[narrator] an unusual confession
Leads to a once-in-a-lifetime investigation.
[patrick] a man called 911
And he said he wanted to report a murder.
But it hadn't happened yet.
[martin] we hadn't talked in 20-something years
And she's trying to get me to kill somebody.
I realized right then and there I had to go to the authorities.
[narrator] to prevent a murder,
Police will have to catch the mastermind in the act.
[patrick] in the law, a crime like attempted murder
Isn't completed until there's a substantial step taken.
She's already talked about getting a gun.
What if we provide that opportunity?
[narrator] a daring sting operation gives police
More than they bargained for.
[john] just unbelievable.
The more you dig, the more the rabbit hole goes.
[narrator] and detectives uncover a history of fraud,
Violence, and greed.
The fire and the murder for hire plot,
Right, it's the same playbook.
[jessica] you borrow money from her
And it was like selling your soul to the devil.
Psychopath is the best way to describe her.
[music]
[narrator] in spokane county, washington,
911 calls aren't a rare occurrence.
Spokane's a mid-size city
In eastern washington state,
500,000 people in the county,
About 200,000 in city limits.
So we have a lot of property crimes
Like a lot of cities in the western united states.
[narrator] on October 11th, 2016,
Sheriffs receive the most bizarre call
They've ever heard.
[patrick] a man named martin drake
Walked into a walmart store
In the city of spokane valley.
He asked to use the phone.
He called 911.
And he said he wanted to report a murder.
But it hadn't happened yet.
[john] and he sounded frazzled.
Drake didn't wanna go into much detail on the phone
During his 911 call.
He wanted to meet with someone,
Specifically, as soon as possible, an officer.
[marc] he said that a former friend from high school
Had essentially solicited him to help her kill somebody.
Frankly, it was just somewhat unbelievable.
Is this someone just trying to get somebody in trouble?
Or is this somebody that's trying to relate
A true threat on somebody's life?
[narrator] police take drake's claims seriously
And immediately open an investigation.
He told us where he was gonna meet us
And patrol was dispatched.
They met with him
And took his initial statement.
He's pretty nervous,
But he relayed the information as best he could.
[martin] I told that first officer
That a person I hadn't seen in quite a few years
Has approached me.
She's talking about trying to get me to kill somebody.
At first, I was just taken aback.
Why the hell would she think
That I would do something like that?
When I realized that she was serious,
I had to go to the authorities.
I was sick to my stomach
After the conversation I had with her.
[john] he didn't even know the guy,
But he was concerned for this guy's welfare.
He tells us the intended victim was russell soderberg.
[narrator] russell soderberg was a life-long resident
Of the spokane valley area.
[jessica] russ was a good guy.
He was definitely a family man.
[caroline] he was born in 1965.
Had a pretty standard childhood, went to high school,
And then quickly joined the workforce after that.
[narrator] russell joined the family business
Working as a glazier in his parents' glass shop.
By the time he was 20,
Russell was already married
And starting a family of his own.
He had two children with his first wife,
A son and a daughter, scott and stacey.
[narrator] russell worked hard to provide for his children,
But after 13 years of marriage,
He and his wife decided to get a divorce.
Within a year,
A new woman caught russell's eye,
Martie maxwell.
He was playing on a softball league
With my mom's brothers.
And he asked her out and she said, "yes."
[narrator] martie was over 10 years younger than russell.
But she'd experienced more than many do
In a lifetime.
[jessica] she grew up in the seattle area.
She was a wild child.
She's a twin.
She didn't graduate past the eighth grade.
She was just running around the town,
Hanging with the older crowds.
My mom had me at 15 years old.
My dad was twice her age.
And so I lived with my grandparents
While my mom was out doing her thing.
And then, three years later, she had my sister, ashley,
And went on to live her life
Until she got pregnant with my other sister.
[narrator] at 22,
Martie decided it was time to turn her life around.
My mom had matured and grown up.
She kind of settled down here I spokane
And was working retail for a store,
And that's about the time she met russell.
And we thought, "well, maybe this is the turnaround for her"
'cause he was a good guy.
[narrator] russell asked martie to marry him in 2002,
Three years after they met.
In 2007, they had a child together.
And martie quit her job to become a stay-at-home mother
Over the next decade,
Russell also helped her mend her relationship
With her older daughters.
The good times, for me, with my mom
Didn't happen until later in life.
I was probably 18.
And we started doing family trips together.
One of the first memories I remember doing
With my stepdad and his kids
Was going to a seattle mariners baseball game.
It seemed like we were a normal family
That was blended.
I knew he was a positive influence around her
And he had a stable job.
They came around in the holidays.
I've looked to him more as a dad than a stepdad.
He's always provided when we've needed.
He's been there when we need him.
[narrator] after 15 years,
The extended family has grown closer than ever.
But it now appears russell has made a dangerous enemy
Along the way.
Martin drake has confessed
That a woman tried to hire him
To murder russell.
And spokane police want to know why.
Mr. Drake was so specific
That we knew that we needed to take it serious.
And that required that full and complete investigation.
[martin] deputies proceeded to give me
A ride over to the substation out there in the valley
And I met a couple detectives
And explained to them what was going on.
[narrator] according to drake,
It all began when an old friend
Reached out to him on social media.
[martin] I hadn't even thought of this person
Since we were 15, 16 years old.
She contacts me on facebook.
And the next day, we met up.
I really don't recall the whole conversation.
Just asked what I've been up to
[narrator] over lunch, drake shared some of the hardships
He'd been through
And his friend offered to help.
At the time, I was homeless.
I had a drug addiction.
He told her he was living in some field
Under a park bench or a picnic table.
[narrator] the two met up again the following day.
But this time she asked drake
For something in exchange.
[martin] we hadn't talked in 20-something years
And that's when she dropped the bomb
That she's trying to get me to kill her husband.
[john] at that point, drake told us
His friend that he just met up with
Was martie soderberg.
So the more we talked to him about it,
We finally figured out her husband
Was russell soderberg.
[patrick] martie told drake
That she was unhappy in her marriage,
But she couldn't just get a divorce
Because she didn't work. She'd be left with nothing.
So she had just taken out
A $300,000 life insurance policy on her husband.
[narrator] drake says martie appeared
To have thought the whole thing out already.
She even knew when she wanted it done.
She wanted me to shoot him on Halloween night
In front of their kids while they were trick-or-treating
So she would have an alibi.
Drake said martie was pretty calm,
Cool, and collected.
It was like normal conversation
And it just... Drake was uncomfortable with that.
[martin] I literally got sick,
Thinking that the things people do to other people
Is just unbelievable.
And I can't wrap my mind around it.
[john] this was October 11th,
So we're figuring Halloween night,
Man, we're only two-and-a-half, three weeks out.
So we knew time was of the essence here.
[narrator] coming up, to catch a would-be killer,
Detectives set a dangerous trap
They asked me if I'd be willing
To wear a wire.
[narrator] but they get even more than they expected.
[music]
Police in spokane county, washington,
Have just heard about an alleged murder for hire
From the man who claims he was hired
To carry it out.
But they can't make an arrest
Without knowing if any of it is true.
[marc] the credibility of any witness
Is something that we always have to be concerned about.
It's the, are they believable?
Is the information that they have credible?
What type of history do they have?
[patrick] martin drake had a lengthy criminal history,
Mostly involving drugs, felony, property crimes.
[narrator] given drake's checkered past,
Investigators question
If taking immediate action is wise.
[john] when we get the initial information,
We need to verify and lend credence to
What drake was saying.
[narrator] even if drake is telling the truth,
They can't charge martie soderberg
With much of anything.
[patrick] they could have, at that point, arrested martie
For harassment.
It's a very low-level felony
And it involves threatening to kill somebody.
But had we stopped right there,
Arrested her for this lesser charge,
We could've wound up with a situation
Where the charge didn't stick.
[narrator] detectives also can't risk
Warning martie's husband, russell.
[marc] if we were to talk to russell,
There's a potential
That he would've confronted her about it.
She could've ran him over in the driveway,
For all we know, at that point.
So, given the threat she posed to him,
Building a solid strong case on her
Was the appropriate action for law enforcement.
[narrator] to solve their dilemma,
Investigators come up with a daring plan.
We got a person who's cooperating with law enforcement
And it allowed us to start gathering the information
That we needed to ensure his safety
And hold person accountable for it.
They decided to set up a sting.
Drake, he had a cellphone,
But it only operated off of wi-fi.
So he contacted us about noon that next day.
They asked me if I'd be willing
To wear a wire and get the information they needed
To get to stop this.
And I agreed.
[narrator] with officers listening in,
Drake calls martie to arrange a meeting.
Ultimately, the plan they came up with
Involved really putting a lot on drake
To use this recording device,
To play it cool, to not tip off martie.
[john] we were pretty anxious about it.
We said, "just speak to her.
Just converse with her.
Talk to her. Just act normal."
That's it.
[narrator] at approximately 10:00 am the following day,
The sting operation begins.
[marc] the recording device,
It's actually able to be monitored live
While things are going on,
And we have multiple surveillance units.
[martin] I was nervous.
I didn't wanna do or say anything
That would jeopardize anything.
We didn't know whether or not martie soderberg had
Any access to any firearms or anything like that
And if something tipped her off too far.
There's a potential that she could've taken action
Against mr. Drake
To include harming him while he's in the car.
[patrick] as soon as drake and soderberg met up
And got in the same car,
The conversation about the plans
To kill her husband
Was almost instantaneous.
She portrays him to be this evil person
That she couldn't bear to be with him anymore,
That she wanted to know if I would kill him for her.
[narrator] if killing her husband on Halloween won't work
Martie says there are other options.
Another scenario that she ran through
Was that if russell were to die while he was at work,
Then there would be an additional payout
Through his employer.
[narrator] martie implies that she will cut drake in
On russell's $300,000 insurance policy.
When he asks for more details,
Martie reveals how deep her planning goes.
[patrick] he knew enough about life insurance
And that sort of thing to say,
"well, is there an exception
For certain circumstances under which he dies?"
[narrator] she also lays out exactly what drake should do
To cover his tracks once russell is dead.
She told me that she would get me
Coveralls, a five-gallon bucket, some concrete mix,
Water, and a vehicle
To go and do this.
The five-gallon bucket and concrete and water
Was to mix up some cement
So I could put the gun and the coveralls and the bucket
And then get rid of that a later time.
[narrator] the information collected on the wire
Is more than enough
To prove drake was telling investigators the truth.
But the conversation soon takes an unexpected turn.
She was talking that she was gonna buy this place,
And me and her could move in there,
And we could get together.
And then it turned like she was trying to romance me.
[narrator] martie's not done with startling confessions.
She also admits drake wasn't her first choice
As the hitman.
She'd originally asked a different friend,
Dennis bjerke.
[patrick] martie said dennis declined.
So this plot had been rolling around
In her mind for at least a few months.
[marc] mr. Drake is like,
"time out here, hold on a second.
What do you mean you've talked to him about this too?
What happens if I go and whack this guy
And now he sees that your husband just was killed?
Isn't he gonna know?"
[john] and then she also said, "he's on the line for a fire,"
That dennis was probably involved somehow.
So, detective melville and I, we're like,
"hmm? What's this about?
We'll make a note of that for later
To see what this is all about."
[narrator] after three hours, the meeting comes to an end.
And drake has one last question for martie.
[patrick] drake asks martie
About how she'll feel after the incident.
If she'll, for lack of a better term, freak out
Once her husband's dead.
It all boils down to she was gonna kill this man for money.
"psychopath" is the best way to describe her.
Just unbelievable that she could just be so callous about it.
And the more you dig, the deeper
The rabbit hole goes with this one.
[music]
[narrator] investigators have martie soderberg on tape,
Planning to kill her husband, russell.
But they find themselves facing another problem.
[patrick] in washington law, a crime like attempted murder
Isn't completed until there is a substantial step taken.
So it's one thing to say,
"hey, we should go rob a bank."
It's another thing to buy ski masks
Or buy guns to do so.
[narrator] to arrest her for attempted murder,
They need martie to take action
Without letting her plan go through.
There's some expediency that has to happen here, right,
'cause we don't want anything to happen to russ.
We're trying to discuss, "well, what is it that we need
For this substantial step?
She's already talked about getting a gun.
What if we provide that opportunity?"
[narrator] five days after the initial wire tap,
Investigators pursue another sting operation.
We briefed mr. Drake and we said,
"this is what we wanna do.
We want you to get in touch with her,
See if she's able to meet with you.
And we want you to let her know
That you found somebody
That will sell a firearm for 50 bucks."
I never bought a gun in my life,
But I imagine that that's pretty cheap.
[narrator] martie takes the bait and agrees to the meeting.
When she shows up on October 17th,
Detectives are once again listening in.
Martie arrives in the pickup truck
And mr. Drake gets into the car
I told her a buddy of mine knew this guy.
He was gonna meet us at walmart.
He's gonna bring the pistol.
I don't know where he comes up with these things so quick.
That man flew by the seat of his pants.
And everything that he said,
It was so natural.
I don't know that an undercover officer
Could've done a better job than he did.
[narrator] drake continues his improvisation,
Leading martie to the spot
Where the deal is supposed to take place.
[marc] he points to the car
That detective oliphant and I are sitting in.
And we're parked about 70 yards away
From where she pulls to a stop.
She gave me the money and I was supposed to have
Then gone over to buy the gun and then come back.
[marc] and as he's walking towards us,
I could see he's got his hands held out in front of him.
He's got what appears to be currency
Fanned out in his hand like a poker hand.
[patrick] drake jumps in the backseat of the car,
Says,. "here you go."
He hands over 50 bucks and he said, "yep.
That came from her.
We're just like, "unbelievable"
[patrick] if the case hadn't been across the line
Of definitely being a crime
And definitely being solicitation to commit murder
Before this, this put it over the line.
[narrator] officers swiftly move in to make the arrest.
They weren't sure if martie already had her own weapon,
If there were other parties involved.
So it was very important for them
To proceed with caution,
Proceed with weapons at ready.
And they made sure that she can't drive away.
They get out, they have martie exit the vehicle.
They take her into custody.
[john] there was a big sigh of relief from us
'cause we knew russ was gonna be safe.
[narrator] martie is taken in for questioning.
She tries to tell investigators there was no murder plot
And this is all a big misunderstanding.
[patrick] she claimed that russell
Was physically and emotionally abusive to her.
But she also stated that she had no intention
Of hurting russell.
She stated that she has a big mouth
And she sometimes says things she doesn't mean.
It was apparent that she didn't know she had been recorded.
She just snapped at that point.
[narrator] realizing she's been caught red-handed,
Martie stops talking and asks for a lawyer.
We charge her with, initially, at that point,
Criminal solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
So the next step was, "man, how do I break this to russ?"
[narrator] coming up,
Investigators hear russell's side of the story.
And I'm thinking, "how's something this stupid
Going on?"
[narrator] and a new confession
Draws a link to a previous crime.
If last time, she got tens of thousands of dollars,
Well, she gets hundreds of thousands of dollars this time.
[music]
[narrator] with martie soderberg safely behind bars,
Detectives turn their attention to her intended target.
I called his business, said, "hey,
I need to talk to russell now, pronto, immediately."
I said, "russ, I'm sorry to call you like this.
But I want you to know everybody's safe.
Nobody's hurt.
Your wife is in custody.
I will explain everything to you,
But this is not a conversation to have over the phone, right?
I gotta talk to you in person."
[narrator] that afternoon, detectives meet with russell
At the soderberg's home.
[russell] they just said they had a search warrant,
Wanted to search the house.
I'm thinking, "okay, what did she do?
Did she do something that she wasn't supposed to?
Is she writing checks to somebody?
[john] I felt the best way to do it
Was just be sincere and direct,
And let him know.
And he was shocked.
They were like, "okay, we have martie arrested
For attempted murder
To have a hit taken out on you.
We put a bug on the guy twice
And we have her on surveillance twice."
They were telling me all the stuff that was going on.
And I'm thinking,
"no, how's something this stupid going on?"
[narrator] when they ask russell about the alleged abuse,
He says there's nothing to it.
[russell] it was a typical marriage.
There was ups and downs, good times, bad times.
Back, wow, that would've been 2003, somewhere in there.
I wanted to watch something on tv
And she got in my face.
And she was pretty much just face-to-face
And I put my hand up.
And somehow her dentures cut her gums,
So she called the cops on me.
Had me arrested.
That's about the end of that story.
Russ thought everything was okay, right?
He described their weekend prior to her arrest
That they went and picked apples,
And did chores around the house and went to dinner,
And normal, normal stuff.
[narrator] investigators wrap up with russell,
Saying they will keep him informed
As the investigation progressed
During follow-up interviews with family members,
They suggest the marriage was even more volatile
Than russell described.
[jessica] the relationship between my mom and russ,
After years, was toxic.
She would fight with him. He would fight with her.
She would kick him out of the house and he would leave.
[narrator] family members recount
The majority of the fights between martie and russell
Revolved around one thing, money.
Time after time, fighting over finances,
Fighting because he would spend money on golf clubs
And she didn't get to spend it on something else.
Money was always a big thing with her.
You borrow money from her
And it was like selling your soul to the devil.
She's greedy.
She wanted money.
And that's why she sought out a life insurance policy
That three weeks after it goes into effect,
She's planning on having him murdered.
[narrator] talk of russell's life insurance policy
Reminds detectives of something else
Martie said during their surveillance.
[john] during the course of the investigation,
Information came out from martie
About this fire back at a mobile home.
She mentioned it to drake when drake was worried
That dennis would say somethin.
We started digging into the past a little bit,
And lo and behold,
In September of 2013,
Their mobile home burned down.
[marc] it burned to the ground. They lost all of their stuff.
They were out of town at the time.
Detective oliphant found insurance payouts
To the tune of around $58,000.
A neighbor actually came out and was trying
To hose the trailer down.
They called the firefighters
And the neighbor had said, "hey, the window ac unit
Was flaming."
[john] even though the insurance company said
They settled on the ac unit being the cause,
There was never any determination
Of what was wrong with it,
Which I found odd.
[patrick] I believe there was some suspicion on their part,
But, ultimately, there wasn't enough
For them to deny payment.
So the soderbergs received a large check.
[narrator] but in light of recent events,
Police wonder if foul play
Might have been involved.
There's only one man who knows for sure,
Martie's friend, dennis bjerke.
Detective keene and I found his place of business.
And we told him why we were there.
And he agreed to talk to us.
And you could tell that there was a great deal of anxiety
On his part.
But he's as forthcoming as you could ever hope for
In a situation such as this.
Dennis basically spills his guts.
And he says, "yeah, I committed this fire in 2013."
Dennis said, "martie had me set her house on fire
And burn it
Because she wanted the insurance money
To move and leave russell."
Dennis said it was all her plan
He agreed to do it
Because she promised they would be together
In the future.
Same thing, same pattern here that we're seeing.
The similarities between the fire
And the murder-for-hire plot, right, it's the same playbook.
We collected the evidence we needed
And we charged her with first-degree arson
And first-degree theft.
[narrator] the success of martie's previous fraud
Appears to have inspired her attempt on russell's life.
[patrick] I think martie really enjoyed
Getting that large check for the fire,
But that money went really fast.
And at some point in 2016,
Something inside martie just clicked
Where she could get this larger payout.
If last time she got tens of thousands of dollars,
Well, she gets hundreds of thousands of dollars this time.
[narrator] dennis confirms martie asked him months ago
To shoot russell,
But he turned her down.
[marc] he comes up with the exact same story
That martie requested him this to drake.
It was further confirmation
That this plan was something that she had had in effect
For a while.
[caroline] she asked not one but two people
To murder her husband for the money.
Puts a pretty big roadblock on any argument
That she was just running her mouth.
[patrick] I'm not a psychologist,
But there are certain things about the fact
That she's willing to lie,
She's not concerned about harming people.
She believes she can get away with this
And she can take this to the next level.
[music]
[narrator] after a week-long investigation
Involving multiple sting operations,
39-year-old martie soderberg
Is in jail, awaiting trial
For the attempted murder of her husband, russell.
She has also been charged
With arson and insurance fraud
In connection with the burning of her home
In 2013.
[john] it was news around here, yeah.
It made the headlines.
You don't hear stuff like this
That happens all the time.
So, for me, it shocked the conscience.
[russell] she actually called me
From the jail as soon as they got her in booking.
And I just hung up the phone since I heard it was her.
She's like, "don't believe what they're telling you."
And then it's like, click, "nope, not talking to you.
Not doing it."
[narrator] however, not everyone is convinced
Martie deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison.
I remember thinking to myself,
"if this has made the news,
She's not gonna get a fair trial."
So my uncles and I rallied together
And came up with the money to hire her
A private attorney.
And the private attorney worked on getting her plea deals.
[patrick] we had offered to resolve
Both the murder-for-hire case and the arson case
With a plea deal.
With good time, she would have been out
In maybe seven or eight years.
[jessica] I thought, "she's gonna think about her kids,
And her grandkids."
And she's gonna wanna see us grow up."
And she said she was taking it to trial,
That she had a better chance against her peers.
I thought my mom was stupid for not taking a plea deal.
And I just, I wanted to cry.
She really thought she was still above and beyond
And smarter than the prosecutors, the cops.
[narrator] martie's first trial
For solicitation to commit first-degree murder
And attempted first-degree murder
Begins in March, 2018.
[patrick] from my standpoint as a prosecutor,
It was pretty well teed up for me.
There was this great recording.
In some ways, it was about just pressing play
And letting the jury hear what martie said.
But, also, it was about strengthening that
With drake's testimony and dennis' testimony.
[narrator] the recordings turn
Even martie's most loyal supporters against her.
I stood by my mom's side
Through all of it.
I thought there's no way this is true.
Then we hear the audio.
And the audio was bad.
The audio sealed what I feared the most,
That she was guilty.
[narrator] martie's attorneys
Seem to have only one card they can play.
[patrick] the defense was essentially one
Of entrapment,
That drake had put this idea in martie's head
Or he had come up with this.
[marc] during the trial, martie took the stand.
She believed in her heart of hearts
That she would be able to talk her way out of it.
She was very combative with me
On cross-examination.
She wouldn't answer questions directly.
She would essentially accuse the police
Of setting her up.
That's why dennis' testimony was so key for me
Because that showed that she had been talking
About this months before talking to drake,
Before law enforcement,
Before anybody else got involved.
We ended up getting a verdict
Of guilty for the attempted murder.
She received 15 years for that.
[patrick] the murder had not actually ultimately taken place
But it was very much my office's belief
That she would've gone through with it.
She had just dug herself too deep.
[narrator] following her conviction,
Martie stands trial again
For arson and fraud in 2021.
She is found guilty
And sentenced to an additional three years.
She essentially went double or nothing
And she lost on both.
[jessica] when she was sentenced to the women's corrections,
The first letter I ever got from her
When she arrived there
Was the prison's catalogue.
And she had marked everything she wanted
And needed.
And in the letter, she says,
"all you have to do is put in your credit card information."
I had to take a step back
And I sent her an email that I was done with her.
There's something in her that's never satisfied.
When I'm in the area, I always think,
"well, I should plan, schedule a visit,"
And I don't.
I don't know if I'm ready to see her in person.
[russell] I waited until she was sent off to prison
To divorce her, five years,
Because washington state's a common law state.
If she's still sitting here in jail,
She's entitled to half the house, possibly.
I'm thinking, "I'm gonna wait to divorce her
Until she's sent to prison
Where now she has no rights."
I've had close to seven years now
To stew over this
And to think of what she did.
I want nothing to do with her.
I really don't.
I'm glad it didn't happen.
Nothing good would've came out of it,
As far as for my kids, let alone for her kids.
I believe she gets out in 2032.
I'm not waiting. I'll be 65 then, at least,
And, yeah, I don't want even a chance
For her to be able to talk to me.
Life goes on. It does.
I'm living a good life.
[music]