Snapped: Women Who Murder - Rose Chase

Episode Date: January 24, 2021

A family's suspicion leads them to the grisly truth behind a young father's disappearance.Season 13, Episode 9Originally aired: August 24, 2014See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy ...and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of Wonder East Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin, a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Rose Chase was different. She's pretty much always been an outcast. But so was her husband, Adam.
Starting point is 00:00:31 They were into the sci-fi type stuff and they just kind of clicked. They were very happy together. But then, after 11 years of marriage, Rose's husband vanished. She just said, you walked out. Never. You saw her phone, his car, everything. Was it simply a spat?
Starting point is 00:00:48 He went the blow off some steam somewhere. Or was something else going on? Called a mother's intuition. We weren't going to find him alive. The search would reveal the truth about their marriage. They were kissing and touching in a way that she shouldn't be doing. Exposed a shocking secret.
Starting point is 00:01:06 Do you know what you said in the back of the K-9? And end with a monstrous revelation. Head, arm, blade, take him off no problem. June 14, 2012. It was around 6 p.m. when 31-year-old Rose Chase pulled up outside her mother-in-law's house, in Stanley, New York, a tiny village in the Finger Lakes region. Our area is very rural. It's just a quiet, a very quiet country little town. Rose had arrived to pick up her young son. She and the boy's father, 31-year-old Adam Chase, had been married 11 years and had been together since high school.
Starting point is 00:02:04 I remembered them first starting dating like maybe towards the end of his senior year. Which made what Rose told her mother-in-law, Sylvia, that much more shocking. Not only had the couple had a violent argument. Adam supposedly punched a hole in the wall. Rose said that Adam had stoned out of the house. Walked out, left his cell phone, his car, everything at home.
Starting point is 00:02:31 He didn't take nothing with him. And according to Rose, he had been gone almost seven hours. He said he was walking, and he left the house around 11 o'clock that day. My mom asked her, why didn't you call me? We're close. I could have came and talked to him. Rose said she hadn't thought there was any need at first. Rose told Sylvia that she assumed
Starting point is 00:02:53 Adam was just going for a walk to calm down and clear his head. She said, I figured he'd be home right now. But after seven hours with no word from Adam and no way to reach him, the entire family started to worry. Storming off without his phone just wasn't like Adam. He was always on that thing. He would always get ahold of him no matter what. So him not to think of himself when we're just really bizarre to hear. Sylvia promised to call as soon as she heard anything. And when Rose left with her son, she said she would do the same.
Starting point is 00:03:28 But that night, as she watched Rose drive away, Sylvia had no idea just how many dark and disturbing secrets the search for her son would eventually reveal about her daughter and mom. about her daughter and mom. Born in 1981 and raised in upstate New York, Rose Mooney had a difficult childhood. She's pretty much always been an outcast. She had dyslexia. So some of the kids kind of made fun of her when she went to special classes. Tunted by the other children, Rose became shy and withdrawn,
Starting point is 00:04:08 her furring to spend time with her pets rather than kids her own age. She was thinking about being a veteran and aarian. And when Rose's family moved to the remote rural community of Stanley when she was in the seventh grade, she became even more isolated. She had her animals and mostly kept to herself. She felt like the girl that sat on the sidelines.
Starting point is 00:04:34 But that was about to change thanks to a boy named Adam Chase. One year older than Rose, Adam was a popular kid at her school. Adam was cute. He was handsome. He was really tall. He was a big guy. But he was easygoing and approachable. He was a big teddy bear. He always breached out to people. He can make you feel comfortable with and find the next one knowing you.
Starting point is 00:04:58 Partly because for all his popularity, he had quite a few quirks of his own. Adam, like swords, Renaissance stuff. because for all his popularity, he had quite a few quirks of his own. Adam, like swords, Renaissance stuff. He loved computer games, computer games. And when he first met Rose, he realized that they shared a kindred spirit. They're into the sci-fi game stuff and they just had that in common, so they just kind of clicked. Although at first, their relationship wasn't romantic.
Starting point is 00:05:27 They used to go to like Renaissance festivals and dress up. They kind of went together as friends. And with Adam to guide her, the shy girl who sat on the sideline soon learned to embrace and even celebrate the fact that she wasn't like all the other kids.
Starting point is 00:05:47 She always had the crazy hairdos. We never knew what she was going to wear. So makeup or clothing. And she just always made herself stand out. No one noticed more than Adam. After being friends for several years, he and Rose became a couple. In high school, they really started dating.
Starting point is 00:06:06 It had been a long time coming, but it appeared to have been worth the wait. They seemed like they were very happy together. They wouldn't be high school sweethearts for long though. Adam dropped out at the start of his senior year. Because he missed some gym classes and he wasn't making them up, so he quit. He went and got his GED.
Starting point is 00:06:27 Rose, who still struggled with her dyslexia, strongly considered following her boyfriend's example. She was a whizman in math and science. When it came to English and social studies, she felt behind with the kids. And according to Rose's mother, Adam encouraged her to drop out, but she wouldn't have it. Adam wanted her to move in and I go, when she graduate from school, I don't care what you guys do, but she's going to graduate. Just as her mother promised, Rose did graduate from high school, but she never pursued her childhood dream of being a veterinarian. Instead, she took an assembly job at a local factory. She worked all the time, a lot of overtime.
Starting point is 00:07:12 Adam, on the other hand, had a hard time holding down a steady job. We kind of moved a lot. He was in business mostly. He would sell windows. I think at one point, he sold cars. They weren't making a lot of money, but they had each other. And in June of 2001, when Rose was 19 and Adam had just turned 20, the couple married in true Renaissance fare fashion.
Starting point is 00:07:36 Rose had not your typical wedding dress that you would see these days. It was kind of old fashion with some sort of veil that was like a hat and it was different. After the wedding, the couple lived temporarily with Adam's parents. She was just like family. I treated her just like a sister. My parents looked at her like a daughter. I mean, she called him mom and dad.
Starting point is 00:08:04 And thanks to the money, Rose and Adam saved by living with mom and dad. The couple soon had enough to buy a place of their own in the neighboring town of Bristol. It's just a next town over. They did live in Bristol for quite a while. It was just a trailer, and it was only supposed to be temporary. Rose and Adam planned to start a family, but after several frustrating and fruitless years, their doctors delivered some devastating news.
Starting point is 00:08:32 Adam was told they had trouble. It was correctable if they could afford it. It would cost $10,000 and their insurance did not cover it. Unable to afford the procedure, Rose and Adam soldiered on, hoping for a miracle. And it looked as if their prayers had finally been answered when six years into their marriage, Rose gave birth to a son. And it was tough to say who was happier, rose or Adam. He loved being a daddy, would do anything for that little boy. In fact, once the baby came along, Adam quit his job and
Starting point is 00:09:13 became a full-time dad. Adam was Mr. Mom, he took care of this little boy. And for the next several years, Rose continued to work. She was the breadwinner going out and making sure the family was stable. And Adam focused on raising their son. I was Adam giving him breakfast and getting him dressed and all that. The couple's arrangement appeared to work. Adam bonded with the little boy,
Starting point is 00:09:41 who even as a toddler, showed a percusious talent for electronics. Anything on computer? He knew how to do from Adam. He can type it in. Oh yeah. It's very computer oriented. Rose, meanwhile, got promoted at work.
Starting point is 00:09:57 The supervisor described her as being very responsible and very dependable. In fact, after 12 years together, the couple was doing so well that in 2011, they sold their place in Bristol and bought a bigger house on the outskirts of Stanley. Adam wanted to move closer to home. We've always been a very close-knit family.
Starting point is 00:10:19 Moving closer to home wasn't the only big change the couple made, however. With their little boy scheduled to start kindergarten in the fall of 2012, Adam began looking for work. And by May, he'd even managed to line up something. He was stupid and a debt collector for student loans. A new home, a new job, and their son about to start school.
Starting point is 00:10:42 Everything appeared to be going well for Rose and Adam. But less than a month later, Rose would walk into her mother-in-law's house and announce that her husband had vanished. Coming up, the search for Adam begins. I always just had that little bit of hope hoping that Adam just knew the time. And at least some members of his family
Starting point is 00:11:03 suspect foul play. Call it a mother's intuition. By the afternoon of June 15, 2012, it had been almost 24 hours since 30-year-old Rose Chase had walked into her mother-in-law's house in Stanley, New York, and reported that her husband, Adam, had mysteriously disappeared. She walked in and said, oh, and by the way, Adam walked away this morning about 11 o'clock him and I had a fight. Sounded as though he got mad at his wife and went to blow off some steam somewhere. But when Sylvia Chase spoke to her on the morning of the 15th,
Starting point is 00:12:06 Rose said that Adam still hadn't come home or called. I called, I said, have you heard anything from Adam? No, I haven't. Even more troubling, Sylvia hadn't heard anything from Adam either. She thought something was wrong because she hadn't been hearing from him. They spoke pretty much every day.
Starting point is 00:12:25 Worried about her son, Sylvia decided to contact the authorities. She had contacted a Sheriff's Deputy of the School Resource Officer at the school where she works. I said, what should I do about this? He goes, let's final him missing. I said, okay. Once the missing person's report was filed, the investigators contacted the last person who'd seen Adam, his wife. They thought that maybe she just said something to him, which made him so mad that he left.
Starting point is 00:12:55 According to Rose, that was more or less exactly what happened. But she also said that was hardly the couple's first heated argument. Rose told the investigators that their troubles had started soon after Adam quit his job to become a stay-at-home dad. Although according to Rose, he spent more time playing video games on his computer than he did with their child. It was a virtual video game that he played with other people online.
Starting point is 00:13:25 They would go until late early in the morning. He would sit four hours to the point that he wouldn't get up to go to the bathroom. He would urinate in cans and bottles instead. Rose told the investigators that she had started to feel neglected. She didn't feel as though she got enough attention from her husband that he paid more attention to video games. According to Rose, Adam wasn't just neglecting her. He was neglecting his babysitting duties too.
Starting point is 00:13:58 She told the investigators that while she was at work, Adam would sleep in, exhausted from a late night of gaming, and leave their little boy to fend for himself. There's been times that Adam left him in the same diaper at all night. Rose even claimed that when the child was three, Adam had let the little boy wander out of the house, naked, and alone. He must have wet himself, or he stripped himself down naked.
Starting point is 00:14:28 Come find mom in the house, couldn't get dad up, got outside, got on to the street, and started walking down the street or a couple of found him. Their little boy wasn't hurt, but according to Rose, the incident did lead to an increasing number of arguments with Adam, especially whenever she suggested he seek help for what she described as his video game addiction. Adam's temper sometimes got the best of him. Rose admitted that she had gotten angry too.
Starting point is 00:15:01 In fact, she told the investigators that things got so heated between her and Adam that they had even discussed getting a divorce. Rose had enough. Although according to Rose, she had tried to work things out for the sake of their little boy. Rose asked to go through some counseling and see if it was worth saving their marriage. Rose said that Adam had refused to seek counseling, but she did say that he had taken June 14th off from work, and they sent their son to spend the night at her in-laws so she and
Starting point is 00:15:36 Adam could spend the day together and hopefully sort things out. Rose and Adam that day had agreed to talk about their problems. But according to Rose, when she tried to talk to her husband, he ignored her. Adam continued to plan the computer, which angered Rose. Tempers flared and voices were raised. They had a fight. And at some point during the shouting match,
Starting point is 00:16:02 Rose said that things took a sudden turn toward violence. She said, my son punched the wall. But that was as far as it went, according to Rose. Because then, perhaps afraid he would do something he'd regret, Rose said Adam had stormed out of the house. Adam had walked away, and he hadn't taken his phone or his car keys or his wallet. And by the time Rose finished talking to the investigators, he had been missing for more than 24 hours.
Starting point is 00:16:34 She didn't know where he went. With no solid leads, the investigators spent the next few days scouring the surrounding country's sound. They searched places they knew he liked to hike. Searches in the woods country's sound. If they searched places, they knew he liked to hike. Searches in the woods and the trails. Canvassing hotels looking for... basically for where Adam might have been. But all the searches turned up empty. And by the end of the week, with still no word from Adam,
Starting point is 00:16:57 his family was beginning to fear the worst. Colored mother's intuition, but I knew something was wrong because Adam would have called me. Adam's mother wasn't the only one beginning to suspect something had gone horribly wrong either. On June 18, after Adam had been missing four days, Sheriff's deputies showed up at Rose's house with a cadaver dog.
Starting point is 00:17:22 They asked if they could bring the dog inside. Rose let the deputies inside, with a cadaver dog. They asked if they could bring the dog inside. Rose let the deputies inside, although she did apologize for the state the house was in. The house was really messy, smelly, cluttered. And the only evidence the investigators found upstairs appeared to confirm Rose's account of her altercation with Adam. There was a hole that had been patched in the wall.
Starting point is 00:17:46 But then, when the deputies asked to look in the basement, Rose did hesitate. She told them that there was water down there, the sump pump had broke. Was Rose hiding something? When the deputies opened the door at the head of the basement stairs, that was definitely what it looked like, or at least least smelled like.
Starting point is 00:18:07 They did at that time find a very strong odor in the basement. You know, you could smell like something was dead in the basement. But when the investigators got to the bottom of the stairs, it appeared that Rose had been telling the truth. The basement was damp and full of soggy trash. Pieces of furniture, cleaning supplies, dead rats. And when the deputies brought the cadaver dog down,
Starting point is 00:18:33 it gave no indication that a human body had ever been there. They searched the house and came out and said there's nothing there. There's suspicions of Rose apparently baseless. The investigators were back to square one, but their findings did provide a little comfort to his family. When the back of my mind was just had that little bit of hope hoping that Adam just needed time.
Starting point is 00:18:56 And no one appeared more hopeful than Rose. She would go to the police periodically for updates. She would call to see if they anything, if they were getting close. Unfortunately, the investigators had little else to tell her. By November, Adam had been missing for five months, and the authorities were no closer to finding him. They were stuck. The authorities essentially admitted as much on November 14, 2012.
Starting point is 00:19:25 That's when they held a joint press conference alongside Rose and Adam's family. They came out and pleaded for the public's help, you know, and helping locate Adam. They also called on Adam to come forward. They talked a little bit about it if he didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found. And then while Rose looked on, her mother-in-law made her own desperate plea to her son. Adam, if you're out there, please come on. Coming up, Adam's family makes a shocking accusation.
Starting point is 00:19:58 They were kissing and touching in a way that she shouldn't be doing. But will they get anyone to listen? The investigators actually called us crazy. Hey, listener. It is me, Jason Bateman. I want to tell you that we've struck podcast gold in our new episode with David Letterman available four weeks early on one Drupal. It's like a late night talk show hangout, but with a smart list twist.
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Starting point is 00:21:08 Plus in the Wundry app or on Apple Podcasts. On November 15, 2012, a small crowd of newspaper and TV reporters gathered outside a modest home in the tiny upstate New York town of Stanley. Twenty-four hours after the Ontario County Sheriff's Department held a press conference about Adam Chase, who'd been missing for more than five months, his family had called a press conference of their own. I instantly sent a letter out to every media source that I knew and we held our own press conference the next day. And the press conference focused on one thing, the way the authorities were handling Adams' disappearance. They were just treating it as a missing person.
Starting point is 00:22:10 Assuming that Adam had simply walked out on his wife and little boy, the authorities had ruled out foul play. In fact, when they searched the couple's home after Adam's disappearance, they hadn't found any evidence of foul play either. They did search the Chase Family House on the 18th, including the basement. They did not find anything. But as the family told the assembled reporters, they were far less convinced than the investigators.
Starting point is 00:22:38 Adam never would have done this to his family. His son's birthday, the first day kindergarten, all those firsts, he wanted to miss those. In fact, as far as the family was concerned, Adam's five-month absence could only mean one thing. We weren't going to find him alive. And they believed the person behind it was the same person they'd made a point not to invite to their press conference.
Starting point is 00:23:04 Adam's wife, Rose. Rose did something to him. Adam's family claimed that their suspicions were based on more than just his mother's intuition, too. They had a bit of a troubled marriage. Rose had admitted as much to the investigators, but from there, her account and his family's version differed dramatically. For starters, the family strongly disagreed with
Starting point is 00:23:31 Rosa's claims that Adam shirked his duties as a stay-at-home dad. I do not believe a single word that she says about my brother's character. Instead, they had plenty to say about Rosa's character. I had heard back in 2007 that Rose was having an affair. And according to the family, that wasn't the only one. They spoke of Rose having multiple affairs over the years. But the family said that whenever they had shared their suspicions with Adam,
Starting point is 00:24:01 he had always refused to believe them. He decided Rose and said that it couldn't happen. He didn't believe that Rose would do anything like that to him. But then in June of 2012, the family finally got what they believe to be proof. A family friend had just happened to be strolling through the park and a neighboring town. When she spotted Rose cuddling up to someone on a park bench. She had to take a double take because it was Adam
Starting point is 00:24:29 sitting next to Rose. They were kissing and touching in a way that she shouldn't be doing with somebody who wasn't her husband. Concerned, the friend had contacted Adam's sister, Jessica, and forwarded a picture she had discreetly taken with her phone. Jessica told her mother, and within days, they'd filled Adam in on the situation.
Starting point is 00:24:50 He didn't believe it at first until my parents sat the picture. Finally confronted with evidence of his wife's alleged infidelity. Adam realized he had to act according to his family. He goes, well, I'll talk about it with her. Whether he did or not the family didn't know for sure, but within days of his wife being spotted in a park, kissing another man, Adam Chase had vanished. But when the family shared their suspicions
Starting point is 00:25:21 with the Sheriff's Department, they said their concerns were dismissed. The Sheriff's Department. They said their concerns were dismissed. The Sheriff's Department told us, it's not an episode of law and order and that we needed to stop thinking the worst. I said, wow, have you talked to Rose? Has anybody interviewed her? Do a light detector test?
Starting point is 00:25:37 She hasn't given us any reason for it. She's been very cooperative. He pulled me aside and said, you know, you need to let this go. Roast didn't do anything wrong. The Chases weren't about to give up, however. In the weeks following their press conference,
Starting point is 00:25:53 they decided to put pressure on Roast. We held rallies outside her house. We had signs like missing posters, missing Adam, you know, that kind of stuff. And the result was an all-out war between Rose and her in-laws. She called the sheriff's department. She had said that we were harassing her. She said that I always thought the chases were a nice family,
Starting point is 00:26:15 but now they're all psychos. And the local authorities warned the family to back off or face arrest. The investigators actually called us crazy. However, at least one person in town sided with the Chase family, a local private investigator named Rodney Miller. He's a very good friend of the family.
Starting point is 00:26:37 He agreed very quickly with them that something seemed wrong. Unfortunately, even if Rose had been unfaithful, they still had no proof that she had anything to do with Adams' disappearance. We had our gut and what our heart told us, and to me that was good enough. Their gut feeling wouldn't hold up in a court of law,
Starting point is 00:27:00 however, so on December 13, 2012, the private investigator approached the local woman who babysat for Rose. He called me that morning, and he said, will you play a game with me? And the purpose of the game was to scare Rose into doing something grunge. Perhaps even get her to admit that Adam was dead.
Starting point is 00:27:22 I thought I wanted you to tell her that you heard somebody's going to be charged with murder. The babysitter, who shared the family's suspicions about Rose, agreed to help. We all thought that she had was behind it in some way. So when Rose arrived to pick up her son that afternoon, Sandra played her part to the hilt. She usually always picked him up between 5'10 and 5'15. It was 5'19 when she walked in the door and she says to me, oh you probably think I forgot
Starting point is 00:27:53 to pick up my son and I looked at her and I said no. I figured you were probably on the phone with the investigators. And when Rose asked why? I said because there's been a huge break in Adam's case. She called, oh my god. Her face just went white. No, she just says, oh, I gotta get home. Oh, I gotta get home.
Starting point is 00:28:13 And then when Rose rushed out with her son, Sandra called Rodney. I said, get over to Rose's house now. I said, she is unraveling. All she needed was a nudge, which Rodney was happy to provide just as soon as he reached Rose's house. She comes out of the house, and I walked up and I said, I think I have enough to get an indictment against human
Starting point is 00:28:37 charge who was a murderer. He told Rose, hey, it jigs up. It's over. It wasn't true, but Rose didn't know that. She just plopped under the top step and put her head down in her hands and started rocking back and forth. Sensing that Rose was about to break,
Starting point is 00:28:57 Rodney urged her to come clean. I said, I want to know where you buried her. Rose's response wasn't quite what the investigator expected, though. She popped her head up out of her hands and she said, I didn't bury him. I burned him. Stunned by Rose's reply, Rodney immediately contacted the authorities and Adam's family. Rodney calls Nigos. I found Adam. and Adam's family. Rodney calls Nigos.
Starting point is 00:29:25 I found Adam. He didn't give Adam's mother the details, though. She wasn't aware, and I told her to come to their residence. I didn't want to tell her over the phone what I knew. Sylvia and her daughters rushed right over, arriving even before the authorities. And that's when Rodney Miller finally told them the awful truth.
Starting point is 00:29:46 At first, Adam's mother was dismayed by the news. I just couldn't believe it. But when the full implications of what Rose had done finally sank in, Sylvia turned on her in a rage. She turned around and screamed, that you burned my son, you bitch. How could somebody be this callous and this monstrous to another human being?
Starting point is 00:30:12 According to Adam's family, Rose showed the same callous disregard for them. She was sad on the porch and just looked at us. No emotion whatsoever. She didn't break down a cry or show any remorse. And once Sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene and took Rose into custody, she just as calmly directed them to her mother's house. According to Rose, that was where they would find Adams remains. They were immediately went to the mother's
Starting point is 00:30:42 property down on Yates County. When the Sheriff's deputies knocked on the door and asked for permission to search the property, Rose's mother was confused. I asked, what are we looking for? Rose, the body of Adam is here on your property. Rose's mother said she figured it was all some sort of dreadful mistake. But then her daughter stepped out of the squad car, Rose's mother said she figured it was all some sort of dreadful mistake. But then her daughter stepped out of the squad car, led the deputies to a burn pile in the back of the house, and indicated that somewhere in the pile was all that remained of her
Starting point is 00:31:15 husband. They could see all sorts of things, a lot of ash, including some would appear to be human bone. And that was when Rose's comb demeanor finally collapsed. She's crying. She's going, I'm sorry. I didn't really want this bend up like this. I am so sorry.
Starting point is 00:31:36 It looked like she might have been relieved, you know, that she was finally getting this offer chest. Coming up, Rosa's confession shunks the courtroom. Head, arms, legs, came off no problem. But her defense is the real surprise. You can't kill a dead person. on October 8, 2013. On October 8, 2013, Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood
Starting point is 00:32:07 on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood
Starting point is 00:32:15 on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood
Starting point is 00:32:23 on October 8, 2013. On October 8, 2013. On October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase stood on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase on October 8, 2013. Rose Chase on October 8, 2013, Rose Chase stood trial in Ontario County, New York. The 32-year-old was charged with the murder of her husband, Adam, who had mysteriously disappeared in June of 2012. Rose reported him missing, that they got into some type of an argument one morning and he packed up and left and didn't come back. But in December of 2012 after a private investigator hired by Adam's family convinced her she was about to be arrested for his murder. Rose not only admitted that Adam was dead, she had led the authorities to his cremated remains,
Starting point is 00:33:06 scattered in a burn pile behind her mother's house. They sifted through all that ash and other rubble that was there and collected as many bone fragments as they could. In their opening statement that morning, the prosecution claimed that Rose had killed Adam in order to get out of an increasingly loveless marriage.
Starting point is 00:33:28 Rose was unhappy in the marriage, and she did on her husband multiple times. And since being the family's breadwinner and having allegedly been unfaithful, would most likely leave her paying alimony to Adam, the prosecution claimed that Rose hadn't considered divorce an option. She didn't want to share any of the money that she had saved with her husband. The prosecutors had what they considered to be powerful evidence against her too. The
Starting point is 00:33:57 videotaped confession made after Rose's arrest on December 13, 2012. The video tape was pretty significant in the trial, and they played the entire tape. Although curiously, much of Rose's confession conformed to what she'd originally told the authorities after Adam had first disappeared. According to Rose, she had begun the day intending to save her marriage, not end it. Him and I called into work so this way we could work things out. But Rose claimed that their attempt to talk things over had quickly turned into an argument.
Starting point is 00:34:38 Once Adam brought up the fact that someone had seen her in the park, supposedly kissing another man. I don't know, it's just me and the park, supposedly kissing another man. I told her it's just me and the park bench talking. According to Rose, her denials only made Adam angrier, so angry that he had even started questioning whether he was really the father of their son. He always said, do you don't like her? I love him down, but I think she's mine. One way or another, he wanted to know for sure.
Starting point is 00:35:10 Adam wanted a DNA test. Rose said that's when in her anger, she had revealed a secret that she had kept hidden for years. I told her, then, no need. She says he's not yours. According to Rose, her husband hadn't taken the truth well. He got serious, punched the wall. Then Adam turned to storm away, much as she had originally claimed.
Starting point is 00:35:41 But in the videotape, Rose added a new detail, the fact that she had tried to stop him. Everybody's left arm. He takes his brain, kind of gives me a little bit of push. And according to Rose, that was when everything had gone horribly wrong. And that's what his right foot caught the edge of the stairs. According to her confession, Adam's death had been an accident. I know we tumble by, I don't know how many times. I don't know. It's head on the door. Was it true? Had Adam simply fallen down the stairs?
Starting point is 00:36:26 The investigators were skeptical. On the tape, they asked Rose, point blank, did Adam trip or had he been pushed? If it was a he to the moment and you got and you thought enough was enough and you pushed them, you pushed them. That's what it is. Put on the spot by the investigators,
Starting point is 00:36:44 Rose appeared to hesitate. I don't know if I actually gave him that extra. She can try to pretend that it was an accident, but I know it was not an accident. Did you plan on telling her? Oh, no. Intentionally or not, the result appeared to be the same. Rose said that when she rushed down to wear Adam
Starting point is 00:37:05 lay sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, he appeared to be dead. He wasn't moving. He wasn't making any noise. He wasn't doing anything. But if it had been an accident, why not call 911? Rose told the investigators that as she wondered what to do, she had come to a shocking realization.
Starting point is 00:37:27 And if he did live, according to Rose, what she just told him about their son's paternity would give him excellent grounds for divorce. I knew he'd get my 401k and everything. In her dimension mind, it was easier just to get rid of him. So, rather than call the police, Rose said that she had heaved her husband down the second flight of stairs. Basically to make sure that he was dead. I got this letter. Gravity.
Starting point is 00:38:04 Do it. It's work. She I got this letter. Gravity, do it's work. She'd let time do its work, too. Rose told the investigators that she had left Adam where he lay. She stacked wood from the yard and other items on top of him. Incredibly, according to Rose, he was still in the basement when the sheriff's department brought in cadaver dogs and searched the house. I heard I hit the body.
Starting point is 00:38:31 And I didn't mean it. The dog came in. I thought I got pretty low again. They brought an outdoor cadaver dog. An outdoor cadaver dog is different than an indoor cadaver dog. And they're not trained the same they have different expertise. But with Adam's family increasingly suspicious and the smell in the basement getting worse Rose said that she knew her luck wouldn't last. So in late July of 2012 after Adam had been in the basement for more than a month, she had decided to get rid of him once and for all. Did you cut him up for anything?
Starting point is 00:39:08 Did you need any tools or anything? Or, because if you did, where would those be? He just told her. She said I took him out piece by piece. Head, arms, legs, came off no problem. It's shocking what she's saying, but then just how casual she goes about telling the details. Including the detail that her five-year-old son had been
Starting point is 00:39:34 with her, strapped in his car seat when she drove over to her mother's with Adam's remains in the trunk of her car. There was no one there to take care of the boy, but she says, well, what the hell? I'll just take him along. That video just kind of puts an nail on the coffin and shows just how awful she is and how callous of a person she is. That's definitely what the prosecution figured.
Starting point is 00:39:56 And when it was the defense's turn, they agreed that Rose's videotape statement had been appalling. But they also argued that it wasn't a murder confession. Rose's lawyers talked about how it was an accident, how Rose didn't mean for Adam to die. She didn't mean for him to fall down the stairs. At least not when he'd gone down the first flight of stairs.
Starting point is 00:40:20 But what about the second flight? According to the defense, that wasn't murder either. Her defense basically argued he was dead after he went down that first flight of stairs. The second flight was intentional, but he was already dead. So that's not murder. They are claiming you can't kill a dead person. Rose wouldn't make that claim directly though.
Starting point is 00:40:41 Considering how damaging her videotaped statement had been, the defense decided not to put her on the stand. I've spoken the truth, but my words have ultimately been turned around against me. In fact, the defense didn't put anyone on the stand. Rose's attorney did not call any witnesses. Instead, before wrapping up their case, the defense requested and received an important concession
Starting point is 00:41:10 from the judge, a jury instruction that just might allow Rose to dodge the murder charge. The defense argued to have a manslaughter put on the jury selection cards so they could choose either murder to, which is intentional or man slaughter, which was accidental. Coming up, will the jury find Rose Guilty of murder?
Starting point is 00:41:36 The longer it took for the jury to come back, the more nervous I got. Or will they opt for man slaughter? I didn't do what everybody's claiming. On October 18, 2013, at the Ontario County Courthouse in Upstate New York, the jury announced it had just reached a verdict in Rose Chase's murder trial. Thanks to the persistence of the victim's family and their private investigator, the 32-year-old mother was accused
Starting point is 00:42:31 of killing her husband Adam in June of 2012. I don't doubt for a second that she, in some sort of way, planned it. The defense, on the other hand, had argued that Rose was only guilty of hiding her husband's death, not causing it. The defense, on the other hand, had argued that Rose was only guilty of hiding her husband's death, not causing it. Their defense is that he accidentally fell down the stairs, and then she panicked. And the jury had just spent the past seven hours trying to decide which side to believe.
Starting point is 00:43:02 The longer it took for the jury to come back with a verdict, the more nervous I got. The whole situation was as stressful, not knowing what was going to happen. In the end, all that stress and uncertainty came down to the crucial moment when the verdict was read. She was found guilty a second degree murder. It was a hard-won victory for Adam's family. I'm ecstatic that there was a guilty verdict.
Starting point is 00:43:28 I was terrified throughout the entire trial that she would get away with it. But while Adam's mother was equally pleased that her daughter-in-law had been found guilty, she was less thrilled with Rose's sentence, 24 years to life in prison. I wish we had the death penalty. I really do, because I don't think she deserves to live.
Starting point is 00:43:48 A lot of people forgive at sentencing, but this family says they will never forgive her. That's no surprise, according to Rose. She claims that the only reason she's in prison at all is because Adam's family was so determined to put her there. My wife's trial was nothing more than like a modern day, a day sale in which trial. And they had a bed for me waiting in a prison
Starting point is 00:44:14 before the verdict was in. And she'll be there a long time, especially if Adam's family has any say in the matter. She'll see me at every parole hearing for the rest of her life, fighting for my brother because she took away his voice, but she's not gonna take away his memory. Rose, on the other hand, maintains that no time in prison
Starting point is 00:44:36 and no jury's verdict can take away what she believes to be true, her innocence. I didn't do what everybody's claiming that I said I did. Rose Chase filed an appeal. In 2018, she lost her appeal for the murder conviction. She still maintains charges for second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. She will be eligible for parole in 2037. She is currently housed at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County, New York. Adam's family has custody of her son. you

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