332. The Deadly Rejection - The Murder of Corey Wieneke

My role is "Shoppy-Fi" because "Shoppy-Fi" is the other platform I've tested with at the start of the first time.

“I've been waiting for all the seconds. All tools that are important for the development of the universe are,”

for example, from "Laga" to "Direct" in the dashboard. Now, there are a lot of "Shoppy-Fi" in the start.com. You're listening to an "Ono Media Podcast." Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland. And I'm Garrett Moreland. And he's the husband.

And I'm the husband. That coffee hit me. Oh, you're feeling good. I'm freaking moody. Like my body's going... I'm moving right now.

That's good. That espresso shot, holy. Tell them, you made it. Oh, okay.

Jumping in my tense, but first of all,

“for being here, they keep you watching, they keep you listening.”

Got a new coffee machine, got a... Well, it's not for no reason. Look, I'm gonna keep it simple. Got a new coffee machine, got a new grinder, been experimenting with a lot of different drinks. The shot, I just drank. I don't know what was in it, but I am amped up right now. Came out good. Took me a long time to dial the machine in.

I don't know why it took so long. For those who aren't familiar with how coffee works, I had a dial in the espresso machine. Got it all dialed in. We're good to go. Taste amazing. I made it just like an iced caramel latte, basically. Taste a great.

We're gonna update you kind of what's going on with your pregnancy. Everything's okay. And not okay at the same time. Pay in. I'm not gonna get into specifics right now because we're gonna keep it a little private.

But there's just some stuff going on with Peyton and her body and the baby. And so far, baby's fine. Baby's fine. Baby's okay. So far so good. We're just waiting to see...

We're basically like on a hospital watch right now, waiting to see if she needs surgery.

The doctors want Peyton to try the best she can to try to get to 32 weeks. So if she does have to get this surgery and the baby needs to come out that everything will be okay. And there's just a higher chance of everything going well. We're now she's at 28 weeks. Fun fact, I was born at 26 weeks. But right now the baby's at 28 weeks and so we're just trying to keep pushing along.

Anything else we went out of to that baby?

“Oh, cry. Yeah, so that's why I'm talking Peyton's just kind of tired.”

Kind of emotional. It's a lot going on. But baby's healthy. Peyton's hanging in there. She's doing a great job. So support for Peyton, everyone. Send your support her way. Do pregnancies? There's a lot.

It's already hard enough. So when you start adding other factors into it, not fun. Not fun at all. I think that's it. I think you're listening. Thank you for being here. Thank you for watching. Thank you for everyone saying hi to us for those who go to the Bagel Shop. Thank you for just all your support.

I'm that note. I think that's it. And we're going to hop into today's episode. Our sources for this episode are oxygen.com and we see for l.com dailymail.co.uk. .com, radio.io.com, cbs2io.com, thegazette.com, timesherpublicin.com, iowacords.com, and bcnews.com, timestelfick.com, iowabar.org, caselaw.findlaw.com, Des Moines Register.com, and oxygen snapped.

Today, I want to talk about an ugly little truth called rejection. We can all agree that rejection is probably universally hated. I mean, introduce me to one person that likes to hear the word no. But if you're a silver lining kind of girly like me, then you can understand how rejection is character building. It adds grit, it toughens your skin.

It teaches you how to get back out there with your head held high and to try again. There's no way to avoid it. It happens in almost everything we do. We can feel rejection and work, play, love, and the more feelings you have invested, the harder that rejection hits. But for some people, that pain can be unbearable.

Picking their head up and getting back out there just doesn't seem like an option. And when a rejection like that happens to the wrong person, it can be weaponized and become a death sentence. So let's turn back the clock to the year 1992 to a little town with a population of only about 4,000 people called West Liberty, Iowa.

You probably marry your high school sweetheart.

“You open up a small business with your childhood best friend.”

The kind of town, a lot of people live and then die in. And as was the case for 22 year old, Cory Winicky. Now, Cory had a larger than life presence in this small town of West Liberty. His family had been there for a few generations.

Everyone in town basically knew his last name.

Cory, especially though, because not only was he a star football player. He was the class clown and one of the most popular kids in high school. With his welcoming and warm personality, he just wanted to bring everyone together. He would invite all the neighborhood kids over to his family's house to play baseball in their giant grassy yard on a summer's night. Teach them how to pitch and catch.

“And when the sun went down, he was curling up on the couch with his mom Susan, sharing their favorite shows together.”

Now, Susan has said that the two of them her and her son, Cory, were extremely close. Even when Cory began dating his high school sweetheart, a girl named Jodie Hotes. Now, Jodie was intelligent, grounded. Someone who inspired Cory to do his best in life. The two balanced each other out in a way that most everyone in West Liberty felt was probably forever.

When Cory wasn't playing sports, doing his class work or hanging out with Jodie, he would work at his family's business, which was a popular pub in town owned by his grandparents called Winks. Cory would go down there on the weekends to clean the counters or change kegs. And when he turned 18, he actually started bartending. Now, if someone in West Liberty didn't know Cory's name before, they definitely did now.

Winks was the spot in West Liberty where all of the locals went on the weekends. And Cory quickly became the face of the establishment. The grandpa's grandson who really brought the place personality. And it kind of became a second home to Cory. And I mean this literally because after he graduates high school, he moved into the little apartment upstairs,

like above the bar, which made it easy for him to just get out of bed and then go right down to work. Now, eventually his high school girlfriend Jodie moved in with him. But the space was tight and she started making money of her own after graduation. So she gets a job working at a bank 17 miles away in Iowa City. So eventually, the two actually decided to upgrade their living situation and in 1992, the now 22 year olds moved to a small little farmhouse just west of town.

I like my granddaughter, and I'm the founder of Yaui. One of my colleagues who worked on Kunstwerke and Han Kepertig, a specialised company. In my case, a lot of shopping malls, as well as shopping malls, in comparison to the other platforms that I tested, with Ambenutscher.

I've always thought about the future.

“All the tools for the development of the company are important, for example from Lager.”

Find it on the right in the dashboard. Now, at this point there, you know, the start is high school sweet hearts, but they're definitely young adults trying to make it work. So spending time together was a bit tough. Cory worked nights. Jody worked days often times.

They would really only see each other in passing, but it seemed to work for the two of them living together because that same year. Cory finally proposed to Jody and she happily said yes. They were just starting to build their future together. Talking about marriage, having kids, high school sweet hearts, the white pick it fence life until October 13, 1992, when everything in their life unraveled. That morning, Jody woke up, got ready for work, tiptoeing around her sleeping fiancee because he works nights.

Around 8 a.m., she gave Cory a kiss and headed off to Iowa City for another day on the job. But when she came home around 6.30 p.m. that night, she immediately noticed something is off at their little farmhouse.

Their dog was outside wandering around, which they never did, like they never just let it stay outside while they were at work.

The screen door to their house was open, but most of all, she noticed that Cory's car was still in their driveway. But Cory is definitely supposed to be at work by now, he usually went in at around 5 p.m.

After no response, she went deeper into their home, she turned a corner to the bedroom. And that's when she saw Cory, her fiance, lying face down by the bed in his underwear, in a pool of his own blood. She runs up, she places a hand on him, she could tell that he was already cold. He wasn't breathing, she races to their phone, she dials 911 right away, she's like, "My fiance is dead."

Now, when the police arrived, one of the first things they realized was, Cory appeared to have been a victim of blunt force trauma.

He had wounds on his back, arms, and a giant one on the back of his head basically going from ear to ear. Cory was viciously beaten in what detectives would call a "blitz-type, very rapid assault." Okay. Very fast. There didn't look like there was any signs of a struggle.

There was no defensive marks, bruising cuts, no furniture turned over, and no signs of any weapon. Plus, nothing was missing from the house that would indicate this had been some sort of robbery. So between that and just the brutal and kind of quick manner in which Cory was attacked, police immediately believed this murder was personal. And detectives also felt that whoever came to the house probably came with their own weapon and the intent to kill him,

which is why it was just done fast, no arguments. And as for that weapon, well, police do have a guess. They think it's something like, like, long, like a pipe or a baseball bat, but who would have wanted Cory dead?

“And why in such a violent disturbing manner, I mean bashing someone's head in?”

This was one of the most popular, well-liked guys in town.

So they obviously know the first person they need to rule out is his fiance, Jodi.

Jodi was very forthcoming with police. She told them, "No, the last time I saw Cory was this morning, he was alive. Once she left for work, he was still sleeping bed. She walked them through her day, how she went to Iowa City, ran an air under two on her break, and then came home at 6.45 pm."

So Jodi has a very clear alibi that they are able to confirm. Plus, it was clear that she was grieving. She was in total shock over the situation she had come across his body. To them, Jodi was a pretty easy person to cross off their list. But the news of Cory's death began spreading fast through the small town,

and by the morning, local media was swarming the area, ready to cover the case.

“And one of those reporters who comes to the crime scene actually finds something crucial.”

So they are parked a little bit east of Jodi and Cory's home, kind of just outside the crime scene, tape, perimeter, just like any reporter or news fan would be. But this specific reporter sees a baseball bat that's just laying along the roadway. Now, luckily, crime scene texts were already on site by this point. So instead of this reporter like going up to it, they literally just sent someone over to check it out.

Sure enough, the baseball bat has blood on it. They're pretty sure this reporter has just found their murder weapon. So they bring it in for processing. And meanwhile, other detectives were canvassing the area looking to talk to witnesses. They actually find a man who owned the farm just up the street, so they're neighbouring farm.

Interestingly enough, he said, "Hey, I also saw that baseball bat on the road." It's so interesting that you can just piece things together. And I guess what I mean by that is, I feel like it's pretty hard to get away with things. Like, there's just like, "Oh, this person saw that, this person saw this, this person saw that." We found the baseball bat.

And I also didn't think it's just slowly and slowly to turn into a snowball. I don't know. It's kind of wild. Alright, you guys, we are getting into an ad and it is Amazon music.

“And if you don't follow us on social media, you need to go right now and check out the Amazon music reel that I made.”

Yes, Peyton just posted and Amazon music ad reel. We don't do many ads on Instagram, so Peyton did one. Go check it out. It's pretty good. She worked really hard on it. And Loki, it explains everything I love about Amazon music. We both love Amazon music, honestly, we both are big fans of audiobooks.

I'm always like working or driving, and I do like books, but for me, it's so much easier when I can just listen to a book.

And you know what it is? It's the fact that they made it so you don't have to go to three separate apps. Because Amazon music is your one app for music, podcasts, and audiobooks. So like no matter what you're listening to, you can get it on Amazon music. You get access to audiobooks, included with your Amazon music unlimited subscription. You know, I wish I had this when I was in high school.

I know. I really wish I had this when I was in high school. Because I have a hard time reading, and yeah.

And so this would have been such a game changer for me in high school.

I actually would have read all the books. Well, I did a spark noting them. I know. I'm currently on Amazon music besides listening to music and podcasts, obviously.

“I'm currently listening to Project Hell Mary because Garrett was like, you have to watch this movie.”

You have to watch this movie. It's so good. And so I watched it. And then I fell in love with Rocky. I fell in love with Grace. And I was like, I have to listen to this song. You're also a fan of a court of thorns and roses, right? Yeah. They have that on their two. And you know the thing about it's the narrators are so good.

They really can bring like the book to life.

Yeah. So listening to a court of thorns and roses versus reading it was like a whole different experience.

I mean, they have so many titles over on Amazon music. Something Peyton and I actually just started doing recently as well is like when we're driving. We'll throw on an audio book and listen to the audio book. Just pretty cool because we used to, I mean, listen to a lot of music. But lately we've been doing more audio books.

And yeah, it makes the drives go by faster. Like it feels like you're doing something. And so the drive goes by way faster.

“Honestly, for me, it's just the fact that I can put an audio book on and continue about my day.”

Like things I do while I listen to audiobook, podcast music from Amazon music is laundry. I put it on while I get ready doing my makeup. Doing my hair. I use it in the shower. Also, I'm sure a lot of you listen to. But we actually have a good audience on Amazon that listen to our podcast.

Again, it's just so nice. It's all in one place. Like it's so easy and so good. If you're curious, go check it out. Music, podcasts, audiobooks, all in one app. Again, if music, podcasts, audiobooks, all in one app, go check it out. We're big fans of Amazon music. And we are back to our regular episode. So they talk to the neighbor and he's like, no, I definitely saw that bat.

But I noticed it yesterday, which is before Jody found Cory's body. He said, so the morning before around 9 a.m. He was driving slowly down the road to check on his crops. Because again, he's a farmer. He circles back again at 130 p.m. And that is when he noticed the metal baseball bat on the side of the road.

And he swore it was not there that morning. So he passed that area at 9 a.m. And then after, you know, his work day he comes back at 130 p.m. And that's when he notices it. So this is obviously helpful because it gives him a potential timeline for Cory's murder. Because obviously buy 130 p.m.

The murder weapon with blood on it isn't like sitting on the side of the road. And it's not until 645 p.m. That she comes home and finds the body. So soon enough, the results from the forensics team come back. And they said the blood on the bat was a match for Cory's blood type.

“However, you have to remember, this is 1992 DNA testing wasn't widely available.”

It required specialized labs and a lot more sample material than it does today. And unfortunately, they don't find any fingerprints on the bat either. So they're like, we think it's his blood because it's the same type, but we can't like 100% confirm it. And we don't have any fingerprints on the murder weapon. They do learn from the autopsy report, though.

That Cory had 13 different blunt force injuries in total to his body.

Four of those were two is head, including the fatal blow that finally split open the back of his skull.

Oh my god. And they also still believe Cory was ambushed. And at this point, they're like not only was he ambushed, which is why there's no defensive wounds. We think the attack began while he was still asleep, which is why he didn't fight back because he immediately started getting beaten. Problem was none of this got that much closer to a lead.

So detectives begin speaking to everyone in Cory's life, obviously. Many friends co-workers, customers, and they find that Cory was supposedly not only had he been the football star in high school.

He is also the local marijuana and cocaine dealer around town.

“So at the bar, he's not just doing alcohol.”

And not only that, apparently when they really start digging into his life, they learned that despite the fact he's engaged to his high school sweetheart. He hadn't even bigger vice than dealing drugs. And of it that was women. So it turns out, Cory wasn't just popular with the ladies in high school. He had continued that streak into adulthood.

He had quite a few girlfriends over the years all while dating Jody. Apparently, she knew for a lot of their relationship that he would cheat on her from time to time.

As did basically everyone else, but it kind of seemed like they had a don't ask, don't tell policy.

Like, Jody knew their names. She would be like, "I know that he's cheated on me with this girl, this girl, this girl. But this is just what they did in their relationship." That sucks. Like that's not a way to live life.

No. And it's sad at times. If anyone is in the same situation, I promise. Not a way to do it.

“There's probably just a lot of psychological stuff going on behind the scenes.”

For sure. Because from the outside looking in that seems absolutely crazy. But, you know, not just women, men and women stay in relationships where they are treated horribly.

And it's for psychological reasons, obviously.

So she knows some of these girls. And there are at least two outside girlfriends or relationships that were still ongoing at the time of Corey's death. So when they start talking to people, they're like, "Oh, he was also kind of hanging around this girl and this girl despite living with Jody." So I assume they're going to go see if those girls have boyfriends and if again others. Yes, well.

So they keep digging into this. And they discovered that one of these relationships was with a woman that Corey had been friendly with for quite a while. Like this had kind of been a long thing. And they learned that two months before he had gotten engaged. This woman that he had had this relationship with had his baby.

So Corey has a child. She knows woman. I don't mean girlfriend. I'm not sure.

“I mean, they hinted that she knew about his affair.”

Yeah, I doubt she knew that she was a baby. But they don't go into detail mainly because she's not a suspect. So they're not going to. And also, like, we don't want to talk about that. Yes, baby, that's it.

But this is pretty messy, right? Like, he, this is a small town. We're in the 90s. I love it. And he has a baby with a woman.

And then two months later, still gets engaged to his high school girlfriend. So that woman's name was 20 year old Wendy Marshall. So the police track Wendy down when they learn all of this drama. And when they questioned her, she has some pretty wild information to share. She said in the early morning hours, the day Corey died.

He left the bar with her after closing around 2am. But when they're walking out and they get to Corey's car,

they run into his third lover, his third girlfriend.

So as Beyoncé's at home in bed, he's just closing up shop walking out with his second girlfriend. And as they get to his car, they run into his third girlfriend. Now, this is 29 year old. So a little older, a net hazen. And she's out there by his car waiting for him at 2am for his shift to get over.

Now, Wendy, girlfriend number two, said a net was very intoxicated and visibly annoyed when Wendy and Corey walk out together to the car. It was clear. She was hoping that Corey would be alone. She said based on the conversation, she was wanting Corey to come home with her. Now, those plans are obviously foiled.

But Corey told Wendy, hey, I know we already have plans to hang out at your house. But can we just drive a net home from here? Okay. So the three of them. Oh, my gosh.

Can you imagine? girlfriend two and three. There's no way. Get into the car to drive a net home. Now, remember, she's intoxicated.

She's distressed. But on the way, Wendy said a net got so angry. Open the door and try to jump out of Corey's car. Okay. Corey pulled over a net got out and so did he.

The two of them began having a conversation in front of the car. And Wendy is sitting inside just watching.

Because when he gets back in the car, he tells Wendy, listen, I'm driving back to the bar to weeks. So you can get your car.

I'm going to handle a net basically.

So he tells girlfriend two.

“I know we're supposed to go to your house.”

I'm driving you back to the bar. You get in your car. You go home. I'm handling intoxicated girlfriend. Got it.

Number three. What a life. Yeah. It to am. Like I would want to be in bed.

He turns around. He drops Wendy off. And then he goes back to a net house. And then they hook up. So he hooks up with our very distressed third girlfriend a net.

Okay. So him and a net go to her house. You know, they just, they just do a little bit of fooling around. And after this, he leaves and goes to Wendy's house. Because he feels bad that he had to drop her back off.

And made her drive home after they had already made plans. So they hang out there and he chats a bit. Or I don't know. He hangs out with her. Yeah.

And then he finally goes home to his fiance.

Jodie and gets in bed. So no wonder he's still asleep. One Jodie gets up and leaves at 8 a.m. He had had a night. He had had a long night.

And when investigators hear about this, they're like, okay. There's got to be something in here that gets us to the murder. No. A thousand percent. So they look deeper into a net.

And they find that this sort of behavior. You know, this crazy, her waiting at his car at 2 a.m. Banging him to like go back to the house with her. Did a girl do this? Making him change his plans.

That sort of behavior wasn't exactly out of character for her. So now police dive into a net. She's divorced with two kids who she had shared custody of. Like I said, she's a bit older than Corey. He's only 22.

She's 29. However, she's known him since he was 16. She would sometimes pick up shifts at weeks. So between working and drinking their regularly, she gets to know Corey.

She says she developed a little crush on him. According to some reports, they must around. But they didn't have sex. But then apparently things did get more serious in the year of 1992. According to a net, the two were having sex a few times a week at that point.

Leading up to his death. So at the time of his murder, they were actively sleeping together. In fact, it was getting serious that a net said, Oh, no, me and Corey actually made plans to skip town. Like he was going to leave his fiance.

And we were going to skip town. Oh, no. We were going to go to Branson, Missouri. And we were going to open up our own bar there. Love triangle.

Here we come. There was just one problem. Everyone who knows Corey is like, listen, we understand a net's telling you this.

But he would never leave Jody.

Did he cheat on her? Yes. But that was the love of his life. How weird would it be known as like, Oh, he would never leave that person.

But I think it happens. I think it happens a lot too. But it's just, I strange to me. Yeah.

“So everyone in his life is like, no, listen, he loved Jody.”

Yeah. Like he would never leave her despite all of this. Now, whether a net was aware of that or not is unclear. And whether he told a net this. But didn't mean it is also unclear.

Like whether she's making this up or the words came out of his own mouth. We don't know. But he had just proposed to Jody about a month or so before he died. So does it make sense why he's telling one woman he's going to run away with her? But then, you know, proposing to another.

But also two months before that proposal, he also had a baby with someone else. So the whole thing fills off to detectives. They're ready to call a net into the station. But she comes in herself. I think she probably heard that Wendy.

A girlfriend number two was speaking with police. And so she was like, obviously, that night's going to be talked about. So she brings herself in to tell her side of the story. Either way, police are like, yep, we're ready to hear it. Now, as far as I'm aware, a net didn't deny any of the things Wendy had said about that night.

She confirmed. Yes, I did see Corey hours before he was murdered. He did come to my house. We did have sex, but he did leave. She also admitted to police.

She was jealous that night when she saw Corey and Wendy.

“And that's what they were arguing about.”

But she felt better once he dropped her off and went back to a net's house and they made up. So detectives asked her, okay, well, can you count for the hours during the murder? Basically, and she says, she woke up early that day because she was helping out of friend with a roofing job. She says she got to the site around 7-ish, worked for about an hour and a half.

However, she admits that after that, her and her sister-in-law stop by Corey's house.

She said she goes up, she knocks on his door because she needs to drop a book off. One that she had borrowed. Okay. She says, but no one answered. So me and my sister-in-law, Jackie left. She says, then we drove to Iowa City to take Jackie to a doctor's appointment, do some shopping,

which Jackie did have a receipt for. It showed that she had shopped at 145 p.m. And afterwards, they went back to Jackie's house, where a net was also staying at the time. And she hung out with her kids and tell a net went to a workshop at Winks. The bar later that night.

That's when a net said she learned about Corey's death for the first time that had happened earlier that day. So, police are like, hey, we just need to bring Jackie the sister-in-law. And so, they bring her in and she confirms all of this. But to be extra sure, they hook a net up to a polygraph, and she passes. Now, even though a net admitted to stopping by Corey's house that morning,

which is during their iffy hours, there's no evidence suggesting she actually went inside or that Corey wasn't already dead at that point. So, they keep speaking to witnesses. Over the next six months, they conducted around 400 different interviews. I feel like this happens a lot.

We've covered a couple cases where the interviewists set group of people, right? Yeah. They move on. They go to a bunch of different people. They can't figure out what's going on.

And somehow it always leads back to the first set of pee.

“I don't know if that's what's going to happen.”

I'm just saying it always leads back to this first set of people. And that's who has done the crime. It does feel like that, especially in cold cases, we've been seeing saw lately where it's like, "Oh, the person was in the suspect notes."

Like, in the investigators note. They just couldn't. There wasn't enough substance to like do something about it. Yeah. So anyways, they do all of these interviews.

They also end up talking to a local man who is like Corey hadn't affair with my wife. Like, maybe this was that. They also believed maybe it was drugs. You know, he's a drug dealer. Maybe this.

The possibility for overwhelming. Let's just say. Yeah. Corey's life had a lot of motive. Sometimes we see victims that it's like no one would ever want to hurt this person.

That's not necessarily the case here. So by April 1993, this is six months after Corey's death. The investigation reaches a standstill. They don't really know where to turn. And that's where things stand for the next 20.

Oh my gosh. Years. That's such a long time. So we're covering a cold case that has been solved recently. Okay.

So the case goes cold until a chance. Sorry to interrupt. It's an update on another case that we did. Mm. Did I send you that?

What's her name? She, I don't know what the plea agreement was. But I think she reached a plea agreement. There's something that only fans grow who killed. Yes.

For boyfriend. Yes. I saw they just reached a agreement or something. We should post something on our social media.

Anyways, which is crazy because I'm never on this stuff.

“Yeah, that's why I haven't even seen that.”

I came across my Instagram. Okay. Anyways. So in December of 2017. Okay.

So 2017. Not that reason, but 2017. An agent with the Division of Criminal Investigation, which is part of the State's Department of Justice, is looking into a case at the University of Iowa Hospital. And while he's there, one of the nurses comes up to him and says, hey, you know,

since you're here working on a recent case, do you know anyone who works on cold cases? And he's like, no, actually me. Like, that's actually that is my job. Yeah, it's me. Why are you asking?

That's when she says, well, I've kind of been harboring a secret for decades. What is up? She goes, when I was just nine years old, I think I heard someone confess to a murder. And she goes, again, I was only nine.

Yeah. I'm excited. I can't blame her at all. She goes, this has been weighing on me. And now that you're here, like, I don't even know.

But I just feel like, isn't weighing on me. I don't even know if it's real.

“But I think I heard someone confess to it.”

She's like, and I know the name of the victim now. I know who they were confessing to killing. His name was Cory. So he takes down her information. Schedules are meeting with her and two other DCI agents so they can hear her full story.

And on December 15th, 2017, she tells them this. When she was a kid, she slept over at her best friend's house a lot. Her best friend was the daughter of Jackie Hazen.

The one who was like, yep, confirmed her alibi.

We went to Cory's house a day he didn't answer. We went shopping, blah, blah, blah. Okay. So she would have sleepovers with Jackie's daughter a lot. And she said, and a net, a net Hazen, the girlfriend number two, lived there at that time.

So I got to know her as well, like hurt. She was always around.

“How do you kill somebody and then just go about life?”

I don't know. Like just go about life. She goes one night in the fall of 1992 right around when Cory was killed. Jessie said, she and a net's niece were hungry during one of their sleepovers. So they snuck downstairs for a snack around midnight.

But that's when they hear crying coming from the kitchen. Okay, they're just these two little nine year old girls sneaking down. They stopped because they hear crying and they see a net. She says that she was standing in front of some black, lit candles. Crying in the kitchen and she's staying over and over.

I'm so sorry, Cory. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean to kill you. What? Now obviously, what is happening?

These two nine year old girls are startled. Like here's not even their mom,

but they're aunt, basically.

The girl's aunt, she's just a friend. And she's standing in front of lit candles, crying and like talking to someone that's not there, right? And so the little girls just turn around and race back upstairs. They're like forget our midnight snack. Yeah.

We are scared. And so Jessie, like they go back upstairs to the room and she tries to talk to her friend about it. Who that's her aunt. So she tries to talk to the other nine year old little girl. She's like, what was she saying?

She said she killed someone. Like she was saying she killed someone. She said her friend was like, no, no, no, no. That was just her boyfriend and she's heartbroken over his death. And so she was like, oh my god.

But there's other little nine year old girl is like justifying it in her little nine year old head. And there's only so much you can comprehend.

And also you're at someone else's house.

And then when you look to the friend who's related to this person for answers and they're like, oh no, it's fine. Her boyfriend. And like, oh, okay. You're like, okay.

“And that's what she said. She's like, that was that.”

But she goes the next day when I went home, I told my mom. I said, hey, like, it was weird. She was crying in the kitchen and her mom was like, we're not going to go to police. I don't even know what happened. I don't even know a net.

What if she did kill those guy and now she's going to kill you for telling me. She was like, I'm not going to take this anywhere. Just says sorry to her little nine year old daughter. But now Jessie is in her mid 30s. And this agent stroll into the hospital working on a different case.

And she was like, you know what? I'm going to tell him this story. And she's now telling it to multiple DCI agents. And it changed the direction of the case completely. So after confirming Jessie's story with her mother, she's like, go talk to my mom.

She'll tell you, I told you that way back then when I was nine years old. And they go talk to her mom and she's like, no, she did. She came home from a sleepover and told me that she saw that. Oh, my gosh. So they know it's a lead worth pursuing.

So investigators paid another visit to now 56 year old. Could you imagine? A net hazen thinking that you got away with something. The cops come over 20 whatever, plus years later. Yeah.

Right, 20 or yeah, 20 plus years later, 25 whatever. And they're like, hey, we're here to talk about a crime. Yeah. That we think you committed 25 years ago. Well, they track her down.

She's living in a place called Tipton, Iowa. It's only 20 miles or so from West Liberty where the murder happened. She's remarried. She's changed her last name from Hazon to Kahil. And she has another child.

She's now a grandmother of four grandchildren. Oh, my gosh. I can't because it's like part of you is a human once to feel bad. But the other parts like she killed somebody. Well, she got to go live her life in quarantine.

“I mean, you know, I think there's sometimes eight years.”

But it is. Right. It's weird. What's I'm saying? I think for our brains to comprehend it can be kind of strange.

It makes more sense for her to be arrested in the time. In the time of the murder. Yes. Versus now. And I think we are seeing that a lot lately with like the 70 year old who are getting arrested for cold cases.

And you look at them now and they're not. They're not who you think killed this person. Yep. But they are. You know what I mean?

It is a very weird mental battle in a sense. I don't know. She loves to spend her free time cooking and quilting. She has not had any run-ins with the law for the rest of her life.

Oh, my gosh. This is weird.

“Now, when she tells, when detectives bring her in, they're like, listen, we need to talk to you about this cold case.”

She's open about her relationship. She tells them Corey was the love of my life. But they don't get much time with a net that day because she goes back to work. They stop by her house again weeks later. And she's a lot more defensive.

She's like, listen, Corey's death nearly killed me. She says, when he was murdered, I started drinking heavily doing more drugs.

And she says, I'm going to share something with you that I never told police back then.

She says that night after he stopped the car and got out and they were fighting. Corey said to a net, I'm nothing to you. But you're not nothing to me. I love you. So according to her, Corey confessed his love for her that night. And then dropped off the other girlfriend and went home with her.

And she's like, and this was the first time. And she says, but when he left after sleeping with me that night, I was hurt. She knew things were probably never going to change. She says, the pain turned to anger. And police are kind of just sitting here like, okay, she's defensive.

But she's also talking about that night. So they kind of just keep letting her talk. I was going to say, if you really didn't do it, I don't know. But I feel like you'd probably be like, look, I don't know guys. Like, I have to hold them everything.

Like, was such a long time ago. Like, I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do. Like, this is about this. This is it.

“Well, this interview kind of started as her being like,”

I had nothing to do with this death. And now it's turned into her completely lost. In the story of her love. And that's why you know. Like, she's there.

There's something going on. She's back. She's explaining it. She's talking with emotion. Yeah.

It's not like she's like, he loved me. Yeah.

But I knew things were never going to change.

Like, she's fully back there. Like, no friends, but like, when I talk about an act, I'm like, yeah. Oh, yeah. I don't know.

I don't dare that person. It was long time ago. Right. Right. And so police just let her keep going.

Yeah. Or like, whatever.

“And then she asks them something strange.”

She says quote, you know the old saying fish or cut bait. Now a net? No. Doesn't. I don't.

I don't either. But I'm not from Iowa. Okay. She obviously doesn't say it explicitly. But it seems in that moment that she decided to cut bait.

So when attacks is finally confront her. They're like, listen. We understand what you're saying. We also have an eyewitness who says they overheard you. She's talking about murdering Corey.

She's like, who? She tells them they have no idea how wrong they were. And from there, she refuses to answer any more questions without a lawyer. So she like gets all the way up to the point. And then it's basically like,

Am I going to do it or am I not? Am I going to fish? Am I going to cut bait? And they're like, okay, whatever. Okay.

We have this and she's like, I'm cutting bait. Get me a lawyer. I'm not confessing. But by now, police are like, ah, we feel like we have enough to rest her. They present the case to the grand jury.

And on May 31st, 2018, six months after Jesse came forward with her story, Jesse, our nine-year-old. Police went to an at-home and arrested her. Oh, no, there's since 2013. We're staying in Farad for a while here.

The biggest advantage of Shopify for me is that we don't need any technical needs for the world. We all know about the background and the background. And as soon as we go to Farad, we'll see the platform, which is actually Farad.

They're simply the main reason. And our whole story lies about Shopify. Now there's a constant test of Shopify.com. Okay, so she goes to trial. Obviously, this isn't going to be very easy for the prosecution,

because their entire case is basically hinged on Jesse Becker's story who was nine years old at the time. They have no concrete evidence. No eyewitnesses. No DNA.

That's what I was going to say. I was going to say, even if this went somewhere as a jury, I mean, you're just, you're not going to go anywhere. The story is based off of a... Right.

Someone that was nine years old. Right. So this trial not really going to detail is so much small town drama. Okay, well, she slept with this person who did this

and back then, she was into drugs. And how can you even trust someone like that? She definitely could have done this. No, she couldn't have. Look at who she's at.

Light, look who she is.

Now she's never even been in trouble with the law.

Why would she kill someone? You know, they bring in experts who are like, you can't trust a nine-year-old's testimony in memory. And they're right. And the prosecution's like, yes, you can't.

Even her mom, like, alibi her story, whatever, whatever. Either way, the jury did not think Jesse's testimony

They couldn't reach a unanimous verdict and the judge declared a mischrial. Some people did think she was guilty, but not all of them. And that appeared to be that.

“And that was just going to go back to living her life.”

She could sigh a breath of relief. That wasn't tell the prosecution. Finds a new witness that makes some reconsider. So after the trial, Corey's mother Susan was at a funeral when she runs into an old friend.

They get talking about the case. You know, about the recent updates with the case. And the woman says, I just don't even understand why they didn't interview my son. And Susan's like, huh?

Apparently, her son, a man named Scott Payne, had some pretty, like, relevant information about a net that, like, hadn't come out in this new trial. Hasn't been shared with the new investigators.

They never called him in, so he never came forward with it.

Turns out Scott had been avoiding the police during the original investigation because he was into drugs back in the day, just like a net. But now at 54 years old, things are different. So he goes down to sit down with investigators after

Corey's mom finds out about this. And he says, I saw something that actually supports nine-year-old Jesse's testimony. He said, I was at the Hazen's house on the day of the murder, hanging out with a net's brother.

“He saw a net pull up to the house with a brown paper bag.”

She was frantic and nervous and Scott watched as a net pulled out clothes in the bag that were covered in blood. She then placed them into a barrel and let them on fire. He's like, but obviously, I wasn't going to come tell you guys this back in the day.

I was on drugs. So detectives are like, well, how do you even know these, like, this was blood? Also, he was on drugs. How do you even use that?

And he's like, well, I worked at a slaughterhouse. I know what blood he clothes look like. Okay. I'm just saying, I'm a different person now. But back then, I was at the house today of the murder.

She came in and burned bloody clothes. So with this new information, prosecution attempts another trial. She's backing court in September of 2019. And they now have another witness, Scott Payne, who's going to get on the stand is a not only did this nine-year-old

little girl at this same house see her talking about murdering someone. I also at this same house saw her walking and burned bloody clothes on the day of the murder. Okay.

So now they have these two. And the verdict is on September 19, 2019.

And that was found guilty of second degree murder.

Okay. She was given the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison. Wow. Which at 56 is the life sentence.

“I'm actually, I think I'm a little surprised.”

I mean, I mean, yeah, is there doubt? Is there reasonable doubt? I don't know. I'm not saying she didn't do it. I don't, not that I wanted to be in prison.

But I think I was, I mean, she did it. She obviously did it. So sorry. Don't kill people. Like how psychologically,

how do you live an entire life? It comes back to you. And then you just go to prison. Well, I think that would be-- Yeah, it's weird.

I think going back to the trial, you also have to remember her alibi that day. Yes. Okay. She goes to work for an hour and a half,

and then goes to Cory's house around the time of the murder. Yeah. And then go shopping and make sure to keep her receipt. Well, she was at Cory's house at the time of the murder. Like, according to her own story,

she just didn't go inside. That's other circumstantial evidence of like the, the suspect herself admits to being around the house at the time of the murder, but not going in. Yeah.

That's, that's a lot of, you know. Mm-hmm. And that to this day claims she's innocent. She says there's some evidence that was not considered during her trial. Mm-hmm.

She's like, Cory had four human hairs found in his hand at the time of his murder, but the request to test those hairs for DNA was denied at her trial. Okay. Plus there was a box of documents and evidence

that was never turned over to a net's attorneys before her trial.

And apparently the prosecution lied to the jury, saying they couldn't extract DNA from the baseball bat. So post trial and that's attorney's tried to do it themselves. They brought the bat in for testing and found that wasn't the case. There was both male and female DNA on the bat.

Okay. But it didn't belong to either a net or Cory. Uh-huh. So then a net's teamer like, do you even have the right murder weapon?

Because his DNA is not on this bat that you're claiming when she's still got found guilty. This is after. She's trying to get a retrial. She's appealing.

One source says the state refused to compare it to any other potential suspects. So we may never know. All we know is a net is in prison. Oof. She was set to have a post conviction relief trial in January of 2026.

Anyone who gets convicted is going to poke holes in any way they can.

And most likely we'll find some. Here in there.

“But it's just, I hate cases like this because if it's like they're,”

they're really is DNA on a murder weapon that the state refused. Really, truly refused to test.

And then her lawyers tested it again.

This is now her lawyers. Not the state, but her lawyers pay for testing. And none of the DNA on the bat belongs to her or the victim. It's just hard because I don't want people to go to jail. If they're actually not guilty.

I don't want that. Right. Like that's not okay. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

“Well, this is why we push for new trials because we're like,”

there's a lot of people who are like, listen, if you think she did it, just give her her fair trial. Look, we just need truth serum. But it's like, maybe these are just her poking holes. I mean, there is circumstantial evidence.

You have two witnesses who tie her to it. Yeah.

“All I will say, though, is all of this basically comes back down to rejection.”

I mean, when she was talking to police before being arrested, she says, when he left that night after telling me he loved me, but then he left.

I knew it was never going to change and he was never going to pick me.

Is that enough motive to kill someone? And my answer is, yes, we've seen it time and time again. All right, you guys, that was our case this week. And we will see you next time with another one. I love it.

I hate it. Goodbye.