- 2 days ago
A string of deadly tragedies strikes a suburban family, but detectives soon uncover dark secrets beneath their wholesome image. As the mystery deepens, the spotlight falls on two women within the home — revealing a chilling scheme hiding in plain sight.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00they were just a very reserved family who mostly kept to themselves but nothing seemed to go right
00:11for the stouties literally one stouty member after the other seemed to be passing away this
00:17family is cursed or something's going on here there's even more horror waiting around the bend
00:24is it bad if you argue with your kids and tell them you'd be better off if you kill yourself
00:32it's just unreal except it happened right here it just kept getting crazier and crazier it's the
00:39perfect weapon you can't taste it you can't see it you can't smell it why did you take her to the
00:46hospital i didn't want another one to die in the house and why is that because houses are nasty
00:52after somebody's died in it
00:54it's an old quiet neighborhood we all look out for each other
01:12it's actually considered part of the bible belt
01:17we feel safe here
01:21easter sunday we received a 911 call about a male subject that was not breathing
01:31it's a stressful situation you go in of course with the mindset of doing whatever you can to save them
01:41when we arrived on scene we discovered a 61 year old mark stouty
01:48mark was in the hallway of the residence and paramedics were performing cpr
01:54but unfortunately he passed away
01:59his wife diane stouty is the one that placed the 911 call
02:07diane tells medical emergency responders that her husband had flu-like symptoms leading up to that day
02:14but mark was adamant that he did not want to go to the doctor
02:20she also told us about several prior medical issues that he had
02:25including heart issues and diabetes
02:28there was nothing in the home that stood out as really being suspicious
02:35but the behavior of the family was a little odd
02:39their children were playing games
02:45and just did not really seem overly concerned or bothered by their father being passed away
02:51there did not seem to be a lot of emotion
02:56and even at one point diane stepped over mark's body
03:01which we thought was strange
03:06but people grieve differently
03:10and you don't know what somebody's experiencing and going through
03:14i met the stoutys at the redeemer lutheran church
03:24i was like eight or nine when i first was introduced to them
03:27they were just a very reserved family who mostly kept to themselves
03:35there was diane and mark
03:40sean was the older brother
03:43sarah was the older sister
03:47then there was rachel
03:49and then brianna was the youngest
03:52she was around 10
03:53the stoutys were one of the central families of the redeemer
04:01they seemed like a very happy family
04:05and we would see sarah and brianna here and there at church
04:11sean was always in tow with mark
04:15diane and rachel were in the praise band and i stood next to them playing the bass
04:22diane kind of ran the show
04:25diane kind of ran the show
04:27she was a registered nurse and she was the main breadwinner for that family
04:35diane would never really talk about her home life or her career it was pretty much all about music within the church
04:41she could be a little bit territorial about the church organ she very much felt like it was hers
04:50those who were part of the music at the church knew she had her odd quirks but found her to be quiet but kind and personable
05:00mark was more of a stay at home father and kind of bringing in a little money here and there playing music with his band
05:07me and mark we really hit it off the very first day that we met
05:16i couldn't ask for a better front man
05:23he was just inspirational every time i got with him i would just smile
05:30he was one in a million you just don't find that kind of person every day
05:37he became a real good friend of mine
05:39we hung out a lot
05:42but the band life and his home life was totally two different things
05:54for some reason he just never invited me into his house
05:59martin showed up at my house and it was so strange he was looking at me and he just slid down my door
06:16and this guy had a yellow tint to his skin he was pale i never seen a person
06:28that pale before my life
06:31i kept asking him are you okay i'm okay i'm okay i'm just drunk no mark that's not drunk
06:39i promise you man i'm okay i'll just go back home
06:45he starts his car and i mean he just floors it
06:50i got in my van and i followed him and he drove back to his house
06:56i pulled in and he was getting out and he just kind of leaned back against his car you know
07:04i go mark you need to go to the hospital
07:09there's something wrong with you it's not alcohol there's something else wrong with you
07:17the medical examiner didn't find anything unusual about mark's condition
07:30there wasn't any trauma there wasn't any injuries
07:34just a dry ring of blood around his mouth they concluded could have happened throughout the process of conducting cpr
07:40based upon mark's prior health issues the medical examiner determined that mark passed away of natural causes
07:50no autopsy was performed on mark and shortly after diane had him cremated
07:58the tragedy of mark's death would have been hard for any family
08:13but nothing seemed to go right for the stouties
08:25we received another shocking 9-1-1 call from diane stouty
08:30it's the worst call a mother can possibly make
08:33we saw the police cars and the coroner's van
08:38we're standing here in total shock
08:41you don't know someone might be ill
08:44you don't know if someone's suicidal
08:47if they have enemies
08:49so you're very very curious
08:52sean was found in his bedroom he was on the ground and was not breathing
08:59he was very frail curled up almost in the fetal position
09:05paramedics determined that he was deceased
09:09i was like what in the world is going on
09:13it's a tragedy for diane
09:21she's lost her husband and now her eldest son
09:26something's off here
09:29we're standing here in total shock
09:32you've got to be kidding me
09:34when we spoke with diane
09:37she said that sean been sick for several days
09:40he'd been experiencing flu symptoms heavy vomiting
09:44she explained that she checked on him before she went to church
09:49and when she got back is when she discovered he wasn't breathing
09:56he had a ring of blood that was around his mouth
10:00but he had been vomiting a lot
10:03so it was just kind of attributed to that
10:06there was really nothing suspicious or nefarious
10:10she told us sean was autistic and he had a seizure disorder
10:17it wasn't that she was expecting him to pass
10:20but there were some some health problems that he had
10:23when the medical examiner performed the autopsy it was concluded that sean did pass of natural causes
10:36to think about losing my husband and then a few months later losing a child
10:43would be so devastating and i don't know how diane could live through that
10:51i just strongly felt that i needed to express my sympathies
10:55so i went over and rang the doorbell
10:58and i said to diane
11:01i just wanted to check and see if you are okay
11:04and she said oh my son died
11:08just like that
11:10what
11:12i was overwhelmed
11:14i remember standing there wiping tears from my eyes talking to her
11:18because my heart was broken for her
11:21i asked are you going to have a funeral or a service or something
11:26and no no we're not going to do that
11:29okay
11:30i felt like she was in shock and just wasn't able to deal with it yet
11:43after the death of mark and sean
11:47diane's life didn't change
11:51she just kept going to work
11:53kept going to church
11:55the church was her work-life balance
11:58diving into that head first
12:00was her only outlet
12:04you'd only ever see diane and rachel at church
12:07playing the organ playing flute in the band
12:11sarah and brianna really never came anymore
12:17i remember seeing rachel after the death of sean
12:21and i kind of gave my condolences to her
12:25and she kind of just brushed it off like
12:28thanks we're doing okay
12:32they were always buddy buddy
12:34they talked a lot in the back row laughing
12:37they never really would go anywhere without each other
12:41i think diane really just saw a lot of herself in rachel
12:47rachel
12:50rachel was extremely musically talented
12:54she was very intelligent
12:56sarah for the most part demonstrated pretty fair learning abilities
13:02she went to college
13:04but with rachel being obviously the golden child
13:08it would have been difficult for sarah
13:10brianna the youngest child who was 10 had an educational plan
13:16which typically denotes that there is some kind of deficiency there
13:21rachel was the only one that diane saw have any type of potential
13:26and i think with that type of potential you rally a little bit more behind that child
13:32and you'd leave the others behind
13:45i started my shift in the medical icu
13:49a young lady came in with multi-system organ failure
13:53it was very weird i never seen any case like that
14:03her condition was very very critical
14:08i was shocked
14:10there was a prayer request in the church
14:13we were told that sarah was sick and in the hospital
14:17and were praying for her recovery
14:22my first reaction was this family is cursed
14:26or something's going on here
14:39sarah was in a coma and was on life support
14:46i was worried because she was so close to dying
14:51doctors can't seem to figure out what's wrong with sarah
14:54they've run test after test
14:55did blood work
14:56and can't seem to find out why she is sick as she is
15:01you've got a tragedy after tragedy happening in one household in the span of a year
15:06something's not adding up
15:08it appeared that sarah was going to pass away as well
15:15and i started thinking is this more heinous than what you want to think about
15:23i researched anything that i could find about the family
15:30i reviewed the death reports from both mark and sean and just discovered a lot of red flags that were starting to appear
15:41i wanted to go down to the hospital and speak with sarah's doctors to get as much information from them as i possibly could
15:48i spoke with the kidney specialist and we both agreed that it must be some sort of toxicity
16:00we start thinking that this could be a case of poisoning
16:05when the doctor told me his fear of it potentially being a poisoning case it was shocking
16:15it's a just such a crazy scenario
16:19it really hit home when thinking about mark and sean and just the similarities
16:26flu symptoms and the extreme vomiting and their bodies shutting down just out of the blue
16:32and then also with blood around their mouth
16:39as each day went on i am coming to the belief that in fact we could be dealing with a serial poisoning case
16:49i'd become very worried for the other members of the family
16:55the thought comes to mind who is next
16:58i am sarah katrina stouty
17:15i had a brain bleed
17:19not many people survive that
17:26but i survived
17:32when i woke up from my coma
17:36i felt like i was paralyzed
17:38i thought i had died
17:42i was like where am i
17:49my brain was kind of loopy
17:55i was diagnosed with intracranial hemorrhage
18:01while sarah was sick and in the hospital
18:08diane was playing the organ at church like always
18:12she didn't seem agitated at all
18:16i continually stayed in contact with sarah's nurse
18:22she told me about some strange behavior with diane that i'm extremely concerned about
18:33she felt like diane was not behaving how you would expect a mother to behave with having a child that was so ill
18:41diane was making jokes with some of the hospital staff laughing and even discussed taking a vacation and plan to leave sarah behind
18:54it's absolutely insane to think about
18:56carrying on with life and you've got a child gravely ill
19:00it starts raising eyebrows
19:03i felt like i had to interview her and figure out what was going on
19:20is it stout?
19:22stouty
19:23stouty? okay
19:25going into the interview with diane was extremely stressful
19:30other than just some odd behaviors we had no evidence whatsoever of any type of wrongdoing
19:39how did all that come about with sarah?
19:41she started saturday she complained of a little headache
19:45and she was her stomach was upset and she threw up a couple of times
19:50so i didn't think any about it until sunday afternoon and then i couldn't get her to wake up
19:56she didn't respond to me so we took her to the emergency room
20:01i felt it was strange diane was almost bubbly
20:05you're um in the medical field?
20:08i'm a nurse
20:09you're a nurse okay
20:10but i'm a cardiology nurse i know hearts but
20:13yeah
20:15i wanted to essentially feed her ego make her feel good about herself make her feel like you know she could open up with me
20:22is there anything that you could think of that it could have been? because obviously from what we understand you're pretty intelligent
20:29yeah
20:30i try
20:31yeah
20:32i really can't think of anything
20:35i went to change gears with her
20:38i brought up the fact to her that i had been in touch with the medical examiner's office
20:43and that there would be going to be some further tests done with the samples that were saved from sean's autopsy
20:52what would be your explanation if there is some kind of chemical or something that shouldn't be there of that nature?
21:01i really don't know
21:04if somebody was to harm him why do you think that would be what would be the reason for somebody to want to harm him?
21:11i don't know about my kids but mark had a lot of weird friends you know they were into drugs and all that
21:21her tone changed
21:23she went into how he was kind of out partying on the weekends with his band mates
21:28how he was kind of reckless in terms of drinking and smoking and even some drug usage
21:33but i never found anything whatsoever that indicated that mark was involved in anything like that
21:40so i've decided to take a religious angle and see if that would maybe induce her to speak more openly with me
21:52i know that you are a god-fearing woman
21:55you're somebody that knows um you know what the right thing about god's way
22:01and i think you're a very good lady
22:04with the right intentions right?
22:06i try
22:07and oftentimes the best way to ask for forgiveness is to to talk about it
22:16sarah's a difficult child to deal with
22:19i understand
22:22and i've been kind of putting pressure on her to you know you need to get out and get a job
22:28after all you get tired of doing everything for your kids and it's like you need to step up and do it
22:35a lot of things start unraveling before our eyes
22:42it's not the happy home that it presents itself to be on the outside
22:47there's actual turmoil
22:50maintaining the home and maintaining a steady income was a lot of stress for diane
22:56my family was chaotic
22:59my brother was autistic
23:02my youngest sister brianna had learning disabilities
23:06and of course there's me with mental illness
23:13it was a little overwhelming
23:15you got so much stress and pressure on you
23:19there's only there's only so much a person can take
23:23it's not about evil
23:25it's not about just being bad
23:27there's a reason
23:28well
23:30isn't bad
23:32if you argue with your kids
23:34and tell them
23:37and i probably shouldn't
23:38it's like sometimes
23:40you'd be better off if you kill yourself
23:44it's just all very matter of fact
23:49she's a complete sociopath
23:51it just kept getting crazier and crazier
23:55i know sean and sarah were very close
23:59okay what do you mean by that
24:03well they they talked a lot together
24:08and put it really short and sweet
24:12i knew they were drinking antifreeze
24:16what
24:25diane do you and i both know why
24:28you knew they were drinking antifreeze
24:31you knew diane
24:33that they were drinking antifreeze
24:35because you were giving it to them
24:40and i didn't know what else to do
24:44inside my heart was pounding
24:46i'm sure my pulse was through the roof
24:51this is an antifreeze poisoning case
24:56however i had to keep my poker face on
24:58to get her to make a full confession
25:00who's the first person that you killed
25:05mark was the first one
25:07why didn't you call an ambulance
25:08or bring him to the hospital at that point
25:11because by then i hated his curse
25:17she probably got tired of my dad's behavior
25:20instead of divorcing him she took the other choice and that's to kill him
25:33i was really sad
25:34how did how did stuff get started with shawn
25:37how did how did stuff get started with shawn
25:40shawn would be interfering with whatever i would do
25:45both shawn and sarah would just trash the house
25:49they would do whatever they wanted to do
25:51they would do whatever they wanted to do
25:52and never helped
26:01my mom i think she may have snapped
26:03why the antifreeze
26:06yeah
26:09i mean it sounded easy and it didn't sound
26:13you know
26:16it wouldn't burn
26:20cleaners burn
26:22acids burn
26:24it's the perfect weapon
26:26nobody suspects
26:28that this substance
26:29would eventually kill you
26:30because you can't taste it
26:31you can't see it
26:32you can't smell it
26:34what were you putting it in
26:37coca-cola
26:39how much would you put in
26:40how much would you put in
26:46just a little bit
26:50you wouldn't believe the script if somebody handed it to you
26:54it truly is crazy to think that you're at home with your wife or your mother
26:59and they kindly bring you a drink and having no idea that your drink is antifreeze
27:11it's not an instant death
27:14it's a slow painful process
27:17she was a nurse
27:19to watch them get sick and eventually die
27:23who does that
27:25so if you can stand up for us
27:27we have to put some handcuffs on you
27:28we're not going to put them on tight
27:31but that's heavy put your hands on your back
27:33yeah it is
27:34god we were able to arrest her before any of her other children could be harmed
27:45to convict diana murder we need concrete evidence
27:49so we searched the stouty residence
27:54it was amazing you could tell that there was something big happening
27:58it was like the nightly news
28:00i saw rachel and brianna sitting on the front step
28:06there was this look in their eyes it was just dark
28:09i thought where is their mother
28:12we went through everything
28:16trash cans
28:18mail phones laptops
28:19and then we located a six pack of coke
28:24that was out on a workbench
28:27and next to the six pack of coke was a bottle of antifreeze
28:31this goes right in line with what diane just told us
28:36it was just huge
28:39in a murder case like this you don't want to leave any stone unturned
28:44so we systematically searched all the rooms
28:48then we searched diana's bedroom
28:53hidden between books and folders on a shelving unit
28:57we came across a shocking piece of evidence
29:01which took the case in a totally crazy other direction
29:05this piece of evidence turned out to be rachel's journal
29:22and in the journal she wrote
29:24it's sad when i realize how my father will pass on in the next two months
29:30and how sean my brother will move on shortly after
29:33and yet it's really helpful
29:35i'm being warned so that i have more time to prepare and cope
29:39also i get to have dad's car when he's gone
29:41it'll be tough getting used to the changes but everything will work out
29:45mama and papa god will make sure of it
29:48a very chilling statement
29:52she knows that her father and brother are getting ready to be murdered
30:00it was a huge twist in the case
30:05i had to get rachel in
30:07hey rachel i appreciate you being willing to come down and speak with me
30:21i just kind of have a few questions for you
30:24once you found out about what your mom did what do you think about that
30:29confusion shock
30:32nobody expects to have
30:34somebody that they know do that
30:39a bit scared of who would be next
30:42her behavior was
30:46was strange
30:48it was not the response that one would think they would get
30:51we see a lot of diane in rachel
30:53body mannerisms movements the way they describe things
30:59it's as though rachel is a carbon copy of diane
31:04do you recognize this
31:10yeah i remember this
31:13okay what is that
31:15a little journal thing
31:16a journal thing whose journal
31:17mine
31:18you could see that the wheels started turning quickly in her mind of how am i going to explain this
31:32i'd had a lot of really bad dreams about them dying i talked to mom about it
31:39and she mentioned
31:41she was thinking of
31:44hurting them
31:46okay
31:48rachel whose idea was this
31:53mom brought it up i mean then we discussed
31:56what'd she say to you
31:58that it would be quick
32:00that
32:02it'd be easy
32:04that
32:07that
32:09that
32:10that they'd be to heaven soon and
32:14we could move on
32:17to think that
32:19not just a mother but now a mother and her daughter
32:22are carrying out these acts together
32:24uh it's it's just unthinkable
32:27why did you guys want to kill them
32:29dad
32:31was basically a drain on her
32:33on us
32:35sean we argued on a lot because
32:38i still think we could have put him in a dump like a
32:42assisted living
32:44but
32:46she wanted him out
32:50i believe that diane was probably
32:53the one that spearheaded a lot of what took place
32:56but there's zero doubt that rachel was a willing accomplice
33:01you know when sarah got so bad
33:03i know you thought that she was pretty much dead but why did you take her to the hospital
33:07i didn't want another one to die in the house
33:12and why is that
33:13because houses are nasty after somebody's died in it
33:19it boggles the mind that somebody can wear all those masks but really what's behind it all is true evil
33:30it's absolutely shocking
33:32here's a mother and daughter that would go to church
33:35sing play the organ
33:37only to go home at night
33:39and start poisoning their family members
33:40how many times did you do it rachel
33:47three four times
33:51it was a trade-off
33:53she would do it and i would
33:55that goes beyond
33:57anything i think that anybody could even imagine
34:00they went in depth in their planning
34:03of how they would essentially take turns giving the antifreeze to the victims
34:08it's just so crazy
34:10it's another level of mother and daughter relationship
34:15these are partners in crime
34:17and diane's narcissism is what probably led her
34:21to recruit rachel
34:27they're just so eerily close
34:29that
34:31she grooms her
34:34rachel was
34:36my mom's favorite
34:38they're not disabled
34:42like the rest of the family
34:47they were each other's best friends
34:52they were each other's lives
34:56i mean was it all an act
34:58what was the act
34:59the church
35:01certainly i think now in retrospect we see that as being the act
35:05and the real stouty women
35:07is what was happening in the home
35:10i mean if you think about it
35:12going to church and being devout
35:15great cover for murder
35:21just when i would think there's no way it could get any stranger
35:25after i arrested rachel
35:27she had a purse with her
35:30inside there was another journal that she had written
35:36there's even more horror waiting around the bend
35:52inside rachel's purse
35:53i found a poem
35:57and
35:59the last paragraph of the poem read
36:02once upon a time there was six
36:05and then there were three
36:07only the quiet ones will be left
36:17they wanted to eliminate everybody else from their life
36:20and live together
36:22there was more horror
36:23they weren't done
36:24there was more horror they weren't done
36:36when were you guys gonna
36:38feel free on her
36:42sometime after sarah
36:43and how are you gonna do that
36:49well she liked really
36:54when you include an 11 year old child
36:57the depravity knows no end
37:01it's awful
37:03they wanted it to just be them
37:05prosecutors say rachel and her mother diane used antifreeze to poison her father mark
37:11and to poison her brother sean
37:14think about this community
37:17it's a quiet sleepy town that is littered with churches
37:22when this news broke
37:25it was a real gut punch
37:28we were absolutely blown away
37:31that's just unreal
37:33except it happened right here
37:35it was hard to wrap my head around
37:39it hurts
37:42because i trusted them
37:54the anticipation for the trial to start
37:56was palpable
37:58when we see diane in the courtroom
38:01you think how is this possible
38:03that someone so frail and fragile
38:07could be somewhat of a monster
38:14when i saw sarah enter the courtroom
38:17you can't help but want to cry
38:20all eyes were on her
38:23all eyes were on her
38:25if breached though
38:27hadn't been convicted of a crime
38:28she would have
38:30gone to college and graduated and had a job
38:34and i do forgive her
38:36for what she did
38:39i kind of felt sorry for her
38:43because
38:45she was
38:47an accomplice
38:49i think that my mom
38:51may have told her
38:53what to do
38:55rachel read an apology letter to sarah
39:00i don't think really anybody was expecting that
39:03i'm sorry that i couldn't find the courage to stab what was right
39:08to go for help
39:09to protect you
39:10our siblings
39:12i was scared
39:14that being scared is no excuse
39:18i remember thinking
39:20bullshit
39:22i really think she was trying to
39:24manipulate to get a lesser sentence
39:29a huge twist happens in the case
39:31rachel decides that she wants to testify against her mother
39:35rachel was presented an offer that if she would testify
39:40she could eventually have the opportunity for parole
39:46it's backstabbing at its finest
39:51when all the cards were laid out on the table
39:54it was every man for himself and we saw the division of the pair
39:57my mother she taken away my independence
40:16i now live in group homes and i have a guardian
40:20i just wish i could live on my own but i can't
40:29i let my friend down
40:44i should have been there for him
40:46i miss this guy
40:52i miss his sense of humor i miss him
40:58playing his music
41:01i miss him being my dad
41:04being my dad
41:12we kept yelling about his grandmother
41:15we found leg irons a throwing star a knife
41:18telly where are you
41:20five o'clock there you go
41:22but as we got a little bit closer we could see human foot
41:25she's been murdered and she's stuffed in a garbage can
41:28in the back of the house
41:29in the house
Recommended
49:11
|
Up next
44:20
42:58
0:30
1:32:55
22:16
2:13
3:32:41
50:53
45:31
43:11
20:14
20:14
41:31
Be the first to comment