300. The Man Who Ruined Christmas - The Murder of Kristine Larson

You know that feeling when too many things fall through the cracks? Monday.com was built for that gap. The AI work platform where people and agents work side-by-side to deliver more together. Create your first Monday agent today at Monday.com. Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light, and slowly the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress, a hoodie slips beneath a blazer. An old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it layer by layer until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross. You're listening to an Ono Media podcast. Hi everyone, welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland. And I'm Garrett Moreland. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. Happy holidays! Happy holidays. Christmas, whatever you're celebrating. Garrett just informed me it's actually Christmas this week. I thought we saw it a whole month. Peyton had no idea. She's like, it's Christmas this week? Yep. Peyton and I don't do gifts for each other, usually. Garrett always gets me gifts. I end up getting her something anyways, and she, yeah, she enjoys it. I don't know. I get you stuff. Yeah. Undies. Lots of cool stuff. And you know what else? I have to send his Christmas list to everyone because he's like, I don't want any gifts. So that is work enough. It's true. I just don't, what's the word? I don't really care for gifts sometimes. I don't even think you like them. Yeah. Because honestly, anything I've ever gifted you, you don't interact with. I'm just bad at it. I don't know. I prefer like a kiss and a hug or like a, I don't know, something else. Anyways, we're ranting. So welcome back. Thank you for being here. Thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. We love you guys. I think for my 10 seconds this week, I'm going to do a hot take. Sometimes you guys like those hot takes. So my hot take this week is Chipotle sucks. Chipotle's garbage. Chipotle has completely, listen, growing up in high school, I would go to Chipotle with all my friends probably three times a week. And it was amazing. I don't know what's going on with Chipotle, but as I've gotten older, it has completely, completely tanked in quality. I'm more of a Costa Vita or a Cafe Rio type of person. Actually, Costa Vita. If you don't know what Costa Vita is, look it up. There's also this place, Cordova. I do like Cordova more than Chipotle. There isn't one here, but I've been. If you don't know what Chipotle is, you're not missing much. So that's okay. If Chipotle wants to sponsor us, I will consider retracting the statement. Maybe. Even though you guys would all get mad at me, I would consider it. So you don't act like you wouldn't consider it as well. If someone gave you, a little bit of cash. Anyways, that's what I got for you guys this week. Let's hop into this week's case. Our sources for this episode are oxygen.com, govinfo.com, findagrave.com, twincities.com, startribune.com, investigationdiscovery.com, dailymail.co.uk, mn.gov, inquisitor.com, newyorkdailynews.com, republicaneagle.com. And as always, every single case source is listed in our episode notes. Okay, you guys, the holidays are supposed to be a time when we let everyone in. A time when friends become family, where we make peace and break bread. We set aside our differences and count our blessings. They are supposed to be peaceful, joyful, filled with tradition. But sometimes those people that we let into our lives, the people we consider family, even year-round, are not who we thought them to be. Which is, why today's story is a cautionary tale. One that shows sometimes the people sitting across from us at holiday dinners can have dark secrets that will actually cost a family everything. Today, we are headed to a quiet suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, called St. Paul Park. This is a close-knit little community right along the Mississippi River that loves nothing more than to celebrate the holidays. Traditions are big for St. Paul Park. People brave the freezing cold temperatures to string up their lights, all in the name of the holiday spirit. One of those families belongs to 19-year-old Christine Larson. So, by 2007, 19-year-old Christine has a lot to be thankful for. She is the youngest of a very large family. She has supportive, loving parents, like her mom, Deb Tilson, and her stepfather, Dan. And she actually has a two-year-old son of her own, who her parents have really stepped up to help her out with. So, everyone at this point in her life described Christine as this angel on earth. The kind of person who lit up a room with her thousand-watt smile, according to her sister, Michelle, someone who was so loving and accepting and forgiving, probably because she knew what it was like to go through a challenging time, and she knew how important love and support truly was. See, Christine was an excellent student in high school, but life sort of sidetracked her academic career. When Christine was just 17 years old, she ended up getting pregnant. She put her high school education on hold. Instead, her new priority was, providing a stable, loving home for her son and getting a job to make that happen. She also tried hard to make her son's father, Zachary Matthews, a part of their lives, even though they were teenage parents. Christine and Zachary were actually good friends before things had turned romantic. The 18-year-old Zachary didn't really have a stable home or family. So, in 2004, Christine asked her mother, Deb, if he could come stay with them for a while. And Deb and her husband, Dan, were more than happy to help out. Over time, Zachary and Christine became more than just roommates, and love blossomed between the two. And this was something that Deb and Dan were actually okay with, because they came to love and adore Zachary like he was their own son. So, when Christine and Zachary welcomed their son in February of 2006, Zachary was more than just Christine. He was now the father of their grandchild. But soon, Zachary and Christine were ready to brave parenthood on their own. So, they decided to get their own place, move out of Christine's family's home, and try to become official adults with a child. But things get a lot more complicated between the two. Christine said Zachary was still interested in partying more than he was interested in providing a life for his new family. And so, by 2007, she decided she just wanted space. So, she moved back in with her parents, and she and Zachary split their time with their son. Okay. So, that summer, the summer. I turned pretty? Mm-hmm. So, that summer, the summer of 2007, 19-year-old Christine actually went back to high school. She got her diploma. She started taking bartending classes so she could find a well-paying job that helped her. to support her little family and meanwhile she and zachary tried to work it out a few times basically on and off again trying to make this whole family thing work but by the winter of 2007 they were no longer romantic which i mean it'd be hard as teenage parents that's a that's a lot going on also they kind of grew up together seeing as he moved in her house before they were even boyfriend girlfriend just a lot it's a lot to take on at once so they've tried they decided not to do it and christine has actually started seeing other people they are learning how to co-parent the three of them actually even took a trip to the children's museum that december but it was clear that christine was still on zachary's mind on december 18th he posted on her myspace page myspace time out i had a myspace you were too late correct no myspace was like people my age had myspace i wasn't allowed to i was in elementary school oh okay yeah because i was because i'm older than payton um for those who didn't know i'm like what 26 years older than yeah about anyways i'm older than payton and yeah i had a myspace good times if you're on audio that was a joke it was a joke i'm not i'm three years older four years older than payton three three and a half what can i say i love a good old daddy exactly exactly okay so yes myspace even though they're like broken up still trying to co-parent he posts on christine's page december 18th 2007 it's a picture of a rose with a caption saying just dropping by to show some love to my friend though the following day any plans christine had for the future came to a screeching halt on the afternoon of december 19th just one day after that myspace post deb and christine had plans for a mother-daughter Christmas tradition. They were going to make cookies just like they did every year. Apparently, Deb had been trying to nail Christine down to make these cookies for a while now, but Christine had just been so busy, she was putting it off. So she promised her mom, Deb, today was the day they were going to get these cookies done. And Deb was really looking forward to it. But Christine had promised her friend, Marcella, that she would drive her to work that day to a local convenience store and gas station. In fact, the plan was actually to stop in and talk to Marcella's boss to see if Christine could actually get an application to work with her friend. And then after that, she was going to go to Zachary's apartment to pick him and her son up so that they could go to a toy drive. Christine said she would be home that evening to make the cookies. So her whole day is planned out. Got it. OK. Now, around 1.20 p.m., Christine left her home and dropped Marcella off at the convenience store. The convenience store where she was seen inside. She even got an interview on the spot that day with the manager. Now, sometime around 2.15 p.m., Christine left the convenience store alone. But it's kind of after this that Christine goes radio silent. 6.30 came and went and then 7. And Deb is starting to worry about her. Should have been here by now to make these cookies. And unfortunately, she's not here. Unfortunately, she couldn't call Christine's cell phone because she had lent it to a friend temporarily. So Deb calls Zachary instead. Now, remember, Zachary has kind of become like her own son. Even if the two of them have broken up, she still helped raise Zachary in his teenage years. Yeah. Again, he is the father of her grandchild. So she calls Zachary and she's like, hey, where is Christine? Did you guys go to the toy drive? And he's like. Uh, no, she never made it to my house today to pick me and our son up. Okay. And he says, I've actually been worried about her, too, because we had plans. So now Deb was wondering, okay, did she run out of gas somewhere? Did she get into an accident? So this is when her stepfather, Dan, steps in and tries to calm Deb down. He's like, listen, maybe she's an adult. Maybe she's got caught up somewhere. Maybe she isn't able to call you. She will probably come strolling into the house later tonight. And so the two eventually actually go to bed, trusting that Christine is an adult. She knows what she's doing and she will come home. Now, meanwhile, over in Minneapolis, a 911 call comes in at around 8 p.m. This call is in a nice neighborhood, a pretty white collar community. So police. Police are shocked to hear what the 911 caller has to say. Apparently, a woman came home to find that a strange car was sitting in her driveway and there was smoke coming out of it. What the? So she ran and knocked on a neighbor's door who grabbed a firecracker. She grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out a small blaze that was in the front seat. And that's when the neighbor saw a woman. No way. Slumped over in the back of this strange car. So the neighbor tries to pull her out of the car to help her. But after he gets her out, he realizes that the woman in the strange car in the driveway was already dead. So police respond to the scene. It's no longer just. A fire. It is a homicide. And when they get there, they find a woman lying on the cold ground. She appears to be in her early 20s. She's partially burned. She's not wearing any shoes or a jacket, which in the middle of winter in Minnesota, it doesn't happen. It's incredibly odd. This episode is sponsored by better help. There are plenty of reasons we put off getting support. And for a lot of people, cost is one of them. But better help insurance options may now be available nationwide with an average copay for eligible members of just $23 per session. And while we're reconsidering old assumptions, maybe there are a few others worth questioning too. Women inherit a lot of unwritten rules. Be ambitious, but not intimidating. Be there for everyone, but still make time for yourself. Have it all together, but don't look like you're trying too hard. And I have definitely fallen into all of these traps. But if you have been wanting to start therapy, better help works with more than 125 health plan networks and eligible members have an average copay of just $23 per session with insurance. If you don't have insurance or don't live in the United States, you can still get 10% off your first month. And Peyton and I are big advocates for therapy. Give it a try. Life can be crazy. There's a lot going on. Like we were talking about, sometimes it feels like you need to have everything figured out. You don't go talk to someone, go see what's going on. Visit betterhelp.com/husband to explore your payment options. That's better help H E L P.com/husband. All right, you guys, we are getting into an ad and it is article. I don't know if you've checked out my into the dark set, but I have a beautiful piece from article over there and it is so luxurious at an amazing price. You really are getting like that top craftsmanship look and feel, but without the price tag article offers. A curated range of mid-century modern coastal and Scandi inspired pieces that not only shine on their own, but also pair seamlessly with nearly any other article product. And that is what is so amazing is you don't need to go to some insanely expensive place to find these beautiful pieces of furniture that work together. Literally just get on article and check it out. Article takes great care in curating its collection, focusing solely on high quality meaningful pieces that will stand the test of time. 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I don't want you to tell me, do not tell me there's a baby in that car. An empty car seat. Okay. Now keep in mind, these cops don't know who this is. The driveway where the car is parked, the woman that it belongs to is like, I don't know who this, I don't even know who's this car is. And they see this car seat. Now, luckily there's no indication a child has been harmed. They're wondering, okay, well, where is the child? Was this a kid, like a murder kidnap? Being, is the child in danger of being harmed? So they immediately begin working to identify the victim to, in hopes, figure out who this car seat belongs to. They run the Buick's license plates and find that it's registered to Deb Tilson. This is Christine's mother. Then they find an ID in the car with a picture that clearly matches the victim that was found in the back seat, 19 year old Christine. Christine Larson, which means the next step is getting ahold of Christine's family, figuring out if there's a baby. I just, can you just imagine getting a call like that? Horrific news. I cannot imagine. And like you went to bed thinking she's okay. I just can't imagine that. I don't want to imagine it. Insane. It's horrible. You know, I know we cover these cases day to, you know, week to week. Week to week, yeah. But like the reality of receiving, that phone call is not just another case, another week. You know what I mean? That is life-changing, life-altering, life-shattering news for real people. And it's just heart-wrenching and devastating. So they notify Christine's family and they make sure that whoever the car seat belonged to is safe, that there is no kidnapping. So a few officers make their way over to Deb and Dan Tilson's house and other detectives learn a few other interesting details while they're investigating. For one, the owner of the home who found the car, so they were actually only gone from home for a short amount of time. They left around 7.30 p.m. and were back home by 8. What? That means there was only a half-hour window for this random car to arrive, pull into the driveway, and then be set on fire. And not only that, the chances that they passed each other have to be extremely high. Well, and if Christine. If Christine wasn't the one who set the fire, someone else had to have driven the car there with her body. inside they would need a way to escape so they either walked stole a vehicle rode a bike weird police begin looking to see if there was any reported stolen vehicles in the area and they find that there was one reported stolen around the same time a gold pickup truck so super low-key not knowing if this is even relevant they decide to put out an apb thinking okay there is a possibility that whoever did this might be driving this stolen car so it is around 4 a.m when police finally knock on christine's parents door and tell them the devastating news this is the last thing you want to hear before christmas that their young daughter is dead and they also need to know that the baby is okay so they then call zachary right away and he's like no yeah our son is here with me i'm the father all is good okay i didn't know that but zachary is incredibly distressed over the news like when he gets this call from christine's parents he is unwell so much so that christine's stepdad dan offers to go over there and just poor guy get get him and the son bring them back to the house they can all be together they can process this information together no one should be alone which is interesting because i think first thoughts were zachary's involved but i don't think so but probably not for parents who helped raise him and love him yeah yeah true so by the next day pathologists are working on christine's autopsy and they do confirm what police feared this is a hundred percent a homicide christine did have ligature marks around her neck that came from a small rope or a piece of fabric of some kind she had blood all around her nose and a cut on her forehead along with burn marks on her face her hands and her feet she also suffered a blow to the head before being strangled to death dude what in the world man so now knowing this what's wrong with people police start putting together christine's steps throughout her final day you need to figure out exactly how she ended up this in the car in the driveway they realized that one of the last people to reportedly see her was her friend marcella so they're going to have to figure out how she ended up in the car in the car so they knock on her door to try and get more details about that trip to the gas station she says christine dropped her off at work went into the store and had an interview with her manager that day but marcella said christine left right after this interview sometime around 2 15 p.m and she didn't hear from her ever again so they go to the convenience store and get the security footage to confirm marcella's story and sure enough christine is seen going into the store that day she buys a couple things and then goes outside and gets into her car alone she does exactly what everyone had said she did and then she is seen driving away on those cameras headed in the direction of saint paul where according to friends and family she was supposed to meet zachary at his apartment for that toys for tots event all right so police feel confident that marcella told them all she knows about that day and she's being truthful marcella is seen on surveillance at the store from 2 p.m to 10 p.m working her shift confirming that she didn't like leave with christine okay but when they're talking to marcella about all of this she actually tells police hey she's supposed to be headed to zachary's house and i just want to like as a friend of christine's let you know that i think it's worth looking into zachary no way for my friend's homicide which is interesting because just how you explained how he reacted it seemed genuine granted i don't i can't see the tapes i don't see his exact reaction but a lot of the times we get reactions that are very odd odd but not odd like very underwhelming i guess yeah there's a good word to use yeah it's just so hard like you can't ever judge how someone reacts to news but you you do you do you do judge people and how they react to this type of news you just do it's easy when you're not the one in the situation yeah sidebar i was watching um an interview with the what is that that group of men that prank each other they're like older they've been doing it for so long they have a tv show oh i've never watched i don't i don't really got into their stuff okay anyways i was watching an interview with one of them and he was talking about like the most traumatic prank that he had been through over the 14 years and he said that on the that prank he he actually finally realized what frozen in fear meant yeah because he said he couldn't respond he wasn't acting correctly and it made me think about all these cases where like people don't respond correctly in traumatic situations and i'm like it's just real like our nervous systems are crazy so she basically marcella she tells police hey yeah i think you should look into him because from what i understand zachary and christine didn't really have the best relationship so on december 20th zachary comes into the police station and he tells police this just for a formal interview christine was supposed to pick him and her son up around 2 p.m and take them to that toy drive in minneapolis only christine never showed up he said he called her around 2 15 p.m and then waited a while longer before deciding that she wasn't coming and he was just going to take her to the police station and he said he called her around 2 15 p.m and then their son without her he said that he and his son hopped on the bus that day around 3 p.m and got to the toy drive around 4 says they didn't stay long barely an hour and they were home by 6 6 30 p.m that night after that he says he and his son stayed home for the entire night they never left his place again zachary also says his social worker can confirm that he was at the toy drive so police are like okay here's your story you know they then ask him about his relationship with christine and he seems to lay it out on the table he says that after being on and off for some time they decided to call it quits for good zachary said he like admittedly was still in love with christine he wasn't thrilled that she was seeing new guys recently but he knew that they had tried they weren't right for each other at least for now he said at this point in time it was just better that they do things on their own and he believed maybe one day they would find their way back to each other okay pretty upfront about everything yeah so after speaking with zachary the first thing police do is see if his story checks out they speak to the social worker who confirms zachary was at the toy drive there was even a sign-in sheet which supposedly confirmed what time zachary had arrived and he even took a selfie of him and his son on the bus together that day the social worker also vouches zachary to police saying you know i understand that like you're looking into him for homicide for murdering christine but zachary's kind he's a mellow guy and the same goes for christine's family when police talk to them deb and dan say zachary was so in love with christine they don't believe he would have ever done anything to hurt her and they knew him well he had lived with the family for some time the morning they found out christine had died zachary was his son and they were hysterical on the floor of the tilson's home so investigators feel like okay we're still going to look into the boyfriend shoe but we also think we need to start looking for other suspects this just isn't feeling as strong as we would like okay so else i mean obviously a guy she's probably seeing i'm sure that's who we're going to talk about next correct yeah all right so after speaking to those close with christine they learned she really had moved on from zachary at this point she had been seeing someone else for the last week and a half and it already was kind of serious his name was derrick and he was the first person christine really felt excited about the two were actually even talking about moving in together already things were of course still very fresh but police knew derrick was a lead worth pursuing so they go to track him down they show up at his place of work but learn that he actually didn't show up for work that day what a coincidence and so when they call him derrick doesn't answer the phone either but eventually police do get in touch with him through one of his friends and he agrees to come into the station to talk to police he says the reason he had been mia was because he was heartbroken after learning about christine's death that while the relationship between the two of them was not new he was already falling in love with her so he was distraught he had seen a future with her so he comes in and police ask him about the day that christine was killed like yeah just protocol we need to know what you were doing when where do you have an alibi derrick says he hadn't heard from her at all that day which he did think was strange especially when he ran into her coincidentally that afternoon in st paul so immediately the police ask him about the day that christine was killed and immediately police now realize someone besides marcella had seen her the last person now to had seen her he said Christine happened to be stopped next to him at a red light. So he rolled down his window. They chatted for a minute. He asked her where she was headed and she said to pick up her son. She told him she would call him later that night and they parted ways. This was around 2.15. So right after she left the gas station convenience store. And then Derek said he went to his brother's house where he spent the night alone and he never heard from Christine again after that. And then he learned the heartbreaking news. But police do find this story a little strange. Like what are the odds that he ran into her on the road? I was literally just thinking that. I'm like, okay. Putting himself as the last person to see her, but just randomly at a stoplight. And then is at his brother's alone. For the rest of the night. And this is hours before she turned up dead. Yeah. All right. So they think maybe somebody had seen them together possibly. And so this was his way of explaining it. Like, well, I told you I saw her after she left the store. But there's one other big red flag about Derek. He actually was living with another girl when he and Christine had started dating. Here comes the motive. And when she found out that Derek was talking to another woman, Christine, she kicked him out of the house. This is why he was even staying at his brother's place in St. Paul, which was why he and Christine had already talked about moving in together because he needed a new place to live. His girlfriend kicked him out for cheating. So the police are like, we need to check his alibi. He said he was home alone the night Kristen died. So the best way to do that is to check his cell phone records. And they find that he was home alone the night Kristen died. He does seem to be telling the truth. Whoever killed and left Christine's body in that car would have been in that Minneapolis neighborhood between 730 and 8 p.m. that night. And according to Derek's cell phone, he wasn't even close. So detectives start to think maybe he really did just have a encounter with Christine right before she died. And if it isn't Derek who killed her, then who is it? So detectives are still wondering, okay, does that gold pickup truck have anything to do with this? Did the suspect steal that truck to flee the scene? I mean, they never really heard anything, but that's their only next lead to follow up on. When they follow up on that loose thread, they learn it was completely unrelated. It was just a few kids who were messing around in the area that night and stole a car and went for a joyride. No way. Yes. So other than that, crazy. There were no reports of any other stolen vehicles, which leaves us again with Garrett's question. How did the suspect, the person who left Christine in that burning car, dead? Get away. Walk. I do a hundred percent walk. Did they make it home? Was there a car waiting? Is this more than one person? So detectives think, okay, one way to get away from the crime scene if it wasn't via a stolen car would be on. And if the suspect was trying to get out of the city, they likely would have taken the bridge on interstate 94. So they take a shot in the dark and see if anyone reported someone walking on the highway that night. Turns out there was a 911 call in the system from the night Christine died, saying that someone was walking in the dark on the side of the freeway. All right, guys, we're jumping into an ad and it is the one and only Skims. We love Skims and I'm so excited I get to talk to you about their loungewear and pajamas. If you follow me on Instagram, I just posted, but I did get one of their sleep sets. That's like a deep burgundy color. So cute, so rich, so soft. And then I also got a fleece set that's like this chocolate brown. So freaking cute. I love a good matching set. And I love Skims. Again, the sleep set I got is the soft lounge sleep set. 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It just lets them know we sent you and it helps support the show. SimpliSafe ahead of crime and in real time. So police pull up the security footage along the area and there is an image of someone walking east towards St. Paul. Now, this direction where this person is walking is actually towards where Zachary. And the person seen on this footage actually fits the description of Zachary. So although they had originally kind of ruled him out, they decide to look into Zachary's cell phone records from that evening. And they find that that night, about 45 minutes before Christine's body was found, his phone pinged a tower going westbound into Minneapolis. And then again, between 8:00 and 9:30 p.m., headed eastbound out of the city. So they started with Zachary, left and went to Derek. Now they're back to Zach. Now they are back to Zachary because he lied. He wasn't at home with his son if you are going off his cell phone data. I always think it's so funny when people, I mean, I guess this is a little bit ago where you maybe you weren't fully aware yet that that could be done. That your phone could be pinged like that. Now I think we're all aware, like, if you lie and the police take your phone, they're going to know everything about you. Messages are never erased and unless you leave your phone or turn your phone off, they're going to know where you were. And the thing is, they know when you turn your phone off. Yeah, that's the other thing. It's like when you do turn your phone off, they're like, well, they turned the phone off right when it was pinging before the city and then turned it back off. It's like when you do turn your phone off right when it was pinging before the city and then turned it back off. He had been dealing with some mental health issues for a while. He had been diagnosed with a few different things, including multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia at the time. He also had a very troubled upbringing that didn't help before he moved in with Christine. He was in foster care until he was 16 years old when he finally emancipated himself. And ever since then, he had been on his own, which was why Christine's family took Zachary under their roof in the first place. The Tilsons didn't notice any suspicious behavior from Zachary while he was in their home. But when Christine and him moved in together, just the two of them, she shared a few scary stories with close friends. She told one person that ever since moving, Zachary was insanely possessive and he would call Christine at all hours of the day. told a friend zachary hit her harder than anyone else ever had in her life now when christine told him the relationship was done in may of 2007 zachary climbed over the railing of a bridge and threatened to jump into the mississippi river so when police realized that this is how volatile he had been in the relationship they are now fully zeroing in on zachary and this stuff always comes out also learning what he was struggling with they decide they need to move pretty fast to get him into custody because dan and deb christine's parents at this point had basically brought zachary and their grandson back to their house they were living there for safety i'm scared for the baby and also this would mean that you might be living with your daughter's killer correct so in hopes of gathering more evidence the police execute a search warrant on zachary's apartment on christmas eve and right away they noticed something suspicious phone books exactly like the ones that were found in christine's car and used as kindling to set that fire they also found a wall post in the kitchen that had a tiny smear of blood on it now remember christine's autopsy said that she had suffered a blunt force injury to the head before her death so investigators are like okay maybe christine did make it to the apartment and maybe she was shoved and hit her head on this wall right here and when they run it under black light they also learn there's more blood that looks like it had tried to be cleaned up there's also blood on the bedding and the mattress in zachary's room but that wasn't even the biggest clue they found in the closet they saw one shoe that was missing an entire shoelace it was the perfect shoe that was missing an entire shoe lace it was the perfect size to match the ligature wound around christine's neck and even more damning a four-page letter was found hidden in zachary's closet it was a letter that was written to christine it talked about how she had done zachary dirty he was furious over the breakup he blamed her for everything that was going wrong in his life basically the complete opposite of what zachary had told her to do and that was the letter that was written to christine it was written to in his interview that they were both happy they were going to move on they were going to co-parent he thought they would eventually get back together but everything was chill so within the hour zachary's called down to the station for a second interview the police feel like they just need one more piece of evidence to seal the deal they want a confession if they can get one so this interview zachary has read his rights and police plan to confront him with all of the evidence they found in his apartment but before they do that they give the 21 year old zachary a chance to just speak they're like listen we have evidence we know things we're going to give you a chance to help yourself out and just talk what what do you have to tell us at this point he still denies killing christine it's crazy it's crazy the amount of people that still when they're backed into a corner deny deny deny he tells police the same story christine was supposed to take them to the toy drive she never showed up that day so detectives slowly start telling him what they know little by little they're like well we understand you're saying you came home and never left but we got a hold of your cell phone pings and they weren't at your house they're trying to slowly give him information to see if he will change his story the more they share with zachary the more guilty he looks he asks for his coat he starts putting his head down he won't look them in the eye anymore okay he is cracking like gary said and he says okay finally he says okay detectives here is what happened i came home that day and wasn't at my apartment and christine showed up to take us i actually came home that day and found christine already dead in my apartment oh my gosh the amount of people that do this it's just he tells so disrespectful police i found her she had been strangled to death and placed in the kitchen closet i panicked i put christine's body in her car and i drove it to minneapolis because he said he knew the crime rate was higher there and then he left it in a random driveway and walked back to his apartment that's why his phone pinged that's why he was on surveillance but just to be clear i was not the one that killed her in my own apartment and i was not the one that killed her in my own apartment oh and when police are like great so this is your story your two-year-old son at home who did you call to watch him while you left to dump his mother's dead body and he's like oh i didn't call anyone i just left him home holy crap hours home alone at two police are like okay zachary that's awful but we also are not believing this version either at this point they tell him you're too closely tied to this the letter proved the idea he had like kind of this overall feeling of if i can't have you no one else can like if you're gonna break up with me you can't be dating new people you're supposed to be with me you're ruining my life type vibes but confession or not zachary had just implicated himself in covering up christine's murder even if he didn't say that no matter what it's still you can't move a dead body so that day on christmas eve zachary is charged with two counts of first degree murder one for premeditation and another for an act of domestic abuse and this is when detectives finally put together what they believe actually happened since zachary isn't copying to the full story they believe that christine was late to pick up zachary and her son after going to that interview and when she showed up the two got into a fight about it like zachary saying where were you who were you with or something else regarding the relationship but either way they do believe a fight broke out and that zachary turned violent he pushed her against the wall as the fight moved into the bedroom and then zachary eventually grabbed that shoelace and strangled christine to death in the bedroom and then panicking he moved her into her own car later that night and tried to cover up the crime by hoping she and any evidence would burn in the between this he goes to the toy drive to try and create an alibi for himself i also just can't believe like zach was hitting her and doing all the stuff as her family raised him and it's just it's insane so zachary and matthews went to trial in the fall of 2008 for christine's murder there the state introduced all of the evidence found at zachary's apartment as well as the testimony from two fellow inmates who claimed zachary had actually told them that about killing christine again i don't really love inmate confession it's always like it's always a green assault yeah the blood found in zachary's apartment was also tested for dna and experts said they could not rule zachary or christine out as contributors so they couldn't directly say that was christine's blood that october zachary was found guilty of first degree murder on both accounts he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole now since zachary's incarceration christine's family has been awarded full custody of raising their grandson she goes on to say that he has issues with control and she believes it's because he had witnessed all of this and he was powerless she says we've had a long road with him he's come a long way and i gotta tell you we wouldn't trade it for the world however that one magical time of the year that we are all in right now will never be the same for the tilson family the season now brings up a lot of difficult emotions for everyone but the tilsons are doing their best to make sure their grandson can find some joy in it all and that is the murder of christine larson it's just so sad because once again when somebody is killed it's not just one person that is affected now a kid has to grow up without both parents it's just a chain of people that it affects and it's just so it's just horrific it's so sad so i think there are a lot of children who are wrapped up in the murders that we cover who are innocent by standards of parent on parent murder the human psyche as a child trying to fathom one parent hurting another parent to the point of murdering them has got to be so impactful on their mental state throughout their life yeah because that that's just not how we're made like we're not made to deal with that kind of information once again if you are in a relationship where you are experiencing domestic abuse domestic violence please reach out to help um we'll put some links down in our description and we love you all right you guys that was our episode for today and we will see you next time with another one happy holidays i still love it and i still hate it goodbye you know that feeling when Too many things fall through the cracks? 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