Joshua Ford, U.S. Army Veteran and Martha Margene Crutchley
Benjamin and Erika Sifrit murdered tourists Joshua Ford, 32, and Martha Crutchley, 51, on May 25, 2002 in Ocean City, Maryland. In 2003, Benjamin Sifrit was sentenced to 38 years in prison for one homicide and the dismemberment of human bodies and his wife Erika was sentenced to life in prison plus twenty years for two homicides. Benjamin Sifrit was a Navy Seal who was dishonorably discharged shortly after marrying Erika.
In the News:
From the outside, Benjamin and Erika Sifrit looked like a typical young middle-class married couple. But behind closed doors, their marriage harbored dark secrets that included drugs and an obsession with stealing Hooters memorabilia. When their vices were no longer fulfilling their needs, they turned to something more sinister – thrill killing. (Part 1)
Ocean City’s ‘Thrill Kill’ Couple (Part 2)
Ocean City’s ‘Thrill Kill’ Couple (Part 3)
Forensic Files:
Full Episode: The couple spent Memorial Day weekend at the beach, and then they simply vanished. Their clothes and personal items were still in the rented condo, their car was parked outside, and there were no signs of forced entry or foul play. A week later, police would get an unexpected lead from a robbery in progress, and the evidence they found helped them to solve a crime of unparalleled violence and brutality. -Dirty Little Seacret, Forensic Files (S13, E47)
Oxygen:
A young woman’s scrapbook offers insight into a shocking crime. -Erika Sifrit, Snapped (S8,E11)
A vacationing couple’s disappearance exposes the horrific crimes of a murderous husband and wife. -Erika and BJ Sifrit, Killer Couples (S11,E2)
Investigation Discovery:
In 2002, Erika and BJ Sifrit’s vacation in Ocean City, MD ended with them in the back of a squad car arrested for armed robbery. When two dismembered bodies were later unearthed, the connection between the two crimes would reveal a grisly murder. -Ocean City, Sins and Secrets (S2,E8)
A seemingly perfect young couple is concealing a sinful life of crime and sexual depravity. Then later, a threesome of lovers ends in a bizarre homicide and cover-up. -Killers on the Run, Deadly Sins (S3,E9)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
ID Go: An abandoned car belonging to missing sailor Nicholas Cox turns up in a parking lot. Inside, Demery uncovers a grisly cache of blood evidence, but no Cox. In order to find justice for his fallen brother-in-arms, Demery must first locate his body. -Friendly Fire, Murder Chose Me (S1, E3)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.
Machinist’s Mate Fireman Apprentice Bryant L. Davis, 20, US Navy, died of a non combat death on November 7, 2001. Davis was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the North Arabian Sea. The Department of Defense reported in the press release that Davis was declared deceased after falling overboard. Search and rescue efforts were conducted but after a couple of days were halted.
Now, his family and friends are searching for an explanation. The Pentagon has provided no details on how the accident occurred, they said. “I don’t know what happened to my baby,” said Helen Davis, his grandmother. “I’m looking for answers. I will not stop until I get an answer.” –Chicago Tribune
Navy sailor Lea Anne Brown and her friend Michael Patten were found murdered execution style in Accokeek, near Fort Washington, Maryland on June 10, 2001. They were randomly selected in a church parking lot in Fort Washington by a group of men who wanted to rob them and steal their car. They beat Lea Anne and Michael and then stuffed them in the trunk of Michael’s car; afterwards they drove them to nearby Accokeek, fatally shot them in the head, and left their bodies in a wooded area. In 2002, Eric Thomas was found guilty of both murders and sentenced to life in prison. Aaron Hollingsworth received a 30 year prison sentence in exchange for his testimony. Cortez Carroll confessed to shooting Lea Anne and he faced the death penalty but plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. Robert Odum, Jr. received 60 years in prison for two counts of kidnapping but was acquitted on the robbery and murder charges. And Marco Scutchings-Butler or Marco Butler was acquitted of the murders. in 2004, a Maryland Appellate court overturned the conviction for Robert Odum, Jr. and granted him a new trial because the court said Prince George’s police broke the rules. At Odum’s new trial in 2005, a Prince George’s County jury convicted him of two counts of kidnapping and he was sentenced to two terms of 30 years in prison. The judge ordered that his 30 year sentences be served consecutively in addition to a 10-year sentence he was serving for a separate carjacking.
Preview:Two dead, one of them a beautiful Navy sailor. Why does this case still haunt the agents who hunted the killer? -48 Hours NCIS
In 1999, 18-year-old Katrina Bridges and 21-year-old Chris Ingraham were head over heels in love. Chris was the all American guy and he was in the U.S. Navy. He was the guy everybody loved to be around. It was a magical time for both of them that is until Katrina found out she was pregnant only three months after they began dating. Chris didn’t run away, he wanted to do the right thing, and he wanted to be a dad. Chris agreed to move to Maine from New York so Katrina could be close to her family. Chris needed to provide for the family so he got a job at the local Naval base as a clerk. Chris recognized he had a family and he was going to take care of them. The young couple had a supportive family including Katrina’s grandmother. But there’s something no one knew…Katrina had a serious problem. Cute little Katrina didn’t care who she took money from. And if she could steal from her own grandmother, she was capable of anything. Stealing was a bad habit Katrina had been doing for years. She stole from her school and family members in the past. Money was the object for her.
Katrina not only stole from friends and family but also the State of Maine. She received welfare benefits because she said there was no other income coming into the family even though Chris had a job. According to former FBI profiler Candice DeLong, compulsive thievery can be a sign of psychopathy and Katrina was a psychopath. DeLong explained that psychopaths steal because it makes them feel good, it’s a thrill, and they think they pulled one over on someone. The higher the risk, the more fun it is for them. And every time they get away with it, that buys them more time to steal something bigger and more valuable. Katrina’s life was all lies and she was a fraud. But one day, Katrina’s thieving ways were discovered. Her grandmother reported that some checks were missing and discovered Katrina had forged some checks and tried to cash them. Chris was appalled and when he confronted her, Katrina denied it. Chris reminded her that she stole from him, she stole from family, and he had enough.
Chris Ingraham didn’t know what to do; it was about money and trust. He was nervous about her raising their son because of some of the trust issues. He told Katrina that if she didn’t get professional help, he was leaving and taking their son with him. Chris gave her an ultimatum and this was most likely Katrina’s breaking point. Then one day, they got a knock at the door. It was a door-to-door life insurance salesman and this gave Katrina another option. When Chris got a life insurance policy for $15,000 that paid double indemnity in the event of an accident, Katrina saw a mountain of gold. So now there was a lot of money at stake. In Jonesboro, Maine on January 2, 2001, Katrina Bridges staged a robbery in her own home. Again, she was looking for money and she took some of Chris’ video games and sold them for a few dollars a piece. She called Chris at work and told him they had been burglarized. She told him they stole his shot gun and his video games. He told her to call the police…but she never did.
When Chris got home, he discovered that the shot gun was still there, no jewelry was missing, but the playstation games were gone. He knew that no one had broken into their home. He figured out that she took his games and sold them. He confronted Katrina and again she denied it. He told her he was done with her and the situation. The stage was set. Now Katrina had Chris exactly where she wanted him: defenseless and sound asleep. She didn’t have to go through with the murder but psychopaths are cool, calm and collected even when committing the most serious of crimes. She had no problem committing the murder, no guilt, no remorse, only nerves of steel. Katrina went into the marital bedroom and shot Chris once in the head while he lay asleep but the one shot didn’t kill Chris. Katrina attempted to shoot him a second time but the gun wasn’t working properly. So she just left him struggling for his life, took the child, and left the home. Now she needed to create an alibi. Katrina cut her hair and went to her mother’s house. She told her mother she was kidnapped by Canadian drug dealers.
Katrina said Canadian drug dealers broke into her house so she fled but was worried about what may have happened to Chris. The only reason for Katrina to cut her hair was to get rid of any blood smears or powder burns or powder soot that may have come from the gun when she fired it. Some ten hours after the shooting, Katrina finally went to the police. The police immediately went to the house to check on Chris and he was still alive and taken to the hospital; 24 hours later he died. Katrina told the cops there were two intruders and one of them raped Chris but the cops didn’t believe her story. Once Katrina realized her first story wasn’t believable, she changed her story and said Chris was depressed and he wanted them both to commit suicide. Now it was suddenly a murder-suicide pact. The police asked Katrina who pulled the trigger. Katrina said Chris wanted to commit suicide but he didn’t have the guts to do it himself and asked Katrina to do it. She put the gun to his head, she said she thought the safety was on, but then she pulled the trigger and the gun went off.
The cops arrested her on the spot because of her implausible stories and a history of lies, robbery, and Chris’ life insurance policy. It all pointed to her guilt. In 2003, Katrina Bridges was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to forty-seven (47) years in prison. Profiler DeLong summarized, “Katrina Bridges was cute, she was a pretty one, but she was pretty poison.” For Katrina, it wasn’t about the money, the lies and the thieving were fun. There were no indications Katrina had a drug problem, so what was she doing with the money? She didn’t need the money, she did it because it was fun but the consequences for those around her were devastating. Katrina Bridges was calculating, manipulative, secretive, and devious…and she’s right where she belongs.
With hearts of stone, these Deadly Women give their men special send-offs when “Love Leaves Town.” A young mom prefers her vices to her boyfriend. -Love Leaves Town, Deadly Women (S10, E12)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
ID Go: When landowner Jeff Brisebois is found shot to the head in the bedroom of his Hawaii plantation home, police uncover angry neighbors, disgruntled tenants, estranged family members — and soon find themselves with an island full of suspects. -Warm Revolver, Devil in the Details (S1, E4)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.
Navy Petty Officer James Kuenn, 40, was found guilty on February 9, 2000 for the first-degree murder of his teen girlfriend Carol Hutto on December 13, 1976 in Largo, Florida. Carol Hutto’s half-brother found her dead in a pond in the neighborhood; she was weighed down with cement blocks. An autopsy revealed Carol was hit and strangled, lost consciousness, and then thrown in the water alive. Initially, police suspected Carol’s half-brother committed the crime but they did not have enough evidence to charge him so the case went unsolved for nearly two decades. Then in 1994, two Largo Police Department investigators reopened the cold case.
The detective’s determination to find the killer led them to a former Largo resident who by then was an eleven year Navy veteran stationed at U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut. In 1996, DNA testing was making it’s way into police departments across the country so the investigators submitted several unknown hairs to the FBI lab. But they needed a sample of Kuenn’s DNA to see if it was a match. Investigator’s obtained a search warrant to get the DNA via a blood sample and used the interrogation to elicit a confession while they waited for the results. Since Kuenn was active duty Navy, detectives brought in the Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) in Mayport, Florida to assist with the interrogation.
On July 15, 1998, the NCIS used the interrogation to push Kuenn into a confession. Investigators had no physical evidence linking Kuenn to the scene but that didn’t stop them from bluffing and hoping Kuenn would cave. Kuenn eventually admitted to investigators that the whole thing was an accident and he brought Carol to the lake to cover up the crime. Kuenn claimed that Carol tripped and fell and became unconscious so he took off her clothes to make it look like someone else did it. Despite Kuenn’s tears, detectives believed he was lying because Carol’s injuries did not come from an accidental trip and fall; they came from blunt force trauma and strangulation. Kuenn was charged with murder, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years.
“Kuenn recalled the fateful night when he and Carol met at the house under construction. They kissed but the young woman was reluctant to have sex with him. As she struggled, her screams rang out through the foggy night air. Kuenn, under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, hit her with a 2 by 4 to quiet her. He then dumped her in the pond, where she drowned, according to the autopsy.” –Tampa Bay Times
16-year-old Carol Hutto is a dependable friend, daughter and sister. She’s a good student, loves wrestling and hanging out with friends. So when she misses her curfew one evening, her mother knows something awful has happened. -Swamp Murders
Full Episode: In 1992, Laura Houghteling disappeared from her Bethesda home and was never seen again. Five days later, police discovered a bloody pillow and pillowcase lying in the woods near Laura’s house. Laura’s bedroom was then searched and forensic science was used to direct them a to prime suspect. -Beaten By a Hair, Forensic Files (S3,E9)
Editor’s Note: Full episodes of Forensic Files are available on a variety of media platforms. Forensic Files Channel features full episodes of Forensic Files on YouTube. You can also find full episodes of Forensic Files on both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. On Netflix, the seasons are grouped as collection 1-9. On Amazon Prime Video, you can find Season 1-10 here; Season 11; Season 12; Season 13; Season 14; Season 15; Season 16; Season 17; Season 18; Season 19; Season 20; and Season 21. Start bingeing and see for yourself why Forensic Files is such a hit!
Offender: Michael Dean Overstreet Occupation: US Navy veteran (discharged for psychological problems after one month), construction, frequently unemployed Pathology: Stranger abduction, rape, and murder by strangulation, shot victim in forehead Dates: September 27, 1997 Location: Franklin, Indiana, moved body to Atterbury Wildlife Preserve (Brown County) Motive: Hunted prey, lured victim, stranger abduction, rape & murder Victim: Kelly Eckart (18), Franklin College student M.O.: Stalked at work, followed home after work shift, bumped her car while both driving on road, abducted after she pulled over Conviction: Sentenced to death (July 31, 2000), Indiana court ruled not competent to be executed in 2014, still on death row Status: Incarcerated, death row Appearance: Blanket of Evidence (Forensic Files); All-American Sweethearts (Murder Comes to Town); Death Row (Real Stories); First Love, Forever Evil (Evil Lives Here) Red Flags: Deprived and abusive childhood, Schizotypal Personality Disorder, mother failed to seek mental health for him, got in fights, bully in high school, went to jail for having a gun at school, isolated & controlled significant other, stalking, threatening, long history of domestic abuse, obsession with weaponry especially knives, always carried a knife, owned firearms, threatened wife with knife, grabbed wife by throat & pointed gun at her head (shot it next to her head), threatened wife with rifle, unexplained absences, secret life/two lives, hallucinations, volatile temper, unpredictable, paranoid, admitted to wife he killed people (delusional thoughts), psychological deterioration, liked killing animals, spent a lot of time alone in the woods, obsessed with media after crimes committed, wife afraid to call the police with suspicions, one misdemeanor in criminal history, loves his family & two children, model prisoner
In the News:
A northern Indiana judge is nearing a decision on whether a man convicted of abducting and killing a Franklin College student in 1997 should be put to death. -RTV6 The Indy Channel (November 13, 2014)
Overstreet ruled not competent to face death penalty. -WTHR (November 20, 2014)
Full Episode: Housing 1900 inmates, 12 of whom are on death row, Trevor spends two weeks in the dark and forbidding world of Indiana State Maximum Security Prison. He hears from men who know what it is like to live under the shadow of the death penalty and even the date and time they will die. -Indiana Death Row, Part 1, Real Stories (August 28, 2017)
Full Episode: Indiana Death Row | Part 2 | Real Stories (August 30, 2017)
Forensic Files:
Full Episode: A young woman disappeared after working the late shift in a department store. Days later, her body was found in an isolated ravine. Tiny clues told police a great deal about the killer. He would own olive-colored carpeting, a white blanket, and distinctive bullets made from wax, not lead. -Blanket of Evidence, Forensic Files (S11, E38)
Investigation Discovery:
Eighteen-year-old Kelly Eckart disappears one night after finishing up her shift at a local hardware store. Hours later her car is discovered abandoned by the side of the road, still running, but Kelly is nowhere to be found. -All-American Sweethearts, Murder Comes to Town (S1, E3)
Melissa Holland was certain that her high school boyfriend, Michael Overstreet, was the man she’d always dreamed of. But only after they were married did she begin to realize that her determination to live happily ever after had put her in mortal danger. -First Love, Forever Evil, Evil Lives Here (S3, E6)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
Just off the coast of Spain, the U.S.S. Forrestal cruised through open waters on the Mediterranean Sea. This particular aircraft carrier had the ability to unleash total devastation on the enemy. But below deck, one Navy sailor was fighting off an enemy in his body. Lt. Lee Hartley was complaining of diarrhea and lethargy. He also experienced excessive weight loss and there was a grayness to his skin. Hartley was a career Navy sailor, having served nineteen years, and the Lt. in the ship’s disciplinary office. A month into his current deployment, Lee became violently ill with severe stomach pains and a strange tingling in his hands and feet. He was treated by the ship’s medics for gastrointestinal problems. A couple weeks went by and the symptoms reappeared, each time getting progressively worst. The onboard medics thought maybe he was exposed to something in a foreign port.
Lee Hartley also assumed it was food or water he consumed while visiting one of the foreign ports. Whatever the cause, Lee’s symptoms were spiraling out of control. He endured nearly two months of agony. When Lee wasn’t getting better, the Navy decided to ship him off to a hospital so he was medi-vaced to Jacksonville, Florida. Lee’s wife Pamela rushed to his bedside. Pam and Lee were newlyweds; they were married a year earlier. Doctors ran a battery of tests to help make a diagnosis. Some believed he might have liver disease or hepatitis or even some kind of poisoning but they couldn’t come up with a definitive diagnosis. Lee commented to multiple people that he thought he was dying because he was so gravely ill. On November 18, 1982, after nearly five months of terrible suffering, Lt. Lee Hartley succumbed to massive organ failure.
Before he set out on his final deployment, Lee Hartley was living the life he had always dreamed of. Lee loved the Navy and his family was very proud of him. He joined the Navy as an enlisted man and then became an officer. Lee was happy with Pam and was looking forward to the end of long deployments so he could spend more time with her. They didn’t have children of their own but Lee had a daughter from a previous marriage. Pam was now a devastated widow and waited for the autopsy to determine the cause of her husband’s death. When the results came back, they revealed Lee died from arsenic poisoning, nearly 1000 times the normal level. His liver, kidneys and blood was full of arsenic and Lee had enough arsenic in him to kill several people. Arsenic is a odorless, colorless, and tasteless chemical. This information led to a murder investigation.
An investigation was immediately launched to find out how that much arsenic entered Lee’s body. Investigators could not imagine how Lee came into contact with that much arsenic aboard a ship. Special Agents Jerry Whitaker and Walter O’Brien of the Naval Criminal Investigation Services (NCIS) were assigned to the case. The two actually knew Lee Hartley and served side by side on the U.S.S. Forrestal with him. They start with the simplest possibility: was this an accidental poisoning? They checked to see if there were large amounts of arsenic on the ship but that theory was instantly put to rest. The supply officer on the ship maintained records of everything that was onboard the ship and according to him, there was no substance on board the ship that contained arsenic. This meant there was no way Lee came into contact with arsenic onboard the ship, at least not by accident. Agents wondered if someone deliberately dosed Lt. Lee Hartley.
The NCIS agents broke the news to Lee’s family. When Pam found out about the arsenic poisoning, she reacted with shock. Pam’s mother-in-law was the one to break the news to Pam that someone may have killed her husband. The agents didn’t know who killed Lee but they knew how so they launched a search for suspects. They looked at who had something to gain if Lee died and one main suspect emerged, his wife Pamela Hartley. Pam had the motive because she stood to inherit a lifetime of military benefits but how did she poison her husband while he was on a ship thousands of miles away? When agents checked her travel itinerary, they discovered Pam traveled to port in Spain to spend time with Lee. Quite often, when a ship visits a foreign port, it’s common for a group of wives to visit that port. One of those wives was Pam Hartley.
Pam traveled to Spain and met with Lee and another military couple. On one of those days, Pam offered to cook breakfast for everyone and she even made drinks too. Soon after that visit, Lee got violently ill, along with his friend who had eaten breakfast with him. At the time, they both thought they got sick from drinking Spanish water, the friend recovered but Lee kept getting worse. Over the next two weeks, Lee had severe cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting so he reported to the ship’s medical department. Agents wondered if Pam laced her husband’s food and drink with arsenic during that Spanish shore leave. It was a chilling scenario but one that became more plausible as agents found out about Pam’s unique job experience. They learned that Pam worked at the Department of Energy facility in Akon, South Carolina for one year.
Pam used to be an environmental technician and one of her job duties was to analyze water samples to determine heavy metal levels. At her job site, she came in contact with a range of toxic chemicals, including arsenic. Was Pam the victim of circumstantial evidence or heartless black widow? Agents wanted to perform a polygraph because they were convinced she wouldn’t pass. She was their prime suspect because she had the opportunity to spike her husband’s food and drinks when she went to Spain at his port of call. On the surface, there was nothing suspicious about Pam so agents conducted interviews of Hartley’s neighbors. The pair appeared to have a normal family and were described as nice people. But gossip soon found its way from officer’s wives club and this information painted another picture.
With their husbands overseas, the Navy wives would get together at parties and drink. And after a few drinks, they weren’t afraid to say anything. There was talk among the wives that life was so much better when the men were at sea. Some even suggested they get rid of them. But it was a party atmosphere so nobody really took it seriously, except maybe Pam. In one interview, Pam made a comment to a friend about hiring a hitman to kill Lee but was taken as a joke by the witness because they had been drinking. As special agents dug deeper, they found out Pam and Lee were having some marital problems. Pam was a free spirit who liked to go to the officer’s club and dance with other men. Apparently, this made Lee extremely jealous. And Lee may have had reason to be jealous because Pam admitted to friends that while Lee was off at sea, she found it to be difficult to be faithful.
For NCIS agents, it all added up to a classic scenario: a bored wife feels trapped in her marriage so she poisons her husband… Under questioning, Pam insisted that she loved Lee and swore she has nothing to do with his death. And she agreed to take a polygraph test to prove her innocence. Agents were convinced she wouldn’t pass the polygraph but the results indicated that she wasn’t being deceitful. The agents concluded Pam didn’t have anything to do with Lee’s death. In addition, lab results blew a hole in their theory because the toxicology analysis on Lee’s hair pinpointed the dates he was exposed to the arsenic. His first dose was before Pam’s trip to Spain. Hair grows about a centimeter a month and testing of the hair provided a timeline of when the poison entered his body. The hair samples indicated that Lee was poisoned 5-6 months prior to his death.
The arsenic timeline showed Lee Hartley was first poisoned while Pam was thousands of miles away in Jacksonville, she had a persuasive chemical alibi. Armed with the new evidence that Lee was poisoned while on board the U.S.S. Forrestal, NCIS agents confronted a massive crime scene. The U.S.S. Forrestal was a floating city with 5000 potential suspects. And like any large city, the carrier had personnel dedicated to maintaining law and order. As the ship’s discipline officer, when sailors ran afoul with Navy regulations, it was up to Lee to administer punishment. This likely didn’t make him a lot of friends on board. Because of his work, Lee was exposed to people who might have had a grudge or an axe to grind against the Navy or the legal office or a person. As agents conducted more interviews, they learned of a disturbing rumor involving Lee.
During the investigation, there was an indication that Lee had received an anonymous death threat. The rumor about the death threat was backed up by Lee’s parents. They told agents what Lee shared with them while he was home in Mayport. Lee told them he was walking about the ship when someone angrily confronted him. Now Agents wanted to eliminate or find somebody who may help them understand what happened. A search of Lee’s cabin revealed a clue. They found a collection of letters written by Lee himself. In one of those letters, Lee described a near death confrontation with another sailor aboard the ship. He described how he came across someone who had a sword. But, if there was an altercation, Lee never reported to his superiors. Why would Lee choose to keep it secret but share it with his parents? Was Lee leaving a trail of evidence?
Pamela and Verle Lee Hartley, U.S. Navy (photo: CBS)
In an effort to track down subjects, agents used Lee’s toxicity reports which showed a continuous pattern of poisoning over a 5-6 month period of time. Agents shared when investigating poisoning deaths, you need to establish an opportunity of who during that time would have had access to both Lee and poison. There were spikes in Lee’s arsenic levels during his deployment at sea, at the port of call in Spain, and even when he was at the hospital in Jacksonville. One person who was at Lee’s side throughout his months of agony was his cabin mate Lt. Samuel Yates. They seemed to get along well but tension builds up month after month when living in close proximity together trapped on a ship. Lee was also in direct competition with his roommate for advancement.
Both Lee Hartley and Lt. Yates wanted desperately to be promoted to Lt. Commander. Was there a feud simmering between them, a rivalry that turned deadly? As agents developed information on the roommate, rumors began to circulate that had already been rampant on the ship. After Lee’s death, Lt. Yates allegedly waisted no time going after his roommate’s young wife who was grieving and vulnerable. At Lee’s funeral, he paid his respects by reportedly seducing the pretty widow. Agents knew they needed to take a closer look at Yates. And when they did, they found a chilling piece of evidence. Lee’s cabin mate was asked to give them a blood sample to see if it tested positive for arsenic or other heavy metals. As a result, they learned Yates had some elevated amounts of arsenic in his blood stream, the same poison that killed Lee.
Lt. Yates’ low level arsenic exposure was consistent with someone who had handled the substance. But the test results were not remarkable because Yates would have been exposed to all the same environmental factors as Lee. If someone was trying to harm Lee, Yates could have easily been exposed to the same food and drinks in foreign ports. Although a lot of circumstantial evidence pointed to the roommate, a thorough search of Yates’ belongings showed no traces of arsenic. They could only conclude that Yates was a collateral victim of whoever was poisoning Lee. As suspects were eliminated one by one, agents had to consider the possibility that the suspect they were looking for may be Lee Hartley himself. One of the NCIS agents said when they don’t have anymore theories, they have to think outside the box. The agents considered that Lee may have ingested the arsenic intentionally.
It appeared Lee Hartley had everything going for him and he loved his job on the U.S.S. Forrestal. He also had a beautiful young wife waiting for him in Florida. But NCIS agents wondered if the image of that perfect life was just a sham. The two agents knew Lee while serving with him on the carrier. When they reflected back on their time with him, they did observe some unusual behavior. After lunch, Lee regularly met up with a small group and he always appeared disgruntled. They learned Lee was drinking heavily before his deployment and thought maybe he was going through some depression. Was Lee suicidal? Did he deliberately consume the arsenic to poison himself? The pair thought the odds were high that Lee ingested the poison and brought in in a psychologist to analyze Lee’s life and letters; they found no suicidal ideation in any of his writings.
The medical evidence in this case didn’t fit the pattern of someone trying to kill themselves. Typically in a suicide case, it would be a major ingestion of poison and then it would drop off. Lee was poisoned consistently over several months. He was in horrible condition to the point that he had an ulcerated esophagus, open sores in his mouth, couldn’t talk, and could’t eat. Would Lee have voluntarily chosen to kill himself in such a slow, agonizing way? They ruled out suicide and wondered if the poisoning was an attempt to help get him off the ship. Lee made some statements to family members that he really didn’t want to go on this last deployment and his heart wasn’t in it anymore. He was upset about having more sea duty. He wanted a stateside desk job close to his wife. Did he use the arsenic to get himself off the ship? Would they send him home?
Agents considered that maybe Lee wanted to take just enough of the poison to get himself sent back home. But arsenic doesn’t leave the body and instead builds up over time. The agents theorized Lee may not have understood its cumulative effect over time. Maybe, Lee didn’t realize it made him sicker and sicker with every dosage. Did his scheme backfire by taking one dose too many? This theory didn’t hold water though because there were no tell tale signs in Lee’s belongings that led anyone to believe he had handled arsenic. And toxicology evidence showed that the poisoning continued even after he got back to Jacksonville. NCIS had no choice but to put the latest theory to rest. At this point, they ran out of theories, suspects, and direction and chose to close the case.
Thirteen years later in 1995, NCIS formed a cold case homicide unit. Lee Hartley’s poisoning case was one of the first cases brought to their attention. Lee’s death was reviewed at headquarters and a new team of special agents were assigned. They quickly learned that all of the physical evidence in the Lee Hartley case had been destroyed. The team had to work the case the old fashioned way so they started re-interviewing people involved in the initial investigation. Agents said its helpful to go back and talk to people because their stories change and some are more willing to tell the truth after 10-15 years has passed. Agents spoke with family, friends, and neighbors and the same name that kept coming back up was the original suspect in the case, Pam Hartley. But their big break came when Lee Hartley’s brother-in-law helped them uncover the truth.
Pam’s brother knew the dynamics of Pam and Lee’s relationship so agents wanted to speak with him. The fact the case had been reopened after all these years, caught Pam’s brother by surprise and he dropped a bombshell no one expected. He shared that Pam tried to hire him to kill Lee and offered him some of the insurance money if he did it. He kept this secret for years and when agents interviewed him this time, he told them the truth. NCIS was now convinced Pam was the killer but building a case against her wasn’t going to be easy. After all, she passed a polygraph test that indicated no deception. When NCIS had the results re-examined by current staff, they found the findings of ‘no deception’ were probably erroneously reached. The results should have been inconclusive. It was more evidence of Pam’s involvement in Lee’s death.
But after so many years, they had no physical proof, no eyewitnesses, and no way to tie Pam to the actual crime. She also had what seemed to be an ironclad alibi. She was on the other side of the world when her husband was poisoned. If she was the killer, how did she do it? Could they get her to confess? They only had one shot and needed to get Pam alone, because thirteen years ago her controlling mother was beside her running interference. The cold case team placed Pam under surveillance and tracked her every move. They learned the years since Lee’s death had not been good to her. Having squandered her inheritance, she lived with her mother and struggled with substance abuse. She treated her addiction at a hospital on a military base. On one of those occasions, she arrived alone for the appointment. The NCIS used the structured environment of the Army base to conduct the interview.
This approach allowed NCIS to conduct an interview without Pam’s mother being there. Pam nervously agreed to answer their questions. They told her there was no doubt in their mind that she did it and most of the problems in her life were most likely attributed to what she had done to her husband. They played on her guilt and told her to put it behind her and tell the truth. Pam Hartley broke down and told them what she did. She told them everything and filled in the missing puzzle pieces. She didn’t want to be married anymore. She said she was miserable and hated how possessive Lee was. But, she really liked the status of being an officer’s wife and didn’t want to lose that lifestyle. She wanted him gone but wanted to maintain her status. It was almost the perfect murder. The last time she saw Lee, she bid him farewell and then ran to a feed store to purchase rat poison. Pam sent Lee poisoned treats while he was deployed at sea.
Like a model wife, Pam created treats for Lee because she knew he had a sweet tooth. Agents learned that both Lee and his cabin mate sampled some whiskey cake that she sent Lee. Yates said he ate one piece, it was too strong, and didn’t like it. Pam wanted Lee to die at sea but the call never came so she upped the anti and traveled to Spain to poison him in person at breakfast. But it still didn’t do the job. When Lee was airlifted to the hospital in Jacksonville, Pam rushed to his side. This time, she poisoned his apple juice. Pam gave Lee the lethal dose the night before he died while pretending to care about him. After Lee died, Pam took the rest of the poison and dumped it in a pond behind their house. Her persistence finally paid off; she collected on a lifetime of military benefits minus the annoying husband. How could she have hatched such a diabolical plot? When asked why poison, she said “ladies have been using poison for years.”
Pam’s confession sealed her fate. On October 16, 1996, Pamela Hartley pleaded guilty to second degree murder in a Florida state court. Agents reminded us that Pam had a psychotic personality. She didn’t think about the cause and effect on other people; she only thought of herself and the effect on her. After nineteen years of service, Lee Hartley didn’t die in battle, his mortal enemy was the one person he loved most. Not long before Lee’s death, Lee and Pam’s brother had a conversation where Lee told him if anything happened to him, his sister would be well taken care of. He died thinking he still needed to take care of Pam. Pamela received $35,000 in life insurance money, $10,000 a year in veterans benefits, and free military medical benefits for life. Lee was a good man and the pain from the loss endures. Pamela Hartley was sentenced to 40 years in a state prison and served 16 years when she was paroled.
When a Navy lieutenant onboard a US aircraft carrier falls victim to a rare case of arsenic poisoning, NCIS investigators must scour both land and sea for his killer. With no crime scene and little physical evidence, agents must separate rumor from truth and use their best interrogative know-how to solve a deadly crime. Follow real NCIS agents as they hunt down suspects on one of the world’s largest ships and after a long 13 years finally uncover the bizarre truth behind the poisoning death of a Lt. Lee Hartley. -Dark Minds in Crime
Investigation Discovery:
John Prudhont as NCIS Special Agent Tom Assimos and John Bridell as NCIS Special Agent Dave Early and Mocean Melvin as the Narrator in an edited clip from Season 4, Episode 13 of the Discovery ID TV show “Unusual Suspects.”
ID Go:In 1982, a Naval Officer dies from a mysterious illness. When toxicology reports reveal he was poisoned, Naval Investigators sift through a ship of thousands, and countless theories before the truth behind the victim’s painful death is revealed. -Maritime Murder, Unusual Suspects (S4,E13)
[CANNOT LOCATE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS SEASON 4 ON-LINE ANYWHERE]
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 