Snapped: Women Who Murder - Willa Blanc

Episode Date: December 22, 2024

A retired nuclear physicist who lived a reclusive life fueled by paranoia is reported missing.Season 31 Episode 07Originally aired: Aug 28, 2022Watch 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.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Get ready for Las Vegas style action at Bet MGM, the king of online casinos. Enjoy casino games at your fingertips with the same Vegas strip excitement MGM is famous for when you play classics like MGM Grand Millions or popular games like Blackjack, Baccarat and Roulette. With our ever-growing library of digital slot games, a large selection of online table games and signature Bet MGM service, there's no better way to bring the excitement and ambiance of Las Vegas home to you than with BetMGM Casino. Download the BetMGM Casino app today.
Starting point is 00:00:34 BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have any questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2600
Starting point is 00:00:53 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BedMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. With Audible, there's more to imagine when you listen. Whether you listen to stories, motivation, expert advice, any genre you love, you can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, new ways of thinking. And Audible makes it easy to be inspired and entertained as a part of your everyday routine without needing to set aside extra time. As an Audible member, you
Starting point is 00:01:24 choose one title a month to keep from their ever-growing catalog. Explore themes of friendship, loss, and hope with Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Find what piques your imagination. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial, and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca to sign up.
Starting point is 00:01:43 A Brilliant Mathematician Goes Missing If he had gone somewhere, he went without his medication. Audible.ca to sign up. A brilliant mathematician goes missing. If he had gone somewhere, he went without his medication. He was known among his colleagues as the person that you went to for the toughest questions. But his genius came at a price. He was a paranoid person. He was so worried that he had all the locks changed. No one knew that he essentially was a millionaire. How did a recluse who trusts no one let the devil inside?
Starting point is 00:02:17 His was the only sidewalk and driveway on the entire street that was cleared of snow. He articulated that, I am very suspicious of this person. She said, I have power of attorney, but I've never used it, which we knew was a lie. There was an older gentleman in the backseat. She said, tell him to stay in the car or he'll pay for it later.
Starting point is 00:02:40 She wanted to see you. She's mad, she's mad, she's mad. The police officer told me she had the trash can in the back with the firewood in it. I'm like, did you look in the garbage can? On March 2, 2009, Ann Carty contacts the Boone County Sheriff's Department in Hebron, Kentucky. Ann says she and her husband are concerned about the whereabouts of their 73-year-old friend Walter Sartori. She calls in and simply requests, hey, would someone go by and check on Walter? We usually speak to him, you know, pretty much every day, and we've been unable to
Starting point is 00:03:31 get a hold of him since the middle part of February. A sheriff's deputy stops by Walt's home, but there's no sign of him. One of the things he would do would be to open the mailbox to see if there was mail. We don't see any movement in the house. The mail is stacking up in the mailbox. He actually went to the residence multiple times trying to catch Mr. Sartori at different times of the day
Starting point is 00:03:58 and would leave a card each time with a note asking that Mr. Sartori get in contact with him. each time with a note asking that Mr. Sartori get in contact with him. It has now been two days since Ann Carty's initial phone call, and the deputy's concern is mounting. He didn't need to get a warrant at that time because he had developed probable cause that there was actually the potential that Walter Sartori was in the residence and was injured or incapacitated in some way. So he finds the garage door just a little ajar,
Starting point is 00:04:33 so he does make entry. Mr. Sartore owned and had registered to his name a Toyota Prius, and he checked the garage just to see if a vehicle was there. There was no vehicle in the garage. When the deputy enters the home, what he finds strikes him as a bit odd. It was not like what a normal residence would look like. The furniture was actually piles of books. In the living room on a folding table were five or six desktop computers. And there was just this field of
Starting point is 00:05:16 Post-it notes all over everything. It was his own address and his own name, you know, on a Post-it note on one of the computers, but then there was also things that say brush your teeth and get dressed. While there's no indication of foul play, there is something that could be cause for concern. We found some medications that would be consistent with a mental illness. Schizophrenia. At that point we have a deeper concern for their personal safety.
Starting point is 00:05:53 When you suffer from schizophrenia, it's very important that you have your medication. What became clear very quickly was that Walter Sartori was without his antipsychotic medication, which would have led to severe psychotic episodes. When we see all of those post-it notes to be that structured, when you get ready for your day, when to take your medication, and then for the medication to still be there was a problem. The scene inside the home doesn't just have the deputy concerned about Walt's whereabouts.
Starting point is 00:06:28 It also has him asking, who is Walter Sartori? Walter Sartori was born in Pittsburgh in 1935. He grew up, was a Boy Scout, had a love for all things space related and he wound up going to Carnegie Mellon for college there in Pittsburgh and graduated actually with a PhD in chemical engineering. In the early 60s Walt took a job working for Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The original goal of Oak Ridge National Laboratory was to produce uranium for nuclear weapons. It's next to impossible to tell you exactly what Walter Sartore did there because the
Starting point is 00:07:21 work that he did was classified. But outside the lab, Walt struggled with everyday life. He was very much a creature of habit, and he lived a very private life. He never married, never had children. He didn't have family to speak of. He had a pain relationship with his mother. It seemed like his genius came with the price. Walter Sartori was troubled psychologically.
Starting point is 00:07:49 He was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. He had acute social anxiety. Mr. Sartori was paranoid about going out in public and being around people and speaking to people. He was able to manage these conditions through the use of medication, which he was meticulous about. After 30 years in the Oak Ridge lab,
Starting point is 00:08:12 Walt retired, but he didn't exactly settle into the life of a typical retiree. He is not the kind of person who could sit still and not do anything, and so he began dabbling with developing algorithms for investment of stocks. Also Walter had these computers set up and he was operating through a program trying to detect any sort of radio signals or other signals from outer space because he was looking for signs of extraterrestrial life. Walter had a lot of questions about the existence of God and the universe as a whole.
Starting point is 00:08:54 And I think that his looking at radio signals from other parts of the galaxy was part of his quest for understanding. Still, Walt longed for something more. Walter had been counseled by a psychiatrist, and one of the things that they encouraged was for him to try to develop human relationships with people, to get out, to meet people, to do different things. In 2008, Walt moved to Hebron, Kentucky, just outside Cincinnati. He hoped the move would help him expand his horizons. He believed that he could manage his paranoia.
Starting point is 00:09:42 He chose to be close to the airport. He wanted to actually travel some places and fly occasionally rather than driving. He spent a lot of time alone in his house but when he did travel it was often to secular think-tank conventions where he would stay for days at a time. He would attend conferences that would maybe expand his mind or challenge his mind to think about new things and different things. Walt also widened his social circle in a way that felt most comfortable to him, online. Walter Sartore's main circle of friends were people that he met through
Starting point is 00:10:21 the internet, basically through online chat rooms. And that was a perfect medium for Walter Sartore because he didn't have to be in the awkward social settings, which are what made him so very nervous. Walt developed a particularly close friendship with Anne Cartee. They met in an online forum about mental health. Walter became very good friends with Ann.
Starting point is 00:10:48 He would visit Ann and her husband in Virginia, talk to them on the phone nearly every day. But it's been nearly a month since Ann Cartee spoke to Walt, and with each passing day, police are growing more concerned. After searching Walt's home, the sheriff's deputy steps outside to check the mailbox again. The first couple of times that he was there, there was mail in the mailbox.
Starting point is 00:11:20 But on that day, the mail was no longer in the mailbox. He checks with Walt's neighbors, but no one knows anything about Walt's mail or Walt. We found out very quickly from talking to neighbors that he would wave at you in the driveway, but he really wouldn't speak much. In fact, only one neighbor recalls ever seeing anyone else at Walt's house. The neighbor mentioned the fact that she had seen local cleaning service coming to Mr.
Starting point is 00:11:56 Sartori's house pretty much every day. It was really interesting because he really kind of keeps to himself. So that was our first clue. Well, who is this person that cleans your house? Coming up, investigators learn of a bizarre encounter. She forced her way into the house. She was very aggressive. This woman was uninvited, and he could not get her to leave.
Starting point is 00:12:33 In March 2009, investigators in Boone County, Kentucky are trying to locate 73-year-old Walt Sartore after a friend reports him missing. Walt's neighbors describe the retired mathematician three-year-old Walt Sartore, after a friend reports him missing. Walt's neighbors describe the retired mathematician as a recluse who rarely has visitors, with one exception. One of the ladies who lived in the neighborhood had seen a cleaning service car pull up
Starting point is 00:12:59 in front of the house several times in recent weeks. Before detectives reach out to the cleaning service, they place a call to the woman who reported Walt missing, Ann Cartee of Virginia. The impetus behind Ann Cartee's concern was that Walter had been in Chicago the week before for a conference, and he was due to be back in town the 17th of February, and she had not been able to communicate with him at all since he had returned from Chicago. So we're talking about a good two-week period of time
Starting point is 00:13:36 before she actually called the sheriff's department. The fact that Ann waited so long to report her friend missing raises some suspicion, but authorities keep that to themselves for now. Ann reveals that the last time she spoke with Walt, he was obsessing over a recent run-in with a stranger. Ann Cartee explained Walter had traveled to New York in January. When Walter returned from his trip to New York, we had one of the largest snow storms
Starting point is 00:14:10 that we've had in modern times. And when he made his way home, he pulled onto a street to find that his was the only sidewalk and driveway on the entire street that was cleared of snow. Shortly after he arrived home, a lady approached the house, knocked on the door, and stated that, you know, hey, we cleaned your driveway, you know, so it would be good and clean when you came back. He thanked her and actually tried to pay her, but she would not take any money,
Starting point is 00:14:42 but she forced her way into the house. She was very aggressive and continued to say, I'd like to clean your house. I can help you. I can do this. I can do that. He feared that this woman wants to case his house. He was worried that she might have made a wax copy of a key that was sitting on one of his computer tables.
Starting point is 00:15:12 At the time, Ann says she chalked the incident up to Walt's typical paranoia. While the mystery woman sounds intriguing, investigators wonder if Ann might just be trying to deflect suspicion from herself. Another reason why alarms went off for Ann and her husband Robert is that they actually received monthly checks from Walter Sartore. And Walt wasn't just lending the Cartes pocket change. According to financial records, Walt sent about $5,000 each month. That obviously raised red flags because, you know, why is he paying these people who are his friends?
Starting point is 00:15:55 Detectives are still unsure if Walt is actually missing. Going off information from the Cartes, they search for Walter's car at the airport and the local mall where he often liked to walk, but come up empty. They circle back to the earlier tip about a cleaning service vehicle spotted by Walt's neighbors in his driveway. who ran the business, explained that he had been contacted to have the cleaning service pick up all of the mail matter out of the mailboxes while Mr. Sartore was traveling. The owner told the deputies that the relationship that they had with the property was not initiated
Starting point is 00:16:40 by Walter Sartore, but by a woman known as Willa, and they had the cell phone number for her. On March 9th, detectives tracked down Willa Blanc and her husband, Paul, at their home in Union, Kentucky, about 30 minutes away from Walt's residence. We initiated a conversation with them. They stated, in fact, that they were Paul and Willa Blanc and that they were just getting ready to go to the doctor and they really needed to get there kind of in a hurry.
Starting point is 00:17:12 I said, well actually Willa, we wanted to talk to you because we have been told that you had contacted someone to go and pick up the mail matter at Mr. Sartori's residence. And she said, oh yeah, Walter's out of town and he just wanted me to pick up the mail matter at Mr. Sartori's residence. And she said, oh yeah, Walter's out of town and he just wanted me to pick up the mail. Willa Blanc says that she met Walter Sartori because she cleaned for a family on the same street where Walter Sartori lived. We said, when did you last see him?
Starting point is 00:17:41 And she said, well, I saw him at the Hebron Corner Mart. And he told me that he was going to Kroger's. She said, That was March the 7th. Willa offers to give Walt a call. I said, Okay, go ahead. He didn't answer. And she goes, Well, he's probably doing something. He'll give me a call back.
Starting point is 00:18:03 And she said, I'll contact you if he does. So we said, OK. With that, Willa says she and Paul must rush to a doctor's appointment, leaving investigators without much to go on. But Detective Cox is unable to shake the feeling that something is amiss. So he returns to Walt's house.
Starting point is 00:18:28 I took a look in the mailbox, and inside the mailbox there was a envelope from Fidelity Investments. If it's like a lot of us, you get a statement every month and it's not something that's really going to excite anyone. So he called me, we generated the subpoena, and he got it to Fidelity immediately. What we found out at that point in time
Starting point is 00:18:54 was the fact that Walter Sartori was very wealthy. He essentially was a millionaire. All of his money basically was in investments, and the investments grew because of his mathematical background and his ability to actually make very wise decisions about how he was moving his money around. Detective Cox believes that if Walt's disappearance is the result of foul play,
Starting point is 00:19:23 he may have just uncovered the motive. He is now a mark. He has something that makes it worth my while to take the risk of doing bad things. When investigators subpoena Walt's investment records, they find something extremely troubling. We had discovered that Will LeBlanc had executed a power of attorney. A lot of people don't understand power of attorneys.
Starting point is 00:19:59 As long as someone is living and an individual has power of attorney for them, that individual, will au blanc, can act just as if they are that person. The power of attorney was executed on February 18th. No one else had really seen Walter Sartori since February 17th. What's more, the records indicate that on February 27, 10 days after Walt was last seen, money started leaving his accounts. First a $10,000 wire transfer and then a $200,000 wire transfer had been caused to occur between Walter Sartori's main investment accounts and Willa Blanc's checking account.
Starting point is 00:20:49 Coming up, detectives take a closer look at Willa Blanc. She liked being treated as if she was a queen. And discover a ruthless plan. She was trying to liquidate the remainder of the $1.4 million. She said, I have power of attorney, but I've never used it. The thing that you have told me here today, they're not true. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made, a seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart.
Starting point is 00:21:31 But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. When TV producer Roy Raden was found dead in a canyon near LA in 1983, there were many questions surrounding his death. The last person seen with him was Laney Jacobs, a seductive cocaine dealer who desperately wanted to be part of the Hollywood elite. Together they were trying to break into the movie industry, but things took a dark turn when a million dollars worth of cocaine and cash went missing.
Starting point is 00:22:04 From Wondery comes a new season of the hit show, Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of The Cotton Club Murder early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Harvard is the oldest and richest university in America. Shame! Shame! Shame!
Starting point is 00:22:29 But when a social media fueled fight over Harvard and its new president broke out last fall, that was no protection. Claudine Gay is now gone. We've exposed the DEI regime, and there's much more to come. This is The Harvard Plan, a special series from the Boston Globe
Starting point is 00:22:44 and WNYC's On The Media. To listen, subscribe to On The Media There's much more to come. March 10, 2009. 73-year-old Walt Sartore has been missing for several weeks. And investigators have just discovered that not only did Willa Blanc obtain power of attorney, she transferred large sums of money from Walt's checking account to her own, $10,000 on February 27th and $200,000 on March 3rd.
Starting point is 00:23:20 And she didn't stop there. She was trying to liquidate the remainder of the $1.4 million that were held in one investment account. She had ordered those funds, through her power of attorney, to be liquidated with Fidelity Investments. Investigators returned to the Blanc home for an explanation. Willa Blanc was not at the residence. Paul Blanc was. And we spoke with him.
Starting point is 00:23:52 Investigators press Paul for information about his wife. Paul explains that before he met her, Willa's life had been one hardship after another. life had been one hardship after another. Willa Blanc was born in Cincinnati in 1961. During her childhood, she had some tragedy in her life. Her older brother died when he was very young, and that was followed closely after by the death of her mother when Willa was 13 years old. At that point, Willa raised herself largely.
Starting point is 00:24:28 At 19, she gave birth to a son, Louis. Apparently, he was abandoned by his father, and she was his sole caregiver. When Paul met Willa in 2001, she was working for a cleaning company. Paul was a networking engineer with Cincinnati Bell. He had a very nice house in Union, Kentucky. It's my understanding that Willa was employed as his housekeeper. Paul was drawn to Willa's poise and personality.
Starting point is 00:25:08 Willa Blanc had a very flashy style. She often wore rhinestone-encrusted fake nails. She drove a late model ZR1 Corvette. Just months after meeting, the two married, and Willa and her son, Louis, moved into Paul's home. Paul says he enjoyed indulging Willa in her favorite extravagance, new cars. She bought multiple, multiple high-end vehicles from us, 50, 60, $70,000 vehicles, and we took care of her
Starting point is 00:25:40 like she was literally the only person in the dealership, and she loved that, and She actually thrived on it. Paul confesses that while Willow once brought excitement to his life, lately she mostly brought debt. He told us that he had just received paperwork that his house was going to be repossessed. So we asked him how that would be possible. He seemed to have a great job and he said that Willa actually handled all of the bills and paid all the bills and he was he was shocked to find this out. It concerns you that you have given her complete control of your money and you really don't know what the status is.
Starting point is 00:26:26 It doesn't. Do you think that she has exploited you financially? She has done some things that were probably questionable. She had a pretty serious gambling problem. Within a few years, she had drained all of the money from their account. In a few years, she had drained all of the money from their account. Making matters worse, he says on February 22nd, Willa wrecked his SUV. Willa had actually had a car accident on the interstate in Indiana and had totaled his trailblazer.
Starting point is 00:27:02 Oh yeah? What happened up the hill? Was she in an accident up there? Apparently, she got bikes wiped by a truck. and had totaled his trailblazer. Detective Cox made calls to the Ripley County Sheriff's Department in Indiana to inquire about any accidents. Through records we're able to ascertain that on February the 21st, Willa Blanc shows up at the Argosy Casino, which is located on the Ohio River on the Indiana side, and starts gambling and gambles until 3 o'clock in the morning on February the 22nd.
Starting point is 00:27:49 She is then in the wreck that morning at 4.15 a.m. The deputies that responded encountered Willa Blanc. Deputies questioned her at the scene. She states her car was hit, the other people took off, and that she was on her way to Indianapolis to take some firewood to a friend. His name was Duane Lively, and that she had the trash can in the back
Starting point is 00:28:19 with the firewood in it. A wave of dread moves over Detective Cox. When the police officer told me, I'm like, did you look in the garbage can? And he said, no. In my mind, at that moment, it's like Walter Sartori was in that trash can. I don't know why that I felt that way, but I did.
Starting point is 00:28:48 And Mr. Sartore was in that trash can. This woman was cold enough to be in a casino for hours gambling this man's money while he was folded up in a trash can in the back of her vehicle. The officer says after the accident, Willa called her son, Lewis, and he rented a minivan to pick her up, while the SUV was towed back to a dealership in Kentucky. Her son, Lewis Wilkinson, got this garbage can purportedly filled with firewood
Starting point is 00:29:25 and loaded it into the Dodge minivan. When detectives follow up with the dealership, they hear the most chilling tale yet. Around February 17th, Willa came to the dealership and was interested in purchasing a new 2009 Corvette ZR1. And she told me, she said, John, I'm coming into a lot of money real soon. When Willa and I were speaking, Lewis came in and he whispered something in her ear,
Starting point is 00:30:03 which I happened to be able to hear. He said to her, Mom, the old man wants to get out of the car. So when I said that, I looked outside, and their car was parked straight out there, and there was an older gentleman in the back seat that I could see with glasses on. Willa's response to Lewis was,
Starting point is 00:30:26 tell him to stay in the f***ing car or he'll pay for it later. alive. The following day, they returned to Willa's home. In the interview, the question had came up about power of attorney. She denied that at first. But then she changed her answer to, I have power of attorney. She denied that at first. But then she changed her answer to, I have power of attorney, but I've never used it, which we knew was a lie.
Starting point is 00:31:15 Investigators questioned Willa about the trash can in her car at the time of the accident. Detective Cox asked her where the trash can was and she said that she couldn't explain what happened to the trash can it must have gotten stolen. Her story started crumbling a lot at that point in time. I only want you to tell me one thing. OK. The truth. OK. And the things that you have told me here today. Mm-hmm. They're not the truth.
Starting point is 00:31:52 Detective Cox said, I know you know where Walter is and that you're not telling us something and I'm going to find out. Coming up, a son's undying devotion is put to the test. And the dark truth finally comes to light. She offers him $1,000 to take the trash bin out to a field and burn it. MUSIC Detectives in Boone County, Kentucky, are desperate to find missing mathematician and millionaire Walt Sartore.
Starting point is 00:32:39 However, they face nothing but lies from their main suspect, 47-year-old Willa Blanc. We could show that she had used that power of attorney. The investigation at that point in time was, now what is our next move to figure out where Walter Chartore is? MUSIC On March 13, 2009, investigators tracked down Duane Lively, the friend who Willa Claims
Starting point is 00:33:10 asked her to deliver firewood on February 22. We asked him how he came about meeting Willa. Duane Lively said, she's someone I met at the casino back in January of 2009, and we usually go play bingo. Duane confirms that Willa and her son Lewis did come to see him, but it wasn't to bring him firewood. Willa Blanc and Lewis arrive and they tell Duwayne that in the back of the car is a large trash bin that contains the remains of a dog.
Starting point is 00:33:51 She said she had a dog that her son had hit that belonged to an elderly gentleman. And Dwayne said, oh, well, you can bury the dog at my house. She goes, no, no, no, we need to burn the dog. And she offers Dwayne $1,000 to take the trash bin out to a field and burn it. That same night, for a four to five hour period of time, Lewis, Willa, and Dwayne burned this trash can. Dwayne takes investigators to the field where the burn took place. As they were kicking around some of the ashes, one of the Indiana State Police detectives saw what he believed to be a human bone.
Starting point is 00:34:42 Indiana and Ohio forensic experts are called to the scene and sift through the ash. They recovered an immense amount of bone. So we loaded up large garbage bags, probably about five or six of them. The forensic team sends the remains to a lab for analysis. At this point, it moves from hope for Walter into a homicide investigation. The trip to Indiana gives investigators what they need to arrest Willa Blanc and her son, Lewis. In the early morning hours of Saturday the 14th, Lewis and his mother were both arrested without incident,
Starting point is 00:35:27 and they were taken back to leave out of here. And you don't get to tell me what happened. ["SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC"] Investigators turn their attention to Lewis hoping he'll talk. I think she did use you. It's just like she's done her whole life, from the day you were born till this very day.
Starting point is 00:36:06 This is maybe your first opportunity in your whole life to say, this is about me this time. Detectives find Lewis at a breaking point. I had no control. I had no control. I was the only person. I need hope. I need hope. I need help. She knows I need psychiatric help. I need help. I wasn't strong enough. I apologize to the family. You're okay. You're okay. What did she do? She left. She left. What did you do?
Starting point is 00:36:42 She's not, she's not, she's not. What did you do? According to Lewis, it all began when his mom called him to her home one afternoon in mid-February. When he arrived home, he found Walter Sartori sitting in a chair in their basement and his hands were duct taped to the chair, his feet were duct taped and he had duct tape over his mouth. I was panicking and I was shaking. were duct taped to the chair. His feet were duct taped, and he had duct tape over his mouth. She told him that she needed him to stay in the basement
Starting point is 00:37:14 and care for Mr. Sartore. She then went upstairs and deadbolted the door to the basement. And I took him and asked him, like, are you okay? Are you right? Need anything help? And he said he's okay. Are they after him? Or is it something to that nature?
Starting point is 00:37:37 Keep in mind that Walter Sartori is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who has been forcibly removed from his medication. Lewis says he followed his mother's orders and proceeded to care for Walt. He indicated that his mother would come downstairs with food and drink for Mr. Sartori. Lewis had indicated that Mr. Sartori would throw up right after being fed. It could have potentially been because he was being poisoned. In the end, Walt was overcome by the ordeal.
Starting point is 00:38:27 He couldn't do anything other than when tape was taken from his mouth and he was fed what we believe was a poisonous substance. And he succumbed to what was going on to his body and died. When did he die? That's something she knows. Lewis insists that Willa's husband, Paul, had no knowledge of the horrors that unfolded in his basement. You don't think he knew about it?
Starting point is 00:38:59 I don't think he knew a damn thing was going on. I think she fooled him when she fooled all the men in her life. How anybody cared about it? I believe him in that Paul didn't know what was actually going on. He had just had amputation surgery, and he really couldn't move. He was confined to a couch.
Starting point is 00:39:17 Given that he was much older than Willa and that he seemed to be not in real good health, Detective Cox's concern was that Paul himself was being financially exploited by Willa Blonde. Lewis's detrimental relationship with his mother leaves investigators questioning his involvement. He said she was essentially a puppeteer and that she pulled the strings
Starting point is 00:39:43 and made Lewis do whatever it was that she needed done. Louis was a grown man. He never called 911. He never called the police. Maybe he didn't have access to the phone. Maybe he was locked in the basement. I don't know. Coming up, prosecutors prepare for trial.
Starting point is 00:40:03 We filed notice of intent to seek the death penalty. While we were searching the home, we did locate a book, How to Choose Your Next Prey. When I executed the search warrant on the vehicle of Ms. Blanc, we found a black semi-automatic handgun. On March 14, 2009, 27-year-old Lewis Wilkinson finally confesses to investigators that his mother Willa held 73-year-old Walt Sartore prisoner in her basement, killing him and burning his remains. As her trial approaches, prosecutors execute several search warrants to gather more details
Starting point is 00:40:54 of Willa's maniacal plan. While we were searching the home, we did locate a book, How to Choose Your Next Prey. Authorities believe that Willa was the mystery woman Walt had complained about just weeks before he went missing. She was in his neighborhood, cleaning his neighbor's house. He was advanced in years. She was very quickly able to assess that here is someone who is vulnerable. It was very obvious that Willa had been doing her own surveillance on Walter Chartore
Starting point is 00:41:31 and paying attention to when he comes, when he goes. She and her son let Walter know that it was them who had shoveled the driveway. At that time, Willa handed Walter a stack of mail that she had collected without him asking. That included some financial documents. Under the guise of trying to help, Willa was scoping Walt out. When I executed the search warrant on the vehicle of Ms. Blanc, we found a picture of Walter, as well
Starting point is 00:42:05 as financial statements from Fidelity and a black semi-automatic handgun. She had opened documents which demonstrated that he had accounts and very large sums of money. Employees at Walt's bank tell prosecutors how Willis scammed her way into getting power of attorney, using a stand-in to pose as Walt. An imposter was being used for the purpose of signing these legal documents. All identified a man who seemed to be in his 70s, who was frail and had an oxygen mask on and was carrying an oxygen tank with them. During that period of time is when Walter Sartori
Starting point is 00:42:48 was restrained in her basement. The imposter was never identified. As far as how Willa got Walt into her basement, investigators can only speculate. Detectives were not willing to say exactly how Walter Sartore ended up in Willa Blanc's house. It was widely insinuated that he did not go there by his own choosing. On April 13th, nearly two months after his disappearance, forensics finally confirms the remains found on Duane Lively's property in Indiana are Walters. Because of the condition that Walter Sartori's body was found in,
Starting point is 00:43:37 which was basically a handful of bone fragments, the medical examiner obviously was never able to determine a cause of death. The medical examiner obviously was never able to determine a cause of death. On May 12, 2009, a Kentucky grand jury indicts the mother and son. Willa and Lewis were indicted on multiple charges including kidnapping, murder, theft by deception, tampering with evidence, and then a whole host of charges relating to the finances, including exploitation of an adult. We filed notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Willa Blanc. Facing the threat of death row, in December 2011, Willa takes a plea deal.
Starting point is 00:44:29 She pled guilty to all charges and received life without the possibility of parole. The following September, Lewis also pleads guilty to kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, and exploitation of an adult. He receives a 30-year sentence. Those close to the case believe Willa's ability to carry out such a callous murder was fueled by one thing, greed. She would do just about anything to get her hands on the funds to save the lifestyle that she had created for herself. Money drove Willa Blanc to do the things that she did. She was just very good at playing and acting
Starting point is 00:45:20 as she was a good person. But at the end of the day, she was a master manipulator who knew how to get what she wanted. I believe wholeheartedly that she did this to Walter for money, and that's the only reason. The saddest part of this entire case is that Walter had to live his worst fear. He was afraid that people were out to get him,
Starting point is 00:45:47 and he was right, they were. I think that Walter's legacy is that of his time as a scientist and the kindness that he gave to other people that were not his close family. He was a very kind man. that were not his close family. He was a very kind man. The remainder of Walt Sartori's estate went to friends and organizations as specified in his will.
Starting point is 00:46:13 Dwayne Lively fully cooperated with authorities and was never charged in connection to the homicide. Willa Blanc is currently serving her life sentence at the Kentucky Correctional Institute for Women. Lewis will be eligible for parole in 2029. He will be 47 years old. He was hip-hop's biggest mogul, the man who redefined fame, fortune, and the music industry. The first male rapper to be honored on the Hollywood walk. Did he built an empire and live the life most people only dream
Starting point is 00:46:55 about everybody no no party like a did he party so yeah, but just as quickly as his empire rose it came crashing down. The unsealing of a 3 count indictment charging Sean combs with racketeering conspiracy sex trafficking interstate transportation for prostitution. I was. I made no excuses. It's just so sorry. Until you're wearing orange jumpsuit it's not real now
Starting point is 00:47:19 it's real. From his meteoric rise to his shocking fall from grace from law and crime this is the rise and fall of getting listen to the rise and fall of getting exclusively with one Drey plus.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.