m*rder mystery dinner shows
Are often a fun way
for amateur sleuths
To test their
crime busting skills.
While enjoying a meal
with friends.
This is the story
of a man k*lled
Just hours after
leaving the theater.
Despite some good acting,
the k*ller was no match
For the skills of real-life
forensic scientists.
Saint michael's,
A small,
waterfront community
On the maryland shore.
Spectacular views
of the miles river
and chesapeake bay
Provide a relaxing escape
From the hectic pace
of daily life.
On valentines day in 1998,
A local resort offered
couples the opportunity
For a romantic
getaway weekend:
A chance to unwind,
relax, play some golf,
Tennis and enjoy
one another.
The weekend also included
An audience
participation event:
A m*rder mystery
dinner theater production.
Bobbi: the first hour is,
generally, a cocktail hour.
And the actors are emoting
during this whole hour
And the audience
can very readily see
Who's the bad guy,
Who hates who and why.
Narrator:in the audience
that night
Were steve and kim hricko
from laurel, maryland.
Steve was a golf course
grounds superintendent,
Kim, a hospital
surgical technician.
Ironically, the hrickos
were seated next to
A real-life prosecutor
and his date,
A probation officer.
Caroline: kim and her husband,
steve, were sitting there
And she jumped right up
and said,
"Hi, my name's kim
and this is steve."
And I was, like,
"huh, this is gonna be
a good table to sit at."
You know, she was
a friendly person.
She was very active
in terms of
Trying to figure out what
was going on in the play,
Talking to
various of the actors,
Trying to get insights
into who might be about to
Commit the m*rder that was
gonna happen in the play.
And later on, who did it.
Narrator:these productions
use audience involvement
To help solve the crime.
Bobbi: my murders are
usually not premeditated.
But something happens
during the evening
That just kind of pushes
the person over the edge.
And...if the audience
is really...watching
At that particular moment,
they're gonna catch it
Because it's almost like
a "light bulb" moment.
[Yelling and screaming]
Narrator: by all accounts,
the evening was a success.
Afterwards, steve hricko
went back to the hotel room,
And kim left the resort
briefly to run an errand.
When she returned
at 1:30 in the morning,
She saw flames
coming from their room.
Firefighters pulled
From the floor of
the hotel room.
He was in his pajamas,
Burned to death.
There were empty beer
bottles and some cigars
Found in the hotel room.
It appeared that
steve was drinking,
Reading a playboy magazine,
and smoking a cigar
When he fell asleep,
with the cigar
Possibly starting the fire.
Julie: I remember just coming
back from a walk with my family
And getting the phone
call from my sister
And physically
collapsing to the ground,
So, um, it was very tough.
And, um, when it was
an accident still,
It was just hard.
There was too many questions
that were unanswered.
And it just--
it really was a shock.
This was viewed as a--
I don't want
to say, "routine,"
But it was viewed as a
routine smoker's accident.
That the smoker
fell asleep,
That a fire started,
and the smoker died.
And that's kind of how
the police took it
And understood it to be.
Narrator: in addition
to his wife,
Steve hricko left behind
an 8-year-old daughter...
Anna.
Steve: he was
a great man.
Cared a lot
about his family.
The most important things
in his life
Were his daughter
and his wife...
And his job.
Narrator: fire
investigators noticed
A melted
plastic soda bottle
On the table
next to steve's bed.
Investigators call this
a pointer,
Because it usually points
In the direction
of the fire.
But other clues
in the room would point
To an entirely
different direction.
News of steve hricko's death
Shocked friends
and coworkers
Who recalled how much
steve was looking forward
To the weekend getaway
with his wife.
Julie: sometimes it's hard to
get past thinking right now
Of just his last moments,
But I try to get past
that a lot of times.
Especially when
my family gets together,
We think of
the good times still,
And I remember just him.
Like I said,
he was my big brother.
I mean, I remember
dancing with him
at my wedding,
And, excuse me, um,
always telling me
That he'd always
be there for me.
And there's been
a lot of times
I needed him,
So it's been tough.
And, um...for everything
we've been through,
It's just--i know there's
no bringing him back,
But, um, so--it's hard.
Narrator: the news
also surprised those
Who sat with the hrickos
at the dinner theater.
Caroline: I think henry
called, and he said,
"What was the name
of that guy
"That was sitting
at the table with us?"
And I said,
"it was steve."
He said, "that was
the guy that got
k*lled in this fire."
I'm, like, "oh, my god."
Narrator:
deputy fire marshall,
michael mulligan,
Was assigned
to investigate the fire.
The physical fire damage to
the hotel room was minimal.
It was so well insulated
That the fire didn't have
enough oxygen to spread.
One cigar was missing from
a new pack near the bed.
It appeared that the fire
started on the bedroom floor
Where steve was lounging
at the time of the fire.
Marshall mulligan:
we eliminated
possible electric
Source of ignition.
The heating and air-conditioning
units were eliminated,
Lightning and...
There was nothing else
At the point of origin.
Narrator:
with the most common causes
of the fire eliminated,
It looked as if a lit cigar
might have been the cause.
But investigators
could find no evidence
Of the cigar butt
or ashes.
Dr. David fowler,
The deputy chief
medical examiner
For the state of maryland
Immediately performed
the autopsy.
Blood tests revealed
that steve had
a normal concentration
Of carbon monoxide
in his system.
Extremely unusual
for someone who died
While breathing
the carbon monoxide
produced by a fire.
The next step was to
examine his airway passages
For signs of
smoke inhalation.
Dr. Fowler: you have this
layer of mucous
Which lines the inside
of your airway,
To trap foreign particles,
of which soot is one.
And it gets stuck onto that,
and it stays there,
And we can find that
very easily
At the time of
the autopsy.
I found absolutely no soot.
Well, now I have two tests
Which are both telling me
exactly the same thing.
That he was not breathing
at the time of the fire.
Narrator: to see
if it was possible
For a lit cigar
to start a hotel fire,
Investigators conducted
an experiment.
Marshall mulligan:
we got a pillow
and a pillowcase,
And we did
our own burn test.
Went out and got hold of
some backwoods cigars,
Lit the cigars and placed
them on the pillowcase,
And then directly on
the pillow;
Made a crease
in the pillow,
And we did this repeatedly.
Hotels usually
use bed coverings
Treated with flame
retardant chemicals
In order to prevent
this very scenario.
Marshall mulligan:
at no point could
we get the pillow,
The pillowcase,
or the bedspread to burn.
Narrator: another
contradiction:
Steve was not known
to be a smoker.
Sgt. Gamble:
he didn't smoke.
He didn't smoke at all.
In fact, at one
time during
A golf banquet,
a sales meeting,
He was offered
some very fine cigars
By one of the salesmen
Who were selling some
equipment for lawn care,
And he refused
and told his friend,
"I don't know why people
would even smoke those things."
Narrator:
but if steve hricko
Was dead when
the fire started,
What k*lled him?
As investigators
continued their look
Into the mysterious
hotel fire
That k*lled steve hricko,
Accelerant-sniffing dogs
Identified a flammable
liquid on the bedroom floor
At the foot of the bed.
But chemical tests on
the debris from the hotel room
Could not identify
the accelerant.
Therefore, the findings of
the accelerant-sniffing dogs
Would not be
admissible in court.
Nonetheless,
The fire marshall
ruled the fire, arson.
There were empty beer
bottles in the hotel room
And kim said steve was
drinking heavily at dinner.
But the autopsy found
no alcohol in his system.
A background check revealed
Steve had over $400,000
worth of life insurance
With his wife kim
as the beneficiary.
Interestingly,
kim purchased
An additional $250,000
policy on steve's life
shortly before he died.
Detectives also learned
That kim hricko was having
a sexual affair
With a man 10 years younger
and discovered love letters
In kim's personal
papers to prove it.
Kim hricko denied
she was involved
In her husband's death,
But admitted the couple was
having marital problems.
Kim said they
went to the resort
To work on their marriage.
But after the dinner
theater performance,
The two argued over sex.
Marshall mulligan:
her story was that
He wanted to have sex
with her that night,
And she had
turned him down.
They had an argument
and she left the scene
Because of his frustration
And his disappointment
with her.
Narrator:
and steve stayed behind.
According to kim,
he was drinking,
Reading a playboy magazine,
And smoking a cigar.
But investigators
discovered evidence
That kim was seeking to end
their 8-year-old marriage,
Not fix it.
Kim was an extrovert,
Steve, a homebody.
And kim told friends
and relatives
The two were incompatible.
Jenny: she kind of played
games with him at the end
Because she told him
she was not happy
And I think she told us
That she was
considering divorce.
And then she said that
he's gotta work on himself,
He's gotta
make improvements,
He's gotta do
a bunch of things.
And he did start
doing all those things
Because he did want
to save the marriage,
And he admitted,
"ok, I need to spend
more time with my family.
"I need to--you know,
if that's what--
"You know, I do love them."
And he started working
on all those things.
And then she k*lled him.
Sgt. Gamble: kimberly's
coworker informed us
That kimberly
had come to him.
She believed, what he
believed in a joking manner,
That kimberly wanted this
coworker to k*ll stephen.
Man: still not enough.
Hmm, I got
a little job for ya.
Oh, yeah.
What's that?
You can k*ll
my husband for me.
Sgt. Gamble:
the coworker thought
that she was joking.
Thought that they had been just
having normal marital problems.
So, the coworker
told kimberly--
You know, just laughed
and said,
"Why don't you just
put him to sleep
with succinylcholine,
"And he'll
go to sleep forever."
Narrator: it may have been
An unfortunate joke.
Succinylcholine is a drug
kimberly hricko
Would have had access to
as a medical technician.
It's used to relax
the muscles
Before placing
an intubation tube
Down a patient's throat.
In large doses,
it is lethal.
Succinylcholine
is broken down
By human enzymes
almost immediately
And is, therefore,
untraceable.
Kimberly, being a
medical technician,
assisted in surgery.
And we knew that--
and we learned that
Succinylcholine is
on the cart there,
But it's not accounted for
as narcotic dr*gs
Are required
to be accounted for.
Narrator:
steve's autopsy found
No traces
of succinylcholine.
Police contacted
laboratories
Throughout
the united states
To see if there was a test
to find succinylcholine
In human tissue.
And they found none.
Investigators tried
to locate the store
Where steve
purchased the cigars
Found in the hotel room.
Sergeant joe gamble visited
In the vicinity of
the hricko's home.
In one, he found
the same brand of cigars.
When the clerk was shown
Pictures of
steve and kim hricko,
She identified kim
as the one
Who purchased
the cigars and beer.
Sgt. Gamble:
she remembered
she came in
And bought a package
of cigars...and beer.
And I asked her, "why did
you remember that?"
And the lady
told me that she
Liked the color
of kimberly's hair--
kimberly has red hair.
And she asked kimberly
where she had her hair dyed,
And kimberly got
very upset with her
and told her
"This is my natural color."
By kimberly getting upset
with the clerk,
The clerk--it imbedded
in her memory.
You know, when she
saw the picture,
She knew, and she
thought it strange
That this woman was
buying a pack of cigars.
She actually identified
the same cigars,
So, at that point,
I felt that we had her.
Narrator: the cigars
in steve's hotel room
Had a price sticker
printed with ink
That matched
the printing ink
Used by this
convenience store,
Confirming the cigars
were purchased here.
But the state's case
was very weak,
Without scientific proof
that an accelerant was used,
Or that steve
had been injected
with succinylcholine.
Sgt. Gamble: she's married
a man that she loved
And then she went about
a cold, calculating way
To k*ll this man
in his prime of life.
Leads me to believe that
she's one of the most
Cold-blooded murderers that
I've been involved with.
Narrator: 32-year-old
kimberly hricko
Was arrested and charged
with first-degree m*rder
And arson in the death
of her husband.
She pleaded not-guilty.
With no way to prove
succinylcholine was
in steve's body,
And no scientific evidence
An accelerant was used
to start the fire,
Prosecutors were forced
to use a process of
Conclusion by exclusion.
They had to rule out
all other possibilities
For how the fire started
In an effort to
convince the jury
That steve hricko
was m*rder*d.
This was
a healthy young man
Who was in his mid 30's,
Worked as an outdoor
person--very fit--
Who had died suddenly,
unexpectedly.
There was absolutely no
medical disease process,
Or natural disease process
That was identifiable
in his death.
And that he was, in fact,
not intoxicated,
And, in fact, he had died
before the fire.
And so, from my point of view,
I could come up with
a large list of exclusions,
Which led me to
believe that, in fact,
He had been poisoned
with succinylcholine
Or some similar
type of agent
Which we could not trace.
Narrator:
prosecutors believe
kimberly hricko
Planned her husband's
m*rder long in advance.
The evidence?
The purchase of
the additional
$250,000 Worth
of life insurance.
The purchase of
the beer and cigars,
And her sexual affair
with another man.
What we were able
to hear in court
Was many of her
friends testified,
Because she spoke to
several of her friends
And told them her plans
to k*ll mr. Hricko.
Some, in detail.
A couple of her friends she
told in detail of her plans.
Narrator:
prosecutors believe
Kim confiscated
a vial of succinylcholine
From the hospital
where she worked.
After the m*rder
mystery performance,
Kim waited for steve
to go to sleep.
Then injected him
with a lethal dose
of succinylcholine.
She then staged the scene
To make it look like
an accident.
She placed
empty beer bottles
In a trash can
and on the night stand.
She moved stephen's
body to the floor
And placed
a playboy magazine
And the cigars nearby.
She pulled her husband's
t-shirt over his head,
Used an accelerant identified
by the accelerant-sniffing dogs,
And started the fire.
There was no carbon monoxide
in steve's bloodstream
Or any sign of
smoke inhalation:
Proof that steve was dead
before the fire started,
And there was no alcohol
found in his system.
Tests would reveal that
the cigar was not enough
To ignite the flame-retardant
fibers of the pillowcase alone.
Kim left the resort
to create an alibi,
And returned
around 1:30 a.m.
And reported the fire
to hotel employees.
The motive: kim wanted to
get rid of her husband
So she would be free
To pursue the relationship
with her lover.
The defense argued that
stephen hricko's death
Could have been caused
by the fire,
And that his lack of
consciousness might
have been caused
By the accumulation of
chemicals he inhaled
Through his work
at the golf course.
Kim was the last
one in the room,
And she had motive
because of the insurance.
So, science really provided
A whole lot of negatives.
We excluded a lot of things,
But we did not provide
anybody with a smoking g*n.
And so, I think that this
case was done largely,
And really hinged on
the superb investigation
That was done by
the state police troopers.
Narrator: the jury found
kim hricko guilty
Of first-degree m*rder
and first-degree arson.
She was sentenced
to life in prison.
Without the science,
stephen hricko
Probably would have
been buried...
And we would have all
thought this was just
A horrible, tragic
fire death,
And his case probably
would have been labeled,
"accidental death."
And he would
have been buried
And nobody would
have ever known.
That's really sad,
how this all ended,
What she put him
trough at the end.
She led him on to believe
that there was a chance,
And I guess she was just
thinking about doing him in.
So, it's pretty lousy.
I just know that
his life was valued
And nobody deserves
such a thing,
And he was a very good man.
And most of all,
he was a good father.
And he loved his family,
And we loved him very much
and were very proud of him.
And I'd give anything
to have him back.
Narrator: since this case
went to trial,
Scientists at the karolinska
institute in sweden
And now in
the united states
Have developed protocols
enabling the identification
Of succinylcholine
even in embalmed tissue.
One of the many scientific
forensic advances
That occur almost daily.
06x12 - Whodunit
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Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.
Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.