WEBVTT - Episode 4: “Don’t Go There Alone” 0:00:15.422 --> 0:00:23.702 Pushkin. Just to warn you before we start. This episode 0:00:23.942 --> 0:00:38.102 contains descriptions of sexual assault and violence. Last time on 0:00:38.262 --> 0:00:39.062 Where's Dia? 0:00:39.942 --> 0:00:43.582 We were pushing ardently to have or removed as trustee 0:00:43.622 --> 0:00:46.702 because to me and to my sister, we felt that 0:00:47.062 --> 0:00:49.822 it was quite obvious that he had some involvement in 0:00:49.862 --> 0:00:50.902 DIA's disappearance. 0:00:52.022 --> 0:00:56.382 He had every reason to harm her, but so did 0:00:57.262 --> 0:01:00.502 Chrissara and Clinton just because so much money is involved. 0:01:00.822 --> 0:01:02.542 They please, they. 0:01:04.462 --> 0:01:05.782 They believed she was hurt. 0:01:17.702 --> 0:01:20.622 In the fall of twenty twenty one, a woman named 0:01:20.702 --> 0:01:24.942 Jody Newkirk was working on the Benita Vista ranch. This 0:01:25.142 --> 0:01:28.302 was over a year after Deer was last seen. It 0:01:28.422 --> 0:01:31.062 seems like Jody was a kind of jack of all trades. 0:01:31.582 --> 0:01:35.502 She handled the horses, cleaned and did general handy woman 0:01:35.582 --> 0:01:37.142 stuff for Keith Harper. 0:01:38.782 --> 0:01:40.502 Or you think by taking this and I could really 0:01:40.782 --> 0:01:43.142 a concept where nothing dead young. 0:01:42.982 --> 0:01:45.742 A right, Yeah, this is super cud. 0:01:48.502 --> 0:01:51.582 This is a video from a local photographer who Jody 0:01:51.662 --> 0:01:54.662 took on a tour of the ranch. As far as 0:01:54.742 --> 0:01:58.622 I can tell, the photographer is shown in adylic setting 0:01:59.382 --> 0:02:02.302 with no hint of what's happened here before or what 0:02:02.462 --> 0:02:07.702 is soon to come. In the video, Jody is wearing 0:02:07.782 --> 0:02:12.302 a strapless red, white and blue striped tank top, baggy jeans, 0:02:12.422 --> 0:02:15.782 and chunky work boots, and her skin has a nice 0:02:15.902 --> 0:02:20.462 natural tan. Jody and the photographer walk up a gravel drive. 0:02:20.982 --> 0:02:24.542 There's a white Rvy parked underneath a pine tree, a 0:02:24.702 --> 0:02:29.582 large metal butterfly seat, and an outdoor gym. They go 0:02:29.742 --> 0:02:33.182 up to an old log cabin. The entrance is flanked 0:02:33.262 --> 0:02:37.982 by wooden horseheads. Inside the cabin is dark and crowded, 0:02:38.582 --> 0:02:39.982 teeming with trinkets. 0:02:40.862 --> 0:02:43.902 So yeah, it's got a barbecue, ANIFI outdoor fireplace. 0:02:44.662 --> 0:02:45.782 It's got a great view. 0:02:50.782 --> 0:02:54.822 God, I love it here, Jody says. She offers to 0:02:54.902 --> 0:02:57.662 cut the photographer a deal on rent in exchange for 0:02:57.822 --> 0:03:01.822 new photos to advertise the ranch for events. There was 0:03:01.862 --> 0:03:05.182 a lot going on up there, renovations, a new bridge 0:03:05.262 --> 0:03:08.782 being built, and Harper was even hosting wedding ceremonies. 0:03:09.542 --> 0:03:13.262 So yeah, it's always good to have kind of like yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:03:14.022 --> 0:03:16.302 You know style. 0:03:18.702 --> 0:03:18.902 Yes. 0:03:20.262 --> 0:03:23.862 Around three months after this video was taken, Jody was 0:03:23.942 --> 0:03:33.022 found dead on the ranch. Before I get too deep 0:03:33.222 --> 0:03:36.702 into who Jody was and how she ended up dead 0:03:36.942 --> 0:03:40.622 on Benita Vista Ranch, I want to explain why I'm 0:03:40.662 --> 0:03:44.742 telling you about her. It's not just because this is 0:03:44.822 --> 0:03:49.742 another tragic, unexplained event that deserves some airtime, or because 0:03:49.782 --> 0:03:54.742 it provides another shocking twist in this strange story. I'm 0:03:54.822 --> 0:03:58.102 telling you about her because it's a chance to peer 0:03:58.302 --> 0:04:04.022 inside Harper's relationship with another woman. In fact, that's really 0:04:04.062 --> 0:04:08.822 what this whole episode is about. Harper's relationships with other women. 0:04:12.662 --> 0:04:16.142 Their stories made me question whether Harper and DEA's relationship 0:04:16.462 --> 0:04:19.102 was really as picture perfect as he said it was. 0:04:20.182 --> 0:04:23.222 I haven't been able to speak with Dea. She can't 0:04:23.302 --> 0:04:26.142 tell me what Harper is like as a lover or 0:04:26.182 --> 0:04:29.822 a partner or even a friend. But these other women 0:04:30.582 --> 0:04:40.222 they can. I'm Lucy Sheriff, and this is where's Dea? 0:04:41.262 --> 0:04:59.382 Episode four, Don't Go there Alone. Kelly Berkowitz Trotter is 0:04:59.502 --> 0:05:00.902 Jody Newkirk's sister. 0:05:01.662 --> 0:05:05.502 Oh hi, sweetheart, and I'm talking to my friend Lucy. 0:05:05.582 --> 0:05:07.062 We're talking about Auntie Jody. 0:05:08.182 --> 0:05:11.302 Kelly explained to me that Jody hadn't always been the 0:05:11.382 --> 0:05:15.142 happy and confident woman I'd watched in the photographer's video. 0:05:16.462 --> 0:05:20.822 For years, Jody had struggled with drug addiction, in particular, 0:05:21.222 --> 0:05:25.542 meth and she'd done some things that strained her relationship 0:05:25.582 --> 0:05:26.022 with Kelly. 0:05:27.102 --> 0:05:32.822 My sister stole my identity many years ago, and she 0:05:32.982 --> 0:05:36.382 actually was arrested for it, and not by my doing 0:05:36.462 --> 0:05:42.422 at all, but she was caught and she was going 0:05:42.502 --> 0:05:44.662 to have to serve like jail diamond stuff. 0:05:45.582 --> 0:05:48.502 But Kelly says that Jody was working on trying to 0:05:48.542 --> 0:05:50.782 get clean and it's crazy. 0:05:50.862 --> 0:05:54.262 I digress a little bit here, but on the twenty 0:05:54.502 --> 0:05:59.942 third of December twenty twenty, she and I had a 0:06:00.382 --> 0:06:04.982 very loving, healing conversation about all of that, where she 0:06:05.142 --> 0:06:06.102 apologized to me. 0:06:10.662 --> 0:06:13.742 Harper told me he'd hired Jody to work on the 0:06:13.822 --> 0:06:16.502 ranch because she was renting out one of DEA's properties 0:06:16.902 --> 0:06:20.702 and she was behind on payments. Jody could do some 0:06:20.862 --> 0:06:24.102 work to make up the missing rent. But Kelly told 0:06:24.182 --> 0:06:27.902 me that Jody and Harper met through a dating site, 0:06:28.502 --> 0:06:32.102 which I found interesting because that's how Harper said he 0:06:32.262 --> 0:06:37.022 met Dea. Regardless, by the time Jody was working at 0:06:37.022 --> 0:06:39.062 the ranch, it seemed like she was on track. 0:06:40.342 --> 0:06:46.462 You were on such good terms and so much closer, 0:06:46.702 --> 0:06:52.782 and there was like a Jody was a hardcore drag addict, 0:06:53.142 --> 0:06:57.382 so as close as one can be with someone who 0:06:57.582 --> 0:07:01.262 is who is in that kind of state of mind. 0:07:01.822 --> 0:07:06.622 And she was trying a lot, you know, of different 0:07:06.702 --> 0:07:11.222 things to get herself clean, as she always had ben 0:07:11.302 --> 0:07:12.702 since she was fifteen years old. 0:07:18.342 --> 0:07:21.502 The day Jody died, Kelly was on holiday in a 0:07:21.582 --> 0:07:24.582 remote cabin in the woods, and so it took her 0:07:24.622 --> 0:07:26.222 a while to get cell service. 0:07:27.782 --> 0:07:35.182 It was driving rain that day, just such a terrible storm, 0:07:37.062 --> 0:07:41.022 and I saw that I had a bunch of missed 0:07:41.142 --> 0:07:45.342 calls from my brother in law, Lindsay. 0:07:46.302 --> 0:07:49.982 Lindsay is Jody's ex partner, and Kelly told me that 0:07:50.182 --> 0:07:54.262 he and Jody were best friends, ride or die friends. 0:07:55.702 --> 0:07:59.862 So when I saw that, I immediately knew something was wrong. 0:08:01.302 --> 0:08:05.342 And I was able to call him from my daughter's phone, 0:08:06.462 --> 0:08:13.142 and basically I just remember standing there in this cabin 0:08:13.862 --> 0:08:17.262 with my daughter and one of my closest friends. 0:08:23.222 --> 0:08:28.782 Sorry, okay at your time. 0:08:33.702 --> 0:08:44.542 Oh and yeah. Lindsay said that Jody had been in 0:08:44.622 --> 0:08:53.462 an accident. She rolled over in an ATV. And I 0:08:53.942 --> 0:09:00.582 was like, oh, my god, is she okay? And he said, no, 0:09:02.102 --> 0:09:02.502 she's not. 0:09:04.982 --> 0:09:08.302 Lindsay had heard the news about Jody from Harper. 0:09:09.582 --> 0:09:12.742 We didn't know anything about Dea. We didn't know anything 0:09:12.782 --> 0:09:18.662 about Harper. We were kind of on this crazy spin 0:09:19.462 --> 0:09:20.142 we are spinning. 0:09:26.302 --> 0:09:29.502 Kelly would soon come to learn a lot about Keith, Harper, 0:09:29.742 --> 0:09:34.502 and Dia Abrams, in part because Jody kept a detailed 0:09:34.742 --> 0:09:37.542 journal during those short few months she was living at 0:09:37.542 --> 0:09:42.142 the ranch. After JODI's death, Kelly sent me pictures of 0:09:42.182 --> 0:09:47.622 the journals she'd found in Jody's belongings. Jody's journal entries 0:09:47.782 --> 0:09:51.342 are written like letters. A lot of them are addressed 0:09:51.542 --> 0:09:55.502 to Harper. The first entry that Kelly sent me is 0:09:55.622 --> 0:10:00.582 strangely written to Harper and Dea. I asked my producer 0:10:00.742 --> 0:10:02.422 Daphne to read some extracts. 0:10:03.742 --> 0:10:06.982 Dear Dea and Harper. So, even though we never met, 0:10:07.182 --> 0:10:09.782 I really feel a bond with you. I hope, from 0:10:09.822 --> 0:10:12.062 the bottom and all of my heart that you realize 0:10:12.102 --> 0:10:14.662 that I truly have you and yours, all of your animals, 0:10:14.782 --> 0:10:18.422 friends and home possessions, and even Harper's best interests at heart. 0:10:19.062 --> 0:10:21.702 I do honestly think you will be coming home. I 0:10:21.822 --> 0:10:22.542 hope you like me. 0:10:24.102 --> 0:10:28.382 Jody's handwriting is erratic. It's big, looping, and in the 0:10:28.462 --> 0:10:31.582 same journal entry she'll use two or three different pens, 0:10:32.102 --> 0:10:35.422 red bull point and then a thick black sharpie. There 0:10:35.462 --> 0:10:39.502 are a lot of capital letters and exclamation points. The 0:10:39.582 --> 0:10:42.542 rest of her letters are all addressed to Harper, and 0:10:42.662 --> 0:10:46.142 from Jody's writing, it sounds like her relationship with Harper 0:10:46.662 --> 0:10:48.022 was more than professional. 0:10:49.022 --> 0:10:51.862 I need event I'm losing my mind. I realize that 0:10:51.942 --> 0:10:53.702 you sure can act like you like me a whole 0:10:53.742 --> 0:10:55.942 lot when you want me, But I really don't matter 0:10:56.062 --> 0:10:57.942 that much to you. I feel like you're a dog, 0:10:58.262 --> 0:11:01.502 a high class jiggalow. Anyhow, you really do sleep with 0:11:01.622 --> 0:11:03.782 as many females as you can, and you tell all 0:11:03.862 --> 0:11:05.822 girls what they want to hear, and you tell them 0:11:05.862 --> 0:11:08.462 all basically the same thing. I really am feeling very 0:11:08.542 --> 0:11:11.062 strange about the always going to miss me comment in 0:11:11.142 --> 0:11:13.382 the text a few days ago. I don't like the 0:11:13.462 --> 0:11:15.062 way that sounds, not a bit. 0:11:15.342 --> 0:11:15.822 It's weird. 0:11:15.902 --> 0:11:18.462 Fuck you, Harper. What we had wasn't really all that 0:11:18.622 --> 0:11:21.702 to you. I know, Anna or Patricia, but you know what, 0:11:22.102 --> 0:11:24.862 I would have killed, died given my right arm for you, 0:11:25.702 --> 0:11:28.342 even if you don't deserve it. I know who you are. 0:11:29.382 --> 0:11:32.982 I loved love you anyway. You will see when I'm gone, 0:11:33.062 --> 0:11:34.822 and I'm already gone, goodbye. 0:11:48.542 --> 0:11:51.102 I don't know how Much of what Jodie writes is 0:11:51.142 --> 0:11:54.262 objectively true, but Harpistol things differently. 0:11:55.302 --> 0:12:00.622 She came and rented a place on Toolbox, and I'd 0:12:00.662 --> 0:12:03.902 met her, and she was having trouble pain for her rent, 0:12:04.422 --> 0:12:06.622 and she asked if she could come and more to 0:12:06.702 --> 0:12:08.982 help cover it from the expenses of her. 0:12:10.422 --> 0:12:13.622 And then, what was your relationship like with Jody? And 0:12:13.782 --> 0:12:17.502 I asked, course, because obviously she had the journal entry 0:12:18.062 --> 0:12:21.622 which suggested that you may have been in a romantic 0:12:21.742 --> 0:12:22.662 relationship with her. 0:12:23.262 --> 0:12:29.102 No, not even God and Robert, if we're close to that. 0:12:31.102 --> 0:12:35.462 But what what was your relationship like with her? It 0:12:35.622 --> 0:12:38.022 was a working relationship, that's what it was. 0:12:42.942 --> 0:12:46.262 The journal entries aren't dated, so I don't know exactly 0:12:46.302 --> 0:12:50.462 when Jody was writing those entries. It seems clear to me, though, 0:12:50.782 --> 0:12:53.582 that things weren't great up at the ranch, at least 0:12:53.622 --> 0:12:57.782 from Jody's perspective, and on the twenty third of December, 0:12:58.542 --> 0:13:09.062 they got much much worse. Sometime around five pm, half 0:13:09.382 --> 0:13:13.022 called nine to one one. I have the coroner's report 0:13:13.262 --> 0:13:18.502 that explains what happened. Next. An officer with the California 0:13:18.622 --> 0:13:23.102 Highway Patrol arrives at the ranch. He finds Harper giving 0:13:23.222 --> 0:13:27.502 CPR to Jody. She's lying on the ground, pinned down 0:13:27.822 --> 0:13:33.502 by an ATV. The paramedics arrive, but it's already too late. 0:13:34.742 --> 0:13:49.142 They declare Jody dead at the scene. The highway patrol 0:13:49.222 --> 0:13:52.862 officer noted that there didn't seem to be any trauma 0:13:53.142 --> 0:13:58.422 or injuries consistent with a rollover traffic collision. He found 0:13:58.502 --> 0:14:04.342 Harper's account of what had happened to Jody suspicious. Harper's 0:14:04.422 --> 0:14:08.622 version goes like this, On that day, December twenty third, 0:14:09.502 --> 0:14:12.142 Jody decided to go out on an ATV to cut 0:14:12.182 --> 0:14:16.102 down a Christmas tree. It was raining really hard that evening, 0:14:16.862 --> 0:14:22.542 but according to Harper, Jody went out anyway, and we. 0:14:22.662 --> 0:14:25.782 Had had eleven inches of rain that day. I said, 0:14:25.822 --> 0:14:27.342 that's a his poor idea. 0:14:27.662 --> 0:14:30.782 I said, the trails are extremely muddy, slick, but she 0:14:31.022 --> 0:14:32.062 was very persistent. 0:14:32.822 --> 0:14:37.062 She wanted it. So she goes up, she comes back, there's. 0:14:36.862 --> 0:14:41.462 An actual circle you can see the machine makes and 0:14:41.702 --> 0:14:43.822 then it tips. 0:14:43.542 --> 0:14:48.902 Over and then Harper says he found Jody lying in 0:14:48.982 --> 0:14:52.022 the mud, pinned down by the off road vehicle. 0:14:52.822 --> 0:14:53.742 We do CEPR. 0:14:53.942 --> 0:14:57.062 I do CEPR in her for about twenty minutes until 0:14:58.022 --> 0:15:00.262 they actually show up with the paramedics. 0:15:01.862 --> 0:15:05.782 Kelly, Jody's sister, told me that at some point Harper 0:15:05.862 --> 0:15:10.422 managed to reach Lindsey, Jody's ex. Lindsay then relayed the 0:15:10.502 --> 0:15:19.942 tragic news to Kelly. Kelly called around hospitals, trying to 0:15:20.102 --> 0:15:24.302 find out where Jody's body was and what exactly had happened. 0:15:25.702 --> 0:15:29.022 She reached the coroner, who told her that Jody was 0:15:29.102 --> 0:15:32.782 still on the dirt track lying next to the ATV. 0:15:34.022 --> 0:15:38.862 In fact, the responders left Jody's body outside covered by 0:15:38.902 --> 0:15:40.822 a top paul in for hours. 0:15:41.982 --> 0:15:48.462 They told me that they were still up there because 0:15:48.862 --> 0:15:55.102 of the sleep and the hail. It was so bad 0:15:55.262 --> 0:15:58.742 up there that they couldn't move her body, and I 0:15:59.022 --> 0:16:00.582 was freaking out. 0:16:02.022 --> 0:16:06.222 Kelly was desperate for more information. Finally she tracked down 0:16:06.302 --> 0:16:08.702 someone at the Riverside Sheriff's office. 0:16:09.702 --> 0:16:14.302 And I'll never forget that. She just immediately went on 0:16:14.422 --> 0:16:20.182 the defensive about how it's an open investigation, they don't 0:16:20.262 --> 0:16:25.462 know anything yet and it could jeopardize things to tell 0:16:25.582 --> 0:16:26.502 me anything. 0:16:27.982 --> 0:16:36.222 The details were still so murky. Eventually she heard from Lindsay, 0:16:36.502 --> 0:16:40.062 Jody's ex partner, that there might be more to the story, 0:16:41.182 --> 0:16:44.262 and so they began their own investigation. 0:16:45.982 --> 0:16:50.382 Lindsay had said that he went on the internet and 0:16:50.502 --> 0:16:55.222 he found a thing about the ranch that Jody worked on, 0:16:55.582 --> 0:16:58.462 and he told me the story of Dia, and I 0:16:58.702 --> 0:17:02.342 was like, what the actual fuck. 0:17:04.222 --> 0:17:08.342 Kelly got Harper on the phone. She wanted answers, and 0:17:08.542 --> 0:17:11.182 Harper gave her a disturbing account. 0:17:12.622 --> 0:17:17.542 So he was like in the conversation telling me exactly 0:17:19.942 --> 0:17:23.702 what she sounded like as he was trying to like 0:17:23.902 --> 0:17:25.942 it was fucked up. 0:17:27.022 --> 0:17:31.302 I'm sorry, I didn't realize that she was still alive 0:17:31.422 --> 0:17:32.462 when Harper got there. 0:17:33.862 --> 0:17:37.982 I don't know if she was or not, but he 0:17:38.422 --> 0:17:44.182 said that she made like a gurgling sound when he 0:17:44.382 --> 0:17:47.182 was giving her soupr But you can't trust anything the 0:17:47.262 --> 0:17:51.582 man says at all, Like you can pretty much just 0:17:53.382 --> 0:17:56.022 you know, just take out a sharpiet and just cross 0:17:56.182 --> 0:18:00.542 out every damn thing he says, like literally, he just 0:18:00.942 --> 0:18:04.942 he's allergic to the truth anyway. Not I don't want 0:18:04.982 --> 0:18:09.502 to get into into the weeds on the conversation with him, 0:18:10.302 --> 0:18:14.662 but I got off the phone going, Okay, this guy 0:18:14.782 --> 0:18:15.582 killed my sister. 0:18:20.302 --> 0:18:23.862 To be quite clear, there is no evidence proving this, 0:18:24.742 --> 0:18:28.382 and Harper has denied having anything to do with Jodie's death. 0:18:29.702 --> 0:18:32.702 But it was this feeling that Kelly had about Harper 0:18:33.622 --> 0:18:37.182 that made her determined to get hold of the autopsy report, 0:18:38.022 --> 0:18:42.422 which the cops didn't want to release, but she continued 0:18:42.662 --> 0:18:47.222 pressuring them. It took nearly a year, but the cops 0:18:47.582 --> 0:19:16.982 finally unsealed it. We'll be right back. In the fall 0:19:17.062 --> 0:19:21.822 of twenty twenty two, the Riverside Sheriff's Department finally unsealed 0:19:22.062 --> 0:19:28.022 Jody Newkirk's autopsy report. You might remember Harper had said 0:19:28.062 --> 0:19:31.542 that Jody was crushed by an ATV, a story that 0:19:31.662 --> 0:19:35.462 seemed suspicious at the time to the highway patrol officer 0:19:35.542 --> 0:19:39.942 who attended the scene. When Jody's sister, Kelly finally got 0:19:39.982 --> 0:19:43.502 ahold of the report, she learned what the coroner had 0:19:43.542 --> 0:19:49.702 found to be the cause of Jody's death, acute methamphetamine toxicity, 0:19:50.782 --> 0:19:56.102 in other words, an overdose of myth. The coroner found 0:19:56.222 --> 0:20:00.702 a glass pipe in Jody's pocket, but for the manner 0:20:00.782 --> 0:20:07.062 of death, the coroner wrote undetermined because there was quote 0:20:07.742 --> 0:20:11.382 no evidence to deter herman if Newkirk administered the drugs 0:20:11.422 --> 0:20:15.142 to herself or if someone else administered it to her. 0:20:16.902 --> 0:20:19.702 So we know what killed her, but we don't know 0:20:19.942 --> 0:20:27.462 how the meth got into her system. I did find 0:20:27.542 --> 0:20:32.422 one other interesting thing in the report. Alberto Lrero, the 0:20:32.502 --> 0:20:37.662 lead investigator on DEA's case, makes an appearance. He tells 0:20:37.702 --> 0:20:40.662 the coroner that he couldn't rule out foul play either. 0:20:43.022 --> 0:20:46.862 The cops questioned Harper, but he was never arrested, and 0:20:46.982 --> 0:20:49.542 as far as I can tell, there was no further 0:20:49.702 --> 0:20:54.502 action over Jody's death. Jody's sister, Kelly, joined the growing 0:20:54.622 --> 0:20:58.982 list of people frustrated with Riverside Sheriff's lack of action. 0:21:00.142 --> 0:21:02.702 Oh, they didn't care. They didn't even want her cell phones. 0:21:03.862 --> 0:21:07.022 What Nope, they didn't even do a search for it. 0:21:09.182 --> 0:21:12.582 Kelly did find out the police had interviewed Jody a 0:21:12.662 --> 0:21:17.182 couple of weeks before she died. Kelly said Jody had 0:21:17.222 --> 0:21:21.302 filed a police report claiming her horse had been stolen. 0:21:22.462 --> 0:21:27.022 It's a weird, complicated story, surprise, surprise, But Kelly said, 0:21:27.062 --> 0:21:31.342 investigator Alberto Lorero later told her what had happened. 0:21:32.462 --> 0:21:35.262 And the police told me that she came down there 0:21:36.102 --> 0:21:39.222 and they took her into an interview room with a 0:21:40.622 --> 0:21:45.662 camera and they filmed the whole thing, and that's when 0:21:45.702 --> 0:21:49.342 they were telling her about Dia and Harper and telling 0:21:49.382 --> 0:21:54.342 her to leave, and Lorero said she was told. I 0:21:54.382 --> 0:21:56.542 don't know if he's told me that he had told 0:21:56.582 --> 0:22:00.582 her directly, but he told me. I don't understand why 0:22:00.622 --> 0:22:03.702 she wouldn't listen. Why didn't she leave? I don't understand 0:22:03.782 --> 0:22:04.542 she was told. 0:22:06.102 --> 0:22:08.942 I asked Lorero if this interview with Jody had ever 0:22:08.982 --> 0:22:15.742 taken place. He told me he didn't remember. Eventually, Kelly 0:22:15.862 --> 0:22:20.022 held a memorial service for her sister. She hasn't gotten 0:22:20.062 --> 0:22:22.582 the answers she was looking for, and it's something she 0:22:22.702 --> 0:22:27.422 still struggles with today. During our last phone call, right 0:22:27.502 --> 0:22:30.782 before we hung up, Kelly gave me a piece of advice. 0:22:31.942 --> 0:22:34.462 I had told her. I'd been considering going up to 0:22:34.542 --> 0:22:38.902 the ranch before Jodi had died. He's invited there, and 0:22:39.022 --> 0:22:40.662 I almost went. 0:22:40.982 --> 0:22:45.502 Or don't go alone. If you go, bring men with you. 0:22:47.782 --> 0:22:50.782 I had been so curious to see the ranch, to 0:22:50.862 --> 0:22:53.622 get a feel of where Deer lived and who she was, 0:22:54.662 --> 0:22:57.662 and now I felt like I'd be taking this risk 0:22:57.862 --> 0:23:01.022 going up there alone. I felt like I couldn't shrug 0:23:01.102 --> 0:23:05.182 off my reservations anymore, so I decided not to go. 0:23:13.422 --> 0:23:16.702 A couple of months after Jody's memorial service. In May 0:23:16.782 --> 0:23:20.902 of twenty twenty two, Harper appeared in court in Colorado. 0:23:21.982 --> 0:23:25.702 It had nothing to do with Jody or Deer. In fact, 0:23:26.462 --> 0:23:29.102 it was over an incident that had taken place about 0:23:29.142 --> 0:23:33.502 ten years prior, and Harper was appearing in court because 0:23:33.542 --> 0:23:37.102 he wanted to be removed from the sex offender registry. 0:23:40.902 --> 0:23:44.902 In twenty eleven, Harper was convicted of groping two women 0:23:45.062 --> 0:23:48.102 on a snowmobile tour he used to run an outdoor 0:23:48.142 --> 0:23:53.422 adventure business in Colorado. Harper pled not guilty to the charges. 0:23:54.222 --> 0:23:56.942 He spent a year in a county jail, had to 0:23:57.022 --> 0:24:00.702 complete a sex offender treatment program, and register as a 0:24:00.782 --> 0:24:05.822 sex offender until twenty twenty five. Harper went to the 0:24:05.862 --> 0:24:08.862 Colorado court in twenty twenty two to see if he 0:24:08.902 --> 0:24:11.462 could be removed from the registry a few years early. 0:24:12.502 --> 0:24:15.662 He maintained his innocence and said he grabbed the women 0:24:15.782 --> 0:24:17.902 because they were about to fall off from the snowmobile, 0:24:18.862 --> 0:24:24.302 but his court petition went nowhere. I wonder what else 0:24:24.582 --> 0:24:28.902 was in Harper's past. So I dug around, and it 0:24:29.022 --> 0:24:38.022 turns out there is more, a lot more. That's after 0:24:38.142 --> 0:25:00.422 the break. I'm going to tell you about two other 0:25:00.502 --> 0:25:04.902 women who Harper had relationships with. The first woman is 0:25:04.982 --> 0:25:10.942 someone will called Sarah to protect her privacy. In two thousand, 0:25:11.222 --> 0:25:15.342 an investigator with a local dat's office in Colorado filed 0:25:15.462 --> 0:25:19.742 an affidavit to obtain an arrest warrant for Keith L. Harper. 0:25:21.102 --> 0:25:24.662 The investigator said he had probable cause to believe Harper 0:25:24.942 --> 0:25:29.902 had committed four felonies, including first degree sexual assault and 0:25:30.102 --> 0:25:36.542 second degree kidnapping. In his report, the investigator wrote up 0:25:36.742 --> 0:25:41.022 a detailed description of Sarah's allegations. I got a copy 0:25:41.102 --> 0:25:45.422 of it through a public records request. Sarah accused Harper 0:25:46.102 --> 0:25:51.182 of physically and sexually assaulting her One time, during an argument, 0:25:51.822 --> 0:25:55.302 Harper allegedly grabbed her by the throat and threw her 0:25:55.342 --> 0:26:00.982 to the ground. Sarah described another disturbing incident that culminated 0:26:01.222 --> 0:26:05.702 in rape. There's one other part of the report I'm 0:26:05.742 --> 0:26:09.982 going to read where the investigator summarizes a third incident 0:26:10.182 --> 0:26:16.182 Sarah told him about the report, says quote, she stopped 0:26:16.262 --> 0:26:20.382 resisting because she knew if she continued, Harper would kill her. 0:26:22.062 --> 0:26:24.382 She told me that she could not breathe and that 0:26:24.542 --> 0:26:27.822 Harper was so angry she believed that he would kill 0:26:27.862 --> 0:26:30.702 her and then tried to cover the whole thing up somehow. 0:26:32.102 --> 0:26:35.622 Harper then began pushing her down the hall, still holding 0:26:35.742 --> 0:26:39.702 his hand over her mouth and nose. When they arrived 0:26:39.742 --> 0:26:43.222 near the bedroom, she told me she stopped struggling completely 0:26:44.022 --> 0:26:47.982 because she thought to herself, I'd better stop fighting or 0:26:48.022 --> 0:26:52.662 I'm going to die. According to court records, she got 0:26:52.662 --> 0:26:59.462 a restraining order against Harper. There were multiple hearings before 0:26:59.502 --> 0:27:02.662 the trial. From what I can gather reading through the 0:27:02.742 --> 0:27:08.142 court documents, Sarah, the main witness, tried to withdraw the charges, 0:27:09.182 --> 0:27:11.542 but by that point it was in the DA's hands. 0:27:12.462 --> 0:27:16.462 They were the ones filing the charges against Harper. Sarah 0:27:16.502 --> 0:27:21.182 stopped cooperating. The DA's prosecutors tried to subpoena her to 0:27:21.302 --> 0:27:26.862 appear in court. Eventually, the judge decided Sarah shouldn't testify 0:27:27.742 --> 0:27:34.182 the doing so would cause her quote permanent impairment. I 0:27:34.302 --> 0:27:36.382 reached out to Sarah to see if I could speak 0:27:36.422 --> 0:27:43.502 with her, but didn't hear back. The prosecution's case fell apart. Eventually, 0:27:44.062 --> 0:27:47.742 Harper was only charged with third degree assault. He pled 0:27:47.782 --> 0:27:51.382 guilty and was convicted on that charge. He was put 0:27:51.422 --> 0:27:53.982 on probation for a year and had to enroll in 0:27:54.062 --> 0:27:58.782 domestic violence classes. I asked Harper about all of this. 0:28:02.822 --> 0:28:08.462 It was dropped, and the court finally relief the fact 0:28:09.142 --> 0:28:11.742 if I would agree to just take a class at 0:28:11.782 --> 0:28:14.382 the end, that those charges would be dismissed. 0:28:15.502 --> 0:28:20.222 Okay, okay, So are you saying that you got to 0:28:20.342 --> 0:28:22.222 realize that what's that? 0:28:23.382 --> 0:28:23.422 No? 0:28:23.622 --> 0:28:26.862 Carry on, I'm going to say, you got to realize 0:28:26.902 --> 0:28:30.222 that there was I had a business involved that she 0:28:30.422 --> 0:28:31.302 was going after. 0:28:33.502 --> 0:28:35.982 You're thinking she would stabricating what happened because. 0:28:35.782 --> 0:28:38.022 She wanted to get oh wellout a question. 0:28:38.222 --> 0:28:42.462 That's how she would have gotten a access to the business. 0:28:44.382 --> 0:28:48.142 I felt uneasy after talking with him. He always sounded 0:28:48.342 --> 0:28:52.782 so sure, so convinced of his narrative, Like when you 0:28:52.862 --> 0:28:55.582 explain what happened to Jody, it was like there was 0:28:55.662 --> 0:29:00.062 no room for any other perspectives or possibilities. It was 0:29:00.182 --> 0:29:06.142 his truth or nothing. And then I found another woman, 0:29:07.022 --> 0:29:09.822 someone who was in a serious relationship with her for 0:29:09.982 --> 0:29:14.302 many years. She told me she wanted to share her experience, 0:29:14.782 --> 0:29:18.062 but to protect her identity, we're not disclosing her name, 0:29:18.942 --> 0:29:26.182 and we've distorted her voice. When they first met, Harper 0:29:26.342 --> 0:29:31.062 was charming, flirtatious, cheeky. She told me he had a 0:29:31.142 --> 0:29:36.142 charisma which was almost impossible not to fall for. I 0:29:36.262 --> 0:29:40.582 wondered if this had been DEA's experience. Too long story, sure, 0:29:41.182 --> 0:29:45.982 he warned me, how does it feel talking to me 0:29:46.062 --> 0:29:46.582 about him? 0:29:47.062 --> 0:29:49.582 Do you talk about him much? What you went through? 0:29:51.862 --> 0:29:55.382 And I get them and a lot. I'm shaking all over. 0:29:58.182 --> 0:30:01.702 She told me in deep detail about her relationship with Harper, 0:30:02.502 --> 0:30:06.662 how they met, how he courted her, and then how 0:30:06.742 --> 0:30:10.862 the relationship soured. There was one particular fight she told 0:30:10.902 --> 0:30:11.262 me about. 0:30:12.302 --> 0:30:17.102 He chased me through the house. He got up and 0:30:17.222 --> 0:30:20.582 would run some more, and he backed me against the 0:30:20.662 --> 0:30:27.142 wall with his forearm in my throat. Well, and that 0:30:30.182 --> 0:30:34.222 he was very angry, And that's the closest was too close, 0:30:34.542 --> 0:30:34.702 you know? 0:30:34.942 --> 0:30:35.142 Yeah. 0:30:35.662 --> 0:30:37.782 Yeah, he's so much bigger than I am. 0:30:38.822 --> 0:30:39.062 Yeah. 0:30:40.022 --> 0:30:45.742 He is not a man that takes no. Mmm, he 0:30:45.942 --> 0:30:48.422 does not accept a no. 0:30:50.102 --> 0:30:51.302 Does he tell the truth? 0:30:51.542 --> 0:30:51.702