Maggie Freeling (2:41)

This is death and deceit. An alliance. A real time investigation into whether David Thorne killed Yvonne Lane. I'm Maggie Freeling. On April Fool's Day 1999, Yvonne Lane's mother Tanya arrived at 9:16 Divine Yvonne's house to take her grandson Preston to kindergarten around noon. Tanya Testified she took 6 year old Preston to school every day. She'd seen Yvonne the day before on March 31st in the morning, alive and well. Sherman Lane, Yvonne's dad, testified that he saw her alive the day day of her murder. Although he could not place a time. It was routine for Tonya to arrive in the driveway and beep for Preston to come out. But on April 1st no one came outside. So Tonya got out of her car and knocked on the door. Still nothing. She noticed the door was unlocked. She opened and called inside. Still nothing. Yvonne lives in a modest three floor home. The house itself could be nice, but the condition and dated furniture portray a single mom without disposable income. You enter the house on the ground floor which is finished but mostly unused. Just a couch, a storage closet and a crib. One of the kids slept there. There's stairs to the second floor which is the main living space and where Yvonne's body was found. Yvonne was found at the top of the stairs in the living room area on a dingy blue carpet in front of a raggedy 70s looking couch. Yvonne had it covered with a beige bedsheet now stained with blood. Behind it is an unpainted speckled wall. On the couch, an ashtray with cigarette butts, Yvonne's and an unknown brand. The files didn't list it. Moving through the house is a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom where two of the kids slept. There's a sliding glass door off to the left of the dining room. The smeared and dripping with blood leading to a balcony overlooking the front yard. Another set of stairs leads to the third floor where Yvonne's bedroom was and where the youngest of the kids slept. So Tanya had opened the front door on the ground floor and four year old Vinnie came down the stairs from where his mother's lifeless body lay. Vinnie was back with Yvonne at this point. When he got to about the third step, Tanya asked where's your mommy, Vinny? He responded. But she didn't understand him. Remember, he was developmentally delayed and sometimes hard to understand. So she went up the steps and when she got to the top of the stairs, that's when she saw her 26 year old daughter face down in a pool of blood found in a.

Steve Fishman (5:39)

Pool of her own blood.

Maggie Freeling (5:40)

Tonya testified that she was trying not to black out and she could hear the other kids, Brandon and Preston, crying in the second floor bedroom. Baby Trenton was in his crib in Yvonne's room on the third floor. Tanya said she was thinking of going to get the kids but wasn't sure if someone was still in the house. Plus she would have had to have walked through the crime scene over her daughter in shock. She stumbled down the steps trying not to fall and ran to the neighbor to call 911FORE.

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Steve Fishman (8:12)

Right now they tell me it's a pretty bloody scene in there, so gloves and booties on this one. It's that bad.

Maggie Freeling (8:18)

I'll be playing clips like this from A E's Dead Again investigation on David's case. They actually recreated the crime scene and had real investigators go in and process the crime scene from scratch.

Steve Fishman (8:32)

Holy.

Maggie Freeling (8:35)

A lot of blood.

Ryan Reynolds (8:36)

I mean, there's just a massive amount.

Steve Fishman (8:38)

Of blood around her face. Look at all the coagulation right here.

Maggie Freeling (8:42)

Petty testified that Yvonne was clearly dead, motionless in a pool of blood. And he described her looking pasty white. Unfortunately, I do not have audio of anyone describing the scene, but I do have transcriptions, photos and reports, and they are detailed and revealing. Crime scene photos show Yvonne in all white, making the red blood pooling around her even more striking. Her body was facing the stairs, her feet pointing towards the dining room behind her. It looks like someone had tipped over a dresser which got caught on a baby walker and dumped the TV on her. And her head was tangled in the cords. Between Yvonne's legs was a plant and a photo of an unknown child and a razor blade. I will never find or get an explanation for this seemingly staged set. But the cause of death was clear. Once police flipped Yvonne's body over, they could clearly see her throat had been slit, a gaping 8 by 4 inches. It looks as if the assailant had tried to cut her head off. Blood splatter was also on the walls and couch. The left arm of the couch also had a pool of blood on it. Near the sliding door to the balcony was a large streak of blood on the floor leading towards Yvonne. It looked like she'd been dragged across the wood floor from the sliding door to where she lay near the living room. Like I said earlier, the level of violence seemed personal, like there was some kind of vendetta with the TV on top of her and the dresser tipped over her. And there were splatters of blood dripping down the glass doors. And amidst all this devastation were the artifacts of little kids. A cradle for a doll and a walker for a toddler learning to take his first steps and look at the windows.

Steve Fishman (10:47)

Got blood smear everywhere.

Maggie Freeling (10:49)

It was a gruesome crime scene, a slaughter, really. And it was also strange. Not only were her kids there unharmed, but outside on the porch were a couple of puppies huddled together. Yvonne's German shepherd mix had recently given birth. There are photos of these puppies staring through the Blood splattered glass door at Yvonne. It's a jarring sight. Looking at the crime scene photos, the dining room is also striking. The chunky 90s wood dining table was flanked by two equally blocky chairs. And to me it looks like two people had recently been sitting there. Both chairs are pulled out and turned away from the table as they'd be left if the people sitting there pushed, got up and walked away. There's also a pack of cigarettes closer to the left side of the table, but the lighter is in the middle as though people were sharing it. The cigarettes were presumed to be Yvonne's. When Officer Petty came up the stairs, he saw bloody footprints between him and the body. He says the blood looked mostly dry. So he and Officer Miller decided it was okay to walk through the crime scene with no shoe coverings and check the residence for a murder weapon or the killer. That's when Officer Rick Miller found Preston and Brandon in their bedroom. The door locked from the outside, as if someone didn't want the boys to get out. Maybe Yvonne, who was said to routinely do that when she had a visitor. Or maybe the killer. Whoever locked the door seemed to know there was a latch to lock them in from the outside. Petty said he went to the third floor and found Trenton in his crib. All the children were unharmed. Petty said that about 10 minutes after he and Miller got there, Chief Doria arrived and made his way to the second floor with a woman that Petty didn't know and was not law enforcement. Chief Dordia said she's a ride along. But in a book written about the case, the author says it was actually his date and he not only took this civilian to the house, but he also allowed her into the crime scene. Petty testified they needed to get the kids out of the house, but there was no way to get out without walking by Yvonne. So Petty said that he and Miller took a blanket from the third floor bedroom and covered Yvonne's body with it. Again, he said that the blood seemed pretty dry, so he wasn't worried about corrupting any evidence. Then he said the officers picked the kids up and walked them over Yvonne's blanket covered body and out of the house. I asked Yvonne's son Preston, who was 6 at the time, what he remembered from that night into the morning.

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Steve Fishman (15:26)

It was getting late in the dark outside, and my mom made me go to bed. She asked me to go downstairs and lock the door. I got about a couple inches away from the door handle and I got scared. I still know I was only scared of the dark.

Maggie Freeling (15:46)

Anyway, so he left the door unlocked.

Steve Fishman (15:49)

So I ran back upstairs and she asked me if I locked the door. And I told her yes. Then we went to bed, me and Brandon. Well, Brandon woke me up probably somewhere in the middle of the night, and he was trying to get out of the room. And we had a latch on the inside of the door and the outside of the door. And usually our door wasn't locked from the outside, but that night it was. And he kept pounding on the door and nobody came to answer it. So then he was crying on the river. So I just grabbed him and I took him to my side of the bed. We went back to sleep, and when we woke up, the police officers were there. A whole bunch of people. I mean, a ton of people were inside the house.

Maggie Freeling (16:44)

Now, I would understand why the police might shield children from the crime scene. That makes sense, but it doesn't explain why so many decisions were made that compromised evidence in a murder Investigation. Civilians coming in, no shoe coverings, cross contamination of evidence. There is even a crime scene photo that actually shows an officer stepping over Yvonne's body, leaving a bloody footprint between her legs. I thought maybe these were oversights caused in part by the officers worrying so much about getting the kids out of the house without seeing their mom. So I asked Preston about it. And the police said that they carried you and covered your mom with a blanket.

Steve Fishman (17:31)

Yes, I hear that all the time. I'm beginning it. I'm the one that covered Brandy's eyes when I walked past her.

Maggie Freeling (17:39)

Very shortly after the kids were removed from the house, Detectives John Leach, Lloyd Sampson and Bill Mucklow arrived and ordered patrol officers Petty and Miller out.

Steve Fishman (17:50)

The first major thing I've always learned is you have to preserve the scene so the evidence doesn't get contaminated or destroyed.

Maggie Freeling (17:58)

This is Detective mucklow in a 2008 deposition.

Steve Fishman (18:02)

So on a murder homicide scenario, the first thing we do is call the Star County Crime Lab and they would send over a technician to go over and do the initial collecting and fingerprint crime scene texts.

Maggie Freeling (18:16)

And the coroner arrived and the investigation began. It's worth mentioning that Animal Control also came and took Yvonne's dogs from the crime scene. Detectives collected bed sheets, pillow cushions and couch coverings, Scrapings and swabs of blood from the living room and stairs, kitchen knives, sections of flooring with bloody footprints, opened Coke cans from the bedroom and kitchen, a Marlboro cigarette pack and cigarettes from the kitchen table, a lighter, unopened condoms and Penthouse magazines from Yvonne's bedroom, and two packages of Swisher Sweets cigars. Detectives also lifted and preserved fingerprints from the Coke cans and a glass on the table. A neighbor also called in a large kitchen butcher knife in the road a few blocks away from the crime scene. The knife appeared to match the set they'd found in Yvonne's kitchen and the knife had a print on it. Outside, neighbors and family members crowded the scene. A newspaper article from the time describes a neatly manicured lawn splashed with children's toys and a red sandbox cordoned off by yellow police tape. At about 5pm a neighbor walked by the bustling crime scene and stopped to talk to officers. In his police report, Officer Sampson noted that 20 year old George Hale told officers that at about 9:30, 10am he noticed Yvonne's house. He heard the puppies barking and looked over. Here's Sampson reading his report.

Steve Fishman (19:52)

He advised he saw a white male, about 5 foot 9, about 180 pounds, in his mid to late 20s, wearing blue jeans and a short sleeve shirt with medium length hair. Exit the residence carrying a garbage bag. He said that the white male walked around the west end of the house. He said it did not look like anything out of the ordinary. He kept walking.

Maggie Freeling (20:13)

Sampson noted this in the report. Detectives were also canvassing the neighborhood. The neighbor across the street said she saw Yvonne on the night of the 31st. She said Yvonne was outside around 5:30pm crushing soda cans, talking to a 40 year old white man, about 5 foot 7 in a plaid shirt with curly graying hair. Detective Mucklow said he tried to speak with Tanya and it was just, you.

Steve Fishman (20:39)

Know, and I know it was a tough time and I had to extract information about who Yvonne was hanging around, you know, what contact she had and you know, what happened prior and you know, just, just basic information on her daughter and yeah, she wasn't too much help at all. I mean she was just. The best way to describe it is like a zombie. She just wasn't, she wasn't there. I mean every time I had contact with her she was the same way. It was just like a shell of a person.

Maggie Freeling (21:15)

Eventually, Tanya and Sherman left with all four boys. While in the car, Tanya said that she asked Vinnie who hurt mommy, Thinking that since he was walking around the house, he may know something. Vinnie is the mystery here and maybe the key. The four year old said he saw a Josh, Jimmy or Jeremy push mommy. He didn't say all three names, he said one, but the name was hard to make out because of his disability. So Josh, Jimmy or Jeremy has always been taken with a grain of salt. When they got home, Tanya said she called David's grandfather and told him to tell David what happened and to have David come pick up two year old Brandon, the son he shared with Yvonne. She testified that David was already supposed to pick up Brandon that day. Remember when David got the news he was at work, his grandfather called him.

Steve Fishman (22:15)

I asked what is it you need me to do? He's like I need you to go over to her parents house and pick up Brandon because they're there and they've got police and everything in her house. So I mean I just told my boss's son right there. I was like, you know, I, I gotta go and I'm, I'm half explaining what's going as I'm walking out the door and he's following me out to the car.

Maggie Freeling (22:38)

David said he left work around 2 to go pick up Brandon.

Steve Fishman (22:43)

So I shoot over to Sherman Antonia's house. I get there, I walk in the house. Her dad's coming up out of the basement with a load of laundry. Walked past me and he's like, Tania's Upwood, they have like a bi level house. So whenever I go up into the room, Tanya's face was just makeup where she was crying. I started talking to her, what's going on? And, you know, she could only tell me what it is that she knew.

Maggie Freeling (23:13)

That Yvonne was dead. So David took Brandon and waited for updates.

Steve Fishman (23:18)

What were you thinking when all of this went down? Like, what was going through your head?

Maggie Freeling (23:23)

I mean, I can't even imagine.

Steve Fishman (23:27)

Well, whenever I initially got the call and then I go over and I pick him up, I mean, just like shock and awe. It's like as if it's not even real. Like something has to be wrong. You know what I mean? It can't be true. And then the realization of it coming in, that this had actually happened, I mean, I felt bad for the family and of course, for my son.

Maggie Freeling (23:58)

David went down to the police station the day after Yvonne was found. His grandfather retained David, an attorney who joined him at the station as one of Yvonne's recent ex boyfriends and one of the fathers of her five children. It's reasonable. Detectives wanted to speak with him, ask his alibi, see what he knows about who any suspects could be. But David says that's not what happened.

Steve Fishman (24:24)

And, I mean, looking the first question. All of a sudden they're asking me how our relationship was, you know, where I was at and everything. And so I said, I'm here to help you. And they said, well, help us help you. And I'm like, what do I need help for?

Maggie Freeling (24:39)

Right then, David's lawyer shut the interview down, but the police now had their antennas up. They thought David was uncooperative and suspicious. And that really sealed David's fate as the person of interest. A single dad who has to pay child support and lawyers up after the woman he has to pay child support to is murdered. I totally get it. But David wasn't the only ex with a motive in Yvonne's life. Eric Cameron is the father of three of Yvonne's kids. Maybe he found out about the rekindled affair between Yvonne and David. Or maybe he wanted custody. Here's Detective Sampson in his deposition.

Steve Fishman (25:25)

So you remember speaking with. Did you speaking with Eric Cameron, the father of three of her children? Did you yourself speak to him? He was ruled out as a suspect because he was in jail at the time.

Maggie Freeling (25:43)

Eric was in jail. So the detectives went back to David. As I Mentioned in the last episode. By all accounts, David and Yvonne were on good terms. Even Yvonne's parents testified at trial that David and Yvonne had an agreeable visitation. David could take Brandon whenever he pleased. And David also had a solid alibi. The night of the murder, David was at his shoot fighting class with his lion cub.

Steve Fishman (26:13)

David was taking a martial arts class that night, like three, four counties away. And he did it every single Wednesday night. He had been for a couple months. And they knew where he was. He had a lion cub with him that night. And so it was memorable to the people that were in the class that David brought his lion cub with him.

Maggie Freeling (26:32)

Even though both Eric and David had alibis, police still zeroed in on David. They started questioning his friends. Maybe there was an accomplice. Apparently, David's alibi just meant he had to have help.

Steve Fishman (26:47)

They needed a co conspirator. So they interviewed two of his other friends, the guy that was with him that night and another guy, and tried to get them to say that they did it.

Maggie Freeling (26:57)

They spoke to a few of David's friends but got nothing. One of those friends was Josh McComb.

Steve Fishman (27:03)

Oh, you know, I just need you to come down to the. To the station and we're just going to, you know, take a couple pictures of your car and, you know, no big deal. And then they, like, interrogated me. He tried to, like, catch me up. You know, he would ask me one question that was, you know, like, is your name Josh McComb? And I would say, get ready to say yes. And then he would say, did you murder Yvonne? And I had to be like, yes to the first question, no to the second question.

Maggie Freeling (27:25)

Josh is a longtime friend of David's. He said that police were questioning him hard about the murder, but his mother was with him. So law enforcement ended the interview.

Steve Fishman (27:36)

And so they found Joe. And Joe was eager to please. And Joe just pulled him like a cheek chair.

Maggie Freeling (27:41)

18 year old Joe Wilkes, almost a decade younger than David.

Steve Fishman (27:46)

He was a young kid that didn't really have many friends. You know, he was kind of the underdog, for the lack of a better word.

Maggie Freeling (27:53)

Joe was a drifter. He had an incredibly rough childhood. His biological father was abusive, so he went into foster care and allegedly his foster parents abused him emotionally, physically, and sexually. Joe had a severe learning disability, a low iq and emotional trauma.

Steve Fishman (28:12)

Did you guys know each other? Well? Yeah. No. I mean, I knew him and I knew him for quite a while. I was introduced to him through some other friends. I met him at parties, you know, through Some mutual friends and everything. And he lived approximately one and a quarter miles away from me.

Maggie Freeling (28:34)

Joe eventually wound up homeless as a teen. In 97 or 98.

Steve Fishman (28:40)

I'd see him. I'm driving into town. I'd see him walking. So I'd pick him up. I'd take him in to town. I've taken him to work. And he was. He was just sleeping my car outside because his mom had kicked him out. So I'd let him in. He'd sleep on the couch.

Maggie Freeling (28:58)

At the time of Yvonne's death, Joe was actually staying with other friends. He was brought into the police station on July 14. And by this point, the police had said on record that the case was cold. There were really no leads. They liked David for the murder, but with his alibi, there was nothing they could do. But as soon as they got their hands on Joe, the entire case took a turn.

Steve Fishman (29:25)

He's always been talking to me like how long she was since that woman was out of his life and that he could have his little boy. And then I. For years I told him, keep me out there. I want nothing to do with it. And then what one was that gilgling? Okay. And then one day I just lost everything. And I didn't care about life no more. And David knew about it and took advantage of me.

Maggie Freeling (29:55)

That's next time. Coming up on death and deceit in Alliance.

Steve Fishman (30:06)

We are in the detective bureau at the Alliance Police Department and we're investigating the homicide of you. Can you tell us your part in this? I asked him what it was, and he said to kill somebody. And at that point, I really didn't care about life or nothing. So why did David want this done? So David could have his little boy. He wouldn't have to pay so much money. So what did David say to you? I'll pay you to do something for me. He asked me if I would do it, and I told him yes. Are you sorry for what you did? I can't believe I did it. It took advantage of be.

Maggie Freeling (30:46)

Death and Deceit in alliance is produced and reported by me, Maggie Freeling with editorial consulting from Amber Hunt. Aaron Case is our legal researcher. Our executive producer is Steve Fishman. Our engineer and production coordinator is Austin Smith. Eric Axelrod is our assistant producer.

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