When a mysterious explosion rocks a sleepy suburb, it’s up to Kenda to ID a pile of charred remains and find the killer who triggered the blast. Then…a young mother’s murder leads the CSPD on a harrowing car chase that ends in a violent showdown. -Point of No Return, Homicide Hunter (S5,E13)
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.
Dateline featured ‘Prairie Confidential’ on August 13, 2018. It was a 2015 homicide case out of Minot, North Dakota. Nursing student and mom of three Angila Wilder didn’t show up for an important exam at school and her professor knew something was wrong. Angila was discovered stabbed to death in her bedroom in her North Dakota home. The crime appeared personal so the police started their investigation with Angila’s boyfriend and ex-husband. When Angila’s boyfriend Chris Jackson was interviewed, he pointed the finger at her ex-husband Richie Wilder, Jr. Angila met Richie in high school and soon after they married, they had a couple children together. Richie joined the Air Force and was stationed at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. But during their time there, things went awry with the marriage. Richie was court-martialed and convicted of domestic abuse. As a result, he was discharged from the Air Force and soon divorce followed. Richie remarried Cynthia, a kindergarten teacher, and they had a child together. Angila also moved on with Chris Jackson and they too had a child together. Angila was pregnant at the time of her murder.
Investigators found Angila’s blood in Richie’s car and Richie’s DNA was found under Angila’s fingernails. As a result, Richie Wilder was charged with murder and ordered to pre-trial confinement on a 2 million dollar bond. After a couple days in jail, Richie came forward with a “confession.” Richie told police he and Chris learned Angela was cheating on Chris and they hoped to catch her in the act so they could then have custody of their children. Richie said he picked up Chris at his place of employment, drove to Angila’s home, killed her together (an attempt to minimize his involvement yet explain DNA), and then dropped Chris back off at Wal-Mart. But the police looked at the video at Wal-Mart and it blew Richie’s “confession” out of the water. Chris was at work all night and never left the property. In December 2016, Richie Wilder Jr. was convicted of Angila’s murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. In May 2018, Cynthia Wilder took an Alford plea hoping the judge would go lenient on her but she was sentenced to life in prison without parole for conspiracy to commit murder. In the course of the investigation, police learned Cynthia and Richie Wilder planned Angila’s murder for two years.
In the News:
Richie Wilder, Jr Murder Trial -KFYR TV (January 17, 2017)
Cynthia Wilder Sentenced -KFYR TV (December 24, 2018)
Dateline NBC:
Trailer: A murder case considered closed by North Dakota detectives is suddenly reopened when a confidential informant comes forward with a tip about an unlikely suspect. -Dateline NBC (S26,E51)
A secret addiction drives a young woman to sacrifice her wheelchair bound employer; a scheming caregiver betrays the man who trusts her; and a single mother’s desire for a better life leads to a brutal dismemberment. -The Vulnerable, Deadly Women (S9, E13)
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.
When the lifeless body of Willie McCarty is found at the base of a staircase, neighbors direct Kenda to a mysterious truck spotted fleeing the scene. Then… Kenda must solve a bizarre case of poisoning at a busy downtown hospital. -Pop Goes the Witness, Homicide Hunter (S5,E10)
Lt Joe Kenda of Homicide Hunter featured another case where he was tasked with investigating what hospital officials suspected was an attempted murder. Upon arrival at the hospital, he was bombarded by the press because they heard the call for service over the scanner. The hospital was secure and police officers were on the scene. Upon an initial briefing, Lt Kenda discovered that a nurse suspected that someone had tampered with one of their patient’s IVs. Lt Kenda then interviewed Carol Taylor, the wife of an Army officer also present at the hospital with their two children.
Lt Kenda learned that Carol had broken her leg and had developed some blood clots. She was simply visiting with her husband and children when all of a sudden the alarm on the IV infusion machine went off. And somehow the IV had been pulled from her arm. Lt Kenda immediately began to suspect that someone was trying to kill her because it looked like someone had either tampered with or inserted something into the IV line. Because the crime lab was not proficient in the hospital’s medical equipment, they called in a hospital employee who was considered an expert. This person determined that someone had injected something into the line. The only other people in the room were her husband and children.
Lt Kenda started his next line of questioning with the husband. He learned that Lt Col Dennis Taylor served in the US Army for 27 years and was currently working as the Chief of Oral Surgery at the Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado. Lt Kenda observed that the doctor was unusually calm and appeared to be minimizing the event and brushing it off as a mistake. So then Lt Kenda went back to the wife and asked her if she thought that maybe her husband did this. The wife claimed she was fine and that everyone was making a big deal out of it and she just wanted it to go away. She claimed that they had a great marriage and life. Lt Joe Kenda had a hard time believing that her marriage was as perfect as she made it out to be and moved forward with the investigation because there was in fact liquid in the IV pump that was not supposed to be there.
Kenda reached out to a family friend who worked alongside the doctor over the years. He learned from Stan that the doctor had confided in him that Carol was verbally abusive, demeaning him, telling him he is pathetic, and even punched him. She also was upset about his drinking and knew that he had been having extra-marital affairs. Stan told Kenda that the doctor wanted to leave Carol but she had threatened to go to his commander and report him for the drinking and adultery (both considered UCMJ infractions and punishable under military law) if he left her. Carol enjoyed the privileges of being a military wife too much to lose them to divorce. He felt trapped in his current abusive marriage and was drinking more and having affairs as a way to cope with his current situation. In the civilian world, Carol would not be able to get away with threatening her husband because it is not illegal to drink and have affairs.
As it turns out, the results of the pump came back and they found Diazinon, which is a poison used to kill ants, spiders, cockroaches, etc. She would have been dead in a matter of minutes and would have been in excruciating pain, as the poison would have burned her from the inside out. As a result, Kenda arrested the doctor for attempted murder. During the arrest he found a plunged hypodermic in his pocket. The doctor told him he didn’t need an attorney and admitted his guilt. He told Kenda that earlier that morning while he was out shopping, the idea came to him that this was the only way out. Because he is a doctor, he knew how to do it. He inserted the poison and the alarm went off so he pulled the IV out of her arm for fear of arrest.
Instead of the civilians pressing forward with a case, the Army decided that they were going to court martial the doctor. They claimed they wanted to make an example of the disgraced colonel in front of a jury of his peers. He was sentenced to 18 months hard labor and he and his family were stripped of all Army privileges. And this may be why Carol Taylor protected her husband despite the fact that he just tried to kill her. Why would the Army doctor rather kill his wife then report the domestic violence to the commander? Why would the doctor feel that going to the commander was not an option and his only way out of this abusive situation was to murder his wife? Why was the doctor so intimidated by the threat of his wife reporting what would be considered minor infractions, even under UCMJ standards?
We need to evaluate why the doctor felt that he was not able to report the abuse and threatening to the Commander. Would he automatically be in trouble with military leadership if he admitted that he had been drinking and having affairs? Was he concerned about losing his career, his retirement, or facing disciplinary action? Why did he feel that he had to choose murder over reporting the threats and abuse to his commander? These are all things that we must ponder. We are seeing a pattern over and over. Our military men do not feel that reporting to the commander is an option when they are the victim of a crime. If that is the case, how can we help our military men, who find themselves the victim of threats, domestic violence, or sexual assault, report to a safe place? Right now, some would rather resort to murder then report the crimes to their commander. There must be a better way.
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.
Some women like others to do their dirty work. A drama queen brings her love triangle to a permanent end; an intimate betrayal turns friends into deadly foes; and a loose woman will do anything to protect her freedom. -Murder for Me, Deadly Women (S9,E11)
The young and wild Monique Wallace is married to 40-year-old Paul Berkley, a navy reservist and father of two in suburban North Carolina. But with Paul leaving on a mission overseas, temptation and lust will lead them all down a dark path to murder. -Rules of Engagement, Scorned: Love Kills (S2,E7)
Oxygen:
A military wife is caught in deadly love triangle. -Monique Berkley, Snapped (S8,E8)
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.
All Hell Breaks Loose In Club Brawl Leaving A Young Solider Dead -Victim Zero, Homicide Hunter (Preview)
A massive brawl erupts at a local bar ends with the shooting death of a young army soldier. To unravel the murder, Lt. Joe Kenda must infiltrate a revered military institution, and expose a dangerous vendetta. -Victim Zero, Homicide Hunter (S5,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.
Fort Carson prepares trained and ready expeditionary forces for deployment in support of Combatant Commander requirements, provides first class support to Soldiers and families, and enables unified action with community, state, and interagency partners for the greater good of our Soldiers and their mission.
Roman Alred, US Army (2016): One of Four Soldiers Charged with First-degree Burglary, Felony Menacing, and Child Abuse
Fort Bragg equips, trains, rapidly deploys, and sustains full spectrum forces supporting Combatant Commanders from a Community of Excellence where Soldiers, Families and Civilians thrive.
Fort Wainwright is the home of the United States Army Garrison and units of the United States Army Alaska (USARAK) including the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, also known as the 1-25th SBCT; the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade (Alaska) and the Medical Department Activity-Alaska.
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 