- 8 hours ago
Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger - Season 1 - Episode 02: Lie, Cheat, Kill Evil
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:07Crystal McDowell's last Facebook post was stay safe out there she wrote it the day before Harvey
00:13made landfall. Crystal McDowell 37 year old recently divorced mother of two disappears in
00:22thin air. I was just in shock. How did something like this happen in your family? It didn't sound
00:32like a mother would leave her two young children. It wasn't adding up. The only way we were going to
00:38find her was through him and that's why I brought Jimmy in. I step into the interview room. I want
00:46to know what makes this guy tick. I'm trying to get someone to trust me who's incapable of trust.
00:55The pressure's mounting. The family wants answers. The media is not letting this go.
01:02I want to find the truth. I want to seek justice and if I ruffle feathers or piss anyone off
01:08in the
01:09process then tough shit.
01:40A lot going on with Hurricane Harvey because it's closing in on the Texas Gulf Coast and could
01:46hammer the area for days. The dangerous category two storm is due to make landfall in less than 24
01:51hours. The National Weather Service says Harvey is life-threatening and poses a grave risk.
01:59Chambers County Sheriff's Office, this is Sean.
02:02My name's been off the radar Thursday night at about 10 o'clock and no one can get a home
02:10children. No one has heard from her. Is there any way someone could stop by their house?
02:17The first call that came in was from family members. Crystal McDowell had disappeared.
02:25She had left the house where she was staying. She was living there with her ex-husband Steve McDowell
02:34and nobody could locate her. So we went to the home. The deputy asked if he could look around
02:44and ask questions. Steve and the two children were there.
02:51Steve said he didn't know where she was, that she never showed up to get the kids,
02:57that he hadn't heard from her, and that the family was waiting on her.
03:02My family went up north, so we have electricity and everything after the storm comes. Crystal was
03:07going to meet us there the next day. She said, I'm going to get the kids in the morning and
03:11I'm
03:12going to bring them. Then Friday morning, her assistant called, said she was missing.
03:17I tried calling her. She didn't answer my phone.
03:23We all were on the horn trying to find out, give people texts, have you seen her?
03:29At that point, it was a little disturbing, like, because everybody was looking for her and she
03:35wasn't answering.
03:40It wasn't like Crystal to not return their phone call. It wasn't like Crystal to not return a text,
03:46especially since the storm was coming. She had already made plans to take her two children to
03:52Dallas and her car was missing. Nobody in the family knew where the car was and it was a nice
04:01car. It was a relatively new Mercedes Benz. The deputy just got a gut feeling that something wasn't
04:10bright. And it wasn't adding up.
04:17It wasn't until the following day that the storm actually hit.
04:26Texas right now is in the grip of the most powerful storm to hit the United States in more than
04:31a
04:31decade. Hurricane Harvey was one of those things that not many of us seen in our lifetime.
04:37We got over 40 inches of rain in the Houston area. East Texas was buried with water.
04:43It was torrential rain. Our county got flooded catastrophically all from one side to the other.
04:50I remember the sheriff calling me and telling me, we need to go look for Crystal McDowell,
04:56but we can't do anything right now because of the water.
05:00This morning, police are searching for a Texas mother who mysteriously disappeared before Harvey hit.
05:05Chambers County Sheriff Ryan Hawthorne says the investigation began before the storm,
05:11but Harvey's aftermath has made their efforts more challenging.
05:15We are hampered by some of the flood issues, but we are as aggressive as ever trying to locate and
05:22find
05:22Crystal McDowell.
05:26Because of the hurricane, they were inundated with rescues and things of that nature.
05:32Chambers County Sheriff's Department reached out to the rangers for assistance.
05:37They said, how about we send you a Texas ranger?
05:40And they sent Ranger Steve Jeter.
05:43I could still come in and work while they still were doing some of the things that they needed to
05:48do
05:48to take care of their citizens.
05:52They spun me up on what they've done, and we started moving forward.
05:58So at that point, we were doing a lot of background on her, exactly who she was, what she did
06:04for a living,
06:05husbands, boyfriends, just trying to put all of that together.
06:13Stephen Crystal definitely wanted a very successful marriage.
06:19When they got married, they just looked like they were spitting over each other.
06:25Just looked at each other like love would never fail.
06:30She always had big dreams.
06:32She was a flight attendant, and then she decided she was going to go into real estate.
06:38She wanted to provide for her family and to make a wonderful life for her kids.
06:44That was her goal.
06:46She started doing her own thing and traveling a lot, and Steve started to feel lonely and kind of forgotten.
06:53And I feel like he wouldn't give her space.
06:57It just got to the point where it was a strain on their marriage.
07:03It took a while for Steve and Crystal to decide to split their own ways.
07:07She was living at the house with Steve and the kids, and she started making plans to exit.
07:13She said, I've never been so happy, and I'm ready to live my life.
07:23When Crystal first disappeared, after a day, you kind of think, okay, there may be a little problem.
07:33Second day, you don't respond.
07:36There's a bigger problem.
07:39By the third day, I knew something had happened.
07:43I started texting Steve, like, what's going on?
07:46Have you heard from Crystal?
07:47No, she didn't pick the kids up.
07:50I haven't heard from her.
07:53We got on social media and started posting as much information as we could.
08:01It kind of went viral between all the families, just both sides of the families,
08:06and her friends and co-workers, and then everybody sharing posts.
08:14And then all of a sudden, the responses started popping up.
08:21And her car was found.
08:27See this black car right here?
08:30This Mercedes?
08:32Somebody that was friends with her family actually spotted the car.
08:36She's been missing since Friday.
08:38She never went and picked up her kid.
08:42We went to where the car was.
08:46We were going through floodwaters, and the motel was two or three foot underwater.
08:54The car was found at the Motel 6 parking lot.
09:00The doors were unlocked, and the keys were in it.
09:05It's like somebody just, you know, pulled in the parking lot and shut the door and ran,
09:11is what it looked like.
09:14Finding her car moved this in a completely different direction,
09:17because now we actually had her tied to a location.
09:20There was a gas station right there in the next parking lot.
09:24And so they went and pulled video.
09:31In that footage, what we found was Crystal's car pulling into the parking lot,
09:36and then backing into a parking space.
09:42And then when the car turned off,
09:45a person got out and then exited the parking lot on foot.
09:52And that person was not Crystal.
10:08At this point, Crystal had been missing about a week.
10:11The biggest part of the hurricane had passed.
10:14Now we're just dealing with watersheds rising.
10:18You've got a spotlight on the sheriff's office.
10:21You know, and the people are counting on them to do their job.
10:24All of us are looking for Crystal.
10:26The family had located her car in a motel parking lot.
10:30The keys were left in full view.
10:32I'm sure with the intent that the car would be stolen.
10:35In the initial video footage from the parking lot where the car was found,
10:40you could see what appeared to be a man walking away from the car.
10:43You could not see exactly who it was,
10:46but everything else led me to believe that that potentially could be her ex-husband, Steve McDowell.
10:53The ex-husband's always going to be the person of interest,
10:57in any case involving a missing person.
11:01We rule out the folks that are closest to you.
11:03Steve hadn't been really talked to or debriefed or even polygraphed.
11:06That was number one on my agenda.
11:09Now all I need is from you is to be as painfully truthful as you can be.
11:14Yes, sir.
11:16When is the last time that you saw Crystal?
11:20Wednesday.
11:25She left the house at Penn.
11:28From my understanding, I guess she still lives in the house with you?
11:32For the most part, she has been up to the tub about the last three weeks.
11:35She's been kind of in and out.
11:37Now where does she stay?
11:38Are y'all sharing a bed?
11:40No.
11:44Their family dynamics was different, to say the least.
11:48They were married for approximately 10 years.
11:50They divorced.
11:51Was it living together currently?
11:54Are you cheating on her or is she cheating on you?
11:59Did she cheat on you?
12:01I don't know.
12:02I've asked the questions.
12:04A lot of people.
12:07It was apparent that Crystal had multiple suitors, and he was having a hard time letting go.
12:15But according to the uncle, the marriage was done.
12:19She was moving on.
12:21She was seeing someone new.
12:23And she was very adamant.
12:26She didn't want Steve to know anything about it.
12:30She spent the evening with her boyfriend and went to dinner.
12:34And then it was later on, that next day, when nobody could locate her.
12:41The boyfriend had video of her in his home.
12:44And we were able to review all that video.
12:49It was very obvious that Crystal left the boyfriend's house on her own, and got in her car and drove
12:58away.
13:02When I finished talking to Steve, he took a polygraph.
13:15And he failed that miserably.
13:19It basically let me know he had something to do with her or something he was hiding.
13:23Now, what opened this thing up is we started to find another video from where the car was parked.
13:29Straight across from the Motel 6 parking lot is a gas station.
13:38We found some video that actually showed Steve pulling in to the gas station in his Mustang.
13:46He didn't buy any gas.
13:48He just got something out of the trunk and stuck it down in the garbage can.
13:52But before he left, he looks over.
13:54You can see that he's looking over to the car in the Motel 6 parking lot.
14:02Her car had been left in such a manner that it appeared to us that somebody wanted that car to
14:08be taken.
14:09It had cash in view.
14:10It had keys in view.
14:12You can see him actively looking in the direction of that car.
14:16And I can only imagine it was one of those deals.
14:18Oh, shit.
14:19The car's still here.
14:23When I saw him on the video, I knew he had done something, and I just wanted to find her.
14:30We were hoping that she was alive somewhere.
14:34When we're looking at missing person cases, time is of essence.
14:39Clock is ticking.
14:40The only way we were going to find her was through him.
14:43But with Steve, it was deny, deny.
14:46He wasn't budging.
14:48I needed some help.
14:50It takes a personality bigger than life to catch so many people.
14:54So I personally requested Jimmy Holler.
14:58I specifically asked for him because I know what he brings to the table.
15:05Ranger Jeter asked me to come in and work on Steve.
15:10That's, you know, kind of what I do.
15:11My expertise is talking to these twisted, really screwed-up people
15:16and figuring out a way to get through with them.
15:25How you doing?
15:26Good.
15:26Want some water?
15:27You want some coffee?
15:29Coffee?
15:31Food?
15:32Jeter got Steve to come back to the sheriff's department
15:35and go back in the interview room.
15:37I'm going to go in there with him.
15:39I'm going to see how this thing goes.
15:53For the most part, Steve locks in his timeline
15:56and he pretty much repeats what he said to Jeter in prior interviews.
16:00So we go to Saturday morning, it's the 26th.
16:03What time do you get up in the morning?
16:07I don't know.
16:08He says that it's Saturday morning.
16:10He wakes up, plays video games with the kids,
16:13and the reality is that's bullshit.
16:15I know where you're at.
16:17I know where you're at.
16:18You're caught in the line.
16:20You're on video.
16:21I think it's her.
16:22Yes, sir.
16:24Backing her car in.
16:28How's that?
16:29That's why I'm asking you.
16:31And then,
16:33guess what happens at 10.30?
16:35What?
16:36You return.
16:38It's a mistake.
16:41You don't remember being at the Shell station
16:43at 146 than I think.
16:47Am I lying or are you lying?
16:51I don't recall.
16:53Like I said,
16:54on that day,
16:55I'm worried about my life.
16:57Where is she at?
16:58Well, you look right at her car.
17:01You dropped off earlier.
17:03You dropped off earlier.
17:04It's a captured on video.
17:07You parked it there,
17:08and I can see you and your bald head
17:11get out of the car.
17:12Wearing just about the same outfit
17:13you're wearing today.
17:16That's you right there.
17:20Let's pre-close the shorts you're wearing now.
17:23Is that you?
17:24Yes or no?
17:26Am I a moron?
17:27How could that be me?
17:29I remember looking at Jeter
17:31and seeing in his eyes
17:33the same thing that I'm thinking,
17:35which is,
17:36what the hell?
17:38How was your car that pulled in there?
17:40Was your car stolen?
17:42No.
17:42By your twin brother?
17:43No.
17:44Neither of us anticipated
17:46that he was going to deny
17:47that he was in this gas station video.
17:52And I think at that point,
17:54this interview turned into an interrogation,
17:57because as soon as this occurred,
17:59there was no doubt in my mind
18:01that Stephen McDowell
18:02was responsible
18:03for the disappearance of his ex-wife.
18:06Now, how do I get him
18:07to admit that he did it?
18:24Myself and Ranger Jeter
18:25get into the interview,
18:27with Steve,
18:28the ex-husband,
18:29and it's obviously fairly easy
18:30to determine that he's lying.
18:32How could that be me?
18:34But we know
18:36that if we're going to find
18:38Crystal McDowell,
18:40we need a confession.
18:42The problem is
18:43he's not going to give an inch.
18:45He's not letting in on anything.
18:52Did you talk for Carter?
18:54No.
18:54Is that you walking
18:56from the gas station?
18:56It looks like we put it in.
18:58You didn't put that stuff
18:59in the trash can?
19:02I'm not quite sure.
19:03No, did you put that stuff
19:04in the trash can?
19:06It could be.
19:07Did you put something
19:08in that trash can?
19:09Yes or no?
19:11I don't recall.
19:12Yes or no?
19:13No.
19:16The big thing that I took
19:18from this moment
19:19with Steve
19:19was the possibility
19:21that he was sociopathic
19:23in nature.
19:24It becomes fairly clear
19:26that he wasn't going
19:27to admit to the fact
19:28that that was him
19:30in the gas station video.
19:31And it really left Jeter
19:33and I flat-footed.
19:34The problem with
19:36an aggressive approach
19:37with someone
19:38with a sociopathic personality
19:40is it's just not going
19:42to go anywhere
19:43because you're dealing
19:44with someone
19:45who is not going
19:46to be told what to do.
19:48So we had to make a change
19:50because, you know,
19:51an interview is not
19:52generally a good threesome.
19:53You want to create
19:56this one-on-one atmosphere
19:57and this one-on-one relationship.
20:00Jeter's a super smart guy
20:02and he knew exactly
20:03when to step out.
20:04This is why I brought Jimmy in.
20:06He's got a special knack
20:09to relate to bad guys.
20:11He doesn't like to lose
20:12and I knew that he was able
20:13to take him to the next level.
20:20Hey, I'll be back.
20:22So this is the deal.
20:23My primary goal
20:24is to really build
20:25that one-on-one rapport.
20:28You know that I'm not an idiot
20:29and I know that you're not an idiot,
20:31okay?
20:32The bargaining chip
20:33that you have.
20:34How cool how big that chip is.
20:36It's huge.
20:38Huge.
20:39What I'm looking for
20:40is body language
20:41and he's a guy
20:42who keeps his arms crossed
20:44and keeps his legs crossed.
20:46When we start talking
20:47about mitigation,
20:48that was the first time
20:49that I saw Steve
20:51uncross his legs.
20:52The DA wants closure
20:54for the family.
20:55I am family.
20:58It was a short window,
21:00but it was obvious to me
21:01that that was something
21:02that he was interested in.
21:04The DA wants closure,
21:06all right?
21:06And you have a bargaining chip
21:07and it's sitting right there.
21:08And you can,
21:09if I were you,
21:09I'd play that the best I could.
21:11At the end of the day,
21:12this guy is a control freak
21:14and he wants to feel like
21:16he's controlling the investigation.
21:17Well, we can't let him do that,
21:19obviously,
21:20but we can let him think
21:22that he is.
21:30There's nothing
21:31that you did today,
21:33nothing that you did today
21:35that helped you.
21:36Myself,
21:37the district attorney,
21:38Ranger Jeter,
21:39and a number of other detectives
21:40were watching the interview.
21:43There was a lot of pressure
21:44on Ranger Holland.
21:45And everybody is looking to Jim,
21:48like,
21:48let's get what we need.
21:50Well, you have an opportunity
21:51before today is over
21:53to go back
21:54and help yourself.
21:58I placed my hand
21:59on Steve's knee.
22:01I move in really,
22:03really close,
22:04like kissing distance close.
22:06And the more that I moved in,
22:09the more he accepted it.
22:37We were all sitting there
22:39watching it
22:40in the next room
22:40like this.
22:43I remember thinking,
22:45we've got to get somewhere
22:46because this is just,
22:48this is crazy.
23:08I felt like we're
23:09stepping up to the edge
23:10of the Grand Canyon
23:12and, you know,
23:13is he going to jump off
23:14and I'm going to hand him
23:15a parachute?
23:16But he got up to the edge
23:18and he just backed away.
23:2211 hours we sat there.
23:24Steve wasn't to the point
23:25where he was ready to concede.
23:27He asked Jimmy
23:28if he could go home.
23:30Then I'd go,
23:31now what do we do?
23:31And he goes,
23:32let him go home.
23:34I'm like,
23:35what?
23:38I was concerned
23:40that Steve was a flight risk.
23:42He's like,
23:43let him go home.
23:46And I was like,
23:47okay.
23:48And I was like,
23:49okay.
23:52It's hard.
23:53And people around you
23:54think you are crazy
23:56and that this is not going to work.
23:59I know that the only way
24:01to win this game
24:02is a confession.
24:05We're not going to recover
24:07Crystal's body
24:08unless McDowell takes us there.
24:11But I need time.
24:14The game plan is to drive Steve home
24:17and pick up where we left off
24:18the next day.
24:20And I'm really putting my reputation
24:22out there by asking them
24:24to leave him on the street.
24:27But our only chance
24:29in this thing
24:31is that Steve McDowell
24:33keeps running his mouth.
24:45I ended the interview
24:47with Steve in a good place.
24:49He was still talking.
24:51But we have no confession.
24:54And no Crystal McNeil.
24:56The game plan was to
24:57pick him up
24:58and start all over again.
25:01So am I worried
25:02that he's going to lawyer up?
25:05Yeah.
25:06I mean, he's a smart guy.
25:08You know,
25:08he agreed to meet us,
25:09I think at 10.
25:11So we show up.
25:13We're like most Rangers.
25:15If you're on time,
25:15you're late.
25:19Hey, Steve,
25:20is it cool if we come in?
25:23It's not.
25:24He came to the door,
25:25said, I'm ready.
25:27It was a flip of the dice
25:29and we rolled the right dice.
25:32Kiddo's at school
25:33or someone picking them up?
25:36Cindy came by.
25:37Sure.
25:37Okay.
25:38Are they staying with Cindy now?
25:41We were definitely more than happy
25:42to take the kids in.
25:44I felt like if I could just get the kids away
25:48and give them a good time,
25:50take their mind off things
25:51and just give them a little peace,
25:53that was my job.
25:56How'd you sleep?
25:58Um,
25:59as long as expected.
26:02The thought process on the second day was,
26:05let's put Steve in the car with me
26:07and let's continue to build rapport.
26:09Hey, where's Plantations from here?
26:12Will you take me down there?
26:13Yeah.
26:13I'll show you my own house.
26:14And that's basically to kind of build the pseudo friendship
26:19that hopefully will get him to trust me
26:22and ultimately share the truth with me.
26:25We go to the hotel where Crystal's car is discovered.
26:29We go to the gas station
26:31where Steve's picked up on surveillance camera.
26:35The video that we thought we would put in front of him
26:37and move forward in this case,
26:39he denies that it's him.
26:42And ultimately, the idea is to point out that camera
26:46and hopefully break him down.
26:51And then the video has you
26:55going across here
26:56and then you disappear
26:57and you come out.
27:00What I'm telling them is
27:02I know that you did this.
27:04I'm still working on
27:05how did you do it exactly,
27:08but I'm not letting up in any way.
27:10Are you still disputing that you at 6.30?
27:13Yes, sir.
27:14Okay.
27:20You know what my end game is.
27:22You know, I want to bring closure
27:24to your children,
27:25to anyone and everyone
27:26who is friends with her.
27:28Steve McDowell is not some dumbass.
27:30Steve McDowell's pretty intelligent.
27:33And I think he's this sociopathic,
27:35psychopathic persona.
27:37And those are criminal justice terms.
27:39It's not something a psychiatrist would use.
27:41And based on my experience,
27:43what I know is
27:44you're only going to get a confession
27:45if you can put something tangible
27:48in front of him.
27:49And I think the main points
27:51of the second day
27:51was planting these seeds
27:54in Steve's head,
27:55that those tangible items existed
27:57or soon would exist.
28:00I've discussed my end game
28:01with the district attorney
28:02and the district attorney
28:03is on board with that.
28:05It seems like those interviews
28:06lasted forever.
28:07I didn't know
28:07if they were ever going to end.
28:09It was taking longer
28:11than I wanted
28:14or would have expected.
28:17Well, that is correct.
28:18I had pressure from the media.
28:20Everybody is wanting us
28:22to solve this case.
28:25We put together
28:26this really solid timeline
28:28of when we believed
28:31the murder occurred.
28:33We knew when the car
28:34was dropped off.
28:35The big question was,
28:37how did he get home?
28:43We were wondering
28:44who helped him.
28:46Did he hitchhike?
28:48You know, what did he do?
28:51So after the second day's interview,
28:53I went with other rangers.
28:55And we literally go back
28:58to the hotel parking lot.
29:00We start looking
29:01at all these ways
29:02that he could have gotten home
29:03without being seen.
29:05So we walk
29:06underneath Interstate 10
29:08across 146
29:09and we end up
29:10in this giant
29:11store parking lot.
29:14And there's cameras
29:16everywhere.
29:18And it's like,
29:19there's no way
29:20that this guy
29:22crossed somehow
29:23near or through
29:25this parking lot
29:26and didn't end up
29:27on camera
29:28in some way,
29:28shape, or form.
29:30We're going to go
29:31into that store
29:32and we're going to look
29:32at these videos.
29:34And as crazy
29:36as it sounds,
29:38there's surveillance video
29:40of Steve McDowell
29:41buying a bicycle.
29:44We saw him
29:46going into the store,
29:47getting a bike,
29:48and then checking out.
29:52Goes for a ride
29:54in the rain,
29:57pouring down rain
29:59at 7 o'clock
30:00in the morning.
30:05So I'd been
30:06in Steve's house
30:06and I'd seen the bike
30:08and I actually took
30:09a picture with
30:10my cell phone of it.
30:12The bike just
30:13completes the puzzle.
30:14We knew what
30:15we had to do,
30:16which was to lay
30:17this entire thing
30:18out in front of him
30:20and let him know
30:21that he's done.
30:28So you're cool
30:29with being here?
30:31I mean, anytime
30:32I want to leave,
30:33walk out the door.
30:34I remember asking,
30:36I'm like,
30:36why in the hell
30:37does he keep coming?
30:38I wouldn't keep
30:39coming in here.
30:40On 826-2017
30:42at 6.30 a.m.,
30:44we have video
30:45of the Mercedes
30:46vacuuming in
30:47on the south side
30:48of the Motel 6
30:50parking lot.
30:51And I developed
30:52this acronym,
30:53SSA.
30:54Steve says accurate.
30:57So would this
30:58be an SSA?
30:59Steve says accurate.
31:02SSA.
31:03And the idea
31:04behind this is
31:05I'm going to put
31:06this tangible piece
31:07of evidence
31:07in front of him
31:08and he's going
31:09to mark it SSA.
31:11When we put it
31:12all together
31:12and he sees
31:13this clear picture,
31:14he's going to realize
31:15that he has no choice.
31:19So if I tell you
31:20at 7.05,
31:23there is a dude
31:24in black shorts
31:26riding a mountain bike
31:28style 26-inch bicycle.
31:34Look at the rims.
31:37You see that
31:38it's like a sunburst star
31:40or something, right?
31:41So would you agree
31:42with me
31:46those look
31:48exactly like things?
31:52Cool.
31:53I see.
31:54Okay.
31:55Is that an SSA?
31:57I'm going to put
31:58the same wheels.
31:59Is that an SSA
32:00or not?
32:02Yeah.
32:03They look to be
32:05the same couple of wheels.
32:08And would you agree
32:09that that's a picture
32:10of your bicycle
32:12in your garage?
32:13Yes.
32:14Okay.
32:14So I'm going to put SSA,
32:15my bike.
32:16How's that?
32:17My bike,
32:20SSA.
32:21It's you.
32:22And it's only going
32:23to be more you.
32:25Doesn't go away.
32:27Doesn't get better.
32:29It only gets worse.
32:32At this point,
32:33I'm using expletives
32:35and saying,
32:36come on,
32:38hurry up.
32:39I'm tired of sitting here.
32:40We know you did it.
32:42Take us to work.
32:53You're moving
32:54at Mach 10.
32:56You're not sure
32:57where you're going to go.
32:58You need results.
32:59It's the pressure
33:00is going through the roof.
33:02What's the best thing
33:03you can do?
33:05Call a time out.
33:07As much as everyone
33:09around me
33:10wanted tomorrow
33:11to be today,
33:12I just knew
33:13that that wasn't
33:14going to happen.
33:17Steve called.
33:18He said,
33:19I just got out
33:19of an interrogation.
33:20I'm coming to get the kids.
33:21They had literally
33:23worked Steve
33:24into a tizzy.
33:25His mind
33:26was not stable.
33:28I really wanted him
33:29in custody
33:30because I was
33:32so afraid
33:33for those kids
33:35that he did not
33:36have anything
33:37to lose
33:37at this point.
33:40The district attorney
33:41is just watering
33:42at the mouth
33:43to have Steve arrested
33:44and to put him
33:45behind bars
33:46where he belongs.
33:47But I believe
33:49that if we arrest him
33:51now,
33:51he's going to lawyer up.
33:52And if he lawyers up,
33:54we're never going
33:55to find Crystal McDonald.
33:58So CPS took his kids
34:01and Jimmy took him home.
34:05I really didn't think
34:06we were going to see him
34:08the next day.
34:10I was concerned
34:11that he would
34:12commit suicide.
34:13It's probably
34:15the most
34:15neck on the line
34:16I've ever
34:17felt
34:18as a sheriff.
34:20I'm asking
34:21for this leap
34:22of faith
34:22by asking them
34:24not to make
34:25this arrest.
34:30But
34:31there was
34:32really no doubt
34:33in my mind
34:35Steve was going
34:36to tell me
34:37what happened
34:37the next morning
34:39and Steve
34:40was going to
34:41take me
34:41to Crystal McDonald.
34:43And the question
34:43was,
34:44you know,
34:45was I right?
34:56So the third interview
34:58ends with Steve
34:59telling me
34:59that he was
35:01going to confess
35:03and that he was
35:03going to ultimately
35:04take me to his wife.
35:07Am I crazy
35:08for waiting?
35:10I think everyone
35:11around me
35:12thought I was crazy,
35:14but I knew
35:15that the only way
35:16this was going
35:16to happen
35:17is if he really
35:18felt like he was
35:19in control.
35:26Myself and Ranger Jeter
35:27head to his house.
35:30We showed up.
35:33I knocked
35:33on the door.
35:36I heard some folks
35:37scramble around
35:38in there.
35:39He answers the door
35:40and he looks
35:41different.
35:42His shoulders
35:44look really
35:45sunken in.
35:47He looks like
35:47he hasn't slept.
35:54It hurts.
35:56How bad?
35:59It hurts real bad.
36:02Are you a broken man
36:03Friday morning?
36:04Yes.
36:06She didn't come home.
36:10Tell me what happened
36:12when you see her
36:13I'm fine.
36:17I know it's hard.
36:25I wanted to know
36:26where she was.
36:28She didn't tell me
36:29she said
36:30about business.
36:35I told her it's not fair.
36:38It's not fair.
36:39Why?
36:40I tried so hard.
36:41I threw everything.
36:42He walked all over me.
36:45She was like
36:45everything is because
36:46I don't love you.
36:47Did you ever get
36:47that through your head?
36:49What happened?
37:02Okay.
37:03Then how did you
37:05suffocate?
37:08I just want to
37:10waste her
37:10and the bond
37:11around her.
37:12Okay.
37:13If I could
37:14choke hold
37:15or something.
37:18How did you
37:19eventually know
37:20that she was
37:21no longer alive?
37:29It's not good.
37:33It's not good.
37:37It's not good.
37:39It's not good.
37:43It's not good.
37:44Steve, there's
37:44one last thing to do
37:46and I appreciate
37:46you being honest.
37:48But are you willing
37:49to take us today
37:53to take us
37:54to where you hit her?
37:58Yeah.
38:08He leads us
38:09to a swamp.
38:11The land is
38:12moist,
38:13humid,
38:15lots of gators.
38:16And we start
38:17walking in.
38:20Myself,
38:21Ranger Jeter,
38:22and Stephen McDowell.
38:24How far in?
38:25How far?
38:31And it didn't take
38:32but a few feet
38:33of stepping in there
38:34and you could smell
38:36what we believe
38:36to be decalm.
38:42that's no body.
38:44See the hair, Brett?
38:47There's the zip ties.
38:50September 9th, 2017,
38:52at 2.46 p.m.
38:53appears to be
38:54skeletal remains.
38:56I thought
38:57she meant
38:58something to him.
39:00I was wrong.
39:02He threw her
39:02out with the trash.
39:09When I was told
39:10he was arrested,
39:12I couldn't even
39:12wrap my head around it.
39:16You just start
39:17thinking,
39:18man,
39:19how did something
39:21like this happen
39:21in your family?
39:25The fact
39:26that he confessed
39:28to strangling her
39:29was so important.
39:32Generally,
39:33it takes from
39:33three to seven minutes
39:34for somebody
39:35to die
39:36from strangulation.
39:38So he could say
39:39that he snapped,
39:41but in about
39:42four minutes' time,
39:44when her bladder
39:45is letting go,
39:47when she's grabbing
39:48at your hands,
39:50you have a long time
39:51to come to your senses
39:53and realize,
39:53oh my God,
39:54this is what I'm doing.
39:57His intent was
39:58to kill.
40:01The emotion I saw
40:03from him
40:03in the interviews,
40:04I don't take
40:05his remorse.
40:07I think if he was
40:08put in that same
40:09situation again
40:10and he ultimately
40:11knew what the outcome
40:13would be,
40:14he'd do it again.
40:17He wasn't going
40:17to let her go.
40:28We miss her.
40:33And the kids lost
40:35their mother
40:36and their father.
40:45This is a tragic story.
40:49Crystal McDowell's
40:50children,
40:52unfortunately,
40:53will grow up
40:54knowing the truth
40:55about what happened
40:57to their mother.
40:59Stephen McDowell
41:00felt like
41:01he was smarter
41:01than law enforcement
41:03and he felt like
41:04under the cover
41:04of a hurricane,
41:06he could kill his wife
41:07and walk away from it.
41:09At the end of the day,
41:11law enforcement
41:11made sure
41:12that didn't happen.
41:19My Uncle Alfred's murder
41:21was a cold-blooded murder.
41:23This was one of the
41:24oldest cold cases
41:25in Pennsylvania.
41:26The white son of a bitch
41:27just tried to kill you.
41:29He's cunning.
41:30He got away with it.
41:31He has everything to lose.
41:33More than 40 years
41:34have passed
41:35and it was time
41:36to get justice.
Comments