Dr. Insanity - Daughter Finds Mother's Decapitated Body In Backyard

Episode Date: October 31, 2025

👉 Try the ORIGINAL RESIN at https://tinyurl.com/ShopRESIN and use code “INSANITY10” at checkout for an extra 10% OFF on your purchase! ---------- Thirty days ago, 53-year-old David Callahan killed his girlfriend, Martha Robin Freitag, and buried her body in his own backyard. David thinks he’s gotten away with his horrific crime…. Martha was mentally ill, had few friends, and no one was supposed to come looking for her. Martha's daughter, Kim, was the only person concerned about her mother’s whereabouts... Kim thinks David had something to do with her mother’s disappearance. But with no proof of a crime, Officers don’t believe her… However in the weeks that follow, Kim will do everything in her power to find Martha, force police to act, and lead them to one of the most gruesome discoveries of their lives…. ------- This video was made for educational purposes only. The video is presented to provide genuine footage of police incidents to promote transparency in government while providing educational, informative and newsworthy content allowing viewers to examine and assess public safety material. This is a fact-checked documentary using authoritative sources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acre, please, just come outside. How you doing? Is Martha here? No, she's probably in her boyfriend's house. 30 days ago, 53-year-old David Callahan killed his girlfriend, Martha, and buried her body in his own backyard. David thinks he's gotten away with his horrific crime.

Martha was mentally ill, had few friends, and no one was supposed to come looking for her. Martha's daughter, Kim, was the only person concerned about her mother's whereabouts. If I come up missing or dead, there's no accident, and he has told her before, if I, I'm going to get your ass and nobody's ever going to find you. What's your concern? That he killed him. Kim thinks David had something to do with her mother's disappearance,

but with no proof of a crime, officers don't believe her. Would you have been surprised at all if she's lying dead in there? No. No. That's like a horror movie. However, in the weeks that follow, Kim will do everything in her power to find Martha, force police to act, and lead them to one of the most gruesome discoveries of their lives. Ah, it seems like a body part.

In the early hours of a Monday morning, police in Akron receive a call. from a woman asking for a restraining order against her boyfriend. The caller is 53-year-old Martha Robin Freytag. She's already known to officers for her history of schizophrenia and the frequent domestic disputes involving her boyfriend, David Callahan. Their relationship was unstable, constantly breaking up and getting back together, leaving officers unsure whether each new call was a real emergency

or just another one of their fights. But this time would be different because when officers arrive at the couple's house, they have no idea that a murder will take place just minutes from now. And this will be the last time Martha is ever seen alive. No, I don't like that. I know, I really don't like it.

Hi. Hi. What's going on? us? Did you call us? Yes, I did. What's going on? I'm going to reinstate some I had 14 months ago. Statute your limitation, I think, decommate me as 10 years, right? So you want to restate something you already said?

And they're already investigating it? You're just telling us about it again, is that correct? Well, I don't if you're investigating her. All I know is I got a restraining work in the night. And the way for it to get some mental health. He's supposed to go and went down to the first past. First of all, it wasn't supposed to be explored at all. As Martha speaks, her words are scattered, and she makes little sense to officers. Her behavior just seems erratic, like another episode of confusion or paranoia.

But in reality, Martha is masking genuine fear that officers don't pick up on. Because what they don't know is that her boyfriend, David, is standing inside the house, waiting for the moment officers drive off so he can make sure this is the last time she ever calls them. You come out because you're asking for the man to me, right? I got a restraining order against him, and then, I don't know. What are you doing over here? I'm talking to you.

And why are you over there like that? Because I want to be. Okay. Well, I'll talk to the guy downtown here to talk about it. Okay. As strange as it looks, officers don't think much of the interaction. They walk away, dismissing Martha as unstable, unaware. They've just left her alone with the very man who's about to kill her.

In the hours after police left, David snapped. Inside, he was furious that Martha called the police on him again. He grabbed a wooden axe handle and struck her in a fit of rage. When she collapsed, he wrapped a rope around her neck and pulled until she stopped moving. Once Martha was dead, David sealed her body inside a plastic bag. and waited for nightfall. Then, under the cover of darkness, he carried her outside, burned her body,

and buried it in a shallow pit behind the house. To David, it was over. A woman with schizophrenia, few friends, and a history of false alarms. No one would ever come looking for her. What he completely overlooked is that Martha's daughter Kim will soon be on to him, slowly solving her own mother's brutal murder.

Over the next few days, Martha stops responding to everyone, including her daughter, Kim. And after several days of silence and no sign of her mother, Kim contacts police explaining that something bad may have happened to Martha. Officers arranged to meet her at the house later that day to check on her mother's welfare. But when Kim and her husband arrived to meet the officers, it quickly seems that their concerns won't be taken seriously at all. There is a cousin of ours that she calls all the time, her brother, that she calls all the time. Nobody's heard from her. And she lives here?

Yeah. Have you been in? No. I came earlier and knocked and banged on the door, and she was having a lot of problems with her boyfriend. Yeah. At some point, there was some kind of protection order, and I don't know, but against him, she is paranoid schizophrenic. So I went around to different hospitals. I went everywhere to see if she was, like, in a psychiatric unit.

Yeah. I can't. Everybody says, no, she's not here. But I know that there's been a lot of going on between her boyfriend. Okay. He has made death threats to her. That's okay. He has made threats to her that he was going to make sure nobody ever found her.

Yeah. According to Kim, Martha's boyfriend, David, was the most likely suspect in her disappearance. In addition to the death threats, police also knew David had a lengthy criminal history and outstanding warrants for drug. abuse, theft, and trespassing, making him somewhat officers needed to question right away. But before the officers could get a full story from Kim, a sudden noise from inside the house put them instantly on high alert. You don't have a key to replace?

What was that? Did you hear that? Yeah, earlier the air conditioner was on. That was not. Akron police! Unbeknownst to the officer, the sound wasn't just his imagination. It was David, hiding in silence and waiting for the police to leave. But this is when the officers would make their first critical mistake.

Despite the very real possibility that Martha was in active danger, they would give Kim the worst piece of advice. What happens with like a missing person's report or whatever? But she is a grown woman. However, she has these, you know, paranoid schizophrenia issues. If for whatever reason she has gone into this state where she doesn't want anybody to contact or even family, the hospital is legally not allowed to tell anybody anything, even her kin. I just don't think we're quite at the heightened alert level that we need to force entry or do anything like that.

The way that she calls us tarnestly kind of gives me a sense of foul play. I mean, she's always, every day calls her brother. When did it stop? Well, her brother said she stopped about a month ago. My cousin said two weeks, but I don't know if you're thinking about a month. Because she still called my phone every day leaving voicemails. While the officer's explanation is factually accurate, the suggestion not to file a missing person's report will prove to be a serious oversight.

And it won't take long before Kim realizes she's been inadvertently coerced into making a grave mistake. For now, though, officers leave the scene, letting Kim carry on her own investigation. For the next few days, she keeps calling Martha and David, but with neither of them answering their phones. Growing increasingly worried, Kim begins gathering information on her own. She learns that David has recently been seen at a place where he worked on and off, so she contacts police once again, urging them to check it out. Following up on Kim's tip, a group of officers are dispatched. to investigate, but they hear about David will finally start to give her suspicions some credibility.

How you doing? Hi. You guys know David? Hi, yeah. Probably in his 50s. What's the girl's name? Calligan or something? Oh.

I think it's left Cal. Have you seen Martha or Robin? Martha or Robin? I don't even know those dreams. You don't know who those are? No. David moving over here. Yeah, he said his room room.

Is a jail or something? But she was... Then they don't move on. I don't... But he's in, like, it's 50s? Yeah. Yeah, I see. It's not the new guy that went in here.

He's... What about? Dave? Is that a balding kind of guy? He's older. Yeah, probably. His name. Hey, when is that too?

Zane Dan? Yeah. What? The guy that was getting on my nerves the other night. Yeah, his name is David, too. We got a bunch of Dave is. We're on here. We could pull up a picture and see if you guys... I think of it.

I think we're going to try to find one. That's not that David. That's not that David stays here. Does he come around here? This guy? Yeah. He's not the one who lives here. He's not the one who lives here.

What was last when he saw him? I didn't need to get it out of my car. This week, last week? Something like that. Oh, one. Cool. Three four days. Three, four days.

He says all three or four days ago, maybe. According to the workers, they've seen David in recent days, meaning he's still in the area. Now, police just need to locate him and ask him where Martha might be. Despite this lead, officers still sound convinced, Martha will eventually turn up on her own, and David is just another name in a domestic dispute. Unbeknownst them, this is. is giving David exactly what he wants. Time. Because as the case stalls, he's keeping a low profile. Only leaving Martha's house at night and using the lack of scrutiny to cover his tracks and refine

his story. And over the next several weeks, what began as one oversight will snowball into a series of missteps that will cripple the investigation and ultimately pave the way to a discovery far more tragic than anyone imagined. The following week, after repeated calls and pressure from Kim, police finally agreed to conduct another welfare check. This time, however, they make another critical error. They send a new pair of officers unfamiliar with the full context of the case. This is where the mistake of not filing a missing person's report catches up with the police,

and causes David to slip off the hook again. It doesn't, yeah, they didn't add any notes. It just said that they were here. Well, it was actually, it came in as a missing person. Okay, that's probably the daughter then. Yeah, but then it said she checked okay, and there was no report made, so they must have had contact. That's not a contact.

If it came in as a missing person, they cleared it without a report number. That means they determine where she was at. Exactly. That was what I was. Yeah. After only a few unanswered knocks, officers decide to leave the scene, assuming that, since no missing person report was filed, someone must have already made contact with Martha. This is exactly why dissuading Kim from filing a report had been such a catastrophic blunder.

So with no sign of Martha or David, and police convinced nothing is wrong, the investigation quietly stalls. days pass with no progress, until eventually the case goes cold. A week passes, and it seems Martha might never be found, as police have completely written off her disappearance. But then something strange starts to happen. Kim begins receiving response messages from her mother. The texts are brief and unsettling. I'm busy. I'm with my friends. I'm fine. It doesn't sound like her mother and something about the way she's texting feels off to Kim. Growing suspicious, Kim asks police to meet with her again, this time demanding that they

break in and check the house or she'll do it herself. It's like to make an official missing person here. I've talked to so many officers. Everybody she knows, her friends, family, none of them has seen her face or talked to her in over a month. So I was sending her messages from her mother's phone, say, this is your daughter. I want to know where you're at. Oh, I'm at the Kingdom Hall in Kent with friends. I said, okay, stay there. I'm coming right now.

Oh, I'm not there. You don't know where I am. Well, you just said you were there. Where are you? Well, I'm eating now. The way she types is completely different. She says she's angry at the family. But the issue is we were pounding on the door earlier and no one answered.

And we didn't have enough to kick the door in and go look for her. She owns this property. If I need to break in here with you guys, here and if she's gonna if you think she'll press charges on me that's fine i want to know what happened to she's not going to press charges on me that's not probably she has mental ill yes she does but she is you know she's taking her men no i don't know but i do know that she does not do this kind of thing she might the last time her mother talked to her she was walking through this field over here and told my grandmother if i come up missing or dead it is no accident and she

said it to me this has been said to us several times and he has told me this has been said to us several times and he has her before. I'm going to get your ass and nobody's ever going to find you. What's your concern? That he killed him. Kim appears confident that she has solved her mother's disappearance, accusing her lover, David, of both murder and impersonation. While officers still doubt Kim's story, they agree to break into the house, if only to put her mind at ease. But what awaits them inside will leave Kim even more furious with police, making her question, whether they are truly on her side. All right, she is back.

After please, everybody in here? Come outside. It's day one in this shirt. Day two, expenses. You're not gonna get another day out of this. D-3. Supposed to be a big black dog that might not be friendly.

You ain't gonna put me back on the call on the phone for that 31. Sure. She's good. You need you already. Please, anybody in here? Ask the police.

Somebody's been here because the bell's taken in. I mean... Oh, he's been here. The question is what he did to her. Not a single pair of her shoes anywhere around here. If I were you, I mean, I'm not telling you how to feel, but this would be a relief. You know, she's not here, but it doesn't look like there's any sign of distress or, you know, all of her stuff's not thrown around. First sign of distress, really, is the fact that there's no Pepsi in that refrigerator.

That means she hasn't been staying here. No, she has not been here. I'm telling you he has done sitting there. Inside the house, police find no sign of Martha or her belongings. Something Kim finds deeply suspicious. Still, the officer reassures her that everything is fine and there are no obvious signs of foul play. However, as police exit the house, an officer makes an offhand remark that reveals what they really think happened to Martha. Would you have been surprised at all if she's laying dead in there?

We're shocked enough. Yes, I would have been surprised. 20-3. Yeah. Nothing surprises. That would have surprised me. Although officers briefly consider the worst-case scenario for Martha, their tone makes it clear they don't really believe it.

Even with Kim insisting that something is wrong, their doubt remains. And when Kim insists on filing a missing person report, something that should have been done weeks ago, officers still seem convinced there is no real cause for alarm. Well, I need to make an official report. Yeah, that can happen. That's not a problem.

But it's going to be very vague. All right, I don't know what to think about and none of her stuff being in that house. Shoes. She always had shoes all over right there with this, too. All right, this is the report and then go get a hard copy. And what do I do?

I mean, just keep... If I hear any more texts... I mean, it's pretty much pointless unless it's pointless talking to him anymore at this point. I guess this is what happens. Just let us know if you think she's somewhere, we can go check for her, okay? Okay. By now, you can hear the hopelessness in Kim's voice.

It seems like her investigation has hit a dead end as she watches officers leave once again, advising her to call if new information comes up. But a few hours later, one officer decides to return and speak with the neighbors, hoping to learn where David or Martha might be. It's a small decision, but one that quietly marks the first step in turning things around for police, because one of the neighbors he talks to is unknowingly holding a piece of information about David that will finally confirm Kim's claims.

Do you know anything about this house next door? There's some woman that used to live in there. She asked me a couple times for some money or some cigarette and I told her it didn't smoke. What's going on? Well, someone sent us out here to check on her and she's not answering the door. She has a car or anything, you know? I don't think so, but she was walking the first time I started cutting the ground. How you doing? You've been living in the garage here?

I want to call her a living. Where do you sleep at? Really? Do you know who lives here? Robin's fly talk, I think. When did you see her last? About four weeks ago. And you haven't seen her in four weeks?

No, I... Have you seen him over there? Oh, yeah. Does he drive a car? No. Is he home now? I have no idea. Okay.

The neighbor's statement finally confirms what Kim's been suspecting all along. David hasn't disappeared. He's been coming and going from the house while police and Kim struggled to reach him. With that information, police begin coordinating surveillance around the property, assigning patrol units to quietly monitor the area and wait for the moment David shows up again. Two days later, the opportunity finally comes when officers spot a car parked beside the house, the first sign of activity in days. They approach carefully, hoping to finally make contact with Martha and put Kim's fears to rest.

However, the person they're about to find is the very suspect they've been unknowingly helping all along. But before we get to that, you know those days where you just can't get anything done and nothing you try fixes it? Most people blame stress, sleep, or you're not trying hard enough. But a big issue a lot of guys miss is testosterone, and that is often based on your micronutrient intake. Here are three powerful micronutrients backed by science that can help boost your tea levels naturally. Himalayan Shilogy, a natural humic resin long used for vitality. It's associated with stamina, recovery, focus, and drive. Micro gold particles.

These are known to supercharge absorption. helping your body actually use what you take. Fulvic acid, which has over 85 trace minerals that are essential for hormone production. The original resin combines all three real Himalayan Shulajit, micro-gold particles, and folvic acid. It is 100% authentic, organic, and it works. If you're tired of feeling tired, this is your sign. Link in the description, limited time discount available. Try it and feel the difference in just a few weeks.

With that said, let's get back to the scene, where officers are about to come face to face with the man they've been searching for all this time. Packer, please, just come outside. How you doing? Is Martha here? She's probably in her boyfriend's house. What's your name, bud? David.

David Callaghan? All right, come on down here for me. Why do you think she's at her boyfriend's house? That's where she stays most of the time. Where's that at? I don't know. I don't even know who it is, really. Are you the only one here? Sorry, let it.

She's here maybe a couple times a week anymore. We've actually been split up for a year. She's schizophrenicry. She's been off her medication, I don't know how many times. This is David Callahan. The man Kim had been desperately trying to warn the police about. According to him, Martha was not at the house, but at her new boyfriends. But now David is about to surprise. the officers, explaining why they shouldn't necessarily take Martha's family's word at face value.

Yes, her daughter's plate again. 6-04 to computer. Well, that's part of the reason we're out here, because no one in her family has talked to her since July. I don't know how. I died. She's texted her. When's the last time you talked to her? I don't know, probably five, six days ago maybe.

Where was that at? It was here. And Martha's not in the house right now. Well, I mean, it took that a month. Obviously, we're concerned about Martha, like you said, if she's offered her meds and everything. Right. We'd like to find her right now. She's a missing person, so we'd like to...

I didn't know it was all that, just, I mean, they've... You didn't know what was all that? You didn't know, missing person, because her and the family, they've fallen out numerous times. You know, the family has gone to support us, changing their phone numbers and not give them. They're treating her horny in years. Yeah. And her not talking to them right now, doesn't surprise me. David claims Kim is not a trustworthy person and has never gotten along with Martha.

With David tarnishing Kim's character and Kim doing the same to David, the officers weren't sure whose story to believe. But this is when the officer would get a brilliant idea. They knew David had outstanding warrants, something they could use as reasonable grounds to detain him. Their next move would catch David off guard and prove to be the police's smartest decision yet. Did you get your warrants taken care of? No, I need to go down there and take care of them.

I got a couple of missed to be here once. Through acting? Yeah. All right, well, we're going to help you out with that today. You still have those warrants. We'll send you down a court. You can get them taken care of today. All right, here's what we're going to do.

If it's all right with you, we're going to walk through, we'll let you get some clothes, and then you're going to get on court and get these warrants taken care of. I saw you, I got a big dog in here. No problem. Do you get the whole thing? Yeah, nothing but the thing. Dude.

Do the returns or do I do that later? Adam will do it or whoever's up from there. Following his arrest, David is transported to the station and placed in jail, but not for murder. The only thing holding him there are his unrelated warrants. For investigators, this is a temporary win that will quickly turn into a problem. Because despite finally having David in custody, they know their case against him is painfully weak. There's no body, no confession, not even physical evidence proving me. Martha is dead. Weeks of police inaction and hesitation have left detectives with little more

than suspicion and time is running out. So to make up for it, they decide to hold David as long as legally possible under the existing warrants, hoping they could buy themselves time to rebuild the case and find something concrete. Detectives don't know it yet, but the clue they so desperately need to solve the case won't come from their investigation, but from Martha's own family. Several days later, while David remains in custody, Martha's family receives a mysterious message. The anonymous note reads, if he was going to get rid of someone, he would bury them in the backyard. At first, no one knew what to make of it. It could be a cruel prank

or maybe a genuine tip. Either way, Martha's cousin Angela and a few relatives contact police and ask them to meet at the property for the first time in the investigation the police and Martha's family finally joined forces who's the caller you are what made you come to think it was they came and arrested him I believe it was Thursday on Friday they arrested him for what other charges contempt and they're holding for like 30 days of so they question him about this two times I think I got a text message. I've been putting these flyers up on all the polls and I get a text on a sergeant and a couple

of other units coming here. If he was ever to get rid of someone, we'd bury them across the very backyard. I know, I know her role. You came over with her and what did you come over to get because she suspected some stuff going on back there. I hope it's not her, but there's something there. Yeah. With police now briefed on the situation, officers begin coordinating a search of the property, focusing on the backyard mentioned in the message, while others canvass the neighborhood looking for anyone who might have seen something suspicious. As the search gets underway, word of the mysterious message quickly makes its way back to the station. Detectives realize this could be their only real lead and decide to seize the opportunity to question David again. However, David

isn't stupid. He's already denied any involvement in Martha's disappearance, and he knows that acting clueless won't convince detectives he has nothing to hide. He also knows that as long as he keeps denying everything and doubles down on blaming Martha's family, there's nothing. Detectives can pin on him. Clearly, the stakes couldn't be higher on both sides. And if David plays his cards right, he'll walk free.

Hey, sit right here, Dave. So, when was the last time you actually talked to her? It was beginning of last month. So I didn't see, she had a restraining order against you? A TPO or a CPO? She said, temporary one. TPO. She asked it like six months, I think.

Did you get arrested? Because you... No, and here's the thing. Yeah, I'm explaining. She's, you know, she's calling the cops on me half a dozen times. And I've never raised a hand to her. She's never had a scratch on her. Any report you would read will tell you the same thing.

She gets mad and I leave. She thinks I'm out humping everything. with a pulse out there that's female. You know, that's just why she originally got mad at me. You know, she just want to argue all the time. I just felt, you know,

leaving a day or two at a time. You know, we'd just calm everything down. It normally did. I mean, we've always worked things on. I don't understand why she's not in the background. I really don't. I mean, we've had problems over years. Like I said, we've been together since 2002.

Sure. However, everybody has problems. Yeah, everyone's got problems. That's for damn sure. So then I guess your series is, David, she's staying with whoever she's dating, this new person, not at the house. Is that what you're saying? As expected, David sticks to his story, insisting Martha is with her new boyfriend in Florida, but David knows exactly what he's doing.

Realizing detectives have little evidence to work with, he decides to take. control of the conversation and tarnish Martha's character paint her as unstable and dismiss her disappearance as the result of her own mental state. Detectives can't push back without proof or a body and every minute they let him talk, he builds a stronger defense for himself, one that might just help him walk free in court. I believe she's relapsed on, you know, back to smoke crack. Because, you know, it's not a person now I get the house. I mean, tomorrow's her birthday. I tried, I don't know, three or four times over the last couple of years to get her the three-day evaluation, whatever they call it.

Yeah. You know, the police that come out, the paramedics. She'd be standing on the porch, you know, screaming at him, screaming at me. They'd tell me she don't fit the criteria for the evaluation. Well, what does? Yeah, she'd have to stand me in my sleep or do something, you know, really crazy. and they say, well, she's an adult, we can't take her medication, so why don't you leave? Though it didn't sound like her gym answer problems, do.

Absolutely. I mean, they would go months on end without speaking to each other. It was at one point, you know, Robin didn't even have a phone number to talk to her mom and dad or her for periods of time. Yeah, no, you're absolutely true. I sense they had some hard times now and then, and it sounded like she communicated her with her left through her Facebook messenger. The mention of Martha's Facebook messages clearly catches David off guard. He's surprised that detectives even know about them, unaware that Kim already accused him of impersonating her mother weeks earlier.

But that isn't the only surprise waiting for him. Detectives have been holding something back. Evidence they saved for this exact moment. When David was first arrested, police recovered Martha's phone from inside the house, along with several of her security checks that he'd allegedly withdrawn. So with David already on edge, detectives decide to push their advantage and confront him with what they claim is hard evidence.

It's a risky gamble. If they push too hard, David could demand a lawyer and shut down the interview entirely. But if the pressure works, he might finally slip, contradict himself, or even confess. Yeah, I mean, obviously her family is real worried about her and loves her a lot and I can see that you love her a lot right yeah absolutely I mean well Dave I think there's some little piece missing here but that's what I think and I think you'd feel better if you just told us what it is I don't know I mean I don't

what to say well I think there's a little bit more to the story Dave you're not giving us there's nothing else I can tell you I mean I've told you everything I know I don't think you told us everything okay well I have don't you think you feel better if you told us the truth Dave, I mean, let it go and you can all be able to celebrate her birthday tomorrow Dave. There's some pieces missing to your story, Dave. And as you know, that is your girlfriend, a love of your life, Robin's handwritten. That is September, where you paid the rent so we can keep up this farce that Robin is still around.

Tell us the part about being on her phone pretending that you're her. Oh, God. Tell us about that part. Have her phone. Where is the phone? I don't know. You know where the phone is. No, I don't.

We found it where you put it. Why don't you just tell us the truth? What happened? You'll feel better. You'll feel better. I don't have... You guys share a bedroom? It's my time now.

Needless to say, David is starting to visibly get worked up over the accusations. He's defensive, irritated, but still talking. Luckily for detectives, he doesn't seem close to shutting down or asking for a lawyer. But they can tell they've pushed the limit for now. If they press any harder, The interview could end before they get anything useful. So detectives decide to take a break, let David step outside for a smoke, hoping it will calm him down and make him more willing to cooperate when he returns.

In the meantime, back at Martha's residence, officers continue coordinating the backyard search and canvassing the neighborhood for anyone who might have seen or heard something useful. That's when a familiar face approaches one of the officers, the same neighbor from days earlier who'd reported seeing David coming and going from the house. This time, he shares a chilling detail about the days following Martha's disappearance. I was a lot of a fire pit back there of some sort. Right. But, you know, I didn't even know she was missing until a few days ago.

I mean, had you noticed any activity by anybody back there in the backyard recently? Just the guy who lived there. What was he doing? In the middle of the night, it was burning. If I could smell her. The horrible stench from everywhere. And I thought, it's the even trash thing. The woman there is the cousin of the woman who's missing.

Okay. She's been missing about 30 days. Somebody sent her a message saying, check the backyard for your cousin. You're a kid. According to David's neighbor, every night he could see flames rising from David's backyard accompanied by a horrendous smell. Acting on this information, officers request firefighters, EMS, and forensic teams to assist at the scene, treating the backyard as a potential crime scene in case human remains are found.

And as the teams prepare to begin the search, no one could have expected. They were only feet away from confirming the horrific nightmare Kim had feared all along. Pretty positive. It's a body buried under their firefish. They dug it up. You can see what looks like to be about a knee or an elbow. Touch it. You can tell it's something. We didn't really dig anymore.

Gentlemen? Peckham. You tell me. Well, you know. Highly suspicious. Seems like a body part, but we didn't want to dig it out anymore until you guys got here. Yeah. I think, you know, all of this would want to dug out a little bit more before you guys can say.

Yeah, well, let's check. Was it dug out when you guys got here? Yeah, that guy. What made him, did he say what made him start digging? Yeah, he gave the whole story of the other officer and us. But she got anonymous tech saying if this guy, who you guys have arrested recently, that if you wanted to get rid of somebody, he would bury it back here by the fence. So she came back and saw this loose dirt, so the bash.

And that's that guy to come over and help her. And they say this gentleman is already arrested. Yeah, that's what they're, both of those two people are telling. This is the wife. The person that they think it is. And then the guy's arrested. It was a suspect in this. Was this her husband?

Did they say? I don't know if they were her husband-wife. Because I know she had a protection order against one. Okay, company. He was staying here. Yeah. She went missing. He was staying here.

They've been on and off. I've been out here a couple times where she had a protection order, but it goes back and forth because then she invites them back over and stuff like that. So let me go talk to these guys real kick, and then we'll let you know what's go. Yeah, let's go. Following their initial observations of what appear to be human remains, one of the officers steps away from the dig site to speak with the family. Because they arrived without a search warrant,

they must explain what's been found so far and request formal consent to continue the excavation. At the same time, Martha's daughter Kim and her husband finally arrive at the scene, anxious, it isn't what they think it is. Though officers avoid making any premature statements, Kim can already sense the truth. This would be the worst day of her life. Well, we don't know yet, okay?

So we're not saying yes and we're not saying no, okay? We don't know, okay? Have you been on scenes like this before? How do you not know? Well, I mean, I can't wait to know. Listen, well, we don't want to, what we're saying is we don't want to contaminate anything. Well, I'd be told as soon as they know whether

or not there's a body back there of a person. Well, they have a whole process they have to go through. To tell me if they found a person back back? Yeah. They would know, I mean, when they... Not necessarily. Kimmy, look, there's about a piece of this thing that was uncovered. Now, I'm just saying a piece of some plastic or something.

That's what we saw first. I love one. Just... Okay. Mama had to read go quick, okay? That just give you, you know, the confirmation. The confirmation, I'll be back. We'll have them.

Do you tell if it's her? Not now. No. We, I don't even think we're, they don't even have the person back there that's going to be digging it up yet. It might be a little bit better to talk to somebody like that, okay? I don't think that I want to do right now. It doesn't help to talk to strangers. I have to ask you.

I'm not positive that you're the one I should ask, but I'm going to ask you since you say you have attorney, if you allow us to go back in the yard, check that out. Yes, I do. I have to ask. Okay. So you're giving me consent and the officers, and we're going to have a medical examiner come out as well, okay? After receiving permission from the family, officers resume the excavation. Inside the shallow fire pit, they find the remains of Martha.

Her body is wrapped in bedding, sealed by a plastic bag, burnt, and showing a clear blunt force injury, with a rope still tied around her neck. Everyone at the scene is shaken by the discovery. After weeks of uncertainty, Martha's disappearance is finally resolved, but the reality offers little comfort. On the other side of town, news of the gruesome discovery quickly travels to the detectives at the station. So with this new information at hand, they bring David back into the room and cut straight

to the point, directly accusing him of murder. Dave, let me ask you a question. Are you a heartless bastard? A heartless coal bastard? No. People who would look at this, look at this event and say that you, Dave, are a heartless no-good bastard who put the love of your life in the ground. And that has to be a evil, bad person who has to go away for every last day of their life. every last day. So Dave, are you that person or are you the person that has struggled with someone who's

as you said for 16 years, you love her, but she's schizophrenic and she goes here and she goes there. Because there's no reasonable person, Dave, in the world that wouldn't believe that you harmed Robin. We all know that three of us sitting in this room. You should just get it off your chest, man. I've told you everything. I know.

We haven't told us everything. Did he do the moment? Yeah. Did you plan it out? Tomorrow is her fucking birthday. Tomorrow was her birthday for them to sit there and reflect. The agony they've been going through for the last month. Heartlessly killed the woman you love more than anything in the world.

It's mind-boggling to think about it. Something that you said you were going to do. Yeah. If you said you're ever going to kill anybody, you'd marry him in the fire food, it seems kind of convenient. You never told anybody that? Dave, we're not fucking stupid, dude. You think we're gonna make that up?

I'm not making anything up. You think I made this up? We know everything. We know the answers, the questions we asked, man. I'm trying to get you to say that you're not an evil, no good bastard, and that there are so extenuating circumstances that you killed the woman you love, pretended that she was alive for over a month. If you look at it, you're like, that has to be a heartless, cold bastard.

They wrapped this woman up like that, and put her in this fire fit. So... Despite a few half-hearted denials, as detectives describe what they believe happened to Martha, David sits in silence, staring blankly, as if the weight of his actions has finally hit him. Clearly, the interrogation has reached its breaking point, and David seems on the verge of something. Judging by his earlier denials and the way he now sits, he's either about to ask for a lawyer and end the interview altogether or finally confess. Do you want to see a picture, Dave?

You know what you did. All right. Go ahead, Dave. You want me to go ahead. I need a cigarette. Tell us what you're going to tell us now you have a cigarette. I don't give you a cigarette. You tell us what's going on, Dave, so we know you're not a heartless bastard.

And I promise you can smoke all you want, all right? Not all you want. Well, there's a couple of reasonable like this. Get it off your chest, Dave. You feel better. You got to feel a little bit better already, just knowing that you're gonna make that decision.

I didn't mean if I could do it, I didn't. It's not a very expectful way for a person to end up. I know it's not gonna fucking scared, man. I just snap, man. It's fucking snap. I didn't mean to do this for my chest. Man, love your clubbed. You just got scared?

That's why you put her in a fire pit? put her in a fire pit and I dug it out half an axe handle or something beside the bed she had it there for a long a long time was that you struck her I choked her what happened after robin was dead I took her out back and I dug it out yeah I'm fucking sorry huh she's just so relentless how long did this take she knew I didn't need me a lot of man she knew I didn't know where to go Oh, she's just kept on me. I give her every dollar I have from whatever she wanted. I never had nothing in my pocket, man.

Nothing. It's never good enough. I didn't play it on this app. Spurring the wall. I was really dead, man. Spurred the woman. After hours of questioning, David finally breaks and admits to murdering Martha. In a fit of rage, he struck her in the head.

struck her in the head, strangled her, then carried her outside, burned the body, and buried her in the backyard. As David sits in the interview room, crying and claiming to regret what he did, detectives can't help but think about how easily this could have been prevented. How many warnings were missed and how many chances they had to save Martha before it was too late. With his confession secured, David is taken into custody, where he's formally charged and set to spend a very long time behind bars.

Hey, just to let you know, they talk to the prosecutor. For right now, you're going to be charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. Thank you.