- 9 hours ago
Investigators initially suspect a demonic sacrifice when they find a mother executed in an abandoned building; a bizarre video confession and a series of strange interrogations expose an evil conspiracy concocted by those closest to the victim.
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00:11Monroe, it's very small, not a lot of people, not a lot of things to do.
00:18Boysville, we would go there every weekend and hang out.
00:21You give me a f***ing phone number, man.
00:23Just, you know, running around, doing stuff with friends.
00:26I was just being a kid.
00:28Boysville, it was originally a detention facility for juvenile offenders, but for the past
00:3510 years, it had been abandoned.
00:39That day, we thought we were just going to hang out, do what we usually do, but that took
00:44a turn.
00:45All right, so we've seen a body.
00:48My little cousin walked in, and he was like, holy s***, I saw a body.
00:53At first, I thought it was fake.
00:56So we recorded it as, like, a funny joke.
01:00Oh, my God, I'm just, like, I'm not going to, my heart is beating, bro.
01:03In the middle of the room, there's a shower curtain with a door on top of it, and it looks
01:08like it's covering something up.
01:12Hey, I'm not looking at you.
01:16I'm not looking at you.
01:17Look, you want me to get close up for you?
01:20Hey, I'm not looking at you.
01:22Here, move it.
01:24Wait, am I moving?
01:25Hold on, I'm not going to talk about the door.
01:26Yes, here, move it.
01:28Kick that door off.
01:29Had the bat to remove the door and tarp off.
01:38You can see it, plain as day.
01:41My body.
01:41The scariest moment of my life.
01:46This kid has never seen anything like this, and he will never be able to unsee it for the
01:53rest of his days.
01:58I spent my career closing murder cases, but I'm not the only one who answered the call.
02:08It takes a rare breed to solve the unsolvable, to catch a ruthless killer, to find justice
02:16for the dead.
02:19That's what it takes to be an American detective.
02:32My name is Michael Peterson, and I'm a detective with the Michigan State Police.
02:36I wanted to join the Michigan State Police because every day is different.
02:39I am working on cases that are challenging and exciting and providing justice for victims.
02:48That night, I got a call that a couple boys were exploring, and they stumbled upon a dead
02:53body at the Boysville facilities.
02:56I was familiar with it from my years working as a trooper, because sometimes we'd respond
03:01out there for trespassers.
03:05Boysville is in the middle of nowhere.
03:08You know, there's woods all around it.
03:09If you weren't familiar with it, you would drive by and not even notice that it was there.
03:14Many questions revolve around these places.
03:16They all have a certain frightening aspect to them.
03:22If these walls could talk, what would they say?
03:28Entering the building, it's like very spooky.
03:31It could be a, you know, haunted house attraction.
03:35Even with the gun, I felt like, oh man, this isn't a good spot for me to be.
03:40When I walk in, the first thing I consider is preserving evidence properly.
03:45No electricity, there is no heat, broken glass on the ground, random pieces of trash.
03:51When an investigation begins, you never know what's important.
04:05As I walked into the gymnasium, I observed the decedent lying on her back.
04:13She'd been covered up with a shower curtain and bifold door.
04:16It was difficult to tell how long she'd been there.
04:20At night, it was super cold, so it slows down the body, you know, decomposing.
04:25However, there were biological fluids coming out of the decedent's mouth,
04:28consistent with an overdose.
04:31And then there was also dried up blood right behind her head.
04:34And she overdosed, fall, hit her head, died, and whoever it was with kind of freaked out
04:39and then covered up her body.
04:42Could that work? Yes.
04:45But any good detective, and these guys are good detectives,
04:49never jump to conclusions.
04:50So they have to maintain an open mind.
04:54There was a pentagram on the floor, not too far from the body.
04:58The body could have been from a witchcraft ceremony,
05:00but it was unclear whether that was related to the crime or not.
05:04And then there was also a tea candle left close to the body.
05:08Or is there some type of, like, ritual that's going on?
05:11Like, was she here for something? It was odd.
05:14As I got closer to the body,
05:17I observed she had a bronze-colored substance smeared all over her legs.
05:25It seemed someone took the time to deface her.
05:28And demean her.
05:32What is that about?
05:33It seems very odd.
05:34Why do that?
05:36We had just that gut feeling that there's something more here than just an overdose.
05:40But if it wasn't an overdose, then how did she die?
05:42I was looking for the medical examiner to clear things up.
05:45But because of how cold it was inside, her body was frozen.
05:51I'm from Colorado, working off and get 30 below zero.
05:54I've seen many frozen bodies, and I always hated it.
05:59You cannot examine a frozen body until it unfreezes.
06:04That's not going to happen for some time.
06:07She didn't have a purse, cell phone, or any identification.
06:10All they have is a frozen female.
06:13However, Peterson does have one trick he can use.
06:16He can still get fingerprints from a deceased remains, even if they're frozen.
06:20It might involve breaking their fingers.
06:22They're not going to feel that, but you will if you're the one that has to do it.
06:29Using a portable fingerprint scanner, she was identified as Kayla Sadowsky.
06:35Kayla was 23 years old.
06:37She was not originally from Monroe.
06:41Peterson becomes aware of where the mother is located.
06:45He responds to that location, and he makes a death notification.
06:49Very unpleasant part of the job.
06:53Peterson then asks her questions.
06:55Tell me about your daughter's life.
06:58Kayla had a troubled background.
07:00She was estranged from her biological parents.
07:04She had been adopted by her adopted mother.
07:07She has Chippewa Indian blood in her and is proud of her heritage.
07:12We learned.
07:13She was a mother.
07:14She had a young child, a three-year-old.
07:17She was no longer with her son's father.
07:22When the police came and told me they found Kayla,
07:25the world froze around me.
07:28Like, I lost all hearing.
07:31I couldn't think straight.
07:33How do I tell a three-year-old that his mom is no longer around?
07:37It was a lot of upheaval and emotions that were just all over the board.
07:43You know, you keep thinking, how could this happen to her?
07:46There's so many questions that go through your mind.
07:50When me and Kayla started dating, we had a lot of stuff in common, but she was a wild child.
07:58I was always on my toes around Kayla.
08:00I didn't know what I was going to get.
08:01We was together for about six months before we found out she was pregnant.
08:10After our son was born, Kayla was freaking out because she didn't know she could be a good mom.
08:16She couldn't handle it.
08:19And she gave up custody.
08:21She figured, you're more stable.
08:24He's better off with you than he is with me.
08:27The only thing that Kayla had asked is that she be able to see Ryan and he would know that
08:32Kayla was his mother.
08:34And we'd always promised her, Ryan will know that you are his mother.
08:40Even though Kayla had her issues of keeping her life organized, she was always a good mother.
08:47She always cared about the child, went to see the child regularly.
08:51After a while, she got more mature.
08:54She wanted to eventually try and get the family back together.
08:59But then all of a sudden, Kayla went missing.
09:03My name is Jessica Dupnack.
09:05I am a crime reporter at the Fox station in Detroit.
09:10I started getting messages about her being missing maybe a week or so before the body was found.
09:16She was known to once in a while go off the radar, except on Facebook.
09:20She's always on Facebook.
09:22It was her family and friends.
09:24One way they kind of kept tabs on her.
09:26And you could see right around Valentine's Day, February 15th, that activity stopped.
09:32After Valentine's Day, she was a ghost.
09:36February 15th, we believe that that was likely the day of her death.
09:41I suspected foul play.
09:43I suspected it was likely a homicide, but I didn't know it was still possible that it was a drug
09:46overdose.
09:47The autopsy would reveal what it really was.
09:53There is no technique or method that is used to defrost someone.
09:58It has to be a natural process.
10:01Now that the body is sufficiently unfrozen, it's time for the autopsy to commence.
10:07The medical examiner discovered that Kayla had been shot three times with .22 caliber rounds.
10:16Overdose is out the window.
10:18Now it's gunfire.
10:20One of the shots went into Kayla's back.
10:22Another one into her face.
10:24Those were not fatal, according to the medical examiner.
10:27The third one is at the top of her head.
10:29Obvious intent to kill.
10:31It's an execution.
10:34Execution murders are not committed by strangers.
10:37There's someone who has a motive.
10:39And who might that be?
10:44So Peterson is looking for someone who really wanted Kayla Sadowski dead for some reason.
10:50It's not someone who's a stranger.
10:52Someone who has an association with this victim.
10:57So Peterson returns to talk to Mr. Mayo to determine what he has to say about who Kayla associates with
11:04now.
11:06Kayla kind of fell back in her ways of being a wild child.
11:12You can tell a lot by someone's social media.
11:15I remember the first video I watched of her.
11:17She was in a car with some friends.
11:19They were driving around town, laughing, goofing around.
11:24And I was like, man, she seems very just normal.
11:26Like kind of a normal girl.
11:28Who's that?
11:29Mine.
11:30Digging in a little bit further, she seemed a little lost.
11:33She's trying to get me arrested.
11:35Kayla had some issues with her upbringing.
11:39She was looking for acceptance.
11:42Sometimes it wasn't in the best places.
11:46Kayla tended to go for the bad boys.
11:50Detectives asked Daniel who this contentious ex-boyfriend might be.
11:56I pretty much tried to stay out of Kayla's relationships.
11:59It was none of my business who she was dating.
12:02But I did mention Steve Bales.
12:05I would say Steve fit into the category of Kayla's bad boy persona that she dated.
12:12That's my baby.
12:13The relationship between Stephen Bales and Kayla Sadowski was reported to be highly contentious.
12:22It was a very toxic relationship, just looking from the outside in.
12:27We'd learned from a previous police report that Stephen Bales was arrested at a gas station at one point.
12:32And a woman reported that she overheard him scream at Kayla that he was going to kill her.
12:38Kayla had filed for a restraining order because she felt threatened by Stephen Bales.
12:43All of this made Stephen Bales a person of interest.
12:46Peterson finally has a focus in this investigation.
12:50Here's a guy who could be the guy.
12:54During this time when really starting to look hard into Stephen Bales, he was nowhere to be found.
13:01He's in the wind.
13:04But word travels like wildfire in a small community.
13:08Tonight, Michigan State Police are trying to figure out who murdered a woman, found an old Boysville juvenile detention center.
13:15This was huge news in Monroe County.
13:17This was a big deal.
13:18Well, Kayla moved around a lot with friends, but it was an ex-boyfriend who had been causing problems.
13:24And now everyone knows the police want to find Stephen Bales.
13:28If you have any information, please contact detectives at the Monroe Post for the Michigan State Police.
13:39At this point, we received a phone call from Stephen Bales' cousin that they had some information in regards to
13:45the homicide.
13:45She agreed to come to the Post for an interview.
13:48Steve's cousin informed us that she'd been on a phone call with Steve Bales and a friend of his name,
13:54Bryn Smith.
13:55She tells Peterson, Stephen and Bryn had shocking news.
13:59They told her that a woman by the name of Kaylin Ramsey had killed Kayla.
14:06Well, my, my, my.
14:09Peterson asked the cousin, what can you tell me about Kaylin Ramsey?
14:14The cousin reports that Kaylin Ramsey is good friends with Bryn Smith and Stephen Bales, and they all live together
14:22in Stephen's house.
14:26Stephen says to his cousin that Kaylin Ramsey shot Kayla Sadowski three times and covered up the body.
14:35That was significant because none of the information she gave me was public, so only someone who knew about her
14:42homicide would know that.
14:44We're concerned about Stephen being a prime suspect.
14:47Now we have to add in another possibility, Kaylin Ramsey.
14:50And fortunately, they both live in the same place, so only one warrant is required.
14:59I ended up typing a search warrant for the apartment complex.
15:02But when we execute the search warrant, no one's there.
15:09Steve's apartment was just very messy and disorganized.
15:12There was a mattress or, you know, a couch in the living room.
15:15You could just tell it was just filled with too many people.
15:18We learned that there were several people living there.
15:20There were Steve, Bryn Smith, Kaylin Ramsey, Steve's wife, Narina, Bales.
15:25And in addition to them, Sierra Bemis, an apartment that is normally packed full of people and no one's there.
15:33That just adds to our suspicion because there'd be no reason why they would leave unless they were trying to
15:39hide.
15:40With the search of Steve's apartment, we are hoping to find some sort of evidence tying Steve Bales and others
15:46to the crime.
15:47They do not find a .22 caliber handgun.
15:51They do not find .22 caliber ammunition.
15:54But what they do find is very interesting.
15:58We ended up finding some tea candles that were very similar to the ones that were on scene.
16:02It was a small piece to connect to the crime scene.
16:05It is not something that would cause the issue of an arrest warrant.
16:08But it certainly is evidence that you're on the right track.
16:14After they conclude their warrant, they return to their office.
16:20Michigan police are looking for Stephen Bales and Kaylin Ramsey.
16:21They are contacted by a television reporter from Detroit.
16:25I called the police and I was like, look, here's the deal.
16:29I have this thing.
16:30It felt like I was sitting on maybe something that could crack this case wide open.
16:35And of course, Peterson and his cohorts are all ears.
16:39Tell me more, my dear.
16:44Michigan police are looking for Stephen Bales and Kaylin Ramsey.
16:48When a TV reporter from Detroit stops into their office and says she's in possession of things that they need
16:55to know.
16:56Because I do crime, people reach out to me on social media all the time.
17:01Stephen Bales had reached out to me.
17:03I recorded the conversation for my own sort of note-taking.
17:08I want you to put this on the air so I can clear my name.
17:12I'm on my honeymoon.
17:13I am not on the run.
17:15I am not on the run.
17:17Stephen reports, I just got married on Valentine's Day.
17:20And we decided to make a fun thing of our honeymoon.
17:23And we are touring around the country with a few of our friends.
17:28Including Bryn Smith.
17:30Stephen says he had nothing to do with the homicide of Kayla Sadowski.
17:34And pretty much immediately, he was like, I know who did this.
17:38Okay, so you believe you know who the killer is.
17:41Oh, trust me, we have proof.
17:43And he goes, we have a video confessional of Kaylin Ramsey saying that she did it.
17:48Just like, you gotta see this tape.
17:49You gotta see this tape.
17:50It's all there.
17:52And I was like, well, let me see the video.
17:55So he sent me the videos on Facebook Messenger.
17:59It was a video of a phone which contained the alleged confession.
18:06This isn't my first time going through this.
18:09That's why I'm trying to get you to listen to what I'm telling you to do.
18:13Kayla's not my first.
18:14That's .
18:15And you think I got away from 16 others?
18:18It's essentially Kaylin saying that she shot Kayla and that she has shot numerous people
18:24before in the past.
18:25You killed 16 people.
18:28When I watched the videos, I didn't know whether to believe Kaylin Ramsey or not.
18:47They were asking her fairly leading questions, but she did not appear to be threatened in
18:54any way or under any duress to answer these questions.
18:58Something's not right about this.
19:00So Peterson's suspicious.
19:01I would be too.
19:06Peterson is walking through all the parts of this, looking for a weakness.
19:11He starts watching the video again.
19:14He stops looking at Ramsey and watches the reflection of Stephen Bills in the screen on Brynn's phone.
19:23Steve and Brynn were talking to Kaylin Ramsey on FaceTime, but they were recording the conversation
19:29with another phone.
19:31How'd you get there and how'd you get her there?
19:34Got a white man.
19:36And suddenly, Peterson realizes what's been staring at him the entire time.
19:42Got a white man.
19:43You see Steve, in the reflection of this phone, pump his fist.
19:48Got a white man.
19:52You can clearly see Stephen Bills, like, just kind of giving the two fist pumps, like, yeah,
19:57we got her to say it.
19:59Now, why would you do that?
20:00Why would you cheer someone and croneting themselves?
20:03Unless, of course, you're responsible for this crime.
20:07We suspected that Brynn and Steve were involved.
20:11He was trying in some way to frame Kaylin, but that didn't mean that she was not involved in some
20:16way.
20:18At this point, I wanted to talk to her.
20:21So Peterson and his associates are focused on finding Kaylin Ramsey when they get a call from a nearby Ohio
20:28Police Department.
20:29These officers report they're on routine patrol and are flagged down by an individual who reports his identity as Brynn
20:37Smith.
20:38He had reportedly run from Steve Bills' vehicle and reported that he's a suspect in a homicide.
20:46He told them that he wanted to clear things up.
20:50That in itself is weird.
20:52So I went down to talk to Brynn Smith and get his side of the story.
20:56So now, here's the deal.
20:58We're going to be asking a lot of questions here.
21:00Is that our question?
21:01Yes, go ahead, sir.
21:02Before you start questions, can I show you something myself?
21:05He reaches in his pocket, pulls out his cell phone, and plays the tape of Kaylin Ramsey confessing to the
21:13murder.
21:14It's a video that Peterson has already seen.
21:18There's nothing edited out because I can tell you I was the one who was interviewing her.
21:22That's fine.
21:23But what was the, you know, why were you talking to her in the first place?
21:34He gave a strange story that he wanted to find out what was wrong with her.
21:40So after they left for their honeymoon, he recorded her to find out what was going on, and then she
21:45confessed to the homicide.
21:47At that point, we had no idea why someone would want to kill Kayla.
21:51I asked him,
21:52She killed Kayla because at church one night, apparently Kayla threatened her.
21:56Brynn says, in his opinion, that Kaylin Ramsey and Kayla Sadowski had been arguing a lot in the recent past,
22:05and it kept escalating.
22:07And Kaylin Ramsey had reached her breaking point and decided to eliminate Kayla Sadowski.
22:15Okay, that's Brynn's explanation.
22:18Does that make sense?
22:20Maybe.
22:21Maybe, maybe not.
22:23And just out of curiosity, if they just got married, why are they bringing Brynn Smith along?
22:28Usually honeymoon is kind of an intimate time for...
22:31You know, I felt the same thing.
22:34But I know what it is.
22:35What's that?
22:36He knew I wanted to leave, so he brought me with him so I couldn't leave.
22:39Okay.
22:40He said that Stephen Bales controls everything that's going on.
22:42Does he control his wife like this too, or is he...
22:45Everybody.
22:46Sierra, me.
22:48I mean, when Kayla did live with him, he controlled her like that.
22:52Okay.
22:53The man goes for your money and your bridge cards and everything.
22:56Sounds like a bad dude.
22:58Seems like Stephen was taking advantage of people who had like, you know, some type of like government assistance.
23:03And he would basically take that from them and say, hey, you can stay with me, but I'm going to
23:07control all the money and everything that you get.
23:09So I just never left, but today, he went to the gas station and I got my chance and I
23:14ran.
23:15Okay.
23:16Was Steve Bales involved in her, uh, this at all?
23:19I don't know.
23:20That's the thing.
23:21I don't know.
23:22He says he wasn't, but that's what he says.
23:26So, and you're saying you were not responsible or involved in any way of...
23:29No, sir.
23:30Brynn Smith adamantly denied that he was involved in any way.
23:34All right, when this is all said and done, how do you think the results of this investigation are going
23:39to come out on you?
23:40On me?
23:42Free.
23:42Free.
23:43Okay.
23:45My gut feeling was that Brynn was involved in her murder.
23:49But we let Brynn go because at that point we didn't have enough evidence to arrest him for, for homicide.
23:55He's set aside for the moment.
23:57He's in the bullpen.
23:58He hasn't been called into the game yet.
24:02There was no evidence to show who at that point was involved.
24:06We're getting partial truths from everyone.
24:08It was difficult to tell how believable they were.
24:11This group of people that are involved in this affair has become kind of like a game of whack-a
24:18-mole.
24:18One pops up and then another one pops up and they all have something to say.
24:23Peterson has been shaking all the trees and bushes in Ohio and Michigan looking for Kalen Ramsey when all of
24:30a sudden he gets a phone call from a blocked number.
24:35And guess who it is?
24:37It is Kalen Ramsey.
24:39She called me when I was heading back to Michigan and stated she'd be willing to talk to me.
24:44Where exactly have you been, honey?
24:48With all the accusations being thrown about, Kalen Ramsey tells Peterson she wants to clear her name in the murder
24:56of Kayla Sadowski.
24:58And so I set up an appointment with her and her attorney to speak.
25:02Okay, I'm Mark Peterson.
25:04We're initial six weeks.
25:05Kayla was initially very cooperative, very polite.
25:09Do you know Kayla Sadowski?
25:11She was such a sweetheart.
25:12Oh, my God.
25:14She was just like me, outgoing, laid back, calm, give her shirt off her back to whoever needed it more
25:21than her.
25:22She was telling us that they would watch each other's kids, you know, that she loved her like a sister.
25:27Do you have any conflicts with her ever?
25:28No.
25:29I've never had a conflict with her at all whatsoever.
25:33So he asked her the standard question, was the last time you saw Kayla Sadowski?
25:38I had just talked to her about maybe the day before she had passed at the grocery store.
25:43Okay.
25:44When was that?
25:45Um, around Valentine's Day.
25:48That was significant because we had not released the date of death to the public.
25:53As far as the press is concerned, she died on the 2nd of March.
25:57You said the day before she passed, um, around Valentine's Day.
26:01Yes.
26:02So how do you know that?
26:04Maybe you're clairvoyant, huh?
26:05What do you think, Kayla?
26:07Okay.
26:08So there are people, um, who are alleging that you are responsible for Kayla's death.
26:14And I'm going to ask you straight up, is that true?
26:16No.
26:16Is that true?
26:17I'm a good girl that said nothing wrong.
26:19Okay.
26:19Do you remember talking to Steve and Brynn on FaceTime about Kayla's death?
26:26I do not.
26:27No.
26:27Okay.
26:28I used to picture people I was interrogating as covered in buttons when they told me an
26:33obvious lie or an incriminating statement.
26:36It's time to select a button.
26:38Now let me push this one and see what this one does.
26:42Would it surprise you if I told you they recorded you saying that you killed Kayla?
26:47Would that surprise you?
26:49Are you serious?
26:50Are pupils go to pinpoints?
26:54That button touches a nerve.
26:57Will I show it?
26:58Yeah.
26:58Yeah.
26:59Just watch it.
26:59This isn't my first time.
27:03Wait.
27:03It's been dead out of life.
27:04There was 16 others.
27:0516 other people?
27:08Yeah.
27:10Have never killed anybody.
27:12That was nothing of me.
27:13That was awful.
27:15She stated that they were just trying to set her up and she was forced to make those videos.
27:25The detectives look at her and say, Kaelin, could you explain to me, please, how they forced
27:30you?
27:31Because I can't imagine that being the case.
27:34I don't think any other person over the age of 10 could imagine that either.
27:38That's all a lie right there.
27:40Okay, well.
27:41It made me say all that.
27:43At that point, I went from being cordial to being confrontational.
27:48You're caught.
27:49You're involved, Kaelin.
27:51It's a matter of how deep do you want to be involved.
27:53When I pressed her more and more on her involvement, she eventually stated that Steve told her that
28:01he killed her.
28:03He said, I killed Kaelin because she owed me money.
28:08I don't know the exact amount.
28:10I don't know what for.
28:11She says she wouldn't pay him, so he killed her out of revenge.
28:15And now he's trying to say that I did it.
28:18No, Kaelin, you're missing the point here.
28:20You said you did it.
28:22On that amazing piece of video.
28:25You're giving me half-truths.
28:27You're already trying to put everything I knew and it wasn't all on you.
28:29We know that.
28:30I do not think you're the mastermind.
28:33Kaelin, help me help you.
28:36I think I'm done for today.
28:38At that point, she didn't want to talk to me anymore, but we didn't have enough evidence
28:42to tie her to the homicide.
28:44So we couldn't arrest her.
28:46Kaelin, I'm telling you, this is going to end badly.
28:50Can you know that?
28:51All behavior you willfully engage in has consequences.
28:55Some are good, some are bad.
28:56But we, the homicide detectives of the world, are the consequences.
29:01And we're going to crush you.
29:07Mr. Bales is nowhere to be found.
29:10He's still at large somewhere.
29:12So, Peterson is trying to remember, who has he not spoken with?
29:16And he remembers another roommate, Sierra Bemis.
29:22Could have a seat right there for me.
29:26So, we track Sierra Bemis down, and she agrees to come and talk to us.
29:30So, here's the deal.
29:31We know everything that happened, okay?
29:34You tell me everything you know about Kaelin Sadowski's death.
29:39Very quickly, she admits and kind of fills us in on, like, the details that we were missing.
29:43Were you there when they were plotting or death?
29:46Okay, and what were they saying?
29:48They were saying, you know, Kaelin, you can take them.
29:51And she was very wide talking to her.
29:53And who said that?
29:55Steve.
29:56She tells us how, you know, Steve is kind of the mastermind of what was going to happen.
30:01Why did you go with them to Boyceville?
30:02Because he forced me to go.
30:04Because he was, like, literally.
30:06Sierra reports it was his idea.
30:08He recruited all the roommates to participate in this offense.
30:13What specifically did Steve tell you to do?
30:17Just watch his bed.
30:18Were you acting as a lookout of sorts, too, in case people were coming?
30:22Yes.
30:23Sierra says, I had nothing to do with the murder.
30:25I was just there as a lookout.
30:27So, you consider that to be nothing to do with it?
30:29She doesn't understand how the law works.
30:32You're part of a criminal conspiracy, and you're playing your part.
30:35The next time she sees them, they're going to have an arrest warrant with her name on it.
30:40This was a huge piece of the puzzle that she gave us, but there was still a lot more work
30:44to do and more evidence to collect.
30:46We got a search warrant for everyone involved in this case, all their Facebook records.
30:53Facebook is used a lot as an investigative tool.
30:58It is common for people, you know, who are engaged in illegal activity to use Facebook Messenger, just thinking that
31:04it's not going to be captured anywhere.
31:06Through Facebook Messenger, we had evidence that Brynn had pretended to be interested in dating Kayla.
31:11Brynn's telling her that he loves her and that he wants to hang out with her.
31:14He's then communicating with Stephen Bales on Facebook, basically telling him, you know, I've got Kayla.
31:21She fell right into my trap.
31:23She's fallen into my trap.
31:25Oh, my.
31:27This is a murder plan conceived by the Three Stooges.
31:31And then Brynn Smith planned a date with Kayla on the February 15th to explore Boysville, an abandoned building.
31:38Brynn can see him communicating with Stephen Bales, basically telling him, hey, I arrived at Boysville.
31:45The message saying, I can't find the gym, that was a huge piece of evidence.
31:52We knew the homicide took place in a gymnasium, and it was right around the time that we suspected she
31:59was killed.
31:59That alone confirms everything about the conspiracy and the fact that Stephen's being reported to as the boss.
32:09After we received the Facebook messages, we had enough evidence to obtain warrants for homicide for Steve Bales, Brynn Smith,
32:17Caelan Ramsey, and Sierra Bemis.
32:20However, they know where they are, with one exception, Mr. Bales is on a supposed never-ending honeymoon.
32:27Where is Stephen Bales?
32:32The Michigan State Police obtain arrest warrants for the group that is involved in the killing of Kayla Sadowski.
32:40Caelan Ramsey, Brynn Smith, and Sierra Bemis are all taken into custody.
32:45But Stephen Bales, a mastermind of the plot, remains in hiding at an unknown location.
32:52He was still out of state with Norena, and we turned to the U.S. Marshal for assistance.
32:59Any marshal will tell you, there's three places people go.
33:03Their money, their main squeeze, or their mama, or someone in the family who is related by blood.
33:11And that's where they find them every single time.
33:15They tracked down Stephen Bales to a relative's home in North Carolina.
33:21Steve and his wife Norena barricaded themselves into a bedroom and refused to come out.
33:29There was an eight-hour standoff with him.
33:32Eventually, they deployed tear gas inside.
33:38He and Norena came out, and Steve was finally arrested.
33:43Following the arrest, Detective Sergeant Jordan Long and I went to North Carolina to speak with Steve.
33:49It's a nice moment to finally be face-to-face with someone who you've been looking for and chasing around
33:55for a very long time.
33:57The difference being now, you have him by the nostrils.
34:01So, do you want to talk to us?
34:03Um, I'll answer some questions, whatever you guys got, the best that I know.
34:07If you're planning a line, even a little one, let's end it now.
34:12I would rather you just walk out now.
34:15I'd like to say, I did not kill that girl.
34:17Me and my wife, Norena, honeymoon.
34:19He was just very calm.
34:21I think he thought that he was going to get away with something.
34:23Peterson starts to probe him.
34:25When was the last time you saw Kayla?
34:28Kayla, the last time I saw her was when, alive, was at church on Sunday at a house restoration.
34:37He said, the last time I saw Kayla, alive, it was interesting that he specified alive in that statement.
34:45Have you ever been to the old Boysville facility?
34:49One time.
34:50What was that?
34:51I had it on 20 years ago.
34:5220 years ago?
34:53Okay.
34:54You lying son of a bitch.
34:56When you're digging yourself a hole, the first thing you should do is stop digging.
35:00Would it surprise you to know that we have a Facebook conversation between you and Brynn at Boysville that night?
35:10No.
35:11You know.
35:12I guarantee you we do.
35:14Well, this is where I need my lawyer then.
35:15All of a sudden, the 15-watt bulb comes on in Stephen's brain.
35:21You have enough evidence to put him under a prison, and he knows it.
35:26Steve was charged with homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide.
35:30And was extradited from North Carolina back to Michigan.
35:33Since Stephen isn't going to talk, maybe his new bride, Norena Bales, could be more forthcoming.
35:43Norena stated that Steve orchestrated the entire homicide and then told everyone what to do.
35:48She throws him underneath the bus.
35:50She admitted that she was sitting at the apartment listening to the police scanner,
35:54and she was supposed to call Steve if, you know, the police were being sent out to Boysville.
35:59Which made her an active participant in the homicide.
36:02And so Norena was charged also with homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide.
36:09In a complicated murder case, with somebody telling a little bit of the truth, somebody else telling a little bit
36:14more, it's maddening.
36:15But Peterson is able to assemble all that using the Facebook messages.
36:21And now they have a fairly good idea of what happened.
36:25That's my baby.
36:26Stephen Bales was involved in a love-hate relationship with Kayla.
36:30He loved her, and then he hated her.
36:32Hated her with a passion and wanted her to be dead.
36:36And from our investigation, it showed that Steve likely wanted Kayla dead because she got a restraining order on him.
36:44And Steve became very angry and eventually started to manipulate people to help him kill her.
36:50On the evening of February 15th, 2023, Bryn picked Kayla up and drove Kayla to the abandoned Boysville facility.
37:02No one knows why or how he convinced her to go.
37:08Just thinking about her walking up and being lured there, I just broke my heart.
37:17Sierra was the lookout on scene.
37:20Norena was monitoring police radio communications.
37:25Stephen and Kaylin Ramsey were waiting inside.
37:34And they lured and directed Bryn as to what room they were in.
37:44Once inside, they ambushed Kayla immediately.
37:48Kayla Ramsey shot her in the back.
37:50And then she shot her in the face.
37:54That bullet did not kill her.
37:56Kayla was just yelling, saying, Steve, help me, help me.
38:00Stephen was elated when she writhed in pain.
38:05Then Kaylin put the gun to her head.
38:09And that headshot was the fatal bullet.
38:13The reason we believe Kaylin Ramsey was the shooter was that she confessed to shooting in her videos.
38:19And the reports of everyone else involved in this case all pointed to her.
38:26They covered her with a fragrant, sun-tanning oil to mask the smell of her decaying body.
38:35Which explained what we saw the night of the crime when her face and legs were covered with bronze lotion.
38:40That absolutely would not have done anything to mask the smell of her body.
38:44Now, you're not dealing with a criminal genius here.
38:47The planners of this crime couldn't plan a trip to the men's room, let alone a homicide.
38:53They then covered the body with a shower curtain and laid an interior door on her.
39:02And then, finally, another friend, Alexander Fico, was recruited to dispose of the murder weapon.
39:16There are six people charged in this murder with various crimes.
39:20Apparently, it takes a village to murder someone in Monroe County, Michigan.
39:25Bryn Smith and Kaylin Ramsey pled no contest to secondary homicide.
39:30Norena and Sierra took a plea agreement to secondary homicide.
39:34And Alexander Fico accepted a plea agreement in exchange for his testimony.
39:39And since there were so many players involved in this, willing to testify against the mastermind, Stephen Bales,
39:46they never offered him a plea deal.
39:49Steve Bales went to trial.
39:51He was found guilty of homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide.
39:56And he received a sentence of life in prison.
40:00He deserves life.
40:02But they should all be in prison for life.
40:04Just like him.
40:08I can't fathom what any of them were thinking.
40:11It just...
40:12I still have a hard time with it.
40:17After the trial in Boysville, they demolished the building.
40:22Kayla's memorial was set up not long after she was found.
40:26All right, place the flowers where you want.
40:28It's something so where if my son wants to see or talk to his mom,
40:33he could go and be there and talk to her.
40:37Say hi, Mommy.
40:37Hi, Mommy.
40:39Miss you.
40:40I miss you.
40:41There will never be closure for her family because there will always be a hole where she once was.
40:47It's incredibly tragic.
40:49I was privileged to be able to bring Steve and the rest of them to justice.
40:56That's why homicide detectives stand in the victim's shoes, because they can't anymore.
41:01It's your job to find out who did that and to punish them for it.
41:05You're not just the police.
41:07You're the murder police.
41:11On the next American detective.
41:13He was trying to lure a victim into meeting up with him.
41:18I didn't do it.
41:19I'm not going to confess to it.
41:21I was able to actually see who he last communicated with.
41:24Sheriff's office, come to the door.
41:26And now they're going to hammer him into the ground like a tent pig.
41:30See you next time.
41:30Hey, comme on.
41:31See you next time.
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