1 00:00:02,262 --> 00:00:05,613 She was always looking for just a great family man, 2 00:00:05,657 --> 00:00:07,311 a good Christian man. 3 00:00:07,789 --> 00:00:09,182 Someone that loved family, 4 00:00:09,226 --> 00:00:11,097 someone that loved God. 5 00:00:11,576 --> 00:00:13,578 She found a match made in heaven, 6 00:00:13,621 --> 00:00:16,972 one she believed would bring eternal happiness. 7 00:00:17,234 --> 00:00:18,583 They were soulmates. 8 00:00:18,626 --> 00:00:21,194 This was the man that God had picked out for her. 9 00:00:21,238 --> 00:00:24,676 He had presented himself as this strong Christian, 10 00:00:24,719 --> 00:00:26,286 you know, leader in the church. 11 00:00:26,330 --> 00:00:28,158 From the outside looking in, 12 00:00:28,201 --> 00:00:30,334 they looked almost perfect ... 13 00:00:31,813 --> 00:00:33,685 almost too perfect. 14 00:00:34,425 --> 00:00:37,863 But over time, the seemingly perfect relationship. 15 00:00:45,740 --> 00:00:48,787 Is revealed to be nothing more than a lie. 16 00:00:48,830 --> 00:00:51,877 What was their relationship like behind closed doors? 17 00:00:52,791 --> 00:00:55,054 Michael clearly was leading a double life. 18 00:00:55,098 --> 00:00:57,709 You could tell that he was under a lot of stress. 19 00:00:57,752 --> 00:00:58,797 When I read her journal, 20 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,147 it was a cry for help. 21 00:01:01,191 --> 00:01:03,758 And when shameful secrets are exposed, 22 00:01:03,802 --> 00:01:06,152 it turns the ideal marriage ... 23 00:01:06,196 --> 00:01:08,241 He was not gonna let his wife walk away. 24 00:01:08,285 --> 00:01:09,982 He was not gonna live without. 25 00:01:10,025 --> 00:01:12,724 Into a killer relationship. 26 00:01:12,767 --> 00:01:14,900 It was unbelievable. 27 00:01:14,943 --> 00:01:18,512 We found a needle in the haystack. 28 00:01:20,471 --> 00:01:23,648 This is one of the most tragic cases I ever did. 29 00:01:37,183 --> 00:01:38,750 I've been a Wall Street litigator, 30 00:01:38,793 --> 00:01:41,579 a prosecutor for the Manhattan DA's office 31 00:01:41,622 --> 00:01:43,102 and a judge, 32 00:01:43,146 --> 00:01:44,756 first on Judge Faith 33 00:01:44,799 --> 00:01:46,758 and now on Divorce Court. 34 00:01:46,801 --> 00:01:48,151 I'm Faith Jenkins 35 00:01:48,194 --> 00:01:50,544 and it's been my job to dig deep 36 00:01:50,588 --> 00:01:54,287 and understand each relationship that I've encountered 37 00:01:54,331 --> 00:01:57,551 from the fiery and passionate spark of romance 38 00:01:57,595 --> 00:01:59,292 to the cold, bitter, 39 00:01:59,336 --> 00:02:01,599 and sometimes deadly end. 40 00:02:01,990 --> 00:02:03,644 If there's one thing I've learned from 41 00:02:03,688 --> 00:02:05,298 all my years in court, 42 00:02:05,342 --> 00:02:08,562 it's that everyone has secrets. 43 00:02:08,606 --> 00:02:11,130 Oftentimes, these secrets are trivial, 44 00:02:11,174 --> 00:02:13,437 but sometimes when you add them all up, 45 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:15,961 they can be relationship killers. 46 00:02:16,266 --> 00:02:17,745 When one side of a relationship 47 00:02:17,789 --> 00:02:21,140 is living a double life to conceal those secrets, 48 00:02:21,184 --> 00:02:23,621 they might do anything to prevent them 49 00:02:23,664 --> 00:02:25,188 from being revealed. 50 00:02:25,231 --> 00:02:26,232 Like the story of 51 00:02:26,276 --> 00:02:28,713 Jennifer Lohmann and Michael Blagg. 52 00:02:29,670 --> 00:02:30,845 To friends and family, 53 00:02:30,889 --> 00:02:34,240 their relationship looks picture perfect, 54 00:02:34,284 --> 00:02:38,810 but is it just a facade covering up a litany of secrets? 55 00:02:42,683 --> 00:02:46,296 I grew up with Jennifer in Ardmore, Oklahoma. 56 00:02:46,339 --> 00:02:48,646 First time I met her was in Sunday school. 57 00:02:48,689 --> 00:02:51,344 She was just the sweetest girl you've ever met. 58 00:02:51,388 --> 00:02:52,998 Her faith was very important. 59 00:02:53,041 --> 00:02:55,870 Her mom instilled that at an early age. 60 00:02:55,914 --> 00:02:58,308 We went through middle school and high school together 61 00:02:58,351 --> 00:03:02,790 and were just best buds throughout our school years. 62 00:03:05,097 --> 00:03:09,101 Jennifer was always looking for just a great family man, 63 00:03:09,144 --> 00:03:10,494 a good Christian man, 64 00:03:10,537 --> 00:03:13,061 and him to be the provider and her to have kids. 65 00:03:13,105 --> 00:03:14,149 Jennifer would say, 66 00:03:14,193 --> 00:03:16,064 I want somebody with honor, 67 00:03:16,108 --> 00:03:18,284 somebody that she could trust, 68 00:03:18,328 --> 00:03:20,504 somebody she could tell anything. 69 00:03:21,679 --> 00:03:24,072 Her prayers are soon answered. 70 00:03:24,116 --> 00:03:25,944 After graduating high school, 71 00:03:25,987 --> 00:03:27,337 Jennifer heads west 72 00:03:27,380 --> 00:03:30,644 to attend National University as a business major 73 00:03:30,688 --> 00:03:34,039 in laid back San Diego, California. 74 00:03:34,474 --> 00:03:36,346 At a party on a rare night out, 75 00:03:36,389 --> 00:03:37,999 she looks across the room 76 00:03:38,043 --> 00:03:41,264 and spots 25-year-old, Michael Blagg. 77 00:03:41,307 --> 00:03:44,919 He was stationed there in the Navy. 78 00:03:44,963 --> 00:03:48,923 Michael was somebody who grew up in a privileged family 79 00:03:48,967 --> 00:03:50,316 with a lot of wealth. 80 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,231 That's what you know everybody was looking for 81 00:03:52,275 --> 00:03:54,929 in the mid-80s was Prince Charming. 82 00:03:55,495 --> 00:03:56,670 Jennifer finds herself 83 00:03:56,714 --> 00:03:59,630 immediately drawn to Michael's good looks, 84 00:03:59,673 --> 00:04:03,024 but it's his faith in God that seals the deal for her. 85 00:04:03,068 --> 00:04:07,290 She found a Christian faithful man, a good family man 86 00:04:07,333 --> 00:04:09,161 and that's the way he presented himself 87 00:04:09,204 --> 00:04:11,337 and that's what she was looking for. 88 00:04:11,685 --> 00:04:14,340 It doesn't hurt that Michael checks off a huge box 89 00:04:14,384 --> 00:04:16,473 on Jennifer's wishlist. 90 00:04:16,995 --> 00:04:18,953 Jennifer always told me when we were growing up 91 00:04:18,997 --> 00:04:20,433 that she wanted to marry a pilot, 92 00:04:20,477 --> 00:04:22,522 that she knew that she would marry a pilot. 93 00:04:22,566 --> 00:04:25,133 That's exactly what Michael does, 94 00:04:25,177 --> 00:04:28,833 as a helicopter pilot for the US Navy. 95 00:04:29,224 --> 00:04:30,661 Jennifer, she found somebody 96 00:04:30,704 --> 00:04:32,967 who doted on her and took care of her 97 00:04:33,011 --> 00:04:35,666 and he found a woman who 98 00:04:35,709 --> 00:04:39,713 maybe brought out a softer side of him. 99 00:04:40,018 --> 00:04:43,500 The storybook beginning doesn't end there. 100 00:04:43,543 --> 00:04:46,503 After two tours in Operation Desert Storm, 101 00:04:46,546 --> 00:04:48,461 Michael retires from the Navy 102 00:04:48,505 --> 00:04:50,985 and takes a job as an engineer. 103 00:04:51,029 --> 00:04:53,684 Not long after that, in 1991, 104 00:04:53,727 --> 00:04:55,512 they tie the knot. 105 00:04:55,860 --> 00:04:56,991 And four years later, 106 00:04:57,035 --> 00:05:00,560 the couple have a baby girl named Abby. 107 00:05:01,909 --> 00:05:03,302 Jennifer always struck me 108 00:05:03,346 --> 00:05:04,999 as just being a wife and a mother 109 00:05:05,043 --> 00:05:07,915 and the white picket fence and go to church every Sunday 110 00:05:07,959 --> 00:05:11,832 and raise her kids just like she was raised. 111 00:05:11,876 --> 00:05:14,357 The couple decides to put down roots 112 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:16,837 in Simpsonville, South Carolina, 113 00:05:16,881 --> 00:05:20,537 a small town with a tight-knit Christian community. 114 00:05:20,885 --> 00:05:24,584 Jennifer definitely wanted to make this her home town. 115 00:05:24,628 --> 00:05:26,369 She immediately threw herself 116 00:05:26,412 --> 00:05:29,937 into getting connected and serving at church. 117 00:05:29,981 --> 00:05:35,421 Michael began moving into a co-teaching situation 118 00:05:35,465 --> 00:05:37,423 for Sunday school. 119 00:05:37,467 --> 00:05:39,207 Jennifer is deeply connected 120 00:05:39,251 --> 00:05:41,209 to the women in her community 121 00:05:41,253 --> 00:05:43,386 and takes very seriously her roles 122 00:05:43,429 --> 00:05:46,519 as a Christian, a wife and a mother. 123 00:05:47,694 --> 00:05:49,653 Jennifer and I were prayer partners. 124 00:05:49,696 --> 00:05:54,048 We were able to explore what it meant to be a believer, 125 00:05:54,092 --> 00:05:58,531 to be a stay-at-home mom and to support our husbands. 126 00:05:59,445 --> 00:06:01,534 Traditional Christianity's view 127 00:06:01,578 --> 00:06:05,538 of the man as the head of the household, the breadwinner, 128 00:06:05,582 --> 00:06:08,889 played well with Michael's personality 129 00:06:08,933 --> 00:06:10,456 and how he viewed himself 130 00:06:10,500 --> 00:06:14,634 as this strong, controlling figure head. 131 00:06:15,113 --> 00:06:17,637 And he was married to someone 132 00:06:17,681 --> 00:06:21,380 who regarded him in the same fashion. 133 00:06:21,424 --> 00:06:24,949 Jennifer loved the fact that Michael was strong, 134 00:06:24,992 --> 00:06:29,693 that he was a take-charge kind of a guy. 135 00:06:29,736 --> 00:06:32,260 I know that he looked after her. 136 00:06:32,304 --> 00:06:34,654 He was very protective of her. 137 00:06:34,698 --> 00:06:36,526 But to Jennifer's friends, 138 00:06:36,569 --> 00:06:39,267 there are times when Michael's protectiveness 139 00:06:39,311 --> 00:06:41,095 seems extreme. 140 00:06:43,620 --> 00:06:45,448 When she and I would go to coffee, 141 00:06:45,491 --> 00:06:47,580 we would get to the coffee shop 142 00:06:47,624 --> 00:06:51,497 and she would have to stop and call Michael 143 00:06:51,541 --> 00:06:53,673 and tell him that she was there. 144 00:06:53,717 --> 00:06:55,762 And then when she got ready to leave, 145 00:06:55,806 --> 00:06:57,851 she would have to call again. 146 00:06:57,895 --> 00:07:02,465 He also wanted to approve any new hairstyles. 147 00:07:03,422 --> 00:07:07,948 And another time, a friend of mine and I were at her house 148 00:07:07,992 --> 00:07:11,604 and she looked at her watch and it was after four o'clock 149 00:07:11,648 --> 00:07:15,565 and you could just see the absolute panic on her face. 150 00:07:15,608 --> 00:07:19,351 All she could think about was getting us out of the house 151 00:07:19,394 --> 00:07:21,614 and getting things set 152 00:07:21,658 --> 00:07:27,098 so that Michael could come home to a, to a good environment. 153 00:07:28,665 --> 00:07:30,754 I've seen this so many times. 154 00:07:30,797 --> 00:07:34,148 On the surface, it looks like Jennifer is being a good wife 155 00:07:34,192 --> 00:07:35,976 to an old fashioned husband. 156 00:07:36,020 --> 00:07:39,632 But what bothers me here is that she's so panicked. 157 00:07:39,676 --> 00:07:43,636 In my courtroom, I've seen many unhealthy relationships 158 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,031 and when one partner is fearful and submissive 159 00:07:47,074 --> 00:07:50,338 and the other wants to exert power and control, 160 00:07:50,382 --> 00:07:51,905 it can be toxic. 161 00:07:51,949 --> 00:07:54,560 So, this right here for me at least, 162 00:07:54,604 --> 00:07:58,042 is the first warning sign in this marriage. 163 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:01,393 Jennifer played it 164 00:08:01,436 --> 00:08:06,529 that he was just very much a traditionalist 165 00:08:06,572 --> 00:08:09,967 and that he took things as black and white. 166 00:08:10,010 --> 00:08:14,449 Michael was very interested in being respected 167 00:08:14,493 --> 00:08:19,019 and being credible in whatever he did. 168 00:08:22,196 --> 00:08:25,852 In 2000, after just two years in South Carolina, 169 00:08:25,896 --> 00:08:29,508 Jennifer shares some news with her friend, Edie. 170 00:08:29,943 --> 00:08:31,597 Michael had found a new job. 171 00:08:31,641 --> 00:08:34,382 He'd been offered this wonderful position 172 00:08:34,426 --> 00:08:37,037 in Grand Junction, Colorado. 173 00:08:37,081 --> 00:08:40,954 It was a move up for him in his career 174 00:08:40,998 --> 00:08:43,261 and she was, 175 00:08:43,304 --> 00:08:45,350 she was devastated. 176 00:08:46,351 --> 00:08:47,657 Jennifer's not the kind of woman 177 00:08:47,700 --> 00:08:49,746 to stand in her husband's way, 178 00:08:49,789 --> 00:08:52,226 but the fact that Michael made the decision 179 00:08:52,270 --> 00:08:54,185 without ever consulting her 180 00:08:54,228 --> 00:08:58,276 is a troubling sign of his need to control all aspects 181 00:08:58,319 --> 00:09:00,321 of the couple's life together. 182 00:09:00,365 --> 00:09:02,933 He is totally in charge here. 183 00:09:03,803 --> 00:09:07,111 Jennifer, she desperately did not want to move. 184 00:09:07,154 --> 00:09:10,897 She felt like she had found her friend family 185 00:09:10,941 --> 00:09:15,293 and did not want to go anywhere else. 186 00:09:16,599 --> 00:09:20,124 I gave her a big hug and we were both crying 187 00:09:20,167 --> 00:09:23,910 and I promised her that we would see each other again 188 00:09:23,954 --> 00:09:27,044 and that we would never lose touch. 189 00:09:34,007 --> 00:09:36,053 The rugged mesas of Grand Junction 190 00:09:36,096 --> 00:09:39,491 are nothing like the green hills of South Carolina, 191 00:09:39,534 --> 00:09:41,667 but Jennifer dutifully commits 192 00:09:41,711 --> 00:09:43,713 to this new beginning for the family 193 00:09:43,756 --> 00:09:46,106 who once again turned to the church 194 00:09:46,150 --> 00:09:47,847 for a sense of community. 195 00:09:47,891 --> 00:09:49,675 People who knew the Blagg's 196 00:09:49,719 --> 00:09:52,678 from the churches they attended in Grand Junction, 197 00:09:52,722 --> 00:09:56,377 regarded Michael as a very loving father 198 00:09:56,421 --> 00:09:58,815 and somebody who adored Jennifer 199 00:09:58,858 --> 00:10:01,078 and was a devout husband 200 00:10:01,121 --> 00:10:02,645 and took care of her. 201 00:10:02,688 --> 00:10:05,386 Michael eagerly throws himself into his job, 202 00:10:05,430 --> 00:10:09,782 working long hours for his new company, AMETEK Dickson. 203 00:10:10,783 --> 00:10:15,179 Meanwhile, Jennifer struggles with her new life. 204 00:10:15,222 --> 00:10:17,137 She was unhappy. 205 00:10:17,181 --> 00:10:21,968 She was trying so much to make the best of things 206 00:10:22,012 --> 00:10:25,842 and to try to lean more fully on the Lord 207 00:10:25,885 --> 00:10:29,672 so that she could get through this difficult time. 208 00:10:30,498 --> 00:10:33,937 She seemed to feel very much alone. 209 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:36,461 Jennifer tries to stay positive 210 00:10:36,504 --> 00:10:38,506 by focusing on raising Abby 211 00:10:38,550 --> 00:10:40,683 and keeping the household together 212 00:10:40,726 --> 00:10:44,382 and the Blagg's slip into a daily routine. 213 00:10:45,209 --> 00:10:47,515 On November 13th, 2001, 214 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:49,430 Michael leaves the house early 215 00:10:49,474 --> 00:10:51,389 just like every other day 216 00:10:51,432 --> 00:10:53,391 and just like every other day, 217 00:10:53,434 --> 00:10:56,263 he calls often to check on Jennifer. 218 00:10:57,003 --> 00:10:58,526 Good morning, gorgeous. 219 00:10:58,570 --> 00:11:01,007 It's me, just calling to see how you and Abby are doing. 220 00:11:04,532 --> 00:11:06,012 Hey, where are you? 221 00:11:06,056 --> 00:11:08,145 I was just calling to see how you were doing. 222 00:11:09,407 --> 00:11:11,801 Man, where are you guys? 223 00:11:11,844 --> 00:11:13,541 I hope everything's going okay, I love ya. 224 00:11:14,847 --> 00:11:16,153 By four p.m., 225 00:11:16,196 --> 00:11:18,590 Michael hasn't heard back from Jennifer. 226 00:11:18,633 --> 00:11:21,245 He decides to head home early. 227 00:11:22,072 --> 00:11:23,638 When Michael returned home, 228 00:11:23,682 --> 00:11:26,250 it was immediately apparent that something was different, 229 00:11:26,293 --> 00:11:27,991 something was wrong. 230 00:11:29,166 --> 00:11:31,255 He immediately proceeded to the master bedroom, 231 00:11:31,298 --> 00:11:32,996 which was on the first floor 232 00:11:33,039 --> 00:11:36,956 and encountered a pretty terrible scene there. 233 00:11:38,566 --> 00:11:41,526 I remember just, you know, 234 00:11:41,569 --> 00:11:44,572 being in shock and bursting into tears. 235 00:11:45,312 --> 00:11:46,879 This is more than just a kidnapping. 236 00:11:46,923 --> 00:11:49,664 This is somebody that either had suffered death 237 00:11:49,708 --> 00:11:51,841 or serious bodily injury. 238 00:12:02,373 --> 00:12:07,291 It's November 13th, 2001 in Grand Junction, Colorado. 239 00:12:07,334 --> 00:12:10,250 After unsuccessfully trying to reach his family 240 00:12:10,294 --> 00:12:11,817 on the phone, 241 00:12:11,861 --> 00:12:14,689 Michael Blagg rushes home to check on his wife, Jennifer, 242 00:12:14,733 --> 00:12:17,214 and their six-year-old daughter, Abby. 243 00:12:17,257 --> 00:12:18,824 What he encounters 244 00:12:18,868 --> 00:12:20,870 is an alarming scene. 245 00:12:51,552 --> 00:12:53,467 I was briefed by the patrol officers 246 00:12:53,511 --> 00:12:54,860 who had entered the house, 247 00:12:54,904 --> 00:12:57,210 that there was a mother and daughter missing, 248 00:12:57,254 --> 00:12:58,908 that the house was secured. 249 00:12:58,951 --> 00:13:01,040 I also was told there was a large amount of blood 250 00:13:01,084 --> 00:13:02,999 in the bedroom. 251 00:13:04,914 --> 00:13:06,654 As I entered the master bedroom, 252 00:13:06,698 --> 00:13:08,265 I could see that there were things 253 00:13:08,308 --> 00:13:09,657 strewn around the bedroom, 254 00:13:09,701 --> 00:13:11,181 there was a large amount of blood. 255 00:13:11,224 --> 00:13:13,270 However, there was no drag marks 256 00:13:13,313 --> 00:13:15,141 or there was no blood marks 257 00:13:15,185 --> 00:13:17,883 that walked from the bed out into the bedroom 258 00:13:17,927 --> 00:13:22,148 either to the garage or to the front living room area. 259 00:13:22,714 --> 00:13:26,413 So as the crime scene techs are going through the house, 260 00:13:26,457 --> 00:13:28,763 one of the last areas that they process 261 00:13:28,807 --> 00:13:30,983 is a van that's found in the garage. 262 00:13:31,027 --> 00:13:34,944 From that, we found numerous bloodstains in the van, 263 00:13:36,032 --> 00:13:38,338 one of them being behind the steering wheel, 264 00:13:38,382 --> 00:13:40,863 one of them being on the brake pedal. 265 00:13:41,733 --> 00:13:45,563 So my initial thought is that we had a kidnapping 266 00:13:45,606 --> 00:13:47,913 of a small child and a mother, 267 00:13:47,957 --> 00:13:50,655 but what didn't match the fact 268 00:13:50,698 --> 00:13:52,962 was that we had this large amount of blood 269 00:13:53,005 --> 00:13:54,702 that was in the bedroom 270 00:13:54,746 --> 00:13:58,576 and that would be unusual for a kidnapping. 271 00:13:59,620 --> 00:14:03,015 As a prosecutor, my cases were always puzzles 272 00:14:03,059 --> 00:14:04,756 that needed to be solved. 273 00:14:04,799 --> 00:14:09,108 And this case, it's a puzzle with a lot of missing pieces. 274 00:14:09,587 --> 00:14:12,198 Why is there so much blood on the bed 275 00:14:12,242 --> 00:14:15,201 and none on the walls or hallway? 276 00:14:15,245 --> 00:14:18,726 Who's blood stains are in the family van? 277 00:14:18,770 --> 00:14:21,947 And the biggest missing piece of all, 278 00:14:21,991 --> 00:14:24,907 where are Jennifer and Abby? 279 00:14:24,950 --> 00:14:29,433 The last known person to have seen them is Michael Blagg. 280 00:14:29,868 --> 00:14:32,871 So detectives start where I'd start, 281 00:14:32,915 --> 00:14:33,959 with him. 282 00:14:47,016 --> 00:14:49,061 In the interviewing Michael, 283 00:14:49,105 --> 00:14:53,413 he said that she was a very 284 00:14:53,457 --> 00:14:56,068 responsible young woman, 285 00:14:56,112 --> 00:14:59,767 very dedicated to her child and to her marriage 286 00:14:59,811 --> 00:15:02,857 and to her church and to her God. 287 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:34,454 As detectives try to make sense 288 00:15:34,498 --> 00:15:36,456 of what they've learned so far, 289 00:15:36,500 --> 00:15:38,632 the Blagg's church quickly pulled together 290 00:15:38,676 --> 00:15:40,634 to search for Jennifer and Abby 291 00:15:40,678 --> 00:15:43,202 and Michael leans on them for support. 292 00:15:43,507 --> 00:15:46,031 Everybody that met Michael and Jennifer Blagg 293 00:15:46,075 --> 00:15:47,641 really respected them 294 00:15:47,685 --> 00:15:51,123 so I think the volunteers felt like they were having a part 295 00:15:51,167 --> 00:15:56,389 in being able to assist in this very horrific crime. 296 00:15:56,694 --> 00:15:58,043 People searching by horseback, 297 00:15:58,087 --> 00:16:00,480 by ATV, helicopter, on foot. 298 00:16:00,524 --> 00:16:02,308 Nobody was sleeping. 299 00:16:02,352 --> 00:16:04,267 Nobody was going home. 300 00:16:04,310 --> 00:16:07,183 You just, you go and you go and you go. 301 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:12,971 I got a phone call from a friend of ours 302 00:16:13,015 --> 00:16:16,888 who was a mutual friend and she said, 303 00:16:16,931 --> 00:16:18,542 "I have bad news." 304 00:16:18,585 --> 00:16:21,762 She said, "You need to know Jennifer and Abby are missing." 305 00:16:21,806 --> 00:16:25,679 And I remember just, you know, 306 00:16:25,723 --> 00:16:28,421 being in shock and bursting into tears. 307 00:16:28,465 --> 00:16:31,990 And she said, "We don't know what has happened." 308 00:16:42,348 --> 00:16:47,136 Anyone who knows anything about my wife and my daughter, 309 00:16:47,179 --> 00:16:48,528 I pray that you'll come forward. 310 00:16:48,572 --> 00:16:51,618 That's all I want, just allow them to come home. 311 00:16:52,184 --> 00:16:54,491 His first appearance in front of the media, 312 00:16:54,534 --> 00:16:57,581 he stood up there with Jennifer's mother, 313 00:16:57,624 --> 00:17:00,540 the pastors from the two churches. 314 00:17:00,584 --> 00:17:02,542 So,literally and figuratively, 315 00:17:02,586 --> 00:17:05,328 he had people standing by his side. 316 00:17:08,766 --> 00:17:10,333 Investigators know 317 00:17:10,376 --> 00:17:13,249 that the first 72 hours are critical 318 00:17:13,292 --> 00:17:15,512 in a missing persons case 319 00:17:15,555 --> 00:17:17,122 so the all-out search 320 00:17:17,166 --> 00:17:19,298 for 34 year old Jennifer Blagg 321 00:17:19,342 --> 00:17:21,344 and her six-year-old daughter Abby 322 00:17:21,387 --> 00:17:23,998 heats up in its third day. 323 00:17:24,825 --> 00:17:28,177 We had thousands of volunteers walking the desert, 324 00:17:28,220 --> 00:17:29,569 walking along the river, 325 00:17:29,613 --> 00:17:32,094 walking throughout the forest areas, 326 00:17:32,137 --> 00:17:36,794 looking for graves or the bodies of Jennifer and Abby Blagg. 327 00:17:39,144 --> 00:17:42,321 Michael was very helpful throughout the investigation. 328 00:17:42,365 --> 00:17:44,584 He was constantly checking in with us. 329 00:17:44,628 --> 00:17:45,716 He wanted to be involved 330 00:17:45,759 --> 00:17:48,327 in the searching for Abby and Jennifer 331 00:17:48,371 --> 00:17:50,851 with the volunteer groups. 332 00:17:51,983 --> 00:17:53,767 As the search continues, 333 00:17:53,811 --> 00:17:56,596 detectives still look into other scenarios 334 00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:59,686 for what could have happened to Jennifer and Abby. 335 00:17:59,730 --> 00:18:01,079 People disappearing, 336 00:18:01,123 --> 00:18:02,733 there's lots of ways they can disappear, 337 00:18:02,776 --> 00:18:06,171 they can do it intentionally or they can be through 338 00:18:06,215 --> 00:18:07,912 homicide or some kidnapping. 339 00:18:07,955 --> 00:18:10,697 So, they had to explore all three of those options, 340 00:18:10,741 --> 00:18:12,221 especially if she's taking a child with her, 341 00:18:12,264 --> 00:18:13,439 she's got to have food 342 00:18:13,483 --> 00:18:15,441 and she's got to come up with money. 343 00:18:15,485 --> 00:18:18,140 So they look for credit card information. 344 00:18:18,183 --> 00:18:19,402 Did she purchase anything 345 00:18:19,445 --> 00:18:22,013 to show that she was traveling in any way? 346 00:18:22,056 --> 00:18:24,276 And they didn't find any of that. 347 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,148 She'd disappeared, 348 00:18:26,191 --> 00:18:27,279 you know, gone. 349 00:18:28,846 --> 00:18:31,196 With the unlikelihood that Jennifer took Abby 350 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:32,632 and left on her own, 351 00:18:32,676 --> 00:18:34,460 detectives focus on the blood 352 00:18:34,504 --> 00:18:37,028 in the bedroom and the family van. 353 00:18:37,550 --> 00:18:39,987 With so much blood present on that bed, 354 00:18:40,031 --> 00:18:43,295 detectives speculate something violent could have occurred 355 00:18:43,339 --> 00:18:44,818 in the Blagg home, 356 00:18:44,862 --> 00:18:48,431 which makes them wonder if neighbors saw or even heard 357 00:18:48,474 --> 00:18:51,782 any kind of commotion on November 13th. 358 00:18:53,436 --> 00:18:56,613 Although the Blagg's were well-known within their church, 359 00:18:56,656 --> 00:18:59,355 it was a different story within their neighborhood. 360 00:18:59,529 --> 00:19:02,488 It was interesting when you interviewed the neighborhood, 361 00:19:02,532 --> 00:19:04,534 they really didn't have much interaction 362 00:19:04,577 --> 00:19:06,536 with any of the Blaggs. 363 00:19:06,579 --> 00:19:09,060 Their neighbors didn't really know them. 364 00:19:09,103 --> 00:19:11,976 One of the neighbors who lived immediately next door to them 365 00:19:12,019 --> 00:19:14,239 didn't know they even lived there, 366 00:19:14,283 --> 00:19:15,936 which is strange. 367 00:19:15,980 --> 00:19:17,503 Their windows were always shut. 368 00:19:17,547 --> 00:19:19,375 Their blinds were always closed. 369 00:19:19,418 --> 00:19:20,637 They would pull in the drive, 370 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:22,856 shut the garage door immediately. 371 00:19:22,900 --> 00:19:24,989 It gives you a lot of question about 372 00:19:25,032 --> 00:19:28,645 what was their relationship like behind closed doors. 373 00:19:35,652 --> 00:19:37,262 Seven days after 374 00:19:37,306 --> 00:19:39,438 of Jennifer and Abby Blagg, 375 00:19:39,482 --> 00:19:43,050 Grand Junction, Colorado is a town on edge. 376 00:19:43,703 --> 00:19:46,924 With a massive search turning up no trace 377 00:19:46,967 --> 00:19:48,404 of the mother and daughter, 378 00:19:48,447 --> 00:19:51,972 detectives find it odd that the Blagg's new neighbors 379 00:19:52,016 --> 00:19:53,974 know literally nothing 380 00:19:54,018 --> 00:19:56,673 about Jennifer and her husband, Michael. 381 00:19:58,022 --> 00:20:00,067 What was going on below the surface 382 00:20:00,111 --> 00:20:02,679 of this seemingly perfect marriage? 383 00:20:05,029 --> 00:20:07,161 Detectives revisit the crime scene 384 00:20:07,205 --> 00:20:10,643 looking for clues amongst Jennifer's possessions. 385 00:20:10,861 --> 00:20:12,297 She did keep a journal. 386 00:20:12,341 --> 00:20:15,605 Pretty much daily, she kept kind of a running thing 387 00:20:15,648 --> 00:20:18,956 of what was going on with her and with Abby. 388 00:20:20,087 --> 00:20:21,698 She would write scriptures or verses 389 00:20:21,741 --> 00:20:24,048 or things that she would read in books 390 00:20:24,091 --> 00:20:26,616 that meant a lot to her. 391 00:20:26,659 --> 00:20:28,705 There were some notes that talked about her 392 00:20:28,748 --> 00:20:30,576 medical conditions and some of the struggles, 393 00:20:30,620 --> 00:20:33,187 but there was nothing that was real indicative 394 00:20:33,231 --> 00:20:35,842 that she wrote 395 00:20:35,886 --> 00:20:37,279 other than one specific note 396 00:20:37,322 --> 00:20:39,498 that indicated there was problems within the marriage 397 00:20:39,542 --> 00:20:41,587 or problems within the home. 398 00:20:43,110 --> 00:20:45,025 They had some form of a fight 399 00:20:45,069 --> 00:20:47,376 the Friday before she went missing. 400 00:20:47,419 --> 00:20:51,423 She actually didn't document what the problem was. 401 00:20:51,467 --> 00:20:54,774 She spoke about it more biblically, 402 00:20:54,818 --> 00:20:57,124 religiously, more than factually 403 00:20:57,168 --> 00:20:58,909 what was going on. 404 00:20:59,257 --> 00:21:03,522 She wrote, "Fought with Mike on Friday" 405 00:21:03,566 --> 00:21:07,221 and that was four days before 406 00:21:07,265 --> 00:21:09,136 she and Abby went missing. 407 00:21:09,746 --> 00:21:11,443 When law enforcement discovered that, 408 00:21:11,487 --> 00:21:13,750 they kind of grabbed on to that. 409 00:21:17,493 --> 00:21:20,104 Michael Blagg was confronted about 410 00:21:20,147 --> 00:21:21,366 what was this fight about? 411 00:21:21,410 --> 00:21:23,063 'Cause so far all he had presented 412 00:21:23,107 --> 00:21:26,458 was a perfect marriage and perfect family 413 00:21:26,502 --> 00:21:29,461 and Michael couldn't tell us what the fight was about, 414 00:21:29,505 --> 00:21:31,550 which we found interesting, 415 00:21:31,594 --> 00:21:34,466 especially when we found a note from him 416 00:21:34,510 --> 00:21:38,252 apologizing to her for letting the devil get a foothold 417 00:21:38,296 --> 00:21:39,732 in their lives. 418 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:46,260 This is an important moment in the investigation. 419 00:21:46,304 --> 00:21:49,263 Michael is admitting in a letter to his wife 420 00:21:49,307 --> 00:21:51,918 that he's let the devil into their lives. 421 00:21:52,136 --> 00:21:54,399 This is the first time we see evidence 422 00:21:54,443 --> 00:21:56,314 in Michael's own words 423 00:21:56,358 --> 00:21:58,403 that the marriage wasn't as perfect 424 00:21:58,447 --> 00:22:01,363 as he wanted detectives to believe. 425 00:22:02,451 --> 00:22:05,367 Michael's halo started to slip. 426 00:22:05,410 --> 00:22:08,848 When that comes up, all of a sudden, 427 00:22:08,892 --> 00:22:12,983 I start looking at Michael as 428 00:22:13,026 --> 00:22:15,725 possibly having information 429 00:22:15,768 --> 00:22:17,161 that he's not sharing. 430 00:22:25,299 --> 00:22:26,736 We obtained search warrants 431 00:22:26,779 --> 00:22:29,826 for the computers and cell phones of Michael Blagg. 432 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,264 There was thousands of images, 433 00:22:33,307 --> 00:22:35,701 some pretty hardcore pornography. 434 00:22:37,486 --> 00:22:40,576 There was a pattern found in these images 435 00:22:40,619 --> 00:22:44,580 and it was situations depicting 436 00:22:44,623 --> 00:22:48,192 men in a dominant position over women, 437 00:22:48,235 --> 00:22:49,933 let's put it that way. 438 00:22:50,890 --> 00:22:52,196 It was disturbing. 439 00:22:52,239 --> 00:22:56,505 It was basically very graphic images. 440 00:22:56,548 --> 00:23:00,683 He had what I characterize as a pornography addiction. 441 00:23:04,295 --> 00:23:05,949 Investigators press Michael 442 00:23:05,992 --> 00:23:07,516 on what they've uncovered. 443 00:23:07,559 --> 00:23:11,215 Could this be the devil that Michael let into the marriage? 444 00:23:11,781 --> 00:23:14,479 They want to know if Jennifer knew about the pornography 445 00:23:14,523 --> 00:23:17,308 or if it played any role in their marriage. 446 00:23:17,351 --> 00:23:18,657 When I asked him, 447 00:23:18,701 --> 00:23:24,881 his answer was it was for educational purposes. 448 00:23:25,838 --> 00:23:27,666 And that's when he started telling a story 449 00:23:27,710 --> 00:23:30,016 that Jennifer Blagg was using porn 450 00:23:30,060 --> 00:23:32,715 because she was to serve him. 451 00:23:33,585 --> 00:23:37,459 That because of Jennifer's 452 00:23:37,502 --> 00:23:39,678 strong religious background 453 00:23:39,722 --> 00:23:42,376 and his strong religious background, 454 00:23:42,420 --> 00:23:45,510 they did not know a lot 455 00:23:45,554 --> 00:23:47,860 about sexual relations. 456 00:23:49,296 --> 00:23:52,169 He indicated that she would watch the porn 457 00:23:52,212 --> 00:23:54,954 to learn how to 458 00:23:54,998 --> 00:23:56,739 please him as a wife. 459 00:23:59,132 --> 00:24:01,439 But with the amount of pornography 460 00:24:01,483 --> 00:24:04,050 and with the type of pornography, 461 00:24:04,094 --> 00:24:07,924 it was hard to buy the story of what Michael was giving. 462 00:24:10,056 --> 00:24:11,101 Everything Michael Blagg said 463 00:24:11,144 --> 00:24:13,582 was attributed to Jennifer, not him. 464 00:24:13,625 --> 00:24:16,976 Jennifer, who is a religious woman, 465 00:24:17,020 --> 00:24:17,890 biblical woman, 466 00:24:17,934 --> 00:24:19,457 spiritual woman, 467 00:24:19,501 --> 00:24:23,287 to have even come up with these search terms in her head, 468 00:24:23,330 --> 00:24:25,158 let alone seen the images 469 00:24:25,202 --> 00:24:27,683 of what those search terms brought up, 470 00:24:27,726 --> 00:24:30,990 I can just tell you the search terms and the images 471 00:24:31,034 --> 00:24:34,559 is not something that I think a woman in general 472 00:24:34,603 --> 00:24:36,735 would find to be fulfilling 473 00:24:36,779 --> 00:24:39,042 or a marital aid for their husband. 474 00:24:41,871 --> 00:24:43,481 There was nothing in her journals 475 00:24:43,525 --> 00:24:46,049 and nothing that anybody that knew her 476 00:24:46,092 --> 00:24:48,573 would indicate that she would watch that porn. 477 00:24:52,272 --> 00:24:54,753 Things started to change 478 00:24:54,797 --> 00:24:59,541 as far as how I was looking at Michael. 479 00:25:00,629 --> 00:25:05,155 And that's when I started seeing 480 00:25:05,198 --> 00:25:09,202 that maybe I'm dealing with someone 481 00:25:09,246 --> 00:25:12,031 that is much more complicated 482 00:25:12,075 --> 00:25:14,164 and ... 483 00:25:14,207 --> 00:25:16,514 has secrets ... 484 00:25:17,689 --> 00:25:21,301 that are gonna be hard to find out. 485 00:25:21,954 --> 00:25:26,045 All of a sudden, we're taking a step back towards Michael 486 00:25:26,089 --> 00:25:27,177 as a suspect. 487 00:25:34,706 --> 00:25:37,100 Several weeks into the invest 488 00:25:37,143 --> 00:25:40,233 of the disappearance of Jennifer and Abby Blagg, 489 00:25:40,277 --> 00:25:42,932 detectives have serious concerns 490 00:25:42,975 --> 00:25:45,543 about the man everyone called 491 00:25:45,587 --> 00:25:47,153 the perfect husband. 492 00:25:47,414 --> 00:25:49,460 They discovered Jennifer's journal, 493 00:25:49,503 --> 00:25:52,376 which tells of a fight she and Michael had 494 00:25:52,419 --> 00:25:56,119 just four days before she disappeared. 495 00:25:56,162 --> 00:25:59,426 Though it's not entirely clear what the fight was about, 496 00:25:59,470 --> 00:26:02,604 they did find a letter Michael wrote to Jennifer 497 00:26:02,647 --> 00:26:06,520 apologizing for letting the devil into their marriage. 498 00:26:07,826 --> 00:26:10,002 Detectives wonder if it's related 499 00:26:10,046 --> 00:26:13,310 to the large trove of hardcore porn 500 00:26:13,353 --> 00:26:15,529 found on Michael's computer. 501 00:26:20,839 --> 00:26:23,668 In early November, 502 00:26:23,712 --> 00:26:26,976 I got a phone call from Jennifer 503 00:26:27,019 --> 00:26:31,981 and she was crying and she tried to get out 504 00:26:32,024 --> 00:26:33,678 what was bothering her 505 00:26:33,722 --> 00:26:34,810 and she couldn't. 506 00:26:34,853 --> 00:26:36,594 And she finally said, 507 00:26:36,638 --> 00:26:40,163 "Abby and I would like to be able to come and stay 508 00:26:40,206 --> 00:26:42,252 with you and Kirk." 509 00:26:43,122 --> 00:26:45,821 And I said, "Is Michael gonna come with you?" 510 00:26:45,864 --> 00:26:47,387 And she said, "No." 511 00:26:48,214 --> 00:26:51,087 At that point, the warning bells went off. 512 00:26:52,871 --> 00:26:54,133 Why would Jennifer need to come out 513 00:26:54,177 --> 00:26:55,613 and speak to her specifically? 514 00:26:55,657 --> 00:26:58,529 They never traveled anywhere without all of them. 515 00:26:58,572 --> 00:27:02,141 If Jennifer traveled, it was Michael, Jennifer and Abby, 516 00:27:02,185 --> 00:27:04,361 never Jennifer and Abby alone. 517 00:27:05,405 --> 00:27:07,712 The disturbing call from Jennifer to Edie 518 00:27:07,756 --> 00:27:11,368 was less than two weeks before Jennifer went missing. 519 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,719 What was it that was so troubling to Jennifer 520 00:27:14,763 --> 00:27:19,071 she couldn't even share it with her best friend, Edie? 521 00:27:22,118 --> 00:27:23,641 It was obvious from her writings 522 00:27:23,685 --> 00:27:26,470 something had happened the Friday before. 523 00:27:29,429 --> 00:27:32,955 She found out something about him sinning 524 00:27:32,998 --> 00:27:35,261 and what peace she needed, 525 00:27:35,305 --> 00:27:38,003 so whether she was going to leave him, 526 00:27:38,047 --> 00:27:40,484 whether she discovered something worse about him 527 00:27:40,527 --> 00:27:43,400 that maybe she was gonna vocalize for the first time -- 528 00:27:43,443 --> 00:27:45,184 all we know is there was conflict 529 00:27:45,228 --> 00:27:47,056 and we know there was turmoil 530 00:27:47,099 --> 00:27:49,536 in the days leading up to her disappearing. 531 00:27:52,409 --> 00:27:54,106 Despite their suspicions 532 00:27:54,150 --> 00:27:56,195 and a growing list of circumstantial evidence 533 00:27:56,239 --> 00:27:59,155 against him, investigators realize 534 00:27:59,198 --> 00:28:02,419 that without knowing the fate of Jennifer and Abby, 535 00:28:02,462 --> 00:28:05,596 Michael Blagg likely won't be charged with a crime. 536 00:28:12,081 --> 00:28:14,779 As Christmas 2001 approaches, 537 00:28:14,823 --> 00:28:16,607 it's been almost a full month 538 00:28:16,650 --> 00:28:19,175 since Jennifer and Abby's disappearance 539 00:28:19,218 --> 00:28:21,351 and the authorities have no choice 540 00:28:21,394 --> 00:28:25,094 but to relinquish the Blagg home to Michael. 541 00:28:25,572 --> 00:28:28,793 After the house was released back to him, 542 00:28:28,837 --> 00:28:31,056 he was asking people, 543 00:28:31,100 --> 00:28:32,928 "You want to see where it happened? 544 00:28:32,971 --> 00:28:35,321 I'll show you where it happened." 545 00:28:38,237 --> 00:28:39,673 Your wife and your daughter are missing, 546 00:28:39,717 --> 00:28:42,720 and you're like gonna do a tour of where it happened? 547 00:28:45,854 --> 00:28:50,510 Most people would be weeping forever 548 00:28:50,554 --> 00:28:52,295 when your six-year-old is missing. 549 00:28:52,338 --> 00:28:54,253 It's not great that your wife is missing either, 550 00:28:54,297 --> 00:28:57,300 but a six-year-old cannot take care of herself 551 00:28:57,343 --> 00:29:01,870 and most people would be crying and bawling 552 00:29:01,913 --> 00:29:03,828 and that really wasn't the way he acted 553 00:29:03,872 --> 00:29:05,569 over the course of time. 554 00:29:08,441 --> 00:29:10,095 As a former prosecutor, 555 00:29:10,139 --> 00:29:13,055 I can tell you there's a lot here to work with -- 556 00:29:13,098 --> 00:29:15,622 Michael's emotional detachment, 557 00:29:15,666 --> 00:29:17,363 his bizarre behavior, 558 00:29:17,407 --> 00:29:19,844 the lies to investigators, 559 00:29:19,888 --> 00:29:21,585 it all starts adding up 560 00:29:21,628 --> 00:29:25,023 and we begin to see the real Michael Blagg. 561 00:29:27,330 --> 00:29:28,331 He puts on a great act. 562 00:29:28,374 --> 00:29:30,681 He puts on a great facade. 563 00:29:30,724 --> 00:29:34,728 Our theory was largely, yeah, double life. 564 00:29:35,555 --> 00:29:37,644 But you know we only learned this over time 565 00:29:37,688 --> 00:29:40,822 because none of that was immediately apparent. 566 00:29:40,865 --> 00:29:42,040 With the strange behaviors 567 00:29:42,084 --> 00:29:46,436 that we learned about Michael afterwards, 568 00:29:46,479 --> 00:29:49,265 was she ever questioning just who he was? 569 00:29:50,353 --> 00:29:51,833 There's just a lot of complicating facts 570 00:29:51,876 --> 00:29:54,705 about why were they having problems in their relationship 571 00:29:54,748 --> 00:29:56,489 and us realizing 572 00:29:56,533 --> 00:29:59,753 that Michael is not the person he says he is. 573 00:30:01,930 --> 00:30:04,933 Did she discover that too? 574 00:30:09,589 --> 00:30:12,375 Now convinced that Michael is responsible 575 00:30:12,418 --> 00:30:15,421 for the disappearance of his wife and child, 576 00:30:15,465 --> 00:30:18,511 law enforcement puts a surveillance detail on him, 577 00:30:18,555 --> 00:30:21,036 hoping something will shake loose. 578 00:30:21,253 --> 00:30:23,734 One day as we had surveillance on him, 579 00:30:23,777 --> 00:30:25,040 Michael went into his work 580 00:30:25,083 --> 00:30:27,956 and stole several items of property -- 581 00:30:27,999 --> 00:30:29,522 bins and some tables, 582 00:30:29,566 --> 00:30:31,742 equipment from AMETEK Dickson, 583 00:30:31,785 --> 00:30:34,049 which was highly unlikely for a manager 584 00:30:34,092 --> 00:30:35,572 who made six figures 585 00:30:35,615 --> 00:30:39,271 to steal small stuff from his business. 586 00:30:39,837 --> 00:30:42,144 Michael clearly was leading a double life. 587 00:30:42,187 --> 00:30:45,625 We could tell that he was under a lot of stress. 588 00:30:47,105 --> 00:30:49,716 February 5th, 2002, 589 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,981 we brought him in for a third interview. 590 00:30:53,024 --> 00:30:57,768 We were able to get Michael to finally admit to the theft 591 00:30:57,811 --> 00:30:59,944 and he couldn't indicate why he'd stole it, 592 00:30:59,988 --> 00:31:02,033 he just said he did steal it. 593 00:31:02,468 --> 00:31:06,255 As we kept on pushing and working on him, 594 00:31:06,298 --> 00:31:07,778 ultimately he admitted 595 00:31:07,821 --> 00:31:10,389 that he did have an addiction to pornography 596 00:31:10,433 --> 00:31:12,957 and no, she really didn't like the pornography 597 00:31:13,001 --> 00:31:14,828 and told him to quit doing that. 598 00:31:15,829 --> 00:31:19,094 Michael broke down crying and I asked, 599 00:31:19,137 --> 00:31:20,138 "What happened? 600 00:31:20,182 --> 00:31:21,096 Where are the bodies?" 601 00:31:21,139 --> 00:31:22,358 "I can't tell you." 602 00:31:22,401 --> 00:31:24,099 At that point, he's just sobbing completely, 603 00:31:24,142 --> 00:31:26,275 his lips are quivering 604 00:31:26,318 --> 00:31:28,625 and he's just saying, "I can't tell you." 605 00:31:36,415 --> 00:31:38,417 Ten hours. 606 00:31:38,461 --> 00:31:43,248 That's how long investigators have been pressing Michael Blagg 607 00:31:43,292 --> 00:31:44,728 trying to learn the truth 608 00:31:44,771 --> 00:31:47,774 of what he knows about his wife's disappearance. 609 00:31:47,818 --> 00:31:50,952 Though he's been arrested for theft at his workplace, 610 00:31:50,995 --> 00:31:53,041 Michael has begun to crack 611 00:31:53,084 --> 00:31:56,305 about Jennifer and Abby's disappearance. 612 00:31:56,348 --> 00:31:58,829 But right when it seems he's going to reveal the truth 613 00:31:58,872 --> 00:32:01,092 about his family's disappearance, 614 00:32:01,136 --> 00:32:03,007 he shifts gears. 615 00:32:05,618 --> 00:32:07,751 At that point, he makes a statement that 616 00:32:07,794 --> 00:32:09,709 I will tell you the truth, 617 00:32:09,753 --> 00:32:12,103 but I will tell you after I talk to an attorney 618 00:32:12,147 --> 00:32:14,323 who tells me what that means for me. 619 00:32:14,976 --> 00:32:17,413 And at the end of that interrogation, 620 00:32:17,456 --> 00:32:18,936 they hand him a telephone 621 00:32:18,980 --> 00:32:22,113 and on the other end is his boss at AMETEK Dickson 622 00:32:22,157 --> 00:32:23,810 informing them that he's been fired 623 00:32:23,854 --> 00:32:26,335 for stealing from the company. 624 00:32:28,380 --> 00:32:31,557 At this point, he's very upset, crying, 625 00:32:31,601 --> 00:32:34,169 and he left our office very despondent. 626 00:32:34,734 --> 00:32:37,128 Well, the next day, we had made arrangements 627 00:32:37,172 --> 00:32:41,350 to go to his house to pick up those additional stolen items. 628 00:32:42,873 --> 00:32:44,266 One of the investigators 629 00:32:44,309 --> 00:32:47,269 believed they heard a car running inside the garage. 630 00:32:47,573 --> 00:32:51,229 So at that point, we made a decision to kick in the door. 631 00:32:52,926 --> 00:32:54,406 As we went into the house, 632 00:32:54,450 --> 00:32:55,929 I enter the bathroom. 633 00:32:55,973 --> 00:32:58,193 I look at Michael and he's laying naked in the bathtub 634 00:32:58,236 --> 00:32:59,498 on his back. 635 00:32:59,542 --> 00:33:01,413 I noticed that both of his wrists are bleeding, 636 00:33:01,457 --> 00:33:04,677 he's in warm water and the water is red, 637 00:33:04,721 --> 00:33:06,853 obviously from blood 638 00:33:06,897 --> 00:33:09,900 and he had a picture of Abby and Jennifer behind him, 639 00:33:09,943 --> 00:33:14,600 a Bible and then a note saying that I didn't do this. 640 00:33:15,514 --> 00:33:17,821 So I ended up shaking Michael. 641 00:33:17,864 --> 00:33:20,215 I said, "Michael, you could be dying here. 642 00:33:20,258 --> 00:33:22,434 You need to tell me where Abby and Jennifer are at." 643 00:33:22,478 --> 00:33:24,567 He just says, "I don't know where they're at." 644 00:33:26,047 --> 00:33:27,222 He was taken to the hospital. 645 00:33:27,265 --> 00:33:30,529 The cuts were determined to be superficial. 646 00:33:31,443 --> 00:33:34,664 Michael can profess his innocence all he wants, 647 00:33:34,707 --> 00:33:36,492 but remember what I mentioned earlier, 648 00:33:36,535 --> 00:33:39,930 the puzzle that we in law enforcement put together? 649 00:33:39,973 --> 00:33:43,368 Well in my mind, I've got most of the pieces 650 00:33:43,412 --> 00:33:45,022 and it's coming together, 651 00:33:45,066 --> 00:33:46,893 but there's one piece, 652 00:33:46,937 --> 00:33:50,462 one huge piece that I'm missing. 653 00:33:51,289 --> 00:33:53,117 Prosecutors have a standard of proof 654 00:33:53,161 --> 00:33:55,076 beyond a reasonable doubt. 655 00:33:55,119 --> 00:33:56,729 And when you don't have a body, 656 00:33:56,773 --> 00:33:58,949 you don't know how they were killed. 657 00:33:59,819 --> 00:34:01,865 But investigators get lucky. 658 00:34:01,908 --> 00:34:04,085 A tip from one of Michael Blagg's coworkers 659 00:34:04,128 --> 00:34:07,088 about his activities back on November 13th, 660 00:34:07,131 --> 00:34:10,047 leads detectives to request security cam footage 661 00:34:10,091 --> 00:34:11,918 from the workplace. 662 00:34:11,962 --> 00:34:13,572 We watched the video cameras 663 00:34:13,616 --> 00:34:16,749 on the day of the disappearance. 664 00:34:16,793 --> 00:34:19,361 He'd been dumping garbage 665 00:34:19,404 --> 00:34:20,840 the day she went missing 666 00:34:20,884 --> 00:34:24,148 and a nuclear engineer doesn't really do trash duty. 667 00:34:25,454 --> 00:34:27,325 This is a large dumpster 668 00:34:27,369 --> 00:34:30,633 and the trash that was in that trash compactor 669 00:34:30,676 --> 00:34:32,765 is at the Mason County Landfill. 670 00:34:35,507 --> 00:34:37,770 On May 13th, 2002, 671 00:34:37,814 --> 00:34:39,250 six months to the day 672 00:34:39,294 --> 00:34:42,253 Michael Blagg reported his wife and daughter missing, 673 00:34:42,297 --> 00:34:45,169 authorities converge on this massive landfill 674 00:34:45,213 --> 00:34:47,867 which covers more than 100 acres. 675 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,436 Using GPS and logs from the landfill company, 676 00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:54,135 they're able to roughly determine the area 677 00:34:54,178 --> 00:34:56,789 where trash from AMETEK would have been dumped 678 00:34:56,833 --> 00:34:58,313 six months earlier. 679 00:34:58,356 --> 00:35:01,446 The conditions were terrible, 680 00:35:01,490 --> 00:35:03,274 hot, 681 00:35:03,318 --> 00:35:04,797 windy, 682 00:35:04,841 --> 00:35:05,842 dry, 683 00:35:05,885 --> 00:35:07,191 dusty. 684 00:35:07,235 --> 00:35:09,933 It was unlike anything I've ever smelled before. 685 00:35:15,068 --> 00:35:17,810 They worked in the heat of Western Colorado sun. 686 00:35:17,854 --> 00:35:19,203 There is nothing fun about it, 687 00:35:19,247 --> 00:35:22,989 but every officer who participated in that effort 688 00:35:23,033 --> 00:35:26,515 was committed to find Jennifer and Abby Blagg's body. 689 00:35:27,211 --> 00:35:30,519 You were doing it for the right reasons, you know? 690 00:35:30,562 --> 00:35:32,782 If not us, then who? 691 00:35:33,696 --> 00:35:35,698 As investigators toil away, 692 00:35:35,741 --> 00:35:38,135 Michael Blagg is nowhere close by 693 00:35:38,179 --> 00:35:41,530 having left town shortly after the work began. 694 00:35:41,573 --> 00:35:43,009 Did Michael know something 695 00:35:43,053 --> 00:35:45,229 about what the search might reveal? 696 00:35:45,273 --> 00:35:50,408 On June 4th, 17 days into this grueling excavation, 697 00:35:50,452 --> 00:35:52,018 they find something. 698 00:35:52,062 --> 00:35:55,631 What you're about to see is tough to watch, 699 00:35:55,674 --> 00:35:57,154 but it's the part of this story 700 00:35:57,198 --> 00:36:00,070 that leads to the evidence needed to convict 701 00:36:00,113 --> 00:36:02,855 a stone cold killer. 702 00:36:05,249 --> 00:36:07,164 It's one of those where 703 00:36:07,208 --> 00:36:11,386 you just can't write a fiction story like that. 704 00:36:13,083 --> 00:36:18,784 The bucket is pulling refuse out of the pit 705 00:36:18,828 --> 00:36:21,831 and everybody that's watching 706 00:36:21,874 --> 00:36:28,751 sees that a leg comes out 707 00:36:28,794 --> 00:36:31,406 and time stood still for everybody. 708 00:36:31,797 --> 00:36:34,104 It was unbelievable. 709 00:36:34,147 --> 00:36:37,063 We found a needle in the haystack. 710 00:36:37,107 --> 00:36:41,677 We did something that everybody was saying, 711 00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:43,113 "There's no way." 712 00:36:43,853 --> 00:36:47,900 What is the likelihood that a body could be recovered 713 00:36:47,944 --> 00:36:50,729 in a landfill excavation? 714 00:36:50,773 --> 00:36:54,255 It makes me get a little teary now just thinking. 715 00:36:58,346 --> 00:37:01,871 At that point, we stop and treat it like a crime scene, 716 00:37:01,914 --> 00:37:07,964 and so carefully analyze and recover that evidence. 717 00:37:08,225 --> 00:37:10,619 We were able to recover part of a leg 718 00:37:10,662 --> 00:37:13,099 and the body and head. 719 00:37:16,538 --> 00:37:18,235 All I remember is getting the call 720 00:37:18,279 --> 00:37:19,845 that they had found her. 721 00:37:19,889 --> 00:37:23,501 And I remember just sitting down on the steps and crying. 722 00:37:23,893 --> 00:37:26,156 Part of that was release 723 00:37:26,199 --> 00:37:28,463 and part of it was mourning. 724 00:37:28,506 --> 00:37:29,855 She was not trash. 725 00:37:29,899 --> 00:37:34,556 She did not deserve to be put out with the trash. 726 00:37:42,433 --> 00:37:44,261 An autopsy was done and we determined 727 00:37:44,305 --> 00:37:47,569 that she had been shot in the head. 728 00:37:49,092 --> 00:37:53,226 She had probably bled out while she was on the bed. 729 00:37:54,532 --> 00:37:57,100 So, you know, it finally, for the first time, 730 00:37:57,143 --> 00:37:59,015 gives you a picture, 731 00:37:59,058 --> 00:38:02,018 an image, a video in our heads, 732 00:38:02,061 --> 00:38:03,672 what happened to her. 733 00:38:04,020 --> 00:38:05,326 Michael Blagg, 734 00:38:05,369 --> 00:38:07,545 who has been under round-the-clock surveillance 735 00:38:07,589 --> 00:38:10,331 and is now living at his mother's house in Georgia 736 00:38:10,374 --> 00:38:12,376 is immediately taken into custody 737 00:38:12,420 --> 00:38:16,467 and brought back to Colorado for the murder of his wife. 738 00:38:19,252 --> 00:38:21,211 We're not gonna stop now 739 00:38:21,254 --> 00:38:24,040 'cause if we just found Jennifer, 740 00:38:24,083 --> 00:38:26,521 Abby's gonna be close by. 741 00:38:32,178 --> 00:38:35,660 After digging through a landfill for 17 days, 742 00:38:35,704 --> 00:38:38,141 law enforcement in Grand Junction, Colorado 743 00:38:38,184 --> 00:38:41,362 uncover the remains of Jennifer Blagg. 744 00:38:42,580 --> 00:38:45,583 Family and friends finally have some answers 745 00:38:45,627 --> 00:38:47,629 about what happened to Jennifer, 746 00:38:47,672 --> 00:38:51,328 but it's tempered dramatically by something else, 747 00:38:51,372 --> 00:38:55,158 someone else who's still missing, 748 00:38:55,201 --> 00:38:57,203 six-year-old Abby. 749 00:38:59,858 --> 00:39:03,209 We spent another 36 days looking for Abby. 750 00:39:04,428 --> 00:39:06,212 You don't want to give up. 751 00:39:07,649 --> 00:39:11,000 But we didn't find her ... 752 00:39:13,698 --> 00:39:15,483 so we stopped. 753 00:39:19,008 --> 00:39:21,750 We never charged him with the death of Abby 754 00:39:21,793 --> 00:39:24,709 because we never knew how Abby died. 755 00:39:26,189 --> 00:39:27,930 In March 2004, 756 00:39:27,973 --> 00:39:30,323 with Jennifer's loved ones in attendance, 757 00:39:30,367 --> 00:39:34,284 Michael Blagg goes on trial for the murder of his wife. 758 00:39:34,937 --> 00:39:37,592 For prosecutors, the crux of their case 759 00:39:37,635 --> 00:39:40,421 centers around one motive, 760 00:39:40,464 --> 00:39:41,987 control. 761 00:39:43,641 --> 00:39:45,556 He controlled everything about her. 762 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:46,775 He was losing it. 763 00:39:46,818 --> 00:39:49,430 She was expressing doubt on their marriage. 764 00:39:50,256 --> 00:39:53,042 We slowly uncovered that he really is not the person 765 00:39:53,085 --> 00:39:54,609 he says he is. 766 00:39:54,652 --> 00:39:59,831 We presented the porn, that the porn did cause conflict 767 00:39:59,875 --> 00:40:01,920 and she was seeking peace 768 00:40:01,964 --> 00:40:04,880 for the turmoil that she was encountering. 769 00:40:05,707 --> 00:40:06,838 Whether it was porn, 770 00:40:06,882 --> 00:40:08,492 whether she was tired of him, 771 00:40:08,536 --> 00:40:11,887 whether she no longer wanted a sexual relationship with him, 772 00:40:11,930 --> 00:40:15,238 whether she discovered something else in the household, 773 00:40:15,281 --> 00:40:17,501 he was not gonna let his wife walk away, 774 00:40:17,545 --> 00:40:19,329 Michael was not gonna live with that. 775 00:40:22,593 --> 00:40:24,682 They had to show certain pictures 776 00:40:24,726 --> 00:40:27,598 of Jennifer's body and decay. 777 00:40:30,514 --> 00:40:31,820 The jurors were shaken by 'em, 778 00:40:31,863 --> 00:40:33,822 I was shaken by 'em 779 00:40:33,865 --> 00:40:38,174 and I looked at Mr. Blagg and he had no emotion. 780 00:40:39,349 --> 00:40:40,219 None. 781 00:40:43,135 --> 00:40:45,442 On April 15th, 2004, 782 00:40:45,486 --> 00:40:47,792 the case goes to the jury. 783 00:40:47,836 --> 00:40:50,447 Less than 24 hours later, 784 00:40:50,491 --> 00:40:52,449 they return with a verdict. 785 00:40:52,493 --> 00:40:54,886 We, the jury find the defendant, Michael Blagg, 786 00:40:54,930 --> 00:40:57,149 guilty of first degree murder. 787 00:40:59,500 --> 00:41:02,328 I expected 788 00:41:02,372 --> 00:41:03,939 to feel better 789 00:41:03,982 --> 00:41:06,550 and instead, I just felt empty. 790 00:41:08,639 --> 00:41:10,075 The thought that her husband 791 00:41:10,119 --> 00:41:12,556 who claimed to be a great Christian and a great father 792 00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:15,516 was actually a monster, 793 00:41:15,559 --> 00:41:18,301 yeah, it makes you question things. 794 00:41:18,344 --> 00:41:19,389 How is this possible? 795 00:41:19,432 --> 00:41:23,132 How did he fool so many people 796 00:41:23,175 --> 00:41:25,221 and for so long? 797 00:41:26,396 --> 00:41:28,746 He was convicted of first degree murder. 798 00:41:28,790 --> 00:41:30,618 That he's been sentenced to spend the rest 799 00:41:30,661 --> 00:41:32,837 of his natural life in prison. 800 00:41:34,665 --> 00:41:36,188 Or will he? 801 00:41:36,885 --> 00:41:39,496 Eleven years after Michael's conviction, 802 00:41:39,540 --> 00:41:41,411 the verdict is overturned 803 00:41:41,454 --> 00:41:44,849 due to an issue with one of the original jurors. 804 00:41:47,199 --> 00:41:49,071 It was pretty devastating 805 00:41:49,114 --> 00:41:50,638 for the district attorney's office, 806 00:41:50,681 --> 00:41:52,901 for Jennifer Blagg's family, 807 00:41:52,944 --> 00:41:55,860 to know that we were gonna have to redo this all again. 808 00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:00,343 In February of 2018, 809 00:42:00,386 --> 00:42:04,477 Michael Blagg goes on trial for a second time. 810 00:42:05,217 --> 00:42:08,743 It was very scary because we didn't know 811 00:42:08,786 --> 00:42:10,440 what would happen. 812 00:42:11,354 --> 00:42:12,703 We the jury, find the defendant, 813 00:42:12,747 --> 00:42:15,010 Michael Blagg, guilty. 814 00:42:15,053 --> 00:42:18,274 I'm very thankful he's in prison for life, 815 00:42:18,317 --> 00:42:21,190 but that doesn't bring Jennifer and Abby back. 816 00:42:25,063 --> 00:42:28,371 This is one of the most tragic cases I ever did. 817 00:42:28,414 --> 00:42:31,853 Any time I see a little girl that is six years old 818 00:42:31,896 --> 00:42:33,681 with a little bobbed haircut, 819 00:42:33,724 --> 00:42:35,421 I think of Abby. 820 00:42:36,074 --> 00:42:38,686 Jennifer was an amazing woman. 821 00:42:38,729 --> 00:42:41,079 She embraced life fully. 822 00:42:41,123 --> 00:42:43,560 She wanted to be the best mom she could 823 00:42:43,604 --> 00:42:46,607 and she wanted to protect Abby. 824 00:42:47,825 --> 00:42:49,044 By all accounts, 825 00:42:49,087 --> 00:42:51,612 Michael Blagg was the model of perfection, 826 00:42:51,655 --> 00:42:53,701 a decorated Naval pilot, 827 00:42:53,744 --> 00:42:55,877 a God-fearing Christian, 828 00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:57,530 wonderful father, 829 00:42:57,574 --> 00:42:58,575 great husband, 830 00:42:58,619 --> 00:43:00,577 and a pillar in the community. 831 00:43:00,621 --> 00:43:03,145 And no one cherished this picture-perfect perception 832 00:43:03,188 --> 00:43:06,801 others had of him more than Michael Blagg himself. 833 00:43:06,844 --> 00:43:09,717 So much so, that when his wife Jennifer 834 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:12,676 discovered his deepest, darkest secrets 835 00:43:12,720 --> 00:43:16,419 and the risk of being exposed as a fraud was imminent, 836 00:43:16,462 --> 00:43:18,247 he eliminated the threat. 837 00:43:18,290 --> 00:43:22,251 He took the innocent lives of his wife and his own child 838 00:43:22,294 --> 00:43:24,732 turning their once happy marriage 839 00:43:24,775 --> 00:43:28,775 into a killer relationship.