10x40 - Wired for Disaster

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: A b*mb expl*si*n
often destroys the evidence

of where and how the
expl*sive was made.

But microscopic
elements do survive.

These tiny fragments
often tell a story,

and sometimes can
identify the perpetrator.

[theme music]

NARRATOR: On a warm
humid night in 1993,

Kurt Simon and his
fiancee, Kem Wenger,

returned home from a
surprise engagement shower.

They wanted to unpack the
car quickly and get to bed

since they both
had busy schedules

for the following day.

-I had felt the concussion of
this thing hit me in waves.

I had looked down and I
had noticed a pair of legs.

Then it all of a sudden occurred
to me that this was Kem,

and, yeah, she was
obviously-- obviously dead.

And the neighbors were
all starting to come over,

and I had screamed
to them to call 911.

NARRATOR: Investigators
noticed pieces of metal

in Kem's left hand, an
indication that the b*mb was

detonated with a
motion sensor device.

-There was something
in the foyer

there that she knew
was out of place.

And she bent over to either
move it or pick it up,

and that's when it detonated.

-There was evidence
that it was a pipe b*mb.

By the pipe b*mb
fragments, there

was also added
shrapnel to the b*mb.

They found ball
bearings, were later

determined to be hunting shot.

NARRATOR: Investigators
found a hole in the foyer

floor almost a
foot wide and deep.

Metal fragments were embedded
in the walls and ceiling.

-There was shrapnel as far
away as across the street,

into various segments of the
house, blown both backwards

and forwards into
the kitchen, which

is in a straight
line from the foyer.

NARRATOR: In the
basement, investigators

found wires, gunpowder,
and fuses-- proof

that the b*mb had been
made in this house.

-The bomber obviously
left all that material

down there thinking
that, you know,

the house may be destroyed.

Nobody would ever find it.

Nobody would ever see him
come and go from the house.

-In the kitchen were
battery wrappers.

Batteries were used in the b*mb.

But most importantly,
a pair of gloves.

So the speculation was
the b*mb construction

was finalized at the house,
the person threw the paper

debris and the gloves in
the garbage, and then left.

NARRATOR: It was clear
that the perpetrator was

someone who had
access to the house.

-Kurt Simon could
have placed the b*mb

in the foyer prior
to Kem coming in.

-By going in the house first, he
could have taken something out

of a suitcase, and set it on
the floor, and walked back out.

Could have.

-Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

You're thinking I had
something to do with this?

NARRATOR: Kurt was unable
to provide any information

about the bombing
because he said

he didn't see
anything suspicious.

-The next thing I
remembered was being

grabbed by a couple of
police officers, handcuffed,

pulled to the
front of the house,

and paraded in front
of this crowd of people

into a police car.

NARRATOR: Kurt had
his own suspicions

about who k*lled his fiancee.

He pointed the finger at
Kem's mother, Cricket.

-If you take every kind of
evil, roll it up into a ball,

there you have Cricket Lewis.

Cricket was just
depraved, and evil,

terribly, terribly
self-centered.

What I do know is, does
Cricket have the capabilities

and the depravity to
do something like that?

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

-Cricket-- hope I'm not
shot for this-- but I mean,

Cricket made her
money on her back.

I mean, yes, she had a bar.

But I think that
the bar that she had

was bought from the
inheritance of an old lady

that she took care that, of
course, died under her care.

NARRATOR: Investigators
had suspects.

All they needed now
was some hard evidence.


k*lled when a pipe b*mb

exploded in her
Bloomington, Illinois, home.

Kem was divorced
with two children,

and worked both as a
hairdresser and occasionally

a house cleaner.

-It was creepy because here's
this decent person, who has not

done anything to
deserve anything

like this, m*rder*d
in a very heinous way.

-She's the type that she would
sit down with a bowl of popcorn

and soda, and watch
a good scary movie.

That was her Saturday night.

She loved it.

She was so much fun.

And yes, I miss her terribly.

NARRATOR: At the
time of her death,

Kem was engaged to Kurt Simon,
a Presbyterian minister who

was now a suspect in her m*rder.

-Just the thought
that somebody would

k*ll her was just beyond belief.

NARRATOR: The other
suspect in Kem's m*rder

was her own mother,
Cricket Lewis.

Kem had a strained
relationship with her mother.

They barely spoke
to one another.

And witnesses said
Cricket behaved

badly at her daughter's funeral.

-While everybody else
was crying, and reliving

Kem's memory, and just
basically not able

to do much because
everybody was so distraught,

Cricket just kept complaining
that Kem let her life insurance

policy lapse, and
that nobody's going

to get any money out of this.

-You can't judge by reactions
at the funeral though.

You just-- because
people express

loss in very different ways.

I mean, some people laugh at
funerals and some people cry

at funerals.

NARRATOR: Like Kurt
Simon, Cricket Lewis

denied any involvement
in her daughter's m*rder.

When all of the b*mb
fragments were recovered,

investigators found some
distinctive features.

The expl*sive charge had
been wrapped with metal ball

bearings, or BBs, which
increased its k*lling power.

-When the b*mb
explodes, they would

be traveling at very
high rate of speed.

There'll be several hundred
pieces of either metal

or, in this case,
metal and BBs, would

be projected towards
its intended victim.

NARRATOR: Gas
chromatography testing

revealed that two different
types of gunpowder

had been used.

We won't reveal the
specific components

except to say there may have
been a motive for the mixture.

-It would create a more
powerful expl*si*n, yes.

NARRATOR: The sheer
power of the device

indicated that
Kem's fiance, Kurt,

may have been a target as well.

-This b*mb was strong enough
to k*ll several people.

I do believe that Kem
was the intended target.

But I also believe that, you
know, had I been standing

in the room and
k*lled by this thing,

that that would have just
been considered a bonus.

NARRATOR: Investigators
didn't think

Kurt knew how to build a b*mb,
let alone one with a motion

sensor device and so much power.

-One of the end
caps had two holes

drilled in it, which
was very unique.

At the time of my
evaluation of the evidence,

there were more than a
handful of pipe bombs

involving an end cap with
multiple holes drilled in,

and over 20,000 entries
in our database.

So it made it very unique.

-I don't think Kurt
Simon could make

a b*mb if his life
depended on it.

NARRATOR: For the same
reason, Kem's mother, Cricket,

was eliminated as a suspect.

-We didn't feel she
had the ability,

the mentality, to
build such a device.

I think she was preoccupied
by her own personal problems.

NARRATOR: The next
logical suspect

was Kem's ex-husband, Paul.

He lived only two miles away,
and he knew Kem's schedule

because they shared
custody of their daughter.

-Anytime someone's
divorced, and you're

going to look and see who
would have the motive.

Who would be motivated
to hurt someone else?

You know?
What's the past history there?

-There was a little
dispute as far as custody,

and some support that was
being given to Kem financially.

So there was some potential
there for a motive.

NARRATOR: Paul said he was
with his friends and daughter

for the entire weekend.

And they all
corroborated his alibi.

Next, investigators learn that
one of Kem's former coworkers,

Phil Hartman, may
have had the motive.

Kem had filed a sexual
harassment complaint

against Hartman, alleging
that he continued

to make sexual advances
towards her even

after management
ordered him to stop.

Hartman was fired and
promised to get even.

-He did make some statements
about, I'll get you for this,

I'll get back at you,
something like that.

So he became a person
of interest right away.

NARRATOR: But Hartman
was in another state

when Kem was m*rder*d.

And he had an airtight alibi.

-He was actually working at
the time of the expl*si*n.

And he had several
witnesses, several people,

who could testify the fact that
he was there, not in the area,

had not left the area
for several months.

NARRATOR: Now, investigators
were baffled and realized

they would have to
look deeper to find out

who wanted Kem Wenger
and Kurt Simon dead.

-I would characterize this
as one of the coldest,

calculated murders that I've
ever been involved with.

NARRATOR: In the search
for Kem Wenger's k*ller,

investigators had one last
suspect to interview--

Dale Fosdick, a former
boyfriend and the father

of Kem's youngest child.

-The relationship
between Dale and Kem

seemed to be fraught
with acrimony.

There was disputes over child
visitation and child support.

NARRATOR: Friends said
that Fosdick didn't always

behave as a responsible father.

He often failed to
pay child support.

And when he did, it
was usually late.

-It just got crazy.

She couldn't get a hold
of him for days at a time.

He wouldn't acknowledge her.

He wouldn't-- wouldn't
answer her phone calls.

NARRATOR: Kurt Simon had offered
to adopt the child in order

to provide a stable home life.

-If he's finding having a son to
be a real nuisance, if he's not

wanting to take care
of him, if he's not

wanting to be part of
his life, let me do it.

I'll do it with
open arms and more--

be more than happy to do it.

NARRATOR: Investigators
discovered

that this made Fosdick angry.

-Dale starts getting pushed
out of Kemberly Wenger's life.

And he has to sit there
and watch her new love,

or imagine, her new love
while he's being pushed aside,

and living in his
lonely little apartment

on the east side of Bloomington.

NARRATOR: Also
suspicious, Fosdick worked

as a machinist at a
nearby Caterpillar plant.

Obviously, he was
mechanically inclined.

-He had some electrical skills.

He was an airplane
model hobbyist.

He put together model
airplanes from scratch,

including the engine.

NARRATOR: Armed with a
warrant, investigators

searched Fosdick's home.

And in the basement was
every possible component

to make model airplanes,
or possibly a b*mb.

-All kind of
electrical components,

microswitches, batteries,
wire cutters, wire strippers,

wrenches, screwdrivers,
everything

that you could imagine.

NARRATOR: In the
kitchen, Fosdick

issued what appeared
to be a challenge.

-He had lined up a series of
tools on the kitchen table.

And right next to
these tools was

a newspaper with Kem
Wenger's obituary.

To me, that was sending
a very clear message.

The message was, hey, I did it.

Now you prove it.

NARRATOR: Investigators
collected the tools

on the kitchen
table for analysis.

They also reviewed
Fosdick's credit card

receipts for the
past six months.

And one item stood out.

-Dale Fosdick had
purchased several packets

of the slingshot BB amm*nit*on
in early February and March.

Which was significant
because this is the same type

of slingshot amm*nit*on
that was used

in the manufacture of the b*mb.

-And the handwriting analyst
concluded that the signatures

on the credit card receipts were
indeed those of Mr. Fosdick.

NARRATOR: Investigators
found some of those BBs

in Fosdick's basement,
and they were compared

to the ones found
at the b*mb site.

Each one was carefully
weighed and measured.

-There has to be more
to tie this together.

The size and shape of the
shot isn't specific enough

to be a direct link between
the suspect and the bombing.

It's just
circumstantial evidence.

NARRATOR: Then investigators
remembered the shreds

of wire found at the b*mb site.

-I could see tears in
the installation, which

means that the blade did not
come completely together.

So that the installation
had to be ripped in places.

NARRATOR: And they also
had a pair of wire cutters

from Fosdick's kitchen table.

Tool mark examiner,
John O'Neil noticed

that the blades were
slightly offset.

This gave him hope
that he could identify

the tiny imperfections
on the blade of the tool.

-Every tool has a unique mark.

Even if they're
manufactured the same,

they will still have
a different mark

left when they cut an item.

And certainly as one's
usage of the item continues,

it will become more
and more obvious.

-We have a manufacturing
process that

has to sharpen these blades.

And then the use of them
and the abuse of them

adds accidental marks,
which further separate them

from their brothers
in manufacturing.

NARRATOR: O'Neil used
Fosdick's wire cutters

to strip the insulation
from a sample piece of wire.

Then wrapped the
ends in silver foil

to improve the visibility
under the microscope.

He then compared the
test wire to the wire

recovered from the b*mb site.

At 50 times
magnification, O'Neil

could see that the microscopic
striations in the rubber

insulation lined up perfectly
across both samples.

Clear proof that
Fosdick's wire cutters

had been used in
making the b*mb.

-To me, this evidence
is the strength

to say that that
tool and whoever held

it was the person
who manufactured

the device that k*lled
an innocent person.

-Certain cutting
tools he owned were

used to cut the wire that
was involved in the b*mb.

And the wire was at
his house as well.

So without saying Dale
Fosdick built the b*mb,

Dale Fosdick built the b*mb.

-That was our smoking g*n.

That was our fingerprint.

NARRATOR: Despite his
denials, Dale Fosdick

was arrested and charged
with first degree m*rder.

-We knew we had our man.

NARRATOR: What was
the motive for k*lling



Prosecutors believed Dale
Fosdick was angry with Kem

for ending their
relationship, especially

since they had a child together.

Fosdick was also
troubled by Kem's desire

to gain full custody by having
her new fiance, Kurt Simon,

adopt the child.

The evidence shows Fosdick
designed a pipe b*mb

with extraordinary
power, and took

every precaution
to avoid detection.

But he inadvertently
signed his name to his work

by leaving those tool marks
on a single piece of wire.

He put together most of
the b*mb at his house.

But to make sure he didn't blow
himself up while transporting

it, he did the final
assembly in Kem's basement.

He carefully placed the b*mb on
the foyer floor near a table,

where he usually left his
child support payments.

And Fosdick may have
suspected both Kem and Kurt

would enter the house together.

Or perhaps he didn't
care which one he k*lled.

Kurt apparently walked right by
the device without noticing it.

But something about the
packaging caught Kem's eye.

-That's the mother
of his own child.

That's a brutal m*rder.

NARRATOR: When Fosdick learned
that investigators planned

to search his home, he
placed his b*mb-making tools

on the kitchen table,
next to Kem's obituary.

In so doing, he
provided investigators

with the smoking g*n
and never realized it.

-You think of a b*mb
exploding, and you

think of evidence evaporating.

But in fact, you leave a
good deal of evidence behind.

-We were just able to
determine that it, A, it

was functioned electrically.

B, it functioned by motion.

And C, it involved a minimum
of two microswitches.

NARRATOR: Throughout
the trial, Fosdick

maintained his innocence.

But the jury found
the tool mark evidence

too strong to overlook.

-The jury looked at that.

And I could see a
light bulb going off

in each one of their heads,
saying, I can see it.

I know what they're
talking about.

At that point, I
saw most of them

turn and stare at Dale Fosdick.

And I knew at that point, they
had made the determination

that in fact, Dale
Fosdick was guilty.

-I had watched the slides
from the electron microscope,

and watched to see how he
had lined everything up,

and had done this work in
this painstaking, unbelievably

difficult work.

And was able to pin the
hard evidence to this b*mb,

to this k*ller.

And I thought, I've got
some new heroes now.

These guys did a fantastic job.

And I was very, very impressed.

NARRATOR: Dale Fosdick was
convicted of first degree

m*rder, and was sentenced
to 55 years in prison.

-Just the fact that he thought
he could get away with it,

and they got him.

That's what's so great.

You can't outsmart science.

That's for sure.

-I guess he's not quite as
bright as he thought he was.

NARRATOR: Fosdick narrowly
escaped the death penalty

because a single juror
voted against it.

-This is a very
dangerous human being.

He never gave any kind of
indication that he was sorry.

I think the only thing
that he was sorry about

was that he got caught.