52. From Ballet to Betrayal: Kuzmichev’s Idaho Tragedy

On this episode of The Lethal Library, Dani and Stephanie take on a Boise true-crime case that starts with a dependable 61-year-old woman leaving for a late-night cleaning shift—and never coming home. The investigation spirals into a messy mix of Idaho arts-world politics, a former Russian ballet director with a dramatic past, a whirlwind marriage, and timeline details that refuse to stay consistent. Along the way, they dig into old-school media sources, poke at criminal-justice system chaos (hello, questionable witnesses), and keep circling back to the same nagging question: is the evidence as solid as it sounds?

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Transcript

Dani 0:00

In September, 1995, a 61-year-old Boise woman left her home for work and never returned. Six days later, her nude body was found on a brush covered hillside. In the city's foothills bound with duct tape and suffocated with a plastic grocery bag. Oh my God. The investigation quickly focused on her husband of four months, a former Russian ballet director who had once lived across the street from where her body was left.

Stephanie 0:33

What a KY dink All right, everyone. Welcome back to the Lethal Library. I'm Stephanie. And I'm Danny. And here we have yet another true crime tale straight out of Idaho Tater land, if you will. Uh. I can't believe you said that. Why? So, because

Dani 1:26

so let me, I had to dig deep. I had to download an app on my tv.

Stephanie 1:32

What?

Dani 1:33

funny you should say that because sources used today are articles from the Idaho Statesman. And an episode of A and E City Confidential.

Stephanie 1:43

Oh,

Dani 1:44

circa 2004. I had

Stephanie 1:46

oh four. We are back in the archives.

Dani 1:49

Yeah. Um, I had to download, I think it was Pluto or Tuby. Anyways, Danny's

Stephanie 1:54

dedication, you guys is

Dani 1:55

just, I'm just saying it's on, and that's what I did on my lunch break today on that was watch the most cheesiest. So take Unsolved mysteries. And make it worse. Like, I love unsolved mystery. Don't get me wrong, it's a a

Stephanie 2:10

cheese factor.

Dani 2:11

It it's a, it's a cult classic. Yeah. I love it. I get it. It is. The drama is just like, and then

Stephanie 2:21

you wouldn't believe what he said

Dani 2:24

and they tried it on. I'm like, dude, get past this part. Like this is unimportant. Like, give me the juice. Anyways, I got a little bit of information from it. Not a whole lot. anyways, the most rewarding thing from watching that was actually seeing what people looked like, that I've read about. you're like

Stephanie 2:41

you motherfucker

Dani 2:42

detectives and, well, the main subject of this, story is his picture was in black and white newspaper. I mean, I could see pictures of him. Mm-hmm. The detectives and the friends that, you know, all had something to say. Mm-hmm. AKA dateline. Right. she lit up the room people.

Stephanie 3:04

Right.

Dani 3:05

and I'm not saying she didn't, don't get me wrong, but you know, those, they always bring in friends and family and just talk about how Awesome little

Stephanie 3:12

character

Dani 3:12

development. Yeah. Yeah. so anyway. Yeah.

Stephanie 3:16

No,

Dani 3:17

and I was thinking. At one point that maybe I just completely missed the boat on this, and then,'cause I have a feeling anyway, I thought I maybe completely missed the boat, but then they talked a little bit more and then I realized, no, I was right. So. It anyway, as

Stephanie 3:40

she usually is. Folks, just, just to ease your mind.

Dani 3:44

It's, it's the dedication. Yeah. To listening to the murder mysteries.

Stephanie 3:49

Yeah. She's gonna do it.

Dani 3:51

All right. You ready to get into it?

Stephanie 3:53

I'm so ready. I

Dani 3:58

Benjamin Kuzmichev was born September 2nd, 1940 in Baku, a city near the Caspian Sea in what was then the Soviet Union.

Stephanie 4:09

Wow.

Dani 4:09

He later moved to Kiev where he claimed he danced with the KO Academic Theater from 1960 to 1980. He worked briefly as a business manager for the Philharmonic Society and served as a ballet instructor and choreographer at the Choreographic College from 1981 to 1990,

Stephanie 4:31

and that's pretty serious stuff. They take their ballet very seriously.

Dani 4:35

The Russian ballet is something fierce.

Stephanie 4:39

Yeah,

Dani 4:40

he said he fled Ukraine after being kidnapped by agents associated with a KGB. He was stripped naked, forced into a wooden box, nailed shut, and left in a snowy field to die.

Stephanie 4:54

What the fuck?

Dani 4:56

He told acquaintances he had escaped and sought political asylum. Valeria Kako later said the family had problems because they were outspoken. You need to have a second face to live in Russia. She said Glass Knot is in the papers, but not in life. We're always told the truth that caused problems. So, glass Knot, it's was a political party in the Soviet Union.

Stephanie 5:27

Mm-hmm.

Dani 5:27

In the late eighties. That meant openness. And so in the papers they were saying, you know, oh, you can be open. You can be open. So that's why she was saying, that's not really it. In the papers, yes, it says we can be open,

Stephanie 5:42

everyone can say what they want,

Dani 5:43

but she's like, no, that's not really it. under Soviet leader, Gorbachev, let not encouraged more freedom of speech, more openness in government, less censorship in the media and public discussion of social and political problems. we now know that that in fact, was a lie.

Stephanie 6:02

Yeah, that's not, no.

Dani 6:04

So, I just thought I would, that's why they, were seeking political asylum here.

Stephanie 6:11

Sure. And,

Dani 6:12

uh,

Stephanie 6:12

KGB as is their right. if you can prove that there's threat to your family or just no economic way to support your fam, like that's a reasonable

Dani 6:24

uh, to get put in a wooden box and left in a field in

Stephanie 6:28

basically buried above ground, but in snow. How terrifying is that?

Dani 6:32

Yeah.

Stephanie 6:33

But yeah, if you can prove that your country of origin is. A threat to your life, you absolutely have the right to seek asylum.

Dani 6:42

In 1990, maKuzmichev Valeria, his wife and their little daughter, Lucy and Valeria's parents sought refugee status and traveled through Germany before arriving in the United States. They were placed in southern Idaho through refugee settlement efforts supported by churches and community sponsors.

Stephanie 7:03

And a lot of people dunno this, but Idaho actually has a lot of diff refugees from different places. There's many centers here that, you know, you can't just go to a country and just kind of figure it out on your own. I mean, sure you could, but your likelihood of being successful, you know, these different organizations, it's their job to make sure that you're becoming a member of society and finding a job and finding housing and basically. Kind of your sponsor, I guess, not really sponsor, but your, they provide them resources.

Dani 7:39

Resources and, and they also provide money mm-hmm. To like pay for them to get over here. And then also when they get here, these community sponsors will help them have a place to live and help them, take classes to ACC language,

7:54

all

Stephanie 7:54

that

Dani 7:54

stuff. Yeah. All of that stuff. it is a community-based effort to help these refugees.

Stephanie 7:59

Yeah. How to get a driver's license. Mm-hmm. Basically how to become a functioning member of society.

Dani 8:04

Yep. They ended up in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Stephanie 8:08

Mm-hmm.

Dani 8:09

Kuzmichev enrolled in English classes through a refugee program at the College of Southern Idaho. There he met Joy Meer, who taught English to refugees. He wasn't pompous in any way, shape or form, many Russians can be. Meer said he was utterly charming and good looking.

Stephanie 8:29

Wow.

Dani 8:30

Soon after arriving. Hug Mcache was introduced to Beverly Hackney, a longtime ballet instructor in Twin Falls who hired him to teach at her studio. Because that was his background. Very reasonable for him to get a job doing that. I'm

Stephanie 8:45

sure they were thrilled to have him.

Dani 8:49

Yes.

Stephanie 8:49

A ta a talent of that level. If you're in Russia and you're teaching any kind of ballet, coming to Twin Falls, Idaho, which is a smallish town.

Dani 8:58

Mm-hmm.

Stephanie 8:58

I mean, and it's east side of Idaho, or they were

Dani 9:00

thrilled.

Stephanie 9:01

They were overjoyed. I'm sure this is like having. If you had a pop music class, having Madonna come and teach about pop music. Yeah. Or Sabrina Carpenter for now,

Dani 9:14

yeah.

Stephanie 9:16

What a joy.

Dani 9:19

Hackney said they shared Russian ballet textbooks and technique and spoke about choreography and instruction. That's what really worried him. She said that he had a wife and a child to support. She said he was popular with students and rarely lost his temper. Even when frustrated by language barriers. Valeria often served as his interpreter, so

Stephanie 9:42

very cool.

Dani 9:42

She had better English skills. English skills, yeah,

Stephanie 9:45

sure.

Dani 9:46

Oh, look at us.

Stephanie 9:48

Wow. When you're just on that same wavelength,

Dani 9:52

uh, during this period. Kuzmichev also met Alex Keff, a Russian speaking acquaintance who helped him prepare a resume and translate documents. Kne later said, we never looked at diplomas or anything like that. He said he relied on Kuzmichevs word about his background and assumed documentation had been lost during his flight from the Soviet Union.

Stephanie 10:21

And you know what, until 20 10, 20 15, it was not common practice to check people's credentials common everywhere. And especially in the nineties,

Dani 10:34

it was a piece of

Stephanie 10:34

paper. It was hard there, there was no like portal to go to.

Dani 10:39

No. And

Stephanie 10:39

so

Dani 10:40

if somebody was really inclined, they could just make the paper

Stephanie 10:43

and listen. I've heard a lot of, some of the boomer generation openly admit that. Yeah, I got a job'cause I said that I graduated from this school. I've never been there'cause there was just no,

Dani 10:54

I think my mom got a job and she was like 13 at the Arctic Circle and sh But she lied and said she was older. Maybe she was 14 and 80.

Stephanie 11:03

They're They're not asking you for your first certificate.

Dani 11:06

No, they weren't even asking for id.

Stephanie 11:08

Yeah.

Dani 11:08

Anyway.

Stephanie 11:10

Not the same. I mean, that

Dani 11:10

was back, that was back in the day. But I mean, still like,

Stephanie 11:14

no. And people still try to do it today and they'll have fake. You know, papers and diplomas and

Dani 11:19

plus you're fleeing a country with nothing but the clothes on your back.

Stephanie 11:22

Yeah. Like what do you expect? You, you have your whole life you had to flee. So people are gonna give you a break.

Dani 11:29

Me personally, I. I would've packed any certificates in between my sweaters

Stephanie 11:35

because she, you know, Danny is that bitch. And,

Dani 11:38

but anyways, not everybody can be me.

Stephanie 11:42

Thank God you said it because man, I just feel every day

Dani 11:46

I'm like, I'm gonna take one pair of pants, one sweater, and I'm packing my file box full of all of my important shit. That would be me. So good for you, Danny. I know.

Stephanie 11:57

But kind of special.

Dani 11:58

She is

Stephanie 11:58

let, let's all try to be a little bit more 2026. Wow. And I, I'm saying this at, at my grown age, I'm like, you know, maybe I should get organized and have my documents in a responsible place. I will say a lot of'em are, I'm doing mostly okay, but it's not everything. So

Dani 12:18

yeah, I would be,

Stephanie 12:19

I'll get there.

Dani 12:20

If my house started on fire, I, within 10 minutes would have. Important documentation and I be quicker and, I

Stephanie 12:30

think eight minutes would be trying to find Harry and get Jared up. I think you'd have the ear boxes within two minutes.

Dani 12:39

Thank you. In 1991, ballet Idaho, then known as American Festival Ballet. Didn't, that name was not catchy, by the way.

Stephanie 12:49

No, it wasn Ballet Idaho's. Way better. can I just say as like a, second grader? I danced for ballet. I do

Dani 12:58

no shit.

Stephanie 12:58

I certainly,

Dani 12:59

oh, then you're gonna find this very interesting. Steph does not know these stories. No, I

Stephanie 13:03

don't.

Dani 13:04

There's lots of ballot. Um, but the American Festival Ballet was in financial crisis.

Stephanie 13:11

Oh.

Dani 13:12

And nearly$200,000 in debt. And we're talking in the nineties.

Stephanie 13:17

That's a big amount.

Dani 13:19

It's longtime artistic director, Paul Russell was terminally ill and took a leave of absence. Esther Simplot, wife of billionaire, Jr. Simplot stepped in as the company's primary financial backer and unpaid executive leader, Simplot who had an operatic background and was one of Idaho's leading arts patrons, was contributing tens of thousands of dollars a month to keep the company afloat.

Stephanie 13:48

And that makes sense. And you know what? I want rich people to, rich people like they used to rich people. Buy a library, a local library that's free to the public. I'm not talking about buy a library for Harvard, put in a library, put in a museum. Okay. That is very low entrance fees, just to keep the place running and you pay for it. Rich people used to do this kind of stuff constantly because for one, it's the right thing to do, and two, then people are less. Looking at you and being like, why do you pay less percent in tax than I do? That's wild.

Dani 14:24

and the simplots were huge contributors to a lot of the arts, not just And community.

Stephanie 14:30

Yeah.

Dani 14:30

Yeah. Not just to the ballet. Mm-hmm. To a lot of things.

Stephanie 14:35

No, there's a lot of things with the Simplot name on it. And just so you guys know, those that aren't in Idaho, I'm sure everyone in Idaho knows the Simplot named dur. but Idaho potatoes. Simplots

Dani 14:46

Simplots,

Stephanie 14:47

um,

Dani 14:48

they basically created the fucking French fry.

Stephanie 14:50

The, they created the model, the modern of model, the modern French

Dani 14:52

fry,

Stephanie 14:53

and

Dani 14:53

for McDonald's and became like gazillionaires

Stephanie 14:56

and just the producing and the factories. And, you know, they are the potato moguls of the area and have been,

Dani 15:05

and for those of you who don't know, Idaho is. Famous potatoes tater

Stephanie 15:10

land.

Dani 15:11

So Tater tater money might look like a little potato to you. Oh, big money. That city confidential that I wash on Amy,

Stephanie 15:20

what did it say?

Dani 15:22

It was, they called us tater land.

Stephanie 15:26

They did? They

Dani 15:27

did.

Stephanie 15:27

And this is from oh four?

Dani 15:29

Yeah.

Stephanie 15:29

Oh wow. Okay. Trendy slang speech.

Dani 15:32

No, it was just, I'm like,

Stephanie 15:33

Hey,

Dani 15:34

how many times do you have to fucking say tater lit? Like. Once would've been plenty because there's so much

Stephanie 15:40

that seems derogatory.

Dani 15:41

It did to me.

Stephanie 15:42

It's Kate, don't tater land derogatory to me,

Dani 15:46

it was so many times,

Stephanie 15:49

listen, all of our states have faults and little silly things, and most people forget that Idaho's estate and they think it's Ohio or Iowa or whatever it might be. Idaho's state and yeah.

Dani 16:00

They

Stephanie 16:00

were so surprised. We

Dani 16:01

had culture here.

Stephanie 16:03

There's there's paved roads and running water

16:06

and

Dani 16:06

there was literally a whole fucking segment about how we had culture here

Stephanie 16:13

shows you how much times have changed. I mean, this is oh four, so I mean, I can, I can grant a little grace here, but don't, don't tater land derogatory. We're proud of it. We drop a potato for New Year's.

Dani 16:25

Yeah. That's it's part of us. We are.

Stephanie 16:28

And if you don't like potatoes, what the fuck is wrong with you?

Dani 16:33

Uh, nobody's getting, uh, a Texas potato on a menu.

Stephanie 16:37

No,

Dani 16:37

look. You go to a fancy restaurant. It says

Stephanie 16:39

Idaho.

Dani 16:40

Idaho Potato.

Stephanie 16:41

French fries, crinkle cup fries, tater tots, baked potato, twice baked potato, game changer.

Dani 16:47

Mm-hmm

Stephanie 16:48

There's so many. That one potato thing that's like all the tiny layers that you smash down and I don't even know what it's called, but it looks, we have to try to make it sometime. Oh, we gotta do it. So potatoes make vodka. What? What? Give me, name me a more versatile vegetable. You can't. Um, so,

Dani 17:08

uh, listen, city, confidential. You, you hit a little below the bell on so many tater land comments because we're more than that.

Stephanie 17:17

Yeah. And if you don't love potatoes, I'm sorry. You're fucking weird. Anyway, moving. Moving on.

Dani 17:24

through ksn and Hackney. Simplot was introduced to Kuzmichev. He showed videotapes of classes he had led in Ukraine. Okay. This I did not pick up on. What did it do? He brought videotapes from Ukraine, but not his papers. Gotta get the tapes. Anyways, Hackney and Kne vouched for his training. Simplot backed his candidacy strongly. In April of 1991, Che was appointed artistic director.

Stephanie 17:58

Oh, and that's, that's big, big, big, big, big. I bet people were pissed that had been working there for years. Grooming themselves for that position. I mean, but like I said, it's the Russian in the, it's the Russian ballet

Dani 18:12

in the public. They're like, oh my God, we got a Russian

Stephanie 18:15

in Idaho.

Dani 18:16

Yeah, it was a big fucking deal. Yeah,

Stephanie 18:19

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dani 18:20

the Idaho State General reported that he was selected by the board's executive committee from a field of undisclosed candidates.

Stephanie 18:28

There

Dani 18:28

were probably none, and

Stephanie 18:29

he was the one

Dani 18:30

at the time sim plot. Said that he brought, quote, the Russian tradition, a robust masculine tradition of dance. attorney John Chapman said the ballet company wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Simplot's financial support. Sounds like

Stephanie 18:50

it. He was, he was like having them on CPR.

Dani 18:53

Yeah. Kuzmichev, Valeria and Lucy moved to Boise from Twin Falls. And lived in a cottage owned by the Simplot family at 35 35 Bogus Basin Road.

Stephanie 19:08

Can we look it up? I wanna see it so bad.

Dani 19:11

a white two story building trimmed in blue at the base of a landscape hill crowned by the Simplots Mediterranean style mansion. And if you're from here, you have seen the mansion. I can't even begin to describe. How it sticks out

Stephanie 19:30

because there's many wealth and I feel like there's more visible wealth now, but back in the nineties, even if people were super rich, it was not normal to stick out. You know, you might have a big ranch or be a farmer and yeah, people don't know the amount of wealth that goes into owning, you know, all that farm equipment hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. But it was not normal for very wealthy people to show off their wealth like or have outwardly flashy. And this has always been,

Dani 20:06

this hill is so tall, people would get on ice blocks. And crew. You forgot about that, huh?

Stephanie 20:15

Mm-hmm.

Dani 20:15

You had taken an ice block to Simplot Hill, like literally it was a hill name for Simplot. That's where his house set a top and this huge American flag, like the biggest American flag you'd ever seen. And and you know, the sun plots hooked him up. Like, you can stay here till you get settled, till you start getting some paychecks, you and your family. Mm-hmm. And yeah.

Stephanie 20:41

Well that's another way for them to help without paying more money. Right. Is just we're not using this house. Go ahead and stay at it. You're supporting good benefit for everyone. Okay.

Dani 20:51

And back in the day, I don't know if people still do it, but back in the day, people would get the, the blocks of ice.

Stephanie 20:57

Yes.

Dani 20:57

And you walk up the hill'cause it's that steep and that big. And you would ride it down in the grass because Simplot, the whole, the whole mountain was green grass. And mind you, if you don't live here, we are in high desert. Like, if you don't water it,

Stephanie 21:12

sagebrush,

Dani 21:12

it's, it's, you

Stephanie 21:13

have to

Dani 21:14

dusty sagebrush. Not, not the hill that.

Stephanie 21:18

The hill was perfectly manicured.

Dani 21:20

Yeah.

Stephanie 21:20

Like a golf course,

Dani 21:21

and it was green and you could just ride down it A ballet Idaho Kuzmichev took charge of casting rehearsals, the choreo. Valeria and SME of divorced in August of 1993. Wow. and she received custody of Lucy and, but they remain in contact. And I couldn't find exactly what happened with that. Like, but no

Stephanie 21:51

deeds.

Dani 21:52

No deeds. They got divorced and they, they went to Boise County. and there was one remark and one article that was like, that's where people went when they wanted it to be like hush hush. Back in the day, they were putting everything in the papers.

Stephanie 22:07

Oh yeah.

Dani 22:07

Every, everything. Notices of, yeah. Of divorce and all that stuff. Legal notices.

Stephanie 22:12

smart. Then if you

Dani 22:14

Yeah, I don't, and I don't know why they wanted to keep it quiet. I have no idea. But anyways, they got, they got the divorce.

Stephanie 22:21

Wow.

Dani 22:21

Tragic tensions develop between SME and management over artistic control. Finances and scheduling and lawsuits were threatened at the ballot.

Stephanie 22:34

Oh, wow. And that can be a very, you see that a lot. You know, you have an artist who might not understand the budget and they have a vision and, and they're

Dani 22:46

visionary

Stephanie 22:47

and the people that are financially backing it might have, might not have the same vision.

Dani 22:55

And that's exactly disagreements rose over budgets and staffing.

Stephanie 22:58

Mm-hmm.

Dani 22:59

and the company was heavily dependent on Simplot support and her reputation was tied. To MA's leadership. That has been such a difficult,

Stephanie 23:13

we're trying folks.

Dani 23:14

Ugh. I've been saying it wrong. Saying it wrong. Anyways,

Stephanie 23:18

you know what we mean?

Dani 23:20

If I butcher it again, apologies.

Stephanie 23:22

We're doing our best.

Dani 23:25

In November, 1993, just weeks before the Nutcracker, the company's main annual fundraiser. Kuzmichev abruptly disappeared.

Stephanie 23:35

Oh, he left the drama

Dani 23:38

way. he left Boise without notifying colleagues, dancers or administrators, rehearsals were disrupted and staff scrambled to reorganize.

Stephanie 23:49

This was a big hit and it sounds like very unexpected. This, this throws everything into chaos and.

Dani 23:58

Esther Simplot has put her stamp of approval on this guy.

Stephanie 24:02

Mm-hmm.

Dani 24:04

Nearly a month later because

Stephanie 24:09

in what, what world is anyone allowed to do that for their job?

Dani 24:12

when does the Nutcracker come? December. Mm-hmm. When did he leave? November.

Stephanie 24:17

Oh, shit.

Dani 24:19

so a month later. Accuse Mitch of contacted Boise Police and said he had fled because a man had confronted him at the ballet's off downtown offices. He described the man as about 35 years old, six feet tall, wearing blue jeans and a jean jacket, and resembling Watergate, defendant HR Haldeman.

Stephanie 24:42

Okay, that's quite a reference. And let me just say I don't know the story and, and I know you're gonna explain more. This sounds this reeks of, and it might not be this either a drug problem or a secret second life problem. Like people don't just do this. You know, there's, there's something under the surface here.

Dani 25:08

He said the man pointed a 38 caliber snub, nose revolver at him.

Stephanie 25:13

Very specific.

Dani 25:14

Yes. And ordered him to leave Boise or his family would be killed.

Stephanie 25:20

Wow. This is especially for Idaho. This is some like mafia wives, some KGB. Oh, uh oh.

Dani 25:34

S Mechi. Told police he fled south towards Mexico and later into California. He said he stayed in motels but could not recall names or locations.

Stephanie 25:42

Mm.

Dani 25:43

He said he was in such a hurry. He did not know where he had gone.

Stephanie 25:47

I'm so sorry. You can't remember one hotel. I'm s I'm so sorry. Like motel sixes and other pla, they're so branded and you think you would, how do you not remember one month? It wasn't

Dani 26:07

John's

Stephanie 26:08

roadside in, it wasn't, it wasn't six years ago. It was, this happened last month. And if you're not staying in hotels, I think you remember the name of the hotel. Or can at least give like maybe some cross streets like it was on LaGuardia and this or whatever. Like what? Suspicious.

Dani 26:28

He later asked police not to pursue the investigation. Suspicious Esther Simplot personally intervened. Armstrong, a ballet Idaho board member later confirmed that Simpl insisted Kuzmichev return to Boise and complete the season. Oh, I bet you hold that. She

Stephanie 26:53

had him by the balls. Get your ass back here and do the job that I have nominated you for personally, sir. Thank you.

Dani 27:03

His disappearance had embarrassed the company. Mm-hmm. And jeopardized ticket sales. Oh, I would be so mad. he returned and finished his contract, but his credibility within the organization was damaged. Shot by January, 1994, met a reorganization, accuse Mechi was dismissed.

Stephanie 27:24

Shocker. I mean, no, they wanted him to finish because they needed more time, and so they were saying, get your ass back here. Do your job that you've been contracted for, and we are actively looking for your replacement.

Dani 27:39

at this time too, though, there was a big reorganization, so I'm He

Stephanie 27:44

sure

Dani 27:45

he, he just worked himself.

Stephanie 27:47

It was conveniently,

Dani 27:48

yeah. At the same

Stephanie 27:49

time

Dani 27:49

they hooked up with a Ben Ballet company and they were

Stephanie 27:53

like merging or something. Partner

Dani 27:54

maybe was Portland Partnership. Anyways.

Stephanie 27:57

Interesting.

Dani 27:58

once that, that was, complete, he, there was no place for him. some colleagues attributed to the firing, to the disappearance. And to management disputes, no doubt. Other cited lingering doubts about his reliability and background.

Stephanie 28:14

Ooh. because listen, at this time there's no ben verified. There's not very good background checks, especially in Russia. Yeah. And there's no. The information is not flowing. There is no information that's easily had, so it would be so easy and also convenient to come from a country that's known for ballet and ice skating and, and if you have even a elementary knowledge of it, the accent. And they said he's very charismatic, good looking. You could sell it, that you were some, and maybe he was. Maybe he, it sounds like the credentials are in question, but you could sell it. And just the accent alone, people don't have accents around here. I could imagine that was so like, oh my God, the real deal's here.

Dani 29:12

The real deal.

Stephanie 29:14

And they were desperate as well. So they were like, oh my,

Dani 29:17

yeah. They were in a shit show before he even,

Stephanie 29:20

he's gonna take us to the moon.

Dani 29:21

Yeah. Next level.

Stephanie 29:23

Mm-hmm.

Dani 29:23

Oh no. There was articles in the paper that was like, he's gonna recruit, this isn't a stepping stone for him. He's gonna recruit some of the best male dancers.'cause male dancers were hard to come by. and we're just gonna build this great, like it was built. This was all built up on hope.

Stephanie 29:42

And that's a very feeble building block.

Dani 29:47

He eventually obtained a position at Hewlett Packard's Boise facility. Good old

Stephanie 29:52

hp. I know that many of us have. Worked there. Fun fact, my grandpa, before HP was there, one of the first houses he owned in Idaho, was on that exact piece of land.

Dani 30:06

Really?

Stephanie 30:07

And now it's hp.

Dani 30:08

So like we're just gonna buy up these little mm-hmm. Few little farm houses. And

Stephanie 30:12

so Hewlett Packard, you know the name, they have an enormous. Amount of buildings and now they're leased out to other places Yeah. And

Dani 30:20

stuff, but they had a huge campus in their prime.

Stephanie 30:22

Yeah. It's a big, big place in and

Dani 30:24

a very inconvenient place to drive to work.

Stephanie 30:27

Oh, it's awful. I have, I have literally worked in that, in that specific area at like three or four different places Right near that campus. It is. It's harder to get there. From where we live than to get in downtown heart of downtown Boise where you have to have parking garages. It was more convenient to go downtown.

Dani 30:48

Mm-hmm. It's,

Stephanie 30:49

than to get to the, it's just a shit show. Show of roots, Eagle Road. Anybody, any chinen, anybody? Liter the literal nightmare.

Dani 31:00

Thank you for respecting Chenin and not saying Chenin. And,

Stephanie 31:04

you know,

Dani 31:05

I never know if

Stephanie 31:05

I'm right or not, but I've

Dani 31:07

always said she, it's supposed to to be chinen. Okay. It's, it's Chinese gardens. There's History Chinese.

Stephanie 31:11

Okay.

Dani 31:12

And gardens chinen.

Stephanie 31:15

Oh, well that explains it. I had heard something like that. Yeah, but I didn't know. Hell,

Dani 31:21

it's easy to say sheen and I, I've heard it. Or how about the.

Stephanie 31:26

A stick on your A Stick or Kuna. These are things that like your GPS, if you're in Idaho, it'll be like, take a right on Kuna Road and it's, it's Kuna.

Dani 31:37

Or

Stephanie 31:38

take a left on a stick road.

Dani 31:41

That's U stick.

Stephanie 31:42

U stick.

Dani 31:42

Like the, like it's literally U-S-T-I-C-K,

Stephanie 31:48

uick A ick Kuna, KUNA. It's not like tuna. It's Kuna.

Dani 31:55

Anyways,

Stephanie 31:56

just for some nice fun Idaho facts for you. Non-locals

Dani 32:01

at Gila Packard Che worked on the production floor and in security related roles,

Stephanie 32:09

quite the change.

Dani 32:11

Oh, yes. coworkers described him as quiet and reserved.'cause his ass got humbled. I think so, yeah. For him to go from this big, charismatic. He complained to acquaintances that ballet instructors were treated with more respect in Ukraine and that he had lost status in the United States.

Stephanie 32:31

I bet he was bitter. I would be If, if that was, I mean, Idaho has a lot of culture, but as far as the arts and stuff, ballet, Idaho and whatever the fuck they called it before, that was one of the biggest things. And I mean, they were involved with schools. Like I said, that's how I was. I wasn't dancing for ballet Idaho because I was a incredibly skilled dancer. It's because they used to come and do this thing at schools where they would come to five or six of your PE classes mm-hmm. And teach you different skills. And then they would offer a one year quote unquote scholarship, not really, but kind of to go and have a year of lessons there in their ballet classes for free. And then of course they continue to recruit up from there. So, but it was very involved in the community and we don't have, especially in the nineties, there wasn't a whole lot of resources and stuff, arts and stuff like that. So this was a big deal. It was a real deal, big deal.

Dani 33:35

And that was a big name.

Stephanie 33:36

Mm-hmm.

Dani 33:39

There in early 1995 at hp, he met Wanda Cal. A long time production line worker who had worked there for 17 years

Stephanie 33:50

and HP is one of the bigger employees, especially this time was one of the bigger employees. And you

Dani 33:54

stay

Stephanie 33:55

put. Mm-hmm. If you were, if you were hired on for the company. Oh, hell yeah.

Dani 33:59

Good Benny's.

Stephanie 34:01

You can make it work.

Dani 34:02

Decent pay, yeah.

Stephanie 34:05

And it's factory, but it's not fa, you're not at wood grain building doors. No shame in it. But that's a very labor intensive,

Dani 34:12

right?

Stephanie 34:12

It's a factory setting, but it's not intensive like that. You're not at a, you know, other factories, like you're

Dani 34:19

not lifting 50

Stephanie 34:20

armor, 50,

Dani 34:20

you're not lifting 50 pound boxes and

Stephanie 34:23

you're not pushing around carcasses.

Dani 34:25

No. It was very clean. It was a clean facility. It's, yeah. Technology. Mm-hmm.

Stephanie 34:31

And cutting edge at this time. Cutting. Big. Let me just tell you a snippet of working at h hp. I've worked there.

Dani 34:39

Oh, did not know.

Stephanie 34:40

Testing printers. Printers are the evil of the earth and they are all cursed and of Satan. I liked it. It was four tens, but you had to be there at 5 45 in the morning getting all the way fucking over there. Mm-hmm. And I was living in Caldwell at the time, but it was, you look, it was a big kid job. And you're doing banking. Yeah. It's, it, it built character, that's for sure. But let me just tell you, I, it's the first time I ever fell asleep standing up. I've never told you about duration testing. So duration testing is where,'cause there's, I did a lot of customer verification testing where you're sending jobs to a printer, like a customer. Whether you have a script of, put this paper, do this job in this program and do it in color and do it in with these margins. And you check for quality and then if anything's wrong, you, you're able to talk with the, and you get to know the engineers really well. So it's a much more, you feel like you're part of it. Duration, all you're doing is it's usually with the big printers, so you have like six to eight of those big tall office printers, and there's a program that sends them jobs constantly, all of them. You're not checking for quality. All you're doing is emptying the bins and emptying the trays and or emptying the bins and filling the trays, and you're getting there. At 5:45 AM there is no cell phones allowed. If your cell phone rings, you're literally fired on the spot. You have to leave it in your car or a locker. They were so paranoid. And this was probably oh eight or something. If you had to take a, like a smaller printer from one building to another outside, you had to have a thick blanket tarp thing over it because there wasn't even the drones we have now today, but they were people could take pictures of it and that's why you couldn't have your phone. They were worried. Find the blueprints and take pictures of the blueprints and send it to China or whatever.

Dani 36:25

That's

Stephanie 36:26

liter. Literally the most ridiculous security, so no. No phone, no music, no crosswords, no books, no scrolling, the internet on the computers, no puzzles, no nothing. And so duration, they're just basically testing for when the parts are gonna break. So they're trying to run the shit out of the east to say, should it be a five year on the fuser? That's all you're doing. And so you're for 10 hours just moving paper and you're by yourself. For this test that you're not next to someone else. Like with customer testing, you have another per many people next to you doing, doing the same thing. There is no one in this long ass cubicle and all you hear is, and the warm air, I fucking fell asleep standing up several times. It's so mindless. Imagine doing that for 10 hours a day. Like I,

Dani 37:21

no.

Stephanie 37:21

Yeah,

Dani 37:22

Hp. HP baby. Wanda was a 60-year-old mother of five who lived alone in the Sunflower Community Mobile home park in West Boise. She was deeply religious and had been a Jehovah's Witness for decades.

Stephanie 37:40

Huh hmm.

Dani 37:40

Friend said she rarely dated after her divorce and had lived on her own for more than 30

Stephanie 37:46

years. And I will say. I don't know a whole lot about the Jehovah's Witness community, but I know that it's one of those religions that typically you don't get divorced unless it's adultery, infidelity, or if there's like extreme violence and you can still get divorced outside of that. But there sometimes is a lot of shame or like shunning from the community of the, I don't know. And every church is d, every area is different. So there's some that stick away with this. There's some that don't.

Dani 38:23

Um, I believe, and I might say this again'cause that's how my brain rolls. She got married very, very young. Um, so I don't even know if she, well,

Stephanie 38:35

five kids usually

Dani 38:36

you have to, to if she was involved with that religion when she was married before or converted. Yeah. I, I don't know that for sure.

Stephanie 38:43

Sure.

Dani 38:44

Um. But sh she, she did it for her kids. Mm-hmm. Which could have like to raise,

Stephanie 38:52

get it girl. Ugh.

Dani 38:53

her friend Mary Meyers said she was lonely. She was definitely lonely because she wasn't dating. and her daughter had passed away, um, about four years previous to this in a car accident.

Stephanie 39:11

Oh, shit.

Dani 39:11

so. That. And then she had her four boys, but I think she was really close to her daughter. Right.

Stephanie 39:19

Um,

Dani 39:20

and that was very devastating to her.

Stephanie 39:23

It's terrible to lose a child, and gosh, your only girl.

Dani 39:27

And as you get older, I think, you know,

Stephanie 39:30

you have a different relationship with your kids.

Dani 39:32

Kids get busy.

Stephanie 39:33

Mm-hmm.

Dani 39:34

And so I think that that could bring some sense of loneliness, you know, if they're, she lost her daughter and then her. You know, her boys are off married and they have their own family and,

Stephanie 39:44

and the culture was different of being unmarried at any age, was kind of looked down on more than it. I think today it's much more like women have kind of taken the stand of like, I don't have to be married and I can still find fulfillment. Whereas before it was almost looked at as a flaw of yours, like, why aren't you married?

Dani 40:07

But she kicked ass.

Stephanie 40:08

It sounds like it.

Dani 40:09

I mean, for her to be working at HP for 17 years, she raised all those kids. Mm-hmm. and I, Wanda started after her divorce. She was waitressing, like doing the hard stuff mm-hmm. To make ends meet.

Stephanie 40:21

She got it done.

Dani 40:22

She was

Stephanie 40:23

without a formal education, I'm guessing.

Dani 40:25

Yeah. I, I didn't come across that. She just kicked ass and made it happen

Stephanie 40:29

as we did.

Dani 40:30

So she created this little. You know, positive. She was taking care of her. She took care of her kids, she took care of herself. I mean, at 61

Stephanie 40:40

she was making it work.

Dani 40:41

Yep. but Wanda's card broke down.

Stephanie 40:45

Uh,

Dani 40:45

and so coworkers were helping her get back and forth to work as one does when you've been working there 17 years,

Stephanie 40:54

and it sounds like people probably liked her because. If you don't like someone, you're not giving them a ride to work.

Dani 40:59

Lemme just tell you Wanda's a cutie patootie.

Stephanie 41:03

Aw,

Dani 41:03

yeah. so yeah, they're, they're just trying to help her. I mean, I imagine getting her

Stephanie 41:07

there. Yeah.

Dani 41:09

and I'll go into a little bit further detail later on about, you know, what she had accomplished besides, you know, raising five kids,

Stephanie 41:17

which is huge

Dani 41:18

on your own. but the cowork coworkers were helping her get back and forth to work. And when her regular ride fell through Kuzmichev offered to drive her. How sweet. her friend Meyers said Wanda did not invite him into her home until after several rides. She's a woman of morals. She's a classic gal. Okay. After about the seventh ride, they had tea. She said tea again. How classy Wanda told Meyer she had met a cultured man who had been a ballet dancer in the S Soviet Union. She said he asked if he could move into her trailer.

Stephanie 42:03

Oh, what? And I feel for her, because truly, I mean, this is Idaho in the nineties. There was not, there's still not a lot of diversity. It's much better, but there was not much diversity. There's

Dani 42:16

some worldly men that showed her interest,

Stephanie 42:19

um, an amazing and accredited ballet instructor from Russia. Wow. Who, who can tell that? It's like, that's like being with an Olympic gold medalist. Mm-hmm. Like, wow. Wanda told them they would have to marry first. Good. You know what? Good girl.

Dani 42:43

Uch chef told her that if he ever remarried, it would only be to Valeria.

Stephanie 42:50

Mm.

Dani 42:52

Like we can date, I can, sorry, I almost

Stephanie 42:54

just choked on my dream,

Dani 42:56

but I am pretty attached to that wife.

Stephanie 42:59

How wild to be? Basically, if you're wanting to move into someone's trailer, listen, nothing, nothing wrong with trailers, but clearly he didn't manage his money very well. If he didn't have custody of the kids. I don't know what the child support agreement was or whatever, but you need to move into her house. And she says, well, you can if we're not married. And he says, I'm only gonna marry my ex. What a wild thing to say.

Dani 43:27

Look, could I wrote Welp?

Stephanie 43:29

Welp is right. Like what? The baggers can't, you're a bagger right now. And have you heard the term, I don't love the term, but it's, it's kind of silly at the same time. hobosexual how? especially in the winter time. The hobosexuals come out and they are men that aren't capable of having their own place and people, or

Dani 43:52

probably a relationship.

Stephanie 43:54

Yes. And, and their, their mom's getting tired of them. Their dad's getting tired of them, and so they are love bombing and basically just attaching to women, to the strong women that have their own job, independent women that have it all figured out to be. The dude on the couch that's at this time, it wasn't a thing, but playing PlayStation and be like, babe, I looked for, I, I applied for 12 jobs today, babe. And the house is messier than you left it. And they won't do chores'cause that's below them. Beneath them. And they just want, literally they're, they're couch surfing, but with women and also trying to get the benefit of having a girlfriend. Ew, ew. Yuck. I love that. Fucking TikTok.

Dani 44:43

Three weeks later on May 5th, 1995, Wanda and Ache were married and star in a small ceremony attended by relatives and close friends.

Stephanie 44:53

Oh, oh, so so you would consider marriage. I think, again, he's weighing his options. He's like, I laid down this hard line, and she, she didn't go for that.'cause I bet she was like, oh, well that's unfortunate. And he's like, oh, now I'm in a pickle. I really gotta marry this girl. And she was a, like you said, it sounds like she was a great woman, but he, he thought he was above it. How old was he at this time? Do you know?

Dani 45:21

He was younger. Uh, I wanna say 55.

Stephanie 45:25

And that's not even that much younger.

Dani 45:27

No. Just a snitch younger. But,

Stephanie 45:28

but when men start getting, they that age, they think they deserve a 20-year-old.

Dani 45:32

But listen, let me tell you, Wanda. Had her little life

Stephanie 45:38

figured out,

Dani 45:40

carved out for her. She this, and I even looked at, pictures, in 2004, which is several years later. This little mobile home community was a. Fucking cute,

Stephanie 45:55

nice.

Dani 45:56

All the yards. Like it was a super nice, she had managed to acco to own her own home by herself, which

Stephanie 46:06

not was not common

Dani 46:08

and it was cute. And she, anyway, there's some more descriptions of her little house in here. Fucking get it girl. I'd be so content to be able

Stephanie 46:16

to, I know. And I think women are realizing that, that yeah, it's nice to have a partner, but with this. The right partner because the stress that it brings to your life sometimes isn't worth it. There's a reason why our grandmas and aunties and, and everyone's like, even if they had a happy marriage where they're like, yeah, I don't regret it, but they're like, don't get married. Just if you can avoid it. Don't, and because they, they've lived it and even if it wasn't a terrible, abusive thing, they realize that. Uh, maybe I would've followed this dream a little bit more and not just supported my husband's dream and, you know, maybe I would've done more of this. Or when their spouse dies, even though if they're like, I love them deeply, but man, am I living differently now that it's just me and I'm loving it? So that was not, it was literally like, what's wrong with you? You don't have a man. So.

Dani 47:19

so she was killing it in the nineties.

Stephanie 47:21

Sounds like it.

Dani 47:23

after their marriage on May 5th, 1995, Wanda and Sche returned to their home. the trailer was painted powder blue with white trim gorg sat on a neatly kept bordered lawn. Mm-hmm. And all of the homes look the same. Like I said, in that. In that picture, everything you could have played golf. It was seriously that. Good. I love

Stephanie 47:50

that.

Dani 47:51

I think it was probably a lot of, maybe retired people or people older. Sure. And they're like, take a lot of pride in their homes. She had plastic flowers and a pair of yellow, my god, little plastic ducks decorated her little short walkway to the front door inside Wanda kept meticulous order. Friend. Friend said she had developed habits of strict organization after decades of raising children alone and living independently.

Stephanie 48:15

Good for and as one does.

Dani 48:17

Yeah. So she was,

Stephanie 48:18

and I love that she had her own little style and

Dani 48:22

she did. She was, that's what I mean by when I said earlier, she's a cutie patootie. Mm-hmm. She did. And she was really pretty. On top

Stephanie 48:32

of

Dani 48:33

being stylish and keeping a good home, she was cute

Stephanie 48:36

and keeping a job and just hustling, dude. Mm-hmm. Like HP is not an easy job and it's, they, they have been plagued with constant layoffs for decades. So in order to keep your job for that long, that's saying something.

Dani 48:52

She was a good worker.

Stephanie 48:53

Yeah.

Dani 48:54

Within days of the wedding, Wanda began changing her legal document. She was excited

Stephanie 49:00

and, and responsible.

Dani 49:01

She obtained a new driver's license with her new married name.

Stephanie 49:04

Oh wow.

Dani 49:05

And re-registered the trailer in both her name and Kuzmichev. Yikes.

Stephanie 49:10

I saw that face. Scared

Dani 49:13

neighbors. Noticed her changing the name on her. Even her mailbox from Calgary to

Stephanie 49:18

she was very proud. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, uh,

Dani 49:21

Donna Allen, who lived nearby, said Wanda appeared proud and excited.

Stephanie 49:26

Yeah.

Dani 49:26

One neighbor recalled Wanda saying he's such a nice man. And I tell him all the time, he wa he was a worldly man

Stephanie 49:35

compared, and she's beaming and like, it's almost another form of nesting. right before a pregnant woman has a kid,

Dani 49:40

she's like,

Stephanie 49:41

oh, we're redoing. Is it like this is our home? What a woman does, making the house a home and welcoming someone.

Dani 49:47

And she was by herself for 30 years. Yeah. And. I can't imagine the love fluttery.

Stephanie 49:55

Oh yeah.

Dani 49:55

After 30 years,

Stephanie 49:56

someone showing you

Dani 49:57

over

49:57

the

Stephanie 49:57

moon that attention.

Dani 49:58

Yeah. Mary Meyers said Wanda spoke enthusiastically about her new life, but didn't discuss details of the relationship.

Stephanie 50:06

She's classy.

Dani 50:08

She never said a word about it, Meyers said, to be honest, I didn't wanna ask her.

Stephanie 50:13

I'm sure it looked a little weird. It's not a huge age gap, but. Again,

Dani 50:17

but it

Stephanie 50:17

was four months. Men that men that age think that they deserve a 20-year-old. So it's like, eh, close enough.

Dani 50:22

But it'd only been four months.

Stephanie 50:24

Mm-hmm.

Dani 50:25

And so you're like, I'm happy for you. You look happy.

Stephanie 50:28

If you're happy, I'm happy. Yeah. If you, if you like it, I love it.

Dani 50:32

Yeah.

Stephanie 50:32

And I say that a lot to people where I'm like, look, I'm not gonna, not my thing, but

Dani 50:38

you do.

Stephanie 50:38

You boo boo.

Dani 50:39

Yep. Wanda had, recently taken early retirement from hp. After nearly 17 years on the production line,

Stephanie 50:48

take an early retirement. That takes a lot of work to, to be in a place where the numbers work out.

Dani 50:54

Mm-hmm. Good for you. she began working part-time for Boland Janitorial Services three nights a week. She cleaned offices at the Idaho Law Center at Fifth and Jefferson, across from the ADA County Courthouse. You know this building? Mm-hmm. Very

Stephanie 51:12

nineties. Yeah. Weird looking like

Dani 51:15

back in the day. Cool. Now it's,

Stephanie 51:18

it

Dani 51:18

is some weird building.

Stephanie 51:19

Yeah, it looks like a grocery store.

Dani 51:21

Kuzmichev sometimes accompanied her on these jobs, helping carry supplies and clean.

Stephanie 51:26

Very humble and surprising to be honest.

Dani 51:29

But when his back hurt, she worked alone.

Stephanie 51:32

And I bet she had no problem with that.

Dani 51:34

No. She is like, you come help me's a

Stephanie 51:36

parttime come. That's awesome. Yeah. If not, okay. It's my job. That's cool. It's my, she's the gal that, it's her job. She's gonna get it done.

Dani 51:44

He, me, had left Hewlett Packard and was working as a guard for a and a security systems and services, including shifts at the federal building downtown. he told Tim Cowger, which is Wanda's son, that he felt diminished by his loss of professional status.

Stephanie 52:01

The bitterness. Mm-hmm. And the ego is to be talking about it to where people remember,

Dani 52:08

to his newly, newlywed wife, son. Yeah. And, and the son, um, is like, now dude, keep your mouth shut.

Stephanie 52:18

Well, and that's almost I feel like that even makes it worse for these types of people. it would probably be much better to. Because that's so imagine being on the receiving end that's so awkward of someone being like, I'm so much better than this. And you've heard it all before. Before.'cause he's worked at HP and I, I wasn't appreciated here. And if I, you know, kind of, kind of like, um, peaked in high school energy, PPP peaked at the Valley, Idaho, and it's like we all go through rough spots. When you keep bringing people in like that and being like, oh, I'm the victim. I'm, I deserve better. It's like, well, then go get better.

Dani 53:00

no, he, he told us

Stephanie 53:01

this is the land of opportunity. Right.

Dani 53:02

He said ballet instructors were respected in Ukraine while in the United States. He was working security and janitorial support.

Stephanie 53:10

Well, no, you were working as an instructor, as the director, an artistic director. Most incredibly talented ballet instructors never meet that. It's a, it's a timing game. It's a grooming game, and he can't

Dani 53:25

take a little

Stephanie 53:25

vacay. I bet people that have been working at Ballet Idaho year for years were pissed when he got that job.

Dani 53:32

Oh,

Stephanie 53:32

because they've been part of the company and training. Just because

Dani 53:36

he is from Russia.

Stephanie 53:38

I bet it caused a hubbub.

Dani 53:43

Wanda's family said, accuse Mechi entered the marriage with few possessions.

Stephanie 53:47

Oh.

Dani 53:48

Hmm, just a suitcase. Tim Cowger said just a suitcase.

Stephanie 53:54

Well, I mean, he didn't have any of those important documents weighing him down, so, no, that makes sense.

Dani 54:00

Wanda had modest savings. Her trailer, I hate saying that'cause it was her home, but it, it was, we

Stephanie 54:07

don't have any,

Dani 54:09

it's a mobile home.

Stephanie 54:10

We've lived in trailers. There's nothing wrong with it.

Dani 54:14

And, uh, a small amount of Micron technology stock that she Oh, and Kiev received as a wedding gift.

Stephanie 54:22

Oh my god. Guys, look at Micron right now. I know this is like decades later, but Micron stock.

Dani 54:32

Yeah.

Stephanie 54:32

This is like having Google Stop, say, before Google was the Google,

Dani 54:36

I wanna say it was like 56 shares or something. It was, I mean. M

Stephanie 54:42

modest, but especially now, like Wow.

Dani 54:46

So her, her net was worth was about$30,000. I can't believe that trailer wasn't worth more, but this is the nineties.

Stephanie 54:54

I think it's because a lot of times you don't own the land.

Dani 54:57

No, she didn't own the land. It was definitely a park that she paid to be in. Mm-hmm. But she owned

Stephanie 55:01

so 30,000 sounds

Dani 55:04

decent.

Stephanie 55:04

Fair,

Dani 55:06

friend said she wanted. Excuse ache to feel secure and respected. Tim said she wanted to give him a sense of ownership. You know,

Stephanie 55:16

she wanted to give him a little pride back.'cause clearly he's whining to everyone of how his ego's so hurt and he doesn deserve and look at

Dani 55:22

her taking

Stephanie 55:23

care of that's like,

Dani 55:25

it's all, it's, we're have Zs

Stephanie 55:27

now. Mm-hmm. We're partners. We're equal partners. Uh, I hate hearing about, you know, women just being amazing to men that don't fucking appreciate it, and I feel like that's where this is going.

Dani 55:41

Mary Meyers believed the relationship was practical.

Stephanie 55:45

It's, and at that age, that's not rare.

Dani 55:48

Well, she was just saying for excuse, mechi. I think it was nothing on his part, but plain convenience she said.

Stephanie 55:58

And once you start getting up into the sixties and retirement age and stuff, you do see a lot of that because there's a certain, if your spouse dies and you wait a certain amount of years to get married and then you get married, you can still have the spouses like. So this relationships of convenience, the older you get, the more common they get. And listen, especially in today's economy, living on a single budget is hard. it was, it, I will say it was easier back then. I, I do truly believe. But,

Dani 56:29

but one also worked her

Stephanie 56:30

ass

Dani 56:31

off.

Stephanie 56:31

Mm-hmm. And to make her life, and then she welcomed someone else into it and tried to give them an equal share. That's crazy.

Dani 56:41

But, uh, the ex-wife Valeria disagreed.

Stephanie 56:45

Oh Lord.

Dani 56:46

With friends saying his soul is an artist's soul. She said. She was very understanding of that she represented the best in American culture for Ben. and she also was giving her a compliment. That Wanda represented the best. This

Stephanie 57:07

is the American life he's trying to assimilate into.

Dani 57:09

Mm-hmm.

Stephanie 57:09

Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay, now I get it.

Dani 57:11

Valeria acknowledged that Kuzmichev had wanted to reconcile with her after their divorce and that he had struggled emotionally for more than a year. She said that by 1995 he was ready to move on.

Stephanie 57:26

So, or was, did he realize he didn't have a chance? Because it sounds like she was not open to it, but she was like, that's very sweet. Yeah. That's so sweet. No, that's what the vibes I'm getting. I don't know if that's the real story.

Dani 57:40

The Calgary family, Wanda's Kids first learned of the engagement about three weeks before the wedding.

Stephanie 57:48

Ooh, that's a big Yikes.

Dani 57:49

Yeah. and Pam Caler, I think that was her sister-in-law, or maybe her sister

Stephanie 57:55

a relative.

Dani 57:56

Yeah. Said I was just kind of flabbergasted about the whole thing. Like she was like

Stephanie 58:00

very, very fast,

Dani 58:01

very fast. the wedding took place at the home of Wanda's brothers in Star Meyer's. Husband served as a witness. Meyer said she looked really, really lovely that day. Aw, it was special to her. In photographs, Wanda wore a robin's egg blue dress and a white hat and carried a bouquet of white, blue and pink flowers.

Stephanie 58:24

That's so cute.

Dani 58:26

cause Mechi stood beside her in a gray three piece suit looking straight ahead. And this is, you know, you can look back. Yeah,

Stephanie 58:34

yeah.

Dani 58:35

the couple honeymoon briefly at a Boise Motel, probably that night, and then traveled to Nevada, possibly to Reno or Vegas. It wasn't for sure where they went.

Stephanie 58:45

you're going one of, I I doubt a honeymoon would be jackpot. That's a little slumming it or listen. No, no. Hate to jackpot. We have

Dani 58:52

no, we have no,

Stephanie 58:52

we have lost that. It's not a honeymoon location.

Dani 58:55

No.

Stephanie 58:55

You could make Reno a honeymoon location.

Dani 58:58

There's,

Stephanie 58:58

it's,

Dani 58:59

yeah.

Stephanie 59:00

A nice little low expectations. Cheapy. Bougie on a budget. So I bet it was Reno or Vegas like you said.

Dani 59:10

Family members said Wanda avoided gambling because of her religious beliefs. So it was strange that they went to Nevada.

Stephanie 59:16

Well, and I bet that she also, her having to budget all these years and,'cause I've always been weird about gambling. I'm not religious. I just, I'm, I'm incredibly unlucky, proven over decades. I'm just, my sister bought me 18 lottery tickets for my 18th birthday. I didn't win a dollar and she bought me. Several,$1 ones from the same row, several$5, I think even like a$50 one in there. Did not win. A dollar lost. My hand was so sore, I was so excited. Mm, so I just, I can do a little slot machine here and there. Gambling is just not my thing. And it sounds like she was a very responsible person and so I can totally understand.

Dani 1:00:01

After the wedding, Wanda socialized occasionally with her, her sons and daughter-in-laws. the cowgirls went to a Caldwell Rodeo with a couple. Pam Cowger said Wanda's happiness was evident.

Stephanie 1:00:13

Aw.

Dani 1:00:14

Her eyes would just glow glitter, she said, but I never saw that come back from him.

Stephanie 1:00:21

I'm not that surprised.

Dani 1:00:23

Neighbors at the trailer park saw Wanda more frequently, gardening and tending her lawn. She told neighbors she was very happy.

Stephanie 1:00:31

She's just doing the. Doing the life, you know, attending to everything and her new husband and how cute.

Dani 1:00:39

Wanda continued volunteering at church and remained close to her mother, Julia Van and her sons. She enjoyed biographies and classical music. Tim, her son, said she taught her children manners and discipline. No elbows on the table. He said proper fork and the proper place.

Stephanie 1:00:58

Classy gal,

Dani 1:00:59

and she didn't speak of any problems in the marriage. Yeah,

Stephanie 1:01:02

I don't think even if there was problems that she would,

Dani 1:01:05

she sounded like a very, proper,

Stephanie 1:01:07

maybe a closest confidant, but she's not talking about that with the neighbors and acquaintances.

Dani 1:01:13

by late summer in 1995, hug Schev had left a NA security and was struggling to find steady work. He told acquaintances he had difficulty getting jobs because of the publicity surrounding his past at the ballet, Idaho, and because of his accent.

Stephanie 1:01:30

I'm sorry, anyone that he's clearly not working in ballet anymore, so I can understand if he's trying to break back into ballet somehow. But I mean, you're telling me that a children's ballet studio won't hire you? I don't. I don't. That was

Dani 1:01:46

probably,

Stephanie 1:01:46

I don't think so. Yeah, exactly.

Dani 1:01:48

Mm-hmm.

Stephanie 1:01:49

And so with security jobs, do you think security cares that there was drama at your ballet job with the investors and the No. No.

Dani 1:01:57

he talked about returning to Russia and had recently heard from his son in Moscow. So he did have, I wanna say he was a 15-year-old when he left. When

Stephanie 1:02:08

they left. Okay.

Dani 1:02:10

Okay. but friend said Wanda was very optimistic about everything.

Stephanie 1:02:14

I'm sure she was very supportive.

Dani 1:02:17

On September 15th, 1995, Wanda arranged with her supervisor to pick up her paycheck early. That afternoon, she and IFF went shopping and bought groceries. They drove east on the Boise River to Lucky Peak State Park where they picnicked in the heat and they returned home in the late afternoon. Yeah, September. It's still hot, hot as hell. It is still so hot in September here. we're talking nineties, mid nineties or

Stephanie 1:02:45

more.

Dani 1:02:46

Yeah. Who

Stephanie 1:02:46

knows?

Dani 1:02:48

Wanda prepared for work that evening. She chose pink slacks, an off white flower blouse, a white sweater, sandals and gold clip on earrings with purple stones.

Stephanie 1:02:59

Very cutesy.

Dani 1:03:00

She's gonna go clean. That's how she dressed.

Stephanie 1:03:03

She's that girl.

Dani 1:03:04

She is that girl. She's just, she's gonna go clean law offices. But she always

Stephanie 1:03:09

has her style.

Dani 1:03:10

She does have her style. Gosh. And she's put together, gosh,

Stephanie 1:03:12

I fucking love that. Can I, can I just say, I know a few women like that, that I greatly respect, that have just a unique style just a style that's their own. And I am just in awe of these women.'cause I'm like, I'm

Dani 1:03:25

fucking jealous.

Stephanie 1:03:26

I need,

Dani 1:03:27

I'm a shit show.

Stephanie 1:03:28

If I'm not clashing of several different patterns, it's a win for me. I'll never be the fashionista. No. Maybe in my old age maybe. Maybe I'll get real rich and I'll find my own style. I don't know. But. It's an art form and I just, I love that about women. And when they're doing it, that's a little bit outside of the trending attractive. Mm-hmm. And they're like, I don't give a fuck. Like all those ladies in New York that are just, they dress every day as a fashion show. I cannot get enough of that shit.

Dani 1:04:01

She definitely, and that's why I included this mm-hmm. Is because it was part of her story. Like she just had her style. She

Stephanie 1:04:07

did. She was, and that, again, that was very hard in the nineties, to go against the grain was weird.

Dani 1:04:16

She left her house around 7:30 PM and her midnight blue, 1989 Buick La Saber.

Stephanie 1:04:22

Ooh.

Dani 1:04:24

And drove toward downtown Boise, excuse MechE later, gave different accounts of the time she left. Telling some people 6:00 PM 7:00 PM, 7:35 PM and 9:00 PM

Stephanie 1:04:39

Oh, that's six to 9:00 PM That's quite a range, sir.

Dani 1:04:43

Wanda never completed her cleaning assignment at the law center, and she would never do that. During the evening of September 15th, 1995, after Wanda left their home in West Boise to clean offices, downtown, MCHA remained at home. He later told police that his back was bothering him and that he decided not to accompany her to work, which was the normal

Stephanie 1:05:12

had happened

Dani 1:05:13

many times. Sometimes he went, sometimes he didn't. He said he watched television and waited for her to return. Wanda normally returned home from her cleaning job between one and 1:30 AM depending on the length of her assignments and traffic conditions. There was no traffic conditions

Stephanie 1:05:31

at one o' morning. Not at that, no. But there maybe there was a messier building. Sure.

Dani 1:05:38

approximately 11:15 PM Hughes Che began calling family members and acquaintances saying that Wanda had not returned home and that he was worried. He later told investigators that he believed something might be wrong because she was dependable and rarely deviated from her routine. He called 9 1 1 shortly after midnight,

Stephanie 1:06:01

and

Dani 1:06:01

that's,

Stephanie 1:06:01

but this was not her routine,

Dani 1:06:04

so this is gonna come into play. So I want you to remember, okay, the, he started calling family members about a quarter after 11.

Stephanie 1:06:13

Yeah.

Dani 1:06:14

And then he called 9 1 1 just after midnight.

Stephanie 1:06:18

But if her regular time home was one to one 30, that's a little suspicious.

Dani 1:06:26

At 12:23 AM on September 16th, accuse McGiff told the dispatcher. And I'm not making fun. I'm just quoting because it's very broken English.

Stephanie 1:06:40

Yeah. There was a language barrier.

Dani 1:06:42

Absolutely. So I'm just gonna repeat what he said and he's

Stephanie 1:06:45

doing his best.

Dani 1:06:46

I'm not mocking. Yeah, I just wanna make that very clear. he told the dispatcher, my wife not come home. She needs come home 1130. During a second call to nine one one, he asked whether, he was asked whether she might have gone somewhere else first. When the dispatcher asked if that was a likely situation, he said, no she's not. Where's she going? She's not bar hopping. She's not meeting with friends. At that hour of the night. No. At 4:30 AM Boise Police officer Nicholas Dugan, responded to another nine one one call that he made and drove to their home. Dugan later testified that, cus MechE was dressed in a royal blue sweatsuit and appeared confused and disoriented. He moved repe repeatedly between the kitchen table and the breakfast bar without completing any specific tasks. He was pacing. He shuffled papers on the counter and handed Dugan the same envelope from an out-of-state insurance company. Three separate times. Dugan said Kuzmichev seemed unable to focus and spoken in broken English.

Stephanie 1:08:04

All right. Some of this I could see, but the handing of the envelope and stuff.

Dani 1:08:13

Well, there you have to, one thing I want to have you and our listeners realize English is not his first language.

Stephanie 1:08:23

Yeah.

Dani 1:08:24

He maybe thought that giving. the insurance documents would show maybe the car information,

Stephanie 1:08:32

her full name, her some, some piece of identity that he could, yeah, sure. I'll take that.

Dani 1:08:41

accuse, ache. Told Dugan that he and Wanda had gone on a picnic at Lucky Peak State Park earlier that day, and she had left for work around 7:30 PM I just have to tell you guys I'm giggling because I said Lucky steak

Stephanie 1:08:56

instead of Lucky Peak. You know, everyone around Idaho knows Lucky Steak.

Dani 1:09:01

Oh Jesus. Okay. he said he expected her home after 1:00 AM Dugan did not file a missing persons report at the time. He gave Kuzmichev a list of suggestions including calling hospitals and checking with relatives because he's like, she's not missing Missing. Yeah. you expected her home. So these are the things I'm gonna tell you to do. Call family and friends. But she already did. Right? Like check hospitals. She the morgue, she's not missing. Missing.

Stephanie 1:09:37

Mm-hmm.

Dani 1:09:38

there was no,

Stephanie 1:09:39

you know. Yeah. She's an adult woman. She could have, if she wanted to go to Vegas, even though it doesn't sound like her,

Dani 1:09:44

right.

Stephanie 1:09:44

She could go to Vegas if she wants.

Dani 1:09:46

And it seems a reasonable step for a police officer to make, like,

Stephanie 1:09:52

it's not

Dani 1:09:52

a child. Look, she's five hours late, she's not been gone for 40. Well, and you

Stephanie 1:09:57

never know people are going to, this could have been an abusive relationship where maybe the woman escaped and doesn't wanna be found and you know, or whatever. Maybe there's drugs involved and she's on a drug binge. I mean, the, the officer doesn't know these people, so,

Dani 1:10:15

right. later that morning, Kuzmichev went to the Boise Police Department and filed a formal missing person's report.

Stephanie 1:10:24

Okay.

Dani 1:10:24

He's like, I'm not fucking around with these guys anymore. He went and did it. I think the expectation for him having the police come out, that that's what would happen.

Stephanie 1:10:35

Mm-hmm.

Dani 1:10:36

But no, they're like, no, you need to sit for a hot minute. Over the next several days, detectives, relatives and volunteers search for Wanda. Family members, distributed flyers officers checked hospitals, shelters, and surrounding communities, accused MEChA retraced, Wanda's usual driving route for the investigators, and pointed out places she might have stopped. He said she had no reason to leave voluntarily and no history of disappearing. So this is way out of what her

Stephanie 1:11:07

mm-hmm.

Dani 1:11:08

Personality, the person she is.

Stephanie 1:11:10

There's no fight or weirdness mm-hmm. That caused this

Dani 1:11:13

because we've done stories where there are people that's like,

Stephanie 1:11:17

yeah, that's my free spirited cousin that just goes to Italy or China. Yeah. And doesn't say anything to anyone for several weeks.

Dani 1:11:25

We don't hear from him per se. This

Stephanie 1:11:26

was not that.

Dani 1:11:27

No, this was not that. Detective Dave Smith was assigned to leave the investigation assisted by detectives Lance Anderson and Dave Henderson. That almost rhymes.

Stephanie 1:11:39

Yeah, it does. Uh,

Dani 1:11:41

they reviewed Wanda's work schedule, her financial records and her personal contacts. They interviewed her supervisors, coworkers, neighbors, and family members. No one reported seeing her after she left home on September 15th. Oh, so she's not hiding scale. We, on September 21st, 1995, shortly before 1:00 PM a jogger running near bogus Basin Road discovered a body on a brushy hillside near Crane Creek Baptist Church in the Highlands neighborhood. The area laid directly across from the Simplot state and the cottage where Smiff used to live. Not a great thing. Officers secured the scene and called homicide investigators. The body lay face down and nude and thick brush. A tan Albertson's plastic grocery bag was tied tightly over her head.

Stephanie 1:12:46

That's terrible.

Dani 1:12:48

Now she was, this is

Stephanie 1:12:52

traumatizing.

Dani 1:12:53

Yeah, she wasn't left kindly. A brown, 30 gallon plastic garbage bag with a yellow draw string was wrapped around her lower legs.

Stephanie 1:13:04

What

Dani 1:13:05

gray duct taped bound the ankles. The feet protruded through the holes in the bottom of the bag and a trail of blood extended uphill from the body towards the road suggesting the body had been dragged or carried.

Stephanie 1:13:22

Not good.

Dani 1:13:23

No. nearby the investigators observed footprints and tire tracks and a small piece of blue paper laid close to the body. They also found some, beer cans and a bottle that was covered with dirt, which is probably people just throwing trash out the out. But anyways, winter box, it was, it was noted, because of decomposition, because of the heat, right. In September. Investigators initially could not determine whether victim was male or female. Look, if the pictures I saw on the city confidential were actually pictures from the crime scene, I could see a picture of a bra. I mean, they were kind of distorted. Like they're not gonna give you, they're not.

Stephanie 1:14:20

Mm-hmm.

Dani 1:14:21

Like they were

Stephanie 1:14:23

black and white Don, white Don. But there was a bra on is what you're saying.

Dani 1:14:25

Yeah. So maybe they couldn't tell if the body was facing down. But you know, a back of bra,

Stephanie 1:14:35

even like bloating and decomposition.

Dani 1:14:37

A back of a bra is a back of a bra. Yeah. Anyway, I don't know if those pictures were

Stephanie 1:14:43

the one, the real ones.

Dani 1:14:44

The real ones. So anyway, I just have to say that, the body was transported to St. Acia Regional Medical Center for autopsy that afternoon. Wanda's midnight Blue Buick La Sare was found abandoned in the parking lot of the Where Mart at Milwaukee and Fairview Avenue.

Stephanie 1:15:05

A where Mart.

Dani 1:15:06

Do you remember the where Mart?

Stephanie 1:15:07

I don't, no.

Dani 1:15:09

How was the WinCo

Stephanie 1:15:10

really?

Dani 1:15:12

Oh.

Stephanie 1:15:15

I remember when WIN came generational

Dani 1:15:16

gap there.

Stephanie 1:15:17

I know, I know. But I do remember when WinCo came to Nampa and it was like revolutionary. Like, oh my God, we have a WinCo here.

Dani 1:15:24

Well, it was a wear mart even before was

Stephanie 1:15:26

in Nampa.

Dani 1:15:27

Yeah. Fuck yeah.

Stephanie 1:15:29

No it wasn't

Dani 1:15:30

sis. Yes it was. No, I used to, when my baby boy was little, me and my girlfriend, when he was like two or three, we would literally go do our grocery shopping at Walmart at like 10 o'clock at night. So husband's tucked in. Mm-hmm. Baby's tucked in and we would go and do our grocery shopping and then stop at Denny's and have coffee. It was Oh, that

Stephanie 1:15:57

sounds

Dani 1:15:57

lovely. Do you know where, do you know where it was at?

Stephanie 1:15:59

No,

Dani 1:16:00

uh, it's where the savers is at now.

Stephanie 1:16:03

Oh, okay. Maybe I do remember it

Dani 1:16:06

next to the paint store. The Z's house? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. it was a wear mart. Good old wear. I know. Yeah. and I have a hard time saying it because wear is not an East, I don't know. It's not Walmart. No, it's not Walmart. And it's the WinCo, which, mm-hmm. kudos to the marketing person on that one when they made the name change anyway.

Stephanie 1:16:32

Yeah.

Dani 1:16:33

Yeah. I love me, the Wear Mart, which is now WinCo, but this, where mart was approximately a mile and a half from their home. Okay. Well, they're insinuating it's walkable. I'm just gonna lay out there. Okay. the vehicle was unlocked inside. Officers found no signs of forced entry. Later testing would reveal reddish brown stains in the trunk suspected to be blood. This is the problem with the nineties. that could have been tested

Stephanie 1:17:10

to know if it's blood. Yeah, that def DNA was around and definitely knowing if it's blood was around

Dani 1:17:19

at approximately 4:30 PM on September 21st. Kuzmichev was asked to come to the Boise Police Department for questioning. A Russian interpreter was present during the interview cus Mechi repeated his account of the picnic and Wanda's departure for work. He said he had remained home because again, of the back pain, and he said he saw her last wearing pink slacks and that flower blouse. About an hour into the interview, Anderson asked, do you know what happened to Wanda? Accuse Mitch of replied, no. I heard that you found a body. detectives noted that Kuzmichev did not ask whether the body had been identified. Henderson would later testify that he told Cus of the body had been found near the 3,500 block of Bogus Basin Road. When asked whether that seemed significant, Henderson said ache responded only. Hmm. Well that's not helpful. What do you mean? Mm. Either you know it or you don't, or you're like, that's right where I used to live detectives then informed him that Wanda's car had been found at, at the Walmart. Hmm. Anderson said that responded. That's nice. Where,

Stephanie 1:19:02

and again, we don't know Russian to English translations. And so

Dani 1:19:07

I struggle a lot with that. With this right now.

Stephanie 1:19:09

I'm trying to give a little grace here. Or,

Dani 1:19:12

he told officers that duct tape was kept in the trunk of Wanda's car, and he said that they did not use draw string garbage bags like the one found at the scene. And he said he and Wanda had been getting along well and had not been arguing. The following day, September 22nd, Wanda's family held a news conference in Star Kuzmichev, arrived late and learned publicly for the first time that the body had been identified as Wanda's because he didn't inquire during that questioning the day before, he just said, I heard you found a body.

Stephanie 1:19:52

I'm surprised they didn't try to use that and be like, well, it's her body, so are you gonna, you know how these interrogations typically go of, we found her body and even if they don't know shit, they're like, we already know. So, yeah. I can't believe they didn't exploit him, not speaking fluent English to do something like that thus far.

Dani 1:20:17

Uh, he said silently behind sunglasses, un held hands with her mother. When asked to speak, he said. Wanda was the best woman. We have really, really good life. And investigators were focusing, excuse me, Jeff. Yeah. As a suspect. I mean, and, and you do typically, right?

Stephanie 1:20:40

You do

Dani 1:20:41

partner, spouses, husbands, wives. That's what you look at. First

Stephanie 1:20:45

side note, we've shared some podcasts that we like and are listening to recently. the podcast hands tied, I believe it's by Texas Monthly. It's on Spotify, I'm sure it's available everywhere. goes for this trope. Man is murdered, wife is found, locked up, hands tied in the closet. She is blamed. I think they kinda give it away in the first episode. So she is blamed and convicted of the murder. But I think I've heard

Dani 1:21:19

it's that one. Maybe not. But that

Stephanie 1:21:21

particular podcast,

Dani 1:21:22

it's very,

Stephanie 1:21:24

you probably have heard of the, I know, I know. The case is, was

Dani 1:21:26

she in a bathroom?

Stephanie 1:21:27

She was in the bathroom closet. And they had, there was like a door propped up and they said

Dani 1:21:31

she could tie herself up.

Stephanie 1:21:32

Yes. But I have not the way that,'cause the tie-ups were all the way up her arms and the prosecution demonstrated how you could like loop like a scrunchie, like a pair of, uh, shoe laces or like, you could just loop it and loop it to do it against your wrist, which I think we can all picture. But these ties were up her arms and there was just, anyway, great podcast. I love how they went into everything. But yeah, I love the

Dani 1:22:01

dates.

Stephanie 1:22:01

It u and you know what I appre, I understand police going for the spouse because it usually is, but there should be, especially in like 2015 on, there should be some cell phone computer data. Some people didn't know how to cover their tracks back then. They still don't. Now even knowing how much you can do, people still are fucking using their

Dani 1:22:24

still like a what

Stephanie 1:22:25

about how do I bury a body? How does a body smell bad after this long being in my garage in Google

Dani 1:22:33

is not your friend, bro.

Stephanie 1:22:35

Google is your absolute enemy and there is no such thing as incognito mode. if you've got VPNs and stuff, maybe, and that's a still a big, maybe

Dani 1:22:46

they're gonna

Stephanie 1:22:46

find it. WhatsApp chats. No, no, they're gonna crack your code bro.

Dani 1:22:53

Four days after, his interview, detectives secretly placed an electronic tracking and listening device,

Stephanie 1:23:01

tracking and listening

Dani 1:23:03

on his yellow pickup truck.

Stephanie 1:23:05

Oh shit.

Dani 1:23:06

Uh, the device operated for approximately 48 hours and did not record any incriminating conversations.

Stephanie 1:23:12

Oh shit.

Dani 1:23:14

I don't know what you're planning on picking, by the way. I'm just gonna take a little dig. Really? What do you He is a man that's by himself, has no family. I mean, he has his ex-wife and his daughter here. He, I did not research anything that showed if

Stephanie 1:23:31

he had

Dani 1:23:31

like

Stephanie 1:23:32

a sibling

Dani 1:23:32

or like a good bestie here or anything like that. Like he had no family members. Who the fuck is he talking to in the truck? Shut? There's no cell

Stephanie 1:23:40

phone. Is he saying to himself, man, killed her. Killed her. So good. Hope I don't get caught.'cause if they cat, and you know what, some people do self-talk like that. I know of like,

Dani 1:23:52

I know. Oh, there was a guy that did that on the Netflix.

Stephanie 1:23:54

Yes. Where he went in the bathroom to wash his hands and he was like, you're guilty. You killed them all. And he was still fucking hot. Micd.

Dani 1:24:02

Yeah.

Stephanie 1:24:02

Micd up.

Dani 1:24:03

Yeah.

Stephanie 1:24:03

You killed them all. Yes, you did. I, I'm not quoting. Okay. But it was, I'll say

Dani 1:24:06

there's some, yeah, maybe

Stephanie 1:24:08

that, maybe he would be in Russian or English to himself. I sure killed her. And I am getting away with it because these cops are dumb and they'll never catch

Dani 1:24:17

me.

Stephanie 1:24:17

It's just

Dani 1:24:18

kind of

Stephanie 1:24:19

Well, and if it's, if it's a tracking and recording, usually tracking goes on the outside of the vehicle. Did they get it inside the ve like what's the, what's the real sound quality regardless. That's what I wanna know.

Dani 1:24:30

Did you hear his

Stephanie 1:24:30

muffler anyway? Engine noises. It's a yellow pickup. You know what it probably was, was a Dotson, maybe it was a fucking Ford Ranger. Old school, fucking fucking Ford Ranger. You know those were, I, I

Dani 1:24:50

don't recall Yellow Ford Rangers.

Stephanie 1:24:52

I still dig a fucking, I'm just hoping.'cause I love a Ford Ranger. I'll say.

1:24:56

I

Dani 1:24:56

did not, uh, get that information. Just the color. the FBI contacted authorities in Ukraine and Russia to investigate

Stephanie 1:25:04

oh shit.

Dani 1:25:05

Excuse, which has background and claims. Of, they're

Stephanie 1:25:08

like, we can get the records.

Dani 1:25:10

And prosecution detectives also consulted ballet experts about the not use on the grocery bag. That was overwhelmed his head.

Stephanie 1:25:18

Oh, if it's like one that's used for ballet, like shoes or something.

Dani 1:25:23

they did indicate, I don't know if I wrote this down, uh, that it, it seemed to be a special knot, but by the cer

Stephanie 1:25:34

certainly not smoking gun.

Dani 1:25:37

I don't feel like it was,

Stephanie 1:25:38

no, not at all. But suspicious.

Dani 1:25:43

By late September, investigators had recovered Kuzmichev fingerprints from the garbage bag and from the trunk and gear shift of Wanda's car. No other usable prints were found in the vehicle. That's weird.'cause you figured they'd be both driving the vehicle. Like why, why weren't his prints all over it? By early October, the investigation centered almost exclusively on Kuzmichev.

Stephanie 1:26:10

Mm-hmm.

Dani 1:26:14

So we're all the way into January a new year. 1996.

Stephanie 1:26:18

96.

Dani 1:26:21

Kuzmichev called Detective Smith and asked for a meeting. He said his son in Moscow. Moscow. Sorry.

Stephanie 1:26:29

Not Moscow, Idaho.

Dani 1:26:31

I know, it's

Stephanie 1:26:31

just I have it. Moscow or Moss? Moss. How? Which is which?'cause we call it Moscow. Around here. Is it Moscow?

Dani 1:26:37

Yeah.

Stephanie 1:26:38

Who knows the,

Dani 1:26:39

it's Moscow in Russia.

Stephanie 1:26:42

Okay. Moscow

Dani 1:26:42

here,

Stephanie 1:26:43

right? I thought so. Who knows? Someone will help us.

Dani 1:26:51

No, we say Moscow.

Stephanie 1:26:53

We say Moscow.

Dani 1:26:54

Yeah,

Stephanie 1:26:54

for sure.

Dani 1:26:55

But over there it's Moscow.

Stephanie 1:26:56

I think it's,

Dani 1:26:59

you know what I'm talking about, the big city in Russia. So his son had invited him to visit and he wanted permission to travel,

Stephanie 1:27:07

trying to not look suspicious. Okay.

Dani 1:27:10

Smith implied that in. During this conversation, detective Smith implied that the surveillance cameras on the simp property and the ATM, had recorded the killer. That in fact was a lie,

Stephanie 1:27:26

Maury's on the case folks.

Dani 1:27:29

And then Kevi asked for a lawyer. Smith told him only guilty people ask for attorneys,

Stephanie 1:27:43

which is something that a lot of detectives say,

Dani 1:27:47

and also asked whether he believed in God or not.

Stephanie 1:27:50

Oh. Oh, that's a little serious.

Dani 1:27:53

Look, I'm not, I

Stephanie 1:27:56

don't love it.

Dani 1:27:56

I'm not liking it. Especially with the language barrier.

Stephanie 1:28:03

Mm-hmm.

Dani 1:28:05

after consulting, prosecutors police arrested him. They thought he was a fly risk.

Stephanie 1:28:10

Sure. I'm sure they could make that case easily, even, even if his trip to Russia was innocent and it's like, he's literally trying to leave.

Dani 1:28:19

But I don't think they had, I'm just put this in your pocket. He wanted to make sure he was, I feel like he wanted to make sure he was doing the right thing and he asked the police if that was gonna be a problem.

Stephanie 1:28:36

I agree. I guess I'd have to know their extraditions in Russia at that time.

Dani 1:28:42

They're not extraditing, but,

Stephanie 1:28:45

so it's like, well then bring your son here is, is what I would say.

Dani 1:28:49

But why wouldn't he just get on a plane?

Stephanie 1:28:53

Right, because we didn't have TSA back then. If you went to go get checked into a flight, you weren't getting red flag. I mean,

Dani 1:28:59

look at fucking Mr. Worldwide. Thomas.

Stephanie 1:29:02

Pre nine 11, no one knew shit about, fuck. It was like taking a Greyhound

Dani 1:29:09

anonymous. So I just put that in your pocket. Mm-hmm. detectives distributed flyers in stores. This is after January. So it's been, what are we, four months?

Stephanie 1:29:25

Yeah, three or four months

Dani 1:29:26

Wait. September three, four months. Three, four. Three or four months. Yeah. flyers were distributed to stores in the Fairview Avenue area showing, showing Kuzmichev, photograph and asking for information at Walmart Checker. Terry Sue Watson recognized the image. She remembered a man buying duct tape, garbage bags, and rope early in the morning. Around the time Wanda disappeared.

Stephanie 1:29:59

Ooh.

Dani 1:30:00

He didn't smile. Watson said. The look in his face was not welcoming. It wasn't friendly. She later identified, accuse Mechi in a lineup, and again, in court. I have major problems with this because she literally stared at this fucker's picture in her fucking, lunchroom. It was very easy to pick'em out of a lineup.

Stephanie 1:30:32

Yeah, the lineup thing,

Dani 1:30:36

I, I don't like it.

Stephanie 1:30:39

And even four

Dani 1:30:40

months later,

Stephanie 1:30:41

and even. Though this was before the times of linking a credit card to a purchase easily or camera footage from months earlier. Did they not have even a sales system where they could be like, here's a rope garbage bag purchased on the, if you can go down to the day, yeah, there's gonna be a lot of purchases. But you sift through it. You sift through it. This is good old fashioned police work. Show me the receipts.

Dani 1:31:11

And four months later you saw some picture of a dude that had been plastered all over the news in the newspaper and you're like, oh yeah, I definitely remember him.

Stephanie 1:31:21

I don't love it.

Dani 1:31:22

do you think the detectives went to the

Stephanie 1:31:24

wear mart, when her car was found in that fucking parking lot? You

Dani 1:31:28

would

Stephanie 1:31:28

think and questioned anybody suspicious, anything weird? Yeah.

Dani 1:31:33

I just don't like it.

Stephanie 1:31:34

I don't love it.

Dani 1:31:38

The investigation continued. Into 1996 as the prosecutors prepared their case during the first days of testimony in January of 1997, prosecutors began laying out their case through a series of witnesses who accounts centered on cus Mitch's is behavior Before and after Wanda's disappearance. The physical evidence and statements allegedly made while he was in custody. Son Tim was among the first family members called, he testified about his mother's long years as a single parent. Her devotion to her children in church and her loneliness following the death of her daughter Tanya, in 1991, he told jurors that Wanda rarely dated and that the relationship with sif developed privately and quickly.

Stephanie 1:32:27

Yeah,

Dani 1:32:28

the first time we knew about the engagement was about three weeks before the wedding. He said,

Stephanie 1:32:32

well, and that's one thing it makes me wonder if she was lonely and connected with friends and family, like why she wasn't. Bragging about this or just updating people where people were so surprised. Makes me a little iffy.

Dani 1:32:49

I think that maybe she was,

Stephanie 1:32:56

maybe

Dani 1:32:56

she nervous about the, I'm just playing devil's advocate here. She could have been nervous about the relationship and that it was going anywhere because she had been single for so long

Stephanie 1:33:05

and she probably didn't want people to think she was, you know, out there.

Dani 1:33:09

Weird.

Stephanie 1:33:10

Yeah.

Dani 1:33:11

Anyway.

Stephanie 1:33:12

Sure.

Dani 1:33:13

Tim said neither he nor most of the family met, excuse me, chip until the wedding of in May, 1995. He described the ceremony in Star as small and hurried and said Wanda was joyful and hopeful. She looked really, really lovely. Mary Meyers had said it was special to her. Tim said he did not see the same enthusiasm in Smif. I never really felt comfortable with him. He testified, he said Wanda quickly added, Ish's name to her trailer title and financial accounts because she wanted him to feel secure. She wanted him to feel like he belonged him, said she wanted him to feel like it was his home too. He testified that Miff brought very little into the marriage. Mm-hmm. He basically came with a suitcase.

Stephanie 1:34:05

His little suitcase. Yeah.

Dani 1:34:08

Tim told jurors that after Wanda disappeared, MIF gave him different times for when she left for work. He told me six o'clock once he said, then seven, then 7 35, then nine. He said the shifting stories troubled him. It didn't make sense to me. He said, I didn't understand why he couldn't keep it straight.

Stephanie 1:34:29

And you know, I think there's something to be said about that because especially when he's calling at 11:00 PM it's not like a week went by where he thought she was traveling and then it was like, oh, what time did she leave for her flight last week? I'm not sure. This is literally five, six hours before. Mm-hmm. What time did she leave? A good hour estimate at least. Right. Come on.

Dani 1:34:54

We all know the shows you watch every night.

Stephanie 1:34:56

Mm-hmm. And especially in that time, networked.

Dani 1:34:59

Especially.

Stephanie 1:34:59

What do you watch the nightly news every night? Well, was it before or after that? Was it

Dani 1:35:03

Jeopardy? Was it Willa Fortune?

Stephanie 1:35:06

Yeah.

Dani 1:35:06

Was it Golden Girls? Maybe.

Stephanie 1:35:09

Maybe.

Dani 1:35:09

Maybe. But I will say when, when he was arrested, guess where he was living? Not in the trailer. He was living with his ex's parents because he gave the trailer back to the kids.

Stephanie 1:35:37

Okay. That's a very good point.

Dani 1:35:41

I just had to note that. and there was some pressure from them. I'm not saying that he was like, oh, I

Stephanie 1:35:49

think no, they could have very well been like, listen up motherfucker.

Dani 1:35:52

Yeah. there was a little bit of, but he,

Stephanie 1:35:55

he did it. And in Idaho, dead

Dani 1:35:57

to rice. He didn't have to.

Stephanie 1:35:58

Yeah. In Idaho he did. If if it wasn't written out specifically, he did not have to. No,

Dani 1:36:02

she just went and changed it.

Stephanie 1:36:05

Yeah. Okay. Good point.

Dani 1:36:08

Officer Nicholas Dugan testified about responding to the nine one one call and the early morning hours of September 16th. Again, he talked about him being disoriented and moving about quite a bit without really doing anything. Talking about him handing the, the same insurance envelope over and over again three times. He said, and Dugan said Kuzmichev told him Wanda had left for work around 7:30 PM and should have been home by about 1:30 AM Dugan said he did not file a missing persons report at the time, and, and said, gave him a list of actions to take. I am slightly concerned, that there might've been. Some translation issues.

Stephanie 1:37:03

Oh, I'm,

Dani 1:37:04

because

Stephanie 1:37:05

I'm sure there was, and especially at this time in the nineties, no one was holding space for people that don't speak English like that. Wasn't sure. There was some Sure. In, in maybe like the refugee organizations and they understood this was definitely a time of speak English, you're in America like a hundred percent from, and expecting people to not have an accent or understanding that people not, might not have the right words. I digress.

Dani 1:37:36

But have you ever had a job where it's it's not by the hour, it's just something you had to complete and have you ever said, oh this, this'll take me about three hours, or I should be on about five hours even though. Maybe normally on another night when you're doing another job that you're paid to just complete the job, it might take you five hours. Could it be possible that when Wanda left the house that night, she said, oh, this will be fast. It's only gonna take me about three hours, even though her

Stephanie 1:38:17

needs paid for that, the extra hours. Sure. And a lot of times with cleaners, it's a, it's almost a flat fee. They're, yeah. A lot of places it could

Dani 1:38:26

be like hourly, but it's like a flat fee. Like I know that, uh, like

Stephanie 1:38:31

we're paying you this much a week Yeah. To clean our office building if you can get it. And that's how cleaners that are, like they're self-employed. Yeah. Usually make their money because if they're very good,

Dani 1:38:41

they'll get it done.

Stephanie 1:38:42

Two, they can turn it two instead of four. They can turn it over. Yeah. Yeah.

Dani 1:38:45

So I just wanna throw that out there, devil. Good

Stephanie 1:38:47

point.

Dani 1:38:48

Devil's advocate. Could there been, maybe that was a light duty night for her. It is a fricking law office.

Stephanie 1:38:55

Yeah. There shouldn't be like,

Dani 1:38:56

it's vacuuming,

Stephanie 1:38:58

vacuuming, light, dusting, taking out trash. Maybe emptying trashes. Yeah. wiping down the, the communal, kitchen sink.

Dani 1:39:05

They're not cleaning your desk off. You do not touch desks. You are doing

Stephanie 1:39:11

light maintenance.

Dani 1:39:12

Yeah. So maybe she's,

Stephanie 1:39:13

hopefully nobody shit all over a toilet or

Dani 1:39:16

something. Something. I'm like, I'm not trying to, I just like, I, my brain, we

Stephanie 1:39:20

know the type of job it is.

Dani 1:39:21

My brain is very look context. I want hardcore. Give me DNA give me video. I don't like. On this wishy

Stephanie 1:39:34

washy

Dani 1:39:35

that they're not taking into consideration that possibly there's a language barrier or that possibly was the listen, was the question ever asked? Did she say nowhere in my research did she say she was gonna be home by 1130?

Stephanie 1:39:48

Why are you calling us at 1130 if she's not supposed to be home by one? That's the question I want an answer to.

Dani 1:39:56

Damn, I wish I had the files. I'm so Detective Danny. anyways, that's the answers. That, that's what I want to know. I'm just,

Stephanie 1:40:06

well, and detective and police work was shitty back then. Way shitty. The amount of false confessions and shit still shitty now. Less shitty, but there's still shittiness happening. So listen, I can totally see someone being like this Russian. Sure.

Dani 1:40:26

Um, yeah.

Stephanie 1:40:31

Let's hear about it.

Dani 1:40:33

So listen, one of the detectives, he was cleared, but he shot somebody while he was off duty. And I just don't like it. I know too much.

Stephanie 1:40:45

I'm so fucking sick of that shit, of hearing

Dani 1:40:47

about off talked. I know too much and I don't fucking, and I refuse to like dig deep into it. I just wanna find out if he was cleared or not. It was fucking sketchy. Anyway, that's just my initial, I did not, it, it's

Stephanie 1:41:01

a common theme of cops that are off.

Dani 1:41:04

His wife was in the fucking car. He was in a

Stephanie 1:41:06

disgusting,

Dani 1:41:07

he was in a, uh, a marked police car doing some fucking concert duty. Anyway, I wasn't happy with it. I wasn't happy, especially after

Stephanie 1:41:16

it was sketch.

Dani 1:41:17

Yeah. Okay. And

Stephanie 1:41:18

a lot of times when you hear about that, those types of shootings, it's, it's almost as if they get more amped up not being in uniform because someone. Isn't showing them the amount of respect they're used to. And so then they're like, oh, I'm going to show you. Yeah, no, we see it all the time.

Dani 1:41:38

so I'm playing. I just,

Stephanie 1:41:41

no, I'm glad you are. Like it's very, and I'm trying to be open as well.

Dani 1:41:44

Yeah. It, it's,

Stephanie 1:41:45

even though I'm like, fuck this dude.

Dani 1:41:47

it's, I am not happy with the evidence here, and that's my problem. Mm-hmm. Is I've made, I just, I, I'm actually hot about it right now. I can

Stephanie 1:41:58

tell

Dani 1:41:59

because I just need more and I just, the reasonable doubt part of me, like, look, I am just, it has to be a hundred percent for me to,

Stephanie 1:42:13

or just like the, the possibility of it being anybody else is nearly impossible'cause I can get on that bandwagon

Dani 1:42:21

nearly impossible. But anyway, and I'm not saying this, I don't know about his ballet background. I just don't like, I don't like the language barrier. Mm-hmm. I don't feel like that was respected.

Stephanie 1:42:34

Oh, I'm sure it wasn't.

Dani 1:42:35

and then I think his downfall at the Idaho Ballet detectives immediately assumed he was a dirt bag.

Stephanie 1:42:48

They latched onto it, which it could have been a thing, but I mean, listen, there's plenty of dudes that get their egos hurt and bitch about it for years, and they don't go around killing people.

Dani 1:42:56

Right.

Stephanie 1:42:56

They're annoying as fuck. And they clearly have a complex, but they're not out murdering people. So she's, she took, she took the cardigan off

Dani 1:43:05

the flannel.

Stephanie 1:43:06

She, she, she fan. I am fired up about it. She, she fan the shirt. So let's take a breather.

Dani 1:43:13

Cheers. When Detective Lance Anderson testified about interviewing Che on September 21st, 1995, the day Wanda's body was found, he described Kiev's demeanor as restrained and unemotional. During the taped interview played for jurors, Anderson testified that Kuch does not ask many questions about the body. When told that Wanda's card had been found, he replied, that's nice. Where I don't like that because I feel like

Stephanie 1:43:54

you could be like, good, this will help lead us to her.

Dani 1:43:58

And see, and, and Detective Anderson said he found that response unusual, but with the language barrier.

Stephanie 1:44:05

Well, and it's all context, so that's nice. Like if someone said, that's nice, God, I love that car. And I would've been so sad. That's a different thing than, that's great. Did it have any, like, where was it? Was it nearby Somewhere? We can put a search party out.

Dani 1:44:24

That's great. You found evidence.

Stephanie 1:44:25

We have a clue that maybe we can search in the area, so, no, I get it. I get it. I'm right. I'm right there with you on

Dani 1:44:32

this. I'm not feeling this. Okay. the video tape showed of frequently using an interpreter and struggling with phrasing. When Anderson asked what he thought, what had happened, accuse, Mitch said, quote, I think somebody needs caught when told that the body had been found but not yet identified, accuse, Mitch said, maybe it's not one death.

Stephanie 1:45:01

Which most people will hope for, even like in the most dire circumstances where there's no chance of it being someone else. So,

Dani 1:45:11

Anderson also testified that accused me of, said he hadn't been near Bogus Basin Road since 1994.

Stephanie 1:45:21

This is a tough one.

Dani 1:45:23

Are you feeling me on this?

Stephanie 1:45:25

I'm feeling it. Okay. Yeah.

Dani 1:45:28

Judge Schwartzman later warned prosecutors during the trial not to allow Anderson to speculate about Kuch of his body language'cause he was trying to quote Your witness cannot start analyzing responses. Schwartzman said. He's looking up, he is looking down, he's sweating. That leaves the jury with the impression he's lying

Stephanie 1:45:53

and listen up. This doesn't mean that I'm behind this guy. I don't love the story leading up to, it seems like typical weird, you know it.

Dani 1:46:10

No, I

Stephanie 1:46:10

totally

Dani 1:46:11

agree. We,

Stephanie 1:46:11

as, as women, we see the patterns of toxic men. So, and listen, every pattern doesn't mean it's the rule, but for how frustrating it is for me, I love the English language and when I can't find the right word, when, and I'm not even talking a$10 word, just like a, there's a specific word, and for some reason it's not coming to me. That's so frustrating to me because it's not gonna convey what I'm trying to say. So I can't imagine trying to speak in a different language in a elementary way and knowing that. If I say this in the same, and this is, but just if I'm at like a fourth grade English level or a sixth grade or a even a sophomore in high school, it's not gonna say, I'm trying to say a specific thing so I can understand someone being like, no, bring my translator because, or bring a translator.

Dani 1:47:05

But even translation, I wish I knew more about this translator because

Stephanie 1:47:09

it, it can be subjective.

Dani 1:47:10

There is literally, so I had a person in my life for many, many years that spoke Spanish, but was from Columbia.

Stephanie 1:47:23

Mm-hmm.

Dani 1:47:25

To speak Spanish.

Stephanie 1:47:27

That

Dani 1:47:28

dialect to somebody dialect from Mexico was difficult. For the translation due to slang. There's

Stephanie 1:47:35

so much dialect

Dani 1:47:36

and interpretate interpretation of what different words mean.

Stephanie 1:47:39

And it depends how dedicated the translator is too, of accuracy of really trying to explain, were you a Russian

Dani 1:47:47

cop or the police department?

Stephanie 1:47:50

Yeah. And so

Dani 1:47:51

no, like seriously,

Stephanie 1:47:52

so I can feel, I can totally empathize with someone guilty or innocent.

Dani 1:47:57

No.

Stephanie 1:47:57

Whether or not,

Dani 1:47:58

and that's, that's all

Stephanie 1:47:59

I trying to say. You deserve to have your words, you want your words to have meaning. Sure.

Dani 1:48:04

I, I

Stephanie 1:48:05

get

Dani 1:48:05

it. I'm just not liking it because look, if you've listened to our podcast, we will definitely slam a convict.

Stephanie 1:48:15

Well, and we've slammed him even just on his behaviors before.

Dani 1:48:18

Yeah.

Stephanie 1:48:18

You know,

Dani 1:48:19

uh,

Stephanie 1:48:20

I don't, I don't love his egotistical behaviors. No,

Dani 1:48:23

me either.

Stephanie 1:48:24

Before,

Dani 1:48:25

uh, I'm just not feeling good about the trial.

Stephanie 1:48:29

Okay. Is

Dani 1:48:29

all I'm saying. Um.

Stephanie 1:48:39

Oh Lord, she's, she's grabbing my arm. This means shit's. Shit's getting crazy.

Dani 1:48:46

Detective Smith also testified about the use of jailhouse informants.

Stephanie 1:48:52

Oh, oh God.

Dani 1:48:53

He said he initially placed this is, oh God. He said he initially placed a Russian speaking inmate near iv, but the inmate reported nothing. The Russian speaking inmate introduced IV to Jason Aiken Atkin.

Stephanie 1:49:14

Sure.

Dani 1:49:16

A KEN. Atkin

Stephanie 1:49:18

Atkin. I don't know

Dani 1:49:20

who said he had overheard incriminating statements. I told Mr. Atkin I that he would receive nothing for his testimony. Smith. And he indicated he understood

Stephanie 1:49:37

that's a wink week nudge, nudge.

Dani 1:49:40

Jason Atkin testified, during the trial he told jurors that he met, he, he much of in the ADA County Jail after seeing a television report about the case. He said they began talking and that IV admitted killing his wife. It wasn't premeditated Atkins said IV told him they were arguing about going back to Russia. He testified that Kimchi said, I didn't mean to hurt her. He said Kimchi told him a woman helped him dump the body near Bogus Basin Road. He took her there because that place was familiar to him. Atkins said,

Stephanie 1:50:25

and let me just interject here and. A lot of folks will be like, well, how would someone know some of these details? Snitchy is a occupation and occupation in jail, and there are some that are truly providing good info, but then there's others that are on the call or letters with their family, or someone's just sending this to them without them asking for it, of here's the headlines, here's this, here's that. So someone having some public details doesn't mean that someone else told them that. Now, if there was something that was never released to the public, like let's say, you know, she had. X mark slashed into her feet, but nobody knew that. Sure. That could be, maybe if there was no public information of that, that might help verify. But no, this is, people don't wanna stay in prison. There's things you can do in prison to make your life easier, to make yourself known, to make yourself important to other people so you don't get fucked up. And there's other ways to lessen your time. This is one of'em. It's like a side job. It can be. Anyway.

Dani 1:51:56

I would also like to say, and I'm not disparaging age, he was 21 years old cool cat and had multiple felonies and misdemeanors and a hot shit show.

Stephanie 1:52:09

People have got a lot of listen, if, if, I know a lot of people might say, I would never lie. If you were facing 30 years and can bring it down to four for some reason, that's an incredible difference. Think of your salary over 30 years. Think of just the money that you could earn and, and how much being outside of society for 30 years, how much that would hurt you. Not being able to go to an accredited school. Most likely not being able to

Dani 1:52:39

get, oh, we have seen this too with some of this restitution that comes back to these people. I'm like,

Stephanie 1:52:44

wrongfully convicted.

Dani 1:52:45

That's not enough.

Stephanie 1:52:46

Because you've lost,

Dani 1:52:48

you don't have, you've been in jail for years. You've nothing you don't have, you don't have a family. You're never gonna children. You

Stephanie 1:52:55

don't have a

Dani 1:52:56

career,

Stephanie 1:52:57

are we, even if you were a carpenter and any blue collar job, you haven't had the opportunity

Dani 1:53:02

to become a supervisor or a lead, or

Stephanie 1:53:05

you've been a

Dani 1:53:06

manager.

Stephanie 1:53:07

Literally frozen time. Are we chop

Dani 1:53:08

sticking about this? We

Stephanie 1:53:09

are

Dani 1:53:10

During cross-examination Akin admitted he hoped his testimony would help him at his parole hearing

Stephanie 1:53:17

precisely.

Dani 1:53:18

He admitted to multiple convictions and said he had lied to his mother about his plans to testify. He said he had attention deficit disorder and trouble staying out of trouble without medication. This is the nineties and yes, this was,

Stephanie 1:53:35

it was a thing. It was new though.

Dani 1:53:37

It was new. It

Stephanie 1:53:37

was new. New as far as like the mainstream. Sure.

Dani 1:53:40

Yeah. Atkin's mother, Deborah Atkin, testified that she had received threatening calls before her son testified defense attorneys.

Stephanie 1:53:49

Is it the Simplot family again?

Dani 1:53:51

Yeah. Defense attorneys sought a mistrial'cause they're like, you cannot put the whole defense, like they didn't know anything about it. but Judge Horseman denied it. When prosecutor Roger Bourne asked if she believed her son was telling the truth, Schwartzman intervened. That question was totally improper. He said whether he's telling the truth is up to the mother fucking jury anyway. Not, he didn't say motherfucker.

Stephanie 1:54:21

I wish he would've though. let's get Samuel L. Jackson up in this fucking courtroom.

Dani 1:54:28

You wanna talk about Terry Sue, uh, t?

Stephanie 1:54:32

Sure do.

Dani 1:54:33

Yeah. she testified that she worked early morning shifts and remembered a man buying duct taped garbage bags and clothes lined rope around the time Wanda disappeared. It was about 5:00 AM she said most people are getting their donuts and are pretty cheery. She said the man did not speak or smile.

Stephanie 1:54:55

You got the morning people. I can see that.

Dani 1:54:58

He didn't say hi. She said he didn't say anything. She said she looked up at the items and thought, what's he gonna do with this stuff? Tie somebody up. Like, ha ha. She said when she saw a flyer with Cus Mitch's photo months later, she felt sick. I didn't feel right. She said, I dwelled on it and dwelled on it. She later viewed a lineup and identified as the customer in court. She pointed to him and said she was 100% sure.

Stephanie 1:55:33

And you know, she may have been, but your point about if a flyer's been in the break room for months, you've been staring at it. At at

Dani 1:55:42

and what do we know about eyewitness testimony?

Stephanie 1:55:45

It can be, and it can still be true too, but it's just,

Dani 1:55:51

your memory is not,

Stephanie 1:55:53

if you hear that someone is like tied up and. Nothing jogs your memory. It seems like it was very impactful for you. So what made it not impactful enough that you, I don't know, it's, it's tough.

Dani 1:56:08

Look, if I was working at the Wear mart at a checker at 5:00 AM and somebody came through with duct tape and rope and garbage bags, I would be watching the fucking news. But that's just me.

Stephanie 1:56:24

And maybe it was someone that wasn't sure and they're like, oh, that was just a weird encounter that sticks with them. But it's like, you know what? Working with the public, you get a lot of fucking weird people.

Dani 1:56:37

can I just tell you, I, I don't think I wrote this down. it came out that the brand of garbage bags and duct tape were not even sold at the wear mark. Oh,

Stephanie 1:56:57

okay. Interesting.

Dani 1:57:05

Medical and forensic witnesses testified that Wanda's body had a plastic bag tightly wrapped around her head, and that the duct tape bound her ankles. The pathologist testified he could not conclusively determine the cause of death, but said Suff suffocation was the most likely explanation. Prosecutor presented evidence that Che's Kuzmichev fingerprints were found on the bag around Wanda's feet on the trunk lid, and on the gear shift of her car. Blood consistent with Wanda's was found in the trunk.

Stephanie 1:57:40

Okay? And I mean, his fingerprints would be on the trunk lid and in the car

Dani 1:57:44

there's

Stephanie 1:57:44

a bag shirt.

Dani 1:57:45

There's gonna be, well, they said the only fingerprints that they found in the car was on the gear shift and on the trunk,

Stephanie 1:57:56

I, how in the fuck could that be? So.

Dani 1:58:01

They're insinuating that he wiped down that whole fucking car.

Stephanie 1:58:09

Only to leave his prints,

Dani 1:58:10

only to leave his fingerprints on the gear shift in the trunk. I just don't like it.

Stephanie 1:58:14

Her prints have to be somewhere. I'm so sorry.

1:58:17

So

Dani 1:58:17

somebody completely wiped so,

Stephanie 1:58:19

or someone else killed her and then he found the car and went and touched it and then left and was like, I didn't know about what, no, they're baking

Dani 1:58:25

on, they're saying he wiped down the car completely except for the gear shift and the trunk.

Stephanie 1:58:34

That's, listen, I understand. Forgetting the visor for getting the mirror, the rear view mirror, forgetting maybe one handle that you thought you didn't touch. I don't think you're forgetting the gear shift or the trunk lid. If you've put a body to transport into the trunk,

Dani 1:58:53

you know.

1:58:55

I

Stephanie 1:58:55

mean, I just

Dani 1:58:55

don't like it.

Stephanie 1:58:56

Listen, there's, there's plenty of stupid criminals who have done far stupider things, but if you're gonna wipe down every home, my and I

Dani 1:59:05

had to, so,

Stephanie 1:59:05

and who and who wouldn't if you've gotten away with it for that long? Oh, every, every mental hospital's given me a day pass, a weekend pass. I can just go fucking statewide and murder people. Anyway.

Dani 1:59:20

defense witnesses testified that accused Mitch have had legitimate reasons for touching the trunk and car.'cause it was his wife's car.

Stephanie 1:59:28

Yeah.

Dani 1:59:28

including helping with vegetables. Oleg and Lu Lu, sorry. KO testified they saw him left the trunk the days before Wanda disappeared. And that was his, ex in-laws.

Stephanie 1:59:45

Right. Okay.

Dani 1:59:46

and his. Daughter, I think that was her formal name. she ended up changing her name later.

Stephanie 1:59:51

Really?

Dani 1:59:52

Okay. His daughter did. It was kind of,

Stephanie 1:59:54

anyways,

Dani 1:59:55

by the end of the third week, jurors had her testimony from more than 50 witnesses, viewed more than 80 pieces of evidence and listened to conflicting accounts that centered on cus me's shifting timelines, his fingerprints, the star clerk's identification, and the jailhouse informants claim.

Stephanie 2:00:15

Okay.

Dani 2:00:16

So

Stephanie 2:00:17

I can understand why you weren't stoked about it.

Dani 2:00:21

No, I, so this was a hugely circumstantial case. The only evidence, first of all, they were going for the death penalty and Judge Horsman was like.

Stephanie 2:00:38

Absolutely not.

Dani 2:00:40

And they pushed for it. The prosecution pushed for it

Stephanie 2:00:42

because, and they shouldn't, because especially coming off of the decades that we've seen of the fuckery, we were just starting to, we had fucked around for years. Yeah. The early nineties, we were just starting to fight out.

Dani 2:00:53

Mm-hmm.

Stephanie 2:00:54

For real.

Dani 2:00:55

Yeah. FAFO. but this is how bad the prosecution wanted, the death penalty. They're like, well, if you're choking for somebody for three to five minutes, that is premeditated. That's where they were at with a premeditation.

Stephanie 2:01:11

And I've seen that in other cases too, where I don't, I really don't agree with it. And, and a lot of these cases are so heinous and so cut and dry that it's like, this person definitely did it, but I'm like, I. That's stretching the premeditation for me.

Dani 2:01:31

I think premeditation requires like

Stephanie 2:01:33

planning, thinking about it, whether you write it down or not, if you can prove talking to a friend or things, things, behaviorally moving assets,

Dani 2:01:43

because

Stephanie 2:01:43

they couldn't even

Dani 2:01:44

tie or buying the rope before they could only find, they only were tying in that kind of evidence after.

Stephanie 2:01:52

Well, and that was a, that was very like, crucial to me hearing that, that, that someone bought rope and duct tape or whatever the fuck. But hearing that, that those brands aren't even sold there, that completely nses it for me. So it's the brand that was found on the body. If it's not sold there, maybe someone creepy did come in.

Dani 2:02:16

They, they

Stephanie 2:02:16

did,

Dani 2:02:16

they did find his. Okay. So this is one thing about washing. The, that city confidential. Mm-hmm. That I was like, oh, maybe I'm totally off key. So like, you know, his fingerprints was found on the garbage bag that was around her look, I'm just

Stephanie 2:02:36

gonna say, and that means a lot. But

Dani 2:02:38

I'm gonna tell you, I've had garbage, I have kept garbage bags in the back of my car.

Stephanie 2:02:45

Yeah.

Dani 2:02:45

Before, like,

Stephanie 2:02:47

because you never know. Dirty shoes, muddy boots.

Dani 2:02:50

I have

Stephanie 2:02:50

totally dog accident.

Dani 2:02:51

Kept them there. I think it was mostly dog shit. Mm-hmm. Not literally dog shit, but dog stuff.

Stephanie 2:02:57

Yeah.

Dani 2:02:57

I've literally had a folded up garbage bag in the back of my trunk before.

Stephanie 2:03:01

You never

Dani 2:03:01

know. And

Stephanie 2:03:02

Danny's

Dani 2:03:03

prepared. And I'm not driving a pickup, like I'm a cute little car. The city confidential thing was like, and finger, his fingerprints were found, piss me, were on the inside of the tape that was wrapped around her, the duct tape. So I'm thinking, oh my God, I am

Stephanie 2:03:25

smoking off, smoking

Dani 2:03:26

gun, way off. But then later they say that there were partial prints that couldn't be,

Stephanie 2:03:35

give us something, give us something.

Dani 2:03:37

So they couldn't really put the prints that were on the inside of the duct tape. Like if you're rolling duct tape around something, your fingers are touching it. Like there's no way to get your fingerprints on

Stephanie 2:03:46

them to rip it. Yeah, yeah.

Dani 2:03:48

you guys know what I'm saying. So, but then to come back and say, well, they could never, they weren't conclusively hit

Stephanie 2:03:53

then you can't say that.

Dani 2:03:55

Shut your mouth.

Stephanie 2:03:56

Okay.

Dani 2:03:58

As the prosecution and defense concluded their cases in early February 97, jurors represented with closing arguments that reflected the sharply different interpretations of the evidence that we just fully went over.

Stephanie 2:04:13

Yeah.

Dani 2:04:14

Over four weeks of testimony, Roger Bourne told jurors that Wanda's Midnight blue, 89 Buick La Saber held the answers to the case. Have you ever wished a car could talk born? Asked if so, this Buick would tell us who was Wanda's killer. He pointed two fingerprints on the trunk, gearshift, and garbage bag, and to the inconsistency Kuzmichev statements. Why can't he keep track of time born asked. The reason is he hadn't thought this thing through,

Stephanie 2:04:48

or he's in our teeth.

Dani 2:04:50

Born argued that suffocation requires sustained effort.

Stephanie 2:04:53

Mm-hmm.

Dani 2:04:54

And it wasn't quick and it wasn't a quick and easy death. He said, Gus Cahill and I can't. He has been in our shit before. Mm-hmm. That was the defense attorney. I can't remember. I should have went through the cases, but he's been on our cases

Stephanie 2:05:09

before. Yeah, no, I recognize the name.

Dani 2:05:10

Challenge the state's case as speculative and invasive police used wiretaps and phone taps. He said they followed Accusa chip and found a jailhouse snitch. He told jurors the investigation was built on a number of invasions of his freedom. He argued that fingerprints without timing were meaningless. They've got fingerprints, he said, but they can't tell you when or how they got there. Cahill said the state had failed to prove motive. There's nothing that proved my client killed Wanda, he said. And I'm telling you, there's no motive. He didn't even ke keep the house.

Stephanie 2:05:58

No, I agree. I I think usually when you see this, it's a lot more obvious, but were there things that were just betrothed to him because she already switched over a 4 0 1 KA life insurance

Dani 2:06:12

maybe. Possibly.

Stephanie 2:06:13

So he's like, yeah, fuck, fuck that house.

Dani 2:06:15

It's not screaming life

Stephanie 2:06:16

insurance. Fuck that house. Give, give it to the kids. It's not screaming

Dani 2:06:19

life insurance.

Stephanie 2:06:20

And it sounds like her kids were probably really passionate about her, so I bet that they were like, motherfucker don't try us. Maybe in a nice, possibly

Dani 2:06:30

religious way. Oh, I definitely feel like the kids were like,

Stephanie 2:06:33

yeah, fuck off.

Dani 2:06:33

And you know what? If

Stephanie 2:06:35

as they,

Dani 2:06:36

that happened to me with my inheritance and my parents had only been married to somebody else for four months, I'd be like, IUH.

Stephanie 2:06:43

Yeah.

Dani 2:06:44

Under suspicious circumstances, Uhuh. I will box you.

Stephanie 2:06:49

Yeah.

Dani 2:06:49

Come here. Anyway, judge Allen Horseman instructed the jury and sent eight women and four men to deliberate.

Stephanie 2:06:59

Oh, a highly woman.

Dani 2:07:02

Yes.

Stephanie 2:07:03

You don't see that all the time.

Dani 2:07:05

They began at 2:00 PM and deliberated for more than six hours before they recessed over the next two days. Look at jury's, deliberating.

Stephanie 2:07:15

Great job,

Dani 2:07:15

uh, deliberation stretched past 18 hours. Boise defense attorney Thomas McCabe, who wasn't involved in the case. He was just in the papers. Yeah. Uh, said the length favored the defense. The fact that they're taking this long means somebody in there has doubts. He said if the jury came back quickly, it would've been bad for the state.

Stephanie 2:07:36

And that's, again, that's, that's very cut and dry. Sometimes it takes 18 hours to get that one holdout to go for guilt. So. most good prosecutors or even defense attorneys will say, you do, you do not know with a jury. I mean, look at Casey Anthony. Everyone thought she was dead to rights. That jury came back quick as fuck. I, which is usually great for the prosecution. Like, oh, boom, she's, and they're like, well, we don't know exactly how the baby died. So she, yeah, she's innocent of everything was essentially, and even if it's not right, this has to do with jury instructions and people's understanding of the law because some people think that the defense has to prove someone innocent. That's not the case. No, the burden is on the prosecution.

Dani 2:08:23

I got a fucking quote for you here in a

Stephanie 2:08:24

minute. Oh, I'm so fucking

Dani 2:08:26

stok. On February 9th, after three days of deliberations, juries returned a verdict of guilty of second degree murder.

Stephanie 2:08:34

Okay?

Dani 2:08:35

Because George Schwartzman said, you're not getting the death penalty. He literally

Stephanie 2:08:40

did that. And it's good for whether it's just good for everyone. You don't do that unless it's crazy.

Dani 2:08:49

Maria Borders handed the verdict to bailiff. Jack Henrik Schwarzman read Guilty of Murder in the second degree. Several family members gassed and began crying, accuse Mechi looked first at his attorney, and then as at his interpreter, but showed no visible emotion. Kayhill leaned forward and laid his head on the table.

Stephanie 2:09:16

Oh,

Dani 2:09:18

he's like, really? jurors later said, fingerprints on the garbage bag. Were decisive. I was waiting for the defense to bring up some solid evidence to sway me away from the state's evidence. Juror, Paul Brook said, when the defense said that they were done with their case, we were like shocked. We asked What? That's it? Borders,

Stephanie 2:09:40

and sometimes you've gotta spell it out in every way.

Dani 2:09:44

Border said, deliberations were emotional. We went through so many doubts. she said, please tell us this man is innocent. But unfortunately, beyond a reasonable doubt, we could not find that. That's not, that's not it. It's supposed to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. No, not

Stephanie 2:10:05

innocent.

Dani 2:10:06

Not innocent. Beyond a reasonable doubt.

Stephanie 2:10:08

they, they're saying we wanted them to prove him innocent more.

Dani 2:10:13

The quote was, please tell us this man is innocent. But unfortunately, beyond a reasonable doubt. We could not find that.

Stephanie 2:10:26

And you hear this type of stuff from jury, that hands tied, thing, they, they interviewed a juror that was like, well, yeah, yeah, everything was very weird. But the defense could not prove to me that anyone else was in the house. That's not their burden to prove that.

Dani 2:10:45

I fucking cringed when I read that

Stephanie 2:10:49

quote. Oh, I hate this shit. And I feel like I, you know, I think it's different Mm-hmm. But I feel like, you know, jury instructions differ from state to state and they should, because there's different things that they have to consider. But we've got to find a way to more clearly state that because. When you have to listen to this podcast,'cause it was like five, four or something. It was, it was very close on guilty, innocent. And you can tell that this dude and no shade to this dude.

Dani 2:11:23

No,

Stephanie 2:11:23

but that he, they're

Dani 2:11:24

doing a, that he

Stephanie 2:11:25

shade to this

Dani 2:11:25

person.

Stephanie 2:11:26

He's a convincing person. And he's oh, we, we got, it was 12 Angry Men iconic movie. No matter what the hell happened in the courtroom. Emotions can run high and people's own strengths and weaknesses can come out and people might just cave to something. And I feel like that's sometimes something that happens. Anyway, let's get back to the story.

Dani 2:11:51

Well, my biggest thing with this is that I fell like instructions were not properly Yes. Given, because that is not the instruction of a jury. Your whole It is.

Stephanie 2:12:06

You have to go off only the evidence that's provided,

Dani 2:12:09

and it has to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, not innocent, beyond a reasonable doubt. And so I feel like

Stephanie 2:12:18

there's a difference

Dani 2:12:19

that just raised, I, I literally fucking cringe when I read that quote by a juror.

Stephanie 2:12:25

It doesn't make me feel good.

Dani 2:12:26

No. Tim Cowger said after the verdict, what happened to my mother was despicable. It was family friend Lynn Compton said he took this cultured lady, stripped over dignity and threw her in the weeds like garbage. And she was,

Stephanie 2:12:44

no, it was a terrible way to die.

Dani 2:12:46

Veta Varner, who worked with Wanda for 17 years, said she walked into work every day for 17 years and could have been on the cover of a magazine. I said she was cute. She was always a lady.

Stephanie 2:12:59

Oh,

Dani 2:13:00

Varner added it. Hsi some nights what he did to her. But if she were here, she would forgive him for it.

Stephanie 2:13:06

Oh, if in

Dani 2:13:08

fact, I mean Wanda was just a classy, gracious lady is from everything and

2:13:12

a

Stephanie 2:13:13

very giving lady it sounds like

Dani 2:13:16

on June 4th, 1997, Schwartzman, sentenced, excuse me, of to life in prison with the eligibility for parole after 20 years. He said there were many, many factors that point exon to your guilt. Though he gave little weight to Atkins testimony, I failed, compelled to speak of the increased use of jailhouse snitch testimony. Schwartzman said he expressed sympathy for K Me's daughter calling her the other victim in this case. And I agree, Cus Mechi addressed the court. This trial is as horrible to me as the members of Wanda's family. He said, I am not guilty in the death of my wife. Born, suggested domestic abuse as a possible motive, citing an incident in which Mcha slapped Wanda's wrist. Admittedly, I'm trying to read between the lines here. Bourne said he was no longer a ballet master. It wrinkled him that he was relying on her for financial support maybe.

Stephanie 2:14:32

And as we said, like this was not uncommon. And these are two grown adults, no matter if she had been lonely for some time and he had been humbled by him not working. Once you're older. The easiness and convenience of a relation of just having a partner. You're not looking for that huge romance. And because you know that having a true partner that you can do life with is way more valuable than having the

Dani 2:15:06

passionate

Stephanie 2:15:07

drama and you know,'cause often that it leads to toxicity. So you're like, if we can get along and we both have the same outlooks on life, we can both live with each other in the same place. It means a lot. The older you get, it means a lot more. You don't need that craziness for a relationship. No, and And you might not even, you might not want no craziness. That's me. I'm like craziness.

Dani 2:15:36

No, I'm way down low on crazy.

Stephanie 2:15:38

Yeah, we're keeping it down here.

Dani 2:15:41

Tim's Uncle Darrell said after sentencing. I'd like to know the answer. Why I'm disappointed there wasn't more evidence.

Stephanie 2:15:48

Mm-hmm. And mo motive because that's, I know nobody has to prove that I know you. It's not required in almost all states, but that allows so much more closure if you can find a re if they would've been able to find, oh, he made her put her will of her pension or what? Something

Dani 2:16:07

Yeah. He killed her for money or he killed her'cause she didn't wanna go to

Stephanie 2:16:12

restaurant. He was telling his girlfriends Yeah, he had girlfriends on the side and he was telling them all that he was gonna have a big payday soon and then she died. Sure. I feel better about

Dani 2:16:23

it. Tim said that the case devastated the family. This is so sad. One brother later died by suicide and another struggled with all alcoholism. He was deep in that

Stephanie 2:16:37

damn.

Dani 2:16:37

And Wanda's mother died a year later. My grandmother quit. Tim said, she said, I don't wanna live anymore.

Stephanie 2:16:48

The heartbreak,

Dani 2:16:50

it's, I mean, there's, we're asking questions about the evidence and conviction

Stephanie 2:16:59

and people that we

Dani 2:17:00

don't know, but ultimately there was a wonderful,

Stephanie 2:17:04

she's gone

Dani 2:17:04

regardless, be woman that's gone and it still affects the family.

2:17:09

Mm-hmm.

Dani 2:17:09

And in so many ways. And

Stephanie 2:17:13

I'm just, that, and that it wasn't an open and shut, or at least even a heavy evidence case where you're like,

Dani 2:17:21

feel, and I didn't know why. Confident, why they had no motive, which is even worse for the family, you know? And, and they did, they, they got their conviction. Mm-hmm. Um, I do believe the family believes he did it, and that's fine. And I'm not saying he didn't do it or did do it, I'm just saying I don't like the evidence.

Stephanie 2:17:40

It's, it's surely plausible that he did

Dani 2:17:42

it. It is plausible. I just don't like the evidence. It's,

Stephanie 2:17:46

it's, I mean, I would look more

Dani 2:17:48

to, I want more

2:17:49

to

Stephanie 2:17:49

be passionate about it, for sure. Yeah.

Dani 2:17:51

Yeah. So I just question the evidence and, and where it's at.

Stephanie 2:17:54

No, this was a tough one.

Dani 2:17:56

Kuzmichev appealed his conviction in January, 1999. His attorneys argued that testimony from Watson and Akin should not have been admitted. That's the, the grocery store clerk and the jailhouse snitch.

Stephanie 2:18:10

Sure.

Dani 2:18:10

Deputy Attorney General Kenneth Jorgensen responded that the clerk only reported what she saw and the police had not overreached. I still

Stephanie 2:18:20

don't like that. And she could have saw someone that was unfriendly, uns smiling that bought that stuff. But if it's not available

Dani 2:18:26

to pick up on the lineup, I just don't think that should be admitted. She already saw his picture hanging in the break room

Stephanie 2:18:31

for how long?

Dani 2:18:32

Yeah. Uh, on April 3rd, 1999, the Idaho Supreme Court, unanimous unanimously big word, multiple syllables

Stephanie 2:18:41

or

Dani 2:18:41

doing

Stephanie 2:18:41

it

Dani 2:18:42

up upheld the conviction and sentence justice. Gerald Schroder wrote that Schwartzman had not aired in any major ruling, so it was like, there could have been a little things, but not these big things. So we're good. it's

Stephanie 2:18:57

so hard to overturn.

Dani 2:18:59

It is

Stephanie 2:18:59

just about any one side and, and this one,

Dani 2:19:02

there's

Stephanie 2:19:02

nothing was technically wrong, but it's all very side eye.

Dani 2:19:08

And October, 2006, son Tim, learned Kuzmichev was dying of cancer and might be eligible for compassionate release. I thought once you got a fixed sentence, you got a fixed sentence. Tim said if he died in prison, he died in prison. The commission of Pardons and parole denied early release. Olivia Craven. From the department said the decision focused on the seriousness of the crime. After learning Esman, Schiff would remain in prison. Tim began writing him a letter. Nobody wants to be without God when they die. Tim said he asked MIF to find faith. The letter included a line Tim said, took 11 years to write. I want you to know that I forgive you with all my heart. Ooh, I feel so bad for this time. Um, the letter was postmarked November 11th, 2006. Hugs, McGiff died that same day in the infirmary at the Idaho State Correctional Institution warden, Randy Blake confirmed he died of cancer. Uh,

Stephanie 2:20:16

what the hell did he get the letter? Most likely not in a jail. If you're not here. He

Dani 2:20:22

did not get the letter. It he died the same day. It was postmark. So he did not

Stephanie 2:20:25

get the letter. Oh, post. Okay. Yeah.

Dani 2:20:27

Um. Mother never got a choice of where she got to die. And I think it was important that he didn't have the opportunity to die in peace. Tim said he felt relief and sorrow. This sting will never go away. He said it will never go away

Stephanie 2:20:47

and it never does.

Dani 2:20:48

No. So he was trying to get out, uh, in October and he died like a month later, almost to the day. So, I mean, he was very sick. Mm-hmm. And I'm not saying that it's just, I don't know, I kind of have a little bit of compassion for people who are dying,

Stephanie 2:21:03

especially with the doubt you know, of,

Dani 2:21:06

I have a little bit of, you know what, I, I have a handful of criminals, well actually more than that, that we've done research on. I'm like, no, you don't get your family,

Stephanie 2:21:16

but like the ice cream shop murders mm-hmm. Where there was the four that were jailed, the two that confessed that were in jail for years. And then the DNA proved that they could have never been a part of it.

Dani 2:21:26

Mm-hmm.

Stephanie 2:21:26

But. The town wanted to heal. Mm-hmm. This was tearing the town apart. It was four boys convicted of killing four girls. It fit, it sounded plausible, and so many people were like, why would you ever confess to a crime that you never did? Well go under 18 hours of interrogation as a teenager or young adult, and then they were proven. So I think it's such human nature to want a resolution. Mm-hmm. And want an answer that, and again. Nothing, nothing did prove him innocent either. I know we're not looking for that. I wish there would've been some DNA that showed him someone completely different all over her. And that

Dani 2:22:16

might've happened later. Uh,

Stephanie 2:22:19

but it's just,

Dani 2:22:20

I just look, I'm not saying he didn't do it.

Stephanie 2:22:23

No, me either.

Dani 2:22:24

I just don't like the, the evidence didn't feel,

Stephanie 2:22:28

and knowing

Dani 2:22:29

weighty enough for me to be like, it just raised a lot of,'cause I'm not saying he's innocent at all

Stephanie 2:22:34

either.

Dani 2:22:35

Uh, he was convicted. He's died in prison and it was very

Stephanie 2:22:39

suspicious. There was some

Dani 2:22:40

suspicion was some weird things going on. I just, I am super in. I want

Stephanie 2:22:47

something more.

Dani 2:22:47

Mm-hmm. And I, I didn't like, I don't like jail. Hostages. The gro,

Stephanie 2:22:54

I, I didn't like that in the grocery store.

Dani 2:22:56

No,

Stephanie 2:22:57

I feel like that. It was just suspicious.

Dani 2:22:58

Yeah. I just didn't, like, I don't,

Stephanie 2:23:00

we need a little more,

Dani 2:23:01

I don't feel good about it. That's all. That's all I'm saying. But poor, the main thing is poor Wanda,

Stephanie 2:23:09

her life was taken and she was disposed of in just a inhumane, disgusting way. And that's such a shame.

Dani 2:23:20

But what caught my eye about this was bringing, you know, Mr. Worldwide and how he was the

Stephanie 2:23:25

KGB,

Dani 2:23:26

uh, that I've ever got to say, the kg B in one of our podcasts. Mm-hmm. Uh, a in

Stephanie 2:23:32

a little old Tater land

Dani 2:23:33

and Tater land. Thank you. City Confidential. Um,

Stephanie 2:23:37

not derogatory when we say it.

Dani 2:23:39

No, we, we have that right. It's

2:23:41

with

Stephanie 2:23:41

love.

Dani 2:23:42

We have that right. But then him just his rise and fall from Grace. and then poor Wanda who hadn't been married or been with anybody for like 30 years, I was like,

Stephanie 2:23:54

and was just ecstatic.

Dani 2:23:56

She was so excited. So anyways, guys, it, it is what it is. Rest, I didn't like. Yeah, rest in peace, Wanda. And you were a great mother. Your kids adored you, your mother adored you, and

Stephanie 2:24:11

she was just a cool girl. And maybe something will come out someday that boom, we find out who really did it or confirm that he did it.

Dani 2:24:21

I just wanted more evidence anyway. I just didn't like the, I just didn't like the evidence. So

Stephanie 2:24:28

not my fve in the evidence category by you by any means. Thank you. Um, thank you guys for listening. We got a new TikTok out. Check it. Check yourself. Don't wreck yourself. We love having fun. Follow us on TikTok. You guys have the funniest comments. Keep'em coming. email us the lethal library@gmail.com. If any comments, concerns, kudos questions, random thoughts. I mean, I don't know what I'll do with your random thoughts, but we

Dani 2:24:58

shoot'em. Let's go.

Stephanie 2:24:59

We love a little giggle. Let's go. What are, what are y'all thinking about today? Anyway, we just appreciate you guys and, um, that's all I got. Ten four rubber ducky. Fuck. Yeah.