02x07 - Loved to Death

[bunniefuu]

In a serene Colorado town

a promising young woman
meets a tragic end.

The cemetery caretaker noticed
a suspicious vehicle

parked in the street there.

There was a woman in the back
of the car, deceased.

She died of asphyxia
due to strangulation.

[Narrator]: Investigators
vow to get justice

for a traumatized family.

Our family was really close.
It was just so devastating.

Now we really had
to dig into where was she

before she was found?
Who was she with?

Investigators believe that this
person may have been the last

person to see Vicki Ross alive.

His violent background
put him in the category

of a possible suspect.

During the search,
they found a torn fingernail.

We needed to exhume
Vicki's body.

If her fingernails
come back a match,

it could really be a deal maker.

[music]

[Narrator]:
In the picturesque mountain town

of Colorado Springs,

the morning of April 7, 1987
is unseasonably warm.

Detective Skip Arms has just
started his morning shift

when he responds to an urgent
call from a cemetery

in a desolate part of town.

[Skip]: This call came in from
the caretaker who had noticed

that there was a suspicious
vehicle parked in the street,

and that it had been there
at least a couple of days.

Upon my arrival,
I saw that this car

was a gold-colored


When we initially
looked inside the car,

we saw somebody wrapped up
in a brown blanket

in the back of the car.

And they appeared
to be deceased.

When they initially
opened the blanket.

We could tell that
she was a white female.

Late teens, early twenties.

[Narrator]: Paramedics quickly
check for a pulse.

But sadly,
the woman is deceased.

The police were able
to observe there was blood

around her mouth.

There was some scratches
on her face and some bruising.

The fact that
she's wrapped up in a blanket

and then has some bruising,
somebody else probably

caused that bruising.

That alerted me to the fact
that this was probably

going to be
a homicide investigation.

[Narrator]:
While coroner's deputies

carefully remove the body
from the vehicle,

police carefully examine
every inch of the Chevy,

but find nothing suspicious
or out of the ordinary.

There didn't seem
to be signs of any struggle

within the car itself.

It appeared that whoever
brought her car there

and left her in the back seat

was someone who wanted
the car away from wherever

this crime occurred.

[Skip]: It was obvious
that there were

animal hairs on the blanket.

So we sent that down
to the lab for analysis

because if we were able
to identify the origin

of where the
animal hairs came from,

that would probably give us
a good indication of maybe

where this happened.

There was no form of
identification for the victim,

but there was a work vest
from one of our grocery stores

here in Colorado Springs.

And it also had the name tag,
Vicki in the vest.

[Narrator]: Who is Vicki?

Investigators decide
to run the tags to see

if they can learn more.

The registration was checked
and it was determined that

it registered to a person
named Vicki Ross.

We were also able
to determine that there was

a missing person report that had
been initiated for Vicki Ross

by Vicki's parents.

And the person that
was wrapped up in the blanket

did have similar
characteristics to the person

in the missing person report.

And so we were beginning
to feel pretty comfortable

that this was Vicki Ross.

[Narrator]: Now that detectives
potentially know

who the victim is,

they face the difficult task
of telling her family

that they may have just found
their loved one.

My name is Scott Benton.
And Vicki Ross was my cousin.

And she grew up here
in Colorado Springs.

She lived with Shirley and Jack,
her parents.

Our family was really close.

And so finding out
about Vicki's death,

it was just so devastating.

Growing up, we all lived close
to each other.

We used to have little
family get togethers where

we'd rent a park out for a day,
a small park

and we'd all just run around
and do different stuff.

And spend the day with family.

[Narrator]: At the center
of it all was Vicki.

[Scott]:
I always looked up to her.

Vicki was always
very playful, vibrant.

She loved music.

And, you know, I remember we
used to play tennis together.

She always seemed happy,
laughing, you know?

She always liked
to have a good time.

At the time,
she was just out of high school.

I was just graduating in '86.

Vicki was just ahead of me,
so we were just kind of

finishing up school, about to go
out and experience life.

She was trying to figure out
what does she want to do,

you know?

[Narrator]:
Never one to slack off,

Vicki worked two
part-time retail jobs,

saving money for a future
she ultimately would never have.

It's sad to think just how much
positive impact she did have

and could have had.

[Narrator]: Hoping to shed light
on clues found at

the crime scene, investigators
ask Vicki's parents

if they recognize the blanket
Vicki was wrapped in.

We had photos of the blanket
and it was crucial to find out

where it came from.

And they both said that this was
not a blanket that she had

and it was not a blanket that
would have been in her car.

[Narrator]: But Vicki's parents
are able to help investigators

retrace Vicki's steps on the
last night of her life.

Her parents told us that Vicki
was really close with one

of her aunts who she worked
with at the grocery store.

They said Vicki's aunt
had seen Vicki at the store

on the night of April 2nd.

And that was the last time
anyone had seen her.

[Skip]: And so we went down to
talk with her aunt, Pat Benton.

Pat took this pretty hard

because she was
very close to Vicki.

And she said that Vicki had, in
fact, worked her normal shift.

And then the store closed.

Pat observed Vicki get
into her car and drive away.

Vicki's aunt told us that
Vicki had intended to go by her

grandparents after work,

but she never showed up
at their house.

That was highly unusual for her,
and that's what then prompted

them to eventually file a
missing person's report.

At this point,
we knew the last time

that Vicki was seen alive
was about 9:00 PM

on Thursday evening, April 2nd
when she left Simms supermarket.

[Robert]: The residents on the
same street where the car was

located were able to tell the
police that the car in which

she was found
was at the location

on the very early morning
of April 3rd the next day.

[Narrator]: This means she was
dead for at least five days

when police found
her body in the car.

So the police had
a pretty short time frame

of 9:00 to 10:00
to 6:00 AM

in which Vicki lost her life.

[Narrator]: Detectives now
face the daunting challenge

of finding out exactly
who Vicki had seen

between 9:00 PM and 6:00 AM
on April 2nd.

But first, they hope the autopsy

will uncover clues
about how she died.

The next day,
after Vicki was found,

the El Paso County coroner
conducted the autopsy.

[Narrator]:
He immediately discovers

some unnerving details.

At least two or three
of her fingernails

were torn and ripped off.

They weren't just
simply broken off.

They were cut down to the quick.

The autopsy also revealed that
there was a sexual component

to this case as well.

The medical examiner discovered
that she did have some bruising

around the genitalia that could
indicate sexual as*ault.

And part of the examination
of the genitalia revealed

largely shaved pubic hair
with a few stubbly hairs

suggesting kind of
incomplete shaving.

[Skip]: It appears that it was
done by someone else

with an electric razor.

There was some bruising
in the area as well.

So it-it gave the indication
that there was probably

some force involved doing that.

But the most significant finding
to cause of death is that

there's extensive hemorrhage
underneath the skin surface

telling you that significant
pressure was applied

to the front of the neck.

The ultimate conclusion
by Dr. Stewart is Vicki Lee Ross

died of asphyxia
due to strangulation.

And the manner of death
is a homicide.

Now, we really had to dig in
to find out where was she

before she was found.
What was she doing?

Who was she with?

And we had to find answers
as quickly as we could.

[Narrator]: Coming up.

Vicki's friend indicated
she had personally observed

Vicki's boyfriend striking Vicki
on a number of occasions.

He's very defensive.

His girlfriend told us
that she noticed there were

scratch marks on him.

At that point,
the light bulb went on

because we just moved this
to another level.

[music]

[music]

[Narrator]: On April 8, 1987
investigators have just

learned that Vicki Ross
died of strangulation.

And now have to focus
all their efforts

on figuring out who could have
possibly done this to her.

Now, we really had to dig in
and start contacting as many

people as we could
until we could determine

who in fact,
might be potential suspects.

The family told us the names
of people Vicki associated with.

Those people were contacted,

provided various amounts
of detail about her.

She was, you know, very
sociable, very outgoing.

And at the time, she was, you
know, getting to know kind of

different people, interesting
people and different friends.

They were kind of
her second family,

people that cared about her.

So when Vicki passed,
I think they really wanted

to speak with the investigators.

One of the friends
that were contacted

indicated she had a boyfriend
that she had met in high school.

She told us that Vicki
and her boyfriend,

an individual named Hyung,

were on and off
for a period of time.

And she had personally observed
Hyung striking and hitting Vicki

on a number of occasions.

And it was her perception
that he was just a very

violent person.

So whenever somebody
gives you information,

especially with regards
to someone who might be

potentially violent,

you have to follow that up
as quick as you can.

The fact that it was a manual
strangulation usually shows that

the perpetrator had
to have a certain amount

of strength, number one.

And number two,
in being in close proximity.

While it's conceivable
he could be a stranger,

it's more likely someone that
the person was in contact with,

such as a significant other,
boyfriend, spouse.

The information that came
to us about her boyfriend,

his violent background
and his relationship with Vicki

certainly put him in the
category of a possible suspect.

And so as investigators,

we wanted to jump on that
as quickly as we could.

[Narrator]: The very next day,
detectives track down Hyung

and bring him into the station.

They're struck by
his defiant manner.

He wasn't at all upset about
the fact that Vicki was dead.

And so, he was confronted

with information that we had
received about him exhibiting

violence towards Vicki.

And he acknowledged that he had
slapped her around a few times.

[Narrator]: Since Vicki's
autopsy revealed that her

pubic area had been
forcibly shaved,

Detective Arms hopes
that Hyung can shed light

on this disturbing detail.

We asked him if Vicki
shaved her own pubic hairs.

And he told us that,
no, that didn't happen

and that she often times
wouldn't even shave her legs.

[Narrator]: Investigators now
push Hyung on his whereabouts

on the night of Vicki's m*rder,

but he claims to have
an airtight alibi.

He was adamant that
he had nothing to do

with Vicki's m*rder.

And he told us that he had
worked at a restaurant

called the Japanese Kitchen.

And he got off work on that
evening, Thursday, April 2,

around 11:30 at night.

And then he and another employee
drove from Japanese Kitchen

to another restaurant that was
owned by the same person

and they spent the rest
of the evening there hanging

ceiling tiles and, you know,
other construction work until

about 3:30, 4:00 in the morning.

And of course, you know,

we can't just take this
on face value.

And so we interviewed
the business owner.

Both his employer
and other workers confirmed

that Hyung was with them all
the way through the night up

until at least 4:30
in the morning.

And so that pretty
much ruled him out

as far as being
a viable suspect.

[Narrator]: After investigators
rule out Hyung,

they decide to shift focus on
to other people Vicki may have

come into contact with
just before her death.

During the course
of the interview with Hyung,

and he gave us some names
of other people,

other relationships, friends
who were very close to Vicki.

And so one
of the names was Marilyn.

[Robert]: The police were able
to find out who Marilyn was

and went to see her.

She indicated that Vicki
had come to her house

on April 2nd, shortly
after she got off work

at the grocery store.

At this point, Marilyn might
have been the last person

that may have seen her alive.

[music]

[music]

[Narrator]: Three days after
Vicki Lee Ross

is found m*rder*d,
investigators with the

Colorado Springs
Police Department

are following up
with a woman named Marilyn

who saw 20-year-old Vicki Ross
just hours before her death.

She says,
"I had this small party."

"I had several people over."

"Vicki came over and she was
talking to various people."

Marilyn did share with us
that another person was

with Vicki at her house,

and that was a person
named Norman Wiegand.

That was a new name to us.

Marilyn discloses
that Norman Wiegand,

in fact,
left this party with Vicki.

This immediately puts
Norman Wiegand on the radar.

Marilyn had placed that time
frame right around midnight.

So now we know that Vicki
got off of work at 9:00

and then at Marilyn's house,
apparently she connected

with Norman and they left
together sometime around



[Narrator]: After their
interview with Marilyn,

detectives bring Norman Wiegand
into the station to talk.

So he was cooperative.

And, you know, he told us
that yeah,

he wanted to help
get Vicki's k*ller.

He provided information
that he knew her for some

period of time, a few months.

Norman told us that
he met Vicki at a bar

and she was dating
someone else at the time,

but he was attracted to her and
he wanted to get to know her.

And eventually they did connect.

[Narrator]: When investigators
ask him about the last time

he saw Vicki on April 2nd,
he's immediately forthcoming.

He says, "yeah, yeah, I was at
this party with Marilyn."

"Yeah, I saw Vicki."

"And as a matter of fact,
Vicki and I did leave together."

He asked Vicki if she wanted
to come over to his house.

And Vicki agreed.

Vicki liked to watch movies,
so she played a video until

approximately 2:00 in the
morning when Vicki left.

And that's the last time
he saw her.

[Robert]: With the information
that Norman provided,

she's now with Norman up until
about 2:00 in the morning.

And she was probably dead
in her car within three hours.

He unknowingly is sort of
shrinking that window.

And as he's shrinking it,
he's keeping himself

inside that window,
which just points to

a stronger case towards him.

[Narrator]:
As investigators hone in

on their possible suspect,

Vicki's loved ones gather
across town

to lay her to rest
on April 10, 1987.

I remember seeing a lot of
people at the funeral.

At that time, there was a
sadness and the grief,

but rather than focus on the
moments I didn't have,

I think back about the moments
we did have.

I remember a lot of Christmases
exchanging gifts,

and spending you know,
nights over.

We had a hide-a-bed couch thing
that we'd fold out

and they'd sit there at night
and watch TV and watch movies.

Definitely gave us the
opportunity to get to know

each other more,

and it's kind of a neat time to
get to know her on that level.

And I'm thankful for that, that
our family was really close.

Nobody could take that away.

[Narrator]: While Vicki's
family continues to grieve,

investigators dig deeper
into Wiegand's background,

searching for something
that may tie him to the crime.

Norman was over 30 years old
at the time.

The police did a
background check on him

and found out that he had a
fairly questionable past

in Louisiana.

He had a sexual as*ault
conviction where he served

hard time in prison.

He had been the subject
of numerous other

sexual as*ault investigations
in Louisiana.

[Narrator]: With many red flags
in his background,

Detective Arms decides to track
down anyone who can give more

information about Norman
at the time of Vicki's

disappearance on April 2nd.

[Skip]: In the interview with
Norman, he told us that

he had a girlfriend.

The next day we were able to
contact Norman's girlfriend,

a woman named Theresa.

And she told us that
on the evening of April 2nd

that Norman initially was
supposed to come over,

but he called her
and said he wasn't feeling well.

[Robert]: She indicated that
the next night, April 3rd,

she went to his apartment.

Norman appeared to be very tired
and he wanted to go to bed.

So he took off his clothes
except for his shirt

and then went to bed.

She thought this was unusual
because he always slept

totally naked.

She was able to look
at him under his shirt

while he was asleep,

and she noticed there were
scratch marks on him.

After that,
he vacuumed up the apartment

and she said that he had never
vacuumed the apartment

the whole time she knew him.

The apartment had been
cleaned like she had never

seen it before.

And she says he pulled his
sheets and he washed them.

And one of the things I noticed
as he's pulling

the sheets off the bed,
is there's blood on the sheets.

[music]

[music]

[Narrator]: When investigators
from the Colorado Springs PD

interview Norman Wiegand's
girlfriend, Theresa,

they learned that he'd
been acting strangely

in the days after
Vicki Ross's disappearance.

And Theresa had even noticed
blood on his sheets.

Theresa indicated that Norman
told her that there was blood

on his sheets from his dog.

He thought his dog was in heat.

And perhaps that was the source
of the blood.

[Narrator]: Detectives freeze

at the mention of Norman
having a dog.

Was it possible that the
animal hair on the blanket

found on Vicki's body
belonged to Norman's dog?

That was important information
to us because at this point

we knew that there was some kind
of animal hair on the blanket

that Vicki had been
wrapped up in.

Given the fact that
Norman had a dog,

and we wanted to try to make
that connection to Norman.

At that point,

the Colorado Bureau of
Investigation Lab informed us

that the hair on the blanket
was not from a dog,

but a white-haired cat.

[Narrator]: Despite the
animal hair testing results,

investigators still have
serious questions about

Norman's involvement
in Vicki's death.

So Detective Arms and his team
head over to Norman's apartment

to find out more.

[Skip]: He generally was fairly
pleasant and cooperative.

And Norman signed a consent
to search his apartment.

And what that simply meant is
that he was waving his rights

for us to search his place

without obtaining
a search warrant.

Police found a fairly
clean apartment,

and there didn't seem to be
signs of any struggle

within the apartment.

But they also observed
an electric razor

that was circular type,
which would have been consistent

with the type of markings
on Vicki

observed during the autopsy.

[Skip]: We retrieved the razor
at the time,

and at that point
we felt that Norman

was a suspect in this case,
but we hadn't been able

to rise to the level
of making an arrest.

So we decided to have him under
surveillance at that point.

And do a neighborhood canvass
of the people right around there

to see if perhaps
they see anything

of evidentiary value to us.

So we contacted his neighbor
directly above him,

and she couldn't provide us
with any information in terms

of hearing anything or whatnot
on Thursday night.

But just in having a
conversation with her,

she happens to mention,
hey, Norman and I share

a common storage area.

Investigators asked her,

hey, what kind of things do you
keep in the storage area?

Just on a on a whim in a way.
Do you have an electric blanket?

And she goes, "I do."

"And I keep it
in the storage unit."

And then the police went with
her to look for that blanket,

and it was missing.

This was a critical
piece of information

because all three tenants,
which would include Norman,

had access into that garage.

And she says, "you know,
I think I still have the cord

that goes with this blanket."

And so she goes to get the cord.

She provided us with the cord
for that blanket.

And at that point,
we'd noticed that she had

a couple of cats that were
walking around the apartment.

And she said that this blanket
hadn't been used for a couple

of years, but when it had been
in use on their bed,

the cats freely slept
on this blanket a lot.

At that point,
the light bulb went on

because Colorado Bureau
of Investigation Lab

told us basically that we should
probably be looking for a cat.

So we got hair samples from her
cats for comparison for the lab.

Shortly after that,
we received information

from their lab that the hairs
found on the blanket

were consistent with one
of the neighbor's cats.

So at that point,

we sent the blanket control unit
to the lab as well,

so they could
have everything together.

And in addition
to doing their analysis,

they also did note in their
report that the serial number

on the blanket
and the serial number

on the control unit matched up
linking them together.

Now we're able to confirm
absolutely that the blanket

that was wrapped around Vicki's
body when she was found

was the blanket that came from
Mrs. Johnson's storage unit.

At that point,
the police went to the court

with an affidavit for the arrest
of Norman Wiegand

for first-degree m*rder.

[music]

[Narrator]:
Investigators have confirmed

that the blanket Vicki's body
was wrapped in

came from Norman's shared
storage unit,

so they arrest Norman Wiegand
for first-degree m*rder.

We had, had him actually under
surveillance for a period time,

so we knew when
he would be home.

In the late afternoon
on April 14th,

Detective Arms went to
Norman Wiegand's apartment,

knocked on the door
and arrested him.

We had gotten both an arrest
warrant and a search warrant

for him at this point
because we wanted to use

every resource available
to somehow tie Vicki in

to being in his apartment.

We had our own
lab technicians on site,

then we also called in some
blood experts

from the Colorado Bureau
of Investigation.

And we did a complete, thorough
search of his apartment,

which was remarkably clean
at that point.

[Narrator]: The apartment
appears to be immaculate.

But then a CBI lab tech begins

to spray a blood-detecting
substance called Luminol.

They were able to find remnants
of blood splatter.

You could tell that there was
blood near the headboard,

top of the mattress
and there was bloody footprints

in the bathroom.

It appeared that there was some
type of struggle at some point,

primarily in the bedroom.

[Narrator]: The bed appears
to be the center

of the crime scene,

but it presents a big problem
for investigators.

Norman Wiegand had this
king-size waterbed,

which was too heavy
to move at the time,

and so they drain every drop of
water out of this waterbed.

And then one of the detectives
lifted a corner of the mattress,

underneath the mattress
was a torn fingernail.

Finding the broken fingernail
was huge.

We all felt like we just moved
this to another level.

[Narrator]: But the rock-solid
proof the detectives need

is just out of reach.

You can make a presumption
that this is from her,

but that's not strong enough.

We could get a lab analysis
of her fingernail from her

that not only could they match
up the tear marks,

but they could also match up
the fingernail polish.

And that would be
irrefutable evidence.

The problem was Vicki's funeral
was four days before.

Vicki was buried.

We had nothing to compare
the fingernail to.

So given the potential
value of comparing that

to the fingernails,

the decision was made

that Vicki Lee Ross
would be exhumed.

[Narrator]: Before they can
proceed with the exhumation,

investigators have to get buy-in
from Vicki's family.

We wanted to respect the family.

We wouldn't do it if the family
didn't want it done.

So we asked for their permission
to exhume Vicki's body.

When I heard she was going to be
exhumed, I just remember

I knew it was going
to be so hard on,

especially the closest people,
the parents and my mom.

I was happy that at least there
was something moving forward.

Their goal was to get the person
responsible off the streets.

And they had told us upfront,
anything you need from us

to help in this investigation,
we will do.

So we prepared the order
to get that done.

[Narrator]: Seven days after
Vicki was buried,

investigators gather around her
grave at Evergreen Cemetery.

The mood is somber
as they begin to dig.

The process of exhumation
is not unlike the process

of internment, putting the body
into the ground.

You need to be respectful.
You need to be careful.

The body is removed
from the depths of the grave

and then placed gingerly
in an area where the casket

can then be opened.

Graveyards are holy places.
They are important places.

And there's almost a taboo
I think, against disturbing

someone who's kind of
at their final resting place.

So they did their job
as quickly as possible

knowing how sensitive
what they were doing

and where they were
doing it was.

[Robert]:
We went to the cemetery.

Cemetery officials had already
had her casket raised.

The coroner was there.
Evidence technicians were there.

[Skip]:
When they opened the casket,

you could still tell that it was
Vicki, but there had been some

deterioration of the body
in that week's time.

Not a lot, but some.

And uh...

it's one of those experiences
you hope you never have

to go through, but in this case

we're trying to build the
strongest case possible.

And we felt
it was absolutely necessary.

At that point the fingernails
were then removed one by one

from both hands
in hopes that ultimately,

this fragment of fingernail
recovered at the potential

assailant's residence
could be matched

to what we have on the body.

So those fingernails collected
at the exhumation

are immediately then
handed off to the

Colorado Bureau of Investigation
who will begin the examination

to evaluate whether
these nails are a match.

[Narrator]: Investigators submit
the nails to the lab.

Now all they can do is wait.

They have some evidence.

They have some
circumstantial evidence,

but they also know
if they come back a match,

these results
could be a deal maker.

[music]

[music]

[Narrator]: As investigators
wait for the crucial results

of the testing
on fingernail fragments

found in
Norman Wiegand's apartment,

more damning evidence
begins to emerge.

[Robert]: The police
wanted to find

one more piece of the puzzle,

so they continued to investigate
Norman Wiegand's background.

So Detective Moore and I
were directed by the

district attorney's office
to go down to New Orleans

to follow-up.

And then we
contacted his family.

Many of his siblings described
him as somebody who

didn't seem to form attachments.

His brother at one point said,

"I don't think that Norman's
capable of loving any woman

and I don't think
he's ever had a friend."

He had been arrested
for a number of crimes,

both assaults
and sexual assaults.

And it was even his family's
wish that

he not be let back
on the street.

[Narrator]: But the most damning
account came after investigators

discover that Norman
had an ex-wife.

She tells us that he had been
not only violent with her,

but also he had on a couple
of different occasions

shaved her pubic hairs.

One time when she was
actually sleeping.

That was such an unusual detail
for investigators.

It was kind of like, ah-ha.

That is a huge connection

between Norman's ex-wife
and Vicki Ross.

[Narrator]:
It's a stunning piece

of circumstantial evidence,

but police still need
hard proof that Vicki was

in Norman's apartment
the night of the m*rder.

At that point, investigators
were waiting for the results

of the comparison
between the fingernails.

If they come back a match,
it's gonna make the prosecutor's

job a lot easier in terms
of getting a conviction.

[Narrator]:
Then a few weeks later,

Detective Arms and the team
finally hear back from

the state lab
about the fingernails.

The fingernails were a match.

The Colorado Bureau
of Investigation Lab

did the comparison
and they were able to

match up the fingernail polish,

the tear marks,
the stress marks from the tear.

And receiving that news,

we felt like we had just made
this a rock-solid case.

Wiegand was charged by a grand
jury with first-degree m*rder

under the felony m*rder rule,

which means the alleged sexual
as*ault is the basis

for the underlying felony.

[Narrator]:
As Norman awaits his trial,

prosecutors continue
to build their case.

In our subsequent interviews,
we had learned that Norman

appeared to be unusually upset

about the fact that

Vicki owed him close to $30.00.

And people are very surprised at
how angry Norman seemed to be.

We don't know what happened
between Norman and Vicki

on the night that she died,
but maybe in his mind

Norman felt like,

"I'm gonna get some payment
sexually for the money

that Vicki owes me."

And I think the minute that
Vicki started fighting back,

that, that enraged
him even further.

And I think at that point
all those factors likely

came together to result
in Vicki's m*rder.

[Narrator]: But Vicki would
turn out to be his last victim.

In March of 1988,
prosecutors get a call

from Norman's defense team.

At that point,
Wiegand ultimately pled guilty

to second-degree m*rder,
which is knowingly causing

the death of another person.

Wiegand was an evil man.
And he was violent.

The judge sentenced him
to 46 years.

[Narrator]: Vicki's family is
relieved to know that they won't

have to suffer through a trial.

That was a surreal moment
for me finally having closure.

I think there is a certain
weight off of all of us,

me, for sure.

[Skip]: There's a huge sense of
satisfaction in knowing

he never got a chance to
victimize anybody else.

And in a m*rder case,

you're sh**ting for proof
beyond any doubt.

The exhumation was huge
in this case.

We felt that,
that really solidified the case

because that took any notion
of doubt out of the equation.

[music]

[Scott]: I do miss Vicki,

just her influence
in my life, you know?

But no one can take away
from you all the moments

you've shared with other people,
all the moments you've had,

and any good thing you've
done with or for someone.

And that's one thing that
helps me really not even spare

or waste a thought on him.

Your energy is better
spent on something good.

And if that's something
I can share with anybody else

that's gone through something,
you know, this hard,

that would be it.