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!
Army veteran Doug Gissendaner was murdered by his wife Kelly and her lover Gregory Owen in Auburn, Georgia on February 7, 1997. Doug met his wife Kelly in 1989 in Georgia. Kelly was a party girl and had already been married for six months and divorced when she met Doug. She had a child from her previous marriage and Doug welcomed the child with open arms. Within two months, they were married and then Kelly got pregnant. Doug loved being a father, husband, and family man. Then Doug joined the Army and got stationed overseas in Germany. While Doug was away, Kelly resorted to her old ways and started partying at the clubs on base. Kelly loved being on base with soldiers since the military base was a ready supply of men. It was reported that Kelly was so promiscuous on base that eventually she was asked to leave and her and the children were sent back to the United States.
In 1991, Doug returned home from his enlistment in the Army. He decided to forgive his wife and they reunited. Shortly after the reunification, Doug learned that Kelly was pregnant with someone else’s child. He was disappointed to say the least as he wanted to keep his family together. Divorce was inevitable. But after three years of being alone, Doug was desperate to be with his family again. The couple remarried and moved in together. Doug put up with Kelly so he could be a family man and provider to the children. Kelly wanted a house so Doug bought her one. What Doug didn’t realize is that Kelly was having an affair with 25 year old Gregory Owen. Kelly approached Owen about three months prior to the murder and asked him to get rid of Doug. Owen didn’t take her seriously initially and suggested she simply divorce him.
On the day of the murder, Kelly drove Owen to her residence in Auburn where he would wait for Doug with a knife and a nightstick that she provided to him. Kelly went out drinking with her friends to establish an alibi. Owen ambushed Doug when he got home and forced him into his own vehicle. He then took him to a remote wooded area where he forced him on his knees, hit him on the head from behind with the nightstick, and stabbed him in the neck ten times. Owen paged Kelly after he was done. Kelly showed up to the crime scene, demanded to see the body, and used gasoline, an accelerant, to set Doug’s car on fire. Kelly Gissendaner reported Doug missing to the police the following day. Investigators suspected Kelly immediately because they believed she was not being truthful. They found Doug’s body eleven days later.
Kelly eventually admitted to police that she was having an affair with Gregory Owen and this tip led investigators to the man who would eventually confess to the murder of Doug Gissendaner. Owen was tormented with guilt and felt manipulated and used. As a result, Owen testified at Kelly’s trial that she wanted to cash in on an insurance policy and become the outright owner of the marital home. In exchange for his testimony, Gregory Owen was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in twenty-five years. Kelly Gissendaner maintained her innocence but was found guilty of malice murder and sentenced to death in 1998. She lived her prison life in solitary confinement and was executed by the State of Georgia on September 30th, 2015. Kelly Gissendaner wanted things her way no matter the cost and conveniently had her husband killed after he bought her a house.
Investigation Discovery:
For these women, one good man wasn’t enough. A middle-aged woman used looks to prey on elderly gentleman; an army wife didn’t want a soldier but a squad; and a serial wife cooks up meals to die for. These Deadly Women married for the money, honey. -Deadly Women (S8, E11)
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.
Housewife Elsie Jennes is found dead in the basement of her burning home. Lt Joe Kenda has no leads until Elsie’s son, William, turns up in a police station over 50 miles away, equipped with a suitcase, a pet yellow labrador, and a bizarre story to tell. -The Spy Who Killed Me, Homicide Hunter (S2, E4)
Elspeth ‘Elsie’ Troost Jennes was murdered by her husband Army veteran William Jennes II on July 17, 1995 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. According to William’s confession, he was sick and tired of Elsie nagging him about the finances and getting a job so he retrieved his gun and shot her in the face and back. Jennes admitted to pouring gasoline all over the house and setting it on fire in an attempt to destroy the evidence. He quickly left with their son and dropped him off in Canyon City, Colorado where he went to the police because he didn’t know what was going on. Jennes then drove west along Highway 50 where he threw his gun into the Arkansas River. The police knew it would be virtually impossible to recover the gun because of the strength of the current in that particular river. But Jennes’ confession gave the police the evidence they needed to charge him with murder. Apparently, Jennes became overwhelmed with the financial situation in his life and after 14 years of marriage decided to murder his wife Elsie instead of making things right. William Jennes II pleaded guilty to second degree murder in an attempt to protect his son from having to testify in court and was sentenced to 48 years in prison.
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.
Hard-working fast food manager Missy Berry is found dead in an idling car at a deserted intersection. Kenda discovers suspects from Missy’s past who may have wanted her dead. But a surprise twist in the investigation leads him into uncharted territory. -Drive Thru Murder, Homicide Hunter (S2,E6)
Missy Berry was found shot execution style in a stopped vehicle at a Colorado Springs intersection on September 17, 1994. As Lt. Joe Kenda investigated the homicide, he learned Missy Berry dropped off the deposits every night after she left work. Lt. Kenda found out the money was never deposited and was not in her vehicle; he suspected robbery was the motive. Lt. Kenda learned from a fellow officer that a man who looked like he worked at the restaurant was hanging out in the parking lot around the time Missy left work. It was believed this man most likely asked Missy for a ride but at the time the police officer thought nothing of the interaction. Kenda wondered who at work might have asked Missy for a ride. Kenda spoke with the restaurant manager to find out who might have a motive to kill Missy. The store manager thought maybe it was a guy named Darren who she suspected was into drugs. Kenda tracked down Darren Haney and found him in the hospital waiting for his child to be born. He was cleared.
Darren offered Kenda a valuable piece of information. He suggested that his co-worker George Clifford McDaniel may have a motive to kill Missy Berry because he hated her. He said he wanted that bitch dead a couple weeks earlier. Apparently, Missy gave Cliff a hard time about his work and the fact that he was a mommy’s boy. Kenda learned Cliff lived one block away from the scene of the crime. At this point, Cliff was Kenda’s primary suspect after learning he fit the description offered by the police officer who observed him hanging around the parking lot. Kenda learned Cliff was the son of a former military police officer. He was born in England and his mother married a serviceman. Cliff too served in the U.S. Army for a couple years. He appeared helpful, cooperative, and didn’t raise any red flags with Kenda. His family was having a hard time financially and Cliff was working at the restaurant to help the family. He said he was with his friend Ronnie Houston watching a movie until 1:20 a.m.
Before the interview wrapped up, Cliff McDaniel suggested it was someone who asked Missy for a ride. Kenda checked out McDaniel’s alibi. Ronnie Houston admitted Cliff was there but Ronnie’s rendition of events did not match those shared by Cliff. Cliff said he left Ronnie’s at around 1:30 a.m. but Ronnie said Cliff left at 11:30 p.m. Cliff could not account for this two hour gap. Ronnie shared another important piece of information. He said Cliff had a gun and said he was planning to rob the restaurant. Kenda now believed Cliff asked for a ride from Missy, shot her at the intersection, and stole the night deposit. When Kenda went to arrest Cliff for suspicion of murder, he learned Cliff was no longer in town. They searched his home but didn’t find any physical evidence in the house tying him to the crime. After Kenda reminded the family they could be charged with accessory to murder, Cliff’s mother told Kenda he was in London, England. The police needed to find Cliff McDaniel because they were afraid he would do this again.
Kenda interviewed the travel agent who arranged the one-way ticket for Cliff. Kenda believed Cliff’s escape to London was a sure sign of guilt and he was going to bring this international fugitive to justice. They contacted New Scotland Yard to ask for assistance with the search of Cliff McDaniel. He was staying with family, the same aunt he told the travel agent had died. New Scotland Yard arrested Cliff McDaniel however getting him back to the states was a whole new battle. England would not honor the extradition unless the State of Colorado agreed not to execute him. With the help of the U.S. State Department, Kenda was able to extradite Cliff McDaniel back to the United States. The Crown Judge agreed to sign an international extradition warrant. Cliff thought he would get away with this murder and move on in England. The stolen money and murder weapon were never recovered but nonetheless McDaniel was convicted. George Clifford McDaniel was found guilty of one count of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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.
Petty Office Dennis Ott, US Coast Guard, and Phonthip Boonack Ott (photo: 48 Hours)
Phonthip (Boonack) Ott, 33, disappeared from her home in California on May 17, 1992. A couple months later, Phonthip Ott’s dead body was discovered in the Sacramento River near Sacramento. Phonthips body was stuffed in a large nylon duffle bag about 5 feet tall. It was held down with H-shaped cement anchors. The day their mother disappeared, Phonthip’s daughters, Tippy Dhaliwal, 14, and Jeanette Marine, 10, spent the day with their grandparents. Upon their return home, the two girls sensed something was wrong when their mother wasn’t home and immediately suspected their stepfather of killing her. Dennis Ott was an active duty petty officer in the U.S. Coast Guard and his relationship with Phonthip was tumultuous. There was interpersonal violence and adultery on both sides but it appears the domestic violence escalated with Dennis; he was jealous and possessive of Phonthip and didn’t like that she was having affairs. At one point in the relationship, Dennis threatened her life and this is when Phonthip decided to file for a restraining order and a divorce. It would be this same day, May 17th, that Phonthip would disappear.
At first, it appeared Dennis Ott was not going to be held accountable as he continued to go to work at the Coast Guard station day after day. Then one day, a 16 year old Tippy, wrote a letter to the district attorney and the Coast Guard about her mother’s case. It would be this letter that reinvigorated interest in the homicide case and after further investigation, Ott was arrested in November 1994. The duffel bag found at the crime scene was issued to Coast Guard personnel only. The H-shaped cement anchors at the crime scene matched those found in Ott’s backyard. And there appeared to be a history of escalating domestic violence that ended in murder because Phonthip wanted to leave him (rejection). In 1995, Dennis Ott was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. The two sisters hope Dennis Ott remains in prison for the rest of his life and plan to attend all the parole hearings in the future. After 20 years in prison, Dennis was eligible for parole in California. His first parole hearing was denied because the parole board felt he was too evasive and wouldn’t admit culpability.
Dennis Ott has always maintained his innocence and continues to say he did not kill his wife. Dennis Ott is up for a parole hearing again in October 2017, only two years after his last parole hearing. Both sisters share that every parole hearing re-victimizes them because they have to re-live the traumatic events of the day they lost their mother.
“I don’t believe I will be a danger to society.” -Dennis Ott
A stepfather sits in prison for killing his wife. Her daughters vow to keep him there. Does he deserve parole? -48 Hours
Army Soldier Erin Tynan, 21, was found dead on November 15, 1990 in her off base apartment in Barstow, California. Erin Tynan was an active duty military police officer stationed at the Fort Irwin National Training Center. She had already spent a couple years in Germany and after her enlistment was up, she was going to use her GI Bill to go back to school and get a degree in forensic social work. After she didn’t show up to work, the Army asked the Barstow Police Department to check in on her because they were concerned about a respiratory medical condition she had been diagnosed with in Germany. The Barstow Police Department went to Erin’s home and found her dead at the scene.
Barstow PD detectives determined that Erin had been the victim of a surprise sexual attack and murder. They deduced that whoever killed Erin was someone that she knew and the person was able to gain access inside her apartment and overpower her. The autopsy confirmed that Erin was assaulted, forcibly raped, strangled, and stabbed in the neck post mortem. Investigators believed that the precision stab wound in the back of the neck was the work of someone who served in the military and wanted to make sure she was dead. They first turned to Erin’s last known boyfriend William Jones. He had recently been discharged from the Army and left the day before but there was tension because the six month relationship ended. Jones informed investigators that he had left Erin with a 22 pistol for protection but she was planning on selling the gun to another Army soldier because it jammed. They did not locate the gun in Erin’s apartment and believed the killer stole the gun. Jones was eventually ruled out because his DNA did not match the DNA found at the crime scene and he was in fact physically placed in Illinois at the time of the murder. The next person they turned to was a lead they got from the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID). CID learned that another soldier by the name of Eugene Knox was in possession of a 22 pistol and had been acting erratically. The Barstow PD spoke with Knox and learned that he had been dating Erin. No one knew the two were seeing one another. Investigators determined that Knox could not have been the killer because he was out in the field on the night of the murder.
A couple years later, evidence from an attempted murder of a young mother in Louisiana was linked to evidence in a murder case in California. The young mother had been shot in the face once with a 22 pistol but her life was spared when the gun jammed the second time the killer pulled the trigger. The murder victim, Curtis Dean, had also been stabbed in the neck in the same precise way that Erin Tynan was stabbed in the neck. The suspect in the murder of Curtis Dean was an Army soldier at Fort Irwin, Christopher Geier. Army CID immediately recognized the similarity in the knife wounds found on both Curtis Dean and Erin Tynan. They contacted the Barstow PD to inform them of what they had learned. Geier admitted to investigators that he was hired to murder Curtis Dean but did not admit to the rape and murder of Erin Tynan when confronted. But it didn’t matter because in the meantime forensic testing revealed the gun used to shoot the young mother in Louisiana who survived matched the 22 pistol missing from Erin’s apartment. And the British Commando knife Geier admitted using on Curtis Dean was consistent with the knife used on Erin Tynan. Hair samples and DNA evidence collected from the rape also matched Geier. The prosecutor determine based on evidence collected at the scene that Geier knew that Erin Tynan would be alone and vulnerable that night. He also knew that her boyfriend Billy Jones was gone. He used the ruse to buy the pistol to gain access into her apartment with one thing in mind: he wanted a sexual encounter with her. After she resisted and rejected him, he raped and strangled her.
On July 21, 1995, Christopher Adam Geier was sentenced to death for the first degree murder of Erin Tyner and Curtis Dean, and the attempted murder of the young mother in Louisiana. Investigators eventually learned that Geier’s Fort Irwin Tank Commander in the Army, Jeffrey Hunter, hired him to kill Curtis Dean. Army soldier Jeffrey Hunter was sentenced to life in prison.
Update: On August 31, 2017, Christopher Geier, 49, collapsed and died in the prison’s recreational yard. The cause of death is unknown, pending the results of an autopsy.
Investigation Discovery:
The discovery of a beautiful military police officer murdered in her own home sends police on a twisted journey for answers. -Blood and Betrayal, On the Case with Paula Zahn (S14,E5)
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.
In 1986, 26-year-old Ellen Boehm of St. Louis, Missouri was tired of the constraints of family life. She was married to a much older Vietnam veteran and after five years of marriage, they had two children with a third baby on the way. It became quickly apparent, Ellen may not have been ready for the role of mom as she wasn’t your typical stay-at-home mom. Ellen loved professional wrestling and she spent a lot of time watching the matches. Ellen admitted her marriage was in trouble when she confided in friends. When she was eight months pregnant with the third child, her husband Paul told her when he was in Vietnam, he was exposed to Agent Orange and the only way he could be cured is if he went to Texas for treatment. But it was all a lie because Paul was not sick, he left her for another woman he met on-line. As a result, Ellen was broke. She had been abandoned by her husband but it didn’t stop her from indulging in her favorite pastime. But her favorite professional wrestling hobby started interfering with her life. By the time Ellen Boehm was 28-years-old, she was bankrupt. Her children were more of a burden than a joy.
Ellen’s two-year-old son David was fussy and she couldn’t deal with it. On Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1988, she settled the two older children in bed and she let David stay up. As he was lying on the floor, she took a cushion off the couch and smothered him. When she thinks he was dead, she called for help and said she found little David unconscious. Emergency personnel rushed him to the hospital where David was put on life support. But the doctor said there was nothing they could do; he was brain dead. The doctor asked for permission to take David off life-support and Ellen eventually turned to the doctor and said “Pull it”. She never shed a tear. As a result, Ellen received a life insurance pay-out of $5000. Ironically, only eight months after David’s death, Ellen went shopping for life insurance policies for children. According to investigators, there was a total of $94,000 in life insurance taken out on her children. On September 13, 1989, Ellen’s 8-year-old daughter was taking a bath and Ellen dropped a hairdryer in the tub. She didn’t die so Ellen brought her to the hospital. Ellen’s daughter survived with no permanent injuries and everyone just accepted that it was an unfortunate accident.
Twelve days later, Ellen tried again. Her son Stevie was sleeping on the living room floor when Ellen decided to put a pillow over his face and smother him; he died. Steven’s passing created a sense of unease with Ellen’s friends because they couldn’t understand her reaction. It was as if it was just another day. For long time friend Deanne Bond, a third tragedy was just too much and she called the police. She suspected foul play and police conducted a thorough investigation. Realizing the police were closing in on two murders and one attempted murder, Ellen confessed to everything. She broke down and admitted she did it; she explained how she did it but never explained why. But it didn’t take a rocket scientist to observe that Ellen could not have the life she wanted with children so she chose murder. In 1993, Ellen Boehm pleaded guilty to one count of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder. She received two life sentences with no possibility of parole. Her friend Deanne suspected after she received the first $5,000 life insurance pay-out for her youngest son David, it set the whole thing in motion. Ellen killed her children for money, it was all about the pay-day.
In the 1980s, when Ellen Boehm couldn’t pay her debt, she turned to the quickest payout she knew: life insurance. She murdered her two sons and attempted to kill her daughter. In 1992, Ellen was sentenced to two life terms in prison and is currently incarcerated in Vandalia.
A mother’s role is to love & protect her children, but for some, that doesn’t ring true. When a Missouri mom uses her children for money, it’s clear they lack motherly love. -Deadly Women, Investigation Discovery (S7, 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.
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)
Homicide Hunter is an Investigation Discovery show featuring retired police Detective Lt. Joe Kenda (1973-1996). Lt. Kenda worked for the Colorado Springs Police Department for years and investigated and solved hundreds of cases during his employment. Now in his retirement, he outlines the cases that he encountered on the job and explains how he eventually solved the case. Colorado Springs is home of Fort Carson, an Army base with about 30,000 soldiers. This show is especially interesting given the fact that Lt. Kenda worked in a city with a close proximity to a large base. We have learned over time just how intertwined his job was with a military base known for an active role in fighting wars overseas over the years.
Exercises and deployments continually hone the skills of the Fort Carson Soldiers. When not deployed, Soldiers train annually at Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site and the National Training Center in California. Additionally, units participate in joint exercises around the world, including Central and South Africa, Europe, and Southwest Asia. In 2003, most Fort Carson units were deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. ~Fort Carson History
Last night, Lt Joe Kenda discussed an explosives case that had been assigned to him. A powerful explosion occurred in a suburban neighborhood of Colorado Springs on November 12, 1978. He was actually working on paperwork on a Sunday when he received a call from police on the scene. They think they found human remains in the remnants of a detached garage near a single dwelling home. Joe was asked to investigate because this could be an intentional act of murder. Joe shared that the scenes he has investigated over the years have been horrific and quite shocking to include this one. As a result, he admitted that he has a hard time eating and sleeping, which are both signs of Post Traumatic Stress of which he admitted he has. This is a normal response for anyone who witnesses these acts of horror, especially over a long period of time.
After Joe arrived on the scene, he deduced that the damage looked like shrapnel damage. But his immediate thought was that it was most likely a gas explosion. He notices in the garage what looks like a large pile of human remains. Based on the remains, he assumed that it was most likely an adult male who was killed. If it’s not a gas explosion, what is it? A couple theories began to emerge including maybe the man lit a cigarette in an area with gas cans and exposed fuel or the victim was booby trapped with hidden wire. This could have been a murder.
Based on his fears of more explosives on scene, he decided to call the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) Bomb Squad to investigate further to determine whether there were any more active munitions. He explained how explosive technicians truly understand explosives and other various devices. As soon as the Bomb Squad arrived at the scene, they immediately recognized the explosive had the smell of a military explosive. Fort Carson had this kind of ammunition on their base since before World War II. The Bomb Squad theorized that somebody from the base most likely smuggled it from Fort Carson and brought it to the current location. A CSPD detective explained how now we have robots to investigate bomb scares but back then we didn’t have that. Explosive technicians put their lives on the line everyday but more so before the advent of robots and other technologies to help minimize the danger of their jobs.
The CSPD Bomb Squad found another hand grenade in the garage that appeared to be live. An ordinance specialist entered the garage and not only found another grenade but he also found evidence of the dead man who was blown up by the first grenade. The second grenade appeared to be untampered with and there were no other explosives found at that location. Police suspected that the victim could have been in the building when someone threw the grenade in. They needed to learn more about the victim to determine if he had any enemies that would do something like this. They learned that the house is a rental and the current tenants only moved in a couple of months ago. The neighbor shared that a man named Estevan had recently retired and moved into this location. While on scene, a police officer found a human index finger quite a distance from the remnants of the garage. This discovery changed the whole direction of the case because the finger was found with a wire around it and this was the pin ring from the hand grenade. The victim may have pulled the pin and detonated the explosive. This could have been an accident.
Joe needed to identify the victim so he started with taking the victim’s finger to the lab so they could attempt to identify him by finger print. The lab technicians told him that without a name, it could take months before they get a match. In the meantime, Estevan’s wife showed up at the police station after learning what happened at her residence. Joe had to tell her that her husband was dead. She shared that his name was Estevan Maestas and he was a custodian at the school with finger prints on file. Estevan was simply going to clean out the garage because the people who lived their before left a bunch of junk in there. She left the house after he went out to the garage. Because his past did not indicate that this could have been a suicide attempt, it was theorized that this was in fact a tragic accident. Estevan most likely found the grenade, had no idea that it was live and maybe he thought it was a toy. He pulled the pin and he never felt a thing, he never knew what hit him.
The CSPD speculated that the grenades had been stolen from Fort Carson and brought into this rental home by a soldier. They assumed that most likely this guy didn’t want to deal with having to dispose of the grenades so he just left them there to become the next person’s problem. This was a hard pill to swallow given a man lost his life over this reckless act. Why was it not followed up on? Given how the military has strict regulations and is supposed to have strict chain of custody records to help them track all explosives, it should be easy to determine whether or not this grenade came from this base. It could have been brought home as a souvenir from World War II, Vietnam, or the Gulf War era. Were they able to cross reference the rental records at the location of the explosion with Fort Carson soldiers? This case revealed more mystery then resolve. If a soldier did smuggle the grenades from the base, why was there no investigation for theft, and now maybe even manslaughter? It is assumed that this person intentionally left them behind because they didn’t want to properly dispose of them.
In theory, no soldier should have been able to get these grenades on a plane or off the base without a search or a documentation trail given how the military usually conducts business. Much like communications security equipment (COMSEC), ammunition is inventoried and kept under lock and key in an effort to prevent compromises with dangerous repercussions. In most circumstances, if Fort Carson recognized that ammunition was missing, they would shut down the base until they found it. If someone dropped the ball at Fort Carson, a man lost his life because of careless documentation and security practices. And the Colorado bomb squad and Lt. Joe Kenda risked their lives in an effort to prevent anyone else from getting hurt or killed. Hopefully, soldiers learn a valuable lesson from this circumstance given it could have been a harmless act that went terribly wrong. Whoever left the grenades behind may not have intended for Estevan Maestas to die but he did. If a military member was responsible, it would be nice to know that the military has implemented safety and security procedures that can help prevent this kind of a tragedy from ever happening in our communities again.
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.
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 