- 2 days ago
Murder She Solved S01E03
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CreativityTranscript
00:00a gruesome case that will terrorize a safe and sleepy city a beautiful young
00:09woman murdered in broad daylight mere steps from a well-traveled bicycle path
00:15yeah that was his hunting ground a predator who prowls the streets and
00:21pathways of Canada's capital in search of innocent prey you know this isn't the
00:26first time this guy's done this her brutal death will strike fear into the heart of a
00:33community well I still don't go anywhere alone and set in rapid motion the largest
00:40search in the history of Ottawa it looked from very early on that it was a
00:44stranger abduction they're not easy to solve will police be able to catch the
00:51killer before he strikes again
00:58it is early afternoon on August 6 2003 when Ardeth Wood borrows her brother's bicycle and sets off as she often does
01:27from her parents home in Orleans on the outskirts of Ottawa
01:34the 27 year old university student is taking a break from classes at Ontario's
01:40University of Waterloo much to the chagrin of her good friends back on campus the
01:46last time I saw Ardeth she was standing at the door at my apartment and I I asked her
01:53when she would be back and she told me the date and I can't remember what it was
01:57now but it seemed like a long time and I remember she I know but you can give me a
02:03call and that sort of thing and and then she left
02:10Jill and Ardeth met when they were both working as teaching assistants in the
02:15university's philosophy department and Ardeth made quite an impression she was
02:21very tall and had long blonde hair and she always had interesting clothes on and
02:27she was beautiful I was immediately intimidated by her and I didn't know what
02:35to expect and she turned out to be so much more warm and kind and considerate
02:40it then then I ever would have thought the two became fast friends meeting
02:46regularly for coffee and chatting for hours at a time sometimes we would be
02:51talking about teaching sometimes we would be talking about the future I don't
02:58think she wanted to you know sacrifice having a family I think that was the main
03:03goal to her
03:06the trip home to Orleans gives her the chance to spend some time with her
03:11close-knit family and on this afternoon Ardeth has promised to get back from her
03:17bicycle ride in time to go shopping with her mom
03:21it is a typical August day in the Ottawa region hot and humid and there is a
03:30thunderstorm brewing on the horizon when the afternoon comes and goes and the
03:40always responsible Ardeth has still not returned home her family begins to worry
03:49they head out looking but find no sign of her when night falls they abandon their
03:58search and call police
04:03early the next morning the wood family contacts friends and neighbors and they
04:09meet at Ottawa's aviation museum but the searchers have their job cut out for them
04:17with nearly 200 kilometers of city bike paths and no idea where Ardeth was headed
04:23the local media gets wind of her disappearance
04:28Ardeth Wood's parents reported the young woman missing yesterday and ask anyone with information
04:32word travels quickly her boyfriend Kristen he phoned me at my apartment and he said
04:40he said he said Ardeth is missing
04:45the whole time we were thinking we'll get a call at any point and it will be somebody saying oh it was a
04:51misunderstanding or you know she phoned
04:55but even the police fear for Ardeth's safety
04:58right now they're just searching for a missing girl at that point I'm thinking it's not good
05:09co-lead on the case Jenny Edge is already anticipating a difficult investigation
05:15when you're talking about a young woman who's had no police involvement and has led a very normal very average
05:25very well-behaved lifestyle it complicates things greatly right from the very beginning
05:32because police have nothing concrete to work with
05:36no troubled history
05:38no obvious motive
05:40and not a single suspect
05:43they appeal to the public for any information that could help them get a start
05:48and within minutes the phones begin to ring
05:55one of the calls is from a young woman who tells police about an unsettling encounter
06:01the same afternoon Ardeth disappeared
06:05she was heading east into Orleans and the male that stops her to ask her some questions
06:11she described him as fairly young no shirt light hair in his 20s muscular build
06:21she described him as being quite good-looking but that once he started to talk he he just wasn't quite right
06:27he was a little creepy
06:30the man tried unsuccessfully to lure her down an isolated pathway
06:35she fled but he pursued her until she reached the safety of a residential neighborhood
06:41so we're thinking this guy is down here he's a sexual predator and he's in the area
06:53philosophy student Ardeth Wood has come home to Orleans Ontario just outside of Ottawa to spend summer vacation with her family
07:02on a hot August day the 27 year old borrows her brother's bicycle and heads out for a ride
07:09promising to be back shortly to take her mother shopping
07:15despite a heavy afternoon thunderstorm
07:19Ardeth fails to return home
07:21the family heads out looking
07:23but finds no sign of her
07:25and they call police
07:27the following morning friends and neighbors join in the search for the beautiful young woman
07:34but with hundreds of kilometers of bicycle paths and no clear idea where Ardeth was headed
07:39police and volunteers come up empty-handed
07:42when local media reports Ardeth's disappearance
07:46a young woman contacts police
07:48she tells them about her encounter with a man who aggressively tried to lure her off the bicycle path
07:54and into the bushes
07:56the witness provides a detailed description of the young man
08:00and works with a forensic artist to come up with a composite of the suspect
08:05co-lead on the case Jenny Edge
08:07it's a joint process because she can say no the eyes weren't quite like that
08:12possibly they were turned up a little bit more or more deep set
08:15and they work on it over a number of hours
08:18until it's as close to what she recalls as possible
08:23police show the composite to Ardeth's family and friends
08:28but no one recognizes the man
08:30it looked from very early on that it was a stranger abduction
08:34they're not easy to solve
08:37because there's nothing to link the victim to the offender
08:40so you don't have a starting spot
08:43since police aren't sure that this man had anything to do with Ardeth's disappearance
08:50they hold off on releasing his image to the public
08:54for fear of sidetracking their investigation
08:57then the phone call that will become the major turning point in the Ardeth Wood case
09:03it is from a 16 year old girl who is sure she saw Ardeth on the bicycle path the very morning she went missing
09:11and what she witnessed that day makes investigators blood run cold
09:16she first heard a scream
09:18and she looked up and she looked through the bush
09:24and she said she saw Ardeth talking with a male who seemed very agitated and very animated
09:29she became concerned the witness did
09:32and she sees Ardeth and the suspect going down a path towards the Green's Creek with her bikes
09:38thinking the two could be boyfriend and girlfriend
09:42the young woman hesitates to intervene
09:45but she does follow them briefly down the pathway
09:48a little further down she indicated that both bikes that she had seen them on
09:53were lying on the ground on the left side of the path
09:57the witness stops and listens
09:59but hears nothing
10:01and she indicated to us at the time that she was so concerned there was something wrong
10:06that she had her cell phone out she dialed 911
10:08she holds her finger over the send button but never presses it
10:14when the thunderstorm worsens the young woman heads home
10:20and as she was leaving she heard another scream
10:27but she kept going
10:31when the young girl sees Ardeth's picture on the news she calls police
10:37who show her the composite
10:39she confirms that it's the man she saw with Ardeth Wood
10:43the same man who tried to lure the other witness into the bush
10:50both encounters were in the Green's Creek area
10:54investigators immediately narrow their search
10:58Sergeant Brad Hampson is the search manager
11:01you would have seen helicopters search and rescue technicians from Trenton
11:07and then hundreds of trained search and rescue personnel from the Ontario Provincial Police
11:13and then on top of that you had the actual police officers untrained search personnel
11:17and the scores of volunteers who just keep coming
11:21it ended up I think being somewhere almost close to a thousand people that showed up within the first few days
11:28Ardeth Wood has disappeared while out for a bicycle ride just east of Ottawa
11:41when the media reports are missing witnesses come forward
11:45one young woman was approached the same afternoon Ardeth went missing
11:49by a man who tried to lure her into the bush
11:53another witness saw Ardeth arguing with a man near Green's Creek
11:57then watched while the two of them walked down an isolated pathway
12:02although she heard a scream she didn't call 911
12:07when it began to storm she headed home
12:12and as she was leaving she heard another scream
12:16but she kept going
12:19four days later the city is the site of the largest search in its history
12:31in addition to hundreds of police Canadian forces and search and rescue personnel
12:37they had close to a thousand volunteers searching both the wooded area of the parkways and going door to door within short order
12:44I think it probably hit struck a chord with most people in the community
12:49and especially because these are trails that are used by everybody throughout the city of Ottawa
12:54but it's a phone call from a community on the other side of the Ottawa River that's caught the attention of investigators
13:02that call came in from a phone booth over in Gatineau and the gentleman stated
13:09it was an accident I didn't mean to kill her
13:11I took her across the river and buried her in Gatineau
13:15they send officers to the phone booth but find no fingerprints
13:24and no way of knowing whether the call was made by a killer or a crank
13:33back at headquarters police receive a tip from another female cyclist
13:38who recalls details from her conversation with the same strange man on the bike path
13:45he gives her some very important information that he was from Plantagenet
13:49and it's just an odd, odd name
13:52not too many people know the town Plantagenet
13:54it's very, it's small, it's about 60 kilometers east of Ottawa
13:57it could well be an important clue to the man's identity
14:01the woman who reported the encounter feels lucky to have gotten away
14:06she just started biking faster and faster and went home
14:10and the first thing she said to her little sister was
14:12don't go on near the bike path
14:14stay off the bike path today
14:15there's a weirdo out there
14:17back at the Greens Creek search site
14:21police are honing in on the creek itself
14:25what they find is heart sinking
14:29the divers were actually working in extremely murky water
14:34I think they almost had zero visibility in there
14:37and so they were just by hand and feel under the water
14:40trying to locate any kind of evidence they could
14:43and then we got the information that they had located a bicycle
14:48and that it fit the description of the bicycle that Ardeth Wood had been riding when she went missing
14:53it's telling us it's not going to be good news
15:00the following morning, five days since Ardeth Wood's disappearance
15:06we called the OPP and requested their cadaver dog
15:10and within short order they found Ardeth
15:17on the east side of the Greens Creek
15:20she was on the ground about 25 meters from shore
15:25hidden in a little recessed area behind two large trees
15:31police inform Ardeth's family that they finally found her
15:37they know one way or another now
15:40so there's that relief but then there's all kinds of new feelings that come in of course
15:43once they know they've lost their daughter
15:46or their best friend
15:49at first we thought that she'd been found in the water
15:53so I pictured her in the water
15:59it seemed peaceful to me
16:02and so I was almost comforted by the thought that that's where she had been the whole time
16:08and then we heard that she had been partially buried
16:12then we knew that somebody else had been involved
16:17Ardeth Wood, who has been missing for nearly a week, has been found
16:25her body discovered by a cadaver dog
16:28meters from the bank of Greens Creek on the outskirts of Ottawa
16:32the 27 year old philosophy student had been reported missing five days earlier
16:40when she failed to return home from an afternoon ride
16:45Ardeth's borrowed bicycle was located submerged in the creek
16:49when we found out about the bike
16:51we figured out that this was probably a homicide investigation at that point
16:57the search for Ardeth is the largest in the capital region's history
17:02and the extensive media coverage prompts a flood of calls from witnesses
17:07most of them women
17:10many had been approached by what appears to be the same strange and aggressive man
17:15in the Greens Creek vicinity
17:18yeah, that was his hunting ground
17:20one young woman saw the man and Ardeth arguing
17:23and then walking their bicycles down a secluded pathway
17:27the 16 year old almost calls 911
17:31but thinking it a lovers quarrel decided to leave them alone
17:37police cordon off the crime scene
17:39and begin the meticulous search for anything that might lead them to Ardeth's killer
17:44based on algae found in her lungs
17:48investigators know that she drowned in Greens Creek
17:52and though her body was found naked
17:54there is no forensic evidence of sexual assault
17:57Jenny Edge is co-lead on the investigation
18:00the results all came back negatives
18:03there was no fingerprints, no DNA, no trace evidence of any sort
18:08it was very discouraging to hear that
18:11investigators decide to make public the composite of their suspect
18:17despite the potential drawbacks
18:19it can generate information that really leads you astray
18:25we had people saying that they had seen the man in the composite working at a grocery store
18:31or I saw that guy in the composite on the bus last week
18:35others were very, very detailed
18:37people calling in to say that's my ex-husband
18:39he has issues with women, I know it's him
18:41there was about a thousand tips within two days
18:44after the composite went out
18:47one of the investigators assigned to follow up on them is Ian Pidcock
18:53we were the ones that were responsible to solve this thing
18:56I mean, Ardeth was dead
18:58somebody had to do right by her
19:00on a beautiful August morning
19:05Ardeth Wood's body is laid to rest in Ottawa's Notre Dame Cemetery
19:10600 people attend the service
19:13a thousand pay tribute on the street outside
19:16there was a huge story in Ottawa
19:19people were in shock
19:21and the city was worried
19:23for weeks, police worked their way through an avalanche of tips
19:29but even the most promising produce no strong suspects
19:34on September 10th
19:38over a month since Ardeth Wood's body was found
19:41investigators decide it's time to make public
19:44an important detail about the man who may have killed her
19:49according to witnesses who met him on the bicycle path
19:52the suspect has a tattoo
19:55police release a likeness of the winged eagle seen on his upper arm
20:00the hopes were that it would provide additional tips
20:03and it did, it provided a huge number of tips
20:06anybody that had a bird tattoo that people were calling in
20:09no matter where it was on their body, on their face, on their chest, anywhere
20:12so we, you know, we'd run around and chase the tattoo for a while
20:16which kind of bogged down the investigation but it had to be done
20:20for months, police do their legwork
20:23sifting through the now nearly 4,000 tips
20:26determined to weed out the man responsible for killing Ardeth Wood
20:31I had a spreadsheet with all the persons of interest on it
20:35and found myself waking up at night sometimes
20:38and I could see them all
20:40sort of just scrolling
20:42sort of over and over again
20:44and every day I drove to work
20:46I drive by Greens Creek
20:47and so every day I'm thinking of Ardeth
20:49I'm driving by I'm going, come on
20:51let's get, let's get this solved
20:54Then in April 2004, eight months after Ardeth Wood's death
20:59police believe they may finally have found the man who murdered her
21:04A male from Gatineau
21:07who was called in by two different callers
21:10very early on in the investigation
21:13Not only is Gatineau the same community
21:16from which police received the anonymous murder confession
21:19this man was also seen in the vicinity
21:23he was spotted directly across from the crime scene
21:26riding a bicycle
21:29somebody who passed by said
21:31hey, that guy looks a lot like the Compton drawing
21:34police interviewed him at the time
21:37so something about what he had said
21:39or how he had acted
21:41just didn't sit right with them
21:43and they recommended investigators speak with him again
21:47it was a follow-up interview
21:49but a little bit more probing
21:50and there was something just off on his answers
21:56he was very nervous
21:57he had some behavioural issues
22:00we knew that he biked a lot
22:02everything we were looking for
22:04he hit it on
22:05we were looking at the age 22
22:07blonde hair, well built
22:10he had a tattoo similar to the one
22:13that we were looking for
22:14and he had been a student
22:16at Plantagen High School
22:17this really sort of elevated him
22:19into a higher priority file
22:22police convinced him
22:24the only way to clear his name
22:26is to speak to them yet again
22:29the interview went on for three hours
22:32I felt that he had some issues
22:35with the impulse control
22:37that he had a lot of anger
22:38he talked about how he was
22:41he was like a scorpion under a rock
22:43you never knew what they were going to do
22:45and this scorpion had no alibi
22:48for the day of the murder
22:50police put a surveillance team on his tail
22:53to see what he does
22:55and we get pretty high on him
22:57we follow him around for about a week and a half
23:00we like everything we see
23:01and then we bring him in for a polygraph
23:04will their suspect pass or fail?
23:07we're so anxious
23:09we're so excited that we have this
23:11this terrible homicide solved
23:20it's been eight months since the grisly discovery of Ardeth Wood's body
23:24on the banks of Greens Creek just outside of Ottawa
23:26police determined that the 27 year old university student had been drowned
23:33a thorough search of the crime scene produces no DNA evidence
23:39one young witness recalls seeing Ardeth walking her bicycle down a secluded path
23:45with an unidentified man whom others describe as odd and aggressive
23:52investigators release a likeness of the suspect and a composite of his tattoo resulting in a flurry of tips from the public
24:00we had like a thousand calls
24:02we were up to a thousand calls within two days
24:04including some about a man who lives in the same community
24:08from which police received an anonymous confession to Ardeth Wood's murder
24:13the Gatineau resident bikes a lot
24:16matches the description of the suspect
24:19and has a tattoo
24:20I think it's going to be hard to clear this guy
24:23he agrees to a polygraph
24:26and though the results can't be used in court
24:29they can indicate to investigators they've got the right suspect in their sights
24:34we were quite anxious to see what happened with this thing
24:38we were all cramped into the tiny little monitoring room for the polygraph waiting
24:44it had taken investigators weeks to assemble their case against the Gatineau man
24:50they watch it fall apart in mere minutes
24:54he passed with flying colors
24:56and we went from top of the roller coaster to the bottom in like a second
25:02it's hard not to all of a sudden just lose all hope
25:11on August 6, 2004
25:14the community marks the one year anniversary of Ardeth Wood's murder
25:19and investigators seem no closer to catching the man who committed it
25:25from the tips that continue to pour in
25:28police have identified hundreds of possible suspects
25:31some are cleared immediately
25:34others are moved to the back burner
25:36like a 23 year old Ottawa resident by the name of Christopher Myers
25:42case co-lead Jenny Edge
25:44Christopher Meyer met a lot of our criteria
25:49but at the very initial time that he was interviewed as a person of interest
25:54he provided an alibi
25:57provided the name of the person he'd been at home with
25:59and then he'd gone to work after that
26:01what's more
26:03Myers had no tattoo
26:05police turned their attention to other persons of interest
26:09then on a summer evening in 2004
26:13in 2004
26:14a man approaches a young woman on an Ottawa street
26:18he engages her in conversation
26:20she asks him for a cigarette
26:22and he offers to get her one from home
26:24when she steps into the entrance way of his apartment building
26:30he drags her into the basement and attacks her in the laundry room
26:34police on this case suspect Christopher Myers
26:41but at the time have no evidence to charge him
26:45that's when Ardeth Wood investigators hear about the assault
26:49and decide to interview him a second time
26:51but Myers disappears
26:53and it's not until February 2005 that they track him down
26:57detectives Ian Pidcock and Dave Smith arrive at Myers apartment unannounced
27:04he's came out and met us on his doorstep
27:08and I was struck yeah this guy does look like the cops
27:12when he started to speak
27:16I noticed that he had these crowded teeth
27:18and I thought back to what went on the witnesses and said
27:21it was like he had too many teeth in his mouth
27:24the suspect oh geez that's interesting
27:27can't ignore that
27:29but what about a bird tattoo on his upper arm?
27:33investigators ask him
27:35Chris can we just see if you have any tattoos anywhere?
27:39he took his whole shirt off
27:41and there was nothing there
27:43but police are convinced Myers is hiding something
27:47and while they can't make him take a polygraph
27:50they can ask him to
27:53Myers reluctantly agrees to the test
27:56and I noticed his body language changed
27:59and it was he started to bounce a little bit off the wall
28:03and it was indications of nervousness
28:06Myers never shows for his polygraph
28:10and investigators decide to take another look at his alibi the day of the murder
28:16he worked at a particular restaurant down in the market
28:21and he had a time card that showed on that particular day
28:25he punched in at around 3.30
28:28Myers was seen by his landlady at home late that morning
28:34was it possible he could have biked out to Green's Creek for one o'clock
28:38when witnesses saw Ardeth with the man on the pathway
28:41then had time to get back home
28:44before heading to the restaurant for his shift?
28:47Detective Smith bikes the route with time to spare
28:51it just proved that it is physically possible even without a car
28:56to get that far away
28:58do what he did
28:59get back home
29:00and go to work
29:02as though nothing happened
29:06but without hard evidence
29:08police have their hands tied
29:10then on the night of April 23rd 2005
29:17a young woman similar in appearance to Ardeth Wood
29:21is making her way home along the interprovincial bridge
29:24between Ottawa and Hull Quebec
29:27she was approached by a male on a bicycle
29:30who tried to engage her in conversation
29:34she tells him to leave her alone
29:36and he starts to ride away
29:38then suddenly turned came back and grabbed her
29:41and dragged her into a bush
29:43she manages to fight him off
29:46he steals her purse and takes off
29:49the incident is reported as a robbery
29:53and the Ardeth Wood investigation team
29:55doesn't learn about it for nearly a month
29:58that's when the attacker strikes again
30:02May 11th 2005
30:06North Bay Ontario
30:09in the early hours of the morning
30:12a young woman again similar in appearance to Ardeth
30:15was walking home
30:17approached by a male on foot
30:19again asking her where she was going
30:21could he walk with her
30:23he tells her he's looking for a particular street
30:26and she sends him off in that direction
30:29he reappeared suddenly a couple of minutes later
30:33grabbed her and dragged her into some bushes
30:36he twists her neck with such force
30:39she says she thought it would snap
30:41the woman fights back kicking and screaming
30:44a homeowner came out and interrupted the assault
30:50the assault and the suspect ran away
30:53leaving his cell phone behind
30:55it is more than a year since Ardeth Wood's death
31:06and police seem no closer to catching her killer
31:10the man investigators were convinced had committed the murder easily passed his polygraph
31:16it just takes the wind out of your sails completely
31:21then police learned that a man they had already spoken with early on in the Ardeth Wood case
31:26might now be connected to a recent sexual assault
31:29his name is Chris Myers
31:31and investigators decide to interview him again
31:35not only is the 24 year old a dead ringer for the composite
31:40he appears nervous at the idea of a polygraph
31:43then never shows up for the test
31:46police review Myers alibi
31:49and determine that he did have time to travel by bicycle to Greens Creek
31:54commit the murder
31:56and return in time to punch in at his restaurant job
32:00shortly after 3.30
32:03but we don't have evidence
32:04we don't have smoking gun
32:06then in April of 2005
32:09a young woman is sexually assaulted while crossing an Ottawa bridge
32:14and another attacked in May while making her way home in North Bay
32:19the assailant drops his cell phone at the North Bay scene
32:24and police trace it to an Ottawa woman
32:27who says it belongs to her son
32:29his name is Christopher Myers
32:34while North Bay officers prepare to arrest their sexual assault suspect
32:39we had two of our robbery investigators up in North Bay
32:43they caught wind of the sexual assault
32:45he said that guy has a lot of similarities to the Ernest Wood killer
32:50might investigators have finally found their man?
32:54and can they assemble the evidence they'll need to bring him to justice?
32:58Kinnear heads to North Bay to interview Myers
33:02who's just been picked up by local police on his return from a week long bike trip
33:08you know he's a little dirty he's disheveled
33:13but his demeanor is very calm
33:15hey Chris
33:17I go in and I tell him I'm with the Ottawa police
33:22and I want to talk to you about the Ernest Wood killing
33:24and he said oh yeah I've already been spoken to about that several times
33:27because he had been
33:29I've never murdered anybody in my life
33:31I'm like whatever cool cool
33:33so I explained to him like
33:35go on the polygraph
33:37take the polygraph
33:38and if it clears you we're off your tail
33:40we just want you off our plate
33:42and he agreed
33:43yeah no I'll take the polygraph
33:46yeah I'd appreciate it
33:48while police arranged to return Myers to Ottawa for the test
33:53Jerry and I went out and spoke with Chris's ex-girlfriend
33:58she tells them that he was physically abusive towards her
34:02and sexually aggressive with her friends
34:05that he regularly biked the pathways in and around Ottawa
34:10and often rode the streets of the city late into the night
34:14and they confirm that Chris Myers went to school in Plantagenet
34:19just like the cyclist who had aggressively approached young women on the pathway
34:24the day of Ardeth Wood's murder
34:26although Myers has repeatedly proved to police he has no tattoos
34:32his former girlfriend provides the missing piece to the investigator's puzzle
34:37she said he would use a little fake stick on tattoos that we used to use as kids
34:41and he just loved these things
34:43and she did tell us that he had one similar to what we were looking for at the time
34:47police are now certain that Myers is their murderer
34:53will a polygraph confirm it?
34:56over the course of five hours the examiner repeatedly asks Myers
35:01his answer is always the same
35:08no, no, no, no
35:10no, no
35:12but the polygraph results tell her otherwise
35:17there's absolutely no doubt in my mind
35:18there's absolutely no doubt in my mind
35:19Chris
35:20that you're responsible for our death to death
35:24I knew in my mind it was him.
35:29Now, knowing if I can prove it is a different matter.
35:35No matter what anybody says, whatever machine says, nothing.
35:38I did not kill nobody. Period.
35:42Given the resemblance of Ardeth Wood to the victim of the Ottawa Bridge assault.
35:47A little smaller in stature, but very similar in physical appearance.
35:52And the similarities between the two attacks.
35:56He approached her and then tried to strike up conversation and says, do you want to hang out?
36:02Investigators bring the sexual assault victim in to try and identify her assailant.
36:08She was shown a lineup including Chris Myers.
36:12And verbally she didn't say that's him, but physically she was almost violently ill.
36:19But even if Chris Myers is guilty of multiple sexual assaults, there is no evidence to charge him with murder.
36:30Forensic results showed no sign of sexual assault against Ardeth Wood and no DNA left at the crime scene.
36:38There's not a piece of clothing. There's not a piece of identification.
36:41We had zero evidence from the scene to link Ardeth to Christopher Myers.
36:46The whole case rested on a statement coming from him.
36:51On October 13, 2005, more than two years after the murder of Ardeth Wood,
36:58police prepare for what could be their final interview with the man who they believe killed her.
37:04When Ottawa resident Christopher Myers drops his cell phone at the scene of a North Bay sexual assault,
37:17local police track him down and arrest him.
37:21That's when an officer notes the 25-year-old's resemblance to the composite in the Wood homicide
37:27and contacts Ottawa investigators.
37:31Jerry Kinnear travels to North Bay to interview Myers and convince him to take a polygraph.
37:38He fails.
37:40Meanwhile...
37:42Jenny and I speak with his most recent girlfriend who supplies a ton of information on him
37:46and makes him look very interesting.
37:48And when one of the sexual assault victims clearly identifies Christopher Myers from a photo lineup,
37:55investigators are certain Myers attacked and killed Ardeth Wood.
37:59But proving it is another matter.
38:02Police need a confession from Myers.
38:05And the man whose job it is to get it is top-notch interviewer Martin Graham.
38:10To immediately bring the subject back to that time,
38:15so what we had done is we created maps,
38:18we put up his mugshot from the time against the composite below,
38:23and number of sightings of him.
38:27But will the strategy work?
38:30Chris Myers?
38:31Yes.
38:32Nice to meet you.
38:32Detective Sergeant Martin Graham.
38:34Graham decides to play hardball.
38:37Yep.
38:38We know what time Ardeth Wood went missing.
38:41We know you were there.
38:43We know you spoke to her.
38:47But Myers isn't buying in.
38:51But I wasn't.
38:52So when did you meet her?
38:53I never have.
38:55Chris, it's not an issue.
38:58I don't even know what the woman looks like.
39:01I'm not interested.
39:04Graham realizes he's made a crucial mistake.
39:07One that could cost him the confession.
39:10He hadn't bought into it in any shape or form
39:13because he literally told me,
39:15you have nothing on me.
39:17You have nothing.
39:18Hey, Jesus.
39:19Come on, tell me.
39:20I have DNA because I went there.
39:23That's...
39:23There was DNA you guys have already arrested me for it.
39:25Why?
39:26Graham changes tactics,
39:28gradually becoming Myers' confidant.
39:31Well, listen.
39:32You know one of the things that I'm happy to do?
39:34Can I get you a glass of water or something?
39:36We can talk through this.
39:37Let's get it from the back of your head.
39:39I know it's not going to be easy to talk about.
39:42I know that.
39:43The way he would speak with him,
39:46you know, it's almost like a father-son.
39:48You know, it's all right.
39:49You can tell me.
39:50You can tell me.
39:50And he just started giving it up.
39:55She puts down her speed bike.
39:58You put down your mountain bike.
40:02Hug and kiss.
40:04And then what?
40:06Show me what you did.
40:09All right?
40:09Come here.
40:10Stand up.
40:11You know what?
40:13One of the best things you can do
40:14and the easiest ways to recall memory
40:16is to relive it.
40:17So you tell me what you did.
40:18Everything you did.
40:19Put your hands on it.
40:19Yeah.
40:20Kiss.
40:21And what did she do?
40:23And then she goes back.
40:24Yep.
40:25And then the girl walked up.
40:27And then I took off.
40:29And then you took off.
40:30Yep.
40:30Although Myers doesn't directly admit
40:33to murdering Ardeth Wood,
40:35he does confess to meeting her
40:37on the bicycle path.
40:38All right.
40:39If you'll excuse me for a minute, Chris.
40:41Is there anything I can get you?
40:43Graham gambles that Chris Myers
40:45is prepared to admit to more.
40:48I'll tell you what you can do for me.
40:49What I want you to do
40:50is draw in your best hand,
40:53whatever you can remember,
40:54where you stood,
40:55where the bikes were,
40:56and everything else.
40:57Okay?
40:58We'll be all right.
40:59We'll carry on in a few minutes.
41:00Okay?
41:00Thanks.
41:00To investigators' relief,
41:05Myers takes the bait,
41:07providing police with the kind of detail
41:09only someone who'd been down at the creek
41:11with Ardeth would know.
41:13Putting himself on the bike path,
41:16we thought was enough for him to be charged.
41:18That was that link we were looking for,
41:21was him putting himself there.
41:23From what you told us today,
41:25okay, there's absolutely no dying in your mind.
41:27Obviously, you are responsible
41:28for physically causing the death of Ardeth Wood,
41:31okay, on August the 6th, 2003.
41:34Obviously, I'm obliged to tell you
41:36that you're going to be charged
41:37with physically causing her death.
41:39Okay?
41:39Do you understand that?
41:40We don't know what he said
41:47to get her to go down that path.
41:49We'll never know that.
41:51That's the big question.
41:53My feeling is that
41:55he meant to sexually assault her
41:57and that it went bad.
42:01He gets her down the path
42:03and he gets her clothes off.
42:04Ardeth's a very good swimmer.
42:06And we believe that her avenue escape
42:08is Green's Creek.
42:09We believe she jumped in the water
42:11to get away.
42:13And we believe he just jumped in after
42:15and ended up drowning her.
42:18He didn't go down there to do that,
42:21but he panicked.
42:22I believe he panicked
42:23and that's the end result.
42:26On January 8, 2008,
42:29Christopher Myers is sentenced
42:30to second-degree murder
42:32in exchange for also pleading guilty
42:35to numerous sexual assaults.
42:37His sentence carries with it
42:39no chance of parole for 10 years,
42:42at which point Myers will be
42:43nearly 40 years old.
42:48For the investigators on the case,
42:50it concludes a four-and-a-half-year quest
42:53to honor Ardeth Wood
42:54by bringing her killer
42:56to justice.
42:57The End
42:58of the building
43:02and herói
43:03and herói
43:03and herói
43:05with her daughter.
43:06She's very drawn to
43:07her mother.
43:08The End
43:09of the building
43:09is
43:12the end
43:13of the building.
43:15After all,
43:16the one
43:16is
43:17the end
43:18of the building
43:19and the end
43:20of the building.
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