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The Killer Among Us - Season 1 Episode 1 - Murder on Main Street
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00:10in a community where Main Street is only one block long with a population of barely 100 the
00:17folks of the farming village of Colon Nebraska have come to rely on each other that's just the
00:23way it is people know each other and help out we're just good folks with good hearts but
00:29on a late summer evening in 2003 that idyllic harmony is shattered when the shocking murder
00:36of longtime resident Sharon Erickson turns Main Street into a crime scene there's a gun laying
00:44by her head in a pool of blood someone had to get over that fence and cut the phone line
00:50everybody
00:51across the board were shocked and questions of who the killer may be break communal bonds people
00:58started pointing fingers at each other saying I bet he did or he did or he did it in the
01:07town of 140 or
01:08less people they're all suspects it's hard to believe and accept the killer probably was somebody living
01:16next door now locals who once looked out for each other are looking suspiciously at each other
01:46on June 30th 2003 I was on patrol it's evening time in the middle of the summer and there's still
01:54plenty of sunlight
01:56I received a call from our dispatch center
01:58Saunders County 911 I need an ambulance okay what's going on um a neighbor a lady in Colon was missing
02:05we found her in a garage is she possibly dead I've just been told that we need the sheriff and
02:10probably a mortician
02:14our dispatch center indicated that somebody in Colon had located a deceased female and believed that she had committed suicide
02:23and she's in a garage along Main Street
02:27Main Street is one block long there's the bank and the post office and the restaurant and bar but there
02:36are houses there I arrived at the scene
02:43made contact with the volunteer firefighters and the ladies from the bank that were standing there the bank employees got
02:51a call from Sharon's family members saying that she had missed their five o'clock phone call they had been
02:58asked to go over and check on Sharon Erickson
03:03the garage was opened and I could see the car inside along with the deceased female she was on the
03:11left side of the car with her head near the front left tire
03:15in a small town of Colon the coroner called in also happens to be the local prosecutor
03:22I meet with the deputy that was first on the scene he shows me where the body is she was
03:29wearing what appeared to be like clothes that she would be sleeping in just like a pajama outfit
03:34there's a gun there's a gun that is laying just by her head which is in a pool of blood
03:40and it appears that maybe it's a self-inflicted gunshot
03:43she had a small purse we were guessing at that time maybe that's where she carried her handgun
03:50I did notice that Sharon's shorts were pulled down slightly on one side and her tank top was pulled up
03:58just a little bit exposing her stomach
04:00and also noticed that there was a blood smear on the car
04:07Sharon had been married but was divorced didn't have any children it looked like it could have been a suicide
04:15we talked to everybody at the scene we learned Sharon had a very definitive routine
04:23every morning about 8 a.m. she would go to the postmaster Rick Hartman get her mail
04:28the post office was right next door to Sharon's residence she would talk to him for you know 15-20
04:34minutes
04:35go over to the bank chit chat with the ladies do her business and then go about her day from
04:41there
04:43Sharon and her relative communicated at least once a day and generally at 5 o'clock
04:49on the day her body was found her family member hadn't received a phone call and then contacted the bank
04:56and asked the employees if they had seen her and when they hadn't seen her then the family member requested
05:02that they do a welfare check
05:04the bank ladies contacted Rick Hartman the postmaster and asked if he had seen her earlier that day
05:13he said he did not see her
05:18so Rick Hartman actually had a key to her place
05:23so they went to her home her house was unlocked that was unusual there was an alarm going off
05:29she had an alarm that went around the door handle on the back door and they turned that off
05:36they can't find her in her residence Sharon's residence was on one side of the street her garage
05:43where she kept her car was actually across the street the postmaster found the garage door opener
05:48opened the garage door and Rick Hartman found her body laying next to her car in her garage
06:01analyzing the tragic scene something catches the eye of investigators
06:06we walk around to the back of the car and the deputy says that he's concerned because there's blood on
06:13the back of the bumper
06:15he couldn't explain why it was there
06:17we could never find a shell casing but we thought maybe it got tucked into her clothes and we would
06:23find it at the autopsy
06:25and then also found that there was no magazine in the gun
06:32in the evening as the sun lowered it started shining into the garage opening
06:38and at that point we noticed that there was actually blood on the door frame
06:44deputy Coughlin opened the door and then you could see on the inside the door frame that there was a
06:49noticeable amount of blood
06:51that totally changed the way we're looking at everything
06:56we both thought okay somebody else had to have done that because she could not have shot herself
07:02and then struggled with the door shut the door and then put herself in that position without blood being in
07:09a different spot
07:10at that point we realized it was not self-inflicted gunshot wound
07:16this isn't a suicide this is a murder
07:20now investigators explore the scene with new eyes looking for clues as to who could have done this
07:26and outside Sharon's garage word spreads along Main Street
07:33I was in the office and the people came in said did you hear about Sharon Sharon was found murdered
07:38I went what
07:40quiet little community that people always got along good
07:45it's scary and unbelievable
07:48oh I couldn't believe it when the news came out
07:52Sharon lived on Main Street and I lived one block off
07:56in our little community you just don't even think of those things
08:00that doesn't happen in Cullen
08:03well the first thing that comes to your mind when you're thinking
08:06who could have done it well
08:08anybody
08:10frightened by her murder Cullen's tight-knit community
08:14wonders why anyone would kill someone so well regarded as Sharon
08:19I had a lot of interaction with her at the treasurer's office
08:23Sharon Erickson was very well known in Cullen
08:26and she was well known in the county as she worked for the county treasurer's office for over 30 years
08:32Sharon Erickson had probably the highest standards of anybody that worked at the courthouse
08:36she was always dressed properly
08:39very cordial to people
08:42my kids got to know Sharon mostly when we'd go to a convention
08:46because Sharon liked to swim
08:48Sharon jumped in the pool
08:50and of course my kids were in right with her
08:53Sharon was bubbly
08:54she always had positive things to say about other people
09:00this is a retirement party for Sharon at the courthouse
09:04everyone brought a dish and they had a cake
09:09it was just wow can you believe Sharon just retired
09:13so that was really sad
09:19at Sharon's property some investigators keep speaking with the locals
09:23while others head across Main Street to begin a sweep of Sharon's home
09:27where she recently installed added protection
09:30we found out that Sharon had just constructed a new vinyl fence
09:36within a few days of the crime happening
09:41friends of Sharon indicated that she was pretty paranoid
09:44she was concerned about her safety
09:48the fact that she lived alone
09:50and everybody in town knew she lived alone
09:55law enforcement trying to figure out what happened at the house
09:58noticed that her phone line was cut
10:01so someone had to get over that fence
10:03and then they had to go there and cut the phone line
10:07so someone was somewhat familiar with either her and or her residence
10:15inside of her home you can see that it's neat
10:18but the back door had a pry mark on it
10:21someone had tried to get into the house
10:24we did find one object that looked like maybe it could have been used to pry the door open
10:30it was a cold chisel
10:32a heavy metal object
10:34kind of rusty
10:35that was laying on the floor
10:40moving into Sharon's bedroom
10:41investigators uncover more telling clues
10:45we don't find any signs of struggle
10:47but we do see that there's a empty holster
10:50that's sitting on a table
10:52it looked like she might have been in bed
10:54and might have taken the gun out of the holster
10:58and left in a hurry
11:00because the phone line was cut
11:02we were pretty certain something happened in the home first
11:06we believed that the clothes that she had on
11:09some small shorts, underwear, and a tank top
11:12may have been bedtime clothing
11:15we assumed she ran across to get into her garage
11:18because she needed to escape
11:20because she couldn't call for help
11:23Sharon didn't keep a large amount of cash
11:25or any particular valuables in her home
11:28we discovered that there was cash in her purse
11:30so the assailant who was trying to get into their home
11:33it wasn't clear to us
11:34what they were going in there for
11:38investigators look for answers
11:39from Sharon's Main Street friends
11:41who found her body
11:44everybody that's there is a suspect
11:46so we wanted to talk to the bank ladies and the postmaster
11:55I asked the different people involved
11:57to all write out a statement as to what happened
12:00everybody was very patient
12:03with the exception of the postmaster Rick Hartman
12:06a couple different times I had to ask him to step back
12:11because he kept coming up close to the garage or in the garage
12:14he kind of started wondering why he was inserting himself so much in the situation
12:22the postmaster did a complete 180 degree flip
12:25he got angry and said to me
12:28if you're gonna arrest me, arrest me, but I'm leaving
12:34coming up
12:35this is something that was personal
12:38people said you need to check further on where that neighbor was
12:42because this person's not telling you the truth
12:44Sharon was not one to shy away from conflict
12:49we started hearing rumors that the postmaster and Sharon were more than friends
13:07after 66 year old retiree Sharon Erickson is found dead in her Main Street garage in Cullen Nebraska
13:13authorities take note of the postmaster's bizarre actions at the scene
13:19is there something the postmaster is trying to conceal?
13:25Rick Hartman was the postmaster
13:27his interaction stood out because he was trying so much to inject himself into the scene
13:35so we talked with the postmaster
13:39Mr. Hartman was a postman for a number of years
13:42very friendly with Sharon
13:44at her house all the time
13:47he said when she would go on vacation or out of town
13:50he would watch her place
13:52he had a key to her place
13:55but when you're interviewing somebody
13:57their body language
13:58anything emotionally that's coming out
14:01you're trying to judge
14:02is this unusual or is it not unusual?
14:06and his lined up on the unusual side
14:10he was kind of like
14:11come on, what else do you have to ask me?
14:16Detective's number one question is
14:17where was Rick when Sharon was being murdered?
14:22The postmaster's alibi was that he was home
14:25his wife also came to the scene
14:27and his wife confirmed that
14:29you have to be aware of how valid the alibi is
14:32does that person have anything to gain or lose by giving you bad information?
14:37do you think they're hiding something?
14:39do you think they're lying about something?
14:41and Mr. Hartman's relationship with Sharon
14:44we weren't 100% sure what that was
14:47so he was involved in her life
14:49I will say that
14:52what we're trained is not just to necessarily react based on what somebody says right then
14:58so we made the decision to go ahead and release everybody
15:01and then we would follow up later if we needed to
15:10we had the transport come in
15:13bag the body
15:14and then just took it into the autopsy
15:19we didn't finish up at the scene until about 5.30 or 6 the next morning
15:28the day after Sharon's body is discovered
15:31investigators first look to establish a time frame
15:34in which the murder must have occurred
15:37we were in contact with her family
15:42we learned that the day prior to the murder
15:45Sharon had met some family for supper
15:48she got home about 5.30
15:51so we knew the time frame was about 5.30 in the evening
15:55the day before and up to when she missed her morning visit to the post office
16:02probably 8 a.m. the next day
16:08Sharon was really good friends with her cousin in Lincoln, Nebraska
16:11and it was this cousin who actually dropped her off at her home
16:15the evening before Sharon was murdered
16:18after speaking with the cousin who had nothing out of the ordinary to note
16:23investigators then begin extensively canvassing the community of Main Street
16:28so we have the bank personnel, the postman
16:31they're all suspects until we can exclude them
16:35we started out going door to door
16:37asking them if they heard a dog barking
16:39if they saw a light somewhere, heard a noise
16:42anything that was out of the ordinary
16:46Sharon had lived there a lot of years
16:48the Mars has lived in the back and kind of catty corner from Sharon
16:53she knew the Mars family
16:57there were a couple people in town that were
17:00oh just nothing serious but would get in trouble
17:04such as their son, James Mars
17:07James Mars is 25 years old and works as a farm hand in the area
17:14when we talked to the family
17:16James Mars was pretty cooperative in answering questions
17:20his mom was cooperative
17:22the night of the homicide Mars said
17:25he had been drinking in a bar in Wahoo
17:28and then said he went to a friend's house
17:31and then went home
17:33we talked to that friend
17:35and he confirmed Mars' alibi
17:39his mom was up waiting for him
17:41and verified that he came home
17:44James Mars' alibi checked out
17:48as the Main Street canvas carries on
17:50investigators learn Sharon kept a sharp eye on her street and her neighbors
17:58Sharon was said not to be one that would shy away from conflict
18:04Sharon would complain from time to time about people that would stay up too late
18:09because she was on Main Street and there was a bar across the road
18:13someone would leave the bar, radio would be loud, rev their car up
18:17but they were all pretty minor things that just happened in a small community
18:23however, investigators discover the one neighbor whom Sharon had a deeper dislike for
18:28was the one closest to her new fence
18:33we learned that Sharon had a argumentative, contentious relationship with the trucker next door
18:38they weren't the best of friends
18:40and then we heard from other people that Sharon really did not like him
19:01detectives learn Sharon Erickson had some run-ins with a trucker next door
19:05could this Main Street resident be responsible for ending Sharon's life?
19:12detectives learn Sharon Erickson had some run-ins with a trucker next door
19:16that had a shop
19:17he would park his vehicles there
19:19do a lot of work on his semi
19:21which is loud
19:24the truck driver and Sharon both had strong personalities
19:27and they would both tell each other what they thought
19:31she had a number of conversations with the trucker
19:34can you turn that off earlier?
19:36can you not park here?
19:39in speaking with the trucker
19:42he said that Sharon liked her peace and quiet
19:45and at times he would maybe antagonize Sharon on purpose
19:51detectives press the trucker asking where he was the night of June the 30th
19:56the trucker said the night of the homicide
19:59he was in another state
20:01had receipts at a truck stop
20:05the trucker promises to return with receipts
20:08but until then he remains a suspect
20:11one of many in the eyes of detectives and townsfolk alike
20:15people on Main Street
20:16started pointing fingers at each other
20:18saying, I bet he did it
20:21or he did it
20:22or he did it
20:23and so people got labeled and
20:27people had to live with that
20:29so if you knew Sharon
20:30then you could be a suspect very easy
20:38and if it is somebody in town
20:40then that means that they're still there
20:43I knew most of the people in Colon
20:46there's some people that you just go
20:48there's no way
20:49and then there are other people that you go
20:52I can see a possibility here
20:54you hope you're wrong
20:55but you wonder if the killer's watching you
20:59you wonder if the killer's doing something to cover up evidence
21:03and then you always wonder what am I missing
21:10Detectives find that new leads are difficult to come by
21:13but one week since her murder
21:15Sharon's autopsy concludes
21:17and the results cause investigators to ask
21:19what kind of killer are they facing
21:24everybody in law enforcement myself included
21:27at that point were leaning to somebody shot her
21:29and just dropped the gun there
21:33we attended the autopsy
21:35and we learned that there actually was not even a gunshot
21:38there was no bullet hole
21:40it was actually ruled that she died of strangulation
21:45everybody across the board was shocked
21:48and then she had blunt trauma to her head
21:51so it was pretty clear that she was confronted
21:54beaten and then strangled
21:58they did a sexual assault swab
22:00and they sent those in for testing
22:04but once you realize that strangulation was a cause of death
22:09you start thinking this is something that was personal
22:13strangulation doesn't happen in a few seconds
22:15it takes a while for that to happen
22:19so somebody had to be up close with her
22:22and determined to make sure that they ended her life
22:29strangulation can be motivated by very intense emotions
22:32be it power, control, anger, retaliation, even revenge
22:41with the cause of death revealed as an exceptionally brutal strangulation
22:46Saunders County detectives huddle up with renewed vigor
22:50we had a few days where we were theorizing on what could have happened
22:54who have we all talked to at the scene
22:58who would all be living within a two block three block radius
23:03which essentially is the whole town in colon
23:05and who could be a potential suspect from that pool
23:11and the suspect that surfaces to the top
23:14is the trucker with whom Sharon had a beef
23:17you wonder if there's maybe something that's more hostile
23:24but when investigators follow up
23:26the trucker provides proof he was far from Main Street the night of Sharon's death
23:30the trucker was in another state
23:32he had receipts at a truck stop
23:34so we were able to prove that he was completely out of state
23:38didn't have to worry about a timeline
23:43now with the trucker cleared investigators still don't have a top suspect
23:49but when results from the DNA swabs come in
23:52they wonder if their luck is about to change
23:55we found out that there was actually semen that was discovered on the swab
24:03it really made people wonder what actually happened
24:23swabs taken from Sharon Erickson's autopsy reveals she had not only been beaten and strangled
24:29but sexually assaulted deepening the mystery for detectives
24:35so you start theorizing did the sexual assault occur at the residents and they got in a fight and they
24:41ran across the street
24:43or did the assault occur only at the garage and the strangulation occurred from there
24:53armed with this new intel detectives urgently shuttled the swab from Sharon's autopsy to the lab
24:58hoping it will yield a DNA profile of the killer
25:02so we sent the evidence to the UNMC med center in Omaha Nebraska
25:08it will be a few weeks before we could possibly get just the profile back
25:15but once we determined that there was semen located
25:19and anytime you see a strangulation it becomes more personal
25:25you're up close with somebody and you're in contact with them
25:30we were able to focus on narrowing down
25:34who would be personally associated with Sharon
25:39then we started asking for swabs just so we had them on file
25:44based on the new sexual homicide profile detectives turn their sights on Sharon's male friends
25:50and the talk in town points to one man
25:55we started hearing rumors that maybe the postmaster and Sharon were more than friends
26:03folks around town would sit around the coffee shop and say well I wonder who did it his name would
26:08pop up
26:12I was golfing with the postmaster at the time
26:15and he said it was just terrible the way he was treated by some people shunned and scared of him
26:23you have compassion for him but it's hard to make a conclusion because maybe he did it
26:32investigators put postmaster Rick higher on their suspect list
26:36when he shows up one place in particular
26:40Sharon's estate sale
26:41you always hear about the onlookers at a scene that are actually the ones that did it
26:47we were wondering would the killer show up at the estate sale and look at her items
26:53or just want to be there to see what's going on
26:58so we decided that we're going to get a list of everybody that attends the estate sale
27:03and find out who's buying Sharon's property
27:06the day of the estate sale detectives discover Rick Hartman is in attendance
27:11and he's keen on one specific item
27:15law enforcement called and said
27:18we saw the postmaster buying the bed mattress
27:22the fact that we were trying to determine the level of his relationship with Sharon
27:28and then he bought her bed at the auction
27:31you have a sexual assault
27:32so you start wondering if he knew that there could be some DNA from him on the mattress
27:42because of their discovery detectives bring back Rick for another round of questioning
27:47when we talked to him about that
27:49what was even more unusual is he denied that he purchased the bed
27:54why would he be trying to conceal that information
27:57detectives press Rick on his purchase of Sharon's mattress
28:00finally getting him to fess up
28:02he said he had some kids that were leaving home going to college and bought it for them
28:07but he just did a number of things that caused us to second guess everything he was telling us
28:16then a call from the lab about Sharon's autopsy swabs breathes new life into the hunt
28:24the lab was able to get a DNA profile from the swab
28:29we run it through the database
28:32which was a little bit smaller in 2003 because not all felony convictions were required to submit
28:39that we didn't have any matches at the time we just had a DNA profile
28:43so if we find our guy and he's a match
28:46we're going to be pretty sure we have the right suspect
28:51the killer's DNA has yet to be compared to swabs previously collected
28:56a painstaking process
28:57and as the months roll by no matches come back from the lab
29:02leaving investigators with no proof to pin Sharon's murder on anyone
29:08we looked into every lead we had
29:11we were in colon probably every day
29:14we just didn't have anything
29:16your fear is that how long is it going to go
29:20we were always actively involved
29:22but at some point you realize that you're going to start losing
29:27potential witnesses or information
29:31and it's just not going to be easy to solve
29:35we certainly don't want somebody out there who's capable of
29:40beating someone, strangling them and sexually assault them
29:43we still had no answers into who committed this crime against Sharon
29:51you wanted to know that Sharon, her family and her friends
29:55would be able to get some justice in knowing who did this and maybe why
30:04the main street regular who investigators keep coming back to
30:08is the man who knew Sharon best
30:10Rick Hartman
30:13we were trying to figure out the extent of his relationship with Sharon
30:18he agreed to polygraph
30:20that the polygraph was inconclusive
30:25so he naturally was one that we wanted to exclude with DNA
30:30Mr. Hartman submitted a DNA sample
30:34then
30:35knowing they could be just one step away from cracking the case
30:38and new tip surfaces
30:40putting a different Main Street neighbor
30:42one who lives just a stone's throw away from Sharon
30:45back in the crosshairs
30:47the 25 year old farmhand
30:49James Mars
30:53James Mars who lived right behind her
30:56the individual that was providing the James Mars alibi
31:00we started hearing that James asked him to confirm that he was at his house
31:05if the police came and asked questions
31:08other people said you need to check further on where James Mars was
31:12because this person providing the alibi is not telling you the truth
31:19the alibi for James Mars started to lose credibility
31:39I mean just received a tip that James Mars may have manufactured his alibi
31:44detectives mobilized to obtain his DNA
31:49initially Mars alibi of where he was that night checked out
31:54Mars had indicated that after the bar he went to a friend's house
31:58we heard from many people that James had asked that friend
32:02if the police asked where I was that night
32:05you need to tell them that I was here
32:08as the investigation proceeded we talked to that friend
32:12the individual that was providing the alibi wasn't very credible
32:16and never admitted to lying about the alibi
32:20the people that James Mars associated with were no strangers to law enforcement in the community
32:26although James wasn't brought in and interrogated he submitted a DNA swab
32:32authorities rushed the Mars DNA sample to the lab
32:35joining the swab collected from Rick Hartman hoping one will match the murderer's DNA
32:42our top suspects were Mr. Hartman and James Mars
32:47Mr. Hartman had a close friendly relationship with Sharon Erickson
32:52the fact that he was at her house all the time
32:55purchased her bed and he's being evasive
33:00James Mars was on the list for a number of reasons
33:04one he was out drinking that night
33:07and James Mars parents home where he resides is right behind Sharon's house
33:15when we suspected that he was lying about his alibi that raised the concern even more
33:20but we were also wondering is there someone that we've completely missed
33:32then after tracking down leads for 10 relentless months
33:36detectives finally get the call they've been waiting for
33:38I get a phone call from the med center
33:41and they tell me they had a DNA match
33:45I actually had to stop and think about it
33:47did I hear that right?
33:49she tells me that they actually got a match
33:51with a sample that was taken from Sharon
33:55she said they've got a match
33:57and that it matched James Mars
34:02the DNA hit was enough to arrest him
34:08but there was still some investigation that needed to be done with James Mars
34:13James Mars is arrested for the murder of Sharon Erickson
34:17investigators bring Mars to the station
34:19and attempt to get him to confess
34:23James Mars was brought into an interview room
34:27he didn't volunteer anything
34:29his confession came bits and pieces
34:32well I didn't remember that
34:33and then he would eventually say it
34:35so it wasn't like he just finally said
34:37yeah here's what I did
34:40Mars said that he had been drinking in a bar in Wahoo
34:43he did a line of cocaine with a friend
34:47James came home
34:48he was hoping to find some gas money and beer money
34:52so he went to Sharon Erickson's home
34:55jumped the fence
34:56cut the phone line
34:57and was kicking her back door in when the alarm went off
35:03and then she confronted him
35:07and her gun was not loaded
35:09she probably brandished the weapon to scare James
35:15she recognized who he was
35:18called him an ass
35:19told him to get out of her backyard
35:22when she called him an ass
35:24his demeanor changed
35:27you could just feel it
35:29when he said
35:30I told her go ahead and shoot me
35:34and when she didn't fire
35:36he started beating her
35:38and then she ran into her house
35:42he jumped the fence again
35:45and he saw the garage door go open
35:48and he knew that she was going to get into her car
35:51and go for help
35:53so he went across the street
35:55confronted her by her car
35:57where he admitted that he told her to shoot him again
36:04and when she didn't he started beating her again
36:06and then strangled her
36:11everything he was saying fit the entire aspect that we'd investigated
36:16but he would not admit to the sexual assault
36:19and almost started to shut down in his confession when I went to that
36:26Jane said he was breaking in to steal something
36:30I don't know that the assault was intended initially
36:34but I think that it happened because the opportunity was there
36:37sometimes you never know those answers
36:41even killers have their own strange moral codes
36:44for some a murder could be justified
36:48but a sexual attack?
36:50no
36:51it was impulsive
36:53it was base
36:54it was animalistic
36:55and it's something of which he is ashamed
37:01with Mars in custody
37:03Main Street residents are relieved
37:05and yet deeply saddened
37:08to hear that Sharon's accused killer is one of their own
37:12our son had gone to school with James Mars
37:15and never in my life would I have dreamt
37:18that he could have been involved in anything like that
37:21it is heartbreaking
37:24it's not just the person that gets murdered
37:28it's the family that's involved is hurting too
37:33I knew his family when I met his dad
37:36at the casting shop
37:37I said I'm very sorry to hear what's going on
37:42and he could tell that he was very very remorseful
37:49you always think well why did it happen
37:51I mean it doesn't make any sense
37:53but at the time a young man thought it did
38:01I thought it was important that he admitted it
38:04I realized family and neighbors maybe don't want to believe it
38:09but this guy's an evil person
38:12the Mars confession is also vitally important for trial
38:16you can't rely just on the DNA
38:18you have to have other evidence and circumstances
38:21does the prosecution preps for court
38:24there's a huge problem
38:27unfortunately James Mars never established that he was waiving his right to an attorney
38:32that confession ended up being suppressed
38:35and we were not able to use that for a trial
38:48the prosecution team has just learned James Mars confession for murdering Sharon Erickson cannot be used in court
38:59Mars never established that he was waiving his right to an attorney
39:03we can't use anything from that interview
39:06but we were able to determine that everything that he said fit with all of the evidence we had
39:16first we were able to tie him to the scene through the DNA match
39:20and there was a tool that was found at the scene we believe was used just to break in the
39:27house and cut the phone line
39:29we found the tool belonged to James Mars dad
39:32we also determined that James had asked someone to generate an alibi for him that wasn't factual
39:40and then there were additional personal confessions that we had with other inmates
39:47Mars talked to six different cell mates
39:51he bragged about what he had done
39:55two years since Sharon Erickson's murder James Mars learns his fate
40:01James Mars was charged with first-degree murder
40:04and we proceeded towards trial with those charges
40:09we talked with the family
40:11the part that would have been harder to prove with the first-degree would be some of the intent
40:16they understood the challenges that a trial would have
40:19so we decided to a plea offer of second-degree murder
40:25we knew that we could still get justice for Sharon and her family through that plea
40:32and like first-degree murder the charge of second-degree murder doesn't include premeditation
40:39James Mars accepted that plea offer and pled guilty to the second-degree murder
40:49that day also happened to be Sharon's 69th birthday
40:52so for family and friends they did get a little bit of resolution
40:56and that they were in court that day that he took that plea agreement
41:07in early 2006 James Mars is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole
41:14and with Sharon's killer behind bars for good
41:17life in Cullen continues on forever changed
41:22you think you're an innocent little community and all of a sudden you have this horrific thing that's not supposed
41:27to happen in a small town
41:28and when it does then you got to deal with it
41:32I think people start wondering do I really know that person
41:35and not specifically just Mr. Mars
41:39do I really know my neighbor and are they capable of something
41:44well it broke my heart for one thing
41:47because Sharon had a lot of things she could have done yet
41:50and she was just really starting to enjoy her retirement
41:54and that was all taken from her then
41:58a neighbor kills a neighbor
42:01you have that suspicion that maybe that could happen to you
42:04I'm sure people have that in the back of their mind
42:08but I do not
42:11Cullen drew together
42:12they embraced each other
42:14and I think as a close-knit community
42:17they did a phenomenal job
42:23for Cullen residents and Sharon's loved ones
42:25her Main Street murder remains an unimaginable tragedy
42:28her life of community service and its unfathomable end
42:33serve to remind us all that every moment is a gift
42:36and no act of kindness too small
42:38for it's been said
42:39we make our friends
42:41we make our enemies
42:43but God makes our next-door neighbors
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