13x01 - Frozen Assets

[bunniefuu]

Up next, a
well-known business owner is

brutally att*cked at work.

There was a lot of blood on
the floor, on the walls, on the

door.

Is it the work of a
disgruntled employee...

No one trusted him.

He leaves due to stress.

Or a robbery gone wrong?

I'd given her $1,000 the
night she was k*lled.

That $1,000 was never found.

A witness comes
forward with a possible motive.

She made me promise that if
anything happened to her, I'd go

immediately to the police.

The evidence
answers some questions and

raises many more.

It didn't look planned.

He just, basically, probably
snapped.

For years, George Hansen and

Mary Ann clibbery ran
zullo's remodeling as business

partners in
loves park, Illinois.

And they were quite a pair.

Their homespun television
commercials helped make their

business a success.

At al zullo's, the
"don't move, improve" folks...

Where one call does it all.

Mary Ann ran the finance and
business side.

George ran the construction
crew... maintenance, buying the

products, that sort of thing.

By 2004, Mary Ann
told her partner she wanted to

retire.

Very nice person.

Very kind.

She'd do anything for anybody.

She wanted to start enjoying
life a little bit, to get the

fruits of her labor.

A few days before
the Christmas holiday, after

everyone else had left, Mary Ann
stayed late to go over the

books.

As she was about to lock up the
office to leave, she was

viciously att*cked.

The next morning, her partner,
George Hansen, and another

employee found Mary Ann's body
when they arrived for work.

I saw all the blood around
Mary Ann.

I'd never seen a dead body
before.

And nothing that horrible.

Paramedics
pronounced her dead at the

scene.

Every morning, you always got
a... I always went into her

office to tell her to have a
good day.

And, of course, that's what you
got back.

And that's the last time I spoke
to her.

She had substantial head
injuries, and the pathologist

determined that she had suffered
at least three blows to the back

of her head.

Crime scene
technicians found some unusual

clues.

There was fresh blood on top of
coagulated blood, which meant

there were two separate
altercations.

I could tell that she was hit
in the hallway first, at least

twice.

And when she went down, she went
down for a minimum of 15 minutes

before he knelt on her back and
beat her at least two more

times.

Made you question why that
person would go back to her and

beat her more.

Mary Ann's purse
was missing... an indication the

motive might have been robbery.

But nothing else had been taken
from the office.

We would expect anything of
real value that individuals

could carry would be missing.

Nothing was missing from the
business.

Mary Ann was a


five grown children.

I'm visually impaired.

She was...

My eyes...

She was my love...

And she was my life.

We had things to do.

We weren't two old people
sitting, watching the clock go

around.

In a search for
suspects, investigators learned

that the company recently fired
an employee, Kevin Doyle, and

his dislike for Mary Ann was
well-known.

No one trusted him, including
zullo employees.

He was a former employee of
al zullo's.

He leaves due to stress,
somewhat maybe of a nervous

breakdown.

Doyle had a motive,
and he still had keys to the

building, making him...

The prime suspect.

Hi, I'm Mary Ann and this is
George and we're from al zullo

remodeling specialists.

Al zullo's
remodeling was an institution in

loves park, Illinois.

Al zullo remodeling has been
a part of making your house a

home.

Mary Ann was in some of the
print advertising very early on

in the business.

Kind of doing this vanna white
thing with the kitchen cabinets.

And
Mary Ann clibbery was well-known

in the community for her
generosity.

She would advance employees
salary... out of her own pocket,

not the company money.

Investigators were
convinced Mary Ann was k*lled by

a client or a co-worker.

Had to be somebody who was
somewhat familiar with the

layout of the business.

The investigation
centered on a disgruntled

ex-employee, Kevin Doyle.

He was not a reputable person.

I believe that he was a lot of
talk, but couldn't perform.

I believe he said things that
weren't accurate, and I believe

that he was not to be trusted.

When questioned,
Doyle said he was at home sick

at the time of the m*rder.

But there was no one to back up
his story.

Kevin Doyle had no criminal
record, but the day after the

m*rder, he did something very
strange.

Kevin shows up and offers his
assistance to the family and how

he himself can keep that
business afloat.

We're thinking, "okay, we have a
suspect here."

You know, you hear so often the
"over-cooperative witness," so

to speak.

Well, that was Kevin.

Police also learned
that Mary Ann and her business

partner, George Hansen, never
got along.

It is always a challenge
between the two because their

personalities are so much
different, they're always in

conflict.

She was always very elegant,
talked very well, carried

herself very well.

He did not appear to be what I
would call a strong, ethical,

honest person.

They were business partners,
and they had worked together for

many, many years.

She didn't realize that he was
angry over the fact that

al zullo had made her an equal
partner to the business when he

died.

George denied there
were problems and said his

relationship with Mary Ann was a
good one.

When you have a business
relationship, just like a

marriage, you got to get along.

If you don't get along, break it
off.

And we got along great.

When questioned by
police, George said he had an

alibi for the time of the
m*rder.

He had gone to have drinks
with his wife, then he took his

daughter to some driving school
and had gone to a tanning salon

and, I believe, maybe at that
point he finally went home.

Then, the day after
the m*rder, there was an

unexpected development.

A local resident called police
to report seeing a black

garbage bag on top of the ice on
the rock river, which was



What really brought it to
their attention is, not too long

before that, there was a baby
discovered in a garbage bag.

The fire department
used a ladder truck to lift the

bag from the ice.

It was a substantial project.

Several men had to go down, over
the river and the ice, which is

dangerous, and retrieve the bag.

Inside the black
garbage bag was another plastic

bag, filled with a variety of
items... a sweater, a hammer,

leather gloves, and a purse
containing Mary Ann clibbery's

identification.

I think when they found that
bag, that connected everything.

Apparently, the
k*ller threw the bag from the

bridge, but missed the open
water and it landed on the ice

instead.

If he'd looked over the
bridge, he could have took two

or three steps and he had open
water.

How stupid can you be?

The sweater in the
bag was covered in blood.

There was blood spatter
inside the right sleeve, which

goes along with the thought at
the scene that it was a

right-handed person that hit
her from behind.

Tests showed the
blood was Mary Ann's.

Employees recognized the sweater
right away.

It belonged to the original
owner of the company, al zullo.

Mr. zullo had the sweater for
many, many years, and it was

always in her office.

Other people put it on, too,
when they got cold.

Scientists looked
for areas on the sweater that

might contain skin cells.

I swabbed the collar of the
sweater to determine the wearer

of the sweater.

Would these skin
cells identify the k*ller?

Police had two
suspects in the m*rder of

Mary Ann clibbery... her
business partner, George Hansen,

and a disgruntled employee,
Kevin Doyle.

Forensic testing of the bloody
sweater found in the discarded

plastic bag with Mary Ann's
personal belongings found skin

cells on the collar.

The skin cells provided a DNA
profile.

When I analyzed the swabbing
of the collar to determine the

wearer, it matched
George Hansen's profile.

And it didn't match anybody
else's profile.

But that didn't
prove he was the k*ller.

The sweater belonged to the
original business owner,

al zullo, and remained in the
company closet.

Other employees in addition to
George Hansen occasionally wore

it.

I started using the sweater
in the wintertime.

And I would wear it.

And, of course, other people put
it on, too, when they got cold.

Then police
discovered another bizarre piece

of information.

A forensic analysis of
Mary Ann's coffee cup found a

large amount of a prescription
sleep medication.

But Mary Ann hadn't been
prescribed this medication.

Shortly after drinking some
coffee, she became very ill.

This also happened after eating
salads.

She would fall asleep at her
desk in the afternoons.

When police asked
who had access to Mary Ann's

food, only one name surfaced.

She would come in, feeling
fine in the mornings.

George Hansen made it a point to
hand-deliver her her coffee.

Then, Mary Ann's
boyfriend told police about a

possible motive.

It was something Mary Ann told
him about shortly before her

death.

She made me promise to her
that if anything happened to

her, I'd go immediately to the
police with my knowledge.

Mary Ann had sent out
Christmas cards to some of the

clients.

A couple of these clients
returned those cards back to the

business with notes informing
them of the problems that they

were suffering.

These clients told
Mary Ann they weren't getting

paid.

But internal company records
showed they had been paid.

Mary Ann did some amateur
forensic accounting and learned

that her business partner,
George Hansen, was stealing from

the company.

He was collecting money from
the customers and then he was

depositing money in his own
account.

Mary Ann discovered
that George had stolen up to

$100,000.

He was not only taking actual
monies coming in, but also he

had a little side business going
where he would charge supplies

through the al zullo company and
use them for his personal

projects.

Mary Ann was
shocked to learn the company was

in danger of bankruptcy.

I knew of it, but there's no
way I could have told anyone.

If I'd have told anyone,
Mary Ann and mine's friendship

would have been over
immediately.

I had to swear to her in
secrecy.

According to her
boyfriend, Mary Ann was going to

confront Hansen on the afternoon
of her m*rder.

Whenever they had a
confrontation, they never did it

in front of the employees.

It was always behind closed
doors.

We do know that they had some
type of a meeting that day.

When questioned by
police, George Hansen didn't

deny he was stealing money, but
said Mary Ann was in on it, too.

I was depositing it and we
were splitting the money.

However, Mary Ann's
financial records showed her

transactions were consistent
with the amount of her salary

and nothing more.

Gene sundeen was outraged by
Hansen's accusation.

I knew he was lying.

I knew he was lying... lying
through his teeth.

He couldn't... he couldn't look
at me.

And police soon
found George had another

possible motive.

If he did k*ll her and got
away with it, then he would

collect the $150,000 in
insurance policy that each had

on the other.

He was probably using this as a
vehicle to generate the money to

buy the business.

Then police got another tip.

On the day after Mary Ann's
m*rder, a witness saw a man on

the bridge over the rock river.

The evidence from Mary Ann's
m*rder was found later that day

on the ice beneath this bridge.

The person who called the
police saw this truck that kept

driving by the bag, kind of
looking at it or trying to get

it and thought that that was
just suspicious, so called the

police.

This truck was
distinctive... it had vanity

license plates that spelled out
"zullo," the name of Mary Ann

and George's business.

And George was the only person
in the company whose vehicle had

these plates.

What was so fascinating is
when his car was searched, they

found a large fishing lure,
rope, and some other objects

which would lead a person to
believe that he was gonna

actually try to fish that bag
from the bridge.

Investigators
needed to look closer at the

items inside that bag to see if
anything would prove Hansen was

the k*ller.

I did not k*ll Mary Ann.

From the beginning,
police thought many Ann clibbery

was k*lled by someone she worked
with.

That certainly helps our
focus, knowing that this is an

inside job.

And that narrows the playing
field down.

George Hansen had a
motive... Mary Ann could prove

he was stealing from the
company.

She informed Hansen she was,
in fact, going to go to the

authorities over his business
practices.

Scientists analyzed
the plastic bag which contained

the w*apon used in
Mary Ann clibbery's m*rder.

They put it in a sealed chamber
filled with cyanoacrylate...

Fumes from superglue.

These fumes stick to the oils in
human fingerprints.

I process the items with
fingerprint powder.

This is just a fine, black
powder that I just dusted over

the surface.

The powder will adhere to the
superglue-developed fingerprints

and make them visible.

They found three
distinct fingerprints and one

palm print.

Those prints matched
George Hansen.

Investigators also found gloves
inside the bag, covered with

Mary Ann's blood.

DNA tests of skin cells left in
the gloves also matched

George Hansen.

All of them had Mary Ann's
blood on them, and the gloves

and the sweater had
George Hansen's DNA on them, as

well.

The DNA was proof
George was wearing the sweater

and the gloves as the fatal
blows were struck.

And investigators found the
source of the prescription sleep

medication found in Mary Ann's
coffee cup.

We tracked down Mr. Hansen's
sister, who signed a statement

stating that she was sending him
these pills.

In return, he would give her
like $25 a month.

George Hansen was
arrested and charged with

m*rder.

Prosecutors believe the motive
was financial.

He wanted to buy the business
and didn't have the money.

So he's going to collect some
insurance money on her as a

business partnership and inherit
the business or buy the business

out, and life goes on.

Prosecutors believe
Mary Ann waited until all the

employees left before
confronting Hansen with the

evidence of embezzlement.

And while I see entries in
your handwriting, the clients

clearly haven't been paid.

"Haven't been paid"?

Of course they've been paid.

She estimated he
stole more than $100,000 from

the company.

He could either pay the money
back or Mary Ann was going to

report him to police.

Hansen, however, chose another
option... m*rder.

As Mary Ann was about to walk
out through the back door,

Hansen struck her in the head
with a hammer.

While Hansen staged the scene to
look like a robbery, he

discovered that Mary Ann wasn't
dead, so he struck her again,

creating more blood spatter on
top of the coagulated blood...

Proof of two separate beatings.

He put his sweater, gloves, and
the hammer, along with

Mary Ann's purse, into the bag.

On his way home, he dropped the
bag into the river.

But it was wintertime, and he
missed the open water by about


ice.

I'd like to have seen his
face when that bag hit the ice

and he heard a large "plunk"
instead of a splash.

The theory was to drop the bag
into the water and have it float

away.

Later, a witness
saw Hansen's car driving back

and forth over the
rock river bridge, most likely

contemplating how to retrieve
the bag he tried to throw into

the river.

Once in custody, Hansen changed

his story.

He denied k*lling Mary Ann, but
admitted to a cover-up.

He said he found Mary Ann's body
when he first got to work,

thought he'd be blamed for her
m*rder, so he removed the items

that belonged to him from the
scene.

That's where I goofed up.

I saw a hammer and gloves there
which were mine.

I saw all the blood around
Mary Ann.

I panicked, I didn't call 911,
and I picked everything up, put

them in a bag, and left.

But the jury didn't believe it.

George Hansen was convicted of
first-degree m*rder and

sentenced to 60 years in prison.

I'm in here for the rest of
my life.

It took longer for the jury
to pick a foreman than it did to

come back with a guilty verdict.

Hi, I'm Mary Ann, and this is
George of al zullo remodeling

specialists.

And while the boss is away, we
will pay.

We will give you a 5%
discount on any new...

What was once a
prosperous enterprise ended in

deception and m*rder.

But forensic evidence and
mother nature helped solve the

mystery.

What are the odds of going to
a river with the intent to sink

a bag and have it hit solid ice,
knowing that you've already

cased the river out, knowing
that it's a wide-open body of

water except for a few feet on
each side, and he accidentally

drops it in the wrong place.

If George wasn't so dumb, we
wouldn't have found it.

It would have been a lot tougher
case to deal with.

George was banking on the
fact that he had no witnesses.

Not just the blood spatter
but the fingerprints and then

the DNA off of the sweater...
All of those things that kind of

pointed back toward
George Hansen.