Buried in the Backyard (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Wishing Well Hell - full transcript

Truck a quaint
Ohio neighborhood

when a beloved member
of the community

was gruesomely murdered
and dumped in her own backyard.

They duct taped her,
turned her upside down,

and stuffed her in a well.

No.

You have an 81-year-old lady

who was stuffed
in a wishing well.

That gets some attention.
That's a big deal.

Tracking down
the killer became an obsession

for a local investigator.



I have this victim
of a violent crime,

and I wanted to see someone
atone for what happened.

But the victim's risky
business practices

left behind a sea of suspects.

She had a significant amount
of cash with her at all times.

We used to tell her,
"Don't do that."

She was like, "Nah.
Nobody's gonna bother me."

It was a summer
like any other

for the close-knit community
of German Village,

a peaceful upscale neighborhood
just south of Columbus, Ohio.

But on the evening
of July 9th, 2008,

an unexpected
and terrifying discovery

shook residents to their core.

A father and his
teenage daughter had
taken a shortcut



on their way home
from a nearby restaurant.

But when they cut
through the backyard of
a vacant housing unit,

they were overcome by
a terrible, rancid smell.

They immediately noticed
a stack of chair cushions

piled on top of what appeared
to be a wishing well.

The girl's father instinctively
knew that something was wrong

and told his daughter
to stay back.

As he pulled away the cushions,
the smell overcame him.

And inside the well,
he made a horrifying discovery.

Columbus police detective
James Day rushed to the scene.

They contacted us

at the homicide unit,
telling us

that there was
a dead body buried in a well.

The building where this
occurred at was vacant.

It also was in a very
secluded area visually.

There was a large
privacy fence on the one side

and directly to the south,
office buildings.

The place was
a perfect location

to commit a crime like this.

Detective Day,
a 16-year veteran

of the Columbus PD,

had investigated hundreds
of homicides,

but he had never experienced
anything this horrific.

There was a strong odor
of decomposition

coming from the well,

Typical smell of death.

And I looked inside the well.

There was what appeared
to be an elderly woman

buried inside the well.

Her position was head down
into the well.

Her face is wrapped
with a flannel shirt,

and her hands are bound
with duct tape.

Based on the condition
of the elderly victim,

Detective Day drew
an awful conclusion.

The woman had most likely
been there for several days.

But who would want to kill
a defenseless elderly lady

and hide her body
in a backyard?

Who was this victim?

There was a lot of
personal property

that had been scattered
about the yard.

Her things like credit cards,
business cards,

personal papers that people
commonly would carry

in their wallet
or their purse.

And as we collected them,
we would notice

that the name of Alyce Seff
was prevalent on these items.

The driver's license
found with the body

confirmed
that it was Alyce Seff,

and in a cruel twist,
she had been dumped

in her own backyard.

81-year-old Alyce Seff
was well known in the area.

As a long-time owner
of several rental properties

in German Village,
Alyce was a likable landlord

who was known for going
the extra mile

to please her tenants.

I could always count on Alyce.

She was the best friend
you could have.

She really was a good friend.

We spoke on the phone
every day.

We saw each other
very, very often.

Alyce had been
married and divorced twice.

With no children to care for,

her friends and her tenants
became her life.

News came on,
they said there was an east end
realtor murdered,

and right away,
it's just like I knew.

They didn't say any name.
I knew it was Alyce.

Alyce was fondly
recognized around town

as a friendly, but eccentric,
elderly lady.

When I first met Alyce,
she just looked like she had

just walked off the street.

She didn't care
what she looked like.

She didn't care
what clothes she had on.

She didn't care, probably,
if you liked her or not.

But that's just the type
of person she was.

She was her own person

and that's the way
I always took Alyce to be.

She was her own person.

When I found out how she died,
I got really upset.

I was like...

I still get upset.

How can anybody...

stuff somebody
or bury somebody in a well?

The impact of Alyce's murder

was felt by everyone
in German Village.

Never ever had
a problem with anybody,

you know, just really
a super nice lady.

It's really, really sad,

especially when something
that malicious happens

to such a nice old lady,
you know?

And it's just the maliciousness
of the whole thing

is just awful.

She had all kinds of people
in and out of here though,

you know, like, doing
maintenance and stuff like that,

so, you know, I mean,
it could have been anybody.

Detectives hoped
that the coroner's report

could shed some light
on how Alyce died,

and provide clues about
who killed her.

The coroner told me that
because of her being bound,

because of her head being
wrapped in this flannel shirt,

because of the position she was
put into the wishing well,

that most likely cause of death
was a positional asphyxiation.

81-year-old Alyce Seff
suffocated to death

after being placed
upside down inside the well

while still alive.

What was equally disturbing,

she had suffered blunt force
trauma to the head.

The coroner concluded
that there was a wound

that was inflicted
to the head area.

Because of the evidence
of blood that had been left

on a fence at the scene.

The blood loss would be
consistent with a head wound

that would bleed heavily.

The blood on the fence

was quickly confirmed
as Alyce's.

Detectives theorized
she was struck in the head

prior to her death
and then thrown into the well.

But unfortunately, there were
no other forensic clues

at the crime scene.

Any time we have bodies
that are decomposing,

you're less likely to get
evidence off of them,

especially anything like
DNA or fingerprints,

because as that body's
decomposing,

everything is decomposing.

The cruelty of Alyce's death

added to the suffering
already felt by her friends.

It's bad enough
that she was murdered,

but they duct taped her,
turned her upside down

and stuffed her in a well,
distorting her body, where...

she laid... and...
she wasn't dead.

So she laid all that time
in pain.

No.

It was a horrible death,
just horrible.

and there was nothing
she could do to help herself.

I just think it's a very,
very sad story.

And a terrible way
to end a life.

With no DNA
or fingerprints

to help to fill in the blanks,

police would need to cast
a wide net

in order to find
Alyce's killer.

Detectives started by talking
to Alyce's tenants,

and what came to light
was that Alyce had

a dangerous habit.

The people we spoke to
told us that

Alyce had a habit of dealing
only in cash.

Alyce had lots of renters.

She personally collected
the rent,

and demanded that they
pay her only in cash.

Alyce would wrap the money
in a wad,

put the money either
in a pocket or down her bra,

and carry it that way.

She had a significant amount
of cash with her at all times.

I used to get so mad at her,

and we used to tell her,
"Don't do that.

Don't walk around like that.
Don't pull that out."

And she was just a feisty,
feisty lady.

She was like, "
Nobody's going to bother me."

But that was Alyce.

Detectives did not
find any money on Alyce's body,

which raised a key question:

was Alyce killed for the cash
she carried?

When people told us
that she had this habit

of dealing only in cash,

figured somebody probably
set her up to do a robbery

and she end up being
murdered out of it.

This was an elderly lady,
so you have someone

that basically is defenseless

or easy prey for criminals.

Outraged by the horrifying
nature of Alyce's murder,

Detective Day wanted
swift justice for her killer.

Police soon discovered that
Alyce was a regular customer

at a local tool store

and was there within days
of her murder.

Alyce had had
a tool store, Murray Tool,

that she frequented.

They had video of her on
July 5th being in their store.

Police had
their first lead:

security footage that could
provide critical information

as to who might have
killed Alyce Seff.

Columbus police have released
a surveillance video

of two women wanted
for questioning

in the murder of 81-year-old
Alyce Seff.

I remember seeing those
women's pictures.

I didn't know what to think.

I don't know if
the ladies did it

or somebody they know did it.

Two days after the body of
81-year-old Alyce Seff

was found stuffed inside
a well in her own backyard,

detectives had a new lead
in their search for the killer:

a video tape of Alyce
visiting a local tool shop.

The employees at Murray Tool
were very upset

when they found out
that Alyce had been killed,

and they contacted the police
and indicated to the police

they had video of her
on July 5th, 2008

being in their store.

Alyce's body was found
on July 9th.

With the video,
we were able to determine

that Alyce had last been
seen alive on July 5th.

The surveillance video
was key in helping detectives

build the timeline of
Alyce's final days,

but it also provided
some valuable clues.

Alyce went in to Murray Tool
to get some clippers sharpened.

She waited while
they were sharpened.

She stayed there for
a significant period of time

talking to various
employees there.

It was clearly a social time
for Alyce Seff.

The last video we have of her

is walking out
of the store alone

carrying those clippers
in her hand.

Those clippers were not
at the scene.

They were not recovered.

They were never found again.

Since Alyce's autopsy showed
that she suffered

blunt force trauma
to the head,

police suspected
that the missing clippers

had been used during
the attack.

As they studied
the surveillance tape,

they noticed something else.

Alyce can be seen removing
a wad of cash

from her chest pocket.

When she proceeded
to check out,

she proceeded to take money
out of that pocket,

out of this skirt pocket,
out of that skirt pocket,

and I'm seeing... money.

Did Alyce
unintentionally make herself

the target of a killer
lurking within the tool store?

Was she followed home
and murdered for her money?

To find out, Detective Day
sent officers to track down

and question every patron
and employee

who was in the store
on July 5th.

Police also discovered

that Alyce's cell phone
was missing,

something she was
never without.

At the scene where
she was found,

I noticed that she had
a phone holder

on her waistband,

but it was empty.
There was no cell phone.

We started concentrating on
trying to locate

where her cell phone was.

Did Alyce's killer
steal her phone,

and were they currently
using it?

Detectives were hopeful
they could trace

any cell phone activity
to the killer's location.

We then obtained a subpoena

to obtain all the information
on the cell phone.

I got that information
within a couple days.

It gave us all the activity
of the cell phone

prior to when
she was discovered.

When Day reviewed
Alyce's call history,

he noticed that leading up
to July 5th,

her cell phone use
was fairly predictable.

Most calls were made
during business hours

to a handful of phone numbers,

and the phone
was almost never used

after 9:00 PM each night.

But after 1:38 PM on July 5th,

there was an unusual period
of phone silence.

No calls were made or received
for the next eight hours.

Detective Day speculated

it was during
that eight-hour window

that Alyce Seff
was most likely murdered.

However, at 9:52 PM
that evening,

call activity picked up again,

which immediately raised
a red flag.

It was a significant change
in the pattern

of the cell phone usage,
including the time of day

the cell phone was used,

the phone numbers that were
being called by the cell phone,

or being received by
the cell phone.

The phone logs
revealed that

two of the phone numbers
had never been dialed before

on Alyce Seff's phone.

Was the killer boldly using
her cell phone?

Through the triangulation
of the cell phone towers,

we were able to determine
where these phone calls

were being received.

The suspicious calls
were made to

the east side
of Columbus, Ohio.

Two of the phone numbers
that were on the records

belonged to Brenda Greathouse
and Norma Jenkins.

Who were Norma and Brenda?

Did they know Alyce Seff?

And did they have
an explanation

for why they received calls
from her cell phone

the day she was allegedly
murdered?

Detective Day went to
the home of Norma Jenkins
first.

Norma didn't know Alyce Seff,
but she did remember

receiving some calls from
that particular cell phone

on the night of July 5th.

She admitted that she had
actually seen the cell phone.

The cell phone had been
in the possession

of a former boyfriend of hers

she identified
as Charles Green.

Norma told
Detective Day that Greene--

who went by
his middle name Jerome--

had lived with her briefly,
but she kicked him out

because he was always broke
and never paid rent.

I asked Norma what she knew
about him, where he lived,

where was he at,
how can we contact him?

She told me that Charles Greene
was homeless,

that he lives on the street,

he has no set address,

and no way for her
to contact him,

that he usually contacted her.

Although she admitted
to receiving calls

from Alyce's cell phone,

Norma claimed to not know
anything more

that could help Detective Day.

Was it possible she was
hiding more than she knew?

It was two women using
Alyce Seff's card

after she would have
already been dead.

It was quite startling
because one of the women

I recognized...

and apparently she had
been holding back on me.

ur days had passed since
Alyce's body was discovered.

So far, the only lead
police had

was that a man named
Jerome Charles Greene

was in possession of her phone

hours after her brutal murder.

According to Norma Jenkins,
Charles Greene was homeless,

but had just shown up
at her home with the phone.

But Norma wasn't
the only woman called

from Alyce's stolen phone.

Another woman,
Brenda Greathouse,

also appeared on the phone log.

There were records
indicating phone calls

to and from Brenda's residence
to the victim's cell phone.

She immediately told me
that she has a friend,

she knew him from high school.

He showed up there.
He had this cell phone.

She too named
Charles Greene

as the man in possession
of Alyce's phone.

Detective Day pressed Brenda
for any more information

about her dealings
with Greene

over the past few weeks,
but she adamantly denied

having any other involvement
with him.

Now I had two persons
giving me the same name,

and two people who knew
this suspect,

Charles Greene... intimately.

Detective Day checked into
Charles Greene's past.

He had a lengthy rap sheet
going back to 1981,

which included serving
prison time

for robbing an elderly woman.

However, Day wasn't sure
if his profile matched that

of the ruthless killer
he was looking for.

Part of me was,
he might be the main suspect.

He also might be, like,
Norma and Brenda.

It might be that he obtained
the cell phone

from another person,
who maybe traded him

for something, whatever.

At this point in the game,

I have to locate
Charles Greene,

get an interview from him.

That tells me whether
I'm on the right track,

or if I have to keep looking
further for another person.

Finding Charles Greene,
however,

was going to be a challenge.

Since Greene was homeless,
he was never in one place

and almost impossible
to track down.

The best way and try to find
someone who's homeless

is to go to the patrol officers
that cruise that area.

Detective Day
and his team

distributed wanted posters

to all surrounding precincts.

I said, "Listen, you see
this guy, give me a call."

I wanted to do whatever
needed to be done

to bring justice
for Alyce Seff,

but it proved to be harder
to find him than I imagined.

As the manhunt dragged
into its second week,

another one of
Alyce's possessions

suddenly turned up.

Her missing Ford Escort
station wagon

was discovered abandoned
in South Columbus.

Her car hadn't been seen
since the day she was killed.

We decided to impound the car.

At the Columbus PD lot,

the car was searched
for prints,

but unfortunately,
none were found.

Yet, Detective Day
wasn't about to give up
so easily.

When I went and examined
the car closely,

I did notice on
the driver's door,

there was a drop of blood.

I was pretty ecstatic
about that 'cause I figured

I might be getting
some good DNA

from whomever had been
driving this vehicle last.

Police were hopeful
that the speck of blood

would lead them
to a suspect,

but unfortunately,
there was no hit on the DNA.

Alyce's station wagon
was sent to the evidence lockup

for storage,
but with the activity

on Alyce's missing cell phone
now stopped,

and prime suspect Charles
Greene still evading police,

the investigation slowed
to a crawl.

Typically if
you don't solve a murder

within the first
couple of days,

you're gonna be in big trouble,

and this was a case where
clearly there was not

a lot of physical evidence

that was gonna lead police
to the killer.

But on September 15th, 2008,

two months after
Alyce's murder,

Detective Day received
some startling news.

The person that was
handling Alyce's affairs

directly after her death,

found out that there's been
activity on the credit card

after the time that
we believed Alyce was killed.

Detective Day immediately
secured the records

from Alyce's bank
to determine where

the fraudulent use
of the credit cards
had occurred.

And then I start going
to these establishments

where the credit card
was being used.

I was hoping, of course,
that I was gonna be able

to get a video of Charles Greene
using these credit cards,

but that's not what happened.

It was two women using
the credit cards.

While the video
was pretty good,

I couldn't positively
identify them.

Desperate to ID the mystery
women in the video,

Day released the footage
to the local news,

hoping that someone would
recognize them.

Columbus Police have released
a surveillance video

of two women wanted
for questioning

in the murder of 81-year-old
Alyce Seff.

If you have any information...

I remember seeing those
women's pictures,

rolling their carts
filled with merchandise.

They used Alyce's credit card.

I didn't know what to think.

I don't know if
the ladies did it,

or somebody they know did it.

Detective Day's
strategy to illicit

the public's help paid off.

It didn't take long
for the tips to roll in.

I did get a response

at identifying
who those two women were.

One woman was
identified as Norita Sands.

When Detective Day
ran her record,

he learned that Sands
had just been released
from prison

for credit card fraud.

The other person on the tape
was a complete shock

to Detective Day.

And it was quite startling,

because one of the women

was Brenda Greathouse.

Brenda Greathouse
was the same person

that Day had previously
questioned about

the suspicious call activity
on Alyce's phone.

But due to the poor quality
of the video,

he hadn't recognized her.

Apparently, Brenda
had been holding back on me

when I first contacted her
about the phone usage.

Could she be
the killer after all?

If not, how was she
involved?

I called her house.

I very strongly told
her husband that

Brenda needs to get
a hold of me, like, right now.

Two months after the gruesome
killing of Alyce Seff,

police now had another suspect,

one who was clearly
withholding information.

She told me
that Charles Green told her

that this was part of
the payment for what he'd done

and he was able to use
this credit card.

He asked her to get
her certain personal items,

toiletries and things
like that,

and told her also
that she would be able

to get some items for herself.

It came out that Charles Greene
had gave the women

these credit cards,

and that he had told them
that Alyce

had gave him those
credit cards.

No, she wouldn't have
done that, trust me.

No way..

When they went home,

Charles came over,
got his stuff,

took the credit card back

and that was the end of that.

But since Brenda
hadn't exactly been forthcoming

with police about her
involvement with Greene,

Day wasn't about to let
her off the hook so easily.

I said, "Listen,
this is it, right?

You have to tell me
everything.

You can't hold anything back.

If I find out
that you've lied to me

about anything else,
or omitted it,

I'm coming back here
with an arrest warrant."

At that point,
Brenda conveniently remembered

something that had
slipped her mind earlier.

Alyce had a lot of properties,
so she needed a lot of help,

and her big problem
was keeping enough help

to help her maintain
her property.

She was always trying
to find workmen

that she could get
at a bargain.

Detective Day theorized

that one of those
bargain-basement hires

was Charles Greene.

I still don't have enough
information to charge Charles,

but he is now my prime suspect.

But Day still had
the same problem:

Charles Greene was nowhere
to be found.

I would go out and look
for him every now and then,

every now and then would pull
him up on the computer

to see if he was being
arrested for any minor thing,

a traffic violation,
a disorderly conduct,
or anything.

And there was just nothing.
He's gone.

Charles Greene
was seemingly untraceable,

and the Alice Seff
murder investigation

grounded to a halt.

It had just been so long,

there were a lot doubts
it was ever gonna be solved.

Time is going on
and I'm getting other cases.

Just every now and then
when Alyce Seff

would pop back in my mind,
I would get on the computer

and look for Charles.

I had the option at this time

to turn it over
to our cold case squad,

but I decided not to do that

because I wanted to finish
this myself.

I think I have enough.
I just need to find this guy.

I just hope he pops up
somewhere.

But years passed,

and to Detective Day's
frustration,

there was still no sign
of Charles Greene.

For Alyce's friends,
the wait for answers

was gut-wrenching.

I used to get so upset
about Alyce.

There was no putting
two and two together.

She was murdered,

and I had no idea at that time

what happened.

This was a cold case
for many, many, many years.

Very sad, very sad.

I didn't know what to think,

and it was just agonizing.

Alyce was a great lady
and I know she deserves

that someone pay
for what he did, or she did.

Detective Day
refused to give up

and finally his persistence
paid off.

Three years after
Alyce Seff's murder,

he got the break
he was waiting for.

So at one of these times,
I get on the computer,

and boom, there's an entry.

Charles Greene...
he got arrested.

I see that he's in
the Franklin County Jail.

He's just literally
a half a mile away from me.

Detective James Day had finally
located his prime suspect,

Charles Greene.

Now that Detective Day
had Greene where he wanted him,

he hoped to compare
the ex-con's DNA

to the sample recovered
from Alyce's car.

So, grabbed my bag
and my notebook,

and some DNA swabs
and run over to the jail.

He was actually scheduled
to be released

within the next few days,

so I knew I was going
to have to hustle.

Do you know about
the death of Alyce Seff?

- No, I don't.
- Nothing?

I know she died.
Yes, I do.

- And that's all you know?
- Yes.

He says,
"Yeah, I know Alyce Seff,

but I don't know
anything about this."

Did you work for her
that summer?

Do you know?

She was-- excuse me.
She was sick.

- Yeah? She was--
- She was sick, I don't know.

She was in the hospital
and I haven't worked for her

in a while, 'cause I used to
always call her and bug her

to give me some work,
'cause I'll---

Give me some work.

- She's a good lady,. -
Detective:

She's a good lady
and I miss her dearly.

That's what
everybody had said.

I miss her.

And I really ain't
gonna kill nobody.

My God, no.

I said, "Listen,
I need you to talk to me.

You're definitely involved.
There's no doubt about that,

because of the credit card,
because of the cell phone."

I said you may have
an opportunity.

You trying to trap me here?

No, I'm not trying
to trap you.

- I'm just telling you--
- I'm ready to cut it off.

Well--
- 'Cause I'm not gonna say
nothing to jeopardize myself.

Okay.

And he says, "Nope,
I'm not going to talk to you."

He wanted to get
his own attorney.

- Come on.
- I think I need a lawyer.

With Greene now threatening
to cut off the interview,

things weren't looking good
for Detective Day,

who still didn't have
any evidence

proving that the ex-con
was responsible

for Alyce's murder.

The way he was not being
cooperative with talking to me,

I figured he would not consent.

But I then asked him
if he would consent

to me taking his DNA,

and he agreed.

So he allowed for me to swab
the inside of his cheeks

and take a saliva sample
and that ended that contact.

I was ecstatic, you know?

This was gonna be
the turning point.

If Charles's DNA
matched the blood

found in Alyce's stolen car,

Detective Day felt he'd have
enough evidence

to make an arrest
and finally bring

Alyce's killer to justice.

Well, I submitted the DNA.

I'm waiting for this
to come back.

I'm like a kid waiting
for Christmas at Thanksgiving.

The blood in Alice's car
was a match for Charles Greene.

I'm just like, hallelujah.

There's one chance in, like,
about three million

that this is wrong.

I feel I've got this guy.

I've got the guy
who was involved

in the murder of Alyce Seff.

But sadly
for Detective Day,

there was another major hurdle

to bring Charles Green
to justice.

We assessed the evidence.
We looked at the DNA match.

We looked at the fact
that Charles Greene

had possessed her credit cards,
her cell phone,

and probably
had driven her car

shortly after her death.

However, we didn't have
enough evidence

to put Charles Greene
at the scene of the crime.

Therefore, we just didn't
have the evidence

that Charles Greene
had killed Alyce Seff.

All the allegations
against Green--

the murder,
the credit cards,

and the stolen car--

were based upon
circumstantial evidence.

Jurors tend to want
physical evidence.

They watch "CSI."
They want fingerprints

if they're gonna
convict somebody,

so, circumstantial cases
really can be tough

for prosecutors
to sell to a jury.

The prosecutor says,
"I need more.

I need something that puts him
right at the scene,

just one more little piece
of evidence."

It was a crushing blow
for Detective Day.

After three years
of tracking down the man

he believed was Alyce's killer,

he now had to revisit
his entire case file

for any missed leads,
or anything that would

indisputably place
Charles Greene with Alyce

on the day she was murdered.

We reviewed the video
from the tool place.

But Charles Greene
didn't enter

the tool shop that day.

We look and we look,
and we can't find anything

from the scene that places him
at the scene.

Detective Day
had no choice but to let

Charles Greene walk free.

Soon, Detective Day's
long-planned retirement date
approached.

After two decades on the force,

the veteran detective
was finally stepping down.

It was the last case
that I had

that was pending an outcome.

It is a frustrating thing
because you know you're
so close.

I have this victim
of a violent crime,

and kind of a horrific crime.

I wanted this to come
to prosecution.

I wanted it to end.

I wanted to see someone
have to atone

for what happened to Alyce Seff.

But Detective Day
wasn't the only one

who wanted justice
for Alyce Seff.

Prosecutor Nancy Moore
was more determined than ever

to help Detective Day
close the case

that he came so close
to solving.

The investigators and I
had put our hearts and souls

into this case for years,

and this meant a lot to us
and we needed to hold

the person who had killed her
accountable for her death.

We had gone to
the property room

and looked through
all of the property.

They came up empty handed.

But then, they learned
that Alyce's car

was still in the impound yard.

The last place we had to look,

the only place we had to go
to look was the car.

And inside
Alyce's car,

investigators finally had
what they needed

to get justice
for Alyce Seff.

It had been four years

since the grisly murder
of Alyce Seff.

DNA results confirmed
that Charles Greene

had been in Alyce's car
at some point,

but the DA's office
needed direct evidence

putting him at
the scene of the crime,

or with Alyce on the day
of her death.

We kept talking to more
and more witnesses,

people who were familiar
with Alyce.

Over and over
people would bring up

the fact that Alyce always
had receipt books with her.

If Alyce's
receipt book could be found,

would it reveal exactly who
she had been in contact with

on the day she was murdered?

We had gone
to the property room

and looked through
all of the property.

There were no
receipt books there.

We went through
everything we had.

But the last place we had
to look was the car.

Four years after it had been
collected as evidence,

Alyce Seff's car
was still parked

at the Columbus police
impound lot.

The detective began
looking though the vehicle.

They spent hours
pulling out

everything in the car
and examining it closely.

It was difficult because
Alyce's car very dilapidated.

Finally, our investigator
found the receipt books.

If she paid a handyman
to work for her in cash,

she would write a receipt out
to herself,

put the amount on it and have
the handyman sign that

and usually he wrote his phone
number on that receipt as well.

He handed me the receipt books
and I was ecstatic.

There was a receipt
right on top

written to Charles Greene

and it was written on
July 1st, 2008,

four days before Alyce
was murdered.

The receipt book showed
that he was working for Alyce,

he was in close contact
with her

near the time of the crime.

Contrary to what Charles Greene
told Detective Day.

Did you work for her
that summer?

I don't know, she was
in the hospital,

I haven't worked for her
in a while.

Investigators now had proof
that Charles Greene

saw Alyce just four days
before her murder.

And then when we started
looking closer

at the receipt books,

we compared
the telephone number

that we found
for Charles Greene

and Alyce's telephone records

and we found that the last call
Alyce received

before she died was from
the number that Charles Greene

had written on the receipts.

Alyce's phone records proved

that Charles Greene spoke
to Alyce

mere hours before her death.

Now we could finally put him
with Alyce Seff

on the date when Alyce
was murdered.

We decided that we finally
had enough to go ahead

and indict the case.

Investigators began
to piece together

exactly what happened
to Alyce Seff.

Alyce went in
to Murray Tool

to get some clippers sharpened.

The last video we have of her

is walking out
of the store alone

carrying those clippers
in her hand.

We realized then
that it was likely

that those trimmers
were the murder weapon.

I imagine that probably
Charles Greene called Alyce

asking for work,
and she agreed.

We believe Alyce picked him up
as she usually did,

driven him to the scene,

gone to the backyard
with him,

and gave him the trimmers
that she just had sharpened

at Murray Tool.

The building where this
occurred at was vacant.

No one was there.

We believe that Charles knew

she had a large amount
of cash on her.

He had the trimmers
in his hand.

He probably caught her
in an opportune time

when she was in a position

where she was extremely
vulnerable.

He hit her over the head
with those trimmers,

causing the blood
to be sprayed on the wall

in the backyard.

The blow probably
knocked Alyce unconscious,

but it didn't kill her.

Greene covered up Alyce's face
with an old shirt,

bound her hands,
and then stole her money,

cell phone and car keys.

Then he needed to hide
the body.

He probably panicked.
He saw the wishing well.

He put the body in
that decorative wishing well,

where he "buried" the body

underneath the cushions

that he used to try
to hide her.

Then Greene fled
the scene in Alyce's car.

On January 6th, 2017,
almost nine years after

the murder of Alyce Seff,

Charles Greene's
murder trial began.

He was charged with aggravated
murder, kidnapping,

and aggravated assault.

The trial lasted seven days.

After the jury
deliberated,

they returned a verdict
of guilty of murder,

aggravated robbery,
and kidnapping.

Charles Greene was sentenced
to 15 years to life.

In this case, justice was
delayed but it wasn't denied.

Alyce finally, they think,
was at peace at that point.

There had been a lot
of people

that got involved in this case,

but I was there from
the very beginning, you know?

I helped pull her out
of that well,

and when I heard Charles Greene
was found guilty,

I was ecstatic, it was great.

Thanks to
that wonderful detective

who did not give up on the case.

I admire him so much,

because that case would have
been a cold case, never solved.

I think that people
need closure

and I think that
the Columbus Police Department,

and the prosecuting attorneys

finally gave closure to Alyce.

To me, she was just
a nice, friendly lady,

and that's the way
I want to remember her.