48 Hours - Secrets of the River

Episode Date: February 29, 2024

In February 2010, Mackenzie Cowell was a high school senior and aspiring model who was studying at a Washington beauty school. After missing a dinner date with her father, he received a call from police saying his daughter’s car was found abandoned on a ranch, 40 miles from their home. Four days later Mackenzie was found dead along the banks of the Columbia River. DNA evidence connected Chris Wilson, a classmate of Mackenzie's, to the murder. “48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 8/9/2014. 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 audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. Right now we're in Pitcher Canyon. It's about four miles south of Wenatchee. It's a place that there's really no reason to be this time of year

and this time of night unless you live here. When we think of Pitcher Canyon, anybody who was here in 2010, they're always going to think of the Mackenzie Cowell case. Mackenzie was a senior in high school. She was on the verge of being grown up. This wasn't your normal missing persons case. February 9th of 2010, I last saw her as she packed up her bundles of books and left between 7 and 7.30 in the morning.

Had to make a quick little date, see you tonight for teriyaki burgers. Okay, Dad, love you. So I was expecting her home. Called about 5.40. That's when the phone went straight to her voicemail. It didn't even ring. Of course, you go through different waves of messages.

One message will be, call me, I'm concerned. One message will be, no, I'm getting irritated, you haven't called me back. And then the next message might be, I'm sorry I was irritated, call me when you can, maybe something's wrong. Something a little unusual happened here that night. Something a little unusual happened here that night. A rancher came down, found a red car here that didn't belong here, and he called it in. The deputy came up here. He ran the license plate.

They contacted the registered owner, Reed Cowell. The phone rang, and it was a deputy who was asking if I was missing my car. And I told him, yeah, I'm missing my car and the girl that drives it. I said, where's the car? And he told me it was up Pitcher Canyon. So I hopped in the car and headed straight that direction. Here we are driving. It's dark. It's cold. When I pulled around the corner, all I saw was the red car with flashing police lights. It was a pretty ominous thing to see.

The deputies checked the car, and they found that Mackenzie's purse was inside. Well, that's really not right. Mackenzie doesn't go anywhere without her purse. This is not good. Somebody's messed with her. There was a lot of concern right away that something had happened to Mackenzie. That was just a long, dark, evil, strange night. Mackenzie went missing shortly after 3 p.m. on February 9th. Her body was discovered around 1 o'clock, February 13th, on the banks of the Columbia River.

I mean, it just made me cold stone numb. It was just blank. The day that we found Mackenzie and we saw how brutally she'd been murdered, we knew we were in for one tough investigation. The list went on and on. Hold it right there. So many different suspects that we didn't know what to think.

I'm Peter Van Sant. Tonight on 48 Hours, Secrets of the River. With the miracle of another spring, the small town of Wenatchee, Washington, nestled in a landscape of endless apple orchards, turns out to celebrate the annual Apple Blossom Parade. But in 2011, one graceful dancer is missing from the festivities. Mackenzie Cowell. She loved to dance, dance, dance. Anywhere we went, she danced. Grocery stores, gas stations, anywhere. If a song came on, she would just break out in a boogie.

Mackenzie's father, Reeb Cowell, and his fiancée, Sandy Francis, cheer on Mackenzie's old high school dance team, the Appalettes. And was she good at it? Oh, she loved it. She loved it. Beautiful. Mackenzie, 17 years old, was 5'8", strong and beautiful. A young woman with a future at the heart of a family unit that couldn't get enough of each other. We used to call each other on our cell phones. That's how bad it was. From upstairs to downstairs to argue over whose turn it was to make floats. Yeah.

Just to make like Coke floats, root beer floats. Root beer floats were her favorite. Root beer floats, orange floats. The family is as authentic as the American West, starting with Reed. He's at home among the soaring Cascade Mountains, rich blue skies, and of course, the orchards of apples. And you felt safe having your family here. We did feel safe. And Mackenzie, a senior in high school, was thriving. She was working to achieve dreams that she created on her own. So her day started at 6.15 in the morning. She had to be out of the door by 7.15. There was also her dance, modeling,

and efforts to learn a trade. For that, she came here, the Academy of Hair Design, smack in the middle of downtown Wenatchee. What drew her to that, do you think? I think her modeling and her love of clothes and, you know, the makeup and just primping and being a girl. Being a girl was something Mackenzie loved. Her boyfriend, Joaquin Villasano, was smitten. Did you love her? Yeah, I loved her a lot.

Did she love her? Yeah, I loved her a lot. Did she love him? Absolutely. It was February 9, 2010. Reed and McKenzie had planned a father-daughter dinner date at home. The orchards were barren and the cold Columbia rolled through town. Beauty school got out at 5 o'clock, so I called her about 5.40 to see how close she was, and her cell phone

went right to the voicemail, which was pretty weird. Two hours later came that call from police, and Reed's desperate ride into darkness and fear. The next morning, Detective John Cruz of the Wenatchee Police Department

joined the search for Mackenzie. It got serious pretty quick. Police would trace Mackenzie's last known steps on the day she disappeared. We're at the Academy of Hair Design. Mackenzie Cowell is a student here. It's 3 o'clock. She's just finished asking one of her co-students, hey, do I have to sign out if I'm just leaving for 15 minutes?

Right after that, she leaves out this door right here. This one right here? Right here. She comes up these stairs, and she's recorded on these cameras here. These security cameras on the side of this wall. That's correct. This video, taken by those security cameras, captured the last images of Mackenzie alive.

When she got to her car, she sent a text to her boyfriend, Joaquin. She said, hey. Hey. That was the way she greeted you. Yeah. Then Mackenzie Cowell disappeared. Like she drives off the face of the earth. That's a good way to put it.

I'd lay awake at night and, where are you? Everyone, even strangers, was searching for that answer. We just started canvassing any neighborhood. After several days, that was our strength and our hope. Then, four days into it, Reed Cowell got a call from the FBI. But she told me she was so very, very sorry to have to tell me this over the phone. But that they had found a body.

I didn't know what to say to him. What do you say? In a bend of the mighty Columbia River called Crescent Bar, Mackenzie Cowell lay in the shallow water. And right here in this location, about 15 feet out from here is where Mackenzie's body was located. Douglas County's chief deputy, Robin Wagg, was struck by the brutality of the murder. A combination of strangulation, a blunt force trauma to the head,

a deep laceration into the neck. And horribly, McKenzie's killer had attempted to saw off her arm. You could see a knife still stuck into the tissue. A knife was still in her body? Still stuck into her shoulder, into the tissue. What did you guys do at that moment? Just stood there and held each other. The police went to work, and after meeting with McKenzie's boyfriend,

they decided to give him a lie detector test. Do you know who killed McKenzie? And they kept saying that I failed that question. Do you know who killed McKenzie? No, I didn't. Detectives kept Joaquin in their sights, but the investigation took a dramatic turn when a surprise witness came forward. Liz Reed swore she knew who killed Mackenzie Cowell, and that the video of Mackenzie leaving the beauty

school was not the last recorded image of her alive. Liz swears she saw the murder itself unfold in a chilling videotape. I saw it with my own eyes. Recorded by the killers. I'm Erin Moriarty of 48 Hours, and of all the cases I've covered, this is the one that troubles me most. A bizarre and maddening tale involving an eyewitness account that doesn't quite make sense. A sister testifying against a brother. A lack of physical evidence.

Crosley Green has lived more than half his life behind bars for a crime he says he didn't commit. Listen to Murder in the Orange Grove, the Trouble Case Against Crosley Green, early and ad-free with a 48-hours-plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. 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 reached the age of 10 that would still have heard 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 Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The Columbia River held a silent secret about how Mackenzie Cowell, so full of life, had come to rest along the bank at Crescent Bar, some 48 miles from home. It was a violent, violent way to meet your end. And then the attempted dismemberment afterwards, that was probably the most shocking thing. Detective Cruz and Chief Wagg sensed the challenge that lay ahead.

No stone would go unturned, no matter how long it took. But first, a town took time to grieve. We are here today because somebody stole her life. McKenzie's stunned classmates gathered in the local arena. They did something that only God is allowed to do. The Appalettes danced for their friend, and Reverend Sandy Brown tried to somehow make sense of it all. But we are here today also because no one can steal our memories of her. Mackenzie, we love you. Mackenzie's mother,

Wendy Cowell, went on local news and begged for answers. It's important to my family and I for you to bring that person forward. As the hunt for a murderer began, an unprecedented statewide task force of top investigators from around the region joined forces. I think this was probably the biggest investigation the Wenatchee Valley has ever seen. First to be questioned were those who loved Mackenzie most. We interviewed Wendy Reed, family members. I would never describe Reed or the mother Wendy as a person of interest in this case. But we certainly did look at them.

But it's got to be somebody that she knew and trusted. I knew that for a fact. I really think I was, like, the number one suspect. McKenzie's boyfriend, Joaquin, who had failed that one question on a lie detector test, came directly under the police spotlight. So then he asked me like three times if I was a gangster. Then I was like, no. And soon, police concluded Joaquin, with an airtight alibi, had lost as much as anyone.

Yeah, I loved her a lot. a lot. But that was not the case with this man, Joey Fisher, with whom Mackenzie had her problems. Joe Fisher was the boyfriend of Wendy Kell, Mackenzie's mother. Is this potentially the guy?

We know that they have this relationship that sometimes involved arguments. She told her mom it's either him or me. That was the day before she went missing, that they had had a huge fight. That was the day before? Yes. Because the next day after this volatile confrontation, she disappears.

She's gone. He remained very high interest for the task force. In the end, we could find no physical linkage. There was no evidence to tie Joey Fisher to Mackenzie's murder, and he was completely exonerated by police. The investigation into the murder of Mackenzie Cowell was stalled. into the murder of Mackenzie Cowell was stalled. Two months would pass, and then, from the shadowy side of Wenatchee,

an unexpected witness emerged. A walking contradiction named Liz Reed. I am in college full-time. I have a straight-A GPA. If the cops were here, they'd say, not bad for a drug-dealing liar. I'm sure they would say that. When Mackenzie Cowell was doing everything to build an honest life, Liz Reed was doing anything to stay high on OxyContin. I was selling drugs. I was writing bad prescriptions, doctor shopping.

To get access to OxyContin? Correct. Liz was also working with the police. You were an informant. Correct. The information Liz Reed gave police sent the investigation of Mackenzie Cowell's murder into overdrive. She began providing us information about two individuals in this area. She named names.

Sam Cuevas and Emanuel Seros, nicknamed Buddha. Streetwise, convicted criminals, drug dealers. People Liz Reed hung out with. And she tells a very compelling story that Sam Cuevas and Emmanuel Saros abduct and kill Mackenzie Kell on a bluff near Crescent Bar. Liz Reed told police that Mackenzie died

because of a horrible case of mistaken identity. That Cuevas and Buda murdered McKenzie because they wrongly thought she was in the drug world too. And a police informant. We choked that bitch to shut her up. And that's what he said. At that moment, Sam Cuevas had basically told you he had murdered McKenzie Cowell.

Yes. He said they had to choke her two times because they choked her once, they thought she was dead. It was compelling, and that's why we invested so much time and so much resources, because we were excited. Liz Reed claims she provided more details to the cops, including a description of the knife allegedly used during the attack. So essentially, you had described the murder weapon prior to it being made public by anyone. Yes.

And come spring, as the orchards came to life again, the task force thought they'd found the killers. That was the belief of a number of task force members at the time, based on what Ms. Reed was telling us. Liz Reed swears she was actually shown a snuff film of Mackenzie Cowell's death. You say the killers told you and they showed you. They showed you a video. Yes. To have to watch somebody be tortured like they did to her and kill her and laugh about it, it never goes away.

But as cops investigated Liz's disturbing story, a totally new tip came in about yet another suspect. Someone McKenzie saw every day. A classmate at her beauty school. I think he was fascinated with serial

killers. He certainly was fascinated with death. He's a dangerous man. The investigation into the murder of Mackenzie Cowell had dragged on for seven months. We later found out that that information was not true. Police task force investigators had come to distrust their star informant, Liz Reed. I'm sensing that she's not being truthful. And what of that gruesome murder video? Cops spent months looking for it. We found nothing. We found nothing that was a video of this murder.

Under pressure, Liz then threw the entire investigation upside down. She retracted her story of seeing a snuff film of Cuevas and Buda murdering McKenzie. You completely changed your story. I did. Liz says she felt threatened by police. That they were going to charge me with murder. You were frightened, you were terrified? I was terrified.

I'm like, my God, you're going to get taken over there and charged with something to do with killing this girl. But cops say Liz was never a suspect, just a desperate informant with a made-up story. Can Liz Reed be trusted? No, I think we've proven that. Investigators were frustrated. Months passed. I think you have faith that they'll find him. They will eventually. It may take a while. Spring slowly ripened into summer when police got that intriguing new lead. He's walking northbound in the alley?

Northbound toward Yakima Street. You know, we didn't even know Chris Wilson. Christopher Wilson was a classmate of McKenzie's at the Academy of Hair Design. There she is walking right across the parking lot. Police speculate Chris and Mackenzie had decided to meet. That the brutal killing occurred only minutes after Mackenzie left their beauty school. After her classmate Chris came out that same back door. We show them leaving 72 seconds apart. You know we're less than three blocks from there, three short blocks to his apartment from

here. Just who is Chris Wilson? That question would end up on the front page. Artist, musician, had done some artwork and photography that might strike some as dark. CBS News consultant Jefferson Robbins is an investigative reporter for the local paper, The Wenatchee World. He'd come to know everything about Chris Wilson. He has a tattoo of Hannibal Lecter on his arm. Hannibal Lecter being, in the silence of the lambs, the serial killer, correct? He didn't fit into the Wenatchee norm. If he would have been in a big city in Seattle, New York, or Portland, he would have been a non-event.

Kathleen Zorns, Chris's mother, contends her son isn't dark or evil. He's just different. What's a Hannibal Lecter tattoo? It's not an insight into his soul. I don't believe so, no. I mean, Chris isn't so bizarre. It's just that it's such a normal little town where everyone looks just the same. Amelia Savage is Chris's best friend. She agrees he's guilty of being an eccentric, artsy kid in a small town. He's not a perfect person, but he's a good person.

He's not a perfect person, but he's a good person. So it was seemingly out of the blue that friends and family were told Chris wasn't just different, he was potentially dangerous. Was he fascinated with the dead, with serial killers? No. You laugh. It's ridiculous. And compounding their disbelief was the source of the letter to investigators suggesting Chris Wilson might be a killer. Theo Keys is yet another troubled police informant. A man who served jail time, had been a friend of Chris Wilson, and had a reported history of mental illness.

He wrote the letter while he was in jail for exposing himself to a barista. In that jailhouse letter, Theo wrote that Chris Wilson had an interest in dead bodies and serial killers. We don't pick people to provide information to us. We take information that comes in. Theo Keyes, we treated exactly the same as Liz Reed. Investigators came to see Chris Wilson as a deeply troubled misfit, whose obsessive fascination with death, they claimed, led him to work in a funeral home. There are thousands of people working in funeral homes across the country.

That's a profession. But it wouldn't be Chris's tattoo or work in a funeral parlor that made him the prime suspect in McKenzie's murder. It would be forensic evidence discovered by investigators along the muddy riverbank at Crescent Bar. What led us to Chris Wilson was DNA evidence. His YSTR DNA was on a piece of duct tape that also had McKenzie's blood that was by McKenzie's body. It wasn't that he was different. It was his DNA. Chris had given police a swab of his DNA on August 11th. Although not totally conclusive, the crime lab determined the DNA on the duct tape could belong to Chris Wilson.

That's when Chris got the grilling of a lifetime. Chris, have you been to Crescent Bar? No, I haven't been to Crescent Bar. Well, you know, your DNA was. And at that point, he goes ahead and says, I don't see how that could be, and I want a lawyer. I tell him, Chris, you're under arrest for the murder of Mackenzie Cowell. No emotion. Absolute flatline. No reaction at all? Zero. Eight months after Mackenzie Cowell's car

was found abandoned, Chris Wilson appeared in court. And there he is standing at the table in front of the judge, and I just went, that's him? No, that can't be. How could that guy have killed McKenzie? Chris Wilson was charged with the murder of McKenzie Cowell. The charge here, sir, is murder in the second degree. How do you claim it? Not guilty.

And when you made eye contact with him? Chris Wilson does not make eye contact with anyone. Kathleen, you are passionate in your belief in Chris's innocence, correct? That is correct. In fact, Kathleen says that at the time police believed McKenzie was being murdered, Chris was with her, picking up a plate of cupcakes. He was perfectly normal, fine, happy. He was the Chris as you would have seen on any other day.

Any other day. Any other day. 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 on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. 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. And listen to more Exhibit C True Crime shows early and ad-free right now. All the promise, all the grace that defined 17-year-old Mackenzie Cowell's life had been stolen. Yet her spirit still inspired a community.

Mackenzie, we love you. She was full of life. She was just going a mile a minute and taking life full blast. A task force. We collected swab samples. A town. No one can steal our memories of her.

A father kept Mackenzie's memory alive. I think of all the things that we did down here, swimming and running and sometimes just sitting. But now was the time for justice and hopefully answers to unbearable questions. I would like to talk to this guy. Why'd you take McKenzie? Chris Wilson, declaring his innocence, was headed to trial.

Is this a winnable case in your opinion? It's a very winnable case. Because, investigators say, the DNA on that duct tape was just the start of the case. This is what we determined was the residence for Chris Wilson. Let's head inside. Okay. Chief Wagg's task force combed over every inch of it. When they started spraying the luminol, they found what turned out to be a fairly substantial stain that they were sure was

blood, and it was right in this area right in here. The cops cut the stained carpet. Then a small bloody patch was tested for DNA. It came back exclusively as McKenzie Cowell's blood, and it was a substantial stain. So, Chief, what do you believe happened in this apartment? This is where McKenzie Cowell was murdered by Chris Wilson. Then, there was this. Pretty plain. A controversial video of Chris Wilson. Video me. Just get away. Is it clean?

Taken by his friend, Tessa Schileman. In the video, shot as Chris moved out of Apartment 28, the two friends seem concerned that it's neat and clean, so Chris could get his security deposit back. Chris would later explain the carpet was damaged during a party. Is it clean? Clean for what's happening. Clean considering?

Yeah, it's clean considering. But police allege Wilson was checking for blood. She zooms right on the carpet where that blood is. The police task force is now certain that Mackenzie Cowell's blood was here, soaked deep into the carpet in apartment 28, where Chris Wilson lived at the time of the murder. The question that now defines this case is, how did her blood get here? We have a whole list of things that make this look very suspicious.

Washington State's own John Henry Brown, hired by Chris's mother, is among the most high-powered lawyers anywhere. His clients have ranged from Robert Bales, the American soldier who pled guilty to mass murder in Afghanistan, to serial killer Ted Bundy, to the barefoot bandit Colton Harris Moore. Now add Chris Wilson. Chris is clearly kind of the classic underdog, and that always is attractive to us. Together with co-counsel Emma Scanlon, he is crafting a strategy

that it's not Chris Wilson who is guilty, it's law enforcement of unspeakable corruption. I'm saying to avoid professional embarrassment, they did whatever it took. Including, allege these two lawyers, somehow planting McKenzie's blood in Chris's apartment. This is Wenatchee. They do things like that. John Henry Brown's attitude about Wenatchee goes way back.

Allegations about sexual abuse of children. It was the mid-90s. Dozens of people were charged with child sexual abuse. Most were convicted, wrongfully it turned out, sexual abuse. Most were convicted, wrongfully it turned out, until a young John Henry Brown succeeded in having some of the cases dropped or overturned. It was completely false, made up, what's become known as the Wenatchee witch hunt. You don't like that when your investigators are accused of things that seem to be baseless. Gary Reason was the prosecutor then, going up against John Henry Brown in the child sex abuse scandal. And he is the prosecutor now against Chris Wilson. Mr. Brown likes cases that are high visibility. He likes publicity in his cases.

What bothers law enforcement most isn't Brown's dramatic flair. There's no evidence that the blood was planted. The blood was left there by Mackenzie Cal when Chris Wilson murdered her. Remember, Mackenzie's jugular vein had been cut, and Brown argues there should have been blood discovered all over Chris's apartment. How do you explain that? He was interested and infatuated with the serial killer Dexter, the serious Dexter. Dexter is the hit Showtime series where the killer often brings his victim into a room draped in plastic to keep the crime scene clean. He very well could have had plastic down on the floor. We just don't know. But why was

McKenzie in Chris's apartment? Police believe they'd become friends. No way, swears Chris's mother. They weren't friends on Facebook, on MySpace. In your opinion, is there a campaign against your son? I believe there is a conspiracy to frame him, yes. And I'll tell you this, that's nuts. DNA evidence led us to Chris Wilson, and the DNA evidence tied him to Mackenzie Cowell. If Chris Wilson did not murder Mackenzie Cowell, who did? Sam Cuevas and Emanuel Seros. Sam Cuevas and Emanuel Buda Seros. Those two small-time drug dealers Liz Reid once swore confessed to her.

Liz changed her story yet again and now told Chris Wilson's lawyers her tale about seeing that videotape of Mackenzie's murder. And she was prepared to testify under oath that it was all true. You're certain what you saw was the death of Mackenzie Cowell on video? Yes. Liz Reed was now slated to be the Star Defense lawyer's star witness. But Chris Wilson still had one big problem.

Mackenzie Cowell's blood is in Chris Wilson's apartment and you can't explain how it got there. Well, yeah, it's very difficult to convince a jury that evidence has been planted, but we are going to attempt to do that. To be continued... 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+. It's just The Best Idea Yet. now by joining Wondery+. It's just the best idea yet. Mackenzie Cowell's bedroom hasn't changed much since she last slept peacefully. Time frozen in teenage photos. Her Appalettes outfit ready for the next dance. The life, she was full of life and joy and happiness and kindness. Her and her dad had so much fun together. She loved her dad dearly. But here in Wenatchee, there were two families

waiting for answers to the mysterious murder, each with very different versions of justice for Chris Wilson. He is anxious for trial. He wants to tell his side of the story. The famous lawyer and the longtime DA were primed. Then, in a stunning development, Gary Reeson made Wilson the offer of a lifetime, plead guilty to manslaughter

and serve only six and a half years in prison. I indicated, yeah, if he'd plead to that, I would recommend that we do that, take that offer. Were you in any way intimidated by the fact that Brown was on this case? Well, I don't think so. But if Wilson was a killer, a very sweet deal now lay on the table. If I was innocent, I'd take that deal. He said it wouldn't matter if they offered him six months, six years, six days. He is not going to plead to something he did not do.

Chris Wilson turned down the DA's offer. The trial was on, and Liz Reed's story now had a new twist that threatened the prosecutor's claim that McKenzie was killed in Chris Wilson's apartment. We're heading to the overlook. Liz claims McKenzie was actually murdered on this secluded bluff and that she can prove it. Is there any doubt in your mind that where we stand right now is where Mackenzie died? None. Liz says that Buda Saros demanded she come here to find a ring ripped from Mackenzie's hand during the killing. It was smashed. It was bent a little, but it was a ring. This is the ring Liz says she

found on the bluff. Attorney John Henry Brown says it matches the ring seen in this picture of McKenzie. If true, Brown says Chris Wilson is an innocent man. I personally took that ring that she found. I showed it to Reed Kell. I showed it to Wendy Kell. I showed it to McKenzie's boyfriend. None of them recognized that ring at all. Where is McKenzie's ring? If that's not McKenzie's ring, you bring her ring into court. They don't have it because

that is her ring. Police concluded it wasn't Mackenzie's ring and that Sam Cuevas and Emmanuel Budaceros had zero to do with the disappearance or death of Mackenzie Cowell. I don't know Mackenzie Cowell. Never met her, never seen her. This is Emmanuel Budaceros. Want to throw a rock? After we tried for a year and a half to meet him, he finally surfaced. Well, Liz Reed is a liar, that's all I know.

She just likes to take innocent people down for no reason. At the time, Buda was working an honest job and said Liz Reed's accusations damaged him badly. I go to a grocery store, they look at me like, you know, like I'm a killer or something. They just stare at me. And Buda swears the cops got it right. There was never any video of McKenzie being murdered. No, I don't have nothing to do with McKenzie Cowell's murder.

It was Chris Wilson alone who would be tried for murder. It's too late to take a plea. That's correct. Chris Wilson, are you there? Yes. I spoke with Chris Wilson about the extraordinary moments that were about to unfold in a Wenatchee courtroom. What was your relationship with Mackenzie Cowell? There was absolutely no relationship at all.

You never had coffee with her, never took her out on a date? Nothing. I mean, we've never had a conversation, ever. Chris, did you kill Mackenzie Cowell? No, I did not kill Mackenzie Cowell. But a jury would decide that, and the members of that jury were now being selected. That's when all hell broke loose. Hey, Reed. When we got the jury questionnaires back, I believe it was 80 to 85% of them said,

no, he's absolutely guilty. There is no way in hell he will get a fair trial here. It was the 11th hour and 59 minutes. Suddenly, Chris Wilson was getting cold feet. The veteran DA and the star defense lawyer once again talked plea bargain. So is this a done deal? No, because they have to talk to the family.

Reed Cowell and Sandy Francis, who had lived every day for McKenzie, made their way through a courthouse in chaos. So what's going on? Plea bargain. But it also includes a written statement that I did this. I kidnapped her and I murdered her. So it's... In Judge John Bridges' packed courtroom,

a community gathered. You may be seated. Thank you. Chris Wilson accepted a sentence far longer than the first deal. 14 years in prison in exchange for agreeing to these words. Mr. Wilson, it reads, this is my statement. I also did recklessly cause the death of Mackenzie Cowell by strangulation and by stabbing her with a knife.

Mr. Wilson, is that your statement? Yes. And are those the things that you did? Yes. Do you have any questions? But Wilson would tell 48 Hours he pauses at this moment in the courtroom. Are those the things that you did? Yes. Because the deal was based on a lie and that he took it only to avoid a longer sentence.

Did you almost say no? Absolutely. Do you believe you were framed? Framed by law enforcement? Yes. Am I happy that Chris Wilson's jailed for 14 years? Absolutely. Do I wish it was 40? Absolutely. But just why did the DA offer a deal? I had no evidence to prove Mr. Wilson was in there with Ms. Cowell when that blood was deposited. The judicial dance was over. Our job is to keep our community safe, and we know that we are sending the killer to prison today.

The anguish and questions were not. In open court, Chris just pled guilty on three counts. Do you believe him? No. I'm his mom. I do not believe him. Then, two proud women, who had lost what they valued most, shared the humanity they had left. Sorry. I'm sorry.

Jefferson Robbins told the tale on the front page. Reed and Sandy headed home, past the gentle orchards, as the Columbia River rolled on, whispering the name Mackenzie. I have a really nice wind chime out in the front yard, and when that wind chime goes off, I think it's her talking to me. And I don't always think about her as being gone. I still think about her as though she's still around. Less than a year after accepting the plea deal, Chris Wilson filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea.

Are those the things that you did? He contends his plea was not voluntary. Wilson claims he entered into the plea bargain without fully understanding the consequences, how much time he would ultimately serve in prison. Chris Wilson was released from prison in December 2023.