48 Hours - 48 Hours: NCIS: Trail of Fire

Episode Date: June 27, 2018

Friends searching for a missing Army nurse find her apartment smoldering and no sign of their friend. Can NCIS agents find her? Actor Rocky Carroll of CBS' "NCIS" narrates.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. My name is JC Hawks. I'm a retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant and a former Marine Special Agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. I was assigned to a missing person investigation to locate Holly Lynn Wymong. Holly just kind of disappeared without a trace, did not show up for work.

No one was sure about her whereabouts. The search for her started at that point. I tried to call her, and when she wasn't answering the phone for me, like, I knew something was wrong because she's going to answer the phone for me. Holly was such a loving person. When she walked in the room, you knew, okay, this is a good person. You just could feel that energy coming from her. Holly was a 24-year-old young lady. She was married to an active duty Marine.

John Wymunk was a Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. When we first met, Holly used to say, I want to be a pediatric nurse. And then somewhere along the way, she was like, I'm going to the Army. I can help more people being a military nurse. When it involves people in uniform, it brings more attention. We had national media in Fayetteville through most of the summer. I was in the office on a Friday. It was in the evening.

My boss came in and asked what I had going on. I said, not much. I'm just working on some reports. He said, listen, man, I need you in Fayetteville. We've got a missing girl there. There's some suspicious circumstances. So I made a call to my wife and headed to Fayetteville as quick as I could. So July 9, 2008, I worked, came home that evening and had a voicemail from Holly asking me to give her a call

back. I was just too exhausted after the end of a 12-hour shift, and I fell straight asleep. When I woke up, I had multiple messages. I called one of them back, and they asked me again, is Holly with you at your apartment? At first, I was like, well, what's going on? A close friend of hers and co-worker decided that she needed to go to Holly's

apartment immediately because she thought something was wrong when they get there they notice as they're looking in the windows there is smoke damage and they smell some fumes. It smells like gasoline, smells like smoke. They're at the apartment and they notice what looks to be an intentionally set fire. They're obviously very concerned. They don't see Holly. They call 911 at that point. I had a chance to tour the entire area, went into Holly's room. I immediately saw on the ground a large, deliberately removed piece of carpeting.

You got the sense immediately that something very bad had happened inside that apartment. What they did not find is Holly. There was no sign or trace of her at that point. Tonight we have an update on a Fort Bragg soldier missing for days. The summer of 2008 was a very busy time for the homicide team. We had two service members go missing. We had Megan Tuma, who was a United States Army active duty person who was actually found deceased in a hotel bathroom. And that murder at that point was unsolved.

A person claiming to be inspired by the Zodiac Killer from decades ago in California. He started writing letters to law enforcement and to the Fayetteville Observer, and it just kind of had a lot of people nervous and on edge. There was a heightened sense of awareness and urgency that when someone doesn't show up for work, go look for them because it could be the worst.

The NCIS mission is global. We're on aircraft carriers, we're in foreign ports. We watch after each other, we take care of each other. NCIS deal with every type of crime. Cyber, fraud, murder. General crimes, counterintelligence, counterterrorism. Every crime is a tragedy. It involves sisters, brothers, husbands.

That's the only way to find the truth. We live in dangerous times. And we're never going to give up. NCIS. The cases they can't forget. Did you know that the N.C.I.S. Department of Justice is the only agency in the United States that has a law that allows the use of the N they can't forget.

Did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free, with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bold risk takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario,

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you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. Holly's case is among the most memorable cases that I've worked. I will never forget this case because of all the things that Holly was.

Someone's daughter, someone's mother, a nurse, and an officer in the United States Army. Fayetteville is home to the largest military installation in the United States. Fort Bragg has generally between 50 and 55 thousand personnel stationed there. It's its own city. Holly Weimunk's case happened in a very bad summer for Fayetteville. And it got worse with the disappearance of Lieutenant Holly James Weimunk. When Holly Weimunk is missing, a massive search commences. Was her case connected to the murder of Sergeant Megan Tuma and this copycat serial killer stalking the streets of Fayetteville?

In the Megan Tuma case... Tuma had arrived at Fort Bragg less than two weeks ago from Germany. Megan was missing for approximately a week, but nobody noticed. She was new in town. Her unit didn't report her missing. Megan had been strangled and left in a bathtub at a local hotel. Investigators poured over the taunting letters of her alleged murderer.

He claimed to be inspired by California's infamous Zodiac killer. Who sent letters to the press in San Francisco from 1968 to 1987, claiming responsibility for 40 murders. Fear that a new serial killer targeting female soldiers swept through Fayetteville. He said he was on a mission to claim more victims. The army reacts quickly, the Fayetteville Police Department reacts quickly, the community's upset.

With no sign of Holly, investigators were left to sift through the remains of her burned-out apartment. Someone had intentionally poured fluids that were flammable and had set a fire. They found two bedrooms burned, windows broken, and the smell of gasoline. Weimark was missing. Her car was still parked outside. Whoever had set the fire had absolutely no regard for anybody in that building or anybody around it. Agent Hoggs believed the fire had been set to destroy evidence. The missing carpet was a disturbing clue that indicated Holly might well be dead.

Carpeting soaks bodily fluids. it soaks all types of physical evidence. Nothing good in our minds came from that missing carpet. As the scene began being processed, we observed there to be two missing knives that were not in the knife block in the kitchen. We have missing knives, why do we have missing knives? We look at the presence of evidence and also the absence of things that you think should be there. One of the things we started doing is interviewing family and friends of Holly. So family and friends are who you start talking with. You always want to start closest and then move out. So Hawks began his investigation by talking to Holly's husband, Marine Corporal John Weymunk,

a combat engineer based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The Marine base is two hours east of Fort Bragg, where Holly was stationed. Weymunk had married Holly a year earlier and split his time between living at Camp Lejeune and Holly's apartment. I'm at the point where I have no idea what's going on, okay? We were responsible for painting a picture of John Wymunk, learning his whereabouts, learning everything that there was to find out about this young man. News of Holly's disappearance and the fire at the couple's shared apartment

was the lead story locally. Police spent a lot of time around the missing soldier's apartment. K-9 units searched nearby woods. Weymunk said he knew nothing beyond that. He says, I don't know where she is, haven't talked with her, don't know anything. Weymunk expressed concern

for both his wife and their apartment. This is my wife. Everybody knows that. And it's my apartment. What the f*** is going on with my wife? You know what I mean? The interview broke down after Hawk smelled what he thought was liquor on Weimung's breath. You asked me earlier that, am I drunk drunk i'm not drunk but i have been

drinking okay and i don't want the the things that i say to be turned around you know i understand and that's why we're done okay i understand sir we're done talking about everything go home and chill out okay and i i don't want to i don't want to talk with you. Now, you know, I can smell you under alcohol. I don't want to talk to you about legal stuff while that's in the question in my mind. And I'll let you recontact us, whatever. We'll give you our contact numbers and we'll deal with it that way. Okay. There you go, sir.

I appreciate that I have a contact number of you guys. Hawks returned to Weimunk to his command and continued learning about the couple's relationship from Holly's friends and family. Holly and John met as a result of an introduction by a Marine in John's unit, who happened to be Holly's brother. He thought John would be interested in meeting his sister. Holly was deeply in love with him. She cared very much for him. She said that he was a very sweet and caring individual, that he was very fun, outgoing and caring. She enjoyed spending time with him.

Holly had a son and a daughter with a long-time boyfriend before falling in love with Wymunk. The children split time with their parents and were with their father at the time of the fire. Holly told me that she had her children visit every now and then, and it was always a wonderful time for her. She loved having her children visit. Holly and April, both nurses in the maternity ward at the Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, grew close.

I could always rely on her as somebody to talk to. You could call her in the middle of the night. She'd be half asleep, but she'd be willing to chit-chat with you and find out what was going on. As NCIS kept investigating, agents unraveled a complicated marriage. A former girlfriend of Wymuk's had resurfaced in his life. Holly told friends the woman was badgering her

with angry phone calls. She felt harassed. Holly never referred to Lindsey by Lindsey. She was just always his little girlfriend. She was always there. She chose to call Holly at 3 in the morning and scream into the phone. And it was just random acts like that that I think were kind of scary for Holly, because you don't know what a person is going to do.

Holly went to court, naming Lindsey publicly, of scary for Holly because you don't know what a person is going to do. Holly went to court, naming Lindsey publicly, describing the alleged harassment and asking for a restraining order that would prohibit any contact. Holly wrote, I have changed my phone number six times. She has had individuals contact my friends looking for me. This has been going on for eight months. A district court judge here in Cumberland County ordered Lindsey to basically stop bothering Holly. Obviously there was a history there. There was bad blood, shall we say, between Holly and Lindsey. So she certainly was a person of interest at this point in the investigation.

Hawks discovered that Lindsey, who lived out of state, was actually in North Carolina when Holly vanished. So he brought Lindsay in for an interview. A reporter from the Fayetteville Observer in summer of 2008 contacted Lindsay and spoke to her. And Lindsay said she was shocked that Holly was missing. Lindsay said she had nothing to do with Holly's disappearance. And while agents checked

out her story, they soon got another disturbing tip from witnesses at Holly's building. Several residents see a male figure running. One says running with a bag, getting into a black pickup in the complex. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets,

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and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. A Fort Bragg soldier missing for days. Police remain on the scene at the home of Holly Wymunk.

Police are giving us more information about the missing soldier, but they're still keeping a tight guard on the scene out here. The entire family was holding onto to a thin thread of hope that Y Monk would be found alive. Her car was still parked outside. There was not a doubt in our mind

that we were looking into a murder case. And it was looking less and less like a missing person case. Investigators were going down three paths, Holly's husband, his ex-girlfriend, and the self-proclaimed Zodiac copycat killer. It was just a very tense time for people here in the community. With the Marines' wife still missing,

NCIS remained on high alert. remained on high alert. The mission for us is fairly comprehensive. Protecting the innocent, we take that very seriously. Whenever a case breaks, the agency that leads that case, if they could go a million directions at one time while being thorough, effective, they would do it. 24 hours into Holly's disappearance, NCIS agents got their first break in the case.

Law enforcement began questioning people that lived there in the apartment complex, that may have seen something, that may have heard something. And several individuals talked about how on the night of July 9th that there had been a individual in black clothing running from the area of Holly's apartment, getting into a black pickup truck in dark clothing and leaving the scene.

I've covered a lot of homicides here in Fayetteville, and usually it's people who know each other. As we were doing background leading up to Holly's disappearance, As we were doing background leading up to Holly's disappearance, we discovered some troubling things about the relationship between John and Holly. All the family and friends that we talked to all told us this story. A volatile relationship existed between Holly and John, certainly leading up to her disappearance. Holly's co-worker, April, told investigators that Weimunk couldn't handle Holly's superior rank. He was telling her that she wasn't really a lieutenant, she wasn't really an officer, she was just a nurse, and it didn't count.

He was really putting her down. I started to overhear some of these phone calls and I could hear John being really hard on her. During one of our shifts, he called multiple times and just ranted and raved and treated her like she was nothing. I took her phone away. I literally grabbed it out of her hand, hung up on him, and took it away from her. I said, no. I said, you do not need to deal with this. It's not fair. It's not right. The verbal abuse soon turned physical when Holly began coming to work with bruises, which she documented in these photos that investigators recovered on her cell phone. She came in with a busted lip one day.

Another day she came in with what appeared to be bruising around her eye, and she never really spoke to us about where these injuries came from. We were very worried about Holly. I wish I had have done more. I felt like it was more important for me to be that best friend and not say anything. But part of me wished I could have told somebody. Shortly before Holly's disappearance,

Tra'Anna says she learned about an incident that truly terrified Holly. One day she called me and she was just crying, she was hysterical. He like had a bullet and he had showed her the bullet. The bullet literally had Holly's name on it. He had, like, carved initials in the bullet, and it was like, this is your bullet and this is my bullet. He produced a gun, he put it to his head and threatened suicide, and then he put the gun to Holly's head and threatened to murder her.

Holly had enough. Fearing for her life, she sent her children to live with their biological father and sought a restraining order. On May 19th of 2008, Holly had taken out a restraining order against John. That was in place for about 10 days, just a temporary order. And then she had to appear in court about 10 days later in order to keep the restraining order in place. But when it came time to face Wymunk in court, Holly couldn't bring herself to follow through with the charges. I never think she thought John was going to hurt her,

because when a person loves you, you don't think that they're going to hurt you. Holly did not show up for that court date so as a result the restraining order was dismissed and no longer in place she was estranged from John the day had been going through a difficult transition leading to divorce a Fort Bragg soldier missing for days police spent a lot of time around the missing soldier's apartment. K-9 units searched nearby woods. But when news of Holly's disappearance reached her circle of friends,

they were convinced Wymunk was responsible. The first thing that crosses my mind is, oh my god, that son of a bitch did it. He actually did it. We were focusing our efforts on John Weimunk, either to eliminate him or include him as being involved in Holly's disappearance. NCIS agents no longer had their sights on the self-proclaimed Zodiac copycat, or Lindsey, who was ultimately cleared. But it's what she revealed about Weimunk's behavior the day Holly vanished that now had investigators fearing the worst.

Lindsey mentioned that he seemed very upset and angry early on Wednesday, July 9th. He said that he was going to take care of Holly, and Lindsey says that he had a gun with him. At this point, John Weymuk is a suspect but we did not have anything specifically to link him to her disappearance. Hey John, Jeff Locklear from Okafayaville. Wymuk wasn't talking. I choose not to answer any further questions so I have a lawyer present. Okay. I'm sorry for the waste of time. I'm serious. But NCIS kept him under

constant surveillance while they tried to uncover hard evidence connecting Weimark to Holly's disappearance. Was he the killer? And could he get away with it? NCIS agents began knocking on every door that we could aboard Camp Lejeune. And soon, a new name hit NCIS's radar. NCIS began talking to some of John's friends, associates, co-workers there at the Marine Base. And one name that came up was Kyle Alden. 48 hours into Holly's disappearance, investigators were desperate for answers. And with the clock still ticking, NCIS returned to John Wymock's base at Camp Lejeune,

searching for clues. We started to perform just some very traditional police work and immediately began knocking on doors. That's when NCIS got a tip about a Marine who was looking to borrow a pickup truck. We eventually found a young man by the name of Kyle Alden. A few Marines heard about Kyle asking if he could borrow their pickup truck because he needed to help a friend move some things that would not fit in a car.

And this we found interesting because it just so happened to occur on the 9th of July, which is the day prior to Holly going missing. Remember, witnesses reported seeing someone flee from Holly's apartment in a black pickup truck the night she vanished. I want to make sure that you understand that this is clear. You're not being detained. On July 12th, Kyle Alden agreed to meet without a lawyer. Do you understand that? Yes. All right. We brought Alden to our offices for an interrogation that the homicide detectives would conduct. One of my partners met with Alden and asked him

about this truck, about his whereabouts on the 9th and 10th of July, and Alden essentially explained that he did, in fact, borrow a truck and that he was, in fact, contemplating helping a friend move. Investigators would learn that friend was John Wymunk. He asked if I could come to pay a loan and give him a hand. Okay. What did he tell him? Tell him, yeah, no problem. The Marine Corps, not unlike the other armed services,

there exists a very strong bond between Marines. Kyle was another active duty Marine. He was assigned to John's unit. They were close enough to where if the phone rang and somebody said, hey, I need help with something, the other guy is going to come in and try to help him. How does he sound at this point? He sounds kind of distraught. Something didn't add up.

He's like, you can't say anything about this, but I need your help doing something. It's like, okay, good to go. Alden says Weimark abruptly called off their plan. So he went home to pay some bills. I think he could sense that my partner knew that he was lying and later corrected his statement by saying, hey, I lied about that last part when I said I was going to go pay the bill. I was actually meeting with my wife.

We had sex. And so that's where I was. But what Alden didn't know is that investigators had already spoken with his wife. What would you say if I told you I talked to your wife and she said, what you just told me ain't the truth? I talked to your wife, and she said, what you just told me ain't the truth. Maybe she doesn't remember because she was out of it from the pinto set, basically.

The time a man and his wife spends together, they don't even remember that kind of stuff. All right. Yes, sir. So if your wife ain't lying to me, and you ain't lying to me, what do we have? A big misunderstanding. But it was crystal clear that Alden was

stonewalling the investigation. In talking to people that know him, his wife, and other things, you develop an idea of the person that you're dealing with. And what he was demonstrating to us during the initial hours of this investigation led me to believe that he was happy to lie to people. You know what I want you to say? I'm going to tell you what I want you to say.

What I want you to say is the truth. Alden was never under arrest, but because he was a Marine, he was never allowed to leave NCIS's custody either and remained on base. leave NCIS's custody either, and remained on base. I want you to be honest with me now. For three days, investigators pressed Alden for answers. I want you to tell me what happened. I gotta find Holly. For God's sakes, where is Holly at? I do not know.

Okay. He would give investigators a little, but they didn't feel like he was giving them the whole truth. But Alden's cool demeanor suddenly changes when he's shown photos of Holly's children. I can't help but think about these two kids. Something bad happened to Holly. Something bad happened in that apartment.

Okay. Let's figure it out now. Realizing he'd been boxed into a corner, Alden admits to helping Wymuk remove items from Holly's apartment the night she vanished. But what happened to Holly? You know I know what happened, okay? Why ain't Holly calling me on the phone and telling me I'm coming to talk to you to tell you about why she's probably good where's Holly I had no idea that one attempt that he did it and I want to

think it was possible investigators felt close to getting a confession, but Alden wouldn't budge. We knew that there was more to what he was saying. He wasn't at a point where he wanted to tell us what really happened. But everything was about to change when NCIS got a call they never expected. We received a phone call, and that gentleman asked me if I was looking for a little blonde girl. I said, yes, I am. And he said, I think I've got her.

I received a phone call from a firefighter from the North Carolina Division of Forestry. And what I remember him asking me, hey man, you looking for a blonde girl? And I said, yes I am. While detectives questioned Alden, NCIS got a tip about a suspicious fire nearly 20 miles from Alden and Wymook's base at Camp Lejeune. He said that he was on a road in the Sneets Ferry area. The Sneets Ferry area is south of Camp Lejeune. He said that he was on a road in the Sneets Ferry area. The Sneets Ferry area is south of Camp Lejeune. It's a rural area.

There's not a lot of people around, especially undercover in darkness, to see what's going on. It's a good place to get rid of something that you don't want anybody to find. Down this path, maybe about a half a mile, it opens up into a clearing. And in the center of that clearing, basically, there was a shallow grave.

There, beneath the smoldering ash, investigators uncovered human remains. Fayetteville detectives are still working on a definitive identification on the remains. Fayetteville detectives are still working on a definitive identification on the remains. It was just a blip on the news saying that a body was found and it just hit me. I just knew it. That's Holly. They found her. An autopsy would confirm it was Holly. Crime scene video shot by deputies shows the shallow grave containing the remains of Holly Weimunk. Her dad actually called me and said,

before you hear it on TV, you know, I want to tell you. And I didn't expect that. I still felt like she was going to call me. And when I actually saw it on the news That Holly seen in it and at the scenes of other victims that other agents and I have been at you can't afford to become Emotional about it because if you if you if if you are, you're not good to the team. At night when we go home and be with our families and me with my wife, we would share what we could with them and that's when you get the human element, that's when you get the emotion behind, that's when you get the emotion behind

it, when you watch the reaction in their faces, when you tell them what you had to do at work today. It was a pretty gruesome, difficult scene to collect evidence from. It was like something out of a horror movie. Holly's body had been dismembered and set on fire. Investigators sorted through the ash and debris, uncovering critical clues into Holly's murder. There were some knives and a hatchet that were also found.

And what was interesting and critical evidence about this is these knives fit a knife set that was missing from Holly's apartment. Those knives were a perfect match and provided a crucial link connecting the crime scene to Holly's apartment fire. You realize that you're in trouble. You're in some trouble. Okay. They say, look, you're not telling us the truth. We just found her body. And at that point, he becomes much more forthcoming about what they did. Look at her. Now you tell me. Tell me the rest of it. Tell me the rest of it. After misleading investigators for three days, Alden begins to unravel.

I went out there. You know exactly what I saw. I can kind of imagine what you saw. Tell me what you imagined that I saw out there. I imagined there was a hole. Alden ultimately told us everything, that he had received a call from John. He didn't know why he was going to Fayetteville, but he agreed to do it because he and John were Marines in the same unit. Once he arrived, however, John told him that he had killed her and needed his help getting rid of Holly's body. What did he say?

He's like, we were arguing. He said, I killed her. I didn't ask him how he killed her. I said, why? He's like, I didn't mean to. I don't know if he hit her, shot her, or whatever. He told me that she didn't die right away, so he had to hit her again. I told him I don't want to hear that.

He's like, the look in her eye, he'd never seen anything like it, the look in her eye. Every word that I heard just made my stomach turn that much more. Alden told us that Holly's remains were ultimately placed in what we in the Marine Corps refer to as a sea bag. After loading Holly's body into the pickup truck, Alden says Wymunk set fire to the apartment to destroy the evidence. And then they made the three-hour drive back to Camp Lejeune and ultimately arrived in Sneeds Ferry. They then dig a shallow grave. They place Holly's remains inside that grave and they attempt to burn Holly's remains.

I sit there thinking, what the hell am I doing? Why am I getting myself into this? Why am I getting myself into this? Common sense may tell someone, once you hear that someone has killed their wife, why do you still carry on? And I think one thing is within the military structure, rank is very important.

And John outranked Kyle. He had someone who outranked him asking for help with the situation. And I think Kyle made the very poor decision to participate in this cover-up. The Marine in me was angry that that man had the title that me and other Marines have. Based on what he did and the decisions that he made, I absolutely do not call him a Marine. We're different now.

The whole time we've been talking, you ain't called her name. I want to hear you say Holly. Her name was Holly Lynn James. And I'm not even going to put his name, his last name, ain't even worth being attached to hers. So her name was Holly Lynn James. After confessing to his role in Holly's disappearance, investigators took an unusual step, demanding an apology. Tell her you're sorry. I'm sorry. Tell her children you're sorry. Say, demanding an apology. Tell her you're sorry.

I'm sorry. Tell her children you're sorry. Say, I'm sorry that you ain't got no mama no more. Sorry that you ain't got no mama no more. There's about as much feeling in what you just said as is in this cup right there, okay? That's about how much feeling you got. You know, you're going with us because you want no rest. Yes, sir.

Alden was charged with second-degree arson and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Lieutenant Holly James Wymock. Now, NCIS had one thing left to do. We knew at this point that John Wymock had committed this murder. But would the confession of an admitted liar be enough to seal Wymuk's fate? Once we had Alden's statements, once we had what we believed

were Holly's remains, Fayetteville Police Department Homicide Squad swore warrants for the arrest of John Wymock. Only a year before, Holly had married John and told friends he was sweet and good to her children. Now, love had turned to hate, and Wymock was about to be arrested for Holly's murder. We went to John's unit where we knew him to be. I expected that his head would be down, that he would look defeated, that he would be emotional. He was seated, his head was up.

He didn't, to me, look like he really had a care in the world. I identified myself to John Weimunk as a special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. I told him to stand up, and I told him that he was under military apprehension for the murder of Holly Lynn Wymunk. He complied immediately. He looked at my partner. He looked at me. The Marines present were watching. He said nothing to any of us. He had a facial expression that told me he knew exactly what was happening and that he was content. told me he knew exactly what was happening and that he was content holly was one of three female soldiers murdered in that terrible summer of 2008 in fayetteville north carolina there was no serial

killer authorities believe sergeant megan tuma's killer a fellow soldier with whom she was having an affair wrote those so-called Zodiac letters. Monday, July 14th, John Wymock was charged with first-degree murder and the death of Holly Wymock. She had actually died from a gunshot wound to the head. He was also charged with second-degree arson and conspiracy to commit second-degree arson. The criminal case was just beginning, as was the emotional fallout.

Holly's commanding officer selected Holly's friend, Lieutenant April Wertz, for what the military considers a special honor. I had the chance to accompany the remains back home from the funeral home in Fayetteville to the airport in Detroit, and we drove back down to Dubuque, Iowa. It was there, in Holly's hometown,

that April first met Holly's father, Jesse James. Holly's dad welcomed me like a member of the family, like I'd been her best friend since childhood and I'll never forget it. It was a really nice experience in a very dark, dark time. Jesse was especially close to his daughter and spoke to her in the days before her murder, as he recalled in this interview for the university

where he was the dean of admissions. Holly said, Dad, it's going to be a nasty divorce. Not sure what nasty divorce conjured up in my mind. I suppose that I thought they would fight, but the thought that he would murder Molly is a thought that never occurred to me. District Attorney Billy West says the state, armed with Kyle Alden's detailed confession

and his agreement to testify, sought the death penalty for John Wymock. It took two years for the case to get to court. John Wymock reached a plea agreement with the state where he would plead guilty to first-degree murder, as well as arson, conspiracy to commit arson, and that he would serve life without the possibility of parole. John Wymock accepted his fate, but never apologized

or provided any insight into why he murdered Holly when he appeared at his sentencing. North Carolina, we do not have allocution where the accused or the defendant actually explains what they did on the day of the crime. Kyle Alden pled guilty to his responsibility in the case, and that was that he was an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, and he also was guilty of a second degree arson and conspiracy to commit second degree arson. Kyle Holden served three years of a potential five year sentence.

Today he's free. Both men were dishonorably discharged. I'm still angry. He took my friend. He took a daughter. He took a mother most of all. So two kids grow up without their mother, you know that that's hard. The only time I actually met her children were during the funeral. There were three and six. I remember thinking that little girl is the spitting image of her mother. That is a little Holly right there.

Her little boy, they handed him a folded up flag. And the look on his face is a look that will always be with me, that look of pain. Some people search a lifetime to find a friend like Holly, and I had that. I had a friend like that. Sometimes I'll hear somebody's voice, and it'll remind me of her voice, or a laugh, and it'll just take me back to our graduation day, how the sun hit her hair and how she was smiling that day. What's it like to lose a child?

Everyone in your family goes through grief in their own certain way. I know that in the years after Holly's death, he actually went around speaking and bringing awareness to domestic violence, specifically domestic violence in the military. I think what adds to the grief of a dad, of a man, is that he's supposed to protect his daughter. I don't want to speak for Mr. James. agreed to do this interview, did so because he wanted his daughter's story told

in the most accurate and truthful way possible. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.