When a Killer Realizes His Victim Called for Help

hey you and welcome my name is Mike and in this whole video a woman was out driving in the city of Northport Florida it was a Winter's day but it was like mad nice out so I mean it is for so she was driving down the streets with her windows open as she pulled up to a red light however she heard something coming from the car in the lane next to her it sounded like yelling muffled screaming she looked over and she saw a man in the car and he was staring straight ahead and she couldn't see anything weird from here that was until a hand came up and started banging on the window before we get into it please click that little subscribe button to see new videos every single week now let's give this dark ass tail a [Music] goo let's begin in Northport Florida a smaller Community snuggled in between Tampa and Fort Meers home to the only natural natural warm spring in Florida it attracts people from all over the world due to its natural healing properties it's a Magic Spring population is just over 86,000 people in this fine area from the area was Denise Amber goof born August 6th 1986 to Rick and sug gof in Englewood Florida Rick ironically enough was a sergeant police officer in the charlot County police in 2008 Denise was the eldest child at only 21 years of age her sister Amanda aged 20 and younger brother Tyler 7 years younger aged 14 Denise growing up was always described was like a a wholesome child Rick would say he never had any problems he never worried about her like at all partying drinking boys there were never the typical problem she actually never dated until she met a certain Nathan Lee in high school her father said the only Stern interventions he ever had to really do was tell her to go to bed while she spent many a night staying up late doing her homework assignments although he he did mention she was a horrible driver and had a few kind of Bender Benders she loved Disneyland working with the disabled and was looking to become a speech therapist Denise graduated Magna come l or is it l which I think means there's lava in the bedroom or just means you did real good from Lemon Bay High School in 2004 and very quickly married Nathan Lee high school sweetheart on August 30th 2005 they went on to have son Noah soon after with Second Son Adam coming 2 years later n at just 21 years of age was a stay-at-home mom Nathan he worked tree jobs can of tree but but you know her being able to be a stay-at-home mother that was something that was like super super important for all of them they moved into a neighboring County to to a community that was pretty far from from their families but it gave them the life they they you know sought after a home in a rural neighborhood that they taught and pretty much everybody who lived there thought also very nice very quiet very safe Denise's father was not initially happy about his daughter's family living so far away but also set away from the hustle and bustle of Life nonetheless he understood the need for them to be able to afford a proper home and offer a good life to their kids now let's get to January 17th 2008 like many of the cases I I talk about it started out like any other typical boring ass day you know Nathan he was up and out to work out to his job one of his three jobs kind of three jobs that morning at this this today he was working as an electric meter reader and Nate and Denise they would talk pretty much constantly throughout the day as Denise was at home with the kids pretty much the entire time their last phone conversation was at 11:09 a.m. that morning when they discussed turning off the air conditioning and opening up all the windows of the house cuz it was well to save money and it was just a particularly beautiful day that January and Denise responded she had already opened all l in the house to to do some errand with that they said goodbye and Denise mentioned she was going to cut Noah's hair on the back deck that afternoon he called his wife then again at about 3:00 p.m. that afternoon when he was getting off work because they had discussed you know when he got home from work they would go shopping for groceries together but she didn't answer he didn't really you know think too much of it he said he'd call her again on the drive home he'd get her then over the 25-minute drive home he called Denise eight times and there was no answer eight times he didn't seem all too worried until he pulled into his driveway and all the windows were closed something like so innocuous that most people wouldn't even notice hit him like a freight train feeling a bit odd now he went into the house and then was anything but reassured the house was in a bit of a dis right to young kids at home it always will be in a bit of a disarray but that wasn't what what kind of startled him what did was the two boys sleeping in the same crib which they had never done before there was nothing missing no sign of horse entry either the only thing missing was Denise and Nate found Denise's phone and her keys on a on a couch in the living room he wasted no time and he called 911 right there right then emergency I just got home from work and my wife I can't find her my kids were in the house and I don't know where she is I've looked every single place and I don't know your kids are at home by themselves yes I don't know I have no idea she's never done this before no no no no no no I don't know where her mommy is this was the very first of five 911 calls made in Denise's case this was at 3:29 p.m. when Nate hung up with 911 he immediately called his father-in-law Rick who if you remember was a police sergeant of 25 years he was a police Sergeant in the neighboring County Rick had also been trying to get hold of Denise to invite the family over for dinner that night so when Rick saw that Nate was calling him back he assumed it was in regards to that what instead he heard was that his firstborn he his very first baby girl the the the the person who made him a daddy was missing he went into action like immediately and he knew that missing spouses don't necessarily get all the attention they should right from reget go and of course the first 48 hours in any case are the most vital towards solving it if you want a posit POS ending so he took action right away he called in favors and contacted colleagues in both counties Charlotte County where he worked and sarasoda County where Denise lived within a few minutes there were helicopters and officers canvasing the neighborhood one of their own needed help and they took it seriously one witness who they spoke to very early in this case was a Jennifer art who just happened to be be staying in the house that was right next to Nate's and Denise's and she said that at around 2:30 p.m. she saw a green Camaro pull up in Denise's driveway and she saw a white guy sitting inside that car according to Jennifer she saw him this guy was just sitting in the screen Camaro in the driveway not moving at all for like 15 minutes Jennifer went into her house then came back again outside about 10 minutes later and the car was gone and so when Nathan Lee was asked neither me nor my wife Denise know anybody who drives a green Camaro the police had at this point all hands on deck and with Jennifer's witness account they were able to put out a B on the lookout bolo for the Green Camaro at 6:14 p.m. after almost 3 hours of frantic searching and looking with no news 911 received the next call in regards to this case but at this time it was Denise herself she had somehow gotten the kidnappers phone and managed to call 91111 I'm sorry I just want to go hello what up why you do that I'm I just want to see my hello pleas hello hello please let me go hello help me what's the address what's the address that you're at in the call you can hear Denise screaming to help her and and she's sorry she just wants to see her kids again was smart the the daughter of a police officer and she was giving 911 operators key information while trying to stay discreet to her kidnapper what is the address hello ma'am where are we going what's your [Music] name are you on [Music] I75 where are we don't know where your phone is I'm sorry tell at all what street you're on no do you know this guy that's with you no she managed to tell the 911 operator her name the car she's in that her kidnapper is a stranger even the address of her house and that her kids are still there she was trying everything to get help and at the same time not to piss this guy off you can hear in the call the kidnapper saying where's the phone a few times with Denise saying I don't know she was you trying to say this all to to the 911 operator without alerting the kidnapper that she was using his phone at that very moment but eventually though after about 7 minutes he caught on and the call ended the officers quickly got audio of the call to both Rick and Nate to confirm Denise's voice their reaction was both scared and hopeful scared because it is indeed Denise and that's you know she's she's been taken that's that's not exactly the way you want to hear your wife's voice ever scared they have no idea where she is they have no idea how much time they have left but hopeful because she is still alive and if she's still alive there is still time quickly though their hopes were crushed when they found that the phone was not a traditional cell phone but the burner phone there was there was no way to track it except local cell tower pings which which take time and are not always 100% accurate not in real time but there is one thing they were able to trace the purchase of the phone to that of a Michael Lee King Michael Lee King was no one special he had no criminal record he was a 37-year-old plumber who was out of work down on his look and facing foreclosure on his home he was divorced from his wife Danielle who had left with their 12-year-old son Michael he came from a middle- class family of four boys at a Pontiac Michigan there is no direct reason as to why he picked Denise that house or any other motive for that day could have been as simple as just driving by seeing Denise out on the back porch cutting her her young son's hair and off so Nate and Rick were still processing Denise's terrified voice over that phone call and what they could do when another phone call comes in almost 10 minutes like to the Dot from the time Denise called in at 6:23 p.m. a call comes in from Sabrina mlo a woman called Sabrina Mel and she was in fact related to Michael Lee King she was the daughter of Michael Lee King's cousin so I guess that would make her his second cousin Sabrina had a very disturbing scene to report Sabrina went on to tell the 911 operator that Michael had come to her dad's house Michael's cousin Harold was his name to borrow a shovel a gas tank and something else she she couldn't remember she had been given some story that his lawnmower had gotten stuck in a ditch and he needed to dig it out or something like some [ __ ] so the shovel and the gas tank are alarming enough when you know that he's kidnapped somebody right but it gets just like a little little little bit worse folks go ahead caller yes what's the problem the girl came out of the like got out of the car and my C my Dad's cousin went and put her back in the car and when she got out okay where's your where's your dad's house um it's in North Flor Sabrina went on to report that as her dad Harold was talking to Michael a woman jumped out of Michael's car screaming at Harold call the cops and then she tried to run away Michael grabbed her pushed her back into the car and then tells Harold ah gr don't worry about it Harold was kind of just like what the [ __ ] did I just say okay we've been looking for this female you are just so wonderful to call us and give us this this information okay yeah Michael then took off with some terrified woman in the back seat and then you got Harold right who's like oh boy God just what that what was that all about call the cops she told me to call the cops what did she mean by that is that some kind of code you know o it's a real thinker I think I need a beer after that one got I got to dwell this over in the old Noggin he then called his daughter Sabrina to recount what had just happened and then told her he wasn't really too comfortable at calling the cops so Sabrina called 911 to tell this whole story I wish I was making all that up just 7 minutes later at 6:30 p.m. another 911 call came in this time it got routed to the Charlotte County District the same office Denise's father worked in the caller was a driver Jane Kowski who wanted to report what she thought was a child abduction in action she described coming to a stoplight and a dark colored Camaro stopped beside her but she can hear the most anguished terrifying cries coming from the car Jane was thinking what the hell is all this [ __ ] she looks over at the driver who's just staring dead ahead but eventually kind of like makes eye contact with her and Jane kind of you know gives him a look you know like what the f is that sound coming from your car like screaming have you get a very weird musical taste or what's going on here then she sees a hand banging on the back window of the car so uh yeah Jane then called 911 describing in real time what was happening and what direction this Camaro was going in she was ahead of King's car and trying to go slow so that so that he would pass her and she could then get his license plate and I was and a man pulled up next to me and there was a child screaming in the car got a theend blue Camaro like Camaro like in the 90s or something white nailed driver and it was a child screaming in the car anding on the window I've got everybody hollering at me and just one he's going to turn left on too blade he's turning left right now you want me to turn try to follow him or okay does he want her to follow him okay can you oh he just turn to Leal BL I don't know if I can catch up there's a bunch of traffic and I can't get over the 911 call as you can hear is chaos at best the dispatcher was was clearly flustered unsure as the had have Jane proceed and trying to relay the information verbally to other dispatches it appears maybe it was this 911 dispatcher's first day on the job but hey 91 recruiters maybe don't hire people who are going to get flustered like this person did Jane was asking you know should I follow this person what should I do Jane didn't have a clue like most people wouldn't know if they're witnessing an abduction in real time but it ended up being too late Michael was driving right behind Jane the entire time but eventually makes a turn she kept going forward by the time she realized it was too late she circles back around he was gone by this point it was over Tre hours since Denise's abduction and the police had tracked the phone to Michael King and to his residence they arrived at his home at 6:42 p.m. by the looks of his home they just missed him in the home they found what can only be described as a um rape room with duct tape with long strands of hair stuck to it this is a case which just got more and more horrific by 6:40 p.m. the last 911 call came in for Denise not sure exactly what the emergency is exactly but think somebody don't want to be where they need to be uhuh and a 95 B Camaro northp someone okay how do you know this I know the caller was trying to stay Anonymous calling from a pay phone he gave vague information indicating that the girl seemed like she didn't want to be there that the car was a green Camaro with a black bra on the front the whole call was awkward and it was finally revealed the caller was the father of the earlier caller Serena this was Michael's cousin Harold mow the same Harold mow who had to debate uh when a woman who was clearly kidnapped screaming at him to call the cops she had to like think that over and just like you know he confirmed that a white female was in Michael's car and seemed like she didn't want to be there when the female operator asked if she thinks Michael would hurt the girl he said he didn't know from there the police paid a visit to Harold's home where he confirmed the earlier encounter with Michael how he borrowed a shovel and a gas tank for his lawnmower and how he watched while this woman jumped out of the car and yelled for him to call the cops and then continued to witness Michael struggle with the girl for a good 30 seconds to get her back in the car and after that then was silence the leads stopped there was no more 911 calls related to the case helicopters dogs troops from other counties that worked with Rick were volunteering their time old reporter friend friends that had worked with Rick everyone and their dog literally came out to help look for Denise and no more news came in that is until 9:16 p.m. Rick gof had been listening to the police radio all night waiting for news finally a State Trooper reported on the radio that he had pulled over a vehicle matching the bolo a 1995 Green Camaro with a black brow on the hood the suspect was behind the wheel but there was no sign of any female no Trace just Michael and a shovel the news just continued to get worse as the state trooper asked Michael to step out of his car and and Michael Le King was soaked from the waist standand the shovel was muddy and the burner phone was found in his pockets with the battery removed I'm here because I I need to find out to you what what happened you're the only person right now that can tell us what happened we need to find where she is and we need to know find out from you what was going on no back at the station uh the police allowed Michael to speak to his to his cousin Harold and Michael had this batshit insane story of of how both he and Denise they were both victims of the kidnapping if he can believe it I know he can't not told I couldn't I tried to put 911 everything he didn't know where Denise was he had been blindfolded but Michael did take the police to the loc location where he said they had been which was a some random field out he was wasting their time given the 911 calls the witnesses the duct tape found in his house absolutely nobody believed his shite he was arrested and charged that night he stuck though to his bizarre as [ __ ] story and he never divulged where Denise was if she was still alive it was a long two more days of searching and scouring before the worst was confirmed Denise's body was found in a shallow ditch one single shot to the Head her body was just half a mile from where Michael had been arrested over the next few days of interviews police searches and news reports more things will come to light giving the story just a big old what if remember that 911 caller Jane Kowski he's going to turn left on Toledo Blade he's turning left right now you want me to turn try to follow him or okay do he want her to follow in well she saw all of this on the news in the following days and then so she called back up one I was like hey let's you know remember I I was there I made eye contact with Michael Lee King if you need me to know make a statement testify do whatever it is I I can come back in and tell you more of you know when I was trying to trying to find him trying to follow him whatever it was when she called in saying all that that was greeted by huh what what call there was no records from when she had called saying I am looking at an abduction in real time there was no information on that in fact when when Jane was on the phone to the dispatcher saying there's an abduction happening right here there was a patrol car like on that same street very close by they were just never informed of what was going on in fact a dispatcher that Jane was talking to pretty much recorded nothing about what was going on the dispatcher was just yelling across the room about you know hey this is happening listen to this I got everybody hollering at me and just one sec the dispatcher was thinking somebody was paying attention to what she was yelling that somebody was actioning it nobody was actioning it she was just nothing happened and because there was so much chaos that night it was forgotten about could things have been different could things had a happy ending if you know maybe certain um people didn't have butter fingers and actually were you know competent who knows it was gross negligence at the hands of Rick's own Department the 911 operators got a simple slap on the wrist a few days suspension and more training the trial for Michael King began in August 2009 it would turn out he had visited a gun range on the morning of the crime practicing his shots he then kidnapped Denise Amberly from her home the afternoon of January 17th 2008 he took her to his home where he tied her up and assaulted her several times then forced her into the Camaro again to visit Harold's home to borrow the shivel and gas that's when Denise jumped out of the car and yelled for him to call the cops from there witness Jane Kowski saw Denise what we know now was probably her last trip and likely on route to her final destination she was found with a single gunshot wound to the Head her bra laying nearby no gun has ever been recovered either given everything against them Michael had the balls to plead not guilty they gave him an IQ test and he was far below average intelligence no surprise there and a traumatic event from his childhood was brought up a devastating sledding accident that led to a divot in his rain I mean talk about reaching for straws but then again that is some something we see again and again with Killers is that having a traumatic head injury when you're quite young bump on the Noggin it can you know it can be an IND not an indicator but you know past indicator Michael Lee King's father was interviewed back in Michigan and he would like just my Michael he's Grand never gave me any trouble he's a good boy Moore was divulged about Michael and his life before he killed Denise Lee he lived at a home with his then girlfriend and her children neighbors just thought he was a weirdo but were now Ming forward saying he was a neighborhood Snoop and often peered into the windows of his neighbors and sometimes exposed himself even one neighbor said her family's interactions with him were far more intimidating they called the police on him numerous times for egging their house slashing their tires and pouring battery acid on their pool cage other than that though the majority of his neighbors said he was just really standoffish and quiet not talking to anyone really he eventually moved out of that home but it was thought the woman and her children remained there it appears that family and friends collectively agreed that Michael had changed and became more erratic and odd after his divorce from his wife and things seemed to go down hill from there it took jurors approximately 2 hours to find Michael guilty on all counts and he was sentenced to death on September 4th 2009 for the murder of Denise Hamber Lee the defendant is sentenced to be put to death in the manner prescribed by law with those words Michael King is escorted out of the courtroom the family of Denise Lee looks towards the heavens Justice was served um we had faith in the judicial system both state prosecutors and her family say the best witness throughout was Denise Lee herself without her we'd still be looking for her we'd still be looking for him um she's the one to turned us on to right from the beginning with her 911 call her husband Nathan Lee spent the moment remembering the 21-year-old Northport mother of two it's the most amazing person I've ever known and I want to thank her for being an amazing wife and an amazing mom to our kids because his sentence was death he was granted a mandatory appeal and to save you all the details he was found guilty again and his sentencing upheld December 2009 he appealed again in 2013 citing unfair initial trial due to his brain injury and low IQ among other things King also cited that the form of death he was sentenced to lethal injection was barbaric causing unnecessary suffering and harm again it was denied and his sentence was upheld in 2014 he is awaiting his death by a lethal injection in the Union Correctional Institution in Rayford [Music] Florida due to the mishandling of the 911 call from Denise's case Rick and Nate have worked hard to get additional training and mandatory certification for all 911 operators you know I I guess our family uh really decided early on that we were going to do what we had to do to to honor Denise and and make sure her death wasn't in vain following the 21-year-old's death Lee had started the Denise Amber Lee Foundation he speaks to and helps train 911 centers throughout the country using Denise's story when she and there you have it that the case of Denise Amberly a case where you know so many things could have and and should have gone so differently and could have ended like there's so many times when Denise could have been saved this could have been stopped but it just kept slipping through everybody's fingers through negligence through incompetence through just um being shitty really that's probably the only way to say it to I think everybody everybody dropped the ball basically and it end up costing a 21-year-old mother of two her life you know I like to end my uh videos with a little jokey joke or something but this one is like just that it's kind of hard to think of a little pun this this time so damnn um well sh thank you so much for watching uh it means the world to me as always folks that you're here uh so yeah here listen next video will be up in a couple of days so please uh look forward to that and you know has got like lots of videos or we'll also check out the that chapter podcast which has a brand new episode out every single Monday just did a two-parter on the DC snipers next week we're doing Gerald John schaer uh the serial killer Butcher and then after that there's some weird stories of a jetpack murder and massacres in chicken shops and all that sort of stuff so give it a goo um but yeah listen until then I'll talk to you you know please take care of each other and yourselves because guess what guess what I love you my [Music] you [Music]

Channel: That Chapter

Views: 885,369

Keywords: that chapter, denise amber lee, denise lee, michael lee king, michael king, north port florida

Id: T7e3y48Oa3k

Length: 28min 3sec (1683 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 20 2024