The Deck Investigates - Episode 12: A Friend Flips

Episode Date: November 1, 2024

Under pressure from the police due to his own involvement in drug dealing, Kenny suddenly changes his story about Steve’s behavior around the time of Ada Haradine’s disappearance. And his new account just fuels investigators’ lingering suspicions.If you have any information about Ada Haradine, please contact Michiana Crime Stoppers at 574-288-STOP or 800-342-STOP or submit tips online at michianacrimestoppers.com. Tips can be made anonymously.You can also reach out directly to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office by calling their main line, 269-445-1560, their tip line at 800-462-9328, or online at www.ccso.info. View source material and photos for this episode at: thedeckpodcast.com/a-friend-flips/ Let us deal you in… follow The Deck on social media.Instagram: @thedeckpodcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @thedeckpodcast_ | @audiochuckFacebook: /TheDeckPodcast | /audiochuckllcTo support Season of Justice and learn more, please visit seasonofjustice.org. The Deck is hosted by Ashley Flowers. Instagram: @ashleyflowersTikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkieTwitter: @Ash_FlowersFacebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more!

Faced with getting in trouble for selling drugs, Kenny told Detective Dave Gizzi that there were a few things about his old friend Steve Dye that he somehow neglected to mention during their initial interview a couple of months ago, but he was willing to share it all now. So there, in his driveway, as he sat in the passenger seat of Detective Gizzi's unmarked cruiser with the door cracked open. Kenny nervously began to talk. And his new story couldn't have been more different from his first statement. It was a complete 180, pretty much point-for-point. And this version aligned much better with police's growing suspicion about Steve.

This is Episode 12, A Friend Flips. Kenny had previously said he wasn't sure if Steve came to his house on May 8, 1985, but that he often got home from work and found him there, waiting. Now, he's said that as best as he could recall, Steve did not stop by that day. And he said his wife, who was his live-in girlfriend back then, agreed with him. He went back and talked to his wife, Kenny did, and they both agreed that at that time, because of Kenny's work schedule, he would have been working late. There would have been no reason for Steve to come to the house because he knew they were good friends.

He knew that Kenny was working. And they indicated to us that they don't have any independent recollection of him coming to the house that day. Then there was the issue of Steve's Land Cruiser. Kenny had initially said it was no surprise that Steve got rid of it in late May of 1985, that he'd been talking about doing so for a couple of months. But now, he told Detective Gizzi, Steve never mentioned wanting to sell it before. He said it seemed like it was in pretty good condition.

And about six to eight months prior, Steve had put brand new tires on it. Now granted, the tires, he said, did need to be replaced. The older ones were shot. But Kenny couldn't help but wonder why Steve would bother with the new tires if he planned to get rid of it soon after. And speaking of the vehicle, Kenny's original story was that he never saw Steve deep clean the interior.

He just waxed and polished the exterior. But his new narrative was that a couple of days after Ada went missing, he went and visited Steve's home and noticed something unusual. He said Steve had the top off of the SUV and was meticulously washing the inside with a hose and soap. Kenny said he had never seen Steve wash the inside of it before, and it seemed like he was going the extra mile to make it spotless.

He also remembered Steve was acting jittery and told Kenny that they couldn't drink or do drugs because the police had put a surveillance van across the street. Kenny also had some disturbing details to share about Steve's personal life. He confessed that both he and Steve had been involved in small-scale drug dealing in the past.

He said Steve always carried a knife. And no longer the faithful husband who resisted all his friend's attempts to get him to cheat on his wife, Kenny now said that Steve had a history of extramarital affairs and an interest in what he called kinky sex acts. He recalled that at some point Steve had burglarized a friend's home for drugs, and he confided in Kenny that during the break-in, he had the urge to sexually assault the friend's wife. Kenny told Detective Gizzi that over the past few weeks,

he had seen or talked to Steve a few times. During one visit, Kenny asked him point-bl blank if he was involved in Ada's murder. He said Steve denied it, but acted noticeably nervous. And Kenny said that his wife thought Steve might have killed Ada. She had decided to lock the door and not answer if Steve showed up when Kenny was out because she felt so uncomfortable around him. Now Kenny ended up doubling down on all of these claims when he spoke with Detective Gizzi and Larry Sarhat

a few days later on August 11th. This would have been during a recorded interview in a local hotel conference room. We don't have the audio of this. Cass County couldn't locate any of the audio or video from Ada's case, But we do have the transcript. Kenny said that over the years, Steve had talked about getting rich off the perfect crime.

And he remembered that Steve and his wife seemed to be struggling financially when they first got married, which was just months after Ada went missing. But he said despite the struggle, Steve quickly managed to buy a new motorcycle and then a new house in La Porte. He wasn't sure how Steve could afford those things. Even though he knew the dyes had money, the spending seemed well beyond their means. But Kenny didn't speculate how killing Ada would have put any money in Steve's pocket.

Kenny also recalled that Steve started to grow his hair out around the time Ada's body was found, even though he had always worn it short. He also said he seemed to be on edge, especially when discussing the case. He was evasive when it came up, but Steve also seemed concerned about whether Kenny would corroborate his so-called alibi, asking him if he remembered that he had stopped by that day. Which actually led Kenny to another thing that he thought was odd. Steve never told him that he'd given his name to police.

For Kenny, the lack of communication about such a major detail raised a red flag. And according to Detective Gizzi, another huge red flag was that Kenny was able to place Steve in the area where Ada's body was found. He said the two of them used to ride four-wheelers on that nearby switchback. All in all, Kenny's new conclusion was this. While he initially wouldn't have thought Steve capable of murder, the more he mulled over

it, the more he believed that he did kill Ada. And if Steve did it, Kenny speculated that the motive was financial, or a quote-unquote very strong sexual act. He even assured investigators that he'd be willing to record conversations with Steve, although he was apparently reluctant to follow through. He said, you know, I don't know if I can do that. So we never got to the point of doing it. And then after Steve had got an attorney, couldn't do it.

He couldn't send somebody in there acting as your agent to try to get around the attorney-client privilege. No, there's case law to that effect. But here's the thing. Even if Kenny would have gone in with a wire, I'm not sure if they would have gotten anything. Because I can't help but think it's a little off that Kenny only started saying incriminating stuff

about Steve after he was trying to save his own skin. But Cass County prosecutor Victor Fitz believes that this was actually a motivation for Kenny to tell the truth. Victor Fitz didn't hold the top spot at the time. But if anyone is ever arrested for Ada's murder, it's his office that would bring the charges. And while it's true that calling someone like Kenny to the stand would be challenging, it certainly wouldn't be out of the charges. And while it's true that calling someone like Kenny to the stand would be challenging, it certainly wouldn't be out of the question.

If that witness was used, it'd be important to have corroboration to what they're saying. They'd be asked about the inconsistencies. Why did you say this first? And then why did you change it, you know, after you knew that potentially you could be charged with some drug offenses and so forth. And a defense attorney is going to say he thought if he gave some information that might be perceived as helpful by the investigators, that he'd avoid the criminal charges for the drugs. My response to the defense attorney's assertions

that I just described would be, look, he now knows that he's gotta tell the truth. As long as he's telling the truth, he's protecting himself. But if he starts lying about something, then all bets are off. Then he's gonna be facing the drug activity that was going on literally under the nose of the police officers. So there's great incentive to tell the truth.

And then ultimately it's a jury or a judge that decides, you know, who do we believe? Of course, this isn't a court of law. And you all are gonna draw your own conclusions, just like I drew mine, and like investigators drew theirs. And even though Detective Gizzi says you had to take Kenny's statement with a grain of salt, it certainly seems like they believed Kenny 2.0 more than the original.

But there are things I have problems with. More than just the stories being different, there were some important things that just didn't add up for me. For one thing, it's tough to buy into the idea that Steve meticulously cleaned his land cruiser while he was supposedly paranoid about police watching the neighborhood. If you're trying to keep a low profile right after your neighbor disappears, scrubbing down your vehicle seems like a surefire way to draw attention and paint a target on your back. Then there's Detective Gizzi's comment about Kenny connecting Steve to the crime scene.

Gizzi has stuck to this point every time we've spoken with him. But when you look at the police interview reports and transcripts with Kenny, there is no mention of the switchback. In fact, there is nothing suggesting that Kenny said Steve knew the area at all. The only record we have of Kenny talking about that spot is here in the transcript from August 11, 1988, when Gizzy asks him, quote, Can you recall being down that road with Steve? Kenny responds, quote, I have tried to. Me and my wife have sat down a lot and thought about this.

End quote. And that was it. Kenny changed the subject to his wife, and they never returned to the topic of location. We read that excerpt to Detective Gizzi, and he insisted Kenny told him at some point that he and Steve had been there to ride four-wheelers. But if that is the case, we have no documentation of it.

Cass County felt like they were heading on the right track. And so on the same day they conducted the hotel interview with Kenny, they reached out to the couple who bought the dies house in February of 1986. Even though a few years had passed by this point, detectives were determined to search it for any physical evidence. And since they knew getting a warrant would be difficult, if not impossible, they appealed directly to the new homeowners, Harold and Diana. The two of them were agreeable, but cautious. They wanted to make sure they understood their legal rights, and they were concerned about potential property damage.

So they decided to speak with a lawyer before giving the final okay. And of all the numbers in the phone books, guess which one they happened to call? Steve's attorney, Edward Chester. I thought it was ironic, to say the least. What a coincidence. But I couldn't help. I couldn't give them any advice on that. And I presume they probably cooperated with the police.

I hope they did. And I hope it helped answer some questions, one way or the other. They did end up cooperating, signing off on a search waiver. But to no one's great surprise, especially considering the dyes had apparently done some remodeling of their own not long before they moved, that effort didn't answer any questions. All police were able to conclude was that carpet fibers collected from the house didn't match fibers

on the shirt they found wrapped around a machete near the crime scene. Now, while we're still on the subject of Steve's lawyer, though, the fact that he hired one in the first place only fueled detective suspicions. Right away you go, oh, why do you run and get an attorney? If you're talking to us and you're gonna be so cooperative

and in the next minute you're hiring an attorney who sends us a letter, it should be in that file, that you're not to have any more contact with my client. It's like, most people don't do that. Even if they had been interviewed and polygraphed multiple times? I don't know. If I was a suspect in a homicide and I didn't do it, I would make myself available 24-7 to the cops, say, what do you need?

Even if you think I'm the suspect, I'm going to prove that I'm not. As for Edward, defending his new client didn't turn out to be particularly time consuming. Do you remember what contact you had to have with police over? It was an ongoing thing or was it just like one and done? It was pretty much one and done from my perspective. I know I met with Stephen and I sent a letter to the police authorities telling them that I represented Stephen, that he was not willing to have any further communication with them and to leave him alone. And that's about the end of my representation.

But for detectives, the investigation into Steve was far from over. In fact, when they submitted evidence for FBI testing that summer, Steve was the only suspect listed. They claimed he had taken and failed two polygraph tests, which wasn't accurate because he had actually taken three and failed one. They went on to stalk out Steve's home in La Porte, documenting some routine, everyday activities,

although with limited manpower they could only manage a few hours of surveillance. And they continued to learn what they could about him from friends and associates. Did he have a reputation for being violent with women? We had talked to a couple of former girlfriends and they didn't really give us anything to hang our head on other than he was messing around on him. He wasn't very faithful. Even if that's true, it's odd that Steve's unfaithfulness made investigators suspicious. I mean, pick out any number of the people we've talked about in this case so far, like Terry or Ed Heredine, who cheated on the actual victim in this case.

They weren't faithful either, but they were ruled out by police. Without much to build on and leads drying up, ADA's task force disbanded in January of 1989. That's when they would have cut manpower back and say, hey, look, you got any active leads that you need all this manpower? No, okay, we're gonna start pulling people out. If you need them again, let us know. To Ada's family, this was yet another

frustrating turn of events. Her husband, Ed Herodine, had talked to various private investigators who told him that there were still leads to pursue and that his wife's homicide could be solved. But in a July, 1989 letter to an attorney at hired, then Cass County prosecutor, Margaret Chiara, stressed that they had pursued all of their options.

Police were prepared to follow up on any new information that came their way, but they couldn't go after Steve since he had a lawyer. And according to authorities, by that point, he was the only suspect who hadn't been eliminated. The focus on Steve didn't fade as time passed. In fact, when the case was reopened decades later, he was still at the center of the investigation.

And detectives decided to have another go at him by leaning on his old pal Kenny, along with a woman that Steve was apparently romantically involved with. They were hoping that the connections might finally provide the evidence they needed to move forward and get justice for Ada once and for all. That will all be in next week's episode,

episode 13, One Last Shot.