10x12 - Cereal k*ller

[bunniefuu]

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Investigators were
overwhelmed by the carnage

in a single case, arson, m*rder,
fraud, su1c1de, and more.

The bizarre trail
of evidence left

even seasoned
investigators baffled.

Could forensic science
unlock its secrets?

[theme music]

There's very little crime
in Newman Lake, Washington,

a small town outside
of Spokane, which

was why Bob Wood moved
here after his divorce.

-What attracted me
to Bob was he seemed

to have a lot of care
for his children.

He was a single father.

I was a single
mother at the time.

We had a lot in
common in that factor.

NARRATOR: Bob had custody of
his two children, 16-year-old

Theresa and 11-year-old
Christopher.

For the Wood family,
February 9, 1999

began like most other mornings.

Theresa left for
school around 8:00 AM.

Bob Wood left for
work soon afterwards.

And Christopher was the
last one out of the house.

Around 8:30, neighbors saw
smoke coming out of the windows

and called the fire department.

-The principal from the school
came right down to the house

and told us that-- that
Chris had not come to school,

and that he may be in the fire.

NARRATOR: Firefighters searched
the home in a frantic effort

to find him.

-Sometimes kids hide in-- in a
building after they set a fire.

And we didn't know his-- whether
he did that, whether he went

and hid somewhere
else in the house

and was overcome by smoke.

-I kind of figured
that Christopher

had accidentally set the fire.

Because a couple weeks before
that, Bobby had called me

and said he was having problems
with Christopher and matches.

Christopher wanted to set fires.

NARRATOR: But firefighters
couldn't find him.

Bob Wood learned about
the fire while he

was on his way to work.

-Hello?

NARRATOR: When he returned
home, the center of the house

was completely destroyed.

Bob's first priority was to find
his son Christopher, whom he

believed was hiding out of fear.

-He doesn't need to
worry about the house

or what was-- what
happened here.

He just needs to
get himself home.

-It was the middle of winter,
so everybody was worried

that Christopher
might, you know,

if he was out hiding
in the woods that he--

he could die of exposure.

It gets cold in Spokane.

NARRATOR: Neighbors
and sheriff's deputies

organized one of the biggest
manhunts in the town's history.

About five miles
away, a motorist

discovered
Christopher's backpack

along the side of
the road, but there

was no sign of Christopher.

Meanwhile, investigators
needed to find

out whether the fire was arson.

So they brought in an
accelerant-sniffing dog

to determine whether a
flammable material was present.

The dog found nothing.

But investigators
discovered where

it started, in the family room.

-There was a V
pattern originating

from the sofa, which
was against a wall.

And there was a very distinct
line or mark of demarcation

along the-- on the
wall that pointed

to a particular end of the sofa.

NARRATOR: When a fire
starts on a sofa,

investigators usually
suspect arson.

For two days, police
and volunteers

searched for Christopher.

Then a snow plow driver
found his body in a snow bank

along a deserted
road 15 miles away.

-I-- I remember it.

I was broken-hearted.

NARRATOR: There were ligature
marks around Christopher's

neck, evidence that
he had been strangled.

-It appeared that Christopher
had not been m*rder*d there

as there was very little
disturbance in the snow,

only enough to show that
somebody had stopped there

and dumped the body off
the side of the road.

NARRATOR: During the
autopsy, forensic experts

found no evidence
that Christopher

had started the fire.

-Examination of
Chris's hands showed

no sooting or fire
products on his hands.

He had no sooting in his lungs,
no carbon dioxide in his blood.

NARRATOR: But investigators
found a telling clue

that Christopher
had been abducted.

His sneakers were
on the wrong feet.

-Chris was 11 years old.

He wasn't prone to put his
shoes on the wrong feet.

But if you were dressing a
lifeless body, facing it,

you would put right to
left and left to right.

And that-- that's
apparently what happened.

NARRATOR: Now there
were two crimes

to solve, arson and m*rder.

-East Farms
Elementary School put

together a memorial
for Christopher.

And they invited all of
us to go, and it was here,

and they gave me this book
that they had put together.

NARRATOR: Christopher Wood's
classmates and teachers

assembled a collection
of their favorite stories

and recollections
of Christopher,

an expression the
family appreciated.

-Some of the poems, one
of them in particular,

it makes me cry
every time I read it.

NARRATOR: Investigators vowed
to find the person or persons

responsible for the
m*rder and the arson.

-I think the underlying feeling
in the neighborhood that there

was a predator, and that
someone did abduct Chris Wood.

That was a big fear
amongst the people.

-We have a database of
registered sex offenders,

and they had searched
that database

and had discovered some
people in the general area.

NARRATOR: Since the autopsy
revealed no evidence

Christopher had been
sexually assaulted,

it was unlikely the crime
was sexually motivated.

Investigators asked Bob Wood
and his daughter Theresa

about their activities on
the morning of the fire.

Theresa said she left
for school at 8 o'clock.

Bob said he left for
work around 8:20.

And Christopher was
eating breakfast.

He didn't normally leave
for school until 8:30.

None of the neighbors
reported seeing

Christopher that morning.

Investigators began
to question Bob Wood's

actions on the
morning of the fire.

They remembered it
took him a long time

to get home after he
learned about the fire.

-It took him almost
two hours to get home,

and that would have been
at most a 66-minute trip.

Question is, how was
that accounted for?

NARRATOR: And there
was something else.

Investigators
discovered that Bob

was living well
beyond his means.

He earned about $100,000 a
year selling real estate,

but he spent much more.

-He also put in a huge garage in
the back that would take an RV,

and snow mobiles, and all his
little hobbies he liked to do,

restore cars.

And that was also in
the back of the garage.

NARRATOR: Investigators also
learned that Bob had been fired

from his job at a
local real estate

company a few weeks earlier.

-Robert Wood had worked
for them and had stolen

over $100,000
worth of materials.

And they told us to be very
alert that this may-- fire

may be something
he's intentionally

setting for insurance purposes.

NARRATOR: And Bob owned
three life insurance policies

on his son Christopher
worth $80,000.

-Well, Bob Wood gave a
neighbor a briefcase,

and in the briefcase
were financial records,

and there were life
insurance policies on Chris

and a picture of Chris.

None of those items were sooted,
indicating that they had been

removed from the house
prior to the fire.

NARRATOR: Wood was
known for keeping

meticulous financial records.

A clerk at a camera
store called police

to tell them how meticulous.

-Bob had dropped off some
film to be developed.

I believe it was the
day after the fire.

And they were found to include
photographs of the interior

of his house, including
before the fire and sh*ts

from the same angle
after the fire.

NARRATOR: A remarkable
coincidence.

-It was really
stupid to have taken

before and after
photographs of his house

on the same roll of film.

NARRATOR: Investigators searched
the Wood's garage for evidence.

On the fender of
Bob's sports car,

they discovered what appeared
to be stomach contents.

They found similar stains
in the back of the truck

Bob was driving the
day of the fire.

Unfortunately,
scientists cannot get

a DNA profile from
stomach contents.

-I knew that the fluids in
the stomach would destroy DNA,

at least I strongly
suspected that,

and a couple of quick
phone calls confirmed that.

However, I ended up calling all
over the country trying to find

anybody that could
tell me anything

about the evidentiary
value of vomit.

NARRATOR: Investigators hoped
that this biological material

could tell them something.

Investigators hoped the
stomach contents found

in the back of Bob Wood's truck
and on the fender of his sports

car would tell them
something about what

happened to Christopher Wood.

So the samples were sent to
forensic microscopy detective

Bill Schneck, who
examined the material

with a polarized
light microscope.

-What I found were small, little
vegetative fragments, oat bran,

and flour particles,
and starch grains.

NARRATOR: From these
patterns, Schneck

suspected they were unprocessed
corn and wheat starch.

To be certain, Schneck
tested the samples

with a solution of
potassium iodine.

-And when you put a small
drop of this solution

on the vomit
materials, the starches

will turn kind of a purple,
purplish-blue color.

NARRATOR: The test was positive.

Schneck knew that oat bran,
corn, and wheat starch

are common ingredients
in breakfast cereals.

He found the same
biological material

on the shirt Christopher was
wearing on the day of the fire.

Schneck found Marshmallow Mateys
cereal in the Wood's kitchen,

which is what
Christopher's sister said

he was eating on the
morning he was k*lled.

NARRATOR: After examining the
vomit stains from the shirt,

the truck, and the car,
I concluded that they all

were from the same
source, and more than

likely from the
Marshmallow Mateys.

NARRATOR: Investigators
developed a theory

about how Christopher's
body was transported.

-Christopher had been
m*rder*d in the morning,

and Bob Wood's truck
had an open bed.

So we knew that
he had had to have

concealed the body somehow.

We started looking for the
garbage cans at his place

and found that there
was only one there.

Neighbors reported
that he normally

put two out on the curb.

NARRATOR: So where was
the missing trash can?

-We spoke to Bob's daughter
and found out that the day

after the fire, he had taken
his truck to a car wash

and washed it,
including spraying

out the bed of the truck.

NARRATOR: Near the car wash,
investigators found a discarded

trash can, the same type as the
one missing from Bob's home.

But investigators
had to be sure.

Schneck noticed
what appeared to be

paint residue on
both trash cans.

-Well, I examined the paint
from the Rubbermaid garbage cans

and found they contained
titanium dioxide as one

of the major
inorganic ingredients.

And I compared that to
the paint over-spray

found on the garbage can
at Robert Wood's house.

And I found the paint particles'
composition was the same.

NARRATOR: Schneck then used a
scanning electron microscope

to analyze what
was inside the can.

He found traces of vomit
consistent with Christopher's

stomach contents, along with
some shiny, metallic particles.

These particles
matched the sequins

on Christopher's backpack.

-Well, after examining
the contents and all

the trace debris on Chris
Wood's clothing and the material

in the garbage can
and in the backpack,

I concluded that
Chris Wood at one time

was actually in the garbage can.

NARRATOR: Even with
this information,

investigators
needed more evidence

to tie Bob Wood to
his son's m*rder.

They checked his
cell phone records,

which revealed Wood was
near Christopher's body


was called about the fire.

-In other words, it
put him in the location

where Chris was-- was
jettisoned at about the time

that Chris would
have been jettisoned.

NARRATOR: Finally,
investigators had

to determine if the smoke and
fire seen by Wood's neighbors

at 8:30 could have been
created by a fire set just 10

minutes earlier
at 8:20, the time

Wood said he left the house.

The A*F purchased
three sofas identical

to the one in the Wood's home.

-We wanted to see
how the sofa would

behave when exposed to fire.

How fast would this sofa
become totally involved?

When would it reach its
max heat release rate?

And how much energy
would the sofa produce?

NARRATOR: Given the size
of the Wood's family room,

the fire would have to generate
at least 2,200 kilowatts

of energy to engulf the room
within a 10-minute period.

Tests showed the burning
sofa would generate

more than enough energy
in that time frame.

-Mr. Wood said that
he left at 8:20.

Therefore, we
concluded that Mr. Wood

was present at the time
the fire was started.

NARRATOR: Bob Wood was
arrested and charged

with arson and
first-degree m*rder.

-It always amazes
me that truth turns

out to be stranger than fiction.

You know, this is the worst
case of arson for profit

that I have ever
seen in my career.

NARRATOR: While
incarcerated, Bob Wood

insisted he was innocent.

-I would never do
anything to hurt my son.

He was very special.

He was a good boy.

And he deserved to have a life.

He really did.

NARRATOR: Yet his
ex-girlfriend said

Wood didn't always treat
Christopher kindly.

-He was really hard
on Christopher.

And if Christopher
did anything wrong,

he would just immediately
discipline him

and just really lash out at him.

But with Theresa, she
was his little girl.

So there's a-- to me
there was a big disparity

between how he treated the two.

NARRATOR: Wood's excessive
spending left him deep in debt.

Making matters worse, he
was fired from his job

for embezzling
close to $100,000.

Prosecutors believed
Bob k*lled Christopher

for the $80,000
in life insurance.

On a cold, February
morning, Wood

waited until Theresa
left for school,

and then k*lled his son.

In the process,
Christopher vomited,

leaving behind
the evidence which

would later
implicate his father.

Bob finished
dressing Christopher,

but he put Christopher's
shoes on the wrong feet.

While carrying Christopher's
body to his truck,

Bob brushed against
his sports car,

inadvertently leaving his son's
stomach contents on the fender.

He put his son's
body in the trash can

in the back of his truck.

Bob went back inside,
set the sofa on fire,

grabbed his son's backpack,
and left the house at 8:20.

Bob dumped his son's body in a
snow bank 50 miles from home,

and here he received
the cell phone

call telling him of the fire.

-Hello?

NARRATOR: On his drive back,
Bob threw Christopher's backpack

along the side of the road.

He washed his truck,
but failed to remove

all of the biological evidence.

And he discarded the trash
can near the car wash.

The forensic paint analysis
proved the discarded trash can

was from Bob's home, and
the biological evidence

proved Christopher
had been inside.

-I really don't know
why he k*lled him.

The insurance money
wasn't enough to get

him out of trouble
on Christopher.

I do not know why, unless he
was just absolutely pure evil.

NARRATOR: Just before Wood
was scheduled to go on trial,

he hanged himself
in his jail cell.

-The closest Bob Wood
ever came to confessing

was discovered after
he had k*lled himself.

We received a phone
call from a psychic

who said that she had
visited with him in jail.

And he told her, at that time,
that there were only three

people who knew what
happened to Christopher

and that was him,
Christopher, and God.

NARRATOR: Schelle Kellogg
rejected Bob Wood's wedding

proposal just days before
the arson and m*rder.

Some in law enforcement
believe Schelle may have been

the original target, but
the break-up prevented it.

-The cops do believe that
if I would have married him,

I would have been k*lled too.

I don't know if that's true.

It's all speculation.

But they believe it would
have been much worse.

Documents had been missing from
my house, personal documents,

Social Security information,
Social Security card

was missing.

NARRATOR: Although Wood's
su1c1de precluded the trial,

prosecutors believe they
would have won a conviction.

-Forensic scientists
are amazing.

I've been doing this
for 20-plus years,

and there's always
something new that they

bring to this-- to a case.

-There's a lot of personal,
you know, pleasure

involved in helping
to solve a crime.

Of course, I'm one small
piece of a larger puzzle.

But in this particular
case, I think

a lot of the work I did was,
you know, very important.

I feel pretty good about that.

-There were no witnesses
to-- to see Christopher's

body being pulled
out of the house.

There were no
witnesses to his body

being dumped down an embankment.

It was science, basically,
that solved this case.

And yeah, I mean, that's
fascinating stuff.