The Final Keystroke (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

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[2] One Monday morning in May of 2010, a classroom full of sixth graders sat at their desks waiting for their substitute teacher to arrive.

[3] But the morning bell rang and the substitute never showed.

[4] As it happened, a school administrator walked past that classroom and noticed all the kids just kind of standing around with no teacher in the classroom.

[5] And so the administrator rushed to the front office to figure out what was going on.

[6] The substitute that was supposed to be in that class had always been so reliable, and so it was not like her to just not show up for work.

[7] And so the administrator tried calling the substitute teacher, but after she didn't answer, the administrator called the substitute's son.

[8] And the son went over to his mother's house to see if she was okay, and he would find his mother sitting at her computer.

[9] But right away, he could tell something was horribly wrong.

[10] But before we get into that story, If you're a fan of the Strange Dark and Mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right podcast because that's all we do and we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday.

[11] So, if that's of interest to you, kindly offer to help the follow button patch up their leaking roof.

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[13] Okay, let's get into today's story.

[14] I'm Dan Tiberski.

[15] In 2011, something strange began to happen at a high school in upstate.

[16] New York.

[17] A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast.

[18] What's the answer?

[19] And what do you do if they tell you it's all in your head?

[20] Hysterical.

[21] A new podcast from Wondry and Pineapple Street Studios.

[22] Binge all episodes of hysterical early and ad -free on Wondery Plus.

[23] On the morning of Friday, May 21st, 2010, 68 -year -old Dennis Kola sat down for breakfast with his wife, Myrna, inside of their kitchen in their spacious four -bedroom house in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

[24] Dennis picked up the newspaper and, like always, began reading the front page out loud to Murna.

[25] This was an activity the couple enjoyed doing together every morning.

[26] According to the story on the front page, stock market was struggling and unemployment was on the rise, but Mirna didn't bat an eye.

[27] She knew that she and Dennis would be fine because they had made a ton of money throughout their 42 -year marriage by owning multiple successful businesses from a chain of pharmacies to afford car dealership that Dennis owned with his son.

[28] But a few years earlier, Dennis had seen the writing on the wall when it came to the country's economy.

[29] So he had sold his businesses before things got too bad, and he had walked away with enough money for him and Murna to be set for the rest of their lives without having to work.

[30] But the truth was, Dennis and Murna actually loved to work, kind of independent of making money, so they weren't quite ready to just full -on retire.

[31] And so after selling his companies, Dennis had returned to his old job as a pharmacist, and Murna worked at a local middle school as a substitute teacher.

[32] And so on this Friday morning, because of his work commitments, Dennis didn't have time to read beyond just the first few pages of the newspaper.

[33] After putting the paper down, Dennis finished his breakfast, then gave his wife a kiss on the cheek and told her he loved her, and then he walked out the front door.

[34] Once outside, Dennis climbed into his truck and began the 40 -mile drive to the nearby town where he worked at this local pharmacy.

[35] And while Dennis made his commute, Murna cleaned up the kitchen and then headed out to work herself.

[36] And as she drove the short distance to West Salem Middle School, she passed by all these many mansions that were just like hers with wide well -manicured lawns and then she drove by the neighborhood golf course and banquet hall.

[37] Merna couldn't picture a better place for her and Dennis to grow old together, a small community filled with friends where she always felt comfortable and safe, and she loved how close her neighborhood was to the rest of her family.

[38] Dennis and Merna had two grown children who also had children of their own, and Merna thought there was nothing better than having the family over and spending time with the grandkids she adored.

[39] Merna finally arrived at the middle school, and she went inside and walked down a long hall to the classroom where she had been assigned that day.

[40] She opened the door, and the faces of the students lit up.

[41] Merna was the kid's favorite substitute teacher.

[42] The school day passed quickly for Merna, and as always, she made each period pass just as quickly for her students by making sure the lessons were actually fun.

[43] Merna had always believed that learning should be an enjoyable experience and not a slog where every minute feels like an hour.

[44] Myrna worked that day at the school until around 3 p .m. And then the final bell rang and she told her class to have a great weekend.

[45] And she said she'd be back as their substitute on Monday.

[46] Then Myrna headed outside, hopped in her car, and made her way home.

[47] And then once there, she did some chores around the house.

[48] And when she was done with her housework, she sat down in the home office and logged on to her computer.

[49] About 45 minutes later, around 6 p .m., her husband, Dennis, pulled back up to the house after his day of work.

[50] He parked his truck and made his way onto the porch, eager to get inside and have dinner with his wife.

[51] Dennis opened the door and walked through the hallway toward the kitchen, his keys dangling from his hand, and then Dennis stepped into the kitchen and called out to his wife.

[52] And then suddenly, everything went black.

[53] Three days later, on Monday at 7 .50 a .m., the morning bell rang at West Salem Middle School, marking the beginning of the official day.

[54] Students all took their seats in all the classrooms and the school kind of went quiet as the teachers began their lessons, that is, in every classroom but one.

[55] In that one classroom, the chair behind the teacher's desk remained empty, and so the students in that classroom just remained standing up and chatting with each other, you know, aware of the fact that their teacher was not there, but not that worried because they liked having some extra time.

[56] However, the student's obvious restlessness caught the ear of an administrator who happened to be walking by the classroom, and the administrator stepped into the room and asked what was going on, and the student said their substitute teacher still hadn't shown up.

[57] Concerned, the administrator told the student, to wait quietly, and then he returned to the front office to double -check the schedule.

[58] This was the class that Myrna Kola had been assigned to teach that week, and apparently she had just not shown up for work and didn't tell anybody.

[59] The administrator pulled up Merna's file and dialed her phone number, but no one answered.

[60] So the administrator checked Merna's emergency contact info, and he found it was her son, Eric.

[61] Eric Cola was home with his wife when he got the phone call from the administrator.

[62] Eric told the administrator that he had no idea why his mom wouldn't show up for work.

[63] but he told him he'd try to get in touch with her and report back as soon as he could.

[64] Eric hung up and dialed his mom's cell phone, but it just rang and rang until it went to voicemail.

[65] So Eric called his father, who at this point in the morning would have been in his truck on his way to work, and so in theory would have been ready to receive a phone call, but he too did not answer his phone.

[66] After both parents didn't pick up, Eric turned to his wife looking concerned and said something wasn't right, but this was totally out of character for his parents to just go completely incommunicato.

[67] And so Eric called his sister, Cindy, and asked her if she had had any contact with their parents, but Cindy said that she hadn't talked to them since before the weekend.

[68] After Eric ended this call, he told his wife that he was just going to go to his parents' house to see what the heck was going on.

[69] And about 10 minutes later, Eric slowed his truck to a stop in front of the house, and he saw his dad's truck was out front.

[70] Eric parked, walked up the driveway to the side of the house, and he looked into his parents' three -car garage, and he could see his mother's car, a mountaineer, was also parked inside, so his parents had to be home.

[71] Eric opened the garage with the opener as parents had given him.

[72] He walked past his mother's SUV, and then he opened the unlocked door to the house and stepped inside.

[73] And as he walked towards the kitchen, he saw his father.

[74] Dennis was lying there, motionless, on the kitchen floor.

[75] Eric ran to his father, and he saw there was a pool of blood all around him.

[76] Eric got down on the floor and grabbed his dad's leg desperately trying to shake him awake, but not only was Dennis unresponsive, his body was totally stiff.

[77] And so in a panic, Eric grabbed his phone and dialed 911, and when the operator answered, he told them as best as he could what he had seen, and the operator, who was very calm, asked Eric if anyone else was in the house.

[78] And so Eric, who didn't know, began walking down the hall, and when he looked into the office, he cried out.

[79] There was his mother slumped over the desk at the computer.

[80] Her skin had turned purple.

[81] The operator calmly asked Eric if his mother was still breathing, and Eric replied that, no, she wasn't, that both of his parents had to be dead.

[82] A little while after Eric's 911 call, Agent John Christofferson of the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation and members of his team arrived at the Cola's house.

[83] Christopherson saw two deputies from the LaCross County Sheriff's Department talking to Eric in the front yard.

[84] And he saw several of the Cola's neighbors standing on their porches looking completely stunned by all the police activity.

[85] I mean, this stuff didn't happen in this neighborhood.

[86] Christopherson knew major crime was rare in this community and a double homicide was basically unheard of.

[87] That was a big reason Christofferson and the state police had been brought in to lead this investigation.

[88] Agent Christofferson got out of his car, walked across the yard, and introduced himself to the deputies and to Eric, and he let them both know that he'd be back soon to ask some questions.

[89] Then he led members of his team into the Cola's house.

[90] The smell of decomposing bodies hit them immediately, and the smell instantly told them that the victims must have been dead for quite a while.

[91] Christopherson walked to the kitchen, and he saw Dennis lying face down on the floor.

[92] Dennis was surrounded by a pool of coagulated blood, and he had a hole in the right side of his head.

[93] Dennis was still wearing his jacket, and his car keys were clutched tightly in his hand.

[94] So Christopherson figured that Dennis must have been shot shortly after he walked through the front door of his house.

[95] After looking around the kitchen, Christopherson walked down the hall to the office, where he knew the second victim had been found.

[96] He saw Murna's body hunched over the desk.

[97] She had an obvious bullet -we.

[98] wound in the back of her head, and her left arm was resting on the computer keyboard, as if she had been typing when someone walked up behind her and shot her.

[99] Christopherson turned around and glanced back at the office door.

[100] He wondered if the killer had stood there and watched this woman at her computer before shooting her.

[101] There was something cold -blooded about the idea, like a predator observing its prey before moving in for the kill.

[102] While Christopherson searched the office, a member of the investigative team walked inside and told Christopherson that he needed to see something upstairs.

[103] So Christofferson followed the officer up a carpeted staircase, down a hallway, and into Merna and Dennis's bedroom.

[104] It appeared like the room had been ransacked.

[105] All of the dresser drawers had been pulled open, but as Christopherson walked across the room to the dresser, he felt like there was something unusual about the bedroom scene.

[106] Their dresser drawers had all been pulled out and left open in a way that a robber wouldn't have actually been able to see what was in each drawer, and it didn't look like anyone had actually dug through the drawers or taken anything.

[107] So Christopherson wondered if maybe the killer had tried to stage the room to look like a robbery, even though that's not what it was.

[108] Christopherson continued to walk around the room, and he quickly found pieces of Myrna's very expensive jewelry just sitting out untouched, so that only added to his suspicion that the apparent ransacking in the bedroom really had been staged.

[109] Christopherson finished searching the room and then made his way down the hall to an upstairs guest room.

[110] This room looked untouched.

[111] But then when he opened the door to a walk -in closet inside of this room, something immediately caught the agent's eye.

[112] It was a 22 -caliber rifle propped up against the wall.

[113] Christofferson looked up, and he saw, on a shelf right above the rifle, was an opened box of ammunition.

[114] He kneeled down to look closer at the rifle, and he noticed there was an indentation in the carpet nearby.

[115] It was about the same size and shape as the butt of the gun.

[116] It looked like the indentation was where the rifle had been resting, but then just recently, someone must have moved that rifle, and when they returned it, they didn't put it back exactly where they'd found it in the indentation.

[117] Christofferson had a member of his team bagged the rifle and the box of ammunition and booked them into evidence.

[118] Then Christopherson headed downstairs and outside and joined the deputies who were talking to Eric.

[119] After telling Eric how sorry he was for his loss, Christofferson said, look, I have to ask you right now about what you know, because this is a murder investigation and this needs to move quickly.

[120] And so he asked Eric, when was the last time he saw his parents alive?

[121] Eric said it had been Thursday night, so four nights earlier.

[122] He had stopped by the house to help his mother do laundry and to help his father replace some boards out on the deck.

[123] And before Eric left, Eric told Christofferson that his father had said to him, I love you, son.

[124] And Eric had said back, yeah, I love you too, dad.

[125] He said that was the last time they actually spoke.

[126] Eric did tell Christopherson that that weekend, he had tried calling his parents to invite them to a cookout, but they didn't pick up, so he left a voicemail.

[127] And his parents didn't call him back, but he didn't think it was that big of a deal because he knew his parents had plans with friends that weekend.

[128] After hearing this, Christopherson asked Eric if he knew of anyone who might have access to his parents' residence.

[129] Eric said he couldn't think of anyone specifically, but he did say his parents often kept their doors unlocked.

[130] This didn't really surprise Christoperson because that's how safe this community was.

[131] But now he wondered if maybe someone had exploited that sense of security and just slipped inside the house through an unlocked door.

[132] As Eric continued to speak with Christoperson and the other police officers, Eric's sister, Cindy Cowell, arrived at the property.

[133] And as she walked across the yard towards them, Christopherson could tell she'd been crying.

[134] After Cindy walked over to them, she gave a brother a hug, and the two of them did their best to comfort each other, and also to provide any additional information that might help.

[135] But neither of them could think of anyone who might have had a motive to kill their parents.

[136] And so this double murder was turning into a total mystery.

[137] I'm Dan Tibersky.

[138] In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York.

[139] I was like at my locker and she came up to me and she was like stuttering super bad.

[140] I'm like, stop fucking around.

[141] She's like, I can't.

[142] A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast.

[143] It's like doubling and tripling, and it's all these girls.

[144] With a diagnosis, the state tried to keep on the down low.

[145] Everybody thought I was holding something back.

[146] Well, you were holding something back.

[147] Intentionally.

[148] Yeah, well, yeah.

[149] No, it's hysteria.

[150] It's all in your head.

[151] It's not physical.

[152] Oh, my gosh, you're exaggerating.

[153] Is this the largest mass hysteria since the witches of Salem?

[154] Or is it something else entirely?

[155] Something's wrong.

[156] here.

[157] Something's not right.

[158] Leroy was the new date line and everyone was trying to solve the murder.

[159] A new limited series from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, Hysterical.

[160] Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[161] You can binge all episodes of Histerical early and ad -free right now by joining Wondry Plus.

[162] If you're listening to this podcast, then chances are good.

[163] You are a fan of the Strange, Dark, and Mysterious.

[164] And if that's the case, then I've got some good news.

[165] We just launched a brand new, strange, dark, and mysterious podcast called Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries.

[166] And as the name suggests, it's a show about medical mysteries, a genre that many fans have been asking us to dive into for years, and we finally decided to take the plunge, and the show is awesome.

[167] In this free, weekly show, we explore bizarre, unheard of diseases, strange medical mishaps, unexplainable deaths, and everything in between.

[168] Each story is totally true and totally terrifying.

[169] Go follow Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries, wherever you get your podcasts, and if you're a prime member, you can listen early and ad -free on Amazon music.

[170] The next day, the medical examiner performed autopsies on Dennis and Myrna, and the results were far from surprising.

[171] Each had been shot in the head.

[172] But there was an important detail.

[173] The bullet that had struck them in the head was a 22 -caliber bullet, and this was an important detail for Christopherson, because it was the same caliber bullet used in the rifle he'd found in the upstairs bedroom closet.

[174] and that rifle had clearly been recently moved because of that indentation he saw on the carpet.

[175] And Christopherson thought that if that rifle was the murder weapon, then the killer had to have known Dennis and Murna well enough to know where they kept that gun.

[176] Christopherson wanted to develop a timeline of the Kola's last day.

[177] However, the autopsies did not pinpoint the exact times of their deaths, so he still wasn't even sure what day they had died.

[178] But one thing he did know was that Murna had clearly been using her computer when she was killed, so his team sent Mernah's computer to a forensic data lab where the hard drive could be analyzed for timestamps.

[179] And this data revealed that Merna had begun using her computer at exactly 514 p .m. on Friday, May 21st, and her very last keystroke was made at 5 .41 p .m. that same evening.

[180] And so Christopherson believed that 541 p .m. on May 21st was the exact time of Merna's death.

[181] Then Christopherson, using this information, figured out when Dennis had left work on that day, and how long generally it would take Dennis to drive back home.

[182] And based on this, Christopherson concluded that Dennis most likely got home around 6 p .m. So he estimated that Dennis' time of death was about 20 minutes after his wife's death.

[183] So at this point, Christopherson knew that the colas had very likely been killed in the early evening of May 21st, three days before they were actually discovered.

[184] And also, based on the timeline, whoever had shot Mirna had very likely waited inside of the house to then kill Dennis when he walked inside.

[185] Christopherson knew that Dennis and Myrna were well off financially, and they had multiple investments in life insurance policies with very big payouts, so money had to be considered as a potential motive.

[186] And investigators soon learned that the beneficiaries of Dennis and Mernas' life insurance policies were their kids, Eric and Cindy, and they stood to inherit over $700 ,000 each.

[187] And so obviously, when you include the fact that Eric was the one who found the bodies, this made the kids highly suspicious.

[188] And so Christopherson decided he would speak to them both, but he would start with Eric.

[189] And so the day after the discovery of the bodies, Eric arrived at the police station and he sat down across from Christopherson inside of a small interview room.

[190] And Eric appeared to be very grief -stricken, but at the same time, Christopherson could tell Eric was eager to help.

[191] He spoke in a cooperative tone and never came across as defensive.

[192] And so the first question Christopherson asked Eric was, how was his relationship with his parents?

[193] Eric said he had always gotten along with both of his parents.

[194] He said his father was a great business partner because they worked at that car dealership together and also they played golf together all the time.

[195] Eric said he also made a point to see his mother as much as he could and also help her out around the house because she refused to slow down even though she was almost 70.

[196] After that, Christopherson asked Eric to walk him through what he did all day on Friday, May 21st, which is again the day that Christopherson believed the two victims were killed.

[197] Eric said that day he spent the morning and afternoon doing what he normally did, day trading.

[198] Day trading is a form of securities trading where the trader buys stocks and other assets and then sells them the same day, taking advantage of price fluctuations that occur between the opening and closing of the trading day.

[199] And Eric would say he was actually a pretty successful day trader, often pulling in between $7 ,000 and $10 ,000 a month.

[200] The only downside being that it required him to sit at home on his computer for hours and hours on end.

[201] After he finally got up from his computer, he left his house to meet up with his friend to help grout and tile a shower.

[202] He said he was with that friend until about 5 .30 p .m. And then he went to pick up his wife at home because they were going out to celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary.

[203] Now, to this point in the interview, it was very cut and dry.

[204] You know, Eric is doing his best to be composed.

[205] But at this point, Eric just suddenly shook his head and began laughing.

[206] Christofferson was very surprised at this and asked, you know, did I miss something funny?

[207] Eric stopped laughing and said, you know, it's not really funny, but I had known about this day our anniversary for a long time.

[208] We had planned it all out.

[209] But as I was going back home that day, I actually realized I totally forgot to buy an actual anniversary gift.

[210] And so Eric would explain that he stopped at a retail store called Shopco to buy his wife a hanging plant because he knew his wife loved hanging plants.

[211] And he also knew the exact type to get her.

[212] And so Eric said he went inside the shop and he browsed the store's garden center for a while, but he didn't actually see the plant that his wife liked.

[213] So he drove to a different shop co -location and he did find the right hanging plant there.

[214] And he paid for it and then drove home and then he and his wife had gone out for their celebration.

[215] And then right after he said that, Eric looked like he had just remembered something out of the blue.

[216] Then he pulled his wallet out and he took out a receipt for this plant and he slid it across the table to Christopherson saying that he had held on to this receipt in case his wife didn't like the plant and so she could return it.

[217] Christopherson looked at the plant at 6 .15 p .m. at the shopco.

[218] After that, Christopherson asked Eric to wait in the interview room while he reached out to Eric's friend to confirm that they really had met up on that Friday to grout and tile the bathroom.

[219] And so Christopherson got the friend's number, stepped into the hall and gave him a call, and the friend confirmed that Eric had left his house around 5 .30 that evening.

[220] And so at this point, Christopherson concluded that based on Eric's timeline, he didn't really have enough time to have also driven to his parents' house to kill them, you know, between leaving his friend's house and then getting that plant at Shopko.

[221] So Christofferson did not think Eric was as likely of a suspect as he originally seemed.

[222] So Christofferson walked back into the interview room and asked Eric if he could think of anyone, anyone at all, who may have had a reason to harm his parents.

[223] Eric hesitated and then with obvious reluctance in his voice, he said they should look into his sister, Cindy, and her husband Patrick.

[224] When asked to explain why, Eric said that Cindy had been having some very serious financial problems.

[225] She was living paycheck to paycheck, earning close to minimum wage, working for a collections agency.

[226] Meanwhile, her husband Patrick didn't work at all.

[227] They had a mortgage and other expenses, and Cindy had been borrowing money from their parents to help make ends meet.

[228] In fact, she actually owed her parents tens of thousands of dollars.

[229] And then also, Eric said that his sister's husband, Patrick, was just generally kind of a bad guy.

[230] And also, Eric knew his parents did not like Patrick at all, and often referred to him as a, quote, lazy bum.

[231] But Eric said he wasn't sure if his parents even knew just how bad things really were between Cindy and her husband Patrick.

[232] Eric said Patrick had a violent temper and had once pulled a gun on Cindy after she threatened to leave him.

[233] Patrick allegedly told Cindy that the only way she'd be leaving him was in a body bag.

[234] Christopherson was shocked at this information.

[235] I mean, if this was true, this was a huge red flag.

[236] I mean, the idea that Patrick had literally pulled a gun out and actually threatened to kill someone certainly made him a pretty big suspect.

[237] But Christopherson kind of tempered his reaction to this and just thanked Eric for coming in and speaking to him, and then after Eric was gone, Christopherson immediately reached out to Cindy to set up a meeting.

[238] The following day, Cindy showed up at the station and joined Christopherson in the interview room.

[239] And right away, Christopherson could tell Cindy seemed very rattled and sort of nervous.

[240] But Christopherson didn't react to that and just thanked her for coming in and reiterated how sorry he was for her loss.

[241] His voice was calm and friendly, and he told Cindy there was no reason to be nervous, this was just an interview, not an interrogation.

[242] Cindy nodded, but still seemed very nervous.

[243] Christopherson began the interview by asking Cindy, when was the last time she spoke to her parents?

[244] And Cindy said she had spoken to her father on Friday morning, so the day that Dennis and Merno were killed.

[245] Cindy said during this conversation with her dad, she had talked about her and her husband's mounting financial troubles.

[246] She had told her father that she and Patrick had absolutely no money, and to her make matters worse, the unemployment check that Patrick was expecting hadn't arrived yet.

[247] Cindy said her father had been sort of blunt with her that morning.

[248] He criticized her husband for not supporting her and their daughter, and then he told Cindy he would not keep giving her any more money.

[249] Cindy looked like she was about to cry.

[250] She told Christopherson that her father's rejection was so upsetting for her, and she felt like Eric was the favorite child, the golden boy, while she was just a disappointment to her parents.

[251] After that, Christopherson asked her what she had done the rest of that day after she had spoken to her father.

[252] Cindy said she'd been at work until about 4 .45 p .m. She left the office and stopped at a convenience store to buy some groceries, and then she got home between 5 .30 and 6.

[253] And once she was home, she spent the rest of the evening with her daughter and husband.

[254] Christofferson took down Cindy's work information and said that was all he needed from her for now and that he would follow up if necessary.

[255] After the interview, members of the investigative team went to Cindy's office and obtained her punch cards.

[256] And the punch cards would show that, yes, Cindy had clocked out at 4 .45 p .m. Next, they drove over to the convenience store where Cindy said she had done her grocery shopping, and the manager of that store gave them access to the surveillance footage from that day, and it didn't take investigators long to find Cindy in the video shopping in the store during the time frame she said she was.

[257] And so, just like with her brother, the investigators concluded that basically based on the timeline, there wasn't enough time for Cindy to have gone to her parents' house and killed them.

[258] But Agent Christofferson couldn't completely rule Cindy out yet.

[259] Even if she wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, what's to say her husband, Patrick, the man who apparently had, you know, a temper and had previously drawn a gun on Cindy and threatened her life?

[260] Who's to say he didn't pull the trigger?

[261] And also maybe Cindy was involved somehow with the murder that she helped coordinate it for Patrick.

[262] But before Christopherson jumped to that conclusion and brought Patrick in and really drilled him hard on what he was doing on that day, he first wanted to check to see if Eric's description of Patrick was actually accurate.

[263] And what Christopherson learned was Patrick had apparently cheated on Cindy at some point.

[264] He abused drugs and he had difficulty holding down jobs.

[265] And because he was currently unemployed, he had a lot of free time and not a lot of money.

[266] Christopherson also learned that Merna did not like Patrick so much that she had warned Cindy that if she stayed married to Patrick, there's a chance that she would just deny her getting her inheritance, that basically Patrick could not touch this money.

[267] And that was the reason she wouldn't be getting it.

[268] And Patrick was definitely aware of this, and also he was aware that Cindy's parents were apparently about to cut them both off financially.

[269] And so it did seem like Patrick had more motive to want Dennis and Mernah dead than anybody else.

[270] A few days after the murders, Christopherson, along with an investigator from the sheriff's department, waited for Patrick inside of an interview room.

[271] Eventually, another officer led Patrick into the room, and Patrick sat down on the other side of the table.

[272] Patrick was very physically imposing.

[273] He was tall, with broad shoulders, and he had short -cropped hair, and he had spent some time in the Marine Corps.

[274] But once he was settled in his seat, he made it very clear that he wanted to help the investigators in any way he could.

[275] And the investigators actually couldn't help but look at each other really quickly, like they couldn't believe how soft -spoken Patrick seemed.

[276] I mean, this guy had this horrible reputation, and right now he seemed like he was just very cooperative.

[277] But Christopherson knew looks can be deceiving, so he got right to the point, and he asked Patrick how he spent his day on Friday, May 21st, the day his day his in -laws were killed.

[278] And Patrick said, in a very soft voice, that he had spent the day just kind of hanging around the house by himself, watching TV and playing Xbox.

[279] After this, the county investigator said to Patrick, you know, that's not exactly an airtight alibi.

[280] If he was home by himself, how could anybody corroborate that?

[281] Patrick said he understood, but he really was telling the truth.

[282] That's what he did on Friday.

[283] And then he also said, he always had a great relationship with Dennis and Murna, and he would never do anything to hurt them or to cause his wife any pain.

[284] At this point, Christopherson was nearly certain that Patrick was just lying, because basically everyone they had spoken to had said that the in -laws did not get along with Patrick.

[285] They called him the lazy bomb and they totally resented him and did not like him.

[286] So how could he possibly have a good relationship with them?

[287] And so Christopherson didn't waste any time.

[288] He leaned in and told Patrick that police had heard his relationship with the victims had been strained to say the least, and so it seemed very likely that right now Patrick was lying.

[289] Christopherson also pointed out, Patrick's weak alibi and the fact that as a former Marine, he would know how to use a gun.

[290] Patrick didn't deny any of this and said he did own several firearms, but he said again that he really had been at home playing video games that past Friday, and he really didn't have anything to do with the murders.

[291] Christopherson told Patrick that they might have a better idea if he really was telling the truth if he allowed them to search his house.

[292] Patrick looked at both investigators, and his voice stayed calm and soft like it had the whole time, and he said yes, he would consent to a search of his home because he had nothing to hide.

[293] So not long after this interview, investigators did search Patrick and Cindy's house and they would find multiple firearms which were confiscated.

[294] They also seized Patrick's Xbox and brought it into the crime lab for analysis.

[295] Investigators were able to see exactly when the Xbox game console was being used, and it did seem to confirm everything Patrick had said, because the Xbox had been used all day on Friday, suggesting Patrick really had been at home playing video games at the time Merna and Dennis were murdered.

[296] And also, after closer analysis, the guns seized in Patrick and Cindy's house were not the same ones that fired the 22 caliber bullets that killed Dennis and Murna.

[297] And so, just like Eric and Cindy, Patrick suddenly had a solid alibi.

[298] The following day, Eric walked outside of his house, he opened up his mailbox, and he found a single item inside.

[299] It was a plain white envelope with no postage on it.

[300] Eric took the envelope inside of his house, he opened it up, and he looked at the paper that was inside.

[301] And when Eric saw what was on it, his face turned pale and he started breathing heavily.

[302] His wife walked into the room and saw Eric staring at this node and clenching his jaw and shaking his head, and she asked him, what's going on?

[303] What does the notes say?

[304] Eric walked over to his wife and just held the note out for her to read.

[305] And in strange, weirdly stilted handwriting were the words, fixed you.

[306] That's all it said, fixed you.

[307] Eric's wife immediately picked up her phone and dialed 911.

[308] A few minutes later, a sheriff's deputy arrived at the house and took this strange note into evidence.

[309] And also the deputy noticed that Eric was incredibly rattled and could barely talk.

[310] In fact, the sheriff's deputy said it seemed like Eric could actually have a heart attack.

[311] And as Eric tried to catch his breath, he would tell the deputy that he believed his parents' killer wrote this note.

[312] And somehow those two words fixed you meant they were coming for him and his family next.

[313] The note forced Christopherson to view this case from a totally new angle.

[314] If somebody really did have a vendetta against the COLA's and that's why they killed Dennis and Myrna, it did seem entirely possible that they might also target the rest of the COLA family.

[315] And so that possibility obviously put way more pressure on Christopherson and his team to solve this case quickly.

[316] But the only thing that Christopherson kept coming back to that just seemed like it had to be at the heart of this case was money.

[317] Not only did Dennis and Myrna have property, investments, and huge insurance policies before they died, but also Eric had been a successful day trader and had lots of money too.

[318] So Christopherson decided he would dig deep as he could into the family's finances, hoping that might point him to a potential killer.

[319] And so back at the station, Christopherson and a forensic accountant dug through stacks of Dennis and Mernas' printed bank statements, and also they reviewed the couple's most recent online banking transactions.

[320] And as they looked at that recent online activity, something absolutely shocked them.

[321] And at first, Christofferson literally couldn't believe what he was looking at, like this had to be a mistake, because it was something so outlandish, it just shouldn't have been there.

[322] There was a transaction made on May 22, 2010, the day after the murders.

[323] The transaction showed a check that was cashed from Dennis' account for $50 ,000.

[324] Now, the name on the signature line of the check was, Anas Cola, but it was the name on the account that this check had been deposited into that really caught the investigator's attention.

[325] And suddenly the whole focus of the investigation shifted.

[326] Police immediately served a search warrant on this particular person's house, and inside they found a pair of plain white envelopes very similar to the envelope that Eric had found in his mailbox that contained the words fixed you on it.

[327] And when those envelopes were compared to the one that Eric had received, they contained the same manufacturing defect, proving that the envelope containing that fixed -you note had come from this individual's house.

[328] Then a forensic document examiner looked at that $50 ,000 check, and he quickly determined that Dennis's signature on this check was a forgery.

[329] What's more, the forged handwriting perfectly matched the handwriting on the fixed -you note.

[330] And so now, Agent Christofferson was very confident that the person who wrote that note and then also forged the check was Dennis and Myrna's killer.

[331] Based on financial records, evidence from the crime scene, and interviews conducted throughout the investigation, here is what police believe happened to Dennis and Murna Cola on May 21, 2010.

[332] Around 5 .30 p .m., the killer, who was inside of the Cola's house at this point, slowly walked down the hallway in the direction of the home office.

[333] They watched Murna from the hall until they were sure she was totally preoccupied with what she was doing on her computer.

[334] Then the killer slowly walked upstairs, entered one of the bedrooms, opened the closet door, and lifted the 22 -caliber rifle from where it was resting on the floor.

[335] They also reached up and grabbed some ammo from the box on the shelf, then loaded the rifle, and walked back downstairs.

[336] Then the killer made their way back to the home office, and they looked inside and saw Mirna was still preoccupied with the computer.

[337] And so the killer stepped forward into the room, they raised the rifle, aimed it at Merna's head, and then pulled the trigger.

[338] A 22 -caliber bullet lodged in Merna's brain.

[339] She died instantly, slumping over her computer, with her fingers still near the last keys she had pressed.

[340] Confident that Myrna was dead, the killer crossed the room and closed the blinds.

[341] Then they walked back into the hallway, went down to the kitchen, and sat down at the table, and began to wait.

[342] About 20 minutes later, the killer heard Dennis' truck pull up outside.

[343] The killer heard the sound of the truck door opening and closing, and then the sounds of footsteps getting louder as Dennis approached the front of the house.

[344] At this point, the killer slowly got up and moved towards the back of the kitchen and their back against the wall, sort of out of view, and continued to wait.

[345] A moment later, the killer heard Dennis' footsteps now inside of the house, his keys jangling in his hand.

[346] Then the killer saw Dennis walk into the kitchen, and immediately they raised their rifle, aimed it at Dennis's head, and fired.

[347] Dennis was dead before he even hit the ground.

[348] The killer stared at the body on the floor and then walked back upstairs and returned the rifle to the closet, failing to notice they were not placing it, in the exact spot where it had been before.

[349] After that, the killer walked to Dennis and Mernis' bedroom and opened up the dresser drawers to make it look like the home had been robbed.

[350] Then the killer opened up the drawer on the nightstand, tore out a check from Dennis's checkbook, and then wrote themselves a $50 ,000 check and forged Dennis's signature.

[351] The killer slipped the check into their pocket, walked back downstairs, left the house, and drove to a shop -co store to buy a hanging plant for an anniversary gift, making sure to keep the receipt, to help corroborate the alibi they knew they were would need.

[352] Dennis and Myrna's own son, Eric Cola, had been their killer.

[353] It would turn out, Eric had only visited one shopco store that day to buy a plant, not the two stores like he had told police.

[354] And so when detectives obtained the surveillance footage from the shopco, Eric claimed to have visited first before going to the second one and buying the plant, well, they expected to see him browsing the garden center in this first shop, but the investigators spent hours and hours reviewing the footage from multiple cameras inside and outside the store, but there was no trace of Eric anywhere.

[355] And investigators knew that if he had not gone to that store and only went to the second one, well, he would easily have enough time to kill his parents.

[356] And so his alibi began to fall apart.

[357] And then when investigators delved deeper into the COLA's financial records, they found that forged $50 ,000 check, and it was made out to Eric.

[358] And then also when investigators began probing Eric's personal finances, they quickly discovered that Eric had been lying to them.

[359] Eric was not raking in $7 to $10 ,000 a month from day trading as he claimed.

[360] In fact, he was in serious financial trouble.

[361] His day trading had been successful in the beginning, but then the economy had tanked and Eric's financial position plummeted, leaving him desperately broke and $150 ,000 in debt.

[362] But Eric continued keeping up appearances.

[363] He drove luxury cars, spoiled his kids and retained membership at an exclusive country club.

[364] He presented himself to friends as this financial wizard, but all the while he was actually borrowing huge sums of money from his father and then losing it on the stock market.

[365] Investigators had learned from Dennis's colleagues that Dennis was an extraordinarily generous man, the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you were in need.

[366] But Dennis's generosity had its limits.

[367] He had reached the end of his rope with his kids because he had given Eric hundreds of thousands of dollars and he had helped pay Cindy's mortgage while her husband sat at home, unemployed, playing video games.

[368] And in fact, only days before the murders, Dennis had told a work colleague at the pharmacy that he was officially cutting off his children financially.

[369] Enough was enough.

[370] When police confronted Eric about the forged $50 ,000 check, Eric explained that his father had given him a blank check the day before he was killed, and Eric had deposited it on Saturday, having no idea his parents were dead.

[371] But police didn't believe that, because Dennis had just told his colleague that he planned to stop giving his children money.

[372] So police searched Eric's home and they found the envelopes that matched the envelope from the fixed -you note.

[373] Eric had written that note himself and put it in his own mailbox.

[374] And so by this point, police were very sure Eric had killed his parents and they had enough probable cause to arrest him.

[375] Police believe Eric Kolov murdered his mother and father just so he could use the inheritance money to pull himself out of debt.

[376] The case against Eric was entirely circumstantial, but it was strong enough that a jury found him guilty on two counts of murder, and he was sentenced to two life terms without parole.

[377] Eric did not receive a dime of his parent's estate, but his two children did inherit $740 ,000, which they split between them.

[378] Eric continues to maintain his innocence.

[379] Thank you for listening to the Mr. Ballin podcast.

[380] If you enjoyed today's stories, and you're looking for more strange, dark, and mysterious content, be sure to check out all of our studios' podcasts.

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[384] So that's going to do it.

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[390] She struck him with her motor vehicle.

[391] She had been under the influence and she left him there.

[392] In January 2022, local woman Karen Reed was implicated in the mysterious death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O 'Keefe.

[393] It was alleged that after an innocent night out for drinks with friends, Karen and John got into a lover's quarrel en route to the next location.

[394] What happens next?

[395] Depends on who you ask.

[396] Was it a crime of passion?

[397] If you believe the prosecution, it's because the evidence was so compelling.

[398] This was clearly an intentional act.

[399] And his cause of death was blunt force trauma with hypothermia.

[400] Or a corrupt police cover -up.

[401] If you believe the defense theory, however, this was all a cover -up to prevent one of their own from going down.

[402] Everyone had an opinion.

[403] And after the 10 -week trial, the jury could not come to a unanimous decision.

[404] To end in a mistrial, it's just a confirmation of just how complicated this case is.

[405] Law and crime presents the most in -depth analysis to date of the sensational case in Karen.

[406] You can listen to Karen exclusively with Wondery Plus.

[407] Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.