she invoked her fifth amendment right. so this, at the end of michiel oakes murder trial, was quite a surprise. linda opdycke, defense witness. i felt this was an important part of the story that i could tell, about a dangerous stalking situation. and if there s any information that i could offer up, i wanted to do so. keith morrison: and as she began, it was clear she was here to join the defense s campaign against victim mark stover s character. would you agree that mark stover was dogged in pursuit of his prey? yes, i would. keith morrison: the defense claimed michiel oakes knew linda opdycke had been stalked by her ex-husband. and that went to his state of mind when he acted in self-defense. so now, linda told the jury some stories she d earlier told oakes, her claim, for example, that mark appeared in her bedroom one night. and he had a pistol in his hand and laid it on the pillow next to my head
jennifer thompson: he told me that there was a potential job coming up that he was interested in taking about a woman and an ex-spouse that was harassing her. the father of the woman was initiating the job. keith morrison: a father with a daughter named linda. and it seems there was a plan in store for linda s ex-husband. jennifer thompson: and they would basically use linda as sort of bait to lure the ex-spouse toward her. and then they would, were to show signs of hurting her or killing her, then they would take him out. sheriff: ok, and by taking him out, you meant, or you understood that to be they would kill him. jennifer thompson: right. keith morrison: linda and her father? could that be wally and linda opdycke, the police wondered, mark stover s ex father-in-law and ex-wife plotting to kill him? it was a wild story jennifer told,
keith morrison: so there was one defendant in the murder of mark s stover, michael oakes. but he certainly didn t look the part of a hired killer. all five foot six of him, soft spoken understated, articulate, father of four, grandfather of one. john henry browne: yeah, he s not your hollywood casting for a hit man. keith morrison: but cast as defense attorney, seattle s colorful and irrepressible john henry browne. john henry browne: he s a really kind, compassionate, loving guy. keith morrison: but early legal skirmishing seems sometimes to merely add confusion. was it murder? oakes a hired gun? or was it something else altogether? and besides that, how intimate was oakes relationship with mark stover s ex-wife linda? and who was paying for his famous defense attorney? john henry browne: if the opdykes are behind this [interposing voices] john henry browne: if the opdykes are behind this, and you know, they hired me, i ll tell you,
it just so happened that the sergeant was standing on the deck above the driveway and observed michael oakes walking outside to the driveway. keith morrison: oakes, apparently not aware he was being watched, took a white bag out of his car, said the officer, and tossed it over a 20-foot embankment outside linda s house. he immediately questions michael about what he threw over the embankment. michael said it was garbage. keith morrison: garbage. garbage. keith morrison: but they went to retrieve that bag of garbage. and what was actually in it? it was a gun. keith morrison: inside, michael oakes garbage was a 22 caliber browning pistol. also in the bag, a bloody swatch of carpet and an overwhelming odor of bleach. and then, here s what they found inside linda s house. bizarre. oh, there was all sorts of ammunition and guns. firearms on magnets behind tapestries. firearms in drawers. loaded guns all over this house. keith morrison: including semiautomatic weapons and
keith morrison: so separation. there was a brief affair. linda with one of mark s best friends. and then divorce, about as ugly as divorce can be. i was shocked, i really was. keith morrison: so was mark, apparently. quite thoroughly devastated by all accounts, because now he had lost not just the love of his life, but he had to leave kiket island too. losing her, losing all this, it was, we hardly need say, a black period just about here. some quite disturbing episodes actually. we get to those later. suffice to say for now that eventually, life went on. it was just divorce, after all, not death. not yet anyway. mark found a new property in nearby anacortes, washington. and if it wasn t kiket island, it was not bad. he moved into a new house, new kennels, new start.