All language subtitles for murder.for.hire.s01e08.eye.for.an.eye.web.x264-underbelly

[tense notes]

- I worked for King & Mockovak

because I believed
in them as surgeons.

- He's my boss, and he's
probing me whether or not

my so-called
"Russian connections"

can organize a murder.

- He has a $5 million key-man
insurance policy.

- So many people damaged
over one person.

- I was just, like, stunned.

In that moment,
I started to tear up.

- If there's a point
to back out, this would be it.

[dramatic music]

- In 2005, down in Renton
outside of Seattle,

Joe King and Michael Mockovak

launch Clearly Lasik
laser eye surgery.

It was a big deal.

They immediately were dominant
in the region.

- I believed in working
for King and Mockovak

because I believed in them
as surgeons,

and I loved their personality,

and I believed in their company.

- They were great employers,

both of them.

Loved my job.

I loved the people
I worked with.

- My brother met Mockovak
when they were both

working together
at Lasik Vision in California.

Both were hired surgeons
at that time,

working together
during the "heydays"

of laser eye surgery,

and that's where the connection

between the two of them came.

- Dr. King and Dr. Mockovak

not only worked together
as partners;

they were also married
to sisters, Holly and Heather.

- The meeting of my daughters
and their husbands

was quite
an interesting situation.

Heather had met Joe
on a dating site

and had talked to him
for about six months,

but she was too embarrassed
to go meet him by herself.

Joe called up and said, "Hey,

"why don't you
come on over and meet me.

I'm having a party at my home
over at the lake."

And she says, "Well, I've got
my sister, Holly, in town,

and could I bring her?"

And he says, "Sure, bring her."

[chuckles]
It didn't take long

at all for Joe and Holly to

realize that they were
attracted to each other.

Maybe a month or two later,
my other daughter,

Heather, was down at
the Renton office with Holly,

and here comes Michael out.

He puts his eyes on Heather,

and that one there was it.

Joe came to me
to ask for Holly's hand.

It wasn't too long later

that Michael
asked for Heather's hand.

When Holly decided
to move near Bellevue,

two weeks later I hear
that Michael and Heather

had bought a place
next to Joe and Holly.

I was just a little curious
why they would want to

live next to each other

when they have to work
with each other all the time.

- There were three
different locations

that my brother was living at

and that for whatever reasons
of circumstances,

you know, Mockovak is ending up
going to within a mile

of every single location.

So I definitely thought
it was a little bit odd,

but I knew that he wanted
to be like my brother.

- Around 2006, we had a new CEO.

Brad Klock was hired
to help manage these two

and build their company,
Clearly Lasik, out.

- I was hired by Brad Klock.

He came across
as a very professional CEO.

He seemed very business-savvy
in opening up offices

all over Canada and
the Pacific Northwest in U.S.

- They just wanted to
keep expanding and

loving that that focus could be

solely put on
the medical aspect,

and entrust the rest
to Brad Klock.

- Dr. King's the face
of the company primarily

because he could do surgery
in both Canada and the U.S.

whereas Mockovak was stuck
on the U.S. side.

He was only licensed
in the U.S.

- I've performed over 50,000

laser vision
correction procedures,

and I've had my own vision
corrected with LASIK.

I can tell you it's one of the
best things I have ever done.

- Dr. King became
more recognizable

just on a broader scale,

and Dr. Mockovak

was just kind of a
little bit behind the scenes.

- Mockovak respected people
that he could tell

were working hard
for the company,

and there was kind of
a closeness

that started to form between
Daniel and Dr. Mockovak.

- Michael Mockovak and I,
we did play chess

a few times in the office.

I did notice
that he's opening up more,

and it seemed like

he wanted to have
sort of a friend in the office.

- When I first met Daniel,

he was a hard nut to crack.

- He was quite intimidating,

so his personality
was very, very private.

Eventually we got to the point
where we'd made up a story

of how he worked
for the Russian mafia.

- I'm not Russian mafia,

but I think even Mockovak
said once,

"Russian mafia's in the house.

All our problems are gonna be
taken care of now."

[laughs]

- After our large
expansion plan,

we weren't hitting the results

that we were
initially aiming for.

- If you're not
getting the results,

they had to kind of
make some cuts,

and they had decided

to terminate
their CEO, Brad Klock.

- Klock's removal from his
CEO position

had not gone well,

and so he files
a wrongful-termination lawsuit

claiming about $750,000
in damages.

- Both doctors were quite angry

about the lawsuit from Brad,

except they were
showing it differently.

Joe King was very quiet
and kept it to himself.

Mockovak, on the other hand,
was very vocal

and outspoken about this.

Everybody in the office knew

that Mockovak is upset
with Brad suing the company.

As Michael and I spent more
time together in the office

playing chess one on one,

Mockovak was probing me
during conversations

whether or not my so-called
Russian connections

can organize a murder.

Mockovak started asking about

a possibility
of getting rid of Brad

because he was suing the company

for wrongful termination.

I couldn't believe it.

This is not just a joke anymore.

He's actually thinking
about killing another person.

I had to tell someone.

I could not keep this
as a secret.

I knew someone who had contact

with Federal Bureau
of Investigation.

So I reached out,
and I said if it's possible

to meet
with any of the FBI folks.

So I met with Seattle FBI
Detective Len Carver.

I told him that I have a boss

who seems like looking for

to hurt another person.

- We want to know at this time,

"Is Dr. Mockovak

"really planning
to kill Brad Klock,

or is he just an angry guy

who's spewing
with his friend?"

- Once I told FBI about this,
I definitely felt relief

because I believe
Mockovak wanted Brad

to disappear permanently.

- We asked Dan
if he would be willing

to take a recording device

into his next face-to-face
with Dr. Mockovak,

and Dan agreed.

It's not ideal for us to use
someone like Dan Kultin,

a civilian, as
a law enforcement operative,

but there is already the back
story of the Russian mafia,

and then there is the friendship

and the level of trust
that Mockovak has with Dan.

To try to introduce
a law enforcement person

at that juncture
would be very difficult.

There was no live transmission.

We told Dan just to keep
the device on his person,

to go and have his meeting,

after which we would
then collect

and listen to the recording
to see

if this case warrants
a more involved investigation.

- I could not understand
how a person can

talk about murdering someone

with no emotions.

Seemed like,
"Oh, piece of cake."

- The Klock thing
looks like the lawsuit

might not be going anywhere.

They could either settle
or it'll get thrown out.

- And then all of the sudden
in that conversation he said,

"Let's talk about killing Joe

instead of Brad."

- I just couldn't even imagine

such a thing
as killing a father.

- Well, we only got two hours.

Got to get that conversation.
Got to get that money.

- I don't like
your freaking out.

That's what I'm talking about.
Don't freak out.

- Everything was kind of
getting to an end

because we are really
planning an actual murder.

[tense music]

- Dr. King and Dr. Mockovak

were the two owners
at Clearly Lasik.

Michael Mockovak tells me that

he wants to kill Joe King.

- Clearly Lasik
is just going great,

and then from 2007 to 2008

while the recession was
sweeping over the country,

their revenue
dropped $7 million.

I mean, the business
just kind of crashed.

- Dr. King
did confide in me that

things were not going well

and that there might've been

a potential dissolve
in the business.

- So Dr. King has given
Mockovak an ultimatum.

Like, "We are splitting
this business up

"at the end of October.

We are done being partners."

- Dr. King was very successful
still working

in the Canadian market
covering a lot more

because the Canadian market
wasn't affected by the bubble

that we all experienced here.

So at the time,
Dr. King was ready to say,

"You know what?
I'm doing all the work.

This business partnership
no longer makes sense."

- The Canadian centers
would become Dr. King's,

and Dr. Mockovak would keep
the American centers.

And it wasn't so much
about which one was profitable

and which one wasn't.
It was more about Dr. Mockovak

didn't have surgical rights
in Canada,

so what would be the point?

- The difficult part was to
keep it all to myself

while I know what he's actually
planning on doing.

That's why I felt relieved
every time I spoke with the FBI

because they were the only
person who knew about it.

- We learned during this meeting

that we have
a clear target shift.

He shifts
his murderous intentions

to business partner, Joe King.

- We'd hear little rumors that
Mockovak's not in a good place,

that he'd break down in tears
at the end of a surgery day.

There was other times
he would just be angry

and tossing stuff around.

- One day, I was asked

to take some documents
over to Mockovak.

So I went over there,
and he broke down into my arms

and told me that
he was getting a divorce.

- Heather first came to me
and told me that

she felt
she should get a divorce.

She was having trouble
getting along with Michael,

and that it... She said, "Dad,
it's just not gonna work."

- Michael Mockovak is starting
to lose control of his life,

and he's a man
that likes to be in control.

He saw himself as, like,
a leader,

pillar of the community,
rich guy... Like,

these are the things
that he felt

he was entitled to in his life,

and then that all
started sliding away.

He ends up getting divorced.

- So Mockovak wanted
to meet again.

The FBI told me that
they're gonna wire me up again.

Gets recorded.
They can listen to it later.

- Time was on our side.

Nothing seemed to be happening
right away.

There didn't seem to be
a desire immediately

for things to happen,
so we were treading lightly.

- They were in
a heavily populated area.

We did not need any
close-in surveillance on Dan.

- At this point,
there is really no way out.

I'm already an accomplice
in this with him,

so I had to play this role of

basically being his co-murderer.

- Dr. King was getting ready
to go on his trip to Australia.

He was excited for the sun,
the beach, the warmth.

- They were gonna
rent a van and...

One that you could sleep in

and take the kids over there

and giving the kids
all their time.

That was valuable to them.

- Once we finished lunch,

him and I went outside
of the Bellevue athletic club,

and we just kind of
walked on the sidewalk

away from the parking lot

where it was just the two of us,

and he felt very comfortable

talking about the actual murder.

[tense music]

- So as I listen
to these recordings,

it's just very disturbing.

Many law enforcement officers
and FBI agents

had Lasik surgery performed
by Dr. Mockovak.

So to hear Dr. Mockovak

planning the murder
of Dr. King,

it's just... It's very surreal.

- He doesn't try to negotiate.

He doesn't say
that it's too much,

and so he's there.

He continues to be on board.

- Mockovak's quietly then
stashing cash.

He will try to learn the
travel itinerary of Joe King.

So he's clearly planning to use
Kultin's contacts

to carry out Joe King's murder.

There is a discussion
whether we let Dr. King

know what's going on or not.

Not knowing how Dr. King
and his family would react,

the likelihood of compromising

the entire investigation
existed.

So the decision was made
to keep it mum.

- So the next meeting took place

at the Maggiano's restaurant.

The FBI's instructions
for that meeting were to

talk specifics of the murder.

- This time they gave me
video equipment.

We wanted to record
the money transfer.

- The classic defense
to any criminal charge is,

"It's not me.
You got the wrong guy."

If I have you on video doing it,

that pretty much takes
that defense off the table.

- We have got to convince
the court that it was clear

that this is not a crime

that was manufactured
by law enforcement

or its agents or its informants;

that this crime originated
in the mind of the target,

Dr. Mockovak.

At the restaurant, there were
law enforcement agents

watching the meeting
between the two men.

- This time they really
wanted me to get the details.

They gave me tons of questions
to ask and how to react

and you know,
basically what to say.

- As we moved forward,

some of the things
that were missing

are we're gonna need
the overt act:

The payment,
a delivery of the flight plans,

photographs of the family.

This is going to be

Dr. Mockovak bringing
the murder to fruition.

- The logical response is,

"Oh, just look at him
on the internet,"

because they're all over
the internet.

But immediately he remembers
this family portrait.

- This is, for me,
a "holy crap" moment.

Dr. Mockovak has a $5 million
key-man insurance policy.

He is greedy and is willing
to murder for money

and full control
of the LASIK surgery centers.

- He was just like,
business as usual.

It felt like he was
just doing business

by getting rid of one
of the business partners.

- All of a sudden,

as we're talking about

this gruesome murder,

someone takes a picture.

- So when this
random flash goes off,

I had to think very fast.

I was nervous because I didn't
know what he could think.

He might think that
I'm getting him on camera.

- There was no plan for them
to get up and leave.

It took the agents aback
because that was not something

that they had anticipated
happening.

- So he wanted me to go
with him to his car.

He told me that he has a gun

in his glove compartment
in his car.

I was scared.

[tense music]

- So he wanted me
to go with him to his car.

- He told me that he has a gun

in his glove compartment
in his car.

I was scared.

- It was not
going to be possible

for those agents

to continue
that close-in surveillance.

They were intercepting
some of the transmissions,

so they knew
where Dan was going.

- His car was parked way
downstairs in the garage,

and my car was parked upstairs,

so I drove him
in my car to his car.

- I realize that if we go
to the parking garage,

the FBI who were listening
will not be able to hear.

Who knows what's gonna happen?

- The on-scene investigators
decided

that they would not
tail the two men

into the bowels of the parking
garage for two reasons.

Number one,
we're getting very close.

It's coming to a head.

And number two,
if it were discovered

and indeed Mockovak were armed
and out of control,

then we've even further

jeopardized the safety
of our source.

- He was tipsy, and FBI wasn't
listening at that moment.

- Dan's at risk.

All we can do
while they're down there

is wait and hope for the best.

- The plan was to have Mockovak

purchase an item online from
the Russian mafia

which looked like
it was an expensive item.

Let's say a $15,000 watch.

But in reality, they would send
him a cheap replica instead.

I had to make up that in Russia
that means a lot.

It's like being
connected for life.

If we play chess,
that's a big thing.

So I just made
that thing up on the fly.

- [laughs]

[laughs]

[laughter]

When we finally left each other
in the parking garage,

I was... I felt relieved that,
"I'm alive.

Yeah, I didn't get
the money from him

like I was supposed to,"

but I felt I was really nervous.

It just was
too dangerous for me.

- We don't really have a case.

We need Dr. Mockovak
to take the substantial step,

the overt act,
toward completing the crime.

That was very important
from an investigative component

and piece of evidence.

We needed another meeting

between Dan Kultin
and Michael Mockovak,

but first we had Dan
call Dr. Mockovak.

[line trilling]

We thought it was important

to give him
an opportunity to back out.

- And my mind
immediately spun up

that "This is the back-out.

This is the point
that I'm done."

And if there's a point
to back out,

this... this would be it.

[tense music]

- During the course
of the investigation,

we've gotten great murder talk,

but we also, as investigators,
thought it was important

to give Dr. Mockovak
an opportunity to back out.

- Mm-hmm.

- Oh, yeah.

- It was important for us
to capture Dr. Mockovak

on video delivering
the payment for the hitman,

the travel plans
for Joe King's family,

and the photograph
of Joe King's family.

- Law enforcement officials
are watching the two men.

- I was nervous,
but at the same time

I knew that I had
this thing I had to do

'cause I already
postponed it once.

I didn't want to
postpone it again.

- We got to bring it home.

If Dr. Mockovak is going to
have Joe King killed,

he's got to say, "Okay.

"Let's do the deed.
I'm paying you the money.

"Here's how to find him,
and the next time we speak,

"you should be
reporting back to me

that he's met his demise."

- He tells Dan
to count the money

to ensure that it's all
present, and Dan does so.

[laughter]

- I liked him as my boss,

but I realize at that point...

He was evil.

- It was clear
that he had an intent

to kill Dr. King at the end.

And not only did he say so,
he followed through.

He delivered money.

He delivered
Dr. King's travel itinerary

and the picture of Dr. King,

his wife, Holly,
and their family.

- We clearly had
probable cause for an arrest.

On the day of the arrest,

we set up
a surveillance operation.

He traveled to a nearby gym

where he was going to work out.

[sirens wailing]

We arrested him
in his gym clothes

to be assured that he was not
armed in any capacity.

[dramatic music]

- Once they arrested him,

one of the FBI agents
came to our office,

and we had to tell the senior
management what's going on.

- At the time, I just remember
sliding down the wall

and trying to breathe again.

Um...

- We got a phone call
from Sheree,

and she was beside herself,
like could hardly breathe,

could hardly talk.

- Our whole world

was torn apart from us
that very moment,

and it was the hardest
thing to grasp.

- I was just, like, stunned,
like, completely...

Like, I recall, like, in that
moment, I started to tear up.

I never in my mind
thought that he was capable

or that he had that sort of
mal intent towards my brother,

and so I was completely
just blown away at that moment.

- I get a call
from Joe's brother,

and he told me, he says, "Mark,

Michael Mockovak
has ordered a hit on Joe."

I just couldn't
even imagine such a thing

as killing a father
of a beautiful family.

I just... I was in tears.

I was with Heather
shortly after.

She was totally blown away.

It just kills you
to see your children

hurt in a thing like this.

- When I called my brother,

and now he's kind of
hearing this information,

it was incredibly intense

and really surreal

and a lot of fear.

- It's been a terrifying
few days for us.

Our family's very afraid.

I am tremendously concerned
that if he is released,

he'll come to finish the job.

- Dr. Mockovak was able
to post bond on $3 million.

- Now we had to
deal with the fear of

"Where does it end for him?"
If he's desperate,

would he come after more people
than just the King family?

- We are standing by the window
in the office,

and we see Michael Mockovak's
black Lexus

pulling into the parking lot,

and someone yells,
"That's Mockovak.

He's coming back
to the office."

Everyone started panicking.

And then five,
ten minutes later,

the SWAT team shows up.

[siren wails]

[indistinct police radio
chatter]

And they're all pointing
at the black Lexus.

And next thing you know,
instead of Mockovak,

there is this real estate lady
who also had this black Lexus.

- And this poor woman
had guns surrounding her car

because they thought
that Mockovak was there.

That was the fear that came
from this whole incident.

- I cannot imagine the fear.

It weighed heavily
on the King family.

Holly King's sister
was married to him.

He was at one time

a loved and trusted
family member.

- Joe and Holly King,
they were living in hotels.

They were moving around,
you know, different places

because they didn't want
to be any place

where he could find them.

- That was a very
terrifying time,

and especially for Holly, like,

it was just frightening
the idea that this is somebody

that has planned
to kill your husband,

and this is now a person
that is able to be out on bail.

- Lasik eye surgeon
Michael Mockovak is accused

of trying to hire a hitman

to kill his business partner,
Dr. Joseph King,

and Brad Klock.

- Mockovak hired three of the

strongest criminal defense
attorneys in town.

- We all know that the defenses
are gonna be two things.

There's joking or entrapment.

- The first person
who brings up Joseph King

and the insurance policy,

not Dr. Michael Mockovak,
but Daniel Kultin.

[tense music]

- The first person
who brings up Joseph King

and the insurance policy,

not Dr. Michael Mockovak,
but Daniel Kultin.

- Entrapment is a real thing.

It's kind of a delicate dance
in these cases.

- You look at those tapes,

you know, you listen;
he's not kidding.

So the only defense is,
he was entrapped.

- [laughs]

- The star witness
in this case was Daniel.

He... he was...

Everyone was waiting
to hear from him,

and he was the lifeblood
of the prosecution's case.

- I got a sense that
he wanted him to...

disappear.

- And what did "disappear" mean?

- Um...

kill him.

That was definitely

a difficult experience
to go through.

- Daniel was
an absolute civilian.

He was a bystander in this.
This wasn't...

He did nothing
to put himself in this position

other than do the right thing

when his boss came to him
looking for a hitman.

- Is it a possibility?

Of course it's a possibility

that he could be found
to be not guilty.

- You know, you never know

how a jury is gonna react.

It's a horrible situation.

- On the day of the verdict,
the King family was there.

- We, the jury,
find the defendant,

Michael Emeric Mockovak,

guilty of the crime
of solicitation

to commit murder
in the first degree.

- They found him guilty of
all counts,

save for the charge

involving the solicitation
to murder Brad Klock.

- I was at the office
when we found out

that the verdict was guilty.

We all shouted with joy, like...

I think I probably
ran from my office going,

"Oh, my God.
He's guilty. He's guilty."

- It definitely felt like
it was a relief.

- Michael Mockovak
is led into court

shackled in a jail jumpsuit,

here to learn his punishment
for hiring a hitman

to kill his business partner,
Dr. Joe King.

- On March 17, 2011,

Dr. Mockovak was sentenced
to 20 years in prison.

- After 20 years
when he gets out,

I don't know what kind
of person he's gonna be.

Will he want to murder
more people when he gets out,

or will he actually learn
his lesson?

I don't know.

- I think that

the year and a half of trauma

we had with him out on bail
was incredibly stressful.

And I think it's gonna have
a period of adjustment

realizing that
he's actually locked away.

- I think even from
behind prison...

Prison bars,

there's a risk to us.

But certainly
the risk is far less

than if he were a free man.

- I wasn't happy.

The whole thing
is not a happy deal.

You know, part of me says,

"Michael, why?

Why'd you ruin your life?"

So many people damaged

over one person's move.

- My brother
doesn't feel comfortable

living in the United States.

He went up and is, you know,

brought his family
and living in Canada,

and that's always something

that plays on his mind is like,

"Well, when Mockovak
gets free, like,

is he gonna do anything
to harm his family?"

- I don't think they'll ever,
ever be able to go back

to what we call
a "normal life."

They're always gonna be

looking over their shoulder.

- There is a carnage of victims
that were affected

by this case,
by his bad decision,

and I don't think
that the King family

will ever feel the same

that they felt
about life before.

- If you're looking for a hero
in all this, it's Daniel.

Daniel,

in all likelihood,
saved Dr. King's life.

- Some people
thought I was a hero.

Some people think I'm a snitch.

Would I do it again
if same thing happens

or if I see someone somewhere
is trying to murder someone?

Yeah.
Absolutely.

- For more on "Murder For Hire,"

go to Oxygen.com.