February 22, 2024 • 55 mins
Join Deb with her guest - and NEW co-host of Insinuation Podcast - , MaryAnne, from Social Detective Podcast - as MaryAnne gets personal. We talk about her best friend, Krista Martin, who was taken from us far too soon. For over three decades, Krista's case went unsolved until 2024, when The Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center played a crucial role in developing a DNA profile, which ultimately led to Krista's killer.
During this episode, Maryanne reflects on her life growing up in Haysville, KS and the memories she and Krista first shared as neighbours, then later as best friends. Little did MaryAnne know that Krista would impact her life choices, or give her the drive to work endlessly to bring this case to a close. As MaryAnne comes to terms that this decades-old case is no longer cold, she and Deb also discuss the search for answers in Krista's case and the concept of what "closure" really means.
Listen to new episodes every Thursday wherever you get your podcasts! You can find all of our socials @dying2bfound and more at https://linktr.ee/dying2bfound. If you like what you hear, please share and give a 5-star review! Consider supporting us by buying us a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dyingtobefound.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi guys, I just wanted to give you a brief intro on what you'll be hearing on Dying to be Found today.
(00:07):
My good friend Mary Ann from Social Detective Podcast is taking me on a heartfelt personal
journey as we discuss the life of her very good friend Krista Martin. And this is a 34 year old
case that without Mary Ann's help, dedication and true love for her best friend, I'm not sure this
(00:31):
would have ever been solved. If you're a loyal listener, you'll know that I'm teaming up with
Mary Ann as we bring you a brand new docu-series due out this spring in 2024. We're still working
hard behind the scenes to bring you a different kind of podcast, but if you can follow us on
Instagram and TikTok now, you can find us at Insinuation Podcast. I'm excited and honored to
(00:58):
be a part of this and joining forces with Mary Ann is going to be spectacular. We'd love to hear
from you now, so be sure to check us out on social media. But for now, enjoy today's episode, which
we're calling Solving Krista Martin. Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. Before we get
(01:18):
started, I just wanted to say that episodes contain disturbing discussions on harmful acts
and crimes against animals and or humankind. Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive
audiences due to the content nature of this podcast. Listener discretion is strongly advised.
(01:41):
Hey guys, it's Mary Ann, dog mom, baker, true crime podcast maker. What would you do if someone
killed your best friend and it's been 33 years and it seems like nobody is doing jack? You would
start a podcast and go find the answers yourselves and that's exactly what we're doing here at Crime
(02:04):
Scene and Cupcakes. So join us as we look for the answers and also find the answers and some other
unsolved cases as well here in Kansas. You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, as well as many
other platforms. You can also find us on all the social media apps such as Instagram, TikTok,
(02:26):
YouTube, you name it, we're there. So come find us. Hey guys, it's Mary Ann, dog mom, baker, true
crime podcast maker and today we've got a couple of special things. First is the case that we're
sharing. As you guys probably know, it's been all over our social media and we finally have some
(02:50):
answers in the case of Krista Martin and we're going to be going into detail about that today.
But I could not do this alone. I had to have somebody by my side and I could think of no one
better than Deb from Dying to be Found podcast. If you guys aren't aware, it's a true crime podcast
(03:11):
and I am a faithful listener. She also has The Dash, which is another really cool true crime podcast
that they do and so I want to thank Deb for joining me today. Hi Mary Ann, I'm so excited to be here.
I am so glad to have you here. Again, this is something I could not do on my own so I am so
glad to have you here with me during this journey. Well, I'm honored to be here today and of all
(03:37):
people, Mary Ann, for you to reach out to me. I'm just so thrilled to be here today to help you
share this story. I'm really glad you're here and I know I normally don't have filler. We usually get
right into the case, but I did want to share a little bit with our listeners as to what else was
going on, as you guys might have seen on top of having to go to the press conference, which was
(04:02):
an honor to be there, but on top of that, it was also Tallgrass Film Festival. As you guys know,
there is Baker in my lead-in for a reason because I also have the Cocktail Cupcakes Bakery and we are
a huge sponsor of the Tallgrass Film Festival and during the festival, it was just an amazing time.
(04:23):
It was a really cool break to be a part of that and I want to thank all of the actors, the filmmakers,
and everyone who came out to support Tallgrass Film Festival. It's a really wonderful thing for
Wichita to be a part of and I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone, the volunteers, and
(04:44):
everyone that was a part of that. It was amazing to be a part of that for the last few years and
it was just really cool to be a part of. So I wanted to make sure I gave a shout out to that and
Barry Corbin was just so awesome to be able to meet him. So very cool to be a part of that.
I love that, Mary Ann. It looked like so much fun. I wish I was there.
(05:06):
We talked several times throughout all of that. Deb has been a great support system
and yes, I wish I could virtually have sent her a cupcake.
That's okay. I did want to say that you are rocking the pink hair.
Yes, the pink has really helped me get through this. Let me tell you, I'm glad I had my Power
Pink rock in here. But for those of you who may not be as familiar with Krista's case and also for
(05:33):
a lot of people, it's been really hard for me to go back and really talk about the childhood I had
with Krista and all of that because it's been so raw and it's been so hard searching for answers.
But now that we do have some of the answers, I want to go back and revisit a little bit more
(05:54):
of her case. So I wanted to start where Krista and I started and that was in Haysville, Kansas.
And for those of you who may not know, Haysville is a suburb of Wichita, Kansas. Believe it or not,
Wichita, Kansas is a big city. In the 70s and 80s, that's when we grew up in Haysville, Kansas.
(06:15):
And at that time, Haysville's population was just a little over 6,500 people. The town was
so exciting that it was known as the Peach Capital of Kansas. And there were just peach orchards
everywhere. And to this day, I still despise peaches. I hate the smell of them. I hate peaches.
(06:37):
I hate them. You realize I'm in the peach state, right? Yeah. And I'm so sorry. Yeah. So our house,
though, because we were more on the outskirts of Haysville, that's why we were just inundated with
the peach orchards. Because we weren't really in the heart of town. We were more on the outskirts
of town. And about a block away from that was this little corner store called the Minning Stop.
(07:00):
Everybody knew about the Minning Stop. So we would walk over there and we'd buy our sodas.
On top of that, my dad, and as we've talked about growing up in my house, both of my parents were
deaf and my dad couldn't hear or speak. And a lot of times he would send us over there to go pick
up his Paul Maul cigarettes. And of course, Alice, the woman who worked the counter, she would know,
(07:23):
of course, that that was our dad. And so she'd probably get in trouble for that today. But she
would get us his cigarettes and we would take the cigarettes. But it was just always what the kids
would do. And I come from a family of eight. And Krista had the, there were two kids in that house.
So there was just always this huge gang of kids walking over to the Minning Stop, grabbing candy,
(07:47):
soda, cigarettes, and walking back to the house. I love that. You and I have the very same experience,
because I did the same thing when I was a kid. I was sent to the corner store to pick up my
mother's cigarettes. So yeah, we did all that same stuff too. Isn't that crazy? And now you think
about today, people would be just aghast at anybody sending a child to even touch cigarettes. To go
(08:11):
get them out of somebody's purse would be just horrible. Oh, yeah. And we were just sent to go
buy them. Absolutely. It was just funny. But yeah, a lot of people in that town, of course, being my
parents of how they were, just everybody kind of knew my parents. And as kids, kind of how our
childhood was different was also our job was to translate for our parents. Do you know sign
(08:37):
language? Yeah. So yeah, all of us kids, I mean, that was your job, even at a very young age.
We couldn't communicate with our parents if we weren't able to sign. And if my top two signs
were always cookie and soda. I remember those like being the number one signs that I was like all
(08:58):
over that I wanted a cookie and a soda for my first ones when I was really tiny. Yes, we got
older. It was, you know, you knew that you had to learn to sign to communicate with your parents,
and you had to learn to sign to help them communicate in the world because otherwise,
they weren't going to be able to communicate. So because of that, I mean, everybody knew who
(09:21):
we were. And then because my brothers were pretty wild, everybody knew who they were.
So my family, it's really interesting as Krista's case has progressed, because even on
the recent news, it was out there that everybody knew who my brothers were, but nobody remembers me.
(09:42):
Where are you in the mix, Marianne? You said there's eight of you. I am towards the end.
I am third from the end. Yeah, I guess if it's whatever the circle is that you're running around
with as far as your social circle. And if you're younger, I mean, I can see if the kids are older
than that, they may not remember. So don't take too much offense to that. It's really funny,
(10:02):
because I was always smacked out with them. I was everywhere they were, but I was this extremely
underweight, very gawky. I have had people I've run into now from high school who refuse to believe
I am the same person. They do not believe that I'm that girl. I'm making it up. I am another human
(10:24):
being. But yeah, Krista was a year older. Her sister and I were in the same grade, but we
didn't socialize at all. But Krista and I, we were both tomboy's. We both wanted to rough and tumble.
And she loved hanging out with my brothers. And so yeah, she just kind of got into the mix with them.
And that's more of how we all associated was just always being outside, always being out in the
(10:52):
middle of everything. And just always remembered her being there, being a part of everything,
and always next door, always outside and always with her cats. We always had dogs, and she always
had her cats. She loved Siamese cats. And Siamese cats have a certain way of yelling that cry that
(11:15):
they have. It's just a cry you never forget. Siamese cats kind of do the same thing. And so
whenever I hear one, I just think of Krista. Oh, yeah, it's just something that's always been with me.
Well, that's a good memory, Mary Ann. I'm glad you brought this up. This is why I feel like
I owe her my life. It is the most important memory of Krista. And it's the time that,
(11:43):
though there's two memories, but the reason I feel like I owe her my life is we were at a party.
And again, I was the nerd. I was, when I say was the nerd, I was very bullied in high school
because our family didn't have a lot of money. So I wore hand-me-down clothes. I was very thin.
And I was horribly bullied. And I just, I felt like such a nerd, but she never treated me that
(12:08):
way. I had deaf parents, huge family. My mom had some issues. And she always made me feel seen.
But we were at this party. And I just sat there. And yeah, I drank a little bit here and there. But
other than that, I still just didn't feel like I was fitting in with the crowd. I was so sick of
just feeling like an outsider at this party. And I was like, okay, I want to try some weed because
(12:32):
I'm so tired of not fitting in. And so I talked to her and I was like, okay, you're going to show me
how to do this. And she went off. Wow. She got mad. She goes, if you ever try drugs, I'm going to
kick your butt. You are never going to do this. And then she did go and tell my brother anyway.
This was just a moment of where she was just like, absolutely not. I am not going to allow you to
(12:56):
even try it. And it stuck with me to a point that any time throughout my life I've ever been thinking
about it in college or anything, it was like Krista. No. And you know, she lost her life. And it was
like, how could I ever do that? I love that. There were so many times choices could have been made.
And she was that voice in my head going, if you ever do this, I'm going to kick your butt. You are
(13:23):
never going to do this. And I always heard you're too smart to do something stupid. I love that
saying. Sorry. That's okay. That's a beautiful memory. I love that just little things like that
are put in front of you at any given moment. And that's the kind of things, Mary Ann, that keeps
Krista alive. And I just don't have words with the stories that I've heard even over the last six
(13:49):
months to a year talking with you. This is what we're here for, is to hear all these beautiful
stories. Well, and it's definitely been when everything's been coming out this last couple
of weeks and people, you know, because I'm not her family, I feel frustrated at times because it's,
well, you know, you don't mean the same. You don't understand. And yes, her family is extremely
(14:15):
important, but Krista played a huge role in my life in the period she was in it. Sure. Even after
she was no longer there, a lot of the choices I made were because of the knowledge she gave me was
life could have been so different if she hadn't stopped me that night. She was your role model.
(14:36):
That's wonderful. So yeah, and that was definitely something that I try to, I want to impart with all
of our cases is even when we get the answers to a case, the victim is so much more than what happened
to them. Yes. There's so much that they bring. Yeah, absolutely. Because everybody has different
(14:58):
memories, vivid memories, and it's what makes that person their soul. It's their soul that comes out.
And when they make an impact like Krista did on you, Mary Ann, she's special. These victims,
when something happens to them, they're a real person and it's their soul that is left behind.
(15:20):
And, you know, you can interpret that in so many different ways. You can say they're an angel now,
or you can just say they really influenced my life. I've heard you say two things here. Krista was a
mother figure to you and she was a role model. That in itself is so impactful. But when we are
left behind, we're the ones who are suffering because they are where they need to be now.
(15:43):
And we're the ones that are left here with a grief that she could impact your life that much.
I mean, she did her job and maybe you were her purpose. Yeah, she definitely did. And the way
I've heard things and that was one of the things I wanted to get across with this podcast is as I'm
(16:05):
seeing her story or her case shared in the news, I don't want us to lose the person as we share the
case. Right. That's something I really want to make sure is we remember her as the person.
As we're getting this amazing news that yes, there's the suspect and forensic genealogy is
(16:30):
incredible and we don't ever want to forget any of that. But let's remember the person behind
all of this who lost their lives. Absolutely. And I have a question for you because we're podcasters.
We talk about different cases and victims. So a lot of people out there in the podcast world will
(16:51):
say somebody finally got closure. Me personally, I don't like that word because I don't think there's
any such thing as closure. I'm asking a personal question here because you're experiencing this.
I've never experienced this. I pray I never have to. In terms of that, Mary Ann, would you consider
yourself at this point knowing where this case stands? Do you have closure or do you just simply
(17:16):
have answers or how would you address that when somebody says, Oh, I'm so glad you have closure?
Now it's an interesting question and it's something that throughout my life in my 20 years of history
as well and actually being on the personal side, I've had other families say instead of closure,
they would say, well, we have an answer. I actually heard Krista's niece say the same thing in an
(17:42):
interview. She said, well, we have an answer. And then the first word that popped in my head is
we have an answer. I don't feel like there's ever going to be closure. And I know her family right
now, they are wanting to know the why they don't understand, which I think everybody struggles with
(18:03):
that. That's a natural response in these kinds of things. You know, I definitely, you never know the
why's with any of these type of things, but there is at least a tangible answer of the who. And,
you know, with people who have heard what I was dealing with, that was a huge cloud that I lived
(18:26):
with of such a hard thing to deal with of who the who might be. And that was something I struggled
with a lot. Right. So I'm not completely clear on how deep you have dug into this as far as going
out and getting the answers as you yourself, or I'm assuming you're conducting your own investigations
(18:49):
through decades. Were you able to piece anybody that you thought might be on the suspect list
or just kind of looking a little closer at somebody? Jake shared a little bit about that
in the story and my board, which I do with every case. But since we're going to be in a podcast,
I do an investigative board where I compile all the information and the facts of a case.
(19:12):
And I also created a cold case investigative checklist. I've submitted a FOIA on Chris's case
for the last 10 years. I've never gotten anything, but I have submitted them. But yeah, and as I've
tried to also get across in my podcast, I never think it's our job to ever usurp what the police
(19:35):
are doing. All I was wanting was any type of information to raise the platform of awareness
on Chris's case. But of course, I'm going to have question because this one is more personal to me.
And I felt frustration because there was no back and forth information going on this case. Sure.
(19:58):
Then I also had my own personal feelings because I did have a sibling who was continuously stating
that he had information about the case. And so when that was occurring, that was creating
more frustration because I was trying to fact check if any of that was correct. Because yeah,
(20:23):
we were giving that information to the police, but we were not getting anything back.
So when they're not talking to you though, I mean, that would be part of the investigation.
That could actually be detrimental. Don't you think with them getting some information based
on what you have handed to them alongside of what they've already investigated themselves,
then quite possibly I hear about how people will give police information and then they're chasing
(20:49):
all these false leads. And not to say that you've ever had a false lead, but I'm just saying that
you're adding to the stack that they have to investigate just from that one tip. Right. Which
yes, completely understand. We're putting that information, you know, where we're doing our
due diligence, somebody is saying something and we're giving that to the police department and
(21:12):
allowing the police department to vet it and do whatever. But the problem is, is this person is
still for 10 years, 20 years, still continuously saying the same things. And you know, as long as
you continuously have that in your ear, that's when you decide, okay, I have to do something.
(21:36):
I mean, nobody's talking to me. I have this person and this side is telling me one thing.
And then I have nothing coming from law enforcement and saying anything. So I need to do something.
Well, I don't want to go out there and tell the world that this is what's being said,
because I don't know if that information is true. And I start a platform and take the information,
(22:01):
which is just two articles from the Wichita Eagle, and I just keep sharing her story.
When were those articles printed?
1989. And then there was a Crime Stoppers video that was done in 2009.
So no news, cold case almost immediately. Correct.
(22:22):
How did you find out what happened to Krista? We're going to back up a little bit. When I was 18,
Krista had moved out. And when I graduated high school, I had some issues with my family.
I've had long term issues with my family. But at 18, it kind of came to a head. And I walked out
(22:43):
of my family home. And I walked out with no clothes on my back, no nothing. I just walked out. And I
was pretty much homeless for a while. The only person who knew where I was, eventually, was one
of my brothers, who I'm still very close to. He's probably the only family member I'm close to.
He pretty much always knew where I was. But I was at the time with my boyfriend,
(23:06):
staying with his parents. I'd finally, and I was working on going to school. And my brother,
he was already at the house with my ex-husband now, and at the time was my boyfriend. But let me tell
you, he has the best or had the best mom. She's passed away. But his mother was the most amazing
mother in the world. I have never met a more amazing... I wish she had been my mom. She was
(23:30):
the most amazing mother, grandmother. She's the most incredible human being on the face of this
earth. Her name was Suzy. And she was incredible. But my brother was there talking to her. And we
get there. And my brother is in the kitchen and tells me that Krista had been murdered.
And my first thought was BTK, because BTK had been active at that time. And my first thought was,
(23:55):
oh, my God. And my brother just right off the gigo was like, I don't think so. Yeah, he's like,
I just don't think that was it. It seems like this is probably somebody she knew.
It became something. And he tells me what happened. He had been close, and he still is close with
Krista's family. He had kind of shared a lot with me. And his next question was, OK, we need to go
(24:19):
to our funeral. I need you to kind of pull yourself together. And we need to do this. And our family is
more of a straightforward kind of OK. This is what we need to do. And yeah, so at that moment,
it was just... And then I remember him leaving. And I just sat on their kitchen floor. I cannot
tell you how long I was there. I cannot tell you what happened next. All I know is Suzy somehow
(24:46):
saved me. And that's all I can tell you. She got you through it. I remember her finding me a dress,
because I remember I had hardly anything. She got me a beautiful black dress. We had to put safety
pins in, beautiful black velvet dress. She supported me in a way I just I wasn't used to.
I remember my brother and I going to the funeral. And again, I wasn't close with Krista's family.
(25:12):
But my brother had gone up and he had gone and talked to them. And then afterwards, I remember
us going to dog and shake. But I will tell you, most of it is just I was in a complete fog. I just
could not believe any of it was actually true. I didn't believe it was true. I did not believe it.
For a good first few months, I kept denying that this was not actually happening. This was not real.
(25:39):
This is somebody else. This is not it. It's not real.
At what moment did that take a turn? Because you know, you have several stages of grief,
and denial is one of them. But at what point did that turn and you decided that you were going to
do something about it? Because Mary Ann, you've spent the last 34 years helping to solve this case.
(26:01):
It took a good year. I was just driving along one day. And I got a hold of my brother and I said,
okay, where exactly is her grave located? I got to go there right now. And just out of the blue,
I was just like, I got to go there. I went there. And I just kind of sat down. And I was like, okay,
now we got to solve the problem. That's when I was like, okay, so we got to fix this now.
(26:25):
And so I just sat down. I talked to her for a while. And I said, okay, I said, we got to make a
plan. We got to fix this. I said, I don't want to tread on your family. I don't want to, you know,
bother anything with them. And I said, but we got to figure out how to fix this. So I just sat there
and I said, okay, so I need to start making some decisions in my life. So I started going through
(26:47):
and making decisions on where I was going. At the time I was working in the medical field,
you know, I kind of knew where I was going and what I was doing. And I just knew that I wanted to
make a difference, but I always wanted to do something that could help with this.
Is that why you went into law enforcement?
(27:09):
Yeah, I think actually my brother was probably the biggest driving force of that. But I would say,
yeah, she was a big piece of that as well. I wanted as much knowledge as possible to be able to help.
Sure.
I knew I could never work on her case, obviously, but I wanted to gain as much knowledge as possible.
(27:32):
I always found it interesting how BTK was so active in our town and right off the bat,
we all just had that feeling that, nope, it just wasn't it. Yet people were speculating out there.
We all just knew it wasn't him. We all knew it. Yeah. So it was, it was like all of that. And I
(27:53):
just did things quietly, but my brother knew, I mean, I was calling the Sedgwick County Forensic
Science Center throughout the years, trying to get information. Once I advanced on my degree,
I tried to quietly try to get them to give me information. Well, no, we're not going to do
that without a FOIA where I don't care who you are. I would always try to see if anybody would
(28:15):
give me anything and nope. And that just slowly throughout the years, I always tried to do that.
I'm thinking you did a lot of this on your own time. You had a full-time job. You had other things
that you were responsible for and you just did this in your spare time. Yeah. No, I always did
all of it in my spare time. I always tried to see who was talking to who. And also I think why a lot
(28:39):
of people have a hard time remembering that I existed was I was in Wichita, but then I moved
to Virginia for my job. And so I lived on the East coast and I lived in Virginia, then I lived in
Connecticut, then I lived in Miami, and then I come back to Wichita. So I was off of everybody's
radars for a while. I mean, I was still calling here. I was still checking in. My brother,
(29:04):
we have so many messages between the two of us of where I'm like, okay, where are we at with this?
Have you talked to her family? Has her family done this? When they did the Crime Stoppers in 2009,
I had sat there and I'd found out about it. I didn't get to see it because I wasn't in Wichita.
I heard you say your brother was also helping out with this. Were you guys a dynamic duo for
(29:28):
this entire process? Because I don't think I've heard that piece before. I even tried to get him
to come on cake because he tries to act like, oh no, there is nothing I would have been able to do.
The pictures of Krista that we do have that we didn't have earlier, because Krista's family
initially wasn't real forthcoming with pictures. And I would go back and go, John, can you get a
(29:51):
hold of them and do this for me? John, I need you to do this. John, and this guy could work magic.
Wow. And I was like, I need to know what she was driving at the time. I need you to go get that
information. He would come back. Boop, boop, boop. I had it. Wow. I need to know who saw my brother
(30:12):
at the prison last. Boop, boop, boop, boop. I had it. I mean, so yeah, there is no, Mary Ann was
completely alone on this. Okay. And you didn't even have to hire a private investigator because
you already had one in the family. Yeah, I had my brother John who just has the taco tico in Oklahoma,
and he has this infectious personality that people will do anything for him. I mean, he is literally
(30:40):
the nicest man in the world. I love that. He's always been there for me as well. I mean, when
everybody else in the family is just horrible human beings, he is the most incredible, kindest
human being you would ever meet. In fact, I asked him, I said, are you going to drive up for the
press conference? And he's like, Oh, no, I'm too old for that. Tell me at what point in time did
(31:04):
the investigators contact you because this has been all over the news in the last, what, 10 days?
How did they approach you? Who called you? I'm going to use a term that Sergeant Matthew Lynch
uses. And it's one of my favorite ones. Let's get to the meat on the bone. Hannah King with Cake News
(31:24):
has been working with me on this. We decided we were going to do an anniversary special for
Krista's anniversary of when her body was discovered on October 2nd. And we decided it several months
ago. We really wanted to get as many people involved in it because there just hasn't been
much on Krista's case. Hannah is probably one of the most amazing cold case advocates out there.
(31:50):
This woman is an amazing journalist and she does wonderful work. The Ernie Ortiz case from Garden
City, Kansas, we both covered that case as well. And this woman does amazing work with these cases.
And she does it with so much heart. You can tell she is doing it with the desire to get these cases
(32:11):
closed. When we did this and we decided to do this, she is not going to go up to the detective one
time and say, oh, can you please talk to me and go away? She is going to go after it. So we decide
to do this. And she's like, okay, the family has not talked about this case. I am frustrated. I want
the family to talk about Krista. Why are they not talking about Krista? Yeah, that's a great question.
(32:37):
I don't know. So I go to my brother, John, why is the family talking about Krista? All of us start
asking the family, why are you not talking about Krista? Then she starts going to the detectives
and starts asking them, why aren't you talking about Krista? And we start just bombarding them
months ago. Wow. And I mean bombarding them. Then I decided to do this. I can see, but can you tell
(33:06):
our listeners what you just showed me? For those who may not know, my natural hair color is actually,
I'm a bright red headed ginger, but I decided when I retired, I wanted to be a dark brunette.
Then I decided recently to dye the ends bright pink. And they look fabulous. We decided to do
(33:28):
that for a reason after talking to Hannah King. When Hannah and I talked, we knew we were going
to start door knocking in the neighborhood where Krista was murdered. Wow. We also knew I was going
to do the interview out in the street where Krista was murdered. I wanted to draw as much
(33:49):
attention to what we were doing because I was so tired of being quiet. I was tired of being
silenced. I was tired of nobody listening to me except for the people of our wonderful listeners
outside of Wichita. I wanted to get Wichita's attention. I wore the brightest pink suit I could
(34:12):
find. If you check out the shoes, if you watch the news, they are glitter shoes. I look like a disco
ball. I did see the suit, but I did not notice the shoes. I'm going to have to go look that up.
So I'm about as bright as you could get. So we did the interviews and we started knocking on
doors in the neighborhood. We wanted to make sure everybody knew we had been there.
(34:36):
Now, too, if you don't mind me asking, was that Krista's favorite color pink?
No. And that's actually a point of contention. It's my favorite color. Her favorite color was blue,
but I would get angry every time I would go visit her grave and see pink flowers because I knew
that's her sister's favorite color. And I'm like, that's not Krista's favorite color. A little point
(34:57):
of contention there. Krista's favorite color is blue. That's why I always have the blue and the
yellow hearts whenever I talk about Krista. Okay. Pink is my power color. It makes me feel good. And
I wanted to get attention. Actually, when I was at Talgrass, one of the security guys went walking
by and he goes, oh my God, I just saw some boots at another interview and it made me think of you
(35:21):
because they were all glittery and he goes, I knew the cupcake lady needed to have them.
You're leaving an impression on people you don't even know you're leaving an impression on. That
is phenomenal. That's what I want. I want people to remember me. Yes. And so what was so incredible
is we did this. The cameraman, the producer and the cameraman ended up doing a still of the two
(35:46):
of us in front of the house. And it was a very emotional moment. And he sent that picture. And
I decided to post it on our social media and tag the location and tag the news station and all of
that within hours, we started getting phone calls from the Wichita police department. And I got a
(36:06):
message from the family. This case had been solved already. Wait, you posted all of that on social
media and it took you to do that before they would even just come straight out to say we've solved
it. It's been solved for months. The case had been solved since June. Are you kidding me? I am not.
(36:28):
And it was your social media and your activity that brought this to light in the last 10 days
with the press release. Yes. And I did talk to family to see if I could get permission to discuss
this. They had decided that they were just going to quietly remove her cold case and put out
a new story later about it and just do a press release. But because of our obnoxious activity,
(36:54):
we ended up making the poor FBI fly all the way out here. And I'm like, damn straight,
Krista deserves a parade. All for a good cause. And so yeah, and a king. Yeah. Yeah. Hannah was
actually, she had just pulled away from cake. And that's actually part of the news story is you see
(37:18):
her on the speakerphone and she's just like, what? We had just pulled away from everything. I decided
I was going to be as loud in color as I could. And we got their attention. And your partner in crime
there, not only John, your brother, but Hannah, the reporter. And that does bring up a point real
(37:40):
quick that we did talk about before. It's the lack of communication that we had to go to that point.
If you've had that information since June and okay, if you had it, why couldn't you at least say,
you know, we have some information that we can possibly be sharing. Why couldn't you have put
something out or why couldn't they have answered? I mean, I posted a million things on social media
(38:05):
and that was one thing Hannah King had actually shown. And I don't know if you,
anybody had seen that she did a thing where she showed blueberry and myself on tick tock.
And it was every tweet I ever tagged them involving Krista. She showed every tweet I ever tagged the
Wichita police. And it was just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
(38:26):
on top of one another. And there was so many just stacked. That is amazing. And I wonder too,
while you were talking, I was just kind of thinking to myself, all right, they're not giving Mary Ann
the answers that she's looking for. But then does Mary Ann have the right to answers because you're
not a family member? Have you ever been told that you are not a family member? We don't have to give
(38:50):
this information to you. That's something that I have a problem with. Why do family members, why are
they the only ones with the right to gatekeep? If we go to that point, if we say family members are
the only ones that can gatekeep, what happens to people in same sex relationships? How is that fair
(39:13):
to anybody? And yes, I'm going to get on my soapbox. And if you listen to my podcast, you know,
I do this. Here's my problem. You asked me for a story about Krista and I can share with you
a handful of them. When Krista's family was asked in the news conference for a story about Krista,
(39:33):
they couldn't share one. Who has the right to know what's going on with her case?
Great question to be brought up in front of Congress. What did they say at the press conference?
So when I walked into the press conference, they had a timeline up there of the entire
investigation of Krista's case. And I'll have that timeline on our social media. It showed how from
(39:58):
1990 to 1992, DNA from Krista's case was sent to the FBI, but it didn't have any positive results.
What that essentially means is that they had the DNA, they extrapolated the DNA, but they ran it
through CODIS and they weren't able to have any hits or anything from that DNA. And especially
(40:22):
during that time period, because they didn't have the advanced DNA techniques and they sent it to
the FBI because the FBI has more advanced forensic techniques than what they had here in Wichita. But
even with that, they weren't able to narrow down any DNA profile. Now things began to shift in 2009
(40:43):
and authorities were able to start ruling out potential leads. That in turn motivated
investigators to go to the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center in order to develop a DNA profile
and a new suspect. They couldn't do anything with the first profile, so they decided to try again.
Right. And so our Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center, it is definitely the advanced hub.
(41:10):
It is where our corner is at. It is an amazing place. It is built up actually, so there is a
gigantic garage too where we have actually pulled airplanes into it and unloaded bodies, because we
are the air capital of the world. And unfortunately, really bad things have happened. It has become one
(41:32):
of the most advanced forensic labs now. And Dr. Stedman there is absolutely incredible. But from
the press conference, the investigators then stated that the Wichita Police Department had positively
identified the person who had sexually assaulted and murdered Krista more than 30 years ago.
(41:55):
From the new DNA profile. Right. But I was able to find out later what they did is the Sedgwick
County Forensic Science Center had worked with author. We all know author is the family genealogical
tree. So what the detective was able to do working with author is they were able to go through the
family genealogy and they built it down to choose family members. They had to go to Maryland. They
(42:22):
had to go to Arkansas. They went to Tennessee. So these detectives did a fair amount of traveling
to try to narrow it down between these two brothers. And I've had a lot of people come back to me going,
well, are you sure that they're right? And once you go through and you actually look at how well
that they identified and narrowed down their subject pool, I am 100% confident that they got
(42:48):
the right person. What they found is this person, his name was Paul Hart. Not only that they were
able to see that this guy lived just six houses away from Krista. So her house was on one block.
He lived behind her and six houses down from her. Okay. And so far what we've been able to figure
(43:11):
out though is it almost seems like either if he knew her, he had to have just met her. Now she
had gone to the Bartoto's there recently. So don't know if he might've met her there or she had been
outside. They ran into each other or something like that. I'm just thinking they probably didn't
find obviously much evidence at the scene with his DNA on it or anything that showed that he could
(43:37):
have been there. Like he left nothing behind. No, they are able to actually find quite a bit of
evidence from him. The thing is though, it doesn't appear that he committed a whole lot of other
crimes because there was nothing else in Kodak's. And to build out, is he a sexual predator? Is this
something he's done before? To build out any type of behavioral profile, you don't know.
(43:59):
True. Because this is a long time before DNA when the case initially came out.
Right. Trying to establish victimology of how their paths might've intersected. But Krista had
written, I mean, she was an active writer. She had active correspondence with people and never once
had she ever mentioned this person in any of her correspondence. Oh, so that speaks volumes. Yeah.
(44:25):
So if she did meet him, it would have had to have been within that very close period of time. But
it's one of those things of you can't a hundred percent rule out that she never knew him and it
was a completely spontaneous crime. But the fact that she knew him, it was a planned out crime by
(44:46):
him or that they had any type of romantic involvement is very doubtful. It's more of
thinking that he probably took advantage of a situation when she was coming home and he saw
her outside or something like that is more what the detectives think probably happened.
(45:08):
Okay. So a victim of convenience. Yeah. Or circumstance. Okay. Yeah. Now they still
haven't been able to find, they never were able to find the weapon that was used in the crime.
And it was asked if they were ever going to try to find it or anything like that. And they said,
(45:28):
there's no way after all of this time, where is Hart now? Are they pressing charges against them?
Hart had left town shortly after Krista was murdered and he went to Tennessee. He was involved
in a car accident and passed away. Wow. And when was this? That was in about a year after he
(45:52):
murdered Krista. Okay. Well, um, karma. Yeah. A lot of people have posted it's karma. And on one hand,
a lot of people have been, well, you know, it's too bad, but my thought process is predators who
commit sexual assault, that's generally not the only assault they ever do. That's given me actually
(46:15):
some measure. And I know people think I'm weird, but in my podcast, I've said several times that
that not knowing if that person has is still out there hurting another human being, it's been
something that's weighed on me so much. And knowing that that person shortly after committing that
crime was stopped by whatever is out there was an incredible moment of knowledge for me. That is
(46:40):
something I have held on my heart from somebody who's seen countless victims and seen people get
by a perpetrator who has gone on these cold cases for so long. And that person has hurt somebody
else. That has been something that has torn me inside for so long. Oh, sure. You need to do me
(47:02):
a personal favor here. And you got to promise me now. Okay, I'll try. I don't want you going
and looking up anything further on what happened to Paul Hart, anything that had to do with that
accident that he was in. You don't need to know that. You just need to know that he is off this
earth for a reason. What if I've already sent people out to look for it? John, you need to
(47:27):
come on back home and do not listen to your sister any longer. Case closed. Well, it's not John.
Oh, wow. If you got to have that answer, then get that answer. But then we're going to put this to
rest. Then we'll put it to rest. Okay. So you'll keep us updated. Yes. Well, it's been a question
(47:47):
a lot of people have had. And unfortunately, they know me and they know that I can... Because the
police have been unwilling to even share a picture of him. Do you really need to know what he looks
like? I don't. The family would like to know. Well, they can hire a private investigator. They
should pay you. Okay, we'll go with that. You've done enough. All right. I'll let you have that
(48:07):
one. Okay. But that was a huge, probably the thing that has worn on me. And I will tell you,
the other thing is having a family member who has interfered with this case a little bit. The other
thing I've been dealing with is my anger of knowing how much they've lied just to get into people's
(48:29):
heads about this. Therapy is a wonderful thing. It is. If you are in crisis, if you ever need
someone to talk to, please, it's not an admission of having any weakness, any problems. Therapy is
there for wonderful reasons. Please reach out. There's an amazing crisis line as well. Please
(48:51):
reach out for help if you ever feel like you're struggling. You are not alone. Very good advice
to live on, Mary Ann. I just want to take us back for just a moment and just remind everybody that
on October 2nd of 1989, Krista Martin was found beaten to death in her apartment at 506 South
Osage near Maple and Sycamore. The Wichita Police Department cold case records stated she had been
(49:17):
struck in the back of the head with a blunt object. That object had never been found. Initial efforts
included the collection of DNA evidence, although at the time, DNA testing and CODA systems were not
available. However, in all of the articles, they had never stated DNA evidence was ever collected.
Lieutenant Mike McKenna was who was quoted in all of the articles, and he had stated right from the
(49:42):
beginning in the Wichita Eagle, this is going to be a difficult case to solve. I don't know if we're
ever going to get closure. I have always wondered about Lieutenant Mike McKenna. I've always been
frustrated with Lieutenant Mike McKenna. I have followed every career Lieutenant Mike McKenna has
ever had, and it was after this press conference that I found out Lieutenant Mike McKenna was only
(50:09):
a patrol officer outside of her case and had no direct dealings with Krista Martin's case. I am
very frustrated that the Wichita Eagle would take direct quotes from Lieutenant Mike McKenna, and
that would be the only information that would be available on Krista Martin's case for almost 20
(50:29):
years that the rest of us would have to look at. Journalists do better. Wichita Police Department
do better in communicating on cold cases because other families are listening, other loved ones
are listening. We care about those who have lost their lives. We're going to continue on our
platforms and look for information. We're going to continue to support you in every way possible
(50:53):
to help find the information and to get those tips into your tip lines. But do better and help us
help you. Now I'm done. Those were beautiful words, Mary Ann. Words to live by and definitely
excellent advice for authorities out there who are working cold cases and then have people like you
that are just doing this on their own time. So you have done amazing things, Mary Ann, and I applaud
(51:19):
you. I cannot speak more highly of somebody that I have gotten to know just in such a short period
of time, but you are the reason why podcasters are out there trying to make a difference. You
yourself started your own podcast in Krista's memory. I just hope that you keep this going
because you definitely need a big round of applause for this. So thank you so much for
(51:45):
everything that you did for Krista. Are we going to talk about it? Are we going to talk about it?
Should we talk about it? Are we going to talk about it? Should we talk about the elephant in the room?
You know what? You're a great talker. I'm going to let you do the elephant in the room because I just
wanted to say that you are phenomenal and I think you need to keep things going. Well, this has
(52:06):
inspired me that I think obviously chasing a case for 34 years and seeing that people listen. You
can make a difference. I enjoy talking to Deb so much that I never want to stop. I want to keep
the conversation going. So Deb and I have decided to just keep it going. And so the social detective
(52:31):
has done its job. It has done what it needed to do and we have found justice for Krista. And now
we want to help others and I need to rest my voice sometimes and talk to somebody else because I'm
tired of shouting at the wall. So Deb and I are starting on a new endeavor together. Yes, Maryann
(52:53):
and I have been talking for a couple of weeks now and like she said, she has done everything for
Krista that she could do. And there are just no words that we do have answers to this case. And
myself, I've been looking at different avenues with my own podcast Dying to be Found, but what
better way than to partner with Maryann then start a new one that will be out coming soon to a podcast
(53:20):
near you. Be looking for social media for the new podcast called Insinuation. And that is a docu
series with Deb and Maryann. Yeah, we will be diving in and you'll have to see what we're going
to be insinuating about. Absolutely. So we'll leave it there and we'll leave that for your
(53:41):
imagination. But Maryann, thank you so much for letting me be a piece of this. So many good
thoughts to you. And all I can say is I wish I knew Krista the way you do. May she rest in peace.
Thank you. I think she will now and I'm so glad. Thank you so much for being a part of this.
Absolutely. Thanks for listening to Dying to be Found. Before we go, we would love for you to
(54:06):
leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter,
Facebook and Pinterest at Dying to be Found. You can access our website, email, social media and
storyline request form by clicking on our Linktree account found in our show notes. If you like our
episodes, consider buying us a coffee at buymeacoffee.com slash Dying to be Found,
(54:31):
spelled just like you see it on our logo. Feel free to message us on Instagram and let us know
how we're doing. With that, be sure to check us out every Thursday wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi guys, I just wanted to give you a brief intro on what you'll be hearing on Dying to be Found today.
(00:07):
My good friend Mary Ann from Social Detective Podcast is taking me on a heartfelt personal
journey as we discuss the life of her very good friend Krista Martin. And this is a 34 year old
case that without Mary Ann's help, dedication and true love for her best friend, I'm not sure this
(00:31):
would have ever been solved. If you're a loyal listener, you'll know that I'm teaming up with
Mary Ann as we bring you a brand new docu-series due out this spring in 2024. We're still working
hard behind the scenes to bring you a different kind of podcast, but if you can follow us on
Instagram and TikTok now, you can find us at Insinuation Podcast. I'm excited and honored to
(00:58):
be a part of this and joining forces with Mary Ann is going to be spectacular. We'd love to hear
from you now, so be sure to check us out on social media. But for now, enjoy today's episode, which
we're calling Solving Krista Martin. Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. Before we get
(01:18):
started, I just wanted to say that episodes contain disturbing discussions on harmful acts
and crimes against animals and or humankind. Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive
audiences due to the content nature of this podcast. Listener discretion is strongly advised.
(01:41):
Hey guys, it's Mary Ann, dog mom, baker, true crime podcast maker. What would you do if someone
killed your best friend and it's been 33 years and it seems like nobody is doing jack? You would
start a podcast and go find the answers yourselves and that's exactly what we're doing here at Crime
(02:04):
Scene and Cupcakes. So join us as we look for the answers and also find the answers and some other
unsolved cases as well here in Kansas. You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, as well as many
other platforms. You can also find us on all the social media apps such as Instagram, TikTok,
(02:26):
YouTube, you name it, we're there. So come find us. Hey guys, it's Mary Ann, dog mom, baker, true
crime podcast maker and today we've got a couple of special things. First is the case that we're
sharing. As you guys probably know, it's been all over our social media and we finally have some
(02:50):
answers in the case of Krista Martin and we're going to be going into detail about that today.
But I could not do this alone. I had to have somebody by my side and I could think of no one
better than Deb from Dying to be Found podcast. If you guys aren't aware, it's a true crime podcast
(03:11):
and I am a faithful listener. She also has The Dash, which is another really cool true crime podcast
that they do and so I want to thank Deb for joining me today. Hi Mary Ann, I'm so excited to be here.
I am so glad to have you here. Again, this is something I could not do on my own so I am so
glad to have you here with me during this journey. Well, I'm honored to be here today and of all
(03:37):
people, Mary Ann, for you to reach out to me. I'm just so thrilled to be here today to help you
share this story. I'm really glad you're here and I know I normally don't have filler. We usually get
right into the case, but I did want to share a little bit with our listeners as to what else was
going on, as you guys might have seen on top of having to go to the press conference, which was
(04:02):
an honor to be there, but on top of that, it was also Tallgrass Film Festival. As you guys know,
there is Baker in my lead-in for a reason because I also have the Cocktail Cupcakes Bakery and we are
a huge sponsor of the Tallgrass Film Festival and during the festival, it was just an amazing time.
(04:23):
It was a really cool break to be a part of that and I want to thank all of the actors, the filmmakers,
and everyone who came out to support Tallgrass Film Festival. It's a really wonderful thing for
Wichita to be a part of and I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone, the volunteers, and
(04:44):
everyone that was a part of that. It was amazing to be a part of that for the last few years and
it was just really cool to be a part of. So I wanted to make sure I gave a shout out to that and
Barry Corbin was just so awesome to be able to meet him. So very cool to be a part of that.
I love that, Mary Ann. It looked like so much fun. I wish I was there.
(05:06):
We talked several times throughout all of that. Deb has been a great support system
and yes, I wish I could virtually have sent her a cupcake.
That's okay. I did want to say that you are rocking the pink hair.
Yes, the pink has really helped me get through this. Let me tell you, I'm glad I had my Power
Pink rock in here. But for those of you who may not be as familiar with Krista's case and also for
(05:33):
a lot of people, it's been really hard for me to go back and really talk about the childhood I had
with Krista and all of that because it's been so raw and it's been so hard searching for answers.
But now that we do have some of the answers, I want to go back and revisit a little bit more
(05:54):
of her case. So I wanted to start where Krista and I started and that was in Haysville, Kansas.
And for those of you who may not know, Haysville is a suburb of Wichita, Kansas. Believe it or not,
Wichita, Kansas is a big city. In the 70s and 80s, that's when we grew up in Haysville, Kansas.
(06:15):
And at that time, Haysville's population was just a little over 6,500 people. The town was
so exciting that it was known as the Peach Capital of Kansas. And there were just peach orchards
everywhere. And to this day, I still despise peaches. I hate the smell of them. I hate peaches.
(06:37):
I hate them. You realize I'm in the peach state, right? Yeah. And I'm so sorry. Yeah. So our house,
though, because we were more on the outskirts of Haysville, that's why we were just inundated with
the peach orchards. Because we weren't really in the heart of town. We were more on the outskirts
of town. And about a block away from that was this little corner store called the Minning Stop.
(07:00):
Everybody knew about the Minning Stop. So we would walk over there and we'd buy our sodas.
On top of that, my dad, and as we've talked about growing up in my house, both of my parents were
deaf and my dad couldn't hear or speak. And a lot of times he would send us over there to go pick
up his Paul Maul cigarettes. And of course, Alice, the woman who worked the counter, she would know,
(07:23):
of course, that that was our dad. And so she'd probably get in trouble for that today. But she
would get us his cigarettes and we would take the cigarettes. But it was just always what the kids
would do. And I come from a family of eight. And Krista had the, there were two kids in that house.
So there was just always this huge gang of kids walking over to the Minning Stop, grabbing candy,
(07:47):
soda, cigarettes, and walking back to the house. I love that. You and I have the very same experience,
because I did the same thing when I was a kid. I was sent to the corner store to pick up my
mother's cigarettes. So yeah, we did all that same stuff too. Isn't that crazy? And now you think
about today, people would be just aghast at anybody sending a child to even touch cigarettes. To go
(08:11):
get them out of somebody's purse would be just horrible. Oh, yeah. And we were just sent to go
buy them. Absolutely. It was just funny. But yeah, a lot of people in that town, of course, being my
parents of how they were, just everybody kind of knew my parents. And as kids, kind of how our
childhood was different was also our job was to translate for our parents. Do you know sign
(08:37):
language? Yeah. So yeah, all of us kids, I mean, that was your job, even at a very young age.
We couldn't communicate with our parents if we weren't able to sign. And if my top two signs
were always cookie and soda. I remember those like being the number one signs that I was like all
(08:58):
over that I wanted a cookie and a soda for my first ones when I was really tiny. Yes, we got
older. It was, you know, you knew that you had to learn to sign to communicate with your parents,
and you had to learn to sign to help them communicate in the world because otherwise,
they weren't going to be able to communicate. So because of that, I mean, everybody knew who
(09:21):
we were. And then because my brothers were pretty wild, everybody knew who they were.
So my family, it's really interesting as Krista's case has progressed, because even on
the recent news, it was out there that everybody knew who my brothers were, but nobody remembers me.
(09:42):
Where are you in the mix, Marianne? You said there's eight of you. I am towards the end.
I am third from the end. Yeah, I guess if it's whatever the circle is that you're running around
with as far as your social circle. And if you're younger, I mean, I can see if the kids are older
than that, they may not remember. So don't take too much offense to that. It's really funny,
(10:02):
because I was always smacked out with them. I was everywhere they were, but I was this extremely
underweight, very gawky. I have had people I've run into now from high school who refuse to believe
I am the same person. They do not believe that I'm that girl. I'm making it up. I am another human
(10:24):
being. But yeah, Krista was a year older. Her sister and I were in the same grade, but we
didn't socialize at all. But Krista and I, we were both tomboy's. We both wanted to rough and tumble.
And she loved hanging out with my brothers. And so yeah, she just kind of got into the mix with them.
And that's more of how we all associated was just always being outside, always being out in the
(10:52):
middle of everything. And just always remembered her being there, being a part of everything,
and always next door, always outside and always with her cats. We always had dogs, and she always
had her cats. She loved Siamese cats. And Siamese cats have a certain way of yelling that cry that
(11:15):
they have. It's just a cry you never forget. Siamese cats kind of do the same thing. And so
whenever I hear one, I just think of Krista. Oh, yeah, it's just something that's always been with me.
Well, that's a good memory, Mary Ann. I'm glad you brought this up. This is why I feel like
I owe her my life. It is the most important memory of Krista. And it's the time that,
(11:43):
though there's two memories, but the reason I feel like I owe her my life is we were at a party.
And again, I was the nerd. I was, when I say was the nerd, I was very bullied in high school
because our family didn't have a lot of money. So I wore hand-me-down clothes. I was very thin.
And I was horribly bullied. And I just, I felt like such a nerd, but she never treated me that
(12:08):
way. I had deaf parents, huge family. My mom had some issues. And she always made me feel seen.
But we were at this party. And I just sat there. And yeah, I drank a little bit here and there. But
other than that, I still just didn't feel like I was fitting in with the crowd. I was so sick of
just feeling like an outsider at this party. And I was like, okay, I want to try some weed because
(12:32):
I'm so tired of not fitting in. And so I talked to her and I was like, okay, you're going to show me
how to do this. And she went off. Wow. She got mad. She goes, if you ever try drugs, I'm going to
kick your butt. You are never going to do this. And then she did go and tell my brother anyway.
This was just a moment of where she was just like, absolutely not. I am not going to allow you to
(12:56):
even try it. And it stuck with me to a point that any time throughout my life I've ever been thinking
about it in college or anything, it was like Krista. No. And you know, she lost her life. And it was
like, how could I ever do that? I love that. There were so many times choices could have been made.
And she was that voice in my head going, if you ever do this, I'm going to kick your butt. You are
(13:23):
never going to do this. And I always heard you're too smart to do something stupid. I love that
saying. Sorry. That's okay. That's a beautiful memory. I love that just little things like that
are put in front of you at any given moment. And that's the kind of things, Mary Ann, that keeps
Krista alive. And I just don't have words with the stories that I've heard even over the last six
(13:49):
months to a year talking with you. This is what we're here for, is to hear all these beautiful
stories. Well, and it's definitely been when everything's been coming out this last couple
of weeks and people, you know, because I'm not her family, I feel frustrated at times because it's,
well, you know, you don't mean the same. You don't understand. And yes, her family is extremely
(14:15):
important, but Krista played a huge role in my life in the period she was in it. Sure. Even after
she was no longer there, a lot of the choices I made were because of the knowledge she gave me was
life could have been so different if she hadn't stopped me that night. She was your role model.
(14:36):
That's wonderful. So yeah, and that was definitely something that I try to, I want to impart with all
of our cases is even when we get the answers to a case, the victim is so much more than what happened
to them. Yes. There's so much that they bring. Yeah, absolutely. Because everybody has different
(14:58):
memories, vivid memories, and it's what makes that person their soul. It's their soul that comes out.
And when they make an impact like Krista did on you, Mary Ann, she's special. These victims,
when something happens to them, they're a real person and it's their soul that is left behind.
(15:20):
And, you know, you can interpret that in so many different ways. You can say they're an angel now,
or you can just say they really influenced my life. I've heard you say two things here. Krista was a
mother figure to you and she was a role model. That in itself is so impactful. But when we are
left behind, we're the ones who are suffering because they are where they need to be now.
(15:43):
And we're the ones that are left here with a grief that she could impact your life that much.
I mean, she did her job and maybe you were her purpose. Yeah, she definitely did. And the way
I've heard things and that was one of the things I wanted to get across with this podcast is as I'm
(16:05):
seeing her story or her case shared in the news, I don't want us to lose the person as we share the
case. Right. That's something I really want to make sure is we remember her as the person.
As we're getting this amazing news that yes, there's the suspect and forensic genealogy is
(16:30):
incredible and we don't ever want to forget any of that. But let's remember the person behind
all of this who lost their lives. Absolutely. And I have a question for you because we're podcasters.
We talk about different cases and victims. So a lot of people out there in the podcast world will
(16:51):
say somebody finally got closure. Me personally, I don't like that word because I don't think there's
any such thing as closure. I'm asking a personal question here because you're experiencing this.
I've never experienced this. I pray I never have to. In terms of that, Mary Ann, would you consider
yourself at this point knowing where this case stands? Do you have closure or do you just simply
(17:16):
have answers or how would you address that when somebody says, Oh, I'm so glad you have closure?
Now it's an interesting question and it's something that throughout my life in my 20 years of history
as well and actually being on the personal side, I've had other families say instead of closure,
they would say, well, we have an answer. I actually heard Krista's niece say the same thing in an
(17:42):
interview. She said, well, we have an answer. And then the first word that popped in my head is
we have an answer. I don't feel like there's ever going to be closure. And I know her family right
now, they are wanting to know the why they don't understand, which I think everybody struggles with
(18:03):
that. That's a natural response in these kinds of things. You know, I definitely, you never know the
why's with any of these type of things, but there is at least a tangible answer of the who. And,
you know, with people who have heard what I was dealing with, that was a huge cloud that I lived
(18:26):
with of such a hard thing to deal with of who the who might be. And that was something I struggled
with a lot. Right. So I'm not completely clear on how deep you have dug into this as far as going
out and getting the answers as you yourself, or I'm assuming you're conducting your own investigations
(18:49):
through decades. Were you able to piece anybody that you thought might be on the suspect list
or just kind of looking a little closer at somebody? Jake shared a little bit about that
in the story and my board, which I do with every case. But since we're going to be in a podcast,
I do an investigative board where I compile all the information and the facts of a case.
(19:12):
And I also created a cold case investigative checklist. I've submitted a FOIA on Chris's case
for the last 10 years. I've never gotten anything, but I have submitted them. But yeah, and as I've
tried to also get across in my podcast, I never think it's our job to ever usurp what the police
(19:35):
are doing. All I was wanting was any type of information to raise the platform of awareness
on Chris's case. But of course, I'm going to have question because this one is more personal to me.
And I felt frustration because there was no back and forth information going on this case. Sure.
(19:58):
Then I also had my own personal feelings because I did have a sibling who was continuously stating
that he had information about the case. And so when that was occurring, that was creating
more frustration because I was trying to fact check if any of that was correct. Because yeah,
(20:23):
we were giving that information to the police, but we were not getting anything back.
So when they're not talking to you though, I mean, that would be part of the investigation.
That could actually be detrimental. Don't you think with them getting some information based
on what you have handed to them alongside of what they've already investigated themselves,
then quite possibly I hear about how people will give police information and then they're chasing
(20:49):
all these false leads. And not to say that you've ever had a false lead, but I'm just saying that
you're adding to the stack that they have to investigate just from that one tip. Right. Which
yes, completely understand. We're putting that information, you know, where we're doing our
due diligence, somebody is saying something and we're giving that to the police department and
(21:12):
allowing the police department to vet it and do whatever. But the problem is, is this person is
still for 10 years, 20 years, still continuously saying the same things. And you know, as long as
you continuously have that in your ear, that's when you decide, okay, I have to do something.
(21:36):
I mean, nobody's talking to me. I have this person and this side is telling me one thing.
And then I have nothing coming from law enforcement and saying anything. So I need to do something.
Well, I don't want to go out there and tell the world that this is what's being said,
because I don't know if that information is true. And I start a platform and take the information,
(22:01):
which is just two articles from the Wichita Eagle, and I just keep sharing her story.
When were those articles printed?
1989. And then there was a Crime Stoppers video that was done in 2009.
So no news, cold case almost immediately. Correct.
(22:22):
How did you find out what happened to Krista? We're going to back up a little bit. When I was 18,
Krista had moved out. And when I graduated high school, I had some issues with my family.
I've had long term issues with my family. But at 18, it kind of came to a head. And I walked out
(22:43):
of my family home. And I walked out with no clothes on my back, no nothing. I just walked out. And I
was pretty much homeless for a while. The only person who knew where I was, eventually, was one
of my brothers, who I'm still very close to. He's probably the only family member I'm close to.
He pretty much always knew where I was. But I was at the time with my boyfriend,
(23:06):
staying with his parents. I'd finally, and I was working on going to school. And my brother,
he was already at the house with my ex-husband now, and at the time was my boyfriend. But let me tell
you, he has the best or had the best mom. She's passed away. But his mother was the most amazing
mother in the world. I have never met a more amazing... I wish she had been my mom. She was
(23:30):
the most amazing mother, grandmother. She's the most incredible human being on the face of this
earth. Her name was Suzy. And she was incredible. But my brother was there talking to her. And we
get there. And my brother is in the kitchen and tells me that Krista had been murdered.
And my first thought was BTK, because BTK had been active at that time. And my first thought was,
(23:55):
oh, my God. And my brother just right off the gigo was like, I don't think so. Yeah, he's like,
I just don't think that was it. It seems like this is probably somebody she knew.
It became something. And he tells me what happened. He had been close, and he still is close with
Krista's family. He had kind of shared a lot with me. And his next question was, OK, we need to go
(24:19):
to our funeral. I need you to kind of pull yourself together. And we need to do this. And our family is
more of a straightforward kind of OK. This is what we need to do. And yeah, so at that moment,
it was just... And then I remember him leaving. And I just sat on their kitchen floor. I cannot
tell you how long I was there. I cannot tell you what happened next. All I know is Suzy somehow
(24:46):
saved me. And that's all I can tell you. She got you through it. I remember her finding me a dress,
because I remember I had hardly anything. She got me a beautiful black dress. We had to put safety
pins in, beautiful black velvet dress. She supported me in a way I just I wasn't used to.
I remember my brother and I going to the funeral. And again, I wasn't close with Krista's family.
(25:12):
But my brother had gone up and he had gone and talked to them. And then afterwards, I remember
us going to dog and shake. But I will tell you, most of it is just I was in a complete fog. I just
could not believe any of it was actually true. I didn't believe it was true. I did not believe it.
For a good first few months, I kept denying that this was not actually happening. This was not real.
(25:39):
This is somebody else. This is not it. It's not real.
At what moment did that take a turn? Because you know, you have several stages of grief,
and denial is one of them. But at what point did that turn and you decided that you were going to
do something about it? Because Mary Ann, you've spent the last 34 years helping to solve this case.
(26:01):
It took a good year. I was just driving along one day. And I got a hold of my brother and I said,
okay, where exactly is her grave located? I got to go there right now. And just out of the blue,
I was just like, I got to go there. I went there. And I just kind of sat down. And I was like, okay,
now we got to solve the problem. That's when I was like, okay, so we got to fix this now.
(26:25):
And so I just sat down. I talked to her for a while. And I said, okay, I said, we got to make a
plan. We got to fix this. I said, I don't want to tread on your family. I don't want to, you know,
bother anything with them. And I said, but we got to figure out how to fix this. So I just sat there
and I said, okay, so I need to start making some decisions in my life. So I started going through
(26:47):
and making decisions on where I was going. At the time I was working in the medical field,
you know, I kind of knew where I was going and what I was doing. And I just knew that I wanted to
make a difference, but I always wanted to do something that could help with this.
Is that why you went into law enforcement?
(27:09):
Yeah, I think actually my brother was probably the biggest driving force of that. But I would say,
yeah, she was a big piece of that as well. I wanted as much knowledge as possible to be able to help.
Sure.
I knew I could never work on her case, obviously, but I wanted to gain as much knowledge as possible.
(27:32):
I always found it interesting how BTK was so active in our town and right off the bat,
we all just had that feeling that, nope, it just wasn't it. Yet people were speculating out there.
We all just knew it wasn't him. We all knew it. Yeah. So it was, it was like all of that. And I
(27:53):
just did things quietly, but my brother knew, I mean, I was calling the Sedgwick County Forensic
Science Center throughout the years, trying to get information. Once I advanced on my degree,
I tried to quietly try to get them to give me information. Well, no, we're not going to do
that without a FOIA where I don't care who you are. I would always try to see if anybody would
(28:15):
give me anything and nope. And that just slowly throughout the years, I always tried to do that.
I'm thinking you did a lot of this on your own time. You had a full-time job. You had other things
that you were responsible for and you just did this in your spare time. Yeah. No, I always did
all of it in my spare time. I always tried to see who was talking to who. And also I think why a lot
(28:39):
of people have a hard time remembering that I existed was I was in Wichita, but then I moved
to Virginia for my job. And so I lived on the East coast and I lived in Virginia, then I lived in
Connecticut, then I lived in Miami, and then I come back to Wichita. So I was off of everybody's
radars for a while. I mean, I was still calling here. I was still checking in. My brother,
(29:04):
we have so many messages between the two of us of where I'm like, okay, where are we at with this?
Have you talked to her family? Has her family done this? When they did the Crime Stoppers in 2009,
I had sat there and I'd found out about it. I didn't get to see it because I wasn't in Wichita.
I heard you say your brother was also helping out with this. Were you guys a dynamic duo for
(29:28):
this entire process? Because I don't think I've heard that piece before. I even tried to get him
to come on cake because he tries to act like, oh no, there is nothing I would have been able to do.
The pictures of Krista that we do have that we didn't have earlier, because Krista's family
initially wasn't real forthcoming with pictures. And I would go back and go, John, can you get a
(29:51):
hold of them and do this for me? John, I need you to do this. John, and this guy could work magic.
Wow. And I was like, I need to know what she was driving at the time. I need you to go get that
information. He would come back. Boop, boop, boop. I had it. Wow. I need to know who saw my brother
(30:12):
at the prison last. Boop, boop, boop, boop. I had it. I mean, so yeah, there is no, Mary Ann was
completely alone on this. Okay. And you didn't even have to hire a private investigator because
you already had one in the family. Yeah, I had my brother John who just has the taco tico in Oklahoma,
and he has this infectious personality that people will do anything for him. I mean, he is literally
(30:40):
the nicest man in the world. I love that. He's always been there for me as well. I mean, when
everybody else in the family is just horrible human beings, he is the most incredible, kindest
human being you would ever meet. In fact, I asked him, I said, are you going to drive up for the
press conference? And he's like, Oh, no, I'm too old for that. Tell me at what point in time did
(31:04):
the investigators contact you because this has been all over the news in the last, what, 10 days?
How did they approach you? Who called you? I'm going to use a term that Sergeant Matthew Lynch
uses. And it's one of my favorite ones. Let's get to the meat on the bone. Hannah King with Cake News
(31:24):
has been working with me on this. We decided we were going to do an anniversary special for
Krista's anniversary of when her body was discovered on October 2nd. And we decided it several months
ago. We really wanted to get as many people involved in it because there just hasn't been
much on Krista's case. Hannah is probably one of the most amazing cold case advocates out there.
(31:50):
This woman is an amazing journalist and she does wonderful work. The Ernie Ortiz case from Garden
City, Kansas, we both covered that case as well. And this woman does amazing work with these cases.
And she does it with so much heart. You can tell she is doing it with the desire to get these cases
(32:11):
closed. When we did this and we decided to do this, she is not going to go up to the detective one
time and say, oh, can you please talk to me and go away? She is going to go after it. So we decide
to do this. And she's like, okay, the family has not talked about this case. I am frustrated. I want
the family to talk about Krista. Why are they not talking about Krista? Yeah, that's a great question.
(32:37):
I don't know. So I go to my brother, John, why is the family talking about Krista? All of us start
asking the family, why are you not talking about Krista? Then she starts going to the detectives
and starts asking them, why aren't you talking about Krista? And we start just bombarding them
months ago. Wow. And I mean bombarding them. Then I decided to do this. I can see, but can you tell
(33:06):
our listeners what you just showed me? For those who may not know, my natural hair color is actually,
I'm a bright red headed ginger, but I decided when I retired, I wanted to be a dark brunette.
Then I decided recently to dye the ends bright pink. And they look fabulous. We decided to do
(33:28):
that for a reason after talking to Hannah King. When Hannah and I talked, we knew we were going
to start door knocking in the neighborhood where Krista was murdered. Wow. We also knew I was going
to do the interview out in the street where Krista was murdered. I wanted to draw as much
(33:49):
attention to what we were doing because I was so tired of being quiet. I was tired of being
silenced. I was tired of nobody listening to me except for the people of our wonderful listeners
outside of Wichita. I wanted to get Wichita's attention. I wore the brightest pink suit I could
(34:12):
find. If you check out the shoes, if you watch the news, they are glitter shoes. I look like a disco
ball. I did see the suit, but I did not notice the shoes. I'm going to have to go look that up.
So I'm about as bright as you could get. So we did the interviews and we started knocking on
doors in the neighborhood. We wanted to make sure everybody knew we had been there.
(34:36):
Now, too, if you don't mind me asking, was that Krista's favorite color pink?
No. And that's actually a point of contention. It's my favorite color. Her favorite color was blue,
but I would get angry every time I would go visit her grave and see pink flowers because I knew
that's her sister's favorite color. And I'm like, that's not Krista's favorite color. A little point
(34:57):
of contention there. Krista's favorite color is blue. That's why I always have the blue and the
yellow hearts whenever I talk about Krista. Okay. Pink is my power color. It makes me feel good. And
I wanted to get attention. Actually, when I was at Talgrass, one of the security guys went walking
by and he goes, oh my God, I just saw some boots at another interview and it made me think of you
(35:21):
because they were all glittery and he goes, I knew the cupcake lady needed to have them.
You're leaving an impression on people you don't even know you're leaving an impression on. That
is phenomenal. That's what I want. I want people to remember me. Yes. And so what was so incredible
is we did this. The cameraman, the producer and the cameraman ended up doing a still of the two
(35:46):
of us in front of the house. And it was a very emotional moment. And he sent that picture. And
I decided to post it on our social media and tag the location and tag the news station and all of
that within hours, we started getting phone calls from the Wichita police department. And I got a
(36:06):
message from the family. This case had been solved already. Wait, you posted all of that on social
media and it took you to do that before they would even just come straight out to say we've solved
it. It's been solved for months. The case had been solved since June. Are you kidding me? I am not.
(36:28):
And it was your social media and your activity that brought this to light in the last 10 days
with the press release. Yes. And I did talk to family to see if I could get permission to discuss
this. They had decided that they were just going to quietly remove her cold case and put out
a new story later about it and just do a press release. But because of our obnoxious activity,
(36:54):
we ended up making the poor FBI fly all the way out here. And I'm like, damn straight,
Krista deserves a parade. All for a good cause. And so yeah, and a king. Yeah. Yeah. Hannah was
actually, she had just pulled away from cake. And that's actually part of the news story is you see
(37:18):
her on the speakerphone and she's just like, what? We had just pulled away from everything. I decided
I was going to be as loud in color as I could. And we got their attention. And your partner in crime
there, not only John, your brother, but Hannah, the reporter. And that does bring up a point real
(37:40):
quick that we did talk about before. It's the lack of communication that we had to go to that point.
If you've had that information since June and okay, if you had it, why couldn't you at least say,
you know, we have some information that we can possibly be sharing. Why couldn't you have put
something out or why couldn't they have answered? I mean, I posted a million things on social media
(38:05):
and that was one thing Hannah King had actually shown. And I don't know if you,
anybody had seen that she did a thing where she showed blueberry and myself on tick tock.
And it was every tweet I ever tagged them involving Krista. She showed every tweet I ever tagged the
Wichita police. And it was just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
(38:26):
on top of one another. And there was so many just stacked. That is amazing. And I wonder too,
while you were talking, I was just kind of thinking to myself, all right, they're not giving Mary Ann
the answers that she's looking for. But then does Mary Ann have the right to answers because you're
not a family member? Have you ever been told that you are not a family member? We don't have to give
(38:50):
this information to you. That's something that I have a problem with. Why do family members, why are
they the only ones with the right to gatekeep? If we go to that point, if we say family members are
the only ones that can gatekeep, what happens to people in same sex relationships? How is that fair
(39:13):
to anybody? And yes, I'm going to get on my soapbox. And if you listen to my podcast, you know,
I do this. Here's my problem. You asked me for a story about Krista and I can share with you
a handful of them. When Krista's family was asked in the news conference for a story about Krista,
(39:33):
they couldn't share one. Who has the right to know what's going on with her case?
Great question to be brought up in front of Congress. What did they say at the press conference?
So when I walked into the press conference, they had a timeline up there of the entire
investigation of Krista's case. And I'll have that timeline on our social media. It showed how from
(39:58):
1990 to 1992, DNA from Krista's case was sent to the FBI, but it didn't have any positive results.
What that essentially means is that they had the DNA, they extrapolated the DNA, but they ran it
through CODIS and they weren't able to have any hits or anything from that DNA. And especially
(40:22):
during that time period, because they didn't have the advanced DNA techniques and they sent it to
the FBI because the FBI has more advanced forensic techniques than what they had here in Wichita. But
even with that, they weren't able to narrow down any DNA profile. Now things began to shift in 2009
(40:43):
and authorities were able to start ruling out potential leads. That in turn motivated
investigators to go to the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center in order to develop a DNA profile
and a new suspect. They couldn't do anything with the first profile, so they decided to try again.
Right. And so our Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center, it is definitely the advanced hub.
(41:10):
It is where our corner is at. It is an amazing place. It is built up actually, so there is a
gigantic garage too where we have actually pulled airplanes into it and unloaded bodies, because we
are the air capital of the world. And unfortunately, really bad things have happened. It has become one
(41:32):
of the most advanced forensic labs now. And Dr. Stedman there is absolutely incredible. But from
the press conference, the investigators then stated that the Wichita Police Department had positively
identified the person who had sexually assaulted and murdered Krista more than 30 years ago.
(41:55):
From the new DNA profile. Right. But I was able to find out later what they did is the Sedgwick
County Forensic Science Center had worked with author. We all know author is the family genealogical
tree. So what the detective was able to do working with author is they were able to go through the
family genealogy and they built it down to choose family members. They had to go to Maryland. They
(42:22):
had to go to Arkansas. They went to Tennessee. So these detectives did a fair amount of traveling
to try to narrow it down between these two brothers. And I've had a lot of people come back to me going,
well, are you sure that they're right? And once you go through and you actually look at how well
that they identified and narrowed down their subject pool, I am 100% confident that they got
(42:48):
the right person. What they found is this person, his name was Paul Hart. Not only that they were
able to see that this guy lived just six houses away from Krista. So her house was on one block.
He lived behind her and six houses down from her. Okay. And so far what we've been able to figure
(43:11):
out though is it almost seems like either if he knew her, he had to have just met her. Now she
had gone to the Bartoto's there recently. So don't know if he might've met her there or she had been
outside. They ran into each other or something like that. I'm just thinking they probably didn't
find obviously much evidence at the scene with his DNA on it or anything that showed that he could
(43:37):
have been there. Like he left nothing behind. No, they are able to actually find quite a bit of
evidence from him. The thing is though, it doesn't appear that he committed a whole lot of other
crimes because there was nothing else in Kodak's. And to build out, is he a sexual predator? Is this
something he's done before? To build out any type of behavioral profile, you don't know.
(43:59):
True. Because this is a long time before DNA when the case initially came out.
Right. Trying to establish victimology of how their paths might've intersected. But Krista had
written, I mean, she was an active writer. She had active correspondence with people and never once
had she ever mentioned this person in any of her correspondence. Oh, so that speaks volumes. Yeah.
(44:25):
So if she did meet him, it would have had to have been within that very close period of time. But
it's one of those things of you can't a hundred percent rule out that she never knew him and it
was a completely spontaneous crime. But the fact that she knew him, it was a planned out crime by
(44:46):
him or that they had any type of romantic involvement is very doubtful. It's more of
thinking that he probably took advantage of a situation when she was coming home and he saw
her outside or something like that is more what the detectives think probably happened.
(45:08):
Okay. So a victim of convenience. Yeah. Or circumstance. Okay. Yeah. Now they still
haven't been able to find, they never were able to find the weapon that was used in the crime.
And it was asked if they were ever going to try to find it or anything like that. And they said,
(45:28):
there's no way after all of this time, where is Hart now? Are they pressing charges against them?
Hart had left town shortly after Krista was murdered and he went to Tennessee. He was involved
in a car accident and passed away. Wow. And when was this? That was in about a year after he
(45:52):
murdered Krista. Okay. Well, um, karma. Yeah. A lot of people have posted it's karma. And on one hand,
a lot of people have been, well, you know, it's too bad, but my thought process is predators who
commit sexual assault, that's generally not the only assault they ever do. That's given me actually
(46:15):
some measure. And I know people think I'm weird, but in my podcast, I've said several times that
that not knowing if that person has is still out there hurting another human being, it's been
something that's weighed on me so much. And knowing that that person shortly after committing that
crime was stopped by whatever is out there was an incredible moment of knowledge for me. That is
(46:40):
something I have held on my heart from somebody who's seen countless victims and seen people get
by a perpetrator who has gone on these cold cases for so long. And that person has hurt somebody
else. That has been something that has torn me inside for so long. Oh, sure. You need to do me
(47:02):
a personal favor here. And you got to promise me now. Okay, I'll try. I don't want you going
and looking up anything further on what happened to Paul Hart, anything that had to do with that
accident that he was in. You don't need to know that. You just need to know that he is off this
earth for a reason. What if I've already sent people out to look for it? John, you need to
(47:27):
come on back home and do not listen to your sister any longer. Case closed. Well, it's not John.
Oh, wow. If you got to have that answer, then get that answer. But then we're going to put this to
rest. Then we'll put it to rest. Okay. So you'll keep us updated. Yes. Well, it's been a question
(47:47):
a lot of people have had. And unfortunately, they know me and they know that I can... Because the
police have been unwilling to even share a picture of him. Do you really need to know what he looks
like? I don't. The family would like to know. Well, they can hire a private investigator. They
should pay you. Okay, we'll go with that. You've done enough. All right. I'll let you have that
(48:07):
one. Okay. But that was a huge, probably the thing that has worn on me. And I will tell you,
the other thing is having a family member who has interfered with this case a little bit. The other
thing I've been dealing with is my anger of knowing how much they've lied just to get into people's
(48:29):
heads about this. Therapy is a wonderful thing. It is. If you are in crisis, if you ever need
someone to talk to, please, it's not an admission of having any weakness, any problems. Therapy is
there for wonderful reasons. Please reach out. There's an amazing crisis line as well. Please
(48:51):
reach out for help if you ever feel like you're struggling. You are not alone. Very good advice
to live on, Mary Ann. I just want to take us back for just a moment and just remind everybody that
on October 2nd of 1989, Krista Martin was found beaten to death in her apartment at 506 South
Osage near Maple and Sycamore. The Wichita Police Department cold case records stated she had been
(49:17):
struck in the back of the head with a blunt object. That object had never been found. Initial efforts
included the collection of DNA evidence, although at the time, DNA testing and CODA systems were not
available. However, in all of the articles, they had never stated DNA evidence was ever collected.
Lieutenant Mike McKenna was who was quoted in all of the articles, and he had stated right from the
(49:42):
beginning in the Wichita Eagle, this is going to be a difficult case to solve. I don't know if we're
ever going to get closure. I have always wondered about Lieutenant Mike McKenna. I've always been
frustrated with Lieutenant Mike McKenna. I have followed every career Lieutenant Mike McKenna has
ever had, and it was after this press conference that I found out Lieutenant Mike McKenna was only
(50:09):
a patrol officer outside of her case and had no direct dealings with Krista Martin's case. I am
very frustrated that the Wichita Eagle would take direct quotes from Lieutenant Mike McKenna, and
that would be the only information that would be available on Krista Martin's case for almost 20
(50:29):
years that the rest of us would have to look at. Journalists do better. Wichita Police Department
do better in communicating on cold cases because other families are listening, other loved ones
are listening. We care about those who have lost their lives. We're going to continue on our
platforms and look for information. We're going to continue to support you in every way possible
(50:53):
to help find the information and to get those tips into your tip lines. But do better and help us
help you. Now I'm done. Those were beautiful words, Mary Ann. Words to live by and definitely
excellent advice for authorities out there who are working cold cases and then have people like you
that are just doing this on their own time. So you have done amazing things, Mary Ann, and I applaud
(51:19):
you. I cannot speak more highly of somebody that I have gotten to know just in such a short period
of time, but you are the reason why podcasters are out there trying to make a difference. You
yourself started your own podcast in Krista's memory. I just hope that you keep this going
because you definitely need a big round of applause for this. So thank you so much for
(51:45):
everything that you did for Krista. Are we going to talk about it? Are we going to talk about it?
Should we talk about it? Are we going to talk about it? Should we talk about the elephant in the room?
You know what? You're a great talker. I'm going to let you do the elephant in the room because I just
wanted to say that you are phenomenal and I think you need to keep things going. Well, this has
(52:06):
inspired me that I think obviously chasing a case for 34 years and seeing that people listen. You
can make a difference. I enjoy talking to Deb so much that I never want to stop. I want to keep
the conversation going. So Deb and I have decided to just keep it going. And so the social detective
(52:31):
has done its job. It has done what it needed to do and we have found justice for Krista. And now
we want to help others and I need to rest my voice sometimes and talk to somebody else because I'm
tired of shouting at the wall. So Deb and I are starting on a new endeavor together. Yes, Maryann
(52:53):
and I have been talking for a couple of weeks now and like she said, she has done everything for
Krista that she could do. And there are just no words that we do have answers to this case. And
myself, I've been looking at different avenues with my own podcast Dying to be Found, but what
better way than to partner with Maryann then start a new one that will be out coming soon to a podcast
(53:20):
near you. Be looking for social media for the new podcast called Insinuation. And that is a docu
series with Deb and Maryann. Yeah, we will be diving in and you'll have to see what we're going
to be insinuating about. Absolutely. So we'll leave it there and we'll leave that for your
(53:41):
imagination. But Maryann, thank you so much for letting me be a piece of this. So many good
thoughts to you. And all I can say is I wish I knew Krista the way you do. May she rest in peace.
Thank you. I think she will now and I'm so glad. Thank you so much for being a part of this.
Absolutely. Thanks for listening to Dying to be Found. Before we go, we would love for you to
(54:06):
leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter,
Facebook and Pinterest at Dying to be Found. You can access our website, email, social media and
storyline request form by clicking on our Linktree account found in our show notes. If you like our
episodes, consider buying us a coffee at buymeacoffee.com slash Dying to be Found,
(54:31):
spelled just like you see it on our logo. Feel free to message us on Instagram and let us know
how we're doing. With that, be sure to check us out every Thursday wherever you get your podcasts.
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