Transcripts For MSNBC Dateline 20240711

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Word. You were a prisoner in this apartment. Yes. Her body had been propped up against the bed. Theres growing danger, because police are looking in the wrong place. I lived to tell, and nobody believed me. This monster is walking free while theyre wasting their time on me. Can the killer be caught before he kills again . It makes you realize how fragile your life is and that anybody can take it. Welcome to dateline. A killer was on the loose in a Texas College town, leaving students and their parents terrified. But the shocking discovery of jamie harts body, investigators were desperately trying to pin together clues. Was the young woman connected to her killer, or did the police have an active killer on their hands . Heres Andrea Canning with The Face Of Evil. Looking back now, this woman almost didnt make it. I said, if you keep doing this, youre going to kill me. He said, do you think i actually care about that . Is that when youre looking in The Face Of Evil . Little did she know in this college town, she wasnt the only one. He said hed go to jail for murder before rape. What was going through your mind . I wish i told the people i love that i loved them. Was their private horror connected to a public mystery . It just had people asking, what was going to happen next . More women connected way tragedy and by questions. Would a killer had been stopped sooner . I was so angry that two people had to die in order for someone to believe me. The story begins in a small texas town, but its not just any town. This is College Station, home to texas a and m. And home to jamie hart. I was immediately struck with her beauty. Chuck cruz was her boyfriend at the time. He remembers when he first laid eyes on her. I could barely speak when i saw her. She was so pretty. It was like when the color came on in the wizard of oz. I had been living in a dark world. And she was a loyal friend. Funny, outspoken. It was early one morning in may. Jamies roommates couldnt find her. They called chuck. I got a call asking me if i knew where she was. I said she didnt come over here last night. I didnt talk to her and went to work. That same morning, he was summoned to the scene of a discovery. There was a young female. Nude. Extensive road rash on her entire body. She was obviously deceased. A jogger spotted the victim in a ditch nine feet from the side of the road. When i arrived there was probably half a dozen officers here and they taped off the area. At that point we started conducting a search of the area. We figured she had been Sexual Assaulted and dumped here. Less than a mile away, deputies discovered what was presumed to be the womans clothing strewn across the entrance to an oil field. Another nine miles from there, an abandoned vehicle, its engine still running. There was blood on the car. We sent a team to process a car. Inside the car, a drivers license that belonged to jamie hart. When detectives showed up to chucks workplace that afternoon, he says his heart sank. When they toll me that she had been found dead, it felt like i had been hit by a truck. Wow. So your sense of dread was coming true. Right. Yep. Realized. Fully realized. Did fear spread throughout the campus . Oh, yes. I mean, it was front page news. Kristin lancaster was a 19yearold freshman. My brother worked with jamie at the time, and ill never forget him coming home devastated. A killer in a college town is terrifying. Pretty much so, yes. This is something that happens in chicago, houston. Its not something that happens in College Stationing aggieland. At the time people were hoping this was a drifter that kept going, because of the location of her body. Sheriffs deputies canvassed the crime scene, searched her car and looked for witnesses. Talked to several hundred people, but no ones seen anything. Turns out, there were no Finger Prints in the car. But during her autopsy, the Medical Examiner did recover dna from jamies body that likely came from her rapist and a killer. Did you put the dna into a data base is this. We put it in codis. Any hits . None. No witnesses, no fingerprints, no matches. The investigation wasnt off to a good start. Thats when we started contacting them at her place of employment, friends, roommates. Did she have any enemies . Everybody seemed to love her. Detective elliot began to retrace jamies steps on the night of the murder. Jamie was taking time off her studies and working at a pizza parlor. Her shift ended around mid nigh. We contacted everybody she delivered pizzas to and nothing out of the ordinary. After work she headed to a friends house. He said they were watching movies and she left his house around 4 30 in the morning. What time did you think she was killed . We got the call at 7 30 a. M. , so between 4 30 and 7 00. The male student was the last known person to see jamie alive. The detective paid him a visit. She was upset. The friends grief seemed genuine, but something seemed peculiar. When they asked for a dna sample he said no. He put the young man under surveillance, followed him to a local restaurant. And are you hidden somewhere in the restaurant . Im kind of back in a corner. He watched the student have a few drinks and when he left the detectives snagged the mugs and sent them out for testing. The results would take weeks. Dads and moms were telling their college age kids, be alert everywhere you go. Be with people when you go out. Dont be out alone. Thats a frightening order to give anybody. Frightening, but sound advice, because in this case, connecting the dots wouldnt be so easy. Detectives have a second possible suspect in their sights. Jamies boyfriend is invited to sit down for a poly graph test. Failed the test. Bad sign for you, right . Its bad for him. When dateline continues. But they cant be held back. They want to be set free. To make the world more responsible, and even more incredible. Ideas start the future, just like that. With relapsing forms of ms, theres a lot to deal with. Not just unpredictable relapses. All these other things too. Who needs that kind of drama . Kesimpta is a oncemonthly athome injection that may help you put this rms drama in its place. Kesimpta was proven superior at reducing the rate of relapses, active lesions and slowing disability progression versus aubagio. Dont take kesimpta if you have hepatitis b, and tell your doctor if you have had it, as it could come back. Kesimpta can cause serious side effects, including infections. While no cases of pml were recorded in rms clinical trials, it could happen. Tell your doctor if you had or plan to have vaccines, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. Kesimpta may cause a decrease in some types of antibodies. The most common side effects are upper respiratory tract infection, headache and injection reactions. Dealing with this rms drama . Its time to ask your doctor about kesimpta. Dramatic results. Less rms drama. Dramatic results. announcer verizon believes everyone deserves the best. Thats why we start with 5g from americas most reliable network. Verizon 5g is incredible. announcer and offer the best in entertainment like apple music, with a beautiful iphone 12 on us when you buy one. Only from verizon. Losing a tooth didnt stop you but your partial can act like a bacteria magnet, putting natural teeth at risk. New Polident Propartial helps purify your partial and strengthens and protects natural teeth. So, are you gonna lose another tooth . Not on my watch 21yearold jamie hart had been sexually assaulted and left to die on the side of a busy roadway. I could barely function. All i could think about was loss, that shes gone from my life forever. Jamies boyfriend, chuck cruz, then 24, says right after the murder he took off to baytown texas, jamies hometown. About the only thing i remember her father asking me is, when are you coming down . So i got some stuff together and drove down as soon as i could. And i spent most of the next week with them, mourning with the family. And then acting as a pallbearer for her funeral. Back in College Station, detective Kenny Elliott was working the case. Anytime you have a killer out on the run, its frustrating. You want to catch the person responsible. One possible suspect, that male friend jamie visited the night of her murder. Hed refused to give police a dna sample for testing. Thats kind of odd, if he had nothing to hide. A lot of people will not give up dna. Too much tv. But the detective had snagged a sample from a beer mug and when the dna finally came back, the dna not matching . You felt confident that you could rule him out, based on the dna not matching . Yes. But even before the dna test cleared jamies friend, the detective was already looking for other suspects. And his attention quickly landed on someone very close to the victim, her boyfriend. The questions that they asked focused on where was i the night before, what had i been doing. Looking at you as a possible suspect . It didnt really occur to me that that was what they were doing. I just thought they were asking for information. Chuck told the detective that before jamie was killed he hasnt seen her for two days. On the night of the murder, he said he was at home. I was playing Computer Games like a good nerd. Did you have anyone there to corroborate your alibi . I think my roommates were there but they were both asleep. I had nobody right there, sitting there with me. So the boyfriends alibi wasnt solid, and as they spoke, the detective was looking carefully for signs he might be hiding something. He was cooperative. Apprehensive. He said everything was fine in their relationship. The detective asked chuck for dna and he said yes. And when they asked him for a polygraph he agreed to that too. But heres the thing with that last part, the polygraph. He failed the test. Thats a bad sign for you, right . Thats a bad sign for him, yes. Doesnt tell you that hes guilty, but he was a very strong person of interest. And whats more, the detective had been speaking with jamies friends who said the relationship wasnt fine. In fact the couple had a fight and were on the verge of a breakup. All of which just led to more questions. Basically, he went over every aspect of the relationship. Just questioned him on his whereabouts. Tried to get him to confess. And if a failed polygraph wasnt suspicious enough, then listen to what the detective says chuck told him next. He said he had done some bad things and wouldnt tell us what. Did you look him in the eyes and say, is one of those bad things killing jamie hart . I did. He denied it. At that point in time, i really thought he could be our killer. And the more you started to think he was the killer, how does he react to that . Hes very nervous. He just acted like as if he was guilty. Chuck was free to go, but as authorities waited for his dna to be processed, the detective developed a theory of the crime that made sense to him. He was in love with her. He didnt want to lose her. And they were having some issues in their relationship. So the boyfriend, a likely suspect, was in the crosshairs. But when the dna results came back the dna was not a match. So were you able to rule out chuck cruz then once you got that dna checked . I didnt rule him out completely, no. That was enough for you with the friend, who she was with the night before. You ruled him out after you got the dna, correct . I did. The other guy wasnt her boyfriend. He hadnt flunked polygraphs. He wasnt in a bad relationship with her. Chuck was. But they didnt arrest chuck. Months went by and the detective kept investigating him. Authorities seized his computer, searched his car. All the while chuck was saying they were looking at the wrong guy. Theres a lot of people that wont confess to a murder for obvious reasons. At that point, he was a person of strong person of interest, but i still didnt know if he was my killer, so we continued the search. The investigation dragged on. Life for the students on campus began to go back to normal. But when police were called to the scene of one house party, it wasnt because of noise or underage drinking. Another woman was in a fight for her life. Coming up, a student at a party ends up a prisoner in a strangers apartment. Immediately he grabs he and starts choking me again. When dateline continues. A pair of jeans that fit just right and the radio up get 5 boneless wings for 1 with any handcrafted burger. Only at applebees. Ah, a package you know what this human ordered . A backache. Consider pain, delivered. Pain says you cant. Advil says you can. I dont like veggies. 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Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. When chuck cruzs girlfriend was murdered, he was immediately considered a person of interest. They said that you were acting nervous, that you were acting like you had something to hide. They interpreted all these things as signs of my guilt rather than a distraught boyfriend. At the time i had long hair, and this was a cowboy town. That was considered to be weird and unusual. As for those bad things he told the detective hed done, he explained to us he was referring to a petty argument theyd had just days before jamies murder and the guilt he felt from not being with her the night she died. Do you remember what you were arguing about . A loaf of bread. The Grocery Stacker had put a cantaloupe on a loaf of bread. And she was upset that the sacker had squished the bread. And i told her it wasnt that big of a deal. And we had picked our sides, and we argued about something as stupid as a loaf of bread. And now he says he could hardly grieve with Police Breathing down his neck. Whats it like waking up every morning and knowing that youre under a cloud of suspicion . Incredibly depressing. He left College Station, moved home to be with his family near dallas, who spent money to hire a defense attorney. The biggest thing that was going through my mind the whole time was that i didnt do it, they dont know who did it, and the guy who did it is out Walking Around and likely to prey on more victims. This monster is walking free while theyre wasting their time on me. Kelly brown of the eagle newspaper was writing front page stories about the unsolved crime in the college town. And it really shook the community because this is an area that isnt used to seeing this type of crime. And kelly was hearing talk that the police had a suspect. But there was no arrest, and thats what kept everybody saying, well, then, okay. Was it the boyfriend . Was it, you know, someone thats still out there . Is he going to strike again . It was scary of course. And students like Kristin Lancaster followed the investigation. Did people change their Behavior Patterns because of this crime . To a certain degree, but i think it was shortlived. I mean, people went back to their classes and their business, yeah. You start rationalizing that maybe, you know, she trusted the wrong person. This doesnt happen to you . Exactly, yeah. And then it was late october, half a year since the murder of jamie hart. Kristin didnt know it yet, but she was about to become part of a chain of events that only deepened the mystery. I think maybe i went to classes that day. Im not exactly sure. I know that the evening time rolled around. I think it was a friday. A friend invited kristin to a party. And she said, you know, im having a little get together at my house. Why dont you come by . Kristin drove over to the Apartment Complex in bryan, texas. Thats the town next to College Station. The door is open. Theres a few people inside. Theres some Music Playing and people having some drinks. She struck up a conversation with her friends upstairs neighbor. He was 24, hadnt been to college, but mixed in easily with the students. Was he kind of a likable guy . He seemed, yeah, very likeable. He was very approachable, seemed very nice. In fact, he had no problem sharing intimate details with kristin about his personal life. He had been married, and somehow the conversation, you know, goes into him telling me how he had found god. I made a lot of mistakes. I wasnt a great husband. You guys got into quite the personal conversation for having just met. Well, i was young and i think that was normal, and he was drunk. Not long after the Party Started it abruptly ended. Kristins friend hosting the party got into a fight with her boyfriend. There was alcohol involved and so it was worried that it would get out of hand. Everyone left. But not kristin. She was concerned about her friend and stuck around talking to the upstairs neighbor. So you were feeling protective. Yeah. He said to me, you know, are you you know youre worried about your friend . I said, yes, i am. And he said we can go to my apartment so you can be close to a phone to call. She and the neighbor walked up the staircase to his apartment. Its directly above her apartment. And he opens the door. And i was barely a step into the door and he just sort of kind of pushes me in, slams the door shut. He locks the door and immediately grabs a remote that was right there and turns the stereo up to this deafening volume, just deafening. Kristin reached for the door to leave. And he pushes me back. And thats when he starts making some demands. All of a sudden its very serious and aggressive. And i am almost to the point where i thought he was joking. But he was serious. Demanded she undress. I kept arguing, im not going do it. Hes, like, youre going do it. And thats when he runs over and he grabs me by the throat. Hes choking me and choking me. And then the second he lets up, i scream as loud as i can. And then immediately he grabs me and starts choking me again. And this time he picks me up almost by the throat and sort of, like, pulls me back into the bedroom thats in the back. Youre a prisoner in this apartment now . Yes. And he puts me on the mattress, and this is the first time i black out. I wondered if this for a second, this was it. I could die . Yeah. Hes like has his hand still on my throat and hes sort of shaking me. Kristin couldnt fight him off physically, so she tried to talk her way out of a Sexual Assault. I said you dont want to do this and he stops and he says, why dont i want to do this . And i say, well, because i have hiv. And you can tell hes thinking about it for a second. And he says to me, he says, well, guess what, so do i. The lie didnt work. She tried something else. I was, like, well, what about finding god and trying to work on yourself . I actually was able to stall him for quite some time. I mustve gotten off the bed and we were standing talking. And i remember thats when i started to just stomp my foot. Like, and i was sort of, like, trying to make it look like i was making a point and stomping my foot and then he grew angry again. He threw her back on the bed, his grip on her neck tighter as he sexually assaulted her. Hes squeezing so hard at this point in time that it felt like the bones in my throat were cracking. I said, if you keep doing this, youre going to kill me. And he sort of looked at me and it was this half smile, and he looked at me for a second, and he just said, do you think i actually care about that . Is that when you feel like youre looking in The Face Of Evil . I mean, he i knew then completely in that moment that he intended on killing me. Coming up a knock at the door. This is, like, a miracle. And doubt. I just couldnt believe, like, nobody believed me. When dateline continues. N. announcer and offer the best in entertainment like disney , hulu, and espn , with a galaxy s21 5g when you buy one. Only from verizon. It all starts with an invitation. To experience lexus. The invitation to lexus sales event. Lease the 2021 rx 350 for 429 a month for 36 months, and well make youre first months payment. Experience amazing. Ordinary tissues burn when theo blows. So dad bought puffs plus lotion, and well make youre first months payment. And rescued his nose. With up to 50 more lotion puffs bring Soothing Softness and relief. 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His office also responding to an article that brought forward a third former aide describing inappropriate workplace treatment. He says display of affection are, quote, what people in politics do. Now back to dateline. Welcome back. Im craig melvin. Just months after one woman was raped and killed in a Texas College town, a second woman was under attack in a nearby community. Kristin lancaster was certain the man end turned out to be the beginning of a fierce fight for truth. Back to face of evil, here as Andrea Canning. 19yearold Kristin Lancaster was preparing to die. When youre possibly in the last moments of your life, when you think that someone is going to kill you, what is going through your mind . I had a moment where i thought about, i wish i had told all the people that i loved, you know, that i loved them. She was in a strangers apartment being sexually assaulted, drifting in and out of consciousness. I black out, but then i start to come to again. And its you know, the scenes in the movies where the bombs explode and everythings really fuzzy, you cant hear, like, everythings, like, coming through this fog. Suddenly, the man stood up and left the room, ordered her to remain quiet. And i scream as loud as i can, call the police. Call the police. Turns out the bryan police were at the door. So my friend had heard me screaming and stomping and had called the police. This is like a miracle. It was, yeah. That in the nick of time the police show up. That only happens on tv. I know. Believe me, i know. They ran in. I was just curled in a Fetal Position on the floor just shaking, shaking uncontrollably. I remember them asking me what happened and i just the words were just coming out so fast. The cops took the man away in handcuffs and kristin slept on her friends couch that night. The friend called the police to see what would happen next. She found out that they didnt book him for Sexual Assault charges. In fact, kristins attacker, the man who almost killed her, had been released. That must have been a tough pill to swallow. It was terrifying. I just i thought he was going to come and find me and kill me. Down at the police station, the man had given a wildly different version of events. Eric buske is the current bryan police chief. He wasnt with the department back then, but says the suspect told investigators that he and kristin had a fight over drugs. She got angry when he substituted aspirin for cocaine, and she went off in a rage when that occurred. I think he had told them some story about how it had been a drug deal that had gone bad. And so then i was crying rape. After the attack, Police Charged him with unlawful restraint, a misdemeanor. The next day, kristin and her dad went to the Bryan Police Department to find out why her attacker wasnt charged with something more serious. I was furious. Because i had thought in this moment that i survived, i survived. Like, this is it. This guy is going down. She met with the detective who asked her questions, lots of them. I had bruises all up and down my throat. I couldnt swallow. And then at one point in time the detective asked me to place my hands on my own throat, and i mean, which even then, like, psychologically, like, that was just even traumatizing. Why would he want you to do that . Because i did that and he looks at me and he says, well, those couldve been selfinflicted. What did you say to the detective whos coming up with these theories . I mean, i was hysterically crying and telling him, like, this man tried to kill me. You know, and he would just say, well, thats not what he says. Of course thats not what he says. Kristin says that despite her bruises, police treated it like a he said she said story. How angry were you getting . I was furious. I just couldnt believe, like, nobody believed me. Chief buske maintains the detective was just doing a thorough investigation. Everything ive read indicated the detective did believe her. You know, sometimes when youre conducting an investigation, your job is to get to the truth as a detective and youre going to have to ask some hard questions. They interviewed her attacker again, and a few months later did charge him with Sexual Assault. The unlawful restraint was still in place, and we booked him on first degree Sexual Assault. The case went to a grand jury, but it was decided not to indict him. So the Sexual Assault charges were dropped, because they felt that there was insufficient evidence. Oh, that must have been tough to hear that. It was very tough to hear that. And it was at a point in time though when i found that out i just i didnt feel like i had any recourse. She did talk about the case later with reporter kelly brown. It bothered me at the time because i wondered, why didnt the grand jury indict him for at least attempted Sexual Assault . But it seemed a little troubling to me that what were we missing . What part of the story did we not have . Did the detectives Say Something that made them think maybe it was consensual . He was still facing the Misdemeanor Charge of unlawful restraint scheduled to go to court down the road. In the meantime, he was a free man. Hes out Walking Around. Hes out Walking Around. In the next town over, detectives at the Brazos County Sheriffs Office were still working the Jamie Hart Murder Case in addition to keeping an eye on jamies boyfriend chuck, they say they followed up on hundreds of other leads and tips. But no one in that department looked at kristins case for a possible connection. You were sexually assaulted. Jamie hart was sexually assaulted. Did you start to think that these could be connected . I didnt think they were connected. And that was primarily because with jamie there was a boyfriend that may have been involved. It was a romantic relationship that went wrong. It wasnt some random occurrence by a stranger. Kristin was now living with overwhelming anxiety and dread, which she says manifested into dangerous behavior. Instead of being afraid of everything, i became afraid of nothing. I you know, i just became completely risk seeking. What kind of things would you do . I think i started drinking heavily for a while after that. You know, id hop on the back of a strangers motorcycle after hed had three beers. And it took a long time to really get out of that hole. Just as kristin was starting to turn a corner, her attacker was due in court on the Misdemeanor Charge, but nothing came of it. He didnt even show up. Id done what i needed to do. And part of me just wanted to forget it ever happened. Reporter but she couldnt. Kristin was about to walk right into another crime scene in College Station. Coming up a shockingly brutal murder and the suspect makes a big mistake. The clothes were different than what he told us. 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With relapsing forms of ms, theres a lot to deal with. Not just unpredictable relapses. All these other things too. Who needs that kind of drama . Kesimpta is a oncemonthly athome injection that may help you put this rms drama in its place. Kesimpta was proven superior at reducing the rate of relapses, active lesions and slowing disability progression versus aubagio. Dont take kesimpta if you have hepatitis b, and tell your doctor if you have had it, as it could come back. Kesimpta can cause serious side effects, including infections. While no cases of pml were recorded in rms clinical trials, it could happen. Tell your doctor if you had or plan to have vaccines, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. Kesimpta may cause a decrease in some types of antibodies. The most common side effects are upper respiratory tract infection, headache and injection reactions. Dealing with this rms drama . Its time to ask your doctor about kesimpta. Dramatic results. Less rms drama. Losing a tooth didnt stop you but your partial can act like a bacteria magnet, putting natural teeth at risk. New Polident Propartial helps purify your partial and strengthens and protects natural teeth. So, are you gonna lose another tooth . Not on my watch it was may of 2000, six months since kristin had been assaulted. Her attacker had failed to show up in court and seemed to have just disappeared. He didnt show up . Didnt show up. In the next town over detective Kenny Elliott continued to work the Jamie Hart Murder Case. Hed spent the last year casting a wide net for possible suspects. You took dna from 70 people . I think 77. Mainly people that were being booked into jail for Violent Crimes. Anyone that was in the area that just didnt want to talk. We took dna from everybody that would give it, practically. But he also had never taken his eye off of her boyfriend, chuck cruz. There was just something that was bothering you about chuck cruz . There was a lot bothering me about chuck cruz. So the Brazos County Sheriffs Office kept investigating chuck, even communicated with the d. A. About possibly convening a grand jury. Chuck and his lawyer spoke to the detective on many occasions. And the detective continued to think chucks behavior was suspicious. And that he still seemed nervous. Did you ever think that maybe the reason that chuck cruz was acting this way was that you guys were coming down pretty hard on him . And hes hes lost his girlfriend. I mean, is there a way to act . I dont know, but he had several things going against him, and we just couldnt walk away from him. We either had to prove that he did it, or prove that he didnt do it. But chuck says he should have been cleared almost right away. So even though the dna didnt match there was no match, but they insisted on targeting me as the prime suspect. They were trying to build a case that wasnt there. While chucks life had been on hold for a year, kristin was starting to feel like her old self again. In the six months since her attack shed taken up running, had a new boyfriend. And though kristin hoped the pain of that horrible night was behind her for good, it wasnt. Theres police tape everywhere. May 28, 2000. Kristin had just arrived to visit friends at an Apartment Complex. There was no reason not then anyway to think her case was connected to the scene unfolding there. Police cars and ambulances and all kinds of, you know, vehicles. Like, Emergency Response vehicles everywhere. And now the sight of police tape sent memories rushing back. It was just, you know, fear. Firefighter leon moore had arrived at the Apartment Complex early that morning, after a neighbor reported smoke in one of the units. The bedroom door was open and we could see some flames. They were on the carpet, so we had a Water Extinguisher that we used and put the small fire out. There on the floor, a body. We backed out and made sure that we preserved as much evidence as we could. He sensed foul play, not just a fire, and called for detective jeff capps of the College Station police department. It looked like her body had kind of been propped up onto the bed. She was nude from the waist down. This is really disturbing. It was. The victim was 21yearold Carolyn Casey, a day care worker. Her parents anita and larry, so proud of their eldest daughter. She was wonderful with kids. All the kids loved her. Everyone loved her. Never could they have prepared themselves for the dreadful phone call they received. Is your daughter Carolyn Casey . I said, yes. I think he said, well, theres been an accident and your daughters dead. A fire. When carolyns younger sister, amanda, learned the news, she collapsed with grief. I just i screamed really loud. Made my ears ring from my screaming. Theyve got this wrong . Yeah. Somethings wrong. She didnt she didnt die. I said, no, shes not dead. What was the Turning Point . I called her apartment. And she didnt answer. Detective capps did say it was homicide. I think we we had a strong feeling that possibly there was some type of Sexual Assault that occurred and that somebody was trying to cover up some evidence. Kelly brown of the eagle newspaper had another story to write. This is a community thats not used to a lot of murders. Its not used to Violent Crimes like this. And it certainly wasnt used to having a Murder Victim being set on fire. Even law enforcement, they thought, what do we have on our hands here . On the night of carolyns murder, there had been a small party in one of the apartments, and now the detective was canvassing the complex, looking for leads. So youre literally knocking on doors . Yes. In one unit, two men answered. One of them had been to the party. His name was Ynobe Matthews. He mentioned that he did attend this party. She was there. Like many people whod attended, ynobe agreed to an interview, his down at the police department. He was friendly and cooperative, said carolyn had left the party before he had. He later left the party. Went with another female that was at the party over to a Convenience Store that was close by and bought some cigarettes. Ynobe gave the detective a dna sample and supplied the clothes hed been wearing. To verify his alibi, the detective pulled Surveillance Video from the Convenience Store and noticed something. The clothing that he was actually wearing was different than what he had just told us. Why isnt he telling us the truth . Ynobe claimed hed simply forgotten and then handed the detective the proper clothing. No forensic evidence found on the clothes connected him to the crime scene. So this wasnt your big moment. No, it wasnt. The big moment did come though, just a few nights later when the pieces of this puzzle finally came together. Coming up an arrest of a familiar suspect. I didnt think he would do it again. When dateline continues. Woman i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Now, theres skyrizi. Things are getting clearer yeah i feel free to bare my skin, yeah, thats all me nothing and me go hand in hand nothing on my skin, thats my new plan nothing is everything woman keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. With skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months. Of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. And skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. I see nothing in a different way and its my moment so i just gotta say nothing is everything skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to, or recently received a vaccine. Nothing is everything woman now is the time to ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. And a little bit of chicken fried cold beer on a friday night a pair of jeans that fit just right and the radio up get 5 boneless wings for 1 with any handcrafted burger. Only at applebees. Ah, a package you know what this human ordered . A backache. Consider pain, delivered. Pain says you cant. Advil says you can. Welcome back. As Carolyn Caseys family grieve their loss, detectives struggle to make sense of the crime scene. As they canvass the area looking for leads a possible suspect emerged. Heres Andrea Canning with a final chapter of face of evil. It was two nights after the murder and fire. Detective capps made a discovery, one that would finally connect the dots in the series of crimes that had terrorized this college town. I spent that evening basically reading through all these reports. The detective had ordered Background Checks on some of the people who attended the party in carolyns Apartment Complex, including Ynobe Matthews. It turns out there were several Police Reports in the file Accusing Ynobe of a number or crimes. Mr. Matthews had a tendency to try to sexually assault females, and in the process of that, he would choke them if they were not willing to have sex with him. How did carolyn die . Her death was ruled a strangulation, so things started kind of matching up. Ynobe had never been convicted of Sexual Assault, but in the files the detective read the account of one particularly brutal attack. The case ended up being charged as a misdemeanor, unlawful restraint. It was kristins. Ynobe was the man she says almost killed her. I was certain that he had done this before. But at the same time, i didnt think he would do it again. The detective called ynobe mathews back down to the station for another interview and decided to pull a fast one with his suspect, telling him he was about to get dna results from the crime scene. Were you really about to get it that quickly . We werent going get it that quickly that day, but trying to get him to believe that we had that information, that we had everything that we needed. I had contacted my supervisor earlier, and i told him, if he would page me, just say put in type in the words that says dna matches. And right on cue, the detectives pager went off. And i showed it to mr. Mathews, asked him to read it. It said dna matches. So whats his face like when he looks at that match . He became pretty emotional. And he said he it was an accident, but he had killed her. The detective called carolyns parents and gave them the news of the confession. They said, i think weve got him. I said, well, how sure . He said, ill bet the farm on it. It was the next morning when Kristin Lancaster opened up the newspaper and learned her attacker had been charged with murder. I felt overwhelming guilt, just overwhelming guilt knowing that hed killed someone and that, you know, perhaps i hadnt tried hard enough to make people believe me. Did you feel like a life could have been saved if you had been taken more seriously . Oh, yes, carolyn would still be here. I mean, theres no doubt. And what about the woman at the start of our story . Jamie harts case had been handled by the Brazos County Sheriffs Office. But after ynobe was arrested, it didnt take long for the college the dna. What they found . Ynobe was also jamies killer. Whats that moment like . I remember the feeling of wanting to feel relieved, but all i could think was, this is exactly what i knew was going to happen. He struck again, another girl is dead, and another family has lost their precious daughter. Chuck says to this day he misses jamie and has never gotten over being viewed as a suspect. Having to spend such a long time under investigation for the death of a loved one, it hurts. Its like a scar. Very much so. Very much so. Do you feel bad about that at all, that he was put through that . Im sorry that he had to go through that, yes, but if i had to do the investigation over, i wouldnt change anything. Im sorry he lost the love of his life, but we had a job to do, and we had to either arrest him for murder or clear him. We cleared him. But before jamie, before kristin, before carolyn, there was another victim who soon learned she was also connected to this horrifying series of events. Her name is misty johnson. If i didnt let him rape me, he would have killed me. Like kristin, misty reported her attack to the Bryan Police Department. But ynobe denied it, claiming it was consensual, and misty was too traumatized to help police in the investigation. It was probably within a week, i quit my job and left town. I was scared. She now regrets that decision. Her attack happened first, months before jamie was murdered. I feel like if i would have stayed and fought him through the police department, that possibly he wouldnt have been able to go on to hurt anyone else. And kristin is left with the memory of an assault that according to the law never really happened. I was so angry that two people had to die in order for someone to believe me. Did the system fail . It failed me. It failed carolyn. It failed jamie. You think about them a lot . They were total strangers to you. But theyre my alternative future. I mean, theyre what could have happened to me. I mean, theyre what could have happened to any of us. A jury convicted Ynobe Matthews of carolyns murder and sentenced him to death. He also pleaded guilty to jamies murder. Kristin faced him in court during the penalty phase. It was terrifying. And i had to testify, and i met carolyns family and jamies family. They all came out afterwards and gave me a hug. It helped me realize that their families didnt hold any grudge against me. Its not her fault that my sister died. And kristin should have no guilt over that. With the casey family as witnesses, Ynobe Matthews was executed three years later. If there is a lesson to take from this story, it is one that comes directly from a survivor herself, someone who has learned the hard way to cherish lifes moments, each and every one. It makes you realize how fragile your life is, you know . And that anybody can take it, you know, in a moments notice. This story, you know, for them, thats it. Thats their life story. The final chapters been written. But for me i get to keep going on. What would you call yourself . I mean, people have called me a survivor. I would call myself lucky. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Im craig melvin. Thanks for watching. Im craig melvin. And im natalie morales. And this is dateline. Its not a play, isnt it . Are you sane . Sane . Thats relative. Guilty, hmm. I wouldnt do anything i felt guilty about. You may think you know the Charles Manson story, but not like this. Things that police had never seen before. Sharon tate begged her, please dont kill me. He was trying to take advantage of peace and love, flower power. Even now, decades later, the

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