The Detective and the Chewing Gum Sting

Susan Logothetti (0:11)

He was a predator of women.

He stopped women. He assaulted women. He looked for that power and control. That's what fed him.

Tom Junot (0:24)

He's a patient predator. He told me how long it took him to turn the knob of the door so that nobody would hear him.

SPEAKER_3 (0:36)

I was woken up with a knife at my throat, someone grabbing the back of my head, and said, if you scream, I'm gonna slit your throat.

SPEAKER_4 (0:43)

When you look at the crime scene photos, it's impossible not to see all the victims, how connected all of these crimes were.

Susan Logothetti (0:55)

The crime scenes were very, very similar. And the murders were very similar.

Peter Van Sant (1:04)

This went around her neck.

Susan Logothetti (1:06)

It did.

Peter Van Sant (1:07)

That's just terrifying.

Mike Perrin (1:09)

I saw the stuff that makes nightmares. It's an image that it's as clear now as it was 47 years ago.

SPEAKER_4 (1:19)

The women were bound the same way with electrical cords.

Susan Logothetti (1:24)

He used her radio alarm clock cord to bind her ankles.

Mike Perrin (1:29)

What do you have here?

Peter Van Sant (1:30)

What's this tangle of cord?

Susan Logothetti (1:32)

This is the ligature, Judy Weaver's telephone extension cord that was used to bind her from her neck to her wrists and then to her ankles. To me, it looked like someone took their time torturing her.

Peter Van Sant (1:50)

How would you describe the person who was capable of committing a crime like that?

Susan Logothetti (1:56)

Psychopathic.

SPEAKER_6 (1:57)

Monstrous. A sadist.

Peter Van Sant (1:59)

He was a boogeyman.

He has no idea that you are hot on his trail. You have to get confirmation of his DNA and you hatch a plan.

Susan Logothetti (2:11)

We were gonna go undercover and we were gonna represent a healthy energy gum line, Zolt energy gum.

Peter Van Sant (2:19)

The detective usually goes in with a SWAT team. You're now armed with bubble gum, is that right?

Susan Logothetti (2:24)

Yeah, gum, yeah.

Peter Van Sant (2:25)

So you're gonna have this gum and what? Knock on his door? Exactly what you needed to do a DNA test.

Susan Logothetti (2:34)

Yes.

SPEAKER_10 (2:41)

Peter Van Sant reports, the detective and the chewing gum sting.

Peter Van Sant (2:48)

Detective Susan Logothetti lives her professional life deep in the past, investigating cold cases at the Everett Police Department, north of Seattle.

Susan Logothetti (2:58)

I love that people who thought they could get away with it, 40 years ago, are looking over their shoulder now, wondering what they left behind.

Peter Van Sant (3:10)

One case in particular from 1984 came to consume her, the killing of Judy Weaver, 42, a divorced mother and a manager of a bar and cafe.

Susan Logothetti (3:22)

It was called the Bell Ness Cafe, one of the roughest bars on UN.

SPEAKER_9 (3:27)

Avenue, if not the roughest.

Peter Van Sant (3:30)

Judy Weaver was beloved by her rowdy regulars for her generous shots of hard liquor and for being a little rough around the edges herself.

Susan Logothetti (3:39)

She could stand up to anybody.

Peter Van Sant (3:42)

The former local beauty queen could turn ugly when it came to dealing with intoxicated patrons, says her daughter, Kathy.

Kathy Weaver (3:50)

She'd just throw them out.

Peter Van Sant (3:51)

What, grab them by the collar and you're out of here?

Kathy Weaver (3:53)

Right in the back of the neck, back of the pants.

Peter Van Sant (3:56)

This is the beauty queen?

Kathy Weaver (3:57)

This is her mom when she was the salmon derby queen.

Paula Keeler (4:00)

She was a good mom.

Peter Van Sant (4:02)

Judy's other daughter, Colleen.

Kathy Weaver (4:05)

She worked hard to make sure us girls had what we needed.

Peter Van Sant (4:09)

For years, it was just the three of them, Colleen, Kathy and their mom. But all that changed when Judy started dating the owner of the bar, Bill Richards.

Kathy Weaver (4:20)

This is Bill Richards, my mom's boyfriend.

Peter Van Sant (4:23)

They eventually got engaged. Judy's daughters didn't like him very much.

Kathy Weaver (4:28)

He didn't treat my mom very well. He was mean to her. He'd yell at her. He hit her a few times.

Peter Van Sant (4:34)

Did you witness that?

Kathy Weaver (4:35)

I never witnessed it, but I've seen the bruises.

Peter Van Sant (4:39)

Wanting a fresh start, on the evening of June 1st, 1984, Bill and Judy popped some champagne.

Susan Logothetti (4:47)

They were celebrating the sale of the Bell Ness.