provided for this? no. keith morrison: before police left linda opdycke s house here in winthrop, they arrested michael oakes on suspicion of murder. and back in western washington, a local buzz began to grow. if michael oakes did kill mark stover, was someone else involved somehow? buzz is discouraged, however, in police work, in favor of actual evidence, which in this case, arrived in a phone call to police from her. michael oakes, it turned out, had an ex-wife who volunteered a remarkable story about disturbing visits and puzzling messages from mr. oakes. what did that say to you? well, it says a lot to me. keith morrison: coming up. jennifer thompson: yeah, cause he just was sitting there, in a frenzy, just, just stressed out. and he just seemed very agitated. and he mentioned that he may be in trouble.
worked well together and connected on a very heart and soul level. so it was a romance. yeah. it definitely it definitely became a romance. keith morrison: and so michiel, the diminutive single dad and security expert, and linda, the beautiful, tall, golden-haired daughter of privilege, embarked on a life together, along with his kids. and then one day in late may, 2009, said oakes, he was getting into his car in a costco parking lot in a town called kennewick, washington, when he was confronted by linda s ex, mark stover. michiel oakes: i was approached by mark stover out of the clear blue. i had never met the gentleman prior to that, never spoken to him before. he did not introduce himself. and he take your time. i got up every morning, you know, and took my kids to school.
by the two witnesses. keith morrison: once police had michael oak s id, they discovered he was spending time with linda opdycke, mark s ex-wife. so now, two officers from the okanagan county sheriff s department paid a visit at linda s house here in winthrop, washington. and sure enough, there was michael oakes suv in her driveway. once in the house, the officers asked to speak to oakes. he agreed, but then he said he needed to find his pills. he became agitated or frustrated. kept on asking for his medication. and the chief, not knowing if michael was having some sort of a medical issue, allowed him to look around for his medication. keith morrison: and while supposedly hunting for pills michael then secretly snuck out the basement area of the house and went to his vehicle. 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 yes. keith morrison: big time stuff. big time stuff, yeah. keith morrison: why did, was it, was an explanation
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 and was very disturbed.