Ezra McCandless

A young Wisconsin woman appears to be the victim of a horrifying attack. She had knife wounds to her hands, to both of her legs. The distinctive wound that stood out was the word boy carved into her arm. Her showing up in the condition that she was in, we had some major concerns there. The investigation uncovers a complex personal history. I just remember being really scared. What were you scared of? Alex. They had been dating since November to the middle of February when she broke it off with him. But when a body is discovered in a remote area, it turns the entire case upside down. There was a lot of blood around the vehicle. Feet had been stabbed. Several times. Once we found him, we realized he wasn't a suspect. He was our victim. March 22, 2018. It's a crisp spring afternoon in the small town of. of Menominee, Wisconsin. Picture northwest Wisconsin, rolling farm fields. Patches of woods here and there, not much going on. It's a community of about 70, 75,000 people, generally a very safe community, not a lot of crimes. This idyllic community is not accustomed to emergencies, so when a local dairy farmer calls 9-1-1 about a possible assault, it comes as a surprise. I'm calling 9-1-1. I have a young lady that just came to my house. She's by herself. She walked to my house here and said somebody attacked her and she needs a doctor. This young woman showed up at his door wearing muddy socks, covered in blood. Very anguished, very panicked. Did she say who did this to her? No, she said she was attacked and assaulted and she's from O'Flair. The sheriff's department sends a deputy to the address, along with medical assistance and a state trooper for backup. The deputy that responded asked her what was going on, and she was very confused. Said she couldn't really recall. Everything was really fuzzy. What's the last thing you remember? How about we do that? I remember getting them off of me. Getting them? Yeah. Okay, so are we talking like a man? More than one man? I don't know. Can you tell me your name, ma'am? Oh, my God. Do you know if you have any family in O'Flair? Do you know if we can call for you? Do you know Jason's phone number? No. Do you know Jason's last name? No. While officers try to track down Jason, the young woman is immediately taken to the hospital for evaluation. When she arrived at the hospital, she had knife wounds to her hands that could be considered defensive wounds to both of her legs in the thigh region. The wounds were very superficial. That's just strange. It's bizarre. But the distinctive wound that she had in them, the one that stood out the most, was the word boy carved into her arm. At that point in time, Eau Claire County detectives responded to the hospital to interview this young lady. I just remember being really cold. And just kind of like, it's kind of like the feeling of like, you don't know what's happening, and you're scared, and you just need to keep walking and walking and running, and I don't know. Kind of like, I felt kind of like a scared animal. I don't know how to describe it. We do see that trauma can impact memory. We tend to remember things that we do much more clearly and more often than we might remember things that other people are doing to us. The deputy is like, give us a description. Give us a description of their car. Give us a description of them. Where exactly did this occur? She wasn't able to do that. So we don't know what suspects to look for. And there's an extreme sense of urgency to find the suspect. Monica Kay was born in Stanley, Wisconsin on October 6, 1997. She was raised by a single mother. She didn't know her biological father growing up. Monica had some challenges, really, from birth in the sense that her mom was very, very young when she had her. She was 14 years old. And I think growing up with a mom that's that young, that would have a big impact on her. Her mom went through a lot when she was a kid, and Monica felt a big responsibility to be an adult or to be a parent in the household. She was really, really close to her family, but she cited a lot of generational trauma. Her mother later married. She had a man named Joe Carlin, and at age four, he adopted her. She became Monica Kay Carlin. In high school, Monica didn't quite fit into any social circle, but her outgoing personality helped her make friends easily. She was two years younger than me, and we shared an art class together. She was always kind of a zany, weird individual. And I think that's why. I think we connected because we both had similar interests. She was a great artist. Anything and everything she could find to make art, she would. And her car was no exception. They had all these, like, doodles and little things, and you could definitely tell it was her vehicle. I think she expressed her admiration for the beauty of the world through her art. Monica's career has been a turning point in her life. She has made a lot of progress in her life. Monica's creativity wasn't the only thing that made her stand out among her classmates. When she was a teenager, around 15, 16, she started really experimenting with her gender fluidity. For the whole time that we were together, Monica had a really masculine appearance and was dressing and presenting more outwardly as male. As time progressed, she started to dress a little bit more feminine. So she was wearing more tight. She was wearing a lot of fully-fitting clothing, as well as doing her makeup more often. Monica started identifying as masculine during high school, before eventually identifying as both feminine and gender fluid. A big part of her was changing her style to make it how she wanted it and not how others wanted it. The whole idea of her doing her own thing, being her own person. In 2015, when she turned 18, Monica legally changed her name to Erica. Ezra McCandless. - She played around with her name for a while. She thought Ezra was kind of a gender neutral name, which really embodied her for both masculine and feminine. - McCandless was inspired by Chris McCandless from "Into the Wild." She really resonated with that character, kind of on his soul search, finding himself. - We all transitioned with her and knew her as Ezra. Like, Monica was dead. That was not who she was anymore, and we all accepted it. So from then on, it was Ezra, and that's how we knew her. - After high school, Ezra attended the University of Wisconsin in Marinette. She started hanging out in a coffee shop in Eau Claire where she met someone new. At 19 and still somewhat in search of herself, Ezra meets a 33-year-old Jason Mengel, who is a medic in the Army National Guard. They develop a relationship. - Jason was always a cheery guy, always had a smile on his face, and wanted to make friends with everybody. - He had things going for him. He was kind, he was generous. She described this boyfriend as the love of her life, that they shared an ancient love that would never die. - And it really felt like, you know, it felt like there was a spark there to Ezra. It was just her and Jason, and nothing else could stand between them. - Ezra and Jason moved in together, and everything seemed to be going well, until Ezra found out she was pregnant. - I would imagine it would be very confusing for Ezra at a relatively young age. Jason didn't push her to do anything, he didn't push her to have a baby. He didn't push her to have a baby. Jason struggled to recover. Shortly after, their relationship seemed to unravel, and he's sleeping on the couch. She begins to seek comfort in a man named Alex Woodworth, and their friendship evolves into a romantic relationship. Jason learns about this through text messages that he discovers, and that causes Ezra and Jason to break up. Obviously, there were some tensions because of everything that transpired, but they remained friends throughout this. Now, just a month later, Ezra has become the apparent victim of an assault and struggles to remember details. She's only asking to see one person over and over. I want to see Jason. I want to talk to Jason. The deputy somehow obtained his phone number, contacted Jason Mengel, who pretty quickly responded. He doesn't know what happened to Ezra. He said that they were ex-girlfriend and boyfriend, that they used to live together. So, at this point in time, there's just a whole lot of question marks, but he did respond to the hospital where Ezra was at. When detectives speak to him, they try to gauge his involvement in the situation. We were able to quickly rule out Jason's involvement just based on his alibi and just speaking with him in general. We knew that he wasn't involved. Near our initial interview, he relates his relationship with Ezra and some of the trials and tribulations that they had. Even though they were now broken up, he still loved her and cared for her very much. Jason Mengel seemed to be a pretty good guy. I mean, he obviously loved Ezra McCandless. Jason reveals that Jason is not the type of person he was supposed to be. But Ezra recently went through another breakup with the man she had cheated on Jason with, a mutual friend named Alex Woodworth. About the beginning of November, as Jason and Ezra were kind of on the rocks, she started to see Alex. We're trying to figure out what happened and where it happened and where Alex might be. And if he's the one that did this to him, he's the one that did this to Ezra. Coming up, Jason tells detectives about a strange encounter. He was very concerned for her safety and for anybody's safety who was around her. And a police report presents a key piece of evidence. Officers see ultimately Jason write off, and Ezra and Alex get in the car and drive off together alone. Ezra McCandless seems to be the victim of an apparent assault, but is struggling to remember details that could aid in the investigation. When detectives speak with her ex, Jason Mengel, they learn there is a more recent ex in her life named Alex Woodworth. Jason tells detectives, Alex is the mutual friend Ezra cheated on him with. Alex Woodworth is a barista at a coffee shop in Eau Claire. Ezra, Alex, and Jason all hung out at this coffee shop on a routine basis. The two of them had been intimately involved at some point while Jason Mengel and Ezra were in a dating relationship. Jason says after the incident, after he and Ezra broke up a little over a month ago, she continued seeing Alex for a few weeks, until she broke that off, saying she was contemplating getting back together with Jason. Ezra and Jason broke up here and there, but always got back together. They would call each other husband and wifey. So at this point, she wanted Jason back. And despite all the problems he had with Ezra, Jason still valued her. It was her friendship. Jason claims that hours before Ezra reported the attack, he was at the coffee shop when Ezra came in looking for Alex. She was described as, like, barging in or storming in and just acting out of character. Something was off that day. She told people that she was going to go over to Alexander Woodworth's residence. That she wanted to return a water bottle and a bookmark. When she left there, her demeanor was such that Jason Mengel was very concerned for her safety and for anybody's safety who was around Ezra at that time. She wasn't acting herself. Jason tells police he decided to check on Ezra and Alex. He was concerned for both of his friends. So he hurriedly rode his bike over there. When he gets to Alexander's house, he sees Ezra McCandless's vehicle. Notices that it's idling in the driveway. He's like, "Oh, no. What's going on here?" He goes into the house. and finds Ezra in Alex's bedroom in there, having a discussion. He said it wasn't a heated discussion. It was just a back-and-forth discussion about things he wasn't quite sure of. He asked them both, "Are you okay? I'm concerned." "Yeah, we're okay. You can leave now. We're going to sort some things out, and then it's going to be all right." Jason says when he left, he was surprised to find police officers. waiting for him. He was by a school, so a janitor actually called him in as a suspicious person, at which point law enforcement showed up and talked to him. He said that he was there to check on Ezra and Alex. Officers talked to all three of them and determined nothing's wrong. The officers didn't see any need to step in and intervene in any way at that point. When detectives investigating Ezra's attack talk to the responding officers about the incident that occurred just three hours before the 911 call, they learn something concerning. Officers see, ultimately, Jason ride off on his bicycle, and Ezra and Alex get in the car and drive off together, alone. It's in her vehicle, a very distinctive Chevy Impala. Distinctive because, she was an accomplished artist, and she had drawn some caricatures on the top of the car and the hood. It's the last time anyone sees Alex, or Ezra, until she shows up at the farmhouse, covered in mud and blood. We needed to find Alex, and get his side of the story. Investigators question if Alex could have been the one who attacked her. So they go to talk to Ezra again. How are you doing? I'm tired. Yeah, sounds like you've been through this. Yeah. Why don't you tell me about yesterday? 'Cause I know I'm Ezra, but for some reason, I kept telling him I was Monica Carlin, 'cause that was my old name. I just remember being really scared and just being in pain. Being hurt. By who or what? I don't know. Alex. Okay. By him doing what, though? By him, like, harming me and making me want to do something he wanted. So, at some point, he carves Boy into your arm, and then when did that take place? That took place when we got in the car. We knew Alex needed to be interviewed. We knew Alex was our suspect. Ezra's saying he's the one that tried to assault her. So, in our minds, we need to find Alex. We searched the apartment. He was not there. Checked the coffee shop. He was not there. We started checking Alex's bank records. None of that yielded any helpful information as far as where Alex might be. Our concern level was starting to be low. We knew there was more work that needed to be done. This couldn't wait. After speaking with Ezra McCandless, investigators are focused on locating the last person she was seen with, 24-year-old Alex Woodworth. Our priority is finding Alex and finding out where he is. The fact that Jason Mengel was concerned for the safety of all the other parties involved, the fact that Ezra had presented the way that she did to the Dunn County deputies, and that Alex wasn't found at any point, any of his regular haunts. So, yeah, we were concerned. Alex's family and friends say they haven't seen him in the past 24 hours, but they can't imagine he had anything to do with Ezra's attack. They said that he had been dating Ezra since November to the middle of February when she broke it off with him. He didn't have an issue. He respected her wishes. My mom called me and told me that the police had called and said that Alex had been missing. She said that they had found Ezra and that she was incoherent, so she was really worried something bad had happened to him. Alex wouldn't just go missing. He would do everything he could to protect her if something had happened, and so I was more worried that he got hurt trying to protect Ezra. 24 hours into their investigation, police tried to retrace their steps. So we just thought, let's start at the last place that she was seen, which was the farm. As we get to the road, we're driving past a field entrance that is muddy. Lieutenant Piper said he would stop and check that field entrance. I was just walking around, and I remember, I remember looking down at one point and seeing a couple of footprints in the mud. Okay, you can see her footprints there and right there. She's going that way. We could see in the mud one single set of footprints coming over a knob leading away from the woods to the main road. We could also see a set of tire tracks driving in, but not out. We walked up the farm access road. There was a little bit of a rise, and once we got up to that rise, you could see Ezra's vehicle. As we start getting closer, we could see Ezra's car in the mud and stuck. We could see things thrown around, but outside it looked like clothing, shoes, blankets. It looked like some sort of a struggle based on all of the things that were laying out in the grass. Saw a large amount of blood. There's blood there. There's blood along the side of this. On closer inspection, investigators confirm they're dealing with more than an assault. And then we could see what looked like a human body hanging out at the back driver's side door. Once we got up to the car, we saw that it was Alex. I've been in law enforcement for a long time. I've seen a lot of horrific things, but I wasn't prepared for what I saw at this particular scene. There was a lot of blood. There was a lot of blood around the vehicle, some inside the vehicle. I observed that he'd been stabbed several times to include his neck being slashed behind his left ear and other places on his body. All kinds of scenarios pop up in your head. Was she and Alex the victims of some random strangers? Was she the person who attacked Alex? Was she acting in self-defense, or was this some preplanned thing? Just one day after the 911 call, the case has taken a major turn, and officials need to determine why Alex Woodworth was killed. As the case started, he was our suspect. He was the only person that we knew, who we thought did this to Ezra. But once we found him, the big question at hand was why it happened. Did Ezra kill Alex? After finding Alex Woodworth stabbed to death in the back of Ezra McCandless' car, police inform his family about his death, and seek to learn more about him. Alex was born in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, but we both grew up in Osceola, Wisconsin, in the same house that my parents still live at. And he was a pretty typical older brother. He was very loving in his own way. He had a lot of friends. You could tell that he always wanted to be there for them. He was a big, big heart. Loved ones say, Alex's empathy is what led him to pursue a career in education. Alex went to college in Eau Claire. He eventually settled on a philosophy degree, and he was planning on going to graduate school to become a philosophy professor afterwards. He was so deeply caring about people, and I feel like he had such a hard time seeing red flags or the bad in people. Needing more information, investigators revisit the last person who was seen with Alex. The next morning, I went with a investigator from Dunn County, and we went and re-interviewed Ezra. - Okay, what do you think we found at the end of the road, Ezra? - Was it my car or anything? - We did find her car. What happened back there, Ezra? - I think she had a moment where she said, "I don't know." - I think she had a moment where she realized that what she initially told the detectives was imaginable to what they found. - And I think something happened to Alex, and you know that too, right? - Yeah. - What happened to Alex? - I got him off of me. - What led you guys out there in the first place? - Just to find somewhere to talk. That's all I wanted. I just wanted to talk. She told us that Alex started driving the car down the field entrance road up over the hill and it got stuck. - So I'm looking in my car for like maybe a board or anything to put underneath the tire to get traction. - Okay. - And that's when everything started happening. - Azra said she heard Alex coming behind her and she turned and saw that he had a knife. - He just came at you with a knife. - Yeah. - Alex, by her account, said things true to the effect, "I deserve this, I want one last time." - Like, I just felt panicked. Like, kind of like a small animal, I was kind of scared. - Okay. - She said he was trying to attack her. - He grabbed me and he put me in the back of the car, but he kept using the he pronouns 'cause he preferred it. - Okay. - He kept using the he pronouns 'cause he preferred it. - Okay. - And he used to call me, like, boy a lot and stuff like that. He started, like, carving boy in my arm. - Where is this, on your arm? - This arm. I started cutting my pants open and stuff and I didn't know what to do and it was really scary. - She says at that point she was kicking and pushing him. She also said she grabbed the knife and was able to get it away from him. - How did you end up getting out? - Just kicking and stabbing anywhere and everywhere. - Ezra's confession dramatically changes the nature of the investigation for a second time. - The big question at hand is, do we have a self-defense case where Ezra killed Alex because of self-defense or do we have a homicide? - A closer look at Ezra's wounds does not line up with her account. - Looking at Ezra's injuries, the injuries to her hands, where she said she grabbed the blade, they're superficial, they're scratches. If someone's going to truly grab a knife blade, their hand is gonna get cut wide open. The injuries to her legs, where she said Alex was cutting open her clothes, those were at arm's length. So if her arms are hanging straight down, that is where the cuts are, on both legs. There's none below the knee. There's none above the hip. And again, they're superficial. - I'm taking a look at this scenario and I'm thinking, I wonder if perhaps she staged that crime scene and gave herself these superficial cuts to give the appearance that Alex might've attacked her. - The evidence that most strongly contradicts contradicts Ezra's story is the word carved into her arm which she says Alex did from her left. It was carved where she was able to read it, with the B up by her elbow and the Y down by her wrist. It wasn't carved into her arm as if someone else did it from a different direction. And then the boy carved in your arm. The part that throws me off on that is if he would write it in, it would have been reversed, right? How did boy get put into your arm? He didn't do that to you, did he? You carved boy into your own arm. Is that right? With Ezra's confession inconsistent, detectives look to the now-completed autopsy for more solid answers. In total, Alex had 16 stab wounds in him. Several of the wounds were post-mortem. They were inflicted on Alex after he was deceased. If you're doing self-defense, you're going to stab someone once, maybe twice, and then you're going to leave. You're going to run away. She stayed and stabbed him 16 times. So the evidence doesn't support, her claim of self-defense. Coming up, police untangle a web of lies. She obviously wanted to be with him the most. And I think in her mind's eye, she's thinking, how do I get out of this? And a murder plot comes into focus. The only thing left for her to do was to kill him. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Detectives are beginning to piece together evidence that could turn their case on its head. Now that it appears Ezra McCandless was the attacker, not the victim. The question is why. Investigators ask themselves that question all the time. Why would somebody do the thing that they do? It doesn't make any rational sense to any of us. It never does. Looking for answers, detectives dig into potential police records for everyone involved, and discover this isn't the first time Ezra has reported sexual assault. About a month prior to the homicide, Ezra had made a sexual assault allegation against a gentleman by the name of John, who was an acquaintance. She accused him of getting her really drunk at a residence and then having sexual relations with a man. And that's why Ezra was arrested. He was having sexual relations with her when she did not have the ability to say no. She actually reported that to the police. The case was investigated by the Eau Claire Police Department. Around February 26th of 2018, I was assigned a case by Lieutenant Piper of a sexual assault that Ezra McCandless was reporting. During the course of this investigation, I interviewed Alex Woodworth. Ezra and Alex had just broken up two days earlier. When Alex Woodworth found out that she made this report about John to the police, Alex Woodworth sided with John. After a thorough investigation that included interviews and reviews of text and digital records, detectives closed the case, deciding it was a rare instance of false reporting. With this in mind, investigators working on Alex's murder case pull Ezra's data. investigators working on Alex's murder case pull Ezra's data. And a search warrant With this in mind, investigators working on Alex's murder case pull Ezra's data. And a search warrant also uncovers With this in mind, investigators working on Alex's murder case pull Ezra's data. And a search warrant also uncovers Ezra's personal journals. She described Jason as the love of her life. That they shared an ancient love that would never die. And I think in her mind's eye, she's thinking, "How do I get Jason to believe me again?" I think that she really did feel like I think that she really did feel like I think that she really did feel like her upbringing was relatively chaotic. her upbringing was relatively chaotic. And it would have been very easy for upbringing was relatively chaotic. And it would have been very easy for Ezra not to feel a sense of And it would have been very easy for Ezra not to feel a sense of stability in her life, either physical stability or emotional stability. Jason still cares for her. Jason's still her friend and he helps her out where he can. Jason was everything to her and she would do whatever needed to be done. Texts show that before she turned on Alex, Ezra tried to convince him to help her. She wanted Alex to get a hold of Jason and say whatever happened didn't mean anything. It was an accident. But Alex, I don't think, wanted to say that because to him it wasn't an accident. He says it and it says so in their messages. Investigators suspect that when that didn't work, Ezra developed a new strategy. Sometimes we start seeing people develop coping mechanisms such as playing the victim role because that seems to be the only way they sense they can get attention or affection. Or sympathy. Or a sense of control. It's by manipulating other people to be perceived as the victim. The day before Alex's murder, she sent over 600 messages to Jason. And during that time frame, she was begging to get back together with him. She was doing, saying anything she could to make herself look like a victim. She thought Jason would maybe look at getting back together with her. If she was a victim. The culmination of everything involved with these secret affairs and the lies and suddenly became overbearing to her and she snapped. To investigators, the timeline suggests that day Ezra lured Alex into a deadly trap. I believe that her intention was to kill him. Kill Alex so that she could be with Jason. She can go back to Jason and see, look, I told you so. He was trying to sexually assault me. I did my best to fight him off. I told you that the whole time that he was the bad guy. And maybe he would take her back. On April 6th, 2018, Ezra is charged with first degree intentional homicide. But detectives know getting a conviction will be difficult. In any case, you worry that they're going to be found not guilty. I felt the evidence pointed to her doing this intentionally and not self defense. But I was nervous. But I was nervous. But I was nervous. I was nervous. I was nervous. I was nervous. I was nervous. When the Ezra McCandless trial begins in October 2019, news media from around the country descend upon rural Wisconsin. This case was a big deal in the media because this is a small community. This type of stuff usually doesn't happen here. As the prosecution presents its verdict, the trial continues. He just kept saying he's been waiting for this for so long. After you hear that, what do you do? I kept saying out loud what's happening, what's going on. It felt like I was in a tunnel, like I could only see so much around me. And this is when I decided I needed to go. I needed to get away. On November 1st, 2019, the jury renders its verdict. Ms. McCandless, please rise. We, the jury, find the defendant, Ezra J. McCandless, guilty of first-degree intentional homicide. She was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 50 years. False allegations of sexual assault are rare. And the rare people who do them do them for lots of different reasons. Ezra started out not having a dad, having a mom who was so young, somebody who struggled, I think, from a mental health standpoint in a lot of different ways. I think that she had a real need for attention and wasn't quite sure how to get that. And then when she got in a relationship, she really cared about Jason. He became very, very important to her. And that sometimes those feelings, I think, in her mind justified acting in certain ways. Ezra's actions took away a young man who is missed by many. Alex would be a professor. He would be living his dream. And it's very unfortunate that that was taken from him. Ezra McCandless is currently incarcerated at the Tay Cheetah Correctional Institution in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She will be eligible. She was eligible for parole in 2070 at 72 years old.