Mennonite Murder Mystery: The Sasha Krause Case

on prime crime. It's a single female. She's laying face down. A savage crime devastates a community. She wrote poetry in her spare time. Got along with everybody. She's just a sweet person by everyone's account. Oh, shocking. Someone would want to do her harm. And the answers to this case lie in unexpected places. Is there something to happen to you in the midnight church I was at you? I really was just in my life. Our investigation now transitions to a criminal investigation. We have partnered with the Coconino County Sheriff's Office and federal authorities in trying to identify and apprehend the individual that's responsible. Hey there, everybody. I'm Jesse Weber and welcome to prime crime where we break down some of the most compelling and memorable true crime cases from across the country. When 27-year-old Sasha Kraus goes missing, police are at a loss. There's no blood, no body, no DNA, no known motive. Just countless miles of remote terrain that don't seem to hold any clues. 911. What's the address of the emergency? It's on the Lampon light compound. Okay. What it is, is a missing person, her name is Sasha Kraus. January 18th, 2020, the Lampon light men and night compound in farming to New Mexico. It's a community so small that when 27-year-old Sasha Kraus doesn't come home from what should be a quick errand, people are immediately concerned. All right, coming back to what happened. Okay. He works here on the compound. He's been missing since about 8 o'clock tonight. He left home to go down to the church out for Sunday school books and he did not return and one of the other girls that lives with her calls. Sasha was by all accounts, a light to her community, to her family. She was a teacher and she dedicated her life to the faith and to making sure that the people within the faith felt welcomed and learned about the religion in which they served. She lived with other women of her faith and they believed in being together and being a community where they all helped each other to learn, grow and to live. The men and I faith is all about being non-violent and non-resistive. If they're met with violence, they will not respond with violence. They dress in very simple clothing, very long dresses. They also have a head covering. Okay, what color should her jacket was she last seen wearing? I don't know. I'm not sure what maybe she would have had to dress on. Sasha Kraus had no known enemies and for good reason, she was someone who was a development knight who believed in peace and turning the other cheek and non-confrontation. Sasha Kraus was not the kind of person who would just up and vanish, especially out of a small town in Farmington. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere. There's only a couple of theories that you could really follow, right? Is that she left on her own volition and the police did look into that, but she had left a lot of personal writings behind, a lot of her personal effects behind. So that seemed unlikely. There was a discussion of perhaps she had a romantic interest and had run off with somebody again. No indication that that was the case. And there's no spouse where there could be some kind of a marital spat that led to a kidnapping or murder or disappearance. There's no altercations that were noted with Sasha and anyone else. But also no indication that she was taken. Her car was discovered at the church parking lot in the middle of that community. There was no disturbance. Her keys were found inside her car. And so she just had disappeared. Over the last four weeks, we conducted ground searches, aerial searches, canine search, and entered Sasha's information to federal databases that would alert us if law enforcement had contact with her. Detectives didn't have much to go on, so they did searches of the area. And the searches came up empty. There was no body to be found. There was no motive. And there was no obvious suspect. So the police interviewed a number of people in that community. They had some leads, although I don't believe it ever. They ever had a suspect in the case. It was really a cold case for some time. You know, for any investigation, time is an enemy because as time passes by, even if there is some evidence left at the scene, you're talking about rain that may wash it away. You talk about DNA that now may be gone. So the longer it takes for an investigator to find a body, the less likely it is that they can connect it to whoever left that body there. Then, a month after Sasha's disappearance, a call comes in from someone almost 300 miles away from Farmington and the neighboring state of Arizona. On February 22, 2020, we were contacted by the Coconino County Sheriff's Office in reference to the body of a female that was found just outside of Flagstaff. There was a camper in the area of the sense that created a national monument who was collecting firewood at the time, something caught her eye. And she approached the body just close enough to see that it was a body. Soon, the Sheriff's Office from Coconino County arrived on the scene. So where is she? She's straight ahead of the straight ahead. She said she was real stiff, cold. I'll go check the camp. We'll just try to see if maybe we can ID her. Police interview the camper who found the body. You're just willing to write a statement for me of what you saw and how this happened. What brought you there when you found her? I mean, at this point, what I'll probably do, I think, is I'm going to go down to Sedona after this and see my new friend because I don't want to be alone. At the time they discovered the body, they didn't even know if it was a homicide case. Initially, it could have been someone had wandered off, maybe died of exposure, but once they turned her body over and saw that her hands, her wrists were duct taped together, that was a good indication that there was some foul play. Art detectives were dispatched to that area to meet with their investigators and determining a positive identification and to share our investigation with them. After the Sheriff's Office came on scene, they took her body. It was transported to the Medical Examiner's Office. They discovered that she had blunt forced trauma to the back of her head and there was a gunshot wound to the back of her head as well. It was with a 22 caliber long rifle, which is a very small caliber bullet. It doesn't make a whole lot of noise. The Sunset Crater is fairly remote. I can see how nobody heard the gunshot. There's nobody to watch. There's nobody to listen. There's nobody out. There's no lights. There's nothing. If you wanted to hide a body, this is probably the place where not a whole lot of people would find it. Then, at the scene, police spots something unusual that brings them to a terrible conclusion. I think her dress really stood out. A sergeant with the Sheriff's Office that that morning hit was just going through the missing persons notices and discovered this one from New Mexico that showed that the last things that Sasha was wearing was this gray, plain dress. They did. In fact, I'm firm that it was Sasha through fingerprint comparison. It's with a heavy heart that I now report that the body of Sasha Kraus has been identified and located. There was no sign of a struggle. There was no blood trail. There was no drag marks necessarily, which led them to believe that she was possibly killed right where she was found. So we're talking about a car ride that would have lasted multiple hours with Sasha being bound, not knowing what was going to happen to her. So not only did the victim go through the experience of being kidnapped, but you have multiple hours of fear of impending death. The day that Sasha Kraus' body was found, that news was everywhere. It was all over the television. It was in the newspaper. It was everywhere. We have partnered with a Coconino County Sheriff's Office and federal authorities in trying to identify and apprehend the individual that's responsible for Sasha's kidnapped and murder. Who would do something like this to a young woman who was dressed in clear, man and night clothing? It didn't pose a risk of threat to anyone. There was no money stolen or there was no financial motive. Why would someone kidnapped and kill such an innocent, harmless person? Then, after Sasha's body is found, there's another major break in the case. The Sheriff's Office and Coconino County discovered that her cell phone had been communicating with certain cell sites or cell towers in New Mexico. They compared that to other devices that were communicating with those same cell sites as well as a cell site near where Sasha's body was discovered. It was at that point that the Sheriff's Office discovered that there was one device that was communicating with the same towers, going the same direction at the same time. That device belonged to Mark Gooch. At the time, we didn't know much about Mark Gooch. He was 21 years old, which means he hasn't been in the military for that long. Mark Gooch was an airman down at Luke Air Force Base, a long ways away from where the body was found and from where Farmington is. Coconino County Sheriff. sheriff's detective Lauren Jones, who now goes by her married name Lauren Nagel, locates Mark Gooch at the air base. The detective came down to Luke Air Force Base and they got him into the criminal investigation division on base under the pretence of giving him a drug test. Hey, Mark, I'm Detective Jones. I'm with the sheriff's office. I have a couple of questions for you. I was wondering if you would come chat with me over a size office. They interviewed Mark Gooch at the Air Force Base with the help of the Office of Special Investigations. So he went in for a drug test. The door opens and a detective from Cohe Nino County comes walking through the door and starts asking him about this case, which was completely different reason than he thought he was there. Catches him off guard, I think. How long have you been in the Air Force? I've been in the Air Force just over a year. Oh, I'm not too long. Well, thank you for your service. First of all, I did not start the military myself. So I really admire people who choose to do that. It's one of the more polite interviews I've ever seen. One of the more non-confrontational interviews and one of the more open police interviews I've ever seen on tape. She was basically just presenting what she had and waiting for him to walk into the trap. Coming up, Detective Nagle lures in her prime suspect. There was a girl from Sasha Krause. That was killed. Did you hear about that, Hayes? I was saying in the news yesterday. Any idea now why I want to talk to you at all? All the things I can think of it is maybe I'll try to pass on my bike. He told me to heard about the Sasha Krause case and this on the news. What did you think about that when you saw that? It was shocking. I wish I had seen something because on the news article, they said if you see anything, please call it. Luke Air Force Base April 2020 two months after the body of Sasha Krause is found in a remote park in New Mexico. Detective Lauren Nagle interrogates suspect Mark Guch, police linked his cell phone pings to Sasha's on the evening of her disappearance. But so far, there's no other connection between the two typically murder cases. We see that the murderer knows the victim. There's some relationship. I think this wasn't an usual case because there didn't appear to be any relationship between Mark Guch and Sasha Krause. I am working on Homicide Investigation. There was a girl named Sasha Krause. That was killed. Tell me what she know about the case. It's basically the news report. She was from New Mexico, right? And she left home. The left home one evening and they found her in Northern Arizona. Like Flagstaff area, right? So that's the case that I'm working. Because I was probably going to try to make a scary problem. Mark Guch seemed like an upstanding guy, 21 years old, serving in the military and had no priors, no rap sheet. Yeah, that's exactly it. So we've had these things called license plate readers and your vehicle hit a license plate reader in that area. Do you want to ask him what's New Mexico? Yeah, yeah, we have the camera for some of it. He starts kind of answering questions. He seems a little suspicious, but also very calm, very quiet, very simplistic in his answers. By all accounts, a typical 21 year old. So here's the deal. So your vehicle was picked up on that license plate reader in the general area on the same day, actually, that should be when missing. I'm hoping really that maybe you have something something to help me. I don't know if you saw anything. Did you know her or anything about the case? No, man, I have what I read online. It's terrible. Okay. So why are we in New Mexico that day? I was splattered on going, so I was checking out man at churches. He said, yeah, he gone to New Mexico, but he was looking for a men and night church, which was a strange explanation in and of itself. So you're checking out man and night churches. If you don't want me asking about that, what kind of religion did you grow in? Mainly their grown men and nights, some are omniscient. Mark Gooch had actually grown up in the men and night faith up in Wisconsin. And he and his family were converts to men and nights. It's interesting that Mark used his prior connection to the men and night community to try and get out of trouble in this situation, because he would have known that that was the only connection to this crime. I know this. You see, I just saw a little bit of emotion in you when I when we talked about that. Is there something that happened to you in the men and night church that I was asking you? I didn't really, I didn't really like it. I was happy to be able to do it. His father was very staunchly religious and dedicated to the faith. But Mark was not someone who took well to the men and night religion and that community. Mark Gooch had some bitterness towards his upbringing and some resentment towards the men and night church. There was never any allegations of physical abuse, mental abuse, nothing like that in the case. And so we're just kind of left to guess why the grudge against the men and night church was there. Are you still a men and night? I don't know how to work that. I try to go to, I was trying to find a night church where I'll go to. Oh, really? Where's the closest men and night church in here? I think they have one over here. There were men and night churches in the Phoenix area where he worked. But this men and night church in the lamp and light community was nearly seven hours away driving time. And that seemed odd. I'm still trying to understand why that specific church you drove, you know, seven hours or so to visit. I figured I'd go check out him on the church and I have plenty of time. So if you're going to go through a good trip, okay, so let's just recap that. Because that's obviously what we want to talk about here. It's just your trip to New Mexico. So you said, and this is January 18th, we're talking about. So what time about you leave here to look Air Force Base? Proper life fairly early in the morning. You drove straight to Flagstaff, where you say you got gas, you say that you drove straight to Farmington, where you got gas again, okay. And then it's around two p.m., you went to the men and night church there, drove around a little bit, looking to see if they had a church service. Why would you drive seven hours across state lines to the middle of nowhere, to a town that you can't find on a map? Most people don't know where this is. To a men and night church, it didn't really make any sense. And to this day, I don't know why he would have done that or did do that. About how long you think you were in that, in the area of the church? Literally just one by the air, all to the clock. I check, check and see what time we're going to have the service, no Saturday services. I left the area, I mean, I left the church. From what I'm understanding, does the sun for there very long? There was no evidence he ever went inside of church. In fact, he didn't even go that close to the church. But based on the pings of their cell phones, police believe that this must have been when he kidnapped Sasha. Maybe he was just driving down the street, saw someone in men and I dress. And that was the trigger. I don't know. Unfortunately, nobody will ever know. And then what was the next thing you remember? To talk to my friend, he wanted to go hiking on Sunday, and I really wanted to make it for that. And then you think that you just drove straight back, did you know? Did you say you stopped for a while? Again, I'm sorry, I forgot. I cannot recall if I did. Okay. She knew exactly what she had before she went in to talk to him about it. And she knew that he was not telling her the truth in that interview to begin with. Did you guys end up going hiking that day? No, we didn't. I got back to play, as I said, I got back around when we got an article eight or nine. I want to make sure I'm sick. So it's used to do that at home at eight or nine p.m. on Saturday night. Surveillance video from Luke Air Force Base, though, provides a very different timeline. Having that surveillance video was probably one of the first holes in his story that she could latch onto and confront him with. There definitely are something in the systems that I've seen, you know, from your story to what I already know. So first of all, the time that you got back that night. So what if I told you that the time that you came in the evening that morning was six, 53 or more? I guess it was that late. That's a long time. Yes, ma'am. No, you came back to base the next day. Seven in the morning, we have tape of you going through the front gate at Luke Air Force Base. We have surveillance tape of you walking up to your barracks room right after that. We know what time you were back at base. She had all of those details as she should before she ever got Mark Gooch in a room. So how do you explain that? I stopped in selecting the car on the back. I had trouble staying away and tried to stop and sleep all the time, so that's. Can you, can you really sleep? That's cool. I just want to slow down next, I can tell you, and you know, a little nervous and whatever. But I'm going to. All right, so if there's anything that before you count for me that now it's gonna come out now to the time So again, you say in that you came home at even two in the morning compared to almost seven in the morning That's five almost five hour difference I understand Well, it probably stopped and slept a bit longer and I thought I came in later and I thought You know, it almost seemed like the interrogation was to get some additional information They already had the evidence for him and they were just waiting to see what he would do at that point That's why they didn't want to play around that much longer Now we have anybody with that last name back in our community. We haven't been talking to Sam right now Sam is one of Mark Gooch's brothers Sam's telling us some stuff And you're talking to me and I want to just make sure you know what what both of you guys are telling us lines up And what I know a little bit about from what Sam said is Sounds like something's going on here as far as like you make you have her feelings like I'm cementing my church or maybe like a grudge or something like that So what we have to start, you're trying to you're talking to Sam right now So it sounds like I need to get a lawyer because you're trying to convince something to me So this wasn't like well who done it. There was no one else who would have committed this crime But they arrested him the day they brought him in for questioning Mark Gooch was arrested on first degree murder charges He was arrested on kidnapping charges and also theft charges over the last few months San Juan County has lived in fear not knowing if we had a predator living inside of our community or somebody that was Praying upon it. I can assure you we have our man up next once behind bars Mark Gooch does something that adds a new layer to this case Mark Gooch was communicating with his brother Sam through the jail communication service and that information is recorded By the way, as you're watching the Sasha Kraus case and in fact all of our cases on prime crime the unfortunate truth is sometimes we have no idea what people are about But it would be good to get some information about the people in our lives right new dates friends people you meet online Well, that's where our sponsor truth finder comes in. It's one of the largest public record search services in the United States You type in a name and within minutes and a paid subscription service you can get access to unlimited reports about almost anyone and within a report You can also pull up registered sex offenders in an area too, which is super helpful for peace of mind and right now You can get 50% off of confidential background reports. Just go to truth finder.com/lc prime crime. Hope you can check it out The parties in this conversation are Jake, Gooch, Sam Gooch and Mark Gooch Just gave him a minute. I take it. Yes. Also for Mark. I hope you treated him like Hell yeah, tell them the VA state police doesn't like cultists. I did LOL As Mark Gooch waits trial for the murder of Sasha Kraus Detectives find a bounty of information on his cell phone Ironically his phone pangs were what led police to him in the first place and now his texts help build the case against him Despite his best efforts to hide them Mark reached out to his brother and asked him to clear his data from his cell phone remotely before he hoped Investigators would find all of that information and be able to use that and piece together Exactly how he was involved in what he did, but it was too late law enforcement had already acquired the texts One of the text messages he sent with his brother Sam Gooch Indicated that he was surveilling some men and nights in the Phoenix area He didn't go on in those text messages to explain what that meant or why he was doing it, but that word surveillance Really stood out to detectives W-Y-D making some breakfast might do some cleaning board is Same for some reason even this morning's surveillance was boring bunch of old people without much left to live for and clearly not the MetaNight people we grew up with sad to say another disappointment and then later there was a text exchange with two of his brother Sam Gooch and Jacob Gooch Jacob was a Virginia state trooper and he in a text exchange with his brother said that he had pulled over a men and a night and This was around the time that COVID was at the top of everyone's mind. I coughed on him So he would spread Corona to the wedding. They were going to lol. Jacob Gooch said that He coughed on the person he pulled over so that he would spread that to the other people in his community And Mark Gooch found that hilarious and really leaned into that conversation He seemed to be gleeful about the fact that this person perhaps you would get COVID and spread it to people he knew Uh-huh, that's f*cking hilarious. Is it a ticket that he has to appear in court? Yep, it's reckless. Hell yes This was someone who had some real darkness, some evil in his heart someone who hated his upbringing and wanted to Lash out at the people he blamed for his youth all three of the brothers seemed to have some sort of resentment for the men and I community It seems that Mark Gooch's brother Sam knew about the crime as early as the day Sasha's body was found The investigator has also found that that exact day he took his car to get cleaned basically detailed It was scrubbed inside out. It was taken to the car wash Any evidence that was in that car could have been scrubbed away Immediately upon taking it into such a detailed thorough cleaning job Law enforcement found receipts for that detail In fact, Mark Gooch was communicating with his brother Sam Gooch at the time that it was getting detailed And talking about how it was really getting steam cleaned and getting worked over So the timing of that was very interesting I'm getting car done right now Cool should be all fresh and clean then but things didn't work out as planned when Mark Gooch seemingly tried to hide a key piece of evidence The gun that was used in this crime was a 22 long rifle It was a gun that was not allowed on the military base. It was not registered Well in the military you're not allowed to keep an unregistered firearm I mean I don't allow to keep a firearm on base that doesn't belong to the US military Investigators found out that Mark Gooch had contacted a friend to take this gun from him Take it off base and hide it for a while After Mark Gooch asked his friend to hold the gun for him There was communication between Mark Gooch and his brother Sam And where he asked Sam to get his property including this firearm Now the friend was aware that there was an investigation And knew that Mark Gooch was arrested for the murder of Sasha Krause And so he contacted police on his own and told the police I have this firearm And his brother Sam Gooch is going to try to collect it And so the police arranged a sting operation in the Phoenix area Sam Gooch went to the Phoenix area to pick up this firearm The police were waiting for him They took the real gun, Supplied a dummy gun The handoff was completed, police saw the entire thing And arrested him for basically trying to help him cover up the crime And then that brother ended up turning state's evidence against Mark Gooch The state had a strong circumstantial case They had the video surveillance of his car in the area at the time They had his lies, they had the gun that was used in the crime that was tied directly to Mark Gooch They had the conscious of guilt where he was trying to get the gun Away from the police trying to use his brother to conceal the gun And you had the motive Even with the gun, the texts, the cell phone pings This case is not a short thing for either side as they prepare for trial Jures, they expect some evidence, something like they see on TV They expect DNA evidence or fingerprint evidence And we didn't have that in this case So that was the biggest challenge So the defense certainly highlighted the fact that we had no direct evidence We had no eyewitnesses to the case They also wanted to highlight that he didn't have a history of violence Up next, as Mark Gooch's trial begins There's no shortage of surprises Some from his very own family Did Mark Gooch hold any grudges against the Mennonites? I can't necessarily speak to Mark's feelings might have been Well that's what you do to a police right that he had a grudge against the community at the time. That's what I said. Hey guys, thank you so much for following the Sasha Kraus case with us. We're going to get right back to it in a minute. But look, one of the reasons we're able to bring you these stories in China light on what's going on is because of the incredible support we get from our sponsors. And that includes our proud partner Morgan and Morgan America's largest injury law firm. If you should get injured, this firm may be who you want in your corner. They have an army of over 1,000 attorneys and amazing track record. In fact, recently Morgan and Morgan won verdicts like $12 million in Florida, $26 million in Philadelphia, and $6.8 million in New York. And mind you, these are all considerably higher than the highest insurance offers in these cases. Truly, your case could be worth millions. And even if it's not, why not start a claim and get the money you deserve and seeing if you have a case can be done in eight clicks or less. You don't even have to leave your couch. Also, their fee absolutely free unless you win. So if you're injured, you can easily start a claim at forthepeople.com/primecrime. Were you aware of the defendant referred to the church and members of as a cult? Not to my knowledge. Out in Arizona, Mark Gucci's trial for the murder of Sasha Krause begins on September 24th, 2021. He pleads not guilty to all charges, including first-degree murder and kidnapping. Ladies and gentlemen, you will hear from over 30 witnesses in this case. Of course, you won't hear from Sasha. She won't get to tell her story. But the evidence in this case will tell a story about who intruded on Sasha's community, who ambushed her at her own church, who duct taped her wrists together, who bashed her head, and who ultimately shot her in the back of the head, murdering her. And the answer to every single one of those questions, as you'll hear in this case, is Mark Gucci, the defendant. I think the prosecution had a very strong case. When you look at all of the evidence they had to show that, in fact, it was Mark who committed this crime. So I want to talk to you a little bit about Mark Gucci and his character. And the evidence that will be presented is that he is a peaceful, nonviolent person. Looking at the defense case for Mark Gucci, he had no criminal history, no issues, or about some violence that were known or reported. You tell the jury, you look them in the eye and say, my client would not do this. He has no other acts of violence. Well, no one saw Mark Gucci at the church area. No one. No one saw Mark Gucci at or near Sasha Kraus' car. No one saw Mark Gucci in the church building. No one saw Mark Gucci leave the area. Nobody saw Mark Gucci's car at any time. So all of that's important. There was no eye witnesses to say that they saw Mark either take her from the church or with her in Flagstaff or near Flagstaff, Arizona. And I think they leaned into that. Among the witnesses brought by the prosecution is Mark Gucci's brother Sam. Did you know that Mark Gucci was surveilling men and nights? I'm assuming you're basing that on the text message in exchange between us. Based on that text message, which I took her face value, yes. The brother who took the stand because of plea deal, the one who was trying to confiscate the gun to protect his brother, wasn't the best witness. He was not forthcoming and had to be prodded by prosecutors. Do you remember having a conversation about him getting his car cleaned? I do. Okay. Do you remember him talking about getting a detailed? Yes. After his arrest, did Mark ask you to remotely wipe his phone? Yes, I believe so. And not just his phone, but the SD cards as well. Based on the transcripts, that is correct. Do you remember when that conversation occurred? I believe it was shortly or within a few days of his arrest. The other good piece of evidence we had in this case, of course, was that 22 caliber bullet that was found in Sasha's neck. That 22 caliber rifle that Mark Uchidas' friend to hold off base for him. Based on my training and my experience, that was sufficient for me to say those markings are the same from one to the other. Therefore, I could say that the evidence bullet was fired from the rifle that was submitted. The firearms expert for the defense comes to a different conclusion. But in general, there are overwhelmingly more differences than similarities. And so the conclusion that I have to reach is that the rifle at least in its current condition that was given to me did not produce the same straya to match that of the evidence bullet. Your conclusion, obviously, is different than the conclusion of mispolice. That is correct. But when prosecutor Barker cross-examines this expert, he seems less certain. Let's just be clear about your conclusion. It's inconclusive. It's your conclusion, right? That is correct. It would be what's called by AFTI as an inconclusive. You're not eliminating this bullet from being fired from item 44, right? Correct, only because I do not know what condition this firearm would have been in if it were the correct firearm at the time it was fired. And then the trial becomes a family affair. Father took the stand in full men and I garb and here he is testifying how they grew up as converts into the men and I faith. And now he raises children up in Wisconsin as men and ites and how son did not love being involved with the church. I want to talk a little bit about an aspect of Mark's personality or character. If you tell us, sir, whether you have an opinion or whether Mark has a reputation, we're being a peaceful, non-violent person. Yes, sir, he is non-violent. I mean, that was the expectation from very little, the expectation of the school. I mean, to the best of my knowledge, he was never involved in any physical altercation at school. In your presence, did he ever exhibit any indication of violent behavior? Yes, sir. And that kind of gives you a little bit of maybe emotive as to why this happened. Mark didn't actually want to be a men andite. I don't know how you go from Mark didn't want to be a men andite to killing a woman. That's not really a leap that most people would make. But for whatever reason, that happened. In cross-examination, the prosecution probes further. The defendant, Mark, he doesn't have a converted heart. What is a converted heart? What scripture says is you've turned from darkness to light. What it says is you've decided to follow the Lord with your entire heart. So he had not yet turned from darkness to light? Right. I think the thing that stood out to me in this case was really how innocent and pure and what a light Sasha was. And so that contrast of dark and light, which I mentioned in my closing argument, that Mark Gooch did everything under the cover of darkness. He concealed evidence, tried to cover up his tracks. Sasha, on the other hand, was that contrast, that light to our community, to our family. Sasha Kraus was a light to the world. This defendant snuffed it out. We won't be able to bring that light back. There's nothing we can do to stop Sasha going to that church, prevent the defendant from doing what he did. There is something that you can do today to hold him accountable. That's why the state's asking you to find the defendant guilty and all charges. So it all pieced together. I mean, there was no other person in this world who had the means, the motive and the opportunity to commit this heinous crime. The defense, of course, sees it differently. The states were tired to try to suggest to you that there is motive in this case because of two text message scenarios over a four-year period that have some relationship to a minute-night topic. Wouldn't you think it would be just the opposite, that there would be bunches and bunches and bunches of references to minute nights and hidden minute nights and spewing vile and making plans if that was the intent here. That's not the situation. Don't you have any fingerprints on any of that kind of a jury? None of that can be linked to history. That's the problem. All of that's just. I think this defense did a good job of explaining that and trying to get the jury to focus on that. Ultimately, the jury didn't buy that. The jury has returned guilty verdicts on count 1, first-screen murder, and count 2, kidnapping, the court finds the defendant guilty of count 3 theft, a class 1 misconduct. demeanor in the indictment. After the verdict, the next phase of this legal process gets underway. The judge had a decision to make at that point, whether to send Margues to prison for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole, or if he would be eligible for parole after 25 years. And I thought it was important for the judge to hear a little bit more about Sasha, to have that understanding about who she was, her beliefs, her faith. This is a poem that Sasha wrote. I think it says here that she was 19 years old at the time she wrote it. And it's entitled, "If I die young," says, "If I die young, think not the hours wasted." He spent preparing for some future day. My God is not unrighteous to forget it. He will completely recompense some way. If I die young, pray, mourn me not, my friends. You did not see the tears that washed my soul. You did not see the tempest fierce within me, nor how I burned with longing for the goal. I've read this poem several times now. Again, I'm struck by the sense of strength in her writing, her sense of faith. Sasha began writing poetry as a teenager. She enjoyed her life, but she had a lot of responsibilities. I believe those responsibilities deepened her emotionally and spiritually. So why did this happen? Why was she kidnapped murdered? I will never understand that in this life. But God will use her death for his glory. And I am convinced he has eternal purpose for Sasha that we can only guess. You're honorably, it's been a difficult situation for our family. To be know that, through it all, Mark has been loved. And has been support, their support for this family, the siblings, all seven of them. And so, as the sentencing will be pronounced, we just pray for your leniency on it that Mark may return to society and be a contributing member to society. This is a very tragic case when you're talking about Sasha's death because she was living in life to help other people. And because she dedicated herself to the Mennonite religion to helping other people, she became a target. This is a case that would have qualified for the death penalty. But the Mennonite faith does not believe in it. In fact, they are praying for Mark Gooch. They wanted him to find his way. We were seeking natural life. That means he would be sentenced to prison for the rest of his life without possibility of parole. I've been a judge for quite some time. This case is truly the most senseless case I have ever desired it over. This horrific abduction and murder of an innocent person that he didn't-- even if you knew the person, it wouldn't be justified. But the fact that he didn't even know her is also so very senseless. It is this court's sentence that the defendant is sentenced to natural life in the Arizona Department of Corrections. He wished that someone in Mark Gooch's life had turned him away from the hate that was enveloping his heart and his soul. His brothers seemed to encourage it and enable it. Just to murder someone so innocent, so kind, there was no reason for the hatred that Mark Gooch had to culminate in this brutal murder. Mark Gooch tried to silence someone who brought so much beauty to the world, like this song Sasha wrote that her friends sing in her memory. ♪ His toys and tears ♪ ♪ Our Christ will come and we ♪ ♪ Who long time more ♪ ♪ The image of the earthly shall know more ♪ ♪ We shall be ♪ ♪ Change me ♪ ♪ Worthy of our love ♪ ♪ He comes for failing all ♪ ♪ We've waited for ♪ - There's Sasha's songs and poems her light continues to shine. But for the young airman who killed her for no reason, other than an irrational hatred of a religion he'd already abandoned, he faces a dark future of his own making. That's all we have for you here on this episode of Prime Crime. Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. I'm Jesse Weber and as always, stay safe.