Cold Case Files - The Well

Episode Date: August 2, 2022

An elderly man, loved by his community, is found dead at the bottom of a well. But the case goes cold until the murder weapon is found, three years later. Check out our great sponsors! Use code "coldcase" at ClickUp.com to get 15% off ClickUp's massive Unlimited Plan for a year! Follow THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts OR listen ad-free by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 27 million drivers who trust Progressive!

This episode contains descriptions of violence. Use your best judgment. Children, people with disabilities, and the elderly. They're some of the most vulnerable members of our society. Fortunately, a lot of people go out of their way to protect and care for them. Unfortunately, they're also the most susceptible to manipulation, and there are some people who take full advantage of that. In this case, an elderly man, Bruce Stark, was living alone, but he was taken good care of by his neighbors,

who often looked in on him to make sure he was doing okay. So when Bruce went missing, his neighbors were appropriately concerned. The community began to search for their missing neighbor. Four days later, they found him at the bottom of a well. Bruce had been murdered. From A&E, this is Cold Case Files. I'm Brooke, and here's the laudable Bill Curtis with a classic case, The Well. He lived in there. It's a small place, and you see where this window is open here, that's the kitchen.

On a hill in New Mexico sits an old trailer. Inside it lives an old man. He was a lonely guy, and a friendly guy. I don't think he actually met anybody that he didn't like. Very friendly, very open, always wanting to visit and talk. Ken Hamill and Bob Nelson are Bruce Stark's neighbors and make a point of checking in on the 72-year-old. On the morning of September 11th, Bob Nelson stops by. I noticed that he wasn't around.

Things didn't look right. I searched the area for him, was unable to find him, alerted my neighbor, Ken Hamill. He stopped by my place and asked me if I knew where Bruce was, and I told him probably at home. He said, no, I stopped over there, and the camper here was unlocked, and he couldn't find anything. Nelson and Hamill returned to Bruce Stark's camper

and began to walk the land looking for some trace of their friend. When we did come down here, we saw all these beer cans laying here. I knew Bruce didn't drink beer, so I told Bob, I said, you know, he had some friends here. I knew Bruce didn't drink beer so I told Bob, I said you know he had some friends here. I'm immediately concerned because I found several items that appeared that an altercation had occurred here. Right behind me here on the ground I found a knife taken out of its case and I also found the spotting scope lying on the ground that I didn't recognize. I found his glasses laying by the front door, and they were broke. And also an empty billfold.

We found this empty billfold up on top of the refrigerator. I was concerned that somehow he had been involved in an altercation here and had been assaulted and was lying on the ground somewhere. A state police officer himself, Nelson puts a call in to the local station. A more thorough search of the land, however, turns up nothing. I think both of us thought at that time that Bruce is either dead or somebody had taken him and dumped him someplace, but we really thought he was dead. For three days, Hamill and Nelson continue to walk the hills around the last frontier, looking for some sign of their friend. In the end, however,

Bruce Stark is simply nowhere to be found. It was really the only place left to look. We had searched the entire area, and this was the last place he could possibly be. Five days after Bruce Stark disappeared, Bob Nelson and Stark's son, Johnny Ray, begin removing planks of wood covering a well just 200 feet from Stark's camper. The well itself is encased with this wooden box, and it was locked with a padlock, and I was unable to gain access. But Johnny explained to me that this box is actually a ruse, and it's able to be removed. And once we removed the box, we were able to get into the interior depths of the well.

The well is some 30 feet deep. Johnny Ray finds a mirror, and using the sun's reflection, throws some light down the dark hole. When we looked down into the well, we weren't able to see anything at first, Nelson's reflection throws some light down the dark hole. When we looked down into the well, we weren't able to see anything at first, but using the mirror and the sunlight, we were both able to see Bruce down at the bottom of the well submerged in water.

Bruce Stark is dead, his body draped with rope. The cop in Nelson has a theory as to how his friend got there. There was no doubt in my mind that this was a homicide because there was no way that Bruce Stark could have gone down into the depths of that well, then covered himself up with two by eight boards and then placed this heavy, very heavy box on top of the well itself. An autopsy confirms Bruce Stark was beaten but still alive when he was thrown into the well. Unable to make his way to the surface, Stark lay there, probably four hours, before he died of exposure. Generally speaking, yeah, there's not, there isn't a lot of crime out here.

Mike Applegate is an officer with the New Mexico State Police. On September 19th, he pulls up to the Last Frontier's place to see and be seen, the Eagle Guest Ranch restaurant. It's the only place to see and be seen, the Eagle Guest Ranch restaurant. It's the only place to buy gas. It's the only place that you can go to eat if you want to eat out. It's the only place you can buy groceries. So this is a gathering point, and Mr. Stark made trips here on a regular basis, knew the owner. Waitresses remember seeing Stark just days before he disappeared. One waitress in particular recalls the old man with two strangers. We knew that Mr. Stark

met with two individuals a day or so prior to his death, and if I'm not mistaken, they might have had dinner together. Composite sketches of the two men are generated. No one, however, can put a name to either face. Meanwhile, Stark's family tells police about some guns Stark had, now missing from the Kemper. He had three long guns and two handguns. His son and or his ex-wife had maintained serial numbers for each of those weapons. Those were given to the investigators and they were entered in the NCIC as stolen. The federal database, however, turns up nothing and Bruce Stark's homicide is shuffled into New Mexico's cold files. Meanwhile, investigators wait, wonder, and hope that someone will be foolish enough to use a gun that could connect him to a murder.

In everyone's mind, all the investigators involved in the case knew that at some point, a weapon's going to show up, either on a traffic stop if an officer searches a car or something. But something doesn't happen for three years until a gun turns up in a pawn shop. I just wanted to draw your attention to some of the damage. Bill Richardson and Jeff Campbell are investigators for the New Mexico Attorney General. Of course, one thing I found interesting

was the fact that his pants had been pulled down, indicating that perhaps that happened when he was being drugged as well. In May of 1999, they pick up the 3-year-old evidence file on Bruce Stark and try to make sense of his murder. The Stark case seemed to be one that was perhaps easier to solve than others, largely because Stark lived in a solitary environment. It was one of the things that was obvious from the get-go with the state police and so forth

that there were several guns missing. Where did those guns go was a big question. Five guns, to be exact, all owned by the murder victim, all gone missing from his camper. These firearms were taken from the property, we assumed at the time that he was killed. You can always trace guns unless someone just virtually destroys them. Campbell and Richardson pull out serial numbers on the weapons and begin cross-checking against national databases. The first lead we got on the.357 Ruger was that it had been pawned by a fellow by the name of Jack Rowe.

Rowe acquired the gun from another pawn shop in January of 1997, one year after Stark's murder. Detectives contact an agent at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and request a complete workup on the Ruger's history. So I asked him to trace, do a gun trace, from manufacturer, basically from cradle to grave, of the gun. He got back to me very quickly, and we were able to come up with a transaction that had been made in September of 1996. The transaction took place within a month of the murder,

close enough to have been pawned by the killer. For more specific information, Agents Richardson and Campbell need to head out to Albuquerque's Hillbilly Pawn Shop. Pawn shops in Albuquerque have a pretty good reputation as far as cooperation with law enforcement. On a November afternoon, Campbell and Richardson sift through pawn shop gun records, looking for a pawn ticket to Bruce Stark's.357 Ruger. By transaction records and so forth,

we were able to track it to this pawn shop and associate the pistol with the person who pawned it. The gun was pawned two days after Bruce Stark's murder by a man named Edward Sedler. Campbell runs a background check and finds Sedler to be a man with a past. He'd had some trouble with the law and has had some trouble with drugs and so forth. During the process of backgrounding him, found out that he was tied to a missing vehicle. According to police

records, Sedler and a second man, Philip Lopez, borrowed the vehicle from the local Salvation Army and never returned it. Campbell and Richardson have no choice but to follow the trail as it leads them from pawn shop to soup kitchen. Witnesses had seen Bruce Stark with two other men the night before he had disappeared. They were having dinner together at the only restaurant in town. Having no leads or information, other than the fact that several guns had been stolen from the Stark home, the case came to a standstill until one of the guns resurfaced.

The gun was purchased at a pawn shop within a month of the murder. The detectives visited a string of pawn shops looking for the pawn ticket for the murder weapon. Fortunately, they were able to locate the pawn ticket and identify two possible suspects, Edward Siddler and Phillip Lopez. This is just plain old-fashioned police work. This isn't CSI. It's not a bunch of chemicals and reagents and everything else.

It's just get out and pound the bricks and find the answers. On December 10th, 1999, Shoe Leather takes cold case investigators to the local Salvation Army with questions about Settler, Lopez, and a missing truck. In interviewing the manager, he indicated that he certainly knew these two guys, had loaned his pickup truck to them to go on a camping trip at about the time that Bruce Stark was killed. According to the manager, Sedler and Lopez never returned the red pickup, and were never seen or heard from again.

At this point they're looking like good suspects to me, and the reason that they are is Ken Hamill, who was a neighbor to the victim, had told us when we interviewed him that about the time the victim went missing, he had driven by the Stark residence and glanced over at the residence, and he could see Bruce Stark sitting there with two other fellows,

and he also observed a blaze orange-looking pickup parked at the Bruce Stark residence. Cold case investigators need to get a better handle on the movements of Sedler and Lopez at the time of Bruce Stark's murder. When the Salvation Army tells them about EBT cards, also known as electronic benefits transfer, investigators realize they might have hit the jackpot. Once we obtained those cards from Department of Social Services, we could sort of track the travels of the users of the cards. In this case, I believe either Lopez or Settler had used their card here in

Socorro at about the time that the events unfolded, resulting in the death of Bruce Stark. Well, what we're looking at here is that we have two individuals, one of them associated with the gun, both of them associated with the pickup that appeared to have been in the area. And so things started looking likely that there was something involved here. Cold case investigators have enough evidence to warrant a chat with their suspects. The hope is that one of the two gets nervous and turns into a snitch. I have a person saying something, and I have a person saying nothing. I have a person saying, you did it,

and you're not denying it. Don't get sexy with me. Today's date is December 17th, 1999. The time is about 10.20 a.m. and my name is Bill Richardson. My practice as an interrogator is one of which I try to make the subject I'm going to interrogate as comfortable as I can. I want to develop a rapport with that person. I want that person to know that there's a certain amount of trust going on here.

On December 17th, Agent Bill Richardson questions Edward Sedler. Can you tell me what happened back then? Let's see. Back then, I was in the Salvation Army. And what were you going to treat them for? No, for alcohol.

Richardson believes Sedler and Philip Lopez murdered Bruce Stark in 1996. Richardson shows the suspect a.357 Ruger, stolen from Stark's home at the time of the murder. This is primarily the reason I want to talk to you. I'm going to show you an environment. It's a six-inch Ruger,357, black car, three-dollar. Do you recognize it?

No. Richardson believes Sedler is lying. The reason, a pawn ticket for the gun bearing Sedler's name and dated a day after the killing. On the 11th of September, you pawned it at his own pawn shop on Central Avenue. Whoa, Philip had... Richardson pulls out the stark murder file and begins to work his suspect. Gee, that's what this is about? What we're investigating is the homicide death of the man that owned this one. Gee, that's what this is about? It's hard to get the beat here.

Of course, the obvious question is, Mr. Sattler, I'd like you to explain to me several things. Why did you pawn this gun? Where did you get this gun? And is this your signature? He immediately agreed it was his signature he immediately agreed that he had pawned it and then he went into the process of describing how his partner philip lopez had done this very very terrible thing i know philip but i think struggled with him what were they struggling about i think over thing. According to Sedler, he and Lopez drank beer with Stark in his trailer well into the night. At some point, Settler claims Lopez grabbed one of Stark's guns and began to beat the old man. That isn't a real heart.

Yeah, I said it didn't real heart. Jesus Christ, I could hear what sounded like, you know, bone breaking. I could hear it. Phillip started yelling at me, don't ever say anything or nothing to that effect. I didn't know if he was really just unconscious or if he was actually dead. And he grabbed him from, like, the underside of his arms and started dragging him. Then I kind of watched, and I just couldn't believe what he was doing.

Settler goes on to say that Philip Lopez dragged Bruce Stark down to a well, opened it up, and pitched Stark in. I saw absolutely no remorse. I saw a fellow who was trying to figure out how to get himself out of a very, very bad situation. Detectives doubt Settler's story and book him on a charge of murder. He is taken to Los Lunas, New Mexico, where Philip Lopez is waiting to be interrogated. When Settler arrives at Los Lunas, Philip Lopez sees him. Initially, Philip Lopez made a comment that, I believe now I'm going to spend the rest of my life in the penitentiary.

Would you identify yourself by name, please? Philip Lopez. At 8 p.m., New Mexico State Agent Jeff Campbell sits down with Philip Lopez. Sergeant Daryl Kindig watches from an adjacent room. You know my head, sir? Edward's brother? I have nothing to say. I don't know what's going on.

All I'm asking you is remember September 96th. Okay. Years I don't remember. I used to be a real bad alcoholic. I blacked out a lot. I don't remember a lot of things. I can normally tell when an interview is about to be won or lost. No doubt in my mind this interview was about to be lost. He was so evasive in his actions and the way he was fighting through this interview. I just knew this thing was going to be lost unless it was rescued.

Kindig storms into the interview room, pulls up a chair, and gets in Lopez's face. I have a person saying something, and I have a person saying nothing. I have a person saying, you did it, and you're not denying it. You explain that to me. Well, I'm just telling you, be the good guy. Tell the truth from the beginning. Don You explain that to me. I haven't. Well, I'm just telling you, be the good guy. Tell the truth from the beginning. Don't get hefty with me.

I began just to detail by detail, lay down the facts that had happened in the case and that we knew what had happened. I watched him. I watched his behavior. I watched his composition of his body. The thing is, is by you telling me the truth, you are helping you. So if I can't do anything that helps you right now, that's the truth. But you can help yourself. He started crossing his arms and crossing his legs, and this is a thing that tells us

the guy's getting defensive. He knows we're getting close. I pulled up closer and closer and closer to him, bringing my chair just inches away from his face, and began to tell him straight up, we know that you committed this crime. Just tell me from the beginning what happened. I don't even have to give you any questions. Just tell me what happened.

He got the old man by the neck and broke his neck. As investigators listen, Philip Lopez flips the script, claiming Sedler was the killer and he, Lopez, merely an accomplice. What I was thinking is we're finally here. Took him down. The pussy that Nick broke. And that's who we drug into the left. What I was thinking is we're finally here. All this time that the Starks had waited for the information to come forth about who killed their father,

we finally had the killers. That's what I was thinking. Cold case investigators intend to charge both men with murder, but need to corroborate details of the confession. Lopez claims the men stole five guns in all from Stark, dumping some of them along the side of the road as they drove to Albuquerque. It became important, from my point of view, to have them take us back to that location, if they were willing to,

and show us where they threw those guns out of the truck three years earlier. Today's date is December 19, 1999. This is Agent Mike Applegate. The next afternoon, Lopez and Sedler lead investigators down a series of dirt roads in a search for Bruce Stark's missing guns. Agent Richardson, full bag, that is evidence. Within a few hours, two guns are recovered, and the final questions to Bruce Stark's murder are laid to rest.

Six months later, Edward Sedler pleads guilty to second-degree murder and is sentenced to 40 years in prison. In spite of his confession, Philip Lopez decides to take his chances and face a jury. On March 5, 2001, he is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. According to the medical examiner's report, Bruce Stark was most likely thrown into this well, still alive, and laid here for hours, maybe days, before succumbing to the cold and dying of exposure.

Just a few feet away, his friends Ken Hamill and Bob Nelson searched for their friend. Neither thought to take a look in the well until it was too late. It's a decision they think about even to this day. Yeah, when I found Bruce in that well, I called myself some pretty bad names, Ken. I mean, I cussed myself for being so damn stupid. I don't know if Bruce realized how many friends he did have here. I personally just thought that he wanted to be somebody or have people think he was somebody, not knowing that he was.

When I looked for current information on Edward Sedler, he didn't appear on the New Mexico Inmate Locator. That website is run by the Department of Justice. Another non-official website I visited listed his status as currently incarcerated. Philip Lopez filed an appeal in 2005 stating that the process leading up to his conviction on felony murder had violated his Sixth Amendment right. That appeal was successful, and his felony murder conviction was overturned. Lopez was granted parole in April of 2019. Our executive producer is Julie McGruder. Our executive producer is Ted Butler. Our music was created by Blake Naples. This podcast is distributed by Podcast One.

The Cold Case Files TV series was produced by Curtis Productions and is hosted by Bill Curtis. You can find me at Brooke Giddings on Twitter and at Brooke the Podcaster on Instagram. I'm also active in the Facebook group Podcasts for Justice. Check out more Cold Case Files at AETV.com or learn more about cases like this one by visiting the A&E real crime blog at aetv.com slash real crime.