48 Hours - Every Picture Tells a Story

Episode Date: February 15, 2024

On February 15, 2009, Cathy McNaughton was stabbed to death in her home in Sharpsburg, Georgia. Her husband, Alec, claimed he had served her breakfast in bed and then went to his mother's house, about an hour away. But cell phone records placed him just two miles away. Police discovered a secret file in Cathy's closet that included photographs of a bruised and battered Cathy. “48 Hours" correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 8/31/2013. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.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 audio book is free. Visit audible.ca. I'm Erin Moriarty of 48 Hours and of all the cases I've covered, this is the one that troubles me most. Listen to Murder in the Orange Grove, The Trouble Case Against Crosley Green,

wherever you get your podcasts. The morning of February the 15th, I got up early, brought my wife coffee in bed, and then we had our Valentine's celebration. I gave her a card. She gave me a card. I think that the Valentine's Day was always a very special day for her. He painted a picture of lovers. He talked about how sweet and caring and tender they were with each other. She wrote me a card, said I was the most important person in her life,

and she loved me very much that morning. After the breakfast, Alec McNaughton told us that he went to his mother's house in Sandy Springs, Georgia, about 35 miles away. Hey, baby, it's me. I'm leaving mother's house. I love you. Bye-bye. Alec said that when he arrived home that evening, he found that all the lights were off. I walked through the house. I called out her name. I turned a corner and went to her office, and I saw her on the floor. I saw blood under her arm, blood on the wall, so I called 911.

911, I'm putting you in emergency. I need help right now, I just got home, my wife on the floor with blood all over her, and I don't think she's breathing. When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was a cast-off blood that ran up the wall. I noticed that there was a large pool of blood on the floor around her body, and I could see cuts in her clothing, and I could see open, gaping wounds where she had been stabbed on her torso. My sister called me, and she was frantic, and she basically said that the Coetia County Police Department

needs us to come down, that something's happened to Mom. I called my mom's phone. No answer. Called the house. No answer. Called Alec's phone. He answered. He was crying, and I said, Alec, Alec, what's going on? Your mother. Your mother. He's like, your mom, your mom. Like, he couldn't finish what he was saying. Your mother's gone, honey. Your mother. Your mother. He's like, your mom, your mom. Like, he couldn't finish what he was saying.

Your mother's gone, honey. Your mother's gone. I got another call from my sister. And again, she was frantic. And she said, mom's dead, mom's dead. And I was like, what? What are you talking about? I was in complete shock.

I felt paralyzed. It was unreal. When they conducted a search warrant on the house they began to find evidence. We did come upon a place in the back of the closet there were some objects there that were separate they weren't shoes they weren't clothes it was a bag and some cameras. It was a critical piece of evidence. She did in fact speak from the grave. fact speak from the grave. I'm Richard Schlesinger. Every picture tells a story. When I first walked into the home, there wasn't any signs of forced entry. There were no broken door locks.

Drawers weren't pulled out. Clothing items hadn't been tossed around the house. Criminal investigator Jason Fentner was only 29 and had just started working homicides in Coweta County, Georgia, not far from Atlanta. Miss McNaughton was wearing jewelry, gold and diamond jewelry on her person that had not been broken or ripped off or stolen. This was his first major murder case, and it was a doozy.

It looked like a horror house that you might go in on Halloween. Kathy McNaughton had been stabbed more than 30 times. What took place? What kind of murder? But she was a most unlikely victim. By all accounts, Ms. McNaughton was a really nice person with no enemies. Everybody loved her. She was definitely chatty, very chatty.

We called her Chatty Cathy. Michelle Mendenhall is Cathy's youngest daughter. She always saw the best in people, always gave people the benefit of the doubt. Cathy had retired after a long career at Delta Airlines and was in training to join an investment firm. She worked from the bottom up at Delta when she started.

So your mother was really sort of a self-made woman. She was. She always was independent, financially independent. She used to always say, don't rely on a man, you know, financially. But emotionally, she was not as independent as she would have liked. After nearly 21 years of marriage, Kathy got a divorce.

I don't think she thought in her middle age she'd be divorced. Heather Mendenhall is Kathy's oldest daughter. It's kind of like I'm 50 years old and, you know, I'm lonely. Her two adult daughters were on their own. Kathy dated, but there was no one special. She wanted to be happy and grow old with somebody.

She went looking for love online. And that's where Kathy met Alec McNaughton, a lawyer from Enid, Oklahoma. She was intelligent. She was well-read, well-traveled. We had a lot of those things in common. I mean, love is something that just happens. There's not a whole lot of logic to it sometimes. Alec McNaughton was 55. He'd been married three times, and Kathy fell for him quickly and hard.

They had dated for about five, six months, and then they were already talking engagement. We definitely questioned, like, Mom, don't you think this is a little too fast? And she'd just be like, well, you know, he's it. He's it. He's my soulmate. And then, on November 15, 2004, less than one year after they met, Kathy and Alec became husband and wife. It was a small wedding. My mom wore a big white dress. Was that out of character for your mother? I mean, did she do things quickly, impulsively? No. So what did you make of this?

I thought that she was happy. There were some problems. McNaughton told Kathy he was having trouble getting his Georgia law license, so he became a car salesman. But they managed. How was the marriage? Very good. You were happy together? We were. But the good times ended when McNaughton's daughter Alexis, from a previous marriage, was killed in a car accident at the age of 22. This girl was a showstopper. Columbia University, women's studies major, had interned with Hillary Clinton. She was going somewhere.

What did that do to you? Well, it almost killed me. I went into a depression. Did that affect your marriage? Oh, yeah. It affected me. And you don't recover from something like that. My wife saved my life.

And when police questioned him after the murder, McNaughton told them he and Kathy were still very much in love. I loved her to the depths of my heart. He told me that he didn't know what happened to his wife and that he wanted to find out. I want you to find out who ever killed my wife, okay? You know we will. Police spent hours with an emotional McNaughton over the next couple of days. I got nothing.

Ever. My life's over. It was important to go over the details involving his daily activities so that we could exonerate him and move on to find out who did murder his wife. McNaughton told police where he had been that day. He said he left his home sometime around 11 a.m. or 12 p.m. that day. He said he went to his mother's about an hour away and he had left Kathy this message on their home answering machine, saying he'd arrived there. Hey honey, it's me. I'm up at Mother's. I love you, baby. Bye.

McNaughton also told Fettner that he did not return home until 7.30 p.m. when he discovered his wife's body. He was very specific about the time frame that he gave to the authorities. McNaughton seemed to have a solid alibi. He was cooperative and had willingly locked himself into a timeline that investigators could now check. He was allowed to leave the sheriff's office and I believe he went and stayed with his mother. As the victim's husband, of course there was reason to suspect McNaughton, but there was no physical evidence against him. I didn't see any blood on him. There was no blood on his hands. There was no blood on his clothes. Jason Fentner had to figure it all out.

What you've got is no murder weapon. You have a husband that's a former attorney that says he didn't do it. And a woman who's been stabbed to death. It's not your traditional crime scene. And there was one other thing to consider. Kathy's ex, who lives in Texas. That's true, she does have an ex-husband. It was their wedding anniversary that day.

He was in town that day. What was his motive? His jealousy. 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. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. But 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, wherever you get your podcasts. Long before Kathy met Alec McNaughton, she was married to an airline pilot, Gary Mendenhall, and their daughter, Heather, remembers a happy childhood.

I think that we were a pretty typical American family. Two working parents, two kids, lived in suburbia, good schools. But the relationship was troubled. Eventually, Kathy and Gary divorced, and he moved to Texas. From time to time, Mr. Mendenhall would come to the Atlanta area on business or to visit with his daughters. Sheriff's investigator Jason Fettner. And he happened to be in town on the day after Valentine's Day.

The day Kathy McNaughton was murdered. One of the first things Mr. McNaughton did was begin throwing out a list of people that he, quote, highly suspected. I think somebody that knew her went there with that purpose.

Gary Mendenhall was on McNaughton's list. Tell me what you told the police. I said, look, I can't imagine who would kill Kathy. She's nice and sweet. The only person I know she's ever had a problem with is her ex-husband. Fentner called Mendenhall in for an interview. What is your relationship to Kathy McNaughton? I'm the ex-husband.

I was married to Kathy for approximately 21 years. Why did you get divorced? For irreconcilable differences. As they talked, Fentner noticed something interesting about Mendenhall. He had a cut on his hand. What happened to your thumb? Oh, right there. I was cleaning up Heather's apartment here yesterday and washing the countertop and I caught some kind of rack she had in it. Tore it up. It takes forever for those to heal. Oh I know. When you stab

somebody 31 times like the killer murdered my wife, your hand slips down the knife and you cut your hand. Gary Mendenhall's dominant right thumb was cut. And there were some other potentially troubling things about Mendenhall, according to prosecutor Kevin McMurray. He drove a silver car. There was a silver car seen at the residence. A silver car was seen leaving Kathy's home the day she was murdered. And Gary Mendenhall had rented a silver car that very day. But Alec McNaughton also drove a silver car. Two men with two alibis.

Rookie homicide investigator Jason Fentner had his work cut out for him. I'm looking at it and saying, I need to make sure I run down all these different leads. The first priority was figuring out when Kathy McNaughton died. The medical examiner could not establish a time of death, so police turned elsewhere. From the phone records, we determined that Kathy McNaughton had a call from inside her house to her friend in California. And that phone call ended at 11.55. So we knew Kathy McNaughton had to be alive at 11.55 a.m.

McNaughton had already given investigators a detailed account of his whereabouts that day, and he told them he left home between 11 a.m. and noon. Alec McNaughton also told investigators he was at his mother's house about an hour away when he left Kathy a phone message at about 2.30 p.m. There's one problem with that story, though, that cell phone tower right over there, tower number 309. The critical piece, the piece that matters, is that cell phone call was originated on Tower 309, a tower that is less than two miles from his house. And that tower is 40 miles from his mother's house. So Mr. McNaughton is not at his mother's house when he's calling his home phone.

Investigators believe they had caught McNaughton in a lie, and they wanted to know why an innocent man would be lying about the day his wife was murdered. Where were you when you made that call at 233? And think about this, because it's important. I was at my mother's house. The police were quite certain when they found these cell phone records that they had caught you in a lie. That's right, and they made a big deal about me lying. I didn't lie about anything in this case.

McNaughton insists the phone records, no matter what they show, are just plain wrong. But Fentner was starting to poke more holes in McNaughton's story. Listen to the 911 call. She's not moving, and she's not breathing in her eyes or not moving. She won't respond. There's blood on her hands and on the wall. He claimed he was kneeling down at his wife's body, that he was touching her body, that he was tilting her head back and moving her body and trying to render aid to her. Fentner wondered, why didn't McNaughton have any blood on him? There was blood soaked into the carpet around her body.

If you knelt down next to her body, it would be reasonable to believe you had blood on your pants, on your hands. next to her body, it would be reasonable to believe you have blood on your pants, on your hands. But McNaughton says it's more important that the police didn't find any scratches on his body when they looked. He says that helps prove he's innocent, since Kathy desperately tried to fight off her killer. She fought for her life. Her hands were cut up from the killer's instrument, and her fingernails were broken off from fighting the killer. But watch what happens when investigators even raise the possibility that McNaughton killed his wife.

You're full of s***. I didn't kill my wife. I love my wife. She loved me. And I'm tired of the questions. So you either f***ing arrest me or take me home. Police weren't ready to arrest anyone, but they were ready to clear someone. Very soon, they concluded Gary Mendenhall had absolutely nothing to do with Kathy's death. In fact, we actually got it down to an exact time frame where it's nearly impossible for one to believe

that Mr. Mendenhall could have flown here from Texas, did the things that he did, murdered his ex-wife, clean up, get back, change clothes, and then meet with his daughters for dinner. The time frame didn't work out. It wasn't Mr. Mendenhall. Fentner continued his investigation. He got an earful when he talked to Heather and Michelle about McNaughton. They painted a picture of a selfish man that didn't like his wife that much. They said that he was argumentative, that he was very controlling and domineering.

At the same time, Fentner was being inundated with calls about McNaughton. Some of the calls were from people who knew McNaughton very well. We received calls from his own siblings who called us and said, hey, I want to be off the record because I'm scared of him, but I think my brother did it. His own family? Correct. If you talk to people in prison, if somebody gets arrested or accused of murder, the family turns against them nine times out of ten.

Well, I don't know about that, Mr. McNaughton. I mean, I don't think my family would call and say he's a murderer. I didn't think so either, Richard. All of them expressed an extreme fear of Allie. And that's just something else that you add to this pile of things that are mounting against him. Why is everybody afraid of you? Fentner was about to find out. Why is everybody afraid of you?

Fentner was about to find out. The police found those three disposable cameras in Kathy's closet with unprocessed film inside. We knew we had to find out what was on them. They say every picture tells a story. And this one was a shocker. Everything that my mom knew about Alec was all the good things. Like everything that he had achieved, everything that he had acquired, his accomplishments. At least that's what Heather thought.

But in May 2006, a year and a half after Kathy married Alec McNaughton, Heather had a terrifying phone call with her mother that began with a dinner invitation. She said that she'd love to come to dinner, but she couldn't. She sounded funny on the phone. I just kept pushing her a little bit, and she said, I can't. Soon Kathy confided in her daughter and told her a shocking story

that her husband, Alec McNaughton, had beaten her. She was on her way to work, and he had violently followed her out to the car, opened the car door and pulled her out and took her by the hair and was literally dragging her. Dragging her by her hair? Mm-hmm. He was in violent rage. She said that there's no way that she could, like, be seen in public.

But McNaughton says he and Kathy had only a small argument over a car. He says he tried to grab the keys from Kathy in the driveway, and she fell off her high heels. She fell off her heels as we were struggling and skinned her elbow, I think, and her knee off her high heels. She fell off her heels as we were struggling and skinned her elbow, I think, and her knee and her chin. She fell off her heels? Yeah, she stumbled and we fell. She got scuffed up.

What did you think? I was frightened. I'm like, well, did you call the police? She's like, no, I did not call the police and I'm not going to. Instead, Kathy started her own investigation of Alec and even kept a secret file, notes, and undeveloped photos in disposable cameras. Police found it all hidden inside her closet. I took the three disposable cameras to a local developer here in the area.

When I got it back, I was shocked. There were pictures of her doing this, holding her hands up. And there's a huge bruise on her face, and she's got bruises and scratches on her arms. McNaughton has his own explanation for all the bruises. He says Kathy's ex, Gary Mendenhall, must have done it. I just knew he had done that. You're saying that Gary Mendenhall beat her up? That's my opinion, yes.

But that was not investigator Jason Fentner's opinion. Heather told him that McNaughton had beaten Kathy, and Fentner knew those photos could be a key piece of evidence against McNaughton had beaten Kathy, and Fentner knew those photos could be a key piece of evidence against McNaughton if the police could answer some crucial questions. One of the first questions that came up then was who took these photos. The photographer had to authenticate the photos, say when the pictures were taken,

and if Kathy said Alec had injured her. How come nobody's called to say, hey, I took pictures of her when she was beaten up? The police began searching for the photographer. But there were other important things in Kathy's closet. Very damaging notes about shady financial deals and worse. She had written down that he threatened to kill me. Prosecutor Kevin McMurray. She describes all the lies he's told to her. Kathy was on to him, but she was conflicted. She compiled this

list of pros and cons about McNaughton, and despite the abuse, under pros she wrote, sweet, loving, handsome. Under cons, she wrote, no sex, depression, bankruptcy. Allie McNaughton told us that they had a perfect relationship, that they had never had any physical altercations, that they were deeply in love and that they shared a wonderful marriage. But that sure looked like a lie. Kathy's daughter Michelle says Kathy and Alec were having a lot of problems and argued constantly about money. The marriage she basically was financing. And then one night, the couple's disagreements over money exploded into a loud argument. And Alec McNaughton taped it. I always carry a tape recorder in my briefcase my whole career. She was out of control, so I just took my tape out so that if later on she said something,

I'd just play it back and say, you lose your temper over minor stuff. I could tell from listening to it that she did not know she was being recorded. You could hear Kathy screaming at the top of her lungs at Allie. Investigator Jason Fentner says the recording backfired on McNaughton when Kathy began referring to the time she said he beat her. She says, I've got pictures, I've got affidavits. Yeah, that was right after we'd had the struggle in the driveway over the car, so I knew what she was referring to. But as it turned out, this was not the first time McNaughton was accused of abuse, as Fentner learned after tracking down McNaughton's first wife, Linda. And they said,

Alec McNaughton has murdered his wife. Linda McNaughton had divorced Alec nearly 40 years earlier. And my stomach sank to my toes. Despite the decades that have passed, she has never forgotten what she says her ex-husband did to her. He beat me with his fist, with a Coke bottle. He broke my nose. He fractured my jaw. He beat me hard. I never abused my wife or any woman ever. The evidence against McNaughton was piling up. His past, that tape, the photos of Kathy's bruises, her notes,

and those cell phone records that seemingly proved McNaughton was not where he said he was on the day of the murder. Fettner called McNaughton in for a follow-up interview, and the former lawyer sneered at the evidence. I think the comment he made was, there's not a snowball's chance in hell that a jury would convict me on this. Well, that's very different from, I didn't do this and they're lying.

It is. It sounds like a challenge to me. And on February 27th, 2009. Stand up, turn around, put your hands behind your back, Alec McNaughton was arrested and charged with murder for stabbing his wife Kathy more than 30 times. He was thrown in jail with no bail. They railroaded me. They put the blinders on that night. That homicide detective in his very first murder case was overwhelmed. He didn't know what to do. And he decided it was me right there at the scene and never considered anybody else.

And now the prosecutors had one very big problem. They still had no idea who took those damning photographs. And without that crucial information, the law says the photos could never be shown to a jury. We had to connect it to the crime. We had to be able to show that it was Mr. McNaughton who had done this. And the trial was about to start. 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 a virgin. It just happens to all of them. 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 Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 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 in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. As the murder trial of Alec McNaughton approached, prosecutor Kevin McMurray

was haunted by the photographs Kathy McNaughton left behind. It became obvious that Ms. McNaughton was making an effort to preserve what had happened to her. But the law says if McMurray wanted to show those photos to the jury, he'd have to find the photographer. So he had to scramble. For the longest time, we really ran into some dead ends. We took these pictures to witnesses and asked, have you seen these injuries? Did you take these pictures? Are you familiar with any of this? And time after time, the people closest to her said no. The trial was only a month away, and McMurray was getting desperate. He finally turned to Delta Airlines, where Kathy had worked,

to see if she had asked anyone there for help. That was the turning point. It was. At the point that I saw her, it was obvious she had bruises on her body. Sandra Harmon was a counselor who did some work with Delta. Kathy looked very disheveled. who did some work with Delta. Kathy looked very disheveled. Sandra says Kathy told her McNaughton had attacked her

outside their home just the day before. The first thing Kathy did when she sat down was to ask me if I would take pictures of her. Sandra agreed to take the photos and now found herself thrust into the middle of a murder trial. Now, Ms. Harmon, did you have any confusion over whether or not she was talking about her current husband or someone that she had been previously married? Oh, absolutely no confusion whatsoever. She was very clear. And you understood to be to be who? Alec McNaughton, her husband.

She's lying if she says that my wife said that I beat her up. McNaughton, who was a practicing lawyer, says Sandra's testimony is nothing more than hearsay. Why would she make that up? Because she's the star, Richard. She's the prosecution star witness she's the surprise she seemed like a liar to you people don't lie intentionally but people get persuaded by the police when they're the star witness in a high-profile murder case it happens all the time those photos were powerful evidence and mcnaughton's defense lawyer michael cam evidence and McNaughton's defense lawyer, Michael Cam, could not make them disappear, even though... This actually looks like I've cut this handkerchief in two.

He happens to be a semi-professional magician. Cam says the law is a lot like magic, all about altering perceptions. There was a complete lack of evidence. Clearly this was a violent death. I mean, she had numerous, numerous stab marks. There was blood all around her. There was blood under her. He had no bruises.

There was nothing to indicate that somebody had actually cleaned up the crime scene. There was no evidence of his DNA on her fingernails. But the prosecutors had more damaging evidence. Call your next witness. They put all three of McNaughton's ex-wives on the stand. His first wife, Linda, describes what she says happened after she refused to have sex with him.

He then beat me badly. How did he beat you? Could you please describe that? With his fist and with a Coke bottle. She's lying. There's no witness alive that corroborates her story. McNaughton's second wife, also named Linda, tells jurors what she says happened the one time she said no to her then-husband. And he grabbed me by either shoulder and just slung me over into a glass-topped dining table that fell over. Were you scared of the defendant after he threw you?

I was scared of him before that. Second wife, did you throw her into a coffee table? I pushed her out of the way. She's exaggerating. She's not lying. But it is Susan Knox, McNaughton's last wife before Kathy, who tells the most frightening story. She says there was always tension between Alec and their daughter Alexis,

but it got dangerous one night when McNaughton pulled out a shotgun. I just said, Alec, what are you doing with that gun? What was his response? He said in a very slow, monotone voice, he said, I'm going to kill Alexis, and then I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to kill myself. And then I'm going to kill you. And then I'm going to kill myself. Alexis was in another room, listening to it all. And dialed 911.

Oklahoma City, 911. Hi, I just woke up. My parents had had a huge fight last night and I was listening downstairs and my mom woke up. And my dad said he's going to kill us, and he's capable of doing that. Okay, we'll send it off to you. Officers calmed everyone down and took away McNaughton's shotgun. That normal behavior? Of course not. I mean, it's emotional behavior.

My daughter's 18 and brilliant and beautiful and admitted to Barnard College at Columbia know, her life's work is there in front of her, and she decides to drop out of high school. Would you have shot her? Of course not. I've never shot anybody in my life, not even a bird. The testimony of McNaughton's three ex-wives is hugely important. It was devastating. Although McNaughton doesn't seem to notice.

He thought everybody loved him. He thought he was the smartest guy in the room no matter what room he was in i'm showing you what's been marked and admitted as state's exhibit 10. in this room the courtroom someone needs to explain mcnaughton's side of the story i didn't kill my wife i love my wife and And Alec McNaughton decides there's no one better than Alec McNaughton. You did not want him to take the stand? I did not. Did you tell him that? Yes, and not so politely either.

I said, you are so arrogant and unlikable, I'm afraid that you're going to blow it when you take the stand. But McNaughton insists. So when you heard them stand up and say, we call Alec McNaughton, what was your first thought? My first thought was, this is a rare opportunity. 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 bolder risk-takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that

after listening, 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. My name is Alec McNaughton. Alec McNaughton is either the smartest man in this courtroom or the dumbest. Do you understand that you have a right to remain silent? Yes, sir, I do. The alleged killer is about to gamble his freedom on his way with words. He can't get death, but he could get life.

I hoped that Mr. McNaughton would take the stand. As he takes the stand in his own defense. He underestimates everyone else, overestimates his own abilities, and the result is he's easily trapped in his lies. Defense lawyer Michael Kamm wastes no time getting to the heart of the matter. Alec, did you kill your wife, Kathy McNaughton? No. One question, that's

it. Prose examination, Mr. McMurray. Immediately, prosecutor Kevin McMurray begins tearing apart McNaughton's story about where he was on the day his wife was murdered. He wasn't as smart as he thought he was. McNaughton's story about where he was on the day his wife was murdered. He wasn't as smart as he thought he was. McNaughton has always maintained that at 2.30 that day, he was already at his mother's house about an hour away in Sandy Springs, Georgia,

when he called home and left a message. Hey, it's me. I'm up at mother's. The cell phone records show he was actually within a few miles of his home. You were not in Sandy Springs at 2.33 p.m. on February 15, 2009. Isn't that true? It's not true. I was. I was at my mother's. So those records are wrong. They are.

That phone call was absolutely critical to this case from the very beginning. And it was Mr. McNaughton's fatal mistake. McNaughton talked to police early in the investigation. Detectives poked holes in his story almost immediately. And prosecutors say McNaughton should have known better considering he's a lawyer. Had he not talked to the police initially it would have been a very very difficult case to prosecute. And why did you talk to them? Because I wanted to find out who killed my wife and and I I would have done anything and so that that need to find out who had killed my lovely wife

overrode my legal judgment. But investigator Jason Fentner thinks McNaughton had another reason. He did his best to mislead that dumb redneck investigator. Who's that dumb redneck investigator? I think that's me. You told investigators that you had never hit Kathy McNaughton, but that wasn't true either. It is true. He clearly lied about a lot of things on the stand.

That is untrue, isn't it? No, it's true. I knew what the truth was. Kathy's daughters, Heather and Michelle, watched McNaughton testify. I can't believe my mom was married to someone like this. Who is this person? I didn't hit her. I did not kick her. Even his own lawyer can see the effect McNaughton is having on those in the courtroom.

I'm looking at the court personnel and the expressions on their face changed and they were giving me the... There are times during that cross-examination that what Mr. McNaughton said in the face of the evidence was so preposterous. There was a robbery. There was a robbery? Yes, sir. Was there a TV missing? No. Was there a computer missing?

No. Was her watch taken? No. I think everyone, myself included, sought to not visibly display our disbelief. That's a lie. McNaughton denies everything his accusers say about him. She's lying. I didn't know such things. That's a lie. McNaughton denies everything his accusers say about him. She's lying. I didn't know such things. That's not true. McNaughton has had his say and now the lawyers get their last chance to persuade the jury. For the first time in my career, we have a case where the

victim has spoken from the dead. She recorded what has happened to her with that man. And the evidence shows who killed Kathy McNaughton. There were no calluses on his hands, no cuts, no bruises, no blood, no DNA. The only, only verdict you can render is Alec McNaughton is not guilty of any offense. The jurors begin to deliberate on what looks to most people like an open and shut case. Obviously, I was nervous. That first night, the jury goes home. The waiting and the waiting.

No verdict. It was just torture. And then, at the end of the second day, the jurors announce they've decided. As to count one malice murder, we, the jury, find the defendant guilty. Guilty of murder. Alec McNaughton, the man Kathy once thought

was her soulmate, is convicted of killing her, stabbing her more than 30 times in the home they shared. Were you surprised when you were convicted? Yeah, I was stunned. Mr. McNaughton, come forward, please. I still believe that justice will prevail, that my wife's killer will be found, tried, convicted, and executed. This is a question I ask a lot of people in your situation. What does justice feel like?

It definitely doesn't do anything to fill the void. That she's not here, that we'll never physically see her again, we'll never hug her again. It doesn't help with those things. It also doesn't answer one lingering question. How did a woman like Kathy, a strong woman with friends, family, and money, end up a victim of domestic violence?

I feel like if my mom had said one time's enough, you know, maybe she'd still be here today, and I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you. And even though it is Alec McNaughton who stands convicted, it is Heather and Michelle who are left feeling guilty. For a good year, you know, that's all I felt. Guilt and regret that I didn't say anything. guilt and regret that I didn't say anything. And then I just kept it, you know, to myself that I didn't speak up when I had the chance. And, you know, you can't, it was too late. Alec McNaughton was sentenced to life in prison.