It was just a special bond that we formed. They planned to meet but at the last minute, Wilkins told Saxton she was in the hospital and could not come. In an intake questionnaire at the doctor, Tatesaid there was a question asking whether the respondent hasone sexual partner or many. Former FBI agent and cellular software expert Scott Eicher testified Friday that cell phone records showed Schellings movements that night -- her phone, Eicher said, left the area of her employment in Denver, traveled south on Interstate 25 and eventually arrived in Pueblo. No blood was detected in #Schelling's car. If According to News5's Colette Bordelon, Suhr would not categorize herself as a "sex informant," which she was called by the defense. You dont have an obligation to me. He told her that he and Schelling would do drugs together, like cocaine. The trial, which began in February, was delayed multiple times, most recently due to someone in the courtroom testing positive for COVID-19. I deliberated on it and I looked at the practicalities of it, Chostner said. Its been over eight years since Laura Saxtons 21-year-old pregnant daughter Kelsie Schelling vanished. She said that domestic violence does not always escalate from mental and emotional abuse into physical abuse, but said changes in power dynamics such as a new pregnancy could lead to an escalation of abuse. Some of her friends testified to the physical abuse, and cell phone data showed Kelsies phone was in the same area as her killers in the days after authorities believed she had been killed. The defense also had Walker confirm that she could not tell the jury whether the trends she discussed were present in Lucas and Schellings relationship and could not say if any specific acts of domestic violence took place between them. Love you Donthe.. Dan is a reporter with the 13 Investigates team. We know that that's his thoughts and feelings about it. Lucas said hed informed Schelling during their visit that he did not want to be in a relationship with her. Our Colette Bordelon will be there every day and will have coverage both online and over the air. Dateline's new documentary series "The Last Day" premiered this week with an episode about the killing of 20-year-old Iowan Mollie Tibbetts. One minute, he had no involvement. As freshmen, while she was a psychology student, he was an athlete who dreamed of being a professional basketball player. Moreover, only a day earlier in Denver, Schelling's doctor had told her that the baby was healthy. Terms of Use | Schellings family offered $50,000 for information about her disappearance and set up a Facebook page called Help Find Kelsie.. Prosecutors called Ryan Rivera, who testified that when he was in jail with Lucas, Lucas claimed that investigators would never find Schelling's body and that they would never convict him. Thankfully I had a great team. In February 2013, Kelsie Schelling was very happy to find out she was eight weeks pregnant, according to ABC News. I had no clue anybody was supposed to be exchanging nothing for a human being If I did know, I would not have been involved in this situation," the man told "20/20.". Prosecutors told jurors, "This is not a missing persons case it is a homicide case," before saying that they are certain they'll be able to prove she was killed. Walker said there are several different ways domestic violence offenders controls their victims -- through financial abuse, leveraging family dynamics, such as the presence of children, threats and intimidation and withholding emotional support. That's just 100% clarification that some dirt bags out there are trying to get money off of these poor families.. Lucas was found guilty of first-degree murder in connection to the death or disappearance of Schelling. The 21-year-old from Colorado had already announced to family and friends. In most scams, they're compartmentalized, Garrett said. / CBS Colorado. But Tate said they would never perform a biopsy on a pregnant woman and said even if Schelling did have HPV, its a common diagnosis about 15 percent of women have HPV at any given time. ET on ABC. (Schelling's family denies claims that she ever engaged in the use of illegal substances, per ABC News). 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. As a mom, I couldnt even begin to fathom knowing that your childs out there or not out there, Suhr told 20/20 in an exclusive interview. [He said] that [she] was his best friend and he had nothing to do with it, and then he would just shut down and start crying hysterically and get upset, Suhr said. Eric Bravo said. Waiting for your permission to load facebook comments. I've been here over an hour just waiting." Schelling didn't show up to work on Feb. 5, and a worried co-worker tried calling her. The car was moved from that location the following morning, then showed up at St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center Feb. 9. Then, in December 2020, the murder trial was set to start on Jan. 25, 2021. I would like to have known what she finally settled on as a career, if she ever would've got married, had more kids, all those things, Saxton said. At 11:29 a.m. on Feb. 5, Torres said Lucas texted his mother, Going to make sure she didnt leave anything in the house. But tragically, Kelsie Schelling went missing soon after she revealed her pregnancy to her partner, Donthe Lucas. Asked if he believed Schelling orchestrated her own disappearance, Binet said, No. Donthe Lucas was charged with killing his 21-year-old girlfriend, Kelsie Schelling, who was pregnant at the time. Weeks passed until police learned they needed to move quickly to catch Lucas. There was no sign of her in the apartment, and that's when we called the Denver police.. Saxtons hope was for answers. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Community Guidelines | KRDO Jobs | FCC Applications |, KRDO FCC Public File | KRDO FCC Applications, Breaking News Schelling was eight weeks pregnant when her friends and family last heard from her on February 4, 2013, when she visited the likely father of her unborn child. YouTube: Body parts found in suitcases, luggage tags lead to suspected killer; Kelsie Schelling update - TCDPOD, TRUE CRIME DAILY: THE PODCAST covers high-profile and under-the-radar cases SUBSCRIBE: APPLE PODCASTS / SPOTIFY / STITCHER / GOOGLE PODCASTS / YOUTUBE. Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. Criminal defense attorney Danielle Iredale joins host Ana Garcia. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Lucas insisted to the man, who later testified about the incident in court, that he wouldn't be convicted of that crime but in the end, it seemed to seal his fate. In August of 1995, a local film crew in Arlington, Texas was doing a documentary on single mothers in welfare trying to get jobs. Authorities reviewed that admission, along with text message records, surveillance video and 60,000 pages of investigative material to determine whether there was enough evidence to prosecute Lucas. She was happy. Their lock to their front gate into the dump had been tampered with., It caught my attention when I grabbed the lock in my hand, and I said, Well, somebody tried to get in here overnight, Guadalupe Maestas, a worker at the landfill, told 20/20. Thats what came to my mind right away.. Kelsie Schelling disappeared after driving down from Denver to Pueblo on February 4th, 2013. Police could not definitively say he was Lucas. We know that that's his phone. Police decided then that they would write an arrest warrant for the robbery to catch him before he left town. 21-year-old Kelsie Schelling was two months pregnant when she drove from Denver to Pueblo to see her former boyfriend Donthe Lucas. Pueblo County District Attorney Jeff Chostner said investigators received a tip Lucas may be trying to skip town. The person sending the messages says I know where Megan is. Eric Bravo took over the case with the help of Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agent Kevin Torres. Dont worry about me. There are no cameras allowed in the building and no live reporting from the courthouse. However, Lucas' defense team called the trial "the biggest reach in Pueblo's history," saying that prosecutors didn't have a weapon, cause of death, location of the murder, or location of the body. Its going to be OK, Saxton said she told her daughter. "Kelsie Schelling was feloniously killed when Donthe Lucas committed first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or manslaughter against Kelsie and Sara Lucas and Lucas acted as. Suhr said she always knew what she was doing, trying to gather information about Schelling, and never fell in love with Lucas. Though they have strong suspicions thats where Kelsie Schelling is, authorities say it would be next to impossible to conduct a systematic search of the landfill for her remains. Saxton still doesn't have all the answers she's searched tirelessly for. Asked about the conversation he allegedly had with Schelling the prior day, Feb. 9, when she called him from a blocked number, Lucas said the conversation was very short and consisted of Schelling yelling at him and telling him not to leave her voicemails. It's still an open case. Lol, Torres said Donthe replied. Then, he proposed to her. We did not have a body that would've told us location No modus operandi of how she died. Megan Lancaster, then 25, had disappeared just months after Schelling. Im very grateful that our paths crossed and God took us to this moment.. Schelling's Late Philosophy in Confrontation with Hegel Peter Dews (Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. OK. In late 2017, there was another huge development. Binet said there were several red flags in Schellings case that led him to believe she was more than just missing. Torres detailed a text from Lucas to Schelling just before noon that said, Um, yeah you can if you werent scared to get fired. Her beloved daughter disappeared less than two weeks before her 22nd birthday on February 4, 2013. Documentary films The Invention of Marxism: How an Idea Changed Everything Christina Morina (Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, Bielefeld University) . That was dumb and I apologize. At 1:34 p.m., Lucas sends another text saying, sorry again about the loss, telling Schelling he will soon be going up to Denver to drop off her car. At that point I was kind of done, Suhr said. Michelle Chostner, the lead prosecutor in Schellings case, confirmed that investigators interviewed Martinez but could not comment on anything that wasnt admitted in trial. Schelling texted Lucas at 8:50 p.m., saying, Im coming now. Ryan Rivera said that Lucas once told him while they were about to play a game of cards that investigators would never find Schelling's body. Youre good. I mean, it's a sad story. Re-examine a current true crime case where unanswered questions remain and the mystery is still unraveling. The defense argued it was a missing persons case. Colette Bordelon reports that the District Attorney has confirmed to her that Martinez was going to testify for the prosecution this week that Lucas confessed to her that he killed Schelling. I lied from the jump. Kelsie Schelling was over the moon. The lead investigator on the case from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation believes Schelling was strangled by Lucas after he lured her down to Pueblo. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. We didn't have any of that.. The defense points out that Suhr was lying to Lucas the whole time, and tried to have her admit she was having sex with him in exchange for information. I just get mad and I dont want to fight with you. From the. Kelsie Schelling (credit: CBS) When she disappeared in February 2013, Schelling was pregnant and was reportedly travelling from Denver to Pueblo to talk to Lucas about it. The defense in Lucas' trial rested on Monday without calling any witnesses. Now, follow one mother's crusade for justice in this true crime investigation. Lucas Defense: This is a reach the biggest reach in Pueblos history.. Lauren Suhr, a young single mother who didnt know Kelsie Schelling or her family, was so moved by Schellings story that she decided she would try to get information on Schelling, on her own initiative, from Donthe Lucas. Saxton testified that she wasn't happy with the Pueblo Police Department's investigation, saying they weren't willing to coordinate with her on searches to try and find Kelsie. On February 4, 2013, Schelling went to a local Walmart in the town of Pueblo, Colorado, where she planned to meet up with Lucas and tell him about her new pregnancy but according to interview footage taken in 2017, Lucas told investigators that the night had taken a different turn (via Fox 21 News). I never want to give up on trying to bring her home. she said. In the recording, Lucas tells Binet the last time he heard from Schelling was the previous day, Feb. 9. As he told Sinnema, Lucas told Binet the last time hed seen Schelling was Tuesday, Feb. 5. Binet asked Lucas if he had any idea where Schelling might be, to which Lucas replied: Honestly, Im not too sure. PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV . During the trial, investigators had revealed troubling information about Schellings possible whereabouts. 10:50 a.m.: Opening statements wrapped up from prosecutors and Donthe Lucas' defense. Binet asked Lucas if there was any chance Schelling might have left her phone with him. [That was] where he seemingly intended to board a flight to Tucson, and the concern was once he got to Arizona that he may take other efforts to meet friends in Mexico.. She was reportedly on her way from Denver to Pueblo to discuss the pregnancy with Lucas. She wanted that baby. She'd driven down from Denver to Pueblo to meet her boyfriend Donthe Lucas, who had. By taking this avowal seriously, Adrian Johnston nally claries the philosophical project underlying iek's eorts. I love you very much and you know it. One of the crucial pieces of evidence was Lucas text messages, which the prosecution argued showed his intent and plan to lure her to Pueblo. Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. Please enter valid email address to continue. For a full recap of Day 10 in the trial, click here. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. His trial finally began in February 2021, and he was ultimately convicted of the crime, receiving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Stop acting like you cant do it. But surveillance video showed an entirely different story. Donthe was found at DIA. 21-year-old Kelsie Schelling was two months pregnant when she drove from Denver to Pueblo to see her former boyfriend Donthe Lucas. Saxton never met with Marcus at the McDonalds after Vancouver Police backed out of their involvement, believing it to be a scam. She had just seen her unborn child on an ultrasound, and she sent that photo to her on-again/off-again boyfriend. It reaches the surface, he said. He testified to various tests he ran on around 45 items of evidence. 13M subscribers Kelsie Schelling goes to see boyfriend, never seen again: Part 3 Schelling left work and headed to Pueblo, Colorado, where her boyfriend Donthe Lucas asked her to meet. . The Denver Police Department has said that they don't believe her death was connected to the trial. It was scary. "We're doing everything in our power. Criminal defense attorney Danielle Iredale joins host Ana Garcia. They asked the family to deliver $50,000 in cash to the same McDonalds in Vancouver, where a man named Marcus wearing a red hat would be waiting. Although some initially believed it seemed suspicious that Martinez died just before her testimony, investigators determined the shooting was completely unrelated to the trial. I know that that is a long shot than anybody [sic] would even try to help us with that., Saxton said the thought of her daughters body being left there is just the worst possibility to me, because he discarded her like garbage. Late in the afternoon on March 8, a Pueblo County jury issued a guilty verdict in the trial of Donthe Lucas, who'd been charged with killing his pregnant girlfriend, Denver's Kelsie . He inferred that Schelling had lied about being pregnant numerous times in the past to try to, make me stay with her and keep talking to her or whatever.. She said the plan, orchestrated by one of her close friends, was to get close to Lucas. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. NR | 03.26.21 | 01:20:44 | CC more episodes 42:55 PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Years after Donthe Lucas' arrest following the disappearance of his pregnant girlfriend, Kelsie Schelling, jurors are hearing the case against him in court Wednesday.Lucas is accused of killing Schelling and has been charged with first-degree murder. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - Donthe Lucas was found guilty of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend Kelsie Schelling in 2013. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Kelsie Schelling, 21, vanished in February 2013 shortly after finding out that she was eight weeks pregnant. That Saturday morning, Saxton said her whole world just unraveled., All of her friends started contacting us saying, We've been trying to reach Kelsie and we can't reach her, Saxton said. Emmanuel Chandler, then 29, turned himself in for the crime and has not yet entered a plea.. No one but the investigators knew what Martinez was planning to say in her testimony. 17 Jan 2023 Amber: The Girl Behind the Alert (2023 film) . They dated on and off while there, and after two years, they both decided to leave the school. Lucas and Schelling continue to exchange texts throughout the day of Feb. 4, beginning before her OBGYN appointment. PUEBLO The Pueblo murder trial of Donthe Lucas, who is accused of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend 21-year-old Kelsie Schelling in 2013, continued Wednesday following testimony from. New5's Colette Bordelon reports that the District Attorney has confirmed that Martinez was going to testify for the prosecution this week that Lucas confessed to her that he killed Schelling. During the interview, Lucas admitted to moving Schelling's car specifically, driving it from the Walmart where they were supposed to meet to a nearby medical center where it was later found. Fixed: Release in which this issue/RFE has been fixed.The release containing this fix may be available for download as an Early Access Release or a General Availability Release. Torres, continuing his testimony from Friday, began the fourth day of the trial by detailing alleged text exchanges between Lucas and Schelling on the night of Feb. 3 and the day of her disappearance Feb. 4, breaking them down minute-by-minute and hour-by-hour as the conversation unfolded.