Snapped: Women Who Murder - Martie Roderberg

Episode Date: April 12, 2026

A local Washington man's life is at stake; detectives are alerted to a murder against him.Season 33 Episode 21Originally aired: Jun 9, 2024Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An unusual confession leads to a once-in-a-lifetime investigation. A man called 911, and he said he wanted to report a murder, but it hadn't happened yet. We hadn't talked in 20-some years, and she's trying to get me to kill somebody. I realized right then there, I had to go to the authorities. To prevent a murder, police will have to catch the mastermind in the act. In the law, a crime like attempted murder isn't completed until there's a substantial step taken. She's already talked about getting a gun. What if we provide that opportunity?

A daring sting operation gives police more than they bargained for. If I knew I had to do it, my table would have already been done. Just unbelievable. The more you dig, you know, the deeper the rabbit hole goes. And detectives uncover a hint. history of fraud, violence, and greed. The fire and the murder for hire plot, right? It's the same playbook.

You borrow money from her and it was like selling your soul to the devil. Psychopath is the best way to describe her. Honestly, I don't have it wrong to. In Spokane County, Washington, 911 calls aren't a rare occurrence. Spokane's a mid-sized city in eastern Washington state. 500,000 people in the county, about 200,000 in city limits. So we have a lot of property crimes, like a lot of cities in the western United States. On October 11, 2016, sheriffs receive the most bizarre call they've ever heard.

A man named Martin Drake walked into a Walmart store in the city of Spokane Valley. He asked to use the phone. He called 911 and he said he wanted to report a murder. But it hadn't happened yet. And you sounded frazzled. Drake didn't want to go into much detail on the phone during his 911 call. He wanted to meet with someone specifically, as soon as possible, an officer. He said that the former friend from high school had essentially solicited him to help her kill somebody.

or kill somebody. Frankly, it was just somewhat unbelievable. Is this somebody just trying to get someone in trouble? Or is this somebody that's trying to relate, you know, a true threat on somebody's life? Police take Drake's claim seriously and immediately open an investigation. He told us where he was going to meet us

and patrol was dispatched. They met with him and took his initial statement. He's pretty nervous, but he relayed the information as best he could. I told that first officer that a person I hadn't seen quite a few years approached me. She's talking about trying to get me to kill somebody. At first I was just taking it back. Why the hell would she think that I would do something like that? When I realized that she was serious, I had to go to the authorities.

I was sick to my stomach out from the conversation I haven't hurt. He didn't even know the guy, but he was concerned for this guy's welfare. He tells us the intended victim was Russell Soderberg. Russell Soderberg was a lifelong resident of the Spokane Valley area. Russ was a good guy. He was definitely a family man. He was born in 1965. He had a pretty standard childhood, went to high school,

and then quickly joined the workforce after that. Russell joined the family business working as a glazier in his grandparents' glass shop. By the time he was 20, Russell was already married and starting a family of his own. He had two children with his first wife, a son and a daughter, Scott and Stacey. Russell worked hard to provide for his children,

but after 13 years of marriage, he and his wife decided to get a divorce. Within a year, a new woman caught Russell's eye, Marty Maxwell. He was playing on a softball league with my mom's brothers, and he asked her out, and she said yes. Marty was over 10 years younger than Russell, but she'd experienced more than many do in a lifetime. She grew up in the Seattle area.

She was a wild child. She's a twin. She didn't graduate past the eighth grade. She was just running around the town, hanging with the older crowds. My mom had me at 15 years old. My dad was twice her age, and so I lived with my grandparents

while my mom was out doing her thing. And then three years later she had my sister Ashley and went on to live her life until she got pregnant with my other sister. At 22, Marty decided it was time to turn her life around. My mom had matured and grown up. She kind of settled down here in Spokane and was working retail for a store, and that's about the time she met Russell.

And we thought, well, maybe this is the turnaround for her, because he was a good guy. Russell asked Marty to marry him in 2002, three years after they met. In 2007, they had a child together, and Marty quit her job to become a stay-at-home mother. Over the next decade, Russell also helped her mend her relationship with her older daughters. The good times for me with my mom didn't happen until later in life. I was probably 18, and we started doing family trips together.

One of the first memories I remember doing with my stepdad and his kids was going to a Seattle Mariners baseball game. It seemed like we were a normal family that was blended. I knew he was a positive influence around her and he had a stable job. They came around in the holidays. I've looked to him more as a dad than a stepdad. He's always provided when we've needed. He's been there when we need him. After 15 years, the extended family has grown closer than ever.

But it now appears Russell has made a dangerous enemy along the way. Martin Drake has confessed that a woman tried to hire him to murder Russell. And Spokane Police want to know why. Mr. Drake was so specific that we knew that we needed to take it serious. And that required that full and complete investigation. Deputy proceeded to give me right over to the substation out there in the valley. And I met a couple of detectives and explained them what was going on. According to Drake, it all began when an old friend reached out to him on social media.

I hadn't thought of this person since we were like 15, 16 years old. She contacts me on Facebook. And the next day we've met up. I really don't recall the whole conversation. I'll just ask what I've been up to. Over lunch, Drake shared some of the hardships he'd been through, and his friend offered to help. At the time, I was homeless.

I had a drug addiction. He told her that he was living in some field under a park bench or a picnic table. The two met up again the following day. But this time, she asked Drake for something in exchange. We hadn't talked in 20-some years, and that's when she dropped the bomb. She's trying to get me to kill her husband. At that point, Drake told us his friend that he just met up with was Marty Soderberg. So the more we talked to him about it, we finally figured out her husband was Russell Sotabird.

Marty told Drake that she was unhappy in her marriage, but she couldn't just get a divorce because she didn't work. She'd be left with nothing. So she had just taken out a $300,000 life insurance policy on her husband. Drake says Marty appeared to have thought the whole thing out already. She even knew when she wanted it done. She wanted me to...

Shoot him on Halloween night in front of their kids why they were trick or trading so she would have an alibi. Drake said Marty was pretty calm, cool, and collected. It was like normal conversation. And it just, Drake was uncomfortable with that. I really got sick thinking that the things people do to other people is just unbelievable. I can't grab my mind around it.

This was October 11, so we're figuring Halloween night. Man, we're only two and a half, three weeks out. So we knew the time was at the essence here. Coming up, to catch a would-be killer, detectives set a dangerous trap. They asked me if I'd be willing to wear wire. But they get even more than they expected. Do you plan on getting married again?

I like to get married again. Would you get married to me? Police in Spokane County, Washington have just heard about an alleged murder for hire from the man who claims he was hired to carry it out. But they can't make an arrest without knowing if any of it is true. The credibility of any witness is something

that we always have to be concerned about. Is that, you know, are they believable? Is the information that they have credible? You know, what type of history do they have? Martin Drake had a lengthy criminal history, mostly involving drugs, felony property crimes. Given Drake's checkered past, investigators question if taking immediate action is wise.

When we get the initial information, we need to verify and lend credence to what Drake was saying. Even if Drake is telling the truth, they can't charge Marty Soderberg with much of anything. They could have at that point arrested Marty for harassment. It's a very low-level felony, and it involves threatening to kill somebody. But had we stopped right there arrested her for this lesser charge, we could have wound up with a situation where the charge didn't stick.

Detectives also can't risk warning Marty's husband, Russell. If we were to talk to Russell, there's a potential that he would have confronts her about it. She could have ran him over in the driveway for all we know. for all we know at that point. So given the threat she posed to him, building a solid, strong case on her was the appropriate action for law enforcement. To solve their dilemma,

investigators come up with a daring plan. We've got a person who's cooperating with law enforcement, and it allowed us to start gathering the information that we needed to ensure his safety and hold person accountable for it. They decided to see set up a sting. Drake had a cell phone, but it only operated off a Wi-Fi.

So he contacted us about noon that next day. They asked me if I'd be willing to wear wire and get the information they needed to get a stop to this. And I agreed. With officers listening in, Drake calls Marty to arrange a meeting. Ultimately, the plan they came up with involved really putting a lot on Drake. to use this recording device, to play it cool, to not tip off Marty.

We're pretty anxious about it. You said, just speak to her, just converse with her, talk to her, just act normal. That's it. At approximately 10 a.m. the following day, the sting operation begins. The recording device, it's actually able to be monitored live while things are going on, and we have multiple surveillance units. I was nervous. I didn't want to do or say anything

that would jeopardize anything. We didn't know whether or not Marty Soderberg had any access to firearms or anything like that. And if something tipped her off too far, there's a potential that she could have taken action against Mr. Drake to include harming him while he's in the car. As soon as Dr.

Drake and Soderberg met up and got in the same car. The conversation about the plans to kill her husband was almost instantaneous. You know what? He tells me all the time. I mean all the time, he tells me I'm worth more dead than alive, which is true because my insurance. And I'm just sitting back thinking, you know what, motherfucker I'm going to get insurance on you?

She portrays him to be this evil person. She just couldn't bear to be with him anymore. that she wanted to know if I would kill him for her. I'm not doing this tomorrow. No. You're damn sure ain't doing on Halloween. No, I totally agree, because she got a lot of parents out there for inter-gert-natured with their kids, so, I mean, that would be stupid.

And I'm not stupid. If killing her husband on Halloween won't work, Marty says there are other options. If I knew he was going out of town and I knew, you know, that he stopped just the rest area or whatever. Like, the rest area would be a good spot for stuff to happen. Yeah, like, he got robbed. Another scenario that she ran through was that if Russell were to die while he was at work, then there would be an additional payout through his employer.

Marty implies that she will cut Drake in on Russell's 300,000. $1,000 insurance policy. When he asks for more details, Marty reveals how deep her planning goes. He knew enough about life insurance, and that sort of thing to say, well, is there an exception for certain circumstances under which he dies?

Does that happen if you get the insurance planning? That's the future of that, too. If he gets shot or whatnot like that, he's covered. The only reason I went with is that's a more expensive insurance. She also lays out exactly what Drake should do to cover his tracks once Russell is dead. Your biggest thing is, when you do do it, make sure you have something on that you can totally take off and dispose of getting gone.

Right, yeah. That way, A, there's no blood, there's no... Dump powder it. Yep. Yeah. She told me that she would get me some cover holes, a five-gallon bucket, some concrete mix, water, and a vehicle to go and do this. The five-gallon bucket and concrete and water was to mix up some cement so I could put the gun in the cover holes in the bucket and the bucket and then get rid of that. a later time.

After it's done, get away so far, and then pull over somewhere and mix a batch up real quick and make it look like you're freaking doing a concrete job or whatever. The information collected on the wire is more than enough to prove Drake was telling investigators the truth. But the conversation soon takes an unexpected turn. She was talking that she was going to buy this place and me and her could move in there and we could get together. And then it turned like she was trying to romance me.

Do you plan on getting married again? No, I'd get married again. All right, so let me add, would you get married to me? I think is today, I was sitting there at the house. I was sitting there at the house. I was going to pick you up, and then I was going to get out and give you a hug, and then I was like, no, I'll wait.

But I want you so bad. Marty's not done with startling confessions. She also admits Drake wasn't her first choice as the hitman. She'd originally asked a different friend, Dennis Bjorki. Marty said Dennis declined. So this plot had been rolling around in her mind for at least a few months. Mr. Drake is like, oh, ho, you know, time out here. Hold on a second. What do you mean? You've talked to him about this too.

What happens if I go and whack this guy and now he sees that your husband just was killed? Isn't he going to know? Is he going to see Jack? I know Dennis. I'm going to let you in on a secret, and this is why I know that he'll never swim, but not. Me and Dennis, we'd slept together. He thinks me and him were going to end up getting together after all this. You know, it was somebody to have in my back pocket.

So anything, anytime I needed anything or whatever, he was there. And then she also said, he's on the line for a fire. That Dennis was probably involved somehow. So Detective Milville and I were like, hmm? What's this about? We'll make a note of that for later to see what that. this is all about.

After three hours, the meeting comes to an end, and Drake has one last question for Marty. Drake asks Marty about how she'll feel after the incident. She'll, for lack of a better term, freak out once her husband's dead. No, honestly, I don't have a long choice. If I knew I could get away with it, do it if I'd say, it would have already been done. It all boils down to, she was going to kill this man. for money. Psychopath is the best way to describe her. Just unbelievable that she could just be so callous about it.

Any more you dig the deeper the rabbit hole goes with this one. I think we all have a moment where you finally have had enough. Investigators have Marty Soderberg on tape planning to kill her husband Russell. But they find themselves facing another problem. another problem. In Washington law, a crime like attempted murder isn't completed until there's a substantial step taken. So it's one thing to say, hey, we should go rob a bank.

It's another thing to buy ski masks or buy guns to do so. To arrest her for attempted murder, they need Marty to take action without letting her plan go through. some expediency that has to happen here, right? Because we don't want anything to happen to Russ. We're trying to discuss, well, what is it that we need for this substantial step? She's already talked about getting a gun. What if we provide that opportunity?

Five days after the initial wiretap, investigators pursue another sting operation. We briefed Mr. Drake and we said, this is what we want to do. We want you to get in touch with her, see if she's able to meet with you, and we want you to let her know that you've found somebody that will sell a firearm for 50 bucks. We've never bought a gun in my life, but I imagine that that's pretty cheap. Marty takes the bait and agrees to the meeting.

When she shows up on October 17th, detectives are once again listening in. Marty arrives in the pickup truck, and Mr. Drake gets into the car. I told her the buddy of mine knew this guy he was gonna meet this at Walmart, he was gonna bring the vessel. That's a good deal all this. He had another one, it was a fucking automatic to have work about shell casings

and one of the new water for that. I don't know where he comes up with these things so quick. That man flew by the seat of his pants and everything that he said, it was so natural. I don't know that an undercover. officer could have done a better job than he did. Drake continues his improvisation, leading Marty to the spot where the deal is supposed to take place. Look for a black actor.

Oh, that might be impone on now. Um, oh. Maybe behind that semi face that same over there. He points to the car that Detective Alphan and I are sitting in. And we're parked like about 70 yards away from where she pulls to a stop. She gave me the money and I was supposed to have been going over to buy the gun and then come back. And as he's walking towards us, I could see he's got his hands held out in front of him. He's got what appears to be currency fanned out in his hand like a poker hand.

Drake jumps in the back seat of the car, says, here you go. He hands over 50 bucks. And he said, yep, that came from her. We're just like, unbelievable. If the case hadn't been across the line of definitely being a crime and definitely being solicitation to commit murder before this, this put it over the line. Officers swiftly move in to make the arrest. They weren't sure if Marty already had her own weapon, if there were other parties involved.

So it was very important for them to proceed with caution, proceed with weapons at ready. And they make sure that she can't drive away. They get out. They have Marty exit the vehicle. They take her into custody. There was a big sigh of relief from us because we knew Russ was going to be safe.

Marty is taken in for questioning. She tries to tell investigators there was no murder plot. and this is all a big misunderstanding. She claimed that Russell was physically and emotionally abusive to her, but she also stated that she had no intention of hurting Russell. She stated that she has a big mouth, and she sometimes says things she doesn't mean. It was apparent that she didn't know she had been recorded.

She just snapped at that point. But there was conversations that I go trick or treat and I know that exactly, that's the giveaway. It's Marty's truth. What I say, you guys have your case and whatnot, right? That is definitely your choice. Yeah, because this is all crazy. Realizing she's been caught red-handed, Marty stops talking and asks for a lawyer. We charge her with initially at that point.

criminal solicitation to commit for a sugar murder. So the next step was, man, how do I break this to Russ? Coming up, investigators hear Russell's side of the story. And I'm thinking, no, how's something this stupid going on? And a new confession draws a link to a previous crime. If last time she got tens of thousands of dollars, what if she gets hundreds of thousands of dollars this time? With Marty Soderberg safely behind bars, detectives turn their attention to her intended target.

I called his business. He said, hey, I need to talk to Russell like now, in Brano, immediately. I said, Russ, I'm sorry to call you like this, but I want you to know everybody's safe, nobody's hurt, your wife is in custody, I will explain everything to you, but this is not a conversation to have over the phone, right? I gotta talk to you in person.

That afternoon, detectives meet with Russell at the Soderberg's home. They just said they had a search warrant, wanted to search the house. I'm thinking, okay, what did she do? Did she do something that she wasn't supposed to? Is she writing checks to somebody? I felt the best way to do

is just be sincere and direct and let him know. And he was shocked. They were like, okay. We have Marty arrested for attempted murder to have a hit taken out on you. We put a bug on the guy twice, and we have her on surveillance twice. They're telling me all the stuff that was going on. And I'm thinking, no, how's something this stupid going on?

When they ask Russell about the alleged abuse, he says there's nothing to it. It was typical marriage. I mean, there was ups and downs, good times, bad times. Back while it would have been 2003 somewhere in there. I wanted to watch something on TV and she got in my face and she was pretty much just face and I put my hand up and somehow her dentures cut her gum so she called the cops on me, had me arrested. That's about the end of that start.

Russ thought everything was okay, right? He thought they described their weekend prior to her arrest that they went and picked apples and did chores around the house and went to dinner and like normal, normal stuff. Investigators wrap up with Russell, saying they will keep him informed as the investigation progresses.

During follow-up interviews with family members, they suggest the marriage was even more volatile than Russell described. The relationship between my mom and Russ, after years, was toxic. She would fight with him, he would fight with her. She would kick him out of the house and he would leave. Family members recount the majority of the fights between Marty and Russell

revolved around one thing, money. Time after time, fighting over finances, fighting because he would spend money on golf clubs and she didn't get to spend it on something else. Money was always a big thing with her. You borrow money from her and it was like selling your soul to the devil. She's greedy. She wanted money. And that's why she sought out a life insurance policy that three weeks after it goes into effect, she's planning to have him murdered.

Talk of Russell's life insurance policy reminds detectives of something else Marty said, during their surveillance. During the course of the investigation, information came out for Marty about this fire back at a mobile home. She mentioned it to Drake when Drake was worried that Dennis would say something. We started digging into the past little bit

and, oh, behold, in September of 2013, their mobile home burned down. And burned to the ground, they lost all of their stuff. They were out of town at the time. Detective Oliphant found insurance payouts, you know, to the tune of around $58,000. A neighbor actually came out and was trying to hose the trailer down. They called the firefighters, and the neighborhood said, hey, the window AC unit was flaming. Even though the insurance company said they settled on the AC unit being the cause, there was never any determination of what was wrong with it, which I kind of found odd.

I believe there was some suspicion on their part, but ultimately there wasn't enough for them to deny payment. So the Sotobergs received a large check. But in light of recent events, police wonder if foul play might have been involved. There's only one man who knows for sure, Marty's friend Dennis Bjorky. Detective Keene and I found his place of business. And we told him why we were there and he agreed to talk to us. And you could tell that there was a great deal of anxiety on his part. But he's as forthcoming as you could ever hope for in a situation such as this.

Dennis basically spills his guts. And he says, yeah, I committed this fire in 2013. Dennis said, Marty had me start her house on fire and burn it. because she wanted the insurance money to move and leave Russell. Dennis said it was all her plan. He agreed to do it because she promised they would be together in the future. Same thing, same pattern here that we're seeing. The similarities between the fire and the murder for hire plot, right?

It's the same playbook. We collected the evidence we needed and we charged her with first-degree arson and first-degree theft. The success of Marty's previous fraud appears to have inspired her attempt on Russell's life. I think Marty really enjoyed getting that large check for the fire, but that money went really fast. And at some point in 2016, something inside Marty just clicked where she could get this larger payout. If last time she got tens of thousands of dollars, what if she gets hundreds of thousands of dollars? What if she gets hundreds of thousands of dollars this time? Dennis confirms Marty asked him months ago to shoot Russell, but he turned her down.

He comes up with the exact same story that Marty requested him to Mr. Drake. It was further confirmation that this plan was something that she had had in effect for a while. She asked not one but two people to murder her husband for the money, puts a pretty big roadblock on any argument. that she was just running her mouth. I'm not a psychologist, but there are certain things about the fact that she's willing to lie, she's not concerned about harming people. She believes she could get away with this, and she could take this to the next level.

After a week-long investigation involving multiple sting operations, 39-year-old Marty Soderberg is in jail awaiting trial for the attempted murder of her husband, Russell. She has also been charged with arson and insurance fraud in connection with the burning of her home in 2013. It was news around here, yeah? It made the headlines. You don't hear stuff like this.

That happens all the time. So it kind of, for me, it kind of shocked the conscience. She actually called me from the jail as soon as they got her to booking. Yeah, and I just hung up the phone as soon as I heard it was her. She's like, don't believe what they're telling you, and it's like, click. Nope, not talking to you. Not doing it.

However, not everyone is convinced Marty deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison. I remember thinking to myself, if this has made the news, she's not going to get a fair trial. So my uncles and I rallied together and came up with the money to hire her. a private attorney and the private attorney worked on getting her plea deals. We had offered to resolve both the murder for hire case and the arson case with a plea deal. With good time, she would have been out in maybe seven or eight years. I thought she's going to think about her kids and her grandkids and she's going to want to see us grow up.

And she said she was taking it to trial. that she had a better chance against her peers. I thought my mom was stupid for not taking a plea deal. And I just, I wanted to cry. She really thought she was still above and beyond and smarter than prosecutors, the cops. Barney's first trial for solicitation to commit first degree murder

and attempted first degree murder begins in March 2018. From my standpoint as a prosecutor, it was pretty well teed up for me. There was this great requirement. In some ways, it was about kind of just pressing play and letting the jury hear what Marty said. But also it was about kind of strengthening that with Drake's testimony and Dennis's testimony. The recordings turn even Marty's most loyal supporters against her. I stood by my mom's side through all of it.

I thought there's no way this is true. Then we hear the audio, and the audio was bad. The audio sealed what I feared the most that she was guilty. Honestly, I don't have it long to lose. If I knew I could get away with it, it did it my table have already been done. Marty's attorneys seemed to have only one card they can play. The defense was essentially one of entrapment

that Drake had put this idea in Marty's. or he'd come up with this. During the trial, Marty took the stand. She believed in her heart of hearts that she'd be able to talk her way out of it. She was very combative with me on cross-examination. She wouldn't answer questions directly. She would essentially accuse the police of setting her up.

That's why Dennis's testimony was so key for me because that showed that she had been talking about this months before. about this once before talking to Drake, before law enforcement, before anybody else got involved. We ended up getting a verdict of guilty for the attempted murder. She received 15 years for that. The murder had not actually ultimately taken place,

but it was very much my office's belief that she would have gone through with it. She had just dug herself too deep. Following her conviction, Marty stands trial again for arson and fraud in 2021. She is found guilty and sentenced to an additional three years. She essentially went double or nothing and she lost on both. When she was sentenced to the women's corrections,

the first letter I ever got from her when she arrived there was the prisons catalog and she had marked everything she wanted and needed. And in the letter she says, all you have to do is put in your credit card information. I had to take a step back and I sent her an email that I was done with her. There's something in her that's never satisfied. When I'm in the area, I always think, well, I should plan schedule a visit, and I don't. I don't know if I'm ready to see her in person. I waited until she was sent off to prison to divorce her five years.

Because Washington State's a common law state. If she's still sitting here in jail, she's entitled to half the house possibly. I'm thinking, we don't wait to divorce her until she's sent to prison where now she has no rights. I've had close to seven years now to stew over this and to think of what she did. did. I want nothing to do with it. I really don't. I'm glad it didn't happen. Nothing good would have came out of it as far as for my kids, let alone for her kids. I believe she gets out in 2032. I'm not waiting. I'll be 65 then at least. And yeah, I don't want even a chance for her to be able to talk to me. Life goes on. It does. I'm living a good life.

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