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Narrator
Last night you spent two hours deciding what to wear to the party this morning. It'll take you two minutes to list it on Depop and make your money back. Just grab your phone, snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest. The sheer dress and platform heels you'll never wear again. There's a birthday girl searching for them right now. Your one and done look is about to pay for your next night out, or at least the ride home. Your style can make you cash. Start selling on Depop, where taste recognizes taste.
Step into the 2020 True Crime Vault, where each story is unforgettable.
Interviewer / Host
How many years had your daughters been missing when you met each other?
Bob Marcum
Believe about two years.
Narrator / Investigator
Rob McLeod and Bob Marcum are part of a club that nobody wants to join. Fathers of adult women who have gone missing.
Interviewer / Host
So these two still grieving fathers joined forces to their daughters.
Rob McLeod
I was really losing hope that she was going to show up on her own.
Lori McLeod
That's when they told me that there were more than Casey. There were other people missing.
Interviewer / Host
Describe Jennifer Marcum, 25 years old, a single mom.
Narrator
She was lived here in Denver. She lived about 20 miles south of where Casey disappeared.
Narrator / Investigator
He looks Markham and his wife in the eye and says, your daughter is dead and I know where she's buried.
Bob Marcum
I had a chill run down my spine and I couldn't.
Lori McLeod
Did you really, really, really know how my daughter died?
Detective Gary Thatcher
At this point, we knew we had a serial killer on our hands.
Interviewer / Host
But has he tried to kill before?
Justin Kimball
And I remember screaming, stop the car. Why aren't you stopping him? Grabbing me by my face and then
Interviewer / Host
pushing me out by my face. He went like this and switched you up. I thought I was gonna lose my brother. I've never been so scared of my life. This is the story of someone who was so charismatic and yet so devious that they were able to manipulate the system to conceal horrific crimes. And in the process, they inflicted excruciating pain on those who cared for and trusted them. But more than anything, it was a betrayal of those closest to this person and the theft of what we all cherish most. The lives of those we love. I've had a 35 year career of telling stories. And every so often, there's one that haunts me. This is one of them. It's a story that I first covered almost two decades ago. And it begins as a heartbreaking tale of a missing teenager.
Narrator
Good evening and welcome to 2020.
Interviewer / Host
Back in 2008, I began looking into this story. That's when I first spoke to Lori McLeod, a divorced mother of a beautiful girl, the light of her life.
Lori McLeod
She just happy all the time, smiled all the time.
Interviewer / Host
This was Laurie back then. This is her today.
Lori McLeod
Casey was beautiful and sweet. She was a peacekeeper. She didn't make waves.
Narrator / Reporter
In 2003, Lori McLeod was living with her daughter Casey, who is now.
Lori McLeod
I just lived my life with my daughter, and I worked a lot. Very simple life, and I liked it that way.
Narrator
She was mid-30s at that point, divorced from her husband Rob.
Rob McLeod
In spite of the divorce and the drama between her mom and I, Casey was a very bubbly, happy go. Lucky kid. She really was a special kid.
Interviewer / Host
As Casey grows into a teenager, Laurie's got a little more free time, and she enjoys doing a little gambling at a nearby casino. Boston 5. Poker. That's her game.
Lori McLeod
I was playing a card game, and he walked in.
Narrator
Scott Kimball met Lori McLeod when they both went to a casino up in Blackhawk. Scott was wheeling in his mother, Barbie in a wheelchair, and they all sit at the same poker table.
Lori McLeod
He's moving chairs for her so she could play cards. I thought, well, what a nice guy. You know, he's taking care of his mother. And we just started chatting at the table.
Interviewer / Host
What did he tell you about himself in that first meeting?
Lori McLeod
He said he worked for the FBI. Scott was nice and he was pleasant, and he laughed and he was funny. All of the things a woman looks for.
Narrator / Investigator
And Laurie believed, after many false starts, that this could finally be the man of her dreams.
Interviewer / Host
Scott Kimball is 36 years old and divorced. He's a burly, outdoorsy type of a guy, with a goatee and an engaging smile. Guys like him and women find him charming. In fact, long before Laurie Kimball was married to a woman named Larisa.
Narrator / Investigator
In 1993, Scott married Larisa, and they settled in Spokane, Washington, for the first time in public.
Lori McLeod
Mr. And Mrs. Scott and Larisa Kimball.
Narrator / Investigator
They had two boys together.
Narrator
I was three months pregnant when we got married. Justin was born soon after, and then two and a half years later, had Cody.
Rob McLeod
Say, hi, Cody.
Interviewer / Host
Say, hi, Cody.
Narrator
Say hi, baby. I just thought that we would be the perfect family.
Interviewer / Host
Kimball is often away from home, working for long stretches. But he always takes time to be with his sons, Justin and Cody, and he makes them feel special. Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Justin, look up here. What do you think of that pirate ship?
Justin Kimball
We would go paintballing. We would do go karts. We'd go out to eat almost like every single night.
Interviewer / Host
When I sat down with Justin. For this exclusive interview, he told me he would need to wear sunglasses to protect his eyes from our bright lights. It's because of a traumatic brain injury that he suffered as a child. But that's its own story, which he will share later. For the first time, my dad was
Justin Kimball
very big on trying to spoil us and see how happy he can make us by just buying us whatever he wanted.
Interviewer / Host
He was a great dad. Hi, baby. He was everything and a dad that I wanted.
Narrator
Growing up, Justin and Cody were too small to see this, but this whole time, the marriage itself was not strong.
Lori McLeod
I found out that he was dating and actually living with another woman.
Narrator / Investigator
In 1996, Larisa filed for divorce, and four years later, she and their two boys moved to the Colorado area.
Interviewer / Host
By 2002, Scott Kimball is also living and working in Colorado once again near his boys Justin and Cody. A year later, he moves in with Laurie McLeod.
Narrator / Reporter
Scott Kimball is living with Lori McLeod at her house in Lafayette. They're getting quite close during this period. And Casey is living at the house as well, with her mother. And now this new man who has entered her mother's life. Where they lived together was a rural area that was largely ranchettes, mostly prairie land.
Interviewer / Host
Scott had two boys of his own.
Lori McLeod
Yes, he did.
Interviewer / Host
Justin and Cody.
Lori McLeod
Yeah.
Interviewer / Host
And they'd come to visit.
Lori McLeod
Yes. I loved his boys.
Interviewer / Host
And his boys loved your daughter.
Lori McLeod
Oh, yeah. They were great with Casey, too. Having two little brothers was fun for her.
Interviewer / Host
So how did he act around Casey?
Lori McLeod
He acted like the guy every woman would be looking for to be in their child's life.
Interviewer / Host
Unfortunately, Kayce is struggling. Her mom's divorce seems to be taking a heavy emotional toll on her.
Rob McLeod
When she was in her later teens, mid teens, she was kind of getting rebellious, running around with the wrong crowd, doing the wrong things.
Narrator
Casey had been into drugs, had run away, but she seemed to be coming back into who both Rob and Lori hoped she would become.
Interviewer / Host
This video was shot at Casey's high school graduation. It was a time full of hope and promise.
Narrator
I'm really confident that I'll be able to do something with my life after this. I just want to thank you for inviting me.
She had found a new boyfriend, CB This. They were both working at Subway, and she and CB Were serious. They were even talking about marriage at the time.
Rob McLeod
She was trying to get her life kind of back.
Interviewer / Host
Labor Day of 2003. What made you believe that Casey was doing drugs again?
Lori McLeod
Scott brought a vial of something with white substance in it. Chunky white substance.
Interviewer / Host
Crack cocaine or something.
Lori McLeod
Right. And he said, I think Casey's in trouble again. And so when I approached her and asked her if she was doing drugs again, she swore she was not. I didn't believe her.
Interviewer / Host
So you told her you're going to take her to the police?
Lori McLeod
Yes, I did.
Interviewer / Host
And what happened?
Lori McLeod
So I went in and got my wallet, and Scott came in the house, and I said, where's Casey? And he says, she's outside. And I said, I'm very certain she will take off. And sure enough, she did.
Narrator / Reporter
In the late summer of 2003, Casey McLeod disappears. And Lori McLeod is understandably upset by this.
Lori McLeod
She was nowhere to be found at that point.
Interviewer / Host
After a few days, you get a call from Casey. Right. What did she say?
Lori McLeod
She said, I am sorry and I love you. I. I told her I loved her. That was the last thing we said to each.
Narrator
Other.
Rob McLeod
One of the first indications that Casey went missing was Lori gave us a very panicked phone call and that Casey had run away.
Interviewer / Host
Now, Kayce insists that the drugs her mom's boyfriend, Scott Kimball finds don't belong to her. But her mom, Lori, isn't buying it. So Casey takes off to avoid the police, and she meets up with her
Rob McLeod
boyfriend, CB Buys more angry at her than concerned. You know, I mean, I was praying for her to get her act together and to come home, but in the back of my mind, I was a little bit more unhappy with her.
Interviewer / Host
Kimball is able to locate Casey and her boyfriend, CB Offering them a temporary haven to cool off.
Narrator
So Scott finally finds Casey, finds CB and puts them up in a Motel
Narrator / Investigator
6, and her and her boyfriend lived there for several days, unbeknownst to Lori,
Narrator
tells them, stay away from Lori because she's mad and she'll turn you into the cops.
Narrator / Investigator
On August 23, Casey's boyfriend gave her an engagement necklace and she was headed to work.
Narrator
CB Comes, kisses Casey goodbye, and CB Puts their engagement necklace, the one that he bought her, around her neck. Says, I love you.
Narrator / Reporter
Scott shows up at the Motel 6 and offers to take Casey to her job at a Subway sandwich shop. She gets in the car, and off they go to her shift at school.
Narrator
Subway. So Subway calls a couple hours later, both Lori and CB Because Casey didn't show up for work, they call each other, confused because they have two different stories. CB Says Scott took her to work. Lori says, no, Scott's out hunting.
Interviewer / Host
Lori's, of course, a bit confused because Kimball had told her he was going to go elk hunting for a few days and wouldn't have been around.
Narrator / Reporter
When Scott Returns from his hunting trip. He's confronted by cb, Casey's boyfriend, who insists that he saw Casey get into a truck with Scott at the Motel 6. And he says, where is she?
Narrator / Investigator
Scott had picked Casey up and CB had seen it. CB confronted him about where Casey was. Scott denied picking Casey up and said he didn't know what CB was talking about.
Lori McLeod
When I confronted Scott about picking her up to take her to work, he said CB's lying.
Interviewer / Host
Did he appear supportive while Casey was missing?
Lori McLeod
Absolutely. Let's go looking for her. Let's drive around with my connections, we'll find her. Scott went with me to the police. So when I am describing my missing daughter, he's giving information that she had been on drugs before and that she had left before. The police said, we aren't looking for her because she's 19 and she's allowed to be missing.
Interviewer / Host
And remember, since Kimball is working with the FBI, the Lori is convinced he's the only one who can help.
Lori McLeod
Scott and I had planned to go to Las Vegas before Casey went missing. I wanted to cancel and he said, she's an adult, she'll come home when she's ready. When we get there, it was just this heavy push. You need me, let's get, get married. You know I can help you. Nobody else is going to help you. The police made that very clear that they won't help you find her. Basically, he was it. He was my only hope of getting her back.
Narrator / Investigator
Lori was dazed and distraught at her daughter's disappearance. And in addition, Scott said that he was an FBI agent and nobody would know better how to find Casey than him.
Lori McLeod
It was a drive through wedding chapel where I think you can get french fries with your marriage certificate.
Narrator
For the honeymoon, Scott takes Lori up to the mountains and it's in the Walden area and says, you just need to relax for a day.
Lori McLeod
We went camping for our honeymoon. Colorado mountains are beautiful and just some peaceful surroundings. And he took off on his four wheeler to go scouting for a hunting spot.
Interviewer / Host
Days later, it appears that Rob and Laurie McLeod's prayers have finally been answered.
Lori McLeod
When I came home, her necklace was hanging on her bedroom door. And that to everyone was a sign that she had been there. Her necklace was a gift from cb, her boyfriend. I was very happy that she was coming by even if I wasn't there, just knowing that she was okay.
Narrator
And Scott points to that and says, there now that is proof that she's still around. She's leaving you clues.
Interviewer / Host
It's a glimmer of hope. But months pass. With no other signs from Kayce. With the holidays fast approaching, Laurie and Rob slip back into despair.
Rob McLeod
Christmases was the mile marker, I guess, because Christmas Eve, especially at our house, ended up being a big deal. I remember the first Christmas she's only missing a few months and wondering if she's just going to show up.
Interviewer / Host
The 2003 holidays come and go and still no Casey. Laurie and Rob are left with only empty chairs at their table and a bunch of presents that were never opened.
Rob McLeod
The second Christmas was hoping she'd show up and really, really concerned that she hadn't.
Lori McLeod
It's a constant worry. Is she hungry? Does she have a co.
Rob McLeod
And then the third Christmas, something's up. She should have shown up by now. I remember going to bed and like 10 minutes later, it's like midnight and the doorbell rings and I sleep flew. I remember going to bed and like 10 minutes later it's like midnight and the doorbell rings and I just like flew. My neighbor was there and she goes, oh, I thought I'd come let you know your garage door is open.
Interviewer / Host
The fear and frustration felt by Kayce's heartbroken parents, Rob and Laurie McLeod, is becoming overwhelmin. And then in 2006, a detective by the name of Gary Thatcher shows up.
Lori McLeod
Yes, he shows up and he says, I need to speak with Scott Kimball.
Interviewer / Host
But Detective Thatcher's interest in Scott Kimball is not about Casey, but rather about a scheme that sends investigators down a rabbit hole they never imagined.
Narrator / Reporter
Gary Thatcher is a young detective with the Lafayette police department. Mostly he's dealing with white collar crimes in this town where there's not a lot of crime.
Narrator / Investigator
Lafayette is just 30 minutes from Denver, but it feels like a world away from the big city.
Interviewer / Host
This whole thing started with a call from a local bank about check forgery.
Detective Gary Thatcher
In 2006, Heritage bank reported that there was a check fraud and one of their customers had over $50,000 funneled out of his checking accounts.
Interviewer / Host
Thatcher digs deeper into the apparent check fraud case and it's clear someone is forging the bank customers checks. Detective Thatcher pulls surveillance video from the bank to see who might have been cashing those forged checks. And sure enough, cameras capture a stocky Caucasian male with a goatee on numerous occasions cashing those fraudulent checks.
Narrator
Detective Thatcher saw numerous checks made out to either Rocky Mountain on natural beef or Rocky Mountain Cattle company. He did some investigation and found out the owner of Rocky Mountain Natural Beef was Scott Kimball.
Interviewer / Host
Scott Kimball, the same man appearing on that bank surveillance video.
Detective Gary Thatcher
We found that he lives just on the Outskirts of Lafayette. Lori said that Scott had taken off and that she didn't know where he was at.
Interviewer / Host
At this point, Detective Thatcher doesn't know what or who he's dealing with. And he wonders if maybe Laurie is covering for her husband. So Thatcher invites her in to answer a few questions.
Detective Gary Thatcher
You can sit wherever. Don't matter to me. We were trying to decide whether or not Lori was in on this, whether she was a suspect, or what was her role in this.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
Any suspicions that Thatcher has about Lori's involvement? Well, they disappear when Laurie drops a bombshell that alters the course of the investigation.
Detective Gary Thatcher
As we continue talking, she starts to tell me that Scott Kimball is an employee of the FBI. And so, of course, I'm like, what do you mean, an employee of the FBI? Why would an employee of the FBI be stealing, you know, 50,000 plus dollars in money from somebody
Lori McLeod
I knew? There were pieces of Scott's life that just didn't make sense.
Interviewer / Host
Lori also mentions her daughter Casey.
Detective Gary Thatcher
She believes that Scott is going to use his connections with the FBI to help find her daughter Casey, who had gone missing in 2003. I have a suspect who's committing check fraud, finding out that he's potentially an employee of the FBI, and then now she also has a daughter that's missing.
Lori McLeod
CB swears that Scott's the one that picked her up from the hotel to take her to work, and she hasn't been seen since. And to be perfectly honest, at first, I thought Scott knew where she was, and that's sort of why I kind of wanted him in my life.
Detective Gary Thatcher
It was a lot to take in, especially when you're sitting down and you're expecting to just be talking about a check fraud.
Interviewer / Host
You must be wondering, is he an FBI agent or a con?
Detective Gary Thatcher
It did not make sense that he would be an FBI agent. But what Laurie was telling me was conflicting with that, Given that he had a laptop with an FBI seal, he had a badge, he had a gun. Where I'm at right now is I'm just kind of gathering information from everybody, trying to kind of get a grasp as to what's going on. It doesn't seem like he's the type
Lori McLeod
of person, but I think he might run.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
Thatcher was expecting answers, but he was left with only more questions. Chief among them, is Scott Kimball actually an agent for the FBI, or is he as phony as the checks he was allegedly cashing?
Narrator / Investigator
Detective Thatcher wants to check the information, of course, and he calls the FBI. He eventually gets hold of Special Agent Carl Schloff.
Detective Gary Thatcher
Karl Schlaff quickly informs me that Scott is actually an informant for them. A cooperating witness.
Interviewer / Host
Thatcher is surprised to learn that it's true. Kimball is working for the FBI as a paid confidential informant.
Narrator / Reporter
Gary Thatcher meets with Carl Schloff, the FBI handler who was handling Scott Kimball as a confidential informant.
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
Detective Thatcher told me he was working on a white collar case involving Kimball. And then he asked me what I knew about Casey's disappearance.
Narrator / Investigator
Thatcher says, carl, are you aware that in fact Kimball was the last person to see Casey McLeod alive?
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
I did not know that and I told him that.
Narrator / Reporter
But it triggered another thought in Shlove's head to say that, well, in fact, Scott Kimball was the last one to see another woman who also disappeared in 2003.
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
So that basically at that time we discussed, well, that's two women now that Kimball was last seen alive with.
Narrator
It suggested that Scott was responsible for their disappearance, but we didn't know if they were alive or dead.
Interviewer / Host
Investigators are now trying to connect the dots between Scott Kimball, Casey McLeod and the disappearance of yet another woman, Jennifer Marcum.
Bob Marcum
When Jennifer was growing up, she was always a happy child. She had a lot of friends. There was no other description but beautiful.
Interviewer / Host
Bob Marcum's nightmare begins in February of 2003 when his daughter Jennifer vanishes from a Denver suburb. And this is six months before Casey McLeod disappears. Johnny describe Jennifer Marcum, 25 years old, a single mom.
Narrator
She was lived here in Denver. She lived about 20 miles south of where Casey disappeared in the heart of Denver and had a five year old named Austin.
Narrator / Investigator
And to support herself and her son had begun dancing at an exotic bar named Shotgun Willie's. Marcum was a knockout. She was the type of woman that other strippers envied because all the men were all over her.
Bob Marcum
I didn't really like the fact that she was working there, but it was easier to make money there to try and provide a better life for her son. She took me to a coffee shop this one day where they serve sandwiches and java coffees and things. She was trying to open a place like that.
Interviewer / Host
Someday before she disappears, Jennifer is dating a man named Steve Ennis.
Narrator / Investigator
Steve Ennis was a good looking guy, a gym rat, the type of guy that an attractive young woman like Jennifer Marcum could fall for.
Bob Marcum
This was the guy who that she really loved, that she really cared about him.
Narrator / Investigator
Steve Ennis gets involved dealing ecstasy and gets some time. Jennifer Markham is visiting Steve Ennis in prison regularly. Eventually, however, Jennifer Markham stops showing up.
Narrator / Reporter
Jennifer goes silent. Her phone, any communications with family. Eventually, her 1996 green Saturn is found at Denver international Airport. But there was no record of Jennifer having ever boarded a flight at dia.
Narrator
Her car was left in February, but nobody even recovered it until June.
Bob Marcum
We kept looking, and then my wife went down to the police officer down on the corner, and she asked him if he could run a search on Jennifer. And he said he would. The following Monday, we had a voicemail from an FBI agent to call him.
Interviewer / Host
That agent is Carl Schloff, who's working out of the FBI's Denver bureau. Agent Schlaf tells Bob Marcum something surprising. They were already looking for Jennifer and had been for a while.
Bob Marcum
And then we flew out to Denver to meet with the FBI and the district attorney, trying to learn as much as we could possibly learn.
Interviewer / Host
Turns out Jennifer and her boyfriend, Steve Ennis are somehow involved in an ongoing FBI drug investigation. And it's during that investigation that Jennifer vanishes.
Bob Marcum
And then they told me that some guy had her belongings. That didn't make sense to me whatsoever.
Interviewer / Host
That guy, agent Schloff says, is a confidential informant working for the FBI who goes by the name Joe.
Bob Marcum
So I told him we wanted to meet with this person.
Interviewer / Host
And so in the summer of 2005, Bob and his ex wife Mary meet the informant at a park just outside Denver.
Bob Marcum
We sat down with him at a picnic table.
Narrator / Investigator
This informant looks Markham and his wife in the eye and says, your daughter is dead.
Interviewer / Host
The informant tells Jennifer's parents that their daughter was killed by a drug dealer, an acquaintance of Jennifer's boyfriend, Steve Ennis.
Bob Marcum
I had a chill run down my spine. I couldn't.
Narrator / Investigator
Bob Marcum wants desperately to find his daughter.
Bob Marcum
He said, I can take you up and show you where she's at.
Narrator / Investigator
It's up there in the mountains, and I know where she's buried. But Bob Marcum spidey sense is just going off, and he just knows that this man is bad news.
Bob Marcum
I figured if I went to the mountains, my ex wife and I wouldn't be seen anymore.
Narrator / Investigator
But Mary is having a tougher time saying no.
Interviewer / Host
Now, it's during this encounter at the park that Joe, the informant, takes Mary aside and presents her with an indecent proposal. A proposal that he says she must keep secret from her ex husband. Bob.
Narrator / Reporter
He says, if you're willing to meet with me at a local, you give
Narrator
me sex, then I'll tell you what happened to your daughter. And not until then. He made up his own FBI form and he was going to have Mary fill in her name. I do authorize the informant to bind, gag me, engage in sexual activity.
Interviewer / Host
Mary is staying in a separate hotel room from her ex husband Bob and is actually contemplating this.
Narrator / Investigator
Mary even wrote a letter to be left in her hotel room. It said, if anything happens to me, I've gone with this strange man.
Interviewer / Host
Why would Mary even consider meeting the informant alone?
Narrator
Jennifer by now she's been missing for two years and this FBI informant might be the key. Mary was willing to do whatever it took.
Bob Marcum
Well then about 2 o' clock in the morning, Pete goes over and knocks on her door and she looks through the peephole and he's sitting there looking through the peephole at her.
Narrator
She called Bob. She told Bob about this plan. Bob told her, if you let that guy in your room, he will kill you.
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Interviewer / Host
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Interviewer / Host
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Interviewer / Host
at a motel outside of Denver, Jennifer Marcum's mother, Mary, is considering meeting with a mysterious FBI informant, hoping to get more information about her missing daughter. But when he shows up, Mary hesitates and calls her ex husband, Bob.
Narrator
Bob told her, if you let that guy in your room, he will kill you. He bangs and yells, saying, I know you're in there. She still does not answer. They call security, and he ends up peeling out around the parking lot and leaving the hotel.
Interviewer / Host
Days later, Bob's ex wife, Mary, calls the informant. And this time, she records the conversation.
Narrator / Reporter
Joe?
Interviewer / Host
Yeah, this is Joe.
Narrator
Yeah, it's Mary. Hey, Mary.
Interviewer / Host
What's up?
Lori McLeod
Did you really, really, really know how my daughter died? You had your chance. I couldn't let you perform those things on me. The only thing that means a damn thing to me is my daughter.
Interviewer / Host
Some things that I think are important are classified. And I will be in if I tell you. I have to show you. I'll see you later.
Rob McLeod
Bye.
Detective Gary Thatcher
Bye.
Interviewer / Host
Joe.
Lori McLeod
Joe.
Interviewer / Host
It seems as if any leads about Jennifer's whereabouts have dried up. But when Bob met the informant in that park, he had covertly taken a picture of his license plate. It belonged to Scott Kimberly.
Bob Marcum
I called up Carl Schloff, the FBI agent, and I told him, this guy killed my daughter.
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
He felt Kimball was more involved, and I supported him on that. If she is a victim of a homicide, we have to find a body. By 2003, I'd put out all the feelers I could on Jennifer's disappearance. We interviewed countless people. We kind of had a pretty good feeling she was dead, but we didn't have anything to corroborate it.
Interviewer / Host
For investigators in Colorado, what started out as a small check fraud case has exploded into something clearly larger. Little do they know they're just getting started.
Narrator
I first heard the name Scott Kimball in 2004. It was around this terrible accident where this young boy, Justin, had been severely hurt.
Interviewer / Host
We've always called it an accident, but it's not an accident. Whatever you call it, it happened back when Scott was living with Lori McLeod. His two sons, Cody and Justin, are visiting for the weekend. Justin is just 10 years old at the time.
Narrator
On or about July 1st of 2004, Justin had been in the house with Lori Scott and his younger brother Cody.
They were outside playing his dad. Scott told them to dig some holes to try to catch some of the field mice.
This was at about 10 o' clock at night. So he takes them out onto the property which is about five acres or so. And then he has a shovel.
Justin Kimball
Our dad has this idea to go outside and hang out and play, which I thought was kind of cool. But I always thought it was a little weird because it was pretty late.
Interviewer / Host
Dark.
Justin Kimball
Definitely dark.
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
Yeah.
Justin Kimball
A lot later than any of us usually play outside.
Interviewer / Host
I mean, you were 10 years old, right?
Justin Kimball
Yeah. There was this big steel grate that was usually just like laying down on the dirt, but it was propped up against a truck, which I thought was a little weird.
Narrator
The cattle grate was 8 to 10ft long, and their guessing weighed about 3.
Justin Kimball
And he sent Cody inside and then he told me that he wanted me to dig a hole specifically. And like a spot where he pointed
Interviewer / Host
on the ground right under the grate. Uh huh.
Justin Kimball
He told me to dig this hole. And he said, I need you to look at the horizon and don't break your stair. Be a good soldier and do what I say.
Narrator
All of a sudden, Justin says he's digging and then he sees a bright light.
Justin Kimball
I saw a bunch of stars flying flashes in front of me. And then came the big wham. And I heard it hitting me.
Interviewer / Host
And I remember running back out the door and I just see my dad carrying my brother. I just see blood coming from Justin. And he's in a lot of pain. And I was very scared that I don't know what's wrong with him.
Justin Kimball
Cody came outside and I just had a huge head injury and I could barely keep conscious. And all I was trying to tell Cody was, it's a trick.
Narrator
Scott grabs Justin, throws him in the car, and starts heading to the nearest hospital. Justin is in a state of shock.
Justin Kimball
I was trying to tell him, I can't breathe. I need to sit up and roll down the window. So I rolled down the window all the way. And as I'm trying to use the door to pull myself up, that's when I feel the door open. And I remember screaming, stop the car. Why aren't you stopping?
Interviewer / Host
How fast was it going?
Narrator
Oh, at least 60 miles per hour.
Justin Kimball
What I do remember him pushing me out was by my face, because I remember how big his hand was and how warm it felt on my cold face.
Interviewer / Host
He went like this and pushed you out?
Justin Kimball
His whole head covered my face. It pushed me out that way. I was holding on one leg right here, one arm right here. The other leg was right here. And I just remember screaming, telling him to stop the car. And it just kept going. I just sort of accepted the fact that I was gonna die right then and there And I let go. Then I just remember thinking, this guy is gonna kill me. And he's obviously making it look like an accident. And no one's gonna know. Cause I'm gonna be dead.
Interviewer / Host
However, according to a police report, Kimball has a very different version of the events. Telling officers he was inside the house when Justin was playing on the steel grate. He told them he looked out and saw the large metal grate had fallen on top of Justin. And as for the car ride to
Narrator
the hospital, Scott said, I was trying to pull you back in the car, but it's an odd way to do it by putting your hand on his face instead of grabbing a coat or something. There were no break marks at the scene. And then allegedly, Scott just threw Justin back in through the window.
Interviewer / Host
The police report goes on to say that at this time, we have no reason to believe there was any criminal activity involved.
Lori McLeod
I got a call on my cell phone from a hospital.
Narrator
We have your son here.
Lori McLeod
He's in the er. We need you to come to the hospital.
Interviewer / Host
It must have been traumatizing for you.
Lori McLeod
Yes. The surgeon came in and he said, I just want to tell you right now, it doesn't look good.
Narrator
Justin had been severely hurt, Substantial brain damage.
Interviewer / Host
It's been about 16 years, but to this day, I still have a hard time talking about my brother. In that night, I thought I was going to lose my brother. I've never been so scared of my life.
Lori McLeod
He was in a coma for a month, A chemically induced coma. And the whole family was standing around.
Narrator
There's a police officer there. Justin regains consciousness.
Narrator / Investigator
And the first thing that he says is, why did dad do this to me?
Lori McLeod
Why did dad do this to me? Why did dad do this to me?
Narrator
The people gathered around Justin in his bed were wondering, how could a father possibly have any motive to kill his son?
Interviewer / Host
And as investigators search for answers, their case is about to get a whole lot bigger and a whole lot more terrifying.
Narrator
He says, merry Christmas. Dig here. Boy, do we all dig.
Interviewer / Host
He's in federal custody now, arrested after
Narrator / Reporter
this wild police chase.
Interviewer / Host
Is it starting to dawn on you that this guy is a dangerous man?
Narrator
We've got two women who've never been seen again.
Interviewer / Host
These two dads show up at the FBI office saying that an informant for the FBI had murdered their daughters.
Rob McLeod
I just wanted her home.
Bob Marcum
I hope and I pray all the time that God would tell me something so that I can find her.
Interviewer / Host
Was Scott Kimball such a good conman that he duped even the FBI?
Narrator / Investigator
Kimball's nickname in prison is rather ominous. They call him Hannibal, after Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lamp.
Interviewer / Host
You don't take a guy that's lied all of his life or told a
Bob Marcum
lot of lies all his life and
Interviewer / Host
get him to invest the truth in him one day.
Narrator
We just made a deal with the devil.
Narrator / Investigator
Much to everyone's surprise, Justin recovers. He's in a coma for a month, but he comes out of it.
Interviewer / Host
When you woke up, what's the first thing you said?
Justin Kimball
I remember saying my dad did it because I remember thinking my last thought before I lost consciousness was, no one's ever gonna know that he tried to do this to me.
Interviewer / Host
What in the world would motivate a father to harm, maybe even kill, his 10 year old son?
Narrator
Scott stood to benefit $50,000 if Justin died.
Interviewer / Host
It turns out there is a life insurance policy on his son Justin. And just days before the accident, Kimball changed the beneficiary, removing his ex wife Larisa and making himself the sole beneficiary. How did you feel about that?
Lori McLeod
To be honest, I think I threw up. Because then it all started making sense. This was no accident. We call it Justin's very bad day.
Narrator
The medical personnel at the time said given the extensive amount of brain trauma Justin had suspended, he could not actually still have independent memories of the accident that had happened.
That statement by the neurosurgeon really hurt that part of the case.
Interviewer / Host
For Justin, there was a long convalescence ahead. And that's why Kimball's relative, his uncle Terry, shows up to help.
Narrator / Reporter
Scott's uncle Terry lived in Alabama. He immediately came out to Colorado to be with his great nephew and to help him through his recovery.
Narrator
Uncle Terry is recently divorced and he's coming to town with his pickup, his camper, his two dogs, and a briefcase full of money from his divorce.
Lori McLeod
Uncle Terry was a little creepy. Yeah. Wandered around in his underwear in front of me and yeah, he's an odd bird.
Narrator / Investigator
Pretty soon, Lori comes home from work one day to find Scott in their backyard cleaning a couch.
Lori McLeod
He said Uncle Terry was embarrassed because one of his dogs vomited on the couch and he knew he had ruined it and he didn't want to face you.
Narrator / Reporter
So she, she asks Scott, where did your uncle go? And Scott says, oh, he won the lottery and went down to Mexico with a stripper. You're probably not going to see him
Lori McLeod
for a while anyway. I'm like, well, for whatever reason, Uncle Terry is no longer here, so I'm okay with that.
Interviewer / Host
All these series of unfortunate events have Detective Gary Thatcher and District Attorney Katarina Booth thinking that Scott Kimball has been passing more than just a few bogus checks. Is it starting to dawn on you that this guy is a dangerous man?
Detective Gary Thatcher
Yeah, absolutely.
Narrator
So Katarina and Gary filed charges that would stick and those were the check fraud, forgery charges.
Lori McLeod
Scott didn't know that I was in contact with the police at this point and he says no, it's a, they're trying to pin a crime on me that I didn't do. So I'm going to take off for, for a little while.
Detective Gary Thatcher
We were able to determine that Scott was in Southern California. We got together with the U.S. marshals and they were able to identify his truck. And then that's when the chase ensued.
Narrator / Investigator
He leads police on a three hour car chase. They put down spikes, he goes off roads.
Narrator
39 year old Scott King Kimball captured yesterday after a four hour police chase.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
Part of this dramatic chase even makes the news that night.
Narrator / Investigator
Finally his truck begins to run out of gas. He puts up his hands and he gets down, face down on the ground.
Narrator
We know he's safely in custody. What was most important is we needed to keep him in custody.
Narrator / Reporter
There are suspicious that Scott is involved in much more than just financial fraud and in fact in the disappearance of several people. But they don't have any bodies. So prosecutors from Boulder county decide to devise a strategy.
Narrator
Scott had enough prior felony convictions that he qualified for what we call the big Bitch. Big Bitch means habitual criminal.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
Turns out Scott Kimball has a long rap sheet for crimes including fraud, forgery, theft and fraud.
Narrator / Investigator
If someone has a rap sheet that's worth bragging about, you can eventually charge them as a habitual criminal. It can put them behind bars for decades beyond any single charge.
Interviewer / Host
Kimball is behind bars, but the search continues for those two missing women. 25 year old Jennifer Markham disappeared in February of 2003. Her parents helped erect a billboard in 2006 near the strip club where she worked as a dancer.
Bob Marcum
After we put up the billboard, I got a call from a reporter and he was doing an article, he said, on missing girls of these clubs. We told him that we needed him to put in there, that the last person that Jennifer saw was, was Scott Kimball.
Rob McLeod
I came across an article about a family whose daughter was missing and I thought, okay, this sounds like what I'm experiencing. And it mentions just out of the blue that the last person she had been seen with is Scott Kimball. And then I just thought, oh crap.
Narrator / Investigator
Rob McLeod and Bob Marcum are part of a club that nobody Wants to join. They're fathers of adult women who have gone missing. And both were last seen with a guy named Scott Kimball.
Interviewer / Host
Rob reaches out to Bob and soon they meet, bound by the tragedy they share. How many years had your daughters been missing when you met each other?
Bob Marcum
Believe about two years.
Rob McLeod
I felt I was like living in a nightmare or a kind of a haze. And when I met Bob, he was like the pit bull, really focused.
Bob Marcum
I asked him if he could call Lori, his ex wife, and see if I could talk to her. I asked her, you know, do you know of anybody else that is missing? And she said, yeah, now that you said that, Uncle Terry.
Rob McLeod
He says we're going to the FBI tomorrow. I said, we are.
Interviewer / Host
He dragged you.
Rob McLeod
Do you just go there?
Interviewer / Host
He said he basically dragged him into the FBI office.
Rob McLeod
Yes.
Narrator
Rob McLeod and Bob Marcum come into the FBI office in November 2006. Both Rob and Bob tell my boss that our informant Scott Kimball took their daughters.
Narrator / Investigator
The FBI didn't have an informal linked to two missing women. They realized that they are in really hot water here.
Narrator
We were trying to keep the FBI from not only have an egg on its face, but right the wrongs that had happened to these families that we didn't even know was happening. Rule number one in the FBI is don't embarrass the bureau. That goes with any job you take. Rob McLeod and Bob Marcum come into the FBI office in November 2006. Both tell my boss that our informant Scott Kimball took their daughters.
Interviewer / Host
After hearing from these two fathers, the FBI assigned Special Agent Johnny Grusing to look into Scott Kimball.
Narrator
We didn't know how bad the mess was going to be when I was brought in.
Interviewer / Host
Grusing looks into Kimball's history as a career criminal. Theft, bank fraud, bad checks. And while there is no history of violent crimes, he did serve time in prison.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
While he was in prison back in 2002, Kimball's cellmate is a guy named Steve Ennis.
Interviewer / Host
Now if that name sounds familiar, it's because Ennis was Jennifer Markham's boyfriend around the time she disappeared. Ennis tells Kimball that Jennifer is a stripper, but that she desperately wants a way out. And Kimball, he seems only too willing to lend a helping hand. Steve Ennis is facing drug charges and there are key witnesses who will testify against him in his case. An opportunistic Kimball then sets a plan in motion to con Ennis because he's
District Attorney Katarina Booth
soon to be released from prison. Kimball tells Ennis that he'll take care of the witnesses. And not only that he'll help set up his girlfriend, Jennifer Markham, in a legitimate business, just as she always wanted.
Narrator
Scott says, hey, listen, when I get out, I can set up Jennifer in this legit business.
Interviewer / Host
It's a coffee shop, but it's all a setup. Kimball turns around, goes to the FBI, and he throws Ennis under the bus.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
Kimball now tells the authorities that his cellmate, Steve Ennis, has put out a hit on the outside and that he can help stop the murder plan.
Interviewer / Host
Not only does Scott Kimball claim that Steve Ennis wants to kill witnesses, Kimball says Ennis is going to use his girlfriend, Jennifer Marcum, to get the job done. This information winds up with FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff, who had reason to believe that it was true Kimball had
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
information on prisoners or inmates for plotting to kill, kill witnesses, federal witnesses.
Narrator
Carl believed that Scott was going to save lives and he needed to be an informant when he was released. He had been an informant before for the FBI in Alaska, prior to even coming here to Denver.
Interviewer / Host
So his previous work had panned out at that time. Yes, there was reason to believe he was pretty good. Yes, his information was good.
Narrator / Investigator
Yes, the FBI has a long history of using informants. But who better to catch a crook than a crook?
Narrator
A boss once told me there are no swans in the sewer.
Narrator / Reporter
Scott Kimball gets out of federal prison in late December of 2002.
Narrator
Once he got out, he was under Carl's supervision.
Interviewer / Host
So that leaves you to watch over
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
Scott Kimball as much as you can. I mean, we don't live with the person. But when you say watch over, it's. It's not the only case we're working on. How about that?
Narrator / Investigator
His job is to check in once in a while, give him some money, give him some recording equipment, and see what information he can get on his own.
Narrator / Reporter
And it's not long before he's making contact with Jennifer Marcum.
Interviewer / Host
So then you sanction a meeting, right, between Kimball and Jennifer Markham?
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
Yes.
Interviewer / Host
What was the plan?
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
The plan was to try to corroborate his information. He says that people in this drug conspiracy wanted to kill witnesses. So he offered to, as an informant, to wear a wire.
Interviewer / Host
Kimball wears a wire in these meetings, but despite his promises to the FBI, Jennifer never says anything about wanting to kill witnesses, and there's nothing to charge Ennis with.
Narrator
And then February 17, her phone goes that.
Interviewer / Host
And that is the last anyone ever hears from Jennifer Marcum.
Narrator / Reporter
In the weeks after Jennifer's disappearance, Carl Schloff is beginning to wonder what exactly happened to her.
Interviewer / Host
Did Scott Kimble say what Happened to her, To Jennifer.
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
He first told us that Jennifer was dead.
Interviewer / Host
Dead?
Bob Marcum
Yes.
Interviewer / Host
Did you press him for detail?
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
Oh, yes.
Interviewer / Host
Kimball tells Sloth he knows who killed Jennifer, but he doesn't give an exact location of where her body may be.
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
She was last seen alive in Colorado Springs. Her car was found abandoned at Denver International Airport. That's another jurisdiction. Kimball had said her body was dumped in Rifle, Colorado. So we didn't really have any an agency that was going to take the lead on the case because there wasn't enough for them to investigate based upon those circumstances.
Interviewer / Host
Schlaf says the FBI kept working on it, but without a body, the Jennifer Marcum case stalls.
Narrator
When Scott was let out of prison, he basically had one year to prove his worth as an FBI informant. He was basically running free for a year. But after a year, since nothing was provided, Carl basically was moved away from the case and a different case agent came and the Jennifer thing was starting to basically die on the vine.
Detective Gary Thatcher
Nobody saw big picture who Scott Kimball was. It wasn't until we started really looking at his criminal history and piecing things together that we could see that each individual agency had no idea what they were really dealing with.
Interviewer / Host
But in 2007, Gary Thatcher, Johnny Grusing and Katerina Booth are starting to connect the dots.
Narrator
We've got two women who've never been seen again who both were last known to be with Scott Kimball. That is not a coincidence.
Detective Gary Thatcher
It doesn't just end with Jennifer Markham. It doesn't end with Kayce. We find out from Laurie that Scott Kimball's uncle Terry was also missing.
Narrator
I was able to get a search warrant for Scott's laptop and what they
Narrator / Investigator
find there is photograph of a young woman.
Narrator
There were two pictures of a girl. One she had dark hair and one she had blonde hair.
Narrator / Investigator
They are concerned giving Kimball's history, she might have met the same Fates as Casey McLeod and Jennifer Markham.
Interviewer / Host
And at long last, Kimball will be questioned about those missing women face to face. If you're asking me if I know where Jennifer Acacie is, the answer is no. When Mother's Day means celebrating your mom, your wife, maybe even your daughter as a new mom. Trust 1-800-FLOWERS to help you celebrate every important woman in your life. With double blooms from 1-800-Flowers. Order one dozen roses and get another dozen for free. It's a simple way to give beautifully with colorful blooms that make Mother's Day feel meaningful for every mom you're celebrating. Order with confidence and get Double blooms at 1-800-flowers.com Spotify that's 1-800flowers.com Spotify.
Narrator
Sunday nights on ABC. What happens when the person you love the most turns out not to be
Lori McLeod
who you think they are?
Narrator
Everything he told me was a lie.
Lori McLeod
I was betrayed.
Narrator
From the number one true crime podcast, Betrayal. He's been living a secret double life.
Interviewer / Host
My marriage ended with a 911 call.
Lori McLeod
The tape is blood curdling.
Narrator
Betrayal, secrets and lies.
Interviewer / Host
So many people are living with their own betrayal.
Narrator
Sunday nights at 10, 9 Central on ABC and stream on Disney and Hulu.
Interviewer / Host
As Kimball sits in jail facing some 48 years on habitual offenses. Special Agent Johnny Grusing and Detective Gary Thatcher meet him face to face.
Narrator
You see this guy is a murderer. But right now, you just have missing people. You have missing Uncle Terry, missing Jennifer, missing Casey. Those aren't homicides until you prove them.
Detective Gary Thatcher
This was one of our first interviews with Scott. Now that we've had time to put more pieces together, Gary and I sit
Narrator
down, I interview myself as the FBI, and then he tells me he wants a pizza. And then I said, well, we'll get one at a break. He goes, no, I'll have one right now. I'm like, well, I wonder who's in charge here. So we ordered him a pizza.
Rob McLeod
I'm trying to help you.
Narrator
Whether you see it as me wanting
Interviewer / Host
to help you or not, I am.
Narrator
Scott was a 10 on narcissistic behavior. I knew that he would not talk with me if I did not appease that narcissistic side of him. First.
Interviewer / Host
You don't take a guy that's lied all of his life or told a lot of lies all his life and
Bob Marcum
get him to divest the truth in
Interviewer / Host
one day or a few hours. He just doesn't happen.
Detective Gary Thatcher
Talking with Scott, it wears you out. I mean, he'll talk for hours and hours and hours. If you let him go, he'll go 10 hours.
Narrator
If we can get to the bottom of what happened to Jennifer and Casey, we're pretty convinced that you had something to do with their disappearances. You're the last one known to be both. With both of them we've interviewed.
Interviewer / Host
I disagree.
Narrator
That's pretty much the case. And I know you can disagree.
Bob Marcum
You can put it however you want.
Detective Gary Thatcher
It was clear he was denying everything and he wasn't giving us anything.
Narrator
You're going to say what you're going to say because only you know the truth, Scott.
Narrator / Reporter
Yes, I do know the truth.
Narrator
Okay. And we don't know the truth. And that's what you've got going for you. Now you have that knowledge. We don't have it.
Interviewer / Host
Gary Thatcher and Johnny Grusing are getting nowhere with Kimball. Despite being behind bars, he's not giving an inch. But they catch a break when they start showing around the photograph of the young woman from Kimball's computer. Another former cellmate of Kimball's from way back in 2002. Steven Holly knows exactly who she is.
Narrator / Investigator
And he sees this photograph and says, oh, yeah, that's my ex girlfriend. That's a young woman named Leanne Emery. Leanne Emery is a young woman who, like Jennifer Markham and Casey McLeod, is a woman who's fallen on hard times. Times.
Narrator
She ends up in this relationship with Steven Holly. Holly is in federal prison and ends up being roommates with Scott Kimball.
Narrator / Reporter
Stephen Holly told Kimball that he was looking for a way to escape prison, and he had a plan in mind that would involve his girlfriend on the outside, Leanne Emory, to help him with executed.
Narrator
Again, it's just classic Scott manipulate whoever he's with. No matter where he's at. He tells Stephen Holly, I'll help you break out.
Detective Gary Thatcher
And Kimball offered to take care of his girlfriend when he got out.
Interviewer / Host
Another girlfriend of his cellmate that he's going to take care of.
Narrator
He was promising Steve Holly that he would break him out of prison and reunite him with Leanne in Mexico.
Interviewer / Host
Stephen Holly tells Leanne she needs to to connect with his soon to be released fellow inmate. He tells her his name is Hannibal and that she just needs to trust Hannibal.
Narrator / Investigator
Kimball's nickname in prison is rather ominous. They call him Hannibal, after Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs.
Interviewer / Host
A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
Detective Gary Thatcher
Maybe a little bit of insight into his psyche about, you know, who he was as a person.
Narrator / Reporter
Seven days after Kimball's release from prison, he made his first contact with Leanne Emery.
Narrator / Investigator
And of course, once Kimball gets released, he just double crossed Steve Hawley.
Narrator
Scott reports to the FBI that Steve Hawley's trying to escape, and he gives the details of the escape plan. But he takes himself out of it.
Instead of helping him get out of prison, he squeals on him to the authorities, gets Steve and Hawley thrown into solitary confinement so that Steven can't communicate at all.
Interviewer / Host
But Leanne still believes Hannibal is there to help.
Narrator / Investigator
Now Leanne Emery is completely isolated, isolated even from her boyfriend in prison. And that's when Scott closes the circle around her and takes her on a trip.
Narrator
So Scott tells Leanne, we've got to do these check frauds and thefts and stuff in order to get money for this big escape plot where they're going to break out Steve and Hawley, and they're going to go to Mexico.
Narrator / Reporter
While Leanne is on this journey with Scott Kimball, she writes some emails to her cousin, and she is so frightened that she's not willing to share a lot of information with her cousin.
Interviewer / Host
She writes, my orders come from Hannibal, and he's a dangerous person. If Hannibal knew I was talking to you, he'd have me killed in a second.
Narrator
So they do go on this little crime spree for a couple weeks before then he takes her out to the
Interviewer / Host
book cliffs of Utah, and Leanne is never heard from again.
Narrator / Reporter
Now that authorities are aware that Leanne Emery is likely a victim of Scott Kimball, they can see that this has become quite a list of people. Casey McLeod, Jennifer Markham, Terry Kimball. Now Leann Emery is added to that list.
Detective Gary Thatcher
We needed to figure out how to hold something over Scott's head. We had no leverage.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
And when all else fails, these investigators have to come to grips with the fact that they may only have one option left.
Detective Gary Thatcher
So this is the turning point in our entire investigation.
Narrator
We just made a deal with the devil. What would you do if your online store converted 36% more shoppers? You could take 36% more vacation.
Interviewer / Host
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Lori McLeod
Yes, please.
Narrator
Open a new retail location with 36% more square feet.
Rob McLeod
Fantastic.
Narrator
Hire 36% more help.
Narrator / Investigator
You're hired, and you're hired.
Narrator
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Lori McLeod
Hello, darlings. It's Lisa Vanderpump. My Hulu original reality series Vanderpump Villa is back in England where the snow standards are high and the chaos unavoidable. And if you think my staff is all drama, wait until you meet the guests.
Narrator / Investigator
Love island.
Detective Gary Thatcher
Bachelor nation.
Narrator
The challenge. This is the white lotus of reality stars.
Lori McLeod
Witness the reality star crossover event you won't want to miss. New season of Vanderpump Villa is now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney
Narrator / Investigator
plus for bundle subscribers.
Interviewer / Host
Terms applied.
Rob McLeod
I remember sleepless nights that went on for months. And I remember Gerstein telling us, don't live in the place of thinking this is going to be a happy ending. It probably isn't. Okay. What do I Pray for now. I don't care if it was a fingernail. That's what I kept praying for. I just wanted to her home.
Detective Gary Thatcher
We're trying to figure out how do we get something on Scott where we can convince him to cooperate with us. We had no leverage with Scott. You can spend eight hours talking to Scott Kimball, and you might come out with five seconds worth of really good information.
Interviewer / Host
And sure enough, during one of these tenacious interrogations, Kimball blurts out something which, intentionally or not, gives the investigator the first glimmer of hope they've been waiting for.
Narrator
Scott tells us, what if one of these girls could be found on national forest land?
Interviewer / Host
Kimball seems to be asking, if a missing girl's body is found on federal property, would that mean he could serve out his time in a federal prison?
Narrator
Scott was trying to get time in federal prison because it's easier life for him than in state prison. When Scott said national forest land, we already knew. He went hunting on the day Casey disappeared.
Interviewer / Host
Johnny Grusing remembers that when he first conducted a search of Scott Kimball's belongings, he recovered a receipt from a grocery store in Walden, Colorado. Walden is surrounded by national forest land.
Narrator
I figured she hadn't been recovered up there, but I went ahead and called the National Forest Service and said, I've got a receipt up in Walden. Do you have any missing people? So I was just following up on a lead that was probably a one out of a thousand. They finally put me through to someone who said, yeah, they recovered a hiker right before winter in the middle of nowhere, and it was a female, but they didn't think it was a homicide.
Narrator / Reporter
This hunter saw off in the distance, something glinting in the sun. He didn't know what it was. He felt like he should at least go check it out. And when he did, he found a skull lying on the ground.
Narrator
Based upon what Scott had said, based upon the receipt, based upon the godforsaken place this hiker was recovered. I had a really good notion it was Casey. Gary and I drove up the next morning to meet with the sheriff. I went and recovered all the skeletal remains, sent them to our lab, tested them against Lori's DNA, and it came back as Casey.
Detective Gary Thatcher
This is the turning point in our entire investigation. And now we had the body, and we had Casey here, and we were able to get her back to her family.
Rob McLeod
The FBI calls and says, hey, we need to have a meeting. You know, there's been some newer developments. When I had given up, she'd been found. Somebody picked her up taking care of her. And now she's come home.
Narrator
We took our whole evidence response team up to that hillside, and we walked up and down until we recovered every piece, every bone of Casey that we could. And Lori and Rob went with us.
Interviewer / Host
But there's something else. Lori had been here before. It's where Scott Kimball had taken her on their honeymoon, and that was only weeks after he had left her body there. He killed your daughter at the place you went on your honeymoon?
Lori McLeod
Yes.
Interviewer / Host
With him?
Lori McLeod
Yes. It was like a punch in the stomach. He wanted to check on the status of her remains. I'm sure. I thought we were just camping, and that's, in fact, where Casey was.
Interviewer / Host
Laurie would eventually have her marriage to Scott Kimball annulled.
Detective Gary Thatcher
It's tough to prove a homicide when you don't have the body. And now we had the body, and we had Casey here. This was the moment in the case where Johnny and I really, really knew that now we had Scott.
Narrator
We're getting that momentum. We might be able to file a homicide case. And I think Scott knows those things are shifting. Defense comes to us and says, should we talk about a deal?
Detective Gary Thatcher
He knew the gig was up. He knew a homicide charge was coming. It was clear to him that he was not getting out of prison.
Narrator
We had Casey, but we didn't have Jennifer, Leanne, or Terry. And the deal would be, are these families willing to give up prison time that Scott might serve for him to tell us where their bodies are? We had spoken with the families. They wanted their girls home.
Detective Gary Thatcher
We started negotiating terms of a deal with Scott, and as a part of that, it would be to sit down with us and start figuring out, how do we locate these other bodies.
Narrator
Scott Kimball's gonna lead us to the bodies in exchange for some reduced charges from first degree murder down to second degree murder.
Interviewer / Host
And for that, he would get 48 years in prison.
Detective Gary Thatcher
He definitely wants to take the deal. Scott wanted to avoid any kind of a death penalty.
Narrator
We're finally going to sit down, and Scott's going to tell us, where are we going? Where are we going to be finding Jennifer and Terry and Leanne? What kinds of things are we going to need?
Detective Gary Thatcher
Scott started laying out. We needed to go to Utah. And he was almost giddy or excited. He's like, you guys need helicopters. We need four wheelers.
Narrator
And I'll just never forget Scott just loving himself in that limelight. And then I remember looking at the jail deputies, I said, we just made a deal with the devil. And then we get out to this area, and it's vast, and it's huge. He walks over and he taps his foot. He says, merry Christmas. Dig here. Boy, do we all dig. And we dug and Doug and dug.
Interviewer / Host
Prosecutors have just made a deal with a devil. And that devil agrees to lead investigators to the remains of Leanne, Uncle Terry, and Jennifer.
Narrator
Our plan was to collect both Leanne and Jennifer in the first day. He said, this will be a piece of cake.
I thought by the end of the day, we were going to have Jennifer and Leanne. Like, I'm just pumped with excitement.
Interviewer / Host
You got nine big black SUVs headed out to the mountains.
Detective Gary Thatcher
We had a big convoy of multiple
Narrator
FBI vehicles, SWAT team, evidence response team, the local sheriffs, his defense attorneys, Gary and Katarina and her crew. So we had 40 people out there.
People are stopping and pausing, thinking like the president's rolling through town.
Detective Gary Thatcher
It was all about him. And you could tell that he really enjoyed that.
Interviewer / Host
They cross from Colorado into Utah and enter a remote, rugged area called the Book Cliffs.
Narrator
It's just this huge wall of kind of mountain foothill. E ish. And they go forever.
You just get a feeling like it's forsaken land. You don't see people. You don't hear wildlife. It's dirt and dust and heat.
Narrator / Reporter
They go through washes and gullies at Kimball's direction to the burial site that Kimball says he left his victims.
Narrator
He kept pointing to different creeks and saying, it could be this one, could be this one. And our team kept digging and finding nothing.
Detective Gary Thatcher
We would all meet every morning, and Scott would then start taking us out into the wilderness.
Narrator
And in that second or third trip, he walks over and he taps his foot and he says, merry Christmas. Dig here. And boy, do we all dig. Every single one of us, including me. We're all digging on this one spot. And we dug and dug and dug. No Jennifer Marcum.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
And this wild goose chase plays out day after day, search after futile search.
Narrator
We ran those Book Cliffs up and down, and we did not find them.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
On day seven, Kimball directs the the team to a dry creek bed.
Narrator
And as we're walking down here, he points to the right and says, there's a bone. And there was a bone. It didn't look human, but he said, okay, well, I think we're in the wrong place. Let's turn around and go the other way.
Detective Gary Thatcher
It was really odd behavior. And so Johnny decided he was going to stay back and kind of search that area a little bit more.
Narrator
And so I started walking up here, and eventually I found a hair clip and it's got brown and blonde hair in it. So I said I'd found Leanne, and my voice was cracking a little bit.
I remember going and picking some flowers and bringing them back and just laying them in that spot. There wasn't a dry eye in the house that day. And the whole next day, we recovered Leanne. It was a very painstakingly slow process.
Where her cranium should have been, there was a spent.40 caliber round, which we trace back to Scott's handgun. After we did not find Jennifer, but we found Leanne, we said, he's in violation of the plea agreement and we're going to trial. So Scott said, I'll give you a map where Terry was.
Interviewer / Host
Now, Scott actually drew this map.
Narrator
He did. He drew the precise exit. He provides a key down here.
Narrator / Reporter
Kimball told them that they would find a gray tarp and a rope between some trees, and that that's where. Where he left Terry's body.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
But this time, detectives search without Scott Kimball.
Narrator
We refused to take him when we went for Uncle Terry, given the manipulation and the nonsense that we went through out in the Book Cliffs.
We followed this logging road, John, and we found the exact tree that he said Uncle Terry would be beside.
Detective Gary Thatcher
We're able to find Terry Kimball wrapped up in a tarp.
Narrator
Scott had tied him up in a rope and just flung him over like a piece of trash. When the anthropologists put him back together again, they found that he had been shot in the back of the head.
Interviewer / Host
The search continues for at least one victim, Jennifer Marcum.
Bob Marcum
I hope and I pray all the time that God will tell me something so that I can find her evidence or something, whatever it takes.
Interviewer / Host
Now, since Kimball didn't lead authorities to all four victims, his plea deal is renegotiated. Two counts of second degree murder, one of them for Leanne, Casey and Jennifer, and the second count for Uncle Terry, together carrying a 70 year prison sentence.
Rob McLeod
The sentence he has is probably longer than his natural life will be. So sometimes good enough is as good as you can get.
Narrator
Today, Kimball took responsibility for the murders of four people.
Interviewer / Host
But even so, there were still some surprises.
Narrator / Reporter
Kimball entered the courtroom in a wheelchair. The courtroom in Boulder was filled with relatives of the victims.
Lori McLeod
I did go to the hearing, and everyone told him how they felt about what he had done.
Rob McLeod
I was present right there. The very first moment she took her first breath, Scott came. Kimball was there to take her last
Interviewer / Host
hearing from all the families that he hurt. That was hard. My daughter was a young woman with
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
feelings and dreams and to treat her
Narrator
like trash is despicable.
Narrator / Investigator
Kimball remains unmoved throughout all of it.
Narrator / Reporter
He is a monster with no conscience
Lori McLeod
and should be treated as such.
Interviewer / Host
This man should never be free again. You never had your day in court?
Narrator
No.
Interviewer / Host
Can you forgive him?
Bob Marcum
No.
Justin Kimball
He's unforgivable. And he's exactly where he belongs.
Narrator / Reporter
After Scott Kimball's sentencing, he's sent to Sterling Correctional Facility in Sterling, Colorado.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
But you know what? That's not where Scott Kimball's story ends.
Narrator / Investigator
Even behind bars, he's still plotting schemes.
Interviewer / Host
I was supposed to come in with
Narrator
a helicopter and get him.
Bob Marcum
I said it's a done deal.
Interviewer / Host
I'll be coming in. It's hot.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
Scott Kimball's cons don't stop even after he's sentenced to seven decades in prison. Eight years later, he's plotting an elaborate helicopter prison escape from the Sterling Correctional Facility in Colorado.
Interviewer / Host
I was stuck in sail with him and went from that to a great escape.
Narrator
So this guy is Jimmy Tanksley. He was the one who had been hired by Scott to hijack the helicopter, fly it into the prison. I was supposed to come in with a helicopter and get it.
Interviewer / Host
But instead, Jimmy Tanksley begins working with the FBI and he tells Kimball their escape plan is rock solid. I said it's a done deal. I'll be coming in hot.
Narrator
And the day of this great escape comes Scott out to the yard, looking up, looking up, just waiting for that helicopter to come.
It never showed.
Interviewer / Host
And so now the conman is the one who gets conned. At least this time. And he pleads guilty to the escape attempt.
Narrator
He's never going to stop scheming.
Scott will never stop.
Interviewer / Host
Lessons learned the hard way for former special agent Carl Schloff, whose one time confidential informant committed unspeakable crimes. Was Scott Kimball such a good conman that he duped even the FBI?
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
He duped me. The FBI has to make deals with criminals all the time. And all law enforcement does to catch other criminals.
Interviewer / Host
But they're valuable.
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
They're valuable. Sometimes they have evil intent and we get caught.
Interviewer / Host
Were you reprimanded by the FBI for your handling of this Scott Kimball? Yes.
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
My files were gone through and administratively. I found some things were lacking.
Interviewer / Host
What did they say was lacking?
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
It was more in regards to paperwork. It was never an admonishment that we shouldn't use him as an informant.
Interviewer / Host
Some of the families of the victims hold you responsible.
Bob Marcum
Yeah.
Interviewer / Host
Should that responsibility fall on you?
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
No. It falls on Kimball. I certainly understand it, though.
Interviewer / Host
You do?
FBI Special Agent Carl Schloff
They've lost loved ones, and we didn't have the evidence to arrest on those four persons until Agent Grusing and Detective Thatcher got involved and connected all the dots.
Interviewer / Host
We reached out to the FBI, who declined comment on this case. But former Special Agent Grusing tells us they've made adjustments as to how they deal with informants.
Narrator
The FBI has looked at it as how best practices and lessons learned from handling informants.
Interviewer / Host
How many other victims do you think are out there that Scott Kimball killed?
Narrator
If I were to give you a number today, I would say somewhere between 21 and upwards of 40.
Interviewer / Host
Some we may never really know.
Narrator
No.
District Attorney Katarina Booth
The search continues for at least one other victim, Jennifer Marcum.
Bob Marcum
Scott was talking to me, and he said that you'll never find your daughter. And so far, he's done what he said. I'm not letting this go. That is a fact. Hopefully I can find her.
Interviewer / Host
And then there's Scott Kimball's son, Justin, whose still suffers not just from his injuries, but also from knowing that he's the child of a serial killer. How do you come to grips with that?
Justin Kimball
It was definitely really hard at first being just saying out loud, my dad is a convicted serial killer.
Narrator
Justin, Cody and myself, we survived.
Lori McLeod
We're.
Narrator
We're the lucky ones. There are others out there that. That aren't. We're here. I'm really confident that I'll be able to do something with my life after this.
Lori McLeod
Casey did serve her purpose on this planet. Her purpose was to catch him. And by finding her remains, it all came together. So it wasn't the destiny I had hoped for for my daughter. But God has her, and nobody can ever hurt her again.
Interviewer / Host
And we should point out tonight that Scott Kimball is currently in a Kentucky prison and not eligible for parole until the year 2054, when he's 87 years old. That is our program for tonight. Thanks for watching. I'm David Muir. And from all of us here at 2020 in ABC News, good night.
Narrator
You've been listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault Friday nights at 9 on ABC.
Interviewer / Host
You can also find all new broadcast episodes of 2020. Thanks for listening.
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Original Air Date: April 28, 2026
Host: ABC News
Main Theme:
An in-depth investigation into the horrifying case of Scott Kimball—a charming, manipulative conman turned serial killer, who operated as an FBI informant while committing multiple murders. The episode reveals the devastating impact on families of the missing, the failures of the justice system, and the tireless efforts by victims’ families and law enforcement to uncover the truth.
This episode explores the chilling case of Scott Kimball, the "Hannibal" informant, whose manipulation allowed him to deceive families, the FBI, and even his own children as he perpetrated fraud, violence, and murder. Through interviews with families, survivors, law enforcement, and prosecutors, the episode traces Kimball's crimes—from the disappearance of young women to financial scams and failed escape plots—and the slow, painful march towards justice.
| Segment | Time (MM:SS) | |-----------------------------------------------------|-----------------------| | Rob & Bob unite over missing daughters | 00:43–01:13, 48:04 | | Casey McLeod’s disappearance | 09:03–11:07 | | Jennifer Marcum case overview | 24:35–27:31 | | Kimball’s manipulation of Lori & FBI informant role | 04:26–15:50; 21:04–23:59| | Justin Kimball’s injury ordeal | 35:33–43:10 | | Discovery of Casey’s remains | 66:24–68:24 | | The “deal with the devil” plea bargain | 70:05–71:49 | | Family members speak in court | 77:30–78:42 | | FBI Agent Schloff admits being duped | 80:36–81:13 | | Estimate of unknown victims | 81:54–82:09 | | Reflections from survivors | 82:27–83:02 |
Scott Kimball remains incarcerated, not eligible for parole until 2054. The search for further victims, above all Jennifer Marcum, continues.
For listeners interested in true crime, system failures, and the long shadow cast by betrayal, this episode is an unforgettable, expertly told cautionary tale.