Secrets of the Well

Summary

48 Hours: "Secrets of the Well"

Air Date: July 8, 2026
Host: CBS News
Episode Theme:
A riveting exploration into two seemingly forgotten murder cases in rural Georgia—one from 1970 and another from 1987—reinvestigated decades later by criminal investigator Clay Bryant. The episode delves into the devastating effects of domestic violence, small-town corruption, and the relentless pursuit of justice, spotlighting how cold cases can echo through generations—and how justice can still be won, even after decades.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Gwendolyn Moore Case: A Tragedy Buried in a Well

• Setting the Scene:
  • In 1970, Gwendolyn Moore—a young mother of four—was found dead in a well near Hogansville, Georgia. Clay Bryant, then 15, was present with his father, police chief Buddy Bryant, when her body was recovered—a scene he recalls vividly:
    • “She was suspended over that well and spinning around on that cable. Face was swollen and blue. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.” – Clay Bryant [01:43]
• Longstanding Abuse:
  • Interviews with Gwendolyn’s family reveal a harrowing history of domestic violence:
    • “I’ve been spent with everything from a hosepipe to a chain to a tree limb.” – Alan Moore, son [06:13]
    • “She tried to leave him, but he would always find her… He threatened to kill the children if she didn’t come back with him.” – Pat Terry, sister [06:33]
  • Gwendolyn often hid in a neighbor’s crawl space for safety.
• Mishandled Investigation:
  • Marshall Moore, her husband, was immediately suspected but passed a lie-detector test and, thanks to local connections, was never charged. Corruption and jurisdictional issues (“the well was just over the city line”) allowed the case to grow cold.
    • “For whatever reason, somebody did not want to solve this case.” – Clay Bryant [08:14]
• Return to the Case (2002):
  • The case was reopened when a distant relative, Leslie Iannuzi, began her own investigation after discovering Gwendolyn’s death certificate marked “homicide.”
  • Her tenacity led her to Clay Bryant, now a seasoned investigator.
  • Clay’s resolve: “If you’re going to bring this up again, it’s going to hurt all over again. Please, promise me that you’ll have conviction to see it through.” [15:44]
  • New forensic evidence (fractured hyoid bone) confirmed manual strangulation and allowed for the indictment of Marshall Moore.
    • “There’s not but one way for it to be fractured… and that’s with the thumbs and a manual strangulation.” – Clay Bryant [16:40]
• Aftermath:
  • Marshall Moore died before trial, leaving Gwendolyn’s children without closure.
    • “I really felt cheated. Once it had went to trial…everybody would have known that my mother was murdered.” – Alan Moore [18:49]
    • Clay Bryant: “Somewhere, somehow, my dad looked down at me and smiled.” [19:16]

2. The Fred Wilkerson Case: Another Secret in Another Well

• A Chance Encounter Sparks a New Investigation:
  • Following a storm in 2003, a district attorney’s visit to a repair shop owned by Tim Wilkerson reignites interest in the disappearance of Tim’s father, Fred Wilkerson, presumed missing since 1987.
  • Fred, a beloved fire chief and family man, had left behind an untouched car and payroll checks at the airport—a sign he didn’t leave voluntarily.
    • “A man is fixing to assume a new identity—surely he’s not going to leave five or six hundred dollars uncashed.” – Clay Bryant [23:04]
• The Ex-Girlfriend, Connie Quedens:
  • Connie (Fred’s ex) and Fred had a turbulent split over a house Fred had built for them (and deeded to her). Suspicion quickly fell on her, but no evidence—nor Fred’s body—could be found.
    • “If he’s down there, I don’t know anything about it.” – Connie Quedens [28:36]
• Break in the Case:
  • Years later, Clay tracks down Lisa Halderman, who, at Connie’s request, unwittingly helped her abandon Fred’s car at the airport the day he vanished.
  • This new testimony enabled a search warrant.
• Discovery:
  • In September 2003, Fred’s remains were found at the bottom of a well on Connie’s property.
    • “All of a sudden, Agent Hunt called and said, Clay, we’ve found human remains.” – Clay Bryant [29:08]
  • Forensic evidence (skull fracture, Fred’s dentures, and his chapstick) helped confirm identity and cause of death.
    • “We have an oblong defect in the top of the skull… victims of an execution.” – Dr. Jay Snow, forensic anthropologist [35:17]
• Legal Battle & Conviction:
  • Connie, steadfast in her innocence, insists: “I did not kill anyone, and I did not know of that body in that well.” [41:11]
  • Circumstantial but overwhelming evidence, including her own son’s testimony about her temper, led to conviction:
    • “She always said she don’t get mad—she gets even. Anybody that has crossed her has ended up in jail or dead.” – Character witness [38:32]
  • Jury finds Connie Quedens guilty of murder, sentencing her to life.
    • “This is my dad’s day in court, and this was for him and for my mother.” – Tracy Wilkerson, Fred’s daughter [42:33]

3. Personal Reflections on Justice and Legacy

• Clay Bryant’s Motivation:
  • Inspired by his policeman father and driven by a deep sense of justice:
    • “One thing that he tried to instill in me was that justice was something that in the end, we have control over. Do a little work and diligence. You could find right.” – Clay Bryant [43:20]
  • Finds personal and communal closure in righting long-standing wrongs.
    • “It’s so gratifying to…set the record straight…give them…some finality.” [43:05]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “For whatever reason, somebody did not want to solve this case.” – Clay Bryant [08:14]
• “She always said she don’t get mad—she gets even.” – Character witness [38:32]
• “If you’re going to bring this up again…promise me that you’ll have conviction to see it through.” – Clay Bryant [15:44]
• “A man is fixing to assume a new identity—surely he’s not going to leave five or six hundred dollars uncashed.” – Clay Bryant [23:04]
• “If he’s down there, I don’t know anything about it.” – Connie Quedens [28:36]
• “This is my dad’s day in court, and this was for him and for my mother.” – Tracy Wilkerson [42:33]
• “It’s so gratifying to be able to step in and set the record straight.” – Clay Bryant [43:05]
• “I did not kill anyone, and I did not know of that body in that well.” – Connie Quedens [41:11]

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Important Timestamps & Segments

• Clay Bryant’s Childhood Memory – Gwendolyn Moore crime scene: [01:43]-[05:24]
• Revelations of Abuse & Family Trauma: [06:07]-[07:11]
• Investigation Stalled by Corruption: [08:14]-[08:45]
• Case Reopened by Family Researcher Leslie Iannuzi: [12:14]-[13:54]
• Exhumation & Forensic Breakthrough: [15:27]-[16:51]
• Trial Thwarted by Suspect’s Death: [18:07]-[18:49]
• Fred Wilkerson Disappearance Revisiting: [21:40]-[22:33]
• Suspicions Around Connie Quedens: [23:31]-[24:53]
• Key Witness Testimony Enabling Search: [26:54]-[27:52]
• Well Search and Body Discovery: [29:02]-[29:14]
• Forensic Evidence in Court: [34:07]-[35:17]
• Jury Deliberation & Verdict: [41:19]-[41:56]
• Family’s Emotional Reaction: [42:33]-[42:49]
• Clay Bryant’s Reflections on Justice: [43:05]-[43:20]

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Tone & Style Note

The episode blends factual, investigative storytelling with deeply personal accounts from victims' families and investigators. There’s a somber but driven tone, surrounding both the gravity of the crimes and the eventual victories of justice. Clay Bryant’s dogged determination—“like a bloodhound”—serves as both narrative engine and emotional core, while families express both trauma and relief in equal measure.

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Closing Summary

“Secrets of the Well” is a compelling testament to the power of persistence and the importance of reopening cold cases, no matter how much time has passed. Through the dogged work of Clay Bryant and the courage of families like the Moores and Wilkersons, the episode reveals how justice, even when long delayed, can still bring solace and closure—or at the very least, “finality” for those left behind.

For listeners seeking a gripping and moving true-crime story—one that meticulously uncovers buried secrets and quietly champions the heroism required to right old wrongs—this episode is a must-listen.

Transcript

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[Interviewer/Investigator]

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[Clay Bryant]

My name is Clay Bryant and I'm a criminal investigator for the District attorney's office in Lagrange, Georgia. The Gwendolyn Moore case Ms. Moore was killed on the night of August 3, 1970. It's just phenomenal the way that that case came back into my life 33 years later. I was a 15 year old boy, wide eyed at the horror of what I was looking at. She was found in a well just outside the city limits of Hogansville, Georgia. One of the sheriff's deputies went down on the hook of the wrecker and wrapped a rope around the lady's torso and pulled her up out of the well. She was suspended over that well and spinning around on that cable. Face was swollen and blue. I'll never forget it as long as I live. Even at 15, I was able to understand that there were going to be some lives that were going to be profoundly affected by this.

[Alan Moore]

Finally dawned on me then that Mama was dead and I would never see her again.

[Clay Bryant]

This was a case that should have found resolution in a matter of days.

[Leslie Iannuzi]

Nobody ever talked about it. Everything was all covered up.

[Clay Bryant]

Her case was just totally discarded. The lady was dead when she went in the well.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Murder.

[Pete Scandalakis]

Murder.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Was there ever a second of doubt as to who had done this?

[Alan Moore]

No, ma'.

[Connie Quedens]

Am.

[Clay Bryant]

The truth bear itself to be. There will be a day of reckoning.

[Pete Scandalakis]

This one here.

[Pat Terry]

We're here.

[Clay Bryant]

All right. Police Entertainment. Everybody home.

[Narrator]

50 year old investigator Clay Bryant goes after leads like a dog goes after a bone.

[Clay Bryant]

I've tried other things in my life and I haven't been happy. I couldn't think of doing anything else. Nobody home.

[Narrator]

He has a law degree, years of police experience.

[Clay Bryant]

I don't know if we're gonna find anybody here.

[Narrator]

And a new nickname. Cold Case Clay.

[Clay Bryant]

That's our man. That's him.

[Narrator]

A joking reference to his success in helping the DA in Lagrange, Georgia, solve cases long forgotten.

[Clay Bryant]

I found a tremendous amount of satisfaction to right a long standing wrong. He had the right to remain silent.

[Narrator]

He says he was born to the job.

[Clay Bryant]

I was raised on the front seat of a police car by probably the best criminal investigator there was, my father, Buddy Bryant.

[Narrator]

Clay's father was the police chief of a tiny town nearby Hogansville. And Clay idolized him.

[Clay Bryant]

My dad was the greatest guy in the world. We spent as much time in the Chattahoochee river as about as much time as I did at school.

[Narrator]

But to 15 year old clay, the most fun was going out with his dad on police calls.

[Clay Bryant]

Every waking moment that I wasn't having to cut grass or do some of the things I had to do, I spent right behind my daddy.

[Narrator]

And that's exactly where he was on a hot August morning in 1970.

[Clay Bryant]

This was a little different. I was a little closer to this situation.

[Narrator]

When Buddy Bryant responded to a call from the sheriff's department.

[Clay Bryant]

It involved the mother of kids that I was raised with.

[Narrator]

A child had spotted a woman's body at the bottom of an abandoned well, a lot like this one.

[Clay Bryant]

They brought her up out of the well. I'll never forget. It was awful. It was macabre. And the poor woman spinning around on that cable.

[Narrator]

That image has haunted Clay Bryant for 34 years.

[Clay Bryant]

It was surreal. It was so removed from what life ought to be.

[Narrator]

Her name was Gwendolyn Moore and she'd gone missing the night before. Married at 15 with four kids, she was dead at 30.

[Pat Terry]

She was just really a beautiful person. Easygoing, sweet.

[Narrator]

Pat Terry is Gwendolyn's sister.

[Pat Terry]

She was willing to do anything to help anyone.

[Alan Moore]

The sparkle in her eyes, her laugh over her smile.

[Narrator]

Gwendolyn's oldest son, Alan Moore.

[Alan Moore]

I had probably the most wonderful mother in the world. I remember her fixing Kool Aid for us. I remember her fixing sandwiches for us as we played.

[Narrator]

But Gwendolyn Moore's smile hid a lifetime of abuse.

[Clay Bryant]

I knew that there was a lot of talk about the Moore house. The father was known as a rough individual.

[Alan Moore]

I've been spent with everything from a hose pipe to a chain to a tree limb belts.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And this was just routine occurrence?

[Alan Moore]

Yes, ma'.

[Pete Scandalakis]

Am.

[Alan Moore]

In your house, if daddy got mad,

[Interviewer/Investigator]

he got mad and he took it

[Narrator]

out on your mother?

[Alan Moore]

Yes, ma'.

[Clay Bryant]

Am.

[Alan Moore]

Quite a few times. We'd hear the beatings going on at night, and we'd just fall asleep crying.

[Pat Terry]

She tried to leave him, but he would always find her.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

She was physically taken back.

[Pat Terry]

He threatened to kill the children if she didn't come back with him.

[Clay Bryant]

This was her refuge.

[Narrator]

Gwendolyn Moore often hid here in a crawl space under a neighbor's house. That's where Allen last saw his mother.

[Alan Moore]

Her left eye was swollen shut. You barely could see out of her right eye, and you could tell that she was in a lot of pain.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

She's in the crawl space underneath this house?

[Alan Moore]

Yes, ma'.

[Pete Scandalakis]

Am.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

In the dark?

[Alan Moore]

Yes, ma'.

[Defense Attorney]

Am. By herself.

[Alan Moore]

And she said she was leaving. She told me that she loved us very much, that she'd be back to get us. And I left her there.

[Narrator]

Gwendolyn Moore's body was found the next day.

[Alan Moore]

For the last 34 years, I've honestly thought that it was me that caused Mama to die, because I felt like if I'd have been man enough to grab her by the hand and take her down the road to the police department.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You were 14 years old,

[Alan Moore]

just scared to death.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You thought your father had done this from the minute you knew what had happened.

[Alan Moore]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[Narrator]

Suspicion immediately fell on Gwendolyn Moore's husband, Marshall, who admitted he had hit her the day before. He was interviewed by police. He passed a lie detector test. And Clay Bryant says Marshall Moore also knew some very important people in town.

[Clay Bryant]

For whatever reason, somebody did not want to solve this case.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So and so knows so and so, and he's going to protect so and so and just your basic corruption.

[Clay Bryant]

That's exactly right. It was just a tragic ending to a tragic existence.

[Narrator]

No one ever was charged, and Clay's dad was helpless to do anything because the well was just over the city line.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

This is where the well was.

[Tim Wilkerson]

Right here.

[Clay Bryant]

Exactly.

[Narrator]

And out of Buddy Bryant's jurisdiction.

[Clay Bryant]

Inch as good as a mile. It's either in or it's out. My daddy had some very strong feelings about this case, and I heard him talk about it all the way up to his death. It was one of the injustices that he really does. He never got over.

[Narrator]

The years passed, but the son never forgot his father's frustration. Marshall Moore, meanwhile, went on with his life, remarrying within a few months of his wife's death and living in the same house he'd lived in with Gwendolyn. And that's where things stood in 2002, when Clay Bryant got a phone call from a local sheriff's deputy. A remarkable call.

[Clay Bryant]

He asked me about a case happening in the Hogansville area where a lady had been thrown in a well.

[Narrator]

A call that would give him a chance to do what his father had been unable to do.

[Clay Bryant]

There has to been some type of divine intervention that put it this way.

[Narrator]

Find justice for Gwendolyn Moore.

[Alan Moore]

Clay's like a bloodhound. I mean, when he gets that biting you, you can hang it up.

[Narrator/Voiceover]

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[Narrator]

On duty or off. Clay Bryant is a proud man.

[Clay Bryant]

We got to go.

[Narrator]

But not too proud to drive all the local kids to a high school track meet.

[Clay Bryant]

I was lucky enough to be raised by a mother and father. That instilled in me the basic principle that a man has to be accountable for his actions. And I hope I instill that belief in my children. My very consistent son forgot his shoes.

[Narrator]

He and wife Beth, a court clerk in Lagrange, have two children, 16 year old Emily and 14 year old Clayton.

[Clay Bryant]

You know what I told you? Your strength's gonna be in the middle of the race.

[Prosecutor]

Come on, Clayton, pick it up, son.

[Track Coach/Supporter]

You gotta go.

[Clay Bryant]

Go get him, boy.

[Track Coach/Supporter]

Let's go.

[Narrator]

But the times they spend together are a far cry from the times Clay spent with his dad at crime scenes. Experiences that haunt him still.

[Clay Bryant]

I'll never forget the sight of them recovering Ms. Moore from that well.

[Narrator]

Nor will he ever forget the day the Moore case came back into his life. Remarkably, it was on his father's birthday.

[Clay Bryant]

There are connections to some things that we just can't explain. I got chills on me now thinking about it.

[Narrator]

None of it would have happened without Leslie Iannuzi, A distant relative of Gwendolyn Moore. It all started after she found a photo of a woman she didn't recognize in a family album.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Did you have any idea that you even had a great aunt? Gwendolyn?

[Leslie Iannuzi]

No.

[Narrator]

Her mother, Millie, explained who Gwendolyn was and her tragic end. What was it about this that piqued

[Interviewer/Investigator]

your interest any further than that?

[Leslie Iannuzi]

I guess, because nobody ever talked about it. It was just like everything was all covered up. And I just wanted to know what happened.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I saw something in her face when she saw Gwendolyn's picture that I knew she was gonna pursue, that not everyone

[Narrator]

in the family was happy about it. Gwen's sister, Pat.

[Pat Terry]

At first, I thought, no, don't dig this up. It's in the past. You know, just let well enough alone.

[Narrator]

But Leslie wanted answers. She combed the Internet looking for obituaries. She called sheriff's departments, checked out the local county archives, and finally struck pay dirt here at Atlanta's Vital records office, where she found Gwendolyn Moore's death certificate.

[Leslie Iannuzi]

Once I got the death certificate, that was just. That was the best part for me.

[Narrator]

It showed not only that the death was no accident, but that everyone back then knew it.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Does the death certificate actually say homicide on it?

[Leslie Iannuzi]

Well, it has the choices, and it has, you know, the little box beside it, Whether it's a homicide, accident, and it is marked as a homicide.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So your question then was, where's the police report?

[Leslie Iannuzi]

Was what I wanted to see at that point. And no one could ever give me one. I kept getting different people with, you know, we'll see what we can find. We'll see what we could find. But nobody could ever give me anything.

[Narrator]

Leslie was convinced someone had gotten away with murder.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

There you are. I mean, kind of at a standstill, right? What broke the logjam?

[Leslie Iannuzi]

Um.

[Connie Quedens]

Clay Bryant.

[Narrator]

Bye, Clay. Leslie's persistence finally led to Clay being assigned to the case.

[Clay Bryant]

What you got for me?

[Narrator]

And then he had a surprise for her.

[Leslie Iannuzi]

Before we talk about anything, he says, I just wanted you to know I was there. And I said, what do you mean? And he says, I was there when they pulled her up out of the well that day. He was there with his father.

[Narrator]

Could you Believe that?

[Leslie Iannuzi]

No. Nope. It was something he carried with him for a long time.

[Clay Bryant]

It had so much age on it. But as far as developing a suspect, this wasn't any problem.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You knew who you were going after?

[Clay Bryant]

Oh, absolutely.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You just needed to build the case that would support it.

[Pete Scandalakis]

Needed

[Narrator]

a case against Marshall Moore, Gwendolyn Moore's husband. But Moore was 67 and ailing. Many of the cops from back then were dead, as was the medical examiner who had checked homicide on the death certificate. To prosecute Marshall Moore, Clay knew that he needed new evidence. He needed to exhume the body of Gwendolyn Moore.

[Clay Bryant]

We met with the family and told them what we were up against. And we told them it was a long shot at best.

[Alan Moore]

I said, man, I said, I really don't want to do this. I said, mama's at peace. He told me. He says, al, he says, I wouldn't ask you to do this if we didn't really need to do this.

[Clay Bryant]

And he said, the only thing that I ask you to do, if you're going to bring this up again, it's going to hurt all over again. He said, please promise me that you'll have conviction to see it through.

[Narrator]

Clay was at the grave site for the exhumation, and he was with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, pathologist for the autopsy.

[Clay Bryant]

He was cleaning up the skeletal remains, and he was looking, and he looked at the cranium, and he said, I just don't see anything that resulted in her death.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And without his finding something, we were through. Your case is nowhere.

[Alan Moore]

It was over.

[Clay Bryant]

It was over. Then all of a sudden, as Dr. Sperry is rebuilding skeletal remains on a table adjacent to the coffin, he says, oops. This is provocative.

[Narrator]

Oops indeed. The bone just in front of the voice box, called the hyoid bone, was fractured.

[Clay Bryant]

There's not but one way for it to be fractured in its traditional manner, and that's with the thumbs and a manual strangulation. So the lady was dead when she went in the well.

[Pat Terry]

Murder.

[Pete Scandalakis]

Murder.

[Narrator]

Three decades after a teenaged Clay Bryant watched Gwendolyn Moore's body being pulled from the well, the DA charged Marshall Moore with first degree murder.

[Leslie Iannuzi]

I didn't think it would go as far as it did.

[Pat Terry]

No. This wouldn't have come to be without Clay. That's just all there is to it.

[Narrator]

Marshall Moore went free on bond, insisting through his attorney, William Stemberger, that he is innocent.

[Clay Bryant]

And as far as your cancer, that's. He's saying it's still. It's in remission. Yeah, okay.

[Narrator]

His trial was delayed by illness and by an appeal. He argued he couldn't get a fair trial after all this time.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The defense, as you know, says, good Lord, you know, nobody's alive anymore. I can't call witnesses. How am I supposed to defend this guy? He's sick, you know. Why are they persecuting this man?

[Clay Bryant]

It's not a question of persecution. It's a question of 34 years ago. A tremendous wrong was inflicted on this poor woman, and it began a long time before then.

[Narrator]

Moore lost his appeal. He would have to stand trial.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What is it going to be like for you to sit in that courtroom and look across and see him sitting there?

[Alan Moore]

I know what my mother went through. I'm a big boy now, and I'll look at him dead in the eyes and say, you were wrong. You won't put your hands on somebody. Now come put them on me. I'm old enough and big enough now that I can defend my mama's reputation.

[Narrator]

But that showdown wasn't to be. Alan's father, Marshall Moore, died in 2005, just before his murder trial was to begin.

[Alan Moore]

I really felt cheated. Once it had went to trial and all the evidence that had been shown, everybody would have known that my mother was murdered. Everybody.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Do you feel any closure?

[Alan Moore]

No, ma'. Am. I'll wind up taking that to my grave.

[Narrator]

Even so, Clay Bryant feels he got his man and that some measure of justice has been served.

[Clay Bryant]

There's no doubt in my mind that the day that an arrest was made in this case, somewhere, somehow, my dad looked down at me and smiled.

[Narrator]

And fate will intervene again, but this time literally, with a bolt from the blue, handing Clay Bryant another cold case and another mystery. And guess where the answer just might lie.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Has anybody ever accused you of going to the well too often?

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[Narrator]

May 2003. A freak thunderstorm rolls through Western Georg.

[Shopify Advertiser]

Sirens started blaring, and then came the rain and lightning.

[Narrator]

Divine intervention for Cold Case Clay and his boss, DA Pete Scandalakis.

[Clay Bryant]

My boss had just bought A brand new Dodge pickup truck.

[Prosecutor]

Flame fire red four door Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck. And a pine tree broke off, flatten

[Clay Bryant]

it just like a pancake.

[Prosecutor]

It was an act of God bringing everyone together at the same time.

[Narrator]

The district attorney took his truck to a lagrange repair shop owned by Tim Wilkerson.

[Pete Scandalakis]

This is Pete's truck. As you can see, the tree had actually fallen across it.

[Narrator]

Tim had heard about Clay's success with the Gwendolyn Moore case and he was very interested because he too was haunted by a long forgotten case.

[Prosecutor]

Tim was driving me home and asked me would I open up his father's case. And at that point I said, well who is your father? And he said Fred Wilkerson.

[Narrator]

49 year old Fred Wilkerson had seemingly vanished off the face of the Earth in November 1987.

[Pete Scandalakis]

They had it in their head that he was a truck driver, he was on the road and that he had skip town.

[Narrator]

But even though he was in debt, Tim and his sister Tracy couldn't see their dad just leaving them.

[Tracy Wilkerson]

We knew that he wouldn't have just gone away on his own. That's just not his nature. He would not have just left. He was the fire chief.

[Pete Scandalakis]

He was, you know, a community guy, family man.

[Tracy Wilkerson]

He was always a part of anything that we did. He came to dance recitals, piano recitals, all those types of things.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

As you approached the Wilkerson case, what did you see as the biggest problem you had?

[Clay Bryant]

Fred couldn't find Fred.

[Narrator]

The only clue left behind. Fred's car. The same model as this one found at the Atlanta airport a month after he disappeared.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

There were no fingerprints in this car, period.

[Clay Bryant]

None. And in the words of the investigator at the time, the car was clean as a houndstooth.

[Narrator]

Even more suspicious, two uncashed payroll checks in the glove compartment.

[Clay Bryant]

A man is fixing to go assume a new identity. Surely he's not going to leave five or six hundred dollars uncashed.

[Narrator]

Apart from the car, Clay Bryant had very little to work with. But the deeper he dug, the pieces

[Clay Bryant]

started to come together.

[Narrator]

The more he kept hearing one name, that of Connie Quedens, Fred's ex girlfriend.

[Clay Bryant]

Does she know how to work that thing?

[Narrator]

Yes, it's recording now. This home video shows Fred and Connie together at a Wilkerson family gathering. Tim and Tracy blamed Connie for their parents divorce. They never did like her.

[Pete Scandalakis]

He brought her to say, well, Christmas gatherings and family reunions and if we were going to see him, we had to tolerate her.

[Clay Bryant]

So

[Narrator]

Connie Quedence was divorcing her Husband. When she and Fred bought this Property together in 1987, Clay Bryant says Fred built the house himself.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

This is the dream house.

[Clay Bryant]

This was it. This was going to be their marital residence. This was his gift to her.

[Narrator]

Fred was infatuated, even carving their initials in a tree.

[Clay Bryant]

He loved her. As a matter of fact, he deeded the property over to her for love and affection.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Written on the D. On the d.

[Narrator]

But Clay says that shortly after they moved in together, Connie wanted out of the relationship and she wanted Fred out of the house. By now, Fred was broke, and he wanted his half of the property back. On November 25, 1987, Fred sued Connie Quedens. Two days later, she had him over here to the house to talk about it. And that's the last time anybody ever saw Fred Wilkerson.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Was she ever considered a suspect?

[Pete Scandalakis]

I think they interviewed her one time, and they really didn't have any hard evidence against her.

[Connie Quedens]

I have nothing to hide. Nothing.

[Narrator]

Today, Connie Queden says she can't imagine why anyone would think that she was involved in Fred's disappearance.

[Connie Quedens]

I consider myself a devout Christian. I am a very compassionate person. I love animals. I love people.

[Track Coach/Supporter]

You said you were gonna have it moved up from Friday. Damn you.

[Narrator]

Well, you didn't say you just hung up.

[Track Coach/Supporter]

You son of a bitch, you. I hate your damn gut.

[Narrator]

But this would seem to show a somewhat less Christian side to Connie, who liked to tape phone conversations. Here she and Fred argue over dividing their property.

[Track Coach/Supporter]

This morning, I was ready to do anything to make an amiable settlement with you, but damn you, you bastard.

[Narrator]

Outbursts like this don't surprise Michelle James, a former friend of Connie's.

[Connie Quedens]

She sucks you in. She has a very gentle demeanor, this caring, nurturing type. Until you cross her. And when you cross her. Oh, boy.

[Narrator]

Angry or not, Connie insists there was no reason for her to want to get rid of Fred.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You're saying that you owed Fred nothing and that Fred's lawsuit in trying to recover this money was totally without any basis?

[Connie Quedens]

That's right. It's totally without basis.

[Narrator]

Connie even denies that she and Fred ever were romantically involved.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You're saying you only had a business relationship with him?

[Connie Quedens]

That's correct.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I was under the impression that he basically had built this house for you.

[Connie Quedens]

No, that's not true.

[Clay Bryant]

She enticed him over there with the intention of killing him, and that's exactly what she did.

[Narrator]

But if so, where was the body?

[Tracy Wilkerson]

Everybody told us that his body was in the well on her property.

[Clay Bryant]

Fred had to be in a place that was deep enough where he could go totally undisturbed.

[Narrator]

But clay's suspicions weren't enough to get a search warrant, and the case stalled until a tip led him to Lisa halderman.

[Lemonade Pet Insurance Advertiser]

Bring it here.

[Narrator]

An old friend of Connie's. I was at work, and he tracked me down. She'd given authorities her dynamite information nine years earlier, but somehow it fell through the cracks. Lisa says the day after Fred disappeared, Connie asked her to come over to her house. She was outside waiting on me with the garage door down, which was odd. Connie said she needed to deliver a car to the Atlanta airport, and she asked Lisa if I could drive her car to the airport and pick her up and bring her back. She was at the airport, at the terminal, waiting when I got there. I never seen the car she drove at all. But clay believed he knew whose car that was.

[Prosecutor]

Clay came back excited, said, I have found a witness that drove Connie to the airport to drop off Fred's car. I said, you are kidding. He goes, we've got it. I said, get a search warrant.

[Narrator]

In September 2003, the Troup county sheriff's department descended on what happened then.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

When you showed up here all those

[Clay Bryant]

years later, it was, gee, I can't imagine what y' all want to look for. I told this story before, just cool as a cucumber, so to speak.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You didn't have a clue what they were there for?

[Connie Quedens]

Not a clue.

[Clay Bryant]

We told her we were going to start a search at the location of the old well. And at that point, she says, if he's down there, I don't know anything about it.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

If he's down there.

[Clay Bryant]

If he's down there, I don't know anything about it is what she said.

[Narrator]

While Connie waited inside with Clay, Tracy and Tim waited outside with curious neighbors.

[Pete Scandalakis]

I was scared to death.

[Tracy Wilkerson]

It was something that I had to see. I needed to see this.

[Clay Bryant]

They started digging at 10:30.

[Narrator]

For 90 minutes, crime scene technicians searched for any sign of Fred.

[Clay Bryant]

And all of a sudden, agent hunt called and said, clay, we've found human remains.

[Connie Quedens]

I was stunned, and I said, you gotta be joking.

[Narrator]

Connie was arrested on the spot.

[Tracy Wilkerson]

I just remember yelling, it's about time,

[Narrator]

and charged with first degree murder.

[Connie Quedens]

I had no reason in the world to ever escape that Fred was dead. None whatsoever.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

How did Fred Wilkerson end up in your well?

[Connie Quedens]

I don't know, and that's something I'd like to know.

[Narrator]

Seventeen years after Fred's disappearance, Connie quedens is about to go on trial, about to face a surprising Body of evidence and a determined Clay Bryant.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He said he saw you were the

[Narrator]

most evil person he had ever met.

[Connie Quedens]

I happen to think Mr. Bryant wears horns. I think they've tried to build him up as a super cop. I would like nothing better than to bring him down.

[Clay Bryant]

The murder we believe occurred right inside the lighted window in the laundry room downstairs. The piece of pipe marks the location of where the well was and the day that we excavated the well. Actually, it was just as you see it here. There was no well that was visible. The well had been covered in the middle. Completely covered in the middle 90s. Connie Quedin's Again, very resourceful. She knew what she needed to do. She engineered her plan. She got the body to the well, and she couldn't have had a better, more convenient place to put a body. And that was the end of fred Wilkes. For 17 years, that's where he rested.

[Narrator]

It's been a year since Cold Case Clay hauled what he believes is Fred Wilkerson's body out of Connie Queden's well.

[Connie Quedens]

I'm innocent of this crime.

[Narrator]

In fact, she says, I think we

[Connie Quedens]

should still be looking for him. Too many people have come forward and said they saw him after that date.

[Clay Bryant]

I told my wife, I said, that is Fred Wilkerson.

[Narrator]

People like Harvey Woodham, a childhood friend of Fred's who insists he saw Fred at a Los Angeles Hotel in July 2003.

[Clay Bryant]

I was shocked.

[Narrator]

So shocked that he asked hotel security for a copy of the surveillance photo.

[Clay Bryant]

Right there is Fred going in the elevator.

[Narrator]

But District Attorney Pete Scandalakis says he will prove Fred couldn't have been in LA since he was at the bottom of Queden's well.

[Prosecutor]

She lured him in there and she killed him.

[Narrator]

And she did it, he says, out of greed.

[Prosecutor]

What this case boils down to is a woman who is not going to give up her land is going to do anything she can to prevent her ex lover from getting her land.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

That's the motive.

[Prosecutor]

That's the motive.

[Narrator]

Connie's attorney, skin edge. Could she possibly be so cold blooded

[Interviewer/Investigator]

as to basically execute her ex lover

[Narrator]

and throw him in a well?

[Defense Attorney]

Exactly. I mean, that's the question. Is she the type that would do that? We think no.

[Narrator]

The prosecution's first job at trial is to nail down the victim's real identity because DNA tests can't identify the bones positively as Fred's.

[Prosecutor]

Since 1987. Have you heard from your father?

[Clay Bryant]

No.

[Narrator]

Fred's son, Tim, takes the stand.

[Prosecutor]

What type of person was your father?

[Pete Scandalakis]

He was well liked, easy Going. I guess everybody liked him.

[Prosecutor]

Describe his temperament for the jury.

[Pete Scandalakis]

It took a lot for daddy to lose his temper. I mean, he was. Like I said, he was easygoing.

[Narrator]

And Tim gives details that might help identify his father.

[Prosecutor]

Can you tell us that? Were you familiar if your dad wore dentures or not?

[Pete Scandalakis]

He did have dentures.

[Prosecutor]

Tell us what type of things your father would feel carrying his pockets.

[Pete Scandalakis]

Chapstick, everywhere he went.

[Judge]

Call your next witness.

[Clay Bryant]

Please make calls.

[Prosecutor]

Clay Bryant.

[Narrator]

Clay Bryant recalls the discovery at Connie's.

[Clay Bryant]

Well, Agent Hunt called and he said, we found human remains.

[Narrator]

It's something the prosecutor apparently thinks jurors should see for themselves.

[Prosecutor]

Your Honor, State's about to introduce an exhibit that is the contents of the which includes the remains of Fred Wilkerson.

[Narrator]

And in fact, over defense objections, we

[Defense Attorney]

object to them being brought into the courtroom.

[Judge]

Objection's overruled.

[Narrator]

Clay Wheels, in what he believes is none other than Fred Wilkerson, have you

[Interviewer/Investigator]

ever been associated with a case where the remains of the victim were brought into the courtroom?

[Prosecutor]

In my 20 years as a prosecutor, this is the first time I've done that.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

That was pretty amazing.

[Prosecutor]

Well, we thought that the jurors should see it, and we thought we could explain that. This was Mr. Wilkerson in the grave.

[Narrator]

Forensic anthropologist and war crimes expert Dr. Jay Snow begins by describing the physical evidence he found.

[Unknown Interjector]

This is a pretty good male. We have fairly strong brow ridges coming across.

[Narrator]

And the DA Makes the connection to Tim's earlier testimony.

[Prosecutor]

Doctor, one of the things that the family had told us is that Mr. Wilkerson wore dentures. Did you find dentures when you were excavating the well site?

[Clay Bryant]

I did.

[Unknown Interjector]

These are the dentures for the mandible, the jaw, and it fits quite nicely on the jaw.

[Prosecutor]

Did you find any chapstick when you were excavating?

[Judge]

I did.

[Unknown Interjector]

This is found in the pants pocket.

[Prosecutor]

Doctor, where are the pants? Do you have the pants there?

[Unknown Interjector]

Pants are right here.

[Prosecutor]

Would you please hold those up? When the body was found, were the skeletal remains still inside those pants or. Okay.

[Narrator]

And he says the cause of death is obvious.

[Unknown Interjector]

We have an oblong defect in the top of the skull. And I've seen these many, many times over in Bosnia. Primarily, they are victims of an execut.

[Narrator]

Go back in your mind.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

It's November 27, 1987.

[Narrator]

What exactly do you think happened in this room?

[Clay Bryant]

Ms. Queens has made the statement that she was cutting off closet rods. And the area behind me back here, you can see the. Up on the wall up here. This wall was lined with closet rods. He's down on his hands and knees and he's cutting the pipe off on the carpet. And she walks up over his head and shoots him in top of the head.

[Unknown Interjector]

This is called a keyhole defect. Keyhole gunshot wound. The bullet went from this direction, from the back of the head, about four o' clock position in this direction here.

[Prosecutor]

Doctor, did you find any other things around the body?

[Unknown Interjector]

We found some pipe.

[Narrator]

It seems like a very neat fit. But prosecutors have one big problem. If Connie Quedens, in fact, murdered Fred down here in the laundry room, as they insist she did, then how did she, a small woman, manage to move him the entire length of a football field, 140 yards, all the way over to here, the site of the old well.

[Defense Attorney]

We're talking about 170 pound man, 5 foot 10. Dead weight, if you believe what they're saying. And that's not an easy thing to do. And we want to demonstrate to the jury that it's not that simple.

[Narrator]

The defense's demonstration comes at the expense of chief investigator Willis Grizzard.

[Defense Attorney]

Mr. Grizzard, this is a dummy we put together. Weighs between 155, 160 pounds. That's fine to duplicate the weight as close as we could that you testified Mr. Wilkeson weighed.

[Narrator]

It makes the point.

[Defense Attorney]

Had a lot of difficulty moving that dummy from here.

[Prosecutor]

Well, I carried hemorrhage before.

[Alan Moore]

That's a lot different.

[Narrator]

Clay insists there's a simple explanation.

[Clay Bryant]

Connie was basically the same size as he was. Connie could use a chainsaw. She'd tote fence posts. She'd do whatever she needed to do.

[Narrator]

Plus, she had horses and ATV and almost a day to move the body.

[Clay Bryant]

Actually, for her to move it a hundred yards, with the time that she had, I don't think she would have had any problems.

[Prosecutor]

That calls Gary Quedence.

[Narrator]

Back in court, the prosecutor calls Connie's estranged husband, Gary Quedence, who describes what he found the night after Fred disappeared.

[Clay Bryant]

When I went downstairs, I came right across a pistol that was laying on the floor on the carpet.

[Prosecutor]

What kind of pistol was it?

[Clay Bryant]

Ppk that I'd given my wife for protection a couple of years before.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Connie's ex husband, why was his testimony important?

[Prosecutor]

Well, he found the gun. He found the gun that we believe was used in the murder.

[Narrator]

In fact, years later, investigators couldn't find it. Score one for the defense.

[Judge]

Mr. Scandalaka's call your next witness.

[Narrator]

But that does little to blunt the prosecution's parade of devastating character witnesses.

[Narrator/Voiceover]

She always said she don't get Mad she gets even.

[Narrator]

Anybody that has crossed her has ended up in jail or dead.

[Prosecutor]

Stay called Gary Quedings.

[Narrator]

Even Connie's own son, Garon, testifies against her.

[Prosecutor]

Have you ever seen your mother become violent towards your father, towards Gary Quedence?

[Clay Bryant]

They would get in, like, real bad arguments and stuff and, you know, slamming doors and stuff like that.

[Connie Quedens]

When my son got on the stand and said that, I couldn't believe it.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Because of your son.

[Connie Quedens]

I know, I know. And it really hurt.

[Prosecutor]

Kill them and put them in the well.

[Narrator]

The case is circumstantial, but in the end, the prosecutor seems confident.

[Prosecutor]

Have you heard one piece of evidence here that proves she's innocent?

[Defense Attorney]

Ladies and gentlemen, if I've ever seen a case riddled with reasonable doubt, this is it.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Why did you decide not to testify?

[Connie Quedens]

I think that this was more of a character assassination than it was to find me guilty of the crime.

[Narrator]

Connie Queden's fate is now in the jury's hands.

[Prosecutor]

We're gonna get justice here.

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Okay?

[Track Coach/Supporter]

All right.

[Prosecutor]

You know I love you.

[Clay Bryant]

If 12 enlightened jurors look at this circumstance, there's no doubt in my mind they will come to the conclusion that Fred Wilkerson was murdered that night and that he was placed in that well and that Connie Quedins did that.

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[Clay Bryant]

There's no doubt Connie Quedens killed Fred Wilkerson and put him in this well 17 years ago.

[Narrator]

But as she awaits the jury's verdict, Fred's ex lover, Connie Quedens, maintains that Clay Bryant has got it all wrong.

[Connie Quedens]

I did not kill anyone, and I did not know of that body in that well.

[Narrator]

The jury deliberates for just three hours.

[Connie Quedens]

If they come back and say that I'm acquitted, that I'm not guilty, I will thank God and my attorney.

[Judge]

You have a verdict, madam, for me?

[Narrator]

Yes, you, Honor.

[Judge]

The State of Georgia v. Connie King. Queden's count one. We the jury find the defendant guilty.

[Narrator]

The words. Fred Wilkerson's children, Tim and Tracy, have waited a lifetime to hear.

[Judge]

Count two, we the jury, find the defendant guilty.

[Narrator]

And it's a life sentence for Connie Quedence.

[Connie Quedens]

I need to file an appeal. Please.

[Judge]

Deputy, take this lady into custody, please.

[Pete Scandalakis]

I didn't get my hopes up. I was just scared. She got away with so much for

[Interviewer/Investigator]

so many years, so many years. Your sister has said several times that, you know, a bad thing happened to a good man.

[Pete Scandalakis]

Oh, yeah.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Your thoughts are still with him?

[Pete Scandalakis]

Yes, ma'.

[Track Coach/Supporter]

Am.

[Pete Scandalakis]

Yes, don't bring him, but for sure. But, you know, we're happy, though.

[Connie Quedens]

Thank you.

[Clay Bryant]

God bless you.

[Narrator]

Thank you so much. Tracy. Thanks the jurors, one by one.

[Tracy Wilkerson]

This is my day's day in court, and this was for him and for my mother.

[Narrator]

They both went missing two days after the trial. Tracy and Tim give their father the proper burial that Connie Quedens denied him.

[Pete Scandalakis]

It's been a burden lifted off of us. She's in jail where she belongs. Just hope she'll never be able to get out.

[Narrator]

For Clay, it's a fitting end. What is it about going back and

[Interviewer/Investigator]

solving these old crimes that is so satisfying?

[Clay Bryant]

It's just so gratifying to be able to step in and set the record straight and give them. If there is such a thing as closure to something like this, at least give it some finality.

[Narrator]

His father, perhaps, would be proud.

[Clay Bryant]

One thing that he tried to instill in me was that justice was something that in the end, we have control over. Do a little work and diligence.

[Narrator]

You could find Wright, and Clay Bryant always seems to know where to find it.

[Clay Bryant]

It's been to Brundle several jokes around about you need to go outside and check if you got an old well on your property. You see me out there, you know you got a problem. Nothing could make me any happier than what I.

[Shopify Advertiser]

Connie Quedens was denied parole in 2013 and is currently serving a life sentence.