Original subtitles

- Female narrator: In a serene cemetery,

A granite headstone marks the grave of a young mother.

But if justice is to be served for her tragic murder,

Her resting place will be anything but final.

- I saw my wife laying on the floor...Dead.

- Narrator: A brutal murder unsolved.

- It would have to be someone she knew and trusted.

- Thirty years of not knowing what to think

Is its own kind of torture.

- Narrator: A chance phone call resurrects the case.

- [police siren wails]

- Wayne: We wanted our suspect to know

Dna evidence still exists, and we were searching for it.

- Narrator: Does the key evidence still exist

After three decades underground?

- When we open the casket up-- - [casket lid creaking]

- Angela: --We just stood there

And we kind of looked at each other.

And then we kind of went...

- I had never seen anything like that.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: It's March 11, 1980...

In the rural town of columbus, wisconsin.

- David: It's a pretty quaint, tight-knit community.

The pace is slow.

Classic small-town americana.

- Narrator: 23-year-old lane mcintyre is heading home

After working a long night shift at a local paper plant.

- At 7 o'clock in the morning,

When you get done with a night's work...

I'm cold, and I'm tired, and all I could think about

Is crawling into a warm bed with my wife.

When I approached the front door,

The dog was outside on a chain, barking.

And I thought, "well, that's unusual."

- [dog barks]

- Lane: I stepped inside the door

And stood there for a while,

Not believing what my eyes were seeing.

I saw my wife laying on the floor...Dead.

And it was like I was in a tunnel.

So I'm thinking, "my son, christopher, is he okay?"

- Narrator: He rushes into the bedroom

And luckily finds his son unharmed in his crib.

- Lane: And I thought, "oh, thank god, christopher's okay.

And my head was spinning."

The only phone number I had memorized in my head

Was my parents' phone number.

And I said, "mom, you have to call the police for me.

I think marilyn's dead."

- [police siren wails]

- Narrator: Columbus police race to the scene.

- Wayne: In 1980, a murder in columbia county

Was something of a rarity. It didn't happen very often.

- [police siren wails]

- As a young person growing up in this area,

I don't recall any homicides or anything like that.

- Narrator: But it will be decades before

Sgt. Daniel garrigan and lt. Wayne smith

At the columbia county sheriff's department

Learn about this tragic day.

- [beeping] - [indistinct radio chatter]

- Wayne: So when police arrived at the house,

They discovered a woman on the floor.

She had been brutally beaten.

- Daniel: She also had a kitchen

Or steak knife stuck in her chest.

It was rough to see that.

- Narrator: Moving past the horrific sight,

Investigators discover lane cradling his baby.

- [baby crying]

- The victim was identified as marilyn mcintyre,

An 18-year-old wife and mother.

- Lane: She was beautiful.

She always had a smile on her face.

You know, she always saw the good in people.

- Narrator: Investigators get to work

Searching the apartment for clues...

And immediately notice something significant.

- Wayne: There wasn't any signs of forced entry.

And it appeared as though marilyn had allowed her attacker

To enter the residence.

- Daniel: Assuming that it's someone that you know,

They know you have a young child there.

And, I mean, it's about as coldhearted

As I suppose you could be.

- Wayne: Police also discovered

That there was blunt force trauma to her head area.

- Narrator: Investigators begin going over the scene

With painstaking precision, trying to figure out

Who could've inflicted such horror on to this young mother.

- Wayne: We were able to collect fingerprint evidence,

Bloodstain evidence, hairs from an unknown source,

And also the knife that was thrust into her chest.

We additionally found what we believed was a bloodstain

In the bathroom sink.

- Narrator: While the forensic team works,

Detectives canvass the area.

Someone may have heard or seen something

When marilyn was brutally slain.

And they immediately find a witness.

- Wayne: The upstairs neighbor was awakened around 3 a.M.

That morning by the mcintyre family dog.

- [dog barks]

- Wayne: The dog was outside, barking.

She stated that this had never happened before,

And that was unusual.

- David: It marked a point in time in which

Someone else was at the residence.

- Narrator: They've got a possible time: 3 a.M.

- Wayne: We clearly have a homicide.

But as far as who had done it

And exactly how they had done it was unknown.

- Narrator: It's frustrating, but police hope that

The forensics collected at the scene might give them a lead...

Or there's something they can learn at autopsy.

- Angela: There is evidence of strangulation

And traumatic sexual contact.

She was badly beaten.

She had multiple lacerations to her head and her face.

She had very dark bruising that comes from being, you know,

Struck quite recklessly.

- Wayne: The pathologist had determined that the knife

That had been thrust into her chest was postmortem.

When you see this level of violence,

Typically, it's a crime that's committed by someone that knows

The victim and has anger towards them for some reason.

- Narrator: Three days after the brutal murder,

Marilyn mcintyre is laid to rest.

- [birds chirping]

- There's this sunny open field.

There's full-grown trees. There's shade.

She has a pink granite headstone.

I give her yellow flowers.

Yellow was her favorite color.

They're artificial 'cause I want them to last longer.

- ♪

- I lost my best friend.

She was special.

And she did not deserve what happened to her at all.

She did not.

- David: Marilyn was known as a very sweet girl.

That is the quandary when you have someone who doesn't seem

To have anyone who would want to cause them any harm.

And then to be murdered so brutally, uh,

Really is befuddling.

- ♪

- Narrator: Who would have wanted

This beloved young woman dead?

- Wayne: Lane was immediately considered a person of interest

Simply because of his relationship to the victim.

- Narrator: Lane immediately-- and strenuously--

Denies killing his wife.

He tells investigators that he was working all evening

The night of the murder.

- Wayne: He was emotional and upset.

He told us he left for work around 10 p.M.

He was at work overnight and didn't come home

Until just before 7 a.M. That next morning.

Investigators spoke with supervisors

To try and make certain

That lane was actually at work and hadn't left.

- David: His timecard at least supported he had been at work.

But they did have breaks.

He worked for the most part by himself.

Lane mcintyre did not have an ironclad alibi.

- Narrator: Investigators thoroughly dig into

Lane's history...

And immediately find something that makes them suspicious.

- David: Days before marilyn was murdered,

Lane had taken out a life insurance policy on marilyn.

In addition to opportunity,

Now you have a financial motive.

- Wayne: When you hear that someone purchased insurance,

And shortly after that insurance is purchased, someone dies,

That's a red flag.

- Narrator: All eyes are trained on the victim's husband,

Lane mcintyre.

Did he brutally murder his young wife?

Coming up, the suspect pool widens,

But the killer remains a mystery.

- David: There's the old adage:

Innocent stay and the guilty flee.

- Narrator: Then, the last resort.

- We made the exhumation public.

- David: If you can rattle your suspect,

They're more likely to do something stupid.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: After marilyn mcintyre is found murdered

In the small town of columbus, wisconsin...

Police and the public are beginning to think her husband,

Lane, is the killer.

- Wendy: I would go in bathrooms in bars

And see writing on the wall,

"lane mcintyre murdered his wife."

My reaction was: My brother didn't do it.

- Narrator: It doesn't help that lane quickly gets remarried.

- I was a little shocked. It was a fast situation, yes.

- Wayne: Certainly, a relationship would raise

A lot of flags.

Could this have been a relationship

That was going on before the homicide

And that might be a reason for the homicide?

So that's certainly something

That would be addressed and examined.

- Narrator: And then investigators receive a tip

That points them in another direction.

- ♪

- [indistinct chatter]

- Narrator: As they continue to interview

The mcintyres' circle of friends...

A name emerges: Curtis forbes.

- ♪

- Curt forbes was close friends with the mcintyres.

- Curt forbes I knew from high school.

Curtis and debbie would come over.

We would get a pizza, turn on the stereo, that kind of thing.

- Wayne: Debbie and curt were reportedly

Going through a rough patch.

And marilyn had encouraged debbie to leave the relationship.

- Narrator: Friends say curtis was angry at marilyn

For influencing debbie to leave him.

Could that be motive for murder?

- ♪

- Wayne: When police spoke with curtis,

They learned from him

That he had been out on the town that night.

- Narrator: Curtis tells police that he left the bar

When it closed and went to visit a friend, lori beattie,

Around 1 a.M.

- About 1:10, maybe, 1:15, the doorbell rang.

- [doorbell rings]

- Lori: And curtis was there.

I...Remember thinking that it was odd

That he showed up at my house.

I invited him in.

And as we were coming in the front door--

- [phone rings]

- Lori: --The telephone rang.

And when I turned around to my then-boyfriend and I said,

"where's curtis?"

And he said, "he left.

He was gonna see about getting some beer."

And...Curtis never showed up again.

- David: Curtis forbes told law enforcement that after

He had left lori's house at 2:45,

He spent the night with his, uh, fiancée, debbie addleson.

- Narrator: Investigators contact debbie,

And she confirms that curtis was with her that night.

But one detail doesn't add up.

- Debbie states that he arrived there shortly after 4 a.M.

- David: That left curtis forbes with the problem

Of having two and a half hours

In which he couldn't account for his time.

- Narrator: And that time is exactly within the time

Marilyn was murdered.

- When police went to try and have contact with him

And see if he could clear up some of these issues,

Curtis had fled the state.

When you're speaking with someone about a crime,

And they take off, it makes them very suspicious.

- Lori: He was gone.

He didn't talk to anyone.

He didn't say anything to anyone.

- He fled, where I got to go to work and cry.

- David: The police had things like opportunity and motive

Pointing in the direction of two people:

Lane mcintyre and curtis forbes.

- Narrator: But what they don't have is any hard evidence

That either of them is the killer.

So detectives turn to forensics.

During interviews, police had obtained hair samples

From both men.

- In 1980, they processed this evidence

To the extent that science allowed.

But they weren't able to directly identify a suspect.

The police department had exhausted leads.

They didn't have new information,

And had really just come against a roadblock.

- Narrator: Investigators follow up with curtis and lane,

But find nothing new to link either suspect

To marilyn's murder.

- David: And at that point,

They were, for lack of a better term, verklempt.

- Narrator: The years pass, and marilyn's family is left

With no closure to their grief.

- Wayne: A loved one was taken from them,

And there's just no answer for it.

It's tragic.

Every year, marilyn's twin sister, carolyn,

Would call the columbus police department and ask them,

"is there any new updates on the case?

Anything going on?" trying to keep the case alive.

But this case just went cold.

- Narrator: Investigators are frustrated,

But unable to single out a suspect without more evidence.

The community, however, remains convinced

Lane mcintyre is the killer.

- Wendy: They all said because he had an insurance policy

Out on her and...

That they think that he did it for the money.

- Lane: I got all the blame for it.

- ♪

- Narrator: Twenty-seven years go by.

Then, in 2007, marilyn's niece calls the police department

To see if there's any progress in her aunt's cold case.

But she mistakenly dials the wrong number...

And resurrects the investigation.

- Daniel: I think it was sheer luck that phone call intended to

Go to the columbus police department,

And she accidentally got the columbia county sheriff,

Which was where I worked.

- Narrator: The columbia county sheriff's office has no record

Or knowledge of local police cases.

- Wayne: I was really surprised

When I heard that there was an unsolved homicide.

It's hard not to want to pick that up and--

And see what you can do with it.

- Narrator: The sheriff's department decides

To reopen the case,

Hoping a fresh perspective and scientific advancements

Might unearth something previously unseen.

- I told them by the time we were done,

I felt confident that we would be able to hold someone

Accountable for committing this crime.

- Narrator: The evidence needed to identify marilyn's killer

May be in the decades-old casework...

Or is it still buried with the victim?

- ♪

- [phone rings]

- Narrator: Determined to solve the 27-year-old murder

Of marilyn mcintyre,

The columbia county sheriff's department

Will pursue every shred of evidence,

Including what may have been buried decades ago.

They immediately focus their attention

On the most obvious suspect:

Lane mcintyre, the victim's husband.

- My attitude was I was going to do whatever they needed

To help get the case solved.

Enough is enough.

- In the community, lane had been considered a suspect

By a lot of people.

- Narrator: Fueling the community's suspicion

Was a life insurance policy,

Which lane purchased days before his wife's murder.

But when cold case detectives look into the policy...

They realize that it's not what it seems.

- Wayne: In 1980, an insurance salesperson would observe

A birth announcement in the paper, approach the family,

Explain to them why it was perhaps a good idea for them

To get insurance with a newborn.

- He just showed up one day, pure and simple.

- Narrator: Next, investigators reexamine the physical evidence

That is still preserved decades later

To see if any of it implicates lane.

Specifically, the spot of blood found in the sink.

- Wayne: The suspect could have had an injury and deposited

Not only their dna, but the dna of our victim's in this sink.

Dna wasn't something that was done in 1980.

The evidence in this case from 30 years ago

Wasn't collected with dna in mind.

We didn't know if it was usable.

- Narrator: Investigators send the blood out for analysis...

And amazingly get a giant lead.

- [phone rings]

- We had the results that it was a blood mixture

Of two dna profiles.

- Narrator: They find a mix of marilyn's dna

And what investigators believe is her killer's.

- That was a major moment.

We were quite excited.

- Wayne: We tested lane's dna

Against the stain in the bathroom sink.

- ♪

- Lane's dna wasn't present.

- ♪

- Lane mcintyre was excluded as a dna source

To that stain.

- Narrator: Lane is no longer a suspect in his wife's murder.

- Wendy: It was a sigh of relief because, all these years,

He felt the finger was pointed at him, and some people did.

- Lane: Nine times out of ten,

I too believe that the husband did it.

But I know what it feels like to be that one that didn't.

I'm angry at being accused of being guilty.

It was more hurt on top of the hurt I already had.

It was torture.

- ♪

- Narrator: Investigators revisit the other suspect

From the original investigation, curtis forbes.

He left town after the murder, but had moved back to the area

And married his girlfriend, debbie addleson.

- Knowing that information and his reaction in 1980,

We monitored his comings and goings as best we could, um,

Because we--we feared he was going to flee again.

- Narrator: Investigators locate a hair sample

Submitted by curtis in 1980.

They send it to the lab to see if the dna

Matches the blood stain from the sink...

And get what may be a lead.

- Daniel: We received test results that indicated

Curt forbes was a possible dna contributor to those stains.

- Narrator: The results are in no way definitive.

The lab just can't rule out

That it's curtis forbes's blood in the sink.

But it gives detectives a direction

For their investigation.

Energized, police take another hard look at curtis forbes's

Whereabouts the night of the murder.

- Daniel: We identify individuals who were named

In police reports and start re-interviewing them.

We learned curt was out, you know, boozin' that night.

He was out, um, quote/unquote, "prowling."

He had made some advancements towards some young women

In one of the taverns.

But he was striking out.

- Narrator: Authorities start to develop a theory about

What might have happened on that tragic night.

- We believe that he went to mcintyre's because he knew

That marilyn was home alone.

- All he'd have to do would be knock on the door,

And marilyn would have let him in.

My theory was that he forced himself on marilyn.

- ♪

- David: Maybe he decided to then kill marilyn after he had

Had his way with her, rather than have her be able to have

Everybody know what he had done.

So he bashed her in the head,

Stabbed her in the chest,

Washed in the sink, and then left.

- ♪

- It was a good case, but not good enough.

- Narrator: Right now, it's just a theory.

There's no hard evidence tying curtis forbes to the murder.

- Wayne: Curtis developed into a suspect.

Now we needed to collect any additional information

And/or evidence that might possibly be out there.

- Narrator: Authorities let the media know

They are open for business.

Lane is no longer a person of interest,

And they're looking for tips.

- Wayne: It was important that the public know

That this case wasn't solved.

We wanted suspects to know that this was not forgotten.

Marilyn's not forgotten.

We're gonna seek justice for her.

- [phone rings]

- Narrator: Immediately after, the phone starts ringing.

- Daniel: Friends or family members came forward and said,

"hey, I remember back then."

- Narrator: And one piece of information makes them sit up

And take notice.

Something curtis's girlfriend, debbie,

Told her friend at the time of the murder.

- A few weeks after marilyn's murder,

I remember running into debbie addleson.

I remember her telling me about curt showing up at her home

About 4 and wanting her to wash a shirt

That he had that had blood on it.

I remember being shocked

And very uncomfortable with the conversation,

But I assumed debbie had told the police.

- Narrator: Investigators immediately check

The original file.

There's no record of anyone seeing blood on curtis's shirt.

This is new information, but is it true?

What they need is forensic evidence.

Coming up, detectives make a last push

To solve the case--

- Angela: There was so much riding on this exhumation.

- Narrator: --By exhuming marilyn's body.

- It was powerful, and it's damning.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: After 28 years without a break

In the unsolved murder of marilyn mcintyre,

Police realize there's one place

They may be able to find the physical evidence

That could solve the case.

- Daniel: We thought maybe if she fought back,

Maybe scratched someone's face, maybe there was a chance

There would be dna under her fingernails.

No fingernail scrapings had been taken at that time

Because the dna technology didn't exist.

- Narrator: There is only one way to collect this evidence.

They must exhume marilyn's body.

- In 2007, I was the medical examiner

For columbia county, wisconsin.

Lt. Smith came into my office, and he said,

"we may need to recover marilyn from her gravesite

For further examination."

- Narrator: This radical move to uncover new evidence

Might be investigators' only hope

For an indictment of their main suspect, curtis forbes.

- Wayne: I was really optimistic that we'd find some evidence,

But we may strike out.

We might not find anything at all.

- Narrator: There's only one option left.

- Exhumation is a sensitive decision

That we just don't make on our own.

- Wayne: Anyone in this situation would not want

Their loved one's final resting place disturbed.

But it felt critical

That we try and obtain as much evidence as we can.

- Narrator: But first they ask for consent

From the next of kin:

The wrongly accused husband, lane mcintyre.

- Detective wayne smith asked me

If he could exhume marilyn's body.

And that hurt me.

But I said yes because

I was so desperate to help them in any way I could.

- Wendy: That's not cool,

Digging someone up from their resting place and--

But it had to be done, you know?

- [phone rings]

- Wayne: One of the big hopes that I had, uh,

In exhuming marilyn was to see

If there was any dna of her attacker under her fingernails.

I didn't believe that that had been processed or looked for.

- Narrator: And investigators have a second,

More strategic motive behind the exhumation:

They hope just the threat of finding new evidence

Will spook their main suspect.

- Female reporter: Twenty-eight years ago,

They buried her with so many questions left unanswered.

And today, the family of marilyn mcintyre had her body exhumed,

Hoping to find those answers.

- We made the exhumation public.

We wanted our suspects to know,

"you may have escaped for many years,

"but dna evidence still exists and, uh,

We were searching for it."

- David: If you can rattle your suspect,

They're off their game and more likely to do something stupid.

- ♪

- [thunderclap]

- It was a very eerie day.

- [camera shutter clicking]

- Narrator: Investigators gather around the gravesite,

Accompanied by the medical examiner

And some members of the victim's family.

- Angela: There was so much riding on this exhumation.

We're gonna find this--this dna.

We're gonna be able to get somewhere with this case.

- Narrator: Lane mcintyre can't bring himself

To be at marilyn's graveside.

- Just signing the paper was enough.

It was more than I could bear.

- Angela: It was a very sensitive day.

Not only are you bringing her back up,

But you're also bringing up all the emotion and all the sadness.

It's almost like you're going through

The trauma all over again.

- Daniel: When that concrete cover crypt was lifted,

It was very, very wet.

- ♪

- Wayne: I was disappointed.

You could see a casket that was in poor condition.

You could tell that this had been in the ground a long time.

- [rain pouring]

- Daniel: When the casket was being lifted from the ground,

There was water, um, emanating from most all sides of it.

- Dna does not hold up well in wet environment.

- Daniel: It was disheartening

To think pieces of trace evidence

Could have all washed away.

- Wayne: My optimism sank a little.

It could be potentially a long shot with, you know,

A body that had been in the ground so long.

- Narrator: The casket is transported

To the columbia county sheriff's office morgue.

- ♪

- Angela: We were not able to actually open the casket

By a conventional method.

It was completely rusted and corroded shut

From all the water.

- [camera shutter clicking]

- Daniel: The pathologist ended up utilizing a wedge

And a--hand tools to pry the casket open.

- Angela: We weren't really certain

As to what we would be looking at.

You either have really good burial technique,

Where you have nice bodies that you can reexamine.

In other cases, you are not quite so lucky.

When we open the casket up, we just stood there.

And we kind of looked at each other.

And then we kind of went...

- I had never seen anything like that.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: Although marilyn mcintyre was buried

Nearly three decades ago,

Investigators hope examining her remains

Will provide new clues to tie

Main suspect curtis forbes to her murder.

- Marilyn's remains were heavily decomposed.

- Daniel: You could make out a female.

The clothing was intact,

But there was no visible soft tissue left.

- ♪

- We knew at that point that evidence collection

Would be difficult.

- Narrator: But something gives investigators a shred of hope.

- Daniel: You could make out

That she had artificial fingernails.

- Angela: Little press-on fingernails

On each of her digits.

It was miraculous how-- how well they stayed on.

- Daniel: Not all hope is lost.

We were quite excited.

- Narrator: The tips of finger bones and press-on nails

Are submitted to the crime lab for dna testing.

- Angela: I thought it's possible

That they could have glued in some dna

That had gotten trapped underneath the fingernail.

- Narrator: The lab processes the remains and reaches back out

To investigators with their findings.

- Wayne: Those press-on nails

And what evidence may be under them...

Couldn't be tested after that amount of time and exposure.

- ♪

- I was devastated.

- Narrator: It's a discouraging dead end.

Marilyn's remains are returned to the coffin and reburied.

But investigators hold out hope

That the exhumation could still pay off.

- Wayne: Even though our exhumation

Didn't yield evidence,

We didn't release that to the public.

The suspect didn't know that that evidence

Wasn't gonna be able to be used.

- Narrator: It's a chess game.

And authorities go on the offensive,

Telling the media they are busy analyzing strong dna evidence

They've uncovered.

- We weren't shy about the fact

That we were gonna have new dna tests done.

We were using the media to our advantage.

If you're someone who has some role in this,

I would think you'd be pretty nervous.

- Wayne: We decided to track curtis's phone.

We wanted to know who he was calling and when he was calling.

- David: Law enforcement was hoping that exhumation would

Spur curt forbes to make a call or get a call from somebody

That would tie him in to the murder.

- Narrator: The investigators' hunch pays off.

- Wayne: We learned that he was contacting the carpenters union

In the state of hawaii.

But we weren't sure initially what that meant.

- Narrator: Over the next several months,

Investigators discover curtis is plotting an elaborate plan.

- David: Because of the exhumation,

Curtis forbes then began to hatch a plan

To fake his disappearance.

- ♪

- We had learned that curt had taken steps

To fake his death.

He had purchased an inflatable raft that he planned go out

Into lake michigan with on a boat he had owned

And sink that boat and raft back to shore.

- There's the old adage:

The innocent stay and the guilty flee.

- Wayne: When we got this information,

It was pretty exciting because without the exhumation,

We may not have been able to cause that reaction in him.

I thought it really was, uh, very incriminating.

- Narrator: Investigators decide it's time to bring curtis in

For questioning.

- ♪

- Wayne: We spoke with curt for, uh, a fairly lengthy time.

He had, uh, obviously 30 years of denial built up in him.

- Narrator: Investigators interview curtis at the station,

Hoping that just the idea that the autopsy

From the exhumation implicates him

Rattles him enough to confess.

- He seemed concerned that we had dna.

But curt didn't confess to the crime

And maintained the--his innocence.

- David: It was pathetic.

It wasn't convincing to anyone.

It just adds further fuel to your fire.

- Narrator: Investigators are frustrated...

But still have one piece of evidence left to pursue

With debbie, curtis forbes's wife,

Who told a friend she had noticed curtis

Wearing a bloody shirt the night of the murder.

- We believe that debbie was aware

That curt had arrived after 4 a.M.,

And that her parents had cleaned

Bloody clothing that curt arrived in.

- Narrator: If investigators can get debbie to confirm seeing

Blood on curtis's clothes, it's enough to make an arrest.

But it won't be easy.

- We were concerned that debbie would be reluctant

To speak to law enforcement.

Debbie had been uncooperative up to this point,

Perhaps out of fear.

- She was one of the individuals

That could really send him down the river.

- Narrator: Detectives visit debbie at her home.

- Daniel: Through the course of the lengthy interview,

She really wasn't providing us with any real new information.

- Narrator: But finally, debbie lets something slip.

- She indicated seeing blood on the sleeve of curtis's shirt

The night of the murder.

- David: Deb had never admitted to the police before that moment

That she had saw blood on curt's clothing.

It was powerful, and it's damning.

That was pretty extraordinary.

A pivotal moment in the case.

- Wayne: That really closed up the case for us,

Or at least brought it to the point where we felt comfortable

With going forward with a criminal charge.

- Narrator: The admission is enough to make an arrest.

But will it be enough to convince a jury?

- ♪

- ♪

- ♪

- [police siren wails]

- Narrator: Curtis forbes is under arrest

For the decades-old murder of marilyn mcintyre.

His wife, debbie, is now cooperating with police

And looking for answers.

- ♪

- Two days after curtis was arrested,

He had a phone call with debbie.

- Narrator: Callers are informed that the lines are recorded

And conversations are monitored.

- She's just interested in getting the truth from him.

But because it's a recorded call,

Unwittingly, she was a very powerful advocate for us.

- Wayne: What curt did at that point was critical.

He didn't say, "what bloody shirt?

There was no bloody shirt. What are you talking about?"

And we were pretty excited as a group

When we listened to that call.

- Narrator: Twenty-nine years after marilyn mcintyre

Was fatally beaten and stabbed...

Police finally have enough evidence

To charge suspect curtis forbes with first-degree murder.

- ♪

- Lane: I think curt forbes had an infatuation for marilyn.

It's ironic how you cannot see something

That's right in front of your face.

Never saw it coming.

- David: There is enough proof beyond a reasonable doubt

To take the case to trial.

Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead.

- ♪

- Female reporter: Wearing jail orange,

52-year-old curtis forbes

Returned to court in columbia county.

- Narrator: Curtis forbes stands trial

For the murder of marilyn mcintyre.

- When I was testifying, I looked straight at curt.

- ♪

- I was looking at him, just glaring--him glaring back at me.

I remember thinking,

Had my boyfriend not been home that morning,

That it could have very well have been me

Instead of marilyn mcintyre.

And that is very scary to even think about.

- The jury, after just three hours of deliberation,

Arrived at a verdict.

- ♪

- Jury foreman: Guilty. - [crowd gasping]

- Female reporter: Curtis forbes dropped his head

As sobs from the victim's family filled the court.

Guilty of first-degree murder in the 1980 beating, stabbing,

And strangling of 18-year-old marilyn mcintyre.

- I just felt this exhale of anguish that was like--

I could just finally let go.

It was just--came out of me like, ughhhhhh.

And it was like, finally, after 30 years.

You know?

- ♪

- It doesn't make marilyn come back.

But at least...We know.

Thirty years of not knowing what to think

Is its own kind of torture.

It's important that there's resolution.

- Narrator: Curtis forbes is sentenced to life in prison.

- David: Doing justice for a family, you know,

You're giving them something

That nobody else could give them.

And...It's extremely rewarding.

- Wayne: Makes you take pride in your work.

These types of crimes, you know, they need to be answered

And they need our attention.

The exhumation was critical.

Without the exhumation, we may not have been able

To bring justice to this family.

- Lori: Justice was served in the fact

That curt forbes was found guilty.

And yet, at the same time,

I feel that he was free for 30 years.

Thirty years that people accused lane of doing this.

Thirty years that marilyn never had.

Thirty years that lane and marilyn's son struggled.

- I hope and try so hard to just be good enough

That god will let my soul get to be by marilyn once again.

- ♪