Dead of Winter (2019–…): Season 2, Episode 3 - Frozen Waters - full transcript

It's always cold.

It's always dreary.

When I think about
being out in the elements,

I always think about them.

Them being outside
without their coats,

Without their shoes.

They were cold...

...And stood there freezing.

None of it had to happen.

We had so much in common.

And...



We just understood
each other so well.

It had to be
absolutely horrifying.

That one turns my stomach
upside-down.

It's appalling.

It was three innocent people.

The winter of '98,
the ponds would freeze over.

It gets pretty cold,
especially at night.

That's where you feel it
to your bones.

Joy, thanks again
for watching them.

You are a lifesaver.
I owe you big time.

Well, don't worry.
They're in good hands.

With their favorite auntie.

Right, kids?

My sister susan and I
were very close.



Well, I better get going.
Don't forget to lock the doors.

I will.

After susan got divorced,

There wasn't really anyone
to stay with the kids.

So I babysat for her a lot.

Alright, bye, kids.
I love you.

Love you.
Bye, mom.

Adrian was in seventh grade
at the time.

She was 12 years old.

She had been playing volleyball.

She was very active.

Kyle was just a 9-year-old boy.

He just had a tender soul,

And he cared a lot about people.

When I babysat them,
we just stayed in the house

And just did normal things.

Adrian, this snowflake
is beautiful.

Mine's better.

No, it's not!

Yours doesn't even
look like a snowflake.

Let me just
rip that one.

Kyle, please don't
antagonize your sister.

We always had a good time

And always enjoyed
being with each other.

It's so pretty.

Joy, I told you
to keep the front door locked.

Sorry.

I must have forgotten.

Hey, don't worry.

You live in
the middle of nowhere.

It's fine.
No, it's not fine.

I'm -- I'm sorry.
I should have told you.

She said that a guy
had come to her door,

Knocked on the door,

And asked to use the restroom.

There was just
something creepy about him.

Susan, I wouldn't worry
too much about it.

It was weird. Trust me.

There was something off
about this guy.

She just told him to go away.

After that, she started
locking the doors.

When she told me about it,
I didn't think too much of it.

I don't know.
Maybe you're right.

I should head out.
It's getting pretty late.

I remember she gave me a hug
before I left.

I remember that feeling,
that touching her.

I don't remember
if I told her I loved her.

But I remember
the feel of the hug.

Hello?

Is anyone there?

Who's there?

It was my sister kay's birthday,

And susan and the kids

Were supposed to go over
to kay's house on Sunday

To celebrate that with her.

That looks good!

Hey, tim,
it's time for cake!

It was a special event.

Family was always
very important to susan.

Kay, shouldn't they
have been here by now?

Susan not showing up for dinner
that night was huge.

It's not something she did.

Plans may have changed,

But she would have
let someone know.

You could always count on her.

No one had had any contact
with them.

We were very concerned.

I tried calling susan
and the kids a lot Sunday.

And it just rang.

No one ever answered.

My family and I decided that
we needed to go to the house

To see where they were.

When we got to her house,
we noticed her bronco was gone.

Susan?

Adrian?

Kyle?

When we first went in,

It was quiet.
There were no sounds, no --

No one was around.

The shoes that they wore
were there.

I found all their coats
that had been there.

Kay?

It was very, very cold out.

You just know something's wrong.

They wouldn't have gone outside
without their coats.

Let's check the house.

Finding the shoes and coats
is what started to scare me.

It just wasn't right.

Alarmed, joy
and her family call the police.

When we were first called
to the brouk residence,

It was cold, gray, and ominous.

I guess it gives you
a sense of foreboding,

That time of the year
in missouri.

Hi. I'm sergeant
ralph roark.

This is my partner,
detective elms.

Thanks for getting here
so quickly.

Initially, I was
not that concerned.

This is not an unusual
occurrence for someone to leave

And not let friends or family
know that they're gone.

Why don't you
show me around?

So, this is
the daughter's room?

Yes. Adrian.

She always kept it
really clean.

We found two things
in adrian's room

That might have been
essential evidence.

One of the sheets from the bed
was on the floor.

Wait a minute.

What are these
doing here?

Susan's eyeglasses
were still at the residence.

Would susan ever
leave those at home?

No.

These are her
only pair of glasses.

She indicated that susan

Absolutely had to have
those glasses to drive,

That she simply
would not leave the residence

Without her glasses.

It suggests the possibility that
someone has entered the house

Without permission
and stolen their vehicle.

Sergeant,
do you think...

Somebody could have
taken them?

It's a possibility.

By that time,
I was concerned myself

That they may have been taken
from the home unwillingly.

I knew something was wrong.

Something bad
had happened there.

I mentioned the guy
coming onto her property.

But I wasn't able to give him
a whole lot

Of identifying information

On what the guy looked like,
how old he was,

What sort of vehicle.

There was not a lot to go on.
No help there.

Joy,

Does your sister have
any enemies that you know about,

Anyone that might want
to hurt her?

Maybe her ex-husband,
bill.

When they asked me
if susan had had any problems

With anyone,
I mentioned her ex-husband.

Why him?

Well, susan's daughter, adrian,
didn't want to see him

After he married
someone else.

I imagine he was pretty happy
about that.

Susan told me
about an incident of violence

Towards susan by her ex-husband.

There's something else
you should know.

About six months ago, things
between them came to a head.

I didn't see the altercation.
I heard about the altercation

When we were talking
on the phone.

I think she had bruises,

And her face
was messed up afterwards.

The kids saw the altercation.

Obviously, they were upset.

That piqued our interest.

The ex-husband was
and always is a suspect.

If they have a history
of violence,

They're not afraid
to use violence.

I want you to get
a forensics team in here,

And I want to talk
to that ex-husband.

Parents sometimes kill children.
It's just a fact.

We interviewed
susan's ex-husband.

He was our primary suspect.

So you don't have any idea
where your ex-wife is?

I've told you.

I don't know
where any of them are.

We did think that possibly

Susan's ex-husband had come
to the residence,

Had done something to susan,
and had the children.

Well, tell me this.

How would you characterize
your relationship

With susan?

You already know
the answer to that.

I want to hear it
from you.

Sometimes parents that are
separated from their children

Can get extremely distraught.

People can really
do stupid things.

Listen to me.

Sergeant, I would never --

Never hurt my children.

And while we're here
wasting time,

They could be out somewhere
freezing!

He seemed to be concerned.

Promise me you'll find them.

Doesn't mean
he wasn't still a suspect.

Sometimes people are good liars.

People get away with
killing people every day.

Adrian was such an important
person in my life,

My best friend.

We were in seventh grade...

...Our first year
of junior high.

I probably called adrian five or
six times each day after school

And was unable to reach her.

So I was pretty scared
that something bad had happened.

Megan? Megan?

Ready for tryouts?

Yeah.
I'm so excited.

The last conversation
adrian and I had,

We were talking
about volleyball tryouts.

You have a way better
shot at this than me.

I'll try my best.

You'd better.

That's all we had talked about
for a week prior

Was the volleyball tryouts,

So I knew she wouldn't
have missed them.

Something wasn't right, but...

I didn't think I'd be
anything like it was.

If susan and her children

Had been forcibly taken
from that residence,

They probably left
in that bronco.

So I thought a helicopter search
of the immediate area

Was probably the easiest,
most fastidious way

To get this done.

Winter actually helped us
on this case.

It was much easier to see
with the leaves gone.

Just made visibility
so much better.

do you see anything down there?

Negative, detective.

Really not seeing anything

In the immediate area
of her house.

It was kind of disheartening
at that time,

Because I was hoping

That we might be able
to see that bronco.

Let's widen
the search area.

Copy.

We were probably in an area

1/2 mile or maybe a little
further from the residence

When we finally made
a discovery.

The pilot looked and said,

"what is that
floating in the pond?"

I see it! Let's go in
for a closer look.

I had the pilot land
the helicopter in a field.

I walked up to the pond,
and I found

This 16-gauge #8 shot shell.

Not exactly
hunting season.

You got a bag on you?

Alright.

Let's go see
what's in that pond.

There was this thin layer of ice

Had actually frozen
on the surface of the pond.

As we got closer, I could see
that it was a human body.

God.

The body was floating
on its back,

Head out of the water

And the upper part of
the shoulders out of the water,

Face toward the sky.

I recovered the body.

It was the body
of a white female

Probably in her 30s or 40s.

She didn't have on shoes.

No coat.

She had a large incision
on her throat.

It's obviously a homicide.

You don't have to be
sherlock holmes on this one

To realize that that was
going to be susan brouk.

That knife wound,
it's deep,

But it's not deep enough
to kill her.

It looked like susan brouk
died from drowning.

Sarge.

I think there's
something else out there.

I could see two darker areas,

And I'd probably just
describe them as shadows.

I waded out to the first shadow,

Broke the ice up using my hand,

Reach below the surface
of the water...

Realized it was a human body.

It was kyle.

The other shadow turned out
to be adrian brouk.

It was unnerving

Seeing this mother and
her two children lying there.

It was not --

It was very unpleasant.

I was anxious to try to find out

Who the hell
was responsible for this.

Thursday after school,
I went home

To change clothes,
to do my chores.

- Hey, dad.
- Megan...

Sit down, please.
I need to tell you something.

What's going on?

My dad, he had me sit down
at the kitchen table

And told me that...

...They had found adrian,
kyle, and susan.

What? That's great.

I've been so worried.
Megan, wait.

I took off running
to my bedroom to call her,

'cause I really got
a lot of stuff to tell her.

Megan, sit down, please.

Honey...

Adrian's dead.

The whole family is dead.

No. You're lying.

I was in disbelief at first.

I asked my dad why he would say
something like that.

And, um...

He --

Just --

Whenever I looked up
and seen my dad crying...

...I knew that it was true.

No.

I'm so sorry.

I was crying.

Completely heartbroken.

I was a police officer
for over 30 years.

I've seen multiple murders.

But this one, the way
it was committed,

It's unpleasant to think about,

Even for somebody
that's seen everything.

The pathologist determined

Susan brouk and both of her
children died from drowning.

How horrible
is death by drowning?

I can't even imagine.
I- I can't imagine.

Authorities ask the family
for a formal identification.

They needed someone
to come and identify them.

Even though they said
you know, "adult female"...

..."young female and male,"
that --

You still try to think --

I don't know what you think, but
you try to think it's not them.

You're still in denial.

It's like this sense of dread,

But also, you have
that little hope.

"it's not really them."

You want that to be true
more than anything.

But I turned around to my sister
and said, "it's them."

It was the hardest thing.

I could see the pain
on their faces.

It doesn't go away.

I can clearly see it in my mind
what they looked like,

The condition, everything.

I may have forgotten
a lot of other things,

But that will never go away.

Susan's ex-husband came
and met with us.

He was upset.

I didn't think he was faking it.

So I didn't think
he had anything to do

With susan
and the kids' murders.

god.

I remember seeing...
The kids' dad

Saying goodbye to them
and talking to susan.

I remember him saying
that he was sorry to her.

Bill.

People do a lot of bad things
to people in life.

And so for him to realize

That he may not have treated her
like he should have,

It meant a lot.

But the horror is far from over.

Hey, roark?

What is it?

There's a report here.

Two local teenagers
went missing.

We learned that during
the course of the investigation,

That a neighbor of susan brouk's

Had reported two of his nephews,

Jesse carter
and mark christeson, missing.

Here's the weird thing.

They lived a mile and a half
away from susan's home.

And this corresponded
with the time

That susan and her two children
had also gone missing.

You're joking.

You think
they're connected?

We had serious problems.

There was a possibility

That there was a serial predator
in the area

And that more than one abduction
had taken place.

So this is even worse
than we thought.

We have two young men

That have been reported missing
in the immediate vicinity.

That would have been five people
within a 1/2-mile radius,

The same period of time.

Jesse carter and mark christeson
may have been

The victims of a homicide
and taken to another area

By the people that had already
murdered the brouk family.

They too could have been
abducted by persons unknown.

We were concerned about that.

Morning, sir.
I'm sergeant ralph roark.

This is my partner,
detective elms.

Are you the parent
of either mark christeson

Or jesse carter?

I'm their guardian,
for now.

Family trouble.
I'm giving them a place to stay.

What's it to you?

Christeson and carter's
caretaker,

He didn't express any concern
about their wellbeing.

You're not going to be able
to put this on camera.

I thought he was
a piece of **** but --

I didn't have
a very high opinion of him.

Listen, we understand
the boys in your custody

Have gone missing.

Guess you'd call it
missing.

I think they may have taken off.

So you wouldn't say
they've been abducted?

Suppose there's a chance.

Aren't you concerned
about them?

They're free to come and go
as they please.

Typical teenagers.

Christeson and carter's
guardian never indicated

That he thought
they'd been killed.

He simply thought they had
just run away from home.

Do you have any idea
where they might be right now?

Nope.

Doesn't make any sense.

Yeah, well, that's for
the two of you to figure out.

Thanks for dropping by.

We really did not get
a lot of useful information.

And you're starting
to get desperate

In what you're going do.

So, yes, it's absolutely
frustrating.

I think this was
the very last christmas.

They were very happy.

It was a good christmas.

There's a lot of potential there
in their life.

They could've done good things.

They were good kids.

Listen up.

Only real lead we have right now
is susan brouk's truck,

So I want you to run her plates
through the system.

Anything comes up,
I want to hear about it.

I was wanting to determine
if the 1984 bronco

Had been stopped anywhere
in the united states

And checked
by any police department.

Sergeant.

You got something?

You're not going
to believe this.

Looks like we got a hit.
In fact, two hits.

We discover that the bronco
had been stopped

By police in shamrock, texas.

And the gallup, new mexico,
police department

Had also had contact
with that vehicle.

These routine
traffic stops?

Mark christeson and jesse carter

Were both physically present
in the vehicle.

We learned that they had
a couple shotguns.

One of them was an operable
16-gauge shotgun.

Not exactly
hunting season.

These two missing boys
became our prime suspects.

We had no idea where
to start looking for them.

They were headed west
and southwest,

So it was a real good
possibility

That they were headed
to california.

Alright. Let's put out an apb,
see what we find.

Our department provided
photographs

Of carter and christeson,

Asked them to be on the lookout
for these two individuals

On the off-chance
that they might show up.

You know, california's
a big state.

We hope for a lucky break

Jesse carter

And his 18-year-old friend
mark christeson

Ran away Sunday from
their vichy, missouri, home

And are still on the run.

The missing teenage boys
are suspected

Of killing 36-year-old
susan brouk

And her two children,

12-year-old adrian
and 9-year-old kyle.

I don't think that clip
ever gets easier.

As soon as I seen their pictures
on the tv,

I remember telling my dad

That they rode
the school bus with us.

They didn't have
a lot of friends.

Mark was kind of creepy-looking.

Jesse was a little odd,

Maybe something not quite right.

Other than see them
on the school bus,

I don't think that adrian
ever interacted

With either one of them.

I had not a clue why they'd done
what they'd done.

I wanted to know
why they killed my best friend

And her family.
Absolutely.

Going to need to come up
with something quick.

I know.
This is taking too long.

We're running out of steam here.

Hello?

Sergeant, someone's.
On the phone for you.

The detective phoned from
riverside county, california.

This detective had inadvertently
met christeson and carter

In a convenience store.

You met them? In person?

What's the chances of that?
1 in 1,000?

Yeah, I felt really lucky.

Alright. Listen to me,
detective.

The owner of that truck
was found murdered.

And we're not exactly sure
what's going on with those boys.

But they may be involved
in a triple homicide,

And we believe they're armed.

There was a fear and concern

That they very well might kill
somebody else.

Detective, be careful.

The riverside county
sheriff's department

Was able to locate
carter and christeson.

It's absolutely important
that you show overwhelming force

When arresting violent people.

By the grace of god, they didn't
kill a police officer.

Carter and christeson
surrendered

To the riverside county
sheriff's office

Without incident.

The suspects
are back in missouri

After being arrested
in california.

Security was extreme
as the teenage boys

Were brought to jefferson city
to the cole county jail.

We didn't have
any physical evidence.

It was extremely important to me

To try to get a confession
to the murders.

Alright, mark.

Tell me what happened.

My impression of christeson was
that he was relatively cocky.

We decided to go
on a little road trip.

I know you killed
the brouk family.

I want the truth.

A confession makes it
much easier

For a capital murder conviction.

And I want a lawyer.

He invoked his right
to an attorney.

At that point in time,
I no longer have legal authority

To talk to him,
so the interview was terminated.

I was angry,

But honestly, there's nothing
I could do about it.

There wasn't a clear motive
for the murders.

I thought we might have
a good chance

Of getting the youngest one,
carter, to talk.

He was subdued. He was mousy.
He was impressionable.

How did you two end up
with susan brouk's truck?

We found it.

Where?

In the woods.

The beginning of the interview,

Jesse carter obviously was lying

And being evasive.

You found her vehicle
in the middle of the woods.

Now, we know
that isn't the truth jesse.

Tell us what happened
to that family.

I can't help you
unless you help me.

You're on the hook
for three murders.

You're looking
at the death penalty.

He was crazy
about that lady.

Who was?

Mark.

He said he was in love with her.

Susan brouk?

Based on what carter said,

Christeson was in fact
stalking susan.

He...

Over to her house

A couple of times.

This guy came to the front door,

And there was just
something creepy about him.

But she -- she wouldn't
let him in.

How'd he feel
about that?

He -- he -- he was mad.
He was real mad.

So...

W- we went to her house.

W- we -- we broke in.

"all he said, he's going
to have his little fun

Knock some crap out of her."

I state, "tell me what you mean
by 'having a little fun.'"

Carter replies, "sex."

Who's there?

Stop screaming!

"I watched the kids,
tied them up

And watched them
on the living room floor."

Please, just let us go!

It's going to be fine.
It's going to be fine.

"he had sex with her."

Eventually, he came out

With susan.

That's when...

Adrian, she --
she looked at me.

- I know you.
And -- and she said,

"don't we ride
the school bus together?"

Shh.

I think that was the catalyst
for the murders,

Because at that time,
christeson knew

That these people
could identify him.

Then what'd you do?

We took off for the pond.

What are you doing?

First, mark kicked
the lady down

And -- and put his boot
o- on her head.

He took out his knife,

And -- and --
and he slashed her throat.

And where were
the two kids at then?

R- right there beside her.

And they were screaming.

Was she still alive?

Barely. She --

She was barely making noise.

Susan had not died from
the laceration to her throat.

She was in fact still alive.

The boy!

The boy was next.

We --

We -- we dragged him
to the water.

We drown-- then we drowned him.

And then there was just
the little girl left.

She -- she got loose.

Mark fired -- fired the shotgun.

He did fire a shot at adrian.

He said, "if you don't come
back, I'm going to shoot you."

She came back.

And, we drowned her, too.

"in the back of my mind,
I was thinking, 'young lady,

I wish you'd have
kept running.'"

Susan was forced to lie
on the pond bank

And watch her two children die.

It had to be absolutely
horrifying for that lady

To have to witness that.

What happened to susan?

She was still
kind of moving, um,

Near the water.

And we picked her up,
and we threw her in, too.

Christeson was not going
to leave anybody alive

As a witness. Um...

I am absolutely not
an emotional person, but...

That one turns my stomach
upside-down.

Try to imagine
what she went through

And what those kids
went through.

I- I can't. I'm --

I don't have
an explanation for it.

She did have to lay there
while her kids were killed.

Sorry.

I'm -- I just need a second.
I'm sorry.

It's okay.

He -- he held --
held her underwater,

Still holding her throat.

Um, she was -- she was
squirming, kicking.

He told -- told me,
"hold her feet."

What did you do?

I held her feet
like he told me to.

The idea of susan
having a stalker was...

Just completely out of the blue.

We never thought about it.

I don't think any of the family
even considered that.

I think christeson,
he was a psychopath.

I think he was broken
beyond repair.

He got what he deserved.

I think jesse should have got
the death penalty

Right next to mark.

If you could say anything
to jesse, what would you say?

"I hate you,
and I wish you were dead."

Pure evil.

There's just no other way
to describe mark or jesse

Other than pure evil.

I think it's important
to remember my family.

I miss them.

I just, you know,
of course I remember them

When they were like that,
and it's just hard.

They were very happy.
They all have smiles.

It's hard to see.

This is a poem
I wrote for adrian

And read at her funeral.

"dear adrian,
in our sadness and our grief,

Our nerves are shaking
like a leaf.

And if there were phones
in heaven,

Yours would be ringing
off the wall.

But now I know
you're safe from harm...

...Protected by god's strong
and loving arms.

Love, megan cox."