[Female Narrator]: A brilliant
mathematician goes missing.
If he had gone somewhere, he
went without his medication.
He was known among
his colleagues
as the person that you went to
for the toughest questions.
[Narrator]: But his genius
came at a price.
He was a paranoid person.
He was so worried that he had
all the locks changed.
No one knew that he essentially
was a millionaire.
[Narrator]: How did a recluse
who trusts no one
let the devil inside?
[Linda]: His was the only
sidewalk and driveway
on the entire street
that was cleared of snow.
He articulated that I am very
suspicious of this person.
She said,
I have power of attorney,
but I've never used it.
Which we knew was a lie.
[Jon]: There was a older
gentleman in the back seat.
She said, tell him to stay
in the ----ing car
or he'll pay for it later.
The police officer told me she
had the trashcan in the back
with the firewood in it.
I'm like, did you look
in the garbage can?
[music]
[Narrator]: On March 2, 2009,
Ann Cartee contacts the
Boone County Sheriff's
Department in Hebron, Kentucky.
Ann says she and her husband are
concerned about the whereabouts
of their 73-year-old friend,
Walter Sartory.
She calls in
and simply requests,
hey, would someone go by
and check on Walter?
We usually speak to him at,
you know, pretty much every day.
And, uh, we've been unable
to get ahold of him
since the middle part
of February.
[Narrator]: A sheriff's deputy
stops by Walt's home,
but there's no sign of him.
One of the things he would do
would be to open the mailbox
to see if there was mail.
[Coy]: We don't see any
movement in the house.
The mail is stacking up
in the mailbox.
He actually went to the
residence multiple times
trying to catch Mr. Sartory at
different times of the day,
and would leave a card each time
with a note asking Mr. Sartory
to get in contact with him.
[Narrator]: It has now been
two days since Ann Cartee's
initial phone call, and the
deputy's concern is mounting.
[Linda]: He didn't need to
get a warrant at that time
because he had developed
probable cause that there was
actually the potential
that Walter Sartory was in the
residence and was injured
or incapacitated in some way.
So he finds the garage door
just a little ajar.
So he does make entry.
[Linda]: Mr. Sartory owned
and had registered to his name
a Toyota Prius.
And he checked the garage
to see if a vehicle was there.
There was no vehicle
in the garage.
[Narrator]:
When the deputy enters the home,
what he finds
strikes him as a bit odd.
It was not like what a normal
residence would look like.
The furniture was actually
piles of books.
In the living room
on a folding table
were five or six
desktop computers.
And there was just this field
of Post-It notes
all over everything.
It was his own address
and his own name, you know,
on a Post-It note on one
of the computers,
but then there was
also things that say,
brush your teeth
and get dressed.
[Narrator]: While there's no
indication of foul play,
there is something
that could be cause for concern.
[Brian]: We found some
medications that would be
consistent with a
mental illness, schizophrenia.
At that point we have a
deeper concern
for their personal safety.
When you suffer
from schizophrenia,
it's very important that
you have your medication.
What became clear very quickly
was that Walter Sartory
was without his antipsychotic
medication,
which would have led to
severe psychotic episodes.
[Brian]: When we see all
of those Post-It notes,
to be that structured when
you get ready for your day,
when to take your medication,
and then for the medication
to still be there,
was a problem.
[Narrator]: The scene inside
the home doesn't just have the
deputy concerned
about Walt's whereabouts.
It also has him asking,
who is Walter Sartory?
Walter Sartory was born in
Pittsburgh in 1935.
[Linda]: He grew up,
uh, was a boy scout,
had a love for all
things space related.
And he wound up going
to Carnegie Mellon
for college there in Pittsburgh,
and graduated actually with a
PhD in Chemical Engineering.
[Narrator]: In the early 60s,
Walt took a job working for
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
in Tennessee.
The original goal of
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
was to produce uranium
for nuclear weapons.
It's next to impossible to tell
you exactly what Walter Sartory
did there because the work
that he did was classified.
[Narrator]:
But outside the lab,
Walt struggled
with everyday life.
He was very much
a creature of habit,
and he lived a
very private life.
He never married,
never had children.
[Brent]: He didn't have
family to speak of.
He had a pained relationship
with his mother.
It seemed like his genius
came with a price.
Walter Sartory was, uh,
troubled psychologically.
He was a diagnosed
paranoid schizophrenic.
He had acute social anxiety.
[Coy]: Mr. Sartory was paranoid
about going out in public
and being around people,
and speaking to people.
[Brent]: He was able to manage
these conditions
through the use of medication,
which he was meticulous about.
[Narrator]: After 30 years
in the Oak Ridge lab,
Walt retired,
but he didn't exactly
settle into the life
of a typical retiree.
[Linda]: He is not the kind of
person who could sit still
and not do anything,
and so he began dabbling
with developing algorithms
for investment of stocks.
Also, Walter had
these computers set up,
and he was operating
through a program,
trying to detect any sort
of radio signals
or other signals
from outer space
because he was looking for signs
of extraterrestrial life.
Walter had a lot of questions
about the existence of God
and the universe as a whole.
And I think that his looking at
radio signals from other parts
of the galaxy was part
of his quest for understanding.
[Narrator]: Still, Walt
longed for something more.
[Coy]: Walter had been
counseled by a psychiatrist,
and one of the things that
they encouraged was for him
to try to develop human
relationships with people,
to get out,
to meet people,
to do different things.
[Narrator]: In 2008,
Walt moved to Hebron, Kentucky,
just outside Cincinnati.
He hoped the move would help
him expand his horizons.
He believed that he could
manage his paranoia.
He chose to be close
to the airport.
He wanted to actually travel
some places and fly occasionally
rather than driving.
He spent a lot of time
alone in his house.
But when he did travel,
it was often to secular
think tank conventions where he
would stay for days at a time.
[Coy]: He would attend
conferences that would
maybe expand his mind
or challenge his mind
to think about new things
and different things.
[Narrator]: Walt also widened
his social circle
in a way that felt most
comfortable to him, online.
[Linda]: Walter Sartory's main
circle of friends were people
that he met
through the internet,
basically through
online chat rooms.
And that was a perfect medium
for Walter Sartory
because he didn't have to be
in the awkward social settings,
which are what made
him so very nervous.
[Narrator]: Walt developed a
particularly close friendship
with Ann Cartee.
[Brent]: They met in an online
forum about mental health.
Walter became very
good friends with Ann.
He would visit Ann
and her husband in Virginia.
He talked to them on the phone
nearly every day.
[Narrator]: But it's been
nearly a month
since Ann Cartee spoke to Walt.
And with each passing day,
police are growing
more concerned.
After searching Walt's home,
the sheriff's deputy
steps outside to check
the mailbox again.
The first couple of times
that he was there,
there was mail in the mailbox.
But on that day the mail
was no longer in the mailbox.
[Narrator]:
He checks with Walt's neighbors,
but no one knows anything
about Walt's mail or Walt.
[Coy]: We found out very
quickly from talking
to neighbors that he would
wave at you in the driveway,
but he really
wouldn't speak much.
[Narrator]: In fact,
only one neighbor recalls
ever seeing anyone else
at Walt's house.
A neighbor mentioned the fact
that, uh, she had seen a
local cleaning service coming
to Mr. Sartory's house
pretty much every day.
It was really interesting
because he really kind of
keeps to himself.
So that was our first clue.
Well, who is this person
that cleans your house?
[Narrator]: Coming up,
investigators learn
of a bizarre encounter.
She forced her way
into the house.
She was very aggressive.
[Brent]: This woman was
uninvited
and he could not
get her to leave.
[Narrator]: In March 2009,
investigators in
Boone County, Ketucky
are trying to locate
73-year-old Walt Sartory
after a friend
reports him missing.
Walt's neighbors describe
the retired mathematician
as a recluse who
rarely has visitors,
with one exception.
[Coy]: One of the ladies who
lived in the neighborhood
had seen a cleaning service car
pull up in front of the house,
uh, several times
in recent weeks.
[Narrator]:
Before detectives reach out
to the cleaning service,
they place a call to the woman
who reported Walt missing,
Ann Cartee of Virginia.
[Linda]: The impetus behind
Ann Cartee's concern was that
Walter had been in Chicago the
week before for a conference,
and he was due to be back in
town the 17th of February.
And she had not been able to
communicate with him at all
since he had returned
from Chicago.
So we're talking about a
good two-week period of time
before she actually called
the sheriff's department.
[Narrator]: The fact that Ann
waited so long to report their
friend missing
raises some suspicion,
but authorities keep that
to themselves for now.
Ann reveals that the last
time she spoke with Walt,
he was obsessing over a recent
run-in with a stranger.
[Linda]: Ann Cartee explained
Walter had traveled to New York
in January.
When Walter returned from
his trip to New York, we had
one of the largest snowstorms
that we've had in modern times.
And when he made his way home,
he pulled onto a street to find
that his was the only
sidewalk and driveway
on the entire street
that was cleared of snow.
[Coy]:
Shortly after he arrived home,
a lady approached the house,
knocked on the door
and stated that, you know,
hey, we cleaned your driveway,
you know, so it would be good
and clean when you came back.
[Linda]: He thanked her and
actually tried to pay her,
but she would not
take any money.
But she forced her way
into the house.
[Coy]: She was very aggressive
and continued to say,
hey, I'd like to clean
your house. I can help you.
I can do this.
I can do that.
[Brent]: He feared that this
woman wants to case his house.
He was worried that she might
have made a wax copy of a key
that was sitting on one
of his computer tables.
[Narrator]: At the time,
Ann says she chalked
the incident up to Walt's
typical paranoia.
While the mystery woman
sounds intriguing,
investigators wonder if Ann
might just be trying to
deflect suspicion from herself.
[Linda]: Another reason why
alarms went off for Ann
and her husband, Robert,
is that they actually
received monthly checks
from Walter Sartory.
[Narrator]: And Walt wasn't
just lending the Cartees
pocket change.
According to financial records,
Walt sent about
$5,000 each month.
That obviously raised
red flags, because, you know,
why is he paying these people
who are his friends?
[Narrator]:
Detectives are still unsure
if Walt is actually missing.
Going off information
from the Cartees,
they search for Walter's car at
the airport and the local mall
where he often liked to walk,
but come up empty.
They circle back
to the earlier tip about a
cleaning service vehicle
spotted by Walt's neighbors
in his driveway.
[Coy]: The man who ran the
business explained that
he had been contacted to have
the cleaning service pick up
all of the mail matter out
of the, uh, mailboxes while
Mr. Sartory was traveling.
[Linda]: The owner told the
deputies that the relationship
that they had with the
property was not initiated
by Walter Sartory,
but by a woman known as Willa.
And they have a
cell phone number for her.
[Narrator]: On March 9th,
detectives track down
Willa Blanc and her husband,
Paul, at their home
in Union, Kentucky,
about 30 minutes away
from Walt's residence.
[Coy]: We initiated a
conversation with them.
They stated in fact that they
were Paul and Willa Blanc
and that they were just getting
ready to go to the doctor,
and they really needed to get
there, kind of in a hurry.
I said, well, actually Willa,
we wanted to talk to you because
we have been told that you had
contacted someone to go
and pick up the mail matter
at Mr. Sartory's residence.
And she said, oh yeah.
Walter's out of town,
and he just wanted me
to pick up the mail.
Willa Blanc says that
she met Walter Sartory
because she cleaned for a family
on the same street where
Walter Sartory lived.
[Coy]: We said,
when did you last see him?
And she said, well, I saw him
at the Hebron Corner Mart.
And he told me that
he was going to Kroger's.
She said that was March the 7th.
[Narrator]: Willa offers
to give Walt a call.
[Coy]: I said, okay, go ahead.
He didn't answer.
And she goes, well,
he's probably doing something.
He'll give me a call back.
And she said,
I'll contact you if he does.
So we said, okay.
[Narrator]: With that,
Willa says she and Paul
must rush to a
doctor's appointment,
leaving investigators
without much to go on.
But Detective Cox is unable
to shake the feeling
that something is amiss.
So he returns to Walt's house.
[Coy]: I took a look
in the mailbox.
And inside the mailbox,
there was a envelope
from Fidelity Investments.
If it's like a lot of us,
you get a statement every month
and it's not something that's
really gonna excite anyone.
[Linda]: So he called me.
We generated the subpoena and he
got it to Fidelity immediately.
[Coy]: What we found out at that
point in time was the fact that
Walter Sartory was very wealthy.
He essentially
was a millionaire.
All of his money basically
was in investments,
and the investments grew because
of his mathematical background
and his ability to actually make
very wise decisions about how
he was moving his money around.
[Narrator]:
Detective Cox believes that if
Walt's disappearance is
the result of foul play,
he may have just uncovered
the motive.
[Coy]: He is now a mark.
He has something that makes it
worth my while to take the risk
of, uh, doing bad things.
[Narrator]:
When investigators subpoena
Walt's investment records,
they find something
extremely troubling.
We had discovered
that Willa Blanc had executed
a power of attorney.
A lot of people don't understand
power of attorneys.
As long as someone is living
and an individual has
power of attorney for them,
that individual, Willa Blanc,
can act just as if
they are that person.
[Linda]: The power of attorney
was executed on February 18th.
No one else had
really seen Walter Sartory
since February the 17th.
[Narrator]: What's more,
the records indicate
that on February 27th,
10 days after Walt
was last seen,
money started leaving
his accounts.
First a $10,000 wire transfer,
and then a $200,000
wire transfer had been
cause to occur between
Walter Sartory's main investment
accounts and Willa Blanc's
checking accounts.
[Narrator]: Coming up,
Detectives take a closer look
at Willa Blanc.
She liked being treated
as if she was a queen.
[Narrator]:
And discover a ruthless plan.
[Linda]: She was trying
to liquidate the remainder
of the $1.4 million dollars.
[Coy]: She said,
I have power of attorney,
but I've never used it.
[Narrator]: March 10, 2009.
73-year-old Walt Sartory has
been missing for several weeks.
And investigators
have just discovered
that not only did Willa Blanc
obtain power of attorney,
she transferred large sums
of money from Walt's
checking account to her own.
$10,000 on February 27th,
and $200,000 on March 3rd,
and she didn't stop there.
She was trying to liquidate the
remainder of the $1.4 million
that were held
in one investment account.
She had ordered those funds
through her power of attorney
to be liquidated
with Fidelity Investments.
[Narrator]: Investigators
return to the Blanc home
for an explanation.
Willa Blanc was not
at the residence.
Paul Blanc was.
And we spoke with him.
[Narrator]:
Investigators press Paul
for information about his wife.
Paul explains that
before he met her,
Willa's life had been one
hardship after another.
[Brent]: Willa Blanc was born
in Cincinnati in 1961.
During her childhood, she had
some tragedy in her life.
Her older brother died
when he was very young,
and that was followed closely
after by the death of her mother
when Willa was 13 years old.
At that point,
Willa raised herself, largely.
[Narrator]: At 19,
she gave birth to a son, Louis.
Apparently, he was
abandoned by his father
and she was his sole caregiver.
[Narrator]:
When Paul met Willa in 2001,
she was working
for a cleaning company.
[Brent]: Paul was a networking
engineer with Cincinnati Bell.
He had a very nice house
in Union, Kentucky.
It's my understanding that Willa
was employed as his housekeeper.
[Narrator]: Paul was drawn to
Willa's poise and personality.
Willa Blanc had
a very flashy style.
She often wore, um,
rhinestone-encrusted fake nails.
She drove a late-model
ZR1 Corvette.
[Narrator]:
Just months after meeting,
the two married.
And Willa and her son,
Louis moved into Paul's home.
Paul says he enjoyed
indulging Willa
in her favorite extravagance,
new cars.
[Jon]: She bought multiple,
multiple high-end vehicles
from us,
50, 60 $70,000 vehicles.
And we took care of her like she
was literally the only person
in the dealership,
and she loved that.
She actually thrived on it.
[Narrator]: Paul confesses
that while Willa once brought
excitement to his life,
lately she mostly brought debt.
[Coy]: He told us that he had
just received paperwork that
his house was going
to be, uh, repossessed.
So we asked him how
that would be possible.
He seemed to have a great job.
And he said that Willa actually
handled all of the bills
and paid all the bills.
And he was, he was shocked
to find this out.
She had a pretty
serious gambling problem.
Within a few years she had
drained all of the money
from their account.
[Narrator]: Making matters
worse, he says on February 22nd,
Willa wrecked his SUV.
Willa had actually had a
car accident on the interstate
in Indiana and had totaled
his Trailblazer.
Detective Cox made calls
to the Ripley County
Sheriff's Department
in Indiana to inquire about any
accidents.
Through records,
we're able to ascertain
that on February the 21st,
Willa Blanc shows up
at the Argosy Casino,
which is located on
the Ohio River
on the Indiana side
and starts gambling.
And gambles until 3:00 in the
morning on February the 22nd.
She is then in the wreck
that morning at 4:15 AM.
The deputies that responded
encountered Willa Blanc.
[Narrator]: Deputies questioned
her at the scene.
She states her car was hit.
The other people took off.
And that she was on her way
to Indianapolis
to take some firewood
to a friend.
His name was Duane Lively.
And that she had the trashcan
in the back
with the firewood in it.
[Narrator]: A wave of dread
moves over Detective Cox.
[Coy]: When the police officer
told me, I'm like,
did you look
in the garbage can?
And he said, no.
In my mind,
at that moment,
it's like Walter Sartory
was in that trashcan.
I don't know why that I felt
that way, but I did.
[Linda]: If Mr. Sartory was
in that trash can,
this woman was cold enough
to be in a casino for hours
gambling this man's money
while he was folded up
in a trashcan
in the back of her vehicle.
[Narrator]: The officer says
after the accident,
Willa called her son, Louis,
and he rented a minivan
to pick her up,
while the SUV was towed back
to a dealership in Kentucky.
[Coy]: Her son, Louis Wilkinson,
got this garbage can purportedly
filled with firewood and loaded
it into the Dodge minivan.
[Narrator]: When detectives
follow up with the dealership,
they hear the most
chilling tale yet.
[Jon]: Around February 17th,
Willa came to the dealership
and was interested in
purchasing a new
2009 Corvette ZR1.
And she told me,
she said, Jon, I'm coming into
a lot of money real soon.
When Willa and I were speaking,
Louis came in and he whispered
something in her ear,
which I happened
to be able to hear.
He said to her,
Mom, the old man
wants to get out of the car.
So when they said that,
I looked outside,
and their car was parked
straight out there.
And there was an older gentleman
in the back seat
that I could see
with glasses on.
Willa's response to Louis was,
tell him to stay in the ----ing
car or he'll pay for it later.
[Narrator]:
Investigators believe
the disturbing encounter
at the dealership
may have been the last time
anyone saw Walt alive.
The following day,
they return to Willa's home.
[Coy]: In the interview,
the question had came up about
power of attorney.
She denied that at first.
But then she changed
her answer to,
I have power of attorney,
but I've never used it,
which we knew was a lie.
[Narrator]: Investigators
question Willa about the
trash can in her car
at the time of the accident.
Detective Cox asked her
where the trash can was,
and she said she that
couldn't explain what
happened to the trash can.
It must've gotten stolen.
Her story started crumbling
a lot at that point in time.
Detective Cox said,
I know you know where Walter is
and that you're not
telling us something,
and I'm going to find out.
[Narrator]: Coming up,
a son's undying devotion
is put to the test.
[Narrator]: And the dark truth
finally comes to light.
She offers him a thousand
dollars to take the trash bin
out to a field and burn it.
[Narrator]: Detectives in
Boone County, Kentucky
are desperate to find missing
mathematician and millionaire,
Walt Sartory.
However, they face nothing but
lies from their main suspect,
47-year-old, Willa Blanc.
[Coy]: We could show that she
had used that power of attorney.
The investigation
at that point in time was,
now what is our next move
to figure out
where Walter Sartory is?
[Narrator]: On March 13, 2009,
investigators track down
Duane Lively,
the friend who Willa claims
asked her to deliver firewood
on February 22nd.
[Coy]: We asked him how
he came about meeting Willa.
Duane Lively said, she's
someone I met at the casino
back in January of 2009.
And we usually go play bingo.
[Narrator]: Duane confirms
that Willa and her son, Louis
did come to see him, but it
wasn't to bring him firewood.
Willa Blanc and Louis arrive,
and they tell Duane that
in the back of a car is a
large trash bin that contains
the remains of a dog.
[Coy]: She said she had a dog
that her son had hit
that belonged to
an elderly gentleman.
And Duane said, oh, well you
can bury the dog at my house.
She goes, no, no, no.
We need to,
we need to burn the dog.
[Brent]: And she offers Duane
a thousand dollars
to take the trash bin out
to a field and burn it.
[Linda]: That same night
for a four-to-five-hour
period of time,
Louis, Willa and Duane
burned this trashcan.
[Narrator]: Duane takes
investigators to the field
where the burn took place.
[Linda]: As they were kicking
around some of the ashes
one of the Indiana State Police
detectives saw what he believed
to be a human bone.
[Narrator]: Indiana and Ohio
forensic experts
are called to the scene
and sift through the ash.
[Brian]: They recovered an
immense amount of bone.
So we loaded up
large garbage bags,
probably about five
or six of them.
[Narrator]: The forensic team
sends the remains to a lab
for analysis.
At this point,
it moves from hope for Walter
into a homicide investigation.
[Narrator]: The trip to Indiana
gives investigators what they
need to arrest Willa Blanc
and her son, Louis.
In the early morning hours
of Saturday the 14th,
Louis and his mother were both
arrested without incident,
and they were taken back to
the local police department.
[Narrator]: Investigators turn
their attention to Louis,
hoping he'll talk.
[Narrator]: Detectives find
Louis at a breaking point.
[Narrator]: According to Louis,
it all began when his mom
called him to her home one
afternoon in mid-February.
[Linda]: When he arrived home,
he found Walter Sartory
sitting in a chair
in their basement
and his hands were
duct taped to the chair.
His feet were duct taped and
he had duct tape over his mouth.
She told him that she needed him
to stay in the basement
and care for Mr. Sartory.
She then went upstairs,
and deadbolted the door
to the basement.
Keep in mind
that Walter Sartory
is a diagnosed paranoid
schizophrenic who has been
forcibly removed
from his medication.
[Narrator]: Louis says he
followed his mother's orders
and proceeded to care for Walt.
He indicated that his mother
would come downstairs with food
and drink for Mr. Sartory.
Louis had indicated
that Mr. Sartory
would throw up
right after being fed.
It could have potentially been
because he was being poisoned.
[Narrator]: In the end,
Walt was overcome by the ordeal.
He couldn't do anything other
than when tape was taken
from his mouth,
and he was fed
what we believe was
a poisonous substance.
And he succumbed to what was
going on to his body and died.
[Narrator]: Louis insists
that Willa's husband, Paul,
had no knowledge of the horrors
that unfolded in his basement.
[Coy]: I believe him,
in that Paul didn't know
what was actually going on.
He had just had
amputation surgery,
and he really couldn't move.
He was confined to a couch.
[Linda]: Given that he was
much older than Willa
and that he seemed to be not
in real good health,
Detective Cox's concern was
that, uh, that Paul himself
was being financially exploited
by Willa Blanc.
[Narrator]: Louis's detrimental
relationship with his mother
leaves investigators questioning
his involvement.
He said,
she was essentially a puppeteer
and that she pulled the strings
and made Louis do whatever
it was that she needed done.
[Brent]: Louis was a grown man.
He never called 911.
He never called the police.
Maybe he didn't have access
to the phone.
Maybe he was locked
in the basement.
I don't know.
[Narrator]: Coming up,
prosecutors prepare for trial.
We filed notice of intent
to seek the death penalty.
While we were searching the
home, we did locate a book,
How To Choose Your Next Prey.
When I executed the search
warrant on the vehicle
of Mrs. Blanc, we found a
black semi-automatic handgun.
[Narrator]: On March 14, 2009,
27-year-old Louis Wilkinson
finally confesses
to investigators
that his mother, Willa,
held 73-year-old Walt Sartory
prisoner in her basement,
killing him
and burning his remains.
As her trial approaches,
prosecutors execute
several search warrants
to gather more details
of Willa's maniacal plan.
While we were
searching the home,
we did locate a book,
How to Choose Your Next Prey.
[Narrator]: Authorities believe
that Willa was the mystery woman
Walt had complained about just
weeks before he went missing.
[Brent]:
She was in his neighborhood,
cleaning his neighbor's house.
He was advanced in years.
She was very quickly able to,
uh, assess that,
here is someone
who is vulnerable.
It was very obvious that Willa
had been doing her own
surveillance on Walter Sartory
and paying attention
to when he comes,
when he goes.
She and her son let Walter
know that it was them who
had shoveled the driveway.
At that time, Willa handed
Walter a stack of mail
that she had collected
without him asking,
that included some
financial documents.
[Narrator]: Under the guise
of trying to help,
Willa was scoping Walt out.
[Brian]: When I executed the
search warrant on the vehicle
of Ms. Blanc,
we found a picture of Walter
as well as financial statements
from Fidelity and a black
semi-automatic handgun.
She had opened documents,
which demonstrated that
he had accounts in
very large sums of money.
[Narrator]: Employees at Walt's
bank tell prosecutors
how Willa scammed her way into
getting power of attorney
using a stand-in
to pose as Walt.
An imposter was being used
for the purpose of signing
these legal documents.
All identified a man
who seemed to be in his 70s,
who was frail,
and had an oxygen mask on,
and was carrying
an oxygen tank with him.
During that period of time
is when Walter Sartory
was restrained in her basement.
The imposter was
never identified.
[Narrator]: As far as how Willa
got Walt into her basement,
investigators can
only speculate.
Detectives were not
willing to say exactly how
Walter Sartory ended up
in Willa Blanc's house.
It was widely insinuated
that he did not go there, um,
by his own choosing.
[Narrator]: On April 13th,
nearly two months
after his disappearance,
forensics finally confirms
the remains found
on Duane Lively's property
in Indiana are Walter's.
[Linda]: Because of the
condition
that Walter Sartory's body
was found in,
which was basically
a handful of bone fragments,
the medical examiner, obviously
was never able to determine
a cause of death.
[Narrator]: On May 12, 2009,
a Kentucky grand jury
indicts the mother and son.
[Linda]: Willa and Louis were
indicted on multiple charges,
including kidnapping, murder,
theft by deception,
tampering with evidence,
and then a whole host of charges
relating to the finances,
including exploitation
of an adult.
We filed notice of intent
to seek the death penalty
against Willa Blanc.
[Narrator]:
Facing the threat of death row,
in December 2011,
Willa takes a plea deal.
She pled guilty to all charges
and received life without
the possibility of parole.
[Narrator]:
The following September,
Louis also pleads
guilty to kidnapping,
abuse of a corpse
and exploitation of an adult.
He receives a 30-year sentence.
Those close to the case
believe Willa's ability to
carry out such a callous murder
was fueled by one thing...
Greed.
She would do just about anything
to get her hands on the funds
to save the lifestyle that
she had created for herself.
[Jon]: Money drove Willa Blanc
to do the things that she did.
She was just very good
at playing
and acting that
she was a good person.
But at the end of the day,
she was a master manipulator
who knew how to get
what she wanted.
I believe wholeheartedly that
she did this to Walter for money
and that's the only reason.
[Brian]: The saddest part
of this entire case
is that Walter had to live
his worst fear.
He was afraid that people
were out to get him,
and he was right,
they were.
I think that Walter's legacy is
that of his time as a scientist
and the kindness that he gave
to other people
that were not his close family.
He was a very kind man.
[music]