Cynthia Roth: The Lake Sammamish Drowning // 623

Summary

Going West: True Crime – Episode 623 – "Cynthia Roth: The Lake Sammamish Drowning"

Release Date: July 7, 2026
Hosts: Daphne Woolsoncroft & Heath Merryman
Theme: Investigating the suspicious 1991 drowning death of Cynthia Roth on Lake Sammamish, WA, and the chilling background of her husband, Randy Roth, whose pattern of predatory marriages and suspicious deaths forms a dark web of true crime.

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Main Theme & Purpose

In this episode, Daphne and Heath explore the haunting case of Cynthia Roth—a woman who appeared to drown in a Washington lake during what was planned as an anniversary outing with her husband, Randy Roth. What at first seemed like a tragic accident eventually unraveled into a tale of manipulation, greed, and possibly serial murder, exposing Randy Roth’s disturbing past and his pattern of lethal relationships.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Cynthia’s Early Life and First Marriage (03:32–08:00)

• Cynthia (born Cynthia Laux, later Baumgartner Roth) grew up in Minot, North Dakota, before moving to Edmonds, Washington.
• In her early twenties, she married Tom Baumgartner and had two sons, Tyson and Riley.
• Tragedy struck when Tom died of Hodgkin’s disease in 1984, leaving Cynthia a widowed single mother. Support from life insurance and Social Security allowed her to focus on her children and church involvement.
• Her best friend, Lori, moved in for a period, providing companionship and help, forming a bond akin to “sisters, but like confidants in life.” (06:47–06:52)

Memorable Quote:
“For this brief stint of a few years, it was just like Cynthia and Laurie against the world.” – Daphne (06:46)

Meeting Randy Roth & Whirlwind Marriage (08:00–12:50)

• Cynthia met Randy at her son’s little league game; both were widowed single parents from North Dakota, a coincidence that created quick rapport.
• The relationship moved rapidly. Within 3 months, they were engaged, and married in Reno, Nevada—alarming Cynthia’s friends and family with the speed of their union.
• Randy, it turns out, concealed a lot—he was actually on his fourth marriage, not second, and had a hidden darker past.
• After their wedding, Randy and his son moved into Cynthia’s home, displacing Lori.

Memorable Quote:
“Little did Cynthia know, she was about to become his fourth wife, not his second. But that wasn’t the only thing that Randy was concealing from her.” – Heath (10:15)

Early Signs of Control and Abuse (12:51–16:11)

• The couple moved into a new home paid for with proceeds from Cynthia’s previous house.
• Randy displayed controlling and misogynistic behavior: dictating how Cynthia spent her own money, what color she painted her nails, and restricting her social and physical activities.
• He pushed her to lose weight but only allowed her to take women-only aerobics classes. He insisted on strict, traditional labels (e.g., wanting mail addressed as “Mrs. Randy Roth”).

Memorable Quote:
“He’s just a piece of shit. And he’s trying to tell her how to spend her money.” – Heath (13:50)

Life Insurance & The Fatal Lake Sammamish Outing (16:12–22:29)

• Randy pressured Cynthia to increase her life insurance from $215k to $400k (over $1 million in today’s dollars).
• On a hot July day in 1991, Randy orchestrated a family outing at Lake Sammamish. Cynthia and Randy took a raft out; hours later, Randy returned with Cynthia unresponsive and already blue.
• His reaction was eerily detached, and he rushed efforts to cremate her, refusing an autopsy and not notifying her family immediately.

Memorable Quote:
“He has no emotions, he’s like, no autopsy, let’s get her cremated. And doesn’t even care enough to call her family and let them know that she suddenly died.” – Daphne (20:29)

Suspicious Circumstances Emerge (22:30–28:47)

• There were no witnesses to Cynthia’s drowning.
• Randy’s story changed—he first blamed rough wakes, then claimed Cynthia got a leg cramp and the raft flipped on her.
• Investigators and family were suspicious, especially considering his reluctance for an autopsy and hasty cremation attempts.
• Det. Sue Peters noticed Randy’s lack of emotion transformed to anger when she seized the raft for evidence.

Randy Roth’s Dark History Unfolds (30:01–47:01)

• Randy was the son of an abusive father; his brother David Roth had murdered a woman, and Randy also grew up with apparent disdain for women.
• Each of Randy’s relationships followed a similar pattern: rapid romance, focus on single/divorced mothers, insistence on hefty life insurance policies, and then tragedy:
  • First Wife: Donna Sanchez (relationship ended quickly, no tragedy).
  • Second Wife: Janice Miranda fell to her death at Beacon Rock in 1981; Randy insisted on immediate cremation and collected life insurance.
  • Third Wife: Donna Clift nearly drowned when her inflatable raft steered toward rocks during a marital outing; she survived and divorced him, later discovering his hidden past.
• Neighbors (the Goodwins) recounted seeing abuse toward Randy’s son and Randy’s grooming of their 14-year-old daughter, Brittany—a pattern of predatory, manipulative, and criminal behavior.

Memorable Quote:
“It’s so gross. Weirdo.” – Heath about Randy pursuing the neighbor’s young daughter (38:57)

The Pattern and Motive: Predatory Marriages for Profit (47:02–56:53)

• Police began to see a clear pattern: Randy sought vulnerable women with children, took out large life insurance policies, then orchestrated “accidental” deaths.
• He also tried to acquire Social Security benefits for the children of deceased wives.
• Investigators found evidence of theft, fraud, abusive writings, and Cynthia’s poem listing Randy’s criticisms of her.

Trial and Aftermath (54:08–60:14)

• The case attracted enormous media and public attention.
• Testimony from many witnesses discredited Randy—Cynthia’s children, neighbors, ex-wives, a scuba trainer who refuted Randy’s claim of being a weak swimmer, and more.
• Evidence made it impossible that Cynthia drowned as Randy described; belongings in the raft remained dry, and Randy was calm throughout rescue efforts.
• Randy was found guilty of first-degree murder and two theft convictions, sentenced to 51 years in prison.

Memorable Quote:
“Got his ass.” – Heath (54:08), after Randy’s supposed poor swimming ability was disproved by a scuba instructor.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Cynthia’s Early Life & First Marriage: 03:32–08:00
• Meeting Randy and Quick Marriage: 08:00–12:50
• Controlling Behavior Begins: 12:51–16:11
• Lake Sammamish Outing & Cynthia’s Death: 16:12–22:29
• Investigative Suspicion & Changing Story: 22:30–28:47
• Randy Roth’s Background and Pattern: 30:01–47:01
• Law Enforcement Closing In & Pattern Unveiled: 47:02–56:53
• Trial, Evidence, Verdict: 54:08–60:14

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Notable Quotes

• “We’re going to be talking about one of the biggest pieces of shit I think we’ve talked about on this show.” – Heath (02:41)
• “If only Cynthia and Laurie could have just continued on together, nothing would have gone bad. No evil man would have come upon them.” – Daphne (11:17)
• “The gall of this man.” – Daphne, re: Randy’s misogynistic rules (14:57)
• “He was my best friend for eight years, but we knew he hated women.” – Ben Goodwin, former neighbor (45:52)
• “The jury deliberated for just over eight and a half hours and returned a guilty verdict of first degree murder.” – Heath (58:45)
• “How did he drown her that day? I just wonder.” – Daphne (59:11)

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Additional Memorable Moments

• Daphne reveals her thriller novel, "The Season of Sinking," is partly inspired by Lake Sammamish and events like Cynthia’s case (17:11, 61:38).
• The eerie coincidence that Ted Bundy committed two abductions at Lake Sammamish 17 years prior to Cynthia’s drowning (20:54).

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Case Outcome & Current Status

• Randy Roth was sentenced to 51 years in prison and remains incarcerated. He was only prosecuted for Cynthia’s murder, though strong suspicion remains he murdered Janice and attempted to kill Donna Clift.

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Takeaways

• The episode illustrates how patterns, red flags, and financial motivations can often link preventable tragedies. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of listening to survivor instincts, warnings from others, and the deep-seated dangers of manipulative abusers who embed themselves into vulnerable families.

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For full episode coverage and visual references, visit @goingwestpodcast on Instagram or join the discussion on Facebook. Daphne's new lakeside thriller, "The Season of Sinking," is available now in hardcover, Kindle, and audiobook.

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[This summary omits ads, intro/outros, and strictly focuses on narrative and investigative content.]

Transcript

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

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[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

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[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

What is going on, true crime fans? I'm your host, Heath.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And I'm your host, Daphne.

[Heath]

And you're listening to Going West.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Hello, everybody. Hope you're doing well today. We are doing great. Today is a very special day. We have a very special episode for you because my new lakeside thriller, the Season of Sinking, is out now. So for today's case, I really wanted to find a Washington Lake murder.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Which I was like, that's not going to happen. Because I feel like Keith and I love Pacific Northwest cases and I feel like we've covered every case so far.

[Heath]

I've covered a lot of them. Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah. Seriously. And because my book takes place on a lake in Washington and I went on to Google and I looked up Washington lake murder, and today's case is that case. And I couldn't believe that we hadn't covered it so far because also, this is such a can of worms case. Like, yeah. The layers of this story. It's unbelievable.

[Heath]

Oh, yeah. We're going to be talking about. You know, I say this almost every episode, but today we're going to be talking about one of the biggest pieces of shit I think we've talked about on this show. So prepare yourself because it is unreal.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

It really is.

[Heath]

And also, by the way, go and pick up Daphne's new thriller novel, the Season of sinking, wherever you get your books.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yes, thank you so much.

[Heath]

So without further ado, this is episode 623 of Going West. So let's get into it.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

In July of 1991, a 34 year old woman set off on the waters of Lake Sarah, Mamish, Washington with her husband for their anniversary. But she wouldn't make it back to shore alive. What initially appeared to be a tragic drowning accident soon raised troubling questions, leading investigators down a path that would uncover a far more complicated story and a past that no one could ignore. This is the murder of Cynthia Baumgartner Roth, the Lake Sammamish drowning. Cynthia Laux, also known as Cindy, but we're going to call her Cynthia today, was born on November 11, 1956 to parents Hazel and Meryl Loucks in Minot, North Dakota alongside her brother Leon. But he was in his teens when she was born, so he was a lot older. But while she was still young, Cynthia and her family moved across the country to Edmonds, Washington. Super cute little town. And there, teenage Cynthia worked at an all American eatery called Jimbo's family restaurant on Highway 99.

[Heath]

Jimbo's. Oh man, I know Highway 99 very well. It's so funny because it's, it really is such a long highway. It is.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

By the way, guys, Heath grew up like right off Highway 99, but in Oregon.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

So crazy. And this was, was in Linwood, Washington while her father was the deacon at their local church and that was called the Westgate Chapel. Into early adulthood, Cynthia then worked as a legal secretary until In April of 1976, at the age of 20, she married a man named Tom Baumgartner in King, Washington and became Cynthia Baumgartner. By the end of 1981. They had two sons together, Tyson and Riley. And Tom worked hard for UPS to provide for his family, while Cynthia raised the kids in Everett, Washington. I know I'm naming like a lot

[Heath]

of Washington towns, Edmonds, Everett, King, Linwood. Linwood, we got them all.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

But most of the story takes place around Everett, Washington and just outside of Seattle. Honestly, again, he's working for UPS, she is raising the kids. But then in 1984, at the young age of 29, Tom contracted Hodgkin's disease, which is a cancer of the lymph nodes. And he died just six months later in November of 1984, which then, of course, left Cynthia a widow and a single mother. So, I mean, the fact that he got the diagnosis and six months later

[Heath]

he was deceased, that was very quick.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Very quick, very, very hard on the family. But due to his insurance and Social Security benefits, she was able to stay home and raise the boys. And. And in her free time, she volunteered at the local church. This was the Silver Lake Chapel in Everett. And she still lived very close to her family, so they were always there for her. And she really leaned on her faith and just hoped that prayer would help bring her further financial stability as well as help her to get through the grief of losing her beloved husband. And soon enough, her best friend Lori moved in to keep her company. I love this part of the story because, you know, for this brief stint of a few years, it was just like Cynthia and Laurie against the world.

[Heath]

Yeah, yeah. They're almost like. They're almost like sisters, but like confidants in life.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yes.

[Heath]

You know, they're there for each other.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

It's like almost like a lavender marriage.

[Heath]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

In the best way, because, you know, they. They did everything together. They. They really, truly were like partners in so many ways. Actually, Ann Rule wrote a book about this case. It's called A Rose for Her Grave. And this book is incredible. If anybody is looking for a really good true crime read, hey, go check it out. Yeah. It is very, very detailed. I love the way that Anne writes. So in her book, she explains that Laurie and Cynthia would cook and clean together and that Laurie helped with the boys, and the two of them were in a bowling league together, and they even joined or they even opened a joint bank account. So, you know, they're doing all these partnery things together and just really supporting each other during this time.

[Heath]

I love that. I absolutely love it.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

I know. I love that, too. So they were actually so close in December of 1985. So just a little over a year after Tom passed, that Cynthia drew up a new will and named Lori as her executor, as well as the guardian to her boys. So they continued on with life like this, with Cynthia casually, very casually, looking for romance, but never too seriously, because she felt men, quote, we're all looking for the same thing. And, girl, ain't that the truth. Not you, Heath.

[Heath]

Oh, man. Calling you out, boys. So obviously it wasn't on purpose when a new man came into her life because Cynthia was just casually going about her business, helping out with her son's little league team, Whether it be, you know, assisting, coaching the team, or working the concession stand during games, Slinging hot dogs and bags of popcorn for parents and their kids. When one night In March of 1990, she met 35 year old Randy roth. And this is the evil man we're talking about today. So Randy was a mechanic, but often coached his son's little league team, too, on the league above Cynthia's son's team. So one day, he and his son Greg headed to the concession stand as Cynthia worked it and they began chatting. He charmed her with his looks and his positive personality, and she felt especially connected to him since their sons shared an interest in baseball.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And this is pretty cute. She's working a concession stand, he comes up with this boy, and she's there for her boy, and it's kind of like, hey, another parent. Yeah, pretty cute.

[Heath]

And on top of this, Randy was also a widow. You know, he seemed like a really, you know, at the time, he seemed like a really great dad, which meant a lot to her. And weirdly, he was also from North Dakota.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

So random. Like they have so much in common.

[Heath]

Yeah, they live in Washington, but they're both from North Dakota. This was actually. He was raised in Bismarck, and of course, again, she was raised in minat,

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

which are not far from each other either. I think it's like an hour and a half.

[Heath]

Yeah, yeah. Not. Not too far.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

So kind of a wild connection.

[Heath]

So it did seem like they had a lot in common by that point. It had been four and a half years since her husband Tom had passed. And though, like Daphne said, she hadn't been seriously looking for a new partner, this guy felt like a good one, you know, he really did feel like maybe he could be. Maybe they could kind of blend the families together.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Bit of a catch, no pun intended.

[Heath]

Well, by July, so just over three months into meeting and over a month into officially dating, Randy asked Cynthia to marry him.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Moving fast.

[Heath]

Yeah, very fast. And she said yes. But little did Cynthia know, she was about to become his fourth wife, not his second. But that wasn't the only thing that Randy was concealing from her. On August 1, 1990, Cynthia and Randy headed down to reno, Nevada, for a classic car show. And they got married that day in, like, a little commercial chapel. You know, it's very. It's very Nevada, which really shocked her parents as well as Tom's parents, Because they were still very much in Cynthia's life. So they're like, that was really, really fast, you know, you guys just met, right? Are you sure? You know, and she was like, yeah, I'm sure. I mean, even her best friend Laurie couldn't believe how fast their relationship was moving. But Randy had only shown Cynthia the good parts of him. Well, obviously the phony parts of him, because as we're gonna talk about today, this guy is a phony fuck. But she believed that he was exactly what she had been praying for all of these years.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Well, since Cynthia's house was bigger, Randy and his son Greg moved in, which meant Laurie had to move out. So this is kind of sad, Lori. I know. And now, like, when you guys hear the rest of this story, it's going to be so sad. Like, if only Cynthia and Laurie could have just continued on together, nothing would have gone bad. No evil man would have come upon them. Like, it's just. It really breaks your heart.

[Heath]

Yeah. But Randy, you know, he manipulated his way into the situation. He's like, hey, we're married now. Laurie's got to go.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Hey, put his claws into her. But, you know, of course, even though Laurie was sad that this time was ending, she was also really happy for Cynthia. And she thought, oh, she's married to this great man. Yes, it moved really fast. But I'm happy for her and I

[Heath]

hope this goes well because that's what. That's what a good friend would do anyway, right?

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

So they stayed living at Cynthia's house for a little while, but then they wanted a bigger house because, you know, it's them and three boys. So they moved to a new house together. A bigger, beautiful house on five acres fitted with apple trees and Douglas firs. It was the perfect place for this new blended family of five, now in Woodinville, which is just outside of Seattle. So about 30 minutes from the old

[Heath]

house, I gotta say, the. The apple orchards and the. And the Doug Fir trees. That is so Washington state.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

I know. And it's so charming. I mean, their house was right on a highway, but it was very quiet. Highway, obviously. The fact that they're sitting on five acres, you can guess that this is a rural area.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Like from the street view, which I'll post, or if you're watching on YouTube, you can see it, is so freaking cute. So with this move, Randy left behind his life as a mechanic and began working for the state of Washington. But things soon, very soon, began to spiral downward as Cynthia realized that Randy wasn't all she had hoped he was. His controlling nature really began to show, even down to little things like the color she painted her Nails and how much she spent to get them done. Despite the fact that she was always using her own money, by the way. But he's even controlling her money. And by the way, the home that they lived in was paid for by Cynthia using part of the money that she used to sell her house. She sold her house for about half the price of this new house.

[Heath]

Right, her and Tom's old house.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Exactly. And then she paid for the rest of it. And so when Randy sold his house, he got to keep his money. He didn't put it into their house together.

[Heath]

Like, this is just scumbag.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah, he's just a piece of shit. And he's trying to tell her how to spend her money. Her parents and in laws rarely saw Randy and found him to be emotionless and dull. Not the charming, charismatic man that he chose to show certain people. Like, at one point, within months of their marriage, Cynthia wanted to join a health club. So a gym, but he wouldn't allow her to because he felt that she could meet a man there. So he's like, well, there's other guys at the gym, so I don't want you to go to the gym. But then he got a gym membership or he joined, you know, a health club and there's other women there. But of course he. It doesn't matter for him.

[Heath]

Yeah, gym for me, but not for the.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah, you know, that's the new phrase. Gym for the offer or Jim for

[Heath]

me, not for the. Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

But then he basically forced her. If you want to work out, you have to go to the YWCA so that she could take women only aerobics classes. But he was also pushing her to go to these aerobics classes because he was insistent that she lose five pounds. Like the gall of this man.

[Heath]

This is so typical of misogynistic and sexist men. The fact that they're like, you need to lose weight, but also you can't go to the gym because other men might see you there.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Like, you can only go to the female only classes.

[Heath]

Yeah, that's so. That's like so crazy to me.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

No, it's insane. It's horrible. And also this is going to piss you off. When she would get mail, like, you know, a letter in the mail or if she's getting a bill in the mail, anything like that. He would actually get mad at her. If the letter was addressed to Cynthia Roth, which is still obviously using his surname.

[Heath]

Yeah. Which is her name.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And not Mrs. Randy Roth. He wanted to say Mrs. Randy Roth for every bill or Letter.

[Heath]

She, my boy. Is this the 1920s? What are we doing?

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

I mean, even in the 90s, it's like, bro. Because also like, that's crazy. That's crazy.

[Heath]

No, that is so crazy.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Well, it wasn't long at all, only a couple months that Randy brought up life insurance, Worried that if something happened to one of them, their measly policy of $215,000 worth wasn't enough for one of them to raise the three boys on their own. So if they raised it to $400,000, which is equivalent to $1 million today, give them a little more wiggle room.

[Heath]

Yeah. And of course, this is exactly what Randy would be pushing. Well, one week before their first wedding anniversary, Randy had this idea to take Cynthia and the boys on a little trip to Lake Sammamish. This is a very, very beautiful Washington lake. It's a 530 acre freshwater lake just about 15 miles from Seattle. And there are homes that surround this lake as well. So many people live on the lake and enjoy swimming and boating and fishing. But it also has, like, public access from various landings that are around the lake, which is what the Roth Baumgartner family did that day. They actually went to Idlewood park, which is towards the northern tip of the lake.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

It's crazy because. So as we're going to get into a little bit more later, my new thriller novel, the Season of Sinking, it's based on, like, this lake. Lake Samamish inspired my book. And so I went to it years ago just to kind of like, be

[Heath]

there, just to kind of get some like, inspiration. Totally your book.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Totally. So from where I was coming in Seattle, the. The quickest or the, like, the closest landing and public park area was at the northern tip. And. And so I went there and I found it.

[Heath]

Paddlewood Park.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yes. And I had no idea, again, that this happened at that time. But also I was. When I was researching this case, I was like, ah, that's probably not the one that I went to. And then I went back in my photos and it is. So I get why they went here because I've been. And it is so beautiful. The. The park area itself, there's. Well, now there's a playground. I don't know if it was there in the 90s. It probably was. But the park area is huge and it's. The water is right there. There's a bunch of trees on the shoreline, of course, and at the park. But it has such a clear view of the water. It's such a beautiful spot.

[Heath]

Yeah, absolutely. Well, this, this was a very hot summer day that they went there. Hotter than usual for a Washington summer day. It was hitting, you know, 90 degrees Fahrenheit or 32 degrees Celsius that afternoon. So as you guys can imagine, many had the same idea that they did and flocked to the shores of Lake Sammamish for a day of swimming.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Who wouldn't want to do that?

[Heath]

I mean, it sounds like a perfect day. Even though the waters were still. I will say the waters were still very cold because of the snow runoff. You know, it had melted. So, yeah, the lake was still a bit cold. Well, by that point, Randy's son Greg was about 13, and Cynthia's boys, Tyson and Riley, were 12 and 9. So Cynthia and Randy felt pretty comfortable, you know, letting these boys swim in the designated swimming area while they set off on the lake in an 11 foot long inflatable raft. But they were gone for a lot longer than anticipated with Randy arriving back hours later with Cynthia, his wife of one year, unresponsive in the raft beside him. So they're gone for hours. They come back, and Cynthia is now deceased in the raft, and their boys

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

are just on the shore. I mean, they've been gone for hours. Like what happened?

[Heath]

Yeah. And it was also very clear that she had been dead for a little while because she was already noticeably blue. Now, this is when the story really takes a turn. You know, very similar to a story that we covered on Going west last week, the happening now disappearance of Lynette Hooker. Because when Randy got to the shore seeking help, he explained that the rough wake of the waters caused the raft to flip, but Cynthia was already in the water when it happened. So Randy explained that the raft essentially suffocated her and she drowned. And just as he often was around Cynthia's family, Randy showed a severe lack of emotion or urgency at the situation as he pulled Cynthia on the beach. And he even seemed indifferent to investigators when they arrived on the scene, which immediately obviously made him look very suspicious.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah, you can't be indifferent to your dead wife.

[Heath]

Yeah, that's crazy. And even more suspicious, Randy was refusing an autopsy and was actually trying to get Cynthia's body cremated as fast as possible. That never looks good.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

No.

[Heath]

Even be. Even before, like, even telling her parents that she was dead.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah. So she passes away. He has no emotions. He's like, no autopsy. Let's get her cremated. And doesn't even care enough to call her family and let them know that she suddenly died.

[Heath]

Yeah, he's just trying to you know, well, in my opinion, he's obviously trying to get rid of evidence, potential evidence, like on her body.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

If you have nothing to do with it, why would you want him? Why are you trying to be like, okay, she's dead. Let's move on, guys. Woo.

[Heath]

Yeah, let's move on with life. My wife just fucking died today.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

That's literally not how it works. But it's so eerie, Heath, because you know, of course, like you said, this is a beautiful lake in Washington, but it's very nice. There's a lot of really nice houses around it, really, really great schools. The crime rate is low. But this isn't the only freaky thing to happen on Lake Samamish. Again, unbeknownst to me, because also it was the location of two abductions by Ted freaking Bundy. Because in July of 1974, so exactly 17 years before Cynthia mysteriously drowned in this lake, ted Bundy abducted 23 year old Janice Ott and 19 year old Denise Nasland here. And then he murdered them and disposed of their bodies nearby. So there's like a weirdly dark history at this beautiful, quaint, picturesque lake.

[Heath]

Yeah. And you know, it's so sad because Cynthia was just expecting to take her boys on this lovely summer day outing to this beautiful lake. Yeah, she's getting out there, she's rafting around and then. Well, we'll get into it. But.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Well, that's what I mean when I said earlier how it's just if only she would have known that this evil person was gonna walk into her life and she could have just stayed with this amazing woman, best friend of hers, and they could have taken on the world together forever. Because this guy was just nothing but trouble as we're very much gonna get into.

[Heath]

And again, you know, obviously hindsight 20 20.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Oh no, it's not her fault. I just, I hate that he was able to manipulate her.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

So anyway, despite attempts at bringing 34 year old Cynthia back, she was rushed to a hospital in Bellevue, Washington and pronounced dead at 6:35pm so police hope that since it was so busy out on the waters, like there were dozens of people swimming and boating, that they would have many witnesses to confirm what Randy was saying. But it's so weird because you and I have been on many lakes and we know that. I don't know, when I'm on a lake, I'm just worried about what I'm doing on the boat. And I'm never driving though, so I'm not looking at the water. There's always one Person driving, and maybe they're paying attention.

[Heath]

It's me.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

It's you.

[Heath]

It's always me.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And you're paying attention to what's going on in the water. But as a boat driver of past do, are you, like, what's going on on those waters, or are you just worried about what's going on in front of you?

[Heath]

I don't think I've ever been in a scenario in which there has been, you know, crazy wakes. I mean, you know, obviously wakes that weren't purposefully made for wakeboarding. Of course.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Right.

[Heath]

I've also done. But, yeah, I'm not really concerned about it all that much. I've never been in a situation where it's, like, stormy, and it's like, oh, oh, sorry.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

No, no, no. I mean, like. I mean, like, have you. Sorry. I explained that really badly. If you're on the water, like, if you saw somebody on a raft, obviously you're making sure you're not going to hit them.

[Heath]

Oh, yeah, of course.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

But are you necessarily paying attention to what other people are doing?

[Heath]

Yes.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Okay.

[Heath]

Yes, absolutely. Yeah. You definitely want to be aware of your surro, because obviously there's people that jump off their boats and they swim and they're out in the middle of the lake. You don't want to run them over.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Well, that's what's kind of weird here, is it seems like nobody saw them at all.

[Heath]

Yeah. And it would be a lot easier to see something like that, probably in this day and age with technology and cell phones and stuff. People are taking videos of their being on the boat or whatnot.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

True.

[Heath]

But this was 1990.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah. And this also is a huge lake. It's 500 acres across. So although there were dozens of people out swimming and boating, obviously they were able to get away with going out on their raft and her dying and nobody seeing it because nobody saw it. So just so you guys know, there were no witnesses to her death, which is making the situation a lot more difficult.

[Heath]

Yeah. Nobody can corroborate exactly what happened.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Well, then, to make matters even more complicated, Randy kind of changed his story, which is never a good thing. He explained later that night that Cynthia swimming, she got a cramp in her leg and that she clung to the raft to, you know, keep herself afloat while she was getting this leg cramp. And then the raft flipped over on top of her, and that's how she died. Which, like, if he's on top of it and she's just holding onto it. This is a small woman. How is the raft going to flip on top of her. That doesn't make any sense.

[Heath]

None of this story makes any sense whatsoever.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And Randy is saying that she died before he was able to help her, which would mean that he was in the water and everything that they had was in the water with them, which I'm going to get into in a second, too. Like, I guess it's just really hard to visualize this occurring because it just.

[Heath]

It's not clicking because it didn't occur. Right. Thank you. It did not happen.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Exactly. So the investigator, a woman named Sue Peters, set out to collect evidence as everyone surrounding the investigation was just feeling a little bit sus about Randy. And she was taken aback when Randy went from completely emotionless. Well, by the way, Cynthia's poor sons, who now lost both of their parents, were inconsolable. And here's Randy going from emotionless to angry, telling sue that she had no right to take that raft for evidence. What the hell? But they did it anyway. And as they began interviewing those close to Cynthia and Randy, they broke open a case that was much bigger than one woman accidentally drowning in a lake, which included multiple wives and one other very suspicious death. The best summer pieces are the ones you end up wearing on repeat. Comfortable, versatile, and somehow right for almost every occasion. Well, Quince makes it easy to create a summer wardrobe you will love with elevated essentials made from premium materials like European linen, organic cotton, and washable silk. Without the traditional retail markup.

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[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

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[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

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[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

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[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Randy Roth grew up in a Catholic family in Bismarck, North Dakota, as one of four five children who claimed their father was abusive. And although his mother was reportedly supportive and good, Randy kept in touch with his father throughout his life while telling people his mother was dead when she wasn't.

[Heath]

What?

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah.

[Heath]

For what reason?

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Well, we're going to get into it seems like Randy hated women, even though it's not like he was in a situation where his mother was abusive, it was his father. So I don't know what his thing was against women, but Randy was obviously hated women and we've covered a few cases where the situation is Very similar. Multiple siblings, abusive father, and actually where two boys become murderers. Like in our episode that we covered last summer on Haddon Clark.

[Heath]

Oh, that crazy one. Oh my God, that one was insane.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

I know, that's like an unforgettable story. And this is the situation for the Roth family because in 1977, so 14 years before Cynthia's death occurred, Randy's younger brother David murdered a girl. In August of 1977, a 17 year old girl named Lisa Ann Roberts was hitchhiking in Roseburg, Oregon after running away from home when 20 year old David Roth picked her up. And when he propositioned her for sex and she rightfully turned him down, he strangled her and shot her in the head and then dumped her body near Everett, Washington. So let us know if you want us to cover that story because that there are so many details to that case. She actually remained a Jane Doe for decades though. David was arrested in January of 1979 after confiding in a friend what he had done. So he told a friend that he picked up a hitchhiker and killed her. And because of that he was arrested. So when Randy and Cynthia met, little did she know his brother David was in prison for murder.

[Heath]

And that so crazy.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah. And that Randy had similar tendencies. It's just wild.

[Heath]

We've only ever seen a couple cases that are similar where there is a sibling that goes on to like they're both murderers. It's. And that I think that's so wild because it's like, then you start getting into like, well was it like, were they just like genetically messed up from their family life or like, like what happened there?

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

That's where the nature versus nurture really comes in. But that's why it's interesting because as we're going to talk about, they have three sisters who are seemingly normal and then the two men are abusive and murderers and they had an abusive father. So I'm sure that played a role.

[Heath]

Yeah, absolutely. And when you see photos of Randy, I don't know why, but he really does give serial killer like I don't know what it is. He's just got that face, that undeniable SK Face.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

SK Face. Oh my God, that's a new one too.

[Heath]

Well, and the reason that David was actually in Washington in the first place at age 20 to be able to actually murder Lisa Ann Roberts was because just like Cynthia's family, the Roths had moved to Washington while the kids were still young. So they, they were partially raised there. Well, Randy went on to enlist in the Marine Corps, reportedly because he wanted to emulate his movie hero, Billy Jack. But he was discharged after serving a year as a file clerk in Okinawa and got into some trouble right when he arrived home because basically he was arrested for a previous robbery in which he robbed a service station, reportedly so that he could pay for his girlfriend's abortion. Well, because I will say at this time, he was dating another woman, Donna Sanchez, who he quickly went on to marry. And it was from Donna that Randy got his one and only son, Greg, who we have already mentioned, who was born in 1978. But suddenly, shortly after Greg was born, Randy filed for divorce and obtained custody of Greg, with Donna receiving visitation rights. Then, a couple Years later, in 1981, Randy met a woman named Janice Miranda, who was a divorcee and also a single mother of a girl named Jelena. And then they married within a month of dating. So just like he had done with Cynthia, you know, it's like he moves very, very quickly.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

He clearly has, you know, some motivations.

[Heath]

Yeah. And also like he would do with Cynthia, Randy insisted to Janice that they buy big into life insurance, and it would only be eight months later that Janice would suddenly pass away. Because on Thanksgiving weekend, Randy got this idea to take his wife, Janice, to the beautiful scenic spot of Beacon Rock near the Columbia River Gorge. And there, while on a hike, she fell to her death. Now, with no witnesses in sight, almost exactly 10 years before Cynthia passed away, Randy summoned the police to the scene and explained that she had walked close to the edge to take a photo, and then she suddenly fell. And although this was incredibly suspicious, even after retrieving her body, police really couldn't gather enough evidence to prove that Randy had pushed her. So they had no choice but to believe his story, Despite Randy's suspicious insistence to have her cremated that very day, the day that she fell off this rock or fell off this rock, he had her cremated, and then he collected the life insurance.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

It's kind of wild because this is very similar to a story that we talked about in Heath's birthday episode, which is the camping stories. Well, yes, Harold, but also. So we just did. If you haven't listened, it's such a fun episode. We did these true horror stories where some of you guys wrote into us about true crimey experiences that you have had.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And in one of them, one of our listeners wrote in. Who's a park ranger in Idaho? And he wrote in that something very similar happened to him. A man came up to the station and said that his wife fell while taking a photo and we were like, that's like Harold Henthorn. And it's also apparently like Randy Roth. Like, why do we keep seeing this? This is like a really common thing. But just like you said, it's because it doesn't really leave any evidence unless somebody saw it happen. Just one little push and she's dead.

[Heath]

Yeah. And you know, we've also seen this in like numerous other cases as well. There was one. Remember the guy that was hiking with his girlfriend in Portland and she fell off of a cliff? Do you remember that? I think we did it for. Maybe we did it for a bonus episode or something. Yeah, yeah. They were hiking to a waterfall.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Not in Idaho.

[Heath]

Nope, nope. There was one in. There was one in Portland. Then there was also one in, I believe, Montana. Right where the girl pushed her.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Oh, that's the one. I'm thinking of her. Cody.

[Heath]

Yes, Cody.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

I can't remember the one in Portland. But they. I mean, it just goes to show you, this is pretty common.

[Heath]

This is what they do though, you know, because it's like. Like you're saying it doesn't really leave any evidence. And unless somebody actually witnesses the push happen, it's very, very hard to determine, you know, if it was an accidental fall or if it was a push

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

or if the woman lives. But this is already. This is what is creating this pattern of Randy's taking me somewhere outdoorsy and then something happens and then he murders. Yeah. Cuz there. There's more examples of that that we are going to get into. Well, Jelena, who of course is Janice's daughter, was sent to live with family in Texas because this had been previously arranged if anything were to happen to Janice, because of course, she's a single mother. She's got to get her own ducks in a row, just like Cynthia had. And with that, Randy was single again, moving to the house that he would live in when he met Cynthia, and then raising his son by himself. But in this house, he had some neighbors. Of course, these were the Goodwins. And in Ann Rule's book, she talks a lot about this couple. Because at first, things between the Goodwins and Randy were kind of fine and sometimes pretty good. But eventually, and for very good reason, they would turn against Randy. They had a really strange relationship because when they met, when Randy moved in, they were kind of like, this guy is a little weird. He was kind of off putting. He wasn't putting on his charming guy hat. And then as they got to talking to him more, they learned about his abusive childhood and that his wife Died and that he's a single father and they kind of felt bad for him. So with that they opened their hearts up to him. But then 30 year old Randy began pursuing their 14 year old daughter who sometimes babysat little Greg, even telling her that he wanted to marry her when she turned 18.

[Heath]

Okay, Randy, it's so gross. Weirdo.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Let me tell you about this because it's actually kind of insane. So he and, and Ben, Randy and Ben Goodwin were friends again. Like I said, they, they took pity on him and they were nice to him and they had a neighborly relationship. Right. Well, after a while and after Brittany Goodwin, who's the daughter of the Goodwins, of course started babysitting for Greg and she's around Randy more often. She's a young teenage girl, he's kind of a handsome guy. She gets a little teenage crush on him and, and somehow her parents find out. So they go to Randy and Ben says, hey, you're a pedophile. Well, no, not yet. He does though, he says, hey, our daughter's got a little crush on you. Could you just kind of stop talking to her and don't egg this behavior on or.

[Heath]

Yeah, that's the reasonable thing to do is like just leave her the fuck alone.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah, don't, don't like feed into it or be too nice to her because she's clearly misconstruing your relationship. Which is not what was happening because Randy of course was putting it on too because he was into Britney, which is disgusting. This is where the pedophilia comes in. So then Randy says to Ben, of course, no worries, I'm not going to talk to her. I'm going to let you know, going to let her down easy. Yeah, got you bro. And it's kind of funny because this is kind of like Bewitched. Like Ben and the Goodwins had kind of Gladys Kravitz thing where they would look into the yard and look over the fence and kind of be watchful of Randy, they were kind of those type of neighbors and they saw their daughter Britney in Randy's yard sitting like almost kind of leaning into his lap. And Ben goes over there and he's like, what the hell are you doing with my daughter? And then Randy is like, oh my God, you know what, Sorry, I wasn't doing nothing. Yeah. And then at this point Ben is like, you're disgusting. And by the way, I also think you're a liar because Randy would always tell these stories about being in the Vietnam War. We know that he was just A file clerk.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And for a year at that, before they let him go, before he was discharged.

[Heath]

Yeah. He was making it seem like he was on the front lines out there. You filed papers, right?

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And so. Yes, exactly. He's making himself seem like a war hero and telling all these stories and Ben is kind of like, I think you're a liar. So with that and also the fact that by the way, the Goodwins also watched as he would regularly crack down on his son Greg in very like harsh military fashion and flying into temperamental rages, like for example, he would force Greg to squat dozens of times if he misbehaved or kneel on gravel and nothing but his underwear in the winter, or whip him with a belt. So they're also like you're, you're like a really shitty dad.

[Heath]

Yeah. You're like, you're not only like going after our 14 year old daughter, but like you're also just very abusive and you're just a terrible guy.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah. So they're, they're very much watching these behaviors and being very careful with him.

[Heath]

Yeah. Got to keep an eye on Randy.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Well then in 1985, 31 year old Randy married another woman named Donna. This is 21 year old Donna Clift, who like his second wife Janice, was a divorced mother of one child. And he didn't even tell her his real age nor of his past marriages. Like somehow Randy was always able to manipulate his way into these women's hearts.

[Heath]

Yeah. And he also didn't tell Cynthia that she wasn't just his second wife, you know, when really she was his fourth wife.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah, he's lying to everybody and seeing somehow charming, charming them into the, charming them down the aisle, you know. And guess what? Three months into their marriage, Randy took Donna out on the Skyish river in Washington on an inflatable raft and steered her towards some sharp rocks where the day almost turned tragic. So again, something bad happens when Randy takes his new wife out into the outdoors. Come on, this is, it seems a coincidence.

[Heath]

Yeah, it seems like it's very purposeful. Now luckily she did survive that situation.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Right. But it, it scared her so bad because she really felt like he was doing it on purpose and like he was trying to kill her. And then she's doing a little sleuthing in the house and she finds some tax documents of Randy's and starts learning some of his truth that he was hiding from her. So this is when she files for divorce. Cuz she's like, I'm seeing some bad signs and I'M scared of you. So I'm getting out. And now you guys can really see this pattern for Randy with the types of women that he's going for. Divorced, single mother. That's what he is looking for.

[Heath]

Yep.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And this brings us to Cynthia, his fourth wife. Though again, she thought she was only his second. As police were looking at Cynthia's death, they began seeing how suspicious it was that his second wife died suddenly in a freak outdoor accident and how his third wife almost died on a raft. And now here's Cynthia dead from an accident on a raft. That didn't quite make sense. And all these women, again, were divorcees with children. And they are taking note of this. You know, it was looking very strange to them because how could it not?

[Heath]

Yeah, it is incredibly suspicious. Not even strange. It's just like we're seeing the patterns here.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

You know, it's clear as day.

[Heath]

Yeah. And they were also getting this inkling because of all the life insurance policies that he took out on all of his wives, that his motives for manipulating these women into marriage was to kill them and then receive financial gain.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Right.

[Heath]

Especially when they learned that from most jobs that he had worked in the past, he had stolen from employers and even misreported his income on his tax returns. So he was just a total fraudster, like, through and through, and the law was officially onto him. Well, remember back when Daphne discussed that Cynthia had changed her will to make her best friend Laurie the executor. After Cynthia died, Lori checked the safe deposit box where Cynthia's will was and where all of her ex husband Tom's valuables were, like his pocket watch, his wedding ring, and other family jewels. Come to find out, two days after Cynthia suspiciously died, Randy went to her safe deposit box and removed everything. But unlucky for him, a second copy of Cynthia's will was at the county recording office. And this proved that Lori was to gain everything of Cynthia's, including her sons, as well as her money, which completely enraged Randy, because he's like, damn, now I now this whole scheme was for nothing. And then they talked to Randy's ex neighbors, the Goodwins. And Ben Goodwin stated, quote, he was my best friend for eight years, but we knew he hated women.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yep, there it is.

[Heath]

There it is. Ben, you know, it's. Ben says it. So with everything that happened with Brittany Goodwin and watching Randy go through all these suspicious relationships and seeing him being this aggressive father and even being suspicious of a burglary that occurred at his own home, which the Goodwins believed he was behind so that he could commit insurance fraud. They eventually decided to keep their distance from Randy.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

For the best.

[Heath]

Yeah, definitely for the best. So when cynthia came around, and with her two sons, they actually sent her, like, a little bit of a warning,

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

which was really nice of them, because, like, you're saying, they have all these reasons to not look at Randy. Like, he's this good guy that he wants people to believe he is, and they really see that there's something wrong with him, honestly.

[Heath]

Yeah. And, yeah, they're picking up on that. And they. They need to make sure that Cynthia is going to be okay, because they know. They know Randy's character.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah. So they see this beautiful young woman coming down the path, and they're like, who's this? Oh, my God. He has a new girlfriend. Because by the time that Cynthia and Randy started dating, the goodwins were actually barely on speaking terms with Randy. So when they see cynthia coming down the path, Ben kind of called over to the fence, Telling her to be very careful about what she was doing. This was his warning. But of course, Cynthia had no idea what he was talking about because she didn't know the real Randy. But from the goodwins pov, they're like, you want your boys around this aggressive, lying, cheating, sleazy guy? What are you doing? She didn't know that's who he was,

[Heath]

of course, because Randy was putting it on like he was this super good guy. I'm just a single dad, you know, just doing my best. Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

But even Randy's third wife's parents. This is Donna clift. Even Donna clift's parents had their reservations when they found out about Cynthia, because, of course, after what had happened to their daughter Donna on the raft years earlier with randy, when they learned that Randy had married cynthia, Donna's mother Judy, apparently said to her, that poor woman. I have a terrible feeling that she'll be dead within a year. Which, like, so horrifically foreshadowing.

[Heath]

Yeah, it is.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Like Donna even later said, quote, I wanted to look her name up in the phone book. I wanted to call her and tell her to run, to hide, or just to be careful or think of some way to warn her. But what would I say? She probably would have thought I was jealous. Oh, how I wish I had.

[Heath]

Yeah. Because Donna's like, I'll. I'll come off as, like, the crazy ex if I warn her that randy is this terrible guy. So she doesn't want to do that.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

But she's probably right. Honestly, Cynthia probably would have thought that because Even the Goodwins were like, be careful with what you're doing. Maybe if she had gotten a second warning, it would have been like, huh, this is a little sketchy.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

But I. I completely understand Donna's point of view, that she didn't want it to kind of backfire. And obviously, she didn't know it was going to happen. If she knew, I'm sure she would have. Well, when investigators spoke with Cynthia's boys, they learned of how harsh of a disciplinarian Randy was, while also admitting that he could sometimes be fun and normal, but that just the day after their mom died, he began ridding the house of her things and told the boys not. Not to be upset about her death.

[Heath]

What? How are you not supposed to be upset about your mother dying?

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

But it's just like you and I said earlier. He's trying to just sweep it under the rug. Okay, she's gone. Let's move on. And that's not how grieving works.

[Heath]

Exactly.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And I just want to say as well, this financial gain situation is so much deeper than just the insurance policy, which was already a big thing to gain. But Randy also wanted her boys to stay in his care so he could take the Social Security benefits that they would be getting from their mother's death. Like, he is a twisted, twisted man. And this is why, when Jelena, Janice's daughter, went off to Texas to stay with family, he was also really upset, because he's like, shit, there's more paychecks that I don't get. He doesn't care if it means he has to raise a child. He wants that money.

[Heath]

It's all about the money for Randy. Well, based on the pattern of suspicious events and accounts from numerous witnesses, investigators obtained warrants to arrest Randy Roth and search the Woodinville house. And during the search, detectives uncovered evidence of theft and other deceptive behavior, uncovering large amounts of equipment belonging to the auto dealership where he previously worked and a collection of knives, throwing stars, nunchucks, and homemade weapons. Cynthia's belongings had been stuffed into garbage bags, including family photographs, and many of her personal decorations had been tossed. Then in the garage, detectives found a poem that Cynthia had written. It said, randy does not love Cindy. Randy hates Cindy, followed by a list of criticisms that he had directed at her. They also found a note reminding Randy about PTSD support, court meetings for veterans, reflecting Cynthia's belief that he was struggling with trauma from his supposed service in Vietnam.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Which man doesn't need that?

[Heath]

No. Well, after several reenactments were conducted, At Lake Sammamish, officials determined that it would essentially be impossible for Cynthia to have died the way that Randy claimed she had. So with the addition of this proof, on October 8, 1991, 36 year old Randy Roth was arrested for the death of his fourth wife, Cynthia Baumgartner Roth. And get this, Investigators later learned that shortly after his arrest, Randy had contacted a friend who removed additional evidence from the home at his request. So he was clearly trying to cover it up. Well, fast forward to March of 1992, when the trial was underway. From day one, the courtroom was packed with Cynthia's family and friends, along with reporters eager to follow the case because this was a huge deal.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Even Ann rule was there.

[Heath]

Exactly.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And then she wrote a book.

[Heath]

She did so. Randy Roth looked noticeably thinner than he had in earlier photos. And according to many observers, he appeared detached and almost completely emotionless throughout the trial, which, as we know, was pretty typical for Randy. But his defense argued that Randy was simply an unlucky man who had suffered two tragic losses, While prosecutors saw something very, very different. A man driven by greed who seemed to care more about money and possessions than, of course, the people around him.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Well, guess who showed up? His own mom. The one that he told everybody was dead. Yeah, his dead mom and his three sisters. And they immediately exposed some of the exaggerated stories that he had told over the years about his family. It's like the women are nice and normal, and then the men in the family are aggressive and abusive killers, pretty much. And they're like, yeah, here's what it was actually like. Well, they were just a few of the 100 witnesses who took the stand in this circus of a trial. Now, interestingly, Randy had told officers that he was a weak swimmer, which is why he hadn't been able to save Cynthia that day on the lake. But when police searched the Roth home, like you just said, Heath, they found a scuba suit, which led them to a scuba instructor who had personally trained Randy, who testified that Randy was a very capable swimmer.

[Heath]

Got his ass.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Got his ass, yeah. Other witnesses included people from Lake Sammamish who explained that they never saw a frantic husband desperately trying to get help. But instead, they described Randy calmly paddling back to shore and only calling for assistance after reaching the beach. You know, he didn't come in hot like, help, my wife is dead.

[Heath]

No, not at all.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

He just, just calmly paddling back to shore. And then when he gets to the beach, he's like, hey, can I get some help?

[Heath]

Hey, got a dead person here.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And so Many people, yeah. So many people said that many people witnessed that portion, just not her actual death, unfortunately.

[Heath]

Right.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

But there were other strange details, too, because although Randy claimed the raft had flipped and he ended up in the water himself, this is what I was hinting to earlier. He returned ashore with bags of belongings still intact and dry and was somehow still wearing his prescription sunglasses.

[Heath]

So it didn't really seem like there was some sort of struggle in the water and the raft flipped over. There was dry stuff still in the raft, and he didn't lose his sunglasses.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Exactly. Then came testimony from Jelena, the daughter of Randy's second wife, Janice. She recalled years earlier, her mother showing her a hidden envelope of cash shortly before her fatal fall from Beacon Rock, telling her to take it if anything ever happened to her. Which makes you wonder as well, if from Janice's pov, she's not going to be like, hey, Jolina, I'm being abused, because this is her young daughter. So it makes you wonder if Janice was feeling like Randy wasn't a good guy and she was afraid of him and was just trying to warn her daughter that something might happen to her.

[Heath]

I can't imagine that any woman that was ever in Randy's life had not experienced some sort of abuse from him.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Well, you know.

[Heath]

You know what I'm saying.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

You know what's interesting, actually, his very first wife, Donna, who he was married to for, like, literally no time, as we discussed earlier. She was the only person to say that she had a good relationship with him, and she was like, he was never controlling or abusive to me. But they were also barely married, and it. It seemed like he couldn't really benefit from her, and that's why he moved on. That's what I think, at least. But she kind of came to his defense, and everybody else is like, he's a monster. Well, going back to Jelena really quick. So this. The. After Janice died young, Jelena retrieved that envelope that her mom told her about. But Randy saw her with it, took the money, and promised to spend it on toys and gifts for her. But according to Jelena, he never followed through, and she never saw him again.

[Heath]

He just, like, snagged the envelope and was like, see ya.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Which is so sad that he caught her with it. And this. That's not what Janice wanted. Like, so devastating. The Goodwins also testified about the bizarre staged burglary. Heath hinted to this before, but basically there was a burglary at Randy's house, and he was really nonchalant about it, and he reported it of Course. And received insurance money. And then later, Ben saw items in his house that he had described were stolen.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

So obviously.

[Heath]

Obviously was just trying to, you know, continue being a fraudster.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah. Oh, my God. Yes, exactly. A fraudster. And then they also talked about Randy's affair with their young daughter. And Donna Clift, his third wife, described the terrifying raft trip on the Skykomish River. Even an ex girlfriend of his, Mary Jo Phillips, told jurors that Randy abruptly ended their relationship after learning she couldn't be insured.

[Heath]

Which is why, like, he's like, there's nothing in it for me. I can't get a life insurance policy on you. So we're not dating anymore.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Which is why I think that that's what happened with his first wife, Donna is. And why she has good things to say. Because he left her before anything could really happen.

[Heath]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Especially because he left her and then immediately went and married somebody else. How could any woman feel good about a man who does that to her? So, I, I think that's probably, I think that's probably what happened.

[Heath]

Yeah, I, I, I think so, too. Well, eventually, Randy took the stand himself. And over the course of a week, he testified for more than 20 hours. Whenever prosecutors pointed out inconsistencies, he often responded by saying others had misunderstood him and that he simply couldn't remember. He admitted lying about serving in Vietnam, being a martial arts instructor, and even owning a cattle ranch.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

What the hell?

[Heath]

But despite, you know, admitting to all of that, he maintained his version of Cynthia's drowning was just the truth. But of course, nobody believed his ass. So after closing arguments, the jury deliberated for just over eight and a half hours and returned a guilty verdict of first degree murder in the death of Cynthia Baumgartner Roth, along with two theft convictions as well.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

I just wonder what really happened to her, because obviously there were a lot of people out on the water that day. By the way, her cause of death was drowning. So that is how she died. How did he drown her? Because his story doesn't make sense. They already determined that his story is, like you said, Heath, basically impossible. So what? How did he drown her that day? I just wonder.

[Heath]

Yeah, I don't know. Held her head under the water or something. I don't know. You know, as you would imagine, that if that was the situation, there might be, like, defensive marks on her or something.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Right. Or, like, bruising in the back of her neck if he's holding her down. Yeah, but we didn't see any of that. So I really wonder what exactly happened to her and how he got away with this on such a busy day where there were people everywhere swimming and enjoying the lake. How he was able to do this because he did. So how.

[Heath]

Yeah, I don't know if we'll ever really know the truth because it doesn't appear that Randy Roth will ever give it to us.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Certainly not.

[Heath]

Well, Randy Roth was sentenced to 51 years in prison. And although many believe that he was responsible for murdering his second wife, Janice, the county in which she died couldn't afford to pursue a conviction with the lack of evidence, and therefore, Randy was never charged for that crime. Though many believe to this day that he did in fact, push her to her death at Beacon Rock. Right Now, Randy is 71 years old and remains incarcerated at the Stafford Creek Corrections center in Aberdeen, Washington, where he will remain until 2043 or until his death, whichever comes first. Hopefully, death.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Like. I can't believe I found this story. Have you heard of this one?

[Heath]

I know I. You know, I knew that there was. I knew that there was probably some Washington lake murders out there somewhere, but I had never heard of this one specifically.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

I don't know how that's possible. Again, I guess I'm saying I can't believe I found it because it connects to my book. Because, again, my new thriller takes place on a lake in Washington. And I mostly based that lake, Lake Blair, off of Lake Sammamish, and then combined a little bit with the lake that I grew up on, Malibu Lake, and a lake in Oregon, Lake Oswego. But I just couldn't believe that I found this and how. How wild this story really is. Again, all the layers to it.

[Heath]

Yeah, it was. This was a. This was a very deep one. Well, for your first thriller novel, Night Watcher, we. We did an episode called the Hiding Man, Anatomy of a Serial Killer, where we got to learn about that first book. So why don't you tell everybody about the plot of your new book, the Season of Sinking, that is out right now.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

My new thriller novel, the Season of Sinking. It's a lakeside thriller.

[Heath]

It.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

It surrounds the story of Imogen Bly. She is living in Seattle. Her twin sister, Amelia lives in Seattle, and they get the devastating call that their mother drowned in a freak accident on the lake. Which is why I'm saying it's kind of crazy that we found the Cynthia case, because there's a lot of parallels. So the sisters go back to their picturesque Washington lake that they grew up on, but very quickly, Imogen finds something in the house that basically cracks open her entire life because she finds a file regarding an incident that happened with her as a child that she doesn't remember. So this book surrounds grief and loss and obsession and sisterhood. And there's a creepy man across the lake, and there's a disappearance of this local woman from the year prior. So Imogen is coming back to her old life and piecing together all of this really disturbing puzzle, and she's trying to figure out the truth of what happened to her mom and what is going on at this lake.

[Heath]

Yeah. So everything kind of unravels when she goes back to the lake house.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yes, absolutely. So it's creepy, it's a ton of fun. And it's out now on hardcover, Kindle, and Audible. And there's an audiobook as well.

[Heath]

I love that. I love it. And also, I gotta ask you, for everybody that's listening out there, what did. Was there a specific case that inspired this. This story? Your book?

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

I think for my first book, Night Watcher, there were a few more direct connections. Like I told you, I took some things from BTK this book. There is one case that we covered a long time ago that inspired this book, but if I told you what it was, it would kind of spoil the plot.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

So, guys, Kennedy secret.

[Heath]

You don't have to mention it, but

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

I think just in general, having Going West, I put a lot of truth into this book regarding murders and disappearances and kind of the psychology behind being a killer. And I think this. This show has really helped me be able to more accurately portray that type of story because we tell them twice a week. So I'm sure there's a lot of. A lot of stories in there, you know, that. That inspired.

[Heath]

Yeah. A lot of things that probably could connect to the book.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah, totally. And so, yeah, if. If you want to listen to it. For anybody who loves listening to our show and you're not a huge reader, but you still want to hear the story, I would definitely recommend listening to it on Audible. I did not narrate it, but an amazing narrator did, and it's out today.

[Heath]

Well, we're very, very excited about this new book. So proud of you as my lovely wife. You're just crushing it. You're crushing it. So, yeah, everybody out there go pick up the season of Sinking. It is out right now.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to this episode of Going West.

[Heath]

Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Again, I just can't believe how this story unravels. Just the fact that Randy had been doing this to so many people prior to Cynthia. And it was, it all came out, you know, during the trial. It's just, he's just an unbelievably twisted and evil man.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Especially because he involved their children too.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

He's purposely looking for women who have children so that he can kill their mother and then take them.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

And take their money.

[Heath]

Yeah. Take the Social Security that the, you know, know or whatever that the kids were getting.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yeah, the Social Security benefits. It's absolutely wild. Like, what a piece of shit. And I couldn't believe that he was still alive when I saw that. And he's an old man and he's been in prison for a long time, but he is still freaking out there.

[Heath]

So let's just hope he never gets out of prison.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

He won't, girl.

[Heath]

Well, again, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Appreciate you guys being here with us again. We are now on YouTube so if you want to watch us tell these stories, head on over to YouTube. You can check us out or you can listen on your favorite podcast app.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

Yes. And if you want to see photos if you're not watching on YouTube, on Instagram, we're @goingwest podcast. We're also on Facebook. We have a discussion group and just a regular group and we are on TikTok too. So thank you for joining us today. Thank you for everybody who checks out my book the Season of Sinking out now by me, Daphne Wolsencroft. And we will see you guys on Friday.

[Heath]

Alright, guys, so for everybody out there

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

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[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

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[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

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[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

It's better over here.

[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

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[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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[Heath]

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[Daphne Wolsencroft]

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