48 Hours - A Man with a Past

Episode Date: September 25, 2022

A young woman vanishes. The prime suspect has a criminal past — he murdered his parents when he was a child. Did he kill again? "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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ConstantContact.ca Auburn, Alabama is home to Auburn University, which is a major football school. In a college town, it happens that students sometimes may go off and, you know, they may be missing for a little while, but they come back. Lori was a student at Auburn University and she had recently graduated. June 10th, 2006, which is the fateful day in Lori's life. We were gonna have drinks at my house. We were gonna have rum runners, I believe,

and watch a movie and just kind of hang out, do girl time. She called me around 6.30 and said, I'm going to stop by the store, pick up the drink mixes, and then I'll be headed to your house. And then the phone rang about 30 minutes later. It rang once or twice. I answered. No one was there. How many times had she simply not showed up and not called you?

Never. My daughter was a very good person, a kind person, a loving girl, a very studious student. She loved sports, loved her dog. She had a little Yorkie named Peanut. That was her baby. When did you realize that something was wrong? I was at work. A lady called. I believe it was her boss. And she told me that I just want to tell you your daughter Lori has not showed up for work. And right away, bells and whistles went off.

I called her and she didn't answer her phone. I called her house several times, left voicemails on her home answering machine. You go over to her mobile home. The door was unlocked, which was not like her. The air condition was running. Her dog, Peanut, was in the crate. We walked through the house. She wasn't there. What are you thinking? Something's terribly wrong. There is no way she would have left Peanut. This is it. It's about 4.40 a.m., four days after Lori is missing. The car was right here, dead in the center.

And engulfed in flames. Was Lori in this car? Lori was not in the vehicle. There was no trace of her whatsoever. I mean, none. Just vanished. Just vanished.

And nobody knows what happened to Lori Slesinski. I know somebody that knows. Rick Ennis. Your daughter had no idea about his past. No. I met Rick Ennis when he was 12 years old. He's sitting back there in that seat behind you.

And I said, where are your parents? He looks right back at me and he says, I killed them both. Thank you. I can still see her smile. Her smile is just etched in my memory. To this day, Lindsay Braun is haunted by the final call from Lori Slozinski on June 10, 2006, when they were supposed to get together for drinks and a movie. That last call, did it indicate it was her phone? She calls and it hangs up. Yes.

And no one's there. Just no one was there. I was just dead end. Did you call her right back? I did. No answer. Lori and Lindsay became fast friends when they met junior year at Auburn University in 2002. I remember the day I met her, we just kind of immediately clicked.

I could just tell that she was a warm person, very friendly, just outgoing, loving, all those good things. Lori's family, her older brother Paul, and their parents, Arlene and Casey, were actually from New York State. They headed south to rural Alabama farm country when Lori was 13 years old. She loved animals. We always had animals in our house. Lori's mother, Arlene. A very studious student. She was a good girl. Arlene. A very studious student. She was a good girl. When she enrolled in nearby Auburn University, her parents bought Lori a mobile home to live off campus in a manicured trailer park popular with students. So from valedictorian of her high school class, was it tough for you to see your

baby girl leave the house and head off to university. Oh yeah, it was very tough. I called her every day. She's like, mom, this has got to stop. I was like, but you're my baby and I worry about you. Just don't worry about me. I'm fine. Lori majored in psychology and minored in criminal justice. She graduated with honors. There she is with mom and dad. She looks so happy there. She was. She was over the moon happy. After graduation, Lori and Lindsay started working together at a local mental health facility. Did you sense that she had any enemy in this world? No. The day that Lori disappeared, June 10th, 2006. Was anyone with Lori that day? Rick was at her house.

Rick was Daryl Richard Ennis. When I had spoken to her, he was in the background. Lori got to know Rick back when she was still a student. She hung out at the local bowling alley where he worked. I didn't know much about him at all except he was her friend. I didn't know much about him at all except he was her friend. Arlene says just before Christmas in 2005, Lori asked if Rick could join them. She asked me, she said, Mom, he has no family. Can I invite him? She kind of, you know, felt bad that he was going to spend Christmas alone. He was friendly, very polite.

Lindsay says Lori often spent time with Rick, so she wasn't surprised that he had been at Lori's home the day she disappeared. They were friends, so I wasn't concerned. But now you're at home waiting for Lori to come over. And you went to bed that night thinking, you know, I hope she's okay. But the next morning, Lindsay started to worry. I called her house several times, left voicemails on her home answering machine. Hey, Lori, checking on you. Are you okay? Where are you? You went to work on that Monday, right? Yeah. She wasn't there.

In my mind, something's wrong. I had Rick's number, so I did text him and ask, have you seen Lori? Where is she? I'm worried about her. His conversation back was, no, I haven't. And I'm worried now, too. When Lori didn't show up at work a second day, that's when Lindsay headed to Lori's home. No one answered. And found her dog, Peanut, in his crate. I'm an animal lover, so the very first thing I did was let the dog out.

That's when she noticed something else strange. Lori was missing three days, but the crate was spotless, and Peanut seemed happy and appeared to be well-fed, as though someone had taken care of him. And there was more. One thing I remember about Peanut is he wouldn't walk on tile, so she had these rugs in her kitchen, and he would hop on the rugs, and the rugs were gone. I noticed that immediately. Her outside trash can was missing. She had one that she had like yard tools in and the answering machine had actually been unplugged. So those messages were not there.

By this time, Lori's mother heard that she hadn't been showing up at work. I have got to go to Auburn and see what's going on, where she is, because I called her and she didn't answer her phone. She headed off on an agonizing drive, calling her husband and alerting the police, finally arriving at her daughter's home. And when the police got there, what was their attitude? Well, you know, they were like, she's got to be missing 48 hours, and they didn't really make a big deal out of it.

They wanted to just think she ran away. Lori's parents could only wait for Lori to walk through the door or call. And finally, the phone rang late that afternoon. But Arlene says it wasn't Lori. It was her friend, Rick Ennis. He said that Lori had gone to make a big drug deal. What? Yes.

And I was like, there ain't no way. My daughter would not do anything like that. Did you tell the police what he told you? I didn't. Rick told them. And the police came to the trailer, banging on the door, and they raided the mobile home, and they found nothing. Then, just before dawn,

that's when Lori Slezinski's missing car suddenly exploded into a fireball on a desolate dead end outside a construction site. The feelings were just unbelievable of fear and knowing something really bad has happened. Who would set her car on fire? Exactly. And why?

The investigation shifted from a missing person to a possible homicide. Investigators dug into Rick's tip about Lori dealing drugs, but found no evidence, none, that he was telling the truth. Now, investigators started digging deeper into Rick Ennis. They wanted to know if he was hiding something from them. Did you have any sense as to why Rick Ennis didn't have a family? No, I had no idea why at all. Eventually, you learned.

I did. It's beyond shocking. 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. 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, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access,

I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C True Crime shows early and ad-free right now. This is my daughter Lori's trailer.

And do you go into that trailer from time to time just to connect with her? I do. Just go in there and think about the happier times. This room, besides the memories, is also a solemn place because you believe some horrors went on in this room, correct? Yes. In the early days of the investigation, back in 2006,

Arlene says she became suspicious of Rick Ennis when he told her that the night Lori disappeared, she had gone out to make a drug deal. And why would he be doing that, do you think? I think to take the heat off of him. I was thinking,

this guy is lying through his teeth. Police suspected the same, but without direct evidence linking Rick Ennis to Lori's disappearance, police could not make an arrest, and the case quickly went cold. Did Rick Ennis stick around town? He was there for a couple of days, but within a week after his third interview, he left town. He never came back to Auburn again. In 2016, 10 years after Lori disappeared, Mark Whitaker, a special agent with the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation, started a cold case unit. He chose the disappearance of Lori Slezinski as his first case.

Any estimate of how many murder cases you've been involved with in your career? Probably about 100. Where does this one rank in terms of fascination for you as an investigator? It's number one. It was a very difficult case because there was no body. We don't know exactly what happened. And we don't know where she is. But it didn't take long for Rick Ennis to become Whitaker's prime suspect. We couldn't eliminate him.

His inconsistencies in his statements made no sense whatsoever. We knew Lori was not a drug dealer. I mean, she vanished off the face of the earth when he's the last one to ever see her and when police spoke to rick hours after lori was reported missing they noticed these scratches on his hands and arms right here that is a thumbprint where somebody's digging in there she's fighting for her life and doing everything she can to get away from it. In Rick's car, there were handcuffs, this knife, and cleaning supplies. And they soon learned something startling about Rick's past.

Turned into one of the most bizarre cases I've ever been associated with. Former Alabama State Trooper John Clark. I was patrolling this county when I got a call. It was March 5th, 1993. The call from dispatch said a car had gone off this very highway and struck a fence. And as my headlights take in the curve, I see it looks like a young boy with a backpack. It's a 12-year-old, Rick Ennis, and he admits he had been driving the car Clark searches his backpack

The first thing I pull out is a kitchen knife about that long There's some 12-gauge and some.22 caliber loose ammunition in the bottom of the bag He's sitting back there in that seat behind you And I said, where are your parents? He looks right back at me and he says, I killed them both. I killed them both. I killed them both. No tears, no emotion, nothing.

Clark then radioed for local police to get over to Ennis' home. State troopers working a wreck involving a 12-year-old. At the time, a show called MPD, the television series, was following the officers. The boys telling them that they killed his daddy and mama. Cameras entered the home of Rick's mother and stepfather. On the floor of a bedroom are two dead bodies. There's pieces of a baseball bat in the bedroom that has quite a bit of blood on it. Rick's own mother, Dolly Flowers, was shot in the face and then beaten to death with this baseball bat.

Rick told investigators he covered her face with a velvet blanket and placed a rose on her chest. Blood splatters on the walls, blood splatters on the door. Blood splatters on the walls, blood splatters on the door. Rick's stepfather, Eddie Joe Flowers, was known as Elvis for his sideburns and colorful personality. Rick shot him in the face using this shotgun. Rick told cops he was mad that his parents planned to move. He said he didn't want to leave his school. For two days, investigators believe he lived with their bodies while continuing to go to school. Investigators say they found what they describe as Ennis's

to-do list that included killing his three stepsisters. So he wanted to kill all three of you? Oh yeah. I feel very blessed to be here and not to be one of his victims. Donna Furr, Angela Flowers, and Tina Sexton are all Eddie's daughters. Tina was 20 when her dad was murdered. It's changed everything. My dad was my world. I'm never getting to see him again. The sisters say Dolly was a sweet, outgoing woman who met their father in church. Rick was the polar opposite. Every time I would go and visit my dad and Dolly,

he would go into his bedroom and close himself off. He'd come out and eat, and then he'd go back into the room. What is the longest conversation you ever had with him? Five seconds, maybe. He didn't talk to nobody. What did the longest conversation you ever had with him? Five seconds maybe. He didn't talk to nobody. What did your father think of Rick? He just said he's just a little different than than y'all were when y'all were coming up. He just thought that they were in a new relationship and you know that it would he would outgrow it and things would get better over time. But just 10 months after they married, the happy couple were dead. He was 12 years old and had murdered two people, brutally murdered them. At age 12,

Rick Ennis couldn't be tried as an adult. He spent nine years in juvenile detention in Alabama and was released after he turned 21. It was now up to Agent Whitaker and his team to determine whether Rick Ennis had murdered again. Should juveniles convicted of murder get a second chance? Chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal.

There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still have urged it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching,

nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse 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. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror.

Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed

in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free, with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. Agent Mark Whitaker knew what Rick Ennis did to his parents, and his instincts told him Ennis had done something horrible to Lori, too.

But now, he had to prove it. The burn site that's found on the 14th, the car was right here, facing out back toward the bowling alley. There's nothing else around here at the time. There's not apartments. It's just a paved road. The blaze destroyed whatever evidence there was in the car.

But an investigator reported finding a tiny item on the ground nearby. He found a hand-rolled cigarette butt about right here, and he collected that. It was not tested. Kind of got lost in the shuffle. The case agent retired. Whitaker's team now submitted it for testing. And there was this gas can that had been found nearby. It was right in this area right here. It looked like one that had been missing from the bowling alley where Rick had worked. And it's right here, a thousand yards from the bowling alley, 30 yards from her car. Whitaker's partner, J.W. Barnes, showed us something that for police tied everything together. These railroad tracks. These are the same tracks that go right by the bowling alley. They run right across the street from where Laurie's car was found burning.

I've always thought that's what NSU used for transportation was walking down the railroad tracks. Because it's a straight shot and you're not going to be seen unless you want to be seen. And those railroad tracks run by Laurie's house. And in that house were signs of a violent struggle, says Whitaker. These areas you see right here that have been cut out, that's where the scuff marks were. They were black, just like the bottom of her shoes. And there was even some up high here. So it's obviously, there was a struggle in here with somebody kicking their legs, It's obviously, there was a struggling here with somebody kicking their legs, probably up in the air.

Remember, Lori's dog, Peanut, seemed happy and taken care of. My theory is that Rick Ennis stayed in the house. After he had murdered Lori. I believe so. It's the only way to explain it. We don't have a cause of death, but I've always thought that he strangled her. The scratches that he had all over his arm were just indicative of defense wounds when you're fighting somebody. Whitaker says the phone in the corner of the bedroom was missing its cord. It was a long cord, and it ran all the way through the room. And what do you think that

cord was used for? I think it was used to bound her. To tie her up? Yes, sir. Could it have been used to strangle her? Sure. That phone cord was missing. That's not the only thing that was missing. There were those three rugs in the kitchen. They were kind of strategically put out so that Peanut, Lori's dog, and Hop, Bill and Olin, be back on carpet. The rugs turned up, he says, a few years later. Ennis had a former roommate who reached out to law enforcement and told them, hey, there's this guy left behind three rugs. Peter, I want to show you something else. Lori had a table set up about right here.

And on this table, days before Lori went missing, a love letter was left here for her from Rick. People who knew Lori said Ennis wanted to be more than just a friend. Police say Ennis told a buddy that Lori rejected him. And he was devastated by that. So do you believe this rejection may have been a motive for murder? I think that's what sent him over the edge. I absolutely do.

Despite the mounting evidence, Agent Whitaker still needed something more that tied Ennis directly to the crime scene. As far as I'm concerned, he is investigating this case like Lori is his own daughter. I mean, he has a picture of Lori in his house. I've had it in my closet. It made me think about her every day when I was getting ready for work, when I would put my ties on. I would just remember what I was supposed to be doing every single day. And then it's like one o'clock in the morning and J.W. calls me. J.W. Barnes found exactly what they needed in the case files, collecting dust for 10 years. He goes, I just found a report that was in an envelope that hadn't been opened. Whitaker could hardly believe it.

When Lori disappeared in 2006, police collected evidence from her trailer. But by the time the results came in, no one followed up. The report contained critical evidence. Rick's DNA was identified in semen found on Lori's bed sheet and in blood on the interior of the front door. And it turned out his blood was also found on one of the rugs investigators say were in Lori's kitchen. You've got his blood on a rug here. You've got his semen back there. You've got his blood on a rug here. You've got his semen back there.

You've got his blood on a door. Most people's blood is not inside somebody else's home unless something really bad had happened. Twelve years after Lori disappeared, there was now enough evidence to charge Rick Ennis with her murder. There was now enough evidence to charge Rick Ennis with her murder. But by this time, Rick Ennis was happily engaged to school librarian Elena Atkinson and living 500 miles away in Virginia. He was designing and building portable living structures called yurts for Sharon Morley's company. Morley liked Ennis from the moment they met. He was just so open and friendly and had a great sense of humor.

But on August 6, 2018, Rick's birthday, Morley saw a task force of lawmen arrive. Walking out of the woods, they were hiding behind trees, they had the place surrounded. It was a highlight of my career to make the phone call to Arlene and Casey Slesinski that morning to tell them that we just took Rick Ennis in custody for Lori's murder. Was this kind of a bittersweet moment for you? Most definitely, yes. I guess psychologically, I never accepted the fact that she really was gone. And I cried big time. Yeah. Later that month, Ennis appeared before an Alabama judge, with Lori's parents facing him.

I guess he kind of seemed surprised that we were there. What did you want him to know? That we finally got you. You're not going to get away with this. News of Ennis's arrest quickly spread. I read it and I'm like thinking to myself, it's Rick. Terry Booth says he was friends with Rick and suddenly remembered a conversation he had with him years earlier at a bar when he asked him why he left Alabama. What did he say? He just mainly said I had to get rid of it. And I'm thinking, oh, this guy's just messing around with me. But that changed when he learned of Rick's arrest.

And it was real. He wasn't joking. I couldn't sleep the whole night. He called Whitaker's task force. And it was just unbelievable what Ennis had told him. But the most explosive news of all came later, and incredibly, while Whitaker was with Ennis

at another court hearing. An investigator from Auburn PD comes up to him and tells me, you're not going to believe this, that hand-rolled cigarette butt next to the car has his DNA on it. I wanted to do a somersault in the courtroom, but I couldn't. Everyone now was prepared to go to trial. But the courts quickly ground to a halt because of the pandemic.

And Arlene Slezinski suffered more losses. First, her son to cancer, and then her husband, Casey, to COVID. I had to call him. I think he'd better come. When I got there, he was gone. You lose your daughter, you lose your son, and then you lose your husband. How do you go on with all this? I guess my faith, my friends, family. And I just did not want to die not knowing what happened to my daughter or seeing justice being done.

But Rick Ennis was determined to prove police had it all wrong. And he wasn't the only one fighting to prove his innocence. They have the wrong person. There's no way. His fiancee, Elena Atkinson. Do you believe Rick had anything to do with Lori's disappearance with her death? No, I do not. Not only do I believe Rick is innocent, I believe that he would have given his life for Lori if he had been there. That's the kind of person he is. And she believes that despite the fact that she knows Rick murdered his mother and stepfather

when he was 12. People would wonder, why is it hard for you to believe that he could kill again? She says Rick told her something about what happened with his mother, something that convinced her he had nothing to do with what happened to Lori. 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.

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It's just the best idea yet. Rick Ennis is one of the most compassionate, generous, kind people that I've ever known. Elena Atkinson has been in love with Rick Ennis for four years. I love his intelligence. I always joke with him and tell him I fell in love with his brain first. But just two months into their romance, Elena, an amateur genealogist, was researching Rick's ancestry when she stumbled upon news that he had killed his mother and stepfather. My first thought was, what in the world happened in his home life that pushed him to that point? Rick would tell her something she didn't see in any article.

Rick, it's Peter Van Sant with 48 Hours. Reached by phone, Rick told us what he insists happened. I was molested by my mother. Rick says his mother sexually abused him and he snapped.

I exploded and the result was that I took my mother's life and then I took my stepfather's life. But remember, back then, he told authorities he killed his parents because he didn't want to move. I was deeply ashamed about

my mother molesting me and I had a really hard time talking about it. Still, we could find no evidence to corroborate Rick's abuse allegation. You know, Rick, I have to tell you, obviously, I have no idea what happened. A skeptic would say you've conveniently accused the mother that you murdered of molesting you and she can't defend herself. You understand how that's difficult for some to believe. Well, I mean, it's something that

I worked through with a psychiatrist. What I did when I was 12 is the greatest regret of my life. Rick insists he's no longer that angry 12-year-old. Now 41, Rick Ennis would stand trial for yet another murder. I never murdered Lori Swierczynski. She was a very close dear friend of mine. I never would have hurt her. Prosecutor Jessica Ventieri is sure that is a lie, but at trial she wouldn't be allowed to tell the jury anything about Rick's past. This is by far the most complicated case of my career. Ventieri's first hurdle was convincing the jury that Lori was, in fact, dead. She called Lori's mother, Arlene, to the stand. Did she make contact with you after her brother died?

No, ma'am. Have you ever received a birthday card? No, ma'am. A Mother's Day card? Have you ever heard from your daughter in any way since that Thursday before she disappeared? Lindsay Braun was next, seemingly setting up a motive, telling the jury that Lori rejected Rick. She told me about a letter that he had written her. Was it a love letter?

Yes. She told me that she wasn't interested in him that way. And Terry Booth would take the stand to recount that troubling remark he said Rick made. Yeah, it's a triangle of b****. She was a white piece of trash. The district attorney built her case with testimony about the scuff marks on the wall and the blood in Lori's trailer, Rick's semen on her bed, and the cigarette butt, with Rick's DNA found near Lori's scorched car. They've got problems with this evidence. But defense attorney William Watley claimed that hand-rolled cigarette was planted, arguing police could have taken it from Rick's home. That cigarette butt didn't come from Berksy. The defense suggested Lori

was responsible for her own disappearance. They portrayed her as a drug dealer. You knew that Lori had grown marijuana? Yes. Lindsay insisted, however, that it was only for Lori's personal use. For herself, or that she didn't have to purchase any. But to drive home their points, Whatley called Rick Ennis himself to the stand.

It's been a long time with her. Rick insisted he had no reason to hurt Lori. Did you write a letter to Lori? Yes, sir, I did. I asked her if she wanted to date. It would have been a month or two before she went missing. I'm not certain. But even though she turned him down,

Rick says they were still intimate. Now, did you ever have sex with Lori? Yes, sir. So what about what he said to Terry Booth? Ennis says it never happened. Did you ever go out drinking with

Terry Booth? Yes, sir. Did you tell Terry Booth that you strangled someone? Yes, sir. happened. And those rugs given to police by his former roommate, Rick claims they were not from Lori's trailer. Rick says Lori was fine when he left her that Saturday. Target. Did you get any of those from Lori? Yes, sir. Rick says Lori was fine when he left her that Saturday. He says he headed off to sell some weed, and he claims she was off to do the same. The last time you saw Lori, did you have any kind of an argument with her? No, sir. Did you break into Lori's trailer that Saturday? I did not. Did you kidnap Lori? No, sir. Did you break into Lori's trailer that Saturday?

I did not. Did you kidnap Lori? No, sir. Did you kill Lori? I did not. Did you burn Lori's car? No, sir. So what about the knife, handcuffs, and cleaning items in his car?

Rick says it had nothing to do with Lori. He was moving things from his apartment. And those scratches on him? Back in 2006, police say he had no explanation. But at the trial, he had an answer. I got them for playing with my dog. Ventieri barely made it to the podium to start her cross-examination. Ventieri questioned Rick about that blood on Lori's door.

And the question Ventieri really wanted an answer for, she never got. Where did you stop Lauren's body? I didn't tell Lauren's body anywhere. Who did, honey? I have no idea. Both sides had their final chance to persuade the jury. Defense Attorney Whatley told the jurors there wasn't any evidence that a crime had even been committed. There's no evidence that a crime had even been committed there's no evidence that laura's kidnapped there's no evidence that she was forcibly taken against her will ventieri attacked rick's defense

the fact that they just sit there and say you know their client told me about anything Ventieri insisted that the volume of evidence against Rick Ennis was overwhelming, even if police still couldn't find Lori's remains. And she reminded the jury that Lori would never just take off. She would never, ever, ever leave Peanut Farm. Never. After seven days of testimony, it was now up to the jury to decide. I'm terrified. I only get one shot at this.

But you just never know what a jury's going to do. Do you believe Rick Ennis is a changed man? See more of the investigation into Lori's disappearance at 48hours.com. When the jury came back into the courtroom, did you look at their faces? Yes, I did. It was very hard to read their faces. I still wasn't sure what the verdict was going to be. Defendant, please stand. Nearly 16 years after Lori Slezinski vanished,

the jury reached a verdict during their second day of deliberations. We, the jury, find defendant Daryl Richard Ennis guilty of offensive count of murder. Guilty of the murder of Lori Slozinski. Give me a sense of what that meant to you. Sheer relief, joy that he was finally convicted and would never get to do this to anyone else again. I'm thrilled that we were able to bring justice for Lori after such a long time. Immediately following the jury's verdict, D.A. Ventieri went to Arlene with a proposal. Rick was now facing a possible death sentence, but that would trigger years of appeals and legal wrangling.

To spare Arlene all that, Ventieri suggested offering Rick life without parole. Arlene agreed. It says in court that you'd be in prison for a term of life without the possibility of parole. Elena Atkinson was stunned. It's complete shock, disbelief. I was devastated.

She was so certain Rick would be exonerated, she'd made plans to celebrate. A celebration Rick told us that he would be part of. I felt that we were going to go and have a nice dinner and that I was going to get to start my life over. Arlene headed home to savor the bittersweet victory. After this verdict, did you have a conversation with Lori? I did. I just said, Lori, justice has finally come.

We've waited for this for a long time. And I hope you're all celebrating in heaven with the entire family. And I wish you were all here to see this day. This tragic murder, the ripple effects across your family is just incredible. It has left a very large void in my life. I was getting ready to retire. I mean, I could have been enjoying

my grandchildren possibly, just spending time with my daughter, who I loved. This is Lori at her trailer, and Peanut, who she absolutely adored, and vice versa. and vice versa. We brought Peanut home with us, and he stayed with us until he was, I guess, about 16 years old, and he died. Every time we mentioned Lori's name, I don't care where he was in the house,

it was like he just heard her name, and he'd run in there like, where is she? It just totally amazed me that he never forgot her. Never. Did you ever think that six years ago we would be here today? With her husband and both her children gone,

this tragic story has brought new friendships into Arlene's life. Mark Whitaker is my hero. Him and his wife are like family to me now. This was on her graduation day. Casey, her and me. It's a great photo. And this was her a month before she disappeared at her cousin Jennifer's wedding with her cousin Thomas.

Wow. A lot of care in the world. I know. She's one of the bravest women that I've ever met. You showing all these to me just makes everything more real for me. Beautiful girl. Thanks for sharing those with me. You're welcome.

I could tell she seems to be happier now. I can't thank you enough for it. I love you. I love you too. You're one tough it. I love you. I love you too. You're one tough lady. I am. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app.

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