WEBVTT - Misdirection 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:03.680 Previously on Happy Face. 0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:06.320 Keith H. 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:10.120 Jesperson forty made his admission Friday to Detective Rick Buckner 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:11.440 in a telephone conversation. 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:15.400 In nineteen ninety five, when I heard the news about 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:18.439 my dad, I was dating a guy named Nick. It 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.200 was a very dysfunctional relationship. When things were good, they 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:25.119 were good. When things were bad, they were extremely bad. 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:26.040 Physical. 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:28.960 There was something about your dad you wanted to tell me, 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:31.360 and you weren't sure what to believe in. It was 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:33.760 shocking and I didn't know what to think either. 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:35.040 Yeah, we were as young. 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:38.000 I went back to my truck and rehearsed the lies 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.800 I planned to tell when I was arrested. What made 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:44.880 me cross the line into murder? Maybe it was my nature. 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:49.680 There was a statement from the son of Julie Winningham, 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:50.240 the victim. 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:53.760 Obviously he's torn up at devastate, rightfully. 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:55.800 So, and wanted my dad to be killed. 0:00:56.360 --> 0:01:00.240 I got pregnant my freshman year, so right after found 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:02.600 out is when the news hit about my dad. 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:05.120 So I felt like the only option for me to 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:07.120 break out of this was to not have a baby. 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:10.000 A couple months later, I got a letter from my dad. 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:12.200 He said he deserved to be in prison with me. 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:14.240 You're a killer just like me. 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:17.760 The biggest spearing is that I can be like my father. 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:19.720 I look like my father. 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:22.240 I wonder about DNA. 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:28.840 And the vies in the fes with the sun. I 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:31.119 don't know shine. 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:32.840 I was shiver. 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:37.880 Oh through. 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:55.080 One of the things people ask is how did Keith 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:58.320 get away with it for so long? And people offer 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:02.440 a variety of reasons. Some say he was smart or 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.400 careful in many ways. But when you look at the 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:08.800 case of his first victim, Tanya Bennett, he really just 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:13.640 got lucky for a few years, at least on Lauren 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:17.000 Dray Pacheco. This is happy Face. 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:25.200 From I The Creation of a Serial Killer by Jack Olsen. 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.760 On a chilly winter day in Portland, Oregon, Tanya Bennett 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:32.320 kissed her mother goodbye and said she was off to 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:35.560 meet a boyfriend. She disappeared from sight in the direction 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:38.560 of a bus stop. Her walkman plugged into her ears. 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:43.959 Tanya was mildly retarded from oxygen deprivation at birth. She'd 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:47.280 been a difficult child. In a cooking class at Cleveland 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:50.480 High School, she assaulted a classmate in a quarrel over 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:54.480 a piece of cake. Addicted to alcohol, and drugs. She 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:59.120 hustled drinks, shot pool and got into trouble with men. Recently, 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:01.600 she'd complained to her mother that a man had taken 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.399 her home from the B and I tavern, beaten her 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:09.000 and quote pimped me out end quote. She said she 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:12.040 was afraid to go back to the same bar, but 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:13.840 her memory had always been short. 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:20.320 When you read the Jack Olsen book or the news 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.560 articles from the time, it's apparent why Tanya Bennett was 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:27.800 chosen as prey. She comes across as pretty and sweet, 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:33.000 but also naive and troubled. What happened to her is tragic, 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:36.520 But what's strange about the crime is that there's so 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:40.080 many people who wanted to take credit for it. There's 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:45.240 a couple Laverne Pavlanak and John Zevsnofsky, who come forward 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:46.280 and get arrested. 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:55.800 The Oregonian January seventeenth, nineteen ninety one, by Fred Leeson 0:03:57.000 --> 0:04:01.280 Laverne A. Pavlnac is accused of four counts of agriva murder, rape, 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:05.040 sex abuse, kidnapping, and felony murder for the death of 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:08.040 Tanya A. Bennett, a twenty three year old woman whose 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:11.960 nude body was found last January in the Columbia Gorge, 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:16.200 Deputy District Attorney James McIntyre told a Moltnoma County Circuit 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:19.800 court that Pavlanak fed police anonymous tips that led to 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:24.520 the arrest of her longtime boyfriend John A. Sasnovsky. Then, 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:28.360 McIntyre said Pavlanak later told police that she had tied 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:31.640 and held a rope around Bennett's neck while Sisnovsky beat 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:34.720 the woman and sexually assaulted her. 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:38.920 But Laverne and her boyfriend John weren't the only ones 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:41.839 trying to claim credit for this case. When they were 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:45.520 arrested for the Bennett murder. Keith wanted credit for his crime, 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.880 so he started sending anonymous letters to The Oregonian and 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:55.279 graffitiing truck stop bathrooms for attention. But the thing is, 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:59.120 Keith gets so many of the details wrong, and you 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:03.279 can start to wonder did he really do it? We 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:06.920 wanted to hear the details from Phil Stanford, the Oregon 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:10.560 journalist who received those letters and covered the case. 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:16.920 Quote honor about January twentieth, nineteen ninety I picked up 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.480 Sonya Bennett and took her home. I raped her and 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:23.880 beat her real bad. Her face was all broke up. 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:27.480 Then I ended her life by pushing my fist into 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:29.320 her throat unquote. 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:34.000 Right away. Something doesn't fit in the. 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.479 First place, as you already know if you follow local 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:41.520 crime news. The name is Tanya, not Sonya Bennett, and 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:44.240 she was killed according to the experts who examined the 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.560 body on the night of January twenty first, not the twentieth. 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:53.039 But that's not the biggest problem here. The problem, if 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:55.920 that's the word for it, is that two people are 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:58.720 already serving time in prison for the crime. 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:06.239 After her dad's arrest, Melissa started reading Phil Stamford's articles 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.279 in The Oregonian at her local library. It's how she 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:12.320 learned the horrific details of her dad's crimes and who 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:15.840 her father really was. So naturally, she had a lot 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:19.320 of questions for Phil about why her dad wasn't caught earlier. 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.320 Could you tell me who these people are, these strangers, 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:25.239 and how they're associated with my dad's case. 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:32.240 Well, the reason Laverne Pavnmak and John Sosnovski ended up 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:37.760 in prison for the Tanya Bennett murder is that Laverne, 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:42.080 who's this sixty three year old ding that was trying 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:45.159 to get rid of her boyfriend, who was actually much younger. 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:49.200 A barfly coud get out work at the sawmill every 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:52.159 day and head for the bar, and she'd have to 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:54.200 go pick him up at the truck stop bar and 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:56.840 bring him home, putting to bed and go. At least 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.839 he was working, but she wanted to get him out 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:04.320 of house, and she had tried before several times calling 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:07.640 his parole officer, tried to get him at least taken 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:09.800 out of the house. It didn't work. So when she 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:15.440 read the story inside of The Oregonian about how body 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:19.440 had been found in the gorge, she made an anonymous 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.920 call to the Sheriff's office saying she thought it was 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:27.400 this guy, John Saysnovski, And when that didn't work, she 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:31.720 made another call like that that they eventually figured out 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:34.080 who was coming from. So the Sheriff's office went out 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:37.800 and talked to her and she said, yeah, she was 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:40.760 at the bar and she heard him bragging about wasting 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:45.000 a woman in the gorge. And they came back the 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:48.680 next day with a search warrant, and she didn't have 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:51.840 anything more to say, but on the search warrant they 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:54.320 said they were looking for that fly that had been 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:57.640 cut off her jeans and her first that was missing. 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.720 Next day Laverne called in and said she had the 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:04.760 fly and the first she found him in the trunk 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.640 of John's car. So they said, oh boy. So they 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:11.400 came out and got them. Well, they analyzed them. Then 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.880 they realized it wasn't the fly from her jeans, and 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:14.840 it wasn't her purse. 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:16.360 I wasn't aware of that. 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:20.120 Without telling the whole story, she kept lying again and 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:23.360 they'd find out the next lie was wrong, and so 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:27.280 she opped it, and after about five visits she convinced 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:32.000 him by saying she had participated in the murder with 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:35.160 John Sosnowsky. In fact, it held the rope around her 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:40.680 neck while t racher wow, which was nonsense, and they said, 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:44.400 thank you very much. So she wasn't any longer a 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:46.880 witness who might be making up story. She was an accomplice. 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.880 They charged her and the boyfriend she was trying to 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:52.880 get out of the house. Of course, by the time 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:56.040 the case came to trial, she said, no, I was 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:58.160 just making it up. With the videotape they'd made of 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:03.439 her false confession against the jury, they convicted her, and 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.960 when Sazanovsky saw what was happening, He took a plea 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.600 because he realized that if he went to trial and 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:15.240 they had already convicted Laverne, he'd probably end up getting executed, 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:21.959 so he pled guilty. That's Laverne, Kadlanak, and john Sasnovsky. 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.400 So this is all intriguing, but we wanted to know 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:34.559 how did the police get this so wrong? We spoke 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:38.400 with private investigator Chris Peterson, who worked as a detective 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:41.480 for the Moltnoma County Sheriff's Department at the time of 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:46.760 Tanya Bennett's murder. So they were already tried and found 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:48.440 guilty and sent to prison. 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:50.960 That's correct. When I got involved, they were They had 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:52.240 been in prison for some time. 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:56.640 What was the police reaction to the letters and the 0:09:56.679 --> 0:10:01.880 graffiti claiming the actual killer was still at large? 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:04.520 You know, I really don't have a good answer for. 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:11.440 That, Detective Ingram wrote the report on the night bartender 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:16.920 Ann Wilson quote. Miss Wilson was asked specifically about January 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:20.880 twenty first, nineteen ninety and she recalled Tanya Bennett being 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.640 in the tavern at five pm when she arrived for work. 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:26.840 Miss Wilson said Tanya Bennett seemed to hang around with 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.520 two guys who were playing pool at a table at 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:34.640 the east end of the tavern. Unquote, Wilson described one 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:37.600 of the men as being about thirty years old, about six', 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:41.120 two with, short blonde. Hair all she could remember about 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:45.400 the second one is that he was somewhat. Shorter although 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.960 the detectives never did succeed in identifying the two young 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:52.120 men seen playing pool With tanya on the night of the, 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:54.640 murder at the, time they could have been excused for 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.920 thinking that they were on the right. Track before the 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:00.720 day was, over though they would have have reason to 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:01.319 change their. 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:10.439 Minds it's like a sick comedy of. ERROR i mean it's. 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:12.200 Oh, yeah it's a very, dark dark. 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:19.200 Comedy the, caller a, woman said she had overheard a 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:22.400 man In, jabs a restaurant at The Burn's brothers truck 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:26.400 stop In, wilsonville bragging that he had Killed Tanya. BENNETT 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:30.120 a week, Later february, twelfth the same woman called The 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:33.719 Clackamus County Sheriff's department and gave them the same information 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.680 as she reminded. Them the, man his, name she said 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:42.520 Was John, sazanovsky was on probation In Clacamus. County maybe 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:47.640 they could check him. Out ingram Called sasanovsky's parole, Officer Steve, 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:51.160 bracey and together they figured out who was probably making the. 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:54.840 Calls her name Was Laverne. 0:11:54.840 --> 0:12:01.240 Pavlanak as we heard the detail of the, story there 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:04.120 is a little doubt that creeps In keith got the 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:08.160 names and dates. Wrong and As melissa, realized there's one 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:09.480 Detail laverne got. 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:11.760 Right he did come up. 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:15.760 With one really critical piece of. Evidence AND i don't 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:20.439 know how she manufactured, this but she brought the detectives 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:22.120 to Where Tanya bennett's body was. 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:25.960 Found how, well they drove her out to the place 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:30.319 along this old scenic. Highway and one of the things 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:33.080 that the sectors thought was so convincing was that she, said, 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:36.880 oh it was over. There, well they'd already marked the 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:41.080 place with red dye or some sort of red marker 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:41.600 along the. 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:46.560 Highway So laverne saw the marker on the highway and 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:48.640 realized that's probably where the body. 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:50.640 Was, yeah there's obviously a crying. 0:12:50.760 --> 0:13:00.400 Scene on the strength Of pavlovac's, confession which she tried 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:04.960 to explain away at, trial a jury convicted her to 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:08.920 avoid a possible death sentence for aggravated. Murder sasnovsky then 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:13.840 pleaded no contest to felony murder and. Rape three years, 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:19.800 Later sasnovsky has exhausted all his. Appeals padlanak's plea for 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.280 a new trial was rejected this month by The Oregon 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:26.559 court Of. Appeals never a high profile case to begin 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:30.640 with the murder Of Tanya bennett became a closed, one 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:33.880 and quite likely if it weren't for the anonymous letter 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:37.240 that arrived At The oregonian earlier this month from a 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.480 man claiming to have killed five women In oregon And, 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:45.240 california Including Tanya, bennett the case might well have remained. 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:59.480 Forgotten as Reporter Phil stamford told, us Had keith not 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.880 started writing the, newspaper police might never have found. Him 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:05.559 but to hear more about, That melissa AND i reached 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:08.880 out To jim, McNeely a retired detective from The Moltnomah 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:09.720 County Sheriff's. 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:14.160 DEPARTMENT i got involved when we started getting the letters 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:18.240 sent to us from your. Dad somebody sent us some 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:22.320 pictures of from writing on the wall in the restroom 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:26.640 In montana where they said two people are in jail 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:29.880 for something, idea and that was followed up by a 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:34.000 letter that came to The Washington County court or, something 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:37.360 and they forwarded it to. Us and then another letter 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:41.640 came to A Phil stanford reporter in The, oregonion and 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:45.880 that letter goes came to. Us and then when we 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:49.160 followed up on the, case when your dad, came there 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:52.440 was a lot of talk around the department that we 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:56.320 still had the right people and whoever was writing these 0:14:56.400 --> 0:15:01.240 letters was making this stuff. Up WHEN i got involved with, 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:05.200 it in my, Partner Chris, peterson we followed up on 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:05.960 it from. 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:12.680 There in an interview this week at The Oregon State, Prison, 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:17.240 sisnovsky once the passive, barfly bristled with anger when asked 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:21.160 whether he was guilty of Killing Tanya. BENNETT i never 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:25.560 met the, girl he, SAID i never killed anybody in my. 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:31.520 Life he blames, everything he said in a rambling diatribe 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:35.560 on a conspiracy that includes The Oregon state bar The 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:39.760 Moltloma County District attorney's, office the detectives who investigated the, 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:45.640 case and of course his former Housemate Laverne. Pavlinak she framed, 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:46.720 me he, said. 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.600 So then when you get this letter from my, dad 0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:58.640 and he, SAID i Killed Tanya. 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:02.640 Bennett did you instantly believe this letter was? True what 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:03.680 did you think about this? 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:08.680 Letter, well there was something very believable about. It he 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:10.720 knew what he was talking, about and he had information 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:14.200 on those murders that hadn't been in the papers down 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.040 wherever the bodies were. Found so there was something to. 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:18.760 It and it was a matter that of going back 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:25.640 and analyzing The Tanya bennett, case the, investigation and WHAT 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:28.720 i contributed really was sort of a deconstruction of the, 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:33.000 case showing that they'd manufactured the, case they'd manufactured the. 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:37.200 Confession so when you got that, letter that was one, 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:41.000 letter but you ultimately received more. 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:42.160 Letters is that? 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:42.560 Correct? 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:47.480 Yeah after he was, captured we, corresponded, okay we were 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:52.640 trying together to prove that THE da was wrong and 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.000 he was guilty of The Tanya bennett. 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:59.680 Murder which is interesting that he's trying to prove his. 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:05.760 Guilt he wanted. Credit. Yeah, yeah did you ever meet 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:06.800 my dad in? Person? 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:13.080 Oh, yeah after he was. ARRESTED i talked to him 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:16.280 in The Clark county jail and they just let him. 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:19.600 Out there was a big folding picnic, table and HERE 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:23.919 i was sitting across from this hawking. GUY i mean 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:26.400 he's very, BIG i guess six' seven something, like that 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:31.719 and talking to him About The tanya. Bennett murder and 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:35.800 as the conversation, quickly developed how we were going to 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.120 prove that he was guilty Of The tanya? Bennett murder. 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:42.920 What was he saying? 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:44.920 To You he. 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:52.440 I'm not sure to this day how to read him at. 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.400 That point at, THE time i thought he was sort 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:59.320 of unburdening his soul if he wanted. To confess another 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:00.960 way of looking at out of, the course would be 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.160 that he wanted to get credit, for this and it 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:08.120 was his way of sort of proving that he was establishing. 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:11.480 This identity did he come across as wanting, Your, help. 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.479 Well he wanted, my help and OF course i. Wanted his, 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:19.480 you KNOW what i needed was some way to prove 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:23.399 that he was telling the Truth About. Tanya bennett and 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.760 so he offered two ways of. Proving it one was 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:31.320 that when he, told her he said blood was everywhere 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:34.160 and even splattered on. The ceiling oh. 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:38.600 MY gosh i actually stayed in the House Where tanya bennett, 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:42.080 was murdered and there was a NIGHT that i went 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:45.000 and slept in the living room on, the COUCH and 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:49.600 i remember looking up at the ceiling and seeing splatter on, 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:54.200 the ceiling thinking it was, spaghetti sauce and just staring 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:55.960 at IT as i was trying to go, To sleep 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:58.439 and when you just, SAID that i WONDER if i 0:18:58.560 --> 0:18:59.160 was looking. 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:02.280 At blood oh. 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:02.399 My. 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:13.320 Yeah YEAH so i went back to. The house it 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:15.920 had been bought, and sold and they had the new 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:20.040 owners had painted, that room, the bedroom including. THE ceiling 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:23.240 i went TO the da with THAT and, i said 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:25.880 you could scrape the paint off and DO a, dna 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:27.760 analysis and, he, said no we don't want to. Do 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:31.439 that the other thing, he said the key said was 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:37.640 after he Dropped off tanya's body in, the gorge, driving 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:41.440 back he threw her purse out at a certain place 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:45.760 and he remembered where it was as. A field and, 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:49.680 in fact that is eventually how it was proved to the, 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:55.000 DA's satisfaction to the, court satisfaction that he was telling 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:58.240 the truth and that He Killed, tanya bennett because one 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:02.080 of the sheriff's deputies, m McNelly who's really the hero, 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:05.040 in this took a troop of boy scouts out to 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:08.840 that field and for two or three days cut away 0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:11.440 the BlackBerry bushes that had grown. UP there i mean 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:15.760 they grow Fast in oregon and four. Years, Growth yeah 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:16.000 i've been. 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:19.240 Up there it, gets dense and they found the purse. 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:22.520 WITH her i. D Wow. 0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:42.000 So jessperson kind of saw you as a partner. 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:45.640 In, this yeah it was. Very strange we were. Conspiring 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:51.240 together here we were as working for a newspaper and 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:55.640 he was trying to confess to. A murder we both 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:58.920 knew that two people were in prison for a crime, 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.879 he committed but, the Authorities the sheriff's department and the 0:21:04.240 --> 0:21:08.080 DA's office certainly weren't going to admit they'd made a mistake, 0:21:08.240 --> 0:21:11.600 like that and basically but developed as that we were 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:14.600 conspiring to prove that he. 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:22.600 Was guilty now you have to remember This is phil's 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:26.440 opinion on the way the investigation. Was handled the police 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:27.000 have their. 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:33.679 OWN story i got word from a friend of mine 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:37.840 At the sheriff's office that the detective. 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:40.800 Could been the leader in getting the false Confession From 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:44.920 laverne pablomak In The tiny. Bennic case had been down 0:21:45.000 --> 0:21:50.800 in the state prison Talking, to jesperson encouraging him to 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:55.399 SAY that i had given him the information that he 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:58.440 had given to the police to prove that He Killed. 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:03.080 Tiny bennett in, other words it's trying To get jefferson to, 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:08.159 frame me and to his, eternal credit as Far as, 0:22:08.240 --> 0:22:11.000 i'm concerned he did not lie. About it he, said 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:13.200 no it, didn't happen and it would have been very 0:22:13.200 --> 0:22:16.840 easy for him, to lie and, after all it wouldn't 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:19.680 hurt him, at all and he might have even been 0:22:19.720 --> 0:22:23.800 able to bargain it into extra privileges for helping out. 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:28.360 This detective but, he DIDN'T and i have TO say 0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:29.840 i honor him. 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:30.160 For that. 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:38.280 Keith's code of honor is more than a bit. Twisted 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:42.760 here he wouldn't tolerate, dishonest cops thought himself, above them 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:46.600 and yet he was a brutal rapist. And murderer. 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:53.520 So when my dad was ultimately Convicted For tanya, bennett's 0:22:53.600 --> 0:22:55.119 murder what Happened to John? 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:59.480 And, laverne well they, were released, Of course. 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:03.479 And how much time did they serve in prison before they. 0:23:03.520 --> 0:23:06.400 WERE released i think about a couple. 0:23:06.440 --> 0:23:06.480 Of. 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:12.399 Years WOW and i don't know Anything about LaVerne's experience, 0:23:12.720 --> 0:23:16.440 in prison but it was particularly Hard, On, john saysnovsky 0:23:16.480 --> 0:23:19.240 who was not a very strong person to. BEGIN with 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:24.960 i mean he was, an alcoholic and he was he 0:23:25.080 --> 0:23:28.280 sort of. Lost it they put him in a room 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:33.000 in prison for the people who were. Mentally disturbed it's Called. 0:23:33.000 --> 0:23:35.399 The thunderdome what? A? 0:23:35.480 --> 0:23:38.159 Thunderdome why what happens in? 0:23:38.160 --> 0:23:43.240 The thunderdome it was a big holding tank with a 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:46.200 guard sort of suspended in the middle on. A grate 0:23:47.080 --> 0:23:51.639 AND what i remember about the story Is that saysnovsky would. 0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:56.639 Just howl here he was locked up for life for 0:23:56.800 --> 0:24:00.639 something he had pled. Guilty to but even at the 0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:03.320 time he, pled guilty he knew he was not guilty 0:24:03.400 --> 0:24:05.400 up it was. Completely. 0:24:05.400 --> 0:24:09.720 Innocent though that would drive. Me, crazy yeah that would drive. 0:24:09.800 --> 0:24:12.520 ME crazy i. Yeah that what else could you do? 0:24:12.600 --> 0:24:12.639 But? 0:24:12.760 --> 0:24:16.399 Scream? Oh yeah did you ever Talk to Laverne? Or 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:19.560 john do you think that they? REGRETTED this. 0:24:21.280 --> 0:24:26.680 I Talked, with LAVERNE and i don't think She really 0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:30.119 i'm sure she, regretted It but i'm not convinced she 0:24:31.200 --> 0:24:36.719 ever really understood how how wrong what she. Did was 0:24:38.160 --> 0:24:42.680 she was emotionally. DULLED herself, i mean she was taking 0:24:42.680 --> 0:24:46.720 a lot, of pills fantasized, a lot read a lot 0:24:46.760 --> 0:24:50.200 of cheap, detective stories which is probably how she got 0:24:50.200 --> 0:24:53.320 the idea that she could turn someone in for a 0:24:53.440 --> 0:24:56.200 murder and it would just all. 0:24:56.200 --> 0:24:57.040 Go away. 0:25:01.040 --> 0:25:04.000 MELISSA and i, were, curious though How did John and 0:25:04.080 --> 0:25:08.160 laverne react to. Being Freed Here's Detective chris, Peterson Again. 0:25:09.240 --> 0:25:12.199 John SISTOVSKY when i went down to interview him in 0:25:12.200 --> 0:25:18.280 the prison with the prosecutor, a prosecutor he. Was incoherent he. 0:25:18.600 --> 0:25:24.160 Was babbling it was actually a little. Bit scary verne 0:25:24.200 --> 0:25:27.680 acted like a grandmother when we were working. WITH her, 0:25:27.760 --> 0:25:33.199 i mean she was, pretty, calm collected and she did 0:25:33.440 --> 0:25:37.000