Snapped: Women Who Murder - Sahara Fakhir

Episode Date: November 1, 2020

When a beloved family man is found brutally murdered in his home, authorities must follow a trail of clues that exposes a strange and unlikely killer guided by gluttonous urges that led to murder.Season 26, Episode 25Originally aired: February 23, 2020See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I'm Carrie Mulligan, the host of I Hear Fear, a new anthology series of terror. You and I know that the best scary stories are the ones we tell each other in the dark, so turn off your lights and close your eyes. Follow I Hear Fear on the Wondering app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm going deep into my wife's family history, digging up the cold case of her murdered great grandmother. And did I mention that I'm looking into whether the murderer was actually the beloved family patriarch? Follow Go Story wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen everywhere on October 23rd where you can binge early and and free on Wondery Plus the same day. He was a beloved family man. He was a hard worker. He provided for his family. Everywhere we went, he knew somebody. Jerry loved his family, loved the community. He helped people in a way that just blew me away with love and compassion. Until a brutal crime changes everything.

The amount of blood in this crime scene was excessive. It was a very violent struggle. It was clear to me that foul play was involved. As investigators push for answers, they uncover an unbelievable story of excess. She felt shame for committing this deadly sin of gluttony. It completely consumed her mind. And at the heart of it all is one person's voracious obsession.

This was someone who clearly couldn't control their impulsetive. They have some delusional thinking. There was the least of cops that she wanted to see Dan. Why would you do that? I can't understand that hate. It has rocked us to our course with everything that we believe in. They had every intention of killing again.

This wasn't gonna stop. The New York City The New York City The New York City The New York City The New York City The New York City

June 19, 2013 Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia

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The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The The Douglasville, Georgia The The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville, Georgia The The Douglasville, Georgia The Douglasville The Douglasville, Georgia The The Douglasville, Georgia The The Douglasville, Georgia The County Sheriff's Office receives a call from one of their own investigators. 37-year-old Michael Mikey Wheeler. Any sudden, I am with my common deadies house. I'm going my day to stay with them, I'm going to slow. Mikey was one of our veteran employees at the Sheriff's Office. A lot of folks at the Sheriff's Office and the community knew of his dad.

It was something they kind of took everybody back from the get-go. It hits close to home. Moments later, deputies arrive at the home of 66-year-old Jerry Wheeler. They find his son Michael calmly standing outside. Michael is down for close, and he would go and visit him on a regular basis. I would stop by the house pretty much every day to eat lunch or just to visit. I knew they had to come home around 12 to cook and sell some lunch.

We come home around 12 to cook and sell some lunch. Michael says as he entered the home, he immediately knew something was wrong. I walked in the house and saying it was a bunch of blood. The couch was moved, and I started yelling his name. You know, saying, Dad, Dad, where are you at? And I went to check out the bedrooms, went to the back bathroom. When he couldn't find his father, Jerry, anywhere in the house, Michael says he came back to the living room.

When I was coming back out, I stepped on the rug. And when I stepped on it, I could feel that it was a body. And when I stepped on it, I could feel that it was a body. Michael tells first responders that his father's health was failing, and he believes his dad may have died from natural causes. He was wrapped up in a rug in the middle of the floor. And Michael thought that he had done that, perhaps, to keep himself warm.

He thought, because his father had a litany of health issues that he perhaps had had an episode of vain at burst in his leg, and he had started bleeding. His veins would just pop on the back of his leg. He went to the hospital for it. He was seeking treatment for it. I was thinking that his blood loss know, the blood loss, he was getting cold and weak. I thought he might rolled up into the rug to warm up.

When deputies enter the living room, they are immediately taken aback by the scene. There was blood on the walls and on the floor. We had blood on the fireplace and on some other items that was scattered through the house. From my experience, you know, a natural death doesn't leave that amount of blood. Despite Michael's claims that his father may have died

from natural causes, first responders are adamant this was foul play. Basically, my dad never had enemies. Got along with everybody. Jerry grew up around Ben Hill, Georgia. We married in 70, and Michelle was born in 72, and then Michael, four years later. Almost to the day he was a good husband.

Jerry was loved as family, loved the community. He helped people in a way that just blew me away with love and compassion. He was loving. He was direct and He was direct. And he was genuine. Jerry was the most laid back guy I've ever met. I mean, nothing, nothing upsetting. He was easy to get along with.

Good, just a humor. Jerry worked as a mechanic for a number of companies. He was really successful and he even opened up his own business. He could do anything with a car. He's always worked. He was a hard worker. My dad worked long nights, but he always came in. He went to the morning and he came in and gave us a kid before he left.

He worked hours upon hours. He'd get up nine, 10 o'clock, and he wouldn't get home until nine or 10 o'clock. So he loved it. Even though Jerry spent a lot of time at the garage, his family always remained his first priority. The main thing in his life was going to see the grandkids doing things with the family.

He's very loving, he's very caring. He just took care of everybody around him. I was his little princess, and he loved us more than anything. In 2013, Jerry was diagnosed with venous reflux, a disorder where blood flow is disrupted and pools in the veins of the lower extremities. The first time it happened, he was rebuilding a transmission. At the shop and looked down and he was standing

in a puddle of blood and his veins would just pop on the back of his leg. Jerry's diagnosis had left him considering surgery, though he wasn't about to let it slow him down. He would shut the doors on the shop any time to go out to eat with my mother or to go play golf. He was loving life. But now, it seems Jerry's been robbed of his chance to enjoy his golden years. You've got a bloody floor and a bloody walls, and you've got the victim there that's covered in blood.

It was clear to me that that foul play was involved. I saw a catch that was broken into two sections. Some of the cushions had been tossed about. What I thought was that it was a confrontation in the living room where Mr. Weather tried to defend itself and looked like there was a pretty big fight in there. Next to the couch, detectives find Jerry rolled up in the rug. As they unroll the carpet, they are stunned by what they find.

He had a lot of stab wounds and cut marks on him. It was clear to me this was a pretty brutal type of killing. Why would someone want to violently kill this beloved mechanic and family man? He was very well-liked, just a good person, and for him to be murdered like that, was devastating to us at the sheriff's office. Her hand to men murdered like that was devastating to us at the sheriff's office.

Coming up, police must investigate one of their own. Have you in your dad ever had problems to the point where he didn't stay or it came to blow? A large percentage of the time, these domestic violence killings, obviously, were the family. And clues at the crime scene indicate a vicious struggle. It did look like Gary was fighting for his life.

On June 19, 2013, deputies in Douglas County, Georgia are investigating the brutal murder of 66-year-old Jerry Wheeler. After his body was found by his son, Michael. The victim's son was actually employed with the sheriff's office, so it was something that hits close time. Examining Jerry's body, detectives

discovered details of his final moments. Mr. Wheeler had been wrapped up or rolled up in carpet. And it looked like that he had stab wounds. This was a pretty violent scene. That was probably one of the bloodiest crime scenes I've ever worked. He had stab wounds on his chest, neck, and legs. He had some cuts on his left hand,

like it was some type of defensive wound from the attack. He suffered, I believe, approximately 15 to 16 stab wounds total. Potentially a head wound. There was a base with blood, and at some point during the struggle, we believe he was struck with the base. And so it did look like Jerry was fighting for his life. Based off the excessive number of stab wounds, And so it did look like Jerry was fighting for his life. Based off the excessive number of stab wounds,

detectives theorize about the type of person they might be looking for. I was looking for a big man, because Mr. Wheeler was a pretty good-sized man. And he could handle himself. Mr. Wheeler had somebody that was of some size and of some strength to be able to put up a struggle and a fight to be able to subdue him and to be able to stab him at a number of times.

They also conclude that the killer knew enough about the home to try and conceal their identity. There was blood in a number of places down the hall in the bathroom, which appeared that there had been some sort of cleaning up afterwards. On a wall nearby the victim, there was a glove palm impression. And on top of the electric fireplace was another glove impression.

I couldn't tell what top of glove it was, but the impression made it look like it was a fabric. The fact that the killer had worn gloves means finding a fingerprint is unlikely. But as investigators continue to examine the crime scene, they find something almost as useful. Within the scene, there were footprints on the floor of the living room,

and so it appeared that after the homicide, whoever did it, had stepped in Jerry's blood and left prints. We knew that this could be a big potential piece of evidence. Expatiality was a barefoot because a foot impression is just as identifiable as a fingerprint. While CSI's collect the bloody footprints, detectives check the rest of the house for evidence. Based on what they find, investigators surmise that Jerry had most likely been attacked the night before while he was in the middle of making dinner.

There was a pot of what looked like, maybe turn up greens to the stove I was still on and the material in it had completely cooked and almost caught fire. Police find no evidence of forced entry and nothing seems to be missing from inside the home. But outside the house, an officer discovers a strange clue. Ultimately, one of the things that was found

was the keys to a car found hanging in a tree branch above a right there in the vicinity of where Mr. Wheeler's vehicle was. And inside the vehicle police find more unnerving evidence. There was blood in the victim Jerry's car outside. There was blood on the steering column consistent with somebody trying to start the vehicle. Our estimation is whoever committed the murder had come out, tried to start the car, couldn't start it, so through the keys in the tree and left some other way. Is it possible Jerry had been killed during an attempt

to steal his car? While police can't be certain, it's a theory they consider. Oftentimes you'll have people that need a vehicle for one reason or another, and if they have to kill somebody to get it, some people are willing to do that. We begin to canvas the neighborhood, where we begin to knock on doors, and we're starting to ask people if they've seen anything, heard anything, seen anything that's strange. No one recalls seeing anyone trying to steal Jerry's car. But one neighbor says she saw a large woman walking down the street

away from Jerry's home at 10.30 p.m. on the night he had been killed. The woman that was seen walking up the road was very noticeable due to her size. She was north of 400 pounds, so she was not an average size woman. The neighbor points them in the direction where this woman lives, and it turns out it's right next to Jerry's house. Investigators make contact with her. She indicated she didn't know anything about what had transpired.

She gave us her name as the Breese Tool and that she gets out and to try and lose weight or to exercise. She would get out and walk the neighborhood. To Breese tells officers that she's embarrassed by her size and prefers to exercise at night when no one's watching. Some of the neighbors were able to verify that they have seen her out walking in the neighborhood. Confident that To Breeze had just been exercising on the night she was seen walking, detectives are able to quickly eliminate her as a person of interest.

Next, investigators turn their attention to those closest to Jerry, starting with his wife, Jean. My grandmother was gone to Florida with her sisters for vacation. This was the first time that she's ever been on vacation without my grandfather. My sisters and I had gone to Florida, and my sisters, cell phone rang, and she answered it.

A few minutes later, she came back and she said, I've got to go. And we said, well, what's wrong? And she says, I've got to go. And I've got to go, male. And I knew then that something had happened. I don't know what they say. The next few days was just a blur. I don't remember everything that happened.

With his wife ruled out as a possible suspect, detectives turn their attention to Jerry's son, Michael. Mikey couldn't be eliminated, and that was difficult to deal with. I mean, you've got to begin partial of these investigations. When investigators sit down with Michael, he says that when he found his father covered in blood, foul play never crossed his mind. When I was coming back out, I stepped on the road right there. And it was my guess right in here.

My eyes, ankles, I felt it. I said, oh, the ****, and I live in and saying this to you. Okay. And then, that's when I said, and I could tell, it's hate. OK. And then that's what I say. And I could tell. No, it's dead. And so you're not thinking anything suspicious that it's not suspicious, no. Michael admits he has no solid alibi

and says he was home alone the night his father was killed. Have you and your dad ever had problems to the point where you didn't speak or it came to blows or anything like that? I'll just be straight. We've got to decide who to concentrate on and who not to concentrate on. And you know yourself being a law enforcement for a very long time. What are one of the first people that someone looks at with something like direct?

And that's a close decision, right? That just normal first objective. While having this conversation, detectives realize he was lacking emotion. You can't dictate across the board how people are going to act and react to these kinds of situations. But some might say his reaction was such that maybe looks suspicious. You know if your parents had any problems with anybody in the neighborhood and swabble and issues.

Michael says there is one house in the neighborhood that falls under that category. A halfway house for troubled teen boys that's located down the street from his parents' address. Over the years, kids with violent tendencies, committing crimes, these were kids that were committed by the state to these locations. Those are troubled kids. They've been in our judicial system. Michael tells detectives that over the years his father had multiple run-ins with different

boys staying at the halfway house. I know they took my sister's car years ago, they're calling for a little joy drive. I'm at the kids next door. Yeah. The news of a previous car theft catches detective's attention, especially since it appears that whoever killed Jerry had also attempted to steal his car. But that's not all. There was one time when I was downstairs

and one of them opened the door. I don't know why he opened the back door and came in, but when he saw me, he lay off. Could Jerry have been killed by one of the troubled teenagers next door? Or is Michael only bringing them up to deflect attention away from himself? He definitely wasn't rolled out as a suspect.

It was just, you know, let's figure it out. Detectives release Michael for now and turn their attention to the halfway house for troubled boys. They tried to ascertain whether anybody there could have potentially been the perpetrator. Coming up, had a night of teenage mischief turned to murder. Did one of them get upset? Did things escalate?

We didn't know what kind of offender we had out there. And the secret obsession is unveiled. This was someone who clearly couldn't control their impulses. [♪ Music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing Douglas County Sheriff's Officer, Michael Wheeler. There wasn't necessarily any evidence of a spat between Jerry and Michael. I mean, they had a good relationship, but detectives had to investigate Michael because they had no other motive. But during the course of his interview with police,

Michael is able to point detectives in the direction of a boy's home next door to the Wheeler residence that could harbor some potential suspects. In years past, those kids have kind of trust past, even breaking into the home at times. We were investigating anybody who lived at that house, anybody who was working at that house.

It was a transient location where kids come and go. And so we knew we had a work cut out for us on that. So that was one of our main priorities was trying to get our suspect list down location where kids come and go. And so we knew we had to work cut out for us on that. So that was one of our main priorities was trying to get our suspect list down of kids potentially could have been there to do it. The detectives went to go interview the manager of the house, they find three boys, and they decided to speak with them. Two of the boys have alibis for the night of the murder. However, it's a third boy, a 14-year-old named Reginald, isn't as cooperative.

This boy refused to speak with detectives. He acted defiantly when they were speaking with him. He wouldn't offer any information about his whereabouts, what he was doing on the night of June 18th. Is the teenager's refusal to cooperate a sign of his potential guilt? While his behavior is certainly suspicious, police don't have any evidence connecting him to the crime.

At the same time, forensic investigators at the police station have figured out how to examine the bloody foot impressions they found at the crime scene. And it pays off. We used a chemical call-oct, we just looked at crystal violent. That has a reaction with a protein in the blood. And we were able to, with a reaction from the blood

with that chemical, we had a identifyable foot impression. We were pretty excited. Because up to that point, we didn't have any type of identifying evidence to go on. With this new evidence, police conclude the killer must have come from a location near the Wheeler residence. The fact that they were barefoot prints

coupled with the fact that it appeared the perpetrator tried to take the victim's car, those two together indicated that this person was on foot. That suggested to me that this was an offender who probably lived in the vicinity of where this crime occurred. The print also confirms detectives initial assessment that the killer had to be big enough to overpower Jerry. The food impression that we developed was all from the right foot.

The food impression was about 10 and a half, and so we thought this could be a large person. Now, investigators just have to make a match. You can make comparisons on footprints just like fingerprints. They have ridges and swirls and various identifying characteristics that can be compared to a latent print that is discovered at a crime scene. Unfortunately, there's no database for footprints like there is for fingerprints. We had to do it the old fashioned way, rolled people's footprints and have our latent examiner tech mainly go through and either identify it or eliminate.

Investigators are still very suspicious of the boys' home, so they spend the next few days getting foot impressions of every single boy that lives in that home to see if they can find a match. Even the 14-year-old who refused to answer questions agrees to a print. Their prints were taken to be compared and none of those matched. They were rolled out as well as contributing

the prints they're in the scene. There was a lot of frustration for me in the sense that we had developed that foot impression. We knew that if we could find the person that deposited it, we knew that we had found the killer. Investigators also obtain a print from Jerry's son, Michael Wheeler. They call me up and say that I may be coming in, they have to get some foot impressions.

They compare this bloody footprint to the footprint of Michael Wheeler, and there is no match at all. Once we were able to realize that that wasn't his footprint in there, that was a big sigh of relief for us. While detectives are relieved to eliminate one of their fellow officers as a potential suspect, they've also hit a dead end when it comes to the investigation. We were working around the clock day zone in, and the back of my mind, I was concerned, and I was worried that, along with this goes on, the more chances it has to be in on soft case. For a month, I thought about that case every day, just knowing that we had a potential

piece of evidence that's going to be able to clear the case. They were having regular meetings to try to compare nodes and say, all right, where should we go next? During one of their meetings in early July 2013, investigators review the interviews from the crime scene Canvas and notice something that might have been overlooked. At this meeting, everybody comparing notes realized that we had report of a large individual,

the lady at the end of the cul-de-sac, who was seen walking up the road. The woman, who identified herself as, to Breeze Tool, had been interviewed by police at the time and eliminated as a suspect, but had officers acted too quickly in clearing her as a person of interest.

Detectives decide to run her name through the county database and make a surprising discovery. That's when they discover there is no one name to Breese Tool living in Douglasville. She had given a false name. She'd given a false date of birth, and they had to figure out why.

There's a million reasons why she would have given us a false name. Maybe she just done a long, long, fortunate didn't want to pop that. Or it could be something a lot more than that. Police discover that there is a 32-year-old woman named Sahara Tabriz Fakir that lives at the same address. Not a lot is known about Sahara Fakir.

As investigators dig deeper into her background, they find out that she's at about Muslim. She's from Ohio, and seven years ago, she moved to Georgia. For the past six years, she's been living with her mother. And due to her weight gain, she couldn't work. Sahara also has a criminal record from 2009.

Sahara had multiple charges on her record, ranging from simple traffic stops to account fraud. She was on misdemeanor probation, and she threatened to kill her misdemeanor probation officer, threatened to cut her misdemeanor probation officer, threatened to cut her throat. Felony, terroristic threats, charge was brought against her. So then she had a felony case. She was convicted, received five years probation.

Police discover that Sahara had violated her probation, and there was a warrant out for her arrest, which might explain why she gave them a fake name. They realized that they had someone with the physical size that potentially matched the footprint as well as a violent past. And she lived back adjacent to his house, and so we're like, we got to run with this one.

Since Sahara still has an outstanding warrant, detectives decide to arrest her. And at that point, law enforcement zeroed in on Miss Fakir as their prime suspect. Coming up, detectives attempt to apprehend Sahara goes horribly awry. She was just an overly obese woman. to apprehend Sahara goes horribly awry. She was just an overly obese woman. She was a very strong woman.

She lifted an officer up off the ground. After weeks of chasing down leads, detectives investigating the murder of Jerry Wheeler have identified a new suspect, his neighbor, 32-year-old Sahara Fakir. On July 16th, officers descend on Sahara's home. When she opens the door, law enforcement attempts to take her into custody, but they are met with resistance. She was a very large woman. They couldn't use traditional handcuffs. They had to use the plastic cuffs. She was able to break out of the plastic cuffs, which, to law enforcement, was an ominous thing,

and they hadn't seen that done before. She was absolutely resisting arrest. She had no restraint over her emotions, and she reacted violently. Her strength was excessive. She lifted an officer up off the ground. Finally, multiple deputies are able to subdue Sahara. She was transported to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office,

where she was held in solitary confinement. Once she's calmed down, investigators bring her into an interrogation room to question her about her neighbor, Jerry Wheeler. Hey, do you ever been to his house? No, never, never, never been there. I don't know, I'm not like that. Sahara also denies having anything to do with Jerry Wheeler's brutal murder.

I can actually see myself touching. I just can't touch. I just can't see myself touching. During her interview, Sahara seems more interested in talking about her daily exercise routine and weight loss plans than about the investigation. She was pretty much a shut-in and left the house only periodically to go swimming at the Aquatic Center. In 2012, I signed up at the Boundary World Aquatic Center, I found you, what is the quad, except her? Three and a half months. Yeah. I just went in front. I run a half to two hours.

Swimming. You know, swimming at the water is good. Sure. It's actually a great work, I guess. Yeah. It's a pleasure here. No process weeks. No soda.

The fresh food. I eat fresh food, yeah. And I didn't lose anything. Five days a week. Five days a week I went days a week a minute. It was nothing. She seemed to be obsessed with her way. She just kept going back to it, and she wouldn't talk about anything else.

Without a confession, detectives hope Sahara's footprint will prove one way or another the extent of her involvement. We needed to get her rolled prints or known prints to be able to do the comparison. They asked her initially if she would give a sample and she was resistant to that idea. She wasn't cooperative. With us, she didn't want to give us that foot print. Without her approval or a warrant, detectives are unable to force Sahara

to submit her feet for printing. She was intentionally trying to prevent law enforcement from taking her footprints. And obviously, the only reason she would be doing that is if she were the perpetrator, and she hadn't been wearing shoes within the crime scene. But detectives catch a break when they finally convince Sahara to allow a footprint expert

to examine her feet without taking prints. She visually inspected Sahara's feet in person and saw enough consistencies where her footprint matched the footprint at the crime scene. While the expert examines Sahara's footprints, detective secure a search warrant for the home she shares with her mother. Inside Sahara's room, they find stacks of journals, a small desk, and a mattress on the floor.

It appeared that she spent a lot of her time on the computer, on the internet, but also writing about various thoughts. Detectives collect Sahara's writings as evidence. They also make note of the view from Sahara's bedroom window. They see that Jerry's house is visible from her bedroom window. It's probably 50, 60 yards apart. She would have been able to see his house. She would have been able to see his house. She would have been able to see him in his driveway.

When investigators look beneath Sahara's mattress, they find another piece of possible evidence. good size knife and not a common knife that you see people with. We took it to the office and our crime scene guy was able to take it apart where they were able to ultimately find DNA that belonged to Mr. Wheeler. That was able to link that knife back to Mr. Wheeler. So the footprint and the knife, at that point you have two compelling pieces of evidence

that really can't be explained away. It's a pretty sure thing who did this crime. On July 17, 2013, police charged Sahara Fakir with a murder of Jerry Wheeler. That was a huge, huge relief on me as well. police charge Sahara Fakir with the murder of Jerry Wheeler. That was a huge, huge relief on me, as well as everybody that was involved in the apartment. I was relieved, I was shocked. I couldn't believe that it was a lady, you know.

But while police have the suspected killer in custody, they still don't know the motive for the crime. There's no evidence we ever were able to discover that they had ever had an interaction personally. This murder was especially heinous. It was excessive. It was full of rage. Why would you do that? I mean, I can't understand that hate.

Why would you do that? I mean, I can't understand that hate. Coming up, in an attempt to discover her motive, police examined the hundreds of personal journals seized at Sahara's house. As far as we knew, the sun could have been the target. And investigators get into the mind of a gluttonous killer. She believed that she was being punished for binge eating candy. [♪ Music playing in background, with the murder of 66-year-old Jerry Wheeler, a man she claims she never met.

Armed with a bloody footprint and the murder weapon, investigators confront Sahara hoping for a confession. I know you've been in the house, so what did you go in the house for? I didn't have money. This was great. She's totally in denial about her being involved in the homicide. The more detectives press her, the more bizarre Sahara's explanations become.

What did maybe somebody say they saw you were with her? They probably were working for the woman, Addy. Some of the comments that she was making were kind of off the wall. She wasn't talking like you would expect somebody to talk. She had some delusional thinking. In an attempt to discover Sahara's motive for the murder, detectives examine the hundreds of personal journals seized at Sahara's house. Most of her journal entries center around her weight.

A lot of her writings were very hard on herself. A lot of it was introspective. You know, I need to be exercising more. I need to be eating better. The examination of Sahara's writings also reveals a recurring theme. It appeared that she had a general hatred of law enforcement, but also Douglas County specifically. There was writings that she had that were classified as anti-law enforcement remarks that she had made and just comes from an animosity toward dealing

with our agency. And among Sahara's journals, detectives find a hand scribbled note with a disturbing message. She had a list of cops that she wanted to see dead. of cops that she wanted to see date. Detectives theorize that Jerry's son, Michael, might have been Sahara's intended victim. Jerry's home is visible from her bedroom window, and Jerry's son would come home and have lunch

with his dad in his marked cruiser. As far as we knew, the son could have been the target, or she could have thought that the victim was, in fact, a law enforcement officer. And that was something that we focused on as a potential motive. She had been there against the police department, and about that Michael lived there,

and she was going in after Michael. In Jerry was the one she found. She had every single intention of killing again. This wasn't going to stop. But authorities are still puzzled by what might have triggered Sahara's hatred of law enforcement, or her decision to kill a man she suspected to be a police officer. I mean, it was not a self-defense. It was not in reaction or response to anything that he did.

So it was unwarranted, unsolicited. Whatever her motive was was completely in her mind and a product of her mind. But something in her mind changed that caused her to take it to the next level. Based on her journal entries, police suspect that Sahara was consumed by shame. Sahara was very religious, and she felt shame

for committing this deadly sin of gluttony. It completely consumed her mind. As Sahara's shame built, so did her hatred. She would fixate on things, herb session with her weight, her hate, and her rage. She thought that law enforcement generally was evil. She admitted that she had these violent thoughts and tendencies towards law enforcement.

Sohara's ramblings on paper and in interviews leave investigators wondering if she's even fit to stand trial. What do you think is going to happen to you? I'll all look at you out because he knows the type of people that's running that right out of the house. He knows what type of deal is there. There's a state in the jail. I see a refugee in a lot of the state in the old town

and I am awaiting his wrath. During her plea hearing, Sahara tells the court that God will forgive her for her sins, but he won't be so generous to everyone else. A lot is my lawyer in the middle. And if you do not release me, I will have his vengeance on you. Like he did in 2009, because of that flood. It's only going to get worse.

So it was the decision of the prosecution, the defense, and the judge to have her evaluated. And it was determined that she was competent. She made attempts to conceal what she had done, meaning she knew that it was wrong. She washed the knife, she hid it, she knew exactly what she was doing. But Sahara still denies killing Jerry. And from her jail cell, she writes letters to the judge

saying she believes she's being punished for gluttony. In her letters, she blames her arrest on binge eating candy after she promised all of it she would diet and lose weight. She believed that all it was punishing her for her excess, not for murdering someone. On September 22nd, 2014, Sahara Fakir goes to trial for murder. With DNA and footprint evidence, the prosecution argues that on the evening of June 18th, Sahara Fakir overwhelmed by her belief that God was angry with her for her gluttony decided to kill a police officer. With her knife in hand,

Sahara stormed into the home of Jerry Wheeler and attacked the 66-year-old who she mistakenly believed was a cop. She stepped in his blood, and so that in and of itself probably would have carried the day. And then you have the writings, you have the knife under her bed with the victim's blood. I don't believe she had a personal defense. It was clear to the jury that she did this.

On September 29, 2014, Sahara is found guilty of Jerry's murder and is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She was not remorseful. She was proud of what she had done. Excess was a part of Sahara's character. She lived this gluttonous lifestyle and it culminated in the deadliest sin of all. Murder. She lived this gluttonous lifestyle, and it culminated in the deadliest sin of all, murder. While Sahara sits behind bars, Jerry's family and the Douglasville community

are left to deal with the emotional aftermath of her horrific crime. It has rocked us to our course with everything that we believe in, physically, spiritually, emotionally. You know everything that's something like this can happen to you, and it can, it can happen to anyone. I know that our family is not the only ones hurting. It hurt a lot of people in that community because of how they admit Jerry and what Jerry meant to them. He was a good man.

It was just a good man. Sahara Fakir is currently housed at Arndell State Prison. She maintains her innocence.