Survivor Finalist Joe Hunter’s Fight for Justice

You know, honestly, I can't tell Jeff this enough and survivor in general that it really did save my life. And just going through the trauma of different things with my sister and the real reason why I came on survivor and they were kind enough to let me play this wonderful game. I'm indebted to them and so there's no such thing as getting third and if you think that's losing, you have it with my life. Well, that is survivor contestant, Joe Hunter, the morning after the season 50 finale of survivor talking to CBS Morning's Gayle King and he's talking about his late sister, Joanna.

Joe was a two-time finalist on survivor. As we said in season 50, he talked about coming in third, but he said it really was a win for him in the long run because he brought so much attention to his sister and her death. In 2011, 36-year-old Joanna was found dead in Irvacaville, California home, hanging inside a bedroom closet by a bathrobe sash. Now, Joanna's death was ruled as suicide, but Joe and his mother Patricia believed that her husband, who was a church pastor, Mark Lewis, killed her after a history of domestic violence.

Mark Lewis has not been charged with any crime relating to the death of Joanna. I'm CBS News correspondent Natalie Morales, and this is Case by Case. I interviewed Joe Hunter for 48 hours last year for our episode called Joe Hunter's mission. Well, joining me today is producer Michelle Fenucci, who was with me every step of the way. Michelle, you really were the one who got us all started on this journey with Joe.

“When you first met him, I remember you texting me and saying how incredible this story is.”

That meeting with Joe was probably one of the most memorable meetings I've ever had at 48 hours. And he told me about his sister's case and the circumstances surrounding it, which sounded extremely suspicious. And his heart and his compassion for his sister really touched me. And I knew it was something we had to look into further.

And Joe's mission throughout has always been to be Joanna's voice and competing on survivor was an avenue.

It was a way because he knew that it was something that he and Joanna had talked about. They dreamed of competing with each other. And of course, when she died, there was no longer the opportunity to do that. But he knew he had to do something and what better way to tell her story than on a competition show, but he and his sister had absolutely loved and watched together. I want to play a little bit about some of Joe's decision to take part in that.

“You know, honestly, the vulnerable part for me is I've been going through some really tough times in the moment, and recently, and I was going through, you know, struggling with depression.”

I was struggling with the sadness of this with Joanna and really giving up. No one was listening to us, no one was believing this. And my counselor said that do something really spectacular. It would be to help you manage the situation with Joanna.

There's do something for you and her and I thought back and I said she had always mentioned that she actually was a superfan.

And I thought, all right, I'll give it a shot. You were the little brother. What was the age difference? And what do you remember about her as big sis? She was a four-year gap between us and anyone that knows like what the sibling specifically, the older sister, I always tried to be in charge. She wouldn't let that happen. And she just took care of me. She protected me a lot.

And we were the perfect team. You said she was very protective.

“Was she protective of, you know, maybe not wanting to tell a lot about life as well?”

Yeah, I think that she learned pretty quickly that how fiercely protective I was of her. So she also did a great job of probably shielding me from a lot of things that were hurting her.

But she also couldn't rely on me because I knew her so well on a personal level, but also just on a level of deeper connection that I always knew when something was wrong.

Joe is a Sacramento fire captain. He is a protector by nature. But it's interesting because Joanna was the older sister. And she was always the one he said who was protecting him. But, you know, in this case with Joanna, I think his greatest regret is that he felt he couldn't do more to protect her to help keep her safe.

Especially after when she met Mark Lewis, I believe, was she 16 around that age?

But I mean, from the very beginning, it was a very intense relationship.

“And Joe and Patricia said they both fear Joanna was losing herself to Mark.”

Here's Joe talking about how that relationship started out.

I do know that was her first partner, both physically and emotionally.

And she fell in love and she believed him. She believed in the things that he was saying. And there was an intimate connection. There was also a connection then religion was abused and used as a weapon. Against her.

And all of those things led to him really being able to cocoon her and him in an isolated environment and protect her from those people that really had our best interest at heart. So that made it very difficult for Joanna because that was her first real relationship. And me being four years younger, I couldn't advise her on those things as I hadn't myself experienced any relationship. So it was very difficult to witness as it developed. And as far as evidence of abuse.

I mean, you saw it multiple times.

“You want to say the word "hundreds" but doesn't.”

I mean, over the years of, you know, look at that time back in the '90s. A turtle neck and the summer is not popular. But seeing your sister wearing a turtle neck and a long length dress in the middle of the summer. That was her regular outfit. And it felt like it was a normal occurrence of this is what I did this time to deserve this.

This is what happened this time. I'll get better. It'll stop once I get better. So she blamed herself once I get better. And to have that type of feeling come out of my person is so upsetting because you just want to scream out from a mountain out of like it's not you.

I had been screaming out for so long. Two years straight, every single day, every single day I saw her. I would, I hate this guy. Leave this guy. Please stop. I'm pretty sure you're doing the same thing. But I saw her start to back away.

I sleep in her room, run away. Stay away for hours, pass curfew. I thought I'm going to lose her for good. That's more dangerous. More dangerous. I'm just going to listen.

I won't act. You said she told you a lot of the deepest darkest secrets. Some of which you haven't even told your your own mother these days or how does she know everything at this point. No, she doesn't know everything. Yeah.

There's some things that she shared with me that we're really hard to hear. Really hard to hear that I didn't know what else could do because I was also seeing what it was doing to my dad. Seeing what it was doing to my mom. Seeing what it did to my friends and my sister. So there was a lot of, what do you say?

These are strange orders aren't working. This piece of paper isn't working. So you were documenting this and reporting this. I mean, she was getting restraining orders. She was getting restraining orders.

Do you think she was ever suicidal?

“You know, I think that when you go through that, I'm sure she got in many dark places.”

But in no way shape or form was she capable of that mindset. Because I know my sister deep down just wanted to leave.

She had never said that. She never mentioned being suicidal.

I never saw anything that she wrote about saying that or even implying that. She just knew near the end that she needed to get away from him. But she never wanted to leave me or my family. If you were someone you know as a victim of domestic violence, call 1-800-799-safe or visit thehotline.org.

So she was planning to leave in the end. Correct. When was that? So, you know, I would say maybe about a couple months before she passed. My mom called me and said Joanna's coming home.

I said, "Oh, really?" Yeah, she's done. And I said, "She's really, really done this time?" She really did. And we were all just so happy and she seemed so confident this time. And it was a different Joanna and I thought, "Man, like we got her back.

And he kept calling my parents' house again.

“We had changed numbers and he found a way to get through then.”

And at this time, she had a phone. So he kept calling and calling and calling. And my mom begged her not to go back. And she said, "She just had to go back to get one or two more things. That's all she had to do. This is something I have to face."

And we never saw her again.

That was the last time you saw her alive. Correct. And tell me about, and I know how painful it is to go back to the moment where you and your mother get the news. Right. Who told you? How did you hear?

I was down near the Medesta area. I was doing some training for the fire department. And then at about 8.48 in the morning, I see my fire chief at the time. And my captain at the time in their formal uniform. And he started crying. He said, "Your sister's gone."

I dropped to my knee. And I said, "You take me to him right now." It wasn't a doubt in my mind. I didn't hear anything else, but you take me to him. And about moment stands out in my mind because...

Half of me died right there. And we fought the night before about him. We had had a phone call that didn't go well.

And we always say we love each other.

But I didn't. And there's not a day that goes by that. If I could just hear her voice. It's like one word. Just one word. I just... I love you.

You know, he called Joanna his best friend.

“And I think what was, you know, it was really the day after that he and Patricia were told.”

So he had never heard from law enforcement until he was asked to identify the body.

And then, of course, he realizes that her death is ruled a suicide by the Solano County Sheriff's Office. I want to play for you what Joe told us about getting that information. It's the most helpless feeling on the planet that on top of losing my sister, knowing that she suffered. The way the story ends is then you tell us that she took her own life. It's absolutely horrible.

And as you said, the Sheriff's department said there was this suicide note. Tell me about you said it was found on top of a suitcase. From what you know about what your sister was planning to do. You know, I finally was able to read the note a while after her passing. And I was expecting, unfortunately, to hear in the letter maybe a very lengthy reason in his handwriting. I expected to see some form of foul play in the letter.

And it was her handwriting and all that said, and nothing more, nothing less. It was to make sure that you take care of the dogs.

“Did you ever come to terms with that or did you fight back with what the police had come up with as far as the answer?”

You know, immediately when I heard that on the phone from one of the detectives at the time, I thought, It's not a suicide. What do you mean? And I immediately thought I was in a movie. I thought, this isn't happening.

It's a suicide. And we immediately pushed back.

Show me this, show me that. So the hundred family knew in their bones that this didn't ring true. It was well documented that history of domestic violence. And she had actually gone to the hospital at one point with a sprained neck. Now Mark was convicted on a domestic violence charge. And according to court documents, he was sentenced to 36 months in the Solano County jail. Joanna did though return to the relationship. But what's interesting Michelle is when this responding officer from the Solano County Sheriff's department arrives there on scene.

He sort of processes it all within 30 minutes. And so the hunters are saying this was all sort of a rush to judgment.

“And let's just remember that Joe and Patricia and the family were terrified.”

So when the news came, this was all their absolute worst nightmare. So during the episode, we were able to really dig into the history of domestic violence here. And Michelle, you know, we asked the Solano County Sheriff's if that history was even taken into account at the time in 2011. When they arrived at that scene, now they said it wasn't. And then I was able to press the Solano County Sheriff's public information officer Captain Jackson Harris of the sheriff's department.

Now he was not involved in this case back in 2011. Harris told us the reason they continued to say this was suicide. And that's all they see there is because they didn't see any evidence of a struggle. No evidence that another person was there to kill her. The external autopsy also said that it was a suicide.

“But then a couple years after Joe and his death, Mark is arrested, but it has nothing to do with Joe and his case.”

A woman came forward named Sarah Nottingham, right, and Sarah used to be a member of the church, the congregation.

And she and Mark were friends at first, but then they started dating after Joe and his death.

And she told us during the course of that relationship that he became more and more controlling. Sometimes he became even a little bit physically rough with her. And she tried to break things off with him after she said she discovered that he was texting with an underage girl. So that's when she said enough is enough. I'm leaving. And when she tried to break up with him. That's when we hear of this incident in 2014, where police determined that Mark had hired three people to throw a Molotov cocktail in the overnight hours into her parents home.

I mean, she's in the house with her parents and her two kids, Mark pleaded no contest to Arson and stalking charges.

“However, he was sentenced to eight years in prison. He did serve five years.”

Sarah's story Michelle really is what brought renewed attention to Joanna's story and to her case. And it got Joe Hunter and his mother's attention. And once again, they went to the sheriff's department and they begged them to look at this evidence again. So to their credit, the Solana County Sheriff's Department did reopen the investigation and they took a look at some of the evidence at the time. They re-interviewed some of the witnesses at the time and they found some inconsistencies in the storytelling.

And more time goes by with more review. But they also hired some experts, including Dr. Bill Smock, who is a police surgeon, and he's also a trained expert in strangulation. And what was really interesting, Michelle is Dr. Smock saw something in the photo evidence of taken of Joanna as her body was hanging in the closet. Discovered nautical rope by her feet, which is what he believes was the weapon. So again, Dr. Smock believes somebody applied the nautical rope to her neck and killed her.

And then when she was dead, put the bathrobsash around her neck and staged her death to look like a suicide. Here's Joe. I still haven't been able to read through all of it.

But it was the first piece in so many years for my mom and I that we finally got something moving in the right direction.

Finally, it wasn't just the emotional family. Finally, it wasn't just the sporadic mother or son who were being irrational. Finally, we had a hard evidence.

We thought it was over. And it wasn't. Because they hired another. They then get a third party that then deems know this is a suicide. And the case is closed.

But that's not to say it was the end of the story because Joanna's story is so powerful.

And Joe and Patricia Hunter really got some important people to help in their efforts. Yeah, there's an incredible organization called Alliance for Hope International who took a look at the case and believed so strongly that there was something that there was foul play involved. And they have what they call red flags in cases when they look at them. It had all the hallmarks of a stage suicide.

One of the biggest red flags, of course, is that there is a history of domestic violence.

“Are you want to read just like two or three minutes?”

Yeah, the victim dies unexpectedly. One partner wants to end the relationship. If someone is found in their home or place of residence, the partner is the last person to see the victim alive. And there's a whole list of the ten. We'll make sure that we put that up so that people can see them and understand it.

But it was really the Alliance for Hope who took on Joe and Patricia Hunter's case. And they had actually recommended Dr. Smock to the sheriff's department. And they helped then push forward a new law here in the state of California, which they do hope to take national. And we were able to collaborate to make Joanna's law, which is SB 989.

And the whole point behind that law is now prevention. It's saying, hey, we need to enhance protocols when it's surrounding death of a person when they have a history of domestic violence. And that they must treat that scene like a homicide.

So it increases the diligencey that the police officers and first responders have to do on that scene.

The goal is that this travels throughout the country and that people adopt the same thing for prevention. And that Joanna's law will continue to improve those protocols and make sure that other families don't have the same issue. But it also gives them a voice. It gives them rights to access two things. It gives them the ability to say, hey, even though my person is married to this person,

as the family, we have certain rights. And we have certain access to certain information. That's not done right now. And so many families are probably struggling with what we did. And this is just the start.

“And such an important law, which we're already seeing,”

have a tremendous impact in even some of the cases that we're covering here at 48 hours. Yes, absolutely. I've come across another case that has used Joanna's law to help bring justice to the victim. And I was just working on another 48 hours story this week. And the assistant prosecutor told me that Joanna's law allowed her to present a previous case of domestic violence to be presented to the judge.

And the judge allowed that as part of the evidence into the case. When it was presented at trial, resulting in a guilty verdict. And just back to Mark Lewis real quick. We tried to reach out to Mark Lewis a few times and we were able to find where he lives in Arizona. Yeah, we went to his house to try to get his side of the story.

And that's when Natalie was able to question him. And Michelle, you were there right by my side. We really tried to ask him, just point blank if he had anything to do with Joanna's death. And he refused to answer our question. He ran right back into the house and closed the door on us.

Mark Lewis is now once again remarried. And he's married to somebody who once was in his congregation as well.

You know, we may never know the true circumstances surrounding Joanna's death.

But we know the hunter family is is never going to take their eyes. Eyes off the ball here and they will. They will fight till the end to make sure Joanna gets the justice that they believe she deserves. That's right. We're going to bring it back to just last week. We were able to celebrate what was a big win.

Maybe not the survivor finale with Joe and his mother Patricia, but we were able to celebrate with them at the Gracies award, which is given by the Alliance for Women in Media. It's a really significant achievement because it's women supporting women. And I mean, I don't know about you, but I had goosebumps the whole night. Sing Patricia and Joe being honored along with everybody else in that room.

Yeah. Same with me. It was an incredibly emotional night.

“And I think it meant the world to Patricia and Joe and they they couldn't believe it.”

He got touched when they played the clip of our episode of 48 hours that was given this award.

That was the sweetest moment. And when you look at it, Joe's winking at you and you're smiling.

And again, chills all around.

“Well, Michelle Finucci, you are one of the great ones.”

And I so appreciate that we got to really work on such a labor of love in telling Joe Hunter's mission and Joanna's story.

Thank you not.

“I want to thank you all for joining me today.”

And thanks to you for listening or watching.

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