A (0:00)

On December 30, 2016, a woman sat down at her computer inside of her New Mexico home and pulled up the video feed from her surveillance system. Everybody in her neighborhood was terrified. There was a killer on the loose and the police didn't seem to have any idea who it could be or what their motivations were. And so she scrolled back two days and began going through the footage frame by frame looking for anything suspicious. And for a while, no, nothing interesting happened. You know, she saw her neighbor come back from a trip and then some time passed and then he left again and there really wasn't anything. And the woman was starting to think that what she was doing was just a big waste of time when all of a sudden, in the very corner of the screen, a dark figure appeared. But before we get into today's story, if you're a fan of the strange, dark and mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right show, because that's all we do. So if that's of interest to you. And please sneak into the follow button's bedroom and secretly hide dozens of alarm clocks all over the room that are all set to go off at various points throughout the night. Okay, let's get into today's story.

B (1:30)

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C (2:00)

Holiday PSA from DSW. This is your reminder that shoes are a gift.

A (2:05)

Literally.

C (2:06)

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A (2:34)

On the evening of December 28, 2016, a 54 year old man named Don Fluitt drove down the highway into the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Beside him was his 11 year old daughter Sienna, who had fallen asleep in the passenger seat. They'd been driving for nearly 12 hours, all the way from dawn's mother's home in California where they just spent Christmas. But the holiday had not really been a happy one because a few weeks earlier Dawn's sister Janese had died of breast cancer, and Janese was really one of the only true close family members Don had left. His dad and his other sister were both already dead, and his younger brother Dennis wasn't talking to him after a big argument the year before. So as soon as dawn had gotten the news that Janiece had unfortunately passed away, he'd immediately negotiated with his ex wife to take their daughter Sienna and go see his mom. He wished they could have stayed longer, but he had to get back to work. Don had a job at an agency that served the developmentally disabled, and there was a big meeting coming up that he just couldn't miss. Just then, Don slammed on his brakes. Traffic ahead was piling up and the car in front of him had slowed down to an abrupt stop. Don felt a surge of anger rise in his chest and he laid on his horn. He was about to roll down the window so he could scream at the driver in front of him, but then he saw Sienna open her eyes in alarm in the seat next to him and he stopped himself. Don took a deep breath and reminded himself that it was just traffic and it wasn't worth getting angry about. Don used to have kind of a temper when it came to driving, but in recent years he'd been working hard to control it so he could set a good example for his daughter. So after the traffic finally let up and as he rounded an exit off the highway and drove through downtown Albuquerque toward his house, Don deliberately tried to shift his focus to something positive. It was already Wednesday, which meant it was only a few more days until Spaghetti Sunday, and that always made Don smile. Spaghetti sundae was a tradition that he and Siena had started together a few years ago by making big batches of food every Sunday after church and bringing the food downtown to feed the homeless. At first it had just been the two of them, but over time more people had joined in the effort, and pretty soon it had grown into a real event with whole groups of volunteers coming out to serve food and drop off clothes and canned goods. Don felt proud that he'd created something so meaningful for the community, and it was especially important to him that he had done it with Siena. Finally, Don turned down a quiet residential street and parked in the garage of a two story stucco townhouse decorated with Christmas lights. He got out of the car with Sienna, grabbed their suitcases, and walked to the front door and unlocked it. And when his daughter stepped inside, she shrieked with excitement, because waiting for her under the Christmas tree was a brand new bicycle wrapped in a shiny bow. She turned around and asked her dad if she could give the bike a spin around the block. Right now. Dawn wanted to say yes, but it was already dark out, and this was supposed to be a quick stop at his house. And when he looked at the clock, he saw that it was almost seven. He'd already had Sienna for most of December, including the whole holiday, and he had to get her back to her mother's house soon. Dawn and his ex wife, Christine White, had a pretty civil relationship, but he knew she would be annoyed if he asked for more time. So Don told Sienna the bike would have to wait, but for now, just go grab whatever she needed from her room, and then they would leave. As Sienna ran off, Don noticed something strange. He hadn't seen his golden retriever, Buddy, who usually rushed out to greet him whenever he came home. So Don walked through the living room and down the hall, calling out Buddy's name, and finally found the dog cowering in the bedroom. Don extended his hand, and Buddy skittishly came forward to sniff it. And Don was a little unnerved by this. Buddy usually did not act scared of him, but then again, Don didn't usually leave for weeks at a time either. So he just told himself that, you know, maybe this was just separation anxiety. So he gave Buddy a pat on the head, filled his bowl with kibble, and then grabbed his keys for the short drive to his ex wife Christine's house. Don drove to Christine's very slowly, trying to enjoy every last bit of his time with Sienna. Don treasured the time he had with his daughter because the mistakes he'd made when he was younger had almost gotten her taken away from him. These days, Don lived a squeaky clean life and went to church every Sunday. But it was not always that way. He had partied a lot when he was younger, and when Sienna was a toddler, he'd gotten fired from his dream job as a firefighter for failing a drug test. And then after he'd lost his job, his then wife Christine had to shoulder most of the family's bills. And after a few months, the strain on the marriage was just too much. Christine filed for divorce, which was crushing for dawn, but even worse was the possibility of losing Sienna. Don actually already had two kids from a previous marriage, and after that divorce, his first wife had gotten sole custody of those kids and moved them all to Oklahoma. So Don had barely seen them for most of their childhoods. He was determined not to make that same mistake with Sienna, so he'd gone to court to fight Christine and her new husband, Terry White, for shared custody. The court battle had gotten a little contentious, but it was worth it. And dawn made the most of every moment he got to spend with Sienna. He'd braid her hair before school and make costumes for her school plays, and on the nights when she was at her mom's house, he always called her before bed to say goodnight. Now dawn pulled into Christine and Terri's driveway, and Christine came outside and stood by the front door with her arms crossed. She motioned to her watch, clearly annoyed that dawn was late. Dawn got out of the car and sort of apologized and told her it had been a really long drive from California and they had only stopped a few times for gas and bathroom breaks and they'd hit some traffic, you know, that was why they were late. Christine sighed and said it was okay. She asked about the trip, and Don told her it went well. They had a great Christmas, despite the sadness over his sister's death, and it had been very meaningful just to be together. Before Sienna ran inside the house, Don pulled her in for a big hug and kiss, and then he promised to call her before bed as usual. And when he saw her again that weekend, they'd have plenty of time to test drive that new bike. When Don pulled back into his garage 10 minutes later, he noticed that the trash can at the end of his driveway was lying overturned on its side. So he parked his truck, walked down to the curb, and flipped it upright. Then he walked back up the driveway, pressed a button to close the garage door, and unlocked the door to his townhouse. And while he was taking off his shoes and jacket, he could have sworn he heard the garage door stop closing and roll back up again, as if something had maybe tripped the sensor. He stopped to listen, and now what he heard was the sound of the door actually closing again and actually hitting the ground with a soft thud. He shook his head and decided he must be imagining things. Don dragged his suitcase into the bedroom and began to unpack. All he wanted to do was just relax and not really think about anything. But when he carried his toiletries into his bathroom to put them away, he saw a small hole in the ceiling and let out a frustrated sigh. Don had been hounding his landlord about patching that hole for months, and he'd been hoping it would have been done by the time he got home. So he made a mental note to give the landlord yet another call about it. In the morning, when he was finally finished unpacking, Don put his jacket and his shoes back on and then headed out to the garage to smoke a cigarette. The following morning, December 29, at the office where Don worked, his co worker, Valerie Torres, was settling down at her desk when her phone rang. Valerie picked it up and heard Don's daughter Sienna on the other line. Sienna told Valerie that her dad did not call her last night and asked if he was there now at the office. So Valerie stood up and peered over at Dawn's desk, but it was empty. This was a little unusual since Don was a pretty punctual guy. But it was still early, so she told Sienna not to worry. She would give Don a call now, and she was sure he would call Sienna right back. Valerie hung up and dialed Don's cell phone, but he didn't answer. So she sent him a text message and she waited. But after half an hour, dawn still hadn't replied, and now Valerie was starting to feel concerned. It was not like Don to skip work without calling in and then ignore calls and texts, too. And so Valerie discussed it with another coworker and they decided to just go swing by Don's townhouse themselves and check on him. The sky over Don's townhouse was dark and cloudy when Valerie pulled into the driveway. She and her co worker got out of the car and walked up to the front door. Valerie knocked on the door, but to her surprise, it actually just swung right open. She looked over at her co worker, then the two of them nervously stepped inside. Valerie immediately called out Don's name, but he didn't answer. So she wandered into the living room and peeked into the bedroom, but the house seemed empty. Valerie's coworker, meanwhile, headed up the stairs to look for dawn on the second floor, and Valerie headed out to the garage to see if maybe Don's truck was there. And when Valerie opened the door to the two car garage attached to the townhouse and flipped on the light, she saw Don's truck was in its usual spot. But something else caught her eye. On the back wall of the garage behind the neighbor's suv, she noticed a streak of something dark red on the wall. At this point, Valerie started to feel pretty nervous, but nonetheless, she began walking towards that back wall to see what was going on over there. And as she got closer and closer, she was staring at the streak, you know, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Until finally she was close enough that she could actually look down at the space between the SUV and the red streaked wall. And when she looked down, she screamed. 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A little before noon on that same day, Albuquerque police Detective Matthew Kaplan pulled up in front of a two story stucco townhouse secured with yellow crime scene tape and swarming with police officers. Two women wearing business clothes were sitting on the curb and both of their faces were stained with tears and smeared makeup. All Detective Kaplan knew was that a man had been found dead in a garage attached to this townhouse, and now he Detective Kaplan was heading up the investigation. So he got out of his car and walked up to the open front door, and a policeman standing in the entryway filled him in on a few more details. The victim had been identified as Don Fluitt. The two women outside were his co workers who had come here to check on him when he hadn't shown up for work that morning. There were no signs of forced entry, and the women said the front door was open when they arrived. Kaplan stepped inside the townhouse, into the living room, and right away he saw a brand new bicycle sitting under a Christmas tree. Then he did a slow loop through the first and second floors and noted there was a cell phone on the couch and a wallet on the kitchen counter. It didn't really look like anything had been rifled through. The drawers in the house were not hanging open and, you know, the house generally was neat and orderly and so on first glance, this did not appear to Kaplan like a robbery. Back on the first floor, Kaplan headed into the garage, where crime scene techs were busy photographing the scene and collecting forensic samples. Kaplan knelt down next to Don's body, which was laying face up between an SUV and the back wall. Don's throat was cut with a gaping wound that ran from one side of his neck to the other, and there were smaller cuts and scrapes near his eye, his ear, and on his hand, as if he had tried to fight back. There were also signs of blunt force trauma, as if he had been hit by an object like a baseball bat or maybe just a fist. And when Kaplan looked closely, he saw burst capillaries on Don's eyes and eyelids, which he knew were commonly a sign of strangulation. This killing was unusually violent and gruesome, which Kaplan knew meant this was likely personal. Kaplan stood up to examine the Blood that was spattered on the walls and refrigerator above Don's body and the bloody handprints on the side of Don's truck. There was no blood on the floor around Don. However, it sort of appeared like somebody had recently mopped and maybe tried to clean up the blood afterwards. That's when Kaplan noticed an empty bottle of bleach on top of the washer nearby. So he walked over, he opened up the washer, and sure enough, he found piles of wet towels inside that actually still smelled like bleach. Just then, a crime scene tech came over carrying luminol spray, which is a chemical used by law enforcement to detect blood. And so Kaplan stepped back so he could spray the area, and then Kaplan followed him around as he made his way through the house. The luminol spray did pick up traces of blood on the kitchen floor and the sink, too. And Kaplan figured the suspect had tried to clean up the crime scene in the garage and then washed their hands or the murder weapon in the kitchen before leaving. But it is much harder to scrub a murder scene than people realize. And so as Kaplan left the house, he was feeling fairly hopeful that the crime scene techs would eventually recover some of the killer's DNA. Kaplan stepped through the front door just as a car pulled up and parked at the end of the driveway. A man got out of the car and pushed past the crime scene tape, and immediately Kaplan put his hands up to stop him. This man looked totally flustered, and he introduced himself as Benny Ruiz, the landlord, and asked what the police were doing on his property. When Kaplan told Benny that his tenant, Don Flewett, had been murdered, Benny gasped, then started talking a mile a minute. He said Don was a devoted father and a religious man who would open up his home to anyone and that nobody would want to kill him. But then Benny paused and made a face like something was just occurring to him. And he said that actually, there was one lead he could think of. He told Kaplan that Don did charity work with the homeless, and he said it was possible that somebody from the street could have maybe broken into Don's house and killed him. After Kaplan finished talking to Benny, he sent him on his way. And then he just stood on Don's driveway, thinking about what Benny had said. Based on the extreme violence of the murder and the fact that nothing appeared to be stolen, he doubted very much that this had just been a break in by a random homeless person. He thought it was much more likely that Don's killer was someone Don knew and maybe even someone who had a Key based on the fact that there was no evidence of forced entry. And since Don was a big and muscular guy and it was clear he had fought back with his attacker, Kaplan figured he was probably looking for a strong, potentially big male suspect. The question was, who would want to kill Don Fluid? From what the landlord and the two co workers who had called 911 had said, Don seemed to be a really stand up guy. If he had any dark secrets, they were very well hidden. The next day, December 30, Detective Kaplan went to the house of Dawn's ex wife, Christine White, and her husband Terry White. Kaplan had spoken to Christine the day before just to break the news about her ex husband's death and also to see what she might know about the murder. Christine hadn't had any ideas about who would have wanted to hurt dawn, but she'd mentioned that he used to have a problem with road rage and he had just finished a 12 hour drive. So, you know, maybe he had gotten into it with another driver and maybe they had followed him home. But she also said their daughter had been with him and she didn't mention anything about that. The only other thing Christine could think of was that Don had actually told her that his dog was acting skittish when he had gotten back from that road trip. Kaplan had quickly ruled out Christine as a suspect because she had an airtight alibi. Dawn had dropped Sienna off at Christine's around 7:45 the night he was killed, and then she and Sienna had spent the rest of the night together. Her road rage idea seemed as unlikely as the landlord's theory that a random homeless person had broken in. And the information about the dog was interesting but not particularly helpful in identifying a suspect. But now Kaplan was back at Christine's house because he still needed to speak to her husband, Terry, who had been out of town last night for work since he was a truck driver and often worked long shifts at odd hours. But as the husband of Don's ex wife Terry, he was a natural suspect. When Kaplan rang the doorbell, Terry opened the door and greeted the detective with a polite smile. Kaplan entered the living room where Christine and Sienna were sitting and said hello and then asked them to leave so he could speak to Terry in private. Terry sat down in an armchair across from Kaplan. He seemed calm and friendly as he told the detective that he and Don didn't have much contact with each other. But their relationship was not exactly bad. It was just awkward because of the custody battle Don had had with Christine ever since then. Terry said he'd tried to keep the peace by just sort of avoiding Dawn. He knew Sienna loved her dad like crazy, and if he accidentally sparked a conflict, Sienna would likely take Don's side. As for the night of Don's murder, Terry told Kaplan he was at his sister's house until about 9pm and then he left, and he stopped at Wendy's on the way to work. And then he took a nap in his truck in the parking lot before going in for a shift. After Kaplan left and went back to the station, he immediately called Terry's sister and also Terry's boss, and they both confirmed Terry's whereabouts. Which meant that Terry's alibi was solid and Kaplan was back to square one on suspects. But while he was writing up a report on Terry's interview, his phone rang with a call from one of Don's neighbors. She told him she had been looking over the footage from her security camera for the night of Dawn's murder, and she found something that she thought the detective might want to see. Kaplan stopped writing his report mid sentence and drove right to this neighbor's house, where she led him inside to her computer, where she pressed play. Kaplan leaned in close to the screen and watched the black and white footage of the side of Dawn's townhouse shot from the top of the driveway next door. At 7:41pm a few minutes after Kaplan knew that dawn and Sienna had left for Christine's house, A hooded figure could be seen in the corner of the frame. The figure tipped over Dawn's trash can and then walked up the driveway toward Dawn's garage and disappeared from the screen. About 15 minutes later, the video showed dawn driving into the garage and then walking out again to go pick up the trash can and then walking back up the driveway. Now, the garage door itself was not in frame, but the camera did capture a faint glow of light coming from inside Don's garage. Kaplan could see that light dimming, which meant the garage door was closing. But then, inexplicably, the door must have begun going back up again, because the light began to get bigger. And at the same time, there were several brief flashes of light. And then after the flashes, the light began to dim again, which meant the garage door closed and eventually leaving the driveway in darkness. Kaplan got a copy of this video, then left the neighbor's house and walked over to Don's, trying to piece together what actually happened on the video. He stood inside of Don's garage and held the garage door clicker in his hand, and he pressed the button to close the door. And as it closed, Kaplan walked closer until he was almost directly underneath the door's path. And then when that happened, all of a sudden, the door stopped because Kaplan had actually tripped the sensor by going right underneath it. And as soon as he tripped the sensor, a light on the top of the garage flashed three times as the door not only stopped, but began going back the other way. It was clearly how the system worked if it was tripped. And so once he saw that, Kaplan thought about those strange flashes of light he saw in the video, and then also that hooded figure he had seen lurking near the garage. And all at once, it was like the pieces clicked into place. The suspect must have followed Don into the garage. But when they went into the garage, perhaps they tripped the sensor. And so as that door was coming down, the suspect's trying to sneak in. They trip the sensor, the door stops. There's those flashes of light. The door begins to go up again. But the suspect, not wanting dawn to realize what's going on, rushed over, hits the button, the door shuts. Don is none the wiser. Unfortunately, as valuable as this footage appeared to be, Kaplan was not able to make out the dark figure's face on this security video. But, you know, the video had given him a few extremely valuable clues. Whoever killed dawn must have known his routine. They also must have known when he would leave to take Sienna to her mother's house and when he would likely come back home. And they also must have known that Don was the type of person who, when he pulled into his driveway and saw that overturned trash can, that he wouldn't just let it sit there. He would deal with it that night. He would go down there, and he would turn it upright. And when Don was doing that, that would give the killer an opportunity to sneak into the garage. And all of this meant that the suspect didn't just know Don. They had to have known him very well. Detective Kaplan spent weeks speaking to everyone who knew Don, from co workers to friends to his entire family, including his first wife and the two kids he shared with her, Tiffany and Josh, who had gone to live in Oklahoma with their mom after the divorce. When Kaplan reached the kids, who were now young adults, they said they had mostly stayed on good terms with their dad. However, they said that wasn't true of some of the other members of their family. They told Kaplan the person he should be investigating was Don's own brother, Dennis. They said that Don and Dennis had had a falling out about a year earlier, but somehow, after Don's death, Dennis had gotten the keys to Don's townhouse. And he'd been out there boxing things up and basically taking control over everything ever since. Now, Dennis was apparently telling the family that he was just trying to help. But. But Tiffany and Josh, they weren't sure they believed that. The show is sponsored by BetterHelp. There are lots of people in my life that realistically I should be reaching out to more often, namely friends and family. But to be honest, life just happens and time goes on and it gets harder and harder to do that outreach. It takes courage in some ways to do that outreach because you're opening up a part of your life that you've sort of moved on from in a way. And also it takes courage when maybe you're the friend that you wished other people were connecting with, that you sort of lack that emotional connection with somebody else that maybe you're struggling and you don't really have an outlet. And so this holiday season, Better Help is encouraging people to not just have the courage to reach out to old friends and family, but also have the courage to reach out to other people because you need that connection that you need to check in that you need help. And with over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is one of the world's largest online therapy platforms, which means they are a great place to go if you're asking for help. BetterHelp therapists are fully licensed in the United States. They do the initial matching work for you, so you can focus just on your therapy goals. This month, don't wait to reach out. Whether you're checking in on a friend or reaching out to a therapist yourself, BetterHelp makes it easier to take that first step. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com mrballandpod.com that's betterhelp.com MrBallPod.