The Hardworking Husband, The Wicked Widow and The Alligator Alibi

Office in Tallahassee, Florida. He was integral and ultimately solving this complex case episode twenty two, the Case of the hard working Husband, the wicked Widow, and the Alligator Alibi. Growing up, Mike Williams always had dreams, but not the kind most kids wish for. He didn't aspire to go to space or be a famous actor. Mike schools were much more grounded. He hoped for a stable career, a loving wife, and a beautiful home. Perhaps his rather unassuming

wants stemmed from his humble beginnings. Mike's father was a greyhound bus driver. His mother worked at a daycare. The Williams family lived in a double wide trailer outside of Tallahassee, Florida. All the while Mr and Mrs Williams squirreled away money, hoping to save enough to help Mike and his brother with their educations. Throughout high school, mikeer and straight a's, played on the football team and worked after school at a grocery store. Through all his hard work, Mike did

manage to find some time for girls. Entered Denise. Tall and blonde, Denise was a cheerleader, the perfect counter to Mike the football player. One night, after a winning game, Mike got off the courage to ask Denise out. Both were sporty and popular, and they were the envy of everyone in school. Mike also had a best friend, Brian Winchester. Like Mike, Brian played on the football team and had

a serious girlfriend, Kathy. The two couples became a tight foursome which continued into adulthood as they all stayed in the Tallahassee area. In Mike and Denise got married just a few months after Brian and Cathy. Five years later, Mike and Denise welcomed a daughter. Mike worked as a property appraiser while Denise stayed home. Mike loved his wife. He loved his life. At thirty one, he couldn't help but feel proud. All of his dreams had seemingly come true.

Here's Chris. Mike worked really hard to maintain his dream life as a property appraiser. You were, you raped in about two grand a year, which quite a lot of money, but that money came with a cost. To earn that money, Mike felt he needed to work and soon now hours and I think he actually probably just loved to work. He would go into the office before dawn, he'd work all day, come home, he'd make dinner, and then once Denise and his child were asleep, he would go to

work more. It was so bad that his boss had to take away the office keys so that Mike wouldn't come in on the weekends. Apparently, and while Denise liked her comfortable lifestyle and not surprisingly, took a toll on their relationship. So, Jason, what can you tell me about Mike? Everything you said is one hunts in accurate. He worked too hard, but he also loved Denise to know in on those days where he would be at work on a regular day, the middle of the day, Denise would

run out of gas. She needed gas. She called the office, Michael Stoppoli to him to help fulfill up the gas. Everybody in that office talked about their relationship and how he would beend over backwards to keep perhap. Did Denise ever expressed to Mike that he was working too much

in her viewpoint? Did hear some rumors throughout the investigation from everybody that knew both sides that his work damaged the relationship as much as it helped provide for it and not being home as a young cop, I wanted to work. I wanted to work because I wanted to promote, and I wanted to move up in this career and it was fun. Mike's parents worked to provide for the kids, and Mike was going to do the same thing. He was going to provide for her, and provide for Annesley,

or provide for the children. She was working to stay at home mom. She didn't have to work because he was so successful. I truly don't believe he felt like he was doing wrong, And I don't think she ever conveyed to him, Hey, I need you here, I'd rather you be home. On December six, two thousand, Mike and Denise were planning on celebrating their six wedding anniversary. They're going to enjoy a weekend away in the small fishing town of Appalachicola, about ninety minutes from their home. Mike

had a lot to look forward to. He and Denisa talked about starting to try for baby number two on the trip, something Mike was or four. That morning, Mike wanted to go on a quick duck hunting expedition, which had become his favorite pastime. He figured he would have time to hit the water hunt for a bit, and then make it back for their romantic getaway. Mike left at dawn, telling Denise he'd be back in a few hours, but by noon there was no sign of him. Nervous,

Denise called Mike's best friend, Brian. She asked if he could go and check on Mike's hunting spot. Of course, he wanted to help, and so Brian and his father drove about an hour to Lake Seminole, which is where Mike always hunted. On their way to the lake, Brian and his father noticed that local law enforcement was out looking for Mike. When the pair arrived, they immediately joined

the search quickly. Mike's truck was located in its usual spot, Shortly after, a helicopter found Mike's boat drifting in the lake. His shotgun was sitting undisturbed in the hole, but there was no sign of like, here's Chris Jason, what do you know about what happened immediately after Mike went missing? So here's where my career actually takes an interesting path

with this case. I started with the Fishing Wildlife Commission in two thousand and two, so when I was in the academy, we had the instructors roll through, and the first responder on this case, Auten Renewed, was one of my instructors in the academy. The case was less than eighteen months old when we started the academy, and he talked about this case, so I knew about the case back nineteen years ago, shortly after it happened. But in a situation like this, they responded to a missing duck.

I happened to respond to those myself later in my career. Man fell overboard. It's cold, You're gonna search and you hope you find them alive. You're gonna search for a couple of days, and then at some point you know it's cold, and when it's cold, it takes people a little bit longer to surface after they drowned and when it's warm. So in these situations that used a couple of weeks, everybody talked about might be in an avid duck hunter and abbot outdoors man and understanding the water.

This was his little special place to go hunt. Yeah, some people can survive. We have ten shows about it. Now, that's what everybody was hoping was happening at this time. Ten days after he's gone missing, they find his hat floating on the water, which is about two weeks after. Like you were saying, you would hope that you'd find his body, but in this case, they just found his hat. It was assumed at first that Mike had drowned in the lake. You know, it's cold, he might have fallen,

maybe he couldn't get himself back into the boat. The area of the lake Mike was last seen was about six to eight feet deep. But Mike was wearing waiting boots, so the fear was that maybe when he fell in the water, his boots filled up. Waiters and waiting boots they're like misconception as to what they actually are, so they're almost like a full overall. They go all the way up above the waist to your chest, and then they'll snap across your shoulder like overalls. They initially suction

cup two. When you get in the water, they just they just grab hold of you and keep the water out. But if you get too far in the water, they'll pressed over the top of it, and then you start to fill you up and there's no coming out of it because the suction effect is the same trying to pull them off, because it is to put them on and especially under the water. And so that's a duck hunter's worst nightmares to fall over in their waiters because you fill up even a lack chack. That was a

fear of everybody's. They thought that's what might have happened to Mica. They did so f WC there a Wildlife Enforcement agents investigating crimes and homicides. It's not in port. They weren't looking for a missing boater. You don't find them immediately, and your helicopter doesn't see, you know, something suspicious when you kind of just call it a day, come back out when the sunshine comes up tomorrow. I've been looking enough flying the helicopters and locate subjects and

situations like this. And you can find them in the air and if they're not there, something is suspicious. And this water was six eight deep in certain places, but in other places it was one to two feet or there was stumps that just at the edge of the surface. You know, to the free entrance. Do you hold out hope, but after a while you have to change course. You call an f ANDW Fishing Wildlife, it's the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They were the initial law enforcement

unit that responded to Mike. It wasn't like a homicide unit from the police department or anything. There was no homicide unit that responded. This was merely a missing person, a missing voter. And most agencies, particularly in the county that this one occurred in in Jackson County, their sheriff's offices were small and they don't have a lot of water, so they don't have a lot of water resources fish

and wildlife. That's what we did. We had every piece of equipment who think they needed for a water search and rescue water mission, whatever it may be, to include helicopters. In this North Florida region, Leon Counties one of the few agencies small shaff office that actually has helicopters outside of a state lone agents. Okay, so two weeks general, your body would surface, but a body doesn't in this case, what are you thinking? I mean, this isn't normal, right,

when a body goes down, it doesn't move. Revert cases where they're in the river and the body goes down and you find it within feet of where they're drowning, and they don't move, and that's why you have a boat. It maybe drifted, maybe the wind blew it, but in this situation, you would have expected something to show up or at least see it by helicopter. After two to three weeks, something should be visible by them. So this is gator infested water? Is big gators from that area.

Maybe that's what happened. They got hungry and took them because gators too, they eat when it's warm. That day Mike and then went hunting was warm that day the search and rescue started. You don't know, So the prevailing theory after the body didn't show up was that he might have been eaten by an alligator. In the interviews that we did on this case, I think I kind of figured out where it started, and I do believe

it started at the law enforcement level. The reason they couldn't find Mike was that he was consumed by an allogy totally feasible by the size the alligators in that lake. There musters, there's record breakers that come up in the lakes and rivers in that general area. The alligator theory just spread and continue to spread, and I think some others started to go a little relief that Okay, we got a story, we're gonna stick to it. It colored

the investigation to probably for quite a while. Yeah, they put a damper on any type of investigation. Even when you talk to experts, they will tell you that alligators don't generally eat when it's cold. What they will as law enforcement in northern Florida is the theory that involves an alligator far fetched. Alligators are involved in a lot of cases in Florida. General in North Florida don't have a hold of it. Do you have plenty of alligators up here, But I don't know if the interaction with

them is different or what. Generally the interaction humans have with alligators ends up in a limnus or a bite. If you don't know, we see the whole body soon. What kind of decision goes into when a search could be continued or scaled back. From a law enforcement standpoint, A lot of it depends on, you know, conditions, preparations, survivability.

What's the length of time that you would expect somebody to survive to survive in those situations this one, I actually think the search and rescue went on a little longer than most would. It was up to three weeks of the rescue mission before it was scaled back slightly to a search and recovery mission. What are you feeling when you hear a story like this? Face value? This is a tragedy. This guy went hunting, fell out, and didn't make it well. Denise cut a low profile during

the search. When she heard it was called off, she feared for the worst. Denise planned a memorial service where Mike's closest friends and family gathered to say goodbye. It seemed like Denise was hoping to close this tragic chapter of her life. However, there was one person who could not accept that Micah drowned his brother, Cheryl. Cheryl knew her son Mike was an avid hunter who knew how to take care of himself out in the welchness, and

even if he had drowned, where was his body? Cheryl wondered. She started a grassroots campaign, handing out flyers, paying for billboards and TV ads, all demanding answers, here's Jason. Cheryl was relentless. She did not stop for pursuit of closure. In this case, Cheryl, she knew her son. I have to tell the story at this point because it fits best. When Mike first got into duck hunt, he was about fourteen years old, and they had a family friend who took him out duck hunt for the first time, and

it was immediate that Mike was booked. Their family friend knew that, alright, fourteen, I'm gonna be taking with me for a while, but I'm going to teach him a few of the safety measures that he needs to know. One of the things that he taught him the family

had a pool in their backyard. Mike and Cheryl and this guy actually spent time with him learning how to get out of waiters if you fell on the water in the pool, and he said, by the end of about two days of working on it, he knew how to shed them down to a certain part of your body where you could at least get your hands, go and get float and you get back to the top at least catch a breath, because he taught him you can get the waiters off if you're completely under the water,

but if you're on the top of the water trying to shed him and panicking, they don't come off. Cheryl knew he knew that because she watched him do that, and it was something she required him to do before. He was going to keep duckcotting when he was fourteen, fifteen, sixteen years old, and then eventually he went, you know, started duck hunting by himself, and for sixteen seventeen years he duck hunted numerous times and never had any issues.

She knew his anniversary was coming up. She knew he was talking about having you know, more of a family, and he was just happy living in good life. That he ran duck hunting. He was gonna come home, he was gonna because he had somewhere to be that afternoon in athletic Ole, and it just did not sit well with them when he didn't show up, When we didn't find the body of the searches. She always thought she's gonna find it. A love that was always her home,

which granted it would be all of ours. And I think deep down she knew the worst, but she always wished she was going to find him, and she wasn't going to stop until she did. For years, she would walk beside of Thomas Billbroad, one of our busiest streets in Tallahassee, and she would hold signs up on the anniversary. She would put newspaper ads and where is he? Have you seen? And never let the town forget. She never stopped. She wrote letters to the governor. I think it was

every day of like a five year period. She wrote almost eighteen hundred letters until the case was opened as a criminal investigation by the failing And we have always she was going to get her point across, and she did. She's just gonna be a champion for her son, and listened to her intuition. And so Dese was of wants to stay at home mom, And now how she's supporting

herself without this hard working husband. Well, it turns out that nineteen days after Mike disappeared, Denise petition to have him declared debt so she could collect his life insurance policy to the tune of one point seven five million dollars.

That's quite a sum. Mike was smart and thoughtful family man, so he had set up a policy with his friends, Brian's firm that would ensure that his wife and daughter would be taken care of, So Jason, people don't take kindly to life insurance policies in these types of situations. How was the community feeling about Denise at this point? Those who knew them closely, and I will say this to include her sister's brother in law, I thought something was up. They didn't like the way that things went

the day he went missing. And then when she files for the player who deceased nineteen days later, there's still people certain and she's folently the flare in the seat, and then Alexa and then point seven five millions of life insurance policies. Red flags went up everywhere the life insurance. I think it triggered a lot of people to flit from poor Michael missing to something happening. We're going to take a break. We'll be back in just a moment.

Is there anything specific detectives look at when a large life insurance policy payout is involved. Yes, we do. Firstly, you know when was it created, how much was it for, was it changed, was it renewed, was it adjusted in any way? Who the recipients are? Was the recipient added? Was a recipient removed? In this situation? Who created it? You look at all of it? How often are life

insurance policies involved in cases that you were investigating? I actually have one right now that is a triple homicide investigation and a life insurance policies involvement. And it's eerily similar in the time framework when it was created. Who was created for? And we created still pending case. We have a really good idea, but you definitely go there. In two thousand and four, after Mike's mother, Cheryl's continued

please the case was reopened. The biggest thing police found this time around was that the leading theory about how m My died did not add up. It turns out there was no way alligators could have been the culprint in December when Mike disappeared. With the temperatures in the fifties, alligators were hibernating. They would not come out to feed until temperatures hit around eighty eight degrees. This case is a perfect scenario of this is Florida. It was about

seventy seventy eight. I don't know. It was hot the day before this case for the data, and then a storm rolled through and it was in the thirties less than twenty four hours later. It's Florida with a ring on one side of the road tracts and not on the other. The weather, you know, determining when wildlife are gonna eat. It's hard to predict too, because none of it's predictable down here. But also I think Cheryl did talk to like an expert right who kind of came

in with that theory. Cheryl talked to everybody she could think we talked to. She truly felt that the story of alligators was called to her to appease her. This is the best answer we can give. Sorry, I don't have any more, but the best answer I can give you is probably an any and she would get her own reserve. She found somebody that said alligators aren't gonna come feed in thirty two degree weather. But the case was reopened. Correct, That's when you came in right in

about twenty and is when HI came right out. So the cases being passed onto the next guy trying to find answers. Denise Mike's former wife is moving on with his best friend, Brian. Five years after his disappearance, Denise and Brian got married. Brian even moved in to what was once his best friend's house. While the rumor mill was an overdrive, the police didn't have a body, so the investigation was an uphill battle and the case was closed again when they got married. The room mills that

overdrive as an understatement. I think even some of the true believers that believe Mike this was an accident change their opinion. I think there was maybe one or two people that still believed this was an accident. And Brian and Denise got married, there was a big ship. In two thousand and seven, per his family's request, Denise returned all of Mike's guns to them. However, Mike's brother noticed that one gun was missing. Through a court order, Mike's

family was able to retrieve that gun from Denise. The looming question was why she had kept it Around the same time, the case was reopened again, but this time police found something that they unlike that supposed alligator could finally sink their teeth into. Everybody started looking at the insurance policies. Something didn't match up. It wasn't a whole lot that we could work with, but it was something is off here. Why do we have an insurance that

was ready to inspire came? It was made a lot of suspicious activity on one particular insurance in the end or one point seven five millions divided amongst the week different policies. It just looks suspicious. I assume when you went to look at who helped Mike with that insurance policy that brand alarm bills too? Right, Yeah, you can go tryan interview Brian. Good luck. Everybody has the right to romain silent this guy. We had an ability to

do so. Brian, his best friend who is now married to his widow, is the one who helped with the life insurance policy, right he is. There was also an unearthed nine one one call from before the disappearance. Someone reported what they thought was an abandoned car in a church parking lot. Police looked up the plate and the car belonged to Brian. They called his wife and she said Brian was out of the state that week for work.

When cops arrived to the church, the car was gone, and it was believed that Brian and Denise were hooking up in that car. Do you have anything to say about that or no? Nineteen years later I called that officer she remember they liked yesterday called her and talked to she was Yeah, he was at the church off in the city and fatal strucle. I remember you remember

that guy? I knew it in if something was that well, the nature of the grieving widow and best friend's relationship began to unravel, so did the current state of their marriage. After eleven years together, to Nice filed for divorce. She cited Brian's sex addiction as the main cause of their separation. Brian was desperate and angry, and one morning he broke into Denise's car as Denise drove to work. Brian popped up and attacked her. He held Denise at gunpoint for hours,

begging her to stay with him. Denise was finally able to calm him down and de escalate the situation. She got him out of her car. Although Denise promised Brian in the moment that she wouldn't go to the police, and in fact had no intention of alerting the authorities, when Denise told her sister what happened, she forced Denise to call the police. She then made shore. Denise follow through and went to the police station to file a report. Denise's brother in law happened to be a police officer,

and he escorted her down to the station himself. When officers arrested Brian, they found bottles of bleach and at harp in his car, suggesting he had nefarious plans for his soon to be ex wife. Brian was charged with kidnapping, domestic assault, and burglary. He faced life in prison. So the day after Brian was sentenced officially, he held a surprise news conference. Seventeen years after disappearing, Mike's body had

been found. This is kind of where you come into this, right, This is right where I come in and see this kidnapping occurred. There's no doubt about it. And he jumped up from the back of the bar, came into the middle seat. Tell her at one point go around town for a while. We tried to get some videos of those of her and Walgreens and CBS. I think it was odd for her to not talk to her sister

every day. Her sister tried calling her any morning. She didn't answer the phone, so her sister thought something wrong. She went looking for her. She passed her on the road she shouldn't be on at that time of day. That's when they interacted. That's and she aldre what happened Investrom. They said, Brian got arrested for this kidnapping. And the first thing, every one of us, somebody needs to sit it out right now. This is now's your chance. And she's gonna tell us, tell us now. And that's what

we did. And she I don't know what you're talking about. She came off with nothing. And Brian, he was lowyer enough on everything, so we weren't going to get at His attorney approached our office and he's like, probably something you guys want to know about. What kind of negotiations can we have? The attorneys negotiated this case. While they were negotiating the case, there was another jail house snitch.

I hate it. I hate jail how snitches, but sometimes they did give you just enough to get you over her. And in this situation, the jail health smitch came over and told us that Brian's recruiting him to go do some things on the outside to create another alibi for kidnapping, to create stories about the niece, and that he had a cousin was supposed to meet him and getting money. He identified the cousin and the lineup, he described the

truck that he was driving, and we hit pause right there. Well, then F D L. E and SHARE's office and I think we need worked this a little bit further. It was at that point that the negotiations for the police started to pick up a little bit more. The agreement was made that you will tell us what you know about a missing person takes That was kind of what we left. Everybody knew we're talking about Mike Williams, but

we never specifically said we're talking about my food. The agreement was that when we would not seek life and the kidnapping case, and he would tell us what he knew about disappearance and my Williams or the disappearance he was missing. First the day he came over here and sat down in the interview room and sat down face to face, and I'll never forget it. I just looked at and I was like, this is your story, fella, and he just really wanting to start from the beginning

when he started telling you. My partner, as I understand, sitting next to me and took everything I had and I sitting are you listening to this? I don't believe he's telling this, And oh my gosh, it was still to this day I sit there. I wish I could have seen my book on my face, because I know I was trying to keep things together, write little notes down, but not look like I was overly interested in the act. She could be part of the conversation. It was an

interesting too, plus outs. I mean, that's every investigator's kind of dream, right, that somebody finally just talks and tells you something about a case from seventeen years ago. You know, when we went into this, it was a risk of we just entered into free negotiation with a homicide suspect that will never be able to prosecute. It was a huge risk. And you know, I will say John fus across Heater on it. I think he's the only one in the opposite would have made the decision to do.

You knew what he was getting into the end, it was worth it. Let's stop here for another break. So in May, on the way to pick up her daughter from a birthday dinner, Denise was arrested and charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder and accessory after the fact. What does all of that mean? And first degree murder first agree murder in the state of Florida in for a couple of ways, one as pre meditation, the other is during the commission of a

belmy um. In this situation, we clearly had a premeditated murder. Conspiracy to commit first gree murder is it kind of comes with the name. You and I conspire to have somebody killed, whether we do it ourselves or have somebody else do it. That's where you get tied into a conspiracy. Accessory after the fact is anything you did to assist in hiding the homicide, whether it be an actual act or an act of admission, you can still be account

the precessory af effect. And those are all three the charges of the Grand tour in May a few thousand and eight. And once that indictment was signed, it becomes an active part. And she was located at work, sitting at her desk or State University in the account of department. And when the police officers walked in, she non Schwak, got up, put her hands liner back, walked up the door. It was not a what are you here for? What are you doing. Oh my god, I have nothing to

do with this. It was like, I mean, as soon as we announced the body was found, I think their death order. Yeah, this is what is your reaction to somebody's committed one crime and they're kind of getting themselves off of that crime by admitting to the other crime that you can't really give him the proper sentence for either, right at that point. By this point, I was well acquainted of Cheryl, and you knew how much effort she had put into finding her son, and all she wanted

was closure. She wanted to know what happened, and we wanted to provide the opportunity for them to have the proper barrel and proper services for her son. That was one of the riskiest moves. I don't think we'll ever have one go down like this again, at least while I'm working it. Literally made a deal with the devil.

I mean, there was a chance that Brian was going to tell me this was entirely his idea, that Denise Williams had zero to do with this, and we were literally gonna let him murder a walk free just to close out this part of you know, just to close bring closure for Cheryl too, the whole family, everybody that wanted to know, the whole community. That was how did

it happen? You did it? Where did it happen. There's days where I look back and I'm like, Wow, that is a cold blood and murderer that set right next to me, shout has been friends in the face. I can't process that. I don't know that I have a will process that. The way he told the story, it was one of those ones everybody says, you have to sit there, you have to do there, and you have to watch him do it, or I can't do it justice And that was a fear we had headed into trial.

Was he gonna be able to actually come across and tell the story the same way he did us. So, Jason, can you tell me what when Brian did, in fact sit down and you and your partner were listening to this confession, what did he lay out for you? So if he started with the affair, from there, the two started a relationship. I think they went out on a double date one night and both families and then he and Denise went back out after Kathy and Mike both

at the time, and that's when it started. It started with a simple kiss, and then that led to the sneaking out that led to the affair progressing. It led to you Brian actually trying to get his wife involved in this relationship, and then Denise never tried to bring Mike into it. Hers was I don't want to be married to Mike anymore. But Denise came from a very religious family. Divorce was not gonna happen in this household.

I think her having to go tell her parents she was getting divorced in her mind was worse than having from her. The only thing I can make him make sense. So the two of them start discussing plans on how to murder of Mike, and Denis's, well, we're getting get rid of Mike. You gotta do something about Cathie. We can get married. And there was a plan to all go vote riding one day and the two of them fall over. Denise and Brian stay on the vote and survived,

and Brian's like, I don't know. I guess he does have something, and the idea that duck hunt came up. He said, let's take a duck ut pushing overboard people drowned in its waiters was the home he was a portion of Brian's confession and his proper statement stay attorney's office. We're here to take a proper from Brown Winchester. We launched the boat. It was just like a hunting trup.

Was supposed to be the plan. The plan that was discussed and come up with was that he was going to be wearing waiters, and the belief it was somebody falls in the water with waiters, you're going down. So we went out like we were going honey. We got to the area where his waiters and jacket were found. I got him to stand up and I pushed him into the wall her He he got his jacket off and his wayers off, and he was in a panic. Obviously, I was in a panic. I was dropping the boat

and I didn't. I didn't. I didn't know what to do, and I ended up shooting him. About two weeks before this actually occurred, Brian and Mike, we're gonna go up because it was when it was supposed to happen, and Denise said, no, I gave it stop. Fast forward to the week before the murder. Their anniversary is coming up and Brian tells him that there's the thought of Denise and Mike hadn't gone chrystogether. It's from a week and

together and try to make a kid. It just she didn't want anything to do with it, and she said it's got to happen. I don't want to go on the stript him. So they got approval for him each each other. Michael checked it from me, hey, and they go hunting with Brian before we go on the anniversary trip that she like. Of course, so Brian has might need him at a store where they would normally right together,

and made him drive separately. But he also didn't bring a cell phone with him, so there was no way for him to communicate. But they drive the lake Seminole and they get in the water and they go to hunting.

They get out on the boat Brian, which is Mike over and Mike doesn't seek it doesn't crown, And when Brian circled him a few times with the boat and Mike was trying to swim over to him, Mike actually found a stump, grab hold the stump, and Brian pulled up to him and shot him straight in the face. It was then that Brian realized, I can't leave him here. I have to take him with me, so Brian essentially drags him next to the boat, which is when the

waiters came off with the body. They just as the boat drug waiters came off, Brian gets in the shore, puts him in the back of his truck, partially in a dog kennel that Brian had in the back of the suburban. He moves Mike's truck to a boat landing a little a different boat landing, and then he walks back to his truck and use the area. Brian actually went home, got in bed, went back to sleep, and then later that day goes to Walmart and grabs art.

Graham said, wait, grab the shovel and bunch green and supplies the take markets. Crazy. My body is still in the back of the suburb. He was inside his house moving next to his wife. He has no ideas. After going to Walmart, he decides to drive to another lake here in Tallassey. He went home cleaning out his truck and on the search prob how to Lake Smole. And he spent the next several weeks trying to help with

the search. And remember him telling us that, you know, he's pretty sure if Denise's sister knew something was wrong, And at one point I do remember looking at Brian and I was like, I feel like you're minimizing to niece's involved, and he says, no, I'm really not. I said this, Denise know how he died, and she said no, as far as Denise was concerned, he died because I pushed them overboard. He drowned. It wasn't until after the proper with Brian that the whole world found out what

she shot his best friends. He took you guys out to where he buried him. Right. We asked him, do you think you can take us to him? We had the corroborating store. I still needed a body to prove it. He wasn't line us at this point. He's lied for sixteen years. Why not put another day? He drove him just at the courthouse, and myself as attorney, and the other investigators for Brian in the front seat with me

drove down the road. So we drove up already in roads, the gardener landing down at the end of the road. It goes from pavement down to this little dirt mud fit almost. He's like, all right, let's get out right here. He gets out of the car and he starts looking around and said, you know what, it's gonna be right in this area. How can you tell because because there was three trees, and he described the trees, and at

that point we stopped everything and took him back. And this is where I can't believe this didn't get out. We dropped the search warrant, got a search warrant for the property. We can actually grabbed Leon County's road maintenance crew with some excavators and tractors and made them signed waves It said you're not gonna tell anybody you're here because you don't know what you're doing. They started digging and digging and digging, and they went inch fight in

just moving there, moving there, and moving there. I got ahead of myself because they brought into Faber Dollars prior to gets Nabor dolls a literally in that area. Two. After digging for about a week with twenty four hour surveillance and twenty four hour pumps keeping water out of the area, one of the excavators took the edge of the cart and it pulled it up just briefly, and I think at that point they realized what they were there for, and one of the guys actually put on running,

get what anything to do? Now that's pulling the body out of the ground. It was the last day we were done. We were in in this search. We weren't gonna dig anymore. We're gonna call his bluff and you're like, full craft, it's gonna try. We offer we ads off the table, cheer enough. Everything we find only was exactly how it was crack and he had the bullet wound two right in school. Yes, you can tell it was

shot of the shot. You finally found Mike. And you were going to not only be able to give Cheryl closure for a case, right at least now she can bury her son and know exactly what happened. Yes, that's what we were able to do. It was closure for a lot. We actually told Denise and Cheryl at the same time. It's a two separate groups. Woman to Cheryl's house, woman to Denise's house, the victim's advocate that went to Denise's house. She describes it. She wasn't shop, she wasn't sad.

He was like, okay, not where, not how? But we finally had the closure that she reserved. Gerald, particularly, she didn't give up. Had she not walked the streets wrote written as letters and literally been a nuisance. We wouldn't but there's a sense of relief for her. Now we can move on to a new chapter. And she said that actually, now we can move on to a new chapter,

we can find another fight, whatever it will be. Despite proclaiming her innocence, after just eight hours of deliberation, Denise was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping Denise Bryan was sentenced to twenty years in prison. In January. Denise appealed to conviction and

life sentence. Her attorney argued that there was no evidence she was involved in the murder, and while the murder conviction was in fact overturned, the conspiracy to commit murder conviction was up held, which included the thirty year sentence that accompanied it. Denise remains behind bars shameless plug. If you're enjoying crazy and Love, leave us a review. Season three of the Piked and Massacre Returned to Bike County is in the works. We want to hear from you

for the upcoming season. Do you have a story to tell a connection to Pike County or is there another case local to Pike County? That you can't let go of. Please email info at Katie dash Studios dot com and don't forget to follow us on Instagram at Katie Underscore Studios. Crazy and Love is produced by Stephanie Lydecker, Jeff Shane, Chris Graves, and me Courtney Armstrong. Editing and sound design by Jeff Twa. Crazy and Love is a production of

I Heart Radio and Katie Studios. For more podcast from I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Stay safe, lovers,