Dateline: Who Killed Nancy Pfister?

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What a tale a life can weave. Nancy Pfister was a privileged woman, and lead a life of no apology. She was who she was, she felt worthy and had no problem putting people where she believed they belong whether they truly belonged there or not.  It did not seem to matter to to Nancy at all. She was going to tell you her feelings–like it or lump it. She was known to boss people around as if she were a higher being. And so it is ironic that she ended up being silence in murder.  Someone gave her an ultimate opinion that she would be no longer.  You have to be careful how you treat people as any wise person will tell you.

So who killed Nancy Pfister? If you watched Dateline this past weekend, the story goes in circles from blaming the renters of Nancy’s place, the Stylers, to pointing the finger at and retracting the finger to Nancy’s friend, Kathy Carpenter.

In the end, the doctor, William Styler, who rented Nancy’s place with his wife Nancy, confessed to the murder. But I will tell you that his confession was a complete lie. There was nothing believable in it. His story was actually laughable.  Could William Styler kill Nancy?  I believe yes, it is plausible (anyone can kill someone laying in bed with a hammer), but I don’t believe he did it.  William Styler really showed his true colors by playing the “poor aging man” game, though, going from walking to suddenly needing a wheelchair.

When I listened to and watched Kathy Carpenter, she made it clear, too, on multiple occasions, that she knew way more than she was telling us. She slips up several times saying things an uninvolved person would not say. Keith Morrison does a great job at asking Kathy why she wants “forgiveness” from Nancy’s Pfister’s daugher. Hello! The fact that Kathy “saw” things at the crime scene that aren’t logical, and that she just had to open that closet makes no logical sense. Who would assume when someone isn’t in their room that they are locked in a closet?  So Kathy was there, and did see Nancy covered in blood without question. She knew where the injuries were.

As for Nancy Styler, I don’t believe her either.  She is a cold woman to say the least.

William Styler shows some compassion or desire to do good by his wife, by confessing to the crime, and bargaining to set her free. And Kathy on her own doesn’t hit me as the type to commit murder outright. She wants “forgiveness”. Both the actions of Kathy and William so some level of compassion.  Kathy is also the type who is highly influenced by other people, and weak in character.

The one who hits me most capable in all of this is Nancy Styler.

I have to wonder if Nancy Styler and Nancy Pfister got into it. These two were two very head-strong women who wouldn’t easily compromise or come to a peaceful resolution, and both where likely to hold grudges and get viciously angry. I wonder if an argument ensued, and perhaps Kathy showed up, was called, or came by, and things went wrong.  Maybe Nancy Pfister stormed off and went to bed with ear-plugs in place, and got something she never saw coming…

I believe all three people Nancy, Kathy and William know exactly what happened and I suspect the mastermind was Nancy.

Dateline: The Charleston Affair

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Did you catch Dateline this week? It profiled the strange and bizarre story of Chris and Nancy Latham. The two were in the mist of a divorce in South Carolina. Chris was a well-to-do banker for Bank of America and a well respect man in the community.

One night on the bad side of town, a patrol officer pulled over a car that had turned off its lights in while still driving. Yes, the cops were on to something, but much more than they realized.

The driver inside was 39-year old Aaron Wilkinson, and he was with his wife and dog. They were from out-of-town. Wilkinson admits that he was looking to buy drugs, but when the cops searched his vehicle, they found a loaded gun. Oddly, Wilkinson confessed to being pulled into a murder-for-hire plot. The plan, he said, was for him to kill Nancy Latham. That’s why he was in town. He had a “hit” file, if you will, which detailed everything about Nancy’s life. It caught everyone’s attention that this was a very serious and urgent matter as Wilkinson said.

The story then takes some incredible twists and turns.

Wilkinson says he didn’t want to do it, but he was being put up to it by his friend Samuel Yenawine who was at one time his cellmate in a Kentucky prison. He said he feared Yenawine, who had already killed someone.

We find out the Chris Latham’s new live-in girlfriend and secretary at Bank of America, Wendy Moore, was married to Samuel Yenawine. And Moore met with Wilkinson and Yenawine to give them the important documents to carry out the hit. She also gave them three separate payments–two under her name and one under an alias.

Wendy’s story? She said she was just giving Yenawine money to purchase a vehicle for their children, who resided with Yenawine.

This was an intriguing case of “whodunnit”.

Who was telling the truth? Who was the real mastermind behind it all?

I believe Aaron Wilkinson told the truth for the most part that Samuel Yenawine roped him into the situation and that he was afraid of Yenawine. Yenawine was truly someone to fear. I also believe he didn’t want to kill Nancy Latham. I believe that. He had a conscience. He was a troubled man, but a smart man.

I don’t believe Wendy Moore at all nor do I believe Chris Latham. Wendy Moore wants us to believe she is this sweet poor soul who did nothing wrong. It was absurd. And Chris Latham is a smart guy. He knew exactly who to use to get things done and keep his distance.

When I listen to the jailhouse tapes, the one who seems to be controlling the situation between Wendy and Chris is Chris. I believe he was ultimately the mastermind behind the murder for hire plot, but I don’t believe Wendy was innocent in this either. She clearly took an active part by choice.

I went back and read the news reports on the story, and Nancy Latham believes that when she discovered Chris’s affair with Wendy, had she disclosed it and testified about it in court, it would have cost Chris his job because an affair was against company policy. Furthermore, she believes that with the expensive divorce, removing her from the equation would have eliminated a lot of financial burden for Chris as well. This makes complete sense.

Thank goodness for Nancy that Aaron Wilkinson confessed and everything unfolded like it did.

Sarah Pearce Story on Dateline

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If you watched Dateline this past weekend, you saw the horrific story of what happened to Linda LeBrane. She endured a brutal attack by three people who nearly killed her. She was lucky to live.

I won’t detail the Dateline episode as it takes many twists and turns, but I do want to say that I believe Sarah Pearce is innocent and not the person who harmed Linda LeBrane. I am happy she has been released from prison, but I am sad she still has the conviction hanging over her head.

Most people don’t realize that eye witness accounts are not as reliable as we think. The Innocence Project has been working to share information on this and make changes to the system, and I agree they need to be made.

From the Innocence Project, “Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, playing a role in 72% of convictions overturned through DNA testing.”

OJ Simpson

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Dateline recollected the story of O.J. Simpson from 20 years ago last night in a two-hour special.  It’s one case I am surprised people ask me about in person. I think the truth is so evident its painful.

I do not believe O.J. Simpson at all and never have.

What do you think?

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Dateline: Fred and Leslie Mueller

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Did you catch Dateline NBC this week? They profiled the story of Fred and Leslie Mueller. Leslie Mueller, according to Fred, slipped and fell to her death into a mountain stream. 48 Hours ran the same story in a one-hour show earlier in the year and now we got to see more with Dateline.

I absolutely do not find one element that supports Fred is being truthful. I don’t believe a word he says, in fact. I didn’t when I watched 48 Hours and now after seeing the two-hour Dateline episode, nothing has changed. I’m only more confident.

But I have to say I was stunned by the jury–most notably the second jury. They said that they didn’t believe Fred was telling the truth, and did in fact, believe he WAS lying. They got that right, but after that, their logic escaped me.

They said that lying doesn’t equate to murder. Then why would Fred lie? Can anyone answer that? Give me a plausible reason. Please.

Leslie’s injuries did not support a fall onto a granite slab so we know that didn’t happen, and Fred’s lie involved that aspect of the story. The falling element of Fred’s story was told to make people believe that is why Leslie died. Since we have evidence that Leslie didn’t fall onto granite as Fred said, and she died–then why else would Fred lie, but to cover murder?

I was also taken aback by the juror who said that the jury was perplexed that Leslie didn’t have any defensive wounds. There was clearly a struggle when Fred’s glasses got knocked off (and he didn’t even remember to pick them up–which shows a struggle that Fred never acknowledged and which is extremely hot and supportive of another lie). But would there be defensive wounds when Leslie was wearing winter clothing and gloves? Her body was covered and protected and so likely was Fred’s.

So if they were grabbing each others clothes, you would not see any defensive injuries, if one is padded, right? And then, it is likely that Leslie ran for her life and tried to get away from Fred, and Fred caught her. It appears that he caught up with her, in or at the water, and pushed her under. In this situation, it would make absolute sense there are no defensive wounds.

And I am not sure there aren’t any defensive wounds. I don’t buy Fred’s story that his face was scratched by bushes. His attempt to describe what happened was littered with clues to his deception here, too. I believe the scratches on Fred’s face were the marks of Leslie struggling to get away from Fred.  That was all she could do–was scratch his face.

If you look at the last photos taken of Leslie, in photo number 6, the expression that Leslie makes gives me the following feelings:  Its like Fred was saying, “Backup, Leslie…it will be a better picture….come on, you can go close to the edge…chicken!!!” and it appears she is thinking, “Come on, Fred, knock it off. Are you happy now?  Can we just get this over with?”

I think he did that to Leslie multiple times and it appears she tried to please him to a degree and hoped he’d get over his weirdness. You can see it in her face.  When it didn’t work, he had her pose with the dog hoping the “damn dog” would spook.  For all we know, he tried to spook the dog after that, and that cause the situation to escalate between them because clearly Fred did not like “her dog”.  The way he talked of the dog was of dislike and disdain. And it was then Fred’s glasses got knocked off and crushed in a struggle.

I hope Fred Mueller is tried again.