WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: KK's Corner Part 3 0:00:46.480 --> 0:00:51.961 School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.361 case murders in an effort to raise public awareness invite 0:00:55.401 --> 0:00:58.761 witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.961 be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights 0:01:03.001 --> 0:01:06.160 from family and community members, their statements should not be 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.961 considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts 0:01:10.041 --> 0:01:14.000 inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.160 presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 0:01:17.961 --> 0:01:20.840 Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply 0:01:21.041 --> 0:01:23.601 that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime 0:01:24.121 --> 0:01:27.121 is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening. 0:01:28.481 --> 0:01:32.560 On July sixth, nineteen ninety seven, in Calcashu Parish, Louisiana, 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:37.001 Marty Lebeuf, Stacy Reeves, and Nicole Guildry were all shot 0:01:37.041 --> 0:01:40.560 execution style in the head. Their bodies were left in 0:01:40.601 --> 0:01:46.041 the cooler at kk's Corner. These at kk's Corner were shocking, 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:50.161 and soon people were talking about another death, one that 0:01:50.201 --> 0:01:53.561 some people in the community thought could be linked. 0:01:53.321 --> 0:01:54.841 To the kk's Corner massacre. 0:01:56.041 --> 0:01:59.920 On Saturday May seventeenth, nineteen ninety seven, not even three 0:01:59.921 --> 0:02:03.961 weeks before the triple homicide at kk's corner. Kevin Abel 0:02:04.161 --> 0:02:07.721 was fatally shot in the head at his home. Police 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:10.841 ruled Kevin's death a suicide, but Stacy Reeves, who had 0:02:10.841 --> 0:02:14.560 been dating Kevin, believed that he had been murdered and 0:02:14.641 --> 0:02:17.321 that his murder could be tied to law enforcement and 0:02:17.401 --> 0:02:22.161 possibly to allege drug deals at Kk's corner. Stacy Reeves 0:02:22.281 --> 0:02:25.161 arrived at that crime scene at Kevin's with her young 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:27.641 twin daughters only minutes after. 0:02:27.441 --> 0:02:28.400 Police showed up there. 0:02:29.121 --> 0:02:31.681 Stacey told police she and Kevin were going on a 0:02:31.761 --> 0:02:34.001 date that night and that she had been planning to 0:02:34.041 --> 0:02:37.201 pick him up with her girls. And she said that 0:02:37.321 --> 0:02:40.361 Kevin owed a lot of money to drug dealers, who 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.881 she said had been taking his truck as collateral. We 0:02:44.001 --> 0:02:47.840 talked to one of Stacy's friends, the former sheriff's deputy. 0:02:47.881 --> 0:02:51.401 We have her full name, but because of concerns about 0:02:51.401 --> 0:02:53.721 her safety, she has asked that we call her by 0:02:53.721 --> 0:02:55.041 her nickname Missy. 0:02:56.001 --> 0:02:58.361 She was coming to kick him up with her twins, 0:02:58.361 --> 0:03:01.161 who are I think two at the time, they were 0:03:01.161 --> 0:03:04.121 really young. For she insisted that she would never have 0:03:04.201 --> 0:03:06.680 permitted suicide, knowing that she had the Beady. 0:03:06.441 --> 0:03:11.601 Who's with him. What really happened to Kevin Abel? Did 0:03:11.681 --> 0:03:14.921 he kill himself or could there have been foul play involved? 0:03:15.481 --> 0:03:17.801 Who were the drug dealers who he owed money to? 0:03:18.561 --> 0:03:21.441 And did Kevin's death have anything to do with the 0:03:21.481 --> 0:03:25.841 kk's Corner killings. I'm Catherine Townsend. Over the past five 0:03:25.921 --> 0:03:29.201 years of making my true crime podcast, Helen Gone, I've 0:03:29.281 --> 0:03:31.921 learned that there's no such thing as a small town 0:03:31.921 --> 0:03:35.801 where murder never happens. I've received hundreds of messages from 0:03:35.841 --> 0:03:38.321 people all around the country asking for help with an 0:03:38.401 --> 0:03:42.361 unsolved murder that's affected them, their families, and their communities. 0:03:43.161 --> 0:03:45.201 If you have a case you'd like me and my 0:03:45.281 --> 0:03:47.721 team to look into, you can reach out to us 0:03:47.761 --> 0:03:50.481 at our Helen Gone Murder Line at six seven eight 0:03:50.921 --> 0:03:54.681 seven four four six one four five. That's six seven 0:03:54.721 --> 0:03:58.961 eight seven four four six one four five, or you 0:03:59.001 --> 0:04:02.401 can send us a message on Instagram at Helen gonepod. 0:04:03.161 --> 0:04:48.161 This is Helen Gone Murder Line. We got a copy 0:04:48.161 --> 0:04:52.401 of the incident report and some civil depositions, and between 0:04:52.521 --> 0:04:55.561 those and some interviews we've done, we have found out 0:04:55.601 --> 0:04:59.961 a lot of information about the night that Kevin Abel died. Now, 0:04:59.961 --> 0:05:02.080 before I go down this road, I just want to 0:05:02.121 --> 0:05:05.121 say that so far, none of the evidence that we 0:05:05.161 --> 0:05:08.841 have seen has indicated that Kevin Abel's death was anything 0:05:08.921 --> 0:05:12.760 other than a suicide. But a lot of people, including 0:05:12.801 --> 0:05:15.921 Stacy Reeves, believe that it was, and we want. 0:05:15.801 --> 0:05:16.640 To understand why. 0:05:17.681 --> 0:05:20.321 On the day he died, Kevin had a friend at 0:05:20.321 --> 0:05:24.080 his house, a guy named Chad Reeves. Now Chad was 0:05:24.161 --> 0:05:27.320 a distant cousin of Stacy's, but according to what Chad 0:05:27.321 --> 0:05:31.161 told police, they were not close. Chad wasn't even sure 0:05:31.201 --> 0:05:35.681 exactly how they were related. When police asked him, Chad 0:05:35.801 --> 0:05:38.721 said that he had reconnected with Kevin the night before 0:05:38.881 --> 0:05:41.561 at a bar called Cheers. He had known Kevin when 0:05:41.601 --> 0:05:44.481 they were younger, but prior to that, he told investigators, 0:05:44.481 --> 0:05:47.921 they had not spoken in eight years. Lake Charles has 0:05:47.921 --> 0:05:50.880 a population of almost eighty thousand people, but I see 0:05:50.921 --> 0:05:53.721 a lot of the same names keep popping up, so 0:05:53.961 --> 0:05:57.520 parts of it seemed to have a distinctly small town vibe. 0:05:58.641 --> 0:06:01.801 Chad lived with his mother in Fairview Estates, the same 0:06:01.881 --> 0:06:05.081 trailer park as Kevin. He told police that he went 0:06:05.121 --> 0:06:08.640 over to Kevin's trailer that afternoon because Kevin was feeling down. 0:06:09.561 --> 0:06:12.841 Chad said they were hanging out there watching TV and talking. 0:06:13.761 --> 0:06:17.281 In a later deposition, Chad said that Kevin looked like 0:06:17.361 --> 0:06:20.601 shit that day. He also said Kevin had been smoking 0:06:20.681 --> 0:06:25.041 crack for days, which had turned his lips black. While 0:06:25.081 --> 0:06:28.440 they were hanging out, Kevin got a phone call from someone. 0:06:28.761 --> 0:06:32.201 Chad said that quote whoever it was must have had 0:06:32.281 --> 0:06:35.521 Kevin's car, because Kevin got very mad with them over 0:06:35.561 --> 0:06:37.721 the phone and asked them when they were going to 0:06:37.761 --> 0:06:38.641 bring his car back. 0:06:39.041 --> 0:06:39.521 End quote. 0:06:40.241 --> 0:06:44.001 Then Chad said after Kevin hung up, Kevin had asked 0:06:44.041 --> 0:06:47.361 him how to spell the word quit. Chad said he 0:06:47.441 --> 0:06:50.801 spelled it out for him qu i t. After that, 0:06:51.281 --> 0:06:53.841 he said that a woman called Kevin, and Kevin told 0:06:53.841 --> 0:06:55.881 the woman that he was depressed and to come pick 0:06:55.921 --> 0:06:59.361 him up. I don't know for sure, but it seems 0:06:59.561 --> 0:07:02.961 likely that that woman was Stacy Reeves, since Stacy did 0:07:03.001 --> 0:07:04.961 show up there and she said that they were planning 0:07:04.961 --> 0:07:08.441 on having a date that night. After that, Kevin went 0:07:08.481 --> 0:07:10.521 to the back of the trailer toward his bedroom. 0:07:11.441 --> 0:07:13.081 Time went by, the movie. 0:07:12.841 --> 0:07:15.121 Ended, and Chad said that he yelled to Kevin that 0:07:15.201 --> 0:07:17.081 he was going back to his mother's trailer to get 0:07:17.121 --> 0:07:21.001 something to eat. Chad was in the front doorway, putting 0:07:21.001 --> 0:07:23.761 his shoes on, getting ready to leave. When he heard 0:07:23.761 --> 0:07:27.881 the gunshot, Chad ran into the bedroom. He said that 0:07:27.921 --> 0:07:30.321 he saw Kevin lying there and grabbed him to try 0:07:30.361 --> 0:07:32.521 to check on him, but he said he could see 0:07:32.521 --> 0:07:33.961 that he was in a pool of blood and that 0:07:34.001 --> 0:07:38.161 he was clearly dead. Chad said he ran back to 0:07:38.201 --> 0:07:41.761 his mother's house and called nine one one. Police came 0:07:41.801 --> 0:07:44.041 to the scene, and they found Kevin in his bedroom 0:07:44.361 --> 0:07:47.321 with his head facing north and a fatal gunshot wound 0:07:47.401 --> 0:07:50.961 to his head. There was a three fifty seven magnum 0:07:50.961 --> 0:07:54.601 revolver lying about twelve inches from Kevin's left foot. There 0:07:54.601 --> 0:07:56.481 was a bullet hole in the wall and a TV 0:07:56.761 --> 0:08:01.081 on top of Kevin's chest. Police believed that Kevin fired 0:08:01.081 --> 0:08:04.241 the fatal shot and then he fell back onto the 0:08:04.281 --> 0:08:06.961 TV stand. That's when they say he crashed to the 0:08:07.001 --> 0:08:10.161 ground and the television kind of toppled on top of him. 0:08:10.601 --> 0:08:14.441 Police found cocaine residue in a chrome pipe and gunpowder 0:08:14.481 --> 0:08:18.041 residue on Kevin's hands that police said indicated that the 0:08:18.081 --> 0:08:21.681 gun had been fired by him recently. They also found 0:08:21.721 --> 0:08:26.041 a suicide note nearby. We got a copy of that note. 0:08:26.121 --> 0:08:29.001 It read in part quote, this is something I did 0:08:29.081 --> 0:08:31.921 because I couldn't face the real world being a crackhead. 0:08:32.241 --> 0:08:33.641 End quote. 0:08:33.680 --> 0:08:36.601 In the note, Kevin apologized to people in his life 0:08:36.641 --> 0:08:39.361 for not being able to get off drugs. He mentioned 0:08:39.401 --> 0:08:42.481 former girlfriends and friends and people he felt that he 0:08:42.521 --> 0:08:46.401 had let down. At the end, it says, PS, if 0:08:46.401 --> 0:08:50.200 I have a funeral, play the dance he was talking about, 0:08:50.241 --> 0:08:54.521 the Garth Brooks country song. Police found that Kevin had 0:08:54.521 --> 0:08:57.201 a heavy crack addiction and then he owed money to 0:08:57.280 --> 0:09:01.961 two people, Irving and David Freeman. They're actually cousins, but 0:09:02.081 --> 0:09:05.080 people around town refer to them as the Freeman brothers. 0:09:05.841 --> 0:09:08.801 Irving told police that he sold crack to Kevin on 0:09:08.841 --> 0:09:11.721 a regular basis. He said that he would take Kevin's 0:09:11.721 --> 0:09:14.680 truck as collateral to make sure that Kevin paid back 0:09:14.721 --> 0:09:18.281 the money that he owed. Irving told police that Kevin 0:09:18.361 --> 0:09:21.361 was pretty much his best customer. He said that Kevin 0:09:21.401 --> 0:09:24.761 would chain smoke rocks of crack like other people smoked cigarettes. 0:09:25.081 --> 0:09:28.280 He said that Kevin regularly owed him large amounts of money, 0:09:28.561 --> 0:09:31.881 from around fifteen to seventeen hundred dollars at a time 0:09:32.761 --> 0:09:36.801 while Irving had the truck. David Irving's cousin told police 0:09:36.841 --> 0:09:39.441 that he would sometimes borrow the truck as well. He 0:09:39.441 --> 0:09:43.121 would just borrow it from Irving without getting Kevin's permission. 0:09:44.201 --> 0:09:49.161 Sometimes Stacy Reeves would pay Kevin's drug debts. Once she 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:53.481 paid David five hundred dollars. Later, David told police about 0:09:53.481 --> 0:09:56.961 a strange incident that happened with Kevin's truck. He said 0:09:56.961 --> 0:09:59.560 that a police officer showed up at his house once 0:09:59.961 --> 0:10:02.641 while he was borrowing Kevin's truck, and that the police 0:10:02.721 --> 0:10:06.281 officer demanded that he give it back. Police talked to 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:08.401 this officer, the one who showed up at David's house. 0:10:08.761 --> 0:10:12.481 It was a Lake Charles police officer. So this officer 0:10:12.521 --> 0:10:15.561 said he was friends with Jennifer Doyle, a woman who 0:10:15.601 --> 0:10:19.081 was also dating Kevin at the time. The officer said 0:10:19.161 --> 0:10:22.001 sometime in the beginning of April in nineteen ninety seven, 0:10:22.521 --> 0:10:25.361 he went to Jennifer Doyle's house and that Jennifer got 0:10:25.361 --> 0:10:29.521 a phone call from David. David was asking Jennifer for money. 0:10:30.081 --> 0:10:30.401 Money. 0:10:30.401 --> 0:10:33.040 He said that Kevin owed him, so the officer got 0:10:33.121 --> 0:10:36.081 Jennifer to hand him the phone. When he identified himself 0:10:36.121 --> 0:10:39.601 to David as a police officer, David hung up. The 0:10:39.681 --> 0:10:41.881 officer said that when he was at work the next 0:10:41.961 --> 0:10:44.561 day that Jennifer called him and asked if he would 0:10:44.561 --> 0:10:47.841 go with her to help get Kevin's truck back. So 0:10:48.081 --> 0:10:51.521 the officer said he went with Jennifer to David's place 0:10:51.561 --> 0:10:54.321 and knocked on David's door. A woman answered the door 0:10:54.401 --> 0:10:57.441 and said David wasn't there, So the officer said they 0:10:57.441 --> 0:10:59.441 were there to get Kevin's truck. The woman said the 0:10:59.481 --> 0:11:02.241 keys were in it, so the officer said he got 0:11:02.321 --> 0:11:04.521 into Jennifer's vehicle and drove it back to the police 0:11:04.561 --> 0:11:09.121 station while Jennifer drove Kevin's truck. The officer said Jennifer 0:11:09.201 --> 0:11:11.801 drove away in Kevin's truck and that he wasn't sure 0:11:11.841 --> 0:11:15.281 what happened to the vehicle after that. To me, this 0:11:15.361 --> 0:11:18.521 illustrates a couple of things about how things work in 0:11:18.601 --> 0:11:21.641 Lake Charles. The fact that a lot of these drug dealers, 0:11:21.721 --> 0:11:25.561 police and people connected to drug addicts were all intimately 0:11:25.561 --> 0:11:30.161 connected number one, and number two, that sometimes police would 0:11:30.241 --> 0:11:34.241 do things to settle disputes that weren't necessarily officially reported. 0:11:34.801 --> 0:11:38.121 Because to my knowledge, there was never a stolen vehicle 0:11:38.161 --> 0:11:41.401 report made on this truck. This all apparently happened off 0:11:41.441 --> 0:11:44.241 the books, and the officer didn't tell anyone about this 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:45.681 truck incident until much. 0:11:45.601 --> 0:11:47.601 Later after Kevin Abel's death. 0:11:48.521 --> 0:11:53.041 But as we said last week, Stacey believed that Kevin 0:11:53.321 --> 0:12:01.921 had been murdered. Stacy Reeves was convinced that Kevin Abel 0:12:02.041 --> 0:12:06.561 had not committed suicide. Her friend Missy, talked to us 0:12:06.681 --> 0:12:10.801 about what Stacy told her about Kevin's death. Missy said 0:12:11.001 --> 0:12:14.521 that Stacy didn't think the suicide note was legitimate. 0:12:15.321 --> 0:12:22.281 Stacey contacted me when Kevin quote unquote committed suicide. She 0:12:22.481 --> 0:12:25.201 told me he didn't commit suicide. It was all a 0:12:25.241 --> 0:12:29.321 lie because he hated country music and in the suicide 0:12:29.401 --> 0:12:32.601 note it was referenced to country music. I think one 0:12:32.641 --> 0:12:36.241 of Gurth books was songs. And also the note was 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:38.841 written in the opposite hand that she did not write it, 0:12:39.881 --> 0:12:44.201 so she was emotionally just strawed or not. 0:12:45.361 --> 0:12:48.481 In the weeks before her death, Stacy was talking to 0:12:48.521 --> 0:12:51.841 people about how she didn't think Kevin committed suicide, and 0:12:51.961 --> 0:12:55.041 also about drug deals that she said were going down 0:12:55.201 --> 0:12:59.241 in Kk's corner. She said that Kevin owed people drug money, 0:12:59.801 --> 0:13:04.321 a lot of money. Stacy seemed to believe that Kevin's 0:13:04.321 --> 0:13:07.401 death might have been murdered and that it might have 0:13:07.481 --> 0:13:10.680 something to do with drug dealers who were operating inside 0:13:10.761 --> 0:13:15.601 kk's corner, and Stacy had been talking to law enforcement 0:13:15.681 --> 0:13:20.281 about her suspicions. According to police documents, Stacy's friend, Sheila, 0:13:20.361 --> 0:13:23.721 told police that Stacy had recently met with two officers 0:13:23.921 --> 0:13:26.241 and talked to him about her fear that her involvement 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.521 in Kevin's drug dealing could put her in danger. She 0:13:29.641 --> 0:13:32.401 was talking to them about drug deals going on inside 0:13:32.481 --> 0:13:35.800 kk's corner. She told them she wanted to work for 0:13:35.841 --> 0:13:41.081 the Sheriff's department. One was an officer named Jerome Lestraps. 0:13:41.561 --> 0:13:46.001 The other was an Officer Sweeney, but police said they 0:13:46.001 --> 0:13:49.841 were unable to locate anyone with that name, so we've 0:13:49.881 --> 0:13:55.201 started looking for officer Sweeney. After the kk's murders, Detective 0:13:55.241 --> 0:13:58.041 Deluge was looking into these rumors that Stacy could have 0:13:58.041 --> 0:14:01.721 been talking to people in law enforcement. Detective Deluge knew 0:14:01.761 --> 0:14:04.961 that Jerome less Straps worked narcotics for the calcashu Perras 0:14:05.001 --> 0:14:09.160 Sheriff's Department, so he contacted the chief of detectives there, 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.841 John Fryar. He asked if Stacy was a confidential informant 0:14:12.921 --> 0:14:17.361 for anyone. John said, to his knowledge, Stacy never provided 0:14:17.441 --> 0:14:20.801 intel to any of his officers. But later, according to 0:14:20.801 --> 0:14:24.881 court documents, Jeromeless Straps said that he had talked to 0:14:24.881 --> 0:14:29.001 Stacy about working undercover with the Sheriff's office. He said 0:14:29.481 --> 0:14:33.241 when she told him about people dealing drugs and her 0:14:33.241 --> 0:14:36.401 suspicion that his death was not a homicide, jerome Le 0:14:36.521 --> 0:14:40.241 Strap said he advised Stacy that because she had two 0:14:40.281 --> 0:14:43.441 young daughters, this type of work might be dangerous for her. 0:14:43.961 --> 0:14:46.001 He said that he told her if she had information 0:14:46.001 --> 0:14:48.481 about Kevin's death, that she should get in touch with 0:14:48.481 --> 0:14:52.241 a detective in charge of that investigation. We found out 0:14:52.321 --> 0:14:56.961 something else, potentially more evidence that the men who came 0:14:57.001 --> 0:14:59.441 to the store that night, the ones who Virginia saw 0:14:59.481 --> 0:15:04.121 in the black car, may have been targeting Stacy, because 0:15:04.161 --> 0:15:07.161 there are things about Stacy's murder that were different from 0:15:07.161 --> 0:15:10.601 Marty and Nicole. Now, these differences might not mean anything. 0:15:11.081 --> 0:15:14.521 On the other hand, they could be important clues. Marty 0:15:14.561 --> 0:15:17.281 and Nicole were both shot in the back of the head. 0:15:17.521 --> 0:15:21.041 Stacy was shot in the face. She was also shot 0:15:21.121 --> 0:15:23.281 once in the back of the head, but that was 0:15:23.321 --> 0:15:27.121 only after her head was turned around from the first shot, 0:15:27.281 --> 0:15:30.721 so Stacy was the only one who faced her killer. 0:15:31.681 --> 0:15:35.161 We also learned more details about Virginia Johnson, the witness. 0:15:35.881 --> 0:15:38.921 She testified that the men she saw that night at 0:15:39.041 --> 0:15:43.681 Kk's were there for Stacy. Remember, Virginia went to care 0:15:44.121 --> 0:15:46.921 Corner on July fifth. She arrived there at about eleven 0:15:46.961 --> 0:15:49.521 forty five pm to get gas. She went in and 0:15:49.521 --> 0:15:52.841 bought ten dollars worth of gas from Marty. At that time, 0:15:52.921 --> 0:15:55.281 she said, Stacy was mopping up and closing the store. 0:15:55.721 --> 0:15:58.761 Nicole was sitting on the counter. While Virginia was in 0:15:58.841 --> 0:16:01.881 the store. A black car pulled up to the side entrance. 0:16:02.561 --> 0:16:05.241 One man came into the store. He walked straight back 0:16:05.281 --> 0:16:08.601 toward the beer coolers. The other one bumped into Virginia 0:16:08.641 --> 0:16:11.321 as she was walking out to her car. That's the 0:16:11.361 --> 0:16:14.681 guy who she described for the first composite drawing, and 0:16:14.841 --> 0:16:19.081 later under hypnosis she remembered more details about the second man. 0:16:19.681 --> 0:16:23.841 She later identified Tomas Cisco in a lineup. So we 0:16:23.961 --> 0:16:26.881 know all that, But we got a transcript of the 0:16:26.881 --> 0:16:31.281 testimony that Virginia gave at Tomasisko's murder trial. She testified 0:16:31.321 --> 0:16:34.401 that as she was walking out of Kk's, she heard 0:16:34.601 --> 0:16:37.241 Marty and Nicole talking about the guys that came in. 0:16:37.841 --> 0:16:41.721 She said she heard Marty say, well, they're here for her, 0:16:42.601 --> 0:16:46.441 meaning that the two two men were there for Stacy. 0:16:46.481 --> 0:16:50.001 This would presumably mean that the two men were people 0:16:50.001 --> 0:16:53.761 who the employees knew and felt comfortable enough letting into 0:16:53.761 --> 0:16:57.761 the store after closing. So why were these two men 0:16:57.841 --> 0:17:03.321 there for Stacy? These murders happened within a small window 0:17:03.361 --> 0:17:07.120 of time. Marty Lebuff drove a green and tan nineteen 0:17:07.161 --> 0:17:11.041 eighty seven Ford Bronco. Stacy drove a brown nineteen eighty 0:17:11.041 --> 0:17:14.321 six Buick Skylark. Both of those vehicles were parked at 0:17:14.360 --> 0:17:18.201 kk's corner all night. Virginia said the car she saw 0:17:18.241 --> 0:17:20.321 pull up to Kk's while she was paying for gas 0:17:20.761 --> 0:17:24.761 was a sporty, black two door late eighties vehicle similar 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:27.840 to a Chevrolet Spectrum. She said the truck that she 0:17:27.961 --> 0:17:31.761 saw was a red mid sized pickup truck. After leaving 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:35.961 kk's corner, Virginia picked her boyfriend up at work. They 0:17:36.001 --> 0:17:39.801 both told investigators they drove back past kk's corner. The 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:43.840 boyfriend remembers they were having a conversation about kk's. He 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.160 said he glanced down at the clock in his truck. 0:17:46.721 --> 0:17:49.481 It said twelve forty two, but it was ten minutes fast, 0:17:49.521 --> 0:17:52.561 so it was actually twelve thirty two at that time. 0:17:52.641 --> 0:17:55.841 At twelve thirty two am, they saw that black car 0:17:56.001 --> 0:17:59.161 still there and a red truck with a passenger door open. 0:18:00.161 --> 0:18:03.120 The store was closed, but the lights inside the store 0:18:03.121 --> 0:18:06.321 were still on, which Virginia told police she believed was odd. 0:18:06.921 --> 0:18:09.441 She made a comment to her boyfriend that maybe someone 0:18:09.441 --> 0:18:12.841 could be robbing the store, but her boyfriend said, all right, 0:18:12.881 --> 0:18:16.481 girl whatever. From what she told police, it sounded like 0:18:16.561 --> 0:18:20.481 he wasn't taking her too seriously, and so they went home. 0:18:21.521 --> 0:18:24.561 Someone else saw the truck too, because a few minutes 0:18:24.641 --> 0:18:28.281 before that, another woman who later talked to police, said 0:18:28.361 --> 0:18:31.001 she drove through the kk's parking lot at around twelve 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:34.441 fifteen am. She also noticed the red truck and the 0:18:34.481 --> 0:18:36.201 black car in the parking lot. 0:18:36.681 --> 0:18:37.761 There were a lot. 0:18:37.601 --> 0:18:40.401 Of people going into and out of this parking lot 0:18:40.401 --> 0:18:43.681 that night. This was a busy store in a busy area. 0:18:44.681 --> 0:18:47.840 Deputy Terry Gillery, who found the bodies in the cooler 0:18:47.881 --> 0:18:50.241 the next morning, was also on duty the night of 0:18:50.321 --> 0:18:50.921 July fifth. 0:18:51.481 --> 0:18:53.441 He said that he had driven through the parking lot. 0:18:53.481 --> 0:18:56.401 At around eleven PM, he said he saw Stacy behind 0:18:56.401 --> 0:18:59.840 the counter and waved at her. Later, at around one 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:03.321 thirty am, the man who folded the morning papers was 0:19:03.321 --> 0:19:06.521 in the parking lot. By that time, the black car 0:19:06.601 --> 0:19:10.161 and the truck were gone. At two am, Terry Gillery 0:19:10.241 --> 0:19:12.920 passed by again he saw the guy who folded the 0:19:12.921 --> 0:19:15.681 morning papers in the parking lot. He noticed that Stacy 0:19:15.721 --> 0:19:19.721 and Marty's vehicles were still parked there. So whatever happened 0:19:19.721 --> 0:19:23.281 at Kk's Corner, it started after Virginia left the store 0:19:23.641 --> 0:19:27.161 and after Marty's dad called at midnight to tell him 0:19:27.281 --> 0:19:30.001 he had to plate a barbecue left out for him. 0:19:30.241 --> 0:19:34.721 Whatever happened happened fast, because at twelve oh six am, Sherwood, 0:19:34.761 --> 0:19:36.921 carpenter at the assistant manager, called the store. 0:19:37.521 --> 0:19:39.241 He said the phone kept ringing. 0:19:40.001 --> 0:19:42.521 Sherwood says that when no one answered, he figured the 0:19:42.521 --> 0:19:47.801 employees had already gone home. Stacey, Marty and Nicole were 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:50.601 almost certainly dead in the cooler by then. 0:19:51.881 --> 0:19:54.321 So what happened during that crucial few minutes. 0:19:55.361 --> 0:19:58.120 We talked to Kenny Klin, the owner of Kk's Corner, 0:19:58.281 --> 0:19:59.441 who the initials are named for. 0:20:00.481 --> 0:20:02.361 He said, you know, I don't want you to touch anything. 0:20:02.561 --> 0:20:04.161 I just want you to tell me what you see. 0:20:04.561 --> 0:20:07.361 So then when I walked in the store, eventually, when 0:20:07.361 --> 0:20:10.081 I got to the back room where I saw that 0:20:10.161 --> 0:20:12.600 Stacey and Marty did their shift report, which is the 0:20:12.641 --> 0:20:14.761 paperwork that you do when the shift is over. As 0:20:14.761 --> 0:20:17.081 soon as I saw that they had done their shift report, 0:20:17.961 --> 0:20:21.361 I told Lucky Lush I said the store was closed. 0:20:21.481 --> 0:20:22.721 And he looked at me and he said, what do 0:20:22.761 --> 0:20:26.121 you mean. I said, because Stacey and Marty sometimes they 0:20:26.201 --> 0:20:28.640 might cheat a little bit. They were experienced a poison. 0:20:28.681 --> 0:20:31.160 They knew I would allow it. They may have, you know, 0:20:31.601 --> 0:20:33.680 let you say the store, the store closed at midnight. 0:20:34.281 --> 0:20:36.321 You know, maybe they might do their paperwork at ten 0:20:36.321 --> 0:20:38.840 minutes to midnight, maybe five minutes, just assuming not another 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:41.321 customer will come in. And if another customer would come 0:20:41.361 --> 0:20:42.880 in and spend maybe three or four dollars, said they 0:20:42.881 --> 0:20:45.160 would just let the next based cash. You're ringing that up, 0:20:45.201 --> 0:20:46.561 just as they could get out of there in a 0:20:46.601 --> 0:20:49.880 timely manner. So, had they done exactly what they're supposed 0:20:49.881 --> 0:20:52.521 to do, which is closed at midnight, do their paperwork, 0:20:53.321 --> 0:20:55.281 you don't do the paperwork to You're almost certain that 0:20:55.361 --> 0:20:58.641 the stores closed. So when I saw that, I said, well, 0:20:58.761 --> 0:21:00.561 you know they had to let somebody in. 0:21:01.441 --> 0:21:04.441 One of the registers, register too, was closed out at 0:21:04.441 --> 0:21:08.441 eleven PM. The other register, register one was closed out 0:21:08.441 --> 0:21:12.521 at midnight after closing the store, and the Z tape 0:21:12.601 --> 0:21:15.641 was still attached to the register. So that was strange, 0:21:15.681 --> 0:21:18.321 Kenny said, because what was supposed to happen was that 0:21:18.361 --> 0:21:21.001 the employees would detach the Z tape from the register 0:21:21.601 --> 0:21:23.721 and then they would go into the office to finish 0:21:23.801 --> 0:21:24.801 completing their report. 0:21:25.441 --> 0:21:26.281 They would check to. 0:21:26.281 --> 0:21:29.361 See whether they came up short, whether everything was reconciled, 0:21:29.481 --> 0:21:31.080 whether the math worked, how. 0:21:31.041 --> 0:21:32.761 Much money was made, et cetera. 0:21:33.441 --> 0:21:36.360 Then the employee would finish up in the office, bring 0:21:36.401 --> 0:21:39.201 the clipboard back out, and put the Z tape under 0:21:39.241 --> 0:21:42.841 the clipboard. So is it was my understanding from reading 0:21:42.881 --> 0:21:45.921 that that what happened was the employee would they'd cash 0:21:45.961 --> 0:21:48.001 out the register and excuse me if I don't get 0:21:48.001 --> 0:21:50.521 the terminology right, But then the receipt would print out 0:21:50.561 --> 0:21:52.441 and they were supposed to take it to the back office, 0:21:52.961 --> 0:21:54.920 run the numbers, and then come back and put this 0:21:55.041 --> 0:21:56.241 put it back on a clipboard. 0:21:56.321 --> 0:21:58.241 Is that right? Oh, they would do that in the 0:21:58.241 --> 0:21:58.600 back room. 0:21:58.641 --> 0:22:00.281 That's what I'm saying. When I went to the back. 0:22:00.201 --> 0:22:01.841 A Z tape just closed out the day. 0:22:01.961 --> 0:22:04.441 God, we ran two we ran two ships, the day ship, 0:22:04.681 --> 0:22:06.721 and then at night when we closed, they would run 0:22:06.721 --> 0:22:08.121 a Z tape which clears. 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:09.601 Everything out for that day. I see. 0:22:09.761 --> 0:22:11.121 And then what they would do is they would take 0:22:11.121 --> 0:22:13.521 that tape and let's just for an even amount of money. 0:22:13.601 --> 0:22:15.481 Let's just say they did a thousand dollars in sales. 0:22:15.801 --> 0:22:18.360 Then they would take everything out of their drawer and 0:22:18.481 --> 0:22:20.321 let's just say they start to shift for two hundred dollars, 0:22:20.321 --> 0:22:22.041 they would they would put the two hundred dollars back 0:22:22.041 --> 0:22:24.281 in the drawer, and then they should have one thousand dollars. 0:22:24.361 --> 0:22:27.121 It should balance and they would count one thousand dollars. 0:22:27.281 --> 0:22:29.281 They would put that in an envelope, put it down 0:22:29.321 --> 0:22:31.920 the safe. There were two slots in the safe. They 0:22:31.921 --> 0:22:34.081 would put that down the safe. Then they would take 0:22:34.121 --> 0:22:35.961 their Z tape. Then they would and there was a 0:22:35.961 --> 0:22:38.441 clipboard in the back, and they would write down there. 0:22:38.641 --> 0:22:41.360 I guess, for lack of a better word, to shift reconciliation. 0:22:42.161 --> 0:22:45.441 Kenny said, it appears as though Stacy was interrupted in 0:22:45.441 --> 0:22:48.600 the middle of this process. This made him believe the 0:22:48.641 --> 0:22:52.801 store had been closed, Stacey closed out the register, and then, 0:22:52.961 --> 0:22:56.081 for whatever reason, maybe because Stacey and Marty were comfortable 0:22:56.080 --> 0:22:58.881 with the people who came in after closing, they let 0:22:58.921 --> 0:23:02.321 them stay. It seems as though they were completing their 0:23:02.441 --> 0:23:06.801 routine task right before they were interrupted. The very last 0:23:06.801 --> 0:23:09.521 thing that employees were supposed to do after reconciling the 0:23:09.561 --> 0:23:13.161 registers and cleaning was to punch in their individual four 0:23:13.161 --> 0:23:16.721