spotted in a secluded driveway in a remote section of whidbey island passenger door open, dome light on. the first thought was possibly a suicide. but on initial investigation, they couldn t find a weapon. josh mankiewicz: standing in the damp december cold, the detective took stock. the body inside appeared to have been dead for 24 hours. id found in the glove box indicated the dead man was named russell douglas. a ragged hole between his eyes had frozen his age at 32. if it was a robbery, whole lot of stuff left behind in the car that didn t make sense. josh mankiewicz: just inside the driver s side door, an empty 380 caliber shell casing lay on the floor. the detective thought it was a curious place for a homicide. near the end of a dead end road, parked in two bushes
there were no names on it from florida, or nevada, or new mexico, or any of the other places this investigation would eventually lead him at least, not yet. coming up, the investigation begins close to home with the dead man s on-again, off-again wife. [music playing] and i said, well, is he is he hurting you? is he is he hitting you? and she said, no, really, he isn t physical. it s just emotional and verbal, but i ve hit him a couple times. you don t want to believe the mother of your grandkids would ever be a suspect. josh mankiewicz: but a wife, as a potential person of interest, is just the beginning in this cross-country tale of love gone wrong. when dateline continues. to spellbinders, pathfinders, to grand plan designers. to historians, victorians, and all the targaryens.
that all too often falls under the category of another woman. but there was more to it than that much more. a homicide investigation was at stake. one that, just days earlier, had led detective mark plumberg from whidbey island, washington all the way to punta gorda, florida. he was hot on the trail of a potential suspect. and then, came the hurricane. i didn t think he was going to stick around for us to come back. so the hurricane comes and goes, and your suspect is, quite literally, in the wind. he s gone. josh mankiewicz: for detective plumberg, the twisted trail that led him from whidbey island, washington to south florida began six months earlier just after christmas 2003. a geo tracker, a small suv, had been
i was actually out canvassing and interviewing again. and i got a phone call that said we had a tip on the russell douglas homicide. josh mankiewicz: plumberg s partner on the investigation, mike beech, took the call. he just said, hey, i m just calling to see if you have any unsolved homicides from december 2003. and i said, well, yes sir, we actually have two in december of 2003, which one are you referring to? and he says, the guy who got shot in the head. josh mankiewicz: beech says he didn t know if the caller was the killer or someone related to the killer. but he knew he didn t want to lose it. i m doing everything i can to keep this gentleman on the phone because, at that point, he still hadn t given me his name. josh mankiewicz: the caller was using an untraceable calling card. and on the phone, he seemed nervous. he said, if i told you what i know, the shooter is going to know that i told you. josh mankiewicz: that first call lasted more than an hour. but the cops learned nei
of whidbey island passenger door open, dome light on. the first thought was possibly a suicide. but on initial investigation, they couldn t find a weapon. josh mankiewicz: standing in the damp december cold, the detective took stock. the body inside appeared to have been dead for 24 hours. id found in the glove box indicated the dead man was named russell douglas. a ragged hole between his eyes had frozen his age at 32. if it was a robbery, whole lot of stuff left behind in the car that didn t make sense. josh mankiewicz: just inside the driver s side door, an empty 380 caliber shell casing lay on the floor. the detective thought it was a curious place for a homicide. near the end of a dead end road, parked in two bushes