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. reporter: a father with a daughter named linda, and it seems there was a plan in store for linda s ex-husband. that they would basically use linda as sort of bait to lure the, um, ex-spouse toward her, and then they would they were to show signs of hurting her, killing her, then they would take him out. okay. and by taking him out, you meant or you understood that to be they would kill him? reporter: 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?
outside to the driveway. reporter: 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 questioned michiel about what he threw over the embankment. michiel said it was garbage. reporter: garbage? garbage. reporter: but they went to retrieve that bag of garbage. what was actually in it? it was a gun. reporter: inside michiel 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. reporter: including semiautomatic weapons and big-time stuff? yes.
guy was that was seen behind the grange by the two witnesses. reporter: once police had michiel oakes i.d., 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 michiel 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 michiel was having is some sort of medical issue, allowed him to look around for his medication. reporter: and while supposedly hunting for pills michiel then secretly snuck out to 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 michiel oakes walking
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. keith morrison: and another time, she said, when she looked out her bathroom window i see mark on a hillside behind my house. he s looking through the scope, pointing the rifle at me. keith morrison: and once, said linda, long after she left him, after mark agreed to plead guilty to the stalking charge, she visited their abandoned paradise, kiket island, to retrieve some personal things.
to finally make its case, browne s co-counsel corbin volluz did his best to drive the allegations home. when linda said she wanted to be separated from mark in 2005, he did not take it well. keith morrison: what followed, claimed the defense, were many examples of bad behavior, mark following her into a beauty salon. corbin volluz: mark stover walks in unannounced. he gives a card to linda saying he will never let her go. keith morrison: mark showing up at her place uninvited. corbin volluz: he grabs her by her shoulders and says he can t let her go. keith morrison: apparently spying on her when linda slept with mark s ex-best-friend. the next morning, linda gets a phone call from mark stover. and then, to linda s horror, mark stover begins to describe in graphic detail the intimacy that linda had been sharing the night before. keith morrison: and sitting in his car outside her home.