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the place to be, to be.

1:06

Listener discretion is advised.

1:12

We can't go to that level. We can't get out of here.

1:14

We're already out. Well,

1:24

if you like murder, I I don't know

1:26

who likes murder, but you know know

1:28

what I mean. If you like this

1:30

sort of thing, the crime thing, here

1:32

we are. This This is Sordin Scale. Season

1:34

11, episode 278, a

1:36

show that reveals the

1:39

worst monsters are real. Criminals

2:24

are a subset

2:26

of our society. We

2:28

often like to think of them

2:31

as different from ourselves. We

2:33

classify them as criminals and them

2:35

from the rest of us. It's

2:37

those people over there. They're the

2:39

ones that make the bad choices,

2:41

not us. Sure,

2:43

it takes a bad

2:45

decision, or a

2:47

series of decisions, to become

2:49

a criminal, A

2:51

lapse in judgment, a bad

2:53

choice, drugs,

2:56

things like that. And

2:58

And thing is we're

3:00

all still human beings. Human

3:02

beings make mistakes, and

3:04

you and I are

3:06

also human beings. But

3:08

there is a bit

3:10

of a distinction, even

3:12

though I would argue it's

3:14

a lot more fragile than most

3:17

people want to portray, especially

3:19

those people that are teetering

3:22

the edge of morality. There

3:24

are those criminals who

3:26

find it nearly impossible

3:28

not to break the

3:31

law. It's kind

3:33

of like who they are, you

3:35

know, deep down. Psychologically,

3:37

it it stems from a lot

3:39

of things, but often they

3:41

have an utter lack of empathy.

3:45

They their desires above

3:47

everyone else. They

3:49

rationalize and minimize

3:51

their actions to justify

3:53

this behavior. In fact,

3:55

they see themselves as so

3:57

superior that they feel outside the

3:59

societal norm. norms, and above

4:01

all legal constraints. Any

4:04

challenge to this superiority

4:06

is met with defensiveness and

4:08

rage. These

4:11

criminals relentlessly seek

4:14

validation control

4:16

through the skewed lens

4:18

of their irrational mind. And

4:21

this pursuit almost always

4:23

leads to destructive consequences

4:25

for themselves, and

4:27

more importantly, all

4:30

of those around them.

4:58

About About 45 minutes north

5:00

of Detroit, Michigan, tucked into

5:02

the north -central part

5:04

of Macomb County, is the

5:06

village of Armada. Surrounded

5:08

by farmlands and orchards,

5:11

it's best known for the Armada Fair

5:14

the end of every summer. On

5:16

July 24, 2014, it was

5:18

a cloudy afternoon, but the

5:20

temperature outside was only 72

5:23

degrees. On the west

5:25

end of town, April Milsap

5:27

woke up late. Were you

5:29

already awake when she woke up? She

5:32

was probably about 2 this afternoon. 2

5:35

this afternoon? Oh my goodness gracious. Yeah, I was in

5:37

the night as well. How was

5:39

the wife so late? Was she all

5:41

late last night? She, without

5:43

a call, she was badly. She

5:46

was badly, only one in the

5:49

morning. And you think that she at

5:51

home that whole time? Oh yeah, yeah. I

5:53

haven't had a to take that girl that

5:55

might sneak out for a couple hours? No.

5:57

a Thursday night party. Because I'm on the couch.

5:59

couch. Like typical fourteen-year-old,

6:01

April up late and slept most

6:03

of the day during the summer.

6:06

School was out after all. The

6:09

woman speaking is her mother, Jennifer. If

6:12

hard to understand, it's because she

6:14

suffers from cerebral ataxia,

6:18

an affliction that affects her

6:20

muscle movements. She

6:22

has to walk with a cane and has

6:24

a bit of a speech impediment because

6:26

of this. She

6:28

that April is a good kid and

6:30

would never sneak out of the

6:32

house. And she couldn't even if

6:34

she wanted to. Her bedroom window

6:36

was painted shut and she couldn't leave

6:38

through the front door because she would

6:40

have had to get past her mother

6:42

on the couch. Besides,

6:45

the family pets served

6:47

as April's alarm. So then

6:50

she can, we have dogs at cat.

6:52

They all clocked to her. She's like

6:54

the pied pied, but they

6:56

all just, it's like April. Yeah.

7:00

They clocked to her. her. So I

7:02

know what she up. April woke

7:04

up bright and early in the

7:06

afternoon. When she exited

7:08

her room, she greeted the family

7:10

pets, two dogs and a cat.

7:12

What was her demeanor when she woke up

7:14

this morning? What did she look like? Was

7:16

she just typical? Bed-bitten, yeah. Yeah,

7:19

yeah. Okay. OK. And

7:22

true teenage fashion, April went

7:24

straight from sleeping to gaming

7:26

on her computer. After

7:28

She spends most of her playing in

7:31

computer. She likes this. On PC? Yeah.

7:33

Right there in the living

7:35

room? Right there in the living

7:37

room. She plays Sims. Sims. She

7:40

checks her website She finds

7:42

stuff with her Sims characters. She

7:45

goes online for that. After After

7:47

while, she got tired of

7:49

playing games and decided to

7:51

take the family dogs for

7:53

a walk. From the couch of

7:55

a laptop, she's getting dressed in the doctor

7:57

walk. She changed coat. It about three times.

7:59

three days. to come for this walk with

8:01

the dog. Why'd she do that? He

8:04

pulled over, she did. Okay. She's

8:06

a fashion. That was typical for her? Yeah.

8:10

She's getting the backpack ready because she

8:12

takes the water for the dog. She

8:15

takes a little bowl and she

8:17

her clothes three times

8:19

because she needed

8:21

the perfect outfit for

8:23

her walk. She

8:25

She her backpack and water

8:27

bottle, some dog treats, and

8:29

a little bowl for the water. She

8:32

grabbed her cell phone, put

8:34

her six -year -old border lab mix

8:36

on a leash, and set out

8:38

for the great outdoors. Did

8:40

she say where she was going? She

8:43

didn't exactly the path that she was

8:45

to take, but two paths that

8:47

she usually takes. She usually

8:49

usually goes to the trail

8:51

by the granary

8:54

there. Yep. And

8:56

then from house, she

8:58

goes the other direction towards the

9:00

church. On the

9:02

southern border of the

9:04

village of Armeda the Macomb Orchard

9:07

Trail. Once a railroad,

9:09

now a paved path through

9:11

the Michigan countryside. It

9:13

stretches for miles and

9:15

is frequented by walkers, joggers,

9:17

and bicyclists, especially during

9:19

the summer. She didn't

9:21

say which she was going on today?

9:23

No. Okay, how long has she usually gone?

9:25

she always go for walks like that? Well,

9:29

the dog's overweight and she's been

9:31

trying to get the dogs slimmed

9:35

down a bit. She took the

9:37

meekest dog that we have. We have

9:39

a pit bull here, but she will

9:41

take him. But

9:44

she took Penny and then

9:46

she... took go dogs walks for That's the dog's

9:48

name, is Penny. Yeah. And I think

9:50

her goal was to walk Penny, come back, then

9:52

come back, and then take the other one.

9:54

April April took her dogs walk.

9:56

April for a walk, never

9:58

them together. They didn't walk

10:01

well together. On this

10:03

day, she took her oldest dog

10:05

first, Penny. So

10:07

kind of unusual for her to walk

10:09

this late in the afternoon, in the evening?

10:12

No, she goes

10:14

up and goes up and it's a hill call and

10:16

say I'm at the park, come meet me, and

10:18

she goes and the park to meet

10:20

him. So she leaves the house

10:22

and you don't know what trail

10:25

she's going on, but were you fairly confident

10:27

she was going go on a trail? are

10:29

you just... yeah. yeah, She only goes to two

10:31

places, like I said. Okay, if

10:33

she didn't just walk around the village

10:35

or anything like that, she would...

10:37

No, no, no, the dog. She was

10:39

a creature of habit and only took

10:41

one of the two paths when walking the

10:43

dogs. Penny especially getting

10:45

on in years and couldn't handle

10:47

long walks. How long was

10:49

April usually gone when she'd go

10:51

for a walk? Half Half hour.

10:54

At the most? Yeah, because I said,

10:57

the dog can't handle, so will

10:59

bring the dog back. You

11:01

may be wondering what this interview is all

11:03

about. Well, after

11:05

April left to walk Penny

11:07

that day, she never

11:09

returned. When was gone

11:12

for two hours, at the that's top

11:14

of the morning and that's when I

11:16

sort of wanted to on in

11:18

the house. I thought maybe she met up with

11:20

the last man in town. It

11:23

was was about 8.30 me.

11:27

I texted April, where are you? And

11:30

And they got a call back. And

11:32

it's typical for me. So

11:34

I started to look sick and then

11:37

8 .30, getting darker and darker.

11:39

And then then 9 'clock, I

11:41

called her and there's no

11:43

answer. It's It's going to voicemail. April

11:46

been gone for hours before her

11:48

mother realized how late it was.

11:51

The son had already set April

11:53

wasn't answering her phone. And

11:56

it would ring the more times

11:58

they go to work, you know. Okay.

12:00

So phone was on. It was on her hand.

12:03

It was on was on It goes straight into the

12:05

voicemail. goes straight into the boy's

12:07

mouth. Worry was setting in,

12:09

and and Jennifer tried repeatedly to

12:11

call and text April, but never got

12:13

a response. She started

12:15

to drive an old place looking for her.

12:18

I mean, she's at the foot, so I

12:20

didn't think she'd get too far. True. Then

12:23

she started to call her friends

12:25

and her 15 -year -old boyfriend, Austin.

12:28

When I started getting dived, I was getting too

12:30

much home, And that's when

12:32

I started getting worried and I

12:34

tapped him. He said

12:36

that she'd set him that tap. tap.

12:39

Austin had been with a friend all day,

12:41

helping him and his father move and

12:43

mount a He didn't

12:45

check his phone until it was nearly eight

12:47

'clock. That's when he saw

12:49

a message from April, received at

12:52

6 that read, p .m. that read, I

12:54

think almost got kidnapped. O-M-F-G.

12:58

What do you think of this

13:00

message from you? I don't know

13:02

what the conversation was from that. I think

13:04

he think he asked through what happened,

13:08

but I don't know

13:10

what transpired after she sent

13:12

that text. I

13:14

would have, I tried to

13:16

punch him he he of

13:18

knew she tell me anything and he

13:21

of stopped there. But

13:23

yeah, if I get a text like that from

13:25

him, woman I would have been jogged in

13:27

the hallway then and then. The

13:29

reason Austin didn't give any more

13:31

information when pushed was that

13:33

he didn't have any more. He

13:36

responded to April's message but didn't

13:38

get a reply. After

13:41

Jennifer's call looking for April, he

13:43

immediately became concerned and got a friend

13:45

to take him to April's house. What

13:48

was his reaction when you were talking

13:50

to about it? He He thought it was

13:52

a joke. He thought maybe

13:54

was because when he back

13:56

to our house, of course I was there.

13:58

I He was on Dr. Asman. He

14:00

thought her and I were all trapping and

14:03

we were putting a joke on him. Then

14:05

he'd see me drive by and that's

14:07

where he called me. Austin

14:09

and his friend joined Jennifer in

14:11

looking for April. The

14:14

village of Armada was only about

14:16

three of a square mile, so

14:18

they hoped she couldn't have gotten

14:20

far. They split up,

14:22

Austin and his friend went

14:24

down to the Macomb Orchard Trail, of

14:26

April's possible routes while Jennifer

14:29

continued to drive around. The

14:31

two boys went west on the

14:33

trail but didn't find her. When

14:36

they started heading east, they noticed

14:39

something in the distance. Far

14:41

down the trail, they could

14:43

see the lights of emergency

14:45

vehicles. When they met up

14:47

with Jennifer and relayed the information, she

14:50

decided to go to the police

14:52

and report her missing The

14:55

interview took a strange turn. interview

15:18

took a strange

15:20

turn. It It

15:22

to veer off from the

15:24

line of questioning about where

15:26

April could be and

15:28

changed to questions about

15:31

any events that

15:33

could have foretold

15:35

a tragic end.

15:37

The police were

15:39

asking these questions

15:41

for a reason.

15:43

The The vehicles on

15:45

the east side

15:47

of the Macomb Orchard

15:49

Trail and her disappearance

15:52

were not a

15:54

coincidence. They were

15:57

connected. About the

15:59

same time As Austin his friend joined

16:01

Jennifer in looking for April, two

16:03

joggers running on the trail saw

16:06

Penny alone. At

16:09

first they just ran past,

16:11

thankful that the dog wasn't

16:13

aggressive. But when they

16:15

came back by and she

16:17

was still there, they decided to

16:19

investigate. The dog came

16:21

running out of the trail barking

16:23

erratically. My wife looked at me

16:25

and said that it to be a

16:27

mannequin or a doll it looked like down

16:29

there. There was a girl with

16:31

her skirt down at her knees and

16:34

her shirt pulled up chest and her

16:36

head was kicked back. 9 -1 -1.

16:38

I'm fairly certain we just found

16:40

a body along the mountain trail. Penny

16:42

alerted the joggers to April, just

16:45

30 feet off the

16:47

trail. We are between Olmo

16:49

and North Avenue. Good. in our

16:51

Then our made-up. it looks like GPS is

16:53

putting you a lot closer to Fulton Street.

16:55

We're We're of right in the middle. Is

16:57

it a male or a female? A female. About

16:59

how old do you think she is? I

17:01

didn't get that close. Okay.

17:04

is she on the trail? No,

17:06

she's off of the trail. touched back in the woods,

17:08

her clothes are all taken off. Okay,

17:10

and you don't believe she's breathing? I

17:12

don't believe so, no. The police

17:14

had to break the news to

17:16

Jennifer that though

17:18

they didn't have an official ID

17:20

yet, it was likely

17:22

April's body that they

17:25

found in the woods off

17:27

the trail with her loyal

17:29

dog Penny her

17:31

side. On

18:03

July 24, 2014, April

18:05

Mills Sapp set off for

18:07

an evening walk with

18:10

her dog Penny, but never

18:12

returned. After it got

18:14

dark, her mother got worried. When

18:16

her calls and texts were ignored, she

18:19

began to search. She

18:21

called all over the small village

18:23

of Armada, for her. Even

18:25

April's 15 -year -old boyfriend helped to

18:27

search for her. It

18:29

wasn't until they knew of the

18:31

large gathering of emergency vehicles

18:33

on the Macomb Orchard

18:35

Trail they feared

18:38

the worst and went to police

18:40

to report her missing. That

18:42

night, the police announced to

18:44

the media their progress in the

18:46

case. There two missing persons

18:49

that we're investigating, trying to

18:51

find out what their situation is

18:53

to make a determination to see if

18:55

that's maybe our victim. We don't

18:57

know that much about it. There are

18:59

no signs of of

19:02

gunshots or wounds or anything

19:04

like that, but we are

19:06

looking to the medical

19:08

examiner's office to tell us

19:10

what the cause of

19:12

death was. The following

19:14

morning, with more information, the

19:16

chief of police gave a press

19:18

conference addressing the now homicide.

19:21

The Armada Department and the Michigan State

19:24

Police are currently investigating a homicide which

19:26

occurred the village limits of Armada. It

19:28

happened in the area of Fulton

19:31

Road in Depot, which is at the

19:33

south end of town. The

19:35

body was discovered approximately 8 .20

19:37

last night. A A preliminary investigation

19:39

reveals that two adults that were

19:41

on the trail, using the

19:43

trail, were alerted to

19:45

a female's body, which was

19:47

located in a drainage ditch.

19:50

The victim has been identified

19:52

as April Don Millsap. She's 14

19:54

years of age and she is from

19:56

the village of Armada. Her official cause

19:58

of death was blunt force trauma to

20:00

the head, and

20:02

asphyxiation. But

20:04

even this tragic news brought

20:06

some sense of relief to

20:08

her family. When they did

20:11

the autopsy, there are no signs

20:13

of sexual assault. And her

20:15

dog Penny never left her side.

20:18

April's lifeless body lay in the brush

20:20

30 feet from the trail for a

20:22

couple of hours before she was found. Her

20:25

backpack and cell phone were

20:27

missing. Even the dog's leash

20:30

and collar were missing. This

20:32

suggested that she was murdered

20:34

during a robbery, except she

20:37

was practically naked. This

20:39

implied sexual assault, but there

20:41

was no evidence of it

20:43

occurring. The evidence

20:45

didn't tell the whole story. All

20:48

they knew for sure was that

20:50

she was beaten and

20:52

asphyxiated to death in broad

20:54

daylight mere feet from a busy

20:56

trail. The police turned

20:58

to the public for help. Detectives

21:00

are currently looking for a

21:03

large gray box van that was

21:05

seen in the area of

21:07

the crime scene. This is

21:09

described as a painter's type of

21:11

van. It has dents all over

21:13

the van, and the van

21:15

was occupied by two white males.

21:18

It has not been determined the role of

21:20

the van in this

21:22

investigation. If If you aware

21:24

of a similar van the area or

21:27

know that has that type of

21:29

van, the police are

21:31

asking the citizens to contact

21:33

the Michigan State Police. The van

21:35

was seen late afternoon, early

21:37

evening, last night. And again, again,

21:39

we don't know the participation

21:41

of the van. It could

21:44

be just the wrong place at the

21:46

wrong time, and if we can get somebody to

21:48

come forward and let us know that they

21:50

were out here, that's what we're looking for. Of

21:52

course, it's a box van. The

21:54

go vehicle for sick fucks. A

21:57

young girl saw this van around

21:59

the time of murder. murder and

22:01

described the men it as

22:03

staring her down. The

22:05

police wasted no time. They

22:08

gave the media what information they

22:10

had and let them disseminate it. But

22:13

But didn't just sit around waiting for

22:15

tips. We about to

22:17

start a canvas of the whole village. The

22:19

van was seen, you you know, kind of

22:21

circling in and out of the area. So

22:23

So that that's why took

22:25

a picture of it. They

22:28

the area and interviewed

22:30

practically everyone in the

22:32

village. They even

22:34

performed a roadblock at the village's

22:36

main main crossroads and questioned

22:38

everyone who drove through. The

22:41

local police enlisted the help

22:43

of Michigan State Police and the FBI.

22:46

They even searched with scent dogs but

22:48

came up with nothing. The

22:51

tips from the public started pouring

22:53

in though and quickly

22:55

the box van suspicion put

22:57

to rest. A

22:59

contractor called and admitted to being

23:01

in the area showing his new employee

23:04

some of the homes he previously

23:06

worked on. It was

23:08

the good people of Armada that

23:10

would eventually break open the case. People

23:13

started coming forward that were on

23:15

the trail on that day. William

23:17

Buchanan was an avid

23:20

bicyclist and was riding

23:22

the trail when April her

23:25

dog past. Did you

23:27

ride the virtual

23:29

trail on July 24th

23:31

of 2014? I

23:33

did. When you're a heading

23:35

east toward Omaha, do

23:37

you see a motorcycle on

23:40

that trail? Are you

23:42

not? Do you see a young

23:44

girl walking a dog when you're

23:46

heading in that direction on that

23:48

trail? As he was riding east

23:50

on the trail shortly before 5

23:53

.40 40 p.m. he didn't see

23:55

anything unusual. but But

23:57

a few minutes later, Amy Amy

23:59

and her mother Gail did

24:02

see something. Did you go for

24:04

a bike ride on July

24:06

24th of 2014? Yes, I did.

24:08

Did you go with anybody?

24:10

Yes, me and my mom went

24:12

for a bike ride after

24:14

she had gotten home from work

24:17

that day. Did there come

24:19

a point in time where you

24:21

ran and came across a

24:23

young girl and her dog? Yes.

24:25

The time was approximately 540

24:27

when Amy and Gail first saw

24:29

April. She was walking west

24:32

on the west, on the south

24:34

side of the trail heading

24:36

west. I was heading east. She

24:38

was looking down at her

24:40

phone or whatever she was looking

24:42

at. She was looking down

24:44

and she was walking her dog.

24:47

And my first thought was,

24:49

is the dog friendly? And then

24:51

it was just maybe a

24:53

minute, not much longer.

24:55

And she crossed over to the north side.

24:57

So she was on the same side

24:59

of the trail as I was. And I

25:01

was heading east. What did you do

25:03

when she crossed over? Well,

25:06

I looked at her and

25:08

I said hello. And I

25:10

said, nice dog. And she

25:12

smiled and replied, so does.

25:14

Thank you very much. It

25:16

was after this encounter that

25:18

the pair witnessed a peculiar

25:20

sight. Motorized vehicles

25:22

of any kind were not

25:24

allowed on the trail. It's illegal.

25:26

When they saw a motorcycle

25:29

on the trail, it stood out

25:31

to Amy and Gail, but

25:33

also worried them. We were just

25:35

riding our bicycles and I

25:37

was still on the north side

25:39

of the trail. And

25:41

the motorcycle was just sitting

25:43

there. And

25:46

I got over to the

25:48

south side to get out of

25:50

the way because it was

25:52

just sitting there, not moving at

25:54

all. Well, I was alerted

25:56

because number one, I right away

25:58

knew there should be more. motorcycle

26:00

on the trail. And

26:02

I also thought it

26:05

odd that someone was completely covered. And

26:08

why is this person on the trail completely

26:11

covered? You couldn't see their face at all.

26:14

The was odd enough,

26:16

but the was also covered

26:18

from head to toe

26:20

in July. He

26:22

was wearing long dark pants,

26:24

a long sleeved hoodie,

26:27

and a full face helmet.

26:29

Their suspicions were raised,

26:31

but they pedaled on by,

26:34

minding their own business. That's

26:36

how you stay alive, by the way, just

26:39

minding your own business. You're

26:41

welcome. Anyway, shortly after Amy and

26:43

Gail rode by, Doug

26:45

and Mary came down the trail. What

26:48

is it that catches your attention? There

26:50

There were people ahead on trail, and

26:52

it was difficult to tell how

26:54

we would need to move.

26:57

They were more on my side

26:59

of the trail, but also

27:01

in the middle of the trail,

27:03

up ahead and stuff. We saw

27:05

the two people on the side of

27:08

the side of the trail, they

27:10

were near each other, they looked to be talking.

27:13

And then the opposite side of the

27:15

trail, I see a motorcycle parked. At

27:17

first, they were only concerned with

27:19

how to pass without causing an accident.

27:22

They were on bikes traveling more than

27:24

10 miles an hour, but as

27:27

soon as they got close, they noticed

27:29

an odd interaction. As

27:31

we started to approach the

27:33

two people separated ways, she

27:35

started walking on the trail toward

27:37

us with her dog, and we

27:39

passed her first. They

27:42

like they were together on the trail. Now,

27:44

while it's not really odd to see

27:46

two people on the trail together,

27:48

it it is odd to see

27:50

them part ways. So

27:53

said hi, and I

27:55

don't know if I

27:57

heard her say hi or.

27:59

whether she mouthed hi, but

28:02

she responded like hi.

28:05

They saw April on the trail

28:07

with a man, but they quickly

28:09

parted ways. When Mary said

28:11

hello to April, she replied

28:13

and smiled. The smile,

28:15

however, Ehhh…

28:18

know, Ehhh… one

28:20

of those smiles where it's like, are

28:22

you really smiling? What, what are you trying

28:24

to convey to me? Yeah, it was

28:26

one of those kind of smiles. Tight-lipped

28:29

and odd. You know? just

28:32

knew that she seemed tense With

28:35

smile. I I know, it

28:37

just seemed unusual and

28:39

I'm on, on… I'm passing

28:42

her on the south side, and

28:44

she shifted her eyes to

28:46

the south side. After passing

28:49

April, they had to negotiate

28:51

passing the man the motorcycle, so

28:53

Mary's attention was glued to

28:55

him. I'm just

28:57

looking at his face,

28:59

I think I was…

29:01

I don't know, I was maybe curious, but

29:03

mostly I wanted to make sure he

29:05

wasn't going to move into our lane And

29:08

I I said hi. Was

29:11

a response? No. After

29:13

you said hi, what did you see

29:16

him do? When say hi

29:18

to someone and you're up

29:20

close, you expect a

29:22

response back. He had

29:24

an angry look on his face and

29:26

he looked down and I just

29:28

passed him. How does that,

29:30

I guess, strike? you? As

29:32

rude. Rude. Indeed.

29:36

Then again, that is how you stay

29:38

alive. The couple continued

29:40

to ride but the the

29:42

interaction stuck with Mary. She

29:45

even said something to dug about it. She

29:48

didn't understand why such a a girl

29:50

was talking to an older man. She

29:53

assumed it was her stepfather or secret

29:56

older boyfriend. Ooh, how

29:58

salacious. Shortly after, Shortly after

30:00

that, William Buchanan rode back through,

30:02

in in the other direction. This

30:05

time, he did see

30:07

something. I see a white

30:11

Donald path, three -fourths to a

30:13

mile away, as I noticed I

30:15

could see that it was

30:17

a young man, tall, slumbered, really

30:19

60 feet. I thought him

30:21

to be a little teens, 20s,

30:23

whatever age he had a

30:25

helmet on, so, you know, with

30:27

the full He, like Mary, was drawn

30:30

to the man's eyes, finding it

30:33

odd that he looked angry. to

30:35

tells it. He,

30:37

like Mary, was

30:39

drawn to the man's eyes, finding

30:42

it odd that he looked

30:44

angry. His eyes

30:46

were so passed the man he was angry

30:49

eyes, nervous or something, and that

30:52

maybe his concern was, I'm as pure as

30:54

bicyclists, and I'm really angry with him.

30:56

I just kind of nodded this, or what

30:58

worked out for me, I had an

31:01

arc yell for every bite on the trail,

31:03

I was just getting a nod, as

31:05

I said. As soon as he

31:07

passed the man with the angry eyes, he

31:09

saw April. Immediately After

31:11

passing, like under scene just puzzled

31:14

him. above, it's shaded in there, the

31:16

foliage is darker, it doesn't produce much

31:18

sun, and on the left

31:20

side of the trail, young

31:22

girl heading west on the trail,

31:24

on the left side of it,

31:26

on the edge of it. After

31:28

passing, the whole scene just puzzled

31:30

him. I was trying to understand

31:33

the scene, the situation, right? Unusual the

31:35

motorcycle to be there. She's

31:37

on the left side of the the road, or or the

31:39

path. My thought was,

31:42

there was something going on there between the

31:44

two of them. My thought was that she's

31:46

still on the same side of the path, They

31:48

just had a a run. I I

31:50

thought, is is it a girl walking

31:52

trail, and and the meeting

31:55

with wife from there? she's not

31:57

supposed to, or he has a motorcycle, but he just dropped

31:59

off. thoughts going through my head. I

32:01

was trying to process why

32:03

these two figures were there in the position

32:06

they were. He was curious

32:08

about what those two

32:10

had been up to,

32:13

but he kept peddling. Moments

32:15

later, Eric Reschke

32:17

his two daughters rode down

32:20

the trail heading east. At

32:22

some point in time, on

32:24

the path, did you

32:26

see April Yeah. At

32:29

approximately what time you

32:31

see April Milset? It would have been about 6.25. When

32:35

you saw April Milson, did

32:37

she have a dog with her?

32:39

Yes. Was she with anybody? Yeah,

32:42

there was a motorcycle passing

32:44

along next door. Was the motorcycle

32:46

moving or was the motorcycle still when you

32:48

first came upon them? It was moving.

32:51

How close is the

32:53

motorcycle to April? It

32:55

right next to her. It was in the middle

32:57

of the trail. He saw April the man

32:59

on the motorcycle slowly riding

33:01

her. From their body language,

33:03

it seemed like they had been talking. Do

33:06

you or any of your kids acknowledge

33:09

April? Yeah. Who does? My

33:12

old oldest. Did April respond

33:14

to it? Yeah. How did she respond?

33:16

She looked up from her phone and

33:18

waved and said hi to her real quick.

33:22

Other than the motorcycle on the trail, nothing

33:25

wrong. when they saw

33:28

April. He and his

33:30

daughters just like the others. kept

33:32

riding. Three minutes

33:34

later, April sent the text message. I

33:37

think I almost got kidnapped. OMFG.

33:41

minutes after that. Amy

33:43

and Gail back in the other

33:45

direction. Yes, I rode

33:47

up on a motorcycle that

33:49

was parked on the left side

33:51

of the trail. My

33:53

guard went up. I was

33:57

cautious that somebody was gonna jump out

33:59

at me. why I thought that

34:01

I do not know I just

34:03

kind of even slowed down because

34:05

I was just um, I

34:08

honestly thought somebody going jump out or

34:10

I wanted to know where they were

34:12

at know What they doing you know

34:15

Little did Amy know that

34:17

her fear in that moment

34:19

was completely warranted. I

34:22

heard like stepping on the

34:24

bushes and and the

34:26

side. Um, when I

34:28

looked over there, it appeared to

34:30

be the dog. with his

34:33

paws. for just a second. her

34:35

fear dissipated. Then,

34:39

She saw the rider of

34:41

the motorcycle. Then made

34:43

eye contact. With

34:45

the person that was out there Right

34:48

after she noticed Penny in the

34:50

bushes, she looked up and eyes

34:52

with the man. Just

34:54

standing there. in the brush. his

34:57

hands were at his sides and He

35:00

just stared back. His eyes

35:02

were very piercing, very,

35:04

um, like

35:06

had done something wrong. after

35:09

this frightening encounter. Amy

35:11

caught up with her mom. Gail

35:14

to go back and investigate

35:16

the riderless bike. She hadn't

35:18

seen the man. She wanted

35:20

to turn around and go back. What

35:22

did you say her? I said,

35:24

absolutely not. We're going home. And

35:26

I said it very sternly. The

35:29

police would later surmise that Amy

35:31

interrupted the man. on the

35:33

motorcycle. if the brush weren't

35:35

so thick. she would

35:37

have seen April at the man's feet.

35:40

as he stared back at her. minutes

35:43

after Amy saw the man. Terrell

35:46

Land rode on the trail.

35:49

Do you encounter at

35:51

any time a motorcycle on

35:54

that path? No, I did not.

35:57

As you're passing the greater and heading into the

35:59

tunnel of treason... Is there anything unusual

36:01

that you see? Yes.

36:03

OK. What's that? Well,

36:07

I I've probably ridden this

36:09

trail maybe 100 times times over

36:11

the past couple of years. And

36:13

never do I see a dog free.

36:17

Saw it and wondered what the And I

36:20

thought someone was probably walking

36:22

it and it into the trees to

36:24

leave themselves. is what I had

36:26

thought. So I kept riding. He

36:29

the trail a little further, then turned

36:31

around and came back. Do

36:33

you see the dog again

36:36

you pass area? No.

36:38

Are you then consciously looking for

36:40

the dog now? Yes. Do you

36:42

see the dog? No.

36:45

Do you hear something? Yes.

36:47

What is it that you hear? Repeated

36:49

barking. It just like

36:51

a constant. Arf, arf, arf, bark, bark,

36:54

bark. hear It's just it was enough that I

36:56

went, what what the heck? And

36:59

I But I going because I'm on the bike

37:01

trail and I didn't put two and two together until

37:03

I got home. It was

37:05

all over when Eric Reschke, Doug,

37:08

and Mary came back down that

37:10

trail. It was only

37:12

later that the two joggers were

37:14

alerted by Penny decided

37:16

to investigate finding April's

37:19

body. If not for

37:21

the presence of the motorcycle and

37:23

the rider with with rude behavior, who

37:26

knows if the witnesses that day

37:28

would have noticed or even remembered

37:30

April walking her dog. Perhaps

37:33

they wouldn't have had to

37:35

because it was shaping up

37:37

that the man on the

37:39

motorcycle was the last person

37:41

to see April alive and

37:43

it was likely her killer. From

37:46

the witness statements, the police were

37:48

able to build a timeline of

37:50

April's last moments. She

37:52

was attacked sometime

37:54

between 6 .25 when

37:57

Eric Reschke saw her and

37:59

625. 6 .30. 40 when Amy saw

38:01

the man standing in the brush.

38:05

This was the 15 -minute span

38:07

of time in which April

38:09

was attacked, her clothes nearly

38:11

ripped off, and her head

38:13

bashed and neck stumped. The

38:15

police got a search warrant

38:17

for her cell phone and

38:20

began to compare her GPS

38:22

data to what they already

38:24

knew. They were working the

38:26

case 24 -7 in shifts. They

38:29

performed several more searches with and

38:31

without the aid of dogs. They began

38:33

interviewing all registered sex offenders in

38:35

the area, and once again they asked

38:37

the public to help locate the

38:39

owner of an Enduro -style off -road motorcycle,

38:41

possibly colored in blue and white.

38:43

But this time they released a composite

38:45

sketch provided by Amy. Police released

38:47

this sketch of a man they want

38:49

to talk to. He's a white

38:51

male with sandy brown or reddish hair.

38:53

Police aren't certain about his height but

38:55

say he's not excessively short. We're

38:57

just telling the public if you see

38:59

this person and you want to

39:01

see if they're exhibiting some type of

39:03

behavior too and that's what we're

39:06

really looking at. A that's lot of

39:08

times when these people commit these types

39:10

of crimes they'll either change their work

39:12

habits or they'll do some different

39:14

things in order to make it a

39:16

little, they're not themselves. We're pretty

39:18

sure that this person may have talked

39:20

to somebody. If somebody has talked to

39:22

you or something that you think

39:24

is suspicious, give us a call and

39:26

let us look at it. We'll

39:28

determine if it's a good tip or

39:30

not. And the tips came flooding

39:32

in. In a matter

39:34

of days the police had over

39:36

400 tips. One

39:38

officer the day after April's death

39:40

was following up on the sighting

39:42

of a motorcycle and it fit

39:44

the description when he spotted another

39:47

motorcycle. I seen as I'm driving

39:49

by, I the turned my car around,

39:51

pulled into the driveway, took a

39:53

little better look at it from

39:55

inside my car, snapped a couple

39:57

photos of it with myself. phone,

39:59

snapped a photo of the address of

40:01

the house, and then I proceeded

40:03

back to the command center. I

40:06

wanted to see if this

40:08

was, in fact, the type of

40:10

bike that the the was speaking

40:12

about, the on -road, off -road

40:14

style bike, possibly it was, and

40:18

so at that point we made a determination

40:20

to go back out there, make contact

40:23

with the homeowner, and gather some more

40:25

information about the bike. When he returned

40:27

to the house, the motorcycle was gone. They

40:30

questioned the homeowner who told that the bike belonged

40:32

to a friend of his, James

40:35

Van Callis. They

40:37

found his address through motor vehicle

40:39

records and went to go pay him

40:41

a visit. say hello. Hi

40:44

James. I went to the front door,

40:46

knocked on the door. An older gentleman

40:48

answered. I asked to speak to

40:50

James Van Callis. He said he

40:52

was James Van Callis. I

40:55

him if there was another James Van Callis,

40:57

maybe a son. He said there was.

41:00

I asked him if I could talk to him. He

41:02

yelled in the house for James

41:04

Van Callis or James, however he called him.

41:08

At that time, the defendant

41:10

came to the door. He

41:13

ended up coming out on the porch. The

41:15

original James Van Callis answered

41:17

the door. It was

41:20

determined later, that's his father. He came

41:22

out on the porch as

41:24

well as a female came

41:26

out on the porch. Thirty -two

41:28

-year -old James Donald Van Callis lived

41:30

with his father. Sixty

41:32

-six -year -old James Bernard

41:34

Van Callis. Everyone

41:36

called him Jim. His

41:38

mother, Brenda Poopy also lived

41:40

there. And yes, that's really her

41:42

name. His girlfriend, Crystal

41:45

Stabler also lived there too,

41:47

along with their three -old. James

41:50

of fits description too.

41:53

He has a slender build and

41:55

other than the hair, he looks

41:57

like the composite sketch. I

42:00

asked the defendant some questions. What

42:02

did you ask him? I told him

42:04

we were doing an investigation in Armada.

42:06

I asked him if he was

42:08

in Armada the day before. He

42:10

said he was. He

42:12

cooperated with the officers and

42:15

answered their questions, albeit vaguely. He

42:18

gave approximate times for his whereabouts

42:20

that day. He said

42:22

he left home on his bike at around 5

42:24

p .m. and ran by his friend's

42:26

house, but he wasn't home. He

42:28

continued to Armada stopped at the

42:30

marathon gas station to rest

42:32

a bit. The seat on the

42:34

bike was a bit uncomfortable. Then

42:37

he went to his brother's house. It

42:40

was casual. It

42:42

was just us asking about his whereabouts

42:45

and everything in Armada.

42:47

was very casual, very friendly.

42:50

And what about the next morning, about 12 hours

42:52

later, when you asked for the written signal? It

42:54

was it was so friendly. He he

42:57

was busy, was busy, it

42:59

was still friendly. Did you

43:01

have with him then in the

43:03

day? If he part of Wade's initials, he would

43:05

call him. call? Have additional contact? Yes,

43:08

I would call phone. Who called him? I

43:10

initially called him him in

43:13

the afternoon. There was no

43:15

answer. I I left message and then received phone call

43:17

back from him. And did that

43:20

call How can I ask? Yes. You speak to him? Yes,

43:22

I did. And what was that?

43:24

Oh, He he was upset

43:26

to the point where

43:28

he was irate on

43:31

the phone. He was

43:33

yelling at me me the phone, telling me

43:35

that it was a witch hunt, that

43:38

we are trying to call and talk

43:40

to all kinds of people and

43:42

people to cell phones. It

43:44

was just more of an out of

43:47

control type phone call. James

43:49

Van didn't like the police

43:51

because he had a record. In

43:54

2005, he was convicted

43:56

of breaking entering for he

43:58

got probation. Then

44:00

in 2007, 2007, he was convicted

44:02

of failure to pay child

44:04

support and sentenced to five

44:06

years probation He quickly

44:08

violated that probation by

44:10

continuing not to pay child

44:12

support and was put in prison for

44:14

about a year. When April

44:16

was murdered, he hadn't been out

44:19

of prison that long. The

44:21

elder van also had a

44:23

record. But is really

44:25

a surprise? In 1995, he

44:27

pleaded guilty to two

44:29

counts of criminal sexual conduct.

44:32

One victim was between and 15 years

44:34

and 15 years of age, and

44:36

the other, well, the

44:38

other was younger than

44:40

13. He

44:42

is a registered sex

44:44

offender. James

44:47

was in our

44:49

that day, and

44:51

at that time, he

44:54

owned an enduro style motorcycle

44:57

and he fit the description well

44:59

enough. When the police

45:01

conduct an investigation, they follow

45:03

a lead until it bears

45:05

fruit door fizzles out. They

45:07

started to investigate him and tried

45:09

to verify his story. Either

45:12

he did it or they would

45:14

have to rule him out. But

45:16

James didn't like being

45:19

investigated and quickly went

45:21

from cooperative to combative.

45:23

So So took their suspicions

45:25

to the judge. We didn't have a good

45:27

search warrant. judge went and sign it We

45:29

wouldn't be there. He is a person

45:31

of interest in our investigation in our made up

45:33

We are looking at him. After

45:35

trying to contact James several times to get

45:37

a written statement and ask few

45:40

more questions, they were only

45:42

met with hostility. So

45:44

they filed for a search warrant

45:46

for his residence The

45:49

FBI Michigan State Police the Macomb

45:51

Sheriff's Office and and They are

45:53

made a police descended on

45:56

the van callus property some

45:59

15 miles north east of Armeida. James

46:02

immediately protested. And

46:05

there was other details that we wanted to

46:07

discuss with you, and you, we're not able to

46:09

get them. How do we do that? Did

46:12

I put my put my neck? I put my foot

46:14

in your neck? You didn't do that, Jimmy. You've

46:16

got to stop generalizing everybody, because everybody out

46:18

here is a different person. What would you do

46:20

if somebody touched your parents? What

46:22

would I do if somebody touched my parents? Well,

46:25

not being if position you're in, and they're coming

46:27

to my house and doing a search warrant, so

46:29

it's hard for me to say arbitrarily if somebody

46:31

touched my parents, it wouldn't be pretty. We're walking

46:33

right up here, we are, here we are, here

46:35

we are, don't shoot, here's our hands, here's our

46:37

hands, and they're dragging us. Yeah, that wasn't us,

46:40

right? He's just talking.

46:42

He's nervous. I know. What?

46:44

Nervous? You are too. Don't start.

46:47

Nervous about what? Nervous about what?

46:49

Nervous about what? Because you've got

46:51

FBI, state police, and sheriffs here.

46:53

I'm nervous. They piss and shit the

46:55

same way. That is true. That

46:59

is true. The

47:01

can't go anywhere without was apparently neck stepped

47:03

on, apparently. You can't ride your

47:05

motorcycle before we're here on, because somebody's

47:07

going to say something and you're

47:09

going to without get your neck stepped

47:11

on. The team that first served the

47:13

warrant was apparently a little rough

47:15

with the van calluses. James

47:18

was complaining about how his parents

47:20

were treated, and that his neck

47:22

was stepped on. He didn't

47:24

want to answer any questions about April's murder,

47:27

and refused to provide a written

47:29

statement for what he already

47:31

said. I'm not writing

47:33

nothing or anything, but that's a

47:35

form of admission. And I'm

47:37

not going to sit there and have

47:39

some variance in my story I

47:41

gave you in my written one and

47:43

have, oh, ah -ha, fuck that shit.

47:45

I gave you two statements, other

47:48

than that I don't recall anything of

47:50

that kind. These questions seemed to

47:52

trigger his anger. He

47:54

began fluctuating between two

47:56

extreme emotions. One

47:58

moment he was called. calm, collected,

48:01

and and the next he flew

48:03

into a blind rage. The

48:30

officer was right.

48:51

The officer was right. James

48:54

didn't like it when he wasn't

48:57

in charge. In fact,

48:59

that that evident every time

49:01

he opened his loud mouth. When

49:04

he wasn't berating them at the top

49:06

of his lungs, he was threatening the

49:08

officers with a lawsuit. So

49:10

you guys went through my door with

49:12

a warrant just for material. Oh,

49:14

that's not going to look good. That's

49:17

not going to look good on the suit. There

49:20

were some allegations that you were hot headed

49:23

and there were some weapons in the

49:25

house. Who had

49:27

allegations of that? Who's the accuser? Well,

49:30

I can't tell you. Oh, all right.

49:33

Did you turn your phone on? You

49:36

sound like a smart guy, man. Did

49:38

you ever think about going to college or was that not

49:41

on the radar for you? People that

49:43

go to college are the ones that can't learn from the book. That's

49:47

a hard stance to

49:49

take when you're an uneducated,

49:51

unemployed 32-year-old who time in

49:53

prison for not paying child support.

49:56

But But didn't stop James

49:58

from trying to. Sounds smart

50:01

and make things personal Yes,

50:18

sir, you sue me. I'll

50:21

wait I'm

50:24

done. I got sorry, ma 'am. I'm sorry,

50:26

but I'm putting up with them. I

50:28

am done I only have he wasn't so long

50:30

that I try to give people an

50:32

understanding, know But then when he

50:34

when he starts making it a little more personal, I'm

50:36

not going to say or listen to him And

50:47

when he wasn't threatening a lawsuit,

50:49

he was letting the officers know how

50:51

he really feels about them I'm

50:54

a kind of guy who wants to slam on his brakes and

50:56

make you ass in me and hope that

51:07

I hurt you. And not no offense because

51:09

that's the way they make me feel. No offense, but

51:11

you know what I mean? You freak me out and

51:13

I slam down the brakes, I'm sorry that you went

51:15

through the windshield kind of shit. You know, they fuck

51:18

with me too much. I want to give them

51:20

a piece of my mind. When

51:22

it comes to my home gun, anytime I can give them a piece

51:24

my mind fucking people Hey,

51:26

when you leave I hope you your cruiser around the

51:28

fucking telephone pole. James seems to

51:30

have a cruel disregard for

51:33

the police Perhaps

51:35

everyone as well Well,

51:37

everyone except maybe this one

51:39

FBI agent well In a like this,

51:42

I wouldn't normally say this, but

51:44

you're pretty. I was telling in

51:46

the in the house, I was like, oh wow. Told

51:48

me I was an ass. Amid the multi

51:50

agency search of his home

51:52

He decided to hit on the

51:55

blonde FBI agent. Hubba

51:57

hubba, you know, yeah, I was wanting to work

51:59

for the Yeah, eye but too much of a criminal. So

52:02

by chance can I have your card? Is

52:06

it because I caught all the the cops

52:08

my backyard? Maybe. How about you take

52:10

my number? and That's probably wouldn't call me.

52:13

Oh mom

52:15

Mom, I was hitting on her and she told

52:17

me to leave me leave her I I was

52:19

on her and she told me to leave her alone. I

52:25

asked her for her phone number and she says that and

52:27

I go well if you don't want to take mine can

52:29

I give you mine? She's like, I won't call. I'm

52:31

like that with every girl I mean. Hey

52:33

you know what it is? You're

52:36

an idiot. Can't help myself. She

52:40

bossed. couldn't help himself. He

52:43

was like that with every woman

52:45

he met. In

52:47

fact, he was so preoccupied by

52:49

this woman that the officers

52:51

had to ask her to leave. Tell

52:53

him that this young blonde lady could just stay away

52:55

because he keeps getting distracted. Once

52:57

they had his whole attention they

53:00

let him know why

53:02

they were there. What's that?

53:04

He's saying that he's got me an armato. Yeah for the turn he wants

53:06

it. Well he says he's got me an armada.

53:08

40 minutes that's unaccounted for. Bullshit if it is.

53:10

And that's just to inform you why

53:12

we're here. here. What brought us here this

53:14

third time? So I'm not a suspect,

53:16

but yet there's 40 minutes that he accounted but yeah I

53:18

in was brother's room. That's right. Well think about it. We to

53:20

talk to you about it. If you're

53:22

in on a bike town and we're looking for

53:24

somebody now to talk to you to on bike. I

53:26

told you everything I know. Okay, to hold

53:28

on. The 40 minutes is exactly how

53:30

I said it. If you trying to

53:32

me remember time now, I don't recall. I

53:34

really don't. I spent so much time. do. know. I know it's

53:36

been so much time now. I don't. That's why I

53:39

tried to do it the other day. I

53:41

wish you would. Why don't you have me write it

53:43

down when you were here? Yeah. I don't remember

53:45

anything now. What Do you recall? The

53:47

second time I came here it was very late at

53:49

night. You're in your box. First time you were here.

53:51

First time. No, I know. I had to back up

53:53

myself in the middle of my sentence. The first time

53:55

we come it's late at night. We know we pull

53:57

people out of of bed. So the next day when

53:59

I come here, was your it? monsters. The first thing I

54:01

said, can we go write all this down? Nope, I'm busy. He

54:04

claimed that he didn't remember specifics now.

54:06

It had been a long time. Just

54:08

to clarify, this was

54:10

July 30th, only six days

54:12

after April's murder. Now,

54:16

Now, going through a a town that someone

54:18

gets murder and not make you a murder murder suspect.

54:20

And we never That does. Have you

54:22

heard? of does. Well, I guess that's a good point.

54:24

Well, you know what, Yeah, good point.

54:26

You Everybody made a you made a good point. At

54:29

the time this happens, absolutely. You're right.

54:32

Anybody and everybody be a

54:34

suspect. Right. Anybody and everybody

54:36

could be a suspect. But

54:38

not everyone owned a motorcycle

54:41

and helmet just like the

54:43

ones described by witnesses. Not

54:45

everyone was wearing clothes that

54:47

matched the description. Just

54:50

James Van was.

54:53

But they weren't there just

54:55

to ask questions. They

54:57

were there to prove it.

55:00

So So where's my bike And

55:04

she's in my bike? I

55:06

want go to on on fucking bike today.

55:09

What are you gonna tell me? You picking You're

55:11

Give me a fucking motor. Tammy, you're gonna

55:13

get arrested. But don't... No, he's not. No, he's

55:15

not. He's fine. Your whole big mouth is gonna get you

55:17

arrested. He's fine. And what does, don't look at Mama.

55:21

His mother just wanted to let them do

55:23

their job. Honestly,

55:25

he was protesting way too

55:27

much. It made it seem like

55:29

he had something to hide. and

55:32

he hiding something. You

55:34

see, the van Callis

55:37

family had a

55:39

large marijuana operation.

55:42

This isn't necessarily illegal as

55:44

Michigan allows marijuana medically

55:46

and allows people to grow

55:48

their own. You can

55:51

even grow plants for other people

55:53

who have their medical cards. The

55:56

problem is, you're

55:58

only allowed to have 12 plants.

56:00

max. them for each card holder. That's 36

56:02

36 plants. The

56:04

Van family had 52,

56:07

and I guess the stress of the

56:09

situation was getting to them because they

56:12

wanted to do was to

56:15

take their medicine. We're

56:17

not breaking the law. We're not breaking the law. So once

56:19

you're holding whoever's in charge. I

56:21

had it on my, if I had a joint right here

56:23

right now. We've met it up right now. There's not a

56:25

damn thing you can say about it. We're on private property.

56:27

We have a federal. You have a federal one. An agency

56:30

here with this guy. I don't make any progress. I don't

56:32

give a shit. Just make it good. We have a lot

56:34

of this. I'm gonna suck on my left not. I'm gonna

56:36

drop the field. Even if your state

56:38

allows medical recreational marijuana it's

56:41

still illegal federally. The

56:44

Van Callis weren't getting out of

56:46

this one unscathed. Both

56:48

father and son were arrested

56:51

on drug charges. The

56:53

authorities seized his bike and helmet along

56:55

with the clothes he said he was

56:57

wearing the day of the murder. They

57:00

took his pants, his shirt,

57:02

and his shoes. The

57:04

one thing they couldn't find was his

57:06

hoodie, which had

57:09

been accidentally thrown

57:11

away. The pants

57:13

had what might be blood on the

57:15

cuff, but the real reason

57:17

they were there were for

57:19

his shoes. The

57:21

on the victim's neck were

57:23

so significant and vivid that

57:25

we felt that if we could

57:28

find those shoes that

57:30

we could match it up. Whoever

57:32

killed April stomped on

57:34

her neck so hard it

57:36

left an imprint of

57:39

the bottom of the shoe.

57:41

It was also so hard

57:44

that it collapsed her airway ultimately,

57:46

leading to her death. But

57:49

when they checked the shoes that

57:51

James said he wore that day they

57:53

didn't match. The van

57:55

Callis would remain under police

57:58

custody under federal drug charges. while

58:01

authorities tried to find more

58:03

evidence connecting him to April's

58:05

murder. After

58:46

the murder of of

58:49

April Milsap on the Macomb

58:51

Orchard Trail evening in

58:53

July 2014, the

58:55

police were looking for a

58:57

person on a motorcycle. That

58:59

person, the one with the

59:01

motorcycle, was the last one

59:03

to see April alive, according

59:05

to statements by many witnesses. When

59:08

they discovered James Van owned a

59:11

motorcycle like the one described, they

59:13

asked him a few more questions. When

59:16

he became evasive and hostile,

59:18

the authorities got a search

59:20

warrant for his house. They

59:22

wanted to see the shoes he

59:25

wore that day matched the

59:27

tread pattern found on April's neck.

59:30

Little did they know, they

59:32

would discover a

59:34

large marijuana operation. Both

59:37

James and his father Jim

59:39

arrested on federal drug charges.

59:41

They sat in jail while

59:43

the authorities tried to build

59:45

their case against James. Months

59:49

would go by and the

59:51

police would redo interviews try to

59:53

find out as much as

59:55

they could, gathering all

59:57

of the circumstantial evidence.

1:00:01

After the search warrant and seizing all

1:00:03

of his stuff, they

1:00:05

didn't find anything. They didn't

1:00:07

find DNA, fingerprints, hair,

1:00:11

nothing. And And shoes

1:00:13

he said he wore didn't

1:00:15

match the pattern. So

1:00:18

they to his father, who

1:00:20

seemed a little too

1:00:22

comfortable in his orange jumpsuit. He

1:00:25

didn't think his son was capable of

1:00:27

doing such a thing. He

1:00:46

didn't think his son was capable

1:00:48

of doing such a thing, you

1:00:51

know, because he turned a

1:00:53

few new leaves over or some shit

1:00:55

prison. So So the

1:00:57

tried to paint a scenario to

1:00:59

see if it changed his mind. You've

1:01:02

got explosive temper and

1:01:06

something just went too far that day. You

1:01:08

have a chance to encounter maybe, you know,

1:01:10

how Jimmy is with the ladies. He's a ladies man. What

1:01:12

is a ladies man and He likes to

1:01:14

talk to them and somebody

1:01:16

who rejects him, He doesn't sit too well.

1:01:19

No, that don't happen that that way. No,

1:01:21

it don't happen way. No, Well,

1:01:23

it's not know, he know, he

1:01:25

doesn't know the consequences of what

1:01:27

would happen. No,

1:01:30

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

1:01:32

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

1:01:34

no, I'm a lifetime registry. He

1:01:37

knows this. He's lived with it for the

1:01:39

last one years him. so he knows.

1:01:42

So, you know, son wouldn't have lost

1:01:44

his temper because he would have

1:01:46

never talked to an underage girl. He

1:01:49

knew better. Messing around

1:01:51

with little girls leads to trouble. It

1:01:53

was a lesson he learned

1:01:55

from his father, a registered sex

1:01:57

offender. Another lesson.

1:01:59

he learned from his father,

1:02:02

the self -proclaimed asshole was not

1:02:04

to beat women. He

1:02:17

knew his son and

1:02:19

just didn't think he was

1:02:21

capable of murder. He'd

1:02:23

been on the straight and

1:02:25

narrow for nearly a

1:02:28

year. He went on to

1:02:30

support his claim by

1:02:32

saying his son is a

1:02:34

thief, not a murderer.

1:02:37

But that's not really a

1:02:39

very strong argument. It

1:02:41

would take until October 2014

1:02:43

for the county to

1:02:45

finally press charges. In cooperation

1:02:48

with the Armada Police

1:02:50

Department, Michigan State Police, Macomb

1:02:52

County Sheriff's Department, and

1:02:54

the Federal Bureau of Investigation,

1:02:57

today we announce charges

1:02:59

against James Donald Van Callis

1:03:01

for the murder of

1:03:03

April Dawn Millsap in the

1:03:05

city of Armada. He

1:03:08

was charged with first degree

1:03:10

premeditated murder for the

1:03:12

amount of time it takes

1:03:14

to exfixiate a person.

1:03:17

Surely, he had time to

1:03:19

change his mind or

1:03:21

call for help. They also

1:03:23

charged him with assault

1:03:25

with intent to commit sexual

1:03:28

penetration, because it was

1:03:30

clear what his intention was

1:03:32

before he got interrupted,

1:03:34

killed her, and then ran

1:03:37

away. Of course, in

1:03:39

all his worldly knowledge from

1:03:41

all the books he

1:03:43

read instead of going to

1:03:46

college, James pleaded not

1:03:48

guilty and proceeded to trial.

1:03:50

In the trial, the

1:03:52

prosecution paraded around witness after

1:03:54

witness that placed him

1:03:57

on the trail that day.

1:04:00

They all saw a different little

1:04:02

piece of the picture. One

1:04:04

noticed his clothes, a

1:04:06

couple others noticed his eyes,

1:04:08

and one woman saw his face.

1:04:11

All these pieces put

1:04:13

together described James. They

1:04:16

went over April's GPS data and

1:04:18

created a map of her last movements.

1:04:21

They pointed out that all of a

1:04:23

sudden her phone was moving at miles an

1:04:25

miles an hour. When

1:04:27

they they -referenced the time with

1:04:29

local surveillance systems, they

1:04:32

saw a picture of

1:04:34

a man on an Enduro motorcycle

1:04:37

was blue and white. They

1:04:40

talked about the shoes they seized

1:04:42

and how they didn't match the

1:04:44

pattern on April's neck. They

1:04:46

theorized he destroyed the real shoes

1:04:48

he was wearing that day. He

1:04:51

said he was wearing a

1:04:53

pair of K-Swiss shoes, but

1:04:55

the one witness specifically remembered Hightop's.

1:04:58

Pictures from social media showed

1:05:00

he owned a pair of Hightop

1:05:02

Nike Air Jordan's Flight the

1:05:04

Power edition. The

1:05:06

point is that these

1:05:08

particular shoes match the

1:05:11

tread pattern on the

1:05:13

victim's neck. I

1:05:15

guess that's the power they were

1:05:17

referring to. The power

1:05:19

of the state but to arrest

1:05:21

a criminal. They They also

1:05:23

about the lack of DNA found

1:05:26

on the helmet, the

1:05:28

theorized weapon he used to

1:05:30

incapacitate her. It wasn't

1:05:32

that they didn't find April's DNA. It

1:05:35

was that they didn't find

1:05:37

any DNA at all. The

1:05:40

helmet had obviously been

1:05:42

cleaned inside and out. But

1:05:45

But their witness

1:05:47

was James' ex

1:05:49

-girlfriend, Crystal Stapler. She

1:05:53

him as controlling abusive.

1:06:00

No, couldn't. Was there

1:06:02

a a phone in

1:06:05

there in portion of

1:06:07

the house? No. If

1:06:09

James was out, how would you

1:06:11

communicate with? Through his mom or

1:06:13

dad. James Did James have

1:06:15

a phone? Yes. Did James have

1:06:17

a driver's license? Yes. Did James

1:06:19

have a computer? Yes. Did

1:06:22

James have a car? Yes.

1:06:24

Did you have a car? No.

1:06:26

Why not? Why not? wasn't loud. But

1:06:29

the same with the driver's license? Yeah. Was

1:06:32

he controlling these aspects of your

1:06:34

life? Yes. He

1:06:36

controlled her to the point that she

1:06:38

feared him. Because of

1:06:40

this, she wasn't immediately truthful with

1:06:42

police. Why is it

1:06:44

that you're not telling them everything right

1:06:46

away? Scared. Why

1:06:49

are you scared it off? James.

1:06:51

Why are you scared of James?

1:06:53

James? Because he abusive

1:06:55

and and controlling.

1:06:58

Have they ever hit you before?

1:07:01

Yes. Yes. It seemed like he

1:07:03

did, in fact, pick up dad's bad

1:07:05

habit. She went

1:07:07

on to recall the night April died.

1:07:10

Would you describe how he is dressed

1:07:12

when he leaves the house? A

1:07:15

white t -shirt with football

1:07:17

logos on it. and

1:07:19

gray camel pants and black

1:07:21

and white shoes. What What of

1:07:23

shoes was he wearing? What His

1:07:25

I doing? mic. Her

1:07:28

testimony contradicted James' statement that he

1:07:30

wore the case with shoes. But

1:07:32

this wasn't the only damning

1:07:34

evidence. She recalled that

1:07:36

when he returned that night,

1:07:38

he was acting normal until he

1:07:40

thought she was sleeping. I

1:07:42

wake up and see him cleaning his shoes. Okay.

1:07:45

And And part of the shoe is

1:07:47

he cleaning? The outside. Okay.

1:07:50

you ever seen see him cleaning

1:07:52

shoes before? No. When she

1:07:54

asked why he was cleaning his shoes,

1:07:56

he said because he got oil on them. She

1:07:59

didn't question it. him further though the middle of the

1:08:01

the night seemed like a really weird

1:08:03

time to be cleaning your shoes. After

1:08:06

that, that, she never saw

1:08:08

those shoes again. Does

1:08:10

he say anything to you when he comes back to bed?

1:08:13

Yeah, that he messed up and he needed me

1:08:15

to stand by his side. When

1:08:18

he first comes back in the bed, has his demeanor

1:08:21

toward you changed? Yeah. How is

1:08:23

his demeanor now? Wubby W. Was

1:08:26

it that way when the two of you went to

1:08:28

bed several hours earlier? No. When

1:08:31

his mood like that changes,

1:08:34

what does that mean

1:08:36

to you? He did something wrong.

1:08:38

While he didn't admit to anything

1:08:41

specifically, the timing

1:08:43

of this statement to Crystal was suspicious.

1:08:46

But But following day, she

1:08:49

found something even more suspicious.

1:08:52

Are you asked to wash

1:08:54

any of his clothes? Yeah, he wanted

1:08:56

me to do a little laundry. Okay.

1:08:59

Did you find that unusual? Yeah. Why?

1:09:03

Because he never really wanted me to wash his

1:09:05

clothes. He wore the same clothes all the time.

1:09:08

What were you asked to wash on the morning

1:09:10

of the 25th? The

1:09:12

car hoodie and his pants

1:09:14

and that shirt. Did

1:09:16

you find something unusual in the

1:09:18

car jacket after you washed? Yeah.

1:09:20

What was it that you found?

1:09:22

Like wadded up hair and like

1:09:25

shavings of grass or

1:09:27

didn't recognize the

1:09:29

hay as from the

1:09:31

yard, and the hair certainly

1:09:33

wasn't hers. All

1:09:36

of this odd behavior she kept

1:09:38

to herself, like when

1:09:40

James gave his family instructions. What

1:09:43

was he telling to everybody in the house? To

1:09:45

tell him that he was wearing case with shoes.

1:09:48

Was he wearing case with shoes that night? Out

1:09:50

of fear for James, she

1:09:52

wouldn't tell police any of

1:09:54

this until the third interview,

1:09:56

when she knew he was already

1:09:59

in jail. All

1:10:01

of this information really cast James in

1:10:03

a bad light, but it

1:10:05

did fit the theory that

1:10:07

James hit on young April that

1:10:09

day on the trail. When

1:10:11

she rebuffed his advance,

1:10:14

he hit her over the head with his

1:10:17

helmet. He dragged

1:10:19

her into the bushes. He started

1:10:21

to assault her. When

1:10:23

Amy rode by on her bike, he got

1:10:25

nervous, abandoned his plan,

1:10:27

stomped her to death and

1:10:29

fled. And

1:10:32

in case any of the jurors were

1:10:34

on the fence about this theory, they

1:10:36

read off some of

1:10:38

James' Google history. Here

1:10:40

are just a few excerpts. Do

1:10:43

young girls like older men? Why

1:10:46

would this girl say I'm old for

1:10:48

her and still hit on me? What

1:10:51

does it mean when a girl tells you

1:10:53

that she has a boyfriend? How

1:10:56

to sex with a girl? How

1:10:59

to make a girl who does

1:11:01

not want you want you? Notice

1:11:04

the key phrases in all of

1:11:06

those searches? He wants

1:11:08

to know how to get a

1:11:10

girl, not a woman. Needless

1:11:12

to say, the jurors weren't

1:11:14

on the fence. At

1:11:17

all. The biggest line

1:11:19

of garbage I've ever heard.

1:11:21

The evidence is just overwhelming. Circumstantial

1:11:23

as it may be, it's still

1:11:25

overwhelming evidence. Count one,

1:11:28

first degree murder.

1:11:30

We We find defendant guilty. Count

1:11:33

two. Count two, first

1:11:35

degree felony murder. We

1:11:37

find the defendant guilty. Three,

1:11:41

kidnapping. We find the

1:11:43

defendant guilty. Count four,

1:11:45

assault with intent to commit

1:11:47

sexual penetration. We We find

1:11:49

defendant guilty. James

1:11:51

was found guilty on

1:11:53

all counts. He tried to

1:11:56

remain stoic when the verdict was

1:11:58

read, but he had a

1:12:00

little... little eye twitch when he heard

1:12:02

the decision. April's

1:12:04

family erupted into celebration as

1:12:06

he was led from the

1:12:08

court. At his sentencing, April's

1:12:11

mom, Jennifer, gave her statement.

1:12:13

I help the rain pierces

1:12:15

you like bullets. I help

1:12:17

the sun burn through like

1:12:19

fire, burn skin. I help

1:12:22

the four walls close it

1:12:24

on you and choke you.

1:12:26

I help those steel bars

1:12:28

are your only friends. I

1:12:32

hope in close your

1:12:34

eyes you see only April

1:12:36

over and over and

1:12:38

over again. You

1:12:41

will die behind those bars

1:12:43

alone. I hope

1:12:45

that the inmates know

1:12:47

exactly what you did because

1:12:49

I hear their punishment

1:12:52

can be very ugly. I

1:12:55

help they say all their

1:12:57

rage and anger just for you.

1:13:01

You, James, are a

1:13:03

damn thief. You

1:13:05

stole my beautiful daughter's life.

1:13:07

I pity you and I

1:13:09

hate you and I can

1:13:11

never forgive you. Her pain

1:13:14

was palpable. She thanked the

1:13:16

judge and sat down sniffling

1:13:18

into a tissue. Next,

1:13:21

James addressed the court,

1:13:24

once again demonstrating his intelligence or

1:13:26

lack thereof. Well, first off

1:13:28

is that there is no evidence

1:13:30

that shows that I've done

1:13:33

anything wrong. There is nobody that

1:13:35

can say they seem to

1:13:37

be committing any crime. There is

1:13:39

nobody that can ID or

1:13:41

has ID my motorcycle as being

1:13:43

on that trail that day. None

1:13:47

of the witnesses could positively,

1:13:49

positively identify me. They said that

1:13:51

they've seen eyes, which is,

1:13:53

if that's the case, how many

1:13:55

people have eyes that are

1:13:57

that shape? This is the sad

1:13:59

chain of events. that that somehow wrapped

1:14:03

up in. I I

1:14:05

don't know how to

1:14:07

have the OSAP family understand

1:14:09

that I don't know her.

1:14:11

I've never met her. never

1:14:13

never seen her before. He

1:14:16

goes on like this for

1:14:18

while before he starts

1:14:20

complaining about inconsistencies in discovery

1:14:22

files. There a fraud that's

1:14:24

been perpetuated in this case by

1:14:27

whoever put the case together put it

1:14:29

on that hard drive. My

1:14:31

attorney has witnessed it. I have brought it

1:14:33

up to my attorney several times. He

1:14:35

could testify right here right now if you

1:14:38

were to ask him if I'm saying is

1:14:40

the truth. The reality is

1:14:42

we're here to sentence you. I understand

1:14:44

that Your Honor, but... Please, I I didn't

1:14:46

interrupt you. Go ahead. Thank

1:14:48

you. The reality is

1:14:50

we're here to sentence you. Anything you want to

1:14:52

say regarding an appeal, you can do that as

1:14:54

soon as you're done with me. I'm

1:14:57

just asking for a motion for trial of the

1:14:59

on the grounds This is not the appropriate

1:15:01

time. This idiot was arguing

1:15:03

appellate issues and trying to call

1:15:05

for a mistrial at the sentencing.

1:15:08

Does nobody watch and order

1:15:10

anymore? As to the charge of first

1:15:12

-degree murder. it is is sense of the court that

1:15:14

you serve life in prison with no

1:15:17

chance of parole. Shortly

1:15:19

after his tirade, he was sentenced

1:15:21

to life in prison for

1:15:23

first -degree murder. Another

1:15:25

life for felony murder.

1:15:28

18 years and 9 months for kidnapping.

1:15:31

And years and 8 months for

1:15:33

assault with intent to commit sexual

1:15:35

penetration. I don't think I

1:15:37

have to add that up for you, but it's more than necessary,

1:15:40

really. Not sure there's much

1:15:42

more you need after life. Immediately

1:15:44

following the sentencing, his mother

1:15:46

claimed her son was framed because authorities

1:15:49

needed to pin it on someone. Yeah,

1:15:53

that's how idiots think the system works. Cops

1:15:56

don't work on a quota, people. Maybe

1:15:58

prosecutors, but not cops. Later,

1:16:01

in a phone interview from prison, James

1:16:03

claimed his ex -girlfriend was told what

1:16:05

to say on the stand and forced to

1:16:07

testify or else her kids

1:16:09

would be taken away. I'm

1:16:12

not sure that CPS does

1:16:14

that, either. But But

1:16:16

okay, James, whatever. A

1:16:19

couple of years after his

1:16:21

incarceration, he would file for appeal,

1:16:23

citing a bunch of reasons

1:16:25

he probably thought would work. It

1:16:28

was denied. James

1:16:30

Donald Van Callis in

1:16:33

prison to this day. Meanwhile,

1:16:37

the village of Armada to

1:16:39

heal. They built

1:16:41

a memorial park for April at

1:16:43

the Fulton Street entrance to

1:16:46

the trail, and four years

1:16:48

after her death, the high

1:16:50

school presented her mother with

1:16:52

an honorary diploma. James

1:16:55

Van Callis thought was

1:16:57

above the law. He

1:17:00

himself as superior. He

1:17:02

thought that the law didn't apply

1:17:04

to him. The truth,

1:17:06

however, was far from

1:17:08

that. He still wasn't paying

1:17:10

child support. He controlled

1:17:12

many aspects of his girlfriend's life

1:17:14

and manipulated her constantly. He

1:17:17

was growing more than the

1:17:19

legally allowed amount of marijuana and

1:17:22

speeding through town on his

1:17:24

bike without a motorcycle license. He

1:17:27

was riding on a trail where it wasn't allowed. And

1:17:30

all of that could have been forgiven

1:17:34

if he hadn't hit on

1:17:36

a fourteen -old girl on

1:17:38

a remote walking

1:17:40

trail and then

1:17:43

flew into a rage when

1:17:45

she denied him. And

1:17:47

in fact, while we're on

1:17:49

it, why hit on a young

1:17:51

girl? Why on

1:17:53

a girl at all if

1:17:55

you have a girlfriend at home? Well,

1:17:58

James, that's because you - don't

1:18:00

give a shit about anyone else's

1:18:02

feelings, except her own. You

1:18:05

put your desire above

1:18:08

and ahead of anyone everyone.

1:18:12

This pursuit for validation in the

1:18:14

eyes of a young girl who

1:18:16

was just minding her own business led

1:18:19

to your downfall. Amy

1:18:22

interrupted this baby man, which

1:18:24

is the only reason

1:18:26

April Millsap wasn't sexually assaulted

1:18:28

addition to being murdered.

1:18:31

James Van Callis was

1:18:34

callous, utterly indifferent

1:18:36

to the law and to

1:18:38

the rules we've

1:18:41

agreed upon in society. These

1:18:44

rules that we have because at the

1:18:46

end of the day we're all

1:18:48

human. We all make

1:18:50

mistakes. We day all do things we

1:18:52

shouldn't at times. We

1:18:54

sometimes even break the

1:18:56

law. but there

1:18:59

a distinction. There

1:19:01

a differentiation

1:19:05

between us and

1:19:08

them. Because some of us will

1:19:10

get up day after

1:19:12

day after day. And

1:19:14

even though we know at the end of the

1:19:16

day we will fail. We We

1:19:19

will be imperfect. We We we

1:19:21

will make mistakes. We may even

1:19:23

occasionally hurt someone. At

1:19:25

least we to put in the

1:19:27

effort to be a better

1:19:29

person. At least we're

1:19:31

the kind of people

1:19:33

that try. Thank

1:19:44

you so much for joining us once

1:19:46

again. If you like our show, please

1:19:48

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1:19:51

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