314. The Trap She Never Saw Coming - The Murder of Bonnie Woodward

All right, you guys, we're getting into an ad and it is Shopify. So I'm going to let Garrett take this one away. Big fan of Shopify. Love Shopify. If you are looking into starting a business, if you have a business, if you love business, you need to check out Shopify. I love Shopify. If you're selling anything online, you need to be using Shopify. They're amazing. Honestly, no matter what size you are, they're absolutely amazing. Some of the biggest brands in the world are using them because they're easy to use and they have every single feature you could need. They have a big one that we all know, ShopPay. I mean, the easiest checkout on the market that is literally draining my bank account, ShopPay. And of course, they work with Shopify. I just love how intuitive it is. Like if there's something you want to sell online, you can go into Shopify and you can figure it out within minutes. It is so intuitive. If you're ready to hear the of your first sell today, head over to Shopify.com slash husband to start your free trial today. Again, you guys. If you've ever just wanted to sell anything big, small, any company out there that is selling something, head over to Shopify.com slash husband and check it out. That's right. Start your free trial at Shopify.com slash husband Shopify.com slash husband. Hank joined BJ's Wholesale Club the day he became a father of 30. I coach football. Now, Coach Hank saves up to 25% off grocery store prices, 30 pounds of pasta, three cases of protein. Bars, 75 sports drinks. And that's just pregame. He knows teamwork and BJ's knows savings. This is your home, Coach. Home of the save. Join for just $20 at BJ's.com slash mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon. Limited time offer. New members only. BJ's. Home of the save. You're listening to an Ono Media podcast. Hey, 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 Monday. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. I guess that's it, right? Listening, watching. That's all we got. We don't really have any announcements this week. So I think I'm going to get right into my 10 seconds. And if you want to skip it, you can skip it. It won't be too long. But we had to take Daisy to the vet. And it was pretty scary. And we thought she was dying. She's alive. And she's well. And we're still trying to figure out what's going on. And we need to make a vet appointment. And to, I don't know, like, dig further into what's happening with her. A quick little summary is that I was in the room. Daisy came running in. And she was, what we've now figured out is like a form of inward sneezing. Like, she was inward sneezing. But it sounded like she was gasping for air. We thought she was choking on something. We weren't sure what was happening. We took her to the vet. And it was kind of getting worse and worse. No, we took her to the ER. Yeah, sorry. We took her to the 24-hour ER. It was late at night. We didn't get home until like 1 a.m. But she was doing things she's never done before. She was like pawing at her face. Pawing at her ears. She was doing the inward sneezing. I would, I don't even know how to mimic it. It was crazy. And she was in distress. She was freaking out. Complete distress. Like her whole body was shaking. I think she might have been having an allergic reaction to something. At first, we thought she was choking. Because. Yeah. It's like. It's like a. It's like. Yeah. Over and over again. Don't replay that. Which I guess. It is a form of them trying to like clear their airways. Yeah. It was. We took her to the ER. We had them do a bunch of different tests. They didn't. They honestly didn't know what was going on either. Which didn't make me feel great. Now that I look back. I'm like, how did. Yeah, they were kind of just like, well, she's. She's breathing now. I'm like, okay. I mean, so am I. But. But then we took her home. And then the next night it happened. Happened again. No, happened again at 8 p.m. And then again at 3 a.m. The same exact thing. She like woke us up in a panic. But this time she was super itchy. And this is what's so sad is like. It's not like she's just doing this. Like, she's so clearly in distress. She's waking us up. Yeah, she isn't. Like crying. She doesn't do this normally. Like, this isn't something she was. She wouldn't just wake us up and cry. And when she came. She was sitting in the living room alone. And when she came running into Garrett. The first time she had her tail in between her legs. And she was freaking out. Yeah. It's more the way she's acting that. Yeah. And then when it happened again. Like, she was super itchy this time. She was clearly uncomfortable. Not happy. It took about. It took about two hours for it to go away. And then when it happened again at 3 a.m. It took about 30 minutes. And then it hasn't happened since. So it happened for two days. Hasn't happened again. The only thing we can assume is it was an allergic reaction. And. Yeah. She's okay right now. Anyways. This is live. We're figuring it out. Don't want to ramble too much. But it was pretty scary. So that's what I got for my 10 seconds. Still have my hair. I haven't buzzed it yet. Right. It's crazy. I got this hair transplant because I like my hair a lot. And I was losing it really fast. And it made a huge difference. Crazy. For those who don't know. I got a hair transplant. For those who might be new to the podcast. My hairline's crisp. It's like a little bit of a mess. I'm not sure if it's because of the hair. But it made a huge difference. Crazy. My hairline's crisp. Even. Amazing. I recommend it. If you want to get a hair transplant. Go for it. Don't see why not. But yeah. But now I'm at the point where like I have a lot of hair. And I want to buzz it just because it's getting hot. Also. If you're watching. That's his natural. His hair naturally goes like that. Yeah. My natural. The problem. My hair naturally just puffs up like this too. It's crazy. Sometimes like we've had a couple comments of people being like why is Garrett doing his hair like that. That's how he. No. Wakes up. That's how his hair naturally sits. He has no product in it. Yeah. I get. You look like Einstein. I literally get out of bed. And my hair. Look. My hair just looks like this. I don't know. I don't know. What can I do. Anyways. Anyways. So I have my buzz. I don't know. I just need a. I just need a shorter for a second. And I want to see how good my hairline looks. You know. Yeah. That's what I'm rambling about today. We have a case for you guys. So we're going to hop right into today's case. Our sources for this episode are abcnews.go.com, thetelegraph.com, goodmorningamerica.com, ksdk.com, myjournalcourier.com, fox2now.com, medium.com, thecinemaholic.com, unionbulletin.com, Belleville News Democrat, pod.wave.co, abc.com, and IL Courts Audio. We say that we would do anything for the ones that we love. A pet, a partner, a child. Now, luckily, most of us have never had to test the limits of what that really means. But when you're in a situation where someone or something you love is in danger, I think most of us would find that we're capable of a lot more than we ever thought possible. Because there's just something instinctual, even primal, inside each of us. Something that takes over when a loved one is threatened. So today, I want you to ask yourself. How far would you go to save a loved one that might be in danger? Would you walk straight into the lion's den? Into the hands of another predator? And would you be willing to risk your own life to save someone that you love? I, it's a good question. Because I feel like, I feel like I'd do some crazy shiz. I feel like I'd be nuts. You know? Like John Wick, like I'd be nuts. But maybe not. I don't know. Anyways. I don't know. Yeah. Let us know what you would do on Instagram or somewhere. Today, I want to take you to a little town located on the Mississippi and Illinois River. A place with a lot of history and a vibrant social scene called Alton, Illinois. And it is here in 2010 that a 47-year-old grandmother named Bonnie Woodward is quietly living out her life. Now, Bonnie's had quite the story so far to the year 2010. She has two grown children from her first marriage, Joseph and Jennifer. And Jennifer actually still lives with Bonnie with her two little girls. Bonnie is also the mom to two stepkids from her third marriage. And those stepkids are 17-year-old Heather and her brother Aaron, who is living with her. And she's living with a disability. And plus, Bonnie herself is a breast cancer survivor. So, just to recap, it is 2010. 47-year-old Bonnie is living in Illinois. And she has a lot of people living in her home with her. Her daughter Jennifer and her two little kids. And then also her two stepchildren, 17-year-old Heather and her brother Aaron. Bonnie is pretty used to putting her own needs aside and being the caretaker. Because she came from a family of nine siblings. So, she always knew what it meant to rely on herself. But that also taught Bonnie how to stand out. Those who knew her said she had a huge, larger-than-life personality. That her house was the place the extended family always congregated. That she loved to host. She loved to nurture. Which makes even more sense when you hear what Bonnie did for a living. She had a lot of friends. She had worked for the past 27 years as an aide at a nursing home in town. So, both her professional and her personal life. life was all about taking care of other people. And luckily, she did have one person that she could lean on in times of need at this point, and that was her live-in boyfriend, Gary Wilmoth, which was important because things weren't all smooth sailing in their pretty packed home. So this sort of pieced together family had been struggling with how to manage the 17-year-old who lived with them, Heather. See, Heather's dad, this is Bonnie's third husband, had passed away suddenly back in July of 2000 when Heather was just eight years old. So by that point, Heather wasn't in touch with her biological mother, so for most of her life, Bonnie had played that role. And she actually adopted Heather and her brother, Aaron, not long after their father, her third husband, passed away. But those who knew the family said Bonnie treated Aaron and Heather no different than her own two kids. She worked hard to give them the same opportunities, the same life, and she really dedicated herself to taking care of Aaron, who, as I mentioned, was living with a disability. But like any teenager, Heather at 17 had been unhappy living in this packed house for some time. She had run away from home on a couple of occasions. She always came back, at least until around June 10, 2010. It was this time, after another argument, that Heather stormed out of Bonnie's house and said she was going to stay with a teacher, a woman named Christine Sheffel. And by June 25, Heather still had not come home. So she left on June 10. Fifteen days later, she still had not come home. And this was very clearly wearing on Bonnie. Still, she put on a brave face. She continued to go to work to care for her patients. And then that Friday afternoon on the 25th, Bonnie had a staff meeting from 2 to 3 p.m. Then she was planning to leave right after to head home for the weekend. So she punched out around 3 p.m. that day. And then she went home. And then she and co-workers saw her go to the parking lot to her red Chevy Avalanche. Now, usually from there, Bonnie was home around 3.30. But that day, the clock kept ticking. Again, 17-year-old Heather has run away. She's been gone for 15 days. Bonnie is at work. And in the time from getting in her car to being home by 3.30, more and more time is passing. And she's not showing up. And so her boyfriend, who lives at the house, Gary, is starting to get worried. And by 4 p.m., he begins trying Bonnie's cell phone. But his calls are going right to voicemail, which is more than enough to set off alarm bells for Gary. Because not only is Bonnie the kind of person who does everything on a schedule, since she has Aaron, she would absolutely let someone know if she was right. And so she's trying to get up. And so her boyfriend, running late or wasn't going to be able to make it home to take care of him. That alone is enough to say that this just random disappearing is very uncharacteristic of her. So the rest of the day and into the night, Gary is calling around to people to ask if anyone has seen Bonnie. And when she still isn't home the following morning, Gary calls work to see if she showed up for her shift. Her co-workers are calling. And so she's calling. And so her co-workers are like, no, she's not here. We haven't heard from her. But also her car, her red car is still in the parking lot at work. So this is when Gary goes to the police to report Bonnie missing, which means from walking out of work to getting into her car, she somehow disappeared. Oh, my gosh. Now, when police show up to Bonnie's workplace on June 26th, they obviously, immediately search her car and find a few strange things. For starters, it hasn't been moved from its parking spot that it was initially parked in yesterday. But now the windows are rolled down and the car is unlocked. So it's almost like Bonnie or someone got in and back out after she left work. So someone has been in this car since she walked out of work. So to the family, this feels like a bad sign, because if Bonnie had just run away or needed a break, there's no way she's just going to leave her truck behind. She loved the car and had worked hard to buy it. She wasn't just going to leave it. But after looking closer at the truck, police don't find anything suspicious. There is no damage to the vehicle. There is no evidence of a struggle having occurred inside. However, they do notice her paycheck is still sitting on the seat. This is the one that she had received from the police. And so she's going to leave her truck behind. And so the day before. And her family said the first thing Bonnie always did when she got her paycheck was just take it right to the bank and deposit it. Yet there it is. So this is when the police decide to look a little closer at Bonnie's digital footprint. And they find there has been no online activity from her. There's no bank withdrawals or deposits, no use of her cell phone since the day before. And unfortunately, there's also no security footage of the car. So they're not the parking lot to show where Bonnie might have gone after she walked out of work. But luckily, there are a few eyewitnesses that spotted something interesting. When police are talking to Bonnie's co-workers, one of them, a woman named Wanda Bosley, says she saw Bonnie during her 2 p.m. meeting. And to her, something about Bonnie was definitely off. She said she wasn't acting like her usual upbeat self. She was quiet, internalizing. Something was clearly bothering her. But then Wanda also went to the parking lot around the same time Bonnie did. And she said when she was in the parking lot, she saw Bonnie standing behind her red truck talking with someone. It was a guy, maybe in his 40s, one she'd never seen before. She says he was maybe 5'8 or 5'9. He was white. He had a medium build with salt and pepper hair. Wanda wasn't the only one who saw this guy lurking in the parking lot, though. Other co-workers said, actually, I saw a man in a silver sedan, like a Chevy Malibu, waiting in the parking lot during the staff meeting. A few of them said they also saw Bonnie and him talking afterwards. And then other co-workers say, no, we didn't only see her talking to this guy, we actually saw her willingly get into his car and the two of them drove away. I feel like I used to trust eyewitnesses a lot and now I don't. You know what I'm saying? I mean, they aren't the most reliable. Like, we've come to realize eyewitnesses are great, but they mess up a lot. I do think there are a lot of eyewitnesses in this case. So like, yeah. Versus one. Like a one-off or something. All right, we're getting into an ad. And you know what? Garrett, I hate going to the grocery store. This is true. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. 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Go to HungryRoot.com slash husband and use code husband. If you haven't checked it out, just just go browse around. That's HungryRoot.com slash husband code husband to get 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for life. Okay, you guys, we are jumping in to a sponsor. And if you've listened to this podcast for a while, you know how much I love Quince. And here's the thing. You know, those pieces in your closet that you just reach for over and over again. It doesn't matter how many t-shirts you have. You just keep reaching for the same two. Well, that is what Quince clothing is going to be like in your closet. And you have to trust me on this because my closet is full of Quince and not just Quince clothing. Okay. I have Quince home accessories. I have shoes. I have a makeup leather bag that I love. And Quince makes elevated everyday essentials using premium materials like Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton, washable stuff. silk also i'm not gonna lie a lot of the times i'm like dang babe that's very cute she's like thanks got it from quince well because i have their silk skirt in every different color every different cut so i end up wearing it so like all of them so much with and i style them differently every single time they're really one of my favorite pieces in my closet find the fall pieces you'll reach for most at quince download the quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com slash husband and get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in canada and the uk too that's q-u-i-n-c-e.com slash husband so naturally the first place investigators start is with those close to bonnie which in this case happens to be her boyfriend gary they need to figure out who's this mysterious guy what was going on in bonnie's life how why would she disappear the two gary and bonnie have been in a relationship on and off for about seven years by this point and they also learned that gary has a bit of a rap sheet he's a convicted felon he's had some domestic issues in the past but gary says bonnie knew all about his checkered history it didn't bother her the two were on good terms so the police have him take a polygraph and he passes it with no problem plus he obviously doesn't fit the description witnesses gave about the guy that bonnie was last seen talking to in the parking lot so they do move on from gary pretty quickly and eventually they start looking into bonnie's exes and they discover a former boyfriend named chester mcadams now chester's father owns a 2009 chevy impala which could be confused for a malibu which according to eyewitnesses is the car the mystery man was driving so okay police are kind of leaning into this they also discover he has his own criminal history apparently bonnie had seen chester during one of those off periods with gary and at one point the two guys had some heated exchanges actually once or twice over bonnie so investigators start to think is it possible that chester was jealous that bonnie had picked gary and he wanted bonnie back in his life so he kidnapped her maybe she even ran away with him willingly so police look chester up and they find that he also doesn't match the description the eyewitnesses gave chester has a ponytail and a beard the guy they described was kind of clean cut so police bring him in for questioning he fully cooperates with them he also says i'm okay i don't have that car that's my father's car and i don't drive his car like he would never let me borrow his car so they check out his alibi and sure enough his boss says he was at work during the time bonnie disappeared which means now both gary and chester are in the same car so they check out his alibi and sure enough they check out his alibi and sure enough they check out his alibi and sure enough both gary and chester are in the same car so they check out his alibi and sure enough both gary and chester her two like recent love her two like recent love her two like recent love interests yeah the main suspects are cleared of interests yeah the main suspects are cleared of interests yeah the main suspects are cleared of suspicion suspicion suspicion but there's one thing that sets off alarm but there's one thing that sets off alarm but there's one thing that sets off alarm bells which i've already informed you guys bells which i've already informed you guys bells which i've already informed you guys of and it's the fact that of and it's the fact that of and it's the fact that bonnie is not the only person who's bonnie is not the only person who's bonnie is not the only person who's technically missing from her household technically missing from her household technically missing from her household recently recently recently they still have 17 year old heather who they still have 17 year old heather who they still have 17 year old heather who ran away from home who is still ran away from home who is still ran away from home who is still mia now bonnie's family had actually mia now bonnie's family had actually mia now bonnie's family had actually filed a missing person's report to a filed a missing person's report to a filed a missing person's report to a different police station about a week different police station about a week different police station about a week earlier earlier earlier um just saying like she said she ran um just saying like she said she ran um just saying like she said she ran away to her teacher's house like she away to her teacher's house like she away to her teacher's house like she willingly left but we haven't seen her willingly left but we haven't seen her willingly left but we haven't seen her and now we're gonna file a report and and now we're gonna file a report and and now we're gonna file a report and so when police respond to bonnie's so when police respond to bonnie's so when police respond to bonnie's missing person's report they're like missing person's report they're like missing person's report they're like okay what are the chances that not one okay what are the chances that not one okay what are the chances that not one but two people in the last week have but two people in the last week have but two people in the last week have been reported missing from the same been reported missing from the same been reported missing from the same notes with the investigators working notes with the investigators working notes with the investigators working heather's case heather's case heather's case and they find that as her family had and they find that as her family had and they find that as her family had said heather's last said heather's last said heather's last known location was at her teacher known location was at her teacher known location was at her teacher christine sheffield's home christine sheffield's home christine sheffield's home which is why police then pay christine which is why police then pay christine which is why police then pay christine a visit so they've now almost merged a visit so they've now almost merged a visit so they've now almost merged these two these two these two investigations they're looking for bonnie investigations they're looking for bonnie investigations they're looking for bonnie but now they're also interested in but now they're also interested in but now they're also interested in finding heather finding heather finding heather when they get there they realize heather when they get there they realize heather when they get there they realize heather is no longer there her teacher is no longer there her teacher is no longer there her teacher christine says heather stayed with her christine says heather stayed with her christine says heather stayed with her starting on the 10th the night she ran starting on the 10th the night she ran starting on the 10th the night she ran away away away but she actually left on the 17th and but she actually left on the 17th and but she actually left on the 17th and she didn't know where the teenager was she didn't know where the teenager was she didn't know where the teenager was headed christine also tells the police headed christine also tells the police headed christine also tells the police the reason that she even helped heather the reason that she even helped heather the reason that she even helped heather out because like why would a teenager out because like why would a teenager out because like why would a teenager run away to a teacher's house run away to a teacher's house run away to a teacher's house according to christine according to christine according to christine she tells police that according to she tells police that according to she tells police that according to heather she had been suffering a lot of heather she had been suffering a lot of heather she had been suffering a lot of abuse at home heather told christine and abuse at home heather told christine and abuse at home heather told christine and other teachers that she would be slapped other teachers that she would be slapped other teachers that she would be slapped to say she was being kicked out of her to say she was being kicked out of her to say she was being kicked out of her house house house and had nowhere else to go but around and had nowhere else to go but around and had nowhere else to go but around the 16th bonnie called christine and the 16th bonnie called christine and the 16th bonnie called christine and said hey heather said she was going to said hey heather said she was going to said hey heather said she was going to your house and she needs to come home your house and she needs to come home your house and she needs to come home so bonnie had talked to the teacher and so bonnie had talked to the teacher and so bonnie had talked to the teacher and then the teacher christine told heather then the teacher christine told heather then the teacher christine told heather hey hey hey you need to go home like your mom called you need to go home like your mom called you need to go home like your mom called you need to go home but it's just kind of you need to go home but it's just kind of you need to go home but it's just kind of weird that both the mom and daughter weird that both the mom and daughter weird that both the mom and daughter are missing like it's obviously tied to are missing like it's obviously tied to are missing like it's obviously tied to someone that knows them why are you someone that knows them why are you someone that knows them why are you looking at me like that i'm not i'm not looking at me like that i'm not i'm not looking at me like that i'm not i'm not looking at you like anything looking at me like that i'm not i'm not okay keep going apparently when okay keep going apparently when okay keep going apparently when christine told heather that she spent christine told heather that she spent christine told heather that she spent the night crying and then when christine the night crying and then when christine the night crying and then when christine left to do something the next morning on left to do something the next morning on left to do something the next morning on the 17th she returned to find that the 17th she returned to find that the 17th she returned to find that heather had just left her house heather had just left her house heather had just left her house and christine assumed okay she just went and christine assumed okay she just went and christine assumed okay she just went back to bonnie's because that's what i back to bonnie's because that's what i back to bonnie's because that's what i told her to do the night before told her to do the night before told her to do the night before but now we know she didn't go back to but now we know she didn't go back to but now we know she didn't go back to bonnie's and no one knows where she is bonnie's and no one knows where she is bonnie's and no one knows where she is that was when bonnie filed a missing that was when bonnie filed a missing that was when bonnie filed a missing person's report heather had been missing person's report heather had been missing person's report heather had been missing ever since and then bonnie disappears ever since and then bonnie disappears ever since and then bonnie disappears the freak okay so now bonnie's the freak okay so now bonnie's the freak okay so now bonnie's disappeared this is where police have disappeared this is where police have disappeared this is where police have been in 2010 police get a phone call been in 2010 police get a phone call been in 2010 police get a phone call from a local library from a local library from a local library they say they have a woman there who says they say they have a woman there who says they say they have a woman there who says her name is heather woodward and her name is heather woodward and her name is heather woodward and she'd been reported missing she'd been reported missing she'd been reported missing so police drive to the library i'm so so police drive to the library i'm so so police drive to the library i'm so confused pick her up bring her into the confused pick her up bring her into the confused pick her up bring her into the station for questioning station for questioning station for questioning there's nothing clearly visible on there's nothing clearly visible on heather that would be of concern heather that would be of concern heather that would be of concern she doesn't look bruised or injured or she doesn't look bruised or injured or she doesn't look bruised or injured or even unkempt for that matter she just even unkempt for that matter she just even unkempt for that matter she just turned herself in after being missing turned herself in after being missing turned herself in after being missing and when officers are like hey what's and when officers are like hey what's and when officers are like hey what's your birthday she's like it's today your birthday she's like it's today your birthday she's like it's today i'm 18 which is why she claims she i'm 18 which is why she claims she i'm 18 which is why she claims she finally came forward to put this finally came forward to put this finally came forward to put this missing person's case to rest missing person's case to rest missing person's case to rest because now she legally doesn't have to because now she legally doesn't have to because now she legally doesn't have to go back to bonnie's house if she doesn't go back to bonnie's house if she doesn't go back to bonnie's house if she doesn't want to she's 18 she's an adult want to she's 18 she's an adult want to she's 18 she's an adult okay um but okay um but okay um but she doesn't want there to be a missing she doesn't want there to be a missing she doesn't want there to be a missing person's case on her so she's turned person's case on her so she's turned person's case on her so she's turned herself in said hey i'm fine i'm good herself in said hey i'm fine i'm good herself in said hey i'm fine i'm good take me off the list okay take me off the list okay take me off the list okay but i do have to say her behavior is a but i do have to say her behavior is a but i do have to say her behavior is a little weird in this interview she's not little weird in this interview she's not little weird in this interview she's not really acting like an 18 year old do really acting like an 18 year old do really acting like an 18 year old do 18's ever oh wait are you saying older 18's ever oh wait are you saying older 18's ever oh wait are you saying older or younger younger because hear me out or younger younger because hear me out or younger younger because hear me out during this interview she is holding a during this interview she is holding a during this interview she is holding a teddy bear like clutching it and she's teddy bear like clutching it and she's teddy bear like clutching it and she's acting more like a little girl like the acting more like a little girl like the acting more like a little girl like the thing she's saying thing she's saying thing she's saying quote small clusters i need my daddy i'm tired i'm ready for i need my daddy i'm tired i'm ready for i need my daddy i'm tired i'm ready for my nap i want my daddy my nap i want my daddy my nap i want my daddy does she look like an 18 year old yes does she look like an 18 year old yes does she look like an 18 year old yes yes yes yes and so police are a little and so police are a little and so police are a little weird because she's coming in being like like i'm 18 i don't need to go home but then she's also acting really young like you know in an odd way yeah and so this is when they're like yeah heather okay like you don't have to go home technically you're 18 but we need to talk to you about bonnie because she's been like she's missing no one knows where she is and we need to know if you know where your stepmom is but heather doesn't act that alarmed that her stepmother's missing she says she has no idea what happened to her but she's just guessing that maybe bonnie went into hiding to try and draw her out she's like maybe my mom wanted me to come home and so she went missing in hopes that that would bring me forward to look for her and when police ask her about the situation at home with bonnie they're like okay well you know how was it at home with bonnie she doesn't mention anything about abuse like she's told her teachers she just tells police that she ran away from home because she was forced into doing something that she didn't want to do and she's like i don't know what to do with her she doesn't want to do anything about abuse like she's told her teachers she just tells police that she's told her teachers she just tells police that she's doing free labor like chores and babysitting the types of things most teenagers do around the house so now the police are realizing okay we think heather lied to her teachers we don't think she was abused we think she's acting young on purpose we think she's being manipulative like police decide this they're like we think okay that this is all an act especially after they find a report from the department of children and they're like we think she's being manipulative like police decide this they're like we think she's being and they're like we think she's being manipulative like police decide this they're like we think she's being manipulative like police decide this they're like we think she's being manipulative like police they're like we think she's being manipulative like police decide this they're like we think she's being and eventually they ask her okay you left uh you went to your teacher's house where did you go after that because it's still been a while and heather says oh i went to a friend's house but she doesn't want to get them in trouble she claims that the person she was with doesn't like bonnie and that it's all her fault that bonnie went missing now finally after a bit of more pressure from the police heather gives them a name well actually three people's name so this whole thing with heather is just a mess police are like what i'm just confused is going on here yeah so either way heather ends up telling police here's three names you need to know a 16 year old boy named nathan carroll and his parents monica and roger she says this is where i was they don't like my mom and they probably had something to do with her disappearance why did she come back like why why come back i mean you input like they're just like this is so odd she says she came back because she didn't want to have a missing persons report on her when she was fine okay so obviously so obviously police are like okay heather and they begin looking into the 16 year old nathan carroll and his parents they find that his parents both monica and roger were in the medical field they went to the same church as the woodwards so they did somehow know bonnie they had no criminal history no records of police involvement and the detectives it seemed like they were really just opening up their doors to heather who also told them stories about being abused at bonnie's house so police decide to pay roger and monica a little visit they go to this giant 60 acre property near jerseyville illinois and when they get there one of the first things they realize is roger the dad sort of fits the description of the man the eyewitnesses say bonnie was talking to in the parking lot the day she went missing he's in his 40s he has brownish gray hair he's clean cut he's about five foot ten and he drives silver 2005 interesting chevrolet malibu which it would also make sense why she got in his car willingly because if he's like hey your runaway daughter is at my house then he then she would get in so police are like okay we thought heather was just a little cuckoo but maybe she was on to something like she knew more than she was she was just being weird about it but but it does sound like not that she's cuckoo but she's lied about all this abuse yes but they were just confused about heather they were confused about heather but now they're like they're understanding what's happening yeah they're like okay wait heather clearly knew more she was hinting that these people might know something she clearly knew they knew something also i'm just confused how do how does one of your friends and then their parents hate your mom enough to right to hurt them like that also is that's that's pretty outlandish again going back to the fact that police fairly quickly decided that heather was pretty manipulative that a lot of her behavior was manipulative that day which could be i'm curious to see where this goes like if she told them my mom's hurting me my mom's a bad person you know like i this will be interesting so that day police show up they're like hey you know we have heather she came in she said she's been staying with you she also said you might have something to do with her mom bonnie's disappearance we need to take your car in for evidence and not only that they sit down and they're like oh my god i don't know what to do with and talk to the carols and they're pretty cooperative with the investigation but they say that while they were helping heather escape what they thought was an abusive household they claim they never actually met bonnie they just knew of bonnie okay so after this brief discussion with the carols the police do some more digging and they learn that there is more to the story here heather didn't just stay with the family while she was waiting for her 18th birthday so she could cancel her missing persons report she went on vacation with them four days before bonnie's disappearance this family plus heather took a trip to gorvel illinois to the carols lake house so the next day police call heather back in for round two and they're like hey we found out that you didn't tell us but you went like you left the city and you went to their lake house for vacation what happened there and heather offers something useful she admits yeah i did go with them but says on the day bonnie disappeared nathan the 16 year old and roger his dad left the lake house to go home early they left at 7 a.m that morning because quote roger just wanted to go home and he wanted nathan to go with him now police are starting to think okay did they go to this lake house plan this out and then nathan and roger go home and lure bonnie away from the parking lot with a promise of delivering heather did they ask for money was it a bribe if roger and bonnie didn't really know each other why would she've just gotten into his car unless she was promised she would finally be reunited with her missing daughter police decide to strategize using this they think they're in the right direction they're just really confused like they have all the puzzle pieces they just don't know how to fit them together they don't have enough evidence to suspect roger or his family did anything to bonnie but they can arrest roger and monica for harboring a teenage runaway which they do and this allows them to get fingerprints and photographs put them in a lineup and meanwhile roger and monica both plead not guilty to the charges still police start passing roger and monica's mugshots around bonnie's workplace but unfortunately none of her co-workers id either of them as a match for who bonnie was talking to that oh interesting okay not concretely at least however in september the prints from bonnie's truck come back from the parking lot and guess whose prints are on the truck that was left in the parking lot at work yeah i mean yeah the father roger carroll so it turns out he definitely knew bonnie and if he didn't know her he touched her truck but still roger denies it repeatedly he's like no i have no idea how my fingerprints could have got there i'm probably being framed oh but now the police are more suspicious of him than ever and he has to say this because remember they told police they'd never met bonnie they'd never seen her in person they'd never had any contact with her to deny everything then so when police are like well your fingerprints are on her truck he then has to deny it or change his story so police are suspicious and they get a warrant to search the 60 acre property this message is sponsored by green light i think it is so hard managing a family in general okay but then just the pressure of parenthood and teaching your kids everything you have their schedule their chores just everything goes with it and that's why we want to introduce you to green light it is an app that has made it feel manageable for parents big fan of green light talked about it before a family that uses this friends that use it love it we're going to use this as soon as our baby comes but she'll be too 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garrett's birthday presents from skims and he loves them he wears skims underwear it's true i literally that's all i wear sorry guys i'm purchasing skims whether they're a sponsor or not but they do happen to be a sponsor so please please please go check it out shop skims cotton and all of my favorite pieces at skims.com and after you place your order please be sure to let them know that we sent you select podcast and we'll see you next time in the survey be sure to select our show in the drop down menu that follows again that is after you've placed your order after you've paid there will be a little survey just a great way to like let them know that you saw this over from murder with my husband now equipped with a huge team including cadaver dogs and helicopters police execute that warrant that same september because again they're pretty sure they're on the right track they find about 30 guns in the home along with 200 rounds of ammunition and they're going to be able to get them to the police station and while the cadaver dogs do hit on a few areas of the property after digging those areas up they don't find anything in fact they conduct a couple searches of the property that fall and it leads them nowhere but they also search rogers silver malibu shockingly though they don't find anything proving bonnie ever sat inside no fibers no dna no fingerprints the car is actually immaculate so at that point detectives are kind of reaching a stalemate they're pretty sure Bonnie has been killed. There's been no activity on any of her accounts. She would never leave her family like that so unexpectedly. But they don't have a body. They can't prove it. They think they have the right family or people. But there's zero evidence to show that Bonnie ever went to the Carroll's property, let alone got in Roger's car, even though his fingerprints were on her truck. So right now, the only thing they have is Roger's prints on Bonnie's car. And a few other just strange, random things Heather told the police. Which is hard because it doesn't mean you've killed someone. Is it extremely weird? Yes. And should you be convicted of killing someone? Is there enough evidence? Probably not. Probably not. I don't know. So as police are still talking to Heather, she's just like dropping information here and there. That's not really tied to anything specifically. But when you put it all together, it just is a little confusing. She says that when she ran away to stay with them, Roger, the dad, wouldn't let her use phones or computers or anything. In fact, she said she couldn't make contact with anyone outside the house while she stayed with them. And that she wasn't allowed to tell the police that she had been staying with them on their property, which is why it took her so long to say it during her first interrogation. But she obviously did tell them. This is certainly alarming. Again, not enough for an arrest warrant. So eventually, police move on. And then five years later in 2015, the charges against Monica for harboring a runaway are dropped. Roger's charges remain. And Bonnie's missing person case runs cold. Then, 2018, eight years after Bonnie's disappearance, a domestic dispute turns this case on its head. By this point, Monica and Roger are no longer. a united front. Roger's been cheating on Monica. Frankly, she's had enough. Here we go. He's mentioned divorce to her. She figures he won't be shocked once she finally serves him papers. Turns out she's wrong. On March 2nd of 2018, Monica's getting ready for work when Roger corners her in the laundry room of their home. He grabs her by the hair, starts dragging her around the house, hitting her with a taser gun. Oh my gosh. Monica starts screaming for Nathan, who's. no longer a 16-year-old kid. He's now 25, but still lives with them. Except Nathan's already left for work. So Monica's alone with Roger, and she's on her own. Now, apparently this wasn't out of the blue. Monica claims she'd been afraid of Roger for some time. She'd been sleeping in a separate bedroom, putting a dresser in front of the door at night. But this, this confrontation was next level. Monica tries to talk Roger down from this fit of rage, hoping she can rationalize with him. But he tells her he's not the same person he was. He has a lot of anger, he can no longer control, he's a monster, the devil is living inside of him. Oh, give me a break. At some point, according to Monica, she says, he says to her, quote, Now, the second Monica's out of the house, she rushes to her car, she drives to the courthouse to get a restraining order. But this makes its way to the police. So, obviously, the police. The police are like, wait, these two suspects in this cold case, that we were pretty sure we had the right people, but we can never put anything together. Nothing made sense. Now hate each other? Now she's filing a restraining order against him. So, police find out that she had also said that he had killed for her during this dispute. And they're like, wait, he's in our suspect list, and he's telling his wife while beating her that he's killed for her? So, they're starting to be like, wait. Is this tied to our case? Also, well, I'm just curious where this goes. Because what does killing someone else's mom have to do with killing for her? Right? So, after this incident, Monica knows that she has to tell police everything she can about her husband. Like, she's now turned fully against her husband. So, she's going to talk to police. And while she says that, you know, her and Bonnie, or Bonnie and Roger, never have. had a close connection that she's aware of, there were a few things that stood out to her. Keep in mind, this is her story. She claims her husband, Roger, had taken a weird interest in Bonnie's day-to-day life before she disappeared. He had asked Heather, who was staying with them, about where she worked, what her schedule was like, what days of the week she was there. And at this same time that they're learning all this, police are trying to locate Roger. And that day, they find him in the woods. Around his home. In the woods. Yeah. So, they go to find him after this dispute. And they discover him with a bag of syringes and insulin. He claims he's trying to die by suicide because he, quote, hurt his wife bad. Police are like, okay, calm down. Yes, there's been a domestic dispute. Yes, your wife is talking to police. But you need to, like, put the things down. He is arrested on charges of domestic abuse. But now. Prosecutors, when all of this comes to a head, they're determined to get Roger on first-degree murder charges, too. Because now that they have Monica in their back pocket saying, like, no, he was being weird. He was talking about Bonnie. He was doing all of this. They think that they can get him for this. So, on March 29th, 2018, a grand jury hearing takes place. And the star witness is someone the prosecution made a deal with. A promise of immunity in return for their confession. And the one person who, according to Monica and Heather. Because remember, a long time ago, Heather told police, I was with Monica at the lake house when Bonnie disappeared. Who went home, though? Roger and their 16-year-old son at the time, Nathan. So, police decide to give Nathan immunity in return for his testimony against his father, Roger, who they are claiming killed. Bonnie Woodward. It's just so hard. There's no body. They haven't found anything. Right. So, this is Nathan's story, which, I mean, he is a huge part of this. This is what he tells the court. On the morning of June 25th, 2010, Roger told Nathan they were leaving early from the lake house, leaving the girls there, to head to the nursing home where Bonnie worked. When Nathan asked Roger why, he told Nathan she was, quote, a bad person. She was mean and aggressive. She was aggressive and abusive, and she needed to go away and never come back. Nathan says he also explicitly told him he was going to kill her. So, it just fills out of the blue. And even when they're like, what's the motive here, Nathan? He's like, I don't know. He said that she was a bad person. What? So, he says when they get back to town, they scoped out the nursing home. Roger drove Nathan home to their house near Jerseyville, grabbed a gun, and went back to the nursing home. So, now Nathan's like, yeah, I was home. Later that afternoon, Nathan remembered hearing eight or nine gunshots in the yard. And when he went outside, he claims he saw his dad, Roger, standing next to Heather's mother, Bonnie, who was now shot to death. Roger told Nathan that he used Heather as bait to get Bonnie to come with him from work because what mother wouldn't take the opportunity to rescue their runaway daughter if they could? And unfortunately, Bonnie never got the chance to even see or say goodbye to Heather because Heather and Monica, at this point, are still back at the lake house. Roger moved Bonnie's remains under a pile of brush. He lit it on fire. And meanwhile, Nathan was instructed to keep raking the coals to make sure the body was fully burned. For nearly the next week, Nathan claims he would come outside every couple of hours to stoke the fire and make sure nothing was left of her body. This is insane. He says after this, they disposed of any remaining ashes in the creek. And then Nathan was ordered to mow the lawn where the bloodied mother was buried. The blood had pooled from Bonnie's bullet wounds. Even weirder, Nathan. Holy sh. Yeah. Could you imagine having experienced that at 16, 17 years old? And like. What? No one questions your dad and so you're just doing what he says because this is who he is? And now she also just doesn't have a mom anymore? Yeah. What is happening? Nathan said after that day, he wasn't encouraged to forget about Bonnie. And this is weird. He said his father talked to him every night about it for years. Oh my. He's nuts. So following. He's nuts. The grand jury hearing, authorities returned to the Carroll's 60-acre property once more. That April, Nathan led them to the exact spots the crime occurred. He took them to the place Bonnie was shot, where her body was burned, where her ashes were dumped. And through that process, police found 27 pieces of human bone fragments along with shell casings from a 9mm revolver. This is the same gun Nathan told the court his father had used to kill Bonnie. Wow. So again, this is just like the pre. Yeah. Like, this is the grand jury. And so, Roger is now charged with first-degree murder. The case against him was bolstered even further. When the DNA testing on those bone fragments found on his property came back, 25 of them were proven to belong to Bonnie. Why? Like, no reason. I mean, maybe he says there was a reason, but he just wanted to kill somebody. - Yeah, I think that- - Thank you, Mike. he wanted to kill someone and when heather came to them this was the perfect excuse he was going to look like the hero for rescuing a teenage girl from an abusive household and he gets to kill someone he's the he seems like from the way it's described to be the leader of this house which is very ironic because he's also abusive himself right yeah so you killed someone for supposedly being abusive so by the time roger's trial came around in march of 2020 heather and monica had also made a deal with authorities neither one of them were facing charges due to their willingness to cooperate with the investigation okay monica testified against her husband at trial and talked about his abuse towards her his obsession with tracking bonnie back in 2010 before the murder and how she did see you the fire and the cleanup after the murder so yeah i mean it's a little suspect right like that i mean it's a little suspicious i mean this is why she's not this is why she's even getting if you're innocent you don't need anything in exchange for testifying yeah it's a little hard because there's a very good chance that she knew exactly what was happening and just turned a blind eye even if it didn't come out of her husband's mouth i can't say i can all i can say is that it's um we'll never ever know and allegedly because yeah she was never tried for anything but it just seems a little sus to me and interesting enough at testimony when monica's testifying against roger she also mentions how roger and heather bonnie's stepdaughter 17 year old daughter who was staying with them after running away took a long walk together just the two of them the day before he left the lake house to kill bonnie so monica's like yeah he went and killed her mom but the day before that my husband and this 17 year old girl went for a really long walk together i think she's implying at trial that heather was told during that walk before this happened that he was going to kill bonnie and save her that's what monica's implying at trial this is nuts also a lot of i just i'm trying to tell you i'm trying to tell you that he's going to kill bonnie and he's going to kill bonnie i think about the daughter's psyche the son's psyche like there's just so much involved that i don't know what to really think between the witness testimony the physical evidence found at the scene and a forensic wood anatomy expert who confirmed there was a significant fire on the property back in may or june of 2010 there was more than enough for jurors to deliberate on and they found roger carroll guilty of first degree murder yeah i mean obviously that october 10th was the day that roger and heather bonnie were found guilty of first degree murder and they found roger carroll guilty of first degree murder yeah i mean obviously that october october 2020 roger was sentenced to 40 years for first degree murder and 25 years for gun enhancement in connection to the murder okay during that hearing bonnie's son offered up these words quote my mother was a good-hearted dedicated mother grandmother sister aunt friend and co-worker since roger carroll senselessly took her from our family she's missed the birth of two grandchildren countless holidays birthdays homecoming my discharge from the army and my wedding i was unable to dance with my mother at my reception and now because roger carroll destroyed my mother's remains in an attempt to avoid prosecution he's also robbed us of the ability to properly lay her to rest roger carroll doesn't deserve to spend one more day enjoying the freedom i defended while in the army good point 100 but as everyone is currently screaming and as i can tell it's bothering garrett there's one part about this case that's probably eating us away yeah and i feel like it's just the motive you're just oh i was thinking something else what were you thinking like the daughter oh yes yes yes like i'm just anyways you you can go maybe i'll address my manipulation there yeah like what like what's happening what's going on i and i it's hard because she's young and she was like the police didn't address anything and they moved on past it yeah i mean she was like what's going on here's the thing sometimes we have cases that are just so open and shut you have all the evidence the motive makes perfect perfect sense i don't mean that and that it makes sense but at least to us we can like apply a motive that we can somewhat understand you can put a bow on it they go to prison blah blah blah in this case you can put a bow on it we have the people we have the answers of what happened we have the answers of how he got her we have the bow on the case of him going to prison and serving time but the thing we don't have is like the main thing people listen to true crime for which is why why do people do this why would he do this if he didn't even know bonnie why would you kill someone and sometimes that happens in true crime cases where the motive truly is bewildering and it's gonna leave you unsatisfied because you're you're like what yeah why would you kill someone and sometimes that happens in why would this happen what is the motive now all of the sources i read have inferred the same thing about roger he was told by heather that bonnie was mean aggressive and abusive and he decided to kill bonnie to protect heather and his own family but i can't help but wonder if there's more to the story here which is where garrett's stepping in is heather that convincing she got people she just barely met to fall in love with her and kill for her it's none of it makes sense she also lied to her teacher i just it's also hard to bring it up because i know she was a minor during this and it's like do i want to open that if the police never even opened that can of worms maybe it just was it didn't matter and maybe they went over it and didn't well here's the thing the state doesn't really have to prove a motive they just have to prove that someone killed someone and that's all they were going for which i get but which they did but we believe no one in their right mind would meet someone and then go randomly kill someone for that motive and then they would kill that person days after meeting them correct i mean yeah you could say that but also people are nuts exactly and weird stuff happens so maybe he did just want to kill somebody that is kind of the feeling i'm getting from all the sources and everything is that he was aggressive he was dominant he had a god complex and wanted to kill somebody wanted to kill someone so when heather came in and he felt like oh i can kill someone which i've wanted to do but also claim myself to be the hero and protecting everyone that's probably what happened to him yeah nuts sad very sad the son doesn't have a mom the daughter doesn't have a mom that's just horrible and again anyone else's involvement in this case is alleged besides nathan who admitted to helping at 16 but which is also why i'm just not going to address it because it sounds like they haven't figured it out i mean they yeah i mean they put away the person who pulled the trigger that's what matters all right you guys that is our episode for this week and we will see you next time with another one i love it i hate it goodbye hey before your q3 call i've got the campaign brief ready built from last quarter's data and the competitive landscape great did you include the differentiation angle the cmo asked for already in there three angles no competitors using right now just need your approval approved thanks oh agents where would we be without you somewhere with a lot more tabs open create your first monday agent in minutes at monday.com