Cold Case Files - Killings on Christmas Eve

Episode Date: December 24, 2019

When an elderly couple is robbed and brutally murdered in a quiet logging community, accusations fly. No stone is left unturned, but the killer never surfaces, leaving the family of Ed and Minnie Maurin with nothing but unanswered questions and crippling grief. The investigation goes cold for two decades, before a courageous eye witness comes forward with information that cracks the case wide open. Want better skin? Use PLEXADERM! Go to www.tryplexaderm.com and use code "COLDCASE" for 50% off plus an additional $10 off! Or call 800-685-1292. Take care of your teeth with QUIP! Go to www.getquip.com/ccf to get your first refill FREE!

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every three months with free shipping to keep you on track. Join over 3 million healthy mouths and get Quip today, starting at $25. And if you go to getquip.com slash ccf right now, you'll get your first refill free. That's your first refill free at getquip.com slash ccf spelled g-e-t-q-u-i-p.com slash ccf. Quip, the good habits company. Picture a lake. The water is still, but if you toss in a pebble, a ring forms. The water ripples out from where the pebble landed, getting larger and larger. Eventually, the ripple fades. But underneath the surface, at the bottom of the lake, the pebble is still there.

Traumatic events, like a murder, can have the same effect as a pebble in the water. When a murder is committed, the trauma isn't isolated to the victims of the crime. The trauma creates ripples that touch those around them. In the case of Ed and Minnie Morin, a couple in their early 80s, the trauma's impact continued to ripple long after they were murdered in 1985. There are 120,000 unsolved murder cases in America. Each one is called a cold case, and only 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare cases.

I'm Brooke, and this is Cold Case Files, the podcast. Based on the hit show currently airing on A&E. Before we go any further, let's rewind a little bit. We need to get to know Ed and Minnie Morin to better understand what happened. Edward Morin was born in June of 1904 in the same county where he died and is still buried today. Minnie was born on Christmas Day in 1901. Minnie had four children with her first husband, Delbert, Hazel, Dennis, and Dale. After her first husband passed away, she married Ed and he moved into the family home. The couple lived together on a farm in Lewis County, Washington. It was 120 acres where they raised cows for beef and leased land for growing Christmas trees. Despite being private about their finances, the Morins were

thought of as well-off. They were active in their community and liked by all that knew them. I've always wanted Grandma and Grandpa to be remembered as that happy little couple taking care of each other rather than just victims of homicide. Minnie hosted a yearly Christmas party for the couples at her church, scheduled for December 19th. When the partygoers arrived at Minnie and Ed's home around noon, the house was empty.

In place of their hosts, guests found a half-played game of rummy, a folded newspaper that didn't appear to be read, and a dirty shoe print by the furnace. Not knowing what to do, a friend contacted the family, who in turn called the police. One of the first family members on the scene was Mike Hadler, Dennis' son and Minnie's grandson. Mike remembers that day well. I walked in, and I see papers strung around in the house. They kept a bunch of bank statements in shoeboxes, and they were strung out over the living room. Grandma's purse was left by her chair tucked behind the couch.

She never left the house without her purse. This ain't normal. Mike's perspective is the one that called to me most when researching this story. He seemed like a decent person, maybe even a nice guy. But at some point, that changed, and his choices became reflective of the pressure he was feeling. I can't help but wonder how his life might have been different had he not experienced this trauma. Based on the choices he made afterwards, I feel confident that if I had known him, we would likely not have been friends. He comes across as someone who is a bit impulsive and has a short temper. It made me mad, pissed me off, and I pretty much told him to kiss my ass.

See what I mean? I don't think that makes him a bad person. I just think his choices have been guided by the ripples of trauma he experienced. Would I make those same choices if I were in his shoes? I don't know. Imagine.

It's December of 1985 in Washington State. It's cold just above freezing, but there's only a little snow on the ground. At 5.30 a.m., Dennis Hadler, Mike's father, picked him up and they drove to the family logging business where they both worked. On the way there, they noticed that the light was on in the Morin's home. The couple were not particularly early risers, so it was just assumed that someone was running to the bathroom or getting a drink. It wasn't until later that

this observation became important. So Dennis and Mike continued on with their day as normal. Mike tells us that he had just gotten home for the evening. He'd been working all day in the cold, wet conditions that come with winter in the Pacific Northwest. For me, relaxing after a hard day in the cold means curling up by the fireplace in warm pajamas. For others, maybe that means an adult beverage or two. Whichever it was for Mike, he was jolted out of it by the ringing phone. I had dinner and was headed off to bed when my dad called and said, you need to come down to Grandma and Grandpa's.

And I knew something was wrong right then. I got in my truck, left my ranch, went down, and there was many things going through my mind. It was spinning fast, I know. You're around the corner, and I see all the cop vehicles. Felt like my heart dropped out of my chest and hit the bottom. Soon as I got out of my pickup, I was greeted by one of the officers. He said, we don't know for sure, but your grandma and grandpa is missing,

and there looks like there's been some foul play. The next day, a tip was called in. A car resembling Ed and Minnie's was parked at the local mall. The tipster also had some information about a possible suspect dressed in an army jacket and running from the car. When the officer on the scene approached the car, it was early morning. The sun hadn't melted the frost from the windows. So, to preserve any possible fingerprints, Once he did that, he could see that the car was covered in blood, which would probably be burned in his brain for the rest of his life.

There was a red blanket covering the seat. The detectives could see damage from what appeared to be shotgun pellets going into the dash. Mr. Morin's hat that he's known to wear all the time was laying on a floorboard, and still no sign of Ed and Minnie. That's Chief Detective Bruce Kimsey. We'll hear more from him later. Ed and Minnie were missing. Their car was covered in blood. And with each passing moment, the family became more worried. The community formed search parties, which scoured the woods looking for the couple. But ultimately, the search turned up nothing. The car was located on the 20th, but it was still four more days before Ed and Minnie were discovered.

A family friend found their bodies abandoned on the side of the road, dumped the way someone might treat an unwanted piece of furniture or garbage. For Mike, one search was over, but another was just beginning. I was out scouring the different county roads when I got the call over the radio. It said they had found their bodies. I can't imagine myself in his position. How powerless must someone feel when their grandparents, the rocks of the family, are suddenly taken away? The last time that I seen my grandparents was on the Sunday before they disappeared

and I stopped in to see them. Took my grandfather down to the store, got milk and eggs and bread, not realizing that that's the last time you're going to be able to touch them or hold them or talk to them or see them, or talk to them, or see them, or anything. The family was grieving. The community was grieving. And the police were under tremendous pressure to find answers. Soon, we'll talk about the path that the police took in their investigation.

But for a second, let's talk about the Lewis County Police themselves. I wasn't able to find a definite number for murders in Lewis County in the 1980s. But basically, there weren't a lot. So, I formed the opinion that while they were determined and well-meaning, the Lewis County Police just didn't seem to have much experience when it came to murder investigations. It's not a fault. It's just an observation. We really wanted to succeed. That's David Neiser, the lead detective on the initial investigation. But we had no murder weapon, no fingerprints of suspects at the crime scene,

no DNA evidence because there was none in that day and age. David wasn't alone in wanting answers. At Ed and Minnie's funeral, Dennis made his mother a promise. I put my hand on the casket and I said, Mom, we're going to catch him. At the time, I don't think Dennis realized the weight of what he was saying or how long it would take before that promise would be kept. On to the investigation after the break.

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It could be a family member, a friend, or just an acquaintance. The original investigators started to look at the family even before the Morins had been buried. This is Prosecutor Meyer with the Lewis County District Attorney. Some family members were looked at a little bit harder than others simply because of their history, and one of those was Mike. Mike had had a history with law enforcement. Mike was impulsive and had a self-admitted short fuse. He'd made some poor choices, which earned him a bad reputation. That was enough for investigators to consider Mike a suspect. Here's a recording of the police taking out the funeral. Here comes your guy right there. Okay, Mike Christian. That's the bad guy, I think. While this conversation was taking place, Mike and his family members were carrying the caskets down the church steps.

Honestly, I'm not sure this was the right venue for a police stakeout. Even if Mike was a suspect, what were the investigators hoping to accomplish by surveilling the funeral? What were they expecting to see? Mike wasn't an angel, but police had no physical evidence and no motive that made sense. Does making poor choices mean that he's a murderer? The police also looked at another of Minnie and Ed's grandchildren, Rodney. He recounts the feelings of guilt that he had just being questioned by investigators. Whenever you have these type murder deals, it's usually always a family member or something like that they say that does it because they're all disgruntled or whatever.

So they come and ask you these questions. I call it interrogation. We made you feel like you're guilty. But the family didn't really offer any promising leads, so investigators turned to eyewitness accounts. Remember the tip about the car in the parking lot? The witnesses were also able to describe the person they saw near the car, which the police used to make a composite sketch of a suspect.

Investigators showed the sketch to dozens of potential witnesses. It certainly didn't resemble Mike or Rodney Hadler. In fact, it didn't really resemble anyone. The police had no clear suspects and no new leads. So the case went cold. Four years later, in April of 1990, the police received an unexpected phone call with a tip about Ed and Minnie's case. The informant told them that he had information on a double murder. Not only did he know who had committed the crime, but the perpetrator was his own brother, Scott Coulter. Coulter had actually been a part of Ed and Minnie's family at one time.

He was married to one of Minnie and Ed's granddaughters. It seemed as though his marriage did not end in bliss because this was what the informant had to say next. In fact, he laughed about it because it was his wife's grandparents. He said, oh yeah, but I got that bitch. I killed her grandparents and I got all her savings too. That last part is important because Ed and Minnie were taken to a bank before they were murdered and withdrew significant amounts of cash. Remember the bank statements that officers found tossed all over their home? From those, the killers knew that Ed and Minnie had money. With a new motive in play, detectives

decided to focus on Scott Coulter. I tried to find out more, but in this case, my investigative skills have failed. I don't know anything about Scott, except for some reason his brother called in a tip implicating him in the crime. Let's see how this tip unfolded. Scott Colter apparently had been involved in the drug world, which might have made him resistant to cooperating with the police. The police understood this, and the fact that they had no physical evidence tying him to the crime. So they got creative. The detectives devised a plan where they would pretend to be with the mob and that he was going to be initiated into the mob in order to make some money. How or why this plan came to be developed, I can't say. What I can tell you

are the results of the plan. During the meeting, they asked him to share something he had done, which he would never dare tell anyone about. They then hinted at the crime committed against the Morins, and Coulter began to open up. And Scott actually said, well, I just got him in the car and took him to the Arbord Shopping Center, and he went like that. Like that means he used his index finger and thumb to mimic a handgun. Well, of course, it wasn't a handgun at all. Now, what kind of gun did you use? He said a.22.

It wasn't a.22. It was a 12-gauge shotgun. He had the wrong kind of gun. He was wrong on where they were killed. He didn't have the right answer to anything. You could have read the paper and gotten more right. I know that false confessions happen, but I'm curious as to why in this particular case, things unfolded in this way. Why does someone's brother come forward without any provocation and point the finger at his own family member? Why does that person in turn confess to a brutal

murder that he didn't commit? And why, of all interrogation tactics that investigators could have used, did they decide to pull an elaborate mob sting? So another lead was dead, and the family was no closer to finding closure or peace. Even though the incident was four years prior, the ripples of trauma still affected them every day. The stress of the situation caused Denise to lose a pregnancy and Dennis to have reoccurring night terrors. Mike, though, his entire life was being shaped by the cloud of suspicion that engulfed him. He had nightmares, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. He felt guilty, empty, and made poor choices which led to run-ins with the police,

the same police he blamed for not finding his grandparents' killers. There was a lot of fingers pointed at me, but what are you going to do? It was really hard to clear your name. Makes you very angry. Turns you into a mean person instead of a loving, caring person. And I'd just go out and get drunk. End up in a fight. Cops came and got me.

And I told them, don't you think you should be out finding my grandparents' killers? They weren't doing justice by my eyes. I'm not sure what justice would have looked like in Mike's eyes. I have to imagine that he felt helpless knowing that the killer was out there and there was nothing he could do. And that feeling of powerlessness to either solve the crime or eliminate himself as a suspect could be maddening. Every hour the investigator spent looking into Mike, the real killer was moving further out of reach. We're going to pick up the story again in 1991, six years after the murders. Dennis, still determined to make good on his promise to

solve the case, hires a private investigator. The investigator is able to uncover some additional witnesses and shares that information with police. The finger is pointed at two brothers, Rick and Greg Reif. Rick and Greg were two of three brothers in the Reif family and were described as inseparable. Rick was the leader and Greg the follower. It was said that the local people knew not to mess with Rick. In the early 80s, Rick married Robin, who had three children. He didn't have a job. He'd formerly worked for a logging company, but he was receiving disability at the time. They were poor. Rick used and sold drugs on the side. It seemed like they never quite had enough money and the family was known to sell or

pawn things just to keep the lights on. Robin and Rick separated in 1987. She moved to Arizona and he moved to Alaska with Greg. I don't know the charges, but Robin Reif was incarcerated in an Arizona prison when the police contacted her in 1991. What she said must have been helpful, because the police were able to have her moved to a prison closer to Lewis County. It also inspired the police to make a trip to Alaska to talk to the brothers. Greg Reif told investigators that he couldn't think

and that he didn't remember what happened that day. At one point during the interview, he began to cry. Rick Reif had a different demeanor. He was calm. He told the investigators that he had moved to Alaska to get away from Lewis County. He didn't want to do drugs anymore. He didn't remember what he was doing on the day the Morins were murdered. Eventually, he asked for an attorney. Neither brother was arrested. There just wasn't enough evidence. I believe the Lewis County police did the best they knew how in their investigation. But in 1992, with no further leads, the case of Ed and Minnie Morin went cold. This time, for much longer.

Bruce Kimsey was only 10 years old in 1985, but the ripple of Ed and Minnie's disappearance reached him as well. 20 years later, he became the new lead detective on the case. I said, I want to solve the murder of Ed and Minnie Morin. The detective said this case has been unsolved for years and years. You might want to think about some other things, you know, like property crimes, burglaries, you know. And I said, no, I'm serious. He was able to look at it with fresh eyes and make the first real progress in decades. So when I opened up the case, the first thing is going through this massive amount of case file. I'm reading

this case every single night, and I'm so fascinated because this is, I feel, one of the most horrific crimes in Lewis County history. We got a robbery, we got a kidnapping, and we have a double murder. I'm living this, breathing this. I want the who, the what, the how, the where, the why. But I'm not the first detective to investigate this case. And so for me, I had to think about something that I can do different. What did he see when he looked back on the decades-old investigation? Detective Kimsey reviewed all of the prior witness statements. He was able to create a map that showed the path that the Morins and their car took that morning. He traced the path from their home, to the bank, and eventually to the mall where the car was found. He used new technology to update the pictures of suspects that witnesses were shown. Previously, they had been shown copies of copies.

Thanks to the miracle of technology, they were seeing them in color and with increased clarity. A huge breakthrough came from a man named Jake Shriver. Jake was one of Mike's old friends and had been 17 at the time of the Morin's murders. One night, Mike and Jake happened to bump into each other. After years of guilt, Jake couldn't take it anymore. He had to tell Mike what he had seen on December 19, 1985. My mother was driving Highway 12 west. A car pulled out in front of us.

It was an older car, and they were going slowly. So I said to my mother, I said, pass them. So we passed them and it was the Marin's. It was foggy out, but I could see who was in the back seat. Mr. Marin was driving and in the passenger front seat was Mrs. Marin. In the back seat, there was two people. I knew them when I was young because they worked for the Marines on the Christmas tree farm. I have so many questions. Who did he see? Why didn't he come forward sooner? What compelled him to come forward now? It was Rick Reif and Greg Reif. And I told him a few days later, Greg Reif walks over.

He said, did you tell anybody? And I said, no. I said, I did not say anything to anybody. I said, I swear to God. And I had not said anything. And he said, well, if you say anything, the same thing that happened to them will happen to you. We'll kill your mother. We'll kill your brothers. We'll kill your father.

And then we will kill you. I can't imagine Jake's dilemma, having to choose between protecting his loved ones or coming forward to help someone else. I tend to feel compelled to do the right thing in most situations, such as reporting a crime. But what the right thing is, in this instance, isn't so clear. The trauma rippled out to Jake. Not only did he have to keep a terrible secret for so many years, he also lived in fear. Jake even started carrying a gun just for protection from the Reif brothers. Rick and Greg Reif were once again under suspicion. Investigators had a lead, but someone else knew about the Rife brothers, too, thanks to what Jake had seen.

Someone with an ax to grind. Yeah, you guessed it. Mike. These son of bitches are still sitting there living, and they took something out of my life that I'll never get back, that none of my family will ever get back. Mike took it upon himself to journey to Alaska. Motivated by revenge, he sought to carry out some type of vigilante justice. Some things just need to be done.

And I ain't never going to be at rest or at peace until they're all dead. Mike's father, Dennis, knew that Mike could be a hothead. The thought never leaves your mind about who killed your grandparents. So when he found out about his vigilante trip to Alaska, he gave Mike a call, knowing that his son was on the verge of making a choice he couldn't take back. I would spend my nights going through bars, trying to find out where they lived. Dennis's message was simple. What would your grandparents want you to do?

In the end, Mike didn't do it. He didn't take justice into his own hands. Despite the years Mike had been traumatized, despite his own pain, and despite the loss of his grandparents, Mike was able to be the bigger man. I don't know, Mike, but I'm proud of his decision. In 2012, Detective Kimsey was able to use the new information to get a warrant to arrest the Reif brothers. He booked a flight to Alaska.

But in a twist of fate, he learned that just the day before, on June 12th, Greg Reif had died. The cause of death had been reported as ill health or natural causes. Rick Reif was arrested and charged with kidnapping, robbery, and murder. Let's talk about what really happened to Minnie and Ed. Using the evidence from the trial and the witness testimony, this is how I imagine things went on December 19, 1985. Ed and Minnie were sleeping. They like to sleep in. I mean, who doesn't? They heard a window break or a frantic knock on the door, so they went to check out the situation. To their surprise, they discovered two men that they barely even knew. The men had guns and were under the influence of drugs, making them aggressive and obviously impairing their judgment.

The Morins probably asked the men what they wanted. I imagine that they agreed to give it to them. What choice did they have? They showed the men they had money, backing it up with bank statements and receipts. Ed even called the bank in advance to verify that the money was available. The Morins were forced to get into their own car, a green Chrysler, and drive the men to the bank. It was a small town, and though the morning was foggy, Ed and Minnie's car was noticed. After the money was collected, I imagine the brothers weren't quite sure what to do next. Maybe they were coming down from their high and the depression and agitation were setting in.

Maybe they just made an awful choice. But at this point, the brothers ordered Ed to drive them down a remote logging road. From the autopsy, it's pretty clear that Minnie was shot in the left shoulder and neck. So I would guess that that shot came from the back passenger seat. Ed was shot square in the middle of the back. Both people were then discarded on the side of the road for a payout of $8,500. I have to tell myself that Greg and Rick Reif were somehow impaired at the time, or maybe they had been victims of a trauma that had damaged their moral compass.

I don't know if those things are true, but it's hard for me to imagine it any other way. The men, the murderers, then had to get into the front seat of the car where the Morin's blood stained the seats. They drove to the mall, wiped down the outside of the car to remove their fingerprints, and then they ran away. They ran all the way to Alaska. On November 18, 2013, a jury found Rick Reif guilty of seven felony counts in relation to the slayings of Ed and Minnie Morin. Those counts included murder, kidnapping, robbery, and burglary. Was that justice? I don't know. Dennis Hadler was 84 at the time of this conviction,

one year older than his mother was when she died. He kept his promise, though. They solved the case. I wonder how Mike is doing. I wonder if he's been able to find peace despite all that's happened. I guess what people don't really realize is my grandparents were only the first victim. Then you got the family. Ed and Minnie's murder started a ripple that spread to the family and the community around them.

It affected everyone in some way. The 10-year-old boy who would grow up to solve the case. The witness who never felt safe. The grandson who wanted revenge. It seems like the ripple has stopped and the water is once again calm. But that pebble is still there, under the surface. Thank you. Thursdays at 10 on A&E. Also, if you like what you hear, please leave us a rating and review on your podcast app. It helps us to stay on the charts where people can find us. Thanks for listening.