February 21, 2024 • 27 mins
On a chilling November night in Midwest City, Oklahoma, a devastating scene unfolded as Matthew Probst discovered his wife, Nancy Probst, lifeless in their home, marking the beginning of one of Oklahoma's most perplexing and unsettling unsolved homicides. Nancy, a 32-year-old mother, was found dead, leading to Matthew quickly becoming a person of interest. Despite his time behind bars, the case remains unsolved as of February 2020, leaving a haunting question mark over the tragic event.
In 2000, amid significant global and national events—from the US presidential election controversy to the opening of the International Space Station—the murder of Nancy Probst in the relatively peaceful community of Midwest City added a dark chapter to the year. Midwest City, known for its connection to Tinker Air Force Base and its role as a suburban sprawl exemplar, was rocked by the violent crime that seemed out of place in the otherwise safe area.
Nancy Probst's murder on November 16, 2000, unfolded in a scenario that seemed almost cinematic in its horror: her body was discovered across from her infant daughter, presenting a scene that no family should ever endure. Given the peculiar circumstances and his subsequent actions, Matthew Probst's account of the events leading to the discovery raised immediate suspicions among investigators. The crime scene, described as staged, and the absence of clear motives such as robbery or sexual assault, further complicated the investigation.
Matthew Probst, who had multiple affairs, emerged as the primary suspect, not just due to his immediate behavior but also because of his extramarital activities, and expressed dissatisfaction with his marriage. Despite these suspicions and his initial arrest, the charges against him were dismissed, leaving Nancy's murder an open wound for her family, the community, and all who seek justice in unsolved cases.
"Box in the Basement," a podcast dedicated to shedding light on unsolved murders and disappearances, takes on Nancy Probst's case, hoping to rekindle interest and perhaps lead to new information that could break the impasse in the investigation. The hosts, Arlene and Leah, driven by personal experiences of unresolved family tragedies, aim to provide a voice for the victims and their families, who continue to search for answers and closure.
We also answer the question: How many unsolved homicides have been in Oklahoma since 1976?
The murder of Nancy Probst remains a poignant reminder of the mysteries that persist in our midst, challenging our sense of security and our faith in the justice system. As the podcast "Box in the Basement" underscores, the fight for answers in cold cases like Nancy's is not just about solving a crime but about restoring peace to families and communities haunted by uncertainty.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bree (00:00):
This episode explores themes of abuse and domestic
(00:03):
violence.
Listener discretion is advised.
It was a cold November night inMidwest city, Oklahoma.
When Matthew probes walked up tohis house and So a horror scene
through the bedroom Window hiswife, 32 year old Nancy probes
laid dead on the floor.
Matthew became a person ofinterest almost immediately.
(00:26):
And spent time in jail but as ofFebruary, 2020 for the murder of
Nancy probes remains one ofOklahoma's most notorious and
disturbing unsolved homicides.
Hello, and welcome to box in thebasement podcast.
I'm your host, Arlene.
And I'm Leah.
In 1996, my world was shatteredwhen my uncle Leon Lorella is.
(00:49):
Was shot execution style and asmall town in Texas.
To this day, his murder remainsunsolved.
And the pain of that injusticecontinues to haunt me, my family
and Leon's friends andcoworkers.
Here at box in the basement.
We want to shed light on theoverwhelming number of unsolved
(01:10):
murders and disappearances herein Texas and beyond.
Ultimately, we want to getjustice for Leon.
And for all the victims whosecases are sitting, collecting
dust in a box, in a basement.
...............the year 2000 wasmost famous, perhaps for the
numerous..Discussions abouthanging CHADS as the us
presidential election hung inthe balance.
(01:33):
The Supreme court wouldeventually give the win to
George W.
Bush.
The international space stationopen for business.
The USS Cole was attacked bysuicide bombers off the coast of
Yemen.
And bill gates left his positionas CEO at Microsoft.
The summer Olympics were held inSydney that year.
With a 15 year old MichaelPhelps making his first Olympic
(01:56):
appearance.
The Los Angeles Rams beat theTennessee Titans in the
Superbowl.
And if you're wonderingChristina Aguilera.
Toni Braxton, Phil Collins andreggae Glacis and Edward James
almost did the halftime show.
The Lakers beat the IndianaPacers for the NBA championship.
The Yankees beat the Mets in theworld series known as the subway
(02:18):
series and the New Jersey devilsbeat the Dallas stars for the
Stanley cup.
The local college team and myAlma mater, the Oklahoma Sooners
would finish the season 13 andoh, and when the orange bowl in
early 2001 for the nationalchampionship.
The week of November 16th, 2000creeds with arms wide open.
(02:38):
Was that the number one spot onthe billboard?
Hot 100.
With Madonna three doors down,Christina Aguilera and Destiny's
child right behind.
We're still in country musicterritory here.
John Michael Montgomery is thelittle girl was number one on
the hot country chart.
Charlie's angels was number oneat the box office that week.
(02:59):
But how the Grinch stoleChristmas was the number one
movie of the year.
Patricia Cornwell's the lastprecinct was on top of the New
York times bestseller list.
One of mine and Arlene'sall-time favorite fiction
authors.
Midwest city, Oklahoma is partof the Oklahoma city Metro area.
Sitting just to the east of thecity.
(03:21):
The city was developed in theearly 1940s in conjunction with
the construction of the Midwestair Depot, which would later
become tinker air force base.
The city boomed after world wartwo, becoming somewhat of a
model for suburban sprawl andmodern commercial development.
Tinker air force base is thelargest single employer in the
(03:41):
state of Oklahoma.
And other related aerospacebusinesses in the area, keep the
economy healthy.
As of the 2020 census Midwestcity has around 58,000 people.
And in 2000, when this casetakes place, that number was
closer to 54,000.
The Oklahoma city Metro area hasjust over a million residents
(04:03):
currently, just to give you somecontext.
Midwest city is a fairly safecommunity.
Despite its proximity to a majormetropolitan area.
Property crimes at the bigworry, but historically violent
crime has almost always beenlower than the national average.
So the murder of a middle-classwoman in a residential area
(04:24):
stands out.
Okay.
Today's case, is that a 32 yearold Nancy probes who was killed
on November 16th, 2000 acrossthe hall from her infant
daughter and their home inMidwest city, Oklahoma.
I remember this case, like itwas yesterday.
I was a junior at OU, so like 20or 30 minutes away from where I
(04:46):
was living.
I honestly didn't realize thiscase was still unsolved.
When I was doing research, thelast I'd heard, the husband had
been charged, but apparentlythat all fell apart.
Nancy Henley was born in Kansasto Alberta and Carl Hamley.
And eventually made her way tothe Midwest city.
She and Matthew had been marriedfor about three years at the
(05:09):
time of her murder.
And had a nine month olddaughter named Laila.
Matthew props was the mechanicwho worked at a local car
dealership.
And we'll start the story withhis return home from work that
day.
Matthew walked up to his houseand he didn't go inside.
He claimed to have seen his wifelaying on the floor.
(05:31):
So he turned around, parked hiscar, several houses down and
called 9 1 1.
I already have a problem withthis story.
I have so many questions.
The first detective on the scenesaid Porter was also skeptical
from the start.
But we'll get back to that.
Please enter the probes home andfound Nancy dead on the master
(05:52):
bedroom floor.
Clad only in a bra face down andbeaten and shot once in the back
of the head.
With a 25 caliber weapon.
Investigators felt like thescene was staged from day one.
She was found with a TV cabledraped across her body.
Not wrapped around, like it wasused, she was strained.
(06:14):
Her butt just laid across herback.
The TV wasn't busted or knockedover or anything.
There was a VCR sitting on thefloor, but it wasn't broken or
anything either.
It looked like it had beenplaced there deliberately.
Well, I'm sure there could be areasonable explanation for this
(06:34):
is seems a little contrived,given the other weird things
about the crime scene andMatthew Story.
The lights were off inside thebedroom as well, which cast a
doubt on Matthew's story and hisability to see clearly inside
the house.
Nancy was almost fully nude.
But she hadn't been sexuallyassaulted, which eliminated that
(06:57):
as a possible motive almostimmediately.
Nothing valuable.
What's missing from the home.
So robbery.
Was also eliminated as a motive.
The props infant daughter wasmad as hell but had been
unharmed, which furtherindicated that Nancy was the
sole target.
And the intent here was to kill.
(07:19):
Nancy wasn't just shot.
She was beaten before her death.
She had a bruised left eye.
A busted lip contusion on herabdomen.
One of the bruises wasconsistent with the cologne
bottle that was found near theopen garage store of the house.
No gun was found at the scene.
And one has never been connectedto the crime.
(07:41):
To my knowledge.
Let's talk about Nancy'shusband, Matthew probes.
We intimated earlier that copsdidn't like him from jump.
And there are lots of goodreasons for that.
Let's back up slightly toearlier on the day of the
murder.
A few claimed that he had triedto call his wife numerous times
that day.
I think some reports said he'dcalled 26 times during the
(08:02):
course of the afternoon and shenever picked up.
Matthew had left for work aroundseven that morning and made his
nine one one call just after6:00 PM.
The same evening.
And I don't know what time hestarted trying to call Nancy
during the day, but it reallydoesn't matter.
If he called 26 times over thecourse of an hour, or if he
called 26 times over the courseof the 11 or so hours, he was
(08:25):
away from the house.
That rings, alarm bells, period.
I believe he stated he startedtrying to call his wife around
3:00 PM.
So around three hours before hecalled 9 1 1.
And the last call was placednine minutes before calling 9 1
1.
Got it.
Now Matthew claimed that he wasworried that Nancy never picked
(08:46):
up.
And he told police from thebeginning that he thought his
wife was dead when she didn'tanswer.
This is a huge red flag for me.
The guy worked at a local cardealership.
It's not like he was on a worktrip to another state or
anything.
If you think your wife is indanger or has been harmed, you
get your ass in the car and yougo home.
Or you have a neighbor go bangon the door.
(09:07):
If you really can't leave at thevery least.
But there's no indication thatMatthew called a neighbor or a
family member or anyone else togo check on his wife.
He's allegedly so worried about.
I remember once you and I camehome early from vacation.
Really late in the evening.
I took the next day off.
You went to work and I turned myringer off and fell asleep
(09:28):
during the day.
Which is not normal for me.
The next thing I know you'rebusting in the bedroom door
because you thought somethinghad happened to me.
I'd miss like a half a dozencalls over the course of a
couple of hours and scared youhave to death.
You've given me a scare a coupleof times too.
Leah can't have her cell withher at work.
(09:50):
So we communicate via messenger.
She always lets me know she gotto work and messages made
throughout the day.
But when I hadn't heard from herin the first two hours, I was
scared.
And it began calling differentoffices, looking for her because
it was very unusual.
I didn't think you were deadimmediately, but I wondered if
(10:11):
you had gotten into a caraccident or something like that.
But still, if I hadn't heardfrom you in three hours, you bet
I would have driven all the wayto your job, looking for you.
And then I'd call the hospital.
I'm not just going to ignore itand wait to find out after work.
Nope.
F that I'm leaving work to findyou.
(10:33):
Yeah.
And before anyone thinks.
I'm a controller weirdo orsomething.
Let me explain you.
And I touched base several timesduring the Workday.
So when I couldn't get hold ofyou, I started to worry.
Eventually I just left work.
I told my boss I had anemergency and I walked out.
I didn't give a damn if he firedme, to be honest, I was
genuinely concerned.
(10:53):
And a hundred scenarios weregoing through my head.
Did you fall and knock yourselfout in the bathroom?
Did someone break in, did youdrop your phone in the bath tub?
Did you go out for groceries andforget your phone?
A whole range of possibilities.
And I didn't give a damn aboutcontaminating a crime scene or
startling in an intruder.
I was so full of adrenaline.
I'd have knocked a murderer,right?
(11:14):
The hell out.
If he came at me.
Exactly.
So, yes, I agree with you thatthis is a troubling sequence of
events.
My first thought would not bethat you were dead or someone
came into the house and harmedyou.
First he admits, he thinks Hiswife was harmed.
Which immediately calls intoquestion his actions or lack
(11:34):
thereof.
If he'd said I couldn't getahold of my wife and assume she
had fallen asleep or gone tovisit her friends.
Then we'd be having a differentconversation.
I think.
And speaking of that, there's noindication again, that he did
try to track her down at afamily member's house friend's
house or anything like that.
(11:54):
At least not in any of thearticles.
And records that I have accessto.
Matthew claims that he didn't goinside the house when he
returned from work, because hesaw his wife laying on the floor
of the master bedroom.
The information I do have heresays that the cologne bottle we
mentioned earlier was foundoutside the open garage door.
(12:15):
I've seen pictures of the probeshouse.
Typical modest ranch style withthe attached garage.
If Matthew said he had tried toenter the house through the
garage and saw his wife throughthe open door.
Then I probably believe him.
But he said he saw his wifethrough a window, which seems
unlikely to say the least.
(12:36):
And then we find out from aneighbor of the probes that the
blinds at the probes house wereclosed all day, that day.
And this was unusual.
Nancy probes always had theblinds open because she
preferred natural light in thehouse.
So how the hell would Matthewhave seen inside the house?
If the blinds were closed?
One article I read said thebedroom blinds were in disarray.
(12:58):
That's a direct quote and theyhad a picture.
The neighbor didn't reportseeing any blinds and disarray.
So I'm going to assume that thebedroom was not at the front of
the house, where it could easilybe seen by other people in the
area.
So that begs the question of whyMatthew went looking in the
windows at the back of the houseor the side of the house.
(13:20):
Maybe to shore up his storyabout his worry that something
happened to his wife.
But again, it all seems tooconvenient for me.
He then left the scene andparked his truck.
Several doors down and called 91 1.
It's important to reiterate thathe did not go inside the house
after seeing his wife on thefloor.
Matthew's father was in lawenforcement.
(13:42):
State trooper, I believe.
He claimed at the time that heleft the scene and parked at the
neighbor's house, because that'swhat a cop would do when
responding to a scene like this.
But Matthew is a mechanic, not acop.
And he had an infant daughterinside the house where his wife
had just been killed.
(14:03):
Even the detective we mentionedearlier, said, Porter.
Said he toss protocol out thewindow and go in the house.
If his child was inside.
Porter said.
10 people couldn't have kept mefrom going inside there and
seeing if my family was okay.
And I agree.
I'm a parent and a grandparent,and I wouldn't care who was in
(14:25):
my way.
I'm going to try and get in.
When the cops confronted him onthis point, Matthew said
something to the effect of notwanting to go inside the house
because there could be someoneholding a gun to the back of her
head.
Wait.
But he said he had seen herlaying on the bedroom floor.
So what.
I already hate it.
(14:45):
And his pants are on fire.
Now, maybe that's just the turnof phrase.
The whole gun to the back of thehead thing, but that's literally
how Nancy probes died.
And shot to the back of thehead.
And at that point in theinvestigation, nobody had
disclosed to Matthew how Nancyhad died.
Could be a coincidence.
Sure.
But I don't know that there aremany coincidences in this case,
(15:06):
given what we've talked about sofar.
What kind of a person doesn'task what happened to their
spouse?
We're asked to see them.
He's not acting like a personthat loves his wife and is
concerned.
I should also point out at thispoint that Matthew probes is not
a small man.
He's six foot two, and weighedabout 240 pounds at the time of
(15:28):
the crime.
That's my brother's size.
You've met my brother, Arlene.
He's a big squishy marshmallow,but I'm pretty sure most anybody
would be intimidated by him.
If he came busting into a roomeyes, ablaze.
And then there's the reaction tohis daughter when police took
her out of the house.
She's just a baby at the time.
And she was mad, fussy, andcrying.
(15:50):
Matthew's response was that shemust be hungry because she
hadn't eaten all day.
At this point, it's about 12hours after Matthew had left for
work in the morning.
How would he know the babyhadn't eaten all day?
I assume as a parent, he'd haveat least a vague idea of his own
daughter's feeding schedule.
And when she'd be fed throughoutthe day.
(16:12):
It's just a strange thing tosay.
Strange.
Now I'd say horrible parent forletting his baby go without
eating all day.
And didn't run to herimmediately.
I'd also call him a dumdum forbringing up the gun and baby not
eating.
He's just basically saying lookat me.
And detective Porter found thisodd as well.
(16:33):
Going so far as to say in his 32years of experience, he'd never
seen that kind of reaction by avictim spouse.
Investigators also discoveredearly on that Matthew was not
faithful to Nancy in theirmarriage.
One woman told police that she'dhad sex with Matthew probes.
The very day his wife wasmurdered.
(16:53):
No surprise about beingunfaithful, but how disgusting
and doing that while his baby'sat home crying and hungry.
I hate it.
He had multiple mistresses andanother of them disclose to
investigators that Matthew wasunhappy with his home life and
plan to leave.
Nancy.
And right here, we are going toput out a disclaimer that just
(17:15):
because Matthew was a cheater,doesn't make him a murderer.
He's just an awful human being,but it certainly presents
investigators with a motive orsome context at the very least.
I don't think Nancy props workedat least not at the time.
So Matthew would have been onthe hook for child support.
Maybe deal with the custodyfight.
(17:37):
All the things that happen whenyou get divorced, we know that
this is a thing.
Husbands have been murderingwives instead of divorce in them
for all of human history.
Look at Scott Peterson, ChrisWatts.
Brian Walsh.
We in the true crime communityjoke and say, it's always the
husband.
(17:57):
But there's a reason people saythat it's often true.
I will never understand howmurdering his wife is better
than having to pay child supportfor your child.
Matthew was arrested for hiswife's murder and charged.
And I think this happened aboutfour months after the murder
happened.
He spent about a year in jailwhile the da built a case, but
(18:19):
it was dismissed in 2002 withprejudice pending further
investigation.
Which means the da can refile inthe future.
He's still considered theprimary suspect in the case, and
nobody else has ever beenarrested as a February, 2024.
The last I saw Matthew propslives in Texas and he
(18:39):
surrendered his parental rightsto his daughter.
After this case was dropped.
Nancy probes brother Byronadopted The girl.
in 2003 and she is now 25 yearsold.
Her father cut off all contact.
With her when she was still ayoung child.
That's just so sad to me.
(18:59):
Poor baby.
If you're innocent.
Why cut off contact with yourdaughter?
It seems to me, regardless ofwhether or not Matthew probes
actually did commit this crimeor not, he absolutely wanted out
of his domestic situation, Isuppose a more charitable
interpretation is that he wantedto spare his child, the
suffering and embarrassment ofgrowing up with a parent.
(19:23):
Who was the prime suspect in hermother's murder.
But interviews with Nancy'sfamily seemed to indicate
otherwise.
I don't have much faith andthinking he was just trying to
spear his daughter, but that'sjust my opinion.
And she wasn't Matthew probesonly child.
He had two other kids, though.
I believe they were from aprevious relationship.
(19:44):
And as far as I know, he didn'thave a hand in raising those
children either.
So, what do we think happenedhere?
Investigators only really haveone suspect in this case.
Do we think that's a fairassessment.
Are there other explanationsthat could work here?
The husband definitely lookslike the best candidate here,
(20:06):
but we need to reiterate hestill justice suspect and
charges have not been refiledagainst him.
I think his story doesn't addup.
I also think there's apossibility.
This was a murder for hire.
If whoever wanted her dead,didn't want to get their hands
dirty or they didn't want toleave a trail of evidence.
They could have hired someone topull the trigger.
(20:26):
Hence the reason the blinds werepulled and nobody was seen
leaving or entering the houseall day after Matthew left for
work.
Then you have Matthew statementthat he felt his daughter was
crying because she hadn't eatenall day.
I think whoever killed Nancy didso early in the day.
Which is also supported by thewitnesses statements about the
blinds and the doors stayingclosed.
(20:49):
Matthew Lawyer brought up thefact that his string of
burglaries had happened in theneighborhood in the weeks prior
to Nancy's death.
And police even had a suspect inthose burglaries.
It is possible that this was aproperty crime gone wrong.
But nothing was taken from thehouse.
Maybe there was an intruder thatpanicked beat Nancy, and then
(21:11):
shot her to keep her fromidentifying them.
It's possible.
It's happened before.
But I just don't think that'swhat happened here.
Given the witnesses, statements,and evidence available.
Why didn't they take anythingafter going through all the
trouble?
Let me reiterate here.
That Matthew prose though.
(21:31):
He's a free man today.
He has never been cleared as asuspect.
Issue now is that since so muchtime has passed.
And the original charges againstMatthew probes were dismissed.
The threshold for evidence ismuch higher now.
Technology is better than it wasin 2000, but it's going to be
(21:51):
hard to bring charges or get aconviction unless someone comes
forward.
The gun is used in the crimeappears, or unless forensics can
come up with an N futile slamdunk.
It's so frustrating.
If you have any informationrelated to the 2000 murder of
Nancy probes in Midwest city,Oklahoma.
Please call the Midwest citypolice department at 4 0 5.
(22:15):
7 3 9 1 3.
Zero six.
Hello, this is Bree, producerwith Box in a Basement.
How many boxes are sitting inOklahoma basements?
According to the FBI, Oklahomalaw enforcement agencies have
stored approximately 1, 800boxes of unsolved cases in their
basements since 1976.
(22:36):
Of these boxes, about 1, 300 aremale victims, while 511 are
female victims.
And About half of those fallinto Nancy's category, which is
18 to 35.
Nancy was the new motherarchetype.
A woman in the prime of herlife, and at a stage marked by
profound emotional and physicalchanges.
(22:57):
New mothers like Nancy arenavigating the joy and
challenges of caring for anewborn, often experiencing
significant relationship andsocial dynamic shifts.
Now, let's focus on the circleof suspects.
There are over 60, 000 solvedhomicides of Nancy's age
category from the FBI data.
What does this data tell us?
(23:18):
Well, I dug through it.
Here's what I found.
Most of these crimes arecommitted by the intimate
partner, 53%.
And their choice of weapons,guns, followed by knives,
followed by beatings.
We know in the case of Nancythat there were Both a handgun
used and a beating.
(23:38):
So we know that this affectedNancy and that she falls into
this category.
The second most likely would bethe acquaintance.
At about 20%.
And the final would be strangerat 10 percent of the circle of
suspects.
You usually want to start withthe intimate partners and move
your way outward.
If you go to family, it's around4 percent friends, 3 percent
(24:00):
coworkers, 0.
09%.
So as we look at the circle ofsuspects, the intimate partner
is the most likely, and that iswhere law enforcement should
keep looking.
If you Or anyone, you know, area victim of domestic violence.
Please call 1 800 799 SAFE.
Arlene (24:22):
this podcast has a bigger purpose than Just
providing information and theentertainment.
The homicide victims, familiesrights act is a bipartisan bill
that was signed into law byCongress in 2021.
And we want to see it put intoaction.
This law establishes asystematic process for reviewing
(24:43):
case files.
Related to cold case murders.
The focus is on providing amechanism for the families and
friends of murder victims.
To request a formal review ofsuch cases.
We need an attorney or teams ofattorneys and legal
professionals To take on thebold and brave fight against the
(25:05):
system around the country.
In our case, we need someone tofight for Leon to help not only
put fresh eyes on the case.
But to get his body zoomed, tosearch for evidence that was not
collected the first time around.
We and other families andfriends need assistance with
getting foyer requests.
(25:28):
It blows our minds that so manymurders occurred from 1976 to
1997.
In Brownwood, Texas under thewatch of the same investigators,
responsible for handling Leon'scase.
We're going to look at all theunsolved murders in Brownwood.
And maybe even if you solvedones, if it helps uncover what
(25:52):
was happening in that era thatleft so many families
devastated.
And a community living in fear.
If you want to hear more aboutvictim focused.
Unsolved cases.
And get updates about what weknow.
Please subscribe, like and shareour podcast.
Also visit our website.
(26:12):
Justice for leon.com to donateto our cause to hire an
attorney.
You can also join our email listto stay current on developments
on Leon's case and other cases.
We cover as they happen.
pleaSe follow and lagger.
Bigger Facebook pages for box inthe basement.
And justice for Leon Corellasand follow our Instagram pages
(26:36):
I'd also like to ask that yousigned my petition for my uncle.
Leon Lorella says case to bereopened and reviewed with fresh
eyes.
And you can find our petition onchange.org.
I also have a GoFundMe page tohire an attorney to help me get
a copy of his autopsy.
That I had been denied for 27years.
(26:56):
You can find the GoFund me bysearching for Leon Lorella
that's L a U R E L E S.
Thank you for joining us.
Be kind later Gators.
This episode explores themes of abuse and domestic
(00:03):
violence.
Listener discretion is advised.
It was a cold November night inMidwest city, Oklahoma.
When Matthew probes walked up tohis house and So a horror scene
through the bedroom Window hiswife, 32 year old Nancy probes
laid dead on the floor.
Matthew became a person ofinterest almost immediately.
(00:26):
And spent time in jail but as ofFebruary, 2020 for the murder of
Nancy probes remains one ofOklahoma's most notorious and
disturbing unsolved homicides.
Hello, and welcome to box in thebasement podcast.
I'm your host, Arlene.
And I'm Leah.
In 1996, my world was shatteredwhen my uncle Leon Lorella is.
(00:49):
Was shot execution style and asmall town in Texas.
To this day, his murder remainsunsolved.
And the pain of that injusticecontinues to haunt me, my family
and Leon's friends andcoworkers.
Here at box in the basement.
We want to shed light on theoverwhelming number of unsolved
(01:10):
murders and disappearances herein Texas and beyond.
Ultimately, we want to getjustice for Leon.
And for all the victims whosecases are sitting, collecting
dust in a box, in a basement.
...............the year 2000 wasmost famous, perhaps for the
numerous..Discussions abouthanging CHADS as the us
presidential election hung inthe balance.
(01:33):
The Supreme court wouldeventually give the win to
George W.
Bush.
The international space stationopen for business.
The USS Cole was attacked bysuicide bombers off the coast of
Yemen.
And bill gates left his positionas CEO at Microsoft.
The summer Olympics were held inSydney that year.
With a 15 year old MichaelPhelps making his first Olympic
(01:56):
appearance.
The Los Angeles Rams beat theTennessee Titans in the
Superbowl.
And if you're wonderingChristina Aguilera.
Toni Braxton, Phil Collins andreggae Glacis and Edward James
almost did the halftime show.
The Lakers beat the IndianaPacers for the NBA championship.
The Yankees beat the Mets in theworld series known as the subway
(02:18):
series and the New Jersey devilsbeat the Dallas stars for the
Stanley cup.
The local college team and myAlma mater, the Oklahoma Sooners
would finish the season 13 andoh, and when the orange bowl in
early 2001 for the nationalchampionship.
The week of November 16th, 2000creeds with arms wide open.
(02:38):
Was that the number one spot onthe billboard?
Hot 100.
With Madonna three doors down,Christina Aguilera and Destiny's
child right behind.
We're still in country musicterritory here.
John Michael Montgomery is thelittle girl was number one on
the hot country chart.
Charlie's angels was number oneat the box office that week.
(02:59):
But how the Grinch stoleChristmas was the number one
movie of the year.
Patricia Cornwell's the lastprecinct was on top of the New
York times bestseller list.
One of mine and Arlene'sall-time favorite fiction
authors.
Midwest city, Oklahoma is partof the Oklahoma city Metro area.
Sitting just to the east of thecity.
(03:21):
The city was developed in theearly 1940s in conjunction with
the construction of the Midwestair Depot, which would later
become tinker air force base.
The city boomed after world wartwo, becoming somewhat of a
model for suburban sprawl andmodern commercial development.
Tinker air force base is thelargest single employer in the
(03:41):
state of Oklahoma.
And other related aerospacebusinesses in the area, keep the
economy healthy.
As of the 2020 census Midwestcity has around 58,000 people.
And in 2000, when this casetakes place, that number was
closer to 54,000.
The Oklahoma city Metro area hasjust over a million residents
(04:03):
currently, just to give you somecontext.
Midwest city is a fairly safecommunity.
Despite its proximity to a majormetropolitan area.
Property crimes at the bigworry, but historically violent
crime has almost always beenlower than the national average.
So the murder of a middle-classwoman in a residential area
(04:24):
stands out.
Okay.
Today's case, is that a 32 yearold Nancy probes who was killed
on November 16th, 2000 acrossthe hall from her infant
daughter and their home inMidwest city, Oklahoma.
I remember this case, like itwas yesterday.
I was a junior at OU, so like 20or 30 minutes away from where I
(04:46):
was living.
I honestly didn't realize thiscase was still unsolved.
When I was doing research, thelast I'd heard, the husband had
been charged, but apparentlythat all fell apart.
Nancy Henley was born in Kansasto Alberta and Carl Hamley.
And eventually made her way tothe Midwest city.
She and Matthew had been marriedfor about three years at the
(05:09):
time of her murder.
And had a nine month olddaughter named Laila.
Matthew props was the mechanicwho worked at a local car
dealership.
And we'll start the story withhis return home from work that
day.
Matthew walked up to his houseand he didn't go inside.
He claimed to have seen his wifelaying on the floor.
(05:31):
So he turned around, parked hiscar, several houses down and
called 9 1 1.
I already have a problem withthis story.
I have so many questions.
The first detective on the scenesaid Porter was also skeptical
from the start.
But we'll get back to that.
Please enter the probes home andfound Nancy dead on the master
(05:52):
bedroom floor.
Clad only in a bra face down andbeaten and shot once in the back
of the head.
With a 25 caliber weapon.
Investigators felt like thescene was staged from day one.
She was found with a TV cabledraped across her body.
Not wrapped around, like it wasused, she was strained.
(06:14):
Her butt just laid across herback.
The TV wasn't busted or knockedover or anything.
There was a VCR sitting on thefloor, but it wasn't broken or
anything either.
It looked like it had beenplaced there deliberately.
Well, I'm sure there could be areasonable explanation for this
(06:34):
is seems a little contrived,given the other weird things
about the crime scene andMatthew Story.
The lights were off inside thebedroom as well, which cast a
doubt on Matthew's story and hisability to see clearly inside
the house.
Nancy was almost fully nude.
But she hadn't been sexuallyassaulted, which eliminated that
(06:57):
as a possible motive almostimmediately.
Nothing valuable.
What's missing from the home.
So robbery.
Was also eliminated as a motive.
The props infant daughter wasmad as hell but had been
unharmed, which furtherindicated that Nancy was the
sole target.
And the intent here was to kill.
(07:19):
Nancy wasn't just shot.
She was beaten before her death.
She had a bruised left eye.
A busted lip contusion on herabdomen.
One of the bruises wasconsistent with the cologne
bottle that was found near theopen garage store of the house.
No gun was found at the scene.
And one has never been connectedto the crime.
(07:41):
To my knowledge.
Let's talk about Nancy'shusband, Matthew probes.
We intimated earlier that copsdidn't like him from jump.
And there are lots of goodreasons for that.
Let's back up slightly toearlier on the day of the
murder.
A few claimed that he had triedto call his wife numerous times
that day.
I think some reports said he'dcalled 26 times during the
(08:02):
course of the afternoon and shenever picked up.
Matthew had left for work aroundseven that morning and made his
nine one one call just after6:00 PM.
The same evening.
And I don't know what time hestarted trying to call Nancy
during the day, but it reallydoesn't matter.
If he called 26 times over thecourse of an hour, or if he
called 26 times over the courseof the 11 or so hours, he was
(08:25):
away from the house.
That rings, alarm bells, period.
I believe he stated he startedtrying to call his wife around
3:00 PM.
So around three hours before hecalled 9 1 1.
And the last call was placednine minutes before calling 9 1
1.
Got it.
Now Matthew claimed that he wasworried that Nancy never picked
(08:46):
up.
And he told police from thebeginning that he thought his
wife was dead when she didn'tanswer.
This is a huge red flag for me.
The guy worked at a local cardealership.
It's not like he was on a worktrip to another state or
anything.
If you think your wife is indanger or has been harmed, you
get your ass in the car and yougo home.
Or you have a neighbor go bangon the door.
(09:07):
If you really can't leave at thevery least.
But there's no indication thatMatthew called a neighbor or a
family member or anyone else togo check on his wife.
He's allegedly so worried about.
I remember once you and I camehome early from vacation.
Really late in the evening.
I took the next day off.
You went to work and I turned myringer off and fell asleep
(09:28):
during the day.
Which is not normal for me.
The next thing I know you'rebusting in the bedroom door
because you thought somethinghad happened to me.
I'd miss like a half a dozencalls over the course of a
couple of hours and scared youhave to death.
You've given me a scare a coupleof times too.
Leah can't have her cell withher at work.
(09:50):
So we communicate via messenger.
She always lets me know she gotto work and messages made
throughout the day.
But when I hadn't heard from herin the first two hours, I was
scared.
And it began calling differentoffices, looking for her because
it was very unusual.
I didn't think you were deadimmediately, but I wondered if
(10:11):
you had gotten into a caraccident or something like that.
But still, if I hadn't heardfrom you in three hours, you bet
I would have driven all the wayto your job, looking for you.
And then I'd call the hospital.
I'm not just going to ignore itand wait to find out after work.
Nope.
F that I'm leaving work to findyou.
(10:33):
Yeah.
And before anyone thinks.
I'm a controller weirdo orsomething.
Let me explain you.
And I touched base several timesduring the Workday.
So when I couldn't get hold ofyou, I started to worry.
Eventually I just left work.
I told my boss I had anemergency and I walked out.
I didn't give a damn if he firedme, to be honest, I was
genuinely concerned.
(10:53):
And a hundred scenarios weregoing through my head.
Did you fall and knock yourselfout in the bathroom?
Did someone break in, did youdrop your phone in the bath tub?
Did you go out for groceries andforget your phone?
A whole range of possibilities.
And I didn't give a damn aboutcontaminating a crime scene or
startling in an intruder.
I was so full of adrenaline.
I'd have knocked a murderer,right?
(11:14):
The hell out.
If he came at me.
Exactly.
So, yes, I agree with you thatthis is a troubling sequence of
events.
My first thought would not bethat you were dead or someone
came into the house and harmedyou.
First he admits, he thinks Hiswife was harmed.
Which immediately calls intoquestion his actions or lack
(11:34):
thereof.
If he'd said I couldn't getahold of my wife and assume she
had fallen asleep or gone tovisit her friends.
Then we'd be having a differentconversation.
I think.
And speaking of that, there's noindication again, that he did
try to track her down at afamily member's house friend's
house or anything like that.
(11:54):
At least not in any of thearticles.
And records that I have accessto.
Matthew claims that he didn't goinside the house when he
returned from work, because hesaw his wife laying on the floor
of the master bedroom.
The information I do have heresays that the cologne bottle we
mentioned earlier was foundoutside the open garage door.
(12:15):
I've seen pictures of the probeshouse.
Typical modest ranch style withthe attached garage.
If Matthew said he had tried toenter the house through the
garage and saw his wife throughthe open door.
Then I probably believe him.
But he said he saw his wifethrough a window, which seems
unlikely to say the least.
(12:36):
And then we find out from aneighbor of the probes that the
blinds at the probes house wereclosed all day, that day.
And this was unusual.
Nancy probes always had theblinds open because she
preferred natural light in thehouse.
So how the hell would Matthewhave seen inside the house?
If the blinds were closed?
One article I read said thebedroom blinds were in disarray.
(12:58):
That's a direct quote and theyhad a picture.
The neighbor didn't reportseeing any blinds and disarray.
So I'm going to assume that thebedroom was not at the front of
the house, where it could easilybe seen by other people in the
area.
So that begs the question of whyMatthew went looking in the
windows at the back of the houseor the side of the house.
(13:20):
Maybe to shore up his storyabout his worry that something
happened to his wife.
But again, it all seems tooconvenient for me.
He then left the scene andparked his truck.
Several doors down and called 91 1.
It's important to reiterate thathe did not go inside the house
after seeing his wife on thefloor.
Matthew's father was in lawenforcement.
(13:42):
State trooper, I believe.
He claimed at the time that heleft the scene and parked at the
neighbor's house, because that'swhat a cop would do when
responding to a scene like this.
But Matthew is a mechanic, not acop.
And he had an infant daughterinside the house where his wife
had just been killed.
(14:03):
Even the detective we mentionedearlier, said, Porter.
Said he toss protocol out thewindow and go in the house.
If his child was inside.
Porter said.
10 people couldn't have kept mefrom going inside there and
seeing if my family was okay.
And I agree.
I'm a parent and a grandparent,and I wouldn't care who was in
(14:25):
my way.
I'm going to try and get in.
When the cops confronted him onthis point, Matthew said
something to the effect of notwanting to go inside the house
because there could be someoneholding a gun to the back of her
head.
Wait.
But he said he had seen herlaying on the bedroom floor.
So what.
I already hate it.
(14:45):
And his pants are on fire.
Now, maybe that's just the turnof phrase.
The whole gun to the back of thehead thing, but that's literally
how Nancy probes died.
And shot to the back of thehead.
And at that point in theinvestigation, nobody had
disclosed to Matthew how Nancyhad died.
Could be a coincidence.
Sure.
But I don't know that there aremany coincidences in this case,
(15:06):
given what we've talked about sofar.
What kind of a person doesn'task what happened to their
spouse?
We're asked to see them.
He's not acting like a personthat loves his wife and is
concerned.
I should also point out at thispoint that Matthew probes is not
a small man.
He's six foot two, and weighedabout 240 pounds at the time of
(15:28):
the crime.
That's my brother's size.
You've met my brother, Arlene.
He's a big squishy marshmallow,but I'm pretty sure most anybody
would be intimidated by him.
If he came busting into a roomeyes, ablaze.
And then there's the reaction tohis daughter when police took
her out of the house.
She's just a baby at the time.
And she was mad, fussy, andcrying.
(15:50):
Matthew's response was that shemust be hungry because she
hadn't eaten all day.
At this point, it's about 12hours after Matthew had left for
work in the morning.
How would he know the babyhadn't eaten all day?
I assume as a parent, he'd haveat least a vague idea of his own
daughter's feeding schedule.
And when she'd be fed throughoutthe day.
(16:12):
It's just a strange thing tosay.
Strange.
Now I'd say horrible parent forletting his baby go without
eating all day.
And didn't run to herimmediately.
I'd also call him a dumdum forbringing up the gun and baby not
eating.
He's just basically saying lookat me.
And detective Porter found thisodd as well.
(16:33):
Going so far as to say in his 32years of experience, he'd never
seen that kind of reaction by avictim spouse.
Investigators also discoveredearly on that Matthew was not
faithful to Nancy in theirmarriage.
One woman told police that she'dhad sex with Matthew probes.
The very day his wife wasmurdered.
(16:53):
No surprise about beingunfaithful, but how disgusting
and doing that while his baby'sat home crying and hungry.
I hate it.
He had multiple mistresses andanother of them disclose to
investigators that Matthew wasunhappy with his home life and
plan to leave.
Nancy.
And right here, we are going toput out a disclaimer that just
(17:15):
because Matthew was a cheater,doesn't make him a murderer.
He's just an awful human being,but it certainly presents
investigators with a motive orsome context at the very least.
I don't think Nancy props workedat least not at the time.
So Matthew would have been onthe hook for child support.
Maybe deal with the custodyfight.
(17:37):
All the things that happen whenyou get divorced, we know that
this is a thing.
Husbands have been murderingwives instead of divorce in them
for all of human history.
Look at Scott Peterson, ChrisWatts.
Brian Walsh.
We in the true crime communityjoke and say, it's always the
husband.
(17:57):
But there's a reason people saythat it's often true.
I will never understand howmurdering his wife is better
than having to pay child supportfor your child.
Matthew was arrested for hiswife's murder and charged.
And I think this happened aboutfour months after the murder
happened.
He spent about a year in jailwhile the da built a case, but
(18:19):
it was dismissed in 2002 withprejudice pending further
investigation.
Which means the da can refile inthe future.
He's still considered theprimary suspect in the case, and
nobody else has ever beenarrested as a February, 2024.
The last I saw Matthew propslives in Texas and he
(18:39):
surrendered his parental rightsto his daughter.
After this case was dropped.
Nancy probes brother Byronadopted The girl.
in 2003 and she is now 25 yearsold.
Her father cut off all contact.
With her when she was still ayoung child.
That's just so sad to me.
(18:59):
Poor baby.
If you're innocent.
Why cut off contact with yourdaughter?
It seems to me, regardless ofwhether or not Matthew probes
actually did commit this crimeor not, he absolutely wanted out
of his domestic situation, Isuppose a more charitable
interpretation is that he wantedto spare his child, the
suffering and embarrassment ofgrowing up with a parent.
(19:23):
Who was the prime suspect in hermother's murder.
But interviews with Nancy'sfamily seemed to indicate
otherwise.
I don't have much faith andthinking he was just trying to
spear his daughter, but that'sjust my opinion.
And she wasn't Matthew probesonly child.
He had two other kids, though.
I believe they were from aprevious relationship.
(19:44):
And as far as I know, he didn'thave a hand in raising those
children either.
So, what do we think happenedhere?
Investigators only really haveone suspect in this case.
Do we think that's a fairassessment.
Are there other explanationsthat could work here?
The husband definitely lookslike the best candidate here,
(20:06):
but we need to reiterate hestill justice suspect and
charges have not been refiledagainst him.
I think his story doesn't addup.
I also think there's apossibility.
This was a murder for hire.
If whoever wanted her dead,didn't want to get their hands
dirty or they didn't want toleave a trail of evidence.
They could have hired someone topull the trigger.
(20:26):
Hence the reason the blinds werepulled and nobody was seen
leaving or entering the houseall day after Matthew left for
work.
Then you have Matthew statementthat he felt his daughter was
crying because she hadn't eatenall day.
I think whoever killed Nancy didso early in the day.
Which is also supported by thewitnesses statements about the
blinds and the doors stayingclosed.
(20:49):
Matthew Lawyer brought up thefact that his string of
burglaries had happened in theneighborhood in the weeks prior
to Nancy's death.
And police even had a suspect inthose burglaries.
It is possible that this was aproperty crime gone wrong.
But nothing was taken from thehouse.
Maybe there was an intruder thatpanicked beat Nancy, and then
(21:11):
shot her to keep her fromidentifying them.
It's possible.
It's happened before.
But I just don't think that'swhat happened here.
Given the witnesses, statements,and evidence available.
Why didn't they take anythingafter going through all the
trouble?
Let me reiterate here.
That Matthew prose though.
(21:31):
He's a free man today.
He has never been cleared as asuspect.
Issue now is that since so muchtime has passed.
And the original charges againstMatthew probes were dismissed.
The threshold for evidence ismuch higher now.
Technology is better than it wasin 2000, but it's going to be
(21:51):
hard to bring charges or get aconviction unless someone comes
forward.
The gun is used in the crimeappears, or unless forensics can
come up with an N futile slamdunk.
It's so frustrating.
If you have any informationrelated to the 2000 murder of
Nancy probes in Midwest city,Oklahoma.
Please call the Midwest citypolice department at 4 0 5.
(22:15):
7 3 9 1 3.
Zero six.
Hello, this is Bree, producerwith Box in a Basement.
How many boxes are sitting inOklahoma basements?
According to the FBI, Oklahomalaw enforcement agencies have
stored approximately 1, 800boxes of unsolved cases in their
basements since 1976.
(22:36):
Of these boxes, about 1, 300 aremale victims, while 511 are
female victims.
And About half of those fallinto Nancy's category, which is
18 to 35.
Nancy was the new motherarchetype.
A woman in the prime of herlife, and at a stage marked by
profound emotional and physicalchanges.
(22:57):
New mothers like Nancy arenavigating the joy and
challenges of caring for anewborn, often experiencing
significant relationship andsocial dynamic shifts.
Now, let's focus on the circleof suspects.
There are over 60, 000 solvedhomicides of Nancy's age
category from the FBI data.
What does this data tell us?
(23:18):
Well, I dug through it.
Here's what I found.
Most of these crimes arecommitted by the intimate
partner, 53%.
And their choice of weapons,guns, followed by knives,
followed by beatings.
We know in the case of Nancythat there were Both a handgun
used and a beating.
(23:38):
So we know that this affectedNancy and that she falls into
this category.
The second most likely would bethe acquaintance.
At about 20%.
And the final would be strangerat 10 percent of the circle of
suspects.
You usually want to start withthe intimate partners and move
your way outward.
If you go to family, it's around4 percent friends, 3 percent
(24:00):
coworkers, 0.
09%.
So as we look at the circle ofsuspects, the intimate partner
is the most likely, and that iswhere law enforcement should
keep looking.
If you Or anyone, you know, area victim of domestic violence.
Please call 1 800 799 SAFE.
Arlene (24:22):
this podcast has a bigger purpose than Just
providing information and theentertainment.
The homicide victims, familiesrights act is a bipartisan bill
that was signed into law byCongress in 2021.
And we want to see it put intoaction.
This law establishes asystematic process for reviewing
(24:43):
case files.
Related to cold case murders.
The focus is on providing amechanism for the families and
friends of murder victims.
To request a formal review ofsuch cases.
We need an attorney or teams ofattorneys and legal
professionals To take on thebold and brave fight against the
(25:05):
system around the country.
In our case, we need someone tofight for Leon to help not only
put fresh eyes on the case.
But to get his body zoomed, tosearch for evidence that was not
collected the first time around.
We and other families andfriends need assistance with
getting foyer requests.
(25:28):
It blows our minds that so manymurders occurred from 1976 to
1997.
In Brownwood, Texas under thewatch of the same investigators,
responsible for handling Leon'scase.
We're going to look at all theunsolved murders in Brownwood.
And maybe even if you solvedones, if it helps uncover what
(25:52):
was happening in that era thatleft so many families
devastated.
And a community living in fear.
If you want to hear more aboutvictim focused.
Unsolved cases.
And get updates about what weknow.
Please subscribe, like and shareour podcast.
Also visit our website.
(26:12):
Justice for leon.com to donateto our cause to hire an
attorney.
You can also join our email listto stay current on developments
on Leon's case and other cases.
We cover as they happen.
pleaSe follow and lagger.
Bigger Facebook pages for box inthe basement.
And justice for Leon Corellasand follow our Instagram pages
(26:36):
I'd also like to ask that yousigned my petition for my uncle.
Leon Lorella says case to bereopened and reviewed with fresh
eyes.
And you can find our petition onchange.org.
I also have a GoFundMe page tohire an attorney to help me get
a copy of his autopsy.
That I had been denied for 27years.
(26:56):
You can find the GoFund me bysearching for Leon Lorella
that's L a U R E L E S.
Thank you for joining us.
Be kind later Gators.
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