Dateline NBC - A "no body" murder trial in Mississippi. A Wisconsin dad fakes his death. Plus, keeping your home safe during the holidays.

Episode Date: December 19, 2024

Listen to this week's episode of the Dateline: True Crime Weekly podcast with Andrea Canning. The body of missing Ole Miss student and gay activist Jay Lee has never been found, but prosecutors charged his secret lover with his murder. The man pleaded not guilty and last week at his trial, the jury weighed in. In August, a dad took his kayak out to go fishing on Wisconsin's deepest lake. He didn't come home until December. Plus a new charge for alleged Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann, and Vicky Nguyen is back with tips on how to keep your house safe while you're traveling for the holidays.Find out more about the cases covered each week here: www.datelinetruecrimeweekly.comTo get new episodes every Thursday, follow here on Apple and Spotify:Apple: https://apple.co/3Vx5THGSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5utP1NZyMUlyaUUv7XNq7j

Let's go. So this is a story we've talked about before. You're listening in to Dateline's morning meeting in 30 Rockefeller Center. She is married to Diddy's lawyer. Wow, really? Yeah, the one who represented the Nixxiom guy. Our editorial team is catching up on breaking crime news around the country. I think only four charges stuck, right? Breaking her silence, actually.

He offers an inmate $15,000 to go kill somebody else. Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly. I'm Andrea Canning. It's December 19th, and here's what's on our docket. The Wisconsin kayaker who made headlines around the world when he faked his own death and fled the country is back in the U.S. to answer to a judge and his family. This was a very meticulously planned out stage death,

or so he thought. In Dateline Roundup, a big development in the case of the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer, and finally a verdict in the trial of the man accused of murdering tech mogul, Bob Lee. According to the sketch artist, Momeni wiped away a few tears after the verdict was read. Plus, NBC News senior consumer investigative correspondent Vicki Nguyen

will be here with some tips on how to keep your home safe if you're traveling over the holiday. You don't want to actually close all of your curtains. That is a surefire sign to signal to burglars, hey, nobody's home. But first, we're heading to a college town in Mississippi where a case without a body made its way to trial more than two years after the victim disappeared. On July 8, 2022, Stephanie Lee woke up to a text from her 20-year-old son, Jay. The University of Mississippi student

wished her a happy birthday. I gave him a text back with a smiley face. That's Stephanie testifying two weeks ago at the trial of the man accused of murdering her son. The prosecutor asked her what she was expecting after sending the text. I was suspecting his call at that point. Hey, mama, it's your birthday.

Happy birthday, I love you. And did you get a response? No, I did not. Stephanie never heard from her son again, and his body was never found. But just a few weeks after he went missing, police in Oxford, Mississippi arrested Sheldon Timothy Harrington for Jay Lee's murder.

They say Harrington, who pleaded not guilty, killed Lee to cover up their secret sexual relationship. His defense team, meanwhile, said there was no proof. Not one bit of direct evidence. Last week, the blockbuster trial came to a stunning and abrupt conclusion. Dateline producer Isar Harpaz was in Mississippi for the trial. He joins us now to tell us what happened. Isar, welcome to the podcast. Glad to be here. To start, what can you tell us about Jay Lee? Who was he?

Jay Lee had graduated with honors from the University of Mississippi, was about to enter grad school. He was a community activist. He was also out and proud. Somebody who performed in local drag shows. He was unapologetically who he was. Nice. He also was a family person. His mom and him literally talked every day of his entire life since he had been born,

sometimes two, three times a day. Isar, what do we know about the relationship Mom and him literally talked every day of his entire life since he had been born, sometimes two, three times a day. Isar, what do we know about the relationship between Jay Lee and Timothy Harrington? What trial testimony has revealed? Unlike Jay Lee, Tim Harrington was hiding his sexuality. He was not out. His parents didn't know anything about it. His best friends didn't know anything about it. His best friends didn't know anything about that.

The grandfather was a bishop at the church that he founded for 42 years. And so his relationship with Jay Lee was fairly secretive. Okay, so a big part of the prosecution's case was that Harrington was the last known person to see Jay Lee alive. The prosecutor told the jury that the men met up on July 8th in the early morning hours and then Lee left after an argument. And at trial, the prosecution presented evidence of a Snapchat conversation between the two that helped them sort of piece together what might have happened next. It took the police a while to trace this Snapchat account to Tim Harrington,

but they were able to do it. Tim Harrington says, come back. And Jaylee says, are you luring me in? Are you going to beat me up or something? And Tim says, why would I do that? Come by now. One of the problems the police have here is that there's no body. They haven't found Jay Lee, right? Yeah, that is correct. Aside from Jay Lee being with Harrington, what other evidence did the prosecution present

to make their case against Harrington? So they had some pretty powerful visual and surveillance evidence, right? They get word on July 10th, two days after it disappeared, Jay's car was found at this apartment complex about seven miles away from Tim Harrington's apartment. And so then they say, okay, well, maybe we can see some surveillance video of how this car got there. Could they tell who was driving it when it came into the complex?

They could not tell who was driving it. But nine minutes later, a person is seen jogging out of the apartment complex. Could they make out a face on the jogger? Could not make out a face, no. But as they were looking at the video footage, they see the same jogger come out into a gas station and get into a car and drive away. So now they have a car that, they try to find the car's owner, and the car's owner comes in and his name is

Kazair Carter and he says, yeah, a friend of my girlfriend's just flagged me down. Well, what's the name of your friend? I says, Tim Harrington. Five minutes after he picks him up, he gets stopped by police for speeding. So we actually have body cam camera of Tim Harrington being in that car with him.

If he had just not flagged down a ride, right? They would have probably not known who that person was. They had some other evidence that didn't look so good for Tim Harrington. He goes over to his parents' house, he's wearing rubber boots, he's carrying a shovel, and getting a wheelbarrow, that doesn't make him a killer, but when you add it all together, it doesn't look good.

The defense was trying to say one of his jobs was manage some of the rental properties that his grandfather had. There was no schedule to it, and so this may have been one of those days, although they didn't present any evidence that he actually did that. But remember, there is no physical evidence. They didn't find anything in his apartment. They didn't find anything in Jay's car. They didn't find anything in Tim Harrington's

car. There is no sign of a struggle. Was there anything else, Esar, that really stuck out to you from the defense? Yes. I mean, the defense did try to imply some alternate suspects. They always said, oh, we're not saying that they did it and we know they were eliminated, but the police should have investigated further than that. Things moved very quickly after closing arguments. Two hours after they started deliberation, there was a note, what if we can't agree on the verdict? Judge sent them back and said, try it. So another two hours there. They said I think we're deadlocked He brought them out and he said without telling me whether it's guilty or not guilty

Just tell me what's the split and the jury former says 11 to 1 I confirmed later on 11 guilty Hmm and one not guilty the judge sent them back. They were inside for another five hours. And finally they came out and they were totally deadlocked. How did Tim Harrington react to a hung jury? It's very, you know, on one hand it can be, it's good for the defendant in some ways,

but then this still hangs over their head. There wasn't any happiness on his face. There wasn't any happiness on his face. There wasn't any relief on his face. Tim has to deal with a lot of, a lot of has been revealed that his family may have not known. And so he has to face that as well. Are they going to try Tim Harrington again?

They're definitely gonna retry it, but there is a possibility, and some people are speculating on that, that the defense will reach out to see if they can get a plea deal. All right, Isar, thank you so much for taking us through this really sad story. We appreciate it. Thank you so much, Andrea. Up next, new details in the investigation into the missing Wisconsin dad who staged his own death and ended up on the other side of the world, and the sheriff who refused to give up on bringing him home. At around 10 p.m. on August 11th of this year, 44-year-old Wisconsin native Ryan Borgwort took his kayak out for

a paddle on the state's deepest lake. It's called Green Lake. But Ryan, married with three kids, he never came home. His family reported him missing the next day, and our affiliate NBC26 was on the case. Green Lake County Sheriff's deputies are still looking for a kayaker reported missing on Monday. Is there a chance the kayaker is still alive? No, it's definitely a drowning. Over the next eight weeks, cadaver dogs and dive teams tirelessly searched the lake for a body.

But then, in November, police held a press conference. We gotta go a different direction. We do not know where he is. We know that he's not in our lake. When investigators tracked him down, Ryan was very much alive and hiding in a place no one expected. Police urged him to come back and face law enforcement and his family. Ryan, if you are viewing this, I plead that you contact us or contact your family. that you contact us or contact your family. Last week, Ryan did just that. Here to fill us in on how investigators tracked down a man who didn't want to be found

and what happens next is NBC News correspondent Marquise Francis. Marquise, thanks for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. Okay, this is a crazy story. What do we know about Ryan Borgward? Yeah, I mean, to say it's crazy, it feels like almost an understatement.

He's been married to his wife, Emily, for at least 22 years, and they lived in Watertown, Wisconsin, which is a small town of about 23,000 people. Ryan's wife, Emily, she did say that Ryan was an entrepreneur. August 11th, Ryan goes out on his kayak at night. He never returns home. How did the investigation play out from there? So the following day after August 11th,

Ryan's wife reported him missing. And the local county sheriff, Mark Pottle, went to the lake and discovered Ryan's car in a trailer near the lake at a park where people launched their boats from. And then he also discovered a kayak that was overturned in the lake where the depth goes up to 200 feet. And so for the next 54 days there was an all-out search for Ryan launched. Locals helped out, cadaver dogs were brought in, and even divers were sent into the water looking for Ryan or at least clues. Two fishermen found a fishing rod

that Ryan's wife confirmed belonged to her husband and a tackle box with Ryan's wallet, license, and keys in it. But ultimately no Ryan after nearly two months. Obviously, if you're the family, I would imagine you're thinking that this doesn't look good. My husband father is gone. He's drowned.

But over the course of a few months, police went from expecting to find a body in the lake to tracking down a live man. What was that turning point? Right. That local sheriff, and I want to keep saying his name, Mark Pottle, he was not playing around. He was not willing to give up on this case. But after hitting so many dead ends,

the sheriff widened his search. And so he learned from Canadian authorities that Ryan had used his passport the day after he was reported missing. Yeah, I mean, I wonder how he got to Canada. Like, did he call an Uber? The local sheriff's department said, on August 11th at 10 p.m. Ryan drove to that lake.

He capsized his kayak, he dropped his phone in the water, and then he got back to shore in this inflatable child-sized boat. He then hopped on an e-bike that he'd stashed somewhere nearby, and then drove that e-bike 70 miles through the night to Madison, Wisconsin. Oh, my gosh. Yes, he was dedicated. that e-bike 70 miles through the night to Madison, Wisconsin. Oh my gosh. Yes, he was dedicated.

And then he took a bus from Madison to Detroit and somehow from there he crossed over into Canada. So this was a very, dare I say, meticulously planned out stage death or so he thought. Ultimately, Ryan left his laptop behind and a digital forensic analyst was able to search the laptop and find that Ryan had replaced the hard drive and cleared his browser history. And then earlier that year in January, he took out a $375,000 life insurance policy out on himself. He also

had opened up a foreign bank account and moved money there. And then police found out he'd been communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan for months. Once police started putting these details together, it started to create a story that went from a disappearance to now a faked death situation. So Ryan ends up in Canada. Where does he go from there? Ryan flew from Canada to Europe, landed in Paris, at some point ended in Central Asia, and then he spent a significant time in Eastern Europe, in Georgia. With this woman from Uzbekistan?

We're still trying to figure out exactly who he was with. Was there any thought about where, I'm assuming maybe he met this woman online? Like in a, some type of a place where you can act? I think a lot of people are speculating as to what happened, right? I talked about this story with some of even my co-workers and they've heard similar stories. All we can do right now is speculate. And so I don't want to put anything out there in terms of who exactly he was with without really knowing. Police said they were finally able to get in contact

with Ryan after speaking to a woman who spoke Russian. Yeah, and they heard from Ryan over video, which they played at a later press conference. Good evening. It's Ryan Borbord. Today is November 11th. Stay secure. So what was it ultimately that brought him back to America? He's November 11th. I am. Stay. Take care. So what was it ultimately that brought him back to America?

Did he do it on his own, or did they find him and force him to come back? Ultimately, Ryan did come back home on his own. In the presser last week, the local sheriff talked about speaking to Ryan for at least a month. And he really said he pulled at Ryan's heartstrings, wanting Ryan to come home before the holidays, specifically for his family. On December 10th, Ryan arrived on US soil.

As I said, could be a really good Christmas. Where is Ryan now? Is he with his family at home? It's unsure exactly where Ryan is. Ryan is facing a pretty serious charge of obstructing an officer, where he faces up to a $10,000 fine and nine months in prison,

but he is out on bail. A judge entered a not guilty plea for Ryan last week. Last question, Marquis, has his wife said anything about how she feels about him coming back? Last Thursday, she did file for a separation from Ryan, citing the marriage is irretrievably broken. That's a tough one to recover from.

Marquise, thank you so much for joining us and taking us through this wild story. We really appreciate it and have a happy holiday. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. When we come back, Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. When we come back, it's time for Dateline Roundup. New charges for Rex Heuerman, the man accused of being the Gilgo Beach serial killer. And a verdict in the case of the tech executive stabbed to death on a San Francisco street. Plus, for anyone planning to travel this holiday season, we'll have some tips for how to keep

your home safe. ["Date Line," by The Bachelorette plays in background.] Welcome back. Joining me for this week's Roundup is Dateline Digital producer, Veronica Mazaka. Hey, Veronica. Hey, how are you? Okay, for our first story,

we are off to Suffolk County, New York, home of alleged serial killer Rex Heuermann and the notorious Gilgo Beach murders. Good morning. As we all know by now, today my office filed a superseding indictment charging the defendant Heuermann with a seventh charge murder in the second degree.

We have a seventh murder charge now. Yeah, so this week, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office announced that the latest victim is a woman named Valerie Mack, and this happened in 2000. Previously, Heurman, who was an architectural consultant, he had been accused of six murders in the Gilgo Beach, Long Island area. And over the years, they found that there are other unidentified human remains that they've not linked to him until this one.

How were they able to finally charge him with this additional murder? This is over two decades since the first of Valerie Mack's remains were found. Really what it came down to was there was a hair found on Valerie Mack's left wrist that was linked to Heuerman's wife or daughter, and neither of them are suspected in this case, but that is definitely a big tie. Also, they found a planning document on Heuerman's computer, which in that document, it lists alleged dump sites. And one of the things listed was a place called Mill Road,

which is actually where Valerie Maxx remains were found. Fascinating. Heuerman has denied all the allegations against him and has pleaded not guilty to this charge and the six other charges. So we will keep an eye out on this one. Next, we're off to Minnesota, where there was an emotional sentencing this week in the case of Adam Fravel, the man convicted of the 2023 murder of Madeline Kingsbury, his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his children.

What happened, Veronica, with this sentencing? Yeah, so he was found guilty in November of two counts of first degree murder and two counts of second degree murder after the prosecution laid out the argument that he strangled Maddie and dumped her body near his parents' home. And this week at sentencing, her sister Megan gave a really powerful victim impact statement.

She focused on how it's been really difficult, not just for them, but for Maddie and Adam's two children as well. Our affiliate, KTTC, was actually in the courtroom and captured some of the sentencing. Today on this day of sentencing, I ask the court to reflect on what Adam's actions have done to the children in our family.

The children in our family don't get to walk through their young lives shrouded in a cloak of childhood innocence anymore. It was ripped from each of their tiny shoulders, stomped on, shredded, destroyed. Adam gave each of us a life sentence as well. Very sad for all involved. What was Adam's sentence? So he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which is the mandatory sentence for first degree murder in Minnesota.

For our final story, we are off to San Francisco, where there is finally a verdict in the trial of Nima Momeni, who was accused of fatally stabbing Cash App co-founder Bob Lee back in 2023. All right, what did the jury decide? So he was originally charged with first degree murder. And after seven days of deliberating, the jury acquitted him of that charge. They did, however, find him guilty of a lesser charge, which was second degree murder with enhancement.

And that's the use of a deadly weapon. One of our Dateline producers, Brittany Thom, she was actually on the podcast a couple times talking about this case. She was in the courtroom when the verdict was read and she said that there was actually a slight gasp when he was found not guilty of first degree murder and then when the guilty charge was read for second degree murder it was silent. According to this sketch artist, Momeni wiped away a few tears after the verdict was read. Definitely a lengthy deliberation for this case. So what is next for Momeni? When is his sentencing?

So there's a hearing in January. It's on the 10th to set his sentencing date. And he faces anywhere from 16 years to life in prison. All right. Thank you so much for the updates, Veronica. Yeah, absolutely, thank you. The holidays are just around the corner and while you might be planning to hit the road to celebrate with your loved ones or just leaving the house to go shopping, you don't want unexpected guests to break in on your holiday fun. So here to share some tips on how to keep your home safe is today's show's senior consumer investigative correspondent, Vicki Nguyen.

Hey, Vicki. Hey, good morning. Hey, so let's start with just some of the basics of this. The most basic thing, Andrea, is to lock your doors and windows. I know people want to say, oh, I live in this neighborhood. It's so great. We leave our doors unlocked. Well, there are bad guys and they may drive into your neighborhood. So the most basic, simple security thing that you can do is making sure you lock your doors and windows. If you are planning to leave for an extended period of time, talk to your neighbors. Let them know that you're going to be gone. The dates,

leave a key with them so that they can keep an eye on your property for you. Something else to think about, a lot of times people have home security systems, but they don't really use them when they're at home. Test it. Make sure that thing works and that you know that it's hooked up to your phone and it will alert you if something's going on at your home when you're gone. And finally, remember what you're posting on social media matters as well. We talk about this with our kids, but you don't need to post in real time your location because what you're doing is letting anybody who knows you know

that you're not at your home. Save those vacation photos, those family photos for posting when you get back. Yeah, you say one of the most important steps to keeping your home safe is to actually make it appear like someone is still at home. Yeah, these days there are so many simple and inexpensive ways to do that when it comes to lighting.

For example, installing some basic motion lights that just have lights coming on and off when someone walks by or walks onto your property. Another one is setting a light on a timer. I mean, you can buy these timers for under $20. They're relatively easy to install, and you just set them to go on and off at random times. That makes it look like someone's at home.

Something else to always remember for the magazine subscriptions, the newspapers, the mail, there are simple ways to pause delivery. Or if you've got that trusted neighbor, asking them to send a kid over for the week that you're gone to come by and collect your mail every day. And then finally, this tip I think is very interesting. Having a car parked in your driveway, moving in and out,

definitely makes it seem like someone is home. Ideally, you're parking your car in your garage. That's the most secure. But maybe you have a neighbor who has a teenager who has an extra car and they're always parking it on the street. Offer up your driveway for the week or two that you're gone. That's a great way to make it look like someone's home and to protect your property. So when we think of holiday burglaries, I'm going to do the home alone reference. Instead of setting up actual booby traps and cardboard cutouts of people, is there anything that you can do inside your house to deter a burglar? Well, number one, consider investing in one of those safes that you can put.

And don't put it in your closet in your primary bedroom. Put it in an unexpected location because sometimes those burglars can take the entire safe with them. But it's good not just for when you're away. It's good for fireproofing documents as well as valuable expensive jewelry. So getting a safe, putting your most valuable things into that safe out of sight is important. Another very simple thing to do though, make sure that your laptop, your tablets, your car keys

are not within the visual sight line of anybody looking into your kitchen window or your living room window. Some people go so far as to move and rearrange their furniture so that you can't see their television or their valuable china that's in a cabinet. If you can do that, go for it.

You might be inclined to just say, I'm not going to bother with any of this, Vicki. I'm just going to close my curtains. You don't want to actually close all of your curtains. That is a surefire sign to signal to burglars, hey, nobody's home. All their windows and curtains have been closed this entire time. So just strategically close some of them, the ones that are open. Make sure there's nothing of value within the sightline. And break-ins, unfortunately, they're not the only thing that you have to worry about

when you're traveling. Unplug your appliances. Not only is that safe in case there's a power surge, but it's also going to save you some money on your energy bill. The Fire Safety Research Institute also recommends closing every door in your home because that can slow down the spread of a fire. You can go on YouTube and see it. It's remarkable the difference between what happens inside a room when the door is closed versus when it's open.

Vicki, really, really good tips for the holidays. We want everyone's holiday to go off without a hitch. Have a great holiday. Great to be with you. That's it for this episode of Dateline True Crime Weekly. Next week, we'll have a special episode for you with some special guests. Josh, Dennis, and Keith will be here to take a look back at the biggest stories of 2024. We hope you'll join us for Dateline True Crime Weekly's Year in Review.

Coming up this Friday, after a woman survives a brutal attack, investigators work tirelessly to identify a suspect. Only, she's convinced they have the wrong man. And I said, what? No. I was like, there's a mistake. This is not real. This is not right.

This is not accurate. My whole world is flipped upside down. Watch Keith's classic two-hour mystery, Left 4 Dead, airing this Friday at 9, 8 Central on NBC, or stream it starting Saturday on Peacock. And for even more Keith this holiday season, starting on Friday, you can listen to him read classic Christmas stories wherever you get your podcasts. To get ad-free listening for all our podcasts, subscribe to Dateline Premium.

Thanks for listening. Dateline True Crime Weekly is produced by Franny Kelly and Katie Ferguson. Our associate producers are Carson Cummins and Caroline Casey. Our senior producer is Liz Brown-Kuruloff. Production and fact-checking help by Sara Kadir, Veronica Mazekka is our digital producer.

Rick Kwan is our sound designer, original music by Jesse McGinty, Bryson Barnes is head of audio production, Paul Ryan is executive producer, and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline. Thanks everyone. Bye.