Serialously with Annie Elise - 45: Online Dating, Murder & A Chilling Double Life. The Mysterious Disappearance of 27-Year-Old Kelly Dwyer
Episode Date: August 14, 2023Welcome back to this week’s episode of SERIALously! In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about a case that perplexed investigators for years. Back in 2013, the city of Milwaukee was gripped b...y a haunting mystery - the unexplained disappearance of the vivacious 27-year-old, Kelly Dwyer. One normal Friday morning in October, Kelly vanished, leaving behind nothing but a trail of unanswered questions. As investigators started to piece together her last known activities, a disturbing picture began to form. The last trace of her was around 9:00 a.m. the next morning, after which she seemed to have vanished into thin air. The trail ran cold, her phone went silent, and every lead seemed to reach a dead end. The mysterious circumstances of her disappearance and Kelly's recent behaviors, including her adventures on an online dating site, made investigators raise their eyebrows, and they quickly began to believe that something more sinister may have happened.  Your True Crime BFF, Annie Elise Today's Sponsors: Liquid IV: Get 20% off ANYTHING you order when you use promo code AE at https://www.LIQUIDIV.COM Miracle Made: Go to https://www.TryMiracle.com/AE to get 3 FREE TOWELS and SAVE over 40% off! Master Class: Get unlimited access to every class and get 15% off when you go to https://www.MASTERCLASS.com/ae All Social Media Links: https://www.flowcode.com/page/annieelise_ About Me: https://annieelise.com/ SERIALously FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/SERIALouslyAnnieElise/ For Business Inquiries: 10toLife@WMEAgency.com Sources/Audio Credits: WISN Fox6 TMJ4 News CBS News Milwaukee Mag 48 Hours
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Hey true crime besties, welcome back to an all new episode of serialously with me annie your true crime
bestie and i am here to break down another true crime case for you today guys it has been a while
if you notice i have like you're watching the video version of this you will understand this but for those of you who are just like listening to the audio I have like
a tan situation going on I just got back from the Bahamas I was celebrating my sister's 40th
birthday there we had the best time ever but what I want to say is that due to the lighting a little
bit in here I probably look a little bit more tan than usual and I sunscreen my face so my face probably looks white but just roll with me. It's summer. It's
summertime. But anyways today we have got a brand new case to discuss but before we jump right into
the craziness that is true crime please take a quick second. Make sure that you are following
the podcast on whatever podcast app you use just
make sure you check that little check mark you're following along so that you don't miss any episodes
as they drop because if you have been a listener for a while now you know that in addition to
monday episode drops we also now are doing a regular weekly series on thursdays called headline
highlights and in that episode we go through everything that has
happened so far during the week in the true crime world, whether it's case updates, new cases,
things like that. Just a quick little bite-sized snapshot of what's come out that week that maybe
not necessarily warrants a full episode dedicated to a singular case or singular case update.
So make sure that you're following along so that you don't miss any of those. Plus, plus, plus disclaimer, there is going to be some
very exciting news coming up and giveaways on the podcast. So you're going to want to make sure
you're following along. But anyways, we will talk about all of that again at the end of the episode.
We are going to get into today's case. It is a wild one. So in today's episode, we will talk about all of that again at the end of the episode. We are going to get into today's case.
It is a wild one.
So in today's episode, we're going to talk about a case that perplexed investigators for years.
Back in 2013, the city of Milwaukee was gripped by a haunting mystery.
The unexplained disappearance of a vivacious 27-year-old named Kelly Dwyer. One normal Friday morning in October,
Kelly vanished, leaving behind nothing but a trail of unanswered questions. As investigators
started to piece together her last known activities, a disturbing picture began to form.
The last trace of her was around 9 a.m. the next morning, after which she seemed to have vanished into thin air completely.
The trail ran cold and her phone went silent, and every lead seemed to reach a dead end.
The mysterious circumstances of her disappearance and Kelly's recent behaviors, including her adventures on an online dating site,
made investigators raise their eyebrows,
and they quickly began to believe that something far more sinister may have happened to Kelly.
The person she had been seeing was also in the news for things that were very bizarre. But no bipolar schizophrenia.
I suppose that's all open to interpretation by somebody.
Yeah, you're right.
Kelly Dwyer was last seen on Milwaukee's Eastside
19 months ago.
He met up with Kelly Dwyer to do drugs, go to a bar,
then back to his apartment.
The remains were located approximately 20 feet off
of the road along a tree line.
Speak or read any other language? All right. Finding a gas station or
bibliotheca. They think I carried this girl out of my apartment. She's as big as me. Yeah.
In 2002, Tony and Maureen Dwyer had to break some tough news to their teenage daughters.
They were getting a divorce. Now you can imagine the roller coaster of emotions that both daughters
went through after receiving this news, and things were tough, especially for their daughter,
Kelly Dwyer, who was then 16 years old. Now, prior to the news of their divorce,
Kelly was involved in several extracurricular activities. She played tennis, she wrote for
the school newspaper, and she participated in the
yearbook club but after her parents divorce she struggled a lot it was a lot to process and after
high school graduation in 2004 kelly was left feeling like she didn't know her place in the
world or what she wanted to do and she kind of just floated aimlessly for a bit until she could find her way.
It took her a few years to really find herself again, and eventually she landed in Milwaukee,
a whole new place, a whole new vibe, a bunch of new people. And it was there that she rediscovered
herself. She found Kelly again. In 2012, Kelly got a job working at Lululemon. She also kept busy with a couple of side hustles,
teaching yoga over at a nearby studio, and also nannying for a family just to make some extra
money. There was a noticeable shift in Kelly, not just in her career, but in her overall persona.
She uploaded a photo of herself on Facebook, and she was all dolled up in a sleek, strapless black
top, and it was a full new look
for her, something different than she had ever done before. And she looked happy, and older,
in a good way, and truly just growing into her own person, matured, happy, fulfilled.
This change in her signaled a new chapter of Kelly's Milwaukee journey. It genuinely seemed
like she was living her best
life. She had work friends that she liked to go out with, and she was also active in the dating
scene and quickly becoming somewhat of a regular to a few local spots. So Kelly, now 27 years old,
remained close to her dad, and in 2013, he came to Milwaukee to visit her. Kelly gushed about her new life, her work trip that
she got from Lululemon, and a new love interest she had named Chris Zocco. Chris was a well-off
but somewhat distant IT executive that she had been dating for about a year at the time.
She said that she really liked him and said that Chris had certain characteristics that reminded
her of her dad. So her dad left that
trip feeling hopeful of what her future would entail and just so extremely proud that she was
becoming more independent and truly creating a life for herself. Kelly was overall pretty open
with her parents as well about the details of her life, but of course you never know how many
details someone does share with their parents. We all have certain things that we might omit from our parents out of embarrassment or shame,
such as telling your parents if you got in trouble at Lululemon for showing up intoxicated,
or telling your parents the extent of your partying. Do you tell your parents that all
the time or all the frequent late nights involving heavy drinking, sex, and even occasional dabbling
in cocaine? Do you tell your parents that even though you have a boyfriend, you still see a few
guys that you met on dating apps like OkCupid and Tinder? Maybe not. Maybe those are some secrets
that you keep to yourself. And that's kind of what Kelly did. She had this open life with her
parents where she confided in them, told them about her new amazing life, her new job, her new boyfriend.
But then she still had those secrets that she wasn't as forthcoming with, such as the partying, the drinking, the drugs occasionally, and the dating some other guys aside from just her now over one year boyfriend, Chris.
And with this, everything changed in Kelly's life a few months
after her dad's visit. On October 12, 2013, Kelly mysteriously disappeared. Her mother had said that
alarm bells started ringing when Kelly didn't show up for her shift at the Lululemon store in
the third ward. A co-worker dropped by her apartment only to learn from
Kelly's roommate that she hadn't seen her either. So Kelly's mom managed to piece together that
Kelly had been out at Alien Restaurant and Bar, a bar that she frequented often, and she was there
the previous Thursday night, and afterward she spent the night at her boyfriend's place on the
east side of the city. The last time anyone
reportedly saw her was around 9 a.m. that Friday morning. Now guys, we are going to take a quick
break because I want to talk to you about today's sponsor, who happens to have a product that I am
absolutely in love with, and then we're going to come right back. So Kelly was missing now,
and nobody knew where she was. People hadn't seen her. The last known
sighting of her was that Friday morning at 9 a.m. Where was Kelly? Three days passed, and still
nobody could find Kelly or had any idea where she was. Police confirmed that Kelly did stay at her
boyfriend's house, but they couldn't ignore the fact that she was on multiple dating websites,
like OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, and eHarmony, where she would
meet up with the men that she met online. The thought that maybe she planned to meet someone
from one of those websites lingered in everyone's minds, but at this point, getting the word out
that Kelly was missing to as many people as possible was the only thing for her loved ones
to do. So friends and family posted flyers all along Brady Street
where Kelly lives and in the third ward where she works, all in hopes that somebody saw Kelly
and would call in to give the police a lead. Yes, Kelly Dwyer was last seen leaving a home
here on Milwaukee's east side Friday morning. Her whereabouts since have been a mystery.
Her mom is working with police and has even hired a private investigator.
But she says the more time passes, the more she loses hope.
This is the most awful, incredibly horrible thing anyone could ever go through.
A set of ears and eyes is going to help find Kelly.
Either way, whatever the outcome is, I just need to find her.
Maureen Dwyer says she's pieced together her daughter's last movements before disappearing.
She says Kelly went to the bars Thursday, then spent the night at her boyfriend's on the east side.
He says Kelly left around 9 a.m. Friday on foot, and that's the last anyone saw her.
We don't know how she got home. It's possible she walked home or it's possible she took a cab.
That was the last time she used her phone.
She's very attached to her phone like any young person is these days. POSSIBLE SHE WALKED HOME OR POSSIBLE SHE TOOK A CAB. THAT WAS THE LAST TIME SHE USED HER PHONE. SHE'S VERY ATTACHED TO HER
PHONE LIKE ANY YOUNG PERSON IS
THESE DAYS.
IT'S ALWAYS BESIDE HER AND
SHE'S ALWAYS ON IT.
POLICE HAVE NOT SAID FALL PLAY
IS TO BLAME, BUT KELLY'S MOM
BELIEVES IT IS.
SHE THINKS HER DAUGHTER HAS BEEN
MEETING MEN THROUGH THE WEBSITE
OK CUPID.
AND I THINK MAYBE SHE MET UP
WITH SOMEONE THAT SHE COULDN'T
HANDLE.
DESPITE HER RECENT
BEHAVIOR, MORIEN DWYER SAYS HER DAUGHTER ALWAYS SHOWS UP AT WORK ON TIME. I DON'T KNOW WHERE MY BABY And I think maybe she met up with someone that she couldn't handle. Despite her recent behavior, Maureen Dwyer says her daughter always shows up at work on time.
I don't know where my baby is, and I may never see her again.
And every day that goes by, it gets harder and harder to believe that she's alive somewhere.
Maureen Dwyer says her daughter was in contact with a man in the Racine Kenosha area before her disappearance,
but she was able to speak with that man last night on the phone and she does not believe
he's involved in her disappearance. Milwaukee police are investigating. Now we all know Kelly
is not the first 27 year old to miss work. It is possible she had her reasons for not telling
anyone what she was doing, right? People call out sick all the time. People don't show up,
especially when you're relatively young. Who knows? Now, interestingly, an acquaintance of Kelly's
that she knew from the bar told investigators that Kelly told her on Thursday night that she had
the next day off of work. So was it possible that Kelly got her work schedule confused and that's
why she didn't show up to work that Friday? Maybe,
but that wouldn't explain Kelly seemingly vanishing into thin air completely and now it had been three
days. Nobody heard a word from Kelly, no activity on her phone or her social media, which as her
mother said was extremely unusual and became too much to pass off as a coincidence at that point.
There was a legitimate concern that something horrible happened to her.
Yes, the boyfriend, Chris, said that Kelly spent the night and left in the morning.
However, there was no proof that Kelly was anywhere past Thursday night besides just his
word. And eventually, police decided that they needed to take a closer look at Chris. Kelly and
Chris had met through a mutual friend, and most people thought that they had been dating for
almost a year. Kelly was 27 years old, and Chris was 38 years old. According to Kelly's friends,
they felt like they for sure knew that Kelly was into Chris, but they questioned if the same level
of interest was mutual from Chris's end. Chris had
graduated from Boston University with a degree in international business, and growing up, he was
interested in sports, hanging out with friends, and loved to play golf. After graduation, Chris
settled in New York and found a job working for the IT department of the New York Yankees,
an absolute dream job for him. Later on, he left that job and had
aspirations of making an even bigger career move, which ultimately led him to move to Milwaukee.
There, he got a job as a chief information officer at TRC Global Mobility. So when Chris met Kelly,
he was definitely easy to like. He was charming, he was educated, had a great job that paid well,
a nice car, and a luxury apartment. However, friends of Kelly's said that there were times when they noticed bruises on Kelly's body, especially her neck. When they asked Kelly
about this, Kelly responded and laughed it off, kind of just being like, oh, another crazy night,
and then would change the conversation. In a formal interview with police in the search for Kelly, Chris described his relationship with Kelly as
more of a friends with benefits type of scenario rather than seriously dating, which was odd
because they had been dating for almost over a year, according to Kelly's friends. So it became
more apparent to investigators when talking to Chris that they really weren't on
the same page at all. Kelly was in love with him, according to her friends, but Chris told her that
he didn't want to be exclusive. Chris saw other people, and so did Kelly. That's why she was on
those dating sites. He also told the police his recollection of the last night that he spent with
Kelly and of the morning that she left. Now
let's talk about Chris's apartment for a second because Chris's apartment building was bougie.
Like I mentioned earlier, he had a luxury apartment and made a good living. With his 18th floor high
priced luxury apartment, Titan Building Security came with it, which in this case included
surveillance cameras. So Chris told detectives
that he and Kelly hung out a few nights a week, and he also used the word party, saying,
we partied together. And by that, he meant that it wasn't uncommon for the two of them to go
upstairs, continue drinking after leaving the bars, and also partake in doing lines of cocaine,
and then end up having sex. And apparently that's what they did that
Thursday night as well. They went upstairs, had a few more drinks, did some cocaine, had sex, and
then passed out on opposite ends of the couch. Detectives were able to go through the security
footage from the night that Kelly went missing. And in the footage, Chris and Kelly are seen
walking up to the apartment and then Chris opens the door for Kelly.
Then you can see them walking through the lobby and the main entrance of the building
and they are both smiling, appearing to be in a little bit of a flirtatious banter between the
two of them as well. Then you can see Chris and Kelly turn the corner to enter the elevator.
So this was good. It confirmed Chris's account of that night.
That the next morning, Kelly left around 9 a.m.
And he remembered it because he heard the door lock click to unlock and then heard the door open and shut.
However, there was only one problem with Chris's story.
While Chris was being interviewed by one detective, another detective was going through the surveillance
footage, and the detective noticed something really wrong in that footage and couldn't wrap
his mind around what he was seeing. The surveillance footage showed that Chris and Kelly turned that
corner to get into the elevator on Thursday night, and that that would be the last time Kelly was ever seen alive because Kelly wasn't seen
walking or leaving on any surveillance footage throughout the entire building on Friday morning,
as Chris had indicated. Now, after making this chilling discovery, detectives needed to figure
out a way to search Chris's apartment, but right now they didn't have enough to get a search warrant specifically pertaining to Kelly's disappearance. However, Chris did just admit to investigators that he
and Kelly did cocaine that Thursday night, and it was something that they often did. So detectives
used the drug use admission as grounds to get that search warrant. Inside the apartment, detectives were met with quite the scene. There were lines
of cocaine everywhere. Canisters of marijuana, marijuana in the fridge, prescription pills in
baggies, and pipes. And with that, Chris was immediately arrested for possession of drugs
and taken into custody, where he now had to answer a lot more questions than what he was just arrested with.
In his interrogation, he seemed aloof, though, or not really taking it seriously.
Need some water?
That'd be great.
Do you smoke or no?
No.
I saw that when we got you from downstairs, there was something off your back.
Right, you said?
Yes.
I got my back six or seven years ago in the gym,
training for baseball.
So two weeks ago, playing racquetball, I threw it out again,
and ever since I've been like 80 years old.
You take any prescription drugs at all?
No.
No.
You said no mental kind of problems, schizophrenia, anxiety, nothing like that?
I have anxiety, definitely, but...
Okay. But no bipolar, schizophrenia?
I suppose that's all open to interpretation by somebody.
Yeah, you're right.
Sometimes you gotta like, you gotta lock them down here like this.
Yeah, but we're not in a room where we have to lock them down.
You're reading and writing English fine?
Yeah.
Okay.
Played with the big blocks, all that stuff.
How about Lincoln Logs? It's one of my favorite toys when I was a kid. Do you speak or read any other language?
I wouldn't say that I'm, you know, conversationally from, I could, I could say,
mangle my way through, um, finding a gas station or a bibliotheca.
All right. Any kids? No. Want some? Never.
I'll come. I think I'm past those years for me. I'm creeping up on 40. Want some? Never. I'll come.
I think I'm past those years for me.
I'm creeping up on 40.
I don't know that I want to be changing diapers and whatnot.
You have any sisters?
No.
So no brother then?
No.
Before I can go into us being at your house,
what we found in there,
are you even wanting to say,
well, what kind of drugs did you all find?
If you wanted to just know that, I have to read your rights to you.
I understand.
What would you like to do at this time?
I'd like to call my lawyer.
But then things took a turn at the end when he requested a lawyer.
While detectives had him in custody, they got a warrant to search his cell phone, and what they found was deeply disturbing.
They found videos of Chris and Kelly
and this is a direct quote from that. They were engaged in a sex act where Kelly appears to be
in distress. Kelly apparently looked like she couldn't breathe and was straining to take a
breath. But this video wasn't from Thursday night. That video was from weeks before she ever went missing.
And that wasn't all. There was much more where that came from.
There were several videos and several pictures of many occasions with similar content.
And in a lot of it, Kelly looked like she was unconscious on the bed.
Court records say when police searched Zacco's cell phone, they found
pictures of 50 shades of gray style bondage. Dwyer's hands and feet tied to bed by neckties,
seemingly unconscious, unaware anyone's taking pictures. And a video that shows Dwyer gagging
and gasping for air as a voice that sounds like Zacco's directs Dwyer to breathe through her nose
to ease the suffocation.
But again, none of those videos and none of those pictures, as disturbing as they were,
none of them had anything to do with the night that she went missing.
So detectives were at a standstill.
Chris was 100% a person of interest, but they couldn't keep him in custody for anything related to Kelly.
They moved forward with the possession charges and in the meantime,
they went back to the drawing board and to the surveillance footage to scour every minute from
every camera, every angle, every frame with a fine-toothed comb. They wanted to be sure that
they hadn't missed something. While at Chris's apartment a couple months later with a new search
warrant, there were a few more things that detectives thought were a little bit weird.
One was that the shower curtain, or rather lack thereof,
in the guest bathroom.
On the shower curtain rod, the hooks were still in place,
but it seemed as if a shower curtain had been ripped off.
Detectives also seized some hard drives and CDs
used for computer storage inside the apartment.
When the hard drive analysis was taking place, investigators felt like there may be more proof of what had happened to Kelly,
especially since he had a habit of documenting his sexual behavior.
And it turns out they did find something interesting, something more, but it was unrelated to Kelly. Investigators
found extremely disturbing and I quote, hardcore child pornography. And they found a lot of it.
Two weeks after Kelly's disappearance, Chris was charged with multiple possession of pornography
charges in addition to the already drug possession charges. While in custody,
investigators continued to pour through his apartment and even brought in a cadaver dog.
The cadaver dog alerted in the apartment hallway, in the guest bathroom, in Chris's bedroom,
and more. Court records say the dog hit on the scent of Dwyer's remains in Zocco's bed
at the trash chute outside his apartment and in the garbage room below.
This confirmed to police what they had suspected all along,
that Kelly was never seen again because Chris had murdered her and had hid her body.
The big question tonight, where could she be? Kelly Dwyer has been missing for more than a month.
Milwaukee police say they have nothing new on the investigation.
However, Dwyer's family hopes money will produce some leads.
Fox 6's Myra Sanchuk is live with our big story.
Myra, good evening.
Good evening.
Kelly Dwyer's mother, Maureen, spoke to reporters today.
The family is offering up a reward in hopes of information that will lead to finding her missing daughter.
Maureen Dwyer came with police to the area near Lafayette and
Prospect, the same area her daughter Kelly Dwyer was last seen. It's been more than a month since
Kelly disappeared. A worried mother talked to reporters. It's been devastating. It's been,
there's no words. There really are no words. It sounds like cliche, but there are no words to say THERE'S NO WORDS. THERE REALLY ARE NO WORDS. IT SOUNDS LIKE LICENSE, BUT THERE ARE NO WORDS TO SAY HOW HORRIBLE IT IS.
I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I'M STILL
THAT I'VE SURVIVED A MONTH
WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER.
THE DWYER FAMILY HOPES THIS
WILL HELP.
THE FAMILY HAS PUT TOGETHER A
REWARD FOR ANY INFORMATION THAT
WILL LEAD TO US FINDING KELLY.
THIS REWARD IS $10,000.
A POLICE SEARCH OF A LANDFILL
DID NOT LEAD OFFICIALS TO KELLY.
NEITHER DID A VOLUNTEER CITIZEN
SEARCH.
IT IS FRUSTRATION BUT WE
CONTINUE TO HOLD OUT HOPE THAT
WE WILL LOCATE HER AND WE'RE NOT
GIVING UP.
WE'RE STILL CONSIDERING THIS A
MISSING PERSONS INVESTIGATION.
SO WE'RE HANGING IN THERE AND FOLLOWING ANY AND EVERY LEAD. A 38-YEAR-OLD MILWAUKEE MAN,
CHRIS ZACO, IS THE LAST PERSON
WHO MAY HAVE SEEN KELLY.
ZACO HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH DRUG
AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
OFFENSES, BUT NOT WITH THE
DISAPPEARANCE.
MAUREEN DWYER SAYS POLICE NEED
TO KEEP LOOKING CLOSER AT
ZACO, A MAN THE FAMILY THOUGHT
KELLY HAD BEEN DATING FOR ABOUT
A YEAR.
AS FAR AS WE KNEW, HE WAS AN
UPSTANDING CITIZEN, HAD A GOOD
JOB, HE WAS A GOOD PERSON. HE WAS A GOOD PERSON. HE WAS A GOOD PERSON. closer at Zocco, a man th been dating for about a y
knew he was an upstanding
job, paid his bills. It's
with $10,000 behind it. M
will soon no more about w
as if this wasn't bad eno
worse news on the horizon
for Chris. Chris this guy that didn't want to be tied down supposedly dating a few people including
Kelly had yet another secret and again lied to detectives. Before he asked for a lawyer in his
interrogation Chris was asked if he had a girlfriend, and he said, there are a few girls
that I would like to be my girlfriend, but I haven't been lucky enough to make that happen.
Okay, all right, really? Well, this is interesting, because after Chris was charged with that
disgusting material on his laptop while being investigated for murder, there was a lot of news
coverage on Chris, who he was and what his possible involvement was.
And there was so much news coverage, in fact, that a man came forward to investigators and
told officers that Chris was his sister Megan's boyfriend, a long-term boyfriend at that.
So everything at this point was starting to blow up for Chris because apparently
Chris and Megan had been dating since 2009,
about four years at this point. And as if it wasn't already pretty clear who Chris was and
the type of person he is just based on his phone and his hard drives alone, it was now crystal
clear to detectives. Chris was not the person that he was charmingly presenting himself to be, not in the slightest.
He had been living a full-blown double life, which was now about to come crashing down on him.
So Megan met with investigators who showed her pictures of Chris's apartment that were taken
while conducting the search warrant, and Megan confirmed to investigators that, of course, yes,
there was a shower curtain missing in the guest bathroom, but also some bathroom rugs and decorative towels were also missing. And there
was another thing that Megan had noticed that was missing, a large golf travel bag that had been
lying on the floor of the living room near the guest bathroom. because it was something
over for weeks and now it
this new information and
hitting inside the apartm
of what may have happened
to set in the mother of m
Kelly Dwyer speaks out ab
by police. W. I. S. And 12
Ben Hutchinson tells us s her daughter's boyfriend, THE WOMAN, KELLY DWYER, SPEAKS OUT ABOUT RECENT FINDINGS BY POLICE. WISN 12 NEWS REPORTER BEN HUTCHISON TELLS US SHE'S UPSET
THAT HER DAUGHTER'S BOYFRIEND,
CHRIS ZACO, IS STILL A FREE MAN.
Sitting a few feet away, Maureen
Dwyer, the mother of Kelly Dwyer,
his girlfriend who vanished in
October.
Showing the police and the
district attorney that we still
think there is a connection and
maybe they'll keep working to
find a connection.
A RECENT SEARCH WARRANT
EXECUTED INSIDE ZACO'S EAST SIDE
APARTMENT REVEALED THAT POLICE
FOUND GUNS AND A MISSING
SHOWER.
A SHOWER WAS FOUND IN THE
DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S HOUSE IN THE CITY OF WISN 12. THE SHOWER WAS FOUND IN THE DISTRICBE THEY WILL KEEP WORKING TO FIND A CONNECTION.
A RECENT SEARCH WARRANT
EXECUTED INSIDE ZACO'S EAST
SIDE APARTMENT REVEALED THAT
POLICE FOUND GUNS AND A MISSING
SHOWER CURTAIN.
ALSO, A CADAVER DOG PICKED UP ON
DWYER'S SENT FIVE TIMES NEAR A
GARBAGE SHOOT IN THE BUILDING.
INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE THAT
POINTS TO HIM, THE CADAVER DOGS,
THE SHOWER CURTAIN, THE FACT
THAT HE'S A GUN AT HOME.
WHILE ZACO IS NOT CHARGED WITH
ANYTHING RELATED TO DWYER'S
DISAPPEARANCE, THE WOMAN'S MOM BELIEVES SOMETHACT THAT HE'S A GUN AT HOME. WHILE ZACO IS NOT CHARGED WITH ANYTHING RELATED TO DWYER'S
DISAPPEARANCE, THE WOMAN'S MOM
BELIEVES SOMETHING HAPPENED
BETWEEN THE TWO.
ALL THIS OVER AND ABOVE THE
PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES AND THE
DOOR CHARGES JUST MADE US
REALIZE THAT HE KNOWS HE DID
SOMETHING TO KELLY.
ZACO HELPED PASS OUT FLYERS
AFTER KELLY DWYER'S
DISAPPEARANCE.
THAT'S THE ONLY TIME HER MOTHER
HAS CROSSED PATHS WITH HIM.
I HAVE NOT HAD ANY CONTACT WITH HIM. A SAYS SHE HAS NOT HAD ANY CONTACT WITH HIM.
SHE SAYS SHE HAS NOT HAD ANY
CONTACT WITH HIM.
SHE SAYS SHE HAS NOT HAD ANY
CONTACT WITH HIM.
SHE SAYS SHE HAS NOT HAD ANY
CONTACT WITH HIM.
I HAVE NOT HAD ANY CONTACT WITH
HIM.
A REPORTER ASKED ME IF I WANTED
TO TALK TO HIM.
I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO HIM.
I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO HIS
FAMILY.
I COULD NOT IMAGINE WHAT I WOULD
SAY TO HIM.
THE DWYER FAMILY SAYS THEY ARE
FOCUSED ON HOLDING OUT HOPE AND
FINDING OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO
KELLY.
IN MILWAUKEE, BEN HUTCHISTON, WISN 12 NEWS. AT TODAY'S, the judge agreed to combine Chris Zacco's child pornography and drug charges.
The trial date is now set for June 2nd.
Zacco's defense team also asked for permission for him to access the internet from his apartment so he can work from home.
The judge granted permission but is requiring a written explanation of how Zacco will be monitored.
Investigators now knew what they needed to look for next, which was any surveillance footage of Chris taking
this huge golf travel bag with a body inside of it
out of his apartment, which surely wouldn't be hard to find
since the entire building had 28 surveillance cameras,
including parking garage cams.
Yet somehow, investigators were unable to see any video footage of Chris
leaving his apartment with that golf travel bag. Investigators combed over the footage for months,
almost puzzled. How could that be? And not only that, but when Chris's car was hauled in for
processing, the cadaver dog also alerted in the trunk of the car and the driver's side backseat
door handle. So how could Chris get into the parking garage, walk all the way to his car
on video, but at no point is he trying to lift a body in a golf travel bag into his car?
Investigators found out that some of the cameras were motion activated, and maybe Chris just
happened to get lucky, which didn't make a lot of sense because
there was footage of him walking with a set of golf clubs to put into his trunk later that day
on Friday. Investigators were at a loss, but there really wasn't much to work with. And not only that,
but Kelly's body also hadn't been recovered. Chris was finally seen leaving his apartment
around 6.30 p.m. that Friday after loading a set of golf clubs into his trunk.
Now, I know this is a little bit confusing because it definitely seems like this surveillance showed it was possibly that travel golf bag.
However, the travel golf bag was already in his trunk before he loaded these clubs.
After leaving his apartment, Chris drove to his mom's house to drop off some golf clubs and
baseball equipment which chris's mom said wasn't unusual for him to do even so she said he did not
drop off the large golf travel bag which was in question now this part is even crazier because
apparently after making that pit stop at his mom's house chris had a 7.30 p.m. dinner reservation with his girlfriend Megan
and with her parents. He was late to dinner though, which investigators thought could be
because he was looking for a place to dump that travel golf bag, but this is just a theory.
Megan said that when Chris did show up, he wasn't himself. He seemed nervous, almost sweating,
and acting strangely. After learning
this, detectives began to believe that maybe the reason why he was so nervous was that Chris still
had the golf bag with Kelly's body in it in his trunk because he couldn't risk leaving her body
in his apartment. But at this point, this was just a theory. The next morning on Saturday, Chris apparently drove to a
cheese shop called the Mouse House, which was 80 miles away from Milwaukee. Now, Wisconsin locals
listening, let me know over on the YouTube side of this in the comments about this, but from what I
understand, there are cheese shops everywhere. So if this is true, why on earth would he drive so far just to get some cheese?
Was he looking for a specific cheese that only that location had? I don't know, but Chris did
have an explanation for this. He said that he drove out there because he was looking to buy
cheese for his girlfriend Megan's parents. But investigators weren't buying it. Why would someone take a 160 mile round trip errand
to get some cheese? Which honestly, that's a really great question. So they believed that
Chris used this as an opportunity to travel through rural farm areas to dump Kelly's body.
This way, he wouldn't be spotted by anyone dumping the body, but also to create an alibi,
like, oh yeah, I was only over in that direction because I was buying cheese, that kind of thing.
But again, this was just a theory at this point.
Chris's movements and locations were tracked after he left the mouse house.
Police believe that after dumping Kelly's body, Chris made his way back to Milwaukee,
but first stopped at a shopping center to go to a sports authority.
There Chris once again used his credit card but this time he bought a new pair of tennis shoes.
This doesn't seem like a big deal at face value but to investigators they now believed that this
was an intentional purchase and that now Chris needed new shoes possibly trying to get rid of
any dirt, mud, blood, or any evidence whatsoever
that may have gotten onto his shoes from dumping Kelly's body somewhere out in the farmland.
And this was not the only issue that investigators had with this purchase. Chris made the credit
card transaction to purchase those shoes at 12 11 p.m. The purchase at the cheese shop however was at 9 55 a.m.
The only problem now with it is that the distance between the cheese shop and the sports authority
was approximately 54 miles from each other. A trip that should have taken 47 minutes if he went
straight there but now he had a 90 minute time gap that was unaccounted for.
During this gap, was Chris driving through farmland or back roads looking for a spot to
conceal a body? It seems likely, but it's also possible that maybe he stopped to pull over for
a bit. Maybe he stopped somewhere else and used cash. But again, police went back to thinking
about that cadaver dog, alerting them for signs of decomposition in the trunk and in the backseat of the car.
And now they were convinced that this unnecessary detour across the state to run errands that he could have done far closer to home proved that he did this in a calculated way to get rid of Kelly's body. Investigat the areas where Chris ma
because his trip covered
was extremely difficult t
body could have essentia
unfortunately they didn't
of 2014, just one year a
Chris was on trial and hi
that Chris had no idea wh
drives.
Jury deliberations start tomorrow in the child pornography case of Chris Zocco,
the person of interest in last year's disappearance of Kelly Dwyer. 12 News reporter Nick Boer is live
at the courthouse tonight where the defense just rested their case. And Nick, did Zocco take the
stand at all? No, Craig, he did not testify, even though his defense really hinges on the jury THE DRIVER'S DAUGHTER WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL. THE DRIVER'S DAUGHTER WAS
TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL.
HE DID NOT TESTIFY EVEN
THOUGH HIS DEFENSE HINGES ON
THE JURY BELIEVING HIS HONESTY.
ZACO SAYING THAT ADMITTING IN
FACT THAT THE DATA FOUND ON A
DRIVE IN HIS APARTMENT IS CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY, SOME OF IT EVEN
INVOLVING TODDLERS, BUT HIS
CONTENTION IS HE DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS THERE. I'VE BEEN THERE BEFORE WITH KELLY.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF KELLY
DWYER A YEAR AGO IS A SUBTEXT
OF THIS TRIAL, BUT SHE HASN'T
BEEN MENTIONED ONCE.
INSTEAD, THE SO-CALLED PERSON
OF INTEREST IN HER
DISAPPEARANCE, CHRIS ZACO, IS
HERE BECAUSE OF CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY POLICE FOUND ON A
COMPUTER HARD DRIVE IN HIS
APARTMENT WHILE SEARCHING FOR
CLUES ABOUT DWYER.
LATE TODAY, HIS DEFENSE
ATTORNEY MOVED TO DISMISS,
SAYING THERE'S NOT ENOUGH
EVIDENCE TO PROVE ZACO KNEW THE CHILD PORN WAS THERE. ASIDE FROM THE FACT OF THE POSSESSION OF THE HARD DRIVE ITSELF, CAN'T ESTABLISH THAT
MR. ZAKO IS THE PERSON OR THE
INDIVIDUAL I GUESS WHO WOULD
HAVE DOWNLOADED FROM SOME OTHER
SOURCE.
BUT THE PROSECUTOR SUCCESSFULLY
ARGUED THAT THE CASE SHOULD NOT
BE CONTINUED.
THE PROSECUTOR SAID THAT THE
CHILD PORN WAS THERE.
THE CHILD PORN WAS THERE.
THE CHILD PORN WAS THERE.
THE CHILD PORN WAS THERE.
THE CHILD PORN WAS THERE.
THE CHILD PORN WAS THERE.
THE CHILD PORN WAS THERE. THE CHILD PORN WAS THERE. THE CHILD PORNIDENCE. THE STATE IS PROCEEDING ON A THEORY OF
POSSESSION OF CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY, NOT ON A THEORY
OF ACCESSING CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY. LATER, ZACO'S
DEFENSE ATTORNEY CALLED A
FORENSIC ITEM OF THE
DEFENSE TO BE A POSSIBLE
POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE
POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE
POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE
POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE
POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE
POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE
POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE
POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE
POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE
POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE POSSIBLE P IT WAS ON A THEORY OF POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, NOT ON A THEORY
OF ACCESSING CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY.
LATER, ZACO'S DEFENSE
ATTORNEY CALLED A FORENSIC
I.T. EXPERT WHO SAID
ZACO'S CLAIM THAT THE
FILES MADE IT ONTO HIS
HARD DRIVE WITHOUT HIS
KNOWLEDGE WAS POSSIBLE.
AND UNDER QUESTIONING,
SAID HE COULDN'T FIND ANY
EVIDENCE THAT ZACO EVER
DOWNLOADED CHILD PORN OR
TRIED TO HIDE IT.
Did it appear to you that
anybody had tried to hide
those files, either through
the internet or through
the internet itself? No. I don't think so. I don't think so. THE FAMILY WAS TOLD THE FAMILY WAS NOT IN THE CASE. THE FAMILY WAS NOT IN THE CASE.
NO ONE EVER DOWNLOADED CHILD
PORN OR TRIED TO HIDE IT.
DID IT APPEAR TO YOU THAT
ANYBODY HAD TRIED TO HIDE THOSE
FILES EITHER THROUGH ENCRYPTION
TECHNIQUES OR FILE CHANGING OR
NAME CHANGING OF FILES OR
ANYTHING LIKE THAT?
NO. AND JURORS WILL RETETURN TOMORROW MORNING.
THEY WILL HEAR CLOSING ARGUMENTS
AND THEN BEGIN DELIBERATIONS SO
WE COULD HAVE A VERDICT BY
TOMORROW AFTERNOON.
IF CONVICTED OF ALL 17 COUNTS OF
POSSESSION AND CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY, ZACO COULD FACE
MORE THAN 50 YEARS IN PRISON.
LIVE HERE AT THE COURTHOUSE,
NICK FORD, WISN 12 NEWS.
ZACO IS ALSO FACING DRUG
CHARGES.
DURING THE SEARCH, POLICE SAY
THEY FOUND COCAINE AND MARIJUANA.
HE IS FACING THREE FELONIES AND TWO MISDEMEANORS, INCLUDING MAINTAINING A DRUG TRAFFICKING PLACE. Thanks, Nick. Zocco is also facing drug charges during the search. Police say they found cocaine and marijuana.
He's facing three felonies and two misdemeanors, including maintaining a drug trafficking place.
And there is a hearing in that case scheduled for tomorrow.
Again, Zocco was the last person to see Kelly Dwyer more than a year ago when Zocco was first arrested.
Police say he admitted to doing cocaine with Dwyer a couple of times a week.
Dwyer's family has been in many of Zocco's court hearings, including this trial. Chris was convicted of all pornography
charges except for one, and he later pled guilty to the drug charges.
The man who may have been the last person to see Kelly Dwyer is found guilty on 16 felony counts.
The verdict is not related to Dwyer's disappearance, but for possession of child
pornography. Fox 6's Ashley Sears live in the newsroom with the latest. IS NOT RELATED TO DWYER'S DISAPPEARANCE, BUT FOR POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.
FOX 6'S ASHLEY SEARS LIVE IN THE NEWSROOM WITH THE LATEST.
GOOD EVENING. EVEN THOUGH THIS CASE DID NOT INVOLVE THEIR DAUGHTER,
DWYER'S FAMILY MEMBERS WERE STILL IN COURT TODAY,
SAYING THIS VERDICT REINFORCES AN EFFORT TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO KELLY DWYER.
I'M HERE FOR MY DAUGHTER KELLY. IT IS NOT THE TRIAL THE DWYER FAMILY WANTED.
WE'LL PROCEED AGGRESSIVELY AND WE'LL PROCEED ACCORDINGLY.
BUT IT IS A VERDICT THEY WERE HAPPY TO SEE.
WE'VE TAKEN SOMEBODY AFTER THE JURY'S CAREFUL DELIBERATION AND SENSITIVE DELIBERATION OFF THE STREETS. A jury finds Chris Zacco guilty of 16 of 17 counts of possession of child pornography. The state is pleased with the outcome of the trial.
Investigators say they found
the child pornography on Zacco's
computer while looking into the
disappearance of 27-year-old
Kelly Dwyer.
After the verdict was read,
Zacco was cuffed and escorted
from the courtroom.
His father would not speak to
Fox 6, pushing our camera
away.
We're going to have to get
him out of the courtroom.
We're going to have to get him
out of the courtroom.
We're going to have to get him
out of the courtroom.
We're going to have to get him
out of the courtroom.
We're going to have to get him out of the courtroom. We're going to have to get him out of the courtroom. We're going to have to get him THE FAMILY'S FATHER. THE FATHER OF THE FAMILY'S FATHER WAS THE
FATHER OF THE FAMILY'S
FATHER'S GENERAL, KELLY
DWYER.
AFTER THE VERDICT WAS
READ, HE WAS CUFFED AND
ESCORTED FROM THE
COURTROOM.
HIS FATHER WOULD NOT
SPEAK TO FOX 6, PUSHING
OUR CAMERA AWAY.
HE MAY HAVE BEEN THE
LAST PERSON TO HAVE SEEN
DWYER AND REMAINS A
PERSON OF INTEREST IN
THAT INVESTIGATION.
WE HAVE ASSEMBLED A
TEAM OF INVESTIGATORS. THEY ARE INSIDE THE HOME.
THEY ARE INSIDE THE HOME.
THEY ARE INSIDE THE HOME.
THEY ARE INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME.
THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME. THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME. THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME. THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME. THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME. THE FAMILY IS INSIDE THE HOME. that will satisfy us is when he's in handcuffs for an association with Kelly's disappearance.
Zacco faces three to 15 years in prison for each guilty count. He will be sentenced in mid-January.
At sentencing, Chris received 19 years in prison for those charges, but still nothing relating to
Kelly. But I have to say say although at this point it was still
unsolved with Kelly at least you got this creep pedo off the streets for all of those child
pornography charges and discovery made. So police also still believed that Chris was 100% involved
in the disappearance and murder and disposal of Kelly. But could they prove it? Could they prove it in court,
without a body, without more physical evidence that a crime had occurred? Because we do know
that yes, people can be charged with murder without a body, but at this point investigators
and the district attorney felt like this wasn't enough to charge Chris and to then later get a
conviction. So with that, investigators weren't sure what to do.
It was beginning to seem more and more that if Chris was involved,
he wasn't going to be charged for it.
And eventually, the case became cold.
However, six months after Chris had been convicted in May of 2015,
police had a huge break in the case.
She vanished more than a year and a half ago. Tonight,
part of the mystery solved. The remains of Kelly Dwyer identified. For more than a year and a half,
a family has been asking, where is our daughter? Now, Kelly Dwyer's parents have that answer. We
have live team coverage. We begin with 12 News investigative reporter Colleen Henry. And Colleen,
we are waiting for a news conference in just about an hour, but you've uncovered new information in INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER COLLEEN HENRY. COLLEEN, WE ARE WAITING FOR A NEWS CONFERENCE IN JUST ABOUT AN HOUR, BUT YOU'VE UNCOVERED NEW
INFORMATION IN THIS CASE.
IT'S BEEN 19 MONTHS, A LONG
BITTER ROAD FOR THE DWIER FAMILY
AND A VERY DIFFICULT WEEK
WAITING FOR THE COMPARISON OF
DENTAL RECORDS.
THE 27-YEAR-OLD EASTSIDER WENT
MISSING IN OCTOBER OF 2013.
SHE WAS LAST SEEN ON VIDEO
ENTERING THE APARTMENT OF A MAN
SHE WAS DATING.
CAMERAS NEVER DOCUMENTED HER
LEAVE.
A CADAVER DOG PICKED UP KELLY
DWIER'S CENT IN THE BUILDING'S
TRASH AREA AND PARKING GARAGE
IN THE NEXT HOUR.
THE DOCTOR SAYS THE DOCTOR
WAS NOT ABLE TO TELL THEM.
THE DOCTOR SAYS THE DOCTOR WAS NOT ABLE TO TELL THEM. THE DOCTOR SAYS THE DOCTOR WAS NOT HER LEAVE. A CADAVER DOG PICKED UP KELLY DWYER'S CENT IN THE BUILDING'S
TRASH AREA AND PARKING GARAGE.
CRISACO TOLD POLICE SHE LEFT
WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING AFTER A
NIGHT OF PARTYING.
HE'S SERVING TIME FOR THE DRUGS
AND PORN DISCOVERED IN HIS
APARTMENT DURING THE SEARCH FOR
THE YOUNG WOMAN.
NOW THIS DISCOVERY OPENS A NEW
CHAPTER IN THIS INVESTIGATION
AS JEFFERSON COUNTY JOINS
MILWAUKEE POLICE TO INVESTIGATE
KELLY DWYER'S DEATH.
ALL RIGHT, CHRISTINE,
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THE DEATH OF KELLY DWYER. THE DEATH OF KELLY DWYER IS UNDERWAY. NOW THIS DISCOVERY OPENS A NEW
CHAPTER IN THIS INVESTIGATION
AS JEFFERSON COUNTY JOINS
MILWAUKEE POLICE TO INVESTIGATE
KELLY DWYER'S DEATH.
ALL RIGHT, COLLEEN, AND THIS
IS COMPLICATED BECAUSE WE STILL
DON'T KNOW THE CAUSE OF DEATH.
YEAH, JOYCE, 12 NEWS HAS
LEARNED THAT THERE WERE NO
OBVIOUS SIGNS OF TRAUMA
DISCOVERED DURING THE AUTOPSY.
AT THIS POINT, THERE'S NO PROOF
OF HOMICIDE. OF COURSE, YOU CAN'T RULE IT OUT EITHER. EXPERTS SAY IT'S NOT UNCOMMON TO
FIND NO EVIDENCE WHEN YOU ONLY
HAVE SKELETAL REMAINS LIKE THIS.
ALL RIGHT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, COLLEEN.
AND YOU SAW HIM JUST MOMENTS AGO.
BUT 12 NEWS' BEN HUTCHISON
CONTINUES OUR LIVE TEAM COVERAGE
FROM JEFFERSON COUNTY WHERE HER
BODY WAS FOUND.
I'M ALONG INLAND ROAD HERE IN THE
TOWN OF SULLIVAN.
IT'S A VERY RURAL AREA.
IT'S A DEAD END STREET. I'M GOING TO STEP OUT OF THE
WAY.
THERE ARE VERY FEW HOUSES WHERE
I AM, BUT THIS IS THE AREA THE
REMAINS WERE FOUND IN.
JUST LAST THURSDAY, DWYER'S
FAMILY ANNOUNCED THEY HIRED A
PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR WHO WOULD
BE SEARCHING 45 MILES OUTSIDE
THE CITY FOR DWYER'S REMAINS.
THEN ON FRIDAY, A NEIGHBOR
TAKING A WALK ON INLAND ROAD
COINCIDENTALLY CAME ACROSS A
SKELETON JUST A FEW FEET FROM
THE STREET.
HE WAS NOT PART OF ANY FORMAL
SEARCH.
WE DID FIND THAT PERSON WHO
DISCOVERED THOSE REMAINS, BUT HE HAS BEEN INVESTIGATED. WE HAVE A LIST OF THE REMAINS AND WE ARE LOOKING FOR ANY A WALK ON INLAND ROAD COINCIDENTALLY CAME ACROSS A SKELETON JUST A FEW FEET FROM THE STREET. HE WAS NOT
PART OF ANY FORMAL
SEARCH. WE DID FIND
THAT PERSON WHO
DISCOVERED THOSE
REMAINS, BUT HE HAS
BEEN TOLD TO NOT
COMMENT. JUST FOR
PERSPECTIVE, THE
SKELETON WAS FOUND
40 MILES FROM WHERE
DWYER WAS LAST SEEN
ON MILWAUKEE'S EAST
SIDE. NOW BECAUSE THE
REMAINS WERE
DISCOVERED HERE IN
JEFFERSON COUNTY,
INVESTIGATORS HERE ARE
HANDLING THE CASE. I
DID SPEAK WITH A
COUPLE OF NEIGHBORS OUT HERE. THEY SAY HOPEFULLY THIS BRINGS
SOME SORT OF CLOSURE AND PEACE
TO THE FAMILY.
A YOUNG BEAUTY, AN UGLY END.
NOTHING BUT BONES AND
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS.
HOW DID KELLY DWYER DIE?
AND WHO LEFT HER LIKE ROAD KILL
ON A DEAD END ROAD?
MICHAEL SIMLEY IS A FORENSIC
INVESTIGATOR AT MILWAUKEE
COUNTY'S MEDICAL EXAMINER'S
OFFICE, WHERE AN AUTOPSY OF
DWYER'S SKELETON REVEALED NO
OBVIOUS CAUSE OF DEATH.
SIMLEY COUNTY'S MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICEUND IN THE HOSPITAL. THE BODY WAS FOUND IN THE HOSPITAL. THE BODY WAS FOUND IN THE
HOSPITAL.
MICHAEL SIMLEY IS A
FORENSIC INVESTIGATOR AT
MILWAUKEE COUNTY'S MEDICAL
EXAMINER'S OFFICE WHERE AN
AUTOPSY OF DWYER'S SKELETON
REVEALED NO OBVIOUS CAUSE OF
DEATH.
SIMLEY CAN'T DISCUSS HER CASE
SPECIFICALLY BUT SAYS HER BONES
MAY STILL SPILL SECRETS.
bones can tell us a lot.
DWYER'S BONES,
SPECIFICALLY HER TEETH, REVEALED
THE MOST CRITICAL CLUE, HER
IDENTITY.
WHAT CAN THE BONES TELL YOU
ABOUT CAUSE OF DEATH?
SIMLEY SAYS SOME CAUSES OF
DEATH ARE EASY TO IDENTIFY. KNIFE WOUNDS, GUNSHOTS, BULLS, AND THINGS LIKE THAT. THE BODY WAS FOUND NOT A MEDICAL CLUE. HER IDENTITY. WHAT CAN THE BONES TELL YOU
ABOUT CAUSE OF DEATH?
SIMLEY SAYS SOME
CAUSES OF DEATH ARE EASY TO
IDENTIFY.
KNIFE WOUNDS, GUNFIRE.
YOU CAN SEE THE BULLET
FRAGMENTS STILL.
FOR THE VERY TOUGH CASES, A
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST IS THE
LAST RESORT.
IT'S THE LAST THING WE CAN
POSSIBLY DO TO SEE IF THERE'S A
CAUSE OF DEATH OR IF THERE'S
ANYTHING THAT COULD MAYBE LEAD
US TO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE
PERSON.
REYERS' SKELETON IS NOW AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS,
WHERE FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGISTS
ARE WORKING TO MAKE SURE THAT THEIR CAUSE OF DEATH OR IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT COULD LEAD US TO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PERSON.
DWYER'S SKELETON IS NOW AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS.
REFERENCIC ANTHROPOLOGISTS WILL
MICROSCOPICALLY ANALYZE EACH
BONE FOR CLUES ABOUT HER FINAL
HOURS.
ZACO WAS AN I-T EXECUTIVE.
COURT RECORDS SHOW HE TOLD
POLICE HE AND DWYER WERE FRIENDS
WITH BENEFITS.
SPENT THAT NIGHT DRINKING,
SNORTING COCAINE AND HAVING SEX
THAT SHE LEFT IN THE MORNING. STATE OF WISCONSIN VERSUS THIS ZACO. THE SUSPECT WAS A SUSPECT OF A SUFFOCATION. THE SUSPECT WAS A SUSPECT OF A
SUFFOCATION.
THE SUSPECT WAS
A SUSPECT OF A
SUFFOCATION.
THE SUSPECT WAS
A SUSPECT OF A
SUFFOCATION.
THE SUSPECT WAS A
SUSPECT OF A
SUFFOCATION.
THE SUSPECT WAS A
SUSPECT OF A
SUFFOCATION.
THE SUSPECT WAS A
SUSPECT OF A
SUFFOCATION.
THE SUSPECT WAS A
SUSPECT OF A
SUFFOCATION.
THE SUSPECT WAS A SUSPECT OF A SUFF GIRL. THE POLICE SAY THEY ARE TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT
HAPPENED TO THE GIRL.
THE POLICE SAY THEY ARE
TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT
HAPPENED TO THE GIRL.
THE POLICE SAY THEY ARE
TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT
HAPPENED TO THE GIRL.
THE POLICE SAY THEY ARE
TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT
HAPPENED TO THE GIRL.
THE POLICE SAY THEY ARE
TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT
HAPPENED TO THE GIRL.
THE POLICE SAY THEY ARE
TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT
HAPPENED TO THE GIRL.
THE POLICE SAY THEY ARE
TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT
HAPPENED TO THE GIRL.
THE POLICE SAY THEY ARE TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GIRL. THE POLICE SAY THEY ARE TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT other clues. It might not It might be something that investigation for the pol
not affect anything or it
scheme of things. The for
the University of North T
months. Dreier's family i
about the discovery of he
still planning a proper m
that will come once her r
released to her family at wasn't a trace of tangible evidence to be found. There was no
shower curtain, no clothing, not even a travel golf bag. However, the detectives did notice
something, the peculiar positioning of Kelly's skeleton. Her limbs were twisted in unnatural
ways, almost as if she had been forced into a container,
like a golf travel bag.
It seemed like enough evidence to take Chris to court for Kelly's death, but still, a lot
of what they had was circumstantial.
Her body was discovered close to where he'd been shopping the day after she disappeared,
but this coincidence wasn't enough for the assistant district attorney,
who was after solid proof that would make the case bulletproof. The aim was to uncover every shred of evidence that could be found, especially since they were relying on a case that was largely
based on circumstantial evidence. With Chris already behind bars, they didn't need to rush
things. It took an additional two years of detailed investigation before Wisconsin formally charged Chris for Kelly's death.
And even then, it was another year and a half before the case finally went to trial.
The man accused of killing 27-year-old Kelly Dwyer and hiding her body is going to face a jury on Monday.
Fox 6's Brett Lemoine is live at the Milwaukee County Courthouse with the new charge. Chris Zocco will also contend with in the morning. This new charge alleges that Zocco tried to hire someone to intimidate one of his ex girlfriends. Last year, prosecutors said they ruled out any other possible suspects and charged Zocco with first degree reckless homicide, hiding a corpse and strangulation and suffocation. But in another twist this month, prosecutors added AND CHARGED ZACO WITH FIRST-DEGREE RECKLESS HOMICIDE, HIDING A CORPSE, AND STRANGULATION AND SUFFOCATION.
BUT IN ANOTHER TWIST, THIS MONTH, PROSECUTORS ADDED A NEW CHARGE OF INTIMIDATION OF A WITNESS.
INVESTIGATORS SAY AN INMATE AT THE WHIPPON CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION TOLD HIM THAT ZACO WAS CONCERNED ABOUT ONE OF HIS EX-GIRLFRIENDS BEING A POTENTIAL WITNESS AT TRIAL. being a potential witness at trial. The inmate allegedly told police that Zocco admitted to hiding Dwyer's body after rough sex and that Zocco offered up to
$5,000 for a hit to intimidate potential witnesses at Zocco's felony jury trial.
I asked when he last saw her and he said they went out, had been drinking, partying,
she didn't have to work on Friday and she left sometime in the morning. And he said they went out, had been drinking, partying.
She didn't have to work on Friday.
And she left sometime in the morning.
Karen Horton was Kelly Dwyer's boss at Lululemon,
who eventually found Chris Zacco's number and called him after Dwyer didn't show up for work.
A voicemail Zacco left Karen was played for the jury.
Hi, Karen, my name is Chris Zacco. Can you hear me?
Karen says Zacco came to Lululemon shortly before a group was meeting to post flyers with Kelly's photo. Zacco didn't stay to help. And said I'm so sorry for what you're going through
and at that point I just again got a very strong body sensation and thought like I don't trust him.
At least twice he had asked if police looked at the videos, the surveillance tapes from the apartment.
MPD Detective Eric Gulbranson shared some of the surveillance video from Zacco's apartment building garage,
showing Zacco putting a large bag into his trunk.
It sets the bag down on the ground. Then he appears to be like fumbling or to me almost like he's buying time
as the car is passing. He does a look over his right shoulder directly at that car to note that
the car had passed. As the car passes, he then opens the trunk and then he will grab the bag
that he is pushing this in. Objection. Attorneys for Zacco
argue that the cameras don't show everything. Speculation is not enough and evidence does not
directly link Zacco to Dwyer's death. Chris Zacco's ex-girlfriend Megan P is blurred so she
cannot be identified. He told me that he was at home working that night so I wasn't planning on
seeing him. She claims that was Zaka's reasoning
see her on the night of t
2013. Prosecutors believ
up with Kelly Dwyer to do
back to his apartment wher
strangling and suffocatin
morning hours. Megan P cla
planned that friday night
up several hours late with no warning.
He had mentioned that he was bringing sporting equipment up to his mother's house.
Megan P says not only was she frustrated by his late appearance, she was taken aback by his behavior.
I remember while I was making dinner, he was kind of futzing with his phone, so I assumed that he was changing out the SIM card.
Prosecutors accused Zacco of hiding Dwyer's body in a golf travel bag and dumping it in rural Jefferson County.
I woke up to head to the gym in the morning.
He had been very sweaty, actually to the point that he sweat through the sheets that night.
And so I asked him if he was feeling okay,
because I ended up having to change the bed sheets. When Detective Vincent Fonte performed
a search warrant at Zacco's apartment, he said the place was spotless. The full bathroom
had a strong order of bleach as it had been recently cleaned. Yeah, during search warrants
on Chris Zacco's apartment, police took lots of stuff and now it'll be up to a jury to decide if any of it is evidence of a crime.
The pictures from items discovered in Chris Zacco's apartment after Kelly Dwyer went missing in October of 2013.
Cleaning supplies, items that a cadaver dog led them to.
Ultimately, no DNA was found. Detectives went to Zacco's East Milwaukee apartment because video outside and inside his building showed this video of the couple entering the morning of October 11, 2013. Dwyer was never seen alive again. Police looked for clues. The search for items of neckties, scarves, ligatures or any other items that could be used to bind the arms and
legs of a human being. Police took 109 pieces of evidence from Zacco's
apartment. Neckties, hard drives, cameras, rope, and a set of metal handcuffs. Chris
Zacco is not only charged with reckless homicide in the death of Kelly Dwyer,
but also strangulation and suffocation. After his arrest,
Zacco bailed out of jail and went to his ex-girlfriend's condo. A friend was there
and spoke to Zacco about the crime. He said a group of us went together and then he just added
what I think I carried around in my apartment. That would have been like an impossible feat.
And the defense was questioning a detective for quite some time who looked at all the video surveillance, suggesting that perhaps he didn't look at enough of it to actually find Kelly Dwyer
leaving on her own when she went missing. Did you discover anything unusual on that date? Yes, I did.
That day was May 1, 2015.
Christopher Fontaine spotted a bone near a dead-end road in rural Jefferson County.
Looking closer, he noticed a human skull.
It wasn't making sense. It doesn't look like we're looking at it.
Jurors today viewed pictures of Kelly Dwyer's remains as seen by the medical examiner.
They're too graphic to show on TV.
Prosecutors think Zacco transported Dwyer in a golf bag.
The medical examiner testified about the state of her body
when it was discovered.
I noted that her right arm was underneath her torso,
but her left arm was bent backwards
and resting on her back and it was
stuck there. Although during questioning from Zacco's lawyer, she acknowledged she ruled the
manner of death undetermined, not a homicide or an accident. For you to make an undetermined
determination for manner of death as you did in this case. I believe that your standards require you to say that you have less than 50 percent certainty regarding another cause of a manner of death.
Is that correct? Yes. Some of the photos shown in court today were so graphic that Dwyer's mother
had to leave the courtroom. The media is ordered not to identify a woman called just Miss C.
The woman says she met Chris Zocco in 2011 through Craigslist for a bondage type of sexual relationship.
When I got to a point where I needed to breathe, that it was at the edge, that's why it's called edge plate,
that I would tap him and he was supposed to give me my breath back.
Zocco is accused of plotting to put a hit out on Miss'm going to get out of here. I'm going to get out of here. I'm going to get out of here. Give me my
breath back. Zach was accused
of plotting to put a hit out on
Miss C. So she could not
testify. Zako has denied this.
The woman told the jury
eventually she feared for her
own safety with Zako being
asphyxiated during sex. It would
get to the point where I was
frantic and. I was using every ounce of my own strength to get our way so that I could breathe. Testimony revealed that Zacco and Dwyer had a similar type of relationship.
A theory of what Chris Zacco did the day after Kelly Dwyer went missing.
Charge card statements show Chris Zacco bought cheese at a Dane County store and shoes in
Delafield. A detective testified Zacco had enough time to stop in Sullivan,
where Dwyer's remains were eventually discovered.
Was it your opinion that it was possible and that there was actually sufficient time for the defendant to have potentially deposited the remains of Kelly Dwyer after leaving the Mouse House, but before purchasing the shoes?
Yes, it would be possible.
And the woman referred to as Miss C told jurors she decided to end the relationship with Zacco in 2012 after Zacco, she said, raped her. During the trial, the prosecutor was relentless
in conveying to the jury that all of the circumstantial evidence pointed to one conclusion. Kelly's death occurred during a choking-related sexual act, and Chris concealed
her remains. They painted a very vivid picture of a cover-up and what they thought happened.
According to the prosecution's scenario, Chris, in a panic after the incident, washed Kelly's body
in a spare bathroom, then enclosed it in his shower curtain
and packed it into that sizable travel golf bag. Then before 7 20 a.m. he wheeled it to his parking
space and put the golf bag in the trunk of his Audi, all while an SUV driving by conveniently
obscured the garage's security camera. The following day, he went on that supposed shopping excursion near
Madison, seizing the opportunity to dispose of the body in a secluded spot off that dead-end road
in Sullivan. The detective accused both the prosecution and investigators of being single-mindedly
focused on Chris. They acknowledged that he and Kelly had engaged in cocaine use and sexual
activities that night,
but firmly maintained that she departed on her own the next morning. A significant point in the
prosecution's case was that there was no visual proof of Kelly ever leaving the apartment.
The defense countered this by alleging that not all cameras were examined and that Kelly was
familiar with the building and could have left through a different exit that investigators never found. In closing arguments, the prosecution played audio of a video
that Chris made about three weeks before Kelly disappeared. The audio was from her gasping during
extreme oral sex while bound. The prosecution also brought up the still photos also from Chris's phone from the same date
where Kelly was unconscious, saying that she was lucky to wake up from that and that on October 11,
2013, Kelly Dwyer's luck ran out. After the trial, Chris was convicted of the 2013 murder of Kelly
and of hiding her body in rural Jefferson County. The jury didn't need long to
deliberate and came back with their verdict, finding Chris guilty of first-degree reckless
homicide, concealing a corpse, and strangulation. At his sentencing a few months later, Kelly's
father spoke. Kelly was not the only woman victimized by this evil man. Other female victims have come
forward to speak out against him. He is a serial sexual predator as well as a
killer. The actions of this devil have shattered so many lives.
Our family, the Milwaukee community will never be the same.
Our hearts are broken to the core.
Our relationships with one another have been pushed to the very limits of endurance in our family and our friends.
The past five years of suffering have been overwhelming, and this demon has destroyed us in ways that we haven't fully realized yet.
He must suffer as we are suffering.
But he sits there remorseless,
continuing to scheme his way out of the fate that he richly deserves.
Judge, I ask that you sentence this monster to the maximum time allowed by law
for each of the charges against him,
not only for Kelly's sake, but in the name of all the women he has victimized
in the community and will continue if allowed.
Thank you. Thank you. Chris was given a 31-year sentence to be served after the 19-year sentence he was previously in custody for. Chris's conviction may have closed a legal chapter,
but it didn't close the book on the pain and the puzzlement that many feel about what happened to
Kelly. We saw glimpses of her final hours on surveillance footage, yet those images only
deepened the mystery. How did a casual evening turn into something so tragic? How could a person
like Chris, who seemed to be ordinary, be responsible for something so horrifying? It's
another situation where if something
accidentally happened, why on earth wouldn't you call the police? Luckily, investigators worked
tirelessly to piece together the puzzle in this case, and their determination led to justice for
Kelly's family five years later. But even now, this case leaves us with many unsettling questions
about trust, safety, and the hidden
sides of people that we might think we know. Kelly's story isn't just a senseless tragedy,
but a reflection of the complex and sometimes scary world that we live in. It's a reminder to
stay vigilant, to question, and to never take anything or anyone at face value. What do you
think of Chris's double life? How did it go under the radar of his girlfriend megan who he was with for over four years how did she not know and that's not to shame
her in any way but i'm just curious after being with somebody for four years how and you see
things missing in the apartment what are the excuses that they have for why those items are
missing how do you not know what's on the hard drive how do you not know that he's dating other
people and bringing women to the apartment?
And again, I want to be clear.
I'm not trying to shame her in any way.
I'm just curious as to how he got away with all of this for so long.
How he was able to successfully live this double life.
Have you ever been conned like that?
Has there ever been a situation in which you thought you knew someone and they turned out
to be a completely different person?
If so, I definitely want to hear from you. So please either email your story over if you're
comfortable sharing it or leave it in the comment section over on YouTube. But I always get
fascinated by these cases of what I call con men, even though it's not like a con that he pulled,
but it is living a double life and it is a con to an extent so if you're comfortable sharing
a con that happened to you or somebody close to you let me know shoot me over an email at
tentolifeinfo at gmail.com all right guys thanks for tuning in with this case i'm curious to know
your thoughts so make sure to leave your feedback please also take a quick second rate this podcast
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All right, guys, I will be talking to you guys again
very soon.
I will for sure see you this Thursday
with headline highlights and maybe even a bonus episode between now and then, but you'll never know unless you follow
the podcast and get notified of it. All right, guys, thanks again for tuning in and I will talk
with you again very soon. It is time for me to sign off. Have a good rest of your day. All right.
Bye. A person she had been seeing was also in the news for things that were very bizarre.
But no bipolar.
Schizophrenia.
I suppose that's all open to interpretation by somebody.
Yeah, you're right.
Kelly Dwyer was last seen on Milwaukee's East Side 19 months ago. I suppose that's all open to interpretation by somebody. Yeah, you're right. It is.
Kelly Dwyer was last seen on Milwaukee's east side 19 months ago.
He met up with Kelly Dwyer to do drugs, go to a bar, then back to his apartment. The remains were located approximately 20 feet off of the road along a tree line.
Speak or read any other language.
All right.
Finding a gas station or a bibliotheca.
They think I carried this girl out of my apartment. She's as big as me.