WEBVTT - The Eye Drops, The Staircase and The Copycat Killer 0:00:01.240 --> 0:00:03.520 Falling in love is the best feeling in the world. 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:07.560 You see stars, you feel giddy, But sometimes that makes 0:00:07.560 --> 0:00:12.960 you do crazy things, and sometimes that means murder. Just 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:15.640 because the story starts out with once upon a Times 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:20.599 doesn't mean it ends happily ever after. Welcome to Crazy 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.920 and Love, a production of Katie Studios and I Heart Radio. 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.760 Today's guests are true crime producers Stephanie Leidecker and Jeff 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:33.519 Shane Episode forty seven The Case of the Eye Drops, 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:44.040 the Staircase, and the Copycat Killer. Steve Clayton was always 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:47.680 looking for more. Growing up in Florida. He dealt with 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:51.280 childhood hardships, but was committed to making something of himself. 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:55.280 Steve worked his way through college as a construction laborer. 0:00:56.000 --> 0:01:00.240 After graduating, he became a well respected accountant in North Carolina, NA. 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:04.120 But Steve had bigger aspirations for his life. He had 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:06.480 an idea for a business in the nineteen eighties and 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:09.880 ended up quitting his job and creating a highly successful 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:15.039 physical therapy business that targeted sports therapy. Described as a 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:18.399 visionary and a brilliant business strategist who had a passion 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.959 for learning and critical thinking, Steve's idea took off, and 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:24.839 he was able to retire in nine at the age 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:29.119 of forty. And yet through all the success, Steve still 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:32.560 wanted more. He vowed to travel the world learning more 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:36.520 about wine, music, and art, three things he was passionate about. 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:39.800 He also avowed to think of new business ideas that 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:44.520 would help better people's lives in Everything changed when he 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:48.440 met a woman named Lana online, a nurse by trade. 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:51.800 Lana was sweet and caring. For once in his life, 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:55.680 Steve didn't want anything else with Lana. He had it all. 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:58.840 Three years after meeting, the couple got married and built 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:02.360 a life together. They moved from North to South Carolina 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:06.360 into a palatial waterfront mansion. It came to be known 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:09.960 as the Clayton Estate. Built on the shore of Lake Wiley, 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.800 the home boasted expansive views, a chef's kitchen, and a 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:19.200 grand staircase. The home was modeled after President Washington's famed 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:22.640 Mount Vernon estate, and the Clayton's made good use of 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:26.800 the property. Stephen Laana were known to host lavish parties 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.960 with friends and family. The home was described as full, 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.720 the kind you were always welcome at and wanted to 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:37.800 be in. Here's Jeff While Steve was independently wealthy and 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:40.880 retired because of his physical therapy business, Laana was a 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:43.560 hard working nurse. She was working at the Department of 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:47.160 Veterans Affairs in Charlotte when she met Steve. After the 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:50.120 couple moved from South to North Carolina, she continued to 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:53.799 work at the Veterans Hospital and commuted about forty minutes 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:56.440 each way. Steve family was actually really excited that she 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:58.320 was a nurse because he was a bit of a 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:00.920 bigger guy and not necessarily in the shape, and so 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.480 they felt good that he was with someone who was 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:06.200 a medical professional and should something happen to him or 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:08.720 he was in any sort of medical crisis, Lana would 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:10.480 be able to take really good care of him. And 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:13.480 while Lana had been married once before, her close friends 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:16.840 said that she really didn't seem anything but happy when 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.640 they met. We're looking at this photograph. They looked so 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:23.400 warm and comfortable together. He's very tall, wearing a white shirt. 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.840 She's leaning in. She's a brunette also with her hair 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:30.359 up and long pretty earrings, and they look very at 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.400 ease together. Yestef. We'll actually post this picture on our 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:38.520 Instagram at Katie Underscore Studios. Stephen was described as magnanimous. 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:41.280 He had a huge personality, and not only did he 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:44.240 have a really close circle of friends, but he also 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:47.920 had a very long relationship history. He had been married 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.880 six or seven times, so many times that his family 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:55.240 members say they lost count, but they would say that lovingly. 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.880 And despite being a serial groom, it seemed that Steve 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:02.840 just really loved being in love and Launa to him, 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:06.080 was his perfect match at last. She was head over 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.320 heels in love with him and it was mutual. She 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:12.120 was known to apparently kiss him on the forehead and 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:17.760 often said she loved him. On July, the couple hosted 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:21.800 an epic Fourth of July bash. At the party, as 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:24.919 their loved ones watched, Stephen Laanna danced in the grass. 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:28.480 The night ended in fireworks, but the real show would 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:33.640 come just a few weeks later. On July, Laana was 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.840 seen running out of the house desperately waving for help. 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:40.440 She flagged down a neighbor and in a breathless panic, 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.200 managed to tell them her husband had fallen down the stairs. 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:46.920 Laana pleaded for the neighbor to call nine on one. 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:50.560 When first responders arrived, they found sixty four year old 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.840 Steve Clayton dead at the bottom of the Holmes Grand staircase. 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:59.000 Over him was Laanna sobbing. The immediate aftermath was caught 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:03.080 on police body amps. Take a listen, God, I have 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:13.760 a guilt not checking any sounds of your following or anything. 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:19.480 Pretty much pretty much there's oh no, not at all. 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:22.560 As you can hear, Lana's neighbor is explaining to the 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:25.840 police that she was feeling immediate guilt about her husband's death. 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:28.400 I mean, she was a nurse and his wife, so 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:30.680 I would imagine she would be feeling pretty badly about 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:33.400 not having taken care of him or allowing him to 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:36.560 somehow get in the state that he was in. As 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:39.039 you remember, Steve's family liked that he married a nurse 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:41.800 because it meant he would be taken care of. But 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:45.719 sometimes we can only do so much. When the police 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:48.240 began to get more information, it seems that Steve had 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:51.200 been sick before his death. According to Lana, he had 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:54.240 come down with vertigo three days before falling down the stairs. 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:57.359 Vertigo is the sensation that you or the environment around 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:00.240 you are moving or spinning. It can be very story 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.640 thing and really an awful thing. To deal with. Steve 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.039 had also been dealing with severe nausea, which is a 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:09.039 common symptom of vertigo. When the detectives looked around the house, 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.240 the primary bedroom, which was located on the second floor, 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.200 was a complete mess. The bed was covered in urine 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:17.960 and sweat. It was clear that Steve had been severely bedridden. 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:21.520 Lana told police that she had checked on Steve that 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:25.120 morning and he was sound asleep, so, as usual, she 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.159 made sure he had his water and his medications, and 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.240 then she went outside to do some yardwork. When she 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:34.560 came back inside from doing a yard work, she found 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:36.960 him at the bottom of the stairs. That's when she 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:40.560 ran outside and fled down the neighbor. As the police 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:44.080 began to piece together what happened, Lana was just beside herself. 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.360 She had asked police to pray over Steve's body, and 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:49.680 it seemed like she was blaming herself for his death. 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:52.120 The police ended up ruling Steve's cause of death as 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.000 a heart attack, and the whole thing looked like a 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:57.120 tragic accident and there was nothing suspicious about it. A 0:06:57.120 --> 0:06:59.400 few days later, Laana held the funeral for Steve in 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:02.440 the homes by yard friends and family gathered to remember 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:04.920 the larger than life man who was gone far too soon. 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:08.360 Steve's family made a public statement that read, the family 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:10.680 is shocked and mortified at the cause of Steven's death. 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:13.280 All of our family and friends know how much he 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:15.720 loved his wife, Laana and how devoted he was to her. 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:18.600 We are all still trying to process this, and while 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:23.640 publicly Steve's family was very supportive about Lana, behind closed doors, 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:27.880 they're definitely were some loving questions. First of all, why 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:30.680 didn't Launa call nine one one herself? There were at 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:33.120 least two phones in the house, and yet she ran 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.840 down the street, wasting maybe what could have been very 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:41.000 valuable time. Obviously, this is a tragic situation, so none 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:43.440 of us really know how we would behave in this situation. 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.480 But she was also a trained nurse. Another phone related 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:50.920 mystery was Steve's cell phone. No one could find it, 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:53.280 and he was known to always be that kind of 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:56.000 a person who was near their phone, but when police 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.560 searched for it, they even couldn't locate it. And remember, 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:02.800 and it was a nurse, so why didn't she perform 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:07.480 CPR and attempt any life saving procedures? One last thing 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:10.840 also that didn't sit well with Steve's family. Days after 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.680 his death, when the police asked Lana what her plans 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:17.040 were for his burial, she balked at them and said, 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:19.680 I'm in crisis right now. I can't be asked these 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:23.640 questions and she had no idea. However, when the cops 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.040 said that they wanted to test Steve's body back at 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:30.080 the lab, she seemed to suddenly have a really big 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:32.760 plan in her mind and decided right then and there 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:35.960 that she wanted to have her husband's body cremated. That's 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:39.400 a big deal because once cremated, there's really no way 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:43.160 to test for clues. A possible explanation for lana sudden 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:46.880 flip flop was what she told Steve's family. According to her, 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:50.319 Steve had a dark secret. She said that Steve was 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:53.560 a hard drug user and that would explain why she 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:56.600 didn't want an autopsy. His family was shocked, as they 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:58.839 had never known him to use any sort of drug 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:01.200 and were completely so prize that she was bringing it 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.600 up now after his death. It also seemed that that 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:07.840 once loving marriage might not have been as happy as 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:12.040 it appeared. According to a friend, two months before he 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.920 was found dead at the bottom of the stairs. Steve 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:18.360 had been saying that he and Lana's relationship was kind 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:21.280 of in trouble. He apparently said he wasn't happy with 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:26.360 Lana and everything he thought was true was not. Back 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:29.200 to after Steve's death, as Lana was working with his 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:32.800 nephew Chris to figure out the estate, Chris told Laana 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:34.480 that they needed to go over his will to make 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.400 sure it was all being handled properly, and Lana's response 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.920 surprised him. She very firmly told Chris that there was 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:44.480 in fact no will, but Chris, the nephew, was adamant 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:46.079 that he had seen the will and that she was wrong, 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.600 but at this point, what could he do, and the 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:52.720 family at this point is suspicious. They actually came together 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:58.080 and went behind Lana's back and demanded to have an autopsy. 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:01.000 While usually a coroner would list into the next of kin, 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:03.880 in this case that would be Lana, who actually, as 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:07.720 you know, declined in autopsy, the medical examiner decided to 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.480 go ahead and perform one anyway, and it was a 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:14.600 really close call. The cremation was scheduled for the following day, 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:16.559 but they were able to get in just in time. 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:21.080 We're going to take a break. We'll be back in 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:38.840 just a moment. As the officials awaited the toxicology report, 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:43.080 they uncovered an incident from two years prior in that 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:49.120 couldn't be ignored. On this night, while Steve was sleeping, 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:51.439 Lana shot him in the back of the head with 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:55.600 a crossbow. She told detectives she had been trying to 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:58.920 load across bow but was having difficulty with it, so 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:01.240 she went upstairs to find and her husband, Steve, and 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:06.480 the machine quote accidentally went off. Steve backed up her story, 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.160 so nothing came out of the incident, but now with 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:13.800 Steve dead, the crossbow incident couldn't be ignored. Meanwhile, the 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:17.720 toxicology report came back. There was no drug use like 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:21.440 Lana had predicted, but there were high levels of tetra 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:25.880 hydrolazine enough to be fatal. But what was the mystery 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:35.080 poison from eye drops? Here's Jeff. Tetra Hydrolazine, also known 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:40.000 as t Z, is the main ingredient advising yes I drops. 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:43.320 In the medical community. Th HD is known as a mickey. 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:46.600 It's colorless, odorless, and tasteless. It can easily be put 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.640 in someone's food or drink and cause them to become incapacitative. 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:52.440 Medical experts have said it could be used for robbery 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:55.200 or sexual assault. Using eye drops as poison has been 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:57.240 seen in shows and movies like C s I and 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:00.600 wedding crashers. In Steve's case, he had such a large 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:03.040 amount in his system that it actually killed him, which 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:06.800 is impossible to imagine, and detectives wondered at this point 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.840 if Steve maybe killed himself. So they brought in Lana 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:12.880 and they wanted to interview her, hopefully to get some 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:16.600 more insight. The police watched and recorded the meeting that 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.880 she had with the coroner. Somebody wants to tell him, 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:27.600 go back room and like two drops in his coffee 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:32.720 and how long have you been doing that for? This 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:35.920 is nuts. Lana told the corner that to have a 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:38.520 proper bowel movement, Steve would put eye drops in his 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:41.320 coffee like it was some sort of laxative. I have 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.840 never heard of anyone doing this. It's also hard to 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.559 believe that as a nurse she would approve of this behavior. 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.120 But that wasn't the strangest part of her interview. The 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:58.320 um there's a drug called tech or hydral thing. It's 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:02.079 surprising that she would immediately know what THHC was. Sure, 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.640 she's a nurse, but this is a very obscure chemical, 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:06.839 so obscure that the emmy on the case had to 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:09.280 look it up themselves. How would you have known what 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:12.320 it was so quickly? At this point, the cops came 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:15.800 into the interrogation. Someoney, technically, will kind of share your office? 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:22.640 Overweight on? Yes, ma'am. Now listen, you are by no 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:26.319 means in trouble. You want to ask you something we 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:28.920 have to read on right right? Everybody? Okay? Did you 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:32.160 have to write for myself? Right now? The dead is suspicious? 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:41.600 In man? Everybody keeps asking me you know about the coffee? 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:43.400 And I know they're wanting to know about the vising. 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:46.360 There's only two people in the house. It was you 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.160 and him. I know you have always had to mind. 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.720 Do you have any that day? I don't know. You're 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:56.800 in the nursing business, though, wouldn't you know the effects 0:13:56.840 --> 0:14:01.240 of it? Sure? I didn't think vising was anything that 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:06.280 would be serious to your to your health. It makes 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:08.520 sense that the cops are pressing her about this wild 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.640 statement because it really doesn't add up. So what happened next? 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:15.040 Lana then throughout a whole new story. She began saying 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:19.160 that Steve was physically abusive to her, and she accused 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:22.040 him of having some sort of a mood disorder, and 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:26.240 when the cops really pressed her, she immediately stopped the interview. 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:29.960 The detectives ended up following her home and continued to 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.200 talk to her back at the Clayton estate. Lana finally 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:36.280 admitted that she had in fact slipped her husband the vising. 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:39.840 The question remained, why would she do that to her husband? 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:45.160 According to Lana, Steve was needy and demanding, constantly bossing 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:49.160 her around. In about of anger, she squeezed an entire 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:53.120 bottle of vizine into Steve's drink. She admitted that while 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:56.320 she wanted him to suffer, she didn't intend to kill 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.720 her husband. Through it all, Lana stuck to her battered 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:03.120 wife story. She now said that the crossbowt incident wasn't 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:05.520 in fact an accident at all, that she had shot 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:08.360 Steve in self defense. It should be noted that no 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:11.520 one could substantiate Laana's claims of abuse, and by all accounts, 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:14.480 Steve was a gentle and kind man. We literally have 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:19.239 heard nothing to the contrary. And after this big nighttime confession. 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:23.240 After the nighttime confession, the cops left Lana at home 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:27.000 and they went off to prepare and arrest warrant, and 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:30.960 that night she actually attempted suicide. She tried swallowing pills 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:35.120 and even turned on the gas. The next morning, on August, 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:40.760 she was resuscitated, and once she was alert, she was 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.960 charged with murder. The police's official theory was that this 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:47.320 was no crime of passion or accident. They thought that 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:50.480 Lana had been poisoning Steve for weeks. She started by 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.600 slowly introducing the vising into his food or drinks, and 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.840 then quickly ramped it up. This would explain why Steve 0:15:56.880 --> 0:16:00.000 was bedroom and remember, the room was a dirty mess. 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:02.080 Didn't look like Laana had been taking very big care 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.880 of him. The day he died, the cops believe that 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:07.000 Steve had gotten some sort of rush of adrenaline and 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:09.240 tried to escape. He made it to the bottom of 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:12.640 the stairs, where he collapsed and tragically died. Think about 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:14.280 the fact that no one ever found his cell phone. 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:16.760 Detectives believe that Lana hit it to prevent him from 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:21.160 calling for help. The details are just hard to hear, 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:25.440 and the motive. Even worse is the one that is 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:30.119 as old as time. Money. Steve had a ton of money, apparently, 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:33.440 And it seemed like this murderous plan started all the 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:37.640 way back in when Lana convinced Steve to move from 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:41.960 his home in North Carolina to South Carolina. And get this, 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.120 The reason for that is because in South Carolina, if 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:49.400 someone dies without a will, their estate automatically goes to 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.120 the spouse, which in this case, of course, was Laana. 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:56.280 And remember Chris, the nephew. He was really confident and 0:16:56.360 --> 0:17:00.280 positive that he had seen Steve's will. And now we're 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.720 finding out that a neighbor had also seen Lana having 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.240 a bonfire in the backyard the day after Steve died. 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:10.520 It's believed now that she was likely burning his will. 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:15.240 But the story gets even stranger. It seemed like the 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:19.080 story was coming to a close, but three weeks later, 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:23.199 just twelve miles away, a woman was found dead. Like 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:27.639 Steve Clayton, the woman died of THHC poisoning at thirty 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:31.080 two years old. Stacy Hunts Sucker was a bright and 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:34.000 bubbly mother of two. She and her husband were high 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:37.520 school sweethearts, and Stacy worked as a preschool teacher and 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:41.560 her husband was a paramedic and he worked in hospital planes. 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:44.800 When Stacy died, it was initially ruled a heart attack, 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:49.080 but when her husband, Josh collected two hundred fifty dollars 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:53.160 in life insurance just two days after she passed, Stacy's 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:57.160 mom reported insurance rod. The detectives on that case uncovered 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:59.800 that he had started dating a coworker very soon after 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:03.320 Stacy died. Following Stacy's death, Josh and had her cremated 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:06.760 and there was no autopsy performed. Well, all, this didn't 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:08.880 mean he was guilty of murder. It didn't make him 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:12.480 look good. The insurance department called the cops, who then 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:16.120 called the exact same detectives who worked on Steve's case. Obviously, 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.560 the first thing they wanted to do was checked the body. 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:22.480 It had also been cremated, so that was impossible. However, 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:27.280 Luckily for investigators, Stacy was an organ downer and they 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:30.280 still had some kind of a vial of her blood 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:33.959 remaining at the medical labs. It was enough to test, 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:38.320 and sure enough, it was the same ingredient THC, the 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:42.359 chemical invisine that was used to kill Steve. In court, 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:46.440 the prosecutor explained details about Stacy's death and Josh's involvement 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:54.280 in September dating in this case is miss Stacy Hunsucker defendant. 0:18:54.359 --> 0:19:00.280 Why she suffered some sort of health issue at her 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:06.040 home on that evening. She was taken to a local hospital, 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:13.080 treated and eventually succumbed to that health issue. UM. Not 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:18.720 much happening in the intervening a few weeks or even 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:24.400 months investigation wise, but at some point it was determined 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:29.480 at a a number of vials of blood were being 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:34.120 held by a private company that handles tissue and organ 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:39.679 donation that we're taken from the victim prior to her cremation. 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:45.520 Agent Morgan and the medical examiner were able to get 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:49.640 ahold of that blood have it tested, and it tested 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:55.480 very high levels of tetra hydrozolene, which is one of 0:19:55.520 --> 0:20:00.080 the active ingredients in certain hye drop medicine that we 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.679 used to clear your eyes. UM that we're told by 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:09.040 our toxicologists and our cardiologists that that medicine has a 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:14.320 dramatic effect on your heart, and we calls hartstoftage or 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:17.800 heart failure in a fairly short amount of time, which 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:21.200 is consistent with what happened here. We have probable calls 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:24.880 that he is the one who poisoned miss Hunsucker with 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:30.280 vizine or a similar product and calls her death and 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:35.879 without saying too much, quite a bit of our information 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:39.879 we got from him during his interview. I don't I 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:43.280 don't know that he would characterize it as a confession, 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:47.680 but it certainly approached that level, your honor. There were 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:51.719 so many similarities between these cases, the medical workers, spouse, 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:54.399 the death ruled, the heart attack, the spouse pushing for 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:58.640 cremation and no autopsy, money being the motive for possible murder. 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:02.359 I wondered, at least who know each other? No, Actually, 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:05.720 cops think that Josh he might have seen this report 0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:09.960 about Steve's death and decided to basically copycat that killing, 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:12.760 but we don't know this for sure yet. On December, 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:17.760 Josh Han Sucker was charged with murder. He claims as 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:20.920 innocent and is out on bail and his cases ongoing. 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:25.760 Again innocent until proven guilty. But it's just interesting to 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:28.560 see how some of these cases can cross over, and 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:31.159 what are the odds that the same detectives who worked 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:34.160 Steve's case are now also working this one as well, 0:21:37.760 --> 0:21:54.720 let's stop here for another break well stuff. Back to 0:21:54.800 --> 0:21:57.800 the original case of Steve and Mona Clayton. The d 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:00.560 A ended up offering her a plea deal, which accepted. 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:03.720 She pleaded guilty to tampering with Steve's food and drugs, 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:06.240 and it ended up being a charge of voluntary manslaughter. 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:09.200 At her sentencing, Lana maintained that she didn't mean to 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:13.520 kill Steve, just hurt him. I did and also put 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:16.240 the visne is Stephen's drink, and I did it with 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:19.960 the intent to make him sick and uncomfortable. I was 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:23.240 upset about the abuse and just wanted him to leave 0:22:23.280 --> 0:22:29.159 me alone. I never thought it would kill him. She 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:32.160 actually told the judge that she had been sexually abused 0:22:32.160 --> 0:22:34.399 her entire life and that she was dealing with the 0:22:34.440 --> 0:22:38.120 trauma of that. All that to be said, no one 0:22:38.160 --> 0:22:42.160 could ever back those claims up. In court, Steve's loved 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:45.119 ones spoke about their experiences with Lana and dealing with 0:22:45.160 --> 0:22:48.960 the loss of the kind and big hearted man. Impassion. 0:22:49.000 --> 0:22:51.000 Please like this from loved ones really can make a 0:22:51.000 --> 0:22:55.320 difference to the judge as he decides the sentencing. Please 0:22:55.320 --> 0:22:58.080 note that the friend pronounces her name Lanta, but the 0:22:58.080 --> 0:23:01.640 correct pronunciation as we heard it, it's Lata. My mother 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:04.920 was correct when she described Steve as the greatest friend 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:08.879 that anyone could ever have. Is Steve loves someone. We 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:13.440 loved them too. When Steve and Landon Mary, we welcomed 0:23:13.440 --> 0:23:18.080 her with open arms. Lanta Sue, as Steve lovingly called her, 0:23:18.760 --> 0:23:24.040 was a v a nurse from Oklahoma, and the vision 0:23:24.560 --> 0:23:27.960 of what Atlanta Sue, v a nurse from Oklahoma looked 0:23:27.960 --> 0:23:34.080 like is what we saw, sweet and good. We traveled 0:23:34.080 --> 0:23:38.320 together on vacations. We visited Steve and Lanta in the mountains. 0:23:39.320 --> 0:23:41.320 We met in the middle to cheer on the seminoles. 0:23:42.640 --> 0:23:46.119 We gathered in our hometown any chance we got. In 0:23:46.160 --> 0:23:48.000 the four and a half years they were married, I 0:23:48.080 --> 0:23:54.439 never saw Aunt Atlanta angry or greedy or unhappy in 0:23:54.560 --> 0:23:59.040 any way ever. Ever, she told me she loved her job. 0:23:59.640 --> 0:24:02.040 She won it to continue working until she could retire 0:24:02.119 --> 0:24:05.240 for bed with benefits. We always look forward to our 0:24:05.280 --> 0:24:10.760 times together. Lanta and I were friends again. I never 0:24:10.840 --> 0:24:17.639 saw Lanta be angry, greedy, or unhappy. Never I truly 0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:20.280 thought that Landa loved Steve and that their marriage was 0:24:20.320 --> 0:24:24.000 good and now by her own confession, Lana had stated 0:24:24.000 --> 0:24:27.200 that she was a murderer who had planned and succeeded 0:24:27.200 --> 0:24:30.000 in taking the life of our dearest friend, our brother, Steve. 0:24:31.320 --> 0:24:34.920 Lanna didn't kill Steve in a fit of passion. This 0:24:35.000 --> 0:24:39.760 is a deliberate, successfully executed plan on Lanta's part. The 0:24:39.840 --> 0:24:43.399 comprehension of Lanta's actions unleashed a flood of new pain. 0:24:44.280 --> 0:24:48.360 How long did Steve suffer? Were the abouts of illness 0:24:48.359 --> 0:24:51.760 that Steve had been experiencing that year actually from Lanta's poisoning? 0:24:52.680 --> 0:24:55.160 Was he trapped in his own house while he suffered 0:24:55.160 --> 0:24:58.159 and died? Was he trying to seek help when he 0:24:58.200 --> 0:25:03.040