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00:09My uncle Joe's creativity made his photography so special. He had the eye of a child. His sense
00:17of humor was unmatched and it really showed through all of his art. I worked with a lot
00:23of photographers and Joe was the best. He had such a magnetic personality. Every picture I see,
00:30he just looks so charismatic. Yes. Every blue eyes. Yes. Anytime he'd see, hey, like his mouth like lit
00:36up, his eyes went wide. If you were judging somebody by their appearance, you'd say, you know,
00:41he's a jock. And then you talk to him for two minutes and he's this deep soul that was a
00:48schoolteacher in D.C. When you were with him, you wanted to be better.
00:55I got a call from my dad and he's like, we can't find Uncle Joe.
01:02I knew right away that something really sinister had happened.
01:07911 emergency. What is your name? My name is Heather Snyder. I'm Heather Snyder. I'm Joe
01:12Shemansky's ex-wife. Okay. Heather, tell me exactly what happened. I was returning my two
01:18children to my ex's house. He's missing. We don't know where he is. His car was there. His phone was
01:25there. His wallet was there. Where is he? All right. So we're here because your ex-husband Joe is
01:31missing right now. It was surreal. Like what's going on? We all knew Joe wasn't missing. We all knew Joe
01:39was gone. And it was just a couple of days later that they had found his remains. So at that
01:46point,
01:47this had gone from a missing person's case to a homicide. Technically, yeah. It's like I'm living
01:52in a horror movie. Are you in any relationship right now? Upon questioning Heather, they asked her
01:58who her last boyfriend was. And she mentioned Brandon Holbrook. The police focused in on Brandon
02:06Holbrook as the sole perpetrator. Brandon Holbrook had no motive. There are no forensics linking my
02:13client to this crime. This story is not about a guy who decided to drive 200 miles and kill a
02:21man
02:21that he had never met. Do you think Heather Snyder played some role in your uncle's murder? Yes.
02:27I wish I had answers. I don't know anything.
02:32It's a big twist in the story. We know each other. We do. We grew up together. We did.
02:42Heather Snyder I grew up with was an A student. Cheerleader, field hockey player. One of the most
02:49unlikely people to be caught up in a murder case. Correct. Did you have any involvement at all
02:55in Joe Shemansky's murder? No. Do you believe any of it? No. We need to piece the pieces of the
03:02puzzle
03:02together. We know there's more to this story. We can't rest until the whole truth comes out.
03:10We'll see you next time.
03:18Bye.
03:20Bye.
03:23Bye.
03:31Bye.
03:32Bye.
03:34Bye.
03:34Bye.
03:34Bye.
03:55The investigation of Joe Shemansky's murder began as a missing persons case.
04:02Hello.
04:02Hello.
04:04Hello.
04:04Where's everybody at?
04:05I'm not sure where everyone went.
04:08We have the drone up.
04:09It was September 4th, 2023 at 7.47 p.m. when sheriff's deputies in Calvert County,
04:15Maryland were called to the home of the well-known photographer.
04:19How are you doing tonight?
04:21I'm Heather. I'm Joe's ex-wife.
04:24Okay.
04:25His ex-wife, Heather Snyder, met them in the driveway. She would tell authorities she had
04:31arrived by car at about 7 p.m. from her home in Pennsylvania.
04:35I was supposed to return the kids to him at 7 o'clock tonight.
04:39To hand off custody of their then 8-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son.
04:45Kids went in the house because he usually comes right out like he knows that they're coming.
04:51But nobody was home. Heather had checked with the neighbors and called 9-1-1.
04:57Yeah, I don't know what I even should do at this point. Everything about it's weird.
05:02Okay. Okay.
05:04All the signs suggested Joe Shemansky should be there. His car was in the driveway.
05:10Joe, you home?
05:11His keys and phones were in the house. Authorities started searching the property.
05:17So I'm going to try to put the drone up.
05:27Do you know if he ever goes out hiking in the woods or anything?
05:32I mean, I wouldn't put it past him.
05:34I answered their questions about everything. They asked, you know, the situation.
05:40Among other things, investigators wanted to know about Heather and Joe's divorce from the previous
05:46year. I know it was very contentious. So there was a lot of arguing, specifically the drop-off
05:51location for the kids was their biggest argument. Joe Shemansky's neighbors,
05:56Allison Stinson Poundsbury and Colton Poundsbury were home that night when Heather Snyder knocked on
06:02the door.
06:03She had asked me if Joe was here. I said, no. How was Heather acting?
06:09So Heather was acting a little annoyed. She was annoyed that he wasn't here for drop-off after she
06:14had already driven four hours.
06:16The Poundsburys went to Joe Shemansky's home, telling authorities they hadn't seen Joe since
06:22the previous afternoon.
06:24Yeah, we saw him yesterday about four o'clock. He was helping me with some drywall.
06:27Okay.
06:27We gave him some dinner.
06:29Any depression issues?
06:30None that I noticed. What do you think is going on?
06:34I don't even know it.
06:38The Poundsburys ended up giving Heather and the kids places to sleep for the night. But first,
06:44Heather went inside Joe's house. I didn't have any clothes for the kids. So it was late at night,
06:50they let me go in and get pajamas. Do you remember how you were feeling when you went inside?
06:56Upset? It was surreal.
07:07How could you not be there, especially knowing that the kids are going to be there?
07:11It was about two and a half hours later that Heather Snyder called Joe's older brother,
07:16Ted Shemansky. And Ted's wife also named Heather.
07:20I felt like I was like punched in the stomach.
07:23So there was no way in the world that Joe would have missed this meeting with the kids.
07:27This isn't, something's wrong.
07:29It fell to Ted to deliver the news to the Shemansky sister, Mary.
07:34When I heard that Joe was missing, I fell to my knees and said a prayer because this was such
07:41a bizarre situation. It felt like I needed, I needed something greater than me right away.
07:47And then the morning after Joe disappeared, investigators noticed something they'd been
07:52unable to see at night. There was blood in his driveway.
07:56Did Joe have any enemies? Not that we knew of.
08:01An investigator asked Heather Snyder to come to the station.
08:05Do you know of anybody that, that'd be an enemy of his?
08:09No.
08:10Are you in any relationship right now?
08:12No.
08:13No boyfriends or?
08:14No.
08:15But Heather told them she had recently broken up with someone who lived near her in Pennsylvania.
08:21I had a boyfriend, but briefly, but I don't.
08:27Recently?
08:28Yeah, within the last couple months, yeah.
08:31What's his name?
08:32Brandon Holbrook.
08:35The name Brandon Holbrook entered the scene quite quickly.
08:40The Shemanskis say Joe told them he'd never met Brandon Holbrook.
08:44All right.
08:45How long were you ever ended together?
08:47We were friends for a while, um, since 20, 2022, I want to say.
08:56Okay.
08:57It might have been like November 2021.
09:00Authorities then decided to look more closely at Brandon Holbrook.
09:04They pulled his car registration and discovered a camera had picked up his license plate near Joe's house the very
09:11day Joe vanished.
09:13Investigators now had a person of interest and headed to Pennsylvania, notifying police there.
09:19This one was definitely different than anything that we've seen before.
09:35On September 5th, 2023, Sergeant John Chester of the Mifflin County, Pennsylvania police got a call that Maryland authorities were
09:44investigating a homicide.
09:46They wanted to talk to a person of interest, Brandon Holbrook.
09:51We've arrested Mr. Holbrook in the past.
09:54Over the years, Holbrook had pleaded guilty to at least five counts of indecent exposure.
10:02They approached his house at about 11 p.m.
10:06This is where you walked up?
10:08Yes.
10:09An investigator noted Holbrook's eyes were bloodshot and that there was a strange particular smell, both on him and the
10:18covered bed of his pickup in the driveway.
10:21This truck reeks.
10:23Man, that smells terrible.
10:25It smelled like death.
10:28Holbrook told authorities he was a driver for a Pennsylvania plant that processes chicken slaughterhouse waste.
10:35He denied being near Joe's house or anywhere in Maryland the day Joe disappeared.
10:41We knew his truck was in Maryland.
10:44One police report indicates he also denied any contact with Joe.
10:49Another says he was not being entirely truthful and appeared nervous.
10:53So, in the early morning hours of September 6, 2023, investigators arrested Brandon Holbrook for the murder of Joe Shemansky.
11:03By then, Detective Jessica Arendt had reported for duty.
11:07I was called in when they got back to the station with him.
11:09And helped them get warrants for Holbrook's truck and house.
11:13We still didn't know the magnitude of what we were dealing with.
11:16In the truck cab, investigators found gloves and plastic sheeting.
11:22And in the truck bed, something described as human blood.
11:26It looked like a homicide scene.
11:31There were firearms in the house and plastic garbage bags, bleach, Lysol, and wet tools in a trailer outside.
11:41In the garage, there was an open tool case.
11:46And next to it, an open package of power saw blades.
11:50But investigators didn't spot a matching saw.
11:54Is that a tool that's powerful enough to dismember a body?
11:59Possibly.
12:01Authorities with cadaver dogs began following a dirt road caddy-corner to Brandon Holbrook's house leading into the woods.
12:09The next day, they made a grisly discovery in a clearing near a creek.
12:15They found the jawbone with some of the ear and some teeth still intact.
12:21Incident reports show there was also a burn barrel which smelled of decomposition.
12:27Scattered nearby, piles of ash.
12:30Authorities sent the material off for testing.
12:33But they had a strong hunch they were human remains.
12:37And a strong hunch, who's?
12:40It's a hope that we can keep his memory alive.
12:44Keep his memory alive.
12:44Fearing the worst, Joe Shemansky's family and friends gathered in Washington.
12:50He was a person that would give you his shirt off his back, even in a rainstorm.
12:57Joe met Alton McDougall in 2000 after coming to D.C. to teach middle school history and social studies.
13:05Alton says Joe became his mentor, exposing him to new ideas and to photography.
13:18They eventually became friends, says Alton, and partnered in the photo business at Eastern Market.
13:23That's where Joe first started dating Heather Snyder.
13:27She was then a single mom of three kids and was running a vegetable business.
13:32He was fun, very charming.
13:35Then he swept you off your feet?
13:37He did.
13:39Heather and Joe married in July 2014 and bought a house in rural Calvert County.
13:44Heather gave birth to a daughter and a son a year later.
13:47But Joe's family and friends say by 2020, the marriage was in trouble.
13:53Heather Snyder and Joe Shemansky were never on equal footing financially.
13:58The spending was definitely a problem.
14:03Alton says Joe wrote Heather a check for thousands of dollars to pay off a debt on a house she
14:09owned.
14:09Then he gave her more money to help her launch a new business.
14:13I used to tell him all the time, she's using you.
14:17Heather Snyder says that's not true.
14:20She was never after Joe's money.
14:23She blames the difficulties in the marriage on Joe, saying he could behave erratically,
14:28and that he started pushing her and her older children away after their own kids were born.
14:34Joe's attention was just on those two children.
14:38It was almost obsessive to a degree.
14:42It was, he cared less about what I thought or what I was saying, and it was all about those
14:50two.
14:52She says Joe was emotionally abusive to her, and there was one instance, she claims, when he got physical.
14:59He body checked me into a car, and that was after chasing me around the house.
15:06The Shemansky family says Heather's abuse allegations don't match the Joe they knew.
15:13By 2021, Heather says she'd had enough.
15:16I was afraid he was going to snap and hurt me, and then my children were going to see it.
15:23And you just left.
15:24I left.
15:26He was devastated.
15:30Joe's friend, Anna Lee Werner, noticed it too.
15:33That spark that made Joe Joe was gone.
15:37It was gone.
15:39Heather had moved back to her hometown of Newport, Pennsylvania.
15:43She told investigators that it was a few months later that she began seeing Brandon Holbrook.
15:48All the while, say Joe's friends and family, he and Heather were arguing over custody and cash.
15:55It got so bad, Heather says, she began recording their interactions around the kids.
16:00Anna Lee says Joe was also upset and made recordings too about Heather for their children to hear one day.
16:07The mom has a way of manipulating everyone, everyone.
16:13She's toxic.
16:14Honestly, I am honestly afraid for your mental and emotional safety.
16:19There's no safety in mom for me.
16:21It's dangerous to be close to mom for me.
16:25Joe was in a contentious, ugly divorce.
16:28But Anna Lee says things had slowly started going Joe's way.
16:32Though he and Heather had joint legal custody of the kids, he had primary physical custody when school was in
16:38session.
16:39He bought a million-dollar life insurance policy, naming the children as beneficiaries.
16:45And just weeks before he vanished, the court had reduced the settlement he owed Heather Snyder.
16:52Joe had started winning.
16:55Anna Lee and the Shemansky family say, thinking back over the former couple's problems,
17:00they began to wonder if Heather Snyder could have known more about Joe's disappearance than she was saying.
17:22In mid-September 2023, forensic experts matched the remains that they found in that clearing near Brandon Holbrook's house to
17:32Joe Shemansky.
17:35Mifflin County Coroner Andrea Alcaldi.
17:38What was Joe Shemansky's cause of death?
17:40He had a gunshot wound to the head.
17:43What was his manner of homicide?
17:47Could you just state your name?
17:49My name is Brandon Holbrook.
17:52This thing has my whole head messed up.
17:56Authorities had uncovered evidence that didn't look good for Brandon Holbrook.
18:00We knew the white truck had been in Maryland based on the license plate reader had read the tag and
18:06the tag matched the vehicle that was sitting here.
18:09And with the saw blades in Holbrook's garage, the cleaning supplies and tools in his trailer, and Joe's remains in
18:16the clearing nearby,
18:17it all seemed to suggest that Holbrook had killed Joe in Maryland and brought his body to Pennsylvania.
18:25But for all the evidence investigators had, the case still contained some inconvenient truths.
18:32Did you find any of Joe Shemansky's remains on Brandon Holbrook's property?
18:37No.
18:37Did you find a murder weapon?
18:39No.
18:41In addition, records show Holbrook's phone had only pinged towers near his Pennsylvania home.
18:47The afternoon and evening, Joe disappeared.
18:50And remember, images of Holbrook's truck in Maryland did not show who was driving.
18:56And when the blood in the truck bed was tested, it wasn't human, it was animal.
19:01Because he had access to the chicken plant, did he put stuff in there and cover it up with the
19:08chicken remains?
19:09Joe's family and friends had trouble believing Holbrook could have devised such an elaborate plot without help.
19:16I do not believe that Brandon Holbrook is the only person involved in my brother's death.
19:20I think he was highly inspired by Heather Snyder.
19:23Heather Snyder is the common denominator in this entire picture.
19:26Alton McDougall also thinks Heather Snyder was involved.
19:31A few days before Joe went missing, Alton says they were hanging out.
19:35And Joe told him Heather was coming over to drop off the kids,
19:39instead of meeting halfway between their homes like they usually did.
19:43Alton says he told Joe that concerned him.
19:46I just don't want her to come to your house, dude.
19:49I just don't trust her.
19:51He says Joe dismissed his concern.
19:53But the conversation haunts him to this day.
19:57I get chills right now.
20:05What are you feeling?
20:08That if he'd listened to you, he might still be here.
20:11I mean, he might be, right?
20:18Joe's family and friends acknowledge their suspicion of Heather Snyder was just a gut feeling,
20:23and that the investigation hasn't turned up any evidence of her involvement.
20:28Nevertheless, Alton says he shared his speculation with authorities.
20:33Heather at least planned it.
20:35Her boyfriend had at least helped.
20:38He says he and the family find it strange that Heather Snyder reported Joe is missing before he was even
20:45an hour late.
20:47You're jumping to...
20:48He's missing.
20:49Then he's missing?
20:50Call the police.
20:51I mean, and you're going to call 911?
20:54Especially, they say, because she had then waited more than two and a half hours to notify them.
20:59That seems like an extraordinary long period of time before she'd let the immediate family know that Joe was missing.
21:07And they questioned Heather's behavior when she went in Joe's house with investigators.
21:13And she walks in the house and she begins to cry, sobbing over her ex-husband that she would do
21:21anything to get away from.
21:23They suspected it was all an act, something Heather Snyder denies.
21:28She just wanted to paint a picture that he was missing because she knew the plan.
21:35And the Schemanskies believe she was untruthful with investigators about Brandon Holbrook.
21:41Are you in any relationship right now?
21:43No.
21:44She told the police that she broke up with him and that they were no longer together.
21:49Bullshit.
21:52Janine says she suspects Heather had used Brandon Holbrook to get rid of Joe.
21:58So she just needed it done and she found her person that would do that for her.
22:02You think Heather Snyder was the mastermind?
22:04Yes.
22:05Is there any doubt in your mind?
22:06No.
22:08Brandon Holbrook was in custody and authorities had combed the clearing.
22:13But weeks later, Mary Schemansky was visiting the site when she found more burnt remains.
22:19She acknowledges searchers may have simply missed them in the woods.
22:23But she and coroner Andrea Alcalde believe there's another possibility.
22:28I think the more likely is that there were remains dumped after the fact.
22:34That would mean they were dumped by someone else.
22:38That's a bombshell.
22:39Yeah.
22:39But Alcalde says Maryland authorities seem skeptical.
22:43The Calvert County Sheriff's Office declined our request for an interview.
22:47Still, the theory that someone else was involved in Joe's death
22:51is a point Holbrook's attorneys will argue from the start of his trial.
22:55Only one person's life is better today than it was before the murder of Joseph Schemansky,
23:02and that is Heather Snyder.
23:03Did you have anything to do with Joe's death?
23:05I did not.
23:19On March 31st, 2025, the trial of Brandon Holbrook for the murder of Joe Schemansky got underway.
23:27Prosecutors wanted a conviction on premeditated murder.
23:30They argued Holbrook fatally shot Joe Schemansky in Maryland,
23:35drove him back to Pennsylvania,
23:37put chicken parts in his truck to cover his tracks,
23:41then disposed of Joe's remains in that clearing near Holbrook's house.
23:45And they brought in the barrel searchers found,
23:47suggesting it was used to burn him.
23:50But Holbrook's defense team says it was a tactic.
23:54It was there for the emotional impact.
23:57There were no cameras allowed in court.
24:00Defense attorney Brendan Callahan tried to turn the jury's attention
24:04away from Brandon Holbrook and towards Heather Snyder.
24:08She was mentioned more than 400 times at trial,
24:11though she hasn't been charged with a crime.
24:14The only person with an obvious motive was Heather Snyder.
24:18She was in a heated custody fight that she was not going well for her.
24:23And Callahan told the jury Heather Snyder had a million other reasons, too.
24:28If Joe was dead, Callahan said, she might stand to gain control of his life insurance payout.
24:34Since her children, the beneficiaries, are still minors.
24:38When you throw in the million-dollar life insurance policy, the motives write themselves.
24:43Heather told us she knew nothing about Joe's life insurance before he died.
24:49Prosecutors kept the focus on Holbrook.
24:51They introduced videos of his truck near Joe's house in Maryland the day Joe disappeared.
24:57Holbrook shopping for cleaning supplies in Pennsylvania the morning after.
25:02And video that's hard to see, but that they say shows Holbrook near his white truck, dumping something.
25:09Which turned out to be burned human remains.
25:14It put the defense in a corner.
25:17There's evidence that he is involved at some point,
25:21but there's very little evidence that he's the one who committed the actual murder.
25:25And while Brandon Holbrook's truck might have been spotted near Joe's house that day,
25:30Callahan says someone else could have been driving it.
25:34Brandon Holbrook had absolutely no reason to kill Joseph Shemansky.
25:40The state contended Holbrook did have a motive.
25:44Love for Heather Snyder and hate for Joe Shemansky.
25:48Intense enough that Holbrook took matters into his own hands.
25:53This man was obsessed with Heather Snyder.
25:57Prosecutors painted a picture of that obsession,
26:00showing an image taken nearly seven months before the murder of a car Holbrook also owned near Joe's house.
26:07And they showed a text exchange between Heather and Holbrook from January 21st, 2023,
26:13also months before the murder, in which she is complaining about Joe.
26:17I'm just tired of the abuse, Heather told him.
26:20It's been years upon years.
26:23Holbrook later suggested she see a therapist, but added,
26:26I have other solutions in mind, but probably not the best way to go.
26:32That could mean a lot of things.
26:34I mean, it's very easy to read in it the most nefarious intent,
26:38and that's what the state tried to do in this case.
26:41But it could mean just about anything.
26:42It could be a joke.
26:45Whatever it meant, Heather didn't respond to Holbrook immediately.
26:48She later texted him,
26:50I'm looking for a therapist.
26:52Do you think, how could Heather Snyder possibly not know?
26:57There's a lot in this case that you could say that for about Heather Snyder,
27:02and her behavior around the time of the incident is overall very suspicious.
27:10Callahan's co-counsel, Thomas Mooney, points to texts between Heather and Holbrook,
27:15suggesting they were still involved shortly before the murder.
27:18She indicated to the police, but that the relationship had called.
27:24No boyfriends?
27:25No.
27:26But the text messages seemed to suggest otherwise.
27:30Six days before the murder, Holbrook wrote,
27:33I like the smell of your hair on my pillow.
27:36And later in the day, she texted,
27:38Wish I was in your bed.
27:40The next morning, he wrote back,
27:42You can come to my bed anytime, XO.
27:45Heather Snyder is lying to the police and saying that she didn't have an involvement with Holbrook.
27:52In another text, Heather complained specifically about her custody agreement with Joe.
27:57I keep thinking karma is going to catch up with him, she wrote,
28:01but I'm tired of being patient.
28:04Anything that suggests that there were other people involved makes Brandon Holbrook's role in this unclear
28:13and therefore is suggestive of his innocence.
28:19But prosecutors introduced text suggesting Heather Snyder was surprised to find Joe missing when she got to his house.
28:26I have no idea where he is, she wrote to Holbrook.
28:30The car is here.
28:32Both the defense and the prosecutors wanted to question Heather under oath,
28:37but when she was called as a witness, she declined to testify,
28:41invoking her Fifth Amendment privilege.
28:45What does Heather Snyder pleading the Fifth say to you?
28:49That a truthful answer could tend to incriminate her.
28:52And Callahan wanted the jury to consider something else about Heather Snyder.
28:57She had a gun?
28:59She did.
29:00Heather had told authorities about a gun Holbrook had given her before the murder,
29:05but there were never any bullets or casings found,
29:08so it would have been impossible to tell if it was the murder weapon.
29:12Still, Callahan says, authorities were slow to collect it from her.
29:16That wasn't investigated until weeks before the trial started, even though they knew about it.
29:21And he says they failed to ever search Heather's home or property.
29:27She has acres of land, but the police are on that land,
29:31and they don't even ask to look around.
29:33They just take her word for everything.
29:37Prosecutors say there was a thorough investigation,
29:39and they saved what might be the most explosive evidence for near the end of their case.
29:44There's no way Heather could have killed Joe, they say.
29:47Why?
29:48The afternoon Joe disappeared.
29:50You can see Heather on video, buying pizza in Pennsylvania about three hours away.
29:57Heather Snyder has an alibi.
29:59I mean, she's on surveillance video buying pizza miles away.
30:03Yes.
30:04She couldn't have physically gotten there in time.
30:06Yes, but there are all sorts of different roles that one can play in a crime.
30:14He says Heather could have encouraged Brandon Holbrook, or at least known about his plan.
30:19Holbrook doesn't take the stand, but in closings, his attorneys remind the jury.
30:24There's no proof he was even in Maryland that evening, let alone at Joe Shemansky's house.
30:31The burden is on the state, and we thought that they presented a strong case that he was involved after
30:41the fact.
30:42But we're still waiting on the evidence that he was ever in that driveway.
30:46But it took just 80 minutes for the jury to reach a verdict.
30:51Brandon Holbrook is guilty of the first-degree premeditated murder of Joe Shemansky.
30:57How are you feeling?
31:00Extremely happy.
31:02Joe's loved ones were happy, but not satisfied.
31:06At sentencing, Annalie Werner presented a photo montage of Joe that also included some of those audio recordings about Heather
31:14that he made for their children.
31:15And I'm worried about you guys growing up in a world where you're afraid of mom.
31:22She takes her love away from you, and if you piss her off, you're done.
31:28And then a number of friends and family addressed the court, suggesting Heather could also be at least in part
31:35to blame for what happened.
31:37The judge gave Holbrook life without parole and said he was not closing the book on the case.
31:45You're at the center of this case.
31:46I am.
32:04Do you remember the last time we saw each other before this story reconnected us?
32:13It was more than 25 years ago here on our high school sports fields in tiny Newport, Pennsylvania.
32:20Heather Snyder and I had grown up together.
32:22In fact, I was the 1997 homecoming queen, and she was my successor.
32:28I put a crown on your head, and now here we are, and we're back.
32:34We hadn't communicated since then until reporting this story brought me back to some of the most familiar terrain of
32:40my life.
32:41But it's taken me into uncharted territory in the process, confronting someone from my youth who has been caught up
32:48in a murder case.
32:49Heather told me she wanted to set the record straight.
32:52She agreed to the interview with no questions off-limits.
32:55She acknowledged she was upset with Joe during their custody fight.
32:59Did you ever say to Brandon Holbrook, I wish Joe were dead?
33:03No.
33:04The most I said to Brandon was that I thought Joe should be in jail for the way he was
33:08acting.
33:09Did Brandon tell you he wanted to kill Joe?
33:11No.
33:12Did you help him cover it up?
33:13No.
33:15No.
33:16So what about those texts between her and Brandon Holbrook, like when he mentions other solutions to help deal with
33:23Joe?
33:24I thought it was just a joke.
33:26If it didn't cross your mind for a second, then you might hurt Joe?
33:29No.
33:30As for her text about karma catching up with Joe, in which she wrote she was tired of being patient.
33:36That's how I was feeling.
33:38Do you think a text like that may have triggered Brandon?
33:41I don't know.
33:42Heather, who at the time was in that custody fight with Joe, says she ended her relationship with Brandon Holbrook
33:49about a month before the murder,
33:51when Holbrook had been arrested again for indecent exposure.
33:55What was the reason that you told Brandon you needed to end the relationship?
34:01Because of his charge.
34:04The Shemanskis suspect Heather was actually worried if Joe heard she was dating a sex offender, she would lose custody
34:10of their kids.
34:11They believe Heather continued to secretly see Holbrook.
34:15About a week before Joe went missing, Brandon Holbrook texts you,
34:21I like the smell of your hair on my pillow.
34:23He did.
34:24Mm-hmm.
34:25Were you with him?
34:26I stopped by his house.
34:28It sounds like you're still involved.
34:30We were friends.
34:31That you were intimate.
34:33Then.
34:34We were friends.
34:36Heather also texted Brandon,
34:38Wish I was in your bed.
34:40Weren't you and Brandon still involved this whole time?
34:42We weren't.
34:44We weren't.
34:45People are going to watch and say,
34:47You're lying.
34:49We were friends.
34:51It was hard to give up a friend.
34:54Why was there a smell of your hair on his pillow?
34:57Because I was probably laying on his pillow.
34:59She says they were only talking.
35:02What did you talk about?
35:05That was the last time.
35:08It was just like, it was almost like a goodbye.
35:12Honestly.
35:13What did Brandon say?
35:14Was he upset?
35:15We were both upset.
35:17We were both crying.
35:19Heather told us that even after Joe's murder,
35:22I still have love for Brandon.
35:24Wow.
35:26Wow is right.
35:28How?
35:28I don't.
35:29I think.
35:32Obviously, psychologically, he snapped over something.
35:37It's not like I don't think he should be in jail.
35:40I think he did something horrible.
35:43Horrific.
35:44He hurt my family.
35:46He hurt me.
35:47If you could see him face to face,
35:49what would be your first question?
35:50Why?
35:51What happened?
35:53And while she hasn't seen him in person,
35:56she did have a chance to ask him.
35:58Shortly before his sentencing,
36:00she accepted his call from jail.
36:02This call will be recorded
36:03and is subject to monitoring at any time.
36:06Heather tells Holbrook
36:07she believes Joe's family is trying to incriminate her.
36:11All shenanigans are trying to
36:12prove that I did something wrong.
36:15Never in a million years
36:16would I say you had anything to do with this.
36:18I swear.
36:19I didn't.
36:20I just wish I knew what happened.
36:22I just want the truth.
36:24Holbrook tells her.
36:25I would love to tell you everything that I know,
36:28but I'm not going to do it
36:29on one of those recorded lines.
36:32And then he denies killing Joe.
36:34I'll tell you one thing for sure.
36:36I never saw Joe,
36:38talked to Joe,
36:40had any interaction whatsoever
36:42with Joe his entire life.
36:45I promise you that.
36:46Heather says Holbrook never confessed to her
36:49and she never had an inkling of his plans.
36:52She says there is nothing suspicious
36:54about her calling 911 so quickly
36:56when she didn't find Joe at the house.
36:58She says it was her divorce attorney
37:01who advised her to make the call
37:02and a criminal lawyer who advised her
37:05to plead the fifth in the trial.
37:07Did you have something to hide?
37:09No.
37:10If you don't have anything to hide,
37:12why not just get up there and testify?
37:14People twist your words.
37:16And the words Joe used to describe Heather
37:19in those audio messages?
37:21It's dangerous to be close to mom for me.
37:24Heather told us Joe was twisting reality at the time.
37:27She says Joe was the dangerous one
37:30and she created a website,
37:31Heather's abuse story detailing her side.
37:35We also asked Heather about that gun
37:37she says Brandon Holbrook gave her
37:39before Joe's murder.
37:41She says it was only for target practice.
37:44Is there any chance that gun is the murder weapon?
37:46I don't know.
37:48No, I mean, obviously it was locked in my closet.
37:51Is there anything you're not telling us?
37:53No.
37:56Look me in the eye.
37:57Are you lying about anything?
37:59I am not.
38:01Either you're a bold-faced liar
38:03or you are extraordinarily unlucky.
38:08I am unlucky.
38:11Heather says her focus is on raising her and Joe's children
38:14and she's sad that they'll grow up without a father.
38:18They have very happy memories of their father
38:22and I try to do what I can to honor and keep that safe.
38:31She knows the Shemanskis want to see the kids
38:34but says Joe's relatives can't expect a full relationship with them
38:37while publicly pointing a finger at her.
38:41There needs to be a place we move on
38:44other than this
38:45where they're constantly blaming me for something that I didn't do.
38:49Are you afraid authorities will come for you?
38:52No.
38:53Not at all?
38:54I'm not worried at all.
38:56No.
38:58If Joe never met Heather Snyder,
39:01Joe would be alive today.
39:03Calvert County, Maryland's top prosecutor, Robert Harvey,
39:06declined our request for an interview
39:08but wrote to us that there was a thorough
39:10and exhaustive investigation into Mr. Shemansky's death.
39:13Mr. Holbrook received a fair and impartial trial.
39:17Because Mr. Holbrook's case is under appeal,
39:20it remains open.
39:21Therefore, I'm not going to respond to questions
39:23regarding the investigation
39:25and I'm not going to speculate
39:26on what may or may not happen in the future.
39:30And when we asked Pennsylvania authorities
39:33about Heather Snyder,
39:34Is there a current investigation into Heather Snyder?
39:37I can't answer that question.
39:39Should there be?
39:42I can't answer that question.
39:45Do you think Heather Snyder
39:46is involved in this crime in any way?
39:49I can't answer that.
39:51But you do know the answer.
39:52Yes.
39:53But I'm not allowed to say.
39:59So many people watching
40:00are going to be frustrated
40:01and they're going to think,
40:03it just,
40:04logically,
40:04you have to have known something.
40:07Right.
40:07But I didn't.
40:13That's the torturous part.
40:15Because people will,
40:17it's almost like they want to believe
40:19that I was involved with it.
40:20They want that true crime narrative.
40:24And it just simply wasn't the case.
40:41I'm not allowed.
40:42You never know the alarm.
40:43it comes in prison.
40:44to think.
40:44No, you know.
40:46The Lord's side.
40:47I'm sorry.
40:48No.
40:48It's on the side.
40:53You guys?
41:08Transcription by CastingWords