- 2 weeks ago
Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins - Season 4 Episode 8 -
Deadly Liasons
Deadly Liasons
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00:00Desiree, she wasn't your average chick.
00:09She was that person that I knew I could call at 3 a.m.
00:13She's never hurt anybody in her life.
00:16Who would do this?
00:18A young school teacher is viciously gone down.
00:22It almost looked like she was shot, chased down, and then executed.
00:26And all eyes are on her husband.
00:29Didn't cry, didn't break down.
00:31But appearances are deceiving.
00:34They were inseparable. They were just so happy.
00:37Masking a complicated private life filled with deception.
00:41So it sounds like you and Desiree have a pretty open relationship.
00:45Just with her.
00:47And betrayals.
00:49What kind of arrangement did they really have?
00:52All hiding a killer relationship.
00:56They pulled the trigger that many times.
00:59What kind of monster does that?
01:01It's impossible not to love 30-year-old art teacher Desiree Sunford.
01:18Perhaps that's why her husband Scott never let her go, even when he was off fighting in Iraq.
01:24So when he returns home, they're eager to make up for lost time and start a family.
01:29But those joyful plans are destroyed by a terrifying execution-style slaying that exposes stunning secrets and cruel lies.
01:37On Sunday, April 7th, the ACMA Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from a Scott Sunford saying he was concerned about his wife.
02:01What's your wife's name?
02:03Desiree Sunford.
02:05She was home alone.
02:07He hadn't been able to get a hold of her for a few hours.
02:11He was headed home from the Tri-Cities, which is about an hour and a half south of the ACMA.
02:17I was robbed last weekend.
02:20Scott tells the 911 operator that the house had been broken into.
02:24He thinks maybe the burglar came back a second time.
02:28Did somebody break into the residence?
02:29I don't know.
02:31I was just hoping somebody can come meet me out there.
02:34It's probably nothing, but I would feel better.
02:38I was working patrol.
02:40I went to the address.
02:42It's way out there, very desolate area.
02:48When I arrived, I saw this guy, and he had a gun pointed at the house.
02:53So I pulled up behind him, then I asked him who he was, and he identified himself as a caller, Scott Sunford.
03:02At that point, I went ahead and took his gun from him, you know, just to be on the safe side.
03:08I asked him, did you go in the house yet?
03:11He says, no.
03:12No, I didn't go in the house.
03:13I don't know what I'm going to find.
03:14I immediately thought that was weird.
03:17He waited and waited until the officers arrived.
03:21Scott's not a small individual.
03:22He's over six foot.
03:23He was armed with a .45.
03:26About this time, other units started showing up.
03:31We entered the house.
03:33As I went to the hallway, there were numerous bullet casings on the ground.
03:37And I could see that there was a body laying on the floor, partially in a bedroom.
03:47It was a female.
03:50She was closed for bed.
03:51She had her underwear on, and she had a bandage wrap around her leg.
03:57It was very clear this person was deceased.
04:01We positively identified her.
04:03It was Desiree Sunford.
04:07With the crime scene secure, the officers take a closer look at Desiree's body.
04:14She'd been shot seven times, five to the head.
04:19It almost looked like she was shot, chased down, and then executed.
04:24Scott thinks right off the bat that whoever burglarized it first came back a second time.
04:30But burglars coming back to commit a homicide is very rare.
04:34In our opinion, this killer wasn't there to burglarize a house.
04:39The sole purpose would be to kill Desiree.
04:44To pull the trigger that many times.
04:48What kind of monster does that?
04:49Desiree is born August 26, 1982, the second child of Keith and Connie Kast.
05:04Desiree was a good kid.
05:07She loved her animals.
05:08She loved people.
05:09But she didn't take no guff from nobody.
05:14Des and her big brother, Casey, are raised in Moses Lake, Washington, a quiet farming community 200 miles east of Seattle.
05:23She was her dad's little girl.
05:25She liked cars so much because her dad taught her.
05:30Desiree would be out in the garage with Keith, working under the hood, learning how to take care of this or that.
05:36Tragically, their time together is cut short.
05:41Keith passes away in 1994.
05:44Des is just 12 years old.
05:47We met shortly after her dad had passed away.
05:52I remember when Connie got the Chevelle for Des for her 16th birthday, it was a very big deal.
06:05Oh, that thing shined.
06:08Oh, it shined like a pretty penny.
06:11She mechanic-ed herself, just like her dad had taught her.
06:14As we got older, Desiree was a brilliant student, and she knew exactly what she wanted to do.
06:23She wanted to go on to college, and she wanted to become a teacher.
06:29Desiree brings that same laser focus to her first serious crush, a tall, handsome classmate with a shared passion for classic cars, 16-year-old Scott Sundford.
06:39Scott was funny. He was always making jokes about something.
06:47Scott would teach her things about the Chevelle, and they would just work on it together.
06:53It was just a wonderful high school love.
06:57After graduation, Desiree enrolls at Central Washington University, while Scott enlists in the Army Reserves.
07:04In 2003, Desiree called me, and she says, Scott's being deplayed, so we're getting married.
07:12And the wedding was beautiful.
07:16She was over the moon happy, just in bliss.
07:24But their happiness is immediately interrupted when Scott is sent into combat in the Middle East.
07:29One time, she was on the phone with him, and there were bombs and stuff going off in the background, and she could hear him.
07:37She was absolutely terrified.
07:43In 2011, after eight years, Scott comes home.
07:48They were just so happy.
07:51She was like, let's settle and start our lives together.
07:53Scott lands a job as a mechanic at the Yakima Military Training Center, while Desiree realizes her dream, becoming the art teacher at Wapato Middle School.
08:07In 2012, when they bought the house here in Yakima, it was one step closer to having everything in her plan done.
08:18This was exactly where she wanted to be.
08:23Once we had found Desiree, I went back outside, and I says, Scott, I'm sorry, she's dead.
08:37Your wife, she even shot multiple times.
08:41No reaction, which was mind-blowing to me.
08:45Didn't cry, didn't break down, didn't ask what happened inside.
08:50At that point, the detectives took over the scene, and Scott Sunford was then transported back to the sheriff's office for questioning.
09:00How had you and Desiree been getting along lately?
09:08Great.
09:10No problems in the marriage?
09:11No.
09:12We get the initial information and find out his whereabouts on Saturday.
09:16Scott informs us that he attended a funeral in the Tri-Cities for him, his aunt.
09:23I left the house at probably 8, 8.30.
09:27The idea was I run up, go to the funeral, hugs, handshakes, turn around, go home.
09:31And then he decides to have a dinner that evening with family, and it's at 6.30.
09:37But he called Desiree.
09:39It ran a bit late, and I told her, you know, it's kind of rainy, it's windy, tired as hell, long day.
09:48I'm going to stay here for the night.
09:50So I did.
09:50That was the last time he spoke to her.
09:54And then that Sunday morning, he had brunch with his family, and spent the rest of the afternoon with his father.
10:02I had 7, 7.30 in there is when I finally left.
10:06And then on his way home, he can't get a hold of Desiree.
10:10She doesn't answer his text, doesn't answer his phone.
10:14I had convinced myself by that point something had to be wrong.
10:17And I thought, maybe I should call the police.
10:21Then the detective asks a routine follow-up question, and suddenly Scott makes a startling admission.
10:28You stayed at your dad's?
10:30Uh, no, I actually stayed with a friend.
10:32What's the friend's name?
10:34Oh, her name's Paige.
10:36She's a mutual friend.
10:38What's Paige's last name?
10:41Uh, Blades.
10:44Our first thought, well, obviously he's having an affair.
10:47Was it just a platonic friendship, or were you, did you have a sexual relationship with Paige?
10:55Well, Des didn't want me to say anything to anybody, but at one point, her and Paige had a little thing going for a while there.
11:04A little experiment.
11:05Okay, so it was Desiree and Paige, who had the sexual relationship, but not you and Paige?
11:13We all did.
11:14Sometimes you and Paige, too.
11:16Honestly, we all did.
11:16It was a shock.
11:20And the way he's saying it, it's just no big thing.
11:26Now, if we asked, well, did Desiree know that you were going to spend the night with Paige?
11:31I don't know, honestly.
11:33It's not something you had discussed with her?
11:35No.
11:37He called Desiree, says, I'm not coming home tonight.
11:40I'm going to spend the night in the Tri-Cities.
11:42But then he drove to Warden and spent the night with Paige.
11:46That doesn't sit right with us.
11:48So it sounds like you and Desiree had a pretty open relationship, as long as the communication lines were.
11:55No?
11:55Generally, no.
11:56Just with her.
11:58Just with her.
11:58There was a special relationship with Paige?
12:00Yeah.
12:02What kind of arrangement did Scott and Desiree really have?
12:07Maybe Scott is having more of an affair with Paige.
12:11Maybe he killed Desiree, so he could be with Paige.
12:14I'm not sure where we're going to go with this.
12:18But however he set it up, he's our prime suspect right now.
12:25It's very possible that this was some sort of premeditated plan.
12:30He worships the girl I walk on.
12:32He's obsessed with me.
12:34Is Paige our mastermind?
12:37You together.
12:38No tears.
12:39I've never seen that.
12:40I don't think about your life.
12:44It's now well past midnight Monday, April 8th, hours after Yakima County detectives found local school teacher Desiree Sunfort viciously gunned down inside her home.
13:03Her husband, Scott, just revealed jaw-dropping details about a possible polyamorous relationship involving the Sunforts and their friend, Paige Blades.
13:16We need to dig deeper into the relationship of Paige and Scott, Paige and Desiree.
13:22So you don't think it would have bothered Desiree to know that you were going to stay with Paige?
13:28Scott explains a friend introduced him to Paige after he got back from Iraq in 2011.
13:34Soon, Desiree was hanging out with her as well.
13:37He said that Paige actually lived with Desiree and Scott for a period of time, 18, 19 months prior to the homicide.
13:44But then she moved out on her own.
13:46The investigators are also puzzled by Scott's complete lack of emotion during the entire interview.
13:53Very calm.
13:54Very matter-of-fact.
13:56Wasn't excited.
13:57Wasn't crying.
13:59How are you coping?
14:00Well, according to the military, I'm what they call mentally resilient.
14:03They said I deal with things quite well.
14:06I'm very resilient mentally, so...
14:09That's good.
14:10As the interview winds down, the detective steps out of the room.
14:18And the investigators watching on a nearby monitor witness something unusual.
14:24Keep it together.
14:28No tears.
14:31Don't think about your life.
14:33Don't think about her.
14:37I've never seen that.
14:38Like he was trying to convince himself to stay calm.
14:42Put a tear up, man.
14:43Suck it up.
14:44Suck it up.
14:45Come on.
14:46It just seemed odd.
14:48There was just too many red flags.
14:51The interview ends, and Scott agrees to hand over his phone before he leaves the station.
14:57With Dawn breaking, the next step for investigators will be one of the hardest,
15:01notifying Desiree's family of her death.
15:05We were in a lot of shock.
15:06God must have needed a good soul in heaven, and that's why he took her.
15:21My immediate reaction was like, this can't be true.
15:25So I called Connie.
15:27She told me it's true, and that there was not going to be an open casket funeral, because
15:38you don't want to see what happened to her.
15:45The investigators give Desiree's loved ones time and space to grieve, but they'll eventually
15:54need to talk to them about Desiree's take on the alleged threesome.
15:59For now, detectives move on to 23-year-old Paige Blades.
16:02We drove to Warden.
16:05We meet her at her house, and Paige told us that she had gotten a call from Scott about
16:11Desiree's death.
16:14But she didn't show any emotion either.
16:16She didn't have to give us any response as far as, oh my gosh, that's terrible, or anything
16:21like that.
16:23Paige told us that she had served in the military.
16:26She worked in Moses Lake at a plant, and we asked about Scott coming up to spend the night
16:33on Saturday.
16:34Paige is very forthright.
16:37She says, yeah, they were romantically involved.
16:41But that Saturday, it was not planned.
16:43It was kind of spontaneous.
16:46He arrives late, like 11, 11.30, spent the night, got up the next morning, and he left mid-morning
16:53to go back to Tri-Cities.
16:55So she confirmed what Scott told us.
16:58The detectives drill down on the alleged polyamorous relationship.
17:03Paige told us that, yeah, they did have a three-way love relationship.
17:09So again, Paige confirmed and corroborated with what Scott told us.
17:15After speaking with Paige, the investigators subpoena her phone records so they can use the
17:20location data to verify her whereabouts the night of the murder.
17:24We're going to have to look at all the data from phones, from Scott's phone, Paige's phone,
17:31Desiree's phone.
17:32If Paige is telling the truth, she, Scott, and Desiree were involved in a polyamorous
17:37relationship.
17:38But detectives have to consider that they're both lying to hide an affair, or worse.
17:43To get to the truth, detectives press Desiree's friends for answers.
17:47We need to dig into Desiree's past, as she told others about this three-way relationship.
17:56I had never heard that Desiree, Scott, and Paige were ever in any kind of a relationship.
18:03That was never something she divulged to me.
18:05I find it hard to believe.
18:09Desiree does not share well.
18:11I could see Des being a little adventurous and maybe just curious, but the three of them
18:19as, like, a throuple?
18:21No.
18:21Perhaps Desiree wanted to keep her private life private.
18:29Or maybe the throuple story is bogus and Paige and Scott were having a secret affair.
18:34Without Desiree to tell them, either could be true.
18:37The investigators hope the autopsy results will provide more concrete answers.
18:45The time of death was determined to be between 12 and 18 hours prior to the time she was found.
18:50So that would put that early morning hours of Sunday morning.
18:55That's the same time Paige and Scott claimed they were together in Wharton, 100 miles away
19:00from Yakima.
19:02The bullets recovered at the autopsy were found to be 9mm.
19:07Which matched the shell casings found at the scene.
19:12The lab was able to tell us that the likely gun was a Glock with an aftermarket barrel.
19:19People, they'll buy gun parts, different barrel.
19:23They'll make alterations.
19:25Now we know the killer.
19:26Certainly we'd have to know their way around a firearm.
19:30Both Scott and Paige are ex-military, so this description could fit either one of them.
19:36Well, we still don't have any physical evidence to charge anyone.
19:40We still don't have a smoking gun.
19:43We really don't have anything.
19:44On Saturday, April 20th, nearly two weeks after the murder, dozens of Desiree's family
19:52and friends gather at a church in Moses Lake.
19:55They didn't hit me until they lowered her into the ground.
20:08They couldn't leave.
20:12It felt like we were leaving her behind.
20:14That was hard.
20:21But we did notice some odd behavior from Scott that day, though.
20:25Smiling.
20:27Laughing.
20:28Nowhere near the grieving spouse that you would expect.
20:31Six more weeks go by, and while Scott and Paige remain persons of interest, the investigation stalls.
20:42There was just nothing going on, and there was nothing to do, and that was extremely frustrating for all of us.
20:48But then, we get a Crimestoppers tip.
20:53It's kind of a bombshell to the investigation.
20:57The tipster was a juvenile.
20:59That was a family friend of Paige.
21:02And they were told by Paige that she was pregnant.
21:07And Scott was the father.
21:08Two months after the vicious murder of 30-year-old Desiree Sunford,
21:22Yakima County sheriffs received a potentially game-changing tip.
21:27That Paige blaze it's pregnant, and that Scott is the father.
21:31Could this be the motive the investigators have been looking for?
21:34Maybe it's Scott and Paige were going to have a child together.
21:39And so, he had to eliminate Desiree so they could live together.
21:44If he hasn't told Desiree about the affair, it escalates the time frame.
21:49Because it's going to have to come out, how long can he keep it secret?
21:54This could be critical to the investigation.
21:58So, we immediately talked to Paige.
22:01She says, yes, I am pregnant.
22:02And we asked her, is Scott the father?
22:06And she says, I believe he is.
22:09But she was not sure.
22:12The detectives will have to wait until the baby is born for a paternity test.
22:16And four months after the murder, investigators finally receive the location data
22:21from Scott and Paige's cell phones.
22:23They're anxious to know, were they 100 miles away,
22:27spending the night together like they claim?
22:29Or were they in Yakima committing a heinous crime?
22:32We find that the night of the homicide, Paige's phone was at her home the whole time.
22:41Scott's phone was showing that he was not anywhere near the scene.
22:45His phone was active in the Tri-Cities.
22:48And then it was later active up in the warden area.
22:52And then on Sunday morning, he was in the Tri-Cities.
22:57So, it confirmed and corroborated with what they were telling us.
23:02We were surprised.
23:04Not giving us any smoking gun.
23:07But it doesn't limit them completely because they could have had somebody else do it.
23:11Once again, the detectives are left with no clear answers.
23:14So, they try another approach, Desiree's communication data.
23:19The phone company is able to recover her old text messages.
23:23And at last, investigators get first-hand insight into the true nature of the Tri-Cities' relationship.
23:30We got a lot of messaging between Desiree and Paige.
23:36Pages and pages of text messages.
23:39Some of those messages were very enlightening.
23:43In the beginning, they're obviously good friends.
23:50Desiree texts.
23:51Honestly, you're my only close girlfriend.
23:54Paige responds.
23:55That's good to know.
23:56I'm able to talk to you more openly than I am with most.
24:00We also have text messages that confirm that they did have a sexual relationship.
24:05Desiree texts.
24:06I did enjoy that night.
24:08There are aspects there that are different with a woman than a man.
24:12And Paige responds.
24:13I very much miss having a woman to play with.
24:17I was shocked that Scott was telling the truth.
24:20That there was some sort of love affair going on between Desiree and Paige.
24:25At this point, they're very comfortable with each other.
24:28But there's times where Desiree's not too comfortable with Paige and Scott.
24:33Desiree texts.
24:35I still have to say that you two doing anything sexual would bother me.
24:39Paige then texts.
24:40He and I doing anything sexual is out of the question.
24:45Paige is obviously lying to Desiree.
24:47So Scott and Paige would have us believe that it was a three-way, consensual relationship.
24:54That's clearly not the case.
24:56Desiree has no idea that Paige and Scott are the ones having the affair.
25:01The investigators continue to comb through hundreds of messages between Desiree and Paige.
25:10And what they notice is a clear escalation in tone and tension.
25:15But it sounds like they're starting to become some kind of fiction between Desiree and Paige
25:24that would point to Paige as the suspect.
25:28Paige texts.
25:29I'm fairly convinced that in the event of your demise, I would be the chosen one.
25:34Desiree responds.
25:35Huh?
25:36Paige, if you ever die and he needs a wife, I'm half convinced that would be me.
25:41That gave us a lot of insight, the mind of Paige.
25:46She feels that if anything happens to Desiree, she's already waiting in the wings.
25:54Desiree texts.
25:56I'm done with the drama and BS.
25:57I'm going to ask nicely for you to distance yourself from me and my home and my family.
26:02Paige responds.
26:03Not a problem.
26:04I've been wanting to do away with you for quite a while now.
26:08That's a threat.
26:09Paige wants Desiree out of the picture.
26:12More than six months after the murder of 30-year-old Desiree Sunford, the investigators have been
26:27poring over a series of texts between Desiree and Paige Blades, including one alarming message
26:34where Paige writes,
26:36I've been wanting to do away with you for quite a while now.
26:40Did Paige make good on that threat?
26:42It's very possible that this was part of some sort of premeditated plan.
26:49Paige and Scott could be involved in this together.
26:54But we have nothing that puts them at the scene.
26:57We know that their phones were not in the act, Mary, the night of the homicide.
27:01And we had no indication that someone else was involved.
27:05The detectives have been waiting patiently to find out if Scott is indeed the father of Paige's baby.
27:12And in November, seven months after Desiree's murder, Paige gives birth to a son.
27:18We learned that Paige, in fact, was not pregnant with Scott's baby.
27:23She was pregnant from her ex-boyfriend.
27:26It was his child.
27:28We also find out that Scott and Paige, their relationship deteriorated.
27:35They fell apart and he moved on to somebody else.
27:39We're almost back to square one.
27:42Other than we have two people that have a sexual relationship that Desiree does not know about.
27:48At that point, the case grew cold.
27:54In July 2014, a full 15 months after the murder, the investigators have exhausted every lead.
28:02Confidence they'll find justice for Desiree is fading.
28:06But then, hope comes in the form of an anonymous caller.
28:11We get a call through the African County Crime Stoppers tip line.
28:15A female said that she knows who killed Desiree and that the person is bragging about killing her.
28:24And she also gave us a name, Marty Grismer.
28:29This sparked a huge adrenaline rush.
28:33Who is this guy?
28:34Is there any connection?
28:35Does he have any opportunity?
28:37Does he know anyone?
28:38Does he know Paige?
28:40Does he know Scott?
28:41Does he know Desiree?
28:43Who called this tip in?
28:45Is this secondhand, thirdhand information?
28:48Or is it firsthand?
28:50We did some digging.
28:51And we were able to find out who actually made the phone call, which was quite shocking.
28:59It was Paige that called that tip in.
29:04We really didn't know why she didn't give us her name.
29:07Was she afraid?
29:08Of course, we need to talk to Paige.
29:11And we need to dig into Marty Grismer.
29:16We've got his history that we can find so far.
29:20He lives in Moses Lake.
29:21We had learned that he had no criminal record of any kind.
29:24But Marty had been the owner of multiple firearms in the state registry.
29:31One of the firearms that he had was a Glock 9mm, which is the same type of gun that killed Desiree Sunford.
29:38But we don't have any connection between Marty and Desiree or anyone in the case.
29:47On July 30th, Paige arrives at the Yakima County Sheriff's Office to expand on what she knows.
29:54Marty was my best friend.
29:57He's the one that got me the house.
29:58He bought my car outright cash.
30:02Paige informs us that they worked at the same plant.
30:05And so they've known each other for a number of years.
30:08He's devoted to her.
30:10He would do almost anything for her.
30:13He worships the girl they walk on.
30:16He's obsessed with me.
30:18He's a real good, close friend without any sexual benefits.
30:23That sounded strange.
30:24That's right off the bat.
30:25But how do Marty's feelings for Paige fit into Desiree's murder?
30:30So Paige is talking to Marty over the months after the homicide.
30:36And Marty tells Paige, I went over to Yakima.
30:39I broke into the back door.
30:41And I confronted Desiree.
30:43I shot her.
30:46Marty confessed to her that he did this for her.
30:48So now it gets even more convoluted.
30:56Paige is saying that you are the one who shot and killed Desiree Sunford.
31:02He was so infatuated with Paige that he would do anything for her.
31:05I know that you said that there was no evidence.
31:08So I'm just wondering for sure, for sure, if there's nothing left.
31:13We have the smoking gun.
31:18It's been nearly a year and a half since the execution-style slaying of Desiree Sunford.
31:29And Paige Blades is telling the investigators a stunning story about a man named Marty Grismer,
31:36who was so obsessed with Paige that he killed Desiree.
31:39So the first time that he told you this was Wednesday, last Wednesday?
31:46I'm pretty sure it was Wednesday.
31:47On the 23rd.
31:48But is it true?
31:50And why would Marty want Desiree dead?
31:53We had just found out about three weeks before the shooting that I was pregnant.
31:59Marty was one of the first people that I told.
32:01And apparently, he decided that if the baby was Scott's like it was supposed to be,
32:10then Desiree would cause issues.
32:13He always told me that if I ever had a problem, he would take care of it.
32:19He always tells me there's always plan B.
32:21From what we're gathering from Paige, Marty's such a devoted servant to Paige,
32:28that in Marty's eyes, in his mind, he needed to get rid of Desiree.
32:34Let me make sure I understand.
32:35He believed it was Scott's baby.
32:38He thought that Desiree was going to make problems for the two of you.
32:41And so he decided the best way to fix that problem was to eliminate her,
32:46so that you could be happy.
32:49Yes.
32:49It just didn't sound right, but certainly could be a possibility.
32:57The night of the shooting, you know, Scott and I went to dinner with a co-worker,
33:02and I asked Marty if I could borrow $20.
33:06So he came over and dropped the money off.
33:08So he already knew that Scott wasn't going to be home.
33:10I turned his phone off before he left the house,
33:13and he took the back way to Scott's house.
33:16He said it when he opened the door.
33:18Dennis came out, and he shot her.
33:21And she went down.
33:23And she was trying to crawl away.
33:25And he shot her somewhere.
33:30I don't remember how many points he said.
33:32It was a full clip.
33:33At this point, the investigators don't know what or who to believe.
33:43But then Paige says something that grabs their attention.
33:46Did he tell you how she was dressed or anything like that?
33:50The information that Paige told us, that Marty told her, matched a lot of the evidence only the killer would know.
34:04Because a lot of our investigation does not go to the press.
34:08We keep a lot of stuff back.
34:10Now, we thought he had to be there.
34:13Otherwise, he wouldn't know about her having a bandage on her leg.
34:18But investigators have to consider that Paige got that information from someone else.
34:23Or that Paige knew about it because she's involved.
34:27The detectives need to hear the story again.
34:29This time, straight from the source.
34:32Would you be the one to talk to him with the wire on?
34:35If it means he goes to jail, this whole thing can be over, yeah.
34:39So we set it up.
34:42We set up a time where Paige and Marty are going to meet.
34:48I've smoked a carton and a half since last Friday.
34:51I can't believe that.
34:54Thirsty, were you?
34:55I'm always thirsty.
34:57Especially if you're going to eat.
34:58He's a very peculiar type of a guy.
35:03Weird, as some people would say.
35:06Kind of freaking out.
35:08Kind of freaking out.
35:10I've calmed down a lot, but I'm still kind of in panic mode.
35:14Can I imagine why you're panicking?
35:16Oh, yeah.
35:18Yeah, I wonder.
35:20Marty seems to be nervous.
35:22We can't have her lead questions to him.
35:25But she can generalize different questions.
35:29She's trying that.
35:30I know that you said that there was no evidence.
35:33So I'm just wondering for sure, for sure, if there's nothing left.
35:38I don't know what you're talking about.
35:41Hmm.
35:43I don't have anything.
35:45Never done anything.
35:48You can't freak me out.
35:51Put me in full-on f***ing panic mode.
35:54And then just be like, nope.
35:55Got to know what you're talking about.
35:58Marty's not cooperating.
36:00He's not telling her anything.
36:02He's maybe thinking that maybe she's talked to the authorities.
36:06Did he see one of the teams sitting in a car?
36:10And so she finally says, you can't just leave me hanging after you've told me all this.
36:16Will you talk about it if I come over next weekend?
36:19In your house where you know that nobody is listening?
36:23I might just trip you down first.
36:24Trip me down first?
36:26Got to make sure you've got nothing on you, you know?
36:29Right.
36:29Yeah.
36:30That might be fun, though, too.
36:33All right.
36:33He never said that he killed her, and that's where he left.
36:41While the wiretap doesn't prove Marty's guilt, it does cast doubt on Paige's possible involvement.
36:48If she was behind the murder, why would she agree to wear the wire in the first place?
36:53We took what we saw at face value.
36:57She's helping us, so that would give us an indication that she was not involved.
37:02Because she has no fear that Marty's going to turn on her.
37:08Investigators need to develop a profile of Marty Grismer, but they don't want to spook him.
37:12So they discreetly approach his friends and co-workers for more information.
37:17We find that Marty's kind of a gun nut.
37:20He buys guns, he buys parts for guns, so he knows his way around a handgun, just like the killer.
37:28Then, on October 29th, 18 months after Desiree's murder, the investigators receive a follow-up phone call from Marty's workplace that changes everything.
37:39One of the supervisors said, as they were cleaning the office, they find some Walmart bags, and inside those bags are some gun parts.
37:51The aftermarket barrel.
37:54The supervisor, he confronted Marty, and Marty confessed, oh yeah, those are mine.
38:00We immediately go there, recover the gun parts, and send them directly to the lab, and have them put a rush on it.
38:06Two weeks later, on November 12th, the ballistics report comes back.
38:12The barrel found at Marty's workplace matched the bullets recovered at the autopsy of Desiree Sunford.
38:20We've got the barrel, we've got the bullets, and we've got the shell casings.
38:25They all match.
38:27We have the smoking gun.
38:29We have the smoking gun.
38:36More than a year and a half after the gruesome murder of Desiree Sunford, the Yakima County investigators received critical new evidence.
38:46A ballistics report proving the gun barrel used in the shooting belongs to their new prime suspect, Marty Grismer.
38:54We've got the physical evidence to charge him with the first-degree murder.
39:01On November 13th, Yakima County sheriffs bring Marty in for questioning.
39:07Paige is saying that you are the one who shot and killed Desiree Sunford.
39:13She said that you confessed that to her.
39:17No.
39:20I've never said that to her, and I never would.
39:22He denied it over and over again.
39:26And so finally, I said, Marty, the gun barrel that we recovered, that you said is yours, that's the barrel that killed Desiree Sunford.
39:37All the evidence is on your shoulders right now.
39:40I didn't kill any, though.
39:41But you're going to do that.
39:42What are you going to arrest me for?
39:45It's a first-degree murder.
39:48And that's when the interview pretty well stopped.
39:52We arrested him, sent him to Yakima to be booked in the Eck County Jail.
40:00With Marty in custody and absolutely no evidence that Scott and Paige were involved, the detectives officially cleared both of them.
40:07If Scott and Paige had something to do with it, we're thinking Marty would roll and not take the heat for all this and tell the truth about what had really happened.
40:19Marty never told us that they had orchestrated this crime.
40:24Marty did this on his own.
40:25He was so infatuated with Paige that he would do anything for her.
40:33Marty's bail is set at $2 million.
40:35And after multiple delays, the trial is finally scheduled for late 2017, more than four and a half years after Desiree's murder.
40:44We're getting ready for trial.
40:46We feel we have the right guy.
40:48But the defense attorney, he only has to convene to one person in that jury that Marty's not the guy.
40:56In December, the prosecutors make the difficult decision to offer Marty a deal.
41:01They'll reduce the charge to second-degree murder in exchange for Marty entering what's known as an Alford plea.
41:07An Alford plea is an admission that there is enough evidence to convict you, but you're not admitting that you committed the crime.
41:17Marty, he consulted with his attorney.
41:20He took the Alford plea, and he received the 15-year sentence.
41:2615 years.
41:28That's it.
41:30I mean, we wanted life.
41:31We wanted the death penalty.
41:34But the lawyers, they talked to Connie about it.
41:37Connie understood.
41:41With time served, Marty Grismer is scheduled to be released in 2029.
41:47Scott Sunford is remarried and has started a new life away from Yakima.
41:53Desiree's memory lives on in the hearts of her loved ones.
41:57It didn't need to happen.
41:59The world lost a good person.
42:01A really good person.
42:05Right there!
42:06I miss her laugh.
42:09And the love that Desiree would give to any child, that needs to be remembered.
42:14If you knew her, you were lucky.
42:17And hold on to her memory.
42:19Because she wasn't your average chick.
42:24Desiree Sunford was living the life she always wanted.
42:27Sharing her love with her friends, her students, and of course her family.
42:31But tragically, Desiree was caught in the crosshairs of a twisted love triangle.
42:37The innocent victim of a killer relationship.
42:40Bye-bye.
42:41And all I didn't get.
42:47Just đós for each other.
42:48Wearing her beautiful family, she wasn't a
43:02They laid it over theÕ.
43:03And also desired.
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