Hi, Mrs. Bowman. I'm Lt. Squyres
from the Norfolk, VA Police Department in Homicide.
This is Det. Smith.
I'm sorry we have to meet you under these circumstances.
I know it's very tragic, and it's very hard for you.
I can tell you about the crime that he's charged with at this point?
[Brenda Bowman] It's so very long ago.
I think I can take you back to the place where this happened.
1980.
We'd been married nine years.
Now we've been married 47.
And for 47 years, you've been being a very dedicated wife,
giving him the benefit of the doubt.
But it appears to me that he betrayed that trust,
that loyalty that you extended to him.
And you being a good person
would never imagine…
that he could do something this horrific.
He's gonna be indicted for murder and rape.
[Brenda] My life's…
upside down right now.
[Lt. Squyres] What my impression is, what my experience tells me,
is that your husband has been doing a lot of bad things for a very long time.
He's out here hurting people,
raping people,
and killing people.
And it's terrible, and I wish I was not here having to talk to you about this.
But he did a very brutal thing.
And I want you to think about how he betrayed you and your family.
I can't take anymore.
Okay. I understand.
[Dennis] I heard her down there.
You arrested my wife?
[Lt. Squyres] She's here.
Now, you brought all this to your family.
I didn't bring anything to my family.
-Yeah you did. -I did not.
[Dennis] She's calling us four times a night, you know,
like 12, one in the morning, saying,
"Oh, we're gonna get ya. You murdered her."
[Dennis] A year and a half of hassles by some crazy lady
calling us murderers and spreading rumors all over Allegan County.
[Brenda] Cathy hears something that's been misconstrued,
and then she misconstrues it more.
And then it goes back to Aundria's lies about,
"My dad did this. My mom did this. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."
To this day, through all of this,
I can't stand a liar.
[Det. Smith] Hey, Dennis.
What's your name?
Jon.
I was gonna come and ask you if you want anything else to eat.
No.
Oh, he's not even in here.
No, he took my cuffs off and shut the door and walked out.
He got me a Starbucks, deep roast.
Right now I'm drinking it.
He said we could talk while I was drinking my coffee.
He's been real good, honey.
How's your knees doing? I remember--
My knees are all right. My back's killing me.
Back's killing you?
I've been collecting bladed weapons since I was 12.
I've got 115, all right?
Not one time in my life have I ever heard my mother say, "I love you."
And the last thing my dad told me was, he said,
"Your mom's got a heart of gold. Hard and cold."
I go to the… the two weeks reserve.
And I'm there for about a week and a half.
I'm 600 miles away from anybody I know.
I'm wound up like an eight-day clock.
So after about a week and a half, I said, "Fuck it."
"I gotta get off this ship."
And I went out, and I wandered around.
And I walked into a little bar.
And I sat down, and I ordered a double bourbon and Coke.
Well, I got…
stupid drunk. I mean, just crazy, stupid drunk.
It's dark.
Didn't know where I was.
And I'm walking down the street.
And I walk past this house.
All the lights are out.
There's no car in the drive.
And I said, "I wonder if they got some loose money laying around."
So I went around the back of the house.
And I went up to a window.
And the window had a hook and latch on it to lock it.
So I got out a pocket knife.
Opened up the window.
I almost fell in the house. I was drunk.
I mean, I was just drunk.
I went into the house, and it's the living room.
I'm looking for money. All right?
I went in the kitchen.
And I looked in the cookie jar.
Nothing there.
There was another door.
But when I opened the door,
she…
sat up and started to scream
and I covered her mouth with my left hand.
I went to push her back down with my right.
I still had that little pen knife in my hand.
And when I went to push her back down,
she grabbed that hand.
And it went in right there.
When I started to calm down,
she was still lying on the bed, and she was moving.
And I said, "Lady, I'm leaving."
And I walked out the front door.
Let me ask you this, Dennis.
Would you be able to put into words and describe
what you felt at that moment?
This will…
humanize your feelings.
It was the demon.
Tell me about that demon.
Here's Dennis.
And the demon used to be right out here in front.
And had a little pointy beard
and horns,
and claws.
The demon's in here.
And it still tries to get out.
But I won't let it.
Do you remember having sex with her?
No.
-That's the thing, Dennis. We have to-- -I don't see it. I…
I'm looking. All right? I'm looking.
Or are you denying that you had sex with her?
No, I'm not denying, I'm just looking. And…
-You can see her sat up in the bed. -I can see her stomach.
Okay.
When I put the knife--
So she obviously didn't have any clothes on.
No, she had clothes on.
Well, she must not have had clothes on here if you can see her stomach.
You beat the hell out of that girl.
No!
You beat the hell out of that girl.
And you stabbed the hell out of that girl.
I did not.
I only stabbed her one time.
-One-- -How do you know?
-One time! -If you were so…
drunk, how do you know?
Because I can still see that in my mind.
-But you can't see anything else-- -No, I can't.
So you don't know.
I didn't do that.
Well, you think about it, and I'm gonna get you back downtown, okay?
I didn't do that.
Give me a couple minutes, Dennis.
I didn't…
I didn't do that.
I've done it again.
I didn't do that.
You ready to go back?
-Yeah. -All right.
You okay?
No.
[Det. Ernstes] Now that you know that
Denny committed a murder
in Virginia, do you have any concerns about Aundria?
[Brenda] I don't know what to believe right now! I really don't.
Do you believe us that we tell you that he did this?
Or do you still hope in your heart that he didn't?
There's always that hope.
There's always that hope that Aundria's not dead.
I know.
[Dennis] Hey, did you get something today?
[Brenda] You shouldn't have.
You made me cry.
Made me cry when I ordered it.
We should have done something when you got out the first time.
We should've gone to counseling.
We should've gotten to the bottom of everything.
[Brenda] I love you.
[Dennis] I love you too.
Even though I damn you at times.
And I don't blame you a bit, sweetie. I should be home. I'm not.
[Dennis] I love you.
[Brenda] Forty years ago, you should've thought of that.
Forty years ago, I was going nuts though.
Forty years ago, I wish to hell you never would have went to Virginia.
Yeah, me too.
[Brenda] Virginia's gonna be impossible for an actual visit.
[Dennis] I know.
Sue asked me if I was gonna pack up and go live in Virginia for a while.
I said, "No, I can't do that."
[Det. Haverdink] Here's what
I could do and I've already got permission to do.
Is if that, if I know where Aundria is,
and I can find Aundria,
and I can have closure for Brenda,
and for you,
I can keep you here in Michigan.
I can keep you closer to Brenda and Vanessa.
There's nothing I can do about that though.
Well, it'd be nice to keep you in state,
but you're not gonna admit to something you didn't do.
I keep telling 'em. I keep telling 'em.
And he said, "Well, you know… there's been accidents."
[Vanessa Bowman] No!
I said, I told him yesterday, I said,
"You don't kill family. You don't."
I said, "You get mad at 'em. You scream at 'em."
"Sometimes you fight with 'em." I said, "But you don't kill 'em."
And they said, "Well, you don't kill anybody."
Jesus.
They have no idea what real family is, I think.
Oh! They've completely dug huge holes all through Shadow's area.
Yeah… so all right.
So they dug up the backyard?
All throughout the backyard.
Oh, geez…
I don't know what they're looking for. I really don't.
[Dennis] I do not know where my daughter is.
I keep telling you this, and you keep coming back to,
"Well, you know, maybe there was an accident,
or maybe you lost your temper or…"
You don't lose your temper with your kid to kill 'em!
You don't!
[Dennis] Hi, baby.
This is special. They don't do this.
And the only reason they did…
Honey,
I've done some stuff that I'm really ashamed of.
Honest to God.
Aundria's dead.
She's been dead from the start.
I came home that day with the baby, and the baby was sleeping.
And I took the baby in the living room and laid her on the couch.
And I went up to the top of the stairs.
Aundria was coming out of our bedroom.
And I said, "What are you doing?" And she said she was leaving.
We got into an argument.
And I said, "No, you're not leaving. You're not going anywhere."
And she said, "Well, I'll just…
tell the counselors again that you molested me."
And I said, "No, you won't." And I hit her.
She fell backwards down the stairwell.
[Brenda] No, no.
Don't admit to something you didn't do.
I ran down the stairs.
And I checked, and she didn't have a pulse.
And she wasn't breathing.
And she had a big…
It just didn't feel right, her neck. Her neck was just bad.
And her head rolled over,
and she just stared, like doll eyes going into nowhere.
She was gone.
I couldn't lose you.
And Vanessa. She was only 14 months old.
And I didn't know what to do.
'Cause I knew if I called and told them anything…
that they'd put me back in prison.
I wrapped her in a blanket.
And I took her out,
and hid her body in the barn.
And I called the police and said she was missing.
She laid out there for a couple of days.
And I found a cardboard barrel.
And I tried to stick her body in the barrel.
It wouldn't fit.
Honey, in order to make it fit, I had to cut her legs off.
And then, maybe a day or two,
when the neighbors set their garbage cans out,
I rolled the barrel down and set it next to them.
And the next morning she was gone.
Thirty-somethin' years.
Yes.
Thirty-one years.
As long as I didn't tell you,
you had hope.
And I'm sorry for deceiving you.
And I know what your fear was.
But it was our daughter. You should've got her help.
I've defended you so much against Cathy.
I know.
All this time searching for her,
putting up flyers, you knew that was…
[Dennis] I knew that was BS.
And you said the money…
Was missing.
I burned the bag and her coat that was laying there.
And I believe what happened was I never checked in the bag.
The money might've been there. I might've burned it.
I don't know. But it was gone.
When did you wind up burning the bag?
After I picked her up and carried her outside.
-Before you called the police? -Yes.
It was probably still burning in the barrel when he got there.
And then when somebody said they saw her in Holland,
I didn't tell them that.
And somebody else said, "Oh we saw her down in Indiana."
"She was at a bar."
[Det. Haverdink] What did you think of that?
Good.
'Cause it took the heat off me.
Just because she broke her neck didn't,
that doesn't mean I didn't love her. All right?
[Brenda] No one knows the truth but you.
-[Dennis] Mhm. -And God.
And God.
I got a big song and dance from Sue.
"We just can't wrap our minds around how hurt and--"
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
She worded it like you chopped Aundria up when she was alive.
-Yeah, I'm sure she did. -That's the way she worded it.
And I started writing back a couple of times,
"You don't know half the truth of what you think you know."
[Brenda] I can only tell you what I was told that day
and have believed in for all these years.
I got my Philippians 4:13 in one corner.
And I got Isaiah 41:10 at the bottom.
Yep.
You're not gonna take my love away from me or anything or my God.
And this is the way I am.
If you don't like it, oh well!
The best lie is one that's mostly true, all right?
[Det. Workman] You know that we've listened to calls and letters.
Yep, and letters.
How many stories are we up to?
Probably three or four.
Yeah, so which one's true? Which one's the truth?
That's the one you gotta figure out.
You're the one person that knows where she's at.
That's right.
And I'm the one person that's gonna keep that for the rest of my life.
[Det. Fuller] We're aware that you told your wife another story.
The problem that's created now, Dennis,
because of that is it's kind of wrapped her up into this,
and she doesn't need to be. Okay?
That's a problem for Brenda.
And I know you don't wanna have a problem for your wife.
You say you care about Brenda, but look who you're protecting.
I'm not gonna tell you where my daughter's buried.
[Brenda] You may not want to listen to what I have to say, but--
[Dennis] Go ahead. Say it.
The prosecutor here still will not charge without her body.
All right.
If it came to the time that you decide to tell me what I need to know,
you would stay in Michigan for life,
which would enable us visits.
That's not guaranteed,
but I have to hang on to any thread I can have.
[Brenda] I can't pull myself together.
I have dreams of it.
Dreams of what?
Aundria!
You! Everything!
[Brenda] I still want closure with knowing where she is.
I want our baby girl home with me in a very pretty urn.
Then I can finally realize that she's home where she belongs
after all the years she's been gone.
I buried her in a real grave--
So I live like this the rest of my life?
You don't have to live like nothing the rest of your life.
If we can't get past this…
I can't! I can't get it totally past!
I tried to explain that to you!
The only help we'll get from now on is from God.
[Brenda] I don't care anymore, Denny, one way or another,
whatever happened,
I will still love you no matter what.
There's a possibility we could have somewhat of a life here in Michigan.
I wanna hear you say you believe there's hope.
It's all we got.
[Dennis] I believe you, honey.
[Dennis] I will tell you exactly where Aundria is.
She's very close.
[Brenda] I hope so.
Oh, she is.
Brenda…
Aundria is buried in our backyard.
We didn't live here! We weren't even-- We didn't even know this place.
Brenda, she's there.
Where we were at the old house, I had the barrel buried.
When we found out we were moving, I took the barrel over to our house.
I dug the hole, and I put the barrel in it, all right?
Then, I covered it all up.
She's been right there
the whole time.
Now you know.
They weren't saying exactly that it was Aundria.
They just said, "We found remains."
And after I stood over for a few minutes,
I turned and Todd walked me back to the house.
And all I could say to him is, "He didn't lie to me this time."
"He didn't lie, Todd."
[Brenda] How was the letter that you wrote so convincing about the cemetery and--
[Dennis] That was more bullshit for them, and I thought it'd make you feel better.
But you haven't felt better.
You've only been bitching about how you wanted her right there with ya.
In a can, sittin' on a shelf.
I thought maybe if you thought she was buried decently,
properly, with respect,
then maybe you'd say, "Okay, that was enough."
But no.
I don't want you mad!
At least you'll have her in a tin jar on a shelf.
So now here I am.
Now you know I'm a rotten, stinkin' son of a bitch.
Nothing's changed. I still love you.
Denny! Did you hear me?
Yes, I heard you.
It's gonna be over, baby.
Bye-bye.
Brenda, there are some other things that Denny has admitted to us
that he'd done in the past.
Would you like to hear about those?
[Brenda] Evidently, he didn't want me to hear about 'em otherwise.
I'm gonna tell you 'cause I think you deserve to know.
He said that when he was stationed out in San Diego
before you guys were married,
that he sexually assaulted a woman.
And then he said that very shortly after you two were married
that he had sexually assaulted two women out in San Diego.
And then, in the early '80s,
that he had sexually assaulted a woman up in a trailer park.
I don't know that man.
When I sat there and told them that morning
that the man they were talking about, I had no idea who he was,
I didn't realize I'd actually be saying how true that was.
I'm sorry.
[Det. Haverdink] We had briefly talked before about the Metta girl,
that was abducted from the Windmill gas station
and was brought down to Silver Creek Campground.
No, I don't know anything about that.
[Det. Fuller] So that's all the dark stuff in your closet?
That's all the dark stuff in my closet.
[Cathy] Todd, thank you for everything.
It was a team effort.
Can we have a word with you?
Yes.
[Det. Haverdink] Brenda…
has the remains.
She had the remains cremated.
And she wants to give you half of Aundria's body.
[Cathy] I can't deal with this.
I can't deal with this right now.
What'd she give me, the top half or the bottom half?
How dare her!
We have those here today
to give to you,
if you want to accept them.
Of course I do.
My little girl is right here, you guys.
Right here.
She knows that monster is gone.
[Cathy] Give you half a guess what this is.
[Metta] No.
-Really? -Half of her.
[Brenda] How's she gonna fight it?
Any judge in the world would turn around and say,
"You're lucky you're getting what you're getting,
'cause she's sharing with you."
[Dennis] Yeah, well, remember, she threw her away.