11x08 - Concrete Alibi

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: can the dead speak to the living?

A michigan woman tried to do just that by

Leaving a note to her survivors telling them

Her death was no accident.

Forensics uncover the secrets

She almost took to her grave.

Narrator: it seemed like a love story from a time gone by.

David duyst and sandy bose met in high school and fell in love.

They went to the same college, got married after graduation,

And started a family.

The duysts were churchgoing people, pretty conservative,

Well thought of.

He was an insurance salesman making a lot of money.

They had three kids.

Narrator: sandy had her own business, boarding horses in a

Stable on their land.

Sandy was very good with horses.

She loved the horses.

Her favorite place was to be in the barn -- very favorite, was

To be there.

Out of any place -- you could tell -- she just beamed when she

Was in the barn.

Narrator: but sandy soon learned the horse business can

Be dangerous.

Sandy said one of the horses got spooked and kicked her in the

Head.

[ Neighing ] bleeding profusely and barely

Conscious, sandy was able to crawl to her neighbor's house

For help.

[ Siren wailing ] after the accident, sandra

Started to experience extreme difficulties, mood swings,

Severe depression.

After about a year, it got to the point where I believe that

She was in such a state that their marriage had deteriorated

Completely.

Narrator: sandy's doctor prescribed antidepressants.

They appeared to be working, until, months after her

Accident, david duyst called .

, What is your emergency?

[ Siren wailing ] narrator: an ambulance rushed

Sandy to a nearby hospital, but she was declared dead on

Arrival.

And I said, "no."

It was just hard to believe 'cause she was so young, you

Know, was what it was.

Narrator: she was only years old.

In sandy's bedroom was a -millimeter semiautomatic

p*stol the family owned for protection.

David duyst told police he and sandy were having marital

Problems and no longer slept together.

Sandy slept in the master bedroom.

David slept on the sofa in the family room.

He told me that he had heard a sh*t and responded to the

Bedroom where his wife was asleep and found her.

He took the g*n out of her hand, laid it on the bed, ran back out

Of the room, and called .

Narrator: the children were in their bedrooms.

They said they heard their father downstairs.

They can hear his movement immediately after hearing the

Noises or sh*ts.

They can hear his movement from the den area through the other

Three rooms, opening the door to the bedroom, and going in.

Narrator: this corroborated david's story, but just to be

Sure, police confiscated david's clothing.

At that point, they did make a visual inspection of the shirt

And the pants.

And their report indicated that it was negative for bloodstain.

Narrator: to make certain nothing was left undone, police

Asked david to take a lie-detector test.

He passed.

We didn't have any reason to dispute his story.

And quite frankly, given his background, the fact that he

Appeared to be a stable, normal guy with a family and a good

Job and some community involvement and stuff, we

Basically gave him the benefit of the doubt and kind of

Accepted what he had said.

Narrator: but if it was a su1c1de, why didn't sandy leave

A note?

Narrator: anytime someone like sandy duyst dies of what's

Believed to be a self-inflicted g*nsh*t wound, it immediately

Raises suspicions.

Statistically it's rare that a woman uses a p*stol to k*ll

Herself.

Narrator: as is our custom, we do perform autopsies on

su1c1de victims.

We are, under law, obligated to investigate such deaths.

Narrator: in examining sandy duyst's head injuries, the

Forensic pathologist expected to find a single-b*llet wound, but

He found something else.

At that point, he said, "oh, I think you should come see

This."

Narrator: they found not one but two entrance wounds an inch

And a half apart.

It did show two separate wound tracks right through the

Middle of the brain, each one of them, indicating that the first

One had to be incapacitating.

And this ain't right.

She's got two in her head now.

Dr. Cohle's immediate statement was "that can't be."

Narrator: two entrance and two exit wounds meant that

Either the p*stol double-fired or sandy pulled the trigger

Twice.

I have had a number of cases in my own experience, and there

Have been a number reported in the literature, of more than one

Suicidal g*nsh*t wound to the head...

The common denominator in all those cases is that the first

sh*t was not incapacitating.

Narrator: also suspicious, investigators found blood

Spatter on the -millimeter p*stol but none on sandy's hands

Or arm.

It really suggests that she is not in control of the w*apon,

But the w*apon certainly was exposed to the spatter event.

Narrator: then investigators got a telephone call from

Sandy's sister.

She told them about a conversation she had with sandy

A year before her death.

Sandra had indicated to her sister, "if anything ever

Happens to me, I've left a note for you in the china cabinet of

The home.

Please just get it and read it."

Narrator: with a warrant, investigators searched the

Duysts' home.

This china cabinet not only held china, but it also seemed

To be like a repository, if you will, for family paperwork.

And so I just began searching this china cabinet from top to

Bottom.

On the very bottom shelf, way in the back, behind some dishes,

There was a white envelope, and all it said on it was the name

Of sandra's sister.

And I immediately retrieved it from where it was.

It was sealed.

I didn't open it up at that point.

Narrator: the note was immediately sent to the crime

Lab, where it was opened by forensic analysts.

It proved to be nothing less than a voice from the grave.

To anyone interested in what happened to me, look first to

David duyst.

He could be my k*ller.

Narrator: for the first time, sandy described what really

Happened in the horse stable months earlier.

On november th, my accident was no accident.

David b*at me with a hammer a*.

He came up from behind while I was in dexter's stall.

He hit me repeatedly.

I figured he would come back to k*ll me.

The only information that we had prior to this, that

Mrs. Duyst had always indicated, that she was kicked by a horse.

So now we have to begin kind of looking at this whole

Circumstance and trying to validate that.

I would never commit su1c1de.

He may have k*lled me.

Respectfully, sandra a. Duyst.

Narrator: investigators sent the note to a forensic document

Examiner who compared the handwriting to sandy's known

Handwriting samples.

He found it to be consistent.

Scientists found a fingerprint on the letter.

It was sandy's.

And dna testing confirmed that sandy licked the envelope to

Seal it.

We were all stunned.

It was kind of a jaw-dropper.

You just don't see those kinds of things in a case.

Narrator: now that sandy claimed the incident was an

att*ck, investigators reviewed hospital medical records and

Discovered that the attending physician doubted a horse had

Done that damage.

They were semicircular in nature, and there were a number

Of them, and they'd put lacerations in her head which he

Had to staple shut.

And he said, "it just didn't look like any horse-kick injury

I'd ever seen."

Narrator: dr. John hulsing was in the duysts' barn shortly

After the incident.

He, too, noticed inconsistencies.

I went in that stall, and I couldn't find any blood on the

Wall where this reportedly happened.

It was all outside of the stall in the walk-in area.

Narrator: david duyst was confronted with the letter and

Denied that the incident was anything other than an accident,

But he did make a confession.

He admitted he was having an affair with his secretary,

Linda ryan, and that sandy had found out about it.

David also gave police a voice mail sandy left on his

Office phone.

He said it proved she was suicidal.

He said it proved she was suicidal.

He said it proved she was suicidal.

Narrator: police now had evidence that sandy duyst's

Horse-barn incident was no accident.

In a letter found among her private papers, sandy described

The incident as a m*rder attempt perpetrated by her

Husband.

My accident was no accident.

Look first to david duyst.

Narrator: instead of leaving the marriage, sandy apparently

Tried to make it work.

Sandy really truly loved david.

She stayed with him because she did love him.

And she wanted the whole family to stay together, and family was

Very important to her.

And so I think that she just really loved him.

I think family first.

Stay with the family.

Make it work.

Do everything you can.

Narrator: david duyst denied hitting sandy in the stable and

Insisted her sh**ting death was a su1c1de.

He said the g*n must have double-fired.

To find out, investigators sent the w*apon to gunmaker

Brad bachelder.

It still had the original grease in the g*n.

The g*n had basically been fired very little.

There was almost no wear on the g*n whatsoever.

Narrator: the g*n was designed for safety.

It could not be fired without a complete pull of the trigger.

Various safety mechanisms had to be in place for this to happen,

All there to prevent an accidental discharge.

So that g*n can't accidently, through recoil or slam-f*ring or

Dropping or any malfunction that I've been exposed to thus

Far, involuntarily fire a second sh*t without full manipulation

Of the trigger.

Narrator: and tests showed that this trigger was difficult

To pull.

On most pistols, it takes between four and six pounds of

Pressure to pull the trigger.

But this g*n required almost pounds of pressure.

The conclusion -- the g*n could not have double-fired.

One of the beautiful things about mechanisms is they don't

Think.

They'll either function or malfunction.

It is very easy, with a right amount of background knowledge,

To look at a mechanism and determine if in fact it could or

Did fail.

With that knowledge, it makes it very hard for me to believe that

Story.

Narrator: but it is possible for a su1c1de victim to sh**t

Herself more than once.

In years, I've encountered two situations where a w*apon

Ultimately was fired twice during a su1c1de event.

It's not the typical, but it's not unheard of.

Narrator: but in sandy's case, doctors say either sh*t

Would have caused massive brain injuries and would have k*lled

Her instantly.

But what the wounds did that she received from that first

b*llet was -- it went right through the center of her brain

That controls your motor functions.

The thalamus, the hypothalamus, and the basal ganglion were all

Destroyed in that first sh*t.

So she was incapable of squeezing the trigger a second

Time.

The fact that she had two contact g*nsh*t wounds to the

Head, each of which would be instantly incapacitating and

Nearly instantly fatal, were sufficient for me to conclude

That this was a homicide and not the su1c1de, as it appeared to

Be.

Narrator: but if david duyst sh*t his wife two times at close

Range, why was there no blood spatter on his shirt?

When the clothing was sent over, it was labeled as a

su1c1de, not a homicide, investigation.

They just basically held it up and looked at it with the naked

Eye.

Narrator: the clothing was examined again.

This time criminalists used a high-powered microscope

Connected to a video camera.

Under high magnification, there were stains invisible to the

Naked eye -- tiny, microscopic bloodstains.

These stains are referred to as back spatter.

They're coming from the entry wound, and they are actually

Ejected back towards the sh**t.

Narrator: the blood penetrated into the fabric

Weave, the signature sign of high-velocity blood spatter.

And there was high-velocity blood spatter on the back sleeve

Of david's shirt.

Finding the spatter on the back of mr. Duyst's sleeve, I

Think, is rather telling because it suggests that his arm is not

Just down, but rather it's extended and up at the moment of

That spatter event...

Which is consistent with the position that one would have to

Be in if they're f*ring a w*apon into mrs. Duyst.

Narrator: david duyst was arrested and charged with

First-degree m*rder.

He continued to maintain his innocence.

He said when he found sandy, she was coughing, which explained

How her blood got onto his shirt.

It would be up to a jury to decide if david duyst was lying

Or telling the truth.

Narrator: prosecutors didn't have to look very hard to learn

The motive for sandy duyst's m*rder.

The duysts were heavily in debt.

All income that was coming into the duyst home was

Absolutely going out in expenditures.

There was no money left over.

Narrator: david duyst was an insurance agent, and he had

Written a $, insurance policy on sandy's life, which

Would pay even in the event of su1c1de.

And prosecutors also learned that david's lover, his

Secretary, was insisting he leave sandy immediately.

By having her out of the picture being dead, as opposed

To just divorcing her, he avoids paying alimony, child

Support, and adding further financial woe to his particular

Situation.

So the motives were the oldest ones in the world -- money and

Women.

And he had both of them.

Narrator: with $, worth of life insurance on sandy,

Prosecutors think david duyst chose m*rder over divorce.

They believe the first attempt on sandy's life took place in

The horse stable.

Sandy's letter said david hit her on the back on her head with

An axhammer.

But she survived those injuries and covered up the incident.

Months later, with david and sandy sleeping separately,

Prosecutors believe david slipped into sandy's bedroom

Shortly before dawn and used the p*stol he kept in the closet.

[ g*nshots ] the blood spatter on david's

Shirt and under his right sleeve proved he was the sh**t.

David left the g*n on the bed, then called .

She sh*t herself...in the head.

She must have had some inkling that he was gonna be

Doing something.

And here's a guy who thought he was smart enough to get away

With it...

If not for that second sh*t.

Narrator: after he was arrested, david duyst continued

To tell anyone who would listen that he was innocent.

He claimed the g*n double-fired and that his wife's letter was

Actually an attempt to frame him for her death.

During his trial, david duyst took the stand to tell the jury

His side of the story.

Nothing was ever good.

Everything was always bad...

That kind of mind-set.

That's what she thought.

That's what she said.

That's how she expressed herself.

Narrator: but most trial observers said david's

Testimony hurt him more than it helped him.

It was almost kind of lighthearted, jolly.

I said this to someone right afterwards -- he testified like

The insurance salesman that he was.

Narrator: after a monthlong trial, the jury made its

Decision.

All jurors, being in agreement, find that the

Defendant, david duyst, is, as to count one, guilty of m*rder

In the first degree.

Narrator: david duyst was sentenced to life in prison

With no possibility of parole.

I am the best expert witness in this entire case because I

Know what I did and I know what I did not do that morning.

I am innocent, and I will maintain my innocence for the

Rest of my life.

Oh, he's guilty.

David duyst is guilty.

He's...

I think he's a coward, and he's a coldhearted m*rder*r.

He can stick to his story all he wants, but there's nothing

That supports it, certainly none of the evidence we found.

He wanted it all.

The kids -- he didn't want to lose the kids.

He didn't want to lose the house.

He didn't want to lose nothing.

Those things he would have lost if he'd gotten divorced.

And he knows that.

Narrator: prosecutors don't think david's girlfriend,

Linda ryan, had anything to do with the m*rder.

But questions about the case remain.

Why did david fire the second sh*t?

Did he think that he needed to sh**t her once, did so, but

Then she wasn't dead, and he figured he had to finish the

Job?

That's possible.

Did something that happened that night that had angered him

So much that he wanted to walk into the bedroom and absolutely

Hold the g*n to his wife's head and sh**t her not once, but

sh**t her twice, and then say it was a su1c1de?

It just doesn't add up.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to answer that question.

Forensics were the case.

If we don't get dna off that envelope and fingerprints off

The letter, we can't authenticate that she had

Written that.

If we don't have the autopsy

Results that we have and the

Blood-spatter results that we

Have, we've got a whole

Different ball game here.