The Devil Speaks (2018–…): Season 2, Episode 4 - Lake of Lies - full transcript

[ suspenseful music plays,
police radio chatter ]

♪

payotelis: Hi, mom.
I hope you're all right.

Szuch:
Up here in the mountains,

we have people go missing
all the time.

Man: What you up to in town?
Work.

Jealousy by an ex
is always something

that needs to be investigated.

Szuch:
This doesn't look good.

This looks like it could be
foul play.

[ camera shutter clicking ]



this was the big break that
I think we'd been looking for.

Let's go.

[ static crackling ]

[ eerie tone plays ]

narrator: Surrounded
by the rocky mountains

in clear creek county,
colorado...

Okay.

Be ready.
[ cork pops ]

- oh!
- Oh, and there she blows!

Narrator:
...Sharon and chuck garrison

have just bought the second home
they've been dreaming of.

Oh, here. Here we go.
Some champagne.

Robbins:
Sharon was my older sister.

Oh, we've got so much.



We were very, very close.

Very close.

She was the life of the party.

A very caring, beautiful,
boisterous, outgoing woman.

Narrator:
It was on a fun night out

that sharon was first introduced
to her future husband.

Sharon and a girlfriend
went to breckenridge

for a girls' weekend,
and that's when she met chuck.

Oh.

Robbins: Chuck was
a good-looking rugged cowboy.

He liked to ride motorcycles,
and he liked to ride horses.

He was very active.

Narrator:
Chuck has been married before,

but never found
the right woman until now.

He pretty much swept her
off her feet.

He adored her.

- You did? I did.
- I did.

Narrator:
Sharon has also been married

and has three grown daughters.

Payotelis:
My mom was a fireball.

She could tell a story
like no one I know.

She was so funny, and we were
happy that she had met somebody.

Narrator: The couple have now
been together for 10 happy years

and, during that time,
have built up

several successful businesses,

including a thriving
real-estate rental company.

Through their marriage,
they purchased eight condos

in breckenridge.

They rented the properties,
and mostly long-term rentals.

They had the alarm company.

And then chuck had money

still coming in from the other
alarm business in kansas city.

Narrator: The garrisons are
looking forward to splitting time

between their family home
in breckenridge

and this new weekend place
in idaho springs.

Robbins:
They had a lot of money,

and I think the house
was a new adventure for them,

and it was quite lovely.

Narrator: The new idaho springs
home has plenty of space for sharon

to build her latest business,

which she started
with her daughter lacie.

Oh, there we go.

Okay, that red one at the back,

could you bring it in
just a bit?

Okay.
Oh, there.

We would sell depression glass
and plates

and dishes and jewelry.

Okay. Oh! Beautiful.
Oh.

Okay.
Leave it like that.

She would find something
and buy it,

and then she'd go through
all her books

to try to research it
to see what it is.

Narrator:
Sharon recently figured out

how to upload photos
of her glassware

to sell on online auction sites.

Payotelis: She was excited that
she was learning something new.

It was neat to see her grow.

[ computer beeps ]

oh, lacie!
Yeah?

- Oh, lacie, come look!
- What is it?

We got a bid!
We got it.

Oh, my god!

It definitely made us closer.

She was my best friend.

$349!

Oh, sweetheart!

I lived in denver,

which is about 30 minutes
away from idaho springs,

but my mom and I would talk
almost every other day.

At the end of September,
we were selling these glasses.

It was the biggest auction
we had going at that time.

The auction was getting ready
to close,

and I hadn't heard from her.

[ ringing ]

[ telephone rings ]

♪

[ beep ]

hi, mom.
I hope you're all right.

Do you see what's happening?

We got another bid,
so call me back.

Love you.

I got worried that I wasn't
hearing from her

because it was very unusual.

Narrator: Lacie hasn't heard
from her mom in 2 days.

Concerned, she calls chuck at
the couple's breckenridge home.

[ ringing ]

chuck: Hello?
Hey, chuck.

Um, is mom there?
No, no.

She is not.

She's not at the house
in idaho springs?

I haven't heard from her
for a few days.

Mind you, that's quite
normal for your mom.

Chuck said that maybe she went

to go visit her friend nadine
in walsenburg, colorado.

Okay.

That was when I started
calling the family to see

if anybody else
had heard from her.

Narrator: Lacie then calls
her aunt carla.

Oh, hi, lacie.

How are you?

Uh, no,
I haven't heard from her.

Did you speak to chuck?

She said she had called chuck,
and he had told her

that she had gone to walsenburg
to visit a friend.

I can call her.

I'm sure she's fine.

So I called nadine
in walsenburg.

Nadine said, "no, carla.
I haven't seen sharon,"

and I started really worrying.

Narrator: With growing unease,
lacie makes the half-hour drive

to the idaho springs house

to see if she can
track down her mother.

♪

payotelis: I had a key, so I was
able to get into the house.

♪

[ lock disengages ]

♪

mom?

♪

mom?

It was dark.
There wasn't anyone there.

Mom?

It didn't look disturbed
or anything like that.

Mom?

Mom?

My mom was very close
to her family.

She wasn't one to,
like, skip out

and not tell anybody
where she was going.

Mom!

It was just out of character
for her, for sure.

Narrator: With no sign of her
mom anywhere in the house

and no word at her home
in breckenridge either...

Send it over, and...

...The family decide
to report her missing.

Detective pete szuch...
Have you seen this?

...And investigator
dick cleveland

are assigned the case.

Sharon garrison.

Some family members contacted

the summit county
sheriff's department

to report that sharon garrison
was apparently missing.

Szuch:
Up here in the mountains,

we have people go missing
all the time.

Maybe they changed plans

that they didn't tell friends
or family of,

or they're lost or could be
injured or something like that.

Breckenridge. That's not
too far from here.

Narrator: Detectives head to
the garrisons' family home

to speak to
sharon's husband, chuck.

Can I get you anything to drink?

- No, I'm good.
- Please, take a seat.

We went to see if chuck
had any explanation,

if he knew where she might be.

So, when is the last time
you saw your wife?

Well, the last time
I saw sharon,

we took a drive out
into the woods.

I took my bike.

Chuck garrison said that
he last saw sharon garrison

on Wednesday,
the 27th of September.

He said they had agreed
for sharon

to drive chuck garrison
up to georgetown lake

to drop chuck garrison off
with his bicycle

to ride back to his home.

♪

bye.

And she'd meet me back here.

That's the last time I saw her.

It's fairly routine
in a case like this

where you have a missing person

to ask what the state
of their marriage was.

Have there been any problems
with your marriage lately?

Any reason why she
would leave and not tell anyone?

No, things have been
great recently.

In fact, it's the
best it's ever been.

Narrator: Eager to help,
chuck volunteers to come in

for an interview at the station.

He explains it's not
unusual for him and sharon

to spend time apart
now that she's busy

with her
new online sales business.

♪

♪

♪

they probe chuck further
on the last time he saw sharon.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

growing concerned about
this prolonged absence,

chuck's been out
looking for sharon.

♪

♪

♪

♪

szuch: We looked into
chuck garrison's story

about him last being dropped off
at georgetown lake

and riding the bicycle
back home.

Cleveland: We talked to a number
of high-school students

in idaho springs itself.

They reported seeing a person

who matched chuck garrison's
description riding a bicycle.

This reinforced
chuck's statement.

Narrator:
With chuck's story confirmed,

detectives turn their
attention to sharon's car.

Sharon drove a maroon chevy
blazer, which was also missing,

and had not been seen
since her disappearance.

Yeah, this is dick cleveland.

I need to put a bolo out
for a maroon chevy blazer.

Okay.

Thank you for your help.

Narrator: As they wait
for any news on the car,

police review
sharon's credit card

to see if there's been
any recent activity.

It's standard procedure to try
to track somebody's movement

by the usage
of their credit card

'cause it'll identify purchases
and where

and when they were made,
which is important.

September 25th.
Last transaction right there.

$941 to a travel agency.

Looking at this transaction,
we had to look at the idea

that maybe sharon had
purchased these tickets

and that maybe she had
run off with someone.

♪

♪

narrator:
49-year-old sharon garrison

is missing
from her colorado home.

Her family have not seen
or heard from her in 6 days.

After discovering her last
credit-card transaction

was to a travel agency...

$941.

...Detectives think sharon
may have skipped town,

but they don't know why.

They pay her family a visit
to see if they can help.

Cleveland: I talked
to sharon's sister carla

and her daughter lacie

to try to get any information
that might give us

some leads
where to look for sharon.

I want you to know
that we're doing everything

that we can to find sharon.

It'd be really helpful for us

to know more
about her background.

Was she married before?

Yeah.

Her first husband was loren.

Robbins: Sharon was 18
when they got married.

She had her first child, audra,
with him,

and their marriage didn't last.

And her second husband
was my dad, gary dissler.

Gary, her second husband,
to this day still,

he never remarried.

She was the love of his life.

Cleveland: Prior relationships
are really important.

Spouses have been known to
go back to prior relationships.

And that could be an explanation
for why sharon disappeared.

Narrator: Detectives track down
sharon's first husband,

58-year-old loren albright,
who lives 4 hours'

drive from breckenridge
in la veta.

Robbins:
He was smitten by her.

They had one daughter,
audra, together.

Szuch: Mr. Albright, what were
your movements last week?

I've just been here in la veta.
Not really traveled much.

Narrator: After confirming
albright's whereabouts,

detectives turn
their attention to lacie's dad

and sharon's
second husband, gary.

Mr. Dissler, when did you last
have contact with sharon?

Well, I haven't spoken to her
in a couple months.

Sharon wanted to be
an airline stewardess

and travel the world,
expand her horizon,

so her and gary
ended up divorcing.

You think you'll find her?

I'm afraid it's too early
to say.

I think it was very,
very hard on gary.

All right.

Jealousy by an ex
is always something

that needs to be investigated.

Narrator: After some digging,
investigators are able

to confirm gary's alibi.

With both ex-husbands
excluded as suspects,

they now search for anyone else

sharon may have been
in contact with.

We appreciate you coming today.

Chuck garrison had mentioned
that sharon was married

to the computer more than him.

Back in 2000, internet
dating was fairly new.

It was possibility
she met somebody online.

We understand that sharon spent
a lot of time on the internet.

Could there be a possibility

that she maybe met somebody
online and ran off with them?

It's important for us
to cover all angles.

Narrator: Lacie gives investigators
access to her mom's computer.

Cleveland: We looked into
sharon's e-mail traffic

to see if there was anything
relevant to her disappearance.

The only thing we found,
the last contact

was on September 26th,

and that involved
one of her internet sales

that was in process,
and so it didn't appear

to have any relevance
to her disappearance.

Narrator:
Police are now convinced

that sharon isn't involved
in an online romance,

but it still doesn't explain
the unknown travel charges

found on her credit card.

♪

when?

We called
the local travel agency

who had issued the ticket.

Vegas in November?

And the ticket was for a trip
to las vegas.

Thank you for your help.

But it was for a trip
to las vegas in November,

not in September.

We immediately
talked to the family.

Carla. Dick cleveland.

Do you know anything
about sharon

taking a trip
to vegas in November?

We didn't know if there was
any connection

between that ticket and sharon's
disappearance on September 27th.

Audra's wedding.

Thank you, carla.

It was confirmed that there was
a family wedding in las vegas

during that time period,
and that was the purpose

for the purchase of the tickets,

and so, again, it was a lead
that kind of took us nowhere.

♪

we put flyers up on every pole
we could find from here

to vail, to fairplay,
to idaho springs.

The hardest thing for me
was watching the family.

[ voice breaking ]
my mother...

My mother was heartbroken.

My nieces were heartbroken.

But we wanted to find her.

Narrator: Over the next week,
as detectives question

sharon's friends
for information,

one of them hands
investigators a package.

We were contacted by
a close friend of sharon's,

and she brought to us
small microcassette tapes

that sharon had given her.

And sharon had told her that
if anything had happened to her,

she wanted her
to have these tapes.

This was a huge lead,

so we really needed to know
what was on these tapes.

[ static hissing ]

[ woman speaking indistinctly ]

but they were very poor quality,
a lot of background noise,

and you couldn't make out
what was being said.

[ woman speaking indistinctly ]

these tapes were sent
to the fbi lab to be enhanced

so we could possibly figure
out what was being said.

♪

narrator: Then, 12 days since
sharon was last seen,

a call comes in from a woman
in clear creek county,

8 miles from idaho springs.

Detective szuch.

And she found a maroon chevy
blazer abandoned.

Can you give me the address
of where you found the vehicle?

Okay.

Cleveland: I was excited.

This was the big break

that I think
we'd been looking for...

Bye, now.

...To try to give us some
direction in this investigation.

Let's go.

[ engine starts ]

♪

♪

narrator: Sharon garrison has
now been missing for 12 days.

Police are hoping
an abandoned car found

near her home in idaho springs
will hold some clues.

Szuch:
The license plate matched.

It was sharon's vehicle.

The car didn't appear
to be vandalized.

It didn't appear to be damaged.

The car was unlocked.

♪

when I looked inside...

♪

...The keys were in it.

♪

♪

but there was no sign
of sharon garrison.

This is the first chance
I think we had to formulate

some new scenarios
about what had happened to her.

Sharon
could've walked over here.

Sharon could've committed
suicide in the creek.

She could've been abducted by
a third party and disposed of.

Narrator:
With the car leaving them

with more questions
than answers,

the investigators need
to search for more evidence.

This was the first crime scene

we had that we'd really
been able to look at.

We brought in teams to search
the entire area

around the car...
along the creek,

along the frontage road...

to look for any signs
of anything that was amiss.

Carla, it's dick cleveland.

We knew when they found the car

that there was something
seriously wrong.

We were hoping
that she was alive,

but didn't really know.

Narrator: Carla and lacie join
the growing number of people

searching the woods.

We walked miles just really
close to each other

just to try to scour the area.

There were so many things
that were going through my head

when she was missing.

It was just torture.

Narrator: Then, several hours
into the search,

an ominous discovery near
an abandoned mine shaft.

A volunteer found what they
thought was a boot print

outside of the mine...

...And a red substance kind of
a little further into the mine.

[ camera shutter clicks ]

investigators photographed
the boot print in the dirt

and took samples
of the red substance.

Narrator: The red liquid is
rushed to the lab for analysis.

Cleveland: This has happened
in the clear creek area before,

which is a mining area
where bodies are disposed of

down in the old mine shafts.

Narrator: Specialist teams are
called in to check the mine shaft.

They search through the night,
but by morning,

no further
evidence has been found.

We've looked for a body.

We didn't find a body using
all the means at our disposal.

I've got to move on
to the next lead

that may take us
to sharon's whereabouts.

Narrator: As detectives wait
for the test results

on the red substance,

a local resident shares
the details

of a random encounter
he'd recently had.

Well, I was driving into town
the other day,

and I saw a hitchhiker,
so I stopped.

Szuch: He told us that the day
sharon went missing,

he was driving down tiger road
near the garrisons' home...

...When he saw
a man walk out of the woods.

This man was hitchhiking.

Where you headed?

Yeah, I'm headed into town.

Yeah, I'm heading that way.

Hop in.
- Okay.

♪

szuch: The man that picked up
the hitchhiker thought

there were things that just
didn't make sense with this guy.

He wasn't dressed for hiking.

The man didn't think
this gentleman

looked like much of a hiker.

What are you up to in town?

Work.

What was unusual about this man

was that he had scratches
on his face.

Anyone could easily look at this
and wonder,

"why is a man
walking out of the woods

with fresh scratches
on his face the day

that sharon garrison
is reported missing?"

♪

♪

narrator: Sharon garrison
vanished 14 days ago.

Despite the large manhunt,
she has still not been found.

In the woods close
to her abandoned car,

a boot print and
a mysterious red substance

are the only clues,

but now a witness reports

picking up
a suspicious hitchhiker

near sharon's home the same day
she was reported missing.

Where did you drop him off?

I dropped him off
in front of town.

[ engine shuts off ]

appreciate it.

You're welcome.

♪

[ vehicle door closes ]

did you get a name?

No, sir.

The only other information
he got was that he worked

at a 24-hour restaurant in town,

and that was all
we had to go on.

With the limited information
we had,

we had to try to find out
who this man was

and what he was doing
in that area.

Detective szuch.

We found that there were
no 24-hour restaurants

in the breckenridge area.

Narrator: That leaves
investigators with no way

to track
the mysterious hitchhiker down,

and the description
given to the police

doesn't resemble anyone
in sharon's life.

It's another promising
lead that quickly fizzles out.

♪

their frustrations continue
to grow

when the test results of
the red substance are returned.

It was not human blood.

They don't know what it was,
but it was not blood.

We kept the information.

We kept the photograph
of the boot print

should it turn out later
to be relevant,

but it's one more lead that,
at least at this stage,

doesn't appear to take us
any closer to finding sharon.

Narrator:
With the investigation stalling,

detectives are pinning their
hopes on sharon's audiotapes,

which have been returned
by the fbi.

♪

♪

[ ringing ]

♪

when the tapes came back
from the fbi,

they had been
noticeably cleaned up.

Narrator:
It's a phone conversation

between
chuck and sharon garrison...

...And paints a picture
of an ordinary couple.

But the tone of the second tape
is very different.

♪

this time,
it's not a phone call,

but sounds like a secret
recording.

In my initial interview
with chuck garrison,

he painted a picture
of a marriage

that was doing really well.

♪

♪

this clearly contradicts chuck's
depiction of this relationship

he has with sharon where he told
us that everything was fine.

It became clear that money
was a big issue in this family

and one of their points
of dispute for a long time.

Sharon always felt that chuck
was not giving her enough money

to pay the bills and to live

and to have a life
of her own in the marriage.

She was clear
she was gonna file for divorce.

♪

♪

♪

♪

this was a huge step forward
in the investigation.

[ tape rewinding ]

♪

it certainly brought to my mind
that sharon was clearly fearful

for her life shortly
before her disappearance.

♪

it really is a concrete item
that leads us to believe

that there was discord,
and it was very recently

and contemporaneous
with her disappearance,

which, in my mind, leads me
to look at chuck garrison

more closely at this stage.

Narrator: Detectives ask chuck
to come into the station

for a formal interview.

They start by asking him again

about his
and sharon's relationship.

♪

♪

cleveland:
He was very clear about that,

that they had had
their problems,

but that, right now,

their lives were as good
as they had been in a long time.

He had no reason
that she would leave.

♪

♪

narrator: The investigators
have caught chuck in a lie.

Now they play their ace card.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

cleveland: The good friend
of sharon's said

that she was just given
some tapes by sharon,

who had indicated that
she had made them just recently.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

narrator: Despite the tapes pointing
the finger directly at chuck,

they're not enough to charge him
with murder, and he is released.

Cleveland:
We don't have a body yet.

We don't know that there's been
a murder.

And so we know she's gone.

It appears she's gone under
suspicious circumstances.

We have no proof
that she's dead.

♪

narrator: Just as the case is in
danger of grinding to a halt...

[ telephone rings ]

...Investigators get a bolt
from the blue.

Hello?
Detective szuch.

We were contacted by
a contractor named bob agosti.

What kind of information?

He had been working
with chuck garrison

throughout the summer
to add in basically filler dirt

to his driveway of his house.

Narrator: On October 2nd,

the day sharon
is reported missing...

[ cellphone rings ]

...Chuck garrison called bob.

Chuck.
Chuck: Hey, bob.

Yes, sir.
How can I help?

Yeah, I got some
more work for you.

And asked for more dirt
to be delivered to his house.

Today.
Say 2:00 p.M.?

Okay.

I'll see you later.

Bye. Bye.

When bob agosti delivered the
dirt to the garrisons' house...

Usual spot?
Oh, no, no, no, no.

I actually need three
new places that need filling.

...Chuck was quite specific
about areas

that he wanted
the dirt delivered to.

Two of them are up here,

and I have one
a little lower down.

All right.
I can do that.

You follow me.
I'll show you.

Okay.

Bob thought it was unusual

that chuck was there
directing him

on where to dump the dirt

'cause it never happened before.

Thank you.

Narrator: Thinking sharon's body
may be buried under the dirt,

detectives move quickly.

Reporter: Summit county
and cbi investigators

searched the breckenridge home
of sharon and chuck garrison,

and although authorities
would not call

the missing woman's
husband a suspect,

chuck garrison is
under suspicion.

We are looking at mr. Garrison
very closely.

We moved thousands
of yards of dirt.

We were down in the first hole,
far enough that we concluded

that the body was not
in that location.

We moved about 20 or 30 yards
to another area

where fresh dirt
had recently been put.

Again, we began the excavation.

Szuch: We went through pile
after pile of dirt

and weren't finding anything.

Cleveland: The decision was made
by the team

that we would do
one more excavation

at the next logical place...
about 10 yards downhill

from where we were.

♪

we were there probably maybe
an hour moving dirt

little bits at a time.

I personally had given up hope,

and I thought I had
just gotten it wrong.

What was that?
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Stop! Stop!
Stop!

At that point,
someone yelled out,

"I think we have something."

♪

♪

narrator:
49-year-old sharon garrison

vanished from
clear creek county, colorado,

nearly 3 weeks ago.

Her secret tape recordings
have revealed

that she wanted a divorce.

Now a tip-off suggests
sharon may be buried

at the garrisons' family home.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Stop! Stop!
Stop!

We stopped excavating
at that point.

Pass me that shovel.

We came down with shovels.

♪

and when it moved the dirt,

there was a blue plastic tarp,

and the tarp looked brand-new.

Yeah.

When we took a knife
and slit the tarp open...

♪

...What appeared to be
human skin was under there.

♪

[ coughs ]

at that point, we knew
we had found sharon garrison.

♪

♪

I'm afraid it's not good news.

♪

[ crying ]

[ crying ]
I watched my niece...

...Hit the floor.

It was devastating.

[ crying ]

[ voice breaking ]
it was bittersweet.

♪

sorry.

It was bittersweet
'cause we got her,

we found her, but obviously,
she wasn't alive anymore.

Narrator:
On Wednesday, October 18th,

chuck garrison is arrested for
the murder of his wife, sharon.

At the medical
examiner's office,

the full picture of his
gruesome crime is revealed.

Cleveland: Examination showed
blunt-force trauma

with a pointed instrument
of some type to the forehead.

There was blunt-force trauma
to the back of the head,

evidence of strangulation,
and strands of gray hair

found in sharon's hand,
indicating she attempted

to defend herself
during the attack.

Narrator:
The trial begins in March 2002.

Mark hurlbert argues
the case for the prosecution.

Hurlbert: The picture we painted
to the jury

was that sharon garrison
and charles garrison

had been having trouble
in their marriage.

Sharon feared enough
for her life

that she felt the need
to tape things.

On the night of September 26th,
things escalated even more.

[ indistinct arguing ]

you think I'm scared of you?
I don't care! You better!

There's a struggle.

She grabs some of his hair.

We think he grabs
some kind of weapon

and hits her in the forehead.

♪

he trussed her up

and then put her
down into this area

in the front of his house.

He takes the car down towards
the idaho springs area

and bikes home.

That's when he's seen
by the high-school kids.

Narrator: On March 20, 2002,
chuck garrison is found guilty

and sentenced
to 30 years in prison.

Hurlbert: Charles garrison
murdered sharon garrison

because she was
gonna get a divorce.

Charles was cleaned out
by prior wives,

and he wasn't gonna have it.

♪

I've tried to forgive chuck,

but I think before
you can forgive somebody,

you have to understand
why something has happened.

[ voice breaking ]
I know I don't understand it.

I don't understand why
he couldn't just let her go.

♪

payotelis: I miss not being able
to call her

and just be like, "mom, what's
going on? How are you today?"

or, "what's the plan
for thanksgiving?"

♪

[ voice breaking ] so many
things I wish I could tell her.

♪

♪