True Crime Vault: Deadly Vows

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 this is the 2020 true crime vault a wife goes missing is her stalker responsible 2020 starts right now you look into that bright open face of hers and you think how could she be hiding so many secrets there was a lot of pictures all over rockford of a katrina smith that was missing second count minutes count and so we were doing everything we possibly could to try to find her maybe katrina's hiding maybe she doesn't want to be found it's been horrible i said i'd be back later and that's the last we heard of her you can't even believe that you're going to a park or a wooded area to like search for your sister's body potentially and it's like we wanted to find her but you don't want to find her either katrina smith had reported that someone was stalking there was a teenager who had some sort of a unhealthy infatuation with her katrina's boss comes into the detective's bureau and says something bizarre happened in this parking lot bizarre barely covers it some guy throwing flyers out of the car containing some really outrageous accusations against katrina where does that piece of the puzzle fit in we knocked on every door we went through almost every backyard we went through almost every backyard we went through almost every backyard looking for evidence and so what did you discover like somebody sprinkling breadcrumbs like a trail why are you throwing them in these odd places where they can likely be found is somebody playing a game of cat and mouse is katrina herself leaving clues nobody knows but everybody's terrified it's an otherwise ordinary friday in october of 2012 a missing person call comes in sheriff communications can i help you yes my wife is house sitting for somebody who's out of town and you haven't been able to reach your wife right what's your wife's name katrina you how unusual is it to get this kind of call it's common to have missing person cases come in i guess the reason i'm concerned is her work called me and said that she didn't show up so not really something she would do even though missing person cases are common the families involved are pretty traumatized i would imagine the families are always very traumatized when a family member loved one goes missing you I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing but i think it's a good thing my phone rang and it was todd he said hey have you talked to katrina said no why and he said well she didn't show up for work today and immediately my stomach sank because that's not my sister my daughter miranda called me and said katrina's missing i was hysterical I thought oh my god she what do you mean she's missing katrina was my second child first daughter she was just a happy girl she really was you know katrina was eight years older than me you know i always wanted to just grow up and be like her katrina i like to take care of people she just always went out of her way to put other people first i know katrina alex smith from machese park high school she was a student of mine her senior year in the year 2000 we did the yearbook together she was my senior editor katrina i thought was really smart she was very well driven she was very mature for her age katrina has vanished from the very place she spent most of her life machesney park it's a town that's part of the larger community of rockford illinois rockford is located about 100 miles from chicago about 20 miles south of the wisconsin border it's a big small town definitely more of a blue-collar community a lot of manufacturing a lot of people working hard to just make a better life for themselves right away you notice that manufacturing history when you come to this town you can see so many industrial plants as you stroll along the river downtown to locals that's what rockford is known for but to outsiders this place is usually known for something else this place is usually known for something else this place is usually known for something else when a lot of people first hear about rockford illinois they think of the rockford peaches it's the first women's baseball league of course a league of their own was based on our own rockford peaches are you crying no there's no crying there's no crying in baseball even though tom hanks and the rest of the cast didn't film a league of their own in rockford the field where the peaches actually played is being restored as part of a tourism push for rockford's future but outside that ballpark other parts of the area have more immediate problems it's a very high crime area for cities that have less than 200 000 people the city of rockford always ranks in the top three for most violent cities in the entire country the city of rockford has the highest crime rate in the world and the highest crime rate in the world and it's the highest crime rate in the world and it's the highest crime rate in the world so with that in mind what questions come to mind when you meet a guy who's reporting his wife missing the response is why is this person missing and why are you calling the police you obviously think something really bad is happening let's have somebody start looking into this and start contacting family members and friends they wonder well what could have been happening in katrina's life that would cause her to simply disappear so the first person they wish to speak with is the man who filed that missing person's report her husband todd smith one night nine years earlier todd smith was working as a dj and he met katrina who had been out having fun with some of her friends one night nine years earlier todd smith was working as a dj and he met katrina who had been out having fun with some of her friends they hit it off immediately he just fit in with our family pretty quickly i thought he was a great guy you know he was a cool dude that i enjoyed hanging out with todd was quite a bit older than katrina 15 years and had three daughters from a previous marriage but it didn't seem to matter given the girls moved in and that was it she had built-in family when i met katrina i immediately liked her she played with me she remembered details about things that i liked she was really fun she was an extremely good step-mom to todd's daughters the girls really adored katrina she brought a lot of light into our family and i think that he liked having a whole family unit versus uh being a single dad she you know was a second mom to them and would go to their soccer games or cheerleading events and i know she she loved the girls very much they got engaged and then married their wedding video is full of warm moments i love you you are my best friend today i give myself to you in marriage i obviously remember like the wedding and the wedding video is full of warm moments i love you you are my best friend today i give myself to you in marriage i obviously remember like the wedding and how excited she was um on her wedding day i know she was crazy about him you know so now you may kiss your bride there was never a doubt that katrina was happily married to todd and they were always doing stuff together working together every day at home you know running a family business i don't think katrina ever really told me why she you know stopped working with todd and went and got a job she worked at cameron industries in belvedere and she was in the human resources department there she was a good employee never missed work but for some reason right about the time that she disappeared katrina was actually looking for another job katrina called me saturday october 20th she said i have a job interview wednesday she said i'm coming over wednesday night to talk to you about some things and then wednesday never came what did she want to talk about turns out others in the family were getting hints too that something was up i do remember around that time katrina had told me like hey can you watch the dog for us like we really need this vacation right now like we really need to get away i feel like katrina was trying to tell me something i got a voicemail she was crying and she said you know hey i'm all right but i just need to talk and now katrina is missing and so i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i have to find out what's going on and so i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out what's going on and then i'm going to have to find out just instantly panicking that something's wrong especially after something turns up and so what did you discover she's missing we don't know what happened to her smith has been missing since monday night when she told her husband she was going to run errands it was truly like a nightmare because every day you're waking up and realizing like this has actually happened i still kind of felt like maybe she was at a friend's house or just had a stressful day and just needed some time to herself maybe katrina's hiding maybe she doesn't want to be found we didn't know what the situation truly was our winnebago county sheriff's department was investigating a missing persons case and there wasn't a lot of information police are not revealing all they know but they are finding clues including one huge discovery just hours after todd's missing persons call katrina's abandoned car and there wasn't a lot of information just hours after todd's missing persons call katrina's abandoned car so we're on obispo where katrina's car was found and the car's literally on the embankment here the road really cuts down at a hard angle and the vehicle was pulled off the side of the road and it looked out of place we had the car towed down to our police department so that the crime scene could go through the car with a fine-tooth comb and get any and all evidence that we can out of this car and so what did you find inside the car later once we got out of the car we found the car we got into the vehicle and were able to look through it we found this letter that was in the car it ended up being a love letter from todd to katrina that note reads in part to the love of my life i love you and cherish you katrina love todd and it suggests that the last thing that's in here is a message of love and devotion from her husband that's right when we found katrina's car on the side of the road it really changed our minds in that now we're genuinely concerned about her welfare and where is she at is she alive is she dead is she injured is she being held captive we don't know but now things have gone up a little bit todd smith told me he had no marital issues with his wife katrina they had a normal relationship as a husband and wife that they had their normal amount of arguments but nothing big in fact detectives say that todd told them that the night before katrina disappeared the couple was actually discussing adopting children so with this todd is certainly making it seem this marriage was as good as it gets as the police analyze the car for clues while also looking for other possible leads about katrina her family and the community spring into action i went everywhere passing out katrina's missing photos putting them up in gas stations and stores and factories and laundromats and telephone poles and you name it i put it up there all the publicity leads to total strangers helping the family to search we'll be here every day from the morning till night and we're going to continue to do that until until she's found it was pretty surreal there's easily two three hundred people there it's a large park and it goes back pretty far so they wanted to look for any kind of evidence judy lasala and vicky lurkey were like a lot of people in rockford they didn't want to just sit idly by this is the way you went right yep we had to search up the hill yeah it's there we cover all the fields back there there was a lot of pictures all over the place there was a lot of pictures all over the place there was a lot of pictures all over the place there was a lot of pictures all over rockford of a katrina smith that was rockford of a katrina smith that was rockford of a katrina smith that was missing my heart was just broke for her missing my heart was just broke for her missing my heart was just broke for her you know how could she just show up you know how could she just show up you know how could she just show up missing like this and nobody knows where missing like this and nobody knows where missing like this and nobody knows where she's at i don't know why i just felt she's at i don't know why i just felt she's at i don't know why i just felt like i i needed to help find her like i i needed to help find her like i i needed to help find her you can't give up hope you just got to you can't give up hope you just got to I keep thinking that we're going to find her. I think a lot of people could relate to Katrina because she's this young woman who could be anyone's wife or sister, mother, friend. And everyone wanted to come out and do what they could to try to find her. They were there to try to find Katrina. It wasn't like they were paid to go up there. You know, they were forced. They all came there on their own. We wanted to solve the mystery. Yeah. The family of missing 30-year-old Katrina Smith not giving up in the search to find her. You can't even believe that you're going to a park or a wooded area to, like, search for your sister's body, potentially. And it's like, we wanted to find her so that we could find her and bring her home, but you don't want to find her either. And yet, at the same time, everyone's hearts went out to Todd. He became the face of the tragedy and the search. When I saw Todd, you know, we embraced each other and we cried. And it was hard, you know, because his wife was missing. Todd was my family, so I was hurt for him. So, Todd reported his wife missing. He seems heartbroken. If you look at him, you're like, "Oh, this poor guy." It's been horrible. So, I was the first reporter to interview Todd, and I really felt like this was a big step for him, that he was going to take a second to do something that was really hard for him to try to find his missing wife. I just wanted to come home. I'm seeing him crying, and I felt really bad for him, that he was going through this horrible thing and that something had happened to his wife. And I just, my heart was, like, breaking for him. The community started rallying around him. It gave a lot of pressure on us as the sheriff's department to find her and get the answers. ♪ ♪ With a case where somebody may be either being held captive, is maybe gravely injured, and left laying somewhere, seconds count, minutes count, and so we were doing everything we possibly could to try to find her. But as that investigation continues, the police, as well as everyone out searching for Katrina, are about to be stunned by what is uncovered. The phone was essentially dropped. It was dropped into the bush right here. It's clues that turned this case from a missing person to something more sinister. This is pretty dense woods. You found a purse in here. We find her purse in the woods. It's making things look really bad. ♪ ♪ , ♪ ♪ On November 1st, 2012, a candlelight vigil is held for Katrina at Schoonmaker Park, ten days after she went missing. Todd and other family members plead on local news for the safe return of Katrina. I want to thank everybody for all your efforts for coming out tonight. Todd, on the news, he was begging people to help find her. He was really hurting, you know, and really concerned about where Katrina was. When we were going on the searches, he originally didn't want to go on TV. He was worried people would judge him for wanting attention. Somebody convinced him. that it might help. - I was feeling a lot of compassion for this man who really was missing his wife. His whole world was flipped upside down. - We were getting leads from everywhere. We were getting calls. We were provided with names of possible suspects. - Early in the investigation, detectives learned that Katrina had filed a police report about a disturbing incident in her neighborhood. - Katrina Smith had reported that someone was stalking her. We thought, here we go. This is probably the guy that has her, you know, wherever she's at. - He was somebody from her church group that had been looking through her bedroom window. - He was a teenager who had lived in Katrina's neighborhood who had some sort of an unhealthy infatuation with her. She was worried about this infatuation. - This young man was attending college at a university near Winnebago County at the time of her disappearance. - That person is our number one suspect. - Katrina's alleged stalker had left town for college. As detectives try to track him down, they intensify their search for Katrina in the area where they found her car abandoned. - There's no reason for a car to be here. - Yeah, there's no reason. And it just looked very out of place. - Searches were underway. You create search teams to go into these woods? - That's correct, yeah. We searched every square inch for a very long distance. We also had the help of the community that showed up and helped in these very large scale searches. - So they're expanding the search. It's gone from this park to a 20 mile radius around it. - And that search pays off with a key discovery. You found a person here. - We find her purse in the woods, in the brush. It's making things look really bad at this point. - Also found near the car, some paper towels that someone had thrown out. - We found some towels that had what looked like blood on them. The towels looked as though they were used to clean something. We were able to determine that the car had actually been wiped down clean on the inside. - And we found DNA, Katrina's DNA on the paper towels, but was any DNA found inside the car? - There was some DNA found inside the car. - The things that we were finding clearly led us to believe that something bad had happened. - The mystery of Katrina's disappearance deepens when another vital clue is found, her cell phone. - So this is where you found the cell phone? - The phone was essentially dropped into the bush right here. It was down at the bottom of this thing. We don't know how these pieces got there. They were being found and collected as evidence. - Like breadcrumbs along a route. - Like somebody sprinkling breadcrumbs, like a trail. Once you look at where everything was found, you can see where it looked like one person or two persons had everything in their hands. They were throwing it there as they were walking along. We're, as detectives, trying to figure this out. Bloody towels look like somebody cleaned something up. You've got a cell phone that was discarded over here. Why are you throwing them in these odd places where they can likely be found? Anytime we have a case that we feel may be involved with somebody that has been kidnapped, being held for ransom, homicide, the whole department in general goes 110% towards that until we find this person. - Remember, police have a suspect, that teenager, who Katrina suspected of stalking her. Detectives are able to track him down at a university in Illinois and immediately drive there to speak with him. - I personally interviewed that person and he did confirm the things that he was being accused of in the past with Katrina Smith. We were able to verify his location during the time of Katrina Smith disappearing. He was at school at that time. We confirmed the location. We got the login information of when he was at the school and that completely eliminated him from being a suspect in this investigation. - We were confident, after follow-up, that this individual was excluded from having anything to do with the death of Katrina Smith. - He was nowhere near town, clear alibi. We were able to dismiss him as being involved in this in any way, shape, or form. - With the Illinois college student in the clear, detectives are stumped. Until they're able to examine the contents of Katrina's cell phone. - Katrina's cell phone reveals a treasure trove of text messages between her and a male coworker. - We found out that Katrina was having an affair with a coworker that worked with her at Cameron Industries. - We start looking into his background and lo and behold, he's got issues in his past that raise a lot of red flags with us as detectives. - There's no questioning that we have our guy. - This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you've been listening to this show for a while now, you've heard a lot about BetterHelp before. You've heard about how helpful therapy can be and how it can work for all different types of people. But one thing we haven't talked about before is how much users love it. So today, BetterHelp wants to invite you to check out the reviews written by real people who've experienced the difference that BetterHelp can make. 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Go to Chime.com/disclosures for details. ♪♪ When detectives examine Katrina's cell phone, they make a startling discovery. They find texts between Katrina and a man who worked in her office. Turns out Katrina was having a secret affair with a coworker. During the background investigation of Katrina Smith, we interviewed a lot of people, including coworkers. One of these first persons that showed up at her condo the day that she was reported missing was a person by the name of Guy Gabriel. Guy Gabriel was a coworker that worked with her at Cameron Industries. She worked in HR, and he was a supervisor in another department. So they met and began a relationship. When we learned that Katrina Smith was having an affair with a coworker, it opened up a lot of doors. It opened up, like, Pandora's box. It was a moment that we all looked at ourselves like, "Are you kidding me? She's having an affair with a guy?" It was kind of a bombshell moment. ♪♪ There was a number of texts from him where he was like, "Just tell Todd you want a divorce. Just tell him." Katrina's secret affair was hidden from almost everybody. On the outside, it appeared Katrina and Todd had a loving, happy marriage. ♪♪ Katrina loved Todd, and they had a solid marriage. They had, like, a great relationship. Katrina was happy. I mean, she was the happiest I've ever seen. Happier with him than she's ever been with anybody. And when detectives dig deeper, they find out Guy Gabriel had a serious brush with the law in the past. He was living in a temporary residence on a campground, which they also considered suspicious. ♪♪ Detectives discover that in 1989, Gabriel was charged with a felony -- aggravated battery -- during a bar fight. Gabriel pleaded not guilty and was eventually acquitted of that charge. We started focusing on Guy at this moment because he's got an arrest in the past. Mr. Gabriel knew exactly where she was on the night that Katrina went missing. Guy Gabriel became a suspect because he had a relationship relationship with Katrina. - Detectives also learn about a bizarre incident involving Katrina and Guy Gabriel. It took place exactly two weeks before she disappeared. Some of Katrina's co-workers are sitting outside when they see an unknown car driving deliberately through the office parking lot. The day that everybody was hanging outside the door here, as they come outside to get air, this black Volkswagen comes pulling into the lot quickly. The person driving the car rolls this handful of flyers out the sunroof of the car and then speeds off. But what a bizarre incident. It was completely bizarre. The person driving the car was masked and gloved, driving a car with no plates on it, just a black car. Some of these flyers actually drop at the feet of the co-workers who naturally pick them up to read it. And there's a reference to apparently Katrina, but the name shortened to Kat. There was the name Guy, and right in the middle was a profanity. Some rather vulgar comments, let's say. Those flyers detailed the affair between Katrina and Guy Gabriel, with Katrina's name deliberately misspelled. Somebody is out there to cause problems at her job. Whoever it was wanted everybody at her work to know that she was having an affair or having a relationship with Guy Gabriel. On top of that disturbing incident, Katrina also had the feeling that someone was using her cell phone to track her movements. So she went to her cell phone dealer for help. Katrina had gone to the store with concerns that she was being followed, being tracked. She thought someone was tracking her, so she brought the cell phone to the store. She requested time off to go over to U.S. Cellular to see whether or not her phone had been compromised. The cell phone rep said Katrina seemed fine the first couple of times she visited the store. But on that last visit, something was clearly wrong. That day was different. When she came in, she was worried. She was afraid. Her whole demeanor was not what it had been before. She was way more fidgety. She was moving her phone a lot, her keys between her hands, messing with her fingers. Katrina was scared. I believe she feared for her life at that point. Katrina texted her stepfather about how to get a void card and be able to obtain a gun. Katrina wanted to get a gun for protection. With his previous arrest for battery and Katrina's fear that someone was tracking her movements, police believe it's more and more likely that Guy Gabriel may have had something to do with her disappearance. You got a female that is missing. You got somebody who is dating her. And then we find this information about the prior arrest. There's no question that we have our guy. We grabbed Guy Gabriel, brought him into the police department. We felt we had it. We thought we were going to find Katrina. We thought we were going to get information of where Katrina was. But when Gabriel sits down to talk to police, he has an astonishing story to tell. One that will take the investigation into a shocking new direction. We come to find out that Katrina was leaving Todd. That she was leaving this marriage. And that she was done. It was the day that she went missing. It was the day that she left her husband. Investigators say there are a lot of reasons for them to suspect Guy Gabriel might have had something to do with Katrina's disappearance. The two were having an affair. Plus, detectives say they had some questions about Guy. And without knowing anything about Guy Gabriel, we thought we had our guy. We interviewed him. We asked for a time to talk to him. We asked for a timeline of everything where he has been from the time that Katrina went missing up to now. So now he's a potential suspect, but he's cooperating with you. He was completely cooperative with us. He told us everything we wanted to know. He let us in his house. He let us search everything. He provided an alibi as to where he was, and actually it was confirmed. He was not there. He was not anywhere close to Katrina. So you have to dismiss him as a suspect because he has an ironclad alibi. We were able to easily disclude him from being involved in her disappearance. But talking with Guy Gabriel is invaluable to investigators anyway. He drops a bombshell bit of information according to detectives. He claims Katrina told him her marriage to Todd was ending. She was about to leave him and had already moved out of the house. He even tells detectives that he saved the text messages she sent him about all of this. So these are texts that Katrina sent to Guy. Guy shares them with you. The text reads, "I already told him before I wanted a divorce." Um, being investigated by the FBI. He's involved in a wire fraud case that the federal government is investigating. Investigators now have plenty of reasons to look more closely at Todd. And they say the more they dig, the more they find out he is not what he appears to be at all. It was just a nonstop barrage of information that we're uncovering. We found some pretty disturbing things that made us question the type of person Todd was. It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that this nice, quiet, seemed-to-be-happy guy could be such a monster. And soon came the horrible discovery everybody dreaded. How close were you when you started to see recognizable details? Probably within 20 yards. I knew that it was a body, and there was no need to go any closer. You could see the clothing and the torso. It can't have been easy to see. It's crazy to see Katrina's body. It's really sad. The news you absolutely don't want to hear. Todd is being looked at as a suspect. No one really knew who this man was. A failing marriage wasn't the only secret Todd Smith was hiding. Todd Smith wasn't even Todd Smith. Every time we had a new lead, it opened up kind of a Pandora's box. The home exploded and burned. And he put his hands on my chin and the back of my head, and I know he was going to break my neck. Here's a really crazy twist in this case. John, you've got to get in here. Come in here right now. I would have gone to my grave with the secret. 30-year-old Katrina Smith had been reported missing by her husband, Todd, on the evening of October 23. Desperate for answers and help, the emotionally distraught father of three took to the local airwaves in Rockford, Illinois. It's been horrible. I felt like when I was interviewing Todd that he was putting on a show more than he was answering questions. I didn't see a single tear. He said, I'd be back later, and that's the last we heard of her. Katrina was Todd's second wife, 15 years younger. She had embraced the role of stepmother to his three daughters, and the blended family were living a seemingly picture-perfect life. We didn't know what the situation truly was. Our Winnebago County Sheriff's Department was investigating a missing child. We were trying to figure out what was happening. We were trying to figure out what was going on. murder, Todd's background raises some troubling questions. And slowly, as investigators continue to dig, that carefully crafted image Todd Smith had built begins to crumble. This was a situation where, for a lot of people, no one really knew who this man was. In fact, Todd Smith wasn't even Todd Smith. This show is sponsored by My Mom's Murder, a podcast from Audible. Lauren Malloy spent 30 years thinking her mom had died of natural causes. That's what everybody told her. That's what she believed. Until one day, she got a phone call that changed everything. A woman claiming to be her mom's best friend told Lauren that her mother was actually murdered and that no one had ever investigated it. Well, she became kind of a detective. She pulled the threads, knocked on doors. And confronted the contradictions. And what she found was worse than she imagined. Something happened to Lori Malloy. Someone killed her. And Lauren won't stop until she finds out who. The system may have given up on her mom, but family never will. Listen to My Mom's Murder wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all 10 episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. Today, I want to tell you about an exciting new deal from our friends at Cozy Earth. Take a moment and close your eyes and think back to the best night of sleep you ever had. Did it feel like you'd never sleep that well again? Well, good news. 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Right now, go to abcsecretsavings.com slash 2020 for 50% off the best bedding you'll ever sleep on. That's abcsecretsavings.com slash 2020. The body of Katrina Smith was discovered in the Rock River by an off-duty firefighter. Now, an autopsy reveals the 30-year-old died, as a result of blunt force trauma to the head. And with the missing person case now officially a homicide, investigators turn up the heat on Todd Smith. As we're looking at Todd's background, we found some pretty disturbing things that made us question the type of person Todd was. One of the most startling discoveries was that Todd Smith, wasn't always Todd Smith. He used to have a different name. He was a Rap Rager. That was his last name. Todd Rap Rager grew up in McChesney Park, Illinois, where he lived with his mother, stepfather, and three younger half-siblings. The first time I met Todd was, um, at our lockers, our freshman year at, um, Harlem High School. Our lockers were next to each other all through high school. Todd was short, very thin, kind of quiet, a good-looking kid. I thought he was cute. He was in band. I believe he was on the football team our freshman year. He seemed like a really nice kid. That thin, quiet, good-looking kid was friendly and polite, but he rarely spoke of his life outside of Harlem High School. Todd seemed like there was maybe something going on in his home life. That home life became the subject of intense scrutiny when Todd was just 17 years old. In March of 1985, Todd was involved in an incident wherein he had an argument with his family and went for a walk. But before he left on the walk, he unplugged the natural gas line to the home. While he was out walking, the home exploded and burned. In interviewing the owner, he said that he and his wife were awakened by an explosion. The ceiling was falling in on him. He got his wife out of the house, along with one of his youngest child out of the house. But they couldn't find Todd Rapprider. According to the reports, she was outside screaming for him, thinking that he was trapped in there. Ultimately, an interrogation of Todd resulted in Todd confessing to the fact that he had been the one that disconnected the gas line with intent that there was going to be a fire. He just wanted to scare his mother because they had not been getting along for an extended period of time. There had been an ongoing conflict between him and his mother. Todd waived his right to a jury trial, and he entered a plea of guilty to the arson. He got 30 months probation and 160 hours of community service. Looking back at it, you'd have to say he was a troubled boy. Probably needed some help, some professional help somewhere along the line. Todd moved away shortly after the fire that destroyed his family's home, and three years later, with his legal troubles behind him, he found love with Teresa. When I met Todd, he was working full time at a local factory. Teresa asked that we not reveal her last name. I was 21 and he was 20, so we were both very young. We met at a party just with friends and we hit it off and he seemed very kind and fun to be with. He seemed like a genuinely nice person. We were married in Jamaica in 1992. We decided to go that route because of his family situation. That same year, Todd legally changed his name to Smith, his biological father's last name. His troubled past was in the rearview mirror. Todd seemed to embrace his role as husband and father. What was he like as a father? He was very excited to be a father. He was very loving, very attentive, very protective. My dad was fun to be around. He was funny. He's a good listener. Whenever you're having a problem or you're upset about something, he noticed and he would listen like fully and offer comfort and advice, like all the things that a normal dad would do. The early years. We're good. We were happy. You said it was the happiest time of your life. It was. While the family appeared to be living a perfect life, behind closed doors, Theresa says the reality was that after nearly a decade of marriage, their financial struggles were taking a toll. What did he claim to be doing employment wise and what was he actually doing? I don't know what he was actually doing. He was involved in the financial world. And insurance. And was he making money, bringing home money? Not on a consistent level. Like there was money coming in, but there wasn't anything that could be counted on. Theresa says with mounting debt, they were forced to sell their house and move the family into her parents' home. I had returned to work after having our third child. I had accepted both ages. I had a full-time and a part-time position and having carrying the burden of trying to pay our bills and also be the primary parent caring for the children, it became too much. The couple separated and shared custody of their three daughters. Later that same year, Theresa was the victim of a brutal robbery and assault. The family was forced to move to a new home. Todd Smith had settled down with Teresa and seemingly left his tortured past behind, starting a family of his own while embracing the role of husband and father. But Teresa says he struggled as a provider for his young family. I get the sense that in every way, Todd walked around like he was the perfect husband, perfect father. I think that image was everything to him. And he fooled people into believing that he was successful and that he was providing and that we were the perfect family. You were the breadwinner of the family. Yes. And you were raising the kids. Yes. And you were paying for his life. Yes. When Teresa was forced to sell her home and move her family into her parents' house, well, she had reached her breaking point. Teresa and her three girls were living here in this Love's Park neighborhood at her parents' house. Todd had officially moved out. But on October 6, 2001, Teresa says something happened that would haunt her for more than two decades. Teresa says she hasn't spoken publicly about it until now. We had been separated for a few months and I had gone out. For the evening. Came back home, pulled into the driveway and I was carrying my keys, my purse, and a Capri Sun. I'll never forget that. And went around the corner and I was punched in the face. Full force. Knocked me off balance. And he was wearing a Halloween mask. Do you remember what the mask looked like? Yes, it was a werewolf. And he started to beat me up. So you'd fallen to the ground at this point? I was off balance and he started punching me. And then how did you get away? I had gotten myself onto my knees and he went behind me and he put his hands on my chin and my back of my head. And. Yeah. He was. I know he was going to break my neck. And. I just remember thinking that my mom was going to come out in the morning and find me dead in the yard. And when that thought went through my head, I just, like, burst up. Like, I. I had, like, an adrenaline rush or something. And I just, like, stood up really fast and it knocked him backwards. And then I ran. She called me that night to tell me that she was attacked outside the house. And I had to calm her down to understand that she was okay. I mean, she survived somebody trying to kill her. She reports it to the police. And who does she say that she thinks. she thinks this person is? She says it's her husband, Todd Smith. How can you be sure it was him? I mean, I was married to him. I could see his eyes. I could see his body. I mean, it was him. Todd told police he had been home at the time of the attack. And Teresa says when she confronted him days later, he denied being responsible. Fingernail scrapings taken from Teresa at the scene were compared to fibers on a jacket belonging to Todd. But the results were inconclusive. Teresa also had blood under one of her fingernails. And detectives wanted to test it for DNA and compare it to Todd's. But police say Todd refused to cooperate. And with no probable cause for a search warrant to obtain a DNA sample, they closed the case. Teresa says she was actually relieved by that decision. I was keeping it. It was a secret. I didn't want people to find out because I didn't want my kids to be ashamed. So I just thought it was my secret. My cross to bear. And when she shared with you some of the dark parts of what had happened to her, how did you react? Well, first of all, I could tell, at least I felt and I believed that, you know, that she was telling me the truth. Teresa married her second husband, Jason, in 2013. It was obvious to me that Teresa did what she did for the girls and that she put what happened to her aside in order to protect the girls and not put that on them. For detectives doing a deep dive on Todd, Todd Smith in 2012, the attack on Teresa was a stunning discovery that only added to the suspicion surrounding Todd. Lots and lots of red flags. The investigation is now heating up. And when police canvass the neighborhood surrounding the area where Katrina's abandoned car was found, they catch a break. Surveillance footage of an unidentified man walking in the rain, less than a mile from Todd's house. We have found surveillance cameras from houses showing this figure walking with a hood up over his head. Small-statured guy walks down on a side street. Investigators didn't know who the mystery man in the video was, but they were convinced that they were watching Katrina Smith's killer. So they decided to find out who the mystery man was. And that's why we're here today. We're here because we want to help you find the mystery man. 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, 3 cases of protein bars, 75 sports drinks. And that's just pre-game. He knows teamwork and BJ's knows savings. This is your home, Coach. Home of the Save. Join for just $20 at bjs.com/mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon. Limited time offer, new members only. BJ's, home of the save. If you went probably a mile or two mile diameter around where we found that car, we knocked on every door of every house. We went through almost every backyard looking for evidence. Some of these houses have surveillance cameras. You find a couple houses that show this small statured person walking in the middle of a storm with his hood pulled up. So there's the camera on the corner of the house? Oh, yeah. It caught this figure walking down here. And he walks all the way down right to the dead end and then disappears into the brush back in here. Right. So what's on the other side of this fence? You could cut right through this field right here. They've cleared all the land. There's a road that runs through here. But you can see you could walk from this point to Todd's house in about 10 minutes maybe. It fit the description, or at least the physical description. It's the description of Todd Smith. But the image in that surveillance video is too grainy and the subject's too far away to make a positive ID. Meanwhile, police are pursuing other leads. They execute a search warrant at Todd's house where a forensic examination of his laptop reveals that he was using GPS tracking software. Katrina Smith may have been being tracked by Todd Smith with a tracking device. The search warrant also leads to another crucial piece of evidence. One of the items that was found was a baseball bat that was leaning in the corner of a garage. The crime scene investigator noticed something on the bat. Well, that something ended up testing positive for blood. We then submitted that to DNA testing, and we had several matches to Katrina Smith's profile. We had it on the back. The barrel of the bat. We had it on another area of the bat. When Todd found out that the bat was no longer in his garage and had been taken as evidence by law enforcement officers, he became very upset and nervous. But once Katrina's body had been discovered, detectives take it to another level. We would often find reasons for Todd to come down to the police station to talk to him. and fill them in on some things. So this is interview room number seven. This is the last room that I talked to Todd personally in. Detective Vince Lindbergh and I sat right here. Todd was sitting in this chair here. This is when we started making the accusations that he was involved in his wife's murder. Todd immediately said, where are you going with this? I don't know what you're talking about, and he got upset. Detective Lindbergh has explained to him, we have all of this evidence. It all points towards you. You know, your wife has been murdered, and you did it. He stands up. The chair goes against the wall because he's angry. Points at the ceiling where the camera's at right there in the corner, and he starts screaming, I want my f***ing attorney. I want my f***ing attorney. And he walked out of here, and every conversation after this was involving his attorney. On Wednesday, November 21, 2012, just 12 days after Katrina Smith's body was found in the Rock River, Winnebago County sheriffs arrested Todd Smith. He's charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of concealing a homicide, and Todd Smith pleads not guilty to all charges. When we got the phone call, and they said, hey, we got him, like, we just arrested Todd, and it was so surreal. I mean, it's like the moment we're waiting for, for him to know that he wasn't just gonna get away with this. And I think as soon as he was arrested for Katrina's murder, the community flipped. I think the community felt a sense of betrayal there. Even though police believe they arrested the person responsible for Katrina's death, Todd Smith's case is not a slam dunk. We had a lot of evidence, nothing relating directly to Todd. That baseball game, which prosecutors allege to be the murder weapon, is found to have no traces of Todd's DNA on it. You've got somebody that you're looking at, and you've got all of this stuff that points to a certain person. You're still in the back of your mind. You're like, I wish we had the smoking gun. We didn't have that yet. This case, even though it was strong, it was charged on circumstantial evidence, and cases like that are very hard to deal with. We need to prove in court. I truly believe, based on the evidence, that Todd thought this was a crime he was going to get away with. Defense attorneys also file a motion to disqualify that evidence, that Todd had GPS tracking software on his computer, saying there's no proof that he was tracking Katrina. That was our impetus to go in a second time to analyze that computer. In 2016, before we went to trial on this case, we conducted a second search on it, and we found that there was no evidence. There was no evidence that it was a fake. I thought it was a little over the top and theatrical and kind of distracting from the actual evidence in the case the whole purpose of the closing argument had to do with I didn't think that they had proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt the jury has now sat through two weeks of testimony listening to 40 different witnesses now this case is in their lap will that jury find Todd Christopher Smith guilty of the murder of his wife we were a nervous wreck sitting there waiting for them to announce the verdict the trial of accused murderer Todd Smith comes to a close only a few hours after closing arguments jurors reach a decision it is a time where I would definitely say you're sitting on the wrong side I would definitely say you're sitting on the wrong side you're sitting on pins and needles when you're waiting on a verdict the courtroom is filled with anxious family members and people from the community as the jury foreman delivers the long-awaited verdict we the jury find the defendant Todd Smith guilty of first three murders I remember I was sitting next to Todd Smith and he slumped back in his chair and didn't react beyond that it was just the biggest relief imaginable because you're just so scared what if something goes wrong and they have a different verdict the verdict comes in what was your reaction thank God we got justice for her and her family and he does not go unpunished for taking this young life sentencing day has arrived and loved ones of the victim have their opportunity to stand up and say something about the person that they are grieving it all hurts so much Todd and all you had to do was walk away and let Katrina live the life she deserved but out of greed and jealousy and rage you chose to take her precious life he never looked at me he kept his head down the whole time and he smart just smart I'll never forget the smirk on his face when it's Todd's turn to speak he continues to maintain his innocence was a blessing he's no material to know the beauty in her soul her smile and her heart although I am not guilty of the acts the state portrayed I harbored no middle will for the video Todd said that he harbored no ill will against the state did it matter to you at all whether or not he thought badly of your case well let's just say that I care about the opinion of the people because we represent the people and so Todd's opinion about the state means nothing to me he received 55 years in the Department of Corrections for first-degree murder and Todd Smith was sentenced to an additional four years for the concealment of a homicidal death extremely happy with the sentencing because he definitely doesn't deserve to see the light of day ever again Todd was indicted for his alleged role defrauding investors as part of that Ponzi scheme before he could enter a plea the government decided to dismiss those charges to this day he's housed in a state penitentiary in the state of Illinois I talked to him on the phone and I asked him to tell me what happened I said okay you can either tell me the truth or I won't be talking to you anymore because I can't do this and he's like I'm sorry I can't tell you anything and I'm so I hung up the phone and I haven't talked to him since while justice may have been done the collateral damage from the case lingers to this day Todd's first wife Teresa says she still wonders if Katrina's murder could have been prevented this whole entire process I have felt numb and just heartbroken for everyone for Katrina and her family and my children it's shattered a lot of lives so much devastation and there's really no complete healing that can happen Jason focus through your heart just her pain is my pain I mean and just it hurts to see her in pain I don't want people to remember Katrina just by how she died and what happened to her I want people to remember who she was as a person and how she lived her life and how full of life she was I just want people to remember that she was kind and giving and loving and and just do the same you know be like her we should note tonight that Todd Smith filed an appeal to overturn his murder conviction but it was denied he continues to maintain his innocence the earliest he'll be eligible for parole will be the year 2069 which David is essentially a life sentence he would be a hundred and two years old that's our program for tonight thanks so much for watching I'm Debra Roberts and I'm David Muir from all of us here at 2020 and ABC News good night and you can find all new broadcast episodes of 2020 Friday nights at 9 on ABC 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