48 Hours - The Strange Case of Kurt Sonnenfeld

Episode Date: June 19, 2016

A man wanted in the murder of his wife makes an outrageous claim.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Look at their madly in love. They are. Look at that. Nancy Sonnenfeld was found shot in the head. A police report says she was in a second-floor bedroom. She later died. We always thought a wonderful couple because they were always laughing. Attractive and young. You just couldn't imagine a happier couple. Kurt Sonnenfeld, he was this debonair, really buff, eloquent young man.

You know, everybody who met him liked him. eloquent young man. You know, everybody who met him liked him. He was a videographer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This is a box of some of my things from FEMA. My name is Kurt Mitchell. I'm a reporter at the Denver Post. Back in 2001, back in 2001. Kurt went to 9-11, and he videotaped Ground Zero. Nancy Sonnenfeld, she was a star in her own right. She got a well-paying job in an advertising agency. They were a very hip couple. They would go to all the trendy bars in downtown Denver. They went on trips.

They went to Amsterdam. They went to South America. They had a beautiful relationship. January 1, 2002, New Year's Day. Get a call of a shooting individual frantically calling the police saying his wife had shot herself. The evidence didn't really match up with what we were being told occurred. We were questioning nearly from the start that this had anything to do with a self-inflicted injury and was more consistent with a homicide.

Kurt Sonnenfeld was arrested and charged with his wife's death, which he insisted was a suicide. But prosecutors suddenly dropped the charge, saying they did not believe they could prove Sonnenfeld guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. dropped the charge, saying they did not believe they could prove Sonnenfeld guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. After he was released from jail, he took a trip to Argentina. My world had been completely destroyed, and when Paola and I first met, she was the reward for all the suffering that I had been through. He had fallen madly in love with this young woman and decided that he was going to stay in Argentina. Two years later, prosecutors filed new charges against Sonnenfeld, but Sonnenfeld had moved to Argentina,

and prosecutors can't get him extradited. Kurt Sonnenfeld went there so that he didn't have to face trial in Colorado. Do you believe he's going to get away with murder? It's possible. Without a doubt, everybody knew it was a suicide. He is innocent. There's nothing else to say. It's pretty incredible what he's pulled off.

My name is Kurt Sonnenfeld. This is my story. I'm Erin Moriarty. Tonight on 48 Hours, the strange case of Kurt Sonnenfeld. I'm Erin Moriarty. Did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. early and ad-free on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand,

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When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Kurt Sonnenfeld has built a new life for himself in Argentina.

Here, he's out of the grasp of U.S. authorities who want him extradited so that they can try him for the murder of his first wife. There are people in Denver, Colorado, who think Kurt killed Nancy. What do you say? Well, they are wrong. Kurt's staunchest supporter is his second wife, Pala. They met at a restaurant when he arrived in 2003 and married just 40 days later.

They're now the parents of twin girls. You can tell just looking at Kurt and especially after you talk to him that he is a beautiful person. Kurt is incapable of even killing a cricket or an ant. Paola has been a Kurt side as he's waged a public campaign to clear his name. You were innocent for the USA justice. Yes, I'm innocent. This is from a 2005 TV appearance in Argentina. On January 1st, 2002, my wife committed suicide with a single gunshot wound to the side of her head.

The first policeman that came in said, women don't commit suicide. That was when the lies began. But authorities in Denver believe it's Kurt who's lying. But authorities in Denver believe it's Kurt who's lying. Back in the U.S., Nancy Sonnenfeld's family has been waiting for justice for more than 14 years. Amy Leak is Nancy's sister. A lot of times when people have somebody murdered in their family, it goes to trial and it's over. And it's still painful, but you can move on. We can never have closure. and it's over, and it's still painful, but you can move on.

We can never have closure. In the year before Nancy died, the two sisters had grown closer than ever. We were finally becoming the best friends that I had wanted us to be. She was a strong person. She was very sophisticated. I always thought she was beautiful, and, like, I saw her as being perfect. Do you remember when your sister met Kurt? Yes, I do. I remember how excited she was.

She said she met her soul mate. And there's Uncle Kurt. Hi, Uncle Kurt. We loved Kurt. He became part of our family. He was fun to be with. He was good at telling stories. He was pretty much good at everything he did. He became part of our family. He was fun to be with. He was good at telling stories. He was pretty much good at everything he did. He had great charisma.

Kurt traveled extensively as a freelance cameraman for FEMA, filming natural disasters. He also documented weapons storage and disposal sites. His biggest assignment was being sent to Ground Zero as one of two official videographers. I saw this opening that smoke was pouring out of and it looked just like the entrance to hell to me. The footage shot by Kurt and his partner was seen all over the world and Kurt seemed to revel in the attention he was getting appearing in magazine articles and posing with celebrities. I must say that Kurt liked attention and Kurt liked to be in the limelight.

Leslie Lindberg is Nancy's cousin. And what did she think of that? She was proud of him. She loved him. But there were problems beneath the surface. Leslie says Nancy confided in her that Kurt had a problem with drugs and alcohol, and it was putting a strain on their marriage. Nancy was very concerned about his drug use. She talked to him about it, and he said that he would stop, but he didn't. She saw him going downhill, and she was scared he was going to destroy his life.

going downhill and she was scared he was going to destroy his life the last straw came when the couple took a trip to Thailand around Thanksgiving of 2001 it was the turning point that affected the rest of her life Nancy called both her sister and her cousin from Thailand saying Kurt had disappeared she said she found him days later in a hotel room with two women doing drugs. Kurt and Nancy returned to the U.S. separately. I even confronted him. I said, Kurt, what did you do in Thailand? I said, even what kind of drugs did you do? And his response to me was, everything I could get my hands on.

Nancy filed for a separation. Do you think she intended to actually divorce him? Mm-hmm. We talked about it, and she did. She was planning on moving on. This close friend of the couple, who asked us not to show his face, says Kurt was worried about money.

Did Kurt want this divorce? No. He was angry when they spoke about divorcing would ruin their finances. Also when I think he was worried about the house because they owned the house together. Had Nancy cut off some of the credit cards that he had? Yeah. She was still more the breadwinner of the family and did what she did to try and cut back on his spending. Despite their problems, Nancy and Kurt spent New Year's Eve together. He says they had arrived home

from a party around 1.30 a.m. and just minutes later, Nancy's life came to a violent end. When I heard the gunshot, I ran into the room where she was. I saw her there bleeding profusely. I was hysterical. The first thing that I did was to hold her, and then I jumped up and called the police. We realized really very, very quickly that this was not a suicide. This was a homicide investigation.

Retired Denver detective Jonathan Pree says police were immediately suspicious of Kurt's account. Anytime there's someone else present when somebody kills themselves, those are characterized as attended suicides. Those bother me. But why do attended suicides make you uncomfortable? Attended suicides make you uncomfortable?

Attended suicides, people rarely kill themselves in front of other people. Most suicides occur when people are alone. And there was something else that troubled first responders. There was a very fine mist of what appeared to be blood staining on his face. The mist staining suggested he was near her at the time of the firearm discharge. That this was blood spatter at the time the gun went off? Yes. Kurt also had a bruise forming around his right eye, possible evidence of a struggle.

But most telling to the officers on the scene was the unusual location of Nancy's gunshot wound towards the back of her head. We asked Dr. Amy Martin, who was Denver's assistant medical examiner, to demonstrate. AMY MARTIN, Denver's assistant medical examiner, It was a little bit above the earhole and behind her earhole on the right side of her head, so in approximately this area here. Now you've got to angle the gun so that it's going upwards and also a little bit behind. This is very awkward. I don't think I have ever seen a clear self-inflicted gunshot wound in that part of the head. And what about the fact that it's what you call a non-contact, that it's not up against her head, the gun was not held up against her head? That's unusual also. It does occur. When I look at her wound, I just would wonder why would you shoot yourself that way? If you're going to shoot yourself, why wouldn't you just shoot yourself in the temple? It's a lot easier to hold the gun to your temple. Nancy Sonnenfeld

died in the hospital later that morning, New Year's Day 2002. She was 36 years old. Dr. Martin ruled her death a homicide, and police believe Kurt was her killer. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bold risk takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario, 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. 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 Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. When Kurt Sonnenfeld was brought in for questioning, that's when he first learned his wife Nancy had died. He broke down, started

crying, and started stating that his wife had shot herself and began offering suggestions as to what we as law enforcement should be doing to help prove that she shot herself. Insisting that detectives test Nancy's hands for gunshot residue. The investigators are wondering, why is he telling us this? Rather than, you know, my God, my wife has been shot. What happened? But as the questioning continued, says former detective John Priest, Kurt admitted the marriage had been in trouble. She was upset with him over a trip that they had taken to Thailand.

She was upset with him for using drugs, according to him. And Kurt told police it was possible they had fought about his drinking that night and that Nancy probably saw no hope. What do you think happened that night? Maybe she was kicking him out. Kurt was arrested for first-degree murder within hours of Nancy's death. The physical evidence, thought detectives, just didn't seem consistent with suicide. Using a mannequin and a couch similar to the Sonnenfelds, Priest demonstrates his theory.

You believe Kurt Sonnenfeld shot his wife. Do you believe he was sitting next to her on the couch as he did it? It would make sense, yes. This is where my radiating spatter is coming from, is this exit wound. So I'm looking at something like this. Priest also believes Nancy was moved because of the odd position she was found in. She was leaned back against the back of the couch and her head was slightly back up against the wall. All right, if first responders first found her sitting like this, what was the evidence that

made you believe she had been moved? On the end of the couch over here, very large saturation pattern of blood that's coming from her head and then created a very large saturation pattern of blood that's coming from her head and then created a very large pool on the floor. She had to be tipped over like this at some point. Nancy. Hi. Investigators believe Kurt tipped Nancy over

so he could get up after shooting her. And Priest thinks Nancy lay there bleeding for at least 10 minutes before Kurt propped her back up and called 911. The pool of blood that's over here was created over a good period of time. That delay, says Priest, gave Kurt time to clean up. And it could explain why gunshot residue was found on Kurt's clothing, but not his hands. He had more than enough time to wash his hands. The fact that he has gunshot residue on him at all is what's significant, because he claims not to have been in the room when the firearm was discharged.

But if she was murdered, how did gunshot residue get on Nancy's hand? And why is her fingerprint, not Kurt's, on the gun's magazine? Do you believe that he held the gun in her hand, or do you believe that he actually had the gun in his hand when he shot her? Well, that I can't tell one way or the other. I can put the gun in the position when it was fired. Whose hand or hands were on the firearm, I can't tell you. I believe it was suicide, and I believe the evidence showed that. Kurt's defense attorney, Carrie Thompson, says detectives got it all wrong. I believe that there was a rush to judgment.

There was an assumption this was a homicide. I mean, how would you describe then the investigation into this case? Shoddy. Shoddy? Yeah, shoddy. From the police report accounts, she was found sitting up in the middle, you know, approximately here. Thompson says Nancy fell over on her own after shooting herself. We're saying that the physical evidence showed that she at one time had slumped over, but never really wasn't moved. Just the top part of her body had slumped over with her head, causing that drip that caused that pool of blood. She says that when Kurt discovered his wife, he grabbed her and then sat her up on the couch.

And that, Thompson says, could account for that blood mist on his face. She was still breathing, which means she could have sprayed out some blood herself onto him. She has no blood in her nose or her mouth, so how do we have expirated blood? This is her graduation from college.

She was very proud of that day. Would you have ever described your sister as suicidal? No, I never saw her as suicidal at all. Still, Kurt kept insisting Nancy had been suicidal long before that night. She was heartbroken. She was depressed. You know, her marriage was falling apart. But she was a fighter and she was looking towards the future.

But Kurt's attorney claims that less than a month after Nancy's death, she had gone into the home and personally found a suicide note, evidence she says police overlooked. I can recall very specifically when I found it. It was right there on the dresser along with her writings. Thompson says the note appeared to have been torn from Nancy's diary. It contained a line from a Walt Whitman poem. What indeed is finally beautiful except death and love? To which Nancy added, Kurt, please get help.

Do you believe that is a suicide note? No. It doesn't read like a suicide note. It doesn't read like the goodbye cruel world or I can't live like this any longer. She was asking Kurt to get help. It's not a suicide note. She was just so concerned for him.

And she was worried that if he didn't stop with drugs, that possibly he would kill himself. themselves. As Kurt's trial date was approaching, the defense team went on the offensive, doing their own crime scene analysis that seemed to contradict the cops' murder theory. I think they did a half-assed job, quite frankly. Then-District Attorney Bill Ritter. It just felt to me like our Denver Police Department Homicide Division still had work to do on this case. Did that mean that you're having some doubts about whether this was a homicide or a suicide? Well, I think the best way to answer that question is to say, I believed that we had some significant chance of losing at trial. trial. Just a little more than five months after Nancy's death, Ritter made a highly unusual decision. He dismissed the murder charge against Kurt, but without prejudice, which meant the investigation would continue and charges could be reinstated later. What was your reaction, Amy,

when you heard charges were dropped and he would just go home? We were upset, of course. I cannot even explain to you the pain that we went through. It all goes back to our faith in God. There's nothing else that would have carried us through.

On June 14, 2002, Kurt Sonnenfeld walked out of jail a free man. The murder charge against Kurt Sonnenfeld had been dropped, but for months after Kurt's release, Denver police continued to dig for new evidence, starting with Kurt's computer. He says that he was in his office. He said he was in there on his computer when he heard the firearm discharge and went in to check on his wife. When his computer was checked, did that check out? No. A forensic analysis revealed that the computer was last used around 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve.

But Kurtz called a 911, saying his wife had just shot herself, didn't come in till hours later, at 1.40 a.m. Then, there was a suspicious injury to Nancy's left index fingernail. So it could be evidence of some kind of struggle. It could be. She had some bruises on her hands, bruises around her right wrist. Certainly were consistent with some kind of a struggle. Kurt's DNA was found under that fingernail. More possible evidence of a struggle. Kurt's DNA was found under that fingernail. More possible evidence of a struggle.

And there were also two jailhouse informants who say Kurt Sonnenfeld confessed. They came forward separately after Sonnenfeld had been released. John Priest says their statements contained information only Nancy's killer would know. Like what? Give me an example that really just blew you away, thought, wow, this guy must have really talked to him. Positions in the crime scene, where evidence was located, things that there's just no way they would have had that information.

48 Hours tracked down one of those informants THOSE INFORMANTS. ROBERT DREYER HAS A HISTORY OF IDENTITY THEFT, FRAUD AND FORGERY. HE SHARED A JAIL CELL WITH SONENFELD FOR FOUR DAYS AND DIDN'T MUCH LIKE HIM. Arrogant, ignorant, self-centered. DREYER IS A HARD MAN TO PIN DOWN, BUT HE CLAIMS CURT TOLD HIM ABOUT THE NIGHT NANCY DIED. What happened at the party? to pin down, but he claims Kurt told him about the night Nancy died. What happened at the party? She came outside and she saw him with another girl again and suspected that he was getting high and she got mad and she left. She said, I'm leaving.

He goes, what do you mean you're leaving? She goes, I'm going home and I'm leaving you. She said that was it and she left and she went home. She walked home. Without him? Without him. Dreyer says when Kurt got home, the couple argued. He said you're not gonna leave me. We're gonna be together. We're not getting divorced. According to Dreyer, Kurt first told him he was out of the room when Nancy committed suicide by shooting herself in the back of the head. I said, well, she shot herself behind the ear. He said, well, that's...

I said, people don't shoot themselves behind the ear, Kurt. Come on, man, you did it, didn't you? And you know, he said, yeah, he admitted, you know, I did. He said, but the cops will never figure it out, and it'd be your word against mine. As for why Kurt had no gunshot residue on his hands... He said, well, that's why they make saran wrap. Dreyer's statements to police could be devastating if they're true. Let's be honest, you lied to police all the time.

You would use other people's identities. You lie all the time. Why should anybody believe what you're telling now? You don't have to believe it, but I'm going to tell you. That man told me he killed that woman, his wife. I have no reason to lie. I got nothing for it. And Dreyer didn't receive any special treatment in return for coming forward.

In December 2003, two years after Nancy's death, the Denver District Attorney's Office felt it had enough to refile the murder charge. But when police tried to locate Sonnenfeld, he was nowhere to be found. And it's, uh-oh. Police considered him a fugitive. We start looking for him, and we find out that he's no longer in the United States. When authorities decided to re-arrest Kurt Sonnenfeld for murder, they didn't know he had moved 6,000 miles away from Denver.

He was now living here, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. And he wasn't exactly living the life of a man on the run. He was free to go to Argentina. He met somebody there. The characterization that he fled to Argentina is bull. I had never hid when I was here. I traveled here with my own passport, with the airline ticket under my name.

In that 2005 interview, Kurt said he simply came here on vacation, intending only to stay a few weeks. But when he met Paola, that changed everything. What made you fall in love with him? Because he is so kind. Because he respects all the forms of life. In Paola, he found a sympathetic ear and the perfect advocate. She's a human rights activist. Kurt declined to talk to us on camera,

but Paola spoke on his behalf. You knew from the very beginning he had been accused of killing his wife? Yes. He told me everything about him. And did that put you off at all? Did that make you a little nervous about being around him? Of course not. It just makes me sad because the story is terrible. Kurt settled into his life in Argentina with Paula. He found work as a freelance cameraman. But their life was interrupted after those charges were refiled in the U.S. Sonnenfeld was suddenly arrested by Interpol. This could not be happening. Kurt was taken to Argentina's Devoto prison while US authorities fought to have him extradited and sent

back to Colorado. Did you fear during that time that he was going to be It's always fear, but in this case, I trust my country. Kurt was jailed for nearly seven months, but in March 2005, a judge in Argentina rejected the extradition request. He ordered Sonnenfeld's immediate release. The reason? Colorado has the death penalty. We were never going to be trying to get the death penalty for Kurt Sonnenfeld. Then-Colorado Governor Bill Owens. I signed promises that we wouldn't seek the death penalty.

These promises were affirmed by the Denver District Attorney and every other party involved. I was frustrated. I was frustrated that he wasn't going to come back to the states. But it wasn't over yet. The extradition ruling was appealed. So Kurt launched his own public relations campaign. A lot of people saying that these charges were a mistake. And for the first time, Kurt claimed that U.S. authorities are really after him for what he saw at Ground Zero.

Some of my things from FEMA. And that his life is in danger. When Kurt Sonnenfeld decided to go public with his story in 2005. He turned to Rolando Graña, a popular journalist in Argentina. What was the story he told you? He told me that he was one of two cameramen who recorded Ground Zero after the plane crash. I can't believe it. Really? He think he was a hero,

and then he was in jail, and he doesn't know why. Kurt told Graña his wife Nancy took her own life. My wife had left a suicide note. She had left a journal of suicidal writings. She had been severely depressed in the months. I think Kurt is not a murder. I'm sure he's not a murder. Graña admits he never did his own investigation but says the fact that charges were dropped is evidence the

case must be weak. What made you believe him? If someone has killed his wife, it's difficult to understand why he's free. What's more, Kurt told Graña a chilling tale of being falsely accused and tortured by police in Denver. One of them put me into a chokehold, while the other one was kicking me repeatedly in the groin, in the stomach. He also had a rubber glove on his hand with a red chemical, and he inserted it up into my nose.

But if that did happen, Kurt's defense attorney never heard about it. Was he ever beaten at the jail that you're aware of? I have no information about that. Kurt also claimed he faced the death penalty. They told me I was going to be put to death. It's not true, but for years, Kurt and Paula Sonnenfeld have capitalized on that claim. They've even used their twin daughters to make their case. SCARLET AND NATASHA ARE SOLDIERS IN THIS CAUSE. It's a poignant and disturbing picture, the girls holding up signs saying, ìDon't let the U.S. government assassinate my father.î Pala even insisted that her now nine-year-old daughters sit in on our interview.

Are you comfortable with having both of them here during this? Absolutely. How you hide all this that is happening to us from children? Despite what she knew would be sensitive subject matter. You know Kurt's case never had the death penalty. It doesn't even qualify for the death penalty. And what about being in jail forever and dying in a jail? That's the same. Still, the concern that Kurt could be executed won him support in Argentina.

What is it about Kurt Sonnenfeld's case that made you want to fight for him. Jorge Richard and his wife, Dolores Rivas, are prominent human rights activists who run centers that care for poor and orphaned children. poor and orphaned children. Delores says she's worried about what would happen to Kurt's daughters if he's sent back to the U.S. DELORES, My concern is to destroy a family. MARGARET WARNER, But what really turned Kurt Seinfeld into a cause celeb in Argentina is something that many here in the U.S. might find outrageous. His claim that he saw evidence that the U.S. government played a role in the attack on the World Trade Center.

Sonnenfeld claims that's the real reason why authorities are after him. Do you think that the government knows the crash will come? Yeah, I'm 100% sure of it. And according to Sonnenfeld, the U.S. did nothing to stop it. He also claims that it was suspicious that the airplane's flight data recorders, or black boxes, were never recovered. The black boxes were supposedly vaporized, right? But I have footage of the landing gear, of the seats of the airplane.

All of that survived. Sonnenfeld also suggested that the cleanup at Ground Zero happened too quickly. Almost from day one, they began taking away all of the metal beams, driving trucks all over the evidence. So they themselves were destroying evidence, almost purposely and programmatically from the very first days.

It was almost like it was preplanned. But what he never told Graña is that he didn't even get to Ground Zero until a full week after the attack. And if he has any concrete evidence to back up his conspiracy theory, he hasn't shown it to anyone. Kurt is just saying what other people have been saying for 14 years. He doesn't appear to have any proof of anything new.

So why would the American government go after him? Kurt repeated his claims in interviews on Argentinian talk radio. after him. Why was he there? Kurt Sonnenfeld was the government's cameraman. Kurt repeated his claims in interviews on Argentinian talk radio, in magazines and other TV shows. And his story has been embraced by those who have little trust in governments. When he tells his superiors what happened, how he saw things, there begins a systematic in governments. Adolfo Pérez Esquivel won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980 after

years of imprisonment and torture by Argentina's military junta. He's been trying to help Kurt stay in the country. What we're trying to do is to make sure that they treat him as they should. Kurt and Paula claim they've been spied on and harassed in Argentina by American agents sent to intimidate them. Kurt even wrote a book about his case, published in Spanish only, called El Perseguido, or The Persecuted. It reads like a spy novel, and it's one of the reasons why journalists in Argentina have compared him to James Bond.

But he's no hero to Kirk Mitchell, the reporter for the Denver Post, who is a CBS News consultant. He's been covering the Kurt Sonnenfeld case since the beginning. He's been covering the Kurt Sonnenfeld case since the beginning. So here, Kurt Sonnenfeld is a murder suspect in Argentina. What is he? He is the whistleblower, a brave man who stood up to a corrupt government. This stuff comes up after his arrest in Argentina when he starts making this. And the prosecutor and I are looking at each other like, where did that come from?

He was a photographer at Ground Zero. Yes, he was, but he's also an exceptional liar. He is trying to use that terrible situation to shield himself from murder charges. He's trying to use his children to shield himself from murder charges. He's trying to use his children to shield himself from murder charges. When is Kurt Sonnenfeld gonna stop? When is he gonna come home and account for that night? More than 14 years have passed since Nancy Sonnenfeld's death, and her family still clings to the hope that Kurt will someday go on trial for murder.

Why does it matter that Kurt come back and go on trial? It matters because my cousin, who loved him so much, who gave him so much, it matters because my cousin lost her life. She's not there because of him. He needs to account, atone for that night. Nancy Sonnenfeld has gotten lost in all of this, says Denver Post reporter Kurt Mitchell. KURT MITCHELL, Denver Post reporter, The way he has couched what has happened to him is he is the victim.

It is pretty incredible what he's pulled off. Mitchell was so intrigued by the case that he wrote a book about it. You call your book Spin Doctor. Why? Well, I came to the conclusion that his story was so far fetched, so far from the truth, that that's what he's become. You know, to me, it's astonishing that it's being believed.

Is Kurt Sonnenfeld gaming the system? Kurt Sonnenfeld is definitely gaming the system, though someday, hopefully, that game may run out. Former Colorado Governor Bill Owens says Sonnenfeld has come up with a novel way to avoid prosecution by cleverly spinning the horror of 9-11 to his own advantage. There are a lot of people around the world who want to believe the worst about our country. And when he says, look, I'm a victim, intelligence agencies are after me. There are a lot of victims in this case. Not one of them is Kurt Sonnenfeld. Nancy's family continued to live in limbo as Kurt's case dragged on through the Argentine courts.

in limbo as Kurt's case dragged on through the Argentine courts. In 2014, it landed on President Cristina Kirchner's desk. There's politics that get wrapped up in these cases. The current president of Argentina comes from a party that was very antagonistic towards the U.S. A fact that Kurt and Paula seemed to be counting on. I know that my government is going to protect us. We will fight for Kurt and we are not alone. Impala may have been right. In 2015, during the final weeks of her presidency, Kirchner's administration ruled that Kurt Sonnenfeld will not be extradited, stating that to do so would be a violation of human rights. Human rights? What about my cousin? What about her human rights?

I absolutely believe it's political. I believe that Mr. Sonnenfeld has built an aura as a martyr, as a hero, and I think the politics of Argentina have protected him from a murder charge. Kurt and Paula wouldn't comment to us, but shortly after the ruling, Paula tweeted, we're living the first day of the rest of our lives. Has the murder suspect outsmarted the US government? It certainly looks that way. But Nancy's cousin is determined Kurt will never find peace.

Lies, the manipulations, they go on and on and it will come out and I will be alive to see it, even if I have to go to Argentina. I will look that man in the eye again, just so that he knows I am still alive. Smile! And I am here for my cousin. Happy birthday to you. And I will never let this die. Bye!

And I will never let this die. Bye! Nancy's family has written to the new president of Argentina, asking him to reconsider the extradition of Kurt Sonnenfeld. Do you think Kurt Sonnenfeld should be extradited? Chat now with correspondent Erin Moriarty on Twitter. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.