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00:11in 2007 a particularly disturbing case was featured on the fifth season of snapped I've
00:20never seen one like that in my life to in to someone after death absolutely liquefied body
00:27is that was probably the first and only case has come through here after nearly two decades a deeper
00:35look into the investigation explores a killer's disturbing history of violence I've lifted the
00:43lid of the trash can and the odor was the unmistakable smell of death leading to the
00:51discovery of even more heinous crimes they found a male adult male body chopped multiple times in the
01:01back he had a bag over his face this was an undeniable pattern and new interviews examined
01:12the motives that drove them to commit such unspeakable acts she attacked her because she hated her
01:21she was collecting those social security payments for about two and a half years leading to shocking
01:31new developments from behind bars something unbelievable happened at the state prison
01:39she is cunning sneaky and I would not be surprised if she tries it again
01:59February 5th 2001 at approximately 1 30 p.m. police in Las Vegas Nevada receive an ominous call
02:08from the manager of a storage facility the concern that the storage unit manager had is that there had been
02:19numerous complaints of a foul odor emanating from somewhere in the storage facility they said the odor was the
02:32unmistakable smell of death
02:39when officers arrive on the scene the manager takes them to the storage unit in question
02:46the moment they rolled up the door they're hit with a pungent scent of decaying flesh
02:52when they got in they found a canister a large garbage pail like what you roll out to the curb
02:58at your house there was plastic wrap around the top of the trash receptacle as well as duct tape
03:08they did a presumptive test for blood which came back positive that in turn led the authorities to pursue
03:16a telephonic search warrant which would allow them to legally cut open the can
03:23inside
03:24inside i saw a human being in an advanced state of decomposition
03:31i've never seen one like that in my life
03:33it was a terrible way to uh to in entomb someone's uh someone after death
03:41they could not really tell how long the body had been there because this body basically was sealed
03:50in this contained environment for who knows how long
04:00cause of death is impossible to determine but the circumstances suggest foul play
04:07they noticed that there was a bag that appeared to be tied around this person's face
04:14somebody had taken great care and pain and effort in order to try to seal this garbage can
04:21it certainly was done by an individual that did not want this body to be discovered
04:30i found a wallet with a driver's license in the name of christine m smith in a plastic bag in
04:42the unit
04:44they learned that this particular unit was leased out and rented out to a woman named brookie west
04:51who was christine smith's daughter our initial belief is that the deceased person in the trash can
05:02was brookie west's mother but we didn't know we had to confirm that we needed to locate brookie west
05:12to see what she had to say about the situation to see what she knew
05:22for both christine and brookie life had always been a challenge christine smith grew up in a rural
05:31texas town and her father was a truck driver her mom was a stay-at-home mother
05:39and things started to go south for christine at an early age from the way she talked about her life
05:48she had one traumatic experience after another
05:55in 1947 christine met an el paso man named leroy smith smith was somebody who just came out of the
06:03military he was now looking for a job and to start his own family and christine smith and leroy they
06:10caught each other's eye and you know eventually they got married
06:14leeroy joined the police force and the couple had two children brookie and a son named travis
06:21at first it seemed like this was a dream come true for christine
06:26but over time she would find herself in an abusive relationship
06:32her husband even though he worked for the police was not law-abiding he was a known white supremacist
06:39and he also became very interested in the occult and satanism at one point uh leroy left christine
06:48for a cocktail waitress leroy took the children sending christine into a downward spiral
07:00she began an affair of her own with a married man named david she fell madly in love with him
07:08and
07:09over time realized that she'd been bamboozled that he had no intention of leaving his wife
07:16and that he was just using christine for sex she asked to meet him at a bar the man showed
07:26up sat down
07:27christine pulled out a shotgun and shot him at point blank range
07:35i was like oh my god how could you do that she said he discarded me i was angry at
07:46having been
07:47treated like garbage
07:50christine was quickly arrested after shooting her lover she ended up getting a sentence of 14 years
07:57for an attempt murder charge however christine was paroled after serving only two years of her sentence
08:11upon her release she was determined to turn her life around christine comes out she reunites with
08:19leroy and she comes back looking for her children however nine-year-old brookie and six-year-old travis were
08:28now living under state-sponsored care once christine was incarcerated leroy smith decided he didn't want
08:39anything to do with his kids anymore and dropped them off at an orphanage one day they got a huge
08:45surprise
08:46leroy showed up at the orphanage with christine she had recently been released from prison and
08:53leroy and christine took the kids back leroy moves the whole family to california
09:03after high school brookie briefly enlisted in the army before transitioning to a career in technology
09:10well they're in the military brookie learned a lot of skills and it was in that time period when
09:15computers became more and more prevalent she has innate ability to understand coding numbers
09:24very detailed information that she's able to memorize and maintain
09:35over the next two decades brookie found great success in the field of technical writing
09:41a technical writer is someone who produces documents you know you might write a manual on how to install
09:48a computer program life was pretty good she was able to buy a house in los bonos california
09:55but her mother had some problems her mother had been sick one occasion and she would take care of her
10:01mother she moved back forth between las vegas and san francisco for work so she kept residences both places
10:09my understanding is that brookie moved her mom to las vegas because it was a lot cheaper at the time
10:14than living in california there was activity that christine liked she enjoyed being close to the casinos
10:22brookie split her time between the two states until 1997 when the 44 year old permanently relocated to las
10:31vegas to live with her 65 year old mother the pair settled into a happy rhythm
10:42but four years later their reunion has ended in tragedy
10:48a decomposed body has been discovered hidden in a storage unit rented by brookie
10:54and investigators want to know who it belongs to the can with the body inside was transported to the
11:03clark county coroner's office and a very unusual autopsy unfolded they took the can and basically
11:12tipped it upside down and poured the contents out onto a gurney absolutely liquefied body is that was
11:20probably the first and only case that's come to here there was insect larvae maggots that were
11:30on and around the body and authorities collected many samples of these insects
11:38the cause and manner of death was unknown it was nothing obvious no gunshot wounds no stab wounds none of
11:44the things you might associate with some kind of violent event
11:47the victim's teeth are intact allowing the coroner to use dental records to positively id the body
11:55as christine smith
12:01one mystery has been solved but more arise when detectives take a closer look at the items in the
12:07storage unit there were books dealing with witchcraft books dealing with black magic
12:15books dealing with satanism and things of that nature the crime scene itself was so unusual and so bizarre that
12:25you can't help but ask could these be related could this involve satanism witchcraft occult behavior
12:38coming up investigators dig into christine and brookie's past some days uh you thought that they loved each
12:47other dearly and other days you thought they hated each other and they uncover a second mysterious death
12:55there would appear to be a bag over the victim's face
13:16detectives in las vegas nevada are investigating the disturbing death of 68 year old christine smith
13:24it's a crime scene unlike any they've ever encountered of course las vegas has a real real dark side to
13:33it
13:33but the idea of finding a garbage can with a body in it and a storage shed and books about
13:39witchcraft and
13:40satanism i mean their minds were spinning as to what could possibly explain this
13:49her daughter brookie west is the first person they need to speak with
13:55they had a lot of questions regarding christine smith first and foremost how did she die
14:01but the bigger question was how did she get in that garbage can
14:05and why is she in a storage unit that came back to brookie west
14:14when police check christine's last known address
14:17they discover it was also leased to brookie the two homicide detectives ended up getting a search
14:26warrant and going to her apartment they knock on the door and brookie lee west is not there
14:34they went inside and started looking around clearly a nice apartment lots of nice belongings in there
14:45there was not a lot of furniture in there but clearly it had been occupied
14:50it appears that only brookie had been living there
14:56investigators also find several pieces of suspicious evidence we found duct tape we found
15:07what we believed to be the key to the lock for the storage room
15:11that christine's body was in when they did a forensic analysis on that duct tape
15:17they found that it was a perfect match to the duct tape that had been wrapped around the garbage can
15:24investigators then started to really take a close look at the paperwork that they found in the
15:29apartment specifically bank records they noticed that brookie lee west was collecting money social
15:39security that was supposed to go to her mother and it made for a very suspicious circumstance and
15:47a likely scenario that brookie was involved in her mother's death
15:55in her mother's death they speak to christine and brookie's neighbors to try to shed light on their
15:59relationship what they learn is eye-opening some days uh you thought that they loved each other dearly
16:08and other days you thought they hated each other i didn't really want to get involved at all you know
16:14so sandy told me a couple things about him every once in a while they had this kind of
16:20double-edged relationship they would fight they would be at odds with one another it was a back
16:26and forth kind of up and down situation
16:32according to christine's friends the source of the conflict dated back to brookie's childhood
16:39christine's own upbringing had left scars and poor boundaries for raising her daughter
16:45it seemed like christine was very dysfunctional and she needed brookie for that dysfunction
16:56christine basically taught brookie how to be a criminal when she was a child they became shoplifters
17:06and swindlers and grifters and so this was brookie's role model
17:12growing up it became apparent brookie that she needed to get away from her mother so she decided
17:19to join the army when the two reunited and began living together the dynamic between them seemed to flip
17:31now 44 year old brookie was the one in control
17:37when she offered to take care of her mother she made it clear there were limitations christine was
17:44not allowed to have visitors to their home she was not allowed to talk about what went on in their
17:52home
17:53or about her relationship with brook or anyone else
17:59in approximately january or february of 1998 christine just seemed to fall off the face of the earth
18:08when christine's friends started to inquire about what happened they started asking brookie lee west you
18:14know where's your mother what brook had told everyone is that she had been taken to live with her brother
18:20travis the neighbors thought it was suspicious because she had heard travis was severely mentally
18:26ill that he was not able to take care of himself that he was walking the streets and was homeless
18:32it just didn't make any sense at all and they quickly concluded that this was all a big lie
18:39she had not been seen since nearly three years prior to the discovery of her body
18:49to investigators the news seems to confirm their suspicions about brookie's involvement
18:57well about an hour after they left her apartment the manager called and said that brookie west had
19:05returned to the apartment but had left and the manager
19:12had a description of her vehicle at one point they do in fact spot brookie uh driving in her truck
19:20and she is pulled over and taken into custody and arrested on a charge of murder for the killing of
19:28her
19:28mother the only thing that brook ever told the police was my mom died of natural causes
19:38according to brookie she found her mother dead in 1999 she claimed that she simply panicked
19:48and decided to dispose of her mother in the garbage can
19:58news of the horrific crime scene and brookie's arrest seizes headlines across the country
20:05the circumstances were so unusual that it drew a lot of attention and that media coverage uh made its
20:13way to california las vegas police learned that christine smith wasn't the first person close to
20:20brookie lee west who had died under suspicious circumstances a detective in california reached out
20:28to the las vegas detectives to let them know that hey just a few years earlier brookie lee west
20:34was my prime suspect in her husband's murder
20:53after learning that brookie west was connected to a previous homicide
20:58las vegas investigators ask their counterparts in california to walk them through the details of that
21:05that unsolved case
21:09on june 6 1994 larry county sheriff's department received a 911 call from a tourist who was visiting
21:17the sequoia national forest
21:21this individual who was uh picnicking with his family discovered a body of a male
21:28that was found on the side of the road
21:33officers responded and it was clear that this was a homicide and there was appeared to be a bag over
21:42the victim's face
21:51they looked for any signs of a weapon and couldn't find anything
21:56that did not appear to be any foul play around the location
22:00they quickly concluded that the victim had been shot elsewhere and that this was actually a dump site
22:10fingerprints were taken from the deceased and they soon found out that their victim was
22:15a man named howard simon st john
22:21the body of howard st john was transported to the coroner's office for further analysis
22:29authorities looked at the condition of the body and they were able to determine that
22:35he had died relatively recently within the last 12 to 24 hours
22:40howard st john had been shot multiple times in the back
22:46either he was running away in fear for his life or he was completely shot by surprise
22:57they also uncovered an interesting clue which was a 32 caliber
23:04bullet was lodged in his neck and it appeared to be from a separate shooting it did not appear to
23:12be
23:12related to his death howard had been shot in a separate incident and he survived
23:21based on the limited amount of healing from that earlier gunshot wound
23:26the coroner believed it happened just a few weeks prior
23:33they learned that howard had a significant record involving petty crimes mostly involving
23:41alcohol abuse he was from a tough side of town in the san jose bay area san francisco
23:50he had been in and out of jail and they also learned a very important fact which was he was
23:57in
23:57a very tumultuous marriage with a woman by the name of brookie lee west
24:08investigators contacted howard's family to learn more about his marriage and his life
24:14what they learned was that howard simon st john was born in may 1958 to sylvester and katherine st john
24:23in redwood city california they traced him to a nearby uh to larry county indian reservation he had a
24:32history of history there grew up there and were wanting to explore his native american roots
24:38he'd been there for many years and had at one point a stable family life early on
24:47but you know over time howard struggled with alcohol and drugs
24:51and uh ended up homeless after several years struggling with addiction howard's friends
24:59got him into a shelter and he started alcoholics anonymous
25:05he and brookie met at one of the meetings in the spring of 1994
25:11brookie west uh was attending these a a meetings not because she was an alcoholic
25:18but she was actually bringing her elderly mom christine smith and she suddenly started eyeing
25:27howard st john she appeared to be well off a well-dressed beautiful woman who was very successful
25:36he'd showed up in t-shirts unkempt clothing did not seem to have any money and those two people that
25:43you would not have expected to see get together but a relationship blossomed
25:50next thing you know howard st john is telling everyone that he was moving into brookie's home
25:57within a matter of a month or two uh they ended up going to reno eloping and getting married in
26:04nevada
26:08in this investigation that i received from the tulare county sheriff's department there was a notation
26:15about the first domestic violence that occurred about two weeks prior to howard's death
26:22on may 21st about a month after they got married there had been an altercation of domestic violence
26:30situation and brookie used a firearm to shoot at howard he was shot in the neck
26:40so on june 9 1994 investigators went to their home in california to question her about his death
26:49you have a prior domestic dispute involving gun violence and then a few weeks after that
26:55howard turns up howard turns up dead so it would be logical for the authorities to really scrutinize
27:03this relationship
27:07coming up an unsolved death sheds light on the current murder investigation i was surprised and kind
27:16of eerily seeing similarities and detectives try to bring a remorseless killer to justice
27:24this case was about greed hatred selfishness
27:43after brookie lee west emerged as the prime suspect in the investigation into her husband's murder
27:50california investigators went to their home to question her a woman answered the door but it
27:59wasn't brookie it was her 62 year old mother christine smith when the authorities talked to christine smith
28:07she had very negative things to say about howard simon st john she said that he was a bum that
28:14he drank all
28:15the time he didn't work and that frankly he her exact words were he's as crazy as a bed bug
28:23nobody understood his purpose in brook's life he didn't appear to have any job because
28:29he would be at home whenever she was gone to work in comparison to brook he was a slob
28:36she said he had a long-term alcohol problem and had a history of being violent with brook
28:45and the process too she started talking about the incident that happened two weeks prior
28:56she said that brookie had accidentally put howard's wallet and identification through the wash and
29:04that they had been arguing about this and that howard was acting violently she reached for a gun and fired
29:11in self-defense it was a miracle that howard even survived the gunshot he had been shot in the neck
29:19at
29:20very close range brookie was charged in the shooting incident but the case was dismissed after the
29:28shooting howard told the authorities he didn't want her prosecuted he wanted them to drop the charges
29:33against advice from his family his friends and everyone else he quickly reunited with brookie
29:46christine told them she didn't know why brookie decided to take howard back after his recovery
29:53detectives were interested in asking brookie the same question and before the interview with christine
30:00was over they got their chance suddenly brookie west came home she was very charismatic and open and
30:08willing to talk to detectives brookie lee west told a very similar story to her mother which was that
30:15she had shot him in self-defense so those two accounts aligned with one another
30:26she kind of painted the picture that she had a very soft heart for him that she loved him she
30:33wanted
30:33to have that relationship succeed but according to brookie howard seemed to have other plans after things
30:47had calmed down brookie worked that whole weekend before returning to los baños and learned that
30:54howard was no longer there and had stolen three thousand dollars from her she said he had taken that
31:00money and gone with some associates to reno and gambled that money away brookie claimed she never saw her
31:09husband again at the time california investigators could not confirm her alibi but without direct
31:20evidence of her involvement they moved on to other possible suspects howard had a record of having
31:29individuals that he wronged over his lifetime and so they wanted to continue to see if there were any
31:34other potential persons of interest that they wanted to talk to they were very very meticulous about
31:40this case they assembled hundreds of interviews they really did their homework but the case just never
31:47came together that case files sat with the to the larry county sheriff's department for many months going
31:56into years as an unsolved but seven years later las vegas detectives wonder if brookie is responsible for
32:09the deaths of both her mother and her former husband now you've got two dead bodies of people that are
32:17closely associated with brook i was surprised and kind of eerily seeing similarities with uh
32:26what happened to christine smith and with what happened to howard st john
32:32howard had a bag over his face and so did christine smith this was an undeniable pattern
32:41now we have to look at christine's death and find enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
32:48that brookie west killed her mom
33:07while there is no statute of limitations on murder the evidence isn't strong enough to charge brookie lee
33:14west in connection to the murder of howard st john crime scene technicians comb through the storage
33:22unit looking for any other evidence to tie brookie to christine's murder they did a very extensive
33:31examination of the cellophane and duct tape around the garbage can to my amazement the crime scene
33:39the investigator was able to find and recover a fingerprint that was on the inside of the plastic
33:46cellophane wrapping when they did an analysis of that fingerprint they found out that it was brookie lee
33:52west print that uh was a pretty good indication to us that brookie at least had some hand in sealing
34:00the trash can i think that one day brookie just snapped and attacked her mother because she hated her
34:14she hated all the childhood trauma that she had been put through she'd never had stability in her life
34:20and christine was gonna pay the price for it brookie west is a diabolical individual
34:28she didn't have a good relationship with her mom she decided to kill her and she was collecting those
34:39social security payments for about two and a half years until she was discovered
34:47this case was about greed hatred and selfishness
34:56the fingerprint is a solid piece of evidence but as brookie's trial date approaches prosecutors wonder
35:04if it will be enough to convict her did i feel comfortable going to trial the way it is absolutely
35:11not how do i prove to a jury that this was done by criminal means with criminal intent
35:23the crime of criminal intent on july 3rd 2001 five months after christine smith's body was discovered
35:30her daughter brookie lee west stands trial for murder a lot of cases you've got a murder weapon a lot
35:38of
35:38cases you might have a confession they didn't have any of that with brookie could brookie have just
35:45simply panicked and disposed of her mother's body but didn't kill her
35:49the defense presented the idea that the body may have had some natural disease that no longer is
35:56viewable and i had to concede that that was possible
36:03but the prosecution argues that a crucial detail about the crime scene proves brookie's claim to be
36:10false there would be no reason to put a bag over someone's face if you just panicked
36:18i have a theory about all that it's based on the satanic bible i read it in order to see
36:24if there
36:24was a connection by placing something over their eyes that person is damned forever to be stuck in their
36:38they bolster their case with the expert testimony of a forensic entomologist
36:45you would expect it within minutes if not within the hour blowflies would have colonized the body
36:52but we don't have to blow flies i gave an indication that brookie must have had the garbage can ready
37:00the cellophane wrapping ready and the duct tape ready the lack of blowflies suddenly gave me the option to
37:09based on science to argue that this was premeditated the body
37:16most likely went into this can very shortly after it died or possibly even when it was still alive
37:26on july 19 2001 the jury delivers its verdict the jury took just two hours to convict brookie lee west
37:37the first degree murder brookie lee west was sentenced to life in prison without parole
37:45i absolutely feel that justice was served in this case
37:49she did it uh and she needs to suffer the consequences there are certain crimes that
37:56you know are beyond the pale and this was certainly one of them how can anybody do that especially
38:03your own daughter and murder her mother that way shocking really you know even now
38:11six years after the verdict brookie's case is featured on the fifth season of snapped
38:19but her story doesn't end there nearly 10 years after brookie lee west was convicted of murder
38:27something unbelievable happened at the state prison where brookie was serving her life sentence
38:50july 20th 2012 brookie lee west has been incarcerated since 2001 when she was convicted of murdering her
39:00mother christine smith so brookie's housed at florence mcclure women's facility in north las vegas it's
39:07the prison for the state of nevada for female prisoners ricky was by and large a model prisoner she
39:13she taught art classes she was involved in pen pal groups all kinds of things to try to be productive
39:22even though she was in prison i think the uh the structure of prison suited brookie fairly well
39:33eleven years after her conviction it's friday morning visiting day
39:38and most inmates are preparing to see family members but brookie is occupied with something else
39:48brookie had taken some art supplies and had some art supplies she managed to
39:52dye her hair and she managed to store away some clothes from a guard she had changed her clothes and
39:59made
39:59her way all the way to the front entry of the prison and was on the verge of walking out
40:06she was able to get through multiple checkpoints and was just stopped at the last one she almost
40:11made it because she was arrested trying to walk out the front door of florence mcclure
40:17she's now housed in a maximum security facility now she's no longer in the nevada women's
40:23correctional facility brookie west is very crafty she is cunning sneaky and um i would not be surprised
40:34if she tries it again the story surrounding brookie lee west and her exploits have made her one of the
40:45most notorious killers in las vegas history and while she remains in jail for the gruesome murder of her
40:53mother authorities were never able to prove brookie was responsible for the death of her husband
41:01she was a professional high-income attractive woman a technical writer someone that you would
41:09never ever think was capable of this type of violence but behind the facade was a very dangerous
41:16human being the people who were close to brookie were traumatized beyond belief by this whole series of
41:24events and they just cumulatively came to learn that they were in the presence of a predator
41:37howard st john was in the wrong place in the wrong time with the wrong person christine was colorful
41:44she was chaotic she was troubled she was friendly she was funny we should remember christine as a victim
41:55despite all her flaws i really felt bad for christine really that the whole thing you know
42:01she never deserved that at all i love christine she was uniquely her but
42:11everybody has good qualities and bad qualities and i can accept them as they are we all have
42:22good and bad in us no one deserves to die at the hands of a murderer no one
42:42the other way
42:44he is
42:44he is
42:44he is
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