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Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger - Season 1 - Episode 06: A Monsters Game Plan
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00:11There's a couple of things in my career I really wish I could erase.
00:18Pour bleach in my brain and sanitize.
00:23And what I saw that day, it's something that I'll never forget.
00:30We have a robbery and a kidnapping of an innocent woman.
00:33She's a mother, a grandmother, and a friend of the community.
00:39Be honest with me, we're driving out here to find this girl, we're driving out here
00:43to find a body.
00:44And then there's another strange twist in the story.
00:48I didn't know there's people capable of this type of evil.
01:19Scotland is a very small, tight-knit community.
01:25There's a small cafe, a service station.
01:31The rural areas don't have enough personnel.
01:34So when we got the call that somebody was missing, it was really a shock.
01:41I knew that we needed a ranger.
01:49I was actually on my way home.
01:51And I got a call that there was a kidnapping and armed robbery in Scotland, Texas.
01:58It's out in the middle of nowhere.
02:01I was excited, but also nervous, because at the time, I was new to the Rangers.
02:10This may have been around my second or third case.
02:16When I arrived in Scotland at this convenience store, I meet with Ed Daniels, the sheriff
02:22of Archer County, and he gives me a quick rundown.
02:25About 3 o'clock, the store is robbed.
02:31Melinda Daffron, who went by Mindy, was a 46-year-old convenience store clerk that had
02:36been abducted.
02:39It's been three hours since this kidnapping occurred.
02:44And as I get closer, I realize how many people are in there.
02:50And when I saw all those people, I was worried.
02:54Because I look at that crime scene, and I'm thinking, if a suspect print is in there or
03:01something meaningful, the chances of it still being there are nil.
03:08A lot of these departments are small.
03:11They're underfunded.
03:12I mean, when's the last time they had a murder?
03:15When's the last time they had an aggravated robbery?
03:18So they don't have that level of expertise.
03:21And I basically said, get everyone out of the store.
03:24And I went in and started trying to figure out what happened.
03:30The owners of the Scotland store had been burglarized recently.
03:33And so they had actually purchased a video system that covered the inside of the store as well
03:39as the outside of the store.
03:41The deputies on the scene told me that the entire crime was captured on video surveillance footage.
03:51And even had an image of the suspect.
03:55The next step was to go back and look at this video for myself.
03:59I'm trying to kind of look at that system, and it's down.
04:06It's in record mode.
04:09I'm thinking, did they record over the evidence after they had watched it?
04:16And I was really concerned that there was just going to be nothing left.
04:23It was a real shocker.
04:25I thought, well, what do we do now?
04:28If the video is not actually working, I mean, it just, it becomes a really impossible task.
04:36My level of frustration, you know, is steadily going through the roof because the problem
04:42is the more time that goes by without finding Mindy Daffrin, the less likely it is that we're
04:49going to find her alive.
05:00You know, we did everything we could do at the scene.
05:03We crossed the street to the Scotland City Hall.
05:06You know, I interview Mindy's husband who contacted 911, which I think was difficult on him.
05:14And he went into the store, and he knew when she was gone that, you know, something was awry.
05:21And, you know, he looked in the cash register.
05:24There was around $3,000 to $5,000 that would be there normally, and the money was gone.
05:31All my deputies were looking for her.
05:34We contacted the other local county agencies.
05:38Just a shock to the small community.
05:42Mindy was just a super personable person.
05:45Just everybody loved her.
05:47You know, she just, she made friends very easy.
05:51The Daffrin family owned the store.
05:53I think most of the employees were relatives, visited with them fairly often.
05:59I'd stop in that store, get something to drink, or sandwich, or whatever.
06:04She was just what I'd call just a good, fantastic person.
06:09When you're looking for somebody, especially like you know, you know, personal,
06:14the fear factor is greater, and it just, it affects you so much different.
06:29That night, I get a phone call from the DA investigator for that county, Kevin Benton.
06:36And Kevin basically says, hey, I would be out there helping you, but I can't right now
06:42because I'm at a house fire.
06:48Early afternoon, I responded to a call in Montague County.
06:54There was a house fire, and there was a dead body on the front porch.
07:00While I'm examining that body, they have now found a second body.
07:06I got suspicious immediately because there was an accelerant used.
07:11And the second body, it was obvious that she had, you know, major head trauma.
07:17I knew we had probably two homicides.
07:20A neighbor that showed up told me who lived at that house, which was James and Karen France.
07:29We experienced some violent crime, but generally speaking, I'm not working on two homicide victims
07:34and have a robbery and kidnapping going on at the same time in two rural counties.
07:44The clock is still ticking, and it's not going to stop just because our resources are divided.
07:49On the Mindy Daffrin abduction, there is really not a whole lot to go on at this point.
07:57So I was hoping technology forensic gurus could help us out with the video.
08:05Ranger Holland requested that I go and assist with trying to recover the store's video.
08:12There had been some problem downloading the video.
08:15It wasn't downloaded properly.
08:18Luckily, the Wichita Falls Police Department, they had been able to recover the video.
08:25So at that point in time, I worked with getting a copy of the video out to establish a lead
08:32on our suspect.
08:34There was excitement because we still have the video.
08:38There's a video comes up, and I'm able to review it.
08:43About 3 o'clock, I see a dark-colored black Ford Explorer pull into the parking lot.
08:52And it has some type of silver trim on it.
08:56And then someone comes into the store.
09:05And it's an average-sized white male wearing blue jeans, a dark shirt, and a dark bald cap.
09:30Initially it doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary.
09:33It doesn't seem that Mindy Daffrin is disturbed or bothered in any way or suspicious.
09:39It just seems like probably a normal day in that convenience store.
09:43Good day.
09:45Are you OK?
09:47Have a good day.
09:51He leaves the store, goes back into his vehicle, and repositions his car.
10:00He then comes back into the store.
10:04Hello.
10:07We're due.
10:15Oh, don't need to take that. Don't need to take that.
10:19Oh, good Lord.
10:37Don't need to take that.
10:39Change that.
10:41One hand out of hand.
10:42You need to get hold of that.
10:43Pop it over.
10:45Drink it.
10:45I'm not trying to take it.
10:46OK.
10:48The guy comes into the store, and he immediately draws a gun and sticks it in Mindy Daffrin's face.
10:54This guy's dangerous, he's methodical, he's controlled, and he has a game plan.
11:02Unfortunately, that game plan involves leaving with Mindy Daffrin.
11:09And now we have the general description of the vehicle and the suspect.
11:12So we needed to get these pictures out there.
11:15And I start pulling out maps, and I was thinking about, you know, who would do this?
11:21Where would they come from?
11:23So I start literally drawing lines on this map and tracing down towns.
11:31Olney, Henrietta, Wichita Falls, Bridgeport, Bowie, all the, you know, rural areas around there that would be within a couple
11:40hours that would make it reasonable for this person to do this.
11:46I call all these police departments that I identify, and I talk to the dispatchers, and I tell them, I'm
11:53going to send you these pictures.
11:54And it's not enough that you tell your guys about it.
11:59I want you to bring anyone in who's working tonight.
12:02I want you to have them look at those pictures.
12:05I felt positive that if we could figure out where he's from, law enforcement would know him.
12:10He seems like he's someone who's done this before.
12:14I mean, it was frustrating because we're working against the clock, and it's probably like, I don't know, four or
12:20five in the morning at this point in time.
12:23I was a new ranger, and the mantra of the rangers was, you work until the bad guys in jail.
12:37Eventually, about 7 in the morning, we got a phone call from Bowie Police Department, from the dispatch.
12:45An officer from Bowie PD said there's no doubt in his mind that the person depicted in these photos is
12:56Wallace Bowman, a 30-year-old male sex offender from Bowie, Texas.
13:01And he drives a black Ford Explorer with silver trim.
13:09The call with Bowie PD ends that they are rallying their officers, that they have everyone in the PD out,
13:17and they're canvassing Bowie in the surrounding area, trying to locate Wallace Bowman.
13:26The Bowie Police Department had actually spotted Bowman's vehicle at a little motel there in Bowie.
13:34Officers said Wallace Bowman was in the motel room with a female.
13:42Knowing Bowman has a history of sexual offenses, there's even more urgency to finding Mindy Daffer.
13:53Time is of the essence, and I hauled ass to Bowie, Texas as fast as I could.
14:00As I'm driving down the road, Bowie PD ends up getting the key to the door, they knock on the
14:06door, they make entry, and they come across a young woman.
14:15Unfortunately, it's not Mindy Daffer.
14:18It was a gut-punch moment, because we were just, you know, almost convinced it's our kidnapped victim, we finally
14:24got her.
14:25And of course, no idea at that moment where our kidnapped victim really was.
14:29And they ask her where is Wallace Bowman, and she says he's under the bed.
14:39I arrive on the scene, and I see someone who matches Wallace Bowman's description in front of the motel in
14:50handcuffs.
14:59I arrived just after Ranger Holland and the Archer County investigator arrived.
15:05He was not wearing a shirt. He looked fairly disheveled.
15:09He had, in my opinion, wild-looking eyes.
15:15My primary mission is to get him to direct me to where Mindy Daffer is.
15:19He had just had several officers storm into this hotel room and place him in handcuffs at gunpoint.
15:28So, you know, I need to separate myself from these officers.
15:32I'm the guy who's there to help him.
15:34He's in a jam, and he would rather deal with me than those other cops.
15:39You have the right to terminate this interview at any time.
15:42You know, basically, if you want to talk to me.
15:44You want to talk to me?
15:47Talk to you in subject.
15:49Like I said, tell me that you can do word upon you to help me.
15:52I'll do everything that I can to help you if you help me find a complaint.
15:55Okay.
15:56You want your shirt on?
15:57Yes.
16:00One of the first things, I secured a shirt and actually put it on him while he was handcuffed.
16:05It's a way for me to fall over backwards to try to help him and make him comfortable
16:13and in any way, shape, or form to get him to like me and open up to me.
16:17Tell me what happened yesterday.
16:21When I've been there, a lot of lights in.
16:25When burned off and dropped off on their road.
16:33Wallace Bowman says he drops Mindy Daffron off in the middle of nowhere unharmed.
16:38The question is, is he telling the truth?
16:42The clock is ticking.
16:45The more time that elapsed, the less likely it is that we're going to find Mindy Daffron alive.
17:06Right now, Wallace Bowman's been arrested.
17:09He's the one who took Mindy Daffron.
17:12But no one's heard from her since yesterday.
17:14So, every minute that goes by, Mindy Daffron's life is in deeper and deeper danger.
17:23When I arrived at the motel, Ranger Holland and Wallace Bowman began to form a connection, if you will.
17:32Wallace Bowman stated that he had taken Mindy Daffron and had actually turned her loose on a country road.
17:40I didn't know Jim. I didn't know what type of investigations that he would conduct.
17:46I was a criminal investigator and I was assigned to violent crime for 15 years.
17:50And so, I felt like I needed to monitor.
17:54And I remember Kevin looking at me and I could just read his expression.
18:00And he was basically saying, you better not this up.
18:05And here I was, this brand new Ranger that he didn't know.
18:09And at the end of the day, he was working for the office that would be responsible for the prosecution
18:13of this.
18:15Do you know who the lady was or?
18:17No.
18:18Do you know where the floor was? What town it was in?
18:21No, it's not in my head.
18:23OK.
18:23What were you doing over there?
18:25I was just riding around.
18:28It's rather bizarre, but he makes it just sound like a random event.
18:32I don't know if it was so much that I believed him, but from an investigative standpoint,
18:38this is the direction that he's pointing me in.
18:41And really, I don't have a whole lot of choice.
18:44Am I worried about Mindy Daffron?
18:48Yeah, absolutely.
18:49Because I saw that Wallace Bowman's body is shaved completely.
18:56And in my experience, you know, that could be an indication of some type of sex offender or rapist trying
19:02to remove evidence.
19:03So seeing him, hearing his criminal history for sexual assault, I'm starting to think about the possibility of a sexual
19:13element to this crime.
19:16OK, you didn't hurt her?
19:17No.
19:18Did you do anything to her?
19:19No.
19:19You just let her walk?
19:20Yes.
19:21OK.
19:22How far was she from anything?
19:23I mean, was she near a house?
19:25Or did you duct tape her or tie her up or do anything?
19:27Take her shoes from her?
19:29Nothing like that?
19:30OK.
19:31And what did you do with the gun?
19:34Aiming to burn late.
19:36Threw it in there?
19:37OK.
19:39Hang on one second.
19:41I reached out to Ranger Jay Foster and I asked Jay to come in and process the hotel room in
19:48the suspect vehicle.
19:50My strength is in crime scene investigation, collection of evidence.
19:55And we're working as fast as we can trying to find any lead that will lead us to Mindy.
20:02I hadn't spent enough time with Bowman where I felt like I had a really good read on him.
20:08So I just asked him to take me to the location where he dropped Mindy Daffrin off.
20:14And Bowman agrees.
20:22The car is not an ideal location to conduct an interrogation.
20:27But it's what I have and it's the cards I've been dealt.
20:31So I'm going to play my hand as best I can.
20:35Last time you saw, she was walking and everything was good?
20:38She took her across the pasture.
20:39OK.
20:40So what's the best thing for you to go back to the store and work from there?
20:45Uh, no, we can go away with us.
20:47Bowman directs me to this location where he says he dropped Mindy Daffrin off.
20:54It's closer to the store, but it's about 40 miles from where we're currently at in Bowie, Texas.
21:01OK, so where am I going to go on here? Just keep going on 174?
21:04Keep on going straight.
21:05OK.
21:06I know I'm going to be in the car with him for 40 minutes.
21:09My goal is to take this time and turn it into something productive, which is building some type of rapport,
21:17reason for him to tell me the truth, of what happened to Mindy Daffrin.
21:22Why did you take her with you, man? That's what blew my mind. What was going on?
21:25She was telling me she didn't, she wasn't going to let go of the money and stuff.
21:29Oh, she was still holding the money when she went outside? And she wouldn't let go?
21:34He's basically saying that Mindy Daffrin won't release the money. Is this the truth?
21:41I'll put it up.
21:43I'm drowning. I'm drowning, please.
21:44OK.
21:46From what I saw in the videos, no, absolutely not.
21:51Does it do me any good to call him out and let him know? I don't think so.
21:56And she didn't want to fight or anything after that? She just wanted to be free?
21:59She just let me go.
22:01And you're telling me the truth that you didn't hurt her?
22:03Yes, I'm telling you the truth.
22:05You think she's walking out of the pasture, or what do you think happened to her?
22:09She took off the pasture, and then I drove off. I didn't look.
22:12How far out in the middle of nowhere were you?
22:14About 10 miles.
22:1510 miles in the middle of nowhere?
22:18Be honest with me.
22:20We're driving out here to find this girl, or we're driving out here to find a body?
22:23No, no, no. She took off. She took off. I didn't kill her. I let her go.
22:31He's saying some things that I think are really peculiar and odd,
22:35but he stays on the same page with telling me that he dropped off Mindy Daffrin,
22:42and he left her unharmed.
22:45Bowman keeps repeating over and over that he didn't hurt her,
22:49almost as if he's trying to convince himself it's a red flag.
22:52I need him to keep talking.
22:54The more he speaks, the more likely it is that he slips up on his own lies.
22:59Okay, so we're in Winthorpe right now. We're on the left or the right?
23:02Okay.
23:03Bowman directs me to this road that goes nowhere, in the middle of nowhere.
23:08I mean, this is an area that she could survive in, but I'd be really worried about what type of
23:13shape
23:14she would be in overnight without any type of food or water.
23:17Tell you what, cell phones suck out here.
23:20I'm afraid she might trip to her bone or gotten bit by a snake or something crazy.
23:25Are we on a wild goose on the air?
23:27I dropped her out there.
23:30We ended up traveling to that location.
23:34Bowman was adamant that he'd turned her loose.
23:39And so we had a Department of Public Safety helicopter.
23:43We had search dogs.
23:44We had a team of people on horseback, began searching the area,
23:48seeing who could find any sign of Miss Daffern.
23:51Is there any doubt in my mind that, you know, Mindy Daffern was here?
23:55Yeah.
23:56It's just vast open spaces, the epitome of West Texas.
24:01How much land do we have to cover?
24:03How far could she have gotten?
24:05I mean, thousands of acres.
24:25The search has gone on for several hours.
24:28And the longer we're out there, it starts becoming apparent to me
24:32that Wallace Bowman is not telling the truth,
24:35that he did not let Mindy Daffern out this location safely.
24:39And I made a determination at that time that he was not going to stay there.
24:43And we immediately left.
24:46All right.
24:48I'm going back that way.
24:49Sound good?
24:49Sound good.
24:52As I'm driving to the Monte County Jail with Wallace Bowman,
24:55my thought process is continue to build his trust and get him to like me.
25:01And, I mean, the easiest way to do this is to break bread.
25:06You hungry?
25:07You'd like some food?
25:10Yep.
25:11You'd be hungry.
25:12I haven't eaten it since yesterday at 2 o'clock.
25:14I decided to feed him lunch.
25:18And we hit a fast food place and grab burgers and french fries.
25:23If anyone actually knew what I was doing,
25:25then I would be getting some grief from my coworkers and my boss.
25:28But the reality is being a ranger is like operating on Mars.
25:32You're in your own planet and you're doing your own thing
25:34and you have total and complete autonomy.
25:38Can I get a number two?
25:41And can I get a six pack of nuggets with sweet and sour sauce?
25:47That'll be it.
25:51I'm going to need a second job to support your eating habits.
25:56It's bizarre.
25:57We drive through the fast food restaurant to get our food
26:01and the young lady working the counter
26:04immediately recognizes Wallace Bowman.
26:08Hey, you know if this house burned down?
26:11It burned like down yesterday.
26:14And for respect.
26:17I remember thinking immediately it flashes through my mind
26:22about Kevin Benton working this arson fire
26:27and two bodies being discovered.
26:33The way it came out of his mouth.
26:36Please pass on my regards.
26:38Which was kind of like, I don't like him very much.
26:42It begins to dawn on me that Bowman had done that arson.
26:47And he's not only an armed robber and a kidnapper,
26:51but it's looking like he could be a killer.
26:57While that was occurring, I got a phone call.
27:00And it was an investigator with the Bowie Police Department.
27:03Information had come over the police radio
27:05that a farmer out in the country in Montague County
27:08had found a purse with items that belonged to Karen France.
27:13who was, of course, my original murder victim
27:16on the fire scene.
27:19Her purse was there, some ID was there,
27:21that there were some clothes that had been thrown over
27:23and hung on a fence.
27:25And the investigator said, you're not going to believe this.
27:28But the clothes that are here, he said,
27:31are appeared to be Wallace Bowman's.
27:36Wallace Bowman had been living out of his car for a while.
27:40The majority of his clothing were T-shirts that were black
27:44with white skulls and that type of thing.
27:46And the shirt hanging on the fence
27:49was a black shirt with white skulls.
27:52The pants had a lot of blood on them.
27:55On the pant leg, somebody had written in a magic marker,
27:58I heart J.R.
27:59And Wallace Bowman Jr. was known locally as Junior.
28:05Wallace Bowman was essentially a career criminal, if you will.
28:09In fact, when he went to the penitentiary,
28:11that's when he met James and Karen France's son.
28:15They apparently became friends when he was getting out
28:19and the Frances actually let him move into their home
28:21for a couple of months.
28:23And that was his connection to James and Karen France.
28:36Now we are at the Montague County Jail.
28:39Bullman and I get out of the car
28:41and step into the Montague County Sheriff's Department.
28:45And we sit down and we start eating our burgers and fries.
28:50And very nonchalantly, I tell Wallace that I am now convinced
28:58that he killed Mindy Daffrin.
29:04And his demeanor changes.
29:07And he begins to cry and sob for a little bit.
29:12And at this point, I place him in front of the camera.
29:16I want to get to the truth. I want to get the answers.
29:27Today is Saturday the 16th. Yesterday was the 15th.
29:32We talked before and you kind of said you had some issues going up to yesterday.
29:35Let's talk about those issues for a little bit.
29:37What's going on in your life?
29:39I'm going out with this girl for the past three, three and a half, four months.
29:43She's pregnant with a child and stuff.
29:46I kind of figured that she was going behind my back being with her ex-boyfriend.
29:50I mean, it just, it was tearing me down because she knew how much I loved her and stuff.
29:54And I couldn't think straight.
29:56I rode around hours and hours feeling left out.
29:59Feeling, I mean, just lost.
30:04Okay.
30:04Will you end up over in the Scotland area?
30:06Tell me what happens.
30:09I just whipped up in there because it's a 20-something drink.
30:13She said you can get a glass of water, ice, and I fill it up with water.
30:18So I did that, got me a cup, filled it up, and went outside.
30:26And I tried to call, tried to call, tried to call.
30:29So you're sitting in the far corner of the parking lot, and you're trying to call your girlfriend on the
30:33cell phone.
30:34Okay.
30:35And she wouldn't answer, she wouldn't answer.
30:37It was just a heavy load up on my chest.
30:39Mm-hmm.
30:39I looked over in the floorboard, and I had that little, it's like a little BB gun in the way,
30:46I think.
30:47As Wallace starts giving me details, I know he's not being 100% truthful, but we're getting to the truth.
30:54We're taking these, you know, baby steps.
30:58Okay, you walked in there with the gun.
31:00Walk me through what happened step by step.
31:04I pointed at her.
31:06She put her hands up.
31:09Mm-hmm.
31:09And she put the money on the counter.
31:13I told her, I just want the money, that's all I want.
31:15And I said, I'll be gone.
31:18And she said, you ain't getting these money bags.
31:20You're taking the bags, you're taking me.
31:23I'm starting to realize that this guy's full of shit.
31:27He didn't want to kidnap her, she came with him.
31:31He didn't want to rob the store, but his girlfriend broke up with him, right?
31:35He's not the guy who's going to take any amount of responsibility for what occurred.
31:41Okay.
31:42I walked in.
31:43What happens next?
31:44We went up to windstores, and I turned off on dirt roads and get off the highway.
31:48And I stopped between there and all the way to sunset.
31:53I stopped probably about four or five times.
31:55And just ask us, ma'am, just please get out.
31:57I didn't even know her name.
31:58Okay.
32:00The thought process is to move in closer to Bowman and to continue to keep him talking.
32:06And the more he talks, the more information I'm going to find out and the more I can get
32:10from him.
32:11I'm moving in the right direction with Bowman.
32:13But the reality is, I'm a young ranger, new in my career.
32:18This is only the second murder that I've ever worked.
32:20There's a lot of pressure.
32:21I was thinking, don't screw this up.
32:40It's been more than 24 hours since I was called to Scotland, Texas, to investigate the aggravated
32:47robbery and kidnapping of Mindy Daffrin.
32:51Wallace Bowman is saying some things that just don't add up.
32:56But he provides me with a new location where he left Mindy Daffrin off.
33:01And that's now Sunset, Texas.
33:05I feel like we're moving in the direction of the truth.
33:09I took off on the back roads and stuff.
33:12And I seen this little clearing when I got up on that road.
33:17And I whipped up in there and said, I'm just going to leave the vehicle.
33:21And I got out.
33:22I asked her, I said, just please, just give me the money.
33:25And I'll walk.
33:25You can take the vehicle.
33:28She got out of the vehicle and stuff.
33:29I was standing about four or five feet from her.
33:32And she picked up a rock and threw it at me.
33:35She's fighting me over the money.
33:36And it was scaring me because I'm trying to get away.
33:38I tried to just leave her.
33:42And she wouldn't let me go.
33:44I didn't know what she was planning on doing.
33:45I know she's trying to manhandle me.
33:48I mean, straight fight me over the money.
33:51And I really didn't even care about the money now.
33:52Just take the vehicle and go.
33:56And I grabbed that knife and laying the floorboard.
34:02And I just grabbed it and just swung around and stuff.
34:05And it stuck her.
34:06Where'd you stuck her at?
34:08In the back.
34:08Caught her right there in the back.
34:10Okay.
34:10On the left shoulder.
34:12And that's where she grabbed hold of me and stuck her with both hands.
34:14Up her side of my head like that.
34:18And the knife is still in my hand.
34:20So I grabbed her and pushed her away.
34:23And I looked at her and said, just leave me alone.
34:27And she said, no.
34:28She said, you stuck me, son bitch.
34:30You stuck me.
34:31I said, I didn't mean it.
34:32I said, just leave me alone, woman.
34:34And I was just laughing.
34:35I was something like that.
34:38Just scared.
34:39Just get up off of me.
34:42And that's where I see her grab her throat.
34:44And I seen just a little bit of blood.
34:47And she fell on the ground.
34:48And that scared me.
34:51This is significant because it's the first time that he's actually admitting to doing something to her.
34:58He starts telling me that, you know, he stabbed her.
35:01Not once, but twice.
35:04When you left her, was she alive or was she dead?
35:09I know for a fact that when I left, she was alive.
35:12She was alive.
35:15So I loaded up Wallace in the front seat of my car.
35:18And I had one of the Montague County Sheriff's Department deputies follow me out to this location.
35:25And he directs me to this kind of beaten down weed grass driveway that disappears off into this huge field
35:35with a bunch of woods on it.
35:38Have you stand on that outside?
35:40Okay.
35:43And I had him direct me to the location where he left Minnie Dafferine.
35:50And then I walk farther back in the woods and I get to this spot with a burn mark, disturbed
35:56ground.
35:57And I start smelling gas.
36:02And then I see it.
36:04And I say it because it wasn't really necessarily distinguishable as a body.
36:15She had been, you know, completely burned into this non-recognizable mass.
36:28And even though I can't say for certain this is Mindy, I know that it's her.
36:38I'd never seen anything, nothing like this.
36:44It's something that I'll never forget.
36:51I go back to where Bowman is and he immediately asked me if I found her.
37:01And I say, yes.
37:03And then he asks if she's still alive.
37:09And I told him no.
37:23Bowman is housed in the Jack County Jail.
37:27And about three days after Mindy Dafferine's body was discovered, he had reached out and wanted to communicate with me.
37:35It's really bizarre because I think it's the first time that Bowman really opens the door and shows us who
37:43he is in his own words.
37:45At that point, we went back through the Mindy Dafferine murder and what transpired.
37:54Okay, so she's laying there bleeding.
37:57Okay, then what happens?
37:59I went and got the gasoline that I had left in the vehicle.
38:03Because I always carried a little bit in there in case I run out.
38:07I set her on fire.
38:09Okay, did you hear her scream or did you hear her?
38:11I didn't hear anything because the radio was still going on the truck.
38:17I had it cranked up and stuff.
38:18Listen to the radio, listen to Nickelback.
38:21And I said, did you hear any screaming?
38:25And he said, no, I had the music too loud.
38:27I couldn't hear anything.
38:28And I mean, this just epitomizes Wallace Bowman as a person.
38:33Total and complete disregard for anything and anyone and doesn't care about anyone but Wallace Bowman.
38:51He basically said, you know, I had to do all this because my girlfriend left me and I needed some
38:56relief.
38:57He traveled to the France's house and I believe asked them for money.
39:02They didn't have any.
39:03He used that pistol and he shot Mr. France on the front porch.
39:08Karen France saw what was happening.
39:11She ran back in the house.
39:13He talked of beating her with a gun because it had jammed him and then talked about kicking her.
39:18Then took his gas can and set that house on fire.
39:25The France's had attempted to assist him.
39:28They had allowed them to live in their home.
39:31And he repaid them by killing them and burning their house down with no remorse.
39:37He then travels to Scotland, Texas, where he decides he's going to rob that store.
39:43He takes that lady at gunpoint.
39:45And of course, as we know, ultimately kills her.
39:57Jim was very essential throughout this case.
40:01I don't know that we would have had the evidence we had had he not been there to do that.
40:06I don't know that we would have gotten a statement out of Wallace Bowman had he not been able to
40:10make that connection with him.
40:13I try not to think about this case, but what I saw is something that you just don't take out
40:23of your head.
40:23What happened to Mindy Daffrin was extremely difficult for her family.
40:29I can't even begin to imagine what they went through.
40:33She was a mother.
40:36She was a grandmother.
40:38She was a wife.
40:40She was a friend of the community.
40:43Mindy Daffrin's buried across from the store that she owned and loved and was a part of.
40:54And everyone in her family, from her grandchild to her children to her husband, were all part of that store.
41:03And I think at the end of the day, Mindy Daffrin's home.
41:16Mindy Daffrin's home.
41:17An innocent mother of three killed in their own home.
41:20It didn't make sense.
41:23Everything about this case rotates around three people.
41:26And I'm trying to weigh, is he going to lie for this guy?
41:29Your boy, Jesus, you think he's a brain surgeon or you think he's a dumbass?
41:33Dumbass.
41:34Is he without you?
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