October 28, 2025 • 6 mins
A Michigan mother who said she helped her teenage son die before his 18th birthday has now admitted under oath that she drugged him, tortured him, and slit his throat as he lay unconscious. Drew Nelson reports.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert hourly update, breaking crime news Now.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm Drew Nelson.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
A Michigan mother who said she helped her teenage son
die before his eighteenth birthday, has now admitted under oath
that she drugged him, tortured him, and slit his throat
as he lay unconscious in their Holland department. Forty year
old Katie Austin Lee pleaded guilty to second degree murder, torture,
and resisting police in the February twenty first killing of
her son, Austin Dean Picard. During her plea hearing in
(00:27):
Ottawa County Circuit Court, Lee broke down as she admitted
to each act in front of Judge John Holsing.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Is it true that while he was under your control
that on Kansas then hattie knife? Is that true?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yes? And did you cut his arm on at these
two occasions? Yes? And then did you also use that
knife to slice his throat? Yes? And as a resulted
you slashing his throat? Did that result in his death?
Investigators say Lee called nine one one at four point
(01:00):
fifteen am, telling the dispatcher she quote couldn't get her
son to stop breathing. When police arrived at her apartment,
they found her holding a large kitchen knife covered in blood.
She refused to drop the weapon and was subdued with
a taser after lunging toward officers. Inside the apartment, officers
found Austin in his bed with a fatal wound to
the neck and deep cuts on his arms. Lee told
(01:21):
detectives that she and Austin had attempted suicide together earlier
that day by overdosing, but that he had asked her
to quote help him stop breathing when he regained consciousness.
She said he did not want to turn eighteen. He
was one day away from his birthday. Prosecutors initially charged
Lee with open murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence
without parole, but she accepted a plea deal for a
(01:44):
sixty to ninety year sentence. Judge Holsing told her she
would not be eligible for parole until she was more
than one hundred years old. Lee's attorney confirmed that she
was competent and would not pursue an insanity defense. Austin's
obituary called him a quote patient, gentle, kind hearted soul
who loved cats, science, fishing, and video games. Family members
(02:06):
wrote that he could name every Pokemon character and dreamed
of seeing his ashes launched into space quote on an
actual rocket ship. A GoFundMe created by relatives raised seven
seven hundred ninety dollars of its twelve thousand dollars goal
to fund his celebration of life. Lee's sentencing is scheduled
for January nineteenth of next year.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
More crime and justice news after this.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
The FBI is seeking Timothy Thomas Coombs, who is a
fugitive anti government extremist accused of shooting a Missouri State
Highway Patrol trooper through his kitchen window nearly thirty years ago.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
He is one of the bureaus Most wanted and a
one hundred thousand dollars reward remains on offer for information
leading to his arrest. On the night of September sixteenth
of nineteen ninety four, Corporal Bobby J.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Harper, who was a fifty four year year old state trooper,
was at home in Anderson, Missouri, watching TV with his family.
As he walked into the kitchen, a bullet from a
high powered rifle tore through the window and struck him
in the chest. Harper's heart, lungs, and liver were damaged,
but he survived. After emergency surgery at a Joplin hospital.
Investigators quickly focused on Combs, then thirty five, who was
(03:21):
an associate of white supremacist preacher Robert Jews, known as
a leader of the extremist Cesserdotal Order of the David Company.
Police believed the shooting was retaliation for Harper's role in
arresting Jews earlier that summer. Jews had been wanted for
years for filing faith legal orders in an anti government case,
and was known for promoting racial separatism and defiance of
(03:42):
federal authority. When troopers visited Jews farm days after the shooting,
they encountered a man carrying a rifle who called himself
James Wilson. That man shouted religious chants and claimed to
represent the Kingdom of Yahweh ministries. Investigators later confirmed the
man's true ideay was Timothy Coombs.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
By the time police obtained warrants, though Coombs had vanished.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Searches of Jews property uncovered a stockpile of pistols, rifles,
and more than forty sticks of dynamite, along with shell
casings matching those found outside Harper's kitchen. A neighbor in
wit Springs, Arkansas, where Combs had been living. Also turned
over a bullet that had struck his horse, likely from
target practice. Coombs was born February twenty first of nineteen
(04:25):
fifty nine in Ocean County, New Jersey. His white five
seven one forty blue eyes and balding brown hair. When
he was last seen, he had a full beard and
wire rimmed glasses, but he is known to alter his appearance,
sometimes trimming his beard or shaving completely. The FBI says
he has been observed wearing fringed clothing symbolic of his
extremest religious sect, and has carried forty five caliber and
(04:48):
nine millimeters pistols in holsters. Cooms has used numerous aliases,
including cal Or Kai, Liberty, William Patterson, James Wilson, and
James Mason. He has been identified as a tree planter,
Volley to Your firefighter, and a self styled so called
Christian Israelite pastor. He is affiliated with the Christian Identity
movement and is believed to have supporters still living in
(05:10):
Arkansas and Missouri. In nineteen ninety four, the McDonald County
Circuit Court charged him with first degree assault on a
law enforcement officer and a federal warrant followed weeks later
for an unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Corporal Harper ultimately
recovered from the shooting, but retired shortly after. He died
in nineteen ninety six at age fifty five following heart
(05:30):
surgery unrelated to his injuries. If he's alive today, Coombs
would be sixty five. The FBI's Kansas City Fields office
continues to treat the case as active. Anyone with information
on Timothy Thomas Coombs is urged to contact the FBI
at eight hundred call FBI or tips dot FBI dot gov.
He should be considered armed, dangerous, and a potential threat
(05:51):
to law enforcement. For the latest crime and justice news,
follow Crime Alert's hourly update on your favorite podcast app.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
With his Crime Alerts, I'm Drew Nelson.
Crime Alert hourly update, breaking crime news Now.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm Drew Nelson.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
A Michigan mother who said she helped her teenage son
die before his eighteenth birthday, has now admitted under oath
that she drugged him, tortured him, and slit his throat
as he lay unconscious in their Holland department. Forty year
old Katie Austin Lee pleaded guilty to second degree murder, torture,
and resisting police in the February twenty first killing of
her son, Austin Dean Picard. During her plea hearing in
(00:27):
Ottawa County Circuit Court, Lee broke down as she admitted
to each act in front of Judge John Holsing.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Is it true that while he was under your control
that on Kansas then hattie knife? Is that true?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yes? And did you cut his arm on at these
two occasions? Yes? And then did you also use that
knife to slice his throat? Yes? And as a resulted
you slashing his throat? Did that result in his death?
Investigators say Lee called nine one one at four point
(01:00):
fifteen am, telling the dispatcher she quote couldn't get her
son to stop breathing. When police arrived at her apartment,
they found her holding a large kitchen knife covered in blood.
She refused to drop the weapon and was subdued with
a taser after lunging toward officers. Inside the apartment, officers
found Austin in his bed with a fatal wound to
the neck and deep cuts on his arms. Lee told
(01:21):
detectives that she and Austin had attempted suicide together earlier
that day by overdosing, but that he had asked her
to quote help him stop breathing when he regained consciousness.
She said he did not want to turn eighteen. He
was one day away from his birthday. Prosecutors initially charged
Lee with open murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence
without parole, but she accepted a plea deal for a
(01:44):
sixty to ninety year sentence. Judge Holsing told her she
would not be eligible for parole until she was more
than one hundred years old. Lee's attorney confirmed that she
was competent and would not pursue an insanity defense. Austin's
obituary called him a quote patient, gentle, kind hearted soul
who loved cats, science, fishing, and video games. Family members
(02:06):
wrote that he could name every Pokemon character and dreamed
of seeing his ashes launched into space quote on an
actual rocket ship. A GoFundMe created by relatives raised seven
seven hundred ninety dollars of its twelve thousand dollars goal
to fund his celebration of life. Lee's sentencing is scheduled
for January nineteenth of next year.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
More crime and justice news after this.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
The FBI is seeking Timothy Thomas Coombs, who is a
fugitive anti government extremist accused of shooting a Missouri State
Highway Patrol trooper through his kitchen window nearly thirty years ago.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
He is one of the bureaus Most wanted and a
one hundred thousand dollars reward remains on offer for information
leading to his arrest. On the night of September sixteenth
of nineteen ninety four, Corporal Bobby J.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Harper, who was a fifty four year year old state trooper,
was at home in Anderson, Missouri, watching TV with his family.
As he walked into the kitchen, a bullet from a
high powered rifle tore through the window and struck him
in the chest. Harper's heart, lungs, and liver were damaged,
but he survived. After emergency surgery at a Joplin hospital.
Investigators quickly focused on Combs, then thirty five, who was
(03:21):
an associate of white supremacist preacher Robert Jews, known as
a leader of the extremist Cesserdotal Order of the David Company.
Police believed the shooting was retaliation for Harper's role in
arresting Jews earlier that summer. Jews had been wanted for
years for filing faith legal orders in an anti government case,
and was known for promoting racial separatism and defiance of
(03:42):
federal authority. When troopers visited Jews farm days after the shooting,
they encountered a man carrying a rifle who called himself
James Wilson. That man shouted religious chants and claimed to
represent the Kingdom of Yahweh ministries. Investigators later confirmed the
man's true ideay was Timothy Coombs.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
By the time police obtained warrants, though Coombs had vanished.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Searches of Jews property uncovered a stockpile of pistols, rifles,
and more than forty sticks of dynamite, along with shell
casings matching those found outside Harper's kitchen. A neighbor in
wit Springs, Arkansas, where Combs had been living. Also turned
over a bullet that had struck his horse, likely from
target practice. Coombs was born February twenty first of nineteen
(04:25):
fifty nine in Ocean County, New Jersey. His white five
seven one forty blue eyes and balding brown hair. When
he was last seen, he had a full beard and
wire rimmed glasses, but he is known to alter his appearance,
sometimes trimming his beard or shaving completely. The FBI says
he has been observed wearing fringed clothing symbolic of his
extremest religious sect, and has carried forty five caliber and
(04:48):
nine millimeters pistols in holsters. Cooms has used numerous aliases,
including cal Or Kai, Liberty, William Patterson, James Wilson, and
James Mason. He has been identified as a tree planter,
Volley to Your firefighter, and a self styled so called
Christian Israelite pastor. He is affiliated with the Christian Identity
movement and is believed to have supporters still living in
(05:10):
Arkansas and Missouri. In nineteen ninety four, the McDonald County
Circuit Court charged him with first degree assault on a
law enforcement officer and a federal warrant followed weeks later
for an unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Corporal Harper ultimately
recovered from the shooting, but retired shortly after. He died
in nineteen ninety six at age fifty five following heart
(05:30):
surgery unrelated to his injuries. If he's alive today, Coombs
would be sixty five. The FBI's Kansas City Fields office
continues to treat the case as active. Anyone with information
on Timothy Thomas Coombs is urged to contact the FBI
at eight hundred call FBI or tips dot FBI dot gov.
He should be considered armed, dangerous, and a potential threat
(05:51):
to law enforcement. For the latest crime and justice news,
follow Crime Alert's hourly update on your favorite podcast app.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
With his Crime Alerts, I'm Drew Nelson.
Host
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