Steamy Texts, A Shotgun, & 2 Mistrials: Who Killed Lisa Techel?

On May 26th, 2012, 23-year-old Lisa Techel was found shot to death in her bed at her home in rural Iowa. Lisa was 17 weeks pregnant with her first child, and suspicion immediately fell on a neighbour who had been involved in an ongoing dispute with her and her husband. But as investigators dug deeper, they uncovered secret relationships, intimate text messages and a missing shotgun. What followed was a complicated case that would take three trials and two hung juries before Lisa and her family finally got answers. This episode is sponsored by: Gusto: try Gusto today at gusto.com/TCKR http://gusto.com/TCKR, and get three months free when you run your first payroll. Whatnot: download Whatnot today and get $20 off your first purchase. Merit Beauty: right now, Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their Signature Makeup Bag free with your first order at meritbeauty.com http://meritbeauty.com Quince: download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to quince.com/tckr http://quince.com/tckr. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too. Wayfair: join Wayfair Rewards today to get five percent back on every purchase. Head to wayfair.com http://wayfair.com to shop all things home. Check out my foundation: Higher Hope Foundation: https://www.higherhope.org/ Watch my documentaries: 530 Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUWkmOjNLk Apartment 801: https://bit.ly/2RJ9XXr True Crime with Kendall Rae podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3rks84o Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jC66pr Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop https://kendallrae.shop/ Check out my other podcasts: Mile Higher (True Crime) @milehigherpod YouTube: https://bit.ly/2ROzJcw Instagram: http://instagram.com/milehigherpod The Sesh (Current events, a little true crime, pop culture, and commentary) https://bit.ly/3Mtoz4X @the_seshpodcast Instagram: https://bit.ly/3a9t6Xr *Follow My Social!* @KendallRaeOnyt Instagram: http://instagram.com/kendallraeonyt Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kar4NK True Crime TikTok: https://bit.ly/3VDbc77 Personal TikTok: https://bit.ly/41hmRKg REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://zfrmz.com/yg9cuiWjUe2QY3hSC2V0 Form for people directly related/close to the victim: https://zfrmz.com/HGu2hZso42aHxARt1i67 Join my discord to chat with other viewers about this video, it’s free! https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN C O N T A C T: For Business Inquiries - [email protected] Send me mail: Kendall Rae 8547 E Arapahoe Rd Ste J #233 Greenwood Village, CO 80112

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Kendall Rae?

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• 0:44Kendall Rae?

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• 1:01Speaker 01

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• 1:39Kendall Rae?

  Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much, as always, for joining me today. I'm so happy to have you here, and I hope you are having a great day. If you are new to my show, make sure that you click Subscribe, or Follow, or whatever it is on the podcast apps, so that you never miss an episode of mine. Also, I just wanted to say thank you so much for the great feedback on my new set. I absolutely love it. I am going to be making a couple little changes, just a couple little things. First of all, so many of you commented with a fantastic idea to put a framed picture of Lily on one of the shelves, so that she's kind of always with me. I love that. I love that.

• 2:23Kendall Rae?

  Thank you to all of you who came up with that idea. And I'm going to be getting on that as soon as possible. So that will be here soon. But yes, thank you. I really appreciate the positive feedback, and I'm so excited about this set. You guys have no idea. Just it, I have so much more space in this room. I have a place to record without distractions of my nine pets. Obviously, I did like having my cat and my dog with me in the room. And oftentimes, my dog Bernie is in here. I have a bed for him off to the side that you can't see. But I do have two massive dogs at home that are very loud. And my daughter, for a little four-year-old, she can create quite a lot of noise. I can hear her, what I call heffalumping upstairs, just running back and forth.

• 3:07Kendall Rae?

  If you know, that's a Pooh Bear reference. I'm pretty sure they were called heffalumps. But yeah, that's what I always refer to it as. And it gets loud, it gets distracting. So I'm just in this nice, quiet, professional space. I feel so much more locked in. So thank you, guys, for all of your support. And I, you know, it is not lost on me that I wouldn't be able to have the equipment I have and the studio I have. And the studios we have built for all of our Mile Higher Media shows, which, if you haven't checked them out, I'll put some overlay of our other studios here if you want to check out any of our other new sets or shows, if you've never checked them out as well. But yeah, we know that we would not be able to do any of this without the amazing audience we have and the support that you've all given us over the years. So, big thank you.

• 3:52Kendall Rae?

  Now, the case that I am going to be telling you about today made me especially angry because today we're going to be talking about the murder of a pregnant woman who not only was pregnant, but just seemed like a fantastic person with a wonderful family. And it has just broken my heart researching for this case. Now, this is one that I had first discovered, first heard about, when I was pregnant. And I just knew I couldn't mentally handle talking about it at that time. You know, there's only so much I can mentally take on right now. For instance, I know there, you know, are some very, very highly requested cases right now,

• 4:36Kendall Rae?

  specifically the Lindsay Clancy case that I know you guys want me to cover. But I am five months postpartum, and that case, from the day I heard about it years ago, just absolutely wrecked me. Following it to some degree, because I can only mentally handle so much, has been extremely upsetting. It is such, such a difficult case, and so I just can't mentally take it on. But I feel like I'm in a good place now where I can at least talk about Lisa Techel's case, because her case absolutely needs more awareness. Her story needs more awareness. And I just really want to highlight how amazing I think her family is.

• 5:17Kendall Rae?

  Now, Lisa Techel was about halfway through her pregnancy, very far along, when her life was taken from her. And I assure you, when you learn the reason why her killer took her life, you will be just as pissed off as I am. And don't even get me started on how many attempts it took to bring her killer to justice. Before getting into this episode, I just wanted to thank you all for listening to and supporting my show, and also any of the Mile Higher Media shows. Your support makes it possible for us to continue funding grants through my foundation, Higher Hope, which supports victims of violent crimes, their families, and like-minded nonprofits. Let's go ahead and get into this episode.

• 6:02Kendall Rae?

  And I want to start out by, of course, talking about Lisa and telling you how awesome she was. So Lisa Marie Caldwell was born on May 7, 1989, in Ottawa, Iowa, as the oldest daughter to her parents, Todd and Tracy, who, despite not staying together, were equally committed to loving her. And her family says that she was just an absolute joy to be around from the time that she was little, and she was always really the life of the party. And for any Elvis fans out there, she was named Lisa Marie, after Elvis's daughter, of course, Lisa Marie. And that was a name that her dad says she really lived up to. And it's been said that once she started talking, she didn't stop, which I can relate to that. I'm a big yapper myself.

• 6:44Kendall Rae?

  But yeah, she always wanted to do everything to the best of her ability, according to her loved ones. And one area that Lisa truly put her entire heart into was her family. I mean, you can just tell from interviews what a strong bond this family had. And still has, of course, but you know what I mean. From a very early age, for example, even after her parents split up when she was a teen, her dad got remarried to a woman named Amy and ended up having twins with her. And even though, of course, there was quite a big age difference there, that did not stop Lisa from getting close to them. In fact, Todd and Amy said that she was almost like a second mom to the twins, with how much she helped take care of them. And in addition to her siblings, she also spent a lot of time getting close to Amy.

• 7:30Kendall Rae?

  And I love this, but she said that one of their favorite things to do together was watch old episodes of Golden Girls, which is something that I used to do with my grandma, and that show just holds a very special place in my heart. And I know, like, anyone who's a Golden Girls fan understands how special of a show it was, and just like, what a, you know, iconic era of television. And I guess Lisa would always joke with Amy that she was like Dorothy, because she was super grumpy. But from what I can tell, it sounds like Amy was both like a mom and a friend to Lisa. And one thing that I loved hearing about is how she would always pry into Lisa's personal life. Like, she wanted to be in the know, fully involved when it came to everything. Like, for example, who she was dating.

• 8:15Kendall Rae?

  And actually, everyone was quite thrilled when Lisa told them that she was dating a local boy named Seth Techel. Now, some background here, okay? So, growing up, Lisa got really into bowling. And like everything that she set her mind to, from what I understand, she was really good at it. And I'm not just saying she got a couple strikes here and there. No, she was like state champion level good. And during this time, she decided to get a job at the bowling alley, of course. And Seth happened to work there as well. And his dad was actually Lisa's bowling coach and owned this bowling alley. So the Techel family was no stranger to the Caldwell's. And both families really had a good reputation.

• 8:57Kendall Rae?

  Seth's grandfather was actually the mayor, and his mom was a social worker. And then, as for Lisa's dad, he was a sheriff's deputy. And something that was really interesting to learn was how close Lisa and Seth got with the other person's family and friends. They really became intermingled. And all of Seth's friends really, really liked Lisa, because she was into things like hunting and fishing and shooting guns. And when it came to his family, they could not have liked her more. They really viewed her like a daughter. They really brought her into their family, treated her as such. And it was the same way that the Caldwell's felt about Seth. One of Lisa's sisters, Presley, who was also obviously named after Elvis, even described him as being one of her best friends.

• 9:42Kendall Rae?

  So, as you can imagine, everyone was just thrilled when the two of them announced that they were going to get married. Todd said that Seth was very traditional, and he even asked permission before proposing, which Todd, of course, said yes to. I mean, he loved Seth. He thought he was a great fit for his daughter. His only request was that Seth Promise to love and protect his daughter and he said he would. So after seven years of dating, they tied the knot in October of 2011. When Lisa was 22 years old and Seth was 21. Now, when it comes to their ages, I know there are always a lot of mixed opinions on people who get married young in my audience and just the internet in general. And listen, there are plenty of people that get married young and go on to have very successful marriages.

• 10:25Kendall Rae?

  I was, I think, 23, maybe 24 when I got married. But my husband and I were definitely on the younger side and we have a great marriage. I mean, our marriage is literally better than it ever has been. And I have no regrets about getting married that young, but you know, it doesn't always go that way, of course. But in this specific case, you know, given their history, their relatively young ages didn't seem to be a concern at all to them or to their families. And honestly, I don't think I can really explain enough just how tight knit all of them were. For example, Seth and Todd were so close that Todd was even helping him get a job at the sheriff's department. And Seth had always been drawn to careers in service.

• 11:09Kendall Rae?

  He had been a volunteer firefighter and then at the time he was a security guard. So getting a job at the sheriff's office was sort of the next step up for him. And actually Lisa was pursuing a career in the same field. After earning her degree in criminal justice, she worked as a reserve deputy and then as a jailer at the Washington County Jail. And I know her dad was really proud to see her follow in his footsteps. But I think like any father, he had his concerns when she first expressed wanting to work in law enforcement, mainly because there of course are inherent dangers when it comes to that kind of job. So he wanted her to be exceptionally good at it so that he didn't have to worry about her safety. But she certainly did. I mean, I don't think she ever gave him any reason to be worried about her.

• 11:54Kendall Rae?

  She was smart. She was driven. She was incredibly hardworking. In my opinion, she was a total badass. So whatever she put her effort into was something that she was going to be great at, basically. And that was supposed to apply to motherhood as well. And if she was given a chance to be a mother, I have no doubt that she would have been a fantastic one. And that child would have been born into a wonderful family.

• 12:29Kendall Rae?

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• 13:56Kendall Rae?

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• 14:17Kendall Rae?

  By May of 2012, Lisa was halfway through her first pregnancy and she was having a little girl who they planned on naming Zoe Maria. But in the early morning hours of May 26th, Lisa was shot in the bedroom of her trailer that she lived in with Seth, which ended both her life and the life of her unborn baby. Now, the gunshot that killed them rang out around 5:05 a.m. And according to Seth, he was in the shower when he first heard the commotion. And he said it took him a minute to process it understandably, but once he registered what was going on, he immediately jumped out of the shower and ran to her. And he said he could tell right away that she had been shot in her side.

• 14:58Kendall Rae?

  Now, his first response was to grab one of his guns and run outside because he thought maybe the killer was out there and he wanted to try and catch them. And then he didn't end up seeing anyone, so he ran back inside and at that point he called 911. That call came in at 5:23 a.m., which notably is 18 minutes after he said he heard the gunshot.

• 15:24Speaker 04

  What was happening? What was happening? She's not breathing. Does she have any medical problems? She's been shot. I'm in the [BLEEP] car, I can't even work, I heard a gunshot. And I'm trying to run and I, I'm just shot in the side.

• 15:43Kendall Rae?

  And coincidentally, the responding deputy was someone he knew, which honestly doesn't surprise me because they lived in a really remote area in Agency, Iowa. I mean, this is the kind of place where everyone just seems to know everyone. But anyway, when the deputy and the paramedics got there, it was sadly too late. Lisa was gone and there was no way it would have been able to save her or her baby Zoe. And I should also mention that this was actually the first murder in their town in over 15 years. So it was definitely not something that anyone was particularly used to handling, right? And I say that because in hindsight, the responding deputy says he regretted his decision

• 16:27Kendall Rae?

  to call Lisa's dad soon after what happened. And Todd was one of the first people who got called to the scene. And as I'm sure you can imagine, he rushed over there as fast as he could. He and Amy were both asleep when the call came in, but they both got in their cars and just sped to Lisa's trailer. And I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but Amy is actually a nurse. So she thought if she could just get there fast enough, that maybe there was something that she could do to save her. But both she and Todd knew as soon as they got there that that wouldn't be possible, leaving the two of them just absolutely beside themselves with grief. At the scene, the two of them were sobbing. You're able to hear it in an episode, I think of 48 hours in the body cam footage.

• 17:11Kendall Rae?

  And it is absolutely heart wrenching. It is so painful to listen to. And I'm definitely not going to be playing it here because it's just, it's too upsetting and there's no reason to play that, in my opinion. Meanwhile, Seth is also having to explain through his sobs about the intruder that he says shot his wife. And also in the dash cam footage, which my video viewers can see on screen and it's important to see this, Seth is absolutely hysterical. He is stomping around, he is pulling on the fence, he punches a car at one point. So yeah, he is just beside himself as well. And interestingly, when he was telling his story about what happened, Todd, Lisa's father, said he knew of someone who could have done this.

• 17:55Kendall Rae?

  And he told the deputies to go get him. It's in the body cam footage as well. And he's referring to his daughter's 56 year old neighbor, Brian Tate. Now, when it comes to Brian, there is some things that we need to go over because context is super important here. So I need to jump back about two months because that's around the time that a feud developed between them, to say the least. And like I touched on earlier, Seth and Lisa were living in a trailer in a remote area in Agency, Iowa. And it was a place where they had a few neighbors, but everyone was separated by a bit of land. And among these neighbors was Brian Tate, who I should also mention was a disabled veteran. And he had also been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

• 18:40Kendall Rae?

  And with that came troubles with Lisa and Seth. And it's a pretty weird story. I don't even fully understand it. But I guess two months before she was killed, Seth said that he found a dead deer on the side of the road, sort of near the property line. And for whatever reason, this is what I don't get. He and Brian kept throwing it back over the other person's side of the fence. And that ended up causing a feud between them. Or I'd imagine there was some type of feud or some disagreement that happened before that, that would make them want to keep putting the deer back and forth, which is so gross and so bizarre.

• 19:26Kendall Rae?

  Or maybe that was the reason that the feud started. I'm not totally sure. Very strange though. But anyway, things had escalated to a point where someone started throwing rocks and dog shit at Brian's house. And it's honestly really, really sad to think about. Brian ended up calling the police about it in April of 2012. And of all the people to respond to that call, Todd was the one who showed up. And that interaction was captured on his dash cam. And Brian explained to Todd that he believed that these were acts of terrorism, which obviously tells you that Brian was pretty scared and very upset and disturbed by this whole situation. And when hearing this, Todd started to realize that

• 20:10Kendall Rae?

  You know, Brian is probably not in his right mind and he didn't know the exact specifics of his diagnosis and everything, but he really started to question things and felt like maybe he was unsafe for his daughter to be living next door to. And I mean, don't get me wrong, I would be furious if someone was throwing rocks and dog shit at my house too, but terrorism is a very strong word to describe what was happening. I mean, it's really just bullying and vandalism, not okay by any means, but for him to use the word terrorism, I think was a bit shocking to Todd, but that is how Brian truly saw it. And of course, we also know that he was struggling with his mental

• 20:53Kendall Rae?

  health. I mean, he's a veteran. And so it does make sense that he perceived it that way. However, since he was telling Todd that his daughter and Seth were to blame for this terrorism going on, Todd realized that he probably shouldn't let Brian know that he was actually related to the people he was accusing of terrorism. So instead, he just told Brian that he would look into it. He also went privately to Seth to be like, listen dude, if this is you throwing the rocks and the shit at Brian's house, or any of your friends, or you know about this in any way, you gotta cut that shit out because,

• 21:35Kendall Rae?

  you know, you're really upsetting Brian and he struggles with mental illness and you need to be careful. He's very upset, but Seth denied any responsibility for this. Either way, regardless of who was responsible, Todd did not have a great feeling about Brian in general, especially because he had seen that he was carrying his shotgun. So he really was worried about Seth and Lisa's safety. Todd even ended up writing a letter to his fellow deputies, just letting them know that, you know, they could be dealing with a mentally ill individual here. And since the vandalism did not stop after this call, tensions continued

• 22:15Kendall Rae?

  to rise. So much so that both of their families were on edge about the whole situation. That being said, Lisa and Seth assured them that they could handle it. However, only 11 days before she was killed, Brian called the cops again, complaining that the terrorism was getting worse. Todd was called to the scene this time as well, and he, along with another deputy, agreed that Brian didn't appear to be stable. So fast forward to the morning of May 26th, you can probably understand why Todd's brain immediately went to Brian after he found out that his daughter had been murdered. So naturally, he becomes number one suspect in this case and investigators ended up confronting him that morning, right

• 23:00Kendall Rae?

  at his house. And what's interesting about that interaction was that they were expecting him to be pretty hostile, but that wasn't the case at all. Brian was very calm. He even pulled up lawn chairs for everyone to sit down in so that they could just talk. And what investigators couldn't quite figure out was whether or not they could fully believe his alibi. According to Brian, he had taken a heavy dose of his antipsychotic meds and he did that the night before. And he said that because of the medication, he was asleep until 11:00 AM. And he straight up told them that he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and that he would walk his property line to guard his house early in the morning, but

• 23:43Kendall Rae?

  not on that morning because he was asleep due to taking this heavy dose of his medication.

• 23:48Speaker 05

  I went to bed about 8:30.

• 23:51Speaker 06

  Right after I did.

• 23:52Speaker 05

  Yeah, after mom did.

• 23:53Speaker 06

  Did you hear anything in the middle of the night last night?

• 23:56Speaker 05

  I was in bed and normally I would have been up doing guard duty with all this shit that happened, but I'm schizophrenic paranoid.

• 24:04Speaker 02

  You said earlier, Brian, that you you'd sit outside here.

• 24:07Speaker 05

  At night?

• 24:08Speaker 02

  At night, yeah. When's the last time you did that?

• 24:10Speaker 05

  Oh, it's been a good week or so.

• 24:14Speaker 02

  Week or so?

• 24:15Speaker 05

  They don't want me to do guard duty anymore. They want me to get sleep, take more medications.

• 24:20Speaker 06

  You were such a calm, quiet guy until this vandalism started and then you're just like a different person.

• 24:26Speaker 05

  I was Mr. Nice Guy for a long time. It done me no good. People took advantage of me. So I'm kinda taking a different approach to life right now, being more serious and more not such a nice guy.

• 24:40Kendall Rae?

  Now, his mom, who was there when all of this was happening, corroborated this. And she also told investigators just how much this whole vandalism thing had really changed her son. She said that he was actually doing really well emotionally before it started happening, but he almost became a different person afterwards. And honestly, nobody was quite sure what to believe. Of course, moms lie for their children all the time. I mean, we have covered plenty of cases where that happens, but also they didn't have any actual evidence that he killed Lisa. So at least for the time being, Brian remained a suspect.

• 25:24Kendall Rae?

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• 26:05Kendall Rae?

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• 26:47Kendall Rae?

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• 27:30Kendall Rae?

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• 28:11Kendall Rae?

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• 28:53Kendall Rae?

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• 29:45Kendall Rae?

  And the other person who became a suspect was, of course, Seth, which makes total sense, right? I mean, he was home when it happened and statistics are statistics for a reason. He became someone they were interested in. And that evening, he was actually brought in for questioning. Now, when it came to his questioning, an agent with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations, aka DCI, was taking the lead. And both the DCI and the local police were conducting the investigation. However, despite working for the sheriff's department, Todd was not involved. And not because he wouldn't have wanted to be part of getting Lisa justice, but because this case was just too personal. He did say he was confident, though, that the people in charge would find her killer.

• 30:28Kendall Rae?

  And I thought this was interesting and also very professional on Todd's part, but he actually did not want to know anything about the investigation until an arrest was being made. And from what I gathered, nobody in their family really believed that Seth could have possibly been responsible. That just seemed really out of the question for them. And Seth himself was denying any involvement. He even told his parents not to get him a lawyer because he was so confident. He said he understood, of course, investigators have to rule him out because of protocol and there was nothing to worry about. So his questioning began that evening and he started explaining what he said happened.

• 31:11Speaker 05

  I was standing at the face of the shower next to the toilet. Put the towel on, I ran to the bedroom. I shook her.

• 31:22Speaker 04

  Like saying?

• 31:23Speaker 05

  Like, hey, are you okay? What's going on? Blah, blah, blah. Okay? She started mowing and I saw the hole in her sports bra on her left side facing the ceiling. As I was getting ready to put pressure on it, that's when I heard the noise in the living room. That's when I grabbed my gun and that's when I took off running. Nobody was there, the door was open, came back into the bedroom. She had stopped breathing.

• 31:55Kendall Rae?

  After that explanation, Seth was asked who he thought could have been responsible, and he didn't hesitate to say Brian's name. He explained the whole feud situation and how Todd had warned him to stay away from Brian because he was, quote, "off his rocker." And honestly, there were several points where he seemed to really be breaking down and crying about everything, which would make sense, right? I mean, he definitely looked like a grieving husband. That being said, the agent who was interrogating him didn't take his emotion as a sign of innocence by any means. And he continued to do his due diligence, which included getting Seth to list out how many guns that he kept in the house.

• 32:36Kendall Rae?

  And by that point, they had yet to identify the shotgun that was actually used to kill Lisa. So they wanted to know how many guns they could expect to find and see if they could all be accounted for. Now, despite his cooperation, the heat definitely turned up in this interview, specifically when it came to questions about his and Lisa's marriage. So he wanted to know if there were any affairs happening, of course, which is a very fair question. But Seth assured him very confidently that that was absolutely not the case. Here's the thing, though, and this is interesting. In the middle of that interview, the agent interviewing him found out that Seth was lying.

• 33:20Kendall Rae?

  And listen to how crazy this is, okay? So as this was all going on, as the interview is taking place, there was still a team of investigators over at the trailer processing the scene. Meanwhile, one of Seth's friends just so happened to show up at the trailer while that was going on. And I guess Lisa and Seth had been watching his dog, so he went there to go get his dog. And long story short, someone asked this guy, whose name is Colton, a few questions about Lisa and Seth, which is when he spilled the beans that Seth had a second phone. He told investigators that Seth had a track phone, which he used to communicate with a woman named Rachel that he worked with. So then, one of the investigators that is at the house processing the scene,

• 34:05Kendall Rae?

  talking to this friend, texted the agent who was actively talking to Seth right at that moment to let him know what he had just found out. But interestingly, instead of telling him what information he knew, he decided to wait to reveal that information. Very smart move, but basically, he wanted to see if Seth would continue to lie. But at some point, Seth must have known what was up because he decided to randomly, voluntarily, bring up the fact that he had been talking to another woman. He explained that he had been texting a girl named Rachel McFarland. However, he completely downplayed everything.

• 34:46Kendall Rae?

  He not only said that Lisa knew about her, but he also reassured the agent that they were only friends. And at first, he swore that nothing sexual ever happened between them. But then he was like, all right, well, we did kiss, but I promise, that's it. And that's not even the craziest part about this interview. This is one of the wildest things I've ever seen in interrogation footage. But while all of this is all unfolding, Seth's dad started physically banging on the door of the interrogation room to try and get him to come out and stop talking. Even though Seth said he was so confident, he didn't need a lawyer, he didn't want a lawyer, his dad got him one anyway and was banging on the door, trying to get Seth to leave.

• 35:28Kendall Rae?

  But I kid you not, he literally sat through it, ignored his dad, and just kept talking. Mind you, he is well aware that he was free to leave at any point. And since he chose to stay, the questioning continued. And that's when it became clearer and clearer, as the minutes ticked on, that Seth was lying. By that point, investigators discovered that he was using his second phone to sext Rachel. And with that information, they decided to share with him what they knew. And since he physically couldn't deny it any longer, he finally admitted to more of the truth. He admitted that there was more to the Rachel situation than he originally let on,

• 36:11Kendall Rae?

  including the fact that Rachel was under the impression that he was going to be divorcing Lisa. And he apparently told her as recently as the night before that he was going to leave his wife. But Seth, he said that he never actually did plan to leave Lisa. He just liked the attention that he was getting from Rachel and he didn't want to actually be with her, but he wanted her to think that that was a possibility. So as you have probably pieced together by this point, they are now pretty damn convinced that Seth had something to do with Lisa's murder. And naturally, that made things even more intense than they already were in the interrogation room. Now, the agent was straight up telling him he doesn't believe his story

• 36:56Kendall Rae?

  and that he thinks he's responsible for her death. But Seth stuck to his story, that he didn't do this and that an intruder broke into his home.

• 37:05Speaker 05

  I'm telling you what happened. I can't control what other people see or think they see. I'm telling you that right now, I have to bury my wife and kid, my unborn kid, okay? Whoever did this is going to pay.

• 37:20Speaker 04

  That's what I'm saying, right? They're true. They should tell us that you're really responsible for killing your wife.

• 37:26Speaker 05

  No.

• 37:26Kendall Rae?

  Now Seth eventually gets so upset that he ends up walking out of the room and that was the end of that. But the unfortunate thing was that none of that brought them any closer to an arrest. What they needed was actual proof. Thankfully, though, that didn't end up being that hard to find. So just a few minutes ago or so, I mentioned that Seth was asked to make a list of all of the guns that he had inside of his home to figure out if there were any that were missing. And well, what do you know? There was a missing shotgun and it's a shotgun that Seth just so happened to forget to put on that list.

• 38:06Kendall Rae?

  Now, this gun actually belonged to his friend Lucas, who had previously been living with them. And according to what Lucas told investigators, he had left that shotgun on a gun rack in Seth's trailer. And big shock here, guys, but it was no longer there when investigators went to go look for it, which doesn't feel like a coincidence, does it? Although the good news is, it ended up being found pretty fast. The shotgun had been dumped in a tall, grassy area, about 20 yards away from the back door of the trailer. And to nobody's surprise, it was later confirmed to be the murder weapon. Well, I guess I shouldn't say that nobody was surprised because Lisa's family actually was. They were shocked.

• 38:51Kendall Rae?

  For the first several days following her murder, they really struggled to believe Seth could have possibly been responsible for her murder. In fact, they met up with him and his family at a park just a few days after all of this. And they were in disbelief when they found out he was being investigated. Her father, Todd, was actually the only family member who didn't go to the park, but he expressed the same feelings about just being shocked and not wanting to believe that his son-in-law could have possibly done this. I mean, as I explained, they were all very, very, very close. Even the girl that he had been sexting with, Rachel, who was interviewed just a few days later, said she didn't think it was him.

• 39:34Kendall Rae?

  Of course, she did admit that they had been in a sexual relationship and that he had promised he would leave his wife for her, but she said she never asked him to do that. And physically, she said it never went past making out. The rest of it was just explicit texts and photos, you know, just typical sexting kind of stuff. And I do get why, at first, people in their lives just could not possibly wrap their heads around this being Seth, even Rachel, because really, all they were doing was sexting and he had casually mentioned that he would leave his wife for her. But he, you know, just decided to say that on his own, she never asked him to.

• 40:15Kendall Rae?

  And I see why their family and friends and everyone really just thought Brian was probably the one who did this. But he ended up getting cleared. It just seemed so shocking and confusing to everyone. And I just have to keep drilling home how close they all were. I mean, his family with Lisa and Lisa's family with Seth. I mean, they were all so intertwined and not everyone was happy.

• 40:48Kendall Rae?

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• 41:31Kendall Rae?

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• 42:16Kendall Rae?

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• 43:00Kendall Rae?

  And when it came to his arrest, the timing of it was absolutely wild. It literally happened on the evening of Lisa's funeral visitation. Tons of their family, friends, and law enforcement officers had gathered to show their support. And among those people were the Tackles. Once it was over, it was just the two families in the room. And this gave me goosebumps, but I guess Seth went up to Lisa's sister, Presley, and he gave her a big hug and said, "You'll always be my little sister. I love you." And then, shortly after that, agents came up to him and put him in the back of their squad car after formally arresting him. And they actually used Lisa's handcuffs, which I absolutely loved.

• 43:45Speaker 02

  Of course, as you folks know, at 8:30 PM on Wednesday, May 30th, Seth Andrew Tackle, 21-years-old, of 8723 Fox Hills Road, Agency, Iowa, was arrested and charged in connection with the murder of Lisa Marie Tackle and her unborn child in early morning hours of May 26, 2012. Tackle has been charged with murder in the first degree and non-consensual termination of a human pregnancy, which is a Class B felony and carries a penalty of 25 years. Of course, murder in the first degree is a Class A felony with a maximum penalty of

• 44:29Speaker 02

  life in prison. Tackle was arraigned last night here at the Wapalo County Jail and then transported to a neighboring county jail and is being held there.

• 44:45Kendall Rae?

  So now, with Seth behind bars, the hope was that Lisa would be getting justice soon enough. However, that ended up taking a lot longer than I think anyone expected. Now, let's get into the saga of the trials. It took, I kid you not, a total of three trials for this case to actually come to a close. And it was, as you can imagine, just emotional whiplash for everyone involved. His first trial began in February of 2013, and before it even started, the prosecution took a big hit because they were actually planning on having Brian Tate testify, the neighbor. And they wanted to do that because they thought it would be harder for the defense to paint him out as a monster if he could speak for himself.

• 45:30Kendall Rae?

  But tragically, he actually passed away the September before. And this is just horrible, but his sister said that she thinks he died of a broken heart. And their family can't help but think that it was related to everything that happened and how much stress he was under. And I just honestly feel so bad for him. I mean, it's horrible that the end of his life was filled with all of this. But even without testimony, though, the prosecution did believe they had enough to get a conviction. And their biggest piece of evidence was that shotgun. Ballistics testing proved that the weapon located outside of Seth's house, that same one that belonged to his friend, was in fact the one that killed Lisa. And let's be so fucking real. I know it has happened, but it is so rare.

• 46:14Kendall Rae?

  What intruder comes into someone's home with the intention to kill and doesn't bring their own weapon? Okay? Just, it doesn't even seem plausible, even in the slightest. Then, to help the jury see how capable Seth was of lying, they had his friend testify. And this may not come as a shock to you, but those acts of vandalism on Brian's property were 100% orchestrated by Seth. His friend testified that he was the one who did it, but Seth was the one who told him to do it. And I'm sure some of you are having the same thoughts as me here, and I can't prove this, this is just my opinion, my speculation, but I do wonder if it was always part of

• 46:54Kendall Rae?

  Seth's sick plan to get Brian all riled up so that he could pin the murder on him? I mean, I think it would make a lot of sense. I mean, we know he was trying to pin it on him from day one. So I guess I'm just curious if the plotting went that far back, and I certainly would not be surprised if that is the case. Now, as for other important testimony, we gotta talk about Rachel. Okay? So she took the stand as the prosecution's star witness. And as you'd expect, she spoke about the progression of her relationship with Seth. Take a listen.

• 47:28Speaker 07

  He added me on Facebook and asked for my telephone number. And just text messages from there started becoming more than just coworkers. It went from just normal conversations to flirtatious text messages. It became more sexual, asking me to send pictures or, I don't know, just showing off my body, I guess. And he started asking if, when he got a divorce from his wife, I'd moved in with him. And I said, "No."

• 48:03Kendall Rae?

  The most important thing that she shared, though, at least in my opinion, was a story about what happened on May 20th of 2012. This was six days before Lisa's murder. And Rachel said that she and Seth met up at this nature preserve. And basically, they were kissing and whatnot, and Seth kept telling her that he was going to get a divorce. He told Rachel that he loved her, like dropped the L-word with her, and that it just wasn't working out with his wife. Meanwhile, I guess Rachel tells him that she actually has another coworker that she was interested in romantically, of course. And apparently, that guy called her while they were together.

• 48:44Kendall Rae?

  And she testified that Seth got really upset, really jealous, and he told her to give him two more weeks. So it's almost like that jealousy, the idea that she may get together with this coworker over him, lit a fire under him because it was only six days later that he murdered Lisa. So the prosecution's whole theory was that Seth killed Lisa in order to be with Rachel, a horrific tale as old as time that we have seen over and over again. I mean, it's getting exhausting. I don't know how many times I have to say this, but just get a fucking divorce. People are so stupid, so cruel, and I will just truly never understand.

• 49:28Kendall Rae?

  It takes literally all of one brain cell, one tiny brain cell, to understand that divorce is better than murder. But I guess Seth over here doesn't even have that one brain cell clearly. But anyway, the defense argued that the prosecution's theory was wrong because their affair wasn't even really an affair. They essentially said that nobody would kill their wife over a few make-out sessions and sexting, and that's all that it ever was. Which, yeah, who would do that? Right? I mean, what the fuck? Seth is just, I've got no words for this idiot. And of course, the defense was still pointing the finger at poor Brian, who wasn't even there to defend himself at this point, had already died.

• 50:12Kendall Rae?

  And his family thinks it's due to all the stress and being broken-hearted over what he had gone through. But anyway, but they argued that Brian had the motive, means, and opportunity as well. And then, guys, this is so weird, but another piece of evidence that the defense presented, which genuinely just makes no sense to me, had to do with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a discarded glove. Which I guess the glove, you know, that makes a little more sense to bring up, potentially. But the peanut butter and jelly sandwich is absurd.

• 50:49Kendall Rae?

  I guess investigators found a PB and J that was just in a little Ziploc bag on the back deck of their trailer. And their argument was that it must have been the killers. They said that if it had been left there overnight, animals would have eaten it. Therefore, the killer had to have dropped it in the early morning hours after the attack. Who would fucking bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as a little snack when you're off to commit a murder? I mean, are they for real? This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. And the logic doesn't make sense to me at all. I mean, you can't make sense of it because they believed that Seth killed her in the morning, not the night before. So if anyone understands their point, let me know because I'm lost on that.

• 51:32Kendall Rae?

  Now, as for this glove, it was reportedly not tested, which the defense took issue with. Either way, both sides rested their case and the jury was left to deliberate. However, because there was no conclusion after four days, the judge declared it a mistrial, which is insanely frustrating.

• 51:54Speaker 04

  Well, of course, we're disappointed in what happened, but I think the whole family's confident moving forward that justice will be served.

• 52:02Speaker 07

  Today's decision to grant a mistrial left everyone involved feeling a little empty. Judge Dan Wilson did not ask the jury how their vote broke down, but after a lengthy trial in four days of deliberation, the end result is difficult to swallow.

• 52:16Speaker 01

  They worked extremely hard. We thank them. I know it was, it was difficult for them. And unfortunately, they weren't able to reach unanimous decision. Sometimes that happens.

• 52:28Speaker 04

  We've talked about stories of Lisa and, you know, that always makes everything better, you know?

• 52:36Speaker 04

  But it's hard to know that it's out of your control and that you just got to kind of leave it to other people.

• 52:43Speaker 06

  You know, for us, this is horrible, but I think for us too, is watching our other children go through this too, you know, and feeling that sense of you can't fix it. As a parent, you want to fix their pain and, and stuff like that. So I think for our other kids, it's hard to, you know, for us to sit there and watch them. And, um, you know, we deal with our pain, you know, because we're the parent, but you know, we're supposed to fix the boo-boos and we, you know, so I think that's hard for us.

• 53:10Speaker 07

  And through the emotions of the courtroom on Friday, it was important to the Caldwell family that Lisa not be forgotten.

• 53:17Speaker 04

  Oh, I just think that she's a fun-loving, happy person and, you know, it would be like Lisa to not want a little bit of attention. So, you know, the fact that it's, you know, carrying on is probably has something to do with her because she's not ready to lose the focus, you know? But, you know, she's a, she's a great person.

• 53:36Speaker 06

  She's a wonderful girl. Wonderful.

• 53:38Kendall Rae?

  So then we're on to trial two, right? Several months later, in October of 2013, the second trial began. And for the most part, the prosecution and the defense stuck to the same arguments as before. A lot of the same testimony was heard as well, including that same testimony from Rachel. However, this time Seth's text messages became a big focus. For example, at 10:51 PM, a day before Lisa's murder, he texted Rachel saying, "Wish me luck." And even though she testified that she believed he was asking for luck related to asking for a divorce, the prosecution thought it was actually about wanting luck before he killed his wife. However, despite their best efforts, the outcome of this trial was the same.

• 54:20Kendall Rae?

  And as you can imagine, this was an even bigger blow to Lisa's family. Todd said that he was flabbergasted when they learned the news, and I'm sure it had to have knocked down a lot of their confidence that justice would ever come. So then we go to trial number three. And thankfully, the third trial did bring the justice that they were hoping for and so desperately needed at this point, although the trial was different from the others.

• 54:53Kendall Rae?

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• 56:24Kendall Rae?

  This time Seth had a new defense team and they took on a whole new strategy. The trial was also moved to Scott County in Davenport, and the reason he changed attorneys was reportedly because he ran out of money. Not totally sure on that, but that is what is reported. And rather than try and point the finger at Brian, his new defense attorney was pointing the finger at the investigators. They argued that they zeroed in on Seth too quickly and didn't have the evidence to support his guilt. They argued that there was no DNA to say that he did it, that it was simply a rush to judgment and bad circumstantial evidence. There was also a pretty major bombshell dropped by the defense as well, which was

• 57:09Kendall Rae?

  that Lisa was also having an affair. She had been seeing a married man, a man named Jason, who she worked with, and their relationship ended just a few weeks before she was killed. In a search of Lisa's phone, it was discovered that she and Jason spoke about ending their relationship because it was wrong, and even discussed whether or not he could be the father of her baby, which to be clear, they ultimately decided that the timing wouldn't have lined up for him to have been the father. But of course, this was very shocking to hear for many reasons, especially when people learned that a deputy had questioned him just days after Lisa's death, and he denied the affair, and none of it was ever documented or disclosed. And it was also interesting to people that prosecutors didn't get in touch with him

• 57:54Kendall Rae?

  until a few days before the third trial, all of which backed the defense's theory that this was a botched investigation. And this is wild, but the defense actually suggested that Jason could have been the one behind all of this, but he did have an alibi for that day. Both he and his wife testified that they were at home together when the murder occurred, plus his DNA could not be matched to the scene. Even with this bombshell though, the prosecution maintained that Seth was the only person who could have done this. I'm sure the majority, I would hope most of you, if not all of you, agree with that. And finally, the jury agreed. So in the end, Seth was found guilty on both charges after only four hours of deliberation.

• 58:38Kendall Rae?

  And as you can imagine, this was an incredibly emotional moment for both families, who despite technically, you know, being on opposite sides, had total compassion for one another. It was really beautiful to see. I mean, before this trial, both of the dads hugged one another and they did it again after it was over. And we don't see that happen often, so I thought that was really special. And Seth's parents do believe that he is innocent, but the fact that they're still able to embrace and support Lisa's family and the fact that her family is receptive to that, I think is really cool. Now, someone else who was very relieved by this outcome was Brian's sister, Sheri. And that's because she knew that this conviction meant that people would no longer suspect

• 59:23Kendall Rae?

  her brother. And that was a really big deal to her, understandably. Now, when it came to Seth's sentencing, he received the mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole, plus a consecutive 25 years for the death of baby Zoe. And boy, do I love to hear that. I hope he spends the rest of his miserable life just being in mental anguish and torture, thinking about what he did, thinking about the fact that he not only killed his wife, but he killed his own daughter. And for what? For what? Before the sentence was handed down though, Lisa's family did have a chance to speak

• 1:00:08Kendall Rae?

  with him, and it was very powerful, you guys. Both Todd and Presley spoke, and man, was that emotional. Presley started by saying that Seth was once her best friend and her brother who she loved. And at the end, she told him that she was no longer his sister and no longer loved him. And I don't know if Seth is even capable of feeling emotion, but goddamn, I hope that hurt.

• 1:00:37Speaker 05

  Turning to the crime beat, the sentence, life in prison without the possibility of parole for Seth Techel. In July, a jury found Techel guilty of the 2012 shooting death of his pregnant wife, Lisa. But Techel's sentence came only after Lisa's family had their say today. KCCI's Mark Tauschek is live at the Monroe County Courthouse, and I'll be up with that testimony.

• 1:01:01Speaker 04

  An absolutely heart-wrenching afternoon here at the courthouse. A lot of tears, a lot of anguish. If Seth Techel was feeling any emotion, however, he kept it hidden very well. Seth is a cold-hearted killer.

• 1:01:15Speaker 04

  I would call him an animal, but an animal only kills out of necessity. Seth kills out of convenience. Before Seth Techel was sent to prison for likely the rest of his life, the family of Lisa Caldwell Techel had a chance to let loose.

• 1:01:28Speaker 06

  No mother should have to see her child or a picture of her child or granddaughter on an autopsy slab and not get answers. We have deserved the truth from day one. Seth, not all of the games that have been played.

• 1:01:41Speaker 04

  Lisa was close to both her parents, especially her father Todd, a deputy in Wapalo County, who Lisa worked alongside as a reserve deputy. Lisa has four siblings and two stepsisters. Her sister Presley was especially close to Seth and considered him a brother.

• 1:01:54Speaker 06

  I'm gonna leave you with one final thought, but I'm no longer your sister and I no longer love you.

• 1:01:59Speaker 04

  Seth Techel sat still, barely moving, and stared directly at each of Lisa's family members as they spoke. He was asked by the judge if he had anything to say. Not this time. Lisa's mother shared a heart-wrenching memory from the morning she showed up to her daughter's home and saw the police tape.

• 1:02:13Speaker 06

  And all I wanted to do was sit with her and hold her hand and stroke her hair and let her know that I was there.

• 1:02:21Speaker 06

  I was with her when she took her first breath and I only wanted to know that I was there moments after she took her last.

• 1:02:28Speaker 04

  After three trials in two years, Lisa Techel's family heard the news they've waited to hear.

• 1:02:33Kendall Rae?

  Actually, this is the last time we have to see Seth Techel and that's fine by me. Again, taking Lisa and their daughter from her family, from his family as well, from this world, for what, dude? For nothing, that's what. Men like Seth piss me off so deeply and I'll never, I'll never, no matter how many cases like this I cover, I will never understand someone's brain and how they can justify doing something like this, how it makes sense to them in any way, shape, or form, how they can even bring themselves to pull that trigger. He had it so good with Lisa. She was such an awesome person and he was loved by so many members of her family.

• 1:03:18Kendall Rae?

  They treated him like their own. And to just throw that all away by doing the worst thing a human can do, especially over a relationship where the other person doesn't even seem that interested in you and you've only made out and do a few, you know, sexting or whatever the fuck, you know, it's just like, obviously, no matter how in-depth a relationship is, there's never a good reason to do it, but it's just like shocking that you gave up all of this. You killed your wife and your daughter for that. I mean, I don't know. And it's just horrible to think that their family not only has to live the rest of their lives without Lisa, but also their future granddaughter.

• 1:04:01Kendall Rae?

  They never got to meet her and my heart truly goes out to them. I mean, they just seem like such wonderful people and watching their interviews just really, really tugged at my heartstrings. You can just feel the, the love that they all had, that they still have, you know, and the pain that they have all experienced and it's just, it's, there are no words, truly. It's horrible. I will say, I thought this was really beautiful. Todd actually designed himself a beautiful headstone for them, made it himself, not just got it commissioned or something like that. It was in the shape of a heart and it depicts a mother and a baby and it's just so beautifully done.

• 1:04:41Kendall Rae?

  There's also two bird wings on it and, God, I'm getting so emotional. This is just one of the saddest cases, I swear, but, um, he did that because it was always a thing for the two of them to watch The Notebook together, something that they loved and they would always use that famous, very famous quote from The Notebook, "If you're a bird, I'm a bird." And he explained that to him, that that means, "Whatever you are, I am too." And it's like, you know, we'll always be connected, no matter what, which I thought was really beautiful, but my heart truly goes out to them. What a massive, massive unnecessary loss. Anyway, guys, that is going to be it for me today.

• 1:05:24Kendall Rae?

  I know that was a very difficult one to get through, but a very important case to highlight, I think, and I will be back next week to discuss another case. Oh, before I go, I do just want to remind you guys that our new Halloween and Fall Collection of merch is now available at milehighermerch.com and 100% of the proceeds support our foundation. So not only are you, you know, treating yourself to a nice piece of merch, a sweatshirt, a t-shirt, whatever it is, you are also helping victims of violent crime and their families, as well as like-minded nonprofits, and every single bit of the proceeds does go directly to that. There is no profit being made for Mile Higher Media at all. Just want to be clear about that because sometimes people get confused, but we have

• 1:06:08Kendall Rae?

  some wonderful pieces. We're really proud of this collection, so make sure to go grab something for yourself before they sell out. But yeah, that's it for me today, y'all. Y'all, wow, I never say that, but anyway. I will be back next week and until then, keep taking your mind a mile higher. Wait, that's the wrong one. That is literally the outro to my other podcast. Wow, I'm a little fried after this case. Let's try this again. Stay safe out there.

• 1:06:58Kendall Rae?

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• 1:07:43Kendall Rae?

  Side effects include itching, muscle spasms, rash, and elevated muscle enzymes. To learn more about Gernavix, ask your doctor, call 1-833-589-PAIN, or visit gernavix.com.

• 1:07:58Kendall Rae?

  Have you ever ordered an ice cold Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and told yourself, "I'm just going to take one sip while I wait for my food," but somehow the first sip turns into a second? And then before you know it, your meal arrives and you're looking at an empty glass? Well, we've all been there. That's the thing about Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. It has a delicious Coca-Cola taste you love with zero sugar. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, real Coke taste, zero sugar, it's too good to wait.

• 1:08:23Speaker 03

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