistence she refused even to handle it that contradicted michael fletcher's story that leanne fired the weapon investigators theorized michael had organized the trip to the shooting range in order to get gunpowder residue on his wife's hands before he shot her if that were the plan it failed [Music] but for those following the investigation the case against michael fletcher was hardly clear-cut there wasn't a shred of hard evidence that proved fletcher had murdered his wife and there was no obvious motive mick fletcher didn't stand to gain anything financially from her death there was no insurance policy the house in fact was in her name and her parents ended up being responsible for its sale his family didn't get any of the proceeds he didn't get any of the proceeds there was no financial gain however the medical examiner's findings were enough to allow investigators to obtain a warrant to search the suspect's house hidden in michael's closet they uncovered a secret stash of emails photographs and love letters but the items had nothing to do with michael's wife leanne it appeared michael fletcher had a mistress and more surprisingly she was a respected district court judge police in hazel park michigan suspected that the shooting death of 29 year old expectant mother leanne fletcher was no accident while looking for evidence to prove that her husband prominent local attorney michael fletcher was responsible investigators learned he had been having an affair with a respected district court judge detectives went to interview the 32-year-old judge when confronted with the evidence she admitted she and michael had been involved in a romantic relationship for about a year she said she last saw michael the night before leanne died he had come by her house michael hadn't mentioned that leanne was pregnant [Music] in fact he told his mistress that he and leanne lived like strangers and the only reason he stayed in the marriage was for the sake of his young daughter his true feelings were for the judge [Music] the judge who was also married was tolerant of the situation at least for the time being but she had one condition if she found out that michael was being intimate with leanne the judge would end the relationship immediately hazel park homicide detective thomas clayman realized he had just uncovered a possible motive when mr fletcher found out that his wife was pregnant caused us to believe that she could not find out the judge could not find out because if they were having sexual relations per her the relationship would be over detectives soon learned that it was more than just an affair that was at stake for michael emmy ruled it fletcher homicide in her statements to police the judge admitted that after she and fletcher became involved she had helped his career [Music] she made him the court appointed attorney in dozens of cases more than any other local attorney it translated into thousands of dollars of extra income for the ambitious lawyer crime writer tom henderson knew this story was as compelling as it was tragic this case is about a set of dynamics that you would only expect to come across in a made-for-tv movie you've got the really good-looking young attorney you've got the really good-looking vivacious wife you've got the powerful young pretty judge the triangle the classic triangle and you've got a dead woman on a floor it just caught everybody's attention it shows that he knew she was pregnant though police believed they had finally established a motive they struggled to find solid physical evidence that could prove michael fletcher was a cold-blooded killer but there was one item that had not been tested the shirt fletcher wore at the time of the shooting after reviewing the suspect's statement detective clayman realized the shirt might contain proof of the young attorney's guilt he stated that he was not in the room when the gunshot went off prosecutors wanted that shirt to test for the possibility of blood splatter or mist being on that shirt from the naked eye the shirt observed to be clean or without stain the human eye you could not see any of the stains it was then taken to michigan state police crime lab [Music] under a magnifying glass examiner david woodford could find no traces of blood but then on the cuff of the right sleeve he noticed tiny mist-like stains looking to identify the substance woodford placed the shirt under a stereo microscope under the high-powered lens he determined that the minute stains were in fact human blood their mist-like pattern was consistent with being high velocity blood spatter which are produced by the blowback from a firearm the evidence contradicted michael fletcher's claim that he was not in the room when his wife was shot more importantly the blood on the cuff put him within two feet of the victim when the bullet struck her head police finally had enough evidence to arrest michael fletcher and it came just in time when police arrived they found the suspect near a camper parked in front of the house michael fletcher was placed under arrest and charged with the murder of his pregnant wife [Music] the prosecution's contention is that this was a orchestrated well-planned homicide that took months to carry out he'd been nice to her for months he'd been sweet talking her getting into her good graces bought her car debt morning not because he loved her because he needed an alibi took her to the gun range not because he wanted her to share a hobby with him but because he needed to get gunpowder on her hands [Music] but this case was not over on august 19th the day of leanne's funeral michael fletcher's lawyer was granted the right to a second autopsy by a renowned medical examiner but he was at a disadvantage because the victim's body had been cleaned embalmed and her skull reconstructed however based on his experience and the size and location of the wound he believed that it was plausible that the gunshot wound had been self-inflicted dr dragovic did the first autopsy and his conclusion was pretty obvious this is murder this is not accidental or self-inflicted the defense hired their own medical examiner his results weren't conclusive at all which is fine for the defense they they just wanted someone to say this is not clear-cut but ultimately those findings were not enough to create reasonable doubt in the minds of jurors the evidence suggested that when michael fletcher learned his wife was pregnant he realized that his relationship with his mistress would be destroyed and there was too much at stake to simply let that happen [Music] after returning from the firing range michael saw his opportunity and took it michael fletcher was convicted of homicide in the second degree and sentenced to life in prison murder is the most senseless of human tragedies and strangely the most compelling writers are compelled to write about it readers are compelled to read of it and though forensics can never explain why someone is driven to kill it can provide us with the satisfaction of bringing the guilty to justice you

Channel: The New Detectives

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Keywords: The New Detectives, New Detectives, New Detectives Full Episode, Full Episodes, New Detectives Documentary, Crime, Crime Documentary, Crime Patrol, True Crime, True Crime Daily, Unsolved, FBI, FBI Files, Crime Stories, Crime Documentaries Full Episodes, Unsolved True Crime, Mystery, Solved, Investigation, Police, Criminal, Forensics, Forensic Science, Science

Id: C5AxuLyaXj0

Length: 49min 54sec (2994 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 24 2021