True Crime Bullsh**

Season 7, Episode 12: "Couples, Part 2"

Air Date: February 2, 2026
Host: Josh Hallmark (Studio BOTH/AND), with Michelle Tooker

Episode Overview

This episode continues True Crime Bullsh**’s in-depth exploration of serial killer Israel Keyes, focusing on his apparent fascination with couple homicides and unsolved triple murders. The team follows up on a disturbing cold case involving the deaths of a couple and a police officer in California—a case suggested by a listener—that eerily parallels one of Keyes’s own failed attempts. The episode investigates potential links, Keyes’s MO, his media influences, and addresses the broader implications of how victim backgrounds shape media and law enforcement responses.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Tips and Investigative Process

• The True Crime Bullsh** research team regularly receives and vets around 15 tips daily, each requiring a methodical, skeptical, yet open-minded approach.
• Team members bring different perspectives to tips: Josh is the skeptic, Shana is the optimist, Tooks is unbiased, and Jordan/Kathleen are detail-oriented.
• Listener insights have led to important breakthroughs in past investigations.

“We often joke that the more we know, the less we know. The thing is, however, we don’t need to know where we’re headed when we dive deeper… We must take the journey and see what comes of the information.” – Josh Hallmark (07:23)

2. Case Background: The “Triple” Deaths in Sacramento (October 2006)

Victims:

• Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell (County police officer, beloved family man)
• Allen Everett Shubert (mechanic/handyman)
• Nicole Ann Welch (friend accompanying Shubert)

Events Summary:

• Deputy Mitchell was shot and killed during a rural traffic stop (03:30am, 10/27/2006, Sloughhouse, CA).
  • After failing to answer repeated dispatch calls, backup found him fatally wounded.
  • “Jake asked me how he died. I told him a bad man shot his daddy… His next question was why the doctors couldn’t put a band-aid on him and fix him.” – Crystal Mitchell, recounting to Jake about his father (17:13)
• Shortly thereafter, a white van linked to Mitchell’s stop was found nearby in a river, with Shubert and Welch dead inside.
  • Both ruled to have died from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, though exact details remain murky.
  • Police initially denied a connection but soon confirmed the deaths were intertwined: “Nicole and Alan were dead before Deputy Mitchell was murdered… prevailing theory became that Mitchell stumbled upon the van while someone was trying to dispose of Welch and Shubert’s bodies.” (21:55)

Theories:

• Meth production, with CO poisoning as an accidental byproduct.
• Third-party killer encountered by Mitchell during disposal, possibly Keyes or another criminal.
• Police and media discrepancies in treating the officer’s murder with far more attention than the couple’s unexplained deaths.

3. Israel Keyes Connections

• The case occurred within a “Keyes hotspot” during a period he was suspected to have committed crimes in California.
• Keyes’s grandmother lived in Sacramento; he visited often.
• Six months after the incident, Keyes was confirmed nearby, engaging in suspicious activity.

Parallels to Keyes’s Statements and Behavior:

• Interview clips reviewed (08:53–11:52) detail a similar interrupted attempt at killing a couple and police ambush at Point Woronzof, Alaska—same “triple homicide” scenario.
  • “I don’t know why I was thinking about shooting the cop… just kind of started thinking about what it would be like. You wouldn’t even hear… he’d just be on the ground.” – Israel Keyes, as quoted by Michelle Tooker (10:35)
• Demonstrates Keyes’s admitted fantasies, technical weapon prep, stakes in the region, and MO consistency (e.g., carjackings, emerging focus on couples, evasion tactics).

4. The Influence of Media and Crime Fiction on Keyes

• Keyes repeatedly referenced true crime books and fiction as sources of inspiration for his methodology.
  • “There was a book I read… that gave me a lot of ideas… It’s called Intensity by Dean Koontz.” – Israel Keyes, via Michelle Tooker (33:09)
• Host notes uncannily specific parallels between Mr. Murder by Dean Koontz and both the real crime and Keyes’s own actions—car thefts, cash use, weapon dismantling, method of killing, even the locations (33:21–34:23).
  • “So much of Keyes’ MO seems to have been derived from Mr. Murder, which was published in 1993.”

5. Unanswered Questions and Broader Context

• Numerous missing person cases in Northern California, some recently resolved and ruled out (e.g. Linda Haney case, 2025 closure).
• Reminders that certain victims (e.g. those with drug backgrounds or lesser socioeconomic status) are often overlooked relative to law enforcement or more privileged victims.
• Emotional resonance with families still seeking answers nearly 20 years later, marked by personal tributes and ongoing FOIA struggles.

“Certain victims or missing people are treated differently by police and the media, especially if the victims have a history of drug use or come from lower socioeconomic means.” – Host (36:53)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the investigative process:

  • “We often joke that the more we know, the less we know.” (07:23, Josh Hallmark)

• On Keyes’s mindset and nearly targeting a cop:

  • “I had always been… you know, ever since I was a kid, it was like… white supremacist roots or something, that I was gonna ambush a cop someday.” (10:38, Keyes via Michelle Tooker)

• Family’s heartbreak:

  • “Never got to play catch… teaching me how to throw a curveball or watching Red Zone on Sundays… There’s one thing I’ve heard from all my dad’s friends and family. He was always smiling, no matter what…” (41:30, Jake Mitchell tribute)

• Media/fiction influence on Keyes:

  • “There was a book I read years and years ago that gave me a lot of ideas. But I can’t really blame that because I was already doing stuff when I read that book. But it gave you ideas.” (33:09, Keyes via Michelle Tooker)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Correction, episode context: 01:48–03:30
• Team’s tip review process: 05:30–08:53
• Keyes Point Woronzof ambush incident (audio): 08:53–11:52
• Case narrative: Deputy Mitchell/shootings and couple deaths: 15:35–25:04
• Keyes’s potential presence/connections in California: 27:31–33:09
• Discussion of Dean Koontz fiction and uncanny parallels: 33:09–34:45
• Social, media, and law enforcement treatment of victims: 36:53–38:30
• Personal/family impacts, tributes: 40:42–41:30

Conclusion

The episode highlights the persistent, meticulous efforts of the True Crime Bullsh** team to hunt for forgotten victims and hidden connections. Though the link between Israel Keyes and the 2006 Sacramento triple deaths can’t be definitively proven, the similarities in method, geography, and timeline raise serious questions. The show also interrogates how law enforcement and media select whose stories matter, advocating for a more humane, comprehensive view of all victims. The ongoing mystery lives on, with a call to action for any new leads.

“Whether or not Keyes was involved, we hope the families of Nicole Welch, Alan Shubert and Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell get answers soon.” – Host (42:00)

If you have information on these cases, contact the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office (916-874-8477).