01x02 - Cold Case, Unearthed

[bunniefuu]

- Female narrator:
In a serene cemetery,

A granite headstone marks
the grave of a young mother.

But if justice is to be
served for her tragic m*rder,

Her resting place will
be anything but final.

- I saw my wife laying
on the floor...Dead.

- Narrator: A brutal
m*rder unsolved.

- It would have to be
someone she knew and trusted.

- Thirty years of not
knowing what to think

Is its own kind of t*rture.

- Narrator: A chance phone
call resurrects the case.

- [police siren wails]

- Wayne: We wanted
our suspect to know

Dna evidence still exists,
and we were searching for it.

- Narrator: Does the key
evidence still exist

After three decades underground?

- When we open the casket up--
- [casket lid creaking]

- Angela: --We just stood there

And we kind of
looked at each other.

And then we kind of went...

- I had never seen
anything like that.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: It's
March 11, 1980...

In the rural town of
columbus, wisconsin.

- David: It's a pretty quaint,
tight-knit community.

The pace is slow.

Classic small-town americana.

- Narrator: 23-year-old
lane mcintyre is heading home

After working a long night shift
at a local paper plant.

- At 7 o'clock
in the morning,

When you get done
with a night's work...

I'm cold, and I'm tired,
and all I could think about

Is crawling into
a warm bed with my wife.

When I approached
the front door,

The dog was outside
on a chain, barking.

And I thought,
"well, that's unusual."

- [dog barks]

- Lane: I stepped inside
the door

And stood there for a while,

Not believing
what my eyes were seeing.

I saw my wife laying
on the floor...Dead.

And it was like
I was in a tunnel.

So I'm thinking, "my son,
christopher, is he okay?"

- Narrator: He rushes into
the bedroom

And luckily finds his son
unharmed in his crib.

- Lane: And I thought, "oh,
thank god, christopher's okay.

And my head was spinning."

The only phone number
I had memorized in my head

Was my parents' phone number.

And I said, "mom, you have
to call the police for me.

I think marilyn's dead."

- [police siren wails]

- Narrator: Columbus police
race to the scene.

- Wayne: In 1980,
a m*rder in columbia county

Was something of a rarity.
It didn't happen very often.

- [police siren wails]

- As a young person
growing up in this area,

I don't recall any homicides
or anything like that.

- Narrator: But it
will be decades before

Sgt. Daniel garrigan
and lt. Wayne smith

At the columbia county
sheriff's department

Learn about this tragic day.

- [beeping]
- [indistinct radio chatter]

- Wayne: So when police
arrived at the house,

They discovered a
woman on the floor.

She had been brutally beaten.

- Daniel: She also had a kitchen

Or steak knife
stuck in her chest.

It was rough to see that.

- Narrator: Moving past
the horrific sight,

Investigators discover
lane cradling his baby.

- [baby crying]

- The victim was identified
as marilyn mcintyre,

An 18-year-old wife and mother.

- Lane: She was beautiful.

She always had
a smile on her face.

You know, she always
saw the good in people.

- Narrator:
Investigators get to work

Searching the apartment
for clues...

And immediately notice
something significant.

- Wayne: There wasn't any
signs of forced entry.

And it appeared as though
marilyn had allowed her attacker

To enter the residence.

- Daniel: Assuming that
it's someone that you know,

They know you have
a young child there.

And, I mean,
it's about as coldhearted

As I suppose you could be.

- Wayne: Police also discovered

That there was blunt force
trauma to her head area.

- Narrator: Investigators
begin going over the scene

With painstaking precision,
trying to figure out

Who could've inflicted such
horror on to this young mother.

- Wayne: We were able to
collect fingerprint evidence,

Bloodstain evidence,
hairs from an unknown source,

And also the knife that
was thrust into her chest.

We additionally found what
we believed was a bloodstain

In the bathroom sink.

- Narrator: While the
forensic team works,

Detectives canvass the area.

Someone may have
heard or seen something

When marilyn was brutally slain.

And they immediately
find a witness.

- Wayne: The upstairs neighbor
was awakened around 3 a.M.

That morning by the
mcintyre family dog.

- [dog barks]

- Wayne: The dog was
outside, barking.

She stated that this
had never happened before,

And that was unusual.

- David: It marked a
point in time in which

Someone else was
at the residence.

- Narrator: They've got
a possible time: 3 a.M.

- Wayne: We clearly
have a homicide.

But as far as who had done it

And exactly how they
had done it was unknown.

- Narrator: It's frustrating,
but police hope that

The forensics collected at the
scene might give them a lead...

Or there's something
they can learn at autopsy.

- Angela: There is evidence
of strangulation

And traumatic sexual contact.

She was badly beaten.

She had multiple lacerations
to her head and her face.

She had very dark bruising
that comes from being, you know,

Struck quite recklessly.

- Wayne: The pathologist had
determined that the knife

That had been thrust into
her chest was postmortem.

When you see this
level of violence,

Typically, it's a crime that's
committed by someone that knows

The victim and has anger
towards them for some reason.

- Narrator: Three days
after the brutal m*rder,

Marilyn mcintyre
is laid to rest.

- [birds chirping]

- There's this sunny open field.

There's full-grown trees.
There's shade.

She has a pink
granite headstone.

I give her yellow flowers.

Yellow was her favorite color.

They're artificial 'cause
I want them to last longer.

- ♪

- I lost my best friend.

She was special.

And she did not deserve
what happened to her at all.

She did not.

- David: Marilyn was known
as a very sweet girl.

That is the quandary when you
have someone who doesn't seem

To have anyone who would
want to cause them any harm.

And then to be m*rder*d
so brutally, uh,

Really is befuddling.

- ♪

- Narrator:
Who would have wanted

This beloved young woman dead?

- Wayne: Lane was immediately
considered a person of interest

Simply because of his
relationship to the victim.

- Narrator: Lane immediately--
and strenuously--

Denies k*lling his wife.

He tells investigators that
he was working all evening

The night of the m*rder.

- Wayne: He was
emotional and upset.

He told us he left for
work around 10 p.M.

He was at work overnight
and didn't come home

Until just before 7 a.M.
That next morning.

Investigators spoke
with supervisors

To try and make certain

That lane was actually
at work and hadn't left.

- David: His timecard at least
supported he had been at work.

But they did have breaks.

He worked for the
most part by himself.

Lane mcintyre did not
have an ironclad alibi.

- Narrator: Investigators
thoroughly dig into

Lane's history...

And immediately find something
that makes them suspicious.

- David: Days before
marilyn was m*rder*d,

Lane had taken out a life
insurance policy on marilyn.

In addition to opportunity,

Now you have a financial motive.

- Wayne: When you hear that
someone purchased insurance,

And shortly after that insurance
is purchased, someone dies,

That's a red flag.

- Narrator: All eyes are
trained on the victim's husband,

Lane mcintyre.

Did he brutally
m*rder his young wife?

Coming up,
the suspect pool widens,

But the k*ller
remains a mystery.

- David: There's the old adage:

Innocent stay
and the guilty flee.

- Narrator: Then,
the last resort.

- We made the exhumation public.

- David: If you can
rattle your suspect,

They're more likely
to do something stupid.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: After marilyn
mcintyre is found m*rder*d

In the small town of
columbus, wisconsin...

Police and the public are
beginning to think her husband,

Lane, is the k*ller.

- Wendy: I would go
in bathrooms in bars

And see writing on the wall,

"lane mcintyre
m*rder*d his wife."

My reaction was:
My brother didn't do it.

- Narrator: It doesn't help that
lane quickly gets remarried.

- I was a little shocked.
It was a fast situation, yes.

- Wayne: Certainly, a
relationship would raise

A lot of flags.

Could this have been
a relationship

That was going on
before the homicide

And that might be
a reason for the homicide?

So that's certainly something

That would be addressed
and examined.

- Narrator: And then
investigators receive a tip

That points them in
another direction.

- ♪

- [indistinct chatter]

- Narrator: As they continue
to interview

The mcintyres'
circle of friends...

A name emerges: Curtis forbes.

- ♪

- Curt forbes was close
friends with the mcintyres.

- Curt forbes I knew
from high school.

Curtis and debbie
would come over.

We would get a pizza, turn on
the stereo, that kind of thing.

- Wayne: Debbie and curt
were reportedly

Going through a rough patch.

And marilyn had encouraged
debbie to leave the
relationship.

- Narrator: Friends say
curtis was angry at marilyn

For influencing
debbie to leave him.

Could that be motive for m*rder?

- ♪

- Wayne: When police
spoke with curtis,

They learned from him

That he had been
out on the town that night.

- Narrator: Curtis tells police
that he left the bar

When it closed and went
to visit a friend, lori beattie,

Around 1 a.M.

- About 1:10, maybe,
1:15, the doorbell rang.

- [doorbell rings]

- Lori: And curtis was there.

I...Remember thinking
that it was odd

That he showed up at my house.

I invited him in.

And as we were coming
in the front door--

- [phone rings]

- Lori: --The telephone rang.

And when I turned around to
my then-boyfriend and I said,

"where's curtis?"

And he said, "he left.

He was gonna see
about getting some beer."

And...Curtis
never showed up again.

- David: Curtis forbes told
law enforcement that after

He had left lori's house
at 2:45,

He spent the night with his,
uh, fiancée, debbie addleson.

- Narrator: Investigators
contact debbie,

And she confirms that curtis
was with her that night.

But one detail doesn't add up.

- Debbie states that he arrived
there shortly after 4 a.M.

- David: That left
curtis forbes with the problem

Of having two and a half hours

In which he couldn't
account for his time.

- Narrator: And that time
is exactly within the time

Marilyn was m*rder*d.

- When police went to
try and have contact with him

And see if he could clear up
some of these issues,

Curtis had fled the state.

When you're speaking
with someone about a crime,

And they take off,
it makes them very suspicious.

- Lori: He was gone.

He didn't talk to anyone.

He didn't say
anything to anyone.

- He fled, where I
got to go to work and cry.

- David: The police had things
like opportunity and motive

Pointing in the
direction of two people:

Lane mcintyre and curtis forbes.

- Narrator: But what they don't
have is any hard evidence

That either of them
is the k*ller.

So detectives turn to forensics.

During interviews, police
had obtained hair samples

From both men.

- In 1980, they processed
this evidence

To the extent
that science allowed.

But they weren't able to
directly identify a suspect.

The police department
had exhausted leads.

They didn't have
new information,

And had really just
come against a roadblock.

- Narrator: Investigators
follow up with curtis and lane,

But find nothing new
to link either suspect

To marilyn's m*rder.

- David: And at that point,

They were, for lack of
a better term, verklempt.

- Narrator: The years pass,
and marilyn's family is left

With no closure to their grief.

- Wayne: A loved one
was taken from them,

And there's just
no answer for it.

It's tragic.

Every year, marilyn's
twin sister, carolyn,

Would call the columbus police
department and ask them,

"is there any new
updates on the case?

Anything going on?"
trying to keep the case alive.

But this case just went cold.

- Narrator: Investigators
are frustrated,

But unable to single out a
suspect without more evidence.

The community, however,
remains convinced

Lane mcintyre is the k*ller.

- Wendy: They all said because
he had an insurance policy

Out on her and...

That they think that
he did it for the money.

- Lane: I got all
the blame for it.

- ♪

- Narrator: Twenty-seven
years go by.

Then, in 2007, marilyn's niece
calls the police department

To see if there's any progress
in her aunt's cold case.

But she mistakenly
dials the wrong number...

And resurrects
the investigation.

- Daniel: I think it was sheer
luck that phone call intended to

Go to the columbus
police department,

And she accidentally got
the columbia county sheriff,

Which was where I worked.

- Narrator: The columbia county
sheriff's office has no record

Or knowledge of
local police cases.

- Wayne: I was really surprised

When I heard that there
was an unsolved homicide.

It's hard not to want
to pick that up and--

And see what you can do with it.

- Narrator: The sheriff's
department decides

To reopen the case,

Hoping a fresh perspective
and scientific advancements

Might unearth
something previously unseen.

- I told them by the
time we were done,

I felt confident that we
would be able to hold someone

Accountable for
committing this crime.

- Narrator: The evidence needed
to identify marilyn's k*ller

May be in the decades-old
casework...

Or is it still buried
with the victim?

- ♪

- [phone rings]

- Narrator: Determined to
solve the 27-year-old m*rder

Of marilyn mcintyre,

The columbia county
sheriff's department

Will pursue
every shred of evidence,

Including what may have been
buried decades ago.

They immediately focus
their attention

On the most obvious suspect:

Lane mcintyre,
the victim's husband.

- My attitude was I was
going to do whatever they needed

To help get the case solved.

Enough is enough.

- In the community, lane
had been considered a suspect

By a lot of people.

- Narrator: Fueling the
community's suspicion

Was a life insurance policy,

Which lane purchased days
before his wife's m*rder.

But when cold case detectives
look into the policy...

They realize that
it's not what it seems.

- Wayne: In 1980, an insurance
salesperson would observe

A birth announcement in the
paper, approach the family,

Explain to them why it was
perhaps a good idea for them

To get insurance with a newborn.

- He just showed up
one day, pure and simple.

- Narrator: Next, investigators
reexamine the physical evidence

That is still preserved
decades later

To see if any of it
implicates lane.

Specifically, the spot of
blood found in the sink.

- Wayne: The suspect could have
had an injury and deposited

Not only their dna, but the dna
of our victim's in this sink.

Dna wasn't something
that was done in 1980.

The evidence in this case
from 30 years ago

Wasn't collected
with dna in mind.

We didn't know if it was usable.

- Narrator: Investigators send
the blood out for analysis...

And amazingly get a giant lead.

- [phone rings]

- We had the results that
it was a blood mixture

Of two dna profiles.

- Narrator: They find
a mix of marilyn's dna

And what investigators
believe is her k*ller's.

- That was a major moment.

We were quite excited.

- Wayne: We tested lane's dna

Against the stain
in the bathroom sink.

- ♪

- Lane's dna wasn't present.

- ♪

- Lane mcintyre was
excluded as a dna source

To that stain.

- Narrator: Lane is no longer
a suspect in his wife's m*rder.

- Wendy: It was a sigh of
relief because, all these years,

He felt the finger was pointed
at him, and some people did.

- Lane: Nine times out of ten,

I too believe
that the husband did it.

But I know what it feels like
to be that one that didn't.

I'm angry at being
accused of being guilty.

It was more hurt on top
of the hurt I already had.

It was t*rture.

- ♪

- Narrator: Investigators
revisit the other suspect

From the original investigation,
curtis forbes.

He left town after the m*rder,
but had moved back to the area

And married his
girlfriend, debbie addleson.

- Knowing that information
and his reaction in 1980,

We monitored his comings and
goings as best we could, um,

Because we--we feared
he was going to flee again.

- Narrator: Investigators
locate a hair sample

Submitted by curtis in 1980.

They send it to the lab
to see if the dna

Matches the blood stain
from the sink...

And get what may be a lead.

- Daniel: We received test
results that indicated

Curt forbes was a possible
dna contributor to those stains.

- Narrator: The results
are in no way definitive.

The lab just can't rule out

That it's curtis forbes's
blood in the sink.

But it gives detectives
a direction

For their investigation.

Energized, police take another
hard look at curtis forbes's

Whereabouts the
night of the m*rder.

- Daniel: We identify
individuals who were named

In police reports and
start re-interviewing them.

We learned curt was out,
you know, boozin' that night.

He was out, um,
quote/unquote, "prowling."

He had made some advancements
towards some young women

In one of the taverns.

But he was striking out.

- Narrator: Authorities start
to develop a theory about

What might have happened
on that tragic night.

- We believe that he went to
mcintyre's because he knew

That marilyn was home alone.

- All he'd have to do
would be knock on the door,

And marilyn would
have let him in.

My theory was that he
forced himself on marilyn.

- ♪

- David: Maybe he decided to
then k*ll marilyn after he had

Had his way with her, rather
than have her be able to have

Everybody know what he had done.

So he bashed her in the head,

Stabbed her in the chest,

Washed in the sink,
and then left.

- ♪

- It was a good case,
but not good enough.

- Narrator: Right now,
it's just a theory.

There's no hard evidence tying
curtis forbes to the m*rder.

- Wayne: Curtis
developed into a suspect.

Now we needed to collect
any additional information

And/or evidence that
might possibly be out there.

- Narrator: Authorities
let the media know

They are open for business.

Lane is no longer a
person of interest,

And they're looking for tips.

- Wayne: It was important
that the public know

That this case wasn't solved.

We wanted suspects to know
that this was not forgotten.

Marilyn's not forgotten.

We're gonna seek
justice for her.

- [phone rings]

- Narrator: Immediately after,
the phone starts ringing.

- Daniel: Friends or family
members came forward and said,

"hey, I remember back then."

- Narrator: And one piece of
information makes them sit up

And take notice.

Something curtis's
girlfriend, debbie,

Told her friend at
the time of the m*rder.

- A few weeks after
marilyn's m*rder,

I remember running
into debbie addleson.

I remember her telling me about
curt showing up at her home

About 4 and wanting her
to wash a shirt

That he had that
had blood on it.

I remember being shocked

And very uncomfortable
with the conversation,

But I assumed debbie
had told the police.

- Narrator: Investigators
immediately check

The original file.

There's no record of anyone
seeing blood on curtis's shirt.

This is new information,
but is it true?

What they need is
forensic evidence.

Coming up,
detectives make a last push

To solve the case--

- Angela: There was so much
riding on this exhumation.

- Narrator: --By
exhuming marilyn's body.

- It was powerful,
and it's damning.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: After 28 years
without a break

In the unsolved m*rder
of marilyn mcintyre,

Police realize there's one place

They may be able to find
the physical evidence

That could solve the case.

- Daniel: We thought
maybe if she fought back,

Maybe scratched someone's face,
maybe there was a chance

There would be dna
under her fingernails.

No fingernail scrapings
had been taken at that time

Because the dna technology
didn't exist.

- Narrator: There is only one
way to collect this evidence.

They must exhume marilyn's body.

- In 2007, I was
the medical examiner

For columbia county, wisconsin.

Lt. Smith came into my office,
and he said,

"we may need to recover
marilyn from her gravesite

For further examination."

- Narrator: This radical move
to uncover new evidence

Might be investigators'
only hope

For an indictment of their
main suspect, curtis forbes.

- Wayne: I was really optimistic
that we'd find some evidence,

But we may strike out.

We might not find
anything at all.

- Narrator: There's
only one option left.

- Exhumation is
a sensitive decision

That we just don't
make on our own.

- Wayne: Anyone in this
situation would not want

Their loved one's final
resting place disturbed.

But it felt critical

That we try and obtain
as much evidence as we can.

- Narrator: But first
they ask for consent

From the next of kin:

The wrongly accused husband,
lane mcintyre.

- Detective wayne smith
asked me

If he could exhume
marilyn's body.

And that hurt me.

But I said yes because

I was so desperate to
help them in any way I could.

- Wendy: That's not cool,

Digging someone up
from their resting place and--

But it had to be done, you know?

- [phone rings]

- Wayne: One of the big
hopes that I had, uh,

In exhuming marilyn was to see

If there was any dna of her
attacker under her fingernails.

I didn't believe that that had
been processed or looked for.

- Narrator: And
investigators have a second,

More strategic motive
behind the exhumation:

They hope just the threat
of finding new evidence

Will spook their main suspect.

- Female reporter:
Twenty-eight years ago,

They buried her with so
many questions left unanswered.

And today, the family of marilyn
mcintyre had her body exhumed,

Hoping to find those answers.

- We made the exhumation public.

We wanted our suspects to know,

"you may have escaped
for many years,

"but dna evidence
still exists and, uh,

We were searching for it."

- David: If you can
rattle your suspect,

They're off their game and more
likely to do something stupid.

- ♪

- [thunderclap]

- It was a very eerie day.

- [camera shutter clicking]

- Narrator: Investigators
gather around the gravesite,

Accompanied by
the medical examiner

And some members
of the victim's family.

- Angela: There was so much
riding on this exhumation.

We're gonna find this--this dna.

We're gonna be able to
get somewhere with this case.

- Narrator: Lane mcintyre
can't bring himself

To be at marilyn's graveside.

- Just signing the
paper was enough.

It was more than I could bear.

- Angela: It was a
very sensitive day.

Not only are you
bringing her back up,

But you're also bringing up all
the emotion and all the sadness.

It's almost like
you're going through

The trauma all over again.

- Daniel: When that concrete
cover crypt was lifted,

It was very, very wet.

- ♪

- Wayne: I was disappointed.

You could see a casket
that was in poor condition.

You could tell that this had
been in the ground a long time.

- [rain pouring]

- Daniel: When the casket was
being lifted from the ground,

There was water, um, emanating
from most all sides of it.

- Dna does not hold up
well in wet environment.

- Daniel: It was disheartening

To think pieces
of trace evidence

Could have all washed away.

- Wayne: My optimism
sank a little.

It could be potentially
a long shot with, you know,

A body that had been
in the ground so long.

- Narrator: The casket
is transported

To the columbia county
sheriff's office morgue.

- ♪

- Angela: We were not able
to actually open the casket

By a conventional method.

It was completely
rusted and corroded shut

From all the water.

- [camera shutter clicking]

- Daniel: The pathologist
ended up utilizing a wedge

And a--hand tools
to pry the casket open.

- Angela: We weren't
really certain

As to what we would
be looking at.

You either have really
good burial technique,

Where you have nice bodies
that you can reexamine.

In other cases,
you are not quite so lucky.

When we open the casket up,
we just stood there.

And we kind of
looked at each other.

And then we kind of went...

- I had never seen
anything like that.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: Although
marilyn mcintyre was buried

Nearly three decades ago,

Investigators hope
examining her remains

Will provide new clues to tie

Main suspect curtis forbes
to her m*rder.

- Marilyn's remains
were heavily decomposed.

- Daniel: You could
make out a female.

The clothing was intact,

But there was no visible
soft tissue left.

- ♪

- We knew at that point
that evidence collection

Would be difficult.

- Narrator: But something gives
investigators a shred of hope.

- Daniel: You could make out

That she had
artificial fingernails.

- Angela:
Little press-on fingernails

On each of her digits.

It was miraculous how--
how well they stayed on.

- Daniel: Not all hope is lost.

We were quite excited.

- Narrator: The tips of finger
bones and press-on nails

Are submitted to the
crime lab for dna testing.

- Angela:
I thought it's possible

That they could have
glued in some dna

That had gotten trapped
underneath the fingernail.

- Narrator: The lab processes
the remains and reaches back out

To investigators
with their findings.

- Wayne: Those press-on nails

And what evidence
may be under them...

Couldn't be tested after that
amount of time and exposure.

- ♪

- I was devastated.

- Narrator: It's a
discouraging dead end.

Marilyn's remains are returned
to the coffin and reburied.

But investigators hold out hope

That the exhumation
could still pay off.

- Wayne:
Even though our exhumation

Didn't yield evidence,

We didn't release that
to the public.

The suspect didn't know
that that evidence

Wasn't gonna be able to be used.

- Narrator: It's a chess game.

And authorities
go on the offensive,

Telling the media they are busy
analyzing strong dna evidence

They've uncovered.

- We weren't shy about the fact

That we were gonna
have new dna tests done.

We were using the
media to our advantage.

If you're someone who
has some role in this,

I would think you'd
be pretty nervous.

- Wayne: We decided to
track curtis's phone.

We wanted to know who he was
calling and when he was calling.

- David: Law enforcement was
hoping that exhumation would

Spur curt forbes to make a call
or get a call from somebody

That would tie him in
to the m*rder.

- Narrator: The
investigators' hunch pays off.

- Wayne: We learned that he was
contacting the carpenters union

In the state of hawaii.

But we weren't sure
initially what that meant.

- Narrator: Over the
next several months,

Investigators discover curtis
is plotting an elaborate plan.

- David: Because
of the exhumation,

Curtis forbes then
began to hatch a plan

To fake his disappearance.

- ♪

- We had learned
that curt had taken steps

To fake his death.

He had purchased an inflatable
raft that he planned go out

Into lake michigan with
on a boat he had owned

And sink that boat
and raft back to shore.

- There's the old adage:

The innocent stay
and the guilty flee.

- Wayne: When we got
this information,

It was pretty exciting because
without the exhumation,

We may not have been able to
cause that reaction in him.

I thought it really was,
uh, very incriminating.

- Narrator: Investigators decide
it's time to bring curtis in

For questioning.

- ♪

- Wayne: We spoke with curt
for, uh, a fairly lengthy time.

He had, uh, obviously 30 years
of denial built up in him.

- Narrator: Investigators
interview curtis at the station,

Hoping that just the idea
that the autopsy

From the exhumation
implicates him

Rattles him enough to confess.

- He seemed concerned
that we had dna.

But curt didn't confess
to the crime

And maintained
the--his innocence.

- David: It was pathetic.

It wasn't convincing to anyone.

It just adds further
fuel to your fire.

- Narrator: Investigators
are frustrated...

But still have one piece
of evidence left to pursue

With debbie,
curtis forbes's wife,

Who told a friend
she had noticed curtis

Wearing a bloody shirt
the night of the m*rder.

- We believe that debbie
was aware

That curt had arrived
after 4 a.M.,

And that her
parents had cleaned

Bloody clothing
that curt arrived in.

- Narrator: If investigators
can get debbie to confirm seeing

Blood on curtis's clothes,
it's enough to make an arrest.

But it won't be easy.

- We were concerned that
debbie would be reluctant

To speak to law enforcement.

Debbie had been uncooperative
up to this point,

Perhaps out of fear.

- She was one of the individuals

That could really
send him down the river.

- Narrator: Detectives
visit debbie at her home.

- Daniel: Through the course
of the lengthy interview,

She really wasn't providing us
with any real new information.

- Narrator: But finally,
debbie lets something slip.

- She indicated seeing blood on
the sleeve of curtis's shirt

The night of the m*rder.

- David: Deb had never admitted
to the police before that moment

That she had saw blood
on curt's clothing.

It was powerful,
and it's damning.

That was pretty extraordinary.

A pivotal moment in the case.

- Wayne: That really
closed up the case for us,

Or at least brought it to the
point where we felt comfortable

With going forward
with a criminal charge.

- Narrator: The admission
is enough to make an arrest.

But will it be enough
to convince a jury?

- ♪

- ♪

- ♪

- [police siren wails]

- Narrator: Curtis forbes
is under arrest

For the decades-old m*rder
of marilyn mcintyre.

His wife, debbie, is now
cooperating with police

And looking for answers.

- ♪

- Two days after
curtis was arrested,

He had a phone call with debbie.

- Narrator: Callers are informed
that the lines are recorded

And conversations are monitored.

- She's just interested in
getting the truth from him.

But because it's
a recorded call,

Unwittingly, she was a very
powerful advocate for us.

- Wayne: What curt did at
that point was critical.

He didn't say,
"what bloody shirt?

There was no bloody shirt.
What are you talking about?"

And we were pretty excited
as a group

When we listened to that call.

- Narrator: Twenty-nine years
after marilyn mcintyre

Was fatally beaten
and stabbed...

Police finally
have enough evidence

To charge suspect curtis forbes
with first-degree m*rder.

- ♪

- Lane: I think curt forbes
had an infatuation for marilyn.

It's ironic how
you cannot see something

That's right
in front of your face.

Never saw it coming.

- David: There is enough proof
beyond a reasonable doubt

To take the case to trial.

Damn the torpedoes,
full steam ahead.

- ♪

- Female reporter:
Wearing jail orange,

52-year-old curtis forbes

Returned to court
in columbia county.

- Narrator: Curtis forbes
stands trial

For the m*rder of
marilyn mcintyre.

- When I was testifying,
I looked straight at curt.

- ♪

- I was looking at him, just
glaring--him glaring back at me.

I remember thinking,

Had my boyfriend
not been home that morning,

That it could have
very well have been me

Instead of marilyn mcintyre.

And that is very scary
to even think about.

- The jury, after just
three hours of deliberation,

Arrived at a verdict.

- ♪

- Jury foreman: Guilty.
- [crowd gasping]

- Female reporter: Curtis forbes
dropped his head

As sobs from the victim's
family filled the court.

Guilty of first-degree m*rder
in the 1980 beating, stabbing,

And strangling of
18-year-old marilyn mcintyre.

- I just felt this exhale
of anguish that was like--

I could just finally let go.

It was just--came out
of me like, ughhhhhh.

And it was like,
finally, after 30 years.

You know?

- ♪

- It doesn't make
marilyn come back.

But at least...We know.

Thirty years of not
knowing what to think

Is its own kind of t*rture.

It's important that
there's resolution.

- Narrator: Curtis forbes is
sentenced to life in prison.

- David: Doing justice
for a family, you know,

You're giving them something

That nobody else
could give them.

And...It's extremely rewarding.

- Wayne: Makes you take
pride in your work.

These types of crimes, you know,
they need to be answered

And they need our attention.

The exhumation was critical.

Without the exhumation,
we may not have been able

To bring justice to this family.

- Lori: Justice was
served in the fact

That curt forbes
was found guilty.

And yet, at the same time,

I feel that he was free
for 30 years.

Thirty years that people
accused lane of doing this.

Thirty years that
marilyn never had.

Thirty years that lane
and marilyn's son struggled.

- I hope and try so hard
to just be good enough

That god will let my soul
get to be by marilyn once again.

- ♪