The disappearance of Sasha Krause

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in january of 2020 27 year old sasha krauss lived  in the mennonite community located at farmington   new mexico she was a devoted member of the church  and had been for most of her life being baptized   at the age of 12. if you are someone such as  myself who had not heard of the mennonites   prior to researching this case i'll provide a  brief summary now mennonites are a christian   religious group that originated in the netherlands  and switzerland during the early 1500s and since   have grown to be present around the world some  mennonite communities are more conservative in   their religious views than others and these people  tend to have a noticeable dress code well the   scripture says that we are to be modestly apparel  and we have particularly taken a style that   covers the body and is not a flashy type style  we've also heard some talk about technology   and how mennonite culture views that can you  comment on that at all it will vary from church   to church but primarily your conservative  churches are looking at use of technology   that does not compromise biblical values so  this is why television is not in their homes   because of the potential to well the filthy  brings in with regards to i guess violence or   non-violence what is the mennonite church stance  on that our stance is we call it non-resistance   and our beliefs go back to the the founding  of our church in 1525 in zurich switzerland   that is a a bible doctrine that we've held to um  very closely if someone were to attack you or to   impose violence on you what would your reaction be  then in that situation according to these beliefs   according to these beliefs we would not want to  cause physical harm to anyone non-resistance is   more than just not reacting in a violent way to  someone that's assailing us it is a way of life   would a mennonite participate in in  the military in the united states no   all right and would they would that fall under  a religious objection a conscientious objector   uh situation how does that work  it would be conscientious objector   you mentioned law enforcement generally they would  not participate in that because of the need for   force correct what about if if somebody needed  to to defend themselves against an aggressor what   would be the mennonite response tradition it will  vary a little bit but we would feel is to use um   to resist to the point of killing an aggressor and  that person if they're not saved and ready to meet   their maker we've condemned them to hell and that  you know it's better my life to be sacrificed and   be ready to meet my maker and to have someone  die and be condemned to hell with my hands   mennonites reject infant baptism believing that  a person must be of an age where they can fully   understand what they are saying when they profess  their faith in god they are pacifists and believe   in non-violence they are opposed to war  and are often referred to as peacemakers   some mennonites do use modern technologies but  in a limited way conveniences such as electricity   and automobiles are used only when necessary  whereas more conservative mennonites prefer   to withdraw from all technology these people  choose the simplistic and modest clothing that   has been mentioned and women are required to wear  a head covering the community in which sasha lived   is considered to be more on the conservative  side of the mennonite beliefs but they didn't   completely reject all technology sasha did own a  phone but it was an older model cellular device   with only calling and texting capabilities and she  also owned a vehicle which would be used to drive   around town or to visit her family who lived in  texas sasha came from a large family who lived in   grandview texas she had only moved to farmington  about a year and a half prior to january of 2020   so that she could work in a mennonite publishing  facility called the lamp and light publishers over   her time at the lamp and light she would become a  cherished member of the team for not only her work   as she spoke three languages spanish english  and french and would translate many works from   one language to another but for her positive  and loving personality sasha was living with   a group of three other young women in a share  house titled the lighthouse and as she intended   to stay in the community for the foreseeable  future she was preparing to move into her own   trailer this way she could continue to do the  work that she loved within a community that she   felt connected to the trailer was going to be her  very own space and she was said to have been quite   excited for this change the mennonite community  at farmington where she lived is tight-knit and   rather small with many people who attend the  church living all within the neighborhood   around it or a short drive close by how many  folks are there in that mennonite community   i'd say it's less than a hundred okay and and the  main uh i guess structures in that area would be   the gingrich home right and the lamp and the lamp  and light is the publishing house right those two   and then of course you have the church right yes  the brown building right here is the church house   and the rest of the the houses where different  ones lived this right here would be a pathway   up to where we lived okay so this blue house here  in the corner that's where you live that's right   from our house we could see the church  house all right walking distance   yes okay what are we looking at here that was  the trailer where sasha was planning to move into   we've heard the this community being  described as a compound that is a word   and i do not know where that originated with  and that's that's a common way to describe   the church community the the buildings those who  live around the the church building lamp and light   but yeah it's not a compound there's no wall  or fence right yes people are free to come   into the community and leave the community that's  correct is there also do you encourage visitors   to the community as well we encourage people  to come to to visit a sunday morning at church   that is visit visitors are welcome on the day of  january 18 2020 sasha would go shopping with one   of her roommates to purchase a bed for her  new space uh we unloaded the bed and then   um i helped her put the bed together okay in the  trailer itself that's right when she and lily were   putting her her new little bed together i just  went up to her trailer for a minute or two and   um just saw what they were doing and chatted a  bit and went back to my house all right and so   that was the trailer just to up the hill correct  um do you recall what time that was that afternoon   no all right um did you ever have any  other contact with sasha later that evening the main thing i remember is  the last time she left the house   at any point during that day did sasha indicate  to you that she intended to go to the church later   that's right and what was the reason for that to  pick up some sunday school material okay sunday   being the next day that's right was she a sunday  school teacher she was um substituting for someone   all right you don't recall her coming back from a  church or showing you she got books is that right   no i do not did you ever see sasha again  after you had dinner with her that night   i did not did sasha ever appeared to you to  be unhappy on january 18th 2020. she did not   sasha leaves her house just before 7pm and even  though the church is within walking distance   she chooses to drive there because it was dark and  cold her roommate lucinda leaves some lights on   so that when sasha comes home later on she will  be able to navigate her way through the house   this occurs at around 11 pm 10 30 is when  we're expected to be in our rooms and quiet and so i should have gotten concerned  because it was a little bit on the late side   but sometimes if one of us girls goes to a  friend's house close by and get to talking   you know it can get a little late so i really  wasn't worried i just thought well as long as   i leave this light on and her bedroom  lights on she can see to get through   the living room back to her bedroom and  i just went to bed at 1 30 i just woke up   and i don't remember any noise  or anything i just i just woke up   and i noticed that the same lights were still  on and that made me feel kind of strange because   obviously sasha had never never come back i texted  lily i said where is sasha i'm scared i got up and   said she's in her bedroom and then i went and  looked and she was not so then we went down to   the church house i tried to call her soon after  lucinda had texted me but she did not respond   just as quick as we could we just headed down  to the church house we walked in it was all dark   there wasn't anything really to see it  just looked like a church house would   look at night it was just dark and we went  through the whole thing just looking for her   and nothing seemed unusual we just didn't find  her did you see her car yes where was that parked right close to the sidewalk like right in  the front you could call it the front of   the church house sasha's friends cannot find her  anywhere which leads them to contact a number of   people who live in the community nearby by 3am  there is a small group of mennonite people all   searching for sasha around her home trailer  the church and the publisher where she works   not only can they not find her but they can't find  any signs of where she may have gone there are no   indications of struggle and important belongings  such as her wallet are left behind everyone that   knows sasha says that she would never have run  away and if she had it would have been highly   out of character the only thing seemingly  out of place is that a small sum of money   from the church donations box was missing 9-1-1 is  contacted and law enforcement begin their search   hello i'm san juan county sheriff shane ferrari  with an update on the sasha kraus investigation   on january 18 2020 sasha krauss was reported as  missing from near her home on crouch mesa the   san juan county sheriff's office then began our  investigation into her suspicious disappearance   with limited scene information it was difficult to  determine whether sasha was voluntarily missing or   we were working at kidnapping so our investigation  looked at both of these possibilities over the   last four weeks we conducted ground searches  aerial searches canine search and entered sasha's   information to federal databases that would alert  us if law enforcement had contact with her the   search goes on for four gruelling weeks and in  this period law enforcement follow every lead   that is presented to them one of the steps taken  was to interview many people from the community   one of which whom at around 7pm on that very day  did see a strange car parked down by the church as   she walked home from work i saw a vehicle sitting  down below by the church by the school doors   okay and what was that vehicle what  did it look like it was a darker   i couldn't see much it was a darker vehicle  all right um do you know whose car that was i mean like now no i don't i didn't know whose  it was didn't know who it was in addition to   the interviews conducted surveillance footage  was recovered from a nearby storage building   and this camera was able to see one of the only  roads leading in and out of town on this footage   detectives point out two vehicles of interest  what you'll notice is right up here you'll see   these reflectors right there there's a dip in  the road if you watch this vehicle this vehicle   is traveling right through the dip what you don't  observe until after the dip in the road is a brake   light indicating that someone would be attempting  to slow down keep in mind approximately maybe 30   yards past that dip is the stop sign to county  road 350. they highlight this vehicle right here   just in front of it there is a dip in the road  and all other vehicles slow down before coming   to it whereas this one seems to travel through  it at a high speed and also another which looks   as though it may have been traveling down the  road for a period of time with no lights on   and it appears that the headlights flick on  with no lead up to them coming into visual range   like all of the other vehicles headlights do  the window of time the detectives say sasha went   missing there were a total of 10 vehicles that  passed through this camera's range six vehicles   entering town and four exiting unfortunately due  to the camera quality black and white footage   and time of night that the video was captured  detectives are unable to make any identifications   as to what these vehicles are or who they  may belong to sasha's cellular data records   are obtained and police discover that her cell  phone had pinged off a tower which services the   farmington area at the time of her disappearance  then about 90 minutes later it pinged off of   another tower west of farmington because these two  towers were close together and operate as hand-off   towers for a major highway it was impossible to  find any other devices that might show similar   tower activity as there would have been hundreds  of other devices pinging at the same times in   the same areas police eventually come to a  dead end yes at one point time after we had   gathered as much information  surveillance statements and so on   took the time to follow up on that information  to the best that we could with what we were   what we had under the circumstances uh we did  come to the point where investigation efforts   were exhausted with what we had to work with  and at that point time we had no further leads   to follow up on we got to the point where we had  exhausted what we were able to work on at the time   and and that was kind of kind of the end of  the the bulk of the investigation if you will   on february 21st 2020 cynthia marie schultz a  camper who is a regular in the sunset crater   area a location which is in arizona 260 miles away  about a four-hour drive from farmington new mexico   cynthia is setting up her camp and preparing  for a storm which is rolling in i have been   collecting wood and then i came up around the  back of my camp and i saw in the distance like something white and um and they collect garbage around there so  first thought was like i'll come back here and   like it's a white plastic bag or something  and i could tell it was a bubbly and and it was like face down the sun was  still up and it was early afternoon and i   you know i think i was hoping that the  person was sleeping okay so what did you do   and i just looked looked at the body  and they said man ma'am really loudly   a couple times ma'am and there was no movement i knew it was not good we were contacted  by the coconino county sheriff's office   in reference to the body of a female that was  found just outside of flagstaff the body of   the female descriptors were that similar to  that of sasha our detectives were dispatched   to that area to meet with their investigators in  determining a positive identification and to share   our investigation with them now during this time  there was a lot of information over social media   claiming that we had in fact found the body  of sasha krauss however without an autopsy we   could not confirm arms and hands were in front  of her body and they were there was duct tape   that was kind of wrapped around the hands kind  of wrap holding them together she was wearing a a gray dress a white sweatshirt with a hooded  sweatshirt a pair of black blink black black shoes   and black socks her hair was kind of fashioned  in this bun with uh there was some clips in like   a mesh type of thing to hold her this bun  in place she did not have uh she had a bra   but i don't yeah she did not have underwear on so  she had um kind of on the right side of her head   kind of near the top of kind of a little bit to  the right there was about a two inch laceration   we noticed in the hood of the sweatshirt there  was a small defect that had a little bit of   grey discoloration around it it raised the  possibility of could there be a gunshot wound so   before we went too much really any further we did  an x-ray to look to see if there was any signs of   that there had been a gunshot wound and and on the  x-ray we did see that there was a uh there was a   bullet and some small fragments of a bullet within  the head that autopsy has been conducted and it's   with a heavy heart that i now report that the body  of sasha krauss has been identified and located   i want to thank everybody in our community  that helped us disseminate the information   about sasha hoping for her safe return to sasha's  family i give my heartfelt condolences on behalf   of not only myself but the san juan county  sheriff's office our investigation now transitions   to a criminal investigation we have partnered  with the coconino county sheriff's office and   federal authorities in trying to identify and  apprehend the individual that's responsible   for sasha's kidnap and murder we are fully  committed in capturing this individual sasha   was recovered in an area where the environment at  this time of year is ideal for body preservation   the medical examiner would say that the dry air  and cold temperatures led to very little signs   of decomposition and because of this her time  of death was easily placed within the period of   her abduction she was found with her head covering  missing something that her friends and family said   that she would have never left home without and as  you heard from the medical examiner her underwear   was also missing despite this there were no signs  of sexual assault no dna under her fingernails   and no bruising on her arms and legs indicating a  struggle now that sasha's body had been recovered   detectives get a warrant for a cell phone tower  record which services the area of sunset crater   so the concept is dump the cell sites where she's  abducted dump the cell sites the last place we saw   her phone and then however much time later they're  going to discover the victim's body in arizona   and distance wise we're really getting out there  now it's all the way down just north of flagstaff   significant distance that's the third area dump  that area as well do we have on any provider to   be clear do we have what we refer to as a common  device and what i mean by that is after i look at   all the unique devices around farmington and all  the unique devices around the four corners area   and then all the unique devices around north  of flagstaff when we look at those how many   devices do we have for any provider that were  in all three locations farmington four corners   flagstaff do we see across any provider a device  that we also see in those same locations where   we see the victims and that's what they that's  the records that i was provided how many devices   were hitting off those towers at that time for for  all three locations on verizon and t-mobile none   and for att there's only one device that hits  all three of those locations and corresponds   with those time periods the device in question is  a cell phone belonging to 20 year old mark gooch   mark gooch was a military man in the air force  working as a mechanic he was stationed at the   luke air force base in phoenix which is hundreds  of miles away from farmington the youngest of   seven siblings mark had grown up in a mennonite  family and when he was young the family had lived   on a dairy farm in a place called gleason mark  would say that because his family wasn't born   into the mennonite religion that they had joined  at an older age he felt as though his family   were always treated like outcasts a sentiment  that was shared by two of his brothers as well   as mark grew into his teenage years he chose  to not be baptized into the mennonite faith   despite this though he would still attend church  with his family and live under his parents rules   he would tell a friend that he had found a  living life as a mennonite to be difficult   sheltered and restricted and that life on  the dairy farm he found to be depressing   he wanted to live like other people at some point  in his teenage years the gooch family would move   away from gleason due to trouble between their  family and the town following their move away   from gleason mark would find himself in a bit of  trouble the youth had become very antagonistic   towards the church and was implicated several  times in burglaries against mennonites one of   his friends would say that he had joined mark  on at least five separate occasions where they   would target and rob mennonite people when these  robberies were being committed the pair would   always wear gloves to not leave fingerprints and  were very careful about leaving behind hair or dna   his friend says that they would always be looking  for money when they engaged in these crimes   january 10th of 2018 it is documented that  a robbery was committed against the business   and during the invasion a memory card  is stolen from a security camera there   later it is found that images taken by that camera  were present on mark's phone and one of the images   shows his car a dark colored vw jetta parked  outside of the premises whilst a hooded and gloved   individual appears to be entering the building  when mark turned 18 years old he would turn his   back on the mennonite religion by going against  his parents wishes and joining the air force the   effort to persuade him not to join the military  was religious based yes i know that you have   another son that was a law enforcement officer  is that also true that is correct that okay from   your perspective no all right um so uh once in the  in the air force did you embrace mark's decision i never it's like this everyone has to make their  own way in life um he'd made the decision he had   to fulfill his obligation at that point we no  longer discussed it in in that regard because   he was there he couldn't he couldn't he'd already  signed the papers he had he had to be there for   the four years after mark's cellular data was  obtained by law enforcement using a technology   called nilos network event location system  detectives are able to see quite precise location   data of that device and its movements so to orient  everybody we're looking at that arizona new mexico   region and we're starting on the 18th of january  we're zooming into the phoenix area and we're   going to continue to zoom in to the western edge  of phoenix down close to luke air force base   so there is luke air force base kind of the  edge of it the last time we see the device in   that vicinity is at 8 39 a.m the morning of the  18th january 2020 by 904 the device has moved to   the east this is still on luke air force base the  significance of this is that at 904 we see clear   movement of the beginning of what's going to be  a route that this device is going to travel all   right let's go to the next slide and tell us what  we're looking at so as the device departs luke air   force base we're going to see clear travel to the  north we'll travel through the peoria phoenix area   and then north on i-17 and we're  going to zoom in right here   10 o'clock 1001 the device that we're tracking  3215 took a picture and we're seeing that picture   right here this photo was taken at 1001  on the morning of the 18th january 2020   if we zoom in i can see a sign up ahead of  those two cars i can make out the word horse   and wreck and we can confirm this picture because  google earth and google maps offers a street view   there's horse in this case it's not blocked  so we can say it says horse thief basin   we could see wreck in the picture its recreational  area exit 248 this is the very within meters   of the location of where that picture was  taken so this nilos is now corroborated to   be in this location at the same time when  that picture was taken right so from here   we're going to continue to go north on i-17 just follow the trail up to the next location  and i'm going to get a second photo in this area   from the same device the photo itself is as you're  driving you're south of flagstaff driving north   and you get a picture of the san francisco peaks  we do get an exit sign there and when we zoom in   we can see that that's exit three three kachina  boulevard mountain air road it is at 11 09 a.m   on the 18th of january and in street view we  find there's exit 333 kachina boulevard mountain   air road and we have the same mountains in the  background even the trees in the background match   so same location both photo and the nilos data in  close vicinity to each other from here we're going   to continue to see movement to the north very  short period of time on i-40 but then the device   is going to go north on highway 89 get off onto  160 and we are going to see that device now up in   up on the navajo reservation in the area of  kyenta arizona and we're going to get a gap here   the time period is 13.25 that's where  we lose these hits but we see it again  

past kyente at 13.55 so 1325 to 1355. it doesn't  take that long to drive straight through that   area there is time enough here to have a stop  to address that so do we have any corroborating   evidence that shows that maybe there was a  stop in kyente there's a mcdonald's there   in that town there's only one and it's at the  intersection of 160 and 163. what we're going to   find is that there is a bank statement that shows  that the device stopped at this mcdonald's and   made a purchase there's the receipt itself and you  can see cayenneta arizona with a date and time of   january 18th at 1 42 p.m which falls in the middle  of our nilos times so that's right in the middle   plus highlighted on there is an excerpt  from the bank from the credit card statement   after the stop at mcdonald's the device is  going to continue across the reservation   and enter new mexico and we're next time we're  going to see it it's in the location of farmington   and what we're going to see is we do get a sign of  stagnant activity there's multiple hits here but   they're all piling up on the same lat long so we  know that the device was in this area and that the   records match that there was a stop for 31 dollars  at that particular store with the speedway and   the address matches the records from here we're  going to go through farmington to the eastern side   kind of move up a little bit to the north and   the very first time that we see this device in  this neighborhood is going to be at 16 14 and 40   seconds and stop that's the car 4 18 pm on 118 at  20 20 yes sir let me back that up a little bit all   right now it is it's small on the screen but can  you identify some of those features you recognize   when you saw the defendant's car in the parking  lot there is um as you move it through the frames   of the of the video it clears up just like that  emblem does but there's the small little bit of   differentiating line here as opposed to this line  here there's a sunroof cover right here on the top   of this of mr gooch's car right there all right  so this was one of the initial hits on the way in   and then once in the neighborhood all that  stagnant activity is going to be in one of   three locations so it kind of does some bouncing  around between these three areas we get a device   several multiple hits there multiple hits over  here and some hits down here that yellow pin   that's near where the church is is that right uh  that was the area i was given as the last known   location for salsa that's being referred to as  the abduction site let's visit that that last   grouping over there about as close as i can get  to it right there the church itself right here   we do get three outgoing connections during  this time period so there's three examples   within that window that three hour and thirty  one minute window of outgoing activity 4 55   pm and we have an outgoing voice call  this voice call lasts for over 25 minutes   and it's going to the third most contacted person  in these records how many calls on january 18. six calls six six calls okay when  was the first phone call 10 58 am   1206 pm for 8 minutes and 32 seconds 8 minutes  and 42 seconds at 12 17 pm for 3 minutes and   42 seconds 1 19 pm missed call no zero minutes  who is calling whom i was calling mark grouch   1 25 pm how long 30 minutes and 33 seconds uh at  4 55 pm for 25 minutes and 44 seconds mark gucci   was calling myself so if we were to add up all  that time we're talking about over 90 minutes of   phone conversation that day is that right that  seems correct okay you don't remember anything   from those conversations something would  have stood out i believe i would recall that   do you know where he was when he made  those calls i did not recall where he was did he say anything about taking a trip that day   not that i can remember do you have any perception  that on january 18th the conversations you were   having with mark that he was traveling i believe  we may have lost cell service or call dropped that would have been made my only perception of he  was traveling cancel i asked you about your memory   of that trip on january 18 i'm calling it trip  sorry the conversation you had on january 18th um   and you do remember that  called dropping at some point   yes but you don't remember anything  about the content not that i can recall is it fair to say you don't have any memory about   any conversation you have with  mara gooch on the 18th of january   i would say that's fair would also  be fair to say that you had the most   conversation you'd ever had during that year and  a half period with him on the 18th of january   only in the context of phone calls not in  the context of other forms of communication   other forms being walking over the computer we  would talk quite extensively for hours a week   all right so fair to say he wasn't on the  computer during that day right based on   the phone calls correct all right so this would  have been the next morning am and what did you   ask where are you at by now question mark where  are you at by now what were you talking about   i can't remember the circumstances surrounding  that text i can only take it at face value do you have a phone conversation with  him in reference to where he might be not that i can recall okay the last  time we will see this device in the area   will be just prior to 1945 close to 746 and it  has left the area of stagnant activity and from   here the device is going to move to the west so  after three hours and 31 minutes in this area   against stagnant activity where does it go next   from here now we're gonna i'm gonna put a lot on  the map we got some stuff to talk about so now   for the first time we're seeing some activity  from our victim's phone so from sasha's phone   and the last time we have a connection to an a t  cell site from her phone in this area is at 1952.   now we're well to the west of of um farmington and  what we're seeing is data activity both devices   hit the same cell site up here up to the north  barely more than a minute difference and they   travel all the way across farmington together and  now they're getting ready to enter into the area   of the navajo reservation in the same speed in  the same locations and in a general vicinity with   each other just before the 9 pm time period this  time they're perfectly matched same cell site same   sector they're both are right on top of each other  that will be the last time that we see our victims   phone we will in the records we never see that  phone again we're going to go back to watching the   nilos and it's going to take the exact same route  that came into farmington it's going to take that   route back our nilos is going to travel through  the navajo reservation but instead of continuing   on to flagstaff we're going to see a deviation  off the known normal pattern that a navigation   app would take you through this area on the way  back this device is going to exit highway 89   onto a road called loop road this is the road  that would take you through the sunset crater   area right that is correct if you entered from  the northern section that would be this turn   off so this device came down to the intersection  and then boom it's going to move off to the east   16 minutes after midnight it is definitely off  of highway 89 and we're gonna get to continue   to see movement on this on this loop road which  is the only route available through this area   but we get and i'm gonna pause it right there we  get a big gap through here we get this section   where we're going to lose nilos the only way  to get from this location to this location   in the time that the device goes from this  location to this location is continuous movement   on loop road there is no other option what was  interesting is the device passed sunset crater   then it turns around and it comes back and  now it's 1 13 am this device goes stagnant   somewhere in this area in the vicinity to the east  of sunset crater for two hours and 20 minutes the   pin over to the right is going to be where the the  victim's body will be recovered later from there   the device will continue to travel to the west  by 3 41 a.m is back in the vicinity of highway 89  

just over three hours of total time kind of in  this area the device is going to get back on   highway 89 and we'll see it take the normal route  that we would expect to see for travel to the area   back through flagstaff and south on i-17  and the device will continue to move down   and take the normal route we would expect  to see as it returns to luke air force base   6 49 a.m the gate that that this device will drive  through that gate to enter luke air force base and   in the records for the gate has the defense  name and the last four social security number   the local time that that card was scanned is at  653 so last nilos is at 6 49 and then scanning   the car the car driving into the base at 6 53  if we did like a google maps travel time to take   into account the deviation to follow loop road  would be approximately 7 hours and 30 34 minutes   the total time for return in this case based  off the nilos is 11 hour and four minutes two   days after mark returns from this trip on january  21st at 5 43 pm he unexpectedly makes another trip   out to sunset crater the nila starter once  again places him right next to the location   of sasha's body and he stays there for around 20  minutes before driving back to the air force base   there are no other stops made on this trip after  reviewing this cell phone tower information the   lead detective meets with mark at the air force  base on april 21st 2020 and an interview with him   is conducted so there were a few things and you  mentioned this in the interview inconsistencies uh   let me ask you about some of those he mentioned in  that interview that he attends church quite a bit   anything you found in this investigation  that would corroborate that statement   i found nothing during the investigation that  cooperated he thought he went to church often   all right he he also mentioned the interview  that you asked him if he had driven anywhere   outside of arizona in the last six months what  was his response on that he told me no there are   a large amount of inconsistencies between what  mark tells the detective during their interview   and what the evidence she has gathered  says a few of these are as follows   once he admits to the detective that he was in new  mexico on january 18th he states that the trip had   slipped his mind that's why he hadn't disclosed  it earlier on he mentions that he went to the area   to check out a ski resort but when he got there it  was closed due to covert police later learned that   the ski resort was never closed on january 18th  and the closest to being closed it was was that   one of their many ski lifts was out of service  for the day mark says that he had been recently   looking for fellowship at a mennonite church as  he had been feeling like he wanted to rejoin the   faith and was lonely he'd been wanting to find a  church to attend and because the ski resort was   so close to the farmington mennonite community he  decided to drive over there and check it out he   mentions that he had learned about this community  from a friend or family member who once attended   the church there although he couldn't remember who  that person was upon getting there he says at 2pm   he swung by the church checked out a sign  out the front which indicated service times   and then quickly headed back to the air force  base as he wanted to get home before dark   he says he had hiking plans with a friend the  next day and didn't want to get home too late   the trip home he indicates was a direct drive  with no stops maybe one short one for fuel   and that he got back to the base at about 9pm when  asked if he could have gotten home later than nine   he says quite possibly it could have been between  one or two am the investigation shows that he   arrived at farmington at 4pm and not 2 that there  has never been signage for service times outside   of the church that he left well after dark that  he had a three-hour stop at sunset crater on   the way home and that his friend whom he said he  was going hiking with was unaware of these plans   finally he arrived back at base at around 7am not  9pm his reason for this was that he pulled over to   have a sleep and mustn't have realized how late it  got throughout this interview the detective notes   three points of behavioral interest one was when  she was talking about his mennonite upbringing   he appeared to show some form of emotion and  it seems to be a rather sensitive topic for him   at another point he tells the detective it  is kind of boring and when she asks him what   is he says the interview when he learns that  he may be a suspect for sasha cross's murder   his demeanor is calm as he states that he had  nothing to do with it as the detective begins   to put some heat on and confronts him about his  inconsistencies mark becomes rather agitated and   asks if all people are subject to this sort of  questioning at the conclusion of this interview   mark is arrested for the murder of sasha krauss  i would have preferred to have included audio   from that interview rather than narrate it but  unfortunately the quality was so bad that i found   it not possible following mark's arrest his phone  is analyzed and a number of other details are   uncovered which raises the detective's eyebrow a  week prior to the disappearance of sasha mark's   cell phone is tracked to another mennonite church  in the phoenix area whilst he is in this area he   adopts positions around the church in a similar  fashion to what was seen in farmington creating a   triangular-like position with the church somewhere  in the center during this visit to the phoenix   mennonite church he is texting with his brother  sam gooch to sam from mark it says wyd today making some breakfast might do  some cleaning bored as [ __ ] hmm same for some reason even this morning's  surveillance was boring also from mark a bunch   of old people without much left to live for also  from mark and clearly not the mennonite people we   grew up with sad to say another disappointment did  you know that marguche was surveilling mennonites i'm assuming you're basing that  on the text message in exchange   between us so yes or no question did you know i'll sustain the objection if you  want to ask another foundation   question mr barker absolutely  uh let's say early of last year based on that text message which i took  face value yes okay and a text message   you're talking about this is a message margaret  sent to you about surveillance of mennonites   correct outside of that text message did  he talk to you about surveilling mennonites   no he had expressed interest in a looking  for a church close by or attending a service   but never anything regarding surveillance the word  surveil is being used suggested or sounds like   being used in a sinister negative way do you  perceive it that way i did not perceive that text   message in that way your brother is a military  guy could that be simply him using a military word   yes it was not unusual for k words like  that would it surprise you to learn that   he never used the word surveillance  anywhere else in that tax record no it would not there is another string of  text messages which would come under scrutiny   in regards to this case this time these  messages were between mark his brother sam   and their other brother jake jake being the  police officer who also rejected mennonite faith   this police officer had pulled a mennonite  over whilst they were driving to a wedding   and following the traffic stop these messages  were exchanged between the brothers this was on   march 14th 2020 at beginning at 8 48 am this one  is from jake just gave him meta knight a ticket [ __ ] yes also from mark i hope you treated  him like [ __ ] it's from sam haha hell yeah   tell them the va state police doesn't  like cultists from jake i did lol   from mark haha [ __ ] yeah from jake i coughed on  him so he would spread corona to the wedding they   were going to lo haha that's [ __ ] hilarious is  it a ticket that he has to appear in court from   jake yep it's reckless mark responds hell yes  jake says i told his gf there's freedom outside   of colts and they look so weirded out did mark  gooch hold any grudges against the mennonites i can't necessarily speak to what mark's feelings  might have been well that's what you told police   right that he had a grudge against the community  at the time that's what i said what do you mean at   the time when that interview was uh done are you  changing your opinion now at the time that was opinion and speculation i can't   100 speak to how mark may feel or think why  would you say that he had a grudge at that time don't recall my mindset at the time that is what i  said based on transcripts but i can't necessarily   know what i was thinking on why i would have said  that at the time would you tell him to let it go   let that grudge go if that were the case yes well  that's what you told the police you told him right   i believe so did you tell him you can't  blame them the mennonites for how you grew up   that sounds correct and why would you say  that if he hadn't told you he had a grudge   the way we grew up was as you know different  from many people it wasn't always easy   for all of us each of us had different  experiences and we took it different ways   and is it your understanding that mark  gooch did not have a positive experience   in the mennonite church you could say  that i'm asking you what you could say   that would be a question from our gooch did you  have a positive experience with the mennonites   i held no ill will towards the mennonite group   that is part of my upbringing and i accept  it for what it is but as i grew up i made my   own decisions in life and choose to chose  to move on towards from that wasn't there   a feeling that this mennonite community  pushed you out or didn't accept your family you could say that yes where did you grow up sir most of my growing up years were spent in  gleason wisconsin leasing consisted of a   gas station and a grocery store at a bar and that  was about it i worked as a pharmacist and still do   and we also dairy farmed i was in the process of  doing both trying to pay off the debt on the farm   and my children were highly involved in the farm  work both milking cows and cropping you and your   family left the church in gleason and it wasn't  on good terms was it there was some there were   some issues basically um we left because they were  expecting me well basically take an economic loss   of over eighty thousand dollars and get rid of  my herd uh immediately i sold them the following   spring and we had left to move to another  community i i didn't catch the last part and   left what we left to move to another community  because of that what would you call it a rift   a grudge no not a grudge uh what i would call it  is they were they were asking things of me that   were not economically sound and i  did not feel at that time was uh   six months made much difference but that's not  the way they saw it it was easy to feel that that we were less accepted into that culture  and since we were not necessarily born into it   not a multi-generational family that had been in  that in the mennonites for decades all right so   there wasn't a feeling of acceptance is that fair  i think that's fair right did that generate some   negative feelings it could have it's a  yes or no question for you for myself   it did at the time okay the evidence continues  to pile on as on the 28th and 29th of january   police learn that prior to sasha's body being  found mark had searched for the farmington   police facebook page and on the 2nd of february he  searches the farmington facebook page specifically   for an article relating to the missing person  sasha krauss there were also three occasions   which saw mark delete his google account location  history the first time occurred directly after he   returned from the first trip to farmington on the  19th of january the second occurred directly after   he returned from the drive to sunset crater on  the 21st of january and the third happened a day   after sasha's body was discovered looking deeper  into this third event of a location data deletion   it is learned that he had taken his car to get  fully detailed and financial records indicate   that after the car was completely washed inside  and out he had made a purchase of liquid bleach   after his car is cleaned and detailed and the  bleach is purchased his google location history is   deleted once more mark then messages a friend and  asks if he can store his rifle in their gun safe   the friend agrees and the gun is dropped off  furthermore after mark's arrest he would contact   his brother and request something of him after his  arrest did mark ask you to remotely wipe his phone   yes i believe so and not just his  phone but the sd cards as well   based on the transcripts that is correct  you remember when that conversation occurred i believe it was shortly or  within a few days of his arrest did you also attempt to clean out uh  margu's google account no i did not   there's no conversation about  deleting anything from google   not that and recall our conversation was about  accessing his accounts i was going to do so   with the tension of cancelling any auto payments  and bills and so forth he may have had all right   and that was in the same conversation where he  asked you to remotely wipe his phone i believe so   that's all i have thank you it was  not discussed during this trial   i believe because a felony conviction charge is  pending for sam gooch but another thing that mark   requested of his brother post arrest was if sam  could travel from wisconsin to arizona to collect   the rifle stored at his friend's house sam agrees  to do this and unknown to him law enforcement have   intercepted those communications police get to  the friend's house first and obtain the rifle   swapping it for a replica and after sam collects  the replica rifle he is arrested and charged with   facilitation to commit hindering prosecution sam  is offered a plea deal of three years probation   no prison time if he testifies against his brother  in this very trial and this leads me to what is   probably the most critical evidence in the trial  which also made it subject to the most debate   the bullet that was recovered from  sasha's neck would be sent to a ballistics   expert for the state to try and identify  whether it had come from mark's rifle or not   their expert takes the stand and for a number  of hours she details the process of her work   based on my examination and using the comparison  microscope i was able to determine that the rifle   item 44 did fire the bullet item 32. the defense  for mark gooch would not go down without a fight   and had hired their own ballistics expert a third  party who performs bullet identification services   would have a differing conclusion and because of  this as expected cross-examination of the state's   witness was aggressive the witness states that  in her 26 years of experience no other expert   has questioned her work a statement that the  defense attorney picks apart as he uncovers that   she actually worked on a case in 2015. two of her  peers did not agree with her opinion this is but   one of the many paths that the defense attorney  would take and the cross-examination is tense as   it brings into question the possibility that the  state's witness was overworked and did not put the   care into her examination as she could have that  without any sort of photographic presentation of   her work the jury is just meant to trust her  word because she said so when this concludes   the defenses expert takes the stand and unlike his  peer he does have photographs to assist with his   testimony i will say typically it's not common  to show photographs from a microscope like this   i felt it was pertinent in this case because of  the drastic difference between what i saw with   test fires and what i saw with the evidence  and i'll show that as we move forward there's   some scratches that go from from my test fire onto  their test fire and match up these things line up   inside of that land impression and so i'm going to  do the same thing and walk you around this bullet   so if we rotate back to plus one again you  see lots of nice agreement right there as i   would expect because these are test fires from the  same rifle eleven test fires were used to verify   that the rifle could produce a bullet which  was eligible for identification all of these   eleven bullets matched with each other once  the images of the fatal bullet are presented   the witness outlines how they do support his  findings findings that differ from the state   starting here on the left hand side is the fatal  bullet it's my exhibit 2a and so what i'm showing   is this is the absolute best correspondence  that i could get of my bullet to the evidence   bullet best case scenario there's maybe one  scratch that carries over from here to here   however if i rotate if i leave the fatal bullet  as it is on that red index and now rotate   my bullet four land impressions further so now  i'm looking at the same spot on the fatal bullet   again there's also some correspondence right  there and maybe a little there so that tells   me that that amount of correspondence that i'm  seeing is random in nature after showing the jury   what he believed to be the images which show the  most agreement between test fire and fatal bullet   he proceeds to go on to show images that in his  opinion do not match up at all i want to point   out that there's i get the class characteristics  do tend to match up you see that the widths of   the big lanes and grooves are correct but based on  our general rifling characteristics list there's   something like 50 different models of marlin  rifle and about three or four other brands so   we're talking millions of other firearms hundreds  of millions would have those exact same widths   but again when looking past that at the individual  characteristics i'm unable to really point out any   clear correspondence in these two photos in these  photos that's going around the evidence bullet   with both my test fires and those from arizona  and at the conclusion i'm showing again basically   due to randomness there might be one or two  of these straya or scratches that match but in   general there are overwhelmingly more differences  than similarities and so the conclusion that i   have to reach is that the rifle at least in  its current condition that was given to me   did not produce the same striat to match  that of the evidence bullet let's just be   clear about your conclusion it's inconclusive is  your conclusion right that is correct it would be   what's called by afd as an inconclusive you're not  eliminating this bullet from being fired from item   44 right correct only because i do not know  what condition this firearm would have been   in if it were the correct firearm at the time it  was fired much like the attorney for mark gooch   did the day prior the d.a cross-examines this  expert extensively ranging from the possible   misleading way that things are written in his  report the fact that he's had more than double   the experts disagree with him in a time period  of less than half of the state's witness's tenure   and even questioning him about the wording of one  of the emails that he had sent to defence counsel   essentially making him look like a hired gun  willing to alter reports for money wouldn't it   show some level of bias if the examiner were to  tweak a report to satisfy the requesting agency yes but that's what you did in this case  right or you offered to do in this case um no   sir you emailed defense counsel and said i'm happy to tweak  and change it to your liking   the report is not what you said yes and that  was referring to typos or anything like that   that's not what you said you said i'm  happy to tweak and change it to your liking   yes period i mean at that point my conclusions  were already solidified the only thing that   would need to be tweaked or changed  is any type of typographical error   um or anything like that that's not what  you said right yes this now brings us to the   closing statements for each side throughout this  video we've seen a lot of the state's evidence   so focusing more on the defense here mark's  attorney bruce griffin would argue that there is   not enough hard evidence here for a guilty verdict  he highlights the fact that none of mark's dna   was found anywhere on sasha or at the church and  none of hers was found on any of his belongings   he points out that in addition to mark's presence  at farmington there were at least nine other   unidentified vehicles at the time of her abduction  he vouches for mark's character saying that the   man is peaceful and follows non-violence like how  he was brought up and overall he says although the   state's evidence is compelling it's not enough  to prove motive saying that unfortunately mark   was just in the wrong place at the wrong time  the state's worked hard to try to suggest to you   that there is motive in this case because of two  text message scenarios over a four year period   that have some relationship to a mennonite topic  wouldn't you think it would be just the opposite   that there would be bunches and bunches and  bunches of references to mennonites and hate and   mennonites and spew in vile and making plans if  that was the intent here that's not the situation   he's looking for churches and he's lonely out  in arizona and he's looking for fellowship   and so is he looking for an elder a an  elderly populated church that's not happening   the way he would like to have some  young people no and he makes a statement   about it's not lively here essentially that's his  that's the expression he's using it's older people   it's not what i'm looking for the second only  other reference out of four years of looking   at all this data is the traffic ticket bravado  bunch of boys talking tough about being stupid   and saying offending things i don't know about  you i suspect many of us have said stuff over   the phone to our buddies to our pals wrong time at  the wrong place that we probably if it was posted   up on a billboard somewhere would horribly regret  but it doesn't mean that that's motive to kill so   careful of how we take things out of context  to demonstrate motive i want to talk last and   finally about the burden of proof doubt that  is established by reason from the evidence   well it's reasonable doubt the problem  with the rifle that the rifle doesn't match   that creates reasonable doubt the burden is now  yours to decide how you're going to deal with   established reasonable doubt lack of objective  forensic evidence linking mr gooch to the crime   in the sea of circumstantial stuff that the  state has presented the jury would not take   to mr griffin's argument and found mark guilty on  all charges before the judge sentences him he is   given the opportunity to speak mr gooch on your  own behalf today before sentence is pronounced good afternoon your honor  firstly i'd like to express   my sincere condolences to the deceased family i'd also like to my thankfulness for the love  and support of my own family in this difficult   situation thank you the court does believe  that the defendant's conduct shown in this case   with this horrific abduction and murder shows  he is a very serious danger to the community when the court weighs the  aggravating and mitigating factors it is this court sentence on count one first  degree murder that the defendant is sentenced   to prison for natural life and that of course is 100 sentence just to make  a record on that i'd like to make a note that at   this stage of the video i've transitioned  away from research and caught testimony   and now speak from my own thoughts and feelings on  this case early on in the trial there was a moment   right after the cross-examination of one of  sasha's friends had concluded a cross that in   my opinion was fairly rough and confrontational  as her memory was coming under scrutiny she would   be questioned by the da during redirect and this  would occur even someone in your own community   uh you weren't keeping tabs on what  everyone's driving is that fair yeah all right and just regarding that white truck or  suv whatever you would describe it i'm   sorry are you you're right yes i'll be fine go  ahead okay you take a minute just let us know i'm sorry it's okay go ahead is there  something upsetting you that i asked esther   no you're fine is it about sasha it's  just the whole scenario of everything   probably all right i understand i appreciate  it what just a couple more questions thank you   just regarding the uh the white truck  that wasn't in the church area was it   no being on the stand with all those eyes on you  and feeling the crushing weight of what can be

2022-06-22

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