1
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,413
She was fun.
She was positive.

2
00:00:17,379 --> 00:00:18,620
She was funny.

3
00:00:19,172 --> 00:00:20,689
[woman]
He totally had that look

4
00:00:20,689 --> 00:00:23,551
of the wild motorcycle guy
living on the edge.

5
00:00:23,620 --> 00:00:25,793
[priest speaking]

6
00:00:25,793 --> 00:00:29,241
She wanted to be with us,
but she moved out there
to be with him.

7
00:00:30,517 --> 00:00:32,827
We were kept in the dark
about all of it.

8
00:00:34,379 --> 00:00:37,034
[man] The supervisor
on the scene saw right away

9
00:00:37,103 --> 00:00:39,896
that this is not adding up
to me as suicide.

10
00:00:39,896 --> 00:00:45,034
It was something
I never dreamed
would happen in my family.

11
00:00:45,103 --> 00:00:47,931
She'd still be here
if it wasn't for him.

12
00:01:09,724 --> 00:01:11,689
[narrator]
After six years together,

13
00:01:11,689 --> 00:01:14,724
Laurie Bursey and Kurt Bird
prepared to tie the knot.

14
00:01:15,689 --> 00:01:16,965
[priest speaking]

15
00:01:21,103 --> 00:01:22,310
[priest speaking]

16
00:01:25,586 --> 00:01:27,758
[kid speaking indistinctly]

17
00:01:37,378 --> 00:01:39,793
[Lynell Tanner] It seemed
like a happy occasion.

18
00:01:39,793 --> 00:01:44,000
When they got married,
they said some nice vows
to each other.

19
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:45,482
She looked very happy.

20
00:01:45,482 --> 00:01:47,000
I think they both did.

21
00:01:48,275 --> 00:01:50,137
[priest speaking]

22
00:01:57,068 --> 00:01:58,241
[audience applauding]

23
00:02:02,586 --> 00:02:04,000
[Lynell] It was fun.

24
00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,275
It wasn't just
show up at the wedding
and be a guest.

25
00:02:06,275 --> 00:02:09,965
It was...
We're putting this wedding on,
you know.

26
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,551
Laurie didn't have
to put on airs for anybody.

27
00:02:15,206 --> 00:02:17,482
That's my youngest son
with Kurt.

28
00:02:17,482 --> 00:02:20,793
That's kind of how he looked
most of the time.

29
00:02:20,793 --> 00:02:25,758
He looks like a biker dude.
He wasn't polished at all.

30
00:02:27,172 --> 00:02:29,206
Even dressed up
for his wedding day.

31
00:02:30,413 --> 00:02:33,172
Kurt was Laurie's
third husband.

32
00:02:33,172 --> 00:02:36,413
She was married three times
and they were
all very different.

33
00:02:37,689 --> 00:02:43,000
[chuckles]
Laurie married Dan,
her first husband, 1977.

34
00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,965
She would have just turned 21
a couple months earlier.

35
00:02:47,896 --> 00:02:52,896
In 1978, she gave birth
to her first
daughter, Kristin,

36
00:02:52,896 --> 00:02:58,793
and then, 17 months later,
she had another
daughter, Kelly,

37
00:02:58,793 --> 00:03:02,655
and her third daughter,
Kari, was born in 1984.

38
00:03:06,689 --> 00:03:09,689
But Laurie wasn't ready
to give up her
dancing shoes yet.

39
00:03:09,689 --> 00:03:11,103
[chuckles]

40
00:03:11,103 --> 00:03:15,034
And still wanted
to go out and have fun.

41
00:03:16,275 --> 00:03:21,551
Sometimes she would
be home with us,
and sometimes she just wasn't.

42
00:03:22,896 --> 00:03:26,137
My mom and dad
separated and divorced.

43
00:03:27,689 --> 00:03:30,448
[Kelly Bursey chuckles]
That's probably
why they got divorced.

44
00:03:30,517 --> 00:03:34,275
So then she could get
married to her next husband,
Dale.

45
00:03:34,275 --> 00:03:35,413
[Laurie speaking]

46
00:03:36,103 --> 00:03:37,448
[Lynell speaking]

47
00:03:38,413 --> 00:03:39,930
[narrator] In 1991,

48
00:03:39,930 --> 00:03:43,517
Laurie takes
her second husband, Dale,
on a family road trip.

49
00:03:52,275 --> 00:03:56,896
[Kelly] We took a road trip
in the RV to Arizona.

50
00:03:56,896 --> 00:03:59,793
It was exciting
to be exploring new places

51
00:03:59,793 --> 00:04:03,586
and being all together
was a lot of fun.

52
00:04:03,586 --> 00:04:05,413
[all speaking indistinctly]

53
00:04:11,275 --> 00:04:12,896
[Kelly] She was like
holding us by our shirts

54
00:04:12,896 --> 00:04:15,862
with the Grand Canyon
right there. [laughing]

55
00:04:16,827 --> 00:04:21,172
But I think Mom
was searching for happiness,

56
00:04:21,172 --> 00:04:23,551
but they weren't
together that long.

57
00:04:25,172 --> 00:04:29,413
[narrator] A few months
after the family trip,
Laurie and Dale part ways.

58
00:04:33,103 --> 00:04:35,137
[Lynell] I just don't think
they were very happy together.

59
00:04:35,206 --> 00:04:38,758
And I think
she was looking for
a little bit more adventure

60
00:04:38,827 --> 00:04:42,034
'cause that's kind of
what she's always done.

61
00:04:44,068 --> 00:04:46,000
We were at one of
my husband's softball games,

62
00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,172
and that's when she said,
"I met somebody new
and he looks like a cross

63
00:04:50,172 --> 00:04:53,896
"between Kris Kristofferson
and Billy Ray Cyrus."

64
00:04:53,896 --> 00:04:59,275
And I met him and I said,
"Well, maybe
if I squint my eyes."

65
00:04:59,275 --> 00:05:03,000
I wasn't as besotted by him
as she was,

66
00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,482
but Kurt,
he had the tattoos.
He had the motorcycle.

67
00:05:06,482 --> 00:05:12,379
He I totally had that look
of the wild motorcycle guy
living on the edge.

68
00:05:12,379 --> 00:05:18,034
She maybe had
a little bit of a side of her
that was excited by that.

69
00:05:18,103 --> 00:05:20,896
[Kelly] I thought he looked
like a big, scary guy.

70
00:05:20,896 --> 00:05:23,379
And Kurt was like
the true biker type,

71
00:05:23,379 --> 00:05:26,689
you know, with his long hair
and the beard
and all that stuff.

72
00:05:26,689 --> 00:05:31,586
But then, you talk to him,
and, and he's like kind of
soft spoken...

73
00:05:31,586 --> 00:05:33,344
[Kurt speaking]

74
00:05:33,413 --> 00:05:35,448
[Kelly]
...kind and gentle, and...

75
00:05:35,517 --> 00:05:41,206
I remember thinking,
"Hey, this is cool.
"Mom found a good guy."

76
00:05:41,724 --> 00:05:42,896
I felt like
he was good for her.

77
00:05:42,896 --> 00:05:44,655
I felt like they were
good for each other.

78
00:05:47,172 --> 00:05:50,827
[Lynell] Laurie didn't tell me
a lot about Kurt.

79
00:05:51,586 --> 00:05:54,000
I think she thought
he was fun to be around.

80
00:05:56,206 --> 00:05:59,241
He used to go
to the motorcycle rally
in South Dakota.

81
00:05:59,310 --> 00:06:03,310
Sturgis, it's called,
when it used to be
drug, sex, rock and roll.

82
00:06:04,103 --> 00:06:08,275
He wasn't as easy
to just put into a box.

83
00:06:08,275 --> 00:06:12,931
I think the mysteriousness
was probably one of the things
that attracted her.

84
00:06:16,689 --> 00:06:19,068
It wasn't very long
into their relationship

85
00:06:19,068 --> 00:06:22,482
that he switched
to the trucker job.

86
00:06:22,482 --> 00:06:26,551
[Kelly] He would drive
big loads of stuff.

87
00:06:27,517 --> 00:06:31,275
Like, he'd be gone
for maybe days,
two weeks at a time,

88
00:06:31,275 --> 00:06:34,862
and be home for short periods
and then leave again.

89
00:06:34,931 --> 00:06:36,620
That would bring him
all over the country.

90
00:06:37,827 --> 00:06:42,275
She thought
it was a fun adventure
and she went on runs with him.

91
00:06:42,275 --> 00:06:46,482
It was a way to see America,
you know, different parts
of the country.

92
00:06:46,482 --> 00:06:48,103
[Kelly]
She was excited and happy,

93
00:06:48,103 --> 00:06:50,931
and it was fun for her,
the relationship.

94
00:06:52,275 --> 00:06:54,862
But I can remember
a few times

95
00:06:54,931 --> 00:06:57,517
when she would complain
about Kurt a little bit.

96
00:07:00,379 --> 00:07:03,137
[Kristin Bursey] When she was
on the road with Kurt,

97
00:07:03,206 --> 00:07:04,827
she would call
my younger sister.

98
00:07:04,827 --> 00:07:08,137
And then when Kurt
was coming back, she'd say,
"I have to hang up."

99
00:07:09,172 --> 00:07:12,379
I almost wonder
if a part of it was

100
00:07:12,379 --> 00:07:15,482
that he didn't even trust
that it was my sister.

101
00:07:15,482 --> 00:07:18,793
Like he thought
she was talking
to someone else.

102
00:07:18,793 --> 00:07:22,137
[Lynell]
When he was on the road,
he was always...

103
00:07:22,206 --> 00:07:23,344
wanted to know where she was.

104
00:07:24,172 --> 00:07:26,034
All that calling...

105
00:07:26,103 --> 00:07:27,793
I just never would have
put up with that.

106
00:07:27,793 --> 00:07:29,275
But she was in love
with him.

107
00:07:29,275 --> 00:07:32,517
She wanted to make it work,
so she went along with it.

108
00:07:33,586 --> 00:07:37,137
And then she moved
to Detroit Lakes.

109
00:07:37,206 --> 00:07:40,275
I was upset that
she was leaving,

110
00:07:40,275 --> 00:07:43,344
but I kind of thought,
well, she's almost
40-years-old,

111
00:07:43,413 --> 00:07:47,379
and I guess
I thought she could
take care of herself.

112
00:07:47,379 --> 00:07:53,034
[narrator] In early 1995,
Laurie moves 190 miles
away from her family

113
00:07:53,103 --> 00:07:56,241
to live with Kurt
in Detroit Lakes,.

114
00:07:56,310 --> 00:07:57,965
[Kelly] I was surprised
'cause at that point

115
00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,689
she was pretty invested
in us and our lives.

116
00:08:00,689 --> 00:08:03,758
But she is very spontaneous
that way.

117
00:08:03,827 --> 00:08:05,793
It does fit
with her personality

118
00:08:05,793 --> 00:08:08,655
to just kind of,
"Oh, I'm gonna go move here."

119
00:08:09,620 --> 00:08:10,896
[Laurie speaking]

120
00:08:12,793 --> 00:08:15,137
[Kelly] She would come home
for things, you know,

121
00:08:15,206 --> 00:08:17,103
for her birthdays
and things like that.

122
00:08:17,103 --> 00:08:19,620
She was still
a presence in our life.

123
00:08:20,482 --> 00:08:22,172
We were still connected
with each other.

124
00:08:22,172 --> 00:08:25,793
She didn't disappear,
which I thought she would.

125
00:08:25,793 --> 00:08:30,620
But I think there was a lot
that she did not talk about
and share.

126
00:08:34,793 --> 00:08:37,482
[Lynell]
She wasn't really telling me
a lot about Detroit Lakes,

127
00:08:37,482 --> 00:08:39,655
what was going on up there.

128
00:08:39,724 --> 00:08:42,379
That was the time in her life
that she didn't share a lot.

129
00:08:42,379 --> 00:08:45,344
And that's why I think
it wasn't good.

130
00:08:46,482 --> 00:08:48,310
I think she had demons...

131
00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,862
that she fought privately.

132
00:08:51,931 --> 00:08:59,241
She kept information
from people that she didn't
want them to know.

133
00:08:59,310 --> 00:09:02,551
She was hiding
the fact that he was
physically assaulting her.

134
00:09:13,586 --> 00:09:15,586
[Lynell]
When when they lived
in northern Minnesota,

135
00:09:15,586 --> 00:09:17,758
then we didn't
see her very often.

136
00:09:17,827 --> 00:09:20,586
Laurie didn't really share
what was going on up there.

137
00:09:20,586 --> 00:09:23,965
My guess is that she didn't
say a word to anybody.

138
00:09:23,965 --> 00:09:30,379
We're not around on a, like,
routine casual basis
to just pop in

139
00:09:30,379 --> 00:09:35,137
and It was so much easier
to hide things being up there.

140
00:09:37,862 --> 00:09:40,275
[narrator] Now, three years
into their relationship,

141
00:09:40,275 --> 00:09:43,310
Laurie becomes increasingly
distant from her family.

142
00:09:47,517 --> 00:09:51,896
[Lynell]
Laurie got a phone call
that Kurt had been picked up

143
00:09:51,896 --> 00:09:55,931
for drunk driving
while he was driving
his big rig.

144
00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,379
And he was
at the police station
in Saint Cloud.

145
00:10:00,379 --> 00:10:03,241
He could be released
if someone could
come and pick him up.

146
00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,137
Somehow she was able
to get there.

147
00:10:15,379 --> 00:10:19,310
In the parking lot
of the police station,
he assaulted her.

148
00:10:21,896 --> 00:10:25,241
I guess in Kurt's mind,
when someone
comes to bail you out of jail,

149
00:10:25,310 --> 00:10:29,689
the thing you do
is beat the crap out of them
in the car afterwards.

150
00:10:29,689 --> 00:10:31,206
He was arrested.

151
00:10:32,793 --> 00:10:35,448
Her face was pretty
black and blue.

152
00:10:36,862 --> 00:10:39,517
She didn't tell any of us
about that happening.

153
00:10:40,275 --> 00:10:43,310
We were kept in the dark
about all of it.

154
00:10:45,310 --> 00:10:47,448
[Kelly] There were
so many things that I just...

155
00:10:47,517 --> 00:10:50,310
was sheltered from,
you know.

156
00:10:53,310 --> 00:10:55,000
[narrator] In March, 1995,

157
00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,517
Kurt is handed
two years' probation
for the attack on Laurie.

158
00:11:02,586 --> 00:11:05,620
With her family unaware
of Kurt's abusive behavior...

159
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,241
Laurie brings him
with her to meet
Lynell's youngest son.

160
00:11:10,310 --> 00:11:13,137
-[Kurt speaking indistinctly]
-[Laurie speaking]

161
00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:18,931
[Kelly]
But that's how she was.

162
00:11:18,931 --> 00:11:20,586
If there was
a baby in the room,

163
00:11:20,586 --> 00:11:23,344
she stole the baby. [laughs]

164
00:11:26,310 --> 00:11:27,793
[Laurie chuckles]

165
00:11:27,793 --> 00:11:29,310
And that was endearing.

166
00:11:29,310 --> 00:11:33,517
You know,
a nice thing for him to say,
and I felt like he meant it.

167
00:11:34,517 --> 00:11:36,241
Yeah. I think if she thought
he was a monster,

168
00:11:36,310 --> 00:11:38,931
she wouldn't let him
around my family.

169
00:11:40,379 --> 00:11:44,137
I don't think it was, uh,
abuse, abuse, abuse,
abuse, abuse, then, boom.

170
00:11:44,793 --> 00:11:47,068
The kids were hardly
ever around him,

171
00:11:47,068 --> 00:11:49,586
so I didn't really have
to have that worry.

172
00:11:49,586 --> 00:11:52,103
I was never I thought
they were in danger.

173
00:11:58,482 --> 00:12:01,000
That is kind of
how I remember...

174
00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:02,448
them together.

175
00:12:02,517 --> 00:12:05,655
You know,
nothing really affectionate.

176
00:12:07,896 --> 00:12:11,655
[Kelly] Just kind of
interacting with each other
in a neutral way.

177
00:12:11,724 --> 00:12:15,379
But she was very good
at covering things up.

178
00:12:15,379 --> 00:12:19,000
She was good
at hiding ugly truths.

179
00:12:25,758 --> 00:12:29,551
[Lynell] Laurie becoming
a grandma was magical to see.

180
00:12:29,620 --> 00:12:31,413
That changed things.

181
00:12:32,310 --> 00:12:33,655
[narrator] In 1997,

182
00:12:33,655 --> 00:12:38,137
Laurie's family
expands further,
and she moves closer.

183
00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:46,379
[Lynell]
They got a two bedroom,
two bathroom apartment

184
00:12:46,379 --> 00:12:48,655
that was right
on the Mississippi River.

185
00:12:48,724 --> 00:12:54,931
It was a nice area.
It was close to all
of her kids, close to me.

186
00:12:56,103 --> 00:13:00,172
She didn't tell any of us
about that incident
in Saint Cloud.

187
00:13:00,172 --> 00:13:02,379
That happened in '95,

188
00:13:02,379 --> 00:13:05,241
she married him
three years later in '98.

189
00:13:11,482 --> 00:13:12,931
[inaudible conversation]

190
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:19,413
[priest speaking]

191
00:13:27,103 --> 00:13:28,655
[priest speaking]

192
00:13:32,517 --> 00:13:34,000
[audience applauding]

193
00:13:42,586 --> 00:13:45,137
People don't look
very happy in that video.

194
00:13:49,620 --> 00:13:53,379
It looks like she is
trying to kind of
keep up appearances.

195
00:13:53,379 --> 00:13:56,000
It kind of looks like that
a little bit.

196
00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,448
She was kind of
out celebrating with us
and we were having fun,

197
00:13:59,517 --> 00:14:02,896
and I feel like Kurt was
kind of on the sidelines.

198
00:14:02,896 --> 00:14:06,758
But at the time,
I was happy for her
and thinking that things

199
00:14:06,758 --> 00:14:08,827
were going
in a really good direction.

200
00:14:10,379 --> 00:14:12,275
Being an
over-the-road truck driver,

201
00:14:12,275 --> 00:14:15,931
he was not home very much.

202
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,448
Long-term relationships
were not something
she was very good at.

203
00:14:19,517 --> 00:14:22,000
So it seemed like,
well, this is perfect.

204
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:26,000
He's gone all the time,
so good. It works.

205
00:14:29,586 --> 00:14:32,965
[narrator]
As Kurt spends more time
out on the road,

206
00:14:32,965 --> 00:14:35,413
Laurie turns
to her family for company.

207
00:14:40,965 --> 00:14:42,758
[Kayla Smith]
I can just remember
so many nights

208
00:14:42,758 --> 00:14:46,827
and summer days spent
sitting on my parent's deck,

209
00:14:46,896 --> 00:14:50,758
and there's very few memories
that Laurie wasn't sitting
out there with us.

210
00:14:50,827 --> 00:14:56,137
And if she came with Kurt,
everyone tolerated Kurt
because they loved Laurie.

211
00:14:56,206 --> 00:14:59,344
But if I could avoid
being around him, I...

212
00:14:59,413 --> 00:15:01,689
He made me
super uncomfortable.

213
00:15:01,689 --> 00:15:05,448
One time
we were in the kitchen
and Kurt comes upstairs

214
00:15:05,517 --> 00:15:09,758
and had very
little interaction with me.

215
00:15:09,827 --> 00:15:11,827
But then all of a sudden
took this knife out.

216
00:15:11,896 --> 00:15:16,448
And started doing this,
and, and started chasing me
around the kitchen.

217
00:15:17,275 --> 00:15:19,758
It was so bizarre.

218
00:15:19,758 --> 00:15:22,241
He did stop fairly quickly,

219
00:15:22,310 --> 00:15:26,965
but then it was kind of like,
he walked away,
as if nothing really happened.

220
00:15:26,965 --> 00:15:31,758
Laurie was there,
and I think looked
confused and concerned.

221
00:15:31,827 --> 00:15:35,827
But then also
tried to laugh it off as,
that's just him being silly.

222
00:15:35,896 --> 00:15:37,310
He's just trying
to play with you.

223
00:15:40,482 --> 00:15:44,413
[narrator] In 2002,
Kurt's behavior escalates.

224
00:15:46,206 --> 00:15:49,655
[Lynell] There was an incident
where she called her friend

225
00:15:49,724 --> 00:15:53,000
and said,
"Come over, He's choking me."

226
00:15:54,103 --> 00:15:55,931
And she went over there.

227
00:15:56,758 --> 00:15:58,758
Laurie was able to
get out of the apartment

228
00:15:58,827 --> 00:16:01,379
and come down
and get in her friend's car.

229
00:16:01,379 --> 00:16:04,172
And she had barely
even shut the door,

230
00:16:04,172 --> 00:16:07,620
and said to her friend,
"Don't tell Lynell."

231
00:16:08,413 --> 00:16:10,137
So she didn't
want me to know.

232
00:16:10,896 --> 00:16:14,931
She knows me
and knows that if I had known

233
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,827
there would have been
some action taken,
whether she wanted it or not.

234
00:16:19,862 --> 00:16:22,482
Why, when the incident
happened in Saint Cloud,

235
00:16:22,482 --> 00:16:26,137
wasn't that a,
"Oh, this man is bad news.

236
00:16:26,896 --> 00:16:28,310
I need to end this"?

237
00:16:29,310 --> 00:16:31,448
But she married him
after that.

238
00:16:32,586 --> 00:16:34,620
[priest speaking]

239
00:16:38,862 --> 00:16:40,482
[Lynell] It's mind blowing.

240
00:16:40,482 --> 00:16:43,310
I think she thought
she was invincible
or something.

241
00:16:44,068 --> 00:16:46,482
I guess
if I'd ever had an inkling

242
00:16:46,482 --> 00:16:48,827
that I thought he would
physically harm her,

243
00:16:48,896 --> 00:16:50,172
that would have
been a red flag.

244
00:16:50,172 --> 00:16:52,103
But I didn't have that.

245
00:16:52,103 --> 00:16:55,275
[Kelly]
What really is disturbing
is that this seemed

246
00:16:55,275 --> 00:16:59,586
like a very just
normal relationship.

247
00:16:59,586 --> 00:17:02,379
[Kristin] I'm sure whatever
she maybe experienced,

248
00:17:02,379 --> 00:17:05,586
that we didn't see
that we didn't know about...

249
00:17:05,586 --> 00:17:11,275
I'm sure she believed
he would get better
because she did love him.

250
00:17:11,275 --> 00:17:13,758
But he got more
and more controlling.

251
00:17:14,619 --> 00:17:16,896
I don't think
she felt she was in danger.

252
00:17:30,586 --> 00:17:33,034
[Lynell] In 2003,

253
00:17:33,034 --> 00:17:38,758
unbeknownst to us,
Laurie was experiencing
some pretty bad depression.

254
00:17:38,758 --> 00:17:43,275
And she just had that side
of herself that she didn't,
she just didn't share.

255
00:17:44,068 --> 00:17:47,724
I got a call
from Kurt one day,

256
00:17:47,793 --> 00:17:50,103
and he said Laurie
didn't show up at work today

257
00:17:50,103 --> 00:17:54,068
and her boss
is looking for her
and he was on the road.

258
00:17:54,068 --> 00:17:57,000
So I said,
"Oh, okay, I'll drive over
to her apartment."

259
00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,931
It was only 15 minutes away.

260
00:18:13,793 --> 00:18:15,482
I found her
on the couch.

261
00:18:17,241 --> 00:18:20,827
And I was afraid
to touch her

262
00:18:20,896 --> 00:18:23,206
because I was afraid
her body would be cold.

263
00:18:25,172 --> 00:18:28,034
[narrator]
Lynell discovers Laurie
unconscious on the couch,

264
00:18:28,034 --> 00:18:30,379
surrounded by
empty pill bottles.

265
00:18:32,137 --> 00:18:33,965
[Lynell]
She had ingested pills.

266
00:18:33,965 --> 00:18:38,448
We didn't know what.
The pill bottle
didn't have a label on it.

267
00:18:38,448 --> 00:18:40,724
It was empty.
There was two of them.

268
00:18:41,275 --> 00:18:44,172
And so
we called the paramedics.

269
00:18:46,965 --> 00:18:48,586
We were scared.

270
00:18:48,586 --> 00:18:50,724
We didn't know
what she had taken.

271
00:18:52,172 --> 00:18:53,448
[narrator]
For a number of days

272
00:18:53,448 --> 00:18:57,000
Laurie remains
unconscious in hospital.

273
00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:02,000
When the nurse said,
"Squeeze my hand,"
and she squeezed.

274
00:19:02,068 --> 00:19:05,758
I remember calling my mom
and I said, "She squeezed
the nurse's hand.

275
00:19:05,758 --> 00:19:07,827
She's still in there."

276
00:19:09,655 --> 00:19:10,965
We were so happy.

277
00:19:10,965 --> 00:19:13,896
Finally, she kind of seemed
to be a little more awake.

278
00:19:15,862 --> 00:19:17,517
I said, "Laurie,
what did you take?"

279
00:19:18,655 --> 00:19:20,620
She said, "88."

280
00:19:21,655 --> 00:19:22,827
"88 what?"

281
00:19:23,862 --> 00:19:25,413
"Muscle relaxers."

282
00:19:26,482 --> 00:19:28,896
This was not
a cry for help.

283
00:19:28,896 --> 00:19:32,724
There was a note saying
the songs that she wanted
played at her funeral.

284
00:19:33,344 --> 00:19:35,137
She said,
"I'm so ashamed.

285
00:19:35,896 --> 00:19:37,517
And I can't stop gambling."

286
00:19:38,689 --> 00:19:40,586
I didn't even know
she was gambling.

287
00:19:41,862 --> 00:19:45,034
She was just avoiding things.

288
00:19:45,034 --> 00:19:49,275
She was avoiding
the unhappiness
of her marriage.

289
00:19:49,965 --> 00:19:53,068
When Kurt finally
came back into town,

290
00:19:53,068 --> 00:19:54,793
he actually
went to the hospital

291
00:19:54,793 --> 00:19:57,793
and started bitching at her,
and saying,

292
00:19:57,793 --> 00:20:01,137
"I don't think our insurance
is going to pay for this."

293
00:20:01,137 --> 00:20:02,862
She told me that.

294
00:20:02,862 --> 00:20:07,310
The fact that she shared
that incident at the hospital
was pretty telling.

295
00:20:07,379 --> 00:20:12,241
She was letting me see now
that side of how
he was treating her.

296
00:20:12,965 --> 00:20:15,586
And so she asked
if she could move in with us

297
00:20:15,586 --> 00:20:17,379
when she got
out of the hospital.

298
00:20:19,344 --> 00:20:20,724
[narrator] In 2003,

299
00:20:20,793 --> 00:20:23,275
Laurie moves in
with her sister, Lynell.

300
00:20:24,448 --> 00:20:27,827
I kind of thought that
he's not home a lot,

301
00:20:27,896 --> 00:20:30,689
and she didn't want
to be alone.

302
00:20:30,689 --> 00:20:35,034
So it made sense
to go live with other people,

303
00:20:35,034 --> 00:20:37,758
you know,
while she is getting better.

304
00:20:37,758 --> 00:20:42,000
But he did not like it
when my mom was with Lynell.

305
00:20:44,103 --> 00:20:48,413
Kurt was very much concerned
about what she was doing

306
00:20:48,482 --> 00:20:51,034
and where she was
and calling a ton,

307
00:20:51,034 --> 00:20:53,620
especially when she was
at my Aunt Lynell's house.

308
00:20:54,793 --> 00:20:58,379
[Kayla] I could overhear her
talking to him on the phone

309
00:20:58,379 --> 00:21:02,586
and constantly
answering questions
as to where she's going,

310
00:21:03,965 --> 00:21:06,344
who she's going to be with,
what they're doing.

311
00:21:06,344 --> 00:21:08,310
And a lot of times,
it would just be her
and my mom

312
00:21:08,379 --> 00:21:10,068
going out to do something.

313
00:21:10,068 --> 00:21:12,862
But then
she'd get off the phone,

314
00:21:12,862 --> 00:21:14,448
her and my mom would leave.

315
00:21:14,448 --> 00:21:16,172
And then he would start
calling the house phone.

316
00:21:16,172 --> 00:21:18,482
As if it's like
she was lying

317
00:21:18,482 --> 00:21:19,931
and he was going
to catch her.

318
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:21,344
And she was really there.

319
00:21:21,344 --> 00:21:24,310
[Lynell] I remember one time
it was the incessant calling,

320
00:21:24,379 --> 00:21:26,000
and I called him back,
I said,

321
00:21:26,068 --> 00:21:29,793
"Kurt, quit calling us.
I don't know where she is.

322
00:21:29,793 --> 00:21:30,862
Stop it!"

323
00:21:34,068 --> 00:21:35,862
[narrator] With the support
of her family,

324
00:21:35,862 --> 00:21:37,344
Laurie starts to recover

325
00:21:37,344 --> 00:21:40,620
and pushes back
against Kurt's
controlling behavior.

326
00:21:42,103 --> 00:21:47,068
Laurie's got the blonde
just in the little front
bang area. [chuckles]

327
00:21:47,068 --> 00:21:49,379
But she looks healthy.

328
00:21:49,379 --> 00:21:51,068
During this time,
she was going back and forth

329
00:21:51,068 --> 00:21:53,000
a little bit
to the apartment.

330
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:56,862
I don't know if he was
really winning her back

331
00:21:56,862 --> 00:22:01,931
or she was tired of being
dependent on other people.

332
00:22:03,034 --> 00:22:04,965
And he was out of town
most of the time.

333
00:22:04,965 --> 00:22:06,379
Why not just move back there?

334
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,586
[narrator] In early 2005,
Laurie is back
living with Kurt,

335
00:22:11,586 --> 00:22:15,379
when a new job
quickly spurs her on
to make a change.

336
00:22:16,551 --> 00:22:19,724
So things were really starting
to come together for her.

337
00:22:20,482 --> 00:22:23,413
And I think
she was settling in finally.

338
00:22:23,482 --> 00:22:27,793
Just, like, more of a career,
which I was happy about.

339
00:22:28,275 --> 00:22:33,413
And I think she finally knew

340
00:22:33,482 --> 00:22:35,793
what was important
in her life.

341
00:22:36,655 --> 00:22:39,172
And Kurt
didn't really have a role.

342
00:22:39,896 --> 00:22:41,586
She outgrew him.

343
00:22:42,551 --> 00:22:47,758
She was in a good place,
enjoying her life,
making plans for the future.

344
00:22:47,758 --> 00:22:50,965
[Kayla] There was a plan
that she was going
to move out.

345
00:22:50,965 --> 00:22:52,068
She was pretty direct.

346
00:22:52,068 --> 00:22:54,586
Just openly talking about it
at my parents' house

347
00:22:54,586 --> 00:22:57,655
that she was going
to move in with her friend
and her husband.

348
00:22:57,655 --> 00:23:01,379
[Lynell]
She was leaving him
the 1st of June.

349
00:23:01,379 --> 00:23:04,655
But arrangements
she had made fell apart.

350
00:23:04,655 --> 00:23:07,137
And it was pushed off
till August.

351
00:23:07,137 --> 00:23:12,000
And I think there was finally
a realization on his part

352
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,758
that she was moving on.

353
00:23:14,758 --> 00:23:18,103
[narrator] The weekend
before the big move
becomes a reality,

354
00:23:18,103 --> 00:23:20,620
Laurie has
a few days away with Lynell.

355
00:23:21,379 --> 00:23:23,586
[Lynell] The Friday night
before we went,

356
00:23:23,586 --> 00:23:26,482
my mom and I
got a phone call from Kurt.

357
00:23:26,482 --> 00:23:28,000
He was on the road,
and he said,

358
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,310
"I think Laurie
just took some pills."

359
00:23:33,275 --> 00:23:36,620
And my mom and I
were just beside ourselves.

360
00:23:36,689 --> 00:23:40,517
We cried
all of the 15-minute drive
to Laurie's apartment.

361
00:23:41,896 --> 00:23:43,931
We get to her apartment.

362
00:23:45,172 --> 00:23:48,000
She's in the living room,
folding laundry.

363
00:23:49,344 --> 00:23:50,724
And I said, "Are you okay?"

364
00:23:50,793 --> 00:23:52,103
She said, "Yeah."

365
00:23:52,103 --> 00:23:54,517
I said,
"Kurt just called and said

366
00:23:54,586 --> 00:23:58,137
he thought you overdosed
on some pills of his."

367
00:23:58,137 --> 00:24:00,724
And she said, "I don't know
what's going on with him."

368
00:24:01,896 --> 00:24:04,586
[narrator] Despite Kurt's
manipulative behavior,

369
00:24:04,586 --> 00:24:07,827
Laurie continues with
her family weekend plans.

370
00:24:10,655 --> 00:24:12,758
[Lynell] And then,
at my lake place
over the weekend,

371
00:24:12,758 --> 00:24:14,724
there was
the weird phone calls.

372
00:24:14,793 --> 00:24:17,586
Laurie was talking to him,
and then she'd hang up
and say,

373
00:24:17,586 --> 00:24:21,896
"Wow. He's really saying
some weird stuff."

374
00:24:21,896 --> 00:24:25,172
He had said to her
that he had had a dream,

375
00:24:25,172 --> 00:24:29,620
and in that dream,
Laurie shot him with a gun.

376
00:24:30,689 --> 00:24:33,241
She said, "I wonder
if he's using meth again."

377
00:24:34,379 --> 00:24:36,689
I was like, "He uses meth?"

378
00:24:37,482 --> 00:24:39,000
I didn't know that.

379
00:24:41,275 --> 00:24:44,413
[narrator]
With the weekend over,
Laurie returns home

380
00:24:44,482 --> 00:24:46,586
to find Kurt is back
from a work trip.

381
00:24:49,241 --> 00:24:52,896
The night we came back
from my lake place
on that Sunday,

382
00:24:52,896 --> 00:24:54,517
he was at the apartment.

383
00:24:54,586 --> 00:24:57,000
And my husband
got a strange feeling

384
00:24:57,068 --> 00:24:58,793
when he put
his hand out to say,

385
00:24:58,793 --> 00:25:01,413
"Well, I'll see you
later, Kurt. Take care."

386
00:25:01,482 --> 00:25:03,793
And Kurt was
very, very quiet.

387
00:25:03,793 --> 00:25:07,172
He was very, very somber
and quiet.

388
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,068
[narrator] Laurie is alone
when she goes over
to Lynell's for dinner.

389
00:25:13,068 --> 00:25:16,896
[Lynell] Monday night,
we were all together
at my house.

390
00:25:16,896 --> 00:25:19,068
We had a lasagna dinner.

391
00:25:19,068 --> 00:25:22,724
And, uh, we were all
just milling about.

392
00:25:22,793 --> 00:25:26,758
But Laurie was telling people
about the weird phone calls.

393
00:25:26,758 --> 00:25:28,586
They're all saying,
"I don't think
it's a good idea

394
00:25:28,586 --> 00:25:29,931
for you to go home tonight."

395
00:25:31,689 --> 00:25:33,310
And she laughed it off.

396
00:25:34,172 --> 00:25:36,620
She hugged me goodbye
and said,

397
00:25:36,689 --> 00:25:40,172
"I think they've been watching
too much Law & Order SVU."

398
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,310
That Friday night
phone call from him
was so strange.

399
00:25:46,586 --> 00:25:49,344
Looking back,
that was probably a sign

400
00:25:49,344 --> 00:25:51,310
that we should have
been worried.

401
00:25:55,275 --> 00:25:56,724
Hindsight is 20/20.

402
00:25:59,793 --> 00:26:01,724
[dispatcher speaking]

403
00:26:01,793 --> 00:26:03,482
[man speaking]

404
00:26:03,482 --> 00:26:05,517
[dispatcher speaking]

405
00:26:05,965 --> 00:26:08,724
[man speaking]

406
00:26:20,103 --> 00:26:23,000
-[dialing]
-[line ringing]

407
00:26:23,068 --> 00:26:24,827
[dispatcher speaking]

408
00:26:24,896 --> 00:26:26,689
[man speaking]

409
00:26:26,689 --> 00:26:28,689
[dispatcher speaking]

410
00:26:29,103 --> 00:26:32,000
[man speaking]

411
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,068
[dispatcher speaking]

412
00:26:34,068 --> 00:26:35,724
[man] Hold on, hold on.

413
00:26:37,068 --> 00:26:38,103
[Kurt speaking]

414
00:26:38,103 --> 00:26:40,448
[dispatcher speaking]

415
00:26:40,448 --> 00:26:42,482
-[Kurt speaking]
-[dispatcher speaking]

416
00:26:44,275 --> 00:26:48,068
[Kurt speaking]

417
00:26:54,137 --> 00:26:55,793
[dispatcher speaking]

418
00:26:55,793 --> 00:26:58,344
[Kurt speaking]

419
00:26:58,344 --> 00:27:01,275
[narrator]
Champlin Police Department
are immediately dispatched

420
00:27:01,275 --> 00:27:03,310
to the home
of Kurt and Laurie Bird.

421
00:27:04,379 --> 00:27:07,068
When officers encounter Kurt
in the parking lot,

422
00:27:07,068 --> 00:27:10,620
he tells a different version
of events to the 911 call.

423
00:27:11,689 --> 00:27:13,965
And he stated that
they had some disputes

424
00:27:13,965 --> 00:27:16,000
during the early morning
hours of that day,

425
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,344
that there was a struggle,
that she had the weapon,

426
00:27:18,344 --> 00:27:20,793
and that he took
the weapon from her.

427
00:27:20,793 --> 00:27:22,413
And she was shot.

428
00:27:25,275 --> 00:27:28,551
The supervisor on the scene
saw right away

429
00:27:28,551 --> 00:27:31,413
that this is not adding up
to be a suicide.

430
00:27:32,137 --> 00:27:33,758
[narrator]
Suspicious of Kurt's story,

431
00:27:33,758 --> 00:27:36,379
he is detained in the back
of a patrol vehicle

432
00:27:36,379 --> 00:27:40,965
while officers
enter the apartment to see
if Laurie is still alive,

433
00:27:40,965 --> 00:27:43,206
and if they can save her.

434
00:27:48,448 --> 00:27:50,689
[Wagman]
But once they were inside,

435
00:27:50,689 --> 00:27:53,310
they did find Laurie
lying in the bed.

436
00:27:53,379 --> 00:27:56,655
And it was very obvious
she had been deceased
for quite a while.

437
00:27:56,655 --> 00:27:58,448
The officers are experienced.

438
00:27:58,448 --> 00:28:01,241
And from what they could tell
from her injuries,

439
00:28:01,241 --> 00:28:02,793
from where the weapon
was located

440
00:28:02,793 --> 00:28:05,172
and how her body
was on the bed,

441
00:28:05,172 --> 00:28:07,862
they were able to determine
that this is not a suicide.

442
00:28:07,862 --> 00:28:10,000
It wasn't accidental.

443
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,931
At that point, Mr. Bird
was placed under arrest.

444
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,310
He was taken
to our police department
for processing.

445
00:28:19,379 --> 00:28:23,103
[narrator] Laurie's family
are yet to be notified
of the morning's events,

446
00:28:23,103 --> 00:28:25,275
when Lynell receives a call.

447
00:28:26,137 --> 00:28:28,310
[Lynell]
So my mom called me.

448
00:28:28,379 --> 00:28:32,620
She got a phone call
at my house from Kurt's ex

449
00:28:33,068 --> 00:28:35,000
asking "Is Laurie there?"

450
00:28:36,586 --> 00:28:39,000
Kurt had called her
early that morning

451
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:44,275
and was rambling on
about stuff that was weird.

452
00:28:44,275 --> 00:28:48,517
He said something
along the lines to her like,
"I think I shot Laurie."

453
00:28:48,586 --> 00:28:51,034
And I haven't heard
from Laurie yet.

454
00:28:51,034 --> 00:28:53,517
So I said, "Okay,
I'm going to drive over
to the apartment."

455
00:28:53,586 --> 00:28:55,241
Parked in the
little road there,

456
00:28:55,241 --> 00:28:58,620
right outside
this sliding glass door.

457
00:28:58,689 --> 00:29:01,896
And a police officer
met me in the living room,

458
00:29:01,896 --> 00:29:04,379
and he said,
"Ma'am, you can't be here."

459
00:29:04,379 --> 00:29:07,103
I said,
"Well, is my sister okay?"

460
00:29:07,103 --> 00:29:10,068
Because I heard shot,
I didn't hear killed.

461
00:29:18,689 --> 00:29:20,310
She was gone.

462
00:29:25,241 --> 00:29:31,241
It was something
I never ever dreamed
would happen in my family.

463
00:29:31,241 --> 00:29:34,724
That happens
with other families,
not mine.

464
00:29:37,172 --> 00:29:38,931
[Kelly] When I'm thinking
about the day she died,

465
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:42,965
I remember
it was just so painful.

466
00:29:42,965 --> 00:29:44,482
It was so painful.

467
00:29:47,689 --> 00:29:50,413
And then all that aftermath.

468
00:29:50,482 --> 00:29:54,379
It was just really scary.
Like, what happened?

469
00:29:54,379 --> 00:29:56,275
Someone shot her?

470
00:29:56,275 --> 00:29:59,275
Did she shoot herself?
Like, who did--

471
00:29:59,275 --> 00:30:07,241
It was just
such a big, chaotic mystery.

472
00:30:07,241 --> 00:30:12,724
But my brain was like,
"Wait, no. She's gonna
be okay, though, right?"

473
00:30:12,793 --> 00:30:16,413
You know, to protect me,
it felt like it just made it
not real, even.

474
00:30:16,482 --> 00:30:18,172
It doesn't even seem real.

475
00:30:21,586 --> 00:30:25,000
[narrator]
As news of Laurie's death
spreads around her family,

476
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,724
Detective Wagman
starts his investigation.

477
00:30:29,482 --> 00:30:31,000
When I went into the unit,

478
00:30:31,068 --> 00:30:33,379
it did not seem
to be in any disarray.

479
00:30:33,379 --> 00:30:35,793
It looked like
any other residence,

480
00:30:35,793 --> 00:30:38,275
apartment building
in the city.

481
00:30:38,275 --> 00:30:44,241
When I look at Laurie,
my first impression was
she was sound asleep.

482
00:30:44,241 --> 00:30:48,620
And she's just laying
on her stomach,

483
00:30:48,689 --> 00:30:51,000
and her head
tilted to the left,

484
00:30:51,068 --> 00:30:52,413
as if she was sleeping.

485
00:30:52,482 --> 00:30:54,724
You could see
that things did not match

486
00:30:54,793 --> 00:31:00,965
to what was being told by Kurt
that there was a struggle.

487
00:31:00,965 --> 00:31:05,000
You're collecting
everything that you can,
you know, for this puzzle,

488
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,241
every piece,
to see how it puts together.

489
00:31:08,241 --> 00:31:10,827
We're going to specifically
look at the body.

490
00:31:10,896 --> 00:31:13,896
We want to look
at how she's positioned,

491
00:31:13,896 --> 00:31:17,034
the blood,
where this weapon is

492
00:31:17,034 --> 00:31:20,000
and where the entrance wound
would have been.

493
00:31:20,965 --> 00:31:24,000
To me, it looked like
somebody had moved her arm

494
00:31:24,068 --> 00:31:26,000
after she had
been there for a while,

495
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,275
and had placed her arm
above her head.

496
00:31:29,275 --> 00:31:32,000
There was a lot of things
that just didn't look right.

497
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,862
We find a spent round
in the bed.

498
00:31:34,862 --> 00:31:37,862
We also found a live round.

499
00:31:37,862 --> 00:31:40,068
Bullets sitting
on the dresser.

500
00:31:40,068 --> 00:31:43,517
We found a lot of evidence
which did not match up
with the story

501
00:31:43,586 --> 00:31:44,862
that we're being told.

502
00:31:44,862 --> 00:31:47,310
It does not fit.

503
00:31:48,689 --> 00:31:50,172
[narrator]
With the evidence mounting,

504
00:31:50,172 --> 00:31:52,827
Detective Wagman
interviews Kurt.

505
00:31:53,793 --> 00:31:56,413
I wanted him to talk to us,
I wanted to get his story.

506
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,241
We wanted to talk to him,

507
00:32:15,241 --> 00:32:17,689
so you'll notice
there was no pressure.

508
00:32:18,793 --> 00:32:22,000
But I was slightly concerned

509
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:23,793
that he was going
to lawyer up on us

510
00:32:23,793 --> 00:32:25,517
the more he thought about it.

511
00:33:10,344 --> 00:33:13,000
-[Wagman speaking]
-[Kurt speaking]

512
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:17,310
I was expecting
more emotion from the start.

513
00:33:17,379 --> 00:33:20,620
You know, this is somebody
that he was married to,

514
00:33:21,379 --> 00:33:23,310
and he knows she's gone,

515
00:33:24,344 --> 00:33:26,275
and I was expecting more.

516
00:33:26,275 --> 00:33:29,241
What type of emotion,
anger or tears?

517
00:33:29,241 --> 00:33:30,724
I don't know.

518
00:33:37,689 --> 00:33:39,620
[Wagman]
His demeanor did change
when we started putting

519
00:33:39,689 --> 00:33:41,896
more of a pressure on him

520
00:33:41,896 --> 00:33:45,000
because it, kind of, morphed
into an interrogation.

521
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,448
We're hoping to get
more answers from him.

522
00:33:47,448 --> 00:33:49,137
Because I know
what happened to her.

523
00:33:49,137 --> 00:33:51,793
I just want him to tell us
how it happened.

524
00:34:07,103 --> 00:34:10,620
[Wagman speaking]

525
00:34:23,688 --> 00:34:28,379
Finally, at the end here,
he's telling us, you know,
"Enough."

526
00:34:43,241 --> 00:34:46,482
Him speaking to us,
goal one, matched.

527
00:34:46,482 --> 00:34:48,000
He didn't lawyer up.

528
00:34:48,034 --> 00:34:51,413
Uh, goal two,
he gave us a story, you know.

529
00:34:51,482 --> 00:34:54,034
How false it was,
how many lies it has?

530
00:34:54,034 --> 00:34:57,000
Doesn't matter.
We've got his story.

531
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,482
And, uh, Laurie was able
to tell us different.

532
00:35:00,862 --> 00:35:04,896
We rely a lot
on the medical examiner
for more answers.

533
00:35:04,896 --> 00:35:07,275
So I attended the autopsy.

534
00:35:07,275 --> 00:35:12,379
Their autopsy showed
from the starring around
the entrance wound

535
00:35:12,379 --> 00:35:16,034
that the barrel was placed
directly against her skull.

536
00:35:16,034 --> 00:35:18,724
It wasn't held back,
it wasn't a struggle.

537
00:35:18,793 --> 00:35:22,000
He had placed it
up against her skull,
and he pulled the trigger.

538
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:23,482
That's key evidence.

539
00:35:24,551 --> 00:35:25,655
She's laying on her stomach.

540
00:35:25,655 --> 00:35:27,689
She's got a pillow
between her legs.

541
00:35:27,689 --> 00:35:30,000
She has her left arm
possibly up over her head.

542
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:31,896
Her right arm
is along her side.

543
00:35:31,896 --> 00:35:33,310
She's sound asleep.

544
00:35:33,379 --> 00:35:34,379
[gunshot]

545
00:35:34,379 --> 00:35:36,620
He shoots her
while she was sleeping.

546
00:35:38,241 --> 00:35:40,586
[narrator] With compelling
evidence against Kurt,

547
00:35:40,586 --> 00:35:44,206
Detective Wagman
moves to charge for
second-degree murder.

548
00:35:49,275 --> 00:35:50,724
[Debbie Russell]
The initial charge went out

549
00:35:50,793 --> 00:35:52,517
as second degree
intentional murder,

550
00:35:52,586 --> 00:35:57,103
which is, basically,
Mr. Bird had the gun,
fired it,

551
00:35:57,103 --> 00:35:59,413
killed Mrs. Bird with intent.

552
00:35:59,482 --> 00:36:04,137
But we were looking
at two potential counts
of first-degree murder,

553
00:36:04,137 --> 00:36:06,034
one involving premeditation,

554
00:36:06,034 --> 00:36:10,241
and the other involving
a past pattern
of domestic abuse.

555
00:36:10,241 --> 00:36:14,689
When we were
looking for evidence,
we came upon an incident,

556
00:36:14,689 --> 00:36:17,241
I believe it was 1995,

557
00:36:17,241 --> 00:36:20,379
that was
in St. Cloud, Minnesota,

558
00:36:20,379 --> 00:36:24,034
where a community
service officer

559
00:36:24,034 --> 00:36:29,310
actually witnessed Mr. Bird
assaulting Mrs. Bird

560
00:36:29,379 --> 00:36:31,862
in a vehicle
in the parking lot

561
00:36:31,862 --> 00:36:35,172
outside of the St. Cloud
Police Department.

562
00:36:35,172 --> 00:36:38,275
We also learned
of other incidents

563
00:36:38,275 --> 00:36:40,482
where Mrs. Bird
called a friend

564
00:36:40,482 --> 00:36:42,310
and asked her to come get her

565
00:36:42,379 --> 00:36:45,793
because Mr. Bird
had attempted
to strangle her.

566
00:36:50,655 --> 00:36:54,689
If she's laying there
asleep on her bed,

567
00:36:54,689 --> 00:37:00,103
the steps that Mr. Bird
is going to take in terms
of picking up a gun,

568
00:37:00,103 --> 00:37:01,620
loading the gun...

569
00:37:02,344 --> 00:37:03,517
[gunshot]

570
00:37:03,517 --> 00:37:06,931
...putting the gun
in her hand after the fact,

571
00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:11,103
each one of those decisions,
that's premeditation.

572
00:37:12,275 --> 00:37:16,482
When you add Mrs. Bird
was planning to move out,

573
00:37:16,482 --> 00:37:22,137
and she was planning
to end this relationship
once and for all,

574
00:37:22,137 --> 00:37:26,068
we have strong evidence
that goes to premeditation.

575
00:37:26,068 --> 00:37:30,310
So I then needed
to present this case
to a grand jury

576
00:37:30,379 --> 00:37:35,586
in order to get those
first-degree murder
charges added.

577
00:37:36,689 --> 00:37:38,000
[narrator]
The grand jury agrees

578
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:40,965
with Assistant District
Attorney Debbie Russell.

579
00:37:40,965 --> 00:37:45,000
And six months
after Laurie's murder,
she faces Kurt at trial.

580
00:37:46,172 --> 00:37:48,551
[Russell] When we got to trial
and he was testifying,

581
00:37:48,551 --> 00:37:52,931
he acted as we saw
in the police interview,

582
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:54,965
not taking any accountability

583
00:37:54,965 --> 00:37:59,068
and certainly
not remembering anything.

584
00:38:00,482 --> 00:38:05,275
[Kelly] It was hard
to sit through the trial
and see him there.

585
00:38:06,344 --> 00:38:08,862
I remember him
standing up and saying,

586
00:38:08,862 --> 00:38:13,379
"The only people who know
what happened that night
is Laurie and me and God.

587
00:38:13,379 --> 00:38:15,310
And I didn't do it."

588
00:38:15,379 --> 00:38:17,482
And that just,
kind of, disgusted me.

589
00:38:19,379 --> 00:38:21,758
I'm still sorting
my feelings out
about all this,

590
00:38:21,758 --> 00:38:26,413
but she'd still be here
if it wasn't for him.

591
00:38:28,896 --> 00:38:32,103
I think when you see
nothing from someone,
that's more insulting.

592
00:38:38,586 --> 00:38:41,793
[Russell] In looking back
at my closing argument,

593
00:38:41,793 --> 00:38:46,103
I was telling this jury
that Kurt Bird is a liar,

594
00:38:46,103 --> 00:38:49,034
and he lied
in his interview to police,

595
00:38:49,034 --> 00:38:51,241
and he lied
when he was on the stand.

596
00:38:52,379 --> 00:38:56,517
I had to also tell the jury
there was no struggle.

597
00:38:56,586 --> 00:38:58,551
She was asleep.

598
00:38:58,551 --> 00:39:01,586
By this point,
I was so enraged

599
00:39:01,586 --> 00:39:05,310
that we were here
and we were doing all of this

600
00:39:05,379 --> 00:39:08,931
because the evidence
was so overwhelming.

601
00:39:15,689 --> 00:39:18,000
It's never easy
waiting on a verdict.

602
00:39:19,103 --> 00:39:22,000
But thankfully,
he was found guilty

603
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:25,000
of the two counts
of first-degree murder.

604
00:39:25,068 --> 00:39:26,965
First-degree murder
premeditated

605
00:39:26,965 --> 00:39:31,000
and first-degree murder
with a past pattern
of domestic abuse.

606
00:39:32,482 --> 00:39:36,827
Kurt Bird
was sentenced to life
in prison without parole.

607
00:39:37,965 --> 00:39:41,034
There is an automatic
right of appeal,

608
00:39:41,034 --> 00:39:43,000
and that appeal was denied.

609
00:39:45,172 --> 00:39:48,103
Nothing anybody does
brings her back.

610
00:39:48,103 --> 00:39:49,310
Nothing.

611
00:39:49,379 --> 00:39:53,137
No verdict, no arrests.
Nothing.

612
00:39:53,137 --> 00:39:58,172
[Kelly] I don't have
the capacity for hatred
or anger or any of that.

613
00:39:58,172 --> 00:40:02,931
But I do wish he would have
taken some responsibility
for what he did.

614
00:40:04,965 --> 00:40:10,000
We always have choices
between good and evil.

615
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,310
That day, he chose evil.

616
00:40:16,655 --> 00:40:20,137
[Lynell]
I think of Laurie often,
and I miss her terribly.

617
00:40:21,448 --> 00:40:24,482
People were drawn to her
and wanted to be around her.

618
00:40:24,482 --> 00:40:27,310
She was fun,
she was positive.

619
00:40:27,482 --> 00:40:28,689
She was funny.

620
00:40:29,793 --> 00:40:31,310
She was kind.

621
00:40:32,551 --> 00:40:35,758
And I wish so much
that she was still here.

622
00:40:35,758 --> 00:40:41,517
I have such good memories.

623
00:40:44,551 --> 00:40:47,000
[Kristin] When I think
about my mom now,

624
00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:51,931
I like to laugh
about her embarrassing me

625
00:40:52,379 --> 00:40:54,517
every second that she could.

626
00:40:55,758 --> 00:40:59,000
She'll never be old,
you know? [chuckles] I think

627
00:40:59,068 --> 00:41:01,758
it's something
that comforts me.

628
00:41:01,758 --> 00:41:06,931
She was young at heart
and she will be
young forever.

629
00:41:18,344 --> 00:41:20,689
♪♪

630
00:41:22,793 --> 00:41:24,827
I had a feeling something bad
would happen.

631
00:41:28,172 --> 00:41:30,413
But I never thought it would
have been this.

632
00:41:30,482 --> 00:41:32,758
We have a suspected killer
inside room 210.

633
00:41:32,758 --> 00:41:34,137
♪♪