48 Hours - Calling For Justice

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

In 1980, Marilyn McIntyre was discovered dead in her Wisconsin home by her husband, Lane McIntyre. Police initially investigated Lane and his friend as a potential suspects, but the case stalled for n...early thirty years. In an effort to reignite the case, Marilyn's niece reached out to investigators. A call to a wrong number and new evidence would expose the killer. “48 Hours" Correspondent Erin Moriarty reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 4/30/2011. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 You can't imagine the sleepless nights for 30 years, trying to hold on to painful memories because one day it might be important to be told in court. I was 23 years old. I worked third shift, 11 o'clock at night until 7 o'clock in the morning. It was March 11th, quarter after 7 in the morning. There was still a little bit of snow on the ground. As I stepped on the porch, Clyde was usually happy to jump all over me, but he cowered from him.
Starting point is 00:00:51 I thought, well, that was unusual. And I put the key in the door, and once I unlocked the door, then he was jumping all over me, like, oh, thank God you're here. And I didn't think much of it at the time until I opened up the door. I stood in the doorway for a while. I didn't want to believe what I was seeing. My brain didn't want to accept what I was seeing. I was actually trying to hear her breath, and she just wouldn't breathe.
Starting point is 00:01:35 Then all of a sudden it was, Christopher, is my son okay? It was around 7.30 in the morning. Phone rang. Said somebody killed Marilyn last night. She was dead. She's dead. And I just started screaming. Now Marilyn.
Starting point is 00:01:56 Not Marilyn. I am Carolyn Ron. Marilyn McIntyre was my twin sister. Why would somebody do that to an 18-year-old? It was a heinous crime, is what it was. I was there. I seen the body. My name is Lee Erdman, and I was the chief of police
Starting point is 00:02:17 in Columbus, Wisconsin in 1980. We're looking for a mean individual, not a stranger. It's someone in the immediate family, our close friend. I knew it was coming. Her husband nine times out of ten usually is the guy that did it. I just automatically thought Lane. I'm Brenda Daniels, Maryland's older sister. Brenda and I did not agree from day one who committed the crime.
Starting point is 00:02:44 I couldn't tell you how many trips we made to Columbus Police Department. Same run around. We'll get back to you. There's nothing new. We never got enough information to secure a warrant for an arrest. Somewhere along the line, Columbus dropped the ball. After 1983, this case went cold. I am Wayne Smith, a lieutenant with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. We take some personal pride in not having unsolved homicides in this county, and here we find out there is one, and not only is unsolved, but it's nearly 30 years old.
Starting point is 00:03:18 30 years old. It was like an explosion. They thought it could be solved. It's something that shouldn't have taken this long. There was only going to be one try at this. Witnesses were dying at this point. Memories certainly aren't improving after 30 years, so this was going to be it. Last chance for justice.
Starting point is 00:03:39 Growing up in a small town, everybody knows everybody. It's been difficult, you know, not knowing exactly what happened. happened. Growing up in Columbus, Wisconsin, 31-year-old Christopher McIntyre thought he had an idyllic small-town childhood. For most part, I was happy and a normal kid growing up. It's like everybody else. Until the day when he learned an awful truth. I guess I was about nine or ten. That's when my father decided to let me know. The woman I thought was my mother. I found out was not my real mother. He told me you'll never meet your real mom. She's gone. Chris was only three months old and asleep in his crib when his mother, Marilyn, was murdered in
Starting point is 00:04:49 1980. His father, Lane, had struggled for years to find the right time to tell him. I was waiting for him to get a little older. That had to be really tough to hear. Yeah, confusing and tough, yes. She never got to hear Christopher call her mom. So much was taken away from her. Carolyn Ron is Marilyn McIntyre's identical twin. Her world was torn apart when her sister was brutally murdered nearly three decades ago. It was hell.
Starting point is 00:05:23 I turned to alcohol. My marriage failed. I wasn't there for my children. I think she feels like when Marilyn died. A big part of her died. Carolyn's daughter, Tara Doucette, was born less than a year after Marilyn's death. My first memories are seeing my mom crying on the phone
Starting point is 00:05:42 about Maryland. As Tara grew up, she witnessed her mother's constant efforts to convince the Columbus Police Department to reopen Marilyn's case. I couldn't tell you how many detectives we went through. We didn't know where else to turn, where to go. In 2007, 27 years after Mary Lowe's case, Marilyn's murder, Tara decided to take matters into her own hands.
Starting point is 00:06:09 She made a phone call that would prove to be fateful. Ironically, she called the wrong number. I thought I was calling the Columbus Police Department, and instead it was the number to the Columbia County Sheriff's Department. I had never heard that there was an unsolved homicide within the county. It wasn't in our record system. After reviewing the case, Detective Lieutenant Wayne Smith made a crucial decision. The sheriff's department would reopen the investigation. You could tell her right away that they cared.
Starting point is 00:06:40 They seemed shocked that it had won on this long. That's right into the living room where she was found. As Smith and County detectives began digging into the old case files from 1980, their first question was simple. Who was Marilyn McIntyre? She was my best friend. Marilyn and Carolyn Ron were born on November 14. November 14th, 1961. Only five years later, tragedy struck. Our real mother was
Starting point is 00:07:11 killed in a car accident in 1966. The twins, along with older siblings, Brenda and Dean, were soon living with their father and an abusive stepmother. It was physically abusive, mentally verbally abusive, and it was mainly on Marilyn and I. And at the At age of 13, we finally moved into foster care. At age 16, Marilyn was looking for stability in her life, something she found in 21-year-old Lane McIntyre. I was just enamored with Marilyn right away. It was instant.
Starting point is 00:07:49 She was so pretty. Just control yourself, you know? It was a little bit first sight. I wanted to take care of her. You know, be there for her. But while Carolyn approved of the relationship, Marilyn's older sister Brenda was wary. I just didn't think he was good enough for Marilyn.
Starting point is 00:08:07 She had a rough life growing up. Was this guy going to make it any easier? No. Despite Brenda's concerns, the couple married on January 19, 1979, when Marilyn was just 17 years old. It was a small party, maybe only a dozen people, but it was one of the happiest days of my life.
Starting point is 00:08:30 life. Soon, Lane and Maryland added a new member to the family when Christopher was born in December of that year. That coming summer was going to be the best summer of our lives being husband and wife or their brand new baby. The evening of March 10, 1980, started like any other night in the home of Lane and Marilyn McIntyre. We did laundry and then I left for work.
Starting point is 00:09:03 Do you remember the last thing you said to Marilyn? Marilyn or what she said to you? She said, I love you. Do you love me? No, of course I do. The next time Lane saw his wife, she was dead. And what did you see when you walked in? A body on the floor with a knife sticking
Starting point is 00:09:25 in the side of her chest and a mutilated head. Lee Erman was the Columbus Police Chief in 1980. He found it significant that there was no sign of forced entry or a robbery, indicating that Marilyn knew her killer. Speculation was she might have answered the door and let someone in. Betty Clence, who lived in the apartment above the McIntyres, learned about Marilyn's death from Lane himself. It was about five, ten after seven. Somebody pounded on our door downstairs. It was Lane. And he said, did you hear anything last night?
Starting point is 00:10:09 He said, I just found my wife murdered. By the time Chief Ervin knocked on her door, Betty remembered that she did hear something unusual in the middle of the night. About quarter after three in the morning, I woke up, and the dog was just barking up a storm, and it was like he was pulling on something. Who's done? Lane and Maryland's.
Starting point is 00:10:35 And was it unusual? Well, I've never heard him barked before like that. Based on Betty's statement, police believe the murder occurred around 3.15 in the morning, a time when Marilyn's husband said he was at work. I never left. Lane did, however, get police their first big lead. When they asked you,
Starting point is 00:10:59 who might be a suspect? You gave the name Kurt Forbes. I did? Yeah. I don't remember. I probably did. Did you consider Kurt Forbes one of your best friends? At that time, yes.
Starting point is 00:11:14 At that time I didn't know what he was capable of. I was just mystified. I'm just trying to understand why. Why to Maryland? As police were running down Lane McIntyre's apparent alibi for the night his wife Marilyn died, he was offering them another suspect. one of his best friends, Curtis Forbes.
Starting point is 00:11:48 Why would Kurt Forbes kill your wife? I believe that Kurt Forbes had a crush on Maryland. And his girlfriend just left him, and he was on the prowl that night. That's our engagement picture. Curtis Forbes was engaged to marry 22-year-old, two-year-old Debbie Adelson in March of 1980. You know, I was young back then in love.
Starting point is 00:12:24 And he was what I wanted in my world. The couple hung out frequently with the McEntires. We'd play cards. We'd go fishing. We'd go out to eat. We got to be really close friends. But according to Lane, Marilyn soon heard some disturbing news about Kurt. Debbie began to tell Marilyn,
Starting point is 00:12:46 stories about abuse. Lane says Debbie confided in Marilyn that Kurt would occasionally beat her up, and that just days before Marilyn's murder, Debbie broke up with Kurt. Had Marilyn encouraged Deborah to leave? Yes. Lane believes the newly single Kurt Forbes
Starting point is 00:13:07 was looking for some action on the night Marilyn was killed. And then he goes, aha, I'll go check on Lane's wife, Lane's at work. I believe he had the intention to rape. Former police chief Lee Erdman questioned Kurt about his whereabouts on the early morning hours of March 11th. He said he had went out and proceeded to play pool and have a good time. According to witnesses, Kurt tried to pick up a woman at the bar. She rejected him.
Starting point is 00:13:40 When the bar closed at 1 a.m., he drove to the house of another woman. Lori Haft. I was home with my then boyfriend. According to Lori, Kurt arrived around 1.15 a.m. and stayed just a few minutes. Why do you think Kurt stopped by your house that night? I think that he was going to probably try and make sexual advances towards me.
Starting point is 00:14:06 After leaving Lori's, Kurt said he drove to Debbie Adelson's house, arriving after 2 a.m. But when investigating When the investigators talk to Debbie Adelson and her parents, what time did they say he arrived? Four o'clock. So there's two hours, unaccounted for. Yeah. Where did he go?
Starting point is 00:14:30 What do you do? And then, just one day after he was grilled by police, Kurt Forbes skipped town. Innocent people don't run. Kurt Forbes ran. Kirk soon sent letters to Lane and Debbie. Dear Lane, I don't know how to express my sympathy for you at this time. I don't want to go to jail for something I didn't do.
Starting point is 00:14:55 There's too much circumstantial evidence against me, so I have to go. But what was the circumstantial evidence against him that he's talking about? What people were saying, that he was violent. Debbie initially told police that Kurt had arrived at her parents' house at 4 a.m. on the night of Maryland's murder. But later said she might have been mistaken. It was either 10 after 4 or 20 after 2. I just saw the two hands.
Starting point is 00:15:26 The circumstantial case against Kurt seemed to be weak, and police soon learned that none of the physical evidence taken at the crime scene could be linked to him either. After two months on the Lamb, Kurt returned to the Columbus area, and just five months later, He and Debbie Adelson were married. Did you have any questions about marrying him?
Starting point is 00:15:50 None. But you knew other people were talking about him. I think that back then it was more they were talking about Lane. And in fact, around Columbus, suspicion had begun to shift, away from Kurt and back towards Maryland's husband. I thought maybe Lane did it. Betty Kluntz had always felt uncomfortable about her neighbor's calm demeanor when he came to her door the morning of the murder. If I was him and it was my wife, I probably would have started in like this. You know, my God, I just came home from work and I found my wife murdered.
Starting point is 00:16:29 But no, he just said it in a nice, calm voice. Betty told the police about frequent fights that she heard between Marilyn and Lane. Neighbors say that you guys would argue. That's their speculation. McIntyre family, we're voisterous. We talk loud in our house. And Maryland's older sister Brenda, who had never liked Lane, believed he had a motive for killing his wife.
Starting point is 00:16:54 Lane looked at me and he goes, Brenda, guess what I did? I took all life insurance policy for Marilyn. It turns out, Lane had purchased a $10,000 life insurance policy for Maryland less than a week before her murder. Three days later, she's dead. I was mortified. And that wasn't all. Within months of Marilyn's death,
Starting point is 00:17:22 Lane was dating, and he soon remarried. He was just getting on with his life, like it was nothing. I'm a young man, I've got a three-month-old baby. I needed another woman in my life. Although there was suspicious, circumstantial evidence, Against both Lane and Kurt, the police did not arrest either man. Instead, their investigation mysteriously ground to a halt.
Starting point is 00:17:53 Four years go by, five years go by. Our thoughts it would never be solved. For Lane, each passing year brought increased scrutiny. My own son was taught to think I did it. Things started to go sour between me and my father. Did you ever just say, Dad? Did you have anything to do with this? I did not.
Starting point is 00:18:18 It'd be such a hard question to ask. Dad, did you have something to do with killing mom? At age 15, the tension between father and son reached a boiling point, and Christopher moved out of the house. I lost mother, and now I feel like I've lost father. The toll on Maryland's family would continue to grow. You know, we've grown up in broken homes our whole life because they didn't know how to carry on after Maryland died. Years would turn into decades and still no answers.
Starting point is 00:18:55 Until that fateful call. When I took a look at this case, my question was, why didn't he get arrested in 1980? I made a promise to the victim's family. We will do our best at this and I believe when we're done, we'll be able to tell you who I believe did it. did it. In 2007, Columbia County Sheriff's Detectives reopened the investigation into Marilyn McIntyre's murder. And after digging into the old case files, they found a piece of evidence that would soon blow
Starting point is 00:19:37 the case wide open. There was this very small stain in a bathroom sink that had the victim's blood in it. In 1980, blood and hair samples have been taken from the crime scene. than two decades later, that blood evidence was sent to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab for DNA testing. When the report came back on that, there was possibly two other contributors. However, one of those contributors was not Lane McIntyre. He was 100% excluded from that. And is there any of the suspects a possible contributor? There is.
Starting point is 00:20:13 When the lab compared DNA from a sample of Kurt Forbes' hair to the stain in the sink... He was listed as a possible contributor in that scene. But Wayne Smith knew there were limits to this DNA evidence. You have to remember that, you know, this is likely a pinhead-sized stain in a sink. And being a possible contributor was not conclusive proof. The lab results showed that it wasn't necessarily curt. The DNA could also come from one out of every 98 people. But it wasn't her husband.
Starting point is 00:20:47 But it wasn't her husband, and it wasn't any single other person that had ever been mentioned as a suspect or had been in that house because we tested them. So Smith and county investigators focus their attention on Kurt Forbes and began to re-interview everyone connected to the crime. I wasn't worried about not remembering. Lori have told detectives that on March 11, 1980, Kurt stopped by her house at around 1.15 a.m. He was there for five minutes. She also recalled a. conversation she had just weeks later with Kurt's girlfriend, Debbie Adelson. She said, well, he showed up at my place around 4 o'clock with blood on his shirt and
Starting point is 00:21:31 wanted me to take care of it. I don't even know her. Debbie, who was still married to Kurt Forbes in 2007, remembers that time very differently. She says there never was a shirt with blood. So if Lori says that you talked about the fact that there was blood on a shirt, She's not telling the truth. How can it be? And in fact, when Lori gave police a statement back in 1981,
Starting point is 00:21:59 she never mentioned a bloody shirt. Why wouldn't you tell the police that she also mentioned blood? I assumed that Deborah had brought that up. Detectives heard other rumors. Family and friends of the Adelson's said that Debbie's mom talked about washing Kurt's bloody clothes that night. We would love to have talked to her parents. because I believe that they had really good information.
Starting point is 00:22:24 But unfortunately, Debbie's parents were no longer alive. None of the statements could be verified. For some reason, this family wasn't interviewed about Kurt's arrival at their home. And that's a critical piece of evidence. Detective spent two years sorting through the evidence and interviewing more than 60 witnesses. It got to the point where Kurt was the only one left to talk to at this point. Finally, on March 24th, 2009, 29 years after Maryland's murder, Kurt Forbes was served with a search warrant and brought in for questioning.
Starting point is 00:23:02 Turned 14 before you sit down. What I'd like to do, I guess, is go back to March 10, 1980. That night, he goes out to town pay up for a while, and then I left there. When asked what time he arrived at the Adelson's house, Kurt remained concerned. assistant. It's about to the clock. So she had the only said you got there a little bit after four and she looked at a clock that would be inaccurate or it was dropped to the head. After nearly an hour of questioning, Wayne Smith tells Kurt that his DNA was found mixed with Marilyn's blood in the bathroom sink.
Starting point is 00:23:43 How do you explain that your DNA isn't hurt? As Kurt's in her wife, I was in shock about my DNA is in her blood. Wow. As Kurt's interrogation stretched on, two other detectives visited his wife at home. I was in shock. I didn't know what was going on.
Starting point is 00:24:05 She agreed to answer their questions, but didn't realize the interview was being recorded. I know you know that we've reopened this case. She was at the question. about Kurt's rumored bloody shirt. Did it have blood on it? I don't remember that, no. I can't say.
Starting point is 00:24:23 You can't say or you can't remember. I can't remember. As detectives continue to push Debbie about the bloody shirt, her answers began to change. You showed up at the house, bloody clothes and your mom washed him. I know you know that. Yeah, but I just don't remember it right now.
Starting point is 00:24:41 But you just said, yeah. Finally, after more than four hours of questioning, Debbie's memory of that night seemed to return. He had a white shirt on underneath the blue sweater and I saw blood. You did? Now I remember that. I know I asked about the blood and he told me some bull-hsha. I can't remember what he told me. And I believed it.
Starting point is 00:25:06 Hours later, armed with Debbie's damning new information, detectives arrested. arrested Kurt Forbes for the murder of Marilyn McIntyre. I knew 100% Kurt Forbes was the one that was responsible for this murder. But making that case to a jury was about to get much tougher. After a judge ruled that the crucial DNA evidence that seemed to place Kurt Forbes at the crime scene would not be allowed at trial. It was devastating, and I thought there was a greater chance that he'd get away with it. Do you have a dark curiosity?
Starting point is 00:25:48 Heart Starts Pounding, Horrors, Hauntings, and Mysteries is a weekly podcast hosted by me, Kailen Moore. Each week, I'll take you on a dark journey through terrifying true urban legends, bizarre true crime cases, chilling tales of backwoods horror and more. So if you're looking to join a passionate community of The Darkly Curious, check out Heart Starts Pounding on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And remember, stay curious. It's like we got them. We finally got them. 29 years after Marilyn McIntyre's murder, her family believed detectives finally had the right man, Curtis Forbes.
Starting point is 00:26:37 Even Marilyn's sister Brenda, who had long suspected Lane McIntyre, was convinced. Is there one moment, one piece of evidence that made you change? Yeah, when the blood stain hit Kurt's DNA in it. But then, a judge threw out that DNA evidence, ruling it was not conclusive enough to be used against Forbes. Is our job tougher? Absolutely, but that doesn't mean we can't get it done. Assistant Attorney General David Wambach decided to move forward anyway, with a completely circumstantial case.
Starting point is 00:27:13 We're behind Kurt 100% in this ordeal. Kurt's brothers, Mike and Dennis, believe the charges should have been dropped. Well, I am angry, you know. They threw my brother in prison for nothing. But on November 9, 2010, Curtis Forbes goes on trial for murder. It begins with a dispute over when Maryland died, an important issue since Lane McIntyre has an alibi for the hours between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., while Kurt Forbes' whereabouts are in question. So what time do you believe that Marilyn McIntyre was murdered?
Starting point is 00:27:56 I believe that it's sometime very close to 3.15, and that's why Clyde, the dog, is acting up the way he is. That information came from the McIntyre's upstairs neighbor, Betty Cleans. I had to get up around home between 3 and 3.30 because the dog was having such a pus outside. And there's a second witness, a friend of the McIntyres, who drove by their house twice on the night of the crime. First, at around 1230 a.m. Did you notice whether or not the lights were on when you went past to go home?
Starting point is 00:28:34 No, I didn't see no lights. Then again, at around 3.15. At that time, I noticed the porch light was on and the dog was tight outside. That evidence says the prosecutor proves that Maryland had to be alive between midnight and 3.15 a.m. on March 11th to turn on the light.
Starting point is 00:28:56 and let the dog out. Now, cat can go in the litter box. The dog, you gotta let them out. But the defense says Marilyn died earlier before Lane went to work. They point to the testimony of the McIntyre's other neighbor. She lived next door to Lane and Marilyn and heard a noise coming from their apartment
Starting point is 00:29:17 at 10 p.m. on March 10th. We went to bed and we could hear voices like they were maybe arguing or something. But that was all the neighborhood. And Wambach reminds the jury that Marilyn had a three-month-old baby who needed to be fed every few hours. You're saying somebody would have heard that baby crying. Exactly. And we knew that none of the neighbors had heard any crying.
Starting point is 00:29:44 Wambach now moves on to the next important point in the timeline. What time did Kurt Forbes arrive at Debbie Adelson's home that night? At 2 a.m. or 4 a. If he actually got there at 2 o'clock, then it doesn't look like he's the one to have committed the murder. Because Debbie says she could no longer be sure when Kurt turned up, the prosecutor calls witnesses who spoke to Debbie back in 1980 about Kurt's arrival. What time did Debbie say Kurt showed up at her parents? I believe it was around 4 o'clock in the morning. She said it was at 4 o'clock.
Starting point is 00:30:25 About 4 o'clock in the morning. For Kurt Forbes, the case hangs on this one question. Where was Kurt from 1.30 in the morning to 4 in the morning? I have no idea. We never asked him. With his case winding down, Wambach knew that his most crucial witness was also the most unpredictable. I didn't ask for any of this. On the day of Kurt's arrests in 2009, Debbie,
Starting point is 00:30:55 Forbes told detectives that she had seen blood on Kurt's shirt on the night of the murder. But on the stand, Debbie now denies she saw anything. Did you see anything on his clothing that you took notice of? No. You did tell them that Kurt had blood on his shirt that night. I don't remember saying that, and I know I didn't see it. how they got me to say that. They could have gotten me to say anything at that point. Did Kurt show up with blood on his shirt? The prosecutor has one final piece of evidence he
Starting point is 00:31:37 believes provides the answer. Debbie, what's going on? A prison phone call between Kurt and Debbie Forbes recorded just two days after Kurt's arrest. The facts are, Deborah, I did not murder Maryland Managed tire. Then where'd the bloody shirt come from? explain all that. I did not kill Maryland. Well, explain it to me then. I'm not on the phone. I need a lawyer to me. What's so beautiful about it, too, is what it doesn't say. He doesn't say, what blood?
Starting point is 00:32:09 What do you mean, blood? But Curtis Forbes attorneys downplay the call. They point to the fact that there was no physical evidence linking Kurt to the crime scene. None of the hairs were consistent with Curtis Forbes. And then, to create more doubt in the mind of the jurors, the defense calls an unlikely witness. Lane McIntyre. I knew I was going to be grilled and I didn't care.
Starting point is 00:32:38 Forbes attorney wastes no time putting Lane in the hot seat. Approximately three days before the death of your wife, did you have occasion to talk to an insurance agent? Yes. And what did you do with the relation of that insurance agent? He showed up on my doorstep. unannounced solicited me. You're a young man starting a young family. You need life insurance.
Starting point is 00:33:02 Lane is peppered with questions about finding his wife murdered. I stood in the doorway, trying to accept what I was seeing. About pointing the finger at his best friend. Did you tell officers that a person they might want to look at was Kurt Forbes? Yes. And about whether he and Maryland argued before he went to work. You do not recall an argument that you had with Marilyn McIntyre on March 10th, 1980,
Starting point is 00:33:30 between the time you got home and the time you went to work. No. He was trying to accuse me of killing Marilyn and then going to work like nothing happened. As the trial comes to a close, the jury must decide, is the right man on trial? Did Kurt Forbes kill Marilyn McIntyre, or did her husband, Lane?
Starting point is 00:34:01 Hopefully, Marilyn gets the justice that she deserves. On November 15, 2010, after six days of testimony and more than 45 witnesses, the fate of Curtis Forbes is in the hands of the jury. We thought it was going to be an all-night thing, and we'd be back in the morning. Instead, the jury is out just two and a half hours.
Starting point is 00:34:30 Thinking this can't be good. The families of Kurt Forbes and Marilyn McIntyre We got a verdict. Scramble back into the courtroom for the verdict. It was probably the scariest point in my life. Everything at that point is resting in that moment for the judge to read the verdict. We the jury find a defendant, courtesy Forbes,
Starting point is 00:34:57 guilty, first degree murder. It was just like, Oh, dated this 15th day of the 2000. Wow. We just weren't nuts. All this pain that I had to carry, this baggage I could finally let go of. For Marilyn's family, it's the end of three decades of pent-up anguish. Justice for Marilyn, finally.
Starting point is 00:35:22 Finally over. Oh, my God. It's finally over. But on the other side of the courtroom, where the Forbes family sits... He is innocent. It was just unreal. devastation. They found a guy guilty of murder, gonna put him in jail for life, and only deliberated
Starting point is 00:35:46 at two hours on circumstantial evidence. It was a quick verdict, in part, says prosecutor David Wambach, because the jury believed there had been a bloody shirt. You can convince them to say, I have no doubt that Kurt Forbes had blood on him and that that was Marilyn's blood. else just falls in behind that. There was never any blood. But even today, Debbie Forbes insists that she never saw blood on Kurt that night.
Starting point is 00:36:19 When you, though, called Kurt on the phone, you asked him. Then where'd the bloody shirt come from? I'll explain all that. Yeah, I wanted to know about this bloody shirt everybody was talking about. I hadn't seen one. Do you believe that Deborah Forbes' line? on the stand? Well, yes.
Starting point is 00:36:41 She committed perjury. I don't think that the jury found much of anything that she said or did to be believable. But Debbie now no longer seems willing to protect the man she married 30 years ago. Do you think you know the truth now? It's in there. Just have to accept it. Sounds like Debbie, you do believe your husband killed Marilyn Mackin. killed Marilyn McIntyre.
Starting point is 00:37:11 Tough, isn't it? Yeah. Three months after the verdict, Kurt Forbes is sentenced to life in prison. Whatever tiny little bit of doubt I would have had, my mind was clearly pushed out. Finally convinced of his father's innocence, Christopher McIntyre is looking forward
Starting point is 00:37:44 to repairing their relationship. So is Lane. Marilyn would want her son and her husband to be the best of friends. We got a lot of catching up to do. Following the sentencing, Marilyn McIntyre's family visits her final resting place. They're beautiful. Yellow is her favorite color. Justice for Marilyn.
Starting point is 00:38:12 Justice for Marilyn. They release balloons, and with them, more than 30 years of pain and frustration. If you can imagine being judged when you're telling the truth for 30 years. Over. And then finally after all these years, finally, vindication. My mom can start a new life. Our family is going to start a new life now.
Starting point is 00:38:45 Waiting. This family was persistent. Detective Lieutenant Smith, an assistant attorney general, General Wambach are quick to acknowledge that without Marilyn's family, her murder would never have been solved. It's to their credit that they kept this case alive. If it took me till the day I died, I was never given up. Don't ever give up? Because eventually somebody does have to listen.
Starting point is 00:39:15 You are the victim's voice. She's still watching us. Marilyn would want us to have closure. There are so many people that love Marilyn. Still do, always well.

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