Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20161015

It is like somebody ambushed him. The only witness his wife with an unlikely story. A masked man shooting her husband and leaving her alive. Im worried did she kill him herself . Did she hire somebody . Did she get one of the children to do it . Or was the answer in this town oozing with outlaws. They were willing to fight and kill each over it. An oil field gushing secrets and suspects. Greed killed my dad. Greed is what caused all of this. I trusted a sociopath. Wild, isnt it, what can happen to a quite Little Prairie town when oil comes along. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Keith Morrison with a dangerous man. Pleasant landscapes of american privilege is a fine historic rise of land called the south hill. Here, for 100 years, has been the home of spokane, washingtons elite in their queen anne and craftsman mansions. Peace lives here. Quiet. Rectitude. And certainly not the kind of story were about to tell, the kind of story with ambitious men, dark plots and dames. I asked them. I said, am i just the dumb blonde who missed it or did everyone miss it . Reporter the one so many people missed before that dreadful event here in the wooded enclave of lifes winners. He thought that god was blessing him and my mom. We thought we were walking on water. Reporter here they were, empty nesters. All alone in their grand house on the south hill, convinced that their successes, their six grown kids, their good life, were products of an unflinching trust in god. You know, he finally got out of the desert and he was going to get into the promised land. Reporter yes, the promised land. Riches beyond imagining, as the notsodumbblonde knew so well. It was a madhouse. It was the wild west. Reporter so maybe thats why the thing on the south hill wasnt going to stay here. My life will never be the same. Im sorry. Reporter it was wintertime when it happened. Christmas season, 15th of december, 2013. A sunday evening, after church. 911, what are you reporting . Quick, south garfield. Theres been shots. A man just came in our house and shot my husband, i think. Reporter this is how our story began in an ugly splash of violence and terror. Whats your address . Hurry. South garfield. Hurry. Say that slower. What are the numbers . If he hears me hes going to shoot me. Reporter but was this the beginning of the story . Or the end . That was the evening Spokane Police detectives Brian Cestnik and Mark Burbridge were pulled into the strangest case of their careers. It was the most unique homicide i had investigated, and i knew that from the first moments of my involvement. Really . You just knew . Yes. Reporter it was cestnik who drove over first to the address in the south hill. Sort of place a homicide detective can go a whole career without visiting a single time. The house, its in a very upper class neighborhood. Yeah, the south hill, thats like, where you want to be in town, right . Right, i mean, the street that its on, id never been to before. Theres just not why would you as a homicide detective . Youre not going to go there, right . Theres just not yeah, theres just not crime up there in general, so it was very odd. Reporter the home, the detective learned, belonged to a businessman named doug carlile and his wife of many years, elberta. First responders had arrived sometime earlier, put up their crime scene tape. Cestnik walked into the house. It was just a weird scene all in all. This was december 15th. Theres Christmas Music playing throughout the house as were investigating. That would be bizarre. It was very bizarre. Theyre very religious people so theres religious, you know, scripture written on the walls, and then you have this horribly violent and gruesome murder with the body laying on the floor that youre investigating. It was a very, very odd scene. Reporter 63yearold doug carlile was lying on the kitchen floor, clearly the victim of a closerange shooting. There was a lot of blood around the body. A lot of shell casings, a lot of bullets laying around. How badly was this person damaged . Hed been shot seven times. It was obviously a very brutal attack. It wasnt just a one time shot, and then the person ran out. Clearly, somebody was making sure. Correct. Whoever had done this, we knew they wanted to make sure he didnt survive. Reporter and whatever had happened here didnt appear to have been motivated by burglary or robbery. The entire house was locked up tight. Windows. Doors. You know, he still had his wallet, he had his cell phone. Walking throughout the house, everything was still in place. It hadnt been ransacked, nothing was missing that we could find. Reporter it was elberta, dougs wife, who had called 911 in what sounded like a state of abject terror. Arriving First Responders had found her hiding in an upstairs closet. They took her downtown to talk to burbridge. Elberta, my name is mark. Im going to be the detective on this case. Im not very happy. I wanted to see my husband. They wouldnt let me see him. Reporter the detective was ready to sympathize, of course, but his training, his instinct, his eye told him not yet. Something looked a little off, here. What did you make of her . Shes unique. And some of her responses threw up red flags. Made me concerned about whether she was involved in this or not. What kind of responses . Eh, she didnt care about the police investigation. All she cared about was hugging her husband and praying for him and wanted to pray over his body, and she was very upset that the patrol officers would not let her do that. I want my husband. Theres nothing we can do for your husband right now. Well i couldve held him. I couldve told him i loved him. I couldve prayed for him. Reporter and then, when the detective asked what happened this is what happened. Elberta told a story, and neither the telling nor the story made any sense at all. Reporter a man, murdered in his own home. His wife, with a detailed account of exactly what happened. Should be helpful to police, right . It made me worry that she was making up the story. Reporter when we come back, why elbertas tale raised the eyebrows of investigators. Rehearsed is a good word. It sounded that way to you . Yes, it did. Lease a 2016 lincoln mkx for 349 a month. Only at your lincoln dealer. My challenge is to be in sync, with my body, myself, my life. It all starts with a healthy routine. Begin the activia two week probiotic challenge by enjoying activia yogurt with billions of probiotics everyday. Take the activia probiotic challenge at walgreens, youre free billions of probiotics everyday. Free to seize the savings on Medicare Part d. From onedollar copays on select plans to rewards points on all prescriptions, its easy to save big at walgreens. Just stop by walgreens. 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A nightmare happened. Thats what happened. Reporter and . Elbertas story said detective burbridge just didnt add up. All of a sudden i hear, its okay, its okay. And then i hear back off back off back off. And when i heard the back off i saw, i looked and saw a man standing there in all black. Her story was concerning, about a masked man wearing all black, coming into the house and shooting her husband and leaving and leaving her alive. It made me worry that maybe shed hired a hit man or maybe she was making up the story and she was involved in what happened. Reporter thing was the killer saw elberta. She came right out and said so they stared at each other soul to soul. So why would a hitman leave an eyewitness alive . Unless, she was in on it. Im worried whether she had a motive. Money, jealousy, a boyfriend, he has a girlfriend shes mad about. Did she kill him herself . Did she hire somebody . Did she get one of the children to do it . These are all my concerns. Reporter besides, said burbridge, hes seen many people caught by sudden violence and grief. And elberta was agitated, certainly, but to his practiced eye, her emotional reaction was somehow flat, as if practiced. It bothered him. How long had you been home . It happened instantly when we got home it was like somebody ambushed him. Reporter the way she told her story about a masked man killing her husband of 42 years . It almost seemed like it was rehearsed, or like she thought about this and what could i say . Rehearsed is a good word. It sounded that way to you . Yes, it did. Reporter but you dont have to take it from the detective we were able to arrange an interview with elberta, too. My whole life was over as i knew it. Reporter elberta told us that when she and her husband returned from church that evening they drove through the gate of their property as usual. He goes, ill get the gate, you get the door. Did everything look pretty much the same as when you left . No, no, it just didnt feel right. So i started to head up the stairs by this time, and yeah, i got all the way to the top of the stairs and i started down the hall when i heard muffled noises. I headed right back down the stairs. And i got down all the way to the bottom of the stairs, and i called out to doug and i said, doug is somebody here and i looked to my leftand the man was standing right in front of the doorway and how far away from you . Ten feet at the most. Nine feet and i looked at him. And it was a man, all in black and he had a mask on. And he had a gun pointed to where i knew my husband was standing. So you couldnt see doug . You just saw this man . I couldnt see doug. I only saw this man in black. He had a mask on. Only thing i could see was his eyes and he looked at me. He never moved the gun. And he blinked three times. And i thought why is he blinking at me . But then i would think why is that guy in my House Holding a gun . What i thought was oh my god, what do i do . Hes gonna kill me before i get up the stairs and i pulled myself up the rail, up the stairs because my legs wouldnt work. And i was just starting down the hall when i heard multiple shots. Did you realize right away what must have happened . Oh absolutely. I knew my husband had to have been shot and so i thought, i gotta hide. Reporter elberta ran toward a closet on the homes 2nd floor, she said, shut the door and called 911. Please hurry, please hurry. Oh my god hes gonna hear me. Okay, stay on the line for me, okay . Oh my god. Somebody just shot my husband, i think. Oh god hurry. Find me. Im hiding in the closet. Okay, i want you to stay on the line. Do you remember what it felt like in there . What you felt like . Oh sheer desperation, just sheer desperation. Just this overwhelming need to go to my husband. I wanted to go to him. I wanted to comfort him. I wanted to tell him i loved him. I wanted to tell him it was gonna be okay. I wanted to pray for him. Oh please hurry please just please. Hes fired shots. Six shots. He had a gun, and he was dressed in black. Reporter when the police arrived, they found elberta in the closet. I said, i want to go to my husband. They said, well theyre working on him. And i said no i wanna go see him. Please let me go to my husband and they said, no you cant go down there. Did you ever get to see him that night . No. No. Reporter now elberta found herself face to face with detective burbridge. Trying to get him to believe a story about a masked killer who stared right at her and yet, left her alive to tell the tale. I mean that sounds a little made up almost, doesnt it . Yes it does. It sounds hollywood. Have you ever heard of a case where somebody laid eyes on a witness to him killing someone and didnt take any action . Ive never had that happen. So you wouldve expected something . At least an attempt. Reporter but there was something in elbertas story that night that did make sense. Before the murder, as she and doug drove to church, she said, they saw something out of place. There was a van, kind of sitting like up against the curb. A white van. Like it didnt belong there or something . Yeah. Reporter a white van. As police canvassed the neighborhood after the murder, a witness across the street said she saw it too. She had come home around 5 oclock that evening and noticed a white van parked in front of her house. And it was parked in a way that made her nervous to the point she thought maybe someone was breaking in. I mean why would she be suspicious of a van . Right. It was a van shed never seen before and in that neighborhood, everyone knows everyone. Reporter question was what did the white van have to do with the murder of doug carlile . Or the cops wondered with his wife elberta . Reporter coming up. A neighborhood Security Camera what tales would it tell . All you could really see is that it was a subject appeared to be a muscular build. Wearing all black. When dateline continues. Upgrade seasons here. I got my new iphone 7 from sprint. Sprint . Im hearing good things about the network. All the networks are great now. Were talking within a 1 difference in reliability of each other. And, sprint saves you 50 on most Current National carrier rates. If you got 1 more haircut than me today, would you really pay twice as much . No i wouldnt. Copy that vo switch to sprint and get iphone 7. Plus save 50 off most Current National carrier rates. Dont let 1 difference cost you twice as much. For people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay. Com. For people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay. Com. Whoooo for color this bold and hair this nourished . Garnier nutrisse ultra color with avocado, olive and shea oils. It nourishes hair to boost color. From dull brown to our bluest black. Nutrisse ultra color. Nourished hair. Bolder color. And gave one prego traditional and one ragu traditional. This is what happened. Thats because even ragu users prefer the taste of prego traditional twotoone. They prey on our children, spending billions. Addicting 17,000 California Kids each year. Eventually killing onethird of them. Now Tobacco Companies are spending millions to. Defeat prop 56. Because in every state thats raised tobacco taxes, smoking rates go down. So who are you going to trust . Pediatricians, cancer groups and the califronia pta who all. Support prop 56. Or the Tobacco Companies trying to kill it. Vote yes on 56. Reporter up here on spokanes tony south hill, beat cops and detectives fanned out around a neighborhood utterly unused to violent crime. Theyre just sitting there, and im really freaked out. Reporter of course in many if not most neighborhoods in america, a parked white van might not attract a bit of attention. Maybe im just being paranoid, but its really bizarre that a van like that would be in this neighborhood. Reporter but this is the south hill after all, nondescript white vans dont just show up and hang around here. So the neighbor noticed, and then, doug carlile winds up murdered. We dont know if it was related or not, but it was obviously something that we considered immediately. Reporter and again, this being the south hill, another neighbor had the wherewithal to provide a special kind of help. A homeowner in the neighborhood had a video camera that covered his driveway. And we picked up what we thought was the van about two hours before the murder. Reporter here it is, that video. And sure enough, a white van coming and going on the streets of the south hill that night. But did it have anything to do with the murder . And what about that man in black elberta said she saw . If he actually existed, hired killer or whatever, he must have waited somewhere around the house for the carliles to get back from church. He could have killed doug carlile and then possibly escaped in that white van. No one saw anyone going out the front door, but what about back here, behind the house . They called in a tracking dog, stood back and watched. Basically, the track went through some arborvida, over a little fence, through the neighbors back yard and in the very back corner of their yard is a gate that was left open. And just before the gate, there was a puddle of water, and there was a good footprint in that puddle of water. And it was apparent that it was fairly recent. Could be your guy. Could be our guy. Just beyond that, just outside the gate, there was what appeared to be a welding glove, lying in the leaves. A welding glove . A welding glove. So right away we thought, is this something that may have been dropped . But it was odd enough and in a place that we knew the suspect had run after the incident, that we ended up collecting it as evidence. Not really knowing whether that had anything to do with your murder. Correct. We didnt know. You know, in Something Like this where its a complete whodunit, you know, you take everything and hope something ends up helping your case. Reporter they kept looking. So did the dog. Just beyond where the welding glove was found was a small wooded area, and across the street, an elementary school. Which meant maybe the schools Security System could get them a picture of the guy. Another detective was able to get that video almost immediately. Reporter and sure enough, when they looked at the video, there he was. We actually saw a suspect, and saw a path that he ran. Could you tell who it was or very much about him . It was very grainy video. All you could really see is that it was a subject appeared to be a muscular build wearing all black. Reporter all black. He was hard to make out, but there he was in the video. The elusive man in black running toward a main road. When detective burbridge arrived and got a look at this i had done a lot of homicides, and at that point i thought, that this is a professional hitman, probably unrelated to our victim at all, or the person involved in this. And i went and found my lieutenant. I knew that this was going to be a very complicated investigation, and we needed a lot more manpower to get very fast on the case further down the road. Reporter and so in a matter of hours, detectives were called in from all over the department. Time off was cancelled. So many questions to answer. What else did the neighbors see . What did that welding glove have to do with anything . And who was the man in black . And, a more basic question, was elberta carlile involved in a plot to kill her husband . Coming up even elberta admits their marriage had seen its share of trouble. I did something drastic. 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[heartbeat] people would ask me that we traveled,ntries what is your nationality and i would always answer hispanic. So when i got my ancestry dna results it was a shocker. Im from all nations. It puts a hunger in your heart to want to know more. Well, if you want to sing out, sing out and if you want to be free, be free cause theres a million things to be you know that there are and if you want to be me, be me and if you want to be you, be you cause theres a million things to do you know that there are reporter as police combed the south hill looking for evidence and suspects in the murder of doug carlile, his wife reporter but police 101, the victims nearest and dearest often becomes prime suspect number one. And elberta, with her wild story, was certainly no exception. And then, detective burbridge was able to get a close look at the early evidence, and especially that video of the running man in black. Immediately it became apparent to me that whoever did this had reconnoitered the scene and spent time planning this because of the very elaborate escape route. Made me concerned that elberta was probably telling the truth about who was involved and what happened. Reporter when burbridge saw all that planning along with the videotape showing a man in black, he thought it far less likely elberta carlile was anything but a victim. But in her brain, while the detectives kept going on about this question or that, two thoughts blocked out all else. Her desire to see her husband, and an overwhelming need to tell her children what happened. I went to call them, and i couldnt even see the numbers. I couldnt, i was just frantic. And i said to the police, help me. And then i thought, wait you cant help me. You dont even know who im looking for. Reporter but finally, an hour away in the town of moses lake, the phone rang at the home of shane carlile. I received a call from my mother. We were hanging ornaments on the christmas tree. She said that, just in a kind of screaming panic, shane, your dad. Your dad. He was shot six times. You called everybody . Yeah. The thought hadnt even sank in yet. It was just a straight up, okay, lets get to work. Lets figure out what we have to do. I started contacting everybody, and id have to listen to everybodys cries and screams over the phone. Reporter the carliles eldest, melainee, was at her own daughters ballet recital across the state near seattle. He goes, dads been shot. And i said, what do you mean dads been shot . Dad has been killed. Reporter and so melainee greeted her daughters after the recital with the news about grampa. Oh, they loved their grandpa. He was the greatest to them, to all three of them. They had a really Good Relationship with him. Reporter it was a relationship that almost wasnt for any of them. Doug and bertie, as he liked to call her, were teenaged sweethearts, married young. And, as often happens, even as their family grew, their marriage shriveled. What happened . Life happens. Reporter bertie found god. Doug did not. The closer i got to the lord, its like the further we got apart. Reporter until it became clear to bertie, she wont go into details, that she and doug were doomed. Unless . I did something drastic. I left him without his knowledge. Did you take the kids with you . Oh, of course. So you went off on your own with four kids . Uhhuh. No job. No nothing. Yeah. To a city i didnt know. Reporter to seattle, 350 miles from the little town in oregon where they lived back then. Her church kept her going. While doug, well, heres the story according to bertie. He kept guns, said bertie, lots of them. And, lost and alone, he decided to use one on himself. As he crawled toward those guns, he said that he heard this horrid voice that said hes mine and then he heard another voice that said, no hes not. He belongs to me. And it was a thunderous, authoritative, shookthewholeroom voice. And the next thing he knew he felt arms picking him up and putting him on the bed. He told you this . Yes. He told me this months later. Reporter quite a story. The one that got doug saved and back with his family. After that, he started an excavation business. And as his kids grew up, six of them, many followed him. It became the family business. Hes a salesman, you know . He can talk you into something. A charmer . Yeah, totally. A total charmer. What was his business philosophy . Was he a numbers crunching guy, or was he a handshake guy . He was a handshake guy. He expected his word and a handshake was good. And he knew it was. He expected that of others. And that isnt always true. Reporter and there were setbacks. Two bankruptcies. Trouble with the irs. A string of failed businesses and fallings out with Business Partners who accused doug of being less than honest and of not paying his bills. How would doug react to those . He never gave up. And we always took care of what we owed. And we would move forward. Reporter and as he entered midlife, doug carlile seemed content doing deals while his sons shane and seth ran the business. Hed give the shirt off his back to anybody. He just had a huge heart. He had enough room in it for everybody. Huge heart. And taught you what you know . Absolutely. Every aspect of the business. Every aspect of life. Reporter when the kids were grown, doug and bertie ended up in spokane to be near their favorite church, whose pastor preached the prosperity gospel. That is, the idea that god rewards true belief with financial success. And they certainly looked successful when they bought that sprawling house on the south hill. They wanted to get an older house like that because its something they love, but they also always wanted all the family to come for all the holidays and spend it with them. So theres a bedroom for everybody. We all had our own room. It worked out pretty good. Did it look to you, as if your dad and your mom were finally at the place where they were on the top of the hill . They were doing the best i ever saw them do. They were happy. They had got it. Theyd figured it out. Reporter but now doug carlille was dead, and detectives tallied up the signs of his earthly wealth. Still parked in the drive, elbertas new mercedes. Dougs new pickup. And inside, in dougs office, documents detailing the familys fortune. There was a lot of financial paperwork, and the one that struck me immediately there was loan paperwork that appeared mr. Carlile had filled out for different businesses, and they had his net value at between six and 12 million depending on which piece of paper you looked at. Reporter and then, there were the documents the detectives couldnt read. That is, the ones written in arabic. Who was doug carlile . Successful, godfearing businessman . Or what . Coming up revelations, about the company he kept. They may have a reason to be pretty mad at him . Our suspect list kept growing. Reporter even seasoned detectives are surprised. I just dont believe in coincidences like that. Reporter when dateline continues. After 40 years of making soup at progresso, weve learned chicken is king. And so were now using 100 antibiotic and hormone free white breast meat chicken in all our chicken soups. Long live chicken reporter it was obvious now, no getting around it. Spokane detectives burbridge and murdered while Christmas Music filled his big old house. It was almost a surreal surreal scene, you know . The house is decorated for christmas. Christmas music playing. Reporter perhaps some answers would come from what detectives found in dougs office. Documents. Half in english. Half in arabic. And those they could read were very interesting indeed. There was prefilled out paperwork promising yknow, 100 percent return on investment in 90 days if youd invest in their company. Reporter so it appeared that your victim had been promising people huge returns on investment . Correct. He had a whole binder with paperwork and it included names of people who had bought into this and invested. Reporter wait a minute. Who offers a one hundred percent return so fast . Was this for real . The names, reports and records all seemed to be related to one thing. We ended up finding a lot of paperwork related to the oil business in north dakota. Reporter the oil business . Why that . Doug carlile, remember, was an excavator, not an oil man. But of course a whole army of ambitious hard working men had fled established careers to grab for a piece of the wealth dangled so enticingly by north dakotas oil fracking boom. Thus were prairie towns on sudden steroids. And man camps bursting with pentup testosterone. By the time doug met his awful fate in december 2013, the wild blackgold rush around the Bakken Oil Fields had peaked. But investors looking for a big payday wouldnt have known that yet. And with great wads of eager cash they chased a stake in what they hoped might be billions still in the ground. Apparently doug carlile was one of them. According to his family, he got turned onto oil by a friend who knew a guy. He told us about north dakota. hey, its boomin there you should go check things out and see whats happening. Reporter first, doug partnered in a Trucking Company that served north dakotas many oil rigs, an outfit called blackstone, started by the guy his friend introduced him to. And then, opportunity knocked. One of those opportunities of a lifetime ordained from above, according to doug. The whole thing kinda fell into his lap. And i think he thought that this was his calling from god is move forward in that lease. Reporter an oil lease, that is. A lease that would give doug and any partners he could bring in the exclusive right to drill for oil on 640 acres of land on the mha indian reservation. The catch was that sort of opportunity doesnt come cheap. Reporter so you had to raise some money . Oh yeah. The lease was almost two million dollars. Reporter and to raise that, doug carlile tapped his friends around washington state. His Business Partners, even his kids i put a hundred thousand dollars into it. And it wasnt for a return or anything it was to help him with his dream, to fulfill that. Reporter but the next step to fulfilling dougs dream was even more daunting. Finding investors to pay for drilling as many as eight wells on the property. That price was much steeper. More than 100 million dollars. But . The potential payoff was immense. And, doug firmly believed, gods will, a reward for his faith. We thought we were walking on water. Yknow with this whole deal we thought, this is a miracle i remember him telling us, you know, im going to make millions of dollars. And this is going to be it. This is going to be for our family. And were all going to be rich. We sat on the couch one day and he said, what would you do if you had all the money you could ever want . i said so if we had this money then we would use it to serve the lord, to serve ministries, to serve people, our family. Reporter but now all those good intentions, all those dreams were gone. Now detectives slogged through the paperwork on doug carliles desk. Those documents in arabic . Turned out to be a scam a con man was trying to run on doug but, doug, they could see, had been making promises too to investors. Promises he couldnt keep. And he must have known it. 100 percent return, practically overnight . Impossible. Meaning these were partners who had come in, and now he may owe them a tremendous amount of money. Or they may have a reason to be pretty mad at him . Our suspect list kept growing. Reporter how many partners did that guy have anyway . About ten that we could find. There may be more. Reporter detective burbridge began calling dougs partners. And discovered though most of them lived in or around washington any one of them who could be considered a person of interest was hundreds. Or thousands of miles away from spokane the night doug was murdered. It concerned me greatly, i just dont believe in coincidences like that. Reporter what, its a coincidence that they just happen to be not there . Correct. Reporter in other words, they may have planned not to be there when something was going to happen . Yes, yes, sir. Reporter where do ya go . I mean, you know, do ya know which one to target or which i was running this investigation eventually in about eight directions, trying to eliminate a lot of Business Partners seeing if mr. Carlile had a secret life. Did he owe somebody else some money . cause he had a lot of failed business dealings in his other businesses. And so, i had i had a lotta concerns. Reporter angry exBusiness Partners . Angry current Business Partners . And what, if anything, did she have to do with it . Yeah. I mean, obviously i didnt know at the time what he was doing. Reporter coming up. Detectives learn about a charismatic couple kneedeep in dougs oil venture. They looked like ken and barbie. And then investigators have finally have someone to question. Were going to Start Talking about some things honestly here. Okay, thats fine. People are telling me youre the shooter. Im not a customer, but im calling about that credit scorecard. to dog give it. Sure its free for everyone. Oh well thats nice and checking your score wont hurt your credit. Oh to dog im so proud of you. Well thank you. Get your free credit scorecard at discover. Com. Even if youre not a customer. Power, power to the lord power, power to the lord power lord reporter elberta carlile was inconsolable. Reporter elbertas eldest daughter melainee left her own family for awhile to stay with her mom, try to keep her sane. She would wake up screaming every single night, and there was nothing i could do besides just hold her. It was horrible. Reporter the very thing the carliles hoped would create wealth, security, happiness, had brought instead nothing but grief. But remember, this, the evidence suggested, was a hit job. Somebody must have ordered dougs execution. So now the detectives tried to figure out who. Did you guys have any disputes with anybody . Yes. Reporter inevitable, probably, when high stakes investors go after a prize like an oil lease. And doug had been promising potential investors returns that, so far, just hadnt materialized. Any number of partners might have felt theyd been taken for a ride. But who . Elberta, who was no longer a suspect, offered a possibility. Who did you have a dispute with . His name is James Henrikson. Reporter James Henrikson. He was the man whod gotten doug interested in the oil play in the first place. The man who, with his wife sarah, were known as the barbie and ken of the oil patch. This guy worked for them. His name is rick arey. For lack of a better term, they stuck out like a couple of turds in a punchbowl. Reporter well, one way to put it. James met sarah at a drive through coffee stand. She was a barista. What was he like . Very cool, calm, collected, you know, older man. Good looking. He was fun and wed always go out. He was nice. It was easy, you know, i never thought id ever marry him or go do business with him. Reporter but thats what she did. They moved to the oil patch in 2011, got married in minot, north dakota. And by 2013, he was the charismatic face of a major trucking operation called blackstone, and she was the blonde on his arm and a Senior Company official. Sarah signed the checks. Blackstone was the business doug first invested in before he got interested in the oil lease. It was a big operation, 100 trucks hauling water to and from oil fracking sites. Very profitable. James let it be known that he was backed by a billion dollar trust fund. You know, i was like, this guys a winner. A lot of money around . They were doing well . Absolutely. Was the Company Making money . It sure seemed like it. Reporter and james was tough. Buff. All man. Itd be 20 degrees outside, and hed be wearing a tshirt. Everyone else has got a little shiver, hes like, standing there shivering. But hes making sure his arms are pumped up. Hes a buff guy. Yes. He wants you to see his guns. Hes showing them off, and then theres, you know, their perfectly white teeth and their tans. They looked like ken and barbie. They didnt fit in at all. Reporter not a nickname sarah took to, mind you. No, i feel like i have somewhat of a brain. I dont want to just be called a barbie. Well, youre living in a town of men . Uhhuh. All 92 to one. Jacked up on testosterone. Oh, yeah. I mean, it was rough. I hated it. It was miserable. Every day was a plan on how to get out. But with him . Because well, yeah, i mean, we wanted to leave the oilfield, but he just saw so much opportunity and money. Hes just like, one day, well get there. Reporter doug carlile liked james and sarahs entrepreneurial style a lot. So when the chance to buy an oil lease came up, they went in on it together. James kicked in 600,000. Doug, only 40,000. They needed 2 million, remember. Yet doug was saying hed be taking over. There were disputes then over control and money, and accusations flew. In fact, said dougs son seth he basically said, im concerned with what james is going to try to do. That was serious. And he said that you know, if anything happens to me, you know, its James Henrikson. Reporter but, like the other partners, James Henrikson was far, far away when doug was killed. 700 miles away in watford city, north dakota. Detectives pinged his phone. Confirmed it. And then something happened that seemed straight out of some noir detective novel. Detective burbridge put out a plea for information from anybody who had done business with doug carlile. And what do you know, in walked a guy who could just as easily have been a murder suspect himself. Thanks for coming down voluntarily today. Reporter his name was robert delayo. Career criminal, gang member and sometime police informant. Hed served time in prison on manslaughter, drug and weapons charges. I had researched his criminal history and knew that he had a very significant criminal history, so i was concerned that he was he my hit man . Or what was his involvement in this . Reporter delayo knew doug carlile. He also knew James Henrikson. Why was he here . To tell the cops, just in case they were wondering, that he didnt have anything to do with the murder. Did you shoot doug . No. No. Did you drive somebody up there to shoot doug . No. No. I had nothing to do with it. Nothing. Reporter but burbridge had seen a thing or two. He pushed. Were going to Start Talking about some things honestly, here. Okay, thats fine. And im going to have a hearttoheart with you. Okay, thats fine. Thats fine. People are telling me youre the shooter. That is a hell no. You know what . That night i was in watford city, north dakota. You went after him pretty hard, right . Actually accused him of murder . I did. How did he respond to that . He denied it when and didnt even flinch. Did you think he was your guy . I did not think he was the guy. So whyd you do that . Sometimes you do things, try to pressure people or put them under pressure to see their reaction or and he did not flinch. Reporter the detectives asked delayo to take a polygraph, and he did. Did he pass the test . Yes, he did. Reporter so, curious, certainly, but a real lead or a dead end. Hard to know. So burbridge and his team of investigators kept working other leads, and christmas happened. Sort of. It was really a rough christmas. I look back on pictures, we had smiles on our faces. But you werent really smiling, and my mom, it was so hard to watch her because she wanted to give the grandkids gifts, but she was just like, almost like a zombie. You cant just not have christmas, you know, but nobody felt like it. Reporter but grief wasnt all the family was feeling. A debilitating fear took hold, too. Whoever killed their patriarch might not be done. We armed ourselves. I spent about 10,000 on a Security Camera system around the house. We went out and bought an attack dog, a german shepherd. Reporter meanwhile, the detectives hit the road. And thats when they discovered something truly shocking. Doug carlile wasnt the only victim of the weird goings on around the oil patch. Coming up for this investigator, a tantalizing tip at his fingertips. I clicked on it and a flyer came up that basically said, beware of these two people. Reporter and then, a potential suspect give cops the brushoff. He leaned out the door and slapped me on the shoulder, and then he shut the door. Reporter when dateline continues. Come on, dad. they tell me im wrong to want to stand alongside my, my love whoa, talkin bout my love talkin bout my, my love you ready, dad . Whoaooh oohoohoohoohooh, oohooh whoaooh but when we brought our daughter home, that was it. Now i have nicoderm cq. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. Its the best thing that ever happened to me. Every great why needs a great how. Get with huge deals right now at lowes. Like 15 off all special order doors and windows. Plus get 10 off appliances 396 or more. 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Detectives are searching for a white van seen that night, but they are about to discover another murder, in another state, that could hold the key to the carlile case. Here again is Keith Morrison. It was all too clear this had to have been a professional hit. Burrbridge would need all the help he could get and now nearly 20 investigators chased the scattered clues. Di youve need them all. I kept them busy. One detectives job was to get the white van. The van was unique enough that it was an after factory extended van they make for professions and once we identified the make and model we had the vans registered in spokane county and there were 75 of them. That possibly fit the description. Yes, sir. Every one of the vans had to be tracked down and the welding glove, the one found outside of the back gate, maybe the killer dropped it as he escaped or maybe it just happened to be there. They swabbed it for dna any way. At my desk i got a hit on a Ripoff Report and i clicked on it and a flyer came up and said beware of these two people. What do you know, the ken and barbie of north dakotas oil patch James Henriksen and his wife. They are known frauds, running fraud schemes in north dakota. Dont do any business. As detectives figured out by now, rivalries, disputes and grievances were ripe around that project which they were involved. The Ripoff Report was put out as a flyer in stores and businesses around the oil patch. It was pay back apparently. One particularly disgruntled partner. But then not everyone was a boy scout. James, for example, had a criminal record going back to his teens. Any way, when detective read the flyer his eye landed on a curious detail. One of james employees, a man named k. C. Clark had up and disappeared. I printed it off and handed it to mark and said what do you think of this . What did you think. The first time we heard of that name. Who was k. C. Clark . He was funny, well mannered. Didnt take long to find out. K. C. Was an old friend of James Henrikson. He moved to the oil patch to work for henrikson at black stone. What did you do, the two of you . Wed go to the bar, chase the girls, do the normal things guys do during the boom. You know. Rick and k. C. Were superintendents for the Trucking Company which sara was helping to run. How were you involved. I worked with the accountant an made sure they got signed off, payroll turned in on time to the accountant, a middlemanner the paperwork. Hurp a minor partner, you put it that way. It was james show for sure. People saw me all the time. Time off was rare and they made secret plans to work for a rival Trucking Company. He was extremely worried about james finding out about this whole transition. On february 22nd, 2012, k. C. Dropped briefly in to black stones headquarters and then was gone. So, did he leave in a huff, or was it Something Else . Because nobody ever saw him again. He had been missing two years. James henrikson had to know something about k. C. Clark and doug carlile. And so the two got in to a car and drove 700 miles to watford city. The home of James Henrikson and his sara. We went to the side door. In the garage was a 2yearold bentley, flat tires, almost laying on its belly. Bentley, an almost new bentley . Obviously not taking care of it at all. No. Sara answered the door, very pleasant said detective i haves and went to get james. How did james greet you . Did he tell you a story . Did he sit you down for a cup of tea, what . He leaned out the door and slapped me on the shoulder and said too bad you drove all that way. My attorney told me not to talk to you. And you got nothing. Nothing. Sglm rude reception tell you anything. He was a big man, bragged he was benching 500 pounds and looked like it. Where wolf fangs when he reached out to belittle me. Nothing to do but suck it up and drive 00 miles home again empty handhood. Along the way the detective got a blood clot, nearly killed him. A month after the murder they have suspects, oh, yes. But nothing was coming together. Coming up, timely a clue and its a big one. The top of the paper is the word glove. And she will get away on google earth. And who does it point to . Jackpot. Jackpot. A different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75 skin clearance at 3 months. While the majority saw 90 clearance. Do not use if you are allergic to cosentyx. Before starting, you should be tested for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. Such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. 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I lost my mom too. Because she wasnt the same person for a really long time. Reporter and adding insult dougs secrets were exposed for the whole world to see. That big house on the south hill . Heavily mortgaged. The fancy cars . Not paid for. The paperwork that claimed he was worth millions . A facade. Doug carlile was flat broke. Hadnt even bought life insurance. Reporter did you ever feel angry at all at doug for not providing more, like an insurance policy or something . No, not at all. Because he was a very good provider all the days that he was alive. I really didnt believe in insurance policies like that. I believed in trusting the lord for our finances and thats what we did. Reporter secrets . Just another casualty as the little army of detectives searched the neighborhood for clues. Like, for example, the strange find that turned up on the killers escape path. That weirdly out of place welding glove. They swabbed it for dna. On the off chance, really just a shot in the dark, that something in or on that glove might match a known person. Like a felon, say whose dna would be stored in a data bank. And how about that. It did. Reporter what was the name . Timothy suckow. Reporter have you ever heard that name before . I have never heard the name before. Reporter who was Timothy Suckow . A violent individual. Been to prison for robbery. Reporter what did you think when you found this out . I thought this could be our guy. Reporter was he local . He was local. He was working at irs environmental, which is an Asbestos Removal company. Reporter they dont drive around in white vans by any chance, at irs, do they . I checked that list and lo and behold, irs environmental and behold, irs environmental was one of the companies that owned a van that matched our van in the video reporter well well well. What were the chances . Timothy suckow must have been the musclar man in black, seen on this video running for dear life toward the equally mysterious white van. They looked him up. He lived in the suburbs. A wife, kids. His house was 10 miles from the murder scene. We had the swat team sitting on him for about 12 hours waiting for him to move because we didnt wanna take him at his house, with the potential of firearms. Reporter but when suckow and another man left the house the police moved in to make the arrest. Here, a few hours later, the police photographed suckows many tattoos. Mr. Suckow is a very hardened, prison type individual. Very large man. 275 pounds of solid muscle. Well give you a few minutes, we got some paperwork to do and stuff like that to do. Well let you know whats going on. Reporter when the interview began, detectives made no bones about it. They thought they had suckow deadtorights. Today is a day to help yourself out. I didnt come to you by accident. Okay . My killer left something up at the house, and your dna is all over it. No joke. The van for work that you drive is on my video up there. You guys are scaring me now. You should be scared. Youre looking at federal conspiracies to commit murder, fraud, and life in prison. [ bleep ] [ bleep ] yeah. Yeah but do i need a lawyer before we do anything . Thats your choice. Probably be smart, huh . Some serious accusations youre makin. at this point were probably beyond accusations. Youre under arrest. Ok. You can help yourself out. You can take me to jail and well iron this out in court because you guys are out of your tree. Im not kidding you about having your dna im not kidding you either man i have your dna up there. Okay lets go to [ bleep ] jail and take it to court. Reporter Timothy Suckow was done talking. And . He just looked me in the eye and laid down his head and went to sleep. Reporter seriously . Seriously. Its like a big emotional release to em that its finally over. Reporter after that the detectives rounded up some search warrants for suckows house and his car. In his car, we found a very significant piece of evidence. Reporter what was that . This piece of notebook paper with a list of items to be done. At the very top of the paper is the word glove with a question mark. And then, theres statements about wheel man and wing man, show getaway route on google earth, practice with pistol like that. Reporter thats almost like a confession right on a note pad, right . It reporter who, what killer makes a list of todo list of things to do . It was a todo list of how to prepare to go do this murder. Reporter what did ya think when you saw that . Its almost hollywoodlike. It was kinda shocking to find that. Reporter yeah. This is a month after the murder and we arrest who we believe is our shooter and he has a todo kill list in his car. I mean you cant make this stuff up. Reporter suckow also had a storage unit where a surveillance camera picked up a white van pulling up soon after the murder. Suckow had to be their shooter. Question was, who put him up to it, and why . Suckow wouldnt tell them. Refused to say a word. So then they got a search warrant for his phone. His contact list said, james in nd. Reporter jackpot. Jackpot. So that was the that was the first time we had ever connected him with henrikson. Reporter james and sarah arrive to become the ken and barbie of the oil patch and before long one man is missing another is dead. And the suspected hitman has james on speeddial. And as for sarah there was a shock in store for her, too. Reporter i mean, emotionally difficult to deal with . Oh, absolutely. I mean, its ruined my life. Sorry. Reporter coming up. Sarahs becomes suspicious about her husband. Reporter did you think at the time, i wonder if james had something to do with this . It seemed fishy to me. 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Woman how do we protect them from 4 billion in new cuts to california schools . Man vote yes on proposition 55. Woman prop 55 doesnt raise taxes on anyone. Man not on working californians, not small businesses. No one. Woman instead, prop 55 simply maintains the current tax rate on the wealthiest californians. Man so those who can most afford it continue paying their fair share. Woman . To prevent new education cuts. Man . And keep improving californias schools. Woman vote yes on prop 55 to help our children thrive. Reporter sometimes the best detective is named luck. A dropped welding glove leads to a tatooed presumed hitman named reporter its an old story, of course. Husband cheats on wife with a younger woman. Even younger than sarah, who was only in her twenties. What was it like to hear that he was cheating on you in the first place . Well, i mean, that was hurtful. But it was so off the wall, i just didnt believe it. Reporter like generations of wives before her, until the truth was impossible to avoid. What was that like to hear . Oh, horrific. And especially when i found out with who. I just thought absolutely not. Like, no way. Wouldnt believe it . Wouldnt believe it. I mean, she was like my little sister. Reporter this is the her, the young woman in the unpleasant little triangle. But she wasnt just some other woman. This is peyton martin. Daughter of tex hall, the chief of the mha nation, on whose tribal land was the oil lease. The one james and doug carlile wanted so badly. Peyton was 19. You knew her . Uhhuh. Yeah. Yeah, i had family vacationed with her quite a bit. Reporter in fact, here they are in hawaii. James in the water, sarah there on a paddleboard and there on another board, was peyton. I think i found a picture of her on facebook where she was pregnant. And so i called her and asked her. And she said it was none of my business. But if its my husbands then get over it. Uhhuh. Reporter peyton denied saying that, by the way. But when the baby was born, a very healthy and happy looking little boy. James and peyton named him. Bently, of all things. Reporter bently. Just like that expensive automobile james bought for sarah, then left in the garage with flattened tires. You cant make it up . Its weird. Its so strange. Bently . Yeah. As you can see, he was the one who wanted the car and the name and the show. Reporter chief tex hall, as you might imagine, was not pleased about any of that. He banished james from the reservation. But there was something neither tex nor sarah knew, just then. Not just that the spokane cops were investigating sarahs wayward husband. Out on the north dakota prarie another lawman had been poking around for more than a year. Homeland security agent Darrik Trudell had heard from a colleague about the missing kc clarke, and the Ripoff Report and other possible crimes. He told me the story and it, it just sounded, it sounded unbelievable, is what it did. Reporter Darrik Trudell was hooked. So by the time burbridge started showing up, trudell could tell him a thing or two about James Henrikson. How would you describe him . Yeah, i mean, he, he comes across as a just youre at a loss for words. I mean, you could say that, you could say that he comes across as a, as a used car salesman. But thats really not fair to used car salesmen. I mean, the guy is just, hes a scumbag. Reporter by the time doug carlile was murdered, trudell had, just coincidence really, been on jamess trail for more than a year. Looking into possible illegal drug imports and the mysterious disappearance of friend and employee kc clarke. Began to look like henrikson was behaving like some sort of latterday, wild west outlaw. Hes sociopath. Above all that, the guys a coward. You know, he didnt, he didnt get his hands dirty in any of it. Reporter trudell already suspected henrikson may have ordered someone to kill kc clark. Then, doug carlile was murdered out in washington, and trudell began working with detective burbridge. If Timothy Suckow was the hitman in spokane, did he kill kc clarke, too . Agents pulled records of all the cell phones being used around the time of kcs disappearance in north dakota. And . They checked mr. Suckows number at the time against the phone records they had acquired, back when mr. Clark disappeared and mr. Suckows number was in those records. Reporter meaning, suckow was in the area when kc clark disappeared. Sarah, meanwhile, her marriage falling apart, had begun to harbor suspicions about james, and not just his cheating ways. It went back to the day james told her about doug carliles death. He just walked into the room was like, dougs dead. Straightfaced, nothing. It was the strangest thing, ever. Did you think at the time, i wonder if james had something to do with this . You know, it it seemed fishy to me. It did. But again, you dont, your lifes already crumbling. You dont wanna think that your husband could be doing anything like that, you know . Why didnt you get out of that marriage . I was scared of him. You know, Everyone Wants the fairy tale. Everyone wants to be married with a good life with kids. And it kinda came crashing quickly. Reporter so finally, sarah started talking about divorce. I told him. And hed be like, how are you going to feel if you divorce me and you find out all this isnt true and the kids not mine . And hes like, youll be the horrible person. And im going to destroy you. And he was very threatening. Reporter was he serious . A month after the murder of doug carlile, january 2014. Sarah got a call from her local sheriff. He said, you need to come to my office right this second. Reporter coming up. Sarah gets some frightening news. Homeland security was waiting for me. And they were like, your husband is trying to have you killed today. What was that moment like for you . It doesnt seem real. Its like a movie. Just stop by walgreens. Then sit back and enjoy the savings. Walgreens. At the corner of happy and healthy. I love allday breakfast. T. But you dont love that you cant get all your favorites all day. I dont love that. But now youre gonna love that you can get more all day. Like mcgriddles. I love mcgriddles. So youll have to find Something Else to not love. Hey buddy like exploding fist bumps. Pggggggghew or forgetting what youre about to do. Wait. What was i about to do . Or when people who say you look like. James lipton. Oh man. Its uncanny. Get more choices you love, now with all day breakfast. You may sometimes suffer from a dry mouth. Thats why theres biotene. And biotene also comes in a handy spray. So you can moisturize your mouth anytime, anywhere. Biotene, for people who suffer from dry mouth symptoms. Glad forceflex. 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To help avoid eye injury or contamination of the solution, do not touch the container tip to your eye or any surface. If you wear contact lenses, remove them before using xiidra and wait for at least 15 minutes before placing them back in your eyes. Are you ready to do something about your dry eyes . Talk to your doctor about xiidra. Reporter sara creveling didnt know which way to turn. With investigators in two states closing in, her husband james had vanished, their marriage was on lifesupport, and, shed just been summoned by her county sheriff. So i went into his office. And Homeland Security was waiting for me. And they were like, sit down. We need to talk to you. And they said, we just received, in the last ten minutes, that your husband is trying to have you killed today. Reporter sarah . On a hit list . But why . Sarah had a pretty good idea. He wanted all the money. And knew i had it locked up with the divorce getting ready. So get her out of the way and well get all the assets. So they could run to brazil. But, sarah marked for death . Yes, the sheriff told her, she was supposed to die that very day. What was that moment like for you . You cant even describe it. It doesnt seem real. Its like a movie. I sat there and spoke with them all day. And id asked, can i call someone . Like, i dont know what to do. And they said, nope. We have to take you into a safe home. Reporter call no one . Uhuh. Reporter not even your mom . Nope. No one. Because they were afraid that james would harass my family and friends to find my location. cause once he realized i wasnt responding to him, he went into panic mode. He didnt know if i was working with the police, if i was dead, if i was on the run. Reporter cops knew her husband was lurking somewhere out there but they couldnt find him. He was harassing a lot of my friends and family, trying to see if theyd heard from me, which they hadnt. Reporter now the cops were sarahs best hope to stay alive. They tried a ruse to throw james off the scent. They even drove me to the border in canada to make it look like i had, like, jumped the border to see if james would chase me. Reporter he did not. But where was he . No one seemed to know. With sarah close enough so they could actually see her, investigators tried to track her husbands phone. Youre sitting in Homeland Securitys office and youre listening to them ping him across the state and hes on the run, hes on the move i think a car backfired in the parking lot. And all these agents pull their guns out and run to the windows. Because they didnt know if james was in town. Its this surreal thing. Reporter even if they found him, though, they couldnt charge him with murder, or conspiracy. Didnt have enough evidence for that. But they did have something quite useful. A few days earlier, search warrant in hand, state and federal agents, including Homeland Securitys, Darrik Trudell, descended on james and sarahs empty house while they were out of town. Whatd you find in the house . Found a lot of financial records. Found some firearms. Reporter some firearms . Yeah. I mean, i, i cant remember the exact number of them. Reporter well, it doesnt matter if there was one there, hes a convicted felon, right . Correct. Reporter grounds for immediate arrest. Agents fanned out around north dakota and a few days later in a little place called mandan there he was. What was he doing . He was over at his girlfriends friends apartment. Reporter that is, the apartment of a friend of peyton, the chiefs daughter. We had guys staked out around it doing surveillance on it and as we, as we drove by i recognized him. And knew that was him. Reporter on the street . Walking down the street. We stopped, we hopped out. Told him to turn around, show me his hands. Reporter James Henrikson was surrounded by cops guns drawn and pointed. So what happened then was very odd. He had his hands in his pockets and so kept telling him to show me his hands. Wouldnt show me both hands at the same time. And hes got this stupid smirk on his face. Reporter like hes playing with you. Yeah, so then eventually, you know, enough is enough. So we just put him, helped him to the ground. Put handcuffs on him. Reporter helped him to the ground . And hes just smiling up and me and asked me, you know, like, you know, hey, how are you . He instantly went into, like, trying to charm us. Reporter he was trying to pull a con on the cop. Yeah, i dont know if he thought he was going to build rapport with me and relationship and we were going to be buddies. Reporter bizarre though the arrest was, James Henrikson was at least in custody. And sarah no choice, they told her had to stay in deep cover herself. Hiding in a secret shelter, unable to call friends or even her parents just in case the hit was still a go. I had a bunch of friends call the sheriffs and the police and they were asking. They said, we think that hes had her killed. I mean, will you drive around and look in ditches . No because no one was allowed to know. They wanted him to think that it had gone through to see what he would do. Reporter i cant imagine what it would be like for your family . Oh, it was hard for them. Reporter and james . Agreed, very civilized, to talk to investigators. But what he did not do. Are you guys 100 sure you can protect me . Reporter was tell them the real story of what hed been up to. It had to do with the cartel and the ma. You know what that is right . Mexican mafia and drug cartel. He gave us, i mean, it was a story. I mean, he talked about the cartels. The triad. I mean, all these organized crime groups that, you know, that he implied having connections to. I dont know. I mean like i said if i go through with it, then im not that worried about it. I mean you guys can put all the charges that you want on me, and like, you know if i dont say anything then i dont say anything. Then whatever. They kill me in prison. Or whatever. It doesnt matter. Its really. You know. Reporter did he think you were buying it . Oh, i think in his mind he thought, you know, he thought that we were buying it. But, i mean, it was so outlandish, nobodys going to believe that. I have to handcuff you before we bring you up to the jail. Reporter trouble was investigators in north dakota and spokane still didnt have enough solid evidence to tie James Henrikson to the murders of kc clark and doug carlile. For that theyd have to keep digging while henrikson waited in jail. That is if they could keep him there. When he had other ideas. Coming up preparing for the great escape. They knocked out that window, dropped some bed sheets down to the ground nine stories. Reporter oh, my god. 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Rarely seemed to get his illegal schemes to work. Its almost like a tragic comedy when you see the this group of people that were involved with this case. Reporter like the time they put out a hit on another business partner, but the hit man ran off with the money. And the guy, you know, rips em off for 10,000. And as he said, you know, it was the easiest 10,000 he ever made. Reporter gradually, agent trudell and spokane detectives burbridge and cestnik amassed circumstantial evidence to show henrikson, for all his criminal fumbling, did orchestrate two murders kc clarke and doug carlile. But it was not quite enough circumstantial evidence to take to trial. Until, finally, the break they needed. I didnt mean to do any of this stuff and i dont know why i did it. Reporter Timothy Suckow. Remember him . He admitted he killed both victims on orders from James Henrikson. And the middle man caved, too. Robert delao. The man who came snooping around the investigation a couple of days after the carlile murder and passed a polygraph. Which might Say Something about polygraphs. Now delao admitted he recruited suckow and transmitted henriksons orders and the money. So how did tim get paid for k. C. s murder . It was cash. Reporter so in september 2014, nine months after his arrest on weapons charges, James Henrikson was flown from north dakota to spokane, washington, and charged with multiple federal counts of conspiracy, solicitation, and murder for hire in the deaths of kc clarke and doug carlile, and attempts on the lives of three more Business Partners. He was not charged, however, with trying to kill his wife, sarah, because, said the prosecutors, they went with the charges that were easiest to prove. So henrikson was toast. Unless as he sat in the spokane jail awaiting trial, henrikson did his best to see that the trial would never happen. He tried to hire people to attack the marshal van that was transporting him between our jail and the u. S. Courtroom. Shoot the driver, set fire to the van and break him out the back of it while the vans on fire. Reporter good lord. He was still letting on that he had a lot of money. And in jail, obviously, it doesnt take too long to find people thatll bite on that. Unfortunately, he found one that also needed help with his current charges, so he turned him in pretty quickly. Reporter and thus, the plan was foiled. Yes. Reporter but henrikson wasnt done. He was in his cell with another person suspected of murder. Our spokane county jail there are windows at each of the cells. They knocked out that window, dropped some tied together bed sheets down to the ground nine stories. Reporter oh, my god. Some people showing up for work at the jail saw the rope hanging out the window. Reporter can ya really see anybody squeezing through a window that size . Theyre purposely designed so that an adult human head wont fit through that window, so there was no way they were getting out that window. Reporter they could have charged him for his escape attempts. They didnt. The prosecutors had bigger things to do. And finally, in january 2016, James Henrikson encountered them. I was so mad i couldnt see straight. Reporter doug carliles still grieving family. I had to close my eyes several times and actually say a prayer, god, calm me down. I wanted to put my hands on him for sure. Reporter yeah, and then youd be in trouble. Itd be worth it. Translator federal prosecutors aine ahmed and scott jones were, however, not exactly confident about their case. Proving kc clarkes murder was the toughest part that i was thinkin of. We didnt have a body. We had no forensic evidence. Reporter so, to get a conviction, theyd need these two sketchy characters who, allegedly on orders from henrikson, had done some truly awful things. If they didnt tell the story, and make the jury believe it, henrikson would get away with murder. But if they did tell it, what sort of credibility would a person like that have . My concerns are our most important witness is going to admit that he killed two people. Literally beat kc clarkes brains out. Reporter well how do you handle that . You have to embrace it. Our number two witness has a tattoo on his back of him urinating on the headstone of the last guy that he killed. These are our two star witnesses. Reporter still. Tim suckow, the actual killer, was by far the more important witness. After all, suckow could tell the jury chapter and verse about the many twisted and homicidal plots set in motion by James Henrikson. So, two nights before the trial was to begin, attorneys jones and ahmed went to see suckow, prepare him for his testimony. And thats where it all went south. Sukow is bipolar. He was laying down on the floor of the prison cell in a fetal position. And so this is two days before our star witness is going to testify. And hes basically sucking his thumb on the floor of a jail cell. I mean, were there at 10 00 at night trying to make sure that this guy gets his medication, so he could effectively testify before a jury. Reporter would james henrickson, the desparado of the oil patch, go free . Coming up. The entire courtroom stunned. I had decided long before that he was crazy. I didnt know he was that kind of crazy. Like, whatever the next ad is selling. Get the chase freedom unlimited card. Ugh, celebrity endorsements are the worst. Were non stop, weve gotta have our extra protein. Oikos triple zero greek non fat yogurt has 15 grams of protein. Zero added sugar, zero artificial sweetener and zero fat. And zero holding me back oikos triple zero. Be unstoppable. Mmm dannon sureor put themhave ston a rack. E tires. But the specialists at ford like to show off their strengths 13 name brands. All backed by our low price tire guarantee. Yeah, were strong when it comes to tires. Right now during the big tire event, get a 140 rebate by mail on four select tires. Reporter it was no easy task, preparing tim suckow to testify at the trial of the man accused of paying him to kill two people. He was off his meds, he was a mess emotionally. I deserve to be punished. Reporter so when the trial began in federal court, no cameras allowed, the prosecutors held their breath. And . Suckow, back on his meds, came through. And in court, he repeated just what he said here in his pretrial interviews. That he met delayo when they both worked for the company that owned the white van they drove the night he shot doug carlile. But a year before that job, he said delayo told him he could make money for roughing up some guy in north dakota. But then the boss, that is, James Henrikson, changed the plan. He started telling me about kc, how he was threatening to leave the company and take some other truckers with him. And thats when he asked me if id kill him. Reporter so when kc showed up at jamess office before going on vacation, suckow was behind the door with a heavy truck jack. And i hit him in the back of the head and he stumbled and fell. And he tried to get up and i hit him about three or four more times. He stopped moving. Reporter they ditched kcs truck in a nearby town, said suckow, and then they took kcs body to a lonely spot 20 miles out of town. Suckow said he did the digging, while henrikson stood nearby. I remember standing in the hole and he said Something Like, how much is this going to cost me . I said, 20,000. And he choked. 20,000 . Its first degree murder, man. Its the death penalty. And i turned back around and took a few more shovel loads and i turned back and i looked at him, and i said, do me a favor, dont shoot me in the back of the head while im digging this hole. He really should have. Reporter anyway, he said, he got the 20 grand, and he burned the bloody clothes. Investigators found buttons and other evidence of that burn pile. But, though they took suckow out to the prairie twice to look for the burial site, they never found kc clarks body. Kc clark was simply killed for the reason that he just wanted to leave James Henriksons employment. He felt wronged. So im going to kill him . Yeah. It was almost like a jealousy, cheating spouse kind of thing. Reporter and why, according to the prosecutors, did James Henrikson want doug carlile killed . He really thought that the oil deal that they were involved with was worth tens of millions of dollars. And he thought that doug carlile was standing in the way of him getting most, a large share, of those tens of millions of dollars. Mr. Carlile had already threatened to mr. Henrikson that he was going to get him out of the oil drilling business. And that was the thing that triggered the whole business . Yeah. They were each trying to get the other out of the deal. Reporter at the trial, prosecutors introduced hundreds of text messages, an almost playbyplay account as the plan rolled out. You can watch a text message go from henrikson to delayo. And then the content is passed from delayo to suckow, and then back the other way. Negotiations over payment, whos going to be there, does he have an alarm system . Reporter and so when doug carlile returned from church that evening in december, suckow was waiting. Hed brought a heavy welding glove in case he had to punch in a window. He didnt have to. I had a pistol pointed at him. I told him to back up and get in the house, and i saw mrs. Carlile come into sight from the hallway. She backed away and mr. Carlile moved his hand and i panicked. I fired and it seemed like the fourth shot he didnt move. I ran. I ran fast. Reporter and then, somehow, the welding glove got left behind. The glove that revealed suckows dna and broke the case. Without the glove, we would probably be unsolved to this day. Reporter and what could have happened then . James henrikson, according to prosecutors, was a very dangerous man. Was actively planning more murders. Eventually, they said, had suckow not lost his welding glove, henrikson might have become that worst of all criminals. A serial killer is someone who causes the death or murder of three people. And he certainly got an a for effort. Because he tried. There are about 11 people that we know of, that he tried to have murdered. Reporter james henricksons Defense Attorneys declined our request for an interview, but they blamed the murders on suckow and delayo, not henrikson. And essentially argued, the jury should not believe two such unsavory characters. Elberta carlile watched the trial play out, day after day, the same prayer on her lips. I prayed for justice for my husband. I prayed that the truth would come forth, and that there would be a way to go on in life. Deliberations took less than a day. On all 11 counts, murder for hire, solicitation, conspiracy and more, the jury found James Henrikson guilty. We wanted to jump up and down and clap, you know, as a family because our whole family was there. It was great. Reporter in the weeks that followed, robert delayo, the gobetween, was sentenced to 22 years in prison. When Timothy Suckow, the hitman, he faced the judge. The only thing that he ever asked for was that we do what we can to ensure that he was sent to a prison with appropriate Mental Health facilities so he could figure out whats wrong with him. Reporter then, in court, he turned around and faced elberta. He said, please forgive me. Im so sorry for what ive done. Did he seem genuine . He did. He said it in tears. And he said, i cant forgive myself. But can you forgive me . And i i told him yes. I said, i forgive you and god forgives you. Reporter 30 years for tim suckow. When it was James Henriksons turn, a ripple ran through the court. Would he, too, ask forgiveness . Admit guilt . Apologize . Reveal the location of kc clarks body . Well, no, not, a chance. He read a short story that was very graphic about abortion, so much so that everybody in the courtroom was very uncomfortable with what he was saying. And i think he just did that to purposely upset people. I had decided long before then that James Henrikson was crazy. I didnt know he was that kind of crazy. Reporter henrikson will leave prison only in a box, having received two consecutive life sentences. Hes chosen not to appeal. Here in the vast north dakota grasslands, kc clarks friends and family are still searching, vowing to stay with it until they find him. You just want to, like, all right, james, you sonofa, were going to get him ourselves. We dont need you. Were going to go bring him home and were going to finally get some closure for everybody here. Reporter and elberta . Well, sometimes grief overwhelms me to the point im just in a pile of tears, and ive not lived alone, ever. It takes some figuring out . It takes some figuring out. Reporter sarah, thoroughly investigated, was held blameless, not involved in jamess violent conspiracies, though in the community and among some in law enforcement, suspicion lingers. But she does face charges of Money Laundering and mail fraud for her involvement with the Trucking Company she and james ran. Charges that could put her in prison for 30 years, if convicted. Shes pleaded not guilty. So as you look at all of these events and you think, gosh, what sin did i commit to be in this spot . What would you say . I trusted a con artist. I trusted a sociopath. Since i married the monster, people think i should be one too, but im not. Reporter wreckage. Lots of it. Once upon a time in a flat and gracious land where tough men wrestle for oil, murderous ambition bubbled up with the crude and made a play as old as humankind. What was it all about, really . Why . Greed, plain and simple, it just came down to greed. It was all about money. Second major of the season impact on the weekend in 30 seconds. Breaking news, an officer shot and dramatic man that leads to anu intense confrontation wh the second. Mus at 11 00 starts right now. Theres a lot happening at this hour, multiple crimeu sces and multiple shots re